Disclaimer: What? Pokemon belongs to Nintendo? Oh darn.
Topics in pokemon biology: Psychics
Controversial in the arena and in the echelons of universities, psychic phenomena are the subject of great debate. What is psychic power? Where does it come from? What are its limits? What laws restrain it?
The power of the mind, according to the latest theories, evolved from the ability to generate electrical currents at will. These currents, complexly and subtly applied, can affect the nerves of other living beings, creating hallucinations, causing sleep, reading their thoughts, and predicting their movements. Psychics can also produce force directly from their thoughts, and apply that energy directly in different forms, either offensively or aimed downward, causing levitation. Some are even able to warp space-time with careful applications of energy. Many different unrelated pokemon can use such abilities, including shellfish, birds, entomon, and mammals. It is even theorized that all pokemon have some degree of psychic ability, which would explain the high degree of energy manipulation that many pokemon exhibit.
Psychic pokemon are also renowned for escaping from their pokeballs, and a psychic-proof pokeball has not yet been invented. The reasons for this are unknown, but the psychics may be able to manipulate the delicate machinery of a pokeball much as they manipulate the nerves of other pokemon. This could have broad implications for the study of pokemon such as Rotom.
Some trainers of psychic pokemon claim that they can 'read' and even experience the feelings of their pokemon, a truly remarkable statement and one that needs to be examined further.
Perhaps a first-hand account is in order, as often one needs to truly experience psychic phenomena to understand them:
I never really believed what they say about psychics. Pokemon are pokemon, and though I'd never owned a psychic before, I thought I could handle it. So when I caught a Meditite, I didn't think anything of it. I thought it would be a good addition to my team, that's all.
He was a cute little guy, all arms and legs. And he had these big, soulful eyes. I liked him right away, and gave him lots of attention. He fought alongside my other pokes pretty well, and we got some great wins.
I don't know when things started to change. I think it was so subtle, I hardly noticed it. It was like, I would feed him, and I would just feel good about it, like I'd given myself a treat. And when he would get hurt, I would feel this… stinging.
Then it started getting more powerful. When he was happy, I was happy, and when he was upset, I was upset. When he ate, I actually felt full. And when he got hurt? It was like I was the one getting electrocuted or bitten. I eventually had to retire him, it was that bad. I couldn't battle with him anymore, it was just too painful.
This account is extreme, but is not unheard-of. Not all psychic owners have reported a mental connection with their pokemon, but about 20% claim some degree of synchronization.