Pokémon (species) headcanons

[9tiefly]

Hi everyone!

I hope this thread doesn't feel somewhat repeated. From what I've found, there's one already for anime headcanons and there's another for general series headcanons. However, what I'm really curious about is you guys' specific species headcanons. For example: Beheeyem is one of my favorite Pokémon, but I hate its emotionless eyes. Since it's a very robotic-looking Pokémon, my headcanon is that its eyes are actually screens and those black dots are actually pixels; so instead of being very unexpressive, its eyes change and display emotions like those old Japanese emoticons - (；￣ ￣）（ ಠ ಠ) ( ´ ` )ﾉ (*⌒ ⌒)ﾉ . It might be slightly out of character but it's fun to think about.

Some other ones that stuck with me from around the internet:

• Espeon's purring calms down anxious trainers, as it sends soothing psychic waves through the room;
• Most psychic types are a great fit for trainers with mental illnesses, projecting positive and happy images that counter intrusive thoughts. Ghost types too, eating nightmares and helping with insomnia. Shuppet, specially.
• Sableye cries little nuggets instead of tears;
• If you touch a Charjabug, it emits accordion-like notes (like its game cry).

So, what kind of headcanons do you guys have?

 

[Lone_Garurumon]

The char family does not die if their flame goes out. Rather, their flame goes out once they die. This lines up with several Pokedex entries describing the tail responding to their physical/emotional state (flaring up if aggravated and dying down if weakened), and the fact that the family has been shown submerged several times and still been totally fine. This works because the flame is a biochemical reaction (and so can't be easily extinguished with water), and not a traditional flame.

 

[Stratelier]

To me, I think mega evolution generally IS a normal stage of the species's morphology, but the conditions for it are so exceedingly rare as to be literally just legends and folklore. The only conditions under which it HAS been reliably documented involve human trainers triggering it in their Pokemon (part of the reason it is considered temporary).

 

[Nitro Indigo]

• Most psychic types are a great fit for trainers with mental illnesses, projecting positive and happy images that counter intrusive thoughts. Ghost types too, eating nightmares and helping with insomnia. Shuppet, specially.

Reminds me of a Tumblr post I saw about disabled Pokémon trainer headcanons, and one of them was that Blissey could do basically that. The only other one I remember from that post was that the first trainer to find the Regis was blind.

 

[Acrobatic Crobat]

Not my idea, but I really like this headcanon... regular Celebi are always male and shiny are always female. Such huge male-to-female ratio is the reason for them being so rare and in fact the only reason why they are neither extinct nor endangered is due to their longevity and time travel ability.

While anime!Mewtwo is obviously male and manga!Mewtwo may be either, but also leans towards male, Mewtwo in main game canon is female for me. Why? Simple - due to way he/she was born, which pretty much means it CAN'T be male. To elaborate: while in anime and Adventures manga Mewtwo was cloned through the "put some DNA in a tube and grow it into a clone" method popular in sci fi, plus all of the modifications and mutations he/she was subjected to happened before his/her birth, there is nothing pointing towards Mew he/she was cloned from being either male or female and we don't even know if one of said modifications wasn't changing his/her biological sex (whether purposely or accidentaly).
In games meanwhile Mewtwo was created through the real live cloning process and only then mutated. To elaborate, IRL cloning consists of creating an artifical embrio from a modified ovum and DNA of organism you're trying to clone, then planting it in uterus of a female from which the ovum was taken. In other words, no matter if you're cloning male or female, you need a female - so it's pretty much given that Mew caught by Dr. Fuji was female. And since he had no other source of Mew DNA (we know of, at least)...

Mew's shapeshifting is a defense mechanism, but also the reason for it being such a rare Pokemon. After all, being able to perfectly impersonate any other Pokemon for indefinite amount of time means it can get really hard for two disguised Mews to recognise each other as the same species.

 

[TRNatalie]

Much like peaches and some species of pears, the Chikorita line has a thin layer of fuzz over their scales. Petting this fuzz in a great comfort provider.

 

[Nitro Indigo]

Much like peaches and some species of pears, the Chikorita line has a thin layer of fuzz over their scales. Petting this fuzz in a great comfort provider.

If I ever write a fanfic about a Chikorita, I'm putting that in.

I like the headcanon that Shieldon is Aron's ancestor, but what about other fossil Pokémon? Most of them are based on species that don't have living descendants in the real world, but...

• Amaura is the common ancestor of Chikorita and Tropius. (Are there any other sauropod Pokémon?)
• I like Bird Keeper Toby's theory that Tirtouga was Squirtle and Lapras's common ancestor. (It's my favourite theory of his.)
• I don't like the theory that Aerodactyl is Zubat's ancestor. Since it's based on a wyvern, though, maybe it's the ancestor of some dragon Pokémon?

The other day, I was thinking about how Gyarados and Dragonite have the opposite temperaments to what you'd expect (so the Chinese one is destructive and breathes fire, while the western one is a benevolent water guardian), and I started to wonder if it was a subtle joke. There's a theory I like that Gyarados isn't a Dragon-type because it "fell from grace", so to speak.

 

[hanecco]

Hmm... this isn’t a particular species, but my headcanon is that each species has their own language, along with a kind of “lingua franca” that all Pokemon eventually learn to speak to varying degrees to communicate across species. This is why Pokemon can understand people (they can learn English because they have the use of language) and why if a human is left in the right environment, they’ll learn to speak Pokemon language (N).

Not all Pokemon can actually vocalise English, due to their biology, but they will understand it.

This excludes pokemon that communicate through telepathy, though, because they send ideas and concepts to each other, not words.

 

[sucreine]

Oh boy~ One of my favorite things is to write Pokemon headcanons in my spare time hehe. I have soooo many I don't even know where to start XD

-The yellow (or pink) fluffy parts on Lopunny is like wool. It can be sheared or simply pulled off the Pokemon.
-Pokemon that are very genetically similar (For example, Growlithe and Houndour) can have children of both parent species.
-Lilligant feed through the roots on their bottom (Their feet). They will plant theirselves into the ground and drink water that way.
-Pheromosa's world is basically the aftermath of a huge disaster that wiped out most life on their planet. They were able to survive this and evolved over may years to become an intelligent species with their own social structure and society.
-Tsareena live in an alpha-omega like system. One (and on some rare occasions two) Tsareena will be in charge of the entire clan. The leader's job is to raise and train the clan's Bounsweet and Steenee while the soldier Tsareena's jobs are to either patrol and defend the territory of the clan, or assist the leader in taking care of the clan's children.

 

[Nitro Indigo]

Battling causes Pokemon to grow faster.

 

[Lightning Flame Blast]

Litwick’s wax doesn’t have a fixed shape and can be modeled like a hairstyle.

 

[Stratelier]

-Pokemon that are very genetically similar (For example, Growlithe and Houndour) can have children of both parent species.

I have a similar headcanon mhyself, basically that the "rules" (game mechanics) of Pokemon breeding are only things that have been, shall we say, reproduced in a controlled environment and do NOT necessarily apply to natural Pokemon reproduction in the wild. Which includes legendary Pokemon; if they belong to a larger species, they WILL have some means of producing their next generation.

 

[Serverus Snope]

While it is supported by a Pokedex entry (It cares deeply for its friends), I imagine Emboar being a total softy underneath the burly, burning exterior. I keep imagining the big guy/gal tenderly tearing up sometimes at something moving... for some reason.

 

[sucreine]

Coming back to this thread because I started working on a new headcanon and thought I’d share. Thinking about just making a blog or writing thread to dump all these haha.

Meloetta come in a wide variety of types and appearances depending on the musical genre or dance style they choose as their muse. For example, a Meloetta who resonates with Country music might become a Normal/Ground type.
Meloetta and humans have a symbiotic relationship. Meloetta draw their powers from the creative energy of humans, and rely on humans to create in order for them to survive. In return, Meloetta use their powers to help inspire humans, especially those who are struggling creatively, and help keep their creativity alive.

 

[Lightning Flame Blast]

Magikarp evolves through moments of deep emotion that influence its behavior as a Gyarados.

If the Magikarp was living in the ocean, it likely evolved in a moment of grave danger and as such will be territorial and untrusting. An apex predator that reacts violently to anything it finds threatening.

If it evolved in the hands of a caring trainer that believes in its potential, it will be much tamer and more cooperative, as well as willing to protect the trainer and team that cared for it as a Magikarp.

If it evolved in the hands of a bad trainer that abused it due to its fragility, it will become a raging monster that likes to cause destruction and beat opponents into a pulp to prove that it’s not a weakling. It will be disobedient and aggressive towards its team and trainer, if it doesn’t outright try to kill them.

 

[Lightning Flame Blast]

(Technically a double reply, but it’s been a month soooo)

Arcanine’s ‘legendary’ status doesn’t come from its power, but rather from its regal look and brave protective nature that inspired legends and cultures in which it’s depicted as a divine guardian of the house against evil spirits (taken from the fact that its concept is inspired by shisa lions)

 

[Poke Dragon]

Reshiram and Zekrom would never attack Kyurem on their own because they know Kyurem is their true body. Reshiram, Zekrom, and Kyurem can sense each other and see through each other's eyes, but only when they are in proximity of each other. Their fusion is actually what makes them happy since, for Reshiram and Zekrom, their power grows while for Kyurem, he is healed and gets strong enough to be able to defeat foes. The only reason why Reshiram and Zekrom didn't want to be fused with Kyurem during the events of B2W2 is that Kyurem was being controlled against his own will.

 

[hanecco]

Seedot are eaten as food in Hoenn. They have brains similar to insects and don't have the biological ability to feel pain. They act like caterpillars, moving from tree to tree to get food, where they attach onto branches using the "stem" on the top of their heads and absorb nutrients. These nutrients are stored inside their body (which is like a nutshell) as a soft paste type thing. If you've ever eaten chestnuts, it's like that. The nutrient-paste inside of them tastes quite sweet and is often spread on toast, like peanut butter.

Since stealing the nutrients from trees weakens the tree, Seedot often become pests in timber forests, wooden houses, and so on. This means that people don't care too much about catching and eating them (combined with the fact they essentially don't have any senses, so they won't feel pain). However, once a Seedot has stored enough nutrients, it will evolve into Nuzleaf, which is very aggressive and very sentient. So it's important to eat your Seedot before it evolves, or you'll be in for a beating. Despite this, it's very common for people who live in smaller villages to keep and kill Seedot found in their house for food.

Nuzleaf and Shiftry are highly solitary species and usually hide their eggs somewhere, then abandon them without bothering to raise their young, similar to sea turtles. They tend to lay very large amounts of eggs for this reason. Many other Pokemon, such as Poochyena and Taillow, prey on Seedot, too, but the huge amount of Seedot that hatch every year mean that a few will always survive and evolve, preventing the endangerment and extinction of the Seedot line.

==

The same goes for Cherubi in Sinnoh, although Cherubi tastes sour rather than sweet so it's seen as a "weird traditional food" and not a tasty everyday snack like Seedot.

 

[Acrobatic Crobat]

Whole "Ditto can't change its face" is less of actual limit of their shapeshifting and more of a custom. While there are Dittos that can't, most simply chose not to as a way of telling everyone around "I'm not actualy a Charizard, I just shapeshifted into one so I could fly" - that is, unless they are actually trying to hide the fact they're Dittos, at which point they have no problem fully changing their shape.

 

[Lightning Flame Blast]

Due to its psychic powers and immense intellect, Alakazam is often used in embassies and diplomatic missions both as a voice from the pokemon side of arguments and as a translator.