Pokémon is famously child friendly. All its mainline games are given the E for Everyone label, meaning any child old enough to hold a controller can revel in its colorful world and characters. But while the likes of Pikachu and Eevee headline the franchise, some of its pocket monsters are surprisingly dark. Stories of kidnappings and even brutal murders are embedded in Pokédex entries for some of the spookier Pokémon, and other horror stories are occasionally featured too.
IGN has collated what we deem the five creepiest Pokédex entries, but these are by no means them all. Honorable mentions go to Mimikyu, a Pokémon so horrific looking that it dresses itself up like a Pikachu to make friends, while secretly plotting the demise of the franchise mascot; Haunter, who silently stalks humans down dark alleyways until it gets close enough to lick them, causing them to violently shake until death; and Hypno, who even in the Pokémon children’s cartoon, has a storyline about hypnotizing and kidnapping children to feast upon their dreams.
Drifloon
It was finally Friday and the young girl from Floaroma Town beamed. She woke up early and ate breakfast fast, looking for a head start on the weekend’s flower picking. It was her favorite time of year and she was desperate for school to be over, to spend the next two days with her parents, laughing and smiling as they always do. She sprinted as fast as she could to the Valley Windworks, which always had beautiful flowers that couldn’t be found in town. The girl knew it was dangerous to go without a Pokémon of her own but this was the quietest, gentlest spot in Sinnoh.
She arrived to see flowers of pink and yellow and red, but was distracted by something more beautiful: a shining, purple balloon, floating lightly in the breeze. Enamored, the girl ran over and grabbed its string, but was surprised when the balloon turned around to look at her. It had a big, yellow cross in the center of its face and two black, empty eyes. It tugged a little and the girl followed, laughing. It then pulled her a little further, and a little higher. The string wrapped around her wrist. This child wasn’t too heavy or too rough, so the balloon pulled again. It kept going, a little further and a little higher each time, and the girl was never seen again.
Drifloon is the Balloon Pokémon that, similar to the horror franchise IT, adds a touch of terror to the iconography of what’s otherwise a fun toy beloved by children all over. Some of its Pokédex entries are innocent enough, noting it’s “a Pokémon formed by the spirits of people and Pokémon,” which isn’t too sinister for a Ghost type. But others get darker. “It tugs on the hands of children to steal them away,” says one. “Any child who mistakes Drifloon for a balloon and holds on to it could wind up missing,” says another. “Its round body is stuffed with souls and expands each time it leads someone away,” says a third. Drifloon already holds an air of mystery over its appearance in the games, only showing up in Diamond and Pearl on a Friday at the Valley Windworks. But its increasingly creepy Pokédex entries turn that curious intrigue into a murder mystery.
Banette
The boy’s parents grew increasingly worried, for his temperature kept rising, his skin grew more grey, and his speech more intelligeble. Even the best doctors from Mauville and Slateport couldn’t help, and he grew worse each day. He shivered and cried but what seemed like progress came as, between desperate breaths, he uttered something: “My doll.” The parents, devastated but desperate, passed the boy toy after toy from his collection. He had a Pikachu and a Lotad and a Skitty and a Treecko, but he pushed each away with the remnants of his strength.
His parents were confused but searched for what he wanted, in drawers and on shelves and eventually under the bed. And there they saw it: a faded and ragged doll with glowing red eyes and a golden zipper for a mouth. The father reached for it and the mother gasped, for she recognized it. This was a doll her son had years ago, that she threw away when they bought him the latest Poké Doll collection from the department store in Lilycove. It was damp and damaged and dreadful, covered in sharp pins. She jumped as the boy reached towards it, pulling her from the daydream, and looked back to see the doll staring directly at her. She screamed and it jumped from her hands and out the window, and already the boy seemed a little brighter.
Not even Pokémon is immune to using classic horror tropes in its family friendly games. Banette is the Marionette Pokémon and this world’s take on Annabelle or Chucky, with an origin story that’s basically Jessie’s from Toy Story 2 if Jessie sought revenge on and vowed to destroy the girl who abandoned her.
“A doll that became a Pokémon over its grudge from being junked. It seeks the child that disowned it,” reads one Pokédex entry. “This Pokémon developed from an abandoned doll that amassed a grudge. It is seen in dark alleys,” reads another, narrating Banette’s creeping closer. A later entry becomes more blatant. “It’s a stuffed toy that was thrown away and became possessed, ever searching for the one who threw it away so it can exact its revenge,” it says. Banette inflicts this harm by acting as an effigy; it sticks pins in itself to cause harm to the child. Only be unzipping its wide smile, or apparently treating it with love again, alleviates it of negative energy.
Sandygast
It was a beautiful summer’s day and the residents of Melemele Island were relaxing on Big Wave Beach. Some surfed, others sunbathed, and the kids built sandcastles. The sun eventually began to set and, though the other children one by one went home, a determined boy was adamant on finishing his masterpiece: a grandiose sandcastle that put those other kids’ to shame. The beach was practically empty now but the boy kept molding and shaping, so focused he didn’t notice movement behind him.
The other sandcastles were shifting, gaining an unnatural shape. But their shadows slowly grew against the sunset and covered the boy as he looked over his shoulder. Behind him was now a Pokémon, he realized, that looked like a sandcastle but with a large gaping mouth and two soulless eyes. He only knew Pokémon to be friendly so didn’t back away as it shuffled towards him. He reached out for a red spade still dug into its head, assuming it was offering a hand. But he had unknowingly offered his, and the Pokémon swallowed it whole. The boy screamed and pulled away but his entire arm was now consumed, and like quicksand, slowly but surely his entire body was absorbed.
Those who’d assume the lovely sandcastle themed Pokémon Sandygast must represent the sunshine and laughter his real world counterparts do are sorely mistaken. “If you build sand mounds when you’re playing, destroy them before you go home, or they may get possessed and become Sandygast,” reads one of its Pokédex entries, but another alludes to the consequences: “Sandygast mainly inhabits beaches. It takes control of anyone who puts their hand into its mouth, forcing them to make its body bigger.” The horrific end to this story isn’t realized until Sandygast evolves into Palossan though, whose Pokédex entries notes that “Palossand is known as the Beach Nightmare. It pulls its prey down into the sand by controlling the sand itself, and then it sucks out their souls.” Sandygast and Palossan therefore essentially eat children to grow bigger and stronger. Another Pokédex confirms as much. “Buried beneath the castle are masses of dried-up bones from those whose vitality it has drained,” it says.
Frillish
The busy season was finally over and the old woman could once again enjoy her morning swim in peace. She much preferred Undella Town without tourists, even if the water was cooler than during the summer. But she’d swam from these shores almost every day for the past 70 years and he didn’t plan on stopping now. The waves were a touch choppy today but the woman wasn’t deterred, and swam with more vigor than she expected. The current had taken her out a touch far but she didn’t notice, too enamored by her long sought solitude. She finally turned and saw the distant shore, with her heart rate rising just a little upon realizing she was so far out. The old woman kicked her legs to head back but only made it so far before having to stop for breath, lamenting her body wasn’t what it once was.
She carried on a little then stopped for breath again, but upon each pause the current pulled her out further again, and soon she made no progress at all. It was then that a Pokémon appeared from under the water, just inches from her face. The old woman was cautious at first but assumed it wanted to help as it moved closer, so wrapped her hands around it, as it did her too. She could finally take a breather without floating back, as the Pokémon kept her in place. After a few minutes the old woman thanked the friendly creature and moved to swim the remaining distance. But she didn’t move at all. She couldn’t move at all. And not because the Pokémon had a grip on her; she couldn’t move her fingers or toes and now, frozen in fear, her face too became paralyzed. She stared at the Pokémon, which looked past her with distant eyes, as it began to submerge itself in the water. She sank with it, and was soon fully under the waves. The Pokémon held firm as it dragged the old woman to the depths.
Frillish is known as the Floating Pokémon, and its relatively simple appearance hides a morbid penchant for murder. A fear of the ocean and what lurks in depths unknown is fairly common, and Pokémon seemingly leaned on this phobia when designing Frillish. It lives in a den far below the waves but floats to the surface to hunt prey. “With its thin, veil-like arms wrapped around the body of its opponent, it sinks to the ocean floor,” reads its original Pokédex description. But it’s not its strength that allows it to pull victims under. “Its thin, veil-like arms have tens of thousands of poisonous stingers,” another Pokédex entry says. “They paralyze prey with poison, then drag them down to their lairs, five miles below the surface.” The victims of Frillish are therefore presumably still alive as they’re dragged below, fully aware of their final moments before they eventually drown.
Froslass
He shouldn’t have gone out. It was hard enough to see on the mountain at night but in a blizzard it was impossible. But he knew what he’d heard. Something knocked on his door and a woman cried out, but only he lived this far up the mountain. Someone had to be in trouble. He pulled on his boots and gear and went out to search, though was almost immediately turned around and now wandered aimlessly, unable to tell up from down, left from right.
The blizzard showed no signs of dying down so the man was relieved to see a small cave entrance he could spend an uncomfortable but safe night in. He crouched under the low entrance and stepped through. It was still freezing in here, almost unnaturally so, but he’d surely die if he remained outside. He rummaged through his pack before pulling out a lantern and was finally able to see his surroundings. The cave walls were covered in thick sheets of ice themselves, which explained the cold. But the man stepped closer, confused, as the mountain grew mighty cold but not enough to preserve ice permanently. He held up the lantern and looked at his reflection in the ice, though jolted back as he realized the face looking back was not his. It was another man’s, tall and with similar features to him, but frozen behind the ice. His eyes darted around to no reprieve, as he now saw several bodies suspended in the frozen walls. He turned to leave as fast as possible but didn’t make it far, for an icy Pokémon floated ahead of him. It drew closer and he backed up, step after step, before it opened its mouth and a cloudy, frozen breath billowed out. The man’s back pressed against the wall as it overcame him, and as his body froze stiff, he realized he was now just another decoration in this monster’s lair.
Froslass blends the myth of the Japanese Yōkai Yuki-onna and the ancient Greek fable of Medusa. “The soul of a woman lost on a snowy mountain possessed an icicle, becoming this Pokémon. The food it most relishes is the souls of men,” reads one Pokédex entry. “It freezes hikers who have come to climb snowy mountains and carries them back to its home. It only goes after men it thinks are handsome.” Other entries say Froslass knocks on the doors of its victims during blizzards, lures or drags them to its den, and then “neatly lines them up” as “they become decorations.” Chilling.
Ryan Dinsdale is an IGN freelance reporter. He’ll talk about The Witcher all day.
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