So I heard you like mudkips, well Charles Darwin father of evolution would have liked him too if he was still alive
Hello Internet welcome to game
theory where our motto is quote gotta catch em all, and by that we mean watching all our
Episodes end quote for all its cute critters Pokemon is one controversial series call it
Nintendo's grand theft auto a game so filled with sex and violence that we've
dedicated more episodes to the franchise than any other just to explain away some of the uproar
animal abuse of racism hidden satanic messages people
Really dig deep to find reasons to hate these adorable little cheeks
Creationists are one of those groups and a year ago. We debunked their claims that the Pokemon series was
Indoctrinating children into a cult of Darwin teaching them. God forbid the theory of evolution
But now as I look at the series again with Pokemon X&Y coming soon
I have to admit I may have been wrong. Well not wrong. That would be ridiculous
Just looking at things from too narrow a perspective
so get ready to
transition from pan and scan to widescreen baby so we can really see the invisible hand of
Darwin at work in the Pokemon universe to do that though. I need some help
So I called in some experts from the Dex polka Kells el Portland. I choose you
To be here Matt. My name's Alex
not owl back away flannel man my show my rules if I want to use your
Predilection for flannel shirts as fodder for humorous banter and references to beloved nineties sitcoms. That's what's gonna happen
Don't like it and you can get back into that ball. Whatever you say - so we're talking pokemon evolution
Yes, indeedy
but not the way the games use the word vanilla cone changing into double scoop with flake is far more akin to
metamorphosis as I found in my first video on the subject
But you suspect that Darwin may have his grubby little science paws all up in Kanto Safari sound if you know what I'm saying
Don't and I don't want to the bearded wonder over there is right
It's my theory that while individual Pokemon quote-unquote evolving
Maybe metamorphosis the Pokemon world and franchise as a whole may have evidence of Darwinian evolution. What are we looking for?
well
Darwin's theory starts by saying that all life stems from one common ancestor
over time small genetic mutations make changes to an organism which either help or hurt the creatures chance of
surviving and reproducing
Take a peacock. For example a few thousand years ago. Not every male peacock
Had the colorful plumage they do now, however, when seeking a mate females tended to prefer males with large bright tails
So you're saying they liked big butts and could not lie
Spring forward a few thousand years and because females kept choosing the brightest males as partners the ones without the
Impressive tails were less likely to mate as a result their numbers diminished from one generation to the next
Making them rare today. They were selected out hence the term natural selection. So that's the science. But how does it apply to Pokemon?
well
the first component of the theory is that all organisms share a common ancestor you who know you - you are you
meowing at me
So you see the common ancestors can be traced through shared DNA, right
Well, there's a Pokemon who shares DNA with every Pokemon in existence new
in fact
We strum peas in Super Smash Bros and pokedex entries and silver and crystal
Explicitly state that scholars think new maybe the ancestors are all existing Pokemon
Which would make sense considering new as day before in practically every type of movement again
Well, that's a great start
but we need to take it a step further if
Darwinian evolution truly exists in Pokemon and all Pokemon evolved from you as their common ancestor
That would mean that all different species of pokémon came into being as a result of descent with modification
Natural selection in other words the Pokemon we have today are the result of Mews offsprings
Adapting to their surroundings in order to best survive like Darwin's finches, but Darwin's fishy
Exactly John was what though?
Well, the story knows that Darwin started to think of natural selection on the tricks of the Galapagos Islands
The islands are kind of like Alcatraz for the animals that live there no easy way in no easy way out
He noticed that there were lots of different species of finches all lit differently shaped weeks depending on what part of the island they were
Located some parts of the island had more seeds and nuts others had more bugs, etc
Natural selection favored the beaks that were best suited to their locations respective food source a wider beak for cracking nuts a thinner
Longer B for picking bugs out of trees. You see what I'm saying?
Which means that if we were able to find examples of Pokemon with features that better enabled them to live in their respective
Region, we got ourselves a good case of Darwinian evolution. Right? Exactly. So any examples come to mind?
Well, how about pigeon next to Pikachu peih-gee is one of the most easily recognizable Pokemon
But have you ever stopped to consider its design generation one Lissette in Kanto?
Which is mostly plains and grasslands as a result piggies are forced to dig and pick at the ground for their food
knowing that look at pitching notice the large feet the long nails in the south be
Perfect for a bird playing around in the dirt and with so many cute trees to hide in the pigeons main defense is kicking up
Dirt in even the pulpit excess dough making pitches oversized feet and valuable survival asset
How about Taillow from generation 3 its pokedex entry says that it flies over
180 miles per day when it migrates during the Cold season to search for warm climates
That's a huge distance and looking at its habitat
You can see why Tana was found in Hoenn
Which features much more water than any other Pokemon Center much of Hoenn consists of small islands
Meaning that a migrating tail isn't going to have much of a chance to take a break from flying it against
And look at its design tickle has an enormous wingspan compared to other flying kokum
This is especially true when compared to its body size
which it's very
Small the small body keeps the old life while the large wings increase its ability to live and catch more lift with each flap
Its wings in short a pokemon perfectly suited for the long distances. It must fly because I live in binary
Those are two awesome pieces of evidence or how about this?
Pidove from black and whites because you Nova is a much more urban environment and Pinellas primary
Habitats are around systole a city and the Burbank complex
It makes sense that this species and its evolved forms are mostly gray and black
It's also loud helping it survive in a noisy urban setting most
Interesting though is its low intelligence
This would seem to decrease Padova's chance of survival rights, but look at this
The heart marking on its chest makes it cute and its relative stupidity makes it even cuter in such a big city
there are plenty of humans with food around and
surprisingly Padova's optimized to get people to wanna sit down and feed it because it's both adorable and helpless in fact
Fidel looks like it may have co-evolved with humans where traits in one species result in evolution in another and vice-versa
In this case preying on our love of cute animals could all may be dumb but evolution certainly isn't
speaking of coevolution
Let's not overlook eat more enduring
Durant and armor-clad ants and heat morgue
Only Pokemon able to eat it by using its ton of fire to melt through his preys thick armor plating
coevolution its fights
And as one last note look at the of all forms of all of our birds all three look similar enough to have a shared
Common ancestry yet distinct enough to be well adapted for their respective regions, but that's just a handful of birds
Look at the less animal more urban pokémon like Grimer
I always assumed it's strange types like trash and pollution Pokemon sought out places like sewers because they were more comfortable
But it makes so much more sense under this theory because it's the environment producing these creatures and not the other way around
Why else would you have a pile of sludge evolved in the wild or Magnemite? Which tend to be found?
Around powerpoint. These man-made structures don't have much delay food. So it evolved into a form better able to take advantage the energy so available
Electricity to be an elective buzzkill, but in the card game depictions of Magnemite appear in the ruins and house
1,500 years prior to the start of generation one as we know it and long before humans would have built factories or other powerful
Non-game sources are always a bit sketchy
I mean if I listen to them sonic would still be faster than the speed of light and we know that that's not true
So it seems like my initial analysis was misguided
Evolution does exist in the Pokemon universe got a hand at old Charlie Darwin over there a truly great researcher
Who was theorizing about video games before they were even?
Created Darwin for your contribution to the field of over analyzing video games
I am honored to posthumously awarded you the title of loyal theorist of the first degree
Promised myself, I wouldn't cry
wait, so a video game series is honoring one of history's greatest scientists with the honor of being a fan of the show he would
Have been a great theorist
He was a great theorist, you know, if Darwin had a web series I bet it would have looked something like game theory
Well, this one's for you. Chuck
Evolution, despite all the evidence still just a theory of game theory
Thanks for watching
Hey guys
I just want to thank you for taking time out of your day to join us over here on game theory
I started to lose touch after gold and silver too many pokemons started to make my OCD act
Oh, well, it's great to be here. Even though you didn't make fun of the way I dress
Hey, you know what else is great when you came out reappeared on the deck
Hey, we did get a little crazy over there
Shall I send the audience on over almost you got you the n card tournament first time? Right, right
Well last episode was the draw my life video
Which if you haven't watched it, you should I made it specifically to thank you guys for 500,000 subscribers and super meaningful to me
I definitely didn't cry. I just happen to be cutting onions while I was watching
that means the last tenth card was choosing which future you wanted to live in the winner and
Rightfully, so was Mass Effect's hello the Reapers
What can I say people wanted to do it with curvaceous blue aliens this week?
Let's take it back to its roots charmander's squirtle or Bulbasaur Earth Wind and Fire
That's the band I know with on click on one to choose and just so you know
It'll take you over to their channel where you can watch our collab since you are going to do that anyway, right?
right
Anyway, let's head on over and continue our unique blend of Education and witty banter you come in flannel man coming
I'm the new game theory