Subject: What about Mareep?
Author:
Posted on: 2009-02-21 10:00:00 UTC
I mean, you can't just go around saying that those come from eggs, unless you want to be subjected to a lecture by Trojie and Pads, like the list says.
Does Pokémon have any logic in whatsoever? Because I’ve got a fic in progress but, as I’m trying to go for a thought-out story, I’m thinking about all the wacky things that tend to happen in it. Let’s ignore the whole romantic tension between ten-year-old and the fact that said ten-year-olds can defeat a crime syndicate time and time again and that no-one ever ages (does anyone age in any cartoon/anime? (Pokémon’s anime, right?)).
Pokéballs: is there a logical explanation for the fact that metal, which seems to have a lot of electronics inside, can expand from the size of my big toe to the size of my palm? Is there an explanation for the fact that Pokémon, random creatures with at least 493 species, can all be shot at with a… laser(?) and turned into a laser and sucked into a Pokéball (which then is compressed back to toe-size)? Is there a logical explanation for how they come out (in a weird flash of white light)? Hell, is there an explanation for how they can sometimes come out on their own? They can’t be in stasis of any sort, because they generally seem to know what’s going on (also, they’d be angry if all they ever saw was battle after battle). Also, they seem to heal between battles even if they haven’t been sprayed with Salvon or whatever’s in that bottle they sometimes use. And if they’re not in stasis, then can they starve to death if they’re not let out for a long time?
Pokémon Evolution: How the hell do they evolve so constantly? And why do they glow when it happens? They only seem to need to beat up a few other Pokémon to evolve (or have a catalyst in the form of a magic rock, of which an explanation would also be useful). At least Digimon had an explanation: they were all pieces of data, so they could happily switch back and forth between all sorts of evolutionary stages. Also, the Digidestineds’ Digivices (Digithis, Digithat) seemed to act as a trigger. But Pokémon has no explanation. And what’s up with Eevee? It can evolve into one of five things???
Pokémon Attacks: Some can be explained. Psychic attacks simply require brainpower, fire attacks obviously come from a fuel source within the Pokémon et cetera. But were does the water in Water Gun come from? How do they form explosive(?) bubbles with Bubble Beam? Where do all these razor-sharp (and as strong as steel) leaves and infinitely long vines come from with Grass-types and their Razor Leaf and Vine Whip attacks?
This wasn’t meant to be as long as it was, but I spotted more and more weird things as I went. Any help would be very appreciated. Also, if you can explain any more weird things that I’ve missed, that would be just as good. Even if you can’t explain them, point out the weird stuff so I know what to deweirdify.
Disclaimer - my entire knowledge of pokemon is based on my having watched the first series of the cartoon when I was about eleven or twelve, which is over ten yeras ago now.
Pokemon biology ... yeah. I can't really say much on the front of the mechanics of Pokeballs or of the whole laser thing, but as for the 'evolution' ... well. There are things I can say on that score.
Evolution, for a start, is the wrong term. Metamorphosis is the correct term. Yes, that's right, what butterflies do. I know there are different types of Pokemon and that only some of them are 'insect type', but if I had to fit them into an Earth phylogenetic system I would put them in the phylum Arthropoda.
Yes, I *know* some of them are mammal-like and rock-like and plant-like, but hear me out :)
See, the thing about arthropods (not just insects, but we'll get to the classification thing soon, I promise) is that they are incredible mimics. There are arthropods that are almost impossible to distinguish from bits of plant, from bits of stone, from snakes and so forth. And arthropods metamorphose, which is very important.
Animals and plants are grouped based on different charactersitics, and the idea of grouping them is to make sure that each group contains only organisms that are more closely related to each other than they are to everything outside the group. And modes of life are very important criteria for dividing up organisms - outward appearance is actually one of the least important criteria - it is so easily changed by selection pressure. So given that all Pokemon have this same basic mode of reproduction/metamorphosis, which can be catalysed by rocks, of all things (and I'll get onto THAT later as well), I'm going to group them in their own class, part of the phylum Arthropoda and a sister-taxon to the classes Insecta, Chelicerata etc etc. This group is cladistically correct because it is monophyletic (nothing that belongs in the group has been left out - no other animals reproduce like Pokemon do)
As for the rock catalyst thing, it is possible (not probable, and not likely, but possible) that these magical rocks contain essential elements or compounds that catalyse the chemical processes that cause them to metamorphose, or that stress them into changing, somewhat like bad water conditions force axolotls (which are normally neotenous and happy about it) to undergo the last stage of development and become newts.
This is a poor and depauperate explanation but I'm sort of scraping the bottom of the barrel here.
I would like to state that this is me mostly me waffling on about biology and probably mostly talking out my arse and that I claim no authority on Pokemon canon. That said ... if these ideas are any use, feel free to use them.
Since it is aimed at children, the characters don't age so that they can continue to connect with their audience. Other anime that is set over a long period of time (many anime aren't) do have characters that age. One example is Dragonball. The main character started the series as 12, but by the end of GT he's in his 60s with grandchildren (even if he does age spectacularily well).
As for the other stuff... It's a children's show. It doesn't need logic. The manga might have more detail though, I think that was aimed at an older audience.
Yeah, I was wondering about where the water would come from for the move surf. If they pull from the environment then does that mean that they can't use it if they are in a desert? I gave up analyzing it. You just have to be creative when you write and try to work around it.
The image says it all.
I actually have a solution to this. Female Pokémon, every so often, produce an Egg. The size, obviously, must vary from Pokémon to Pokémon. But anyway. The Egg, however, will do nothing if not subjected to the tender ministrations of a compatible male. (the shell's probably semi-permeable, so certain things can get through while everything that shouldn't can't.) The donation of genetic material occasionally provides egg moves, but more often than not simply does the whole sperm + ovum = zygote thing, and, however many days/weeks/months/steps later, tada, you have baby Pokémon of the mother's species. (Unless it's a Nidoran. Those are just special.)
It works. Really. ^^;
Do let me know if there's holes in my logic.
I mean, you can't just go around saying that those come from eggs, unless you want to be subjected to a lecture by Trojie and Pads, like the list says.
Nothing says their fluffy cute electric sheep is biologically identical or even similar to our fluffy stinky decidedly non-electric sheep. Perhaps over in that reality it is perfectly normal for mammals to produce eggs. (Note I said produce. Not lay. Because. Some things even my brain won't do.)
I think part of the point is that their creatures are not like our Earth creatures. Sort of like some logic. =P
( *kind of does want a lecture* I'm sure they'd make it more interesting than the last biology teacher I encountered~ )
Oops! You should forget that. Anyway, thanks! Your help is acknowleged.
*Neuralyzes*
... that Pokemon biology might be out of even Trojie's league, guys.
Pokemon doesn't have many canon explanations for these, as a reuslt, some of them are often left to the fandom to decide. A lot of these are also assumptions and guesses on my part to apply logic to the world.
First paragraph: It's a show aimed at kids mostly, same as the games. Characters don't look 10, but rather cna fit into most early age brackets. And yes, Pokemon is anime.
There is no logical explanation behind Pokeballs, other than the diffusion of matter. In my stories, the Pokeball contains technology capable of transferring physical matter into a pure energy form, thus allowing the Pokemon to be stored within the Pokeball. As all amtter is simply different forms of energy, the conversion is easy enough to say in theory, but hard ot put into practice. Additionally, Pokeballs can expand or reduce in size due to the technology of the Pokeball moving around, thus allowing it to enter a more compact mode. It's unsure what the inside of a Pokeball is like, seeing as the being inside is theoretically pure energy, but it is often guessed, and supported by Nintendo, that the inside of the Pokeball varies to give the mind of the Pokemon, or the physical body if the energy process turns it to energy, then to matter again inside the Pokeball, a more sane level of existance. A water type may need water, thus the Pokeball compensates thruogh inbuilt technology. In this thread, of the inside of a Pokeball is chosen to suit the Pokemon, it also follows that the environment is suitable for the Pokemon to rest and heal. Given the choice, I suppose a Pokemon may even be able to listen to events occuring outside its Pokeball, giving the possibility that the Pokeball has psychic capabilities and responds to the thoughts of a Pokemon.
Within the anime and games, Pokemon do need additional medicine for particularly extreme wounds or conditions (Poisoned, as an example), but other than that, Pokemon have probably developed accelerated healing abilities as a result of their frequent practice of battling. Pokemon have aso been shown to be fed regularly outside of the Pokeball, showing that the Pokeball doesn't seem to provide nutrition. As a result, they can starve to death unless they are Ghost Types.
Pokemon do not evolve constantly, as each tends to have one, or at most, two forms to evolve into. Humans are constantly evolving in their childhood to their teenage, and then adult forms, it's just more gradual. In the case of Pokemon, these changes are more sudden. It's the training that allows a Pokemon to evolve, similar to how exercise and nutrition allows the human body to grow towards adulthood. It's quite similar to the human developement, just occurs at set stages that can spontaneously happen, whether upon an emotion trigger or the need to evolve to deal with their current situation (See when Ash's Charmeleon evolved to Charizard to save Ash from the Aerodactyl). The elemental stones are shown to contain concentrated doses of whatever element they represent, which leads to the suggestion of radioactivity, a natural element not found on earth or even divine blessing.
Eevee is capable of evolving because it is very adaptable. It has been specifically noted that Eevee's DNA is unstable, allowing it to potentially absorb part of the environment around it and evolve to best suit it. This would explain why Eevee evolves around the Ice Rock in Diamond and Pearl, or to Vaporean when exposed to a Water Stone.
Pokemon attacks can be a bit tricky, but again, I also dealt with this in my own Pokemon fanfic. The water used by certain water Pokemon (Squirtle, Totodile, Mudkip, etc) is developed in an internal water pouch which frequently fills with either excess saliva, stomach acid (Explaining why several Water Types are also poison types), or is capable of combining oxygen in the air with hydrogen produced naturally by the body.
Leaves and vines are harder to explain. However, there are cases where plants can be quite effective against regular metal. Theoretically, by binding together thousands of paper thin layers of membrane, you can create a substance equal in power to steal. This would be seal in a laquer naturally product by grass Pokemon. The vines may simply be the result of seeds carried by the Pokemon being forced to grow rapidly, or even the Grass Pokemon itself forcing its body to grow by concentrating sunlight, nutrients and water in its body to force the growth or attack (Solarbeam requires sunlight to fire, etc).
And that's all stuff I've dealt with in my story. It's actually quite fun, applying logic, you just gotta ask 'How can this work', and then create the theories. I dealt with the paradox of 'Pokemon fire = Not Death' vs 'Building on Fire = Death' by saying that fire types excrete a natural chemical in their fire sacs which limits the heat their flames can reach.
There are several Elemental fields in the pokemon world, one for each element (including normal, which may just be a simplified lumping of whatever doesn't fit into the other fields). Those elemental fields interacted with the cosmic microorganisms that were the ancestors of the pokemon, giving them their powers and capabilities.
o_o I bow before your logic. Seriously, that's some impressive stuff.
...Wow.
I, personally, gave up on logic in Pokemon a long time ago. I don't think it's meant to make sense, but just to entertain. It's a fantasy world with different rules etc.
Lights etc are just visual effects, for the viewers, in my opinion. Kids are attracted by shiny things.
Evolution could just be a case of 'I'm too powerful/experienced for this form now, I need to be at the next one to continue getting stronger.' There are exceptions, of course (i.e. Ash/Satoshi's Pikachu and its ability to defeat almost anything), but most things evolve once they're strong enough. I believe it was mentioned somewhere, perhaps in the Pokedex of one of the games, that Eevee has an unstable genetic code and therefore can evolve into whatever Pokemon is attuned to the stone you use on it (about seven or so now I think).
People do age in anime, most of the time, but Pokemon is just weird with its non-aging. The Digimon Adventures 01 characters were older by the time of 02, to use your other mon-anime example. Bleach, Gundam 00, Naruto, Code Geass and Ouran all show the characters aging, whether through time skips to the future or flashbacks to the past.
Good luck with figuring out Pokemon logic and science.