Image via Complex Original
For a children's game, Pokemon is chock-full of disturbing, creepy, and bizarre moments. It may seem absolutely innocent, but it's teeming with levels of WTF-ery that would even make David Lynch blush. Across the many generations of RPGs over the years, there have been an increasing number of extremely odd circumstances via game glitches or canon happenings. Think Pokemon is devoid of insanity? These 25 WTF moments throughout Poke-history will change your mind, we promise. And that's not just an empty threat to throw you off your collecting game -- this is for real.
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25. Missing Wailord
In a real-life scenario, how would one "miss" the enormous whale-type Pokemon Wailord? How do you conceivably miss something that enormous? Better yet, where do you even bring that behemoth out to battle? Something's a little fishy here, and it's not Wailord. That's because Wailord is a mammal.
24. Dugtrio and Slowbro
If you take Pokedex entries and official Pokemon lore seriously, then Slowpoke may only evolve into Slowbro when a Shellder clamps onto its tail. Dugtrio is actually just a group of three Diglett. If this is true, how are the two evolved forms considered only one Pokemon rather than two? Doesn't make much sense to us.
23. Mom Sleeps in the Kitchen
You've got your own bedroom in the world of Pokemon, with a bed, your belongings, a TV, and even a game system. You head downstairs right from there into the kitchen, but there's nowhere else to go from there. So where's your dear old mother sleeping, huh? In the kitchen? That's pretty darned uncomfortable.
22. Leafeon Eeveelution
Many a rumor circulated back in the days of Gen 1 about the peculiar Leaf Stone and its potential effects on Eevee. Flareon, Jolteon, and Vaporeon were available to players looking to check out a new evolutionary path, but you couldn't get a Leafeon from that stone, as it simply didn't exist. These days you can absolutely get yourself a Leafeon, but not with a Leaf Stone. Instead you must level up Eevee when near a Moss Rock. Talk about backwards.
21. Cubone Myths
It's said that a little tiny Cubone is actually a small Kangashan that's somehow lost its mother, wearing her freshly skinned and cleaned skull. Good luck erasing that image from your mind, kids! And you thought Kangashan infants were just little blue cuties traveling around in Mom's pouch. Think again.
20. Yamask's Previous Life
Have you actually read Yamask's Pokedex entry? The mask this Pokemon (former human, actually) wears is actually meant to resemble its former self. If that doesn't set off warning bells for you, then we don't know what will.
19. Invisible PC
Inside every Pokemon Center there's a public PC available for use, just like within a library or computer lab so you can access your items and other Pokemon in your inventory. Inside the Celadon Hotel, there's a computer as well. You just can't actually see it. It's invisible!
18. Tree Save Revenge
Want a quick way to destroy someone's hard work on a 1st-gen Pokemon title that's much more devious than simply overwriting their progress? Cut down a tree, walk on top of the newly-bare patch of land, and then save the game. Once it's started back up, the player will be standing on top of the tree, unable to move. That's the ultimate in devious tactics, if that's what you're looking for. Who does this? Who discovered this?
17. Fishing in Statues
Darn those areas where there's no water to be found! That's okay, though. If you still want to fish that badly you've got another option to choose from. Just run on over to any statue in Pokemon Red or Blue and bust out your fishing pole for some fishing fun. You won't catch anything really, but it sure looks pretty darn cool...if fishing at a statue is your thing, anyway.
16. Machoke's Anguish
This may well rank low on a list of "WTF" moments, but it's a peculiarity that makes me wonder exactly what was going on in the creators' minds -- the red lines stretching down Machoke's arms -- are they some kind of stretch marks or are they slits where the 'mon's skin has torn itself apart to accommodate the muscles beneath?
15. Pokerus
The Pokerus may sound like something ripped straight from a creepypasta, but it's a real phenomenon. The malady is so rare it affects only 3 in 65,536 Pokemon, forcing exponential growth and doubling spoils from battling efforts, actually making it easier to level up the infected monster. While it's rare, it's not exactly damaging -- it's still an odd phenomenon to find in a game where Pokemon who haven't "fainted" can be magically healed in mere seconds at a Pokemon Center. Why hasn't something more efficient been done with the Pokerus?
14. Flying Pidgeys
Any Pokemon that's eligible to learn the HM "Fly" can chauffeur you around the world, to any previously-visited location. So you've got Fearows, huge bird Pokemon, and others that have wings that are able to take you anywhere you wish to go. So how is it that tiny birds like Pidgeys or even Spearows are able to pick up a teenager and fly all over the place? It's not plausible.
13. Glitch City
If you're keen on the possibility of completely ruining your game, enter Glitch City, a jumbled mess of tiles built from other towns and cities throughout the world, all across the map. Set foot inside and it's possible you may never be able to leave. There's not really anything of note to uncover in this strange locale, only errors and potentially-game breaking issues.
12. Joey's Shorts
Trainer Joey can always be counted on for some very "special" dialogue, whether he's jabbering about his top percentage of Rattata or how comfortable specific items of clothing are. He's most famous for the uncomfortably weird declaration of "I like shorts! They're comfy and easy to wear!" Alrighty then! Not sure anyone really recalls asking what kind of pants you prefer, but we'll roll with that. Sure.
11. Random Man on Roof
Cinnabar Island is home to plenty of glitches all its own -- famously, the aforementioned Missingno. trick, but did you know you can actually trigger a man appearing on top of the Cinnabar Gym? Follow a specific sequence of events to launch this weird glitch in Pokemon Red or Blue and instantly return to your childhood where this was probably one of the greatest things ever, next to that up arrow plus B trick to make catching Pokemon easier, which never actually worked.
10. Slowpoke Tails for Riches
Pokemon Gold and Silver continues to serve the creep factor with another deeply disturbing tidbit. Poor little Slowpokes' tails are being lopped off and sold for profit. This is a prime example of animal cruelty that seems to run rampant in the game and the universe -- why are people so okay with it? Who knows?
9. Pokemon, Roasted Alive
The Burned Tower of Pokemon Gold/Silver/Crystal is infamous in that it's associated with the deaths of three Pokemon who were not "defeated" in battle or something sappy like that, but outright buried alive in a mysterious fire: Entei, Raikou, and Suicune, all three perished, only to be revived by Ho-Oh. The revival isn't what concerns us. It's the fact that we never really noticed the fact that these Pokemon were actually grilled alive like some kind of horrific hamburger patties. Harsh, man.
8. N's Room
Natural Harmonia Gropius' nickname is N -- why would we be expected to spout that mouthful each time he's mentioned? And N's bedroom has a bizarre, Neverland-esque quality, which isn't exactly unexpected considering his nature, but as the leader of Team Plasma, it's a little strange that N's bedroom should be decorated like a five-year-old's, complete with a toy train set and various other little trinkets to play with. It's a jarring room that simply doesn't fit in with the scenery in the rest of the area, so of course when you stumble upon it you're taken aback.
7. Rival Wally
Throughout the original Pokemon games your rivals change, and the latest as far as the Ruby/Sapphire/Emerald days is Wally, a sick child who you're trying to best. He's got asthma, and you're running around beating up on him and his Pokemon. You even face him at the end of Victory Road -- this kind boy who isn't a jerk and actually behaves like a normal human being. We felt kind of bad beating him to a pulp.
6. Celadon City Pervert
There are a number of strange NPCs dotting the worlds of Pokemon, and many of them spout nonsense, but none are as creepy as the lech outside the Celadon City Gym, where the creepy old fart is leering around the gym, peeking in the windows and commenting on how great it is. Of course! It's full of women. You wuold be gazing in to catch a glimpse, you disgusting old perv.
5. Arceus and the Legendary Egg
Arceus is the only Pokemon with the ability to create an honest-to-goodness egg from which a level-one Dialga, Palkia, or Giratina may be hatched. The spectacle that follows in the Japanese version of Pokemon Heart Gold and Soul Silver features some odd fanfare to accompany your choice, depicting strange, realistic backgrounds of what appear to be blood cells and other patterns with fractals and other designs superimposed over them. Picture an evolution, but on acid. Yeah. Take all of that in and tell us you weren't trying to figure out what was going on in the developers' heads at that point.
4. Pokemon Tower
Lavender Town has home to a situation that seemed to come out of nowhere, smacking into players like a ton of bricks. One minute you're accompanied by lighthearted travel music, and the next you're greeted with Lavender Town's somber theme -- and we all know it. Then to the upper right of the tiny town, you've got the Pokemon Tower, which houses all the graves of deceased Pokemon and wandering spirits. The "Ghosts" wandering around within turned out to be various Gastlys and other ghost-type Pokemon, but the sudden shift in tone from sunny and positive to the player's brush with death in such a depressing manner was truly an astounding one.
3. Ruins of Alph
Unown are creepy enough on their own. Then you have the sheer numbers of them, which are better suited for collecting. Pair these things with the impossibly unsettling radio signal from the Pokegear radio, and you've got yourself a veritable recipe for nightmare fuel. The dark ruins are rife with secrets and hidden rooms, acting as such a parallel to the normal goings-on in the Pokemon world that when you leave to encounter daylight again, it all seems like you just stepped out of a dream.
2. Giratina's Distortion World
As if the music alone for the bizarre Distortion World of Pokemon Platinum weren't unsettling enough, the actual aesthetics themselves aren't exactly a walk through the park. Known as the "Torn World" in the Japanese version, this is a dungeon players must traverse to reach the Legendary Pokemon Giratina. It seems to be a parallel universe in which normal laws of physics do not apply. You're forever traveling from platform to platform in an M.C. Escher-type fashion, and even Surf works bizarrely. This alternate dimension feels shockingly out of place, especially when compared to the benign Mt. Moons and Rock Tunnels of Pokemon history. Where'd this idea come from?
1. Cinnabar Island Missingno
This particular glitch was a favorite to many younger players back in the heyday of Pokemon Red and Blue, allowing overzealous completists the chance to brush with the illusive "glitch Pokemon" Missingno. and a host of other strange phenomena. Activating the glitch requires you to learn from that wily old man how to capture a Pokemon, then immediately flying to Cinnabar Island to surf along the edge of the island, up and down, until a Missingno. or other encounter occurs. Koffing's eye, random tech noise, and other strangeness comprise Missingno.'s body, and if you play your cards right you can use these odd encounters to duplicate items like Rare Candies or Master Balls. Mess up, and you could end up corrupting your save file while indulging. Luckily we've never gone that far while living on the edge.