Summary
- Death is a heavy theme in the Pokémon franchise, and while it is not frequently addressed, there have been instances where Pokémon die, such as the clones in "Pokémon: The First Movie - Mewtwo Strikes Back."
- The death of Latios in "Pokémon Heroes" is one of the first deaths in the anime that is not reversed by the end of the story, highlighting the seriousness of the event.
- Several episodes in the Pokémon anime explore the theme of death, including the deaths of Lucario, Hunter J's team, Jan's Talonflame, Stoutland, Elder the Trevenant, Sorrel's Luxray, and Harriet's Snubbull, showing how the series handles the topic and teaches children about loss and mourning.
The Pokémon anime has been running for almost 25 years, and over that time, some Pokémon have died throughout its run. While Pokémon is a generally light series, it does occasionally play with heavy themes and ideas. Death is one of those heavy themes and ideas, and there have been multiple times when a Pokémon has been on the receiving end of it.
For the most part, death isn’t something that comes up in the Pokémon franchise. Pokémon are only said to faint when they’re defeated in battle, and while Pokédex entries sometimes make references to death, the logic and legitimacy of those entries are dubious at best. The manga Pokémon Adventuresusually averts this, but it’s also a darker story than other installments of the franchise, so it makes sense that it would do things differently.
Nevertheless, death still happens in the Pokémon franchise, even in the Pokémon anime, and several Pokémon that have died in it over the years. In addition to the main anime show, there are examples of Pokémon dying in other animated projects that will be discussed on this list. On that note, this list only concerns Pokémon that weren’t revived in some way and have remained dead following the end of their story.
Bulbasaurtwo, Charmandertwo, And Squirtletwo
In the prologue to Pokémon: The First Movie - Mewtwo Strikes Back, “The Uncut Story of Mewtwo’s Origin,” Mewtwo befriends a clone girl named Ambertwo and clones of a Bulbasaur, Charmander, and Squirtle named Bulbasaurtwo, Charmandertwo, and Squirtletwo, respectively. Between the five of them, Mewtwo was the only one who was able to be cloned successfully, and all of the other clones gradually degraded over the course of the special until they were completely dead. The memories of Mewtwo, are erased, but a lingering feeling of what transpired with his friends persists and plays a vital part in his character arc.
Latios
The fifth Pokémon movie, Pokémon Heroes, is centered around a Latios and Latias guarding the Soul Dew, a mystical item with the power to control the tides of the town of Alto Mare. When the Soul Dew was destroyed in the climax, a massive tidal wave was formed, and in order to save Alto Mare, Latios sacrificed himself to stop the tidal wave and create a new Soul Dew. Latios’ death is noteworthy for being one of the first deaths in the anime to not be reversed by the end of the story.
Lucario
In Pokémon: Lucario and the Mystery of Mew, the titular Lucario joins Ash on his quest to rescue Pikachu after it was accidentally taken by Mew to the Tree of Beginning. The Tree of Beginning, which is sentient, attacked Ash and his friends as it perceived them to be a virus, so Mew used its power to stop it, but that resulted in Mew being put on the verge of death and making the Tree of Beginning, which had a symbiotic connection to Mew, go berserk. Lucario used his Aura to heal Mew and pacify the Tree of Beginning, but doing so drained him of his life force and caused him to die.
Hunter J’s Team
The Diamond and Pearl series of the Pokémon anime introduced Hunter J, a recurring antagonist who hunted Pokémon and sold them on the black market. Near the end of the anime’s Team Galactic arc, J was hired by Team Galactic to capture Uxie, Mesprit, and Azelf as part of their plan to summon Dialga and Palkia. J captured the Pokémon, but before she did, her ship was hit by a Future Sight attack they had set up ahead of time, crashed into a lake, and exploded. J’s fate was left uncertain, but it’s very likely that she and her team of Salamence, Ariados, and Drapion all perished.
Jan’s Talonflame
The final episode of the XYZ series of the Pokémon anime, “The Legend of X, Y, and Z!”, tells the story of Jan, a man from Kalos’ ancient past who sought to defeat the Destruction Pokémon, Yveltal, to prevent a prophecy about Yveltal destroying his home. When Jan encountered Yveltal, he had his Talonflame battle it, but Yveltal used Oblivion Wing to turn it to stone. The Talonflame fell to the ground from the air and was never seen again, so it’s safe to assume that the fall caused it to shatter, effectively killing it.
Stoutland
Before being captured by Ash, Ash’s Litten was raised in the wild by an elderly Stoutland. In the 21st episode of Sun & Moon, Stoutland starts to succumb to old age. Knowing that he has little time left, he leaves Litten, so he won’t have to watch him die. Later in the series, Stoutland’s ghost would appear before Litten, now evolved into a Torracat, to try and teach him how to use Fire Blast.
Elder The Trevenant
In the Sun & Moon episode “A Timeless Encounter!,” Ash was accidentally brought back in time by a Celebi. While in the past, Ash encounters a Totem Trevenant named Elder that, after a series of circumstances, gives him a Firium Z-Crystal for his Torracat. Upon returning to the present, Ash discovers that Elder has passed away, with nothing but a tree trunk covered in weeds left in its place.
Sorrel’s Luxray
In the Pokémon movie Pokémon: I Choose You!, one of the main characters, Sorrel, used to have a Luxray as a family pet. One day, when he was a child, he and Luxray got lost in the middle of a blizzard, and Luxray used its body to protect Sorrel from the cold and keep him warm. The next morning, Sorrel discovered that Luxray had frozen to death, and the incident would keep him from believing in the idea of making friends with Pokémon until he caught his Lucario.
Harriet’s Snubbull
In Pokémon: The Power of Us, one of the main characters is Harriet, an elderly woman with an extreme dislike of Pokémon. It’s eventually revealed that 50 years prior, her Snubbull died in a fire, and she grew to dislike Pokémon because she blamed herself for her Snubbull’s death. By the end of the Pokémon movie, Harriet learns to move past her trauma and begins to like Pokémon once more.
Humans Have Also Died in Pokémon
Of course, Pokémon aren't the only ones who occasionally die. Very few humans have died in the story of the Pokémon anime, and those that have are mostly villains, such as Hunter J mentioned above. Ash himself once "died" and had an out-of-body experience as a ghost. Humans who have died prior to the story, however, do sometimes play a role; in Sun & Moon, Hapu's grandfather and Kiawe's grandfather have both passed away, and their spirits appear in "Run, Heroes, Run!" Other one-off episodes, such as XY's "Seeking Shelter from the Storm!", featured episode plots that revolved around a dead human and the Pokémon they left behind.
An early episode, "The Ghost of Maiden's Peak," featured the ghost of a human woman who died waiting for her lover to return, and was helped by a talking Gastly. The Distant Blue Sky special, which is considered the last episode in the English dub, also features a young boy named Sonny, who is later revealed to be a ghost, maintaining the idea of human ghosts existing in the Pokémon world from start to finish. Episodes revolving around ghosts and dead humans tend to be about the survivors accepting loss and moving on, providing a thoughtful message for children viewing the episode who might lose their own loved ones someday.
While Pokémon in general is a lighter series, these episodes that explore death can often be some of the most poignant and memorable. They deal with an unpleasant part of life that everyone will one day experience, and not even the peaceful and idyllic Pokémon world is immune to that. By introducing these concepts to kids early, they'll be better prepared when that day finally comes. In Pokémon, like in real life, death and loss are problems that must be faced; these episodes teach kids that it's okay to be sad and to mourn, and that loss is something all must eventually come to terms with.
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