Tag: Magnemite

Bill, in the course of doing some research, I realized there are naturally occurring populations of the Magnemite line in every known region. To the best of my knowledge, they’re the only species to have this. So I had two questions, a) do you know why this is? And b) why Magnemite of all things? Magnemite’s ecological niche is so narrow, I’m surprised that more adaptive pokemon wouldn’t have spread farther afield.

You’d be surprised. In truth, magnemite breed anywhere there’s human settlement. They feed off of electricity and trash, so anywhere there is urban development—especially abandoned urban development—magnemite and/or its evolutions will be there. A bit like cockroaches, actually, only if cockroaches were larger, made of steel, and liable to electrocute you. They might not seem all that likely to adapt, but then again, they don’t exactly need to. Their specific food sources are plentiful enough that they quite simply don’t have to struggle for survival. All they have to do is breed enough in their chosen environments and perhaps resist most things that try to kill them.

In other words, to answer both of your questions at once, magnemite aren’t entirely numerous or adaptive; they’re more likely to form small communities in urban areas, as they’re attracted to high concentrations of electricity. Of course, it’s impossible to say for certain how every single magnemite population came to be, although the going theory is that they simply come attached to heavy construction equipment or other shipments from foreign areas, then detach, seek out an appropriate nesting area, and begin developing a population.

So … once again, very much like cockroaches, only if cockroaches were larger, made of steel, and liable to electrocute you.

(As for why few other species are quite as successful … that is a bit of a mystery too, admittedly, although it may have something to do with how excellent magnemite are at stowing away and allowing humans to carry them, even inadvertently, from one habitat to another.

Can magnemite evolve to magneton on their own, or do they always need other magnemite to fuse with? Same goes for beldum and metang– do I have to worry about my beldum going out and fusing with another trainer’s beldum? (And, if so, who gets ownership of the pokemon?)

In the wild, yes, beldum and magnemite (and diglett, for that matter) need fellow pokémon to evolve. This is largely because these pokémon don’t naturally gain enough energy on their own, but they can gather this energy by pooling their resources together. When tamed, though, trainers will usually develop their pokémon’s abilities, which in turn allows them to develop the energy reserves needed to evolve on their own. Thus, these pokémon essentially undergo a form of budding that allows them to create clones of themselves in order to evolve. This may sound disturbing, but because evolution is often spontaneous, most trainers are fortunate enough not to see this process happening.

Slowpoke undergoes a similar transformation, by the way. The only difference is that in the wild, they simply force innocent shellder to merge with them, rather than members of their own species. Slowpoke are, truth be told, extremely terrifying once one gets past their slowness and innocuous appearances.

The Magnemite Line

Magnemite
The Magnet Pokémon
Type: Electric/Steel
Official Registration #: 81
Entry: This small, magnet-like pokémon subsists entirely on electricity, and as such, it thrives best in urban environments, where it moves in groups from one power station to another. Additionally, it moves by using its electromagnetism to repel off the ground, meaning it’s silent as it moves but is very likely to disrupt electronic equipment (such as a computer, a cell phone, or a television set) as it passes. On occasion, it will glide power lines to residential areas for food, so if your electronics glitch shortly before you experience a blackout, it’s advised that you should check your breaker box, as a large congregation of magnemite may have been attracted to your home. Also, it should be noted that magnemite are capable of learning both Thunder Wave and Electroball prior to evolution, so should you find a large congregation of magnemite attached to your breaker box, it is also advised that you consider moving.

Magneton
The Magnet Pokémon
Type: Electric/Steel
Official Registration #: 82
Entry: The evolved form of magnemite, by battle experience. Yes, magneton is technically three magnemite linked together magnetically, combining their abilities to generate more powerful magnetic fields and techniques. Yes, each magnemite is capable of detaching itself and performing complex tasks for its magneton cluster. Yes, this is considered to be a separate pokémon. No, the author cannot explain the Pokémon Symposium’s reasoning either.

Magnezone
The Magnet Area Pokémon
Type: Electric/Steel
Official Registration #: 462
Entry: The evolved form of magneton, by battle experience, if trained in areas rich with the mineral magnetite. There is a popular theory within the scientific community that magnezone is capable of further evolution. However, experiments launched into finding the requirements of such an evolution have so far failed. As for why scientists believe the magnemite line is capable of a third permanent, non-mega evolution, it could be because magnezone’s abilities have been known to be volatile and capable of being boosted further by exposure to powerful magnetic fields. Alternatively, it could be because it evolves from a pokémon consisting of three magnemite stuck together, and even other members of the Symposium have difficulty believing this is an actual, separate pokémon.