Pokemon Anime Drops the Ultimate Old School Callback

This week’s Pokemon anime episode dropped a hilarious and unexpected easter egg during its weekly “Who’s That Pokemon” segment.

Each week, the Pokemon series shows a silhouette of a different Pokemon and asks viewers to guess who it is during the commercial break. This is a proud tradition of the anime that goes back 20 years, all the way to the very first episode. Usually, the hidden Pokemon has a tie to the episode, as it either appears as a featured character or is the antagonist of the episode.

This week’s episode of Pokemon the Series: Sun and Moon featured Jigglypuff, the adorable singing Pokemon who plagued Ash and Pikachu during the early seasons of the show and then followed Ash to the Alola region. So, it shouldn’t come as a surprise that Jigglypuff was selected as the subject of the “Who’s That Pokemon?” segment. But, when it came time for the segment, fans were met by this instead:

A moment later, the silhouette revealed that it was actually Jigglypuff as seen from below:

The joke probably went over the heads over newer fans of the series, but it definitely made old school Pokemon fans laugh out loud. This week’s segment is a callback to the first season episode “The Ultimate Test.”

In the episode, Ash, Jessie, and James all sign up for a Pokemon Exam that would allow them to enter the Pokemon League without earning the prerequisite eight badges. During the episode, the examiner asks test takers to identify different Pokemon via either a silhouette or a close-up. The first question involves a black circle, to which Ash guesses that it’s a Voltorb, and Jessie thinks it’s an Electrode. However, the correct answer (much to the chagrin of Ash) is a Jigglypuff seen from above.

Pokemon the Series: Sun and Moon features a ton of goofy easter eggs that appeal to both old and new Pokemon fans alike. Disney XD will be airing dubbed versions of the episodes every day in January, so be sure to give the series a try!