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Pokémon fans react to messed up lore leaks

Pokémon fans react to messed up lore leaks







 The Pokémon Company

On October 10, “Pokémon” franchise developer Game Freak released a statement admitting that there had been a massive data leak. Hackers seized thousands of files, including employees’ personal information, source codes for several games, Switch 2 information, and some unpublished lore documents containing dark stories and pitches about the history of Pokémon. In its statement, Game Freak apologized to those affected by the leak and ensured that the vulnerability in its servers has already been fixed. However, the company continues to do damage control as this leaked information has hit the internet and everyone is talking about it. Even if we don’t agree with how the information got out, the things we’re learning are too fascinating to ignore.

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Fans are definitely interested in what the leaks say about the future of “Pokémon,” but they’re absolutely baffled by the documents detailing the franchise’s past. These leaks contain never-before-seen stories about the history of Pokémon and humans that are far more disturbing than the darkest “Pokémon” fan theories. Yes, there are stories about Pokémon and humans having hybrid children, and yes, you should probably sit down before reading the rest.

Some boundaries really shouldn’t be blurred


Typhlosion looks smart
The Pokémon Company

Players are sharing news about the Game Freak leaks even faster than they shared the details of the latest Switch 2 leaks, but to be fair, the “Pokémon” lore documents found are a bit more “interesting” than a next-gen Document data sheet of the console.

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These stories are all structured like fairy tales by the Brothers Grimm and take place at a time “when the line between Pokémon and humans was still blurred.” In one case, an octillery essentially gives a man a baby. This baby grows into a young man who is given a powerful sword by a stray Sharpedo – and then he uses that sword to brutally torture wild Ursarings until one day he and an Ursaring strangle each other in battle.

The violence feels a bit strange and out of place in the storiesBut what makes these “Pokémon” myths truly disturbing is the way some of them describe mating between Pokémon and humans. In one story, a woman who kills Slakoth for fun is attacked by a Vigoroth and loses consciousness. At the end of the story, she gives birth to a Slakoth and reveals that Slakoth are half-human. In another story, a girl gets lost in the forest and is picked up by a Typhlosion. The Typhlosion feeds her special berries and seemingly makes her forget her family so that she becomes his wife. The girl’s father eventually finds her and kills the Typhlosion. Later, heartbroken, she gives birth and reveals that Typhlosions are also partly human.

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It’s a lot.

Pokémon fans don’t know what to think


Vigoroth dances
The Pokémon Company

These stories are completely unhinged and fans are unclear as to why they are so dark or why they even exist. Some argue that the stories are clearly structured like classic myths, while others have pointed out that previous “Pokémon” games like “Pokémon Diamond” and “Pearl” contained references to humans marrying Pokémon in the distant past. However, most fans treat the whole thing like a big (bizarrely dark) joke. For one thing, people realize that the author of the stories really chose the strangest Pokémon imaginable to turn into human hybrids. Meanwhile, others try to imagine how these stories need to be seen from a Pokémon’s perspective.

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Fans are also imagining all the new crossover possibilities that would open up for the “Pokémon” franchise if these stories were made canon (with lots and lots of crass jokes about The Deep from Amazon’s “The Boys”).

Others are simply trying to figure out why on earth these long stories were written and then never used. Some have even joked that Game Freak might have a permanent fanfiction position within the company.

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The internal reaction at Game Freak is probably approaching DEFCON 5 right now. Honestly, the entire Internet’s reaction is best summed up with one quote: “Seems like the Game Freak writing team really put the FREAK in their name.” We can take some comfort in knowing that these stories never were meant to be seen with human eyes (at least not outside of Game Freak), but unfortunately there are some things you just can’t miss.