Contemporary Paldea may lack legendary electric pokemon, yet there is something surprisingly terrifying about a school of Tadbulb falling out of the sky during a thunderstorm. Despite their small size, it is common for these pokemon, in numbers, to expand from the thundercloud to take out Squawkabilly or other small birds, or even a Veluza should they land over open ocean. Their victim or victims, whatever their identity, serves as a key source of nutrition for these pokemon until they can evolve into Bellibolt. However, they do not always get the chance to eat all of their prey; dead pokemon are always feasts for scavengers, and Kilowattrel are notorious for chasing after Tadbulb clouds during thunderstorms and treating both these pokemon and their targets as a feast.
Unlike Poliwag and Tympole, where the fates of siblings may be wholly unconnected, or even determined in intraspecific competition, Tadbulb live and die with the school. Many unfortunate individuals are never picked up by a storm, while conversely, genetics has demonstrated that generations of Bellibolt ranging over vast areas of Paldea are often remarkably close relatives, and pokemon breeders must take care to prevent inbreeding in captivity.
After sufficiently loud thunderstorms, pokemon trainers leave their buildings and anywhere they found shelter, swarming tall and wet grass in search of a Tadbulb to call their own. They are not the first to do so. The role of chance storms in their lives has long led Paldeans to view these pokemon as good luck charms, and ancient Paldean divination was based around watching the Tadbulb fall.