Pokémon Sun and Moon

2016video gameclassic

Published September 22, 2026

Pokémon Sun and Moon are the seventh-generation Pokémon games from Nintendo and Game Freak, released worldwide in November 2016 for the Nintendo 3DS1. Set in the tropical Alola region, they scrapped the Gym system and introduced Alolan variants of Generation I monsters2. The reveal trailers, Team Skull villains and shocked-face fan edits made the games one of the big Pokémon meme cycles of 2016.

pokemonnintendo memesgamingfandom discourse memes2016 memes

Overview

Pokémon Sun and Moon are the paired Generation VII titles for the Nintendo 3DS, set in the Hawaii-inspired Alola region1. Instead of the eight-Gym progression the series had used since 1996, players work through island trials run by local Trial Captains, and encounter Alolan forms that redesign familiar Kanto Pokémon like Vulpix, Exeggutor and Raichu2.

The meme layer around the games grew out of Nintendo's staggered reveal campaign on YouTube. Each trailer drop, from the starter reveal to Team Skull's introduction, spawned reaction videos, animation edits and screaming-face reaction images on Tumblr, Twitter and Reddit3. Team Skull grunts, with their finger-guns and hip-hop poses, became especially popular templates for meme edits and fan comics4.

Beyond the trailers, in-game moments like Lusamine's boss fight and the Ultra Beast reveals kept the fandom producing reaction content well into 2017, when Pokémon Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon extended the same Alola setting5.

Origin & Background

Platform
Nintendo 3DS (game) / YouTube and Tumblr (meme spread)
Date
2016

Nintendo announced Pokémon Sun and Pokémon Moon on February 26, 2016 during a Nintendo Direct held for the twentieth anniversary of Pokémon Red and Green1. The debut trailer, published on the official Pokémon YouTube channel, teased the new region without showing gameplay and immediately became the anchor for fan speculation threads on Reddit and Serebii4.

A second trailer on May 10, 2016 revealed the three starters, Rowlet, Litten and Popplio, which drew instant fan-art responses and starter-choice debate memes2. On August 11, 2016 Nintendo dropped a trailer introducing Team Skull, the games' villains, whose exaggerated dance moves became one of the most-edited clips from the entire pre-release cycle3. The games shipped worldwide on November 18, 2016, with the European release following on November 214.

How It Spread

How to Use This Meme

Fans typically pull short clips from the official trailers, especially the Team Skull grunt animations and the starter reveals, then loop, redub or caption them for reaction jokes. Alolan-form redesigns are often used in side-by-side edits against their original Kanto counterparts, and Lusamine's fight is a common source for horror-style fan edits.

Frequently Asked Questions