The Pokémon Sword and Shield memes primarily emerged following the 2019 announcement of the generation eight games for the Nintendo Switch. Fans immediately began parodying the box art featuring the legendary wolves, Zacian and Zamazenta, often creating a hypothetical third version known as 'Pokémon Gun' with various fan-made logos. The template is widely used to illustrate binary choices, the duality of offense versus defense, or to mock series tropes. Its popularity stayed high throughout the Galar era as players used the distinct red and blue aesthetics to represent opposing viewpoints or rival characters in pop culture.