The shinies of Skwovet and its evolution are available in Pokémon GO and looking at them, you must be like, “Lol, silly squirrels duh” but what if I told you that Skwovet is a wanted ‘criminal’!
That’s right! This little cutie is a menace to society… a terror! More on this later.
Skwovet is based on the Eastern Gray Squirrel:
Source: Wikipedia
On the other hand, its evolution Greedent is based on the Red Squirrel, or the Sciurus vulgaris.
Source: Wikipedia
Now, most Pokémon design inspirations are drawn from more than one species, often changing heavily upon evolution. So, what’s so special about Skwovet and Greedent?
Well, remember that the Galar region is based on Great Britain. And, the Eastern Gray Squirrel (Skwovet) is a red-alert invasive species there. In fact, it outnumbers the Red Squirrels in the UK by around 200:1, making the Grays outcompete the Reds drastically.
Additionally, the Gray Squirrel brought about Squirrel Pox, which causes ulcers, scabs, and a painful death among our red furry friends. Many Reds died but thankfully, they developed some resistance and passed on their natural immunities to their offspring. So, Reds no longer have to worry about the disease as much as before.
But guess what? The UK people help too! The Gray Squirrel is on the Most Wanted list. Conservation biologists such as Craig Shuttleworth contributed a great deal in, umm, controlling the Gray population and numbers by, err, OHKOing them
Aaaand yeah, it’s been really successful! The Welsh Isle of Anglesey had been declared totally Gray Squirrel-free as of 2015.
But, hold a second… how on earth did the Gray Squirrels get to the UK (an island) in the first place? They originally belonged to USA, so how???
Well, this is because of a wealthy silk manufacturer from Cheshire, who thought Gray Squirrels were so cute and brought a pair to his hometown and released them in his estate. His buddies, including the 11th Duke of Bedford loved the rodents and decided to get his own, 10 of them even!
The Duke then released them across his gardens, just outside of London. These two continued gifting more and more of these squirrels to their elite friends. That’s not all, as every single Gray Squirrel in Ireland descended from just six pairs that the aforementioned Duke gave as a wedding present to an Irish friend of his in 1911.
This friend just released these pairs of squirrels to wander his castle grounds and… presto! tons of little baby Gray Squirrels who went on the route of a population bomb.
So yeah, we owe the endangered status of Red Squirrels to a bunch of dumb aristocrats. This is why Greedent is rarer in the wild than Skwovet. And even in the Pokémon world, Skwovet outnumber Greedent and are smarter.
Pokémon really does wrap up all its inspirations and origins pretty neatly, even if it’s just a bunch of squirrels!
Niladri Sarkar is a vastly experienced Content Writer who specializes in Pokémon competitive battles, combat mechanics, lore, math, and science. Having previously worked with reputed organizations like Dexerto and Smogon, Niladri has immense knowledge in Pokémon GO, VGC, Unite, and mainline games like Scarlet & Violet. He has been with GO Hub since September 2019 and is known as their resident Dragon Master. You can reach out to Niladri at [email protected].
