Rumors and Speculation

[PAK Man]

By now, everybody knows that rumors run rampant in Pokémon. Even as we speak, there are rumors about upcoming episodes, movies, games, and everything else. But what ones are the rumors that you have remembered over the years? Even years afterward, they still can't be let go, and people still have a hard time coming to terms with them being rumors.

Being a gullible person myself, I've fallen for many rumors, especially during Johto. For instance, I can remember thinking that Ash captured the Hoothoot in Illusion Confusion and that it evolved into his Noctowl. I also recall believing one that said Jessie captured the Totodile in Don't Touch That 'Dile, and Ash eventually rescued it from her and it became his. The catch was that whenever Totodile was released, it would clamp down on Jessie's hair. Then one stated that Ash gave Heracross to a school boy studying Pokémon in Tricks of the Trade instead of giving it to Oak, and Ash capturing the head Ledyba from The Whistle Stop.

What rumors does everyone else remember?

 

[Blackjack Gabbiani]

I remember the original rumor about movie 2 was that the villian was an insane researcher. This persisted for quite some time in the English fandom, even after the movie was released in Japan (it had died off by the time the English release came around though).

...although it's canon that Jirarudan *is* a scientific genius, so this may have been an initial plan for him.



Also with movie baddies, people *still* ask "Is it true that the masked Rocket is from the future?", which usually goes along with the belief that he's Jesse and James's son. Which...I don't know what the hell that comes from.

 

[Cybersai]

The big rumors I remember back when I believed everything I read online:

- Misty was going to capture Jigglypuff

- Tracey was going to continue to travel with the group in Johto.

- Ash was going to reunite with Pidgeot at some point

- Ash was going to challenge the Elite 4 and beat Lance (this was circa the Orange/Johto days)


By the time middle Johto was airing I was already old enough to stop being so gullible about all the stupid things people made up online. And even though I never believed this, there are always endless "Misty will return" rumors every couple of months that never come true. Its mostly little kids on other minor Pokemon forums that spread these rumors, or on places like youtube.

 

[Ichigo29]

I remember falling for a few rumors
The orange islands would be in Gold/Silver XD
No more games would be made after D/P yes I fell for it <.<
Ash's father was to be shown after Pokemon League My friend told me this XD
Thats about it or at least all I can remeber

 

[Cybersai]

LOL, I forgot that one about Orange Islands actually appearing in one of the games.

I think there was a rumor of the Orange Islands being in Pokemon Yellow, and before the Sevii Islands were named in FR/LG, I remember people thinking the Orange Islands would be included in FR/LG.

Good times.

 

[Lil Brother]

-Movie 3 being the last movie. I remember reading the English title was to be "Pokémon: The Final Movie" online at some point.

-Ho-Oh was going to be named "Rainbow Bird", or so said a couple of first grade kids at my elementary school.

-Marril's English name = Pikablu. I think I got that from some magazine. Didn't discover the "Pikablu is a hidden Pokémon in Red and Blue" rumor until years later, at which point I was too old to believe it.

-Giovanni being Ash's father, of course.

And a couple I started as a little kid. :3

-The third game for Gen 2 being called Pokémon White, with Togepi as the cover Pokémon.

-The existence of a "super movie" after the completion of Johto, featuring all of Ash's Pokémon returning.

 

[Pikapi]

-When an Ash/Misty site had pictures of the Movie 3 bootleg DVD with subtitles and everyone thought Kasumi's last name was Yawa because of the subs. I looked into it at some point recently and found one page saying she'd simply said "Ya wa Kasumi" (I am Kasumi)

 

[Argy]

Pikablu, oh yeah. I was on that bandwagon until it was proved otherwise. I didn't know what else the hell to call it.

The worst rumors I believed, or rather hoped were true, were when I was a shipping forum moderator at TRHQ. I was an obsessive Rocketshipper, and most of the rumors were centered around the movies that hadn't been released in the U.S. yet. Let's see: Jessie and James confess their love for each other when they are falling to the ice from Lugia; Jessie gets frozen in crystal, and James confesses his love to her in the meantime; Vicious is their crazy kid from the future, and all the main characters see themselves married up in the future thanks to Celebi. It kind of stopped after the fourth movie. Go ahead and laugh; I think it's hilariously stupid. Let's not mention all the rumors about the Japanese version of "Holy Matrimony!"

There was a collectibles store in an outlet mall near my home around 2000, and they had weekly Pokémon TCG gatherings (not League-affiliated... there wasn't really all that much of a League back then, actually).

Anyway, the store was selling a copy of the "Revelation Lugia" movie booklet with the Ancient Mew card inside. No one else at the store seemed to know about Gold and Silver or any of its Pokémon except the ones in the first movie. A kid about a year younger than me insisted that the Pokémon on the booklet cover was Mewtwo and that I was making Lugia up.

I was guilty of that once, with Togepi. I was talking to a friend who had recently moved across the country, and she said her brother was watching a new Pokémon episode on TV (WB). She said it was about "Togepi," but I had never heard that name and thought at the time that I knew everything about Pokémon, so I told her she must have been mistaking it for Porygon or something else.

 

[Blackjack Gabbiani]

Oh yes, remember when everyone thought Mewtwo was going to be in the second movie because he was in the preview for some reason? So when he wasn't, people rewound through all the panning "mass pokemon movement" scenes to try to find him?

 

[AtoMan]

No more games would be made after D/P yes I fell for it <.<

It wasn't a rumor, but an official information (more precisely, it was about how it's the last generation). Seems they completely scrapped the idea... Too bad.

 

[Every Breaking Wave]

I only remember a couple of things, all more recent.

*May would travel through Sinnoh with Ash, while Brock would stay in Pewter
*Paul would be travelling through Sinnoh with Ash and Dawn
*Dawn would not be doing contests; she would be involved in a legendary quest involving Dialga and Palkia
*Brock would catch Chimchar

 

[Gaiash]

I remember believing a rumour that Ash was going to catch Volbeat. I also remember the Pikablu talk but by then Orange Islands was already in the UK and my responce was simply "But thats Marill, and it looks nothing like Pikachu."

 

[QuietDragon]

>>>Also with movie baddies, people *still* ask "Is it true that the masked Rocket is from the future?", which usually goes along with the belief that he's Jesse and James's son. Which...I don't know what the hell that comes from.

It was originally a dream of one of the TRHQ forum members which they posted, that really wasn't intended as a rumor but people spread it as one.

I'd like to think any child of theirs would be MUCH better looking than Vicious and, you know, actually look something like them.

>>>Paul would be travelling through Sinnoh with Ash and Dawn

Does it count as one? I mean, the original DP anime promo art made it look like he was one of the group. An easy mistake to make, I think.

Never fell for any rumors (except that DP might not have Takeshi in it at all, but that's only because he wasn't in the initial anime series promotional artwork) and I've been in the fandom since I was twelve. How uneventful...

Though, I did believe that all the dub voice actors would be replace and that 4Kids lost the rights to Pokemon, which I remember Dogasu being all it's impossible, can't believe you people are falling for this, etc. on his website.

 

[Chaosblazer]

I remember hearing the plot of illusion confusion being entirely different from what we saw when it came on, Also remember how people thought Ash's Cyndaquil would evolve fighting Jasmine's steelix.

 

[PAK Man]

Anybody remember that huge Movie 2 rumor that had Ash capturing Lugia with a Master Ball?

This one isn't anime-specific, but I remember my friend telling me not only about "Pikablu," but about a whole bunch of other fake Pokémon from Generation II. Included amongst them; Pikaleaf (when one uses a Leaf Stone on Pikachu), Pikaflare (Fire Stone), Nidogod (super-evolution of Nidoking), Butterflap (an evolution of Butterfree), and he also told me Missingo. was what Ash saw in the first episode, so I believed him and refused to believe Ho-Oh was its name.

I also remember thinking that Brock captured the Magcargo from Some Like it Hot with his Heavy Ball.

- Misty was going to capture Jigglypuff

- Ash was going to reunite with Pidgeot at some point

For me, I thought Ash had actually captured Jigglypuff. This came from me watching all the episodes up to Dig Those Diglett on VHS, then my friend (the same one with the evolution rumors) inviting me over and us watching Volcanic Panic. If you recall, that episode had Ash running after Jigglypuff, saying "Get back here, Jigglypuff!" My friend and I were convinced for months that Ash had captured Jigglypuff some point after The Song of Jigglypuff, but before Volcanic Panic. To this day, I can't figure out why Ash was running after it.

The Pidgeot rumor for me received added momentum when Tracy West published a book entitled "Race to Danger," which was essentially professional fanfiction. In it, Ash had retrieved Pidgeot and used it several times in the novel.

 

[Kthleen]

I seem to remember people thinking that Silver from one of those Pokémon Chronicles episodes was Ash's long-lost father because some thought the way he reacted when Richie said Ash's name suggested he already knew who Ash is.

Then there's May's last name being "Yura." (The announcer actually said, "May, you're up!")

I ever so vaguely remember the "Jessie gets frozen in crystal, James confesses his love to her" thing, but I'm not sure from where.

 

[peno]

I remember rumor about Butterfree. Some people claimed that in Japanese version of "Bye Bye Butterfree" they say all Butterfree dies after mating. This turns to be nonsens but some people still believe it (I personally fell on it too). I think it comes from some Anime Comparison website (not Dogasu's, there were at least one another Pokémon Comparison website in past), but I am not sure about it.

This is not actual rumor, but my stupidity, but I mention it anyway. I first found out info about Tracey on some German Pokémon Fansite, but since I were not that good in German language, I menage to mistranslated it and believe Tracey is girl. That were long before Orange Islands starts in Czech, and I remember I were very upset when they anounces Tracey will be voiced by boy in Czech dub. Fortunately, I managed to go through Internet once again and find out I was wrong about Tracey.

 

[RedFalcon]

Fallen for the whole "Misty is returning/Will Return next series" countless times. But, as we know, all of those have proven false, and there is a 99.99% chance Misty will never return as a regular cast member. Ah well, I just hope she gets a guest appearance soon,*shrug*,Hopefully this time with some Pokeshippy scenes. (RAAAAGE at the lack of them in her most recent appearancse)

Oh, and I also fell for a few rumors about Ash reuniting with his Pokemon. (Pidgi, Butterfree, etc.)

 

[Geodude]

Why is it rumors like that from kids ALWAYS start with “My friend said”? It's like they don't want to admit to being stupid.

 

[Lil Brother]

Mmm, now that I think about it, I recall a super-evolution of Charizard: Charflame. I remember thinking when I saw Charmander in Snow Way Out that I must have missed a string of episodes involving Ash's Charizard evolving to Charflame and then de-evolving to Charmander after using up all its energy, Digimon-style.

To this day, I can't figure out why Ash was running after it.

What's there to figure out? They were trying to stop a volcano from erupting, Ash saw Jigglypuff running around, and tried to stop if from signing and indirectly killing everyone. Just a comedic little moment.