After Nintendo officially unveiledPokemon SwordandShieldto the world, the Internet was quick to react. We had everything fromrealistic takes on the startersto memes galore, including one meme that jokingly featured a fake third game calledPokemon Gun, playing on the fact that the newPokemongames are named after weapons. However, one Mexican newspaper didn’t get the joke, and actually published thePokemon Gunmeme in its write-up on the newPokemongames.
The newspaper is called La Voz de Michoacan, and while it published an image onPokemon Gun, apparently the text in the article didn’t mentionPokemon Gunby name. Even so, including an image of a meme with a fakePokemongame seems like a pretty glaring mistake, and it’s surprising that no one caught it before the paper was printed.
Then again, the fakePokemon Gunlogo actually looks realistic, and it matches the style of thePokemon SwordandShieldlogos very well. However, the absurdity of a Nintendo-publishedPokemongame being named after guns, especially given the ongoing debate about gun control and gun violence all over the world, is what should tip people off that it’s fake.
In the past, thePokemonfranchise has gone to great lengths to avoid guns. In abanned episode of thePokemonanime, a character actually points a gun directly in Ash Ketchum’s face. The episode in question, “The Legend of Dratini,” sees Ash and company explore the Safari Zone, with Ash adding a number of new Pokemon to his team. If The Pokemon Company was willing to ban this episode of the anime despite its importance to the overarching plot because of guns, then there’s no way it would name an entire game after guns.
At the end of the day, this false news story doesn’t seem to have caused any harm to thePokemonbrand, and most online are just laughing it off. If Nintendodoesdecide to move forward with a thirdGalar region-setPokemongame, we’re not sure what it will be called, but we are almost positive it won’t be calledPokemon Gun.
