Pokemon fans are just learning about this wild “corny” name pun

Nathan Ellingsworth
Pokemon trainer Rika stands in the middle of the frame

The Pokemon franchise is no stranger to puns, but one particular combination of names creates a food-focused joke and some fans are only just spotting it.

The Pokemon franchise already has over 1000 creatures, alongside hundreds of human characters, dozens of place names, and plenty of other things that all have to be called something. With the amount of languages the games are translated into, can you imagine the sheer amount of names out there?

It’s occasionally entertaining to learn about the Japanese names ‘mon, especially if they’re a pun of reference that’s lost in the West.

The classic Pokemon Hitmonchan is seemingly named after Jackie Chan for Western audiences, but in Japanese is known as Ebiwalar, a reference to Japanese flyweight boxer Hiroyuki Ebihara (as explained by Dr Lava on Twitter).

However, one recent pun snuck its way into the Japanese-language versions of Pokemon Scarlet & Violet, and some fans are only just now discovering the food-based joke.

Pokemon Scarlet & Violet is hiding a “corny” name pun

In a Reddit post from user JustinTime1229, the fan shares the Japanese names for the Gen 9 characters Rika, Cress, and Diantha.

As explained in the post from JustinTime1229, the Japanese names for the aforementioned characters can be translated – approximately – to three English words respectively: Chili, Corn, and Carne.

Yup, that’s right, these characters’ names are food puns, and I already know I’m making Chilli Con Carne for dinner.

Other fans had some fun underneath the post, with Reddit user AceyBoy558 adding, “That’s corny as hell.” Meanwhile, user Pikagiuppy jokes, “Imagine being called meat lmao.”

It’s not the first Pokemon pun, and it certainly won’t be the last, but it’s a fun combination of cleverly hidden jokes. Plus if nothing else, it’s always nice to see the community having fun with these sorts of discoveries.

About The Author

Nathan is a Senior Writer at Dexerto, leading our Pokemon coverage. They got their start with print magazines ranging from Switch Player to lock-on, before writing Nintendo & Pokemon-focused pieces for The Gamer, Nintendo Life, Pocket Tactics, and more. They're obsessed with Shiny-hunting, Pokemon TCG, rhythm games, and RPGs.