Pokemon Scarlet & Violet players think they may have uncovered a subtle rude joke in the DLC’s new Pokedex entries.
The Pokemon franchise is aimed at kids, but there have been plenty of subtle jokes included in the games and spin-off media that are intended for adults. These range from double entendres to that one fight against the trainers using an Onix and a Cloyster.
These rude or inappropriate jokes can’t be too obvious; otherwise, they won’t make it into the games. The closest the franchise gets to adult content happens in the older Pokemon manga series, but even these are watered-down in the modern era.
The Pokemon franchise has faced a lot of censorship over the years, as The Pokemon Company ensures that the content is suitable for all ages. Despite this, a funny reference has made its way into The Indigo Disk DLC, which fans quickly discovered.
Pokemon Scarlet & Violet has a rude joke involving Muk
Pokemon Scarlet & Violet has brought returning Pokemon into Gen 9 through The Indigo Disk DLC. These include the Alolan versions of Grimer and Muk. Now that The Indigo Disk DLC is available, fans have discovered that Alolan Muk is number 69 on the brand-new Blueberry Pokedex.
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“They got away with it lmao,” one user wrote, while several other people said, “Nice!”
To those who are unaware of what the joke is, it relates to Muk’s name. In Gen 1, Ekans and Arbok have pun names meant to be read backward, turning them into Snake and Kobra. A lot of memes have also included Muk in this paradigm, mentioning that it’s also supposed to have a backward name.
There’s an argument to be made for this reference being unintentional. After all, Pokemon Scarlet & Violet was developed by a Japanese company, and Muk’s name is an invention of the English language localization, with its Japanese name being Betbeton.
If Muk’s presence on the Pokedex weren’t intentional, then you’d think someone on the English localization team would have pointed it out. Then again, who’d want to be the one who writes the report that explains the joke and then has to send it off to Game Freak?