The Scariest Pokémon Moment of All Time Still Creeps Me Out 17 Years Later

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Pokémon is a hugely popular franchise known around the world. It includes a successful anime series, manga, trading card game, movies, merchandise, partnerships, and video games, making it instantly recognizable to most people. The series is generally upbeat and family-friendly, which is a major reason why it’s stayed beloved by fans of all ages for so long.

I love the Pokémon games, but sometimes they can get surprisingly spooky! Pokémon Platinum is one of my favorites, and there’s this one moment that really stuck with me – it’s genuinely creepy. Even after 15 years, that jump scare is still talked about by anyone who’s played the game. It’s infamous for a reason!

Cyrus Is One Of The Scariest Pokémon Villains Of All Time

Most Pokémon games have a rival or villain that the player must defeat. In the Pokémon games Platinum, Diamond, Pearl, Ultra Sun, and Ultra Moon, that role is filled by Cyrus, the leader of Team Galactic. Cyrus is the main villain in all games set in the Sinnoh region, and he’s known for his ambitious schemes.

Cyrus intends to destroy the existing world and replace it with one devoid of emotion or spirit. His plan involves summoning Dialga, who controls time, and/or Palkia, who controls space and dimensions – both incredibly powerful Pokémon. By gaining control over either or both of them, he believes he can reshape reality and create a new world reflecting his own vision, essentially becoming a god in the process.

While Cyrus appears in previous games, he has a significantly bigger part in Pokémon Platinum. Players first encounter and battle him in Celestic Town, revealing him as the leader of Team Galactic. He eventually reveals his goal: to build a perfect world solely for himself. Cyrus is completely self-centered, seeing even his devoted Team Galactic members as disposable tools to achieve his aims, with no place for them in the world he envisions.

Cyrus nearly succeeds in his plan at the Spear Pillar, managing to summon both Dialga and Palkia using two Red Chains. He initially intended to summon only one, as either Pokémon possessed enough power to achieve his goals. However, Uxie, Mesprit, and Azelf—known as the Lake Guardians—presented a problem. Cyrus reasoned that the Lake Guardians could only contain one of the powerful Pokémon, so summoning both simultaneously would overwhelm them and allow his plan to proceed.

As anticipated, the lake guardians appear when Dialga and Palkia are summoned. These three Pokémon—representing knowledge, emotion, and willpower—are incredibly powerful, not just for what they can do, but because they are those very qualities, traits they originally shared with humans. Legend says humans gained these qualities from them. The guardians try to soothe Dialga and Palkia, but they’re clearly having a difficult time. With Cyrus close to achieving his aims, the scene feels deeply unsettling and surprisingly frightening.

The Pokémon Platinum Jump Scare Is Genuinely Terrifying

The world of Pokémon isn’t typically known for being frightening. Though some creatures are a little creepy, and there are spooky fan stories like those surrounding Lavender Town, the series generally avoids horror. Any unsettling themes are usually hidden within the game’s backstory, requiring players to actively search for them. However, Pokémon Platinum breaks from this tradition by including a surprisingly effective and genuine jump scare.

Once Cyrus manages to summon both Dialga and Palkia, the lake guardians try to intervene, but as he expected, they’re overwhelmed. With the powerful Pokémon becoming increasingly unstable, Cyrus is certain he’s about to succeed. He begins addressing the player, confidently declaring his plan to obliterate the existing world and build a new one according to his vision.

I was so close to winning, watching Cyrus dominate, and he seemed totally untouchable. Then, out of nowhere, this crazy thing happened. A black hole just appeared right in front of Dialga and Palkia, twisting everything around it. And from inside that black hole, these glowing red eyes opened up. Slowly, this huge, shadowy figure started to rise, all jagged teeth and darkness. Cyrus realized it was a Pokémon that only existed as a shadow, but honestly, he didn’t seem worried. He didn’t think it could stop him.

The scene is unsettling because of how Giratina appears. It stays in shadow throughout, but the game subtly changes the shape of that shadow to show what Giratina is doing – first a simple blob with eyes, then a larger, winged beast, and finally, a clear attack pose directed at Cyrus. Despite being a simple shadowy design, it’s always obvious what the Pokémon is doing and what its intentions are. It’s clear that Cyrus’s actions have provoked Giratina, and it’s now intervening.

What truly stands out is the small smile that appears on Giratina’s shadowy form right before it attacks. Even as Cyrus mocks it, still believing he’s unstoppable, Giratina seems almost amused by his arrogance. It doesn’t consider Cyrus dangerous, regardless of everything he’s achieved. Despite summoning legendary Pokémon and almost destroying the world, Giratina views Cyrus as nothing more than an annoyance. This dismissiveness is what makes the moment so unsettling – to Giratina, even someone as powerful as Cyrus is just a bothersome insect, easily brushed aside.

Giratina’s small smile feels strangely creepy, like something you see in horror movies where something comforting becomes frightening. Films like Truth or Dare and Smile play on this idea, showing that a smile can be unsettling. Giratina’s smile carries that same unsettling feeling—it’s not a friendly expression. It seems to be smiling because it knows what’s coming and enjoys watching someone like Cyrus struggle. Giratina doesn’t appear to worry about any unintended consequences, either.

Okay, so then comes the really scary part! Just after Cyrus says things are finally going smoothly, Giratina’s creepy grin gets wider and it attacks! The screen goes totally black with this awful, booming sound. It’s wild – Giratina actually drags Cyrus into the Distortion World and leaves him there! And even after you beat both of them, Cyrus decides he wants to stay in the Distortion World, still determined to achieve his plans. It’s so unsettling!

Looking back, the Giratina scene in Pokémon isn’t as frightening as it once was. Horror fans are used to jump scares, and the Pokémon series had already explored darker themes. However, the initial impact of that scene remains memorable. While it might seem basic now, it was genuinely shocking when it first came out 17 years ago, and it proves that even family-friendly franchises like Pokémon can be truly scary.

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2025-11-10 21:41