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What’s better than Pokémon? Music videos about Pokémon! Last year, the Pokémon higher-ups in Japan released an official theme song and video for Yadon (Slowpoke, in English), the lethargic, sleepy, pink Pokémon. The Japanese song, Donaiyanen Yadon, was made to celebrate the Pokémon Center’s Facebook page and is charming, if not hypnotic.

Apparently, though, Yadon’s sluggishness is contagious and spread to the Pokémon Center’s translation team, because the translation of the psychedelic-reggae song was not released until a solid year after people started grooving to the original. But we’re happy to say: The English version is finally here in all of its bizarre glory.

▼Ah-oo what’s your story, Slowpoke?

For those who have seen the horror movie The Human Centipede, this video may be especially disturbing, as a series of Slowpokes are shown biting each other’s tails in a cyclical pattern.

▼ At least it’s by choice?

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As the song progresses, more and more Slowpokes are added to the hypnotic spiral of Yadon, accompanied by clips of other slow-moving Slowpokes. If it weren’t for the crazy lyrics, you’d probably be lost in the Pokéworld forever.

The lyrics, for the most part, are a pretty close translation of the Japanese version, with some words changed here and there for artistic and cultural reasons. Here are some of our favorites:

“Your big mouth
Like a supermarket door
Open seven/twenty-four”

“What word starts with “S”
And ends with letter “E”?
It’s obviously…(Sunstroke)” [What?!]

“A Shellder bites your tail
And then you become a Slowbro
That’s a dopey evolution”

▼ “You’re really somethin’ (Slowpoke)”

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While many Japanese people appreciated the Japanese version of the song as charming and light-hearted, some of the foreign viewers of the English version seem baffled and confused.

“Uh what did I just watch?”
“Wh-what?! how do I react to this?!?!?!??!?! …”
“The biting of tails is kinda disturbing”
“This is an official video?”

On the other hand, there have also been a lot of cracks at the lateness of the video:

“The joke is that the Japanese version has been out for some time.  Get it? It’s a slowpoke meme.”

Sure, it took a whole year for the English version to premier, but hey, as the song goes, maybe it’s so late [it’s] early”.

▼ Japanese version: “Donaiyanen Yadon” (“Wassup, Yadon?”)

Sources: Yurukuyaru, YouTube/The Official Pokémon Channel
Images: YouTube/The Official Pokémon Channel