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"This video includes scenes that may cause feelings of stress or tension." My eyes flick down to confirm I'm definitely watching a Pokemon Legends: Z-A trailer and haven't accidentally clicked on one for Resident Evil Requiem. The opening shot of a yellow caution fence blocking access to an abandoned building, melted through with a strange purple goo, however, still gives me doubts.
If that's not enough, the trailer then tells us what we're watching is home-recorded found footage discovered online. Two amateur investigators follow the trail of sickly sweet goo inside the building on the hunt for what's causing it. As they poke around hallways that look almost exactly like they'd belong in the Baker Mansion in Resident Evil 7 there's plenty of tension, from creepy PokeDolls watching them perched on piles of junk to a Sableye lingering almost just out of sight, and even an actual Spinarak jump scare.
Ghost type
It's actually a bit unnerving. Not based on actual gameplay, this little short film is an immersive reminder of how the world of Pokemon, colorful and cutesy as it may be, is also home to hundreds of genuinely strange and dangerous creatures – whether you're living out in the sticks near wild grass or in the hustle and bustle of Lumiose City, in which Pokemon Legends: Z-A is set.
Though the sinister music quickly becomes jovial once the big reveal happens – a new mega evolution for Victreebel that has it bloated with toxic juices – the unease of the minutes before still lingers. The mix of Pokemon's house anime-style visuals and the realism of the abandoned building environment is unusual and off-putting to be sure, but in a way I find quite compelling.
The jokey framing given to The Case of the Sweet Scent Incident trailer for Pokemon Legends: Z-A makes it clear that the horror framing is something of a parody in this context, but long-time Pokemon fans like me know there's a grain of truth in that tone. It's not even one that requires too much out there theory crafting, it's often been plain as day – especially in classic Pokemon material.
The Pokemon anime had more than a few scary moments. Sometimes that'd be the fear of drowning ('Pokemon Shipwreck') or freezing to death ('Snow Way Out!'), or sheer existential dread (Pokemon: The First Movie), but often the more unsettling bits revolve around the supernatural. Who can forget the whole saga where Ash faces off against Gym Leader Sabrina and is turned into a tiny doll, and then sent to navigate the haunted fortress of Gengar and crew? Or the other time where a Gastly is actually the ghost of a young woman waiting for her husband to return from sea? Harrowing.
And let's not forget the lavender colored elephant in the room, either. The first-gen of Pokemon game's Lavender Town, featured in Pokemon Red and Blue, with its graveyard town and haunting music, epitomizes the creepy undertones of Pokemon. You even have to fight a literal Pokemon ghost. Not a ghost type – an actual ghost.
I'm not asking Pokemon to go full Resident Evil… well, OK, maybe I am.
It's no one off, either. Those who take the time to actually read Pokedex entries instead of mashing the button to continue will discover all sorts of facts about their favorite Pokemon they may wish they hadn't. Hypno, for instance, doesn't just eat dreams, but has been known to kidnap hypnotized children. Similarly, the balloon-like Drifloon has also caused children to go missing. It's not just old school, either, even Pokemon Scarlet and Violet carry this forward, with newcomer Greavard not only being rumored to be born from lonely dog Pokemon that died in the wild, to it also being revealed that its fierce loyalty result in it inadvertently absorbing the life force of those around it.
While it does perplex me that a series aimed squarely at very young audiences contains some pretty disturbing content within its own in-game databases, I have always loved that aspect to death.
In fact, it may even be the strange secret sauce that makes the world of Pokemon so compelling the deeper you get into it. Children don't like being talked down to, and I remember being entranced by wanting to explore these strange undercurrents of Pokemon back when I was clutching my purple Game Boy Color. This may even be why there are so many Pokemon 'creepy pasta' stories. Strangely enough, urban rumors just fit the tone.
Which is all to say that – while I doubt we'll get it – I would love to see Pokemon embrace its horror tone even more in an official capacity. This Pokemon Legends: Z-A trailer was great fun because it knowingly winks at all the above, while also giving a glimpse of what a creepier trip into the Pokemon world would look like (before it releases all that tension with slapstick humor).
I'm not asking Pokemon to go full Resident Evil… well, OK, maybe I am – but I don't expect that to really happen. But I'd love to see games that play with that horror tone more completely and in a more fully-featured way than small teases. Maybe yet another Pokemon Snap revival could be the place to do it? Combine the nature photography vibe with Fatal Frame and maybe a touch of survival horror as you just attempt to photograph ghost types in their natural habitat and observe them in their creepy behaviours? And with Pokemon Legends: Z-A returning to Lumiose City from Pokemon X and Y, who knows, maybe we actually will get to see more from the odd, chilling ghost girl encounter.
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