Artificial and Mechanical?

[Miss Doronjo]

In the world of Pokemon there seems to be three basic categories (that I have noticed) that Pokemon can fall into. Either animal based Pokemon, plant based Pokemon, or mechanical/robotic based Pokemon. Minus a few oddities here and there. To be even simpler you could say Pokemon is split into two categories. Those being Pokemon based upon living things and Pokemon based upon nonliving things. Although I'm mostly focusing on mechanical/robotic based Pokemon.

Animal based and plant based Pokemon seem to be the majority (especially animal based) and are closely based upon animals and plants in our world. We can ultimately assume that in the world of Pokemon animal and plant based Pokemon are most likely considered living. What about when it comes to that odd third group of Pokemon that fall under mechanical/robotic? Pokemon such as Voltorb, Magnemite, and Porygon can be and in the case of Porygon and somewhat of Voltorb are man-made. Are they then considered living like other Pokemon or are they some kind of advanced technology just on the edge of becoming living?

 

[Kotowari]

Interesting question. I never really questioned it myself, but during the XY release, I thought of something. Japan, Pokémon's country of origin, has a rich history of giving things life, be it your little sister's favourite doll, or your grand-grand-grand-mothers sunscreen/umbrella. Although it takes some time or a certain event to turn them into yokai, they are considered alive.
I think it's plausible to continue that reasoning to the mechanical Pokémon... though I vaguely remember that some Pokémon, like Porygon (correct me if I'm wrong) were created. But I guess it's plausible to assume that in order for a mechanical Pokémon to get "life" a certain event would need to happen...for it to start living. Like Magnemite being something exposed to a strong magnetic field for example.

In short, I would consider them as "living". They seem to have a will of their own, after all... but perhaps their origin as things keeps them in the neighbourhood of humans.