Pokemonhas always been disturbing. On the surface, it’s a kid-friendly adventure where the chosen hero embarks on a pilgrimage to become the very best, like no one ever was with a bunch of cute fictional monsters by their side. Growing up, I dreamed about journeying across Kanto with mons of my own, putting together a team of creatures in my head I’d become close friends with. But think beneath the surface for just a second, and it becomes a little bit messed up.
The inhabitants of this world are training sentient monsters to fight in their battles, while they have become inseparable parts of working culture to the point where some Pokemon’s entire purpose is to pour tea for humans or provide essentials like electricity. Obviously, many of the examples I’m using here are cool designs in the confines of a video game, but for an awfully long time now, the franchise has become more than that. It’s a living, breathing universe.
For years, fans have put together fascinating theories and horrific side stories designed to explore the darker side of Pokemon. Some believe thatAsh’s entire journey is a product of hallucinationsbrought on by Pikachu’s electric attacks, or that children who become lost in the woods eventually pass away and become Phantumps. Not to mention the neverending ethical debate ofwhether or not humans actually eat Pokemon. The list goes on, but hardly any of them hold a Litwickto the alleged lore coming out of therecent Game Freak leak.
Among more innocent discoveries like thecreation of Pokemon myth seeing the light of dayor potential details on theNintendo Switch 2, Gen 10,and other future titles, the leak seems to contain a number of small stories and lore snippets that are both explicit and concerning.
Our own Ben Sledge has already explored a bizarre story about an Octillery breeding with a human, acting as an almost canon version of the infamous Vaporeon copypasta, while social media is currently awash with text passages detailing similarly crude parts of the leak. Never did I expect to mutter the words ‘Typhlosion is half-human’ to myself, but here we are.
Many of the reportedly leaked snippets draw from real world mythology, which makes sense when you consider how Pokemon has constructed its lore over the years, but never has Pokemon been depicted in such a mature and brutal manner. So much of the text here explores death, cross-species relationships, and deeper, philosophical elements of the lore that Pokemon would never dare touch upon in the public eye. But that’s exactly what makes it interesting.
Another messed up yarn coming out of the leak isa story revolving around a Slakoth who breeds with a female humanand eventually has her giving birth to a new Pokemon.
Pokemon is primarily marketed towards a young audience who can pick up each new game and feel welcome. Every Pokemon game is somebody’s first, and Nintendo and Game Freak have stuck to that philosophy even if it stifles innovation at every turn. You catch a Pokemon, level it up, collect gym badges, and explore new regions to become the best. Titles like Snap, Conquest, Ranger, and other spin-offs expand on this idea and give the world greater purpose, but for the most part, Pokemon has stayed in its lane.
Its narrative and characters have long done the same. You will often get new rival teams or antagonists for each generation alongside some relevant lore for whatever region the titles take place in, but otherwise, it’s harmless exposition designed to build the world in the same shape as before. Nothing massively dark except for certain descriptions in Pokemon dossiers you can read into a little too much. Everything has been sanitised, and for good reason, but this only made fans want to draw their own conclusions and dig deeper on their own terms.
gen z is trying to cancel typhlosionpic.twitter.com/REvyknjXtK
— 🌻🌹dusty🌹🌻 (@dustifang)July 19, 2025
This is how countless theories, creepypasta, and observations were born. Pokemon was compelling enough on its own terms that players were inspired to expand the universe in ways that went beyond the original intent. But if this leak rings true, it turns out that Game Freak has been thinking on the same wavelength all this time. When building out Pokemon into a tangible world it thought about the mythology and exactly how humans and Pokemon might coexist, not just as owners and monsters, but partners, lovers, and things which cross obvious ethical lines, but that doesn’t make them any less interesting to ponder.
What is especially fascinating about this leak, regardless of how much of it influenced the games we’ve all played, is that Game Freak thought about these things to start with. The developer houses a handful of sickos who wanted to remove Pokemon’s innocent outer shell and define what awaits beneath. Whether any of this was intended to ever be made public is irrelevant.
When you are writing a book, developing a game, or creating a fictional world in any medium, you are going to establish building blocks that won’t appear in the final product. If only to explain things to yourself or creative partners, this sort of thing is necessary. Maybe Game Freak went too far in places, but hell, so have a lot of companies.
Throughout its history, Pokemon has adopted a darker side thanks to fans, whether it be a random theory, the implications of human and Pokemon society, or what its world may look like if you wipe away the target audience it was intended for. We weren’t alone in that, and Game Freak could have been right there connecting the same dots this entire time.
Next:We Don’t Owe Bloober Team An Apology For Silent Hill 2
