Non-Canon Pokémon Characteristics

[Wondrous Sableye]

Non-Canon Pokémon Characteristics

I’ve been planning to make this topic for awhile, but couldn’t think of how to word it (thank god for word processors). It’s sort of a creative writing/prose exercise.

Basically what I’m asking with this thread is; are there any qualities/abilities you attribute to certain species of Pokémon that aren’t covered in the games, animé, manga, etc., and use the aforementioned qualities/attributes in your writing or ideas for writing?

For example; I think of Sableye as having thick, glutinous blood that clots very quickly in open air; very high blood pressure; and very thinly-walled arteries. From this concept I think of the gems on Sableye as being able to function, in essence, like scabs, allowing wounds to heal thoroughly and completely before the temporary gem falls off.

These are, of course, different from the gems already present on a Sableye’s eyes, chest, and back, as those are the result of oversaturation of minerals in the body rather than coming from open wounds. The high blood pressure factors in like this; since the bloods clots so quickly, and the blood pressure is so high, cuts splatter and the blood hardens into “spikes” of sorts.

In addition to protecting the wound further, this process acts as a defense mechanism. Given that a Sableye is quite small(one foot, eight inches, or a little over a half meter for you metric folks), its sharp claws(two inches long, at best, from the looks of it) wouldn’t be much threat against much larger adversaries. A wounded Sableye would be easy pickings for a Lairon or other bigger foe.

This adaptation has some disadvantages, however; namely, puncture wounds and internal bleeding. In a cave-like environment such as Granite Cave or Sky Pillar, puncture wounds aren’t a terribly big issue, as the worst that could happen is getting cut on a rough rock or wall. Internal bleeding, however, is a different issue. A bruising is much more likely to occur in the pitch dark environments that Sableye favor, despite nocturnal vision. The problem is this; under such high blood pressure, any internal bleeding will force itself to the surface, where it will form an open wound. However, unlike the scattered burst of blood that would occur from a cut, the rising blood in this case would stab out in a concentrated spike. In addition, the spike would rapidly increase in length until the internal wound sealed itself sufficiently. This spike, having hardened, would be quite cumbersome and of no real help against close-range threats. This problem would be much worse, understandably, with more severe forms of internal bleeding, as vital organs could be punched through.

The problem with puncture wounds is similar, if not more likely to cause self-harm. As puncture wounds are usually exposed to open air the moment the intruding object is removed, the spurts from any burst blood vessels would harden almost immediately into the spikes mentioned previously as a defense mechanism. However, as these would be inside the body, they would cause much more harm than good. Most movements of the affected area would cause the spikes to grate against or stab into other blood vessels, where the process would repeat itself, eventually resulting in degeneration of the affected area, or, in vital areas, death from massive blood loss.

That example given, does anybody have any traits given to certain Pokémon that aren’t covered in canon sources(too lazy to say all those things again)?

 

[Seijiro Mafuné]

I view the Cyndaquil line as being actual moles rather than mice, if that counts.

 

[Kiyohime]

I once created a sub-species of Machamp for Sin, but I'm not sure if that counts as it wasn't a "characteristic."

Although, in Aeon, I created an army of Metagross, all with names from the Greek alphabet and Latin numbers. (Sigma, Delta, Primus, Secundus, etc.) If anyone saw Destiny Deoxys, Metagross are able to float and make their crosses spin to throw up a Barrier. So this Metagross "armada" functions as a collective mind, linking up their minds like a vast supercomputer to create formations and so on.

I also seem to recall giving Porygon the ability to retract long-barreled cannons in and out out of their "legs" to fire off Zap Cannons in Splinter Echoes. ^^

 

[Airslash]

I am fascinated by pokemon biology, and if the new chapter of my fanfic has a lot of allusions to non-canon characteristics and habits.

 

[Eternal Daydreamer]

Once in one of my discontinued fics, I had Feraligatrs being "always grumpy and upset". In my mind, the final elvelution (excuse the spelling) of the Totodiles are mean creatures. See, they would have to feed their young, right? And I believe they hunt large game animals (Ponytas, Tauros, Stantlers and such) so they attack them when they drink. Like a crocodile or an alligator.

 

[PDL]

This is the sort of thing I would infact love to write, but I don't think that people would be bothered to read something that sounds like it came out of a science textbook. Here's one I've come up with.

Dunsparce are actually the desencents of an extremely powerful dragon type pokemon. However that ancient leinage mostly went extinct during the last ice age. The only ones that managed to survive were ones that hid away deep inside caves, away from the freezing cold of the ice age. Over millons of years passed as they hid away in the caves quitely, they've changed so much that they would be almost completely unrecognizeable if they were compared to their original form. In a way, the original pokemon devolved from being powerful creatures to being the lowly Dunsparce of today.

They still hold some of the traits of their dragon ancestry, such as the wings, the wiskers on their chins and most importantly, the incredible amount of luck they seem to have. As seen in the ability they might have, Serene Grace.

Their social system is highly unusual for reptilain pokemon. It is highly complex, simlair to the complex social systems displayed by social insects such as ants and termites. Nearly all the members of a family group are sterile except for one female and one male, respectivly called the "queen" and "king". The queen lays all the eggs in the colony, and is even able to determine the gender of the offspring, how this is so is still being researched.

Once in a while, the colony gets too big. At this time, many of the secretive Dunsparce actually seem to split away and move above ground, giving away their location to preadators and pokemon trainers who catch them in the short time they appear above ground to find new homes and start new dunsparce colonies.

I'll post some others later...

 

[Selestius]

I would really consider the biology of the Pokémon to just be the relation to their actual specie in the real world. The Cyndaquil line, for example, is the echidna. The Charmander family is the lizard, the salamander, and the chameleon, the Pidgey family is based on pigeons and a falcon for Pidgeot, due to the hairline 'thing' on its back [Yes, I'm a little tired, because I am multitasking. Studying for a history test]. I would describe them, as always, but I would always include its actual specie in its description.

But if it doesn't make any sense, I would describe it in my own method, with unique description, but that's generally it.

 

[Wandering Rhythmical Phoenix]

PDL, what your saying it that Dunsprace are alot like Magikarp, in the scence that natural Evolution of the Speices weakend them, as oppsed to incressing their strength (In this scence, I'm using Evolution not in the scence of Pokemon Evolution, but Natural change during Reproduction)

For example, when they say Shedinja is empty inside and sucks out your soul. It wouldnt work like that, I see it more of a form of perminant Hypnosis, or forcing somoene Comatose, if thats what your asking.

 

[Wondrous Sableye]

WRP: I'm not talking about interpretation of existing characteristics(besides, the soul-sucking Shedinja is a superstition), but rather characteristics that aren't covered in the canon, but make sense if attributed to a certain Pokémon.

Selestius: See above; I'm not talking biology, per se, I'm talking abilities and characteristics, rather than physical apperance, etc.

Scrap: Saw the Machamp subspecies and the Porygon with retracting cannons; That's actually the kind of thing I was asking about with this topic.

Another, shorter example I can give is Sableye having highly acidic saliva. The canon never mentions this, but it makes sense, given that their diet consists of rocks and minerals.

 

[PDL]

PDL, what your saying it that Dunsprace are alot like Magikarp, in the scence that natural Evolution of the Speices weakend them, as oppsed to incressing their strength

sort of, except that Dunsparce can't evolve into anything, the change is so drastic that it's not even a dragon type anymore.

 

[Praxiteles]

Taking it the way Wondrous Sableye said, I once gave Bagon claws, even though they have little stubs for hands. I though it would be logical that the little strength the Bagon had would be mostly Physical, and they would develop Special characteristics (like the ability to breathe fire) later on. Such, as I've seen, is the way of the world.

 

[Evanji Axu]

I give Typhlosion and Quilava ear tufts that they use for communication (kinda like a red river hog). Males, having to compete for mates, have much longer ear tufts than females. Also, females are steel-blue, males indigo or blue-black.

 

[Iveechan]

I do this all the time.

While I never made a clear explaination on how it works, the Hitmonchans in my discontinued fic, "Guilty by Design", have multicolored orbs on their knuckles which is the source of the element powers (yellow for electricity, red for fire, and light blue for ice). The orbs are organic of course; at one point in the story, Champ the Hitmonchan's orbs are damaged by a Persian's claws. I mentioned that it was a temporary injury, but never explained further. I imagine the damaged orbs as filling up with a kind of pus, and then hardening. Until it's fully recovered, a Hitmonchan can't use its elemental powers.

Also, Hitmonchan have very short, lizard-like tails, but you can't see 'em because of the tunics . Why? Because tails are cute.

I've also put lots of thought into Machoke. I imagine the ones you see in the game and anime are basically domesticated. Wild Machoke, while impressively muscular, do not have the "puffy steroid look" of their domestic cousins. Wild ones are also more dull grey and not blue grey, with females being more dull. They make their homes in warm, volcanic mountains because they lack protective fur and blubber to protect them from cold.

I see Machoke as having a very high metabolism for a creature of its size, and they can build muscle easily. But wild ones put most of their energy into survival and finding food and stuff. When Machoke is in captivity and being trained under humans, they have a chance to really put on muscle. I can see the Machoke that requires the least amount of energy to have the most impressive physiques are the ones who are bred. So the muscle-bound Machoke we all know and love are the ones who are the result of years of breeding.

So why are the game Machoke always pictured the way they are? Because, well, the games are so limited you can't put too much individuality to a Pokemon besides their stats of course and whether they're shiny or not. I can see some of these domestic Machoke ending up feral in the wild, and with their impressive strength, out-compete with the native Machoke. Omg! Save the non-steroid Machokes!

'course, I can't explain why the wild ones always have black underwear and belts. Errr... modesty?

 

[Sike Saner]

I remember giving Koffing/Weezing the ability to change gender at will. There are a number of reasons why this might be done; in the context of the story, the Weezing Faurur, a male, had been chosen to lead his colony...however, colonial leaders must be female. Thus, "he" became "she" out of duty.

I came up with a lot of little theories about Wobbuffet; my first fic was built largely around these. I have a class of Wobbuffet who possess healing abilities; however, they can only heal others, not themselves.

I also thought of the idea that their counterempathic abilities could malfunction in a number of ways, usually due to serious injury to the tail, where the structures responsible for the Counter mechanism are housed (Mirror Coat and other powers differ somewhat from the Counter mechanism and are produced by structures housed within the brain). Among the worst of these ailments is the vicious cycle of autoempathic crisis, in which the Wobbuffet's system mistakes pain with an internal cause from pain caused by an attacking enemy, Counters it....and thereby causes more damage, more pain to the Wobbuffet, then Counters that...The cycle continues repeating itself, each time inflicting more and more damage on the Wobbuffet's system.

Autoempathic crisis can be fatal unless powerful anesthetics can be administered; if the Wobbuffet can no longer feel any pain, it will cease to injure itself and the cycle will be broken. Following a crisis, if the injury that triggered it cannot be repaired (very often, it cannot), the tail must be amputated to prevent future crises. This does, of course, rob a Wobbuffet of the ability to use Counter, as well as the higher senses that are perceived through the tail's "eyes".

One last little factor I added to Wobbuffet was a clan of the species who possess a gene, dormant in the rest of the species' population, that enables evolution by means of a Dark-elemental stone (the Eclipse Stone).

And then, we have the Snorunt/Glalie. I've come up with a fair deal of little details for them, mostly pertaining to their culture and history. I've also given them a a few subspecies, as well, usually the result of generations of crossbreeding with other species (I often give Pokémon of mixed-species parentage some physical traits of the father's species). Plus, I've sort of emphasized the idea of their eyes being luminescent (which may or may not be canon; I'm not sure), with the qualities of the brightness, steadiness, clarity, and color of this glow being an indicator of mood and other conditions. Mostly, I just included that to give them a few more options in the way of body language, particularly for the Glalie; being these one-piece floating things, I thought they could use a little help in that department.

 

[PDL]

he's some information on how the Ralts line's brains function:

The brain of the Ralts line is somewhat simlair to human beings, however, there area certain areas in the brain that are comparitively less complex then a human's brain. In the frontal lobe, the parts that determine logic and problem solving are very small then the parts that control emotions and socialization. The red horn that sticks out of their heads are infact directly connected to those parts of the brain. It acts as a sensory organ that of course, senses the current emotions of other lifeforms.

However, there are areas within the Ralts brain that are much more complex then compared to humans, such as the Pariental lobe, which plays an important role in intergrating sensory information from the five senses, as well as the sixth "psychic" sense that all psychic pokemon have.

The Cerebellum, the part that controls sensory preception and motor control is a bit unusual as well, it functions in a way simlair to how a cerebellum of an individual with autism might function.

But the most interesting part of the Ralts' brain are the pons, the area that determines dreams in humans. In a human's brain it is about the size of a pea, in Ralts, it is about the size of an egg. Not only does it function as a dream center for Ralts, but it also functions as the command center for it's psychic attacks.

although I'm not really sure if I should add this into my fic or not... it's not exactly relavent to the story... is it?

 

[Nylf]

Some of my ideas:

Blaziken: In my fics, there is an incredibly rare gene found in creatures who are part of the evolution line. Never showing itself in the first two forms, when an individual Combusken evolves, if it has this incredibly rare male only allele(sp?) it will mutate tremendously upon evolution. Instead of having the crests of a normal Blaziken, they will have an incredibly large pair of cream wings.

This relates to Blaziken's ancestory lying in a flying griffon like Pokemon. The original Blaziken were griffon like, having four legs and wings. However, they were cumbersome and slow. Their large build made flight difficult, so they developed a preference to fighting on the ground. As they evolved via natural selection, this emphasised until they became like the 'killer birds' of the real life Americas and Australia, then continuing until the modern Blaziken came into existance. But, sometimes, a mutation in the genetic structure will create an allele that causes the growth of two extra limbs on a Blaziken's shoulders, which become the basis for the wngs of their griffon ancestors. As their ancestors were significantly larger than the modern Blaziken, the wings are far more effective on the lighter built modern species.

Blaziken's with this mutataion demonstrate a wider instinctive knowledge of Flying attacks, gain all traits of a Flying type on top of their current Fire/Fighting combination, and are far more agile. Unfortunatly, their bones also become hollow, so their defensive abilitie are reduced. To make up for this, their offensive traits are also heightened.

Manectric & Houndoom: Manectric form very strict packs, akin to wolves, maintaining a pure bloodline. In the wild, they rarely crossbreed, as the young who result from this are usually looked down on in the pack, abandoned, or in extreme circumstances, killed by the Alpha male.

Houndoom on the other hand are much more open minded, their packs often intermixing with those of Arcanines and other canines, with exception to Manectric/Electrike packs.

Dethroned Alpha Male Houndoom are less likely to seek a new pack than a real wolf, preferring to roam the wild alone. They possess immense pride, and the shame of losing a pack makes them doubt their capabilities of leadership, so they often prefer to work alone afterwards.

Sometimes though, they will intermix with other species packs. Rare cases have been seen where a male Houndoom will approach a female Manectric. Female Manectric possess immense curiosity, serving as the scouts for the packs, and so are generally more open minded than the males to other Pokemon species. This is where Manectric cross breeds occur.

Manectric DNA is far more susceptable to change than other Pokemons', so in the case of a cross breed, visual changes are apparant, as well as ability changes.

The rarest case found of a crossbreed involving a Manectric was that of Houndoom/Manectric crossbreeds. The pups born from this situation show numerous changes. The yellow stripes of an Electrike are red instead of yellow, their eyes in both stages are a much deeper red as well. Their tails tend to be longer in both stages, and, in the most extreme cases, at the Manectric stage their blur fur has been known to become black, and small horns have grown. They also demonstrate the ability to access Fire attacks, but some attribute this to Hidden Power, but the fact it always occurs in Manectric/Houndoom crossbreeds has made many believe this may not be the case.

 

[Dilasc]

In my work, some legendaries have two variations: major and minor. Basically, the 'Major' is the power legendary/guardian that is almost all powerful, while the 'Minor' is underage. Uh, I mean, the 'minor' is a lesser version. These lessers can reproduce, but are somewhat weaker, and less intelligent than the Major variation.

I also have the belief that evolution can cause changes amongst species. Well, let me explain, since you're all likely going Duh. In ancient times, there lived the white, wooly Phanpy and its evolved Donphan. Similar to what they are today, they were basically covered in a whitish or silver toned fur, which was used for camoflauge amongst the snow of the ice age. However, as humans moved north, these beasts began to die out. In America, they lasted longer, due to lateness of human arrivals, but then too, with the melting of the snow, these elephants lost their natural protection, and thusly, they died out fast. Suffice to say, these elephants were not used for transport or war. No, the spectral yet solid Phanatos from the Triffghup region of India was the common choice elephant of domestication.

Here's another one. In real life, horses simply cannot stand the scent of camels. A few key battles in real life history have had armies of cavalry overwhelmed by camel riders, simply because the horses would go beserk with fear. In the Pokemon world, I figure equine Pokemon can also suffer the scent of the Numel/Camerupt's putrid, smoldering musk. This doesn't only apply to Ponyta and their ilk, but to other horse species around the entire world.

Speaking of Numels, and their evolved forms, this is one I doubt could be helpful, but I wanna say it anyway, they are CURSED! See, the numel and camerupt used to be larger, with longer legs, a wider body, and the backstrength to support a human rider. Now, while still strong enough to support a man, the numel and its evolved form are less intelligent, and unable to run fast enough to be effective in practical imperialism the way they used to be... back when camels might have been used in such practical imperialism.

 

[Haunter]

Well, I have always viewed the slugma line as not being made from lava, exactly, but a kind of substance like lava that doesn't burn through everything. It does make sense, if you think about it.

 

[Keleri]

Hmm, it's hard for me to think of anything, since my current work is so focused on my fanmade pokémon--it's hard for me to make up "non-canon" things about them when they're entirely non-canon, or seen from a different way, I'm the writer, so everything I say is "canon" for the universe. x)

Anyway, there's a couple things that I remember:

Real slugs tend to leave slime trails whereever they go; the slime, as far as I know, is mucus that they secrete in order for them to move around and to help them move down vertical surfaces without falling, among other things. I thought it would be cool if Slugma/Magcargo left a "slime" trail that burst into flame upon contact with the air, burning down after a few seconds.

One thing I put a slightly different spin on was how charmander apparently dies if its tail-flame goes out, which popular opinion seems to take to mean that if you PUT the flame out, the pokémon will die. I prefer to interpret this as that the flames on any open-flame pokémon (charmander, ponyta, magmar lines) are indicative of the energy level of the pokémon; as long as it is alive, the flame will stay lit, but if it dies, the fire will disappear.

I also write pokémon that apparently lack digits as having claws/hands (jigglypuff, ampharos), since I think the pseudopod-style arms are more the result of the art style, and would be mildly inconvenient.

Generally, I try to incorporate the features/behavior of different pokémon's real-world equivalents into the way I write them, since it gives a touch of realism into a world that is often more than a little cartoonish.

(And I steal stuff from Ivee unabashedly because she is just so awesome. *licks* ^_^)

 

[PDL]

I've made up several characteristics about Roselia in this one-shot that I wrote.

For one thing, instead of coming from eggs like pokemon in the games, Roselia grow from seeds, presumeably planted there by older roselia. They're planted in a slecluded spot where few pokemon and even fewer people know about. Since roselia seedlings is non-toxic, and are completely dormant in this state, they would be extremely easy for plant eating pokemon to eat. Perhaps they're even edible enough that humans can eat them as well.

However, the seedlings are prone to parasites, this can cause some problems. Some parasites may kill the growing roselia, some however may cause birth defects, such as missing arms.

Speaking of which, since their roses are useless for holding things, their feet have adapted to do tasks that people do with their hands, such as holding and manipulating objects. Since they're grass pokemon, they don't have bones in their bodies, so their legs are flexable enough that they could be used as easily as arms.

Another aspect of roselia life would be "the blooming". A festival which celebrate the time when the roselia seedlings awake and are ready to join roselia society. The older roselia go close to the area where the seedlings have been planted. As they wait for the appropritate time, they create "paints" from berries and their own pollen. They apply this paint onto their faces, bodies and roses with their feet.

When the correct time arrives, they release a a special fragrence that is only used at this particular festival. The fragrence somehow causes the dormant pokemon to awaken. As they awaken they detach from the stalks that they grew on and stumble their way out. They are blind and deaf and must find their way out by using only their sense of smell. As they head into bright sunlight, their eyes and ears open and are able to join the roselia society. However, roselia are very critical when it comes to beauty, so they mercilessly attack seedlings that they have problems with.