Pokémon is known for having cute critters, bright colors, and family-friendly tones. That being said, the world of Pokémon has more darkness to it than what’s on the surface, and it’s not just the battling. The franchise has some seriously messed up details throughout its lore. Here are just a few of the incredibly dark details found throughout the world of Pokémon.

Cubone’s Mother

Most Pokémon fans tend to know this one, but it’s heartbreaking whether you’re aware of it or not. The awesome and adorable Cubone is always seen wearing a skull on their head. That skull isn’t just some random decoration for a cool character design; it’s the skull of their dead mother. Not only are they orphaned, but they then wear a piece of their loved one’s corpse. It’s both creepy and gross for something that’s presented as so cute. 

Drifloon and Drifblim Takes People and Pokémon

Drifloon and its evolved form Drifblim are also Pokémon that appear to be pretty cute, but have something creepy lurking beyond the surface. Drifloon may seem like just a balloon, but their Pokédex entry in Pokémon Diamond mentions that they are formed by the spirits of both people and Pokémon. In Pearl, it says that it tugs on the hands of children to steal them away. When it evolves into Drifblim, the Pokédex says that it’s a collection of souls. According to this, Drifloon snatches up children and their Pokémon until it has enough of them to evolve. Does it eat them to absorb their souls? Apparently that is the case. 

Hypno Has Kidnapped

Hypno isn’t just able to hypnotize other Pokémon, but he’s able to hypnotize people, too. That’s not that dark, until he starts hypnotizing little kids and luring them away. Considering that Hypno and Drowzee feed off of dreams, Hypno likely has abducted children to eat their dreams. When those kids don’t return, they’re probably dead. If dream-eating hurts, then those kids were also tortured. It’s anyone’s guess as to why the developers thought this was a necessary detail. 

Abused Shadow Pokémon

In Pokémon Colosseum, Team Cipher creates Shadow Pokémon by forcing them to undergo an experimental process that removes their will and turns them into an empty shell. This diabolical team takes innocent, sentient Pokémon and puts them through torture and abuse so that they can control every move they make. They basically Poké-lobotomize these poor creatures. Battling against Shadow Pokémon may look like a fun game mechanic, but it’s actually super sad. 

Acts of Terrorism and Taking Hostages

Team Rocket and other evil teams throughout the video game series regularly hold buildings full of people hostage. This totally implies that they intend on killing or at least harming innocent people unless they get their way. These evil teams have also attempted and sometimes succeeded in legitimate acts of terrorism. Team Magma and Team Aqua both attempted to kill all of humanity to reshape the world in their vision. Team Flare also wanted to kill off millions of innocent lives. The boss of Team Flare, Lynsadre, even successfully blows up a building and kills himself in the process. That’s an awful lot of death and destruction for a series with a tiny yellow mouse-like creature for a mascot. 

People Eat Pokémon

Pokémon are advertised to be people’s new adorable best friends. However, the people in this world absolutely eat Pokémon. Sure, we eat the animals in our world too, and it’s not much different. However, we’re not eating the animals that are sentient enough to communicate with us or the ones we’re best friends with like our pets. It’s been shown numerous times that Magikarp are regularly chopped up and eaten. It’s also said that Slowpoke tails are a delicacy and often sought after for an especially delicious meal. For all this bonding that people do with their Pokémon, it’s pretty morbid that they’re also eating them, especially when the anime, manga, and games have shown that real animals do exist to an extent.