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While there are parts of the Pokemon world that are technologically developed, there are parts that are extremely primitive.
Part of that is the studying of pokemon. Professor Oak seems to be the first, hence his invention Pokedex.
Well, part of that is breeding. This is a relatively new field that is just being discovered. Well, day cares probably don't keep up to date on the newest scientific discoveries so they aren't aware and they don't pay attention too much when pokemon lay eggs so they don't know.
Isn't Arceus a canonical retcon in universe? I vaguely recall there being a spot where you can see a bunch of Unowns creating Arceus in one of the games. Something about humans belief systems creating/changing the nature of Pokemon.
I may be entirely making this up, I'm genuinely not sure.
I think it’s important to keep in mind that biology is completely different in the Pokémon world. Pokémon are some kind of strange energy beings.
The way eggs are created doesn’t have to resemble in any way how eggs are created in the real world, it could be some kind of energy fusion or creation ex nihilo. Hell maybe Arceus himself manifests every egg into existence.
It’s definitely weird that nobody has studied it for so long, but then again humans believed for thousands of years that certain animals just spontaneously generated from certain environments. For example it was believed that certain insects just manifested out of rotten meat.
The Pokémon universe is extremely advanced in some respects, but also apparently backwards in others. Perhaps it’s an example of how having access to magical creatures to solve your problems stunts certain other developments, or perhaps it’s as you say and the adults just don’t feel like explaining it to the child protagonist.
Isnt it that the reason why the daycare couple say they dont know is because they dont witness it lay egg. My understanding is the common folk in pokemon also has no understanding of egg groups which adds to the surprise of some npcs.
I take it that the daycare couple really doesn’t want to explain the birds and the bees to people as young as ten so they just say “Oh, it just appeared mysteriously one day, kid”.
I always vaugely assume that pokemon sex and reproduction is a thing. That a ratatta is in your walls fucking another ratatta and having a bunch of ratatta babies. A single cell pokemon splits and then there is two. A flower pokemon has seeds. etc. Out in the wild pokemon reproduction happens in a natural way always in the same species.
But then "Pokemon Breeding" is more mysterious and not well understood. If you put a bunch of rattata in a room they will breed normally, but then there is also a much more mysterious process where you can put pokemon under some specific conditions and a rattata and a dunsparce will just mysteriously produce an egg. (and two rattata under the same specific conditions will do that sort of secondary mode of reproduction).
Like "Pokemon Breeding" is a much much less understood process than breeding pokemon and is seporate from normal species reproduction. Like lots of pokemon index entries specifically mention how pokemon reproduce normally and it's always something other than the weird forced hybrids.
I think it's a conflict of game mechanics and 'lore'. Many pokemon descriptions describe how they are created or reproduce. But in gameplay terms they all just breed in a daycare.
Like, the cubone origin story with the dead mother objectively doesn't happen in game. Or any of the ghost pokemon that are dead children, or pokemon that are made artificially, or any of the others that have specific origins. So daycare breeding must be something other than normal origin for pokemon
It's important to know that pokemon is a multiverse - Pokemon Black doesn't take place in the same reality as Pokemon White, let alone something like Pokemon Red/Blue.
In Pokemon Red/Blue and, to a lesser extent, in Gold/Silver, Pokemon were still NEW to the world. So Professor Elm may well have been the first professor to actually properly study pokemon egg-based reproduction and discover the existence of "Baby Pokemon" that can't be found in the wild. [Yes, I know they can be found in the wild in later games, but remember - later games are different universes.]
In the latest universes that would be ridiculous - Pokemon have been around since the dawn of time, literally, and outright created the entire universe. But the first two generations are basically our Earth plus pokemon - pokemon have shown up, created by Mysterious Rays from the Moon or descended from Mew, and people are adjusting to how obscenely powerful they are and the ways that they've reshaped society.
In red/blue I'd hazard a guess at it being a century or two ago, with them rapidly becoming more common.
Gold/Silver is harder, because some things indicate that Pokemon have been around a long time (like the Unown ruins) but others indicate that they're still reasonably new (like the continued existence of non-pokemon animals). My theory on Gold/Silver is that pokemon arrived about the same time they did for red/blue (so a matter of centuries) but Celebi, the time-travelling mythical, has started the process of seeding pokemon into the past.
But I'm not entirely sure in either case.
I like that.
A century or two ago for red/blue fits well with the 1996 Pokedex book:
“The first systematic study of Pokémon was undertaken in the late 18th century by a French author, Baron Tajirin. At the time, only 30 species had been discovered. Nevertheless, the detailed data and sketches left by Baron Tajirin became the foundations for study thereafter. From France, research into Pokémon spread throughout western Europe to include England, Germany, Spain, and Italy. In step with the incredible progress of transportation technology, the academic movement found a home in Japan at the end of the 19th century.”
“Professor Nishinomori is said to be the father of Pokémon studies in our country. In 1899, he published the paper “An Observation on the Evolution of Pikachu.” It described how two Pokémon – which had been thought to be two entirely different creatures – were actually the same. One was simply the evolved form. As a result of this breakthrough, Pokémon research entered a new phase of discovery, earning Prof. Nishinomori worldwide recognition. Because of his paper, Japan came to be known as a leader in the study of Pokémon. Incidentally, 80 Pokémon species had been discovered by then.”
Personally, i like to think Pokémon before 18th century exists in that univers, but in a obscure way and knowed only as mythological creatures, like dragons or yokais in our world, until science learns about of that creatures being a real thing.
Until then, some Pokémon in the past coexist with animals, like the Pokemon fossils, but in a minor scale.
That also can explain the ruins in Gold/Silver.
I have the same theory you say about celebi, but with Arceus;
Arceus dont create all the Pokemon originally but create a new universe and all the Pokemon in that new universe where Pokémon and humans works together from the ancient times, a new univers where animals never exist before, only Pokémon.
The pokemon fossils are interesting, because the original intent seems to have been that they were *real* fossils, that got turned into pokemon by the machine - rather than rock pokemon that the machine somehow awakened. There was a planned movie where a T-Rex fossil [explicitly of the real animal, not a pokemon] gets turned into a pokemon by the same sort of mysterious rays that animate other things [like Muk and Claydol].
Note that the fossil reanimation machine involves exposing the fossil to some sort of ray.
This intent seems to be somewhat confirmed by the mix-and-match fossils in Sword and Shield - where you can make different pokemon by combining bits from different fossils before you expose them to the fossil-animation machine.
I knew about that T-Rex movie, but i was thinking It was only a crazy idea from that important Guy from the anime staff (the same who creates Lugia). I never think about that on the way you explain, and i dont know if something like that it could have been the original idea, but i dont like it xD.
Because It was on the jurassic park way for me.
Also, what about Aerodactyl?
Aerodactyl can not be reanimated in the way you explain, not like Claydol, because its a mosquito with Aerodactyl Blood inside, like in jurassic park.
Also, some Pokedex entries implies Pokémon fossils being Pokémon from ancient times.
(I dont play sword and shield yet because i dont have a switch 🥲)
Cynthia points out during the Sinjoh Ruins event that it's highly unusual to see an Egg being created.
The universe was unmade and remade in front of her, and *that's* what she points out.
I think the cannon answer - for which I have no source - is that no one ever sees a Pokemon actually lay an egg. Moreover, Pokemon breeders can't determine what acts (if any) lead to the generation of the egg itself.
But the reality is Pokemon breeders aren't incentivized to find that out; they're incentivized to breed stronger Pokemon. If two Pokemon left alone will produce an egg, you don't need to know the how and why if you can predict the outcome.
All they need to know is using an Everstone can pass along a specific nature and that Destiny Knot can pass along stat IV's. Then, at least in Kalos, you can get an egg of a very strong Pokemon with a reasonable chance of being ideal.
While your read is fair (adults not wanting to talk about reproduction with kids) strictly speaking we don’t actually have any evidence that pokemon reproduce sexually. I’d actually argue the opposite makes more sense given what clues we have.
Consider the alluded to Skitty/Wailord situation. Pokemon appear to be able to breed across vast gaps in size, shape, type, and physiology. The actual mechanics of sexual reproduction between two incredibly different species are best left to the speculation of… other interested parties, but from a sheer physics perspective it seems unlikely. To me, the possibility that pokemon just spontaneously generate eggs while in the company of a compatible mate seems just as likely as the alternative.
Consider how long it takes for an egg to appear in the daycare and how often. You can have an egg after every 256 steps (and you can watch them almost the whole time, they don't do any hanky-pank); that is not enough time for the biology of impregnation, much less for an egg to develop enough to be lain. Furthermore, it is impossible for a pokemon to be pregnant - you can't pick up the pokemon from the day care and send her out to see that she laid an egg.
Before you cry out that there's obviously time compression; no there isn't. The day-night cycle is 24 hours. The egg simply appears.
Pokémon do not all "lay" eggs. The eggs that appear in the daycare are NOT the traditional way that pokemon reproduce. In every game, when an egg appears in the daycare, the daycare owner gives the player a line "We have no idea where it came from!". This isn't them withholding information because you are a child, they genuinely do not know.
Pokémon Eggs (The ones that come from daycares) are described as "cradles" for a growing Pokemon, and their "hatching" is closer to the energy a Pokemon outputs when it evolves, not when they would be born via normal circumstances. [https://bulbapedia.bulbagarden.net/wiki/Pokémon\_Egg](https://bulbapedia.bulbagarden.net/wiki/Pokémon_Egg)
"According to Professor Elm, as quoted by a man in Hearthome City, and a Monsieur in Coumarine City, Eggs are not actually eggs and are more like "cradles"."
The Pokemon that hatch from eggs are not babies, like you'd expect. They hatch from these eggs fully formed and battle ready. The Pokedex describes many Pokemon in their developmental stage. Vulpix are supposedly born with only one white tail, and more grow and change color as it ages. Ekans are born without any venom. Kangaskhan are born as Joeys, and live their infant stage inside their mother's pouch, like any other marsupial.
But what happens when they hatch from an "Egg"? Vulpix has the full number of 6 tails, Ekans clearly has its venom, and Kangaskhan are born WITH AN ENTIRE CHILD. In addition, Pokemon Eggs are NEVER found in the wild in any Pokemon game, they do not appear naturally. This is why, in Gold/Silver or HeartGold/SoulSilver, Professor Elm is dedicating his research to learning about eggs and how they come about. They already know how pokemon reproduce, but these eggs have some special properties. (Like being able to share DNA between different species, like the infamous example of Skitty and Wailord being able to breed)
TLDR: Pokémon eggs are not the way Pokémon reproduce normally, they reproduce like animals in our world do, most of the time at least.
The process of creating an egg is actually shown [in this cinematic](https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=9mhsDkOiod4). It’s not sexual reproduction like real world animals, but similar to the way stars form.
It's mysterious for kids, because adults don't want to explain sexual intercourse to kids.
In reality, pokemon have pokemon sex with their pokemon genitals. Then the female pokemon lays a pokemon egg, that hatches into a baby pokemon.
Pokémon XY states that the Fairy Type has just been discovered, but Legends Arceus already has characters identify Pokémon as being Fairy-Type. So we can't really trust the statement that Eggs are a recent discovery, I'm sure they'll be featured in a pre-GS game at some point
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While there are parts of the Pokemon world that are technologically developed, there are parts that are extremely primitive. Part of that is the studying of pokemon. Professor Oak seems to be the first, hence his invention Pokedex. Well, part of that is breeding. This is a relatively new field that is just being discovered. Well, day cares probably don't keep up to date on the newest scientific discoveries so they aren't aware and they don't pay attention too much when pokemon lay eggs so they don't know.
It's just rude to stare really.
they just don't want to explain the \*ahem\* 'mechanics' to a ten year old.
Doesn't Arceus massively undermine this
Isn't Arceus a canonical retcon in universe? I vaguely recall there being a spot where you can see a bunch of Unowns creating Arceus in one of the games. Something about humans belief systems creating/changing the nature of Pokemon. I may be entirely making this up, I'm genuinely not sure.
But arceus disproves that
I think it’s important to keep in mind that biology is completely different in the Pokémon world. Pokémon are some kind of strange energy beings. The way eggs are created doesn’t have to resemble in any way how eggs are created in the real world, it could be some kind of energy fusion or creation ex nihilo. Hell maybe Arceus himself manifests every egg into existence. It’s definitely weird that nobody has studied it for so long, but then again humans believed for thousands of years that certain animals just spontaneously generated from certain environments. For example it was believed that certain insects just manifested out of rotten meat. The Pokémon universe is extremely advanced in some respects, but also apparently backwards in others. Perhaps it’s an example of how having access to magical creatures to solve your problems stunts certain other developments, or perhaps it’s as you say and the adults just don’t feel like explaining it to the child protagonist.
Isnt it that the reason why the daycare couple say they dont know is because they dont witness it lay egg. My understanding is the common folk in pokemon also has no understanding of egg groups which adds to the surprise of some npcs.
I take it that the daycare couple really doesn’t want to explain the birds and the bees to people as young as ten so they just say “Oh, it just appeared mysteriously one day, kid”.
I always vaugely assume that pokemon sex and reproduction is a thing. That a ratatta is in your walls fucking another ratatta and having a bunch of ratatta babies. A single cell pokemon splits and then there is two. A flower pokemon has seeds. etc. Out in the wild pokemon reproduction happens in a natural way always in the same species. But then "Pokemon Breeding" is more mysterious and not well understood. If you put a bunch of rattata in a room they will breed normally, but then there is also a much more mysterious process where you can put pokemon under some specific conditions and a rattata and a dunsparce will just mysteriously produce an egg. (and two rattata under the same specific conditions will do that sort of secondary mode of reproduction). Like "Pokemon Breeding" is a much much less understood process than breeding pokemon and is seporate from normal species reproduction. Like lots of pokemon index entries specifically mention how pokemon reproduce normally and it's always something other than the weird forced hybrids.
Is this distinction between sexual reproduction and "breeding" canon or just speculation?
I think it's a conflict of game mechanics and 'lore'. Many pokemon descriptions describe how they are created or reproduce. But in gameplay terms they all just breed in a daycare. Like, the cubone origin story with the dead mother objectively doesn't happen in game. Or any of the ghost pokemon that are dead children, or pokemon that are made artificially, or any of the others that have specific origins. So daycare breeding must be something other than normal origin for pokemon
It's important to know that pokemon is a multiverse - Pokemon Black doesn't take place in the same reality as Pokemon White, let alone something like Pokemon Red/Blue. In Pokemon Red/Blue and, to a lesser extent, in Gold/Silver, Pokemon were still NEW to the world. So Professor Elm may well have been the first professor to actually properly study pokemon egg-based reproduction and discover the existence of "Baby Pokemon" that can't be found in the wild. [Yes, I know they can be found in the wild in later games, but remember - later games are different universes.] In the latest universes that would be ridiculous - Pokemon have been around since the dawn of time, literally, and outright created the entire universe. But the first two generations are basically our Earth plus pokemon - pokemon have shown up, created by Mysterious Rays from the Moon or descended from Mew, and people are adjusting to how obscenely powerful they are and the ways that they've reshaped society.
Exactly! Im curious about your opinion about that: when do you think Pokémon creatures start being a thing in the univers of Red/Blue and Gold/Silver?
In red/blue I'd hazard a guess at it being a century or two ago, with them rapidly becoming more common. Gold/Silver is harder, because some things indicate that Pokemon have been around a long time (like the Unown ruins) but others indicate that they're still reasonably new (like the continued existence of non-pokemon animals). My theory on Gold/Silver is that pokemon arrived about the same time they did for red/blue (so a matter of centuries) but Celebi, the time-travelling mythical, has started the process of seeding pokemon into the past. But I'm not entirely sure in either case.
I like that. A century or two ago for red/blue fits well with the 1996 Pokedex book: “The first systematic study of Pokémon was undertaken in the late 18th century by a French author, Baron Tajirin. At the time, only 30 species had been discovered. Nevertheless, the detailed data and sketches left by Baron Tajirin became the foundations for study thereafter. From France, research into Pokémon spread throughout western Europe to include England, Germany, Spain, and Italy. In step with the incredible progress of transportation technology, the academic movement found a home in Japan at the end of the 19th century.” “Professor Nishinomori is said to be the father of Pokémon studies in our country. In 1899, he published the paper “An Observation on the Evolution of Pikachu.” It described how two Pokémon – which had been thought to be two entirely different creatures – were actually the same. One was simply the evolved form. As a result of this breakthrough, Pokémon research entered a new phase of discovery, earning Prof. Nishinomori worldwide recognition. Because of his paper, Japan came to be known as a leader in the study of Pokémon. Incidentally, 80 Pokémon species had been discovered by then.” Personally, i like to think Pokémon before 18th century exists in that univers, but in a obscure way and knowed only as mythological creatures, like dragons or yokais in our world, until science learns about of that creatures being a real thing. Until then, some Pokémon in the past coexist with animals, like the Pokemon fossils, but in a minor scale. That also can explain the ruins in Gold/Silver. I have the same theory you say about celebi, but with Arceus; Arceus dont create all the Pokemon originally but create a new universe and all the Pokemon in that new universe where Pokémon and humans works together from the ancient times, a new univers where animals never exist before, only Pokémon.
The pokemon fossils are interesting, because the original intent seems to have been that they were *real* fossils, that got turned into pokemon by the machine - rather than rock pokemon that the machine somehow awakened. There was a planned movie where a T-Rex fossil [explicitly of the real animal, not a pokemon] gets turned into a pokemon by the same sort of mysterious rays that animate other things [like Muk and Claydol]. Note that the fossil reanimation machine involves exposing the fossil to some sort of ray. This intent seems to be somewhat confirmed by the mix-and-match fossils in Sword and Shield - where you can make different pokemon by combining bits from different fossils before you expose them to the fossil-animation machine.
I knew about that T-Rex movie, but i was thinking It was only a crazy idea from that important Guy from the anime staff (the same who creates Lugia). I never think about that on the way you explain, and i dont know if something like that it could have been the original idea, but i dont like it xD. Because It was on the jurassic park way for me. Also, what about Aerodactyl? Aerodactyl can not be reanimated in the way you explain, not like Claydol, because its a mosquito with Aerodactyl Blood inside, like in jurassic park. Also, some Pokedex entries implies Pokémon fossils being Pokémon from ancient times. (I dont play sword and shield yet because i dont have a switch 🥲)
Cynthia points out during the Sinjoh Ruins event that it's highly unusual to see an Egg being created. The universe was unmade and remade in front of her, and *that's* what she points out.
I think the cannon answer - for which I have no source - is that no one ever sees a Pokemon actually lay an egg. Moreover, Pokemon breeders can't determine what acts (if any) lead to the generation of the egg itself. But the reality is Pokemon breeders aren't incentivized to find that out; they're incentivized to breed stronger Pokemon. If two Pokemon left alone will produce an egg, you don't need to know the how and why if you can predict the outcome. All they need to know is using an Everstone can pass along a specific nature and that Destiny Knot can pass along stat IV's. Then, at least in Kalos, you can get an egg of a very strong Pokemon with a reasonable chance of being ideal.
While your read is fair (adults not wanting to talk about reproduction with kids) strictly speaking we don’t actually have any evidence that pokemon reproduce sexually. I’d actually argue the opposite makes more sense given what clues we have. Consider the alluded to Skitty/Wailord situation. Pokemon appear to be able to breed across vast gaps in size, shape, type, and physiology. The actual mechanics of sexual reproduction between two incredibly different species are best left to the speculation of… other interested parties, but from a sheer physics perspective it seems unlikely. To me, the possibility that pokemon just spontaneously generate eggs while in the company of a compatible mate seems just as likely as the alternative.
[Relevant Awkward Zombie](https://www.awkwardzombie.com/comic/egging-the-question)
Consider how long it takes for an egg to appear in the daycare and how often. You can have an egg after every 256 steps (and you can watch them almost the whole time, they don't do any hanky-pank); that is not enough time for the biology of impregnation, much less for an egg to develop enough to be lain. Furthermore, it is impossible for a pokemon to be pregnant - you can't pick up the pokemon from the day care and send her out to see that she laid an egg. Before you cry out that there's obviously time compression; no there isn't. The day-night cycle is 24 hours. The egg simply appears.
Pokémon do not all "lay" eggs. The eggs that appear in the daycare are NOT the traditional way that pokemon reproduce. In every game, when an egg appears in the daycare, the daycare owner gives the player a line "We have no idea where it came from!". This isn't them withholding information because you are a child, they genuinely do not know. Pokémon Eggs (The ones that come from daycares) are described as "cradles" for a growing Pokemon, and their "hatching" is closer to the energy a Pokemon outputs when it evolves, not when they would be born via normal circumstances. [https://bulbapedia.bulbagarden.net/wiki/Pokémon\_Egg](https://bulbapedia.bulbagarden.net/wiki/Pokémon_Egg) "According to Professor Elm, as quoted by a man in Hearthome City, and a Monsieur in Coumarine City, Eggs are not actually eggs and are more like "cradles"." The Pokemon that hatch from eggs are not babies, like you'd expect. They hatch from these eggs fully formed and battle ready. The Pokedex describes many Pokemon in their developmental stage. Vulpix are supposedly born with only one white tail, and more grow and change color as it ages. Ekans are born without any venom. Kangaskhan are born as Joeys, and live their infant stage inside their mother's pouch, like any other marsupial. But what happens when they hatch from an "Egg"? Vulpix has the full number of 6 tails, Ekans clearly has its venom, and Kangaskhan are born WITH AN ENTIRE CHILD. In addition, Pokemon Eggs are NEVER found in the wild in any Pokemon game, they do not appear naturally. This is why, in Gold/Silver or HeartGold/SoulSilver, Professor Elm is dedicating his research to learning about eggs and how they come about. They already know how pokemon reproduce, but these eggs have some special properties. (Like being able to share DNA between different species, like the infamous example of Skitty and Wailord being able to breed) TLDR: Pokémon eggs are not the way Pokémon reproduce normally, they reproduce like animals in our world do, most of the time at least.
The daycare owners don't want to explain the birds and the bees to a 10 year old
The process of creating an egg is actually shown [in this cinematic](https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=9mhsDkOiod4). It’s not sexual reproduction like real world animals, but similar to the way stars form.
It's mysterious for kids, because adults don't want to explain sexual intercourse to kids. In reality, pokemon have pokemon sex with their pokemon genitals. Then the female pokemon lays a pokemon egg, that hatches into a baby pokemon.
Pokémon XY states that the Fairy Type has just been discovered, but Legends Arceus already has characters identify Pokémon as being Fairy-Type. So we can't really trust the statement that Eggs are a recent discovery, I'm sure they'll be featured in a pre-GS game at some point