I won't deny, most of the time when I'm playing a Pokemon game, I casually play the game thinking not much of it but there's always a few moments in particular that get me feeling things whether it's anger, sadness, happiness, love etc. So today, I'm gonna go over some of the most 'emotional' moments from throughout the Pokemon series.

1. N's Ferris Wheel Ride-Pokemon Black & White

Just about everyone whose played Black & White know EXACTLY what I'm talking about. This scene right here is where the fanbase became simps for N. We all felt something for him in this scene whether that was the intention or not. This scene was intended to be N's coming out scene where he outs himself to the player as the villain of the story. Prior to this scene, the player & N were, what I'd consider, friends and friendly rivals. So during the Ferris Wheel scene, it felt oddly romantic yet mysterious especially since N was openly talking about and questioning his relationship with the player and where his morals lied. There's a reason why this scene is one of the most iconic in the Pokemon series.

2. The Ending of Scarlet & Violet

Probably the most 'emotional' ending out of all the main series Pokemon games, the ending to Scarlet & Violet was satisfying for the fact that the ending REALLY cemented the 'found family' dynamic after Arven just witnessed his parents 'go to heaven' per say and that Nemona, Penny, The Player & Koraidon/Miraidon are Arven's new family. I CRIED during the end credits because of just how emotional and perfect this ending was. Yes, the ending left Arven 'unfinished' per say as he never rightfully got closure & remains parent-less, but that's also what made this ending so emotional. The ending was an emotional payoff for such a long and involved game.

3. The Player says Goodbye in Pokemon Mystery Dungeon: Explorers of Sky

After playing a 40+ Hour game, the player both in game & in real life has made a deep emotional connection to your partner Pokemon in this game. Their bond is so deep, the two of them considered each other as family and vowed to be Explorers with one another. They're Soulamates to put it simply. Well, after fixing the timelines, the player (pulled from a different timeline) is aware of how they're fading from the current timeline and therefore, must say goodbye to their partner. When the player finally bids their final farewell, their partner breaks down and explains how much they love and will miss the player, explaining how the player had changed them for the better and life just wouldnt be the same without them. The player vanishes from existence before their partner can finish their heart to heart leaving their partner to cry and mourn the loss of their soul mate alone. This scene got me crying so hard, punched me so deep in the gut, it took me DAYS to recover.

4. Lusamine's Museum-Ultra Sun & Moon

This scene was so F-ed Up I was jaw dropped the entire time. Both in Sun & Moon as well as Ultra Sun & Moon, it was greatly evident that Lusamine isn't mentally there and she's KNOWINGLY experimenting on Pokemon. This isn't all however, Lusamine was also preserving Pokemon like statues by placing them in a Star Wars Carbonite like state and she's considers this as 'preserving their beauty.' Like I was so mentally screwed up by this moment this scene is forever etched onto my mind.

5. The Treasures of Paldea Storyline-Pokemon Scarlet & Violet

Yes, another entry from Scarlet & Violet. The Treasures of Paldea storyline followed Arven & his quest to conquer the Titan Pokemon in order to obtain Herba Mystica. While Arven came off as isolated and admittedly jerky in his first few interactions, by the third Titan, Arven comes clean as to why he's on his quest: To save his dying dog. Yes, Pokemon got a bit 'mature' and gave us an entire storyline around saving an old and critically injured dog & his owner whose willing to do whatever it takes to save him. Witnessing just how heartbroken Arven is about the situation and just how adamant he is to save Mabosstiff was especially heartbreaking to me in particular as I've lost MANY dogs over the years, but I had lost a dog to Kidney failure just a few months prior to this game's release. The storyline demonstrated that I clearly hadn't moved on from my loss and I was crying the hardest I had in a long time.

6. The Letter-Pokemon Sword & Shield

An optional and very easy to miss side quest in Sword & Shield features the player talking to a little girl in Hammerlocke city. She'll task the player with delivering a letter to a friend of hers who lives in Ballonlea. Once you find said friend of hers, it turns out to be a grown man. He proceeds to act a little off as this letter was written by a friend of his who passed away when he was young. When you return to Hammerlocke to inform the little girl that you delivered the letter, she is nowhere to be seen and that's when it hit me: The girl was a ghost. I was shaken to the bone. Initially At this moment, before it was revealed the little girl was dead, I was creeped out for the sake that this side mission reminded me of the creepy love quest in Breath of the Wild where a child Zora and a grown man were writing love notes to one another. Of course, they eventually meet and realize that their age & species differences pose an issue. However, when it finally sank in that the little girl in Pokemon was dead all along, I was rattled so hard and had to set my controller down for a moment. As a grown woman, I was thoroughly spooked by the fact that the player had communicated with a dead child and furthermore, delivering that note to her friend was probably the action necessary to help her move on to the afterlife. This mission got me feeling something that's for sure and this still creeps me out to this day.

7. Darkrai's Punishment-Pokepark 2 Wonders Beyond

In Pokepark 2, Pikachu spent the entire game trying to rescue his friend: Piplup, from the previous game of whom is being held captive in a nightmare dimension called Wonder Park. Throughout the game, Pikachu makes friends with many Pokemon over the course of his adventure with Oshawott, Snivy & Tepig being his closest & most reliable friends. Come the climax of the game, Darkrai takes Pikachu & company captive and does the most cruel of things to them. He takes everyone, puts them in limbo and wipes out their memories as so they'd stop interfering with his plans. Pikachu, the only one retaining his memories, feels hopeless as to fail in saving the universe & lost his friends too to top it off. Pikachu then seeks out his friends and slowly helps them remember again.
This entire conflict in Pokepark 2 was heart shattering as Darkrai KNEW how to hit Pikachu where it counts most and it was depressing witnessing Pikachu try to help his friends remember him again, but got nowhere with them quickly. All I know is that Pokemon got DARK with this game.

8. The Ghost Trial-Pokemon Sun & Moon

The Ghost Trial of Pokemon Sun & Moon was set up to be a creepy horror fest from second one. The trial had the player exploring an old abandoned HAUNTED supermarket while utilizing the AR/Motion controlled camera on the 3DS. In order to effectively explore the supermarket, you had to in real life walk around the room and point your camera around the place in search of Ghost Pokemon. The last room in particular, a closet/elevator shaft, has the player locked inside. There's nothing in the room might I add. I kept spinning around in the enclosed space wondering what exactly I was missing until... Until I spun around one last time and suddenly a Mimickyu was standing there, menacingly with his monstrous arms at the ready to attack. Let me just tell you, teenage me was so spooked by this Mimickyu jumpscare that I screamed, jumped and tossed my DS across the room. This is actually the primary reason I WONT pick up Sun & Moon again.

9. The Phenac City Takeover-Pokemon XD Gale Of Darkness

Rightfully labeled as one of Pokemon's darkest games to date, this main story quest in particular had me actually fearing for my safety, had me wide eyed and scream 'What the F!!!' In my head. So about halfway through the game, the player aka Nate travels to Phenac City in order to talk to the mayor about the rumored uprising of Cipher & the return of Shadow Pokemon. Every NPC in the town is strangely dissmissive and carry around dark type Pokemon such as Dustox & Mightyena when prior they had Marill, Zigzagoon & Jigglypuff. Once Nate gets to the mayor's home, his secretary is strangely defensive against him meeting the mayor let alone going into the Mayor's room. So, after Nate finds a proper distraction for the secretary, Nate sneaks into the Mayor's room and finds a letter on the ground addressed to the town's gymleader describing how the Mayor feels as though he's being watched & that the rest of the town might be in danger before, the letter was left unfinished as if the Mayor had been interrupted. Once Nate puts down the letter, the secretary appears behind him and scolds him for sneaking past her where she reveals herself AND the town to be Cipher goons in disguise and that the town inhabitants are all kidnapped & being held hostage in a secret location. She wasn't joking either!!! This moment had me question reality and surely enough, Nate had to confront and defeat EVERY SINGLE GOON IN DISGUISE!!! I was so shaken by this story quest and rightfully, every else was too.

10. Lavender Town

Lavender Town in all games and interactions is just a depressing location in the Kanto Games for a variety of reasons. The town is one large cemetery for one and two: The iconic Cubone storyline. The Ghost of Lavender Town that's terrorizing the town appears as a menacing ghost the player cannot attack. By the time the player reaches the tower's peak, the Ghost then calms down and reveals itself to be the deceased mother of its Cubone cub before embracing it and moving onto the afterlife. Watching Cubone cry in despair to its mother's passing is heart wrenching and rightfully why this scene is so iconic in its own right.

Which scene was the most 'emotional' for you?