A popular meme has resurfaced, putting Bidoof on the cover of a fake mainline Pokémon game called "Pokémon Brown," where every Pokémon is Bidoof. In the Pokédex, Bidoof is referred to as the “plump mouse Pokémon,” although there are some very clear similarities to beavers in Bidoof’s large front teeth, watery habitat, and well-documented ability to build dams. Bidoof’s popularity as a meme originates from the original Pokémon Diamond and Pearl games where players needed their Pokémon to learn certain Hidden Machine moves to traverse new environments. Bidoof and its evolution Bibarel could learn the widest variety of these moves, which made them very useful to have on the team, but not very useful when it came to actual Pokémon battles.
The Pokémon Company has embraced the meme culture when it comes to Bidoof, releasing a video in July celebrating Bidoof Day with a Pokémon-themed version of Rick Astley’s Never Gonna Give You Up. The Pokémon Company also recently revealed an eight-minute-long animated short film starring Bidoof called Bidoof’s Big Stand on its YouTube channel. Though Bidoof has yet to appear in the most recent mainline Pokémon games, Pokémon Sword and Shield, it has been heavily featured in more recent games like New Pokémon Snap and in the recent remakes, Pokémon Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl, where it is a common early game encounter. Based on early trailers, Bidoof appears to play a similar role in the upcoming Pokémon Legends: Arceus as well.
Shared to Reddit by Nora_Valkyrie83, the meme image for "Pokémon Brown" is styled to look just like the classic Nintendo DS Pokémon games, though with Bidoof as the featured Pokémon. The background is also one of simple brown wood, furthering the emphasis on the beaver-like Pokémon Bidoof. Despite the Pokémon Company’s recent embracing of Bidoof’s meme status, it’s still far from likely that the developer, Gamefreak, will actually create a game like this anytime soon.
Though if the popularity of this meme years after its original creation is any indication, fans would love to see a real "Pokémon Brown" that fully embraces the ridiculousness of the Bidoof memes. One suggestion in the comments of the Reddit post suggested a follow up to the Let’s Go Pokémon games called "Let’s Go Bidoof," where the player would start off with a special Bidoof that stays with them throughout the game, as was the case in Let’s Go Pikachu and Eevee. This combined with the upcoming Pokémon Legends: Arceus could set a great precedent to stop releasing two slightly different Pokémon games at the same time, a tradition that likely uses valuable time and energy that could instead be focused on making a single Pokémon title the best it can be.
Of course, with how much emphasis has been placed on the Sinnoh region and the Diamond and Pearl games lately, it is more likely that the Pokémon Company will focus on other regions and Pokémon for some time. It is also worth mentioning that despite the memes, Bidoof doesn’t even make the list of the most useless Pokémon in BDSP. While still an unevolved Pokémon, Bidoof does have a half-decent move pool and several abilities that can be helpful in the right situations. No matter what the future holds for Bidoof, whether that's Pokémon Brown or not, its popularity as a meme in the Pokémon games will continue for years to come.
Pokémon Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl are available now on the Nintendo Switch and Pokémon Legends: Arceus releases on January 28th, 2022, also for the Nintendo Switch.
Source: Nora_Valkyrie83/Reddit