#yeah. yeah when i said 10 paragraphs i mightve been underestimating myself

[tiktaaliker]

@m1sosazai ok ok ok SO i guess this rant is more about pokemon evolution in the darwin sense of the word but i have to talk about that first before getting into the domestication stuff (or i guess i don't have to but i want to)

putting it under a readmore because it really is horrifically long i am so sorry

to start it off, one thing ive thought about a lot is how a pokemon evolving compares to irl evolution. and surface level? not a ton of similarities other than "one creature becomes different creature." like, normally, evolution is VERY gradual, takes place over an EXTREMELY long time, and affects the species over many generations rather than the individual. Pokemon evolution, on the other hand, happens all at once, is instantaneous, and affects the individual and not the species (especially since all pokemon hatching from eggs are base evos? VERY wack when trying to compare it to macroevoltuion)

AND speaking of eggs, egg groups???? VERY wack. usually in an evolutionary sense a split into a different species is defined by members of the different populations no longer being able to have fertile offspring (not gonna get into the weird world of hybrids here because that would make this even LONGER, so im just going to. completely ignore stuff like wolfdogs and domestic/wildcat hybrids for now lol). so, like, if you're trying to fit pokemon into our normal taxonomic system, all pokemon sharing egg groups can TECHNICALLY be considered different breeds of the same species. like dog breeds? rattata is to copporajah as a chiuahua is to a Samoyed. and then you add in the fact that a lot of pokemon have double egg groups and then it gets even MORE complicated and weird

so, yeah, sure, pokemon evolution and irl evolution aren't one to one analogs, and same with pokemon species and animal. seems pretty obvious, looking at it. but then the question is, what IS evolution?

one thing i considered is that it's something akin to metamorphasis in insects and amphibians. and in some aspects, sure yeah it works! there's even some pokemon where the middle evolution is a cocoon. there's some pokemon that are amphibians with a tadpole/larval stage!! but the main thing that makes it kinda weird is that, with the exception of the handful of baby stage pokemon? you can throw the first or second stage into the daycare and still get an egg. one of the biggest things about having larval stages and undergoing metamorphosis is that reproduction isnt possible until the final stage!! like for bugs especially that is the entire point.

ALSO, there's the fact that a pokemon's evolution is STILL a different pokemon than the previous stages. a bullfrog tadpole is still a bullfrog, and a monarch butterfly caterpillar is still a monarch butterfly, but a weedle is not a beedril. im mostly basing this on the fact that later stage pokemon can learn different moves/can get different abilities after evolving, and even get different typing. i guess you COULD argue that a line of pokemon are technically all still the same species of pokemon a la caterpillar and butterfly, and the moves/abilities are just the result of form begetting function, but that's not as fun for me in this fantasy creature scenario so i am opting to ignore that point. so while i like the comparison superficially im not gonna just accept it at face value. there is TOTALLY more going on here.

so, my theory is that its sort of a strange mix of darwinian evolution and larval stages. it's the mechanics of larval stages with the end result being more similar to irl evolution. i think that, both genetically and physically, pokemon are far more malleable than real animals. something i also think is interesting that plays into all this is the fact that pokemon usually evolve via "experience" and "levels," which is basic in a gameplay sense but biologically? absolutely FASCINATING to me. this is already really long and i havent even gotten to what i really wanted to talk about so ill keep this short but i think pokemon are beings with EXTREMELY high amounts of potential energy, and can all somehow harvest energy released by defeating other pokemon, convert it into biomass to become stronger, and can sometimes use that energy to trigger evolution. but that's probably something i should save for a different multi-paragraph ramble in the future lol

and THEN there is actual literal macroevolution happening in pokemon that we can directly see the results of. regional variants!! pokemon that have different typing and appearances and sometimes even evolutions that change in different regions!! and SHELLOS MY FRIEND MY BELOVED SHELLOS. there is direct and stated evidence that populations of pokemon CAN undergo macroevolution. this is a canon thing that happens.

but even then, it occurs WAY faster and WAY more dramatically than how it would occur naturally. like there's some that could be argued mightve happened after a split a very long time ago (aka all the alolan variants, island ecosystems ARE fantastically good at isolating populations after all), but then we have the hisuian forms. so, the hisui region in legends arceus is roughly analogous to meiji era japan (if i recall correctly??) so ill be operating under the assumption that the game takes place sometime between 1870 to 1900. also fun fact because i literally just realized this, the origin of the species was older than the meiji era. the more you know.

ANYWAYS, i would like to talk about sneasel. im focusing on that line in particular both due to the connection to hisui/sinnoh (weavile being introduced in gen IV) and the fact that it's a new evolution INSTEAD of a modern evolution. so, for a lot of pokemon, its not exactly clear where they ACTUALLY originated from; it can't always be assumed that the region where we first see them is where they're ACTUALLY from, like with yungoos being stated to "imported from another region" into alola. so with the other hisuian forms (especially pokemon that can't be found normally in dpp), it's plausible to think that MAYBE these are much older offshoots of pokemon that died out entirely and no longer occupy the region, like with the slugma line, or even the qwilfish line, since it's plausible that after a while after hisuian qwilfish died out, regular qwilfish might've just migrated from somewhere else to the waters around iron island and filled in the nice again. or its like the zoura and basculin lines, which are both. pretty much already dead. or with ursaluna and kleavor, its that the conditions they required to evolve don't really happen anymore. i could go into a whole OTHER rant about electode but im already getting off topic enough

ANYWAYS. sneasel. i believe that of all the regional forms sneaseler is the wildest in terms of implications. first of all, TWO new types, fighting and poison? every other hisuian pokemon other than the zoura line have at least 1 shared typing from the other forms. and unlike kleavor, which evolves ALONGSIDE scizor, sneasel evolves into sneaseler INSTEAD of weavile. a hisuian sneasel cannot evolve into a weavile. so what happened??? what i am trying to imply is that maybe hisuian sneasel came BEFORE the modern dark/ice senasel, and evolved in the darwinian sense to fill a different niche. hisuan sneasel is implied to be a more direct hunter, while the typical sneasel is infamous for stealing other pokemon's eggs. additionally, im basing on hisuian sneasel coming first on the fact that it's REALLY unlikely for a species to re-evolve a trait that was previously lost.

considering that hisuian sneasel and sneasler were around as recently as the 1900s, that's like. a relatively VERY short time for something that major to change. im guessing that sneasel got REALLY close to complete extinction but eventually bounced back as the modern form via a bottleneck situation, but that still seems like a very short time for something that major to happen? so like. to try to sum my thoughts up quickly because i am becoming hyper aware of how LONG this is getting holy SHIT, something about the nature of pokemon as a whole allows them to evolve in a darwinian sense MUCH faster than in real life; since just being in a region can change a pokemon's evolution, its possible that maybe outside conditions can actively cause mutations in the egg, allowing a population to adapt faster and more efficiently to their environment?

and so, FINALLY, i can actually talk about domestication. the whole point of this rant in the first place????? whoops.

in real life, domestication is a VERY long, VERY arduous process. it's pretty much a type of targeted evolution. it's usually either a very deliberate process in terms of selectively breeding for desirable traits, like with a dog's temperament or a sheep's wool production. its NOT something that can be done quickly, and there has to be a trait to select for in the first place. there are also some cases of self-domestication, where the animal directly benefits from being comfortable around humans. for example, domestic cats and house mice are both self-domesticated.

my theory is that, in the modern day, EVERY pokemon is technically domesticated.

so, here's some of my reasoning; for one, you can't just go outside and grab a raccoon from your yard and expect it to act like a pet. it's not a domesticated animal, its WILD. on the other hand, you CAN grab a cat or pigeon off the city street and you have a chance of taming it down if you work at it enough. they're not wild, just feral. in the same reasoning, a wolf is gonna be WAY more dangerous to be around than a stray dog, and a wolfdog (i know i said i was going to ignore those but shhhh its my rant i can pick and choose what i discuss in too much depth) is going to have a SIGNIFICANTLY different demeanor than a dog.

in the modern pokemon games, however, you can just catch whatever pokemon you want and you can pet it and dress it in funny hats. you can catch a literal dragon and like 5 minutes later PLAY FETCH WITH IT. additionally, you, the trainer, are never directly attacked by wild pokemon. you have to fight them, but only with your own pokemon. when you run out of pokemon, you are able to flee and get to a pokecenter relatively unharmed!!! no matter where you were!!!

in hisui, on the other hand? these pokemon are actively trying to kill you. most pokemon in the game, when they see you , will either run away or just start swinging. and, yeah, you can catch them, and can use them in battle, but there's a few things different; there's no set turn order, with each pokemon going once per round. you just gotta hope you're fast enough to get a hit or two in. there are NO double battles. the only time you fight more than one pokemon are with diamond/pearl clan, who don't use pokeballs; i like to think that they don't actually directly command their pokemon in these battles, maybe they give a few but its mostly just the pokemon doing their own thing. and in those, you only get one pokemon at a time. this, along with akari/rei's trouble with pikachu not listening, implies that it's typical for a trainer to not have as much... i woudn't call it control, that sounds too harsh, but i think its more like the trainer and pokemon don't have as much immediate understanding on how the whole battle thing is supposed to work, i guess.

so at some point between the time of legends: arceus and modern times, pokemon as a whole became domesticated. i think it's reasonable to think this something that COULD happen in that span of time, since i already explained here my thoughts on how pokemon can undergo change much quicker and at a much larger scale than irl animals.

as to how it happened? for one, i feel like the whole thing the diamond and pearl clans are doing with both nobles and just the pokemon they partner with is like. a perfect example of domestication. like they are probably more likely to keep pokemon that do well with humans around their settlements, and just like. idk i feel like whole noble thing could end up with domestication even if its completely accidental. like im pretty sure the ride pokemon in particular are probably self-domesticated at LEAST.

but ok, my WILDEST theory as to why even in legends you can catch a pokemon that wants to rip your arms off and five minutes later chill out with your new buddy? and how pokemon as a whole went from being potentially deadly to a mild inconvenience while traveling between towns? pokeballs. it was pokeballs.

so, like, i think catching a pokemon in a pokeball is kinda similar to evolution in pokemon, in that the energy involved in the process allows for rapid and dramatic change. like, ok, a big motif with evolution? the pokemon is shrouded by a glowing bright light. what happens to a pokemon when it's caught? there's a bright light before it enters the pokeball. its definitely WAY less of that energy than with evolution, but i think it's probably VERY similar. so pretty much part of the whole appeal with pokeballs is that it speeds up the domestication process in the same way evolution speeds up... evolution. it's the pokemon universe's equivalence of selectively breeding wolves to make a dog (and falling into my previously proposed theory of an individual pokmeon acting almost like a species in terms of evolution)

and then, in legends arceus, you're expected to catch a LOT of pokemon. you're probably going to catch multiple of most of the pokemon. and you're ALSO gonna be releasing these pokemon. those are no longer wild pokemon, they're feral, and mixing in with the rest of the population. over time, this mass catching and releasing for research ends up adding a LARGE amount of domestic pokemon to the wild. with pokemon being so adaptable, its possible that these pokemon pass their better temperament towards humans onto their offspring, and now there are pokemon that are more domestic without ever being caught, and all this compounds over several generations until pokemon are no longer trying to murder every person they make eye contact with.

ok hm i think all that might sound a bit colder than i wanted it to? im mostly just having a moment about how being a pokemon trainer is inherently an act of love and trust going both ways. you have to trust your pokemon! your pokemon has to trust you! and a pokeball is a symbol of that trust and also the result of people trying to form a bond with these strange creatures!!!! and i just think that it would be really, REALLY cool if, the pla protag's effort to make people trust pokemon more is also causing pokemon to trust people more!!!! it goes BOTH WAYS.......

ok ok ok and as a final note, my thoughts on starter pokemon!! i think they were the earliest attempts at domesticating pokemon, and the process was a lot more similar to irl domestication rather than the pokeball theory. I like to think that maybe the Cyndaquil at least was captive bred (its kinda a mouse and kinda a ferret and BOTH of those are domesticated animals). the Oshawott is a bit iffy, but based on the final evolution im guessing it was chosen specifically for battle prowess. ROWLET tho. ROWLET. IT'S FALCONRY. IT'S FALCONRY!!!!

falconry is a REALLY old practice that i find EXTREMELY fascinating because. yeah those are still completely wild animals even today pretty much every falconry raptor is going to be wild caught. but falconry is also a thing of trust and understanding the bird's wants and needs and!!! it just fits SO well with the themes of pokemon!!! literally the whole reason why i started thinking about pokemon domesticity so much was because i could NOT stop thinking about decidueye falconry ever since the starters for legends arceus was revealed.

EDIT because i forgot to mention!! so i think that with the starters, by modern times they're all 100 percent completely domesticated to the point of no longer naturally being found in the wild. sure, youll find some wild ones sometimes, but theyre gonna be random, small clumps of pokemon probably released by a trainer that was breeding them. like feral cat colonies. typically you're only gonna be finding a starter from a pokemon professor, or a breeder specifically focusing on starters. they used to have wild populations in the wild (ie sinnoh starters found the wild in legends arceus) but all eventually just. stopped existing in the wild for some reason or another?

anyways thank you for coming to my ted talk