Heads up! New story just dropped! It's one of the first MM stories I've committed to, and it explores one of my biggest sticking points about Pokemon: that people think Charizard doesn't count as a dragon because he doesn't have the dragon type.

Mega form aside, my argument is thus: species are not, and would not, be defined by their supernatural abilities. Elemental typing in Pokemon is a means to an end, defining the most dominant source of power that that Pokemon draws from, and is inherently connected to. But the "Dragon" type muddies the waters a bit, as it immediately puts this label on the Pokemon that assumes some kind of biological species-hood. If that were the case, then when Rowlet evolves from Dartrix to Decidueye, its new Ghost type would make one assume that Dartrix dies mid-evolution. Clearly, this is not the case, as Ghost Pokemon are in fact living creatures (sometimes spawned from dead things) that utilize some phantom energy (likely from the Distortion World) more easily than other Pokemon.

It would also mean that Alolan Exeggutor is a Dragon.

It is not.

It is tree.

Now, into the meat of the matter, as a Pokemon Metabiologist [TM]. Just like every other form of biology, you are not defined by what you are capable of. You are defined, as a genus/species, by what you can breed with. And, as it stands, we have a very clear-cut mechanic to fall-back on called the Egg Group list.

And, wouldn't you know it, Charizard falls right into the Dragon egg group. Along with Monster, which are the "Kaiju" species of the Pokemon world.

I say this because none of this is really covered in the story. They don't biology yet. It's mostly a philosophical look at what makes a dragon, along with a bit of MM Charizard/Dragonite wrestle-sex for good measure.

And now, it is off of my chest.

For now.

I will open the floor to discussion on this matter.

Thank you for coming to my Zed Talk.