Pokemon Scarlet and Violet’s nickname restrictions baffle players
The Pokemon CompanyPokemon Scarlet and Violet players do not understand why the game’s censorship affects certain nicknames.
Nicknames for Pokemon first entered the fray in Red and Blue, allowing players to select alternate names for their captured creatures. It’s since featured in every mainline game, including 2022’s Pokemon Scarlet and Violet.
Every time a player catches a new ‘mon, they’re given an option to rename it. The process is simple and few should have trouble coming up with creative alternatives. However, one obstacle tends to get in the way of some ideas – censorship.
If a player types in a name that the game finds inappropriate, they’ll receive a message saying, “You can’t enter that name.”
These restrictions make sense given Pokemon’s family-friendly branding, but many players don’t understand why some nicknames trigger the censor.
The topic of nickname censorship resurfaced on the Scarlet and Violet subreddit, with user JonMor45 revealing they were unable to change their Sceptile‘s name to the word Pine.
“How is ‘pine’ a bad word?” they asked, genuinely confused as to why the game would restrict a commonly used term. At the very least, the game Scarlet and Violet okayed the use of “pine tree.”
One curious person in the comments did some digging and learned the rejection could stem from pine having an alternate meaning in French. The Redditor explained, “I looked it up and apparently ‘Pine’ is/was slang for penis in French…”
Someone else lamented that they couldn’t give Minior the nickname Mamar, to which someone else said it’s likely because the word is “slang for sucking in Spanish.”
Fans have called out the nickname filter as “too restricted” in other posts. In a different Reddit thread, one user mentioned their frustration that “Lullaby” can’t be used since Lul is a suggestive term in Dutch.
Since the rules remain nebulous, players will have to keep using trial and error when given their ‘mon nicknames in Scarlet and Violet.