Following the release of Pokemon Legends Z-A, fans have discovered a line of dialogue settling a longstanding debate within the community.

On a bench somewhere in Lumiose City, players can find an NPC worried about the health of his Pikachu. In the Japanese version of the game, the NPC says explicitly that his Pikachu is “pooping more than usual”, confirming once and for all that Pokemon do in fact have normal bowel movements for animals. In the English version, it is translated more tamely as the Pikachu having “tummy troubles”, although the implications are still there.

A comparison of the lines can be found below via teso_026 (Japanese) and Eurogamer (English).

The comment reportedly led to the phrase “Pikachu Poops” going viral on X/Twitter for a while, and inspires further discussions on “how” Pokemon poop, particularly in the case of very humanoid Pokemon such as Machamp. Eurogamer further investigated and found another NPC talking about having to clean “Pokemon droppings” off the street, which does not inspire very comforting answers on that front.

What do you think? Let us know in the comments.