10 Pokemon conspiracy theories you need to know about

Pokemon conspiracies are fan theories created by the community to provide explanations for the franchise's more bizarre subjects. These theories have become popular over time, with many making a comeback in relevance as the community grows nostalgic for these old days of unsolved mysteries.

Some of these mysteries have become well-referenced jokes within the community, which can leave a lot of new fans out of the loop. While some of these Pokemon conspiracies were nothing more than playground rumors, others certainly have some merit. Here are ten popular fan theories new fans should know about.

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10 popular Pokemon conspiracy theories you should know

1) Saffron Police were bribed by Team Rocket

Team Rocket's invasion of Saffron City seems a little too weird when you analyze the details (Image via The Pokemon Company)

In the Kanto titles, Team Rocket always invades Saffron City to take control of the Silph Company building. One odd thing about this fact is that Saffron City is surrounded by police on all sides, and there is no alternate way into the city. Since the player can bribe the police with a beverage from a vending machine to enter the city, it could be possible for them to be persuaded by Giovanni's financial incentives as well.

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2) Mew under the truck

Mew is the original Mythical Pokemon and the source of many popular rumors back in the day (Image via The Pokemon Company)

This is a classic rumor originating from the Red and Blue titles. At the port of the S.S. Anne in Vermillion City, there was a pick-up truck parked just outside of the player's normal sight. The legend says that if a player managed to Surf to the truck and use Strength on it, Mew would appear from underneath it, challenging the player to a battle.

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3) Giovanni wanted to stop Mewtwo

Giovanni is the leader of Team Rocket who wants to rule the world with stolen Pokemon (Image via The Pokemon Company)

Coming back to Giovanni of Team Rocket, his ties to the Legendary Mewtwo were revealed in the first Pokemon movie. Since Giovanni has possession of the Silph Scope, a device needed for catching Ghost-type Pokemon (which have the advantage over Psychic-types like Mewtwo), and he tries to control the Silph Company building for the Master Ball, his goal in Kanto could be to catch Mewtwo.

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4) Team Rocket owns the Safari Zone

Team Rocket sells rare creatures that also happen to be available in the Safari Zone (Image via The Pokemon Company)

In the Kanto titles, the Celadon Game Corner is a side gig run by Team Rocket to gather more money for their nefarious plans. A lot of the Pokemon they give away as prizes at this facility are available in the Fuchia City Safari Zone as well. This could imply that Team Rocket poaches creatures from here to supply their casino with prizes.

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5) N is a Zoroark

N is one of the more interesting characters to come out of the franchise (Image via The Pokemon Company)

N is the prince of Team Plasma and the adopted son of its leader, Ghetsis. N was an orphan found in the wilderness who had a strange and close relationship with Pokemon. In Black and White 2, players encounter a strange situation where they follow a Zoroark into N's Castle, after which they meet the trainer for a battle. However, none of N's team compositions in this game includes a Zoroark.

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6) Ash's wish to Ho-oh

Ho-oh's first-ever appearance was during the first episode of the anime (Image via The Pokemon Company)

A running joke in the franchise's community is that the anime's protagonist, Ash Ketchum, is stuck as a 10-year-old forever. However, there may actually be an in-universe reason as to why he never appears to age. In the first episode of the anime, Ash sees the Legendary Pokemon, Ho-oh after a thunderstorm. Since Ho-oh is said to bring eternal happiness to whoever sees it, it granted Ash this happiness by keeping him young, allowing him to travel to his heart's content.

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7) Kanto is at war

Lt. Surge's rank indicates that there is a military in the Kanto region (Image via The Pokemon Company)

The Kanto region tends to lack a lot of adult characters outside of the Gym Leaders and members of Team Rocket. With the region's Electric-type Gym Leader confirming that there has been a war involving Kanto once before, this has led many to believe that the region's small population could be due for another war taking place at the time.

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8) Ditto is a failed clone of Mew

Ditto's origins may have strong ties to the original Mythical Pokemon (Image via The Pokemon Company)

Ditto's original appearances in the Red and Blue titles have led many to believe that it is tied to the Mythical Pokemon, Mew. Ditto can be found at the Pokemon Mansion in the Yellow titles, the place where Mew was cloned. It can also appear in Cerulean Cave in every version of the original Kanto titles, which is where Mewtwo, Mew's clone, resides. Mew and Ditto were also the only monsters capable of learning Transform at the time.

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9) Mass extinction event

The Mystery Dungeon series has some of the strangest lore in the franchise (Image via The Pokemon Company)

Pokemon Mystery Dungeon is a spin-off series that was popular during Nintendo's handheld era. These games have odd lore implications as its story suggests that there is a point in the franchise's timeline where humans are wiped from the planet and then reintroduced later in the future. This mass temporary extinction of humans is never explained.

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10) Blue's Raticate died

There is a point in the original Kanto games where one of the rival's monsters suddenly stops making an appearance on their team (Image via The Pokemon Company)

When the player's rival challenges them to a battle onboard the S.S. Anne in Vermillion City, they use a Raticate. However, in every battle that follows, this Raticate no longer appears. The next battle after this one is set at Pokemon Tower, a graveyard for dead monsters. Here, the rival also asks the player why they are there since their creatures "don't look dead," implying he is there because one of his may be.