#pokemon irl biology

[pokemonbiologyirlthetabletop]

Shuckle

Shuckle (#213)

Shuckle modernus

General Information: Shuckle the Slime Mold Pokémon! This non-evolving Pokémon is known for its ability to turn berries into a mysterious juice packed with vitamins… and the fact that it has the strongest defensive stats out of all known Pokémon!

Shuckles have powerful digestive juices that allow them to turn their food into nutritious “Shuckle Juice” (it’s not always made with berries), and Shuckles will use their digestive juices to slowly dissolve rocks to form a new shell.

They average at 2 ft (0.6 M) tall and 45.1 pounds (20.5 kg), that weight being almost entirely the rock that forms its shell.

Habitat: Shuckle live in the mountains all over the world. How did they get there? Who knows! But Shuckle fossils have been found in rock beds for long over half a billion years, particularly in the modern remnants of the Central Pangean Mountains (Appalachians, Little Atlas Mountains, the Scottish Highlands/Caledonian Mountains, Ouachita Mountains), a range that was formed by multiple orogenous events over hundreds of millions of years. Because of this, Shuckles are believed to be one of the earliest surviving Pokémon species, a living fossil event amongst the other living fossils. Their simple shapes and survival strategies have earned them the privilege of remaining relatively unchanged after all this time, though of course it’s hard to know for sure what ancient Shuckles looked like since it’s their rocky shell that fossilizes well, not the soft squishy bits of their real body. But to better understand the longevity of the Shuckle species, they survived multiple mass extinctions and were ancient even to the dinosaurs, and they will likely survive humanity, too.

Life Cycles: Shuckles can live for decades. They are laid in small batches of 10-20 at a time, but each batch can be laid within a month apart from each other under optimal conditions. Newly hatched Shuckles receive no parental care, instead left entirely to fend for themselves. This is fine because Shuckles have a powerful instinct to know what they need to do: find a rock and claim it as theirs. Often the parent Shuckle will gather some discarded Shuckle shells or suitable rocks to have near the eggs—this is the extent of their parental care. The eggs will hatch in about 3 weeks after laying.

Unprotected Shuckles are at a strong risk of predation from primates, birds, rabbits, and rodents. Their soft squishy bodies make a fun gummy snack for predators, but once a Shuckle has its shell the risk of predation drops tremendously. Now, the predation risk comes from Pokémon that like to eat rocks, because they will definitely also eat the Shuckle. But have no fear, Shuckles are tough Pokémon that have survived on Earth for half a billion years for a reason!

As for mating habits, Shuckles have higher understanding of when it’s time to make more of themselves and when its not. They can reproduce up to every month for years at a time, but this is seldom necessary. Instead, Shuckles have an innate sense of when its an appropriate time to reproduce and when it isn’t. Scientists are uncertain when this higher reasoning trait evolved, but it almost certainly has led to Shuckle’s success as a species. Plus, while Shuckles have “males” and “females”, they are fully capable of agametic reproduction should it become necessary. And their “males” and “females” are not determined by sex chromosomes, but rather is determined by mysterious environmental factors that have eluded scientists for centuries.

Behavior: Shuckles are not terribly picky about who they mate with, and will often mate with whoever is nearby and down. The fact that Shuckles are, for some unknown reason, in the “Bug” Egg Group, has surely done the species a huge advantage in mate availability.

As individuals, Shuckles are shy Pokémon who will hide in their shells at the sight of danger. They are incredibly slow moving and thus do not spread out quickly. Sometimes a Shuckle will hitch a ride with a bigger and faster Pokémon to get to where they want to go.

As companions, Shuckles are loveable and friendly and super safe for children of all ages.  

Diet: In “modern” times, Shuckles eat berries and other fruits. These are stored in its shell that slowly decompose and ferment into its famous Shuckle Juice. What did Shuckles eat before the evolution of flowering plants? That’s a great question, and one that has been puzzling scientists for decades. Its believed that Shuckles once ate lichens, mushrooms, algae, and the early terrestrial plants that existed half a billion years ago. In fact, Shuckles will still eat lichens and mushrooms if their favorite food (fruits and berries) are unavailable, but this produces a Shuckle Juice that is distasteful to humans.

Conservation: Least Concern

Relationship with Humans: Humans have had Shuckle friends for millennia, a source of fermented fruit juice that is packed full of vitamins and amino acids that may be difficult to acquire during hard times. This harvesting of Shuckle Juice is not a fast process and certainly no substitute for having enough food to eat, but poor families have been able to feed their Shuckles beets, blight potatoes, or even certain inedible berries and have their Shuckle produce a juice that helps balance their nutritional intake, making it easier to withstand famines and blights. Shuckle Harvesting is a time-honored tradition in Northern Europe, Morocco, and the Eastern United States, where Shuckles are at their most abundant.

In modern times, Shuckle Juice is moderately expensive, often made in small batches at local farms.

Classification: There are many “species” of Shuckles over the years, but many of these species designations are for archeological distinctions rather than any substantial evidence that there is a meaningful difference between them. There have genuinely been clear species distinctions, largely in the form of different shell shapes, but for the most part Shuckles have remained relatively the same. The modern version of Shuckle, Shuckle modernus is called thus because of the fact that it happens to be the current species.

~~~~~~~~

Hey guess what, if you like my stuff, this is my website where you can find other Pokémon I've written on and more information about the game that I’m slowly making! Check it out! I write books sometimes too.

[pokemonshelterstories]

Can the Porygon line run Doom?

from a software perspective? sure. it's simple enough. my sibling has programmed their lab's porygon to be able to run through doom, and it's pretty good at it! porygon programmers have been running doom on them since silph first developed the porygon project

the easiest way to do this is to upload a porygon onto a computer and then run the program with the porygon interfacing it, but you can also run the game natively in the porygon. you'll have to either hook the porygon up to a screen or mod it to visualize whatever program it's running on its eye screens if you want to see what's going on, though.

[quillpokebiology]

Fun Fact: Noibat's favorite food is apples, and they often try to eat the apples off of Applin and Flapple. Once they realize that they cannot be consumed, they'll leave them alone, but it can still get annoying for them

[pkmnprofloblolly]

Hello! Trainer from Alola here, big fan of your work. I was wondering; is there any evidence of any legendary pokemon being related to other pokemon? For example, does Rayquaza share any DNA with other dragon pokemon? (I know it would be extremely difficult to get any rayquaza DNA fhshfjd) Or are pokemon like that entirely their own species?

the answer is, as with many things on this blog.. it depends!

"legendary pokemon" aren't really a cohesive category like, say, a type or a taxonomic group. the only common factors are that they tend to be very rare and that they have legends about them. as our examples, let's use two groups of hoenn legendary pokemon: latios and latias, and groudon, kyogre, and rayquaza.

latios and latias (like other pairs such as nidoqueen and nidoking, or volbeat and illumise, latios and latias are sexually dimorphic members of the same species) are indeed related to other pokemon- they're birds! specifically, they're in the auk family, which are a group of generally stout, seafaring birds like guillemots and puffins. this may seem strange- the latis appear to have wings and arms, and no legs, very unlike birds. however, if we take a look at their skeleton, the connection becomes much more obvious:

what we generally interpret as arms are actually the lati's legs, the thighs of which are obscured by flesh and feathers. while they use their wings to steer and for some lift, the latis generally stay aloft with their psychic powers rather than traditional flight, which is why they can hover in place. this has freed up their legs for use in manipulating objects, and they are rarely seen standing on their feet. because they mostly rely on hovering, their legs no longer have the strength to hold their large bodies up for very long.

these pokemon are indeed exceptionally rare, having very low population numbers in only a few regions, and spending most of their time over open ocean. like many pelagic seabirds, they breed on only a few small islands, like alto mare off the johto region and southern island off hoenn's south coast. their populations are on the upswing, though, in large part due to concentrated conservation efforts on those islands. point being, though, they are indeed just animals. rare, powerful animals, but animals nonetheless.

many legendary pokemon fall into this camp. articuno, zapdos, and moltres, lugia and ho-oh, heatran, and various others.

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conversely, the so-called weather trio of hoenn: groudon, kyogre, and rayquaza. these three are even more rarely seen than the latis, only having been sighted in recent times during their clash in hoenn nearly two decades ago. despite the three's resemblance to other living pokemon, as far as we know they are entirely unrelated to any known animals, or even any other life on earth.

this is known because evidence of these pokemon have been found dating back over 3 billion years ago, that is to say over a billion years before multicellular life even existed. gigantic fragments of footprints attributed to groudon have been sighted alongside some of the earliest fossils we know of of early bacteria. modern physical samples from these pokemon- the extremely few that have ever been recovered- have never resulted in any dna evidence, and appear in structure much more similar to inorganic matter.

as it stands, it appears these pokemon arose some time early (relatively speaking) after the earth formed, being (as opposed to natural living organisms) animate representations of the forces of nature themselves. a similar condition is often assumed for some other grandiose legendary pokemon, such as dialga and palkia, though much less tangible evidence exists for their presence in prehistoric time, so this is mostly an assumption based on their infrequent appearances & legends surrounding their origins.

[objectbiologist]

on object sleeping habits

(image ID: a doodle of amelia from ONE on a black background, drawn with white outlines sleeping upright with her legs tucked underneath her and her arms laid out in front of her. the second picture shows airy next to her in the same position, legs tucked underneath him, waking her up. /end ID)

something that has been very heavily debated in the community are object sleeping habits, how they sleep, the science behind it or whether they even need to sleep at all. this post aims to go a little more in depth about it, though it won't cover everything.

for one, the anatomy and biology differs wildly between families and even individual object species. this of course affects their sleeping habits and even their circadian rhythm.

with people and animals, the way they sleep is much more obvious. humans are granted the freedom of sleeping comfortably on their backs or curled up on their sides without much issue (aside from certain health complications that may arise due to the condition(s) an individual might have.) many mammals sleep curled up, or on their sides. birds sleep with their heads tucked in their wings, or in flight if you're a swift. bats hang upside down and horses can sleep standing up on lying down. crocodiles shut off one part of their brain in order to keep a lookout or maintain flight. swifts remain in the sky for most of their lives and only ever land due to sickness or to nest, which means they fly in their sleep too. so this begs the question, how do objects sleep?

it's different for every species. due to their wild differences in anatomy as discussed earlier, they often have to learn unique adaptations that help them thrive. this extends to sleep as well. for the longest time, it was thought that objects did not need to sleep at all, though recent observations have shown otherwise. it wouldn't be feasible to cover every object's sleeping habits and patterns, so i'll be going into some more recent studies.

for one, as with the images above, objects that have flat bases or rounded bodies may find laying on their backs or sides difficult or uncomfortable. these objects sleep with their legs tucked underneath them, sitting upright or leaned against a wall or other surface. occasionally they may be found laying down if it is comfortable, but it is not often.

it also isn't uncommon to see boxes dozing off within seconds, limbs tucked beneath them, or for coins to flop onto their backs. both of these objects have body structures that compromise their abilities to rest comfortably in any other position.

objects that have a tendency to roll, like glasses or cylindrical shaped objects may rest on their backs or sides with their arms propped up by their elbows, providing a stop to keep them in place. these species tend to be very light sleepers as well, so that in the event of a threat they can awaken quickly and spring upright. this especially applies to glass objects, who exhibit unihemispheric sleep in order to remain vigilant (in other words, they sleep with only one part of their brains at a time). they are also prone to night terrors, and tend to sleep in groups that alternate between keeping watch.

[pokemon-academy-official]

Hello, Academy;

I'm a big fan of yours and find this blog a very good idea to share interesting facts about the world!

I have a special interest on Ghost-types and the special organs that help them have abilities like passing through walls, levitating, sucking "life energy", etc. In fact, I'm doing a final year project on that!

I thought it'd be good to ask here for some info. Thanks in advance.

Thank you for the ask, and for the kind words! As you're likely aware, this is a quite advanced topic. We'll go over each of the unique or signature abilities of Ghost types, and how they work, briefly. For more detail, you may be interested in the works of Cedric Juniper of Unova and Jacq of Paldea.

Note: some of what will be shared here is far from conclusive, and more research into the functionality of the organs of Pokémon is required. (See this post from @quillpokebiology for a related recent breakthrough)

Intangibility

Considered to be the "signature" trait of Ghost types, voluntary intangibility is made possible by a series of near-identical organs throughout the Ghost type Pokémon's body. Controlled by the central nervous system, these organs simultaneously allow the surrounding area to pass through solid objects. While the exact mechanism is currently unknown, it is suspected that these organs manipulate the charge of the particles making up the Pokémon's body, allowing it to pass through unaffected by electromagnetic and strong nuclear forces.

Invisibility

As alluded to above, some Pokémon have modified versions of the organs described above that additionally allow them to make themselves invisible at will.

Energy Absorption ("Life Force" and Empathetic)

The ability of some Ghost type Pokémon to "absorb" the energy of other creatures (such as Palossand draining life essences, or Mismagius feeding off of fear) is not done in a single way, and appears to be a case of convergent evolution. For this reason, we cannot go over it in any detail here, but feel free to ask about a specific Pokémon!

"Possession"

There are many stories (though none have been verified at the time of writing) of Ghost type Pokémon "possessing" other creatures, including humans. Since no scientific studies have recorded this phenomenon, it's difficult to make any conclusive claims. However, descriptions closely match some forms of mind control, specifically the "full control" variation most famously performed by Beheeyem. How Ghost type Pokémon would be able to accomplish this feat is unclear.

Levitation

Surprisingly, one of the most common and, on the face of it, simplest abilities of Ghost types is also one of the least understood. Levitation is achieved by Psychic types through application of their psychic abilities. For many Ghost types, this explanation seems perfectly applicable (especially given the strong overlap in abilities between Psychic, Dark, and Ghost type Pokémon), but there are plenty of Ghost type Pokémon such as Shedinja which do not display any latent psychic abilities. For these Pokémon, it has been suggested that their light weight allows them to float, but other light Ghost type Pokémon such as Galarian-form Corsola that do not levitate.

In short, more research is certainly required to fully understand Ghost type Pokémon. That said, it's not as if we're completely clueless!

Happy Halloween!

[mariopokemonuniverse]

Everything You Ever Wondered About Pawniard, Bisharp, and Kingambit Head Blades

The first thing you may be asking is how the head blade even originated. Pawniard’s evolutionary line is most closely related to crustacean Pokémon (a topic for another post), so their head blades are likely homologous with a structure that projects from the heads of others like Crawdaunt, known as a rostrum. While the crustacean rostrum is thought to help protect the eyes, it has been modified into an offensive weapon among Pawniard and its evolutions.

A Bisharp’s head blade is also seen as an important indicator of fitness, defined as the ability to both survive and reproduce. Pawniard are too young to breed, and lack the gold pigmentation of their evolutions’ head blades that may be a sign of sexual maturity.

As with all organisms, any traits that are meant to be adaptive are not without costs. A Bisharp having a dent in its head blade is seen as dishonorable, which means that it will be forced into retirement on its own without groups of Pawniard or opportunities to breed with other Bisharp. This commonly happens to older Bisharp that are heavily scarred and whose blades do not stay in good condition. Additionally, Bisharp keep the head blades of some defeated opponents as a sort of trophy, the Leader’s Crest that is.

Bisharp’s rarely achieved second evolution Kingambit has a significantly enlarged head blade, granting it the epithet of Big Blade Pokémon, which appears to have been selected both for show and raw attack power. Kingambit have a reproductive advantage because Bisharp of the opposite gender show a preference to breed with them, and a female Kingambit produces approximately twice as many Pawniard eggs as a female Bisharp.

However, Kingambit are still far from “perfection”. They have lost Bisharp’s mobility at running and jumping, and can only get around by floating on their hair throne. Kingambit have also lost all other functional blades, most notably the retractable pair on the arms of both Pawniard and Bisharp. In addition, Kingambit also have particularly arrogant personality to match their seemingly oversized head blade, so much that they rush into battle alongside armies of their pre-evolutions without planning complex strategies.

In short, head blades in Pawniard’s evolutionary line represent a trade-off between signaling in beneficial and detrimental ways within the same species; as well as attack power versus skill.

Credit for the Pawniard, Bisharp, and Kingambit 3D models goes to @4lex-4nder.

[pkmnrangerfiles]

fossil pokemon typing speculations

continuation of this post, the intended addition lmao:

So it's actually been an ongoing study in the pokepaleontology sphere whether the rock typing is something 'stuck' from the revival simulation process, or if there was an environmental aspect in the prehistoric climate that encouraged a widespread adaption of a certain typing (much like normal types today!). the main megaminds nowadays are leaning towards the former, which would be interesting in that their hypothesis also entails that the rock typing has acted like a dominant gene during fossilisation. That's to say, modern fossil pokemon secondary types may have actually been their primary types until they got fossilised!

There are exceptions to this - the cranidos line have only ever had rock type genes extracted, BUT their samples had generally suffered from fairly extensive damage, usually from but not exclusive to lifestyle. There's some suspecting it may have had some fighting type DNA thrown in there, but others argue that it's just contamination from the other genes pokepaleontologists used to patch up the holes in the code

On the other hand, Unova boasted very intact tirtouga remains, and it was actually the first pokemon declared a non-primary rock type fossil, which was a huge breakthrough at the time!

Now higher fossil quality tends to paint a clearer picture of the original specimen, but it's entirely possible that the tirtouga situation was entirely coincidental and our current understanding of typing is, indeed, correct. But where's the fun in science if you think you know everything?

[pokemonperformersam]

What Pokémon job did you want to do as a kid or did we all want to be marine Pokémon biologists

[professor-amaryllis]

call me a chewtle the way I (how do I finish this please advise)

Bury myself in the mud and hibernate up to 8 months out of the year?

[pokemonbiologyirlthetabletop]

Delibird (#225)

Delibird

Glacieshermes amicibilis

General Information: Delibird the Delivery Pokémon! Delibird are known for bundling up food inside their peculiarly shaped tails, which they use to feed their chicks or lost travelers.

Delibird averages at 2’11 feet tall (0.9 M) and 35.3 pounds (16 kg).  

Habitat: Delibird live in the mountains of the Old World, especially the Himalayas. They build nests on cliff edges. Humans have brought them to the New World, where they have acclimated to the steep cliffs of skyscrapers and the Rocky Mountains, but their populations are limited and there are many creatures that are willing to eat Delibirds. There seems little risk of Delibirds reaching untenable populations, but they are considered an exotic species to Turtle Island.

Life Cycles: Delibird are known to live up to 15 years in the wild, and 25 years in captivity! Once an individual reaches reproductive maturity at either level 15 or 1 year of age (whichever comes last), they will lay a single egg each fall and watch over it as a mated pair for the entire winter. This egg hatches at the onset of Spring, when the parents will take turns watching over the egg or fetching food for the nest. The baby is well taken care of on its cliffside nest, with its primary methods of death involving: starvation, one of its parents dies and thus leaves the chick undefended for periods of time, inability to fly when it attempts to fly for the first time from its nest, or particularly violent and desperate predators who are willing to fight off an angry Delibird parent. After it leaves the nest in early late summer, the Delibird is at risk of general predation from aerial assaults, snakes, giant spiders, cats, and other generalists.

Behavior: Delibird are fiercely helpful sorts who always seem to have food wrapped up in their tail bundle. They enjoy aiding lost travelers by giving them food, and they enjoy tending to their chick. Delibirds are social animals who pair up well with humans and other Pokémon. While they can mate with other species, it’s rare for a female Delibird to mate with non-Delibirds because they value a mate who will care for the chick as much as she does.

Diet: Delibirds are omnivores! They eat berries, nuts, and bugs! Beware, sometimes a helpful Delibird will try feeding you bugs!

Conservation: Threatened. Conservation efforts are not as effective as scientists would prefer, for many such efforts include the conservation of exotic populations in the Rocky Mountains, while ignoring the greater need for environmental protections in parts of Southern Asia and Europe.

Relationship with Humans: Humans have been fascinated by Delibirds for generations. They’re small little guys who carry food and help weary travelers on cold icy peaks! Their parental dedication is admirable and their predilections toward altruistic aid is generous. Some cultures consider them to be the familiar of messenger gods, traveler gods, or even beings that represent the trait of generosity and charity. There are some cultures who eat them, too, since they’re not difficult to hunt, but there are others still that revere them. Then, of course, in modern days the Western world has Delibirds associated with Christmas! This is leftover from certain Pagan traditions, who loved the Delibird for its generosity in even the harshest of cold mountains and their seeming abundance in mid-winter—some of these peoples ate them because Delibirds were what was available in the middle of winter—hey! Beliefs around animals are complicated! Still, the continued love of Delibirds in association with winter festivities persists into the modern day, where Delibirds and their present-filled bundles make them one of the companions of Santa Claus! In fact, Delibirds and Stantler are the quintessential Christmas Pokémon.

In less positive information, it does mean that Delibirds are subject to the “Easter Bunny” phenomenon, where households will get a baby/juvenile Delibird for the family for the holidays, then abandon it when it grows up and stops being a cute baby. This is a huge contributor to the growth of stray populations in Turtle Island, and many awful things can end up happening to these abandoned Delibirds. There are annual campaigns to remind people that a Pokémon is a companion for their whole life, not just for Christmas, which seem to have some success in minimizing the abandonment of Delibirds.

Many postal services utilize Delibird as their mascot!

Classification: Glacieshermes amicibilis is the scientific name of Delibird. “Glacies” means “ice” in Latin, and Hermes is the Greek god of messengers, while “amicibilis” means friendly. Thus, Glacieshermes amicibilis means “friendly ice messenger.”

~~~~~~~~

Hey guess what, if you like my stuff, this is my website where you can find other Pokémon I've written on and more information about the game that I’m slowly making! Check it out! I write books sometimes too.

[pokemonshelterstories]

So the Pokédex says that Onix get more round and smooth as they get older because of their tunneling. I thought that was really neat until I actually saw a picture of one.

Good arc. That poor, accursedly smooth beast.

Do you know of any other Pokémon that get odd features as they age?

super old onix are really cool to see! the smoothness does make it hard for them to get around, though.

tons of pokemon get some really interesting physical features as they age. rock and ground type pokemon with mineral deposits on their body often erode or get interesting shapes as the minerals wear out irregularly (garganacl are known to get "salt bunions" and end up looking kind of warty). hair growth is common too- the mustache on super old alakazam will practically reach to the ground. some grass types will struggle to produce as much foliage or seed out properly, so you'll see jumpluff with nearly bald cotton poms, or torterra that constantly look like they're overwintering; other grass types with more treelike features will grow rings that can be counted on necropsy. i've read about the bodies of old aggron found still standing with their joints rusted into place or skarmory whose feather follicles rust over and can't grow new flight feathers. dragon types can be incredibly long lived and will sometimes grow huge horns or tusks.

that's part of what's so cool about meeting a really old pokemon- they can show age in some pretty incredible ways!

[quillpokebiology]

Pokemon Crossbreeds: Bumblebee

Bumblebee is the name for members of the Combee line with a Joltik/Galvantula father. This breed is rare since Vespqieun rarely ever want to mate with mon that aren't Combee, seeing most other bug types as enemies. The breed was named after their fluffy bodies.

Combee

Because Vespiquen often see other bugs as enemies, crossbreed combee are often driven out of their hives. This isn't that bad for female Combee, who are better suited to be by themselves, but it's often a bigger problem for male combee who rely on others to survive. This breeds fluffy bodies help them carry more pollen, which is good if they're living on their own.

Vespiquen

Bumblebee Vespiquen have similar behaviors to standard Vespiquen, but they tend to be more gluttonous and aim for prey instead of just eating honey. Since Vespiquen have a natural instinct to lead, the ones that were driven out of hives tend to find other lone Combee and make hives with them. Hives that are run by crossbreed Vespiquen tend to have a smaller population but are more tight-knit and accepting of new members.

Anyways, Vespiquen. Like Galvantula, these Vespiquen will set traps to catch mon that come by. The hives they make can also often resemble spider webs as well.

//My designs can be used by anyone of you credit me!

[mantisgodsdomain]

We ought to write more Pokemon fic some time. We want to recreate the Pokemon Manners/Human Manners cheat sheet that we made a few years ago we think that this site would like the Sliding Scale Of Politeness When Greeting A New Pokemon You've Never Met Before.

[from-ultra-space]

(@porygon-supremacy:) I'm fascinated by your Ultra Beasts. Could you tell me how they differ from our Pokemon?

Yes, of course. There are plenty of ways in which Ultra Beasts and pokemon differ, but I will try to simplify it as best I can. For one, Ultra Beasts are generally much more aggressive than most pokemon. On Terra this is caused in part by their disorientation from wormhole travel, but is still true regardless. Pokemon have had hundreds of years to adjust to humans and become tamer (largely suspected to be caused by the invention of pokeballs) and while wild pokemon are known to jump out at a person, they do not seem to be as aggressive as they were historically (based on my understanding of the history of the pokedex, especially from documents in the Hisui region). On the other hand, Ultra Beasts have not yet evolved in such a way and will often recognize people as a threat or as prey. U.B.s also absorb the energy and life force of those they defeat (an ability we call Beast Boost) which can make them particularly dangerous. Even when they have been captured in a Beastball, these creatures are not easy to manage. Ultra Beasts have also been described as feeling ‘inherently wrong’ by many humans who have encountered them. This feeling is theorized to be caused by an Ultra Beast’s use of beast energy as opposed to Infinity energy, which is utilized by pokemon. The exact differences between these is currently unclear but there does appear to be a negative reaction when the two interact.

There is certainly much more about this subject I could explain (and much more that still has to be researched) but I will start with this. Hopefully this was helpful for you, even if it just satiated your curiosity. Should you need more on the differences between them I could even provide you papers on the matter! I personally found them very interesting.

[pokemon-academy-official]

What do you think about Zoruas?

Thanks for the ask! Zorua and its evolved form are quite unique Pokémon, with an even more unique history. We'll be covering Zorua, Zoroark, and their ancient counterparts!

Zorua: Basic Biology

Zoura is a small, black and red, fox-like, Dark type Pokémon. They are often shy and cowardly in nature, and have below-average offensive and defensive capabilities.

Due to their timid disposition, middling battle prowess, and rarity of females, Zorua are often outcompeted and are therefore very rare Pokémon in most regions. To date, they are only found in large numbers in the Isle of Armor in Galar, and Tagtree Thicket and the grasslands surrounding Medali in Paldea.

Zorua: Cunning Disguise

Apparently due to these difficulties, Zorua has developed an entirely unique ability. This is referred to as Zorua's signature Ability, Illusion.

Illusion allows a Zorua to project an image onto itself, with the primary aim of fooling opposing Pokémon into fleeing from a potential threat. To this end, the Illusion is extremely convincing, and almost impossible to see through. If the Zorua is damaged, the illusion falters and loses its effectiveness. Pokémon Trainers use this Ability to fool their opponent into a disadvantageous type matchup.

Zoura are documented as occasionally disguising as a human child. This form is used to search for food without irritating non-territorial Pokémon. It may also attempt to garner sympathy from humans to be given food.

Zorua are capable of using their Illusion ability from birth, but may need to learn to refine it; there's at least one record of a Zorua's disguise featuring its distinct tail!

Zoroark: Form Perfected

Zoroark, the evolved form of Zorua, is a bipedal Pokémon, standing at 1.6 meters. Zoroark is still a fairly cautious creature, but has become quite adept in both physical and special attacks. Zoroark live in groups, sometimes caring for several Zorua at a time. They can use their offensive aptitude to defend themselves and their group with great ferocity, gladly putting their own life on the line if they believe it necessary.

Zoroark has also perfected the Illusion technique. Its disguise is indistinguishable from reality, and it can even extend the effect to its surroundings and project illusory attacks.

Hisuian Form: Ghosts of the Past

There is some evidence that Zorua used to be a more widespread species. Due to their deceptive nature, especially in disguising as children, Zorua were largely driven out of regions by humans. While they found some safe havens in Galar and Paldea, the lands of Hisui (modern-day Sinnoh) were not so kind.

Driven away from more hospitable lands by competitors, Zorua found themselves in the cold north, near the future site of Snowpoint City (referred to by settlers as the Alabaster Icelands). According to legend, these Zorua were unable to survive in this climate and perished, only to return as vengeful spirits.

According to contemporary sources, Hisuian Zorua were highly resentful of humans and Pokémon alike, and were extremely distrusting. They retained the ability to project illusions but did so using their spite and hatred. Now more adapted to their environment, Hisuian Zorua used their abilities to torment others. These Zorua were also apparently able to derive sustenance from the fear it inflicted.

A Hisuian Zorua was able to evolve into a Hisuian Zoroark. This form had a frightening appearance and was even connected to a legend of death. It also had even further mastery over its Illusions, such as being able to mimic human speech while disguised as a human or casting Illusions which could actually cause physical harm to a target. Much like modern Zoroark, they were fiercely protective of their group. They were even more distrusting of outsiders than Hisuian Zorua, but could apparently become an invaluable ally to their Trainer if taken care of properly and with great patience.

To more directly answer your question... I think Zorua are adorable! I feel like we'd be a decent match. Not that I'm looking for one, mind; they're tough to get your hands on where I am, and I'm looking after enough Pokémon already.