Pokémon Scarlet and Violet’s Okidogi quickly becomes a meme in Japan

The Pokémon Company has announced that new Pokémon Okidogi, Munkidori, and Fezandipiti will debut in Pokémon Scarlet and Violet’s The Hidden Treasure of Area Zero DLC. In Japan, Okidogi has drawn the most attention of the three and is already becoming something of a meme.

The Hidden Treasure of Area Zero DLC is split into two parts—Part 1: The Teal Mask is due out in fall 2023, while Part 2: The Indigo Disk due out in Winter 2023. In Part 1, players will visit Kitakami, a land abundant with nature, for an outdoors study opportunity held in collaboration with another school. It features a new Legendary Pokémon called Ogerpon and brings back familiar Pokémon that didn’t appear in the main game, such as Milotic, Shiftry, and Ninetales.

The designs for new Pokémon Okidogi, Munkidori, and Fezandipiti are based on a dog, monkey, and pheasant, respectively, and Ogerpon’s design vaguely resembles an oni (a Japanese ogre). All four are reminiscent of characters that appear in the Japanese folktale Momotaro.

Okidogi’s Japanese name is iineinu. “iine” is a term used on social media in Japan, serving as the equivalent of “like” in English. Users have really taken to the name; for example, drawing illustrations of Okidogi smiling and giving a thumbs up (a symbol associated with the like button on social media), and creating the opposite of iine (like) inu (dog): yokunai (dislike) neko (cat).

The Japanese names for Munkidori and Fezandipiti are Mashimashira and Kichikigisu. In both languages, the names of all three Pokémon are combinations of an animal and a word expressing something positive.

This actually isn’t the first time that a “dog” Pokémon in Scarlet and Violet has attracted a lot of attention. When the design of Greavard was revealed prior to the game’s release, its name was kept under wraps, leading Japanese users to start guessing what the name would be. One especially popular name was Shinunuwan. This name may have been a reference to the cry of Yamper in Pokémon Sword and Shield, which in Japanese text is “Inunuwan!”

We can expect more information about Okidogi, everyone’s new favorite dog-like Pokémon, to be revealed in the future.

Written by.Marco Farinaccia based on the original Japanese article (original article’s publication date: 2023-02-28 13:05 JST)