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What's With All The Memes About Typhlosion, And What Did The 'Game Freak Leak' Reveal About The Pokémon's Lore? The Viral 'Typhlosion Lore Story' Explained
It's been a dark week for Typhlosion fans, and it's only Tuesday.
The recent data leak from the Game Freak offices has compromised years' worth of internal Pokémon data, from beta models of older Pokémon and trainers to unreleased documents addressing deep Pokémon lore.
But among the various creation myth diagrams and concept art pieces, people also found entire storylines dedicated to human-Pokémon relationships in the fictional universe's ancient history.
These bizarre lore stories sounded more like violent (and vile) Greek myths than they did lighthearted Pokémon fare, and one story about a time when the "relationships" between Pokémon and humans were "blurred" has caught the attention of many fans amid the event.
Here's why you might be seeing more fan art and memes about people side-eyeing Typhlosion after the information revealed in the 2024 Game Freak GigaLeak.
What Is Game Freak, And What Was The 'Gigaleak' In October 2024?
Game Freak is the Japanese video game developer that's been making Pokémon games since the 1990s. Sometime in October 2024, murmurs about a considerable data leak from the company began making waves online.
This isn't the first time that the company got hacked, as a series of leaks from 2019 to 2020 previously revealed additional insider information about Nintendo, Wii and Pokémon. This time, however, was possibly worse depending on your thoughts on the leaked data.
On or around October 12th, 2024, internet users and Pokémon fans began discussing entire untranslated files that were emerging on sites like 4chan and Discord. These files contained everything from information about Nintendo's next-gen console, an unannounced 10th generation Pokémon game, as well as the upcoming Pokémon Legends Z-A video game.
The leak reportedly indicated the name of the Game Freak employee responsible for the incident, with tech enthusiasts speculating that they might've been a victim of a phishing scam that accidentally put the private information of thousands of their coworkers at risk.
What Did The Game Freak GigaLeak Reveal About Typhlosion?
On October 13th, the information revealed from the giga leak got weirder. People began delving into documents written by Game Freak employees and translating them into English, and what they found were several unreleased stories and tales exploring Pokémon lore that covered themes touched upon in Pokémon Legends: Arceus but were never fully fleshed out.
One of the creation myths written by an unknown Game Freak employee told the story of a girl who was kidnapped by the Pokemon Typhlosion, who fed her and kept her safe until they had a baby together. The story then shows how the girl's father kills the Typhlosion, causing her to mourn him.
Here's literally a story about Typhlosion kidnapping a girl, gaslighting her, and then making her give birth to a half human half Pokemon childWhat the- pic.twitter.com/yBfjPctq7I
— Gireum means oil (@GireumNewTown) October 13, 2024
To many, the strange tale read a lot like a Greek myth or fable and spoke to how the creators of Pokémon were cooking up some mythology inspired by what tales exist out in the real world within the universe.
How Did Internet Users React To The News About Typhlosion?
Internet users did as internet users do — they made memes about it. Jokes and fan art about other Pokémon side-eyeing Typhlosion began making the rounds almost immediately, as did memes in which people lament about their favorite fire-type Pokemon getting the Vaporeon treatment (the infamous copypasta for those unaware).
Jokes about how Typhlosion is "Not Like Us" quickly spread across the internet this week, even as artists drew meme upon meme of a cartoonish Typhlosion looking at his phone all stressed out about the reactions to the new info.
For the full history of Typhlosion's Game Freak Leaks, be sure to check out Know Your Meme's encyclopedia entry for more information.
