Not everything in fiction adds up, and that’s alright. Take the beloved and long-running anime Pokémon, for example. Neither fans nor creators can properly explain the science behind Pokéballs, but no one minds since it doesn’t take away from Ash Ketchum’s adventures.
That said, there are still some strange leaps of logic in the anime that are impossible to gloss over. The more anyone thinks about these specific circumstances and inconsistencies, the less sense the already fantastical world of Pokémon makes.
10 The Villainous Factions Operate Without Impunity
Even if Team Rocket hogs the spotlight, they’re not the only villainous faction in the anime. With few exceptions like Team Rainbow Rocket or Team Yell, almost every antagonistic organization featured in the games was featured in the anime at least once. That said, their prevalence and ubiquity in the Pokémon universe should raise some eyebrows.
These groups aren’t just regular criminals or delinquents, either. Some are actually dangerous terrorist cells that espouse deadly ideologies like eugenics or supremacy. Worse, each group’s footsoldiers are Pokémon trainers of varying skills, making them even more dangerous. Law enforcement exists in the anime, but its impotence and lack of urgency needs an explanation.
9 The Team Rocket Trio Consistently Evades Serious Jail Time
While they may not be evil and even if they are loveable anti-heroes, the Team Rocket Trio of Jessie, James, and Meowth are still petty criminals. Under the orders of Team Rocket or at times by their own free will, they’ve enacted countless cons and schemes that would’ve ideally ended with them kidnapping some Pokémon and leaving bystanders ripped off or injured at worst.
Despite this, the three never answered for their crimes in a court of law. At worst, they were comically blasted off by Pikachu or whichever Pokémon they failed to abduct. The few times Jessie, James, and Meowth did end up in prison never lasted beyond one episode since it was usually a closing punchline. By the next episode, they’re somehow free with a new plan in tow.
8 Team Rocket’s Meowth Is Apparently Uninteresting
A defining trait of Pokémon is that the only word they can utter is their name. Team Rocket’s Meowth is the exception since he trained himself to talk like a human being. What’s more, he can think like a person, making him the third vital member of the iconic Team Rocket trio. In fact, some fans claim he’s the smartest of the three.
Despite possibly being the only Meowth and/or Pokémon to achieve speech and intellect by sheer force of will, Team Rocket’s Meowth is somehow not a big deal. At most, he’s dismissed as another nuisance like Jessie and James. Because Team Rocket values acquiring the physically strongest Pokémon, a talkative and intelligent Meowth is disposable, despite his accomplishments.
7 The Mystery Of The Nurse Joy & Officer Jenny Clones
A long-time running gag in the anime is that every town has a Nurse Joy and Officer Jenny. This isn’t referring to a title that’s shared by many women but rather, Nurse Joy and Officer Jenny appear in literally every new place that Ash and friends visit. Each nurse and officer has minute differences between them but generally, Nurse Joy and Officer Jenny are a constant in every region.
This odd phenomenon is never explained, leading to fan theories that range from the obvious to the hilariously absurd. Some hypothesized that Nurse Joy and Officer Jenny come from a family that of identical daughters. Meanwhile, others went as far as to posit that Nurse Joy and Officer Jenny were either born asexually through mitosis or are hyper-intelligent humanoid Pokémon.
6 Pokémon May Or May Not Be Edible
Since Pokémon are practically characters of their own, fans rarely dream about eating one, even if some are based on real animals that can be considered livestock. Meanwhile, the anime plays coy when it comes to this mystery. More than once, characters are shown eating what’s obviously animal (or Pokémon) meat, and they’re sometimes shown fantasizing about eating a Pokémon.
A possible explanation is that there are some real-world animals like chickens in the Pokémon kingdom. If so, this means people follow a weird system of favoritism when determining which animals to eat and which to not. But if all animals are Pokémon, it exposes systematically callous sadism, since people are perfectly fine with eating creatures that developed amazing abilities and intellects.
5 Pikachu’s Power Levels Are A Mess
In the anime, Ash’s lifelong companion and best friend Pikachu willingly chose not to evolve into a Raichu to prove his own strength without using evolution as a crutch. As a result, Pikachu is the most powerful basic Pokémon around, meaning he could theoretically win every fight ever. Despite that, he’s still easily knocked down by the most mundane opponents imaginable.
More than once, Pikachu overwhelmed Ground/Rock-Type Pokémon and Legendaries despite their respective imperviousness to electric attacks or godlike statuses. And yet, Pikachu still lost soundly to starters like Bellsprout or Snivy. It’s easy to blame this inconsistency on plot contrivance but in-universe, it just doesn’t add up.
4 Pokémon Trainers Can Start Their Careers At A Very Young Age
Anime starring kids embarking on amazing if dangerous adventures isn’t anything new, though Pokémon is the most egregious example of this oversight. At just 10-years old and with maybe the most basic of educations at best, Ash is somehow skilled enough to leave Pallet Town and go on a years-long journey to become a Pokémon Master.
Even crazier is that no one bats an eye at a young boy running around a forest filled with wild Pokémon that can literally kill him. In fact, Ash is commended and encouraged by adults who should know better. Similarly, Misty and Brock somehow became Gym Leaders despite them being 13 and 16, respectively, during their debuts.
3 Ash & Everybody Else Never Aged In Nearly 20 Years
Ash’s apparent immunity to the basic concept of aging is one of the longest-running jokes in both Pokémon lore and anime in general. After first appearing in 1997, the 10-year old Ash never aged a day despite his quest to be the very best like no one ever was took more than two decades to even get to the halfway point.
Not helping is that with very few exceptions like the reboot movie Pokémon The Movie: I Choose You!, the anime follows a well-defined chronology. Years may have passed in both anime and reality, and yet Ash looks like he just started his journey yesterday. Ash’s apparent eternal youth isn’t exclusive to him, since everybody he met also looks the same as the day he and audiences first met them.
2 People Are (Somehow) Ridiculously Strong
Since Ash is an otherwise normal 10-year old kid, it’s safe to assume that he’s still some years away from achieving physical maturity and excellence. Apparently, Ash doesn’t need to wait that long because he’s already freakishly strong for someone his age. Not only is Ash able to pick up a 72kg Larvitar or carry his 50kg Hippopotas on his head, but he can also hurl giant logs at a good distance.
This extends to every other human, trainer or otherwise, as Ash isn’t the only one who can carry Pokémon as heavy as a young bear. For example, Misty casually carries her Psyduck and Togepi (a combined 22kg) wherever she goes, and almost everyone can easily pick up a 10kg Magikarp. Either everyone consistently works out, or they were born with enhanced strength.
1 Life & Death Mean Nothing In The Pokémon World
Death is a part of life, but not in Pokémon. This isn't because few if any characters die in a kids’ anime, but that the setting effectively circumvented life’s natural end. For one, the scientific community was able to perfect resurrections, which can resurrect eons-dead dinosaur Pokémon like Aerodactyl or Omanyte.
Similarly, scientists were able to create a new Pokémon from ancient genes (i.e. Mewtwo). Meanwhile, the natural life cycle ignores death since the afterlife and reincarnation are confirmed to exist through ghost Pokémon, some of which were once human (ex. Phantump). How the conquering of death and the mastery of life are not bigger deals in-universe is anyone’s guess.
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