About

Hypno’s Lullaby refers to a creepypasta poem in which the Pokémon Hypno lures children away from their homes using hypnotism and feasts on their dreams for eternity. After the poem appeared online, it was then turned into a song set to the Lavender Town music which went viral on YouTube. A fan-made game based off the creepypasta has also been invented and it appears to be referenced in Pokémon Ultra Sun and Moon.

Origin

The origin of the creepypasta is unknown. It was posted pokecommunity^[1] forums on August 10th, 2010 by user Lilliana Vess,^[1] though they note that it had been "circulating" for some months prior.

It is rumored the text is inspired by the Pokémon Fire Red Pokédex entry for Hypno, which reads, "It carries a pendulum-like device. There once was an incident in which it took away a child it hypnotized."^[2][3] Of note, an Urban Dictionary definition for Hypno posted July 9th, 2010^[4] describes Hypno as a pedophile, possibly referring to the creepypasta.

Spread

On November 19th, 2010, YouTuber TrainerDerek uploaded a track of him sing-speaking a slightly-edited version of the creepypasta over the Lavender Town music, gaining over 3 million views (shown below).

The video inspired various cover versions and reposts to YouTube with different visuals. For example, a video featuring a GIF of Hypno posted by CookieRoxPaw gained over 44,000 views (shown below, left). Another by Useless Minds gained over 187,000 views (shown below, right).

The popularity of the creepypasta inspired fans to write their own, longer stories inspired by it. There is a fanfiction story that was posted to fanfiction.net^[5] by user Wrath Reign on May 26th, 2012, and another posted to Crappypasta.com^[6] by an anonymous user on May 30th, 2013.

Game Adaptation

A fan-made video game adaptation of the creepypasta began circulating around spring of 2013.^[7] The game is a ROM hack of Pokémon Fire Red in which the player encounters the evil Hypno who kidnaps children. The game has been played online by several Let's Players. YouTuber CandyEvie played the game on her channel and gained over 421,000 views (shown below, left). YouTuber MunchingOrange did the same and gained over 730,000 views (shown below, right).

Pokémon Ultra Sun and Moon Reference

On November 21st, 2017, Kotaku^[8] reported on a portion of Pokémon Ultra Sun and Moon which potentially is a reference the creepypasta. In the trainer's school early in the game, the player discovers two journal entries which describe a child being picked up from the school by a Hypno. In the next entry, the Pokémon Drifloon picks up the child.

Furthermore, the Pokémon Zorua can be caught around the school in these games. Zorua can transform into other beings, leading to the theory that the child who attends the school after Hypno takes it is a Zorua in disguise.

Search Interest

External References