On the Origin of Species: Corsola: Investigating the inspirations behind Pokémon

[BulbaBot]

On the Origin of Species: Corsola: Investigating the inspirations behind Pokémon

As part of an ongoing series exploring the likely cultural and zoological origins of Pokémon species, we take a look at Corsola.

Read more on Bulbanews

 

[Demosthenes]

Hi there! I enjoy the series and am glad to see it back.

I wanted to point out that coral has a skeleton made up of calcium carbonate, not limestone. Limestone is a sedimentary rock which may have calcium carbonate shells in it. The structure and making process of the calcium carbonate in shells is different than the calcium carbonate in calcite and aragonite, both major components of limestone.

 

[Bikini Miltank]

Ah, that's a good point; I've always used calcium carbonate and limestone interchangeably but there is a difference in this case. I'll edit the article to reflect that.

 

[Infinity Mk-II]

EEEEEEE CORSOLA IT'S SO CUTE

... Ahem. Aside from that, it's coral, it's status as a really quirky animal despite looking like a rock or moss is a really good idea for the design of anything.


It is also an special-oriented Rock type, and that played on the "cute" image, both which are quite unusual.
Unfortunately, they didn't really take the pokémon as far as it could've gone...

Corsola later, like many other Johto pokémon, found a perfect place in Hoenn: with a town near a coral reef. I think this could've been the best time to enhance Corsola's concept with an evolution. (Perhaps one of the weirder looking ones (yet still cute) to incorporate the concept of a colony? Perhaps getting an armoring layer extension to represent the dead coral of islands protecting the live coral?)
This also would've succeded better at its in-game concept, taking it from being just another forgotten Johto weird thing into a more popular pokémon.
(And it'd be the only cross-gen Gen III evolution)


Oh well... I still hope for the day it evolves, even if it won't have as much of an impact.
And either way, it is still adorable and with a great origin already.

 

[Demosthenes]

Thanks for changing! I'm a biologist too so I get hung up on details like that.

 

[Stratelier]

To me it's a bit ironic that despite coral being vulnerable to changes in water quality or toxins (and Corsola's pokedex entry saying so), Corsola itself is resistant to Poison because of being part Rock.

 

[The Outrage]

I'd like to think there's a colony of Corsola in the Pokemon world who's outer shells have actually fused over time and grown together so they're more like traditional coral. I mean, they have settlements built on Corsola, why don't they walk away?

 

[winstein]

I remembered when I was younger, and seeing a question on what is not a plant, there was a picture of a coral among three others (that was a multiple choice question). That befuddled me because I didn't even know a coral was an animal. Anyway, it's interesting that there are animals that are not specialised in moving around. It does make me wonder if such an animal can survive on land (I am not talking about sloths who sleep most of the day).

Thanks for reading.