A Pokémon-focused YouTuber says his channel, PokéNational, may soon be taken down after Nintendo of America issued multiple copyright strikes against his content. The series, PokéNational Geographic, gained popularity for its creative shorts that reimagine the Pokémon universe as a nature documentary, with clay-like animation and detailed, wildlife-style storytelling. Since launching in 2023, the videos quickly went viral for their unique visual approach and immersive world-building.
However, Elios, the creator behind the project, recently shared in an April 26 video that the channel has accumulated far more than the three copyright strikes allowed under YouTube’s policies. While channels with fewer strikes can stay active by completing a copyright education course, exceeding that limit can lead to permanent removal.
Elios claims the strikes all originate from Nintendo of America and says he would be willing to remove the flagged videos if given the chance, but hasn’t been offered that option. Neither YouTube nor Nintendo of America responded to requests for comment at the time.
"I can't really fight this," the YouTuber says in the video. The complaint reportedly points to Elios’ use of elements from the Pokémon games such as their characters, visuals, and overall creative material as the core issue. However, aside from briefly incorporating the in-game cries heard when creatures enter battle, almost everything in the documentary-style videos was originally created by him. The sound clips he used are all under three seconds long, which he argues should qualify as fair use. While he’s now downloading his videos to preserve them, he won’t be permitted to reupload the content.
"I've gotten internships, I've gotten jobs because of PokéNational, because I showed people my animation skills through that," Elios says.
Elios adds that in recent years, he has focused on making his animations more educational and has translated them into multiple languages so they can be used in classrooms. The channel became so popular that it helped spark a wave of similar Pokémon-style documentary content—much of it now created using AI tools that appear to be trained on copyrighted material.
"I don't know how to save the channel, I don't know if I can," Elios says.
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