[Theory] Why Pokémon Have Levels And Moves.

[Nate]

In pokémon games, we always have had a level system and a move system, and I think that's just a bit strange. If our animals could spark electricity there'd be hell on earth! So, I've come up with a suitable idea, and not really a theory, that might explain or at least give you food for thought on the matter.

The things we know about pokémon are that they're alive, due to humans being able to kill and eat them, as well as take their milk in the case of Miltank, and shearable in the case of Mareep, yet how are we able to use them as battle tools. What say it was all digital?

Let's take a Charizard for my theory here. In this world, Charizard can fly with actual wings, and breathe fire. Fair enough, it's a dragon. But how is it that we control this dragon? And what is the point of having these moves? I believe that in this digital world, it isn't the pokémon that are digitised but the moves and the level system. Alongside this, their understanding of human speech is incredible as they take orders perfectly. This system is highly scientific. My hypothesis is thus: in regions with a pokémon league such as Kanto and Johto and so on, the pokémon are able to fight and use their moves such as Charizard's flamethrower, however outside the league's domain, the pokémon don't have the ability to maintain their mental capacity, and thus cannot use these special powers of theirs. The moves they learn come from experience fighting, and training. The moves used never kill a pokémon yet put them in a state of 'faint.' This suggests to me that pokémon moves are only able to deduce stamina and not actually hurt them. If old Charizard used a flamethrower on Pikachu, I don't think the little mouse would come out of that alive. As such, it is entirely possible that they have found a way to increase the mental capacity and capability of pokémon through unique tools. I have 2 ideas that could be the reason to this - a being radio signals that are undetectable to humans, or b - a magnetic field of sorts that encompasses the region it's based in.

I can sort of prove that this theory is correct through hacks and the fact that evolved pokémon can learn moves at levels before they evolve. When you hack a pokémon in, you can change the level of that pokémon to 1, meaning it is completely inexperienced. This is similar to hatching an egg, where the newborn baby is level 1 also. The level system is a simple system used by trainers to measure the strength of their pokémon so they can judge and adapt their pokémon to be stronger. Pokémon without experience are level 1. Through hacks, you can place a pokémon from another place into this region, and make it level 1 like I've said, but does that mean it came from outside the region? Technically, yes it does. I know I'm stooping to non canon methods to prove this point but hear me out. On Bulbapedia, many second or third evolution pokémon that evolve through levelling up can learn moves before they actually evolve, meaning it's entirely possible for a pokémon to be evolved before being brought to the region. I think that the level system is just a rough measurement of strength, and not entirely accurate, and I don't think evolution has anything to do with levelling up, but a game being a game they have to have a singular goal to reach for in order to actually make this pokémon evolve. I think it's best to assume that pokémon just evolve over time. If a pokémon does come along to this new region all grown up, it starts at level one and begins to learn new things.

So our Charizard for example may come from somewhere undeveloped such as the Amazon rainforest. He might live in a little cave somewhere nice. One day, a person comes along and coaxes it, tames it and makes him a friend as such. The person then takes the tamed Charizard to New York / Unova and Charizard starts to think: hey, this guy/gal is a good person - he feeds me, pets me, loves me, and in return I get power. I think this a good deal. Then the Charizard accept allegiance with the person. Then comes the pokéball. Obviously this doesn't account for every pokémon, as most are probably specially bred or captured wild. I imagine that they aren't unwilling to join, and the pokémon fights could be a mere test of power to see if this trainer is suitable for them. The pokéball could just be an acceptance thing - if it breaks free it doesn't want your help. I also thought of pokéballs at this stage as a mechanism used to give pokémon a break and deliver basic human knowledge unto them. I know it's a little messed up but I have more.

With the idea of pokémon being living beings with an increased brain capacity and moves that only affect the stamina of a pokémon and don't physically hurt them, the idea of becoming a pokémon 'Champion,' is all that more appealing. The Champion is known throughout the entire region without a doubt, and even abroad. They're known for being the best trainer in that area, however this can be taken down by one battle. Champions train to remain on top. This is publicity. These champions gain publicity through people who come to watch the pokémon battles as a sport. They attend important regional events as guests of honour and are respected and most likely paid well. This is crucial to the pokémon world economy, as people pay for stadium tickets, goods, foods, pokémon goods such as the pokéballs themselves, and even tourism is a big factor. People from places without a league will come from across the world to watch these things I expect. Even the gym leaders and elite four gain a fair amount of publicity, and many have their own side vocations to give them character and keep them busy, so they can attend events relating to them on a personal level. It all links together in the end. Even Nurse Joy for crying out loud probably gets payed for energising your pokémon from their 'fainted' state. The reason trainers travel around the region is to show off their skills. Every gym defeated means another trainer has topped the league faster than the others. Every year round over a hundred trainers are most likely on watch through every gym battle, seeing how far each of them gets until they're sourly defeated. I must admit however, that in the games, you do have an infinite number of retries at a gym, but I could imagine the gym system being televised all the time, with each gym leader having a different team of different strength pokémon depending on where abouts in the league you are currently, and you only having one shot at each one until you lose. Only the best can truly reach the champion, which I imagine is very rare, with the exception of your own character.

So every time you play a pokémon game and you've so far agreed with my theory, just think, 100 other npc's you can never meet are all fighting these gyms, you can't be hurt by a pokémon move, the level system is an overall estimate, and pokémon are only capable of learning moves in a developed region! I thank you for taking the time to read this. I'm not brilliant at wording my thoughts, but I'm sure you can figure it out. Please tell me your thoughts :)

 

[Simon Science]

So i would like to comment on this theory, its nice but i have some modifications to bring to it.
Pokemon probably retain their abilties outside of the leagues domain. Best examples are the pokemon in outer space or the sea, far enouth from the league to most likeley not be affected by its "domain", but still retain their powers.

Pokemon CAN hurt and kill other pokemon. look at these dex entries:
heatmor, pokemon white:"Using their very hot, flame-covered tongues, they burn through Durant's steel bodies and consume their insides."
Kabutops, red and blue:"Its sleek shape is perfect for swimming. It slashes prey with its claws and drains the body fluids."
This second dex entry shows a point you overlooked: pokemon have had their abilities for far longer than humans even existed in the world of pokemon. Take, as the most recent example, the great kalos pokemon war, where human had to have controlled pokemon with the use of little to no technology(as this has happened 3000 years ago and we have proof that people from a time that pokeballs still didint exist are still alive in the curret pokemon time, it is unlikley these people are 3000 years old(exept for AZ that is), not to mention the amount of coordination a war of pokemon would take from humans, but i digress)

The only possible conclusion is that when battling pokemon, tainers willingly restrict the power of their pokemon to not kill the opponent.

The pokeball working on acceptance of a pokemon to join the trainer is partly absurd. The masterball would need to force pokemon into obedience, and that is contradictory to your "free will" model. What would make more science is that the pokemon becomes more freindly to you with time, and is actually represented in game.

 

[Nate]

Natural body systems are perfectly capable of happening, such as Kabuto's energy sap and stuff. Its perfectly possible that it could be natural biology that Heatmor just has a really hot tongue. I don't see a Pokemon move for 'hot tongue.' As well as this,when in possession of a trainer, there's no willingness to hunt. The trainer assumingly feeds the Pokemon himself. Taking a Pokemon with instinct out of the wild, teaching it how to use special moves and it becoming more understanding of human concept.

As for war, large Pokemon are still powerful on their own. Golurk for example can just slam a wall down in all honesty. The only thing I really agree on is the poke ball thing. I don't really get poke balls and what they are really for. It's just a big mystery.

So yeah, Pokemon can kill, but the moves they learn can't? I think that covers majority of your points. What's your opinion?

 

[Simon Science]

Now your theory says that a pokemon can only learn a move in a develloped pokemon region due to X technology that we dont know of. This would mean that before advanced technology appeared in the pokemon world, pokemon could not learn moves. however...
Quote from Koga, Pokemon red and blue:
"TM06 contains Toxic! It is a secret technique over 400 years old!"
400 years old is older than any technology that would allow pokemon to learn moves. Note that toxic can be learnt to nearly all pokemon and is thus not a body function.

Or, lets go even further than time. Lets see what happens in another dimention.Lets look at pokemon platinum's distortion world. Because you battle cyrus and giaratina, your pokemon level up and possibly learn moves. While the champion, Cynthia dose travel with you its important to remark something : she dosent seem to be transporting any technology with her, nor any bag that would conceal technology that would enable a pokemon to level up and learn moves. Not to mention wild pokemon that are not in a reigion still learn moves and level up, like arceus and the creation trio who are all in their seperate dimentions but when we encounter them they are already leveled up and know moves.

 

[Nate]

Technology has been around for a long time. Just think back to the war 3000 years ago, where a cannon, prepared to destroy earth was created. That couldn't be done even in our world now. And in their world, they have all sorts of strange technology - pokéballs, and teleporters to name a few. The pokémon world most likely has been using technology for a long time. It's a matter of how they actually physically make the pokémon more receptive to this intellect. It's possible that it could even be something as small as a crystal, or even the pokéballs emitting small signals.

When I began thinking about it, I didn't have any solid evidence, so I cannot really prove anything, but it's still worth a shot at trying to prove rather than trying to disprove.

Legendaries as well. Well Arceus created them for a reason. The Sinnoh group of legionaries were created by Arceus himself, who possibly created the entire type and move system for balance. Still it's a shame that Arceus is catchable and can only learn 4 moves at once. You'd think as creator of it all he would be more powerful than that.

 

[mew_nani]

Levels have always been a technical representation of fighting experience. When you get enough experience fighting foes you level up and become stronger. It's that way in every RPG that has a leveling system. The level cap is basically how experienced a Pokemon can become; once they hit that they've hit their peak fighting ability and can't become any stronger.

As for why and how Pokemon learn new abilities, it doesn't really have much to do with whether or not they have a trainer. I think it has to do with Pokemon experimenting with their own latent powers and learning how to use that power in battle. The reason they can only learn 4 moves at a time is because they can only hold in memory 4 combat moves at a time; once they learn a new move an older one is forgotten in the learning process. As a trainer you can pick which move is forgotten but for wild Pokemon the move they forget is the oldest move currently in their roster. This doesn't mean they forget to growl or fly or breathe fire; they just forgot how to use that ability in combat in favor of a new ability. Why that is is unknown to me; I guess it's just how Pokemon work. For moves they don't learn by level up they can still learn that move just by being taught how to execute it. This is what TMs, HMs, and Move Tutors do; teach a Pokemon how to use a new move. Technology isn't really necessary; they can learn moves without human intervention easily. Take Pokemon Mystery Dungeon; there are no humans there teaching them how to learn new abilities. They just learn on their own, and while the moves they learn function differently they still learn quite easily how to use them in a combat situation. As for Egg Moves I guess the Pokemon is just born with the knowledge of how to use that attack, and execute it using their own abilities in spite of it's lack of fighting experience.

As for their abilities capability to kill... well yeah, they can do that. They just aren't allowed to do it under the control of a trainer unless that trainer commands them to. Pokemon can and do hurt other Pokemon and humans on a regular basis; it's why kids aren't allowed to go too far without a Pokemon partner. Obviously the trainers in game don't command their Pokemon to kill; they purposely only attack until the opponent is no longer strong enough to fight. It's why Shadow Pokemon are so irregular; they attack Pokemon and Trainers with the intent to harm or even kill, unlike regular Pokemon.

As for Poke Balls I don't really know how they work. The World of Pokemon is plain weird sometimes.

 

[Bellsprout]

it's really hard for me to take things like this seriously so please don't take anything i say as rude i'm just being straight forward.

for one I don't really understand where you're coming from? pokemon have levels because they're in a game. a game has to be set up so there's a point, milestones, something to work for. it's just a way to say "i've gotten my pokemon this far, and if i get it to this next point it will either learn this/evolve/gain this." it's a visual representation for you, the player, to see. a pokemon is set to four moves to keep it simple and give strategy.

i would imagine if there was a real world of pokemon those limitations wouldn't exist. in the anime pokemon knew more than four moves and levels were rarely ever mentioned. i've heard recently this has changed in the anime and it's probably just so it ties in with the games now which is really dumb imo. also i want to reference that in the manga pokemon did die at the hands of each other. the anime and games are marketed towards children that's why pokemon only "faint" in battles.

i guess i'm just confused because you started this by saying you found it strange that there were levels and movesets in the games. it's a game, a game has limitations

 

[Simon Science]

Levels have always been a technical representation of fighting experience. When you get enough experience fighting foes you level up and become stronger. It's that way in every RPG that has a leveling system. The level cap is basically how experienced a Pokemon can become; once they hit that they've hit their peak fighting ability and can't become any stronger.

As for why and how Pokemon learn new abilities, it doesn't really have much to do with whether or not they have a trainer. I think it has to do with Pokemon experimenting with their own latent powers and learning how to use that power in battle. The reason they can only learn 4 moves at a time is because they can only hold in memory 4 combat moves at a time; once they learn a new move an older one is forgotten in the learning process. As a trainer you can pick which move is forgotten but for wild Pokemon the move they forget is the oldest move currently in their roster. This doesn't mean they forget to growl or fly or breathe fire; they just forgot how to use that ability in combat in favor of a new ability. Why that is is unknown to me; I guess it's just how Pokemon work. For moves they don't learn by level up they can still learn that move just by being taught how to execute it. This is what TMs, HMs, and Move Tutors do; teach a Pokemon how to use a new move. Technology isn't really necessary; they can learn moves without human intervention easily. Take Pokemon Mystery Dungeon; there are no humans there teaching them how to learn new abilities. They just learn on their own, and while the moves they learn function differently they still learn quite easily how to use them in a combat situation. As for Egg Moves I guess the Pokemon is just born with the knowledge of how to use that attack, and execute it using their own abilities in spite of it's lack of fighting experience.

As for their abilities capability to kill... well yeah, they can do that. They just aren't allowed to do it under the control of a trainer unless that trainer commands them to. Pokemon can and do hurt other Pokemon and humans on a regular basis; it's why kids aren't allowed to go too far without a Pokemon partner. Obviously the trainers in game don't command their Pokemon to kill; they purposely only attack until the opponent is no longer strong enough to fight. It's why Shadow Pokemon are so irregular; they attack Pokemon and Trainers with the intent to harm or even kill, unlike regular Pokemon.

As for Poke Balls I don't really know how they work. The World of Pokemon is plain weird sometimes.

I agree with evrything you just said exept your theory about the four move limit. In my mind it is clearly established that the pokemon league dosent allow more than four moves to be used per battle. Stating that pokemon "forget" how to use certain moves because of memory is slightly illogical when some pokemon have a I.Q of 3000 (Alakazam) And literally have supercomputers for brains(Metagross). Other than that(and how the pokeball works i have my own hypothesis) your current theory seems solid, nice work!

 

[mew_nani]

I agree with evrything you just said exept your theory about the four move limit. In my mind it is clearly established that the pokemon league dosent allow more than four moves to be used per battle. Stating that pokemon "forget" how to use certain moves because of memory is slightly illogical when some pokemon have a I.Q of 3000 (Alakazam) And literally have supercomputers for brains(Metagross). Other than that(and how the pokeball works i have my own hypothesis) your current theory seems solid, nice work!

I'd agree with that except for one thing: in Pokemon Mystery Dungeon, where there is no Pokemon League, Pokemon are still restricted to just four moves. Why is this? If the four move limit is a cap placed on trainers by the ruling organization why does this cap still apply to wild Pokemon that aren't under the league's jurisdiction, or in a world where there is no league period? Better yet why are evil teams that are completely against the league unable to have their Pokemon hold more than four moves at a time? There's just too many holes in that theory.

Besides why can't they only be capable of being able to only use four moves in a combat situation? Just because Alakazam has such a high I.Q does't mean it would be able to use all its moves at any given time. Come to think of it maybe they just "forget" certain moves because they no longer wish to use them in battle.

...

...Nah that doesn't make any sense either.