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Popular Theories you find Bizarre

Divine Retribution

Conquistador de pan
Technically, It can also be applied to almost every single work of fiction ever made.

Example: The events in Mystery Dungeon was all a dream. Want proof? The player being sent away at the end is just them waking up from their dream, and them returning to the Pokemon world is just the player going back to sleep and dreaming about the Pokemon world again.

It's extremely easy to just fabricate a "it's a dream" theory, unless it makes actual sense within the story.
Actually, this can apply to literally everything ever, because it's basically a rewording of the simulation argument. How can you prove that anything you ever experience is actually, truly real and that you aren't comatose and experiencing an extremely vivid, extremely detailed dream? You really can't.
 

Ophie

Salingerian Phony
Anyone remember the idea that the Ultra Beasts destroyed the original dimensions where the Generations I through V games were set? I think it came off a single line Anabel sad that got taken out of context and spread out of control into a fish tale.

(Also, regarding the Generation VIII starters, the Japanese have imagined Cinderace as a girl far more than Rillaboom or even Inteleon.)

I hate "it was just a dream" theories as these works are already fictional, why do you have to diminish it by making it fictional within fiction? There's only one time I've ever seen "it was just a dream" work, and that's in Futurama

This has actually been done for an entire series before:
The soap opera St. Elsewhere, in which the very last scene of the final episode shows that the entire series came from the mind of an autistic child in a hospital, based on a snow globe resembling the house that the series is set in.

This was one of the most infamous endings in TV history (the backlash was MUCH larger than Lost, Game of Thrones, or My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic ever got), and that infamy made other people wonder if other TV series were just extended dream sequences of an eccentric people. That series ended in 1988, less than ten years before Pokémon, the anime, got started. People who were around and could clearly remember that finale were still attuned to pop culture when the Pokémon anime began; the idea of "this is all a coma dream" was still fresh in people's minds.

I hate the Fire starter Chinese zodiac theory. It doesn't work because Fennekin isn't dog - it's a fox which are only distantly related to canines.

Besides if GF wanted to stick to the zodiac then they would've made a Fire type dog starter out of an actual dog and not just a vulpine Fire starter.

Foxes are still part of Canidae, which is a relatively small group of animals, considering Caniformes, the next largest division out, is a lot bigger and more diverse and includes weasels, otters, skunks, bears, raccoons, seals, sea lions, and red pandas. It is still a much shorter stretch than deeming Cyndaquil to be based on a rat--if Cyndaquil really is based on a hedgehog, then that would mean it's not based on a rodent at all (or even a lagomorph). Hedgehogs are part of the order Eulipotyphla, which also includes moles and shrews but are not closely related to rodents aside from both being mammals.
 

Captain Jigglypuff

Leader of Jigglypuff Army
Anyone remember the idea that the Ultra Beasts destroyed the original dimensions where the Generations I through V games were set? I think it came off a single line Anabel sad that got taken out of context and spread out of control into a fish tale.

(Also, regarding the Generation VIII starters, the Japanese have imagined Cinderace as a girl far more than Rillaboom or even Inteleon.)



This has actually been done for an entire series before:
The soap opera St. Elsewhere, in which the very last scene of the final episode shows that the entire series came from the mind of an autistic child in a hospital, based on a snow globe resembling the house that the series is set in.

This was one of the most infamous endings in TV history (the backlash was MUCH larger than Lost, Game of Thrones, or My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic ever got), and that infamy made other people wonder if other TV series were just extended dream sequences of an eccentric people. That series ended in 1988, less than ten years before Pokémon, the anime, got started. People who were around and could clearly remember that finale were still attuned to pop culture when the Pokémon anime began; the idea of "this is all a coma dream" was still fresh in people's minds.



Foxes are still part of Canidae, which is a relatively small group of animals, considering Caniformes, the next largest division out, is a lot bigger and more diverse and includes weasels, otters, skunks, bears, raccoons, seals, sea lions, and red pandas. It is still a much shorter stretch than deeming Cyndaquil to be based on a rat--if Cyndaquil really is based on a hedgehog, then that would mean it's not based on a rodent at all (or even a lagomorph). Hedgehogs are part of the order Eulipotyphla, which also includes moles and shrews but are not closely related to rodents aside from both being mammals.
Cyndaquil is based off of an echidna and its nose definitely proves it. Its flames can be said to represent the spines. Echidnas are not even rodents and GF probably only called it a “mouse” because most kids wouldn’t even know what an echidna even is. How many of you actually knew that Knuckles was an echidna and not a hedgehog as a kid? Probably none of us. And on top of it all, Quilava And Typhlosion aren’t even mice or any type of rodents.


Mid-40s? Possibly ealry 50s in the vast majority of his sprites and artwork? Wouldn't that roughly work out with him being a Rookie Soldier in Vietnam/Pokenam?
The only version he possibly looks younger is Heartgold and Soulsilver, even in Let's Go he looks middle-aged.
The Fame Checker said that Surge flew planes powered by Electric Pokémon which were used quite a bit in Vietnam mostly for transport. The Great War wouldn’t have had planes back then and Surge is definitely too young to have fought in a WWII equivalent and a Korean War equivalent is also out of the equation as he would need to be Pryce’s age to have fought in such a war. It definitely wasn’t the Gulf War as that was only six months and it is implied that Surge’s war lasted a couple of years. Iraq and Afghanistan hadn’t occurred at the time of RBY so it couldn’t be them. So that just leaves Vietnam for all games he appears in where he mentions being in a war.
 

Orphalesion

Well-Known Member
The Fame Checker said that Surge flew planes powered by Electric Pokémon which were used quite a bit in Vietnam mostly for transport. The Great War wouldn’t have had planes back then and Surge is definitely too young to have fought in a WWII equivalent and a Korean War equivalent is also out of the equation as he would need to be Pryce’s age to have fought in such a war. It definitely wasn’t the Gulf War as that was only six months and it is implied that Surge’s war lasted a couple of years. Iraq and Afghanistan hadn’t occurred at the time of RBY so it couldn’t be them. So that just leaves Vietnam for all games he appears in where he mentions being in a war.
And as I wrote, Vietnam would also make perfect sense with his age. Assuming he was 18 in 1965 when American involvement in Vietnam began (that assumes he'd be among the first troops sent there) he'd be 49 in 1996 when Red/Green was released in Japan, and in my opinion that's about the age he looks in the artwork and sprites.
 

Ophie

Salingerian Phony
Cyndaquil is based off of an echidna and its nose definitely proves it. Its flames can be said to represent the spines. Echidnas are not even rodents and GF probably only called it a “mouse” because most kids wouldn’t even know what an echidna even is. How many of you actually knew that Knuckles was an echidna and not a hedgehog as a kid? Probably none of us. And on top of it all, Quilava And Typhlosion aren’t even mice or any type of rodents.
You're right--and echidnas are monotremes, the group of mammals most distantly related to rodents of all (as well as all other groups of mammals besides marsupials). I had forgotten what it was supposed to be, since at that time they weren't too concerned with designing Pokémon to look like any specific thing in particular.

(I actually knew Knuckles is an echidna before I even started playing Sonic 3, as it says so in the manual. I always read the manual before I start playing.)
 

OwensJB

Well-Known Member
This is another one mentioned in-game but it's one I find bizarre. Mega Aerodacytl being what Aerodactyl's true appearance is supposed to be. Considering it just looks like rock has been stuck in random places to it is doesn't seem like a true appearance to me.
Yeah plus I thought it was a popular assumption that fossil Pokemon weren't originally part Rock type in ancient times and that them being Rock types in the present when they're revived is just a byproduct of them being fossilized in the past.
 

Leonhart

Imagineer
Yeah plus I thought it was a popular assumption that fossil Pokemon weren't originally part Rock type in ancient times and that them being Rock types in the present when they're revived is just a byproduct of them being fossilized in the past.
That theory works for Fossil Pokemon prior to Gen VIII, but it doesn't explain why the Galarian Fossil Pokemon aren't part Rock-type.
 

octoboy

I Crush Everything
The Alolan Raichu being different to Kantonian due to Pancakes. I know this is mentioned in the games but to me it seems it is an unlikely to be the primary cause. I just find it unlikely it gains Psychic powers and a terrain based ability due to them.
The fact that there's another pokémon whose diet allows it to become a psychic type in the same region (oricorio) makes this less implausible to me. I actually suspect it's the same kind of nectar in those pancakes.

Honestly, I think that's more plausible than the idea that other regional variants are subspecies that adapted to their particular environments via hereditary genetics (if that were the case, non-regional versions wouldn't be able to beget regional-variant offspring, which they are definitely capable of)

The Raticate theory always confused me. Why would switching out a Pokémon for a different one considered to be odd and be suspicious enough to say that you killed Raticate? The player does it all the time and even the Gym Leaders have done in both in different versions of the game and sometimes in the same game for rematches. Lt. Surge dropped two of his Pokémon and only kept Raichu and Sabrina dropped a majority of her Pokémon to have all three Abra stages in Yellow and Brock used Fossils in the Johto games. Even Silver changed his line up in GSC. The rival doesn’t even say anything about losing any of his Pokémon and just asks about the feeling of losing one as part of a conversation. If the Raticate was actually dead, he’d be more upset and angry at you and would not be talking to you so calmly like he does in the games.
I think the suspicious part is that the raticate's vanishing from the team correlates with the character's appearing in a grave site. Though it has been argued that the rattata in the previous rival battle isn't the same individual as the raticate, as the raticate's level is earlier than the level trained rattatas are evolved at (though that is assuming the rival character is subject to the same restrictions the playable character is - several NPC pokémon are "underlevelled" for the form they're in, or have moves you can't teach to those species, which suggests to me that just because the playable character can't do something doesn't mean it's outright impossible). In any case, the raticate's death isn't concretely proven, but arguably is at least vaguely suggested.

I think the most dubious part of this theory is the claim that your character is responsible for this death - it's claimed the rival couldn't heal his pokémon after you beat them, so raticate died - but that raises the question of how the rest of his party survived... Even if you blast everyone with a hyper beam, but defeat raticate via a series of tackles from your caterpie, raticate's the only one who doesn't show up again, which makes me think at worst, raticate contracted a bad case of rat flu some time after the S. S. Anne battle and never recovered from it.

I’m not 100% certain, but I think the words for “mouse” and “rat” are the same in Japanese. If that’s the case, it could just be something lost in translation.

Yeah, and I read pretty recently that the name of the Chinese zodiac sign is a term which can apply to both types of rodents.

I think if the fire starters are based on the Chinese zodiac, it most likely wasn't intended from the start, and the developers noticed a semi-pattern and decided to run with it, hence the connections being particularly strenuous in the early gens, fennekin aside.

How many of you actually knew that Knuckles was an echidna and not a hedgehog as a kid? Probably none of us.
I thought he was a hedgehog, because I knew what an echidna looked like, and he looked nothing like one, ha ha. In any case, it does seem pretty clear Pokémon categories use the term "mouse" exceedingly liberally, seeing as sandshrew and sandslash are also called "Mouse Pokémon" and look nothing like rodents.

That theory works for Fossil Pokemon prior to Gen VIII, but it doesn't explain why the Galarian Fossil Pokemon aren't part Rock-type.
The one thing I find curious about the rock type being due to fossilization is why relicanth, the living fossil, is also rock type while never actually having been fossilized. Also, cranidos and rampardos being pure rock type, meaning they'd have had to have had no type originally. Yeah, I'm a bit of a skeptic regarding that interpretation.

Also, one theory which kind of bugs me is the theory that cubone is actually an orphaned kangaskhan joey. Especially considering most of the time the main "evidence" for this theory is a manipulated picture of a kangaskhan joey which has been made to look brown (rather than lavender like an actual kangaskhan joey) to demonstrate how "alike" the two look. Kangaskhan doesn't even have horns, so that skull isn't a match.

And then there's the flygon/salamence name swap theory. Which falls apart with one search of the Japanese names which reveals that vibrava's evolved form was called flygon even pre-dub, and the "gon" suffix was only added to salamence's unevolved forms in the dub. Honestly, though, I think whoever named these two lines probably ought to have thought before giving the same name suffix in one pokémon's name to two other pokémon in a different line.
 

TyranatarGojira

Well-Known Member
The Alolan Raichu being different to Kantonian due to Pancakes. I know this is mentioned in the games but to me it seems it is an unlikely to be the primary cause. I just find it unlikely it gains Psychic powers and a terrain based ability due to them.
Depends on what's in the pancakes. Hey, surfers have been known to like getting baked...

But really it's just the people of Alola going "Who knows, who cares, it is what it is." rather than any official scientific fact. I mean if we had to put a serious one out there, I'd put money on the Ultra Wormhole radiation affecting them or something else in the climate, much like how Executor's grow better.
The "Great Pokemon War" theory that gets stated as fact. Yes we've had wars but come on. Not only is there nothing to base this idea of some recent massive war that nobody ever talks about, the things people use to cite as "evidence" like a supposed lack of adult men in the first game simply don't exist!

The war Surge mentioned I’ve always imagined being similar to Vietnam as he did look to be the same age as the youngest of those that fought in the war were at the time which was mid 40s to early 50s. Surge was also said to be “American” which makes it even more likely that something similar to the Vietnam War had happened in the Pokémon world. The Great War always seems to refer to the one from 1000 years ago involving AZ and Eternal Flower Floette.
Yeah, that one's entirely on Surge's dialogue in the first gen. Which may simply be some of the early installement not having things as fully thought out. Like the Indian Elephant's getting mentioned.
That theory works for Fossil Pokemon prior to Gen VIII, but it doesn't explain why the Galarian Fossil Pokemon aren't part Rock-type.
That damn Cara Liss either got something right, or just ended up mashing the different typings together in a way where they never included the Rock typing. Presumibly Zolt would be Electric/Rock, Vish Water/Rock, Arcto Ice/Rock and Draco Dragon/Rock if properly revived.

Hey remember GRAMPS? The theory that eventually we were going to get a game where Oak was the real overreaching big bad because gradually the villain team names would corrispond to Gary's nickname for him?
Galactic
Rocket
Aqua
Magma
Plasma
S

It was thrown off by Flare. I suppose Skull is an S, but considering we also had Aether Foundation, then Yell and Macro Cosmos, yeah that one's deader than dead I hope.
 

Captain Jigglypuff

Leader of Jigglypuff Army
The Venomoth was supposed to be Caterpie’s final stage theory always seemed odd to me. I can see how it seems plausible but the thing is Venonat really doesn’t have any major similarities to Butterfree other than the antennas. Venonat has no signs of it becoming a butterfly (or a moth really) but Venomoth can be said to be connected to Venonat if you think of Venonat as a type of mite with can create dust and Venomoth spreads around dust that fall from its wings.
 

MrJechgo

Well-Known Member
The Venomoth was supposed to be Caterpie’s final stage theory always seemed odd to me. I can see how it seems plausible but the thing is Venonat really doesn’t have any major similarities to Butterfree other than the antennas. Venonat has no signs of it becoming a butterfly (or a moth really) but Venomoth can be said to be connected to Venonat if you think of Venonat as a type of mite with can create dust and Venomoth spreads around dust that fall from its wings.
Apparently, the Venonat/Venomoth line was intended, but it's still visible that Caterpie and Venomoth, and Venonat and Butterfree have the same eyes.
 

octoboy

I Crush Everything
Venonat really doesn’t have any major similarities to Butterfree other than the antennas.
And the main body colour. And the eyes. And the limb count and limb structure.

Venonat has no signs of it becoming a butterfly (or a moth really) but Venomoth can be said to be connected to Venonat if you think of Venonat as a type of mite with can create dust and Venomoth spreads around dust that fall from its wings.
Not only is butterfree described as doing the same thing in its first ever dex entry, the dust mite connection is pretty shaky, considering venonat's eyes and antennae are pretty distinct insect features (at most, it can be seen as kind of resembling a dust bunny).

Count me in as seeing venonat's appearance as pretty fishy. The closest I've heard to a plausible explanation of why butterfree and venonat look alike is that it's a referance to Batesian mimicry, with the non-poison-type butterfree imitating the poison-type venonat, a la viceroy. Though even that is a tad suspect to me as to be deliberate, as most bug types in gen 1 were otherwise pretty simple in design.
 

Leonhart

Imagineer
I can see how it seems plausible but the thing is Venonat really doesn’t have any major similarities to Butterfree other than the antennas.
Their eyes are extremely similar [both are large red ovals], although Kongpang's (Venonat's) eyes have little dots on them. Their bodies are also extremely similar in color, and they share similar hands and mouthparts. I'm not 100% on board with the theory, but there's a very obvious similarity between them other than just their antennae.
 

Orphalesion

Well-Known Member
And the main body colour. And the eyes. And the limb count and limb structure.


Not only is butterfree described as doing the same thing in its first ever dex entry, the dust mite connection is pretty shaky, considering venonat's eyes and antennae are pretty distinct insect features (at most, it can be seen as kind of resembling a dust bunny).

Count me in as seeing venonat's appearance as pretty fishy. The closest I've heard to a plausible explanation of why butterfree and venonat look alike is that it's a referance to Batesian mimicry, with the non-poison-type butterfree imitating the poison-type venonat, a la viceroy. Though even that is a tad suspect to me as to be deliberate, as most bug types in gen 1 were otherwise pretty simple in design.
I mean Gen 1 had a couple weird design choices. Like why does Dragonite look like a cartoonier/cuddlier/plush toy version of Charizard? The colouration is pretty much the same with a few, minor variations.
 

octoboy

I Crush Everything
Dragonite at least kind of makes sense when you look at the sprites of dratini in gen 1 (it had the same snake belly dragonite has). Though the colour change is certainly a bit bizarre, the arrangement of head extremities (dragonite has three like dragonair, while charizard only has 2) and snout shape match the unevolved forms, so you can at least kind of see how it might be a dragonair which gained several extra extremities and an extreme amount of girth.
 

Orphalesion

Well-Known Member
Dragonite at least kind of makes sense when you look at the sprites of dratini in gen 1 (it had the same snake belly dragonite has). Though the colour change is certainly a bit bizarre, the arrangement of head extremities (dragonite has three like dragonair, while charizard only has 2) and snout shape match the unevolved forms, so you can at least kind of see how it might be a dragonair which gained several extra extremities and an extreme amount of girth.

Yeah in the original Japanese Red/Green Sprite Dragonite actually looks like some fort of semi-aquatic giant salamander dragon, with that sort of fin/sail like sturcture along it's back. Though that begs the question when they cleaned up the Pokemon design (for the anime?) why did they went from that to "cuddly Charizard"?
 

Leonhart

Imagineer
I don't like the dead Raticate theory or the theory that Dragonite was meant to be Magikarp's evolution. I also don't like the theory that Ariana from Team Rocket is Silver's mom but that theory isn't that popular anymore thank god.
I don't support the Kairyu (Dragonite) theory, either. I always thought that Koiking (Magikarp) evolving into Gyarados made more sense considering the myth that it's based on.
 

Monox D. I-Fly

Well-Known Member
Regarding Cyndaquil:
Is it possible that Japanese call any animals which even remotely resemble rodents as mouse? For example, in my native language Indonesian, a shrew is considered a mouse. Also, we call any mammals with thorns/spikes as "landak" no matter it's a hedgehog, a porcupine, or an echidna.
 
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