Pokémon: The 10 Strangest Myths In The Franchise’s Lore

The success of Pokémon is largely based on the design of the characters and the depth of the world-building. The Pokémon Company has demonstrated that they are capable of incredible storytelling at such a minute level of detail, thanks to the mythology and lore they have created.

There’s plenty of myths in this universe, from the origins of Pokémon to the reason why certain places existed. Some of these myths are simply fictional legends, while Ash or the player have discovered that other fragments of these fables are actually true. Regardless, there are some truly bizarre pieces of lore in the Pokémon series, across its many titles.

10 The Unown Language

Unown are some of the strangest creatures in Pokémon. Originally introduced in Gold and Silver, players didn’t know what to make of the letter-like characters. However, there’s something far stranger about their origins and mythology. There’s an alphabet in this universe based on the Unown.

But, it isn’t clear whether the Unown actually came before or after the language. This odd piece of mythology adds a layer of mystery to the characters; did the Unown actually influence the language in this universe, or did they morph themselves to look like it?

9 Drifloon’s Creation And Kidnapping

Drifloon is perhaps one of the creepiest Pokémon in the whole of the game and anime series. For starters, they are actually created from the souls of those lost in the world. The more souls they take on the more they expand. But there’s a darker aspect to their mythology.

They supposedly love to have company, especially of kids. They have been known to therefore abduct children; with the kids assuming that the Drifloon is an ordinary balloon. It’s unclear what happens to the stolen after this, but it’s certainly an odd piece of lore.

8 Spiritomb’s Spirits

Spiritomb is a mysterious dark and ghost-type Pokémon whose origins are perhaps even more mysterious than previously mentioned characters. The Pokémon can be found inside an Odd Keystone, which it uses as a base to create its ghoulish form.

However, according to the official lore of the universe, it is said that exactly 108 spirits came together to create a Spirtomb. This is incredibly specific but there is no indication as to why they came together or how. It is just another odd piece of canon in this bizarre world.

7 Legendary Trios

Legendary Pokémon are a huge part of the franchise and there’s a lot of lore surrounding these powerful characters. However, there’s some strange myth that has come about after years of games being released; it concerns how many Legendary Pokémon there actually are.

For some reason, these Legendary characters always come in three. Known as Legendary Trios, there are very few who fail to match this structure. In every example asides from Uxie, Mespirit, and Azelf, the Pokémon have to be different types to form the trio. It’s a piece of mythology that still isn’t fully understood.

6 Aliens

There are aliens amongst the Pokémon. It’s a strange part of the universe but it’s true. Some of the creatures seen on Earth aren’t actually native to any region and instead come from outer space. It certainly opens up a lot of questions as to where these beasts really came from.

The powerful Deoxys is an obvious example of a Pokémon that found its origins in the stars, but there are surprisingly other well-known characters such as Starmie and Solrock. If this is the case though then where did they actually come from? Is there another planet full of odd monsters? It’s a strange myth that has to be explored further.

5 Magic

Aliens might not be the only odd thing in this universe. It’s very possible that magic exists as well. There’s plenty of signs of Pokémon perhaps exhibiting magic in order to boost their abilities. The Abra evolutionary chain is one such example of this.

But in the anime, there’s also a number of episodes that suggest that magic really does exist. Ash and the group even meet a witch who turns the trainer into a Pikachu! Of course, the adage goes that magic and technology can be confused for one another, so perhaps there are entities that understand the universe further than any player can comprehend.

4 Kadabra Was A Kid

Pokémon origins just keep getting weirder and fans of Kadabra might be shocked to learn the true nature of the creature. Despite knowing the evolutionary line of Abra well, there are other ways for Kadabra’s to be created supposedly.

There are some myths that state that really intelligent children are actually transformed into Kadabra. Gaining these unbelievable abilities, it’s quite disturbing to know that once transformed these kids can be captured and stored inside a Poké Ball to do battle.

3 The Great War

There’s plenty of theories that suggest that before the events of the initial game there was actually a great war. With multiple factions participating in the struggle, this was ultimately a fight for the future of the Pokémon themselves. The myth certainly has a lot of potential to be accurate.

Further details suggest that the main fight was between the regions of Kanto and Johto. However, with evil groups like Team Galactic and Team Rocket still stirring up trouble within the community, it’s not hard to imagine a conflict like this beginning again. It is odd that such peaceful regions were supposedly in on the struggle though.

2 Arceus Is God

There’s plenty of ways that the Pokémon universe might have been created but one popular myth within the world is that Arceus was the one to forge reality. Sometimes it’s interpreted as just relating to the Sinnoh region, but there’s a possibility that all of creation was formed from Arceus.

It seems very strange that a Pokémon would actually be a God, above any other Legendary characters. Yet, with the depth of lore in the franchise and the level of understanding audiences actually have of the world, it’s plausible that Arceus really was the being at the beginning of everything. Perhaps the series’ latest spin-off games will explore this idea further.

1 Legendary Dogs

The beasts known as Raikou, Entei, and Suicune are some of the franchise’s most well-known Legendary characters. But the myth surrounding their origins is quite strange and is certainly worth exploring in the future. Supposedly, these were dog Pokémon that actually died.

Resurrected by Ho-Oh, they were given a new purpose and new powers. It’s interesting to think which types of Pokémon they may have been before their demise and transformation, but the trio has certainly benefitted from this miracle.

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