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A weekly Pokédex Podcast from Bald Man in Japan Luke Summerhayes. A different Pokémon family every week.
I’m Luke Summerhayes, and I love Joltik.
Pokémon come in all shapes and sizes – some are as big as the largest real-world animals and sometimes beyond, stepping into Kaiju territory. Many of them are around the size of a person, more like the on-set man-in-a-suit than Godzilla himself. A lot of them are the size of medium animals like dogs cats. Not just the mammals and the birds, but even the bugs.
In the real world in modern times, most insects and arachnids are pretty small. Ants, spiders and so on are miniscule compared to us, though a few exceptions grow quite large in warm climates. In prehistoric times, due to Earth’s extremely different atmospheric conditions, some bugs could grow to properly monstrous sizes.
Joltik, a fluffy yellow electric and bug type, was, at the time of its release, the smallest Pokémon. We’ve learned from interviews that there were plans to make an even smaller bug Pokémon, but with the graphic power available at the time it was decided Joltik was as far as the developers were willing to go. Perhaps because the sprite is so small in the available space, it’s a creature which bounces very high, like a common jumping spider in Japan, or a tick in the underbrush of Europe.
White
They attach themselves to large-bodied Pokémon and absorb static electricity, which they store in an electric pouch.
Ticks in real life will attach themselves to a larger animal and steal some blood, but unfortunately in the process they can spread some pretty unpleasant diseases. Luckily, Joltik isn’t getting into anyone’s blood stream, instead just absorbing some electrical energy.
Black
Joltik that live in cities have learned a technique for sucking electricity from the outlets in houses.
In the anime, when we first meet Joltik it drains the electrical energy from Pikachu, among others, and though it isn’t literally sucking blood, there is a vampiric quality to the draining.
Sword
Joltik can be found clinging to other Pokémon. It's soaking up static electricity because it can't produce a charge on its own.
Shield
Joltik latch on to other Pokémon and suck out static electricity. They're often found sticking to Yamper's hindquarters.
The name Joltik combines tick with jolt, the sharp movement brought on, perhaps, by an electric shock. The Japanese name for the Pokémon is Bachuru, with Bachibachi being onomatopoeia for electrical crackling and chu meaning bug, or perhaps the churu from tarantula.
Ironically, despite being incredibly small for a Pokémon, Joltik would still be around the size of a tarantula, one of the largest real-life arachnids. It’s a little cuter than one of those, though, in my opinion. At level 36, however, Joltik becomes as big for the Pokémon world as a tarantula is for ours when it evolves into Galvantula.
Galvantula maintains Joltik’s fluffy yellow coat and four legs, but gains extra eyes and exaggerated mandibles while also growing to the size of large dog, entering into horror movie spider territory.
White
They employ an electrically charged web to trap their prey. While it is immobilized by shock, they leisurely consume it.
Real-life Tarantulas don’t actually produce webs as we imagine spider-webs, but they do shed fur with a paralysing effect on small animals, and which causes a nasty itch for humans.
Sword
It launches electrified fur from its abdomen as its means of attack. Opponents hit by the fur could be in for three full days and nights of paralysis.
In the videogames, Galvantula has pretty good speed and special attack, which gave it a small niche, but it really became a threat when it gained the move electro web in the sixth generation, allowing it to slow opposing teams.
Shield
It lays traps of electrified threads near the nests of bird Pokémon, aiming to snare chicks that are not yet good at flying.
The name Galavantula combines tarantula with galvanise, the generation of electrical current by chemical reaction, as found in living creatures. The Japanese name is Dentula, combining denki, or electricity, with tarantula.
Joltik is about as cute as a spider can get. I think Galvantula might maintain that cuteness for some people, but for those of us who carry a little arachnophobia, it’s still a threatening presence to encounter in a dark cave. Especially if it’s going to drain my phone’s batteries and make me explore the cave without a comforting podcast to listen to.
Original music for Luke Loves Pokémon is by Jonathan Cromie. Artwork is by Katie Groves. Funding is provided by listeners at Patreon.com/PodcastioPodcastius. For just a dollar a month, supporters can listen to episodes a week early and also help cover hosting and fees, making it possible for me to keep making episodes every week.
I love hearing from listeners! Get in touch about upcoming Pokémon on twitter or facebook at LukeLovesPKMN. Drop a comment if you’re watching the video, or a review on apple podcasts or spotify. Coming up are Ferroseed and Klink, so please get in touch about those or any other monsters.
Even if you don’t feel like doing any of that, thank you so much just for listening.
I love Joltik. And remember, I love you too.