Tag: our world

Are there illnesses that can be passed from pokemon to people and/or vice versa?

Yes, of course. In fact, many diseases can pass from one species to the next—even from pokémon to animals besides humans and vice versa—and a number of these have had historically devastating consequences.

While I could name a number of those (certain autoimmune diseases, smallpox, a number of neurological diseases including rabies, and even some forms of tuberculosis, to name a few), the most readily apparent, the most important, and the least graphic to talk about would likely be influenza. Technically, it’s just as rare for the flu to jump from a pokémon host to a human as it is for it to jump from animals to people, but it still is a possibility, especially in areas where consuming pokémon is prevalent and where sanitation isn’t quite up to code. Once it makes the jump, however, this strain of the flu can be just as contagious as any other, which means it can still be a very real threat. (You may have heard of the torchic flu outbreak that began in Orre a few years ago, for example.) So even if you do live in a region where pokémon consumption is low and where medical and sanitary education is high, it’s still important to vaccinate both yourself and your pokémon (if both you and your pokémon are medically capable of doing so), just in case you encounter a trainer or other traveler who isn’t quite as lucky as you are.

Of course, there are plenty of other diseases that don’t necessarily make the pokémon host sick but can certainly sicken you. This is especially true with parasites, as well as bacteria normally contained in pokémon fecal matter. Some pokémon—particularly reptilian ones—may also carry salmonella on their skin, so in general, it’s an excellent idea to wash your hands after cleaning your pokémon’s enclosures and after handling reptilian pokémon.

As for pokémon getting sick from our diseases, despite the fact that human beings are not actually the cleanest organisms in existence (there is a reason why we have an extensive list of procedures for self-maintenance), it’s less common for a disease to jump from us to them. However, it still happens, and it’s often said that if a trainer is sick, then their team is too. So always practice good hygiene on your travels (even if it doesn’t seem that convenient to you), and if you feel under the weather, be sure to keep your pokémon within their poké balls as much as possible and seek shelter to rest until you’re well again.

Is it true that you will be cursed if you see Mimikyu’s true form? If so, would you be cursed if you only saw it in a photo and not actually i front of you. Does Mimikyu apply the curse or is there some other force? If not, how did this rumour come to be? Sorry about the qeustions, Mimikyu is such an interesting pokemon.

Not cursed exactly. It’s more like mimikyu’s actual appearance is so shocking that it’s been known to literally trigger cardiac arrest, particularly in those who have underlying heart conditions already. In that sense, looking at a photo of its true form may induce a similar phenomenon.

Of course, some mimikyu—especially the more aggressive ones—have been known to take advantage of a victim’s shock by using their spiritual abilities to induce nightmarish hallucinations, but not all mimikyu actually do this. The rumors of the species’ “curse” may stem from this particular behavior or the cases in which a more benign mimikyu accidentally killed a victim through shock alone. Anthropologists can only really theorize which based on historical accounts and local folklore, but the prevailing theory has more to do with the latter (accidental death through shock) than the former.

Is there any reason that pokemon are typed in a certain order? I don’t think I phrased that well, so what I mean is why is salamence dragon/flying and why is noivern flying/dragon? They have the same weaknesses and resistances, so is there a reason?

In many cases, it’s in the order of which element describes a pokémon’s phenotype more. For example, salamence is very clearly a dragon, as it possesses highly draconic features. Noivern, by contrast, seems to be more related to a bat or bat-like pokémon, so it’s classified as a flying-type first.

Granted, this is not a system that applies to all pokémon, and this is particularly true with the flying type. Take the zubat line, for example. One would assume that by the above logic, zubat, being a bat-like pokémon, would be classified as flying/poison, rather than poison/flying, especially given its reliance on flying techniques to support that argument. However, it’s classified as poison/flying instead because back when it was first introduced to the National Dex, the term “flying” was vague and required modification. That is to say, calling a pokémon a flying-type could have meant a lot of things. (It could mean, for example, that the pokémon in question was pidgey-like, or it could mean that it’s more gyarados-like.) However, calling a pokémon a poison/flying-type clarified things more.

In some cases, it may come down to prior classification (for example, the jigglypuff line being classified as normal/fairy because it had once been classified as just normal) or even just the researcher’s preference (girafarig, for example, whose classifications are alphabetized because that’s just what Professor Elm would do). It really depends on the pokémon, but I must say that the higher up in National Dex number you go, the more likely the classification simply describes what element a pokémon is most like, followed by the second most fitting element.

Can Pokémon see in the dark?

Some do, but this number isn’t exactly the majority. Basically speaking, most pokémon that resemble vertebrate animals possess a tapetum lucidum, or a thin layer of reflective tissue that bounces light back to the photoreceptors of the eye. (In other words, it allows some pokémon and animals to see in low-light settings.) However, humanoid pokémon, insectoid pokémon, and a number of non-animal pokémon lack this reflective tissue and therefore either rely on other means or lack the ability to see in the dark altogether.

Insectoid pokémon in particular rely primarily on their senses of smell and touch to navigate their world either way; they don’t actually have excellent senses of vision. Even venonat, which is noted for its radar-like sight, only really sees the world as vague shapes moving about on a blob-filled background. It’s just that they’re very talented at discerning one shape from another.

As for the others, humanoid psychics are capable of navigating the dark through their psychic abilities. For example, gothitelle predicts where objects are, gardevoir uses telepathy to see through a more capable pokémon’s eyes, and medicham pushes outward with telekinesis and dodges objects that it “feels” through this method. Non-psychic humanoids, however, navigate darkness just about as well as a human would, unfortunately.

Additionally, some pokémon don’t really navigate using sight, smell, or psychic abilities but rather echolocation instead. All bat-like pokémon are particularly known for this, but it’s a hallmark of clefairy as well. This is why clefairy often chant as they move. They’re simply using echolocation in combination with their naturally sensitive hearing to detect objects ahead.

Finally, you have the pokémon that don’t fit the above classifications, which may navigate their world using some combination of the above. For example, geodude navigate by feeling the vibrations beneath it, whereas roggenrola use echolocation. Voltorb and magnemite emit soft bursts of light to illuminate their way, and porygon often come with built-in radar systems that enable them to “see.”

Ultimately, the point is, only a fraction of pokémon can truly see in the dark. The rest of them actually rely on a number of other, vastly different means.

Bill, I’m sure you’re the best person to ask about this, how does Payday not ruin the economy?

Contrary to popular belief, Pay Day does not generate money from thin air. Rather, it generates meowth charms from thin air. These meowth charms are not technically money but may be sold back to pokémarts for a certain amount, depending on the quality of the charm, the karat of the gold, and the seller themselves. Ultimately, however, the amount a charm can be sold for goes for less than ¥100, so while some young or unlucky trainers may be desperate enough to sell these charms, they’re more or less trivial little trinkets to anyone else but meowth aficionados, as the effort to generate and cash them far outweighs the payoff.

For those wondering how generating anything out of thin air that may be sold to an ordinary pokémart doesn’t ruin the economy or bankrupt a mart, also note that the charms can then be sold to local meowth afficionados, who are as numerous as they are gifted with vast disposable incomes. There are entire online communities dedicated to meowth fanatics’ vast collections of Pay Day-generated charms, with users from all over the world. Apparently, every charm is unique in color, texture, quality, luster, and so forth, and many forums are dedicated to the sharing and discussion of meowth charm flaws. Some meowth fanatics even travel from region to region, visiting pokémarts in a dedicated search for charms to add to their collections.

Of course, as tempting as it would be to judge, I’d advise you not to do so. There are certainly communities of species-specific pokémaniacs that are a bit more avid in their collecting habits than this.

The eevee fan communities, for example, compare shades of non-shiny eevee fur. —LH

Which are a vast spectrum of different but equally fascinating shades! —Bill

They’re brown, Bill. Also, do you really need sixteen threads dedicated to that? That’s what a sticky is for! —LH

What age do pokemon reach maturity? Are they like humans and reach maturity in their teens or more like animals and much earlier?

It really depends on the pokémon and your definition of “maturity,” anonymous. Assuming you mean “adulthood” or “age at which pokémon are ready to breed,” some pokémon, such as caterpie, can reach this point within months after birth. Others, such as members of the dratini family, may take years to reach that point, and rock-types such as geodude may take decades. Still others—namely the traditionally classed “baby” pokémon—never reach that point at all unless they undergo evolution first.

Generally speaking, though, the shorter the life span, the quicker a pokémon matures, and only a handful really reach maturity in their teens like humans do.

Do you think that Hawlucha and Incineroar are natural rivals? Both are wrestling based Pokemon. Hawlucha has a téchnico look to it. In Mexican wrestling the téchnico is like the equivalent to the “face” in American Wrestling (opposite of the Heel). Téchnicos are typically smaller technical wrestlers while the Rudos (Mexican equivalent to “heel” such as Incineroar) are typically brawlers of a bigger stature. So it seems like they would natural want to square off against each other. Though based on the fact one is native to Alola and the other is from Kalos makes me wonder.

BILL: Well, as you’ve noted, @funky-ufo, the two aren’t found in the same habitat. As such, they actually don’t compete for resources, nor have they had any reason to become rivals to one another (unlike pokémon that do host inherent hatred for their counterparts, such as red and blue basculin, seviper and zangoose, or gyarados and anything that moves). So in a way, it would be much like throwing an American and Mexican wrestler in the same arena. While, yes, they’re both wrestlers, they come from different circuits and technically different sports, just as Incineroar and Hawlucha come from different habitats and behave in their own unique ways.

Of course, they have a sort of artificial rivalry, as the idea that these two would be at each other’s throats is actually a very human concept. As such, it’s not at all unusual for humans to stage battles between the two for their own entertainment purposes, and hawlucha fans and incineroar enthusiasts often engage in matches (both on the battlefield and via internet communities) to determine which is the better pokémon. In actuality, when introduced to one another outside of the context of a battle, an incineroar is just as likely to befriend a hawlucha as it is to develop an abject hatred for one, and the same could be said for a hawlucha towards an incineroar. If anything, when not forced to form a rivalry with each other, incineroar and hawlucha tend to enjoy one another’s company because they make for ideal sparring partners between the two, and oftentimes, an incineroar’s “heel” nature is just what a hawlucha needs to fuel its fiery passion for battling. Pun just a little intended.

What is a good pokemon to help my daughter get to school during the winter months? My family raises rock types, so they don’t keep her warm. Accessibility to fire types is limited here (sinnoh, so ponyta is all we got.)

Believe it or not, abomasnow are actually popular choices for this exact issue. While one would think they would be cold (what with being not only ice-types but also ice-types that strongly resemble sentient snow-covered trees), its actual body is covered with a thick layer of fur. Additionally, abomasnow often carry their young (or young trainers) in their arms, close to or just beneath their first layer of fur, thus keeping them out of the harshness of the Sinnohan mountain winters.

Piloswine and mamoswine are likewise covered in thick fur (or, in mamoswine’s case, thick layers of fat that result in it practically radiating heat); the only difference is that your daughter will have to ride her piloswine or mamoswine, rather than allow herself to be carried by one. For smaller, more nimble alternatives that work in similar fashions, you may wish to consider giving her an altaria or an absol, depending on her age and stature.

If, however, it’s imperative to get her a rock-type, consider a bastiodon. Bastiodon are warm-blooded and thus actually warm to the touch (despite its rock/steel typing), and at the very least, it’s less uncomfortable to ride one than any other rock-type in Sinnoh.

Good luck, anonymous!

I was comparing my Sinnoh pokedex to my Alolan friend’s pokedex, and it looks like a lot of the Alolan entries are really horrifying compared to other pokedexes! Drifloon’s body can burst with a screaming sound? Primape gets so angry that it dies? Why is the Alolan pokedex so scary?

There are a couple of reasons behind this, anonymous.

First and foremost, there are cultural differences at play. In comparison to Sinnohans, Alolans are blunter and gifted with a slightly darker sense of humor. Perhaps it has something to do with the capricious and often violent nature of their island guardians or perhaps it has to do with the fact that every island except Poni features a major site for the dead, but death is just a part of life to Alolans. They celebrate it as being an honorable or otherwise inevitable state of being, the final end to what had hopefully been a fruitful and adventurous life. As such, they talk about death in frank terms; it’s both important to talk about and a subject that one can make light of. So when you see an Alolan entry refer to death, it’s not meant to be morbid but rather a statement that death can and will happen to even the best of us. This is in stark contrast with the Sinnohan viewpoint of death, as Sinnohans have a tendency to avoid the concept altogether, likely due to its own (rather negative) folklore on the subject. Likewise, the Alolan pokédex may be gorier than any other regional index, simply because Alolans in general are a lot more open about discussing topics that are considered taboo or otherwise impolite to cover in other cultures. Even Unovans tend to be rather prudish concerning violence in comparison with Alolans—or at least, Unovans are when it comes to showing violence to their ten-year-old trainers.

In short, a lot of it has to do with the fact that the writers of these entries tend to write according to their culture, and the Alolan dex, while it had help from a Kantonian, was primarily edited by an Alolan.

The second reason, of course, is the fact that it was also edited by the ghost-type rotom, but it’s important to note that not all of the morbidity is because of the rotom by itself.