1 00:00:03,279 --> 00:00:05,600 Speaker 1: Welcome to Stuff to Blow Your Mind, a production of 2 00:00:05,680 --> 00:00:10,640 Speaker 1: My Heart Radio. Hi, my name is Robert Lamb and 3 00:00:10,680 --> 00:00:14,120 Speaker 1: this is the Monster Fact, a short form series from 4 00:00:14,120 --> 00:00:18,320 Speaker 1: Stuff to Blow Your Mind focusing on mythical creatures, ideas, 5 00:00:18,880 --> 00:00:24,560 Speaker 1: and monsters in time. My son and I recently watched 6 00:00:24,600 --> 00:00:29,600 Speaker 1: the two thousand nineteen live action film Pokemon Detective Pikachu, 7 00:00:30,200 --> 00:00:34,080 Speaker 1: a surprisingly watchable, big budget special effects feature that takes 8 00:00:34,080 --> 00:00:38,639 Speaker 1: the world of evolving, battling cartoon monsters and blends them 9 00:00:38,640 --> 00:00:42,159 Speaker 1: into a sort of Blade Runner esque future world in 10 00:00:42,200 --> 00:00:45,960 Speaker 1: which exotic, cute, supernatural creatures are just a part of 11 00:00:46,000 --> 00:00:49,559 Speaker 1: everyday life. Plus Bill Nigh is in it, and he's 12 00:00:49,600 --> 00:00:54,000 Speaker 1: always great. This film is, of course, an endless parade 13 00:00:54,040 --> 00:00:59,480 Speaker 1: of Pokemon, some central to the plot, others merely cameos 14 00:00:59,560 --> 00:01:02,280 Speaker 1: in the film. For today's Monster Fact, I'd like to 15 00:01:02,320 --> 00:01:07,520 Speaker 1: talk about the Pokemon Ditto, known in Japan as Metamn. 16 00:01:08,160 --> 00:01:11,240 Speaker 1: I turned to a guest researcher and writer for help 17 00:01:11,319 --> 00:01:16,360 Speaker 1: on this episode, my son Sebastian. Sebastian rites Ditto the 18 00:01:16,480 --> 00:01:20,160 Speaker 1: transformed Pokemon a normal type. It's weak against fighting tips. 19 00:01:20,319 --> 00:01:23,160 Speaker 1: Did can we arrange its DNA to match any other Pokemon? 20 00:01:23,520 --> 00:01:26,000 Speaker 1: When In this form, it can imitate at taps to 21 00:01:26,120 --> 00:01:30,720 Speaker 1: know is it Ditto do yes? Ditto who appears as 22 00:01:30,760 --> 00:01:34,640 Speaker 1: a short pink blob with dots for eyes, is a 23 00:01:34,720 --> 00:01:38,800 Speaker 1: shape shifter. In the movie Pokemon Detective Pikachu, we see 24 00:01:38,840 --> 00:01:42,160 Speaker 1: it transform into various human characters as well as a 25 00:01:42,160 --> 00:01:47,280 Speaker 1: few powerful Pokemon monsters, but especially when in human form, 26 00:01:47,440 --> 00:01:52,560 Speaker 1: the eyes give it away. As we've discussed on the 27 00:01:52,560 --> 00:01:55,240 Speaker 1: Stuff to Blow Your Mind podcast, this is a frequent 28 00:01:55,320 --> 00:01:59,000 Speaker 1: detail in various tales and traditions of shape shifting monsters, 29 00:01:59,440 --> 00:02:03,600 Speaker 1: from dem incubi and succupy to the forest dwelling Leshy. 30 00:02:03,920 --> 00:02:07,280 Speaker 1: There's always a detail that the shape shifter gets wrong. 31 00:02:07,760 --> 00:02:11,240 Speaker 1: It might be uh using duck feed instead of human feed, 32 00:02:11,320 --> 00:02:14,760 Speaker 1: or making the buttons backwards, but there's often something to 33 00:02:14,840 --> 00:02:17,840 Speaker 1: provide the hero of our story with a chance to 34 00:02:17,919 --> 00:02:22,000 Speaker 1: see through the deceptive disguise. The natural world is home 35 00:02:22,040 --> 00:02:24,880 Speaker 1: to mimics and shape shifters as well, but the most 36 00:02:24,880 --> 00:02:30,839 Speaker 1: impressive maybe the mimic octopus them Octopus mimicus. While other 37 00:02:30,880 --> 00:02:35,680 Speaker 1: octopus species use their chromatophores and versatile bodies to resemble 38 00:02:35,800 --> 00:02:39,200 Speaker 1: parts of their environment, the mimic octopus takes on the 39 00:02:39,240 --> 00:02:43,520 Speaker 1: form of other animal species. As Norman at All pointed 40 00:02:43,560 --> 00:02:47,920 Speaker 1: out in Dynamic Mimicry in an Indo Malayan Octopus, the 41 00:02:48,000 --> 00:02:53,440 Speaker 1: mimic octopus takes the form of quote poisonous or distasteful animals, 42 00:02:53,480 --> 00:02:58,400 Speaker 1: and these include the flatfish, the lionfish, the banded sea snake, 43 00:02:58,960 --> 00:03:03,800 Speaker 1: jelly fishes, and possibly see an enemies as well. Now, 44 00:03:04,280 --> 00:03:05,960 Speaker 1: I don't know what you think, but that seems like 45 00:03:06,080 --> 00:03:10,280 Speaker 1: quite a diverse selection of creatures, almost as diverse as 46 00:03:10,320 --> 00:03:14,840 Speaker 1: any given page from the Pokemon Bestieri. As the researchers 47 00:03:14,840 --> 00:03:18,560 Speaker 1: point out, human interpretations of potential mimicries in the mimic 48 00:03:18,560 --> 00:03:21,960 Speaker 1: octopus are subjective, so we have to be careful about 49 00:03:22,040 --> 00:03:25,840 Speaker 1: jumping to conclusions about what they are pretending to be. 50 00:03:26,840 --> 00:03:30,360 Speaker 1: But also they continue to be the subject of scientific study. 51 00:03:30,760 --> 00:03:32,760 Speaker 1: But it just goes to show that no matter how 52 00:03:32,880 --> 00:03:37,160 Speaker 1: weird and amazing the monster or Pokemon may seem to be, 53 00:03:37,600 --> 00:03:49,160 Speaker 1: the natural world probably equals or exceeds it somewhere. Tune 54 00:03:49,160 --> 00:03:52,240 Speaker 1: in for additional episodes of The Monster Fact or the 55 00:03:52,360 --> 00:03:56,080 Speaker 1: Artifact each week. As always, you can email us at 56 00:03:56,120 --> 00:04:00,320 Speaker 1: contact at Stuff to Blow Your Mind dot com MHM 57 00:04:07,600 --> 00:04:09,440 Speaker 1: Stuff to Blow Your Mind is a production of I 58 00:04:09,560 --> 00:04:12,440 Speaker 1: heart Radio. For more podcasts for my heart Radio, visit 59 00:04:12,440 --> 00:04:15,040 Speaker 1: the i heart Radio app, Apple podcasts, or wherever you 60 00:04:15,080 --> 00:04:16,280 Speaker 1: listen to your favorite shows.