The Pokémon games, in general, are known for having rich worlds full of characters who either provide helpful tips or say some of the weirdest stuff you’ll hear in video games. The various regions are filled with people who do strange things, have bizarre obsessions, and confess the oddest things to a young child they’ve never met before.
Whether its young kids obsessed with clothes, trainers who impersonate their Pokémon, or creeps obsessed with Pokémon’s knees here are the strangest NPCs you’ll find in the entire series that you just can’t ignore.
10 I Can Haz Battle Meow?
In Pokémon X & Y as you’re fighting through the Battle Maison you’ll come across a waitress willing to battle you who seems to be paid to act out a particular way. Upon approaching her she’ll say the line, “Meow, meow, I can haz battle, meow? (Ugh, I really sound like a fool, don’t I?”
Admittedly many jobs require their employees to use specific lines or repeat particular slogans, but it’s hard to imagine what kind of a restaurant mandates their waitresses talk like the infamous Lolcat. On a side note it’s very amusing that even she acknowledges the whole thing is weird.
9 Losing A Lot Feels Good
This strange individual is found in Pokémon Ruby & Sapphire and is incredibly sad when you think about it. After successfully defeating him in a battle the young man shakes it off saying, “Being beaten this often actually feels good now!”
On one hand, he could be trying to hype himself up after losing yet another battle, on the other much weirder side he might actually enjoy losing Pokémon battles over and over again. If the latter is the case then this young man is hoping to get that rush from watching all of his Pokémon faint and hand over his hard-earned money to a stranger.
8 Youngster Shorts Fan
This strange young man is one of the more well known weird NPCs in the Pokémon games since his debut in Pokémon Red & Blue. Out of all the lines he uses over the games when talking about his shorts the line he says in Pokémon Let’s Go Pickachu is by far the strangest, “Hey! My shorts are cool, right? You can stare at them!”.
Everyone can sympathize with the delight that comes from putting on clothes that are comfortable and also look nice, but it’s hardly something to rant about to random strangers right before a Pokémon battle.
7 Cool Knees
Yet another young child being an absolute weirdo in the Pokémon games, this enterprising young man is intent on catching more Pokémon because he likes the ones that have “cool knees.”
The more you think about this one the weirder it gets. Do Pokémon with cool knees fight better or does he just like the look of them? And what exactly constitutes a good knee? Getting deeper into this strange rabbit hole just raises more and more questions. Perhaps Nidoking has good knees? Who knows with this kid.
6 Driven To Steal
In Pokémon FireRed & LeafGreen the player comes across a scientist in the Cinnabar Island laboratory who confesses that he sometimes has the urge to steal other player’s Pokémon now and then. This single line of dialogue has led to some interesting fan speculation regarding this weird character.
Is he a Team Rocket member in hiding? Is he a potential recruit for Team Rocket? Is he a kleptomaniac, but solely with Pokémon? It’s unclear and none of the possibilities seem good or any less weird. Maybe keep a tight grip on your Pikachu when approaching this guy.
5 Fairy Tale Girl
This delightfully weird NPC is found in Pokémon X & Y and is known as the Fairy Tale Girl. They exclusively use Fairy-type Pokémon and have some of the strangest dialogue found in all of the games. This line is uttered by one when you lose to her in battle, “Shh rest now and close your eyes… you wont ever need open them again.”
It’s unclear if this is a persona they’re adopting or if being constantly around fairy creatures is having some strange effect on their psyche. Either way, these bubbly little girls are ones you don’t want to mess with.
4 Tasty Air
When wandering through the world in Pokémon Ruby & Emerald you can come across this strange child who is thrilled to be there because the “air is tasty”. There’s never an explanation for what it tastes like or what causes it to have a taste at all.
This is especially weird when you realize the child is just outside of Mauville City, a bustling metropolis with lots of people and in theory lots of pollution. Perhaps the kid is getting some fresh air and enjoys not tasting pollution, but it’s still a weird comment.
3 Sludge Transformer
It seems the Battle Frontier in Pokémon Ruby & Emerald brings a lot of weirdos out of the woodwork. This strange NPC declares that he “swallows sludge to transform” himself. Sludge is a poison based move used by a handful of Pokémon like Grimer and Swalot.
It’s unclear what he’s trying to transform into by swallowing this toxic substance and it’s an absolute miracle he hasn’t died yet. Like a number of other misguided health fads such as swallowing parasitic worms or consuming large amounts of colloidal silver, this is a really, really bad idea.
2 Mimic Pokémon
Yet another Battle Frontier trainer from Pokémon Ruby & Emerald makes the list. This weird Ranger NPC declares that he likes to mimic Pokémon in battle. He later specifies that if he wins the battle he pretends to be a Tauros, but if he loses he becomes a Miltank.
He’s like a Pokefan without the costume and it makes this so much weirder. And of all the Pokémon to mimic why those two in particular? Does he tromp around the field eating grass after every victory? If he loses does he curl up in the corner and moo?
1 Give…Me…Blood…
Perhaps the strangest NPC in the series is the Channeler that harasses your character in Pokémon Red & Blue. Amidst the graves of fallen Pokémon and the ghosts that haunt the Lavendar Tower this creepy individual confronts you from the shadows demanding blood.
It’s enough to freak out anyone, especially a young 10-year-old trying to find their way in the world. To make things worse when you defeat her in battle she complains that she feels “anemic and weak” suggesting perhaps some of her blood is missing. Channelers are weird enough given how often they become possessed but knowing that some might be turning into vampires is too weird.