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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 Shelmet.
Fans of medieval history often compare the medieval knight and Japanese samurai, with their codes of conduct, their schools of sword fighting, their noble steeds and their elaborate suits of armour. Similarly, people often debate the merits of samurai warriors against the mysterious stealth operatives known as Ninja. One comparison that rarely comes up is between the European Knight and the Japanese Ninja.
That’s not quite true, though. When we bring up samurai, that must by definition include the ninja. Ninja, or as its pronounced in the Japanese reading Shinobi, is just a word that refers to sneaky, stealthy night operations. There were specialists in this field, many of whom did hail from the villages of Iga and Koga with their secretive practices, but they were not separate from the samurai. In fact, many so-called ninja were samurai, who just so happened to be engaging in subterfuge. The modern image of the ninja dressed in black and using magic hand signals is a much later fabrication of peacetime pop culture.
Shelmet is a bug-type Snail Pokémon which at first looks like a knight’s helmet, or perhaps an elaborate gravy boat, only when tipped up it doesn’t reveal a delicious sauce.
Black
When attacked, it defends itself by closing the lid of its shell. It can spit a sticky, poisonous liquid.
Inside the shell, Shelmet is a little pink bug with a long, puckering mouth. The Japanese name, Chobomaki, combines the Japanese words for puckering and for shell, while the English name Shelmet is a pretty simple combination of shell and helmet.
White
It evolves when bathed in an electric-like energy along with Karrablast. The reason is still unknown.
The reason is pretty obvious if one looks, though. Trade a Shelmet with a Karrablast and the Karrablast steals the shell, evolving into Excavelier. This leaves the naked Shelmet with no choice but to evolve into Accelgor.
Accelgor is a snail-like bug wrapped in black cloths, giving it the appearance of a cursed mummy, or perhaps a ninja warrior. Against the javelin-wielding Excavalier, we finally have a showdown between a Ninja and a European Knight.
Interestingly, this Pokémon evolution does reflect real-world Darwinian evolution. All terrestrial slugs did in fact evolve from snails, losing their shells. In fact, slugs have evolved from snails twelve separate times, due to circumstances in which having a big bulky shell is less advantageous than being able to wriggle into small holes.
White
Having removed its heavy shell, it becomes very light and can fight with ninja-like movements.
As well as protecting from predators, snail shells help stop them from drying out. In the case of real-world slugs, they generally evolved in damp environments where that was less of an issue. Accelgor had to be a little more creative.
Black
When its body dries out, it weakens. So, to prevent dehydration, it wraps itself in many layers of thin membrane.
The name Accelgor combines accelerate, as it is fast, and escargot, the French for snail most often heard in English to describe the dish. The Japanese name is Agilder, as it is Agile.
. . . and well this Pokémon should get Jay’s seal of approval.
Accelgor has outrageously high speed and decent special attack. It can also exaggerate these advantages with the ability unburden, using its item and becoming faster still. It’s fragile but deadly, just as Ninja are depicted when fighting heavier armored foes.
This modern image of Ninja developed from Edo-period theater, and became more popular again in the 19th and 20th centuries, regardless of how accurate or realistic the depictions were. Pokémon Sword’s Pokédex slyly alludes to this.
Sword
It moves with blinding speed and lobs poison at foes. Featuring Accelgor as a main character is a surefire way to make a movie or comic popular.
The thing is, they’re not wrong. Ninja are cool – stealthy and deadly while also serving as kind of Robin Hood figures to the status of the samurai. It doesn’t matter how much they reflect actual history, they will now exist forever in our imaginations – including as several cool Pokémon.
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 Stunfisk and Mienfoo, 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 Shelmet. And remember, I love you too.