The Pokémon community is scattered across various platforms. Trainers visit specific subreddits for trading, while fan art can be found on Instagram or Twitter. Sometimes, you can see a few lingering about on Tumblr and Deviantart. To unite this passionate community, The Pokémon Company has launched a platform. However, there is just one problem — the internet is more unhinged than ever before.
This all started when The Pokémon Company launched its official community forum page. Trainers can register or sign in with their Pokémon Trainer Club account, and from there, they can interact with other passionate players. In theory, this is a great idea. Players are scattered all over the globe and across different social media platforms, so uniting them into one official place would be helpful.
However, early users noticed a flaw in this “family-friendly” forum.
Rather than discussing the game or potential battle strategies, trainers are engaging in conversations about topics that might not be appropriate for the target demographic the company was aiming for. The threads appear to lack moderation, which is a big issue. As of writing, here is a screenshot of what is on the “Trending Topics” section, found on the forum site’s front page.
You may wonder, “How is The Pokémon Company allowing these users to get away with this?” You’re not alone since a forum discussion page asks that same question, with the user concerned about the forum’s longevity. The admins of the official PokéForums have released an official community guidelines page, and one of them urges users not to use inappropriate themes. But based on what’s happening on the front page, it seems like these rules aren’t being moderated for the time being.
If you want to interact with the Pokémon community on this side of the internet, the Pokémon Forums are still live. You just need to create an official account, and you’re off to the races. Fingers crossed that a major cleanup will be initiated to make the forums more appropriate for its user base.