The Darker Side of Pokemon

It is often understood that Pokemon is for children and that is fine, but there is a darker side that inhabits that games.

Join me as I point out the darker side of Pokemon

The Facts~

To find the categories, hold down Ctrl + F to pull up the find box.

Categories

Pokedex Entries
Real Life Tragedies Caused by Pokemon
Banned Pokemon Cards and Animes
Theories

Pokedex Entries

Perhaps the makers of Pokemon assumed that the children would never go through the Pokedex entries. I didn't. It wasn't until I was older that I became fascinated with the entries that detailed the species.

Let's start with the obvious choice...
Ghost Pokemon

Just about every ghost Pokemon feeds off of souls or fear of people. However, I will only be listing some of the worst entries.

Haunter's dex reads, "Its tongue is made of gas. If licked, its victim starts shaking constantly until death eventually comes." (Silver) "It hides in the dark, planning to take the life of the next living thing that wanders close by." (Crystal) The same theme appears in almost every Pokemon game's dex entry for it.

Banette: If you are as much of a Pokemon fan as I am, you would know that some of the most creepy fan art comes from Banette. These is a good reason for that. In Pokemon Emerald, the Pokedex reads, "An abandoned plush doll became this POKéMON. They are said to live in garbage dumps and wander about in search of the children that threw them away." They...A world with one Banette would be terrifying enough, but there are multiple. Remember that teddy bear that you loved as a child? No? It remembers you. Not only that, but the Sapphire dex entry reads "A cursed energy permeated the stuffing of a discarded and forgotten plush doll, giving it new life as BANETTE. The POKéMON's energy would escape if it were to ever open its mouth." In a nut shell, this is saying that Banette would die if it only opened it's mouth. What does it eat then? The fear of children? Last and finally enough to make this Pokemon creepy is the Ruby dex, "BANETTE generates energy for laying strong curses by sticking pins into its own body. This POKéMON was originally a pitiful plush doll that was thrown away."

Duskull: The terror that children in the Pokemon world live with every day only grows. Duskull seems to love the crying of children and will find the bad ones to sweep them away. "DUSKULL wanders lost among the deep darkness of midnight. There is an oft-told admonishment given to misbehaving children that this POKéMON will spirit away bad children who earn scoldings from their mothers." (Sapphire)
"It loves the crying of children. It startles bad kids by passing through walls and making them cry." (Platinum, Black, and White)


Drifloon: "It is whispered that any child who mistakes DRIFLOON for a balloon and holds on to it could wind up missing." (Heart Gold and Soul Silver) Apparently tormenting children is a common theme

Froslass: You just have to love a Pokemon that puts it's victims on display after freezing them to death. "It freezes prey by blowing its -58 degree F breath. It is said to then secretly display its prey" (Platinum)

Yamask: Perhaps the creepiest of all the Pokemon, this is a Pokemon that was born a human but died and couldn't move on. "These Pokémon arose from the spirits of people interred in graves in past ages. Each retains memories of its former life." (White) "Each of them carries a mask that used to be its face when it was human. Sometimes they look at it and cry." (Black) Not only that, but they carry around a mask of their face.

Jellicent: Every world must have it's sea monsters and Pokemon is no exception. "The fate of the ships and crew that wander into Jellicent's habitat: all sunken, all lost, all vanished." (Black) "They propel themselves by expelling absorbed seawater from their bodies. Their favorite food is life energy." (White)
Jellicent's pre-evolved form is also a monster.

Litwick: A cute Pokemon that has captured the hearts of fans everywhere, sometimes even the die hard Kanto lovers. "While shining a light and pretending to be a guide, it leeches off the life force of any who follow it." (White)

Lampent: "It arrives near the moment of death and steals spirit from the body." (White) That's fantastic...What does it do with the souls?

Chandelure: The Pokemon version of hell "Being consumed in Chandelure's flame burns up the spirit, leaving the body behind." (White)

Everything Else~

Parasect: "The bug host is drained of energy by the mushrooms on its back. They appear to do all the thinking." (Yellow) 

Victrebell: Just eating everybody, now aren't we? "Said to live in huge colonies deep in jungles, although no one has ever returned from there." (Red and Blue)

Cubone: Perhaps one of the most well known non-child friendly Pokemon is Cubone.
"CUBONE pines for the mother it will never see again. Seeing a likeness of its mother in the full moon, it cries. The stains on the skull the POKéMON wears are made by the tears it sheds." (Ruby and Sapphire)
"Wears the skull of its deceased mother. Its cries echo inside the skull and come out as a sad melody." (Yellow)

Marowak: 'Somewhere in the world is a cemetery just for Marowak. It gets its bones from those graves." (Crystal) Huh....That's not bothersome at all.

Drowzee: "It remembers every dream it eats. It rarely eats the dreams of adults because children's are much tastier." (Silver) I would really hate to be a child in the Pokemon world.

Kadabra: "It happened one morning - a boy with extrasensory powers awoke in bed transformed into KADABRA." (Fire Red) Once again, on the kid thing.


Even the beautiful Pokemon can be harsh

Gorebyss: "Although GOREBYSS is the very picture of elegance and beauty while swimming, it is also cruel. When it spots prey, this POKéMON inserts its thin mouth into the prey's body and drains the prey of its body fluids." (Sapphire)

Beautifly: Despite having a strong preference for pollen, this Pokemon will attack and eat you if you interrupt it's dinner. "It has an aggressive nature. It stabs prey with its long, narrow mouth to drain the prey's fluids." (Emerald)

Glalie: "GLALIE has the ability to freely control ice. For example, it can instantly freeze its foe solid. After immobilizing its foe in ice, this POKéMON enjoys eating it in leisurely fashion." (Sapphire) And I thought Frosslass was bad.

Aridos: Who doesn't want a giant spider? To make it worse, it lets you think that you escaped it. "It attaches silk to its prey and sets it free. Later, it tracks the silk to the prey and its friends." (Platinum, Black, and White)

Cacturne: "If a traveler is going through a desert in the thick of night, CACTURNE will follow in a ragtag group. The POKéMON are biding their time, waiting for the traveler to tire and become incapable of moving." (Sapphire)

Kabutops: "Its sleek shape is perfect for swimming. It slashes prey with its claws and drains the body fluids." (Red and Blue)

Real Life Tragedies Caused by Pokemon

The Lavender Town Syndrome: Lavender town will be covered even more later on, but at the moment, I am going to focus on the song. When you enter Lavender town, a song begins to play. It is a song that reminds you just how depressing the town is. It is, well, a grave for Pokemon. In the earlier versions of the game, Red and Blue, the song contained really high pitched noises that could only be heard by children. It is said that these noises gave them headaches and even drove them to suicide. While there are no credited stories about the children committing suicide, it is highly likely that it could have given them headaches.
The song was changed for the later games to prevent this.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lvD5vFSwAlY&feature=related Video with somebody playing it on their Gameboy
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MK2iLnTR9V8 I'm not fully sure what this is, but it's worth checking out.

Electric Soldier Porygon: An episode that first broadcasted during 1997 caused over 600 children to have to go to the hospital due to seizures. This was because of flashing lights in the episodes.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EqBoqOsxmkY A link to the scene

Pokemon Power Bouncers: I have seen several claims of multiple children dying due to suffocating on Pokemon Power Bouncers, but I can only find a reliable source for ONE child passing away due to this.

Uri Geller, the idiot: Uri Geller attempted to sue Nintendo, claiming that Kadabra was a parody of him.

Banned Pokemon Cards and Animes

America has changed several Pokemon cards to appeal better to children.

Team Rocket Grimer: One of the cards that Japan released was the Team Rocket Grimer. It is coming out of a sewer and appears to be looking up a girl's skirt. America moved his pupils so that they wouldn't be looking anywhere bad. It is claimed that the artist did this on purpose because the girl is wearing loose, long socks, a fashion at the time to say that a girl wasn't wearing underwear.
You can see both cards here, http://bulbapedia.bulbagarden.net/wiki/Grimer_(Team_Rocket_57)

Koga's Ninja Trick: This card was changed because America thought that a symbol on it looked too much like a swastika. However, it is the manji. You can find both cards on here, http://bulbapedia.bulbagarden.net/wiki/Koga%27s_Ninja_Trick_(Gym_Challenge_115)

Moo-Moo Milk: This card was completely changed due to the oddity of a Sentret sucking on the nipple of a strange bottle. You can find the card in the middle of the three cards on the page here, http://bulbapedia.bulbagarden.net/wiki/Moo-Moo_Milk_(Neo_Genesis_101)

Misty's Tears: Being a fan of Pokemon my entire life, I have seen fan art of Misty in every way possible. This card, however, was official in Japan and changed in America due to nudity. You can find both cards here, http://bulbapedia.bulbagarden.net/wiki/Misty%27s_Tears_(Gym_Challenge_118)

Sabrina's Gaze: This card was changed because America was worried it looked like she was giving us the finger. The cards can be found here, http://bulbapedia.bulbagarden.net/wiki/Sabrina%27s_Gaze_(Gym_Heroes_125)

Sabrina's Jynx; Gym Heroes and Gym Challenge: These two cards where changed because they were considered racist.

Episodes~~~

Beauty And The Beach: This episode shows a lot of bathing suits and perverted old men, but the episode was banned due to James cross dressing and wearing a very nice looking pair of inflated breasts that he was more than happy to play with for a few moments.

Tentacool and Tentacruel: This was banned after 9/11 due to the two Pokemon smashing up a city

The Legend of Dratini: This is one of the most well known banned episodes, due to how often is uses guns.

The Ice Cave: Banned because of supposed racism with Jynx being black. It was also supposedly banned because Brock almost kissed Jynx.

Battle Of The Quaking Island: Banned because they felt that it was too sensitive after the Japanese earthquakes.

All Things Bright And Beautiful: Team Rocket's position was changed due looking like they were giving a nazi salute.

Mangas~~~~

The Electric Tale of Pikachu: This censored A LOT of the women in the manga and even removed some scenes

Pokemon Theories

Ash is in a coma:

http://www.killcure.com/2009/10/02/pokemon-conspiracy-theory/


Gary's Raticate: There is a theory that after battling Gary's Raticate on the S.S Anne, you fatally wound it and when the ship docks, the chaos is too large for him to get his Raticate to the Pokecenter where it dies. This theory is around because you run into Gary at Lavender town and he doesn't have his Raticate anymore. He also asks you if you know what it is like to have a Pokemon die.
Nobody from Gamefreak or Nintendo have ever admitted to this story and all of his other Pokemon are fine.

Creepy Black: This is a game that was released by someone supposedly. You play as Ghost, the Dead Marowak, and everyone is defenseless against you, the screen showing that they are two scared to move. You use curse on the Pokemon, a move that did not exist at the time, and the screen fades to black where you hear a distorted version of the Pokemon's cry. Their pokeball in the corner would then disappear. After the battle, the attack screen comes back up and you have the option to run or fight again. If you do, the trainer would disappear and be replaced with a tombstone.

Erika's Gym is GLBT friendly: Of course I found this theory with my strong support of GLBT. This theory comes from the fact that Erika only allows women into her gym and that her main flower is a lily which in Japanese is Yuri. (Look it up kiddies, but don't tell mommy I said to) Her gym badge is also a rainbow.

Pokemon War: Lt. Surge is well... a lieutenant. This is a title that is given out during war. Not only this, but he claims to be so tough that his Pokemon helped him in a war. It is possible that around the time Ash was born, there was a war that his father fought it, hence him not being around. Gary's father may also have gone to war or be Giovanni. Also, most of the battlers are young characters. The only ones that aren't are scientists, mobs, and veterans, all not very helpful during a war.

9/11 Theory: It is believe that Unova is based off of America due to the vast diversity of characters.
 African Americans (Lenora, Marshal, Iris, male Psychics, sport players, dances, etc.), Italians (those guys in suits in Castelina City), Puerto Ricans (the female rangers), Irish (Cilan, Cress, Chili), Jewish ( Cheren, Elesa and Burgh) Cowboys (Clay)
The most diverse state in America is New York, or Castelia city in this case. The city acts as lower Manhattan and even the map looks like New Yorks 5 Burroughs. North of Castelia is a desert with two broken down towers. In the towers, you can find Yamask and Cofagarius. If you recall properly from Yamask's Pokedex entry that was mentioned before, they are Pokemon that used to be humans and lost their life in one way or another. They carry around their face as the mask that they hold and mourn over it. It is believed that they are the victims of the 9/11 attack. Confagarius seems much like the Egyptian faith of being mummified and burried in a casket. The hijackers of the plane were Egyptian.

Cilian, Chili, and Cress are the Shadow Trio: Both are trios. When you make it to N's castle, the six sages are about to ambush you but all the gym leaders except the trio of gym leaders come to your rescue. You run into the shadow trio in the castle and after the game, Bianca tells you that she tried to get all the gym leaders to help you but couldn't find the trio.

Huntsville's Gay Pride 2012

Never in my life have I struggled for words to put on paper, but today will definitely be a struggle to express through words.

Huntsville, Alabama is known as the Bible Belt. We're in Alabama, a state already thought of as ignorant in many things, but the Bible Belt... We made a large leap from the ignorance that we've been branded with today.

The day started off pretty bad with my ride cancelling at the very last second. I was certain that I wouldn't make it, but I called the director of Gay, Lesbian, Bi, Transgendered Youth & Advocacy and he was able to suggest someone with in seconds. Despite the inconvience, somebody picked me up and took me to the festival. By the time I got there, they were still setting up so I decided to drift around and offer my help.
Many groups had come today; We had Grissom's Gay Straight Alliance (A highschool group), Teen Coalition (A group to banish STD's), several church groups, a group of democrats, Tarot reading, and many more.

Much like last time that I helped with GLBT Youth & Advocacy, I was shocked by how well put together everything was. All of the tables and tents had been set up early, the sound board and stage were set up, and just about every group offered  free drinks, food, chairs, and small trinkets.

After I had finished checking out all the tables, I made my way to a shaded area and sat by myself while I waited for two girls I babysit to get there. I expected to spend the day mostly alone, but that was quickly broken apart by Grissom's GSA. Two of the girls, I had only met them once before, wasted no time in inviting me to sit with them at their table.

It didn't take long for the kids to arrive. The kids were three and four so they didn't understand much of what was going on. The best that I could explain it was telling them that despite one being black and the other being white, I loved them the same and just like that, this festival was to celebrate loving everybody the same.

They quickly made their way to the moon bounce and played while I talked to several people.
I can honestly say, never once in my life has it been so easy to talk to people. Everyone was here for one thing. They wanted the right to love whoever they chose. It was surprising to me to see so many same sex couples in Huntsville. I knew we had a large community of gay, bi, and pansexual people, but I've never been talking to someone to be introduced to their significant other of the same gender.
In a nutshell....It was pretty freakin' awesome!

Once the kids were done playing, they were hungry and thirsty. One table offered them cookies, brownies, and candy. (Which like the spoiling babysitter I am, I let them have before dinner). Another table supplied us with chips and hot dogs, while almost every table offered us cokes and water...All for free (This shocked me...If you couldn't tell). We made out way back to Grissom's GSA alliance and began to eat. Soon after we were done eating, the parade was almost ready. I put the youngest baby in her stroller and we made our way to the street with the two girls from Grissom's GSA.
I had forgot to bring the baby's some water. It turned out to not be much of an issue though. Everyone was more than willing to offer them water and one of the church ladies sprayed them with mist. The girls from Grissom's GSA shared their water with the babies as the parade began. We walked around the park and the girls waved happily at the people as we passed them. The parade was much bigger than I had thought. It started with people holding a large rainbow flag, followed by people with banners and signs, then people with dogs, motorcycles, and rollerskaters who handed colored beads to people, next was us, then the churches and other organizations with banners, finally cars with balloons carrying drag kings and queens.
The parade circled the park and broke apart once we returned to the starting point. After the parade came the event of the night....

The drag show.

Maybe it was so awesome because it was my first one...Yeah right, these people were FABULOUS.
I was so jealous how beautiful they looked despite the heat. XD
During the drag show, one of the dancers proposed to her partner. Her partner said yes! It was amazing, I think everyone, regardless of if they knew the couple or not, was blown away.
The part that touched me the most was when the four year old very firmly let me know that the drag queen on stage was NOT beautiful like I said. All of them were beautiful! Then the women behind me offered them dollars several times so that they could go and offer it to the pretty dancers.












The babies tipping one of the dancers


It was disappointing when the show had to finally come to an end, but like most great things, it did.
After the show ended, everyone prepared to head home.

I have to say, never once in my life have I felt so comfortable with people. I could walk up and say hi to anyone and they would happily greet me back. This event was much larger than I had expected and it was so friendly.

I can't wait for next year. <3

(All images taken by me with the exception of the beautiful parade shot on the very bottom that was taken by Laura Uselton)

Car Washes and Guys In Heels

I haven't written a post in awhile because I've gotten caught up in summer laziness. It's a huge break after keeping so busy during the school year, but I do need to get back on track so what better to start with than my blog?

I'm not going to bother filling you in on what you've missed, which there has been a bit, but I have time for that later. Right now, I'm going to focus on one day that just passed not too long ago.

On Saturday, I participated in a car wash. Unlike the other ones that I have arranged, I didn't know these people, I had no idea if anyone would come, or even if anything would get done.
You see, the group that I had arranged it for was a group that I was relatively new to. I hadn't done much of anything with them yet except share a few things online. A few people responded to my messages and contacted me to let me know that they would be there, but I've always believed that saying, "Invite twenty, expect four". Since less than twenty people had contacted me, I only expected maybe two or three people.
Luckily, I was dead wrong.

The day started like any day where I had plans. I set two alarms because I knew that I wouldn't want to get up, showered, checked my email, dragged my mom out of bed, and then began to get dressed. Mom was also skeptical of how many people would show up so she told me that she was going to go with me and help. We loaded the car with the pre-made signs and headed to Auto Zone.
Immediately when I got there, two cars pulled in right next to us. I didn't bother to pay them attention as I went inside to get the supplies and let the manager know that we were there.
I had called three times about the car wash. The first time I called, the event man wasn't there but they put it on the calendar and told me that they would call back the next day. They didn't. I decided to wait a day longer before calling again to confirm that we were on the schedule. This time he was in and he confirmed it. A week later, I called once again to check the times for my grandma who planned to pick me up after it.

Once I let him know that we were there, he asked what GLBT meant. I told him that it means "Gay, Lesbian, Bi, and Transgendered." After I clarified the name for him, he informed me that we were not on the schedule, someone else was. Apparently a few days ago, a local baseball team had taken the spot. He told me that we had to leave. As politely as I could, I told him that we were expecting people and that if I had to, I would call his manager and make sure that I got the spot he told me that I had. After my threat, he said that we could have it but if the baseball team showed up, we had to leave.

I made my way outside and saw several ladies standing by their cars. I asked them if they happened to be here for the car wash and they said yes. I was shocked. Not only was that already more people than I expected, but they were early as well! We made our way to the back and began to set up, as we did, more people arrived. A lady that had agreed to pick up one of my friends was just on time, and shortly after, but still on time, came the leader of the group. My mom left to find food and we began to set up.

What I had expected to be two or three people standing around all day quickly changed to a very well planned car wash. The leader of the group, James, had brought a table with an umbrella, chairs, fliers, cards, pins, and a cooler with Gatorade. Two other women brought more drinks, snacks, a money box, and even a first aid kit.

I hate to say it, but I was impressed. Leave it to a gay person to be fabulous and prepared at the same time. ; )

The person who ran events at Auto Zone fought us tooth and nail when we needed supplies. I had to beg another employee for the soap that we need and when I asked for towels, he gave us the worst ones in the store so we ended up having to buy some. When I had done car washes with him before for other groups, we would give us not only as much supplies as we needed, but let us pick the brands that we wanted. This time, apparently my mom even almost lost her temper when asking him for soap.

Two girls walked down the street with signs to get us cars and we started. As soon as we were ready, people began to pull in. We were busy for almost an hour before traffic almost came to a full stop for us. Another lady and I took over the signs and screamed at cars to turn in for over an hour, but apparently everyone had clean cars or didn't want a clean car. Once we returned, we decided that the next best method would be to take to the phones, Twitters, and Facebooks. We posted it everywhere and waited awhile. Another friend of mine showed up to help and we took back to the street. A few minutes after holding signs, two other people showed up to help. These guys were in heels (And they pulled them off better than I ever could. XD) but they still came to help and hold signs. As soon as they took to the street, cars began to pour into the parking lot.

We didn't even need to hold signs after. People had seen the rainbow sign, the posts everywhere, or heard from word of mouth and they were ready to help make a change! We had a point where we had people waiting as we washed three or more cars at a time and it was fantastic.

After the wash, we had a chance to break again. The breaks were fascinating because there was a lady there that had originally been a man. I don't recall if she had fully changed, but by looking at her, she was just as woman as I am if not more. I was shocked because despite knowing Dakota, I had never seen someone so far into a change as that and it never crossed my mind that she could have been born anything different. For a male, she was beautiful. She was also very sweet and more than happy to answer the endless questions that came to mind. How long did it take, what did the hormone treatments do, what was it like, why did you do it?
She was accepting of the fact that not everyone knew about it and even people who didn't mind were ignorant.
My mother and I absolutely adored her and learning about it.

Finally, we began to break the car wash down. My mother and I were the first to leave and I'm sure that everyone else got home fine.

We had a fantastic day  and we look forward to helping this group again in the future. Never in my life had I been around so many unique strangers that I instantly felt friendly with and if this is the kind of group that has so much biasness against it, well...I'm terribly sorry for the people who haven't had such an experience. I don't believe that one person there would want to hurt someone or even change their sexuality, they simply want to be accepted and with personalities like they have, I don't understand why they're not.
Just a bit of a rant there. <3


I <3 =