I were to say the words, “I wanna be the very best…” I can guarantee you that most people would know the next line from the original Pokémon theme song, even if they hadn’t personally seen too much of the show. Starting 20 years ago, the Pokémon franchise cashed in with Game Freak’s vision for the games which then led to an animated series. One thing led to another and here we are, Pokémon being one of the largest and most successful franchises ever to hit the shelves.
People who played the games and watched the anime when it first came out are still attached to Red, Ash, and Pikachu, theorizing about the next steps in their adventures. Meanwhile, newcomers can still appreciate all of the newer characters Ash travels with.
Once in a while, hints and answers to these fan theories will be released as part of the anime or games and the fans go wild. With a franchise as old and expansive as this, it’s hard not to ask questions about crucial aspects. There are things from the very beginning that still have yet to be addressed, such as the government, world history and how people age. While there are no definitive answers to that last one (it’s been 20 years and people are still trying to figure out if Ash is canonically still ten), the creators of Pokémon have released these nuggets of theory gold for fans. These are 25 fan theories connected to the Pokémon anime franchise that have since been confirmed.
25 Uptown Girl
Armour shippers rejoice! Your favorite pairing with Ash is looking to make a return to Pokémon in the Alola region. Serena, Ash’s childhood friend and secret admirer, left on her own at the end of the X and Y seasons. Many people loved her, giving good reason to the creators to bring her back. She had even given a small kiss to Ash before leaving, so you had to know she wasn’t going to be gone for good. Perhaps this is how Ash finally hits his coming of age.
24 Friends Forever
Serena is not the only fan favorite returning. Both Brock and Misty are coming back for a two-episode arc and the fans are hyped.
They fit into the new art style fairly well, although there aren’t many details about the whole thing.
Fans have wanted these two to come back for a long time, and fanfiction authors have posed several ways it might happen. Most of the want for these two comes from the nostalgic fans of the show. It’ll be interesting, to say the least.
23 What's In The Ball?
Because making quality video games takes time and the Pokémon anime is correlated to the release of the games, the creators of the anime had to have a filler arc to tide fans over until silver and gold would make their appearance. Enter the GS Ball Ash and gang took were asked to get Professor Oak a special Poké Ball. Fans theorized Celebi was going to be inside the ball, but the show never resolved the plot. Later on, it was revealed that fans were right, but the content had to be cut to make room for a Celebi-centered movie.
22 Everybody Lies
For years, the Pokédex had us fooled. We all considered Pikachu a ‘mouse’ Pokémon, given that he is classified as an electric rodent. However, it seems that there is one snag in our guesses. The term rodent covers quite a few different animals besides just mice and rats. Squirrels are also considered rodents, and it just so happens that Pikachu is actually based off of our bushy-tailed friends. The only question now is whether localization was to blame for the mix up.
21 Who's Your Daddy?
This is a theory a lot of people had when introduced to Silver in the anime. In the games, it had stated that Giovanni (of Team Rocket Infamy) had a son with red hair. Given that not too many main characters have red hair, the pool of suspects was not very large.
It was a bit of a no-brainer that if Giovanni had a son, he would also be a trainer.
However, it’s in the anime Pokémon Generations that the fact comes to light. Gone were most of the thoughts that Giovanni could be Ash or Red’s father, as his heir was apparent.
20 Elephant In The Room
Speaking of Ash’s father, we can also rest comfortably knowing that Ash is in no way related to Professor Oak by blood. (My guess is that a relationship via marriage to Delia Ketchum isn’t out of left field yet….) Instead, Ash’s father is canonically a Pokémon trainer who, for whatever reason, is not a registered trainer. All of this information came from two Japan-only release of a novel by some of the creators. The storyboard artist has been known to say that it’s not completely impossible to see Ash’s dad someday, should the story call for it.
19 A Silent Contender
One thing that seems to be harped on quite a bit is who Ash’s father is or isn’t. As stated in the last entry, the popular choices of Giovanni and Oak were both refuted by the original story that was written. This includes any wild theories that the games and anime are connected. Red is another popular choice for Ash’s father, but once again the point is refuted. Red is a registered Pokémon trainer and Ash’s father is not. The mystery is intriguing though. Let’s hope it’s not as anticlimactic as Rey’s parent reveal!
18 Branching Paths
Pokémon Origins was an anime that was more closely aligned with the video game, following along Red’s journey to Pokémon masterdom. An interesting tidbit can be seen during one of the episodes that confirms a long-held belief in a multiverse. We know from the original games the show is based off of that mega evolutions are not available. However, in the anime, Red is able to mega evolve his Charizard. This inclusion shows how the older games (part of the ‘oldverse’) did not have mega evolutions while the newer games part of the ‘megaverse’ did.
17 Tying It All Together
One of the ways that the games and the anime continue to link together is through the recent additions to Sun and Moon. You can very clearly see Ash in his new art style and even interact with him a bit.
With iconic trainers like Red and Blue in the game, it’s hard not to imagine that Ash would be far behind.
Fans have been hoping for some closure about how closely linked the anime and game universes are, and now they have a definitive answer.
16 A New Skin
Because Ash is now canon in the Pokémon games, then it brings to reason that his Pokémon should be as well. Of course, the ever-loyal Pikachu is right by his side, but what about his ever changing team? One Pokémon of note that is included in the game is Ash’s Greninja. Greninja is a dark/water type Pokémon that even got its own arc in the anime because of some interesting developments (see next section). It would be a little odd for it not to get to be in the games after all that.
15 The Power Of Love
Pokémon is starting to add some interesting lore that brings up a lot of questions. The original point for this is in the Pokémon Greninja. Originally only blue and cream colored, Ash’s Greninja seems to stand out. Where others are two-toned, Ash’s Greninja has four colors: blue, cream, black, and red. Many fans were theorizing why the change took place, and the answer is here: it is his intense bond with Ash that makes it look like our protagonist. Makes you wonder why none of Ash’s other Pokémon exhibited this odd phenomenon.
14 Rest And Relaxation
I’m not sure about you, but ever since I first saw Pokémon, I was incredibly curious about the science of the Poké Balls. A lot of fans had lots of predictions about what was on the inside, including some deep science. Recently, in the watchful eye of animal activists, an official statement regarding the topic has been released. They compared the inside of the Poké Ball to a very nice hotel. Could you imagine getting called out to battle right when you’d just gotten comfortable?
13 Meta-Knights
Once again, different languages tend to get different details in their translations. This time it’s about Team Rocket. According to user Vexelius, the Latin American version of the show has all sorts of ‘meta’ moments, even down to the fact that James shares a voice actor with Deadpool, the merc with a mouth.
Team Rocket thus fills a popular role in the show.
This is proven in the second movie when Team Rocket specifically refer to ‘show business’ and the next movie. It certainly puts a new spin on how we see them.
12 Nature's Course
The way that Pokémon evolve is still a mystery to many eagle-eyed fans. They have to wonder if any Darwinian principles are at play, or if it solely is just a rock, love, time of day or trading that will make a Pokémon change. One thing that has gotten much less time though, is the idea of devolution. For most Pokémon, once they evolve, they’re stuck. Slowbro is an exception though. Once a Shellder decides to clamp onto its tail, the Slowpoke evolves into Slowbro, at least until the Shellder has had enough and decides to stop holding on.
11 A Legend For The Ages
One of the popular theories from Pokémon Generations (and really Sapphire and Ruby when they were first introduced) is that the three legendary beasts, Suicune, Raikou, and Entei were unknown Pokémon who were ended in a terrible fire, brought back by the magic of Ho-Oh.
The three legendary dogs' origins are unknown.
A lot of people seemed to think these three unnamed Pokémon were a Vaporeon, Jolteon, and Flareon, respectively. Pokémon Generations seems to refute this, though, as it shows the three Pokémon's figures, and they don’t look like the Eeveelutions.
10 Infamous Sketches
It used to be that the creators of the anime would use the movies as a way to introduce new legendaries for the new game attached to the season. While that’s still true, some concept art for Generation 7’s starters accidentally leaked out onto the internet, causing a large uproar in the community. While the anime and games are connected, they usually are able to keep things under wraps for the other one. It didn’t hurt sales (if anything, it helped), but the animation gave some pretty big spoilers away that day.
9 An Odd Revelation
Pokémon is a near universal franchise with fans in nearly every country. It’s not all that surprising that those different areas would have specials for the show in just their area. Thankfully, we have the internet so we can see them all, even if we don’t understand it. This is the case of a special that was aired in Spanish-speaking countries. There was a short two-part series about the biography of the creation of Pokémon, and at one point they stated that Pikachu is one of Professor Oak’s experiments. It could explain why Pikachu isn’t level 100 yet.
8 A "Lost" World
For years, people have been wondering if there are any animals in the Pokémon world other than Pokémon. Some people theorized that real animals had been around before Pokémon came in, and those people were almost right.
Animals as we know them are nonexistent because Pokémon replaced them.
During the third movie, there was going to be a scene with a T-Rex fossil, proving that dinosaurs had inhabited the earth before Pokémon. Ultimately the idea was scrapped, but to have seen that in the film would have been mind-blowing for the theorist community.
7 A Friend In Me?
Lillie is one of Ash’s new friends in the next series of Pokémon that also is in the game as a background trainer. She has a brother who ends up being a part of the antagonistic team Team Skull, Gladion. This is another way that the games and the anime connect. Fans were speculating if he would be in the show because of his sister’s connection to Ash. It is interesting to see how the anime is starting to take more from the game as the age of the players increases.
6 No Participation Trophy This Time
Over the last 20 years, Ash and friends have sent Team Rocket blasting off again and again and again. For a while, we were wondering if the trio would ever have their day.
They finally won a battle without cheating, and it only took 20 years.
After all of these years, the fan theory that Team Rocket would eventually beat our heroes came to fruition in Pokémon Sun and Moon. While Ash and friends managed to get away, their win was still historic. The win was mostly thanks to the hate Mimikyu has towards Pikachu.