Bizarre Pokemon Journeys episode goes viral for “cruel” Blaziken scene

Screenshot of Blaziken from the Pokemon Journeys anime.Game Freak / The Pokemon Company

A November episode of the Pokemon Journeys anime went viral after fans discovered it included a bizarre scene featuring Blaziken. The strange sequences force the Gen III ‘mon into a “cruel” situation that has left some viewers disturbed.

Pokemon Journeys made its debut in Japan in November 2019. The latest anime in the long-running series follows protagonist Ash Ketchum and new character Goh as they travel across the game’s eight regions.

An episode that aired in November 2020 has made waves online after a scene featuring a bizarre food contest went viral. Fans of the Nintendo property were left unsettled after a Blaziken is forced to eat his own species – well, sort of.

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Screenshot from Pokemon Journeys anime.Game Freak / The Pokemon Company
The Pokemon Journeys episode featured unusual food in it.

Bizarre Pokemon Journeys scene goes viral

In the November 27 episode of the Pokemon Journeys anime, Ash and Goh both participate in an eating contest. The competition has Trainers seeing whose ‘mon can consume the most food in the shortest time possible.

However, things took a cruel turn when the final dish served was a cuisine in the shape of Torchic. Blaziken’s appetite quickly turned sour at the thought of eating something shaped like his own species.

The Gen III character then stood up and quit the contest after shedding a tear. The incredibly strange cannibalism-like dilemma went viral after being uploaded to Reddit on November 30.

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While the Torchic are technically a dessert item, the scene left some fans feeling disturbed or sympathetic towards the Pokemon’s plight. “I feel you Blaziken, being forced to eat your kind is cruel,” one fan wrote. Another user exclaimed “Who’s the sick b****rd that decided to try to make a Blaziken eat Torchics?”

Pokemon fans react to the disturbing anime scene on Reddit.

Despite only having aired in Japan, the scene quickly spread online as the community found it both be hilarious and creepy. Popular artist ‘popemadara‘ made a comedic drawing that went viral on Twitter that depicts other Pokemon in the same dilemma as Blaziken.

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https://twitter.com/popemadara/status/1332324262737178625

While it’s true that people eat human-shaped edibles called gingerbread men, the Torchic food item was disturbingly detailed. If nothing else, the situation showed that the Fire-type monster has a softer side.

Pokemon Journeys is currently still airing in Japan, however North American viewers can catch the first half of the series now on Netflix which is broken up into Part 1 and 2.