User:Mezzopiano/Headcanon

Legendaries

• Legendaries are simply very rare, very powerful species. Many ancient peoples and some modern ones do worship them as gods. While some like the creation trio and Arceus may have godlike powers, they are not divine beings in the traditional sense.
• Legendaries have very long lifespans, but are not immortal.
• They can be caught, but only by the most experienced trainers. A caught legendary will usually outlive its trainer, and be returned to the wild after the trainer's death. Catching some legendares is regarded as blasphemy in some parts of the world.
• There are multiples of every species. Yes, even Arceus.
  • This includes multiples of artificially created legendaries Mewtwo and Genesect. There have been multiple Mewtwo experiments, some of which resulted in the creation of Mewtwonites X and Y.
• In the legend of the Burned Tower, the Pokémon that were caught in the fire and reborn as Raikou, Entei, and Suicune were a Jolteon, Flareon, and Vaporeon respectively.
• Victini is not nuclear or radioactive. It is simply an extremely powerful Fire type, one strong enough that rumors began to spread that a trainer using one could never lose.
• Giratina are native to the Distortion World, but can cross over into this one through their own power. Doing so leaves them in altered form unless in the presence of a Griseous Orb.
• Unown are not legendary.

Culture

• Most Pokédex entries are rumors and lore rather than scientific fact.
• Eevee and its evolutions are common household pets, but rare in the wild.
  • Related to the above, the wild Eevee found in Castelia City's garden are stray pets.
• Pikachu is also rare in the wild due to being a popular cultural icon.
• Nearly everyone is a Pokémon trainer to some degree, but most have other jobs apart from training and just participate in battles as a hobby.
• Beating an Elite Four and Champion does not make you the new champion, but just earns you a place in the Hall of Fame. Becoming the champion is a much more difficult endeavor.
• Being in a Hall of Fame is required to become a Gym Leader. Gym Leaders adjust their team according to the number of badges their challenger has.
• All gyms can be challenged in any order. The paths from the games are just the most recommended ones.
• Being a gym trainer is a full-time job, and also involves setting up the puzzles inside the gym.
• Most people don't own Pokédexes and can be tripped up by a species they've never seen before. Serious battlers tend to memorize type charts and common competitive species.
• Official starters are common for people starting out as trainers, but not required. If a prospective trainer has another Pokémon, as a pet or one they found and caught on their own, it can be used instead.
• The TCG exists in-universe both as a popular game and a teaching tool for prospective trainers. Several battle simulator video games exist for the same purposes, and often feature Gym Leaders, Elite Four, or Champions as playable characters.
• The Pokéball symbol predates the invention of the Poké Ball, and is believed to represent The Vow.
• Before Poké Balls were invented, trainers simply walked around with their mons by their side. Some trainers still continue this tradition.
• Transgender advocacy groups often take Milotic or Sylveon as symbols; Milotic being a beautiful, proud Pokémon evolving from a weak, ugly, helpless one and Sylveon being an extremely feminine Pokémon evolving from the mostly-male Eevee. In addition both are pale blue, pink, and white; the colors of the transgender pride flag.
• Hair dye is much more common and effective than in reality. Due to this, unusual hair colors are commonplace and rarely remarked on.
• Wedding ceremonies are concluded by a battle between the two to be wedded. The winner keeps their last name.

Biology

• Ditto reproduce by asexual division. They can also reproduce with all other species by transforming into a potential mate.
  • Mew are also capable of doing this, but rarely breed in captivity.
• Fossil revival works by incorporating the rock from the fossil into the revived mon's body, hence why all are Rock type.
  • Team Plasma's method of reviving Genesect was a different process; if revived through standard fossil revival, it would be Bug/Rock.
• Most genderless Pokémon do not have an identity within the gender binary. This also includes some legendaries, but for most their gender (if any) is simply not known.

Abilities

• Force Palm is not an Aura move. It is a forceful strike using the palm.
• Most Psychic types can speak to humans using telepathy. Most Auric mons can't.
• The majority of people calling themselves psychics are frauds who usually use a mon they own to do their tricks. A few with genuine powers do exist.
  • One such person is Inver, who uses his power to enable Inverse Battles.
• Dark types can't hear telepathy, with the exception of Inkay and Malamar.
• Most Dark moves are based on the mon being sneaky and deceptive rather than adding Obscura to attacks. Likewise, most Fighting moves don't make use of Aura.
• Wild mons with weather moves/abilities are capable of influencing the climate of a region.
  • The area around Snowpoint City gets snow year-round due to the high population of Snover line mons living there.
  • Snowbelle City is in a similar state, thanks to a group of Abomasnow placed around the city by Wulfric.
• Ghost types can turn intangible at will. Foresight works by carefully observing the opponent and noticing when they become tangible again.
• Detect is not a shield. It works by predicting the opponent's next move and focusing on avoiding it.
• Ice types, when using Water moves, perform them using very cold water. This is also why they can't learn Scald, and tend not to handle being hit by it well.
• Pressure is caused by an intimidating presence, hence why many legendaries are capable of using it.
• Aura, psychic abilities, and Obscura all have clearly defined capabilities with little overlap. There is no Auric illusion, psychic vision, or Obscuric telepathy.
  • They are also not part of a spectrum. Each ability is distinct, though many mons proficient in one can learn some of the others (such as Psychic types being able to learn Shadow Ball and Focus Blast).
  • Obscura and psychic users are both capable of creating illusions, but do so in different ways. Psychic illusions are projected into the target(s)' mind, while Obscura illusions act more as a general disguise.
  • (borrowed from Every) Ghost type Obscura does not act as a shield to Fighting type Aura; it is only intangible to it.
• Lucario using Bone Rush is performed with bones, not with an Aura staff.
• Victims of a lethal Oblivion Wing turn into dry, brittle husks that crumble to dust when touched.
• The bond between trainer and Pokémon required to activate Mega Evolution is simply acceptance of a pact under The Vow. This is why it is possible to Mega Evolve a newly-caught mon.
• Many moves can vary in appearance depending on the mon using them. As an example, Aura moves are the color of the user's aura.
• When Hidden Power is used, it takes on the color of whatever type it manifests as.
• Fairy-type Hidden Power exists.
• Zorua and Zoroark do not change size when mimicking a larger or smaller species through Illusion. That's just part of the illusion.
  • They can also use Illusion to become invisible, but prefer disguising themselves as other species. This makes them extremely difficult to find in the wild.
• Many Pokémon, particularly those with no other apparent means of locomotion, have a limited form of levitation. This is not as effective as the Levitate ability and cannot reliably be used to avoid ground-based attacks.
• All Flying types can participate in Sky Battles. So can any Pokémon with Levitate and any that can learn Fly.
  • Archen is an exception, since it is unable to fly until it evolves.
• Any move learnable as an Egg Move can also be taught by a TM or move tutor, if one exists.
• (borrowed from Every) MtF Snorunt can evolve to Froslass. FtM Kirlia can evolve to Gallade. MtF Combee can evolve to Vespiquen.
• The metal coat that Scizor gains upon evolving makes it too heavy to fly.
• Thrown Bonemerangs fly close to the ground and are easy for Flying types and levitators to avoid.
• Most Pokémon that evolve at night evolve when exposed to moonlight, with the exception of Amaura, which evolves under the light of an aurora. In places where auroras do not appear naturally the move Aurora Beam can be used for this purpose.
• Likewise, most Pokémon that evolve during the day require sunlight as a catalyst for their evolution.
• Bulletproof Chespin are literally bulletproof. Some other mons, mainly Rock and Steel types or those with high defense, are as well.
• Aura Spheres home in on their target's aura signature, making them nearly impossible to avoid. Magical Leaves work through a similar method. Aerial Ace and Feint Attack focus on catching the opponent off-guard with speed and guile respectively.

Items

• Used Gems recharge after a short period.
• Casteliacones are based on the Vanillite line, and come in Vanillite, Vanillish, and Vanilluxe sizes.
• Adamant, Lustrous, and Griseous Orbs come in multiples. They do nothing on their own unless in the presence of a Dialga, Palkia, or Giratina respectively and simply amplify their holder's natural powers (and in the case of Giratina, allows it to exist in Origin Forme outside the Distortion World).
  • Griseous Orbs, like Giratina, are native to the Distortion World.
• Rainbow and Silver Wings are simply feathers from a Ho-oh or Lugia respectively. They can be used with the proper summoning ceremony to call one.
• Alakazites contain three extra spoons inside.
• Key Stones take time to recharge after each use, which is why they can only be used to Mega Evolve a Pokémon once per battle.

TMs and HMs

• Multi-use TMs were developed first, but were considered too prohibitively expensive to mass-produce and were for a long time reserved for moves used for transport or bypassing obstacles. These eventually became known as HMs, while the term TM became used for the cheaper single-use machines. With advances in technology, multi-use TMs became cheaper and are now standard issue, but the distinction between TMs and HMs remains as an artifact.
• Gym Leaders occasionally develop their own TMs.
• Some TMs are made based on moves Pokémon perform naturally, while others are developed as human-taught moves. Some examples of the latter include Volt Switch, Frost Breath, Dazzling Gleam, and Snarl; the first three having been developed by Elesa, Brycen, and Valerie respectively.
• Move tutors act as unofficial TMs, teaching a Pokémon a new move through an older method that involves explaining to the mon and if possible, demonstrating what the tutor wants it to learn. Like TMs, they come in both natural and human-taught move varieties.
• When a TM is discontinued some people will take up move tutor positions to keep the move in circulation around leagues. Moves that fall under this position include the elemental punches, and for a while, Roost, Steel Wing, and Dark Pulse before TMs for them were reintroduced.
• The majority of HM moves are created by humans for the purpose of transport or breaking through obstacles. Some have ended up being useful in battle due to their side effects.
• Surf, Dive, Fly, and similar HMs do not teach Pokémon how to fly or swim. What they teach is specifically how to fly or swim holding a passenger.
• Curse was always a Ghost-type move. Due to a printing error, the first group of Curse TMs produced came without a type label, leading many to think that the move had no type or that its type was a mysterious unknown type. Since the TM was discontinued after its first distribution, this misconception persisted for a long time afterward.
• Focus Blast was created in an attempt to make an Aura Sphere TM. While the TM's creators were successful in enabling many Pokémon to fire blasts of Aura, they were unable to replicate Aura Spheres' homing abilities and instead focused on making the blasts more powerful.

Individual People and Mons

• Shauntal writes fanfiction. She also ships N with the Black/White PC (of either gender).
• The Abomasnow in the Frost Cavern was previously owned by a trainer. It gives the X/Y PC the Abomasite it had, since without a trainer, it was unable to Mega Evolve.
• The Mewtwo in the Pokémon Village willingly allows itself to be caught in order to test its own Mega Evolution. This is why its Mega Stone is found immediately next to it.

WAAPT Headcanon

• The J-Team is not the first group of its kind. In all likelihood many current and former Gym Leaders, Elite Four, and Champions traveled in similar groups in their youth.
• Papillon and Anom's Beautifly are either one and the same, or related to each other somehow.
• There exists a universe in which Mezzo is the Black 1 protagonist and Felis is the Hero of Truth.
• If a pregnant person uses an Armband or is otherwise transformed into Pokéform, the fetus becomes a Pokémon egg.
• Move Tutors that are turned into Pokéform are able to use the moves they teach, should their species be able to learn it.
• Doduo, Zweilous, and Kangaskhan turn into two people when transformed into humans. Dodrio, Dugtrio, and Magneton turn into three. Other multiple mons such as Vanilluxe, Hydreigon, and Metagross turn into only one, as they have only one consciousness.