Your profile picture. On any site, this is what other users will see first. You’re giving your friends an image of what to have in their heads when they think of you. If you’re a Pokémon fan, choosing one of the over 900 Pokémon might be the way to go for your PFP. Most people will recognize a Pokémon, but you can also have fun and make your PFP unique.
There are many options for choosing the best and cutest Pokémon PFP to match the vibe you’re trying to set. Whether you want to seem cool and fierce like Suicune or cute and innocent like Jigglypuff, these ideas will help you achieve your look.
Here are five ideas to help you get the cutest Pokémon PFP on your server.
1) Pokémon Snap captures
Pokémon Snap is an iconic game where the entire point of your adventure is to take pictures of Pokémon, capturing them at their best (and worst) angles. With New Pokémon Snap, released in 2021 for the Switch, players now have an easy way to take their pictures from the game and transfer them to other platforms. Some wild Pokémon have the cutest facial expressions and poses, so taking that perfectly curated shot from New Pokémon Snap and making it your PFP is a great strategy.
To get your perfectly-timed Quagsire shot to your phone or computer, you will have to take a screenshot of the photo with the Switch’s capture button. From there, you can visit the photo album on the console to upload the photo to social media. Once posted, you can save the image on your phone or computer and use it as a PFP. You can also crop the photo to a square or circle and edit it more to your liking.
Though New Pokémon Snap has specific missions for capturing certain Pokémon in designated areas, feel free to get your own shots to make your PFP unique. If you don’t have the game yourself, ask a friend to go on a mission for you, or check out the other options on this list.
2) Pokémon fan art
There are countless artists out there who draw Pokémon fan art, whether for fun or for commission. Many artists will specialize in a certain Pokémon or certain type of Pokémon. There is likely a dedicated fan art community for whichever Pokémon you’re looking for.
The important thing to remember about fan art is that the art belongs to the creator, and you shouldn’t take any picture that has been drawn by an artist for use without permission. Sometimes artists will indicate that they are fine with their art being used as profile pictures, but request that you credit them in your bio. Some artists don’t want their art used as PFPs or header images at all. When in doubt, always check with an artist, or choose a different image.
One of the best ways to get a truly unique Pokémon PFP is to commission an artist to draw one for you. This way, you can get the exact Pokémon you want with the exact background, hat, expression, pose, etc. that you’re looking for. Arcanine in a field of flowers? A Pidgeotto flying alongside an airplane? Plusle and Minun on a romantic spaghetti dinner date? All possibilities.
When you commission a piece of art, you also know that no one else will have the same picture as you. It is a unique and fun way to celebrate your favorite Pokémon and your personality, and you also get to support an independent creator in the process!
3) Matching Pokémon PFPs
You and your partner just finished watching Destiny Deoxys for the 20th time. You glance over at the Discord call and feel like your matching Mercy and Pharah PFPs are getting stale. So how about Latios and Latias instead?
There is an entire realm of possibilities when it comes to matching Pokémon profile pictures. Since so many Pokémon have counterparts, regional variants, or different evolution pathways, it’s easy to find two Pokémon that speak to you and your partner or best friend. You could take the two cover legendaries from your favorite generation, or your two favorite Eevee evolutions.
The best way to go about finding the perfect matching PFP is to find a photo where the two Pokémon of choice are interacting with each other, and crop out just the one you want in your PFP, vice versa for your partner or friend. This way, it’s unmistakable that you and your duo are on the same page here.
Related: Best matching profile pictures for Discord, Steam, and more
Some suggestions for matching characters and Pokémon:
- Latios and Latias
- Plusle and Minun
- Any two cover legendaries
- Gym leaders or characters that come in a duo, Liza and Tate, Maxie and Archie, etc.
- Regional variants of the same Pokémon
- Your favorite Eevee evolutions
4) Screenshots from other Pokémon games or the Pokémon anime
New Pokémon Snap isn’t the only Pokémon game with PFP-worthy moments, and now that you know how to get screenshots from your Switch onto social media, you can capitalize on these cute moments in-game.
Whether making curry in Pokémon Sword and Shield or championing a contest in Pokémon Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl, there are plenty of cute moments to capture with the click of the screenshot button. A personal favorite is capturing the moments camping with Pokémon in Sword and Shield because each member on the team will have a different personality and play in a different way. Each Pokémon displays a wide variety of facial expressions, motions, and interactions with other Pokémon.
If you’re a fan of the Pokémon anime or movies, you could also take screenshots of memorable scenes while watching and compile them into a possible PFP archive. Whether it be Munchlax bursting in with crumbs all over his face or a trainer holding a Squirtle on the subway, there are plenty of moments in the anime and movies that could make the perfect PFP.
5) Pokémon Mystery Dungeon profile pictures
One of our favorite Pokémon profile pictures comes from an old Pokémon Mystery Dungeon game. In the Pokémon Mystery Dungeon games, the main character works alongside different Pokémon during the game, learning about their concerns and having many conversations with them along the way.
As the character speaks with these Pokémon, a small image of the Pokémon will appear by the text bubble, not only indicating who is speaking but also what mood they are in. These small profile images of the speaking Pokémon have amazing PFP potential. They are not extremely detailed, making them easy to see and identify even on platforms with very small PFPs or in a group chat, and are already cut to a perfect square so you don’t need to do any editing.
The only downside to using any of the profile images from the Pokémon Mystery Dungeon games is that each game has a limited cast of Pokémon that appear. So if your favorite Pokémon isn’t included in the game, you’re out of luck.
