Pokémon Legends: ZA for 3DS is a HOAX (NOT CLICKBAIT)
In a shocking turn of events, it turns out that the previous blog post, Pokémon Legends: ZA Coming to Nintendo 3DS, contained false information. Pokémon Legends: ZA will not be releasing for the Nintendo 3DS, so you’ll just have to keep waiting for Pokémon Z…
Joke Explained #
OK, so I’m going to go over the jokes I put in that blog post. So, if you haven’t read it, go do that.
Format #
So, I thought of making the post by doing an inspect element of a news page/press release, and just posting a screenshot of that, but I figured it might be easier to do if I have a file I can work on. I used the SingleFile browser extension to make a single file download of this press release and used it as a base: New Pokémon Legends: Z-A Details Revealed During Nintendo Direct. As I was working on it, I thought that it might be cool to turn this fake press release into a blog post, not just a screenshot. So, I turned the page into an 11ty layout so that I can make use of it here.
The Press Release #
The press release itself makes several jokes/references:
- A lot of people (myself included!) were convinced that Pokémon Z would come after X&Y. The main concept is a reference to that.
- Corporate speak. Nintendo always likes to say “The <Insert Title> Game for The Nintendo Switch Family of Systems.” There’s a long winded section where every 3DS model is listed.
- Marissa Peach (the made up Nintendo PR person) is a play on Doug Bowser (i.e. normal first name, Nintendo character last name).
- The Game Freak spokesperson is named Timothy Zation (like, optimization).
- I think the idea of making the 3DS version have really bad performance so that the Switch version looks better by comparison is funny to me.
- The release date is TomorrowTM. This is a play on an old Nintendo Switch meme (the Switch will be announced TomorrowTM) and subreddit (/r/tomorrow).
Related News #
I added some fake headlines so that I could put a few more jokes in. This doesn’t make too much sense (because the page template is taken from the Pokémon Press site, which does press releases, not articles. But whatever.)
The Top 1025 Best Pokémon To Use in Battle! (Number 25 will surprise you!) #
This is making fun of listicles and clickbait. 1025 is the total number of Pokémon (at time of writing) so the list is just every Pokémon. Number 25 is the National Dex number for Pikachu, which shouldn’t actually surprise you. The date is February 27 (Pokémon Day).
The Rumor Come Out: Does Ash Ketchum Is Gay? #
This is a reference to an old clickbait article titled “The Rumor Come Out: Does Bruno Mars Is Gay?”, and also kinda a reference to the Ash and Goh ship (but not directly). The date is June 1 (first day of Pride Month).
Ash Ketchum is gay is the most discussed in the media in the few years ago. Even it has happened in 2012, but some of the public still curious about what is exactly happening and to be the reason there is a rumor comes out about his gay. At that time he became the massive social networking rumor.
The public, especially his fans are shocked. He just came out with his bad rumor which is spread massively. This time is not about his trainer career, but his bad rumor. The rumor is out of standardize of hoax, according the last reported this trainer revealed himself as homosexual. Do you still believe or not, this rumor is really much talked by people even in a person of his fans.
Why Electric Moves Are More Effective Against Ground Than You May Think #
So, you know those opinion pieces by people with absolutely rancid opinions? I was thinking of one of those where Ash claims that Ground type’s immunity to Electric is a myth, and how if you just get stronger then your Thunderbolt will definitely be able to win! (Ash famously does not pay attention to types and uses electric type attacks against ground types all the time.) The date is September 15 (Ash Ketchum Day).
A lot of people will tell you that to win Pokémon battles, you need to have a good strategy, you have to EV train, you have to evolve your Pokémon. I’m here to tell you that that’s a load of nonsense. All you need to become a Pokémon Master is a strong bond with your Pokémon. I have used Pikachu to win hundreds of battles against Gym Leaders, Elite Four Members, and even Champions. People tell me it’s a bad idea: “There’s no way you can beat Rhydon with an Electric attack” or “Ground types are immune to Electric”. These people just don’t have the right mindset. These people underestimate the strength of the bond between me and my Pokémon. Because with a strong enough bond, you can beat anything with a Thunderbolt.
What To Do When He Loves Pokémon Battles More Than You #
This is a reference to the Ash and Serena ship, and how Ash is completely oblivious to it. I’m thinking of a romance advice column where Serena is writing in to ask about how to get Ash to notice her. The date is October 12 (Pokémon X&Y release date).
Honestly, I don’t know what to do. I’ve tried just about everything I can think of to get him to notice me, but nothing seems to work. Just last weekend, I told him I wanted to do something romantic with him, and do you know what he said? “Like, a Pokémon battle?” I told him that I meant more like dinner, and he said “Most restaurants don’t let you have Pokémon battles inside.” Can you believe it? What can I do to get him to see me as more than a battle partner? - Battle Zoned in Vaniville Town
Flame and Bird Types Confirmed for Generation X #
Bird type is an unused type from Generation I and II, that is notably the type for MissingNo.. Flame type is from a mistake in the song 2.B.A. Master, where Poison type is omitted and Flame is listed instead. The date is December 32.
Thumbnails #
So, I watched this new Failboat video (New Fake Switch 2 Games), where Failboat and some others create boxart for fake Switch 2 games. That video led me to making a thumbnail for my fake press release (which is part of the reason why I ended up making it a blog post, so that I could use the thumbnail).
The first thumbnail was pretty simple, just edit a 3DS onto the direct thumbnail, edit the screenshots onto the screen, and add a red circle and arrow. Normal clickbait stuff, I think it turned out nice.
For the second one, I went a little more intense. I started with an arrow pointing to the “REAL”, and labeled that “FAKE”. Then, I thought it would be kinda funny if I went for that sort of reactionary clickbait where everything is labeled “woke”. And I added a “GameFreak Lied” for good measure. My first attempt at the labels was writing “woke” over Harmony, but so small it’s barely legible. Then I thought I should put label Paxton and Lucario, too, so I ended up using the labels from the “2024 Nuclear Family” meme instead.
I really like the 3D Transform Tool, and I think I should use it more often.
