Over twenty years since its inception, Pokemon is still going strong. There are dozens of games (over 100 if you include games outside of the core series), the television show is now into its twentieth season, and the 20th film is coming out in 2017. Pokemon Go took the world by storm in 2016, not only exciting the imaginations of dedicated fans but also bringing back people who hadn’t picked up a Pokemon game in years.
The entire franchise is among the most iconic in the entertainment world. While the gameplay is somewhat repetitive, we just can’t stop playing (and we don’t care to!) With all that said, there are plenty of opportunity for ridicule in the Pokemon series. While the franchise, taken as a whole, is incredible, there are certain storylines —along with some unfortunate, silly, and illogical aspects— that make them very easy to make fun of.
Whether it be some interactions with other characters, weird and downright ludicrous Pokemon, or plain old logic fails, there are plenty of Poke-memes out there that are too funny to miss. The internet and the brilliant meme-lords who secretly run it point out what a ridiculous series it is. Being able to laugh at some of this nonsense actually makes us love the series even more.
From logic fails to stupid gameplay mechanics, here are fifteen awesome Pokemon memes. You “gotta laugh at ’em all.”
15 Get Lost In The Fantasy
Over the last two decades, games have made leaps and bounds in terms of graphics and overall entertainment value. The same can be said of this franchise, and while newer installations of the series are more impressive than the originals, the basic game remains the same. While it looks simple and even tedious to people who aren’t die-hard fans, we all know every game including the original Red and Blue has been an epic adventure in a fantastic world with creatures ranging from cute and funny to intimidating and scary. It may just be a game on a screen, but the addiction factor is impressive.
14 Confusion?
The fact that the move “confusion,” and a couple of other moves can cause a Pokemon to become confused and be completely hapless for a few turns is incredibly irritating. Other status conditions such as paralysis and sleep may be a serious problem in the middle of a battle, but confusion is one of the ones that can actually cause damage to an affected Pokemon on every turn. Our question is: why? How does one get so confused that they actually hurt themselves? Are these confused Pokemon just walking into nearby walls? Are they hitting their heads against the ground, or are they just, as this meme implies, just taking shots at themselves?
13 Priorities
This is a Pokemon themed take on the classic “Fck Btches, Make Money.” The line is thought to have originated with rappers Jr. M.A.F.I.A. and Biggie Smalls, but these days millennials just use the format and input anything and everything. In this case, yes, we’ll admit it, there are times when Pokemon, and indeed, any decent video game, may be a bigger priority than sex and dating. This obviously goes for female gamers too, “disregard dudes, acquire Pokemon” for the ladies. If the person pursuing you is annoying,or nothing special and the relationship isn’t serious, or you’re full on single and enjoying it, catch’em all and worry about attention later.
12 He Looks Like A Dragon…But That Doesn’t Matter
This is a point of contention among many Pokemon trainers out there, and Charizard is not the example. There are also Gyarados and Aerodactyl, who both really look like dragons, but instead are water/flying, rock/flying and of course Charizard is flying/fire. It is believed that the primary reason for these three dragon-looking Pokemon not being of that type is so that the Generation One dragon type would have just three Pokemon, Dratini, Dragonair, and of course (flying/dragon) Dragonite. Of course, among the newer generations beyond that original 150, the creators have become far more liberal with their assignment of the dragon type.
11 Damn It, Surf!
This is another beautiful example of “Pokemon logic.” There are so many water-type Pokemon in the game and whether you fish for them or just encounter them while already riding another Pokemon across the waves, you will need to use HM03 “surf” to teach them how to swim. Perhaps that machine is necessary to add some more challenge to the game, and maybe the move actually teaches Pokemon how to balance people on it’s back while swimming, but whatever the answer, it is kind of ridiculous that a water Pokemon can’t swim without special training.
What do we think of the fact that small trees on pathways that can only be cut? Don’t even ask; any fire Pokemon could burn those, and any Pokemon trainer with any dexterity whatsoever could find a way around.
10 Smartphones Have Everything You Need
As of 2016, between Tinder (and similar smartphone-supported dating services) and Pokemon Go, the smartphone is everyone’s best friend. These are two absurdly addictive apps, and it can be hard to decide between the two. One of them is a great way to burn through a few hours, may be incredibly frustrating, and might involve getting some exercise, and the other is Pokemon Go. Of course, if you have a significant other, there is no decision to be made. For the single Pokemon Go player, on the other hand, if you have Tinder installed, there is no reason ever to put down your phone. Just walk from Tinder booty-call to booty call while catching Pokemon on the way. What a time to be alive.
9 Why Do They Only Say Their Names?
This meme uses the classic ‘boardroom suggestion’ meme, in which a supervisor and three supposed employees are in a meeting. The person in charge poses a question, two of the others make terrible suggestions, and the third offers an intelligent one, only to be thrown out the window. In this case, Meowth suggests that just saying their names and parts of their names over and over again is a terrible way for Pokemon to communicate, and is tossed out the building by Pikachu, Charmander, and Bulbasaur. It is hilarious and true, but not being able to talk is an entertaining part of the series and genuinely makes us chuckle. In all honesty, we wouldn’t change it.
8 We All Sing Along
The Pokemon theme song wasn’t entertaining even when we were kids. The tune and lyrics are all terrible and about as tacky as a jingle for a kid’s show can be. Still, we’ve all memorized it by heart, and we won’t lie: even if we hear the tune from another room, we’re singing along. It is just one of those great memories of childhood that we have taken into our adult years. No matter how childish and awful it is, it puts nostalgia through the roof. It is way too exciting to hear and not sing along. If you’re in your twenties and don’t sing along to this song whenever you hear it, now is the time to start binge watching the first few seasons of the show.
7 Just Throw, Pray, Repeat
This is a hilarious meme in and of itself. It is often seen on Facebook with the poke balls replaced with the “Like” thumbs up. The idea is to post it to indicate that a person loves a post so much they want to “Like” it dozens of times. This is a screen shot from Rambo (2008), and Sly Stallone is on a .50 caliber machine gun, tearing bad guys to shreds.
In this case, if you’ve already used the master ball or haven’t received one yet, and a legendary comes along, you’re throwing ultra balls, great balls, and all manner of the later-generation balls in a desperate attempt to catch the rare animal. It gets incredibly frustrating, and if you’re not lucky, you’ll likely just end up wasting all your poke balls.
6 Those Server Crashes
Overall, we really have to applaud the overall execution of Pokemon Go. We have to say “overall” in this case because while many players loved the game for a while, and some still do, we all dealt with a lot (and there were a lot) of bugs and questionable mechanics.
The most frustrating aspect of that game was server crashes. These were an absolute nightmare and happened too often, especially shortly after the game’s release. The worst kind of Pokemon Go hell was when you activated a lucky egg or incense (or both), and then the game decided to crash and become unavailable for half an hour. In a case like that, there was no “enjoying nature,” just cursing at a smartphone.
5 Brilliant Scientist?
We have to wonder: what the heck was Professor Oak doing all that time he was studying Pokemon? Obviously he is just the first in a long line of professors who have decades of “experience” studying these creatures, but still seem to have done very little in the way of actual practical data gathering.
Of course, the empty Pokedex is necessary to make us play through the game, but this is just another hilarious example of questionable logic. It has been driving us crazy for years. Professors Oak, Elm, and all the rest have very little credibility in our eyes, given these empty Pokedex they have been handing out for the last twenty year.
4 Why Is The Bike So Expensive??!!
Here is a little bit of Pokemon logic along with a simple question of economics. Of course, this is somewhat inaccurate, given that the price for various Poke Balls ranges from 200 Pokemon Dollars to over a thousand, and the price for the bicycle was 1,000,000 in generations I through III. Still, the point stands.
There is clearly a monopoly on bicycle production in these various regions, and something is severely hampering the free market which would drive prices down due to competition. The balls used to catch Pokemon clearly require a ridiculous amount of technical skill to create, but somehow the prices are minimal, while a relatively simple bicycle is hundreds of times the price.
3 They’re Satan
Everything marketed to children is awful, right? If you read into anything enough, (as some religious groups will and do) everything is evil in some way.
While for most of us, Pokemon has always been a guilty pleasure and a wacky adventure through another world, some evangelical types argued that the franchise has roots in Satanic worship and the occult. Sigmund Freud is widely considered to have been the source of the phrase “sometimes a cigar is just a cigar,” and in this case, the silly game with the cute and trainable creatures is just a game with trainable, collectible animals. Don’t get us wrong, the concept of keeping animals in tiny storage units on one’s belt and getting them to fight for glory is crazy, but we don’t think the Devil is behind any of it.
2 Where Are The Critical Hits When We Actually Need Them?!
We all know it, weakening a Pokemon to have a better shot at catching it is one of the most challenging and delicate aspects of playing these games. Most of us focus on training our main squad for winning battles, but not specifically for weakening. This meme isn’t talking about the common Pokemon of course, but the rare and even the legendary. Weakening Pokemon is an irritating necessity, but we’ve all been there: you get the Pokemon to about a third of full health, and decide to hit it one more time in hopes of a more likely catch. Then it happens, you score a critical hit and that Pokemon you’ve been walking around looking for the last hour faints.
It goes without saying that no critical hits could have been scored in that last tough gym battle, because that would just be way too convenient.
1 Animal Cruelty?
Remember when we said that Pokemon has nothing to do with Satanism? Well, that still stands to reason, but the game does involve a lot of things that would be considered cruel in our world.
Keeping Pokemon locked up in tiny balls must be a terrible way for them to live, not to mention that they are only brought out to battle each other until they faint. They sure do seem happy and dedicated in the TV show, but it doesn’t seem fair. There is respect and compassion for animals, and then there is the polar opposite of care, respect, and compassion: everything that happens in Pokemon. Then again, it is only a game, and unless fans of the franchise start throwing white and red colored rocks at animals in real life, there’s no harm done.
