Theory of Incense Breeding
This is purely my own speculation, despite its 'scientific' presentation. Don't interpret any of it as proven fact.
Many have wondered how come some Pokémon's eggs will hatch into different forms if they bring a certain type of incense with them to the Day-Care where they breed. But this, like all other things, has an explanation.
Those Pokémon have a peculiar biological ability. This is the ability for their fetal development inside the egg to be partly controlled by the mother's stress hormones from conception until the egg is laid. This ability allows Pokémon under a lot of pressure from their surroundings, perhaps particularly threatened by predators, etc., to rush the fetal development and make the baby more physically mature when it hatches to allow it easier survival while it is young and increase its chances of living. On the other hand, in peaceful times and places the egg will hatch into a great deal less developed young, which will then be able to learn abilities that it otherwise wouldn't and be more competent once it does reach its adult form.
Being with a trainer and taking part in battles all the time is of course very challenging for a Pokémon, and in fact most of those Pokémon living in the common path of humans produce enough stress hormones to induce this rushed development. (This does not always apply; the Sinnoh region is a notable counterexample, being home to many species that have underdeveloped young near the common path of trainers. This suggests that Sinnoh's Pokémon tend to be notably calmer than other populations of the same species in other parts of the world, a matter of much research. One theory is that the scent of the flower fields of Floaroma Town which can be sensed subtly in the entire region serves to calm Pokémon down to some extent. Another suggests different explanations for the various Pokémon, sometimes that the species is naturally calm such as in the case of Budew and Munchlax, sometimes that it is in a particular area farther from the general human path such as Pichu in the Pokémon Mansion's garden and Azurill in the Safari Zone, and sometimes that the parents live farther away, having the young in more peaceful conditions, while the young have taken up a habit of staying in an area more in the human path.) However, in places like Mirage Island where humans and in fact other Pokémon are an uncommon sight, these Pokémon feel much safer and thus have underdeveloped offspring en massé.
As Hoenn scientists later discovered, incense with just the right smell can also do wonders to calm a Pokémon down, to the point of allowing their eggs to hatch into these less developed versions despite the mother being under considerable stress. This is ultimately the reason these elusive Pokémon can be bred in captivity.
Page last modified March 16 2008 at 00:19 GMT
