>>48644995I'll just repost this from something I saw on /vp/ once as an explanation of Voltorb/Electrode.
Voltorb is a mimic. Since items are in Pokeballs on the overworld, a mimic in the Pokemon world would naturally look like a Pokeball instead of a treasure chest.
It's also based on a tsukumogami, which is a Japanese legend that an inanimate objects gains a soul on its 100th birthday. Voltorb just so happens to be the 100th Pokemon in the Pokedex.
Crazy how even a simple and silly design has in-universe justification and out-of-universe cultural inspiration.
tldr; voltorb is a kino RPG callback and Japanese folklore blended into one
