Pokemonis a light-hearted anime mainly intended for kids, but it has its share of dark moments that you will understand better if you’re an adult watching it. People and Pokemon actually die in the series at times, although it’s quite rare. Ash has gotten into multiple troubles throughout his journey and not all ordeals are as easy.
The Indigo League season was also heavily censored for these reasons, but they left some dark things like Sabrina’s Dollhouse. We have also seen villains that were too dark for Pokemon, such as Lysandre and Hunter J. These moments might make you feel disturbed or totally emotional.
8Lysandre’s Plans
Pokemon X And Y
Team Flare was underwhelming in the Pokemon games, but Lysandre is one of the most twisted villains in the Pokemon anime. In his quest to obtain Zygarde’s completed form, he used and betrayed many people, including Mairin and Alain.
He promises to fix Mairin’s Chespin when he gets hurt in one of his experiments but instead uses him as a core for his weapon of mass destruction. Lysandre also kidnaps Ash to exploit his and Greninja’s powers to gain control of Zygarde.
7Ash Almost Freezing To Death
Pokemon Indigo League
Ash has died a few timesin the anime, but he was somehow revived every time. In the Snow Way Out episode of the Indigo League season, Ash gets trapped in snowy weather. He took refuge in a cave in the cold weather to save himself from freezing to death, which seems like a dark ordeal for a ten-year-old child.
Ash kept his Pokemon in their poke balls to keep him warm, but they come out and cling to his body, trying to help him survive. Tears flowed down Ash’s face as he was moved by his Pokemon willing to sacrifice their lives for him.
6Pokemon Hunter J
Pokemon: Diamond And Pearl
In the Pokemon anime other than the evil organizations trying to destroy the world, there are Pokemon Hunters who use Pokemon for monetary gains. Pokemon Hunter J is one of the notable ones that appear in the Diamond and Pearl anime.
She almost took Pikachu away from Ash and kept it along with other Pokemon that she intended on selling. Pokemon Hunter J later joins forces with Cyrus, but she is later killed by Uxie, Azelf, and Mesprit who send her to the void.
5Luxray’s Death
Pokemon The Movie: I Choose You!
Pokemon don’t die in battles, they temporarily faint and are brought back into health after Ash and party visit the Pokemon Center. There areonly a few Pokemon deathsshown in the anime and among the saddest ones was Luxray’s.
As a child Sorrel got lost in the freezing weather, and his Pokemon Luxray helped him survive the night with his warm fur. Unfortunately, when Sorrel wakes up, he finds Luxray frozen to death. Luxray had a smile on his face which made a scene a bit more disturbing, considering that he was glad to sacrifice his life for his partner.
4Lillie’s Trauma
Sun And Moon
Pokemon Sun and Moon anime focuses on Lillie’s character even more than the games. Lillie loves Pokemon and learning about them, but despite that, she is scared of touching them. She overcomes her trauma progressively as the anime continues.
The events that caused her trauma are much darker. During one of her mother’s experiments, a summoned Nihilego attacked Lillie when she was a little girl. The alien Pokemon tried to carry her away, which was a bit too much for the child to handle.
3Sir Aaron’s Fate
Pokemon: Lucario And The Mystery Of Mew
After Sir Aaron sealed Lucario in his staff, his fate was unknown after that. There wasn’t much shown about what happened to him amidst the war that he tried to stop. For the most part, Lucario took Sir Aaron’s actions as a betrayal without knowing the actual truth.
In the final scene of the movie, the time flower shows that when the Tree of the Beginning was withering, he sacrificed all of his aura for Mew. This leads to his death, and Lucario also follows his path and they both end up reuniting in the afterlife.
2Amber’s Death
Pokemon: Mewtwo Strikes Back
Amber’s Death is a part of Mewtwo’s Backstory in the first Pokemon movie. As we know, Mewtwo was created genetically in a lab by Doctor Fuji. The scientist also had a daughter named Amber who he lost when she was still a child.
In an attempt to get her daughter back, he tries to create a clone version of her using her genes. Unfortunately, her condition becomes unstable, so Ambertwo is a failed experiment who dies among other Pokemon clones. Mewtwo was the only one who was successfully created.
This scene was removed from the 4kids English dubbed version of the movie.
1Sabrina’s Dollhouse
The original Pokemon anime was intended for kids, yet it has a fair share of dark moments. Notably, Sabrina owning a dollhouse where she stores actual humans is pretty disturbing.
As a psychic-type gym leader, she is agreat esperas well and can turn people into dolls. She trapped Ash in his human form inside the dollhouse, and almost killed the party by throwing a ball at them. Apparently it’s Sabrina’s trauma that caused her to act this way. She had trouble making friends and during her loneliness she focused on honing ruthless powers instead.
Sabrina had also made her family as dolls and they were stuck in the dollhouse.
