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Pokémon lore can be very dark and disturbing (or, How TPC killed off Pikachu today)

N

Neiteio

Member
So check out one of the lore entries for Palossand, the new sandcastle Pokémon:

"Palossand loves the vitality of Pokémon and drags small Pokémon into its body so it can steal their life force. Its sandy vortex swallows them up in a heartbeat! Pokémon dragged into Palossand leave traces of their ill will behind. It’s thought that this negative energy may be the starting point of new Sandygast..."

pokemon-770x562-palossand.jpg



Now, long-time fans know Pokémon is no stranger to ideas that could best be described as "dark" and "disturbing." But I find it amusing/unsettling how TPC went so far as to provide key art of their most popular character dying a horrible death.

On that cheery note... What's your favorite bit of effed-up lore from Pokémon?
 
G

Griss

Member
Was expecting something not very dark. That was...

...yeah. That was dark.

The line between treating pokemon as 'magical animals that just like to battle' and 'wild creatures who exist in an ecosystem and kill and sometimes eat each other' is a really strange, blurry one in that franchise.
 
C

Chase17

Member
Indeed.

Here's Drifloon's HGSS entry

"It is whispered that any child who mistakes Drifloon for a balloon and holds on to it could wind up missing"

250px-425Drifloon.png
 
D

DpadD

Banned
I always found it fucked up how people catch Pokemon just to store them away in a meaningless digital reality, and never use them again.

There's so much fucked up about Pokemon and if they were to ever do a live-action movie, I'd love for them to take on a dystopian angle.

Just a super bright colorful world with so much fucked up shit going on.
 
N

Neoleo2143

Member
Gamefreak loves their Campfire Ghost Stories, they're pretty good at them.

I'm really loving the flavor text on the Site for these pokemon, really good stuff on that site.
 
S

super-famicom

Member
Chase17 said:
Indeed.

Here's Drifloon's HGSS entry

"It is whispered that any child who mistakes Drifloon for a balloon and holds on to it could wind up missing"

250px-425Drifloon.png
Click to expand...

Yup, Drifloon's entry is straight up creepy.

Cubone's is almost as frightening:

Yellow said:
Wears the skull of its deceased mother. Its cries echo inside the skull and come out as a sad melody.
Click to expand...

Stadium said:
Always wears the skull of its deceased mother on its head and never shows its face. It cries mournfully in the moonlight.
Click to expand...

Emerald said:
It pines for the mother it will never see again. Seeing a likeness of its mother in the full moon, it cries. The stains on the skull it wears are from its tears.
Click to expand...
 
S

Strimei

Member
Neiteio said:
Now, long-time fans know Pokémon is no stranger to ideas that could best be described as "dark" and "disturbing." But I find it amusing/unsettling how TPC went so far as to provide key art of their most popular character dying a horrible death.

On that cheery note... What's your favorite bit of effed-up lore from Pokémon?
Click to expand...

Yeah, that's...a bit surprising, honestly.

Anyways, I'm a big fan of some of the darker stuff from Gen 5, especially Yamask (and by extension Cofagrigus) being actual former humans, Litwick's whole line literally fueled by souls, and Elgyem/Beheeyem being real, confirmed aliens (Deoxys may be from space too, but it was just DNA at the time, as memory serves. These are actual aliens)

Seriously, we're capturing tormented human souls and sentient extraterrestrials to fight for us, and another uses our souls for fuel.
 
N

Neiteio

Member
"Although Gorebyss is the very picture of elegance and beauty while swimming, it is also cruel. When it spots prey, this Pokémon inserts its thin mouth into the prey’s body and drains the prey of its body fluids." — AlphaSapphire pokedex entry

368Gorebyss.png


Based on the real-life hagfish
 
A

Apollo Cree

Member
250px-624Pawniard.png


Pokemon is metal.

Pawniard's Pokédex entry:
"Ignoring their injuries, groups attack by sinking the blades that cover their bodies into their prey."
 
R

ricard0388

Neo Member
Yamask

20101218015709%21562Yamask.png


Omega Ruby said:
These Pokémon arose from the spirits of people interred in graves. Each retains memories of its former life.
Click to expand...

Alpha Sapphire said:
Each of them carries a mask that used to be its face when it was human. Sometimes they look at it and cry.
Click to expand...


Dead people became Pokémon, nice.
 
T

Theanine3D

Member
The Pokemon anime got pretty dark at times back in the Kanto era. A lot of it was censored or omitted in the English dub though.
 
K

Kyzer

Banned
PK Gaming said:
You're reading way too into it

It's just your typical cartoon quicksand joke
Click to expand...

True the cliche get murdered and leave a grudge behind that possesses things, it's in every kids cartoon. It's in like every Scooby Doo episode!


I love the Pokemon darkness and i hope it never ends
 
S

super-famicom

Member
Yamask used to be human

Black said:
Each of them carries a mask that used to be its face when it was human. Sometimes they look at it and cry.
Click to expand...

White said:
These Pokémon arose from the spirits of people interred in graves in past ages. Each retains memories of its former life.
Click to expand...
 
D

DrkSage

Member
What about humans eating Pokemon?
Edible_Magikarp.png


Anyone want some sharpedo fin soup?

Today's menu: eggxecute stuffed kingler, fried pidgey wings, bulbasaur bulb salad
 
S

SporeCrawler

Member
"A Lonely Pokémon. It wears its mother's skull as a helmet--for this reason, no one has ever seen its face. It sometimes sees its departed mother's face in the full moon, which causes it to grow sad and cry. The stains on the skull are tracks of its tears. When it cries, the skull shakes and emits a mournful sound. When it levels up, it evolves into Marowak."
Click to expand...
250px-104Cubone.png


Its imploed that cubone wears its mothers skull
 
T

Toxi

Banned
Neiteio said:
"Although Gorebyss is the very picture of elegance and beauty while swimming, it is also cruel. When it spots prey, this Pokémon inserts its thin mouth into the prey’s body and drains the prey of its body fluids." — AlphaSapphire pokedex entry

368Gorebyss.png


Based on the real-life hagfish
Click to expand...
Probably not, it doesn't look or act anything like a hagfish.

It does resemble a long-nosed chimaera.

pacific-spookfish.jpg
 
N

Neiteio

Member
I wonder if the rumored dolphin Pokemon will have a lore entry to the effect of, "For years the people of nearby Kanto hunted this Pokemon despite protest from other countries, and out of misplaced guilt they did not include it in their popular monster-collecting videogame until just recently."

That'd be so meta!"
 
R

rhandino

Banned
From Pokemon X/Y when you enter an "empty office"

1ZXH3Qa.gif


EDIT: Also a lot of things in the Sinnoh region are very unsettling or bizarre... I love that region for that =3
 
M

Molemitts

Member
Pokedex entries can be really fucking weird. Most of it is completely unacknowledged in the gameplay and story, that I feel weird calling it lore.
 
E

EndlessSky

Member
Kinsei said:
According to old tales, these Pokémon are stumps possessed by the spirits of children who died while lost in the forest.
708.png


It's so cute though.
Click to expand...

And then its evolution:
250px-709Trevenant.png

"It can control trees at will. It will trap people who harm the forest, so they can never leave." A never ending cycle
 
W

WPS

Member
CO_Andy said:
how do folks get their protein in the Pokemon world?
Click to expand...

Actually, looking at the official site, it says the Crabbrawler's arms sometimes fall off in fights and are apparently delicious, so there you go.

We still don't know if people farm or kill pokémon for food, but they're not above eating discarded body parts.
 
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