Why do Pokemon lay eggs?

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reynard

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If there is another thread on this subject, then feel free to move this or merge it or whatever needs to be done. I didn't see anything when I searched so I thought I would make this here.

My question is, why do Pokemon lay eggs? Not the how, but WHY. As I have said in other threads, I just watch the anime, and I look at the franchise from a story perspective. Now I know since Pokemon originated as a game targeted at kids, Pokemon had to lay eggs since that's better for the audience than the other means of reproduction. But that's an out of universe explanation, I'm talking about in-universe.

Think about it. If you look at Pokemon as living, biological creatures (okay, ones with super-powers, but whatever), why do they lay eggs? In the real world, birds lay eggs, reptiles, lizards, and amphibians lay eggs. Bugs lay eggs. For Pokemon based on bird/reptile/bug biology, egg laying doesn't seem too out of place. But with Pokemon, all of them lay eggs, even the species clearly modeled on mammals, like Ninetales, Growlith, Tauros-Miltank, Eevee, so on and so forth. So why do even the mammal-like species lay eggs as opposed to the usual way of reproducing? Not that there's anything wrong with eggs, but form follows function, so why did they choose to lay eggs over any other method, especially when egg laying is really uncommon for mammal biology.

Now to be fair, there are mammals that lay eggs in the real world. That would be the Platypus and all forms of Echidna. These are all native to Australia. From what I read about them, I could see any explanations as to why they went that route either.

So what do you think? Why did all Pokemon adapt to lay eggs, even the mammal-like ones?
 
Because they didn't want to worrying too much about explaining Sexual Reproduction to Children.

Also, it makes sense in a simplistic way. Pokemon have to reproduce in some way.
They didn't want to try to implement a number of different ways for each species,
first because they needed a way in which all Pokemon could have a shared reproduction method
(but also because the more ways in which Pokemon can reproduce, the more likely Children would start asking questions.)
Since Pokemon are not quite animals and yet not quite monsters, they needed a "Magical" explanation for Pokemon reproduction without resorting to "Stork" allusions.

Eggs fulfill that role easily enough, so long as children don't linger too long on just how the egg is created.
 
TheCableGuy said:
Because they didn't want to worrying too much about explaining Sexual Reproduction to Children.

Also, it makes sense in a simplistic way. Pokemon have to reproduce in some way.
They didn't want to try to implement a number of different ways for each species,
first because they needed a way in which all Pokemon could have a shared reproduction method
(but also because the more ways in which Pokemon can reproduce, the more likely Children would start asking questions.)
Since Pokemon are not quite animals and yet not quite monsters, they needed a "Magical" explanation for Pokemon reproduction without resorting to "Stork" allusions.

Eggs fulfill that role easily enough, so long as children don't linger too long on just how the egg is created.
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You can argue that there is still a stork argument there, because several NPCs in-game claim that "No one has actually seen a Pokemon lay an egg before. It just mysteriously appears." I specifically remember a NPC in DP stating this. Of course this is also just another means of not having to explain reproduction to children, but that's still a statement in the games.
 
I like the idea of eggs, it makes the Pokemon world just that much better. :)
 
My theory is that they're creatures that just resembles animals. At their core their a different kind of creature all together.
 
They don't just resemble animals, many of them have bodies based on actual animals. I'm just saying that there is probably a in-universe reason for it (not that the game-makers wanted to avoid reproduction, that is, again, an out-of-universe answer). After all, the platypus is a mammal and for some reason I don't know, it decided to lay eggs, a reproduction method not used by any other mammal. Form follows function, so what advantages would there be for even the mammal-like species to lay eggs to reproduce, as opposed to the usual way?

I'm not opposed to them laying eggs, not in the least. I'm just saying that it's an odd choice for the ones that are mammalian, and if you treat Pokemon in their universe as their own (super-powered) variety of animals, that kind of choice wouldn't have been made without reason, and not just because *shrug*, "We flipped a coin". I'm just curious.
 
It's an easy way of explaining how they repopulate. That's pretty much all there is to it.
 
Also, the egg groups. How could something that lays eggs breed with something that doesn't? Also, as I type this, I realized they are called EGG groups. I know it wasn't introduced until Gen II, but the anime could have influenced the in-game simplified breeding. But, in-universe, the breeding. If some lay eggs, and some don't, they can't make little pokemon babies.
 
I usually ignore the egg group mechanics, if only because it seems to basically be a game mechanic, and the idea of two different species producing a creature of one species is rather ridiculous at the story level.

But as of late, I think I have a theory as to why. The fact of the matter is that the Pokemon world can be rather dangerous, what with being filled with all the super-powered creatures. That can be true even for other Pokemon. So I'm thinking the reason all species chose to lay eggs is that it's safer in ways than carrying their offspring. If the mammal like ones carried their offspring in their bodies, as is usually the case for real word mammals, then there might be a greater danger to those offspring if the parent has to defend themselves against enemies. Okay, yeah, eggs can be stolen or busted, but a strong enough shell would help, and at least eggs can be placed somewhere safe, and both parents can then be there to protect them, if not extended family as well. How does that sound?
 
Because they can't show or mention live birth in a game rated E, which was, at least for me, counterproductive because I was incredibly confused when my Typhlosion laid an egg. I guess I was too well-read for my age.
 
Miles101 said:
Because they can't show or mention live birth in a game rated E, which was, at least for me, counterproductive because I was incredibly confused when my Typhlosion laid an egg. I guess I was too well-read for my age.
Click to expand...

Journals in the Pokemon Mansion mention Mew giving birth to Mewtwo. Of course this was before the concept of eggs was introduced, but it's there.
 
reynard said:
I usually ignore the egg group mechanics, if only because it seems to basically be a game mechanic, and the idea of two different species producing a creature of one species is rather ridiculous at the story level.
Click to expand...

If you think of Egg groups in the actual Pokemon Universe to sort of give a out-line of the Pokemon Evolutionary Hierarchy,
It does Sort of makes sense when you apply a very Liberal interpretation to it.
Of course, the Video game functions on a extremely simplistic and rudimentary system,
whose sole purpose is for passing down moves in game and is not meant to be taken too literally.

But as of late, I think I have a theory as to why. The fact of the matter is that the Pokemon world can be rather dangerous, what with being filled with all the super-powered creatures. That can be true even for other Pokemon. So I'm thinking the reason all species chose to lay eggs is that it's safer in ways than carrying their offspring. If the mammal like ones carried their offspring in their bodies, as is usually the case for real word mammals, then there might be a greater danger to those offspring if the parent has to defend themselves against enemies. Okay, yeah, eggs can be stolen or busted, but a strong enough shell would help, and at least eggs can be placed somewhere safe, and both parents can then be there to protect them, if not extended family as well. How does that sound?
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Assuming, of course, a Pokemon can "Choose" whether or not to lay eggs....

But Pokemon "eggs" are not true eggs in the same sense as we understand them.
Rather, they are tied into Pokemon Evolution more closely then to actual Biological Reproduction.
When you see Pokemon in the Anime "Hatch," the process is more similar to a Pokemon "evolving" from the egg rather then actually "Hatching."
It's easier to think of them as yet another stage in a Pokemon's life-cycle.

You have to understand, even though Pokemon may Look like Lifeforms from our world,
They are another kind of Life form entirely, and our usual ways of understanding of how Life functions is completely thrown out the window.
 
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Well, the most reasonable reason was that to not contaminate the minds of little children. It's rated E, not E+10 or M. Kids has much more things to think about such as training, battling and attending contests. In our country, the concept of giving birth was already taught as early as 9 years old. It didn't included the icky thing, it just taught that the mom gives birth to babies (I still remember that educational video about a mom finding a baby in a flower...)

But then again, i do like it if someone implemented the 'give birth' idea to the Pokemon games as long as they don't explain the icky concept.
 
First off, Pokemons ARE NOT ANIMALS. If Tauros is a Pokemon instead an ordinary bull, and Pokemons are different of animals, then the Pokemons will be biologically able to lay eggs if the creators wanted they that way.
 
TheCableGuy said:
Because they didn't want to worrying too much about explaining Sexual Reproduction to Children.
Click to expand...

In a way, it's not that simple, because animals that lay eggs still mate in order to produce them. The sexual part of the process still must occur.* It would be just as easy, in a game perspective, to just walk up to the daycare and be handed a lvl 1 baby.

*Okay, in one type of lizard, all it takes is a mating simulation to make the receptive one lay eggs, but it's still triggered in such a manner. (I had a feeling if I didn't mention this, someone else would. lol.)
 
CorpseFlower said:
In a way, it's not that simple, because animals that lay eggs still mate in order to produce them. The sexual part of the process still must occur.* It would be just as easy, in a game perspective, to just walk up to the daycare and be handed a lvl 1 baby.

*Okay, in one type of lizard, all it takes is a mating simulation to make the receptive one lay eggs, but it's still triggered in such a manner. (I had a feeling if I didn't mention this, someone else would. lol.)
Click to expand...

Though you're looking at this from the perspective of someone who already understands Sexual Reproduction.
"The sexual part of the process still must occur" is only relevant to someone who knows what it is.
To the target Audience, it's easier for them (generally) to accept eggs then it is to understand why 1 + 1 equals 3.

Take my 9 year old Nephew, for example.
He doesn't bat an eye at the idea that dragons in one of his games lay eggs that later hatch into another Dragon.
But he has no concept of Sexual Reproduction nor does he care to ask why.
Eggs just make it easier to skip that part until the time in which a child is mature enough to learn the full story.
Of course, then they'll become like us and start over-analyzing the whole game and Pokemon Breeding Illogicality.

Then again, there are some children who do mature faster and can start putting 2 and 2 together themselves.
Bu, even for them, it doesn't rob them of the Magic and Mystery of how Pokemon Works.
It's all part of the Charm of Pokemon.
 
Well, if you only watch the anime, then you know that Pokémon eggs don't actually "hatch," per-say, they just kind of metamorphose into the baby Pokémon, much in the same manner as a Pokémon undergoing evolution. So, in a sense, eggs are just the "newborn" stage of the Pokémon, unable to move by themselves and still being entirely dependent on their parent (or the Trainer that receives the egg). I believe I also remember an NPC in the games saying something along the lines of the eggs being more like cradles for the newborn Pokémon than actual eggs.
 
reynard said:
I usually ignore the egg group mechanics, if only because it seems to basically be a game mechanic, and the idea of two different species producing a creature of one species is rather ridiculous at the story level.
Click to expand...

It's not that absurd if you look at the explanation that The Electric Tale of Pikachu (the manga based (rather loosely) off of the anime) gives us: All Pokémon are one species divided up into hundreds of sub-species, many of which metamorphose during their life cycle.
 
Sub-species is far too much of a stretch considering the vast diversity among Pokemon. It is far more reasonable to say that each evolutionary line is a species.
 
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