With a franchise as enduring as Pokemon, which has been running non-stop since 1996 and is always rolling out new games and shows, it’d be more surprising if the internet hadn’t memed it by now. I mean, memes are kind of the core of the internet these days, right?
And with more than 25 years’ worth of material to use, we’ve seen our fair share of memes about Pokemon. Some roast the anime characters, some poke fun at some of the more lackluster ideas for Pokemon designs, and others go for the whole franchise. If you look up “Pokemon meme” here on TheGamer, we’ve got literally dozens of examples for you to laugh at.
But, if you’re trying to assemble the meme team of your dreams in your next playthrough, we’ve also got you covered in that regard too. Because why not? Memes are meant to be laughed at, and Pokemon is meant to be enjoyed, so have fun doing both at once.
10 Some Of The Goofy Regional Forms
Pokemon fans are no strangers to the ridiculous regional forms we’ve been receiving for the last few generations, and some of them are worth catching just to see them that much more often. The first regional Pokemon that comes to mind for me was Alola Exeggutor – that obscenely tall palm tree looming above the Alolan horizons will never not be funny.
But Game Freak has kept it up. We got even more region-specific forms in Galar, and we already know there’ll be more in Paldea, too. In concept, it’s great, and in execution, it’s somehow even better.
9 Trubbish, The Literal Garbage Pokemon
Fans have been screaming for a long time about how they’ve “run out of ideas for Pokemon,” as if some of the original 151 weren't kind of silly, too. Voltorb is literally just a sentient Pokeball, guys.
But Trubbish is just one of many examples that people use of how Game Freak is scraping the bottom of the barrel for inspiration. To make things even better, Trubbish evolves into an even bigger pile of toxic trash, Garbodor, who has a Gigantamax form that heaps even more onto the pile. The roasts for this evolution line write themselves.
8 Probopass, Just To Laugh At It
Okay, there’s nothing wrong with classic Rock and Steel-type Pokemon – they’re solid staples on any team. But please try to look at Probopass for too long without giggling. Its nose is colossal in relation to the rest of it, and because one wasn’t enough, it’s even got extra noses on its side and back, too. They’re called Mini-Noses, and they’re kind of creepy.
Probopass even has a goofy little mustache made of black iron sand to tie the whole picture together. Its red hat is supposed to be a magnet, but it gives more Devo than anything else.
7 Fat Pikachu, Best Boy
There have been some serious crimes committed throughout Pokemon’s lifespan so far, and one of the biggest wrongdoings, if the internet is to be believed, was the slimming down of iconic series mascot, Pikachu. In the original games and on the trading cards in the '90s, Pikachu was a unit, but all that walking around the Pokemon world with Ash seems to have helped it shed some pounds.
Fans of this chonky little friend were elated when the former style was used for Pikachu’s Gigantamax form in the Galar region, enormous in both height and width. Our vintage doughy Electric-type is always welcome on our teams.
6 One Of The Silly Ice Cream Cones
I already touched on it with Trubbish, but Pokemon fans went extra hard on Game Freak with the announcement of the ice cream line of evolution from Black and White. Vanillite is the happy-looking soft-serve friend, Vanillish is the larger and slightly angrier middle form, and Vanilluxe is the final stage with not one but two scoops of sentient dessert.
Some people found the ice creams endearing, but they’ve gotten a lot of flack over the years. Creepily enough, you learn that their “ice cream” is just snow, and that underneath, their whole body is the same as the cone in color and texture. They can definitely keep the snow on, thanks…
5 Bidoof, God-Tier First Route Pokemon
Some Pokemon are quantum in nature, where they manage to be so unpopular that they become absurdly popular, and that’s where our beaver buddy, Bidoof comes in. Every region of Pokemon will take you through areas with monsters that progressively get tougher in relation to the recommended skill level for you by that point in the game.
Bidoof was one of many rodent-like Pokemon to serve as easy first-route ‘mon to help you get the lay of the land and start building a team, but fans spent a lot of time making hybrids of Bidoof and actual legendaries. The most popular one combines every single Legendary, and gives them Bidoof’s sweet little face to tie it all together.
4 Slowpoke, Who's Late To The Party
If there’s any Pokemon meme that’s stood the test of time, it’s the Slowpoke meme. The joke here is that this Pokemon is so dumb and laggy that it extends into the real world, with fans using it to comment on notoriously sluggish things or outdated opinions.
Common targets include Internet Explorer, the Pokemon franchise itself, and even the prediction that the world was going to end in 2012. And while Slowpoke might not be my favorite Pokemon meme, it did take him quite a bit to get here, so taking a while to include him in my list only felt fitting.
3 Omanyte, AKA Lord Helix
Twitch Plays Pokemon saw people from around the world all trying to contribute to the completion of Pokemon Red… all at the same time, all playing the same game together. Each comment left could input a command into the game, and when you’ve got a reported 1.16 million people participating over the course of the runtime, it’s bound to get out of control.
The memes from this 16-day spectacular were numerous, but the one that rose above the rest was Lord Helix, the title bestowed upon the Helix Fossil that the collective Internet chose after beating the Super Nerd at Mt. Moon. And the fact that so many people somehow worked together and also in spite of one another to actually revive and use it is nothing short of amazing.
2 Mudkip, Which I Herd U Liek
The internet in the 2000s was something of a wild west as we collectively figured out what to do with this new power, and the Mudkips meme cropped up around then. It originated on deviantArt as something of a slogan for the appreciation group for the sweet little Water starter, called MudKipClub.
The target was people who'd shared their fanart of the Mudkip evolution line, and the community leader began posting “so I herd u liek mudkips” on fanart as a way to invite people to the appreciation club. The slogan spread to 4chan before long, became an X-rated copypasta (because this is the internet, so of course it did), and the meme we know and love was born.
1 Any Water-Type, For The Amount Of Water In Hoenn
Here at TheGamer, we know very well how much people look to reviews when new games are coming out – we write them. But there’s maybe no Pokemon game review commentary more lambasted than IGN’s remark that Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire suffered a few lost points because there was “too much water” in the game’s overworld.
But Hoenn, the region where the games are set, is an island country with offset islets all around its coasts; of course there’s going to be water. Thankfully, it means you’ll have ample opportunity to catch a Water-type and use it to navigate, so we hope the sheer volume of liquid won’t detract from your time in this picturesque island region.