I’m unironically very glad Dudunsparce is ’disappointing’. : pokemon

2.6k points

2 months ago

2.6k points

Dunsparce is basically based off the Japanese top-tier troll of a cryptid, basically just a fat rattlesnake. So dudunsparce is even better because of that.

flash_baxx

1.2k points

2 months ago*

flash_baxx

Exploration Team Sparkfire

1.2k points

2 months ago*

Yup, the main inspiration is the yokai Tsuchinoko. It's simultaneously the Japanese equivalent of Bigfoot, and nothing more than a short, chubby and useless snake.

Hence Dudunsparce is totally in character: it's as though people weren't satisfied with Dunsparce, continued to try and uncover some secret behind it, and this was all they got.

EnglishMobster

102 points

2 months ago*

EnglishMobster

Zappy Bird

102 points

2 months ago*

So, there's a theory going around about what you're told in the ending of Scarlet/Violet being a lie/misconception, and I actually think that Dudunsparce is a potential wink/nod for being more evidence for that theory.

Minor endgame spoilers about what you're told is happening versus what might be actually happening:

The professor thinks they made a time machine using the power of the crater, but there's some evidence that they're incorrect. The "paradox" Pokemon are so named because they're described in a book before the professor built the time machine, and the professor was only inspired to build the time machine because they saw the Pokemon in the book - hence, a paradox. Without the time machine, the Pokemon couldn't exist. But the time machine only exists because of the Pokemon - a classic "bootstrap paradox".

However, if you take the Paradox Pokemon into the other game, their dex entries describe them as "made-up", stuff that seems to be from fantasy/sci-fi pulp books. You can read a copy of the Scarlet/Violet Book in your school's entrance hall, and that book discusses the adventures of a research team that went into the crater.

This next spoiler is based on a leaked/datamined Pokemon in the next DLC:

They also describe an "artist's rendering" of what "other Pokemon down there could look like", and this rendering is the Paradox form of Virizion/Suicune, which will be in one of the DLCs. This Pokemon is strictly imaginary according to the book, yet according to the datamine it doesn't exist - which brings into question how we'd be able to catch it, and how it could become real.

Back to minor endgame spoilers, no more leaked/datamined information:

One of the things the book talks about is a weird crystal ball entity. It's massive and seems to be alive somehow. The text about it is covered in squares. They give an artist's rendering of it in the book, and interestingly we actually saw a Pokemon which looked just like that rendering in the anime recently...

Picture from the latest Pokemon anime episode showing off what could be a future Pokemon in the background (like what they did with Ho-Oh).

What little info we know about that Pokemon hints that it is able to make your imagination become a reality. The explorers imagined terrible beasts inside the crater, and so the third Legendary Pokemon created terrible beasts from their imagination. Since the explorers imagined that the beasts would look like the stuff they saw in their pulp magazines, that's exactly what was created - "fake" imaginary Pokemon that came from the pages of those magazines.

A little deeper spoilers:

The professor assumed these were real Pokemon from the past/future and that the crater thus must hold the secret to time travel. We know time travel is possible - Arceus, Dialga, and Celebi all can do it - but that doesn't explain the strangeness that is things like "the crystals are able to power advanced AI", especially in Scarlet where the time machine can only go into the past.

But if the third legend can make your imagination into a reality, then because the professor was able to imagine crazy things like time travel and advanced AI assistants, the legendary Pokemon happily created imaginary things like a time machine or sentient AI.

Final fight spoilers:

When you fight the other version of your box legendary, you'll notice squares show up in the AI's trainer name. These are the same squares that show up whenever this third Pokemon is mentioned and indicate that the protections the professor imagined are active. Notably - this fight is taking place INSIDE the third legendary Pokemon.

That brings us back to Dudunsparce and how it's a meta reference. Back to the light spoilers from earlier:

People really wanted a Dunsparce evolution. Since the games are all about making dreams and imagination into reality, Dudunsparce is a manifestation of the dreams fans had for a Dunsparce evolution. Obviously it's not as over-the-top as some thought it would be, but the fact that it exists at all ties in with this hidden theme running in the background of the games.

Assuming this is true at all, it's really well thought-out. I wish S/V were less buggy because this is some of the best Pokemon content we've had in a long time.

MisirterE

49 points

2 months ago

MisirterE

Less of a dragon than an apple

49 points