Pokémon The Alola Pokedex

[Pen]

Gengar

I've been writing about the gasty line recently, so I thought I'd check this one out and see your take on them! I really enjoy your ghost pokemon AD entries, they give me so many plot bunnies, rip.

Throughout history ghost pokémon have been treated with a mix of fear and reverence. Gengar are the most common ghost worldwide and worldwide they have inspired far more fear than reverence. They have been historically seen as malevolent tricksters that sometimes form partnerships of convenience with human trainers.

Double history here.

Now there is an increasingly popular theory that gengar may have complex emotional lives and a tragic misunderstanding of their circumstances.

This felt a little too compressed--having read the whole thing, I get what you mean, but as a summary line it didn't really elucidate anything.

Many trainers mistake “common” with “easy to train.” While often true, this is not the case for gengar.

That's a good distinction to make. Magikarp probably fall into the same category. * rampaging gyarados sounds *

Inhaling just a few grams can kill a human.

Oh, fun.

Gastly have relatively little control over their bodies and they can be disrupted by a stiff breeze (see Illness). While they can move at speeds of up to five meters per second if given time to compose themselves beforehand they seldom move faster than two to three meters per second in the wild.

I'm imagining a moving cloud of gastly on the wind--would make a cool horror movie set-piece.

They can shift into another realm and move through it to bypass solid barriers at the cost of being temporarily unable to affect the world.

This seems to accept "other realms" or planes as being a real thing. I'd be interested in more elaboration here. One of my pet theories is that when ghost pokemon vanish, they've shifted into the Distortion World, though that's Sinnoh-centric.

This density makes them very fast, capable of reaching speeds up to thirty meters per second in pure darkness and ten meters per second under natural moonlight.

I don't know how density creates a speed that varies by light, but this sounds cool, so whatever.

Any fear they evoke is physically and psychologically draining and a particularly severe haunting can potentially render the victim comatose.

Oof. I wonder if there's professional gastly exterminators out there? Oh wait, you basically used a similar idea in Room 817. The POV of a ghost exterminator would be cool.

While the early stages are capable of living out on the streets, both strongly prefer residing inside of buildings to shut out the wind.

Love this practical explanation for why hauntings mostly take place indoors.

This is complicated by haunter’s incredible jealousy: even if they are fond of their trainer, they will attempt to sabotage all of their close relationships with intelligent pokémon and other humans.

That doesn't sound like any pokemon in BT . . .

If raised from a gastly and treated well throughout their more unruly formative years, gengar can be very protective of their trainer and feed almost entirely off of the positive emotions generated by the partnership. They are also capable of scanning memories to quickly learn the human language in full and then use illusions to speak. Gengar have human comparable intelligence and are generally capable of being treated as a close human friend.

Aww, Gengar fren.

The pokémon can’t be safely touched without an airtight inorganic suit. Trainers who intend to have a haunter or gengar long-term should invest in such a suit because all stages can be very affectionate. A chronic lack of physical affection will remind them of their condition and send them into rages.

That's really sad. Oof. They just want cuddles 😭

Because they usually feed on negative emotions gastly are at low risk of contracting most ghost illnesses.

Comma needed after 'emotions.'

time loops,

👀 do they trap nearby stuff in a time-loop? That would be a very scary trip.

Gengar with a meaningful connection to a human partner will usually pass on when their trainer does. The species does not fear their own mortality and most channelers describe gengar as wishing to move on eventually but in no rush to do so.

I like this--very non-dramatic.

The chair of Goldenrod University’s ghost studies department is even a ghost-type pokémon herself.

Which kind? That would make for, uh, interesting department meetings and academic drama.

Some of the more philosophical researchers believe that there is no difference at all between the three so long as the new ghost believes itself to be the old person.

Eyyyy.

Gengar typically believe themselves to be the deceased person in a new form. Most of the evolutionary process is about remembering and accepting who they are and what happened to them.

This sounds like amazing oneshot fodder. Trainer and their haunter retracing the steps of the haunter's past life . . .

Gastly are best treated as toddlers. They are still figuring out how their body works and they have very limited self-awareness and higher brain functions.

Wow, deadly toddlers. That sounds like such a good time.

As they develop, haunter become progressively more distressed by the clash between their current parasitic existence and decidedly inhuman form and their steadily resurfacing human psyche.

Babies :sobs:

All stages of the line hate telepathic damage as it hits their already fragile and confused psyche. Mud or fine sand particulates can get stuck in their bodies and take a moment to filter out. Until cleared, debris inside of the fog substantially slows the pokémon down.

Yay for practical explanations of why they'd be weak to psychic and ground attacks!

Folklore and recent history suggest that gastly are most common following mass tragedies involving the air such as towns choked by volcanoes or smoke, tornadoes, hypothermia or heatstroke, the rampages of flying-type legendaries, or the use of chemical weapons on soldiers or civilians.

Yikes! I wonder what happened to Lavender Town in your verse, to trigger so many gastly . . .

Some haunter and gengar in the throes of deep loneliness and emotional pain come to believe that killing another human will create a new partner who understands their pain.

This is not the case.

Oh no. I didn't expect to say 'solid ending line' for an AD entry, but: solid ending line.

 

[kintsugi]

the chapter said read hawlucha and oricorio, so here i am

Hawlucha--in which I learn about bird crops and manure! I can only imagine and respect the amount of research that went into this, so thanks for giving the condensed version. Love the little detail that they have to snooze a lot after they eat.

I also liked how the natural culture of hawlucha makes them poor candidates for traditional battling--this ties back into the idea that different cultures can value different things but still be of value. It also makes for an interesting argument in light of "pokemon fight in the wild therefore they should like battling"--when the goal of fighting has different meanings, I feel like this collapses a bit.

This is also really interesting to read post-BT, knowing what this means to Cuicatl/Anahuac culture in general and then seeing the reduction to feeding habits, itemized food intake per day, dissection of the fighting style. It has this meta effect of showing how some of the things we used to find magical are slowly leaving the world, how studying something in more detail makes it less mysterious and as such more mundane. Also, fun vibes about how of course the author of this guide probably doesn't particularly find those details important, because like, why would you want to write about boring things like historical inequality that you benefit from when there's gut bacteria to discuss?? Really loved this chapter + the way you dance around those details; it paints a nice story in the things that it isn't talking about.

Despite the best efforts of American and European scientists no hawlucha ever survived for more than a month outside of Mesoamerica until 1987.

oh good, shoutouts to my favorite character from BT

At the end of the Third Thanksgiving War the United States conditioned peace on the surrender of one thousand hawlucha and information on how to care for them. Emperor Necalli IV agreed. He was subsequently executed for treason by the captain of the eagle warriors. Twenty-two years of civil war followed.

I like the clinical nature of this, and the history that has to lie between each of those sentences. In general the narration of ADex isn't particularly spirited (which I think works in general and lets you set up for more laconic bits like "hawlucha smell like sacks of shit"), but there's a lot that's said in what it's choosing not to say here.

Hawlucha are known for their very precise movements and strikes that let them scar opponents with their claws yet do little more than superficial damage.

I liked this detail a lot.

These were uncommon companions in the early colonial era but the mass produced pokéball and broader international trade networks allowed the empire’s enemies to make sure they had an adequate supply.

Anahuac has suffered several military defeats since 1876 and declined in influence in large part because hawlucha became less effective on the battlefield.

I think this could be rephrased a little; I had trouble following it. "Due to the difficulty in obtaining and transporting large pokemon, these were uncommon companions in the early colonial era, but the mass produced pokeball and broader international trade networks gradually allowed the empire's enemies to build up a larger supply." And then maybe put the "Anahuac has suffered several military defeats" on the same paragraph.

While international laws are seldom worth mentioning, trainers with a desire to travel should know that owning a hawlucha without proper authorization is considered treason in Anahuac.

! I like that this is mentioned here, along with the sidenote of "we normally don't care and honestly we really don't care except you, dear reader, might get murdered, so perhaps you should care specifically because of the effects it might have on you." Not sure if "proper authorization" is the right word in the same context as class licenses, especially if the article here doesn't really lend much weight to the Anahuac authority anyway.

---

oricorio!

This is like four entries in one, and I really like how you build feasible explanations for how each type of oricorio is adapted to its habitat. And then promptly how those adaptations made them particularly vulnerable for invasive species to come in and wipe them out. Baile oricorio burning down the trees that would've kept them safe from future predators was a particularly interesting one to read about imo. The detailed fixation on music/dance, especially on learning new ones from strangers, was a really delightful way to incorporate the somewhat comical concept of "dancing bird" into a more grounded setting.

The sensu one is of course my favorite because i'm an edgy fuck--there's something really terrifying about it, but I also like how you portray the sensu oricorio's thoughts + rationality in it beyond just vanilla haunting you with dead visions. The roots in ceremony and politeness, ghost tea parties in a meadow--it captures this weird sense of whimsy and strangeness that feels very foreign but also something I can try to grasp. Definitely made me feel like I was an outsider looking in on an alien culture, just one that happens to also have ample access to psychological warfare tools. Super neat. I really love these and appreciate the amount of thought that must've gone into making all of them; it's such a unique and crazy take and I can't help but adore it.

Pom-pom and pa’u oricorio can only jump and control their fall with air current manipulation.

I liked the detail here--of course those two wouldn't be able to fly.

Invasive species such as gumshoos and raticate have dramatically changed this situation. Pom-pom and pa’u oricorio are also unable to take to the skies to avoid terrestrial predators. Raticate in particular wiped out the pa’u style oricorio before the remaining portions of Akala Meadow were barricaded off and oricorio from other islands were introduced.

I thought this was interesting since alolan-rattata are specifically unique from rattata that we see in the other regions (particularly the ones that seem based on Japan/China, which is where these were supposed to be invasive from). Did the divergence happen after they were introduced to Alola? I skimmed back through the rattata article and I didn't see anything (although I could've missed it).

Because pa’u oricorio traditionally sleep on the ground at night and rattata can navigate through even thick flowerbeds the oricorio were easily killed

dropped a period here

Their mere presence is a large part of the reason why few souls have dared to live in the eastern half of Poni Island.

heh, souls.

Sensu oricorio could theoretically force some forfeits from opponents who don’t want to deal with their nightmare apparitions but this is a cheap strategy that requires spending large amounts of time around a sensu oricorio. There is serious discussion of preemptively banning the sensu style from the U.S. and Alolan Leagues to prevent a potentially uncompetitive strategy.

yeah but have you seen toxapex stall

One may take notice join in with their own.

Dropped a word here

Strangely enough, setting up a tea party with an empty chair with a cup of nectar can attract sensu oricorio. If very proper manners are observed and an interesting story is told with proper respect and minimal emotion the oricorio might consent to capture. Alternatively, trainers with ties to at least one god can sometimes get sensu oricorio to seek them out. It is not necessary to capture these birds after tea parties and they handle polite rejections shockingly well.

ghost tea party ghost tea party!!! this is such an excellent concept; love the whimsy here.

All oricorio styles can be captured, adopted, or purchased with a Class III license.

Discussed in DM's but I agree that it'd make sense for capturing/transforming your oricorio into a sensu should be Class V, especially if they talk about banning it from the circuit altogether.

 

[Persephone]

Downloading from The Alola Pokédex Online Appendix . . .

Vespiquen (Combee)

Overview

Vespiquen are more often found on farms than on the battlefield or trail. The species’ instinct is to claim a stationary territory and slowly take command of it. Traveling does not mesh well with these desires. Vespiquen are also the de facto leaders of their hive and are not used to taking orders or cooperating with other species. Getting them to battle regularly is a lengthy process that requires regular maintenance of the hive.

Traveling trainers are encouraged to use another bug with easier care requirements; forretress is bulkier and araquanid is a stronger special attacker. Hobbyists with a fair amount of land may find vespiquen to be a good source of honey and a strange companion. Those looking to own vespiquen should know that stationary hives are only allowed on Akala.

Physiology

Combee and vespiquen are classified as dual bug- and flying-types. They were formerly classified as bug- and psychic-types before it became clear that the so-called hive mind is not based on telepathy.

Combee are a combination of three warrior drones. Workers construct solid layers of honeycomb armor around them. This process triggers a flash evolution that results in two warriors losing their stingers and the wings moving to the side of the combee. They use weak aerokinesis to keep their heavy armor and three bodies aloft with one set of wings.

Vespiquen’s head is covered in a thick layer of chitin armor. Large mandibles extend from the mouth. A single pair of relatively thick and powerful limbs is used for holding onto trees and carrying objects. Vespiquen’s lower body segment is roughly conical. Like the rest of the body it is coated in black and yellow stripes. The lower body contains an elaborate honeycomb structure with several different chambers. These are used for nursing the next generation of combee.

Vespiquen can grow up to two meters tall and weigh up to thirty kilograms.

Behavior

It was once believed that vespiquen dominated combee by either fear or telepathy. Neither is true. Instead, vespiquen use powerful pheromones to gain the obedience of their subjects. This obedience is not absolute, either. All drones are loyal to the hive. If the vespiquen is badly injured and her pheromones begin to weaken the combee will not hesitate to kill her and repurpose her body mass into a new vespiquen (see Evolution). The vespiquen will make no move to resist as she also wants the best for the hive, whether or not she leads it.

Vespiquen find a central, easily defensible location. They will then latch onto a tree limb and stay there for weeks at a time. The bulk of the hive’s work is done by drones. The largest drones are combee and there can be up to 1000 in a hive. Hundreds or thousands of larvae and small drones also inhabit the vespiquen’s lower body. Builder drones build new vespiquen and maintain or improve the structures in the vespiquen’s lower segment. Nurse drones make royal jelly and distribute honey, pollen, and jelly to the larvae. Worker drones organize the collected resources and create honey.

Combee scout the area and collect pollen, nectar, and water to make honey with. They will also defend their territory against any threats to the hive, real or perceived. Individual combee are not particularly strong; a fit human can power through their bites and stings and kill them easily enough. A swarm of several hundred combee falling upon a single target is usually enough to down it. If this seems unlikely to work the combee can form a tight wall, stingers facing towards the enemy. This deters most would-be attackers. Vespiquen are the final line of defense.

Combee are not particularly intelligent or long-lived, but the hive still has a long memory. Long-lasting chemical markers are used to send signals to future combee, old combee mentor younger ones on the surrounding land, and vespiquen can provide instructions when more complex thought or deep memory is required.

The hierarchy and division of labor in a hive is very rigid. Every unit has a single purpose they fulfill. Deviation is extremely rare and immediately punished.

Husbandry

Vespiquen are best suited to life in a meadow of flowers with one or two large trees. The combee will patrol the area and harvest pollen and nectar before bringing it back to the vespiquen. Humans and pokémon that do not compete for resources or disturb the hive are tolerated.

Honey is best harvested under a cloud of sleep spores. Doing otherwise invites disaster, even with protective gear. Vespiquen usually have the good sense to hang tight or drop to the ground when they get drowsy.

Trainers seeking a friendship with their vespiquen are better off offering honey than taking it. After coming to associate a human with food the vespiquen may become curious about or protective of them. Vespiquen have above average intelligence for bugs and can be taught to play simple games. Continuous honey donations will be required or the combee may decide that their queen’s eccentricities are a threat to the hive.

Traveling trainers wishing to use a vespiquen are advised to use a queen removed from her hive. Vespiquen only needs builder, nurse, and worker drones as well as a few combee. More combee are unnecessary and likely to cause more problems than they solve. Unfortunately, vespiquen will continuously attempt to make combee until it becomes clear that only a certain number are allowed. This can take months to settle in. Vespiquen are surprisingly curious and thoughtful creatures when freed from the constraints of running a full hive. It must be reinforced that the best way to get food is to socialize with and battle for their trainer.

Water, pollen, and nectar can be provided directly. Providing royal jelly and honey instead allows the vespiquen to shift drone production away from workers and towards builders and warriors.

Training of combee without a vespiquen is not advised. It can be done if the trainer is willing to use a perfume made with vespiquen pheromones, but combee tend not to understand the desires of their “queen.” Their primitive thought processes can lead them to attack anything that gets close or dart away for hours or even days at a time while they map out the surrounding area. If there is ever a lapse in the perfume coverage the combee may decide that their queen is defective and must be put down.

Vespiquen are not well suited for pokéballs as they tend to exclude the many weak pokémon and non-pokémon that live within them. Bee balls can be used to store and transport vespiquen for short periods of time, but they are rather expensive and difficult to come by.

Combee stings can be fatal to trainers with a strong allergic reaction. It is recommended that prospective vespiquen owners make sure they do not have a severe allergy beforehand.

Illness

Combee are not built to last long. The average combee dies within a year. There is very little research into helping combee recover from more-than-superficial injuries. Pokémon Center nurses may decline to try anything more than a chansey egg offering. Even private specialists may not be able to do much.

Vespiquen injuries are better understood. It is important to treat them at the first sign of trouble, as there is a very real risk that the hive will turn on their queen during this time. Even with the best medicine vespiquen still age and their pheromones weaken. They will be killed and their biomass repurposed to form the next vespiquen. This is how vespiquen die in both the wild and captivity: it can only be delayed, not prevented.

Evolution

A few larvae are fed exclusively royal jelly. These go on to be princesses. Princess drones regularly seek out and kill competitors for the throne; it is rare that more than one or two are active at a given time. When the vespiquen dies the strongest princess will eat its way into the brain through the old queen’s eyes. Once inside a flash evolution will occur that “resurrects” the vespiquen. Damage is healed proportional to the number of drones sacrificed.

On very rare occasions a combee will evolve without matricide. An aging vespiquen with a very large swarm may send a princess and a large company of combee and other drones out to a new territory. Many of the combee will be sacrificed and their energy used to fuel a flash evolution.

Evolving combee in captivity requires either sacrificing a vespiquen or owning one with a massive hive. Trainers are encouraged to start with a vespiquen rather than a combee.

Battling

Vespiquen are best off battling as they would in the wild: with hundreds of combee at their size. This is rarely allowed. On one notable occasion a ranked trainer’s prize aggron was killed after an amateur with a vespiquen sent a small army of drones into her windpipe and caused her to choke to death. The Brockton Incident, as it is called in competitive circles, is widely cited when limiting vespiquen to only non-combee drones in battle.

Without a full swarm vespiquen function as bulky zoning fighters. Vespiquen can take a hit and use the sacrifices of drones to heal themselves. In the meantime they can strike back with either energy attacks or the rest of the hive. This tends to be a very hit or miss strategy: some pokémon can’t cope with small attacks from dozens of angles. Others can light themselves on fire to kill all surrounding bugs instantly. Some are functionally invulnerable to combee bites. These matches are a struggle for vespiquen, but crafty play with utility moves and energy attacks can turn them into victories.

Combee should not be battled with outside of very low stakes matches against the likes of newborn pokémon and caterpie.

Curiously, salazzle has been found to hard counter vespiquen. The amphibian’s pheromones are more potent than the vespiquen’s own and can confuse the combee, even driving them to attack their queen. Some trainers have taken to applying salazzle or vespiquen pheromones to their pokémon before battling a known vespiquen trainer. The tactic is currently legal but frowned upon as unsporting.

Acquisition

Vespiquen have a habit of killing competing pollinators in their range. The few vespiquen that have managed to escape from Nineteenth- and Twentieth-Century honey farms have mostly been eradicated. The remaining ones are designated as high priority for removal by the DNR. For decades a group of amateur and professional insect keepers lobbied for the right to import more vespiquen, or at least to capture and own the ones already in Alola. The DNR agreed under pressure from the Governor. Vespiquen farms can only be located on Akala, where the local ribombee population is already nearly eradicated and what remains of Akala Meadow needs pollinators.

There are a handful of wild vespiquen in Alola but wild capture is not recommended. Captive specimens can be purchased from insect breeders and larger farm supply stores. Ownership requires a Class IV license. Combee require a Class I license to own individually. Acquisition of individual combee is not recommended.

Breeding

Vespiquen can reproduce sexually or asexually. Asexual reproduction produces halploid male drones. These drones are fed royal jelly for the first three days of life and then moved on to honey and pollen. Males will grow up to serve as builders and combee. Females are diploid. Most are weened off of royal jelly after three days, causing them to become sterile. These become nurse and worker drones. A small proportion of females are kept on a diet of royal jelly, keeping their sterility and putting them in line for evolution. Vespiquen are constantly mating and producing eggs. If breeding were to ever stop it would spell disaster for the hive. Selectively breeding vespiquen is not currently possible.

Subspecies

Standard, or continental, vespiquen are native to temperate Eurasia. These are the vespiquen found in Alola.

Desert vespiquen live in North Africa, the Arabian Penninsula, and portions of the Gobi Desert and Hindu Kush. They have also been introduced to Australia. These vespiquen build underground tunnel systems, complete with a large chamber for the queen. The queen clings to the top of this chamber. She is usually hibernating. When rain falls and the chamber starts to fill with water, the queen will use her relatively great strength to climb to the surface. She will bring her nurse drones out of stasis and begin to rapidly breed. Her offspring will pollinate the plants growing in the temporary bloom. When the desert again begins to dry they will rebuild the tunnel system, gather all of the plant matter they can find as food for the vespiquen during the dry months or years, and then the drones will die. The vespiquen will go back into hibernation underground.

The dynamax vespiquen is less a species and more a single individual with an interesting niche. The high concentration of Galar Particles on a small island near the Isle of Armor allows for a vespiquen to stay near constantly dynamaxed. Her many, many combee pollinate all of the plants on the Isle of Armor and bring back pollen and nectar. The honey the vespiquen produces has strange properties related to dynamax and gigantamax. It can only be obtained by killing the vespiquen and causing it to revert to a normal size. The hive goes dormant during this time. A princess will become queen within a few hours. She will immediately dynamax and the cycle will continue. Killing the vespiquen is perfectly legal with the permission of the local government.

The dynamax vespiquen technically goes extinct while its honey is harvested. This makes it one of the only pokémon subspecies to not only revive itself from extinction, but to do it regularly.

 

[surskitty]

Shit, even the bees are full of bees. I like the detail that the princess eats through the mom's eyes to become the next vespiquen. Aw, yeah.

 

[Pen]

WE STAN OUR HIVE-MIND QUEN. ALL HAIL THE FRUITS OF PERFECTLY LEGITIMATE DEMOCRACY.

Anyway.

Bees are weird and messed-up. Yay for the sacrifice of drones, drones killing their queen if she can't find her perfume in the morning, and killer bees up the nostril. I am not sure why anyone would want to train these things if it involves a combee entourage but people do crazy stuff. A comparative bees section might have been cool--how do vespiquen hives differ from beedrill hives? Have the two species ever competed for territory and who would win? I have a personal soft spot for beedrill, but I'm guessing the answer is vespiquen.

Less hive-mind shenanigans than I expected. Where is the story of the vespiquen trainer who came to the conclusion that he was in fact a drone that must obey the every command of his queen? When the two were at last separated, he attempted to fly back to her. To this day he still subsists primarily on honey.

The species’ instinct is to claim a stationary territory and slowly take command of it. Traveling does not mesh well with these desires.

How about spreading the hive's territory through CONQUEST and ASSIMILATION?

They were formerly classified as bug- and psychic-types before it became clear that the so-called hive mind is not based on telepathy.

Yeah, it's not like you can hear the other people's thoughts. You just sort of . . . know. Not that I speak from personal experience.

Vespiquen usually have the good sense to hang tight or drop to the ground when they get drowsy.

"hang tight" feels a little slangy for our uptight AD writer.

Continuous honey donations will be required or the combee may decide that their queen’s eccentricities are a threat to the hive.

No friends, only food-providers.

Unfortunately, vespiquen will continuously attempt to make combee until it becomes clear that only a certain number are allowed. This can take months to settle in.

Oh boy, does this involve trainers gassing the excess combee or something?

When the vespiquen dies the strongest princess will eat its way into the brain through the old queen’s eyes. Once inside a flash evolution will occur that “resurrects” the vespiquen. Damage is healed proportional to the number of drones sacrificed.

Nature is so beautiful ❤

On one notable occasion a ranked trainer’s prize aggron was killed after an amateur with a vespiquen sent a small army of drones into her windpipe and caused her to choke to death. The Brockton Incident, as it is called in competitive circles, is widely cited when limiting vespiquen to only non-combee drones in battle.

Competitive battling in BT verse must be truly wild.

Some trainers have taken to applying salazzle or vespiquen pheromones to their pokémon before battling a known vespiquen trainer. The tactic is currently legal but frowned upon as unsporting.

Ooh, that is very cool. There must be so many tactics that fall in that murky category of "unsporting."

Killing the vespiquen is perfectly legal with the permission of the local government.

Lovely.

 

[kintsugi]

heyo, here for your blitz prize! also not a typo; @Rainfall set me loose and told me to have fun, so I went on a little tour. started with the bees because I must be a good drone and bring lots of reviews back for the TR hivemind.

in general this one is a good staple and a good relic of a fair election. vespiquen is creepy, but in a buggish sort of way. eating through the brain is optimal. eating honey is also optimal. we must all work together as one to serve the queen. I didn't even know that dynamax Vespiquen is a thing, but I like the way you handle the repeated + government sponsored battling of it.

It was once believed that vespiquen dominated combee by either fear or telepathy. Neither is true. Instead, vespiquen use powerful pheromones to gain the obedience of their subjects. This obedience is not absolute, either. All drones are loyal to the hive. If the vespiquen is badly injured and her pheromones begin to weaken the combee will not hesitate to kill her and repurpose her body mass into a new vespiquen (see Evolution).

I like this take on vespiquen biology in general, but the demystification of the hivemind is my favorite. You do a great job of showing off the other alien/very different mentalities at play here without immediately defaulting to literal hivemind.

The vespiquen will make no move to resist as she also wants the best for the hive, whether or not she leads it.

yes good

They use weak aerokinesis to keep their heavy armor and three bodies aloft with one set of wings.

against all known laws of aviation ...

Water, pollen, and nectar can be provided directly. Providing royal jelly and honey instead allows the vespiquen to shift drone production away from workers and towards builders and warriors.

I thought this was a neat touch--seems like a detail that a lot of battlers would want to know.

When the vespiquen dies the strongest princess will eat its way into the brain through the old queen’s eyes. Once inside a flash evolution will occur that “resurrects” the vespiquen. Damage is healed proportional to the number of drones sacrificed.

this is excellent and deeply horrifying. The eyes are the easiest point of entry to the brain, peak efficiency, good work.

Vespiquen are best off battling as they would in the wild: with hundreds of combee at their size.

size -> side here

On one notable occasion a ranked trainer’s prize aggron was killed after an amateur with a vespiquen sent a small army of drones into her windpipe and caused her to choke to death. The Brockton Incident, as it is called in competitive circles, is widely cited when limiting vespiquen to only non-combee drones in battle.

I am genuinely stunned that it took this long to get a Worm reference in this article. I was waiting for it the entire time lol.

Curiously, salazzle has been found to hard counter vespiquen. The amphibian’s pheromones are more potent than the vespiquen’s own and can confuse the combee, even driving them to attack their queen. Some trainers have taken to applying salazzle or vespiquen pheromones to their pokémon before battling a known vespiquen trainer. The tactic is currently legal but frowned upon as unsporting.

Loved this as a tactic

When rain falls

this is a coded cry for help from rainfall in the hivemind and you cannot convince me otherwise

Killing the vespiquen is perfectly legal with the permission of the local government.

I thought the phrasing here was particularly entertaining--isn't anything perfectly legal with permission of the government?

---

went to machoke next since I needed to remember how you quantified machamp strength vs bone density for,,, reasons.

I enjoy the commitment to tons of research for one or two throwaway lines about bone density and ligaments. Herbivorous machamp who just enjoy helping people is also a really wholesome take, although I have to wonder how they got so ridiculously strong if they weren't filling an apex predator role. Classing them as therapsids is also a clever way to get around the body shape vs head shape differences that are running around.

Machop are short bipeds with a human-like shape, a stubby tail, leathery gray skin, and three ridges above their head. The ridges are useful for increasing the machop’s surface area, helping vent the massive amounts of heat that their bodies can generate while exercising.

I like the reimagining of the little ridges as heat sinks--presumably this is less of a reimagining and just more of what they've always been, but I appreciate having it blatantly pointed out to me since I wasn't going to figure this out on my own.

Machoke grow incredibly strong as a result, but this comes with a price. While machoke have bones much denser than an ordinary human’s, they are still not nearly strong enough to withstand a machoke’s full strength. Firing off uninhibited punches can literally shatter the pokémon’s body in the process. In the wild the plate is only removed when the pokémon is already dying and wants to accomplish one last thing.

Thought this was a particularly clever way to get around the belt silliness with biological reasoning. The question of "why and how do some pokemon wear clothes" can be dodged once again.

A full grown machamp has ligaments with the tensile strength of silicon and bones tough enough to withstand their own punches. Even without removing their plate, machamp can punch 1000 times a second and exert energy equivalent to a kiloton of TNT. Unfortunately for humanity (but fortunately for machamp), the ambient energy that strengthens them dissipates after death, making machamp bones unviable as an industrial material.

Silicone actually feels like a flimsy metric for tensile strength here? Apologies if I was the one who okayed this initially. Looks like tendons (of wild turkeys) have UTS ranging from 66-112 MPa [link]; silicone ranges from 2.4 to 5.5 MPa [link]. I feel like for this one you wanted something to be slightly flimsy (since the tendons are what limit machamp from becoming the dominant species on earth by just punching things to death); can offer different material suggestions that would still fill that niche if you want to narrow it down to slightly weaker/same/stronger than actual ligaments (or! could just say that while their bones are dense, their ligaments are roughly on-par; I think that would have the same effect).

I liked the notes that the bones stop being strong after death, and specifically how this is a great sorrow for humans. Also explains why we don't just build out of corpses.

Many trainers are terrified the first time a machoke jumps into their path and demands a battle. They pose very little risk in practice: the entire line is herbivorous and machoke try not to seriously hurt their opponents. The challenge that looks scary to humans is just a standard greeting in machoke society.

henlo! this is so cute

In the wild machamp often follow apex predators around to watch for prey species that can put up a solid fight.

Didn't quite follow the logic here--if the prey species can put up a solid fight against the apex predator, do they come back when the prey species is no longer injured, or does it challenge it on the spot? Seems like this would only guarantee finding weakened opponents.

Be aware that machoke and machamp are not built for delicate hand movements. They can safely carry bulky goods, people, or mid-size to large pokémon. Items smaller than their hand are often broken, especially if moving them requires dexterity.

This was a really cute detail.

The first evolution usually occurs around the tenth birthday with the second occurring around the fiftieth birthday. Newly evolved machamp leave their dojo to wander around the wild, only briefly rejoining machoke dojos to breed.

"around" and then the specificity of the birthday was a bit strange to me--are there other celebrations for other birthdays besides 10/50? Do they sometimes delay a few weeks, hence the around?

The few pokémon that can take multiple hits can also fall prey to machamp if they have a conventional head.

lmao get wrecked

Many exploit the species’ relatively inaccurate throws by staying at a distance.

sad no guard sounds

Some particularly strong fire -type pokémon

I don't think there's a space between the hyphen in "fire-type", but the rules for that have been traditionally bullshit for forever, so.

Otherwise the machamp will easily revenge kill it.

the use of "revenge kill" feels a bit brutal in a world that probably hasn't developed seeing pokemon as pixels.

Machamp are one of the most metagame defining pokémon in the world.

I like this flip from being roughly UU and below with a few standout debuts in OU when snorlax was annoying.

The female will lay a clutch of three to five eggs about sixteen days later. She will drop them off at the nearest machoke dojo. Then she will leave. The male will stay another thirty to forty days until the eggs hatch.

Thought this was strange -- eggs? Then I learned that therapsids are not nearly as close to mammals as I had initially thought.

---

ended up finding the next entry I wanted to read simply by scrolling down, because all rocks are good frens and deserve love

Particularly liked the incorporation of the sunlight/sound elements of the lore--I never fully wrapped my head around why a pokemon that's mostly subterranean would evolve in a way that makes it benefit from being in direct sunlight, but sure. Ronks like sunning. It is very warm and they like light. I like the younger stages' characterization as just eating all of the metal; silly humans not understand why having so much food in one place in the open is just bad form if you didn't want it to be eaten. Plus there are so many interesting kinds of metal in one place here.

The line has the peculiar ability to attune and amplify energy waves around them. While gigalith use this to unleash powerful solar beams, roggenrola and boldore generally stick to sound waves or electrical currents. Upscale concert venues typically keep a few sound-tolerant roggenrola around as part of their acoustics system.

This is a bad pun and I am here for it.

The connective tissue between the main body and the legs is made of Pele’s hair.

the pele’s hair is withdrawn

I think it'd be more clear to stick to the lowercase capitalization consistently throughout--given that this is Alola I thought of capital Pele instead of the crystal on first glance.

Boldore are generally fine with noise as long as they are actively amplifying or otherwise controlling it. Unfortunately for trainers, this means that they are prone to magnifying the sounds of crying babies or loud arguments without being asked to do so.

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

They live in flows of fifty to three hundred boldore. The flows slowly migrate over the island they live on, entering different caves and eating minerals found within. If a boldore dies, its body is cannibalized by other members of the flow and the area is left immediately. Boldore are relatively curious about the world and prone to spending years at a time studying interesting things, living or otherwise.

It is very important to study things and understand them!

The cannibalization element dropped casually is great lol.

Small pokémon often use gigalith as a warm perch to rest on, confident that the gigalith will retaliate against anything that tries to start a fight on its body. Small felines are particularly prone to doing this. Psychics have discovered that the gigalith are seldom able to differentiate the cats currently living on them from their distant ancestors.

help. my heart

Gigalith simply have no need for thought or memory unless their environment drastically changes. Then and only then will gigalith start accessing memories and slow their relative sense of time down for a long enough period of time to find another sunny perch to sit in.

this is the most important reason for migration

Ideally over a dozen boldore would be housed together.

One dozen is far too few. We must line the walls of whatever room we occupy. For this reason, smaller rooms are preferred.

However, at least one has become fond of games in which they move around obsidian marbles. Marble games are a good way to train the pokémon in more subtle uses of their vibrations.

hahaha oh no

Ideally they will cannibalize parts of an existing gigalith. Memories are stored at the base of crystals, allowing newly evolving boldore to gain some of the memories of a gigalith that came before.

This was a cool and vaguely platyhelminthes way to approach rock eating.

Unfortunately, very loud music is seldom enough to outright knock out a pokémon.

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA
I like the use of "seldom"; like the warning tags saying not to put your Nintendo Switch in the microwave, it means that it has happened more than once

Gigalith can be found at high elevations with direct sunlight. Alola’s largest lives on the steps of the Altar of the Moone. Other notable gigalith live in Wela National Park and at the summit of Ten Carat Hill. Capture of gigalith is illegal due to their very long lifespans and the probability of collateral damage to a protected site during a capture battle.

This was a really cute detail

Gaining loyalty or imposing meaningful training regimens can be difficult, especially if the flow was about to migrate or was in the process of doing so when the pokémon was captured.

where are they going? what would they migrate to??? science will never know

---

for the memes and the lithovore team I had to go to sableye next. I like the angle for this one--I imagine you've already had your share of creepy ghosts doing weird human things, so here they are just doing cryptid shit that goes bump in the dark. The range of ideas covered is really impressive, and I like this idea that there's a strange, undocumented apex predator in Mammoth Cave. What is it? Is it a pokemon that we know about? One that we don't? I don't think (?) that there's an answer in this entry and I'm actually perfectly fine with it; it feels very true to the weird cave shit that we don't know about, and I like the idea that there are still ongoing mysteries in the pokemon world.

Sableye were first sighted in 1841 by spelunkers deep in the bowels of Mammoth Cave. They were sighted again in the upper levels of the cave in 1857, and a crypt of sableye explored a nearby farm in 1871. Sableye have since used their stealth and intelligence to find their way across the world, finding new caves and mines to live in.

"have since" felt strange to me--is there a way that they know for sure that the 1871 was the first forray outside of the cave? Or is it just that since then, we've seen evidence that sableye have left the cave.

One of sableye’s more unusual features is often hidden. When leaping or falling, sableye can extend shadowy “wings” from their upper arms, allowing them to make slightly higher jumps or break falls. The wings can also be used to appear larger than the pokémon is, deterring predators and competitors.

👀 is this a canon feature that gets hidden or did you make this up? Either way it's cool af.

Wounds are almost-instantly sealed with a smell stretch of shadowy skin.

yum

Their gemstones survive them, making sableye farming a difficult but lucrative venture. A great deal of small, low-quality gems must be fed to a sableye but, in turn, a few pure, massive gemstones will be harvested.

also delicious. I liked this detail and the one about sableye doing poorly in the brightly-lit areas of the competitive circuit; makes sense that these are details that would be included, but I definitely wouldn't have thought to include them.

Competitive battlers and analysts are torn over whether mega sableye is better than its base form.

um akshually mega evolution no longer exists and--

---

okay and then for the sableye meme I had to move to gengar next. interesting to see your (comparatively) older takes on ghosts, where they come from. I liked the angle of toxic relationships coupled with this idea that the gengar line is just constantly going through existential crises; it's another clever take on ghosts that branches out beyond "they kill you because your screams taste good" or whatever.

Now there is an increasingly popular theory that gengar may have complex emotional lives and a tragic misunderstanding of their circumstances.

This does not make them harmless.

Between this and the ending line I feel like you slipped into a more dramatic prose style here, and I'm here for it haha. ADex gets edgy let's go.

The mass of a healthy, fully developed gengar is exactly 40.61 kilograms.

Purely curiosity--is there a reason why this exact number?

This is complicated by haunter’s incredible jealousy: even if they are fond of their trainer, they will attempt to sabotage all of their close relationships with intelligent pokémon and other humans.

baby why don't you love me I've done so many nice things for you
Cuicatl should get a haunter. I would like to see the sheer scale of collateral damage.

They are also capable of scanning memories to quickly learn the human language in full and then use illusions to speak. Gengar have human comparable intelligence and are generally capable of being treated as a close human friend.

This is deeply terrifying and I like the image of it--a ghost approaching you and then just speaking to you in full.

Several prominent scholars are channelers. The chair of Goldenrod University’s ghost studies department is even a ghost-type pokémon herself.

This is also dope. Johto's doing it right!

Gastly are formed from human deaths. Gengar typically believe themselves to be the deceased person in a new form. Most of the evolutionary process is about remembering and accepting who they are and what happened to them.

This is an interesting thought that I'd love to see explored in a one-shot or something. Silly humans in their prevo stage; should hold eviolite to be stronger.

Alternatively, humans react to them the same way they always have: fear and disgust. After all, haunter still need to feed and their hauntings are decidedly unpleasant. Their possible victims have very good reason to shun haunter away. Even sympathetic people have to deal with haunter being possessive, violent, and unable to fully comprehend their emotions.

I think "often" over "always" would help here, since the previous paragraph suggests that cooperative and loving homes are possible and can result in a wholesome evolution for everyone.

All stages of the line hate telepathic damage as it hits their already fragile and confused psyche. Mud or fine sand particulates can get stuck in their bodies and take a moment to filter out. Until cleared, debris inside of the fog substantially slows the pokémon down.

I thought this + the bright lights details in the battling section were particularly cool for explaining the weird weaknesses of Gengar specifically, based on the behaviors discussed.

Gengar require a Class V license to possess without the gengar’s consent. With consent they only require a Class III license.

heh, "possess"

Gengar do not breed. Some human deaths, for reasons currently unknown, produce a new gastly. Folklore and recent history suggest that gastly are most common following mass tragedies involving the air such as towns choked by volcanoes or smoke, tornadoes, hypothermia or heatstroke, the rampages of flying-type legendaries, or the use of chemical weapons on soldiers or civilians.

Ah hmmm, who would do that??? I like the range of triggers here, a long line of mostly-natural disasters, and then chemical warfare. Interesting that there are volcanoes mentioned ... should Kekoa be worried?

---

Still, their intelligence and folklore make them extremely popular among a certain subset of trainer: teenage girls with no friends, a goth-inspired wardrobe, a chip on their shoulder. At least one literal vampire has befriended one.

i mean naturally how could i not.

This one is fun. It's like the sparknotes for that book on corvid biology that you recommended that I read but then the library didn't have it and eight months passed. Lots of fun features for murkrow biology, I like how they still cuddle but are little shitlords, and the hierarchy systems that they set up were super interesting as well + make for a logical segue between mob societies that are made of birds.

However, the belief that honchkrow deliberately starve the murkrow like raticate starve rattata is false. While honchkrow prioritize their survival over the murkrow in extremely difficult times, the distribution of food in good times is usually rather equitable when adjusting for body mass.

this is an optimal and benevolent mob boss; good

The latter is not strictly a requirement, as one murkrow was observed trying to drag away a small television set several times larger than itself.

yes good

Gaining their respect requires acting like a honchkrow. Many trainers assume that this just means bullying their pokémon.

my god who would EVER

Wild honchkrow are not particularly kind to their children. After losses in battle, they will harass their trainer just as much as a newly caught murkrow does. However, honchkrow are willing to share any kills they make and will occasionally cuddle with their trainer at night.

I liked the dichotomy here--bird sees you as child! This is! bad! for you! sometimes.

They do not immediately form their own murder, instead grouping into murders of sub-adults that roam between territories, scaring off other scavengers when possible and doing their own hunting when necessary.

Oooh, is this common in corvids? I'm reminded of lions but I imagine the behavior is widespread.

Brave bird or sky attack are ideal moves with sucker punch or dark pulse serving as a compliment. Heat wave, steel wing, or superpower provides useful coverage.

Probably a bit biased because I came off of four or five entries that I think covered moves + how they specifically are favored to the species' habits and biology in really excellent ways, but this particular battle section felt a bit clinical to me. Are any of these commonly used in the wild or do they mostly just spend their time using brute force? Maybe their intelligence makes them easily able to pick up a wide variety of moves specifically for the circuit?

---

Overall this was a really excellent wikiwalk, kind of akin to just stumbling through various entries and reading dumb things on Wikipedia for an hour or so. I'm still really impressed by the sheer amount of random background information that filters here + how there are a ton of unique takes here; I had two lithovores, two ghosts, etc but they felt like uniquely studied species with their own quirks and biological niches.

Dumb suggestion and you'd probably hate implementing it, but on the subject of wikiwalks--it'd be pretty cool if there were links to the other entries as they're mentioned (i.e. the hawlucha entry mentions they train well with machop).

 

[Rainfall]

[blitzmode]

Here for Blitz! In response to the Dex entry on the magikarp line! (post 68).
(went away for like 18 hours before coming back to finish this, oop)

Spoiler: chattering

(Finally decided to do Alola Pokedex for my first review of the year, and finally decided on the magikarp line.
Blitzing this as a first pass, that isn't to promise I'll be back for magikarp fam (though I would like to? maybe not), more to say sorry for some of the shoddiness of initial review substance. edit: actually, this is decent level of me, sorry for any future drop!)
(Ah! I should run my mouth some more, this time in general about disclaiming myself as a STEM enthusiast with very little actual STEM knowledge, and very little in biology. So if I happen to embarrass myself responding to this work or elsewhere, well, boohoo for me T_T)

I'm going to be implicitly gushing and earnestly asking a lot of poorly-formed questions that pop into mind that don't necessarily deign a response but where also it would be cool to get responses to certain ones, where I totally won't be indicating which ones, for that matter : ). I'm also going to tail off (ed/ not as much as I thought, but still quite significant!) the bulk of material as I move to complete my initial response. So here I hop to it (by your section headings).
___

Overview:

Magikarp barely qualifies as a pokémon. It boasts one of the lowest energy potentials of any known pokémon and survives mostly on the basis of its prodigious spawn rate than its skill in combat. Of course, there are plenty of rare pokémon with extremely high fecundity but low adult numbers. Alomomola is one such example.

You take this back! Magikarp is excellent pokemon. Curious what is meant by energy potentials. Some in-pokeverse relation to energy/mana, I suppose, and with high correlation with base-stat-totals? "Survives... on basis of prodigious spawn rate", so it's a... r-strategist? Now I'm curious which pokemon are r-straters and which are K-straters, and how well that lines up or deviates from in-game encounter rates. How common is it in the real world to have high fecundity but have a sparse population?

What lets magikarp survive in large numbers without combat skill, then?

The answer is gyarados. Relatively few magikarp evolve but those that do become some of the strongest pokémon in the world. Gyarados do not reproduce. Instead they serve as protectors for magikarp’s habitat.

This is an intriguing dynamic. My mind goes to the Little Sisters and Big Daddies of BioShock. Curious as to real world creatures (including non-animals?) that separate out these roles either to some degree vs completely, and whether that's related to the sex of the organism, or some other element? I'm sure there's plenty of mutualistic examples between species, too. I'm feeling dumb (won't be the first or last) but I'll leave my words as is.

Also, what causes magikarp to evolve? Is there some kind of feedback mechanism within a school/population to fine-tune the ratio of the family line, that's also attuned to other factors such as total population, and environmental conditions such as salinity, temperature ranges, and water quality?

If any predator species starts eating too many magikarp its numbers can be halved overnight. Environmental alterations, whether from humans or pokémon, can be undone with a single well-aimed hyper beam. Few species dare to subsist entirely or even primarily on magikarp and the fish pokémon thrives.

That's... wow. Gyarados are an enormous potential ecology shock. How can so few gyarados demolish so many would-be predators of magikarp? Half??
For that next line, I'm a bit iffy if I'm reading it correctly. How can environmental alterations be undone by a hyper beam? Hyper beam primarily comes off to me as a wildly targeted energetic source of destruction, and that doesn't jive with "undoing alterations" in my mind, so I'm not sure what is meant.

Okay, apologies, I'm going to blitz-skip through this for now so I can complete. : |

Gyarados is not recommended due to its uniquely unpleasant combination of a bad temper and city-breaking power.

Very interesting that these all have the trainer considerations in them: the island challenge in particular, for Alola Dex!
I'm curious how many different official manuals and organisations have guidelines for which species are to be watched out for risks and hazards to human safety, environment, and infrastructure, and along which categories and delineations these risks are catalogued. Need to read more Dex entries.
__

Physiology:

In reality magikarp are more closely related to aquatic reptiles such as lapras and blastoise than to actual fish. In addition to their gills magikarp also have lungs that allow them to breathe out of the water.

Very curious take! I'm glad that magikarp of the two-member family are also able to survive outside of water. Closer relation to reptiles... kind of like the, uh, dunkleosteus that wishiwashi relates to? (edit: in sense that it's not the bony fish groups of... actinopterygii and sarcopterygii)

Magikarp can tolerate salinities ranging from almost pure water to seawater to some parts of the dead sea. Pollution is seldom a problem for magikarp and the factories or pipelines that do cause problems are quickly destroyed by gyarados.

I feel like I have oodles of feelings about magikarp being able to thrive nearly anywhere (that could probably be encapsulated in a sentence or two). (For now I'll say several out of many lines.)
I was always enthused with which pokemon were saltwater and which were freshwater, and the magikarp line appears to be the sole truly euryhaline representative, aside from some less common (generation) cases (such as remoraid and route 44, or floatzel and Sinnoh, I think), borderline environments (river deltas), and Gen 1 stuff, where designers/devs/whatever were still getting situated.
I remember seeing the discussion prompted by Starlight's question in Discord and being quite : eyes : at your notes. I revisited that earlier! edit/ I think kintsugi had noted that she and OSJ had discussed official (gym) pool salinity standards, and then kint had summoned you!
I love that they can handle murky waters and some poorness in water quality, so long as it's not as bad as later Celadon City's, apparently.

This may help disguise them in bloody waters or when the water’s surface is reflecting flames.

Reflecting flames on the water surface, what !

As fights wear on and gyarados tap into more and more energy the pokémon can find itself surrounded by hurricane-speed winds. While gyarados has trouble directing the winds into attacks the summoner itself seems to be unbothered by them.

Mm, nice ability to have, the magic one where you are able to grow in power as the battle unfurls longer. This affinity for aerokinesis also with hydrokinesis is indeed perfect for causing cyclones themselves, maybe--if there were better control of the winds, alas. Can still level the environment and terrain if near water, I suppose!

With training gyarados can use attacks of almost every type. Ordinarily this versatility would warrant a normal or dragon typing, but gyarados have much stronger aerokinesis and hydrokinesis than any other elemental affinity. As such a secondary dragon typing will only be added in the event that triple typings are allowed.

I stan this everything-in-possibility arsenal for gyarados, that it can attain nearly any affinity with training. This certainly is an explanation I can get behind for gyarados's typing. This also seems to imply that the typings we know are bestowed fiat by empirical observation and not necessarily innately written, and that there's plenty of gradation type affinities.

Magikarp are primarily aquatic and do not have aerokinesis powerful enough to warrant a flying-typing.

haneru haneru haneru

Particularly large magikarp can reach lengths of over one meter and weigh over ten kilograms. They can live for three years in the wild or ten in captivity. Gyarados can reach ten meters in length and weigh over a metric ton. In the wild gyarados can live up to eighty years, although in captivity they seldom survive for more than thirty.

The scale difference is neat to behold. Not going to think about specifics. Just that it's very interesting that in the wild, magikarp don't necessarily thrive long. Guardian gyarados are long-lived, which is good, possibly because are rarer to come by, whether by the trigger to evolve or some other reason? Uncertain. But it's interesting that gyarados "confined" don't live as long. I would have (capriciously) imagined the timespans for magikarp to be more agnostic to captive-state and more to general water quality and space to swim in, or something.

__

Behavior:

In saltwater environments magikarp typically stick to lagoons, bays, and estuaries. Ponds in tidally influenced marshes are particularly good as they fill up with prey during high tide and are isolated from large predators during low tide.

Mm, mm, it's all about the prey and food source, whether in fresh or saltwater. Curious.

Magikarp are not particularly social although they do tend to end up living around many other conspecifics. They seldom interact beyond occasional cooperation to figure out a way around a barrier or to trap and kill larger prey.

Huh, neat.

Ordinarily they stay still at the bottom of shallow lakes, bays, or slow-moving rivers and only move once every few days to ambush and kill a large pokémon in the area, look around the surface, and then submerge again. When disturbed by dredging, divers, or submarines gyarados tend to overreact and destroy not only the offender but almost everything in the area before calming down again.

Sounds like quite the immobile, singular purpose life. Plenty of those states in real animals, I suppose!
I wonder how they adapted to be that way about even divers, yikes. If you don't fully demolish a threat, it can come back to haunt you? Leading to an innate response to overkill? I don't know.

Dredging is interesting. Wonder if there are gyarados-prevention and gyarados-response units in the organizations or teams responsible for maintaining waterways. And whether they're usually grouped with other dangers. And how common it is for both.

Gyarados are of course rarer than magikarp, but as clearly demonstrated and understood, it's the mere presence that's the risk and deterrent, not the count.
How often do gyarados run into other gyarados? Are they friendly with one another or territorial? How much do magikarp form a school or group and how much do they drift?
Are there some kind of underwater pheremones or whatever that can modulate the presence of gyarados in a "geographical" or school cell? Are there occasions that cause this modulation to mess up--say, certain pollutants or changing weather patterns, that end up with multiple or no gyarados? The former resulting in more likelihood (or not?) of violent collisions, maybe the latter resulting in local pockets of magikarp population depressions?

When magikarp populations decline too much, breeding routes are interrupted, or the environment is threatened by pollution gyarados go on rampages. Sometimes these are surprisingly targeted against a single species or ship. Usually they are far more general.

Ooh yes, right here.

One or more gyarados team up to summon a massive storm before moving ashore and destroying a city with rogue waves, gale force winds, and dragonfire that is not put out by rain or seawater. Several ancient civilizations are believed to have collapsed after angering a gyarados.

So they can team up! Good to know. Very good. Not for people who have messed with their environment, of course. Natural disaster by gyarados, oof.

Even in the modern era where captive electric-types and even legendary pokémon are available to defend a city rampages can still kill thousands of people and cause hundreds of millions of dollars in damage. The gyarados have also adapted and begun to send up to a half dozen individuals on rampages to account for better defenses.

Haha, here are our city's bijuu thunderbirds. That's quite some disaster damage. Better hope you have cities and governmental policies that take preventative measures. Neat that the gyarados have adapted to send in not just two or three but teams of even six or so, all perhaps still innately. How does that work.

Even these attacks are declining in frequency as milotic diplomacy increasingly gives warning of conditions that would lead to rampages.

What? Neat! I should come back to this sometime.
__

Husbandry:

Magikarp are best held in small fish ponds or dechlorinated swimming pools. Because magikarp eat mosquito larvae these pools are usually not breeding grounds for unwanted insects. One magikarp can comfortably be held for every two hundred gallons of space available, although some specialists insist on at least five hundred gallons per specimen.

Well, your world is realistic, of course mosquitos are still a thing! Not sure how people think of magikarp and gyarados across societies, but thank gosh they're there to feed on mosquito larvae, I suppose.

In addition to insect larvae magikarp should be fed brine shrimp, live or frozen crustaceans, and live or frozen minnows equal to two to three percent of the body mass of the fish in the pond every day.

Mmhmm, magikarp still want plenty of crustaceans and fish for nourishment daily, huh? Don't know what to think. Interesting.

Occasional enrichment such as singing to the fish, making a game out of obtaining food, or wading into the pond and standing very still is useful for trainers wanting to evolve a magikarp. It is otherwise unnecessary as magikarp have very low stimulation needs.

Fascinating.

Glass is not recommended as a barrier as gyarados are prone to not noticing it, swimming into the wall, becoming enraged, and destroying it. Only constantly and powerfully shielded barriers can withstand a gyarados attack. Bubble curtains or geometric patterns on the glass can reduce collisions.

Much rage and rampage.

In almost all cases two gyarados held in close quarters will lead to one living gyarados and a badly damaged habitat. The one exception is that gyarados that knew each other as magikarp and live in an environment with adequate space and food will sometimes tolerate or even enjoy the other’s company.

Oh, very curious case on shared history, in the absence of tension from fighting for resources. Must be some animal behaviorialists or whatever out there who are interested in studying this and related behavior.

Filtration systems are more important for gyarados care in aquariums than for magikarp. Gyarados will seldom die from nitrite loads but they may kill several humans before flying off to cleaner waters. Fully developed pond ecosystems typically have a robust nitrogen system and do not require external filtration.

Oh, once again, it's for the people's and equipment's safety, due to the potential for rampage from gyarados, not necessarily its health being a worry, first.

Younger gyarados need to eat food just a little bit smaller across than the thinnest part of their body once every week. Older gyarados can comfortably go four to six weeks without eating, although they may begin to get cranky towards when hungry. Gyarados prefer live food but most will happily eat frozen fish, reptiles, invertebrates, or mammals.

Fascinating.

A combination of danger to tankmates and exorbitant insurance costs have led to most aquariums that once held gyarados to phase them out, the Hau’oli Aquarium among them. The remaining captive gyarados are mostly owned by professional trainers and either held on the trainer’s personal property or loaned to a public aquarium when not in use. These specimens typically have enough discipline to follow basic orders.

Same again : eyes :

Any facility keeping a gyarados is strongly recommended to either have a full troupe of Mr. Mime on site or enough powerful electric-types to quickly knock the gyarados out (see Battling). Even calm gyarados should have these counter-measures available to reduce insurance costs.

I've seen plenty of this in this post and skimming a few other posts, but since pokemon can be so potent, insurance is a huge matter to caretaking and/or being a trainer, and must be a huge business in this pokeworld.

Magikarp can live out of water for some time, especially with the help of dive balls.

Mentioned before, which is interesting. What does it mean by "especially with"? Are there still limits toward the longer end where staying in a pokeball outside of water will be harmful to health of pokemon? I suppose this applies to most pokemon and most pokeballs? How many pokemon actually require the water, anyway?

Gyarados make poor traveling companions as the constantly changing environments of the trail can be stress-inducing. A stressed gyarados is a dangerous gyarados.

Mm, all my hopes and dreams, dashed by reality. Alas. : p

Additionally it can be difficult to properly feed a gyarados while traveling, although their infrequent feeding schedule does make them somewhat easier to feed than large carnivorous mammals.

Need food and other caretaking considerations sub-Dex section now. But prefer the general overall one.
__

Illness:

These parasites, typically isopods, will enter magikarp through the gill area. They will then crawl into the mouth and proceed to eat the

Parasites are a blight. Poor magikarp : (

As parasites the isopod are incentivized not to kill their host and to make sure it continues to swim and eat: they are seldom a serious health threat to the magikarp and removing them can be fatal as the pokémon suddenly lacks a tongue or any replacement.

Oof. At the outset I'm for some fish-friendly pesticides, as noted. Unless there are better ways.

Tongue-less magikarp rarely evolve and, if they do, seldom survive for long. One researcher experimented with using a wimpod as a tongue-replacement. The gyarados survived for a little over six months before dying.

Fascinating N=1 case. Gyarados must be hard to study.

The main captive health problem in magikarp and gyarados is abrasion.

Mm, part of the difficulty of captivity and all those notes on enclosure features for helping with that.

Wounded magikarp can be treated by most veterinarians. Gyarados typically require dragon or herptile specialists and/or the assistance of a blissey. Sedating a fully grown gyarados is difficult (see Battle) but useful.

Oh!

__

Evolution:

When population numbers rapidly decline, magikarp are unable to complete migrations (see Breeding), or pollutant levels tick up magikarp begin to release chemical signals. When the water becomes sufficiently saturated the most healthy magikarp in the area evolves in a flash evolution

Oh neat. Not a preferred evolution, but definitely a response to threat.

Newly evolved gyarados are typically about five meters long and grow throughout the course of their life.

It's good to know that it isn't a massive jump from little fish to serpentine pseudodragon. This also is a parallel to it tapping into power as battles drive on.

Deliberately evolving a magikarp without a Class V license is a crime.

Good. Sad that it can be exploited, in general.

__

Battle:

Most professional trainers play gyarados defensively at the start of the match using tactics such as protect, rest and sleep talk, substitute, and taunt to set up opportunities to build a storm and boost through dragon dance. With gale force winds and a few minutes of dragon dancing on its side a gyarados are almost impossible to wall.

As previously noted, taps into power the longer the battle runs on?
Hellooooo dragon dancing gyarados.

On the bright side, the pokémon becomes increasingly less likely to obey orders and follow the multistage strategies that make gyarados so dominant.

Hard to pull off, hmm? Makes sense.

The best hard counters to gyarados are capable of negating powerful winds or changing the weather. Salamence, especially in leagues where mega evolution is allowed, routinely uses its own raw power to knock out its opponent before reverse sweeping with the winds coopted.

All you need to defeat gyarados is one psyduck

__

Acquisition:

Magikarp are found in most estuaries, bays, shallow ponds, and river bends in Alola.

Few shelters will adopt magikarp and they can be easily released to the wild with no ecological problems.

Yes, very nice.

The Ranger’s Union has a waiting list to obtain a gyarados. If the trainer did not attend the battle themselves a proving battle or two will be necessary to get the gyarados to obey their new trainer

Mm, neat.

__

Breeding:

To breed magikarp return to the place they were born en mass. Magikarp are surprisingly adept at moving through obstacles such as rapids. Some even cross entire mountain ranges. Once enough magikarp have arrived a mass spawning event begins. All magikarp subsequently die so that their corpses can help feed the hatchlings.

Fascinating. Quite an interesting lifecycle for the family line, and also the magikarp. What are the natures of the mass-birth sites? What conditions must they fulfill? How often do the magikarp breed? What are the seasonal patterns? What ranges in distance swum are typical for magikarp to return to these sites? I assume gyarados accompany them in these migrations to end and begin the magikarp lifecycle, time and again? (I wonder if there's some sense of awareness among magikarp of having great^5 or great^20 grand communal-uncle/aunt gyarados!)
Is there something during these migrations that suppresses gyarados's need to rampage from changing environments, or is this helpful? Maybe during the baby magikarp venture out to usual territories, to lessen collateral damage? What proportion of magikarp spawn and die? All of them? Half and half? All neat.

Magikarp have never bred in captivity.

WHY? : o I guess the same question can be asked of many species, but I didn't expect that from the "hardy" magikarp. More curious about the nature of the mass-birthing grounds, now.
__

Subspecies:

Subtle variations, in length, body shape, mass, and coloration can be observed between populations.

Mmhmm, I suppose this is the typical case?

Magikarp inhabit most coastal waters and near-coastal river systems in the Old World. The population in Alola was introduced from Japan.

Are they still the most populous or widespread denizen around? I'm curious where they are not. And preferences for water conditions, as noted before.

In turn their ferocious protection of habitats has let smaller fish species thrive despite competition from magikarp.

That all makes sense.
___

I really relish the dead-pan style and coverage of both science-related and other care or practical considerations information (such as hazards, insurance requirements) in The Alola Pokedex! (of course, sometimes I need to see others' reviews to appreciate all the details I miss!)
And I definitely enjoyed this entry on the magikarp line. Much joy for this Dex.

 

[Persephone]

Rainfall asked. I'm doing review responses today.

I've been writing about the gasty line recently, so I thought I'd check this one out and see your take on them! I really enjoy your ghost pokemon AD entries, they give me so many plot bunnies, rip.

Look, I want to do one shots about so many pokemon now. Please, take the bunnies and run with them. Then I won't have to.

That's a good distinction to make. Magikarp probably fall into the same category. * rampaging gyarados sounds *

Heh. Also responding to one of those reviews today.

I'm imagining a moving cloud of gastly on the wind--would make a cool horror movie set-piece.

Pokemon horror stories have a ton of potential. Both in and out of universe.

This seems to accept "other realms" or planes as being a real thing. I'd be interested in more elaboration here. One of my pet theories is that when ghost pokemon vanish, they've shifted into the Distortion World, though that's Sinnoh-centric.

But it's much easier on me to casually raise something that would entirely reorient our understanding of physics IRL and then just not explore it at all because it's mundane, if complicated, in universe.

I don't know how density creates a speed that varies by light, but this sounds cool, so whatever.

Physics or something idk @kintsugi can back me up and say that's how science works or something.

Oof. I wonder if there's professional gastly exterminators out there? Oh wait, you basically used a similar idea in Room 817. The POV of a ghost exterminator would be cool.

So many plot bunnies...

That doesn't sound like any pokemon in BT . . .

@surskitty has been a long-time advocate of Cuicatl getting a haunter.

👀 do they trap nearby stuff in a time-loop? That would be a very scary trip.

Which kind? That would make for, uh, interesting department meetings and academic drama.

This is all a reference to the since-deleted Ghost Town sequel.

This sounds like amazing oneshot fodder. Trainer and their haunter retracing the steps of the haunter's past life . . .

Again. A one-shot I really want to write now. I won't because I'm writing two fics as is, but still.

Yikes! I wonder what happened to Lavender Town in your verse, to trigger so many gastly . . .

No idea. I hate worldbuilding.

Oh no. I didn't expect to say 'solid ending line' for an AD entry, but: solid ending line.

There aren't a whole lot of entries I like from a literary perspective, but this is one of them lol.

the chapter said read hawlucha and oricorio, so here i am

Props to whoever suggested I add that note, really helps drive engagement over here.

Hawlucha--in which I learn about bird crops and manure! I can only imagine and respect the amount of research that went into this, so thanks for giving the condensed version. Love the little detail that they have to snooze a lot after they eat.

A peak behind the scenes: my hawlucha are heavily based on the hoatzin. I usually prefer to look at actual care guides for IRL animals when an equivalent exists. But hoatzin captivity hasn't actually worked out well. The Bronx Zoo had a program for decades before abandoning it. Riverbanks Zoo in South Carolina briefly had some. Both abandoned it due to expense and the poor prospects of birds in even "successful" programs. Neither ever made their care manuals public. I had to dig into old-timey journals from the 1910s-1950s to find anything of use. I seriously considered sending a FOIA request to NYC to get the Bronx Zoo care docs before I realized that this wouldn't work with the time constraints I had. I still might out of spite and curiosity lol, but only after COVID abates and I feel comfortable bothering civil servants for random bullshit.

I also liked how the natural culture of hawlucha makes them poor candidates for traditional battling--this ties back into the idea that different cultures can value different things but still be of value. It also makes for an interesting argument in light of "pokemon fight in the wild therefore they should like battling"--when the goal of fighting has different meanings, I feel like this collapses a bit.

Yeah, uh. eNvy of edeN would be very complicated in BT lol.

This is also really interesting to read post-BT, knowing what this means to Cuicatl/Anahuac culture in general and then seeing the reduction to feeding habits, itemized food intake per day, dissection of the fighting style. It has this meta effect of showing how some of the things we used to find magical are slowly leaving the world, how studying something in more detail makes it less mysterious and as such more mundane. Also, fun vibes about how of course the author of this guide probably doesn't particularly find those details important, because like, why would you want to write about boring things like historical inequality that you benefit from when there's gut bacteria to discuss?? Really loved this chapter + the way you dance around those details; it paints a nice story in the things that it isn't talking about.

The good folks at Wyndon Press don't wish to get political.

I liked this detail a lot.

The fighting style is drawn from a mix of actual hoatzin fights and the battle practices of the medieval Nahua. It's way more important to both to wound than to kill.

I think this could be rephrased a little; I had trouble following it. "Due to the difficulty in obtaining and transporting large pokemon, these were uncommon companions in the early colonial era, but the mass produced pokeball and broader international trade networks gradually allowed the empire's enemies to build up a larger supply." And then maybe put the "Anahuac has suffered several military defeats" on the same paragraph.

Will do when the spreadsheet says I can edit this.

! I like that this is mentioned here, along with the sidenote of "we normally don't care and honestly we really don't care except you, dear reader, might get murdered, so perhaps you should care specifically because of the effects it might have on you." Not sure if "proper authorization" is the right word in the same context as class licenses, especially if the article here doesn't really lend much weight to the Anahuac authority anyway.

This is America. We don't care about international law unless it might get you killed and get us sued.

oricorio!

!

This is like four entries in one, and I really like how you build feasible explanations for how each type of oricorio is adapted to its habitat. And then promptly how those adaptations made them particularly vulnerable for invasive species to come in and wipe them out. Baile oricorio burning down the trees that would've kept them safe from future predators was a particularly interesting one to read about imo. The detailed fixation on music/dance, especially on learning new ones from strangers, was a really delightful way to incorporate the somewhat comical concept of "dancing bird" into a more grounded setting.

dance borb revolution

The sensu one is of course my favorite because i'm an edgy fuck--there's something really terrifying about it, but I also like how you portray the sensu oricorio's thoughts + rationality in it beyond just vanilla haunting you with dead visions. The roots in ceremony and politeness, ghost tea parties in a meadow--it captures this weird sense of whimsy and strangeness that feels very foreign but also something I can try to grasp. Definitely made me feel like I was an outsider looking in on an alien culture, just one that happens to also have ample access to psychological warfare tools. Super neat. I really love these and appreciate the amount of thought that must've gone into making all of them; it's such a unique and crazy take and I can't help but adore it.

Sensu oricorio is the rare entry that I both wanted to make a one shot of and then kind of did.

I thought this was interesting since alolan-rattata are specifically unique from rattata that we see in the other regions (particularly the ones that seem based on Japan/China, which is where these were supposed to be invasive from). Did the divergence happen after they were introduced to Alola? I skimmed back through the rattata article and I didn't see anything (although I could've missed it).

Yes, it happened after. Rattata is somewhere on my list of things to edit into modern form. I'll make that clearer when I get to it.

[QUOTE}yeah but have you seen toxapex stall[/QUOTE]
:) Whenever I play competitive, I always go with hard stall.

ghost tea party ghost tea party!!! this is such an excellent concept; love the whimsy here.

Discussed in DM's but I agree that it'd make sense for capturing/transforming your oricorio into a sensu should be Class V, especially if they talk about banning it from the circuit altogether.

I'll probably go with IV, actually. V I tend to reserve for things that are either nearly impossible to care for outside of a research institution or things that could do a lot of harm on the way out. IV is just stuff that's very hard to care for or that carry high personal risks.

WE STAN OUR HIVE-MIND QUEN. ALL HAIL THE FRUITS OF PERFECTLY LEGITIMATE DEMOCRACY.

GLORY TO THE EMPIRE

Bees are weird and messed-up. Yay for the sacrifice of drones, drones killing their queen if she can't find her perfume in the morning, and killer bees up the nostril. I am not sure why anyone would want to train these things if it involves a combee entourage but people do crazy stuff. A comparative bees section might have been cool--how do vespiquen hives differ from beedrill hives? Have the two species ever competed for territory and who would win? I have a personal soft spot for beedrill, but I'm guessing the answer is vespiquen.

Beedrill aren't in Alola and I try to narrow the focus to the one region. Vespiquen definitely win. I see beedrill as more solitary bees (they exist!) and their large stingers aren't great at hitting many, many small opponents.

Less hive-mind shenanigans than I expected. Where is the story of the vespiquen trainer who came to the conclusion that he was in fact a drone that must obey the every command of his queen? When the two were at last separated, he attempted to fly back to her. To this day he still subsists primarily on honey.

I found out while researching that the hive mind is far more science fiction than science. I was disappointed, too.

Yeah, it's not like you can hear the other people's thoughts. You just sort of . . . know. Not that I speak from personal experience.

I just kind of assumed that if you weren't physically OSJ you were at least part of the same hive mind.

"hang tight" feels a little slangy for our uptight AD writer.

He just got back from surfing with the bros and hadn't finished putting his lab coat back on. Please forgive the mishap and accept our apology, accompanied by the execution of our previous writer. A new drone will take his place shortly.

No friends, only food-providers.

I imagine "friends" is a strange concept to lots of pokemon.

[QUOTE[Oh boy, does this involve trainers gassing the excess combee or something?[/QUOTE]
You would be surprised how few laws there are against killing bees.

Nature is so beautiful ❤

This isn't actually a thing that bees do, but it did seem like something they would do if it even slightly helped them.

Competitive battling in BT verse must be truly wild.

It's just Calvinball. There is no set of rules that works for every species of pokemon, but the League keeps trying.

Ooh, that is very cool. There must be so many tactics that fall in that murky category of "unsporting."

I imagine that some trainers have a Face brand and can't do it. Some just use every dirty trick in the book and still get sponsorships and fans.

heyo, here for your blitz prize! also not a typo; @Rainfall set me loose and told me to have fun, so I went on a little tour. started with the bees because I must be a good drone and bring lots of reviews back for the TR hivemind.

REVIEWS FOR THE REVIEW GOD

in general this one is a good staple and a good relic of a fair election. vespiquen is creepy, but in a buggish sort of way. eating through the brain is optimal. eating honey is also optimal. we must all work together as one to serve the queen. I didn't even know that dynamax Vespiquen is a thing, but I like the way you handle the repeated + government sponsored battling of it.

That was a last minute addition I found while scrolling through Bulba one last time to make sure I didn't miss anything.

I like this take on vespiquen biology in general, but the demystification of the hivemind is my favorite. You do a great job of showing off the other alien/very different mentalities at play here without immediately defaulting to literal hivemind.

Again, I was super disappointed that the hive mind is actually just simple creatures obeying hard-programmed pheromone orders.

against all known laws of aviation ...

Some artists try to give pokemon appropriate wing and body sizes to allow for flight. I think they're cowards who forgot that "magic" is a valid answer to most pokemon-related questions.

I thought this was a neat touch--seems like a detail that a lot of battlers would want to know.

A neat touch that probably flies in the face of actual beekeeping lol. To be honest this wasn't my most researched entry.

I am genuinely stunned that it took this long to get a Worm reference in this article. I was waiting for it the entire time lol.

I felt bad making a publicly voted entry into a Worm tribute piece. Don't worry, though: heracross is going to be 100% Worm.

this is a coded cry for help from rainfall in the hivemind and you cannot convince me otherwise

I am not crying for help.

I thought the phrasing here was particularly entertaining--isn't anything perfectly legal with permission of the government?

Well, that depends on what the definition of law is...

went to machoke next since I needed to remember how you quantified machamp strength vs bone density for,,, reasons.

This is going to be what I'm remembered for, isn't it? Trying and failing to figure out how machamp don't tear themselves apart.

I enjoy the commitment to tons of research for one or two throwaway lines about bone density and ligaments. Herbivorous machamp who just enjoy helping people is also a really wholesome take, although I have to wonder how they got so ridiculously strong if they weren't filling an apex predator role. Classing them as therapsids is also a clever way to get around the body shape vs head shape differences that are running around.

Look, I just hate writing carnivores. The dex makes every pokemon a carnivore. It gets boring.

I like the reimagining of the little ridges as heat sinks--presumably this is less of a reimagining and just more of what they've always been, but I appreciate having it blatantly pointed out to me since I wasn't going to figure this out on my own.

I think this was a reimagining. That's what actual therapsid ridges were used for, so it's not a big jump.

Thought this was a particularly clever way to get around the belt silliness with biological reasoning. The question of "why and how do some pokemon wear clothes" can be dodged once again.

Sawk isn't in the Alola Dex so I may never have to give an answer.

Silicone actually feels like a flimsy metric for tensile strength here? Apologies if I was the one who okayed this initially. Looks like tendons (of wild turkeys) have UTS ranging from 66-112 MPa [link]; silicone ranges from 2.4 to 5.5 MPa [link]. I feel like for this one you wanted something to be slightly flimsy (since the tendons are what limit machamp from becoming the dominant species on earth by just punching things to death); can offer different material suggestions that would still fill that niche if you want to narrow it down to slightly weaker/same/stronger than actual ligaments (or! could just say that while their bones are dense, their ligaments are roughly on-par; I think that would have the same effect).

I can't remember if this was you or Delphi, so lets go with Delphi.

I liked the notes that the bones stop being strong after death, and specifically how this is a great sorrow for humans. Also explains why we don't just build out of corpses.

We would if we could.

Didn't quite follow the logic here--if the prey species can put up a solid fight against the apex predator, do they come back when the prey species is no longer injured, or does it challenge it on the spot? Seems like this would only guarantee finding weakened opponents.

You fight a healthier member of the species. The one targeted probably wasn't in peak condition, anyway.

"around" and then the specificity of the birthday was a bit strange to me--are there other celebrations for other birthdays besides 10/50? Do they sometimes delay a few weeks, hence the around?

Oh. I didn't mean the actual birthday was important. It was more "puberty begins around x years old."

sad no guard sounds

Even with "magic" as an explanation, sometimes I have to make things at least sound plausible.

I don't think there's a space between the hyphen in "fire-type", but the rules for that have been traditionally bullshit for forever, so.

My own rules say there is no space. Will fix.

the use of "revenge kill" feels a bit brutal in a world that probably hasn't developed seeing pokemon as pixels.

u right

I like this flip from being roughly UU and below with a few standout debuts in OU when snorlax was annoying.

Actually machamp was quite good in Gen IV. And then never again. Now it's sitting pretty in PUBL. The banlist of the fifth usage based tier.

Thought this was strange -- eggs? Then I learned that therapsids are not nearly as close to mammals as I had initially thought.

I think therapsids are still classified as reptiles.

ended up finding the next entry I wanted to read simply by scrolling down, because all rocks are good frens and deserve love

Especially cat love.

Particularly liked the incorporation of the sunlight/sound elements of the lore--I never fully wrapped my head around why a pokemon that's mostly subterranean would evolve in a way that makes it benefit from being in direct sunlight, but sure. Ronks like sunning. It is very warm and they like light. I like the younger stages' characterization as just eating all of the metal; silly humans not understand why having so much food in one place in the open is just bad form if you didn't want it to be eaten. Plus there are so many interesting kinds of metal in one place here.

Lots of cave pokemon end up eating cameras in their entry. You start to wonder why humans ever bother leaving them.

This is a bad pun and I am here for it.

Bad puns have been the basis of a few entries now.

I think it'd be more clear to stick to the lowercase capitalization consistently throughout--given that this is Alola I thought of capital Pele instead of the crystal on first glance.

will do

help. my heart

Look, if you can make people feel something about rocks I take that as a challenge.

this is the most important reason for migration

Only reason my cat seems to move.

One dozen is far too few. We must line the walls of whatever room we occupy. For this reason, smaller rooms are preferred.

Honestly might make this canon

This was a cool and vaguely platyhelminthes way to approach rock eating.

I can't tell if this is a trap to get me to do more research for you.

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA
I like the use of "seldom"; like the warning tags saying not to put your Nintendo Switch in the microwave, it means that it has happened more than once

Technically speaking, anything can die to a loud enough sound.

where are they going? what would they migrate to??? science will never know

But does science even care?

for the memes and the lithovore team I had to go to sableye next. I like the angle for this one--I imagine you've already had your share of creepy ghosts doing weird human things, so here they are just doing cryptid shit that goes bump in the dark. The range of ideas covered is really impressive, and I like this idea that there's a strange, undocumented apex predator in Mammoth Cave. What is it? Is it a pokemon that we know about? One that we don't? I don't think (?) that there's an answer in this entry and I'm actually perfectly fine with it; it feels very true to the weird cave shit that we don't know about, and I like the idea that there are still ongoing mysteries in the pokemon world.

This is based on a cryptid-esque "alien encounter," so some of the influences fit. I never actually came up with an answer on the Mammoth Cave Predator question. Press far enough and "I never had an answer" will come out a lot.

"have since" felt strange to me--is there a way that they know for sure that the 1871 was the first forray outside of the cave? Or is it just that since then, we've seen evidence that sableye have left the cave.

Honestly might have been the first time they found an entrance.

👀 is this a canon feature that gets hidden or did you make this up? Either way it's cool af.

I think it's canon. The black wings were also a central part of the inspiration's lore, since it was based on a bunch of drunk people shooting at owls in the night.

also delicious. I liked this detail and the one about sableye doing poorly in the brightly-lit areas of the competitive circuit; makes sense that these are details that would be included, but I definitely wouldn't have thought to include them.

As you said in the hawlucha entry, how pokemon naturally fight and how humans want them to fight are very different things.

okay and then for the sableye meme I had to move to gengar next. interesting to see your (comparatively) older takes on ghosts, where they come from. I liked the angle of toxic relationships coupled with this idea that the gengar line is just constantly going through existential crises; it's another clever take on ghosts that branches out beyond "they kill you because your screams taste good" or whatever.

Human screams do taste good, but killing is an inefficient way to get them. Best to torment them for a while to get maximum screams over time.

Purely curiosity--is there a reason why this exact number?

No.

baby why don't you love me I've done so many nice things for you
Cuicatl should get a haunter. I would like to see the sheer scale of collateral damage.

There are now multiple haunter advocates.

[QUOTE[This is deeply terrifying and I like the image of it--a ghost approaching you and then just speaking to you in full.[/QUOTE]
Hey, got any cigarettes?

This is also dope. Johto's doing it right!

Ghost Town is technically canon in BT due to the spiritomb Alola Dex entry.

This is an interesting thought that I'd love to see explored in a one-shot or something. Silly humans in their prevo stage; should hold eviolite to be stronger.

Feel free to write that one shot.

Ah hmmm, who would do that??? I like the range of triggers here, a long line of mostly-natural disasters, and then chemical warfare. Interesting that there are volcanoes mentioned ... should Kekoa be worried?

Nah, his parents died in shipwrecks. It's all good.

i mean naturally how could i not.

Nnaturally*

This one is fun. It's like the sparknotes for that book on corvid biology that you recommended that I read but then the library didn't have it and eight months passed. Lots of fun features for murkrow biology, I like how they still cuddle but are little shitlords, and the hierarchy systems that they set up were super interesting as well + make for a logical segue between mob societies that are made of birds.

Yeah pretty much everything in this entry comes from that book lol.

my god who would EVER

In fairness, murkrow are easy to bully.

Oooh, is this common in corvids? I'm reminded of lions but I imagine the behavior is widespread.

Yes.

Probably a bit biased because I came off of four or five entries that I think covered moves + how they specifically are favored to the species' habits and biology in really excellent ways, but this particular battle section felt a bit clinical to me. Are any of these commonly used in the wild or do they mostly just spend their time using brute force? Maybe their intelligence makes them easily able to pick up a wide variety of moves specifically for the circuit?

Will consider when I get around to edits.

Dumb suggestion and you'd probably hate implementing it, but on the subject of wikiwalks--it'd be pretty cool if there were links to the other entries as they're mentioned (i.e. the hawlucha entry mentions they train well with machop).

I haven't even gotten around to finishing the threadmarks lol.

(Ah! I should run my mouth some more, this time in general about disclaiming myself as a STEM enthusiast with very little actual STEM knowledge, and very little in biology. So if I happen to embarrass myself responding to this work or elsewhere, well, boohoo for me T_T)

Honestly not many entries are actually based on things I knew about STEM going in. The fish ones are very much the exception since that's where my academic background is.

I'm going to be implicitly gushing and earnestly asking a lot of poorly-formed questions that pop into mind that don't necessarily deign a response but where also it would be cool to get responses to certain ones, where I totally won't be indicating which ones, for that matter : ). I'm also going to tail off (ed/ not as much as I thought, but still quite significant!) the bulk of material as I move to complete my initial response. So here I hop to it (by your section headings).

Again, I'm sorry that most of my answers are "I don't know lol."

You take this back! Magikarp is excellent pokemon. Curious what is meant by energy potentials. Some in-pokeverse relation to energy/mana, I suppose, and with high correlation with base-stat-totals? "Survives... on basis of prodigious spawn rate", so it's a... r-strategist? Now I'm curious which pokemon are r-straters and which are K-straters, and how well that lines up or deviates from in-game encounter rates. How common is it in the real world to have high fecundity but have a sparse population?

Most large reptiles, fish, and insects are r-strategists. Except sharks and stingrays. There are a few good reptile parents, but those are very much the exception. Even for apex predators. Energy is just something I made up to distinguish pokemon from animals.

This is an intriguing dynamic. My mind goes to the Little Sisters and Big Daddies of BioShock. Curious as to real world creatures (including non-animals?) that separate out these roles either to some degree vs completely, and whether that's related to the sex of the organism, or some other element? I'm sure there's plenty of mutualistic examples between species, too. I'm feeling dumb (won't be the first or last) but I'll leave my words as is.

I can't think of any good examples tbh. A few mutualistic things here and there, like keystone species literally building an environment, but not many species IRL can actually bully humans and win.

That's... wow. Gyarados are an enormous potential ecology shock. How can so few gyarados demolish so many would-be predators of magikarp? Half??
For that next line, I'm a bit iffy if I'm reading it correctly. How can environmental alterations be undone by a hyper beam? Hyper beam primarily comes off to me as a wildly targeted energetic source of destruction, and that doesn't jive with "undoing alterations" in my mind, so I'm not sure what is meant.

I meant that dams, human and bibarel, aren't actually that sturdy once a gyarados shows up.

Very interesting that these all have the trainer considerations in them: the island challenge in particular, for Alola Dex!
I'm curious how many different official manuals and organisations have guidelines for which species are to be watched out for risks and hazards to human safety, environment, and infrastructure, and along which categories and delineations these risks are catalogued. Need to read more Dex entries.

BT goes into the licensing system in more detail.

Very curious take! I'm glad that magikarp of the two-member family are also able to survive outside of water. Closer relation to reptiles... kind of like the, uh, dunkleosteus that wishiwashi relates to? (edit: in sense that it's not the bony fish groups of... actinopterygii and sarcopterygii)

This is more or less made up without much IRL basis tbh

I feel like I have oodles of feelings about magikarp being able to thrive nearly anywhere (that could probably be encapsulated in a sentence or two). (For now I'll say several out of many lines.)
I was always enthused with which pokemon were saltwater and which were freshwater, and the magikarp line appears to be the sole truly euryhaline representative, aside from some less common (generation) cases (such as remoraid and route 44, or floatzel and Sinnoh, I think), borderline environments (river deltas), and Gen 1 stuff, where designers/devs/whatever were still getting situated.
I remember seeing the discussion prompted by Starlight's question in Discord and being quite : eyes : at your notes. I revisited that earlier! edit/ I think kintsugi had noted that she and OSJ had discussed official (gym) pool salinity standards, and then kint had summoned you!
I love that they can handle murky waters and some poorness in water quality, so long as it's not as bad as later Celadon City's, apparently.

For those who missed that chat moment: most fish can survive in both for short periods of time. Only a few IRL (mummichogs ftw) can handle both without their cells starting to burst or shrivel up due to osmosis.

Reflecting flames on the water surface, what !

Happens more than you'd expect in the pokemon world.

Mm, nice ability to have, the magic one where you are able to grow in power as the battle unfurls longer. This affinity for aerokinesis also with hydrokinesis is indeed perfect for causing cyclones themselves, maybe--if there were better control of the winds, alas. Can still level the environment and terrain if near water, I suppose!

I had to think of a way to explain moxie.

I stan this everything-in-possibility arsenal for gyarados, that it can attain nearly any affinity with training. This certainly is an explanation I can get behind for gyarados's typing. This also seems to imply that the typings we know are bestowed fiat by empirical observation and not necessarily innately written, and that there's plenty of gradation type affinities.

Have you seen gyarados' team set? And types are more or less passed on actual taxonomy in that they're less empirical than anyone would like to admit.

Sounds like quite the immobile, singular purpose life. Plenty of those states in real animals, I suppose!
I wonder how they adapted to be that way about even divers, yikes. If you don't fully demolish a threat, it can come back to haunt you? Leading to an innate response to overkill? I don't know.

This was a slightly exaggerated take on bull shark aggression.

Are there some kind of underwater pheremones or whatever that can modulate the presence of gyarados in a "geographical" or school cell? Are there occasions that cause this modulation to mess up--say, certain pollutants or changing weather patterns, that end up with multiple or no gyarados? The former resulting in more likelihood (or not?) of violent collisions, maybe the latter resulting in local pockets of magikarp population depressions?

I don't know.

Haha, here are our city's bijuu thunderbirds. That's quite some disaster damage. Better hope you have cities and governmental policies that take preventative measures. Neat that the gyarados have adapted to send in not just two or three but teams of even six or so, all perhaps still innately. How does that work.

I imagine they can communicate through either roars or water currents.

Well, your world is realistic, of course mosquitos are still a thing! Not sure how people think of magikarp and gyarados across societies, but thank gosh they're there to feed on mosquito larvae, I suppose.

It would take a lot more than arceus to kill the mosquitoes off.

Mmhmm, magikarp still want plenty of crustaceans and fish for nourishment daily, huh? Don't know what to think. Interesting.

This is what fish flakes and brine shrimp, the most common feeds for carnivorous fish, are.

Much rage and rampage.

IRL aquariums actually struggle a lot with fish ramming the glass at full speed because they can't see it. Bubble curtains have become popular, especially for fast-moving pelagic fish like tuna, to avoid unfortunate collision deaths.

Oh, once again, it's for the people's and equipment's safety, due to the potential for rampage from gyarados, not necessarily its health being a worry, first.


Fascinating.

Same again : eyes :


I've seen plenty of this in this post and skimming a few other posts, but since pokemon can be so potent, insurance is a huge matter to caretaking and/or being a trainer, and must be a huge business in this pokeworld.

Mentioned before, which is interesting. What does it mean by "especially with"? Are there still limits toward the longer end where staying in a pokeball outside of water will be harmful to health of pokemon? I suppose this applies to most pokemon and most pokeballs? How many pokemon actually require the water, anyway?

Pokeballs don't cause full stasis in universe. Time still flows within them.

Mm, all my hopes and dreams, dashed by reality. Alas. : p

A lot of journey fics have the protagonist get a gyarados and I have never understood it.

Parasites are a blight. Poor magikarp : (

Oof. At the outset I'm for some fish-friendly pesticides, as noted. Unless there are better ways.

This is based on a real parasite. It's very gross.

Fascinating N=1 case. Gyarados must be hard to study.

N=1 is probably common for a lot of very powerful pokemon lol.

Mm, part of the difficulty of captivity and all those notes on enclosure features for helping with that.[/QUOTE
Abrasion is another problem for aquariums keeping requiem sharks. They don't often turn around to avoid obstacles IRL since they usually just swim above them. It makes them poorly suited for aquarium life. The best aquariums have switched to long tanks with rounded edges and smooth walls.

Oh neat. Not a preferred evolution, but definitely a response to threat.

Most type-change evolutions in the dex have strange triggers.

All you need to defeat gyarados is one psyduck

Who would win: an army of sea serpants, or one headachey boi?

Fascinating. Quite an interesting lifecycle for the family line, and also the magikarp. What are the natures of the mass-birth sites? What conditions must they fulfill? How often do the magikarp breed? What are the seasonal patterns? What ranges in distance swum are typical for magikarp to return to these sites? I assume gyarados accompany them in these migrations to end and begin the magikarp lifecycle, time and again? (I wonder if there's some sense of awareness among magikarp of having great^5 or great^20 grand communal-uncle/aunt gyarados!)
Is there something during these migrations that suppresses gyarados's need to rampage from changing environments, or is this helpful? Maybe during the baby magikarp venture out to usual territories, to lessen collateral damage? What proportion of magikarp spawn and die? All of them? Half and half? All neat.

This is all based on the salmonids. You can always research how they do it and make your own theories. Alas, I have no answers for you.

WHY? : o I guess the same question can be asked of many species, but I didn't expect that from the "hardy" magikarp. More curious about the nature of the mass-birthing grounds, now.

The common American eel has never been bred in captivity, either, despite being a long-time food fish that's rather hardy. It's just too hard to replicate the migration-birth pattern.

I really relish the dead-pan style and coverage of both science-related and other care or practical considerations information (such as hazards, insurance requirements) in The Alola Pokedex! (of course, sometimes I need to see others' reviews to appreciate all the details I miss!)
And I definitely enjoyed this entry on the magikarp line. Much joy for this Dex.

I linked you a few more last night. I generally think that dexes are an underexplored fan fic genera. It should be something of its own like PMD stories and trainer fic, but alas. Only a few uber nerds write one.

 

[Pen]

I was brainstorming what pokemon might make cool AD entries for no particular reason, and thought, hey what about Zoroark? At which point Kint gave me this link.

So, Zoroark. I'm disappointed you didn't include the historical incident where Zoroark was used to create FAKE NEWS by a corporate evil-doer. See Zoroark: Master of Illusions. That omission aside, good stuff as usual, and also as usual, you are not helping my plot bunny situation. I like the different subspecies and how much variety there is both in how they craft their illusions and in their relationship with humanity. Zoroark definitely beg some questions about the line between pokemon and human. What exactly is justifying human superiority again when Zoroark can for all intents and purposes do the same. And why wouldn't you want a better life for your children?

Farla has an intriguing chapter fic Image of God that is probably never going to be finished (rip) that portrays a pretty similar scenario to what's described here, with a zorua being raised with a human, and then assuming their identity. Worth a read if you haven't already. It's short.

Every North American culture, from the Mississippians to the Dakota to the Aztecs, had a variation on the same myth. Sometimes a child would abruptly stop talking in the night. As they grew up they would slowly start talking again, albeit with less skill and frequency than they had before. Some would display magical abilities. Galar also had a variant of the changeling tale. The difference is, the stories from North America had a very real basis.

Ooh, love Zoroark as being the genesis of the changeling idea. Midsummer Night's dream, but all the fairies are zoroark, let's go.

"albeit with less skill and frequency than they had before." -- you don't really have frequency, so I think you should cut "than they had before."

All subspecies of zoroark have the same outcome (illusions) but approach it in very different ways (telepathy, hydrokinesis, pyrokinesis).

The wording's a little awkward here. How about, "All subspecies of zoroark create illusions, but their methods greatly differ (telepathy, hydrokinesis, pyrokinesis)."

What makes the species of particular interest to scientists is their intelligence. Zoroark are not the most intelligent pokémon. Nor are they the only ones capable of communicating in human speech (primarina, chatot and even some slowking can). Zoroark are interesting because of their ease of blending into human society and their desire to do so.

The structure of this paragraph is a little odd. It starts by saying Zoroark are of interest to scientests for their intelligence, but by the end it's clear that Zoroark aren't actually of interest to scientists for their intelligence, but for other reasons.

Human children are often one of the first illusions a zorua learns to cast, even in the wild, and adult zoroark have been observed creating and maintaining a human identity for years. Changeling stories have been documented in the modern era in zoroark’s remaining habitats. They break into residences, steal children and leave behind a zorua of their own. More than one zoroark has told researchers and police officers that this is to give their child a better shot at learning human behaviors.

Do they subsequently retrieve them?

The prevailing theories is that zoroark keep abducted children in their nest to teach human forms and behaviors to their other pups

Oh my gosh, "Hey children, look what I brought for show and tell today!" "It's so weird, Mom, it doesn't have fur!"

Witch hunts in the early United States were ostensibly aimed at getting rid of supposed zoroarks. One minister spearheading a witch hunt that killed twenty young women was himself revealed to be a zoroark upon his death.

Hoo boy. That extremely checks out.

For understandable reasons, zoroark were both hunted and worshipped in pre-Columbian North America.

I wanted to see a little more about how the Zoroark were worshipped in this section--it seems to mostly focus on the hunting. Did people leave them children? Honor the zoroark by dressing up as them?

Now is perhaps the best time to bring up the history of the dark typing. In the earliest attempts to group pokémon by typing, dark signified that the pokémon had a connection to satanic magic. The ruling has been controversial in the modern era and in the rest of the world for understandable reasons. However, the dark type has not been abolished both due to tradition and because it appears that there was something to the initial theory. While most scientists no longer view them as satanic, dark-types tend to have some general traits: they have the ablity to manipulate shadows, above average intelligence, a resistance to telepathy, and either some degree of malice towards humanity or shocking brutality. Zoroark fit all four categories.

* ability

Do Zoroark have malice towards humanity or shocking brutality? They seem more envious and desirous to blend in.

"Now is perhaps the best time to bring up the history of the dark typing." -- strikes me as untypical of academic writing. Perhaps, "The history of dark typing, discussed in greater depth in in the appendix, is highly controversial." Etc

The authors of this guidebook take no particular position on the typing of the Olympic zoroark or zorua.

This absolutely checks out for academic writing, though. "This is a thing people argue about. I do not have a position. Do not @ me."

It is difficult to research wild zoroark as they do not like being followed and typically shroud themselves in illusions.

Oooh, what if you had a fully integrated Zoroark (like, raised in captivity, parents have trainers) who becomes a Zoroark researcher and returns to the wild to try and research this, and has to confront her identity.

The species main goal

* species'

Otherwise they will usually take their trainer’s valuables and slink off into a crowd, never to be seen again.

👏

Zoroark can be reasoned with on finances to a degree but they will still demand a measure of equality in even the worst situations.

Damn right.

Ask the pokémon to create a human illusion to talk, or at least to write if they are capable of it.

If the illusions are done through light manipulation, how can making an illusion help them talk? Or does this advice only apply to the last variant, that uses substitution? I thought they were rare, though.

The formal demarcation line between zorua and zoroark is the selection of their first hair bead.

Super cool detail. I wonder if they make them or steal them--sort of trophy behavior.

Occasionally a zoroark will tolerate or even desire raising their pups in captivity.

Isn't that the whole changling thing?

Cynics also attribute the public and private miracles of the church to zoroark illusions.

Cynics are likely correct.

Until 1903 the United States offered substantial bounties for zoroark and sent military expeditions to wipe the species out. The unwillingness of some Native American leaders to hand over the zoroark on their lands was the pretext for a number of wars.

Ugh, ugh of course they did.

Unlike other zoroark subspecies, they have webbed paws and spend most of their time in the water and, when they do go on land, they walk on all fours. Because of this and the factors below, it is believed that they are the ancestor of the other zoroark species.

That would be a cool design.

Unfortunately, captive forest zoroark tend to commit suicide or refuse to eat, much less cooperate with experimenters.

Wow, how impolite of them.

 

[Persephone]

It's Sunday somewhere, isn't it?

Lycanroc (Rockruff)

Overview

Lycanroc were probably domesticated or semi-domesticated when they first came to Alola. Since then they have lapsed back into wild behaviors. The indigenous people lived in close quarters with lycanroc, even hunting together on occasion, but they are not friendly and subservient in the same way as domesticated dogs. They are only ever tame. This makes them a poor choice for a first canine pokémon. Still, the captive-bred population is much larger than Alola’s other wild canines like houndoom and ninetales. Trainers who grew up with a stoutland or eevee but want to train a more challenging dog on the trail may be well-served by a stand-offish but loyal lycanroc.

Physiology

Rockruff and lycanroc are currently classified as pure rock-types. There is a significant minority of scientists that supports a secondary normal typing as the current typing is misleading given lycanroc’s actual physiology. The USDA is set to hold hearings on the matter beginning in April 2020.

Both stages are primarily organic. The only parts that identify it as a rock-type are their claws, collar, rib guard, and horn. Their claws are primarily made of gabbro, a common mineral in oceanic crust. A layer of gabbro also surrounds their ribs to protect internal organs from attack. Lycanroc have a gabbro horn extending from their forehead. The horn first appears after evolution and continues to grow as they age. Rockruff have a series of small “pebbles” growing from the skin on their neck. In lycanroc four of these grow into prominent horns that make it difficult to strike at the pokémon’s weakest point.

Rockruff are small canines. Their goat is usually light brown but tan, orange, red, black, and white coats have also been observed. The mane around their neck and the tuft of fur around their tail are almost always white. Rockruff have a powerful sense of smell, even by canine standards. Rockruff can sometimes track prey that passed by three to five days ago. On balance, their sense of vision is weak.

Rockruff and lycanroc supplement these weaknesses by a form of geosensory. The rocks on their body are used to attune them to the surrounding earth. This lets them sense the position of the rocks around them. It also makes their rock-type attacks particularly potent. Lycanroc can use these abilities to run up near-vertical cliff faces and sense the footsteps of prey nearly a kilometer away. This ability is thrown off by the loose sands of beaches and the Haina Valley. This weakness can be mitigated with extensive practice.

There are three different forms of lycanroc. These are not currently considered distinct species, but the matter will be reviewed along with their typing in the upcoming USDA hearings. These three forms are formally known as the diurnal, nocturnal, and crepuscular lycanroc. Breeders and hobbyists often refer to them as the midday, midnight, and dusk lycanroc, respectively. The rest of this guide will use the formal terminology.

Diurnal and crepuscular lycanroc have similar builds to rockruff. Their limbs, claws, tales, and manes grow longer. If it weren’t for the growth of a horn and neck spikes, they probably would not be classified as being distinct from rockruff. Diurnal lycanroc are nearly blind and hunt almost entirely based on smell, hearing, and geosensory. Crepuscular lycanroc have the strongest sight of the three, including a limited range of color vision. They are well known for their flamboyant coats during the mating season. Their hearing and geosensory are somewhat weaker than their diurnal counterparts.

Nocturnal lycanroc are much different than rockruff. Their muscles and bones are aligned so that they can easily sit upright with their forepaws in the air. Some even learn to walk on two legs for short distances. Lycanroc wrists are built in such a way that they can grip objects more easily than the average dog. Only nocturnal lycanroc are in a position to fully exploit this. They can carry objects in one paw while walking on the other three. Their rib guards grow out to extend through the skin. The nocturnal form’s mane grows to be longer and extend all the way up to the horn. This makes the pokémon look larger than it actually is. The eyes of the nocturnal form glow red in the dark. This is the only purpose of the eyes, as nocturnal lycanroc are fully blind. Finally, the nocturnal form has a much darker coat than rockruff. Some even have blood red fur.

Lycanroc seldom bark. Their more common vocalizations are hisses, growls, screams, chortles, snorts, and purrs.

All forms grow to a height of roughly eighty centimeters at the withers. They can weigh over twenty-five kilograms. Males are usually slightly larger than females. Wild specimens seldom live for more than seven years, but captive ones can live for up to twenty.

Behavior

Rockruff are typically curious and prone to exploring the world around them, almost always under the aegis of their nearby mother. As soon as a rockruff’s eyes open they will begin to pick fights with small bugs and other weak pokémon. Sometimes they will even engage with a larger opponent. As long as the enemy at least puts up a good show for the rockruff the mother will let it leave alive. Anything that dares to ignore or hurt her child will suddenly find itself dealing with an angry lycanroc.

With the sole exception of mothers and young children, crepuscular lycanroc live alone. They use their vision and intelligence to try and hunt one or two small pokémon every dusk and dawn. After their hunts they will usually retreat to a secure burrow or cliff face to sleep through the night and day. Days with cloudy skies and nights with bright moonlight are a rare chance for the crepuscular lycanroc to play. During these times they will often find herds of pokémon, especially mareep, and run alongside them. Crepuscular lycanroc are easily fast enough to kill their playmates, but they choose not to. There is some evidence that they actually target species that dare to hurt mareep in their range. This has made them surprisingly popular with the ranchers of Paniola despite the occasional lost sheep to an injured lycanroc unable to hunt its usual prey.

Diurnal lycanroc live in mated pairs raising their most recent litter and sometimes the litter before it. Their territories are regularly patrolled to make sure that other lycanroc are not intruding. Watering holes are usually considered common ground and territorial ranges often converge there. Diurnal lycanroc are snipers, using geosensory and geokinesis to fire off small rocks with incredible speed and unerring accuracy. They blend in among the rocks until something gets into their range. Then it is killed with a few accelerocks. Lycanroc can hunt prey up to three hundred meters away from them. Fathers are the primary caregivers of weaned pups. They use their superior size to protect the children while the female hunts.

Despite their fearsome appearance, nocturnal lycanroc are the most social. Families are still tight-knit and spend most of their time by themselves. Hunts are often coordinated affairs of three to five families. They primarily target creatures larger than themselves. Lycanroc compensate for their blindness by using harsh screams and a fearsome appearance to scare prey into running. From there they can use their geosensory to track its movements. The packs will take turns harassing the prey until it is worn down or babies fall behind. From there the lycanroc will finish the prey with a powerful claw swipe to the neck. This is where their bipedal attacking stance and superior jumping ability come into play. Rockruff are brought along to most hunts. It is believed that they help the blind adults aim so that they can more reliably strike the vital points of their targets.

Husbandry

Standard canine kibble is a good base for a rockruff or lycanroc diet. Meaty bones and gabbro or bastalt can supplement the diet. Some breeders and trainers feed their pokémon the whole carcasses of small pokémon. Despite being rock-types, the lycanroc line do need to drink lots of water and should always have access to a bowl.

Rockruff can be trained to defecate and urinate outside if training starts from a young age or another, older canine can model the behavior. Wild-caught lycanroc seldom learn.

The diurnal and nocturnal lycanroc are social creatures that expect near-constant attention from either other pokémon or their trainer. Training them with another canine is the best approach. Try to make sure that the canine companion is active at the same times of day. Otherwise, the two may fight over when to play and when to sleep. Lycanroc love climbing structures made up of a boulder pile or rock wall.

Earlier guidebooks suggested that rockruff needed to be dominated in such a way that they would recognize their trainer as an alpha. No affection was allowed as it was a sign of weakness, and showing weakness to a large predator who lives in your house is dangerous. Recent scholarship has revealed that lycanroc do not form strict social hierarchies. Instead, their packs are made up of parents and children, with the former expecting some level of submission from the latter. Lycanroc parents are still prone to doting on their children. While lycanroc’s horns and claws make them poor cuddling partners, physical and social affection is very much encouraged. Grooming serves a double purpose of reinforcing social bonds and looking after the pokémon’s health.

Lycanroc do become increasingly temperamental as they approach evolution. This is where boundaries will need to be enforced, ideally by another large canine. A quick recall also works. The pokémon will calm down when the evolution is completed. Trainers who keep a firm hand but show plenty of affection through the process will find their new lycanroc to be intensely loyal to them.

All lycanroc can open doorknobs. Nocturnal lycanroc are particularly prone to doing this. All locks that lycanroc are not supposed to open should be childproofed. Any yard they have access to should be fenced off by a barrier at least two meters high. This is because lycanroc are actually quite skittish towards intruders and prefer that they be kept out. It also keeps overeager rockruff contained. Fences meant to contain rockruff will need to extend below the ground for at least one meter.

Illness

Like most dogs, lycanroc are prone to getting worms. Deworming medication should be administered every two months to fully grown lycanroc and monthly for rockruff. The Alolan government requires that all captive rockruff and lycanroc be vaccinated against rabies, distemper, parvovirus, and hepatitis.

Evolution

Lycanroc begin to evolve around their first birthday. Evolution is marked by a period of rapid growth and physical changes. The entire process takes roughly six months to complete. This is well understood. What is not well understood is the mechanism that determines which form the rockruff evolves into. The earliest theorists pointed to astrology and other omens. Charles Darwin theorized that it had to do with what rocks they were fed. The leading theory at present is that the form is determined by nearby predator and prey species. In areas with few other predators and abundant prey, lycanroc can afford to become solitary, diurnal hunters. Areas with competing predators and abundant nocturnal prey will lead to evolutions into nocturnal lycanroc. If the prey is mostly diurnal, then diurnal lycanroc is the most probable evolution.

Replicating these conditions in captivity is difficult.

Alola is brimming with predators. Unless trainers can afford a large, well-fenced property keeping them away is nearly impossible. This makes crepusclar lycanroc very common in Australia, where there are few competitors, and virtually non-existent in Alola. Some trainers have had luck evolving them on Aether Paradise or the minor outlying isles. Others go the extra mile and travel outside the region to evolve their rockruff.

In practice lycanroc most often evolve to match the habits of their smaller traveling companions. A lycanroc raised on a team with plenty of diurnal pokémon will likely take that route. The inverse is true for a team of night-lovers. Temporary acquisitions of gumshoos or raticate can help lead the rockruff down the favored path. These methods do not guarantee success and Alola’s shelters frequently receive lycanroc that either evolved into the wrong form or proved too difficult to handle during evolution.

This is a problem as lycanroc do not rehome well at all (see Acquisition).

Battle

Lycanroc are powerful enough to be used in competitive battling, but not so powerful that they are a mainstay. Champion Selene’s crepuscular lycanroc has led to an increase in the specie’s usage.

Crepuscular lycanroc are quite fast and have sharp claws and teeth. This makes them solid rush-down attackers that can constantly press the attack. Landing a solid hit on them is also difficult due to their well-placed spikes. Opponents that rely on their jaws find crepuscular and diurnal lycanroc to be particularly difficult opponents. Crepuscular lycanroc can also be taught accelerock, the signature trick of the diurnal lycanroc. Theirs will never be quite so fast or powerful as that of the other form, but they do have one advantage: sight. Crepuscular lycanroc can reliably aim their accelerock at birds. Their terrakinesis is not as strong as diurnal lycanroc and they are not as strong as the nocturnal form, making them a balanced pick between them. Crepuscular lycanroc are by far the most popular form on competitive circuits.

Diurnal lycanroc are snipers. Their preferred means of offense in the wild is firing off sharp rocks at high speeds. If opponents get too close, diurnal lycanroc can either rely on bites and slashes or upheave the earth into a mess of spikes and ditches. Unfortunately, their reliance on geosensory makes them almost entirely unable to hit birds. Many trainers are unwilling to add a rock-type that is hard countered by fliers.

Nocturnal lycanroc are brawlers. They rely primarily on heavy paw strikes, sharp claws, and a fearsome bite to deal damage. Their spikes protect their critical areas, but they otherwise have fairly light armor. This means that most brawlers, like fighting-types, can out damage them. The team and fear based strategies that they employ in the wild are more or less useless in singles matches against disciplined opponents. Their terrakinesis is also weaker than the crepuscular lycanroc.

They have a niche as the fastest grounded rock-type. Nocturnal lycanroc still face stiff competition for a team slot. Aggron, for example, can deal lots of damage up close while also being able to counter birds and tank hits. Kabutops are reasonably fast rush-down brawlers with sharper claws and heavier armor. The average trainer might not have access to either, but professionals typically do. Many other canines are also both faster and more durable than nocturnal lycanroc.

Rockruff are not particularly strategy intensive. They rush in and bite and scratch until they win. Strategies like scary face or rock attacks can be used to supplement their core offensive tactics, but rockruff typically rely on being stronger or better armored than opponents.

All three lycanroc forms are perfectly serviceable on the island challenge and can keep up through the very end.

Acquisition

Shelters receive lots of recently-evolved lycanroc. This is a problem because lycanroc are not easily rehomed. Even moving between permanent locations with the same trainer can be jarring for them. Fewer than 10% of attempted adoptions are successful. They are still an endangered species and the government is reluctant to put them down. Plans are in the works for releasing some of these lycanroc either in their current Alolan ranges or in the Haina Valley or Australia. At present most are held in specialty care facility on Route 3.

Rockruff can be obtained from the wild, but parents are often unwilling to let go of pups. Injured lycanroc may willingly cede puppies they can no longer properly care for. Hungry orphans and capture orphans sometimes seek out trainers and attempt to get captured.

Lycanroc capture is not recommended. Few bond with trainers. Even attempting it requires another large canine, usually an arcanine, to enforce boundaries and show the captured specimen the ropes. Crepuscular lycanroc capture is prohibited due to their small wild numbers.

Most of Alola’s lycanroc live on Poni Island, particularly in the mountainous interior. They used to be common on all four of the main islands, but competition from other canines that either grow larger or work in larger packs has reduced their numbers. Ranchers also systematically eliminated lycanroc from most of Akala and Ula’Ula to protect their livestock. Reintroduction has been approved for Ula’Ula, but the agricultural lobby has prevented any attempts to bring them back to Akala. The Melemele population is confined to portions of the interior and the area around Ten Carat Hill. A small population of four lycanroc and five rockruff exists on Route 3 and is protected to prevent further losses.

Rockruff and lycanroc capture is legal on all of Poni Island and within Ten Carat Hill Commonwealth Park. Trainers are allowed a maximum of one capture. There are relatively small annual capture quotas. Capture and adoption of rockruff requires a Class II license. Capture and adoption of lycanroc requires a Class IV.

Rockruff are best purchased as newly-weaned infants. Breeders will often sell the rights to a rockruff before it is even born. The older rockruff get, the less likely they are to grow comfortable around humans or to obey the rules of human society.

Breeding

Lycanroc should be spayed or neutered by trainers who do not plan on breeding them. This greatly reduces the effects of heat. Heat begins in January and ends in July. Females will often try to escape to find other males to mate with. Males will begin seeking out females. If puppies are not desired, they should be separated from any canines of the opposite sex. The start of heat is marked by bloody discharge from females. Smaller discharges will repeat every few weeks until heat ends. When a male and a female find each other they will mate and pregnancy will likely follow. Assistance in mating is unnecessary and undesired.

Pregnant females should be fed a puppy mix instead of standard kibble. This should be maintained through the end of lactation. Pregnancies last roughly fifty-nine days. Litters typically consist of two puppies, but one to three puppies are also common. Mothers appreciate a dry, warm nest to live in with her offspring. The puppies will open their eyes around one week of age and be weaned a week later. They will begin to poke their heads out of the nest at five weeks and start exploring outside at eight. Interference before this time is strongly discouraged and will likely result in a display of aggression from the parents.

Lycanroc can breed once every year. Nocturnal and diurnal lycanroc prefer to mate for life. Crepuscular lycanroc show no preference between an old partner and a new one.

Subspecies

Lycanroc were brought to Australia by the indigenous people. They are the feral descendants of a now-extinct dog pokémon. The main subspecies in Australia is the desert lycanroc. While alpine lycanroc are well-attuned to firm rock, desert lycanroc have stronger vision and an affinity for controlling loose sands. This allows them to create antlion traps and stir up sandstorms to retreat under. They can also move quickly and with sure footing over even the loosest sands.

European settlers introduced competitors and other canines which reduced the dingo population and diluted their genes. Ranchers began killing and poisoning the survivors. Very few purebreds remained by the 1940s. The alpine subspecies was almost extinct. Fortunately, this subspecies had been brought by other wayfarers to Alola. The largest remaining population in the world now lives on Poni Island.

Feral specimens have become established on a few other rocky and sandy islands around the world. While some are proper breeding colonies, few have enough genetic diversity to survive long-term. Whether the populations should be rounded up, managed with new introductions, or left to die on their own is a matter of some debate.

 

[surskitty]

I haven't reread in a while, and you've apparently rewritten a lot since I last looked, so I'm going to look over from the start and do some bio-nerdery.

All stages of dartrix possess excellent hearing and night vision. Rowlet and dartrix can see perfectly well on cloudy nights with a new moon. Captive decidueye have been able to strike targets in near-perfect darkness in laboratories. It is presently unclear how they manage this, as there is no evidence they use echolocation.

Wouldn't the immediate thought be it's ghost-related? If it isn't, why is it ghost type?

I'm lichen some white rowlet.

Mature dartrix have developed projectile "blade feathers" that aren't actually feathers at all, but rather thin hairs coated in keratin.

This is a bit redundant; hair is keratin, which is kinda mammalian anyway. Feathers are beta-keratin. You probably want the blade feathers to be made of alpha-keratin; that's the component of bird claws etc.

In spite of their representation in folklore as powerful hunters, all stages of the evolutionary line are strictly herbivorous (this is not true for all subspecies, see Subspecies).

This is basically unheard of in birds. There's the hoatzin and that's it. Try looking up cedar waxwings instead. Alt: go planty and they eat manure and/or bloodmeal.

The dartrix line have very inefficient digestive systems

Then they're probably dead. Plants and birds have rather substantial nutritional requirements.

I like decidueye's life cycle a lot.

On the professional circuits, Alolan decidueye were one of the top 1000 most used pokémon in Global Battle Federation tournaments

Also like the implication of there being a metric fuckton of pokemon species.

Aw yeah south island decidueye <3

 

[surskitty]

Incineroar's fun the whole way through. Pretty sensible, I think, and I like that they've evolved a form of menopause. I can't think of any reason male incineroar would end up sterile, though? Unwilling to breed if there's any male torracat, sure, but sterility seems unadvantageous.

Brionne as a gilled mammal is not something I can get to make sense. Frills as sensory organ, maybe. But gills is pushing it. Mucus is fine, though, that's just proteins. I miss it being an amphibian.

Aw yeah pulling a clown fish.

Why are ninetales and oricorio good teammates for brionne?

> Finally, brionne skin, and especially brionne frills, are very susceptible to foreign contaminants. This includes the oils on mammal's skin.
Leftover from amphibianness.

Love the primarina variants.

Toucannon's adventure to Alola isn't that difficult to explain, surely? Lapras exists.

 

[Persephone]

Spinda
Fauxvulpis album

Overview

Spinda are usually seen as small, perpetually dizzy pokémon that somehow manage to survive in a world of monsters. This impression was formed because humans only see spinda when the pokémon is encountering a large, unfamiliar biped that has encroached into the pokémon’s territory. Early scientists only saw the pokémon’s attempt to scare them away, not how they actually live their lives when there are no people around. Wild spinda spend most of their time in the treetops, where they are quite fast and agile.

Collectors have come to prize spinda for their unique spot patterns. Some have a collection of ten or more spinda. This is quite difficult for the average person as spinda do not like other spinda. Almost every new adult will require their own living space. They also do not breed well in captivity, making the purchase of new spinda the only viable way for an amateur to grow their collection.

Traveling trainers may not see much use for spinda. The pokémon is easily scared, slow to bond, and has dietary requirements that are difficult to meet on the trail. Trainers with a love for spinda, a pack pokémon for carrying bamboo, and money for lots of TMs may still get some use out of it.

Physiology

Spinda are currently classified as pure normal-types, but recent research has led to a strong push towards a pure psychic-typing or a dual normal- and psychic-typing. The United States Department of Agriculture is currently reviewing the matter, but as an invasive not found on the mainland it is a low priority. Nepal and India have adopted a pure psychic-typing within the last decade and China is expected to make a similar change within the next few years.

Contrary to popular belief, spinda are usually quadrupedal. They use their sharp claws to climb trees. Spinda have tails about sixteen inches long. All subspecies have large ears. Their eyes are just below the center of a black spiral pattern that disorients attackers and makes it difficult to immediately pinpoint their small, dark eyes. The coat is cream colored with light red or orange spots spaced randomly across their body. The spot pattern is unique to every spinda.

Spinda primarily eat bamboo in the wild. However, spinda are recently descended from carnivores and have not had time to evolve stomachs that can efficiently digest woody plants. They must eat lots of food just to take in enough energy to survive. One adaptation that does help them is a bony growth in their paw that can function as a pseudothumb. This helps them grasp bamboo stalks and better hang on while doing tricky climbing maneuvers.

When threatened, spinda rear up onto their hind paws, raise their front paws, and move around to threaten their perceived enemy. Spinda have weak vision and a very broad definition of ‘threat’ that can encompass tree roots and rocks. They have very poor balance and low speed when moving this way. It was traditionally believed that spinda’s ‘dance’ could inflict confusion on enemies. Spinda actually use their minor telepathy to disorient enemies even without dancing. This is particularly useful in arboreal chases as even slight confusion can drive their pursuer to a painful or lethal fall.

Spinda grow up to five feet in length, tail included, and can weigh up to ten pounds. They can live for twenty-five years in captivity. Their wild lifespan is unknown.

Behavior

Spinda primarily live in areas with high elevation, dense tree cover, and lots of bamboo. This lets them jump from tree to tree without going to ground. Dense foliage helps them hide from birds. Telepathy-induced confusion usually lets them deal with arboreal predators, but the presence of dark-type species of persian and raticate serves to limit their numbers in Alola.

They are primarily solitary, only interacting with other spinda when mating or raising young children. More than half of their day is spent asleep. The rest is mostly spent eating. They can grow thick fur and wrap their tails around themselves to stay warm in cool climates or shed all but a thin coat of fur and spread their ears out to stay cool when it is too hot.

Spinda use pores on the bottom of their paws to mark their territories. If a rival gets too close to their feeding grounds, spinda will first engage in hissing and paw swipes to deter their rival. Then they will descend from the treetops and perform their war dances at each other in an effort to assert dominance. If this does not lead to a winner, they will once again climb into the trees and try to unbalance the other until they fall or yield.

Husbandry

Replicating spinda’s diet is very difficult in captivity. Roughly seventy percent of their food by weight must be fresh bamboo. Spinda prefer to eat their bamboo when it is attached to a tree or other vertical surface. This is a cumbersome requirement for stationary trainers and nearly impossible to meet on the trail. Only trainers with a large budget and pack pokémon should attempt to raise a spinda while traveling.

Another quarter of the pokémon’s diet can be met by leaf-eater biscuits. Be advised that spinda will gorge themselves on these biscuits. Trainers should make sure that roughly three times more bamboo is eaten than biscuits. If the spinda is eating too many biscuits, the amount given should be reduced until the diet balances again. The remainder of the diet can be met with nuts, fruit, vegetables, or mushrooms. Spinda love small eggs, but these should only be provided as a rare treat.

Spinda do not like living with conspecifics. They can tolerate other spinda only if both have separate feeding areas, nest boxes, and a sight barrier between their preferred sleeping spots. Large predators unnerve spinda and proximity can lead to behavioral changes and eventual illness. Even smaller dogs are not recommended companions as they can expose spinda to canine distemper (see Illness). Flea-prone pokémon are also bad companions for health reasons (see Illness).

Spinda can usually tolerate other herbivores, especially ones that can be escaped from by climbing up the nearest tree. There are some reports of spinda playing with herbivorous or pescatarian birds in their party or enclosure. Parrots and cranes seem to be particularly good companions for reasons that are not well understood. Finally, komala and spinda have similar enclosure requirements. Several breeders have raised the two together. Older komala do not appreciate the relatively high energy of the spinda, but younger komala can peacefully share an enclosure.

Any spinda enclosure should have an elaborate climbing structure that allows the pokémon to move from one end of the enclosure to the other without touching the ground. Food and nest box locations can be changed from time to time to provide enrichment. Scratching posts, food frozen in ice, rubber balls, and wind chimes all make for good enrichment. Just make sure that toys cannot be easily swallowed.

Many trainers find out the hard way that spinda are excellent escape artists. Habitats should ideally be entirely enclosed by mesh strong enough that the pokémon cannot escape. For larger habitats this may not be practical. Spinda are excellent climbers and strong swimmers, but they are not good at vertical jumps. Walls that are at least six feet tall and made of a smooth material are usually enough to keep spinda in. Make sure that there are no trees or other objects spinda can climb and then jump from to escape. Electric wires are more likely to hurt spinda than they are to deter them.

The ideal spinda enclosure has places to retreat to away from Alola’s heat. Spinda begin to suffer from heat-related illness at 85 degrees Fahrenheit. At sea level this means that lots of shade, cool misters, and access to a climate-controlled area will be necessary.

Illness

Spinda are extremely vulnerable to canine distemper. They cannot receive a vaccine with a live strand. Even vaccinated spinda must be kept away from the feces of unknown wild pokémon. It is not recommended to keep spinda on the same team as a species that can carry the disease.

They are also quite vulnerable to parasites. A veterinarian should examine a stool sample twice a year to check for worms. Fleas are also a common nuisance, which is particularly bad because common flea baths might kill spinda outright. Treatment is delicate and something best handled by a specialist.

Spinda do not molt in Alola as they always keep their summer coat. Hair loss should always be seen as a cause for concern.

Evolution

Not applicable.

Battling

No serious trainer has ever used a spinda in battle. A handful of coordinators have made use of one for their surprisingly wide movepool and natural cuteness. Any contest ruleset with actual battles puts spinda at a natural disadvantage.

Simply put, spinda are fast, strong, and tricky enough to outcompete most young pokémon. One can even be used as a solid battler through the first island. Then they will start to severely fall off. Spinda are actually quite good in arboreal combat, but leagues tend to have limited climbing structures. Their best bet is confusing the enemy long enough to land a few sharp claw strikes before going down.

Spinda are also very averse to fights. Battling with one too frequently can cause stress-related illnesses. Trainers should not attempt to use spinda in any sort of high-level fight.

Acquisition

A small population of spinda lives in the highlands of Melemele. The most accessible place spinda live is the forest around the caldera of Ten Carat Hill. More live in the island’s rugged interior, but this area is designated a No Catch Zone where the population of invasive species is directly managed by the DNR.

Spinda spend almost all of their time in the trees and are quick to flee from anything that approaches. Capturing one can be a long, drawn-out process. Some trainers have reported success using a persian to ‘hunt’ the spinda in the trees, especially during the day when most are asleep or drowsy.

It is easiest to simply adopt spinda from a breeder or collector. Several can be found scattered across the major cities and trading hubs of Akala, Ula’Ula, and Melemele.

Spinda can be obtained with a Class III license.

Breeding

Spinda mate in January or February. Females will begin displaying interest by rolling around on the ground. If a male is introduced, they will mate. She will then enter into a dark, enclosed space to make her nest. Provided nest boxes, especially those built into a wall and connected to other climate-controlled boxes and other indoor spaces, are best for this. The female will begin to line her nest with soft materials as birth grows nearer. She will deliver one to two cubs in June or July. She will then spend at least one month in her box, relying on fat reserves, food stores, and deliveries from her mate to survive.

Baby spinda have a very high mortality rate. Breeders are lucky if one cub survives out of every four that are born. Some have found success by using hatches in the side of the nest box to access the spinda, rather than withdrawing her or sticking their hands through the main entrance. Large indoor complexes of climate-controlled nest boxes also seem to get better results.

Some females will reject their cubs. Hand-rearing may be necessary. Newborn spinda cannot use a bottle as they are likely to choke on the milk. Instead, the food must be injected directly into their stomachs. This changes after seven days and they can be shifted over to a feline formula after seven days.

Relatives

There are three recognized species of spinda. All three are owned by collectors in Alola, although only one has an established wild population. This is the highland spinda native to Tibet, Nepal, and portions of northern India.

The lowland spinda (F. rufus) has only a short-stubby tail and is about one-third larger. They can still climb when necessary, but they spend most of their time on the ground. Paradoxically, this is because there are fewer arboreal predators in the lowlands. Highland spinda rely on the threat of a confusion-plagued chase through the treetops to deter the common persian in the area. The predators in the lowlands can be escaped by simply climbing higher. They do not need to outrun or outmaneuver anything once they have safely reached higher elevations. Lowland spinda also have a much higher tolerance for warmer climates, making them the easiest to raise in Alola. This subspecies can be found in the remaining forests of eastern and central China. Their telepathy is also weaker as it is less of a deterrent to predators.

The Hoennese spinda (F. caudabrevis) are descended from the lowland spinda. As such they do not have the long tails of the highland species. They have since evolved to better survive in the volcanic mountains of Hoenn. This includes specialized fur and toepads that let them dig or bury into fields of ash. Their lungs are designed to filter out the small, toxic particulates of ash fields. They use weak telekinesis to keep these burrows from collapsing while they rest under the surface in a place too hot, toxic, and loose for most predators to bother traversing. At night these spinda venture to nearby bamboo forests to eat. Sometimes they relax in the hot springs of the area.

 

[Persephone]

Tentacruel (Tentacool)
Sicarius fleckeri

Overview

There are dozens, if not hundreds, of species of tentacruel. Alola is home to several species. Most are not sentient, much less sapient. The sentient ones tend to be small. The largest and most intelligent species of tentacruel found in Alola is Fleckeri’s tentacruel. While it is not the easiest to care for it is the one that behaves closest to a normal pokémon. The ‘Relatives’ section will detail the smaller, safer, and stupider alternatives.

Even being the most intelligent tentacruel, S. fleckeri lacks a brain. It still has a complex enough nervous system that it can detect and react to threats. They can even mimic some of the attacks they witness. There is some evidence that they can recognize their trainer. Some specimens learn to associate battling with large food rewards and begin to instinctively attack anything unfamiliar they encounter. This is not a good thing, as Fleckeri’s tentacruel is one of the most venomous creatures on the planet. A full powered sting from a very large tentacruel can permanently cripple a wailord or kill a gyarados.

Thankfully, tentacruel hold back. They gauge the size of their target and only release enough to severely wound. This avoids spending excessive venom and ensures that the target will both never bother them again and live with their disfigurement as a warning to others. Thankfully, tentacruel antivenom has been developed and widely distributed. Almost every beach and stadium in Alola has some prepared. Research into tentacruel venom has helped lead to treatments of other cardiovascular ailments. It is possible that in the near future there will be more lives saved by tentacruel every year than lost to them.

Outside of antivenom research there is very little reason to own a tentacruel. They are not intelligent enough to be social or refrain from stinging their trainer. Tentacruel quickly dry up on land, making them near useless in most battle arenas. Finally, tentacruel use is generally considered unsporting. The Alolan League once outright banned them. The new, relaxed policy is that they can be used if the trainer informs the referee ahead of time that they will be using the pokémon and there is time to secure a dose of antivenom. The trainer using tentacruel will have to pay for this dose if it is required. Tentacruel antivenom costs a minimum of $50 a dosage.

Physiology

Tentacool and tentacruel are classified as dual water- and poison-types.

The body is almost entirely made up of water. What remains is thin, gelatinous flesh. The main “bell” is roughly box shaped, with four corners on top and curtains draping down from it. The bell can be relaxed and constricted in such a way that the pokémon can swim. Tentacruel can reach speeds of seven knots for short periods of time. The bell contains a mesh of nerves just below the surface that helps the tenatcruel process information. The sheer size of the pokémon makes them more intelligent than other species.

Curiously, tentacool and tentacruel also have fully functional eyes with corneas and irises. In fact, they have twenty-four eyes. These are grouped into four clusters, two on each ‘side’ of the bell. From a distance they resemble two normal eyes, but when viewed up close it becomes clear that each eye is six closely packed stalks, each with an eye at the end.

Tentacruel have no need for lungs as oxygen can be absorbed directly through their thin skin. The bell is wrapped around prey and emits acids to break down the flesh. Nutrients are then directly absorbed into the bell’s cells. Individual tentacles are occasionally brought into the bell alongside the food so that those cells can also be replenished. With no need to carry oxygen or nutrients throughout the body, tentacruel do not need blood. This means they have no use for a heart.

While most of their body is translucent, tentacool and tentacruel have three markings on the bell. These are bioluminescent and can be made to glow red. The purpose this serves is debated. The old dominant theory was that this was a means of communication between tentacruel, but recent research has shown that tentacruel show no reaction to simulated light patterns if there is not a conspecific physically present. It is now believed that tentacruel send this signal to warn other species to stay away. It is only shown in deeper waters where tentacruel do not hunt and it saves them from making biologically expensive venom. Tentacruel have only two predators in Alola, both uncommon, so they gain more from conserving venom than they lose from increased predation. These lights can also be used to mimic confuse ray, but this is only seen in captive specimens who feel the need to stun foes long enough to catch up and sting them.

The most distinctive feature of the species is their long tentacles. Tentacool have only two, while tentacruel can have up to sixty-four. These are lined with nematocysts that inject venom into anything organic they come across. Tentacruel venom is designed to inflict shocks great enough that the heart of their prey stops functioning. Lesser doses are designed to inflict severe pain, scarring, and mild disruption of the cardiovascular system. These rarely result in a heart attack and death unless the tentacruel intends on eating its prey. Anything longer than half the width of the tentacruel is functionally inedible. This means that humans and most large to mid-size pokémon are safe from even the biggest tentacruel. Some species with weak hearts or lungs will still die from a tentacruel sting. Humans who are very old, very young, or who have weakened cardiovascular systems can also be killed by a strike intended to maim.

Tentacool can survive being almost entirely dehydrated. When they are left stranded by currents or tides, tentacool will begin to shrivel up and contract. They will rehydrate and begin functioning once a storm or high tide puts them back into the water. Tentacruel cannot survive full dehydration and use their weak hydrokinesis to resist waves and currents pushing them ashore. They move out to sea and towards the ocean floor when storms approach.

Tentacruel can grow to a diameter of three feet across the bell. Their tentacles can reach over fifteen feet in length. The largest recorded tentacruel had a dry weight of only fourteen pounds. Captive and wild tentacruel seldom live for more than two years after reaching the medusa stage.

Behavior

Tentacruel come into the shallows during the day to hunt. Their main prey are small fish such as magikarp, feebas, remoraid, basculin, and wishiwashi. Tentacool typically eat non-pokémon fish and invertebrates. The pokémon drifts on the currents and spreads out its tentacles far enough apart that it becomes difficult to see any single one. When a hunting specimen feels something brush its tentacles it uses hydrokinesis to judge how large it is. If it is just the right size to be both edible and worth eating a killing sting is delivered and the tentacles are used to reel in the prey. Even as digestion begins the tentacles are spread out once more in hopes of obtaining more food.

At night tentacruel swim out to deeper waters. They slowly lower themselves on to the ocean floor and bury tentacles in the substrate as anchors. The pokémon will remain motionless until daylight comes and it is time to resume hunting. Tentacruel will also do this when they sense a storm coming in. One day without food will not kill the pokémon – in fact, one captive specimen stayed in stasis for over three months when feedings stopped. It promptly began to move and hunt the moment prey was added into the tank again.

Alola’s most popular beaches are surrounded by netting capable of keeping tentacool and tentacruel out. The remaining beaches close at the times of the lunar cycle when the tides push more of the pokémon in than usual. Attempts to spot the dull red parts of the bell are sometimes successful, but the pokémon is built to blend into the water. Visual spotting is not particularly reliable as such.

Alomomola primarily subsist on eating tentacool. Lapras occasionally eat one, but this is not the core of their diet. Both are highly resistant to tentacruel venom, so their prey’s only defense is to disorient them with current manipulation or flashing lights.

Husbandry

Tentacool and tentacruel need tanks that are at minimum the length of their body in all three dimensions. These tanks also need to be custom built with small currents in mind. A day-night cycle should also be employed. There is some research that simulated lunar and tidal cycles also help improve health. In practice only professional trainers, wealthy collectors, and public aquariums have the resources to accommodate large tentacruel species. Tentacool can be stored short-term in smaller tanks, but eventually they will outgrow their enclosure.

Very young medusa should be fed brine shrimp. Tentacool can have slightly larger fish placed into their tanks. Ordinarily it is not recommended to feed pokémon living food for ethical and practical reasons. It is unfair to put prey in a situation which they cannot escape. There is also a real chance of injury to the predator. The problem is that tentacool and tentacruel do not actively hunt. They rely on things brushing against their tentacles to trigger a reaction. Some aquarists recommend live feedings for this reason. Others have found dropping food directly in to the pokémon’s tentacles every so often does the trick. Some aquariums employ current systems sophisticated enough to keep prey floating in the water column without having currents so strong that they injure the predator. The pokémon will begin to light up once it is done eating.

Enrichment is mostly unnecessary. There should be enough substrate at the bottom of the aquarium to anchor in. Anything more complicated is more likely to harm the pokémon than it is to be used as a toy. Battling trainers may occasionally wish to put their pokémon into a pool with other pokémon, ideally with a barrier separating them from each other. The tentacruel may come to imitate moves it sees observed, especially water- and poison-type attacks. Some have even learned to use recover to speed up their natural healing.

Illness

Tentacruel do not recover lost eyes and tentacles. Almost every other part of the body can be regenerated over the course of days. Elderly individuals slowly experience senescence as their bell begins to fray and tentacles gradually fall off or stop working. Eventually the entire pokémon will stop moving and begin to break apart. This process is a natural part of the pokémon’s life cycle.

Trainers stung by tentacruel should immediately apply antivenom. Even with quick exposure it is likely that the sting area will scar. It will probably remain extremely painful for days or weeks. Failure to use antivenom can result in shock, delirium, cardiac arrest, and death.

Evolution

Tentacruel’s life cycle contains a third stage that is not technically a pokémon. This is a polyp, a small creature that attaches itself to flat surfaces and steadily grows. Unlike most ‘eggs,’ the polyp can both hunt and reproduce. It uses small tentacles to catch nearby zooplankton for food.

Eventually the polyp will grow out two tentacles and absorb the others into the main body, which will become the bell. It will break off into the water and begin moving. Over time the tentacool will grow a bell with a diameter of around fourteen inches. Then the other tentacles will begin to grow in. Evolution into tentacruel formally occurs when the new tentacles reach the same length as the original two.

Battle

S. fleckeri is intelligent enough to learn rudimentary battle strategy. Some even listen to their trainer’s verbal commands. They are excellent combatants in the water, able to knock out most opponents in a single sting from one of their long tentacles. They also have very little ability to harm things out of the water beyond shooting hydro pumps or scalds out of the pool and hoping they hit something. Faster water-types can outspeed tentacruel, although maneuvering around every tentacle can be tricky. The species is popular in underwater battling exhibitions. It sees almost no use outside of these specialized matches.

Both tentacool and tentacruel are essentially useless on land. They struggle to hit enemies not in the water with them. In aquatic matches it is best to let them hunt on their own. Luigi Ricci famously defeated half the team of a water-type specialist by sending in his Fleckeri’s tentacruel and letting it stand still, waiting for the opponent to inevitably stumble into a translucent tentacle and get stung. Trainers who want to take a more proactive path can attempt to teach their pokémon confuse ray, scald, or ice beam.

Acquisition

The easiest way to obtain a tentacool is to go onto any unenclosed beach in Alola at low tide, find a dried out specimen, and then drop a ball onto it. Tentacruel capture is more difficult and requires going out on a boat or a long pier. During the day of a new moon or full moon there will be an abundance of tentacruel in shallow waters. A pokémon can try to wear one down from a distance before capture is attempted.

Do not sail towards a tentacruel while riding on the back of a pokémon. This is likely to end in disaster.

Tentacool require a Class III license to possess; Tentacruel require a Class IV.

Breeding

Polyps can reproduce asexually via ‘budding,’ where a second genetically-identical individual grows out of the polyp before eventually splitting off into a separate organism. Fully grown tentacruel reproduce in January and July. They congregate in a handful of spawning areas. All adults will then release a cloud of sperm or eggs. A tentacruel seems to pick whether to release sperm or eggs at random and they are all capable of releasing both. Should the tentacruel survive to a second breeding session they will release the other gamete. Some eggs will encounter sperm and become fertilized. They will then latch on to any hard surface they find and begin to develop into a polyp. Tentacruel death rates are exceedingly high following spawning events, perhaps to reduce competition for new young or to put more biomass in the water as the adults disintegrate.

Tentacruel in aquariums have never been observed spawning. Captive specimens will spawn if released into a group of other spawning tentacruel. It is impossible to keep the children of the captive specimen, so this is seldom done.

Relatives

The most impressive species of tentacruel is the aptly named giant tentacruel (S. magnalux). This species can have a bell nearly ten feet across and tentacles over fifty feet long. It also has the ability to concentrate light into powerful laser attacks launched from the bell. Unlike S. fleckeri, it can also sense the world above the surface with enough detail to aim attacks. The giant tentacruel has been known to actively hunt birds by shooting them out of the sky and then reeling the stunned bird into its bell. The giant tentacruel’s venom is not nearly as potent as that of Fleckeri’s tentacruel. It is only strong enough to kill zooplankton and small fish. Lasers are relied upon to kill everything else.

The giant tentacruel lives in cold waters near the Arctic. Some can be found as far south as Sinnoh or the mainland United States, but this is rare. These sightings are becoming even less common due to climate change. Because their lasers require solar energy to fire, the giant tentacruel is only active for eight months of the year. During the winter they dive deep into the ocean and become dormant for months.

The Rockingham tentacruel, by contrast, might have the smallest adult stage of any known pokémon. Their tentacruel phase has a bell less than a quarter inch across. Their sting is initially painless. Humans stung by Sicarius rockingham will go into cardiac arrest within fifteen minutes. There is effective antivenom, but most victims will have no idea they have been stung in the first place. Once symptoms arise it will be too late for the antivenom to have any effect.

Most tentacruel are nowhere near as large as the giant tentacruel or as venomous as those in the Sicarius genus. The coral tentacruel (Alcyoneumanes sp.) does not have a tentacool stage. To some observers it looks like they barely leave the polyp state. The bell is anchored to a hard surface such as a rock or coral reef. The tentacles grow out into the water and rise towards the sun. Zooxanthellae on the tentacles lets the pokémon gain food via photosynthesis. They almost never move.

The species most often seen in public aquariums is the minor tentacruel (Marispiritus hensonii). Minor tentacruel reach bell widths of one to two feet. Their venom is only potent enough to kill zooplankton, their main prey. Researchers did not classify them as pokémon until 2004, when it was demonstrated that they possessed the ability to manipulate elemental signatures. This effect can be observed by running weak electrical currents through the water or using area of effect attacks such as trick room. The tentacruel will begin to glow strange colors as the energy around them is partially negated, sparing the pokémon from the brunt of the attack. Why a pokémon with almost no natural predators evolved such a sophisticated defense system is unclear.

 

[Persephone]

Lumineon (Finneon)
Pantodon luxor

Overview

The deep ocean is still largely unexplored. The creatures that live there have adaptations that can seem alien to surface dwellers. Yet it is not far away in linear distance. The ocean floor around Alola is about two miles deep. The distance is short enough that creatures theoretically could frequently travel from the bottom to the surface. Few species actually do this as it requires adapting to two very different environments.

Relicanth, clamperl, and lanturn all dwell on the abyssal plains off Alola’s coast. While all three can survive at the surface with a long enough decompression period, none intentionally make the trip. Lumineon is one of the very large few species in Alola to do so with any regularity.

The species, once relatively unpopular, has seen a spike following the 2003 film Finneon’s Wake. Alola’s wild population of finneon has sharply declined since the movie’s release. This is particularly ironic as Finneon’s Wake centers around a finneon trying to escape the confines of an aquarium. Trainers hoping to give their lumineon a life on the trail, away from aquaria, will be disappointed: like most fish, lumineon do not do well on long-distance overland journeys.

Physiology

Both finneon and lumineon are classified as pure water-types. Both partially subsist on moonlight, leading some scientists to argue for a fairy-typing. This view has been rejected by the USDA as neither stage attacks with moonlight, is injured by cold iron, or has an extraterrestrial origin.

The scales on the dorsal side of finneon’s body are dark blue, while those on the ventral side are light blue. The area around the lateral line is pink. There are also pink spots on the caudal fins. The pink areas contain receptors that absorb and store moonlight. It can later be released to form a shimmering silver light. Finneon also have a mucus coating that makes them difficult for predators to grip. The coating also allows them to live inside of some venomous anemones.

Most of finneon’s fins are rather short. The notable exception are their pectoral and caudal fins. The caudal fin is the most compact and muscular. It is mostly hidden by the pokémon’s very long pectoral fins. The movements of the long, wing-like pectoral fins in water currents combined with the shimmering light creates a disorienting effect. It can be difficult for predators to identify the pokémon’s weak points. This is doubly true if dozens of individuals are lit up in close proximity.

Lumineon lose their mucus coating upon evolution. The pink lateral line and counter-shading are also lost. They are replaced by horizontal stripes and a solid pink coloration inside of the pectoral fins and at the end of the caudal fin. The rest of the pectoral fins are dark blue with a light blue fringe. Lumineon’s pectoral fins are even larger than those of finneon. Their pelvic fins have also greatly expanded. The pectoral fins are thin and free-floating. This makes the pokémon look much larger than it actually is. The pelvic fins, by contrast, are straight and sturdy. These are used to anchor the pokémon into the substrate.

Lumineon can reach lengths of four feet and weights of 20 pounds. Captive specimens can survive up to six years. The lifespan of wild lumineon is unknown.

Behavior

Finneon rest inside of anemones in sunlit reefs during the day. The finneon gain a safe place to rest. They, in turn, occasionally bring food to their host. They also help ward off more active predators that are not deterred by the anemone’s stings alone.

The finneon come out at night to school. Swarms of dozens or hundreds of finneon form near reefs. Members take turns basking in the moonlight at the surface. Their first line of defense against predators is to stun or confuse them with shimmering lights. If this does not succeed, the finneon will pool their limited powers of hydrokinesis to create strong currents around the school.

Wishiwashi are primarily diurnal, but on occasion a school of finneon will encounter a wishiwashi school. These tend to lead to mass death events on the wishiwashi’s side as the lights disrupt their coordination and leave them vulnerable to predators. Finneon themselves would never eat anything as large as an adult wishiwashi. They eat a diet of zooplankton. Finneon will also eat released eggs and sperm during other species’ spawning events.

Relatively little is known about the habits of wild lumineon. What we do know is mostly pieced together from footage from submersibles. The presence of large, strange intruders at the bottom of the sea naturally alters the behavior of the pokémon it observes, making this data somewhat unreliable.

Lumineon appear to spend most of their time near the ocean floor ‘walking’ along on their pectoral fins. They sense the substrate beneath them for anything edible. They will happily eat worms, crustaceans, and anything weak or slow enough to be killed and small enough to be eaten in a single bite. Their have been videos taken of lumineon trying to eat starmie. The latter usually releases a single leg and flees.

Lanturn, gorebyss, huntail, and golisopod could all plausibly kill a lumineon if they crossed paths. This occurs fairly often on submersible streams as being bathed in light ruins lumineon’s ability to blend in to the darkness. Lumineon glow when threatened in an attempt to make themselves look larger and more dangerous than they are. They otherwise stay dark as making any light is a good way to be found and eaten.

Every full moon some lumineon will surface. They typically do so far away from land, as pelagic areas have fewer predators than coastal waters. Lumineon will spread out their fins and bask in the moonlight until dawn approaches, at which point they will slowly begin to descend back to the depths to feed.

Husbandry

Finneon are best stored in large saltwater tanks. Their tank should ideally have plenty of coral and at least one large anemone per pokémon. Finneon have also been known to hide inside of crevasses, clams, and plants if they cannot find an anemone. There should be plenty of surface area in the tank and a moonlight-lamp hung above it to allow for basking. Outdoor pools can do without the lamp as long as there are no major barriers to natural moonlight. They should not be stored with fin-nippers. Filtration currents should be kept weak to avoid damaging the pokémon’s fins.

Many inexperienced aquarists make the mistake of buying finneon when they are less than five inches long and placing them in a reef tank suitable for a fish of that size. Even without accounting for evolution, finneon can grow to be over 1’ long. They prefer to live in schools of ten or more individuals. A very large tank or pool is needed to properly house them.

Lumineon prefer open tanks with a sandy bottom. It is not necessary to pressurize the water as lumineon can survive at the surface. Anything small enough to fit in lumineon’s mouth and slow enough to fall prey to it will be eaten. Fin nippers should also be avoided for similar reasons as finneon. Fish that stay near the top of the water column can peacefully coexist with lumineon. Burying toys in the sand can make for good enrichment. Make sure the toys are either small and edible or otherwise too large to be a choking hazard. Moonlight lamps should be turned on at least once a month in a regular cycle.

Raising a finneon or lumineon on the trail is possible but very much not recommended. Finneon tend to grow nervous in the open public pools at pokémon centers, and even lumineon are prone to getting their fins nipped. Neither likes being in coastal waters or shallow pools, preferring reefs or the open ocean instead. Near-constant storage in a stasis ball will be required. This carries a danger of malnourishment and migraines.

Finneon can be safely fed a diet of brine shrimp placed near the water’s surface at night. Lumineon prefer to have worms, flatfish, or crustaceans buried in the sand for them to find.

Some resorts have taken to ‘seeding’ the water with brine shrimp and finely minced fish at night to encourage finneon to come out. This is often successful and can lead to mesmerizing light displays without keeping any finneon in captivity.

Illness

Fin damage is the most common category of illnesses for the species. Fin nipping occurs when an opponent tears or bites the fin. It tends to result in serious rifts in the fin or even entirely missing pieces. This can limit the pokémon’s ability to create lights. Serious cases can result in infections or death. It can be mitigated or cured by an immediate healing potion or move.

Fin rot occurs in water of low quality. It tends to appear as steady discoloration or weakening of the fin, eventually resulting in the loss of the fin or death by poisoning. The best way to treat fin rot is to transfer the pokémon to cleaner water. It can be treated by some antidotes and a competent veterinarian, but the damage is unlikely to be entirely reversed.

Evolution

Lumineon flash evolve after absorbing a set amount of lunar energy throughout their lifetime. In the wild this typically occurs around ten months of age. It can be much faster in captivity, but evolutions that occur before the six-month mark can result in stunted growth or defects in the evolutionary process. Evolution can be accelerated by more powerful lunar lamps or by placing a moon stone in the tank.

Battle

Lumineon are not natural battlers. They can access a wide range of energy spectrums for attacks, but they lack the physical or elemental strength to use any of them well. Coordinators, on the other hand, have made lumineon a staple of the field. Their weak-but-varied arsenal, natural beauty, and bioluminescence make them very good at displays. The power level of contest battles is much lower than that of professional matches, allowing lumineon to hold their own.

In normal battles lumineon will struggle, even on the island challenge. There are two ways to go about training one: offense and utility. Offensive lumineon can learn a variety of tricks such as hydro pump, ice beam, signal beam, and hidden power. These can allow lumineon to batter grounded opponents from the safety of a saltwater pool. Alternatively, lumineon can use tricks such as defog, rain dance, and toxic to support the team and gradually wear opponents down. Beware of anything that can hit lumineon in the water, as their frail fins and lack of armor make them easy to knock out.

Finneon are sturdier for their size and better suited for utility movesets over offensive ones. They can be a decent choice for early battles with a saltwater pool, but will quickly fall behind their teammates.

Acquisition

Finneon can be found in reefs during the day. At night they tend to come a little closer to the coast. They will be very visible, although it can be hard to aim a ball at any given pokémon. Finneon do not typically form a collective defense against captures from docks or boats, but may attempt to fight back against trainers on the back of a pokémon. Lumineon can be found in deeper waters on the nights of full moons. They will dive at the first sign of trouble, making capture somewhat difficult. Aquarium specialty stores usually carry finneon and occasionally sell lumineon.

Both stages can be obtained with a Class III license.

Breeding

Lumineon are hermaphrodites that can produce both eggs and sperm. The details of their reproduction are unknown. They have never been bred in captivity nor been observed mating or spawning in the wild. It seems probable that they use bioluminescence to attract mates as their lights are otherwise seldom used.

Relatives

P. luxor is known as the reef lumineon. They can be found on most reefs in the tropical and sub-tropical Pacific.

The other species, P. neolant, is an anadromous fish native to Sinnoh, Kamchatka, and the delta of the Amur River. They are born in the spring just as the ice begins to melt. They will then head to the sea to evolve as the ice returns. After evolution they will dive down to the depths, only surfacing once a month to bask in moonlight. The finneon have more muted colors compared to P. luxor. This helps them blend in with the grasses and mud lining the rivers and lakes they call home. Bioluminescence is usually only employed to ward off predators that approach a school. Captive schools can be taught that light displays lead to feedings, encouraging the behavior.

A few resorts in Unova kept schools of P. neolant as they had a higher tolerance for cold surface waters compared to P. luxor. The finneon delighted guests until 2003, when Hurricane Charlie hit the region and broke many of the sea pens. At least one resort forgot to withdraw the pokémon before the storm hit, leading to a school escaping into the wild. Improbably, this school has since begun to breed. Finneon are now somewhat common in Unova.

 

[Persephone]

Wishiwashi
Scholae milibus alola

Overview

As the possibility of invasion loomed over Alola in the War of the Pacific, Governor Olson proclaimed that the territory was a wishiwashi: a myriad of people who would band together as one to resist those who dared attack them. His prediction proved correct: Alola’s people and the soldiers stationed there rallied to keep the territory in American hands. The wishiwashi has since become the mascot of the naval bases on the island and many of Alola’s sports teams.

Unfortunately, fish pokémon are difficult to keep on the island challenge. A whole school of wishiwashi magnifies the challenges of raising a single fish. Stationary trainers with the funds and space for a large enough tank or pool may find a small shoal of wishiwashi to be good pets. Professionals with no shortage of funds, skill, and ambition often try their hand at taming a school. Those who succeed are rewarded with one of the most powerful threats in the ocean.

Physiology

Wishiwashi are classified as pure water-types.

Individuals are counter-shaded with light silvery scales on their bottom half and dark blue scales on the top. A series of large white scales cover the lateral line.

Wishiwashi schools are much, much larger. Their entire body is dark blue. It is shaped like a large predatory fish with a deeper body form than individuals. The dorsal fin is not physically attached to the main body and made up of a series of fish-like entities that form the rough shape of a dorsal fin. The school is wholly unable to eat or perform any important biological functions other than breathing. They possess large white eyes that do not serve any purpose beyond intimidation. Wishiwashi schools exclusively sense the world through water, including that within living creatures.

Individual wishiwashi grow to lengths of 14 inches and weights of five ounces. Schools can reach lengths of thirty feet and weigh up to 1,350 pounds. Wishiwashi can live for up to fourteen years in the wild.

Behavior

Wishiwashi live in shoals of two to four thousand fish. They feed by swimming through the water with their mouths open. Zooplankton such as copepods are caught in the water entering their mouth and moving towards their gills. There they are intercepted by gill rakers, small strands that catch any zooplankton coming through and direct it down the esophagus. Wishiwashi swim near constantly in slow loops around the islands. Their swimming speed slows at night as they enter a resting state.

Individuals are prime targets for many predators due to their small size and high nutritional value. When they come under attack, wishiwashi begin to move together and congregate into a school. Once the school has formed it will set about punishing whatever dared to prey on the individuals in the shoal. Even gyarados learn that it is not worth preying upon wishiwashi.

The species still has some predators in Alola. Sharpedo are known to rush into the middle of a school, eat what they can, and quickly swim away before a school can form. Schools are rather slow and sharpedo can easily outrun them. Long distance water-type attacks can be dodged by momentarily leaping above the surface as they pass. Other predators can entirely negate the ability to school and prey upon the individual wishiwashi without fear of serious retaliation. Lumineon’s flashing lights, bruxish’s telepathic attacks, and noivern’s sonic blasts can disrupt the concentration of a school, causing it to collapse.

Wishiwashi can mostly avoid these threats. Sharpedo are uncommon in Alola outside of the waters of Poni Island. Bruxish seldom leave reefs. Lumineon only surface once a month far offshore and can be avoided by moving closer to the coast. Wishiwashi previously used to live further out to sea where noivern would be reluctant to strike due to the long swim back. The decline in noivern populations has allowed the shoals to move closer to the shore over time.

Husbandry

Wishiwashi can be captured while schooling. This allows the entire school to be held in one ball. Almost every league allows for wishiwashi to be used as one pokémon, even when thousands of individuals are used. Stasis balls are far preferable to habitat balls for this. The latter can result in disorientation and difficulties swimming for a short time after release.

Since wishiwashi only school when threatened they will spend most of their time separated into individuals. A large pool, sea pen, or pond will be needed to hold a full shoal of wishiwashi. Large tanks (1,000 gallons or more) can be used for smaller shoals of up to thirty or forty individuals. Ponds should ideally be free of larger fish that could stress the fish into schooling. Larger shoals prefer their enclosure to be at least ten feet deep and at least fifty feet long by twenty feet wide. These are minimum requirements: bigger enclosures are better. Some aquarists recommend building an aviary or greenhouse over the pond to keep out birds or other potential stressors. This is only practical for top-tier professional trainers or very wealthy hobbyists.

It is best to feed wishiwashi by training them to associate a lure with feeding. The fish will then move towards that lure and swim with mouths wide open in anticipation of food. Food can then be scattered. Baby brine shrimp are their preferred food. If the fish schools with any regularity more food will be required. Some outdoor ponds and sea pens fed with natural seawater can develop their own copepod populations capable of supporting a shoal with little to no additional food. This is especially true for larger enclosures.

Wishiwashi socialize among themselves. Shoals can learn to tolerate humans. Getting to the point where they obey commands is trickier. Coming to view cooperation as a reliable source of food and other luxuries (larger spaces, additional protection) helps.

Farmers raising wishiwashi for food usually wish to avoid schooling. This can be averted by harvesting them before adulthood or keeping fewer than five hundred individuals in each pond.

Illness

Wishiwashi held as individuals are very prone to stress-related illnesses and death. Wishiwashi captured and raised alone have very high mortality rates. Individuals taken and held in shoals of ten to fifty have a roughly fifty percent mortality rate within the first month. Post-capture death rates for individuals captured and housed alongside their entire shoal are less than twenty percent. Mortality rates typically decline sharply after the initial capture.

Frequent schooling also raises problems. Wishiwashi cannot eat or metabolize food while in school form. Doing this too often can lead to stress related illnesses, underfeeding, and sometimes toxic shock from holding in waste. Trainers are recommended to battle with a wishiwashi school at most three times a week.

Finally, trainers should accept that wishiwashi are not particularly durable. Their survival strategy in the wild depends on having so many individuals that no predator could kill them all. An occasional individual death is no great tragedy to the shoal. If fish do get sick, they should be immediately removed from the shoal. Any infected fish will probably die due to a combination of limited veterinary experience with fish and the general frailty of the pokémon. Isolation actually makes death more likely. It is still necessary to prevent an infectious disease from killing many, many more pokémon.

Evolution

Wishiwashi do not evolve. They enter into a school form, a composite of thousands of individual fish. It is temporary and more akin to dynamax or mega evolution than to standard evolution. This process is only possible in a handful of places on earth where background levels of elemental energy are unusually high. Western Europe, Hoenn, and Alola are among the only places that meet these requirements. A wishiwashi shoal taken outside of these areas will gradually lose the ability to form schools.

The school process begins when enough wishiwashi gather in one place. The largest wishiwashi will send out a pulse that will begin the merging process. A single, massive creature will form in the place of the shoal. This school form is not built for ordinary functions such as feeding, defecating, and reproducing. It is simply an extremely powerful means of defense. Once the predators have left and a message has been sent the school will collapse and individuals will swim free.

If the school takes sufficient damage, then it can break prematurely. All individuals in the shoal will be stunned for nearly a half hour after the break. Breaks caused by attacks that disrupt concentration only lead to a few seconds of disorientation.

A school requires at least one adult to activate it. Juveniles cannot form a school, regardless of how many are present.

Battle

Wishiwashi schools are some of the strongest aquatic pokémon in the world. Almost all of the world’s top fishkeepers live in their habitats on at least a seasonal basis just to keep a school on their team. Very few pokemon stand a chance of overpowering one in the water. Wishiwashi have access to incredibly formidable physical and elemental attacks such as massive waves and blizzards. Wishiwashi’s coverage options are limited, but they still have some important moves such as earthquake and beat up at their disposal.

Some pokémon can win by disrupting the school. Individuals are too cowardly to do much but run and hide. Even if they were to fight, they would stand little chance of harming a professional trainer’s pokémon. Powerful telepaths such as alakazam, beheeyem, and sigilyph can break apart a school fairly quickly. Some pokémon with absurdly loud sonic attacks can achieve a similar affect. Noivern is the most notable abuser of this strategy. Some pokémon with especially potent confuse rays can also break a wishiwashi’s concentration. This last tactic is mostly limited to natural bioluminescent pokémon and a handful of ghosts.

Other pokémon must exploit one of wishiwashi’s two main weaknesses to win: they have a natural time limit and they are slow. The time limit can be hard to abuse in practice due to wishiwashi’s power. The school lacks several important organs, leaving them very vulnerable to poisons. Some species are bulky enough to abuse it. Walls such as cloyster, gastrodon, blissey, aegislash, hyboareas, mega slowbro, or milotic can simply close their armor or begin to heal themselves while waiting for their opponent to faint.

Abusing wishiwashi’s slowness can also be difficult. Some sweepers can use their speed to dodge wishiwashi’s telegraphed attacks and strike back with their own powerful hits. These will eventually overwhelm the opponent. Sweepers will usually fall in one or two hits. A few quickstall pokémon can take some hits, avoid others, and gradually wear wishiwashi down.

Finally, some pokémon are so powerful that they can fight the school one-on-one. A well-trained gyarados can take on a school much more reliably than a wild one. Powerful dragons that aren’t extremely vulnerable to the cold can potentially overpower wishiwashi. Electric types such as vikavolt and magnezone can take advantage of wishiwashi’s typing. Some grass types with sunny day support can do the same, although most plants tend to have limited offensive power and an extreme dislike of the cold. Some Ultra Beasts and other rare-but-very-powerful pokémon can also overwhelm wishiwashi.

This may sound like a long list of counters. Do not be fooled: this is a near-complete list of the pokémon that can take on a school and win. Most professionals have one or two of the above pokémon on their team, but when those are sufficiently weakened wishiwashi can run roughshod over the remainder.

Hobbyists and island challengers will rarely have to deal with wishiwashi schools unless they go out of their way to antagonize one. This can be avoided by simply not attacking wishiwashi or riding on a predator near them.

Acquisition

Capturing wishiwashi requires antagonizing them. Particularly bold trainers aiming to capture an entire school will necessarily have to face said school. Those content with individuals can rely on a magnet recall glove to drop a ball into a wishiwashi shoal from altitude, capture something (wishiwashi individuals are unlikely to escape their ball), and then promptly raise it back up before fleeing. The DNR should be notified in advance to ensure that no one else is in the water. Wishiwashi are not particularly smart and do not often distinguish between one human who attacked them and other nearby humans.

The DNR also issues very few permits for wishiwashi capture. Trainers who cannot get a permit or do not want to risk fighting a school can simply purchase wishiwashi from aquarists. The fish are expensive due to the difficulty of acquiring them and their value as a food fish.

There are two approaches to building a school. The first is to gradually assemble one from purchased or captured individuals. When enough are obtained the shoal will be able to form a school of their own. The second is to obtain an existing school. Those few aquarists with enough wishiwashi to form a school are often unwilling to part with it. Hefty payments will be required. The alternative is to take on an entire school at once. This is occasionally permitted when a school becomes a problem to the ecosystems or the humans living nearby. Trainers who wish to capture a school can be put on a waitlist by the DNR. On average a school capture is approved once every three years.

Owning a wishiwashi shoal with fewer than five hundred individuals requires a Class II license. Owning a shoal with more than five hundred individuals requires a Class IV.

Breeding

Wishiwashi are broadcast spawners. Shoals pack tightly together. Every adult female then releases thirty to fifty thousand eggs. Males release far more sperm. The shoal will mix up the water currents to maximize the chances that eggs and sperm collide. Spawning occurs between February and June. There are usually four or five spawning events a season. Then they will move on. Juveniles will join the first school they encounter after hatching.

Captive shoals will only breed if they are big enough to school. They are not particularly protective of their eggs and will allow trusted humans to enter the pond to harvest them. It is much easier to induce spawning via chemical injection. The eggs and sperm can then be collected and artificially mixed. This averts the largest problem with in-pond breeding: wishiwashi eat their own eggs. If they are held in an enclosed environment with their eggs then almost all of them will be eaten before they can hatch.

Relatives

There are two species of wishiwashi. The Alolan wishiwashi is the only subspecies or species that is not endangered or critically endangered.

The other S. milibus subspecies, S. milibus europa, was hunted to the brink of extinction in the 19th and 20th Centuries. The Kalosian and Galarian governments had long seen wishiwashi as a nuisance. They were not easy to fish for and they often attacked military and commercial vessels. The HMS Challenger’s discovery of lanturn marked a turning point. Fishing boats soon began to use lanturn to disrupt schools of wishiwashi and capture the individuals. The fish quickly became a beloved food in the region and the number of fishing boats continually increased.

The Galarian government for its part assisted in the capture and breeding of lanturn to help make the waters safer for naval passage. Kalos began using bluewing noivern and imported marine noivern to disrupt schools and protect its vessels. Galar’s bluewing noivern population had sharply declined. The wild area was founded in large part to facilitate the recovery of the noivern population to the point where they could be used for commercial fishing.

There used to be tens of millions of wishiwashi in the seas around Galar and Kalos. By 1950 there were only five known schools remaining. Conservationists lobbied for the creation of a protected area to save the species. One of the world’s first marine preserves was established around the Isle of Armor to protect two of the remaining wishiwashi schools. Another two were captured and moved to the preserve. The population has grown in recent decades, but water pollution and the limited size of the marine preserve have kept the subspecies from returning to its former glory. There are currently more captive wishiwashi in European aquariums, fish farms, and trainer’s estates than wild ones in the seas of Europe.

The second wishiwashi species, S. volcanus, lives in three mid-sized lakes in Hoenn. These lakes are formed in the calderas of volcanoes. The species is much smaller than S. milibus and only live in shoals of about seven hundred individuals. The remoteness of their habitat and preserves designed to protect the area’s hot springs kept the population stable for centuries. Recent events in Hoenn led to two of the three volcanoes erupting. The population in one lake was eradicated and the other lake’s population is barely holding on. Ash falling in to the third lake has made it toxic to the point that very few eggs have successfully hatched. The remaining wishiwashi have been taken in to captive breeding programs until their natural habitat is once again safe.

 

[windskull]

Due to how I read these chapters *coughlisteningtoascreenreadercough* This review is going to focus on impressions more than anything stylistic.

7. Butterfree

• I can't remember if the flowers are referred to as the “meadow quartet” in game, but it does make some sense that caterpie would like it.
• Poor butterfree, only living about a year after evolving. Still beats most butterflies though. Metapod though…. Dang.
• Caterpie are stinky babies.
• I think it neat that you make butterfree’s spores be based on their diet. In a more grounded setting like this, it makes sense.
• Well, at least caterpie waste is solid. Makes it easier to clean up.
• Yep. that sure is how metamorphosis works. Not the most pleasant thing to think about.
• They’re right to wow the world with butterfree. They’re good buggies!
• Love that buterfree color morphs are officially a thing.

8. Ledian

• Oh good what every story needs: space bugs
• Man now I kinda wish ledian was bug/fairy. Would be cute
• Is kinda weird that ledian eyes are different. Wonder what evolutionary purpose that would serve in a universe where it’s not just because the artist thought regular eyes looked better on ledyba or something like that.
• Ledian breans are a mystery that we must fear
• Really curious where the stuff with metagross comes from. As far as I can remember there’s nothing of that sort in the games, but my memory also isn’t the best ^^;

9. Ariados

• Beeg spiders OnO
• Very curious what the inspiration for Ālìduōsī was. As far as I can tell they’re not based on anything from the canon ariados entries, which makes me think it’s based on something based on real life.

Gage's company, now known as Gracidea Clothiers, is a multibillion dollar corporation specializing in ālìduōsī silk products and luxury clothing. They have since expanded into jewelry, private security, restaurants, bottled water, wine, and real estate.

> Private security
Fear.png. Ah. Megacorps, you love to hate them.

• Feel bad for all the bug trainers that struggle to get their mon’s helped because the lack of medical focus on insects.
• The fact that Ālìduōsī are considered “resources vital to national security make me go “hmmmmmm”

10. Lopunny

• I like that lopunny and diggersby are related (more love for diggersby pls)
• A lopunny coat sounds luxurious. Give me 10.
• Did you mean 30 kilograms instead of 30 pounds? I’m assuming as much based on the pokedex, as well as the fact that 30 pounds seems rather light for something that’s ~4 feet tall.
• Hm, the fact that buneary/lopunny are naturally anxious creatures falls in well with the fact that they start with 0 affection.
• The fact that lopunny breaks bones makes since with their build tbh.

 

[Persephone]

Luvdisc
Discus suavium

Overview

Luvdisc is not a powerful pokémon. They must breathe underwater once every fifteen minutes, making them impractical for travelers. The pokémon are also notoriously hard for beginners to care for in captivity and rarely bond to their trainer. Despite everything, luvdisc is one of the most popular pokémon in the aquarium trade. This is because of their cultural association with love and happiness. Many hotels in popular honeymoon areas keep large aquariums, pools, or sea pens of luvdisc. Some of the honeymooners that visit will be inspired to take in a luvdisc of their own as a sign of the couple’s eternal love.

Most of these fish will die quickly in the hands of inexperienced aquarists.

Physiology

Luvdisc are classified as pure water-types.

Luvdisc have a laterally compressed, heart-shape body. They are surprisingly nimble fish capable of making sharp turns while moving through the water at speeds of up to twenty-five miles an hour. Luvdisc’s scales are bright pink and coated in a thin layer of mucus. Because red wavelengths are absorbed quickly by water, luvdisc actually appear to be black to most sea creatures.

Luvdisc usually grow to be two feet tall and one foot long. They can live up to fifteen years in the wild but rarely survive for more than ten in captivity.

Behavior

Algae and coral polyps are the main component of a wild luvdisc’s diet. They dart around coral reefs and use their small mouth to pick off clumps of algae they find. Zooplankton and benthic crustaceans are also a good source of food when there is not enough algae to go around. An algae-based diet allows luvdisc to stay close to the coral, ready to dart into crevasses or the space between corsola branches. This is vital as luvdisc have no real defense mechanism other than hiding and mimicry.

Luvdisc live in bonded pairs. Contrary to popular belief, mated pairs cannot kiss each other and then use their bodies like wings to fly. Sometimes luvdisc will jump out of the water to scout for reasons unknown. It is suspected that this is either a scouting mechanism against birds or a way to communicate across long distances through the sound of the impact. This is the probable origin of the folklore around flying luvdisc pairs.

Husbandry

Luvdisc need warm aquariums with both crevasses to hide in and open spaces where they can attain their max speed. Tank temperature should be between 78-and 800degrees Fahrenheit. Warm tanks require lots of aeration. Bubblers meet this need and provide enrichment. If luvdisc are kept with another species they will need more hiding places than normal, at least two per luvdisc in the tank. Luvdisc will want the options to escape or hide even if their tankmates are entirely docile. Even tanks without other pokémon should have at least some places to hide.

Because they primarily subsist on algae, luvdisc work best in tanks with a high surface area and lots of live rock. Dried algae food mixes provide nutrition without running the risk of the tank being overrun by algae. The remaining third of luvdisc’s diet can be met by coral polyp mixes or brine shrimp. If the pokémon spits out its food and has to take several more bites it is too large. Large earthworms make for good enrichment items. They will also sometimes make a game of trying to break open mollusks if they believe the open water to be safe.

Luvdisc should be kept in groups of at least two and ideally five. The gender composition is irrelevant as luvdisc will happily bond with either sex. Luvdisc do not typically pair bond, but they do prefer to socialize with at least one other conspecific. This allows one to graze while the other keeps an eye on the environment. They are also surprisingly playful fish and enjoy having a companion to explore with or chase around the tank.

Tropical corsola are some of the best tankmates for luvdisc. They can thrive at the temperatures that luvdisc prefer and also tend to accumulate algae. This provides both a home and a food source for luvdisc and mitigates one of corsola’s health problems. Aquarists attempting to breed corsola may want to temporarily remove either species during spawning as luvdisc will eat the polyps. In the open ocean they rarely eat enough for their presence to matter. In enclosed tanks they very much can. Pyukumuku have a very high temperature tolerance, but can cause problems if they die and foul up the tank. Clamperl, despite being docile creatures, are rarely good tankmates. Luvdisc will sometimes try and break them open to consume them, and a clamperl that unexpectedly evolves can decimate the luvdisc population overnight.

Luvdisc are skittish creatures. It is best to keep them in a secluded, quiet place. In homes with children there should be barriers to prevent them from tapping the glass and disturbing the luvdisc. Research has shown that some forms of quiet background music can help calm the pokémon and drown out other sounds. Specialist forums contain recommended playlists.

Pokéballs should be used infrequently and primarily for transportation. Stasis balls prevent the luvdisc from panicking upon finding itself alone. Despite assertions from at least one high profile coordinator, love balls do not have a statistically significant impact on luvdisc welfare.

Illness

The most common problem in captive luvdisc is stress. Luvdisc are disturbed by loud noises, low temperatures, lack of hiding places, aggressive tankmates, bright lights, total darkness, and loneliness, among other things. A stressed luvdisc will either spend almost all of its time hidden away, leaving for less than two hours a day, or it will begin to dart madly around the tank at all hours. The best treatment is to remove the stressor. Be careful to do so in a way that does not cause further stress.

Evolution

N/A

Battle

Wild luvdisc prefer to flee or hide instead of fighting. They only prey upon zooplankton small enough to fit inside their mouth and mollusks that are unlikely to retaliate. Simply put, luvdisc are not built for combat. The most they can do in a real fight is flit around the battlefield while trying to wear down opponents with whirlpool and toxic. Unfortunately, luvdisc lacks the sheer speed that lets most quickstall pokémon avoid attack after attack. Most water-types that luvdisc would try to trap have stronger hydrokinesis than their would-be trapper. This means that luvdisc can be blown off course by a powerful wave.

The only battle-adjacent field where luvdisc have found any success is coordination. Even there luvdisc can struggle in the face of loud sounds and unfamiliar spaces. They also lack the raw power expected from even performance-only pokémon in the highest echelons of the contest scene.

Acquisition

Luvdisc numbers have declined after the introduction of toxapex to Alola. Their capture is now prohibited on most reefs throughout Alola. Capture is always allowed on at least two patches of reef somewhere in the Commonwealth, but the exact locations vary over time. Consult the DNR website for more information. They can be purchased from most high-end aquarium stores. Specimens are not generally available for adoption due to the demand in the aquarium trade.

It is best to obtain luvdisc in pairs or groups. Ideally the luvdisc would already be familiar with each other when captured.

Luvdisc can be obtained with a Class II license.

Breeding

Contrary to popular belief, luvdisc do not pair bond. They are social and prefer to pair up when out and about. The individual they pair with can vary over months or even minutes. They tend to be friendly with all conspecifics in an area, although they do have their preferred friends. Due to the nature of their mating practices they are not actually more likely to breed with these friends.

Wild luvdisc participate in mass spawning events four times a year. Females can release over 3,000 eggs into the water. Most will settle onto nearby surfaces. The ones that land in crevasses or other hard to reach places are much more likely to survive the ten days until hatching. Newly hatched luvdisc find the nearest pair of luvdisc and stay close to them. Recent research has shown that the mucus coating of adult luvdisc contains important nutrients and antibodies critical for early development.

The discovery of the need to have luvdisc in the fry tank has greatly improved the captive breeding program. Before 1990 almost all captive luvdisc were taken from the wild. Now most luvdisc in the international aquarium trade are born in captivity. The majority of wild-caught luvdisc are taken to small private aquariums in the area in which they are captured.

Breeding of luvdisc is still very difficult and best left to professionals with tanks designed for breeding and a great deal of experience with the species.

Relatives

The saltwater luvdisc are found on reefs throughout the tropical Indo-Pacific. Escaped captive specimens have become established in portions of the Mediterranean and Caribbean.

The freshwater luvdisc (D. discus) is native to portions of the Amazon river basin They are smaller than the saltwater luvdisc and far less brightly colored, boasting a mottled brown color scheme rather than a bright pink one. D. discus prefers to live in relatively fast-moving waters with hiding places nearby to sleep in. They can use their body shape to face minimal resistance when moving against currents, letting them escape predators by racing upstream. The water temperatures they live in mean that they do not have to bask often.

Luvdisc are not closely related to alomomola. It is believed that luvdisc evolved to resemble the larger pokémon so that fewer predators would try to eat them. Alomomola are slimy and their mucous can result in choking when consumed in large quantities. Most specimens that survive past the larval stage will survive to adulthood. Adult luvdisc that resemble a juvenile alomomla will only attract the attention of larger predators they can outmaneuver on the reef.

 

[Persephone]

Corsola
Corallium carus

Overview

Corsola jewelry has always been popular in cultures located near reefs. Worldwide it has long held an association with fertility and the protection of children and women. This belief likely stems from the relatively rapid regeneration of the species.

In some times and places corsola has been very, very popular. Maurya India and 19th Century Galar are two such examples. These spikes in demand tend to drive local corsola populations extinct and drive up the price worldwide to the point where corsola jewelry becomes a status symbol everywhere.

Alolan corsla are now facing a new threat: toxapex. The introduced poison-type can crawl over reefs and leave them dead. They can even snag corsola from the water with their tentacles or knock them down to the substrate with their ranged attacks. In light of this threat, the Alolan population has become seriously endangered.

That’s how the popular story goes. In truth, there is no evidence that toxapex outbreaks do permanent harm to either the reefs corsola live on or the population of the species itself. Their predation of old coral and corsola might enhance the biodiversity of reefs and the long-term prospects for corsola populations. Reefs and corsola have been declining for decades, but the blame rests on anthropogenic causes: climate change and chemical spills.

Corsola are the rare water-type that can survive out of water for more than an hour. Many trainers mistake this for an ability to live out of seawater most of the time. Corsola still need to rest in saltwater for at least eighteen hours a day. Stasis balls or aquatic habitat balls can be used to delay dehydration long enough to get to the next Pokémon Center. Corsola will not thrive on the trail but they can be used by traveling trainers. They are still best suited for stationary aquarists with a greenhouse pool or a large reef tank.

Physiology

Corsola are classified as a dual water- and rock-type.

The species comes in many colors. The most common color scheme in Alola is a predominately pink body with a white underside. Individuals can also be blue, yellow, maroon, or green.

Corsola’s body is mostly made up of a hard, porous armor made of calcium carbonate. The rest of the body is either hollow or filled with the soft, flexible tendrils of the actual pokémon. Surprisingly, corsola are relatives of starfish. A particularly hard shell surrounds the pokémon’s core. Each of a corsola’s four to six horns contains a small cluster of nerves. In ideal conditions corsola can regenerate their entire body from the core in less than two days. A broken horn and tentacle can form an entirely new corsola in about three weeks. The durability of their armor and rate of regeneration make corsola difficult to hurt and almost impossible to kill.

The pokémon has functional eyes and surprisingly high intelligence. Their mouth contains hard tooth-like structures that help them break off chunks of coral and grind it into smaller pieces. They prefer to target dead coral but will eat live hard corals if necessary.

Corsola primarily ‘eat’ via photosynthesis. They are not themselves capable of converting sunlight, but they attract small organisms called zooxanthellae to live within the protection of their armor. These zooxanthellae, in turn, make food for the corsola. Other symbiotic bacteria make the proteins that let corsola bind the layers of calcium carbonate together.

A corsola’s body contains various cavities, valves, and simple pumps. These can be used to adjust the pokémon’s weight and allow them to rise or fall in the water column. Weak hydrokinesis can propel them to the surface where they can then fill all of their cavities with air. They are at their fastest on the surface, but this is still only fast enough to resist weak ocean currents.

Corsola can live for up to ninety years in the wild. Their maximum captive lifespan under modern care techniques is currently unknown. Corsola can grow to be three feet tall from base to the tip of their horns and weigh up to forty pounds.

Behavior

There are two types of corsola groups: gardens and rafts.

Gardens of corsola live on coral reefs. They usually settle into the existing reef and bind themselves to the coral with hooks on their underside. This gives them additional protection from attack and anchors them during violent storms. Corsola help the reef ecosystem by allowing algae-eating fish to nestle inside of their horns. Gardens cluster together on the same reefs but tend not to socialize outside of breeding.

Rafts form when reefs are threatened or there is an overabundance of corsola. Some corsola will float to the surface and link together, either with the crooks in their horns or with the help of sargassum ropes put in place by fish pokémon hoping to curry favor with the new raft. The corsola will then drift off into the open ocean. As long as there is sunlight in the sky and calcium carbonate in the sea corsola do not care where they drift. Open oceans also lack many of corsola’s predators. Miniature ecosystems can develop around corsola rafts, from algae that grows on them to creatures that eat the algae to apex predators that eat the algae-eaters.

Corsola do have predators that are able to break through their armor and eat the organic material inside. Toxapex can use acids and the strength of their tube feet to weaken the pokémon’s shell and rip them open. Bruxish can simply smash the armor with their jaws. Outside of these pokémon corsola have no natural predators in Alola.

Certain pollutants can either kill corsola outright, kill their zooxanthellae, or cause their armor to weaken. Climate change is also warming the oceans. This makes coral bleaching heat waves more likely. Carbon storage in the oceans also results in acidification. One of the most direct consequences of acidification is a reduction in the deposition of calcium carbonate, making it difficult for corsola to grow new armor.

There are many stories of towns built on the backs of corsola rafts. Some of these communities even advertise themselves as places to see humans and pokémon coexist. These accounts have some basis in truth. Most of these towns are simply built on atolls or other reefs that reach above the surface. Settlements can be built on coral islands on atolls. The nearby reef will likely house corsola. The island itself is likely to contain small fragments of long-dead corsola. Others are groups of ships or other buoyant structures connected by planks. The anchors and regular seeding of rock attracts corsola rafts. The corsola, in turn, can be harvested for jewelry. During times of high coral prices these communities pop up along tropical shores.

There is a drifting town that floats throughout Melanesia. Rain barrels and extensive gardening provide for water and plants. Fish makes up the bulk of the diet. The town floats on the backs of corsola bodies filled with air and then sealed with resin. The process is only performed on dead corsola. It would be fatal to a living one.

Husbandry

Corsola can survive on the trail with either an ultra ball or an aquatic habitat ball (lure, dive). They can occasionally be released for battle, practice, socialization, or other enrichment. Corsola can come to view trainers and teammates as part of their raft. This affection will be expressed by cuddling, especially by trying to hook their horns through necklaces, pockets, fur, or anything else that can be a tether. Corsola cannot be placed in a pool with toxapex, mareanie, or bruxish. Pokémon Center staff are prepared to deal with situations where predators and prey need access to the same pool.

It is best to keep corsola in one place whenever possible. A central tank or saltwater pool should be provided. If a pool is chosen it should be in a greenhouse or indoors with artificial lighting designed to mimic sunlight. In either case corsola do best in a tank with an already-established reef with hard corals and liverock. The tank should have a pH around 8.0 and a temperature between 70 and 80 degrees. There should be places for corsola to anchor themselves to the reef without causing too much damage. The tank should regularly be seeded with new shells to ensure that there is enough material to repair damage.

Corsola’s photosynthesis is greatly impaired if they are coated in algae. They appreciate fish and invertebrates, pokémon or otherwise, that will clean algae off of them. If no tankmate is provided for this a human diver can do so. In tanks where the trainer cannot get into the tank but the corsola is still too deep to reach the pokémon can be trained to come to the surface for cleaning. Corsola on a reef are not particularly active or social but some basic training like this can be used to inspect for health problems or for bonding.

Beyond algae eaters corsola can tolerate almost any reef pokémon that will not actively eat them. Smaller fish and pokémon appreciate the ability to take shelter between corsola’s horns. Colorful species can complement their aesthetics.

Illness

Corsola are capable of regenerating from almost anything, sometimes even forming more pokémon than there were at the start. Damage to the core will kill the individual, although more can form from the horns if left in a tank with no disturbances and ready access to material for armor. Whether the pokémon grown from horns are the same pokémon on a spiritual or mental level is disputed among scholars, psychics, ethicists, and priests.

Some chemicals can kill corsola. Powerful bleaches and other industrial chemicals should be kept far away from the aquarium. Some poison-types or particularly strong pokémon can kill corsola outright, even preventing the horns from spawning a new corsola. If corsola absolutely must be used in battle it should be kept far away from anything that can inflict permanent damage.

In high temperatures or when under great stress corsola will expel their zooxanthellae. This leaves them unable to create new food until conditions normalize. Prolonged heatwaves or sudden shocks on the reef can result in mass die-offs of corsola. In captivity there is usually time to correct the problem before death occurs. Some aquarists have also been able to reverse recent total bleaching in corsola.

Tanks should be heavily filtered to remove chemicals such as copper and algaecides. These can harm either the zooxanthellae or the corsola themselves. Anything furniture or food placed in the tank should be sterilized first whenever possible. Corsola are surprisingly vulnerable to bacterial infections.

Evolution

N/A

Battle

Corsola are reasonably durable and can learn a variety of useful utility moves such as whirlpool, toxic, and stealth rock. They get more out of the move recover than most other pokémon. They are still not bulky enough to be used in high level play. They are decent on stall-focused teams for the first half of the island challenge but will quickly be unable to withstand enemy hits long enough to be useful. Corsola is best left to hobbyists, aquariums, and coordinators.

Galarian corsola (C. carus mortuus) has seen quite a bit of use on professional stall teams as it is nearly impossible to take out of a fight, has an even wider utility movepool, and can withstand far greater damage without permanently dying. Its evolution, cursola, is not fast or bulky enough to find a solid niche despite its power. Many trainers and leagues also find the use of incredibly powerful curses to be unsporting. Most corsola are retired or given away upon evolution.

Acquisition

Corsola can be found on and around most reefs in Alola. Their capture is currently restricted due to the ongoing decline in their numbers due to climate change, pollution, and a surge in toxapex numbers. Trainers wishing to acquire a corsola can buy one from a number of breeders and most aquarium specialty stores. Capture is legal on at least two reefs at a time. The allowed reefs rotate. Consult the DNR for more information.

Corsola can be acquired with a Class I license.

Breeding

Corsola can reproduce asexually from broken off horns. The tendrils within the horn will extend and allow the pokémon to slowly move across the environment. Small pieces of broken coral will be brought inside to a small stomach near the horn’s central nervous system. Over time a small body will develop. A core will be formed inside. Then more rapid growth will begin.

Sexual reproduction is occasionally observed in reefs and common among rafts. The corsola will congregate on the surface before releasing gametes en masse. Females can release up to five thousand eggs during a spawning event. The eggs will hatch three days later and then begin building up their own bodies. As with most mass spawning events, mortality is extremely high among both eggs and newly hatched pokémon.

Spawning is easy to induce in captivity. An abrupt change in water temperature can stun the corsola into releasing gametes. Some chemical compounds can trigger the same result when injected. The gametes of a male and female can then be mixed in a controlled setting. The fertilized polyps should be placed into a tank with slow currents, a great deal of surface area to latch onto, and abundant calcium carbonate.

Corsola are also usually fine with having their horns broken off. This can be used to obtain material for jewlery or for reproduction. Injured corsola will sometimes try to eat broken horns to regain material. The horn will need to be placed in a new tank with plenty of armor-building material if asexual reproduction is desired. Once fully regenerated it can be reintroduced to the main tank.

Corsola have been crossbred with pyukumuku and starmie through mixing of gametes obtained by induced spawning. The resulting offspring are not reproductively viable. In the wild the species spawn at different times of the year and never crossbreed.

Relatives

Corsola can be found in tropical waters worldwide. Some rafts will drift into temperate coastal areas in the summer and then go back to the tropics in the winter. Some scientists maintain that there should be as many as twelve corsola subspecies. The current consensus is that aside from the nominate subspecies there is only one other subspecies.

The Galarian corsola is a result of human intervention in the natural world. In 1959 the Galar Chemical Company began manufacturing the laundry detergent Miragel. One of the chemicals used in the product’s creation was released into the rivers of Galar and eventually ended up in the oceans. Almost all of the coral reefs around Galar died within seven years, bringing the corsola with them.

The corsola did not stay dead. Instead, they began to move again even though they were pure white and devoid of zooxanthellae. No living tissue existed inside of them. The new corsola were merely armor shells possessed by phantoms. Galarian corsola mostly stuck to the dead reefs and periodically repaired their armor by breaking off some of the dead coral. Their food source was and is unknown. Sometimes one of these corsola would be too badly injured to repair itself. This would result in evolution into cursola, a phantom given semi-physical form with only a few pieces of coral to attach itself to. Cursola are all but immobile and have no armor to speak of. They are also able to weave some of the strongest hexes of any ghost type. The reefs of Galar are off-limits to human visitors to avoid curses from the coral ghosts. On occasion a bold documentarian or adventurer will venture into the old reefs.

The lucky ones do not live to tell the tale.

 

[Persephone]

Expect another entry tomorrow instead of a BT post. Next chapter of that story is taking longer than I would like. In the meantime, the end of an arc approaches and that means there's a new bonus poll! This poll's options are Charizard, Togekiss, Regieleki, Uxie, Yveltal, Zacian, and Zapdos. Pick which one you'd like to see me tackle after the arc's end. Poll closes on June 1.

Link: Bonus Entry Spring 2021 Poll - Guest on StrawPoll

Edit: Some thoughts on the options and how I'd probably approach them.

Charizard: The only one of Alola's ride pokemon not to appear in its pokedex. This is a chance to right that bizarre anamoly? How did they tame massive fire breathing lizards, anyway? How did they end up as pack animals in Alola?

Togekiss: "These Pokémon are never seen anywhere near conflict or turmoil. In recent times, they've hardly been seen at all." -Pokemon Sword. In the OT violent conflict has become very rare after WWII. While it still occurs in parts of the world, most of it is free from prolonged civil wars or clashes between neighboring countries. This stands in contrast with previous eras of, say, colonialism or wars between feudal states. Why are the togekiss getting rare now, then? Is the pokemon world suddenly lurching towards violence worldwide? Or is something else driving it?

Regieleki: "Regieleki is capable of creating all [of] Galar's electricity." - Pokemon Shield. Did this thing kickstart Galar's industrial revolution? Why did an ancient civilization need that much electricity, anyway?

Uxie: A god of memory and wisdom. Said to have given humanity its knowledge. Correlates to a sacred mirror. Does it store our knowledge? Create it? Reflect it? Libraries are lost but Uxie remains. What role does it seek to hold in the world it inspired? What role does the world want it to play?

Yveltal: In Broken Things the cult of Xerneas is occasionally explored. In that faith Yveltal is the central antagonist of Xerneas and humanity. Was it always this way? What do Yveltal's own worshippers think of it? For this one I'm thinking of some mix of Chernobog, a minor night deity of pre-Christian Germany that got Hijacked By Satan, and Shiva, the destroyer who clears away injustice and entrenched systems so that new things can flourish. I'm a sucker for benevolent or complicated death gods, okay?

Zacian: Sword Lesbian. Probably will end up drawing from some of the badass swords of Celtic / Arthurian folklore. Like Answerer, a blade that could cut through anything or compel the truth if held to someone's throat. Or Excalibur, a mountain-cleaving weapon of mass destruction.

Zapdos: I'm not sure if this is even a god tbh. Shows up in a lot of places and even has a regional form. I imagine they're just a powerful and rare species of bird that lives high above the surface and tends to show up with thunderstorms. Tiny hairless primates worldwide thought of it as a god of thunder and worshipped it as such. The zapdos remain oblivious to all of that.