Title text: Biologists play reverse Pokémon, trying to avoid
putting any one team member on the front lines long enough for
the experience to cause evolution. In Pokemon, a highly popular
game series, the protagonist goes out in search for the
eponymous creatures. Many of Pokemon can be found directly in
the wild, but there are also a lot of Pokemon that require
training and growth, to cause them to "evolve" into new Pokemon.
"Evolve" (the game's term) is a misnomer (which had earned
itself quite some controversy in the past). In reality, when
applied to Pokemon, "evolution" is more akin to puberty or
metamorphosis, since, instead of the entire species of Pokemon
acquiring changes throughout an extended period of time, one
specific member of the species grows instantly to the "higher
stage." (To be more specific, the Pokemon glows before
transforming into the new form, then stops glowing.) The changes
can be quite dramatic...or not. This comic depicts the
"evolution" of a bacteria as observed by a Biologist i