The Official Pokémon Handbook states:

‘Just like people, Pokémon don’t stay the same forever. As they learn and grow they change form—they evolve.’

Pokémon creatures can have up to three stages of evolution and ‘evolve’ at different levels in the game. These higher forms, into which the original characters evolve, are larger and more powerful.

In the mythic Pokémon world, these exotic creatures evolve differently from how life forms supposedly evolved on Earth. Darwinian evolution is not presented here; chance and mutation are not part of the process.

Where the Pokémon live, evolution proceeds through conscious choice! After a Pokémon has fought and won enough battles, the next evolutionary step can be taken to produce a fiercer, more powerful Pokémon. You can choose to evolve your character at that time or you can even ‘devolve’ your Pokémon if you wish.

Some characters need a ‘stone’ to help with the process. For instance, the cute little mouse-character named Pikachu needs a ‘Thunder Stone’ to evolve into Raichu, (a mouse with big pointy teeth that you wouldn’t want to meet in a dark alley!).

In this make-believe world where Pokémon flourish and evolution is carefully scripted, ‘higher’ life forms are created through the aid and choice of outside sources. No need for Darwinian chance; you just need a few good battles to take the next step. (You don’t even need death in the land of Pokémon because if a Pokémon is defeated it doesn’t die; it just faints, ready to rematch at a later date.) Want to become the pinnacle of your evolutionary kind? Find an appropriate ‘stone’ and the next evolutionary step is yours!

In science fiction terms the Pokémon game seems plausible, so evolution may have found another ‘credibility niche’ through the workings of children’s games. While not teaching evolution at a rational level, it does tend to condition children into accepting as ‘normal’ the idea of massive biological change. (It’s a bit like the slippery ‘bait-and-switch’ definitions that evolutionists used for the word ‘evolution’.)

In the real world, of course, such transformations are not observed. To change one type of creature into a radically different type requires a way to generate totally new genetic information. Evolutionists have still not found any mechanism whereby evolution could pass this unassailable hurdle.

Perhaps Pokémon has finally provided the answer. Is evolution observable, testable and repeatable? Yes, but only in the world of the Pokémon.