One of the long-held traditions in the Pokémon community is to name your rival, or sometimes your character, something crude. This leads to funny interactions, like when Professor Oak makes a comment about his grandson DICKBUTT, or says congratulations to you, ASSGOBLIN, when you beat the Pokémon League. Well, it looks like Pokémon FireRed and LeafGreen’s Switch ports are doing away with this, at least for some colorful phrases.
Wow, they really don’t want us to relive our original playthroughs 🙁 pic.twitter.com/KtNCWwTErJ — Professor Rex🇨🇦 (@RexProfessor) February 27, 2026
— Professor Rex🇨🇦 (@RexProfessor) February 27, 2026
The ports of the GBA remakes went live on the eShop earlier today after the 30th anniversary Pokémon Presents showcase, and as folks downloaded the games and started their journeys just like they did 20 years ago, they tried naming their characters and rivals something profane. But fans quickly found that doing so for certain words was blocked. The game simply overrides your decision and sticks you with a random generic name instead.
Kotaku has verified that some words, such as “dick,” “pussy,” “shit,” and even the f-slur (I can say it!) are replaced by names like “Gary” or “Janne.” This doesn’t seem to extend to some milder words, however, as “hell” and “damn” were not replaced.
I imagine this is in an effort to not let people screenshot and share images of characters swearing or saying anything too untoward, but if that’s the case, I’m more surprised they didn’t go further and get even the PG-rated swears in there, too. Whatever the case, you’ll need to be on your best behavior for this return to Kanto.
