Noah's Ark Exists in the Pokémon Universe - Which Raises a BIG Question

Who is the God of the Pokémon world? Arceus is often credited as the creator of the world, with other Pokémon, such as Palkia and Dialga, being responsible for other elements of the universe like space and time. However, the world of Pokémon has a few oddities that put into question this established lore. Specifically, the fact that the story of Noah's Ark also exists in the Pokémon world.

There are many cases in the early days of Pokémon where the lore would contradict later established canon. The most egregious of this, however, comes in Episode 16 of the Pokémon anime, "Pokémon Shipwreck." The episode references multiple ship-based disasters, most notably that of Noah's Ark. However, while this story might seem like a huge contradiction to the established lore, there actually may be a canon explanation for why the Biblical story exists in Pokémon.

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Related: Weird Pokémon That Still Aren't As Gross As Not Washing Your Hands

The Episode

"Pokémon Shipwreck" is the second part in a series of inter-connected episodes centered around the S.S. Anne. In the previous episode, the brawl between the members of Team Rocket sailing on the S.S. Anne (not just Jessie, James and Meowth, but the entire organization) resulted in the ship capsizing and sinking into the sea. While everyone else was able to escape, Ash, Misty, Brock, Pikachu, Jessie, James and Meowth are stuck on-board and presumed dead. Officer Jenny even holds a funeral for them.

However, the group survives and attempts to escape the ship. This leads to multiple references to famous maritime disaster stories, such as the Titanic and Noah's Ark. While the Titanic is a historical reference made by the series' narrator and thus isn't referenced in-universe, Brock actually references Noah's Ark specifically to describe their predicament. This indicates that the story of Noah's Ark exists in canon.

Why Does Noah's Ark Contradict Established Lore?

The story of Noah comes from the Judeo-Christian tradition. Noah is contacted by God and told that humanity, for its continued and egregious sins, is going to be destroyed in a massive flood. However, because Noah and his family are truly good people, he is tasked with preserving humanity by placing two of every animal into a massive ship he is to construct to endure the flood. He manages to preserve a seed of civilization before the flood comes.

Related: The God Problem: The 5 Best & 5 Worst Depictions Of God In Anime

While Judeo-Christian iconography is all over Pokémon (a few episodes after "Pokémon Shipwreck," Misty brandishes a cross on a Gastly), there is little direct reference to Biblical stories or figures. They do not reference God, Jesus, Abraham, Israel, Satan or any events relating to them. So if the belief system itself does not exist in Pokémon canon, where would an individual story from it arise from?

Furthermore, Noah would have had to collect every single Pokémon in the world twice over -- making him, effectively, the world's first Pokémon Master. Or perhaps just bought one of each gender and a LOT of Dittos.

So Who Made Noah's Flood?

However, let's remove the Noah story from Judeo-Christian ideology. Suppose there was a massive flood that required someone named Noah to collect the world's population of Pokémon on an ark. This begs the question: what caused Noah's flood?

Arceus has a very detached role in the lives of Pokémon and humanity, instead sending his various other Pokémon creations to manage life on Earth. Ergo, it's unlikely that Arceus itself conjured the flood. However, there is one legendary Pokémon that canonically can create a flood that can drown the entire planet.

RELATED: Why Greninja Won Pokémon of the Year

In Pokémon Ruby and Sapphire, we are introduced to Kyogre and Groudon. Both Pokémon have the ability to alter the weather patterns of the planet, with Groudon drying out the planet while Kyogre conjures a great rainstorm to flood everything. It's only when Rayquaza interferes in the two Pokémon's eternal war that balance is struck on the planet.

In canon, however, Kyogre did actually create a massive flood similar to the one Noah endured in the Bible story. Quoting its Pokédex entry from Sapphire, "Kyogre is named in mythology as the Pokémon that expanded the sea by covering the land with torrential rains and towering tidal waves." This right here establishes that Kyogre did indeed create a legendary flood.

If we come to understand that Noah endured a flood created by Kyogre rather than the Judeo-Christian God, the story of Noah's Ark seamlessly integrates with Pokémon lore. While it's unlikely the writers of the anime could foresee Kyogre's existence years before the release of the Hoenn games, this reference adds a sense of coherency, further mythologizing the legendary Pokémon in exciting, interesting ways.

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'Pokémon Masters' Update Adds New Evolutions - Full List & How to Evolve

The latest Pokémon Masters update brings with it not just new chapters in the main story but evolutions to older Sync Pairs.

There are 12 new evolution possibilities in Pokémon Masters, making Sync Pairs stronger and giving more strategy for players to utilize in single-player and co-op battles.

If you're looking to learn everything about the new evolutions in Pokémon Masters and how to evolve your Sync Pair in the mobile game, read on for a detailed look at the latest update.

HOW TO EVOLVE IN POKEMON MASTERS

Pokémon Masters follows some of the same rules of evolution as the main series games.

Unlike the main series games, however, every Sync Pair that can evolve can do so at the same level. If a Pokémon can evolve to a first-stage or Stage 1 Sync Pair, that Pokémon will need to be at level 30. A Stage 2 Sync Pair requires a level of at least 45.

Evolving your Pokémon increases their power and possibly introduces other benefits like getting a new powerful Sync Move.

It's not easy to evolve Pokémon in this game, though. Once you reach level 30 with a Pokémon, you'll unlock a special side story. To play through each story, you'll need a special item.

Trainers need evolution shards and evolution crystals to play through the story and complete the transformation. These items can only be found in the in-game shop by exchanging other items earned in battle.

When the mobile game was first released, coins were used in exchange for these items. Now, players need to exchange Daily Vouchers earned by completing certain tasks each day.

Players can exchange seven Daily Vouchers for one Evolution Shard. Each month, five Evolution Shards can be obtained in this manner.

For Evolution Crystals, 25 Daily Vouchers are required for just one crystal. Players can only exchange for three Evolution Crystals in this manner.

POKEMON MASTERS NEW EVOLUTIONS

There are 12 new evolutions in Pokémon Masters, and they add a lot of strength to Sync Pairs that could use it.

While the biggest changes after evolution are the increased stats, some Sync Pairs get an added effect to their Sync Move. Each evolution requires five Evolution Shards and for you to complete a battle.

These battles are one-on-one and can be difficult if your base level isn't high enough.

Here's the list of new evolutions added in Pokémon Masters with any changes to Sync Moves:

Lt. Surge and Electrode

Added Sync Move Effect: Increases the more the opponent's special attack is lowered

Roxanne and Probopass

No Additional Effects

Brawly and Hariyama

Added Sync Move Effect: The more the opponent's Defense is lowered, the greater the power of this move

Blaine and Rapidash

Added Sync Move Effect: Power increases if the target is trapped

Roark and Rampardos

No Additional Effects

Calem and Meowstic

Added Sync Move Effect: Power increases if the target is paralyzed

Phoebe and Dusclops

No Additional Effects

Clay and Seismitoad

Added Sync Move Effect: The more the target's Speed has been lowered, the greater the power of this move

Maylene and Medicham

No Additional Effect

Grant and Aurorus

Added Sync Move Effect: Its power increases if the target is flinching

Ramos and Victreebell

Added Sync Move Effect: Power increases if the target is asleep

Roxie and Scolipede

No Additional effects

What do you think of the latest Pokémon Masters update? Which new evolution is your favorite? Let us know in the comments section.

Pokémon Go Master League team recommendations

There is no one 'best' team you can choose - since, as mentioned previously, you don't know what you are up against - and not everyone has access to every type of Pokémon.

Instead, here is a general list of recommended Master League Pokémon to build a team from, with a wide range of sources that should suit all players, whether you've been collecting Legendaries since their debut, or have just started playing.

Remember, when forming a team, you are only allowed one of each in the Go Battle League, and ideally you'd want to build a team with different type strengths and defence.

Our Pokémon Go Master League Team recommendations in no particular order:

Giratina (Origin ideally, or Altered)

Type: Ghost / DragonGiratina Altered moves: Shadow Claw (Fast), Dragon Claw or Ancient Power (Charged)Giratina Origin moves: Shadow Claw (Fast), Shadow Ball or Ominous Wind (Charged)Giratina weaknesses: Dark, Dragon, Ghost, Ice, Fairy

Not only does Giratina rule the Ultra League, but it stands tall in the Master League as well.

Giratina is, put simply, incredibly powerful, leaning on its brute strength and ghost / dragon types to take down most other creatures in a straight match up. Though you'll want to go after the Altered forme if you have the option, Origin is still a welcome alternative.

Giratina is a Legendary and until it reappears in Raids or weekly Research, cannot be found easily without trading.

With the meta forming around Giratina, expect to come up against plenty of counters against it (which is most of the choices on this page) so though it's a popular choice for a reason, going against the meta by not using it also makes sense - so don't worry if you don't have one available.

Dialga

Type: Steel / DragonRecommended moves: Dragon Breath (Fast), Iron Head (Charged)Dialga weaknesses: Fighting, Ground

Dialga is another Legendary with the right moves, typing (steel is generally very useful in competitive play) and the strength to roll over the vast majority of Pokemon it comes up against.

You could argue Dialga is a better choice than Giratina. It's about as powerful, has fewer type weaknesses, and it being harder to find makes it a more predictable counter for the opposition.

That said, expect to see well-rounded teams with fighting or ground moves to still be a threat against it.

Togekiss

Type: Fairy / FlyingRecommended moves: Charm (fast), Ancient Power and Flamethrower (charged)Togekiss weaknesses: Poison, Steel, Rock, Ice, Electric

Togekiss is another Ultra League favourite which translates to a very strong Master League showing.

This is because Togekiss is an excellent Giratina counter - its fairy fast move Charge can take on a Giratina and fighting types such as Machamp with ease, while Ancient Power is a good counter to edge out another Togekiss.

Flamethrower, meanwhile, is helpful if you need to counter steel types - which it's weak against.

Togekiss is the best fairy type in the game, and also relatively easy to get your hands on - chances are you've hatched a few in Eggs over the years - and pretty cheap to level up and add a second charge move on provided you do it in its early evolution stages.

Dragonite

Type: Dragon / FlyingRecommended moves: Dragon Breath (Fast), Dragon Claw (Charged)Dragonite weaknesses: Ice, Dragon, Rock, Fairy

Having been subject to a Community Day and around since the start of Pokémon Go, Dragonite is a popular choice to add to your team.

It has one of the highest CP caps in the game, giving it brute strength few other Pokémon can match, and works as a very efficient Giratina counter with its dragon moves and typing.

Just watch out for Togekiss, a meta favourite, and other dragon types - including Dragonite itself.

Kyogre

Type: WaterRecommended moves: Waterfall (Fast), Surf (Charged)Kyogre weaknesses: Electric, Grass

Kyogre is another Legendary which stands out for its raw strength and bulk alone.

It's also, as far as Legendaries go, has been relatively common - so chances are you have one if you've been playing Pokémon long enough.

Though its water typing doesn't seem particularly useful in the current meta, outside powerful choices such as Dialga and Giratina, it should win out against the likes of Togekiss, Metagross, Snorlax and Mamoswine.

Mewtwo

Type: PsychicRecommended moves: Psycho Cut (Fast), Psystrike and Shadow Ball (event exclusive Charged)Mewtwo weaknesses: Bug, Dark, Ghost

Despite Mewtwo once standing as one of the most exclusive Legendaries in the game with its EX Raid debut, chances are you've gone out of your way to get a Mewtwo over the years, and unsurprisingly, it fares well in the Master League.

Ideally you'd have Psystrike and / or Shadow Ball (two event or legacy moves) to make Mewtwo the most effective it can be, but even without them, a powered up Mewtwo stacks as one of the most powerful attackers in the game.

Metagross

Type: Steel / PsychicRecommended moves: Bullet Punch (Fast), Meteor Mash (Community Day exclusive Charged)Metagross weaknesses: Fire, Ground, Ghost, Dark

With steel proving very effective in the Master league, having the best Pokemon of its type - Metagross - comes in handy.

Metagross will work well against Dialga, Togekiss, Dragonite and Mewtwo, but will struggle against fire types (Heatran), ground and fighting, as well as Giratina.

Though Flash Cannon is effective, to have Metagross at its best, you'll want Meteor Mash, its Community Day exclusive move.

Alternatively, the hard-to-get Melmetal is another great steel alternative, especially since it comes with fighting move Superpower and Thunderbolt, which is very quick at powering up, and useful for any Flying typings.

Pokémon Go in 2020 continues to add new features, such the arrival of the Go Battle League - which is currently highlighting the Master League - and soon, Clone Pokémon. We've also recently had the Buddy Adventure feature, which introduces a variety of perks - including finding Souvenirs - as well as a new trade evolution feature. 2019 saw the release of the first Gen 5 Pokémon, along with new regional exclusive Pokémon, Egg charts, and the introduction of the Unova Stone. Pokemon Go also sees regular events - including weekly Spotlight Hour and Mystery Bonus evenings, monthly Field Research rewards and Pokémon Go Community Day, plus a new Giovanni counters quest - the latest being The Shadowy Threat Grows.

Snorlax

Type: NormalRecommended moves: Lick (fast), Superpower or Earthquake or Outrage (Charged)Snorlax weaknesses: Fighting

As with other leagues, Snorlax is a great option because it's strong defensively; it's weak to very few other types, and has general bulk to stay the distance in a fight.

With Giratina also running rampant, Snorlax works as a good counter here with Outrage. But if you can, couple it with a second move - Superpower is great against another Snorlax, while Earthquake can handle steel types.

It is also, like Togekiss, one of the cheaper and easier to find Pokemon on this list simply because it's not Community Day move dependant or Legendary, and counts as a strong third choice if you're struggling to round out a team.

Mamoswine

Type: Ice / GroundRecommended moves: Powder Snow (Fast), Ancient Power (Community Day exclusive Charged), Avalanche (Charged)Mamoswine weaknesses: Fighting, Fire, Grass, Steel, Water

In a meta with Pokemon with several ice weaknesses (Giratina, Togekiss) and ground weaknesses (Dialga), Mamoswine's dual typing positions it as a very effective counter.

Mamoswine needs two charged moves to be at its most effective, ideally with Community Day exclusive move Ancient Power - though Stone Edge is also available.

Mamoswine's dual typing also has a disadvantage - more weaknesses. This means the steel types its strong against can damage it easily, as the mighty Kyogre, which you're likely to come up against.

Ultimately, it's a very good counter pick - especially when you factor in pre-evolution Swinub being a fairly common creature to make it a cost effective option.

Pokemon Masters' Newest Mode Offers an Interesting Challenge

The newest feature coming to Pokemon Masters is the Battle Villa, a tower of challenging battles that can knock out sync pairs for an entire day — but only in the Battle Villa. This new event likely won't be the thing that brings you back if you're a lapsed player (though maybe the new chapters and sync pairs added since launch can), but it is an interesting way to mix up daily in-game tasks.

If you are one of those lapsed players, here's a short rundown of all the other things added to Pokemon Masters since its launch last summer:

Chapter 19 to 24

Sync Grid

Weekly bingo missions

Sync pair level cap increased to 120

New sync pairs, including Legendary Pokemon

Interactable characters in the Dex

Pokemon Masters Battle Villa

The Battle Villa was definitely designed with longtime players in mind given how quickly it gets difficult. The challenge in this event space is to defeat as many of 25 "halls" of enemies as you can to earn tons of rewards before the two-week event is over. Each hall can have one to three rounds of opponents waiting, and you can scope out their Pokemon weaknesses through the Area Details menu like you can in any other battle.

But unlike the rest of Pokemon Masters, any damage your sync pair takes stays with them for the whole day and you can only select nine sync pairs to play within the Battle Villa for that day. You can heal during a battle and once out of battle if you have the right items. However, you can't heal any sync pair that have fainted within the Battle Villa, so you'll need to wait until the next day to get them back.

...any damage your Sync Pair takes stays with them

"

I went into the Battle Villa with several sync pairs of varying types at max level. At first I felt confident I'd clear the Battle Villa quickly. My recommended power was almost always vastly over what was recommended — at least for the first five halls. By the time I completed the fifth hall on the first day of playing, my sync pairs were starting to struggle to deal out enough damage to keep them in the fight. The Battle Villa did test my strategy, which was nice. I felt a bit more pressured to not only consider the obvious type matchups, but to also think about how my three sync pair's skills and moves work together to try and prevent pairs from fainting.

By the seventh hall, I lost significant momentum. Not necessarily in a bad way, but my sheer power wasn't really giving me much of an advantage anymore. Some days it felt like I was just throwing pairs at a Hall to weaken them enough until I could cycle in the real damage dealers back in the next day. Opponents don't recover health and any progress made in a hall persists between days. I do wish there was a way to revive at least one sync pair per day, though. If my sync pairs were all generally lower level, I feel like the Battle Villa would be more of me throwing sync pairs at battles with little chance for success rather than having options for tactics.

If you make it far enough into the Battle Villa (and have sync pairs at level 80) you can start earning a new item for the new Lucky Skills. These Lucky Skills are bestowed at random and can raise a sync pair's stats with a Crunchy Lucky Cookie or prevent stats from being lowered with a creamy lucky cookie. There's also a Crispy Lucky Cookie that shields sync pairs from status and "certain other conditions." There's also a Lucky Scroll for learning Lucky Skills. You can't earn too many of these is a complete Battle Villa run, so you'll want to save them for your favorite pairs.

The Battle Villa is an interesting addition to Pokémon Masters' daily offerings. I know if I want to attempt to make it through all 25 halls (and get the numerous rewards that come with it) I'm going to need to get to work to do some extra training with all my sync pairs. I do wish the final rewards were more appealing than more Lucky Skill, leveling items, and just enough gems for a few more pulls, but I do appreciate having a new challenge to conquer.

For more on Pokémon, be sure to check out our coverage of the newly announced Mythical Pokémon, Zarude.

Happy Pokémon Day! Miranda Sanchez is an executive editor at IGN and is celebrating the day with her Sobble, Pikachu, and her other favorite Pokémon. You can chat with her about Pokémon and other video games on Twitter.

Pokémon Masters Adds Charizard In Biggest Content Update Yet

Pokémon Masters is celebrating both Pokémon Day and its own 6-month anniversary since the official launch, and has just added Charizard to the game while releasing the biggest content update yet.

The addition of Charizard is also just the tip of the iceberg. There's a lot more being added to the game to chew through. Such as new missions for the story, a new game mode, new story events, new evolutions and more.

Whether you're new to this game, a returning player, or a current and active player, now is a good time to be logging into the game with everything that's now available.

Today's Pokémon Masters update adds Charizard & Red as a sync pair

To get Charizard in the game you'll need to complete the associated story event.

This will include new missions that have you meet Sygna Suit Red who is the sync pair trainer for Charizard. But because the two of them are a sync pair you can of course still add them to your team and use them in battles.

Typically with these event missions, you only had so much time to acquire the new pair. That isn't the case this time as Red and Charizard will be permanent adds. If however you do the limited time Poké Fair Scout + Present you have better chances of getting them.

So it might be worth trying to do those while you can. This limited part of the event will be around from today at 10PM Pacific Standard Time until March 15 at 10:59 Pacific Standard Time.

Main story chapters have been extended to include 22 – 24

You have three new chapters of story missions to complete following this update, as it adds on chapters 22 – 24.

These new chapters won't open up until 10PM just like the limited time event. Once you are able to start them though, completing them will reward you with another new sync pair. Valerie and Sylveon.

New stories for evolution sync pairs are here

If some of your Pokémon in the game are lacking an evolution, now might be your chance to help them evolve.

New story mission for evolution sync pairs have been added into the game with this update. So in addition to the new chapters for the main story, the new event story missions for Red and Charizard, and the new story event for Sygna Suit Elesa and Rotom, you have these missions to go through as well.

One thing is for certain, you won't be running out of content to do in this game anytime soon as the new update has added a ton of it.

Pokemon Masters

Get ready for a whole new take on Pokémon battles as you team up with famous Trainers from throughout the history of Pokémon in Pokémon Masters. This mobile game is a collaboration between The Pokémon Company and DeNA Co., Ltd., and it gives longtime fans an opportunity to reunite with Gym Leaders and Champions from previous Pokémon video games for an all-new adventure!

Pokémon Masters Adds New Single-Player Survival Mode

The developers at DeNA have announced some big new additions to the Pokémon Masters mobile game, including a single-player survival mode called Battle Villa. This will be music to the ears of gamers who called for more single-player content at the time of the game's launch in August last year.

"Battle Villa is a new game mode where every choice matters," reads the official description from DeNA. "In this new mode, players will battle against AI opponents to see how many total stages they can clear during the two weeks of a Battle Villa being open." This is a timed event that will test your ability to withstand an onslaught of battles, in a similar style to the Battle Chateau from Pokémon X and Y and other such enjoyable locations from the iconic Pokémon RPG franchise. There are 25 stages to clear, each of which consists of a 3 versus 3 clash of Sync Pairs.

There are a few terms and conditions to be aware of here. As DeNA notes, "While a player's progress will carry over day to day, players will only be able to battle with a select number of sync pairs each day." And in order to take part, you have to complete Chapter 7 of the game's main story first.

You won't have to wait long to get involved, though, since the first Battle Villa event will be kicking off on February 28, 2020, at 1:00 AM ET. The event will be available until March 16, 2020, at 12:59 AM ET. Further Battle Villa events are being planned for the future, as well.

We were lucky enough to have an early hands-on experience with the Battle Villa, and we're pleased to report that it does inject a bit more challenge into the game. You can't fully heal your Sync Pairs between battles, and you can't revive any creatures that get knocked out, so you'll have to be tactical about which critters you deploy at which point. You're able to pick nine Sync Pairs to take into the Battle Villa each day, and if you fail, you'll have to wait until tomorrow to make another attempt.

We've also got some screenshots to give you an early impression of what the Battle Villa is like. Here's an image of the exterior...

Looks pretty swanky, doesn't it? That air of gravitas is present and correct inside the Battle Villa, too, as you can see in this next image...

And if you're wondering what the user experience will be like between the battles, this next screenshot should give you an idea. You'll be trying to work your way through a list of battles, presented like this...

And if you want to know what the battles themselves will look like, here's a snap of the battle in progress...

The addition of the Battle Villa isn't the only new thing to get excited about in Pokémon Masters, either. On top of the recent addition of Professor Oak and Mew as a Sync Pair, you'll now be able to pick up Red and Charizard. Red, if you were wondering, is the official name of the player-controlled protagonist from Pokémon Red and Blue. You'll be able to get this new Sync Pair through the usual in-game channels, and there will also be an event titled "Poké Fair Scout + Present" taking place between February 28 and March 16 which will increase your chances of picking up Red and Charizard.

Other new additions to the game include a host of evolution options, a story event featuring Elesa and Rotom, and three chapters that are coming to the Main Story. Players that log into the app during this six-month anniversary event for Pokémon Masters will also be able to pick up some free gems as a gift. You've got to admire all of this effort to keep the game fresh, right? And if you do take part in the Battle Villa event, good luck to you!