11) The world of Pokémon was ravaged by a generation-killing war
There’s a theory floating around the interwebs that paints a dark, horrific history of the Pokémon world, or at least Red/Blue’s Kanto region. Many players have noted that in Pokémon Red/Blue, there is a large absence of middle aged men in the game world. Think about the last time you played Pokémon. An abnormally large amount of Pokémon trainers chillin’ in the wild were little kids. Think about it. Why were there so many damn toddlers roaming the wilds unattended? There were plenty of elderly men and women in the world (Professor Oak), and many middle aged women (the player’s mom, the nurses), but a lack of middle aged men. What about the player’s father, or your rival’s father? While most people wouldn’t worry about the absence of middle aged dudes, some Pokémon fans have rationalized this through the creation of yet another insane theory.

The electric-type gym leader, Lt. Surge mentions being a survivor of some sort of brutal war that almost took his life (he claims that his Pokémon saved his life). Other trainers in the gym were once soldiers in some sort of army, which presumably fought in a war. A war where Pokémon were used as weapons. Let that sink in for a moment, as you try to imagine the horror of hundreds of terrified soldiers storming beaches being held by goddamn Charizards. Some fans believe this war was the cause of the lack of adult men, claiming that all of them had been killed in the war. Essentially, some people are speculating that this war caused a ‘generation kill’, and that the young children of the Kanto region are the first generation to find peace. This also explains why the player’s father is absent (hint, he died), and why the rival character has no parents (hint, they died). While a lot of this theory involves speculation and imagination, the horrifying idea of a human-Pokémon war that wiped out an entire generation is pretty damn sweet.