The Pokédex - Extended Fanon Edition

Yeah, but we're looking for a stable society.

A stable society that appreciates asskicking.

Also, I'd rather not see anything here characterized by huge amounts of paperwork. We all have enough of that to outside our fantasylands.

One tricky issue for this project is the overtly supernatural elements in the Pokemon universe. The Ghastly line entry did a good job of keeping it ambiguous. Here's my ideas on how we should handle the rest:

• Aura: Doesn't exist in this continuity.
• Psychic Powers in humans: Result of prolonged exposure to Psychic Pokemon; humans can't develop these powers on their own.
• Yellow, Lorilei and Sird's powers from Pokemon Special: Don't exist in this continuity.
• Attacks with names like Magical Leaf: Nothing supernatural about them; they're just called that by Trainers.
• Legendaries: This is the tricky part. Mewtwo has a scientific explanation already, but the rest are more mystical, especially since they're each unique. Perhaps the legendary birds are actually unique evolutions of a single base species (which is now extinct)? The same could be done for the legendary dogs. Groudon, Kyogre, and Rayquaza (I probably misspelled at least one of those) are the hardest to explain. I have no idea how to deal with those.
• Arceus creating the universe is just a legend, of course.

edited 6th May '10 7:18:25 AM by silver2195

A creator being doesn't necessarily need to be "magical" in a fictional setting.

I don't really see an issue with having natural Psychics in this 'verse.

Especially if we can say that research into Psychic phenomena produced the Warp Tiles; although 20 Minutes into the Future, the Pokémon world does not seem to exhibit the sort of singularity craziness that would accompany arbitrary mass/energy conversion.

My own fantheory, one that I would incorporate into any Pokemon fangame I have a hand in designing, is that Gym Leaders have multiple teams at different levels, and choose the appropriate team to battle you based on the number of badges you have.

Tangent's Warp Tiles idea is a good one. I don't really object to natural psychics, although my idea has the benefit of explaining why only people who use Psychic Pokemon are psychics.

edited 6th May '10 11:26:57 AM by silver2195

* Aura: Doesn't exist in this continuity.

• Psychic Powers in humans: Result of prolonged exposure to Psychic Pokemon; humans can't develop these powers on their own.
• Yellow, Lorilei and Sird's powers from Pokemon Special: Don't exist in this continuity.
• Attacks with names like Magical Leaf: Nothing supernatural about them; they're just called that by Trainers.
• Legendaries: This is the tricky part. Mewtwo has a scientific explanation already, but the rest are more mystical, especially since they're each unique. Perhaps the legendary birds are actually unique evolutions of a single base species (which is now extinct)? The same could be done for the legendary dogs. Groudon, Kyogre, and Rayquaza (I probably misspelled at least one of those) are the hardest to explain. I have no idea how to deal with those.
• Arceus creating the universe is just a legend, of course.

I don't really have any problem with overtly supernatural things happening In a World… where we're regarding psychokinesis and the creation and destruction of matter without issue. I mean leaving some things unexplained and above the mortal ken is okay — of course the scientists will try to figure it out, and they may or may not ever succeed. It's fantasy.

About the only thing on that list I'd throw out is the Pokemon Special powers, just because they don't mesh with anything else previously established.

Pokemon happens in an alternate universe related to the Earthbound series, of course. That's why there are Psychics and Psychic-types running around.

@Pykrete: This project is largely dedicated to creating scientifically plausible Pokemon biology, so Doing In the Wizard seems like it should be part of the project.

Nobody said the Wizard couldn't fight back.

I mean, don't get me wrong. The vast majority of what we've put out so far lends a lot of detail and personality to the setting. But there's gotta be blanks, you know? Knowing lots is a story. Knowing everything is a thesis paper.

Also, we don't want to go so far that we hit the midichlorians route...

edited 7th May '10 1:38:03 AM by Pykrete

Their minds are strong enough to comprehend and manipulate things at a level where quantum physicists scream in delight and reach for their logbooks.

I agree with Pykerte that most of the things here should be based on real biology and physics. Except, things like Legendaries which kick our understanding of the world in the nuts.

Similar to how Dr. Manhattan is treated in Watchmen, that universe is mostly realistic except for the existence of Manhattan which throws the world into a tizzy because of his nigh unexplainable origin and powers.

Come to think of it. I should write an Arceus entry based on that one article about Manhattan at the end of chapter 5.

Not to say we want to leave important stuff unexplained, but at the same time the Pokémon world does seem to exhibit casual paranormal phenomena.

We can base things on more realistic physics/biology, but I think we're focused less on having a hard sci-fi explanation for everything and more on mapping a fleshed-out, coherent world.

(A bit of a weakness to our current entries is that they don't seem to connect to each other very much; we still don't really have much of an ecosystem.)

So... Is this pokedex, expect removing everything you didn't like about in game dex and adding your own stuff to create a ecosystem??

Um...no. It's about rewriting the pokedex using various elements of Canon with Fanon filling the holes, in order to make it a more consistent, logical, whole.

Logical in real world wise or in magic realism wise?(though, second one is probably incorrect word, I mean, is supernatural stuff allowed.)

edited 8th May '10 8:59:04 AM by SpookyMask

I assumed we were going for a tone just as fantastic as the games and manga and anime, just using fannon to fill the holes in cannon.

So... What holes are already filled? Aka, I take it that none of legendary stuff have been done yet?(nor stuff like Unown, or similar strange pokemon)

There's an index in the first post.

One or two entries may be missing, though.

would anyone mind if I did an entry on the Totodile line? I think I've got some interesting ideas for that particular group, most of which come from crocodilians and other reptiles.

Go ahead!

Meanwhile, I'd like to start examining one of the bird lines. Any preferences?

edited 9th May '10 12:55:49 PM by Tangent128

Here we go. Wound up focusing more on Feraligatr than I had intended. Feel free to make suggestions if you find anything is lacking.

[CAUTION: WORDY]

Totodile Line

Morphs [Oak Catalog #]

• Totodile [158]
• Croconaw [159]
• Feraligatr [160]

TODO: physical descriptions

Notable Biology

The Totodile line, as the name would indicate, is a crocodilian species of Pokemon notable for its incredibly powerful jaws—Feraligatr in particular is commonly believed to possess the strongest bite of any Pokemon in the world. The species possesses specialized muscles that allow it to lock its jaw into place, preventing struggling play from escaping their deadly grasp.

While Totodile and Croconaw are able to stand upright, Feraligatr has become too massive for its spine to take such a strain and so it spends most of its time on all fours when not in the water. Despite this, it moves very quickly when crawling, able to put on sudden bursts of speed that belie its bulk.

Like most water Pokemon, Totodile and its evolutions possess a bladder which allows them to dive and propel jets of water. The reptile also possesses a transparent third eyelid and impressive lung capacity, allowing them to stay underwater for long periods of time without discomfort.

All morphs possess a series of red fins or ridges running along the spine; these may help in regulating the creature’s body temperature.

Finally, in all morphs the female is up to 25% larger than the male.

Habitat

rivers and lakes near forests. Feraligatr spends its time closer to the sea, living in rivers which feature plenty of sand and rocks to sun themselves on.

Diet

Typically freshwater fish and insects, along with the occasional mammal. Older specimens such as Croconaw and Feraligatr use their powerful jaws to crack open the shells of Squirtle, Corphish, Shellder and similar aquatic Pokemon. They will occasionally surge out of the water in order to catch drinking Stantler and other large mammals.

Hazards

Beacause of their thick, scaly hides and focus on teeth, nipping one's parents is a sign of affection amongst Totodile and its evolutions. As such, they do not understand that other creatures find being bitten excruciatingly painful, and thus all variants have a marked tendency to sink their teeth into anything and everything, hanging fast to their victims with remarkable tenacity. Even Totodile’s fangs can seriously mangle flesh and bone, and more mature specimens have been observed to secrete a contact venom that acts as both an anticoagulant and a numbing paralytic agent, giving the illusion that the injury is frozen.

Feraligatr are especially dangerous as their jaws are powerful enough to crush rocks into powder; when combined with their extremely territorial nature and overprotective attitude towards their offspring, they can do considerably worse to human bones. Should you happen upon a nest of Totodile in the wild, restrain your desire to coo and pet the creatures and stay away from them; you can be sure that the mother is watching from within the rushes nearby, and she will not be happy if you touch her babies.

Courting

Feraligatr congregate once every two years at deltas in order to hold mating contests. Because the overwhelming majority of the species is male, there is often stiff competition between bulls to attract a mate. Such courtship displays have been observed to include seeing who can stay upright the longest, knocking over boulders and biting at tree trunks to see who has the strongest forelimbs and jaws, and sprinting on all fours to determine who is the fastest.

Should two or more bulls be tied in all of these events, they will attempt to intimidate each other by opening their mouths and hissing in an overt threat display. Should neither bull back down, they will resort to a duel, grappling with each other and biting to establish superiority. These duels often become extremely violent, and it is not unheard of for the loser to be maimed or even killed.

Once a victor has emerged, the bull and the female swim off to do their business and build a nest for the eggs, of which there are typically two-to-ten. Exactly how the parents mated is not certain, and it is not wise to find out, for the only thing worse than an angry Feraligatr is an angry Feraligatr in heat.

Social Structure

Feraligatr are solitary, monogamous reptiles that mate for a single breeding season before going their separate ways. The female is then given the sole responsibility of brooding the eggs and watching over the infant Totodiles for the next eighteen months, by which point they will have become young adults (i.e., Croconaw). During this time the mother is particularly protective of her offspring, carrying them down to the water in her jaws, teaching them how to swim and utilize their water bladders, feeding them and teaching them how to catch prey, and maintaining a constant vigil over the infants while they sleep.

Once her babies have matured to this point, however, the mother loses all maternal instinct for her offspring and drives them off, seeing them as both threats to her territory and a potential meal. The Croconaw will seek out others of their kind, often crossing the land to do so, and form bands of three-to-five in order to hunt for food. These bands dissolve once the Croconaw reach adulthood and become Feraligatr.

edited 9th May '10 7:06:10 PM by SullenFrog

^ Looks decent enough. (Assuming Pokémon eat other Pokémon and not just animals... we have no idea what goes on there right now.)

You may want to break up the paragraphs a bit, though.

...

I think I'll open up a Spearow post in the next few days, unless someone wants to discuss another bird. Eventually look at the Pokédex, Pokégear, Pokénav, Pokétch, and Pokéwalker, but I'd prefer to get more biology done first. And maybe entries on a town or two.

edited 9th May '10 7:01:58 PM by Tangent128

As for animals in the world of Pokémon, there appears to be a certain amount of evidence for there either being or have been. Even the Pokédex entries classify Pokémon as mice, rats, etc., so at least recorded knowledge of these things must remain.

Higher-end species were probably driven to extinction in the wild. I mean really, in one corner you have a six-foot lion, in the other you have a six-foot dog that moves faster, has better endurance, breathes fire, and is sentient. What happens when they inevitably clash for a food supply? Furthermore, what happens to the lion when even the deer it's chasing can shoot Frickin' Laser Beams?

Lower-end species such as insects and generic fish are likely in full force, and are prey for carnivorous Pokémon lower on the food chain. Predators prefer eating these to other (generally sentient) Pokémon, and are capable of digesting Berries and other fruit as well — but will not hesitate to kill and eat a smaller Pokémon if necessary, a tendency that grows more frequent as a predatory Pokémon evolves into larger forms that simply require more food.

Animals somewhere in the middle (anything above small rodents) are anywhere from extinct in the wild to critically endangered.

If I recall from a previous discussion, we decided that humans eating Pokémon happens in some local traditions, but is not a common occurrence. This leads me to believe livestock, cattle etc., are still kept...somewhere.

The circumstances of this drastic ecological shift are currently unknown, especially as Pokémon fossils suggest that Pokémon even predate many old-world animals.

edited 9th May '10 8:56:10 PM by Pykrete

Pokemon world seems to be same as our earth...

I mean, mew was discovered in South America.

So is it possible that pokemon are now Japan's Kanto/Johto/Hoenn/Shinnoh's wild life? Like, they have replaced them, but aren't as common in other countries?