Pokemon Z-A missed its chance to unravel the franchise's creepiest mystery

As a sort of pseudo-sequel to Pokémon X and Y, Pokémon Legends: Z-A has reintroduced us to some familiar faces from the series' sixth generation of games. However, one face in particular is conspicuously absent: Lumiose City's "ghost girl."

That's what the fandom calls her, anyway. In truth, none of us know exactly who or what she is—which makes her all the more terrifying. But let's back up a bit.

For readers who haven't had the unsettling encounter etched into their memories over the past 13 years, here's some context. In Pokémon X and Y, there's an unassuming building in Lumiose City. On the bottom floor, office workers attend to their business as normal. It's only if you decide to take the elevator and explore the upper floors that the atmosphere takes a chilling turn.

(Pocket) monster under the bed

Upon reaching the second floor, your character stops in their tracks. The screen flashes black. A Hex Maniac trainer appears behind you on the elevator.

But this is no ordinary Hex Maniac. Her body is locked in an awkward walking frame, sliding into the room like a living glitch. She examines the player character closely, muttering a single iconic line that has transfixed players for over a decade: "No, you're not the one." Then, she slides out of the frame.

A moment later, player control returns to the character. Your natural inclination is to follow her, but on searching the room, she's nowhere to be seen. No one in the building references her or acknowledges her existence. There is a Hex Maniac NPC situated on the fourth floor of the nearby Hotel Richissime, waiting creepily for the elevator. While the implication could easily be made that she and the ghost girl are one and the same, there has never been any confirmation that the two are connected.

It's the kind of bizarre tale that, in the pre-Internet era, would have spread as an urban legend across school playgrounds in hushed tones, one that feels right at home among the creepiest of Pokémon copypastas.

Sure, the franchise has always had a macabre fascination with inserting ghoulish girls into unexpected places.

In Pokémon Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire, a mysterious girl pops up in Elite Four Phoebe's room for several brief frames as the screen fades to black. There are also ghost girls in Pokémon Black and White and Pokémon Sword and Shield that curious players can interact with if they fulfill certain conditions.

However, those games provide enough context for players to piece together what their deals are. What makes the Lumiose City ghost girl so creepy is that, even 13 years later, we still have no context regarding her existence or intentions. Fan theories continue to circulate among the community to this day, seeking out any scrap of new or missed information that can help unravel the mystery.

Ripples through time

Not that there haven't been opportunities for Game Freak to throw fans a bone. We've heard rumors swirling around for years that it originally had intentions to create a third title – a presumed "Pokémon Z" – as was tradition for the series at the time, but decided to fast track the follow up titles, Sun and Moon, for the series' 20th anniversary instead.

The only other reference is in Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire, in which another Hex Maniac NPC delivers the same "Not the one" dialogue in a completely casual way. Is she the same girl? Someone completely different who happened to say the line? The world will likely never know.

Fast forward to Pokémon Legends: Z-A. As our first return to the Kalos region since X and Y, it was logical that it would showcase characters, locations and plot points from those games. Most notable is how the entire game takes place in Lumiose City, the city in which you encountered the mysterious ghost girl all those years ago. The pieces were in place to finally demystify one of the franchise's creepiest moments. And what did we get? Even more questions.

Much of Z-A's plot centers around the Z-A Battle Royale, in which trainers compete against each other to raise their ranks.

On reaching rank A, the event's organizers grant that trainer one wish within their power. Occasionally, NPCs mention their wishes, and one in particular says something curious: "I've gotta win to find out what that 'No, you're not the one' meant!"

Additionally, if you take one of the city's many cabs, your driver can reference the ghost girl, saying that he heard many identical stories of people encountering her on the second floor of that building. Interestingly, he states that the appearances stopped as soon as the city's wild zones were introduced, implying some sort of connection between her and the Pokémon that have begun appearing. He adds that stories have begun circulating of a girl randomly popping up in taxi cabs, saying "No, you're not the one either…"

Both are offhanded, missable lines that confirm several things. First, the player character from X and Y is far from the only person who has encountered the ghost girl. Second, she has some kind of connection to the introduction of Pokémon into Lumiose. Third, she's still out there in the city somewhere, searching for the mysterious "one" – but now, haunting taxi cabs instead of office buildings.

The mystery continues

At time of writing, the ghost girl is yet to be spotted anywhere in the game. That doesn't mean she isn't there. One of the fun things about Pokémon games is that you never know whether talking to a certain NPC or visiting a specific location at a certain time could cause something to trigger, even if you thought there were no unturned secrets left. But who knows? Maybe she's not in Z-A at all. Maybe Game Freak never even planned to put her in.

Game Freak knows what the Pokémon fandom is like. We've been picking things apart and spreading urban legends since the days of Red and Blue, such as finding Mew under the truck in Vermillion City or encountering mysterious Pokémon like "Mewthree and "Pikablu." The studio delights in seeing us craft wild theories and multi-hour YouTube videos about every little mystery. What could be more fun than creating an urban legend of their own and watching fans eat it up?

Honestly, I wouldn't be surprised if they never had a backstory for the ghost girl to begin with. Imagine a pair of developers sitting at their desks during the development of X and Y. On a complete whim, they program in a random creepy interaction with a glitched out NPC, throw in an intentionally vague, ominous line, then provide no context or follow up. Because they thought it was funny.

Then, years later, when given the perfect opportunity to follow up on the character, they throw in a handful of offhand remarks by NPCs simply to get fans foaming at the mouth again. If that was the case…that would be funny. Not particularly satisfying, but funny.

If the Lumiose City ghost girl isn't discovered in the main game, the last likely chance at her appearing will be in Legends: Z-A's Mega Dimension DLC. This will probably be the final content we get for the game, before priority shifts to Gen 10 next year. But even if the mystery is never solved, at least we can continue to have fun speculating – and give Game Freak something to laugh about.

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