Pokémon (species): Difference between revisions

the first 721 different species in a promotion for the franchise's 20th anniversary

Pokémon (Japanese: ポケットモンスター Pocket Monsters; ポケモン Pokémon for short) are fictional creatures that are central to the Pokémon franchise. A large wave of new species of Pokémon are often introduced with the promotion and release of new games

Overview

In the Pokémon world, the word "species" is not used exactly the same as in real-world biology, where it would refer to a group of organisms that can have fertile offspring (unlike the breeding between different Pokémon species), and a real-life organism would not change between different species. With the currently 1025 known species that inhabit the Pokémon world, Pokémon take up many shapes and sizes, resembling animals and living creatures in the real world. However, they inherent several fantastic powers not demonstrated by most real animals, including the manipulation of elements/aspects of life, such as electricity or fire. It's implied that there are more Pokémon always waiting to be discovered beyond the current count.

While most Pokémon resemble animals and may behave like them, there are many that do not resemble animals at all, taking on other forms such as plants, inanimate objects, machines, human-like forms, or other more enigmatic and exotic appearances. Pokémon inhabit an extremely diverse range of habitats, ranging from the driest deserts to the lushest jungles, the deepest oceans to the highest mountains and everything else in between, even outer space and other dimensions. Pokémon take up various ways of living in those places. There are many uses to spending time with Pokémon, some people take them in as pets, some study them, but, all Pokémon can be befriended and made into potential allies. A common symbol of partnership between human and Pokémon is often met by putting the creature into a Poké Ball, in which all share the ability to shrink down small enough to fit into. Many people who raise Pokémon are called Pokémon Trainers, people who dedicate their lives to Pokémon, participating in multiple activities involving the species. Not all Pokémon Trainers are seen as kind towards these creatures, and many villainous organizations seek out to use Pokémon in malicious ways.

Many Pokémon are able to evolve from or into other Pokémon species, a process that typically makes them larger and stronger, and more closely resembles growth and development or metamorphosis rather than evolution in the real world. Evolution can be seen as a form of maturity in certain species, but not all. Most Pokémon by nature, are known to take on a form of competition called a Pokémon battle, these battles can be known for sport among human-owned Pokémon, or as a form of survival and protection between one another. In these battles, many know several techniques, called moves, that they can use within the fight or elsewhere, either to defend themselves or their Trainer, or to perform a task. Beyond their normal typed attributes and moves, many Pokémon posses other traits that can be triggered or used passively. These traits are called abilities, in which a Pokémon may activate once certain conditions are met. Other functionality some Pokémon may have, similar to that of evolution, are a change in appearances called a form. Some Pokémon may be able to change their form, while some may have one as a distinction between others of the same species. In the games, each Pokémon has a distinct voice associated with each individual species or form known as a cry, while in the anime, most Pokémon are known only to say their name.

There are many forms of food that Pokémon may eat, including one another as prey, however, Pokémon Trainers may offer different types of treats and natural items such as berries to their Pokémon. Many Pokémon are known to reproduce by laying eggs, however it's usually unknown how these eggs are formed and where they may come from.

In the core series

Several pseudo-legendary Pokémon that are part of an evolutionary chain

Pokémon have been, from the very beginning of the franchise, are spoken of as friends and partners to the humans of the Pokémon world, helping them with various tasks from constructing buildings to exploration. Many people in the Pokémon world take Pokémon with them on a journey to gather Badges and compete in the various Pokémon Leagues as Trainers, using them in battles against Pokémon both owned by other Trainers and found in the wild. In the Alola region, Pokémon and Trainers instead take on trials in the island challenge on their journey. In addition, there are many different tournaments in which Trainers can compete together with their Pokémon, such as Pokémon Contests and the Pokéathlon.

Across the nine generations of games, Pokémon are typically found in one of five manners: encountering them in tall grass, finding them in caves or ruins, going fishing for them, surfing on water, or trading with an NPC. These are often joined by several more ways in which to encounter Pokémon, such as headbutting trees, obtaining and hatching Eggs, or using the Poké Radar.

Construction

In the games, Pokémon are no more than fragments of data, identifying certain characteristics inherent to them. As the games have progressed, more data is added to each Pokémon, typically to reference new features introduced in games of the new generation.

The methodology for construction of Pokémon data changes across generations. For the different constructions, see the data structure explanations for:

• Generation I
• Generation II
• Generation III
• Generation IV
• Generation V
• Generation VI
• Generation VII
• Generation VIII
• Generation IX

In the spin-off games

Play It! series

In Pokémon Play It! and Pokémon Play It! Version 2, it is possible to play the Trading Card Game rather than train Pokémon. However, at some point Julie sees a Beedrill flying off-camera and its cry is heard, which is an indication that actual Pokémon exist in this universe.^[1]

In the anime

In the anime, Pokémon are shown to be creatures with distinctively more anthropomorphic qualities than real-world animals, with several even able to speak. Some Pokémon have the ability to speak the dubbing language instead of their own names, such as Meowth of Team Rocket. They also seem to be able to mostly understand human language, while most humans cannot understand Pokémon speech, although there are a few who claim they can. Most species speak only one word: their own name, e.g. Pikachu saying "Pika! Pikachu!" and so forth, though some Pokémon only grunt or roar, such as Charizard.

The anime takes a clear stance of right and wrong on the use of Pokémon: Trainers such as Ash are shown to treat their Pokémon with respect, as partners and friends, while evil organizations like Team Rocket are shown to use Pokémon as mere tools, keeping them in cages, making them fight to exhaustion—a stark contrast to Ash and his Pikachu, who he treats as his best friend and keeps on his shoulder, rather than in a Poké Ball, because of its own preference.

History

The anime has given a more in-depth history of human interaction with Pokémon than is given by the games: In The Birth of Mewtwo radio drama, it is implied that Pokémon came into the world after the human species did. Poké Balls have not existed forever, and are in reality an apparently recent development, with one owned by a young Professor Oak being shown to be vastly different than ones used in modern times.

Prior to the invention and mass-production of Poké Balls, people tended to use hollowed-out Apricorns, native to the Johto region, to catch Pokémon, while even further back, Pokémon were not known as "Pokémon" at all, but as "magical creatures" (Japanese: 魔獣 majuu). In these times, many Pokémon were apparently feared because of their powers, sometimes so great that the most powerful of these monsters passed into legend and were often seen as deities in their own right.

Interestingly, Ash and his friends, through their interaction with history in Arceus and the Jewel of Life, seemingly invented the term "Pokémon" to refer to these creatures. This, however, creates a bootstrap paradox, as their knowledge and use of the word comes only from its wide use in their future time. What may remain true is that the term came into practice elsewhere on its own.

The guidebook Pocket Monsters: The Animation gave a bit more detail on the Pokémon. Specifically, they were rumored to have been created by God on the seventh day of creation as "doodles", and since they were created on holiday, they were commanded to neither rule over nor be ruled by humanity. It also inferred that they had some relation to merpeople and dragon myths, and that their species was discovered by a French nobleman named Count Tajirin (a subtle reference to franchise creator Satoshi Tajiri) during the 18th century.

In the novels

Pocket Monsters: The Animation

Main article: Pokémon world (PMTA) → Pokémon and animals

In Pocket Monsters: The Animation, it is said that Pokémon and animals may be related to each other. As an example, it is said that cats and lions are related by evolution, and that Meowth may be related to cats as well.

In 1925, the technology to store Pokémon in small objects such as Poké Balls or capsules was invented by Professor Nishinomori. The name "Pokémon" was introduced after this invention, as it was not possible to store them in pockets before. However, it is not know what Pokémon were called before this word was coined.

References

See also

This Pokémon article is part of Project Pokédex, a Bulbapedia project that aims to write comprehensive articles on each Pokémon as a species.