Is there any plausible logical relationship between a Pokemon’s name and its apparent inability to produce any sounds besides it? (Okay, so Onix can growl and Staryu does his “hya” thing, but you know what I mean.) Historically, did humans just name Pokemon based on the only sounds they ever heard them make? Or is it the other way around: once Pokemon were discovered and named, the Pokemon themselves adopted their new identity and, in accordance, adapted linguistically? Or something else?

What I’ve always thought is that, in the Pokémon universe, a lot of human words are derived from the sounds Pokémon made – so, originally, humans called something “gloomy” because it reminded them in some way of the Pokémon that makes the sound “gloom”, or name a substance “magma” because it’s where the Pokémon that makes the sound “magmar” lives.  I quite like this idea because it ties in nicely with the implication that the alphabet is originally based on the Unown, and continues to emphasise what a huge cultural debt humans have to Pokémon in that universe… although I have no doubt that certain specific words and Pokémon would still be difficult to interpret according to this model.