With Ash Ketchum competing in the Pokémon world championship, many callbacks have been made to the early years of the show, and fans have been left feeling nostalgia for its old characters. Brock in particular is a character that had tons of comedic value and thus, has become the source of many Pokémon memes.
Brock is the first gym leader Pokémon fans faced in the games and was Ash’s first friend in the anime series, so the Rock-type trainer has a long history for fans to play off of with some creative memes. The world of Pokémon alone and its logic inconsistencies are always fun for some jokes, but Brock’s character in particular is fun to poke at.
The Man With The Answers
Not only is it good to have a guy who knows his way around a hot air balloon, but having a man knowledgeable of different Pokémon is essential to an adventure lineup. When something needs to be explained, Brock is usually the guy to dish out some Pokémon exposition, which is almost always helpful.
However, when May asks Brock about Arcanine’s extreme speed ability, his answer is less than helpful. Fans find this hilarious, and it’s become a reoccurring Brock meme. The writers certainly squeezed in quite the snarky line.
What Can’t He Do?
On any Pokémon journey, it’s important to have someone who’s resourceful. Ash and Misty could have blown all their money stopping for takeout if not for Brock’s cooking, but he’s also the handy guy when it comes to vehicles. Whether it be a boat adventure or an aerial pursuit, Brock seems to be knowledgeable about how to drive it.
The lore behind Brock’s knowledge of hot air balloon flying is never explored, so fans will have to make up their own stories about how that came to be. Brock is intended to be 16 years old, but maybe Pewter City and the Kanto Region are lenient on their licensing. Not only is he all of these things, but Brock is also one of the best gym leaders.
Pewter City Gym
Pokémon gyms in the show are cool in design usually, unlike in the games where they’re all identical. Pewter City Gym is particularly odd-looking, though, and fans also noted that the signage for the gym was in a weird position.
Rather than being just above the front door, the sign for the gym is far up above out of one’s line of sight. The meme jokes that the designer would have to be someone who can’t see clearly. If Brock is to blame, this would make a lot of sense.
Brock’s Problem
The running gag of Brock falling in love with every female character possible can be problematic at times, given how consistent and forward he can be. So the meme of every Nurse Joy in the Pokémon world getting a restraining order on him is probably justifiable.
15 feet is not a large restraining order, so Brock would probably still be able to attend the Pokémon center to get his team restored to full health, but hopefully, this would help him correct his bad behavior. He is only a teenager after all.
Team Rocket Outsmarts Them All
The disguises of Team Rocket are one of the funniest Pokémon memes all around, as their cheap antics always seem to get the best of Ash, Brock and whoever else they’re accompanied by. With Brock being years older and with all the knowledge he possesses, it’s particularly surprising that he falls for the disguises.
The laughing wolves meme format is always funny, but with the hairstyles and hats of Pokémon characters added, the format is amplified even more. Brock’s hair on top of the unamused animal is some great editing.
Starter Options
Charmander is a beloved Pokémon and one of the most common starter choices of all. Unfortunately, selecting the fire type makes the gym fight against Brock a tall order. Charmander alone has to massively out-level Geodude or Onyx to stand a chance.
Players have found other strategies for collecting Pokémon to take on Brock, but for some players, he was a major challenge to overcome. Good for Brock, living up to his name as a challenging gym leader instead of just being the first little obstacle for a Squirtle to quickly one shot and move on from.
How Did He Do It?
Pikachu’s confrontation with Brock is a challenging one, and one of the first obstacles for Ash to overcome. But according to the logistics of the games, it shouldn’t have been possible with Electric-type moves. Ash’s Pikachu is overpowered, but for a young fan trying to understand, this moment was very confusing.
A Pikachu in any game would not have been able to accomplish the same feat. No matter how over-leveled they were, electric abilities wouldn’t do the trick. The show’s logic has always worked slightly differently, so for kids watching, there was a lot to unpack.
Defeating Brock
No matter how great of a Pokémon trainer the player is in a previous installment, once loading into a new game, they’re still technically starting from scratch. With a new lineup and lack of supplies to help get through fights, the logic of defeating a gym leader without tons of training is absurd. Brock isn’t the best Pokémon Trainer for his type, but he is still a strong battler.
Some players can get through obstacles fairly quickly, whether it be a new save or a remaster of an old game, and many are familiar with the path to the Pewter City gym. A new trainer getting their starter, traveling through two routes, a city, and a forest to arrive and defeat Brock within half an hour is ridiculous.
Skipping Trainer Battles
One of the most frustrating parts of Pokémon games is when a player’s team is low, out of potions, and inches away from a town and safety when that familiar exclamation mark pops up to ruin the day. Some trainers are unavoidable, but many can be dodged by a lack of eye contact. The Pokémon world can occasionally have some of gaming’s most annoying NPCs.
Many fans have come to the conclusion that since Brock’s eyes are shut by design, he does not have to deal with the annoyances of these trainers. No eye contact means no fight, which would explain why his team is so low leveled in Kanto.
Where Did He Go?
One of the long-running minor mysteries in the Pokémon world is what happened to Brock in the Cerulean City episode. When Ash goes to take on Misty, Brock disappears saying he has stuff to do.
This is never elaborated on. While it’s likely that he just got written out, so the writers could focus on Ash and Misty, fans have plenty of other theories. It’s likely that fans will never know, and the writers won’t either, but coming up with creative theories for what he does in his off hours away from Ash is quite fun.
