Funny / Smogon

Analysis pages

• The entry for Castform in Gen V, whose only set offered is... "Everybody Look At Me I'm Using Castform". Made even funnier by its additional comments.
  "Whether Castform the Weather Pokémon can weather the weather is dependent on whether the weather that it's weathering is the proper weather for it to weather. Whether the opponent can weather the weather is also subject to whether the weather that it's weathering is the right weather to weather. Whether Castform can weather the opponent is once again dictated by the weather and whether that weather is the favorable weather for weathering. But most importantly, you should know whether there will be weather to weather rather than what weather they will be weathering and whether they can weather that weather."
• The Most Almighty Unown's Gen V entry is also pleasantly sarcastic.
  Other Options: You can literally run any type of Hidden Power! Unown has an option for every type and its power knows no limits—other than being hit by any other opposing Pokémon, of course. Unown wouldn't want to learn any other moves anyway, because it does not need them. Hidden Power is all it needs to wreak havoc, cause despair, and spread fear amongst the opposing team. Using stronger moves such as the boring Fire Blast, Hydro Pump, or Draco Meteor would make Unown a little girl who can't fight and likes to risk a miss that could cost you a game. Unown is no gambler.
• Smogon outright denies Magikarp his normal Memetic Badass status through his Gen V entry, putting it in the "Overused" tier in its summary due to, well... the other definition of "overused".
  There is no excuse for using Magikarp, at all. All comedy value in using it disappeared by about 1998, and anyone who finds it funny deserves to be fed Rare Candy until they get diarrhea.^note The last part was unfortunately removed at some point in time.
  • Fast-forward to Sun and Moon, and Magikarp gets another amusing analysis, complete with a moveset titled "I Think I'm Funny For Using This".
  • When the Pokémon Stadium Poké Cup sets were uploaded to the site, Magikarp's set was just titled "Really...", and has its important moves listed as "None".
• Farfetch'd's old gen V entry.
  In Generation V, many monsters rely on cowardly tactics — hit-and-run maneuvers with Choice items, unfairly exploiting their foes' typings to set up, or using despicable entry hazards to violate the sanctity of Focus Sash. Some simply use sheer brute force to crush those foes who are less fortunate, or a favorable typing and natural defensive power to wall their foes. Farfetch'd is a simpler kind of Pokemon. An honorable Pokemon. A decent Pokemon. Using Farfetch'd isn't just picking a team member—it's standing up for the restoration of knightly virtue to Pokemon battles.
• And here's the intro for Delibird's Gen V entry:
  One of the worst things about Christmas has to be the mall Santas. Every year these vapid tokens of an overly commercialized holiday pop up all over like clockwork, intending to spread joy and cheer but doing nothing but delivering lackadaisical performances and disappointment. Many a kid's holidays have been spoiled by these mundane avatars of Kris Kringle in what can only be described as a ritualistic assassination of childhood innocence. Truly, they are a blight upon our cultural landscape, and only when they are washed from our social consciousness can some form of dignity begin to return to Christmas.
  
  Everything stated in the above paragraph also applies to Delibird.
• Then there are the analyses from the fourth gen, which are just as good in their own way. In particular, the one for Kakuna is hilarious due to being written in the style of an actual analysis... at least until you look a bit more closely...
  Choice: This is your standard Choice sweeper. With Bug Bite, Kakuna is not walled by the likes of Steelix and Steel-type Arceus. As a matter of fact, Bug Bite's addition lowers max HP / max Def Steelix from a 94HKO to a 36HKO. Max HP Steel-type Arceus is now a 25HKO, while min HP/Def Psychic Arceus is a 22HKO.
  • Also worth noting is that the article was written by a user named "The Great Kakuna Man". Nobody else could possibly deserve the honor to write about Kakuna other than him.
• The BW Arceus articles' Introductions evoke hammy Purple Prose. Hilariously, even Arceus-Bug gets this sort of introduction, despite being unviable in BW Ubers and its analysis essentially telling you not to use it.
• Some of the moveset names can be quite hilarious:
  • Wobbuffet's movesets from its introduction to Gen V are all titled "Oh No, It's Wobbuffet!" Its Battle Spot Singles set is instead called "\(>_<)7".
  • Gligar's GSC UU moveset is called "The G-Word".
  • Blissey's Ubers moveset is titled "#1 Blob"
  • One of Carbink's PU movesets is called "ROCK WITH EYES".
  • Deoxys-N's movesets are titled "Useless" and "Still Useless".
  • Pangoro's Choice Band moveset is titled "NEVER SAY NO TO PANDA"
  • And then there's Druddigon's old movesets names: "BROKEN," "BROKEN ITEM X OVERPOWERED MON," "OVERPOWERED Rocks," and "TOUCHING IT WILL KILL YOU"
  • Mega Gengar's Perish Song moveset: "Rick Gastly"
  • Lucario's XY/Uber moveset? The Force Awakens.
  • Meowstic-F's moveset for the Competitive ability is "Competitive(ly Terrible) Sweeper".
  • Abomasnow has "Barack Aboma" and "President Snow".
  • Beedrill has "Don't Stand So Close To Me".
  • Gothitelle's is called "I Wanna Be The Latios".
  • Greedent gets the set name "Big Chungus" (though it was regrettably changed).
  • Duraludon's old Battle Stadium Singles entry has the set name Jet Fuel (with the first move in the set naturally being Steel Beam). It was later removed however; not for the dark set name but because Duraludon just wasn't good in BSS.
  • Regirock's SS PU analysis has the title of "UN UN UN".
  • Dusclops's Godly Gift sample set is titled "The Most Passive Wall You Can Think Of", due to letting Dusclops patch up its low HP, but not its middling offenses. Similarly, Sharpedo has a sample set titled "Speed Boost is a Broken Ability".
  • Ditto's SV National Dex entry is just titled "SUS".
  • Another Ditto set, but from Gen 7 is called "no u".
  • One of Luvdisc's sets for DP is called "F(l)ail".
  • Dondozo's Battle Spot Singles Reg C Assault Vest set is called "BIG FLOPPA". Its Fissure set is instead titled "OHKO Fisher".
  • For Maushold, UU lists sets for both the Families of Four and Three, dubbed "The Family" and "The Smaller Family" respectively. Other amusing set names for the mice include "The Mouse" for 1v1 and "La Familia" for Ubers.
  • Cyclizar's Ubers analysis has the set name "vroom vroom".
  • Meowscarada's BSS Reg C analysis is called "CRITTY CAT".
  • Chi-Yu's SV Ubers wallbreaking set is given the sophisticated title of "Feesh".
  • Iron Bundle's BSS set is called "Santa's Slay".
  • The first set for Iron Hands in BSS is called "CATCH THESE HANDS".
  • Banette's National Dex OU set is simply called "Don't use Banette", referencing its noobtrap status in the tier.
  • On the Create-a-Pokémon side of things, Smokomodo's analysis dubs its Bone Rush + Loaded Dice set "Bone Zone".
• Unown's Gen III summary is hilariously brief.
• Unown's Gen VI analysis discusses Unown's "secret power when linked together", explaining its ability to spell out words with several types of Unown (Those words being, for example, "YOUWIN" and "ILOSE!"). Its usage tips simply state "The reason why you are using Unown is unknown."
• Luvdisc's Gen VI entry doesn't even describe its competitive viability (Of which to say none at all). Instead, it takes the fact that Luvdisc is often given from one lover to another and creates a moveset dedicated to courting your opponent. It even goes into details on what else you can do to win them over, and for team options, it gives variable flower Pokémon because flowers are a romantic gift. Best of all, it does have this to say about the set in a competitive sense:
  If you get rejected, this is also a very annoying moveset to face. If you can't win them over, you'd better make sure they suffer for it.
• The Gen VI analysis writers spared no expense to mock Castform.
  Castform is the living proof that if man ever hopes to emulate nature's beauty in its creation of living things, there's still a long way to go. While nature has concocted majestic dragons and serpents such as Salamence and Milotic, all that the top scientists from Hoenn could muster is a disfigured cluster of water molecules that they aptly classified as a Normal-type and whose entire lower half looks like one huge ass. Not very professional of them.
  
  At least they weren't lying about Castform's half-assed battling capabilities.
• Similarly to Luvdisc, Spinda's Gen VI analysis forgoes discussing its competitive viability and instead characterizes it as a hopeless alcoholic dancer, and its moveset is less about taking out the opponent and more about getting it more drink refills. Its listed counters are simply "An empty wallet" and "A broken heart", even formatted like actual counter listings.
• By Generation VI and VII they've pretty much just given up on Normal Forme Deoxys, since the best thing they can think of for its moveset is using Counter to check Extreme Speed Arceus in the former and Kasib Berry to bait Marshadow in the latter, and the very first entry in its Generation VII Usage Tips section is "Don't actually use [Normal Forme] Deoxys."
  Being bulkier than the least bulky Pokémon in the game should not be mistaken for being able to take hits.
• Wormadam-Sandy's Gen VI analysis talks less about its "viability" in the PU metagame, and more about how it looks like a slice of pizza. The rest of the article is no less amusing.
  Does this set look familiar? Yes, that is because Golem can do the exact same thing but not suck completely.
• Watchog's Gen V overview wastes no time explaining why it's so unpopular.
  Let's take an overdone concept, make it as shitty as possible, give it the creepiest eyes known to Pokémon, and release it into the world just to watch the Pokemon fandom squirm. ~Game Freak
• Metang's Gen V RU analysis, THE MIGHTY METANG, with guest star Billy Mays.
  Billy Mays here with a limited time offer; our brand new product for the RU tier. Combining the incredible defensive capabilities of the Steel-type and Eviolite, Metang will make a splash hit for all those watching at home. For just the cost of one teamslot, you can get your own Metang today, as well a beautiful Eviolite stone that can be used as a gift, or a Cell Battery to make sure your Metang doesn't run out of juice! But that's not all! Call now and we will add an extra Stealth Rock to your order! This decorative piece is perfect for filling your Stealth Rock needs! Use it wisely though, because setting up Stealth Rock turns Metang from nearly worthless to completely worthless for the rest of the match.
• Pachirisu's Gen V entry is delightfully sarcastic.
  156 HP EVs gives Pachirisu an HP stat of 300, filling it with the souls of shirtless warriors from the movie of the same name. A Timid nature and maximized Speed EVs allow Pachirisu to move as nimbly as its stumpy feet allow, making it more effective at delivering items than either UPS or FedEx. 56 Special Attack EVs allow Pachirisu to OHKO Swanna with Volt Switch even without the Zap Plate, which is important as ducks are the squirrel's only natural enemy. The remaining 44 EVs go into Special Defense, making it slightly harder to cause mental and emotional damage to Pachirisu's tiny brain.
• The absolutely legendary description of Luvdisc for Generation 4.
  We'll take a generic Water-type, give it crummy stats EVERYWHERE except for Speed, give him a trait that doubles his Speed in the rain and the option to use Agility and call it a day. Luvdisc is great if you're playing with Battle Timeout, because its mere presence should cause your opponent to laugh at it for so long that you win the match.
• Palkia's BW dex entry contains a great deal of suggestive language woven into the introduction, as a jab at Palkia's Unfortunate Character Design. Although "ejaculate" near the beginning was Bowdlerised to "cough up", the rest is still intact.
• The Gen VI... um... "analysis" for Wobbuffet in PU:
  When you see that Wobbuffet is available for use in a tier where Shadow Tag is banned, you might think that there would be no reason to ever use it. This, however, could not be further from the truth. Wobbuffet carves itself an excellent niche as the bulkiest Pokemon in the tier without any actual use at all. [...] Wobbuffet is the perfect Pokemon for those situations where you desperately need to sacrifice something but can't afford to sacrifice a Pokemon with any value whatsoever.
• Bisharp's Gen 5 Analysis interrupts at the start to praise how cool it looks;
  Before reading this overview, please take a second to see that Bisharp looks like a complete and utter badass. After taking a minute to bask in its glory, we can get to the analysis.
• Unlike many other Low Tier Letdowns, the Gen V analysis writers clearly couldn't bring themselves to rip poor Furret to pieces. Its summary simply states "Furret is fast and cute," and its set suggests letting it Trick a Choice item onto an opponent so that it can say it did something in the battle. Possibly the most lovingly written joke analysis on the site!

Flying Press and social media

• Smogon's official Facebook page shared the new Ultra Sun & Ultra Moon trailer concerning the 3 New UBs revealed to be the Poison-type UB-Adhesive, the Fire/Ghost-type UB-Burst, and the Rock/Steel UB-Assembly. The post caps off on this note:
  Which Ground-type are you looking forward to using to prey on the new Ultra Beasts' well balanced typings?
• On April Fools' Day 2021, Smogon's Twitter account published an analysis of Amoonguss for the "SUS" metagame.
• Some of the Flying Press articles can be quite funny as well, such as the one on Triples Shedinja Metronome Battles: a joke metagame where Shedinja is the only allowed Pokémon, and Metronome is the only allowed move.
  However, do not be fooled by the apparent simplicity and one-dimensional aspect of this metagame. It gets as diversified as one could imagine, and it truly reflects the skill of both players.
  Now here's an underrated set: defensive Shedinja. [...] So now, thanks to heavy HP investment, instead of having 1 HP you have 1 HP, which lets Shedinja tank hits much better, and the increased Defense can turn out useful against physical attacks such as Waterfall or Body Slam.
  (on entry hazards in the metagame) In this aspect, TSMB is exactly like OU: whoever gets their hazards up first wins.
• The Many Niche Flying-types of RBY Ubers starts off as a fairly serious analysis, but becomes increasingly sardonic as the article progresses and starts having to talk about Pokémon like Butterfree and Farfetch'd in Ubers.
  Let me be clear—Butterfree is horrendous. It's obliterated by everything from Mewtwo to Gengar to Rhydon, and no moveset will ever make it do meaningful damage. This is a terrible idea and anyone doing this has either abandoned all hope or is attempting to ritualistically humiliate their hapless opponent. Butterfree may be the most embarrassing Pokémon to lose to on this list; the others all offer some creative way to turn the tables on the opponent, but this is just a really bad Bug that glues together a mockery of a niche out of RBY's silly sleep mechanics. Anyone who pulls this off in a meaningful game should be applauded—and feared—but we haven't quite dug into the deepest holes of viability just yet.
• The Top 10 Mechanical Changes to Competitive Pokémon demonstrates the lack of the physical/special split in an amusing way: an image of a frustrated-looking Gengar throwing a Shadow Ball at a Golem, only for it to bounce off harmlessly while the Golem looks bored.
• In Gen 9 OU, many were quick to notice that Great Tusk was serving a very similar role to Landorus Therian from past generations, being a bulky Ground type with several applications that led to it being the most used Pokémon in the tier. Turns out, whoever's making the official monthly usage rate images has taken notice as well... ^*And it's still being used in all the other new images as of this writing!

Smogon forums

• The April Fool's Pokemon of the Week analysis for Donphan is pure comedy gold.^note Donphan may not be as obvious of a Joke Character as other Pokémon with joke analyses, but it was infamous regardless because of its unusual popularity in Gen V, which caused it to attain OU status despite its low viability in the tier An excerpt from it:
  This set is what makes Donphan such a threat. Rapid Spin is the crux of the set. Everyone knows that every team needs a Rapid Spinner, as it's the only way to remove those pesky hazards except for some scrubby Defog trash that no one cares about, and Donphan is without a doubt the best user of Rapid Spin in the entire game. But the amazingness of Donphan doesn't end there. It also learns Stealth Rock. No, I'm not joking. Donphan can learn both Rapid Spin and Stealth Rock. When you use Donphan, you don't even have to waste a precious teamslot on a sucky Stealth Rock user like Garchomp or Landorus-I. Donphan has you covered. It's just that good. I know what you're thinking: "How could Donphan possibly get any better?" The answer to this question is that Donphan gets the best priority move in the game: Ice Shard. When you use Donphan, all of those pesky OP sweepers like Salamence and Noivern can't even hope of sweeping your team. You may be wondering why this set only has three moves. This is because Donphan is too good to run four moves. Donphan doesn't care that you can run that many moves because it doesn't even need to. This is because Donphan is without a doubt the best Pokemon in the game.
• Someone decided that they didn't have enough Character Tiers, so they made a thread for ranking cuteness. It's only for Little Cup, but it's still hilarious.
  • There's also one for the Uber tier. Even funnier since just about everything in Ubers is ugly or awesome.
• Try entering the Konami Code on the forums. Go ahead, try it. The forums will change to an (intentionally) atrocious design scheme that has to be seen to be believed.
• In the "On The Radar" for Pokémon Scarlet and Violet, one of the Pokémon on the radar (meaning that there were people who wanted the Pokémon banned to the Uber tier) is Iron Bundle, the Mecha-Mook version of Delibird, which the article wastes absolutely zero time lampshading:
  If you has "Pokemon largely inspired by Delibird ends up in ban discussions within first week of most power-crept generation ever" on your bingo card, then you're lying because that is too awkwardly long to fit into a spot on a bingo card. Nobody saw this coming and the fact that it is the reality we are living in is laughable.

Pokémon Showdown

• The 2013 April Fools' Day joke had the sprites used on the simulator replaced with fanmade sprites made by the community...but this being April Fools' Day, the sprites were incredibly Off-Model. And the ones that weren't just blatantly Off-Model often were either drawn in chibi style or contained Shout Outs; the number of references the artists managed to sneak in just boggles the mind. It has to be seen to be believed.
  • For April Fools' Day 2014, not only did Pokémon Showdown! add sprites for Kalos Pokémon, but each April Fools' Day sprite got a shiny version, with some shinies having an extra layer of humor. That's 3,734 new shinies!
    • "(Pokémon) used FISSURE! ...Just kidding! It was Earthquake!" The whole SCREEN also shakes for the animation.
• During the period when Doubles OU held a suspect test for Snorlax, the Smogon Doubles room intro had Snorlax spinning for whatever reason.
• Population Bomb's animation on Showdown is a cutting animation combined with an explosion, referencing the absurd power of the move and Maushold's Memetic Badass status.
• While the room FAQ pages (Also known as rFAQs) are what you'd expect from informational pages detailing rules and common questions, they do sometimes have some very funny aspects to them:
  • When Iron Treads dropped in August of 2023 (which many players had been hoping to occur due to it being outclassed by Great Tusk^note Iron Treads does do better than Great Tusk in Ubers, but that doesn't matter for standard tiering. ), the Overused Room's FAQ (rfaq) command for it bluntly stated:
  Iron Treads isn't good, thanks for finally letting it go where it belongs.
  • The lobby FAQ page's section on cursing is formal and answers the question in a standard way. However, some alternative names for the section are "nonowords" and "fuckwords", which is worth a chuckle.
  • The lobby FAQ also explains why Pokémon Showdown is still considered in beta, stating that it likely won't ever leave due to constant updates to implement new features and bug fixes, as well as keeping up with new content released by The Pokémon Company. They also mention a more honest reason to it...
  We're also just too lazy to change the logo.
  • On the ambiguous acronym for the PU tier:
  PU, like other usage-based formats (OU, UU, RU, etc.), does stand for something. It stands for justice for all and supports our community.
  • For some reason, the Overused FAQ (And only the Overused FAQ) has a section dedicated entirely to a brioche bread recipe.

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