Pokémon Centers are a staple part of both Nintendo’s JRPGs and the anime franchise. In most towns, the Pokémon Center Nurse (Nurse Joy in the anime) can be found waiting to heal a trainer’s battered and potentially knocked out team. It is a service that one cannot imagine a mainline Pokémon game without, but that does not mean this feature makes all that much sense.

As tends to be the case, a plethora of memes exist specifically to point out some of the more absurd aspects of Pokémon Centers. Considering the games seldom change all that significantly, this means that most Pokémon-related memes are timeless.

10 The Truth

Regardless of how badly defeated a Pokémon is in battle, they can always be healed at the local Center. While the anime does throw out the occasional curveball, the games never hint that there is any injury that a Pokémon Center cannot heal.

Apparently, these free hospitals have access to medication that puts to shame anything that is available for humans in the Pokémon universe. One cannot help but wonder what exactly is going on behind the scenes. This comic taps into the darkest timeline.

9 No

Nurse Joy, or the Pokémon Center Nurse, has a tough job. While the process of healing Pokémon seems simple enough, she has to constantly deal with trainers who might not take care of their party all that well. How often has Nurse Joy had to bite her tongue as Bug Catcher Benny or Battle Girl Aisha brought in their team for another free treatment after thoughtlessly letting their Pokémon faint in another battle?

Nurse Joy presumably loves Pokémon and wants to protect them, but the very existence of Pokémon Centers enables trainers to accept risks on behave of their team that they might otherwise avoid.

8 Words Not Chosen Carefully

This single line has spawned enough memes to fill hundreds of articles. Even after eight generations, the Pokémon Center has yet to realize that maybe wishing for repeat customers is not in good form.

If the Pokémon Centers charged their clients, then this line would actually make more sense. It would also be far more despicable, but there would at least be more to it than just a poorly thought out farewell.

7 Nurse Joy Is Super Effective

Blending the anime and games, this meme pokes fun at the Pokémon Center Nurse’s fixed dialogue. Putting aside a couple of generational and situational changes, she will always essentially say the same things. Nurse Joy has a touch more agency in the anime, but she is also seemingly stuck in an endless loop as each year repeats itself with little to no variation.

Now, it does not take a lot to throw Team Rocket off their game, and Nurse Joy’s unflinching dedication to repeating the company line would surely work.

6 The Passerby

Pokémon Omega Ruby & Alpha Sapphire and X & Y included a trading system that allowed players to connect to others via a local or online connection. Those who were not on a player’s Friends list would appear as Passersby, with an icon representing them.

After a while, people started seeing the occasional user with a Pokémon Center for an icon. It was bizarre, to say the least. This meme reflects that splendidly.

5 Brock Is Quite Observant

While this meme mocks the anime specifically, the running gag about Nurse Joy and Officer Jenny appearing in all of the towns across every region is a reference to the games’ infinite parade of Pokémon Center Nurses.

If an NPC works fine, Game Freak sees no reason to change things up. Pokémon is a franchise that finds comfort in the familiar, and it would feel a bit strange if someone else appeared behind the desk of a Center.

4 Onix

While not an option in every entry, a number of games allow a single Pokémon to walk alongside their trainer. This meme specifically references HeartGold & SoulSilver, which was the first game to allow every Pokémon to accompany the playable character throughout the majority of the campaign.

However, a couple of the bigger creatures were prohibited from entering most buildings as they would naturally cause a tiny bit of damage. Apparently, Onix did not qualify for that list.

3 Ask A Stupid Question…

Reading the same lines of dialogue over and over again eventually starts to grow annoying. After a certain point, it is only natural that one might begin to reply with a hint of sarcasm to the NPC’s seemingly innocent questions. Still, there is basically no other reason to talk to the main Pokémon Center Nurse, so this line of inquiry is a touch nonsensical.

Perhaps the reason Game Freak keeps on making the games easier is so players have less reason to visit a Pokémon Center.

2 Some Things Never Change

Pokémon changes, but only begrudgingly. In the grand scheme of things, there are not all that many ways a Pokémon Center can be improved. It is one of those areas that Pokémon got right in Generation I. Be that as it may, this component’s complete lack of development highlights an issue that has played the franchise for years: This universe feels static.

Why are the Pokémon Centers always the same? Surely, there must be some regional differences. Is everything so centralized in this world that there is no room for individuality?

1 A Break For Everyone

Considering Game Freak has been mostly working with handheld consoles, the studio has done an admirable job of crafting lengthy adventures that make the most of their respective hardware. Even if there are times when the games crawl to a halt to repeat a conversation line.

Anyone who has ever played a Pokémon handheld game will recognize this meme’s scene; in fact, they might find themselves unwittingly reaching for a Game Boy to mash the A button. Time to get back to the scrolling.

NEXT: Pokémon: The 10 Best Careers To Have In-Game (That Isn’t Being A Trainer)