It's no secret that gamers should be wary of April Fools' Day, as fellow gamers, video game companies, and even video games themselves will stop at nothing to prank fans on the humorous day. While some April Fools' jokes include special in-game occurrences, such as Overwatch's signature googly-eyed characters, others will announce a fake character or even an entire event for the day.
The tradition is widespread in the gaming industry, and the company behind the world's highest grossing media franchise has now taken a stab at a light-hearted joke for fans. The Pokemon Company is no stranger to April Fools' jokes, given that the ever-popular Pokemon GO mobile game was inspired by an April Fools' joke in collaboration with Google Maps. This year, however, The Pokemon Company took a different approach, completely transforming its social media platforms for the day.
On platforms like Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, and YouTube, The Pokemon Company changed its profile picture to a version of the Pokemon 25th anniversary logo featuring the Normal-type Pokemon Bidoof. Since this morning, the social media accounts have been posting about the Pokemon nonstop, with photos, videos, and .gifs, even going as far as to upload a Bidoof "fancam" to YouTube, mimicking the style of videos popular among K-pop fans.
The Pokemon Company has even gone as far as to load the "stories" of its social media platforms with Bidoof as well. Fans are thankful that the joke is rather harmless, but it may still haunt some nonetheless, as the Plump Mouse Pokemon is widely regarded as one of the most annoying monsters in the series, constantly appearing in the 4th generation games Pokemon Diamond, Pearl, and Platinum. Despite this, many players regard its evolution, Bibarel, as one of the most useful Pokemon in the game, being capable of learning almost every Hidden Machine move available, which allow players to travel across bodies of water, move boulders, cut down trees, and much more.
Of course, while this is all a joke, it does feel rather timely. For the past year, fans had been clamoring for news on Pokemon Diamond and Pearl remakes for the Nintendo Switch, and just a couple of months ago, they received confirmation of Pokemon Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl, as well as a new take on the series in Pokemon Legends: Arceus. All of these games feature the Sinnoh region, which is where Bidoof made its debut.
All jokes aside, the franchise is celebrating its 25th anniversary this year, which has already brought fans a plethora of new Pokemon merchandise, announcements, in-game events, and more. As 2021 continues, it will be interesting to see what else The Pokemon Company has in store for fans.