>>44731175Nice find anon. It's one of those things where you can sorta get the point but can't pin point the specifics, so having a firm basis is nice. Bulbapedo also said they might be based on this, in terms of function. I actually think it might not be too farfetched. It was primarily used by buddhist priests on both rituals and to scare away animals(this bit is also referenced by the kommo-o line). The part that makes me think it's the case is that in popular depictions, such as in anime, they are seen as being able to detect supernatural activity, and this is shown with the rings suddenly moving, which reminds of Lucario and Riolu's sensors. One other thing that makes it more likely: in the Lucario movie, Sir Aaron has one such staff. In that movie it also seems to double as an ancient pokeball, used to store lucario for like a few hundred or thousand years.
