The 15 Saddest Pokemon & Why Almost All of Them Are About a Goodbye

Most Pokemon are there to catch and to battle. Some of them are there to make you cry.

Here are the 15 saddest Pokemon:

Saddest Pokemon

#15

Weezing

Weezing and Arbok leave Jessie and James in an anime episode that is among the saddest in the series.

Weezing may be based on a floating naval mine or a living meteorite, going by its looks, its ability to float and its tendency to explode. It is also based on smog and other forms of air pollution, and the skull and crossbones under its larger face is a hazard symbol. It evolves from Koffing, is the Poison Gas Pokemon, and stands 1.2 m tall and weighs 9.5 kg.

#14

Charmander

Charmander is abandoned by its trainer in an anime episode that is among the saddest in the series.

Charmander was designed as a lizard, and its name also points to the salamander, an amphibian that folklore often treats as a fire spirit. Its design was based on Charizard in such a way that it was surprising to see it evolving into the latter Pokemon. A flame has burned at the tip of its tail since it was born, and its life would end if the flame went out. It is 0.6 m tall and weighs 8.5 kg.

#13

Mew

Mew and Mewtwo fight in the first movie, Ash is turned to stone, and the tears of the Pokemon bring him back to life.

Mew is based on Mewtwo, designer Shigeki Morimoto said, and was made simpler to take up less space on the cartridge. Its earliest design resembled a vertebrate embryo with a large head and a small body, and it was soon revised into a mostly mammalian Pokemon with cat-like traits. Its short, fine, delicate hair can be seen when it is viewed through a microscope. It is a mythical Pokemon, 0.4 m tall and 4 kg.

#12

Manaphy

Manaphy leaves in an anime movie and in a Mystery Dungeon game (a spin-off series where you play as a Pokemon), and both goodbyes are among the saddest moments in Pokemon.

Manaphy may be based on sea angels, tiny transparent ocean mollusks. Its relationship with Phione may refer to polyphenism, the way one set of genes can produce different bodies depending on the environment. It is rumored to migrate across the oceans and rarely visits the coastal waters of Hisui, and its relation to Phione is unclear. It is the Seafaring Pokemon, a mythical Pokemon, 0.3 m tall and 1.4 kg.

#11

Lucario

Lucario dies in its movie, which is among the saddest things in Pokemon.

Lucario looks like a jackal, which together with its mystical nature points to Anubis, the ancient Egyptian god who judged souls by their purity. That loosely matches Lucario's sense of justice and its ability to see a life form's aura. Its bone staff may also refer to the Was-scepter shown in pictures of Anubis. It is a most gallant-looking creature that emits energy waves and controls them with precision. It evolves from Riolu, stands 1.2 m tall and weighs 54 kg.

#10

Litten

Litten says goodbye to a Stoutland in an anime episode that is among the saddest in the series.

Litten may be based on mackerel tabbies and black cats, and its coloring may also come from tigers. The markings on its forehead and its eyes form one of the alchemical symbols for sulfur, a highly flammable element. Its flammable fur oil may refer to the bakeneko, a Japanese cat yokai (a monster from folklore) said to drink flammable lamp oil. Petting Litten before it trusts you will get you a nasty scratch from its sharp claws. It is the Fire Cat Pokemon, 0.4 m tall and 4.3 kg.

Latios

Latios dies in a Pokemon movie, one of the saddest moments in the series.

Latios looks like a cross between a jet plane, a dragon, a griffin and a bird. Its lack of feet and constant levitation might come from the common swift, a bird with tiny feet that spends most of its life in the air. It will only open its heart to a Trainer with a compassionate spirit, and it can fly faster than a jet plane by folding its forelegs. It is the Eon Pokemon, 2 m tall and 60 kg.

Ditto

Ditto has no shape of its own and spends its life copying other Pokemon, which many find sad.

Ditto was originally based on the smiley face, according to developers Junichi Masuda and Ken Sugimori. Its eyes and mouth are exactly like the smiley emoticon. It also resembles an amoeba, a single-celled organism with no definite shape. When it meets another Ditto, it moves faster than normal to duplicate that opponent exactly. It is the Transform Pokemon, 0.3 m tall and 4 kg.

Mimikyu

Mimikyu wears a disguise based on Pikachu, and a scientist who peeked under its old rag in the name of research died of a mysterious disease.

Its crudely drawn face looks like a children's crayon drawing, and it also resembles a ghost made from a bedsheet. In the games' own story, the disguise exists because Pikachu merchandise became popular 20 years earlier. It is the Disguise Pokemon, 0.2 m tall and 0.7 kg.

Greninja

Greninja is left behind when Ash has to leave it in the forest in the anime.

Greninja may come from horned frogs, and its colors and body shape match the splendid leaf frog. Its bubble-like growths may be a toad's parotoid glands, which connect to the old myth that toads cause warts. Japanese culture also links frogs to ninjas through the folk story The Tale of the Gallant Jiraiya. It appears and vanishes with a ninja's grace and slices enemies with throwing stars of the sharpest water. It evolves from Frogadier, stands 1.5 m tall and weighs 40 kg.

Meowth

Meowth has one of the saddest backstories in the anime.

Meowth is based on the maneki-neko, the lucky cat of Japanese legend. In one story, a cat raised its paw to welcome a lord and saved his life when lightning hit the spot where he had been standing. Statues of the cat hold a koban, an old Japanese coin like the one on Meowth's head. It loves to collect shiny things and may let its Trainer see its hoard of treasures if it is in a good mood. It is the Scratch Cat Pokemon, 0.4 m tall and 4.2 kg.

Cubone

Cubone wears the skull of its deceased mother. Sometimes its dreams make it cry, but each tear it sheds makes it stronger.

Cubone is reptilian and loosely based on bipedal dinosaurs. It could also refer to primitive cultures that wore bones for decoration and used them as weapons, and its bone boomerang echoes the original use of boomerangs for hunting in Indigenous Australian cultures. It is the Lonely Pokemon, 0.4 m tall and 6.5 kg.

Grovyle

Grovyle sacrifices itself in a Mystery Dungeon game, one of the saddest moments in Pokemon.

Grovyle shares features with the leaf-tailed gecko, a lizard that blends in with plant-like growths. It also resembles Dromaeosaurus, a dinosaur believed to have had feathers, much as Grovyle has leaves on its body. It flies from branch to branch in trees, and no Pokemon in a forest can hope to catch it as it flees. It evolves from Treecko, stands 0.9 m tall and weighs 21.6 kg.

Butterfree

Butterfree leaves Ash in the anime episode Bye Bye Butterfree, among the saddest scenes in the series.

Butterfree is based on the black-veined white butterfly. Its likeness to Beedrill may refer to Muhammad Ali's line "Float like a butterfly, sting like a bee", which two English dub episodes of the anime use. It collects honey every day and rubs it onto the hairs on its legs to carry it back to its nest. It evolves from Metapod, is 1.1 m tall and weighs 32 kg.

Pikachu

Pikachu leaves Ash in the anime episode Pikachu's Goodbye, among the saddest in the series.

Pikachu started as a daifuku-like creature with ears sticking out, and its black ear tips are left over from that first idea. Satoshi Tajiri decided to base it on a mouse, and game designer Kōji Nishino asked for a cuter look, which is where the cheek pouches came from. It stores electricity in its cheek sacs and roasts tough berries with an electric shock before eating them. It evolves from Pichu, stands 0.4 m tall and weighs 6 kg.

Sad Pokemon Mostly Leave

Ten of the 15 leave, die or are left behind in an anime episode, a movie or a Mystery Dungeon game. Cubone wears the skull of its deceased mother, and a scientist who peeked under Mimikyu's rag died of a mysterious disease.

Saddest Pokemon FAQ

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