>>35213406Primarina looking the way it does always made sense to me, as it can use its good looks and singing to lure preys and take advantage of them. A Pokedex entry mentions it. That was always a thing with mermaids too, and Primarina learns Captivate by leveling up, so that seems as "canon" as it can be.
Popplio/Primarina are always presented as great swimmers, the anime went on its way to show this, and Popplio learns Aqua Jet pretty early. Primarina's spikes/stabilizers help with that too. Why assume they don't have speed underwater? Heck, I would have given the line Swift Swim, if we didn't already have a (mega) starter with that ability.
I don't know about cold environment, but Alola isn't one, and that's where the Popplio line is found.
All I see is Primarina being the culmination of what Popplio was. It's a performer who still uses bubbles. Primarina's bubbles are now controlled by its singing, and damage enemies. It's signature attack involves bubbles and performing to possibly hunt a prey, or defeat a foe. Why would it have evolved any other way?
It's not hard to me to imagine Primarina in the wild at all. I can imagine it swimming around minding its own business, I can imagine it being a helpful creature using the healing properties of its singing to help strangers and sing burns away, and I can see it using its good looks to attract victims and then rape them.
I can see it having fun with its bubbles on its own, I can see it wanting to become an entertainer because, just like sea lions, it might be eager of attention, I can see it leading a colony of other Primarina in the wild and singing with them.
Singing can be a profession but it's not inherently one. Many animals do that.
