This Dark Pokemon Anime Theory Will Change How You Look At Misty
The Pokédex is supposed to be a compendium of all aggregate knowledge gathered by Pokémon trainers – an encyclopedia to teach them about their new companions – but some of the information found in it can be pretty hard to reconcile with the expanded universe. To be fair, it was hard enough for Game Freak to keep up with every little bit of Pokédex lore that it wrote back when there were only 150 pocket monsters to keep track of. Now there are well over a thousand. This has led to several inconsistencies, like Ash Ketchum somehow being able to easily carry around a Cosmoem, a Pokémon that's supposed to weigh over 2,000 lbs. Fans have been quick to point these oddities out and formulate their own explanations.
Now there is a new theory on TikTok that harkens back to the early days of the "Pokémon" anime. Some fans seem to believe that Misty died in episode 24 after being licked by Haunter, that all of her appearances in the show are manifestations of Ash's grief, and that all of her battles after that point were actually fought by Ash. That might sound a little out there, but there is some evidence within the Pokédex that backs this idea up.
Haunter's tongue is deadly
The Ghastly – Haunter – Gengar evolution tree has appeared in every generation of the "Pokémon" games since the very beginning, likely because Gengar is one of the most powerful and beloved Pokémon in the franchise. This means that all three of these Ghost-Types have received dozens of different Pokédex entries over the last few years. There are a few for Haunter that have a repeating theme, though.
The first was the entry in "Pokémon Yellow," which stated "By licking, it saps the victim's life. It causes shaking that won't stop until the victim's demise." Meanwhile, the entries in "Silver," "Ruby/Sapphire," "Pearl," "Y," "Sun," both "Let's Go" games, "Sword" and "Legends Arceus" all say something similar. The lethality of Haunter's tongue seems to be a pretty thoroughly documented fact that spans decades of lore, so it's no surprise that fans might come to the conclusion that being licked by the creature was a death sentence for the young Water-Type trainer, especially after seeing the way Misty shudders and falls to the ground after being licked.
Of course, there are a few holes in this theory. To start, Misty interacted with plenty of other people besides Ash in the show, even when he wasn't present. Ash's Charmander was also licked by Haunter, meaning that it would have died as well and couldn't have gone on to become Charizard or participate in any of the events that followed. So the theory isn't exactly iron-clad, but it's definitely spooky.