The leak of the demo for Pokémon Gold & Silver that was exhibited at Space World 1997 has sent shockwaves through the Pokémon fan community. The demo is full of unused Pokémon designs and revelations about how the story of the series may once have proceeded, including the very dark origins of the most mysterious Pokémon of the second generation.

A recent discovery in the Pokémon Gold & Silver demo may have answered one of the longest-running mysteries of the Pokémon franchise: What is the secret of the Unown?

PREVIOUSLY: Pokémon Gold & Silver Demo Leaks Include Never-Before-SeenPokémon And Confirms Fan Theories

The Unown debuted in Pokémon Gold & Silver as a group of mysterious Pokémon that took the form of characters from the English alphabet. They seemed to be linked to some secret event that happened in the past, but the games have been infuriatingly vague on what that event may have been.

The data that has been uncovered in the Space World demo has provided a number of key details, and it suggests what may be the darkest Pokémon fan theory of all time.

The Unown are meant to represent the victims of the nuclear bomb that was dropped on Hiroshima.

The demo of Pokémon Gold & Silver actually takes place all across Japan, with each town representing its own region. The entire Kanto region is condensed into a single town that has a few familiar buildings in it. This was changed into Johto being a single region, due to a shift in the direction of the game. Pokémon Gold & Silver was planned to be the final generation of games in the series, which meant that Game Freak wanted to include as much content as they could. This idea changed over time, due to how successful Pokémon was becoming as a franchise.

Violet City is the location that contains the Ruins of Alph. which is where the Unown can be found in the release version of Pokémon Gold & Silver. In the demo, this location is placed over the area where Hiroshima is on the real map of Japan.

The beta maps for the Ruins of Alph have images on the wall that are not present in the final version of the game. In the retail version of the game, the Ruins of Alph have pictures of Unown on the walls, but in the beta, they show a picture of two people standing side-by-side with images of a meteor and other symbols that may refer to destruction.

This new theory suggests that the Unown are meant to reflect the unknown and unnamed masses who passed away during the destruction of Hiroshima and Nagasaki in World War II. The actual people who perished in this attack were burnt onto the ground and walls like shadows, which may be what the Unown are supposed to be.

Pokémon Gold & Silver introduced the radio to the series. You can tune in to a particular radio broadcast that is made up of the noises that the Unown use to communicate with each other. There is speculation that this sound is meant to be similar to that of a Geiger counter.

The idea of people turning into Pokémon is not unheard of, as many Ghost-type Pokémon are said to have been created by the spirits of humans who passed away.

So, why was this idea removed from the game? Pokémon Gold & Silver shifted from being set all over Japan to being set in a single region, which would have removed the reference to Hiroshima altogether. The bigger reason can be seen in the year the demo was released; 1997. The Pokémon franchise had yet to become an international hit, which happened over the following two years. The success of Pokémon in North America may have prompted the removal of the original Unown storyline.

Pokémon Gold & Silver has several darker elements that didn't make it into the final game, such as Remoraid looking like a gun and Octillary resembling a tank. There was also a Pokémon based on voodoo dolls, and a vampire, neither of which made the cut.

The Pokémon franchise hasn't shied away from dark storylines, as the backstory of Pokémon X & Y involves a similar usage of a weapon of mass destruction, with the members of Team Flare seeking to revive the ancient weapon for their own gain.

The Pokémon Gold & Silver demo has answered lots of mysteries about the Pokémon universe and has raised a lot of questions. We may have finally been given the answer to one of the enduring mysteries of the series, should you choose to believe it.