Pokemon remains an iconic franchise for kids, teenagers, and adults worldwide. What makes the series stand out is the inspirations from our world to create another where pocket monsters live alongside humans. That's also how Pokemon got the name, combining the words "pocket" and "monster."
By combining those two words together, Pokemon is essentially a pun-filled franchise that uses clever wordplay and it works for nearly every creature. Sometimes, there are puns that are not from Pokemon themselves, but from jokes and lines from the games, anime, and other forms of media. Here's a look at some Pokemon puns that we enjoy and make us either laugh or cringe.
10 "I'll Use My Frying Pan... As A Drying Pan!"
Leave it to 4Kids to deliver some of the cheesiest, but timeless lines in the English dub for Pokemon. Despite the occasional censorship here and there, the dub is still memorable and iconic to many fans in the west. From the episode titles like "Beauty and the Beach" to strange references like Minnesota Vikings, the puns are everywhere.
The arguably most famous is definitely Brock using his frying pan as a drying pan. It's dumb and campy, but that's what makes the pun so memorable and great. Eric Stuart's great performance also helped in making Brock an iconic character to many kids who grew up with the show.
9 I'm Not Gonna Raichu A Love Song
If a fan were to think of a Pokemon pun in general, "I'm not gonna Raichu a love song" is guaranteed to be one of, if not the most answered pick. The song in question, titled "Love Song" by Sara Bareilles is remembered for the ironically wrong reason.
Surely Sara didn't have Pokemon in mind when she sings the chorus, but fans were quick to not unhear Pikachu's evolution in the lyrics. It might not be gut-bustlingly funny, but for misheard lyrics, it is humorous.
8 Desperately Seaking Susan
For the majority of Pokemon, their names derive from puns. Regardless of the localization, the names for Pokemon are creative and fun to decipher. Sometimes, some Pokemon can work as puns for anything in pop culture.
Seaking, for example, sounds exactly the same as the word "seeking." So when Smosh Games uploaded an Honest Game Trailer for Pokemon Red and Blue (before being moved to Fandom Games), Seaking appears as Desperately Seaking Susan, which is a 1985 film that stars Madonna.
7 A Low Fat Pokemon = Butterfree
Butterfree is one of the only Pokemon from the first generation to have their original Japanese name move over to some of the international localizations. In English, Butterfree is not a well-thought out name, but it makes sense given it becomes a Flying type after being stuck as a pure Bug type.
Butterfree's name, however, is what we call a diet version. If you want something that contains no fat or low fat, then you can have your food butter free.
6 My Favorite F. Scott Fitzgerald Book Is The Great Gastly
Similar to Seaking, there are other funny examples of Pokemon names that can derive from pop culture or lines. There is Rick Gastly (which we'll get to later), Fearow to the knee, The Taming of the Sandshrew, and so on.
Regarding Gastly, the name works well on numerous occasions. Similarly to the '80s one-hit-wonder artist Rick Astley, Gastly also works well for the F. Scott Fitzgerald book, The Great Gastly. An image even has been made by Harper Perennial on Twitter, which fits the book's cover too perfectly.
5 "I Wonder Where These Eggs Come From?" "Ditto."
Ditto is a very important Pokemon for many kinds of players, especially in the competitive or shiny hunting scene. That being said, Ditto certainly gets around thanks to its ability to clone any Pokemon to near perfection. Using a Ditto to breed has never been easier thanks to being able to inherit a specific nature or specific IVs.
It's also fun to troll the daycare worker who still does not know where the eggs come from. If players were able to respond from text, it would be funny to simply say "Ditto." Whether it means they agree or are being literal, Ditto will always play a part in both scenarios.
4 Kakuna Rattata, What A Wonderful Phrase!
Kakuna's Japanese name is literally Cocoon, so it would make sense to change its name to sound more cool and separated from its real-life inspirations. Meanwhile, Rattata is a play on a tapping sound. When you put their names side by side, it awfully sounds like that Lion King song that is either loved or hated by someone.
It might have been a coincidence from the localization team for Red and Blue, but the memes have made this word play one of the best ways to use Pokemon names period. There are funny fan made creations where Rattata acts as Rafiki and Kakuna as Simba or just a simple edit of Kakuna and Rattata walking under the moonlight.
3 What Pokemon Drinks Hydrogen Peroxide? Ho-Oh
Ho-Oh left a huge impact on fans who watched the very first episode of Pokemon. Not only was it not in a game yet, but the name for the Fire/Flying legendary was unknown for quite a while. When it was officially revealed that the Rainbow Pokemon would be named Ho-Oh, it was puzzling for a lot of fans that didn't know the origins.
So where does the joke about Ho-Oh drinking Hydrogen Peroxide come from? In chemistry, the formula for the chemical compound is H2O2. With two H's and O's, it's a clever wordplay for Ho-Oh's name.
2 If Eevee Gets Money, Does It Evolve Into Patreon?
Eevee can currently evolve into eight types of Eeveelutions depending on the type of stone, high friendship or affection. With that in mind, Eevee is capable of many ways to evolve as fans have created their own visions for types it hasn't evolve into yet.
It's natural for the cute Pokemon to evolve into a Vaporeon if given a water stone, but the internet makes up a great point with Eevee being involved with money. With Patreon being associated with supporting online creators with money, the wordplay of Eevee needing money to evolve into Patreon is genius and comical.
1 How's He Not On Fire? He's Already Ash
Ash's name derives from his original Japanese name, Satoshi. It might give a reason to have young western audiences a name to remember, at times it was too perfect. In the classic series, Ash rides a Ponyta that evolves into Rapidash for a race, and amazingly, he has not caught on fire at all.
So the joke that asks how Ash has not been caught on fire from riding a Pokemon literally in flames, it's a shocking revelation that the answer is the fact that he is already Ash. This is another win for 4Kids unintentionally make puns funny.