30 years of Pokémon: The memes that made it immortal
When Satoshi Tajiri created Pokémon, he imagined it as a way for kids to connect. The original games, released in Japan in February 1996, required a physical Game Boy link cable to trade creatures, turning strangers into trainers and playgrounds into real-life Pokémon Gyms.
The anime reinforced that idea, following Ash and Pikachu's journey as they met new friends wherever they went. Pokémon, in any form, was never meant to be experienced alone.
Thirty years later, that same instinct lives on somewhere else entirely: the internet. Not only through trades, but also through memes. A surprised Pikachu. A walking Furret. A Regirok with a handbag. These images have become their own kind of link cable, connecting millions of people through a shared language online.
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These are the memes that made Pokémon bigger than a game.
Surprised Pikachu
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No Pokémon meme captures the internet's favorite emotion — aka "performative shock at predictable consequences" — better than Surprised Pikachu.
The image comes from a 1997 episode of the Pokémon anime, but it didn't become a viral reaction image until 2018, according to Know Your Meme, when fans began pairing Pikachu’s blank, open-mouthed stare with captions describing obviously avoidable outcomes. It quickly became a universal punchline, transcending Pokémon entirely. Today, Surprised Pikachu isn't just a Pokémon meme. It's internet shorthand.
Furret Walk
In 2019, Furret — a long, mustelid-shaped Johto Pokémon with a very feline aura — achieved meme immortality simply by walking.
The endlessly looping animation, first uploaded by Narpy on YouTube in 2019 and often set to the upbeat Accumula Town theme from Pokémon Black and White, became a symbol of quiet perseverance. Furret just keeps going. No destination. No urgency. Just vibes. It's wholesome, hypnotic, and weirdly existential, which makes it perfect internet art.
So I Herd U Liek Mudkips
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Before there was Twitter, there was Mudkip.
Like many early internet memes, "so I herd u liek mudkips" doesn’t have a single, clean origin story. Some fans trace it back to MudKipClub, a DeviantArt group where the phrase was posted earnestly as an inside joke and invitation for other users to join the community. Others remember it spreading through 4chan, where it evolved into copypasta and became part of the platform's deeply chaotic, anything-goes humor.
Either way, by the mid-2000s, the phrase was everywhere — repeated endlessly in early fandom spaces, often ironically, and almost always spelled incorrectly. It was awkward. It was cringe. And that was the point. For better or worse, it helped establish Pokémon as foundational meme material.
Dragonite and Charizard Dancing to Ariana Grande
Sometimes a meme exists purely because it sparks joy.
This viral animation, which began circulating widely in 2016, shows Dragonite and Charizard dancing with surprising elegance, their massive bodies moving with pop-star precision. Most people know it set to Ariana Grande's "Into You," where the contrast between her breathless vocals and their enthusiastic choreography made the clip instantly funny and weirdly perfect.
But "Into You" wasn't the original soundtrack. The animation itself traces back to YouTube, where Thai artist MMDSatoshi used the freeware program MikuMikuDance to create 3D models of the Pokémon and animate them to "Gokuraku Jodo" by Japanese duo GARNiDELiA. As the clip spread across Twitter, Tumblr, and YouTube, fans began swapping in their own audio. Soon, everyone from K-pop star CL to Santana had their turn soundtracking the performance.
Regirock With a Handbag
Regirock was always stoic. The internet fixed that.
Fans began editing the ancient rock golem to give it accessories — especially nails, lashes, lip filler, and handbags — transforming it into an unlikely fashion icon. The humor comes from contrast: an emotionless legendary Pokémon suddenly serving c*nt looks.
It's absurd, niche, and deeply online.
Slowpoke
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Slowpoke became the internet's patron saint of being late. The meme began circulating widely in 2009, when users on 4chan started posting images of the famously sluggish Pokémon in response to people bringing up old news or long-settled debates.
Over time, it evolved into a universal reaction image, a shorthand for anyone who had missed the moment entirely. You didn't need to know Slowpoke's Pokédex stats to understand it. You just needed to know what it felt like to realize something after everyone else already had.
Diglett Underground
What's under Diglett? The games never answer that question. The internet did.
Diglett is, on its face, deceptively simple: a small, brown, mole-like Pokémon with a round pink nose and two black eyes, poking out of the ground. That's it. No visible arms. No visible legs. Just a head emerging from a hole, as if the rest of its body exists somewhere out of sight.
Fans quickly became obsessed with what that unseen body might look like. They imagined increasingly unhinged possibilities: massive muscular torsos, tiny dangling feet, or eldritch horrors buried beneath the surface. The joke isn't just Diglett — it's the mystery of what lies underground.
Sometimes the funniest part of Pokémon is what it refuses to explain.
Bidoof
Bidoof started as a joke. Then it became a legend.
Originally mocked as useless, Bidoof gained meme status when fans ironically elevated it to god-tier. Pokémon eventually embraced the joke, releasing official videos celebrating Bidoof's greatness.
It's a rare case of the meme reshaping the character itself.
Squirtle Squad
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The Squirtle Squad made sunglasses the coolest accessory in Pokémon history.
The group originated in the Pokémon anime's first season, where a gang of delinquent Squirtle wore black shades and caused trouble before eventually joining Ash's team. Their leader — permanently stoic behind his tiny sunglasses — quickly became a fan favorite, embodying a kind of effortless, miniature swagger.
Online, that image took on a life of its own. Squirtle in sunglasses became shorthand for confidence and the feeling of knowing you’re right. Decades later, it still works, whether you grew up watching the anime or just absorbed the image through the internet. Some memes never age, and this is one of them.
Advice Oak
Advice Oak was part of the golden age of image macros.
Using Professor Oak — the lab-coated scientist who introduces players to the world of Pokémon — as a template, fans paired his authoritative presence with terrible advice. The jokes often played on the games’ internal logic and frustrations: warning players not to ride their bike indoors while sending a 10-year-old out alone to battle wild creatures, or urging caution in situations that were already wildly unsafe.
It helped define Pokémon’s early meme language as equal parts silly and self-aware, and rooted in shared experience.
Topics Pokemon
Crystal Bell is the Culture Editor at Mashable. She oversees the site's coverage of the creator economy, digital spaces, and internet trends, focusing on how young people engage with others and themselves online. She is particularly interested in how social media platforms shape our online and offline identities.
She was formerly the entertainment director at MTV News, where she helped the brand expand its coverage of extremely online fan culture and K-pop across its platforms. You can find her work in Teen Vogue, PAPER, NYLON, ELLE, Glamour, NME, W, The FADER, and elsewhere on the internet.
She's exceptionally fluent in fandom and will gladly make you a K-pop playlist and/or provide anime recommendations upon request. Crystal lives in New York City with her two black cats, Howl and Sophie.
