‘Pokemon’ Anime Shares Hilarious ‘Godzilla,’ ‘Ultraman’ Easter Eggs

The Pokemon anime series has seen many different iterations and regions over its long tenure, but fans have been particularly enjoying the Sun and Moon releases of the series for several reasons. While its initial foray into more a humorous and playful style rubbed fans the wrong way at first, the series has become a major favorite for how its willing to pull from pop culture for great moments.

The latest episode provides another great example of this by bringing in a hilarious reference to the famous Godzilla kaiju King Ghidorah, and even manages to sneak in an Ultraman reference with Meowth’s Garamon costume.

In the latest episode of the series, Ash and his friends come across a TV production where they have to fill in for some missing actors. The show itself is a reference to the Pretty Cure magical girl series, but later in the episode Team Rocket are caught in something much different. As noted by @Cross_Ultimate on Twitter, Team Rocket is caught in a Tokusatsu series in which they’re being attacked by a Gyarados.

This Gyarados has been changed into “King Gyaradorah” with two hilariously off-kilter Gyarados heads attached to its body. It’s firing a series of hyper beams at the running away Team Rocket, and they are spotted in some neat Ultraman garb. Along with Jesse and James’ uniforms, Meowth is dressed as the marquee Kaiju from the Ultraman franchise, Garamon. It’s a neat Easter Egg that really took fans by surprise, and it’s just another example of the Pokemon anime having fun with every aspect of its presentation.

If you haven’t kept up with the current run of the anime, Pokemon the Series: Sun and Moon is described as such, “What starts as a summer vacation in the tropical Alola region turns into the next exciting chapter in Ash Ketchum’s quest to become a Pokémon Master! There’s plenty for Ash and Pikachu to explore in this sunny new region, with exciting new Pokémon to discover and interesting people to learn from along the way—including the cool Professor Kukui and the fun-loving Samson Oak.

More new faces will help guide Ash’s Alolan adventure, in the form of a group of skilled Trainers—Kiawe, Lana, Mallow, and Sophocles—and a mysterious research assistant called Lillie. Frequent foes Team Rocket have also made the trip to Alola, looking to swipe some high-powered new Pokémon. But they have some heavy competition on the villainy front: the ruffians of Team Skull, who delight in causing chaos and may have more sinister intentions…”

Directed by Michael Dougherty, Godzilla: King of the Monsters stars Millie Bobby Brown, Vera Farmiga, Sally Hawkins, Kyle Chandler, O’Shea Jackson Jr., Ken Watanabe, Bradley Whitford, among many other talents. The film is currently scheduled to hit theaters May 31 with Godzilla vs. Kong scheduled for a 2020 release after.