Most of us love Pokémon, despite its rather young target audience. But every once in a while, people will find something in the games that suggest that it was intended to be found and understood by an older audience. And in most of these cases, it’s something downright creepy.

We all know that there’s always been a darker element to the Pokémon world that has never quite been explored, but instead has been touched upon in brief bursts throughout the games. These are things that just slip past the heads of innocent children and stand out to an older audience. But the games have been around for a long while, as has the animated series, and that’s gotten people to document all the twisted and dark secrets hidden within them.

We warn you; none of the subject matter we’re dealing with here is pretty – and most of it will really change how you view Pokémon once you really think it through. Everything from paranormal activities, malicious villains and a ton of shocking revelations about certain Pokémon’s true natures is what you can expect.

Here are 25 things you never knew about Pokémon that prove it’s darker than you thought it was.

25 Mad Science

Well, as we’ve quickly come to realize with each entry of this list, the seemingly friendly world of Pokémon is nothing like we thought it was. Within its friendly, peaceful veneer is some pretty twisted evil and surprisingly realistic maliciousness that was just never highlighted in the games all that much. Being animal-like creatures, Pokémon get experimented on. In fact, two of the most popular legendaries, Mew and Mewtwo go hand in hand with this topic. Mewtwo itself is a clone of Mew, the latter of which we know – through reading the Pokémon Mansion journal entries – gave birth to Mewtwo only seven months after it was discovered by scientists. While the process itself seems pretty twisted, it’s the fate of the scientists themselves that paints the grimmest picture, with the last journal entry reading; “MEWTWO is far too powerful. We have failed to curb its vicious tendencies…” The writing stops there, leaving the fate of those involved up in the air.

24 Poliwag’s Gross Swirl

It’s cute, it looks happy and it has one of the most easily identifiable characteristics on any Pokémon. Yes, Poliwag is an early favourite for many fans of the game that, though kind of lost in the mess of it all right now, still manages to make it relevant – at least in terms of interesting trivia. The most defining characteristic of this little guy is its swirl. But everything is not as you think. The swirl is actually based off a species of Costa Rican tadpole that has a coiled intestine which is visible through its skin.

You’re definitely seeing more than you want to with this one.

With this, cute kind of leads way into unease a little bit and really makes you see Poliwag differently. This all plays into another theory that Pokémon are actually mutated versions of animals in the real world. It’s an interesting take given the evidence.

23 The Celadon City Monster

Now this is a strange thing to pack into a video game designed for kids around the world. In Celedon City, you can find an elderly man looking through the window of the gym. He states, “This gym is great! It's full of women!” Which make his intentions and what he’s doing pretty darn clear. This elderly creep trope is a pretty common one in Japanese pop culture, and one that flew over many young players’ heads for years. Still, considering Pokémon's international success, you'd think something like this would have been censored out somewhere along the line. It's very strange, to say the least. We wonder what the Pokémon community's headcanon is for this obviously minor (but memorable) character.

22 The Legendary Beasts…Of Doom?

While Gen I had its legendary bird trio, Gen II’s trio of Entei, Raikou and Suicune certainly left a deeper mark on fans of the series. Aside from having memorable designs, the trio were – and stand as – some of the most frustrating Pokémon to hunt down and catch. Constantly moving from one place to another following your first encounter with each, these mythical beasts seemed to favor a cat and mouse approach. But while that’s probably what comes to mind when thinking of these three, it isn’t at all what we’re going to focus on.

The legendary beats have a pretty disturbing origin story. It is said that they arose from the charred remains of Pokémon caught in a terrible blaze. That’s a pretty messed up disaster for such a family-friendly world like Pokémon.

21 N’s Little House Of ...

A majority of the main baddies in Pokémon games have been pretty standard fares. All with a more or less one-track approach to whatever villain of the week goals they wish to achieve. N is a little more complicated than his predecessors, however. He has good intentions but is somewhat misguided in his attempts to see them through. In fact, the whole thing is rather childish – surprising given that N is an adult. But just one look at his room will have you agreeing that there’s something not quite right with him.

The BGM only adds to the unease and creeping discomfort you feel as you walk around it.

The room is filled with toys, and reflects that of a five-year-olds rather than an 18-year-old. All of that, coupled with N’s childish innocence and rational suggest at things that all in all, probably aren’t best suited for an E rated game.

20 Stolen Goods

He’s often a topic of discussion among fans, and being one of the first and most challenging Elite Four battles in the series, it only makes sense that Lance has left his mark on the Pokémon fandom. But fans have noticed something rather strange involving some of Lance’s strongest Pokémon; Dragonite. See, Lance’s Dragonite were levels 48 and 50, respectively. But Dragonair doesn’t evolve until level 55.

So how in the world did he get such powerful Pokémon so early?

Well, one theory links this to none other than Team Rocket, a group known for prematurely evolving Pokémon. Lance coincidentally happens to show up at their hideout at the Lake of Rage, where he helps take care of the villainous Poké-snatchers. But given the above conundrum, it wouldn’t at all be impossible for him to have been scouting out their premature evolution methods for his own use.

19 Glitch City

There are plenty of bugs and exploits to be found in games, and Pokémon is no different. But one of the most disturbing and utterly game-breaking has to be Glitch City. Accessed via the Kanto region Safari Zone, Glitch city is a technical error that occurs when a series of steps is executed by the player. The only way to escape this place is by flying or teleporting. Now, you may be asking “what’s so bad about a glitch?” Well just look at the place, it’s horrifying. When these things happen, game’s tends to crash, but not here. It still goes on and on until you either escape or turn off the game. Really, this concept could’ve worked great in a horror title.

18 The End Of Days

There are plenty of differences between Gen’s I and II. The games are both fantastic and the interconnectivity between the two makes them all the more interesting. While we can probably all agree that both were important in making Pokémon the phenomenon it is today, there are some things to take note of – namely in the Kanto region.

There are some pretty huge differences in Kanto once you visit in the second time around.

Fuchsia City is completely different, and looks vaster, and greener than ever. Though not all is good. The most obvious examples of drastic and pretty grim changes are of course, found in Cinnabar Island and Lavender town. Swept away by a volcanic eruption, Cinnabar is a shell of its former self after what seems to have been a pretty devastating natural disaster. While in Lavender Town, Pokémon Tower is gone, and replaced by a radio tower. Think about that: someone had to dig up hundreds of deceased little Pokémon and move them somewhere else. Unsettling.

17 That Time Ghetsis Totally Snapped

One of the more intriguing villains we’ve seen in any Pokémon game, Ghetsis has a little more personality and depth when compared to some of the more well-known baddies in the franchise. His slow descent into madness was both interesting to watch progress and fairly out of place in such a childish game – but it was a well worth it experience that impacted many fans.

The most memorable thing he’s done however would have to be trying to off the main character.

Yes, you read that right. At one point, he completely snaps. North American fans might be a little confused as the scene was censored a little bit in order to make it more child consumer friendly, but if you watch videos of the Japanese version of the game, his intentions are pretty clear.

16 The Deep Pokémon Dream...

Though they are intended for children, there’s plenty of thought that has gone into creating and expanding the ever-growing world of Pokémon. Every fan theory has some sort of backing, and every creepypasta is based in some twisted, yet seemingly unnoticed aspect of the world and its lore. Heck, even some weaknesses are the way they are for a particular reason. Psychic-type Pokémon are weak against Dark, Ghost, and Bug-types, right? Well, there’s a pretty simple reason why that is. It turns out that these are some of people’s most common fears, which explains why the people down at Game Freak decided to make these particular Pokémon types so strong against Psychic-type companions.

15 “Where’s My Mommy?”

Well, there are probably very few people who don’t know this by now, but let’s just call this next entry something of a refresher course. Cubone is one of the most adorable little Pokémon you’ll find in Gen I. It has an easily distinguishable design and leaves a mark on players with its childlike appearance and innocent look. It also happens to be one of the most tragic Pokémon of them all. If you need any convincing then remember this; Cubone wears the skull of its deceased mother. That means that every Cubone is orphaned and spends the majority of its life so traumatized by its loss that it actually puts on its mother’s skull as a means of comforting itself.

14 Blue’s Grief

One of the oldest fan theories out there, this next one made the rounds online years ago and has left a significant impact on fans everywhere. We all know Gen I rival Blue as a bit of an aggressive punk, but to his credit, he’s a darn good trainer and proved to be one of the most challenging foes of the early games. While we’re used to casting him in the role of villain, there’s at least one reason to sympathize with him and it involves his Raticate.

It’s one of the biggest looming question marks in the entire franchise.

When the player meets Blue in Lavender Town he asks them if they know what it feels like to have one of their Pokémon kick the bucket. Curiously enough, he’s there visiting a grave. When you battle him on the S.S. Anne, you’ll notice that his Raticate is no longer in his party. Given his cryptic remarks in Pokémon Tower, could the unthinkable have happened. Many fans certainly think so.

13 Electric Soldier Porygon

It’s one of the most famous episodes of the entire animated series, and most of you have probably not seen it. At least, not on TV anyways. While most works of pop culture are subject to their fair share of controversy, Pokémon was a lightning rod for all sorts of bad press at its height. Though most of it was unfounded, there were some legitimate problems with the franchise. Affecting the health and wellbeing of its viewership for example, is something that comes to mind. “Electric Soldier Porygon” is most notable for how it gave a portion of its audience seizures – as well as its prompt removal from the airwaves. It’s still something of an urban myth which is what keeps it relevant.

12 The Great War

Alright, we all know that a lot of the darker things involving the friendly world of Pokémon are almost always based in speculation. But there’s actually some pretty dark basis’ behind a good deal of these. One actually comes all the way from Gen I. Lt. Surge makes some pretty interesting comments right before you fight him. Surge makes some pretty striking comments hinting at some sort of major conflict that happened in the not so distant past.

There’s no other way of looking at it; the Pokémon world is no stranger to war.

It’s an interesting idea that many fans have played around with. The games are presented in something of a darker light than the anime at times, but nothing all that drastic. However, it’s hard to imagine conflict as anything but a complete terror. Which is what makes it such a disturbing addition to Pokémon lore.

11 Ice Cold Psycho

Let’s just get this out of the way; there are plenty of messed up Pokédex entries out there – that we already know. You can spend a lot of time talking about them and going into which is worse and whatnot. They’ve certainly left an impression on the fan base, with multiple fan theories and creepypastas spawning from certain Dex entries. But among the most disturbing is an entry regarding Froslass. It reads;

“When it finds humans or Pokémon it likes, it freezes them and takes them to its chilly den, where they become decorations.”

Well…that’s horrifying isn’t it? There certainly aren’t all that many worse things that can happen to a trainer out in the wilderness. There are plenty of other messed up entries, but this one sticks with you.

10 Imprisonment

We all have fun with our Pokémon. We catch them, train them, raise them and more often than not, see them evolve and grow. They might just be game characters, but we grow a slight fondness and attachment to them. It’s what the game intends to do to the player and it really works. But despite all that, if you look at it without the family-friendly filter; it can sometimes be cruel. You keep the things in confinement most of the time, and when you do let them out it’s usually to fight. They are cared for, though which is a plus. But breeders’ Pokémon probably have it the worst, with the majority of them being stuck in the PC for all of eternity.

9 Strange Frequencies

One of the greatest and longest-running mysteries in the Pokémon franchise, the Unknown are a strange and unpredictable bunch. We don’t really know all that much about them (which is good because that would pretty much defeat the purpose of calling them “The Unknown” in the first place).

This is a two-decade-old mystery that won’t be solved anytime soon.

The Ruins of Alph house the Unknown. It isn’t all that scary of a place, but it is pretty eerie – which is reason enough to stay away from it. But if you turn your radio to channel 13.5, you can hear some pretty strange and chilling noises take over your speakers. No one knows what they are, but they’re definitely unsettling.

8 Life And The Other Side

This next one has been around online for a long while. In fact, it’s one of the most notable early Pokémon creepypastas out there. Which – given the sheer volume of them all – is definitely saying something. Ghost-types have always been kind of an odd fit in Pokémon but people love them. Or love to be scared of them. This all got started when some fans noticed an odd resemblance between two very different kinds of Pokémon. Gengar and Clefable don’t share all that much in common, save for body size and shape. Everything from their feet, hands, and ears are strikingly similar. There’s also the fact that there are many graveyards primarily haunted by Gengar’s previous forms, Ghastly and Haunter. It isn’t all that hard of a pill to swallow. These things have to come from somewhere, right?

7 Wally’s Last Stand

Most of the rivals you have in the games aren’t all that likeable. They’re standoffish, rash, aggressive and there to push your buttons. They’re devices used to make you want to surpass whatever obstacle comes your way – an inspiration of sorts. But that all changed in Gen III, with the introduction of Wally.

Wally is a sickly boy whose only dream is to catch and raise Pokémon.

You help him catch his first buddy and send him on his way. Though his parents and family are pretty worried – suggesting that his health really is a concern. Regardless he travels the region and becomes a pretty darn good trainer. But you crush him – every time. You crush his dreams and hopes and at the end of the day, he leaves; defeated. Feel bad yet?

6 Some Pokémon Are Naturally Villains

We’ve already covered the fact that there are pretty messed up Pokédex entries out there. And while that is very much the case, the main draw here should focus more on the Pokémon themselves. Have you ever really thought these entries through? Some of them are horrifying. We understand that Pokémon are animals and have certain primal urges, but the worst of the worst of them just seem twisted, spiteful or plain old evil if you’re talking about a majority of the Ghost-types out there. Taking out trainers, stalking them, collecting them; it’s all just one long string of nightmare scenarios. No wonder young trainers’ parents are hesitant to see them off into the world. They should keep them locked-up at home!