252+ SpA Choice Specs Beads of Ruin Tera Fire Chi-Yu

About

252+ SpA Choice Specs Beads of Ruin Tera Fire Chi-Yu is a copypasta popularized among fans of competitive Pokémon describing how the Pokémon Chi-Yu can be turned into a powerhouse with the ability to knock out Pokémon in one hit if several conditions are met. The copypasta has been applied to various other Pokémon, though the majority of memes feature Chi-Yu. It is particularly prevalent on Reddit's /r/stunfisk subreddit.

Origin

Chi-Yu, like Wo-Chien, is a Treasures of Ruin Pokémon introduced in Pokémon Scarlet and Violet. It is a Fire/Dark-type Pokémon with a remarkably high Special Attack stat at base 130.^[2]

In the competitive Pokémon fandom, the "252+ SpA" copypasta refers to the myriad ways to maximize the damage Chi-Yu can do with the move Overheat, one of the most powerful Special Attack Fire moves in Pokémon.

1. 252 is the maximum effort value a Pokémon's stat can have. "252+ SpA" means 252 Special Attack.
2. Choice Specs is an item that further boosts a Pokémon's Special Attack, but only allows for the use of one move.
3. Chi-Yu's signature ability is Beads of Ruin, which lowers the Special Defense stat of all surrounding Pokémon on a battlefield by 25%.^[1]
4. Tera Fire refers to the Terastallization mechanic introduced in Pokémon Scarlet and Violet. By Terastallizing Chi-Yu into a pure Fire type, its fire moves get a boost in damage.

The listing of the various stat boosts a Pokémon could have was common in competitive Pokémon discussions before Chi-Yu's introduction to the franchise, but this specific list of boosts to Chi-Yu went on to inspire myriad memes.

One of the earliest known posts to remark on the incredible damage output of this Chi-Yu set was posted on December 11th, 2022, in Reddit's /r/stunfisk^[3] by user Phoenix-Rising-78, who posted about how Chi-Yu could potentially knock out notable defensive Water-type Pokémon Toxapex in one move, gaining over 70 points in over a year (shown below).

Spread

Over the following year, the copypasta regarding Chi-Yu inspired multiple memes. On January 29th, 2023, Redditor FungalPlague posted a My Child Will X meme regarding Chi-Yu, gaining over 1,500 points in one year on /r/stunfisk^[6] (shown below, left). On February 12th, Redditor pacmanboss256 posted a Valentine's Day E-card meme featuring the copypasta in /r/stunfisk,^[4] gaining over 630 points in one year (shown below, right).

Also on February 12th, 2023, user Botbuster111 posted an I'm Not Gonna Sugarcoat It meme with the copypasta in /r/stunfisk,^[5] gaining over 120 points in one year (shown below, left). On July 21st, Twitter user @Spcrashworks^[7] posted a comic featuring the copypasta, gaining over 850 retweets and 4,400 likes in six months (shown below, right).

Various Examples

Search Interest

Unavailable.

External References