PewDiePie fans lose it over Brofist “easter egg” in Pokemon Journeys anime

Brent Koepp

A scene from the Pokemon Journeys anime went viral after fans of YouTuber Felix ‘PewDiePie’ Kjellberg hilariously joked that Ash Ketchum was a subscriber to the Swedish entertainer.

Making its debut in 2019, Pokemon Journeys is the latest season of the long-running anime series. The show chronicles the adventure of Ash Ketchum as the beloved protagonist travels across all eight regions of the Nintendo franchise.

An April episode of the popular show went viral online after some viewers believed there to be a PewDiePie “easter egg” hidden in plain sight. Could the iconic Trainer actually be a fan of the Swedish YouTuber?

Pokemon Journeys Ash and Goh
A Pokemon Journeys episode has sparked PewDiePie memes.

Pokemon Journey’s anime sparks PewDiePie memes

Episode 59 of the anime opens with Ash and his companion Goh being woken up by a lost Grookey. Viewers watching the show noticed that Ketchum’s pajama shirt looks awfully like YouTuber PewDiePie’s infamous Brofist logo.

After it finished airing, threads began to pop up on social media sites like r/PewDiePieSubmissions with fans asking whether the latest episode actually featured an easter egg dedicated to the Swedish content creator.

“Is that a motherflippin’ Pewdiepie reference?!” one user asked on the popular forum. Players familiar with Pokemon’s eighth generation title Sword & Shield quickly pointed out that the fist is actually supposed to be the symbol for Galar’s Fighting-type Gym which is ran by Trainer Bea.

While Pokemon fans knew right away what the symbol was supposed to be, it’s understandable why fans of the YouTuber would mistake it, especially considering how close the new Gym logo is to Pewds’ Brofist.

From the shape and the outline looking like a P, they are actually pretty close. Adding fuel to the fire, seconds before Ketchum’s shirt is shown, the camera pans to a computer chair that looks remarkably like Kjellberg’s infamous chair.

Despite the easter egg being debunked, fans quickly ran with the scene and made hilarious memes.  “Now the real question begins, is Ash a 10 year old or a 19 year old,” one user joked, referencing PewDiePie’s classic 19-year-old army meme. Another fan exclaimed, “I’m Felix Ketchum from Sweden town, I want a Pokemon battle.”

PewDiePie fans joke about Pokemon Journeys anime episode

Building off the joke, another fan challenged the YouTuber to an actual Pokemom battle. The viewer recorded a video of themselves commanding a pigeon which they had trained to fly to their arm. Kjellberg reacted to the clip during his May 4 upload and broke into laughter, stating, “Pokemon is real I KNEW IT.”

Although Ash Ketchum’s shirt ended up not being PewDiePie merchandise, the anime scene was a hit with his fandom. After all, the 31-year-old has long been an outspoken fan of the Nintendo series.

Related Topics

About The Author

Brent is a former writer at Dexerto based in the United States, who covered topics such as Pokemon, Gaming, and online Entertainment.