Spooky times don't just happen in October. They can be all year long for the beloved Pokémon franchise. With such a long history and a massive fan base, there are countless urban legends, conspiracy theories, and horror stories that abound in the community.
In celebration of the darker parts of the Pokémon series, here are six of the creepiest stories and theories you will ever hear about the supposedly kid-friendly franchise. Don’t be surprised if you can’t look at these cuddly little Pocket Monsters the same way after this. You’ve been warned.
Legend: Cubone Is Actually the Baby Kangaskhan
First off, there is the urban legend in the community that the beloved Gen 1 Pokémon, Cubone, is the baby that sits in the pouch of every Kangaskhan. As you may already know, the Ground-type Pokémon wears the skull of its dead mother, meaning that every Cubone’s mother died.
The problem is that when a Cubone egg hatches, it’s already wearing its dead mother’s skull, despite just being born. Combine this idea with the fact that every Kangaskhan is born automatically with a baby in its pouch, and the dark realization becomes clear.
The forever baby Kangaskhan is likely supposed to remain in the pouch, but what happens if the mother dies simultaneously when they are “born”? In these unlikely scenarios, this legend states that the Cubone takes the skull of that Kangaskhan and wears it on its head. This is one of the only possible explanations for this disturbing mystery, especially given the visual similarities between Cubone and baby Kangaskhan.
Legend: Mimikyu Is Just a Dead Clefairy
Speaking of dead Pokémon, let’s keep the ball rolling with another urban legend involving the extremely popular Gen 7 Pokémon, Mimikyu. Rather than being a standard Pikachu clone, it is not an electric-type. In fact, it isn’t even alive, being a Ghost and Fairy-type Pokémon that happens to wear a Pikachu cosplay outfit.
Mimikyu is already spooky for its twisted Pikachu cosplay design, especially when you add that no one knows what it looks like. Worse still, if you did try to look at Mimikyu’s proper form, its terror would supposedly kill you. But that isn’t even the scary part of this mysterious legend.
There are rumors that Mimikyu’s actual appearance is that of a dead Clefairy. It is common knowledge that Clefairy was supposedly going to be the original mascot for the Pokémon series. Still, its cute and cuddly pink design led to Pikachu being chosen instead.
Mix the fact that Mimikyu is a Fairy type, like Clefairy, and you can see where the similarities begin. There is also the fact that Mimikyu is obsessed with Pikachu to the point of trying to look like it and hating its guts. It sure makes sense if poor Clefairy had its spotlight stolen and then died in some horrific manner, now carrying on as a ghost with a spiteful spirit.
Theory: You Kill Blue’s Raticate
Running into the theory territory, there is the likelihood that you aren’t just a 10-year-old traveling the world in the first generation of games; you’re a murderer, too. In the middle of the Vermillion City arc, you board the S.S. Anne and fight your rival, Blue or Gary, or whatever you’d like to call him.
Among his Pokémon is a Raticate that used to be a Rattata. You defeat him and carry on with your journey of collecting badges until you reach the terrifying Lavender Town later. You see your rival again at the Pokémon Tower, a graveyard for fallen Pokémon.
From his comments about dead Pokémon and the like, he may have been there to grieve for a dead companion. You battle again, and it turns out he is now missing a Pokémon, the Raticate in question. Given the timeline of events, it seems possible that you may not have knocked the poor Pokémon out but killed it. Or, at least, someone or something did.
Real Story: Hospitalized Children in Japan
Moving away from mysteries for a moment, there is the most disturbing story: a real one. While there are plenty of rumors that Lavender Town music and all that sent children to their deaths or made them go missing, one fact is sure: the Pokémon series has sent kids to the hospital.
In 1997, more than 600 children ended up in the hospital after airing the Pokémon anime’s 38th episode, “Computer Warrior Porygon.” In this infamous episode, a horrific sequence of flashing lights and visuals resulted in seizures in these kids.
They were then sent to the hospital, and the episode was banned worldwide for its problematic nature. Though Porygon wasn’t necessarily the cause of the horrible visuals, its central focus in this episode led to it not appearing much at all in the anime since.
Conspiracy Theory: Ash Ketchum Is Dead
Moving back into the world of fiction again but sticking with the Pokémon anime, there is a theory that Ash Ketchum is dead. Many wonder how the eternally youthful boy is still roughly 11 years old after so long (he did have one birthday), and there are countless theories to explain it.
One of the spookiest is that Ash has been dead since the beginning of the series. Or, at the very least, in a comatose state. Many harken it back to the original episode of the show when Ash is saving Pikachu from the flock of Spearows.
Ash falling, the intense Thunder attack that Pikachu uses, and the appearance of the legendary Ho-Oh afterward could leave room for the possibility of Ash’s death. This is furthered in episode 23 of the first season, in which, unlike the other humans, the Haunters in this episode remove Ash’s soul from his body with ease and mess with him.
Add in the fact that Ash never ages in the series, despite even some of the other characters seemingly doing so, and his ease of seeing other ghosts, and, likely, he is already dead, or this is all a dream he’s having in his coma from the very beginning.
Bonus Legend: People Marry and Eat Pokémon
As a bonus horror story in the weirdest way possible, it is all but confirmed at this point in the Pokémon series that humans have some rather interesting interactions with their Pokémon. They don’t just befriend them and use them in battles against their will, but they do so much more than that.
It’s officially confirmed that humans married Pokémon in the past and possibly even had children with them. This is seen in the Japanese version of the Gen 4 games, where a book in the library in Canalave City notes that people used to marry Pokémon.
That is pretty straightforward and to the point, but it only worsens this horrifying relationship when you realize that it seems that people now eat Pokémon, too. Official Pokédex entries and even scenes in the anime have shown that humans eat Pokémon, such as Appleton, Kingler, Magikarp, and even Slowpoke.
The bond between humans and Pokémon seems even more confusing and disturbing the deeper you look into it. Who knows what else fans don’t know about the messed up Pokémon world?
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This article was produced and syndicated by Wealth of Geeks.