Since its release in July 2016, a lot has changed in Pokémon GO, for the better. There are now large raids in which you are allowed to participate together with other players. At the end of the battle, individual players are then highlighted for their achievements – with trainer names. Apparently, the feature has now become the undoing of a player.

On reddit player Specter017 writes that he now had to change his name. The developers didn’t like the new name either and are serious: If the next name is also offensive, they will ban him.

Affected player “can’t believe it”.

What does the coach say?

On reddit, Specter017 shows three screenshots. The first one shows his name “CoktimusPrime”, which is a sexually offensive alteration of Optimus Prime’s name. In one of his screenshots, you can see a raid award “the greatest” displayed next to his username. The trainer received the award for taking the biggest Pokémon into the raid battle.

In another screenshot, Professor Willow can be seen saying, “Hi Trainer. I think there’s a problem with your nickname. Please choose a new one.”

And on the third picture you can see the input field for a new nickname. For reddit post with the images we embed you here.

The trainer explains:

“I can’t believe it. After almost 6 years, someone finally signed me up. I’ve been playing since day 1 and finally had to change my name. It went well.”

He explains that he was initially angry about being reported. The first name change to “ImCoktimusPrime” worked at first, but then the trainer received an email from Niantic. They warned him and stated that he should change his name again. If this new name was then offensive again, they would ban him permanently.

How do the coaches react?

Some find the pun funny and congratulate the player for not reporting it for so long. A big issue on the other side is why it took so long for someone to report the sexually offensive name.

Some coaches in the comments don’t even know how to report a player in the first place.

How do you report another player?

If you see a player whose nickname violates Pokémon GO guidelines, you can report them.

• Tap on the Pokéball and open the menu
• Selects “Settings” in the upper right corner
• Scrolls down and selects “Get Help
• Players on iOS tap “Contact Us”, players on Android select the speech bubble icon.
• Then describe the problem and select “Report a player”.

According to Niantic, a nickname is inappropriate if the following characteristics are present:

• sexual or pornographic references,
• Obscenities or derogatory words,
• Words that promote illegal activities,
• Words deemed to be hate speech against members of a protected group,
• Or words intended to insult or harass other players.