Pokey the Panda

Pokey the Panda is a costumed mascot character who wanders around the Galleria Mall. The character is apparently meant to entertain children, and may be the mascot of the mall. It is unknown who usually inhabits the costume.

Pokey is first seen in "The Girls in the Band." There, Caitlin knocks the panda down the stairs, injuring the person inside and opening up the job for Jonesy to take. Jonesy is a very bad panda, as he ignores the kids he's supposed to play with, and eventually realizes that he can just leave the panda suit standing upright and get paid for it. After this, the guys began to take advantage of the anonymity offered by the panda suit, as Wyatt used it to break up a kiss between Jason and Joanie and Jude used it as skate padding while riding the escalator. This second act caused Ron to pursue Pokey for breaking the mall's rules, and Jonesy ended up being fired for being a bad role model.

Pokey's next appearance came in "It's Always Courtney, Courtney, Courtney!" where Jonesy used it as a disguise to hide from Lydia. After that, the panda showed up in "Dude of the Living Dead," where Pokey was turned into a zombie after being bitten by three zombie children. The panda also appears in "Spring Fling" as one of the characters Jude says "Hey" to in an attempt to increase Nikki's popularity.

Pokey also appears in "Girlie Boys" and "Opposites Attack." In both appearances, he is seen getting arrested by Ron (once in the former and twice in the latter). It is unknown what Pokey would have done to get arrested; it is possible that Pokey actually committed some wrongdoing in the mall and was being punished for it. However, it is also likely that Ron was never informed that Jonesy was in the panda costume, and kept a vendetta against the panda.

If the latter, it seems that they have mended their relationship, as Pokey plays drums in Ron's band in "Quit It." Pokey's last appearance comes in "Bye Bye Nikki? Part 2" where he is seen waving goodbye to Nikki in the goodbye video alongside the Penalty Box Customer and Stuart Goldstein. A clip of Pokey's first appearance is also seen in the compilation of memories in the episode.

Trivia

 * The character's name might be a reference to the fictional character Smokey the Bear.