Lavender Town Pokemon Myth Revisited

The Pokemon universe and myths go together like a Farfetch’d and a leek. Back in the early days of the franchise there were several rumors/myths that trainers had fun either debunking or proving(lying) were true. The rumor with Mew being under the truck by the Vermillion Harbor is one of the most prolific Pokemon rumors around. Another myth has to do with Lavender Town, a ghost town in more ways than one, since Pokemon pass on to the other side and are laid to rest in Pokemon Tower. Stay tuned, Lavender Town is more than just where the radio tower is in Kanto in the G/S/C generation!

To fully understand the rumor, which has been debunked in the past, you need to know a little bit of the past itself. When Pokemon Red and Green were released, there were many child suicides in Japan. Details vary pertaining to the story but most of them blame the haunting music of Lavender Town, with the sound frequencies making the kids kill themselves.

Lavender Town is soaked in death so why wouldn’t a rumor about death have a place like this as the setting? One thing you have to remember about the original Pokemon games, they had a darker story compared to the modern games. You have to stop a criminal organization from taking over the Kanto region for example. Team Rocket’s base was a casino and they ran a Pokemon Gym on the side. That’s some bad ass material right there. Anyway back to Lavender Town,which needs a scary theme because of what’s in the town. A Pocket Monster graveyard and a restless spirit( Marowak) in the tower adds to the rumor.

One more thing that adds to the rumor is that Japanese children were actually hurt in real life while watching Pokemon, the Porygon episode. That episode had blinding lights that caused kids to have seizures and black out. Ghost stories have a way of coming out around Halloween and Lavender Town is no different. Another reason as to why the rumor will truly never die is the internet. There will always be people who argue a rumor/story till the day they die. This rumor is no different.

A final thought: in the original Red, Green, and Blue versions of Pokemon, the scariest place in the whole game was/is arguably Lavender Town. Lavender Town was the only place to get your hands on a ghost Pokemon in the Kanto region as well as the graveyard site in the Pokemon Tower. Combine that with the wandering spirit of a ground-type Pokemon that Team Rocket killed and the spooky music of said Lavender Town,is it any wonder that a rumor gains traction over the years!