By Jo
Bugs have never been my cup of tea. I don’t like them. They make my skin feel like it’s crawling and really creep me out. Though the newest Pokemon games have sort of made me reevaluate my fear of bugs. Why? Because most of the bug-types released in the Pokemon Black and White games have been incredibly cute, their habits endearing. The Sewaddle evolutionary line is no exception to that.
Sewaddle has a caterpillar-like appearance, though is short and wrapped in clothing made of leaves. It has six legs, darkly lined eyes and two circular shaped nubs on the top of its forehead. According to its Black pokedex entry, Leavanny will dress Sewaddle in clothes they made for it when it hatched. Sewaddle will hide its head in its hood while it sleeps. Though its White pokédex entry states that Sewaddle make their own clothes by chewing up leaves and then sewing them together with the sticky thread it creates in its mouth. Sewaddle’s name seems to be a combination of the words ‘sew’, ‘waddle’ (what babies do when they first begin to walk), and ‘swaddle’ (a verb meaning “to wrap a baby in cloth”).
Once Sewaddle reaches level 20 it then evolves into Swadloon. Swadloon is a bit bigger than Sewaddle and is wrapped in leaves in about the same way a person would wrap themselves in a blanket. Its yellow face normally appears to be displeased, or not amused in the slightest. Swadloon is only one of four Pokemon that loses its pre-evolution’s ability, and then regains it upon evolution into its final form. According to its pokédex entries, Swadloon protects itself from the cold by wrapping itself up in leaves. The pokedex also states that Swadloon stay on the move, traveling across forests and eating leaves. The forests where it lives are supposed to have superb foliage because the nutrients they make from fallen leaves nourish the plant life. Swadloon’s name seems to come from the words ‘swaddle’ and ‘cocoon’.
Swadloon is able to evolve one last time after that, via happiness, into Leavanny. Ironically though, Swadloon’s Defense and Special Defense stats are actually lowered when it evolves into Leavanny. Leavanny is bipedal and holds ant-like characteristics, though seems to be mainly based off from phylliidae – an insect that is able to disguise itself as a leaf. Its ‘collar’, ‘dress’, and ‘ruffed pants’ seemed to be inspired by the European fashion of the early 1600s, though its clothes are made of leaves to match its pre-evolutions. Leavanny’s pokedex entries state that after finding a small Pokemon, it will weave it clothing out of leaves, using the cutters on its arms to trim the leaves and the sticky silk it produces to sew. Apparently, it keeps its eggs warm with heat from fermenting leaves. Leavanny’s name seems to be a combination of the words ‘leaves’ and ‘nanny’. Some fans of the games have also speculated over whether or not its name could come from ‘Levana’, the Roman goddess of newborn babies.