BOGLEECH.COM PRESENTS:

The Natural Origins of Pokémon



Pokémon! The franchise that had Nintendo rolling in cash and introduced the world to several

hundred evolving battle-monsters with superpowers. Once dismissed by many as a passing fad,

the enduringly popular franchise was originally cooked up by once unknown artist Satoshi Tajiri,

whose passion for monsters and insect collecting inspired his "pocket monsters" concept many

years before he would get caught up in the gaming business. None could have predicted its

explosive success, and the world as we know it has never been the same. At least, it's been the

same except for several generations growing up knowing the "Team Rocket" motto, and that's good

enough for me.



An interesting thing about the Japanese school system is how much value they put into biology.

Whereas millions of Americans grow up each year shamefully unaware of what an Opabinia looks

like, our eastern friends treat the far reaches of Earth's flora and fauna as a staple of children's

homework. The (obviously intentional) result of this is that animals most westerners consider

"obscure" are given the star treatment for countless Anime, Manga, and Videogames...



In brackish mud flats, mangroves and riverbanks throughout warmer corners of the globe

lurks a remarkable family of fish who spend more time on the land than in the water. Able to

slither over mud even faster than they can swim, Mudskippers easily beat both the climbing

perch and walking catfish for the coveted title of most amphibious Pisces . Ranging wildly in

size but little in lifestyle, nearly all mudskippers are communal mud-burrowers who feed on

insects, worms and small crustaceans. Some species are even climbers, with the rear pair

of fins adapted as a "sucker" to grip small rocks or branches. Males sport larger, more

colorful back fins that they flash during territorial disputes.



Many fans like to compare Mudkip to an axolotl , a type of salamander that remains in its

larval state, but note that Mudkip's original Japanese name is also derived from "mudskipper."

Wooper is much more blatantly a larval salamander!



Sometimes mistaken for a "fly" or "bee" by fans, the Ninjask family can confuse even adult

players with its strange system of evolution; once the ground-dwelling Nincada transforms into

winged Ninjask, it may leave behind a second new pokemon called a "Shedinja". Part "bug type"

and part "ghost type", the Shedinja is a strange, hovering exoskeleton with a frail body but

unique defensive abilities.



In the real world, Cicadas are Hemiptera ("true bugs") which begin their lives deep underground

as "nymphs," feeding on tree roots and rarely moving for up to 17 years in some species.

When the time comes to mature and reproduce, the crablike creatures burrow up from the

ground in droves, climb the trunk of their tree and molt into beautiful winged adults, leaving

behind their old, hollow skin almost perfectly intact - except for the hole in its back. More

commonly heard than seen, adult cicadas produce one of the loudest mating calls in nature,

and can be heard chattering throughout the summer months in most parts of the world.



Another tricky one for some, it's easy to assume that Flygon is a "dragonfly" Pokémon, given

its appearance and "dragon" classification, but Trapinch and its evolutions owe their design

to a seldom-seen predator known in the west as an Antlion or Doodlebug . The short-lived

adult stage of this insect does indeed resemble a dragonfly, but the larval stage is what

these creatures are famous for; a voracious little monster which digs a steep, conical

pit-trap in sand or loose soil and buries itself at the bottom, waiting patiently for tiny insects to

slip and tumble straight into its venomous jaws.



Also called Pelican eels, these eerie abyssal fish can be found at depths of 3000 to 26,000 feet

below the sea's surface, and can grow up to two feet long from head to tail. Aptly named, gulpers

can unhinge their already massive jaws and expand their stomachs to accommodate prey

seemingly many times their size. Like several other deep-sea fish, gulpers often attract prey with

a bioluminescent "lure," in this case a small bulb on the tip of their tail. Hanging motionless in the

water column, a gulper wiggles its own tail just inside its gaping maw.



At a whopping two to three feet long, Anomalocaris reigned supreme as the world's largest

known predator millions of years before the evolution of most land animals or even animals with

vertebrae. Now thought to be a lobopod (like the terrestrial, still-living peripatus or "velvet-worm"),

this miniature monster terrorized the seas for almost 40 million years, preying upon small

trilobites snatched up in its spiny "feelers". These feelers, interestingly, were the first piece of the

animal ever discovered, and were thought to be the tails of some unknown shrimp-like animal.

Later, the circular mouth would be discovered and misidentified as a "toothed jellyfish", while an

imprint of the body was taken for some sort of plant or sea-pen. "Anomalous" indeed!



Lileep and Cradily are a rather strange pair; bearing the "grass" type implies that they are plants,

whereas the Pokédex refers to them as "anemones", a kind of animal in the order Cnidaria . Their

conceptual model, however, is an entirely different marine animal sometimes called a "sea lily".



Related to starfish and sea urchins, crinoids are echinoderms that feed primarily on plankton

ensnared by their feathery tentacles. Usually rooted in place by a long, thin stalk, many crinoids are

nonetheless quite mobile when the need arises, and some species have even been observed

"walking" on two tentacles in a weirdly anthropomorphic fashion. While modern species stick to a

feathery, flower-like anatomy, prehistoric crinoids came in wildly varied forms, some of them

resembling chunky, armored lumps, crawling discs or spiny cones.



Unlike many other caterpillars, bagworms construct a cocoon almost as soon as they hatch,

protecting themselves throughout their larval stage with a thick casing made from twigs, leaves, or

in at least one species, decaying corpses . In many species, only the males metamorphose into

winged moths; mature females are typically limbless, faceless, worm-like reproductive machines

who remain in their bags until they mate and die, leaving behind a batch of eggs. While the bags of

most species have a tapering, pinecone-like shape, some build cases that resemble coiled snail

shells, or flattened discs with multiple openings.



Pineco and Forretress were the first bagworm-themed Pokémon, appearing in the "second

generation" games (Gold & Silver) and lacking a moth-like stage, perhaps implying a bagworm

species that evolved away from metamorphosis entirely. Later, a new bagworm, Burmy, would be

released with both worm-like female and winged male evolutions.



It is somewhat possible that Shuckle is some sort of terrestrial barnacle , but also possible that

this unique bug/rock pokemon was inspired in part by these common but seldom-noticed plant

parasites. Attached to their host by a thick shell of their own waxy secretions, adult scale insects

have soft, flat bodies with useless vestigial legs. Like aphids, their bodily waste is a sweet, sugary

"honeydew" that oozes from their casing (compare to Shuckle's "potion" filled shell) and is favored

by certain species of ant who in turn protect the scales from predators. Young scales, fully

mobile, are called "crawlers".



Complain all you like about Athlete's foot, but it has always been insects who suffer the full

brunt of fungal assault; Cordyceps is a genus of fungi exclusively parasitic in the bodies of

insects, sometimes even capable of manipulating host behavior. Many species will compel their

hosts to climb as high as possible and die where they stand, allowing the tiny mushrooms to

sprout and scatter airborne spores. Here, we see the corpse of a tiny fly bearing the twin

mushrooms that destroyed it.



Like Nincada , the insect half of Paras is modeled after a cicada in its immature "nymph" stage,

but finds itself completely overtaken by fungus before it can acquire wings. Several species of

Cordyceps are known to attack cicadas, and do indeed kill their hosts before they reach the

adult stage.



The largest single flower in the world, the giant rafflesia can reach up to three feet across and is

among the rarest tropical plants known to man. Without leaves, roots or even a stem, the

disembodied blossom grows only as a parasite on the vines of another plant, Tetrastigma . They are

sometimes called the "corpse flower", as they favor flies for pollination and mimic both the texture

and smell of decaying flesh. Amazingly, every massive blossom produces only one tiny seed, which

sticks to the fur of small mammals in the vague hope of finding another host.



Seldom referenced in American culture, Rafflesia are a relatively popular icon in Japan and have

found their way into much more than just Pokémon, with many other video game appearances

(including Animal Crossing: Wild World ) and a handful of rubber-suit television monsters to their

name.



Constantly overshadowed by the world's lone species of Venus Fly-Trap, there are actually many

plants that prey upon small animals, and the various "pitcher" traps come in the greatest variety.

They generally attract prey with their coloration and scent, though some species secrete an

intoxicating nectar to seal the deal. Insects landing on their slippery lips soon find themselves

drowning in the trap's water-filled innards, attacked by digestive enzymes even as they struggle.

Oily, downward pointing hairs make climbing out an impossible task, and some species even have

transparent windows to disguise the true exit.



As crafty as these plants are on their own, it's not unheard of for certain spiders to take up

residence in a pitcher and stretch their web across the opening. Combined, they trap more prey

than they ever would alone, and the spider instinctively drops nutritious leftovers into the pool below.



You might think that Raticate is just, well, a rat , but there are many different rodents who carry the

"rat" moniker, and it's the Nutria or "coypu" that Raticate appears to be modeled after. Besides the

overall physical resemblance, Nutria are "water rats" with webbed hind feet, a trait shared by

Raticate according to its official data. Raised in captivity for cheap meat and cheaper fur, escaped

Nutria have become an ecological pest throughout the world, where the beaver-sized rodents

devour local plant and animal life alike. Strangely, the female's teats are situated high up her sides,

allowing her young to nurse even while she swims.



Off the coast of Africa in 1938, zoological history was made with the discovery of a living species

previously thought extinct for over 360 million years. Over a hundred species of coelecanth are

known from fossil remains, but only two are known to survive today, and remain a rare and

celebrated sighting. These nine-finned fish are the only living animal with an intracranial joint - a

division allowing the front of their head to bend upwards as they feed - and give birth to live young.

They feed on any smaller creature they can get ahold of, and reach up to six feet in length.



Many eager young fans like to pretend that these pokemon are "Raptors", but the truth is far more

interesting than a theropod that barely exists; the proper term, you see, is Deinonychusaur , and

the popular "Jurassic park" version is inaccurate anyway.



Leaf-tailed geckos, like all other geckos, are large-eyed nocturnal insectivores able to climb any

surface in any direction with equal ease, thanks to branching filaments on their toes able to grip

surfaces on a molecular level. Unlike other geckos, leaf-tail varieties are equipped with

expandable frills and membranes allowing them to leap and glide short distances, not unlike the

famous "flying squirrel."



Alright, look: I know you've all comfortably thought of these two Pokémon as "ducks" since the

dawn of the 21st century, but you're just going to have to wake up and accept the fact that having

"duck" in their names doesn't mean a damn thing. During the video game's earliest prototype

phases, "flying" type was known as "bird" type, and assigned to every bird-based Pokémon

whether or not they could actually fly ( see: Doduo and Dodrio ). Psyduck and Golduck, however, did

not receive the "bird" or "flying" type because they are not birds. With four webbed limbs, a full

covering of fur, mammalian tails and a habit of swimming beneath the water, these guys always

have been and always will be duck-billed platypses and there's not a damn thing you can do about

it. You might try to say that they're just stylized, duck-like monsters, but that would still make them

stylized, duck-like monsters identical to platypuses . You must see the futility in arguing with me.



Platypuses are egg-laying mammals or "monotremes," an ancient group survived only by these

animals and the echidnas or "spiny anteaters." Their duck-like bills are sensitive to the electrical

fields of their prey, and males are armed with a highly venomous spur on each hind foot.



Yes, I'm also aware that Golduck is intentionally similar to the (typically more reptilian) Kappa of

Japanese folklore, but this is an article about the natural world, not the supernatural, and Golduck

clearly has a primary animal basis.



Mudkip family - Mudskippers



Nincada, Ninjask & Shedinja - Cicadas



Trapinch, Vibrava and Flygon - Antlions



Huntail - Deep sea Gulper Eel



Anorith and Armaldo - Anomalocaris



Lileep and Cradily - Crinoids or "Sea lilies"



Shuckle - Scale Insects?



Paras & Parasect - Cicadas & parasitic fungi



Vileplume - Rafflesia Arnoldi



Victreebel - Nepenthes



Raticate - the Nutria



Relicanth - Coelacanth



Sceptile family - Leaf-tailed Geckos



Psyduck & Golduck - PLATYPUSES!



Poor, misunderstood Gorebyss. Fans have debated whether this needle-nosed "eel" is a pipefish,

a hagfish, a snipe eel or even a dolphin , of all things - wishful thinking by Delphinidae fans. Evolving

from Clamperl (a mollusk!) with the "deep sea scale" item, there should be no mistaking this

abyssal fish for a lousy porpoise - it's even sister to fellow deepwater creep Huntail (above) which

evolves from Clamperl using the "deep sea tooth!"



The long-nosed chimaera doesn't actually feed through its snout like Gorebyss, but it does use the

electroreceptors on its snout to locate its prey, usually hard-shelled creatures such as

crustaceans and (ironically) clams. Related to sharks and rays, these cartilaginous fish were

much more common and diverse millions of years in the past, now restricted mostly to deep, cold

waters. Though unlikely to encounter humans, the spine on a chimaera's back fin is highly

venomous.



Gorebyss - Long-nosed Chimaera



The legendary water type " Manaphy " of "Pokemon: Diamond and Pearl" can be bred to produce

the less-legendary Fione , populating the pokeseas with its malformed offspring. Cute, but not quite

as cute as the real-world Clione . These tiny, shell-less sea snails, with their darling little "wings",

are yet another oddball animal idolized by the Japanese, who call it "Naked Turtle Shell" or "Angel

of the Ice". They are, as you may have guessed, cold-water animals, and follow broken ice floes

out to sea as spring approaches. They mate side by side, each embracing the other with one wing

while swimming in unison.



Unlike their pocket monster counterparts, these precious sea-pixies are actually rather brutal

predators, and feed almost exclusively on another, shell-bearing species of swimming snail. With

a ring of expandable tentacles concealed within its saclike head, the Clione ensnares its preferred

quarry and utilizes "hook sacs" to tear the entire catch out of its shell, which the little sea-angel

tosses aside as it engulfs the prey alive and bores into it with a tooth-lined tongue.



Phione & Manaphy - Clione or "Sea Butterflies"



The Pineco family (left)

and the Burmy family (right)

- Bagworm Moths



Though referred to as a "cricket" Pokemon, the musical Kricketune is actually based on a type of

carnivorous Carabid beetle, Mormolyce phylloides. Commonly called a violin beetle, fiddle beetle or

Malayan leaf beetle. These beetles have been the basis for several other Japanese monsters, and

the swept or sickle-shaped antenna are seen as a major distinguishing characteristic.



Unlike crickets or Kricketune, the violin beetle cannot produce sound. Its flattened body is highly

effective for a life amidst tree bark, leaf litter or loose soil, and its elongated head can draw smaller

insect prey out of tunnels and crevasses. When threatened, this beetle ejects butyric acid from

glands within its abdomen, capable of paralyzing human fingers for over a day.



Kricketune - The Violin Beetle



Get out of there, It knows Petal Dance! ( SOURCE )



Karrablast & Escavalier - Carabids



Karrablast is the only pocket monster to evolve when traded to another player for a different pocket

monster, the snail-like Shelmet . This prompts Karrablast to transform into Escavalier, a knight-like

bug/steel creature, while Shelmet loses its shell and becomes the ninja-like slug, Accelgor . This

peculiar setup was almost certainly inspired by certain species of carabid or "ground beetle," such

as this Scaphinotus species, which uses its specially shaped body to reach into snail shells and

devour their owners.



Photo by J. Konuma



Leavanny - Phylliidae



Phyllids are members of the Phasmidae , most of which imitate plant stalks or twigs and are

popularly known as "walkingsticks." These tropical phasmids bear a somewhat more elaborate

disguise, with almost every part of their body resembling a leaf including "wilted" or "damaged"

looking areas for added authenticity. Even their eggs are camouflaged as seeds, though unlike

Leavanny - which evolves from a caterpillar-like creature - young Phyllids are "nymphs" resembling

tiny, wingless adults.



Tynamo Family - Lampreys



One of my personal favorite animals, lampreys along with slime hags are the only surviving

members of the ancient a gnathans , or "jawless fish." While many lampreys are harmless filter

feeders, the most famous are voracious blood-sucking parasites, using their sucker-like lips and

dozens of wicked teeth to gnaw holes in other fish, only attacking warm-blooded creatures when

desperate. Sea lampreys have become serious pests in the great lakes, where they impact

indigenous fish populations.



Jawless "fish" are entirely distinct from the other animals we like to call "fish," not only lacking jaws

but possessing only rudimentary cartilaginous skeletons and circular pores for gills. Lampreys are

not to be confused with eels, a distinct group of true bony fish.



Stunfisk - Flatfish



Pleuronectiformes or "flatfish" include the flounders, soles, halibut and turbot. All are carnivorous,

mostly marine animals notable for their incredibly unique, asymmetrical adult anatomy. Newly

hatched young resemble conventional fish fry, but as a flatfish matures, one of its eyes will slowly

creep around its skull until both are on the same side of its head. This gives the flatfish a clear view

of its surroundings as it lies on its side, flat against the surrounding sand or mud as it hunts for

small prey. Many species are able to change their skin color to almost any pattern they desire,

blending in against the terrain. They can be found from shallow beaches to the deepest depths of

any known fish.



As an electric-type monster, Stunfisk has also been likened to a torpedo ray or fellow

bottom-dwelling shocker, the stargazer .



Snivy Family - Vine Snakes



While all snakes are essentially camouflaged as vines by default, several genera more deliberately

imitate plant life and are all known as "vine snakes," including the Ahaetulla , Chironius and

Oxybelis, shown here. Of these, members of Ahaetulla and Oxybelis are mildly venomous, while

Chironius simply bite and constrict prey.



Woobat and Swoobat -

Honduran White Bats



Ectophylla alba , also known as the " Honduran White Bat " or " D'AAAWWW!!! LOOK

AT THOSE! OH MY GOD! " is an extremely tiny tropical bat found in Honduras,

Nicaragua, Costa Rica and Panama. Forming small colonies with a single male and harem of

females, the bats bite the undersides of Heliconia leaves to fold them down into tents, and are

known to feed at least partially on fruit. Their pure white fur is actually a rather ingenious

camouflaging adaptation; as light passes through their leafy home, it casts the colorless fur in

green, an easy compensation for evolving actual green-tinted fur, which no mammal has achieved.

As a reader pointed out, this is even reflected by the ultra-rare "shiny" versions of these Pokemon:



Alomomola - Mola Mola



The Mola, ocean sunfish or "headfish" is the heaviest bony fish known to man, often exceeding a

ton as an adult. With few natural predators, these unearthly looking pufferfish relatives are slow

moving and quite gentle, subsisting primarily on a diet of jellyfish. Females are known to produce

more eggs than almost any other vertebrate, which hatch into spiny larvae barely larger than the

head of a pin. Though their growth rate in the wild is unknown, a young Mola at the Monterey Bay

Aquarium increased in size over fourteen times in only a year.



Oddly enough, Alomomola somewhat resembles an older, smaller Pokemon, Luvdisc, but does

not evolve from it. This may parallel Ranzania laevis , an unusually small Mola species only around

three feet in length.

