Twitch bans streamer's innocent Pokémon emote

A Twitch streamer has had his custom Pokémon emote removed due to sexual content - even though it's just an innocent Bonsly.

Pokémon streamer SBCoop shared the response from Twitch on X, formerly Twitter, showing the emote in question. It's just a little Bonsly on its back crying with a hole in its base, isn't it?

According to the removal statement from Twitch, the emote includes "imagery of sexual content or nudity" in a "gasm-style".

Twitch does have particularly stringent emote guidelines. Once a streamer hits Affiliate status, they can upload their own emotes to customise their channel - but these must be approved through Twitch's moderation tool. This is to avoid the likes of hateful conduct and slurs, illegal drug use, threats of violence, and of course sexual or nude content.

But this is just a Bonsly, right? This is the Pokémon that looks like a little bonsai plant pot, complete with drainage hole between its legs.

One response to SBCoop's post suggested Twitch "needs some research from the anime" showing an image pointing to Bonsly's hole.

What's more, the emote is specifically a reference to a Pokémon card with the same Bonsly image. Still, it does look pretty suggestive.

It's unclear yet if Twitch will reconsider its decision, or if SBCoop will need to redesign the emote.

Meanwhile, The Pokémon Company will be restocking its Pikachu Van Gogh card in a bid to defeat scalpers selling the Van Gogh Museum exclusive.