Pokemon Sword and Pokemon Shield's most popular new character isn't Grookey, Sobble, or Scorbunny. It's not Marnie, Bea, or Leon, either. At least for today, Pokemon Sword and Shield's most popular character is the Ball Guy. The Ball Guy is so popular that he has even received their own unique emoji on Twitter, paired with his trending hashtag. But while Ball Guy is certainly an interesting figure, it's worth asking how Pokemon Sword and Shield's weird mascot is suddenly so popular.
Ball Guy's path to popularity is due to a variety of reasons, but there's one specifically that's led to this sudden surge of excitement. Over the past few days, starting with the Japanese Twitter account for Pokemon, Game Freak has run a contest. Basically, if fans could get Ball Guy trending then Game Freak would share Mystery Gift codes for Pokemon Sword and Shield. Japanese fans delivered exceptionally well and Game Freak provided several Mystery Gift codes filled with PokeBalls.
That's just how this wave of Ball Guy love got started, however. From there, fans really ran with what Game Freak started. It wasn't about free Mystery Gifts anymore, but rather celebrating Pokemon Sword and Shield in a unique and fun way. Fans starting posting fan art and clips from the game. Then the North American Pokemon Twitter account got in the fun and rebranded as the Ball Guy's account. It's been a snowball rolling down a snowy mountain type of situation.
As if things weren't already going crazy with regards to Ball Guy trending, the Super Smash Bros. Ultimate community then decided to join in on the fun. A new source of fans have added their voices to the fanfare, demanding Ball Guy be added to the Super Smash Bros. Ultimate as a DLC fighter. It isn't likely to happen in the slightest, but it is still fun to think about.
Ultimately, there isn't anything particularly exciting about Ball Guy trending on Twitter. The new PokeBall Mystery Gifts codes are great, but no new content is coming to Pokemon Sword and Shield or anything. There aren't any events being announced, and Ball Guy definitely isn't coming to Super Smash Bros Ultimate. It's just an opportunity to fans to relax and have some fun on social media. It's an opportunity to be a part of the community.
Pokemon Sword and Pokemon Switch are available now exclusively on Nintendo Switch.