Pokémon (creature)

Some Pokémon native to the Kanto Region.

Pokémon (Japanese: ポケモン, Hepburn: Pokemon), shortened from Pocket Monster (Japanese: ポケットモンスター, Hepburn: Poketto Monsutaa), are a group of fantastical monsters who are the central focus and main feature of the Pokémon franchise. There are currently 1,025 documented species of Pokémon, and they take from a wide variety of inspirations including animals, plants, mythological creatures, and objects. Pokémon are found all over the world of Pokémon, and their habitat varies depending on the species, much like creatures in the real world. The most powerful types of Pokémon are Legendary Pokémon and Mythical Pokémon, who are usually the subject of myths and urban legends within the world of Pokémon.

Each Pokémon has an elemental type, which affects their attacks, abilities, and weaknesses. For example, Pikachu, being an Electric Pokémon, specializes in electrical attacks, which are effective against both Flying and Water Pokémon, but in turn are weak against Grass Pokémon and ineffective against Ground Pokémon. Each Pokémon has unique stats and characteristics. For example, Darkrai is very fast and strong but has mediocre defensive ability. Certain Pokémon have their own evolutions, which are different Pokémon that they can evolve into once certain requirements have been met. For example, a Pichu can evolve into a Pikachu with high friendship, and a Pikachu can then later evolve into its final form, Raichu, with a Thunder Stone.

The relationship between a Pokémon and a human varies, depending on the species and personality. In the world of Pokémon, several humans become Pokémon Trainers, who capture Pokémon using a Poké Ball to then keep them as a traditional pet or to have them engage in Pokémon battles. Several Pokémon Trainers go on a journey with the goal of capturing every known species of Pokémon, and they take a Pokédex with them to catalog each's Pokémon's data.

Most Pokémon physically resemble animals, though some resemble mythical monsters, machines, ghosts, fungi, or plants with animal-like facial and other features. It is not clear whether most Pokémon constitute natural living things, though they are often treated as living organisms; however, some are clearly artificial creations (such as Porygon) or even mystical spirits (such as Arceus), with much apparent overlap and uncertainty between these categories (such as the ambiguous Magnemite). In the Pokémon World, real-world animals are fairly rare.

One unique way in which Pokémon are grouped is by generation. The Pokémon franchise started off with 151 Pokémon during the first generation. A generation usually begins when new Pokémon are introduced, such as when 100 Pokémon were introduced in the Generation II titles, Pokémon Gold Version and Pokémon Silver Version, raising the total number of Pokémon at the time to 251.

Appearance

Pokémon come in an enormous variety of shapes and sizes, with some nearly identical to normal animals, such as Rattata's very similar appearance to an everyday rat, while most others take more unusual forms, such as Exeggutor, which resembles a coconut tree with animal facial features and feet. Other Pokémon share no resemblance to any known animals, plants, or fungi, and a few even have machine-like forms, such as Registeel. Others, such as Mr. Mime and Jynx, very closely resemble humans in their appearance.

Life Process

Normally, Pokémon will start their life from Pokémon Eggs through a breeding process, but there are a few cases in which a Pokémon is not born through hatching methods, for example with the Legendary Pokémon.

Evolution

After Pokémon hatch from an egg, they become known as their “pre-evolved form”, with some cases also having them classified as Baby Pokémon. By having proper training from their Trainer, the Pokémon will receive experience points and level up. Upon reaching a certain level or happiness rating, or when given an Evolution Stone, or certain Held Items, most base-level Pokémon will metamorphose into an advanced new form, giving them a changed appearance and new abilities their previous form may not have possessed. In the Pokémon World, this transition is called Evolution (which is not related to the biological concept of evolution by natural selection). Sometimes after evolution it could change from a pure type into dual type like Charmeleon, a pure Fire-type Pokémon, evolving into Charizard, a dual Fire/Flying-type Pokémon. Sometimes after evolution, Pokémon can lose a type from being a dual type like Gloom, a Grass/Poison-type Pokémon, who evolves into Bellossom, a pure Grass-type Pokémon.

Gender

Most Pokémon, though not all, have one of two genders, determining whether the Pokémon is male or female (in the Pokémon video games). Some Pokémon have a greater chance of being one gender than another, such as Blastoise which has a 87.5% chance of being male, but only a 12.5% chance of being female. Some Pokémon can only be one gender, such as Froslass and Hitmontop, which are exclusively female and exclusively male respectively. There are also moves that will only work when Pokémon are certain genders, such as Attract which only works if the opponent is the opposite gender of the user.

In certain cases, some Pokémon are classified as genderless, such as most Legendary Pokémon and all Mythical Pokémon.

Relationships with Human Beings

In the world of Pokémon, human beings have strong relationships with Pokémon, particularly as Pokémon Trainers, who capture and train the monsters in their spare time or as their main career. Successful Pokémon Training is considered a highly prestigious and labor-intensive calling in the Pokémon World, and some enter into Training with dreams of achieving the title of "Pokémon Master."

Relationships with Warriors

In Pokémon Conquest, Warriors (the Trainers in the side-game) would link with Pokémon to catch them and would be restricted from linking with some due to types of the Pokémon itself or its evolved forms. They would also only be able to reach a specific link with the Pokémon. In a case where the link can reach 100%, that Pokémon is the Warrior's perfect link. Warriors and Pokémon would be in sync with each other during this time.

Types and Attributes

There are multiple types of Pokémon, which determine the strengths and weaknesses of different Pokémon species. They lay the foundation of a complex yet mostly logical "rock-paper-scissors" or "balance of powers" system that applies to every Pokémon and their respective moves. Some advantages and disadvantages are based on common sense (e.g. Fire-type Pokémon being weak to Water-type attacks), while others are not as obvious (e.g. Fire-type attacks being strong against Steel-type Pokémon, possibly because fire melts metal when at high temperatures).

Categories

Generation	World
	World of Pokémon		Other planets
1.	Ancient Pokémon	Legendary Pokémon		Mythical Pokémon
2.	Current Pokémon
3.	Artificial Pokémon