Fake Pokemon Scarlet and Violet 'leak' turns out to be bait for maidenless fans

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"Hi idiot, how are you coping with the lack of girlfriends?"

A Pokemon looks at an apple with glee
(Image credit: Nintendo)

Pokemon Scarlet and Violet hopefuls have been absolutely bodied by faked leaks that hide insults in plain sight. 

As reported by Kotaku, a picture of fire-type starter Fuecoco’s evolution has been doing the rounds on 4Chan and Twitter through an account called Pokemon Leaks. While exciting for some at first, it has proven to be a big ol’ goof, with another Twitter account called Out of Context Pokemon calling out that the Japanese text is teasing in tone.

“The Japanese text on this image literally says, ‘hi idiot, how are you coping with the lack of girlfriends?’” the account explains. Ouch. 

Kotaku shares that another slice of text combines the Japanese words for “brains” and “insufficient”, which gives us a local slang term that essentially translates to “dumbass”. Don’t worry; the Japanese version is reportedly considered softer and less crude than its English counterpart. 

Pokemon Scarlet and Violet are two of the most anticipated games of the year – and hey, it’s Pokemon – so leaks, teases, and rumours are very much part of the territory. Twitter is currently filled with various insiders reporting alleged leaked information, though we’ve got a few supposed images, too. You know the kind, somewhat blurry and out of focus as if someone snapped something they weren’t supposed to. 

Aside from the language barrier, that’s likely why the Fuecoco image fooled some people. It’s shot to appear as if someone caught a snap – a Pokemon snap if you will – of the image in the wild. 

If you’re looking for legitimate Pokemon Scarlet and Violet information, check out our guide for everything we know.

Iain Harris
Iain Harris
News Editor, Games

I joined GamesRadar+ in May 2022 following stints at PCGamesN and PocketGamer.Biz, with some freelance for Kotaku UK, RockPaperShotgun, and VG24/7 thrown in for good measure. When I'm not running the news team on the games side, you'll find me putting News Editor duties to one side to play the hottest JRPG of 20 years ago or pillaging the depths of Final Fantasy 14 for a swanky new cloak – the more colourful, the better.