Tag: our world

I once read somewhere that long ago, people and Pokémon could marry. Is this true? What are your thoughts?

I’m afraid it’s merely a legend, anonymous. There aren’t any solid records of this actually happening.

As for my opinion concerning it, my explanation of poképhilia in modern times aside, it would certainly be interesting. I say “interesting” because it could indicate one of three things:

1. Pokémon were far more intelligent then than they are now and were capable of both communicating and understanding humans fully.

2. Pokémon and humans were far, far more alike than they are now (which itself could imply that humans had been a sort of pokémon or very close relatives to them before evolving away from that state).

3. This says more about humans and human morality than about pokémon.

Either way, the point is, it would be either anthropologically or ethologically fascinating to study.

do pokemon pee and poop

Well, the ones that eat and drink do. Pokémon that get sustenance from energy or electricity, such as the porygon line and voltorb line, have no need for it.

If you don’t mind me saying so, anonymous, it’s odd that you wouldn’t know about this. This is a well-known fact, and some evolution lines are even famous for it. For example, it’s common knowledge that dusk stones are nothing more than sableye fecal matter, and it’s said that geodude are responsible for the rest.

What is your opinion on Human/Pokémon relationships (meaning romantic and.. everything that comes with it)?

Well, considering the fact that it’s both illegal and taboo within virtually every country and culture on this planet, I don’t particularly condone it.

However, I do admit it’s a subject that deserves more discussion than that.

To play devil’s advocate, one of the issues brought up against poképhilia is the idea that pokémon can’t truly give consent. While this is true for many of the more animalistic pokémon, humanoid pokémon and those that possess superior intelligence such as jynx, alakazam, froslass, and so forth are all perfectly capable of comprehending the human concepts of love, sexuality, and communication and can therefore actually give consent if they wanted to.

That having been said, on the other hand, there are several unfortunate implications involved with such a relationship, including and mainly the fact that you technically do own your pokémon. I don’t particularly like to phrase it as such, but the human-pokémon relationship is that of master and pet. Thus, although a pokémon can clearly give a form of consent, it’s questionable as to whether it actually is full consent or instead a byproduct of that default relationship, as instilled by the poké ball.

Furthermore, pokémon possess far different concepts of love and sexuality for themselves than humans do. It should be kept in mind that as sapient and intelligent some pokémon seem to be, they are still of a different species and culture than our own. Thus, while some pokémon may understand what love and sexuality is to us, how that applies to them is completely different.

Lastly, there are simply biological differences. Many pokémon, such as alakazam actually, possess powers that could very well kill a human if the user loses control (such as during moments of excitement). And even then, even if a pokémon seems like it would be completely safe to have … a relationship with, some pokémon actually possess rather dangerous organs with which to mate. For example, did you know that a male golduck possesses a corkscrew [CENSORED] that is capable of [CENSORED] at possibly the highest velocity for [CENSORED—REALLY BILL?!]?

In short, in my personal opinion, it’s best to maintain a strictly platonic relationship with a pokémon. This is the best way to ensure that both sides are happy and that the human, at the end of the day, does not end up dead.

Something that I was just wondering about, is there a way for a Pokemon that evolves through trading to evolve another way? Or was this method of evolution only discovered after humans started catching and trading certain pokemon species? Like has there ever been any cases of a Pokemon to appear in the wild that wasn’t abandoned but is the final stage of say the Gasty line? And how does trading a Pokemon even cause it to evolve? What’s the science behind it?

Certainly, anonymous! In fact, trade-based evolution is only the easiest and most recently discovered method for specific species, and it’s frequently the most humane, all of which is why it’s often recommended by both the pokédex and modern-day researchers. So yes, to answer one of your questions, trading as a method has only existed as long as the trade machine has.

However, all of the species that evolve via trading are fully capable of evolving on their own. It’s just that their evolution requirement without trading would be age. There are, for example, wild gengar and steelix in Sinnoh, but both of these are frequently decades if not centuries old. What this means specifically depends on the species. For example, in steelix’s case, the reason why it takes so long is because onix need time to devour enough minerals to form the metal coat needed for evolution, as well as enough time to allow pressure and heat from the earth itself to compress said metal coat into a form of armor. Haunter, meanwhile, evolve by age because they need time to master the shadow abilities their evolved forms are most famous for. In some cases, such as scyther and kadabra, it’s rare for a specimen to survive long enough to achieve evolution, which is why some species of trade-based pokémon are extremely rare to nonexistent in the wild (as their evolved forms, anyway). Hence why trading is considered a more humane path to take according to researchers. Overall, though, how long it takes entirely depends on the species. As I’ve mentioned just now, onix and haunter may take centuries to evolve, but pokémon with shorter lifespans may take only decades.

That being said, trade evolution is not a well-understood subject, and for the most part, its discovery in the first place was purely accidental. My personal theory is that there are two factors involved. First, when transferred (stored within a poké ball, uploaded into the storage system, sent via trade), your pokémon are actually converted into data via a very complicated process. This data packet not only contains everything about the pokémon itself but also information regarding its trainer, where the pokémon was caught, and so forth. Due to the structure of this data, it’s impossible for any ordinary human to edit it, but the trading machine was designed to do this automatically. Think of it like an automated metadata editor, basically.

However, in certain cases, the code for a pokémon’s current trainer may be linked to other lines of code within the data packet that make up the pokémon—specifically its evolutionary switch. So, when the current trainer information is modified, that switch will be flipped from “off” (as in, this pokémon is not ready to evolve) to “on” (this pokémon is ready to evolve). That, combined with the second factor—in this case, the fact that the added electricity from the trading machine itself could provide the energy needed for evolution—may result in the pokémon being set to evolve upon taking a physical form.

Of course, there is one other factor involved in all of this, and that’s the held item. Everstone “overwrites” evolutionary data in all cases and will thus force that switch to stay in the “off” position. Likewise, some pokémon’s evolutionary switch—in particular, pokémon such as onix, scyther, poliwhirl, and all others that require a held item to evolve—will not be fully complete unless the added data from the evolutionary item is present.

In short, a lot of it has to do with data or age, and evolution in general is an extremely complex but highly fascinating process.

What’s the climate like in Johto? It doesn’t seem to get much rain. If one of the primary building materials up until recently was paper, I would assume that even humidity must be fairly low for that to be viable.

In truth, anonymous, Johto is temperate, and it has a monsoon season noted for its intense humidity and constant rain. Keep in mind, of course, that paper walls are mainly an interior feature (or an interchangeable exterior feature that may be swapped out or covered up with bamboo during the wetter months), so the likelihood of exposing these walls to rain is slim. Meanwhile, humidity is less of a problem for the particular kind of paper used in Johtonian architecture. The paper itself is a bit more durable than the sort you’d find in your printer.

Morbid curiosity ( literally haha ) how often are there reports of a ghost type eating a human lifeforce?

In recent years, thanks to the advancements made in both technology and human understanding of pokémon as a whole, there aren’t many reports of this occurring. Usually, you may have at most thirty-five reports a year of a ghost-type consuming a human’s life force, and many of these occur simply because the victim insisted on trespassing into territory where they didn’t belong. (Three reports last year occurred in Burned Tower, for example.)

In years past, however, that number varied. From the turn of last century (when researchers began archiving and analyzing reports, rather than relying simply on folk knowledge of the type) to the 1960s, the number decreased steadily due to a combination of current events of the time and growing understanding of the type. Then, thanks to the popularity of the horror genre, the trends spiked to hundreds of reports per year as teens caught ghost-types but failed to handle them properly or ventured into ghost territory to perform “occult rituals” out of boredom. The number finally dropped in the 1980s and continued to decrease in subsequent years, as teens realized also thanks to the horror genre that perhaps disturbing ghost-types is a terrible past-time to have.

I half wonder if there aren’t a few additional elements to this.  Like, it seems that most, if not all, Pokemon are intelligent enough to know that humans are far more “defenseless” than the average Pokemon is.  

I mean, sure, you have those Pokemon who are extremely territorial/aggressive/hungry, but at the same time not all Pokemon are like that.  In fact, I would say that most Pokemon tend to want to avoid conflict at all, unless it somehow extensively threatens their own life in some perceived way.  And even then, most attacks directed at humans seem to be more along the lines of a small warning (when Pokemon threaten other Pokemon, they tend to get the a more forceful attack).  A researcher with rotten luck is an exception, apparently. 

Then again, perhaps I’m just being overly optimistic by saying that Pokemon are less likely to attack a human than they are other Pokemon by virtue of their realization that the human would never survive a few thunderbolts to the head. As I mentioned before, if you have a Pokemon that’s angry or hungry enough, they aren’t going to seem too concerned over human fragility.   

Add to this the chance of friendship; as Bill mentioned briefly, many people choose to form some kind of pact with Pokemon to help raise/train them to grow stronger. Perhaps most, if not all, wild Pokemon recognize the potential to become stronger by teaming up with humans, and so have a vested interest in not killing them all. 

… . Or we could all just be deluding ourselves and the real reason Pokemon haven’t aggressively hunted humans to extinction is simply because all of them have tried eating us once and think we taste exceptionally awful. 

If you can’t eat them, join them. 

— @anonabsolxwolf​

It’s also very true that pokémon frequently see us as friends, which is why newly captured pokémon tend to take being tamed so well. There are also instances of pokémon quite literally choosing their trainers due to any number of positive qualities that human may possess. Researchers have no doubt that pokémon are capable of being vastly intelligent, although how intelligent may depend on the species. (Alakazam, dragonite, and metagross are thought to be far more intelligent than even humans, but slowpoke … generally are not.) Nonetheless, the fact of the matter is, what you’re saying about pokémon sapience and their drive to form bonds with us is certainly true, and I thank you for adding that.

On a similar note, it is also certainly true that human meat does not, in any way, appeal to anything that one would think would eat us. This is also why animals generally don’t make the attempt. Seeing as I, for one, am not a cannibal, I couldn’t imagine what about our meat is so unappealing, but yes, this is why we are not on the food chain to anyone unless there is quite literally nothing else to eat.

…Except wherever our life forces are concerned. Ghost-types are quite fond of that, unfortunately.

—Bill

Hey, Bill, what’s it like live in a world in which, for all intents and purposes, humans should be at the bottom of the food chain? How did you all make it to the top? Was it humanity’s intelligence, or just good old fashion dumb luck?

This is quite literally the exact question every pokémon researcher seeks to answer. It’s the greatest mystery of our world. After all, pokémon wield such amazing powers—mastery over electricity, psychic abilities, dragon magic, and so forth—yet these are very rarely turned on human beings.

There are, of course, legends that offer answers. Sinnohans, for example, believe that humans and pokémon were once the same species that separated at the dissolution of a vaguely defined pact between them. On the other hand, Johtonians and Hoennians both revere pokémon as holy (although we differ in our opinions of what kinds of gods and how intelligent they actually were), and it’s said that our respect for pokémon is exactly what made them respect us in return.

However, all of these are simply legends. A more accurate and modern explanation is that humanity’s ingenuity has protected them from extinction, and to be quite honest, it’s the most likely theory we have. When you think about it, it’s not just pokémon that can and have tried to kill us. The animals we also share this world with are certainly better equipped to survive and come complete with certain defense mechanisms that could very well rip us apart.

Yet we’ve managed to survive for eons thanks to our inventiveness. We have, for example, mastered architecture, agriculture, and the art of domestication, so in short, you could say we’ve survived purely by virtue of being stubborn and audacious enough to want to control the world around us and force it not to kill us. Pokémon have a tendency to respect that drive to not die, which is possibly why the more badges a trainer has, the more a pokémon is willing to listen to them. It’s really all about proving to your magical companions that if a hurricane is thrown at you, you will somehow find a way to survive it like the tenacious giant cockroach you probably are.

So to answer your main question, what is it like to live in a world where anything can kill you? Quite nice, actually. It is, in all seriousness, quite inspiring to know that our entire species survives due to a combination of being too stubborn to die off and earning the respect of creatures who control the elements purely because of that stubbornness.

Okay Bill, I see you throwing shade. Maybe someone just needs to bring Tohjo some FREEDOM and throw YOUR tea into some dumb harbor.

Fact #1: I’m from Goldenrod City, one of the most industrialized urban areas in Tohjo.

Fact #2: In the 70s, Goldenrod City suffered a major environmental crisis when it was discovered that, due to the factories and industrial shipping lines along its coast, the neighboring Goldenrod Bay contained extremely high amounts of lead that threatened the city’s water supply, as well as its population of fish and water pokémon. Consequently, particularly due to the danger pollution posed towards the resident pokémon, strict laws and regulations were enacted in order to control water quality in not just the bay but also the systems throughout Johto. Nowadays, you would be arrested rather quickly if you were caught throwing anything into Goldenrod’s harbor.

Fact #3: Goldenrod’s harbor is a popular destination for both tourists and locals, and because of this, there are quite a few witnesses there at all hours of the day.

Conclusion: Please inform me when this tea throwing will take place. I would love to watch.