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[RedZaraki]

I mean it starts out empty, and then when you capture a Pokemon it fills with information.

But how can this little device KNOW that information? I mean, how can it know that 400 years ago this legendary Pokemon destroyed a village or whatever. Or that rarely this Pokemon will shed it's skin under the pale moonlight.

Or whatever.

How does the Pokedex know?

Is there some knowledgebase out there that it is accessing? If so, then why does the professor even need you to capture Pokemon in the first place?

Are all Pokedexes connected?

And what about new or never encountered species of Pokemon? It knows everything about their past just.......on intuition?

Edit: DNA reading, brain scanning, black magic.

 

[hydrophilic attack]

they probably just torture the pokemons for information

 

[GulAtiCa]

More likely the Pokedex is making shit up.

 

[Marcus]

it's videogame logic. sometimes we just have to deal with things that don't make sense

 

[Nights Owl]

I imagine that when you register a Pokemon the Professor of the region basically gets to analyze the Pokemon in your box/party and enters the Data. Just for the sake of the "game" it's done automatically. But I think it's the professors analysis after you catch them. That's why if you *don't* catch them, and only *see* them, the entry is empty.

It's also why each region has sometimes similar entries, because the professors analyze similar things, but sometimes maybe a different professor studies something different.

 

[fredrancour]

arceus is effing with children via professors.

 

[Emarv]

More likely the Pokedex is making shit up.

Honestly, based on some of the early game Pokedex entries, this feels likely.

 

[RedZaraki]

More likely the Pokedex is making shit up.

 

[Kalentan]

Maybe the Pokedex has some form of AI?

 

[Thatanas]

How do Wailords and Snorlax fit inside a Pokéball?

Magic, man. Magic and technology.

 

[SkullHydra]

 

[neilyadig]

I believe there is a knowledgebase that it is accessing, culled from the collective knowledge of Pokemon trainers and masters out there. However, our professor still wants to do his own research on real, live examples.

Could be wrong, but that's how I've thought about it.

 

[BigPete]

See the MST3K Mantra:

https://youtu.be/4Ugebzq3juE

Sometimes things don't necessarily need to make sense. There isn't a lot of hard science in the Pokemon universe.

 

[Nepenthe]

I imagine that when you register a Pokemon the Professor of the region basically gets to analyze the Pokemon in your box/party and enters the Data. Just for the sake of the "game" it's done automatically. But I think it's the professors analysis after you catch them.

This only makes sense for Dex entries that concern themselves with the physical characteristics of the Pokemon. The lore and legendary stuff "This Pokemon was once used to build temples in ancient South America" doesn't make sense to include unless the Pokemon's history and thus identity were already known beforehand, at which point the Pokedex is rendered redundant.

The only explanation that makes sense to me is that the professors are lying to you about the nature of the Dex. It already has the info locked inside; they just want you to do all of the hard work of unlocking it all yourself because they're busy with other things.

 

[SuperBanana]

It probably connects to a server and pulls the pokemons details. Ash isn't discovering a Weedle. It's already known.

 

[sirap]

Don't think too hard about it. All you need to know is that

Spoiler

Professor Oak is banging Ash's mom.

 

[Zalman]

I have never thought about it this deeply before and now it's the most intriguing thing in the world.

 

[Randdalf]

Every time you access the Pokédex it's a flashforward to when the professors' peer reviewed research on a particular Pokémon has been accepted by one of the major Pokémon research journals.

 

[HawthorneKitty]

You were on Reddit, huh?

 

[clemenx]

More likely the Pokedex is making shit up.

This is the best and most fun option now that the Pokedex is sentient.

 

[KHlover]

.

 

[Yohane]

Well I guess It's like startrek

 

[Arrrammis]

The pokedex is full when you get it, but the professor locked all of the entries so that you can't access them until you encounter said pokemon, so that the trainer could have a goal and feel accomplished.

 

[clemenx]

http://new1.fjcdn.com/pictures/Pokedex_8dfed4_2535918.jpg[/IMG

.[/QUOTE]

lmao these are AMAZING. The Wartortle one is a bit too dark tho lol.

 

[The Adder]

You, the trainer, have been compiling information about the Pokemon you just caught through various sources as you travel. The Pokedex is you filing that information. That it only appears after catching a Pokemon is a gameplay mechanic.

No, it isn't just made up, that's why information that recurs remains consistent across regions and generations despite being filled out by different people.

 

[Mr-Joker]

I mean it starts out empty, and then when you capture a Pokemon it fills with information.

But how can this little device KNOW that information? I mean, how can it know that 400 years ago this legendary Pokemon destroyed a village or whatever.

Because they research folk lore and myth surrounding the Legendary Pokémon, just because they lived 400 years ago doesn't mean that they didn't leave any record behind.

Or that rarely this Pokemon will shed it's skin under the pale moonlight.

Same way how we know info of real animals, countless researchers went out into the field and studied them, logged down their finding and shared them.

Is there some knowledgebase out there that it is accessing?

Yes it is.

If so, then why does the professor even need you to capture Pokemon in the first place?

So new information regarding Pokémon can be discovered, like take Eevee for example back in gen 1 we knew 3 evolution for it, then 2 more were discovered in gen 2, then another two more in gen 4 and recently one more in gen 6 and we know that there will be more in the future.

Plus they want you to capture Pokémon so they can have an up to date listing of Pokémon found in the region and compare it to past data to see if new species have arrived to the region or gone extinct.

Are all Pokedexes connected?

It's Pokédex, not "Pokedexes" and no they are not all connected.

And what about new or never encountered species of Pokemon? It knows everything about their past just.......on intuition?

Again their info is found on research, just that game doesn't show us that.

 

[Bulzeeb]

the explanation for Sun and Moon must be Rottom trolling you, I mean why should you trust a ghost

 

[Nepenthe]

@Mr-Joker: I think people are hung up on the fact that the Pokedex mission is framed as "discovering new Pokemon." If there's a knowledge base it's accessing, then you're not actually discovering anything- you're merely making the already-known information available on the device.

 

[Illucio]

Actually the information in the Pokedex is what the trainer writes in. So a 10 year old is filling it with that information that he picks up from his traveling, or just makes shit up.

 

[Kinyou]

The professor is a goddamn liar. It's all just to get you out of the house so he and your mom can get it on

 

[Mr-Joker]

@Mr-Joker: I think people are hung up on the fact that the Pokedex mission is framed as "discovering new Pokemon." If there's a knowledge base it's accessing, then you're not actually discovering anything- you're merely making the already-known information available on the device.

Again that can be easily be explain, the player is a kid who has lived a small town for most of his life so the Pokémon they are likely be familiar with are Pokémon that appear in the early route, what they saw on TV and other people's Pokémon.

So they are technically discovering new Pokémon as they get further and further away from their starting town.

Plus it plays on the actually player themselves as these Pokémon are new to them.

 

[SolVanderlyn]

I imagine that when you register a Pokemon the Professor of the region basically gets to analyze the Pokemon in your box/party and enters the Data. Just for the sake of the "game" it's done automatically. But I think it's the professors analysis after you catch them. That's why if you *don't* catch them, and only *see* them, the entry is empty.

It's also why each region has sometimes similar entries, because the professors analyze similar things, but sometimes maybe a different professor studies something different.

I like this interpretation.

 

[FantasticMrFoxdie]

God makes it work

 

[Jeff Vader]

God makes it work

Based Arceus indeed.

 

[heyf00L]

I only played Gen 1 and 2, but I always understood that I am tasked to find pokemon and fill out the entries on them, so it's me writing it in there. And also I'm not an expert and the information is unreliable.

 

[Mediking]

.

Lol this is crazy charming

 

[pizzacat]

The pokedex already knows, you just have to scan the pokemon is all

 

[PowerThroughLov]

Mind Bullets. From Alakazam. Its all Alakazam. He is controlling all of the Pokemon Scientists, manipulating them as he sees fit. He wants to protect us all from the SlowBros. They are evil inside.

 

[Kamina]

The completion theme is just so players have a job. From the anime it looked like the dex had all the data in it already.
I always thought the pokedex as some sort of collection of articles and rumors that get allocated to the pokemon in question once you meet it.

 

[Nickle]

It's a teaching tool for kids, the scientists already know what all the Pokemon are.

 

[Genghis Khan]

I imagine that when you register a Pokemon the Professor of the region basically gets to analyze the Pokemon in your box/party and enters the Data. Just for the sake of the "game" it's done automatically. But I think it's the professors analysis after you catch them. That's why if you *don't* catch them, and only *see* them, the entry is empty.

It's also why each region has sometimes similar entries, because the professors analyze similar things, but sometimes maybe a different professor studies something different.

This

 

[PSqueak]

My take:

-The pokeball turns matter into data, the pokedex scans the pokemon data to identify genetic traits, species family, etc.
-Makes estimate of habitat from the Morphology of the pokemon
-Cross references with local region folklore, studies and academic data on the internet
-Compiles Pokedex entry based on all of this.

 

[Nepenthe]

Again that can be easily be explain, the player is a kid who has lived a small town for most of his life so the Pokémon they are likely be familiar with are Pokémon that appear in the early route, what they saw on TV and other people's Pokémon.

So they are technically discovering new Pokémon as they get further and further away from their starting town.

Plus it plays on the actually player themselves as these Pokémon are new to them.

This is a stretch. For one, the Pokedex itself is completely empty when you get it, aside from your starter. As a result, the implication from the Professor's big spiel at the beginning is that every single creature you're seeing- even the ones closest to the route- hasn't been studied all that much or could be reasonably considered "new." I mean, surely they're new for the player, but for a kid who's been immersed in the actual world of Pokemon, surely Ponyta and Chansey aren't anything all that special, despite these being Pokemon they're not likely to see around their hometowns.

Second, the kid isn't a hermit; surely the trainer has access to a TV and PC that would showcase many of the Pokemon already known to science. Perhaps the adults around them or in their lives have unique Pokemon pets. Surely they go to school or at least hang with other kids with similar circumstances. Surely they read books. I mean, I never lived in a dog-happy neighborhood as a kid, but I learned about many breeds I never saw in real life just from reading about them and watching dog movies.

The Pokedex as it's framed and acts really only makes sense from a meta perspective for the player to reference Pokemon they've seen or caught, and to log their progress.

 

[Apzu]

The information comes from years and years of research, but the Pokedex works with a pay wall system and will only show you the pokemon data if you provide more pokemons to be researched.

 

[Fbh]

The kid just writes some made up description combining his experience from encountering the pokemon and his imagination.

That's why there are some really weird and sometimes nonsensical or creepy descriptions and why they are different in every game.

 

[The Adder]

This is a stretch. For one, the Pokedex itself is completely empty when you get it, aside from your starter. As a result, the implication from the Professor's big spiel at the beginning is that every single creature you're seeing- even the ones closest to the route- hasn't been studied all that much or could be reasonably considered "new." I mean, surely they're new for the player, but for a kid who's been immersed in the actual world of Pokemon, surely Ponyta and Chansey aren't which they're not likely to see around their hometowns are anything all that special.

Second, the kid isn't a hermit; surely the trainer has access to a TV and PC that would showcase many of the Pokemon already known to science. Perhaps the adults around them or in their lives have unique Pokemon pets. Surely they go to school or at least hang with other kids with similar circumstances. Surely they read books. I mean, I never lived in a dog-happy neighborhood as a kid, but I learned about many breeds I never saw in real life just from reading about them and watching dog movies.

The Pokedex as it's framed and acts really only makes sense from a meta perspective for the player to reference Pokemon they've seen or caught, and to log their progress.

Here's some context that gets forgotten.

Oak INVENTED the Pokedex. It was blank in the first game because there was no such thing as a Pokedex. The first game, as I said above is you going out and compiling factual and folkloric in one place for the very first time.

Post gen 1 and 3, yeah, makes less sense.

 

[Pai Pai Master]

It works by not thinking too hard about it.

 

[BlazeHedgehog]

I mean it starts out empty, and then when you capture a Pokemon it fills with information.

But how can this little device KNOW that information? I mean, how can it know that 400 years ago this legendary Pokemon destroyed a village or whatever. Or that rarely this Pokemon will shed it's skin under the pale moonlight.

Or whatever.

How does the Pokedex know?

Is there some knowledgebase out there that it is accessing? If so, then why does the professor even need you to capture Pokemon in the first place?

Are all Pokedexes connected?

And what about new or never encountered species of Pokemon? It knows everything about their past just.......on intuition?

Edit: DNA reading, brain scanning, black magic.

Why can you teach Pokemon new abilities by feeding it a CD? Maybe they're some kind of

Digital... Monster....

 

[The Adder]

Also, this is why the entries in red and blue are similar, but different. They're going on the same journey, meeting the same people, but are focusing on different parts of the information they collect.

 

[LegendofLex]

My impression as an adult:

- You the player scan Pokemon using the Pokedex to get some vital data about their biology, which is then sent back to the lab.

- The entries the Pokedex spits out are curated from a combination of the Pokedex's own observations, local lore, Professor assistants doing research in the field, and the Professor doing observations in the lab (think about how Ash's Pokemon in the anime get sent to Oak's lab via PC). The game depicts this as happening immediately, but that's not what's happening behind the scenes in the universe.

- You're probably not the only person in-universe to be reporting information through a Pokedex. You're just the one who 1) completes the Pokedex (if you manage it) and 2) becomes the Champion.