Pokémon is a long-running video game franchise and anime that's become a source of nostalg🦩ia and comfort for millions of people across the world. The Pokémon property was created in 1995 by Satoshi Tajiri and was heavily inspired by his childhood adventures and imagination.
The initial releases of Pokémon Red and Green version, not only sold millions of copies, but helped fuel the creation of the anime, movies, trading cards, and more. Pikachu has not only become the face of Pokémon but is a cultural icon as recognizable as Disney's Mickey Mouse. When a franchise or property grows to be the size of what Pokémon has become it's bound to create communities of theory crafters and fan fiction creators. Considering there's such a wide pool of media to choose from it's no surprise that countless numbers of theories and threads pop-up on a frequent basis. Pokémon was initially created to spark wonder and adventure in children, but as those children grow up they tend to look for deeper meaning in many aspects of Pokémon. Sifting through these theories it's easy to see that some of them are rooted in⛦ a ton of fact and correlation as well as there being a couple of theories or two that are nothing more than a dreamer's dream.
We're going to be covering only fifteen of the hundreds of theories related to the vast world of Pokémon. Some of them will be old favorites that you've probably heard before, but hopefully, there's more than a couple that will leave you scratching yo🌺ur head.
15 ෴ 🌃 Quite Shocking!
Speaking of ghostly possession, let's talk about the earliest and most popular theory surrounding the ability for ghost-type Pokémon to create brand new species and a whole new life via possession. Ever since its first appearance, Voltorb has drawn countless comparisons to a pokéball. They're the same colors and, if we're being honest, Voltorb is obviously a pokéball with Haunter eyes drawn on it. The Voltorb theo꧙ry simply suggests that: since Haunter is known for being a bit of a trickster that it often tries to scare people by possessing their pokéballs. It seems that they manage to do frighten trainers but at the cost of beco🌺ming a living pokéball. It also explains Voltorb's angry nature and likelihood to self-destruct. It's simply Haunter trying to escape the result of a poorly thought out prank.
14 🦹 Mt. Moon Theories ꦉ
When it comes to Mt. Moon, there's a new theory crafted and posted to the internet every single day. I'm going to discuss the 3 most popular and equally plausible theories and you can make your own judgments. The first Mt. Moon theory suggests that Mt. Moon is actually an inactive volcano that erupted a long time ago and the results of the eruption were magma covering certain areas of the volcano and surrounding area and the name of the city closest to Mt. Moon, Pewter City. The second theory is that a meteor hit Mt. Moon and not only deposited moonstones, but killed all of the Pokémon living in the mountain, turning them into fossils. The last theory is that Clefairy and Clefable are aliens that colonized Mt. 💃Moon and brought moonstones with them.
13 🅰 It's All In The Mind
People tend to section this under theories, but I would personally consider this a simple correlation. Pokémon has done a fantastic job of creating strengths and weaknesses between Pokémon that are mostly based on scientific fact and/or theory. We all know that fire's weak to water, water is weak to electricity, and bugs are weak to birds. When it comes to psychic-type Pokémon, it seems that their weaknesses are also rooted in plausibility. A psychic Pokémon is weak to bug, dark, and ghost-type Pokémon. Many people feel that because the psychic class has a lot to do with the brain and mental based moves, that their weakness is rooted in fear. Bugs, ghosts, and the dark are some of the most common fears amongst humans, so it's not surprising 🐼to draw that correlation during design/development.
12 ꦍ Sa𒐪me Body, Different Name
As the years go on and newer generations of Pokémon are thrust upon the world, it's not surprising to come across a new Pokémon that shares a relationship with an old favorite. The Pokémꦿon Company tends to do a great job of drawing those connections for you so as to not keep their audience guessing. Genesect, a 5th generation bug-steel type Pokémon, hasn't been a beneficiary of this treatment. Genesect seems to have a direct connection to a generation 1 Pokémon named Kabutops. Their body shapes and physical features are eerily familiar to one another, almost uncanny.
The running theory is that Genesect is a Kabutops that was modified by Team Plasma and turned into a cyborg Pokémon. Here's hoping The Pokémon Company even🌟tually draws the line between thꦑe two with a proper evolution line.
11 ಌ Hidi🌺ng In Plain Sight
Here on Earth, we have plenty of examples of animals hiding in plain sight. Animals that have evolved to trick or manipulate their prey and predators in hopes of creating a survival advantage. Now, considering that Pokémon bases a lot of its design on real-life animals, it wouldn't be a shock to see a Pokémon designed with this type of manipulation in mind. This theory states that everyone's favorite Team Rocket comedy relief punching bag Wobbuffet isn't necessarily what he pretends to be. Wobbuffet is comprised of a large bulbous body and a sleek flat body. The theory suggests that the tail with eyes is actually Wobbuffet and the blue body is simply a distraction. It makes a lot ofꩲ sens🙈e considering the eyes and arms never move.
10 Ghostly P♊ossession
Ghost-type Pokémon are easily one of the franchise's biggest question marks in terms of their living state and where they fall exactly. Considering they can reproduce it seems that the ghost in ghost-type is merely a classification due to their spiritual look and apparent ability to possess non-living objects. Reddit user Pandajedi first brought up the theory that these ghost-type Pokémon may be able to possess objects and thus can create entirely new Pokémon. It seems that Litwick, Klefki, and Honedge could fall into this category qui𝔍🍸te well. There are examples of this possibly being a legitimate theory dating all the way back to the first generation of Pokémon. It will be interesting to see if any other Pokémon pop-up in the next generation to further cement this theory.
9 ꧃ You Look Familiar
If you're not familiar with N, he is a character introduced in the Pokémon Black & White series and is the leader of Team Plasma. He believes that Pokémon should exist on different worlds as to not disturb the other and let each group live freely. The theory surrounding N is that he is actually a Zoroark, a Pokémon known for portraying themselves as humans. During the Pokémon Black/White 2 games, there's a specific section where a Zoroark helps lead you through a set of complicated ruins. Upon reaching the end the player finds N strangely at the same time in which the Zoroark that helped them randomly disappeared. It makes sense that a Pokémon would fight for two separate w🌸orlds. He's witnessed first-hand that it's not always a symbiotic relationship between ⭕humans and Pokémon.
8 Ancestral Ties ☂
This is easily one of the most well-known Pokémon theories, and one of the most often discussed amongst fans. Cubone, his evolution, and his somber choice of headwear have been a mystery ever since players took their first steps into Lavender Town. The theory you've probably heard before is that Cubone are the children of Kangaskhan and the ones who lose their parents become Cubone upon wearing their deceased parent's skull. That's an interesting theory but I feel it's been covered quite a bit. Another theory suggests that Marowak/Cubone used to hunt Kangaskhan and the skulls were a tribal marking or symbol of a successful෴ hunt. So it comes down to whether you think Cubone are wearing ancestral headwear or the skulls of their fallen parents.
7 Whoops!
Speaking of popular theories fans love to discuss. What is Ditto? This is a question that many people have been asking ever since the original Pokémon Red/Green debuted in 1995. Many people felt he was simply a Pokémon that was strongly inspired by Nintendo's Kirby. He's pink, he can transform, and he's oddly cute. There's a trifecta of similar characteristics that can easily support the theory of inspiration. Upon further inspection, however, it seems that his origins are a little more interesting. It turns out that Ditto may actually be a failed clone of Mew. There were only two Pokémon that could use the move transform successfully, Ditto and Mew. The lab in which Ditto is found on Cinnabar Island is also the origin of Mewtwo, Mew's successful clone. It seems that🍬 this theory has a very strong case for itself.
6 Shadowed
Now, this theory holds a special place in my heart considering it involves one of my favorite Pokémon, Gengar. Gengar is a ghost-type Pokémon that shares a lot of physical traits with the fairy-type Pokémon Clefairy. By simply lining each of them next to each other it's obvious that they directly inspired each other in terms of design at some point. Another strange fact supporting this theory is that Gengar is listed in the pokédex as the Shadow Pokémon. People also believe that the name Gengar was likely derived from the term "doppelganger," meaning clone. This theory originated on CreepyPasta and has steadily become a Pokémon theory l✤ikely to spark up an 🦹interesting conversation at the very least amongst a group of friends or Pokémon enthusiasts.