Content Creator Tony is here today to help you get ready for April Fools’ Day with a dive into Pokémon Showdown’s annual sprite swap prank.

Trivia Mafia has a strong anti-prank stance. They’re not funny! No one likes them! Please don’t do any!

Unless, of course, you are the folks behind Pokémon Showdown, the creators of the only good April Fools' Day Prank.

Even if you’re a Pokémon fan, you may not be familiar with Pokémon Showdown. It isn’t a game, it’s a battle simulator that lets you compete against thousands of online players. Why have a simulator? If you don’t have a game console, you can still enjoy playing Pokémon as a strategy game. Tweaking a Pokémon’s stats is much easier on Showdown than in the actual games, so many Video Game Championship players use it to design and test their teams. And of course, there’s a robust community that hosts its own rules and tournaments.

Or, you’re like me, and mindlessly pull up Pokémon Showdown to de-stress. Playing a Random Battle or five is a low-effort, low-stakes distraction to clear my head.

And if I’m mindless on April 1, I might be surprised and confused to see the entirety of “Bee Movie” (strobing image warning) where my Beedrill should be.

It isn’t just Beedrill. Admins and artists at Pokémon Showdown are hard at work all throughout the year creating poorly-drawn, pun-based, or pop-culture referencing sprites for all 1,025 Pokémon (as well as their alternate forms). You can read their history of how it came to be, though I have to confess, it’s kind of buried in meme-speak to the point that even my broken-by-online brain can barely process it. Though they do spotlight the nine main artists on the team, who each highlight their favorite creations, which is nice and fun and cool.

Having used TM28 (Dig!) down the rabbit hole to see each and every one of the sprites, I feel very qualified to give you a tour through the ones that made me lol (that is, laugh out loud). I’ll show you what the actual Pokémon is in comparison to the April Fools' Sprite.

Thanks to Cake, Platty, Pac, Hunbi, Nate, Sharpclaw, Irpachuza, Fusion, and Clem for making Monday slightly more tolerable.

15. Togepi: According to the Pokédex, its shell is filled with happiness, meaning anyone should be grateful to be offered one during these trying times.

14. Piloswine: A master of disguise.

13. Latios: Pour some Soul Dew on it for a balanced breakfast. 10/10, would eat.

12. Geodude: As Barack Obama allegedly said: He is real, and strong, and he is my friend.
11. Druddigon: Out of the top 10 for one reason: Consummate Vs! We said Consummate!

10. Dewgong: Michael Bluth voice: I don’t know what I expected.

9. Smoliv: “Who made this?” “An idiot sandwich.”

8. Finizen: They could’ve made a sprite that was a POG depicting a Tamagotchi with frosted tips wearing JNCOs and it wouldn’t get more ’90s than this.

7. Durant: Look at this attention to detail as Durant has jumped from team to team. If only Game Freak updated “Pokémon Scarlet” and “Violet” this diligently.

6. Hydreigon: In the past, it’s been difficult to remember how many heads Hydreigon has, and this sprite helpfully solves this issue.

5. Drizzile: I’m not okay.

4. Snom: From each according to their Ability (Ice Scales) to each according to their need (me to boop Comrade Snom). I would die for Comrade Snom.

3. Misdreavus: You’re eating 244 yellow dots and see her chasing you. wyd

2. Overqwil: Bumped down a spot for inaccuracy. One of these twos should be a three!

1. Smeargle: We want happy sprites. If you want sad things, go watch the news.

You’ll have to try out Pokémon Showdown on Monday for the most authentic experience, but if you’re reading this late or want to try it early, you can visit here to play with April Fools' Sprites all year long. Trust us! It’s not a prank, because we hate those!