Well, the truth here is somewhat confusing at best. Here’s the deal: A Slowpoke can evolve into a Slowbro when a Shellder clamps onto its tail, or a Slowking when it clamps onto its head. Location does matter, and while nothing’s confirmed conclusively, the running hypothesis is that the proximity to the Slowpoke’s brain allows its psychic abilities to work more strongly on the Shellder, giving it a shape that allows for more mutual intelligence benefit! On the tail, there’s a shape change that’s more…well, “dumb” is a charged word, but nothing else really conveys the idea as well. It becomes larger and heavier, allowing the Slowpoke to stand on two legs more effectively, but without the stronger influence from those psychic abilities, the effects simply aren’t the same.
However - and this is the perplexing part to scientists - a Shellder isn’t required for evolution. Slowpoke can evolve into Slowbro without any help at all, and into Slowking with a King’s Rock acting as a catalyst. As if that wasn’t baffling enough, the modified Shellder just…appears! Out of nowhere! This is no joke, I have observed both of these evolutions personally in the lab, without any Shellders in proximity, and yet they exist in the final products without fail!
There’s some speculation about whether the Shellder actually changes, or if it disappears much as a typical object catalyst does - after all, the final product looks nothing like a Shellder, so it could simply be an extension of the Slowbro or Slowking. There’s never been another confirmed case of a Pokémon acting as an evolution catalyst while also being consumed in the process of evolution (though there have been cases of a Pokémon acting as a catalyst without being consumed - see Remoraid and the Shelmet/Karrablast pair), but there were still strong suspicions for many years.
But the landmark study on the question was a genetics study by Kann-Forseth and colleagues! Now, I think you can imagine where this is going - genetics testing could tell you whether what you had was part of the same being or from two separate beings! It was a fantastic idea, and took advantage of timely advances in DNA testing which made it a lot easier to analyze! But, boy, no one saw the results coming, for sure! They found that when an existing Shellder played the role of evolution catalyst, its genes DID change, but not radically so - which makes sense, since its body and shell shape change pretty drastically, but it retained the essential elements of a Shellder! But when a Slowpoke evolved on its own, they found that the genes in the shell part were a convoluted mixture of Shellder and Slowbro/Slowking! That is, the process of evolution did in fact bring into existence a whole other Pokémon, but NOT in the same form as a native example!
Crazy stuff, huh? Scientists are still pretty hazy on the details here, but one suggestion I’ve heard is that an evolution-generated Shellder isn’t an independently-functioning creature, that it can’t really be detached and exist on its own in any meaningful way. On the other hand, it’s still being debated as to whether a Shellder that latches onto a Slowpoke’s tail or head can revert back to its original form if it’s removed for long enough! These aren’t easy questions to answer because of ethical considerations, but I know we can get to the bottom of the matter somehow!

Oh, believe me, quite a few of them! Despite what it may seem from my admittedly rather “playboy” nature, I can get very attached! But, well, there’s something you gotta know about Nidos, and this applies to kings and queens: no matter how attached we are to any individual, we’re gonna be promiscuous! There’s something about the way our brains are wired that makes it so that one day we can be super affectionate and close with a partner, the next day we can be off shagging ten other people, and then the day after that come back and be super affectionate again. It’s like something flips on and off in our brains that encourages us to be profligate with our sexuality, but still allows us to have real relationships. We just need to have partners who understand that! And most of them do, I mean, Nidos don’t have a reputation for nothing, if you get into cahoots with one you basically know what you’re getting into.
I’d actually be kinda surprised if you haven’t felt the same way! I mean, I guess it’s true that I’ve heard of Nidos who weren’t so…wide-ranging with their attentions, but they’re pretty rare!

Well, the simple fact is, they, uh, don’t. In fact, Escavalier is one of the slowest Pokémon. I mean, MAYBE with Pursuit it could get a burst of speed that could make it look quick, but only in very limited situations!
Before you scoff and point me to the Poké Dex, I’ve already said that that’s not a peer-reviewed or trustworthy source. I’ve done some work with Escavalier before, and nothing about them seems to back up the notion that they actually fly around at high speeds. The only way I ever saw that happen was when I hurled one with my own hands (long story). I’ve asked some of them about it and they’re completely clueless. About the best explanation they could come up with was that someone had them confused with Accelgor, which is a super-fast Pokémon. I’m not so sure how that could happen, but it’s not like I have many better explanations!

The rules get bent when we deal with legends! I’ve never personally witnessed a fusion between these legendary dragons, but the wonderful thing about the Internet is that it’s a lot easier to see stuff that you can’t personally witness! And there’s footage out there of such events taking place! Hell if I know how it’s accomplished - I’ve heard the term “DNA Splicers” thrown around but I don’t know the first thing about ‘em! As for how it works, sorry, I can’t say I know any more about that than you do! Perhaps if one of them wished to talk with me, I could find out, though!

Well, I’m afraid not! I’ve heard vague rumors about these “Mystery Dungeon” things, but I’ve never come across any in my experiences! Perhaps there simply aren’t any around here, and they’re all in locations which are quite a ways away. Or perhaps they’re just stories - I know that they certainly sound like some of the tall tales I’ve heard in my time, what with only being accessible to Pokémon and promises of amazing treasure! But, well, absence of evidence is not evidence of absence!
Incidentally, what research I’ve done hasn’t turned up any significant scientific sources on the matter, so if you should happen to come across any, proceed with caution - there’s a whole lot that we don’t know!

You mean you personally? I’m afraid I wouldn’t be able to provide such a service just on meeting you for the first time! I’m no master deductionist like Sherlock Holmes, and a lot of the stuff I study isn’t stuff that can just be interviewed!
And to be honest, I don’t know a whole lot about Dragonairs in general, either! Like those wing-like structures on your head, are those ears, or another type of specialized organ? And what about the gem-like structure on your neck? Is that natural or acquired? Although I do know that, contrary to popular belief, Dragonairs do not change the weather; rather, they get different auras in response to upcoming changes in weather patterns! They’re almost like living barometers in that sense!

Well, let’s be fair here: unless you’re a Poison or a Steel type, anything is going to succumb to enough poison! The truth is that bugs are not necessarily simply more vulnerable to poison, gram for gram; they’re just so small that the amounts applied amount to much higher relative dosages! Bug Pokémon don’t have this same vulnerability because of their far greater size!
As for the relationship between Poison and Bug types, well, as I’ve said before, it’s not entirely certain why particular types are better against some and worse against others. There’s only a minimal amount of logical inference one can make about the match-ups. Certainly, there must be some kind of genetic component which determines whether a particular type is strong against another, or weak against another. With that little bit of knowledge, my guess would be that it was simply a result of genetic drift - whatever created the advantage of Poison-type moves over Bug-type Pokémon just disappeared as a consequence of the gene populations changing. It’s only a hypothesis, but I feel it’s as good as any!
Incidentally, you seem to be up in arms about the change in Bug’s weak to poison, but I wonder if you realized that the opposite also changed? Poison was once weak to Bug-type attacks, as well! No longer is that the case; in fact, Poison now resists Bug-type attacks! It’s rather strange how that works, huh?

Ah, dear. Believe it or not, you’re not the first to ask me about this. First that I’ve had ask me on this particular forum, perhaps, but not overall. And it wasn’t fun giving that answer the first time, and I don’t imagine it will be much better now.
To put it simply, there’s no controllable way to accomplish what you’re asking. A male Kirlia can become a Gallade, but a female can’t. A female Snorunt can become a Froslass, but a male can’t. And so forth. the transformations are dictated by a Pokémon’s body and genetics, and they tend to be pretty hard and firm about the rules. You can’t just up and force them to change.
But…even nature breaks the rules sometimes. Freak occurrences aren’t impossible (and I don’t particularly like to use the term “freak” here but other words aren’t very effective at getting across the same concept). I have heard about sporadic errors in evolution, female Gallades, male Froslass, hell, even a couple male Vespiqueen. I don’t know the circumstances surrounding these events - some were before my time and all were not within my proximity - but I can guarantee you that they weren’t intended, and in general not wanted. That’s one of the great injustices of the world - those who would wish to have that change are stuck how they are, and some of those who want to follow the usual track are thrown into disarray.

reuniclus-answers:

Sources confirm I am indeed amazing!

((source from asknidoking))

…Sure, why not?

Er, unfortunately, I can’t! Of all the non-legendary Pokémon, Dittos are the hardest to study…it’s hard enough to get one to volunteer for research, never mind actually analyzing their bodies! And all the Dittos I’ve ever encountered have kept the mechanism behind their transformative properties a closely-guarded secret! So, we really don’t know very much about how they perform such feats!
If I had to speculate, I’d say they do it by replicating DNA from another species…but I know they can’t replicate human or animal DNA, yet they can still take those forms. So there’s another mystery that requires solving!