professorathena-pokemonexpert - Tumblr blog

[professorathena-pokemonexpert]

Paradoxes Caught Wild: Part #1 - Great Tusk

Professor... Sada, is it? I believe you're the one who requested that I send a comprehensive report of these "Paradox" Pokémon, correct? Well, it has taken me a while, so updates may be slow, but I do believe I've found some splendid information on the Pokémon known as Great Tusk if you're still interested.

8,000 years ago, in an unnamed desert

The region of what is now Paldea has recently started to recover its population from the recently-dissipated Ice Age and the prior cataclysm that resulted in the Great Crater of Paldea. During the aforementioned Ice Age, most species of Pokémon had not been able to withstand the crippling low temperatures. However, the previously scarce Ice-type Pokémon thrived in these harsh new climates. Pokémon like Vulpix and Darumaka even started to adjust to the subzero conditions.

Among the Pokémon whose populations started to skyrocket, one of them is most notable for this report: Mamoswine.

#0473 - Mamoswine

Mamoswine is a Pokémon symbolic of the Sinnoh region's chilling terrain. Previously, its hulking stature left it a prime target for hunters. While it could fend them off momentarily, the overwhelming pressure eventually caused the species to see a sudden decline, leaving them on the brink of extinction.

However, as a result of the constant blizzards that coated the region, Mamoswine, and its Swinub and Piloswine offspring, were able to stay concealed, almost as if the raging snow has been their cloak. They then had sudden increases in population, increases that the food chain wasn't remotely prepared for.

It got to a point where Pokémon who intentionally saw no interest in hunting Mamoswine down eventually saw it as the target food source, and started pursuing it for sustenance. Weavile, another Sinnoh-symbolic Ice-type who thrived in the cold, began to swarm around Mamoswine. While the populations seemed like they would decrease, they still ruled the Ice Age and would've definitely continued if the Ice Age has continued...

...but it didn't.

As we know, around 10,000 years ago, the Ice Age saw its end due to rising global temperatures. Alongside this came the immediate rise and fall of pretty much every population that was still roaming the globe. One of these declines was, of course, of Mamoswine.

Mamoswine lost its impeccable defense mechanism, and while the Weavile population started to dwindle down as well, Mamoswine still suffered the attacks of the closely-related Sneasler population.

While most of the Mamoswine, many of which spent millennia getting their numbers up, started to die off, some were able to survive the rapidly-growing heat with their fatty proportions.

As the heat started to increase, still did Mamoswine's tolerance for it. it. Although, as we all know, species cannot make such a drastic change without undergoing natural evolution.

Mamoswine had grown to be more reptilian, using the beating sun to bask in, honing its powers in a phenomenon we coin proto-synthesis. In addition, its tusks grew to fend off the more-voracious predators it would face in these rougher conditions.

Finally, it would have to adorn a slimmer appearance. With raging sandstorms poking out of every corner, slower Mamoswine would have to die off, as they couldn't outrun the top speeds some of these sandstorms would be able to hit.

Thus, after millennia of adjusting to intense heat and sandy, rugged terrain, we eventually got a brand-new Pokémon whose name has still been undetermined for some time now.

With every Paradox Pokémon comes a bevy of colloquialisms.

Donfang or Donphang seems to be the most popular among these.

For simplicity's sake, we decided to refer to it by the codename Great Tusk until we get more information.

#0984 - Great Tusk

Anyway, enough about that! Where was I? Oh, yes. Great Tusk's behavior!

Funnily enough, after Mamoswine had evolved, it was once again the king of its territory. Great Tusk roamed the sand-infested deserts with utter ease. The sands helped to hide it from predators, and due to its slender body, it was able to roll away before the sands could possibly dissipate.

Along with this, there were fewer predators that could stop it once it was caught. Both Sneasler and Weavile couldn't keep up with the blazing temperatures. In fact, this global event was akin to an inverse Ice Age, with few Pokémon that could properly adjust to the scorching temperatures, let alone the barren desert terrain, where few plants could thrive in.

If I had to pinpoint Great Tusk's most formidable threat, I might just have to say that Krookodile was the prime cause of Great Tusk slaughter.

Its steel-sharp fangs could sink into Great Tusk's scales without breaking a sweat. In addition, similar to Weavile, they'd hunt in packs. Usually, it'd be a horde of 5 or 6 Krookodile against a bold Great Tusk.

While not a predator per se, Hippowdon has also put up a tough fight against Great Tusk for control of territory. Both could abuse the desert sand to their advantage, and both were strong and bulky enough to have hour-long fits of combat before one of them (usually Great Tusk) was knocked out.

However, the populations of Great Tusk continued to rise, in which they were immortalized as the kings of the prehistoric sands.

Unfortunately, this is all I could find. Which one did you want next? Oh, yes! Scream Tail, correct? Perfect! I have a friend who can help me decipher this one!

Until next time, Sada. It's Athena. Ta ta!

[professorathena-pokemonexpert]

The Convoluted Mess of Revavroom's Anatomy

"If we were going to make a Pokémon based on the motif of a car, for example, what would it eat? Would you make it able to suck up gasoline? How would it use the energy it got from that—how would it use that source of power? Even if the design is based on a car, a Pokémon is a living creature, so we would work over and over how to express its "car-ness" and what its source of energy should be."

Does this sound familiar? Probably not. This is a quote by Ken Sugimori, illustrator for Pokémon. In an interview for Pokémon Ultra Sun & Pokémon Ultra Moon Edition: The Official National Pokédex (yes, that is a mouthful), Ken was discussing the process of designing a Pokémon. Nearly 5 years after the guide was published, Pokémon Scarlet and Violet for the Nintendo Switch were released, and among the 102 new Pokémon first spotted in the vast Paldea region, we got two Pokémon that live up to Ken's point.

Varoom, the Single-Cyl Pokémon, and Revavroom, the Multi-Cyl Pokémon.

As you can tell by their designs, Varoom and Revavroom... certainly are genetic anomalies. A lot of people may be confused as to their digestive biology, but no fear, trainers! After having to rewrite this entire post after accidentally deleting it, I, Professor Athena, am here to tell you all about these mechanical marvels.

#0965 - Varoom

Before we can properly dissect what Varoom's diet consists of, we must first ask an important question regarding it...

..what is it exactly?

Well, in terms of origins, Varoom seems to be based on an internal combustion engine, a heat engine used in gasoline and diesel vehicles to convert gasoline into fuel for the car to run.

This actually ties into a small tidbit that we know about Varoom from Pokémon. According to Varoom's Pokédex entry in Pokémon Violet, the metallic part of Varoom is its actual body, the part that controls Varoom's movement and thought patterns. Meanwhile, the deep purple rocks that it carries around are supposedly its source of energy, converting the minerals of said rocks into energy.

While it may seem preposterous for a biotic creature such as Varoom to feed off of abiotic materials, this is an actual behavior present in numerous species of microorganisms. These microorganisms, often referred to as lithotrophs, use the energy of inorganic substrates to feed. Varoom does the same thing, but generalized to the rocks it will carry around with it

Although, while this does answer one question, it raises another all the same:

If Varoom feeds solely off the rocks that lay on its underbelly, then why does it have a "mouth" (which is truthfully a crankshaft)? It can't speak, and it's easy to assume that Varoom as a species doesn't rely too heavily on emotions for communication.

Well, there is a simple explanation for this: It does. The way that lithotrophs turn inorganic materials into energy isn't an evolutionary choice based on effectiveness, but rather necessity. What I mean is, lipotrophic means of consumption are much less practical than the things you and I are able to consume. While this low energy intake works for the sessile microorganisms, there are much better methods of intaking energy, rendering lipotrophy useless for more complex organisms, let alone Varoom. Despite what its in-game mechanics may suggest, Varoom is capable of long-term levitation and floats around the player at impeccable speeds. In order for a 35-kilogram-heavy being to be able to levitate at such speeds, it would require much more than occasional lithotrophy to rely on.

That begs the question of what Varoom actually eats with its "mouth". Since Varoom is devoid of teeth (thank Arceus for that decision), there are one of two reasonable conclusions that we can draw.

Varoom feeds exclusively off liquids and the energy it absorbs from rocks. Seeing as it's a car engine, while animalian in biology, it's still likely that it possesses some traits of IC engines. Given its Poison-typing, it's likely that poisonous/energetic liquids (slime, mucus, gasoline, fuel, etc.) are its main source of energy, leaving it motile for hours on end if it consumes enough.

It has an organ inside of its body that helps properly digest the food it eats once it swallows it. Avians (birds) have an organ for this purpose, being the gizzard. Once the avian swallows its food, the gizzard breaks the food down until it's safe enough for full consumption. A similar thing could be present within Varoom's anatomy, and there's a likely chance that this organ is Varoom's equivalent of a piston. In an IC engine, the pistons move up and down along the crankshaft, generating torque. This could be Varoom's "gizzard", breaking down the food it eats with its up-and-down movement. As for what it would digest if this was the answer, I suspect that its diet would consist of some of the many rock-like monsters that make up the vast world of Pokémon.

There is one more problem, with a plausible solution that could help to decipher the entire anatomical structure of Varoom as a whole, but we will focus on that as we talk briefly about Revavroom.

#0966 - Revaroom

Now, our discussion of Revavroom is going to be very brief, seeing as much of what we said with Varoom doubles for its evolution. However, there is one part of Revavroom that concerns me but will make the whole evolutionary family make a lot more sense.

Do you see anything off?

If you were pointing to the very ominous and out-of-place tongue that Revavroom has on its air filter mouth, you would be correct! This singular detail raises heaps of odd questions, all of which make the anatomy of this Pokémon an absolute mess.

Why is there a tongue in its air filter mouth?

Why does its actual "mouth" not have a tongue?

Why does it still consume energy from the rocks that are magnetically connected to it?

Does this mean that Revavroom could hypothetically eat three meals at once? And if so, why?

I almost gave up trying to decipher this, but then, in the throes of confusion, a paranormal answer spawned. I mentioned Varoom's Pokédex entry in Pokémon Violet but had completely neglected to look over its entry in Pokémon Scarlet; an entry that would explain everything.

Varoom's Pokédex entry in Pokémon Scarlet states that Varoom is said to be an inspirited car engine, with Varoom actually being an unnamed poisonous Pokémon controlling and powering the host, which is what we see.

This... explains it all! Sure, the wording does make it seem like nothing but conspiracy hokum that trainers use to gossip around the campfire with, but this could actually make perfect sense.

All Varoom are born from a parasitized mother, and many from a parasitized father as well. The parasite transfers to the offspring through their genetics (similar to some real-world examples). From there, Varoom is now fully controlled by the spirit possessing it, explaining the levitation and the ability to display lithotrophic traits despite being a complex organism (the spirit is sucking out the energy of the minerals).

Over time, the parasite grew stronger, thus growing a second, actual mouth. The spirit tries to grow past the confines of what we see with Revavroom. Revavroom, now having two mouths to feed, has to get as much energy as possible to sustain the energy it's consuming. Furthermore, tongues and ghosts in Pokémon are symbolic of each other, with the move Lick being one of the first Ghost-type Pokémon moves ever created.

This... was a lot. And yes, I did have to write most of this twice. But, trainers, I'm glad you enjoyed another lesson from Professor Athena! Tune in next time when they go over more burning scientific Pokémon questions! Ta ta!

[professorathena-pokemonexpert]

These Poké-wimps can, and will, outlive 90% of all other Pokémon, and here's why

Welcome, trainers! I am Professor Athena, the professor who teaches new trainers about their Pokémon theories and observations! To start my journey, I am here to talk to you about some of the weakest Pokémon that can survive even the harshest disasters without breaking a sweat.

#0173 - Cleffa

Our first child on the chopping block is Cleffa, the Star Shape Pokémon! Upon first sight, this is a more confusing 'mon among the list of survivors. A 0.3-meter-tall marshmallow with 50 HP, 55 Special Defense, and 28 Defense doesn't exactly scream "fit for enduring a nuclear war". But, Cleffa has a trick up its sleeve that gives it a chance.

Cleffa, along with several other Pokémon such as Deoxys and Eternatus, is mentioned to hail from the cosmos. Already, this implies the existence of Cleffa on other planets or even galaxies, thus allowing the Cleffa population to continue living on even if Earth were to experience a tragic disaster. Clefairy, Cleffa's evolution, can also learn the move Teleport. While the limits to this move are not specified, it could possibly be able to teleport to at least the nearest un-harmed planetary body, but this is a bit out there.

Additionally, being able to survive in space allows Cleffa loads of biological advantages that would allow it to live in the now-apocalyptic state of the Earth in this scenario. Cleffa can survive extreme cold. Cleffa doesn't need oxygen and can survive on no/limited food and water. Not only will Cleffa survive, but it might also have one of the largest living populations of any Pokémon in a worldwide catastrophe.

#0557 - Dwebble

Up next is a Pokémon that could hypothetically survive for years on a post-apocalyptic Earth, given that food and water are omitted factors: Dwebble, the Rock Inn Pokémon.

Now, you can see that Dwebble has a pretty evident defense mechanism, that being the rock it carries around its back for shelter, akin to real-world hermit crabs. This rock alone could help it survive several world-ending disasters. Given that rocks offer a good level of shade and protection from extreme levels of heat, Dwebble could potentially survive the troubles of radiation. It also hides poor Dwebble from predators, which will be more rogue due to the lack of food around.

Now, you might be saying that Dwebble without its easily-detachable shell would be less than useless in the struggles of a cataclysm. However, something pretty interesting happens when you breed a female Crustle with another Pokémon of the Bug or Mineral egg groups. Dwebble are born with the rock on their back, insinuating that they have a rock-like genotype, that allows them some of the durability of an actual rock. Furthermore, Dwebble has Sturdy as an ability, allowing it to barely survive a myriad of different attacks. Finally, if all else fails, it could hide within the defensive pores of another, much bigger Pokémon that can also likely survive the erasure of most other Pokémon: Hippowdon. With impenetrable defenses and its sand-based diet, it will gladly live on when most others won't. Dwebble is known to hide inside of their pores, in exchange for dislodging the stones that may get stuck to form a symbiotic relationship. Dwebble could, depending on their diet, probably spend months or maybe even years living in and around Hippowdon for shelter in a cruel, post-apocalyptic world.

#0704 - Goomy

The final warrior is another insectoid Pokémon, and a fan favorite among the community: Goomy, the Soft Tissue Pokémon! However, this lovable pile of goop is more than just an adorable addition to the Kalosian roster. In fact, Goomy might be the most durable Pokémon on this list!

Unlike the other Pokémon we've discussed, Goomy can survive - and thrive - in the event of a worldwide flood. Its body is mostly comprised of water, akin to Vaporeon or the real-world jellyfish. Therefore, it can revert to a diluted state, or simply actively survive within the ocean. Goomy has a very simplistic protean genotype, allowing it to endure a myriad of water-based pollutants.

Chemicals? It thrives off its toxic slime.

Rising heat levels? That's what the membrane around its body is intended to prevent, or at least delay.

Excessive amounts of iron and other metals? That's how Hisuian Sliggoo and Goodra came into existence in Pokémon Legends: Arceus.

As for nourishment, Sliggoo uses its corrosive saliva to dissolve its prey until they become liquid for it to slurp on. Additionally, Sliggoo can corrode and dissolve anything it can, giving it a vast array of food choices, as well as offering it a great advantage in territorial combat. While often more potent/abundant upon age, the offspring of venomous species still possess venom with a similar/same composition. Therefore, Goomy would still possess that level of corrosion, allowing it to survive even without needing to evolve, a feat that is especially helpful for a Pokémon that first evolves at Level 40.

I hope you enjoyed this analysis, trainers! Tune into Professor Athena's Tumblr account for more of their lessons such as this.