Well, here we are. In a week of major gaming news and endless hype cycles, the thing that truly broke the internet—or at least Japan’s corner of it—wasn’t a new graphical marvel or a shocking character reveal. It was the earth-shattering, lore-defining confirmation that Pikachu poops.

Yes, you read that right. The collective mind of the Japanese internet was recently consumed by the digestive workings of everyone’s favorite Electric-type mouse, all thanks to a throwaway line in Pokemon Legends: Z-A.

Here’s the scoop (sorry).

An NPC in the game is just trying to live his best life with his own Pikachu, but he’s hit with a classic pet owner dilemma. In the original Japanese text, the trainer expresses genuine concern because his Pikachu has been, and I quote, “pooping more than usual.”

The English localization, ever the diplomat, went with the much softer: “My Pikachu’s been having tummy troubles recently. I’m worried…” A valiant effort to maintain Pikachu’s pristine, marketable image, but the cat—or rather, the mouse—was already out of the bag.

This is the guy, as spotted by user teso_026, whose simple worry launched a thousand memes:

And the people responded. Oh, how they responded. The term “Pikachu’s Poop” began trending on X in Japan, and the original screenshot revealing this gritty biological reality racked up nearly five million views. It seems we all, on some fundamental level, needed to know this.

It raises so many questions that the game, wisely, does not answer. What does it eat? What does it… produce? Are we talking cute, sparky little pellets? The world may never know, and honestly, that’s probably for the best.

But for one glorious day, the internet united not in anger or debate, but in shared, amused acknowledgment that even our most iconic digital companions have to deal with the same messy biology as the rest of us.

Pokemon Legends: Z-A is out now, and if you’re playing, you can focus on more traditional goals, like [how to get Chespin, Fennekin, and Froakie]. But let’s be real, you’ll never look at a Pikachu the same way again.