The highly-anticipated Dynamax and Gigantamax phenomenon are being teased for Pokémon GO and with it, players are looking forward to a wave of new Gen 8 species to catch.
While Niantic hasn’t given details about when more Galarian Pokémon will be available, the adorable Morpeko has been confirmed and isn’t it an interesting one?!
This rodent Pokémon is infamous for its Full Belly and Hangry modes, which is essentially Morpeko’s Jekyll and Hyde, only that this transformation is fueled by hunger… mad, unadulterated, rage-pumped hunger 👿
Before we dig into the justification of Morpeko’s ‘hanger’ (hungry and anger combined into one word), let’s check out what it is all about.
Introducing Morpeko
Morpeko is an Electric/Dark type Pokémon and is Gen 8’s Pikachu clone, that is, the rodent-based species found in each region. Its name is a combo of the Japanese words ‘Morumotto’ (Guinea Pig) and ‘Hungry’ (Hare Peko). So, it’s literally a hungry Guinea Pig!
These creatures are primarily herbivores that feast on electrically-roasted seeds and like some rodents like hamsters, Morpeko stores its food in a pair of pouches on either side of its belly, much like pockets.
Yep, it has pockets!
The flesh surrounding these pockets is pretty elastic and flexible, paving the way for excellent storage. Morpeko salvages this by keeping plenty of roasted seeds and feasting on them when it wants. What’s more, it even uses them in battle through moves like Bullet Seed.
The Hunger Switch Ability – Full Belly to Hangry mode
What makes Morpeko truly unique is the fact that it has a very small stomach and produces loads of hunger-inducing hormones. As a result, if this Pokémon is unable to satiate its hunger constantly, it triggers the Hunger Switch Ability.
With Hunger Switch in tow, Morpeko changes its appearance and behavior – its yellow and orange hues turn purple while retaining the black, and it becomes uncontrollably aggressive and violent. Moreover, its cheek sacs synonymous with producing electricity, now bring about anti-positive energy.
So much is its angst at not getting its hunger satisfied, that even its signature Aura Wheel attacks switches from Electric to Dark type. In addition, this move also boosts its Speed stat in the mainline games.
But, this begs the question… why all the chaos? What’s the secret behind this shocking transformation? And is ‘hangry’ a real thing or is it just Morpeko throwing a terrible tantrum?
Let’s find out!
Why Morpeko gets hangry?
The science of hunger
Rodents, in general, need to eat absolutely massive amounts of food thanks to their fast metabolism. This is technically due to how small they are. It’s hard to keep their insides warm because of their surface area to inside area ratio.
With a rapid metabolism, they can produce the heat required to survive. So, if a rodent doesn’t consume the food it needs in accordance with its metabolism, it will starve or freeze to death. Yikes!
Hunger… many people assume that they’ll stay hungry until they eat because this feeling is a signal that one needs to consume food. But guess what? That’s not true!
In fact, if you don’t grab a meal and wait a few hours, your body will actually forget that you were hungry… until the next meal time pops up. Doing this consistently enough results in your body not feeling hungry at all during the time you skipped meals. This technique helps lose weight. Limiting your eating to a two to four-hour window works wonders, even if you eat more in this time!
So, many a time, it’s not your body per se telling you that you’re hungry… in fact, the smoking gun here is the brain. You think you’re hungry because your brain is hardwired to your eating patterns at a certain time of the day, and you can reprogram it by changing your meal times and habits.
The science of hanger
When your brain is prompting you to eat, it is also getting your body ready for a meal (stomach growling, for instance). Additionally, it gets several proteins, enzymes, and hormones pumped up to aid the eventual digestion process.
All this, even though you’re yet to eat. It’s all just prep for the upcoming scrumptious adventure. One of these chemical releases is an amino acid named Neuropeptide Y.
This is essentially a hormone that stores food as body fats and also has tons to do with the brain – it regulates mood and is associated with aggression when the said hormone is in excess.
Consequently, if your brain is prepping up your body for a meal but that food isn’t coming as it’s supposed to at a certain period of time, Neuropeptide Y is left stranded and unprocessed… and… you get cranky and are very likely to snap 😡
That’s not all as your brain also instructs the pancreas to produce insulin, which stores sugar in cells. With no food, sugar is going to be lower than it should be. As a result, your body is now left with no option but to produce sugar on its own to balance it out. And, it does this with the release of the hormone cortisol and epinephrine, which are stress hormones.
Ultimately, Neuropeptide Y and the stress hormones get nasty, making you upset, and hangry.
Now, apply all of this to a rodent-based Pokémon that needs to eat plenty to satiate its hunger. When it doesn’t get the required amount of food, Morpeko loses it and goes insane to a level that makes it a Dark type, reflecting in its Ability as well.
So all those judging Morpeko… give it a break! We all get a little hangry sometimes!
And when you find yourself a Morpeko in Pokémon GO, just, umm, store tons of Berries in your in-game storage.
In the meantime, you can check out more Pokémon science (and lore) articles down here:
Cresselia | Mega Salamence | Dialga & Palkia Origin | Garchomp | Baxcalibur | Hydreigon | Zygarde| Druddigon | Naganadel | Drampa | Enamorus
I leave you with these blessed images:
😮
