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Are animals existing in Pokemon an afterthought or a proper reason?

Admiral Woofington

Admiral Woofington

The Fallen
Oct 25, 2017
14,892
We know that animals seemingly exist in the Pokemon game and anime. But why? Examples are rare and while the majority were in gen 1 it still seems we get occasional mentions or glimpses of animals in later gens. Is it the creators not thinking too in depth that it matters? Or they are aware that some poor kid one day is going to wake up asking themselves if people eat Pokemon for meat and they did not want to deal with that?
 
ILikeFeet

ILikeFeet

DF Deet Master
Banned
Oct 25, 2017
61,987
it's very rare now (indian elephant reference in SM), but it's a product of the early days of the series where things weren't defined and the variety wasn't there.. now, however, pokemon are animals. humans do eat pokemon meat
 
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Admiral Woofington

Admiral Woofington

The Fallen
Oct 25, 2017
14,892
Joqu said:
Diamond and Pearl directly dealt with the people eating Pokemon for meat question. Spoilers: they do.
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do you remember in what sense? I don't recall much from Diamond and Pearl and I'm curious if it's a throwaway NPC in a town/village that just acknowledges they do or something not many can miss. And if so, how come no restaurant I seem to go to mention they eat Pokemon but I rarely find one that serves fish lmao
 
ILikeFeet

ILikeFeet

DF Deet Master
Banned
Oct 25, 2017
61,987
Admiral Woofington said:
do you remember in what sense? I don't recall much from Diamond and Pearl and I'm curious if it's a throwaway NPC in a town/village that just acknowledges they do or something not many can miss. And if so, how come no restaurant I seem to go to mention they eat Pokemon but I rarely find one that serves fish lmao
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not DP but in SM, mudbray were almost extinct due to people eating them
 
Joqu

Joqu

Member
Oct 25, 2017
3,030
The Waffle Kingdom
Admiral Woofington said:
do you remember in what sense? I don't recall much from Diamond and Pearl and I'm curious if it's a throwaway NPC in a town/village that just acknowledges they do or something not many can miss. And if so, how come no restaurant I seem to go to mention they eat Pokemon but I rarely find one that serves fish lmao
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I edited in a link but here it is again! https://bulbapedia.bulbagarden.net/wiki/Sinnoh_myths#Sinnoh_Folk_Tales

You can read books in Canalave City, the place with the library, that tell us the myths of the Sinnoh region, and in doing so they told us quite a bit about the Pokemon world in general. I'd say that makes it less hidden than just some throwaway NPCs since it's a noticeable landmark, but at the same time very much something many people won't come across, yeah.

(Also featured: pokemon marriage. Don't combine the two, kids.)

Obviously it's an element they try to avoid, but I'd say the games have continued to be a bit more willing to acknowledge such things.
 
Ryuman

Ryuman

Member
Nov 1, 2017
1,598
Admiral Woofington said:
do you remember in what sense? I don't recall much from Diamond and Pearl and I'm curious if it's a throwaway NPC in a town/village that just acknowledges they do or something not many can miss. And if so, how come no restaurant I seem to go to mention they eat Pokemon but I rarely find one that serves fish lmao
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The Canalave Library has a whole host of illuminating books that deal with the history and folklore of Sinnoh. They're really interesting and one basically outlines how Arceus (Pokémon God) originates and his creation of the universe. Most of it was about ye olde times I think. I also seem to recall people eating Magikarp being a thing? Maybe that was just the anime.
 
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Admiral Woofington

Admiral Woofington

The Fallen
Oct 25, 2017
14,892
thanks yall. if people eat pokemon, even if not ever in a direct fashion kids would see because yes it'd be disturbing af to see a magikarp fillet, then that makes the inclusion of the rare animal here and there all the more confusing. At that point it DOES just seem like they put them there as a "why not" cause nobody really questions it for the most part.
 
shan780

shan780

The Fallen
Nov 2, 2017
2,566
UK
200px-Edible_Magikarp.png
 
ILikeFeet

ILikeFeet

DF Deet Master
Banned
Oct 25, 2017
61,987
Admiral Woofington said:
thanks yall. if people eat pokemon, even if not ever in a direct fashion kids would see because yes it'd be disturbing af to see a magikarp fillet, then that makes the inclusion of the rare animal here and there all the more confusing. At that point it DOES just seem like they put them there as a "why not" cause nobody really questions it for the most part.
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Joqu

Joqu

Member
Oct 25, 2017
3,030
The Waffle Kingdom
At the same time, yeah, looking at stuff like the restaurant menus a lot of it skews vegetarian (with the occasional Slowpoke tail...). So lore-wise I think it makes sense to assume meat eating might not be too popular in the modern pokemon world? I think that makes sense.

Admiral Woofington said:
thanks yall. if people eat pokemon, even if not ever in a direct fashion kids would see because yes it'd be disturbing af to see a magikarp fillet, then that makes the inclusion of the rare animal here and there all the more confusing. At that point it DOES just seem like they put them there as a "why not" cause nobody really questions it for the most part.
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The proper animals have been a pokedex entry thing + early anime, no? You're right, they don't make much sense at all.

I just assume they use the same classifications as we do to describe animals, there probably are enough elephant pokemon in the whole pokemon world for them to go "hey, these pokemon share traits, they are elephants". It doesn't explain everything but shit doesn't make sense otherwise.
 
Dr Pears

Dr Pears

Member
Sep 9, 2018
2,686
Off topic, but as someone confused with my religion, I like how there are literal Pokemon Gods just chilling around in the Pokemon world that can be caught by kids. If that kid controls a God, then he is unstoppable.

Was there ever a trainer with a Legendary pokemon in the anime?
 
OtakuCoder

OtakuCoder

One Winged Slayer
Member
Oct 27, 2017
4,419
UK
JessePJ said:
Off topic, but as someone confused with my religion, I like how there are literal Pokemon Gods just chilling around in the Pokemon world that can be caught by kids. If that kid controls a God, then he is unstoppable.

Was there ever a trainer with a Legendary pokemon in the anime?
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Yep. Ash faced a dude in the Sinnoh semi-finals who had a Darkrai. After losing four Pokemon to it, Ash manages to do what no-one else in the tournament achieved and beats it.

The same trainer then proceeded to pull out a Latios.
 
NeonZ

NeonZ

One Winged Slayer
Member
Oct 28, 2017
9,387
Admiral Woofington said:
thanks yall. if people eat pokemon, even if not ever in a direct fashion kids would see because yes it'd be disturbing af to see a magikarp fillet, then that makes the inclusion of the rare animal here and there all the more confusing. At that point it DOES just seem like they put them there as a "why not" cause nobody really questions it for the most part.
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The only animals mentioned are the ones that were mentioned during Gen 1, where they didn't think they'd create enough Pokemon to replace the animals. So, you get references to Indian Elephants as recently as Sun and Moon because they were already explicitly mentioned in Red/Blue. Like mentioned above, I guess you could just look at them as "Elephant type Pokemon", like how Pikachu is categorized as a "Mouse Pokemon".
 
Mendrox

Mendrox

Banned
Oct 26, 2017
9,439
Legist biggest bullshit in an anime ever haha the moment it became obvious He will never be champion
 
shan780

shan780

The Fallen
Nov 2, 2017
2,566
UK
JessePJ said:
Off topic, but as someone confused with my religion, I like how there are literal Pokemon Gods just chilling around in the Pokemon world that can be caught by kids. If that kid controls a God, then he is unstoppable.

Was there ever a trainer with a Legendary pokemon in the anime?
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the guy that beats ash in the sinnoh league had darkrai and latios
 
OtakuCoder

OtakuCoder

One Winged Slayer
Member
Oct 27, 2017
4,419
UK
The Battle Frontier arc also had a guy with Regice/Rock/Steel and another with an Articuno.
 
ILikeFeet

ILikeFeet

DF Deet Master
Banned
Oct 25, 2017
61,987
Basculin's BW2 pokedex entry
Red- and blue-striped Basculin are very violent and always fighting. They are also remarkably tasty.
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Slowpoke's entries
A sweet sap leaks from its tail's tip. Although not nutritious, the tail is pleasant to chew on.
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Alolan home cooking involves drying Slowpoke tails and then simmering them into a salty stew.
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Although their tails, which fall off naturally, can easily be found lying around, they're a precious ingredient for cooking.
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Sharpedo's SM entry
It has a sad history. In the past, its dorsal fin was a treasured foodstuff, so this Pokémon became a victim of overfishing.
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Deleted member 3815

User requested account closure
Banned
Oct 25, 2017
6,633
JessePJ said:
Off topic, but as someone confused with my religion, I like how there are literal Pokemon Gods just chilling around in the Pokemon world that can be caught by kids. If that kid controls a God, then he is unstoppable.
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Not really, the game states that the Pokéball has the ability to limit their true powers also don't think of them god in the sense of an all powerful god but rather akin to Norse gods where they are powerful but have limitation.

JessePJ said:
Was there ever a trainer with a Legendary pokemon in the anime?
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Yes a few most notably...the infamous Tobias in the Sinnoh animé.

Heck even Ash caught a Legendary Pokémon.
 
Zacmortar

Zacmortar

Banned
Oct 25, 2017
7,383
shan780 said:
the guy that beats ash in the sinnoh league had darkrai and latios
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I still hate the anime for that

Latios sure, thats nbot unique, but Darkrai literally had JUST gotten a movie where it fought off lovecraftian personifications of time and space, a second and third Darkrai was unnecessary.

Better question, is there a trainer with a legendary/mythical that the anime actually treats as legendary rather than "lol theres a bunch in the world"
 
Zacmortar

Zacmortar

Banned
Oct 25, 2017
7,383
Mr-Joker said:
Not really, the game states that the Pokéball has the ability to limit their true powers also don't think of them god in the sense of an all powerful god but rather akin to Norse gods where they are powerful but have limitation.



Yes a few most notably...the infamous Tobias in the Sinnoh animé.

Heck even Ash caught a Legendary Pokémon.
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Nah, Arceus is an actual creator god and dialga/palkia have canonical control over time and space.

The pokeball excuse is dumb and was clearly not a thought priority when designing gen 4's legends, as the idea of a manmade piece of technology just being like "lol nope" to a god's power is both lame and stupid
 

Deleted member 50540

Banned
Dec 6, 2018
574
I always just kinda thought it was to have some plausible deniability,

like, "that's not miltank meat, that's cow meat" kinda thing

Zacmortar said:
Better question, is there a trainer with a legendary/mythical that the anime actually treats as legendary rather than "lol theres a bunch in the world"
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Aren't Arceus, Zekrom, Reshiram, and Kyurem all supposed to be unique, considering their backstories and all?
 
Dr Pears

Dr Pears

Member
Sep 9, 2018
2,686
I wonder what a tasty, nutritious slowpoke tail taste like and if they're worth 1,000,000 pokedollars.

And if a slowpoke gets its tail cut off, can it still evolve into slowbro?

Is a female slowbro a slow'sis'?

Does a slowsis evolve into a slowking or a slow'queen'?
 

Deleted member 3815

User requested account closure
Banned
Oct 25, 2017
6,633
Rackham said:
?
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In Sun and Moon he caught a Poipole an Ultra Beast, which are legendary Pokémon.

Granted he eventually let it go but he did in fact catch a legendary Pokémon.

JessePJ said:
And if a slowpoke gets its tail cut off, can it still evolve into slowbro?
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Yes, Slowpoke's tail grow back. They can even revert back if the shellder gets knocked off.

JessePJ said:
Is a female slowbro a slow'sis'?
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It's still a Slowbro, it's Japanese name is Yadoran which is a combonation of hermit crab and parasite host.

The Bro part was from the localisation team lacking the foresight that gender would be added. Mr. Mime also suffers from this.

JessePJ said:
Does a slowsis evolve into a slowking or a slow'queen'?
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Still a Slowking, though the Japanese also refers it as King as well so no defense there.
 
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Zacmortar

Zacmortar

Banned
Oct 25, 2017
7,383
Massimoman64 said:
I always just kinda thought it was to have some plausible deniability,

like, "that's not miltank meat, that's cow meat" kinda thing



Aren't Arceus, Zekrom, Reshiram, and Kyurem all supposed to be unique, considering their backstories and all?
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I dont feel the Arceus movie dude being friends with Arceus really counts as "trainer"

And I dont know anything about the unova trio having trainers ever either?
 
HStallion

HStallion

Member
Oct 25, 2017
62,356
Its an after thought. Its a children's property that's not interested in elaborate lore or world building outside of how it can provide you with new Pokemon to capture and raise.
 

Deleted member 50540

Banned
Dec 6, 2018
574
Zacmortar said:
I dont feel the Arceus movie dude being friends with Arceus really counts as "trainer"

And I dont know anything about the unova trio having trainers ever either?
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Oh whoops you're right I think, I forgot about the trainer bit. Just looked it up too, the anime doesn't seem to follow the game story at all so N doesn't get either dragon and Ghetsis never controls Kyurem
 
Toxi

Toxi

The Fallen
Oct 27, 2017
17,551
In the Pokemon universe, Indian elephants are the unit of measurement for a Pokemon's combat capabilities.
 
Aaronrules380

Aaronrules380

Avenger
Oct 25, 2017
22,559
Mr-Joker said:
In Sun and Moon he caught a Poipole an Ultra Beast, which are legendary Pokémon.

Granted he eventually let it go but he did in fact catch a legendary Pokémon.



Yes, Slowpoke's tail grow back. They can even revert back if the shellder gets knocked off.



It's still a Slowbro, it's Japanese name is Yadoran which is a combonation of hermit crab and parasite host.

The Bro part was from the localisation team lacking the foresight that gender would be added. Mr. Mime also suffers from this.



Still a Slowking, though the Japanese also refers it as King as well so no defense there.
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I mean technically, but it's not like he fought any battles with it and it was essentially a weak ass baby. Also Poipole was always a temp catch since the plan with the ultra beasts was always to release them in their home worlds
 
Sou Da

Sou Da

Banned
Oct 25, 2017
16,738
It's just a byproduct of the original game/series being a nebulous concept of monsters existing in Japan and being caught with capsules.

If we're talking now however, the games can do whatever they want but the ancillary material has a strict ruleset which includes depicting the Pokemon world as vegetarian.
 
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