drunkenlemur asked: There's also the fact that Magikarp is based on an old folk tale about how if a Carp can swim to the top of a waterfall (i.e. something impossible) it will become a dragon (or Gyarados).

There you go.

Anonymous asked: I always thought Gyarados and Dragonite seemed mixed up too

I think most people think this just because of the whole dragon typing (or rather, lack thereof). The pokemon themselves share striking resemblances from their pre-evos. In Gyarados, the same dorsal and pectoral fins, gaping mouth, and whiskers. In Dragonite, the horn, general head shape, serpentine tale, and slow evolution from Dratini to Dragonite of fins on its head to wings on it back.