Pokemon Unanswered Questions in the Pokémon World

[Adam Ryder]

I'm planning a blog post and I'd like plenty of unanswered questions of Pokemon. What questions do you have about Pokemon?

Here are mine so far...

1. Why is Sharpedo only the front half of a shark?
2. Does Diglett really have feet?
3. How does a Pokemon learn a TM or a HM?

Post away!

 

[Jabberwock]

1. Why is Sharpedo only the front half of a shark?

Sharpedo's name comes from shark and torpedo. It's not meant to be only the front half; it's just combining elements from sharks and torpedoes, and it ended up happening to look like a shark's front half.

2. Does Diglett really have feet?

This has been confirmed by a Mystery Dungeon quote:
Diglett: "My feet feel like they're still walking on air..."
Mudkip: "(Feet...?)"
Magnemite: "(HE HAS THEM? FEET?)"

I suppose that depends on whether or not you consider Mystery Dungeon canon, though.

3. How does a Pokemon learn a TM or a HM?

Since TMs are differently portrayed in different media, there's no single answer to this. Different ideas have been presented for each of them, but the one that makes the most sense, IMO, is that TMs, given their disc-like shape, can be inserted into the TM Case, which will then show the Pokémon some manner of tutorial for learning the move.

That one's just a theory, though, not canon.

Here are my questions.

–Poké Balls presumably require fairly advanced technology to manufacture, so how can Kurt create them out of Berries, without any evident machinery?

–Why doesn't Heatran shut its eyes when asleep in XYORAS?

–Why is Mega Alakazam a foot shorter than its non-Mega-Evolved form, while retaining the weight?

–How does filling a Pokédex work?

And fine, I'll state the obvious.

–How in the world did Pikachu lose to Trip's Lv. 5 Snivy?!

 

[Athena]

3. How does a Pokemon learn a TM or a HM?

Spoiler: Here's how:

 

[Scattered mind]

Sharpedo's name comes from shark and torpedo. It's not meant to be only the front half; it's just combining elements from sharks and torpedoes, and it ended up happening to look like a shark's front half.

This has been confirmed by a Mystery Dungeon quote:
Diglett: "My feet feel like they're still walking on air..."
Mudkip: "(Feet...?)"
Magnemite: "(HE HAS THEM? FEET?)"

I suppose that depends on whether or not you consider Mystery Dungeon canon, though.

Since TMs are differently portrayed in different media, there's no single answer to this. Different ideas have been presented for each of them, but the one that makes the most sense, IMO, is that TMs, given their disc-like shape, can be inserted into the TM Case, which will then show the Pokémon some manner of tutorial for learning the move.

That one's just a theory, though, not canon.

Here are my questions.

–Poké Balls presumably require fairly advanced technology to manufacture, so how can Kurt create them out of Berries, without any evident machinery?

–Why doesn't Heatran shut its eyes when asleep in XYORAS?

–Why is Mega Alakazam a foot shorter than its non-Mega-Evolved form, while retaining the weight?

–How does filling a Pokédex work?

And fine, I'll state the obvious.

–How in the world did Pikachu lose to Trip's Lv. 5 Snivy?!

About Kurt: I think he uses regular Pokéballs. Since Snorlax can fit inside them, there is no reason why he cannot put berries from all sizes into his Pokéballs so they can lure specific kinds of Pokémon. Then simply paint them as he wishes.

About the Pokédex: In the game- we are only 10 years old. Perhaps the Professor already have data of each Pokémon inside his Pokédex and he simply hides it from us so we can think we are finding new Pokémon that have never seen before.

About Trip: They use basically no logic from previous seasons in that season. Other examples are Ash still being 10 years old and Ash not knowing about Koffing in the Poison-type gym episode.

 

[Celever]

–Poké Balls presumably require fairly advanced technology to manufacture, so how can Kurt create them out of Berries, without any evident machinery?

I don't think that the technology for a PokeBall is actually that complicated. I mean, realistically it's just a ball with a slit down most of the middle and a simple locking mechanism (press the button to release the lock). There is the question of how a Pokemon fits inside a PokeBall, but I'd argue that's more to do with a Pokemon's genetic makeup than the PokeBall itself -- after all, PokeBalls can be thrown at humans and they can't be captured.

–Why doesn't Heatran shut its eyes when asleep in XYORAS?

If volcanoes, which is what Heatran is based off, "fall asleep" they are in other words extinct. Logically, if Heatran completely fell asleep, it'd die. Other Pokemon such as Spoink and Slugma suffer from similar misfortunes, but they manage to bounce and stimulate a lava flow respectively even when asleep.

–Why is Mega Alakazam a foot shorter than its non-Mega-Evolved form, while retaining the weight?

Well the less of a body there is to have to circulate blood and the like the less energy is used up on those biological processes meaning more energy can be used up on psychic focus. That's why Mega-Alakazam is shorter, but as for how they have the same weight... a bit more muscle to defend itself from attacks, maybe? After all, Mega-Alakazam's defense stat also increases by 20.

–How does filling a Pokédex work?

While there's no true answer to this, I believe the most widely accepted theory is that we as the protagonists input the PokeDex entries ourselves. Of course, all Pokemon in the regions are already discovered, which is why their measurements and everything are already inputted and there's loads of lore surrounding all of them. The PokeDex entries are almost a test for trainers to show the professors of the region how much they know about Pokemon and how many Pokemon they managed to scan while on their adventures -- the more they scanned the more they went off the beaten path and the better overall trainers they are.

–How in the world did Pikachu lose to Trip's Lv. 5 Snivy?!

It lazed around between seasons and got really unfit

 

[professorlight]

–Poké Balls presumably require fairly advanced technology to manufacture, so how can Kurt create them out of Berries, without any evident machinery?

Apricorns are only the outer shell of pokeballs; kurt quite obviously fits them with high-tech elements. I've no idea why they work differently, unless the apricorn affects the components in some way, though. As for the machinery, he's supposed to be an artisan, with skills honed over the years; he doesn't need a factory. But maybe he has a workshop under his house or something.

–Why is Mega Alakazam a foot shorter than its non-Mega-Evolved form, while retaining the weight?

Mega alakazam is floating with his legs crossed, so its height becomes shorter.

–How in the world did Pikachu lose to Trip's Lv. 5 Snivy?!

Ash.

But seriously now, I don't think the pokemon world in the anime works similarly to the games; the games, for balancing reasons, require structure and can't deviate from it, while the anime has more freedom; if you think that the anime doesn't have things such as strict levels, but rather experience and practice, and such things can be regulated, that explains, for example, why legendary pokemon can lose, or why gym leaders don't have a predetermined order there, or why you can win a battle you lost previously just by using tactics and the terrain in your favor. In that same vein, it also means that the starters don't need to be at level 5 when they're given, since what actually matters is the bond with their trainer they will develop in time.

Still doesn't explain it completely, though, because ash's stupidity goes beyond logic.

 

[Jabberwock]

Mega alakazam is floating with his legs crossed, so its height becomes shorter.

But whoever measures the Pokémon is thorough enough to measure Pokémon like Dragonair and Serperior from head to tail, rather than head to closest-part-of-body-to-ground. Wouldn't they be as thorough in measuring Mega Alakazam, measuring its height while standing up straight?

 

[professorlight]

But whoever measures the Pokémon is thorough enough to measure Pokémon like Dragonair and Serperior from head to tail, rather than head to closest-part-of-body-to-ground. Wouldn't they be as thorough in measuring Mega Alakazam, measuring its height while standing up straight?

Perhaps, but can it even stand straight? look at his legs when megaevolved; they're notably slimmer than the regular form's, no doubt to signify that its powers have increased so much he doesn't even need them anymore; they seem to be more vestigial than anything else (you can see the same resource used with gardevoir), so who's to say mega alakazam can (or want to) change their position?

Besides, in serpent-like pokemon you measure head to tail because, well, that's the whole body. For... rhydon, for example, who has legs and a long tail, which way do you measure? head-to-ground, or head-to-tail?

 

[Jabberwock]

Perhaps, but can it even stand straight? look at his legs when megaevolved; they're notably slimmer than the regular form's, no doubt to signify that its powers have increased so much he doesn't even need them anymore; they seem to be more vestigial than anything else (you can see the same resource used with gardevoir), so who's to say mega alakazam can (or want to) change their position?

Doesn't matter if it can stand on them or not. Serpentine Pokémon can't stand on the tip of their tail, and yet they're measured that way.

And no idea about Rhydon.

 

[Empoleon_master]

Here is the ultimate unanswerable question that every TCG artist cannot agree on:
What color is Machamp? And does it have a beak/beakish thing or no?
*PB explodes with nerd confusion*

 

[CF1994]

I have a few, unless I am missing out on something.

1. Why can't Nidorina and Nidoqueen breed?
The one infamous question that nags many Breeders, like myself, to this day.

2. What's up with Zapdos not getting Hurricane, even though the other members of its' trio can learn the move?
The bias is strong, and it must have been so for this mighty electric bird.

3. Where did all those daily islands come from in ORAS? (The ones where you can find Pokémon like Persian, Tynamo, and Klink in them.)
I am aware it's Hoopa's doing, but I am curious if there were faraway regions we don't even know so far, yet. In a nutshell, I am interested in knowing where those lands came from.

 

[Empoleon_master]

I have a few, unless I am missing out on something.

1. Why can't Nidorina and Nidoqueen breed?
The one infamous question that nags many Breeders, like myself, to this day.

2. What's up with Zapdos not getting Hurricane, even though the other members of its' trio can learn the move?
The bias is strong, and it must have been so for this mighty electric bird.

3. Where did all those daily islands come from in ORAS? (The ones where you can find Pokémon like Persian, Tynamo, and Klink in them.)
I am aware it's Hoopa's doing, but I am curious if there were faraway regions we don't even know so far, yet. In a nutshell, I am interested in knowing where those lands came from.

That does raise a good question of where the islands are coming from, think about it that means that there's a continent with these bits of forest etc just suddenly vanishing via a giant ring and next thing you know they're gone, then back again with no reason.

As for Zapdos my guess is that they didn't think it would be good for unm OU or something?

 

[Blob55]

If Cubone was really a baby Kangaskhan, then why is it Ground instead of Normal type?

Why doesn't the Strong Jaw Ability affect Hyper and Super Fang?

 

[SilverSilent]

If Cubone was really a baby Kangaskhan, then why is it Ground instead of Normal type?

Why doesn't the Strong Jaw Ability affect Hyper and Super Fang?

My idea behind this is that Cubone is a ground type because of the skull on it's head and the bone it carries around and has adapted to using the ground to hide.
Hyper/Super Fang is simply because no Pokémon that can use the move has Strong Jaw I believe, hence why it doesn't affect it. Super Fang is a set amount of damage anyways so I doubt that'd be affected by Strong Jaw.

 

[Blob55]

My idea behind this is that Cubone is a ground type because of the skull on it's head and the bone it carries around and has adapted to using the ground to hide.
Hyper/Super Fang is simply because no Pokémon that can use the move has Strong Jaw I believe, hence why it doesn't affect it. Super Fang is a set amount of damage anyways so I doubt that'd be affected by Strong Jaw.

No. The only reason why they're not affected, is because GF forgot. If you look at the moves, they're the only ones that are affected by the Ability in the code.
Besides, Mega Raticate could have Strong Jaw if/when it's made and not having its sig moves available for the ability is dumb.

 

[SilverSilent]

No. The only reason why they're not affected, is because GF forgot. If you look at the moves, they're the only ones that are affected by the Ability in the code.
Besides, Mega Raticate could have Strong Jaw if/when it's made and not having its sig moves available for the ability is dumb.

I don't think it's so much they forgot as to whether they wanted to add them to the Strong Jaw ability. By doing so that would mean they'd have to add the ability to Rattata or Raticate. X/Y was the first to introduce Strong Jaw and was exclusive to Tyrunt/Tyrantum until Mega Sharpedo. They most likely wanted to keep this ability exclusive for the most part to Tyrunt more than anything.

 

[Blob55]

It was made for XY, as Tyrunt and its evo can get it in those games.

 

[thegrovylekid]

Why can you bike up stairs in the 3DS titles?

 

[dwarfstar]

I have a few, unless I am missing out on something.

1. Why can't Nidorina and Nidoqueen breed?

My hypothesis is that they go through human-style menopause (just freakishly early, apparently).

 

[thegrovylekid]

Still doesn't explain it completely, though, because ash's stupidity goes beyond logic.

Quote of the year.

Oh, and Why do you need a specific incense to breed specific baby Pokémon?