Work Text:
Demystifying Phylogeny: The Relationships & History of Typing, Regional Variations, & Speciation, And An Analytical Perspective of Layman Misconceptions About the Pokémon Kingdom
Harmonia et al
N. Harmonia, S. Magnolia, A. Sycamore, C. Achromo.
Key words: phylogeny, cladistics, speciation, evolution, regional variation, typing, biology, microbiology, pokémalia, vermes, fossil restoration
Content warning: this article contains brief discussion of scientific abuse of laboratory Pokémon, as well as a photograph of minor lacerations and bite marks on a human leg. Those sensitive to discussion of abuse, or to imagery which has a similar visual appearance to self-harm, are advised to proceed with caution.
-ABSTRACT-
Throughout the history of the study of how organisms are related to each other, there have been many discoveries of great importance to humanity’s understanding of life and Earth. Among some of these key discoveries are Darles Charwin’s theory of speciation, Leigh van Huke’s breakthrough studies of microscopic organisms, and the more recent emergence of endosymbiotic theory and molecular phylogeny. As is often the case in science, currently-accepted information for phylogeny is a constantly changing mire of hypotheses, theories, articles, and text. Due to this shifting nature, however, it is known and documented that people outside of academia develop misconceptions based on whatever was taught to them as young people, regardless of the current validity of the information or whether it was even valid in that time. This is through no fault of the individuals in question, nor of overworked primary school teachers, but these misconceptions pervade public knowledge to the point that even educational material can contain misinformation on the subject. This goes beyond simple textbook errors: one such example found by the authors is a high school level biology textbook which falsely claims that revived fossil Pokémon are perfect restorations and that no breeding populations of these Pokémon exist in the wild. In order to prevent the spread of inaccurate information regarding phylogeny, the authors have compiled a report detailing the following sections.
1. Definition of Pokémon & Vermes
2. Phylogeny of the Pokémon Kingdom
3. Origin of Types & Usefulness of their Classifications
4. Regional Variation & Speciation Process
5. Revived Fossil Pokémon
6. Ongoing Studies
7. Figures
-1. DEFINITION OF POKÉMON & VERMES-
Pokémalia is a kingdom of life which consists of all ambulatory multicellular eukaryotes. The other kingdoms in the Eukaryota domain include Plantae, Fungi, and Protista. Although Pokémalia is monophyletic, meaning it consists of one ancestor species and all of its extant and extinct descendants, this kingdom harbors an enormous variety of species found in every habitat on the planet, including some so rare and powerful that they are revered as Gods. From the mighty Ho-oh to the minuscule Cutiefly, the range of niches and forms Pokémon take is astounding. However, often in casual conversation, the word “Pokémon” has a much more highly-specific definition, but a definition which escapes the minds of those who use it. People who refer to Pokémon in casual conversation this way are often unable to precisely draw a line between Pokémon and “non-Pokémon creatures,” a clade that has historically been designated as Vermes, which itself is a term that still survives in some common vernaculars. Of polled laypeople, the most common definitions of the word Pokémon include “anything with a Pokédex entry,” “any organism with a type that can use moves,” “any organism with a type regardless of ability to use moves,” and slightly more esoterically, “any ambulatory organism that is not Grass type.” Often times there is a minimum size associated with the word Pokémon in day-to-day usage as well, such that organisms smaller than palm-sized are not large enough to be considered Pokémon, and an implication that humans and Pokémon are separate biological entities.
The reality of our classification system is that all eukaryotic, multicellular, ambulatory organisms are placed within Pokémalia. Organisms within Plantae and Fungi are exclusively sessile, and organisms within Protista are exclusively unicellular, with the exception of brown algae (kelps). This means that in addition to the earlier-mentioned Ho-oh and Cutiefly, organisms like mosquitos, nematodes, rotifers, and platyhelminthes are also Pokémon. Before the study of deep time and phylogeny received more attention in the early 1900’s, ambulatory multicellular life has been divided into two subkingdoms: Pokémalia and Vermes [fig 1]. According to this 1911 definition, Pokémalia consists of any organisms which have a demonstrable type and the ability to learn and use moves. Vermes, on the other hand, consists of multicellular ambulatory eukaryotes which lack the ability to use moves, or more basally, ones which are typeless. It is worth noting that, by this historical definition, humans are not Pokémon, but vermes, which is curiously often translated to “worm” in modern texts. This method of classification, however, is based entirely on easily-observed morphological and behavioral data, rather than with any interest in creating a phylogenetic tree of life. Thus, many organisms previously included in Vermes would later be moved to Protista (and several protists to Vermes), followed by Vermes being merged into Pokémalia as one phylum.
As molecular data has shown us, presence or lack of type, as well as the ability or inability to use moves, are traits that have repeatedly been gained and lost throughout Pokémalia’s natural history. Mollusks and arthropods in particular have great disparity among their members regarding the presence of typing and moves. For example, jumping spiders (Salticidae), which are unable to use moves but are not typeless (all are pure bug-type), are descended from an ancestor which was able to use moves, an ability that the jumping spiders secondarily lost. Further, Joltik is known to originate from Salticid spiders thanks to molecular gene study, meaning that this lost trait was later regained. Genetic study of sponges (Porifera) and comb jellies (Ctenophora) has revealed that possessing a type and the ability to use moves are traits which originate from the last common ancestor of the Pokémalia kingdom, and as such they can be secondarily lost and regained within a fairly short geological timescale. Although no fossils are known of this ancestral organism, through molecular phylogeny we know it to be either a ctenophore or a sponge and that it was certainly a pure water-type, and that it was capable of using a simple move similar to Struggle or Splash. [fig 2]
By modern layman standards, humans are not considered Pokémon, but they are not considered to be classified within Vermes either. Humans, being multicellular ambulatory eukaryotes, are in fact Pokémon, and further have a demonstrable type: normal. The ability to use moves was lost in archaic humans at some point during the existence of Homo habilis, between 2.31 and 2.01 million years ago. A more presice timeframe is not known, nor is the reason for the loss, however, damage to their fossils indicative of intraspecies conflict have helped researchers understand that the loss had even occurred in the first place. Near the beginning of their temporal range, many H. habilis fossils feature injuries consistent with move use, and in particular with rock-type and fighting-type moves, however during the 300,000-year timeframe for this event, this damage from moves is transitioned to damage from weapons. All species categorized within the Homo genus are currently believed to be normal-type, however its mother group, Australopithecus, contains normal-types as well as mixed normal-fighting and normal-rock types.
-2. PHYLOGENY OF THE POKÉMON KINGDOM
The Pokémalia crown group originates about 760 million years ago, with the advent of the sponges and the comb jellies; research and debate are still ongoing for which group should be considered a sister taxa to all other Pokémon, though current scientific understanding suggests that the title likely belongs to sponges. The next split comes 680mya, with the divergence of cnidarians, modern examples of which include Jellicent and hydras, from bilaterians. Bilaterians would further split into Protostomia and Deuterostomia. Deuterostomes would consist of echinoderms, of which Pyukumuku and feather stars are extant examples, and the chordates, which includes all Pokémon with a notochord or spinal column, including all fish and all tetrapods, such as humans.
Chordates can be further divided into a huge number of other groups spanning life’s history on Earth. Some extant groups within Chordata include Chondrichthyes, the cartilagenous fish, including rays and the shared ancestor of Gible and Carvanah, as well as Osteichthys, the bony fish, from which Tetrapoda such as reptiles, avians, and mammals originate.
Protostomia contains the Ecdysozoa, a grouping which itself contains Nematoda and Panarthropoda. Modern examples of panarthropods include all existing bug-type Pokémon, as well as any Pokémon descended of a bug-type but which have secondarily lost that typing, such as Krabby and Trapinch. The sister group to Ecdysozoa is Spiralia, which consists of rotifers, mollusks such as Phione, and annelids such as earthworms.
The overall phylogeny of this kingdom is such a voluminous topic that it can hardly be contained within texts, let alone a single subheading within a single research paper. The main purpose of this section is to illustrate that these phylogenetic relationships are how we know different Pokémon came into existence and are related to each other. The common belief held by many is that typing is a good indicator of how closely related two Pokémon may be. It is plainly visible based on morphology that Buizel and Clauncher are not closely related, despite them both being water-type Pokémon, but typing may yet erroneously group Pokémon together, such as in the case of Shellder and Staryu. Both of these Pokémon are native to the Kanto region and coexist in several habitats such as the Seafoam Islands, as well as sharing a typing of purely water and having some similar external features: a hard carapace with a more delicate inner body, and being physically small in size. However, Shellder is a bivalve mollusk, while Staryu is an echinoderm in the class Asteroidea; the last common ancestor these two Pokémon share is before the Protostomia-Deuterostomia split.
-3. ORIGIN OF TYPES & USEFULNESS OF THEIR CLASSIFICATIONS-
It is known now with confidence that the first Pokémon to exist was a water-type, and indeed to this day water-type Pokémon make up the bulk of Earth’s faunal diversity. Novel types are able to form under unique circumstances, as part of the process of speciation, which itself will be covered in subheader 4. Typing offers unique environmental advantages for Pokémon, such that it is typically one of the first traits to change in the process of speciation. Each type’s currently-accepted paleontological origin is detailed below, as well as circumstances which can cause these types to occur modernly in extant taxa. Types are listed in chronological order, from the Ediacaran to modern day.
Water types account for all Pokémon during the early periods of complex multicellular life on Earth. In fact, even as other types emerged throughout the Cambrian, Silurian, and Ordovician, it is not until the Devonian that there is fossil evidence of Pokémon who have lost the ancestral water typing. Early moves were very basic self-defense mechanisms, such as moves analogous to Struggle, or modified locomotive systems, such as moves analogous to Bubble. On a geological timescale to allow for speciation, Pokémon may acquire the water type by changes in the environment that lead to spending more time in water, either being semi-aquatic or fully aquatic.
The next types to occur in the fossil record are rock types and bug types, around the same time in the early Cambrian. Anorith is a well-known example of a Cambrian bug-type, however it is worth noting that living Anoriths reconstructed from fossils secondarily lose their water-typing for rock-typing, a common genetic error seen in revived fossils. This phenomenon is discussed further in subheader 5. Bug is, interestingly, the only type where all members share a taxonomically recent ancestor. All bug types are panarthropods. It is worth noting, however, that many panarthropods secondarily lose their bug typing, and thus not all panarthropods are bug-type. It is not well-understood what may make a Pokémon regain its bug type if it has been secondarily lost, or why this type cannot “spread” to other Pokémon the way almost all other types can.
Rock types account for many shelled Pokémon which were not panarthropods. This includes early mollusks such as wiwaxia and Omanyte. Rock types, as well as related and later-occurring steel and ground types, occur when levels of environmental minerals reach such a level that they are inadvertently consumed and incorporated into the body. Rock types occur when these are large, solid minerals, ground types when the minerals have a small particle size, such as those that occurred after the Cambrian substrate revolution, and steel types when there is a high metal content, which became more common as metallic elements were released from the crust during the substrate change. The earliest steel types occurred during the Devonian in the form of early jawed fish; the metallic “plates” making up their biting jaws are modified scales, which would eventually be modified further to become skulls, and later other bones.
Also during the Devonian, we see the first evidence of grass-type Pokémon, coinciding with the development of land plants. Grass-type Pokémon harbor endosymbionts with which they are able to photosynthesize and which lead to the development of grass-type moves. In more ancient lineages, such as Lileep and Carnivine, these endosymbionts are unicellular algae which reside in the epithelial cells of the Pokémon in question. In more recently-formed lineages, such as with Bulbasaur and Oddish, the endosymbionts are entire plants. [figure 3] The main difference between these two groups is the level of “original” genetic material remaining of the symbionts. In more ancient-lineage grass-types, the endosymbionts have only a small amount of their own genetic material left, and are utterly reliant on the Pokémon they inhabit to reproduce; at this level of intertwinement, these algae are as much a part of the Pokémon as chloroplasts are part of a tree, themselves being the result of endosymbiotic cyanobacteria. In more recently-occurring grass-types, even if the plant in question is an obligate symbiont or parasite to the Pokémon in question, it still possesses enough of its own genetic material to be classified as its own species. While with the Oddish line, the symbiont has lost much of its own genetic material and relies on the host for reproduction, the Bulbasaur line’s symbiont retains enough of its genetic material that researchers have been successful in growing one of these plants in synthetic flesh media in a laboratory. This, however, has led to less-ethical experiments on where the line lies between grass-type Pokémon and their endosymbionts. In the Bulbasaur study, foetal Bulbasaurs were grown in a laboratory setting, where natural implantation of the symbiote’s seed was prevented from occurring. Although the embryos developed normally and were eventually able to “hatch,” they required significant life support measures without the energy provided by the symbiont, as well as being unable to evolve. The citing of this research as a source within the current article was contingent on confirming the ultimate outcome for the Pokémon that were used in the experiment. The authors are pleased to report that the Bulbasaurs in question were rescued by After Research Pokémon Sanctuary at the end of the study, and were placed into homes that could accomodate their extended care. Images of one of the Bulbasaurs in its forever home is in the collection of figures at the end of the paper. [fig 4]
In the Carboniferous, we see the first examples of flying types, in the form of bug-flying Pokémon which make up the first true insects. As this was a meteorologically tumultuous time in Earth’s history, this is also the earliest record of electric and fire types as well. These conditions can also allow fire or electric types to come into existence today; volcanic environments are prone to harbor fire types, and areas plagued by hurricanes are often filled with electric types. Fire types would further diversify in the Permian, along with great diversification of ground types and the emergence of poison types. Modernly, Pokémon may acquire the poison typing if the environment is high in toxic compounds such as ammonia or sulphuric compounds, or if the Pokémon develops the ability to use defensive toxins such as venom or poison.
The Mesozoic saw the advent of both dragon and fairy type Pokémon, along with their immediate success and diversification. The actual event causing the occurence of these two types is unknown to science at the time of writing. Many speculate the source to be extraplanar in origin, as more modern speciation tends to result in dragon typing as a result of spacetime warping, such as is the case in Alolan Exeggutor. Similarly, modern fariy types seem to occur under mysterious, eldritch circumstances. It is possible that both of these types result from extraplanar eldritch rays, in a similar way to how modern psychich-types may occur because of extraterrestrial cosmic rays. The flying type also saw great diversification during this time period, spreading from arthropods to reptiles to include pterosaurs such as Aerodactyl as well as avian dinosaurs such as Archen. During the Jurassic, the first normal types appear as early basal mammals. [fig 5] The presence of these early normal-types would become very ecologically important, as their typing would spread to avian dinosaurs and eventually result in many common modern birds being normal-flying in typing.
Finally, during the cenozoic, we see fossil evidence for the emergence of ice types as temperatures dropped, followed by fighting types emerging with early primates. The remaining types to be listed have spotty fossil records, but become much more common suddenly in the holocene, our current geological epoch beginning about 11,700 years ago. Ghost types, for example, are often seen in abundance during or shortly after mass extinction events; a concerning fact given the common occurence of ghost types today. Psychic types are seen sporadically throughout the fossil record, seemingly having been developed independently multiple times, but never spreading the typing to other Pokémon until just five hundred years ago. As mentioned earlier, Pokémon may modernly acquire the psychic typing through exposure to cosmic rays. Dark types are not well-documented in the fossil record, and their occurence as testable samples coincides with early humanity, leading to a popular theory that living among humans without being domesticated is a contributing factor to this type being developed.
As is mentioned repeatedly throughout the above segment, although all known types have a “first” occurence at some point in the fossil record, once these types come into existence, they are often able to spread to other Pokémon in similar ecological situations. An excellent example of this is the now-extinct Hisuian Zoroark, which with the introduction to humans in its habitat, acquired the human’s normal typing, and eventually gained ghost typing from their environment as their natural habitat was encroached upon.
-4. REGIONAL VARIATION & SPECIATION PROCESS-
The tree of life paints an interesting picture of how the organisms that currently live on our planet came to be borne from previous life, however it is a common misconception that the process of speciation is similar to small-scale evolution that individual Pokémon undergo. While an individual Pokémon can evolve up to twice in its life, this does not account for the changes is diversity we see across the geological timescale and in Earth’s fossil record. The process of how one species of Pokémon leads to the advent of others is known as speciation, and it takes place over a number of steps, the first of which is regional variation.
Regional variation occurs when two populations of the same species are separated by some geographic structure that they are mostly unable to cross. Fairly important to the process of speciation is that these two environments be somewhat different from one another. For example, Kantonian Pikachus and Johtonian Pikachus are separated in population by a mountain range, but because the climates of both regions are similar, there is no evolutionary pressure for the newer population in Johto to adapt.
The first step in regional variation occurs when a Pokémon’s evolved form adapts to better suit its environment, but with no noticeable changes to the base form. This is seen in Pokémon like Alolan Raichu. Although Pichus and Pikachus in Alola look identical to their Kantonian counterparts, Alolan Raichus gain a psychic typing and change slightly in both color and shape. At this stage of regional variation, the variation can “spread” to non-native Pokémon of the same species. For example, if a Pikachu is raised in Kanto but evolves in Alola, it will become an Alolan Raichu rather than a Kantonian one. These changes are documented to occur in as little as a hundred years, as is the case with Alolan Raichu.
The next step of this process is a typing change occurring in both the evolved form and the basal form. At this point, the environment has had an effect on the Pokémon long enough to change the products of its breeding population. This is the case for Galarian Ponyta, which is psychic type rather than fire. The changes seen initially on its evolved form are now visible on the basal form, such that the distinction can no longer be “spread” without breeding. Kantonian Ponytas evolved in the Galar region will evolve into Kantonian Rapidashes. Galarian Rapidash, in addition to having become a psychic type, has also gained a fairy typing, further separating it from its original population.
The first part of speciation occurs when a regional variant’s evolved form can no longer be considered the same “species” as the evolved form of its native variation. This can be seen in Galarian Meowths, which evolve into Perrserker rather than Persian. This can also mean that a regional form gains an additional evolution from what is normally available; for example, Galarian Linoone evolving into Obstagoon, which has no Hoennian counterpart.
The final line which defines speciation occurs when the basal forms of the two populations can no longer be considered the same species. A well-documented example of this is in Kanto’s Jigglypuff and Clefairy populations. Clefairy is believed to be the “original” variation which is native to Moon Cave, and even in other regions is only rarely found outside of cave systems in the wild. Jigglypuffs diverged about two thousand years ago according to carbon dating information; a population of Clefairies became trapped outside the cave and began to populate Route 3. Through exposure to Rattatas, Pidgeys, and Spearows, as the divergence occurred, the outside population became primary normal-types and secondary fairy-types, until speciation had been completed, and the Jumpluff-Jigglypuff-Wigglytuff line became genetically distinct from the Cleffa-Clefairy-Clefable line. [fig 6]
-5. REVIVED FOSSIL POKÉMON-
Science has made amazing bounds in the study of paleobiology in the last thirty years, not the least of which is the ability to restore ancient Pokémon from fossil remains. When this was first discovered, it was believed that revived fossil Pokémon were perfect replicas of the ancient organisms that existed in deep time, and that these restored creatures would be indispensable research tools to better understanding the biology of these ancient Pokémon. However, as further molecular data has revealed, the process we currently use to restore fossil Pokémon to life is not perfect. Due to contamination and confirmation bias, it is not uncommon that revived fossil Pokémon will have a different typing from their original counterpart, and will often appear slightly different as well. This is most glaringly obvious in the Galarian fossil Pokémon which, given the fact that they are amalgamates of unrelated species, are of little research value, and the dubious credentials of the “professor” who creates them, are so far removed from whatever their original forms may have been that it may constitute Pokémon abuse to continue manufacturing them.
However, less-obvious examples are available as well. The vast majority of revived fossil Pokémon available today are at least part rock type, and this is not due to an ancient abundance of rock types; rather, it is the result of mineral contamination when attempting to extract genetic imprints from mineralized fossils, a simple fact of life when working with any degree of fossilization less pristine than lägerstatten. Omanyte is believed to be correct in typing to its original, though possibly not in appearance or moveset, but Kabuto is believed to actually have been a bug-water type rather than rock-water. [fig 7] Aerodactyl’s primary typing is, as of yet, unknown by molecular science, but it may have been a pure flying type during its original geological epoch. Further, Anorith is believed to have pure water type, having secondarily lost its bug typing in the middle Cambrian. In fact, aside from the Omanyte line, the only resurrected fossil Pokémon currently available that have been proven to be rock-type in their original forms are Lileep, Cranidos, Tirtouga, and Tyrunt.
While the understanding of this information will hopefully lead to more accurate fossil restorations in the future, it ultimately means that human scientists have introduced potentially invasive artificial Pokémon into our ecosystems. Although certain labs are keen on denying this due to the possibility of legislation-based backlash, breeding populations of Omanyte, Kabuto, and Anorith are all known and documented in deep oceans around the world. This does not seem to be cause for immediate panic, as there appears to be no indication of ecological upset as the result of these species being introduced, however it means that wild populations of Kabuto can negatively effect seaweed and kelp ecosystems, as well as farms for those crops, as well as Anoriths potentially making certain diving spots dangerous due to their aggression. Popular diving locations in the eastern archipelago of the Hoenn region have seen an increase in reported wild Pokémon attacks on peaceful divers. Although no official sources list the Pokémon responsible for the uptick in attacks, victims feature W-shaped bite marks and recall the Pokémon in question to have a body that is flattened dorsoventrally and prominently features large grasping appendages in the front, a description which matches Anorith clearly. [fig 8]
The ethics of continuing to breed and manufacture fossil Pokémon when it is clear that they hold less research value than originally believed is a matter that is still up for debate. The authors of this paper argue that, although living Pokémon should be cared for and treated as living creatures, there is no reason for scientific institutes to continue reviving fossils when plentiful populations of these Pokémon either exist in the wild or in the possession of Pokémon trainers and breeders. Wild breeding populations of released fossil Pokémon should be closely monitored for ecological impact, and if they begin to outcompete native species or otherwise become invasive, efforts may need to be taken to control their population, such as a spay-and-release program.
-6. ONGOING STUDIES-
The research into Pokémon phylogeny and paleobiology is an ever-changing field. As more information is recovered, it helps human scientists better understand the history of our beautiful world and the astounding life that surrounds and predates us. The development of this study allows us to better treat our planet with utmost care, but in order to allow that to happen, the information must be available outside of academia. Legislation to protect our planet’s natural resources relies on governing bodies understanding not only what our planet needs from us, but why it needs these things, and why they are worth defending. Information is a powerful tool. The authors implore the reader: without exposure to science, how would you have ever become interested in it? In order to encourage young minds to pursue paths that make our world a better place for Pokémon— from tardigrades to Altarias to humans— it is of utmost importance that research be not only readily available to curious minds, but actively offered and rewarded.
Making this paper readily available and free to any student or teacher of any level is a first step. Combating misinformation begins by making sure that proper, peer-reviewed, scientific articles are not paywalled away from laymen or, more importantly, from the impoverished. Of course, it is part of human nature to be stuck in our ways, and the authors do not anticipate that the idea of making scientific journals free to some extent will “solve” things like conspiracy theories. However, by educating young minds on how to properly vet sources and where to find reliable information, we can improve the outcome for the next generation of scientists, so that they, too, can help the next set of young minds learn and make our planet a more perfect place.
-7. FIGURES-
[fig 1] Division of Pokémalia and Vermes, showing organisms believed to have belonged to each group. It is now known that the Vermes group is redundant, as all its members are Pokémon, although common usage of the word “Pokémon” tends to exclude organisms previously grouped within Vermes due to how long the term persisted in educational systems. Although modern scientific institutions recognize this, educational materials such as PokéDex systems often do not discuss organisms which were previously classed within Vermes, and these Pokémon are almost never assigned PokéDex entries or numbers.
[fig 2] Possible life reconstructions of the first multicellular Pokémon. Some institutions purport this Pokémon to be Mew exactly, however more recent molecular research shows that some form of speciation occurred to give rise to the modern Mythical Pokémon, which is a psychic type. The last universal common ancestor has been conclusively proven to be a water type, only capable of one move. Further discussed in [fig 10].
[fig 3] Lileep and its cells at 200x magnification, showing the endosymbiotic algae. Oddish body tissues and leaf tissues at 200x magnification, showing structures indicative of two separate species.
[fig 4] The disembodied Ananas bursaria, growing in a substrate of tissue-mimicking media. A rescued “bulbless” Bulbasaur in its forever home, beside a healthy Bulbasaur.
[fig 5] Reconstructions of the earliest known fairy and dragon types, based on genetic information gathered from extant Pokémon featuring these types and fossil evidence. The first normal-types were primitive, rodent-like mammals.
[fig 6] The ancestral state of the Clefairy line, being pure fairy type. Regional variation occurs after the two populations are separated, then known as “mountain Clefairy” and “field Clefairy.” Finally, full speciation occurs, and the Jigglypuff line becomes genetically distinct as a species.
[fig 7] A modern “restored” Kabuto, alongside a reconstruction based on new fossil and molecular evidence.
[fig 8] A modern “restored” Anorith, pictured beside a more paleontologically-accurate reconstruction. Claw marks and W-shaped lacerations on a victim’s leg. The victim’s interpretation of the Pokémon that attacked them, drawn by the victim.
[fig 9] Possible occurence that resulted in the existence of anatomically-modern Mew, pictured beside the Mewtwo contained at P2. It has been hypothesized that the modern Mew may be a natural occurence of fossil restoration, however concrete evidence for this is slim, and few laboratories are interested in working with Mew’s genetic structure after Team Rocket’s disastrous Mewtwo event in the 90’s. Of the original six clones produced, two are known to have been destroyed, one is contained at Planck University’s P2 research laboratory in Unova, one is believed to still be in the possession of Team Rocket, and the final specimen is unaccounted for.
-FINAL WORDS-
The authors would like to each append a closing statement to this paper.
Prof. Natural “N” Harmonia: “If ever you wonder whether you are treating your research subjects ethically, ask yourself if you would do this to a human. Err on the side of Pokémon possessing consciousness and feeling pain. They are more intelligent than many people believe. The comfort and health of any research subjects should be of utmost priority when computer models are not sufficient for research. We owe our lives and happiness to the creatures that surround us; pay respect where it is due.”
Prof. Sonia Magnolia: “Our world harbors astounding phenomena, if only we would stop long enough to observe them. The way we treat the Earth impacts not only our immediate survival, but the next geological epoch to occupy this planet. To continue losing Pokémon to anthropogenic extinction in spite of their marvelous nature is a mark on the face of humanity which we must take immediate action to restore.”
Prof. Augustine Sycamore: “The unique ways in which life changes to best suit its habitat is a marvelous thing to study. The inaccessibility of these sciences are deplorable. In order to nurture a new generation of people excited to see the world and to preserve the life it harbors, scientific papers like these must be available to the general public accompanied by easily-understood abstracts such that their contents can be of use to people outside of academia. In order to keep this article free of cost, Sycamore Laboratoire de Recherche has elected to shoulder the publishing cost in the interest of accessible science.”
Dr. Colress Achromo: “When we have both the knowledge and the ability to do something good, scientists have an obligation to do right by humans and all life on Earth. Science and ethics are not opposing forces which must compete for dominance. Scientific accuracy and ethical practices are not mutually exclusive; in fact, they must coexist at all times for either to be true. Proper science cannot exist when cruelty and destruction are considered normal byproducts of the scientific method, and ethical treatment cannot be accomplished without research into the mechanisms of health and happiness.”
All authors contributed equally to this paper. Naming order was decided by single-leg wall-sit, in which the authors scored 102s, 56s, 31s, and 12s, respectively. C. Achromo alleges that he only fell because he sneezed.