The Pokémon craze is something that started back in 1995 when the first games for the series were announced for the Gameboy. Little did we know at that time that Pokémon would go on to be one of the most influential media entities around the world. First came the games, then the anime and after that the trading cards.
Pokémon is now an integral part of the Japanese culture, the importance of which can be derived from the fact that Pikachu was nominated as one of the official mascots for Japan during the 2014 FIFA World Cup. If that wasn't enough, Pikachu has also been nominated as the cultural ambassador to the city of Osaka. The Pokémon universe now has an almost cult like following and there is some rich lore and history to the world of Pokémon.
This naturally means that over the years, numerous theories have popped up regarding some of the events that go down in the world of these beloved creatures. Some of these have been confirmed with time while others are still nothing more than speculation. Most of them, however, are borderline disturbing. So, whether you are a fan of the games or simply like collecting Pokémon cards, here we have 15 Pokémon fan theories that have been confirmed and 5 that are speculation but interesting nonetheless. We recommend you sit back, relax, put on your Pikachu pajamas and enjoy the list.
20 Ditto Was A Failed Attempt To Create Mew
Mew is quite possibly one of the most powerful and well-known Pokémon in the franchise. It is technically the ancestor to every other Pokémon out there, carrying their information as part of its cell structure. It comes as no surprise then that a group of scientists decided to clone Mew in an effort to create a version of the Pokémon that they could control, an event which resulted in the creation of Mewtwo.
However, it is not crazy to think that there were multiple attempts to clone Mew until the final one which proved successful.
These attempts supposedly resulted in the creation of another Pokémon, Ditto. The two have a lot in common such as their methods of reproduction, both are nongendered, a trait that no other Pokémon carries and that Ditto can easily be found on Cinnabar Island, the place where all the cloning experiments were conducted.
19 A Cubone Wears Its Mother’s Remains
This was one of those theories that had started making its way around the internet a few years ago, before the advent of memes. The entire story about Cubone is a very sad and cruel one. The skull that you see a Cubone wearing is not given to it naturally, no, instead it is the skull of its departed mother.
The chain of events is kicked off when a mother Kangaskhan somehow ends, leaving behind its cub.
This cub picks up the skull and one of the bones from the mother’s body and continues on its journey as a Cubone. Later on, this Cubone will evolve into a Marowak and then any female Marowaks will evolve into Kangaskhan, repeating the cycle all over again. The reason why the connection between Cubone and Kangaskhan was omitted in Pokémon Red and Blue is because the developers did not want kids to go through the entire orphan Cubone story.
18 Gengar Is Clefable’s Shadow
Relationships between different types of Pokémon is nothing new, however, the case of Clefable and Gengar is a weird one. The first stage of Clefable, Clefairy was once considered as Ash’s main Pokémon for the series instead of Pikachu but this was changed before the show was released.
This means that Clefiary and Clefable were one of the initial concepts and this has been proved by some of the Pokémon concept art.
Gengar on the other hand is also a part of the initial few Pokémon ideas to be conceived and was also famously known as the Shadow Pokémon. Turns out that Clefable and Gengar look exactly the same and both cannot perform any sort of STAB attacks on each other, proving the theory that Gengar is actually Clefable’s shadow.
17 Parasect Is Controlled By The Mushroom Parasite
If there is a set of organisms that give us the genuine creeps then it has to be parasites, especially after the numerous horrifying videos that make their away around on the internet every once in a while. They take control of their host and make it perform all sorts of crazy things.
In the world of Pokémon, Parasect unfortunately also ends up with a similar fate. The mushroom on its back is an actual parasite that has complete mind control over the poor Parasect. The horror doesn’t end here because once it is time to produce offspring, the mushroom forces its host to breed and then goes on the infect the eggs with the parasite as well, pretty horrifying if you ask us.
16 Zubats Are Natural Evolutions Of Aerodactyls
When we talk about evolution in the world of Pokémon, it usually refers to a Pokémon evolving into an advanced version of itself by gaining experience, like the evolution of a Pikachu into Raichu. For Aerodactyl, however, evolution took a different path.
This evolution is more in line with our real life concept of evolution in the world of Biology.
Aerodactyl didn’t go extinct, no, instead they underwent an evolution over millions of years and transformed into what we now know as Zubat. Yes, Zubat is the same Pokémon that pops up every five steps inside a cave. Further evidence of this is proved by the fact that both Pokémon share similar moves and traits while the color scheme of a Crobat is also the same as that of an Aerodactyl.
15 The World Of Pokemon Is Set Post-War (Unconfirmed)
The idea of a war in the Pokémon universe might seem too far-fetched but hear us out. So far most of the things that we’ve mentioned in our previous entries have done nothing but prove the fact that the world of Pokémon is as dark as it gets.
It makes one think why the world of Pokémon is inhabited by only children and old men.
Turns out that there was a Great Pokémon War at one point. Some proof of this is when in Pokémon Red and Blue you encounter the gym leader Lt Surge. He explains how he has surrounded himself with Pokémon that saved him during the war. This also explains why there seems to be no father figures around for any trainers that are starting out on their Pokémon journey.
14 Bulbasaur And Oddish Have Symbiosis
Bulbasaur is one of the three most well-known starting Pokémon out there, thanks to the Pokémon games. We all know that Bulbasaur is a leaf type Pokémon and that it has a weird plant thing growing on its back but it turns out that this plant thing is actually an Oddish.
Yes, we’re talking about the actual Pokémon Oddish. One of the moves that an Oddish can learn is ingrain which allows it to become a core part of the nervous system of a Bulbasaur. Female Venasaurs, on the other hand, are said to be fertile and if there is no male Venasaur around to produce a Bulbasaur then the seed they carry will end up germinating into an Oddish.
13 Humans Based Their Language On Pokémon Sounds (Unconfirmed)
One question that has always come to mind is that how come Pokémon are able to produce the exact same sound as that of their name. Surely Pokémon aren’t dumb in a way that they’d pick up on their name but not be able to say anything else that is a part of the human language.
You don’t usually see a dog going around saying ‘dog’ or a car walking around saying ‘cat’ instead of meow in the real world. The only logical explanation for this one seems to be that it was the humans who based their language on the sounds of the different Pokémon creatures and this makes perfect sense. Still, it is not something that has been officially confirmed and still remains as speculation.
12 Butterfree And Venomoth Had Their Sprites Switched
Either the developers really like switching things around or were simply lazy when it came to the evolution forms of Butterfree and Venomoth. It is understandable to an extent because coming up with 150 different Pokémon is no easy task and there are bound to be similarities somewhere.
Turns out that a Butterfree looks more like a Venonat than a Metapod.
The same is also true for Venomoth which looks like it should evolve from a Metapod but instead it evolves from a Venonat instead. It is speculated that the sprites for both the Pokémon were supposedly switched either on purpose or because of human error and everyone decided to just go with the flow instead of making any corrections.
11 You’re The Bad Guy In Pokémon Red/Blue
Those of us who played the Pokémon Red, Green and Blue games when they came out know what an absolute joy it was to catch Pokémon, level them up and have Pokémon battles with other trainers. You felt like a hero, creating your own Pokémon journey similar to Ash, however, it turns out that your actions weren’t as noble as they might’ve seemed.
During an encounter in Lavender Town with Blue, your main rival in the games, he asks you whether you know what it’s like to have one of your Pokémon end.
The next thing you notice is that he no longer has his Raticate with him. IF you haven’t figured it out by now then let us explain. During your battle with Blue on the S.S. Anne, his Raticate was severely injured and since Blue couldn’t reach the Pokemon centre in time, the Raticate died. The real reason why Blue is in Lavender Town is to bury his Pokémon.
Suddenly we’re not so proud of ourselves anymore.
10 N From Pokémon Black Is A Zoroark (Unconfirmed)
N is an important character in the Pokémon Black and White series. He is revealed to be the leader of Team Plasma, the sole objective of which is to separate the world of Pokémon and humans.
Throughout the games there is evidence which suggests that N might not be a human at all, instead, N is a Zoroark that is always casting an illusion.
During one of the instances, a Zoroark can be followed into some ruins where the player will end up encountering N and the Pokémon is nowhere to be seen. Other, much stronger evidence is presented when we find out that N spent most of his childhood among Pokémon and that he can perfectly understand them. As it turns out, Zoroarks can easily imitate humans and copy their speech patterns.
9 Genesect Is a Cyborg Kabutops
Kabuto is quite an old Pokémon, so old in fact that it has now gone extinct. According to its Pokédex entry, Kabuto used to inhabit the beaches of the Pokémon world some 300 million years ago. This is important because Kabutops is the next stage in the evolution for Kabuto. Their pre-historic looks are quite obvious.
On the other end of the spectrum, we have a more modern looking Pokémon called Genesect.
Take one glance and you’ll notice that both of these look quite similar. The Pokédex entry for Genesect suggests that the creature used to be around almost 300 million years ago and has been modified by Team Plasma. So, what is the one Pokémon that was around 300 million years ago? Kabuto, and since Kabutops is the next step in its evolution, this comes as no surprise that it was modified into a Genesect.
8 Gengar Can Travel To The Physical Realm
We’ve already talked about the relationship between Clefable and Gengar above, however, there is more to this shadow Pokémon than meets the eye (it’s a Transformers pun, we know). So basically, the theory was that Gengar is pretty much the only Pokémon to exist within its evolutionary line up.
Proof of this comes from the fact that both Gastly and Haunter who evolve into Gengar weigh a mere 0.2lbs despite Haunter towering over Gastly by almost a foot. As soon as Haunter evolves into Gengar, it weighs 89.3lbs, proving that it has now been transported to the physical realm. Now that you know this, perhaps you’ll think twice before evolving that Haunter and bringing a ghost in to the physical world.
7 Wobbuffet Is A Giant Decoy
The poor Team Rocket with Jessie and James have been on the receiving end of numerous beatings by the hands of Ash and his gang. These also include Meowth and any other Pokémon that Jessie and James have carried over the years.
One of these was Wobbuffet, a Pokémon that has essentially served a purpose none other than to be comic relief.
Picked up by Jessie, this seemingly dumb Pokémon has quite a dark secret. It turns out that the blue body of a Wobbuffet is nothing more than a decoy and that the actual creature is the black tail. This explains why the tail has a pair of eyes and even though Wobbuffet is a pretty docile Pokémon, it will become aggressive as soon as the tail is threatened.
6 Death Can Create Ghost Pokemon
In the real world, ghosts or other paranormal phenomena is often associated with dead people. Death is a mystery and will probably remain so both in the real world and in the Pokémon universe. Still, one thing that was never explained in Pokémon up until this point was how ghost Pokémon came to be in the first place.
A partial answer was provided by the series itself with the introduction of Yamsak in the 5th generation of the Pokémon games. Yamsak is essentially a dead human, carrying around a mask of the face that it had as a human and is also known to cry when remembering its previous life. On the other hand, we have Lampent that likes to stay around near hospitals where it can carry away the spirits of ended people. The world of Pokémon suddenly doesn’t seem so colorful anymore.
5 Slowbro Is Capable Of Devolving
Evolution is a concept that is at the core of the entire Pokémon universe. While evolution is a trait that is pretty common among a lot of the Pokémon in the series, there is one creature that is capable of doing the opposite. Yes, the Pokémon Slowbro can actually devolve back into its initial evolutionary stage, Slowpoke.
The reason for this is that a Slowpoke can only evolve when another Pokémon, a Shellder decides to attach itself to Slowpoke’s tail.
Unlike some of the horrific cases above like Parasect, this isn’t an abusive combination for either of the two. Once the Shellder decides to let go, however, a Slowbro will quickly devolve back into a Slowpoke.
4 Pikachu And Meowth Are Literal Opposites
The rivalry between Ash and Team Rocket is as old as rivalries get. Since day one, both Jessie and James have been trying to capture Pikachu but their plans are always foiled at the last possible moment. Accompanying them is a unique Meowth that is also capable of talking like a human.
The feud between Pikachu and Meowth runs much deeper than the surface and the creators incorporated little details to make it really stand out. One of the most obvious things that can be noticed is that both these Pokémon represent the traditional relationship of a cat and mouse. Another nice little detail are the Pokédex entry numbers for both the Pokémon with Pikachu at number 25 while Meowth at number 52, both numbers essentially being the reverse of each other.
3 Pokemon Were Extensively Used As Food
While battling these creatures to exhaustion was already bad, it gets even worse. Could you imagine a Pikachu being used up as food? Well, neither could we but unfortunately it is a harsh reality in the Pokémon universe.
Numerous Pokédex entries throughout the series suggest that Pokémon were once almost hunted to extinction.
This strongly implies that humans in this universe actually set out to specifically hunt down Pokémon and then use them as food which almost caused them to go extinct. It makes sense to a certain degree because there aren’t any animals in the Pokémon universe, instead, they have these creatures that we refer to as Pokémon and so them being used up as food isn’t all that bad when you actually think about it.
2 Ash Doesn’t Age (Unconfirmed)
This one seems to have a lot of people confused out there. Now, usually a series that heavily features a ton of fictional and made up characters doesn’t really need to care about age accuracy but for a lot of people, the fact that Ash has stayed permanently 10 is quite weird.
One explanation for this is that Ash is simply too busy, so much so that he is running into an adventure every single day of the year.
The other, more grim explanation, however, is that Ash has been in a coma for a long time and that each and every single one of his adventures is nothing more than a dream. This ends up really for the viewer to decide, we would for the former theory, however.
1 The Mystery Of Mt Moon (Unconfirmed)
Mt Moon is perhaps one of the mysterious locations in all of the Kanto Region within the Pokémon universe. It is one of the only places where a person can come across old Pokémon fossils, rare stones and a bunch of Clefairies and Jigglypuff.
Over the years, fans have come up with numerous theories about the place. Some consider it to be a massive but dormant volcano that supposedly erupted sometime in the past.
Others suggest that a meteor ended up crashing there, resulting in the deaths of Pokémon in the area hence the fossils but also bringing along rare Moon stones with it. We’re going to go ahead and assume that it was perhaps the Clefairies that crash-landed at Mt Moon on a rock and made it their home.