AN ADHD THEORY - Tumblr Posts
CW: LONG ASS RANTING + POSSIBLE SPOILERS FOR MUSHROOM OASIS
ok. so this just occurred to me mid adhd deep dive.
y'know Paras and Parasect? the mushroom crab (?) Pokemon? so I just recently learned more about the mushrooms on their bodies. what I want to personally highlight is this, taken straight from Bulbapedia from Parasect's page:
"The insect has been drained of nutrients and is now under the control of the fully-grown tochukaso. Removing the mushroom will cause Parasect to stop moving."
the bolded area is the area I want to focus on, because this implies that Parasect is dead. the mushroom has completely taken over Parasect's cold dead corpse.
why am I saying this?? well, those mushrooms are actually real. tochukaso are the Japanese name of a parasitic fungi called ophiocordyceps sinensis, or just "caterpillar fungus" in Western areas. basically they're mushrooms that do the same thing that the tochukaso does to Paras and Parasect: "replaces the host tissue and can affect the behavior of its host."
so...

???????
my theory?: Mychael isn't a naturally-born mushroom creature, he died in the oasis and became the host of parasitic mushrooms, specifically the tochukaso. and I'm proud to say I actually have a bit of evidence behind this.
both mushrooms in general look really fuckin' similar. reddish in color with white dots with a pointed cap. also, tochukaso can give off spores that are attached to Paras eggs...

... just like Mychael can. (sorry for low quality image it was the only one I could find)
on the topic of releasing spores comes my second point: tochukaso are used in China for medical remedies, as well as aphrodisiac. as it may seem, the spores that Mychael can release have an aphrodisiac effect on us.
"well how do you explain his horns and tail?" fourth point: parasitic mushrooms, more often than not, produce more mushroom appendages onto the host. examples:


the horns? mushroom appendages. the tail could also be a mushroom appendage with a long ass stem, as displayed by the cricket w/ the bigass mushroom above. shit, the ears could be mutated to be longer.
also, mans is in a whole ass WOODS. he could've easily died in those woods and the mushrooms were like "yo score a nice host".
thank you for coming to my Ted Talk.