After a mod putting Pokémon into Palworld was removed, the creator has responded with a hilarious new video featuring legally-distinct bootleg Pokémon.
Palworld was already referred to as 'Pokémon with guns' before its release, even though original Pokémon are not a part of it. Quickly after launch, the popularity of the survival game has skyrocketed. A few days later, Australian gaming YouTuber ToastedShoes posted the first mods aiming to make the gameplay even more absurd, by actually adding Pokémon to the game.
Of course, Nintendo had issues with that and had all videos regarding this mod removed. About a week later, ToastedShoes responded to this in the most hilarious fashion, by adding "legally distinct pocket-sized creatures" to the game.
After Controversial Pokémon Mod In Palworld: You Can Now Add Bootleg Pokémon To The Game
In his latest video, you can see the new mod in action and it's absolutely hilarious. Instead of Pikachu, there's Yellow Rat, Wooloo has become Braided Sheep and so on. A group of modders have collabed with Toasted here, to create these weird, obviously ironic versions of the pocket monsters.
This is a brilliant double punch by Toasted, playfully addressing the accusations that Palworld is a little too close to Pokémon (which The Pokémon Company has actually responded to). Of course, this new mod functions as a meta commentary on his original altercation with Nintendo as well.
To make really unmistakably clear what he thinks of the original situation, the new mod even features a boss fight against Saul Goodman and a giant DMCA notice. Subtlety is not what we're here for, after all.
What Originally Happened With the Pokémon Mod In Palworld
To recap what happened with the first mod: On January 22, ToastedShoes posted a short video of a Pokémon mod on Twitter/X, which has quickly been removed due to copyright infringement. A day later, he uploaded a full video response on YouTube, recapping what had happened since then and showcasing the mod. This was also removed. Nintendo were clearly not happy about the situation, which he talked about in yet another video:
The original mod turned Ash Ketchum into a playable character, added Brock and Misty, and, of course, let players hunt and collect Pokémon. The video showcased scenes such as Ash hunting a Torterra with a bow, and even a boss battle against Team Rocket member Jessie.
The big issue with this was, of course, the copyright. Since Nintendo has already had this roughly 25-second video removed from Twitter, they definitely wouldn't allow a mod featuring their original characters to be released.
Nintendo has come for me, please leave me in your thoughts and prayers pic.twitter.com/HGg65y67Qp
— Toasted (@ToastedShoes) January 23, 2024
Even The Modding Community Distances Itself From The Pokémon Mod
To avoid jeopardizing the Palworld modding community, links to the Pokémon mod were removed from the respective Discord server. There, it is stated:
Hey y'all, I'm sure many of you have been seeing all the content regarding the Pokemon mod for Palworld. While the memes and such are hilarious, the mod alone hosts a giant risk to the community and we'll need to take precautions so that Nintendo's lawyers don't nuke all of us with litigious actions. The mod is highly likely using ripped assets and is very illegal in Nintendo's eyes
Similar to the game itself, the modding community around Palworld also grew rapidly overnight. To ensure that no one gets into trouble, it was quickly forbidden to promote or link the Pokémon mod on the server, and violating this rule will result in an immediate ban.
So far, "The legally-distinct pocket creatures into Palworld Mod Pack" is still available to download on Nexus Mod. Let's see if the modding community (and Nintendo) will be fine with this one.