Pokémon is one of the most recognizable franchises today. Beloved by children and adults around the world, many people grew up watching the anime, collecting the playing cards, and playing Pokémon games. With dozens of games and even more spin-offs and side series additions, most gamers have likely played at least one or two Pokémon games. For many, Pokémon introduced them to gaming.
Although Pokémon is lighthearted, bright, colorful, and designed to appeal to children, there are a lot of Easter eggs and hidden lore that hint at much darker realities within the games. Fans have taken these little tidbits and run with them, as there are loads of creepy fan theories about Pokémon floating around.
This article contains mention of suicide.
10 Ditto Was Created To Help Pokémon Repopulate
Ditto is an odd little Pokémon that resembles little more than a blob with a simplistic smiley face. Usually pink, in their normal form, Ditto kind of look like a piece of bubble gum that's already been chewed. Ditto's unique ability allows it to shape-shift into any other Pokémon at will. Due to its unique ability to replicate any other Pokémon, there are a lot of fan theories about why it exists.
One theory suggests that Ditto is actually an attempt at making a Mew clone, but there's a theory about Ditto that's even more unsettling. Some fans believe that Ditto was a genetic experiment created for the sole purpose of saving Pokémon species that were close to extinction. Basically, Ditto is a lab creation whose sole purpose is procreating with other Pokémon.
9 Ghost Pokémon Are Variations Of Dead Pokémon
For years, fans have theorized about the existence of Ghost-type Pokémon. Considering the Ghost category exists, it suggests that, at one point, these ghosts were alive. Because of this logical connection, fans have developed some ideas of what Pokémon these Ghost-types were before they died.
For Gengar, many believe that before death, it was a Clefable. There's a similar theory that Ghastly was a Cloyster before death due to the inner face of Cloyster looking almost identical to Ghastly. Of course, Mimikyu, the Ghost/Fairy-type that dressed up as Pikachu, also has a fan theory behind it. Many believe Mimikyu is actually a dead Dedenne, an Electric/Fairy-type that closely resembles Pikachu. It dressed as Pikachu, hoping to get the love that it didn't get while alive.
8 Humans Are Also Pokémon
As the franchise has gone on, the line between humans and Pokémon grows thinner and thinner. There are countless accounts of Pokémon once being the souls of living people before they died, like Yamask. Most of Yamask's Pokédex entries talk about how it's a spirit from a human who passed away. One of Yamask's most recent Pokédex entries comes from Pokémon Shield, which says, "The spirit of a person from a bygone age became this Pokémon. It rambles through ruins, searching for someone who knows its face."
This theory goes beyond Ghost-type Pokémon, though. There are sources that insist that, at one point, there was no line between Pokémon and humans. Several pieces of lore found in the Canalave Library in Pokémon Diamond and Pearl talked about these ideas and even alluded to marriage between Pokémon and humans.
7 The Great Pokémon War Kills Most Of The Adults
Throughout the Pokémon franchise, there are very few adult characters that are actually relevant to the plot. Pokémon trainers, as well as gym leaders, are often children or teenagers rather than adults. In fact, it's commonplace for trainers who travel alone with their Pokémon to be children, which leaves a huge gap in the world-building of Pokémon because no one knows where the adults are.
The Great Pokémon War theory suggests that before the first Pokémon game, there was a brutal and bloody war that utilized the awesome power of Pokémon. The repercussions of this war were endless, including the loss of countless adult lives.
6 Phantump Are Lost Children
Phantump is Ghost/Grass-type Pokémon that is said to be the result of a spirit possessing a tree stump. Most of the Pokédex entries that exist about this Pokémon are incredibly unnerving, with Shield's reading, "With a voice like a human child's, it cries out to lure adults deep into the forest, getting them lost among the trees."
Perhaps this theory is a little more unnerving because it's not really a theory at all. Canon basically states that Phantump are children who died in the woods when they were lost, and they continue to draw more victims to the woods with their cries.
5 Pokémon Go Cannibalizes Pokémon
Pokémon Go is a fun mobile game that allows players to catch Pokémon "out in the wild" and battle with them in gyms and against other players. It's all the joy of catching and training Pokémon without any of the story from console games. One key component in Go, however, is Pokémon candies. Each Pokémon has a unique candy that players must feed the Pokémon in order to get them to evolve.
Naturally, a rather dark fan theory cropped up about the Pokémon candies. The theory basically says that every time players transfer a Pokémon to Professor Oak and get candies back, the Professor has actually turned the Pokémon the player sent over into those candies. By feeding the candies to their Pokémon, players are unknowingly forcing them to cannibalize themselves.
4 Findable Items Aren't Purposefully Left Behind
In every Pokémon game, there are random Pokéballs, potions, and other useful items for players to collect that will aid them on their journey. This is a common mechanic in most games, so players can gather resources that will help them win.
In Pokémon, however, fans theorize that these items aren't placed, but rather lost. Basically, when a trainer traveling alone meets their untimely end, they leave behind their stuff for future trainers to happen upon.
3 The Mystery of MissingNo
MissingNo refers to a glitched Pokémon that shows up in several forms across multiple games. The most common example of MissingNo is in Pokémon Red and Yellow, where players will come across a cluster of pixels. While each variation of MissingNo can be caught and even registered in the Pokédex, the entries usually can't be accessed after registration.
These glitch Pokémon are often accompanied by the cries of other Pokémon, which lead some players to believe that MissingNo are actually some form of corrupted Pokémon. Encountering these Pokémon has also been known to cause glitches within the game, like issues with saving and item management.
2 The Player's Dad Is Stalking Them
Trainer Red has been the main playable trainer for many of the Pokémon games dating all the way back to Red, Green, Blue, and Yellow. Red's story suggests that his father has been missing for the entire length of their journey, but an extremely popular fan theory suggests that Red's father was there the whole time.
There's no evidence to suggest that Red's father died, so the theory that he's been there the whole time starts to make sense. One variation of this theory suggests that the man Red meets at every gym is actually their father. While he's always there to watch Red succeed, it's actually unsettling because it highly suggests Red is being stalked by their own father.
1 Lavender Town Syndrome Might Be Real
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Lavender Town Syndrome (a.k.a. Lavender Town Tune or Lavender Town Suicides) refers to a town in Pokémon Red and Green that stands out from the rest of the game. The area was originally accompanied by music that contained high frequencies that only children and teens could allegedly hear.
Around the time of the game's release, many children were committing suicide or falling ill, and there are many theories that suggest the music in Lavender Town was the cause of these tragedies. Due to the mass hysteria that this caused, Lavender Town's music was actually altered by the developers. To this day, many believe that Lavender Town Syndrome was real.