Since it’s the infamous Porygon, it kidnapped the worldwide audiences of Scarlet and Violet for a little digital treat as mass outbreaks of Porygon now appear everywhere in the Paldea region. The announcement kind of stunned the audience and launched a Twitter frenzy that ranged from hype to goofy derivations of tickets from side-chat interviews into everything from Switch 2 rumors to seizure warnings.
Similar to most of the other announcements, it came with some form of calamity as provided in the original tweet by Nintendo itself that read: “Mass outbreaks of Porygon are now appearing throughout #PokemonScarletViolet!” followed by an almost obscene image of the polygonal Pokemon spawning in groups. Unsurprisingly, the replies quickly split into an ecosystem of memes, arguments, and Nintendo conspiracies.
Several references were made immediately regarding the black mark on Porygon’s history with the 1997 anime episode that caused Japanese viewers to go into seizures due to flashing effects. DeluxeGamer705 jokingly said, “Hopefully no flashing effects from ’97…”, whereas DeltaHalo117 was more straightforward in calling it the “Seizure Pokemon.” Conversely, n_murder_man passionately asserted, “PORYGON DID NOTHING WRONG.”
Amid its discussions, others were brought up about the completists of Pokemon games. TashawnMcRae casually said, “I’m pass on this one already completed the main dex,” flaunting his finished dex, while another almost excited everyone, StreetSharts96, said, “I’ll be back on Friday.”
However, like with most Nintendo news, things got how far away from the agenda they could. Serious pro-Switch 2 and other related speculations began flowing in just as sergio_ascanio asked if a Zelda-themed version might be coming. “Get that switch 2 version up and running at 4k 60 and I’ll be there day one!” demanded SwitchX2, while skyformeshaymin darkly joked, “mass outbreaks of hackers trying to crack switch 2 games.”
The insane detours persisted in the replies-another minus-one to Nintendo-pricing policies, with mmdman886 lamenting “a 13 years old pkmn game still being sold for $60”)-and random political jabs-even someone in ALL-CAPS made a passionate pledge to make “[Porygon-Z’S] BIG DEBUT!” with meme references.
Stopping just right to get back to business, some players were discussing what the Porygon outbreaks mean in-game. The digital Pokemon spawning in Scarlet/Violet‘s open world is the continuation of Game Freak’s practice of rotating mass outbreaks to spring fresh catching opportunities upon players and keeping them interested. For shiny hunters and completionists, these outbreaks increase the chances of acquiring rare variants of the virtual duck.
With the timing, especially since Pokemon Day will be on the 27th of February, it has led some to speculate that maybe this is just the beginning of numerous in-game events geared toward the anniversary. While Nintendo still is yet to come out saying anything, the Porygon outbreaks can very well be just the first that is to come.
The graphics debate that has been rolling since the launch of Scarlet/Violet has rejuvenated itself, with lmlRod300 begging, “Looks like they are at home in that game… those graphics across the game,” in reference to Porygon’s digital nature supporting the somewhat rough visuals in the game.
The replies themselves show that whatever Nintendo can announce will go down in gaming culture as memes blended with news, console wars, nostalgia, and utterly outrageous arguments. While Porygon outbreaks may be center-stage, the reply culture will be the real show. Whether they are still going to go back to catch them all or are just here for the Twitter mayhem, what is clear is that this digital duck still knows how to stir the pot decades after its debut.
