The Dark Side of Pocket Monsters: Disturbing Pokémon Backstories You Never Knew

I’ve been diving deep into the world of Pokémon lately, especially with how much I’ve been playing the games. Like a lot of people, I used to just think of the franchise as all cutesy cartoons and lovable characters like Pikachu. But the more you learn about some of these monsters, especially what’s actually written in the Pokedéx, which is basically the official Pokémon encyclopedia, the more disturbing the lore becomes.

Seriously, some of the backstories for these pocket monsters are really dark. You have to wonder what the game creators were thinking when they came up with them!

Here are some of the most adorable-looking Pokémon characters whose origins or abilities are surprisingly disturbing, and in some cases, downright terrifying.

Yveltal: The Life-Sucking Destroyer

Yveltal is a legendary Dark and Flying-type Pokémon, often referred to as the Destruction Pokémon. Its power is ultra-intense because it can absorb the life force of living creatures. The most disturbing part? When it dies, it absorbs the Life Energy of every living thing around it and turns into a cocoon again. It’s essentially a dark, deformed Phoenix whose attacks include “Oblivion Wing” and “Darkness Blade.” Even the name sounds like “Evil-tal.”

Honedge: The Life-Draining Sword

This Pokémon looks just like a sword and is born when a departed spirit inhabits the blade. Beyond its creepy cycloptic eye, it actively tries to attach itself to people to drain their life force. If you dare to grab its hilt, it immediately wraps its blue cloth around your arm and completely drains your life energy. It’s truly a mean, life-stealing sword.

Kabutops: The Ruthless Slasher

Kabutops evolves from Kabuto, a prehistoric, horseshoe-looking Pokémon. This monster has been around since ancient times, terrorising everything. It’s modelled after the skeleton of extinct sea scorpions, but it stands on two legs and has giant scythes for arms. According to its Pokedéx description, it uses those scythes to cut open its prey and drink their bodily fluids. Think about that the next time you encounter one.

Gorebyss: The Cruel Ocean Predator

It’s pink, pretty, and looks like a dolphin/sardine cross; surely it’s harmless, right? Wrong. This serpentine Pokémon lives at extreme ocean depths, allowing it to withstand high pressures. It’s actually pretty ruthless and cruel when attacking others. Its method? It inserts its thin, tubular mouth into the prey’s body and drains them of their bodily fluids. When it’s full, it glows pink.

Haunter: The Soul-Snatching Ghost

As if Ghost Pokémon weren’t scary enough, you should definitely run when you encounter a Haunter. This gaseous Pokémon loves to lick its victims, which afflicts them with convulsions that eventually end in death. And once you’re dead? It takes away your soul. Good luck sleeping after that!

Yamask: The Ghost Who Cries

Yamask is a Spirit and Ghost-type Pokémon often found near ancient ruins. What makes it so unsettling is that it is the spirit of a long-ago human, and it now roams around carrying the mask of its former human face. If anyone wears the mask, they become possessed. Grave robbers who mistake Yamask for real coffins and get too close end up trapped inside their own bodies. However, this Pokémon is also oddly sentimental; sometimes, when it looks at itself in the mask, it sheds tears because of all the painful human memories trapped inside.

Phantump: The Spirit of a Lost Child

This Grass and Ghost-type Pokémon looks exactly like a half-tree stump, half-phantom. According to old tales, Phantumps are tree stumps possessed by the spirits of children who died while lost in the forest. They can even imitate the sound of a child’s voice. They are only meant for people who intend to harm the forest, which is a small comfort, but still… yikes.

Gothitelle: The Harbinger of Death

Gothitelle possesses extremely powerful psychic abilities, capable of showing stars from light-years away and having visions of the past and future. Unfortunately, this also means it knows when its trainer will die. So, if you catch or evolve one and see it start to cry, it probably means you’re going to pass away pretty soon.

Duskull: The Floating Grim Reaper

Duskull is a floating skeleton head that looks just like the Grim Reaper. Its piercing stare can leave you frozen with fear. It’s said that if a child is scolded by their parents, Duskull will silently find them, spirit them away, and enjoy the sound of their cries. Parents, maybe just stick to grounding your kids instead.

Mewtwo: The Engineered Super-Villain

Mewtwo was created after years of horrific gene-splicing and DNA engineering based on the rare Pokémon Mew. When Mewtwo realised the scientists were trying to engineer him into the ultimate battle Pokémon, he destroyed the lab, killed the scientists, and set out to wipe humanity out. He wanted to leave Earth inhabited only by wild and cloned Pokémon. Talk about a Pokémon super-villain.

Drifloon: The Kidnapper

Drifloon is another Pokémon with deceivingly innocent looks. Formed by the spirits of people and Pokémon, it’s a Ghost/Flying type. Children often mistake it for a regular balloon and are unwittingly carried off by it. The Pokedéx notes that these children simply vanish, and no one has any idea where they disappear to.

Shedinja: The Soul Sucker

Shedinja looks pretty normal from the front, but it has a hole open on its back that shows it has no inside; it’s just a hard shell. It is believed that anyone who looks into the empty back hole will get their spirit stolen. It’s a theory we definitely don’t recommend testing.

Grimer: The Toxic Blobs

Grimer was born from sludge that settled on a polluted seabed. Its toxic body renders any soil barren after coming into contact with it. Even worse, pieces of one Grimer's body can break off and become more Grimers. Oh, and they also like to drink dirty sewage water.

When you look beyond the animated series and into the official descriptions, the world of Pokémon has a fascinating, dark, and often horrifying undercurrent. It definitely makes you look at those cute, magical tennis balls a little differently!