Fieldwork Away!

unreality | pokémon researcher/professor | askblog

[pecan-the-prof]

Hello! Welcome to the world of - what do you mean I can’t use that.

Seriously? Ugh.

Hey! I’m Professor Pecan, researcher and, well. Pokémon Professor. Obviously.

My specialty is Pokémon behavior in the wild, and how that changes as they adapt to humans and Trainers. It’s fascinating! I spend a lot of time in the field watching and taking notes, which will be shared here. Collating my notes is key to writing good research papers.

Oh! and I’m usually with my buddies!

Team:

Moonlight the Umbreon: bestest boy! He’s a strong battler and often keeps me safe in the field. Evolved years ago on a hike just after dusk. Has a small scar on one ear, a Moon-Stone-studded collar, and is mischievous. Brother to Sakura.

Sakura the Espeon: bestest girl! She’s not a strong battler, but incredibly intelligent (if lazy, silly thing.) Evolved years ago on a hike just before dusk. Loves napping in sunbeams and the feeling of sand in her fur. Sister to Moonlight.

Larimar the Carbink: bestest enby! They’re very affectionate and love tagging along in the field, and are good at helping me calm aggressive pokemon. Slight wavy patterns are visible in their crystals.

Bwoing the Sandile: …listen, I named him when I was little and he likes it. (plus, yknow, it makes me giggle.) Oldest of the group, but expressed desire not to evolve yet, so he has an Everstone attached to a red bandana. Struggles with his monthly sheds so needs a lil extra care around that time.

[lowreschao]

[pokemonranch]

The folks back at Ambrette told us that they had a "rock expert" at the minerals section. And I mean. they weren't wrong

[pecan-the-prof]

looks like we need to make a trip over there soon!

[pastoria-marsh-official]

@pecan-the-prof : Good evening! I wanted to inquire if it would be possible to a) set up a camp for observing Pokémon overnight, or b) set up a livestream camera for the same reason?

Swampy, marshy areas are particularly difficult to research and I would highly appreciate the opportunity to work together. Of course, you’ll be included in any studies or notes!

Hello! All professional research inquiries should be submitted through official contact points, such as the email listed on our website or via coming and talking to us in-person. I'm not able to set up anything official via our Rotumblr account.

However... It would be! c^^ Our Marsh is incredibly expensive and while we're constantly doing research and studies, it's impossible for us to cover everything! I often camp overnight out here, personally, and I have my own trail cam set up to watch the Ringuma family as well. One of my colleagues also tries to come out as often as she can to observe the Churine bushel with me.

What exactly are you hoping to study during your time here?

[pecan-the-prof]

Oh, delightful! I couldn't be more excited! I'll book a flight over there to discuss as soon as my current projects are wrapped up.

I'd like to observe the behavior of some of the more uncommon mons, but didn't have a specific place in mind yet as I haven't had the chance to visit the Marsh. if you have a particular area you haven't been able to focus on, I'm more than happy to set up there!

@pastoria-marsh-official

[pecan-the-prof]

@ladyzee-oddityhunter , I haven’t seen Bwoing this relaxed in ages! He and Sakura are just loving the warm beach weather. Thank you once again for the invite!

Now, who’s joining me for karaoke tonight?!

[pecan-the-prof]

Took Sakura and Moonlight to the local art school over the weekend! The teacher, a dear friend of mine, requested two canids for the students to practice live drawing.

Moonlight stole Sakura’s snack at some point and apparently her vehement response made an impression!

CREDIT:

top left - top right - bottom left - bottom right

[pecan-the-prof]

Poor dear flew back to the lab with their newly-evolved Pignite in an absolute tizzy, in tears that "She can't walk right! She keeps falling over and I evolved her wrong somehow!"

Pignite was just fine - she only needed a few hours to get used to standing on two legs. The trainer got some sweet tea and a nap on my office cot after we figured out what was going on.

[pecan-the-prof]

Took this picture during a break from tracking the local Deerling population, realized later there are more Pokémon here than I thought at first glance! There’s 8 in total, two from the same species. Can you find them? Answers under the cut (and I highly suggest zooming in.)

Hm. Wonder if the local Trainer School would find this useful to teach kids about finding Pokemon in places you might not expect?

1 and 2: Natu on the tree branch

3: Servine sunning in a very odd position

4: Nincada rooting around in the shade under the tree

5: Lotad swimming around in the lake

6: Pineco in the shadows of the tree branches, center left

7: a far away Altaria visible through the tree branches, top center-left-ish

8: in the bottom right, directly down from the Servine’s nose: the worlds tiniest white-flower Flabébé

[pecan-the-prof]

Studies of Magnemite: Blueberry Terarium

My lovely assistant turned my notes digital! Now I can share it without subjecting everyone to my handwriting.

Spent some good time in the Blueberry Terarium lately - those kids are so spirited, really! I think I was challenged to no less than 5 battles a day, and I'm not ashamed to say we did not win them all. I'll have to take Moonlight and Larimar out battling soon, they both got fired up…

But that's not why I was there! I don't study many non-organic species, so I needed some time just watching them. We set up camp in Chargestone Cave the first few days. Larimar loved it, of course, and spent any time they weren't helping me floating around the crystals and communicating with the other Pokemon there.

I mostly wanted to focus on Minior, originally, but the Magnemite kept catching my eye. For one - cute??? I didn't realize how much they communicated by eye movement and bobbing in place but it is adorable. We even watched them shower puffs of sparks to cheer on two who were battling each other - which begs the question: is that normal behavior? Or learned from watching the Plusle and Minun nearby? They don't normally live that close in the wild, so it could go either way. (Note to self: ask Oak. The Magnemite line is more common in Kanto, so he likely has more experience.)

Secondly (for seconds?) you really lose track of time down there. With no sunlight, I started sleeping when Moonlight got tired, and it somehow didn't occur to me that like. He sleeps mostly during the day. So I was half nocturnal by the time we finished up and made our way to the surface.

For our next few days, we headed over the Canyon Biome proper, setting up on top of a cliff. And here's where things got interesting!

Being half-nocturnal turned out to be a boon, because I'm not sure I would've seen this otherwise. Once it was approaching dusk, and I'd started my little campfire (yes, bucket of sand nearby, safety first) I realized that the Magnemite here were acting a little differently than before. Not scared of the fire, thank goodness, but they seemed to be getting…stuck.

I was concerned at the first one, admittedly. It floated by one of the large black rocks that occur there, and then with a "clank!" it simply. Stuck to it by the magnet. Thinking that it had somehow magnetized to it, I took Moonlight to see if we could get it unstuck. They gave off a little crackle of electricity and then zoomed outward from the rock a few feet, almost like they were pushed? They really didn't seem happy to be approached - probably not wanting to be caught - so we backed away once it was clear they weren't hurt or anything. They did not stick around, lol.

The second and third "clank!" still made me jump, but the darker it got, the more I got used to it. When I couldn't stand not knowing anymore, I asked Larimar to watch the fire*, and Moonlight and I headed off to investigate.

What we ended up finding, was essentially a whole field of Magnemite, all stuck on to the rocks! Elder ones, smaller ones, some stacked on top of others. A few Magneton mixed in (though with them all together, it was a little hard to tell.) They were all sleepy or on their way there, and I plopped down where I stood to try and watch what was happening. (Never underestimate the power of just sitting down to show you're not a threat. It makes you smaller, it makes you obviously not attempting to attack or catch them, and most Pokemon instantly relax a little.) Moonlight loafing next to me, I watched the whole process:

Magnemite floated into the area, passing by other ones and exchanging the Pokemon equivalent of quips, discussion - maybe even a goodnight, based on the timing. They then found an open space on a rock, and after hovering for a moment, they were pulled sharply towards it, impacting with that "clank!" noise I kept hearing. No damage seemed to have been taken, and after a few minutes, they went to sleep for the night.

Fascinating! I watched as this went on for a couple hours. Some 'mon came in later, some seemed to find specific friends to 'bunk down' by, so to say. I finally had to call it when I dozed off and dropped my notebook onto Moonlight, startling him out of his moon-sunning.**

After bedding down for night, I set an alarm for sunrise, as I had a suspicion of what was causing this behavior. Once dawn broke (and I had my first cup of tea) I took Larimar with me back to the site, as the Magnemite were pretty clearly not aggressive. And because nobody likes waking up Moonlight before noon.

Sure enough, as the sun rose, odd clinking sounds of metal shifting started sounding out from the piles of Magnemite. One by one, they would stop shifting, and then shoot away from the rock as if repelled.*** And in fact, I think that's exactly the case!

The interaction I believe stems from things first noted down by Professor Birch: that Magnemite eat electricity. This is well known, and one of the reasons they're often spotted in power plants or in places like Chargestone Cave.

Slightly less well known is that Magnemite without enough electricity will fall to the ground, unable to float anymore. Getting them back up is a matter of giving them an electric shock, or feeding them batteries/straight electricity, if you have the ability. But if there's no one around to give them that boost back up, a grounded Magnemite is asking for trouble.

It seems as though the Magnemite are temporarily reversing their polarity, which is fascinating! The black rocks are magnetic - and in an environment without as much ambient electricity, they have to be cautious of using too much and falling short. So, being powered by electromagnetism, as discovered by Oak and Rowan, they can reverse the flow for a short time and create an opposite polarity to the stones - thus 'sticking' to them, and being able to stop outputting the electricity needed for their antigravity fields!

And of course, they can pop off the rocks by simply reversing the flow of electricity again. Such interesting creatures! This was truly a successful trip.

Of course, this isn't guaranteed by any chance. Lab research will need to be done, but I can bring my findings to, ah. Someone who specializes more in repeatable, controlled experiments rather than my predilection for observation. I simply can't stand being inside for too long!

Which does bring me to wrap this up - now that I've gotten this finished, a walk in the park is just what the Nurse ordered.

*Originally scribbled in the margins: Assistant asked here why I left the 'mon with no limbs to watch the fire, which was an excellent question that turned into an learning opportunity. First, safety: I was investigating a Steel type, and Carbink are quite weak to Steel, so if they turned out to be aggressive this would minimize the chance of injury to Larimar. Secondly, we've done this routine before, and Larimar knows to come get me immediately if something is strange with the fire, and failing that, to find a Pokemon with hands to dump the sand on top of it. All of my 'mon are trained to use or find someone with Water/Ground type moves to stop any fire that gets out of control. Thirdly…well, Moonlight glows, and I didn't want to use an electric light to write near the Magnemite when I wasn't sure what was going on yet.

**I corrected this portion before posting. No, [assistant], I will not be calling it "mooning," thank you very much. - Pecan

***This did create at least one funny interaction where two crashed into one another as they both got off the rock, and then started squabbling, seemingly over who's fault it was.

[pecan-the-prof]

Lost the email, but someone asked how we met Larimar, since they’re not native to Unova - we travel a lot!

I was taking notes and Moonlight started digging up what I thought was a Ice Stone, so I left him to it. Neither of us realized it was a sleeping Carbink until he took a Dazzling Gleam to the face.

Luckily once Larimar woke up all the way they apologized, and Moonlight was instantly impressed by their power. Now they’re buddies!

[pecan-the-prof]

@ladyzee-oddityhunter asked:

Hello sweetie! Welcome to Rotomblr! Have fun and stay safe out there! ✨

So! What’s your favorite pokemon and why? 💖

Hello yourself, Lady Zee! Thank you for the warm welcome!

No promises on staying safe - but with Moonlight and Larimar near me, fieldwork never gets too worrisome <3

(Unrelated, did you know Super Potions sprayed on a human wound still work? They won’t heal us entirely, but it goes from “oh that definitely needs stitches” to “Beautifly bandages and a scar” and then i don’t have to leave the field :D)

My favorite Pokémon? Oh goodness. They’re all so unique!! I obviously have a soft spot for the Eeveelutions, Carbink, and Sandile, but…hm.

Okay how about this: my least favorite is Stunfisk.

@ladyzee-oddityhunter

[pecan-the-prof]

Um-box-eon

[unova-trainer]

I’ve been seeing some nasty posts on Hydreigon lately and as someone who tries to advocate for the species as much as I can, I feel like I should make my own post.

I’ve noticed that a lot of people seem to misinterpret Hydreigon behavior. What is an entirely neutral behavior in the species is often misunderstood as aggression as a result of people’s own bias. For example, the entire Deino line bite out of instinct. They’re blind for their early life. They not only rely on their hearing and sense of smell, but they also bite to navigate the world. People who do not understand the species often misunderstand this as aggressive behavior.

Hydreigon in particular are prone to overstimulation. Due to being blind as Deino and Zweilous and having poor eyesight as Hydreigon, their other senses are heightened. Loud noises and bright lights can be overwhelming for Hydreigon and can cause the Pokémon to lash out. No, it’s not because Hydreigon crave violence. It’s because the Pokémon is stressed. Additionally, fast and sudden movements can trigger the Pokémon’s prey drive, causing it to bite out of reaction. Other dragons are known to do this as well, such as Salamence, Noivern, and Garchomp, just to name a few. This is not aggressive behavior. It’s pure instinct.

On the opposite side of the spectrum, I have seen people act like Hydreigon are completely misunderstood. That Ghetsis is solely responsible for ruining their reputation and the Pokémon are actually harmless when raised in captivity. This is just as false. Hydreigon are apex predators. We aren’t talking about a Lillipup or Skitty. Hydreigon are powerful and dangerous just like any other predator Pokémon. Like most Dragon-types, they require very careful training and a responsible handler. The Hydreigon born and raised in captivity really aren’t that much different than their wild counterparts, they’re just habituated to people. It’s true that reputable breeders are aiming to produce Hydreigon with more agreeable temperaments, but this is very recent, maybe starting roughly 20 to 30 years ago. The attempt to produce Hydreigon with consistent temperaments is still ongoing.

People need to understand that you can respect and admire Pokémon like this while also acknowledging that they can be dangerous. Being a good advocate means being honest. However, demonizing the Pokémon for behaviors you don’t understand is equally irresponsible and a complete disservice to the Pokémon.

[pecan-the-prof]

Verrrrry good essay by pokemon-studies! Remember, as. general rule, Pokemon are not “evil” or “good” - they are creatures.

[pecan-the-prof]

Is it possible to tune a Murkrow? For context, my Murkrow has been trying to sing along with the radio lately. She's cute but sounds really really bad! Is there a way to make her sound less bad? She likes to sing so I don't want to force her to not sing :(

How adorable! Good on you for wanting to encourage your Pokémon’s interests…even when they aren’t your favorite.

I haven’t seen it with Murkrow, but other Pokémon known for singing - Jigglypuff, Lapras, and Primarina, among others - begin learning when they’re young. Often the first step taken by the adults in the group is playing pitch games with the young ones! These take the form of the adult singing a note, and giving out rewards like berries when the ‘mon successfully match the pitch. For Murkrow, a shiny bauble would likely make an excellent incentive to play.

If you don’t have a well-tuned ear for pitch (goodness knows I dont) there are plenty of online resources that will tell you what note is being sung. This could turn into a fun game/bonding activity for you and your bird!

A note of caution - Murkrow aren’t known for their vocal range, so it may not be possible to turn her singing totally palatable. If that’s the case…invest in some good earplugs ;)

Thank you for the question!!

[everyday-pokemon-headcanons]

Bagon Camp is an international organization for young children. It encourages community service, good manners, and hobby development. Graduates get a little silver Salamence pin.

The camp's mascot is a Bagon named Bigglesworth.

[pecan-the-prof]

Ah! I have fond memories of this camp! We spent our community service time fixing/installing several ramps in the trails of our local hiking spot. It’s important to keep places accessible so our friends and Pokémon with disabilities aren’t excluded!

Little me was very disappointed I didn’t get to meet Bigglesworth - poor guy got sick right before he was supposed to come to our camp. Still have that pin, though!

[pecan-the-prof]

A sweet baby that tagged along on a bouquet from my friend’s garden!

Like many well-maintained gardens, theirs is full of wild Grass, Bug, and Fairy types. Watching the Oddish and Combee bumble around is particularly soothing after a busy day.

[unova-trainer]

There’s a bunch of moves that have the word dance in the names. Do they actually dance? Is there any correlation between this and stuff like, posturing and showing off before fights or courtship in some species? Or is it just a bit of a quirk of how we’ve named them?

Generally speaking, yes! Most, if not all of these moves do appear as though the Pokémon is dancing (in their own way). As for the second part of your question, I’m honestly not sure whether it’s correlated with posturing or courting because it’s not something I’ve looked into before, but I think it’s very plausible. I have no doubt that there are researchers looking into it. I wouldn’t be surprised if there were already articles on it!

[pecan-the-prof]

Hello! I hope you don’t mind if I step in here!

@pokemon-studies is correct in that they do look like they’re dancing. It’s very cute and I need to get a good video some day…

(sometimes it’s also very silly. Have you ever seen a Klawf use Swords Dance? The scuttling noises are hilarious.)

As for why they do it in the wild: it depends!

Going over what the moves do in battle gives us a good idea of how they’re used in the wild. Swords Dance and Dragon Dance, for example, are much like the war-dances of varying cultures, performed to prepare the dancer for upcoming battle. It’s not unusual to see both Pokémon square up for a fight by dancing!

As for courting, Feather Dance is a perfect example. Mostly (but not exclusively) performed by bird-like Pokemon, this dance appears to be designed to intrigue the prospective mate and make them more likely to say yes to the performer. Every species has variations on this dance, and some even change from region to region.

Teeter Dance and Feather Dance are interesting! Despite one causing damage and one causing confusion, the goal of both is to create time for the user to escape a battle. One clouds the field of view with petals and dance-like movements, while the other is..Spinda being Spinda.