Editor's Note: this was stuffed between a few pages of the draft Dracaena sent me. It is not an accredited, peer reviewed research paper, nor is it research drawn from such. It is two scholars discussing a question and bouncing ideas to make a hypothesis. I apologize for not noticing that it was not a proper entry, but in my defense, I have been swamped with helping Pokémon Medicine, Training With Vigor, and Pokémon Times with their big summer special editions.
From: Dracaena
To: Birch
Re: Grouping and mixing
I just got a call from a young trainer. Just a regular Pokédex update. But the data gathered showed something interesting. She transmitted data showing a community of twenty Pokémon, consisting of four Plusle/Minun pairs, some Swablu, and three Litleo. And it was a community, not a chance collision of three groups, given that they remained together for three days of observation. What are the odds of a mix like that getting along?
Further, what is going on? We have all heard those sob stories about a trainer's death leaving a small mixed team clinging to each other in mourning, but not a small breeding population like that. And the Swablu were not even in the same Egg Group.
[see attached files]
(That is, if you can read data transmitted from a more modern Field Pokédex, you old timer. Why are you still sticking with the P32x when the P49 line has superior passive scanners for dealing with forgetful Pokédex holders and chaotic situations where you just cannot afford to take the time to scan?)
From: Birch
To: Dracaena
Re: Grouping and mixing
I know that some mixed groups occur frequently, like Bouffalant herds with Pidove, but many other herd/pack/communal Pokémon prefer mono-species communities. Sometimes, they don't allow evolved forms.
In the case presented, I don't think that any of those three have naturally occurring mutualistic relationships. Might be a small colony formed from the descendants of a trainer's team?
(And I'll have you know that the P32x is incredibly rugged and can remain in active use for seven years before it needs servicing, unlike those flimsy P49 with annual repair work.)
From: Dracaena
To: Birch
Re: Grouping and mixing
Are the Bouffalant herds with Pidove pecking at their ticks and fleas an actual arrangement between the Pokémon, or are the birds and ungulates just accepting a good deal when it is offered? Do Pidove start pecking at the bugs on other large grazing ungulates if given the chance? Like with Sawsbuck?
Doubt that they come from a trainer's team, or the grandchildren of a trainer's team. Swablu are far too free spirited to stick around just for that. Their flocks break apart and birds jump from one flock to another at the drop of a feather.
(One: even the P15 line will break if the trainer takes a direct hit, and they make the P32 look as sturdy as soufflé. 2: the P49 can be fitted with ultrasonic scanners to analyze the bone structure of a subject and even some basic subterranean mapping. Can your precious P32 do that?)
((Did you catch Juniper's latest paper on Golett and how different cultures caused it to have different armor styles? I learned something there. Think it has any connections to the origin of the Baltoy line? Divergent effort to produce similar guardians?))
From: Birch
To: Dracaena
Re: Grouping and mixing
Dagnabit. Now I have another thing to study, and I'm still in the middle of mediating that out-of-court settlement between Fortree and Sootopolis after that scandal with the rusty nails in the furniture.
Would it be predators adapting new hunting that drove a mixing, or is climate change involved?
Not likely to be human interference. There are records of communities or groups of wild or feral Pokémon in or near cities that violently repel intrusion by foreign Pokémon. And isolationism occurs in the wild as well. Heck, the migrations of some groups are practically the only chance to catch them since they go to ground and hide so thoroughly otherwise. And those groupings never have other Pokémon in them. They even drive out native Pokémon temporarily while traveling. Horrible for trainers trying to catch something, only to find that their target is not in the area because of Dunsparce mating season or something.
Predation or common threats might encourage grouping behavior, even in Pokémon that normally live alone. Perhaps this in turn encourages Pokémon that already group to bring in outsiders for protection in exchange for some perk? With the Swablu, Plusle/Minun, and Litleo group, did you get any information on stronger local predators?
(You've been in one of those wilderness expeditions for too long again haven't you? You start fantasizing about trickier foods when deprived of meals more complicated than ration bars or camp fire hot pots for more than a month, then you get back to civilization and remember that you are the pickiest eater I have ever met. Wait, are you even in your lab or are you using a connection through that jailbreak satellite radio of yours again?)
((Current evidence suggests that Baltoy and Golett somehow were mutually exclusive among ancient civilizations.))
(((Seriously Dracaena, you know that you got hacked by one of those fanatic crime syndicates last time you played with that radio. We don't want you to get kidnapped again and have another Kalos Catacombs incident do you? They're still trying to seal the gateway to Ildathach, and that Spiritomb from the Blue Plague nearly escaped.)))
From: Dracanea
To: Birch
Re: Grouping and mixing
Remember that the evidence has no responsibilities. The hypothesis must change to match the evidence. Don't try to force the evidence to match your ideas and end up like Professor Gum.
Maybe cities actively discourage inclusion of outsiders? Since cities have minimal food sources that do not involve fighting humans, a group in the city might be reluctant to allow any additional mouths to feed from their limited supplies. And if that is the case, increased abundance may encourage mixing, if only to increase available mating partners in communities with overlapping Egg Groups. Though, that does not account for the Swablu living with two species from the Field Group. Not a conclusive hypothesis. And no, my trainer did not get any data on local predators beyond the Litleo.
(You're one to talk; Mr. "Got kidnapped by Ursaring and kept as a cuddle toy all winter during hibernation." How did you survive your wife afterwards? Besides, it is not nearly as bad as the stuff that happens to Professor Pepper. Any idea how he got out of being eaten by that tribe of pygmy Axew? And since when do Axew form tribes? I thought the most they did was small family units that break apart once the hatchlings leave the nest.)
Editor's Note: This was the end of the pages stuck in Dracaena's binder. If the conversation continued, Dracaena had either not printed it out, or it is in a different binder. This is not the first time he got files mixed up, but it is the first time it slipped through into a first edition publishing run.
And now the young trainers of the world know how crazy the Pokémon Professors can get. For the record, Professor Pepper is renowned in the research community for being delicious to every predatory Pokémon he meets. Every time he tries to study a predator, it tries to take a bite out of him. Someone suggested taking tissue samples and integrating the DNA into soy strains to engineer a universal flavoring to add to Pokémon Chow to make it appetizing for all predators. Like those people that modified a herd of Miltank to make Ariados silk in their milk.