Note: This theory was mainly just enjoyable for me to come up with and contemplate, and I thought I'd share it. You can take it or leave it, it's just a theory after all

I’m a big fan of theory videos, particularly game theory ones. Although I mostly watch them for entertainment value, some I wish were actually reality. I still hope that someday Bioware will retroactively declare the Indoctrination Theory canon. I loved the Mass Effect series, but that ending was terrible!

Anyway, after the TPP Anniversary Red Battle Tent Glitches, I decided to check out some creepy pasta theory video classics on the Pokemon series, such as Lavender Town syndrome, White Hand and Missing Silver. While this was for fun, it did get me thinking about a theory of my own that had started to form in my old brain case. So, without further ado, cue up a haunting Lavender Town remix and hold on to your butts, here is the Twitch Plays Pokemon Anniversary Red Purgatory Theory.

Early in the run, having evolved Thundercat into a Persian, a theory began to circulate around the TPP subreddit that Abe was either Giovanni’s childhood self, somehow having travelled to the future, or was Giovanni’s future successor as Team Rocket Leader. After a major PC shuffle that saw Thundercat get boxed, this theory was soon abandoned. However, I’m here to resurrect that theory…well sort of. The Purgatory Theory states this: the Anniversary Red run takes place at some point after the events of Pokemon Red/Blue, Giovanni has died and Abe is actually his spirit trapped in some form of purgatory, although he doesn’t even realize it. Remember how after the main character defeats Giovanni in the Viridian Gym, Giovanni states he wants to refocus his life? Perhaps he did, but it wasn’t enough to absolve him of his sins while he was still alive. Giovanni’s soul is attempting to find redemption for the crimes he committed when he was alive, by attempting to live his childhood dream of becoming the League Champion. Something happened to him as a child that steered his life in the direction of crime, and now he must relive these experiences and make the right decisions this time, to find redemption.

Okay, so that seems like a pretty big leap I’ll admit. But major glitches during this playthrough have really left me feeling this run has a supernatural vibe. So what evidence do I have to support this theory?

Part 1: Growleezard

We all know what happened to the aptly named Growleezard in the stream. After our starter evolved into a Charizard, an ill-fated attempt to retrieve Kakuna from the PC led to Growlee’s release. This is nothing new in the history of TPP, sadly many fire-starters have fallen in PC shuffles during playthroughs, starting with the original: Abby. What happened next was unprecedented though. On Day 9 of the stream, Abe entered the Battle Tent, an addition to this Rom to allow for easier acquiring of money to complete the Pokedex. But the Battle Tent ended up glitching, removing all but three members of Abe’s party, and replacing those three with glitched Pokemon that took the form of ‘Charizard ‘M,’ a haunting reminder of Growleezard, interpreted by some as it’s spirit. But what does this signify? In Pokemon Origins, via a flashback a young Giovanni is shown to be the trainer of a Charmander. The anime does not explain what happened to this Charmander, but considering that in the Pokemon Adventures manga Giovanni had his Persian as a child, showing that he held on to Pokemon from that time, it could be surmised that something tragic happened to this Charmander: either it died or Giovanni abandoned it. Which leads to the next part of the theory:

Part 2: The other ‘Mon

Giovanni’s goals in the anime, games and manga mainly centered around collecting powerful Pokemon to exploit for money. With this is mind it is rather fitting that his most trusted Pokemon has been one that would normally considered weak and useless: Parasect. If Giovanni’s spirit is attempting to redeem itself, the first step would be to learn to trust in and believe in weaker Pokemon. In Pokemon Yellow, in the first encounter Giovanni’s team consists of an Onix, Persian and Rhyhorn, all ‘Mon who were at one point in Abe’s party but were eventually boxed as the Leech King grew into a strong fighter, possibly Giovanni learning to let go of the Pokemon he once coveted to open his mind and heart to other ‘Mon.

It could be that many of the ‘Mon in Abe’s party represent either Pokemon that he harmed in his life, or parts of his own personality. Consider Thundercat, who was boxed soon after evolving into Persian. This act could be viewed as heartless, but I think it may have been an act of mercy: Giovanni did not want to subject Persian to his darkside as he did in life. And as for representations of personality….

Part 3: Okay, what about the freaking Mime?

Mr. Mime was a physical manifestation of Giovanni’s darkside. Considering the ruthlessness in which Mr. Mime threw other ‘Mon to the side and caused their releases, it’s easy to view the Mime as evil. Mr. Mime was caught on Day 12, just two days after the Charizard ‘M incident. On that same day the Streamer’s PC crashed and the stream was down for 6 hours, in which time we can only theorize what happened to Abe. It could be during this time Abe fell under the influence of his darker half. At the end of Day 14, the stream went down for another four hours. Finally, on Day 15, after reaching Cinnabar, Abe entered into a PC shuffle, that ultimately led to the boxing of Mr. Mime, after several releases. Since Mr. Mime’s boxing, the run has seen a wave of good luck, from resurrecting Dome, catching Zapdos, putting together an E4 worthy team, and earning the final two badges. It could be viewed that by finally pushing away his darkside, Giovanni was able to start to truly redeem himself, allowing him to resurrect Dome and defeat himself once and for all.

Part 4: So wait, Dome is helping an evil spirit?

No, Dome is helping a spirit redeem itself. Being the Lord of Order, this seems to fall right into Dome’s alley. Consumed with guilt, it is possible that Giovanni’s spirit could have become malevolent, and reek havoc on the world. Order is also often tied with justice, and this purgatory could be a way in which the universe is enacting justice on Giovanni for his sins, and thus would place it within Dome’s realm. Also Dome’s a pretty cool guy, and might just want to help Giovanni find peace.

Part 5: Earlier you said Giovanni ‘finally defeated himself once and for all’, da fuq?

That one should be pretty obvious, during the events of Red/Blue Giovanni’s organization and thus his wrong-doing was at its peak, so defeating that version of himself is his soul’s way of overcoming that person he once was but is not anymore.

Part 6: The girl in the wall, and other glitches

Just continuing the whole supernatural part of the theory, remember the girl in the wall that Abe could see when he was perpetually blacking out after the first Battle Tent Glitch? In the Pokemon games, Silver, the main character’s rival in Pokemon Gold/Silver, is revealed to be Giovanni’s son. In Pokemon Red/Blue as well as the anime, Giovanni does not appear to be married. Presumably at one point or another he loved a woman and fathered a child with her, although we don’t know what happened to her. Could she have died, or did Giovanni abandon her? And is the girl in the wall a vision of her, a reminder of one of Giovanni’s mistakes in his life?

Just earlier today, after another attempt at the Battle Tent, the stream began to glitch again, leading to Abe himself being glitched, and appearing to be half phased-out of existence. This could be his spirit becoming slowly aware of what it is.

The old men sprites in his party are representative of his alcoholic, abusive father , I have nothing for that.

Part 7: Pokemon Tower

Abe has spent a large amount of time in the Pokemon Tower. In Pokemon canon, the Tower is the burial site of many Pokemon who have died. Considering how Giovanni and Team Rocket treated Pokemon (think of the Marowak in Pokemon Origins), it’s no stretch of the imagination that Giovanni is responsible for many of the deaths of the Pokemon that are buried there now. Abe could feel drawn to the Tower as he attempts to reconcile with the souls of the ‘Mon he put there.

Part 8: How the run has went

The first two weeks of the run were marked with many releases and bad luck. As of the time of this writing, since boxing Mr. Mime the run has been marked by much better luck. This could be because Giovanni had to re-experience some of the tragedies that happened to him growing up that led him to a life of crime. He had to re-experience them so that he could find redemption by making the right decisions following them this time. If Giovanni’s Charmander did meet a tragic fate as a child, that could be the reason he abandoned his dreams of becoming a strong trainer and began to live a life of crime. This time he had a second chance, to experience tragedy again, several times actually, and come out a stronger person. Now he has a seemingly finalized team, symbolizing his growth into becoming a person that cherishes his Pokemon.

There is still Victory Road and the Elite 4 ahead, and if Abe really is Giovanni’s spirit, there is no telling as of yet whether he will truly find peace. But I know I will be rooting for him.

TL;DR: Well aren't you lazy

• Giovanni has died, sometime after the events of Red/Blue

• His spirit is seeking to absolve itself of sins in which he committed when he was alive, and took the form of himself as a child, when he first faced tragedy and began the road towards being a criminal

• The glitches are evidence of the supernatural existence he lives in: a purgatory

• The tragedies he has faced are reminders of his errors in life and provide chances for him to become a better person

• Mr. Mime was his darkside personified

• Dome is helping him for reasons of order and such

• Etc, you should really just read it :P