"Short King": Pokemon GO community reminisces Rhyperior debut and its wrong size 

Well before Niantic released XXS Pokemon in Pokemon GO, there was a hiccup that left many players laughing. Specifically, when Rhyperior was introduced to the mobile title, it was incredibly small compared to its intended size, leaving many fans to refer to it as a "short king."

In a post on Pokemon GO's subreddit on March 21, 2023, user Summerclaw asked the community if any players remembered the time when Rhyperior was incredibly small.

Rhyperior used to be smaller than its previous evolution Rhydon in Pokemon GO (Image via u/Summerclaw/Reddit)

Niantic eventually patched out the problem and brought the Ground/Rock-type creature to its actual size. However, the "short king" moniker used by Summerclaw and others in the Reddit post has shown that players don't forget easily.

In the comments, players regaled on the old days of Pokemon GO and how fun it was to see a tiny Rhyperior unintentionally placed in the game.

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Pokemon GO Redditors discuss "short king" Rhyperior

Rhyperior's size discrepancy was eventually addressed by a Pokemon GO patch (Image via Niantic)

In the comments of Summerclaw's Reddit thread, plenty of players reminisced on the days when Rhyperior was incredibly small. However, as opposed to many Pokemon GO bugs, which can be occasionally frustrating, players consider the incident to be funny and endearing.

Some fans who weren't playing during the time when Rhyperior was so small were also glad to hear about it, finding it particularly hilarious.

A few players joked that Rhyperior was reminiscent of Gimli, a dwarf warrior seen in J.R.R. Tolkien's Lord of the Rings franchise. The player Jackfromafrica also stated that they managed to capture an XXS Rhyperior, which is still quite small on par with the original bugged creature that was introduced to the mobile title.

Pokemon GO players discuss short Rhyperior and the current XXS iteration recently introduced (Image via u/Summerclaw/Reddit)

The "short king" remarks continued, with players unanimously heaping praise on the small, bugged Rhyperior. Some fans joked about Summerclaw's image showing Rhyperior next to its previous evolution Rhydon, who vastly outsized it by comparison. They remarked that the Rhydon in question was clearly at max level, and the Rhyperior still had room to power up.

A player by the name of Reasonable_Potato_22 also pointed out that a similar graphical bug occurred when Dusknoir was introduced to Pokemon GO. Instead of being small, Dusknoir floated too high up in the air and its head would constantly push into the ceiling of gyms when defending them.

Fans quote a line from Gimli in Lords of the Rings, comparing Rhyperior to the character (Image via u/Arrowmatic/Reddit)

Fans continued to joke, referring to this iteration of Rhyperior as "Rhyferior," while others pointed out that not all creatures have had their size addressed by Niantic. For example, Alolan Grimer is still quite small compared to how it should be, though this can now be mitigated somewhat by the new XXL sizes introduced to the game back in January 2023.

However, this remembrance of the tiny Rhyperior may just give an incentive for Niantic to further tweak Pokemon sizes if they receive enough player feedback.

Fans reminisce with Pepperidge Farm memes, among other jokes and references (Image via u/Rujoshin/Reddit)

Whatever the case, if current players want to relive the days of having tiny Rhyperior, it's still possible to capture an XXL Rhyhorn or Rhydon and evolve it. However, when it comes to experiencing the smallest iteration of Rhyperior the mobile title has ever seen, players simply had to be there.