Ash Never Grows Up
[ranking: 1]
Reddit user KokoaKuroba discovered a clue that might explain why Ash is permanently 10 years old. In the first episode of the original Pok??mon anime, Ash encounters the legendary Pok??mon, Ho-oh. The PokeDex entry for Ho-oh says, "Anyone seeing [Ho-oh] is promised eternal happiness."
KokoaKuroba believes that eternal happiness for Ash is being on a permanent Pok??mon journey as a 10-year-old.
Pok?? Balls Use Quantum Mechanics To Convert Pok??mon To Light
[ranking: 2]
Nerd alert! Reddit user nameless88 came up with a very detailed and complex theory about how Pok?? Balls could use quantum mechanics to convert Pok??mon to light and store them as data. Essentially, "Pok??mon convert matter to energy, Pok?? Balls exploit this in them and force this change to occur, storing them as data and light.
There's some actual science in the show that backs it up."
You Play As The Rival In Pok??mon Sun and Moon, Not The Protagonist
[ranking: 3]
Reddit user ShinyBreloom2323 has a great theory on why Sun and Moon feel a little different from other titles in the series. Hau is typical of the protagonist that you'd normally play in Pok??mon titles - he is "bland, and seems to revolve around a single trait." He starts with a Pikachu, which is how Red and Ash (both protagonists) got started. He also always arrives later than you, meaning you get to a location first. This means you're more similar to the rivals like Wally and Silver. ShinyBreloom2323 explains:
"Hau isn't an obstacle to you. You are an obstacle to Hau. When you finally reach the Pok??mon League, you're ahead of him. You've completed the Pok??mon League in the same manner as Blue and surpassed him. You play the role of a stereotypical rival; and Hau plays the role of a stereotypical protagonist. [...] It's one of the reasons you find his jolly nature so insufferable. You've been that way every other game, so Sun is a change of pace due to his more adamant role in the scheme of things. You, unlike Hau, have multiple choices to choose from and more emotion to express."
Charizard Permanently Scarred Some Of Ash's Pok??mon
[ranking: 4]
Reddit user friendlyteddie has a theory on why Ash's Squirtle and Bulbasaur never evolve. The Redditor speculates that after Squirtle and Bulbasaur see Charmander rapidly evolve into Charizard in the span of a few episodes, the water and grass type are shocked to see their fire type friend change so much. friendlyteddie writes:
"[Charizard] no longer obeys Ash, even going so far as to physically harm him. I believe that after seeing this, both Squirtle and Bulbasaur were traumatized, believing that evolution would completely change them, and possibly cause them to hate their friends and trainer. As a result, they make an agreement between the two of them that neither would evolve, hence they live the rest of their lives in their base forms."
Ash Isn't Pikachu's First Trainer
[ranking: 5]
Reddit user Oufour put together a very detailed and well-sourced theory on why Pikachu likely had another trainer before Ash. Think about it - they have a rocky start because Pikachu is too unruly for him to train. Pikachu has a unique Pok?? Ball that fans rarely see because someone must have let him roam free all the time, which is why he's always out walking around with the gang.
The list goes on, but the community seems to agree this one's pretty likely.
Mew Is An Average Of All Existing Pok??mon, And That's Where His Name Comes From
[ranking: 6]
OK, this one is pretty nerdy, even by nerd standards. Reddit user Dinomaparty has a theory on Mew's name and origin.
"In statistics the population mean (the average) is given the Greek symbol Mu (??), which is pronounced very similar to Mew. The definition of the average is the sum of all the values in the population divided by the number of values in the population. This means that when you include all possible values the average will be the number which shows the central tendency. Now, Mew is said to contain the DNA of all other Pok??mon in its body, but by itself, it's not particularly strong.
It could be possible that Mew actually represents the average Pok??mon from which all other Pok??mon are derived. Just like how the Mu contains all possible values, Mew contains DNA from all Pokemon."
AZ From Pok??mon X/Y Actually Represents Players Who Abandoned The Series
[ranking: 7]
Reddit user Irish33 has some great insight on why AZ from Pok??mon X/Y is so old, and why he has such a unique connection with early Pok??mon: "In my theory, AZ represents the people that were attracted to Pok??mon Red and Blue as kids, and today swear off the series because 'there's [sic] too many Pok??mon,' or 'they made it too complicated.'"
Irish33 reasons that AZ is much older and an adult, as original Red/Blue players would be. He treasures a certain Pok??mon that is no longer in the world, and goes so far as to destroy all other Pok??mon in his quest to revive that nostalgic partner. This could be representative of the nostalgia that gamers hold onto RBY. In the end, he recalls that people, when they were children, were fascinated with raising and finding new Pok??mon. He remembers that joy in first discovering Pok??mon, which could also be gamers of RBY coming to terms with all the new generations of Pok??mon and realizing that the franchise is still a grand adventure.
So, In All The Pok??mon Games, Where's Your Dad?
[ranking: 8]
Countless theories have been made about who your father is and why he's never present in any of the Pok??mon games. Reddit user redhare87 thinks everyone is trying too hard. If you put yourself in the shoes of a 10-year-old Japanese child, it all makes perfect sense:
"For instance, the perennial question of Pok??mon is just where the hell is the main character's dad? Theories abound, but quite simply, he's probably just a salaryman and your mom's a housewife. A salaryman will work 6 days a week for crazy long hours, sometimes having to work half the country away [and] only come home on holidays. Seems simple to a Japanese kid that your dad's just a salaryman."
Pok??mon GO Is Actually The First Game In The Pok??mon Timeline
[ranking: 9]
Twitter user @Ink_Virtue got the ball rolling on this theory and Reddit user mtws25 connected all the pieces. They believe that gamers are currently LIVING in the first Pok??mon game in the Pok??mon timeline. Before Gen 1, there was Pok??mon GO. They explain that, because not all of the original 151 Pok??mon were in GO when it was released, Professor Oak had yet to complete the Pok??Dex for the Kanto region. And, "just like in Safari Zone, when you encounter creatures in the street, trainers ONLY throw (recently invented) Pok?? Balls and try to capture monsters without battling to weaken it's opponents."
Thus, because the "concepts of strategic battles were not invented at this time," trainers don't know how to teach their Pok??mon new moves yet. They also don't know how to level up Pok??mon yet, "so they use Candies. Those candies were overused and in the future, by the time RBY takes place, they are very, very rare to find. They are now called 'Rare Candies.'"
mtws25 further speculates that the foundation for the Pok??mon League had yet to be laid in the GO world, which is "why Gym Leaders change all the time and there's no Gym Badges." They also theorize that "Aerodactyl, Omanyte, and Kabuto that are long extinct by the time of RBY," but they can still be caught in GO.
Professor Willow Is Geotagging In Pok??mon GO
[ranking: 10]
Reddit user Sternsson came up with a theory that puts many hearts at ease. What happens to all the Pok??mon you transfer in Pok??mon GO? Are they held captive? Are they killed? Are they turned into delicious candy? Probably, but Sternsson believes any "transferred Pok??mon gets geotagged by Willow and released. Candy represents the scientific data you gain on them and you use that data to train your pok??mon [sic]."
Definitely a happier theory on what happens to transferred Pok??mon.
Lance's Pok??mon From Silver/Gold Were Radioactive
[ranking: 11]
Reddit user pepetrillvia may have cracked the code on how Lance from Heart Gold/Soul Silver had three Dragonites at level 50, when Dragonair doesn't evolve until level 55. The short version is that "Lance had three Dragonairs before going to the Lake of Rage and the radio broadcast forced them into evolving early."
Team Rocket Are The Good Guys - Jessie And James Just Make Them Look Like Idiots
[ranking: 12]
Tumblr user andynemo and Reddit user IrishMerica team up for an in-depth analysis of Team Rocket over the years. Their motto is:
"To protect the world from devastation
To unite all peoples within our nation
To denounce the evils of truth and love
To extend our reach to the stars above."
The only stealing Team Rocket does in the actual games was in order to save the planet from Mewtwo. Jessie and James from the anime were just a couple of clowns who ruined it for the rest of them.
Haunter Killed Misty
[ranking: 13]
Reddit user Spankler did some research and discovered that in practically every Pok??Dex entry, trainers are warned to NEVER let a Haunter lick them, because it will "steal your life away." Well, Ash's Haunter gave Misty a big ol' lickin' in the anime in episode 24, which might explained why she eventually left Ash and Brock behind, to die alone.
Digimon Are Corrupted Pok??mon Files
[ranking: 14]
Some people feel that Digimon was just a bastardization of Pok??mon, and Reddit user Reethk_Vaszune has a theory that backs that up. When Pok??mon are entered in a PC database, they are presumably a data file. So he theorizes, what happens to corrupted files?
"I think that the Digimon universe is somehow interlinked or tapping into a networked quarantine PC directory for corrupted Pok??mon files. There are a lot of glaring similarities between Pok??mon and Digimon (affinity to elements, evolution process, etc.). If you look at the evolutionary process of Digimon, it's initially very sporadic and uncontrolled (they revert backwards often) until they develop some mastery of the process; perhaps skilled Digimon are files that are being repaired/reconstructed?"
Brock Was Cursed By A Medusa
[ranking: 15]
When the Internet asks a question, a lot of weird answers come out. This one comes from No One Special, and was shared on Reddit by KokoaKuroba when someone asked why Brock never opens his eyes.
"Brock is cursed with Mystic Eyes of Gorgon, Medusa. If he opened his eyes and looked at someone, they would turn to stone. This is why he became a rock-type Pok??mon trainer. You cannot turn stone into stone."
It's a solid theory...
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