*Hip Hop beat*
Today we're talking about fire moves *flame sound*
Which means this episode is gonna be lit, FAM!
*Intro*
First time I've ever used that phrase. Probably gonna be the last.
Hello Internet! Welcome to-
Game Theory! Where today, we're looking at Pokemon
Because, let's be honest, Pokemon is an infinite well-
of theory fodder. Balls capable of carrying-
gods. A world that lets 10 year old wander around-
aimlessly without anybody getting charged for child
endangerment.
Hilariously ineffectual crime syndicates that are capable of being completely dismantled
by said 10 year olds. Today though, -
we're not focusing on the bizarre lore of this world.
but rather the bizarre science.
Specifically the science of fire type Pokemon.
Why?
Well, three reasons. 1, because fictional video game science is awesome.
2, because YouTube's Grant Thompson
aka "The King of Random" was in town to do some science experiments
and we decided to play around with fire in ways that were
very reminiscent of Pokemon fire moves
and also... very reminiscent of things they tell you not to try at home...
Stick around to see if we still have all our fingers in tact
And 3, I just finished working on a Deadlock debate against Austin
You know, Austin from "The Science"
where he defeneds Charmander as the best Gen 1 starter Pokemon
and uh, if I don't say so myself
I utterly CRUSH him in it
And so now I want to rub it in by doing an episode
covering the Pokemon that he LOST defending.
*taunting* hahahahaha youuu looost
ANYWAY that episode will be coming out in a few weeks
so if you have an opinion on who the best Pokemon starter is
and you want your voice to be heard,
well then take this opportunity to HEADBUTT that subscribe button
to get notified when it comes out to make sure that your
favorite starter wins!
in the next 3 seconds can you quick attack that subscribe button
and let me know in the comments below whether you're a member of the
bulba buddies, the squirtle squad, or the charmander champions??
1... 2... 3... Fantastic!
Now that there's a large headsized hole where your subscribe button used to be,
let's begin, with Charmander...
One of the most beloved starters and perhaps the most iconic evolutionary sequence
in the entire Pokemon series.
Well, except for Charmeleon, he's like the awkward puberty portion of that evolutionary tree.
And if there's ONE feature that made Charmander iconic
It's his flame tail.
Well, in retrospect, it's the ONLY thing that made him iconic
considering Charmander's design would LITERALLY just be like a baby dinosaur lizard without it.
REGARDLESS
Question one of the day,
What keeps that flame tail burning?
It's actually an important mystery for the PokeVerse
since the tail flame is often linked to the survival of the Charmander.
According to Brock in episode 11 the anime, "Charmander the Stray Pokemon",
"Now it's waiting out there in the rain for you.
If it's tail flame goes out, it'll die."
This is also supported in the games
as the Charmander PokeDex entry in FireRed reads,
So that would seem like it's giving us
an important clue as to how these flame tails work, however...
If we look at other PokeDex entires,
this... appears to just be flat out wrong.
According to Silver, Gold, Platinum, Diamond, Pearl, STADIUM 2, and others.
these flame tails are just an indicator of Charmander's life force.
If he's feeling strong, it burns brightly
and if he's sick or dying, it weakens and eventually goes out when he dies.
What Brock and that first PokeDex entry did was mistake
Cause and Effect.
in what's known as the Questionable Cause Logical Fallacy
Or
They assume that because one thing happend after another thing happend-
IE : The flame tail goes out and then immediately afterword they saw the Pokemon die.
That the two cozeld? when in actuality they were just correlated..?
I feel like Ash in the anime, changing his hat, then losing a bunch of Pokemon matches-
and him blaming his changed hat for all those loses,
when in actuality the real reason might be, "Ohh I DON'T KNOW-"
"IGNORING ALL TYPE ADVANTAGES AND USING PIKACHU FOR LITERARY, EVERY BATTLE!!"
He thought that there was a cause and affect relationship when actuality, he just sucks as a trainer.
PERIOD.
-Does things in the anime that you can't do in the game.
"Charazard, use flamethrower to BURRNN the battle field!!!
"Charazard is striking the battle field with flamethrower"
*Was*
LITERARY EVERY EPISODE!!!
*Chuckles* Anyway,
This is an important distinction to make because it helps contextualize-
all these shots of Charmander trying to shield itself from the rain,
While the water would weaken, him the rain itself isn't going to put the flame out.
We see this in the episode "Charazard's burning ambitions" where he's literally submerged underwater-
for several seconds without the flames getting extinguished.
As such we know that the flame on their tail is what know as a Class B Fire.
One created by "Flammable Liquid" or "Gas."
As those are the ones where water is less effective at putting them out.
So we know that the flames that these creatures are creating are some sort of chemical, or gas that's being lit (yo).
But to figure out how exactly, we need to look at "What makes a fire."
Fire is basically, just a super fast version of a type of reaction-
-that exists everywhere in our world.
the beetle
specifically the bombadeer beetle