Viscious-Protector

Unfortunately, bats are some of our most under-appreciated pokemon friends, so most studies and targeted observations on the effects of fireworks on wildlife focus on birds. Because of this, it’s known that fireworks disrupt birds and cause erratic flight patterns and behaviors while they try desperately to get away from the literal bomb siege, and it’s strongly suspected fireworks are even worse to highly sound sensitive birds such as noctowl. So it only makes sense this would be every bit as bad if not worse for pokemon that rely heavily on sound to function such as bat pokemon, especially zubat which have no sense of sight at all until they evolve into golbat.

Slateport’s wildlife sanctuary reports local zubat feeding drastically decreases when fireworks are launched during the city’s annual summer show. They search, but it seems they’re unable to find their food. At this time it’s not known exactly what causes this reduced success, but the leading hypothesis is that the bug types are drawn toward the bright lights of the fireworks, away from their usual gathering areas, while the bats are frightened away by the noise. It’s also possible the noise disrupts their echolocation, making it the equivalent of you fumbling around blindly in the dark for your spilled McDonphan’s nuggets.

Fortunately, they resume feeding shortly after the show ends, but at reduced success meaning they’re finding less to eat. In addition, the long term effects of sudden exposure to the light, smoke, and noise on the zubat’s cortisol production and overall health are unknown. Not to mention they go to bed still hungry that night.

The number of pokemon species that rely on sound-based attacks such as exploud, noivern, and rillaboom paint an even clearer picture of how loud noise is an effective destructive force against pokemon minding their own business. Except unlike these pokemon, such as noivern which use targeted pulses of sound to hit specific prey targets, a firework deals area of effect (AOE for you gaming types) damage without care.

Every year immediately after the 4th of July, Unovan wildlife shelters report increased volumes of patients arriving with head trauma and symptoms of shock in addition to severe burns.

So what can you, local pyrotechnics enthusiast, do? If you want to see fireworks, it’s best to go see a public show. A larger audience can enjoy one concentrated display which makes it more efficient than hundreds if not thousands of people setting off piles of fireworks at home for private enjoyment across a broad area. You’re also not going to lose a finger to explosive mishandling when you let a professional do the work.

Alternatively, you can support a drone show which are thought to be less impactful on wildlife due to the lack of smoke and explosions. The acoustic effects of drones, which do emit high frequency noise, on wildlife are still little known, but it’s thought they’re still vastly safer than fireworks.

If you simply MUST set off your own fireworks, ensure you’re at the very least 1.6 kilometers (or 1 mile) away from the nearest forest, wetland, or other wildlife area to minimize your impact on local bats.

And remember, even if you’re not a fan of bat pokemon (looking at you, zubat-versaries) you still love what bats do for you. They consume pest bug types to help keep their populations under control and minimize how many bug bites you get when you step outside during the summer, they reduce pests that destroy food crops, and they pollinate your favorite fruits such as durians, mangoes, aguav berries, bananas, and nanab berries. Next time you go to the grocery store to pick up a fresh, succulent mango, you have a bat to thank for that.

Real World Sources:

https://phys.org/news/2026-05-brown-fireworks.html

https://www.nationalgeographic.com/animals/article/fireworks-danger-wildlife

https://www.batcon.org/agricultural-allstars/