Madman Does It Again: Se-jun Park Brought Pachirisu To The Pokémon World Championships

When Know Your Meme created an entry for Se-jun Park's Pachirisu in July of 2023, one user wrote, "This would've made for a great 10th anniversary meme if we just waited a bit longer."

Over the weekend, Se-jun Park celebrated the anniversary of his legendary electric squirrel's run in the 2014 Pokémon World Championships far better than we ever could: by bringing it back for the 2024 Pokémon World Championships.

In 2014, Se-jun Park won the Pokémon World Championships by utilizing Pachirisu, an otherwise unremarkable Pokémon who just so happened to be the perfect anti-meta support Pokémon that year due to it learning the moves "Nuzzle" and "Follow Me," among other things. Park's Pachirisu is arguably the most famous single Pokémon in competitive Pokémon history thanks in large part to a moment where it withstood two devastating attacks from a Salamence and Tyranitar to allow its partner Garchomp to finish off Park's opponent.

The Pokémon certainly got a huge pop both in the arena and online, as fans were thrilled to see Pachirisu return.

Se-Jun bringing back Pachirisu after 10 years https://t.co/VU9UOWvfRq pic.twitter.com/dhWtOIaNKo

— TZA (@teezeeayy) August 18, 2024

Unfortunately, Park and his Pachirisu didn't make a deep run in the 2024 World Championships, as it seemed even competitive Pokémon's strongest squirrel couldn't withstand ten years of power creep in the scene. It's likely that Park included Pachirisu for sentimental reasons rather than in a sincere attempt to win, as there are undoubtedly better "Follow Me" users in 2024's competitive Pokémon meta.

For his part, Park seemed happy enough to simply celebrate the anniversary of Pachirisu's legendary run in 2014.