“Pokémon SEX” is trending in Japan and users are afraid to find out why

“Sex as in gender, right…?” Japanese users fearfully questioned (but were wrong) as they saw the hashtag “Pokémon SEX” rise to the top of the trending list on X (formerly Twitter) on August 17. For most, the sudden trend appeared out of nowhere, raising nothing but questions as to why the disturbing combination of words would become relevant enough to trend nationwide. Just what triggered the stream of posts mentioning Pokémon Sex? 

Venturing into the dreaded “Pokémon SEX” hashtag, one is first met with an influx of concerned posts, questioning “What the hell is Pokémon SEX?,” expressing disgust and confusion, some even declaring that “Japan is over as a country.” Trying to track down the trend reveals that it may have something to do with Japan’s declining birthrate and an imaginary meme-sequel to the games Pokémon GO and Pokémon Sleep. 

The above-mentioned post, which suggests a Pokémon game similar to Pokémon GO and Pokémon Sleep, but focused on encouraging people to engage in procreation, is likely what gave birth to the buzzword, as upon hearing the idea, users almost unanimously came up with and chanted the title “Pokémon SEX.” As a result, the post has gone viral, with over 70k likes and over 9k reposts at the time of writing. Another user also suggested the imaginary series of Pokémon GO, Sleep, Eat and Sex. 

As one would expect, the idea of a Pokémon game in which one collects and evolves Pokémon by engaging in intercourse quickly developed into unspeakable directions as users let their imaginations go wild with the prompt, imagining what would be the characteristics of such a game. Some examples include the idea of different Pokémon hatching from eggs based on the player’s “game,” the existence of a Pokémon Professor who researches the mating of Pokémon, the game sharing “Why sex is good for you!” advice with the player and similar. Some even imagined the effect such a game would have on cheating among couples.  

Seeing the hashtag Pokemon SEX being thrown around, one can’t help but be reminded of a certain past incident that had a similar ring to it. When the mobile game Pokémon Masters was renewed under the new title Pokémon Masters EX, the promotional campaign for it on Twitter (now X) suddenly went into an inappropriate direction as insufficient attention to capitalization transformed the hashtag from “pokemonmastersEX” into “pokemonmastersex,” becoming an infinite source of amusement of users.