I’ve been rewatching the original animated series with my kids and there have been some things that I didn’t think about as a kid that now make me say “wtf…”.
For instance, the episode where the gang boards the St. Anne and it ends up capsizing trapping ash, brock, misty, jessie and james in the sinking ship. Once they get to the point of escape, Misty advises everyone to grab a water pokemon to help them swim to the surface. Jessie and James immediately freak out because they don’t have any water pokemon. Ash uses his squirtle, misty loans starmie to brock and uses goldeen for herself. They then all 3 exit the sinking ship and swim for the surface leaving Jessie and James behind. As a kid I just thought they didn’t have any extra pokemon but now I know that Misty also has Staryu. Misty could have let them use Staryu but she left jessie and james to DIE.
To add to the “WTF” of this scene, James remembers that he purchased a magikarp and they try to use that to help them swim to the surface. Ash’s pidgeotto, while looking for land, comes across team rocket floating and brings them back to the raft where the others are. They all think they are dead and proclaim that it’s their duty to give them a proper sea burial in which they begin to push their allegedly dead bodies into the ocean…
I know there are some really crazy and odd pokedex entries as well. What is your favorite WTF moment in pokemon?
I’ve recently been rewatching the original show, too, and the episode where Ash “dies” and his spirit helps Gastly, Haunter, and Gengar prank Brock and Misty was pretty freaking weird.
Also, Brock’s general overall creepiness toward literally all women is something that I definitely didn’t notice as a kid but makes me very uncomfortable as an adult.
Yeah for sure, I understand what they were trying to do with brock’s character and I am glad that most of the time his advances were met with a swift beating. But looking back on it, his actions toward women in general were pretty unacceptable. I definitely wouldn’t want my son to be doing the things he did.
Speaking of brock and his women shenanigans, could you imagine if brock and Johnny bravo got together and had their own show haha.
On topic though, alot of pokemon’s descriptions on their cards are pretty wtf. Like off the top of my head I can remember dark hypnos saying something about him hanging out waiting on less traveled roads and schools to hypnotize haha.
I went ‘WTF’ when I saw the effect episode 38: Electric Soldier Porygon had on its viewers in Japan. I remember it being broadcasted on Dutch television during the news (the news about it, not the actual scene). That was before Pokémon was a thing in the western world. The fact that hundreds of kids needed to go to the hospital because of a cartoon was terrible and fascinating at the same time.
When the anime finally came to our Dutch shores, I was hoping to see that episode (ah, the morbid curiosity of a teenager…). But of course; it was banned and I had to search for a low-res clip which I could watch with my nifty realPlayer.
Joining @mikejofthecoast with another Hypno reference. Here’s its Fire Red Pokédex entry: “It carries a pendulum-like device. There once was an incident in which it took away a child it hypnotized.” Casual kidnapping. I remember the time when this was a kid friendly game!
It’s probably referring to Lostelle. But now that I think about it, that happened in that same game! So technically Hypno has already kidnapped before, otherwise it wouldn’t have been in the Pokédex already. Repeat offender!
And when was Pokémon a kid friendly game? Capturing animals and training them to fight other animals isn’t exactly a kid friendly concept, right? Imagine a game developer making an animal fighting simulator in this day and age.
Yamask (Pokedex)- “These Pokémon arose from the spirits of people interred in graves. Each retains memories of its former life.”
Yamask (Card)- “Each of them carries a mask that used to be its face when it was human. Sometimes they look at it and cry.”
and its evolution…
Cofagrigus (Pokedex)- “It has been said that they swallow those who get too close and turn them into mummies. They like to eat gold nuggets.”
Cofagrigus (Card)- “Grave Robbers who mistake them for real coffins and get too close end up trapped inside their bodies.”
Would YOU want to become a Yamask after you die? I still haven’t decided, myself.
