Originally, it was assumed by humanity that Ghost type Pokemon were spirits of the dead. Tales of spectral figures are common throughout history, with their forms varying from human to Pokemon to strange amorphous blobs, so to the unscientific mind, it was not an unreasonable assumption.
In more recent decades, the more curious among us have come to understand that though they may be odd even among the many species of Pokemon out there, Ghost types are very much alive. There are reports of the ghosts of Ghost type Pokemon wandering around, though the most credible example of this phenomena refuses to allow researchers to confirm or debunk it.
The oddness of Ghost types seems to stem from their connection to something vaguely referred to as “Distortion”. Self proclaimed experts on this matter have been uncooperative with researchers, and the inherently mischievous nature of Ghost types has not helped with quantitative data gathering either, but observations and qualitative data lead us to the conclusion that Ghost types are drawing their energy from some unseen source. One hypothesis states that it is around us at all times in levels that human technology is currently incapable of detecting, similar to the claims of an “aether” of historic “elemental thinking” from natural philosophers of the time.
(Note: The name of the up and coming Alolan foundation seems to be coincidental, Professor Mohn has requested that we stop asking them to comment on any such connection)
Another hypothesis suggests that Ghost types draw this “Distortion” from another plane of reality. Many have claimed that alternate dimensions exist, parallel or intersecting to our own, but such claims are obviously more difficult to confirm or deny than the previously mentioned aether hypothesis. It is not necessarily unfalsifiable, however. Those familiar with Sinnoh folklore may see the connection here with what is in the local language referred to as やぶれたせかい (transliterated as yaburetasekai). The “sekai” part very definitely means “world”, though the base form of yabureru can mean to get torn, to tear, to break, to wear out, or even something like the breaking off (of negotiations), the collapse, the fall into ruin, etc. A direct translation would be something along the lines of “torn world”, though “distortion world” may be a better translation for our purposes.
The possibility of such a place existing is not something we can discount, though due to current relations with the Sinnoh region and the League as a whole, further research is not currently possible.
To relate this to the matter at hand, it needs to be restated that, to date at the very least, Mimikyu is the only species known to be composed entirely of this “energy” that Pokemon use in battle.
The research of recent decades has confirmed as much.
Many Ghost type Pokemon have an obvious physical form, often seemingly having some relation to their other typing if they have one. Sandyghast, for example, is mainly a collection of sand particles held together by a minor bond with the biological “shovel” protruding from its head. This is similar to the way that Rock types such as Geodude are largely composed of very dense stone. Dhelmise is another such example, in which case the physical form is the metallic anchor supported by the fleshy wheel and seaweed.
In cases where the physical form isn’t obvious, it has been found that the Pokemon are mainly composed of various gases, often paired with flesh that resembles fabric. Misdreavus, Shuppet, Duskull and the like are all such cases. The Gastly line is the odd one out in this regard, with their forms being made entirely of a poisonous gas, the shape of Gastly and its evolutions being held together by a minor bond, not too dissimilar from the aforementioned Sandyghast and its sand, without a fabric-like flesh to contain it.
It has been said by researchers in the League, the esteemed Professor Oak among them, that because of this gaseous makeup, Gastly has “no true form”.
This terminology is vague and misleading however. “No true form” could just as well apply to something like Ditto. Is a blob of flesh truly that different from a blob of gasses? They are both made up of proper matter. If you got a Ghastly cold enough, its gasses would no doubt condense into a liquid and then a solid. It has a physical form.
This does not seem to be the case with Mimikyu. Heat does not make their “bodies” expand, cold does not make them contract. The fabric they wear is a literal fabric, in the same way that humans wear clothing, not the fleshy approximation that other Ghost types have.
They have been seen without this fabric. This has not ended well for anyone who has seen it with their own eyes, but we can confirm that they exist in their purely energy based form.
Briefly, on the topic of the fabric, as far as we can tell the customary use of Pikachu dolls as housings is a fairly recent phenomena. The largest known group of wild Mimikyu exists in the abandoned Thrifty Megamart on Ula’ula Island, where such dolls were abundant. We believe that previously, Mimikyu would use whatever rags or other coverings were available in their surroundings. Their attention seeking nature seems to have drawn them to the Pikachu form due to its popularity amongst humans, and the spread of this preference beyond Ula’ula Island seems to have been a cultural transfer as Mimikyu were captured on the island and brought to other parts of the world. In recent years, it has been observed that expecting Mimikyu parents will prepare Pikachu disguises for their offspring as soon as the egg is laid, ensuring that their young will not be without one even at the start of their lives, thus ensuring that this cultural phenomena becomes more firmly ingrained in Mimikyu culture with every passing generation.
Returning to their energy based form, however, there is still the matter of Mimikyu’s Fairy type “core”.
The Kahunas of Alola closely guard many of the secrets of the Fairy type, presumably because it’s the type that the “Guardian Deities" (see also “the Tapus”) share, and thus it is considered religiously important.
Because of this secrecy, and the political ramifications of the Fairy type in regards to regional relationships, it is difficult to discern fact from fiction in many cases. If Kahuna Hala of Melemele Island, the oldest of the current Kahunas, is to be believed, the Fairy typing was a “gift from the Guardian Deities", bestowed unto various Pokemon in the region as a way to protect the land they held dear from the clutches of the League, who are well known for their heavy reliance on Dragon types at the highest tiers of battle.
Given that Kahuna Hala is old enough to remember the war and its atrocities for himself, even if Alola wasn’t a participant in the actual fighting, it is not unreasonable to think that this claim is little more than personal bias being passed off as truth.
Not many from Hala’s generation are still around on the islands of Alola, so getting primary sources on the subject other than an obvious propagandist has proven difficult.
We tried reaching out to Nanu, the Kahuna of Ula’ula, since the Mimikyu population lives within his territory, but he was even less willing to share any important information than Hala.
What can be confirmed is the following. There are at minimum thirteen evolutionary lines on the islands of Alola that were NOT Fairy types before the spread and have since then either gained it as an additional typing, or, in the case of Comfey, Clefable, and Granbull, have had their original types subsumed by the Fairy type. Sylveon has not been included in the latter list because of the unique genetics of Eevee and their evolutions. We can not in good faith say that Fairy has replaced or subsumed Sylveon’s “original” typing despite it being the only type they have, as that would call into question whether any other so-called “eeveelutions” have had the same done to them with their respective types.
Unfortunately, this is all that can be confirmed at this point in time.
There is speculation everywhere in the space of Fairy type discussions, however, some of them more credible than others.
In relation to the Mimikyu in question, one such suggestion is that Mimikyu sought out the Fairy type for themselves. Due to the “enchantment” effect that the Fairy type provides, and the previously mentioned attention seeking nature, it is not unthinkable that, when the Mimikyu of Alola discovered that the type was spreading, that they would wish to gain it or even have it subsume their original pure Ghost type.
The obvious issue with this idea that prevents it from being more seriously considered is that this would require the “spread” of the Fairy type to be a voluntary thing, when, for all that we humans can tell with the assistance of Psychic types and their telepathy, it seems to instead be something that happens without any sort of intent.
One could consider the fact that Psychic types have a tendency to be much more cerebral and less inclined to the more “magical” elements of these sorts of things, which might lead them to dismiss theories that they cannot confirm for themselves, but at that point you’re delving a bit too deep into the weeds.
Less in line with the Fairy speculation itself, but more in line with the broader pure “energy” discussion, it is also suspected that Mimikyu’s form is related to the lack of evolution Mimikyu faces.
It should be understood that Pokemon are strange creatures, hard to understand at the best of times, and that the myriad of methods for causing evolution may very well mean that there is a way for Mimikyu to evolve, somewhere out there, and it simply has not been found yet.
A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.
Yet, we think that unlikely.
Other Pokemon evolve and grow stronger. They change their form to support this new strength. A new niche in the ecosystem, a new style of combat, a new typing, etc.
When you can change your form at will, the reserves of your power being your only limiting factor, what would the point of such a transformation be? A deeper well of energy? It has been observed that Pokemon are able to accomplish that though training, no evolution required. Thus, when it comes to survival, there seems to be no discernable reason for Mimikyu to evolve.
With the current understanding of so called “friendship based evolutions”, some have hypothesized that an acceptance of Mimikyu for their true form beneath the disguises they wear may allow one to evolve, but to date such a thing has not been documented, and we cannot in good faith say that it is anything more than baseless speculation.
Ongoing studies into Mimikyu as a species have yielded little in terms of results, and yet…
On and on and on the documents went. Where the censored version had left them far too little, the unredacted version was an assault of information on N’s mind, not all of it groundbreaking or even all that informative.
He looked away from the documents, rubbing at his weary eyes.
On his shoulder, Mimikyu groaned. “Whoever wrote this should get a failin’ grade, it’s sucha mess. Tha information is there, sure, but would it hurt ta actually organize it instead of jus’ goin’ off on tangents all the time? I don’ need all that information on Ghost ‘n’ Fairy types, that feels like it should be part of a separate paper. It’s like they wrote it all at 3 am the night b’fore it was due or somethin’.”
N found his eyes sliding to the author section, where the name Kukui was proudly displayed alongside a few others.
Alolan researchers were definitely something.
Mawile hummed. “What’s a failing grade?”
Hm. Having lived on that island all her life, he supposed she never would have overheard humans talking about schoolwork.
“It means a human didn’ perform well ‘n’ needs ta improve in stuff like this,” Mimikyu explained.
N sighed at yet another attempt from Mimikyu to further establish his supposed human past.
Marowak quietly hummed. “It’s too bad that you can’t evolve…”
“What is that supposed to mean?!” Mawile demanded.
“I just–” Marowak jumped in fright, “um, well, I kind of liked it myself, so…”
Mawile harumphed, turning her head derisively while crossing her arms. “Some of us don’t need to evolve to be amazing!”
N could almost feel the roll of Mimikyu’s eyes. “Might’ve worked out for you, but I ‘appen ta think it’d jus’ make my problems worse. ‘N’ relax, Mawile, ev’ryone knows evolvin’ is a good way ta boost yer strength.”
N chose not to chime in on that one. There were some aspects of Pokemon culture he’d never be able to understand as a human, and this was one of them.
There was another aspect of the documents that had gained his interest, however.
“These… Guardian Deities…” he started, “What do you think about the possibility that they spread the Fairy type around? I feel like they were mentioned once or twice in the past.”
It had been part of what Mimikyu used to trip up that Ninetales on her lies about where she came from, hadn’t it? And yet he knew nothing about the subject.
Mimikyu hummed as his shadowy hands flipped through the papers some more, searching for something that N couldn’t hope to guess at. “Eh, if I had ta relate ‘em ta somethin’ you’d know… hmm. They aren’ really like the Swords of Justice, are they?” He stopped going through the documents for a moment, giving it some more serious thought. “They’re Legends, I s’pose. Each of Alola’s islands ‘as one, ‘n’ they’re meant ta be protectors or somethin’ like that for their respective islands. Tapu Koko is an Electric type, Tapu Lele is Psychic, Tapu Bulu is Grass, ‘n’ Tapu Fini is Water. All of ‘em are also Fairy types, like they said in the paper. As far as ‘em spreadin’ the Fairy type… well, yer guess is good as mine. I’ve never ‘eard of a Grass type Comfey or a pure Ghost Mimikyu, so if that sorta thing was real then obviously it ‘ad ta spread from somewhere, ‘n’ I guess the Tapus are as good a source for that as any. I think when Cynthia first talked about all this nonsense she ‘ad mentioned only Xerneas and Diancie bein’ confirmed as Fairy type before the spread tho, ‘n’ they’re both Kalos Pokemon, ain’ they? I guess ya could question if some Fairy infected one of the Tapus ‘n’ then from there the Tapus spread it…”
A Legend for each island. That was… really something to think about. He wasn’t sure if any of these “Tapus” could stand up to the might of the Dragon, but it sounded like it would be easier to enlist their help if their sphere of influence was so localized…
N shook his head. He couldn’t be thinking like that. He would be the Hero for the Dragon, and that was that.
He wouldn’t allow himself to falter in his goal.
Rotom ignored the Skorupi sneaking up on the Exeggcute. Rotom ignored the Noctowl perched in the branches above, asleep and resting for its hunt in the coming night. Rotom ignored the nasty glare that the Kangaskhan shot Rotom’s way as she protectively shied her baby away.
The wild Pokemon of the Great Marsh didn’t matter, not right now, anyway.
Instead, hiding in a copse overgrown with swampy reeds and bulrush, Rotom peered out at the scene unfolding in the marsh, hidden from other prying eyes.
The Galactic grunt was still there, handcuffed with a defeated expression.
The Croagunk was still there, eyeing the grunt warily.
Looker was still there, presiding over the scene of the crime.
There were, however, two new people in the marsh.
The first of them was trying to talk to the grunt, to no avail. Dressed in a form fitting suit, the only skin exposed on her body was from the neck up, her hands covered by thick black leather gloves. Rotom could not see her face from this angle, but her lilac hair seemed to be a bit messy and short on the sides with a long ponytail hanging down behind her, secured by a black ribbon. Her posture was rigid, the arms crossed in front of her, and she spoke quietly enough that Rotom could not hear what she said to the grunt.
The second of them was talking to Looker, having much more success than his partner. He was also in a suit, but his appearance was… sloppy might be a kind way to phrase it. His suit was ill fitting, several buttons undone, and every time he shifted in the muck of the marsh he glanced down, grimacing. His face was square and blocky, his eyes a deep red and his eyebrows thick. His black hair was greying, past the salt and pepper phase and leaning more towards distinctly old.
“You know, 836, I’m getting sick of having to clean up after your messes. I’m trying to train the kid, you know? How am I supposed to do that if half our time is spent dealing with this?”
“Well…” Looker awkwardly rubbed the back of his head, “You could always say that’s what you’re training her for! Doesn’t she have “Interpol Chief” written all over her?”
The man rolled his eyes. “Don’t go assigning people roles they don’t want. I get enough of that, I’m not putting that on her.”
Looker laughed. “Yes, yes, we all know that 000 is a bigshot who barely has time for–”
“Give it a rest already!” the man, apparently important if he’d somehow been assigned an agent number like that, complained as he shoved Looker, almost sending him tumbling into the marsh muck.
The “kid” talking to the grunt looked over to them for a second. Her bangs were cut evenly above her lilac eyes, her face small and round. Something about her though… Despite the way that 000 referred to her as a kid, part of Rotom suspected that she might be the strongest trainer present.
She looked away, and Rotom shuddered.
“Fine, fine. Always business with you!” Looker complained, before adopting a serious expression. “It’s not so much that I need cleanup, what with the office sending Cynthia to assist with the bomb,” 000 grimaced at the mention of her name, “but more along the lines of me wanting your input on something.”
“I don’t like the sound of that. Sounds like more work, and we’re already swamped.”
“I know that, but you wanted some sort of lead in Unova, right?”
Rotom tensed. Did Looker find N as suspicious as Rotom did, after a single interaction at that?
000 deadpanned. “No. I did not. Saying that I’m glad things are quiet in Unova does not equate to me wanting a lead there. I like it being quiet in Unova, and so should you!”
“Well, anyway,” Looker immediately brushed past those remarks, “I ran into this kid and his… friends, shall we say. They were hunting down this moron just like me.” He gestured to the Galactic grunt. “And let me tell you, he’s either one of the shadiest guys I’ve ever met, or he’s perfect for a Unova based agent!”
000 sighed. “836. We have Unova based agents. Quite a few, in fact. Why would we need another, especially one who is in Sinnoh of all places?”
“There’s just something about him, you know? Something in his eyes… like he knows things.”
“I don’t care. If you’re that interested, take it up with the higher ups.”
“What do you think I’m doing right now? You’re my superior! What am I supposed to do, go straight to the head of Interpol?”
The two descended into bickering at that point, slowly meandering over to the grunt and the girl.
Rotom wasn’t sure what to make of the interaction… but it seemed that Interpol wouldn’t be a worry for Rotom’s plans any time soon.
Rotom hoped it stayed that way.
Kukui is the type of guy to write a paper while drunk at 3 am the night before he’s meant to submit it for review.
While “Looker” is already clearly a codename, interpol agents in Pokemon have numbers assigned to them. In English, Looker is 100kr (obviously 1337speak), but I think trying to convey 1337speak with dialogue is… not great. So I’m using the japanese one instead, which is 836 read as ha-sa-mu. The n is missing, but it’s basically the same as his codename hansamu (which is a loanword from english: handsome)
I tried to answer lots of the questions you all posed to me, but obviously I didn’t get to all of them. Some of them would have spoiled future stuff, others simply got to me after I’d already written the chapter. I’ll try to ensure they all get answered eventually, even if I don’t plan for another “lore dump” any time soon
The next chapter of Garden of Yesteryore is out, if you like my stuff I encourage you to give it a try!
As always, feedback is appreciated. (If you’re actually looking for a response, discord is the place to be)
