Why isn’t the Ralts family in the Human-Like egg group (other than “lol they cant breed with anything in there, silly!”)? They look a lot more human than Volbeat, Spinda, Buneary, etc. to me.

Because for whatever reason, members of the ralts line seem to be more inclined to mate with balls of gas, possessed trees, and chandeliers than things that look human.

Most researchers try not to think about it too much, frankly.

Honestly, Bill. Between the both of us, you’re the behavioral researcher, yet you give that kind of explanation.

Anonymous, it’s because members of the ralts line don’t wish to mate with things that remind them of their trainers because to them, it carries oedipal implications. The reason why ralts feel the need to protect their trainers so strongly is because they consider their trainers part of their family, so in short, other human-like creatures, even those that vaguely look human such as lopunny and spinda, don’t appeal to them.

Also, yes, this implies that the egg group system is based entirely on a pokémon’s preferences, rather than its ability to interbreed, and … it is. If you attempt to breed pokémon, you’ll notice that “compatible” pokémon will be nearly inseparable, but those that won’t produce an egg stay as far away from each other as possible. On a level, yes, these preferences are also inherent in every pokémon, but in theory, it’s possible for a male ralts and a jynx to breed. They just don’t because, well, they won’t. —LH