Pokémon The Alola Pokedex

[Persephone]

Toxapex (Mareanie)
Duodecim acanthaster

Overview

Toxapex has an unfortunate reputation as the bane of reefs. It is true that they eat hard corals. If they appear in very large numbers they can even radically alter a reef. It is also true that they are natural denizens of reefs that play a vital role in maintaining the ecosystem. Without toxapex eating the fastest-growing hard corals, their prey would quickly outcompete the slow-growing corals. Toxapex also make a point of only eating the polyps and leaving the skeleton. This frees up space for new corals to grow. It is only when toxapex suddenly appear in much greater numbers than normal, or when a reef is much weaker than it should be, that there is a problem. Climate change, water pollution, and the removal of natural predators have all contributed to a toxapex population spike and a declining reef.

Captive toxapex are known more for their durability than their ability to menace reefs. Armor plating, potent venom, long spikes, and rapid regeneration make toxapex extremely difficult to take down. They have found a niche as one of the premier walls in the international metagame. Toxapex are also the rare pokémon that is both very powerful and easy to obtain. Multiple countries have declared open season on toxapex and even advertised themselves as a place where competitive trainers and world-renowned breeders can come to capture as many of the poison-types as they want.

Mareanie and toxapex are also water-types that can survive on land for several hours at a time. Traveling trainers still might want to opt for a friendlier and safer water-type. Mareanie are venomous, antisocial, and have a strange (and heavy) diet. Toxapex are somewhat friendlier and easier to train but are much more venomous. Trainers who want a bulky water-type are encouraged to look into slowbro, swampert, blastoise, gastrodon, mantine, or vaporeon instead.

Physiology

Both stages are classified as dual water- and poison-types.

Toxapex and mareanie come in a variety of colors. While light blue is the most common they can also be blood red, brown, purple, dark blue, black, or pink.

Mareanie are composed of ten legs, a discus, and a small head and body. The legs are just long enough that the head can take shelter under them and the discuss, separating it from water currents and potential annoyances. Long, sharp spines also cover the legs and discus. Beneath the spines are armored plates. The underside of the legs contains tube feet. Mareanie can grab coral and then rip it out with the powerful hydraulic pumps inside their legs. Every leg has an eye at the end, allowing mareanie to see everything around them.

The head is proportionally small and hangs from the discus. There are two more eyes on the head. A short ‘body’ hangs from the head. This body contains the stomach while it is inside the pokémon. Mareanie and toxapex feed by vomiting up their own stomach onto the coral they want to digest. The acids in the stomach break down their meal and cause the absorbed nutrients to stick to the lining. The stomach is then swallowed back up, bringing the food with it.

Mareanie rely on powerful venom for defense. All of their spines connect to a venom sac. Venom can be injected on contact. Toxapex venom mainly works by breaking down red and white blood cells. This induces anemia, shuts down the immune system, and eventually results in death. It also contains a neurotoxin that is tailored to inflict excruciating pain. The combined effects result in a slow, painful death for the target.

Toxapex’s head is about the same size as mareanie’s. The rest of the ‘body’ atrophies to nearly nothing as the stomach is now stored in the discus. The head is proportionally much smaller because the rest of the pokémon grows during evolution while the head does not. Two more legs grow in. All of the legs are now long and wide enough that they can be interlocked into a layer of armor that entirely hides the head. Toxapex also link their individual venom sacs so that all of their venom can potentially be injected through a small number of spines. A full injection can cause permanent injury or death to a wailord or gyarados.

Toxapex can reach diameters of five feet and weights of thirty-five pounds. They can live for twelve years in the wild and captivity.

Behavior

Mareanie comb the reef during the day. Their legs provide partial shelter while the head and stomach feast upon hard coral. In times of abundance they will descend to the reef’s floor when they are nearly full. While there they will search for corsola horns, their favorite food.

Toxapex can be a bit more active when hunting corsola. Sometimes they will rip one out of its place on the reef and eat the main body. Particularly audacious toxapex may even try to snag one out of the water column with their legs. The corsola’s horns are always left intact. Two are dumped into the crevasses, the remainder are left to fall to the ocean floor. Those that end up in tight crevasses will steadily regenerate into an entirely new corsola. The horns that fall are gifts to mareanie.

Both stages sleep at night. Mareanie will find tight or visually obscured places to hide and then draw their legs up around their head. Toxapex simply form a dome with their legs wherever they are standing when darkness falls. The dome is not or protection from predators: even venom-resistant bruxish will hesitate to attack a sleeping toxapex for fear of being stung. It is to protect the head from unnecessary disturbance by water currents. Even in strong storms toxapex can dig their legs into the coral, form their dome, and stay entirely unbothered near the surface. Even lightning strikes are seldom enough to kill a healthy toxapex.

Very young mareanie are preyed upon by baseline animals such as pufferfish and conches. Older mareanie only fear bruxish and human divers out to kill them. Toxapex are seldom bothered by anything at all.

Humans have targeted mareanie for many reasons over the years. The first inhabitants of the Pacific realized that primarina carrying spears in their mouth could impale the pokémon and bring them to the surface. The mareanie would be placed in a barbed pen often lined with the spines of dead mareanie. Eventually the pokémon would dry out and die. The needles were then carefully extracted and thoroughly cleansed. These were then used for giving tattoos and in some forms of medicine. There are still tattoo artists in Alola and New Zealand who use mareanie needles.

Modern mareanie culls rely on pokéballs. The captured pokémon are often sold to competitive trainers or private aquarists looking to raise a toxapex. The remainder are killed via dehydration and then incinerated.

Husbandry

Mareanie and toxapex should have tanks to themselves. Even mixing them with conspecifics is risky. Some aquarists have tried to put them in deep tanks with pokémon that swim near the surface but it simply is not worth the risk of injury to the poison-type’s tankmates. An adult toxapex will require approximately 3,000 gallons of water to be comfortable. They appreciate some rock or metal structures to climb on. Any coral left in the tank will be eaten. Some very large public aquariums have kept a single mareanie in their reef tanks. The reef regenerates fast enough for the mareanie to feed without destroying the reef. The major problem with the concept was that every pokémon that might cross paths with the mareanie needs to have grown up around them, either in the wild or in captivity. Otherwise, they might attack the pokémon and be killed, potentially taking down the mareanie with them. The last attempt at a multispecies tank with a living reef and a mareanie was abandoned in 2006.

Toxapex and mareanie prefer to be fed with slabs of hard coral. They will eat the polyps on the outside and leave the central skeleton untouched. The skeleton can then be used for decoration. The amount of coral area required is dependent upon the pokémon’s size. An eighteen-inch diameter mareanie will need about nine square inches a day. A fully grown toxapex will need about two hundred square inches of hard coral a day. This figure increases if the pokémon battles—and must regenerate limbs and venom—frequently. Corsola horns are comparatively dense in energy. A mareanie can eat a single horn and be content for days. A toxapex will need at least two every three days if this is to be the core of their diet. Toxapex are much more willing to eat corsola horns if the trainer puts two into a bag or other enclosed space while they feed the toxapex. This convinces them that the non-existent mareanie are being fed.

A coral-based diet is both heavy and expensive. Traveling trainers with a mudsdale and a thick wallet can make it work, but the pokémon is still best suited for professional aquarists and battlers with a semi-permanent home base. Toxapex travel surprisingly well in stasis or habitat balls. The minor side effects that can accompany days-long stays in a stasis ball can be healed in minutes or even seconds.

Toxapex and mareanie are perfectly happy to lead solitary lives with minimal interactions with their owner. Those wishing to properly train the pokémon for battle may want to take a more active role in the pokémon’s care. This can include playing games with them via strings with coral at the end. Surprisingly, toxapex will (slowly) chase laser pointers designed for use in the water. Behaviors can be rewarded by classical conditioning to gradually teach the pokémon how to fight. Over time toxapex will come to associate their trainer with food and entertainment. A sort of bond will be formed. Even the best trained of toxapex will (thankfully) never want to be touched. They will still try to keep an eye on their trainer, even following them out of the water to do so.

Illness

Almost nothing can kill a toxapex. Not even cancer. Their resistance to the disease has led to a good deal of medical research into their genome and regeneration. Bisecting the pokémon can result in two separate specimens regenerating in the original’s place.

Sodium bisulfate injections can kill a mareanie or even a toxapex, but this comes with a catch: getting close enough to the pokémon to inject them with poison gives them a chance to strike back with their own venom-filled needles. Mechanical arms can be used to achieve the same effect, but toxapex are deceptively good at shifting their body and armored plates around to avoid strange metallic objects.

The best way to kill toxapex and mareanie is by prolonged dehydration. Mareanie will die within three hours on dry land. Toxapex can survive for up to twelve. The next best alternative is to find a powerful psychic-type and assail their nervous system until even the pokémon’s regenerative capabilities falter.

Trainers should take some care to keep their pokémon out of prolonged fights with powerful psychics. Toxapex tend to play dead when they’re done fighting. Experienced referees will call a knockout at this point.

Evolution

Mareanie experience a rapid growth spurt around their third birthday. The discus will expand and open up a gap that will be filled by two new legs. A cavity opens in the discus and the stomach is sucked up into it. The ‘body’ will fall off the head shortly after. This process of growth, extra leg development, and stomach replacement occurs over the course of three days. The mareanie will eat far more than usual in the leadup to evolution and nothing at all during it. Over the next month the poison sacs will become interconnected.

Captive mareanie that evolve primarily or exclusively upon corsola horns mature faster than wild specimens. Evolution can occur around eighteen months of age with no long-term consequences.

Battling

Toxapex do not seem to mind battling. It is even seen as something of a novel or absurd circumstance. Something tries to break the toxapex and it gets to show that it cannot be broken. Eventually they will get fed up with battling and play dead, especially if they are concerned that regeneration from the fight will take more than half a day. It can take literal hours of abuse against some teams before forfeiting. Stall-based teams often cannot deal damage faster than toxapex can heal itself. On top of that toxapex are highly resistant to most toxins and pack a debilitating venom of their own. Every serious stall or quickstall team needs something capable of breaking toxapex.

Bulky offense also struggles with toxapex. Haze, scald, and venomous spines can make it hard for set-up sweepers to get past toxapex. Only brutes that have immense strength off the bat can really get through toxapex’s armor. This can still be played around. After exhausting the switch timer toxapex can be withdrawn into a ball that does not induce physical stasis. This will let them steadily heal themselves before being sent back into the fight later on.

Psychic-types are the most reliable way to break toxapex as they target the pokémon’s relatively simple brain rather than its armor. Alakazam is fast enough to avoid most attacks, can levitate above spines on the field, and deal enough mental damage to knock out some toxapex before the switch timer. Of course, alakazam is not available to non-psychics. These trainers often settle for espeon, gardevoir, or a rarer psychic-type.

Spectral and mineral pokémon are toxapex’s next best counters. Most of these pokémon are highly resistant to organic poisons. Toxapex is also not a strong enough hydrokinetic to seriously threaten bulky rock-types. They may still struggle to out-damage toxapex’s ability to heal itself via recover and time in a ball. Some pokémon are strong or stealthy enough to slip past toxapex’s armored legs and threaten the head. Toxapex can regrow their head if need be. The threat of serious injury to their central nervous system can still drive them to play dead.

Magnezone, hodad, and vikavolt can also threaten toxapex by sailing high above them, out of range of most of toxapex’s attacks. They can then bombard their opponent with lightning bolt after lightning bolt until the pokémon eventually gives up.

Toxapex’s venom is not as much of an ethical concern as tentacruel’s. Toxapex venom is very, very painful. However, it is seldom outright fatal if given professional treatment within a few hours. The venom is designed to cause pain and gradually break down blood cells, not to immediately destroy important organs. It is a deterrent rather than an offensive weapon. Wild toxapex want would-be predators to live long enough to show others why attacking them is a bad idea.

Mareanie are not quite as durable or venomous as toxapex. The general strategy is the same. Stay in place or slowly crawl across the battlefield. Scatter venomous spines around them. Use haze to deter set-up sweepers. Use recover as needed. Try to deal chip damage in the meantime. Losing matchups should be pivoted out of as toxapex and mareanie lack the tools to deal with their counters and are better served stonewalling something else.

Acquisition

Mareanie can be captured or purchased with a Class IV license. Toxapex capture is currently handled exclusively by the DNR to avoid amateurs getting hurt or killed while trying to catch them. They can be adopted purchased with a Class IV license. Mareanie are seldom available for adoption as shelters will rarely take them. They can be easily purchased from divers who make a living scouring the reefs for mareanie to capture. Toxapex can sometimes be adopted from the DNR after culls.

Capture of mareanie is legal with no limits on the reefs of Alola. They are most easily found during the day as they graze coral surfaces in broad daylight. Mareanie can be difficult to wear down before capture. Trainers should go into mareanie capture sessions with an idea on how to fight them successfully without electrocuting everything in the surrounding water. Psychic-types are the best way to do this.

Breeding

Toxapex can breed asexually by regeneration. When a full leg is broken off it can regenerate into an entire pokémon genetically identical to the original. Some well-intentioned divers have tried to kill mareanie by cutting them apart, accidentally creating ten times more mareanie than there were in the beginning. Professional trainers will often end up with severed arms during fights. The toxapex do not seem to mind losing limbs much at all, especially if they know their trainer will put it into a tank, feed it, and let it regenerate.

Toxapex are also capable of sexual reproduction. The act itself is a delicate one as both individuals try to avoid impalement on the other’s spines. Once intercourse is completed the female will move on to find a crevasse in the reef to lay her eggs in. Toxapex lay ninety eggs at a time and can reproduce once a month. They do not live in mated pairs and do not look after their children beyond ensuring that some corsola horns reach the seafloor for them to find.

Breeding toxapex sexually without artificial insemination can be difficult. Their sex can only be determined by x-ray. Toxapex introduced to a same-sex conspecific will either ignore or attack it. Opposite-sex pairs may attempt to mate if there is a suitable place for egg-laying in the tank. One female living in a room with multiple tanks was observed exploiting a faulty latch to climb out of hers and into another one to lay her eggs. There was another female toxapex living in that tank that allowed the intruder to enter, lay her eggs, and then leave. Some breeders have speculated that reproductive rates may be higher if lids are temporarily removed during mating so the female can pick which tank to lay her eggs in.

As with most echinoderms, artificial insemination is relatively easy. A combination of heat shock from being released into a tank between 85 and 90 degrees Fahrenheit and an injection of a chemical agent can induce spawning in a male. These gametes can then be collected and released into the same tank as a female. If the tank is small and has good circulation odds are good that the female will be fertilized.

Mareanie developing inside the egg have five-fold symmetry. As they develop they grow an additional five legs and then a pair of eyes and a mouth. They have bilateral symmetry by the time they hatch.

Relatives

Toxapex appear in reefs across the tropical and sub-tropical Pacific. How they get from reef to reef is a mystery as they are not broadcast spawners. There is some speculation that corsola rafts may allow toxapex to deposit eggs onto them. This is based entirely on evidence from traditional songs on the island of Tonga.

Taxonomists are torn between classifying all toxapex as part of a single undivided species or dividing them into one for every area they appear in. The consensus for now is to lump all toxapex together into D. acanthaster.

 

[Persephone]

Cloyster (Shellder)
Armis inalgesco

Overview

Every species needs some way to defend against predation. Some pokémon are simply too large or formidable in battle for any native predator to challenge them. Venom or foul taste can deter all but a select few hunters. Other pokémon can run away or avoid being seen at all. One approach works on a population level rather than an individual one: have so many babies that it is unlikely they all get eaten. The last is a very common approach for surviving the larval stage in the ocean.

Cloyster have a different strategy: be so hard to damage that nothing bothers. This has its risks as any motile species that can break their armor see them as a free meal. Shellder have their share of predators. Cloyster, on the other hand, have perfected the art of invulnerability. Almost nothing can outright break the armor of a cloyster. All but the strongest of gyarados will eventually admit defeat. The only ways to truly defeat them are to bypass the armor entirely with mental or sonic attacks, electric currents, or poisons. Occasionally a desperate bruxish or a group of blatoise will take a crack at a cloyster, but for the most part they succeed in having no predators while almost never moving at all.

Although they prefer to stay tethered to seawalls or submerged rocks, cloyster have still ended up thousands of miles away from their home in the arctic and sub-arctic. This is due to humans. Ships carrying ballast from northern Europe, Japan, and Galar fill up with ballast water from the region. They then dump it upon arrival in Alola. One of these ships brought cloyster to Kala’e Bay. One legend has it that Captain Cook’s ship was the one to drop them there, but this seems unlikely. The location is correct. But Cook had dumped and filled the ship’s ballast tank several times when he reached Alola. Whoever brought them here, cloyster have thrived for two centuries in the cool waters of Alola where underground or mountain streams meet the sea.

Cloyster are not well-suited for the island challenge. Neither stage will eat outside the water, although it will take them several hours to suffer adverse health consequences. They tend to clamp up on land to preserve the water inside of their shell. This makes them reluctant battlers and poor companions. Trainers who want a very durable water-type are encouraged to catch a slowpoke, mudkip, or shellos instead.

Physiology

Shellder are classified as a pure water-type. Cloyster gain a secondary ice-typing. While shellder do prefer cold waters, they have no greater affinity for ice attacks than the average water-type. Cloyster, on the other hand, prefer to attack with spears of ice. This is the justification for the secondary typing.

Shellder have a two-segmented shell joined by a hinge. Internal muscles let them forcefully close the shell and keep it closed. The muscles that open the shell are much less well developed. Some crafty predators tie seaweed around them so they cannot open up and feed. The shell is almost as durable as steel. They were integrated into suits of armor in some early civilizations. Traded shells have been found as far south as Mali and India.

One of shellder’s most distinctive features is their large tongue. This is not actually a tongue. It is a foot used for digging and movement. The tongue grows slightly faster than the shell. In very old shellder that have not evolved the tongue will begin to stick out even when the shell is closed. Shellder ingest food through their siphon, a tube that is ordinarily stored inside their shell. The tongue is not used for eating.

Both shellder and cloyster have two well developed eyes with lenses. They primarily sense the world through sight. A less obvious organ is the byssal gland. Cloyster and shellder can excrete thin white fibers that are used to attach them to other objects. Byssal fibers are extremely sturdy: attempting to tear a shellder with brute force is almost certain to fail. The byssal fibers are easily cut and doing so does not hurt the pokémon.

Cloyster’s shell is often referred to by non-scientists as ‘harder than diamond.’ This fundamentally fails to identify the strengths of a cloyster’s shell. Diamond shatters easily but is nearly impossible to scratch. Cloyster shells can be scratched but are nearly impossible to shatter. There is a second layer of the shell beneath the shatter-resistant armor that is hard to cut but easier to break. The twin layers protect the cloyster from virtually all forms of damage. Upon evolution cloyster are very smooth. Every scratch to the outside layer of the shell is healed in such a way that the area is rougher. Particularly large injuries to the shell result in armored spines growing in the area.

In addition to their armored siphon cloyster also have a more conventional mouth. The mouth is built to bite anything that gets past the armor rather than to eat food. Cloyster are almost exclusively filter feeders.

Cloyster’s foot atrophies considerably after evolution. When they must move they propel themselves with jets of water.

Shellder grow to be eighteen inches across and can weigh up to twenty-five pounds. Their wild and captive lifespans are around four years. Cloyster can grow to be six feet across and can weigh up to four hundred pounds. Wild cloyster can live up to thirty-five years. Captive specimens typically live for fifteen.

Behavior

Shellder spend most of their time buried in the sediment. They crawl through the benthos and use their siphon to ingest the sand. What is unused is excreted out of the pokémon’s back. On occasion shellder will come to the surface to check for available food there. This is when they are most vulnerable to predators.

Bruxish are shellder’s main predator in Alola as they can bite through the shell or inflict telepathic damage from a distance. The Melemele population of bruxish was culled in the 1980s to prevent damage to coral reefs frequented by tourists. This resulted in a rapid increase in the shellder population that has only recently leveled off with the reintroduction of bruxish. Some flying-types such as braviary or, bizarrely, drifblim will lift up shellder high into the air and drop them down onto jagged rocks. This is sometimes enough to kill the pokémon outright.

Cloyster prefer to attach themselves to a hard surface with their byssal glands and set about passively filtering the water. Phytoplankton are their preferred source of food although they will digest almost anything that goes through their siphon. When something antagonizes a cloyster it will either clamp up and rely on its nigh-invulnerable shell or begin bombarding the prey with icicle spears. A particularly annoyed cloyster can even use shell smash, burning away some of their armor for a massive influx of elemental power. Nothing regularly bothers cloyster and cloyster seldom bother anything in return. Theirs is a life of live and let live.

Husbandry

Shellder prefer to live in cool brackish water with a temperature between fifty-five and sixty-five degrees. Calcium and carbonate levels should be kept high to encourage for shell growth. The best tanks for shellder are well-established community tanks with a thick layer of sediment at the bottom. Food will regularly need to be placed on the seabed or buried within it. Shellder being kept in single-species tanks should have their food placed on the surface so the trainer can regularly check up on them. Sometimes shellder in community tanks die unnoticed in the sediment. They can foul the water as they decompose. If a shellder is to be fed beneath the sediment’s surface they should be withdrawn at least once a week to ensure it is alive.

Cloyster are trickier to keep in captivity. The tank must be designed in such a way that phytoplankton or marine snow deposited in the tank will flow past the pokémon’s preferred resting spot. Almost no aquarium will naturally produce enough organic material to feed a cloyster. Even large cold-water aquariums such as those in Kuchiba and Monterey Bay supplement the diet of their cloyster. Their husbandry is further complicated by the time it takes for them to die of starvation: up to seven months in some cases. It can be hard to tell if a cloyster is being fed well enough until it keels over dead. Introducing too much food runs the risk of decomposition skewing the chemical balance of the tank.

Thankfully, cloyster can thrive in brackish water and feed on phytoplankton. The usual problems facing uncovered saltwater ponds – decreased salinity over time and algae blooms – are not major problems for cloyster as long as the pond is properly aerated. Outdoor ponds in Alola tend to become too hot for cloyster to be comfortable with. An artificial cooling system or weather manipulating ice-types can negate this problem as well. Cloyster themselves can cool the water around them to an extent.

Trainers who do not care about the aesthetics of their tank can simply keep it filled with enough phytoplankton to keep a greenish tinge in the water. Aeration features are necessary to keep dissolved oxygen levels high. It is better to simply introduce new phytoplankton over time than keep nutrient levels high enough for them to sustain high populations, as that could poison the cloyster in the process.

Neither stage is very social. Cloyster enjoy having their shell cleaned and will sometimes come to love battling. Outside of cleaning, training, and the occasional battle cloyster are content to sit still and filter the water. Shellder sometimes appreciate shell cleanings but will generally clamp up if anything gets too close. A human they come to associate with food will sometimes be allowed to train them, but shellder tend to dislike battle.

Neither stage is well-suited for trail life. Cloyster and shellder alike struggle to feed in the sediment-free, all-purpose pools at Pokémon Centers. Many of these pools are also uncomfortably warm for them.

Illness

Cloyster can filter over 5,000 gallons of water a day. This leaves them vulnerable to picking up even minute concentrations of pollutants in the water and incorporating it into their flesh. Because cloyster’s organic tissue is almost always concealed from sight and touch it can be very difficult to assess their health. Some cloyster will open up and allow their trainer to inspect their foot from time to time.

Cloyster and shellder aquaculture is a small but established industry on Ula’Ula. There are specialist veterinarians near Castleton and Tapu Village who can conduct proper checkups on bivalves.

Any change in behavior or appearance can be a cause for concern, especially in cloyster. A potentially sick pokémon should be withdrawn into a stasis ball until it can be seen by a veterinarian.

Evolution

Sometimes sand grains get caught inside of shellder. There they gradually mix with bodily fluids to become pearls. These pearls are eventually deposited into the sediment when they become too large. The pearls are of a high quality and are quite valuable, but they have no other special properties.

Cloyster pearls become charged with ice elemental energy. Other strange compounds are mixed in as well. The resulting pearl can trigger a flash evolution in any shellder that touches it. Evolution also consumes the pearl. There is some evidence that it can also trigger evolution in other species, although much of this research is anecdotal. The effect of the pearl on eevee is well documented. Roughly 72% of eevee exposed to a cloyster pearl evolve into glaceon, 15% into vaporeon, and 13% do not evolve as a result of exposure.

Battle

Cloyster are a premier tank or sweeper, especially in metagames that allow for pools. They can stand still and steadily spread layers of spikes or toxic spikes onto the field. They can also try to trap some threats by clamping down on them with full force, keeping them still. The clamp can also be used as an opening for blasting foes with repeated point-black icicle shards or rock blasts. Cloyster struggle to move around well enough to aim attacks on land, but this problem is fixed in the water where hydrokinesis and water jets can allow for small or large adjustments in position.

Alternatively, cloyster can use shell smash. This move makes cloyster far more vulnerable to attacks, but also makes them a lot faster and frees up a great deal of elemental energy. Cloyster are great at linking together many small projectile attacks into an overwhelming torrent. Icicle spear and rock blast are their standard moves. Hydro pump, razor shell, blizzard, and ice beam can be used as the fourth move in a match. Unfortunately, move-per-match limits make it difficult to use cloyster as both a hazard-setter and an effective sweeper in the same match.

The two approaches do not share many counters. Bulky water-types or very fast fighting- or electric-types can outlast or overwhelm shell smash cloyster. Defensive cloyster is best handled through standard stall-breaking tactics such as taunt, encore, and poison.

Shellder may not have cloyster’s near invulnerability, but they are still difficult for most weaker foes to take down. Shell smash is seldom the best approach for them. Shellder do not regularly move via water jets so the additional elemental energy does not boost their speed alongside their power. This leaves them as a suddenly vulnerable sitting duck for anything that can get past their attacks.

Acquisition

Shellder and cloyster can be found in Alola’s cool waters. The two most notable areas are Route 15 and Kala’e Bay. Capture of shellder is currently allowed only in the latter. The Route 15 population is unstable. Cloyster provide vital ecosystem services by filtering the water. They also do not disturb the native wildlife like many introduced species do. The combination of these traits was enough to grant shellder protection from capture in areas where they are at risk of extirpation. Cloyster capture is prohibited to protect the continued viability of the species. It would also be somewhat unsporting as cloyster never move and are unused to dealing with things that can threaten them.

Shellder can be obtained with a Class III license. Cloyster require a Class IV license to possess, even for trainers who evolved their shellder. Shellder do not inevitably or accidentally evolve into cloyster. The elevated requirement for possession is to deter trainers from evolving their shellder if they are unprepared for caring for a cloyster.

Breeding

Male cloyster are broadcast spawners. They release millions of sperm into the water at once. Some of these may find their way into a female cloyster’s siphon. She will then use the sperm to fertilize her eggs. The developing shellder grow up inside of their mother’s shell until they are about six inches across. She will then release them. Once they hit the seafloor the new shellder will bury themselves and begin to search for food.

Captive cloyster are easy to breed as there is no need for mate selection. Sperm can be inserted into a female cloyster’s tank. After roughly two months shellder will be released. The mother has no particular attachment to her offspring and the new shellder are independent from release. This means they can immediately be sold or relocated.

Relatives

Most cloyster live in the cool waters of the northern oceans. Small populations can also be found in the tropics where underground rivers or glacial meltwater meet the ocean. They were introduced to the waters around Antarctica in the 1970s. At the time Argentina and Chile were attempting to build permanent populated settlements on the continent to shore up their claims to territory there. The Argentinians created a shellder and cloyster farm for food and profit. The project was eventually scrapped due to the severe winter weather making the area unsuitable for year-round civilian populations. One employee let the pokémon go free as an act of mercy. They have since spread throughout the coast of the Weddell Sea.

Local shorebirds have learned how to kill the shellder for food. Ecologists are divided over whether the shellder should be exterminated. They do not seem to be actively harming the ecosystem, but they are an introduced species in an otherwise pristine continent set aside as a nature reserve. The shellder in the farm had been selectively bred to increase their pearl size and growth rate. These traits remain in the feral population. Some taxonomists have proposed that the Antarctic cloyster should have its own subspecies, tentatively dubbed Armis inalgesco australis.

 

[Persephone]

Clamperl (Huntail, Gorebyss)
Aequor acritesta gigas

Overview

Coral reefs are typically associated with brightly lit warm waters. But not all reefs are found on the surface. The seamounts around Alola are home to many deep sea reefs, vibrant and biodiverse communities thriving well beyond the light’s reach. Deep sea corals feed on tiny organisms drifting through the water currents. The reefs provide food and shelter for a diverse and poorly understood ecosystem. These corals tend to be soft. They often resemble trees or shrubs growing from the ocean floor.

Clamperl are bivalves that live near deep sea reefs. Most of their diet is composed of organisms they filter from the water. Would-be predators also make up a healthy portion of their diet.

Huntail and gorebyss are some of the dominant predators of the deep sea reefs. Even their hunting styles differ from those commonly found on land: huntail try to draw prey to them and gorebyss act more like parasites than hunters.

Just reaching clamperl’s home requires either a very long fishing line or descending in a special suit designed for deep dives. As a result they are very expensive pokémon to obtain, whether or not you catch them yourself. Some collectors still find the pokémon to be worth it – especially because their pearls also sell for a high price.

Physiology

Clamperl are classified as pure water-types. Gorebyss and huntail have secondary psychic- and dark-typings, respectively. Gorebyss have increased psy-sensitivity over clamperl and use it to stun their prey in the wild. Huntail are all but immune to telepathy and often charge their bites with dark-type energy.

Clamperl are bivalves. Their main nervous system and most of their organs are contained in a small pink mass of flesh nestled in their shell. Clamperl’s nervous system is surprisingly well-developed and can create bursts of psychic power. The byssus is the one major organ outside the main cluster. It is positioned at the rear of the pokémon and is used to create byssal fibers that help it latch on to the environment. Clamperl’s shell is not quite as hard as that of a shellder, but the rim is very sharp. They can also close their shell with forces of up to 800 PSI. Like shellder they also sometimes get grains of sand stuck in their shell. These can be coated in layer after layer of body fluids until they become white pearls. The white pearls, unlike the pink ‘pearl’ composing clamperl’s body, can be removed without hurting the organism.

Huntail are long blue snake-like pokémon. Their dorsal fin is very long and connected to their caudal and anal fins. Huntail have large heads with massive jaws full of needle-like teeth. They can bite with similar forces to clamperl. Their skeleton is very durable to deal with the pressures of their home. Huntail have brown skin but their body is coated in a layer of blue mucus to deter predators. As deep sea fish huntail have a greatly atrophied sense of sight. The only well-developed sense they have is that of smell.

Great senses are not necessary for their survival. Huntail can light up the tip of their tail and wiggle it around. This resembles a small fish in motion. Their prey come to them. They have no need to hone the keen senses or high speeds of more conventional predators.

Gorebyss have vibrant pink skin with red, purple, and white patterns running across it. Their skin is very thick to withstand the pressures they live at. This also makes them very durable. Gorebyss have long, thin mouths with dozens of tiny, needle-like teeth at the end. Two antennae, one on top of the head and one on bottom, amplify their psychic abilities. A circular tail fin rests at the tip of their slender body. Gorebyss are capable of much faster movement speeds than huntail, but they can still only swim at about twelve miles per hour.

Clamperl can grow to be thirty inches across and can weigh up to eight pounds. Huntail reach lengths of ten feet and can weigh up to 110 pounds. Gorebyss reach lengths of twelve feet and can weigh up to 60 pounds. The lifespan of wild gorebyss and huntail is unknown. Captive specimens can live for up to ten years after evolution.

Behavior

Clamperl are almost entirely sedentary. While they can move by creating jets of water this is only done when food is no longer drifting by the pokémon’s location. Almost all of their time is spent in one place filtering the water that comes to them. Occasionally another pokémon will approach and try to eat the soft pink flesh of the clamperl. The moment they insert themselves into the bivalve’s shell it will clamp down and bisect the would-be predator. The clamperl will stay closed until the meal they cut off is properly digested. Then they will open back up and resume filtering the water as if nothing had happened.

Some predators can pierce a clamperl’s shell from behind and eat them. Golisopod are believed to be clamperl’s main predator. Chinchou and lanturn can also electrocute a clamperl until it is dead, pry open the shell, and eat the organs without risk of reprisal. Malamar probably eat clamperl although this has never been directly observed. Cephalopods often view bivalves as both a game and a meal. The shells can even be a home for smaller cephalopods.

Huntail float about five meters above the sediment to stay out of reach for golisopod and other benthic pokémon. They illuminate their tail and wiggle it around to draw out mid-size predators. These predators will quickly become the prey when huntail whirls around and clamps its large, powerful maw full of needle-like teeth down. After their food is digested the huntail will illuminate its tail again. Huntail can eat pokémon up to two-thirds of their body mass. This is accomplished by means of a set of double jaws, one of which can be detached.

It is not believed that huntail have many predators. Gyarados seldom dive beneath the photic zone and huntail are simply too small for wailord to bother with. The odd malamar might try to fight one, but huntail are very resistant to psychic attacks and attempts at hypnosis. Golisopod have been observed launching themselves off the seafloor to attack a huntail. Should they miss they open themselves up to reprisal. Huntail’s teeth can pierce golisopod’s armor and inflict a fatal blow.

Gorebyss feed exclusively on blood. It is believed that they use long-range telepathic scans to find prey they can latch on to and drain. They prefer to attach themselves to diving wailord. Gorebyss will then follow the wailord throughout their dive and even back to the photic zone. A single gorebyss is unlikely to kill an adult wailord. Two dozen might. As a precaution wailord usually float into the air after being bitten. They can float above the surface for long enough that the gorebyss need to detach themselves and return to the water to breathe. Gorebyss try not to stay in the photic zone for too long as there are far more predators up there (sharpedo, braviary, noivern, gyarados) than in the deep sea. When there are no wailord available gorebyss will latch on to smaller pokémon such as relicanth. If their prey dies they will simply swim away and let the remaining flesh sink to the seafloor.

Gorebyss have demonstrated social behaviors in the wild. Sometimes they can be observed in long trains of gorebyss wrapped around the tail of the pokémon in front of them. They will swim through the water like one big organism. This is suspected to be a mating ritual.

Husbandry

Clamperl are relatively easy to care for. They can simply be placed into a shallow, cold, and dimly lit pool. It is possible to feed them via filtration, but it is much easier to simply use a long pair of tongs to put a dead fish into the clamperl’s shell. It will then bite down on its meal and slowly digest it. Whenever the clamperl opens back up it will need to be fed again. This results in a rather uninteresting pokémon that constantly stays closed.

Trainers who wish to properly bond with their pokémon will need to let it filter feed. Regularly inserting marine snow or zooplankton into a tank can ensure the pokémon will have enough to eat. Ordinarily filter feeders will peacefully coexist and passively clean the water in a community tank. Clamperl, unfortunately, tend to kill any curious tankmates. It is best to keep them in a well-monitored and designed single-species tank.

Huntail are difficult to feed. They will eventually learn to eat dead meat placed in the same tank but they will be reluctant at first. Going to eat dead things on the benthos carries a risk of being killed by a golisopod in the wild. Aquarists have had more luck dropping a fish, squid, or crustacean over the tip of the pokémon’s tail. Attempting to feed the pokémon directly with tongs will result in broken tongs or teeth.

Huntail do not need pressurized water as long as they have been properly acclimated to surface pressures. They prefer water between 32 and 40 degrees. Darker tanks are better than brightly lit ones. They can survive for up to an hour out of water but this is stressful for the pokémon. They do not need a large tank as they rarely move around. Conventional enrichment is unnecessary. Moves and commands can be taught but it tends to go slowly. Thankfully they do gradually develop a bond with humans they associate with feeding time.

Gorebyss can live in bright, warm tanks as long as there are places for them to hide. They are not good for community tanks as they will try to kill most tankmates. Some aquarists have had luck keeping them with shellder and corsola. Feeding them can be difficult for those faint of heart. Gorebyss need to be fed live prey. They will attach themselves to their prey, drain their bodily fluids, and then promptly lose interest. Mammals are preferred to fish. Reptiles are only drained as a last resort.

Gorebyss are far more curious than huntail and can be taught basic and even advanced commands in time. It is still dangerous to enter the tank of even a trained gorebyss. They may simply wrap themselves around a trusted human. It is more likely that they latch on with their sharp teeth and start drinking their blood.

Illness

One problem with keeping filter-fed clamperl is that they require having large amounts of nutrients free-floating in the water. If these rot they can create buildups of toxic chemicals and potentially kill the clamperl outright. Their tanks must be regularly monitored for nitrate or ammonium buildup.

Gorebyss and huntail are very hardy. The only common illness observed in either is bacterial infection. If the skin or eyes seem to be cloudy take the pokémon to a veterinarian. Bacterial infections caught early will almost always be fully recovered from.

Evolution

Clamperl’s body grows continuously. At some point the shell stops growing alongside it. The clamperl will eventually become unable to fully close its shell, making it increasingly vulnerable to predators. If a gorebyss or huntail swims by a clamperl at or near the limits of its shell they will descend and give the bivalve a gift. Huntail donate a tooth and gorebyss give a scale. The clamperl will then clamp itself shut as best as it is able and begin the evolution process.

X-rays have provided insights into what happens in the shell of an evolving clamperl. The pokémon’s nervous system seals itself off inside of a bubble and separates from the rest of the flesh. It then begins to divide like it were a single cell, slowly consuming the rest of its former body as it grows. When everything is consumed the new gorebyss or huntail will push its way out of the shell and swim off. Over the course of the next six to eight months it will grow to full size.

Any oysters are abandoned with the shell. This is the ideal time to harvest the oysters from captive specimens. Alternatively, the pokémon can simply not be evolved. This only works for filter feeding setups where the ability to fully close the shell is mostly irrelevant. The clamperl will eventually die from an inability to pump blood throughout the entire body with its primitive circulatory system, but this won’t happen for at least a year after the pokémon is unable to fully close its shell. Very large clamperl may be unable to successfully evolve.

Captive evolution requires a huntail tooth or a gorebyss scale. It can be triggered at any time after the pokémon’s shell has stopped growing. A tooth will result in evolution into huntail and a scale will evolve the pokémon into a gorebyss.

Battle

Clamperl have a small niche as shell smash abusers. Cloyster is generally a better choice for this role due to its greater ranged options and initial bulk but clamperl can be used by trainers with budget or resource constraints. After weakening its own shell the clamperl can move with very fast and powerful jets of water. The clamping force of its bite is not weakened, allowing it to quickly force the surrender of many opponents.

Gorebyss and huntail retain some ability to use shell smash, weakening their own armor or skin but greatly increasing their ability to draw on elemental energy. If shell smash is not used both are durable water-types. Huntail is slower and primarily dependent on melee options, but both issues are partially fixed by shell smash. Gorebyss is faster and has more long-range attacks such as psychic, hydro pump, and ice beam. Using shell smash undermines gorebyss’s walling potential but dramatically powers up its attacks.

Neither is necessarily a bad choice in competitive battling but they are seldom used in practice. Gorebyss and huntail are expensive. Many aquarists consider them the crown jewel of their collections. Using one in battle in a way that intentionally makes them more vulnerable to harm threatens a very valuable pokémon.

Gorebyss and huntail mostly lack the tools needed to capitalize on their bulk. They can eventually be taught toxic but they have no natural venoms or poisons to enhance the poison-type energy. Whirlpools are good for passively damaging foes but neither creates one so strong that high level opponents will not be able to escape it. Additionally whirlpool requires getting their opponent into the water, something that neither pokémon has the tools to reliably accomplish.

No stage of the evolutionary line is a good pick on the island challenge. They require large pools of water to reach their full potential. These will seldom be available during totem and kahuna battles.

Acquisition

Most of Alola’s deep sea reefs are in the seamounts at the tail end of the archipelago. Catching pokémon from one requires a boat, either to store SCUBA equipment or to house deep sea lines. The best way to catch a live clamperl, huntail, or gorebyss is to dive down to their home with specialized equipment. This is best done with a powerful water-type for protection, especially one that does not need to surface to breathe and can withstand the pressures over 100 feet down.

Once a clamperl, gorebyss, or huntail is found it will need to be put to sleep or otherwise incapacitated. Then the trainer must scoop it into a net and slowly bring it to the surface. Rapidly ascending or trying to capture the pokémon in a pokéball at depth will result in depressurization sickness, potentially killing the newly captured pokémon. Gorebyss handle ascension better than huntail who in turn require fewer delays than clamperl. There are experimental pokéballs that negate the effects of depressurization sickness, but these are still very expensive and hard to come by at present.

Clamperl can be captured or purchased with a Class II license. Gorebyss and huntail require a Class III. Due to the difficulties in caring for them and the high market demand it is very rare for a shelter to have one.

Breeding

Neither gorebyss nor huntail has been bred in captivity. It is not understood how they breed as the process has never been observed. They only have one pair of sex organs. It seems likely that they reproduce via direct deposit of sperm into the female rather than by broadcast spawning. The act itself has never been witnessed. Gorebyss trains might be a precursor to the mating act but the trains have always dispersed before any gamete exchange has been observed.

Relatives

There are two main types of clamperl. The first, the filter feeders, A. acritesta. The other are photosynthesizers, A. plantesta. These clamperl live near the surface and have colorful ‘lips’ loaded with zooxanthellae. They passively gain energy from the sun until it is time to evolve. Whenever a gorebyss has followed a wailord to the surface in these areas it will do a quick scan for any clamperl in need of evolution. If it finds one it will telekinetically lift it up and carry it down to the deep seas. A. plantesta gorebyss are larger and more colorful than those seen in Alola. The clamperl are also larger and can use grass elemental attacks when threatened. The huntail are about the same size as those seen in Alola.

Alolan clamperl and its evolutions, A. a. gigas, appears to be somewhere between the standard deep sea clamperl and the tropical photosynthesizers. Alolan clamperl are larger than the other deep sea clamperl that can be found in the trenches and seamounts of the North Pacific. Alolan gorebyss and huntail are also larger than most of the deep sea subspecies.

Recent studies have suggested that this is because Alola’s clamperl might actually be descended from surface dwelling photosynthesizers. Fossilized shells of A. plantesta have been found in Alola and legends describe the early kahunas wielding large, colorful shields. It sems likely that the Polynesians drove A. plantesta to extinction on Alola. Those that survived did so by retreating to the depths and becoming more like their ancestors. There is some debate over whether the Alolan clamperl should be reclassified from a subspecies of the deep sea clamperl to a subspecies of the surface clamperl. Some argue it should be a species in its own right.

 

[Persephone]

Octillery (Remoraid)
Pseudocephalus viscaput

Overview

Many people are confused by octillery and remoraid: are they fish or cephalopods? Do they change between the two as they evolve? The answer is that they are both fish. Octillery’s ‘tentacles’ are fins they have some prehensile control over. The line lacks the intelligence, dexterity, and frailty that are shared by many cephalopods. They trade these for greater social bonds, even stretching across species, a hard skeleton, and powerful projectiles.

Remoraid tend to fare poorly in captivity due to their anxiety. Trainers with the space and know-how to care for large aquatic pokémon can add a few remoraid to their home. They are otherwise best left to more advanced and ambitious aquarists.

Octillery, on the other hand, are sedentary and mostly asocial pokémon that adjust well to captivity. They can even tolerate being out of the water for up to an hour at a time, although they struggle to move on land. Intermediate-level aquarists may find one to be an excellent addition to their collection and a valuable partner in battles with available pools.

Physiology

Both octillery and remoraid are classified as pure water-types. The ruling is not disputed.

Remoraid are slightly elongated fish with light blue-green scales. A short dorsal fin is located just above the eyes. Two caudal fins are located at the pokémon’s rear, one extending from the top of the body and the other from the bottom. Two of remoraid’s most interesting features are their complex eyes and mouth. The mouth is shaped in such a way that the remoraid can raise its tongue and create a narrow channel that is wider at the back than the front. Their eyes are excellent at tracking moving targets. Between the two they can fire powerful jets of water or other elemental energy accurately for up to 300 feet. Even larger predators are often reluctant to take fire from an arsenal of remoraid.

The final feature of note about remoraid is the suction pad just behind their dorsal fin. This lets them attach themselves to the underside of larger pokémon such as lapras, mantine, wailord, sharpedo, and gyarados.

Octillery have a short and deep body that is almost spherical. Remoraid’s pale blue-green scales are replaced by vibrant red ones that help them blend in better on coral reefs. They keep the complex eyes they had as a remoraid and gain an even longer and more advanced mouth for firing projectiles out of. This mouth also visibly extends from the rest of the body. Octillery are proficient in many more spectrums of elemental energy than remoraid. Most wild remoraid only make use of water attacks, but octillery can easily learn ice, fire, psychic, grass, normal, rock, ground, and poison attacks.

Eight tentacles trail out from octillery. These are two modified pectoral fins and six modified caudal fins. The former two traditionally face forward while the latter six trail behind. Each fin has two orange suction pads similar to the one on remoraid. Octillery have control over each fin but they do not have the fine motor skills required for tool use.

Another major difference between octillery and cephalopods is their skull. Octillery have a hard, bony skeletal system surrounding their organs. This makes it difficult for them to move through the open water without relying on jets of water to propel them backwards. It also makes them much more durable the invertebrates they resemble.

Octillery can grow to be three feet tall when sitting on their fins. They can weigh up to fifty pounds. Captive octillery usually live for twenty-five years, although some have lived for as many as thirty-five. Their wild lifespan is unknown.

Behavior

Young remoraid live in arsenals of fifteen to twenty individuals. They tend to stay near sharpedo. In return for protection and the ability to clean up leftovers, remoraid will pick the parasites off of the larger pokémon. Older remoraid will begin to congregate around mantine. Mantine schools can host arsenals of up to 100 remoraid. They attach themselves to mantine’s wings and eat anything that escapes the feeding whirlpool. While they do pick off parasites, remoraid’s more important service is as a means of defense. Mantine mostly rely on their size and durability to keep them alive. Mantyke and sub-adult mantine do not have this protection. Remoraid will fiercely attack anything that tries to harm the nearby mantyke or mantine.

Octillery move to the reefs of Alola and mostly live alone. They find large crevasses to live in and, should one not be available, they will use their hard skull and powerful blasts to make one. Octillery hunt by killing small fish and pokémon with a single projectile. Then they make the journey across the seafloor to their down prey, threatening off scavengers with their water jets. Once the prey is devoured they will go back to their nest and repeat the process whenever they become hungry again.

Clawitzer are threatening Alola’s octillery population. Octillery are not used to predators as the only things that can reliably tank a hit and shatter their skull in return seldom visit the reefs. Not only do clawitzer prey upon octillery but they also have a similar niche. Their projectiles are even more powerful than those of octillery, although they are less powerful. The difference barely matters when hunting luvdisc and other small pokémon.

Efforts to remove clawitzer from the reefs of Akala, Ula’Ula, and Melemele have been mostly successful. The population still holds on near Poni and the smaller islands of the archipelago.

Husbandry

Remoraid grow anxious when there is not a large pokémon to hang on to. Lapras, sharpedo, gyarados, wailord, and mantine, alomomola are suitable hosts. Milotic tend to grow irritated by remoraid and attack them if they try to latch on. All six ideal hosts require very large enclosures and have complicated care requirements. Remoraid are usually inserted into the enclosure as an afterthought to help with parasite removal or to create a multispecies habitat featuring a large predator that seldom tolerates companions. They will help themselves to any leftover food from sharpedo or gyarados. If housed with a lapras, wailord, alomomola, or mantine they will need to be fed small fish or have larger fish cut up into pieces for them. This can occasionally lead to problems with food-defensive lapras trying to claim all the food as their own. Some aquarists recommend withdrawing the lapras or moving it to a separate tank while the remoraid are fed.

Some trainers attempt to house remoraid and miltoic together. This seldom works out unless another host species is in the enclosure. Milotic are capable of removing their own parasites and view remoraid as a nuisance.

Octillery need a saltwater tank of at least 1000 gallons. A water temperature between 75 and 85 degrees is preferred. They are not particularly active, but they do occasionally like to explore their surroundings. They are generally asocial, although they will tolerate species that they cannot kill and that will not attack them. Corsola are one example of a compatible species. The tank will need an almost entirely enclosed hiding space the pokémon can retreat to. Octillery will not attack remoraid but they will become territorial when sharing a tank with another octillery.

Captive octillery strongly prefer to eat live food they kill themselves. This is complicated by their means of hunting: a missed octazooka can easily shatter most tank materials. Some trainers use a shallow saltwater feeding and training pool in addition to the main tank. The octillery can be withdrawn, moved, and then put in the pool. Mid-sized fish can then be thrown into the feeding pool where the octillery will kill and eat them. Octillery expect at least two feedings every three days. If they are not hungry they will not kill the available prey unless it attacks first.

Octillery enjoy learning new attacks. Teammates with projectile moves will catch the pokémon’s interest and it will try to mimic them until it masters the technique. Octillery are not physically affectionate, but they will swim to the edge of the pool or tank to greet their trainer. They can learn a few basic tricks in addition to their battle training. Target tests, where objects are thrown over their enclosure for them to hit, are good for bonding.

Illness

Some of remoraid’s potential hosts can live in brackish or freshwater. Remoraid can become acclimated to brackish water but will never be comfortable in freshwater. Spending more than a few hours in it can result in organ failure and death. Make sure to use a saltwater enclosure. If this is not possible, at least make sure that the pokémon is steadily acclimated to brackish water.

Outside of water quality issues both species are remarkably hardy. One important thing to note is that octillery are not quite as durable as actual cephalopods: if hurt, they need time to heal. They cannot regenerate lost limbs under their own power.

Evolution

Remoraid evolve into octillery upon reaching a length of about two feet. As they approach evolution their fins begin to grow out and their suction pad becomes less prominent. Sometimes red scales will begin to appear. Eventually the remoraid will swim to the nearest reef and undergo flash evolution. Remoraid will sometimes delay evolution in captivity until they come across coral. Some aquariums or private collectors are willing to give trainers access to their reef tanks to help remoraid evolve. Trainers can also bring them out to natural reefs, although a remoraid that has become used to captivity make become skittish in an unfamiliar environment full of wild pokémon. It may determine that it is not a suitable place to evolve and refuse to do so.

Battle

In leagues where clawitzer or intellion are available they come to replace octillery. Not only is clawitzer stronger, but it also can breathe air. Intellion is much, much more maneuverable, far more sociable, and does not require an aquarium setup at all. While intellion is less powerful, the maneuverability lets it easily avoid attacks – something octillery struggles to do without protect. Kingdra, while comparatively difficult to raise, mixes the ability to snipe targets with long-range water jets with much greater durability and physical strength.

This is not to say that octillery is inherently weak: a few super effective projectiles to vulnerable points will take down all but the most durable of pokémon. The problem is landing these hits. Octillery have very little maneuverability outside the water and cannot quickly turn their head to aim. In shallow water they can rotate around but not much else. Trick room teams have had great success with octillery, negating its main weakness and letting it land multiple strikes before the enemy can hit it. Outside of trick room octillery is a stationary turret: deadly from afar, but with relatively few options to deal with an opponent that slips behind it and starts attacking up close.

Remoraid can survive out of water for up to two hours at a time but struggle to move on dry land. In the water remoraid can submerge and take shots at anything that approaches. Unfortunately, water is not guaranteed to be available for major fights on the island challenge.

Acquisition

Remoraid tend to follow around mantine and sharpedo. It is far safer to approach the former than the latter, especially if there are no newborns in the school. Remoraid may band together to ward off a human trying to capture one, but ordinarily they just seek shelter and leave the encountered pokémon on its own. The ideal way to capture a remoraid is to approach with a suitable host species. Let the remoraid bond to the new host and decide if it wants to stay. Trainers wanting to battle with the new capture may want to show off a pokémon that knows interesting projectile moves. Remoraid that are interested in fighting will be drawn to the display.

Octillery can usually be found in reefs. Specimens can be found lounging on the reef floor if they have just eaten. A proving battle with a projectile move user can get the octillery’s attention and pave the way to a capture. Make sure that the pokémon displayed is not easy prey for octillery: it might just decide to hunt your pokémon instead of sparring with it.

Mantine surf companies usually keep remoraid with their school to help with parasite removal. They will sell one to interested trainers. Adoption opportunities are limited as surrendered remoraid are usually just given to the surf companies. Adoption is much easier for octillery: surf companies tend not to want their remoraid once they evolve and will be willing to get rid of them either for free or for a small fee. Some aquarium specialty stores also sell octillery. Remoraid and octillery can be captured or purchased with a Class III license.

Breeding

Octillery mate around April. If a male and female encounter each other they will engage in a short sparring match, followed by displays of their power and accuracy. If they find the other to be suitable the male will deposit his sperm into the female and swim away. The female will lay about 50,000 eggs in her nest a few days later. She will stay in her nest for another two weeks until they hatch. The offspring are less than one-half inch long at birth. The male will routinely bring food to the female as she defends the nest. Once the babies are born they are kicked out of the nest and tasked with finding their way to a host.

Prospective mates should be introduced in a large, durable pool to avoid tank walls being shattered in the target practice displays. Potential targets should be thrown above the tank, placed over 200 feet away from it, thrown into the water, and moved back and forth mechanically. Octillery are thorough when evaluating mates. If both accept the other the mating act will occur. The male can then be removed. The female will not leave her nest until the eggs hatch. Food will need to be brought to her at the end of a long feeding pole. This is the one time that octillery will readily accept dead fish.

If the tank is sufficiently large and well stocked with plankton the newly hatched remoraid can live in it until they are large enough to be captured in a pokéball. Most aquarists recommend moving them before this to a separate fry tank. It should be shallow and wide with a variety of hiding places. Currents should be kept to a minimum. Brine shrimp should regularly be fed to the fry. Once they are about six inches long they can be moved to a tank with a proper host species.

Relatives

P. viscaput is the only saltwater species in the genus. There are a few color morphs that might constitute separate subspecies, but the physiological and behavioral differences are minimal.

The other subspecies in the genus is P. bell, named after the scientist who rediscovered it. The remoraid of this line are much smaller than those of P. viscaput and only reach sizes of seven to eight inches long. They once live in cold, fast-moving freshwater streams throughout China, Korea, and Japan. Pollution, water overuse, overharvesting, and dam construction brought the species to the brink of extinction. They were believed to be gone altogether when a scientist found them living near a spring in Johto. They have since been reintroduced to many parts of their former range.

As they grow older the remoraid swim out to see to evolve. They spend two weeks in an estuary before flash evolving and swimming out to sea. The female octillery will make her way inland after fertilization. Once she finds a cool, slow-moving pond she will give birth and die. The babies will find shelter and food in her body until they are old enough to swim further upstream.

 

[Persephone]

Mantine (Mantyke, Mantitan)
Marevespertilio navis

Overview

Mantine are peaceful giants of the sea. They only hunt plankton and small fish. In turn few creatures hunt them. Wild mantine are indifferent to humans and will let them get close so long as they do not approach any mantyke.

Captive mantine are known for their docility and use as a ride pokémon. In the early days of Alolan settlement common people and soldiers moved between island in canoes. Nobles and priests often rode on the back of a lapras. There are reports of individual trainers bonding with a mantine and riding on its back across the waves, but this was always gentle travel.

Mantine surfing in its current form was not invented until pokéballs arrived in Alola. The natives were well aware of the aerial prowess of wild mantine. One thrill seeker captured one in hopes of riding through the air. To get airborne he had his mantine ride up the surface of a high wave like wild mantine are known to do. Over time more trainers would follow in his footsteps and begin to add their own twists, sometimes literally, to the sport.

At the time the burgeoning foreign population in Alola saw mantine riding as dangerous and degenerate religious practice like hula dancing. There were several attempts to ban it. It was not until service members stationed in Alola saw a native Alolan (illegally) riding the waves that the practice became well known outside of Alola. Word spread and soon tourists came to Alola just to watch the mantine surfing. The practice was quickly legalized and many mantine surf companies were established that captured and trained mantine for tourists and thrill seekers to ride. The wild mantine population dropped considerably before their capture was heavily restricted by the government. Due to mantine’s very long lifespans and gestation periods the population still has not fully rebounded. Most new captive mantine today are either imported from other parts of the world or born in captivity.

Trainers who want a ride pokémon of their own or who would like a gentle giant to bond with may be drawn to mantine. Be forewarned that captive mantine will either need to spend most of their time in the ocean or have a very large saltwater enclosure to live in. If they see their lodgings as inadequate they will attempt to fly away.

Physiology

Both mantine and mantyke are classified as dual water- and flying-types. There is an argument that mantyke should be a pure water-type because of its awkward flight. This is a minority view. Mantyke can still fly to an extent and make use of flying-type energy. As such their current typing is unlikely to be changed in the future.

Mantyke have two-toned bodies with a lighter shade of blue on the belly than on their back. Other color morphs have been observed. Black backs and white bellies with the occasional black marking is the most common morph. Others include grey, fully black, fully white, or even pink.

Mantyke’s flat, broad pectoral fins have a triangular shape. The caudal fin is very short and they have no dorsal fin. Instead mantyke have two prehensile cephalic fins that expand outward on either side of their mouth. These are primarily used for sensing water and air currents to keep track of conspecifics and potential predators. Mantyke are coated in a layer of mucus that keeps infection and parasites at bay.

Mantine have much the same body shape as mantyke. They are roughly twice as wide as they are long, excluding the caudal fin. The pectoral fins grow out in a normal shape. They are still proportionally small. The cephalic fins grow more rigid and are used to channel attacks instead of sensing the water. A long, ribbony caudal fin takes on this purpose. Mantine do not rely on their caudal fin for movement. Instead, they beat their pectoral fins like wings to push back water.

Unlike most fish, mantine and mantyke have both lungs and gills. Juvenile’s lungs are still small and underdeveloped, but mantine can breathe air indefinitely. Their mucus will eventually dehydrate and necessitate a dive back into the water, but this will take up to forty-eight hours. In the air their pectoral fins are held wide and air currents are manipulated to keep them aloft. Their current manipulation is not so strong that it can get them airborne on its own. They must instead ride a wave out of the water or use a great deal of energy to breach. Thankfully mantine are unusually adept at the move surf and wave creation in general, meaning that they can make their own waves to get airborne with.

Mantine can grow to be 16 feet wide and 600 pounds heavy. Their wild lifespan is estimated to be around 100 years. Captive specimens typically life for fifty to sixty years. It is possible that the Pacific mantine can grow far larger, but at present it is disputed whether these are a separate species or an evolution (see Evolution)

Behavior

Mantine live in schools of about twenty adults and their children. The school moves between island chains in the Pacific. When they reach an island they will rest there for up to three weeks. During the northern hemisphere’s summer they can be seen as far north as San Francisco Bay and Japan. During the autumn and spring they seek out more equatorial islands. In the Southern Hemisphere’s summer they can be found as far south as Tasmania and the South Island of New Zealand. Different schools have different migration routes. Mantine are most abundant in Alola during the months of April, May, September, and October. Alola is warm enough that there is usually at least one school in the archipelago every month.

During resting times mantine will go to reefs to be cleaned. There a variety of cleaner fish, most notably remoraid, will remove parasites from their body. This helps mantine as they are not able to remove the parasites on their own. The cleaner fish get a meal out of it. When they are done the mantine will explore the area to investigate changes and educate their children. In time they will swim off to the next destination on their migration.

Mantine feed by bringing food to their mouth. They can generate weak-but-precise whirlpools that draw zooplankton and small marine organisms into their mouth. Mantine have no teeth so they simply open their mouth and let their food be sucked in by the currents. Sometimes mantine will swim after each other in circles to form stronger whirlpools that draw in more food. The mantyke will then swim through the whirlpool to eat the collected food.

There are few predators for mantine, especially when they are out at sea. When marine predators approach the first line of defense is the remoraid arsenal that follows mantine around. They will fire water jets at the attacker in hopes of deterring them. In the meantime the mantyke will swim up to the mantine and attach themselves via a groove on the underside and the mantine will hold them with their pectoral fins. The school will create a wave and the mantine will launch themselves out of the water and away from their would-be predators. Sharpedo can breach the surface to keep an eye on where the mantine are heading. The fleet will then track the mantine as they fly and be waiting for them when they touch back down. Gyarados can create a storm that drives the mantine back to the water. A few very large flying predators will attempt to fight them in the air but cannot reliably kill them in the water. Noivern could kill mantine, but it would then be left vulnerable for any survivors to drown it. They also could not carry an adult mantine’s body to shore.

Husbandry

Mantyke do not require a mantine to be happy. They adjust well to humans and can be very friendly and affectionate. They enjoy it when their trainer gets into the pool and holds them. Sometimes they will attempt to leave their pool to follow their trainer. Mantyke raised in one place will require a pool with at least ten times the number of gallons as the pokémon is wide in inches. This is a problem as newborn mantyke can be seventy inches across, mandating a 700-gallon aquarium. By evolution they will need at least 15,000 gallons. Ideally the aquarium would be wide and fairly shallow. Trainers are encouraged to use a greenhouse saltwater pool for raising mantyke. This helps regulate the temperature and provides the pokémon with natural light. The best tank for mantyke would have the ability to create small waves to help the pokémon get airborne.

Some mantyke enjoy flying harnesses. They can be secured and brought to a park or into the backyard. The harness will be attached to a long rope whose other end is firmly secured to the ground. The mantyke can then be tossed into the air on a particularly windy day. There a mantyke at least six months old can glide on its own power. A large bird should be available to deter potential predators and break a fall. The pokéball should also be on hand to allow for withdrawal in a worst-case scenario. Be very mindful of what the harness will fall on without the mantyke in it. Harness retrieval is one of the other functions the spotting bird can serve. Well-trained birds can be rented out for spotting mantyke flights in some parts of Alola.

Mantyke are social pokémon. Ideally there should be either another mantyke or another social water-type of similar size in their tank. Frequent exposure to their trainer can also fill this need, but most trainers do not have ten hours a day to spend watching over or playing with their mantyke. Brionne and juvenile alomomola make good companions. Primarina and milotic will also happily babysit mantyke. Remoraid will make the mantyke feel more secure but will not meet their social needs.

Of course, mantine are the best options for watching over mantyke. Unfortunately, their care requirements are even more demanding. Because they are much stronger swimmers mantine require more water. Thirty thousand gallons is the absolute minimum required for a full grown mantine. Unless the trainer plans to frequently socialize with the mantine at least five should be held together. A recommended setup in the industry is a 500,000 gallon pond, pool, or tank with ten to twelve mantine and a few smaller fish such as remoraid and mantyke. Many mantine companies have simply netted off a portion of a bay or inlet.

In any case, keeping mantine enclosed is its own challenge. Mantine can fly wherever they want to. Some companies and trainers accept this and simply fit a tracking collar onto them. They will occasionally go to meet up with their pokémon for a quick checkup and potential transport back to the mainland for a battle, ride, or full physical. Others bond with the pokémon as mantyke. Specimens raised in captivity usually remain fond of their trainer and try to remain close. Sometimes there can be misunderstandings where the mantine attempts to kidnap their trainer and bring them along on a journey to sea.

Mantyke should be fed food less than two inches long. Food can be served whole or cut up. Cooking is unnecessary. The ideal diet consists of five parts crustaceans and one part fish. Mantine eat roughly three parts crustaceans to fish and can eat chunks up to six inches long. A bucket of food can be slowly slid into the water in front of the pokémon and they will use a whirlpool to ingest the contents. When the pokémon is no longer hungry the whirlpool will dissipate and feeding should stop. For the first few weeks after capture feed the pokémon whenever it begins creating whirlpools. After this a rough feeding schedule can be devised and implemented based on the individual’s needs.

The line can be taken on the island challenge. Both stages prefer to have frequent access to saltwater so trainers wanting to raise one will need to carefully plan out a coastal route and ensure there are frequent Pokémon Center stops when inland trips must be taken. Mantyke will also need to be tossed into the air at the start of battles to keep them airborne. Mantine can learn how to take off from the surface. Feedings can be very difficult on dry land. It is recommended that trainers keep an inflatable pool on hand that the mantine can fill and then feed out of. Mantyke can be fed by slowly pouring a bottle of finely minced seafood suspended in water into their mouth.

Mantyke and mantine can be taught to urinate exclusively in the water. However, they are on land for long stretches of time and see no end in sight they will urinate whenever they feel the need.

Both stages strongly prefer aquatic habitat balls such as dive and lure balls. Stasis balls are acceptable but not ideal. Land-based habitat balls are unsuitable for the line.

Illness

Injured mantyke and mantine are quick to heal. The wound might scar but all but the most serious injuries will eventually be repaired. Most wild mantine can be identified by color morph or spot pattern, but some have a variety of distinctive scars that can also be used.

This resilience is greatly weakened after a few days away from saltwater. Their mucus covering will begin to dry up and flake off. Water-attacks will become slower and less powerful. Metabolism and activity will plummet. Upon any observable change in the consistency of mantine’s mucus it is very important to immediately take them to saltwater. If the problem persists after rehydration contact a veterinarian. Make sure mantine have ample opportunity to hydrate before all major battles.

Mantine are liable to accumulating parasites if they swim in publicly open saltwater pools or the open ocean. Absent remoraid or other cleaner fish the trainer will need to learn how to remove them. This is a somewhat delicate art and interested trainers should consult a specialist guide.

Evolution

Mantyke begin to grow more muted scales as they grow. Upon reaching twelve feet in width their ribbon tail will start to grow out and their cephalic horns will harden. These changes mark the formal demarcation line between mantyke and mantine. Wild specimens can take up to ten years to evolve. Captive specimens have evolved slightly faster given excellent care and occasional battle opportunities but no known mantyke has evolved before its seventh birthday.

There is a disputed third stage, tentatively dubbed “mantitan.” Some wild specimens have been found with a wingspan of over twenty-five feet. Their caudal fin has developed into a long barb tipped in a stinger. ‘Mantitan’ can weigh as many as 7,000 pounds. These giants seem to be unable to fly due to their massive weight. Size alone helps them defend themselves. As of now it is disputed whether the so-called mantitan are truly an evolution of the Pacific mantine or another species altogether. In any case no captive mantine has ever exceeded a twenty-foot wingspan or been found with a stinger. If mantitan a separate evolutionary stage it is unknown what the trigger for evolution is.

Battle

Mantine are potent walls in matches with available pools. They are large, somewhat resistant to elemental attacks, quick to recover, and in possession of a decent utility movepool. Whirlpool, defog, and roost help mantine hold opponents down, remove hazards, and keep themselves in top condition, respectively. Mantine have a significantly more potent toxic attack than most other species, even if it is still nowhere near as effective as that of a true poison-type. They are also capable of using powerful wave-based attacks such as surf. The rest of mantine’s offensive movepool is shallow and consists mainly of ice beam and air slash. In any case mantine are not well suited for offense so a shallow but effective utility movepool is fine.

Mantine competes for a slot as a bulky water-type with milotic, slowbro, and alomomola. It is the least durable of them but has better healing than all but miltoic. The pseudo-dragon greatly outclasses mantine with a more expansive utility movepool, better armor, higher intelligence, and faster regeneration. On balance mantine hit somewhat harder with surf and whirlpool. Water-type specialists sometimes prefer mantine as their defensive backbone as access to wind attacks helps shore up matchups against grass-types. Unfortunately, pelipper can set up rain and fire off relatively strong hurricane attacks so it faces competition in this niche, too.

There are a few things in the later stages of the island challenge that can defeat down an adult mantine that knows roost. Strong electric- and rock-type attackers can outpace mantine’s damage output, but the latter must fear retaliation with water-type attacks. However, mantine’s strongest moves are dependent on available water for them to manipulate. Their rate of water generation is slower than offensively oriented water-types. Very powerful physical attackers, especially those with the ability to inflict puncture wounds, can badly injure any mantine they can catch. Birds can also easily outmaneuver mantine in the air and drive them to ground.

Mantyke are rather large for a baby pokémon. Their size alone can give them an advantage against most weaker adversaries on the first island. After that they will struggle more and more. The very slow growth rate of mantyke means that a mid-challenge evolution is unlikely.

Acquisition

Mantine abundance varies seasonally. The best times to see one in the wild are in the late spring and early autumn. Wild capture is very limited. Three capture permits are raffled off every year to trainers on the island challenge, two for mantyke and one for mantine. Given the high demand for these permits it is much easier to simply by one from an established breeder or surf company. Young mantyne can still run up to $8,000. Mantine that have not been trained for surfing run less due to the difficulty of teaching an adult. Trained mantine can sell for up to $35,000.

Mantyke require a Class II license to capture or purchase. Due to their higher care requirements mantine require a Class III license to possess. Acquiring one through any means other than evolution requires a Class IV permit.

Breeding

The pectoral fins that are used to bring mantyke in the air can also be used for two mantine to temporarily latch on to each other. The male will swim upside down beneath the female until his sperm is deposited. Then he will swim away. Mantine pregnancies last for approximately one year. At the end the female will give birth to one or two live pups. The mother will pay close attention to her pups for about thirty days before she mostly ignores them. All adults in the school pay some attention to the mantyke, but none are held singularly responsible for them. Female mantine wait at least a year after pregnancy to become pregnant again. Males can mate every year.

Captive breeding requires a holding area with portions at least thirty feet deep. If a specific pairing is desired than the two should be the only adults in the tank. A few mantyke should still live inside it to keep them company. Infant mortality is high in captive specimens. The reasons for this are still not well understood. Roughly 40% of mantyke are stillborn in captivity. Miscarriages have been observed in the wild, but they do not appear to be common.

After one month the mother will let a trusted human take her child. If left in the tank she will show no particular fondness for the baby over other mantyke.

Relatives

There is debate as to whether mantitan is an evolution of mantine or the adult form of another species. If it is another species than it is speculated to grow up deeper in the ocean before coming to the surface when it is too large to be easily hunted. The main problem with this theory is that mantitan are regularly seen in mantine schools and almost never seen with each other. It is odd that a species would surface and then spend its adult life in the company of another species altogether.

Atlantic mantine (M. n. pliny) are smaller than their Pacific counterparts. They have proportionally larger wings as well. These mantine do not create their own waves to get airborne with. They breach directly out of the water and take off. To compensate they have stronger aerokinesis but weaker hydrokinesis. Crossbreeding between the two subspecies has produced specimens that struggle to become airborne through either method.

Most Atlantic mantine stay close to shore. There are not an abundance of islands to travel between. Instead, they spend the spring in the Caribbean and the Atlantic coast of the United States. Then they travel east to Europe at the height of the summer. As temperatures drop they migrate south, first to the Mediterranean and then to Africa. As winter approaches they make another trans-Atlantic trip to South America. Eventually they will make their way back up to the Caribbean and repeat the cycle.

 

[TheGOAT]

Gengar (Gastly, Haunter)

Overview

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. 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.

Many trainers mistake “common” with “easy to train.” While often true, this is not the case for gengar. Trainers who want to be eased into ghost husbandry are advised to start with another, calmer species. However, gengar are one of the most powerful ghosts in Alola and they can form close bonds with their trainer under the right circumstances. This makes them a good pokémon for trainers confident in their ability to handle phantoms and intent on dominating the battlefield.

Physiology

All stages of the evolutionary line are dual ghost- and poison-types.

Gastly are primarily formed from purple-grey spectral fog. Their most common form is a sphere surrounded by a loose halo of gas. Large eyes and a mouth with fangs adorn the face. No part of their body is solid and gastly are perfectly capable of altering their apparent features. Unlike most spectral fog, gastly bodies are very toxic. Inhaling just a few grams can kill a human. The fog burns and corrodes any living tissue that it touches. 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.

The species does not need to be visible, or even tangible, on the physical plane. 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. It takes them several seconds to move between planes.

Haunter are far more condensed than gastly and typically form a large, homogenous body with only a small gaseous tail. Some haunter form two separate hands connected to their body by thin, almost invisible strands of spectral fog. Others incorporate their hands into their body. Haunter typically have a gaping toothless mouth. Their tongue does not exist when not in use and is only formed as needed. Licks can inflict either the usual chemical burns of the spectral fog or different effects altogether such as paralysis, sleep, seizures, and even encasement in a thin layer of ice.

While gengar appear smaller than haunter they are actually far heavier. Most gengar have a large ovular torso with small, stubby limbs extending from it. There are usually spiky tufts on top as well. Most of the face is comprised of red eyes and a wide mouth with white teeth in it. These teeth are not actually solid, just illusions designed to intimidate their victims. In fact, no part of gengar is solid; they are just very dense orbs of gas. 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. It also grants them a high resistance to wind. Curiously, it also seems to make them weak to light. Gengar move slower and appear less capable of using attacks under lighting more intense than the average streetlight. Under very bright light they fade out of the physical plane entirely, only to fade back in the same place when darkness returns.

Gengar are typically about 1.5 meters tall, but their height can vary considerably. The mass of a healthy, fully developed gengar is exactly 40.61 kilograms.

Behavior

All stages of the line are animivorous. That is, they feed upon emotions in particular and mental health more generally. They have been documented feeding upon many intelligent species but they have a strong preference towards feeding on humans. For gastly and haunter these feedings usually take the form of repeated and escalating harassment, starting out with objects moved around and soft voices at night and escalating into potentially lethal pranks. Any fear they evoke is physically and psychologically draining and a particularly severe haunting can potentially render the victim comatose. At that point the pokémon will move on to a nearby victim. While the early stages are capable of living out on the streets, both strongly prefer residing inside of buildings to shut out the wind.

Gengar are more aggressive hunters, albeit less committed ones. They prefer to roam city streets at night, making shadows move and sending chills through the air. When exposed to enough fear they can create elaborate illusions and gain insights into their victim’s memories and psyche. They seldom stick with one victim for long, and their hauntings are usually less fatal than their preevolutions with rare but very notable exceptions (see Breeding).

During the day all stages of the line typically fade out of the physical plane. Only dimension-disrupting attacks or very vulnerable prey will bring them out.

Husbandry

All stages must be handled differently as they have different behaviors and mindsets. In general, they are best held in dusk balls and are fine staying inside of them during the day. The pokémon will get upset and pull increasingly mean-spirited pranks if confined for most of the night.

Gastly are often confused, violent, and obsessed with hunting. Trainers will either need to battle with them near-constantly or accept that some of the feeding will be at their own expense. There should be a powerful ghost- or dark-type present to keep them in line should they act up. Flying-types and pokémon that can generate strong shockwaves or gusts of wind can also do the trick. Even when well-fed, gastly will habitually pull pranks on their trainer.

Haunter are the calmest stage. If a trainer puts up with them for an extended period of time as a gastly the pokémon will often gain sympathy for their trainer and obey commands even without deterrents. Wild-caught haunter or those raised by another human tend to be more apathetic towards their trainer. Hunting is done only for food. They will often, but not always, leave their trainer alone so long as they are battled with enough to be well-fed. Haunter are also capable of feeding upon positive emotions and avoiding the need to battle altogether, but this can only be done with trainers they share a close bond with. 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.

Gengar are the most intelligent and self-aware stage of the evolutionary line. This does not inherently make them easier or harder to train. 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.

If gengar evolves and does not yet have a close bond with their trainer, the situation is more complicated. Gengar inherently yearn for close relationships and purpose; being deprived of them makes them desperate. They may engage in unhealthy behaviors such as stalking, continuing harassment, and even murder in an attempt to gain their trainer’s affections. Deterrent pokémon will be necessary in this case, although violent punishments can cause gengar to escalate. It is far more difficult to overpower a gengar than a gastly. Patient demonstration of healthy relationship skills and the understated punishment of misbehavior are the best way to earn a gengar’s trust.

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. Gengar do not sleep in the same way that most pokémon do but they do go inactive during the day. They produce no physical waste.

Illness

Because they usually feed on negative emotions gastly are at low risk of contracting most ghost illnesses. Their body can be torn apart, but given enough time in their alternate world they will pull themselves together as if nothing had happened.

Haunter and gengar often suffer from illnesses, especially in captivity. Aminivores that feed on positive emotions and relationships can be seriously affected by spectral diseases. These are usually triggered by strong negative memories or neuroses. Gengar are capable of digesting these memories easily enough, but too much negative energy can make the positive feelings around it toxic.

Ghost sicknesses are strange and best treated by a specialist in the field. Any prolonged change in physical structure or behavior that appears to distress the pokémon is an illness. These are typically not subtle changes and can include liquidification, time loops, an inability to control their own movements, prolonged periods of stillness, radical changes in behavior, sudden and apparently unprovoked aggression, and clear facial deformities. These symptoms typically will not go away on their own, and even cured illnesses will almost always resurface if the emotional damage in their partner is not fixed.

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.

Evolution

Ghosts are shrouded in superstition and myth. Even most of the Ghost Studies literature is working through old folklore in the closest thing possible to controlled experiments. Several prominent scholars are channelers. The chair of Goldenrod University’s ghost studies department is even a ghost-type pokémon herself.

The current consensus is that some, but not all, ghosts are formed when a human or pokémon dies. Whether the new ghost is the old being, some psychic echo of the original, or just a creature that comes out of dormancy after a death is very unclear. 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.

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.

Newly formed gastly are emotionally chaotic and run entirely on impulse and spite. The rare flashes of memory they do get just make them angrier and more confused. 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. While drawn to humans for food and perhaps some vague glimmer of recognition, even channelers and psychics capable of speaking with them describe their thoughts as rather inhuman.

After a certain amount of feeding, gastly begin to grow heavier and gain better control over their form. They typically switch shape from a cloud of gas to the typical haunter’s form almost instantly, but they will take several more months to refine the details and grow steadily larger.

Haunter begin to remember things. At first these memories have almost no impact on their behavior outside of drawing them closer to familiar places and people. 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. Haunter become desperate for affection and validation and will seek out humans for more than food.

This ends in one of two ways. If haunter have a stable emotional outlet and a human willing to treat them as a friend, they can become a loyal shadow and life partner and reach some measure of inner peace about their situation.

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. Combined with their need to feed and toxic body, even the most patient people can leave the haunter or be killed (or both). Now fully convinced they are unlovable and overwhelmed by feelings they cannot control, haunter reach a breaking point and develop a deep loathing for all humans.

Either scenario triggers evolution. The new gengar will grow steadily heavier and more dexterous until they reach their final weight and shape. Gengar set out to either terrorize the world that let them die and kicked them while they’re down or to protect the human who saved them such afate

Because they do not pass until they accept their situation, malevolent gengar tend to roam the world until someone finally manages to reach them. It is not impossible to redeem a gengar that has grown to hate humans, but doing so requires steadily negotiating with a powerful and hostile party. It is not recommended for anyone but experts in psychology and ghost pokémon.

Gengar are capable of mega evolution. In this stage the pokémon tends to revert to a similar body shape to a haunter while gaining a prominent third eye on their forehead. Mega gengar has some ability to drag their opponents partially into another plane and prevent withdrawal. Even moreso than most mega forms, gengar’s mega evolution very rapidly drains the spirit of their trainer. Total loss of emotion for several days after mega evolving is common. At least one trainer never recovered at all. While trapping is an extremely powerful tool in battle few trainers are willing to risk permanent mental damage for a slight edge in battle.

Gigantamax gengar takes a form similar to guzzlord with a giant body composed almost entirely of an open mouth. These gengar have learned from the mega gengar across the channel how to pin opponents in place. While only possible in Galar, gengar have become a mainstay in the region’s league.

Battle

Gengar are glass cannons on the competitive circuits. They are reasonably powerful and very fast. More importantly, they have many disruptive tricks at their disposal and a high enough intelligence to learn several of them. This forces opponents to think quickly on their feet as offensive attacks, debilitating status conditions, or even perish song or destiny bond are thrown at them. However, one good hit will bring all but the strongest of gengar down. They are slower under bright, meaning that most trainers will not use one during outdoor daytime matches.

Three of the Top 100 trainers use one on their main team. Almost all ghost specialists have one. They fit best on hyper offensive teams, but perish trapping and destiny bond allow them to act as revenge killers on stall teams.

Gengar are very good on the island challenge. While trainers will not have enough time to teach their pokémon every trick they can learn, just a few can force an opponent to guess well or face the consequences.

Defensively, all stages of the line benefit from being incorporeal. Most attacks that rely upon precision or power instead of elemental energy will pass harmlessly through incorporeal fog. Almost all contact attacks on gengar, even if technically super effective, are likely to leave the attacker in worse shape than the attacked after chemical burns take their toll.

Powerful elemental projectiles of any kind can seriously hurt gengar, but at the amateur level it’s usually best to exploit a weakness. 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. This is not a common weakness for ghosts and appears to be related to the toxic nature of gengar’s fog. Attacks that manipulate shadows, light, or spectral fog can make it much harder for gengar to remain tangible. Strong wind and shockwave attacks can also take out a gastly in a hit or two, although powerful lights affect them a little less.

Gengar are capable of fading out of the physical plane to avoid all damage. This is allowed in most professional leagues as it gives the opponent a chance to set up without any fear of retaliation. Most amateur leagues, including Alola’s, ban fading out as comparatively few amateur pokémon have setup moves.

Good partners for gengar can dim sunlight. They fit well onto rain, hail, and sand teams. Gastly struggle to keep up in any weather but harsh sunlight, which they are often very reluctant to battle in.

Acquisition

Gastly can be captured, adopted, or purchased with a Class IV license. Haunter can be obtained with a Class III license. Gengar require a Class V license to possess without the gengar’s consent. With consent they only require a Class III license.

Gengar, like most ghosts, are attracted to graveyards and other places that are tied to death. They can often be seen frequenting Hau’oli Graveyard, Memorial Hill, or the ruins of Tapu Village at night. Gastly and haunter will usually take shelter in residences close to their main territory. Gengar prefer to roam the nearby city streets when not visiting the graveyards at the core of their range. No evolutionary stage is visible during the day.

Breeding

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.

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.

Subspecies

None known

‘Sup. Doing some rapid reviews of the Aloladex. These have always been entertaining reads so I figured I’d pick aweird Pokemon to start :D

They have been historically seen as malevolent tricksters that sometimes form partnerships of convenience with human trainers. Now there is an increasingly popular theory that gengar may have complex emotional lives and a tragic misunderstanding of their circumstances.

Pfft. I love how true this becomes as the entry reads on—especially the last part. For one, Gengar are clearly pinged as the most complicated of the three evolutions. Several times the entry paints them in a way that makes them seem nearly impossible to live with 24/7, and a big part of it seems to be their tsundere attitude towards humans.

This does not make them harmless.

Hahahahahaha

Inhaling just a few grams can kill a human.

Oh geez, that got real really quickly. As these usually do.

If a few grams is fatal then I can’t imagine having Gastly out of the ball for Sunday lunch is the best idea.

Gastly have relatively little control over their bodies and they can be disrupted by a stiff breeze (see Illness).

Oh man someone in history must have gotten an unlucky blast of fatal Gastly-wind in their face at least once. At least once.

or different effects altogether such as paralysis, sleep, seizures, and even encasement in a thin layer of ice.

Pokemon status conditions. We have:
• Paralysis
• Freeze
• Sleep
• Seizures

Jokes aside I enjoy blending the Pokemon canon with actual real afflictions such as this. You’re not going to have a seizure in a Pokemon game, but the Aloladex makes it very clear this isn’t describing a Pokemon game. It’s like yeah, you can get hexed by a Haunter’s tongue, you might also die from that—literally die. I swear everyone in this universe must have an uncle or some not-so-distant friend or something that had an unfortunate accident with some random wild Pokemon like this. Or their own Pokemon, even, or some trainer’s Pokemon. I want to know the life expectancy of this Alola.

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.

Wow that’s toxic! It kinda checks out though…

Either scenario triggers evolution. The new gengar will grow steadily heavier and more dexterous until they reach their final weight and shape. Gengar set out to either terrorize the world that let them die and kicked them while they’re down or to protect the human who saved them such afate

Neat how there’s a “hidden” way to unlock Gengar by completely destroying their emotional lives as a Haunter.

Total loss of emotion for several days after mega evolving is common. At least one trainer never recovered at all. While trapping is an extremely powerful tool in battle few trainers are willing to risk permanent mental damage for a slight edge in battle.

Dude I would be terrified if I lived in this universe :0

Gengar are capable of fading out of the physical plane to avoid all damage. This is allowed in most professional leagues as it gives the opponent a chance to set up without any fear of retaliation. Most amateur leagues, including Alola’s, ban fading out as comparatively few amateur pokémon have setup moves.

I’m giggling and also genuinely impressed at how lived-in this world feels, which perhaps heightens my concern for its inhabitants a bit! The amateur leagues have their own metagames to consider and it makes perfect sense they’d make adjustments for something like this.

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.

Ominous and sinister ending that really expresses how fed up/lowkey horrified these people are with the Gastly evolution line. Love it.

 

[TheGOAT]

Smeargle

Overview

Neanderthal settlements in Southwestern Europe tend to have smeargle bones or objects stained in smeargle ink nearby. In many areas, early cave paintings are right next to ancient smeargle marks. Ancient kingdoms the world over prized smeargle for their dyes, which are vibrant, easily produced, and capable of lasting for millennia under the right conditions. Kamehameha the Great imported smeargle to the islands to paint the new capitol city of Hau’oli when Ihā Palace was deemed too traditional for the new era.

Many of those smeargles’ descendants now live on Melemele. While technically invasive, the DNR allows them to stay as a tourist attraction and force for peace among wild pokémon. Capture by trainers with an artistic bent keeps the population in check.

Smeargle is not useful in a fight unless very well trained. Still, they are creative and affectionate companions for trainers concerned with their future after the island challenge ends.

Physiology

Smeargle is classified as a pure normal-type. They are capable of wielding every wavelength of the elemental spectrum in a way that only eevee, ditto, and the recently created silvally can begin to match.

While they are sometimes mistaken for canines, smeargle are actually feliforms. Gumshoos is their closest relative in Alola. Smeargle have long and lithe bodies and large paws, eyes, and ears. Their tongue is rather long and is often left hanging out of their mouth. This also helps them regulate their internal temperature. A floppy cap of skin and fur adorns their head. There is not a scientific consensus on what purpose, if any, the cap serves. Their fur is short and white except for brown patches on the ears and around the eyes. Smeargle also have brown bands above their paws; the exact number and width of these bands varies by individual.

The species is most famous for their ink secretions. Smeargle have long prehensile tails with a tuft of fur and an ink gland on the end. The color of the ink varies by the individual and the shade varies with diet, mood, exhaustion, and the solar and lunar cycles. This ink is resistant to almost everything except for smeargle’s saliva. Sanding the surface, extreme high and low temperatures, and some corrosive attacks will also work in a pinch.

Smeargle can reach heights of 1.3 meters and masses of 13 kilograms. They live for up to seven years in the wild and ten in captivity.

Behavior

Smeargle ink has mild psychoactive effects until it dries. Prolonged exposure can cause hallucinations, hunger, decreased aggression, and bursts of inspiration that are quickly forgotten. The species is not entirely immune to the effects of their own ink; smeargle with amputated or dried tails (see Illness) display far fewer typical signs of smeargle ink exposure.

Smeargle palettes have a distinctive territory map. There will be a center area where socialization freely happens, disputes are resolved, and collaborative art projects are undertaken. Radiating out from this hub are various wedge-shaped territories that grow wider the farther they are from the center. Each wedge is occupied by a single smeargle or a female and her young offspring (see Breeding). The edges of each territory are full of elaborate markings. Every smeargle uses thirty to one hundred individual marking patterns. Over 12,000 patterns have been identified worldwide. No two smeargle have been found with the same set. Smeargle are quite aggressive towards other conspecifics entering their territory but are quite friendly with their neighbors in the center.

Smeargle’s circadian rhythm changes over the lunar cycle. They are fully diurnal on new moons and fully nocturnal on the nights of full moons. Individuals get about twelve hours of sleep in every 24 hour period regardless of when they get it. If the weather is good all the smeargle in a gallery will convene in the hub on the days of new moons and the nights of full moons to collaborate on elaborate art projects, socialize, court potential mates, and trade objects and art tips. Smeargle with a very close bond (platonic or otherwise) will often ask their friend to place an ink-coated foot on their back as a permanent sign of their bond. When they groom themselves to remove excess paint smeargle very carefully avoid their back. That is washed with water alone.

Because of their ability to track energy patterns as well as their perpetually altered mental state, smeargle are excellent at seeing through lies, illusions, and supernatural activity.

In the wild smeargle tend to be accidental peacekeepers. Their bodies are toxic enough that few predators will bother to eat them. Most moderately intelligent pokémon appreciate the markings they leave across their territory. In turn smeargle eat only plants and the occasional small scavenged carcass and they don’t eat enough or breed quickly enough to be a nuisance to other pokémon. Smeargle territories, especially territory edges and the central hub, tend to be home to unusually high amounts of wild pokémon. Predator and prey typically have a truce period during the new and full moon conventions. Several interspecies summits have been seen during these times and violent organized interspecies conflicts are almost non-existent in the places where smeargle are common. Many pokémon will take advantage of the opportunity to trade items with other pokémon and human onlookers as well as to evaluate potential friends, trainers, rivals, and mates.

Husbandry

Despite their general appearance and attitudes smeargle are reasonably intelligent pokémon and should always be treated with a certain amount of dignity. Many have aversions to pet names, strict schedules, or insults. Anything that suggests the pokémon is not viewed as a relative equal can set them off. These triggers can include lies, making important decisions without their consent, forcing them to use a more degrading place for urination and defecation than their trainer uses, excessive amounts of time spent in a pokéball, ignoring their feelings, or routinely being given food that their trainer would never settle for. In short the relationship between a trainer and smeargle is best handled like a relationship between two human friends.

Smeargle make poor partners for dark, fairy, and ghost types because of the tendency of those species to pull pranks and create illusions. Both tend to stress smeargle due to their ability to track energy signatures. While smeargle may have personality clashes with ditto, ditto are excellent for teaching smeargle new moves. Lucario make for very good partners. So long as they each have a personal space to retreat to that they can freely mark up most smeargle will tolerate other conspecifics on the team.

The bulk of smeargle’s diet should be made up of berries and vegetables. They will also happily eat meat, but this should not be the core of their diet. Almost all smeargle prefer their meat to be cooked rather than raw. Kibble will be taken as an insult either immediately or when the smeargle realizes that their trainer doesn’t and won’t eat it.

The species requires relatively little in the way of exercise unless being used as serious battlers. Instead they need time to socialize and practice painting. They prefer artistic trainers who can offer them meaningful advice on their craft but will tolerate any trainer willing to give them reasonable respect, independence, and praise. Trainers should be mindful of the pokémon’s rotating circadian rhythm. They should also accept that if easels and canvas are not provided smeargle will mark up walls.

Illness

Smeargle can share diseases with gumshoos and several other mammals. They should receive a full round of vaccinations within one or two months of capture or within six months of birth. It helps to explain to the pokémon what is going to happen in advance as randomly suffering a series of seemingly unprovoked attacks can make smeargle distrust their trainer and medical professionals.

Ink well problems are a set of maladies that are unique to smeargle. These can range from amputated tails to frequent muscle spasms or seizures to heavy or very low ink flow. All of these problems have different causes and treatments. Some will result in a permanent loss or impairment of painting ability. These pokémon will require substantial emotional support and assistance in learning how to paint with brushes meant for humans. Smeargle unable to create anything at all will quickly become depressed and stop eating.

Evolution

N/A

Battle

Smeargle can use nearly every pokémon technique, even those that rely on unique anatomical structures, by copying the elemental patterns. The species is also intelligent enough to learn about one new attack every month. Some older smeargle can use over 100 moves which gives them one of the largest effective movepools of any pokémon.

Unfortunately, just because smeargle can use an attack does not mean they can use it well. They are incredibly frail, have less physical strength than a yungoos, and their elemental wells are equally unimpressive. The species is reasonably agile but even their speed is below average in competitive circuits.

In the past smeargle was almost always a lead that used a technique to incapacitate an opponent for a long period of time and then used a series of powerful boosting moves while the opponent was down. When the switch clock ran smeargle would then baton pass the boosts to either another member of a baton pass chain or to a sweeper capable of using them well.

After the Global Battle Federation banned baton pass chains and several other leagues followed, smeargle’s typical strategy changed. Now they are mostly used to incapacitate the opposing lead, set up a full suite of arena hazards and effects, and eventually get knocked out. Smeargle teams can effectively start with the terrain in their favor at the cost of fighting with five pokémon.

No ranked trainer currently uses a smeargle. Even in their one good role some pokémon manage to prevent smeargle from setting up. A handful can not only block smeargle but use them as set up bait. Even though smeargle can unleash hydro cannons, frenzy plants, and blast burns, the species’ limited elemental well means that they hit about as hard as a water gun, leafage, and ember from any other competitive pokémon.

Smeargle fare worse on the island challenge than in competitive circuits. The average trainer will be able to teach their pokémon six to twelve moves during the full course of the challenge. Other common utility pokémon such as forretress, blissey, toxapex, and gengar, are able to learn as many or more utility moves while also being powerful or bulky. Early on, smeargle can use a myriad of super effective attacks and their not-yet-outclassed offensive stats to win battles. By the middle of the second island smeargle will be near deadweight.

Acquisition

Smeargle can be adopted, captured, or purchased with a Class I license.

Because of their roles as a keystone of the Route 2 environment and tourist attraction there are limits on the species capture. Any wild smeargle must come willingly with a trainer. A Pokémon Center nurse will need to verify that the capture was consensual within thirty days or the capture will automatically be classified as illegal. There is a healthy captive breeding program of smeargle and importation is legal so adoption usually the better option. Wild specimens can be most easily convinced to follow by showing them your own art. Other smeargle simply want an opportunity to see new sights and learn new moves and will actively seek out trainers. Smeargle not only don’t require a battle to test their prospective trainer but get angry when a potential friend chooses to beat them up as an apparent show of superiority and a threat against future misbehavior.

Capture of all wild pokémon is forbidden during smeargle conventions and in the three hours before and after them.

Breeding

In the wild courtship can go on for several years or several minutes before any mating occurs. Sometimes both parents help raise the child and sometimes the male leaves immediately after conception. Relationships can last anywhere from a few days to the full adult life of both partners. Smeargle are about as likely to form homosexual bonds as heterosexual ones, although only heterosexual unions produce offspring. Most wild smeargle will engage in both types of partnerships in their lives.

Smeargle pregnancies last two to four months and result in a single child. The child undergoes a rite of passage at their thirteenth convention at which point they leave their mother and take their own territory.

Because smeargle are free spirits with often brief, passionate relationships and specific preferences, it is difficult to breed smeargle in captivity unless a full palette is held in a large territory that mimics natural conditions. There is no farm in Alola that currently breeds smeargle, but there are several dozen throughout the world.

Subspecies

N/A

And back with another. It’s Maple time.

Behavior

Smeargle ink has mild psychoactive effects until it dries. Prolonged exposure can cause hallucinations, hunger, decreased aggression, and bursts of inspiration that are quickly forgotten. The species is not entirely immune to the effects of their own ink; smeargle with amputated or dried tails (see Illness) display far fewer typical signs of smeargle ink exposure.

I love how the first entry under ‘behavior’ is about how Smeargle ink will get you high. And get Smeargle high. Their body actually produces ink that can get them high. Are they always high, then? Haha

Smeargle are quite aggressive towards other conspecifics entering their territory but are quite friendly with their neighbors in the center.

Interesting to note that their social structure includes layers of interaction. As noted later in the dex entry, Smeargle are very particular about their space and privacy, so it’s no wonder they’d want a territory exclusive to themselves and those aligned. But they’re also clearly very social and intelligent creatures, so outright hostility wouldn’t seem to fit either. Their territory system is good middle-ground and illustrates the situation well.

Smeargle’s circadian rhythm changes over the lunar cycle. They are fully diurnal on new moons and fully nocturnal on the nights of full moons.

Hmm. Are they trying to get the best light to paint?

Almost all smeargle prefer their meat to be cooked rather than raw. Kibble will be taken as an insult either immediately or when the smeargle realizes that their trainer doesn’t and won’t eat it.

They seem very determined to be like humans! Maybe they’re intelligent enough to recognize the extent that humans have taken control of the world and they desperately want to bear that same image. Or maybe they’re just needy creatures of habit.

In the wild courtship can go on for several years or several minutes before any mating occurs.

See what I mean?

 

[TheGOAT]

Drifblim (Drifloon)

Overview

Ghosts are often thought of as being tricksters at best and demonic at worst. Many ghost-types do come off like this, at least to humans unused to dealing with them. Despite being deeply tied to legends about ferrying off dead souls and living children, drifblim mostly avert the stereotype. They are actually fairly sweet and playful pokémon, albeit ones with some bizarre obsessions. The balloons are strongly recommended as a first step into the strange realm of phantom husbandry.

Physiology

Both stages are classified as dual ghost- and flying-types.

The bulk of drifloon’s body is a purple orb. The orb is hollow with the inside filled with a mix of spectral fog and normal gasses. The exterior is only about one centimeter thick, but only very sharp blades and very powerful attacks can outright puncture a drifloon. The rest will simply cause drifloon to be pushed back. This is because the exterior layer is made of very condensed spectral fog that acts as both a solid and a gas at different times.

Drifloon have two small black eyes and a yellow “X” on their face. The eyes do appear to be functional; the X is not a mouth and serves no apparent purpose. A small mass of white fog tops the orb. The fog is known to change shape and billow in the wind. The bottom of the orb has a small purple crown on it. Extending from the crown are two very thin but deceptively strong arms with small yellow hands at the end of them.

Drifblim are substantially larger than their preevolution. The bottom third of their orb is also a much lighter shade of purple, with eight small petal-shaped markings at the edge of the light and dark areas. Drifblim’s eyes are slightly larger than drifloon’s and red in color. Their crown also turns red. The main difference between drifloon and drifblim is that the latter have four substantially wider legs. These are equidistant from each other and look like long, thin ribbons. The top of the ribbons are the same light purple as the bottom of the orb, and the ends of the ribbons are yellow.

Drifblim gas is slightly flammable. Burns and very high temperatures can cause it to ignite in pale blue flames. Before they faint burning drifblim have access to far more power than usual. Punctured drifblim also leak gas, but this does not increase their power. Instead leaking drifblim gain a substantial boost to their speed until they fully heal or deflate. Unconscious drifloon in the wild are taken to food sources by the rest of the party and usually recover.

Drifblim do not die of natural causes. They can reach diameters of 1.2 meters and masses of ten kilograms.

Behavior

Drifblim spend almost all of their nights in the clouds, sometimes moving in a particular direction but most of the time just floating where the wind takes them. If they are above humans when daylight comes, they descend down to the earth below.

Like most phantoms they often flock to sites closely tied to death. But drifblim actually have something else driving their choice of daytime haunts: they are fascinated with endings. Recent deaths are likely to attract drifblim. So are births, divorces, bankruptcies, coming-of-age ceremonies, drug relapses, and anything else that abruptly changes an existing status quo. One novelist has reported a dozen drifblim and nearly one hundred drifloon descending upon their yard as they sent their publisher the final draft of the last book in a popular young adult series. Drifblim have also been known to show up at watch parties for the series finale of long running television shows, provided that those parties occur during the day or just after sunset.

Both evolutionary stages, but drifloon in particular, are endlessly curious. If they have been in an area before they will spend all day looking for changes, however minor. Otherwise they will explore whatever catches their attention. A 2007 viral video showed a drifloon playing with a doorbell for over two hours before becoming fascinated with the camera recording her. They will often play with people and pokémon.

Most parents do their best to instill a fear of drifloon in their children. This is because drifloon sometimes lift a child into the sky with them after a few hours of play on the ground. There is proof that this happens about fifteen times a year across the world. However, recent studies complicate the idea of drifloon as malevolent child killers. To start with, most abducted children are eventually found with their mind and body intact. The overwhelming majority of these children admit that they wanted to run away from home but had no idea where to go. This suggests that the drifloon believe themselves to be doing their playmates a favor.

Drifblim have never been observed eating. It is believed that they are a peculiar sort of aminivore that feeds upon feelings of loss and closure in humans. In any case ghost researchers are almost universally convinced that drifblim do not damage the mental health of the people they feed on. If anything their playful antics and bizarre appearance might bring their “victims” some happiness at a moment when it is desperately needed.

Wild drifblim live in parties of ten to fifty drifblim and three hundred to six hundred drifloon. They usually do not all go to the same places on the surface, instead spreading out as they descend. At night they reunite and slowly lift back into the clouds. When directly observed at night, either in person or via livestreams, the entire party will disappear in an instant. This behavior is very seldom replicated in captivity. Satellite images that are later viewed during the day do not cause drifblim to vanish; drifblim do not appear to do much of anything at all at night except drift. Why they go to such lengths to conceal themselves is a mystery.

Husbandry

Despite living in large parties in the wild drifblim are quite content to live alone with a trainer and other partner pokémon. Drifblim are relatively affectionate towards their human and pokémon friends and enjoy physical contact. Larger drifblim really enjoy taking their trainer or teammates on long flights before descending in roughly the same place they ascended from.

The main problems when caring for drifloon are their curiosity and diet. Drifblim dislike all pokéballs, although they will tolerate luxury balls and premier balls. Unlike most ghost-types they do not appreciate dusk balls. During the day they want to explore and at night they want to fly. The only times they will happily accept their pokéball are when winds are too strong to make flights pleasant or when their trainer has some clearly defined reason for doing so, such as an eminent battle.

Drifblim’s rather unique diet makes them almost impossible to feed in captivity. Reading a good book to the end and basking in the feelings it brings is one decent way, but this is not practical for most people to do almost every day. If allowed to roam drifblim will usually go off and satisfy their own hunger and curiosity before returning at dusk and dawn. Drifblim instinctively know where to find their trainer and will return, even if they are separated by entire oceans. Sometimes drifblim allowed to roam will still stay with their trainer for an entire day or night.

Unlike most ghosts the species has no aversion to light and can be battled or bonded with at all times of the day.

Illness

Drifblim that have not been allowed to feed upon endings for more than two to four days will begin to deflate and have more sluggish movement. Very strong endings, particularly deaths or funerals, will usually be enough to revive them. They will remain distrustful of trainers who allowed them to deflate in the first place.

Strong damage in battle will eventually go away on its own. Being stored in their pokéball and taken to an ending will make the recovery go faster.

Drifblim sometimes fade away and pass on when their trainer does. Sometimes they do not. Drifblim that survive their trainer will either attach to a close relative or friend of the deceased or simply float back into the sky to find a new party to join. Outside of voluntary passing, prolonged starvation, and possibly reproduction (see Breeding) drifblim may be immortal.

Evolution

The exact trigger of drifloon evolution is not known. At some point, drifloon will steadily begin to grow in size and change in shape. The whole process takes about one week from start to finish. Captive drifloon typically evolve at a much younger age than their wild counterparts but there is no apparent means of making a drifloon evolve faster. Experiments where two drifloon of roughly the same age were taken in by the same trainer and treated the same have resulted in one drifloon starting to evolve two months after capture and the other evolving three years later. Six months in captivity is the median point of evolution but everything from two days to ten years has been recorded.

Battle

Drifblim are stuck between offensive ghosts such as gengar and mismagisus and defensive ghosts such as jellicent. The former are faster and stronger than drifblim; the latter has more staying power in a fight. Mimikyu and Alolan marowak even compete with drifblim for a spot on bulky offense teams. Instead drifblim is left to a niche as a baton passer and bizarre sort of revenge killer.

As they take more damage from fire or stab wounds, drifblim gain more power and speed, respectively. These injuries also cause drifblim to leak, giving them far less staying power than they otherwise might have. Drifblim are well suited to boosting up with stockpile, substitute, or calm mind at the start of a match while they can float above the fray and use their slippery surface and general bulk to take hits. Status moves such as will-o-wisp can let them wear down opponents and buy more time to boost. Then if they start burning or leaking they can start to unleash a barrage of powerful or fast shadow balls, hexes, or thunderbolts. As things wind down to the finish, drifblim can baton pass their earlier boosts or use destiny bond or explosion to take care of their current opponent. This does make drifblim a tad predictable and smart opponents can use tricks such as toxic, perish song, or blunt force impacts to wear drifblim down without unleashing their late game wrath. Bulky ghost-resists such as blissey and snorlax also have little to fear from drifblim outside of baton passes. But, most of the common anti-flier tactics (electrical burns, ice shrapnel, sharp rocks) run a high risk of setting drifblim off. Teams with a drifblim answer will handle it easily enough; teams without one can find themselves losing a pokémon or two without much to be done.

On the island challenge drifblim are best off running some combination of a boosting move, a status move, an offensive move, baton pass, and a finishing move. If there is time and money to teach more tricks, go for offensive moves. While drifblim are not the strong ghost around they are perfectly serviceable and when played well can continue to win matches to the end of the challenge.

Acquisition

Drifloon can be captured, adopted, or purchased with a Class I license. Drifblim can be captured with a Class II license or be purchased or adopted with a Class I license.

Drifloon are most common in the wild around graveyards and funeral homes, but they can also be spotted with some frequency around restaurants and businesses that are about to close or museums that are about to have a temporary exhibit rotate out. Almost all drifloon will agree to go with a trainer after a quick proving battle. Some will gladly accompany a new human partner even without a formal battle. This makes them a somewhat popular starter pokémon, especially since many journeys almost immediately follow an ending of some sort.

Breeding

Drifblim clearly reproduce. If they did not the wild population would be almost entirely drifblim. Instead wild drifloon considerably outnumber wild drifblim. Drifblim have never reproduced in captivity, been recorded doing so in the wild, or explained to a channeler how they breed. The most we can do is speculate.

Reproduction probably happens high in the atmosphere where humans have historically been unable to observe drifblim. Drifblim are exceedingly shy around cameras in the atmosphere; usually they will gently play with or observe weather balloons, but if one has a camera attached it will almost always be destroyed. Thankfully they vanish when a plane passes instead of destroying it.

Reproduction also probably results in the death of at least one drifblim. The total number and size of drifblim parties has not changed much since worldwide data collection became possible. If new drifloon are created and the total population is not growing, then drifblim must die at rates that starvation and voluntary passing cannot account for.

Subspecies

N/A

And another odd one: Drifblim. Let’s see here.

Drifblim gas is slightly flammable. Burns and very high temperatures can cause it to ignite in pale blue flames. Before they faint burning drifblim have access to far more power than usual. Punctured drifblim also leak gas, but this does not increase their power. Instead leaking drifblim gain a substantial boost to their speed until they fully heal or deflate. Unconscious drifloon in the wild are taken to food sources by the rest of the party and usually recover.

Fascinating flavor that doesn’t show up in canon Pokemon—or at least, that’s what I initially thought. This is Flare Boost and Unburden, respectively, I take it? Very neat interpretations, and indeed, both make for a Pokemon with relatively low staying power.

Both evolutionary stages, but drifloon in particular, are endlessly curious. If they have been in an area before they will spend all day looking for changes, however minor. Otherwise they will explore whatever catches their attention. A 2007 viral video showed a drifloon playing with a doorbell for over two hours before becoming fascinated with the camera recording her. They will often play with people and pokémon.

Aww. This doesn’t seem nearly as bad as ghosts like… uh, Gengar. Also I love how in 2007 a two-hour video of a Drifloon playing with a freaking doorbell would go viral. Checks out.

Do they ever get bored of looking for changes somewhere? Does the nature of their environment—how much it might change regularly, for example—affect their mood as they do this daily?

Most parents do their best to instill a fear of drifloon in their children. This is because drifloon sometimes lift a child into the sky with them after a few hours of play on the ground. There is proof that this happens about fifteen times a year across the world. However, recent studies complicate the idea of drifloon as malevolent child killers. To start with, most abducted children are eventually found with their mind and body intact. The overwhelming majority of these children admit that they wanted to run away from home but had no idea where to go. This suggests that the drifloon believe themselves to be doing their playmates a favor.

Oh geez that went downhill fast. Ahaha

It’s explained, and it doesn’t seem suuuper common, but still enough of a reason for soccer moms to panic about their kids being yanked into the sky like a midday snack. Jokes aside, I love the backstory behind why this happens. Drifloon are clearly as naïve as they are curious.

Very strong endings, particularly deaths or funerals, will usually be enough to revive them.

How ironic!

Drifblim clearly reproduce. If they did not the wild population would be almost entirely drifblim. Instead wild drifloon considerably outnumber wild drifblim. Drifblim have never reproduced in captivity, been recorded doing so in the wild, or explained to a channeler how they breed. The most we can do is speculate.

Reproduction probably happens high in the atmosphere where humans have historically been unable to observe drifblim. Drifblim are exceedingly shy around cameras in the atmosphere; usually they will gently play with or observe weather balloons, but if one has a camera attached it will almost always be destroyed. Thankfully they vanish when a plane passes instead of destroying it.

Reproduction also probably results in the death of at least one drifblim. The total number and size of drifblim parties has not changed much since worldwide data collection became possible. If new drifloon are created and the total population is not growing, then drifblim must die at rates that starvation and voluntary passing cannot account for.

Hooooly what. That’s one way to end it.

Firstly, it’s super cool how they determined this. Secondly, the fact that they’ve kept their reproduction process totally secret is one example of Pokemon standing unwavered by human intervention, so that’s pretty cool. They clearly care about privacy and they’ve got it. They’ve done enough that humans don’t even know what the heck they do to create new Drifloon. I guess that’s an author’s secret huh :P

All the hints seem to be pointing to:

-1 Drifblim = +1 Drifloon

Simple as that. A unique reproduction process indeed.

 

[Persephone]

Salamence (Bagon, Shelgon)
Formidraco celercaela

Overview

Few pokémon inspire fear and awe in humanity like the great dragons. Of these salamence arguably has the greatest place in the human imagination. It strikes hard and fast and few pokémon but the fickle fairies can hope to take it down. Salamence menaced the pre-pokéball Old World like few species could dream of. While most of the attention has been drawn to the western salamence’s massive size and almost unmatched strength, the eastern salamence’s speed, versatility, and elemental firepower makes it every bit as dangerous.

Once humans invented weaponry that could wound or even kill salamence alongside technology that could help tame the fairies the old paradigm changed. Humans could, and did, wage their own war against the great dragons. They were largely successful. Today salamence is endangered or extirpated from most of its former range. Those that remain have become warier of humans and tend to stay away from major settlements when possible.

Alola marks the eastern extent of the eastern salamence’s range. It was formerly a common breeding ground due to the relative lack of large predators and the abundance of migratory birds. Now only one to three pairs of salamence visit Alola every year. Dragon enthusiasts bring their binoculars to Route 3 every spring to watch the salamence hunt from a safe distance.

No pokémon is truly safe. Still, most do not present a danger to entire cities or platoons without specialized armor-piercing rounds or fairy support. Salamence is the rare exception. If you insist upon caring for a salamence be mindful that any serious mistakes can lead to not only your own death but those of several other people who either try to stop the rampaging dragon or just get caught in the crossfire. Even simple mistakes on the dragon’s part can be fatal to humans.

There are many other dragons in Alola. Turtonator, noivern, kommo-o, and exeggutor are all fairly tame. Dragonite, goodra, and drampa can be affectionate and rarely attack unless provoked. Flygon, druddigon, and dragalge at least have a limited capacity for destruction if they do rampage. Garchomp, tyrantrum, and salamence are the most dangerous dragons in this guidebook. We cannot recommend them under any circumstances. Even champion-level trainers should be very careful when they consider adding one to their team.

Physiology

Both bagon and shelgon are classified as pure dragon-types. Some scholars argue they should have a secondary rock typing due to their bony growths and general durability. This is currently a minority view. Salamence is classified as a dual dragon- and flying-type. This typing is the majority view but there are strong arguments for several secondary typings. Suggested typings include dark, fire, and water.

Bagon are true dragons. This means that they are technically warm-blooded reptiles. Bagon are capable of maintain steady internal temperatures. However, salamence struggle to maintain heat. In practice they rely on basking with their wings extended to stay warm.

Bagon are bipeds with strong but short legs and weak, stubby arms. Most of bagon’s offensive power is in their head. Bagon’s jaws are powerful and full of sharp teeth that constantly regrow. Their neck is thick and muscular. Bagon’s spine is unusually durable as well. This allows them to make use of powerful headbutts. Their head is topped with a bony dome. Plates of bone armor also run down the back. The bone armor is usually white. The rest of their scales are usually light blue with occasional yellow patterns. Pink, dark blue, green, white, and black color morphs have also been observed in the wild.

Most of bagon’s senses are quite weak. Their hearing is below-average for a pokémon of their size, they only have enough vision to make out fuzzy outlines, and their sense of smell is well below that of a feline or canine pokémon. On balance they can sense nearby movement through changing wind currents.

Shelgon are quadrupeds. Their main body is almost perfectly spherical. Almost all of it is coated in large bone plates. Three long bone ridges jut out from the pokémon, one on top and one on each side. Four short grey legs prop up the pokémon. A patch of grey skin is visible in front. This patch contains two eyes and a small mouth. Shelgon is a pupal stage akin to metapod. Their internal structure varies greatly over time as a salamence body develops inside their shell.

Salamence have four legs and two wings. Each leg has three segments that roughly correlate to the human thigh, calf, and foot. In the hindlegs the upper segment extends horizontally from the body. The middle segment extends back towards the tail while the broad, slightly webbed feet stick forward. This lets them make powerful jumps to get airborne and helps them move when swimming. The front legs jut out less horizontally and trade webbing for long, sharp claws.

A long neck connects the body and head. Salamence have a mouth full of curved, backwards facing teeth that are frequently replaced. Six bony plates extend from their head. This makes it difficult for opponents to bite down on their comparatively small head. It also provides some protection from hits to the side of the head. Salamence have much better vision, smell, and hearing than bagon in addition to the ability to sense air currents.

Salamence have two broad, thin wings on their back. These can be used for gliding or flight. While salamence are incapable of getting into or staying in the air by wingbeats alone air currents can be run by the wings in such a way that they can maintain flight. This is more akin to a plane than to most birds Salamence wings have been actually used by engineers to improve aircraft design in the past. The wings size also helps the pokémon warm up.

The tail rounds off salamence’s adaptations. The tail is long, broad, and very powerful. It is their primary means of swimming. It can also be used for powerful tail swipes as an offensive and defensive tool. Dragonfire, the front claws, and the tail are used in about equal measure when taking down prey. This versatility expands to their broad elemental movepool. Salamence are not specialized in taking on any particular species, but they have the tools to adapt to almost any prey they might encounter.

Salamence are also quite clever. They seem to be able to speak a common tongue with other dragons, although the details of this language are still poorly understood. A small tribe in Japan has claimed to be able to speak the language but have been unwilling to offer proof in a controlled setting.

The back of salamence is coated in blue scales. The belly has white scales with bone armor. The wings and two lines on the bottom of the tail are red.

Salamence can grow to be over four feet tall at the shoulder and twenty feet long from their snout to the tip of their tail. The tail itself makes up half of this length. They can weigh up to 1200 pounds. Wild salamence can live for up to eighty-five years. Captive individuals usually live for around fifty years. One specimen, ‘Fangs,’ died on his 110th birthday.

Behavior

Bagon lead solitary lives. They prefer to live near water to maximize the number of prey coming to them. Because of their weak senses bagon are prone to charging at anything they see and then figuring out if it was food once it is dead. They often ram boulders: it was previously believed that this was a way to vent their rage at being unable to fly, but modern scientists theorize that they simply think the boulders might be prey. Similarly, their cliff jumping behavior might not actually be an attempt to fly so much as the pokémon accidentally charging head-first over a cliff. Thankfully bagon are strong swimmers and very durable. Falling off cliffs only irritates them.

Shelgon do very little. They stand still, gradually change inside, and wait until it is time to emerge. A shelgon will defend itself or move to avoid a natural disaster or ongoing fight, but it will do nothing more.

Salamence are some of the most impressive carnivores in the world. They can hunt prey in the air by flying close and belting out dragonfire or other elemental attacks. They are excellent swimmers that can dive for up to thirty minutes. Sometimes they use this to wait beneath the water’s surface in hopes of ambushing prey when they come nearby. Other times they simply dive after slow moving prey they see in the water. Salamence are also deceptively fast on land, capable of running up to thirty miles an hour for short distances. Alola’s salamence primarily target the birds that come to the archipelago to lay eggs. They can casually walk up to a nest and threaten the inhabitants. Either they stay put and try to defend their clutch, in which case the salamence kills and eats them and their eggs, or they go away and give the salamence an uncontested meal. Even braviary and mandibuzz are not able to reliably ward off a salamence. Despite their general weakness, delibird are the only birds on Route 3 that salamence outright refuse to target. Salamence hate cold temperatures and will do what they can to avoid ice-types. Sometimes they will kill dewgong swimming near the surface and fly away. These attacks are more about spite or threat prevention than hunting.

Salamence live in Alola during the dry season. They almost always arrive to Alola in a mated pair. The mates do not hunt together but will mutually dig and share a burrow for shelter. Particularly large and aggressive salamence have been known to take over a cave entrance and drive out all other pokémon living there.

It is very important to not disturb a salamence resting in a burrow or cave entrance. They are at their most dangerous to humans when protecting their eggs. Otherwise Alola’s salamence leave people alone unless they are provoked first. Challenging one to a battle, especially near their eggs, is a terrible idea. Salamence will often eat their downed opponents, trainer included.

Alolans traditionally presented visiting salamence with bone spears, healing herbs, and carved totems as a peace offering. This is not recommended. Salamence will occasionally tolerate a well-meaning visitor, but more often than not they will become aggressive in defense of their nest.

The DNR sets up dragon watching stations on Route 3 where salamence hunts and flights can be seen from a safe distance. Gateway stations on Route 3 educate travelers on where salamence nests are. Paths and even roads that are too close to a nest will be closed off. Ignore these closures at your own peril.

Husbandry

Bagon are stubborn and slow to recognize their own trainer. It is best to introduce yourself with a vocal identifier than hope the pokémon can make a visual identification. They have a begrudging respect towards trainers who can beat them in battle, feed them regularly, and help them improve. Bagon trainers must still be quick with the recall button as the pokémon is prone to attacking anything they interpret as a threat. Large moving objects such as cars usually upset them.

Bagon’s diet should primarily consist of meat. They can be trained to accept cooked meat but will still always prefer it to be raw. Bagon are defensive eaters. Other pokémon and the trainer should stay at least twenty feet away during the dragon’s mealtime. In addition to meat some calcium supplements should be added to help with bone growth and development. Some specimens enjoy chilled fruit as an occasional reward. Water can be obtained from creeks or other moving bodies of water that bagon can hear and move too. Some bagon can also be taught to accept bottle feeding of water. Water dishes will usually be knocked over and/or played in instead of drank from. Housebreaking a bagon requires extensive work and is generally not considered to be worth it. Their old litter pan will quickly become far too small for them upon evolution in any case.

Bagon love swimming and should frequently be brought to pools, ponds, or the ocean. They are also surprisingly affectionate and appreciate sleeping near trusted pokémon or humans. Some bagon have been known to hoard a favorite type of object. This can range from stuffed animals to geodes. Several hours a day can be spent guarding and inspecting their hoard. Only very trusted trainers will be allowed to get near it without losing a limb.

Unlike most species, bagon are very enthusiastic battlers. They will constantly seek out opponents on their own and can easily be directed into somewhat more controlled fights by a mix of positive and negative reinforcement. Losing or simple verbal rebuke is negative reinforcement enough for them. Do not actually try to severely punish a bagon or any other dragon. It will only build resentment and can be very dangerous.

Some bagon enjoy being read to or listening to radio plays or music. Others have no interest at all. In any case they are more intelligent than many people give them credit for. One captive born bagon learned to recognize 241 words by the time she evolved into a shelgon.

Stasis and habitat balls are fine for bagon at night, especially when they are slowly learning to trust their trainer. They can also be used during trips or when in crowded urban areas or when preparing for battles. Otherwise bagon appreciate being outside to explore.

Shelgon prefer to stand still and do absolutely nothing. They do not need to eat or drink. They do not produce much in the way of waste. Give them a dark corner to stand in and they will stay there until something changes that they see as potentially threatening. Thankfully, shelgon have a much higher threshold for ‘threatening’ than bagon do. Habitat balls are seen as nearly indistinguishable from being outside, although out of an abundance of caution they should be given at least thirty minutes out of their ball a day. Stasis balls may slow their evolution speed and are not recommended. Shelgon that enjoyed being read to in their previous form will appreciate it if this continues after evolution. Occasional visits from pokémon they have bonded with also help. Otherwise, they are very low maintenance.

Salamence are not at all low maintenance. They require up to twenty percent of their body mass in food every day, which is the equivalent of a full tauros every ten days. Salamence can have feast and lean days. On the former they can eat up to half their weight while eating as little as one tenth their body weight on the latter. This should balance out to around 20% in a ten-day period. Do not try to battle with a salamence within three days of feasting as they will be tired, bloated, and generally reluctant to fight. On leaner days, their instincts tell them to hunt, making them more fearsome and willing battlers. Salamence are even more food defensive than bagon. No one should be within fifty feet of a feeding salamence. Thankfully, they will usually growl or hiss before attacking.

Salamence are equally fine being migratory or stationary. Salamence held in a single place should be given access to a large yard area with a pond or pool, a shelter such as an artificial cave, and a large rock to bask upon. Heated rocks are even better. They will still fly out if they want to, but salamence rarely hunt if all of their needs are met. Even a salamence on a recreational flight can still terrify neighbors. It is not recommended to raise any large dragons near urban areas. Strangers trespassing into salamence’s yard are still killed as a matter of course. If a new person must enter the yard at the same time as the salamence they should be escorted by the trainer at all times. Salamence will share their space with humans or pokémon they have bonded with.

Wild salamence often move from place to place in pursuit of their favored prey or good weather. They are theoretically fine being on the trail with their trainer. Some even enjoy flying or swimming with their trainer on their back as they go to new places. As long as they are regularly taken to places to swim or bask they will be happy. The main logistical difficulties here are that salamence do not like pokéballs and need a very large amount of food. It is not practical for most people to carry hundreds of pounds of meat with them for every day they plan to be in the backcountry. There also tend to be limits on hunting the sort of prey that can keep a salamence fed in the wild. The aversion to pokéballs means that staying in major cities for more than a day or two will begin to irritate the salamence due to the time it must spend withdrawn. An irritated salamence can quickly become a dangerous salamence.

Even a happy salamence will often express joy by venting large amounts of dragonfire. This behavior can be reduced but not eliminated. Salamence trainers must carry a large insurance package to pay for the damage their pokémon will cause.

Salamence enjoy scratches in hard-to-reach areas. They sometimes voice satisfaction through a low rumble that sounds a little like a very deep purr. This will sometimes be accompanied by dragonfire. Be mindful of where the pokémon’s mouth is facing when grooming them. Some salamence enjoy being bathed with a hose and soap. Others prefer to bathe themselves in a very large soapy tub. And some specimens do not enjoy being anywhere near soap. Be mindful of the pokémon’s preferences.

Illness

All stages have remarkably fast healing, even by pokémon standards. This is because their wounds do not seem to become infected. Biomedical researchers are investigating the root of this, but progress has so far been slow.

Salamence in particular can succumb to hypothermia if they are not given adequate basking time. This seldom matters in the dry season but can be a problem during the wet season. No Alola-based trainer currently raises a salamence. The last salamence trainer maintained a large greenhouse for his dragon to use in the winter. Reptile specialists in the tropics have employed this strategy with other large lizards and dragons to some success.

It was previously believed that salamence mouths were exceptionally dirty, as seen by the large numbers of infections in prey that were bitten but managed to escape. This theory has been debunked. Salamence are actually slightly venomous in a way that impairs the immune response of their prey. Any infection from the large open bite wound can then turn lethal without proper medical care. The dragon’s mouths are actually quite clean by reptile standards. Salamence themselves seem to be immune to their own species’ venom.

The purpose of this venom is poorly understood as salamence usually manage to kill their prey in a single confrontation. They rarely even bother to track down what does escape. The leading theory is that the venom is largely a remnant from a time where salamence were smaller and had to rely on biting and stalking their prey rather than risking a prolonged confrontation.

Evolution

Bagon evolution seems to be directly tied to the number of successful fights they have had over their lifetime. Captive specimens that are regularly fed but seldom battled with evolve very slowly. Those that are fed equal or even lesser amounts but battled with multiple times a day grow and evolve much faster. In the wild evolution typically occurs between two and four years of age, but captive bagon have evolved less than six months after birth.

Shelgon are constantly in the process of evolution. Inside their body the old structures are being digested and reformed. Battle seems to actively slow the process of evolution at this point. A shelgon that is left alone will evolve in roughly six months. As evolution approaches its bones begin to soften.

When the new salamence is fully formed it will detach its nervous system from the shellgon’s frame. It will then claw its way out of the bone cage it is trapped in and fly off. Newly evolved salamence are smaller than shelgon and are rarely larger than six feet, tall included. Those in Alola stay until they are around twelve feet long, at which point they will fly off to the west.

Salamence does have a mega evolution. For a long time this form was only known by a small clan in the Japanese isles. A visiting researcher managed to figure out the science behind their tradition and spread knowledge of this transformation to the outside world. This led to the widespread study and usage of mega evolution. At present over forty mega forms have been identified, mostly clustered in species native to Kalos and Japan.

Mega salamence lose most of their bulk but gain much more prominent wings. They are incredibly fast and deadly dogfighters that are virtually unmatched in the air. The mega form is also far more vicious and has been known to turn on the opposing trainer, spectators, and its own trainer alike. Most circuits have banned mega salamence due to the difficulty of taming them. There is an ongoing dispute on the matter: a Japanese dragon tamer claims to understand the secret to the bonding process and has asked to be allowed to use her starter in official matches. The local league has asked for both a demonstration of this technique and an explanation of how to replicate it. Until these can be provided mega salamence will remain banned in Japan and most of the world.

Battle

Both species of salamence are premier threats on the competitive circuits. Western salamence are durable physical tanks that can sponge up damage and claw their way through the opposition. Eastern salamence (henceforth ‘salamence’ in this section) are less physically powerful but no less dangerous when played well.

Salamence can more than hold their own in a melee battle against most physical attackers. This is not the ideal way to use one in battle. Instead, they can take to the air and rain down powerful, versatile attacks to dismantle the opponent’s team. Most anti-air options are electric-types, but salamence’s draconic nature gives it a resistance to lightning-based attacks. Vikavolt and magnezone can both be taken down by flamethrowers or fire blasts. Steel-types that would give it trouble can also be burned up.

Fairies can theoretically withstand salamence’s draconic and fire attacks. Salamence’s raw power and versatile arsenal means that only the sturdiest and strongest can actually take one down before it severely damages them in return. Ice-types themselves are unreliable against salamence due to their fire weakness but can seriously hurt it by inflecting hypothermia. Bulky water-types with ice coverage are some of salamence’s best checks, but even they can be taken down in the right situations.

Many trainers rely on their own flying dragons to take on salamence. Dragapult, hydreigon, dragonite, and the bluwing noivern are all incredibly powerful threats in their own right and can threaten salamence with powerful draconic attacks of their own. Avid competitive battling fans have debated which of the five strongest aerial dragons are best. In practice it is a risk to rely on one to counter the others: they are all weak to dragon attacks and can find themselves narrowly winning or outright losing against the threats they were supposed to counter.

The real problem of using salamence is not its list of checks, but that it requires caring for a salamence. The enclosure, meat, and insurance requirements mean that all but the most experienced of professional trainers stay away from the line.

Bagon rely mostly on bites and headbutts in battle. They can be taught more complex strategies, but their senses limit their ability to execute them. Some trainers have found success teaching them to use dragon dance to increase their speed and breaking power.

Shelgon should not be used in battle whenever possible.

Any trainer using a salamence on the island challenge does not need battling advice from this guidebook.

Acquisition

Bagon, shelgon, and small salamence live on the cliffs of Route 3. Bagon prefer to live on the larger ledges. They sometimes make their way up to the main trails to hunt. They have been known to ram large tents. In practice the best way to deal with bagon is to try and fight and capture them as a temporary restraint. The ball can then be given to a local Pokémon Center. They will contact the DNR and arrange for the bagon’s safe release. Alternatively, trainers who want to raise a bagon and meet the licensing requirements can keep the pokémon for themselves after the proving battle. Be advised that although bagon only require a Class III license to purchase, adopt, or capture, possessing a salamence requires a Class V license. Trainers will have to forfeit their pokémon if it evolve and they lack the licensing requirements.

Shelgon capture is prohibited to protect them during this relatively vulnerable time. They can be found in some of the caves on the cliff face. Most will allow trainers to photograph them from a safe distance as long as they move on within a few minutes. Trying to eat or set up camp near a shelgon might provoke them into attacking. Disturbing a wild shelgon is a crime that carries a $500 ticket.

There are wild salamence in Alola. Some of these are adults. Disturbing adult salamence is both illegal and incredibly dangerous. It is safest to watch them fly or swim from far away. Certain areas of the Route 3 caves are closed off during the dry season if a salamence has been sighted near them.

Smaller salamence typically make their homes on the part of Route 3 away from the trails. Keep in mind that even a newly evolved salamence is venomous and packs a powerful dragon breath attack. Their capture is legal for trainers with a Class V license. Sometimes they will obey trainers who prove their strength to them. In any case trainers who want to own a salamence are strongly encouraged to raise them from their first evolutionary stage. It is easier to convince a young bagon that you are a strong ally than it is to convince a venomous flying dragon longer than you are tall.

Breeding

Salamence mate for life. When a female is about sixteen feet long and goes into heat she begins issuing mating calls. These can be heard for miles. All bachelor males in the area will come to the female. They will then rear up on their hind legs and wrestle each other while the female watches. Whoever wins the tournament will be invited to mate. While mating the female will attempt to fight the male. If the male can pin the female and get through the act unscathed he will be taken as her mate.

Most salamence travel to lay eggs. After establishing themselves in their new home the female will lay a clutch of six to eight eggs. One parent will always be on top of the nest incubating the eggs. The other will either be off hunting or be sleeping nearby. Incubation lasts approximately three months before the eggs hatch. The newborn bagon will be born all male or all female depending on the nest temperature. The parents will take turns hunting for the offspring and eventually teaching them how to fend for themselves. As the rainy season approaches they will fly back to their usual territory.

Females are also capable of parthenogenesis. If there is no male they deem worthy she can lay a clutch of eggs without a male’s gametes. The resulting offspring will be all male. Some scientists have theorized that parthenogenesis could be a means for salamence to colonize the Pacific: a female would fly to a remote island and lay a clutch of eggs, providing her with a future mate to help grow the island’s population with. In practice mother-son incest has never been observed and salamence do not typically live on small islands. When they do the island is typically in easy swimming or flying distance from a more reliable hunting ground.

Captive breeding is possible but very rare. Undera trainer’s care it can be difficult for a female to find a suitable mate. Most captive-born bagon were parthenogenic offspring. One trainer attempted to arrange for a proper tournament for his female salamence. He was thwarted by lack of interest from other dragon tamers. No one wanted to give up their salamence so it could stay with his mate if he won, even if they were promised the first clutch in return.

An impromptu mating ritual occurred on the battlefield in the Lumiose Invitational in 1998. A male and female salamence were sent out at the start of the match. They proceeded to ignore all orders and wrestle each other on stage. The female was able to repel the male. Her prospective mate did not take this well and proceeded to hit her with a point-blank draco meteor. Both survived the ensuing fight and eventually recovered.

Most successful two-parent breeding has occurred between a captive female and a wild male. If the female is living outdoors in salamence territory she may issue a mating call and attract males. The winner will then become her mate and effectively join the trainer’s team. Some salamence pairs have flown off to a mountain valley or remote island to breed. Others stayed in place and accepted meals from their trainer during incubation and childrearing.

Relatives

The eastern salamence lives along the western rim of the Pacific. They prefer tropical climates but sometimes seasonally migrate to subtropical or even temperate areas. Their range formerly extended into Japan, Korea, China, Vietnam, The Philippines, Indonesia, Malaysia, and the northern territory of Australia. They have since been extirpated from Korea, Vietnam, Australia, and China. Childrearing sometimes occurs on the smaller islands of the Pacific, with Alola being the easternmost island they have regularly been sighted on. These islands are important for the species’ survival but are not considered part of their core range. Over 80% of the remaining eastern salamence live in the Philippines, with the remainder mostly found in Indonesia and Malayasia. In Japan they are only found on the island of Hoenn. There are fewer than twenty adults remaining there.

The western salamence, F. typhon, were once found across Europe, Central Asia and Western Asia, and Northern Africa. Today they are only found in the Crown Tundra region of Galar, a few old growth forests in Poland, Carpathian National Park in Romania, and a few preserves in the Zagros Mountains. There are occasional reported sightings in the Atlas Mountains, but none have been verified in the last fifty years.

Western salamence have wings but cannot fly. The wings help them absorb more heat from sunlight, like those of druddigon. Instead, these salamence rely upon their sheer size and power to deter potential attackers. They are much bulkier than eastern salamence because they do not need to stay light enough to fly. Their claws are also tipped with iron to help them ward off fairies. Their sheer power and excellent sense of smell lets them bully almost any predator away from their kill. Alternatively, they can outpace and overpower some slower predators. Juveniles are much nimbler and often hunt alongside their parents. The adolescent salamence will harass prey and herd them towards the adult waiting to finish them off.

Western salamence are exceptionally intelligent. Some have even figured out how to communicate with humans through crude drawings. There are rumors of them kidnapping artists or philosophers to obtain their works or listen to their musings. When the nations of Europe began systematically exterminating the salamence in their lands they often found hoards of gold, ancient artifacts, and even books inside of the caves they lived in. Some great works of imperial era and pre-imperial writing long thought to be lost were recovered from the dragons’ lairs, preserved by the cool and dry environments of the caves.

 

[Persephone]

This week’s entry of The Alola Pokedex was commissioned by Crashmoth. I also “borrowed” the concept of elastic energy from Mutitus on Deviantart. They’ve made their own pokédex project and you should definitely check it out

Downloading from The Alola Pokédex Online Appendix . . .​

Breloom (Shroomish)
Agaricustos colaphus ruber

Overview

Most fungi are stationary. This presents two problems for their survival: 1) it is difficult to spread spores to reproduce and 2) self-defense options are limited when dealing with intelligent and mobile predators. The mushroom pokémon have all evolved methods of overcoming these obstacles. The fungal portion of parasect infects a host and uses it for spore spreading and defense. Shiinotic alter the floral environment around them to better spread illusions to deter attackers. Shroomish developed an adult stage that can hop around to spread spores and punch out anything that tries to eat the mushrooms. Even by fungal standards, breloom is strange.

The tropical, or red, breloom is native to southern China, mainland Southeast Asia, and the island of Java. It has since been introduced to Guyana, Madagascar, Queensland, and Alola. Breloom is currently listed as high priority for removal by the DNR and there are bounties on the capture of breloom and the marking of shroomish spawning locations. This is not because breloom themselves are bad for the environment, but because their aggressive protection of mushrooms removes what few predators exist for shiinotic. If left unchecked the shiinotic could permanently alter several of Alola’s tropical forests to better suit their needs.

Breloom have several characteristics that make them desirable for trainers. They have a great deal of status-infliction options with the addition of powerful punches. It is also not difficult to convince breloom to fight. Unlike many pokémon that are both powerful and eager to battle, breloom have a very pleasant disposition and are cheap to care for.

The bounties mean that breloom may not be on the archipelago for long. Trainers interested in unconventional grass-types may want to catch a shroomish or breloom while they’re still around.

Physiology

Shroomish are classified as dual grass- and poison-types. Breloom are equally capable of capitalizing on status effects but have fighting as their secondary type due to their propensity for combat and physical power.

Shroomish is a mushroom with a large bell and two short stalks. Most of their scales are bright red with a few blue and green spots mixed in. The edge of the bell is fringed by several ‘petals.’ When the shroomish spins around the petals help direct the released spores and scales to the sides rather than towards the ground. Small eyes and a narrow slit that serves as both a mouth and nose are found on the bell. Shroomish have a basic sense of sight but rely primarily on sensing vibrations and smells. Their other senses are not fully developed until evolution. Shroomish’s stems can be used to walk. Their top speed is only around 0.4 miles per hour, which is still much faster than non-pokémon mushrooms.

It is true that shroomish’s spores can cause respiratory problems if inhaled. Yet the real danger is in their scales. The red scales on a shroomish’s bell are psychoactive. If inhaled or ingested the consumer will become increasingly drowsy and disoriented until they fall unconscious. The blue scales also target the brain. They result in motor control problems that can render the target unable to move. Finally, the green scales are highly toxic and will cause increasing damage to the body over time without treatment. Older shroomish can also learn leach seed to further debilitate opponents. Their flesh is also toxic to most animals.

Breloom are bipedal. Their head is separated from the rest of the body by a long stem. The bell has lost most of its depth but grown even wider and now has more prominent gills. Breloom often adorn their bell with flower petals. Right beneath the bell is breloom’s head. They have large eyes that, while not particularly well-developed when compared to animals, still give them the best vision of any fungal pokémon. Breloom also have a prominent beak and mouth. The mouth can be used for either ejecting scales or ingesting food. Breloom prefer to eat dead and decomposing things. This can include rotting wood, carcasses, and manure.

The hands of a breloom end in two hard growths vaguely resembling blunted claws. Their arms are not usually visible but are instead tightly coiled and compressed inside the body, much like a spring. They can be shot out for extremely fast and powerful punches far beyond that of a human boxer. The arms must then be withdrawn, coiled, and compressed again before another punch can be fired. The full process can take nearly a minute to complete.

Breloom’s tail is tipped in three pods. These are for spores, not scales. Scales are either shaken from the head or spit in a narrow stream from the mouth. Surprisingly, the spores are the only part of breloom that is edible, although they have an extremely bitter taste.

Breloom move by hopping. The initial hop is done by building and releasing elastic energy within the pokémon’s legs. Subsequent hops are mostly powered by the elastic energy built up by the impact of the prior one. Alternatively, breloom can make short, quick hops to better position themselves. These are energy intensive as less energy is conserved from prior movements.

Shroomish can grow to be one foot tall and can live for up to three weeks without evolving. The mycelium network that spawned them (see Breeding) can live for years and fruit multiple times.

Breloom can grow to be five feet tall and can weigh up to ninety-five pounds. Because their purpose extends beyond fruiting, they can live for up to six years in the wild or captivity.

Behavior

Shroomish are the fruiting phase of a mycelium network (see Breeding). Their only purpose is to release spores to develop a network elsewhere. From the moment they cut themselves free shroomish are looking for a place to die. Sometimes in very harsh conditions they will partially burrow back into the soil for protection. Most of the time they wander endlessly in search of ideal conditions for spore release: something decomposing in a moist, dark place. Anything that disturbs them on their quest will be peppered with scales until they go away.

Breloom are far more active and interesting to observe. While shroomish live for only a few weeks, breloom are active for years. During this time they hop around the forests they live in to check for potential threats to shroomish and the mycelium networks. If a threat is found it will be killed. They will not eat their kills. At least, not right away. Breloom eat things that are already decomposing. Plant matter is preferred but they also eat some rotting meat. A blend of fungi in their gut finishes breaking down the organic material for nutrients and energy.

Unlike most grass types, breloom are not photosynthetic. They actively avoid direct sunlight and are primarily active at night. When they are observed patrolling in the day it is almost always under dense canopy cover or in cloudy weather.

Breloom are naturally curious and can be very friendly to creatures they do not perceive as threats. Wild breloom will often watch humans from a distance to see if they eat mushrooms or disturb shroomish. If they do not see such behavior, they will hop right up to the human and carefully check them over. They will even accept petting, although it is best to pet their back instead of their head. Directly touching the cap can send scales into the air and potentially lead to serious health problems.

The species is not territorial with conspecifics and can often be seen patrolling together.

Husbandry

Shroomish do not live long unless they evolve. While active they prefer having large fenced in areas with several damp and dark places to hide in. They will not need to eat or drink. Shroomish should not be touched or even approached without protection for at least the eyes, nose, and mouth. Some mycologists recommend wearing a full hazardous materials suit when entering an outdoor garden with more than ten shroomish. It is not recommended to bring a shroomish indoors. If you must interact with a shroomish without full protections make slow movements, do not get close, and do not touch the pokémon.

Breloom make for much better companions. There are still a few safety measures that must be taken around them. While breloom are much better at controlling scale release than shroomish, trainers with respiratory problems should wear eye, nose, and mouth protection when cuddling breloom. All trainers must refrain from eating mushrooms around a breloom. The species can easily adjust from caring for the mushrooms of their forest to caring for a human trainer, but they will never entirely forget their biological purpose.

Breloom are happiest when they have a mushroom garden to watch over. More information on caring for the mycelium network that produces shroomish can be found in the Breeding section of this article. The enclosed area containing the garden should be at least 1000 square feet to support a breloom. They prefer to spend the night watching over the garden. During the day breloom can be very affectionate and will often fall asleep on the couch curled up against their trainer.

The occasional introduction of harmless changes in the garden helps to provide enrichment. These can include the introduction and removal of potted plants, changing the placement of rocks around, painting the fence a different color, or adding or removing simple toys like rubber balls. Some mycologists recommend occasionally laying down urine from other species in the garden to give the breloom something more to investigate.

The amount of exercise required varies by individual. Some are very energetic and will appreciate near-daily training exercises and chances to hop alongside their jogging trainer. A few will even attempt to follow along with exercise videos meant for humans. Other breloom will be content with the occasional low-key walk around the neighborhood with light battle practice mixed in every week or so. It is usually best to err on the side of giving too many exercise opportunities to them as they will not overextend themselves. When they are exhausted they will stop for the day.

In addition to their garden breloom should have a dark, moist den to retreat to when they want. Some trainers have found dusk balls meet this need. Most breloom are reluctant to enter pokéballs and prefer to be out at all times, even when sleeping.

On the trail breloom can scavenge for food. A tropical wilderness has no shortage of decomposing logs and corpses to be found by a pokémon willing to look hard enough. It can be more difficult to feed breloom at Pokémon Centers or in urban settings. Some grocery stores are willing to contract with trainers for the sale of expired produce and meat. Breloom will also eat manure, although decomposing produce and meat are much better for them nutritionally. Trainers should not stop breloom from eating their teammates’ droppings, but this should not be the core of their diet. In lean times breloom can go up to six days between meals with no major health consequences. Two to three days between meals is much better for a regular feeding schedule.

Illness

Trainers who inhale red shroomish or breloom scales may suffer from increasing feelings of vertigo and apathy until they eventually fall asleep. Try to immediately call for help when poisoned as it will become progressively more difficult to work up the effort to do so. Blue scales interfere with chemical receptors and nerves. Within a minute it may become impossible to make voluntary movements of the body. This effect should pass within fifteen minutes. Consult a doctor after the effect clears up to ensure there are no lasting health problems. Green scales are far more dangerous. Ingesting even five grams can be fatal in an adult human. It takes less to kill a child. Breloom will seldom discharge this much, but shroomish can and will if they feel threatened.

The biggest problem for breloom and shroomish themselves is mold. Mold, like mushrooms, is a fungus that prefers damp and dark places. Some types of mold can cause tissue damage, respiratory problems, loss of energy, and death in breloom. Make sure to regularly inspect the den and gardens of breloom for mold. Plastic dens disconnected from a permanent building are often recommended because of the ease of disposing of and replacing them if mold is found.

The easiest solution to mold, chemical fungicides, cannot be used anywhere near shroomish or breloom. A fully grown breloom might be able to survive very low doses. Shroomish and small or injured breloom will be killed by virtually any exposure.

There are some species of fly that like to lay their eggs in shroomish. The maggots will then eat the pokémon from the inside out. There is little that can be done if this occurs. Veterinarians are generally reluctant to give any care beyond a potion spray to an injured shroomish. The combination of a short lifespan and highly dangerous scales makes them undesirable patients. On balance, shroomish with minor injuries have a much greater chances of evolution than a pristine specimen.

Evolution

Ideally every shroomish would find a place to die and release their spores there (see Breeding). Occasionally there are threats to this process such as predators, wildfires, or human intervention. These problems require more mobility and intelligence than shroomish are capable of. Some shroomish in the area will begin to evolve into breloom. The process is a flash evolution that changes shape but not mass. The new breloom will need to eat to grow.

Shroomish evolution is most common in specimens that are either mildly injured or have been close to specimens that were injured. In captivity very light battle with a pokémon unlikely to be affected by shroomish scales can usually trigger evolution in the specimen used in battle. Others nearby are also likely to evolve. Inorganic pokémon, especially steel and poison types that are resistant to grass energy, are the best in this role. Do not use a team member for this battle: the newly evolved breloom will be hostile to whatever pokémon caused it to evolve.

Battle

Breloom has a small but effective set of tricks. Grass and poison specialists used to dealing with gardens and toxins often add one to their team. On occasion a non-specialist ranked trainer will also use one.

The most important trick breloom have is not their punches but their scales. They can spit a stream of red scales up to two meters out. Most animal pokémon that inhale them will become increasingly disoriented and eventually fall asleep altogether. Leagues are divided on if sleep moves are an automatic knockout or not. At present the United States League Association allows trainers to continue fighting with a sleeping pokémon. The switch timer runs at double speed for a pokémon asleep due to moves such as hypnosis or sleep powder. Blue scales can slow down enemy movements without doubling the switch timer speed but are less effective at creating an opening.

Red scales should be used with caution. Most professional arenas are stocked with antitoxins that can negate fungal or common plant-based poisons. Amateur ones may not be. Most pokémon are durable enough to take a few grams of red scales. Some are not. Killing a pokémon due to misjudging the strength of the toxin applied and being unable or unwilling to provide an antidote after surrender will result in an excessive force ticket.

Leech seed rounds out breloom’s utility kit. They are not naturally gifted with it like they are for status afflictions, but most breloom know it upon evolution. Leech seed can keep breloom healthy while whittling down opponents over time.

If this were the extent of breloom’s abilities they would not find much use on the competitive circuits. There are plenty of grass-types with similar movepools and a better ability to take damage while their opponent slowly succumbs to the inflicted ailments.

What makes breloom unique is the combination of utility moves and a very powerful punch. This punch can only be fired twice in a minute, once from each arm, so timing is everything. Breloom will make short hops from side to side to try and find a good opening for their punch. They will also spit out scales during this process to make an opening more likely. Once breloom sees their chance they will unleash one or two devastating punches to sensitive areas. Many opponents will go down to a single punch. More are unable to take two. Only the most heavily armored of foes can shrug off the hits altogether, and several of those are undone by the fighting energy imbued in the strikes.

The biggest drawback of this strategy is that breloom can only really damage foes within their six-meter reach. Anything outside that area cannot be hit by either scales or punches. Breloom need to get close for this strategy to work. Unfortunately, they are not particularly fast compared to the average pokémon used on the competitive circuits. Fast ranged attackers shut breloom down. The same goes for any flier that can dodge or tank a fairly weak stone edge.

Breloom’s cooldown time and list of counters makes them somewhat unpopular in the current metagame that favors fliers and ranged attackers. In past eras more dominated by hard stall teams and powerful fighting-types breloom was far more dominant.

On the island challenge breloom’s secondary attacks are more effective. Competitive pokémon are usually fast or durable enough that the moves breloom does not naturally employ. Breloom can learn many coverage options such as seed bomb, bullet seed, stone edge, rock tomb, and iron tail. They can also be taught swords dance, bulk up, and growth to hit even harder. Their punches can be imbued with different elemental properties with enough training. Thunder punch helps deal with flying-types, mach punch hits even faster, and drain punch can establish leech seed on contact.

Breloom’s fighting and grass attacks can be dangerous for Olivia, Nanu, and Hapu’s teams. Hala’s reliance on melee attackers also plays to breloom’s strengths. The cooldown time is also less relevant if totems can be knocked out with a pair of well-placed punches. The current set of kahunas makes breloom well suited for the island challenge, but future retirements could make the path through the island challenge more treacherous for it. Professional trainers have already learned how fickle the metagame can be for their mushrooms.

Acquisition

Shroomish and breloom can be found in Alolan Rainforests National Preserve on Akala Island. Unlimited captures are permitted and a bounty can be obtained for each breloom or shroomish captured. Shroomish can be obtained with a Class III license while breloom require a Class II.

Breloom are not particularly receptive to proving battles. Trainers desiring to keep them long term may use unfair tactics such as attacking with multiple pokémon when securing the capture. As long as the breloom is nursed back to health and given a plot of mushrooms to look after shortly after there should be no long-term problems. Eventually a breloom will come to care for its teammates and trainer as much as its garden.

Sale of breloom or shroomish to entities other than the Alolan Commonwealth is currently prohibited. Even adoption arrangements are viewed with skepticism. Trainers wanting to raise a breloom should capture their own.

Breeding

The mycelium networks that produce shroomish are not presently classified as a pokémon in their own right. They are necessary to produce shroomish and breloom prefer to have a garden with mycelium in the ground so their husbandry will briefly be discussed here. Mycelia are thin white fibers that tunnel through the dirt. They form complex networks underground. In order to spread to other areas the mycelium produce a mushroom that becomes a shroomish. In most non-pokémon fungi the mushroom is only an organ of the network and not an organism in its own right.

The mycelium networks that produce shroomish grow best in damp, dark places. They feed by breaking down organic matter in the soil. It is recommended to start a culture by spreading spores over a patch of manure in a shaded garden. If a half inch covering of manure is brought in every month there should always be enough food for the network and shroomish should be produced every two to three months.

Wild shroomish wander until they find a good place to release spores. These are areas that are shaded, moist, and free of competing mycelia. Then they will settle down and begin to unfurl from the top down. The process ends with the shroomish dead and millions of spores released. Some of these will land on fertile ground, spread roots, and establish a new mycelium network.

Breloom also occasionally release spores from their tail as they travel. They are less discriminate about where they release their spores because accidentally dropping them in the wrong place is not lethal. In time the spores will regenerate and breloom can scatter them again.

Shroomish cultivation is currently illegal on Akala and Ula’Ula due to the established shiinotic populations. Intentional breeding of shroomish is heavily regulated on the other islands as well. The Alolan government will not pay bounties for specimens born in captivity. Sale or, in many cases, adoption are also illegal in Alola. Trainers who do not desire to raise shroomish on their own or arrange for export to the mainland should clip the tail of their breloom. This prevents them from releasing spores. It also does not cause serious pain or impair daily functioning.

Relatives

There is one other species of breloom, A. c. viridilanx, more commonly known as kinogassa, or the green or temperate breloom. They are well-suited for the narrow zone of mixed forests between the tropics and the taiga. A coordinated removal campaign in China eliminated the population there in the 1950s. Today they are only found in the wild in Kinogassa Sanctuary in Hoenn. Feral specimens also occasionally pop up around the world. Some are culled by the local governments before they can outcompete native fungi. Others are tolerated because they protect endangered native mushrooms. There is currently a small experimental colony in Unova’s Pinwheel Forest State Park.

Kinogassa are much smaller than tropical breloom. They rarely grow to be more than four feet tall and are usually less than half as heavy as their tropical counterparts. They are also primarily coated in green toxic scales with blue and red patches. This gives them greater access to poison scales at the expense of sleep-inducing scales.

Kinogassa have seasonal activity patterns due to the reduced biomass to eat in their temperate homes. They are most active in the autumn when leaf litter provides an abundant source of food. They retain some activity through the early winter when the first freezes kill off some plants and animals. As the winter becomes harsher they find a cave or abandoned burrow and begin to hibernate for the winter. Come spring they will periodically emerge when they sense distress from the local shroomish population. Even when out of their burrows they spend most of their time inactive. It is rare to see a kinogassa patrol outside of the autumn and early winter. They rely upon the toxicity of their scales to deter would-be predators from eating the exposed and unmoving target.

 

[Persephone]

Another Crashmoth commission.

Downloading from The Alola Pokédex Online Appendix . . .​

Gliscor (Gligar)
Scorpioales pyleoccisor

Overview

The march of time has not been kind to the winged scorpions.

In the Carboniferous, the ancestors of gliscor were some of the first creatures to take to the skies. They used primitive wings to help them glide through the air and ambush targets from above. Between the high oxygen levels of the era and their dominance of the niche, the winged scorpions could grow to have three-meter wingspans, the largest that would be seen in the world until the late Jurassic.

The winged scorpions shrunk in size and prominence during the Permian. They went extinct in the Great Dying only to convergently evolve again from sea scorpions. They find themselves once more on the brink of extinction. Six of the seven recognized species are endangered, and three are critically endangered. In spite of this, exotic pokémon collectors regularly breed and sell the pokémon. One of these shipments led to Alola’s population of canyon gliscor in Poni Island National Park and Preserve.

It is the policy of the Alolan and federal governments to remove the gliscor to preserve the local ecosystem and prevent loss of human life. The bounty system originally put in place has been removed due to abuse by breeders, but trainers may still turn specimens over to the commonwealth or federal government to be shipped to Japan and released to the wild in their native range.

Gliscor (but not gligar) are also good companions in their own right. They are surprisingly intelligent, a trait that has allowed their line to survive when many, many others perished. Gliscor can also be physically affectionate and mischievous. Their long life expectancy and utility in battle helps offset their somewhat difficult care requirements.

Physiology

Gligar and gliscor are traditionally classified as dual ground- and flying-types. They are certainly capable of employing these elements in battle, but from a husbandry perspective it is far more useful to think of them as bug- and poison-types. Battlers should also be aware that gligar rely more heavily on their venom than upon elemental attacks.

Gligar, like all scorpions, are octopedal. Their hind and front legs are the most prominent. The hind legs are attached to powerful muscles that help them launch from cliffsides. The front legs end in large pincers. The tip of the larger claw is serrated and can be used to cut opponents in close quarters. The middle legs are attached to the wings. These legs can be used to curl the wings closer to the body, unfurl them, or change their positioning.

Most of gligar’s back is purple and most of their front is pink. The most notable exception are the wings that are brown when seen from behind and dark blue when seen from the front. The mouth contains two extended fangs used for latching onto prey. These can regrow in a matter of days if need be. Gligar also have two long horns used to deflect attacks to the head. Their tail is tipped with a stinger. Their venom is a potent neurotoxin that can paralyze or kill prey up to five times heavier than themselves.

In addition to their own venom gligar are capable of breaking down and digesting the venom or poison of some species. Even if they cannot digest it entirely they usually have some resistance to the effects This lets them prey on species that usually rely solely on venom or poison for defense. This is particularly important for the desert and marine subspecies. The canyon gligar has relatively few venomous species in its natural range, meaning that its ability has largely atrophied compared to its kin. The reef gliscor can digest mareanie and tentacruel with no health issues. The hairy gliscor, while less impressive, can still comfortably feed on venomous snakes and other scorpions.

Gliscor have a much darker coloration. The majority of their body is dark purple. Their wings are pitch black on both sides. The exceptions to the darker colors are a series of yellow markings around their eyes and patches of red scales on their head and abdomen that make them look more intimidating to prey and would-be predators. Gliscor’s venom is actually less potent than that of a gligar. They instead rely upon their large, sharp pincers and fangs to kill prey. When this fails, they can channel elemental energy to either finish off their opponent or flee into the sky or ground. The blade on the tail is occasionally used as a weapon without using the stinger to inject venom.

Gliscor can attain a wingspan and length of six feet. They can weigh up to twenty-eight pounds. Captive gliscor can live for up to twenty years. Wild females have a lifespan of ten years and wild males seldom live for more than five.

Husbandry

As their name suggests, canyon gliscor are most commonly found in canyons and steep ravines. They use their claws and tail to help them climb up the cliff face and find an indent to rest in. If there is no indent they can create one with their geokinesis.

Gliscor hunt at night. They propel themselves off the canyon wall and glide the length of the canyon looking for prey. If they find something suitable they will dive down and go for the kill. Gligar prefer tall targets that they can attack from behind. The claws will slit the throat and the stinger will go straight for the heart. Their flight is near silent and they can surprise even vigilant pokémon such as mienshao and lucario. Humans also fit the profile of ideal gligar prey and sometimes fall victim to fatal attacks. People should not walk along the floor of Vast Poni Canyon at night. Hiking during the day while the gligar are asleep is no more dangerous than walking through the canyon has ever been.

Gligar have difficulty defending what they do bring down because they are ambush predators with limited mobility while grounded. They rely on a unique quirk of their venom: it is quick to paralyze but slow to kill. This keeps the pokémon safe from retaliation but ensures that the venom is distributed throughout the body by the time the prey finally dies. Gligar seldom wait for death, however, and begin eating non-vital areas as soon as the prey collapses. By the time a scavenger or larger predator arrives the carcass may be poisonous to them from the distribution of venom. This may not stop them from attacking the gligar itself. One researcher estimated that one out of every ten hunts for a newly-independent gligar ends in the pokémon’s death.

Gliscor are less reliant on their venom to kill. Instead, they swoop down and use their sharp claws or fangs to kill the prey while passing by. Particularly small prey can be snatched up in a single bite. They will then loop back to pick up the carcass and use their limited aerokinesis to generate the lift needed to get back to their perch. This strategy is very effective for small birds, insect pokémon, and mammals. Gliscor have even been observed snatching up gligar during lean times. Gliscor rarely bother humans as they are too heavy to bring back to safety.

Nocturnal birds can easily outmaneuver gliscor and gligar in the air and kill them on the ground or mid-flight. Fortunately for them, Vast Poni Canyon currently lacks nocturnal airborne predators. In their native range large noctowl often kill smaller gligar.

If the canyon wall is not steep enough or the indent is too large gligar can also face threats during the day. The Vast Poni Canyon is too steep for most rattata to climb but one occasionally tries to kill a sleeping gligar. Murkrow have also been observed attempting to do so. Gligar sleep with their tail facing out of the burrow and gliscor sleep with their pincers facing out. This allows them to strike at predators with their most powerful weapon first.

Outside of a mother and her young neither stage is social. They are not territorial, however, and have even been seen tolerating conspecifics in the area. As long as they do not attempt to claim their nest there will not be problems. Gliscor naturally lay claim to the best roosting sites as they can either evict a gligar or simply move in while it is out hunting.

When gligar or gliscor are ambushed on the canyon floor they have three ways of escaping: into the air, the earth, or the water. Gligar cannot easily launch themselves from the ground and must climb back up to their home before daybreak. Gliscor can launch themselves, although doing so is energy intensive and far from an instant process. Gligar and gliscor are also fast diggers that can burrow through even hard rock when they see a predator in the distance. Finally, both are excellent swimmers that can go up to forty-eight hours without breathing. Gligar prefer to kill prey by rivers so that there is always a means of escape available. Unfortunately, the pokémon cannot glide until its wings are completely dry.

In Japan gligar and gliscor typically enter a period of low activity during the winter. They will burrow into the ground and sleep there until temperatures warm again. This behavior is not seen in Alola as it never gets cool enough to warrant reduced activity.

Husbandry

As mentioned above gligar is closer to a bug- or poison-type in care requirements than to a ground- or flying-type. Gliscor are calmer and are generally better suited for specialists in its official typing.

Gligar are the rare pokémon that sees humans as potential prey. Trainers should not approach an untamed gligar without proper protective equipment such as fang- and stinger-resistant armor. Antivenom should always be kept on hand. The equipment will most commonly be sold at a specialty store for poison-type care. There are branches of the Shockingly Toxic chain in Malie and Hau’oli. Some very large pokémon supply stores may also carry it. Gligar and gliscor antivenom can also be purchased from the apothecary in Seafolk Village.

Taming a gligar is a slow process that requires providing them with toys and enrichment and getting them to associate their trainer with the provision of food rather than as prey themselves. Over time they can develop a crude understanding of the human language that lets them follow more traditional commands. When a gligar starts to become physically affectionate it may be safe to interact with them without armor, although antivenom should still be kept close. Training them to be calm around unfamiliar humans will require a training process of its own.

Gligar are not recommended for traveling trainers unless there has been a year-long taming process beforehand. Even then they still struggle in casual battles as they must be trained to battle without immediately slashing the throat or stabbing their stinger into the heart of their enemies.

Stationary gligar trainers should devote time and resources into constructing their aviary as this is where the pokémon will spend almost all of its time. The aviary can be outdoors or indoors, although outdoor aviaries must use reinforced netting. Electrified wires do not bother gligar and they can cut through most bars and escape. If displayed outdoors gligar must have a heated area to escape to during rainy or cold weather. Gliscor rarely make escape attempts and are not particularly dangerous if they do escape. They can be kept in an outdoor aviary and it will usually be cheaper to build their enclosure outdoors.

The centerpiece of a gligar’s enclosure should be a climbing wall or rough tree. It should be at least six feet high for a gligar or ten feet for a gliscor. There should be at least one deep nest box towards the top for the pokémon to sleep in. The rest of the enclosure need not be more than a foot taller than the next box but should have a large enough surface area to allow for gliding. Gligar’s enclosure should be at least ten times longer than their wingspan and four times as wide. Gliscor do not need nearly as much space as long as they are taken out for flights on a daily basis.

Gligar and gliscor kept entirely indoors can live in enclosures with a reversed day-night cycle. They may be slow to adapt at first but will soon switch to being active when it is dark in the enclosure and inactive when it is light. This makes it more convenient for the trainer from a care and display perspective. Both stages glow blue under a UV blacklight. This does not seem to disturb the pokémon and they will act as if it is night even with a blacklight on. There are no apparent health benefits or drawbacks to it.

Gligar prefer to have access to a sand pit to burrow in. Ideally it would be at least six feet deep. The sand does not need to be commercial burrowing sand as they do not dig burrow networks. They simply like to submerge themselves in sand.

Water fixtures are also appreciated, especially if there is moving water in them. These need not be more than a foot deep but should have a fairly broad surface area to allow for swimming. A pokémon staying unmoving at the bottom of the pool is not a cause for alarm unless it continues for more than twenty-four hours.

More standard enrichment items such as balls and puzzles are usually ignored. Some gliscor appreciate tree branches, either as perches to hang from or as toys to pick up and carry around. Bones can also serve the latter purpose.

Indoor enclosures should be kept dry and warm with a heat lamp to bask under. Gligar enjoy temperatures of up to ninety degrees and can be harmed by temperatures consistently below fifty. They will be far less active in cool enclosures than in warm ones.

Both stages can adapt to Alola’s weather if held outside. There should be a semi-enclosed area with a heat lamp to retreat to, but Alola’s temperatures are usually within the acceptable range of the species.

Gligar are somewhat skeptical of pokéballs in general and habitat balls in particular. Gliscor are far more tolerant of being kept inside a stasis ball in the day or during transport periods as long as they are let out for most of the night.

Gliscor adjust well to travel, especially if their trainer chooses to hike at night. Many gliscor seem to enjoy hanging from their tail from the same branch as the smellable supply back. They will also want to glide and occasionally hunt. It is legal to keep them off leash in most of Alola. The primary exceptions are protected grubbin habitat. It may also be unwise to let them fly unsupervised during the day in areas with large predatory birds such as skarmory, braviary, or talonflame. Trainers that intend to be active during the day when hiking is easier may end up frustrating their nocturnal traveling companion. It is recommended to hike during the middle of the day if nighttime hiking is not possible. This at least allows for opportunities to play, bond, and train with gliscor around dusk and dawn.

Because gliscor can safely travel they can be taken to their enrichment rather than putting everything they want inside their enclosure. Trips to the beach will satisfy their desire to burrow in sand. Streams, ponds, and unchlorinated pools without large predators are good places to swim. Be advised that gliscor will want to dry off as soon as possible after swimming. Warm towels and blow dryers will be well received. Some gliscor have even been known to run off with blow dryers and put them in their nest box, only to bring them back to their trainer when they want to be dried again. For this reason battery powered dryers are preferred to those that must be plugged in as a violent unplugging by gliscor can break the cord or damage the machine or outlet.

Gliscor will also need opportunities to glide. The most popular parks for letting bird pokémon fly are not ideal as the larger birds will scare the gliscor. They do enjoy gliding off of buildings. Taking them to a roof or balcony and letting them fly will satisfy them and they will usually return before too long. Sometimes they will even return with a meal.

It should be noted that gliscor enjoy scaring their trainer. They will sometimes lie in wait hanging from a tree or ceiling fan only to drop down and give their trainer a flying tackle when they least expect it. Be careful when turning on ceiling fans or entering new rooms while carrying fragile items.

Gliscor can be housebroken with time and another pokémon to set an example. Gligar cannot be.

Gligar, on the other hand, can be trained to eat dead meat while gliscor will always require live food. Gligar should at first be fed very recently killed mammals, birds, or reptiles. Ideally the carcass will be presented hanging from something to simulate standing up. Over time the gligar will come to accept raw meat presented without the rest of the carcass. Gliscor will need to be fed live bug-types. Caterpie are the cheapest to buy and they have no capture limit in the wild. Even non-island challenge trainers can apply for a fairly inexpensive caterpie hunting permit if they own a pokémon that requires live insects.

Illness

The gliscor line suffer from two main illnesses: those brought on by too much water in their environment and those brought on by too little.

The dehydration related illnesses are easiest to fix. Sometimes a gliscor will have a somewhat shriveled appearance. This can be a sign of starvation or dehydration. Gliscor can actually go for weeks without food if necessary so the problem is usually dehydration. Gligar in a proper enclosure usually have water to swim in so it is a rare health problem for them. Gliscor, on the other hand, can dehydrate fairly easily in captivity. Many trainers assume a ground type that eats live prey needs so little water it can be obtained from its food. This is not true of gliscor. Make sure they have access to a water bowl every day. If the appearance persists after the gliscor has consumed food and water, or if the pokémon refuses to eat, consult a veterinarian.

Mold can also grow on gligar and gliscor that are not properly dried or spend too much time in a humid environment. This can be a major problem for specimens kept outdoors in the wet season. Gliscor should have their armor checked for discoloration and a blow dry offered at least every three days in the wet season. Gligar are harder to conduct a detailed inspection of. Thankfully they will dry themselves if given a heat lamp that can be accessed without climbing. The heat lamp should not be physically near the water due to the risk of electrocuting humans trying to clean the habitat. Gligar themselves are nearly immune from electric damage.

Evolution

Gligar molt nine times over the course of their life. During these molts they are without armor and extremely vulnerable. They will stay motionless in a burrow during this time. After a period of rapid growth new armor plates will begin to develop on the abdomen, portions of the tail, and around the head. The pokémon will not grow again until the next molt. Gligar molt five times in their first six months of life and four more over the next two and a half years. With each molt their venom becomes less potent, their claws sharpen, and their body grows darker. A gligar formally evolves after its ninth molt.

It is difficult to battle safely with captive gligar. This slows down evolution to an extent. Captive-born gligar usually evolve around their fourth birthday instead of their third. Those that do battle regularly might evolve slightly faster than their wild counterparts.

Battle

Gliscor are one of the premier stallbreakers on competitive circuits. Hybrids of the canyon and Uluru gliscor are particularly dangerous due to their near immunity to poisons, powerful venom of their own, and respectable size, armor, and power. They can also be taught useful tricks like sandstorm and roost to stall or taunt, guillotine, and swords dance to break stall teams. Earthquake, slash, and acrobatics do respectable damage and u-turn can be used to strike and retreat to safety.

Gliscor are hard countered by corviknight and skarmory. Knocking gliscor down or grappling with them in the air deprives them of most of the pokémon’s mobility. The stingers of hybrid gliscor are usually too weak to pierce the armored bird’s armor and their claws are not sharp enough to deal a finishing blow either. Despite their size, gliscor are not particularly heavy. Once those threats are removed, however, gliscor has the armor to take hits from most walls and the tricks to set up on or eliminate them. Many matches between gliscor trainers and stall teams come down to whether the gliscor can outlast the opposing trainer’s birds.

Dragons might fear the sting of a hybrid gliscor but otherwise have little to fear unless the pokémon has set up. Most can also fly to defeat the scorpion in the air. Ice-types can take advantage of gliscor’s cold-blooded physiology and ground elemental affinity to deal massive damage.

Gliscor are also in the unfortunate position of being a flying type that needs to get close to the target for most of its most dangerous attacks. This negates the advantages of being able to stay at range. Thankfully earthquake and stone edge can be launched from a distance.

Gligar, as mentioned above, are not well-suited for battle. They do not understand the concept of a friendly match. Something is either a threat, in which case they cannot afford to hold back, or it is prey to be killed. Some gligar raised by humans for over a year have been taught to partake in and even enjoy friendlier matches. Older gligar also have less potent venom, reducing the potential damage of a behavioral lapse. Trainers should still be ready to pay excessive force fines when battling with a gligar.

On the island challenge gliscor function well as stallbreakers or walls in their own right. Gliscor’s mobility, slow-acting venom, and armor make them capable of sponging weaker hits and recovering with roost. Many totems like to hang back and use boosting moves while their allies bog down the opponent. A mobile taunt can disrupt this plan.

A skilled gliscor trainer will keep their pokémon airborne for as long as possible. If the soil is permeable enough then dig should be used for mobility instead. A grounded gliscor, especially one with a hurt wing, is in a very bad position.

Acquisiton

Gligar and gliscor can be found in Vast Poni Canyon. Gligar can be captured with a Class IV license and gliscor can be captured with a Class III. Some hunters have employed scarecrows or other humanoid targets to bait out gligar, although this has become less effective as the wild population has become more familiar with it. Now most hunters seek them out during the day by riding along the cliff face on the back of a flying pokémon. Indents can be inspected and the gligar can either be battled or touched with a pokéball on a long stick. Net balls are the most effective.

Gliscor capture can be done by scouring the cliff face as well. Alternatively, trainers can try to find out hunting at night and catch it. This can be done on the ground – which is not recommended in gligar territory – or in the sky with a sufficiently large nocturnal flier. Most birds are diurnal, but some dragons and levitating pokémon are able to see on dark nights.

It is easier to simply purchase a gliscor or gligar. Importation has been forbidden but breeding is still allowed on Akala due to the lack of suitable territory there. Gliscor remain relatively popular pets due to their size, appearance, intelligence, and unique behaviors. Some collectors are fond of gligar as a display pokémon.

It is not usually possible to adopt the species. Surrendered specimens are evaluated for their suitability for wild release or future breeding. Pokémon that could be released to the wild are sent back to Japan. Non-hybridized specimens that are not suitable for release are usually sent to zoos, museums, or conservation centers for breeding. The few that are available for adoption are usually old, infirm, or hybridized with the Uluru gliscor. Hybrids are much more dangerous to care for and require an extra license rank than non-hybridized specimens.

Breeding

Male gliscor initiate mating by gliding to the burrow of a female around dusk. He will then try to pull her out of the burrow. She will usually resist unless the two are familiar with each other and the male is particularly clever or strong. Once the female is pulled from her burrow the male will launch off the side of the canyon wall and the two will begin to glide. The entire time the female will usually be trying to break the embrace and kill or injure the male. The male relies on repeated stings to keep the female sedated during the process. Around dawn the venom’s affects will usually begin to wear off and the female will grow anxious to return to her burrow. If the male has not finished the mating act by this time he will probably be killed and his body eaten. If he succeeds in time he will detach himself from the female and fly away quickly. If the female recovers quickly enough, she will pursue, kill, and eat the male anyways.

Pregnancy takes roughly two weeks. At the end the female will give birth to twenty-seven scorplings. She will keep the scorplings in her burrow and bring them food until they are fifty days old. On occasion they will all crawl onto their mother’s back and hang on as she glides.

The first molt occurs around fifty days. The female will protect her offspring through this molt. She will then kick them out of her home, eating those that overstay their welcome. This is the end of her parental role.

Captive breeding of gliscor is difficult as the entire act takes place in the air. Some breeders have used artificial rockwalls or trees on remote ranches to encourage natural mating behaviors. Once the female is pregnant she can be moved indoors to an enclosed area to ensure no scorplings escape. The mother will be wary of her trainer during this time but will still accept food. Pokéball use is not recommended after the first few days of pregnancy. Once the first molt is complete the gligar can be captured in individual pokéballs and moved to new homes.

Relatives

There are seven recognized species of gliscor. Four are airborne, one is grounded, and two are marine. The other airborne scorpions are the cliffside, Iberian, and Uluru gliscor.

The cliffside, or coastal, gliscor is native to portions of Quebec and New England, extending south to Unova. Their Old World counterpart, the Iberian gliscor, is found in Morocco, Algeria, the Iberian Peninsula, Kalos, and Italy. Both live primarily on cliffs adjacent to rivers, lakes, and the ocean. They dig deep downward sloped burrows with their drill-like tails and large, blunted claws. Their other major adaptation is that they have water-resistant scales and larger wings that let them glide even while partially wet.

The gliscor are solitary hunters that glide over the water at night and snatch up any fish, birds, or amphibians that get too close to the surface. They crush the prey in their claws and return to their burrow to eat it. The gligar, on the other hand, can live in frights of up to one hundred individuals. Their main hunting tactic is to startle something near the cliff edge with their frightening appearance and loud, cackling cries. They will swarm their prey until they evoke a panic response, hopefully driving them to run straight over the cliff. If they do not they will still end up corned and vulnerable to stings from gligar behind them. Gligar frights have been known to kill herds of sawsbuck. The dozens of gligar still in the air while some land to feast deters others from stealing their kill.

DDT nearly drove both species to extinction. While their greater toxin resistance let them fare better than braviary, their numbers still decreased. Conservationists concerned with protecting charismatic birds often supported culls of gliscor to ensure there was enough prey for braviary and pidgeot.

The final airborne gliscor is the Uluru gliscor native to Australia. Most rest on the side of Uluru. They are known to glide for days on end in search of snakes to kill and eat. When they spot one they will dive down, snatch it up, break the spine, and fly back to Uluru to eat. The Uluru gliscor is both highly venomous and almost immune to venom. They are smaller than the canyon gliscor and not as heavily armored. The species was formerly critically endangered due to extensive development on and around Uluru. Then the Australian government realized that the gliscor rarely attacked humans unless provoked but kept the population of venomous snakes in check. Subsequently the government banned climbing Uluru, moved the tournament held there to a nearby site, and began captive breeding efforts to help the population rebound. At present they are on the verge of being moved from ‘Endangered’ to ‘Threatened.’

The grounded gliscor, or sand gliscor, is native to portions of the American Southwest and Northern Anahuac. They live in areas with sandy soil, especially on and around sand dunes. These gliscor cannot fly. Instead, their wings have developed to let them push back sand and help them ‘swim’ through it. Sand gliscor usually wait just below the surface and rush out whenever something draws near. These are the largest gliscor and they can grow to be nearly eight feet in length. They are currently classified as endangered due to widespread hunting in the 19th and early 20th Centuries. Ranchers did not want them around their herds. Urban settlements and railroad builders found them to be a threat to human life. Hunters thought they killed too many big game species and found the scorpions to be good trophies in their own right. Even the newly formed National Park Service quietly hired hunters to kill the gliscor as they believed they hurt tourism. They are currently extirpated from the United States, although there have been some attempts to release them on NPS and Navajo Nation lands. They have historically fared better in Anahuac, although instability in the area has led to poaching and lax enforcement of environmental laws. The recent authorization of new fortifications in the border provinces has further cut into the gliscor’s population. Land mines alone may have killed one-third of the surviving gliscor.

Anahuac also hosts another gliscor species: the cenote gliscor. These gliscor are believed to be almost entirely aquatic and can go days without breathing. They lie in wait in dark marine caves and attack anything that comes close. Their wings are used for swimming through the water rather than gliding in the air. Relatively little is known about them due to their dark and difficult-to-access habitat. They are listed as endangered due to fewer observed encounters. This may be because of a population decline or because they are retreating to portions of the cenotes that are less often visited by humans in order to escape from tourists and their armed guides.

The larger and more common gliscor species, as well as the only one not currently listed as endangered, is the marine gliscor. They do not have proper wings but instead have segmented armored plates over their legs that help them ‘row.’ Marine glsicor are not particularly fast, but they do not need to be to hunt tentacruel and mareanie. They are one of the only organic species that fears neither’s sting. Their stomachs are uniquely adapted for consuming gelatinous flesh, mareanie spines, and venom. Most of the time gliscor lay in wait on the bottom of the reef floor. When mareanie are rare they will swim closer to the coast to feed on tentacruel. They can be found in Queensland, Indonesia, and the Solomon Islands. In the past there have been some attempts to kill them to appease tourists, but their predation of highly venomous species and docility around humans has since made them quite popular with conservationists and tourism bureaus alike.

 

[windskull]

It's been a while. So it's about time I do another round of thoughts for this, I think. Gonna knock out as many as I feel like doing, so here we go!

Malamar
-I find the concept of "a true malamar has never been seen" as very interesting. The size difference between captive and wild malamar is rather stunning.
- Huh. For some reason I never really thought of malamar as having blades, but considering the fact that they can use moves like night slash, it makes some sense.
-You know, it's not surprising that there are so many pokemon that are so hard to track. I'd imagine magical creatures with supernatural abilitys WOULD be a lot harder to track than real animals - not that real animals are always easy, of course.
-Ah humans. They want to get up close to the pretty animals and end up accidentally killing a bunch trying to. Typical.
-I like that you have their lights play into how they're able to hunt wishiwashi. It works for me.
>SeaWorld
-Also the event in 1971 is horrifying but also I can't help but wonder if it's based off some actual event.

Zoroark
-The concept of a zoroark spearheading a witchunt for other zoroarks really piques my interest. For what purpose did he do this? Was he trying to blend in better? Was this some sort of revenge plot? A learned behavior? I don't know, but it's very very curious.
-I suppose they must hollow out the pearls to use as a bead, but IDK
- I want this super skilled zoroark to go on super sneaky spy adventures.
-I do like the idea of different zoroark subspecies having different ways of casting their illusions. I also like that you go into the practical uses of illusions.
-I like that you've incorperated the difference between a match between human trainers vs the npcs in the main game (namely the fact that you know the team of one but not the other) as an established worldbuilding factor.
-The whiplash I got from "Mormons have a breeding program for this one breed of zoroark and view them as a gift from God" cannot go unstated.
-As a last note for this entry, did you mean to refer to the forest zoroark as forest zorua? Because it happens a couple of times where I would think zoroark would be used.

Furfrou
[Less charitably, they are perhaps the least intelligent]
-Damn, going for the throat right out the gate!
-Obviously this isn't about furfrou, but I like the note on fennekin and why the heck a fennec fox would be popular enough to use as a starter in a france-based region.
-Now correct me if I'm wrong but I think this entry was probably written before swsh came out. I'd be curious how bolthund fits into the picture of furfrou vs yamper. (then again, I'm pretty sure this has been edited since?)
-oof, the dreaded detrimental selective breeding. Poor furfrou 8(.
-Man, dogs sure are weird, aren't they? But yeah, randomly liking their owner's leg tracks imo.
-Reading the battle section, all I can think about is the time I got wasted in an early-game battle in xy against two furfrou. They can definitely be a threat in early game, imo, because they can hit comparitively hard and fur coat gives them some pretty decent defenses. But I do agree that they tend to fall off once you get to the midgame.
-Man, I sure do love me some hybrids, and I kinda wish they had been briefly touched upon in a bit more detail than "they happen and they're usually reproductively viable."

Raichu
-NGL, I'm genuinely curious what the origin of the name Hodad is.
-I honestly love the fact that the pokemon anime, or some variation of it at least, exists within your fic universe.
-Can we all agree that people that don't think Raichu is at least as cute as Pikachu are wrong? Man, Raichu deserves more love.
-I like the explanation for raichu's tail. I personally would have probably gone for the idea of it being a roughly lightningbolt-shaped tuft of fur, but that's not really the most accurate depiction. And it doesn't really match up with hodad.
-Calling a pikachu/raichu colony a "battery" is absolutely adorable.
-Man, imagine taking care of a baby, except the baby can electrocute you. Scary.
>pikachu chargers
-I know it makes sense in context but it just sounds hilarious.
-Ah yes. good old "surgically alter my pet so that they stay cute and cuddly." I'm like 99% sure this is based on a real thing, but I cannot for the life of me remember what.
-I like the way you approach thunderstones here, and I'm curious about how you approach other stone evos (I can't remember if I've read any yet OTL)
-I love the concept of magnetically gluing pichu to raichu's back. It's an adorable mental image.
-you have an extra seek between "the male hodad will" and "glue them to his body"

Vikavolt
-You can tell the author really likes vikavolt lol. And to be fair, it makes sense in the context of the BT universe. How can you win against an opponent that's too high up to hit.
-*slams hands on desk* Give! Grubbin! The ground typing!!! Really tho, I forget that it's not ground ntype half the time.
-I actually really like the explanation for the appearence of grubbin in Galar tbh.
-Oh my god, accordian sounds. I love it. It's fucking adorable and I'm laughing imagining it.
-I don't know what the basis is or if it's something you just thought up, but the concept of the interaction between vikavolt and chargabug is adorable and I love it. It's just plain intriguing tbh.
-Cmon man, don't call your murderbeast pet boring, it's rude.
-[And that reason has a predatory drive, wicked lightning bolts and flight faster than highway speed limits]. I do love me some occasional humor baked into a textbook, even if there's a horrifying implication behind it.
-My assumption as to why trainers aren't allowed to sell without finishing the island challenge, on top of limiting how many one can obtain is to keep the grubbin line from being illegally exproted/trafficked.

Rhyperior
-As a note, the version of this chapter on ffn has bbc code in it instead of having formatting, so that's something you might want to fix at some point.
-I like that there's a logical explanation (given the divergent evolution that's presented here) for the rhyperior to appear in Alola. I appreciate that you actually do that with your add-on chapters.
-Yeah, I would imagine importing rhyhorn would be pretty expensive. They feel like they would be an expensive pokemon to feed and care for.
-Vanilluxe contines to be an apex preadator. I look forward to the day where I read that entry.
-I guess relatively common fights where the loser leaves is one way to maintain a somewhat small herd size.
-Awww the lava monster gives the baby a cuddle. adorable.
-NGL I find it a little strange that they're not considered "social" but also recqurie either constant affection or others to socialize with. Is it a matter of human social interactions =/= rhyhorn social interactions?
-Euthanized for existing? Yikes. While I can understand the difficulties of finding a home for rhyperior, that seems a bit... extreme.
-Man, isn't it great when evolution has a detremental side efect like your own armor cutting up your body? 8)
-Yeah it's prooooobably almost definitely for the best Rhyfernals stay at their volcano. Leaving sounds like a death wish.
-looking forward to finding out what "abyscull" is (unless it's a one-off thing for this special chapter)
-I'm genuinely surprised that rhyhorn racing wasn't touched on in a more significant capacity, since it's stated to be a thing in xy. But I could also attribute that to a couple of reasons. Either because this is a bonus chapter based on a fic, or just because this is an informative care guide. But after the raichu entry touched on how pop culture has affected the view of the species, I expected it to be touched on a bit more than it is.

Sudowoodo
-Hm... the overview is short, sweet, and too the point. But I almost feel like it's... too short? At least in comparison to other overview sections. But IDK how you would expand it, so it's not really a big deal.
-Huh. I wouldn't have thought of sudowoodo as silicon based, but it works. (It also could arguably lead into a "sudo" joke if it's not already, so. Not a pokemon I would choose for that, but could be funny.)
-Crystal not-teeth is a fun way to explain a rock making noise tbh.
-Tendrils coming out of a sudowoodo sounds horrifying.
-[The few pokemon that do eat rocks tend to hunt the ones that won't run away from them.] Another wonderful humorous quote.
-I love the symbiotic thing you got going on with sudowoodo and trevenant. Looking forward to reading about what specifically caused the decline in trevenant.

Blissey
-Lmao I love the concept that Austrailian pokemon were just. Generally untamable until pokeballs came into common use.
-I never really thought of the blissey line as having fur but tbh the alternative is a pretty disturbing mental image.
-Oh my goodness, the concept of blissey being near-imortal is pretty funny to think about, but I can definitely agree with the notion of them being a long-lived species.
-With a body shape that makes it hard to eat, I can understand why a blissey would want to attach themselves to another group of pokemon. And I'm sure most pokemon would appreciate it and be willing to share/help. Mos things like living longer.
-Ah yes, the old case of "this drug that helps some people with their disability is used as a recreational drug by others so we have to be really certain that you need it and that you're the one using it." I know tha'ts not ALL stated, but that seems to be the implication with the criminalization with redistributing blissey eggs
-I was curious about how you were going to approach blissey reproduction and tbh I like the way you handled it, with it being an unusual, very different from what we think of as natural thing that only rarely happens.

Snorlax
-Yes, let's just introduce a speices of giant glutonous bears to the islands, nothing bad could come of it.
-1000 kilos... oh god I can only imagine the food bill there. It's a wonder anyone but the richest trainers can afford it.
-Yall sure are putting a lot of effort to contain, feed, and train something that could kill you with a flick of its wrist if it wanted to.
-Judith Black huh? That's probably some sort of reference, but I doubt it's a reference to the Judith Black I found on wikipedia.

Slowpoke
-IIRC, Turbann is that beta pokemon that actually looks like the "shelder" attached to slowbro/slowking, right. If so, nice callback.
-please, no more water/ice types. I'm begging you. (I know they're not that common in the grand scheme of things but they feel overused.)
-I feel like explaining their empathic nature before going into the fact that slowking are mostly vegitarian might make more logical sense, because the sentence made me pause and go "wait, so what physical transformation makes them an omnivore/herbavore instead of a carnivore like what's been suggested thusfar?
-[The turbann will then haul it out to see,] *sea

Pelipper
-You know, I know there's interesting stuff in this section. but I can't focus on any of it. All I can focus on is that freaking Africa by Toto joke.

Alakazam
-this is another entry that has stray bbc code
-alakazam can cause cancer is not something I expected to read.
-lmao I love the concept of abra being considered a pest.
-Of course the Greek alakazams have high int/wisdom

Persian
-I like the explanation for why Alolan Persians are the way they are. It makes logical sense to me.
-Banks. Banks of meowth. Adorable.
-If your meowth experiences the symptom of death, it may die. //j

I think I'm gonna have to cut this session off here. Been enjoying it as always. Hopefully I'll get another chunk reviewed sometime in the nearish future. Until then!

 

[Persephone]

Going to actually reply to this here.

It's been a while. So it's about time I do another round of thoughts for this, I think. Gonna knock out as many as I feel like doing, so here we go!

Malamar
-I find the concept of "a true malamar has never been seen" as very interesting. The size difference between captive and wild malamar is rather stunning.
- Huh. For some reason I never really thought of malamar as having blades, but considering the fact that they can use moves like night slash, it makes some sense.
-You know, it's not surprising that there are so many pokemon that are so hard to track. I'd imagine magical creatures with supernatural abilitys WOULD be a lot harder to track than real animals - not that real animals are always easy, of course.
-Ah humans. They want to get up close to the pretty animals and end up accidentally killing a bunch trying to. Typical.
-I like that you have their lights play into how they're able to hunt wishiwashi. It works for me.
>SeaWorld
-Also the event in 1971 is horrifying but also I can't help but wonder if it's based off some actual event.

I think the blades come from the 'dex? Can't really remember. Actual squids don't have them. The event in 1971 isn't based on anything in particular. Well, sort of. As a kid I'd heard that a walrus at my local zoo cracked the glass of the underwater viewing area and they had to reinforce it in repairs. I don't know if that's actually true, but the idea has stuck with me.

Zoroark
-The concept of a zoroark spearheading a witchunt for other zoroarks really piques my interest. For what purpose did he do this? Was he trying to blend in better? Was this some sort of revenge plot? A learned behavior? I don't know, but it's very very curious.
-I suppose they must hollow out the pearls to use as a bead, but IDK
- I want this super skilled zoroark to go on super sneaky spy adventures.
-I do like the idea of different zoroark subspecies having different ways of casting their illusions. I also like that you go into the practical uses of illusions.
-I like that you've incorperated the difference between a match between human trainers vs the npcs in the main game (namely the fact that you know the team of one but not the other) as an established worldbuilding factor.
-The whiplash I got from "Mormons have a breeding program for this one breed of zoroark and view them as a gift from God" cannot go unstated.
-As a last note for this entry, did you mean to refer to the forest zoroark as forest zorua? Because it happens a couple of times where I would think zoroark would be used.

I wasn't sure if it was clear, but the zoroark wasn't really killing others of its kind. Just normal humans it didn't like. Maybe he killed a few rivals so people still thought he was credible, idk. Pearls are hollowed out, yes. Spy zoroark is one of the many, many spinoffs of this fic I've considered. Zoroark got screwed by coming out in the same generation as team preview. Had it debuted just a generation earlier it would've been a menace.

Actual religions would definitely try to catch zoroark, especially the ones that emphasize modern miracles and the connection between their religious leader and the deity they worship. If you can't actually make a miracle happen on stage you can at least fake it.

Probably meant to say forest zoroark but I can't remember. I'll look when my brain isn't fried.

Furfrou
[Less charitably, they are perhaps the least intelligent]
-Damn, going for the throat right out the gate!
-Obviously this isn't about furfrou, but I like the note on fennekin and why the heck a fennec fox would be popular enough to use as a starter in a france-based region.
-Now correct me if I'm wrong but I think this entry was probably written before swsh came out. I'd be curious how bolthund fits into the picture of furfrou vs yamper. (then again, I'm pretty sure this has been edited since?)
-oof, the dreaded detrimental selective breeding. Poor furfrou 8(.
-Man, dogs sure are weird, aren't they? But yeah, randomly liking their owner's leg tracks imo.
-Reading the battle section, all I can think about is the time I got wasted in an early-game battle in xy against two furfrou. They can definitely be a threat in early game, imo, because they can hit comparitively hard and fur coat gives them some pretty decent defenses. But I do agree that they tend to fall off once you get to the midgame.
-Man, I sure do love me some hybrids, and I kinda wish they had been briefly touched upon in a bit more detail than "they happen and they're usually reproductively viable."

It was written before SwSh came out and hasn't been touched since. I'm not editing every chapter as I go along. Just a few I don't like much or that don't mesh well with later canon developments in this fic or my other one.

Furfrou kick ass in the main series. They do fall off a bit but they can easily carry a team while other pokemon that pick up later are nursed with the EXP share.

I don't deal with hybrids much because I honestly haven't settled on a way that interspecies hybridization works. Are they just slightly different than the mother like in canon? A more realistic hybrid? I have no idea and I would prefer you didn't ask lol.

Raichu
-NGL, I'm genuinely curious what the origin of the name Hodad is.
-I honestly love the fact that the pokemon anime, or some variation of it at least, exists within your fic universe.
-Can we all agree that people that don't think Raichu is at least as cute as Pikachu are wrong? Man, Raichu deserves more love.
-I like the explanation for raichu's tail. I personally would have probably gone for the idea of it being a roughly lightningbolt-shaped tuft of fur, but that's not really the most accurate depiction. And it doesn't really match up with hodad.
-Calling a pikachu/raichu colony a "battery" is absolutely adorable.
-Man, imagine taking care of a baby, except the baby can electrocute you. Scary.
>pikachu chargers
-I know it makes sense in context but it just sounds hilarious.
-Ah yes. good old "surgically alter my pet so that they stay cute and cuddly." I'm like 99% sure this is based on a real thing, but I cannot for the life of me remember what.
-I like the way you approach thunderstones here, and I'm curious about how you approach other stone evos (I can't remember if I've read any yet OTL)
-I love the concept of magnetically gluing pichu to raichu's back. It's an adorable mental image.
-you have an extra seek between "the male hodad will" and "glue them to his body"

I am also curious where the name came from and I don't have answers for you. I am glad that you also find raichu adorable, though. In a Gen 6 dex entry it would've been a tuft of fur, but here we are. Collective nouns aren't actually used by real ecologists but screw them in this fic we have fun.

The evolution surgery isn't a 1 to 1 analogue of anything, but it's a little similar to declawing a cat.

I'm about to deal with evo stones a lot once the current commission run ends and we get into the eevees. The cloyster entry touches on it if you want to jump ahead.

Vikavolt
-You can tell the author really likes vikavolt lol. And to be fair, it makes sense in the context of the BT universe. How can you win against an opponent that's too high up to hit.
-*slams hands on desk* Give! Grubbin! The ground typing!!! Really tho, I forget that it's not ground ntype half the time.
-I actually really like the explanation for the appearence of grubbin in Galar tbh.
-Oh my god, accordian sounds. I love it. It's fucking adorable and I'm laughing imagining it.
-I don't know what the basis is or if it's something you just thought up, but the concept of the interaction between vikavolt and chargabug is adorable and I love it. It's just plain intriguing tbh.
-Cmon man, don't call your murderbeast pet boring, it's rude.
-[And that reason has a predatory drive, wicked lightning bolts and flight faster than highway speed limits]. I do love me some occasional humor baked into a textbook, even if there's a horrifying implication behind it.
-My assumption as to why trainers aren't allowed to sell without finishing the island challenge, on top of limiting how many one can obtain is to keep the grubbin line from being illegally exproted/trafficked.

Vikavolt should have had either speed boost or a base 100+ speed stat. It got robbed. Such a cool design and it's not actually that good.

Honestly pokemon should be way more liberal with dual typings or changing typings on evolution. I've since started to add it in for pokemon that I think should have had it in the first place.

Accordian sounds are 1000% Rule of Funny and I regret nothing. This isn't actually a biology text lol. The "vikavolt use charjabugs as batteries" thing is actually 100% canon iirc.

The most recent chapter of BT deals with the grubbin restrictions in some depth.

Rhyperior
-As a note, the version of this chapter on ffn has bbc code in it instead of having formatting, so that's something you might want to fix at some point.
-I like that there's a logical explanation (given the divergent evolution that's presented here) for the rhyperior to appear in Alola. I appreciate that you actually do that with your add-on chapters.
-Yeah, I would imagine importing rhyhorn would be pretty expensive. They feel like they would be an expensive pokemon to feed and care for.
-Vanilluxe contines to be an apex preadator. I look forward to the day where I read that entry.
-I guess relatively common fights where the loser leaves is one way to maintain a somewhat small herd size.
-Awww the lava monster gives the baby a cuddle. adorable.
-NGL I find it a little strange that they're not considered "social" but also recqurie either constant affection or others to socialize with. Is it a matter of human social interactions =/= rhyhorn social interactions?
-Euthanized for existing? Yikes. While I can understand the difficulties of finding a home for rhyperior, that seems a bit... extreme.
-Man, isn't it great when evolution has a detremental side efect like your own armor cutting up your body? 8)
-Yeah it's prooooobably almost definitely for the best Rhyfernals stay at their volcano. Leaving sounds like a death wish.
-looking forward to finding out what "abyscull" is (unless it's a one-off thing for this special chapter)
-I'm genuinely surprised that rhyhorn racing wasn't touched on in a more significant capacity, since it's stated to be a thing in xy. But I could also attribute that to a couple of reasons. Either because this is a bonus chapter based on a fic, or just because this is an informative care guide. But after the raichu entry touched on how pop culture has affected the view of the species, I expected it to be touched on a bit more than it is.

One of the forums I post to used to only keep formatting if it was in BBC code. I didn't always remember to edit it out on FFN. Will fix soon. Rhyhorn is in Alola via Island Scan. In the future I'm going to treat island scan pokemon like they were always there, but this is some early installment weirdness I'm not actually inclined to change.

Vanilluxe will take... a while to pay off. Truth be told BT might be almost over by then. It's crammed near the back of the 'dex and I'm going in order. I will say that ultra instinct vanilluxe is a joke to girl-like-substance's prior 'dex fic, found here: https://www.pokecommunity.com/showthread.php?t=258755

Yeah. They should be written as at least somewhat social. Sometimes my thoughts on the pokemon take shape as I write the entry so there may seem to be inconsistencies between sections.

Euthanizing zoo animals that don't have available homes is more of a European practice. It's actually fairly common over there. Every once in a while American social media will pick up on it and go nuts.

Abyscull is a susbspecies of malamar iirc.

Ugh. I forgot racing was even a thing. Will add in something on it whenever I get around to editing the entry.

Sudowoodo
-Hm... the overview is short, sweet, and too the point. But I almost feel like it's... too short? At least in comparison to other overview sections. But IDK how you would expand it, so it's not really a big deal.
-Huh. I wouldn't have thought of sudowoodo as silicon based, but it works. (It also could arguably lead into a "sudo" joke if it's not already, so. Not a pokemon I would choose for that, but could be funny.)
-Crystal not-teeth is a fun way to explain a rock making noise tbh.
-Tendrils coming out of a sudowoodo sounds horrifying.
-[The few pokemon that do eat rocks tend to hunt the ones that won't run away from them.] Another wonderful humorous quote.
-I love the symbiotic thing you got going on with sudowoodo and trevenant. Looking forward to reading about what specifically caused the decline in trevenant.

Pretty sure the tendrils are canon. I agree that it's short (either the first or second shortest in the entire fic) but I also can't find anything to pad it with.

Blissey
-Lmao I love the concept that Austrailian pokemon were just. Generally untamable until pokeballs came into common use.
-I never really thought of the blissey line as having fur but tbh the alternative is a pretty disturbing mental image.
-Oh my goodness, the concept of blissey being near-imortal is pretty funny to think about, but I can definitely agree with the notion of them being a long-lived species.
-With a body shape that makes it hard to eat, I can understand why a blissey would want to attach themselves to another group of pokemon. And I'm sure most pokemon would appreciate it and be willing to share/help. Mos things like living longer.
-Ah yes, the old case of "this drug that helps some people with their disability is used as a recreational drug by others so we have to be really certain that you need it and that you're the one using it." I know tha'ts not ALL stated, but that seems to be the implication with the criminalization with redistributing blissey eggs
-I was curious about how you were going to approach blissey reproduction and tbh I like the way you handled it, with it being an unusual, very different from what we think of as natural thing that only rarely happens.

Honestly blissey eggs seem way less dangerous than any IRL antidepressant with fairly minimal drawbacks for abuse as far as recreational drugs go. The pharma companies would definitely not like to compete with them on the open market. I imagine that's why they were banned more than the war on drugs, although that would've been the cover story.

Snorlax
-Yes, let's just introduce a speices of giant glutonous bears to the islands, nothing bad could come of it.
-1000 kilos... oh god I can only imagine the food bill there. It's a wonder anyone but the richest trainers can afford it.
-Yall sure are putting a lot of effort to contain, feed, and train something that could kill you with a flick of its wrist if it wanted to.
-Judith Black huh? That's probably some sort of reference, but I doubt it's a reference to the Judith Black I found on wikipedia.

Only the richest trainers can afford it. Part of borrowing as heavily as I do from IRL zoo guides is that sometimes the care reqs can get a bit... much. I often forget that pokemon are supposed to be relatively intelligent and team + pokeballs exist for containment.

I should probably check Wikipedia when making up new trainers for the Alola Dex. No, assume the names here have no relation to the real life person unless it's obviously supposed to (Hawaiian monarchs, Charles Darwin, Steve Irwin, etc.).

Slowpoke
-IIRC, Turbann is that beta pokemon that actually looks like the "shelder" attached to slowbro/slowking, right. If so, nice callback.
-please, no more water/ice types. I'm begging you. (I know they're not that common in the grand scheme of things but they feel overused.)
-I feel like explaining their empathic nature before going into the fact that slowking are mostly vegitarian might make more logical sense, because the sentence made me pause and go "wait, so what physical transformation makes them an omnivore/herbavore instead of a carnivore like what's been suggested thusfar?
-[The turbann will then haul it out to see,] *sea

Yeah, Turbann is a beta 'mon. At the time I thought I would do entries on every beta 'mon in an evolutionary line as if they were canon. I think there's still a remnant of that in the muk entry. I've since abandoned that idea.

I just want a beluga whale water/ice type and then we can stop. Until then the freezing water will continue.

Pelipper
-You know, I know there's interesting stuff in this section. but I can't focus on any of it. All I can focus on is that freaking Africa by Toto joke.

HURRY BOY IT'S WAITING THERE FOR YOU

Alakazam
-this is another entry that has stray bbc code
-alakazam can cause cancer is not something I expected to read.
-lmao I love the concept of abra being considered a pest.
-Of course the Greek alakazams have high int/wisdom

Will fix the code. Cancer isn't canon, but alakazam giving nearby humans debilitating headaches is. I imagine that constant exposure to a migraine-inducing pokemon has long term consequences.

And abra is the worst pest since it never stays in the damn ball.

Persian
-I like the explanation for why Alolan Persians are the way they are. It makes logical sense to me.
-Banks. Banks of meowth. Adorable.
-If your meowth experiences the symptom of death, it may die. //j

Inspired by drug commercials. Side effects include: death.

I think I'm gonna have to cut this session off here. Been enjoying it as always. Hopefully I'll get another chunk reviewed sometime in the nearish future. Until then!

Thank you for reading as much as you did! Feel free to skip around as well. The order isn't hugely important for the most part, especially after the early entries. Some of those establish basic concepts as to how typings work that all later entries just sort of go off of.

 

[kintsugi]

came for the breloominati, missed, and then got distracted by flying scorpions. all in all, a good time.

Salamence

This one is fun and you do a great job of portraying how fucking terrifying dragons can and should be. Loved the dynamic switch between apex predators into mostly-extinct once humans gained the upper hand; am admittedly biased. I found myself a little surprised that fairies are just explicitly used as hard counters to dragons; in a setting where everything is more or less explained with FACTS AND LOGIC I found myself waiting for an explanation of this angle of the type chart that didn't quite come. Granted, I'm fairly certain this was probably just covered in a different dex entry for a different dragon- or fairy-type and it's on me for reading around.

No pokémon is truly safe.

I think this would read more clearly as "No pokemon is truly safe to be around" or something; I kept thinking this was still referring to extermination/wild pokemon being endangered at all times, rather than the idea that pokemon are inherently dangerous.

These can be used for gliding or flight. While salamence are incapable of getting into or staying in the air by wingbeats alone air currents can be run by the wings in such a way that they can maintain flight. This is more akin to a plane than to most birds Salamence wings have been actually used by engineers to improve aircraft design in the past. The wings size also helps the pokémon warm up.

against all known laws of aviation--

Because of their weak senses bagon are prone to charging at anything they see and then figuring out if it was food once it is dead.

I liked this interpretation of why they headbutt everything. Poor senses makes perfect sense, and it's a fun pairing with the deino line--baby dragons are really just not having it developmentally.

Bagon love swimming and should frequently be brought to pools, ponds, or the ocean. They are also surprisingly affectionate and appreciate sleeping near trusted pokémon or humans. Some bagon have been known to hoard a favorite type of object. This can range from stuffed animals to geodes. Several hours a day can be spent guarding and inspecting their hoard. Only very trusted trainers will be allowed to get near it without losing a limb.

This chapter is full of oddly adorable images (Shelgon patiently staring at walls comes to mind) but this was the most adorable.

Otherwise, they are very low maintenance.

Salamence are not at all low maintenance.

lol

When the new salamence is fully formed it will detach its nervous system from the shellgon’s frame.

typo on shelgon here

Western salamence are durable physical tanks that can sponge up damage and claw their way through the opposition. Eastern salamence (henceforth ‘salamence’ in this section) are less physically powerful but no less dangerous when played well.

I think some of the ordering in the sections got messed up here--the "henceforth salamence" bit comes well after salamence is being described, and I found myself wanting to know the difference between western/eastern salamence well before this (but presumably most of the entry is about eastern salamence except for the final descriptions).

bluwing noivern

maybe a typo? species names are hard

Any trainer using a salamence on the island challenge does not need battling advice from this guidebook.

lol. I kind of wish this was just the entire section on Battling tbh.

An impromptu mating ritual occurred on the battlefield in the Lumiose Invitational in 1998. A male and female salamence were sent out at the start of the match. They proceeded to ignore all orders and wrestle each other on stage. The female was able to repel the male. Her prospective mate did not take this well and proceeded to hit her with a point-blank draco meteor. Both survived the ensuing fight and eventually recovered.

Lovingly laconic.

---

Breloominati

What a good fungal friend. I like the mycelium network details and general depictions of breloom just cheerfully wandering around and diligently eating literal shit. It's definitely one of those entries that makes me feel like this is a species someone could technically care for, but there's a shitton of very weird and species-specific things that are super alien to humans, and it's all been lovingly documented. This one in particular feels like a guidebook for an exotic pet or something, and it's a lot of fun. The differentiation between shroomish's red/blue/green spores is a clever way to flavor effect spore, and I like the detailing on the hopping for breloom.

Shroomish developed an adult stage that can hop around to spread spores and punch out anything that tries to eat the mushrooms. Even by fungal standards, breloom is strange.

lol.

Shroomish are classified as dual grass- and poison-types. Breloom are equally capable of capitalizing on status effects but have fighting as their secondary type due to their propensity for combat and physical power.

sometimes this dex has different type classifications than the canon dex but usually it's called out as a dispute in the field--was the shift to making shroomish poison/grass instead of pure grass intentional?

The arms must then be withdrawn, coiled, and compressed again before another punch can be fired. The full process can take nearly a minute to complete.

This is a shockingly hilarious mental imag.e

There are still a few safety measures that must be taken around them. While breloom are much better at controlling scale release than shroomish, trainers with respiratory problems should wear eye, nose, and mouth protection when cuddling breloom.

I love how the verb here is "cuddling". Incredibly tender.

Killing a pokémon due to misjudging the strength of the toxin applied and being unable or unwilling to provide an antidote after surrender will result in an excessive force ticket.

oh noooooooooooooooooo a red card what will we doooooooooooo

---

Gliscor

In particular I liked all of the subspecies you did for this one. Wasn't sure if this is because gligar/gliscor are commonly found in a ton of different areas in the game or if you really wanted to flex your reading on flying scorpions, but it was a ton of fun and the Relatives section in particular was a real blast to go through. I also really liked the image of gligar pulling out hairdryer cords & net balls on a stick, as well as the suspiciosly specific number of gligar molting nine times in their lives.

The mouth contains two extended fangs used for latching onto prey. These can regrow in a matter of days if need be.

Is this a common thing? I'm normally used to teeth that either grow extremely slowly/not at all or that grow extremely quickly/uncontrollably, not ones that just regrow quickly on demand. Obligatory not a biologist.

Even if they cannot digest it entirely they usually have some resistance to the effects This lets them prey on species that usually rely solely on venom or poison for defense.

dropped a period here

People should not walk along the floor of Vast Poni Canyon at night. Hiking during the day while the gligar are asleep is no more dangerous than walking through the canyon has ever been.

I'm not sure what this sentence is saying.

One researcher estimated that one out of every ten hunts for a newly-independent gligar ends in the pokémon’s death.

This is such a dismal statistic and I love it. I do think "the pokemon" is difficult phrasing since it could apply to either the gligar or the prey, with both answers being diametrically opposed to one another.

Trainers should still be ready to pay excessive force fines when battling with a gligar.

oh noooooo more red cards

 

[Persephone]

This entry is brought to you by Raid Shadow Legends sneakyhint on spacebattles.

Torterra (Turtwig, Grotle)
Prathama yaatree poorvka

Overview

Contrary to popular belief, most of the major ancient civilizations knew that the earth was not flat. This did not mean they knew it was a ball of rock spinning around a ball of plasma. To the ancient Indians (and most of their trade partners) the world we knew was simply the back of an enormous torterra shell. Earthquakes occurred when it took a step. The tallest mountains were actually the bases of giant trees stretching to the heavens.

Torterra were never common in India itself. Even the ones that currently live there may have been imported by traders. Scholars believe that torterra were originally native to Indonesia and portions of mainland Southeast Asia. They would then spread out across most of the major islands of the Pacific. Some drifted there: grotle float, can raise their head high enough to keep it above water, and can go up to two years without food or water. They may have meant to travel to the island next to them but were instead carried off to more distant shores. But most were brought to their new homes by humans.

Torterra can live a long time without food. Their bodies retain water for longer than almost any other species. And explorers have long maintained that they tasted better than any other option they could keep with them on their ships. Sailors from the wayfarers to pirates to the United States Navy have brought torterra with them wherever they went.

The torterra, in return, tended to remain oblivious to their potential deaths as long as they were given scratches and the occasional drink of water.

These days most torterra populations are endangered. The island species were threatened first by overhunting as marine travel became more and more common, and then by other introduced species they had not been used to competing with. In Alola there may have been multiple decades where no turtwig hatchlings lived to evolution without being eaten by rattata or yungoos. The prohibition on eating or capturing torterra and a strong captive breeding program have helped the population rebound over time. The eggs of wild torterra are usually dug up by naturalists so they may hatch in captivity and be released back to the wild once they evolve and can better defend themselves.

Recently the population has rebounded enough that wild capture quotas have been reestablished. Trainers with enough money can purchase a captive bred specimen instead of playing the quota lottery. Those that do obtain a member of the line will find a loyal and powerful companion with a surprising amount of personality.

Physiology

All three stages are classified as dual grass- and ground-types. There is some dispute over the designation for turtwig and grotle. The two juvenile stages do not have anywhere near the terrakinetic power of their adult form. However, they still use their abilities to sense vibrations through the ground and dig burrows more easily than they otherwise could. These traits combined with a preference for keeping the same typing throughout an evolutionary line have led to the current designation.

Turtwig are small turtle-like pokémon. They have a saddle-backed shell that is relatively flat. Turtwig’s skin is black but their back, neck, and upper head appear to be green. This is because of the lichens growing on them. The lichens provide turtwig with some of the sugars they generate. They can also be used as fuel for powering up grass elemental attacks. Turtwig’s heads are relatively large to accommodate their powerful jaws. Their neck is also quite long to let them reach up to tree branches. Most of their neck is usually kept inside the shell so it can be difficult to see just how long it is. Almost all of the head can still be withdrawn into the shell. The exception is a turtwig’s stem, a woody growth extending from the top of their head that ends in a leaf. The stem helps direct the pokémon’s elemental attacks. It can be regrown if eaten or otherwise damaged.

Turtwig, like their evolutions, are almost entirely deaf. To compensate for their lack of hearing they have an uncanny ability to sense vibrations through the ground. Turtwig can quickly learn the pattern of their trainer’s footsteps and track them from up to five miles away. Their senses of sight and smell are good but not exceptional. The collection of their sensory abilities make them away of larger land-based predators well before they can close the distance but almost entirely oblivious to large birds. Smaller land-based predators can also sometimes slip under their radar until they are too close to run away from.

Grotle’s shell expands further so that the tail is fully covered from above, although the tail can still move from side to side. The shell can also protect the pokémon’s head if they are grazing from the ground. This gives them increased protection from aerial attack while still allowing them to breathe while floating in the water. The back of grotle’s shell is usually coated in a thin layer of soil that helps support larger plants. Most grotle have at least one small bush or tree growing out of their back. The plant receives water and nutrients from the pokémon’s bloodstream. In turn it provides its host with sugars to reduce its need for food.

Grotle are well built for marine travel. Their necks are long enough to extend the head out of the shell and above the water’s surface. They can go without water for months on end, although the plants on their back will begin to wilt after a few weeks without a drink. They will be replaced by a layer of lichens that need less water to survive. Grotle can also use their back legs and tail to swim through the water, although they will only do this when land is in sight. In the open ocean they will stay motionless and use as little energy as possible. Finally, torterra are strangely resistant to the negative effects of inbreeding. Genetic disorders are rare in the species, even in fairly small and isolated populations. This helps them populate islands with relatively few founders. All that is needed are either a single male and female torterra or a pregnant female.

Torterra are much larger and more heavily armored than grotle. Bony spikes extend from either side of their head while prominent spikes rise up from their back. A ridge encircles the back, but this is less for defense and more for reducing runoff of nutrients. Lichens cover almost the entirely of torterra’s back. The remainder hosts at least one small tree. As with grotle’s bushes, the tree’s roots extend into the pokémon’s circulatory system to allow for an exchange of nutrients. The remainder of torterra’s body is black.

Many trainers think that torterra grow a more rounded shell rather than the saddlebacked shell of their youth. This is not the case. Instead, layers of hardened soil form a mound on top of the existing shell. This makes them look bigger than they are and helps support the plant growth on their back.

Torterra can grow to be seven feet long including the tail and weigh up to 1000 pounds. Their wild lifespan is estimated to be around 200 years. The oldest recorded captive specimen lived to be 190.

Behavior

Torterra live in groves consisting of up to forty torterra and their offspring. On islands with less available food the groves are much smaller and torterra are very territorial. Alola’s abundance of rain and plant life means that the tortoises don’t mind the presence of conspecifics.

They prefer to live at the edges of forests. Turtwig and grotle dig burrows in the forest to sleep in at night. Torterra just make a pit they can lower themselves into. during the day the grove heads out to nearby meadows to graze and photosynthesize.

The line are generalists and can eat many different kinds of plant life. This helps ensure that they can support themselves whatever island they end up on. Cactus pads seem to be their favorite food but they can extend their neck down to eat grass, lichens, and woody brush or up to eat fruits and leaves. They will also scavenge from any carcasses they find, including those of conspecifics.

Water is needed to fuel their metabolism but is not needed on a daily basis. The pokémon can simply become less active until an opportunity to drink presents itself. In drier areas torterra often lick the dew off of rocks. Over time this can create peculiar rounded indents in the area’s boulders.

Water is also good for creating mud. On warmer days torterra love to wallow in mud to cool off. Grotle and torterra are careful to keep their foliage above the mud’s surface. When mud is unavailable they can clean themselves off and replenish the dirt on their back with dust baths.

In addition to providing the torterra itself with food, their trees also provide a home for small birds. In exchange for protection the birds will help their host by removing parasites from difficult-to-reach gaps in their armor. Some of these are beneath the shell. Torterra have been known to abruptly pull their legs in and crush the bird to death under their weight when they want protein. There are few other options for scavengers as slow as they are on an island with an abundance of predators.

Turtwig tend to stay near their parents for protection and learning opportunities. While few predators are willing to attack a torterra, many will target turtwig hatchlings and even larger specimens. Rattata are desperate enough to risk retaliation from torterra and are known to dig into the turtwig’s burrows to kill them in their sleep. Large birds can also pick them up, carry them to coastal cliffs, and drop them on the rocks until the shell breaks. Turtwig’s senses also make them oblivious to braviary until it is far too late to get to shelter. This is another role that torterra’s birds play: they can use their keen eyes to alert the grove of circling braviary in advance. Turtwig’s low speed means that they are still often unable to shelter in time.

Torterra can communicate with members of their own grove and others by creating low-frequency vibrations in the earth. The waves can reach torterra on the other side of Ula’Ula. The species makes very few vocalizations that humans can hear. On occasion they will make a bellow that is felt more than heard. Higher-pitched sounds wouldn’t be heard by conspecifics, anyway.

Husbandry

Torterra are low maintenance for their size and power. Some regions even given them out as starters despite the awkward logistics: a turtwig is not ready to evolve until it is several decades old, requiring the area to keep a large-scale breeding program for over twenty years before it is viable to give them out to new trainers as starters. Alternatively, some trainers are given the option to take a turtwig when they are much younger than the standard journeying age in the hopes that it will be ready to evolve into a grotle shortly after their proper journey begins.

All three stages can be fed standard greens mixes. Spinach, bok choy, and dandelion greens are recommended as a base for trainers wanting to make their own mix. Cactus pads and berries (especially those with a hard exterior) are excellent treats but should not make up a substantial portion of their diet. Water can be provided in bowls. They should be given the opportunity to drink in the morning and evening at minimum.

Grotle and torterra also need to spend several hours a day photosynthesizing. They need not do this every day, but it should occur more often than not. During this time they might also take the opportunity to graze. Unless specifically disallowed by local regulations they can be allowed to do this.

All three stages have a relatively high tolerance for pokéballs. Turtwig prefer stasis balls over habitat ones. Grotle have no strong preference. Torterra have a slight preference for habitat balls, although it varies by individuals.

Many trainers are surprised by how much personality their newly acquired tortoise has. The exact details of care beyond food and water can vary depending on individual preferences.

Housebreaking is usually impossible. The species is intelligent enough to learn the concept but are not built for holding in waste for long once processed. Their low speed and low storage times can make it difficult to reach the designated point in time. Growing frustration with the seemingly impossible task can eventually drive them to give up altogether.

Wild turtwig and grotle make burrows to sleep in. Grotle can make their own burrows outside. Turtwig should not be allowed to do so due to the risk of predation. Instead, they often enjoy boxes with a layer of dirt-based substrate on the bottom and blankets to curl up in. Some are willing to cuddle with their trainer at night for the heat and feeling of protection. Grotle who grow up doing this may be willing to continue.

It would take an extremely durable bed to support a torterra. In any case, they do not regularly make burrows in the wild. A sandbox or other area of loose soil is an adequate sleeping area for them. The line will rarely defecate or urinate inside their burrow or pit.

All stages are surprisingly curious and active. They should be allowed to explore new environments at their own pace. New toys should be introduced every so often to keep them from getting bored, especially if they live in one enclosure most of the time.

Finally, most captive torterra do not have birds in their tree. Their trainer will need to take up some of the roles they fill, including grooming. All stages love having their neck scratched. Joints and other unarmored areas are also good scratching spots. There are no reports of torterra intentionally collapsing on their trainer to kill them during a grooming session, but out of an abundance of caution it is not recommended to place one’s entire body beneath a torterra. Reaching out an arm or grooming stick is encouraged instead.

The line should be brought inside or brought within their pokéballs if the temperature dips below seventy degrees for more than three hours. If the temperature rises above ninety they should be withdrawn, brought inside, offered a shade structure, or given a pool or mud pit to wallow in.

Illness

Grotle and torterra are very hardy. Only poison, serious injury, extreme temperatures, or several months of neglect can kill them. Even rough compliance with the guidelines above will keep them healthy. Calcium supplements and the occasional anti-parasite pill are all that is needed for preventative medicine.

Trainers that do not battle with their pokémon will also occasionally need to trim their beak to keep its growth in check. The first few beak trims should be done under the guidance of a veterinarian. Pokémon that have grown used to the process will rarely put up much of a fuss as, when done correctly, it does not hurt them. Nail trimming can be done on an annual basis.

Turtwig are far more vulnerable to dehydration and starvation than their evolutions. Health problems will usually result in their leaf beginning to wilt. A few days of high-quality care will usually reverse the problem and bring their leaf back to full health. Consult a veterinarian if the situation does not improve.

Evolution

Wild turtwig evolve into grotle around their fortieth birthday. The process is gradual and can take up to six months to complete. The formal demarcation line between the stages is the extension of the shell such that the pokémon can graze without exposing its head. Evolutions in captivity tend to occur earlier and faster due to increased exposure to battle. Still, the youngest turtwig to ever evolve was twenty-four. The process still takes roughly three months to complete.

Grotle evolve in the wild after journeying to a new portion of the island or to another island entirely. Once they have established themselves in their new home they begin to evolve. The process usually takes four months in the wild and captivity, although they will continue to grow in size for decades after evolving. The formal demarcation line is the emergence of head spikes.

This evolution requirement is very easy to satisfy in captivity. A move to a new home or an island challenge will both be enough to trigger evolution. Newly evolved grotle often immediately begin evolving into torterra in captivity.

Battle

While torterra are not particularly popular on the international stage they are still used on occasion, usually by newer trainers who received a turtwig as a starter. They can keep up with most opponents, but the limits of their armor are sorely tested against the aces of most ranked trainers. Their low speed makes dodging practically impossible, so if their armor cannot withstand their opponent’s blows they will go down very quickly.

Torterra are tanks. They are not particularly fast but their armor is durable and they hit surprisingly hard with bites, seismic attacks, and grass elemental energy. They can also use rock-based attacks to help ward off flying opponents, although they will never be good at dealing with fliers they can barely sense. Their difficulty hearing commands has led some trainers to communicate via baritones or other instruments with a low pitch. This can help tell torterra where a flying opponent is located.

Torterra’s utility movepool is shallow but functional. Stealth rock can be used to set entry hazards, synthesis can extend their time in battle, and protect can let them take single hits they otherwise would not enjoy taking. Some trainers have attempted to abuse rock polish to make torterra faster, but this can only take them from very slow to moderately slow.

Most of their direct damage is dealt with seismic attacks. Bulldoze can slow and trap opponents while earthquake has more raw power. Opponents that get close can be hit with a nasty bite-based attack or wood hammer. Fliers that attack at range can be hit by stone edge, although torterra have some difficulty aiming the attack.

Torterra are unusually vulnerable to fire- and ice-based attacks due to their foliage. If they believe that their tree is under threat they will usually bow out or try to retreat. Their combat drive is generally low as they are herbivores that rely on their size and armor to deter predation attempts. Training is somewhat unnatural to them and they can be reluctant battlers.

Turtwig rely more on grass attacks such as razor leaf to deal damage at range while their powerful jaws can finish off opponents who get close. Torterra can rely on their tail and seismic attacks to deter opponents who get behind them, but turtwig have no such options. They are very vulnerable to opponents who slip past them or manage to knock them over.

Grotle are a strange mix of the two. Their armor is not developed enough to shrug off weaker attacks like torterra can. They have begun to grow far stronger than turtwig, however, and can physically overpower many opponents with their muscles. They can be used as tanks, but are better off as primarily ranged attackers that can pack a punch to anything that slips past their razor leaf attacks.

Acquisition

Torterra prefer to live at the edges of forests. This limits the amount of suitable habitats for them. Populations still hang on within Poni Island and Mauna Wela National Parks. More live on routes with lesser protections. Due to the population’s precarious status capture of turtwig and torterra has been banned. There are relatively few annual captures of grotle allowed as well, most taken from stable populations in semi-protected areas such as the meadows of Ihā Palace National Monument or the portions of Route 8 bordering Alolan Rainforests National Preserve or Mauna Wela National Park.

Grotle are generally willing to go with a trainer without a proving battle. They know that journeys are an excellent way to move somewhere else and evolve and are eager to do so.

Alternatively, turtwig can be purchased from specialty reptile breeders or adopted from some state-run breeding centers. As the wild population stabilizes the Alolan government is allowing some trainers to take turtwig as an alternative starter every year. Some trainers also die without a plan for the future care of their pokémon. Shelters will occasionally end up with a pokémon this way, usually a grotle or torterra, and adopt it out to any trainer with the proper licensing and the ability to pay a modest adoption fee.

Turtwig and grotle require a Class I license and Torterra a Class II to acquire.

Breeding

Torterra rarely mate for life. Instead mating happens sporadically throughout the year. Males will lower themselves in front of a female to offer themselves as a mate. The female may either ignore him or show interest.

Male torterra cannot properly mount females given the tree and spines on their back. Instead, they must stand on their hind legs for the duration of the mating act. The task is made somewhat easier by their powerful back leg muscles and very long genitalia, but it is still sometimes too exhausting for a weaker or larger male to complete. If the female is uncooperative, either from lack of initial consent or growing bored or distracted midway through, it is impossible.

Females have a gestation period of twenty days. During this time they will migrate to the nearest beach and dig a burrow behind them using their hind legs and terrakinesis. They will then lay a clutch of twenty to thirty eggs and bury them in sand. The top of the burrow is then sealed with a mix of soil and urine to make breaking through more difficult.

The turtwig will hatch three months later. The entire clutch is usually all male or all female depending on the temperature of the burrow. Climbing out can take weeks due to their small size and very weak terrakinesis, although the egg yoke will sustain them in this time. Sometimes flooding will drown all the hatchlings before they can escape or make the sand too compact to dig through, trapping the hatchlings in the burrow. After the hatchlings escape they will slowly make their way to the nearest torterra grove.

Sometimes a particularly diligent mother will come by to ensure her babies escape and offer them a ride on her back. Most will not bother. Torterra have little loyalty to their children. They will tolerate the turtwig’s presence and offer them shelter but almost nothing else. This lack of care is a large part of why mortality rates have been so high in recent decades. The initial trip from the beach to the grove has very high mortality rates after the introduction of many smaller predators.

Captive breeding requires introducing two torterra that are at least somewhat familiar with each other. If the female is receptive the two will mate. She will then seek to bury her eggs in sand after the gestation period. Conscientious trainers may want to use the pokémon’s urine to recreate the plug after digging up the eggs to place them in incubation, but most torterra will not care about losing their clutch after the eggs have been laid.

Higher incubation temperatures produce more females. Lower incubation temperatures produce more males. Because males can mate with multiple partners, conservation agencies usually go for more females. If there is only space for a limited number of torterra it is best to have the minimum number of males to preserve genetic diversity and a large number of females to create more turtwig.

Torterra do not care if their offspring are given to other trainers or organizations after hatching. They may even receive better care from a human breeder than they would from their birth mother.

Relatives

Grotle travel between islands with enough frequency that there is only one species in Alola spread out over multiple islands. Other archipelagos have their own species or subspecies that are usually similar to the Alolan torterra, just smaller. This reduces the amount of food they have to consume on smaller islands and allows for more individuals to live there. Torterra subspecies can be found across the Pacific. None are different enough from the Alolan torterra to warrant further discussion.

The three other species of torterra are the Malayan or Indian, the Sri Lankan, and the Indonesian torterra.

The Indonesian torterra is native to most of the Indonesian archipelago and the extreme northern extent of the Australian rainforests. Vagrants have recently established a fledgling population in the Philippines. The dense rainforest of Indonesia presents fewer opportunities for basking in natural meadows for light. This is why torterra’s powerful jaws initially developed. They will take bites out of a tall tree until it is structurally unsound. The torterra can then ram the tree until it falls down, creating more light. The resulting growth of smaller plants is more favorable to the herbivorous torterra. Groves will maintain large artificial meadows in the middle of the rainforest. Oddly enough they are one of the few species in the area that deforestation has benefitted due to the expanded range it creates.

The Malayan, Indian, or mangrove torterra (henceforth Malayan) is native to portions of mainland Southeast Asia stretching north to mainland China and west to the Sundarbans. The species do not have trees. Long grasses grow up from their backs instead, providing camouflage and the ability to photosynthesize in or out of the water. This is a useful adaptation as all stages spend far more time in the water than on land. They have weaker terrakinesis than their island counterparts but have developed limited hydrokinesis in its place. Their head is also flat and leaf-shaped for camouflage under the surface. This leaves them unable to fully withdraw it into their shell as grotle and torterra, however.

These torterra use their jaws not for cutting down trees but for killing prey in a single bite. They wait patiently on the bottom of the water, only rarely coming up for air. The grass or moss on their back makes them blend in well with the foliage around them. Their tongue is tipped in two strange growths, one pink and one green. This attracts fish interested in grazing on grasses and worms. When one gets into its jaw the pokémon will snap down and eat it. This is the preferred hunting strategy of turtwig and grotle. Torterra hunt more like crocodilians, lying in wait at the water’s edge and lunging out of the water to snap up anything that large that comes for a drink. Their hind legs allow them to make one fast lunge, but anything that escapes will not be caught. These torterra are actually slower on land than their Alolan counterparts. On balance, living almost exclusively in the water has allowed them to develop even heavier armor. While ambush predators are generally unpopular in competitive play, the Malayan torterra has been used by four ranked trainers in the last fifty years.

The Sri Lankan torterra are by far the largest species. Hatchlings are almost a foot long. Adult torterra can weigh up to four tons. They are more fond of the water than the Pacific and Indonesian torterra, but not quite as fond as the Malayan. They often swim through or walk along the bottom shallow streams. They do not hunt other animals or pokémon. They graze upon the grasses at the edge and bottom of the stream. Their sheer size keeps almost any aquatic creatures from bothering them. Land based predators usually hesitate to attack because they could not drag the torterra out of the water after killing it. Like the Malayan torterra the Sri Lankan species has substituted its ground typing for water.

 

[Persephone]

Another Crashmoth commission.

Downloading from The Alola Pokédex Online Appendix . . .​

Toxicroak (Croagunk)
Letelrana ramasaltadore

Overview

Toxicroak are known in equal parts for their lethality and healing. The lethality is undeniably true: less than one tenth of a gram of toxicroak’ most potent venom could kill the average adult man. While they seldom attack humans unprovoked, there are reports of one killing a naturalist who surprised him with short-range flash photography.

Healing is a little more complicated. Healing Touch Inc. was a startup company that promised a painkiller derived from toxicroak venom. The product they created was over one hundred times stronger than morphine and non-addictive to boot. The company attracted a great deal of venture capital and eventually gained FDA approval for their painkiller. Toxicroak storage facilities were opened near major markets in the United States, Japan and Europe and a breeding center was created in tropical Alola.

There were questions about the drug from the start: the painkiller dose and the lethal dose are very close in humans, and it was believed that even an experienced anesthesiologist could struggle to get the dosage right. The miracle cure Healing Touch promised would not revolutionize the industry. Physicians and hospitals were often reluctant to prescribe it due to gastrointestinal side effects and the narrow margin of error. It still has its uses, especially for those with chronic pain who can build up a tolerance over time and increase the margin of error. It is also more effective on pokémon as they are more durable overall and often larger than humans. Ivana Chirlov, one of the world’s most famous dragon tamers, swears by it as a means to sedate injured dragons and prevent rampages. Healing Touch also experimented with toxicroak venom as an epilepsy medication or hunger suppressant.

In the end the niche uses were not enough to save Healing Touch from bankruptcy when the capital flow dried up. After a lengthy bankruptcy process the company closed its breeding facility on Melemele. there was a dispute between pokémon rights activists and Healing Touch over what to do with the toxicroak, with the company refusing to pay to transport them off of Alola and the activists furious over leaked plans to euthanize the amphibians. Shortly after the government stepped in to prohibit mass euthanasia an ‘accident’ occurred in the breeding facility that resulted in the escape of nearly all the pokémon held there.

While captures are ordinarily prohibited in Central Melemele, the DNR has made an exception for the capture of croagunk and toxicroak. Trainers interested in a vibrant, deadly, but surprisingly clever and affectionate team member should go frog hunting while they have the chance.

Physiology

Croagunk and toxicroak are classified as dual poison- and fighting-types.

Both stages have a variety of color morphs. Typically they have a base color and a ‘pattern’ one over the cheeks and along the upper back. Black and white lines wrap around the midsection. Purple is the most common base with yellow as the pattern color, but blue, gold, and black base colors have been observed. Color morphs vary even more widely from red, blue, and green to pink, orange, and turquoise. The most consistent coloration is found on the eyes and middle claw, which are both always red.

Croagunk are capable of standing bipedally but are usually found on all fours. Each toe but the middle claw is tipped with a cling pad that lets them stick to trees and broad leaves. Their tongue is fairly long and can snag small bugs out of midair. The hind legs are longer and much stronger than the forelegs. This lets them jump between trees, ambush prey, and close distances in battle. Their forearms are still fairly strong and can deliver solid punches, even without factoring in their venom.

The species stores the majority of its venom in a small pouch located within the neck for croagunk and under the throat in toxicroak. They can naturally produce this venom. It acts as a moderately powerful paralytic. It can be delivered by spitting or by an injection from their middle claws. This venom is used for warning opponents, territorial disputes, and stunning mid-size prey until they can be finished off with a bite or punch. Their cheeks contain a much deadlier substance. This venom is derived from a species of durant they feed upon deep in the Amazonian rainforests. The frogs accumulate and alter the bugs’ poison into something much more formidable. Their lethal venom can kill even the largest of their prey with a scratch. Upon death valves release and flood their entire body with the venom, making it impossible for anything organic to eat them. The flesh of a living specimen is not toxic as long as the mouth, venom patches, claws, and the vessels connecting the venom pouches and claws are avoided. There are anecdotal reports that the hind legs of toxicroak were a delicacy among the Amazonians and warriors who found a way to cut them off a living toxicroak and survive were heralded as heroes.

Toxicroak are somewhat larger than croagunk. They have even larger limbs and cling pads than their preevolution. Their prominent throat poach allows them to mix and store more venom than croagunk. Their muscles are also more developed to allow for more powerful jumps and punches. Development of the hind legs lets them stand upright more easily. This is the default stance they use to intimidate opponents.

Captive specimens rarely grow to be as large as wild ones. The reason for this was poorly understood until quite recently, when a study from Healing Touch concluded that filtering water and then adding in a blend of minerals helped reduce health problems and let the pokémon grow to larger sizes.

Toxicroak can grow to be four feet tall when standing upright. They can weigh up to ninety-five pounds. Wild specimens can live for up to thirty years. Because they do not have to worry much about predation in the wild their captive lifespan is actually shorter due to the difficulties inherent in the captive care of a species whose wild behavior is still largely undocumented.

Behavior

Croagunk are primarily arboreal. They live in rainforest canopies where branches are thick enough to support their weight. Croagunk can use their extended claw to tap on tree trunks to see if they are partially hollow. This lets them sense insects burrowed within. They can then use their claw and strength to pierce a hole to the insects. Their tongue can then fold up and fit within the hole to eat the bugs within. Alternatively, they can use their jumps and venom to hunt bug pokémon they come across. Some croagunk have even learned to create crude traps for their prey.

At night croagunk congregate on large branches. There can be up to twenty frogs in the army. On cooler nights they will move down closer to the ground to find thicker branches. This allows them to pile on top of each other to share warmth. Armies usually consist of the offspring of two to five pairs of toxicroak. The toxicroak will take turns climbing into the canopy at night to watch over the croagunk. On their night they will use their powerful muscles to haul durant up to the canopy so that the croagunk can build up their venom supply.

Toxicroak live on or near the forest floor. They have been observed knocking down fruit to the ground near durant nests. They will wait for a durant to come to investigate and then leap down to attack. They use their powerful punches to strike at the ant’s relatively unprotected neck joint to score an instant kill. Toxicroak are heavily resistant to the durant’s venom and are agile enough to dance around the bites of a scouting party until they have died or retreated. By the time more durant have showed up to investigate the toxicroak will have retreated up towards the treetops. They will break off branches and throw them down at any durant that try to climb after them.

There are not durant in Alola. The interior of Melemele also has a dearth of trees rivaling those of the Western Amazon. The croagunk and toxicroak are still finding ways to survive. Most have migrated to the forests outside of Melemele Meadow. There the croagunk live in the trees and feed on caterpie and small non-pokémon insects. The toxicroak frequently venture into the meadow. The yellow ones will often crouch down in the flowers and rely on their coloration to hide them. They will then jump up and eat any cutiefly or ribombee that passes by. Other toxicroak must wait in the trees and jump down to ambush a ribombee or butterfree that stops to feed on a nearby flower. Their new diet results in a buildup of mildly toxic paralytics in their body instead of incredibly lethal venom. Most birds have still learned to avoid them due to the foul taste they acquire.

Husbandry

In temperate climates raising a toxicroak can require a greenhouse with lots of vertical space. Alola does not due to its tropical environment. Stationary trainers with toxicroak can create a netted off area with a large (twenty-foot plus) climbing structure in the middle. Some high-end playground equipment companies can set up the structure while other contractors can be found for the netting. Toxicroak can easily get through most netting. As such it will require either a system specially designed to tangle them up if they try to escape or a weak electric current. The latter can be dangerous given Alola’s frequent heavy rainstorms. It may simply be best to keep an eye on toxicroak personally or via another pokémon so that they can be withdrawn if they attempt to escape. In the dry season the area will need to have sprinklers, fountains, or mist machines installed. Toxicroak can swim but neither stage is likely to use a pool on a regular basis. Hiding places such as large boxes, artificial caves, or even just large plants or piles of leaves should be placed at multiple elevations in the enclosure.

Toxicroak are not particularly territorial as long as all individuals are fed separately and have their own place to hide. Large enclosures at zoos or dedicated breeding facilities have held up to twenty croagunk or ten toxicroak in one exhibit. Toxicroak will also socialize with croagunk, even those that are not their own children.

Traveling trainers will need to make sure their pokémon has plenty of (supervised) time to climb and investigate its environment. They are mischievous and will make frequent attempts to break away. As such it is not recommended to let them travel alongside their trainer on hikes. A particular team member, ideally a bird, should be tasked with keeping an eye on the pokémon.

Croagunk or toxicroak held simply for display or breeding purposes should be fed a diet of relatively non-toxic insects and bug pokémon. Caterpie are cheap and will make the frog only mildly venomous. Kricketot importation is currently restricted due to the probability of an invasive population establishing itself, but trainers willing to put in the time, money, and effort to get an importation permit may wish to do so.

Trainers who do want to battle with their toxicroak will need to find a diet that facilitates venom production. Professionals are sometimes willing to import military durant from Tawantinsuyo, Colombia, or the Amazonian Federation. Most rely on a less venomous insect such as weedle or venipede. Durant of any species can still make for excellent treats. In Alola weedle and venipede importation is also restricted. Ariados are probably the best venom source for the average trainer. There are no capture limits on ariados as a non-native non-keystone species, but there is also not much of a market for them. Trainers should contact a herptile or insect specialty store to set up regular shipments of one venomous bug-type or another.

Toxicroak eat their food live. They will only eat a dead insect if desperate. It is far more likely that they will make an attempt to run away and hunt on their own before they accept dead prey. Croagunk are used to accepting food from their parents and will eat recently killed bug-types. They prefer to eat non-pokémon insects live. Water should be offered at least twice a day.

Neither stage can be housebroken. In fact, they seem to take great joy in climbing up to a high perch above a well-trafficked area and defecating on anyone who passes beneath them. Thankfully their waste is only mildly toxic if accidentally ingested.

Toxicroak in particular are quite vocal. They will often make low ribbiting noises throughout the day in an effort to communicate with others in the area. Specimens may continue doing this after long periods without a response. Some neighbors may consider the frogs a nuisance.

Both stages are generally averse to pokéballs, although stasis balls will usually be tolerated.

Toxicroak will need enrichment in addition to climbing structures and live feedings. Battles and training will satisfy this for some specimens that are eager for combat. Others will require something less violent such as fountains, multicolored balls, or hidden speakers playing rainforest noises. Planting their enclosure with species native to either Alola or the Western Amazon can also provide a form of enrichment.

Illness

The lethal venom of a wild toxicroak can kill all but the most venom-resistant of organic species. It forces the sodium channels of nerves to stay open, causing paralysis and then a coma and death. Until 2001 there was no antivenom. Most general antivenoms do nothing for wild toxicoak venom and trainers will need to carry their own dosage if they feed their pokémon a natural diet. Toxicroak fed a less potent diet can usually have their attacks treated by a standard antivenom or antiparalytic.

The most serious disease affecting croagunk is spindly leg syndrome. Some captive born croagunk have thin legs and are unable to move under their own power after they exit the tadpole stage (see Evolution). This inevitably results in death. Healing Touch conducted their own research on the phenomenon and concluded it was due to an inadequate blend of minerals in captive tadpole diets. They patented their own secret blend that was very effective in preventing the disease. Just before Healing Touch went under the patent was bought by a venture capital firm that has refused to license the production of the blend until the conclusion of a lawsuit with one of Healing Touch’s creditors. Hobbyists have attempted to reverse engineer it with minimal success.

Other toxicroak diseases can be split into two categories: internal and external. Internal diseases are usually some form of parasite. The most common symptoms are weight loss combined with active eating and an abrupt change in behavior, usually including an aversion to violence and a desire to hide. There are anti-parasite drugs available from herptile specialist stores.

External wounds come in a few different variants. Lumps on the skin tend to be the result of bacterial infection. A white growth is usually a fungus. Patches with slight discoloration tend to be improperly treated wounds. Fungal and bacterial infections can be treated with special medications, ideally under veterinary care. Improperly healed wounds should result in immediate consultation with a specialtist veterinarian.

Sometimes the skin will appear dry or even tear. This is the result of dehydration. Mild cases can be treated with an increase in ambient humidity and access to a large water feature. More severe cases may require veterinary care.

Evolution

Croagunk are born as tadpoles. These tadpoles show little to no affinity for elemental energies and metamorphosize into froglets within a week. Within two more weeks the new croagunk will have lost all signs of its old tail and developed functional legs. The short period of time spent as a tadpole has led scientists to treat it as a pre-pokémon juvenile stage rather than a separate evolutionary stage. This designation is usually used for microscopic planktonic stages of marine invertebrate pokémon, so its application to an amphibian is somewhat controversial.

Croagunk evolve into toxicroak around their third birthday in the wild. Captive specimens can evolve in as little as eighteen months through increased exposure to combat without permanent injury.

Battle

Toxicroak have seen occasional use on the major competitive circuits. The former champion of the Amazonian Federation, Cipero Biswana, used a wild-born toxicroak as his ace. There were intermittent calls to ban the pokémon even though it never actually killed an opponent.

Most toxicroak are not so well trained. They struggle to understand the concept of ‘fairness’ and will consistently use whatever tactics they feel will end the match without too much regard for what is illegal under the rules. This makes them similar to many dark types. Unlike most dark types, toxicroak can pack a venom capable of killing a salamence. They will use their lethal venom instead of the paralytic against things stronger than them that they cannot escape.

Properly training a toxicroak is easiest if it does not have a particularly effective lethal venom. It is best done through sitting on the sidelines of friendly matches to get a sense of the rules. Witnessing the immediate healing of the pokémon involved can also help. The pokémon should be rewarded when they fight within the rules, even if they lose.

A well-trained toxicroak has three avenues of attack. The first is their paralytic venom that can disorient and slow down an opponent over the course of a match. The second is their fists and raw strength. Toxicroak can dance around attacks and launch blows strong and precise enough to take down many heavily armored opponents. The third is their projectile arsenal. Toxicroak learn a variety of projectile attacks such as sludge bomb, mud bomb, and vacuum wave. One popular tactic is to launch a sludge bomb or mud bomb into the air and then rupture it midflight with a quick vacuum wave, spraying poison or mud across the arena. They can also learn nasty plot to deepen their elemental well.

Toxicroak have their weaknesses, though. Without their lethal venom none of their three attack avenues are particularly effective on the international stage. Even the most well-trained specimens will often disobey orders in the heat of a fight. This can make them unpredictable as trainers react to the oral order and ignore what the pokémon is actually doing, but it also makes them hard to properly command. Their dry, folded skin makes them able to shrug off all but the most torrential of water attacks, but fire attacks and intense sunlight with low moisture can cause serious damage. And as channelers of poison and fighting elemental energies, telepathic assault hits them incredibly hard.

For all of the foregoing reasons no ranked trainer has used a toxicroak since Biswana’s retirement in 2011. These strategies are still quite effective against casual opponents, such as the vast majority of fights on the island challenge. Toxicroak can remain effective until the end of the fourth island.

Croagunk tend to place more emphasis on zoning and occasional venom jabs than toxicroak’s acrobatics and powerful punches. Wild croagunk will often rely on misdirection, traps, and luck when confronted by something they can’t escape or simply kill with their venom. Toxicroak prefer to use physical force in these scenarios.

Both stages are rather loud battlers. Croagunk make an eerie moan to intimidate foes. Toxicroak rely on low-pitched croaks to help churn their venom. Toxicroak are also prone to very loud croaking displays after they down an enemy.

Acquisition

Toxicroak can currently be found in and around Melemele Meadow State Park off of Route 3. Croagunk have remained in the interior of the island near the original breeding facility. There are currently no limits on the capture of either stage except for the licensing requirements. Both require a Class IV license to own. Some specialty breeders and importers sell croagunk as well. The licensing requirement is the same for adopting or purchasing specimens.

Breeding

Males of many species of frog engage in wrestling displays to prove their fitness to females. Toxicroak do not. Instead, they croak at each other until the loudest is determined. Females will then pick their mates after hearing the males of the forest. They will associate with one another until their children evolve.

The female will climb high into the treetops until she finds a standing pool of water on a leaf at least fifty feet above the surface. She will carefully maneuver herself so that she can deposit six fertilized eggs into the pool without touching the leaf. Over the next few days the male and female will take turns watching the eggs until they hatch. The male will then watch over the tadpoles while the female hunts and occasionally brings back insects to drop into the pool to feed her offspring with.

After the tadpoles become proper croagunk the parents will work with nearby pairs to form armies to raise their children in. The parents will take turns instructing and watching over the children until they are old enough to have kids of their own. At this point the pairs may mate again or may select different mates.

Captive breeding is somewhat difficult due to the need to have a stagnant pool off the ground. Some toxicroak will accept pools as little as ten feet from the surface, but twenty is a more common number. Amateurs can make sure a small plastic pool is firmly attached near the top of the climbing structure. Professional institutions often have dedicated breeding chambers with multistory indoor enclosures. Some of the higher levels will have permanent pools built into the floor.

Indoor setups can induce mating through a gradual decrease in temperature over a period of weeks followed by a gradual rise. Toxicroak that primarily live outdoors will mate during the early wet season.

Toxicroak are doting parents, even in captivity. Most of the parenting can be left to them, although specialized mineral supplements may still need to be inserted into the tank from time to time. The parents should be withdrawn during this process to avoid potential aggression.

Croagunk do not become venomous until they are about four months old. During this time the parents will still keep a very close eye on their offspring. They will be reluctant to entirely part with their children until they evolve. It is easiest to raise croagunk for sale by taking one or two of the tadpoles from the pond and raising them separately. Be advised that the toxicroak may react poorly if they discover the deception.

Relatives

Toxicroak are close relatives of the larger seismitoad. Seismitoad’s thick skin makes them well suited for life outside the dense rainforest. Toxicroak, with their thin, folded skin, are limited to very humid areas. Their agility and cling pads in particular make them well suited for rainforests. They are further limited to the range of the military durant in the foothills of the northern Andes. There are still a few species of toxicroak that live outside this range.

The most prominent is the golden toxicroak (L. aurum) of Central America. Instead of eating ants to absorb biological poisons, the golden toxicroak use their specially developed front legs to prospect for gold near areas of high natural concentrations. They will then absorb this gold into their body in such high concentrations that many species will suffer from heavy metal poisoning after ingesting them. The gold, in turn, forms a crude layer of armor and helps reinforce the bones. The Spanish used the frogs as a way to find gold deposits in the area. Over time extensive mining reduced the amount of gold available and led to a precipitous decline in the species numbers. They were believed to be extinct until a population was rediscovered in Costa Rica in 1971. Captive breeding and reintroduction have since been valuable tools for conserving the species. The golden toxicroak were also released into the Congo in 1997 by the British company Royal Solutions as a means of finding gold deposits.

The final species is the Cascadian toxicroak, native to the Pacific Northwest and portions of California. These species are smaller, less venomous, and have thicker skin than their tropical counterparts. Instead of kapoks these frogs prefer redwoods. Their venom comes primarily from hunting rattlesnakes and ingesting poisonous flowers and mushrooms. This leads to a split in venom types: their lethal venom is fairly lethal, but not to the same extent as the Amazonian toxicroak. The non-lethal venom is psychoactive and leads to increasing lethargy and disorientation with only a small chance of death. This can be used to stun prey and bring them to croagunk for a practice hunt. The decline of old growth forests in the region has limited the number of trees that make for suitable habitat. Today the Cascadian toxicroak is confined to a handful of state, provincial, and national parks in the United States and Canada.

The Amazonian toxicroak comes in a variety of color morphs. Generally the brightness of their colors is correlated to their venom content. However, the most venomous toxicroak have duller colors than those with less potent venom. There is only a limited amount of poison in their diet and they direct more of it to lethality than coloration. Treat every toxicroak as if it could be dangerous.

Mining, deforestation, and wildfires could eventually threaten the Amazonian toxicroak. In the meantime their habitat is so remote that they are in no real danger in most of their range. The rather strict conservation laws of the Amazonian Federation have led to better conservation outcomes there than in Colombia or even Tawantinsuyo.

 

[Persephone]

Hello, I have made a discord for this fic and Alola Pokedex. Link found here: https://discord.gg/Sr8rSHmg4T

 

[Persephone]

Feraligatr (Totodile, Crocodile)
Rostraserrantia thomsoni

Overview

The first records of something akin to an island challenge or gym quest come from the Persian Empire. Children who showed great promise were sent to the various satraps of the empire to learn from different political, religious, and military leaders and learn about the local culture. Those who gained the approval of six mentors were recognized by the emperor and placed into positions of influence. Hellenistic generals and traders would spread the concept west to Europe and the Imperium and east to India and later China, Japan, and Southeast Asia.

The Han dynasty would further codify their journey into one of eight steps – those of the warrior, sailor, merchant, scholar, priest, bureaucrat, craftsman, farmer, and miner. Those who proved themselves under a mentor in all eight fields would gain a noble title and seat in the imperial court. Many were allowed to marry into the imperial family. To even the gap between nobles and commoners everyone who wished to embark upon the quest and gained the approval of a local priest or judge was given a choice of five pokémon, one corresponding to each of the core elements. Journeyers could only use this pokémon and any befriended along their travels.

Totodile was the water starter. By some accounts it was the most popular due to its mix of ferocity in battle and tranquility outside of it. Totodile are a good introduction to learning to care for reptiles, carnivores, and water-types. They are also quite friendly and can form close bonds with their trainer.

When Chinese immigrants came to Alola they brought totodile with them. The Alolan and United States government have had a contentious relationship with the pokémon, sometimes banning it out of fear of revolt from the often poorly treated immigrant population and sometimes to protect the ecosystem of the islands. Banning its possession often led to captive specimens being released into the waters of the island. Hunting the wild population led to specimens retreating into caves during the day. This eventually led to the Alolan feraligatr becoming a separate species with far more tolerance of cold and darkness than its Chinese counterpart. In the 1980s a DNR survey showed that the Alolan feraligatr and croconaw preyed primarily upon rattata and yungoos. Feraligatr were subsequently listed as a low-threat invasive and ownership was legalized.

Today totodile is a popular alternative starter, especially in Chinese and Japanese communities. Trainers who do not get one as a starter can still capture one from Alola’s rivers and ponds.

Physiology

All three stages are traditionally classified as pure water-types. There is some dispute as to whether feraligatr and/or its preevolutions should be classified as ice or fire types. All three stages have much greater cold tolerance than is typical than a reptile. They also have a strong affinity for ice attacks, although this is common for water-types in general. Alolan feraligatr are particularly adept at using scald, heat wave, and other methods of warming the air and water around them. This is part of what allows them to hunt or sleep in Alola’s caves. Some also argue for a dragon-type as feraligatr are reptiles proficient in multiple elements. None of these schools of thought has gained majority support.

Totodile are often depicted as bipedal crocodilians. While they can stand on their hind legs, they rarely do so on land except for intimidation. Totodile have dark blue dorsal scales. Brown or dark red bony plates extend from the pokémon’s back. Their ventral scales are pale blue. A yellow stripe runs along the entire pokémon to break up sight lines when on land. Totodile’s long tail lets them propel themselves through the water. Abdominal muscles near the lungs let them shift their center of buoyancy to rise, sink, or stay in place in the water column. Out of the water, totodile’s legs let them keep their stomach off the ground at all times while walking.

Totodile have a narrow snout full of needle-like teeth. Their evolutions gain progressively broader snouts with broader serrated teeth. This reflects a shift in diet. Totodile often hunt bug-types and fish. Needle-like teeth are useful for piercing armor and holding small prey in place. Wider snouts and teeth are useful for grabbing onto larger prey and ripping out chunks of flesh. No stage has teeth that let them masticate their food. Totodile swallow prey whole. Croconaw and feraligatr swallow individual bites without chewing. Their food is masticated in the gizzard instead of the mouth.

Croconaw are larger than totodile and have broader snouts. Their yellow markings have expanded to cover much of their body. As with totodile, the yellow markings help them camouflage themselves by breaking up sight lines. The remaining blue scales are darker than they were as a totodile to help them blend in on land. The bony scales on the back are also proportionally larger.

Feraligatr are broader than croconaw. Their protruding plates are much larger. Additionally, there are several bony ridges across their back and joints to provide protection. Feraligatr have black dorsal scales and pale, yellow ventral scales.

The bite force of feraligatr is some of the strongest of any pokémon. They can bite with nearly 5,000 pounds of force. However, the muscles for opening their jaws are rather weak. Feraligatr can easily have their jaws taped shut by duct tape. This is necessary for some invasive medical procedures.

Some crocodilians have buccal salt glands that let them swim in saltwater for long periods of time. Feraligatr do not. They are limited to large rivers, lakes, and ponds. On occasion they will venture into estuarine habitats such as Brooklet Hill, but for the most part they live further inland.

Feraligatr can swim at speeds of up to twenty miles an hour in short bursts. They can sprint on land at speeds of up to thirty miles per hour. But feraligatr’s most formidable trick can only be performed in the water. The crocodilian death roll begins with the pokémon clamping down on the limb of a larger opponent. They then roll over in the water, never letting go of their target. This results in the limb being ripped off, often taking large portions of the surrounding musculature with it. The brutality is very effective for killing larger prey that crosses the rivers they live in but has resulted in the technique being banned in almost every competitive circuit.

Feraligatr continue to grow throughout their lives. The largest feraligatr are the oldest males. Females are slightly smaller. Males usually grow to be fourteen feet from the snout to the end of the tail. They weigh 700 pounds on average. The largest recorded specimen was eighteen feet long and weighed 2,000 pounds.

Behavior

During the period of DNR bounties feraligatr often retreated to the cave systems of Alola using surface level or underwater entrances. They would spend their days passively heating the cave’s water as they rested in it. At dawn and dusk they would come out to bask in the sunlight before hunting at night.

Wild feraligatr noticed that the DNR bounties had ended within a year of their revocation. Today they rarely enter to the caves except to hunt. Feraligatr spend most of their day sprawled out in the sunlight as they bask. They are cold-blooded and heat themselves by soaking in sunlight or resting in hot water. Alolan feraligatr are not particularly territorial. During the day they can be found in congregations of up to fifteen adults and many croconaw and totodile. The juveniles prefer to bask near feraligatr for protection and the adults don’t mind crowded basking places.

All stages hunt at night. Totodile are primarily aquatic hunters that lie still on the bottom of the water for as long as they can, only surfacing for air. They can go up to forty minutes between breaths. Totodile wait for a fish or invertebrate to come near them. Then they pounce. They use their back legs to push off from the river bottom. Their jaws grab the prey. It is eaten whole.

Croconaw’s diet primarily consists of rattata. At night they lower themselves into bushes or other visual barriers to hide. When a rattata walks by the croconaw will lunge. Even if the initial lunge does not catch the rattata they can probably chase down their prey. Croconaw prefer to use their front claws to kill the rattata before eating it to avoid a bite to the throat. If there are no rattata croconaw can also hunt on land or in the water.

Feraligatr can eat almost anything in their range. They have been documented killing sharpedo, lapras, araquanid, stoutland, houndoom, torterra, rhyhorn, bewear, and even braviary, drampa, and milotic. If it lives in the water or comes to the water to cross or drink, then a big enough feraligatr can probably kill it with some luck. These are not the core of their diet. They prefer to hunt small to mid-size mammals. Gumshoos and raticate seem to be their favorite foods. Feraligatr will also hunt basculin, magikarp, and feebas that get too close to them in the water.

Feraligatr will sometimes hunt yungoos during the day through similar methods croconaw use for rattata. It is more common that they will band together with two other feraligatr to seek out a gumshoos squadron’s burrow at night. One will use hydro pump to begin flooding the burrow and drive the residents out. Another will sit behind the burrow and kill the gumshoos that emerge with powerful bites and slashes. The third will guard the first and kill any that get past the second feraligatr. Even some of the most tenacious pokémon in Alola can be killed by multiple massive predators working together while the gumshoos would rather be asleep.

Raticate are much easier prey. When threatened rattata tend to go back towards their nest. The feraligatr will intimidate one and follow it to the nearest raticate. Some will use this opportunity to slowly set up with a dragon dance. The rattata that remain in the nest at night can easily be scared away with a roar or bellow. Raticate, while formidable, are no match for a feraligatr.

Alternatively, feraligatr may hunt with ambush tactics by hiding in brush and waiting for something to pass by. They can also rest underwater near the river’s edge and wait for something to come to drink. Then they will lunge out propelled by their hindlegs and massive tail to grab their prey, bring it back into the water, and kill it by a death roll, drowning, or a bite to the neck. Feraligatr have also been documented grabbing sticks and holding them in their mouths. They lower themselves down beneath the surface and hold the stick above the water. When a bird comes to take it for their nest the feraligatr lunges out and eats the bird. This tactic has made feraligatr revered as gods of trickery and mischief in parts of their range. It has also given rise to the term “feraligatr gifts,” which means something seemingly free that turns out to cause a lot of trouble.

Husbandry

The feraligatr line are social, but not excessively so. This makes them good partners as they actively seek affection and companionship from their trainer but do not need constant attention or the presence of conspecifics to be satisfied. All stages, but especially the younger ones, enjoy cuddling. This meets social needs and provides body heat. Even feraligatr don’t mind sprawling out on blanket in the sun with their trainer next to them.

Totodile are easily trained, both in battle and in smaller quality-of-life habits such as walking on a leash. A leashed totodile can safely walk the neighborhood. Croconaw can be leashed but could easily pull away from their trainer if they wanted to. Feraligatr will tolerate the leash, but this does not mean any real physical control exists. All control must come from training and mutual trust. This makes it difficult to rehome feraligatr or acclimate wild-caught specimens to captivity.

All stages will need an opportunity to bask during the day, especially during the dry season. Basking is not necessary on rainy days, but the pokémon will be more sluggish if it has not had recent basking opportunities. Even an hour around dusk and dawn is better than nothing. They will also need occasional access to a place to swim. Pokémon Centers rarely allow feraligatr or even totodile in their community pools. Instead feraligatr trainers should seek out streams and ponds. Traveling along the ocean, while good for many water-types, does nothing to help meet this line’s desire to swim. Trainers should instead look for paths that stay near freshwater rivers and ponds.

The main problems with feraligatr are three-fold: they are carnivores, they grow to be quite large, and they are nocturnal.

Carnivores are almost always more expensive to feed than herbivores. This is especially true for larger species. A totodile can be fed pre-prepared insect mixes and canned fish on the trail while receiving fresher fish when in the city. Croconaw and feraligatr diets become harder to meet. They can hunt for wild rattata, but this is not a particularly reliable way of feeding them. It also requires the trainer to stay up all night to supervise and make sure that no protected species is targeted instead. Croconaw generally need to eat at least a third of their weight in food every week. Feraligatr need a quarter. They can tolerate less, but it will dramatically slow down their metabolism. Many trainers rely on pack pokémon to carry salted meat or other preserved protein with them. Impatient feraligatr may attempt to eat it early. Finally, all stages will accept fruit. Some seem to enjoy it as a reward. It should not form a core part of their diet, but it makes for a good snack on occasion.

Despite being large carnivores, feraligatr and croconaw are rarely a danger to humans. Even wild specimens almost never attack unprovoked. Captive-born specimens can tolerate a lot of abuse before killing their trainer. Even a starving feraligatr would prefer to eat a pokémon over a human. Totodile, on the other hand, will often bite their trainer. This is not done out of malice but misunderstanding – a mother feraligatr can easily take a totodile’s play bites and evaluate the strength of her child’s jaws. A human may be hospitalized by a bite to the wrong area. It’s best to discourage biting humans from birth or, failing that, at least from the time of capture or acquisition. Protective armor may not stop bites entirely, but it can help in training. Having another pokémon stay vigilant and ward off bites can also help.

Feraligatr’s size makes it somewhat difficult to build a permanent enclosure for them once the island challenge ends. They are not easily rehomed and wild release is currently heavily restricted. Their outdoor enclosure should be at least five hundred square feet. A third should be water, including water deep enough to swim in, and two-thirds should be land. The land section will require a basking rock and some form of shelter from the elements. Feraligatr will often dig burrows in their enclosure. They will seldom make an attempt to escape as long as they remain satisfied with their trainer. Some local governments will still require electrified and/or reinforced fencing.

Totodile can be housebroken. Standard litter boxes will not work for feraligatr but litter mats can. Even feraligatr can be invited into the house if well-trained. They may even prefer to be inside as long as the air conditioning is not set below sixty-five degrees. Temperatures below sixty-five will cause sluggishness. Water features should be heated to at least seventy degrees.

All three stages are nocturnal. They may become active during the day to swim or investigate their surroundings, but for the most part they will find a place to bask and sleep. This makes it somewhat difficult for trainers to be active when their pokémon is. For feraligatr this can be a major problem: leaving a feraligatr unsupervised for hours can end badly. They will tolerate pokéballs for a few hours at a time during the day and night, but there is a point where they will start to become unruly.

Nocturnal teammates can help alleviate the problem. Captive-born todotile can learn not to attack the rest of their trainer’s team. This allows them to peacefully coexist with everything but the raticate and gumshoos lines, which are simply too tasty not to eat. They relate better to predators than prey, but any sufficiently intelligent and playful nocturnal pokémon can make a good companion. Feraligatr in particular get along very well with dragons. Some dragon specialists have even added one to their teams, either in reserve or as a core battler (see Battling).

The two best enrichment items for feraligatr are balls and fountains. Balls should be large enough that they cannot be swallowed and durable enough that they cannot be easily popped or shredded. The pokémon will love wrestling with the ball, especially in the water. Spray fountains in the water or on land are also appreciated. Cool mist fountains can also help the pokémon regulate temperature if on land.

Illness

Feraligatr are fairly hardy pokémon. So long as their environment is sanitary, temperatures are maintained at a proper level, and enough food of the right kind is given there should not be major health problems. They are also quick to heal from most injuries.

There are a few diseases they can suffer from. Thankfully the most dangerous, West Nile Virus, has yet to be introduced to Alola. It can be fatal to even adult feraligatr within three days of the onset of symptoms. Check for more information before taking your pokémon out of the Commonwealth. As a known carrier of the virus all totodile, croconaw, and feraligatr brought back into Alola are subject to a mandatory one-week quarantine.

Croc pox and hepatitis can cause sores to appear on the pokémon’s skin, especially in and around the mouth. These should be brought to a veterinarian’s attention as soon as possible. Neither will cause long-term health problems if quickly treated, but when left untreated they can cause serious weight loss or blindness.

Mycobacteria are very small cells that can cause infections in feraligatr. These can take two forms. The most common is a type of pneumonia. The first symptoms are usually lethargy and anorexia. This can escalate into discharge of light-yellow fluid from the mouth or noise and/or labored breathing. Some specimens have instead developed a form of arthritis that makes it difficult to move. Treatment of both variants is difficult, especially in younger pokémon. Prevention is far easier. Diluted bleach mixtures can disinfect the places the pokémon spends the most time without risk to its health.

Evolution

Wild totodile evolve between their first and third birthday, depending on their success in hunting. Captive evolutions typically occur closer to the first birthday than the third. The formal demarcation line is the spread of yellow markings to the hind legs.

Only the strongest croconaw evolve into feraligatr. This usually occurs around the fifth to seventh birthday in the wild. Captive specimens can evolve much earlier, potentially as soon as six months after evolving if they are very successful in battle. This will require a massive food intake during the growth period and the resulting feraligatr will still be rather small for the first few years after evolution. The formal demarcation line between croconaw and feraligatr is the development of armored ridges on the back and joints.

Battle

Feraligatr are not the absolute strongest of pokémon. Many dragons are stronger and feraligatr’s hydrokinesis is far weaker than other water-types. They still have an enduring popularity on the competitive battling circuits that allow them, even up to the highest levels.

When deciding to add a pokémon to their team, professionals must consider its ease of care along with its power and synergy with the rest of the roster. Feraligatr are fairly easy to care for as far as large reptiles go and they typically see humans as potential friends rather than as a nuisance or prey. Even trainers with hired assistants don’t want teams consisting entirely of pokémon that require constant attention to keep happy, healthy, and obedient. Several top tier trainers, including at least three ranked ones, are known to be close with their feraligatr. Two ranked trainers keep it on their main roster.

Feraligatr, while lagging behind the likes of salamence and gyarados, are still not weak. They can lift up to five hundred pounds, bite through steel plating, run up to thirty miles an hour on land, and take one or two strong attacks or many weak ones before going down. Their power and speed can further be boosted by swords dance or dragon dance. Even if they are unable to close the distance with an opponent, they can unleash reasonably powerful surfs or ice beams to strike speedsters or fliers, respectively.

As water elemental users feraligatr are weak to grass- and electric-energy charged moves. Their best counters are vikavolt and magnezone as they can stay out of range of physical attacks and strike back with powerful thunderbolts. Very strong or durable grass types can also go toe to toe with feraligatr. Some ice-types can also wear feraligatr down by making them sluggish. The tactic will not have immediate results given feraligatr’s adaptation to caves. Prolonged usage can still take its toll.

Aside from airborne electric-types, feraligatr struggle with three of the most common threats on the competitive circuits: ghosts, psychics, and dragons. Ghosts usually don’t care much about physical damage. An elementally charged crunch might be a problem, but they’re often able to outspeed feraligatr or float above an attack. In turn they can inflict burns, confusion, and other afflictions to steadily wear down their opponent. Feraligatr have no special resistance to telepathic attacks and alakazam can simply teleport away from their charges and set up protective barriers to deal with surfs and hydro pumps. Dragons can usually overpower feraligatr, even if they have to be somewhat wary of an ice fang. Alolan feraligatr have not yet been used by a ranked trainer but they’re more powerful ice attacks might make them better against dragons than the slightly larger Chinese feraligatr.

On the island challenge feraligatr are fast and strong enough to keep up with even the final trials. Knowing a few coverage moves can help tip the scales, but a feraligatr can succeed without them.

Croconaw are ambush predators without the sheer durability or speed that their evolved form has. This makes them substantially weaker. They’re often best hanging back and waiting for opponents to come to them. Ranged attackers can give them a great deal of trouble if they have not been specially trained in ranged attacks of their own.

Totodile are quite strong for their age. Their piercing teeth make them able to do serious damage to weaker pokémon, especially bugs. Many babies are reluctant battlers until they’ve learned the ropes, but totodile will be willing to run into fights right from the start. Their enthusiasm, jaws, and teeth alone can help them persevere through the first island. If they do not evolve they will start to run into problems on the second.

Acquisition

Feraligatr can be found around inland ponds and streams, especially those near caves. A sizable population also lives around Brooklet Hill and its estuary. They can often be found basking on the side of the water during the day.

Because feraligatr and croconaw are major predators of rattata and yungoos their capture is currently prohibited. Only totodile may be captured from the wild. This is difficult as mother feraligatr watch over their offspring until they evolve (see Breeding). They are protective enough mothers that trying to steal one of their babies is likely to end badly for everyone involved except the feraligatr.

Wild capture is still possible. Doing so involves the trainer appearing before the mother and making it clear that they are a trainer asking for the chance to take one of her totodile with them. She may indulge them with a practice battle, either with herself or one of her children. If the battle is against the mother she will almost never fight at full strength. It’s simply an opportunity for her and her children to evaluate the strength and tactics of the trainer. If the battle is with the totodile then be gentle and try to rely more on tactics than brute force. At the end of the battle a totodile may decide to go with the trainer, whether they won or lost. The mother will accept this and let her child leave.

In any case, it is easier to simply buy a totodile from a licensed breeder. There are at least two on Akala and one on Ula’Ula. A well-trained totodile is not cheap, but some families find it to be worth the investment as a starter pokémon. Croconaw and feraligatr can occasionally be purchased from a breeder. Specimens are sometimes available for adoption in Hau’oli and Malie, but they are usually turned over to a breeder, released to the wild, or euthanized before long due to the space required to hold them at a shelter.

Totodile require a Class III license to capture or a Class I to adopt or purchase. This is because most totodile up for adoption have been trained not to bite. Croconaw require a Class I license to purchase or adopt; feraligatr require a Class III.

Breeding

Mating begins with the female swimming into the water and making an infrasonic bellow. Humans cannot hear feraligatr’s mating calls, although they can sometimes feel the vibrations if they are close enough. One or more males may respond to the male’s call. On occasion a female may show up as well to observe.

The males will engage in elaborate swimming techniques known as “water dances.” The female may join in as well. If she selects a mate the dance will end with both crawling onto land to engage in a session of snout and neck rubbing. The purpose of the rubbing is unknown. Some scholars have speculated it is done entirely for pleasure. The theory is bolstered by rare sightings of two males or females engaging in the same behavior. Captive specimens also enjoy having their back and neck petted. Only brave or trusting trainers pet the snout.

Twelve days after copulation the female will lay a clutch of twenty-five to fifty eggs. She will then cover them in vegetation such as leaves and grasses. The vegetation will release heat as it decays, keeping the eggs warm. Higher temperatures will produce all males. Low temperatures will produce all females. Incubation temperatures in the middle will produce a mix of both sexes.

The male is not allowed to have any part in supervising incubation or raising the young. After her nest is built the female will spend most of her time near it, only leaving to hunt. The eggs hatch after roughly thirty days. The hatchlings make high pitched-squeaking sounds to alert their mother. She will then carefully dig them out. Wild feraligatr look after their totodile until they evolve, at which point she will steadily become more aggressive towards them until they leave. Until this point they are doting mothers that will allow their children to crawl all over them.

Captive mating is easy enough. A female that spends a lot of time in the water producing mating calls wants to mate. Mating calls, while not ordinarily audible, can be detected by special monitors. If a male is introduced the mating rituals and act will continue as they would in the wild. Specimens held in mixed sex holding pens can take care of mating, from the call to copulation, themselves.

The most difficult part is actually telling the sex of the feraligatr in advance. Unless the specimen is particularly large there is no way to reliably tell if it is male or female from the exterior. The cloaca must be held open and the reproductive organs examined to be sure. Feraligatr, understandably, do not like this. Newly hatched totodile do not, either, but have only a minimal ability to resist it. As long as the examiner is trained and the mother is nowhere near the procedure it will be safe for everyone involved.

There is some debate over whether feraligatr should be allowed to incubate their own eggs. The mother is much happier when she is allowed to, but the natural hatch rate of eggs is only around 70%. Lab incubation can lead to 90% of the eggs hatching. For better or worse, the mother may reject hatchlings given to her after being incubated in a lab. This allows for the pokémon to be raised by humans from birth but does limit the amount of training it can receive from its mother.

Breeding facilities typically withdraw the mother and take most of her eggs for incubation. These pokémon will eventually be given to trainers. The totodile that are raised by their mother are used as future breeding stock.

Relatives

The Alolan feraligatr is a feral population descended from the Chinese feraligatr (R. lánsèlínpiàn) sometimes also known as the blue feraligatr or simply as feraligatr. The Chinese feraligatr lives on the border of the tropical and temperate portions of China. Their population can be found from river deltas to mountain streams. Populations that live in areas that occasionally freeze enter brumation where their metabolism drops and they stick their snout above the surface of the water. They can survive under a frozen lake for months like this.

China’s influence on neighboring regions led to feraligatr being adopted as a common starter or companion in these areas, too. Some portions of Japan, Korea, Vietnam, and the Philippines still use totodile as a default starter. It is a popular alternative starter in much of Eastern and Southeastern Asia, as well as anywhere with a substantial population of Chinese descent. Most of these areas have breeders whose populations have steadily drifted from the Chinese feraligatr. The most notable of these are the Philippine’s feraligatr (R. l. gigas) which are the largest in the world.

In 1887 a ship carrying a pair of feraligatr to a zoo in Texas crashed during a storm off the coast of Florida. The escapees thrived in the Everglades and went on to establish themselves as the dominant predators in the region. Their numbers were bolstered over time by intentional releases. Some elderly trainers of Asian descent embarked on a pilgrimage to release their feraligatr into the swamps so the pokémon would be able to survive happily even after their trainer’s death. The first two feraligatr, the Grandfather and Grandmother of the Everglades, are still revered in local folklore. In the 1960s an eccentric inventor attempted to cull the feraligatr to encourage the development of the swampland. His attempt, which involved faking a murder by the Grandmother of the Glades to turn public sentiment against the species, backfired when he was exposed, tried for attempted murder, and ultimately fled to Guyana to escape justice. He died of dysentery in 1971. The Floridian feraligatr, R. dusk, still live on.

 

[Persephone]

The final Crashmoth commission. Will be moving onto Akala next week.

Swampert (Mudkip, Marshtomp)
Amansluto regenspalus

Overview

There is a narrow ecosystem between the vast oceans and the sprawling riversheds. Where fresh and saltwater meet they can form salt marsh estuaries, fields of specialized grasses and trees living around the mixed waters. These ecosystems can be dry at low tide and submerged at high tide. They are always in flux as the land and sea advance and retreat.

The waters of salt marshes are usually too saline for freshwater fish and most reptiles to bother with. They are too shallow for the marine apex predators. In this narrow gap swampert emerge as the kings of the marsh. They are also the protectors of the marsh, building impromptu flood walls and dams to reduce the harm from hurricanes and droughts.

Mudkip hunt the smaller fish and insects that are attracted to estuaries for the lack of large predators. Marshtomp will hunt slightly larger species but supplement their diet with plants. Swampert, despite being the largest and strongest creatures in the ecosystem, are almost entirely herbivorous. They are generally good-natured creatures that are tolerant of both salt and freshwater after a brief period of acclimation.

All of this made swampert a common starter pokémon in eastern, southeastern, and southern Asia. Many trainers made a point of training a team of six, one aligned with each of the elements – air, water, earth, wood, metal, and fire. This tradition is what led to the modern party limit in most of the world. Most water-types were strictly aquatic and not useful for travelers. Water-types that were powerful, amphibious, and easily tamed became very popular.

Mudkip was introduced to Alola in the 1800s when Asian laborers were brought en masse to the islands to work the new spider silk and pinap berry plantations. Modern conservationists generally do not see swampert as a major threat – they eat seagrasses, including an endemic species, but they are protective of their vulnerable ecosystems. Politicians love swampert for helping shore up the coast before major storms, reducing the damage done. For now they are quasi-protected.

In Alola swampert have the added bonus of being ground-types. There aren’t many ground-types on the archipelago and most are concentrated in a single valley that is notoriously difficult to explore. Swampert are great teammates, either as an alternative starter or when caught as a marshtomp.

Physiology

Mudkip is classified as a pure water-type. Marshtomp and swampert are classified as dual water- and ground-types. While there is a general policy of keeping pokémon the same typing throughout the evolutionary line, wild mudkip seldom use any ground-type moves. Trainers wishing to teach their pokémon one must rely on a very good breeder or a TM.

Mudkip are small salamanders. In areas with clearer waters, they are usually a dark brown or very dark blue. In areas with murky waters, they develop a lighter coloration. Specimens bred as a starter usually have a light blue color morph instead of a darker or brown one. There are also cross-bred specimens with axlawful that are light red or pink.

Mudkip have prominent gills that are sometimes a different color morph than the rest of their body. They do not have lungs, but can breathe on land via their slime. The slime itself is a bubble with mucous on the outside and water underneath. As long as the wet slime is connected to air it can absorb oxygen and move it towards the gills. Their eyesight is quite weak. Instead, they rely on their extremely sensitive head fin to sense the world around them. They can detect minute differences in water currents or moderate differences in air currents to tell where potential prey and predators are. Their large, tall tail allows them to move in the water without much effort.

Mudkip have three rows of teeth but do not chew. These teeth are designed to keep fish, amphibians, and invertebrates from escaping while they are being eaten. They rely on suction to pull the prey into the throat and towards the stomach. Outside of simply biting prey they can also kill them with blunt force. Mudkip can push things up to four times heavier than them.

Marshtomp are in a somewhat awkward middle stage between the carnivorous mudkip and the herbivorous swampert. This is best seen in their teeth: they have three sets. One is sharp and angled to keep prey in. The other two are only along one side of the mouth each. These are blunt teeth for chewing seagrass and other plants. In this strange way marshtomp teeth resemble humans.

Marshtomp’s tail all but disappears as it ages. Each of the hind legs has a fin grow out of it. These fins are useful for movement but primarily used for sensory purposes. The head fin grows even larger and more sensitive.

Swampert are built for power. Their muscles are much stronger and they gain several pads and braces to help them exert their strength without injury. Like most amphibians swampert are also fairly quick to heal. They have two head fins instead of one, dramatically boosting their sensory abilities. Swampert can detect even distant storms and tsunamis. Their tailfin regrows, this time much larger than before. Between their tail and muscles swampert can swim up to fifty miles per hour. They can also lift objects weighing up to one ton. Their baseline senses are still rather weak, but the atmospheric and hydrospheric radar senses more than make up for it. Swampert’s teeth are all very blunt. Their stomach is also more similar to a cow’s than to mudkip’s. This allows them to eat seagrasses, which are often very high in silica content and difficult to digest.

Swampert can grow to be five feet long and weigh up to two hundred pounds. Wild lifespans are around thirty years, but captive specimens can live to be fifty.

Behavior

Mudkip are carnivores. They prefer to bury themselves in the benthos and then lunge out when something swims or crawls by. They will eat anything they can fit in their mouth and attempt to eat several things that they can’t. Mudkip send almost all of their time in the water, only going onto land under a swampert’s supervision. They mostly stay near their parents until they evolve.

Marshtomp are relatively independent. The local swampert will keep an eye on them and occasionally step in to offer guidance, but they are mostly on their own. Marshtomp do not hold territory themselves. Instead, they wander through the territories of various swampert. Marshtomp spend some time basking on land to increase their body temperature or to dig out their burrows. These burrows go beneath the water table so that they are partially flooded. Sometimes small animals and pokémon will seek refuge in abandoned burrows, especially during high tides. Marshtomp will often engage in contests of strength with other marshtomp, although these are for entertainment and training rather than territorial disputes. Neither holds territory so there is nothing to dispute.

Younger marshtomp primarily act as ambush predators like mudkip. When times are hard they will resort to eating grasses, shrubs, and fruit in the water and on land. Older marshtomp increasingly transition their diet towards plants and only rarely hunt, usually when the local swampert believe the area is being overgrazed and begin to defend it.

Swampert are the benevolent rulers of their territory. They are almost exclusively herbivorous and prefer to eat seagrasses. During the day they can sometimes be seen basking on land. Swampert first alter their environment by building large tunnel and shallow pond systems that provide places for them to bask in shallow water. The tunnels are often deep enough to extend under the seagrass and connect many different parts of their territory. The submerged tunnels are often a haven for smaller fish and pokémon. Swampert will usually ignore them but attack larger pokémon that try to intrude.

Swampert will also act against anything they believe is a threat to the local ecosystem. Pokémon that knock over trees may be swiftly punished. If the seagrasses are becoming overgrazed, they will take to eating on land or hunting in the water. They will lash out at anything that tries to eat the seagrasses during this time, including marshtomp.

Finally, swampert can sense incoming natural disasters. When they approach swampert will begin to stack boulders and build earthen walls to protect their territory from harm. Sometimes they will even build walls around local towns if they have the time. During droughts they will build earthen dams to keep water in the area.

Aside from their own mate they will not allow other swampert into their territory. They do not compete for dominance via physical competition as their physical strength will react. Instead they have a rather more peculiar display. Swampert can push their eyes slightly out of the socket so they bulge out. they can also make barking and screaming sounds. Territorial contests involve both swamperts extending their eyes and making loud noises while occasionally pounding the ground. It is unclear how a victor is determined, but eventually one will turn around and run away. They sometimes attempt this display in trainer battles to the confusion of everyone else involved.

Husbandry

The species is generally easy to care for, diet aside. They can tolerate being on land for hours at a time and can swim in a wide range of salinities. The relative docility of swampert and the small size of mudkip means that most Pokémon Centers allow them to use the community pools. Marshtomp are sometimes banned.

Mudkip need to be misted regularly when on land. This can be done with a spray bottle filled with dechlorinated water. They will gorge themselves if offered too much food so trainers should make sure to feed them no more than fifteen (and no less than eight) percent of their weight every day. Crustaceans are mudkip’s favorite food, but they will also eat fish, worms, small amphibians, and some commercial insect mixes. Pokémon Supply Stores, especially in Malie, sometimes sell a mix specially designed for mudkip and marshtomp.

Mudkip must be given access to dechlorinated water at least once for every twelve hours they are outside their pokéball. Misting and high humidity can increase this, but never to more than sixteen hours. Rain can provide hydration needs, although mudkip still prefer to swim. Because salinity does not matter to them this can be met by both freshwater streams or ponds and the ocean. Trainers in Alola are rarely very far from either. Most routes run through nature reserves or leased private land held for conservation or sport purposes. These are often clustered around rivers, ponds, or the coast as these are the areas where pokémon congregate. While mudkip can be safely touched if recently hydrated, the pokémon usually dislike it. Their slimy skin can also make the experience unpleasant for the trainer.

Marshtomp and swampert can go for up to twenty-four hours outside their ball without hydration. On balance, their dietary needs are somewhat more difficult to satisfy. Marshtomp will need to be slowly weened off of crustaceans and meat-based mixes and onto seaweed such as kelp. Swampert’s diet should primarily be made up of seaweeds with other plant matter used as a treat or filler for no more than 30% of their food intake. Thankfully, kelp and seaweed are common in Alolan cuisine and can often be purchased from grocery stores.

All stages are generally intelligent and curious pokémon. They can be easily housebroken and trained in battle and quality-of-life commands. Some swampert even develop an apparent understanding of their trainer’s language. Toys are appreciated. Large rubber balls are generally the best as mudkip enjoy knocking them around and marshtomp and swampert will often try to wrestle them. While they may not be physically affectionate, they enjoy spending time around their trainer and team. Trainers should try to play with the pokémon. Games of catch, chase, and occasionally wrestling or tug-of-war are good. The swampert (and even mudkip) will win the strength-based games, but they will usually restrain themselves enough that their trainer seemingly has a chance. At the very least they will try to ensure their trainer does not get hurt. Fighting types make for good teammates. Strangely enough, they prefer being around carnivores over herbivores. Swampert can get a little testy with other seaweed eaters.

Some trainers also make good use of their pokémon’s storm sense to seek shelter when the weather is about to get bad.

While swampert are generally nocturnal, they can easily shift their sleep schedule to be more active in the day. Instead, their most annoying habit is their desire to dig. Swampert ordinarily build deep and long tunnel systems across their entire habitat. At the very least they will want to build burrows around the camp site. Burrows are allowed on land with no grass cover so long as the pokémon fills it back in when they are done. Ground-type engineers such as swampert have no trouble filling in the holes they make. Some trainers will leave their swampert alone for a full day and discover that their pokémon has made a ten-foot-high pile of dirt to put back in the ground.

Illness

Most amphibians suffer some health problems when their skin dries up. The swampert line literally cannot breathe on land when dehydrated. Frequent exposure to rain or water bodies will help alleviate the problem. Any habitat pokéballs used should have a water feature. Dehydration symptoms are thankfully visible almost immediately. The first symptom is slightly clouded slime. Ordinarily the slime is transparent. If this is not the case the pokémon should be withdrawn immediately until such time as hydration is possible.

Outside of dehydration most injuries are fairly easily healed with time and the occasional potion or berry. After intense battles the pokémon should still be submitted to professional care, but for the most part they are quite hardy.

Evolution

Mudkip steadily grow until their second birthday, when they begin a fairly rapid growth spurt upon evolution. The formal demarcation line between mudkip and marshtomp is the growth of fins on the legs. Marshtomp continue to grow quickly over the course of six months before evolving again into swampert. The formal demarcation line between marshtomp and swampert is the growth of the second headfin. This rapid growth is part of the reason that mudkip is a popular starter: they can be given to a trainer shortly before evolution and that trainer will have a swampert of their own by the end of the challenge.

Battle

Swampert are very durable and power. They can strike from afar with water, ice, and seismic moves. Swampert can also support their team with moves such as stealth rock, yawn, and, in double battles, wide guard. All of these traits make them consistently popular picks among competitive trainers, especially those from Asia. Water specialists generally like swampert because of their ability to no-sell most electric moves and retaliate with earthquake or bulldoze.

Swampert’s main problem is that they lack reliable recovery or setup moves, limiting their utility as a tank. Other popular tanks such as corviknight, slowking, avalugg, and tangrowth can rapidly heal themselves. Swampert more or less cannot outside of rest, which has its own drawbacks. Wish support can help but is often difficult to time. Still, swampert are often used as a hard backstop rather than a wall. The lack of setup moves outside of work up and curse, combined with their low speed on land, means that they will not be able to use their bulk to set up for a sweep.

Swampert might not be able to wall or sweep an entire team, but they are very good at taking out one or two particularly troublesome pokémon. Put them against the biggest threat to the team and they will often be able to outlast it and knock it out themselves. Even if they themselves go down afterwards their main purpose has still been fulfilled.

On the island challenge swampert’s main kit should include a water move, an ice attack for coverage (if possible), at least one ground attack, and stealth rocks. This lets them control the battlefield and overpower almost all opponents. Earthquake, ice beam, and hydro pump let swampert strike from a distance. Up close their own massive power can overpower almost everything. They can easily hold their own throughout the challenge, although they may be dead weight against grass specialists and totems.

Marhstomp can capitalize upon their durability to act as utility pokémon with moves such as yawn and stealth rock. Their decent bulk lets them go on the offensive once their utility role is fulfilled. A marhtomp alone is a good pick for the first two islands, around which point it will probably be close to evolution.

While mudkip are relatively durable, their main strength is in offense. Most young pokémon struggle to pack a punch. Mudkip has no such problem. If taught physical attacks such as rock smash and rock throw they can quickly establish themselves as a physical powerhouse. Mudkip has a slight problem in that they do not easily learn physical water-type attacks such as waterfall or dive. Trainers may need to shell out cash for a TM in order to teach these moves. Still, mudkip are powerful for their age and most starter mudkip are close to evolution.

Acquisition

Alola’s largest salt marsh by far is the brooklet watershed’s estuary in Brooklet Hill Commonwealth Park. The estuary is a mix of native seagrasses and introduced Spartina alterniflora, which almost nothing in Alola but swampert can digest. Swampert have established themselves throughout the ecosystem. The most powerful tend to have territories closer to the ocean. Swampert can also be found in the marshes of western and northeastern Ula’Ula, portions of southeastern Melemele, and along the eastern coast of Poni island.

Swampert are protective of their mudkip. To avoid any problems in the area mudkip capture is prohibited. Marshtomp and swampert capture is allowed. Both will generally go with a trainer they show interest in who can beat them in a proving battle. Be warned that winning a proving battle against a swampert can be very difficult and they usually consider grass-types to be cheating. If they consider their capture illegitimate, they will probably be uncooperative until their trainer proves themselves some other way.

Marshtomp and swampert can be purchased, captured, or adopted with a Class II license. Mudkip can be purchased or adopted with a Class I license.

Breeding

Swampert do not have formalized mating rituals. Instead they may simply come to respect a swampert in an adjoining territory and agree to partner together, merging their territories and getting ready to raise children. Mating usually occurs in March as the rainy season comes to a close. The female will then store the male’s gametes in a pouch near her uterus. As the dry season winds down she will introduce the sperm to her eggs to fertilize them. She will lay up to fifty eggs in a specialized chamber in her tunnel network. At least one of the swampert will guard the eggs at all times until they hatch. The eggs hatch after a six-week incubation period. The swampert will continue to guard their mudkip until they evolve.

Captive breeding is much the same. Swampert are periodically introduced to each other until they agree to mate. Then they are released onto a fairly large property to dig their tunnel systems. On smaller properties they will usually burrow across the property line, even if concrete is extended into the ground. This means that there are very few breeders with multiple swampert. It is more likely that they also breed other species on the property their swampert occupy.

When the mudkip get close to evolution the swampert may allow the breeder to distribute them to other trainers, especially if the swampert are given the chance to evaluate the trainer beforehand.

Relatives

Swampert’s closest relative is axlawful, an endangered and heavily protected species from Anahuac. They can also cross breed with most other amphibians and some aquatic reptiles. Swampert can crossbreed with dragapult despite being separated in time by hundreds of millions of years.

 

[Persephone]

Stoutland (Lillipup, Herdier)
Canis huddersfield

Overview

Stoutland are a very popular pet in the cooler portions of the world. They are intelligent, low-maintenance, and good with children. Stoutland can even be used as farm laborers in a pinch. Gym challengers can easily obtain a lillipup as a starter and continue using it to the end of the challenge. It can then remain in the household once the challenge is over.

Stoutland have been imported to Alola, most notably around Paniola to assist in herding. They do not fair well in the archipelago. Their long, thick coats were developed to help them survive in mountain ranges and northern areas with long, harsh winters. Tropical lowlands are not good territory for them. While a skilled groomer can keep their hair short, this is expensive and the pokémon tends not to like it. The process also undercuts their defensive prowess in battle. There are better canine companions in Alola. Eevee are becoming increasingly easy to obtain and most of its evolutions fair better than stoutland in Alola’s heat. Manectric are loyal companions that can also herd livestock if needed. Furfrou and granbull are also fairly low maintenance, health problems aside.

The species are still great companions, of course, but they struggle in the local climate in ways that other potential team members do not. Ice specialists that already have to figure out ways to keep their pokémon cool can make good use of a stoutland. Most other trainers cannot.

There are currently efforts to crossbreed stoutland with arcanine to produce stoutland that are better suited for warm climates. Some early successes have been reported, but there are not enough hybrids at this time for widespread public distribution.

Physiology

Lillipup, herdier, and stoutland are all classified as pure normal types. The designation is mostly uncontroversial. Some taxonomists argue for a secondary ice-typing as the species is well adapted for life in the cold. While stoutland have some limited cryokinesis it is not their preferred means of either battling or maintaining their temperature. As such most taxonomists agree that stoutland does not qualify for an ice-typing.

Lillipup are small canine pokémon. Their coat is long and usually brown, grey, or white. In some captive specimens the coat will grow until it reaches the ground. The remaining purely wild populations tend to have shorter but thicker coats. The most notable feature of lillipup is their facial hair. It is loaded with very sensitive whiskers that can create a radar-like view of the world. The whiskers can even sense ghost-types hiding in the spectral plane.

Herdier’s facial hair retracts to cover their forehead, eyebrows, and muzzle while leaving the rest of the face with only normal fur. On balance they gain a long black coat on their back. The fur in this coat is very dense and can link together to form a sort of armor. It also keeps them very warm, which is important as they leave their parents and venture into the cold on their own.

Stoutland have black protective fur covering most of their body. The white facial hair grows out into a moustache that can reach the ground. Stoutland are also a lot wider and bulkier than herdier and lillipup. Some of this mass is fur, but most is not. Stoutland also have an inner eyelid that protects their eyes from impacts. This is useful when running through snow or hailstorms, but their broad paws and inner eyelid can also make them effective at running on sand.

Stoutland can grow to be four feet tall at the withers. They can weigh up to 300 pounds, although most weigh less than 180. Captive specimens can live for up to thirty years. Wild and feral individuals, especially in Alola, do not live nearly as long.

Behavior

Wild stoutland can still be found in portions of the Crown Tundra, Scandanavia, and Siberia. Despite thousands of years of domestication these populations are physically similar due to continued interbreeding between wild, feral, and captive specimens.

Stoutland mate for life. In cold climates they will usually hunt separately, especially if there are lillipup or the female is pregnant. Stoutland can use their powerful legs and broad paws to chase down prey over the snow. Alternatively, they can use their whiskers to sense creatures hidden by snow, dirt, or foliage and then strike at the hidden prey. Stoutland are not the largest creatures in their home range but their tenacity and durable coat let them take on creatures even larger than they are.

Wild lillipup seldom stray far from their parents. The stoutland’s fur can keep their children warm. The parents will also dig a deep burrow under the snow or dirt for their puppies to take shelter in. As the lillipup grow older they may be brought along for hunts or territorial patrols.

Territorial disputes between stoutland tend to be resolved by moustache length: the stoutland with the largest moustache will get whatever territory (and mate) it wants. Lesser dogs will have to settle for smaller territories and less powerful mates. Biological sex and dominance have little to do with each other: either can be the dominant stoutland in an area and have their choice of mates.

Lillipup are forced out by their parents as they near evolution. The new herdier will typically form packs of six to twelve individuals. Packs tend to hunt together. Herdier are quite clever. They can set up ambushes formed either of other herdier lying in wait or crudely made traps of pitfalls and sticks.

All wild stoutland in Alola are recently introduced ferals. The wild population has been observed breeding, but it is not believed that the current population is self-sustaining in the long term. Herdier in particular struggle to keep up active hunting strategies while overheating. Stoutland can at least easily dig up roots and buried prey to eat. In the wild shrubs and roots are only a small portion of stoutland’s diet in the north. In Alola it seems to constitute about thirty to forty percent of biomass consumed.

Wild stoutland are known to be fond of people. They may have begun hunting with humans as far back as fifty thousand years ago, although their proper domestication did not occur until much later. Wild stoutland will happily rescue any human they see in trouble. Sometimes this courtesy even extends to pokémon who could have been prey if the stoutland was hungrier. Attacks on humans are vanishingly rare and almost entirely attributable to rabies.

Husbandry

Stoutland are fairly standard canines. Their diet can be composed exclusively most pre-prepared canine mixes. They can easily be trained to use a litter box, or at least to only defecate and urinate outside. Walks are greatly appreciated. A stoutland without sufficient exercise can become very rambunctious. At their size they can unintentionally damage property while riled up.

Stoutland have a few advantages over other canines. Not even lillipup bark or yap without very good reason, making them a quiet dog good for tenants. Stoutland also do not shed. In spite of this managing their hair is easily the hardest part of their husbandry. Herdier and stoutland have fur that acts as a sort of armor. It can be very difficult to trim without hurting the pokémon. Grooming is best left to professionals. While stoutland hair can be allowed to grow out this will cause the pokémon to overheat in the Alolan sun. Outside of regular trimming session the hair will need to be regularly brushed to prevent knotting.

All stages are very social. They are known for having bad separation anxiety when removed from trusted humans or teammates. On balance, herdier and stoutland they are quite good with caring for children and other pokémon. The line is very intelligent: even lillipup are as smart as human toddlers. Stoutland have the equivalent intelligence of a ten-year-old child. A stoutland is undyingly loyal to the people it is attached to. Those without the pokémon’s trust will struggle to get it to listen. Any abuse or neglect is remembered and will be held against the trainer for years to come. Affection and care are likewise remembered and rewarded.

Illness

Stoutland are prone to most canine diseases. Rabies vaccination is mandatory for all lillipup within three weeks of capture or birth. Tick, flea, and worm medications are readily available from all pokémon supply stores.

Digestive tract issues are particularly common in stoutland. They are prone to constipation, diarrhea, and vomiting. These symptoms are especially likely after a change in diet. Care should be taken to phase in any dietary changes slowly. In the event of diarrhea make sure to provide the pokémon with plenty of fluids and a cool place to rest.

Many newborn lillipup suffer from low blood sugar. If feedings are not frequent enough health problems can quickly arise. This is most common in hang-raised lillipup but can occur in specimens raised by their mother, especially if the mother has not had a role model to teach her the ropes of motherhood. Sluggishness can be hard to spot right away as lillipup are not particularly active while nursing. Glassy eyes are the first readily observable symptom, at least in puppies that have opened their eyes (see Breeding). Make sure that these puppies are immediately fed and then closely monitored until they are old enough to eat solid food.

Evolution

As lillipup grow older their black coat begins to grow in. Stoutland will ordinarily begin to reject their offspring once the first black hairs appear. The formal demarcation line for evolution is the growth of a full coat of black fur. This usually occurs around the sixteen-month mark.

Herdier continue to grow as they age. Their black coat grows as they do. The formal demarcation line between herdier and stoutland is either sexual maturity or the growth of a moustache at least half a meter long, whichever comes first. This usually occurs around the twenty-five month mark in captivity or the thirty month mark in the wild.

Battle

Stoutland are durable with a special ability to sense and strike ghosts. Their support movepool is small but functional with moves such as thunder wave and helping hand. None of this is quite enough to save them on the competitive circuits. Many top trainers have a stoutland as a personal or family pet, but they will rarely bring the pokémon to their serious matches. They are simply outclassed by other normal types. Between tauros, miltank, bouffalant, bewear, kangaskhan, and snorlax there are no real niches left for stoutland to fill. Even stoutland’s armored fur is an incomplete defense as the coat does not extend to the face.

None of this is to say that stoutland are weak. They emphatically are not. But trainers with a great deal of time, resources, and assistance will almost always pick the stronger pokémon to fill a slot on their main roster.

A stoutland can easily stay competitive up to the end of the island challenge. Their size and strength let them hit hard enough to damage even the late totems that are not inclined to hold back or surrender. Herdier and stoutland’s fur can take most physical hits, although they must play around strikes to the face. Stoutland even has solid coverage options in stomping tantrum, crunch, and the elemental fangs. Many of those options can be taught even without TMs.

Herdier are durable. While they hit less hard than stoutland they can still deal decent damage and outpace many slower opponents. Their tenacity can also let them pull through a few matches they might otherwise be at a disadvantage in.

Lillipup are courageous against any opponent they believe they stand a chance against, no matter how slim. If they believe there is no chance they will turn tail and attempt to flee. Hyping the pokémon up before battles and walking through planned strategies helps bolster their confidence. Lillipup, like its evolutions, functions best as a bulky attacker that can take a few hits and deal decent damage in return. Be cautious, though, as lillipup do not have a full coat of protective fur to help them take hits to their back.

Acquisition

Feral populations can be found around Paniola Town on Akala Island. Capture of lillipup is allowed with a Class I license, although it is best to catch one that has already been rejected by its parents. Herdier and stoutland capture is handled by the DNR. Simply put wild herdier and stoutland have a difficult time adjusting to new trainers and they are not suitable for capture. The line are frequently available from both breeders and shelters.

Breeders present the opportunity to raise a lillipup from a young age and form a particularly close bond. Many shelters also have herdier and stoutland that outgrew their old apartment homes or were surrendered due to the cost of feeding and grooming them. These pokémon start off stronger and are often grateful to the trainer who got them out of the shelter.

All three stages can be purchased or adopted with a Class I license.

Breeding

Stoutland mate for life. They do not have a standard breeding season and usually make another litter as soon as the last one has been kicked out. After a five-week pregnancy the female will give birth to about six pups. The male and female will then diligently watch over their children until they come close to evolution, at which point the offspring will be kicked out to pave the way for a new litter. Stoutland in the wild and captivity have also been known to adopt orphaned lillipup and, on occasion, babies of other canine species. There are old legends in Europe of future heroes being abandoned in the wilderness and raised by stoutland.

It is relatively easy to breed stoutland in captivity. If they accept a mate they will periodically produce litters. The older lillipup can then be given away to other trainers without issue. Stoutland have been known to cross breed with most canines, especially true dogs and wolves.

Stoutland with offspring of their own will put less time and attention towards helping raise teammates and children in their household. Trainers should keep this in mind when deciding if they want to breed their stoutland or not. A childless stoutland will happily babysit human children or make sure other pokémon have their needs met.

Relatives

Stoutland’s closest living relatives are boltund and furfrou, other dogs domesticated in Europe. While stoutland have always been more dominant in the northern reaches of Europe, the other dogs became more popular in the warmer areas around the Mediterranean. Over time boltund became associated with Galar, furfrou with Kalos, and stoutland with Russia. Wild populations of stoutland can still be found across much of montane or temperate Europe. Feral populations can now be found across much of the globe.

There are a few breeds of stoutland made by crossbreeding with other canines. The most common is the regal stoutland, made by crossing with furfrou. Despite having even longer fur the regal stoutland is actually more tolerant of warm weather. Its fur is also much better as wool. The large size combined with usable wool makes them a niche farm animal in parts of Europe. Crosses with boltund can produce the Wyndon stoutland. The fur of Wyndon stoutland is often repulsed from the body, making them appear much larger than they actually are. This has the side effect of dramatically reducing their cold tolerance.

More niche crosses include the static stoutland, a similar cross with manectric that is much smaller but better able to control electric energies. The plains, Mongolian or royal stoutland is an attempted cross with arcanine for use in colder areas. This is one of the few crossbreeds that is larger than a purebred stoutland. They have much thinner fur and better endurance than purebred stoutland as well.

While stoutland can interbreed with other canines those crossbreeds are not routinely bred for and are the result of individual pokémon taking an interest in each other. This is far more common in captivity than in the wild. Stoutland have been observed mating with most canines, with a few exceptions. Species that select mates based in part on intelligence (zoroark, ninetales, lucario, espeon, sylveon) are often reluctant to settle for a creature they perceive as juvenile at best.