As fun and colorful as it is, the world of Pokémon is one of those deceptively simple settings that hides a lot of weird implications. When you think about it for long enough, some facets of Ash Ketchum’s adventures can be confusing and even disturbing.
This led to countless fan theories that ranged from the unintentionally hilarious to the downright morbid. Luckily, the people behind Pokémon cleared the air about some age-old conundrums and mysteries, while leaving a few more up in the air.
10 MIGHT BE TRUE: Humans Are Evolved/Devolved Pokémon
Pokémon and humans have a tight relationship, though some think this goes beyond mere friendship. This idea suggests that Pokémon and mankind share their circles of life, and that the two species are connected in a literal biological sense. Almost all Pokémon have human-like sentience, with most being able to communicate with people. Bolstering this are some Pokémon’s very human origins, like Phantump being a dead child’s spirit or Yamasks being literal death masks.
Others are humanoid (ex. Hitmonlee, Machamp, etc.) and exert human characteristics, which either proves evolution, reincarnation or advanced mirroring. Whether this means that humans evolved into Pokémon or devolved from them has yet to be clarified, but the connection is undeniable.
9 DEBUNKED: MissingNo. Is Not An Edlritch Pokémon, It Is Simply A Bug
There’s no classic Pokémon theory like MissingNo. (short for Missing Number), the strange creature that’s either a sentient fossil or an otherworldly mass of glitching pixels. The theories either claim that MissingNo. is a scrapped evolution or an eldritch being beyond mortal comprehension, making its discovery more valuable than getting a Magikarp to evolve.
The truth, though, is frankly boring; MissingNo. really is just a bug that got past QA testers. This hasn’t stopped fans and game developers alike from having fun with it, as they created tons of fanart, evolutionary trees, and extensive Creepypasta lore about it. Pokémon artist TOKIYA even drew MissingNo’s different forms, giving the leftover glitch a rare honor.
8 MIGHT BE TRUE: Kangaskhan Is Cubone’s Mother
Minus Ash’s petrification in the original Pokémon movie, nothing makes fans sadder than reading Cubone’s origins. Long story short, the bone-wielding Pokémon wears its dead mother’s skull as a helmet and mourns by crying at the moon on a nightly basis. Fans expanded on this with the claim that Kangaskhan is Cubone’s mother.
This is based on Cubone’s physical appearance, which bears some similarities to a Kangaskhan and its child. For fans, every fallen Kangaskhan results in a Cubone’s birth. The one thing that muddies this a bit is Cubone’s evolution into Marowak instead of something similar to Kangaskhan, but it still remains a fan-favorite guess.
7 DEBUNKED: Pikachu Can Evolve, They Just Chose Not To
In the games, Ash’s Pikachu is a relatively weak electric mouse. But in the anime, he’s the most powerful creature on Earth, capable of defeating high leveled enemies and even legendary types. This has led people to think that, for some unsaid biological reason or pre-existing condition, Pikachu can’t evolve and is basically a higher level Pokémon stuck in a Stage 1 body.
In truth, Pikachu made a deliberate decision to not evolve into a Raichu. The details change depending on which continuity is being examined, but it all boils down to the same motive: Pikachu wants to prove his strength to Ash, himself and his opponents as a regular Pikachu before moving on to the next stage. Since he has yet to do that, Pikachu remains in basic form.
6 MIGHT BE TRUE: Gengar Is A Dead Clefable
A long-standing theory about Pokémon is that Gengar is Clefable’s ghost or evil self. This is based on the two creatures incredibly similar silhouettes and the fact that minus their eyes, they look like palette-swapped versions of each other. However, one theorist on Amino took this a step further: Gengar isn’t Clefable’s shadow, but her ghost.
The evidence points to Gengar’s typing, who’s officially classified as a Ghost Pokémon. In the setting, Ghost Pokémon are born from a tragedy, such as death. Factor in the similarities between Clefable and Gengar such as their need to be social and preference for the shadows, and it’s hard not to see Gengar as anything but Clefable’s posthumous evolution.
5 DEBUNKED: Ash’s Father Is Not Dead Or Divorced, He Is Simply A Dedicated Trainer
One of the more famous Pokémon theories is that Ash’s father is either dead or divorced from Delia Ketchum, which explains his absence. This, however, was debunked in the most recent anime and movies. Ash’s father doesn’t show up in person, but his influence is present.
In the original anime’s trivia books, it’s mentioned that Delia’s husband is a Pokémon trainer who left shortly after Ash was born because he just had to be the very best. Additionally, the recent anime revealed that though Delia is understandably furious at her husband’s lack of parental responsibility, she hasn’t formally divorced him and is awaiting his return.
4 MIGHT BE TRUE: Ash’s Father Could Be Ash’s Final Boss
A carry over from the previous theory is that the Ash’s father is being saved for a big moment. Since he’s a Pokémon trainer as well and Ash is busy climbing the ranks, it actually makes a lot of sense that the grand finale of the Pokémon saga isn’t a clash with Team Rocket, but a duel between father and son.
Pokémon is pretty coy about Ash’s father, only giving him passing mentions at best. The most exposure Ash’s father got was in the novelization of Pokémon the Movie: Secrets of the Jungle, where Ash quotes some advice his father gave long ago. This enabled the speculation that Ash’s father will be introduced at some point, but only at a climactic moment in Ash’s story.
3 DEBUNKED: Mr. Mime Is Not Ash’s Father
Now that Ash’s father has been confirmed to just be disappeared and not deceased, one of the most hilarious and raunchiest Pokémon theories has finally been put to rest. The theory in question is the long-enduring claim that Mimey isn’t just the Ketchum family’s Mr. Mime, but Delia’s current partner and Ash’s step-father.
This stems from how close Delia and Mimey seemed, with the two often being shown in comically and weirdly intimate situations. Some theorists went as far as saying that Mimey is Ash’s biological father, supposedly explaining his unique quirks like his amazing communicating skills with Pokémon. Thankfully, this ethically questionable theory was debunked.
2 MIGHT BE TRUE: Ho-Oh Made Ash Forever Young
One of the most enduring jokes about Pokémon is that Ash has been 10-years-old for the better part of 30 years. The anime’s countless reboots and timelines aside, Ash’s apparent immortality has gone unexplained in-universe, but the franchise’s first episode could hold the answer.
Here, Ash sees a Ho-Oh fly overhead on his first day as a trainer. The legendary Pokémon is said to grant wishes, leading many to guess that Ash wished that his adventures would never end, and so Ho-Oh granted him eternal youth. Whether he wished this subconsciously or not, Ash’s supposed desire came true and even decades after the anime’s start, he has yet to escape the age of 10.
1 DEBUNKED: The Anime Is Not Basically Silent Hill & Ash Is Not In A Coma
Like every children’s show before it, Pokémon has been decoded by edgy viewers to be a secretly dark story. The most popular version of this posits that Ash fell into a coma either after the lightning strike or the Spearow attack in the first episode. Everything after that is a coma-induced dream, with characters like Misty or Team Rocket and even the Pokémon being manifestations of his repressed feelings and emotions. Basically, Pokémon is Silent Hill.
The biggest counter to this is the simple fact that there’s no evidence in-universe to support this. And even if this was the anime’s endgame, there’s no set-up that would justify such a needlessly nihilistic twist. Pokémon did dabble into the dramatic and serious territory before, but not enough to turn Viridian City into a cursed hellscape with a pyramid-headed executioner.