Mathematically Proving which Pokémon Should Learn Fly

[@jakemartin4116]

You didn't take into account that real birds also don't only have to carry their own weight. Birds of prey frequently carry their kills through the air, which may weigh as much or more as the bird itself.

[@RabblesTheBinx]

I mean, yeah, but also, their kills aren't typically dozens of times their size. To paraphrase Monty Python, it's a simple question of weight ratios. A 4-pound bird could not carry a 70-pound child.

[@LordMizumaru]

@@RabblesTheBinx Well, it depends. Are we talking about Kantonian or Johtonian Pidgey?

[@solsystem1342]

​@@LordMizumaru Well, how am I supposed to know... aaaaaaahhhh

[@EnhancedPotato]

@@solsystem1342 You are not supposed to know as he was talking with someone else... aaaaaaahhh

[@misteral9045]

Birds of prey do not frequently carry their kill. When they do, it's much smaller.

[@ChaosXeloc]

"It's a magical space dragon. Grow up, it can fly" made me lose it. Very funny stuff here, and just the right mix of articulate and humorous. Keep it up!

[@KBRoller]

I always used to say magic and space dragons weren't real. Then I grew up.

[@melaniesmall6330]

Hummingbirds are able to hover by moving their wings in a figure-8 so that they can generate thrust in different directions by flapping its wings harder in a specific section of the wingbeat. If they want to hover, they flap harder on the down strokes, forward is harder on the back strokes, etc. Hope this helps!

[@adef]

fascinating, thank you!!!!

[@Chicken_strips73]

Now I want a hummingbird Pokémon.

[@EggnogKL]

@@Chicken_strips73Cutiefly: Am I a joke to you? Edit: Actually nvm cutiefly is based on bee flies or fairy flies, my bad

[@gooseygooseman1383]

@@EggnogKL lmao

[@tigremc]

@@Chicken_strips73 Porygon-Z?

[@GrantThe_GOAT]

"According to all known laws of aviation, there is no way that a pidgey should be able to learn fly. Its wings are too small to lift a 10 year old's body off the ground, the pidgey of course, learns fly anyways, because pidgeys don't care what humans think is possible"

[@daponagegoogenburg807]

For Golurk, I forget where this is shown, but he is able to retract his legs and then shoot energy from his waist like a rocket

[@theboostedbaboon4586]

Its in one of the BW movies.

[@tracyh5751]

Golurk and its prevo are a reference to astro boy, so yeah that checks out

[@MiniJ]

In sun and moon anime

[@ralphaustinfernandez9851]

All Golurks in the anime, except maybe Goh's, was shown to fly.

[@slyfox7452]

@@theboostedbaboon4586 also in the bw tv show

[@soulfulfakealligator]

Just so you know, there are known weights for most of the protagonists. For Generation 4 the information even comes from the Pokédex! You were able to compare the weight of a Pokémon to the player on a scale. According to Bulbapedia, Lucas weighs 83.3 pounds and Dawn weighs 75 pounds.

[@richngo8585]

He took the average weight of a 12 year old because the weights varied too much with character age

[@kalemjade5258]

im surprised you didn't mention doduo, who canonically based on its pokemon stadium animation for using fly, kicks violently until its in the air

[@derekw8039]

Mystery solved; Doduo is a two-headed Yoshi!

[@Hyperdisk]

Pump those legs Billy, PUMP THOSE LEGS FASTER! BILLY PLEASE

[@Pyxis10]

And dodrio ises it's two other heads as wings.

[@deathandviolence]

Be strong for mother

[@Nishtman420]

because Doduo or Dodrio basically runs fast af boyyyyyy

[@TomtomTM1]

I am in love with how it's basically only Ho-Oh that just represents a borderline basic bird (Yes, the phoenix is now just a bird) that can fly and the rest are mythological creatures of destruction for the most part. Nice research and tally ups, really fun to watch, loved it!

[@kylehill]

This is fantastic. Great style and execution.

[@adef]

Thank you so much Kyle!!!!!

[@Mygoalweight]

Did they use nukes in the great Pokémon war?

[@SombreroPharoah]

​@@Mygoalweightthat's why surge isn't in the army anymore. His incompetent awfulness as a trainer and that level of responsibility weren't a good mix. So the E4 gave him a gym to keep an eye on him. Cos he certainly doesn't earn that by skill

[@Mygoalweight]

@@SombreroPharoah I think you are on to something. Maybe Kyle and adef can do a colab on it. If they want that is.

[@samszczepanski2281]

Did you not see his outfit? Certainly not great style.

[@azuquirtle]

Dragapult is based on a stealth bomber and it's head is a jet, meaning it technically has wings, making it able to fly. Oh yeah btw shoutout to Garchomp who is LITERALLY a jet plane. Let me give you a summary of some of it's pokedex entries: It can fly at sonic speeds (the speed of sound) equal to jet planes. It does this using those flaps on it's arms that are apparently wings, and also it's scales are designed to reduce drag. It is so good at flying that it can outmaneuver, catch, and eat entire flocks of bird pokemon in the air, and it can hold it's own in midair battles with SALAMENCE (y'know, the pokemon that wanted to fly so badly it literally willed it's wings into existence). Not really relevant to the flying thing but the dex also mentions that it can run so fast that it's wings generate winds forceful enough to cut down trees, and that it can move just as fast underground as it can above. Oh yeah, and those little things on each side of it's head operate as sensors/a radar, meaning that it can see it's prey from far away, no matter if they are in the air, on the ground, or inside the earth. This thing is a beast. Pray that you never piss off a Garchomp.

[@amedhi4881]

That explains his weaknesses. Only thing that can defeat him are: beasts of equal power(weakness to dragon), intensive cold so basically nature itself(weakness to ice) and idk for fairy, friendship power? maybe?

[@Zacian2.0]

23:30 The reason Golurk can fly is very different from any other mon on this list. Sure in the games it makes no sense, but in the anime (and I think the manga) Golurk flies by doing some transformer thing and turning his legs into a rocket thruster. I wonder if there is a video explaining how much force would be needed to counter the weight in order for that rocket to work?

[@Zacian2.0]

note: That video would have to use literal rocket science XD

[@RobinRhombus2]

Not any other Pokémon. There are multiple which use rocket propulsion.

[@SinSacrifice]

​@@RobinRhombus2yes but not many transform their parts for it

[@MsMoonDragoon]

And then we have garchomp, who cannonicly can fly but cannot learn fly

[@solsystem1342]

​@@Zacian2.0 No, that's physics 100 level question. Just take the mass of the pokemon and multiply it by the force of gravity. If it can apply more force than that it gets the ok on the flying.

[@enterprisekid]

Bernoulli’s principle, while an acting force upon an aerofoil, is not a primary source of lift. The misconception is VERY common, to the point where, while attending a lesson at my local airport, it was told to me by an acting pilot. Bernoulli’s principle being applied to an aerofoil is more applicable in the Ground Effect exploited by high-performance vehicles to keep them from learning HM2 on public roads. Thank you for attending my TED Talk

[@tallskinnygeek]

Thank you! This comment should be higher up. Consider a balsa wood glider, or a paper airplane which has a flat top and bottom surface on the wings, but generates lift regardless. Angle of attack (the wing being slanted relative to the path of motion, so that it forces air down as it moves forward) is the major factor in generating lift. The top surface of real airplane wings are curved because it helps reduce the turbulence produced, and thereby makes the airplane more efficient.

[@Firazoid]

Me: I really like that outfit. It's functional and exudes confidence. adef: I want to acknowledge just how bad this outfit is, I'm sorry. Me: oh.

[@sanjablazina2879]

It kinda got worse when he took the jacket off, but don't tell him that😅

[@The_Jovian]

Salmon pants and a weirdly dark denim jacket do not work together I'm sorry. Also the silhouette was so weird for some reason

[@Maker0824]

Jacket was great, when he took off the jacket it was awful

[@CatBotBlaire]

I don't get it either. Man has an ICONIC butch lesbian fit and dares call it bad? smh

[@opalpersonal]

that's what i was thinking! man needs some more confidence fr.

[@Fighting.Flower]

The cool thing about why Golurk is able to fly is that that it's legs can retreat into it's body and it can turn itself into a literal rocket. Which is still pretty terrifying, but it at least makes slightly more sense as to why it's able to fly.

[@misteral9045]

That's not flying, that's being flung with style.

[@Gin2761]

If you check the pokedex on Pokemon Platinum on the DS there's a scale where you can compare the character weight to pokemon. It says that in that game the character weights 83.8 lbs or 38kg. Your estimate was not that far off!

[@psychoDon525]

I was just heading down here to comment this. I didn't have the specific number though!

[@adef]

it's actually hilarious to me how close my estimate was LMAO

[@KazShiro]

@@psychoDon525 Yeah was thinking the same and a bit funny how Lyra is canonically taller and heavier than gold/Ethan

[@oakgreenoak]

​@@KazShiro Her hat's just that big.

[@KazShiro]

@@oakgreenoak They didnt count her hat thats the thing.

[@lasercraft32]

Its funny how you brought up Golurk (who can fly using rockets as shown in the anime), but didn't mention ANYTHING about Doduo... the Pokemon that can learn fly and is flying type despite being based on the Dodo bird, a bird notorious for being flightless.

[@christopherfleetwood5252]

I am pretty sure it’s an ostrich

[@lasercraft32]

@@christopherfleetwood5252 Its name is LITERALLY "Doduo" a pun on dodo and duo, and its JAPANESE name is just "Dodo"... It resembles an ostrich but its definitely based on the dodo.

[@christopherfleetwood5252]

@@lasercraft32 Idk the doodoo is extinct tho, could be an Emo

[@lasercraft32]

@@christopherfleetwood5252 🤦 Just because the dodo is extinct doesn't mean the _fictional Pokemon_ can't be based on it... Bulbasaur is based on dinosaurs, yet its not even an ancient Pokemon.

[@christopherfleetwood5252]

@@lasercraft32 I thought it was a Plant-Toad/Frog thing…

[@Eunanae]

For the record, golurk flies by retracting its hands and legs and apparently has jet engines in its arms and torso that it uses to fly

[@Nazuiko]

Hes based on the Iron Giant, like Gyarados is based on kites and wailord is literally a blimp.

[@JaharNarishma]

​@@NazuikoI thought it was Astro boy that was the base idea. Looks wise, neither the Iron Giant nor Astro boy are close.

[@BrianSpurrier]

@@JaharNarishmaI just think it’s a mix of both the traditional Hebrew Golem and a modern gundum style robot rather than being based on a specific character

[@Richard_Nickerson]

​@@Nazuiko Gyarados is based on Asian dragons, not kites

[@juannaym8488]

@@Richard_Nickerson yeah it's evolution is based on a story of a karp swimming up a waterfall and turning into a dragon. It's also a water type, which references how asian dragons live in lakes

[@jonesso11]

I feel like we have a "bumblebees can't fly according to science" misconception, while yes there is the magical flying Pokemon I'm pretty sure we are failing to fully account the wingspan versus the size of the body of the Pokemon, you do mention that the wings are working in different ways on multiple birds like the hummingbird compared to the condor, are we accounting the surface area of the wings versus just the wing span, as for example with planes a delta wing aircraft has a significantly bigger surface area compared to a conventional wing, I love the science! well done! but I'm afraid the extremely limited data points give a very limited result this doesn't also take into account where the mass of the child is added, is the Pokemon carrying the child as a backpack or holding onto the child by the method of for instance with a claw. I'm looking forward to seeing you return to this topic in the future as this result is at best a pilot study

[@thehawwk8026]

I'm surprised Wailord didn't make the list! Based on his weight/height ratio, he should be able to fly like a blimp!

[@DaPujj]

Someone didn’t watch the game theory video

[@piranhalettuce]

@@DaPujjBut hey that's just a theory, A GAME THEORY!

[@puckie643]

​@@DaPujjDoes anyone still unironically watch matpat nowadays Disclaimer because of 'events': His (channel's) content hasn't clicked with me for the past few years, but he still was a massive influence when I was younger. I do wish him a nice retirement :)

[@lightscavenger1116]

@@puckie643Me!!

[@nightmareclasher9639]

​@puckie643 yes, i love my madman fnaf man

[@arlomilstein2616]

As somone whos is going to be a physics major next year and loves both physics and videogames, I love ur vids. its so awesome to see people in our community wanting to reach out and educate, knowing people like you are out there is what makes me wanna be a physicist. Keep it up man you'll be big one day.

[@door-chan]

Golurk, much like Celesteela, is a rocket, that's why it can fly. Fun video btw

[@pyromncer410]

19:50 “I dunno, it’s a magical space dragon, grow up, it can fly”

[@Windja69]

Love the video! Just a small issue is that typically the larger a bird, the larger it’s wing span is in proportion to its height. For example a bald eagle is on average about 0.8 meters tall, but has a wingspan of about 2 - 2.4 meters. While a ruby throated hummingbird is 3- 3.75 inches tall, while it has a wingspan of about 4 - 4.75 inches. This means a more accurate method to go about this calculation would have been to also graph how wingspan tracked with height in real birds, and then give Pokémon a wingspan based on a point on that graph. The biggest reason for the is because as the surface area of an object or just an animal in general increases, their volume and therefore mass will increase at a much faster rate, and therefore larger birds must compensate by having comparatively larger wingspans.

[@johannesschutz780]

But what are you going to use the wingspan for? I think the way he did it is correct because the height stands in for the wingspan as you said and by correlating it to the weight you can see if the pokemon is too heavy

[@Windja69]

@@johannesschutz780 in the video, adef gave an arbitrary wingspan to every pokemon that might be able to fly, so i'm suggesting instead you find the wingspan of a pokemon based on that pokemon's height, and then use the wingspan vs weight to determine if a pokemon can fly.

[@CaptainDCap]

I am fairly certain this more accurate calculation would only disqualify even more pokémon from flight, so nah. The issue here isn't with the calculation, it's with trusting ANYTHING the pokémon company/gamefreak says about anything. Everything in the dex is an asspull, and thus none of the pokémon weight/height data can be used.

[@fra7210]

Simply: Nerd

[@Windja69]

@@fra7210 I'll take that as a compliment

[@brettpalmer1770]

I think it is worth keeping in mind that Corviknight is established by loor being able to transport people. I wonder how this would look if you had that pokemon as the base line.

[@ASmidgeOfPidge]

This video feels like a spiritual successor to BDG's Unraveled series and I'm all here for it.

[@nightingem]

Oh man, it absolutely does!

[@Ellesdqq]

This yes!

[@Gettenhart]

Totally.

[@neverland_angel]

I thought the same thing!

[@dziewiaty]

While Unraveled was more like literature class with some optional classes like calculating Mario's retirement age, this is the science class in the same school. Can't wait for a lecture ranking every enemy in Mario games by the force Mario would have to achieve to crush them or something

[@entothechesnautknight1762]

One thing i want to point out is that as of Scarlet and Violet, we actually know the size of the planet pokemon takes place on, and... Uh... Its slightly bigger then *The Sun* so I think your numbers might be slightly off, unfortunately. Moving on from geography to biology, theres a few explanations for certain pokemon's ability to fly/levitate; -Koffing/Weezing is created from polution and is, in many ways, gas incarnate. The abilities of a Weezing could be tied to the type of gas it produces, and in fact, it literally is with its new ability in gen 8, neutralizing gas. Therefore, we can assume that a Weezing with Levitate is creating a gas that is lighter then air, most likely methane. So your Weezing floats because its constantly farting. Perchance. -For Charizard (and a lot of other pokemon), its likely that instead of proper flight, it instead jumps and glides. Its not like Charizard is lacking in muscle with that above average attack and speed, nor lacking in special attack propulsion to stay in the air. For that reason, though it's likely more of a combat Tool, Charizard absolutely should be able to fly. Which... It can! It actually can fly in EVERY generation. It gains Fly in pokemon yellow. Charizard literally can only not fly in Red and Blue. (Another thing that you maybe missed) -For all the flying Prevos, whens the last time you saw a baby bird jump outta the nest and fly with its patents? Yeah thats what I thought. (We can chalk up them beong able to learn fly to game mechanic oversight because pokemon RGB is held together by paperclips, spit and prayers, and it just became one of those iconic features that came from glitches/oversites, a-la Ghandi carrying hundreds of nukes.) -For Pidgeot, we can actually point to its rather large special attack and ability to literally create wind for how it can fly. In a weird way, it kinda works more like a Plane then a bird, which actually makes sense, considering how much time the line spends on the ground and how their legs are built for running/gripping! -Fearow used to be better in every way then Pidgeot in generation one. *It has been punished for this sin ever since.* Thats probably why it makes no sense it can fly. -Dodrio is very clearly a pokemon made for leaping and running, so maybe "fly" in this case is actually a bunch of fast and long bounces/leaps? Yeah it's kinda a cop out but like we got way worse shit then this man lemmie have this one. -Speaking of worse; Farfetched. There is no biological explanation for farfetched. -For Gyrados, its likely more of a glider too, jumping out of the water and using a combination of its muscles and thermal updrafts (thank you animorphs) to stay afloat. Hence why it cannot use fly proper; its abusing the winds and location to be keep afloat, and "fly" needs to be usable anywhere to count. -Areodactyl is likely another Jump and glide, and it actually has the strength to carry you too, being made of rocks and all. -The legendary trio can all control winds and weather, so they force winds under themselves to fly. -Crobat's wings are designed similar to a kite, which is made to catch air streams and thermal updrafts. Considering Crobat's above average attack, it likely has the muscle force to throw itself into the air to catch one of these winds and rides it, as well as the strength to bring you along too. (Also the idea of a Crobat tossing itself into the air is really really funny ti think about.) -For Xatu, it likely can already levitate thanks to its psychic powers, and telekinesis eliminates weight in the ponemon world, so it can carry not only you with it with ease, but honestly, it could carry anyone! Its probably the pokemon here that should be KNOWN for flight and transport, if we're being realistic. (Though, they are kinda rare, so maybe that explains it.) -Swellow are notoriously beefed up birds, so they probably fling themselves into the as well, alongside Crobat. Carrying you is *a lot* more questionable, but that konda workout can make them "Feel the burn", so to speak, and since puns in pokemon can literally be magical incantations (thank you Chilly Reception), it probably counts as an actual burn. And being burned makes them 50% stronger, so ill let that pass. Its on thin ice, though. (Especially bad for a flying type!) Flygon can levitate, so much like Weezing, it likely uses trapped gases inside of itself to nullify its weight. Since it has wings, it abuses this levitation to be able to fly as well, riding on the winds of desert sands. (The gases were likely fermented during its time as a Trapinch from the digested remains of its prey.) -Altaria and Salamance both have the ability to control winds, as well a dragonic heritage that grants them great physical strength. Altaria also has the ability to rest and nest on clouds, likely thanks to the cloud-like material growing from its body, and Salamance's body shape is, again, more like a plane or jet then a bird. So Altaria likely creates updraft itself onto clouds to get away from ground-based predators, and Salamance creates jetstreams and wind tunnels to quickly glide and dive around the skies. (Likely preying on said Altaria as a natural predator.) -Latios and Latias are, once again, psychic, and literally levitating (so weightless), but also, they're shaped like jets, and considering pokemon biology, likely have a jet engine equivalent, powered by their intense special attack. (Or gases again, in which case... Fart-propelled jetplanes.) The only thing these two have to worry about is air resistance, flight is otherwise entirely unimpeded. -Rayquaza *literally* is the wind *god* of the pokemon world. It's actually literally canon that it can create jet streams at will. Combine that with a callback to Crobat in that its shaped kinda like a kite, and flight with this thing is not only biologically obvious, but its the undisputed master of it. -Staraptor is Crobat and Swellow's principal again, but on *steriods.* In fact, this bird is SO beefy, some of them actually hurt themselves *more* when they dive in for a recoil attack! Turns out bulking out on muscles to catch the winds over just flying normally ("normal" in this case seemingly being "generate wind under yourself") has some downsides. -Driftblim is a ballon full of gas. Judging from its Flare boost ability, likely Hydrogen. ...You probably shouldn't fly with one though, they seem to have a tendency towards murdering their riders. (They likely hunt similar to how Eagles hunt Turtles or Mountains Goats; By dropping them from really high and letting gravity do the hard part.) -Togekiss has the same wind control we've discussed being the "normal" method of flight in the pokemon world before, but it also has luck control! I'm not sure what that does for flying, but by Arceus I'm sure it does something. -Speaking of God, its God. That aside, Arceus also has both control over the winds and massive psychic power. It, uh. It can fly any way it feels like. -Moving on to the Devil, Giratina both literally has actual telekinesis as an ability in its base form, and Levitate in its origin form. Its also a ghost, which have been shown to have a special connection with gases in a less organic way then poison types, so its probably full of, like, Helium or something too, especially when it becomes more gasious in Origin forme. (Part 1/2, because KZbin comments have a character limit, surprisingly. Part 2 in the replies.)

[@entothechesnautknight1762]

-Sigilyph (and also Swoobat) are in the same boat as Xatu, being powerful psychics that can carry you around without adding to their own weight while flying. Easily another two of the best transport pokemon around, who have the best justification to learn Fly. (Though, Swoobat's weight probably influences how dumpy it is when it flies, so it might be too pre-occupied keeping itself up to be able to take you along for the ride, so maybe strike that one off, depending on the ratios.) -Archeops is literally a buffer, more Swole version of Areodactyl. Though... It can't really recover from a crash in the sane way Areodactyl can, so maybe stick with the safer rock bird. (It went extinct for a reason.) -Golurk has rocket boosters. Not even biological equivalents like the Latis, no, those are straight up Man-made rockets. Its a literal walking jet engine. -Braviary continues to tow the line like Crobat, Swellow and Staraptor before it by being built like a very areodynamic brick house and simply jumping then coasting off of the winds. -Hydreigon once again levitates, but its paradox form actually gives us a hint into how this works, as it seemingly uses the weight counteraction of its levitation, its ability to create and control winds, and kite-like body to enable itself to fly. (Though, Iron Jugulus has slimmed down from Hydreigon, so it presumably got rid of the gases and gas-storing organs to optimize its body shape for wind control.) -Volcarona, despite not being a flying type, has inherent access to wind control. Combine that with its unique firey "dance" that wreaths around it, and Volcarona can lijely create its own Thermal Updrafts. Its wings even seem designed for picking up winds like a sail over traditional flight. -The Genie Trio both have wind control and seemingly have developed the same kind of material that Altaria has, letting them rest on and use clouds for transport. And they all seem buff enough to just. Pick you up. (We didnt even get into the fact they're gods, they have enough biological justification on their own!) -Completing the idea first tested in Golurk, Genesect can literally transform into a jetboard. It was literally *made* to be flown on! (Though it must change its body shape entirely to be able to fly, a unique quirk amoung man-made poke-flight.) -Hawlucha takes the baton pass from Braviary for "Muscle Flight", and once again, Talonflame and Noivern have the traditional "wind control", though Talonflame can also make winds faster then any other flying type, even literal *Gods* (likely through a similar method as Volcarona's Thermal updrafts, but more refined), so thats very much a notable thing about Flight in Kalos. -Alola is actually a very interesting case of a region lacking any "traditional" flying pokemon. Its only real viable native Fliers are Vikavolt and Drampa. Vikavolt levitates around using Electricity instead of gases or Psyonics, and launches itself to a target destination via Railgun. Drampa's developed the same cloud-walking materials as Altaria and the Genies, but actually lacks any true method of flight on its own, instead using its massive special attack to basically launch itself up at clouds, then drive those clouds around like boats before lowering them to a safe distance to jump from. (Some Drampa have even developed abilities to disrupt the weather so that they always have clouds to jump on and room between the clouds to jet on top. (The Cloud-walking material prevents passage through clouds, hence why it evolved to disrupt rain and snow as well as sun.)) This leaves Alola's ecology in a very vulnerable state to the proper fliers from ultraspace, as if left unchecked, they could utterly DESTROY the local ecosystems that developed independently on the islands for hundreds of thousands if years, putting dozens of pokemon at risk of extinction, since the islands have been free of flying hunters their entire existences. No wonder the ultrabeasts are such a threat. (Also im not justifying why they can biologically fly because they're aliens from another dimension, man. We barely comprehend them as is.) -Tapu Koko, though, actually flies using the same Railgun Method as Vikavolt. One has to wonder which one developed it first, though... -Dragapult is actually a unique case because it uses jets to both fly and hover, not unlike how a real life jetpack would work. And also not unlike a real life jetpack, it struggles not to hit the ground. As a ghost, it doesn't have to worry about getting hurt like we squishy hunans do, but its inanility to consistently levitate is a unique downside to developing bio-jets without psyonic abilities. -Eternamax is basically a giant spaceship. Like are we even sure this thing's a pokemon? -Squakabilly and Flamigo are actually the return of Swellow and Staraptor for the "Swole Flight" category, and are joined by the new paraglider Roaring Moon in this catagory. -Kilowattle is a return to form in wind control, and we actually already talked about Juggy. So if we discount Prevos for the aforementioned "iconic glitch/oversight" reason, That one Event Pikachu, and the added X-factor fliers, as those were conceived from a false assumption of how Golurk can fly, of the pokemon that *can* fly; There are 76 pokemon lines that can learn fly. Of those 76, 53 have some biological justification for being able to both fly and carry a child. Meaning that of the pokemon lines that can Fly, about 23 of them don't make sense. Aka, a little under 1/3rd. Much lower than you anticipated/calculated, but still a genuinely significant number of fliers that shouldn't be able to fly. This took me two hours why did I do this

[@TheRectorscale]

In my head canon, Pokemon with Fly work like Appa from ATLA in that they are able to manipulate air currents to give themselves more lift than their weight or wingspan should allow. In my head, that explains how Pokémon who are too small or don’t have wings or other visible means of propulsion manage to hold people.

[@wwerules000]

I mean it's kind of explained, that its a move they learn at a certain level but in the game you can teach it to any of them, so it's basically them using the move, which makes it so they can carry anyone.

[@GreatBeanicus]

Yeah, i would love to see the flying type recontextualized in future games as more of a wind type to address this concern honestly

[@TheBrothergreen]

I want to see someone riding a pidgey across the sky like it's a winged skateboard before I will tacitly approve this head cannon.

[@AlteredNova04]

Agreed. There's no way Pidgey can legitimately create a flippin' hurricane by simply flapping it's wings hard enough. That tiny bird must have magical airbending powers to justify being able to learn that move. So it makes sense to assume that it uses airbending to carry a person when using the move Fly.

[@Spaceracer_]

So flying Pokémon are Airbenders; got it

[@corpsenymph4644]

This man in some snazzy salmon pink pants is teaching me more and less about physics than my physics class

[@Daedalus-Inc]

Glad to see my favorite Pokémon golurk, even in the circumstances of me being told it can’t fly. Fun fact: Not only can its legs and hands fold in and become thrusters, the torso also doubles as a cannon it can fire energy blasts out of!

[@alejandropetit6573]

Yeah golurk's awesome

[@elicorder5330]

OKAY very interesting subject probably well put together but I literally could not make it past you talking about your outfit

[@salomaoo]

I guess according to adef's laws of aviation, there is no way that a beedrill should be able to fly

[@emb3r371]

"dragapult doesn't even have wings and its a ghost" ghosts usually are depicted as floating and its a fighter jet, of course it can fly

[@rockedyou7875]

Won’t using average on the height weight graph break things because it will cause in theory around half of real birds to also be discluded from the can it fly index? Edit: you addressed this point a tiny bit near the end, but would using minimum height weight somehow be better?

[@wheniamaloneatnightisneakd4088]

agreed

[@cronic7581]

"According to the Earth's Pokedex, uh- which is... scientists" This had me rolling XD

[@julitoole]

I love the humor I love the "stupid" amount of Science and work put into an absolutely silly and at the same time massively important topic. I love the presentation and selfhumor. perfect work.

[@rgmoses2189]

You mentioned but didnt give Golurk an x factor? In the anime and tcg you can see it using its hands and waist as a rocket

[@star0chris]

Absolute God Tier content, there wasn't a moment in the video I wasn't either laughing, learning something new, or both. Keep up the awesome stuff Adef :)

[@turndownforwalt]

Love all of this!

[@adef]

Yo! Thank you Walt! I'm a huge fan!

[@turndownforwalt]

@@adef I saw that GameCube controller in your profile pic! Would love to work on something with you sometime as a fellow user of math and science for dumb reasons!

[@adef]

@@turndownforwalt 👀

[@RobbyForShort]

I feel so bad for Adef trying to find all this bird information for a KZbin video and I’m here thinking, “My bird nerd father-in-law probably knows all this information!”

[@DaSheepKiller]

According to all known laws of aviation, there is no way that a Charizard shouldn’t be able to learn Fly. With its size, it should easily he able to lift a 10-year old child’s body off the ground. The Charizard, of course, can’t learn Fly anyway, because Game Freak doesn’t care what humans think is possible.

[@Jorpda]

As a Golurk Fan, it’s legs and arms can retract and shoot out energy, effectively giving it three jetpacks I hope this is good enough for you

[@KuraiNoOni]

I know it may be obvious to some, but what about the square cube law? The smaller a body, and the lighter it gets, it will use significantly less energy to get to a flying state. That also means, that with the given energy, you could calculate the wing span, where applicable, to see if they do align. For some Cases, where the Pokemon in question has a very low density, you could look into air balloons and the Thermo-/Fluid- dynamics that are involved. I'm pretty sure that Wailords make for great blimps.( very low mass compared to its size, it's a miracle, that they can dive to begin with) Oh and Dragapult's head is shaped like a stealth bomber, so it is a case of aerodynamic design. Golurk and Celesteela use a form of rocket propulsion for flight by the way.

[@ShikiTWEWY]

Lol the jacket looks better than the t-shirt, fight me.

[@Matkin222]

You didn't take into account moves like Mimic, Assist, or Metronome, all of which can let Pokémon even as heavy as Snorlax use Fly (in theory). I demand you expand the list of viable Pokémon to include species that can learn Mimic or Metronome! 😂

[@jacscottclifford]

The adef number calculator reminds me of Jon Bois's Punt Score Index in his video "The Search for the Saddest Punt in the World". If you haven't already seen it, I recommend it as it mirrors the bringing numbers/math to an unusual place vibe of this video. Lovely stuff adef!

[@nightingem]

Oh you're so right, I've seen people compare this now to Bois and to BDG. Man i love these so much.

[@limemaster6952]

You should have talk about how good is Drifblim as a flyer, i think it will pass, especially with how it treats people in its dex entries.

[@drexdqueen]

Aviation industry person here. Bernoulli's principle is beaten into our heads and it was very refreshing to hear a KZbinr describe it accurately for a change (and also validating to hear a normal person use it for once). Can't speak to the bird stuff, but your aircraft explanations are correct!

[@bryceha7640]

While his bit on Bernoulli's principle itself was fine, his application of it to an aircraft's wing was misleading at best and certainly isn't "correct." The airfoil shape of a wing to utilize BP is NOT the reason planes fly. That can't be stressed enough. They can fly with perfectly flat wings. They can even fly upside-down while working directly against adef's explanation! What the airfoil shape of a wing does is make flight more efficient. It's simply the angle of attack of a wing pushing air down that generates the vast majority of lift. If you stick your flat hand out the window of a moving car what happens? If angled up, the air will push your hand up. (This also results in higher pressure under your hand/wing, but it's certainly not due to an airfoil shape creating the effects BP.) Planes work the same way. Now this isn't just a problem with adef; BP and the airfoil is widely and wildly misattributed as the reason planes fly. It is disappointing to see this perpetuated in an otherwise great video, though, as it needlessly complicates and confuses an extremely fun topic. A more correct version of this video would've either skipped BP altogether or regulated it to a footnote.

[@Nazuiko]

​@@bryceha7640 If speed and wing shape were what gave planes the ability to break terrestrial shackles, then multiple decades of aerospace engineering has been lies. The first planes had completely flat wings and were not very fast. In fact, planes dont need to be moving horizontally at all to generate sufficient lift. But surely that air movement has to come from somewhere right? ...it does, the giant fans turning at 6000 rpm. Thats why theyre called propellers.

[@bryceha7640]

@Nazuiko Yup! The commonly given misinformation falls apart when you think about in it real life examples. Though for your last point, I’d clarify the aircraft’s propulsion does move it horizontally to create lift via angle of attack of the wings.

[@jamesh1866]

Ah but you also probably need a follow up video "based on real work physics how many Pokémon can walk". Based on the same metrics I am pretty such a significant number of Pokémon couldn't lift themselves off the ground.

[@Vanex798]

I’m three minutes in and I swear if he was my math teacher I might actually pay attention. Great video as always!

[@bobbarker987]

Your math videos are so silly while still being informative and entertaining. You make fantastic videos and i always share these with my friends

[@SnoFitzroy]

0:57 FUNNY YOU SAY THAT- All of Charizard's idle animations, poses, or sprites, all the way up to and including (I think) Generation 7, display him defaulting as hovering. In SV, he simply stands, and gets up using his wings when attacking with special moves.

[@TheShinyFeraligatr]

No, the first game that defaulted him as hovering was Gen 6, because Gen 6 did that really dumb nonsense thing where it had Flying Battles so every single pokemon that could fly had to thusly have a model where they're airborne, even if it made them look like shit.

[@shingshongshamalama]

The fact that birds have big pectoral muscles for pulling their wings down should have tipped you on to one tiny little secret that's also true of artificial aircraft. The majority of lift isn't generated by bernoulli's principle. It's generated by the wings forcing airflow downward, which in reaction pushes the wings up. That's why the _angle_ at which an aircraft's wings move through the air is such a huge deal. That's why birds FLAP THEIR WINGS TO FLY. It's why birds can take off at all without running at extreme speed across the ground with their wings open just to generate enough lift. Because they can PUSH THE AIR DOWN.

[@FarCritical]

Seeing Golurk having a whole section dedicated to it felt emotionally validating for some reason

[@twistedupX]

"is it over?" The wave coming up behind you:

[@melineeluna]

These videos are real treasures, and I'm always excited when I see a new one pop up. Great work, Adef!

[@TheMemeMachineNowInHD]

Hi I'm not an ornithologist but I spent the better part of a year looking up how bird flight works for a fanfic and some visual character references, here's what I've got: It's all still basically bernoulli's principle, but wing shape, tail fan shape, and bird shape/weight effect how much of the lift and thrust they generate from initial takeoff vs the act of flying, or if they can fly at all. Generally, a good rule of thumb that I've seen would be 1 square inch of wing per pound to maintain enough lift to work against gravity, but the only equations I've seen people plugging numbers into was for wingspans relative to the humanoid characters they were putting them on. That being said, I'm pretty sure the math based on wingspan compared to wing type, compared to weight, was probably a bit off just because you would have needed to take both wing length and wing width into account, and birds can't mimic the flight patterns of birds with other wing types. A robin would never be able to fly the same way as a hawk or a vulture. Lift can be generated two ways. The first is gliding, or passive flight, where they fall slowly and use their wings to adjust the angle of their descent so that it's mostly horizontal. The second is by flapping their wings, or active flight, where they move their wings quickly enough to create that pressure difference by pushing against the air. The wider and longer the wings, the more likely they will rely mostly on passive flight, and the reverse is true for small wings and active flight. Their feathers are also shaped in a way that funnels air down their bodies, both to minimize air resistance and to make sure it's all moving in the direction they need it to in order to create lift. The best way to break up the specifics is by wing shape and size. -Low Aspect Ratio/Passive Soaring (large): Vultures and condors take off like airplanes and rely on rising hot air called thermals (this is why they live in arid climates) to generate enough lift that they can stay in the air, and angle themselves down enough that gravity can do the heavy lifting on their thrust; wing angle changes the direction of the acceleration, keeping them moving. They flap their wings most slowly and least often, because moving that much air at once relative to their bodies takes a lot more energy than flying and they mostly just need to tweak their direction and angle of flight. -Low Aspect Ratio/Passive Soaring (small): Hawks, eagles, and corvids need to give themselves a solid push from standing to generate enough speed to get that air pressure difference to keep them up, and the angle of their wings as they flap them alters the direction that the air is pushing them; instead of their wings getting pushed straight up like airplanes, they make the pressure difference push them both forward AND up. They flap their wings more quickly and often than vultures and condors, but still not super fast like smaller birds and they still do a fair amount of gliding to conserve energy. -High Speed (Large): Falcons need the stronger push-off to generate initial lift, and they flap their wings more often to generate lift. They also have larger wings than the other kinds of birds that flap their wings more frequently, so they get a lot more lift out of each flap; doing so is high energy enough that they use the initial lift to get very high up, hang out on thermals as best as they can, and then drop into dives where they use mostly their tails to adjust their angle of descent. -High Aspect Ratio/Active Soaring: Seabirds, like albatrosses and seagulls, rely more heavily on tailwinds once they get going. Seagulls are small enough that they can generate lift the usual way, but albatrosses are so large that they generally drop off of cliffs and let gravity give them the speed they need to start gliding. -High Speed (small): Songbirds have small enough wings that they can begin flapping them immediately after only a short hop, but they have so little surface area relative to other kinds of birds that they have to generate the pressure difference through how quickly and constantly they flap their wings. This makes them very agile, since they can alter the direction of the force you've been calling "lift" very quickly, but it's so high-powered that they spend much more time looking for food than most other birds. -Elliptical: Pheasants, owls, and crows have wings that are approximately between smaller low aspect ratio and larger high speed wings, both in terms of form and function. -Special Mention: Hummingbirds actually fly more like helicopters than airplanes. Their wings are incredible inflexible, and can mostly only move at the shoulder joint, and lift/thrust comes entirely from pushing against the air. In order to weigh little enough for this to work, they also lost most of the muscles they need to do things like walk (they can move sideways along branches but wanting to move forward at all requires flight), and their metabolisms work so fast that in order to avoid starving to death whenever they fall asleep, they need to go into a short-term kind of hibernation called topor every night. *edited to say Take what I said with a grain of salt, because my degrees are in creative writing and librarianship, and I don't have my sources anymore. If anyone else knows more than I do and sees something I got wrong, please correct me! Also edited to improve readability and to say that I have officially spent longer on this comment than the video spent playing from start-to-finish.

[@tobarf2940]

Loved this video. Comedy/timing with informative content at the beginning made me not just have this as background noise. Engaging, cant wait to see whats next

[@ZuperZocker]

Wasn't expecting a tank top under the jacket 😅

[@BenThomson]

I would go to school if this was the teacher

[@adef]

i would go to ben if this was the school

[@Sids1192]

A big problem with this sort of analysis is the pokedex is very inconsisent with what "height" means. Sometimes they measure feet to top of head, other times its from the end of the tail to the tip of the nose. That's why you get a lot of serpentine Pokemon there getting very good "height" to weight ratios and thus showing they can fly. That's why Dagapult got in. If it was measured like most other birds, it wouldn't have gotten close. Also, while approximating wings being proportional to the body is a reasonable way to go for real-world birds (maybe not so much with emus and ostriches), Pokemon are a bit all over the place. Sigiliph clearly has particularly small wings relative to its height, as does Dragapult, whereas Golbat's wings are far larger than it's body (does it even have a body?). Ultimately though, those are the sort of approximations that one must make when explaining cartoons in the real world. In the words of Xena, when dealing with issues that make no sense, "a wizard did it".

[@Subtle_Pants]

This is EXACTLY the combination of useless and thorough that I love. Well done!

[@tylerray1368]

At least drifloon can't actually kidnap children? I mean, maybe it could drag them along the ground. But that seems far less terrifying. Just imagine little Timmy being dragged by some demonic balloon, face scraping along the ground and wrist held limply by those weird string heart hands. Okay, nevermind. Still horrifying.

[@SploshBadger]

Thank you for giving the jacket countdown, I was distressed if it was big or if you were small

[@SuperBatSpider]

All bee Pokémon should learn Fly. By all laws of Aviation, they should not be able to fly, but they’re going to fly anyway because bees don’t care about what humans think is impossible. Edit:Also, I actually like the jacket outfit more than the outfit you wore when insulting it. I actively liked the first and disliked the second.

[@afrodestinyfan]

Just how much of an insane amount of research and time have you put into this video? I mean, it's really educational and funny, but I can't even begin to imagine how much work went into this. I love your work Adef!

[@wuguxiandi9413]

Is it an African or European Pidgey? The issue with using real-life animals to work out if a Pokemon is capable of flight is that real-life birds don't have magical abilities. A pidgey is able to flap its wings so hard that it can create gusts of wind capable of hurting other Pokemon. The big takeaway here is that there must be an x factor that allows Pokemon, who normally wouldn't be able to fly due to physics, to fly.

[@swordlock8322]

thank you for putting more hours into this madness than the developers ever did coming up with the weights and heights of each pokemon

[@randalledwards6974]

I know this video is comedy first, then educational science second (good job on both btw), but realistically any pokemon capable of flapping it wings hard enough to create an airburst that can hurt you obviously has enough lift force to carry a child. A pokemon with gust or sonicboom is a terrifyingly strong creature.

[@Electrosa]

This video was a hoot from start to finish, I can never get enough of applying math to pokemon where it doesn't belong. I think a sequel to this video focusing on just... talking about the physics of all the "powered flight" pokemon - like Magneton with magnetism, the Latis being jets, Genesect with its jetpack, etc - would be super cool!

[@Justin_D_Bledsoe]

All birds that can fly can lift at least 3 times their own body weight, on top of their own body weight. And hawks which are the largest birds can carry 5 times their own body weight on top of their own weight. So they can actually lift a full grown adult while flying. They can weigh up to 35 pounds. 35*6=210

[@jwallace362]

What a gem of a channel! Keep up the fantastic content

[@jovi_monet]

was about to comment "one of the outfits of all time" but then you did it yourself. cheers! great vid btw

[@linx3289]

Great video. Your comedic timing is on point, and I always enjoy sciency videos 😅

[@ThornEternal]

Ever since they made pokemons boring 3D models Gyarados has been floating in the air with dragon magic. It's unreasonable for it to not be able to learn to fly and carry a child.

[@HunhuhPlayzMinecraft]

So basically what I'm hearing is that only endgame legendaries should be fly HM slaves, and the player should be walking around the entire region until they complete the game? Sounds good to me!

[@RioMangs]

You were just wearing regular clothes my guy. The green screen walk ons and “outerwear apologies” were infinitely more cringe than wearing a normal denim jacket ever could be. Great vid though. Cool stuff.

[@hunterfisher6161]

bro thought he looked better without the jacket 💀

[@danielaguilera9791]

Can we talk about how bees shouldn't be able to fly? And no this isn't a bee movie joke I'm just trying to point out that things happen that still don't make sense to us so the pokemon that shouldn't be able to mathematically can still fly. Tldr: it's a game who care if you want to believe a pokemon can fly then F it, diglett can fly now.

[@dinoash]

Shows how much fashion is opinion lol. I think the jacket looked better. Having a middle color between pink and black helps to break up the transition. Regardless tho, even if you were naked or in jorts, the video is great

[@endeav0r_49]

Actually, you have access to weight data for the protags! Sort of. In the diamond and pearl pokedex, under the "Size" section for each pokemon, you have a small animation of a scale where the pokemon's weight is scaled against your weight, revealing that the protagonist in diamond and pearl weighs 83.8 pounds, or give or take 38 kg. So your 81.7 pounds estimate was kind of right on the money!

[@DanielPereira-ey9nt]

I don't understand what is troubling about being able to easily find height and weight statistics for children, it's basic health information that everybody should be aware of and have access to What is troubling to me is how easily people from the u.s see malice in matters related to childrem

[@drowzypollinator640]

Have you seen that video of an eagle carrying an entire goat off a mountain? Birds can carry more than you think. (admittedly it was gliding, but all birds of prey are able to easily fly with rabbits and fish or whatever)

[@NecromancyForKids]

Should you really have only picked Pokemon that were 100% matches? Just because it's not 100% does not mean it is impossible, just that it is less likely to fit. I'm sure your data was not perfectly linear, so you could have decided what factor to use or what % is acceptable by looking at the variation from the line. Or is that what the percentage is already based on?

[@moonscorchedd]

i was thinking about Drifblim the entire time. did it just not pass the weight/length test? it's a hot air balloon, it's gotta fly.

[@popogeejo]

I will happily fly with my stealth bomber lizard ghost. I don't care, I think they're neat! Like potatoes.

[@octmari]

i liked how the jacket looked on you :(

[@Justin_D_Bledsoe]

Chickens are capable of flying, but they are very lazy birds so they only fly to avoid getting eaten and it's never for long that they fly.

[@ArmundJay]

22:32 no one tell him that Bruxish is like.. a super real fish. Humuhumu Nukunuku Apua'a, Hawaii's state fish.

[@slippythefrog]

The jacket off was almost worse than on....good content but your appearance was very distracting.

[@brandon0sh]

hi um not sure how to ask this question but, can you provide an example of a real life bird that *can* carry a child and fly them from city to city evolution tends to be hyper efficient with best fit lines my dude, most birds can just about fly exactly how far they need to be able to

[@Fenrir502]

I liked your outfit!! It slayed hard! I did think the shorts were a skirt for half the video, but that just added to the energy

[@Garfield_Minecraft]

why can't charizard learn to fly but charizard has wings isn't it this makes no sense to me but they can learn to fly in yellow version maybe they just forget it might actually be able to fly chances are low but not impossible

[@2288pyro1]

you looked more like your mom dressed you in the version of you making fun of yourself. the jacket you was fine

[@gustavoc5]

You look like Chandler but with much more patience and knowledge of physics and math

[@nordern1]

It's almost like the rules are different when the animal can magically manipulate the elements :P

[@Blasharga]

I love this! How about that crow thing that is like a bus service in sword and shield ? Corviknight ? What would it need to actually be able to be a litteral taxi service and carry people all day

[@aamirhamja1118]

you have the makings of a youtuber with millions of subscribers, keep grinding bro

[@Echiewel]

So what we learned here is... the weights in the pokédex just make no sense at all, as usual.

[@incandescence5547]

Zacian and Zamazenta can fly, as shown in a cutscene in the game. They can probably carry a child. Maybe

[@beefgill]

Welp, time to get the only easily accessible one of them. A Gyarados.