A Pokémon Multiverse – One of Pokémon’s Weirdest Episodes Has Huge Implications For the Franchise

The multiverse has been a big concept in movies in recent years, but Pokémon actually first introduced the idea of parallel universes in its own series well before that, back in the Pokémon XY days. In fact, the series took the term “mirror universe” rather literally in its first appearance by revealing a universe on the other side of mirrored rocks in a special cave.

In the Pokémon XY episode “The Cave of Mirrors!”, Ash and co. are passing through the Reflection Cave when Ash catches sight of his own reflection suddenly reaching out of the mirror and taking Pikachu through it to the other side. Ash follows instinctively, cutting himself off from his traveling companions. Ash makes his way out of the cave and emerges in a strange world with a green sky, where he soon runs into alternate versions of Serena, Bonnie, and Clemont, as well as, eventually, himself.

The mirror version of Ash admits that his own Pikachu has gone missing… stolen by the original version of Team Rocket, who had already blundered their way across universes.

Pokémon’s Mirror Universe is Just the Beginning

The episode introduces mirror versions of the entire cast, who all differ significantly from their main canon counterparts. Mirror Ash is something of “a crybaby,” very sensitive to bullying from his traveling partners. Mirror Serena is much harsher and more aggressive towards Ash, while Mirror Clemont is a magic user rather than a scientist. Mirror Bonnie is polite and well-mannered, while the Mirror versions of the Team Rocket crew are actually known in this universe as “The Heroes of Justice.” While the two universes move out of alignment at the end of the episode, making travel between them impossible for now, there always exists the possibility of another alignment.

Establishing one alternate universe always opens the door for more, however, and later episodes of Pokémon would go on to have more fun with the concept. In the Journeys episodes “Gates of Warp!” and “Showdown at the Gates of Warp!”, another alternate universe, this one home to a very successful branch of Team Rocket, makes an appearance. This universe is more similar to the original, with characters maintaining their general personalities. Ash also sees an apocalyptic alternate universe version of Pokémon’s Alola region in “Battling the Beast Within!” after traveling through an Ultra Wormhole, but given the circumstances, no alternate characters are seen.

The idea of a Pokémon multiverse has long been discussed by fans as an explanation for the two different versions of each game, and certain game storylines, such as Team Rainbow Rocket, revolve around its existence. The anime also having a multiverse of its own is only logical, from that perspective, and one can’t help but wonder what other strange universes might be out there, especially since the mirror universe explicitly included functional magic. Pokémon‘s anime multiverse is definitely an interesting element of the series’ lore that emerged over its run, and it’s a bit of a shame that the series ended without getting to dive into that further.