Pokémon

Bernie Sanders confirmed as new Viridian City gym leader?

It’s time we jumped on the bandwagon at Distant Arcade. The Bernie Sanders sitting in a chair meme has gone viral and I thought it’d be cool to try one of our own. But which game could he fit into?

Then I remembered Giovanni from Team Rocket. A lot of his appearances in the anime involved him sitting in his big chair, legs crossed, stroking his Persian (or Meowth depending on the circumstance, neither of them euphemisms).

The problem was finding an appropriate image to place Bernie into that required minimal Photoshopping but still look comical and passable. I settled for a scene from Pokémon Let’s Go where Giovanni bids your character farewell after you beat him in the Viridian City gym. He leaves his seat empty and disappears after verbally disbanding Team Rocket.

But what would that mean? Was Bernie Sanders the new interim gym leader (before Blue took over per game canon)? Was he perhaps a Team Rocket executive? Or the new Team Rocket leader or perhaps Giovanni’s boss à la The Emperor and Darth Vader from Star Wars? Was he Giovanni’s dad??

Regardless, the meme is there for you to share. Link back to this post if you do and let us know on Twitter what Pokémon you think Bernie would have if he was the Don Corleone of Team Rocket.

Related: Pokémon Crystal but you steal your opponents’ team when you win