Top darkest Pokemon Anime episodes

I am a longtime viewer and fan of the Pokemon Anime (which was the starting point of Pokemon for me). The series is often marketed for kids though every now and then, some of the episodes can get dark and disturbing. Here are some of the episodes or moments that fit the bills. Note that I may count an arc as a whole, count two epsiodes as one if they linked together and discounting movies and side series (though some can get dark too). And be warned that there will be spoilers.

12) Pokemon I choose you/Pallet Party Panic

 Even the very first episode has its moments with the Ash and Pikachu being chased by a huge flock of Spearows after mistakenly throwing a rock at it (due to Ash trying to catch a Pidgey and Pikachu refused to cooperate). It shows how vicious the relentless flock can get with them chasing Ash and Pikachu. It gets worst in the later episode Pallet Party Panic when the Fearow that evolved from the same Spearow Ash have hit have turned up and remembered Ash, coming back for revenge. If that wasn’t bad enough, it’s a larger one and has bullied some Pidgey and Pidgeottos.  This shows that being face to face with a large predatory bird with a grudge against you is terrifying.

11) Abra and the Psychic Showdown/Haunter versus Kadabra 

I feel that a lot of Gym Leaders have more character and bigger screen time than their gaming counterparts (especially those that are his travelling companions). Sabrina stands out for having a rather darker backstory and character. She started off as a young, lonely girl who became obsessed using her Psychic powers, becoming destructive using them. This have caused her to have a split personality with Sabrina’s mind focus on her cool, callous, power hungry half and her childlike half manifested into her doll. But the disturbing part is when she transported Ash and his friends into a doll house after losing to her Gym battle, trying to crush them with her giant ball. Worst still, she have the ability to turn people into dolls including her Mother (implied that she stuck as one for years) along with Brock and Misty when Ash’s Haunter didn’t turn up to battle. If Haunter didn’t help Sabrina’s personalities to merge, then they would have remained as dolls for a very long time.

10) Do I hear a Ralts?

Whilst not the darkest episode itself, the episode is definitely mature and serious.  It’s about Max finding a sick Ralts and have to rush to the Pokemon centre, bumping into many obstacles along the way including Team Rocket who were trying to capture it (they may or may not have been aware of Ralts having pneumonia but it was rather petty of them regardless). There was even one time when Max emotionally breaks down when he tried to get Ralts to eat but it was too weak as if it’s given up.  Thank goodness that Max has made it to the Pokemon Centre in time. Have he been too late, then the series would have taken to a darker turn. Having said that, I find this one of the best, if not the best episode of the Hoenn saga.

9) Paul and Chimchar

A lot of darker episodes are from the Diamond and Pearl series. During Ash’s journey in Sinnoh, he meets a cruel trainer named Paul who is well known for mistreating his Chimchar every time it loses. It gets rather dark as it shows psychological abuse which could be relatable in real life for those have gone through abusive relationships and the effects it have. The two episodes ‘Glory Blaze!’ and ‘Tears for Fears’ shows the effects of PTSD with Chimchar’s reactions fighting Zangoose. Thank goodness Ash offered Chimchar to join his team, giving the love it needs and making Paul’s defeat in the Sinnoh League as its fully evolved form Infernape rewarding. It also makes one of the well written character developments by the standards of the show.

8) Ghoul Daze!

Here’s an episode that features ghosts. During Ash’s time in Pokemon Summer Academy, there was a sinister Ghost Girl who who tries to lure people coming into the Spirit World including Conway (who almost lures him off a cliff), Meowth, Ash, Pikachu, Angie and Shinx. She would have succeeded if it weren’t for Professor Rowan and Dusknoir rescuing them. The way she gets disintegrated into the portal is also chilling. Conway’s reaction when he finds out that his partner was a ghost summaries this episode.

 7) Scare at the Litwick Mansion!

The Litwick evolution line are always known to have one of the most disturbing Pokedex entries and this episode shows this as the Litwick uses their ability to drain their life energy. Team Rocket were the victims. You can tell that they became lethargic as their life force becomes drained as they stayed in the mansion. This has lead the Litwicks to open the portal to the Ghost world and tried to suck them in. Jessie and Cilan have nearly suffered this fate but luckily, they were rescued by Ash and James respectively. This make this episode quite a scare.

6) The Battle Finale of Legend

Cyrus from Team Galatic is more ruthless and less redeeming than his gaming counterpart, harming anyone who gets in the way of creating a new world as shown in earlier episodes when he orders Commander Mars to blow up Iron Island with Ash and the others in it. But what makes this episode on the list is how frighteningly close he is to succeeding his goals as he uses the Red Chain to control Dialga and Palkia, torturing them which nearly cause the entire Sinnoh region to be destroyed by a black hole. Even though his plans have failed, Cyrus enters into the portal himself which disappears, much to Mars’ dismay. Whilst Ash and the others have saved the world, one would wonder what happened to Cyrus’ fate.

5) Pokemon Ranger and the Kidnapped Riolu

Hunter J is one of the few Pokemon villains who is a Complete Monster. All of her appearances turns the episode to a more serious and darker toning. She is a ruthless mercencry who petrifies Pokemon to capture and sell them for the black market and have little concern for her own men working for her. Pokemon Ranger and the Kidnapped Riolu shows the full extennt of her pure evilness as she tries to murder Ash for getting in her way by using her Salamence to set the forest on fire with Ash and his friends in it, orders her Drapion to crush Ash and ejected him from her ship to his doom. If it wasn’t for Ash’s ability to read Riolu’s aura, then she would have got away with kidnapping Riolu. All of this have lead to Hunter J’s demise who’s ship got struck down into the lake by the Lake Trio.

Her other appearance Pillar of Friendship also gets a mention which shows her wanting to capture Regigigias without caring for the consequences and petrifies the Regis and The Pyramid Kind Brandon as they sacrifice themselves. 

4) One Journey Ends, Another Begins/Memories in the Mist!

The Sun and Moon series have two episodes that covers death without saying the word death but the implication are definitely there.

The first one ‘One Journey Ends, Another Begins’ features Litten’s mentor Scoutland whose condition is deteriorated due to old age as explained by Nurse Joy when Ash takes it to the Pokemon Centre. Even though we don’t get to hear what Nurse Joy is saying, its obvious that Scoutland is at the end of its life but nevertheless, heartbreaking as we watch the characters grieve. This can hit hard for anyone, especially if they have gone through a loss of a pet themselves. Even the staff were affected as explained by Ash’s voice actress Sarah Natochenny whose cat have passed away before recording the episode.

The other episode that covers death is ‘Memories in the Mist!’, focusing on Mallow’s Mother have died of illness when Mallow was young. Mallow’s last words were her outburst of her anger and frustration, saying that she hated her for always apologising for being sick and not being there for her. We can tell in the present that Mallow has regretted saying those words since then. Luckily, it gets better when Mallow gets to meet her Mother’s spirit in Tapu Fini’s Mist, allowing her to spill out her bottled feelings to make amends and focus on being thankful for being there in her life which make it just as emotional to watch.

It’s great that we have the Pokemon Anime to break out their shell as they cover death in a kid orientated show, showing that going through the loss of a loved one is ok as it’s a part of life that everyone experiences, making those two episodes well received.

3) Team Flare Arc (Pokemon XYZ)

The later arc of X and Y were praised for pushing the series into a darker and edger territory. It all got started during the last act of the Mega Evolution special when Alain pushed his travelling companion Mairin away, leading her Chespin named Chespie to be exposed to high levels of energy from the Zygarde 10% forms, falling it into a coma, much to Mairin’s distress and Alain’s anguish and regret which was hard to watch. Fast forward to Lumoise Conference, the leader of Team Flare Lysandre have successfully controlled Zygarde, leading it to its destruction throughout Kalos in order to create a new world with Alain being his unwitting pawn as he collected Mega Evolution energy to not revive Chespie but to contribute to Lysandre’s goals. Alain may have won his biggest battle against Ash but he suffered from the greatest lost upon finding out that he was being used. A whole lot have happened throughout Team Flare’s destruction including Ash being captured by Team Flare, Squishy being under control of Team Flare with Bonnie desperately trying to free it, the tragic sacrifice of Clembot and everyone stopping the Giant Rock that have Chespie in it from reaching the Anistar City’s Sundial. All of this makes it an enjoyable arc to watch throughout (although 'The Right Hero for the Right Job!' had me dangerously close to tears) with it’s again, darker and edger toning which makes it one of the best, if not the best arc.

2) Lillie &Nihilego arc

The Sun and Moon season have a light hearted and wackier tone. That if you don’t count the two aforementioned episodes that covers death or anything that focus on Lillie and Nihilego. Since the start of the series, Lillie is shown to be afraid of touching Pokemon. We learned that it was due to a traumatic incident when she was attacked by a Nihilego. It gets worse in Faba’s Revenge (and the episode before that when Faba tried to erase her memory of the incident) when he kidnapped Nebby in order to open a wormhole for Nihilego to enter the real world. The episode ends when Lusamine allowed herself for Nihilego to abduct her to save her kids, leaving Lillie crying out for her. Even though they all went to rescue her in later episodes, it doesn’t change the fact that the episodes ends in one of the most disturbing cliffhanger. It doesn’t get any better when they do try to rescue her as unlike in the games when Lusamine willingly takes control of Nihilego, it’s Nihilego who takes control of her as shown when she acts like a child throwing a tantrum for ‘taking away her precious Nihilego’. It takes Ash and Pikachu using their Z Move and Lillie’s courage to free her. I like on how this arc differs from the games, giving a darker and edger aspect for this season.

Honourable Mentions:

Tentacool and Tentacruel have its moments with a Dynamax er I mean giant Tentacruel destroying the city out of revenge for its home being destroyed by people. 

Jessie’s Mimikyu is a disturbing character with its grudge on Pikachu though its moments are usually played for laughs. That said, it does have its moments as shown on its debut episode ‘The Guardian’s Challenge!’ when Meowth looks underneath its costume which have almost caused his death. When he got round, he implies that he have been sent to Hell and refused to translate what Mimikyu have said because it was so disturbing. That is certainly an impression for Mimikyu’s debut.

At this time of writing, I have yet to watch ‘A Scare to Remember’ but the plot about Pikachu having Amnesia with Meowth convincing him that he’s a member of Team Rocket and turning against Ash sounds quite dark.

There are some episodes involving Pokemon being mind controlled ‘Pikachu Re-Volts’ and the Team Plasma arc also earns a mention as they turn against their trainers. Ash had it bad with Pikachu in ‘Ash and N: A Clash of Ideas!’ when he couldn’t snap out Pikachu being controlled by Team Plasma, forcing N to give them the Light Stone. Then there was a time when Ash became processed by an ancient evil king in ‘Battling the Enemy Within’.

There was one time in the Alola League when Guzma orders his Golisopod to take down Lana’s Primarina in a rather brutal way including choking her with Throat Chop to stop her using Sparking Aria and taking her down with Poison Jab. And this was apparently legal in the League! It’s a good thing that Guzma lost to Ash in the following episodes.

In the same season, there was a two part episode when Ash was sent to a parallel world where a Guzzlord have showed up and devoured everything in Alola, staying true on what Guzzlord can do.

1 ) Evolution by fire

During Tepig’s first appearance in the Unova series, we see the affects of it being abused and abandoned as it was shown its mouth being tied up, causing it to stave which is something that is unfortunately happens in real life caused by animal abusers. Since it joined Ash’s team, it was known to become sad every time it loses. But it wasn’t until we were shown why in Evolution by fire. It meets up with its sociopathic trainer Shamus, thinking that he has the best intentions for it, only for Shamus to reject him again as he grabs it and tosses him. Worst still, it revealed that he pretended to be sad when he abandons his Pokemon to stop them from following him, implying that he have done this before to several other Pokemon just because he finds them weak. This have psychology break Tepig during their battle. No wonder Iris was so angry with Shamus and Ash takes it personal to beat him. This makes him one of the cruelest trainers, worst than Paul. Even Shamus himself looks shady and unnerving when he does various expressions. It all makes it satisfying when Tepig evolves into Pignite, not only defeating Shamus but uses Flamethrower right into his face.

So there you have it, whilst the Pokemon Anime have its lighthearted, humorous, idealistic and emotional moments, it does have its darker moments too which makes these episodes stand out and think twice if the Anime is really for kids. Reguardless, I’ll keep on watching the series as they are a part of my childhood that again gets me into Pokemon.