The Diet of Pokémon?

[Life]

Forgive me if the thread exists already, but seeing as I couldn't find one I thought I would start a new one.

In your own fan-fic world, what do the creatures eat? Are they all herbivores? Do they eat 'pokémon food'? Or, like animals in our own world, do they eat other creatures?

Reason I'm asking is because I've hit a bump in my chapter. I'm leaning towards the idea that pokémon eat other pokémon, but I started to wonder if that seemed too 'dramatic' or 'dark'. I guess it depends on what I want, seeing as I'm the author, but I'd like your opinions on the matter. I mean, to me it doesn't make sense that all pokémon are friendly and have a strict plant diet, or that they have a special food just for them.

I guess what I'm really asking is this: How do you handle the diets/food intake for the pokémon in your stories?

 

[Penumbro]

I am not a writer... but I came across This article on Bulbapedia which you might be interested in reading. It might point you to the right direction.

Sorry if this was not exactly what you were looking for, but I thought it might be of interest

A.

 

[Beth Pavell]

Depends whether or not you have animals in your world. Personally I do, because it's too much like hard work to figure out how people could eat meat that has so much personality when it's alive. It also solves the problem about what a lot of pokémon eat. Take spinarak, for example. It's quite a small pokémon, in fact about the same size as most of the pokémon it might catch in its webs. If insects existed it would explain how spinarak manage to catch enough to eat - remember that in the real world, predators won't try and take prey that can actually put up a good fight, it's too much like hard work and not worth the risk of injury.

To take another example off the top of my head, the same logic applies to Goldeen. Most fish are predatory in one way or another, but Goldeen hardly has any likely pokémon prey species that I can think of. Small insects, crustaceans, river worms and the like could all sustain a fish the size of Goldeen, however

 

[Life]

I am not a writer... but I came across This article on Bulbapedia which you might be interested in reading. It might point you to the right direction.

Sorry if this was not exactly what you were looking for, but I thought it might be of interest

Not at all! It actually helps a lot, thanks!

Depends whether or not you have animals in your world. Personally I do, because it's too much like hard work to figure out how people could eat meat that has so much personality when it's alive. It also solves the problem about what a lot of pokémon eat. Take spinarak, for example. It's quite a small pokémon, in fact about the same size as most of the pokémon it might catch in its webs. If insects existed it would explain how spinarak manage to catch enough to eat - remember that in the real world, predators won't try and take prey that can actually put up a good fight, it's too much like hard work and not worth the risk of injury.

To take another example off the top of my head, the same logic applies to Goldeen. Most fish are predatory in one way or another, but Goldeen hardly has any likely pokémon prey species that I can think of. Small insects, crustaceans, river worms and the like could all sustain a fish the size of Goldeen, however

Yet again you supply great advice. Something I always seem to miss is how it would work for the 'little man' or in this case, pokémon. Though having normal animals in the pokémon world does leave me with some questions, I suppose I would just have to sit down and think of how I would like things to run, and go in-depth as to how my world's ecosystem would work. The 'weaker pokémon vs. prey' thing is something I'll certainly have to think about more.

how people could eat meat that has so much personality when it's alive.

I suppose it depends on the person. Take cows for example. It's a sacred animal in the Hindu religion, yet other places around the world think of them as a tasty meal and eat them daily. I mean, cows don't really have a personality, but it is an animal that can be viewed with such.

 

[CrystaI]

For me personally, I take almost the same route like Pavell, having normal animal existed within the world of my fic. In that case it will make senses for a lot of things.

Other than these normal animals, predator Pokemon will also prey on other small Pokemons.
Also, if the official Pokedex entries had indicated specifically, then Pokemon will eat the food as indicated. e.g. Sableye feed on gemstones, Larvitar eat soils, etc.
And then, I kind of determine what the Pokemon eat from the type of body structures and their origins. e.g. Although Metagross is said to be predator, but since it has an inorganic body, I think it prey on inorganic Pokemon such as Geodude. For many of the small insect Pokemon, I think most of them feed on plants.

The Pokemon in my fic are not really that "friendly" as depicted in the anime. Especially those in the wild, they are untamed, they are violet, and they are combative. Therefore they could even attack human being without any hesitation, and you do have the chance of dying in the wild.

For the domesticated Pokemon, though their diet would not change, but their way of feeding will change. E.g. Feraligatr is carnivore, it will still be carnivore even it is domesticated under a trainer. Just that rather then go out and attack the preys, it will now be feed with meats.

 

[Baby Seals]

My fanfics make use of real animals, and plenty of Pokemon eat them. People in my fanfics don't raise Torchic for poultry - they raise chickens and turkeys. Chicken is mentioned frequently in my Pokemon fanfics. Duck is also consumed in Kalos. The idea of Pokemon eating other Pokemon is explored in my fanfics. Domesticated Pokemon eat differently from wild Pokemon. Man-eating Pokemon are also assumed to exist in my fanfics.

My justification for including animals is that real animals lack the intelligence of Pokemon and thus are often prey for Pokemon.

 

[PiccoloX]

In the original manga and Generation 1 there have been non-Pokemon animals. The process of figuring out what Pokemon would eat would be easier if you look at it like "What if Pokemon were brought to this world?" True, carnivores wouldn't be picky about who they're nommin' on, but there'd be more variety to choose from.

As Toutebelle and Pavell say, real animals would be considerably dumber and easier to kill. In a realistic point of view, carnivorous Pokemon would be more inclined to hunt non-Pokemon because they risk less injury to themselves. Real carnivores would sooner pick off the young, old or sickly because the slightest injury could mean their hunting days are over and could starve to death.

Different carnivores have different methods of hunting depending on what food is available. Lions and Hyenas have different hunting methods despite both going after the same type of prey. Lions would have a runner and interceptors, going for the throat to cut off the preys breathing. Hyenas, due to being smaller and built differently, tire out the prey by hanging on to its rear flank until it quits running from exhaustion. Both methods are designed to wear out the prey sooner than the predator. Hyenas are actually the top predator in this regard because they not only have a higher kill rate but their bodies are designed to eat everything, bones and all.

Efficiency and generations of instinct determine how well a predator performs. That said, the non-Pokemon who have developed as a food source for carnivorous Pokemon would have developed some way of defending themselves, wether it's physically, a high breeding rate or a large herd. Non-Pokemon predators would also have developed to cope with this, so a Lion or Hyena in the Pokemon world would be considerably deadlier if they existed at all.