Maniacal Engineer
Mushy Emotionalist
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Howdy folks! For those of you unfamiliar with me, I’m Maniacal Engineer, resident mad scientist, punster, and moderator of the Fun & Games section. I’ve offered to Assist the General staff with this Endeavor, and I’ll be popping by occasionally with a few fun facts about some of my favorite Pokémon. Anyway, without further ado, let’s begin!
In the World of Pokémon, there lives a vast number and variety of amazing creatures to befriend and collect. Every week, we will be focusing on a single one of these Pokémon or evolutionary line and talking about what makes it special. In honor of Alan Turing’s birthday on June 23rd, this week's Pokémon of choice is the Porygon family!
Starting off my list of favorites is the Porygon line. Porygon and its evolutions are based on the evolution of artificial intelligence, or AI. Porygon was originally programmed by scientists at Silph Co. and is officially the first artificial Pokémon ever created. However, because it was the first, it is imperfect and is only capable of following its program, which consists of performing basic functions. In the Pokedex entry for Pokémon Yellow Version, it states that Porygon is anticipated to be able to travel to space, but none have made it so far.
Two years later, Silph Co. developed the Upgrade, which edited Porygon’s programming, allowing it to evolve into Porygon2, much like computer operating systems, smart phones, and other technologies evolve over time, so does Porygon. Now it is programmed to travel to space, despite not being able to fly, but that’s not all it gained with the Upgrade. Several of its Pokedex entries, including the Silver and Crystal Version entries, suggest that Porygon2 occasionally exhibits unprogrammed reactions. Slowly, but surely, Porygon is becoming self-aware and learning.
Of course, with any scientific breakthrough, there are going to be copycats and pirates, trying to infringe on your intellectual property. In spite of Silph Co. programming in a copy-protection code, a mysterious third party created the Dubious Disk, capable of evolving Porygon2 into Porygon-Z. Not having been authorized by Silph Co. Porygon-Z is the first true glitch Pokémon. Having achieved space exploration capabilities with its previous form, Porygon-Z was programmed to be able to explore other dimensions, however the program glitched, resulting in bizarre behavior, as mentioned in its Platinum Pokedex entry.
Porygon’s design over time reflects the changes that it undergoes during its evolution. Porygon starts out as a very rough Pokémon, with lots of edges and points. It is a very crude drawing, presumably of a bird, using older 3D graphic softwares. When upgraded, however, it loses all of its edges and becomes a well rounded Pokémon by usage of a computer graphics technique known as subdivision, which, essentially, breaks down a large surface into smaller and smaller surfaces until it becomes smooth. Porygon-Z, on the other hand, reflecting the dubious nature of its evolution from Porygon2, has seemingly been infected with a virus. Its head is now upside down and floating apart from its body, which has become contorted. The basic 3D bird design is still there, but it has been corrupted by the malware.
Porygon has had only one major appearance in the anime, the infamous “Electric Soldier Porygon” episode, which resulted in Porygon family getting banned from the anime, thanks to Pikachu’s Thunderbolt.
Much like their versatile programming, the Porygon family can fulfill different roles in competitive battling. Porygon-Z is a nightmarish special attacker, with access to fantastic moves like Thunderbolt, Ice Beam, Psychic, Nasty Plot, and Tri Attack, along with abilities like Download and Adaptability. Porygon2 is a bulky tank with access to Recover, Eviolite, and the wonderful Trace ability.
Here are some questions to consider to get the conversation rolling. You don't have to answer all of them or any of them in your post as long as you're staying on topic and within global forum rules.
Previous Pokémon of the Week:
In the World of Pokémon, there lives a vast number and variety of amazing creatures to befriend and collect. Every week, we will be focusing on a single one of these Pokémon or evolutionary line and talking about what makes it special. In honor of Alan Turing’s birthday on June 23rd, this week's Pokémon of choice is the Porygon family!
Starting off my list of favorites is the Porygon line. Porygon and its evolutions are based on the evolution of artificial intelligence, or AI. Porygon was originally programmed by scientists at Silph Co. and is officially the first artificial Pokémon ever created. However, because it was the first, it is imperfect and is only capable of following its program, which consists of performing basic functions. In the Pokedex entry for Pokémon Yellow Version, it states that Porygon is anticipated to be able to travel to space, but none have made it so far.
Two years later, Silph Co. developed the Upgrade, which edited Porygon’s programming, allowing it to evolve into Porygon2, much like computer operating systems, smart phones, and other technologies evolve over time, so does Porygon. Now it is programmed to travel to space, despite not being able to fly, but that’s not all it gained with the Upgrade. Several of its Pokedex entries, including the Silver and Crystal Version entries, suggest that Porygon2 occasionally exhibits unprogrammed reactions. Slowly, but surely, Porygon is becoming self-aware and learning.
Of course, with any scientific breakthrough, there are going to be copycats and pirates, trying to infringe on your intellectual property. In spite of Silph Co. programming in a copy-protection code, a mysterious third party created the Dubious Disk, capable of evolving Porygon2 into Porygon-Z. Not having been authorized by Silph Co. Porygon-Z is the first true glitch Pokémon. Having achieved space exploration capabilities with its previous form, Porygon-Z was programmed to be able to explore other dimensions, however the program glitched, resulting in bizarre behavior, as mentioned in its Platinum Pokedex entry.
Porygon’s design over time reflects the changes that it undergoes during its evolution. Porygon starts out as a very rough Pokémon, with lots of edges and points. It is a very crude drawing, presumably of a bird, using older 3D graphic softwares. When upgraded, however, it loses all of its edges and becomes a well rounded Pokémon by usage of a computer graphics technique known as subdivision, which, essentially, breaks down a large surface into smaller and smaller surfaces until it becomes smooth. Porygon-Z, on the other hand, reflecting the dubious nature of its evolution from Porygon2, has seemingly been infected with a virus. Its head is now upside down and floating apart from its body, which has become contorted. The basic 3D bird design is still there, but it has been corrupted by the malware.
Porygon has had only one major appearance in the anime, the infamous “Electric Soldier Porygon” episode, which resulted in Porygon family getting banned from the anime, thanks to Pikachu’s Thunderbolt.
Much like their versatile programming, the Porygon family can fulfill different roles in competitive battling. Porygon-Z is a nightmarish special attacker, with access to fantastic moves like Thunderbolt, Ice Beam, Psychic, Nasty Plot, and Tri Attack, along with abilities like Download and Adaptability. Porygon2 is a bulky tank with access to Recover, Eviolite, and the wonderful Trace ability.
Here are some questions to consider to get the conversation rolling. You don't have to answer all of them or any of them in your post as long as you're staying on topic and within global forum rules.
- Do you like or dislike this Pokémon? Why?
- How is this Pokémon in-game?
- How is this Pokémon in competitive play? Are there any interesting strategies you like to use for them?
- Do you like this Pokémon's representation in the anime? Are there any moments or qualities in particular you enjoy/dislike?
- How do you think this Pokémon would interact with our world?
- If given the power to, would you change anything about this Pokémon and if so, what would you change?
- What do you think constitutes life in the Pokémon World? Are Porygon and its evolutions alive?
- Who do you think created the Dubious Disk?
Previous Pokémon of the Week:
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