Pokemon Urban Legends/Stories

Oim · Nov 22, 2012

A thread about those lovely Pokémon related urban legends and stories, such as Gary's Raticate for example. My favorite one is about the entire Pokémon anime series being a coma fantasy in Ash's head. It's relatively wide known and on the internet in various places:

Did one ever know the reason why the pacing and story development change after Ash was hit by lightning in the beginning episodes? How Ash and his world were relatively normal until after the incident? I have a theory. The accident with the bike put Ash in a coma. Days later he was found and was hurried to the hospital and treated with heavy medications. This is why Team Rocket became less menacing. The medication took effect and stabilized his coma dreams, instead of being terrifying, they became idyllic, and he's able to live out his Pokémon master fantasies.
If one had noticed, the early episodes of Pokémon were of amazing quality. The rest of the series is just the results of his subconscious mind fulfilling his desires, as well as attempting to escape them. Should Ash realize he's in a coma, he would wake up, but suffer brain damage. So he has to take down all his mental barriers one by one until he can come to grips with what he is and escape his coma.
The image of his gaunt, tube-fed, ten-some-year bed ridden body on the bed. His head appears bulbous from atrophy. As he utters his last words, he barely opens his eyes, seeing a silhouette of the figure at the center of his turbulent emotions, his mother, her face obstructed by her hands wiping away tears. He makes contact with her eyes and lets out one last tear before losing all strength. She breaks down in hysterics.
The worst part of all this is that Ash will die, never having experienced actual love, imagine if you will, having lived in a world like his, completely shut off from all things but yourself, and your perception of yourself, with nothing but better yourself. No other people to interact with and issues to solve with no guiding hand.
The boy will die, never having known his dream, except as naught but a dream. The second he gets out into reality for that last moment, part of him knows it was all a lie, his faithful Pikachu? His friends? All his imagination, and maybe, he could have fought and clung to life, maybe even made a full recovery. But knowing that his efforts and ambitions had all been for naught, he just gave up and let the motion carry him away, just so he could be with Pikachu, in a place where his friends were waiting.
I would like to think that he'll realize that his mother loved him and was holding out hope that he'd recover all that time. On the flip side, though, when he sees her he knows that the hope she had is totally broken and she'd come to the crushing realization that the worst thing that can befall a parent has happened to her: outliving her only child. At once he knows he is loved and that it means that the one closest to him is utterly crushed.
This explains why he doesn't change much physically. Also, the worldwide socialism can be explained if you once again realize that this is a dream world; he thought up a safe system of government that would run smoothly and keeps the world going allowing his adventures to work like they do. It also explains a few other things, such as how a child can go off on his own in a world full of dangerous untamed animals, and why every Pokémon center has the same exact nurse. Joy and Jenny he knew from his hometown, and they act as a safety net or anchor, allowing him to feel safe no matter where he goes. The professors, like the Joy's and Jenny's represent stability, and ash's ideals. This is why Gary became a professor. It's also the reason that every time he enters a new region, virtually no one has heard of him, despite his conquests, and why Giovanni leads Team Rocket. How could Paul, the rival of the Sinnoh area, not know of someone who has placed in at least the top 16 of all three leagues and has destroyed the Orange league and Battle Frontier?
Ash's travelling partners are actually aspects of himself he can enjoy, but doesn't like to associate with himself. Team Rocket are his qualities that he deems "negative", but is coming to terms with. Jesse and James want to appease Giovanni, Ash's Father. Meowth especially wants to appease him because he remembers the good times with Giovanni. This Places meowth in a category known as ash's (corrupted) innocence, and another fragment of ash's humanity. If you note that meowth can speak this quickly becomes apparrent. In fact the whole reason for meowth's speech is so he can help Ash accept Team rocket as part of himself eventually.
Brock is Ash's repressed sexuality. He fell into the coma a virgin and needed an outlet for his growing sexual frustrations. Since he can never experience sex, Brock must never succeed. Brock is a projection of his sexuality, and is constantly shot down because Ash could never "know" sex. Brock isn't just Ash's latent sexuality, he's also his fatherly instincts, neither of which Ash can come to terms with. Brock leaves his siblings to "journey" with Ash. because Ash can't cope with having that much responsibility, much as his foray with a real relationship ends on mysterious terms. Ash just cannot handle commitment at his mental level. Brock's Stay with professor Ivy was an.attempt to outright suppress his sexuality. You'll notice that James got much more dialogue in this part of the series, as well as getting more touchy feel-y with his Pokémon and getting most of his backstory. Ash didn't enjoy this much, hence the reasons Brock comes back all horrified, and refuses to speak about it. (ash's subconscious was repressing him at the time, so other than a general feeling of dread he has no idea of what went on then.) This is also why brock keeps coming back to the series....Usually AFTER Ash meets a new girl aspect of himself.Misty is an image that Ash had of a girl. This is why she plays so prevalently in the series but is ultimately unattainable because he never really knew her before the coma. Likely the one that helped get him to a hospital. I have a theory in line with this: Since Misty was his initial love interest (if only subconsciously), he needed her to reach a level of womanhood. He felt that people could only have relationships when they've matured. But in practice, it turned out he couldn't cope with it and just wanted the normal, pushy, arrogant Misty he knew, and wouldn't let her keep Togepi anymore.
Misty is Ash's first attempt at a girl he could love, however, being a girl from the real world, all he really he knew of her was her anger, as a result she ended up quite hot headed in his mind. Constantly berating his sexuality, but eventually mellowing out until she had faded into the background. This was also traumatizing to him, being attached to it. Since then, the thought of anyone around him maturing to adulthood has been blocked, and anyone who shows signs of it will quickly end up leaving for another, more naive fill-in.
Max came with May, she played the Id with great aspirations, and he played the sensible Ego that "Session". They worked for a little while but Ash, being a teenager, eventually had his sexuality had to come back into play. He kept reinventing himself and eventually wrote new aspects, but his mind slowly brought back the old ones as a crutch to make the transition easier.
Dawn is Ash giving himself a chance to love. since he already established Misty as someone he's not likely to go anywhere with, he created a new super female, one that was more like him, and less violent all the time. (One will note that both May and Misty had no tolerance for Brock whatsoever whereas dawn seems to try and shrug it off.) .
Tracey, The Breeder was a possible future for Ash that he discarded. It was one that he sent off to work with the Professor (the professors being Ash's ultimate ideal of a father figure) when he disrupted the dynamic Ash had with his other possibilities. Ash's mind is fighting the coma and since Ash viewed this one as a companion he was quickly replaced with a more threatening Rival.
Pikachu obviously represents Ash's Humanity, hence the episodes where they get separated, and ash wants desperately to find him, even to the point of working with the rockets ( aspects of himself he woould never normally associate with) but for some reason cannot. They want to steal Pikachu (Ash's humanity) and hand it over to his father, Giovanni. Jesse and James will always oppose ash because ash is terrified of the thought of his humanity lying in the hands of his father. However this is the same reason that he will work with those aspects of himself in order to save his humanity from just becoming flat out LOST. He couldn't evolve his Pikachu without challenging his concept of who he was, something he wasn't comfortable with while he was still working through his original issues.
Another thing is the narrator. The narrator is Ash's higher mind, recapping and explaining the progress he's made and the tribulations he will face allowing itself insight into how best to awaken him.
Ash has issues With his Father; so he put him atop the evil corporation, and demonized him. There may be an actual team rocket, and I'm positive they're quite dastardly, but I doubt that ash's father is their leader, in fact the head of the rockets wasn't really identified as anyone until later on in the series. The split between ash's parents was likely over ash's homosexuality and some sort of incident as a catalyst, forcing his father to disown him and his mother to move out of the city and down to pallet town. This is why Giovanni runs the faceless Vile corporation, and Why he Berates Jesse, James, and Meowth as much as he does, and why they keep trying to please him. Another thing to notice is the difference in uniform, The rockets Wear Black and Red, where Team Rocket wears White....a symbol of their purity and naievete. They're willing to please father despite his utter hatred of those parts of Ash .
Team rocket are aspects of Ash's personality that he has deemed "bad" James implied homosexuality, and Jesse's vanity. You'll remember that Meowth has the potential for rehabilitation, and doesn't want to be evil, so yet again this fits in with the conflicting personalities and demonized self theory. Team rocket started cross-dressing because ash had to come to terms with that part of himself. It was something he was able to allow his ***/vain side to experiment with (and by virtue of that himself) When he found that it wasn't something for him, his "Free" side stopped playing with it. Further, their methods of capture become more and more ludicrous (and physically impossible) because Ash is just a kid dreaming these things up. This is the reason Team Rocket's disguises are always believed. He knows it's them (on some level), but chooses to ignore it, so he can better himself, in a sense the Ash who wants to escape is sabotaging the ash who wants to stay lost in his mind. So that there can be more conflict, and hopefully an eventual escape.
The filler episodes that don't focus on Ash and the gang are his mind working through, and humanizing the parts of himself that he demonized. It's a way for him to deal with issues that Ash and crew wouldn't touch, because it involves treading ground he himself had sworn not to go near. As I said, Team Rocket and the episodes they occupy are Ash dealing with ground he feels uncomfortable with tackling on his own. Jessie is Ash's vanity and gullibility, she will trick Ash's submissive homosexuality into doing her bidding so she can please father. James' troubled childhood is his way of justifying his latent homosexuality. Now James is Ash's latent homosexuality, hence why he is constantly punished by Pokémon and attacked by random attractive girls. I believe the split between Ash's parents was caused by this part of Ash, maybe an incident at school, bringing shame on the family and forcing them to move to the small, country town of Pallet. Ash's motivations for his journey were to escape mounting pressure at home.
So in a way, Ash IS Team Rocket. The rest of the whole organization Including Butch and Cassidy is symbolic of his inability to escape his father's machinations.
Mr. Mime is actually a stand in for Ash's father, one that can't emotionally abuse him or his mom. He is a Pokémon, a peace loving creature that's oddly humanoid, but that can never hurt a human. Ash's was never really hurt by a Pokémon, so he sees them all as harmless; whereas, in the real world they may be quite feral or vicious (as seen in the early episodes). Again falling back to the theory that the only real Pokémon are the ones from the first season, and everything else is just further speculation coming from his mind on what new species would look like.
The new teams ( magma, aqua, and galactic) are Ash attempting to work out the problems he has with his father. to do that he first needs a new "bad guy" to feel good about beating, and if Giovanni isn't leading a criminal organization he can more easily relate to him.
If one recalls, there were real animals early in the show and references to animals in the game and show. For example, a clear case to point out is the aquarium of fish in the Cerulean City Gym or that by the Pokédex that Pikachu is a "rat-like" Pokémon. But they don't matter to Ash's psyche so they don't come into play much. If Ash had loved puppies, everything would be about different breeds of dogs, and a dog fighting circuit. But, as the series goes on longer, we've been seeing less realistic animals and more Pokémon. This could be a sign of Ash's mind deteriorating. As he's in this coma, he's losing concepts of some animals and machinery and replacing them with Pokémon. It could explain things like electric Pokémon working as power generators. A sign that his memory of the old world is slipping more and more as time goes by. The Pokémon realm will be idealized continuously the longer he has no stimulus from the real world. He may or may not be mentally deteriorating , but he is becoming more accustomed to his fake world's rules. The wild Pokémon are his rationalizations of the functioning of the world. It's the "A wizard did it" Syndrome. If he doesn't know how it works, his mind says Pokémon. He justifies anything he can't explain with Pokémon, and real animals fall into the background because he has no real interest in them.
The Pokémon in Ash's team are his issues, for example Charmander represents his sex drive (not his sexuality like Brock) at first it's a cute easy to control thing, but eventually becomes a raging inferno of disobedience. Acquiring his team means getting at his issues, but as he trains them, he works said issues out. Other trainers are more direct forms of his issues, ones that he must either come to terms with or outright supress. Gym leaders are more primary aspects of his personality with each Pokémon being stronger than the last, to display a level of skill he could be capable of if only he gave into it. In effect, he is doing battle with a part of him that he would rather not have in control. Bulbasaur was Ash's unwillingness to change, this is reflectedwhen it declines to evolve and how it almost decided to stay behind unless he battled it. Squirtle was his willingness to follow the lead of others, as evidenced by the gang it ran with, even though he ran the gang, they were viewed as one group, and ash's subconscious just gave him the strongest one.
Butterfree was his crushing loneliness, which he dealt with when he released it to join a flock. His bird types are his recklessness, always willing to sacrifice something at a moment's notice for the win. When Ash is trading Pokémon, it's an attempt to push his own problems away on someone else; however, he realizes this and usually trades back fairly quickly. Originally ash had the battles, which evolved into team battles and contests. The explanation for this is that his issues became more and more complicated, and the means of dealing with them needed to become more complex. the fact that he uses issues that he has already dominated to win these are signs that he's growing stronger.
Not only are Ash's Pokémon are a manifestation of different parts of himself, so are Pokémon of other trainers as well. Koffing and Ekans were symbolic of Team Rocket's willingness to change; hence, their evolutions. Once his mind beat that roadblock down and allowed them to change once, it gives him the chance to truly change. Pupitar is a rationalization, a Pokémon that a rival caught before he met him. Even Ash would become suspicious if everyone he met had no carry-over from pervious places he had been to.
Ash releases his Pokémon because his mind is forcing him to let go of them. The second he raises an overpowered team, a tournament comes up, and after fighting his way through it he has to go to a new land for new challenges, but with an overpowered team, there won't be any challenges, and no way to motivate him further, part of Ash wants to stay in the coma, and keep journeying.
Ash's travelling also never really nets him any fame, no matter what he does, or where he goes, and the answer for that is simple. Ash just can't picture himself as famous, so he essentially adopts a new identity every few months.
The reason he never truly becomes a master is because that would mean he'd have nothing left to dream, and would wake up from his coma. Ash's dual personality is one that wants to maintain his fantasy world and slowly sort his thoughts out carefully. The other part wants freedom, and to return to his real life, to finally become a real Pokémon master. However if he's allowed to keep his powerful team there's no reason to meet and tame new Pokémon(Issues), he'll lose interest, and the chance of becoming self-aware comes around again. So it's not that he gives them up, it's that he loses them, and unless he's desperate (such as with Charizard) he can't get them back. It's basically his mind forcing him to deal with his issues. It would also be a good reason why Paul has shown up at this point, and Ash has been forced to work with him on at least one occasion: It's his mind's last ditch efforts to snap him out of this, to force Ash to actually come to terms that this perfect world is not the best option and he needs to wake up. Paul is Ash's dark side, one that wants to push on even harder and harder, and the part of him that will stop at nothing to escape this coma world.
Ash's rivals and the Elite four are ultimately the strongest part of this cycle. Having Pokémon that are essentially godlike, they represent both what can be attained and what is unattainable. Gary Oak is what Ash wants to be. He is wish fulfillment. He succeeded, and settled down to a normal life. Ash needs someone to succeed in his world or he won't be able to validate it and will start questioning why he's where he is. It's a subconscious trap to keep him from becoming too aware of his situation. His mind must have figured out that awareness of the coma would snap him out of it, but it would cause major brain damage, so it took something the boy already loved and built a way out for him with it. However Ash is too complacent to finally fight his way out of it, and cannot escape. This is why he keeps encountering Legendary Pokémon, they're his mind's way of showing him he can do great things if he tries, and it's a way to encourage him to push forwards. The Legendary Pokémon are Ash's mind telling him that he has greatness in him and thus, can escape his happy—go—lucky reality.
Ash's Rivals are all possible futures he envisions for himself (note that they are all older than him). This originated with Gary Oak, someone Ash knew from real life, and built up into a sort of god within his mind. Gary however progressed and changed to suit Ash's vision of himself and ultimate desire, eventually settling down into a professor after beating the Elite Four. With Gary in retirement his mind needed a new rival for him Thus the births of Richie (the Good aspect of his rivalry) and Paul (as the darker aspect, a cut-throat Ash, willing to do anything to escape the coma world).
Richie and his Pikachu were another success story for Ash, but he wanted one he could be closer with. One nearly identical to him. One that even used a similar roster to him. Paul and his Chimchar are the polar opposite of Richie, Paul wants nothing to do with any kind of weakness, and is almost aware of his situation. He's always pushing for something more.
The reason he discarded his original hat and the elements of japanese culture so prevalent in the first season is simple. He wanted to travel and broaden his horizons, every time he reinvented himself to do so; he lost touch with his original self. If he ever does escape the coma he'll likely have achieved a sort of Zen state. Considering the amount of personal issues he deals with inside his head, it's entirely likely that he was the next Buddha of the Pokémon world, and that the lightning strike and subsequent coma are a way for him to realize his true self, and destiny.
Mewtwo was a new form of treatment, done with electric impulses and a machine to knock Ash out of it, taking down every last one of his mental guards (the original Pokémon in the movie). In Ash's mind, Mewtwo and his clones were the treatment for the mental safe guards that were protecting Ash and keeping him comatose; the Pokémon of his world. The clones were counters to Ash's mental safeties, and so each appeared to Ash as the exact copy of his defense, intended to take it down by Force. The clones didn't play by the rules of Ash's world, they didn't use any special Pokémon attacks or moves — they just beat down their counterpart by brute strength. The treatment was working, but there were side effects. The electric jolts were beginning to affect Ash's nervous system, and if the treatment continued, he would be paralyzed. His mind realized this and manifested it to Ash by petrifying him in his dream. Were it not for the end of the treatment by Ash's mother (knowing her son would never want to live in a world he couldn't explore) Ash would have remained as stone in his dream. After this, Ash needed to recover from the damage of the electric therapy. Obviously it was greatly dangerous to him, and in order to reduce the danger Ash's consciousness felt from it, Ash's subconscious began downplaying the effects of electricity in Ash's world, which is why Pikachu's electric attacks -once noted for their strength by Team Rocket — no longer have any effect on Ash, other than comic relief.
Even the world Ash lives in evidences this. The sprawling forests and eco friendly cities are all his childish innocence. He never travels on a bike despite the distance due to the accident having given him a phobia of them.
As one could see, it is very likely that Ash is trapped in his world. But like every dream, everything, there is a beginning and an end. What would happen if Ash could fully recover? What would happen if he never does? There are infinite branches of possibilities that spiral upwards and intertwine towards the top at a single point, both in his "world" and the real world. In his hospital room, we see Delia, obviously distraught talking to a doctor with a grim look in his eye. He's saying that their insurance is up, and the boy has had no change in brain activity for seven years. That a shock like this may awaken him. She tearfully agrees.
Professor Oak is there to comfort her as they take Ash off life support.
In Ash's "world". Ash has finally defeated the elite four, and one by one the people around him start disappearing. eventually everything is black. Pikachu comes dashing towards him glowing brighter and brighter in the darkness. Eventually Pikachu reaches ash and the two embrace one last time. Back in his room, as his life signs fade, Ash mutters his genuine, final words. I...Want...To...Be, The...Very...Best. The image of his gaunt, tube-fed, ten-some-year bed ridden body on the bed. His head appears bulbous from atrophy. As he utters his last words, he barely opens his eyes, seeing a silhouette of the figure at the center of his turbulent emotions, his mother, her face obstructed by her hands wiping away tears. He makes contact with her eyes and lets out one last tear before losing all strength. She breaks down in hysterics.
The worst part of all this is that Ash will die, never having experienced actual love, imagine if you will, having lived in a world like his, completely shut off from all things but yourself, and your perception of yourself, with nothing but better yourself. No other people to interact with and issues to solve with no guiding hand.
The boy will die, never having known his dream, except as naught but a dream. The second he gets out into reality for that last moment, part of him knows it was all a lie, his faithful Pikachu? His friends? All his imagination, and maybe, he could have fought and clung to life, maybe even made a full recovery. But knowing that his efforts and ambitions had all been for naught, he just gave up and let the motion carry him away, just so he could be with Pikachu, in a place where his friends were waiting.
I would like to think that he'll realize that his mother loved him and was holding out hope that he'd recover all that time. On the flip side, though, when he sees her he knows that the hope she had is totally broken and she'd come to the crushing realization that the worst thing that can befall a parent has happened to her: outliving her only child. At once he knows he is loved and that it means that the one closest to him is utterly crushed. Still, there are other possibilities. The fountain of time flows in mysterious ways. One could not go back, against the current such as Gatsby; but, one could never see what is waiting for him downstream. Ash finally defeats Lance, only to be confronted by not Gary Oak, but a mute, mirror image of himself.
The voice of the narrator speaks to him, telling him that now he can finally escape the prison of his own mind. One by one, his friends appear and melt away into more copies of him, all cheering him on. After a long tough battle against himself with the assistance of all of his Pokémon he had ever befriended, he jolts awake.
In his hospital room he sees his parents asleep; he finds himself unable to speak.
Ash pushes forward towards his recovery. Going through physical therapy, training harder and harder with rehabilitative Pokémon, until he can walk on his own again. This time, an older and wiser ash sets out on a journey. Just like last time, he's late getting to Professor Oak's laboratory. And when there's only one Pokémon left....He suddenly recalls all his memories of his "life" and realizes that all his friends are gone forever. As he sets out with his new companion, he finds the world is darker than he imagined. More "real", Pokémon and people die; he too has aged. He vows to become the Master he dreamed he was. He vows to himself.
He vows to "them". I WILL be the very best!
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Also, there's the Lavender Town Tone. Like any good urban legend, there exists multiple versions of the story. This is the earliest version, I know this because I know quite well the person who originally wrote it:

"When "Pokémon" was first released in Japan, there was an odd phenomenon between children ages 7-12, particularly in those using headphones to listen to the sound effects. Increase of nosebleeds, irritability, insomnia, and addiction to the game, playing for hours and hours on end and crying to the point of vomiting when the opportunity was taken away.

Roughly 70% of these cases ended in suicide.

In almost every case of the aforementioned symptoms, despite gameplay time recorded to the limit of the internal clock, the game had not progressed further than "Lavender Town".

A closer analysis of the game revealed a tone in the audio of the music for "Lavender Town" at a pitch undetectable by fully developed human ear drums. Within weeks every unsold copy of the "first edition" the game were recalled silently and the game was re-released with re-mastered audio for "Lavender Town".

The widely known version is said to be missing three extra tones, as well as the unique, binaural tone of the first edition, although this is unconfirmed due to the rarity of working first edition copies; in the known few that remain, the internal clock and 'battery save' have all timed out and ceased function, and in many cases the game will freeze upon entering any battle."
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espeonbird · Nov 22, 2012

I only heard about the coma theory recently, it's pretty interesting.

Unfortunately I don't know any urban legends attached to Pokémon (apart from Gary's Raticate and Lavender Town) off the top of my head, but something that sparks my interest is the story of Cubone's Mother. In game, a young girl explains that 'Cubone's Mother' was killed escaping from the Rockets. Various Pokédex entries also state that Cubone wears the skull of it's mother.
WHAT IS THIS.

Spire · Nov 22, 2012

I heard about the coma theory. It was so interesting to me, and it's possible. But of course, that would never happen.

WavePearl · Nov 22, 2012

Supposedly there are over 1100 Pokémon--so assuming that were true, we are about halfway there

Oim · Nov 23, 2012

Sometimes it wouldn't surprise me if they had another 500 something Pokémon already designed and in reserve for the future, but then sometimes I see Pokémon like Trubbish and just think they are running out of ideas and making things up on the fly. It would be cool if there were a bunch already designed, though.

Nate · Nov 23, 2012

One legend is briefly told by an old man in mahogany town (I think that's the town) but he does not tell this story in the remakes. Basically when the burned tower burned down three Pokémon were trapped inside and died. Ho-oh felt sorry for them as it was his tower after all and transformed them into the legendary Pokémon: Raikou, Entei, and Suicune. Now after thinking about it it makes sense to me that those three Pokémon were Vaporeon, Jolteon, and Flareon. Raikou and Entei's stats reflect those of Jolteon and Flareon. Actually Suicune doesn't reflect Vaporeon's but it makes sense that he was the third Pokémon. What I don't get is how Flareon and Vaporeon died in a fire. one can turn into water itself and the other's body burns at very high temperatures, but oh well, nintendo logic.

Oim · Nov 23, 2012

RedScizor said: ↑

One legend is briefly told by an old man in mahogany town (I think that's the town) but he does not tell this story in the remakes. Basically when the burned tower burned down three Pokémon were trapped inside and died. Ho-oh felt sorry for them as it was his tower after all and transformed them into the legendary Pokémon: Raikou, Entei, and Suicune. Now after thinking about it it makes sense to me that those three Pokémon were Vaporeon, Jolteon, and Flareon. Raikou and Entei's stats reflect those of Jolteon and Flareon. Actually Suicune doesn't reflect Vaporeon's but it makes sense that he was the third Pokémon. What I don't get is how Flareon and Vaporeon died in a fire. one can turn into water itself and the other's body burns at very high temperatures, but oh well, nintendo logic.

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Prolonged smoke inhalation I guess, it is the number one cause of death in fires. That's interesting, though. For a story like that I don't think the stats would be reflective of the former Pokémon as much as the typing.

Nate · Nov 23, 2012

Yeah cause they keep the same type, also they learn about the same moves. Also I guess that smoke inhalation would make sense.

Oim · Dec 8, 2012

This is the 'Gary's Raticate' theory and story, effectively painting you as the bad guy and (sort of) justifying Gary being such a dick all the time.

Achromatic · Dec 8, 2012

I don't give a shit about anime theory's and stuff.

The Gary's Raticate story was spooky as hell, and actually made a lot of sense.

windy15 · Dec 9, 2012

Okay, this is not an urban Pokémon legend, but it's a Pokémon themed stereotype about my High School I heard a while ago.

Apparently, the students of my school are all A-class nerds who do nothing except study and play Pokémon in it's various forms. Weird, huh?

Achromatic · Dec 12, 2012

elereep~ · Jan 26, 2013

The "Gary's Raticate Story" is actually kinda sad...
Especially at the end,"Snatch away the love of his own Grandfather.."
Green from the manga is much more lucky than Gary lol

bubbie · Jan 26, 2013

i like the curious bone theory, i always supported the baby kangaskhan theory but that makes a lot more sense. also the lavander town syndrome is probably my favorite urban legend. has anyone ever herd of the "black version" creepypasta?

I'm what you could call a collector of bootleg Pokémon games. Pokémon Diamond & Jade, Chaos Black, etc. It's amazing the frequency with which you can find them at pawnshops, Goodwill, flea markets, and such.
They're generally fun; even if they are unplayable (which they often are), the mistranslations and poor quality make them unintentionally humorous.
I've been able to find most of the ones that I've played online, but there's one that I haven't seen any mention of. I bought it at a flea market about five years ago.

Here's a picture of the cartridge, in case anyone recognizes it. Unfortunately, when I moved two years ago, I lost the game, so I can't provide you with screencaps. Sorry.
The game started with the familiar Nidorino and Gengar intro of Red and Blue version. However, the "press start" screen had been altered. Red was there, but the Pokémon did not cycle through. It also said "Black Version" under the Pokémon logo.
Upon selecting "New Game", the game started the Professor Oak speech, and it quickly became evident that the game was essentially Pokémon Red Version.
After selecting your starter, if you looked at your Pokémon, you had in addition to Bulbasaur, Charmander, or Squirtle another Pokémon – "GHOST".
The Pokémon was level 1. It had the sprite of the Ghosts that are encountered in Lavender Tower before obtaining the Sliph Scope. It had one attack – "Curse". I know that there is a real move named curse, but the attack did not exist in Generation 1, so it appears it was hacked in.
Defending Pokémon were unable to attack Ghost – it would only say they were too scared to move. When the move "Curse" was used in battle, the screen would cut to black. The cry of the defending Pokémon would be heard, but it was distorted, played at a much lower pitch than normal. The battle screen would then reappear, and the defending Pokémon would be gone. If used in a battle against a trainer, when the Pokéballs representing their Pokémon would appear in the corner, they would have one fewer Pokéball.
The implication was that the Pokémon died.

What's even stranger is that after defeating a trainer and seeing "Red received $200 for winning!", the battle commands would appear again. If you selected "Run", the battle would end as it normally does. You could also select Curse. If you did, upon returning to the overworld, the trainer's sprite would be gone. After leaving and reentering the area, the spot [where] the trainer had been would be replaced with a tombstone like the ones at Lavender Tower.

The move "Curse" was not usable in all instances. It would fail against Ghost Pokémon. It would also fail if it was used against trainers that you would have to face again, such as your Rival or Giovanni. It was usable in your final battle against them, however.
I figured this was the gimmick of the game, allowing you to use the previously uncapturable Ghosts. And because Curse made the game so easy, I essentially used it throughout the whole adventure.
The game changed quite a bit after defeating the Elite Four. After viewing the Hall of Fame, which consisted of Ghost and a couple of very under leveled Pokémon, the screen cut to black. A box appeared with the words "Many years later..." It then cut to Lavender Tower. An old man was standing, looking at tombstones. You then realized this man was your character.
The man moved at only half of your normal walking speed. You no longer had any Pokémon with you, not even Ghost, who up to this point had been impossible to remove from your party through depositing in the PC. The overworld was entirely empty – there were no people at all. There were still the tombstones of the trainers that you used Curse on, however.
You could go pretty much anywhere in the overworld at this point, though your movement was limited by the fact that you had no Pokémon to use HMs. And regardless of where you went, the music of Lavender Town continued on an infinite loop. After wandering for a while, I found that if you go through Diglett's Cave, one of the cuttable bushes that normally blocks the path on the other side is no longer there, allowing you to advance and return to Pallet Town.
Upon entering your house and going to the exact tile where you start the game, the screen would cut to black.
Then a sprite of a Caterpie appeared. It was the replaced by a Weedle, and then a Pidgey. I soon realized, as the Pokémon progressed from Rattata to Blastoise, that these were all of the Pokémon that I had used Curse on.
After the end of my Rival's team, a Youngster appeared, and then a Bug Catcher. These were the trainers I had Cursed.
Throughout the sequence, the Lavender Town music was playing, but it was slowly decreasing in pitch. By the time your Rival appeared on screen, it was little more than a demonic rumble.
Another cut to black. A few moments later, the battle screen suddenly appeared – your trainer sprite was now that of an old man, the same one as the one who teaches you how to catch Pokémon in Viridian City.
Ghost appeared on the other side, along with the words "GHOST wants to fight!".
You couldn't use items, and you had no Pokémon. If you tried to run, you couldn't escape. The only option was "FIGHT".
Using fight would immediately cause you to use Struggle, which didn't affect Ghost but did chip off a bit of your own HP. When it was Ghost's turn to attack, it would simply say "..." Eventually, when your HP reached a critical point, Ghost would finally use Curse.
The screen cut to black a final time.
Regardless of the buttons you pressed, you were permanently stuck in this black screen. At this point, the only thing you could do was turn the Game Boy off. When you played again, "NEW GAME" was the only option – the game had erased the file.
I played through this hacked game many, many times, and every time the game ended with this sequence. Several times I didn't use Ghost at all, though he was impossible to remove from the party. In these cases, it did not show any Pokémon or trainers and simply cut to the climactic "battle with Ghost.
I'm not sure what the motives were behind the creator of this hack. It wasn't widely distributed, so it was presumably not for monetary gain. It was very well done for a bootleg.
It seems he was trying to convey a message; though it seems I am the sole receiver of this message. I'm not entirely sure what it was – the inevitability of death? The pointlessness of it? Perhaps he was simply trying to morbidly inject death and darkness into a children's game. Regardless, this children's game has made me think, and it has made me cry.

Click to expand...

hunduel · Jan 26, 2013

I liked the theory behind Cubone and Charmander/Charizard, it's really nice. Here's one of my favourite theories so far. This one is not scary, but really sad:

Trainer_Ebony · Jan 26, 2013

there is one that Mr Fuji, the loveable kind hearted man from lavander town is the Dr fuji from the opening of the first Pokémon movie. This is supported by the fact that there is a picture of the dr and blane together either in the mansion or in the gym (cant remember which.). both would have worked on the 'mewtwo' project, and because of that, for team rocket.
Going further into this story, it is believed that mr fuji made a deal with team rocket, rather than being captured as he tells the player. Rather, he was selling the tower to team rocket, the idea supported by the fact that the tower that ment so much to the town afew years before, is now a radio tower.
AND, leading from that, it is believed that Giovanni is supersticious, and that the lot that the old man and his machop are clearing in vermillion city is to move all the bodys into a new tower. His superstition furthered by the deaths of many workers and Pokémon, and the project was canceled, the seige of the tower abandoned. The radio tower plan was later completed by the 'new' team rocket, but the vermillion tower was still abandoned.
Some times, trainers that visit vermillion report seeing a lone old man and a machop still working on the towers foundation.

Typhloser · Jan 27, 2013

It's not really an urban legend or anything, since I have nothing new to truly contribute, but this is food for thought.

We all know that Yanmask was the ghost of a human, I hope. If the Ghosts in Lavender Tower are the souls of the Pokémon, does that mean humans reincarnate as Yanmask after death and Pokémon become the ghosts that we're used to? And obviously not all humans become Yanmask, since even in Gen V, where Yanmask was introduced, there are still ghosts of humans that retain their human shape (the Marvelous Bridge ghost). Either a certain requirement must happen, or the Yanmask can use its mask to project its former self as a disguise somehow.

It's apparent that the Ghosts found in the resting places of Pokémon aren't literal ghosts, as Gastly and Haunter are beings made purely out of poisonous gas, not souls.

Gengar is proposed to be the shadow of Clefable, or an evil Clefable.

Banette is a demonic doll that came to life after a Shuppet possessed it and filled it with grudge, and Shuppet itself is a manifestation of pure negative thoughts.

The Duskull line could be servants of Death, as Dusknoir in particular is said to take people to the underworld, and Duskull and Dusclops are know to spirit away bad children and absorb human souls respectively.

Spiritomb is made up of many evil souls to form one creature.

Sableye is a creature that lives in dark caves and gorges itself on gems, and I'm sure the Ghost is because of the darkness it lives in constantly.

The Litwick family seem to be possessed light sources that feed on souls in order to burn and keep themselves alive. Shedinja is a discarded shell brought to life, but is said to absorb the soul of whoever peers into the hole in their backs.

Golett and Golurk are enchanted suits or armour.

Misdreavus is a being that eats the feeling of fear, and Mismagius is a witch.

Giratina is ruler of the Distortion/Reverse World.

Drifloon tries to bring children to the underworld (but normally fails). Drifblim doesn't have anything real scary about it, and apparently is a ghost only to keep the typing of Drifloon.

Froslass is an ice spirit that likes to freeze people and display their frozen corpses. She's also said to be the spirit of a woman that was lost on an icy mountain.

Frillish hunt prey, poison them, and drag them to their underwater dens. They apparently eat the body itself instead of the souls. Jellicent attack ships and eat the crew's life force.

So all in all, none of the above Ghost-types are actually souls of the dead Pokémon, but Froslass and Spiritomb are either a Ghost of a person or made up of many different souls respectively. So maybe Pokémon can't become Ghost-type Pokémon after death, but become actual ghosts, while humans can become Ghost-type Pokémon.

It's just my brain rambling, honestly.

Fizzysoda · Jun 4, 2014

Automatic generated message This topic has been closed by a moderator. Reason: Inactive thread If you disagree with this action, please report this post and a moderator or administrator will reconsider it. Kind regards, Lake Valor Staff

Fizzysoda · Jun 4, 2014

Automatic generated message This topic has been closed by a moderator. Reason: Inactive thread If you disagree with this action, please report this post and a moderator or administrator will reconsider it. Kind regards, Lake Valor Staff

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