The World Needs To Know If People Eat Pokemon

With Pokemon covering headlines in the wake of its big game announcements, it seems an insidious debate has made a comeback with netizens. Sure, creatures like Eevee are adorable as can be, but dark corners of the Internet have always wondered whether humans in the Pokemon universe would fry up the cutie.

So, fans better thank one brave reporter for enduring the trauma of asking Junichi Masuda the burning question.

Recently, the famed Pokemon developer appeared at a press event in Tokyo to talk about the franchise' future. It was there Kotaku's Gita Jackson was able to ask Masuda what kind of meat is eaten in the world of Pokemon, but his answer has only stirred up a recurring debate.

"I'm actually curious about that as well," Masuda said with a laugh.

Wait, does that mean Pokemon are actually food? Does the universe not abide by Finding Nemo's manta of friends and not food? Well, fans seem pretty convinced that is the case.

The debate on whether people eat Pokemon goes back quite some time, and evidence for the argument can be found easily. In the original anime, a shot showed Ash Ketchum and Brock salivating over the idea of a filleted Magikarp, and the horrifying image has become a go-to in this debate. Still, there are Pokemon purists who will not abide that evidence given the early anime's questionable canon — but there is more to be found in the video games.

Of course, various games have alluded to Pokemon being a food source. Titles like Pokemon Gold and Silver confirmed Miltank is used to provide dairy goodness to people, so who is to say the udder-ly adorable creatures don't provide beef? Torichic would make for some spicy nuggets, and Gyarados would make for some mighty fine sushi if you could wrangle one of them. The games even had Team Skull sell Slowpoke tails illegally since the meat is a delicacy to many. So, yes — it seems humans will eat Pokemon in the universe. And, as you can see in the slides below, fans aren't quite sure how they feel about guys like Grumpig being turned into bacon.

Where do you land on this debate? Does Pokemon say pocket monsters are friends and not food? Or do people chow down on the creatures? Let me know in the comments or hit me up on Twitter @MeganPetersCB to talk all things comics, k-pop, and anime!