#Z-A

[yarakoro]

And just like for Serperior, here's a Blaziken as a normal rooster before being bred to be a fighting rooster. Fire/Flying.

[csolarstorm]

Xerneas and Yveltal are Fungi: Let Me Explain...

Source: Bulbapedia, Wikipedia, Bulbapedia, Enchanted Nature

Xerneas and Yveltal are my favorite legendary designs. There's something weirdly alien about these bio-luminescent approximations of fauna, like they're trying to look like animals and failing. I've always thought they looked a little bit...fungal.

Xerneas and Yveltal are like batteries. They're life energy brokers; Xerneas distributes life, while Yveltal drains it. Supporting and draining life is one of the main characteristics of fungi. In fact, it's like their whole thing.

Some fungi have a mutualistic relationship with their hosts, where they actually benefit their health. And in general, fungi are essential to supporting the ecosystem. Then there's fungi that are simply parasitic.

Fungi can also go dormant, as well as their spores. Staying still is their thing, just chilling in dark places. Xerneas and Yveltal's dormant forms are especially weird, showing just how anomalous these creatures are.

Now allow me to lichen fauna to fungi.

Sources: Bulbapedia, New Forest Pics, Wikipedia, Mushroom Diary Blog

This is xylaria hypoxylon, also known as Stag's Horn fungus. (Not to be confused with Yellow Staghorn.) It reminds me a lot of the dormant form of Xerneas, or the "deactivated" form it takes in the PC.

Stag's Horn is also bio-luminscent, which means the tips of the fungus faintly glow - much like the tips of Xerneas's antlers.

Speaking of the first legendary Fairy Pokemon, mushrooms are often associated with fairies. Fairy Rings are circles of mushrooms that are connected by mycelium underneath. (I'll get into mycelium in just a second.) There are too many myths about Fairy Rings to get into here, so for now I'll just point out the Fairy Ring around Valerie's Gym in Laverre City.

Sources: Bulbapedia, Sussex Wildlife Trust, Enchanted Nature, UK Wildlife

I'm not sure whether Bulbapedia or Dr. King on Pokemon Amino first likened Yveltal to Devil's Fingers, but the similarities are uncanny. Like Yveltal emerges from its cocoon, Devil's Fingers emerge from what is called their "egg stage". I tried to find the least unsettling picture of this that I could. Enjoy...?

I mean, what kind of bird turns into a cocoon, anyway? Honestly though, fungus isn't supposed to hatch from an egg either, so this is all mixed up.

Okay, so Xerneas and Yveltal are based on different aspects of Yggdrasil. But if you were going to design Pokemon based on Yggdrasil, the World Tree that connects the universe, wouldn't you base it on fungi rather than an actual tree? Mycelium can actually partner with the roots of plants and other fungus to create a widespread beneficial mycorrhizal network, a truly interconnected ecosystem of organisms.

Source: BBC News - How Trees Secretly Talk to Each Other

And that's why Xerneas and Yveltal are fungi. Or it could be part of their inspiration, at least. They're not necessarily inspired by these specific fungi, but I think the concept may be part of their design. Either way, Gen VI is especially fun to research!

Reviewed by @fluffybunnybadass.

Check out my posts about Pokemon Legends: Z-A:

Poll: What Does the Λ in Legends Z-A Symbolize?

Pokemon Legends Z-A: What Is the Λ?

Is Z-A Just Zygarde-A? (%1000 Zygarde and the Fragments of the Tree of Life)

Aaah, it's an A! Is the A in Z-A the Tree of Life?

How much longer am I going to have to wait for a freakin' Unova remake?!

[ballsballsoctopusballs]

Not sure if anyone pointed this out from the Pokemon Presents but thought it was cool

That's such good trolling. The Unowns spell out SOE YUE. The letter order symbolizes the gens, so if you move letters 2,5, and 6 so that 6 is second and then 5 and 6 swap, it spells out SEE YOU. everyone was expecting gen 2 or 5 but we got gen 6 first instead!

[eldarianduelist]

WE'RE SO BACK 🥺🥺🥺

[queen0funova]

If you see me making absurd comments of Pokémon Z-A reblogs, I promise I'm joking

[cyberneticpinkeye]

So, the funny electric rat made an announcement...

[lasscass]

the prospect of getting to run around a big hub city like lumiose again is very fun, i am hoping it's not as empty as recent cities like mesagoza, wyndon, and jubilife village

[articwolfclawartist]

Legends Z-A will be about how Professor Sycamore’s ancestor tried to sacrifice everyone in Kalos to Yveltal in order to gain the powers of Arceus

i thought this was a kids game

[animentality]

[politijohn]

Source

Good

[jorvikzelda]

why is it that people who dont play hollow knight are the funniest about it. friend whos been watching me play sent me this headcanon of theirs

[gentlemenprefergirlbloggers]

Tumblr halloween costume idea UwU

[csolarstorm]

Pokemon Legends: Z-A: What is Λ?

Lo! It's a Λ! 

When you take the Z off of Z-A, you're left with Λ, or the Greek letter lambda. So what does this lambda mean? What is the Λ in Pokemon Legends: Z-A?

This Λ is most likely the symbol for the Infinity Energy coming from AZ's Ultimate Weapon.  Infinity Energy is the reoccurring power from Generation VI. It's sometimes created from the life energy of Pokemon, but not always. Some fans like BirdKeeperToby use the term to refer to the energy, power, or magic that Pokemon use in general.

In the real world, Λ is tied up in all sorts of equations of radiation and light, so it fits perfectly with Infinity Energy.  The most powerful and prolific energy associated with Λ is dark energy.

Now, a disclaimer: I'm not a physicist, so I might get some of this wrong. I'll try my best to stick to the sources.

Albert Einstein used the letter Λ to symbolize the Cosmological Constant, a hidden factor in the universe that counteracted the force of gravity and kept the universe static, neither getting bigger or smaller.  Except, he miscalculated.  The universe wasn't just expanding, the expansion was accelerating.  (Source: LiveScience)

Image from HubbleSite

In the 1990's, scientists named the hidden force dark energy.  It's the hidden factor that is pushing against gravity, causing the universe to expand.  And while it's invisible to the eye, and accelerating too far to access, some scientists believe that in billions of years the expansion could rip apart the universe. (Source: LiveScience)

It feels like a very anime idea, like something from Gurren Lagann. An overload of crazy, accelerating energy (three-fourths of the universe!) that expands the universe beyond its limitations.  We could liken dark energy to the untapped potential of Pokemon. Pokemon have special powers and abilities, but in certain circumstances, they can unlock a special potential within them that allows them to evolve their limits.

Mega Stones were created when the blast from the Ultimate Weapon irradiated normal evolutionary stones with Infinity Energy. When a Pokemon Mega Evolves, it reveals within them a potential that was hitherto unknown, energy that lets them expand beyond their limits, just like dark energy expands the universe past the force of gravity.

Of course, there are other things that Λ can symbolize.  Lowercase lambda (λ) symbolizes half-life, and radiation is tied closely with Pokemon evolution itself.  The Mega Stones were "irradiated" with Infinity Energy.  λ is also used to symbolize wavelengths on the electromagnetic spectrum, including light, which works well with Lumiose City's Prism Tower.  (Wikipedia) Lumiose City is after all, based on the Paris, the City of Lights.

While I find Dark Energy the most exciting explanation for the Λ on the cover of Legends: Z-A, our big green Λ probably incorporates multiple concepts of energy and light into the idea of Infinity Energy.  Infinity Energy is the connective tissue of Generation VI, so it's very likely that it will appear in Legends: Z-A again.  While this doesn't tell us much about the game itself, it might give us an idea why GameFreak used the letter Λ.

Edited by @fluffybunnybadass.

Previously, in the Legends: Z-A Saga!

Part 2: Is Z-A Just Zygarde-A? (%1000 Zygarde and the Fragments of the Tree of Life)

Part 1: Aaah, it's an A! Is the A in Z-A the Tree of Life?

Part 0: How much longer am I going to have to wait for a freakin' Unova remake?! (Not really a theory.)

[catchymemes]

[geezerwench]

In Prince's funky name, amen.