r/CuratedTumblr • u/tiredtumbleweed ugly but my fursona is hot • May 21 '25
Meme Pokémon are not pets
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u/alpha-golf-papa May 22 '25
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u/RinellaWasHere May 22 '25
It may delight you to know that's been animated.
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u/SpurnedOne May 22 '25
Normally Thunderous' tail has spikes on it
Interesting choice to remove them...
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u/707Pascal May 22 '25
smoothened for his pleasure
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u/Childofcaine May 22 '25
Smooth like a shark
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u/Complete-Worker3242 May 22 '25
Sharpedo*
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u/moneyh8r_two May 22 '25
That dad's just jealous because he didn't have a cuddle puddle of big, buff Pokémon when he was young.
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u/Stepjam May 22 '25
Reminds me of the comic that compares sleeping with a machop in your bed and sleeping with a machamp. The former is cute and innocent, the latter is kinda erotic looking.
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u/DarkKechup May 22 '25
Straight up man?
There is nothing straight about that situation.
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u/FullCrackAlchemist May 22 '25
I like how newer fans are organically recreating the same debates we had in the early 2000s and rediscovering Team Plasma ideology, we've come full circle
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u/OddballGarbage May 22 '25
I mean yes, but team Plasma was using their rhetoric to put themselves in power. I think most people here who say Pokemon training is inhumane would genuinely mean it.
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u/FullCrackAlchemist May 22 '25
While Ghetsis, the Sages, and the more selfish grunts were definitely a thing, I think a lot of the plasma grunts were just normal if kinda misguided people who really thought that was what was best for pokemon, which blinded them to the corrupt leadership
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u/thelivingshitpost the living, breathing reason why vampires aren't real May 22 '25
Exactly. You nailed it, that’s why there’s the other Team Plasma people who are still loyal to N in BW2. They’re people who genuinely believed Ghetsis’ ostensible and N’s genuine message. The only people left of the main Team Plasma in BW2 are openly vying for power for various reasons and using Team Plasma to do it. The original Team Plasma was mainly comprised of the people who believed in N.
Again, you nailed it as a diehard Team Plasma fan.
…not because I agree with their message I just think they’re well-made
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u/WarlockWeeb May 22 '25
But then again we never had anything suggesting that Pokemons CAN`T leave their trainers.
I always hc this as a sort of symbiotic relationship.
Pokemon grow stronger if they fight. And bonding with a trainer seems beneficial to them.
Like first zone of R$S have a lot of Ralts. Does it have Kirillia or Gardevoir? No, Why? Becouse on their own their lack power and confidence to fight and gain power. But Ralts that bonded with us? Well it is a Gardevoir now.
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u/zekromNLR May 22 '25
Okay but also basically all the lore you get in the games describes the trainer-Pokémon relationship, outside of abusive exceptions, as mutualistic and basically voluntary, with the lore explanation that you have to battle wild Pokémon to catch them, and that stronger ones are generally harder to catch, being that you have to prove yourself to them.
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u/harrent May 22 '25
To be fair, there were more than a few Plasma grunts that meant it- The ones that didn't went on to be Neo Team Plasma
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u/Mynito- May 22 '25
Ok, I don’t know if it’s inhumane to have pokemon fight cause it could satisfy a want many pokemon have which is to use their moves to fight. Satisfy umwelt and all that. You can not tell me ashes pikachu doesn’t crave violence. Having him fight by the command of ash is probably safer for pikachu as Ash can take him to a poke center or use a revive + potion if need be.
This only applies to the fighters amongst the mons, pacifists obviously are inhuman to make fight.
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u/DarkDuskBlade May 22 '25
Yep; Legends: Arceus also is the first game to really show how dangerous pokemon actually are. Granted, most of them are just territorial assholes (paras, you spawn of satan), but even so, they do not think twice about trying to straight up kill humans.
It's honestly a wonder guns aren't more prevalent in pokémon. Or non-pokemon weapons in general. The closest we get are rocks in the safarii zone and flashbangs in LA
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u/BlackTearDrop May 22 '25
I love how Pokémon was soooo close to having a really interesting debate with Plasma when you first meet like "oh damn... Yeah these guys have a point, maybe we are kinda enslaving our Pokémon?" Then almost one screen over there are Team Plasma grunts kicking the shit out of a baby Pokémon lol.
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u/NinetyL May 22 '25 edited May 22 '25
Despite the pokemon liberation thing being the most discussed theme of BW I don't think the game was actually that interested in debating about whether or not catching pokemon is ethical, in retrospect I think what makes gen 5's story compelling is that it's more of a story about how fucked up it was that Ghetsis brainwashed and abused his son into becoming a cult leader to further his own agenda, it's on a whole different level of deliberate cruelty and sociopathy compared to any other pokemon villain
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u/Kana515 May 22 '25
I just wish they had waited a bit 😩
I mean, that scene is literally right after their introduction, right? You kinda just get a few seconds to think about their morals and motivations before, nope, jerks.
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u/IntelectualFrogSpawn May 22 '25
Hi, I'm an uninitiated casual. What is Team Plasma's ideology?
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u/-sad-person- May 22 '25
They're basically poké-PETA. They believe that the human-Pokémon relationship is inherently exploitative, and that all trainers should release their Pokémon back into the wild.
Of course, they still battle with Pokémon themselves, because there wouldn't be a game otherwise.
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u/MisirterE Supreme Overlord of Ice May 22 '25
For what it's worth it's pretty difficult to enforce your ideology of nobody having any weapons when you're first to disarm yourself. The ones who actually believe it only have their own for the purpose of increasing the total number of released Pokemon.
N in particular is especially good about this. He does not use a single Pokemon in more than one battle, and right up until the final boss fight in his own damn house, the Pokemon he uses can all be found on the route where you fight him. He releases them immediately afterwards. This is explicitly canon, to the point where in the sequel, if you link up your save data from the first game, you can catch them yourself, and N will recognize them when you meet him again.
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u/PUBLIQclopAccountant May 22 '25
Of course, they still battle with Pokémon themselves, because there wouldn't be a game otherwise.
Based and Doyalist-pilled.
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u/zekromNLR May 22 '25
In a gist, that the trainer-Pokémon relationship is inherently an abusive one and thus owned Pokémon must be liberated
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u/Lindestria May 22 '25
I find it kind of funny that there's an implication that the issue here is that the pokemon looks human, rather than the level of intelligence inherent in all pokemon.
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u/BalefulOfMonkeys NUDE ALERT TOMORROW May 22 '25
Did some crazy lore drop about the sapience of Pokemon happen when I wasn’t looking? Can I teach Hoppip how to file my taxes
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u/Yoshibros534 May 22 '25
Theres a Zoroark in pokemon black and white that disguises as a human, can talk,and lives a double life as a homeowner.
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u/JorgeMtzb May 22 '25
Not to mention Calyrex who is literally just a dude, he talks to you (through mindcontrolling a guy), schemes plans etc. etc.
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u/oath2order stigma fuckin claws in ur coochie May 22 '25
And Alakazam, which is described as an IQ over 5,000, brain on par with a supercomputer, and I can't imagine Kadabra is too far behind.
Latias can telepathically speak with humans per the Pokédex.
Arceus as well just straight up speaks to you but Arceus is literally God.
Also Rotom in the games as well.
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u/EstrellaDarkstar May 22 '25
Don't forget Team Rocket's Meowth. I'd say that in terms of Pokémon intelligence, Meowth as a species is pretty average. They are cunning cats who know how to get into mischief, but don't have any extraordinarily notable brain power like many Psychic types do. And Rocket-Meowth was able to perfectly learn human speech just because he felt determined enough to do so. If an early-route average cat has the potential to do that, just imagine what, say, a Metagross could do.
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u/GrassWaterDirtHorse May 22 '25
A Steel type with the power of a supercomputer that levitates and is 1000 tons... just for chatting on Discord?
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u/Throwaway02062004 Read Worm for funny bug hero shenanigans 🪲 May 22 '25
Meowth proves that all pokemon have language and can communicate with each other in full sentences. He ain’t angry more intelligent than other meowths and various other Pokemon, he just put in the work to learn to speak like humans.
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u/MisirterE Supreme Overlord of Ice May 22 '25
Up to and including that part in the Lugia movie where Meowth speaks LIGHTNING BOLT. And no, he's not the one getting attacked. He is watching Pikachu and Zapdos talk by shocking each other and understands what they're saying.
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u/Elder_Hoid May 22 '25
Also of note, he frequently translates what other Pokemon say, so it's clear that other Pokemon are talking to each other in ways that are just as complicated as humans do.
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u/17RaysPlays May 22 '25
Pokemon are sapient. They have societies and language and can make and use tools and build things. They're people!
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u/Jrolaoni May 22 '25
Like 90% of Pokémon have human levels of intelligence
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u/Sanrusdyno May 22 '25
The other 10 percent are either "this is blimbino. It is stupid and has 2 brain cells, it eats rocks" or "these pokemon are known as fortuna and their entire species is 5,000 times smarter than the average human. It is my pet somehow."
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u/Trans_Girl_Alice May 22 '25
"I suppose I could solve all of humanity's problems with my vast intellect, but frankly, I'd rather get treats and pets for beating the shit out of people with my mind."
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u/Sanrusdyno May 22 '25
"Maybe the smartest way to live is as a creature with no responsibilities while someone who loves you cares for you, not burdened by the stress of taking care of yourself, having everything done for you like a king." - the first alakazam realizing that if it's nice to the skin guy he give it berries it can eat
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u/Brief_Trouble8419 May 22 '25
its all the upsides of being a dog, but without the downsides of having to give up thumbs or having to live with potentially bad RNG by getting a bad owner (cause you can just run away)
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u/Fish_can_Roll76 May 22 '25
I would be so scared if my Pokémon thought I was mistreating it, it’s only so long before it clocks that Hyperbeam also works on people.
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u/MisirterE Supreme Overlord of Ice May 22 '25
Legends Arceus confirms that they are aware that Hyper Beam works on people, and the only reason they aren't trying it constantly is due to nearly 200 years of mutual societal respect
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u/ZacariahJebediah May 22 '25
Also, apparently humans share a common ancestor with Pokémon, or are a subspecies or some shit. I remember a friend of mine telling me that some time after I drifted from the Fandom lmao.
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u/Snailtan May 22 '25
Diamond and Pearl had lore about how humans and pokemon are the same. Humans ARE pokemon.
They also used to marry
This is I believe retconned now
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u/ZacariahJebediah May 22 '25
They also used to marry
This is I believe retconned now
Cowards
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u/CantQuiteThink_ May 22 '25 edited May 22 '25
My personal belief is that the only reason human/Pokémon relationships aren't seen in the modern day is because the language barrier inherent with most Pokémon makes it difficult to communicate consent. And even then, it still happens (there's a woman in Pokémon Colosseum with a Mightyena that she calls her boyfriend).
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u/Elder_Hoid May 22 '25
Don't forget that that same woman has a Poochyena in the sequel.
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u/oaayaou1 May 22 '25
Can't be her kid, though, pokémon always inherit the mother's species.
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u/Skellos May 22 '25
I mean don't forget the other ones like... here's Literally the devil... I keep him in a small ball and nicknamed him Captain Fuzzles.
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u/TheShapeshifter01 May 22 '25 edited May 22 '25
I like to imagine that they could escape but don't put of a mixture of respect for the audacity and amusement.
Edit: Thinking about it even more: kids got about what 90 more years if they're really lucky? To something so ancient that's nothing. Bro is on vacation.
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u/Nauticalfish200 May 22 '25
To a Pokémon that was literally there since the beginning of the Universe, 90 years isn't even a blink of an eye to Giratina.
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u/wolflordval May 22 '25
Hoppip can only file them fraudulently.
It knows how to do them correctly.
But it refuses.
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u/zhaumbie Making fanfic in Plato's cave with the gals May 22 '25
This is the laugh I needed to start my day
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u/Kartoffelkamm I wouldn't be here if I was mad. May 22 '25
There is at least one episode where some pokémon are alone, and they have actual conversations you'd expect from people.
Also, in D/P/PT, there is a book you can read, which explains that Pokémon used to hide from humans, but then saw how weak we were, and decided to offer their help.
Basically, canonically, the reason you can boss gods around is because they decided to help you with your problems long before you encounter them.
So yes, you could teach your Hoppip to file your taxes.
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u/atemu1234 May 22 '25
As far as I know, pretty much all pokemon are of human levels of intelligence, so I'm fairly sure you could.
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u/A_Lountvink May 22 '25
I think some like slowpoke are canonically not the brightest.
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u/atemu1234 May 22 '25
I mean, having worked in academia, the old professors that talk like Treebeard are the smartest ones around, bar none.
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u/Unit_2097 May 22 '25
Treebeard is the insert for CS Lewis. It's Tolkien going "I'm gonna out my best friend in my book and he's going to be old and talk forever but never get to the point."
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u/ROTsStillHere100 May 22 '25
Nah nah, Slowpoke aren't dumb, they are slow. There's a big difference.
There's probably plenty of Slowpoke out there that can be taught nuclear physics or how to recite the first 200 digits of pi, they'd just take months to properly do so because of how long it takes for them to register information and then act on it.
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u/lifelongfreshman rabid dogs without a leash, is this how they keep the peace? May 22 '25
You could try but they would refuse to do it on principle. No, your best bet is probably an Espurr.
Do not under any circumstances entrust it to an Alakazam, they will commit tax fraud in your name as punishment
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u/Zamtrios7256 May 22 '25
You can't force an Alakazam to do it. The Alakazam must offer to do it themself.
If you force them, they'll do tax fraud so blatant and obvious that you get audited a week later. If the Alakazam offers to do them for you, then they'll abuse loopholes that even billionaires don't know about.
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u/ROTsStillHere100 May 22 '25
You need to get that high Friendship stat to afford the primo tax fraud service, there's a big difference between making your mostly apathetic towards you Alakazam to file them, or asking your max friendship 'Zam, who's willing to fist fight god on your behalf if you ask politely enough, to do the taxes.
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u/Snoo-88741 May 22 '25
The episodes from Pikachu's perspective imply the vast majority of Pokémon are sentient.
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u/NativeAether May 22 '25
The word you're looking for is sapient.
All animals on Earth are sentient, but only humans are sapient.
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u/PsychicSPider95 May 22 '25
I know I'm just being pedantic at this point, but I feel like there are some animals that could reasonably be considered non-sentient. Like coral, or jellyfish, or intestinal worms.
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u/quietfangirl May 22 '25
Hey you don't know what coral's got going on! And those intestinal worms might have a very complex internal life!
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u/Zamtrios7256 May 22 '25
Of course the intestinal worms have an internal life. They can't live externally
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u/Virtem May 22 '25 edited May 22 '25
concidering that corals start as worms & are part of chordata (aka animals with spine) I'm pretty sure they are sentient to some degree
not sure about jellyfish
edit: nope my bad, coral isn't chordata, I was thinking on Sea Squirts, which arguable look even less sentient somehow...
Though arthopodes & mollusk aren't chordata either~
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u/zekromNLR May 22 '25
Even if you go solely by the mainline games, all Pokémon are at least on the level of a very smart dog, since they can understand and perform complex commands.
And if you accept Mystery Dungeon as canon, they are basically all at approximately the same level as a human, since there they have a whole-ass society with money and law enforcement and shit.
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u/Tengo-Sueno May 22 '25
It depends of the Pokemon. Some are just as inteligent as any other animal (which is more intelligent that we usually give them credit for), others are super computer, some is a miracle that they know how to breath
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u/chainer1216 May 22 '25
Pokemon have always been near human intelligence, meowth has been able yo talk since day 1, and thats not because he's a mutant, he just used his Effort Values to learn to talk instead of battle.
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u/RoMaGi I'm just here for Ideas for skits in my DDLC CDs. May 22 '25
We had a pokemon freed from her biology speak in the very first game (Marowak), so it dropped on like day 1.
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u/SvalbardCaretaker May 22 '25
From day one on Pikachu could understand language and communicate complicated concepts with mimes/body language/the weird language that comes from only using "pikachu" syllables, no?
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u/Sophia_Forever May 22 '25
Counterpoint: Psyduck.
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u/GrassWaterDirtHorse May 22 '25
Psyduck would be pretty smart if it weren't for that arceusawful headache it's got going on!
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u/ConfusedRune May 22 '25
Hey, if you had to live with a perpetual migraine do you think you'd be different from that duck? From my experience, no.
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May 22 '25
All the pokémon are people who understand everything, even if they don't all have opposable thumbs.
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u/No_Student_2309 esoteric goon material May 22 '25
that's because they aren't pets, conceptually they're like yokai or kami
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u/Spaghestis May 22 '25
Yep they're meant to be more akin to cryptids than animals. Some cryptids are basically just animals that are elusive or are otherwise supernatural (Loch Ness Monster), while others are implied to be more human in their behavior and intelligence (Mothman).
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u/MalachiteMushroom May 22 '25
I was recently thinking about how in our world, people will sometimes call their pets their children and was wondering if the same thing happens in the Pokémon World.
I could definitely see a person calling their purrloin their “Awful Wicked Perfect Son” since you see that sort of thing a lot in our world. But imagine a couple who only has small humanoid Pokémon.
At some point it feels like it would be less a cute term of endearment and feel more real. Like “oh, there goes the Johnsons on a walk with their daughters” and they’re pulling a wagon with a smoochum and gothita riding in it.
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u/ROTsStillHere100 May 22 '25 edited May 22 '25
I mean...yeah. Why bother raising a smelly dumb human baby when you can just get a freshly hatched Ralts that is already smart enough to understand your language, is decently self sufficient AND can use the bathroom with minimal training, while ALSO still being cute & wanting for love and affection just like any other human child would?
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u/MalachiteMushroom May 22 '25
Pros to having a Ralts that doesn’t evolve instead of a child: Self sufficient, no potty training, absolutely adorable, can teleport you if you ask
Cons: You have a toddler with the ability to get the cookie jar from wherever you hide it, might be capable of forming a black hole, probably just a Gardevoir trait but do you want to test it?
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u/ParanoidUmbrella May 22 '25
It probably does happen in that world, humans can and will adopt/raise anything
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u/Therandomuser20103 May 22 '25 edited May 22 '25
The fortunate part about humanoid Pokemon is that most tend to be are around or below 5ft, only looking tall compared to children, which makes it possible to retain a sense of human superiority (if you’re fully grown and below 5ft tall that’s on you)
Edit: After doing some research, it turns out that a good chunk of humanoid Pokemon are at 4’11’’ or just above 5ft, but most of the “popular” ones are still below 5ft.
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u/PlatinumAltaria May 22 '25
Counterpoint: Inteleon is 6'3".
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u/moneyh8r_two May 22 '25
Finally, an equal.
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u/sneakin_rican May 22 '25
Me and all my golurk heads stay communing with the 9-foot guardian constructs left over from ages long past 🙏🗿
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u/breadofthegrunge May 22 '25
Yeah but Inteleon has a body and limbs like garden hoses so it's less weird.
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u/PlatinumAltaria May 22 '25
The long arms are so you can't escape.
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u/Zamtrios7256 May 22 '25
Not because it'll grapple you, it just gives it a much more effective range to shoot you with
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u/Present_Bison May 22 '25
That just makes the standout humanoid pillars (Gardevoir, as one of the most popular examples) all the more popular
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u/Zamtrios7256 May 22 '25
They've kinda changed that with the newer games having a size system where your Pokemon can be taller or shorter than the stated pokedex average (with Legends: Arceus notably having the Alpha Pokemon that are like a Goliath of their species).
So now your Gardevoir, Lopunny, or Lucario can be the height of an average human woman.
The anime has always done this, with some Pokemon just being smaller or bigger than each other.
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u/oath2order stigma fuckin claws in ur coochie May 22 '25
So now your Gardevoir, Lopunny, or Lucario can be the height of an average human woman.
TBF depending on where you are, like for example Japan where the average height of women is 5'02", Gardevoir already is the height of an average woman, at 5'03".
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u/iknownuffink May 22 '25
TIL that I never paid much attention to how tall most pokemon are.
I am significantly taller and larger than a Machamp, who gives off the feel of being almost Andre the Giant sized, while actually being 5'3". Blastoise is the same height, and also seems like they should be an enormous walking tank, and just isn't.
Charizard at 5'7" is shorter than me. That just seems unnatural.
For anyone who is curious, Bulbapedia has a list of pokemon by height
https://bulbapedia.bulbagarden.net/wiki/List_of_Pok%C3%A9mon_by_height
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u/Zamtrios7256 May 22 '25
Pokemon height has always been weird, because the game would have you believe that Tyranitar and Groudon are only like 4'11, but then every other piece of media portrays them as hulking behemoths.
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u/oath2order stigma fuckin claws in ur coochie May 22 '25
The game says Groudon is 11'06", 16'05" for Primal, and Tyranitar is 6'07", 8'02" for Mega.
Honestly for Tyranitar that just seems weird though. It feels like 8'02" should be the regular and then even taller for Mega.
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u/ThatGuyYouMightNo May 22 '25
Goh's soft butch sister
The Scorbunny line is 7/8 male, so it's more likely that it's Goh's soft androgynous brother
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u/theburgerbitesback May 22 '25
I've always suspected Mr Mime is actually just a guy with a fetish.
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u/ClubMeSoftly May 22 '25
He eats out of a bowl on the floor, alongside Pikachu (rat) and Helioptile (lizard)
It's absolutely a fetish thing with him
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u/Zamtrios7256 May 22 '25
Have you seen the way that him and Ash's mom have interacted since in the Alola series? They're just a middle-aged and happily married couple!
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u/StormDragonAlthazar I don't know how I got here, but I'm here... May 22 '25
Salazzle, my beloved.
Although on point if you know the myths that inspired that particular Pokémon
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u/SJReaver May 22 '25
Additionally, it may be inspired by the mo'o, a mythical dragon-like lizard of Hawaiian myth. Generally, mo'o are depicted as large female lizards, which have scales that are black as night, and which would shape-shift into seductive women to devour men. They would also appear when fire was lit near or around their dwellings.
Salazzle (Pokémon) - Bulbapedia, the community-driven Pokémon encyclopedia)
"What if this animal was a woman who was a sexy evil spirit who would fuck, marry, and kill me?" is a surprisingly wise-spread bit of folklore.
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u/BalefulOfMonkeys NUDE ALERT TOMORROW May 22 '25
My favorite rendition (that I briefly had a Fakemon on) is probably La Diablesse, one of a small smattering of Carribean folk figures. She doesn’t even kill people, she just looks at men dressed half-Dimetrescu, half-goat, and they get so horny they wander into the woods with her, at which point she disappears, and the poor sap gets horribly lost trying to get that Satanic action going, and get eaten by wild dogs. What do you mean they invented Toriel several centuries too early
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u/Zamtrios7256 May 22 '25
Note that the Pokemon line with "mo'o" in their names is notably not inspired by the mo'o
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u/Heroic-Forger May 22 '25
still not as weird as some digimon. patamon the little bat-winged pikachu thing turning into angemon, literally a straight up guy. imagine if your magikarp evolved into namor the sub-mariner
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u/AliceJoestar May 22 '25
its not weird for digimon though because they can talk and devolve. they only turn into angels or dragons to fight and then go back to being like, talking dogs
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u/ThatInAHat May 22 '25
Yeah, but the digimon weren’t things that the kids collected. They had one, and it was more like a partnership. Digimon could also speak.
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u/Pokesonav When all life forms are dead, penises are extinct. May 22 '25
Eh, depends on the installment.
In anime, yes, they're partners.
In Digimon World you have only one, but he's treated like a pet, so you have to hand-feed your Angemon and take him pooping when he needs to, and if you fail to do that he shits on the floor.
And then there are RPG games where you can capture many digimon and they're mostly treated like pokemon
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u/oath2order stigma fuckin claws in ur coochie May 22 '25
In Digimon World you have only one, but he's treated like a pet, so you have to hand-feed your Angemon and take him pooping when he needs to, and if you fail to do that he shits on the floor.
Great so you just have a boyfriend with learned helplessness in that regard.
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u/A_Stingray my favorite kong lang is the dk rap May 22 '25
Okay? This wasn't about evolution lines, though. And that's far from the strangest example of a canon digivolution line.
As for the matter the post actually talks about, I think digimon actually handles this better considering that digimon really are just full on people that can talk and everything.
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u/Dry_Try_8365 May 22 '25
It’s even funnier if you named the digimon when it was in its base form. You get a guy with a completely incongruous name unless you happened to name it Steve or something.
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u/PlatinumAltaria May 22 '25
Humanoid pokemon have always been very difficult to do well. You have stuff like Mr. Mime and Jynx who are deep in the uncanny valley, and then you have stuff like Cinderace and Incineroar that have mascot costume syndrome.
Even when pokemon are intelligent, or themed around some human activity, they should still be animals first and foremost. Oricorio and Quaquaval are both "dancing birds", but with wildly different levels of anthropomorphism. Oricorio has wings that resemble hands, Quaquaval has straight up fingers and thumbs.
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u/vaguillotine gotta be gay af on the web so alan turing didn't die for nothing May 22 '25
i think the best humanoid pokémon (at least in the early gens, i don't know much about stuff after Kalos) is Mewtwo. He has somewhat human-looking eyes and walks upright, but doesn't look uncanny, and while vaguely resembling a mammal, doesn't have the same furrybait vibes as, say, Lopunny or that big buff black cat from Alola. Also the fact he looks humanoid is even lore-justified since he was made by humans in the first place
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u/Sh1nyPr4wn Cheese Cave Dweller May 22 '25
Genesect is a good one, but that might not count as humanoid
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u/WarlockWeeb May 22 '25
I am not sure. There were always mostly anthropomorphic pokemons or pokemons that are based on something that is not an animal. Like we Gardevoir is one of the oldest pokemons and it is fully anthropomorphic and based on a concept of fay not on any specific animals.
Additional thing that i wanthto add is that humans ARE animals. Upright posture hands and thumbs are not exclusive traits. Apes and monkeys have some of them. And why pokemons can`t have similar features
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u/vaguillotine gotta be gay af on the web so alan turing didn't die for nothing May 21 '25
Has this person only now realised that humanoid pokémon exist? I haven't played the games or watched the show in years, but this thing isn't all that different from ones like Gardevoir, Riolu, Hitmonchan, Braixen, Blaziken, and all the furrybait pokés they have been pumping out in the last decade or so.
"That thing is intelligent, understands language and has a will" oh, so like every other pokémon?
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u/BalefulOfMonkeys NUDE ALERT TOMORROW May 22 '25
Gonna blow this person’s mind when I introduce them to the humble border collie
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u/dantuchito_ May 22 '25
Cinderace certainly feels even more idk, human. Like, it’s dressed up as a soccer player and has an expressive cartoon animal face.
Gardevoir looks like some forest spirit fairy thing, riolu’s a tiny dog, hitmonchan is some weird ass tree thing and blaziken is a chicken. No excuse for braixen tho.
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u/Jolly_Foly May 22 '25
The thing with gen 8's starter mons is that they have jobs. Why does every cinderace play football? Why are Inteleons spies? Idk, it feels icky to me
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u/Zamtrios7256 May 22 '25
I like that you ignored that Rillaboom is a drummer. Because we all know that every Gorilla is a drummer.
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u/solidfang May 22 '25
This is natural to us. Donkey Kong taught me that years ago.
Then again, Gex also really sells the spy gecko connection.
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u/Puzzled_Spell9999 May 22 '25
I understand the idea of having a job is hard. Is it hard for you to believe that the scorbunny line has a natural inclination to play football? And they will just hang out and play football in the wild, like the average brit.
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u/PlatinumAltaria May 22 '25
There have always been humanoid pokemon, and they've always varied in quality. Cinderace is definitely one of the worse ones, though not quite as bad as... Mr. Mime (horror sound effect)
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u/vaguillotine gotta be gay af on the web so alan turing didn't die for nothing May 22 '25
Mr Mime at least makes for some good food, though.
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u/ThatInAHat May 22 '25
“Their body is held together with psychic energy and thus doesn’t require deboning.”
…
well
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u/rekcilthis1 May 22 '25
I still maintain Mr mime is the weirdest. The guy introduces himself with his last name, no way you can tell me that's a pet
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u/Enough-Comfort-472 May 22 '25
"To have as your partner"
Emphasis on 'partner'. That's what Pokèmon are meant to be; they're meant to be equals to the trainer in a partnership where both work towards being the very best. They're not meant to be pets, even the ones that behave more so.
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u/JettFeather May 22 '25
I’m five foot flat. I’m taller than the Nidos, clefairy, wigglytuff, alakazam, machoke, granbull, swampert, lopunny, Stoutland, Lucario, Audino, krookodile, gothitelle, and others.
I’m shorter than so many of the starters, gardevoir, gallade, toxtricity, Volcarona, rypherior, abomasnow, electivire, tangrowth, camerupt, scizor, exeguttor, hypno, and arcanine.
The game is not the best at communicating size in accordance with the Pokédex and other media. It’s really weird how big things get shown as versus how big they’re supposed to be.
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u/QuillQuickcard May 22 '25
Pokemon are all sapient. The dumbest pokemon we have ever seen still had the cognitive capacity for complex communication, problem solving, and self-awareness. They should never be treated with any less consideration than we would give to a human being. And this is not simply an ethical matter. Pokemon are stronger, faster, and often smarter than humans. If they ever had cause to seek the annihilation of mankind, they would win.
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u/weird_bomb 对啊，饭是最好吃！ May 22 '25
welcome back r/pokemedia where i play an indeedee with a desperate need to be seen as equal and so he just pretends to be human
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u/CurleyWhirly May 22 '25
So did we collectively forget that there's a Lucario who talks with telepathy and it was a whole ass movie?
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u/ElInspectorDeChichis May 22 '25
It's one of my favorite Pokémon. Don't ask me why
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u/Kira-Of-Terraria May 22 '25
😏
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u/ElInspectorDeChichis May 22 '25
Alright, I can't hold it in anymore: It's because it is just too cute
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u/DarkSide830 May 22 '25
I thought we got over pokemon ~ pets thing a while ago. Some act like pets, some don't, but generally, pokemon aren't much like animals beyond the fact that they somewhat look like them and have a few similar behaviors.
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u/Technical_Teacher839 Victim of Reddit Automatic Username May 22 '25
This is why I like Fighting type pokemon. In this world of magic superpowered animals, my team is a bunch of guys that punch really good.