On the impact of Pokemon on New Zealands society

Miguel Reis1,2
1

Department of Electrical Engineering, University of Canterbury, Christchurch, New Zealand

2

Professors willow Research Laboratories, Christchurch, New Zealand

To whom correspondence should be addressed; E-mail: reismapr@gmail.com.

July 2016

In this short letter concerns regarding the integration of Pokemon into the
New Zealands society are discussed. More specifically the threat posed by
Pidgeys and Rattatas. The apparent lack of Ekans as a control mechanism
for populations of Rattatas is discussed along with the potential threat of mass
evolution events from both the Pidgey and Rattata species.

On the Pidgey populations

Much like the common pidgeon in some metropolis around the world, the Pidgey is presenting
itself as the next unconstrained plague in the big suburbs of Christchurch. However unlike the
pidgeon which does his duty over the random oblivious pedestrian, there seems to be no reports
of ruined outfits or haircuts by the Pidgey. This once again demonstrates the superior intellect
of Pokemon (or at least the Pidgey) over the classic Earth animals. Bearing this in mind it seems
that at least the Pidgey knows how to use the public and private toilets they so annoyingly seem
to invade. The fast spreading and growing of the Pidgey populations have raised questions on
the reason for this phenomenon. It has been argued that the fact that New Zealand is home to
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such vivid and healthy vegetation, supplies the Pidgey with all the feeding they require from just
visiting the open fields. Another theory points at the fact that Pidgey might feed of mice like
the Rattata species. However this seems unlikely for two reasons. First the Rattata seem to have
about the same size as a Pidgey which would make hunting them a very complicated task for
the Pidgey and much like the Pidgey, Rattatas seem to move in packs. Second reason is that the
population growth of Rattata indicates and apparent lack of natural predators as their numbers
rise very quickly. This raises another question which is the fact that such a huge population of
Rattata would make a pretty good meal for both evolutions of Pidgey Pidgeotto and Pidgeot.
These two evolutions also seem to carry a greater risk to the general population due to the fact
that both these pokemon are much more powerful, unfriendly and dangerous. Adding the fact
that they may have a steady supply of food from the Rattata populations, this could turn into a
much bigger crisis than the current Pidgey infestation.
Health issues have also been raised by the New Zealand authorities regarding the possibility
of an avian flu outbreak. Keeping in mind that these Pidgey arrived in New Zealand in the
winter time which exposes them to the cold Antarctic winds that can be heavily felt in the
South Island. It seems only logical that sooner or later one sick Pidgey will start infecting
other Pidgey and these will infect the poketrainers, who happened to catch them, with the avian
flu. An outbreak like this could get out of hand very quickly taking into account the rising
number of poketrainers. Also we should keep in mind the lack of knowledge on these birds
intrinsic biochemistry and internal symbiosis with bacteria. This lack of knowledge would
make it almost impossible to even start studying the new flu virus, let alone finding a cure.
There is a reasonable hypochondriac chance that this new virus could be much stronger than the
normal human virus since it is coming from a species with extraordinary physical capabilities
like wind manipulation and super acceleration. Virologists and immunologists visa assessments
should become a priority for the New Zealand immigration services in the worst case scenario.
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On the Rattatas population

Another potential threat is the alarmingly high number of Rattatas. These seem to be the second
highest population right now. Similarly to the Pidgey, Rattatas are very docile, friendly and
easily captured. They do however show a much higher restrain when it comes to invading
peoples personal space when compared to the Pidgey. Strangely enough the Rattatas population
got fixated and grew large in an extremely record time the overnight of the 5th to the 6th of
July 2016. Making a parallel with the common rat, which propagates through the sewers system
feeding of the garbage from the human civilization, seems peculiar that Rattatas would so easily
fix their population on one of the most clean and sanitized cities on earth - Christchurch. In the
suburbs the population takes good care of their personal garbage, and public trash cans are
almost non-existent around the public park, which rules out another scavenging possibility for
this species. How is it then that they feed and grow? We should take other factors into account.
For starters Rattatas present a much friendlier posture, as well as being a bit more groomed that
the common rat. The fact that these pokemon present a distinctive purple as their fur colour, is
also a positive argument since this increases the cuteness level which in turn may lead people
to easily adopt them and feed them.
Another reasonable possibility is that Rattata are feeding off larvae. Caterpie and Weedle
and two larvae type pokemon species. These seem to fit what would be a reasonable diet for
the Rattata species. The apparent ongoing decrease in the population of these larvae is also an
indicator that such hypothesis might in fact be very true. This is possibly a fortunate scenario
though. Since both Caterpie and Weedles will evolve into their cocoon stage in the begging of
Spring which is just two months away. This would mean an abrupt reduction in the availability
of food for the Rattata species since both Metapod and Kakuna possess very hard shells which
would be very unlikely breached by a Rattata. This would mean a decrease in their population

numbers or in turn obligate the Rattata to evolve into their next stage of evolution in order to be
able to find other means of feeding.
The apparent lack of a serious predator is most likely the number one cause of the large
population of Rattatas. Even though Pidgeys have been reported to hunt Rattatas, this does not
seem to be related to feeding but more likely an act of social dynamic between both pokemon
species. A more likely predator for Rattatas would be the Ekans species which seems to be
strangely absent from the Canterbury area and very rarely seem around New Zealand. This is
even more strange given the reports for such high population of this pokemon in Australia.
To try abd find a way to solve this issue, examples from other islands should be taken into
consideration. For instance, in the Azores archipelago in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean, what
once was a terrible rat plague is now under the control of the municipal authorities. Being an
island, the rats got throw from the European continent through ship containers deployed to these
islands in large numbers to sustain a growing isolated population. However a natural predator
the snake was never introduced in this ecosystem which led to a rapid spreading of the rat
population in this archipelago. Similarly to New Zealand, Azores are also rich in healthy green
vegetation and climate which makes these islands a good case study to help with the current
New Zealand situation.

Closing remarks
Both these pokemon populations demand immediate attention from New Zealand authorities as
they present a high risk threat to the population of this mesmerizing country. Safety measures
should be implemented and once again the number of financial support for poketrainers raised
as a high number of captures may help decrease the number of available subjects for reproduction in these pokemon populations. An educative program should also be consider to teach
the general population on how to deal with the everyday encounters with these new species.
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Human-Pokemon social dynamics studies should be further pursuit in the near future to help
deal with the upcoming conflicts.

References and Notes

1. M. Reis, P. Willow, 2016. First look into Pokemon growth and evolution regarding candy
feeding, Journal for Pokemon Research, Vol. 1, Issue 1, pp 1-4