In 1996,Pokémon Red and Greenwas released for the Nintendo Game Boy. The games were a massive hit in Japan, and by 1998, they hit the international market and became a global sensation. Today,Pokémonstill maintains a strong presence in popular culture thanks to numerous television series and specials, a long-running manga series, trading cards, a highly publicized competitive scene for the video games, and a plethora of merchandise.
In its nearly 30-year run,Pokémonhas presented many mysteries for fans to chew on. Most get answered one way or another, such as in future video games or story arcs of the anime. However, there are a fair few that, even to this day, remain unsolved and a constant source of fan speculation.
10The Ghost Girl From Generation VI
A Suspicious Spook Haunting Kalos and Hoenn
Generation VI is perhaps the most forgotten generation of Pokémon: whileKalos had a plethora of memorable Pokémon, and Mega Evolution switched up the competitive scene, the games were denied an enhanced version so that Generation VII could come out in time for the franchise’s 15th anniversary. As such,Pokémon X and Yare full of content that feels unfinished, such as the locked rooms in the power plant, or the legendary dragon, Zygarde, needing to rely on the anime and next games to explore its lore. Yet one of the most notable mysteries involves a particular building in Lumios City, where a ghost girl will appear after the player exits an elevator.
The ghost glides around the player, declares that they are “not the one,” then vanishes. InPokémon Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire,the same ghost can be found on Mt. Pyre, Hoenn’s Pokémon cemetery, and she repeats her ominous statement if the player talks to her.Come Generation VII, the ghost girl hasn’t made another appearance, leaving players confusedas to who she is searching for and why.
9How are Pokémon Eggs Made?
Nobody Knows How It Got There
Most Pokémon games feature the Day Care, where two Pokémon can be deposited and trained while the player continues their journey. If the two Pokémon are the opposite gender and from the same Egg-Group, then the caretakers can find an Egg that will hatch into the female’s species. While at first glance it seems pretty obvious that the Pokémon are reproducing behind the caretaker’s back, lore suggests something more mystical in nature.
A little girl in Sinnoh says that nobody has ever seen a Pokémon lay an egg, which matches up with the caretaker’s surprise. A man in Kalos also says that Pokémon eggs are less like eggs and more like cradles, which brings to mind the image of storks delivering babies.Pokémon Scarlet and Violetseem to corroborate this theory,since eggs now appear in little baskets while picnicking with two compatible Pokémonin your party, and it seems unlikely that a female could produce a basket along with the egg.
8The Original Dragon
A Truly Legendary Beast Shrouded in Mystery
In the history of the Unova Region, two royal brothers united the land with the help of apowerful legendary Dragon-type Pokémon. However, the brothers became divided on how best to rule, with the elder brother believing in the truth while the younger sought ideals. As their arguments turned into full-scale conflicts, the dragon split itself into three parts: the white dragon Reshriam, who sided with the eldest brother, the black dragon Zekrom, who sided with the younger, and the gray dragon Kyurem, who was left an empty shell.
Given the radically different designs of each dragon, one has to wonder what the original dragon looked like, not to mention how powerful it was.Pokémon Black2 and White2give fans a potential clue with the DNA Splicers, which allow Kyurem to absorb Reshiram or Zekrom and transform into White Kyrurem and Black Kyurem, respectively.Not only does Kyurem receive higher base stats than Reshiram or Zekrom, it also gains access to some of their unique moves, hinting that the original dragon could channel the power of Fire and Lightning into its Ice-type attacks.
7Tobias and His Team
An Obstacle to Keep Ash From Victory
Ash’s Sinnoh team was one of the bestin his career as a trainer, and after his battle with his Sinnoh rival, Paul, it looked like Ash had a good chance to win the league. However, his next opponent was Tobias, a mysterious trainer who came out of nowhere and was sweeping his opponents using only the Mythical Pokémon Darkrai. It took half of Ash’s team to take down Darkrai, but all hope of victory was soon dashed when Tobias sent out his second Pokémon, Latios, who defeated the rest of his team and tied with Pikachu.
Tobias remains one of the anime’s most mysterious and controversial figures. The fact that he just shows up, never reveals his backstory, and sweeps the league with a Darkrai makes him feel like an obligatory stronger trainer for Ash to lose to, because the writers wouldn’t let him have a win. Fans of the anime also wonder about Tobias' four remaining Pokémon and whether they were also legendaries.
6Does Pokémon Take Place in Our World?
Inspiration or Something More?
Each region of the Pokémon worlddraws heavy inspiration from real-world locations. They do a good job of preventing the regions from feeling like a simple copy and paste of reality, thanks to the inherent fantastical elements that come from Pokémon. However, the series often makes reference to real-world places and things, particularly during the early games.
Both the anime and the games reference non-Pokémon animals, such as Raichu’s Pokédex entry, which mentions that it could fell an Indian Elephant with its electricity. Then there are things like the journals found in the Pokémon Mansion, which claim that Mew, a legendary Pokémon that contains the DNA of all species, could be found in Guyana. More recent Pokémon media have removed or retconned real-world influences, such as replacing the Indian Elephant with the Copperderm Pokémon, Copperajha, but it hasn’t fully departed, whichbrings up questions about the Pokémon world potentially being a future version of Earth.
5The Pokémon Wars
A Bloody History Lost to Time
For the most part, the Pokémon world is an idealistic one, where humans and Pokémon work together to build better societies. That’s not to say it doesn’t have its moments of conflict. Aside from the evil team always trying to take over legendary Pokémon and use their powers for nefarious ends, the Kalos Region went to war with an unknown foe 3000 years ago, which led to the king creating the Ultimate Weapon.
Other wars have been hinted at over the years, but the most mysterious is the one mentioned in the original games. Lt. Surge, the Electric gym leader, mentions that he served in a recent war. Sadly, that is all the information presented, and no game, not even remakes of Kanto likeFireRed and LeafGreenorLet’s Go, Pikachu and Eevee!have expanded upon it. The fact that the war took place in recent memory, given Surge’s age, is also interesting, as it brings to question why the war was fought, who the enemy was, and if the war might be the reason why there are more young Pokémon trainers than old?
4What Happened Between Brock and Professor Ivy?
Just Her Name Causes Him to Shut Down
Early into Ash’s adventures in the Orange Islands, he, Misty, and Brock met Professor Ivy to recover an item called the GS Ball that, for some reason, couldn’t be transported to Professor Oak. Smitten by Ivy’s beauty, and horrified at how poorly she and her three assistants maintain their living quarters, Brock opts to stay behind, and hisrole as traveling companion is filled by Tracy. However, when the group returned to Pallet Town, they found Brock was there to greet them.
When asked about Professor Ivy, Brock would instantly shut down, curl into a ball, and weakly ask not to say her name. Thus,neither the characters nor the audience learn what Brock did while staying with Ivy, let alone what caused him to return to Kanto. Brock is no stranger to being rejected by women, so whatever happened must have been awful to traumatize him this badly.
3What Is Up With the GS Ball?
Does Kurt Still Have It?
This mysterious golden Poké Ball was found by Professor Ivy, but try as she might, she couldn’t get it to open. It also couldn’t be teleported, so Ash and his friends had to physically collect it and bring it to Professor Oak. He then asked them to deliver the GS Ball to Kurt, a man who could create Poké Balls from Apricorns, to see what he could make of it.
Once the GS Ball is handed over to Kurt, it vanishes from the narrative, never to be talked about again despite Ash carrying it through two regions. This is because the original plan was for the GS Ball to contain a Celebi, but the Mythical Pokémon waschosen to star inPokémon 4Ever, so the writers decided to scrap the GS Ball and hope the fans would forget.Unfortunately, fans did not forget, and have pondered over its wasted potential, especially after dozens of episodes of buildup led to nothing.
2Who is Ash’s Father?
And Why Isn’t He Around?
Just like most of the game’s protagonists, Ash Ketchum lives with his mother and has a friendly relationship with his local Pokémon Professor. There is little to say about his father, however, because he never made an on-screen appearance. The few times that he was mentioned by Delia indicate that he was a Pokémon trainer as well and left for his own adventure, yet never returned.
Naturally, the lack of information regarding Ash’s father has led fans down very deep rabbit holes with rather bizarre results. Many fans believe that his father could be an established character, such as Giovanni, the energetic boss of Team Rocket, or SIlver, a one-off character from Hoenn who had an unusual reaction to hearing Ash’s name. Unfortunately, we never got to see him beforeAsh’s ended his run as the show’s protagonist, leaving fans to ponderwhy he couldn’t get back to his son, where he might be, and what he is doing during his Pokémon journey.
1How do Poké Balls Work?
This is Why They’re Called Pocket Monsters.
To catch and train Pokémon, trainers use Poke Balls, mysterious items that have the power to trap wild Pokémon inside of them and make them more inclined to follow the commands of whoever holds the ball. They were traditionally made from nut-like Apricorns before mass production, and they come in dozens of types, each of which specializes in a different catching technique. Despite their importance to the franchise, very little about Poké Balls is understood or explained.
For one thing,how is it that Poké Balls can not only shrink Pokémon down to be captured, but also be transformed into dataand sent over the internet? No information is given about what goes on inside the Poké Balls, though we know that some balls, like Luxury Balls, feel more relaxing to be inside than others. Then there is the nature of how the Pokémon inside the balls can be healed and why they can capture something like a rice ball but not humans.
