Pokémon Biology: Parenting

Introduction

This Pokémon world is vast, filled with various areas yet to be discovered, questions to be answered, and topics for us to theorize about. This makes Pokémon Biology a massive tornado of unknown that most researchers tend to run away from. But, this tornado seeks answers and concrete facts. Fear not, because among the cowardly folk there are those who feel joy while embracing this wind of enigma. They get in their truck and drive away into the danger to deliver the answers to the curious, and they love it. Today, one of these people will take you on a journey to unravel some of the most interesting facts about a topic that was thrown in the back for quite a while, a debate that will go deep into the process of how exactly various species of Pokémon grow up and the way their parents provide all that's necessary for their beloved ones to remain safe or do quite the opposite. We'll get to that later, though. Enjoy the ride!

I'm Tikitik, a newly baked and curious Pokémon biologist who recently started exploring the parenting ways of the Pokémon world more deeply, along with helping out with the making of a documentary on the same topic. Now that I've introduced myself, I'm eager to share various discoveries and first-hand experiences regarding the surprising ways of parenting, as well as a couple of interesting facts!

What originally got me so interested in parenting specifically is the variety of different parenting behavior the Pokémon have shown me, and it has truly proven to be an important aspect for every Pokémon growing up that managed to surprise me several times. I've encountered both commendable and odd approaches Pokémon use to take care of their loved ones through childhood. And even though there's a big variety of characteristics among the different species, there's a clear line between the good parenting and the surprisingly cruel, bad parenting. Now, let me introduce you to some prime examples of both parenting sides!

Good Parenting

Donphan

What's a better way to start presenting the good parenting section than with this prime example? After filming several Donphan families, it's clear that after usually having a single or a pair of offspring, they dedicate several years of their lives to raising their young. It's important to mention that Donphan travel in herds, going through rough mountainous terrain and taking care of their young for a considerable amount of their life. This can truly be tough on the parents, specifically the mother. We've managed to document that exactly because of that, the baby throughout its growing up process is surrounded by the majority of the other mothers in the herd, as they take turns between taking care of and watching over each other's children. Through this clever system, the survival of the newborn is absolutely ensured while it also becomes easier for the mother to recuperate as the others switch around as babysitters.

As an extremely caring parent, the mothers' eyes are always locked on their babies, as Phanpy are known to be playful and hyperactive, and in the rocky terrain where they usually reside, one clumsy step could cause a lot of trouble. As the herd travels towards the nearest river where they later make use of the river's edge to dig vertical pits to use as nests, the mothers' main task is not to let Phanpy travel around. In case of combat, an unprepared baby is deemed to have a bad time, though a lot of possible predators avoid interacting with Phanpy even with the mother not around, as the destructive ability of Donphan's rolling tackle brings fear to those who witnessed or experienced it.

I've been focusing on the mothers because the male Donphan, for the majority of their lives, don't really have a significant role with the newborn's raising; they tend to leave the family group and spend their lives alone while loosely communicating with the other males, though after they reach a certain point of their life, they tend to spend their time searching for other females. Exactly because of this absence of males, you'll notice that the herds are often led by the female Donphan armed with the largest tusks, indicating both their age and high rank as a respected leader of the group. The herd consists of mostly young females and their offspring, and it is with these types of herds that the mothers tend to extend and maintain relationships with their young ones after they've reached a point in their life where constant parenting isn't required anymore, especially with the females, since the males are generally wandering alone with occasional communications with other Donphan.

Empoleon

It's time to redeem the males as we take a look at the Empoleon family, probably the finest example of a dedicated father. As the mother leaves to replenish herself in the sea after laying the egg for a period of time that usually appears to be two to three months, the male Empoleon is left with a truly troublesome task! As the father is assumed to guard the egg, usually by keeping it between his feet, the survival of their young one in the egg is truly a fragile factor ready to be determined by the smallest of changes, with both freezing temperatures and the father's lack of balance potentially becoming just the thing that will end the chick's life.

Other than these obstacles that make Empoleon's job harder provided by nature, we've witnessed that at night when the temperature drops even further, Dewgong tend to attempt to take hold of the egg in case their prey hunting fails. Since they're not as graceful on land as they are under the sea, these attempts are usually unsuccessful, as the Empoleon tend to notice them just in time to threaten them with their sharp wing edges. Nevertheless, it seems that Dewgong is as persistent in stealing the egg as much as Empoleon is at guarding it, making itself a well-known royal pain for this penguin-like Pokémon.

Much like Empoleon is known for defending its pride at all cost, the male is just as determined to protect its fragile egg even if it means starvation, since his sudden movement can, due to a lack of heat from the father's own body, bring the egg into a dangerous situation. When I had an opportunity to witness this process myself while documenting it with a filming crew, all of us were fascinated by the combination of dedicated parenting and heroism of Empoleon. Truly an experience to remember.

Kingdra

As we proceeded to dive deeper into the sea, it's no wonder that we came across such a surprising parenting system in an aspect of the Pokémon world that's too vast to be fully explored at this point. Who knows what revelations we are yet to come across? After our research team traveled to the truly extreme depths of the sea where Kingdra resides, we discovered an unexpected oddity: male pregnancy. That's right—it's the male Kingdra that carries the babies in that yellow scale-covered belly! More specifically, they have what we call a "brood pouch," where the females' eggs are deposited for an incubation period that usually lasts 45 days, after which they give birth to fully grown Horsea.

These unique species appear to be able to get quite large while carrying the babies, and it is during this period that they tend to reside in uninhabited areas of the sea, usually the common underwater caves, as they build up energy and prepare for bringing a new life into the world. This is also a perfect environment for them, as there's rarely any risk of other predators endangering their survival at these extreme depths. With only small groups of Lanturn and Chinchou around, which light up these areas and present no threat to Kingdra, they're able to calmly prepare for birth.

Speaking of these caves, we've finally managed to put an end to one of the silly Pokédex entries that claim that Kingdra would be responsible for every case of a ship being swallowed by a massive whirlpool simply by yawning while sleeping in the caves. We've noticed a massive amount of the now invasive Lumineon species dominating the area due to the fears of local fishermen for their boats.

Kangaskhan

Moving on to the grasslands, the Kangaskhan family was certainly the highlight of our research. Although they always oscillated in the past between being on the verge of extinction and reaching a stable population, this female-only species is protected by law, so we managed to get our chance at filming them in the Safari Zone. The very mascot of several kindergartens, this nurturing Pokémon's overprotective nature became a symbol for many parents around the world. As we're all aware, Kangaskhan is always ready to guard the child at all costs, keeping it constantly safe in the pouch on its belly. This protective nature is brought to a whole new level as we witness Kangaskhan even sleeping while standing up for the sake of preventing the child from being crushed, continuing this for around three years until the baby is finally ready to become independent.

Now that we've got the common knowledge and the info from Pokédex entries covered, it's time to discuss the amazing ability of Kangaskhan to show up immediately to aid its baby within the very few minutes the child ends up in a dangerous situation. We've never had a chance to film this event, but many researchers assume that an acoustic signalization system is what enables the mother to react so swiftly, most likely a loud cry for help unique to Kangaskhan and the child that they are able to specifically recognize. It's a very effective strategy, as sound is able to travel great lengths, although very energetically costly for the child. As the signal roams through the area, Kangaskhan releases pheromones stimulating the Pokémon to run and fight more efficiently, much like human adrenaline.

Our research team was left wanting more, and so we went dwelling into the Mega Stone waters guided by the rumors of Kangaskhan reacting in a unique way to its appropriate Stone. We were left with no solid evidence. But, after vigorous theorizing and continuously analyzing an image of Mega Kangaskhan from a questionable source, we assume that, since the Stones are able to enhance the main traits of a Pokémon, what would happen to the parent Pokémon in this case is immediate growth of the child, leaving the mother unaffected. Considering that Mega Stones represent an area that is little understood and still not fully explored, the details of why this would happen and the process itself are basically a shot in the dark, regardless of the fact that the theory received positive reactions.

Bad Parenting

Poliwrath

These graceful swimmers of commendable strength have settled their reputation on the land as someone you wouldn't want to mess with, so you'd think they'd be more than capable of providing fantastic protection to their young ones with their endurance—but you'd actually be quite wrong.

Not really interested in parenting of any kind, they usually at least try to search for a convenient spot to lay their eggs, after which they leave, not getting involved at all with the rest of soon-to-be Poliwag's life. Due to this cruel fate, Poliwag's body went through some changes over the ages to handle the rough start they face at first, with what was originally a fragile Pokémon and an easy target for those that search for prey getting a semitransparent skin to be a lot more elastic, preventing it from getting ripped when bitten. Although they're still very clumsy when it comes to movement on land, you can usually find these little guys swimming around ponds or lakes or at least staying near them to ensure a quick escape if needed.

Dewgong

So here we are, back to Dewgong again. Not only do they steal eggs, they're also pretty negligent parents. It doesn't seem like it at first—the mother is very dedicated, often turning to starvation for the sake of feeding the little one. However, this enthusiastic parent keeps this up only for the first two weeks, after which the female Dewgong considers the feeding period to be over and swims away in order to mate again, leaving the baby Seel helpless on the ice. Seel's light blue fur, the main source of its cold temperature protection, is yet to fully grow after only two weeks, so the baby is basically left trapped on the ice, unable to enter the frigid waters and find food. Until the fur has fully grown, not all babies are able to sustain their health, and after a considerable loss of body weight, we're looking at a statistic of 20% of Seel unfortunately not surviving this lengthy starvation period.

Pyroar

Let's clear this up right off the bat: not all Pyroar are bad parents. Specifically the female Pyroar, which are actually the ones that search for food and take care of the hunting and other resources and pretty much handle all the parenting. The troublemaker here is the merciless, greedy, and lazy father. As the female Pyroar take care of all the mentioned activities to ensure the survival of both the adults and, most importantly, her child, other than occasionally serving as a bodyguard, the male mostly sits around and waits for the female to come back with food. They also tend to put themselves as a priority when it comes to eating rather than the child or the mother, usually leaving only scraps for the rest of the pride, especially during rough hunting seasons.

Now to the main event of this broken family's life, we certainly have a tragic ending. As we're all aware, Pyroar live in prides, led by the Pyroar with the biggest fiery mane. Because of this hierarchy, you can only assume that dominance is an important factor to a male Pyroar. They are a proud Pokémon prepared for anything in order to keep their status of the alpha male in the family at any cost. Such a high cost that it even includes trying to kill Litleo, their cub, once it evolves, matures, and shows signs of being able to become more dominant than the father. There have also been cases where we witnessed the mother sharing the same fate if the male Pyroar turned out to go on a rampage. So watch out, because this children's favorite attraction at the Pokémon zoo certainly doesn't deserve an award for parenting.

Conclusion

These are some of the prime examples we've come across in our journey. Who knows what further discoveries await us when it comes to parenting strategies of Pokémon, but one thing is for certain: the Pokémon biologist will continue to strive towards researching and exploring the vast world of surprises around us, leaving those who are curious with nothing more to be desired!

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