The Craziest Pokémon Fan Theories
The Pokémon series has spanned eighteen core games (and counting!) over sixteen years, which have spawned a massive and sometimes rabid legion of fans, myself included. While most fans are content with giddily playing the newest installments, some fans like to take things one step further, and delve deep into the Pokémon lore. The result is that there are some pretty bizarre, extremely ridiculous Pokémon fan theories out there. In this feature, we’ll take a look at some of the most mind blowing theories and rate the amount of cranial explosion that the said theories cause. Hit the break to check them out.
1. Gengar is Clefairy’s Shadow
Going all the way back to the first generation Pokémon games reveals this little gem. Some fans have pointed out the similarities in appearance between Gengar and Clefairy, from the rotund, humanoid shape, to the big pointy ears. Also worth noting is that Gengar is a shadow Pokémon – Clefairy’s shadow perhaps? Even more interesting is that since Clefairy and Gengar are normal and ghost-type Pokémon, respectively, their type-immunities make it impossible for them to attack each other with certain STAB attacks. An interesting theory, which does hold some merit, but we are just getting started.
Level of mind-blowingness: A severe migraine followed by a LOST style nosebleed.
2. The World of Pokémon Was Ravaged by a Generation-Killing War
There’s a theory floating around the interwebs that paints a dark, horrific history of the Pokémon world, or at least Red/Blue’s Kanto region. Many players have noted that in Pokémon Red/Blue, there is a large absence of middle aged men in the game world. Think about the last time you played Pokémon. An abnormally large amount of Pokémon trainers chillin’ in the wild were little kids. Think about it. Why were there so many damn toddlers roaming the wilds unattended? There were plenty of elderly men and women in the world (Professor Oak), and many middle aged women (the player’s mom, the nurses), but a lack of middle aged men. What about the player’s father, or your rival’s father? While most people wouldn’t worry about the absence of middle aged dudes, some Pokémon fans have rationalized this through the creation of yet another insane theory.
The electric-type gym leader, Lt. Surge mentions being a survivor of some sort of brutal war that almost took his life (he claims that his Pokémon saved his life). Other trainers in the gym were once soldiers in some sort of army, which presumably fought in a war. A war where Pokémon were used as weapons. Let that sink in for a moment, as you try to imagine the horror of hundreds of terrified soldiers storming beaches being held by goddamn Charizards. Some fans believe this war was the cause of the lack of adult men, claiming that all of them had been killed in the war. Essentially, some people are speculating that this war caused a ‘generation kill’, and that the young children of the Kanto region are the first generation to find peace. This also explains why the player’s father is absent (hint, he died), and why the rival character has no parents (hint, they died). While a lot of this theory involves speculation and imagination, the horrifying idea of a human-Pokémon war that wiped out an entire generation is pretty damn sweet.
Level of mind-blowingness: Light to moderate brain melting
3. A Designer May Have Screwed Up the Evolutions of Some Pokémon
While this theory does not have anything to do with the lore or backstory of the games, it is still a pretty significant fan theory that has been circulating for some time. Most Pokémon veterans know that one of the earliest Pokémon, Caterpie, evolves into the ever useless Metapod, which evolves into Butterfree. Another well known bug Pokémon, Venonat eventually evolves into Venomoth, which seems all hunky dory. However, some sharp eyed fans have noticed something is a little strange – mainly the striking similarities between Venonat and Butterfree. They both share those big red eyes, furry purple bodies, long antenna, and tiny little arms. Not being able to write off the blatant similarities between the two, many fans have claimed that Venonat was actually supposed to evolve into a Butterfree.
Further backing this point is that the Caterpie/Metapod line holds more physical similarities to the long and slender Venomoth than to the fat and furry Butterfree. This led to the speculation that someone who was working on the original game may have accidentally switched up the evolutions of the two Pokémon, and by the time anybody noticed, it was too late. We picture the crass yet brilliant Pokémon lead designer, with a lit cigarette in mouth looking over the data, realizing the error that has been made. After some deliberation, he (presumably) takes a swig from a 40 of vodka, slams it down on the table and screams “Nobody will notice! PUT IT IN THE GAME!”. And that is why Venonat evolves into Venomoth. True story.
Level of mind-blowingness: Similar to that scene in “Total Recall: where Arnold Schwarzenegger’s head almost pops on the surface of Mars.
4. Kangaskhan is Cubone’s Dead Mother
The story of Cubone, an orphan Pokémon that uses its dead mother’s skull as protection is dark enough. If you factor in this fan theory, it gets crazy, fast. People believe that the little baby who lives in Kangaskhan’s pouch will grow to become a Cubone if the mother is killed. The skull does indeed bear some resemblance to the Kangaskhan’s head, with a long snout, pointy ears and large eyes. As a matter of fact, some believe that this traumatic experience may change the evolutionary path of the Pokémon, causing it to metamorphosize into the skull wearing, club wielding Pokémon we all know and love. In short, Cubone is like the Batman of the Pokémon world.
Level of mind-blowingness: A PG-13 remake of the head explosion scene in “Scanners”.
5. You Killed Your Rival’s Pokemon
In Pokémon Red/Blue, you eventually face your rival in the luxury cruise liner, the S.S. Anne. After handily mopping the floor with him, you will not see your rival until you reach Lavender Town, the Pokémon city notorious for its nightmare inducing theme music. Upon running into him in Lavender Town, the resting place for many Pokémon, he proclaims “Hey! What brings you here? Your Pokémon don’t look dead!” A fair enough question, as many trainers bring their dead Pokémon to Lav- Wait a second… What is your rival doing there?
Some fans have noticed that your rival’s Raticate is no longer in his party. Yes, he could have removed the Raticate (it is a pretty terrible Pokémon), but what trainer would remove a Pokémon from his/her party without replacing it? Guess what? You killed your rival’s Raticate. Yep, after knocking it out on the S.S. Anne, fans believe that the rival couldn’t get to a Pokémon Center amid the chaos on the boat, which resulted in his beloved Pokémon’s passing. Your rival is in Lavender Town to lay to rest one of his beloved Pokémon. A Pokémon that you killed. Good job, guy.
Level of mind-blowingness: Full blown head explosion, folks.
Here’s one last little one to send you on your way. Take a look at Diglett, and look at it’s “nose”. See that little white spot. Yep, that’s actually a tooth.
Well, not really. It actually is a nose, but you won’t ever be able to unsee it now.
I always love reading these theories, and I hope that in the future the devs decide to incorporate some of these ideas into an actual game. Unfortunately, that doesn’t seem to happen a lot with video games.
I already heard most of these before, except the diglett one… Interesting stuff though.
What? That is not Diglet’s mouth. I refuse to believe such lies!!
Dude…..did you read? It’s not. They said it’s a lie. Retard.
Dude…..did you think? It’s sarcasm. He used two exclamation marks. Retard.
Dude…..did you make shit up? It’s redundant – don’t feed the fucking trolls
You guys are funny ^_^
Robin, you are the biggest retard on the internet. Congrats.
Propaganda, all of it.
I actually thought of the last one when I started getting use to the ugly Diglett. I wondered “is that a nose, or is its’ mouth open?”
OMG! My mind is blown! Wow, just wow! The second theory makes so much sense! How could I not have noticed?
This is so intense, wicked theories no doubt
I think the reason most Pokemon theories come from the first generation is because most people who played Red/Blue/Yellow were just kids. I remember going to school and talking about all the Pokemon rumors and theories, like how to get Mew.
I miss those days. ;_;
Theory 2 and 5 make the game darker. It would be awesome if they are true (i’m sorry about Raticate, but will make it more realistic).
theres one theory out there on the entire pokemon tv show series. it basically says that after pikachu originally shocked ash he was put into a coma and the entire tv show is nothing but a dream. look into it its quite interesting
It would give a reason as to why Ash never ages…
What the hell is Pokémon?
It’s one of those pocket monsters that go through your pockets, scavenging it for any last penny, and comes in any size and form, and mostly goes under names such as brats, kids, girlfriends and wives!
Don’t forget mothers!
I’d heard most of these except for the one about all the middle aged dudes missing. That one really messed with my head. As with all things Japanese, it’s what’s left unsaid that truly means something.
There’s also the part where your Rival is actually Prof. Oak’s grandson, whose hopes and dreams you thoroughly destroy repeatedly with the help of his own grandfather. You just ruin that kid’s life.
In a few of the games, the player’s father is a gym leader.
I feel as if the first generation had a lot more depth to the Pokemon. They all seem sort of…connected.
I’ve read about the evolution exchange on another website before. There the following explanation was given:
It was an intentional decision to switch these two, because the tv series was produced parallel to the games. Since Ash has a Caterpie/Metapod and Butterfree is much more appealing to kids than Venomoth they decided to let Metapod evolve into Butterfree instead.
I concur to the dido. I read that as well.
Actually, the games were made years before the anime.
Before reading this i was a happily ignorant player. Now my eyes have been opened to the truths behind the world of Pokemon. I will forever see that tooth and realize that every time I beat down my rival, it was all leading up to the death of his beloved Raticate, even though such a Pokemon is merely an oversized rodent.
that is not clefairy in the the picutre, its clefable. besides that i found this entertaining
god, thank you. i’m glad someone else noticed that.
does that mean marowak evolves into kangaskhan
It was originally supposed to happen, but it was changed.
zach, good hypothesis. Jarmandur also resembles a slight resemblance to Marowag, save for his toes.
The Rival being Prof. Oaks grandson is true, he says it, and if it wasn’t in the game it was mentioned in the manga and anima
It was said in the game…..before you even get to play…..when you pick his name…..and sever times throughout the game. It’s basically impossible to not notice.
raticate is under rated. His hyper fang is deadly, gets you threw the games with ease. I always get him
Alternate Cubone Theory:
A cubone is really a Charmander whose mother died/flame burned out. The Cubone’s skull looks more like a Charizard’s head than a Kangaskhan.
Damn son, I never noticed the Charmander resemblance, except for the tail being slightly off.
Not quite… the ‘horns’ on charizard’s head point backwards, cubone’s skull spiky skull bits point upwards. Plus there’s the whole charmander tail flame thing, though a couple of people elsewhere have speculated over that. Being able to defend itself without a mother being the idea I read. Not so sure, myself..
Gary Oak collected ten Kanto Gym Baadges, the games only allow you eight.
When you use an item at the wrong time, you hear Professor Oak’s voice in your head.
Every region has a professor with unusual amounts of authority who all acknowledge professor Oak as their superior.
Team Rocket has never actually attempted to Steal anything.
The Professor’s don’t allow people to leave their towns without doing their bidding.
Oak has his own radio show, telling you where to catch what.
My theory is the Pokédex is some form of perception filter. You can’t find the other towns with the other gyms because it won’t allow you to see the paths to them, it also allows Oak to read your thoughts and speak directly into your brain.
The reason you usually have no father is because you were created by Oak, which is also why e gives you preferential treatment over his grandson.
Oak uses the data you collect on the pokédex for his Mengele-esque experiments, all generation II and onward pokémon are a result of Oak’s Experiments.
It is only the perception filter that portrays Oak as a kindly old man and it is only the perception filter that makes you think there is a pokémon League.
You are in fact a sleeper agent, a hitman taking down regional and global leaders who oppose the will of Oak.
Team Rocket are actually freedom fighters. Taking over Sylph Co was an attempt to stop Oak’s experiments, taking the Radio Tower was an attempt to break the influence of his perception filters.
yes, Oak created you. You’re his clone. It all makes sense now, he’s training you up to take over the world when he dies.
Great theory! I really enjoyed reading it
I have a theory on the war. It never says who there was a war with does it? I was thinking that in the newest Pokemon (Black and White) there is a huge barren area that resembles a blast crater. I’ve heard theories that it was meant to represent Ground Zero, but could that be the site of the generation killing war?
No, it was supposed to represent Ground Zero. The “meteor” as it was said hit that area were the planes. The entralink area in the center of the towns is Central Park and the bridges are like the Brooklyn Bridge and whatnot. The large city, which I can’t remember the name of right now, is like the main city part of NYC.
also, the pokemon in the meteor has the height 9’11″
well, it’s 9’10.3″, but it is as close as they can get it without completely spitting it out
Cool stuff, hadn’t heard of the dead Raticate or thought of the war. But the Kangaskhan – Cubone thing could have been explained a little better.
Put a Kangas-femur in a baby Kangaskhan’s hands and a Kangas-cranium on its head, and bang, Cubone. Furthermore, Marowak, the intended intermediate stage, was supposed to evolve into Kangaskhan, but the developers moved the link into an empty slot.
With no number.
Hence, Missingno. Which btw evolves into Kangaskhan.
Thank you macromeme.
What the fuck is a 40 of Vodka?
Are you 12? It’s a forty ounce bottle of vodka.
yeah what the fuck is a forty of vodka. hard a is metric. and how much does a 40 of vodka cost that’s what I want to know.
40oz is not a term used for liquor, only for beer. “a handle” of vodka is the correct term, and its usually a 58oz. i understand why “alcoholic” was surprised.
actually 40z usually refers to malt liquor, otherwise it would be pointless because beer doesn’t get you drunk, rendering it useless in the ghetto. Vodka isn’t sold in 40z however so you were partially correct.
There’s war for a kid’s show? wow, pokemon is for adults also
Yah, bro. You mad? It’s Clefable.
You’re missing the one where the entire Pokemon tv-show is really the comatose dream of Ash.
http://cartoonoveranalyzations.com/2009/04/09/pokemon-explained/
Level of mind-blowingness: Brain goes supernova
Oh good, someone else noticed, now I don’t have to say anything!
Diglett’s conspiracy blew my mind.
Did you seriously post a picture of Clefable and call it Clefairy? Do you realize the magnitude of this error?
Level of mind-blowingness: Energy from brain-splosion able to power three new universes of civilized life for 600,000 years.
Gengar could be pikachu’s shadow too……..
IT’S WATCHING YOU!
Number 3 was interesting. I never heard that one before.
feel bad that i have to be the one to say it…. thats Clefable not Clefairy… ITS A TOOTH!!!
GYAH! I can’t UNSEE it now! You bastard!
Couldn’t help but read this in Ash’s voice.
Myth 3:
The people in charge of marketing switched Venomoth with Butterfree on purpose. In the anime, they wanted Ash to catch a Caterpie as one of his first Pokemon, but Butterfree was seen as a more marketable evolution. Rather than write Butterfree into the show somehow, they just changed what Metapod evolved into.
Myth 4:
Cubone and Marowak were originally supposed to evolve into Kangaskhan. It makes sense. Kangaskhan carries its baby in its pouch, so there’s a strong family connection. The skull on Cubone’s head does somewhat resemble the shape of a Kangaskhan’s head. In fact, the reason Missingno. commonly evolves into Kangaskahn is because not all of the code evolving Marowak into Kangaskhan was removed.
There’s no such thing as a 40 of vodka.
Here’s another one for you: where did all these new pokemon come from? Professor Oak was the forefront of pokemon research, and he initially assured us there were only 150 pokemon (disregarding the rarest of the rare) but, after the first season, more and more kept popping up. Do you really think this professor who’s been studying pokemon for years would be off by hundreds in his estimate of pokemon types? Looking back at our initial cast, we had a small group of kids with big dreams. Misty wanted to be a top notch water pokemon trainer, which she accomplished while traveling with Ash (and by having her own gym). Ash wanted to be the world’s greatest pokemon trainer. Now, that title seems a bit subjective, but I’d say he more or less has achieved this goal (look at what he’s accomplished in, what had to have been, the course of one year, since he’s yet to age at all). So, everyone in this initial team is getting what they wanted, right? But, what about Brock? He wanted to be the world’s greatest pokemon breeder. Pokemon getting it on may be a little too steamy for the show to actually detail, so how else would we know of his success? A new breed of pokemon no one had ever seen or known about before, until after the time when all of this group’s gifted children were achieving their dreams? Think about it.
Good Staff !
*link removed, ya spammer.*
I have just been learned, thank you
where do the hot dogs, burgers and turkeys on the table come from?? i dont see regular animals
Actually, the Venomoth/Butterfree mixup was on purpose; Butterfree is cuter and more marketable, and the episode of the anime with Butterfree leaving is one of the more emotional episodes.
http://www.thefactsite.com/2010/10/pokemon-venomoth-butterfree-theory.html
Also, Metapod’s Japanese name is “Trancell,” a combination of transform and cell, while Venomoth’s Japanese name is “Morphon,” a play on the word morph. See the theme?
Hey dickwad where do you buy a 40 oz. of Vodka.
I got some gamer babes coming by and want to PARTY!!!!!!!!! GO SOX!!!!!
Are we just ignoring how Marowak is Cubone’s mother?
I feel stupid, hearing these. I personally believe all of the serious ones here (obviously the Diglett one is a joke), but I have a disagreement with the second one, the one with the Pokemon war. If you think about it, there’s no way that a war could wipe out ALL of the young men of a huge region like that, and no more underage boys would grow into men by that time. I think that the war is actively going on, and all the men are still fighting. In my opinion, this explanation makes more sense.
actually, you’re probably right
if the war did happen, then all the old guys would be gone, and there are plenty of those
I thought Ash’s father is Giovanni? Thats a theory Ive heard alot
Giovanni is actually the father of the rival from G/S/C. It is revealed in a future Celebi event planned for HeartGold and SoulSilver.
The player’s rival’s raticate didn’t die in R/B/Y. He states that he caught a Cubone, but couldn’t find a Marowak. What sort of sick mofo would go capture pokemon right after burying one?
Someone who misses his lost Pokemon, and wants to fill the void left by its death by catching another one?
You forgot the most mind blowing one that has ever been thought of. The Ash Coma theory. it applies more to the series rather than the games but it explains why he never ages after almost 20 years.
Anyone else notice that aparently its Clefairy’s shadow thats a Gengar when in fact he’s actually talking about Clefable
No…I only read it 15 times, while I was perusing through the comments. Please read the comments before you post.
The theory about war wiping out middle aged generation should be made into a real movie sort of like what Avatar did for Pocahontas. I would go see it as would most kids who grew up with pokemon.
the generation would make sense after the pokemon black/white series. think, the three legendary dogs fought to protect pokemon from a fire that humans started. i dont think pokemon would take that fudge from anyone haha.
as for ash being in a coma, i dont think pikachu would wanna deal with his crap for more than a few minutes. therefore, Ash IS in a coma.
and heres another interesting point, almost all of the cities are named after flowers/plants and all of the professors are named after trees.
Oak, Elm, Birch, so and so forth. and Bill, the man who made the pokemon pc for Oak,is probably a reference to Bill Gates, the man who made the computer. what kind of hippie smoking freaks would make some many simple things into a complex game???
the missing generation**
There’s this theory about the Pokemon series. Ash really is in a coma and stuff. Link: http://www.killcure.com/2009/10/02/pokemon-conspiracy-theory/
be ready to be saddened towards the end.
uhhh this is ripped off of cracked.coms article…
am i a retard or does this stop at number 5 ive looked all over for it but i cant find a link for a second page
like for real i really want to read the rest of these what the fuck
wow i am a retard for some reason i thought there was 10 like whatttt??? lol… btw i just got the same captcha twice in a row hahaha
diglett is domo!!!!
Could be. I’ve always wondered why people let their kids leave the house for good when they turn 10, though.
A note: the blast center could simply be a straight-up reference to nyc, as the shape of the unova region is (if I’m not mistaken) something like the city, just as the other regions refer to regions in japan.
i agree with the cubone it would kinda make sense. its been shown in other pokemon than emotional attachment can effect evolution. so if the cubones parent dies it would make it into a marowak instead of a kong
the ash in a coma seems a little made up. when you dream and you see a face you have seen it, your mind doesn’t create faces so why would it create pokemon? i dont think that it would
1. was interesting and it could be lol.
2. interesting but stupid.
3. Really stupid they didn’t mes up. Butterfly’s come from cacoons.
4. Really stupid because Marowak is Cubones mother.
5. I’ve never thought of it as a nose. Tell you the truth I’ve never stoped and looked at diglet to notice he had anything other than Eyes.
We’re aware that butterflies come from cocoons. It’s saying that venomoth was supposed to look like butterfree, and vice versa. Also, couldn’t marowak be an older version of cubone if it was supposed to evolve into kangaskhan? just wondering
Kangaskhan could be the third evolution, Marowak the second, and cubone the first.
The “Kangaskhan was moved from his evolution slot after Marowak thus creating missingno” theory is plain wrong. Reason: there are tons of different missingno’s, each with different numbers. Look up glitch pokemon, there’s tons of missingnos, as well as other goofy-ass-shit.
am i the only 1 that things the war storyline would make a great game
I always thought that Diglett had a mouth not a nose…
Actually the designers have said that Cubone was going to be the design for the fire type starter, they didn’t like the way it looked so the creator drew Charizard’s skull on Cubone’s head as a tribute.
The pokemon game was created AFTER a war, so yes most of all the fit men and women were well…gone :l Gary’s mom is also gone.. I dont see why they would stick that sad past into a beloved game tho…
gosh ive never played red or blue but ive been trying to learn about m and missingno and i belive theese except the diglett
War one not true because your dad is a gym leader in a few of the Pokemon!