Pokemon is one of the longest-running video game franchises out there, with its tendrils extending well beyond just games and running into television, comics, and physical merchandise. With so much influence, it’s managed to build a massive fan base, and that fan base frequently comes up with impressive challenges, art, and occasionally, fan theories. Those fan theories can make fans question everything they know about Pokemon, too.
A new fan theory has popped up over on Reddit, and it’s gaining some traction. Pokemon fans are likely aware of Nurse Joy, or rather the army of Nurse Joys that aid Ash Ketchum and friends as they journey around the world. However, fans are drawing some interesting connections between Nurse Joy and the Pokemon that inhabit the world.
The gist of the theory is that Nurse Joy is secretly a Pokemon, which lines up with a lot of facets of normal Pokemon designs. A Reddit post created by user EXGShadow highlights some of the key connections that Redditors are drawing. There are countless identical Nurse Joys scattered throughout the world, much like there are countless functionally identical Pokemon scattered around the world. Further, there’s even an Alolan form of Nurse Joy, and as well as a shiny form.
Human-like Pokemon aren’t that far outside of the realm of possibility, either. Several Pokemon have humanoid qualities, like Mr. Mime and Jynx. Plus, Pokemon play a central part of day-to-day life in Pokemon’s society, so it isn’t outrageous to believe that a Pokemon that looked incredibly similar to humans would slip through the cracks. It’s certainly enough to raise an eyebrow at.
Of course, this probably isn’t The Pokemon Company’s intention. Nurse Joy has long been a part of the franchise, and Chancey, an actual Pokemon, is meant to portray what a nurse-like Pokemon would look like. Plus, Nurse Joy speaks in complete sentences, which is an immensely rare quality where Pokemon are concerned, so it’s unlikely that Nurse Joy would fall under that category - though not impossible.
At the end of the day, this can mostly be chalked up to a fun fan theory. Some have pointed out in the comments that Officer Jenny has similar qualities, and that by extension she could also be a candidate for a secret Pokemon. Pokemon fans are pretty prolific when it comes to this sort of thing, so it probably won’t be long until another one pops up.