Journal of Geek Studies

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Floral gigantism in the Pokémon world

Lucas C. Marinho1 & Liming Cai2 1 Departamento de Biologia, Universidade Federal do Maranhão, São Luís, Maranhão, Brazil. Email: lc.marin- [email protected] 2 Department of Botany & Sciences, University of California, Riverside, California, USA. Email: lim- [email protected]

With more than 260,000 species, flower- Bellsprout (#069), the drought-adapted Cac- ing represent one of the most spec- nea (#331), and the giant Vileplume (#045). tacular radiations on Earth, and provide The critters in the latter’s evolutionary line, enormous value to humankind (Stevens, in particular, represent early examples of 2017). In the Pokémon universe, howev- Grass-type Pokémon that exhibit a suite of er, plant-derived Pokémon, or Grass-type distinctive features such as the absence of Pokémon, are surprisingly scarce compared green pigments in evolved forms and the to Pokémon resembling vertebrates or ar- presence of poisonous chemical compounds thropods (Le Vaillant, 2020). Representative (that is, they are also Poison-type). Grass-type Pokémon feature a number of charismatic flora including the carnivorous There are four Pokémon in this evolu-

Oddish’s evolutionary line (images extracted from Bulbapedia).

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tionary line: Oddish (#043), Gloom (#044), parasitic plant family exhib- Vileplume, and Bellossom (#182), which it extraordinarily unique characteristics represent four distinct stages on a chain of compared to other free-living plants. They gradual metamorphosis (the latter two be- do not have identifiable stems, leaves and ing mutually exclusive). roots but rely on the tropical grapevine hosts for nutrients and water. These Pokémon are found throughout all The host-derived energy supports the pro- regions in the Pokémon world except Alola duction of the world’s largest flower in the (Bulbapedia, 2021). Oddish is the juvenile species arnoldii. In sum, both Raf- stage, characterized by its blue body and flesiaceae and Vileplume have a number green leaves. It metamorphoses (“evolves” of life history traits that are otherwise rare in game terms) into Gloom, which has red among their relatives. Here, we present a leaves and a dull brown perianth with comprehensive analysis of the morpho- white spots. The change in leaf color sug- logical, physiological and ecological char- gest the transition to a heterotrophic life- acteristics of the Grass/Poison Pokémon style (non-photosynthetic) and the evolu- Vileplume and the parasitic plant species tion of a perianth may attract pollinators for Rafflesia arnoldii. reproduction. Vilpelume and Bellossom, on the other hand, demonstrate two diverse tracks of metamorphosis from Gloom. In Vileplume, the iconic features from Gloom Methods become even more exaggerated: the peri- anth turns extremely showy and the leaves The morphological and behavioral char- are lost. Bellossom, in contrast, has green acteristics of Vilpelume were collected from leaves and is morphologically and physio- the Pokédex (The Pokémon Company, logically more similar to Oddish than to its 2021) and Bulbapedia (2021). For the plant precursor, Gloom. family Rafflesiaceae and the species R. ar- noldii, morphological descriptions were ob- tained from the scientific literature.

Vileplume

Vileplume in Pocket Monsters (image extracted from Bulbapedia).

Compared to the limited diversity of Grass-type Pokémon, flowering plants are crucial and significant components of Earth’s ecosystems. They supply food for Vileplume (image extracted from Bulbapedia). animals and provide habitable shelters for all living organisms. Among them, the

Journal of Geek Studies 8(2): 43-49 (2021). Floral gigantism in Pokémon

Vileplume (Japanese: ラフレシア [Ra- 2021). Color variations are found in isolated fureshia]) is a Grass/Poison Pokémon from populations. For example, the Vileplume on Generation I. It evolves from Gloom if the Pinkan Island have a pink body (Bulbape- player uses a Leaf Stone. Vileplume usual- dia, 2021), possibly due to the accumulation ly has a purplish body and bears five giant of carotenoids from their diet. Populations red petals with white spots, which give it from Valencia Island are even more unusu- its fame of having the largest petals in the al, they do not have white spots on red pet- Pokémon world (The Pokémon Company, als, but instead have orange petals with red rings (Bulbapedia, 2021).

Alternately-colored Vileplume specimens from Pinkan Island (above) and Valencia Island (below), both from Or- ange Archipelago (images from the Pokémon TV series, extracted from Bulbapedia, 2021).

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Rafflesiaceae era: Rafflesia, Rhizanthes and Sapria, all of which are endemic (restricted) to southern Rafflesiaceae is a family of leafless, China, northeast India, Bhutan, Thailand, rootless, and non-photosynthetic parasit- Malaysia, and western Indonesia (Meijer, ic plants belonging to the order Malpighi- 1997; Barcelona et al., 2009; Bendiksby et al., ales (Nikolov & Davis, 2017), which also 2010). These plants are specialized parasites includes cassava, castor bean, flax, pop- on Tetrastigma, which is a group of lars, and rubber trees. The family consists species in the grapevine family (Vitaceae). of ca. 40 species distributed in three gen-

Rafflesia sp. (image extracted from Flickr; Martin Sercombe, 2010; CC BY 4.0).

Species of Rafflesiaceae live entirely in- Morphological similarities side the host and only emerge when they are ready to reproduce. The flower releases Floral gigantism — Both Vileplume and a foul odor to recruit carrion flies for pol- R. arnoldii are characterized by scarlet petals lination (Patiño et al., 2002). Among these with white spots. In addition to the overall two dozen species, the most charismatic is similarity in the coloration, both Vileplume R. arnoldii, which produces the largest flow- and R. arnoldii keep the record of flow- er in the world. This species is the national er size in the Pokémon world and the real flower of Indonesia and it even appears on world. Vileplume can reach up to 1.2 meter the Malaysian Ringgit. high, weighing 18.6 kilograms (Bulbapedia, 2021). Rafflesia arnoldii, on the other hand, can grow to a diameter of around one me- ter, weighing up to 11 kilograms (Cunning- ham, 2002).

Journal of Geek Studies 8(2): 43-49 (2021). Floral gigantism in Pokémon

Sexual dimorphism — Both Vileplume and R. arnoldii are dioecious, meaning that the male and female blossoms appear on sepa- rate plants. Female Vileplume have fewer, but larger white spots on their petals com- pared to the male (The Pokémon Company, 2021). Flowers of R. arnoldii have five sepals (not petals; Nikolov et al., 2013) and a cen- Malaysian banknote of 10 Ringgit (image extracted tral chamber structure. Male flowers have from https://www.numiscollection.com/). anthers situated underneath the disk with- in the central chamber while female flowers have styles instead.

Rafflesia arnoldii (image extracted from Flickr; Sumeet Luktuke, 2017; CC BY 2.0).

Physiological differences speed via the Chlorophyll ability. This pho- tosynthetic pigment chlorophyll converts Carnivorous versus parasitic — Though the solar energy to chemical energy. On the similar in morphology, Vileplume differs contrary, R. arnoldii has completely lost the fundamentally from R. arnoldii in its life ability to photosynthesize (Nikolov et al., history strategy. Vileplume is photosyn- 2014). It is even hypothesized that it has lost thetic and carnivorous, while R. arnoldii its chloroplast (Molina et al., 2014; Cai et is non-photosynthetic and relies entirely al., 2021). However, the unique green color on its host for nutrients. When exposed to from the photosynthetic pigment chloro- bright sunlight, Vileplume can increase its phyll is not easily observed in Vileplume.

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Only the shiny version has a green body gers potent allergic reactions in its prey (and orange petals). It is therefore possi- (The Pokémon Company, 2021). In peak ble that chlorophyll only exists in small seasons, Vileplume can release a tremen- quantities in the vast majority of Vileplume dous amount of pollen such that it is sur- populations and other photosynthetic pig- rounded by a yellow cloud of pollen. With ments such as carotenoids play a major role every step, Vileplume shakes out a tremen- in photosynthesis instead. The carnivorous dous amount of toxic pollen. This noxious habits of Vileplume may also be an outcome pollen is similar to the foul volatiles emitted of adaptive evolution in the face of reduced by R. arnoldii to attract pollinators. But un- photosynthetic ability. like Vileplume, R. arnoldii uses its decompo- sition-mimicking volatiles to attract carrion Vegetative organs — Vileplume, along flies for deceptive pollination (Beaman et with many other Grass-type Pokémon, al., 1988; Bänziger, 1991). Moreover, in Vile- learns the Razor Leaf offensive move, in plume the propagation of the toxic pollen which leaf blades are launched at high is achieved by shaking petals, but in R. ar- speed and cause damage to opponents. Raf- noldii it is hypothesized that the emission of flesia arnoldii, however, have lost all identifi- the odor is facilitated by raising their tem- able leaves because they are non-photosyn- perature above environmental average (Pa- thetic. The entire plant grows as a mass of tiño et al., 2000, 2002). Combined with the thread-like strands within the host before white and red pattern on the petal and hair- they flower. Similar to the mycelium of fun- like trichomes that resembles animal fur gi, these structures absorb nutrients directly (Beaman et al., 1988; Nikolov et al., 2014), R. from the host, hampering the host’s growth. arnoldii is highly successful in tricking flies Weapons for predation versus pollination to act as pollinators — these insects even lay — One important adaptive feature of Vile- eggs within the flowers (Bänziger, 1996). plume is its poisonous pollen, which trig-

Table 1. Comparison between Vileplume and Rafflesia arnoldii.

Vileplume Rafflesia arnoldii Similarities L

argest flower in the Pokémon world (1.2 m) Largest flower in the real world (ca. 1 m) Red and white coloration Red and white coloration Differences Dioecious species Dioecious species

Carnivorous and photosynthetic Parasitic and non-photosynthetic Five petals Five sepals Poisonous Not poisonous Razor Leaf offensive ability Leaf-like organs absent Toxic pollen Non-toxic pollen Acid present Acid absent Volatile compounds absent Foul volatiles emitted to attract pollinators Strong odor (volatiles) released by thermogenesis Pollen released by shaking the petals and thermoregulation

Journal of Geek Studies 8(2): 43-49 (2021). Floral gigantism in Pokémon

CONCLUSION N.; Hartmann, C.B.; Manickam, S.; Sasirat, S.; Nikolov, L.A.; Mathews, S.; Davis, C.C. Here we addressed ecological and mor- (2021) Deeply altered genome architecture in phological aspects of Vileplume in relation the endoparasitic flowering plantSapria hima- to its real-world counterpart, R. arnoldii. layana Griff. (Rafflesiaceae). Current Biology Both species exhibit similarities in floral 31: 1002–1011. morphology, but we also identified sever- Cunningham, A. (2002) Guinness World Re- al important differences in anatomy, mor- cords. Guinness World Records, London. phology, and physiology between these Le Vaillant, J. (2020) What’s your favourite two species, which were associated with Pokémon? Pocket monster popularity re- their carnivorous versus parasitic habit. flects interest in real-world Biology. Journal Future research should focus on the ecol- of Geek Studies 7(1): 35–52. ogy and evolution of Vileplume. Is Vile- Meijer, W. (1997) Rafflesiaceae. In: van Steenis, plume pollinated by Cutiefly (#742)? How C.G.G.J. & Steenis-Kruseman, M.J. (Eds.) Flo- does the color variation seen on the Pinkan ra Malesiana. Series 1 – Seed Plants, Volume and Valencia Islands contribute to the re- 13. Rijksherbarium, Leiden. Pp. 1–42. productive barrier in this species? What is Molina, J.; Hazzouri, K.M.; Nickrent, D.; Geis- the genetic mechanism of the evolution of ler, M.; Meyer, R.S.; Pentony, M.M.; Flowers, a five-petaled flower (Vileplume) from a J.M.; Pelser, P.; Barcelona, J.; Inovejas, S.A.; four-petaled one (Gloom)? Uy, I.; Yuan, W.; Wilkins, O.; Michel, C.I.; Locklear, S.; Concepcion, G.P.; Purugganan, M.D. (2014) Possible loss of the chloroplast genome in the parasitic flowering plantRaffle - REFERENCES sia lagascae (Rafflesiaceae). Molecular Biology and Evolution 31: 793–803. Bänziger, H. (1991) Stench and fragrance: Nikolov, L.A. & Davis, C.C. (2017) The big, the unique pollination lure of Thailand’s largest bad, and the beautiful: biology of the world’s flower, Rafflesia kerrii Meijer. Natural History largest flowers. Journal of Systematics and Bulletin of the Siam Society 39: 19–52. Evolution 55: 516–524. Bänziger, H. (1996) Pollination of a flowering Nikolov, L.A.; Endress, P.K.; Sugumaran, M.; oddity: Rhizanthes zippelii (Blume) Spach (Raf- Sasirat, S.; Vessabutr, S.; Kramer, E.M.; Da- flesiaceae). Natural History Bulletin of the vis, C.C. (2013) Developmental origins of the Siam Society 44: 113–142. world’s largest flowers, Rafflesiaceae. PNAS Barcelona, J.F.; Pelser, P.B.; Balete, D.S.; Co, 110: 18578–18583. L.L. (2009) , ecology, and conser- Nikolov, L.A.; Tomlinson, P.B.; Manickam, vation status of Philippine Rafflesia (Rafflesi- S.; Endress, P.K.; Kramer, E.M.; Davis, C.C. aceae). Blumea 54: 77–93. (2014) Holoparasitic Rafflesiaceae possess the Beaman, R.S.; Decker, P.J.; Beaman, J.H. (1988) most reduced endophytes and yet give rise to Pollination of Rafflesia (Rafflesiaceae). Ameri- the world’s largest flowers. Annals of Botany can Journal of Botany 75: 1148–1162. 114: 233–242. Bendiksby, M.; Schumacher, T.; Gussarova, G.; Patiño, S.; Grace, J.; Bänziger, H. (2000) Endo- Nais, J.; Mat-Salleh, K.; Sofiyanti, N.; Mad- thermy by flowers of Rhizanthes lowii (Raffle- ulid, D.; Smith, S.A.; Barkman, T. (2010) siaceae). Oecologia 124: 149–155. Elucidating the evolutionary history of the Patiño, S.; Aalto, T.; Edwards, A.A.; Grace, J. Southeast Asian, holoparasitic, giant-flow- (2002) Is Rafflesia an endothermic flower? ered Rafflesiaceae: Pliocene vicariance, mor- New Phytologist 154: 429–437. phological convergence and character dis- placement. Molecular Phylogenetics and Stevens, P.F. (2017) Angiosperm Phylogeny Evolution 57: 620–633. Website. Version 14. Available from: http:// www.mobot.org/MOBOT/research/AP- Bulbapedia. (2021) Bulbapedia: the communi- web/ (Date of access: 01/Mar/2021). ty driven Pokémon encyclopedia. Available from: https://bulbapedia.bulbagarden.net/ The Pokémon Company. (2021) The official (Date of access: 28/Feb/2021). Pokémon website. Available from: https:// www.pokemon.com/ (Date of access: 28/ Cai, L.; Arnold, B.J.; Xi, Z.; Khost, D.E.; Patel, Feb/2021).

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