Clemont and Bonnie's Mother's Secret

So I have a bit of a theory, it’s a bit dark but since I thought of it, I can’t get rid of it. This follows the XY(Z) series of the Pokemon anime

I think Clemont and Bonnie's mum is dead.

First of all, I will acknowledge that several characters are missing a parent and there is nothing more to it (see Ash's dad, confirmed off on a journey and either unknown or irrelevant for now. Also Misty’s parents, Dawn's dad, and Iris’s parents to name just a few), but for Bonnie, I think it is more. Bonnie is the main part of my thoughts and the main evidence I can provide is that Bonnie's mum has died and that happens to be Clement's mum too. Though Clemont is important to the theory, too.

First of all, Bonnie seems obsessed with female role models. She immediately took to Serena. Like instantly. She is always friendly, but she clung to Serena (literally) straight away and started treating her as a big sister before even knowing who she was. Also, let’s note her obsession with Clem getting a woman to “take care of him.”

On the flipside, though she definitely respects Ash and is a good friend of his; she seems nowhere near as close to him as she does Serena. When you watch a scene of Ash and Bonnie, they seem like friends. When you see Bonnie and Serena, you see sisters.

She also seems VERY upset to be separated from her loved ones. That’s not too odd, but she is normally so chirpy that even short periods or a hint of abandonment sends her over the edge to crying, like losing Dedenne (S17 E16) or Squishy (S19 E10), she is close to breaking down. Even Pokémon she has just met, like Tyrunt (S18 E38). And it isn’t just her. If abandonment or Pokémon being alone is mentioned, she seems to be set on her mission to fix that, more than normal. It seems to be her best empathy, with loss, and a Pokémon in distress; she is often the one to point out that they are separated from family and trainers.

The issues with abandonment and the massive search for females to love makes me think she has lost a major female role model. And at her age, there are only really two options. A mother or a big sister. No sister is remotely mentioned, and there is no reason to believe that. And something happening to a sister, they still have a mother. On the other hand, a mother is a sole female figure and much more than a sister would have been. Also, we know there wasn't at some point a mother and that she is now not present…human biology at its best.

Then there is Clem. Clem is VERY protective of his sister, especially emotionally. That isn’t too odd, as he is her older brother and she is like seven or eight, but he seems to have become more of a guardian than a brother. Even going to the first episode, Clem and Bonnie seem to be close, close enough to instinctively work together with only a word or two. And Clem already is an authority, disciplining and teaching bonnie, as if the situation is already second nature to them. They don’t adjust to traveling like May and max, they start like that. Plus, they just take off, from their home town, the same town their dad lives in, without a nod to Meyer about his son and seven or eight-year-old child taking off for the next few weeks.

I also believe SOMETHING BIG happened to Bonnie and Clemont over the last couple of years, something that shifted their perspective. So Bonnie and Clem are super protective of each other, enough to argue they are the most important people in each others lives by the time XY starts. But in a campus reunion (S17 E47, the parts set a couple of years before XY1), that doesn’t seem to be the case. Clem basically goes to a boarding school. And it doesn’t seem forced and the reasoning was to meet other trainers and make friends. Bonnie wasn’t with him. We see he is basically Bonnie’s guardian and basically raising her as the series starts, and the dad doesn’t seem to care or notice they have been missing for weeks. The idea that clem would go off for such a weak reason is silly for the person we get to know in XY. So within the two or so years, the entire dynamic seems to have changed, from clem just having a sister, to having one of the closest sibling relationships there can be.

I can only think of two reasons clem would suddenly become that involved with bonnie. The first is that the dad was abusive or something horrible about him came to light (I don’t buy this one. Say what we want about his parenting, he is a good person and they are on too good a terms) or something changed, a pillar of support that was there before was now gone, and they both HAD to depend on each other. And realistically, that event would be the loss of a family member, namely, the mother.

There is a slight counter argument, in clem leaving bonnie with ash and Serena to go prepare for ash’s gym battle. BUT, they clearly were feeling sad about being apart. And it was clearly a heavy decision, largely weighed by his trust of Ash and Serena. And I actually think that is a better reason than he had to go “meet new friends” and was a week or two, not months or years. I think any reason would be too much to part ways for months by the events of XY.

Clemont’s inventions also got a lot more sentient and more passionate. We don’t have much to go on from a campus reunion, but there he was struggling to get ideas namely in how science could shape the future, and his inventions were the electric showers and power plant, yet by XY, he had fully thrown himself into inventing, including sentient Clembot.

The other argument with Clement is the way he acts when a Pokémon chooses him; he seems surprised and taken to tears. He assumes Chepin wants to stay with the old lady in XY015. With Luxray, he assumed he was not going to forgive him, and left Bunnelby behind without suggesting a catch, he cries when Bunellby asks to join him.

Then we have Meyer, their dad. He has thrown himself into being a super hero, often risking his life. It may mean nothing…but losing a loved one is often a good motivator if you are going full super hero. Maybe in losing his wife, he realised he couldn’t be a good parent on his own (especially as a life risking superhero, Blaziken Mask) and that Clem could be a good person to look after bonnie. With Meyer, we don’t know enough to guess his motivation or reasons. I could give many arguments, but he COULD have had motivations in losing his wife, and though I can’t give information to support it does fit.

To be honest, it is the relationship between Bonnie and Clem that is getting me. Having lost parents, yet keeping sisters, I know how a loss like that can grow that bond so rapidly. Everything, to me, points to Bonnie losing her dominant female role model, there being a loss in the family, and Clemont taking on a lot of responsibility for his sister very suddenly. I hate to add a dark undertone like this, especially as it’s about the happiest character and my fave character, but yeah…it feels like the mother dying is the most logical option, and the other remotely realistic options are even worse (like abusive parents).

EXCEPT, this is not a dark undertone. Ok, it is, but not only do they refuse to let this loss get to them, but it strengthens it and becomes key to saving the world. Bonnie's abandonment issues were turned into kindness and passionate friendliness, and she grew and evolved through her loss. Meaning that by XYZ she was the example of the reason for belief in humans, and became friends with something she didn’t know about. She cared for, protected and loved the seemingly worthless squishy, even risking her own life and safety for protect it.

Clemont’s new attitude towards inventing also helped. Not only with the creation of Clembot, but the passion of what makes a good inventor against Xerosic

So although this theory starts in a dark way, it does add a deep and better layer to Bonnie and Clemont. To have such a recent tragedy, and not just keep on, not just survive, but thrive, grow, evolve from the tragedy is, in my opinion, inspirational.