Lechonk the pig Pokémon standing in grass in a Pokémon Scarlet and Violet screenshot

Lechonk

2022character memesemi-active

Published October 17, 2026

Lechonk is a Normal-type pig Pokémon unveiled in the second Pokémon Scarlet and Violet trailer on June 1st, 2022. Its chubby black-and-brown design, slow waddle, and chonk-pun name drew mass reaction tweets within hours of the trailer going live. By that same night, Twitter users were posting 'Lechonk supremacy' edits and tracing the name back to Spanish and Filipino cuisine.

pokemon character design memes cute character memes pun memes fandom hype memes

Overview

Lechonk fandom runs on two parallel tracks: mock outrage that Game Freak named a Pokémon after a dinner dish, and sincere devotion toward the little pig itself2. Posts typically match a screenshot of Lechonk mid-waddle with a one-line indignant caption, or slot the pig into 'I believe in Supremacy' templates to crown it the best creature in the Paldea reveal3. Fan art often leans into its real-world basis, since Spain's Iberian black pigs match Lechonk's coloring4.

The name itself did a lot of comedic work. 'Lechon' means piglet in Spanish and also names the Filipino whole-roast pig dish5. Game Freak tacked a 'k' onto the end to signal chonk, the fat-animal word used on cat and corgi photos online6. That trilingual pun turned Lechonk into a running joke across Spanish-speaking Pokémon fans, Filipino food Twitter, and English-language meme accounts.

Origin & Background

Platform
YouTube (reveal) / Twitter (viral spread)
Date
2022

Game Freak revealed Lechonk during the second Scarlet and Violet trailer, uploaded to the official Pokémon YouTube channel on June 1st, 20221. The clip showed the pig slowly waddling toward the player before engaging the Water-type starter Quaxly, and it passed 200,000 views in its first six hours6. Reactions moved to Twitter the same day, where fan account @OoCPokemon posted a one-line outburst about the design and collected over 122,000 likes within six hours2.

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How It Spread

By the night of June 1st, 2022, Twitter user @SalvaPot had plugged Lechonk into the 'I believe in Supremacy' template, earning more than 2,000 likes in eight hours and declaring the piglet best in show3. Spanish fan @Sanxolotl followed with a thread connecting Paldea's real-world basis to Spain's black-pig farming and olive production, logging over 3,200 likes in five hours4. Washington Post games reporter Gene Park added the Filipino angle later that same day, noting that lechon is also a roasted-pig dish in the Philippines and that the design pun likely covered both meanings5.

Urban Dictionary entries went up shortly after, with definitions calling Lechonk 'the funniest Pokémon at the moment' and the 'best pokemon ever,' and citing the Lechon plus 'HECKIN CHONKER' word mix as the source of the name7. The pig stayed a running fan favorite through the November 2022 release of Scarlet and Violet6.

Timeline

2022-06-01

Lechonk is revealed in the second Pokémon Scarlet and Violet trailer on the official Pokémon YouTube channel, passing 200,000 views in six hours.

2022-06-01

Fan account @OoCPokemon posts a one-line outburst about the design, earning over 122,000 likes within six hours.

2022-06-01

Twitter user @SalvaPot uses the 'I believe in Supremacy' template to crown Lechonk, collecting more than 2,000 likes in eight hours.

2022-06-01

@Sanxolotl ties the design to Spain's Iberian black pigs and olive farming, logging over 3,200 likes in five hours.

2022-06-01

Washington Post reporter Gene Park posts the Filipino lechon dish etymology theory.

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How to Use This Meme

Common Lechonk posts take one of two shapes: a mock-angry caption over a still of the pig waddling toward the player, or a sincere 'Lechonk supremacy' declaration crowning it the standout of the Scarlet and Violet reveal3. Etymology threads riffing on 'lechon' as Spanish piglet or Filipino roast-pig are a frequent variant45.

Frequently Asked Questions