While the Pokemon universe is set in a fictional world with fictional creatures, the stories of these creatures mimic real-world environmental issues. Various Pokedex entries across the series have made references to things like endangered animals, extinction, evolution, and other things that the species in our ecosystem encounter. Here are five Pokedex entries that have parallels to species in the real world.

Lapras

Lapras has been a fan favorite and an OG, debuting in Pokemon’s first games: Pokemon Red, Blue, Green, and Yellow. However, this kind and gentle Pokemon has been facing tragedy from Gen 1 to Gen 7. Until the release of Pokemon Sun and Moon, Lapras’s Pokedex entry read along the lines of:

“They have gentle hearts. Because they rarely fight, many have been caught. Their number has dwindled.”

Overhunting and poaching of animals have been an unfortunate constant throughout human history. The American bison became critically endangered during the 19th century when they were overhunted by the Indigenous people due to the high demand of the U.S. government. Other animals such as the African Elephant, rhinoceros, blue whale, pangolin, polar bear, and sea turtles, which is one of the animals Lapras was based on. The reasons for this can vary from the obtaining of body parts and meat to being hunted solely for sport. Luckily, the Pokemon Lapras was given a happy ending, with the Pokedex entry in Pokemon Moon saying:

“These Pokémon were once near extinction due to poaching. Following protective regulations, there is now an overabundance of them.”

So to all the Lapras lovers who spent their childhoods mass-breeding their Lapras after reading its entry, your efforts were not in vain.

Hisuian Zorua

The original dark type Zorua has been a fan favorite ever since its debut in Pokemon Black and White. However, its Hisuian counterpart in the Pokemon side game: Legends of Arceus, has a much darker, sadder story. Its entry states:

“A once-departed soul, returned to life in Hisui. Derives power from resentment, which rises as energy atop its head and takes on the forms of foes. In this way, Zorua vents lingering malice.”

The original Zorua became extinct due to constantly being driven from their habitats, pushing them toward the Hisui region, leaving them to perish in the Hisuian mountain’s cold climates. Hisuian Zorua’s are based on the Yokai Kitsune, and although the Kitsune is a Japanese legend, the message of the Hisuian Zorua’s story applies to real-world species. There have been many cases of species becoming endangered or extinct due to humans driving them from their natural habitat. Such animals include the Tasmanian tiger, which was driven from its native land in Tasmania and persecuted to extinction in the 20th century; the passenger pigeon, which was once one of the most common birds in America, later became extinct in the 1900s due to deforestation; and the Yangtze river dolphin, whose numbers drastically depleted due to human activity on the Yangtze river in China such as boating, pollution, and dam construction; the species became virtually extinct in the 21st century.

Galarian Corsola

Perhaps one of the most infamous environmental-related Pokedex is the Galarian Corsola, the regional form of the Corsola which made its first appearance in Pokemon’s Generation 2 game: Pokemon Gold and Silver. Its Pokedex entry, which hurt the hearts of many Pokemon fans, read as:

“Sudden climate change wiped out this ancient kind of Corsola. This Pokémon absorbs others’ life-force through its branches.”

This is a clear reference to the dying coral reefs due to climate change during these past few years. Corsola, the water/rock type and once a vibrant pink patch of coral changed into a pale, sad, semi-translucent ghost type in Gen 8. This is reminiscent of how corals will lose their color when damaged or dying. This regional form was implemented to spread awareness of the rapid decrease of healthy coral reefs. It’s estimated that more than 50% of coral reefs are now dead, and scientists predict that that number will increase to 90% if immediate action is not taken.

Yungoos (and Alolan Rattata)

The Pokemon Yungoos were introduced in Generation 7’s game, Pokemon Sun and Moon, along with the Alolan regional variant of Rattata. Yes, these are two different Pokemon with two different Pokedexes, but their stories are intertwined with one another. Yungoos’s Pokedex says:

“With its sharp fangs, it will bite anything. It did not originally live in Alola but was imported from another region.”

So it’s made clear the Yungoos are meant to be an invasive species, but how does Alolan Rattata play into this? Well, it’s implied that the Yungoos were imported to Alola to control the pesky Rattata Pokemon. The region of Alola in the Pokemon universe is based off of Hawaii, and in Hawaii, the mongoose, the real-life animal that the Yungoos was based on, were introduced to Hawaii to control the overabundance of rats in the area. However, in response to the mongoose, the rats became nocturnal since the mongoose only hunted during the day. The Alolan Rattata is a dark type, and its Pokemon entry states:

“When the sun goes down, it becomes active. It runs around town on a chase for good food for the boss of its nest — Raticate.”

So in the Pokemon universe, the Alolan Rattata is also nocturnal. This implies that the story conveyed between these two Pokemon’s Pokedexes is meant to be parallel to the Hawaii situation involving mongoose and rats. The Yongoos’s Pokedex entry is a representation of invasive species, and the Alolan Rattata’s Pokedex entry is a representation of how animals will adapt and evolve to survive the environments they are in and the predators they face.

Recap

So although the Pokemon universe is a fictional world with fictional creatures, many of the Pokemon’s stories mirror the things that happen to real animals, spreading awareness about environmental issues to the young people who play these games. Lapras was meant to represent the animals who have become endangered due to overhunting and illegal poaching. The Hisuian variant of Zorua is meant to represent the now-extinct animals that passed away as a result of humans driving them from their natural habitats. The Galarian variant of Corsola was a sad eye-opener to Pokemon fans, as it represents the real and pressing issue of our rapidly dying coral reefs. The story portrayed in the Pokedexes of the Yungoos and the Alolan Rattata is meant to educate people on Hawaii’s issues with invasive species and how it pressured rats to become nocturnal.

References

1. BULBAGARDEN — Lapras
2. BULBAGARDEN — Zorua
3. Pokemon Database — Corsola
4. BULBAGARDEN — Yungoos
5. BULBAGARDEN — Rattata
6. Secore International