At some point in their lives, every Wartortle must make a choice between life or power, for unevolved they can live for millennia. There are many Wartortle alive which predate the dawn of civilization, some living among men, some hiding in the deep sea where no man can reach.
The vast majority of Wartortle from the past thousands of years dead, because they chose at some point in their lives to evolve into Blastoise. Blastoise itself have a respectable lifespan: two centuries is a lifespan which most would kill for, and indeed many have, but to a Wartortle it might as well be suicide.
And yet most Wartortle do exactly that. Speculation has abounded as to why – do Wartortle lack the self-preservation instincts of most life, does their modern diet insufficiently produce chemicals in the brain needed to make them feel life worth living – but few have stumbled on the answer most Blastoise themselves would give.
Some things, they would say with the wisdom of millennia, are even more important than living for eons.
