AZ is crying. He is ten feet tall, dressed in rags, and clutching a tiny, glowing Poké Ball. The screen fades, the music swells, and he utters those four words that launched a million image macros: It's been 3000 years.
If you were playing Pokémon X or Pokémon Y back in 2013, you probably felt the weight of that moment. It was supposed to be the emotional climax of the Kalos region story. But the internet is a strange place. Instead of crying along with the giant king of ancient Kalos, we turned him into a way to complain about long wait times for video game sequels.
The phrase has evolved far beyond its Nintendo 3DS origins. It's a shorthand for a very specific kind of exhaustion. You know the feeling. It's the feeling of waiting for a developer to finally drop a trailer after years of silence. It's the feeling of a "coming soon" teaser that turns out to be anything but soon.
The Tragedy of AZ and the Floette
To understand why it's been 3000 years stuck in the collective craw of the internet, you have to look at the actual lore. AZ isn't just some guy. He was the King of Kalos three millennia ago. According to the game's backstory, he built the "Ultimate Weapon" to end a devastating war that had claimed the life of his beloved Eternal Flower Floette.
He succeeded. He brought the Floette back to life.
But the cost was horrific. The machine was powered by the life energy of other Pokémon. When the Floette realized that thousands of others had died just so she could live again, she left him. AZ was left immortal, wandering the earth in misery for—you guessed it—three thousand years.
When he finally reunites with Floette at the end of the game, his line is genuinely moving in context. The problem is that the visual of a massive, hobo-looking king weeping over a tiny flower-fairy is inherently a bit ridiculous. The internet saw the melodrama and decided to make it about Grand Theft Auto VI or the next Elder Scrolls installment.
Why the Internet Latched Onto a Niche Pokémon Quote
Most memes have a shelf life of about two weeks. This one is over a decade old. Why?
Honestly, it’s the versatility. It's been 3000 years is the perfect "reaction image" because it captures a mix of relief and resentment. It’s not just "I'm happy this is here." It’s "I'm happy this is here, but why did you take so long to give it to me?"
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Think about the context of 2013-2014. The gaming industry was moving into a phase of incredibly long development cycles. Games that used to take two years were now taking five or six. Fans were getting restless. When the X and Y endgame cutscene leaked online, the screencap of AZ’s face became the universal symbol for every fan who had been waiting for a sequel since they were in middle school.
Real World Examples of the Meme in Action
We see it every time a "dead" franchise shows signs of life.
When Nintendo finally announced Metroid Dread in 2021—a game that had been rumored since the mid-2000s—Twitter was flooded with AZ. People didn't just post "I'm excited." They posted the old man. They posted the rags. They posted the tears.
It happens in the music world too. When Rihanna or Frank Ocean fans go years without an album, the 3000-year mark is the go-to reference. It has become a linguistic shortcut for "the wait is finally over."
The Technical Execution of a "Perfect" Meme
What makes a phrase like it's been 3000 years rank so well in our cultural memory?
It’s partly the visuals. The font in Pokémon X and Y was clean and legible. The framing of AZ’s face was a tight close-up. It followed the "Impact Font" era of memes but transitioned perfectly into the modern era of "reaction pics" used on Discord and Reddit.
But there's also the element of hyperbole. Three thousand years is a long time. It's longer than most civilizations. Using such a massive number to describe a four-year wait for a video game update is peak internet humor. It’s the kind of exaggeration that resonates because gaming culture is, by its very nature, slightly dramatic.
Misconceptions About the Quote
Some people think the line is a mistranslation. It isn't. The Japanese text (3000-nen buri da ne...) carries the exact same weight. It’s meant to be a literal statement of time.
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Others think it’s from the Pokémon anime. While AZ does appear in the Pokémon Generations shorts, the meme is strictly a product of the 3DS game engine. The jagged edges of the 3D model and the slightly flat lighting of the 3DS are part of the charm. If it looked too realistic, it wouldn't be as funny.
The Evolution: From Pokémon to General Pop Culture
At this point, you don't even need to be a Pokémon fan to know the phrase. I've seen it used in corporate Slack channels when a project manager finally approves a budget. I've seen it in sports subreddits when a team finally wins a championship after a decades-long drought.
It has achieved what linguists call "semantic bleaching." The original meaning (an immortal king reuniting with a magical flower) has been washed away. What’s left is the raw emotion of the phrase.
It's been 3000 years has survived because it fills a gap in our vocabulary. "Finally" is too short. "It's about time" sounds too aggressive. But the AZ quote? It’s just right. It implies that the person waiting has aged, suffered, and moved through eras of history just to reach this moment.
The Longevity of Pokémon Memes
Pokémon is a meme factory. Think about "Surprised Pikachu." Think about "Mudkipz."
The reason it's been 3000 years stands out among them is that it isn't just a joke about a creature. It’s a joke about the player’s experience. It’s meta. It comments on the relationship between the creator and the consumer.
When Game Freak (the developers) took forever to announce the Diamond and Pearl remakes, the fans used Game Freak’s own dialogue against them. There is a delicious irony in using a developer's story to complain about the developer's schedule.
How to Use the Meme Without Looking Like a "Fellow Kid"
If you're going to use it, you have to use it right.
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Don't use it for something that took two weeks. That’s amateur hour. It needs to be something significant. A decade-long hiatus. A sequel to a movie everyone forgot about. A bug fix for a piece of software that has been broken since the Bush administration.
The power of the phrase lies in the absurdity of the timeline. If you use it for a pizza delivery that’s ten minutes late, it loses the "AZ energy." You need to feel like you’ve actually lived through an epoch of history while waiting.
The Cultural Legacy
Is it the most famous Pokémon meme? Maybe not. That title probably belongs to Pikachu. But it is arguably the most useful one. It bridges the gap between different fandoms.
We live in an era of "reboot culture." Everything old is being brought back. Because of that, we are constantly in a state of waiting for nostalgia to be packaged and sold back to us. In that landscape, it's been 3000 years isn't just a meme—it's a lifestyle.
What This Tells Us About Modern Fandom
Honestly, the persistence of this quote says a lot about how we consume media now. We aren't just fans; we're chroniclers of the wait. We track development cycles. We watch "countdown" clocks.
The meme is a release valve for that pressure. It allows us to acknowledge the frustration of a long wait while still being part of the community. It’s a way of saying, "We're all in this together, and we’re all getting old while we wait for the next patch."
Actionable Takeaways for Using "It's Been 3000 Years"
If you want to stay relevant in digital spaces or just understand why your younger cousins are posting pictures of a giant, crying man, keep these points in mind:
- Understand the "Waiting" Context: Only deploy this meme when a significant amount of time has passed. The humor is in the hyperbole.
- Visual Consistency Matters: The meme is most effective when paired with the original screenshot of AZ from Pokémon X/Y. Using just the text is fine, but the image carries the "Expert" level of recognition.
- Know the Lore: If someone asks, remember that AZ isn't a villain. He's a tragic figure. Knowing this adds a layer of "E-E-A-T" (Experience, Expertise, Authoritativeness, and Trustworthiness) to your online interactions.
- Vary Your Reaction Images: While it's been 3000 years is a classic, don't overplay it. Use it for the "big" reveals to keep the impact high.
The next time a long-lost franchise announces a comeback, or a project you've been working on for years finally gets the green light, you know what to do. Channel your inner 3,000-year-old king. Shed a tear. Post the screencap.
It’s the only way to truly celebrate the end of a long journey.