Worldbuilding Pokemon: Dreadnaw

In this subseries, I will analyze the potential origins of the Pokemon in order to discover hidden details and potential. As part of June’s Pokemon Direct, we saw several Pokemon revealed including Drednaw.

Drednaw is labeled as the “Bite Pokemon”, and its name origin may be a combination of “dread” and “gnaw”. It may also be a reference to the warship class “dreadnought”.

According to Bulbapedia, it is based on an alligator snapping turtle. Drednaw shares the animal’s scaly shell and large beak-like head. Biting seems to be a clear focus for the Pokemon. These turtles are commonly found in freshwater areas in the southeastern United States.

The Pokemon’s name may refer to the HMS Dreadnought, Great Britain’s naval ship that was constructed in 1906 to establish a new class of battleships. Dreadnoughts were seen as a large leap ahead in battleship engineering as part of a naval arms race. The name indicates that Drednaw is a Pokemon with a lot of strength and power.

Alongside the Pokemon’s reveal, a small bio was released:

The sharp, jagged fangs of the Bite Pokémon Drednaw are strong and sharp enough to bite through rock and iron. Though it has an extremely heavy rock shell, its well-developed muscles allow it to move quickly.

Drednaw is known to be extremely vicious, and it takes a skilled Trainer to tame and handle this Pokémon. It seems that some Trainers will release Drednaw back into the wild once they discover they can’t handle it.

References to its tough and strong exterior, while being able to move fast, relates closely with the numerous benefits of dreadnought battleships.

The second paragraph, about trainers abandoning them, is based in real practices. Many people abandon pets as they grow larger and become difficult to care for, and snapping turtles seem to be abandoned frequently and turning up in unusual habitats. Abandoned snapping turtles have been mentioned several times in news articles, such as in the LA Times and a local Fox affiliate. One was even found in Great Britain, presumably an abandoned pet.

I believe that Drednaw would have a pre-evolution, a turtle that looks small and cute. Perhaps it would be inspired by a different naval ship, such as a destroyer or a submarine. This pre-evolution would lure trainers into a false security that they could properly care for such a Pokemon. Then, once it evolves, it suddenly becomes too difficult to handle and is released.

Looking at pre-release screenshots for the game, we see one scene where the trainer has a level 55 Drednaw. This means it is possible for something to evolve into Drednaw.

Overall, Drednaw seems to pay homage to British naval history as well as the practice of people abandoning pets. The concept of releasing Pokemon is not brought up too frequently, and it would be really interesting to see if this plays into the game’s story at all through a side-quest.

While it may take some time to see if this prediction is correct, let me know if you have any thoughts or ideas in the meantime.