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Of course, but between "the developers assigned Relicanth a gift Pokémon gender ratio by mistake" and "Relicanth was assigned the gift Pokémon gender ratio because it was planned to be a gift Pokémon, and was changed later on without being updated", I'm going to go with the latter theory regardless of Relicanth's design origin.
It could be on purpose. Distribution-wise, Relicanth is considered "rare". It's only found underwater (so is late game) in Route 124 & 126 and only is a 5% encounter. It's also needed to open the Regi Chambers (along with Wailord which prevo was made super common as contrast, though requires to be raised to Level 40 which back in the days was pretty high), so I can see them wanting to do the most that they can to have the player have to go out of their way and catching their own Relicanth instead of just getting an "extra" one from their friend. They still wanted it be able to breed because there's no reason not to, and with its close relation to Fossil Pokemon as a "Living Fossil" it was easy enough to slap it with a 7m:1f gender ratio.
And though Relicanth was the first non-gift Pokemon to do this, it wasn't the last. Combee, the Elemental Monkeys, & Salandit too have 7m:1f, each with their own reason (Combee and Salandit because of their evolution method, Elemental Monkeys because they're treated as pseudo Starters).
Can't really agree with the idea that Relicanth was given the gift Pokémon gender ratio solely to discourage trading it, since that's partly why gift Pokémon have that gender ratio to begin with. It would make more sense for it to be a gift Pokémon than a wild Pokémon that has the gift gender ratio if that was the intent. I could see an argument for the opposite though, that Relicanth was a gift Pokémon but made more available because of the Regi puzzle relation.
Also I might point out that the gen V monkeys essentially are gift Pokémon, since they're given as a secondary starter. You can just find them in the wild too, which admittedly is a unique case here. Combee and Salandit have their evolution tied to gender, and so have another gameplay reason for their gender ratio. Relicanth being given the gift Pokémon gender ratio solely to discourage trading it to help others solve the Regi puzzles seems a little tenuous, seeing how all of the other Pokémon with that gender ratio have a clear gameplay objective for it that affects the player directly.
Also I just don't think the developers wanted to discourage people from helping each other solve the Regi puzzles, that seems like the opposite of their goal.
Which camp is everyone in when it comes to Paradox Pokémon?
Are you team "They are imaginary Pokémon created by the Third Legendary using the dreams of Sada/Turo"
Or
Are you team "They are from an altered past/future that were brought to Area Zero by Sada/Turo's Time Machine which was powered by the Third Legendary"
Given that they are called Paradox Pokémon I personally believe they are from a past that never existed/ a future that will never come. They are real Pokémon but more in a What If sense. I think the main reason I don't think they were imaginary was that Great Tusk/Iron Treads killed someone within Heath's Expedition Team which took place decades before Sada/Turo ever ventured into Area Zero themselves.
The only thing that puzzles me is that if they aren't imaginary then how does Paradox Suicune/Virizion work? Entei, Raikou, and Suicune didn't appear until the death of the 3 mystery Pokémon in the Burned Tower and the subsequent resurrection done in the aftermath. Given that at no point has it ever been stated or implied that they existed prior to this point then how could a Pokémon that is Fusion of all 3 exist even further in past? Even if it's from an altered past the concept of Entei, Suicune and Raikou was something only Ho-oh thought of. And Ho-oh to our knowledge never visited Paldea. That doesn't even factor in Paradox Virizion which is a fusion of the Swords of Justice sans Keldeo. Considering Virizion is supposed to be from the future how is it that Keldeo who is ostensibly part of this Legendary quartet missing? Every legend involving the Swords of Justice do include Keldeo so for it to be missing from Paradox Virizion is just as odd as Paradox Suicune presumably existing long before Ho-oh created the original Entei, Raikou, and Suicune.
I'm curious to see where everyone else falls in terms of the true origins of the Paradox Pokémon.
We've been discussing this in the Story Thread in the SV subforum. We should probably keep this under spoilers for a little longer, too.
Personally I think
they're definitely some form of Imaginary, but not 100% entirely from Sada/Turo's desires.
The expedition team went down there expecting to find mysterious creatures. And mysterious, dangerous creatures they very possibly found.
In the post game Arven points out the oddity of how all the paradoxes are described in the book but...were not in Area Zero until the "time machine" was up & running.
I'm not fully leaving "time machine...real?" off the table, I've floated the idea that Sada/Turo's machine if it does function simply pulled them from the expedition, but imagination of some sort is influencing these things for sure.
What's with the Maushold evolution mechanics? Evolves at lvl 25(fine) as long as it's from battle instead of Rare Candy(odd but not that out there), will skip the evolution screen if it wasn't sent out into battle(maybe this is a glitch?), is unaffected by Everstone(what?).
Which camp is everyone in when it comes to Paradox Pokémon?
Are you team "They are imaginary Pokémon created by the Third Legendary using the dreams of Sada/Turo"
Or
Are you team "They are from an altered past/future that were brought to Area Zero by Sada/Turo's Time Machine which was powered by the Third Legendary"
Given that they are called Paradox Pokémon I personally believe they are from a past that never existed/ a future that will never come. They are real Pokémon but more in a What If sense. I think the main reason I don't think they were imaginary was that Great Tusk/Iron Treads killed someone within Heath's Expedition Team which took place decades before Sada/Turo ever ventured into Area Zero themselves.
The only thing that puzzles me is that if they aren't imaginary then how does Paradox Suicune/Virizion work? Entei, Raikou, and Suicune didn't appear until the death of the 3 mystery Pokémon in the Burned Tower and the subsequent resurrection done in the aftermath. Given that at no point has it ever been stated or implied that they existed prior to this point then how could a Pokémon that is Fusion of all 3 exist even further in past? Even if it's from an altered past the concept of Entei, Suicune and Raikou was something only Ho-oh thought of. And Ho-oh to our knowledge never visited Paldea. That doesn't even factor in Paradox Virizion which is a fusion of the Swords of Justice sans Keldeo. Considering Virizion is supposed to be from the future how is it that Keldeo who is ostensibly part of this Legendary quartet missing? Every legend involving the Swords of Justice do include Keldeo so for it to be missing from Paradox Virizion is just as odd as Paradox Suicune presumably existing long before Ho-oh created the original Entei, Raikou, and Suicune.
I'm curious to see where everyone else falls in terms of the true origins of the Paradox Pokémon.
Glad I'm not the only one who found the whole Paradox Pokemon fishy with their "informed" origin.
And I absolutely agree with R_N who came up with the same conclusion I had thought of: They're from an imaginary or alternate past/future, but it's not from Sada's/Turo's desires. And I don't think it's even from the original expedition team's minds either. No, I think it has to do with that "Disk Pokemon":
A lot of speculation of what this is, thought first time I saw it thought "oh wow, that's pretty much a Biblical Accurate Angel". Though now I also add in "mixed with an Eldritch Abomination" cause, at least to me, that's probably what it's going to be. Questionable if we're going to be even able to catch it, though it could be an Ultra Necrozma/Eternamax Eternatus situation where we catch a "lesser" form which in someway can temporarily transform into it. Eitherway this thing obviously has something to do with the Terastal Phenomenon (if all the hexagons wasn't a hint). At this point I can only go into wild speculation of what its exactly doing. For the sake of keeping on question I'll put that in a spoiler box:
So, wherever this thing is, crystals that can be used to bend reality grows. This is most present in Area 0, but all over Paldea experiences a little bit of this with the Terastal phenomenon with the crystal lairs suddenly growing out of nowhere (though being so far from the "source" they don't last long and vanish in a while; only remains are crystal shards from wild Pokemon who had used the energy to change Type). Not sure why Terastal only changes Type (or why the crowns look like manmade objects than something more naturally related), but it at least does show how strong the reality bending power is: You can change a Pokemon's Moves, you can change their Abilities if they have more than one, some you can switch between forms, but up till now the Type has been unchangeable (without a form change to go with it or being a result from a Move/Ability; we're talking about the Pokemon just changing its Type of its own will (or of its trainer's)).
Now, to us, it's simply a gameplay mechanic to have the dens suddenly grow and in a few hours to replaced with new ones. But what if there was an in-lore use of that? What if this entity can not only have these crystals grow far away in the three dimensions of space, but also cause them to grow along the 4th dimension of time? And the closer a space is to the entity, the further in time it can grow the crystals, both into the past and future. And if it can grow some permanent crystals like the ones we see in Area 0, than that space in time is now part of the entity's being and from that point it can go either further into the past or future depending on where in the timeline that space is. Like, we don't even know if "our" time is the origin point, the present Area 0 could just be a point in time the entity gradually (in its perspective, if time even means anything to it) took over. And, while in the "present" it's only Area 0 that is affected, there could be (a) past and/or future point(s) in the timeline that Area 0 now exists in which the entity has taken control more of (be it the entire region, planet, solar system, galaxy, universe, etc.).
So, how does this relate back to the Paradox Pokemon? Because Sada/Turo wasn't pulling Pokemon from the actual past/future, it was pulling Pokemon from the alternate past/future which Area 0 now is connected to because of the entity's meddling. Each time it reaches further into the past and future and can make a crystal grow it bends the timeline of that space. The reason the Paradox Pokemon resemble Pokemon we're familiar with isn't because their the ancestors/descendent species of that Pokemon, it's because the Pokemon in Area 0 somehow are able to travel backwards/forwards in time (which the entity has control over) and adapted/mutated to better survive the time they're now in. Past Pokemon become more feral as the landscape is more treacherous & their normal resources becomes harder to find and must now adapt to survive on something else that may be less efficient. Future Pokemon started to undergo cybernetic transformation in order to survive a future that has been taken over by human industrialization thus much more mechanical, digital, and likely polluted. And remember, this isn't the actual past or future, this is a past or future which exists with the Terastal phenomenon being ever-present. This means in the past there may have been less plantlife because the crystal takes up the space, thus less resources, thus more competition, and thus Pokemon using Terastal to give them edge in battles (and I would even question if humans could even come into being in this more hostile past). What this means in the future is more drastic as now humans enter the picture. Sada/Turo was able to create advanced AI, one which was basically a copy of themselves (to the point having the same feelings and thoughts toward Arven as if he was their own son) and a machine that's able to (forcefully) draw Pokemon from the alternate past/future. Now think of what other scientists and engineers (and businesses and governments) could do? Personally I'm thinking a mix between the Cyberpunk franchise, Shadowrun, & the Matrix; of course, for all we know things went sideways and the future is more like the Horizon franchise but instead of robotic animals its robotic Pokemon.
Oh, BTW, the past and futures I described? They don't have to make sense with one another. Like I noted the alternate past probably wouldn't allow humans to get a foothold so potentially never become a thing. But that's only in the past, the future is something separate as it was altered with the normal past intact. It's not exactly them being in different timelines, they're all part of the entity's control, think of it more as pocket dimensions that are chronologically strung together but have had their existence altered with the introduction of the Terastal crystals with the land & its inhabitants reacting to them as they would as if any time before was unchanged and them unaffecting the time after.
Long story short, Paradox Pokemon are from an altered past/future brought on by the Disk Pokemon's spreading the growth of Terastal crystals throughout time. Sada/Turo only made a time machine to {forcefully) grab the changed Pokemon of that altered past/future (who knows if it would work outside Area 0/the entity's "territory"; probably not if the AI's words about it shutting down if it left Area 0 is any indication).
As for the Legendary Beast & Swords of Justice fusions, remember those were just made up by someone on the Expedition Team trying to illustrate an example of what they're encountering in Area 0. They don't exist... yet. But now that they've been thought up, well, we'll see how that pans out in the DLC. While I've mostly gone on about how the Disk Pokemon is mainly responsible, I don't think it has any machinations besides spreading its presence throughout all reality (classic Lovecraft stuff). But give access to that power to something with a more "mortal" mind, especially one which can think more conceptually such as a human, and...
Could be why many of the crowns resemble manmade objects or "general" symbolism of things. A Pokemon wouldn't think that way, it would just get covered in crystal and change its Type (if anything showing what Type you changed into would be giving yourself a disadvantage). But due to human influence and learning to control the Terastal phenomenon, and humans would be wanting to see a visual representation of the Type change, the crowns came into being and took their shapes off human symbols of the Type.
What's with the Maushold evolution mechanics? Evolves at lvl 25(fine) as long as it's from battle instead of Rare Candy(odd but not that out there), will skip the evolution screen if it wasn't sent out into battle(maybe this is a glitch?), is unaffected by Everstone(what?).
For the "Evolution" I think it might be a joke on how rodents are quick reproducers.
Level 25. In human years that could be considered the age people would start a family at. Evolve from Battle only. I don't know, is maybe meant to reflect actually maturing? Skip Evolution Screen if not in battle. It's already awkward enough if during battle they're in you see their family grow, give them some privacy! Unaffected by Everstone. Well, they're not "evolving" in body, they're "evolving" by family size. Guess the Everstone isn't that great of a contraceptive (I'll take "Things I Thought I'll Never Say" for 500).
For the "Evolution" I think it might be a joke on how rodents are quick reproducers.
Level 25. In human years that could be considered the age people would start a family at. Evolve from Battle only. I don't know, is maybe meant to reflect actually maturing? Skip Evolution Screen if not in battle. It's already awkward enough if during battle they're in you see their family grow, give them some privacy! Unaffected by Everstone. Well, they're not "evolving" in body, they're "evolving" by family size. Guess the Everstone isn't that great of a contraceptive (I'll take "Things I Thought I'll Never Say" for 500).
Battling could just be the Pokemon equivalent of Dating or courtship (not even joking or being facetious with the suggestion), plus representing some measure of time passing between them. Maybe it's also a Schrödinger's canon thing: If they didn't battle then they simply were expecting and you looked away when it happened; if they battled then it happens right after that battle while your eyes are on them from sending them out to battle.
The dex entry is "the little one(s) just showed up one day" so I think this is all part of a purposeful joke. They literally just showed up one day. We don't even know if they're related.
The dex entry is "the little one(s) just showed up one day" so I think this is all part of a purposeful joke. They literally just showed up one day. We don't even know if they're related.
Not counting Pokémon that fly over the water (and thus don't swim), they either swim normally or travel on top of a floater.
For the latter group there are some really odd inclusions. Namely, that the Croagunk, Gible, Sandile and Cubchoo lines move across water on a floater even though they are based on animals that spend considerable (if not the entire) time in the water.
Initially I was thinking that it was because they aren't Water-type Pokémon, but Garchomp, Cubchoo and Beartic can learn Surf... so they can ferry a trainer across bodies of water just fine, but when it comes to swimming alone, they can't do so. There are other cases of Pokémon that can learn Surf but nevertheless stand on floaters when in the water, but those are the most strange of them all to me.
Not counting Pokémon that fly over the water (and thus don't swim), they either swim normally or travel on top of a floater.
For the latter group there are some really odd inclusions. Namely, that the Croagunk, Gible, Sandile and Cubchoo lines move across water on a floater even though they are based on animals that spend considerable (if not the entire) time in the water.
Initially I was thinking that it was because they aren't Water-type Pokémon, but Garchomp, Cubchoo and Beartic can learn Surf... so they can ferry a trainer across bodies of water just fine, but when it comes to swimming alone, they can't do so. There are other cases of Pokémon that can learn Surf but nevertheless stand on floaters when in the water, but those are the most strange of them all to me.
Maybe, but Garchomp has always been able to learn Surf, so between Gen 4 and Gen 6 you could make it swim with you on its back through the sea. Who knows, maybe it has confidence issues so it's not willing to swim alone.
Too bad the Rhyhorn line isn't present, to see what they would have decided with Rhydon (who has been continuously depicted to be able to swim despite its typing and weight).
Most of the Pokemon that swim are ones that already swim when encountered in the wild.
After that they made exceptions to the water starter (not found in the wild anyway), pikachu's line (its the mascot) and eevee's line (it's the other mascot, minus flareon)
After that they let Aqua Breed Tauros swim probably because it was designed with the propeller tail in mind so gotta have that in the water
and then Gholdengo got to be on the water because it has a surfboard because he's the coolest guy for some reason
So the reason to "why didn't X get to swim??? it makes so much sense!" is because they only made special exceptions rather than systematically going through the Pokedex and determining XYZ can swim and thus get swimming animations.
The same applies to flight, all of those animations are ones already used in the game, even the Jigglypuff line ones where they sometimes jsut decide to fly around on their own.
If there's two to ask about it's "Why Hawlucha?" since as far as I know it never flies when you see it in game and "Why not Garchomp" because I am pretty sure that there is a Garchomp that will fly around and chase you down around the mountains.
Gholdengo is a surfer dude in Pokemon form. It's got a surfboard, it's super friendly, happy, and charismatic and gets along with just about everyone. Its name in Japanese is "Surfugo". And yes, it's the coolest guy.
The dude is the embodiment of a surfer dude, except as a Pokemon.
Only major instance I can think of Garchomp flying in the Anime is Ash's Ride Garchomp for the Ultra Guardians stuff, and I remember those mons having these weird high tech takeoff sequences with a platform/launchpad that obviously isn't representative of them in the wild. That said, Garchomp's design resembles a Jet Plane which does need a runway for momentum to take off, so that's not illogical.
My logic for Croagunk is that he's based on Frog species that can inhabit Marshes or shallow water type environments but isn't a water-dwelling species. Dry Skin references the need for humidity and to keep moist but doesn't necessarily make it an aquatic-preferring Amphibian (ability-wise we have stuff like Jynx and Parasect that are definitely land based). So Croagunk can swim or dwell in water but it's not what it's adapted to when you look at its more humanoid body shape and evolution. I always assume if you can't encounter it in water then it's not aquatic enough to need a Swimming animation like a bunch of the Fish Mons.
I'm reminded of a conversation I saw on Bulbagarden years ago about how there's a difference between Fire-types that are creatures with fire powers, and Fire-types that are literally made of fire or other hot stuff, and that's why Ninetales could swim in The First Movie.
Only major instance I can think of Garchomp flying in the Anime is Ash's Ride Garchomp for the Ultra Guardians stuff, and I remember those mons having these weird high tech takeoff sequences with a platform/launchpad that obviously isn't representative of them in the wild. That said, Garchomp's design resembles a Jet Plane which does need a runway for momentum to take off, so that's not illogical.
There's been quite a few instances of Garchomp's flight being shown off in both the games and anime:
From the anime I specifically remember a trainer using Garchomp in a Pokemon racing. It was episode DP091, I found a clip and forgot the kid couldn't control it very well and ended up crashing which caused all the other no-name trainers in the race to have their Pokemon panic, unleash an attack (one being a Luxray discharging) and knocking them out of the race. There's also a notable error with the Garchomp at one point: in one of the scenes it's eye colors were reversed:
(This video BTW shows all instances of Garchomp in the anime up to the one used in the Lugia Raid (which also sort of flew though same scene has a Bisharp seemingly floating until smacked away by Lugia))
There's also this random promotional clip for Garchomp showing it flying along with a jet plane:
Moving to the games, specifically Sword & Shield, these are more humorous moments but still show Garchomp showing its (instant) flying skills.
First we have an (Shiny) Eevee racing against a (Shiny) Garchomp with predictable results (and no I have no clue why this person has a random Shiny Eevee among his other Shiny Dragon-types, though I suppose there are sillier ways to try and force Eevee's unstable genetics to evolve it into a Dragon-type).
Anyway, should be a fun list to look through, see if there's any which jump out to me:
Gotta love how Flareon is the only Eeveelution who doesn't swim (though I can't help but think the water population doesn't like Jolteon can). "Nah man, like, I can swim, but I just don't wanna get by fur wet; even being a Fire-type it takes like hours to dry off. Also the water literally steams around me so I'd look like a ninja who had all their smoke bombs go off while swimming".
Gengar, didn't you lose Levitate? "I don't swim and would look like a loser standing on a floatie". Banette is standing on a floatie and its prevo previously flew over the water. "I rest my case".
Varoom family.... how are you guys floating again? Why are you floating?
Um, Diglett family, how are you digging into the floatie without bursting it? "With a LOT of DETERMINATION to NOT be in the water".
Do you think its easy for the Voltorb family to keep themselves rolling off the round floatie?
Um, GF, Spiritomb can levitate.
Wiglett, same question as Diglett, and you don't have the being weak to Water excuse cause you ARE Water-type. "Mine's a sandbag". Sandbags sink. "Not if you try hard enough".
Really Cetoddle family? "These feet are made for walking, and that is what they'll do, and one of these day these feet will STOMP ALL OVER YOU"!
I'm pretty sure Iron Bundle can both fly and swim. "ERROR. Unit codename [IRON BUNDLE] had flying and swimming capabilities removed to become a better battler. That is why I am called [BUNDLE], for I no longer function as a [PENGUIN]".
I'm not saying that the Pokemon itself cannot fly I am just saying that in the game, on the overworld it does not fly and all the flying ones are ones that fly in the game, even if only briefly. Or, at the very least, I had not seen Hawlucha fly. Even Gengar will levitate a little bit sometimes, iirc.
Varoom family.... how are you guys floating again? Why are you floating?
I'm not saying that the Pokemon itself cannot fly I am just saying that in the game, on the overworld it does not fly and all the flying ones are ones that fly in the game, even if only briefly. Or, at the very least, I had not seen Hawlucha fly. Even Gengar will levitate a little bit sometimes, iirc.
To be fair, one could ask the same thing about Geodude.
… Which, actually, I’m gonna do right now. How does Geodude float? The Alolan variant has some natural latitude in this regard due to being magnetic, and using magnetism for levitation in Pokémon was established from the very beginning (with Magnemite, and then later with the move Magnet Rise). But original recipe Geodude is literally just a rock. How is it generating the antigrav effect to stay airborne? And more to the point… why is floating Geodude even a thing to begin with? Surely it’d make infinitely more sense for the burly, rugged, sentient rock with arms to use its arms to get around, by pushing up and leaning forward, thereby causing it to build up muscle at the same time?
Even odder, if you look at its Pokedex entries, one that mention locomotion never say anything about it floating:
Stadium: When traveling uphill, if it encounters a raised step, it cleverly hoists itself up and over using its two arms.
Silver/SS: It uses its arms to steadily climb steep mountain paths. It swings its fists around if angered.
Sapphire/AS: When Geodude sleeps deeply, it buries itself halfway into the ground. It will not awaken even if hikers step on it unwittingly. In the morning, this Pokémon rolls downhill in search of food.
Emerald: It climbs mountain paths using only the power of its arms. Because they look just like boulders lining paths, hikers may step on them without noticing.
Ultra Moon: It uses both hands to climb precipitous cliffs. People who see it in action have been known to take up bouldering.
Legends: Makes its home in mountainous regions, using its arms to climb along harsh mountain roads. Can be troublesome—carelessly kicking one will cause it to fly into a rage and chase after you.
Plenty about using its arms to climb with one instance of rolling (and a few about burying itself). This seems to indicate that Geodude floating isn't actually that big of a deal, like it's been decided that how it does it isn't something worth looking much into. Also, if its using its arms to climb and sometimes decides rolling is more convenient, that must mean its floating doesn't lift it very high nor allows it to travel fast (which matches its Speed being 20). Infact when it evolves it grows feet and can no longer float, evolution having decided that's a beneficial change.
So, with all that said, I can only conclude Geodude's floating is just a result of geo-magic. Whether from its Ground- or Rock-type*, it being a Pokemon of that Type allows it to defy gravity otherwise it wouldn't be able to easily move (using its rock arms to move likely would use a lot of energy if it had to use them all the time and to lift its entire weight under the full effects of gravity). Interestingly enough, seeing if there was another Rock or Ground-type that float without another reason like a secondary Type which would allow it, Gen 9 gave us a newfamily who can float for seemingly no reason.
* Alolan Geodude doesn't really answer what side of the geo-magic is coming from. A-Geo trades Ground for Electric, so at face value you could say that means its the Rock side with the geo-magic as A-Geo is still floating. However, as Esserise pointed out, one could easily explain away A-Geo's floating is from electro-magnetism, which would come from its Electric side, which could mean its Ground side is the one with geo-magic and A-Geo just traded it out with electro-magnetism (which it could later reuse in another ways upon evolving). Though a new Gen 9 family may seem to suggest it is from the Rock side.
Even odder, if you look at its Pokedex entries, one that mention locomotion never say anything about it floating:
Stadium: When traveling uphill, if it encounters a raised step, it cleverly hoists itself up and over using its two arms.
Silver/SS: It uses its arms to steadily climb steep mountain paths. It swings its fists around if angered.
Sapphire/AS: When Geodude sleeps deeply, it buries itself halfway into the ground. It will not awaken even if hikers step on it unwittingly. In the morning, this Pokémon rolls downhill in search of food.
Emerald: It climbs mountain paths using only the power of its arms. Because they look just like boulders lining paths, hikers may step on them without noticing.
Ultra Moon: It uses both hands to climb precipitous cliffs. People who see it in action have been known to take up bouldering.
Legends: Makes its home in mountainous regions, using its arms to climb along harsh mountain roads. Can be troublesome—carelessly kicking one will cause it to fly into a rage and chase after you.
Plenty about using its arms to climb with one instance of rolling (and a few about burying itself). This seems to indicate that Geodude floating isn't actually that big of a deal, like it's been decided that how it does it isn't something worth looking much into. Also, if its using its arms to climb and sometimes decides rolling is more convenient, that must mean its floating doesn't lift it very high nor allows it to travel fast (which matches its Speed being 20). Infact when it evolves it grows feet and can no longer float, evolution having decided that's a beneficial change.
So, with all that said, I can only conclude Geodude's floating is just a result of geo-magic. Whether from its Ground- or Rock-type*, it being a Pokemon of that Type allows it to defy gravity otherwise it wouldn't be able to easily move (using its rock arms to move likely would use a lot of energy if it had to use them all the time and to lift its entire weight under the full effects of gravity). Interestingly enough, seeing if there was another Rock or Ground-type that float without another reason like a secondary Type which would allow it, Gen 9 gave us a newfamily who can float for seemingly no reason.
* Alolan Geodude doesn't really answer what side of the geo-magic is coming from. A-Geo trades Ground for Electric, so at face value you could say that means its the Rock side with the geo-magic as A-Geo is still floating. However, as Esserise pointed out, one could easily explain away A-Geo's floating is from electro-magnetism, which would come from its Electric side, which could mean its Ground side is the one with geo-magic and A-Geo just traded it out with electro-magnetism (which it could later reuse in another ways upon evolving). Though a new Gen 9 family may seem to suggest it is from the Rock side.
I've wondered in the past whether Geodude floating in the anime was a deviation the artists took rather than something the games intended.
Neither Geodude's art from RBY and FRLG implies that it's floating; there could feasibly be ground beneath it. And when you look at its sprites from the first few gens, it's the same case. The Yellow and Silver sprites portray it in motion so it's not out of the question it'd be briefly raised off the ground, but its sprites from RBG, Gold, and Crystal don't imply that it's floating. It's only in RS onwards that it explicitly floats.
As to why? I think it'd be harder to animate if it was constantly crawling because it'd come up to the human character's ankles. Making it float allows more expressiveness. Whenever we see fish Pokemon flop around when on dry land in the anime, it's usually played for comedy, but I don't think Geodude dragging itself around would look particularly pleasant.
I'm perfectly willing to accept geomagic as the reason, though.
Well, yeah, that's why meta-wise. Easier (aka cheaper) just to have Geodude floating than drawing it actually using its arms to jump up or walk. I would be surprised if, before the anime, GF even considered how practical it was for Geodude to move around. They just thought "rock creature that can punch" and went from there, it's not like they needed to animate it.
But with these kind of questions I do like to look for something in-lore.
And with that, just now I realized I should maybe look-up "levitating rocks" into Google to see what I find... and turns out there is maybe another explanation that isn't magic or magnets: sound.
Granted, in real life it's only small scale, but Pokemon tends to take science and exaggerate it if it fills a purpose. So in this case, Geodude could be levitating itself via unnoticeable sound waves; maybe it has a specialized vibrating organ or something.
