#pokestudies

[nursejoymaisy]

Dunsparce have one of the longest recorded natural life spans of any pokemon. The oldest dunsparce in recorded history supposedly lived 400 years.

[umbreonlibris]

@sammarkham Last time we discussed the real-world equivalents of level-up evolution. So what about evolutions by stone or by trade? Well, it turns out they are very different. And a lot murkier.

Like friendship evolutions, stone and trade evolutions are rare—you almost never see one in the wild. Of the 41 Pokémon that evolve with stones, 20 can be found in the wild in at least one main-series game, but only six appear without specific rare-encounter methods, like rippling water in Gen V or the Friend Safari. (It's important to note that I'm not counting the Super Rod by itself as a special method.) And of those six, only Wigglytuff, Raichu and Alolan Exeggutor appear in the wild in the same generation that they were introduced—and in only one or two spots. Why would that be?

Consider the evolution of Eevee into Glaceon or Leafeon. Even though they are level-triggered evolutions, they are still made possible by the presence of a special rock, one that has some special elemental properties. Eevee can only evolve if it is quite close to the Ice Rock or Moss Rock. There must be something very specific about those rocks—the environment they are in or the geologic conditions that allowed them to form, for example—that provide all the right ingredients for Eevee to evolve.

Take Eevee away from those very specific environments and it will never evolve into Glaceon or Leafeon. But those environments are accessible, they formed in five of the seven regions. What would we do if there was no Moss Rock or Ice Rock nearby, and there was no way we could trigger an evolution that we know exists?

That might very well be the case for most Pokémon that evolve by stone—they require very specific environmental factors that are rarely or never found in the wild. So what if human scientists, knowing that these evolutions are possible, devised a way to concentrate these sets of factors so that they can be deployed anywhere? Remember that all of the evolution stones actually carry inside them a symbol of their element. It's hard to imagine that these would be naturally formed. (The exception is the Moon Stone, which may be naturally occurring from meteorites.) We can't say what exactly makes these artificial stones work, but the fact is that they work so well that a Pokémon exposed to one, unlike an Eevee trained at a Moss Rock, cannot help but evolve. There is no way to stop it.

(Source.)

There are some holes in this theory, the major one being that there is very little evidence. But even what we see in-game can be problematic. For example: If stones are essentially concentrated forms of natural environments, why can't the Leaf Stone and Ice Stone evolve Eevee? What would they be artificial versions of if not Moss and Ice Rocks? Slightly different versions of these environments? And by the same token, why can't Gloom evolve at a Moss Rock, or Alolan Vulpix at the Ice Rock? Or: If Raichu can evolve in the wild at the Kanto Power Plant, why can't a domesticated Raichu evolve there?

I can't answer these questions. I'm not sure how to reconcile them with our existing theory. If any readers have ideas of their own, please send us a note!

It gets more complicated—trade evolutions. In a game development sense, trade evolutions were created to encourage players to interact, to play together and against each other. But what does that mean in the world-building sense?

Let's look at the numbers again. 26 Pokémon evolve through trade, and ten of them can be found in the wild. But only five of those can be found without a special method in at least one core game, and only Trevenant is found in the wild in the same generation that it was introduced. So we know that trade evolutions are rare in the wild—but what kind of unusual environment does a trade replicate?

One possibility is abandonment. If most Pokémon live in groups, it would be rare for one to be evicted. But a domesticated Pokémon might feel unwanted if it is given up by its trainer in exchange for something better. Even a freshly-caught Pokémon, recently removed from its home, might feel disposable if it is quickly traded away. This abandonment could trigger a self-protective instinct that causes the Pokémon to metamorphose into a stronger form. This instinct is so strong that a trade evolution cannot be stopped by startling the Pokémon, as most other methods can. In fact, Kadabra's instinct is so strong that not even an Everstone can prevent it from evolving.

Again there are problems with this theory. Mainly, that it suggests every Pokémon of these species have, or at least are prone to, abandonment issues, since no Kadabra will ever be traded without becoming an Alakazam. But we haven't been able to come up with any scenario that is more likely, or even equally likely. If you have any insight here, please get in touch with us! We had trouble with this one and would love to keep chatting about it.

Part 1 | Introduction to PokéStudies | More PokéStudies

[dungeonsanddragonairs]

PokéStudies: How do Pokémon game mechanics reflect the real world?

@sammarkham We all know that Pokémon have moves, abilities and base stats. There is a four-move limit; species can have as many as three possible abilities but individuals have only one; and base stats are immutable. But in the context of a real Pokémon world, what does that really mean? Are any of these concepts objectively real, or are they just quantified for the purpose of making the game playable?

Let me first reiterate that this is a context in which a Pikachu is as real as my cat. Pokémon are, for all intents and purposes, just like real animals—except for their mutant-esque powers, of course.

Now, think of your dog as a Pokémon. What moves could it know? Scratch and Bite, to start, and maybe it likes to use Tackle and Lick when you come home from a trip. If your dog is especially big and strong, maybe it knows Slash, Crunch and Take Down instead. It may Growl when it's uneasy and Tail Whip when it's excited. What about Agility? Could it be taught Quick Attack? Maybe it likes to beg for treats with Fake Tears?

(Source.)

The point is, many dogs can do all that and more. So why not Pokémon? Why should a Poochyena be limited to only four moves when a pooch can easily remember many more?

The fact is that Poochyena can learn and remember more than four moves, if we use this looser definition of a "move." In fact, there are frequent examples of this in the anime canon—Lt. Surge's Raichu, in the Indigo League series, uses six different moves against Ash's Pikachu, for example.

There is another part to this. Are moves really individual, discrete skills? Are Thunder Shock and Thunderbolt, for example, really two separate moves? Both moves are exactly the same except for the trade-off of PP for power. Are they not exactly the same move, then, only delivered with different intensities?

The named moves we know and love, then, shouldn't be considered true physical or physiological aspects of the Pokémon world. The four-move limit is likely completely arbitrary, and is only there for the sake of making the game playable: for a complex player-versus-player battle game like Pokémon, it would be unrealistic to expect a variety of moves akin to Super Smash Bros or other fighting games. (Not to suggest Smash isn't also a complex game—just in different ways.)

Abilities are a similar issue: particularly where an Ability represents something intrinsic about the Pokémon, it is illogical to think that individuals lacking that Ability also lack the characteristic. For example, Sharpedo usually have Rough Skin, but some have Speed Boost, while Mega Sharpedo have Strong Jaw. Does that mean that Speed Boost Sharpedo and Mega Sharpedo have silky-smooth skin? It's possible, but unlikely. More likely is that some Sharpedo have the ability to swim faster, and Mega Sharpedo has an especially strong bite, and those characteristics simply supersede the roughness of the skin in defining the capital-A Ability.

This brings us to base stats. In many cases, there is a distinct dissonance between what we read in Pokédex flavour text and what we see in battle. If we are to trust the Pokédex's claims (and as we'll see in a future PokéStudies, we can't put too much faith in those), then there must be some other way to reconcile Pidgeot's maximum speed of Mach 2, as stated in the Pokédex (this is double the speed of sound!), with its relatively unimpressive base speed of 101 (or worse, 91 up to Gen 5).

But again, things would have had to be simplified. A speed stat would need to be measured in a standardized way that could be compared to other Pokémon species. What if Pidgeot really can fly at Mach 2, but not in a way that is particularly relevant to battle? Maybe it reaches that speed when swooping at its prey from a high altitude, the same way a peregrine falcon reaches its maximum speed of 390 km/h. But in battle, speed generally represents how quickly a Pokémon can perform its attack; that's why quicker moves get priority. Pidgeot's Mach 2 speed is irrelevant if it needs to fly up very high before it can swoop at its target at that speed (though I guess that would make a killer Fly).

(Source.)

Remember that Pokémon is a game that includes 802 creatures (and counting), many of which have multiple forms; over 700 unique moves; over 230 abilities; 25 natures; and six different stats that are each influenced not only by the Pokémon species but also each individual's potential (IV) and specific training (EV). Some simplifications had to happen, otherwise the game would get out of hand.

If we are to assume there is a Pokémon world that is represented by the games and their mechanics, there is no reason to think that the games form a true and complete picture. There is plenty that the games don't mention because it is not relevant to the story—from transportation infrastructure to politics and government. The "real" Pokémon world is much bigger, and had to be simplified for the purposes of making the game playable, but still complex.

Introduction to PokéStudies

[nursejoymaisy]

Piplups were originally native to the arctic, however, a more domesticated breed is commonly given out as a starter in Sinnoh.

[umbreonlibris]

PokéStudies: Evolution, part 1

@sammarkham I already talked about how mechanics like stats, moves and abilities are a simplified version of the real world. But what about evolution? There are three major types of evolution: those triggered by level, those triggered by a stone, and those triggered by a trade. Let's begin with level evolutions, the biggest group.

How do levels work?

Before we get into level evolution, though, let us consider the role of the level, since it is so important to the evolution mechanic. A Pokémon gains levels by earning battle experience, so naturally level must be a representation of accumulated experience. Kind of like a karate belt—once you've practiced and proven your skill enough, you get to go up to the next stage. At level 100, the Pokémon has its equivalent to a black belt, and no amount of experience will make it stronger. Although there is some specialized training (Super and Hyper Training, for example) that can still affect their performance.

It's also worth mentioning that level as nothing to do with age, as we've heard from some NPCs whose Pokémon died without being fully evolved. For example, there is a trainer in ORAS mourning his Zigzagoon at Mt. Pyre. Presumably, Pokémon kept as pets—and who therefore don't battle much—don't level up. Ultimately, level is a simple mechanic with a relatively straightforward real-world meaning.

So, what about evolution? There are a lot of different kinds of level-dependent evolutions, so we won't be able to cover all of them. We will focus on the main ones, standard level-up and friendship. And there is very little evidence for how evolution really works, so a lot of this will be speculation, but we will stay grounded in fact as much as possible.

Level Evolution

What do we know about a standard level-up evolution? Pokémon can evolve at any point after reaching a certain minimum level (total experience), but in the wild evolved Pokémon are much rarer. So this must not be like a caterpillar metamorphosing into a butterfly, where every individual that survives long enough will metamorphose. Instead, there may be an element of group dynamics that comes into play. Consider how male lions, when they mature, must leave the pride; now imagine the advantages of remaining a juvenile and staying close to home. Of course these dynamics will be different for each species and population of Pokémon, but it's a useful parallel. If evolving into the final form means challenging the pack leader or leaving the herd, there is an advantage to delaying metamorphosis. (In this post, evolution and metamorphosis are used interchangeably.)

And what of the minimum level? If level is not age, then what prevents a level 5 Mankey from evolving into a Primeape when the troop leader is gone, and at least attempting to take its spot?  It's possible that this also comes down to survival, since a level 5 Mankey is unlikely to win the leadership if there are higher-level Mankeys around. It would also help explain why it is possible to find evolved wild Pokémon before their natural level of evolution, if they are in a particularly low-level population. But then why wouldn't a captured Pokémon be able to evolve early, too? Domestication would remove the risk to evolution, since there is no group leader to challenge—which is probably part of the reason Pokémon evolve more frequently when trained than when wild.

So there must be another factor, something we don't see at all in the games. One possibility is that, although evolution happens instantly for the purposes of the game, the real-world process actually takes longer, anywhere from a few minutes to a few days, depending on the species. And the Pokémon might be vulnerable during this transition period, as it expends a lot of energy to fuel its rapid change and growth. In this case, a minimum amount of experience or fitness (level) could help the Pokémon survive this stage. There is no evidence for this, although I have also not encountered any evidence against it.

(Source.)

Friendship Evolution

Next, let's tackle friendship evolution. It is also triggered by level, so a lot of what we discussed above also applies here. But there is an extra factor—or, probably, one of two extra factors. Although the games treat them the same, there appear to be two different kinds of friendship evolution: one for baby Pokémon, and one for the others. The distinction is highlighted by one key difference between the two groups: most baby Pokémon, and most direct evolutions of baby Pokémon, can be found in the wild in some region, but the others cannot.

(Source.)

Of the final-stage Pokémon that evolve by friendship but not from a baby Pokémon (like Crobat and Blissey), only six can be found in the wild in any main series game—all of them through specific rare Pokémon encounters (like rustling grass, Island Scan or rare SOS battles). And only Leavanny is available in the wild in the generation that introduced it. On the other hand, most baby Pokémon appear in normal wild encounters, and most of their intermediate stages (like Pikachu or Jigglypuff) are rather common. So if Pikachu can evolve by friendship in the wild but Chansey can't, there must be a difference.

The baby Pokémon friendship is probably akin to a parent bond. In the wild it is provided by its parents and other members of the group, while in captivity it is provided by the trainer. The other friendship, though, must have something to do more specifically with domestication. Though we can't pinpoint what, there must be something about the change in environment and group dynamics that allows it to evolve further than usual.

Level 100

There are several sub-categories within these two evolution methods, like evolution dependent on time of day or on certain held items. But since the environment is still what's important in these cases, they must just be kinks in what specific Pokémon consider the optimal environment for evolution—they fit easily within this framework.

But there is one thing all these methods have in common: they are impossible to trigger after the Pokémon has reached level 100. We could credit that to simple game mechanics, since the evolutions are triggered by going up a level. But we do have mechanics to force other changes that are usually triggered by levelling up—most notably stat changes, with things like the Box Trick or the playground at Isle Evelup. The option to evolve a Pokémon at level 100 might have been left out in the oversimplified First Generation (and just never gotten added later on), or was a mechanic the developers did not think would be useful, but that seems unlikely. However, consider that, in most cases, a Pokémon that reaches level 100 without evolving has been repeatedly told not to evolve. It could be that after so many opportunities to evolve—at least 34, for Zweilous into Hydreigon, and as many as 93 for some Bug-types—the behaviour has been conditioned out of the Pokémon. Prolonged exposure to an Everstone could have a similar effect: at this point, the Pokémon simply doesn't know how.

(Source.)

Next time, we will cover the other two major types of evolution: stone and trade. Stay tuned!

Introduction to PokéStudies | More PokéStudies

[umbreonlibris]

PokéStudies: Is the Pokédex reliable?

@sammarkham We generally think of the Pokédex as a reliable source of canonical Pokémon information. But have you noticed how incredibly unscientific it is?

First, the flavour text is often inconsistent and will contradict entries from other generations. For a quick example, look at Bulbasaur: Red/Blue says "A strange seed was planted on its back at birth," but then Silver says "It carries a seed on its back right from birth." So was it there at birth, or was it planted? Not to mention Stadium calls it a "bulb-like pouch" instead of a "seed," but that could be considered non-canonical.

Second, entries are repeated or recycled. The Bulbasaur entry for the Gen V games, for example, is the same as for Diamond/Pearl, despite being a few years later and a different region; it also has the same information as in Crystal, only with different wording. Put all the Pokédex entries together, cut the repeated information, and you have a fairly short and frequently contradictory entry.

Third, each species is assigned a single height and weight value, even though we know (from the Magikarp fishing side quest at Lake of Rage, not to mention Pokémon Go) they are both quite variable.

On top of that, the "height" measure has no standard: is Bulbasaur measured to the shoulder, the top of the head, or the tip of its bulb? Serpentine Pokémon must be measured head-to-tail, but what about Pokémon that can stand on both two and four legs, like Rattata—would they be measured head-to-tail or at standing height? All this means we end up with a 5'11" Furret and a 5'7" Charizard, which is pretty unbelievable.

Fourth, speaking of unbelievable, the Pokédex really likes to make exaggerations. Magcargo apparently burns at 18,000ºF—nearly double the Sun's surface temperature; a punch from Machamp can throw you over the horizon; and Ponyta's hooves are harder than diamond. Can any of that be true? 

And finally, fifth, the Pokédex refers to locations in the real world, and even real animals: Arcanine is a Chinese legend, Ponyta can jump over the Eiffel Tower, Raichu's electricity can KO an Indian elephant. But do any of these places exist in the Pokémon world? Do these references mean anything to Pokémon trainers? (Actually, that's a topic for another PokéStudies!)

How could this happen? How is it that the primary reference text of the Pokémon universe is so unscientific? We know that technology in this world is incredibly advanced, so there is definitely some good scientific research going on, but clearly not here. Consider that Pokémon biology is the climate science of the Pokémon world: most people agree that it is important, but the people in power are not willing to fund it. (Which brings up another question: who is in power, anyway? This will be a PokéStudies topic in the future!)

The original Kanto Pokédex was Professor Oak's passion project. He spent decades working on it, collecting Pokémon data and writing the flavour text, with the help of only a handful of aides. The sample sizes must have been tiny, the text hastily written and poorly fact-checked… with the result: all their research is condensed into a single height and weight measure and no more than one or two sentences of flavour text that are often wrong. The only truly useful and comprehensive feature in the Pokédex is the database of habitats. Plus, the devices are only given to a handful of trainers. All this points to a severely underfunded research and development program!

The Pokédexes of other regions, then, rely on the foundation provided by previous models as much as possible as a way to reduce costs—paraphrase the existing entries to hide your blatant plagiarism, write the entries for the region's native and endemic species, and voilá, a new Pokédex. Mistakes aren't found or fixed, and often end up becoming part of the "common knowledge," repeated endlessly without question (sound familiar?).

All this is not even mentioning how many Pokédex entries tell us only about myths and legends about a Pokémon, as opposed to anything about its actual biology.

The Pokédex may be the ultimate source of Pokémon information, but it is far from reliable. Next time you pick up a Pokémon game, take everything you read with a good pinch of salt.

Introduction to PokéStudies | More PokéStudies

[dungeonsanddragonairs]

PokéStudies: Introduction

@umbreonlibris​ and I interrogate the Pokémon world! Before we really get into it, we thought it would be a good idea to talk about why, how we’re approaching this, and what it will involve!

Why we’re doing this

Two years ago, @melodydanteandthemobverse​ and I started working on a Pokémon tabletop RPG (@dungeonsanddragonairs​) to play with our friends. Basically, she’s developing the mechanics and doing all of the math, and I’m writing the story. And doing a lot of worldbuilding.

The point of @dungeonsanddragonairs​ was to have a Pokémon RPG that takes the rules of the Pokémon world seriously—and also to have less rules, if that makes sense. For example, in our first session, one player punched a Rattata in the face—and then took a lot of damage and was in the hospital for a day when it attacked her back. Basically, you can do whatever you want, but you might get killed, arrested, or anything else that would happen in real life—or at least in a game that has the mechanics to allow for it.

In the process of discussing how parts of this would work with @umbreonlibris​, we figured out there are a LOT of things in the Pokémon world that don’t make sense, or are really inconsistent. Are there animals in this world? How accurate is the Pokédex? How does Pokémon food work?  

With the vague goal of getting to/deciding some concrete answers for using in this tabletop RPG, but also mostly because this is the sort of thing we both really enjoy, we’re going to talk about some of these things and and post them here! If you have any thoughts, please hit us up and continue the discussion!

How we’re approaching this, or, what counts as canon

One of the biggest issues in figuring out how the Pokémon world works is that there are a lot of different sources—and for the most part, they say really different things. A couple of examples: in the main anime series, Pokémon say their names, and in Pokémon Origins, they make noises. There are also extreme size differences between Pokémon in the main anime series versus the main video game series.

(Source.)

There are a lot of “canons” to consider. Not only the main series games, the main anime, and Pokémon Origins, but also Pokémon Generations, the various mangas, the side games (Pokémon Stadium, Snap, Mystery Dungeon, and many more), and the TCG. A lot of these sources actively contradict each other—sometimes in small ways, but often in large ways that are really difficult or even impossible to reconcile, like how in the main anime series Pokéballs shrink down and in Origins they don’t.

So, if these worlds don’t always fit together, what counts as Pokémon canon? What is the most reliable source of information?

(Source.)

@umbreonlibris​ and I are going to be dealing with the main video game series, and using the other worlds as possible (but not canonical) sources of insight—probably in relation to how closely they adhere to the world of the video game series. Video games were Pokémon’s original medium. The main series has been the most consistent and long-lasting Pokémon canon available, and it has the most information to go off of except for maybe the anime—but it also has a lot less obvious logical flaws than the anime does. This is important in trying to deal with the Pokémon world as realistically as possible. And part of deciding to just deal with the main video game series, of course, is that we’re making a value judgment.

Why one canon?

Everything I’ve mentioned above is sanctioned by the Pokémon Company, so it’s all canonical in one definition of the term, but the reason we want to deal with one canon is that we want to actually get somewhere with PokéStudies, and not spend all our time trying to reconcile the odd differences between different media. There are discrepancies across the main video game series too, but we will attempt to reconcile these by finding out or coming up with a reason for them. (There are a couple of notable exceptions to this, but we’ll get to that later!) Basically: if we accept everything in the main video game series as canon, what happens?

(And after all of that, tune in next time for a post about what in the main video game series we are not accepting as canon and why!)

More PokéStudies

[umbreonlibris]

How do you aim a Poké Ball? | PokéStudies #12

If there are two or more opponents on the field, you can't aim your Poké Ball throw. But you rarely ever miss—so what's going on? —— Subscribe: http://bit.ly...

NEW VIDEO! If there are two or more opponents on the field, you can't aim your Poké Ball throw. But you rarely ever miss—so what's going on?