Here’s a Banette/Shuppet headcanon dump hoo boy

*cracks knuckles* I’ve been meaning to do this for over a year now and finally got around to writing it all out in a way that’s hopefully coherent enough.

Seriously though, I love applying behavioral ecology to Pokémon, so if anyone ever wants to talk that shit, hit me up.

I’m putting this under a read more, ‘cause it got long af.

First off, I don’t think of Ghost-type Pokémon as being actual ghosts, but rather as creatures with ghost-like qualities and abilities. Even for ones the Pokédex says originate from human spirits, bottom line is they’ve now taken the form of a  Pokémon and I still wouldn’t call them “dead”. (Like, poltergeists are “ghosts”, but they’re supposedly just manifestations of energy rather than spirits of dead people.) This also explains why certain Pokémon gain Ghost as a secondary type after evolving (although I think Froslass and now Alolan Marowak are the only ones that do that?). They didn’t die – it’s just a typing like any other.

Shuppet and Banette are regarded as pests in urban areas when their numbers are high. Shuppet usually search for food on their own but return to a group for sleeping. They tend to prefer more densely populated areas. When they evolve into Banette, they’ll disperse from the group and live on their own.

Shuppet aren’t particularly harmful, but they’re annoying and will swarm wherever lots of negative emotions are present. They also don’t mind being out and about during the day, although evening and early morning is when they’re most active (is that crepuscular? idk lol). As stated by the Pokédex, they sleep in groups under eaves or ledges on buildings. Because of that, they sometimes end up in people’s attics.

Both Shuppet and Banette are attracted to objects with strong emotional values attached to them, and Banette will hoard things they like. Shuppet eat regular food like any other Pokémon, but they also “feed” on negative emotions, which contributes energy toward evolving. Banette no longer feed on emotions (at least not in the same way), but they are still sensitive to them and tend to be easily influenced by the emotions of others.

Shuppet evolve by joining themselves with a doll. In-game, I feel like the way they should evolve is by leveling up with a held item. I mean, Poké Dolls were introduced in Gen III (even though I think they’re a FRLG item, not a RSE item, but still). I’m aware that type of evolution wasn’t introduced until Gen IV, but in retrospect it would’ve been cool. They did have some weird evo methods like Shedinja in Gen III.

I like the idea of an old-style downtown area (like, w/residences on top of stores, lots of narrow side roads/alleys, that kind of thing) where the local Shuppet are a kind of annoying but accepted part of owning a business there, so it’s common for people to set/hang old dolls outside to keep them from getting into places they shouldn’t be. Maybe there’s an old woman who runs a general store and at the end of each day she likes feeding them the leftover baked goods.

Banette are scavengers and will make a mess of people’s trash. It doesn’t have to be actual food to be edible. They don’t have to eat every day, because when they do find food they’ll eat at lot at one time. If food is hard to find, they can and will find a way into people’s houses. 

Basically I imagine Banette as paranormal raccoons. And while writing this I realized Shuppet are kinda like bats.

Dumpsters and trash cans are a nice food source but they aren’t the best choice for shelter. Garbage trucks are large, loud predators that eat all your shit and cannot be fought. Also, fun fact, most garbage trucks have trash compactors in them. Extra Danger™ points.

I kind of like the idea that they can’t just phase through objects like a literal ghost since they’re attached to a physical form, but that it doesn’t really matter because they can get into most things regardless. Plus, imagine living in a world where every Ghost-type Pokémon is essentially impossible to keep out of your house because they can just. Walk right in. There’s already bugs over three feet tall and like at least fifty-two ways to get poisoned or maimed by wildlife less than a block from your house. I feel like pet doors literally could not exist.

(On a tangent, what if Gengar could move through shadows, as they do, but not through solid objects like walls? So like, then they could go under doors no problem, or travel through air vents or something, etc. That’s essentially what Shadow Sneak is. Maybe Shuppet/Banette can do that too. Which I guess still means they can all just go right into your house but ¯_(ツ)_/¯) 

Now for Pokédex entries

Going with the idea that the Pokédex is a collection of truths, half-truths, misconceptions, and urban legends, here’s my take on some of the different entries:

I’ll start with the big one. And I may be of a minority opinion on this one.

• Dex entry: “A doll that became a Pokémon over its grudge from being junked. It seeks the child that disowned it.” (DPPt, BW, B2W2, X, and other variations of the same general statement)

Combination of half-truths, misconception, and possibly urban legend. There’s gotta be both a regular old Shuppet and a doll involved in that transaction. The doll doesn’t have to be thrown out, but that makes it more accessible, and the older/more worn out it is the more emotional energy it’ll have (think along the lines of paranormal trigger objects and the “stone tape” idea, I guess). It doesn’t matter if that energy is positive or negative, but as Shuppet are generally attracted to negative emotions, those seem to be more enticing. I would think the “quality” of the doll could influence their personality to an extent.

Banette have no reason to seek out the person who threw the doll away. However, most people don’t appreciate being haunted by something that tears up their trash every night, which can lead to conflicts. Honestly, if not interpreting this entry literally, it kind of sounds like someone with a guilty conscience experienced a series of coincidences. Imagine you just threw an old doll out, felt kind of bad about it, and not long after that your shit outside starts getting dug through, torn up, and scattered all over on a nightly basis. Alternatively, if a Shuppet ended up getting into your attic, and found an old doll you’d stored up there and forgotten about, there you go. (To be fair, if a Pokémon that wasn’t mine crawled out of my attic in the middle of the night, I don’t care what it is, I would lose my shit.) Assuming it didn’t end up there on accident, a Banette that ends up in your house is more likely hungry than vengeful. Being caught will probably be enough to scare it off.

Banette ARE prone to holding grudges when they feel they’ve been personally wronged by someone, so this one can end up being a self-perpetuating misconception if they’re treated poorly.

• Dex entry: “If it opens its mouth, its cursed energy escapes.” (FR, LG, Y)

Misconception; they can open their mouths just fine, but generally prefer not to unless eating or using certain moves. If they spoke/in games where Pokemon do speak, it’d be like someone talking through clenched teeth.

• Dex entry: “Banette generates energy for laying strong curses by sticking pins into its own body.” (Ruby, OR)

Edgy af. I kinda like it. That’s essentially how the move Curse works, anyways, so I guess I’ll call this one a truth.

• Dex entry: “Some say that treating it well will satisfy it, and it will once more become a stuffed toy.”

I would think most living things would be satisfied by being treated well. But you can’t just like… un-Pokémon it. Although I suppose making a Banette happy might make it cuddlier, so I guess if you really stretch it you could call this one a half-truth.

• Dex entry: “They are said to live in garbage dumps…” (Emerald); “It is seen in dark alleys.” (HGSS)

Truth. Free food.

What are Banette made of?

I’m… still not 100% on this one. I’ve mentioned before that Banette’s gotta be more than just fluff if we go off the fact that it’s like 26 lbs or something. Plus it canonically eats normal food. Since Shuppet have no arm/legs, then perhaps the arms, legs, and tail (and head-tail?) are “stuffed”, with some sort of skeletal equivalent, while the head and body are primarily organic. That makes fixing/replacing limbs relatively easy. They’re Ghost types, so maybe they don’t even need actual nerves and shit to move their arms and legs. 

And ooh, actually, that would make Banette a literal puppet. Let’s go with that then. That sounds good.

Most Ghost-type Pokémon (and object-based Pokémon, too) get really weird when you start thinking about them as much a living creature as any other Pokémon rather than some non-physical entity. At least half of them float. Some have no mouth but can still eat food somehow. Dusknoir’s entire frickin’ body except for its head is a mouth. Drifloon is a balloon. Chandelure is a LAMP. I could go on, but I won’t right now. 

Basically, Ghost Pokémon are weird.