Similarly, Arceus is simply a pokemon of legend. There's no record of anyone having seen Arceus,
Since it an official Pokemon, is obtainable in one way or another, and is featured in a movie, it does exist. This actually would fit the Original Dragon of Gen 5 better.
and similarly, everything we know about it is from myth (and the plates). We know not if it truly created anything, we only theorize of its conception.
We also know that Giratina, Palkia and Dialga all exist and that Dialga can bend time, Palkia and warp space, and Giratina and the Distortion World exist as well. And the Sinjoh Ruins event shows Arceus creating one of these dragons, so it is proven to be able to create Pokemon.
It's just as likely that Mew was the original one, who conceived all pokemon, indirectly or otherwise. Of course, I'm not willing to state this as fact or a viable hypothesis due to how little we also know about Mew other than the documents in Pokemon Mansion.
The only thing in the Pokemon universe that mentions Mew being the Pokemon ancestor is the Pokedex. No NPC says this, there are no in-game documents that say that, and the anime has never said it. It is mostly referred to as simply a very rare Pokemon able to use any move, probably to make up for its lack of a signature move. Each Mew-like Pokemon has a special trait it is known for. Celebi can travel through time, and Jirachi can grant wishes. Mew's special trait is probably its infinite moveset.
Oh my, it's a biology lesson all over again. It would make sense to say that there used to be a large number of Mews thousands of years ago, these Mews were created by Arceus.
Over time, the Mews moved all around the world and adapted to the various environments that existed there. Or maybe, all the regions used to be connected and 'Continental Drift' occurred, therefore, the Mews are isolated from one another and evolved over time.
But doesn't Darwin's evolution suggest that creatures evolve for the better in these cases? (Not an evolution expert!) Mew is considered a powerful Legendary Pokemon, so it wouldn't make sense that it would become a Caterpie or a Magikarp. That would be devolving rather than evolving. And considering the way Pokemon breeding works, with Charizard having Charmander offspring, I don't think Pokemon undergo both the typical Pokemon evolution and Darwin's evolution. And besides that, there is nothing officially stating or proving Mew is the Pokemon ancestor. The theory of it possessing the DNA of every Pokemon is merely something Pokemon scientists believe because of its ability to learn every move. This has never been proven as a fact.
Ancestor, not god of everything
In much mythology there are several gods/goddess and one major god which in this case would be Arceus
The problem is that people think that Mew is the first Pokemon and birthed ALL other existing Pokemon, including Arceus. Some thin Arceus came first, but Mew still became the others, even though Arceus is proven to have created at least the 3 Sinnoh dragons, but was also said to have created Azelf, Uxie and Mesprit. Mew has never shown any trait or has had any document supporting the "Pokemon ancestor" theory other than the Pokedex entry, where Arceus has had the Plates, the storyline of DPPt, and an event for itself showing it creating a Dragon.
Ancestrial god usually means the creator of all mortal life which would not include other gods. In fourth gen there were actually several "gods" like Giratina being the god of the underworld, Palkia being the god of space, and Dialga being the god of time. But Arceus is god of all mass, he's the one who shaped the entire universe together to give it form and shape and would technically be the first. He didn't create the other gods, they came soon after Arceus in which Mew was formed who created all species of "mortal" Pokemon (excluding Legendary, one of a kind Pokemon like Ho-Oh who was born out of the burnt tower and therefore has no parents to have an "ancestor")
The Sinjoh Ruins event proves Arceus can create Legendary Pokemon. And I don't completely agree with Legendary Pokemon being considered "gods" as regardless of how powerful they are, they are still Pokemon.
And again, Mew has no evidence supporting its role as ancestor other than a Pokedex entry, which most people believe is all myths for the Legendary Pokemon.
So from a mythological standpoint, Mew is only the great great great great great etc etc grandfather/grandmother of all Pokemon that can have parants. Arceus is the one who started it all to shape the very universe and didn't really "create" any Pokemon.
Does anyone have any other in-game reference to Mew being the ancestor of all Pokemon other than the Pokedex? (Not trying to be a jerk, I'm serious. I see people who say Mew is the ancestor, but never provide evidence to support it.)
And again, Sinjoh Ruins proves Arceus's creation powers.
Anyway, I don't really know why people mess this up, but Pokedex entries are mearly when the Pokemon was discovered, it doesn't determine that a Pokemon came first
True, which is why you should always look beyond only the Pokedex. Arceus has much more evidence found in different parts of the games, while Mew is limited to only the Pokedex. If you were to consider all Pokedex entries invalid for this comparison, Mew would have absolutely nothing to support it.
Now I feel this does clear up on the multiple gods for me, but I find something much more confusing in the Pokemon world, who created all the humans? Since humans are evolved forms of certain species or they were created by some sort of god (depending on what you believe in) does that mean that humans in the Pokemon world are evolved forms of Pokemon, in fact what do they eat for a meat source? ........ fried Miltank anyone?
Humans and plant life were probably also created by Arceus, though since the Pokemon universe is mainly about the Pokemon, that tidbit isn't mentioned. I think Arceus is generally credited for creating everything, which would include humans.
And for food, I'm sure Pokemon are used for food. Slowpoke tails are supposed to be delicious according to the Gen 2 games. Team Rocket was planning to steal them. And I remember an episode of the anime where Ash, Brock and Team Rocket were all floating in the ocean with James's recently bought Magikarp and imagining the different ways they could cook it. Then one of them actually bit the Magikarp only to find that its scales where increadibly tough, which is stated by Misty if I remember correctly. (It was a LONG time ago!) And no one likes the thought of people eating Pokemon, so that's probably why they mostly ate riceballs and avoid asking where any questionable meal comes from!
