#Pokemon Lore

[praazlwurm]

Giratina's Temple and the Celestica Ruins

aka Giratina/platinum clan theory is back (also sorry for using mspaint lmao)

So we all know about the Shrouded Ruins, yeah?

(This is the only spoiler warning for Pokemon Legends: Arceus you're gonna get)

Spooky. Ever-cloaked in mists and mystery, surrounded by black-stoned cairns like graves and home to the giant Odd Keystone that once (?) housed 108 souls. Very ghost-centric.

Well what if I told you it was a temple?

Greco-roman temples (and, problematic or otherwise the celestica are absolutely greco-roman coded) are constructed relatively uniformly, with an outer later of columns holding up the roof and an inner layer holding up an internal structure, providing additional support, ect.

We have a perfect in-game model to project from, too, in the Temple of Sinnoh (pre-explosion). You can see that some of the smaller columns are sometimes decorative - likely they held up torches or, in the case of the two nearest the 'altar,' offerings

So knowing that style and having the remaining structures we do see in-game, we can approximate a lay out of what the building may have looked like.

What makes this a temple, however, is more open to interpretation. My evidence to support that it is is actually the blue-tinged pedestals seen within the outline of the building - the place(s) of honor in any temple. Irl, the inner structure - the cella - was often fully-walled in, though sometimes this was constructed via wood and other materials that don't withstand time.

Now, ENORMOUS shout-out to pokemaniacchris and the incredible Crimson Mirelands Archeological Survey Project for a really detailed, in-character breakdown of the ruins structures throughout the mirelands. I can only assume the 'surveyors' hadn't reached Mt. Coronet yet in their explorations.

Pedestals like these (at least superficially similar) are found beneath dozens of statues around Mt. Coronet, including beneath Giratina, Palkia and Dialga in the Sacred Plaza area. Now, I know I'm supposed to be claiming that this is a temple to Giratina, but if we work on the assumption that the four pedestals corollate with Giratina, Palkia, Dialga, and Arceus, a new conclusion can, perhaps, be drawn:

That whoever built this temple saw all four of them on the same 'level' of power or -- and this is my hc taking over -- if the statues were placed in a certain orientation (see below) that they saw Arceus and Giratina on equal footing, with Dialga and Palkia one rank below.

And there is, imo, more evidence to support this disruption of the 'creation trio' into two pairs on equal footing, found in the Celestica Ruins! So, among the structures there are two notable, circular buildings that the Greeks also utilized, called tholoi (plural). Irl, tholoi were a mix of secular-use and small-scale temples, and seeing as these two are small (maybe 10ft across inside?) I would maintain the claim that they're small temples.

And they align/mirror each other just as the statues of Palkia and Dialga do.

This part becomes pure conjecture, but I like to think the smaller structures in the ruins might be other small-scale temples for the various mythicals, honoring each much as the Greeks honored a pantheon.

Lastly, the CMASP describes the "Gapejaw Bog Complex" as being potentially an entire agora all its own and I can't agree more. Such evidence would support the idea of there being two groups of Celestica (Note: Not the Clans.)

I actually found myself wondering if the mirelands weren't always quite so swampy, and instead flooded at some point in the past with the depressions around Gapejaw - left by housing foundations - filled in with swamp water.

At the end of the day, I think there's a lot of evidence that the Celestica revered Giratina as well as Arceus, Dialga and Palkia - at least early on. Something happened to cause this schism, and the Old Verses/Plate inscriptions point to an outburst of rage from Giratina -- though, in "pick a god (and pray)" I actually argue it was mispercieved on the part of the Celestica and this misperception is what caused Arceus to despair and withdraw.

Open to discussion!! fellow nerds please interact!!

[bethanythebogwitch]

You know what Alola has a lot of? Water. And when there’s lots of water you get lots of aquatic Pokémon. Welcome back to the series where I discuss the real-life inspirations of every aquatic, non-fish Pokémon. This time I’m covering gen VII. To see previous entries in this series see gen I part 1, gen I part 2, gen II, gen III, gen IV, gen V, and gen VI. For my previous series where I covered the origins of all fish Pokémon see here. As before, starters and legendary/mythical Pokémon will be covered in a separate series. I’ll also cover ultra beasts separately, so no Nihilego this time.

Starting things off we have Marenie and Toxapex bringing us the first echinoderms since gen I. While Staryu and Starmie were generic starfish, the Marenie line are based specifically on the crown-of-thorns starfish.

(image: a crown-of-thorns)

These are large starfish covered with venomous spines. The spines are used for defense as they (and the starfish’s other tissues) are filed with a chemicals called saponins. While there is no mechanism for injecting venom, any animal punctured by a spine will get the venom in the wound. It is hemolytic, causing destruction of red blood cells, which can lead to the injured animal suffocating or bleeding out.  In addition, the spines are brittle and can break off and get stuck in a wound. In humans, the venom can cause sharp, stinging pains, persistent bleeding, and swelling and nausea for up to a week after the sting. The persistent nature of the pain and hemolysis may be the basis for the line’s signature ability “Merciless”. The other big feature of the crown-of-thorns is its diet. They feed on coral polyps by everting their stomachs onto coral and digesting them externally. This is why the line are specifically stated to prey on Corsola. Too many crown-of-thorns in one coral reef can badly damage it, hence why Toxapex is said to leave a trail of Corsola horns in its wake. Toxapex also takes influence from the hā’uke’uke or helmet urchin, a species found in Hawaii that is shaped very similar to Toxapex’s tentacles when they are all down.

(image: a hā’uke’uke)

Dewpider and Araquanid are based on diving-bell spiders. These spiders spend almost their entire lives underwater, the only species to do so. They do still need to breathe air and so used a coating of water-repelling hairs to carry a bubble of oxygen with them when they are underwater, surfacing occasionally to refresh their supply. The Dewpider line are the inverse of that: a species that can only breathe water and need to bring a bubble of water with them while they live on land. Because of this, they may also be based on sea spiders, a group of marine arthropods that look very similar to spiders. This origin is more noticeable with Araquanid, which has the skinny body and long legs of sea spiders. In both species, the bubble over the head is based on a diving helmet.

(image: a diving bell spider with its air bubble visible)

Wimpod is one of my favorite gen VII mons and its origin is complex. It is based on a variety of aquatic arthropods. Most notably it resembles an isopod while having a head similar to a trilobite.

(image: a terrestrial isopod)

It also looks like a copepod, which are zooplankton that have prominent antennae. Fun fact: Plankton from Spongebob is a copepod.

(image: a copepod)

Wimpod’s behavior of fleeing at the first sign of danger is very similar to silverfish. These are insects with a similar body shape to Wimpod that are famous to coming out in the dark and fleeing once the lights come on.

(image: a silverfish)

Wimpod’s habit of eating almost anything and leading a clean path as it travels makes it effectively a living Roomba. As Golisopod, it is based on the giant isopod, a group of species that are much larger than the average isopod thanks to deep-sea gigantism. This is a phenomenon where animals living in the deep ocean become larger than their shallow-water relatives and has a number of proposed causes. The largest and most famous of the giant isopods reaches a maximum recorded length of 50 cm (19.65 in), which is still quite a bit shorter than Golisopod’s 2 m (6’7”). It is also based on samurai as its shell resembles samurai armor and some of its behavior (such as meditation) comes from samurai stories. Its ability to cleave the air in twain with its claws likely comes from classic exaggerations of a warrior’s ability. Golisopod doesn’t care much for a samurai’s code of honor though, as it will happily fight dirty and run from fights.

(image: preserved specimens of two giant isopod species)

Gen VII was a good one for echinoderms as coming off the hells of the starfish Marenie line we get a sea cucumber in Pyukumuku. Sea cucumbers have a pretty simple body plan, basically looking like tubes. Their most famous ability is a defense strategy some species employ where they can eject part of their guts to deter predators. In real sea cucumbers, the ejected guts will regenerate while in Pyukumuku, they can retract back into the body and even act like a hand. Sea cucumbers also have external gonads that look like strings. The fluffy tail Pyukumuku has is actually its genitals. The spikes on top might be based on sea urchins, which are relatives of sea cucumbers.

(image: a sea cucumber with similar spines to Pyukumuku)

Our final Pokemon for today is Dhelmise and it’s a weird one. An anchor and ship’s wheel bound together and possessed by the ghost of seaweed. What confuses me is that it’s a wooden anchor. It turns out wooden anchors were used at one point in early boats, but were phased out in favor of ones made of iron. Dhelmise being haunted parts of ships is reminiscent of tales of ghost ships, though on a smaller scale. The seaweed on it may be dead man’s fingers, which grows small tendrils and the name is obviously fitting for a ghost-type.

(image: dead man's fingers)

The shiny version having red seaweed could reference red tide, a type of algal bloom that can turn parts of the ocean red. Dhelmise hunts Wailord, meaning it may have been a part of a whaling ship and now the ghosts within it are carrying out their last tasks endlessly, a common trope in ghost stories. It may also reference Moby Dick’s Captain Ahab and his obsessive quest to kill the white whale.

(image: a sunken anchor from a shipwreck in Hawaii's Papahānaumokuākea National Monument)

That’s all for now. Return next time when we go to Galar.

[minty-the-marill]

I didn’t know Greavard’s Japanese dex entry was this depressing.

[porcelain-rob0t]

thinking about absol again

do you think in the pokemon world, there are absols trained to detect health problems in their trainers since they can detect bad events? i like to think there are emotional support pokemon. there are absols who can alert their trainers that they are about to have a panic attack or any other mental health issue. absols who can detect possible dangers to their trainer. a little friend that can alert you of someone wrong and comfort you afterwards

[steel--fairy]

Worldbuilding Headcanons #12

age and pokemon journeys

you can get a trainer id at 10 in virtually every region. with a trainer id, you're legally allowed to start training a pokemon (before 10, you could own one but not teach it moves). you could also use the amenities of the pokemon center for free, challenge gyms, and have a bank account (that may or may not be attached to your parents depending on what kind of id you have).

however, not everyone goes off on a pokemon journey the second they turned 10. most dont, in fact.

turns out that, hey! most 10 year olds suck at living on their own and training pokemon! there's a prodigy every so often (like red or anabel or leon), but they're exceptions that prove the rule. generally, most 10-12 year olds managed to get one or two badges, maybe three, then give up.

starting at 13, your likelihood of succeeding as a pokemon trainer rises dramatically according to statistics gathered by nearly every pokemon league out there. the sweet spot to start is usually considered 14-16. most trainers you'll see out on a journey will be between the ages of 13-18.

the sole exception is alola. there, the average age is 11-14. the island challenge is a coming of age tradition and it's designed to be for children that young.

[sitorrothekitsune]

I like to think that the Pokémon world has rental companies where you can request certain Pokémon to do work for you, and this is how the gym leaders get Pokémon of all levels for their teams.

But even better is the idea that you can request them for odd jobs like Machamp for heavy lifting, or Mr. Mime for a party.

I can just imagine someone renting a Mr. Mime for a party and you get to the rental place and they’re like “I’m sorry we were out of Mr. Mime so… here’s a Hypno.”

[the-average-melli]

Pokémon Violet after thots

There are theories about this game and one of the ones that I like imagining is that Larry was either the original champion that Geeta dethroned, or Larry has ambitions to become champion and dethrone her because he doesn't like her outright. At many points in the game, Larry is the only gym leader and E4 member to openly say he doesn't like her as his boss. Other gym leaders are annoyed by her, but they are not as direct as he is.

When Geeta asks "which gym leader was most difficult? in the post-game, she reacts the same to each of the player's responses if they respond with any other gym leader except if the player says Larry; Geeta has a different reaction if the player says Larry.

I want Larry to become the champion lowkey, and if not that, fight with him against Geeta if she turns out to be the "evil team" herself. Someone theorised that the reason there are multiple "champions" in Paldea and Geeta has a different title (she is the only character in any of the games with the trainer class "top champion"), is because she could be the actual antagonist. Finding champion-ranked players and rounding them up by being head of the school board could be an elaborate way of "recruiting" her "team." Because the player is used to seeing this model throughout pokémon games (beating gyms + the E4), the player is is less likely to challenge this institution and go along with it to complete Victory Road.

The fact still stands that Geeta and Larry have a unique dynamic of Larry resenting her and Geeta over-working him specifically... it stands out because none of the other gym leaders multi-class as and E4 member.

Maybe Geeta has Larry working more than one position to control him and make sure he doesn't have enough free time to do other things--other things like planning to challenge her and take her down. If he's working under her, she can keep a closer eye on his activities in particular and keep him busy. He smells something and isn't keen about her one bit. I would like to speculate that Larry is being kept under Geeta's watch in the same way that rulers or dictators keep their inferiors in line.

Throughout history, dictators, monarchs, and others in leadership positions would either occupy the nobility or wealthy class (as the French monarchy did in the 1700s), or control their influence by running the very institutions that gave other classes their social standing (as with the feudal system).

If you take the history classes in-game, you can get the lore. If you befriend the teacher after class and speak to her outside of class, she gives more information that is very important to the region's history. My thoughts and the theories of others I've read so far have decent potential given some common knowledge: Paldea was an empire and the Paldean emperor was obsessed with finding treasure in the crater--so much so that the enpire fell to ruin.

Geeta is the one who decides the curriculum as the head of the school board; Clavell and others even admit that they have "little jurisdiction" over certain things. There is quite the possibility that Geeta includes the "treasure hunt, the independent study assignment, as a way to get others to help her search and report back to her, which continues the ambitions of the Paldean emperor who was concerned--and obsessed with--finding treasure in the past.

[ask-azelf-nuzlocke]

Celebi’s a hard worker.

Previous

Next

First

[zubatouttahell]

[samthesoupman]

My interpretation of the Pokemon Timeline

Quick few notes before I start this: I am aware that each pokemon game is it's own pocket universe, and timelines arent really important to the games, this is just for fun, side games like XD and Ranger won't be counted, remakes will take precidence over the origional versions, and if you have any evidence gainst this- please tell me! I'd love to have a discussion about this. Obviously the first game in the timeline is Legends Arceus, though the year is hard to tell- I'm gonna but it in it's own time period i'm calling "BE4" meaing "Before Elite 4" - so before the idea of catching and training pokemon became the norm for the pokemon world.

Then- the Kanto dilemma- is let's go cannon? Well the pokemon company swears let's go is mainline- the fact that the game starts with you isekai-ing into the TV is evidence enough for me that it's not real events- at best maybe it's a game in universe. Fire Red and Leaf Green's events can be dated however, the 96 on red's shirt in Ultra Sun and Moon and the constant references to "20 years ago" -fan service or not- show that FRLG take place in 1996.

Obviously, as stated many times in game, Heart Gold and Soul Silver take place 3 years after FRLG- not much confusion there at all. Briliant Diamond and Shining Pearl are also easy, as the game starts with talking about the Red Gyaradose incident in Johto. So, both these games would take place in 1999- in my opinion BDSP takes place maybe a month after HGSS.

The next one is a bit of a jump from what most expect- Black and White. I purely put this here because of Caitlin. Her hair is about 18 inches longer than it is in Platinum, taking into account how fast hair grows- that would put BW 4 years after BDSP in 2003. Then, obviously B2W2 happens 2 years after BW as stated in the story- putting it in 2005.

I put X and Y next, and I put it way ahead in 2013. There really isn't anything in XY that can help determine when it is- Dexio and Sina show up in USUM- so it can't be too far from those games. I just put it in it's release year. The most evidence I have for this is that they have portable holograms- a lot more advanced than the poketch's and X-Trancievers of the 2000's.

Next up I put ORAS in 2015 I'm sure a lot of you were shocked when I didn't put ORAS with FRLG like that one gamefreak guy said in his deleted twitter post- my reasoning? Wally is still a kid in the battle tree while Red and Blue are aged. Nothing really changes if ORAS is moved here, Steven is an adult when he cameos in HGSS, so it would make sense he hasnt visably aged 16 years later. At his oldest in ORAS he would be 32, well within the age range for a champion.

Then, one year later, USUM takes place in 2016. Obviously given the evidence i've used for many of the other placements this should explain itself, 20 years after FRLG.

Finally- Sword, Shield, Scarlett, and Violet... these games are almost impossible to place, but based on how far technology has come and some characters from BW having teenage children in the Blueberry academy- I'm just putting both these games in 2020- which would make the gym leader kids at around 17 depending on when they were born assumedly after BW's events.

so that's it! thank you for reading! share how you feel with me or i'll break you kneecaps.

[slowpokes-things]

I’m bored, and now all my hyper-fixations must unite for me to get sucked back into them. So now I want to see who thinks which has the best lore :3

I’m biased for one in particular but you’ll never know mwahahahahahaha!

[castlingvanias]

i think it's so funny how no official pokemon media and very few fan medias consider the idea of erika having affiliations with team rocket

like for a community who loves to make fan adaptations of g1 if the story is more serious and make many of the gym leaders have connections to team rocket it's so funny it's almost never the gym leader who's city is probably a big contributor in the region's economy right after saffron and also the city where uhhh idk TEAM ROCKET'S UNDERGROUND BASE IS LOCATED IN

like idk where are the "erika knew about the casino owned by team rocket and it having their underground base under it but either dont give a shit or got profit off of it" theories??? the idea of this sweet flower lady having connections to team rocket is just so funny to me i think ppl slept on it

[areazeromybeloved]

Redraw of Pokespe but with young Kaijumorpha au Lance!

original for reference

[kayzero]

So like. Julius Caesar and Pope Gregory XIII don’t exist in the Pokémon universe. So there’s no reason for the Julian or Gregorian calendars to exist. Angels don’t exist in the Pokémon universe either, so the Enoch calendar, but the story behind that is Uriel came down and gave Enoch a calendar with exactly 13 weeks in all four seasons for 364 days.

Black and White confirmed that the Pokémon universe has four seasons, and it’s entirely possible for a human to have created a calendar splitting Arceus’ eighteen Plates throughout the year, each month containing 4 five-day weeks.

And if they did, the months could look something like this:

[ Image ID: A list containing all eighteen Pokémon types split between the four seasons. Spring has Normal, Fairy, Poison, and Electric types, with Electric underlined. Summer has Grass, Bug, Fire, Steel, and Fighting types, with Grass and Bug italicized and Fire underlined. Autumn has Psychic, Flying, Ground, and Dragon, with Flying Underlined. Finally, Winter has Rock, Ghost, Ice, Dark, and Water, with Ice and Water underlined. / End ID. ]

Explanations under the cut.

Summer and Winter have five months because of math Fire and Ice are the Summer and Winter Types. These are explained in-universe as the Supreme (Type) Months, the months in the dead middle of their respective seasons without any dimming or bleeding into the next season. And this is TRUE in the Pokémon universe because (most) people aren’t stupid enough to cause ecological disasters when causing an ecological disaster awakens an all-powerful legendary Pokémon that’s angry at you specifically for causing an ecological disaster! Global warming doesn’t exist! People are afraid of Cappy the Polar Ice Cap Legendary smacking them out of existence!

I’m open to discussion and suggestions about where to shift each type.

Italicized types were considered for a different season, and will be explained more thoroughly.

Underlined types probably won’t be changed without an Astounding Logical Argument that makes me feel stupid for even considering anything else.

Spring:

Animals give birth in the spring and Normal Type Pokémon are based on normal animals.

Fairies are associated with. Um. *flips notes* n. nature. i’m gonna be real with you in every planned-but-not-written explanation of a human sensing fairy type energy i describe it as “smelling wildflowers” and that’s all that went through my head.

Poisonous animals like frogs and snakes and the like. They hibernate. They come out of hibernation in the spring. Yay! This could easily be Winter for the same reason PLUS the fact that you store poisons in cold, sometimes freezing, temperatures.

Electric likely will not change. Thunderstorms happen most frequently in the spring months, because of the moisture and the heat present in the air. Electric could have easily been a Summer Type but I figured that because it rains more frequently in the spring because of snowmelt (“April Showers … May Flowers”), it would be easy to rationalize thunderstorms happening more often in the Spring in Pokéland.

Summer:

Grass and Bug were both considered for Spring because of the whole winter melts away and grass blooms and whatnot and then of course once the plants bloom it attracts the bugs. If I were going to change these two Grass would go to Spring and Bug would stay in Summer maybe.

But I ended up choosing Summer for these two because the summer sun makes the Grass grow and also all the other plants and then the heat and humidity brings all the Bugs to the yard. and they’re like. your sweat is tasty. why do bugs swarm humans we’re so much bigger than them.

Fire is unlikely to change. It’s the Sound of Summer. Summer hot. Sun go brr. Heat Wave Waves Heatingly. Etcetera.

You use fires to forge Steel. Or something along those lines. Honestly I just pulled that out of my butt, I was thinking about Heatran and like Heatran is a legendary and sub Steel. Volcanos or whatever.

THE FLAMES OF YOUTH IGNITE WITHIN FIGHTING TYPES and that’s why they’re in the summer. If you try to fight in the winter you like. Cramp up or something right? Is that bias? I hate winter it causes my body pain.

Autumn

Psy. chic? Fall Season is. appropriately. brain. y. (this is literally my favorite type i was NOT going to put it into the Evil Winter Season. die winter. i hope the global warms faster i’d rather drown than freeze.)

Flying was unlikely to change... however, migration plus tornadoes sneason was my initial thought. But Tornadus-Therian Searion is actually in the spring and migration is a two way street, the birds come back in the pringles. I might just. Switch Flying and Poison. If you Aggron Agree with switching Flying with Poison let me know in the comments.

You know how you run out of spaces and a type just HAS to go into a slot? Luckily I only had one of those. Unlucky it was Dragon. You smart folks probably have a better idea as to what Dragon should switch into but unless you have a good reason as to why the second Type should switch out, don’t @ me (or do @ me I like the attention).

Winter

Mountains are wintery and snowy because they’re so tall. And do you know what mountains are made of? …You do? Can you tell me, I’m lost, I thought they were made of chocolate but they don’t melt in the summer time so that idea’s washed…

Ghost was originally in the Fall, because Spooky Halloween, except not only could October totally be in the Winter now that I’m in charge of the calendar, and if it can’t, then Halloween doesn’t have to be a Fall holiday, it can be a winter holiday!

Ice? Ice. Baby.

Do you know how Dark it gets during the winter? How quickly it gets Dark? Even if we eliminate Daylight Savings (and we are eliminating Daylight Savings) the Equinox still happens in Winter. Days are still shorter. Darker. Sneasel type.

Water is unlikely to change. Like, it was initially in the spring because “oh look the ice is melting it’s time for spring” no bitch that shit cold. the ocean is cold. even during the summer the lakes are cold. it’s at the end of Winter towards the Spring side of things but That Shit Cold.

and that’s it that’s all i have does anyone have ideas for month names or day names aren’t the months named after like. emperors or something. should we name the months after legendaries. If someone comes up with a month name that’s a palindrome that starts with Ho and ends with oh I’ll give you $10. Call that a fiction commission.

[the1entirecircus]

Currently thinking about the Pokémon world’s lore. Not like Groudon or Kyogre or anything like that. More specifically the logistics of the Pokémon world. Parents must be paying for their children to go out on a Pokémon adventure because ain’t no way in hell are people just paying each other for winning a Pokémon battle

[steel--fairy]

Worldbuilding Headcanons #13

starters

for most people, a starter is given to them by a family member. a parent or a sibling or whatever. getting a pokemon as a birthday gift, particularly for a 10th birthday, is very common.

there are a few other ways however.

the most common way after a family member, is being given one by a trainers school. having a pokemon is not necessarily a requirement to join one. however, the quality of the pokemon you get can vary wildly. some schools only give out common pokemon--rattata's and pidgey. others can be partnered with breeders or conservationists and can give out unique or even exotic starters.

next is catching one on your own. most adults don't recommend this as it can go rather poorly. if the pokemon doesn't appreciate being caught, then you have nothing to defend yourself with. still, tons of kids do it, most of the time with their friends.

there's also the variation of this of befriending a wild pokemon and later capturing it. not usually applicable for kids living in the city, but pretty common in more rural areas.

the least common options is going to a gym or a pokemon lab and receiving one.

gyms don't keep pokemon on hand to give out to new trainers. they are, however, obligated to help someone if they stop by asking for help catching a pokemon. socially for kids, it's not really considered cool to do. says you either don't have friends or aren't brave enough to go out into the wild on your own.

pokemon labs are, however, obligated. similar to some of the fancier trainers schools, they also usually have a very good selection of pokemon to choose from. however, they're only required to service children, and only children from whatever town or city they reside in. if you live on the other side of the region or are an adult, you'll be politely told no unless you can really convince the professor you deserve one.