meteorman | (no subject)

Geodude is in the Mineral Egg Group; it could breed with Sudowoodu, theoretically. Most Ghost Types can also breed, as far as I'm aware. Even genderless Pokémon can still breed with Ditto.

My working theory is that it has less to do with genetic combination and more with some kind of energy transferal. Have you ever noticed that when an egg hatches it doesn't just crack and leave behind a shell as one might expect but rather glows brightly and changes shape into the newly-hatched Pokémon, much like the process of evolution? Eggs are in essence the first form of every Pokémon and what we consider their first form is actually their first evolution.

Edited (i realized they do leave behind shell fragments in this verse) 2017-11-30 09:30 (UTC)

Reiner's cracked a little before it started to glow, but he was really rowdy when he was an Aron. I think he might've been in a rush to get out of it.

FOUND IT okay, here, this one;

I haven't seen one of these for myself yet but this book talks a lot about caring for some of the more, uh... 'different' ones. There's a ghost one called a Yamask and it says that they 'carry a mask that used to be its face when it was human,' but there's no mention of it being genderless or anything like that.

If they were human at one point, how does all of that work? My pokedex even mentions something about my Phantump being a stump that was possessed by a spirit of someone who died in the woods

_{[Child spirits, but details.]}

I think of it a little like the same way a Shelmet has to lose its shell before it can evolve. There's precedent for Pokémon leaving behind parts of their old form upon changing to a new one.

Yamask and Phantump I'm less sure of. It may be an urban legend which gained traction, or they may be able to reproduce via multiple methods. That would be my guess: a Phantump can be bred and hatched from an egg or created spontaneously from a possessed stump.

I'm not sure what a Yamask evolves into. This book has seen better days and there's some pages missing or torn up.

Though... what if they're not legends? They could be real, and if they are that also makes me wonder if ones that hatch from eggs are... incomplete? Or missing something? My Phantump acts like a little kid more than a Pokemon. Would egg-born Phantump behave like some other Pokemon, or like a human being?

[Yikes.]

I think that may be something that you would need to study in order to find a definitive answer. That is, you would need to breed your Phantump and compare its behavior to that of its children, or even catch another wild Phantump and raise it and a bred Phantump at the same rate for a truly side-by-side comparison.

_[Yep.]

I... don't know where to find another one. I found this guy sleeping next to my bag when Reiner first left, along with my Trapinch. They just sort of ended up with me. There's no mention of any sightings on the islands here either, so I'd have to go back to Kanto or Johto.

You could also test it very easily with Yamask. If its mask is representative of its face as a human, than what the mask of a Yamask hatched from an egg looks like should point to your answer. If the face is exactly the same as its parent's then I would infer the 'memory' is somehow passed down along with the other genetics. If it is different that implies that Yamask absorb a spirit upon hatching or perhaps upon the creation of their egg. If it is blank or there is no mask then a bred Yamask is free of human influence.

This is all hypothetical of course, I don't expect you to try either of these experiments immediately. But I find that the best way to answer questions is always to be proactive and find out yourself.

What about breeding a Yamask with another Yamask? Do you think there'd be a chance of its mask looking like both parents? I'm not sure if I want to think about what'd happen if I tried with a Ditto, I|

What if its mask came out looking like that?

Like the hypothetical child of the masks of its parents? I don't know.

In an odd way that's almost cute.

I feel like I know more about titans than I do this sort of thing.

It may help not to think too hard about it for now. If the natives of this universe have lived side by side with Phantump and Yamask for as long as they have without it becoming an issue then surely we can too. When in Rome, as they say.

When in Rome?

It's an expression from my world; the full phrase is 'When in Rome, do as the Romans do'. It means that when in unfamiliar territory, it's often best to take one's cues from the natives.

Oh.

I can try? It's... sometimes it's hard to not think about something.

_{[It's also something that Bertolt knows how to do - he's had to act like he belongs somewhere he doesn't for a few years!]}

Very true, but in this case knowing the nitty-gritty mechanics is not necessary. It would be fascinating, certainly, but the mystery can be part of the charm.

[Which is a great way of saying 'buddy I don't fucking know how it works either and I keep hitting dead ends when I try to find out so speculation is all we've got'.]

I suppose so.

_{[Still, when he really puts his mind to something, the results can be a little scary.

Maybe one day he'll try, but--]}

Hey, Ford? If I ever start trying to find out more
I mean
if I experiment like that...

[They have that in common.]

Yes?

could you help me

Of course! What's the point of having Twelve PhDs if I don't share any of that knowledge with other people? I'd be happy to work with you on whatever experiments you decide to run.