Pokemon is a treasured, core childhood memory for many, whether they grew up playing the game on Game Boy or DS, reading the manga on Coro Coro Comic or collecting cards and plushies. Each Pokemon has its own backstory, and they range from adorable tales to grandiose myths (imagine pitting Eevee against Arceus, a literal god, in a battle).
Hidden among these are some pretty unsettling backstories, too. Here are some of the alarmingly disturbing stories behind Pokemon, which may ruin your childhood.
Drifloon: The Child-Stealing Balloon
Drifloon looks like a sweet, innocent, purple balloon with a tuft of clouds on its head, but don’t be fooled — it’s a literal ghost that targets children. According to the Pokédex, its head is filled with lost spirits of people and Pokemon, and it tries to grab kids by the hand and float away with them, presumably to the afterlife or some nightmare realm. The only reason it hasn’t become a full-blown public safety issue is because it’s too light to pull most children very far. Still, being five years old and having your balloon try to murder you would be quite traumatic.
Cubone: The Orphan Who Wears Its Mother’s Skull
Cubone has one of the most heart-wrenching stories in the entire franchise. Called the Lonely Pokemon, Cubone is often found crying in isolation — which is understandable, seeing as it wears the skull of its dead mother on its head. It cries so often that the sound echoes inside the skull, creating a haunting wail that’s particularly loud and eerie on the night of a full moon. Crying even in its sleep while dreaming of its deceased mother, Cubone is a sad, small dinosaur in eternal mourning.
Yamask: The Ghost Who Remembers Its Human Life
Yamask is not just a ghost-type Pokemon, but the ghost of a former human being. Theorized to be based on the Egyptian concept of ba, the human soul, it floats around carrying a mask that used to be its old human face, and sometimes stops to stare at it and cry. This Pokemon not only died but retained self-awareness after death, and now spends eternity as a sad specter-spectator.
Parasect: The Mushroom That Killed Its Host
At first glance, Parasect looks like a crab with a big red mushroom on its back. The mushroom, however, is a parasite that has completely taken over its host’s brain and body, and the Pokemon is actually being eaten from the inside. You can see the evolution from Paras, a cute crab with two small mushrooms on its head, and how the fungus has hijacked its system, leaving it a hollow shell. By the time it becomes Parasect, its eyes have gone blank, and the mushroom is the one controlling the body.
Bewear: The Deadly Hugger
Pink, fluffy and oddly friendly, Bewear looks like a teddy bear. But don’t let its cuteness fool you: Bewear is considered one of the most dangerous Pokemon of the Alola region. This thing is freakishly strong and has a habit of hugging its trainers so hard it breaks their spines. Those who encounter a wild Bewear and unknowingly wave back at it might end up being hunted down for a murderous hug.
Gengar: Your Haunting Shadow
Gengar is a ghost-type Pokemon that took the “ghost” part too far. According to the Pokédex, it steals heat from your body and makes rooms feel colder when it’s nearby. In Pokemon Journeys: The Series, Gengar has a very Hachiko-like story: Its previous trainer, thinking Gengar had cursed him, abandoned the purple Pokemon, promising to be right back. While waiting for three years, Gengar continued to scare away anyone who came his way, growing more embittered by the day. Thankfully, he eventually meets Professor Cerise and Ash, who are able to soften his wounded heart.
The shadowy stories of Gengar continue, with many fan theories suggesting that Gengar is Clefairy’s shadow, ghost or even doppelganger, given the two Pokemon’s similar shapes.
Kadabra: The Kid Who Turned Into a Pokemon
One of the most unsettling Pokédex entries belongs to Kadabra, who wasn’t always a Pokemon. According to official lore, he was once a young boy with psychic powers who was helping out with research into extrasensory abilities. One morning, he woke up to find that he had turned into Kadabra, a fox-like, spoon-wielding psychic being. Kadabra’s origin story is presumably based on Franz Kafka’s novella The Metamorphosis, where a salesman wakes up one day transformed into a large insect.
