Marrill to Azumarill is weird

[Palamon]

>

>

Not all evolutions make sense. Both Azurill and Marill are clearly mice. Then Marill evolves into a rabbit which, from a biology standpoint does not make sense. A mouse cannot become a rabbit. That is just how it is. But, this isn't the only Pokemon where they change into a completely different animal.

While Azumarill still resembles Marill in many ways, I just don't get why or how it evolves from a mouse to a rabbit.

Anyway, here's a few more examples of Pokemon evolutions where they become a completely different animal altogether that I can think of. That isn't the Remoraid (a fish) into Octillery (an octopus/squid) because we all know that one already. And I won't be going over stuff that makes sense due to lore like Magikarp (based on the legend of a karp leaping over a waterfall to become a dragon) or Feebas because those make sense. But...anyway.

>

>

Pikipek to Trumbeak to Toucannon. Pikipek is a woodpecker, and a woodpecker is well, not a toucan, clearly. I have always found it weird Pikipek evolves into a completely different species of bird when it is obviously a woodpecker. But, it is what it is. Pokemon is fictional and not bound by realism, but I've never understood this one.

>

Carvhana into Sharpedo.

Pretty sure a piranha is not related to a shark in any way apart from both having extremely sharp teeth. This one is just...plain odd to me. But, I guess from a standpoint it doesn't really bother me a piranha evolves into a shark, tbh.

Totodile going from a crocodile to an alligator.

Obviously, a crocodile is not an alligator. They are in the same family, but not the same animal. Very weird, if you ask me.

Any evolutions you can think of where the Pokemon changes species entirely?

 

[icycatelf]

Evolving into a different type of animal is pretty normal for Pokémon at this point. Almost always happens with regional birds. Here are a few other examples that come to mind:

A tapir evolving into a... proboscis monkey? (Drowzee -> Hypno)
A shrew into an aye-aye (Shroodle -> Grafaiai)
An echidna into a porcupine/paca (Cyndaquil -> Quilava)
A sea otter into a sea lion (Dewott -> Samurott)
A clam into eel-like creatures (Clamperl -> Huntail/Gorebyss)

 

[Corveone]

I still have no clue what the idea behind the Seedot line comes from.

It's an Acorn, that evolves into... a Jungle Pinocchio? that finally evolves into a Tengu.

It doesn't even go from one animal species to another, it's three stages that look like entirely unrelated concepts with no connection besides Pinocchio and a Tengu having a long nose.

And Ampharos. Makes sense with the pharos + pharao wordplay, but it's no longer a sheep at all. Its mega even gains Dragon type for some reason, which more or less translates as a sheep evolving into a dragon.

 

[Megan]

I remember watching a video a while ago that explained why certain Pokemon evolve into completely different species (like the aforementioned Pikipek). Afaik even though different animals can be different species; in animal sciences certain species are still grouped together due to having similar traits. GF basically took advantage of that when creating certain evolutionary lines.

 

[Sheep]

The Pikipek line in particular I always thought was quite weird. @_@ But my assumption was that this allows them to introduce Pokémon based on more kinds of animals to the games without needing to introduce a new line for each of them. Probably easier this way since preplanning and designing a brand new line for each kind of animal means extra work they may not have. That and it may help to not introduce Pokémon evolutionary lines that may be similar - Pikipek's evolutionary line may have ended up similar stat/movepool-wise if it was split, so they just chose to combine it because they felt they served similar purposes for the player.

 

[Adam Levine]

A clam into eel-like creatures (Clamperl -> Huntail/Gorebyss)

From what I understand, Clamperl's pearl is more like a fish egg, which would explain why it turns into a fish, although that might bring up more questions than answers.

Pikipek to Trumbeak to Toucannon. Pikipek is a woodpecker, and a woodpecker is well, not a toucan, clearly. I have always found it weird Pikipek evolves into a completely different species of bird when it is obviously a woodpecker. But, it is what it is. Pokemon is fictional and not bound by realism, but I've never understood this one.

The Pikipek line in particular I always thought was quite weird. @_@ But my assumption was that this allows them to introduce Pokémon based on more kinds of animals to the games without needing to introduce a new line for each of them. Probably easier this way since preplanning and designing a brand new line for each kind of animal means extra work they may not have. That and it may help to not introduce Pokémon evolutionary lines that may be similar - Pikipek's evolutionary line may have ended up similar stat/movepool-wise if it was split, so they just chose to combine it because they felt they served similar purposes for the player.

Fun fact: toucans and woodpeckers are surprisingly closely related to each other! They're both in the suborder Pici, and while toucans aren't exactly woodpeckers, this transition makes more taxonomical sense than, say, piranhas and sharks.

Speaking of birds, however, a recent elephant in the room is definitely Wattrel to Kilowattrel. Storm petrels and frigatebirds don't even belong to the same order, so clearly this was a matter of either Game Freak having a bit of artist's block or them wanting to make as many different types of bird Pokémon as possible. Unsurprisingly there's a good number of bird Pokémon whose evolved forms aren't even closely related, since their inspirations don't make for easy fully evolved Pokémon material (a fully evolved hummingbird or songbird, for example, doesn't sound imposing). Flittle to Espathra is also a strange transition, especially given that eight generations ago they came up with Doduo and Dodrio. Flittle looks like a nondescript chick, so for it to evolve into an ostrich makes for one of the stranger evolutionary families.

 

[icycatelf]

From what I understand, Clamperl's pearl is more like a fish egg, which would explain why it turns into a fish, although that might bring up more questions than answers

I think this is the first time I've heard of that interpretation. Not sure if that's what the designers were going for, but it definitely makes more sense this way!

Flittle to Espathra is also a strange transition, especially given that eight generations ago they came up with Doduo and Dodrio. Flittle looks like a nondescript chick, so for it to evolve into an ostrich makes for one of the stranger evolutionary families.

Isn't Flittle some kind of aerial dumbo octopus? Which just makes the evolution line that much weirder.

 

[Palamon]

I think this is the first time I've heard of that interpretation. Not sure if that's what the designers were going for, but it definitely makes more sense this way!



Isn't Flittle some kind of aerial dumbo octopus? Which just makes the evolution line that much weirder.

Honestly, I heard this before, too, that Clampearl is a fish egg, and I believe it.

Also, Flittle, Bulbapedia says it's some sort of "bird chick" but it doesn't look like any sort of animal...to me, more like a caped fairy? Definitely does not look an an ostrich chick, though.

Flittle is a small Pokémon resembling a bird chick, with a yellow body, large blue eyes with a lavender triangular mark between them, and a small lavender mouth. It has white frills on its head and both yellow and pink frills extending from its belly, which it uses to emit psychic energy. Its pointed feet are extremely small and appear to serve no use in movement, dangling from its body as it levitates above the ground.

Flittle spends most of time roaming the wastelands. Flittle is also known to be quite vengeful. Should anyone steal Flittle's berries, it will chase after them for revenge.

 

[Devalue]

Oh, true. Noticed nothing animal-like about Flittle. (Knows fairly little about animals, admittedly. Suggests nothing bird-like in its Pokedex entries, though.) Mistook it for a frilled UFO. Made sense with its Psychic typing. Expected Psychic/Steel down the line. Was quite surprised to catch Espathra and discover their relation.

Edit: Flittle's Pokedex entries, for those curious.

Flittle's toes levitate about half an inch above the ground because of the psychic power emitted from the frills on the Pokémon's belly.

It spends its time running around wastelands. If anyone steals its beloved berries, it will chase them down and exact its revenge.

 

[Sweet Serenity]

If anything, I would say that the Marill line is one of the most normal. All it does is gets bigger, gets a different belly pattern, and grows longer ears, much similar to the Jigglypuff to Wigglytuff. As for my opinion on weird evolutions:

Magikarp to Gyarados – I get that it is based on the legend of carp becoming dragons, but those unfamiliar with the legend would find this evolution crazy.
Venonat to Venomoth – Moths should have the same evolution process as other butterfly, bee/wasp, or similar Pokémon with larvae. Gnats do not turn into moths.
Graveler to Golem – I always personally found Graveler evolving into Golem to be weird. I can see Geodude evolving into Graveler, but Golem doesn't look like it belongs to the line at all.
Exeggcute to Exeggutor – Six eggs to a big palm tree does not make sense at all.
Gloom to Bellossom – Bellossom does not look like it belongs to the Oddish family. I find it strange how it just loses its toxicity, bad smell, and just has a completely different look and feel to Gloom. Vileplume was clearly the right direction.
Remoraid to Octillery – Of course this one is one of, if not the craziest one of all.
Tyrogue to the Hitmons – The only Hitmon that looks like it evolves from Tyrogue is Hitmontop and that's being generous.
Zigzagoon to Lioone – This is kind of weird. It evolves from a raccoon to what resembles a honey badger.
Wingull to Pelipper – A seagull to a pelican with a huge beak doesn't make much sense, but it works I guess because they are birds that can usually by found in the same areas at sea.
Trapinch line – I don't even think I can explain this one. I have no idea what they were going for here.
Clamperl line – This one might actually be crazier than Remoraid and Octillery because we know that line was at least going for a gun theme. This line just makes no sense.
Rellor to Rabsca – This makes no sense to me. A dung beetle changes to something that is carrying around a fetus or something? Weird.
Shroodle to Grafaiai – A treeshrew turning into an aye aye. I get that both are native to Madagascar, but that's unusual still. By the way, African animals in Spain? Possible hint to a future region?

 

[Adam Levine]

Exeggcute to Exeggutor – Six eggs to a big palm tree does not make sense at all.

Despite Exeggcute's Dex entries constantly contradicting each other, I'm inclined to believe they're seeds, especially given the fact that they're Grass-types, so despite their superficial resemblance to eggs, their development into Exeggutor makes a little more sense.

Trapinch line – I don't even think I can explain this one. I have no idea what they were going for here.

Trapinch is based on an antlion larva. Once they metamorphose into adults, they become physically weaker (hence Vibrava's Attack being lower than Trapinch's) and grow wings in order to reproduce with other adult antlions. I suppose Flygon is here simply because Vibrava would make for a very disappointing final stage, and I suppose the reason they're not Bug-types is because Game Freak clearly had a tough time deciding which types they would be, so they settled with them being in the Bug egg group instead.

Content warning: real-life images of antlions; the first is of a larva, which Trapinch represents, and the second is of an adult, which Vibrava represents.

Spoiler:

Clamperl line – This one might actually be crazier than Remoraid and Octillery because we know that line was at least going for a gun theme. This line just makes no sense.

See my above post here. Tl;dr Clamperl's pearl might be likened to a fish egg, hence why it evolves into fish.

Rellor to Rabsca – This makes no sense to me. A dung beetle changes to something that is carrying around a fetus or something? Weird.

I'm not sure if you think Rabsca is meant to be something else, but Rabsca is still a dung beetle; the ball of dung just happens to be hovering above it now. The fetus ball is also inspired by how real-life dung beetles hatch their young in their dung balls, so that they feed on the dung as they develop. Rabsca also takes cues from Egyptian mythology, since scarab beetles (the taxonomic family that includes dung beetles) were revered in Ancient Egypt, and Khepri, the god of the creation and renewal of life, is often depicted with a scarab-shaped face.

Shroodle to Grafaiai – A treeshrew turning into an aye aye. I get that both are native to Madagascar, but that's unusual still. By the way, African animals in Spain? Possible hint to a future region?

Treeshrews are about as primate as an animal can get without being a primate, but that's somewhat of a flimsy argument, so it seems Shroodle's evolution into Grafaiai is more symbolic than anything: Shroodle's body might be based on the graffiti known as "Kilroy was here," which was popular during World War II; it represents an evolution of graffiti culture from the 20th century to modern day.

Might as well add to the conversation again though by pointing out the strange trend of primate Pokémon that can't decide on whether to be monkeys, apes, or something else. The Grookey line is one of the larger offenders, Chimchar is a bit too ambiguous for me, Mankey losing its tail upon evolving clearly means Primeape is an ape and not a monkey despite its category saying otherwise, and sloths, the animal Slakoth is based on, aren't even primates (although Slakoth's case, like Shroodle's, clearly aims more for symbolism than realism). I have my eye on Munkidori in case Game Freak wants to turn it into an ape or something else entirely.

 

[ReKoil]

To me Flittle looks more like a hovering (Ostrich) egg wearing a frilly dress/outfit than a bird chick lol 😅

Anyway, Remoraid to Octillery will always be the weirdest one to me. The other mentions are pretty normal by comparison.

 

[Rock_Salazar]

I always thought both Nidorans were supposed to be rabbits, but then they evolve into rhinos and it confused me for the longest time.