After much anticipation, February 2023's Pokemon Presents finally announced Pokemon Scarlet and Violet would be receiving DLC, but the reveal of its new Terastal-themed legendary Pokemon Terapagos could pose some difficulties when it comes to evolution. Scarlet and Violet have toyed with different approaches to evolution beyond the series standard, such as regional fakes and convergent evolution or Paradox Pokemon from the distant past and future respectively. However, this future Paradox Pokemon in particular could be an awkward contrast to the concept of Darwinian evolution behind Terapagos.

What currently isn't known is how Terapagos will work within the bigger picture of Pokemon Scarlet and Violet's story, though key details can be discerned from the DLC's connection to Area Zero and Terapagos' design being influenced by Terastallization. But while the second part of the games' DLC might help give players some insight into the Terastal Phenomenon, it is this connection to Area Zero and the Paradox Pokemon within it that conflicts with Terapagos. Because in terms of Darwinian evolution, there's a disconnect between known prehistoric ancestors and future robots that could never have naturally adapted technology.

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How Terapagos and Darwin Connect

Pokemon Terapagos Violet

Even before the announcement, hints of a new legendary based upon the World Turtle mythos which would connect to Terastallization were spotted by fans within the Pokemon community. But while details such as Donphan's Paradox forms or Paldea's geography were clues to what would eventually lead to Terapagos, it seems the new legendary Pokemon has more influences behind it than just being the series' World Turtle stand-in. Though the first half of its name links back to Terastallization, the second half seems to be drawn from "Galapagos," the islands made famous by Darwin and his theory on evolution via natural selection.

Since Gen 6, Pokemon has been exploring broader ideas about evolution following the introduction of regional variants, which were explained in-game as changes caused by this same natural selection. The Galapagos tortoise had been one of Darwin's examples of this, so it's likely no coincidence that Terapagos' takes its design and namesake from this tortoise. So while Scarlet and Violet not only continue to experiment with evolution between past, present, and future, this Galapagos tortoise specifically has different shell adaptations which could be reflected in Terapagos' own Terastal-like shell, further strengthening the connections between the new legendary and Darwinian evolution.

Why This Poses A Problem For Pokemon Violet

Pokemon Violet's Paradox Pokemon Iron Moth and Iron Thorns

Darwinian evolution posits animals all descend from common ancestors, with notorious real-world examples linking the fearsome tyrannosaurus rex to humble chickens - or in Pokemon's case Tyrantrum somehow evolving Torchic. However, Scarlet and Violet circumvented any dinosaur-chicken absurdity by swapping traditional fossils for all-new Paradox Pokemon, ultimately creating ancestors or descendants of existing Pokemon from the past and future respectively. Though ancient forms of Paradox Pokemon align well enough with Darwinian evolution by introducing prehistoric ancestors, it is conversely the future forms that don't fit into this theory. More specifically, future Pokemon can't be naturally selected since their forms appear robotic and artificial.

Pokemon Violet's future Paradox Pokemon were already criticized for their uniformity, but this stemmed from a lack of creativity in not just their identical names but in the repetitive designs. Clearly intended to be robotic or cybernetic counterparts to their present-day ancestors, it would be impossible for these Pokemon to have adapted naturally on their own. Therefore, if Terapagos represents the essence of Darwinian evolution within Scarlet and Violet, connecting the pieces of Terastallization, Area Zero, and Paradox Pokemon together, then Pokemon Violet's future forms would need some heavy-handed ingenuity to create a narrative that fits both games.

Pokemon Scarlet and Violet are available now for Nintendo Switch.

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