Alright, what the hell is up with this thing?
It's not exactly a robot, and more like an automaton or golem? It's described as being "made up of code", "manmade", "artificial", and a being that can enter "cyberspace". Now, with that in mind, what the hell IS cyberspace? Why is it good Porygon can enter it? And, if it can enter "cyberspace", I'm assuming that means it can transform its body between being physical and digital, so it's not made up of metal alloy or anything.
It's also described as being made specifically for space travel, which is strange. There are rockets in the Pokemon universe, and Pokemon that can freely enter and exit space at will. So, Porygon is like a rover of some kind?
With that, now I'm starting to wonder if the fricker is sentient. Porygon2 is likely sentient, as its Pokedex says "it may exhibit motions that were not programmed", which implies Porygon doesn't do that. So, is Porygon capable of its own thought? It can function fine in the wild, even in the distant past seen in PLA. So, is it sentient?
Then we have Porygon-Z, who was designed to "travel through alien dimensions". Fair enough, there's stuff like Ultra Space in Pokemon so makes sense. But the Pokedex also says "even academics can’t agree on whether Porygon-Z is really an evolution".
With all this in mind, what the hell is this thing? Can you consider it a Pokemon? Is it evolving when you install the Upgrade and Dubious Disk? Can further Porygon forms be developed by random people? Is it sentient? Is it a physical being, or a digital being making some kinda holographic physical body?
/vp/ help me, I'm not gonna be able to sleep if I keep thinking about this.
It's a digimon
Unironically yes.
Porygon is somehow far more advanced than a Digimon though
It’s programming error objection abominations
infinity energy infused with computer programming it's basically just modern Megearna
Porygon-Z is Porygon 2 with a virus, arguably the same mon. The upgrade disk is said to add AI abilities while bringing Porygon up to date, that way it can learn from experience. Really there's a lot of Gen 1 era Silph lore that's not properly explained and Porygon is a big part of that.
I get the feeling that at least one person on the team wanted Pokemon to be a lot more sci-fi at the start.
I would've loved that tbhonest
>arguably the same mon
How is it not an evolution? The body and stats change permanently
>what the hell is this thing?
a Pokemon
>Can you consider it a Pokemon?
Yes, its not part of the regular evolution tree, it can access elementaly type energy, and it can shrink and there's eggs that hatch with it.
>Is it evolving when you install the Upgrade and Dubious Disk?
Most likely, keep in mind that its stated that even in-unvierse, species and evolution classification is ambiguous.
> Can further Porygon forms be developed by random people?
Yes. In Kalos someone managed to make it able to explore space per the book in Alola's power plant.
> Is it sentient?
Probably, the only reason to doubt that is what you said.
>Is it a physical being, or a digital being making some kinda holographic physical body?
Nothing says its not physical, at least outside "cyberspace".
Literally anything can become pokemon if the circumstances are made just right for example
Milcery
Charcadet
Grimer
Varoom
Deoxys
ect ect ect
"It can convert its body into digital data, which enables it to enter cyberspace."
The moon entry answers a lot OP, its the first place you should be looking.
There's lots of cool details in all of the Porygon dex entries across the series.
We need more cyber space pokemon
It’s a porygon
Does evolving a Porygon2 into Porygon-Z mean you're giving it a lobotomy?
No? There’s no visible change to its nature or intelligence. Its body language is just more difficult to understand
I caught two shiny Porygon in mass outbreak in Scarlet! They are one mark and one largest size!