The first generation of Pokémon games were, for many 90s children, the start of a lifelong obsession with digital monsters. They were the perfect kids games. The protagonist was a 10-year-old who didn’t have to go to schooꦅl and was allowed to go on fantastic adventures without parental supervision. Kids got to raise and train their own ferocious monsters so they could battle against friends and rivals. Howev꧂er, for as kid-friendly as the games were, there was always this sinister undercurrent.

Even back🌼 then, there was something off about the Pokémon games. Lavender Town was really creepy, and attentive kids found some strange Pokédex entries that were less than savory. We didn’t dwell on it too much back then. However, many fans are now♌ full-grown adults and can really appreciate just how warped Pokémon really is🌜. Needless to say, there are a whole host of creepy and horrifying fan theories. Some of them are so convincing, that the🎃y might just be true.

Now, for the sake of not starting a flame war because of semantics, here's a really quick Pokémon history lesson. The very first Pokémon games, Pokémon Red and Pokémon Green, initially launched back in 1996. However, they 𝔍were horribly buggy messes. Eight months later, Nintendo released Pokémon Blue. It was an updated versio🦂n of the first two games and contained all 151 Pokémon. Pokémon Red and Pokémon Blue launched ♊in America two years later and used the revamped code of the Japanese Pokémon Blue but kept the separation of the initial games. So the rival in the games is both Blue and Green.

20 The Great Pokémon War

The Pokémon War/Kanto War Theory says that most of the adults died in 🌞a war that took place shortly before the start of the first games. Your character is among the first generation to live in peace after the war. It is why there is so much focus on training and battling. There are hospitals, homes, and gyms all over the place, but not much else. It is also why there isn’t much communication between t✤he various regions.

Like most of the good theories, there is plent🦋y of evidence within the game to support ཧthis idea. Your character has no father. Your mother calls you the man of the house. The real piece of evidence that solidifies this whole theory is when the gym leader Lt. Surge says: “Hey kid! Wh♒at do you think you’re doing here? You🔯 won’t live long in combat! That’s for sure! I’ll tell you what kid, electric Pokémon saved me during the war!”

19 Leftover Items Are From Dead Trainers

Hidden items and buried treasure are just a fact of video games. Sometimes, they are just cosmetic while other times they are insan🎀ely useful. Most hidden items in Pokémon fal💯l under the latter category🔯. But, did you ever stop to think how they got there?

It’s hard to believe that someone is simply hiding these mysterious objects. on reddit suggests that the items you find are the last remains of trainers who have met unfortunate ends. Except, that’s got to be ridiculous right? I mean, it’s not like there are wild, aggressive, monsters running around and jumping random strangers as they pass. All sarcasm aside, it’s really not hard to imagine wild Pokémon taking out unprepared trainers. A lot of Pokémon are basically murder machines with their ability to breathe fire, create deadly beams of light, or spread literal poison into the a🍰ir.

18 Ghastly Is A Dead Cloyster

If there is one Pokémon theory that is hotly contested, it is the idea that ghost type Pokémon are the spirits of dead Pokémon. We do know that some ghost type Pokémon are a𝐆bsolutely the spirits of dead humans. However, it’s not really clear if a dead Pokémon becomes one of the gho🐻st-types. Well, that never stopped me!

This particular theory made a few rounds on Tumblr and states that 𓆏when a Cloyster dies it becomes a Ghastly. Its smiling mouth is nearly identical to a Gengar’s smile. Shellder likes to stick its tongue out, and the Ghastly line is known for their paralyzing tongues. In fact, the Shellder line is right before the Ghastꦇly line in the Pokédex. Cloyster is number 92 and Ghastly is number 93. Because some Pokémon are confirmed to be dead spirits, it’s not exactly an unreasonable theory.

17 Your Dad Is Stalking You

Admittedly, the parents in Pokémon aren’t exactly ro✅le models. You already know your mom is scraping a little off the top every time you send her money for “safekeeping.” However, as bad as the mother is in the first games, your dad might be so much worse.

In Pokémon Red and Green/Blue it’s𒀰 unclear what happened to your dad. However, there is a strange man who likes to lurk inside gyms. This gym guide offers you advice and encouragement before you challenge the Pokémon Gyms. Except, he’s a little too friendly to just be some random stranger. 

One theory states that the Gym Guy is actually your dad. Your mom left him when she was pregnant and raised you on her own. However, your dad is trying to make up for lost time and is ܫsecretly following you to try and connect to you. He uses the gyms as an excuse to talk to you without revealing who he is.

16 The Other Pokémon War (Pokémon Go)

This particular theory is actually an extension of t🍒he orig♛inal Pokémon War theory. Under this theory, Pokémon Go is the first game in the timeline. However, not only is it the first game, it also takes place before the Gre💛at Pokémon War. The three factions (Valor, Mystic, and Instinct) are simp💦ly friendly rivals in the game.

Of course, there is plenty of in-game evidence. Pokémon Go originally only featured the generation. 🅠Interestingly enough, you can catch fossil Pokémon like Kabuto and🥂 Omanyte as they wander around the world. By the time Pokémon Red and Blue/Green occur, the fossil Pokémon are ✃extinct and can only𝓡 be revived through fossils. What’s more, catching Pokémon in Pokémon Go doesn’t involve battling. Instead, like the Safari zones, you can only throw berries and Poké Balls. The Safari Zones were created as nature preserves to help protect the Pokémon and the practices from 🌱the early days of catching Pokémon. What’s more, candies in Pokémon Go are everywhere, but are rare in every other game. This is because the practice was inhumane and outlawไed after the events of Pokémon Go.

15 Parasect's Mind Controlling Parasite

Let’s talk zombies. Cordyceps is a ꦆgenus of ascomycete fungi ♌(aka sac fungus) that is parasitic. However, what makes some Cordyceps really sꦦpecial is that they are capable of mind control. They can control their host and force helpless ants to infect their entire colony.

According to the Pokédex, Paras are Pokémon that get doused with fungus spores when🦋 they are born. These spores feed on the bodies of the Paras and grow as they do. Although some of the Pokédex entries attempt tܫo make this seem like a partnership, one look at Parasect makes the deceit abundantly clear. Parasect’s eyes are pure white and completely lifeless. A few of its Pokédex entries state that the mushroom on its back is what does all the thinking. The fungus extracts everything from the host, and when there is nothing left, they leave spores on the host's eggs. Like the Cordyceps,♒ these fungi infiltrate the hos🍨t’s body and hijack their minds.

14 You Killed Raticate

The presence of rivals in Pokémon games is a staple of the series. Your rival, like you, starts 𒆙off with weaker Pokémon and gradually grows stronger over the course of the game. However, it’s entirely possible that the rivalry between Red and Green/Blue in the first games went a little too far.

By your third encounter with your rival, they have expanded their initial team to include a Rattata. The next time you see them is on a ship and that Rattata has evolved into a Raticate. Your fifth encounter with your rival occurs in Lavender Town; the town where Pokémon trainers and lovers alike go to bury their beloved Pokémon. Your rival, who has never exchanged their Pokémon before, no longer carries Raticate with them. That’s becau♏se it succumbed to its injuries aboard the S.S. Anne before your rival could get it to a Pokémon Center.

13 Cubone Wears Kangaskhan's Skull

Cubone’s Pokédex entry in Pokémon Yellow 🐻says: “It wears the skull of its deceased mother.” Although there is no official explanation offered in the games, fans think they might have found the answer.

The baby Kangaskhan always carries with it shares several strikin💞g and hard to ignore similarities with cubone. The theory says that Cubone is a divergent evolutionary path for young Kangaskans who have lost their mother. This theory traces back to the very first Pokémon games, but new evidence in Pokémon Sun and Pokémon Moon have helped to strengthen the theory. The ca🌊ll for help mechanic in🔯 Sun and Moon typically spawns Pokémon who are in the same evolutionary line as the one you are battling. There are a few exceptions, but most of those have lore that explains the connection. Cubone’s call for help will sometimes spawn a Kangaskan; demonstrating that t𒅌here is a l﷽ink.

12 Humans Are Pokemon 🍰

The theory starts in Pokémon Platinum, Diamond, and Pearl. There are several books in the🌞 Canalave Library that depict various legends. A few of them mention that the difference between Pokémon and people was non-existent at one point. The Pokédex entry for Yamask reads: “These Pokémon arose from the spirits of people interred in graves.” Yamask isn’t the only Pokémon that used to be a human. Phantump’s are stumps possessed by dead children. The Pokédex entry for Kadabra in Fire Red talks a༺bout how a boy with psychic power woke up as a Kadabra one🍌 morning.

11 ⭕ 💮 Ditto Is A Mew Clone

Everyone knows that Mewtwo is a genetically enhanced clone of Mew. However, it might not be the only clone running around in the world of Pokémon. Mewtwo’s Pokédex entry states it is the only successful clone. Some fans believe that Ditto is a failed Mew clone, and a very useful one at that. Mew is the ancestor of all Pokémon, and it is able to transform into any other Pokémon. Ditto is the only other Pokémon that can naturally learn Transform. Ditto, like Mew, is gen▨derless. Mew and Ditto both have the same colors i𓆉n their regular forms and in their shiny variants. Ditto can be found on Cinnabar Island where Team Rocket’s cloning lab used to be. With all of this in mind, it’s not hard to see why Ditto could be a failed a Mew clone.