EVERYONE: The Alola Pokedex

[Persephone]

Hariyama (Makuhita)

Overview

Hariyama were not the first pokémon to be tamed on Alola. The wayfarers brought their dartrix with them. A brionne choir quickly took interest in the new human inhabitants and developed a close relationship with the Alolans, especially the Seafolk who kept the wayfaring tradition alive. According to legend, the first kahuna of Poni Island wrestled with an incineroar for control of Poni Island. Upon defeat, the incineroar gave some of her cubs to the kahuna so that they might learn his strength. True or not, torracat breeding programs were well established by the time of first contact with Japan. A handful of other species frequently interacted with humans as intellectual equals (oranguru, slowking) or hunting companions (lycanroc). Some kahunas managed to bond with one or two pokémon of other species, such as minior or jangmo-o.

The importation of hariyama is viewed as the start of training for sports, pokémon battles as an alternative to war, and the island challenge itself.

Hariyama are eager to train, generally submissive, and terrifyingly powerful. For the first time in Alolan history, pokémon trainer could reliably wield the strength of two dozen soldiers. Training went from an accessory to hunting, agriculture, or scholarship to a means to political and military power. The island challenge was instituted to present aspiring trainers with a relatively peaceful way to prove themselves to the tapus as potential kahuna material and, later, as a means of replacing the monarch.

Today the political significance has been stripped away from the island challenge and scores of species are routinely trained. Hariyama still remains one of the best choices a trainer can make given their relatively modest care requirements, willingness to work, and raw power. They also have very distinct personalities and can make good companions (and a good reason to exercise) long after the island challenge ends.

Physiology

Both makuhita and hariyama are classified as pure fighting-types.

Makuhita loosely resemble a fat human. Thin, fuzzy fur coats their body. Most of this fur is yellow, but black stripes around the neck and hands are common. The hands have three very short fingers and a thumb. Their hands are nearly useless for anything but punches and push-ups. Makuhita generally have red rings on their cheeks and a long tuft of hair on top of their head. They have ear slits, but they are not very good at identifying where a sound is coming from. Much of their body is fat, but they are still far stronger than they look.

Hariyama, by contrast, have virtually no body fat. In fact, they have so little that it can cause them health problems (see Illness). Evolution makes them substantially bulkier, but this bulk is almost entirely solid muscle. Their hands are giant and flat with three wide fingers. The hair on the upper half of their body falls out, and their skin is very light grey. A tan plate of armor on their chest helps protect their internal organs, and a bony blue visor on their head protects the brain and new outer ears. Hariyama's lower half retains its fur, but replaces the old yellow coat with a blue one. They gain a series of flaps around their waist that help them regulate their internal temperature while exercising.

Hariyama can grow up to 2.5 meters tall and have a mass of 500 kilograms. Hariyama typically live for twelve years in the wild, but can live up to thirty in captivity.

Behavior

Fighting-types tend to be split into two groups. One are naturally powerful pokémon that always act feral, even when raised from birth in captivity. The other are relentlessly focused on improving their body and martial arts skills through training. Hariyama are a quintessential example of a Type II fighting type.

Wild hariyama prefer to form dojos with other Type IIs and humans. Lucario are their preferred pokémon partners in Alola. This partnership instinct is because makuhita can struggle to feed themselves as they are herbivores that lack useful fingers or a prehensile tail and are not tall enough to browse. Absent partners, they typically feed by hitting berry trees until the fruit (or the tree itself) fall down. Then they do push ups to eat the berries off of the ground. This method is inefficient enough that makhuita and hariyama without a mixed-species dojo can spend up to two-thirds of their waking hours eating.

In exchange for the assistance with feeding (and tying their hair), hariyama will use their bulk to scare away any would-be predators. Lucario are skilled and have fearsome ranged attacks, but they can struggle to slow, much less kill, very large predators. Hariyama can take on almost any wild pokémon in Alola and overpower them. Only powerful telepaths, large groups, salamence, volcarona, metagross, and particularly clever pokémon stand a chance at defeating a fully grown hariyama.

Hariyama revel in challenging anything approaching their power. They are known to take on buses, trains, and even airplanes during landing and takeoff. Members of the Melemele dojo routinely pick fights with visiting salamence, who are often quite happy to oblige for the sheer thrill of battle. Cameras in the Poni Colosseum have recorded several matches between kommo-o and hariyama with makuhita and jangmo-o sitting in the audience.

Makuhita are less aggressive in finding challengers. They mostly fight within their dojo, although they will defend themselves from anything that attacks them. Some particularly oblivious makuhita on Poni Island have mistakenly attacked exeggutor only to get launched thirty meters back. The exeggutor make no attempt to warn makuhita of their mistake, and have even been seen shuffling into groves and standing dead still whenever makuhita approach.

Husbandry

Makuhita have fairly normal food needs, although they will need their berries handed to them. They should be fed until they refuse food. . Mint leaves are also a favorite snack of the species. Litter box training isn't an issue. As long as a water bowl is tall enough for them to reach it mid push-up, neither is water.

The main problem with makuhita training is the training part.

Makuhita rise at dawn and they go to sleep at sunset. Between the two they are almost exclusively concerned with food and exercise. Trainers who want a break can simply give makuhita a berry pile. On the trail, makuhita view hiking and carrying gear as an exercise. They can also be left alone with barbells or a punching bag while their trainer goes about their business.

Ideally, a makuhita trainer will be very fit and capable of exercising alongside their makuhita. Being able to teach the pokémon martial arts moves is the best way to gain their respect. Balancing their strengths and weaknesses, makuhita is the best partner possible on the island challenge for athletic, motivated trainers who want to be the best and are willing to put in the work. Otherwise, they should be avoided in favor of Type I fighting-types like passimian, pancham, crabrawler, and scrafty make for a better companion.

Hariyama are more concerned with showing off their strength than improving it. Unlike makuhita, hariyama are willing to go into pokéballs for several hours a day (and all of the night) if they are routinely given worthy fights. In the absence of high level battles, they will need a gym with weights of at least a metric ton. After an island challenge is over, hariyama can be safely released on either Poni or Melemele if their trainer is unwilling to make the lifestyle or monetary concessions needed to raise a hariyama.

Illness

Very young makuhita and very old hariyama often develop cancers or respiratory problems. Most of these problems can be easily treated if caught early. The line can also catch and transmit several common diseases in humans, such as influenza.

The main health problem that hariyama suffer from is internal organ damage. Hariyama have very little body fat, relying instead on layers of powerful muscles to protect themselves. When flexed, the muscles form a nigh-unbreakable shield. However, if a hariyama is caught off guard with a sufficiently powerful hit to the torso, the shockwave can rupture an organ and potentially kill them. A hariyama should always be made aware that it is about to go into battle, and even playful sneak attacks should be avoided.

Evolution

When makuhita are strong enough, experienced enough, and have stored enough food, they begin the process of evolution. During the two to four month evolution period, makuhita drop all training and spend all of their waking hours eating. When the process is complete, they will set out on a path of wanton destruction to test their newfound strength. Evolution typically occurs between four and five years of age in the wild, and two to four in captivity.

Trainers wishing to hasten the process should provide their makuhita with plenty of training and interesting fights. For the year after evolution ends, the new hariyama will need to be used in several battles a week against worthy opponents. Otherwise they will begin to seek out their own challenges, some of which can be quite costly.

Battle

Hariyama is one of the most physically powerful pokémon in the world. They are also very, very tough and can keep on fighting at full strength for hours. While slow, this seldom matters because eventually a hariyama will land a hit and it is difficult for most pokémon to land meaningful blows on them. They fight mainly with their open palm slaps, shockwaves, and thrown rock attacks. Hariyama have a few other tricks, such as whirlwind and elementally charged punches, but for the most part hariyama does one thing and they do it terrifyingly well. Any team without a solid hariyama counter or a few checks will be crushed by a well-trained hariyama with a competent trainer.

Unfortunately for hariyama, their counters abound in the competitive circuits. Although they are not particularly weak to telepathic assaults, hariyama also do not resist them. This makes alakazam hariyama's hardest counter, since the psychic-type can hover above shockwaves and teleport away from whirlwinds, thrown rocks, and physical assaults while simultaneously tripping hariyama up with utility moves and hitting them in the brain. Gardevoir, espeon, gothielle, mega slowbro, and mime sr. are not quite as effective but can still usually take down a hariyama.

Floating steel-types and very fast ranged fliers can also put a stop to hariyama. Neither has much to fear from rock attacks (due to natural resistance or speed) and can stay well out of range of physical blows and shockwaves. The fliers are usually strong enough to power through a whirlwind, and the steel-types are too heavy to really care. This makes the relatively common bronzong, skarmory, magnezone, vikavolt, yanmega, dragonite, noivern, and talonflame solid counters to hariyama. More exotic picks such as harpyre and metagross are even more effective.

Quickstall teams can also make hariyama much less useful. They are usually fast enough to outpace hariyama, bulky enough to take the shockwaves or thrown rocks, and tricky enough to slowly wear their enemy down while keeping themselves healthy.

Finally, bulky ghost types such as South Isle decidueye, dusknoir, and jellicent can phase through the worst of hariyama's hits while using a variety of trips to bypass hariyama's natural defenses. These matches tend to be close and hariyama prevails more often than not, but the sweep ends very shortly afterwards.

Almost every professional trainer has at least one counter to hariyama at the ready. But a clever hariyama trainer can still play the long game, wear down or take out the checks, and then unleash an unstoppable force at the end. Hariyama can also be played as a mid-game wallbreaker, since they can break down common stall pokémon such as milotic, goodra, blissey, steelix, ferrothorn, forretress, hippowdon, or clefable and allow a teammate to sweep. It is also inadvisable to try and set up a sweep with a pokémon hariyama can defeat so long as the fighting-type is still reasonably healthy.

If the metagame were any less hostile to hariyama, it would be the single most threatening pokémon commonly held by professional trainers. Even as things are, hariyama is still one of the biggest threats in the world and skilled professional and amateur trainers should always have a counter plan in mind.

On the island challenge, makuhita are effective in battle but require patience. They are reasonably bulky and quite powerful, but rather slow. The trick is setting up a situation where the makuhita can get in a solid hit or two. If this is possible, they can defeat most young pokémon. If it isn't, they will probably be worn down and defeated in the end.

Hariyama's rather limited pool of tricks makes them a good choice for the island challenge. Simple hand slaps with a few rock and seismic attacks to hit distant foes is all hariyama really needs. Be wary of the counters listed above, but otherwise hariyama is likely to carry the match.

Acquisition

Makuhita can be found on Route 2 and on the eastern end of Poni. Only makuhita at least one meter tall may be captured. They require a Class I license to capture or purchase.

Hariyama can be found in many of the same places as makuhita. The ones that do not wish to go with a trainer have already been captured by the Melemele Dojo and the Poni National Park rangers. All others are legal catches with a Class III license (purchase requires a Class I, adoption is impossible as unwanted makuhita and hariyama are released to the wild).

Both stages are very insistent upon a proper capture battle. If a trainer cannot overpower them with any single team member, the pokémon will refuse to listen to them just because a piece of technology or superior numbers restrained them.

Breeding

Hariyama can be bred in captivity, but they strongly prefer being released to the wild to reproduce. The species can form emotional attachments to fighting-types of any gender. However, only heterosexual pairings with other hariyama, machamp, or primeape will produce offspring. Mating tends to happen after a hariyama's tenth birthday, but they reach sexual maturity upon the end of evolution. Older hariyama often settle down, have kids, and devote the rest of their lives to training makuhita.

Subspecies

The Alolan hariyama is slightly taller and substantially heavier than the Asian hariyama. This is due to the abundance of food in Alola.

Asian hariyama live in the temperate portion of Asia's Pacific coast, from southern China to the Korean peninsula and Japanese isles. They typically live in caves, only leaving to eat. Alolan hariyama sometimes take shelter in caves from bad storms, but otherwise avoid them. There is no consensus on why Asian hariyama prefer to live underground when they are large herbivores that need to spend several hours a day grazing.

 

[Persephone]

Smeargle

Overview

Smeargle might be the first pokémon partner humans ever had. 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. Most of 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 has a long prehensile tail 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 60 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, calming, 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.

A palette of smeargle typically have a distinct 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 by 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 smeargle conventions during new and full moons. Several inter-species summits have been seen during these times, and violent organized inter-species 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

In spite of 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. Ditto and zoroark are also unsuitable teammates for similar reasons. 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, among other pokémon. 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 serious 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 feeding.

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, but at the cost of fighting with five pokémon.

No ranked trainer currently uses a smeargle. Even in their one good use, 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 pineco, 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 role 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, making adoption usually the better option. Wild pokémon 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 take several years or several minutes before any mating occurs. Sometimes both parents help raise the child, 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

 

[Persephone]

Crabrawler (Crabominable)

Overview

When measured from base to peak, Mt. Lanakila is the largest mountain on Earth. It is also the only mountains with year-round snow cover in Oceania, courtesy of the ninetales that call it home. This unique environment—a tall, frozen mountain in the middle of tropical lowland—provides a home for many species not found elsewhere in Alola, as well as two species and two subspecies of pokémon that are not found anywhere else on Earth. Crabominable is uniquely adapted to the Lanakila ecosystem. They begin life as a small herbivorous species that hugs the warm shores before some move up to hunt in the perpetual cold.

Crabrawler are not particularly intelligent or affectionate. Evolution does little to fix these problems. They are powerful, easy to care for, and adjust well to captivity. At the end of a challenge, they can be taken to the nearest berry tree and released with little fanfare. For trainers who want a fighting-type powerhouse without a constant need to train or an expectation of lifelong friendship, crabrawler is as good a pokémon as any.

Physiology

Crabrawler are classified as pure fighting-types. Crabominable are dual ice- and fighting-types.

The hardened carapace of crabrawler is purple. They have four long, spindly legs with hook-like hairs at the end. Shortly after molting (see Evolution), crabrawler are light tan in color. Two of crabrawler's legs are shorter and have very large pincers at the end. Unlike other crustacean pokémon, these pincers are not primarily used for crushing objects. Instead, crabrawler punches things. Actual gripping attacks are rare and their crushing strength is unimpressive. Crabrawler have a long, sharp spine on top of their head. This makes them harder to attack from above.

The species has crude lungs instead of gills. They are unable to breathe in water after their planktonic stage (see Breeding).

Crabominable tend to be far bulkier than their preevolution. Their legs remain about the same total length, but are no longer spindly on their form. This makes crabominable rather slow. Thick, wooly hair covers crabominable's entire body, including their legs. The hook-like hairs used for climbing are replaced, as there are very few trees on Lanakila. The horn on top of their head is replaced by tufts of blond fur. When crabominable is buried, this fur resembles a lichen patch. Finally, crabominable have massive pincers that are no longer capable of gripping anything at all. They are spectacularly effective blunt instruments and crabominable can break even sandslash armor in a few solid hits. The pincers can be fired off in an explosive blast if needed, but this leaves the crabominable down a pincer and is rarely done in the wild.

Crabrawler grow up to one meter across and can weigh up to 20 kilograms. They typically live for eighty years in the wild. Crabominable can grow up to two meters across and weigh up to 100 kilograms. They can live for over a century.

Behavior

Crabrawler are primarily herbivorous. They climb up berry and coconut trees, get a solid grip on the with their legs, and then punch the trunk until the food they want falls down. In the case of coconuts, if the fruit is not shattered on impact the crabrawler will punch it until it bursts. Once the fruit has been cracked or splattered, crabrawler will lower their mouth to the ground and eat. Crabrawler don't care about picking up grass or sand alongside the berry flesh and juice; any minerals that aren't needed for shell growth will be harmlessly excreted.

They will fiercely defend any food they knock down, even taking on far stronger birds in defense of what is rightfully theirs. This extends to humans; if a berry has fallen from a tree near the coast, it's a good bet that taking it will trigger a crabrawler attack. Unless provoked or feeding, crabrawler are relatively calm and will seldom initiate hostilities. When attacked, crabrawler prefer to defend themselves with a barrage of quick, untrained punches. If this does not succeed, they will attempt trickery to make an escape (see Illness).

During low tides, crabrawler burrow into the sand on beaches and sleep. When the tide comes in, crabrawler leave their nests en masse to feed. A single beach can house hundreds or crabrawler. Despite living in close quarters, crabrawler are not particularly social creatures and only interact to fight over burrow or food territory or to mate.

Crabominable are primarily carnivorous. While they can eat plants in captivity (see Husbandry), they have never been observed eating any in the wild. Crabominable's ice-type attacks are the product of endothermic reactions inside of their gut. These attacks, along with their fur, keep crabominable warm in even the harshest of conditions. This allows them to hunt ice-type pokémon with relatively little risk of harm. Crabominable are primarily ambush predators that disguise themselves as a lichen before lashing out with one or two powerful hits. Alternatively, they will leave half a kill and bury themselves nearby to attract other carnivores. Sandslash, weavile, and snorunt are their primary prey. They may attack ninetales and vulpix, but this has never been observed. Video evidence suggests that crabominable have begun to hunt vanilluxe.

Outside of their feeding habits, very little is known about wild crabominable. The Alolan monarchs and Ula'Ula kahunas have historically prevented scientific studies on the mountain. Even after the construction of the Alolan Pokémon League, interference from ninetales and vanilluxe has made observations difficult.

Husbandry

Crabrawler spend almost all of their days buried or searching for food. This makes them very tolerant of pokéballs. So long as they are adequately fed, they are willing to spend almost all of their time in one. Net balls are preferable, although nest balls and regular pokéballs are also fine. They should be let out of their balls to eat, defecate, and explore for at least a half hour a day.

While exploring, crabrawler will often try to climb things. If something resembles a coconut or fruit, they may try to punch it until it breaks. Crabrawler almost universally believe that vases look like coconuts. Most believe the same about lamps and light bulbs.

Crabrawler cannot technically be housebroken, but they generally prefer to defecate on wood shavings, grass, mulch, or damp sand. If there is only one area around that fits, they will conduct their business there.

Crabrawler, but not crabominable, get stand-offish around birds. Type I fighting-types like hariyama, machamp, and lucario will often grow frustrated with crabrawler's refusal to discipline themselves or train in a martial art. Sometimes crabrawler will start fights with crawdaunt, araquanid, and ariados. Crabominable may view ice-type teammates as food and try to eat them. Conversely, they are very wary around canines.

Crabrawler should be fed a fruit-rich diet, with mice or small fish occasionally thrown in as treats. They will need water bowls to drink from. Because they lack gills and are relatively dense, crabrawler cannot swim nor walk along the bottom of a pool for long. All water dishes should be shallow.

Crabominable are primarily carnivorous in the wild, but they can be fed a fruit-heavy diet in captivity with few apparent side effects. They can drink water from dishes, but they prefer getting it from ice crystals or snow. Evolution makes them more curious, and they will appreciate a chance to hide in a box or buried under dirt or blankets while watching others go by. The trainer should always be at the ready to withdraw the crabominable if anything gets too close. Even the best trained crabominable will seldom pass up a tasty meal that walks right by them. Crabominable are very fond of back rubs; crabrawler are not. The same goes for cuddling with a known and trusted human.

Crabominable should either have an ice-specific pokéball or a cold place they can retreat to at least once a day. A crabominable kept in a blizzard ball will only need two to three hours a day outside of it.

Illness

Most crabs foam at the mouth as a means of regulating their internal salinity. Crabrawler don't have to worry about that, but they still foam. This is their means of producing relatively weak bubble attacks that can serve as a distraction for an escape. It can also intimidate predatory mammals away out of fear that their prey has rabies. Crabrawler are incapable of developing rabies. Foaming is a normal behavior and nothing that a veterinarian needs to be consulted about.

The overwhelming majority of legitimate health problems occur during molting. Very young crabrawler can shed their shell in favor of a new one once a week. For the first year of their life on land, crabrawler don't even bother to grow a hard shell between molts, instead moving between gastropod shells and other found objects. During molting, wild crabrawler burrow to a point just above the water table and stay there for several days until their new shell hardens. In captivity, crabrawler should be kept in one place and not withdrawn into their pokéball during the process. Ideally they should be given a dark, cramped safe place to hide in. Until the process is complete, crabrawler are soft and very vulnerable to injury. Wounds that ordinarily wouldn't be felt can be fatal in this state.

As they grow older, crabrawler molt less frequently but each molting gets more dangerous. Getting out of their shell and growing a new one is increasingly energy expensive, and eventually crabrawler can have a three week softshell period during which they will have to go out and hunt for food. In captivity this danger is somewhat alleviated.

Crabrawler never really stop growing, although their molting becomes less frequent as they age. They will eat everything they can, and well-fed crabrawler will grow (and die) faster. Trainers who don't intend to evolve their crabrawler should limit their pokémon to one-fifth of their body weight a day.

Crabominable don't usually molt unless their carapace is badly damaged. Their molts can take a month, during which they will almost certainly have to hunt to get enough nutrients to build the new carapace. Captive crabominable usually survive, but the process is best handled under inpatient veterinary care.

Evolution

There is a healthy amount of debate as to whether crabrawler should be classified as a second-stage pokémon. Their larval form is planktonic, and even after emerging from the water young crabrawler have very different behaviors than adult crabrawler (see Breeding). The official stance of the USDA at this point is that crabrawler is the first stage of a two-stage line, as tiny planktonic forms are not counted as proper evolutionary stages and juvenile crabrawler look very similar to adult crabrawler.

Crabrawler on Melemele, Akala, and Poni Island will almost never evolve. On Ula'Ula, crabrawler approaching adulthood will begin to migrate towards Mt. Lanakila. They will spend a few weeks foraging near the base, usually in Ula'Ula Meadow, before they begin their ascent. Evolution is triggered by a combination of cold and elevation. Stimulating it in a lab requires thinning the air as well as cooling it.

On top of the mountain, crabrawler will retreat into one of Lanakila's slightly warmer caves, tuck themselves into an isolated, dark corner, and begin to molt. They typically molt four times in rapid succession, growing larger with each stage. At the end of the final molt, the newly evolved crabominable will exit the caves and begin hunting.

Trainers who wish to evolve their crabrawler are best off going up Lanakila with their crabrawler usually out of its pokéball. At the top, the Pokémon League Center has an area devoted to evolving crabrawler. Trainers who completed their island challenge within the last year may use the facilities once free of charge.

Mt. Lanakila is the most dangerous location in Alola due to difficult weather and terrain, as well as an abundance of pokémon strong enough to deal with those obstacles. The mountain is currently infested with vanilluxe who go out of their way to kill vulnerable humans. Weavile won't hesitate to finish off a badly injured human or pokémon. Crabominable themselves can and will kill anything that gets too close to them. Ninetales will seldom kill a human outright, but they will stir up the weather to make further progress impossible and then escort the trainer down when they finally give in and decide to leave.

Even with marked paths, summitting Mt. Lanakila on foot is an incredibly dangerous endeavor. Only trainers who have completed an island challenge or otherwise earned the permission of all four kahunas are permitted to attempt it.

For whatever reason, crabrawler taken up the lift or flown up to the summit will not begin to evolve.

Battle

Neither crabrawler nor crabominable sees any use in professional battling. Both are strong, but they are relatively slow and undisciplined. Crabominable has modest bulk, but crabrawler is very frail. When options like machamp and hariyama exist, it's difficult to justify using crabominable. Theoretically the ice crab has a niche as a hail-team counter, but hail teams have never been common enough to dedicate an entire team slot to dealing with them.

Ice-types in general are rare in Alola, as most of them are restricted to the inhospitable Mt. Lanakila. Crabominable's main advantage over hariyama, machamp, and other Type I fighting-types is simply that they require almost nothing in the way of training. Put them in front of a target and they know what to do. While they are not as strong as a well-trained machamp or hariyama, they are stronger than either of the two untrained. They are also easier to train than other Type II fighting types such as passimian, bewear, pangoro, and primeape.

Most trainers on an island challenge will be using crabrawler, and not crabominable, until at least the Elite Four. While crabominable are bulky and powerful enough to hold up until the very end of the challenge, crabrawler start running into serious problems on the second island. By the end of the third they will be near deadweight. They can be taught some useful moves, such as thunder punch, power-up-punch, and rock-type attacks. But they will never hone their technique in the same way that Type I fighting types can, and their supporting movepool and willingness to use it are both limited.

Acquisition

Aside from the handful of cities and resorts that bother to try and keep them off the beaches, crabrawler can be found on almost all of Alola's shores. As the tide starts coming in, camp out near a berry or coconut tree near the coast. A crabrawler will probably come. They can be captured or purchased with a Class I license. Alolan shelters usually release crabrawler unless they are seriously injured; crabrawler adoptions are handled on a case by case basis.

After a quick proving battle and a few days with a steady provision of food, water, and shelter, crabrawler are usually bonded enough to listen to orders. It can take them a few days to make a connection between an attack and its name, and a few more to actually use the attack their trainer tells them to.

Crabominable capture is illegal due to a lack of information on how many exist in the wild and what impact recent disturbances on Mt. Lanakila have had on the species. They can be purchased with a Class II license.

Breeding

Crabrawler mate in late September. After the eggs are fertilized, females wade into the water and release their clutch before moving back onto land. The eggs hatch after one to two weeks into microscopic zooplankton. If the plankton approach a shore after a ninety day period, they will begin to grow and develop into crabrawler about the size of a grain of sand. The new crabrawler will swim towards the land. Once beached, it will begin to rapidly grow and develop lungs. They are typically thirty centimeters across within five months. Crabrawler do not reach their maximum size or reproductive maturity until they are at least thirty years old.

Crabominable do reproduce. Occasionally a female can be seen coming down to the surface, dozens of juveniles about twenty centimeters across clinging to her body. She deposits them and heads back up the mountain. At the time of deposit, the juveniles have a phenotype and genotype identical to their crabrawler-born peers. It is not known how crabrawler mate or raise young.

Crabmominable have never been successfully bred in captivity. While crabrawler have been, it is best left to biologists in laboratory settings.

Subspecies

There is one species of crabrawler that ranges from the southeastern coast of Africa to coastal India to northern Australia to Alola. They live anywhere in the Indo-Pacific with large fruit-bearing trees near the coast. There are no subspecies documented.

All crabrawler have the potential to evolve into crabominable. This has been shown with crabrawler from Madagascar and Australia transplanted to Ula'Ula. The crabs quickly understood what they needed to do and began to climb the mountain after a few weeks of gorging themselves. Mt. Lanakila is the only place with the right conditions (a permanently snow-capped mountain within five kilometers of a tropical coast) to trigger evolution.

 

[Persephone]

Gengar (Gastly, Haunter)

Overview

Throughout history, ghost pokémon have been treated with a mix of fear and reverence, and often both at the same time. Gengar are the most common ghost worldwide, and worldwide they have been treated with 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 mean that they are 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 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 fog is very toxic. Inhaling just a few grams can kill a human. Beyond inhalation, the fog burns and corrodes any living tissue that it touches. Gastly have relatively little control of 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 move into another realm and move through it, allowing them to get through solid barriers that even their gaseous bodies cannot penetrate. However, they are incapable of affecting the physical world in this state. It takes them several seconds to move between planes.

Haunter are far more condensed than gastly, typically forming 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 large, toothless mouth. Their tongue actually does not exist when not in use and is only formed as needed. It can be up to two meters long and inflict either the usual chemical burns of the spectral fog or different effects altogether such as paralysis, sleep, 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 40.5 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 other 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 both stages are capable of living out on the streets, they 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 of the line 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, and 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 instead. It is also 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.

No stage of the evolutionary line can 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 both 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 existing in a stage between toddlers and infants. 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 from going down a very dark path.

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.

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 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 captured, adopted, or purchased 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

 

[Persephone]

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. While not the strongest ghosts on the battlefield, they 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 mess 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 hearts 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 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 ghosts, 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, even when explicitly trained towards and rewarded. 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 need to feed. 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 returns easy 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 daylight 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. Other times, 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. But, 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, drifblim 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 best ghost on the island challenge in terms of power, 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, eventually 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

None known.

 

[Persephone]

Honchkrow (Murkrow)

Overview

Honchkrow have their flaws as a pokémon. Murkrow are fond of engaging their trainer in psychological warfare for one thing. Honchkrow are less sadistic but less likely to obey commands. Still, their intelligence and folklore make them extremely popular among a certain subset of trainer: teenage girls with no friends, a goth-inspired wardrobe, a chip on their shoulder. At least one literal vampire has befriended one.

Physiology

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

Murkrow have dark blue or black feathers over most of their body. There is a small tuft of feathers at the base of their tail, which fans out from a single point in all directions. Murkrow's talons and beak are devoid of feathers and pale yellow in color. The eyes are red and glow in the dark. The species strangest feature is their 'hat.' The hat has a circular brim of feathers extending horizontally from the top of their head. These feathers are quite dense and are easily mistaken for a solid layer. Three large tufts protrude above the brim.

Honchkrow are substantially bulkier than the rather scrawny murkrow. Evolution changes their tail pattern to something more typical of a bird, with a long horizontal row of feathers flowing out behind them. The talons become black with sharp white claws at the tips. White crescent markings form beneath the eyes. The tufts sticking out of the hat condense into only one or two short peaks, while the brim of the hat becomes longer at the front and back and stays roughly the same length on the sides.

Males have a white "beard" of long, soft feathers covering up the lower head, neck, and most of the chest. The inside of their wings are coated in bright red feathers. Females usually have pure black feathers; males have dark blue ones. Both sexes' feathers are iridescent.

Murkrow and honchkrow have a keen sense of smell for birds, as well as acute night vision. However, their hearing is limited to relatively high pitched sounds. Even honchkrow have relatively shrill cries despite their appearance and size.

Male honchkrow can grow up to 1.2 meters in length, including the tailfeathers, and weigh up to 15 kilograms. Females are somewhat smaller, seldom reaching lengths of one meter. They can live up to thirty years in captivity or forty in the wild. The average murkrow lifespan is closer to five years in the wild.

Behavior

The species tends to live in social groups with one mated pair of honchkrow and one to three dozen murkrow. Honchkrow are notoriously harsh bosses that punish failure through physical violence or ostracizing the offender and rallying other murkrow to bully them. However, the belief that honchkrow deliberately starve the murkrow like raticate starve rattata is false. While honchkrow prioritize their survival over the murkrow in extremely difficult times, the distribution of food in good times is usually rather equitable when adjusting for body mass.

Murkrow disperse at the start of the day. If one finds a kill, it flies back to the central nest and alerts the honchkrow. The honchkrow then fly out from their nest and stake their claim on the kill, bullying away anything that tries to take it. Historically this worked very well as most large native predators are either insects, fighting-types, or birds. The former two can be scared away by two very large corvids arriving. The latter can be beaten back by swarms of murkrow confusing them and honchkrow making strategic hits. The introduction of pack-hunting canines and snorlax has complicated this strategy. Even gumshoos and raticate can make staking a claim far harder than it otherwise would be.

The newly introduced competition has led to honchkrow gradually shifting to more of a predatory role. Their favored prey are raticate. Murkrow will swarm a raticate's nest and start carrying off food or beating up rattata. Eventually the raticate will become enraged and leave the nest. The murkrow take turns guiding the rat to the honchkrow, which descend from a high tree branch and kill or wound the raticate in a single hit. This "harass and lure" strategy works for most species that are unintelligent enough to fall for it and small enough to be killed in one strike.

Honchkrow have long been revered as psychopomps. In Alolan mythology, murkrow guide the dead to the base of Mt. Lanakila where ninetales take over and bring the souls up to the gods for judgment. "Honchkrow are psychopomps" is a common belief worldwide, largely because they are ominous and intelligent scavengers that flock to dead carcasses and scare off other would-be scavengers. The birds also tend to share territory with ghosts out of coincidence: honchkrow and ghosts prefer dense, dry forests with tall trees and abandoned human settlements. Part of the species' reputation of bringing souls to the afterlife is more literal. Murkrow have a habit of playing pranks on humans, including chasing or leading them off the trail and away from other group members in the middle of spirit-infested woods.

In terms of more benign pranks, murkrow are prone to stealing anything that interests them and can be carried away in their talons. The latter is not strictly a requirement, as one murkrow was observed trying to drag away a small television set several times larger than itself. A honchkrow eventually appeared and dragged it off into the forest. Shiny objects in particular are not safe. One of honchkrow's main activities in the wild is guarding and exploring the murder's stash of objects. This stash is usually kept in plain view to attract meowth and persian, which are promptly killed by either murkrow or one of the honchkrow.

A typical resting site is a very large tree with many branches, at least one of which needs to be thick enough to support a honchkrow or two. Ideally there will be few branches near the base of the tree so that other predators have a hard time sneaking up on the birds as they rest at night. Honchkrow periodically change nests. This involves every murkrow in the murder flying in several loops about one kilometer above the nest. Then the honchkrow take flight and all of the murkrow swoop down to join them in one large group. When the new nest is reached, the honchkrow rest as the murkrow again fly up and circle the nest. It is not known why they move nests or why the murkrow need to circle.

Husbandry

Murkrow are not an easy bird to raise. The only Alolan bird that might be smarter is xatu. And while xatu are mostly benevolent, if a little lacking in personality, murkrow are not. Murkrow are prone to pushing boundaries and playing pranks on their trainer. While they can be affectionate, breaking them in takes time and emotional energy that most trainers are simply unwilling to give.

Fortunately, murkrow are hierarchal. Unfortunately, murkrow only take orders from their parents. Unless a murkrow imprinted on their trainer at birth (see Breeding), they will not initially respect a human. Gaining their respect requires acting like a honchkrow. Many trainers assume that this just means bullying their pokémon. While setting expectations and boundaries and doling out punishments (ideally social punishments and not physical ones) is important, it is only half of the required behavior. Trainers must also subdue powerful enemies and routinely provide food. The latter is easy, but to build a connection murkrow must either only be fed when the trainer wins a battle or be allowed to eat multiple animals or pokémon the bird saw their trainer kill. Some level of physical affection is required, even when the murkrow is still prone to biting the trainer's ear whenever it gets a chance.

Honchkrow are prone to treating trainers like their children. This is true even if the honchkrow imprinted on their trainer at birth. Wild honchkrow are not particularly kind to their children. After losses in battle, they will harass their trainer just as much as a newly caught murkrow does. However, honchkrow are willing to share any kills they make and will occasionally cuddle with their trainer at night.

Both stages are very intelligent and easily bored. They will devote most of their creative talents to provoking their trainer and teammates if not given anything else to do. Sometimes training can be turned into a game of sorts, especially if puzzles are created that require a particular use of a move or combination of moves to solve. These are not easy to dream up, but there are several example training exercises online that work well. Alternatively, small puzzles that work well for humans tend to work well for corvids. Rubix cubes are a notable exception, as murkrow usually just take it apart rather than try to solve it. This is still entertaining for them, but only for a moment.

Honchkrow cannot be housebroken. They are certainly smart enough to understand the concept of it, especially when raised with other birds. The species just refuses to only defecate in one area. Murkrow waste is rather solid, but still has enough liquid to make it difficult to clean up. On the trail this isn't a problem, but it does become an issue when staying in a city or building for more than a few minutes.

The best diet for honchkrow is raw meat, bones and all. The birds will not eat the bones, but it will force them to solve a small puzzle while they eat. When they are done they even get new toys. If raw meat is not feasible, dried meat or primate biscuits can work for short periods. Unless it is particularly hot outside or they are not being fed raw meat, honchkrow do not need to drink water.

Honchkrow will usually pick up a handful of human words. While they are not the most skilled mimics of bird pokémon, they are capable of understanding the meaning of words and phrases. No fully fluent honchkrow has been observed but they can generally make their intent clear. Alola has several far nicer pokémon capable of communication and lifelong friendship, but some trainers adore their talking honchkrow companions.

Illness

Vaccination for avian cholera and the West Nile Virus is required within thirty days of capture.

The most common problems that captive honchkrow face are avian pox and parasites. Avian pox initially appears as wart-like growths on the beak or legs. If left untreated, the growths might turn into open, festering lesions that can cripple or wound the bird. There is no cure, but if treated by a professional veterinarian or birdkeeper recovery with only minimal scarring is likely.

Parasites include ticks and fleas. These are generally uncomfortable and can carry illnesses. If they latch on near the eyes they can cause permanent blindness. Grooming other pokémon and removing their parasites in front of a honchkrow will teach it that their trainer can remove the insects that they cannot. The pokémon will ordinarily groom itself, but approach their trainer and make a show of grooming themselves when they need help.

Unlike most birds, honchkrow bones are not hollow and are in fact very sturdy. If a bone does break it is unlikely to ever heal. Trainers should exercise caution in battle and immediately withdraw their pokémon and take it to a veterinarian if a bone does break. Murkrow bones are far less durable and far more likely to break, but they can recover when very young.

Evolution

Murkrow begin to evolve at around three years of age in the wild. The process takes another year. In captivity, especially when exposed to concentrated dark-type energy from a dusk stone, they can mature far faster. Evolution is marked by a period of rapid weight gain and bulking up. In the wild, this is when the new honchkrow leaves the nest. They do not immediately form their own murder, instead grouping into murders of sub-adults that roam between territories, scaring off other scavengers when possible and doing their own hunting when necessary. These sub-adult murders do have strict hierarchies with males at the top and females at the bottom. Every male and female knows their relation to every other member of their sex. While facially deferential to dominant honchkrow, the inferior bird will often do everything in their power to undermine their superior without getting caught.

Battle

Honchkrow in the wild finish their prey in one strike. They are not particularly adept fliers due to the weight their bones provide and their general bulk. The adults function mostly as a deterrent for mid-sized predators and a means of finishing off prey that murkrow cannot handle.

Unfortunately for honchkrow, there are several heavier birds that also rely on powerful impacts. Braviary and staraptor are two of their main competitors, although rarer choices such as haastile and harpyre are even stronger. The tricks that honchkrow can learn are not enough to compensate. Murkrow, while fast enough to effectively use disrupting moves, are too frail and weak to be considered a viable option.

On the island challenge things are quite different. Honchkrow do compete with braviary, but the latter is difficult to train as an adult and have a long maturation period. A single full body tackle from honchkrow plus a follow-up attack or two is strong enough to seriously hurt or knock out most opponents. The final few trials may be difficult, but honchkrow can still put a dent in almost anything. Brave bird or sky attack are ideal moves with sucker punch or dark pulse serving as a compliment. Heat wave, steel wing, or superpower provides useful coverage. Roost can keep honchkrow in a fight if it cannot win in a single hit.

Murkrow are fast tricksters. Even early on they are not very useful offensively, but their speed and intelligence let them fly circles around most opponents. Roost, a good offensive move or two, and a supporting disruptive move such as taunt, torment, or featherdance is all a murkrow really needs to annoy their foe and ultimately outlast their opponent. They work well on quickstall teams and when they evolve they can make for an effective breaker for any single pokémon the team cannot deal with.

Acquisition

Murkrow can be captured, purchased, or adopted with a Class III license. Honchkrow cannot be legally captured, but can be adopted or purchased with a Class IV license.

Honchkrow live on every island in Alola, usually in dry forests. They are most common on the lower portion of Route 2 and the Hau'oli suburbs on Melemele, Route 4 on Akala, Route 10 on Ula'Ula, and the upper levels of Vast Poni Canyon on Poni Island. It is best to capture a murkrow while it is scouting for food in the early morning. Approaching the main nest for a capture is a bad idea because the honchkrow are likely to get involved. While they are ordinarily reluctant to approach humans, much less attack them, honchkrow will kill trainers that stir up trouble near their nest.

Breeding

Honchkrow courtship occurs inside of sub-adult murders. A male will approach a female and display for her. If she shows interest, she will follow the male as he goes out to hunt. If successful, they will share the carcass and then go off to form their own nest. The female takes the lead on building the first nest while the male gathers sticks and other materials for it. Subsequent nests have their materials gathered by the older murkrow and assembled by the female honchkrow, who also mentors the female murkrow on the art of nest building. The male takes a more active role in hunting during these times to compensate for several murkrow being occupied with constructing the nest.

Honchkrow lay three to six eggs with an incubation period of about one month. The male and female take turns guarding the eggs, which are durable enough for a full grown honchkrow to sit on. Newly hatched murkrow are entirely dependent upon their mothers for regurgitated food. Murkrow that beg loudest tend to get fed more, regardless of whether they need the food as much as their quieter siblings. After leaving the nest at about fifty days old, murkrow are insatiably curious and investigate everything they see. They are escorted by a honchkrow everywhere they go outside the nest for the first three months. Older murkrow take over for another three before the young birds are accepted as full-fledged members of the murder with the same duties and supervision as their older siblings.

The species is difficult to breed in captivity largely because of the difficulty in finding a suitably partner. Female honchkrow typically accept less than 10% of their suitors. Surprisingly given their selectivity, females and males are willing to mate with other birds such as corviknight, toucannon, and mandibuzz. They can even have fertile offspring with the former. Honchkrow will also build a nest and insist on staying in one place. In captivity they are prone to stealing pillows, blankets, clothes, and other soft objects to line the nest with. Between egg laying and the chicks leaving the nest, honchkrow are prone to dive bomb anything that gets too close, including their trainer. While they seldom kill a human they know, broken bones are common. This is made worse because honchkrow usually nest near their trainer's residence, making it dangerous to just walk outside to get the paper.

Subspecies

Honchkrow range across Europe, Northern Africa, Australia, Oceania, and Asia. There are more than two dozen documented subspecies. The smallest are typically found on the Pacific Islands, although honchkrow in Alola are rather large due to competition from mandibuzz. Perhaps the most famous subspecies is the Siberian honchkrow due to their very fluffy appearance and tendency to puff themselves up around humans, forming a black ball of feathers.

The largest subspecies is the near-flightless Indian honchkrow that live in the foothills of the Himalayas. Male Indian honchkrow can reach two meters in length and are fearsome predators in their own right. They use their intelligence and keen hearing to track down nocturnal mammals while they sleep during the day. Indian honchkrow are large and powerful enough to batter their way into tree cavity nests and tear into burrows. Insects and other pokémon hiding higher up on trees are harassed by the murkrow until they fall down to the waiting honchkrow. Unfortunately, an antibiotic used in miltank farming proved lethal to honchkrow in even very small doses. Dead miltank were often left out in the fields as they were not used for meat. While the cause of the "honchkrow plague" was eventually discovered and the antibiotic is banned, the damage was done and the Indian honchkrow is now critically endangered.

Unlike most other species, honchkrow also vary substantially in behaviors across space and time. Murkrow seem to inherit very few instinctual responses and pick up most of their behaviors through teaching and experimentation. Hunting, housing, social, and childrearing behaviors can be rather different between closely related populations.

 

[Persephone]

Crobat (Zubat, Golbat)

Overview

Zubat have a reputation of being more of an annoyance than a potential boon to a traveling trainer. This is unfortunate as crobat are reasonably intelligent and affectionate companions that, unique diet aside, are rather low maintenance. Trainer who are squeamish around blood are generally advised to opt against training the species, as are trainers with several furry or carnivorous mammals as companions. Crobat are a natural fit on poison-type and flying-type specialist teams and do reasonably well in battle as a disruptor.

Physiology

All three stages are classified as dual poison- and flying-types.

Zubat have primarily dark-blue bodies. The legs are long and relatively thin. They have wings with a purple membrane in place of arms. Zubat have small and rather weak eyes. Their large fangs and ears balance this out.

Golbat are proportionally longer. While many people believe that their mouth makes up nearly 90% of their body, this is not the case. Golbat have a large black patch of fur on their chest with small bone growths resembling teeth growing out of their torso to scare prey and predators alike. Their actual mouth is relatively small and contains their real fangs. Golbat have much larger wings and much smaller outer ears than zubat.

Crobat look far more like zubat than golbat. The body is covered in a very thin layer of purple fur. They possess four wings, each with a unique muscular system that lets them extend or retract the membrane of their wing to their armbone, letting them crawl or fly relatively easily. The wing structure makes crobat virtually silent fliers. One crobat was observed flying for nine consecutive days without rest by switching off between the front and back set of wings when they needed to rest. Crobat have no external ears, but they do have internal ears. For reasons unknown, crobat's mouth is white on the inside.

Outside of zubat, the evolutionary line has more powerful vision than the average human. This is useful for seeing in the dark. They also have an extraordinary sense of hearing. All evolutionary stages use echolocation to scout out the world around them. Similar clicks are used for communication. All three stages have long hooks at the end of their hind-legs; crobat also have claws on their front wings. The Alolan subspecies possess multiple safeguards for their ears that let them hear very faint sounds but also cover their ear canal before very powerful vibrations can damage their hearing. This is an adaptation for routinely sharing caves with noivern.

Crobat are hemophages. They exclusively feed on blood. An all-liquid diet is not good for their digestive track and they must limit their feedings or risk overloading their kidneys. Most zubat are not patient enough to drink too much blood and crobat know their limits; golbat often have problems with overfeeding in the wild. Additionally, the liquid diet means that crobat must eat at least once every two days. Bats that do not get enough to eat will receive regurgitated meals from other members of the colony.

This unique-among-mammals diet is facilitated by the bat's specialized fangs. These are very thin and hollow on the inside. Unlike most fangs, these are used for sucking blood into the body rather than injecting venom (although crobat are venomous and can spit bloody, infected, slightly corrosive acid). Due to their frailty, these fangs often break. Crobat do not regrow fangs; upon injury, they must rely for the rest of their life on the generosity of other colony members. Defanged bats focus on protecting the colony's roosting grounds and providing assistance with childrearing.

Crobat can live up to nine years in the wild or fourteen in captivity. They can reach wingspans of 1.6 meters and can weigh as much as seven kilograms when hungry or nine kilograms when very full. Wild crobat can live up to six years; captive crobat can live up to nine.

Behavior

Zubat and golbat live in large colonies deep inside of caves. Any type of cave will do; in Alola colonies live in the dry caves of the Vast Poni Canyon system, along the banks of underground rivers in Seaward and Sandy Caves, in the frozen caverns of Mt. Lanakila, and in scalding hot tunnels beneath Akala Volcanoes National Park. Even large abandoned buildings will do. The largest colonies can contain upwards of 800 zubat and golbat at a time. The pokémon spend the day inside resting and engaging in social behaviors such as grooming. At night all but the youngest of zubat and one of the clutch's parents will fly out to hunt.

Zubat and golbat prefer to feed off of large diurnal pokémon. The bats are quiet and gentle enough, and their fangs sharp enough, that most prey do not even wake up. Smaller creatures, like humans, do occasionally fall prey to zubat in other parts of the world. However, in Alola food is almost always abundant. Attack is only likely if a trainer enters into the colony itself and either stirs up trouble or gets too close to baby zubat. Golbat will occasionally attack and kill rattata in a single impact or wing attack. They will then bring the rattata back to the colony or drain it on the spot. Tauros, miltank, ampharos, and mudsdale are some of the most common targets of zubat and golbat. Other observed prey species include kangaskhan, gumshoos, braviary, salamence, stoutland, snorlax, blissey, wigglytuff, magmortar, bewear, lickilicky, and hariyama.

Crobat tend to live in bonded pairs usually, but not always, consisting of a male and female. They either sleep or relocate during the day and then go on to hunt at night. Abandoned toucannon nests are some of crobat's favorite places to roost as they are large enough to fit two bats and still relatively difficult to access. Crobat will sometimes actively kill small pokémon to drain even in times of abundance.

Due to the many bloodborne illnesses crobat are carriers for, they have virtually no natural predators. Metagross, which are not subject to any known terrestrial diseases, do regularly hunt crobat. However, there are not many metagross in Alola and they tend to hunt more interesting prey than small bats. The zubat line's mortality rate is still rather high given the risk that feeding on much larger creatures carries.

Husbandry

The main problem with caring for captive crobat is their diet. So long as the trainer stays in one place, they are relatively easy to feed. Crobat and golbat can be provided with a dish full of blood placed at the edge of a counter. The bat will fly over and drink from it while hovering in place. Zubat can be fed from ice cube containers filled with blood. Tauros blood is rather easily obtained from butcher shops. A mix of blood and an anticoagulant (12 grams dextrose, 4 grams citric acid, 11 grams sodium citrate per gallon) should be used rather than raw blood. Crobat naturally apply an anticoagulant when absorbing blood through their fangs, but blood they drink can clot and cause health problems. The coagulant mixture can be homemade or purchased from some specialty pokémon stores. Some specialists recommend a mix of different bloods. Other experts recommend putting multivitamins into the mix. The efficacy of either dietary option has never been empirically proven and both can be rather expensive.

Crobat must be fed once every two days, although daily feedings are recommended. Recommended feedings are five to six milliliters a day for a zubat, ten to twelve for a golbat, and fifteen to twenty for a crobat. Any more and there is a risk of overwhelming the kidneys. Lower end feedings should be applied to relatively sedentary pokémon and higher end portions should be used for frequent battlers or delivery pokémon. Water is not needed on days where blood is provided. It must be provided on days where blood is not given as crobat dehydrate very quickly.

Golbat and crobat are intelligent enough to be housebroken or learn to urinate outside. Zubat can be "trained" by putting a litter mat underneath their preferred roost. This will solve most problems. Speaking of roosts, zubat and golbat need one when out of their pokéball. While they can be kept in pokéballs for a few hours a day (or in dusk balls for two six hour shifts in a twenty four hour period), all stages want to spend a lot of time out of their pokéball. They are social creatures and want to play, explore, or interact with their trainer or other pokémon. While technically nocturnal, crobat only sleep about five hours a day split into many short naps. Ideal crobat roosts provide a relatively sheltered area and a place to hang from. Shower rods work well enough, and small zubat can use coat hangers. Crobat are perfectly capable of staying in near-perpetual flight, but they also appreciate a place to roost from time to time.

Crobat rely on other bats to groom them in the wild so their trainer will need to take over this role. This is a good way to earn the pokémon's trust. Music and other strange vibration patterns can serve as toys or bonding experiences.
Some trainers let themselves be food for their crobat. While this is a cheap way of obtaining blood, it messes with the bat's bonding instincts. Furthermore crobat are known to carry many bloodborne illnesses, including HIV, malaria, West Nile virus, and rabies. The risk of contagion and their innate hunting instincts make training a crobat on a team full of diurnal mammals somewhat inadvisable, although it can be done with firm boundaries and frequent blood tests on the crobat.

Illness

Crobat are immune to almost all bloodborne illnesses. They are one of the only mammals that are extremely resistant to rabies. The species' unique immune system makes most vaccines ineffective on them. Battling trainers will need to give their pokémon periodic physicals to make sure they are not carriers of rabies or one of the other pathogens that make them unable to participate in League sanctioned battles.

The species suffers from one big drawback: they aren't built to last. Zubat and golbat rarely recover from serious wing or fang damage, and both areas are very fragile. In the wild this is counterbalanced by the many, many able-bodied members of the colony stepping up to provide for the disabled. In captivity a broken wing isn't a death sentence, although the bat may never fly again. Broken fangs do not regrow but are not a serious health problem unless the site becomes infected; captive crobat lap up blood in containers rather than pulling it in through their fangs. Defanging is even a standard operation for families who just want a zubat as a pet rather than a battling companion.

The vast majority of crobat health problems either are a result or cause of dehydration or overhydration. Mid-range portions should be given every day until a veterinarian can be consulted.

Evolution

Zubat usually evolve into golbat around sixteen months of age. The process is one of gradual growth, with the formal demarcation line marked by all four faux-fangs breaking the skin. Golbat flash evolve into crobat. Severe injury appears to prevent evolution but minor wounds are instantly healed in the process. Only the best of hunters evolve. Fewer than one in fifteen wild golbat evolve, but nearly one-third of captive golbat do. The leading theory is that consistent feedings and occasional combat fool the body into thinking that the bat is a very successful hunter. Crobat evolution can take place anywhere between the golbat's third and seventh birthday.

Battle

Crobat are too fragile and not powerful enough to have had much impact on the competitive battling scene. Even trainers who want to use a bat have the stronger kelawapi, swoobat, and noivern to pick from. In the very limited use they have seen, they served as fast disruptors firing off taunts, toxics, hypnoses, defogs, tailwinds, and supersonics before the opponent can react. Their frailty makes them an awkward fit on quickstall, though.

On the island challenge crobat can be rather effective due to the sheer difficulty of hitting it. Crobat can fly up to 200 kilometers per hour in shorts burst and they average about 120. Their moderately powerful aerokinesis and venomous spit can be used to slowly whittle away at an opponent's health. Trainers willing to shell out money on special TMs and tutoring can teach coverage moves such as heat wave and dark pulse. Nasty plot can be used for boosting, but requires a crobat to stand still for longer than is advisable.

Draining moves can be used but put crobat's delicate fangs at risk. They should only be used to finish off sleeping opponents with a powerful bug bite or giga drain. The same goes for contact moves. While crobat moving at max speed can hit opponents very hard, the impact is likely to hurt crobat far more than their opponent.

Acquisition

Zubat and golbat can be found inside of almost every cave in the commonwealth. However, wading into a colony and attempting to stir up trouble will lead to a fight. Golbat are not polite enough to charge their opponents one at a time, which makes fighting difficult and potentially dangerous. The best way to catch a zubat or golbat is to wait outside of a cave entrance at dusk. When the bats come out, try and isolate one and start a battle. As soon as they've exited the cave, only crobat looking after their children will bother to stay back and defend fellow colony members. Zubat can be purchased, captured, or adopted with a Class III license; golbat and crobat require a Class IV to purchase, capture, or adopt.

Crobat are far more difficult to find than their preevolutions. The best way to bait them is to leave a large mammal asleep in a clearing at night and wait to see if anything shows up. Alternatively, looking around forests with very large trees in hopes of finding a toucannon nest can work. Sometimes there will be something more aggressive than a crobat inside of these nests, though, and partners will back each other up in combat. All things considered, it is recommended that trainers look for a zubat or golbat instead.

Breeding

In the wild, a mated crobat pair return to the male's colony once a year to mate. Pregnancy lasts for six weeks. The female will then give birth to a clutch of eight to twelve zubat. Both parents, along with other colony members, assist in raising the children. Only one crobat will leave the cave each night, the other staying back to defend the children. As mammals, crobat nurse their young. Babies don't begin to get some regurgitated blood until they are four weeks old. They still nurse until their parents leave the colony four months after birth.

Captive breeding and even hand-raising zubat is possible. Newborn zubat require a cramped, dark place with adequate roosting space and a place to put food. For the first three weeks, hand-raised zubat will need to be fed with a syringe filled with milk. The bats will lap milk off the end of the syringe rather than suck on it. They instinctively understand to do this. After this bowls and ice cube containers can be used to facilitate the gradual introduction of blood. If a female crobat is watching after the babies, she can be trusted to nurse and regurgitate enough blood to allow for proper development. Otherwise a mixture of blood and milk should be used until the babies are four months old, at which point they can be fed blood alone. A good list of appropriate blood-milk ratios at varying ages can be found online in the AZA's guide to zubat husbandry.

Subspecies

Crobat occupy a wide range of habitats. In spite of this, their geographic range is limited to eastern Asia and remote Pacific islands, with a handful of introduced colonies in Europe, South Africa, New Zealand, and North America. Most subspecies are relatively similar to each other, with slight variations in wing power and fur thickness. The European crobat, which historically shared much of its range with noivern, has developed safeguards to their hearing similar to the Pacific crobat.

The Pacific crobat, the dominant subspecies in Alola, has the strongest wings of any crobat. However, they are somewhat slower than the other subspecies. Northern crobat can fly up to 300 kilometers per hour in short bursts, compared to 200 kilometers per hour for the Pacific crobat.

The Northern crobat have thinner fur than the harsh winters of their environment would suggest. This is because they seldom leave their homes in the winter, instead slowing their metabolism and draining other hibernating creatures who retreat into the caves with them. Snorlax are a favorite of theirs, but finding blood vessels beneath the fat can be challenging and risk waking the bear up.

 

[Persephone]

Dugtrio (Diglett)

Overview

Alolan dugtrio are not the best battlers. Traditionally they were associated far more closely with peace and agriculture than war. However, they are scientifically fascinating creatures with enough power to make it through most of the island challenge. While “cuddly” is not a word often used to describe dugtrio, they are loyal and relatively easy to please. They are also a fair bit more expressive than most of the inorganic steel types and easier to obtain than all but one of Alola’s ground-types.

Physiology

Diglett and dugtrio are classified as ground- and steel-types. The ground typing is due to their terrakinesis and subterranean habitats. The steel typing is due to the metallic core of their whiskers and slightly metallic nature of their subdermal armor. There is increasing consensus that the armor is more stone than metal and their secondary typing should be changed to either rock or water. Still, dugtrio are competent at wielding metallic elemental energy.

Diglett rarely put anything more than their head above the surface. As such, most people know diglett as a dark brown creature with a long straight neck, a thin mouth, wide eyes, and a large pink nose. A small tuft of golden whiskers adorn the top of their head. Below the surface, diglett are a fair bit longer and have two sets of legs with waterproof brown fur, webbed feet, and sharp claws.

Above the surface, dugtrio resemble a group of three diglett huddled together. The one major difference is that their hair is much, much longer. In the wild it is usually unkempt and somewhat dirty, with differences in texture and length varying between heads. In captivity it has often been kept very clean and styled along the lines of human hair. While it is perfectly fine to gently clean dugtrio’s hair, cutting or styling it is no longer recommended as it makes the pokémon uncomfortable and may cause actual pain. At minimum it interferes with the pokémon’s ability to sense the world around it, navigate, hunt, and battle.

Beneath the surface, dugtrio are rather different than diglett. While diglett are relatively slender, dugtrio are very stocky and bulky. All three necks are able to rotate 360 degrees independently of each other. Each head seems to possess a degree of independence, but outside of occasional food squabbles they are remarkably in synch with each other.

Compared to most dugtrio, the Alolan dugtrio have very hard subdermal armor. Contrary to popular belief, this is not because the dugtrio need to dig through volcanic soil. All dugtrio subspecies are capable of digging very deep into the earth and withstanding relatively high heats and pressures. However, the crust under Alola is mostly composed of basalt. Most continental crust is made of the far less dense granite. Because the Alolan dugtrio takes these dense minerals and trace metals into a thin layer of armor under their skin, they are somewhat more durable. Furthermore, the Alolan dugtrio has some of the lowest physical strength of all subspecies as they seldom need to dig very fast and mostly stick to the loose soils around wetlands, coasts, and the Haina Valley.

What makes the Alolan dugtrio extraordinary are their lengthy whiskers. In addition to being aesthetically interesting, the whiskers are extremely sensitive and can detect an average car from up to ten kilometers, footsteps from up to a kilometer away, and virtually every vibration within fifty meters of them. Each whisker is coated in nerve endings and taste buds that allow them to decide if something is edible and then ignore it or move to eat it in less than one fiftieth of a second. Stranger still, dugtrio can smell underwater by rapidly blowing bubbles and inhaling them.

Behavior

Dugtrio typically live in three locations: very loose sandy soils, subterranean rivers, and shallow ponds on the surface. In deep subterranean waters, dugtrio hunt by digging beneath the lake and letting their hair rise up and sense the world around them. If they find food, the dugtrio springs into action and kills it before quickly retreating below the surface, using a strange secretion and terrakinesis to seal up their hole before it can become flooded. If they do not find food, they will seal the hole behind them and rapidly swim towards vibrations in the water until they find food. Then they will rise to the surface, catch their breath, and prepare to dive back down and back into their hole.

In shallow surface waters dugtrio do not need to dive up into the water to find prey. Instead they move along the bottom, raking up the substrate to drive out invertebrates. If they sense a fish or small dewpider on the surface they will burst out of the water and try to kill it in one go. This is when dugtrio are most often seen on the surface.

The dugtrio that live in shallow sands typically either use their vibration sensing abilities to hunt for other substrate dwellers or stay beneath the surface and wait for something small to walk over them. then they will rush out and attempt to kill their prey in a single hit. While continental dugtrio have often been observed using antlion traps to capture prey, the Alolan dugtrio has never been seen doing so and prefers to rely on blunt force impacts.

When they are not hunting, dugtrio typically relax in the elaborate tunnel system they dig beneath their territory. For sand dwelling dugtrio these burrows can be deep below the surface where the sand ends and the clay and bedrock begin. Coastal dugtrio often dig their burrows a little inland to avoid having their tunnel networks flooded.

Because taro grows best in very wet soils or patties, dugtrio naturally show up around taro farms. There they serve the dual purposes of tilling the soil in and around the taro and killing the insects that would have devastated the crops. Dugtrio’s agricultural importance, and not their hair, was why they were regarded as minor fertility gods throughout the archipelago.

Outside of evolution and maybe mating (see the relevant sections), dugtrio are relatively solitary. They do not allow other diglett or dugtrio to use their tunnels unless they are merely passing through to a different hunting ground not currently occupied by either pokémon.

Husbandry

The biggest problem in caring for dugtrio is their extreme reluctance to be entirely exposed on the surface. While they do not suffer the near-instant sunburns that other subspecies do, they still get extremely uneasy when they cannot retreat into the earth. Dugtrio will often try to dig through pavement or floors to get most of their body underground. They are strong and fast enough to make a good start before being withdrawn. Thankfully, dugtrio are incredibly tolerant of pokéballs and can spend up to twenty-three and a half hours a day in one so long as they are well fed. This probably stems from their natural tendency to relax in cramped dark spaces when not hunting.

In captivity dugtrio should be fed a mix of fish, crustaceans, insects, and occasional kibble or red meat. Small quantities of iron, obsidian, and basalt should be mixed in with their food. Dugtrio can eat up to one-third of their body weight each day. They will need to be provided with a water dish every few hours. Ideally dugtrio will have frequent access to shallow ponds or pools. Many trainers make taro patties as a source of income and a home for their pokémon.

So long as they are well fed and their other needs are met, dugtrio will often stay nearby trainer. When newly captured they may make frequent escape attempts and require constant vigilance and many withdrawals. Even the most loyal of dugtrio will rarely initiate physical affection. They generally tolerate touch when initiated by familiar humans or pokémon but will otherwise bolt away from the potential attack. Outside of grooming sessions, which are not necessary, their whiskers should never be touched.

Because of their tendency to dig when stressed or startled dugtrio do not make good housepets.

Illness

While dugtrio have lived alongside humans for millennia, they have only been held in captivity for the last three decades. The initial forays into dugtrio captivity led to many deaths from stress, starvation, infection, cuts, blunt impacts, or thirst. As such the more natural health problems that plague dugtrio have only just begun to be understood.

Rabies has been documented in the Alolan dugtrio and vaccination is required. Tapeworms and fleas are more common problems. Unfortunately, veterinarians have not yet worked out proper insecticide doses for dugtrio and medication is not advised. Coastal and subterranean dugtrio do have higher mercury concentrations in their whiskers and blood than dugtrio in the Haina Valley, but the metal doesn’t appear to have any ill effects.

Evolution

Dugtrio evolution is poorly understood. While captive dugtrio have evolved, it has been rare and poorly documented. It appears that three close diglett may make a pact to evolve and subsequently dig several kilometers into the earth. They will sometimes reemerge at the same spot several weeks later and seek out their human caretaker. Because evolution is not possible to replicate on the surface, requires three separate diglett, and often leads to abandonment trainers who want a dugtrio are recommended to catch the evolved pokémon in the wild.

Battle

The Alolan dugtrio has only been used by two unranked professional trainers, both within the last five years. Both trainers have their pokémon take advantage of loose soil and the cover of a sandstorm to make fast strikes with their sharp whiskers or undermine the opponent’s footing through seismic attacks.

The Saharan dugtrio has been used extensively in competitive battling, including by three ranked trainers. Indoor stadiums inhibit the pokémon’s movements and often outright ban dugtrio, but most high-end general purpose stadiums are either outdoors or have a deep pool of loose dirt under the battlefields. Six of the seven Continental Conference tournaments use arenas with deep soil cover. This is a relatively recent change as the finals of the Uluru Conference took place on Uluru itself until 2013. The Southern Conference takes place on an ice sheet with chalk markings delineating the field. Because it is held in the Antarctic winter only ice-types, fire-types, and other extremely cold-resistant pokémon are used.

The antlion traps used by the Sahara dugtrio block pokéball withdrawal on anything stuck inside of them. This makes dugtrio very effective slayers of steel, rock, and electric types whose opponents cannot switch out regardless of a conference’s rules. On balance, dugtrio are rather weak and incredibly fragile. One moderately powerful hit to the head will shatter the pokémon’s armor and force surrender.

On the island challenge dugtrio and diglett work best in very loose soils with sandstorm support. They struggle to do much on concrete or pavement and often immediately panic over being unallowed to dig. Under more ideal conditions, dugtrio are rather fast and can duck into the earth to avoid most attacks. Slightly precognitive pokémon can hit them when they surface and seismic moves can collapse dugtrio’s tunnels and cause substantial damage. Because newer trainers are unlikely to have either option available or the raw power to collapse tunnels by striking the ground indiscriminately diglett is very effective early in the island challenge. Dugtrio is somewhat less useful later in the challenge when opponents are bulky enough to take some attacks, fast enough to strike dugtrio when they surface, and powerful enough to win in one or two good hits.

Acquisition

Diglett require a Class I license (and $20,000 of mandatory insurance coverage) to capture, adopt, or purchase; dugtrio require a Class II license (and an identical insurance premium to diglett).

While dugtrio are most easily found in taro farms, the owners are unlikely to let trainers capture their very helpful resident moles. As such, the best places to catch them are in sandy soils and in wet caves. An exception to this rule are the terrace streams of Route 5 where dugtrio often hunt in the shallow ponds in front of waterfalls.

Beaches and the sandier portions of Haina valley are prime dugtrio habitat. Unfortunately, dugtrio seldom even peak above the surface for long. The best way to find and capture a dugtrio is with bait. While it may not be ethical to subject one of your pokémon to a (often lethal) sneak attack, follow around small pokémon and animals for long enough and you might see a diglett or dugtrio strike. The window of opportunity is very short unless a sleep-inflictor or dedicated trapper is available. It’s usually better to just throw a pokéball and skip the battle.

Dugtrio also live in the subterranean rivers, lakes, and coves of the islands. Sandy Cave, the lower levels of Verdant Cavern, Seaward Cave, Diglett’s Tunnel, and parts of the Altar Cavern-Poni Crystal Mines-Terminus Cave complex are all prime habitat for diglett and dugtrio. It is important to stay near motionless beside a stream or pond away from the most traveled paths. Ideally no lights should be used and a pokémon capable of navigating in total darkness should be on hand to initiate a battle when a mole shows up. Dugtrio completely surface when an upward dive is unsuccessful providing as good a chance as any to start a fight. The pokémon will usually be surprised enough at a large threat appearing deep in their tunnels that a few free hits can be put in. Sudden blinding light from a flashlight or headlamp can also stun the pokémon for long enough for a pokéball or two to be thrown.

Breeding

Like evolution this is poorly understood. It is not even known how to determine the sex of a dugtrio. Or how courtship works. Or whether dugtrio mate for life. Or how frequently dugtrio breed or what the size of their litters are. They have never been bred in captivity and this seems unlikely to change in the foreseeable future.

Subspecies

Broadly speaking, dugtrio can be grouped into five groups of subspecies found throughout the Old World and Pacific islands. While there is extensive fossil evidence of dugtrio populations in the Americas, it is believed that excadrill led to the extinction of these subspecies.

Cave dugtrio are most common in Japan, China, and Southeast Asia. These dugtrio are blind and have very thin skin and light subdermal armor, making them incredibly prone to sunburns and ill-suited for life on the surface. They tend to hunt in subterranean caves. Unlike the Alolan dugtrio, cave dugtrio subspecies are usually reluctant to enter the water for even very brief periods of time. Cave dugtrio sometimes hunt with precise strikes from below but are just as likely to hunt by collapsing the ground or an entire cavern onto their prey. There is evidence that cave dugtrio can live for over 100 years and can go half a decade between hunts.

Farm dugtrio typically live in the fertile grasslands of Europe. They face competition from the burrowing rattata in Africa and have been unable to establish a foothold in the savannah. Farm dugtrio do not hunt in ponds or have much affinity for water. Instead they carefully move around the root systems of grasses and other plants and eat the insects that try to feed on the roots. While they are slightly less sensitive to sunlight than cave dugtrio, they still almost never put their head above the surface. Because they both till farmland and eat parasites they were and are revered by farmers.

Sand dugtrio include the Sahara, Kalahari, Kalosian, and Gobi subspecies. While there are slight differences between the three, most notably in the properties of their traps, they follow the same general approach to hunting. All of these subspecies except for the Kalosian sand dugtrio are social. They use antlion traps to abruptly collapse the earth beneath their prey. When they hunt individually, dugtrio can snare and kill small desert species such as katsmere and sandshrew. In packs dugtrio can take down entire herds of domestic camerupt and the humans who ride them. Desert-dwelling peoples have traditionally viewed them as gods of vengeance and have often hunted other species to leave on the ground as offerings to the dugtrio. This pact has led to greatly reduced mortality rates among the nomads. In fact dugtrio often defend caravans from predatory pokémon and invading humans that do not pay proper tribute.

Mantle dugtrio probably do not live in the actual mantle. But they do live deep in the Earth, well below the seafloor. Very little is known about them. Their existence is only known through seismic tracking of small earthquakes, the existence of the Alolan dugtrio an ocean away from the other subspecies, and a single half-melted corpse found after the eruption of Mt. Saint Helens. This dugtrio specimen was nicknamed Helen by the discoverer and the media.

The Alola dugtrio is in a subspecies class of its own due to its behavioral similarities to desert, farm, and cave dugtrio. While the other subspecies are distinct from one another even when they share a range, Alolan dugtrio in all three habitats are very closely related. Dugtrio that hunt on the beaches have been known to move to caves or rice patties. Genetic testing on Helen confirmed that mantle dugtrio are the Alolan dugtrio’s closest relatives.

 

[Persephone]

Fearow (Spearow)

Overview

Fearow are often overlooked by trainers. While it is true that they lack the raw power of toucannon or braviary, the intelligence of honchkrow or xatu, or the durability of mandibuzz or skarmory, fearow have a niche. One of the two flying birds that is stronger is braviary, which is infamous for its slow maturation rate. The other, archeops, is incredibly difficult to obtain. Trainers who want a powerful bird that won’t take up all of their time or money are advised to consider fearow.

Physiology

Both evolutionary stages are considered dual normal- and flying-type pokémon. Neither ruling is disputed.

Spearow are small birds with relatively long featherless legs. The stomach feathers are white and the feathers on their head and back are primarily dark brown with red stripe patterns. The beaks are somewhat longer than the average bird their size. Spearow are most famous for the loud whistles they use to communicate with each other.

Fearow have longer legs and wings. The coloration of their wing and back feathers changes to a pattern of white stripes on black feathers. Fearow’s most notable features are their long flexible neck and their sharp beak. These are both employed in hunting fish: the neck lets fearow stand in rather deep water and the beak can be used to grab small fish or spear larger ones. The birds have excellent eyesight and hearing to locate their prey. Like noivern, fearow cannot fly with wet feathers and need to stand still in the sunlight with wings spread out in a semicircle as they dry. Anything that approaches a sunning fearow will be given a warning whistle before receiving a series of powerful stabbing attacks.

Despite being primarily aquatic, fearow do not have waterproof feathers or webbed feet. They are wholly unable to swim and must rely on wading to move through the water. What they lack in swimming ability they more than compensate for in flight. Fearow’s long broad wings are excellent at catching thermals and fearow can dramatically lower their metabolism when they glide. This lets them migrate up to 500 kilometers without having to touch the ground or feed.

Fearow can live up to ten years in the wild or twenty in captivity. They often obtain wingspans of two meters and can weigh up to five kilograms.

Behavior

Spearow primarily live in brush and tall prairies. Farmers who grow crops on dry soils love spearow because they hunt the insects that plague crops. They have been dubbed the diglett of the air. Spearow are rather social and live in flocks of five to fifteen birds. Both stages are primarily diurnal, although fearow often take midday naps and have brief periods of activity at night. When spearow are not hunting they prefer to take refuge in trees.

Fearow are piscivorous. Unlike the many other piscivorous birds in Alola, fearow prefer to hunt in relatively shallow estuarine waters and inland streams. Their main competitors in this role, araquanid and bewear, are deterred by the prospect of an elementally-charged peck. Fearow spend almost all of their time sunning, sleeping or fishing. They live in mated pairs rather than large flocks. While one hunts, the other watches for vikavolt and predators. At night both fearow fly into a large tree to sleep.

Husbandry

Spearow are relatively easy birds to care for. The bulk of their diet should be made up of insect mixes. Popped or unpopped popcorn serves as an effective treat for reasons that are still not well understood. Dishes of water should be provided once or twice a day. Spearow are diurnal and rather social birds and will prefer to be out of their pokéball and near their trainer for as much of the day as possible. The first major drawback to this is that spearow, like most birds, have a tendency to defecate when they take off. This means that it is difficult to housebreak them. More importantly for some trainers spearow have a tendency to stay perched on their trainer until something catches their attention and they fly after it, defecating on their trainer as they do so. The second drawback to having a spearow out is that they are territorial birds that will sometimes attack other pokémon that get too close.

Fearow are less of a hassle in public, but the larger amounts of (more expensive) food they require them somewhat more difficult to care for. Fish should be the core of their diet with periodic additions of tarantulas or other large insects. Coconuts make good training tools and treats as the birds love to stab into them and drink. When thrown they can work as a target as the fearow tries to strike through it in midair. Dips in water are also good for calming fearow and potentially even providing them with free food. While spearow are tolerant of pokéballs at night, fearow are not and prefer to roost near their trainer. Unfortunately, they are also difficult to housebreak and produce a rather large amount of waste. Stationary trainers are not advised to have carpet installed in their bedrooms.

Spearow require shows of dominance to bond with at first, followed by a slew of battles or games to keep the pokémon entertained. Fearow are best bonded with through displays of kindness and affection. Other birds are useful for enticing either bird to stay and take orders. This makes them common on bird specialist’s teams. Both stages are quite capable of cleaning themselves from anything but oil-based attacks.

Illness

Like many bird species, fearow can be carriers of avian influenza. The disease generally causes no harm to fearow, but may kill other birds. Bird-to-human transmission has been documented but is extremely rare, even among bird trainers, so long as basic sanitary measures are observed. Trainers should thoroughly wash their hands after handling fearow waste. Because of the lack of symptoms it is difficult to diagnose carriers. If another bird in the party comes down with avian influenza, a more thorough test on the fearow can be conducted.

Avian botulism has been a recurring problem among fearow in Alola. A series of outbreaks between 2004 and 2009 strongly contributed to the Alolan swanna’s numbers plummeting to twelve captive birds, all off the islands. Fearow fared little better but populations began to recover due to the lack of competition from swanna and the decreased concentration of waterfowl making it more difficult for the pandemic to spread. Trainers should be very mindful of the symptoms of avian botulism such as partial paralysis in the wing, difficulty swimming, and labored breathing. The bird stands a decent chance of survival if the disease is caught early.

Mercury, pesticide, and insecticide concentrations are problems for all piscivorous birds, fearow included. These symptoms can be best avoided by limiting the pokémon’s ability to feed in the wild, or at least to feed near agricultural or industrial sites. High concentrations of toxic chemicals tend to cause problems in reproduction such as sterility and thin eggshells. They seldom have visible consequences outside of breeding.

Evolution

Spearow gradually transition to fearow. A relatively rapid increase in size occurs between eighteen and thirty months of age. This is the evolution period. The formal demarcation is the replacement of the old coloration of the wing feathers with the black and white pattern of a fearow.

Battle

On the competitive scene where trainers have the time, experience, and money to invest in stronger birds or flighted dragons, fearow sees relatively little use.

Spearow are reasonably powerful for their size and are brutal scrappers. They seldom need or take orders once they get into the thick of things. This means that they win or lose almost purely by their relative strength and defenses to the opponent.

Fearow can be played a little more tactically. The first and biggest choice is whether they should take off or stay on the ground. Unlike honchkrow or braviary, fearow do not rely on full body tackles powered by gravity. Instead they primarily attack through beak strikes. In the air fearow are faster and better able to dodge attacks. However, they must get close to attack which leads to a lot of signaling. Furthermore wing damage while flying can cause a lot of damage and potentially even a one-hit knockout. Grounded fearow are slower but often able to use their long neck and beak to zone opposing melee fighters. They can also strike very quickly and are difficult to block. A good rule of thumb is that flight is better against ranged attackers and a grounded stance is better against melee-oriented opponents.

While fearow while struggle on the fourth island, they are otherwise quite capable pokémon. Even spearow can hold their own for the first few trials.

Acquisition

Fearow can be found along ponds, rivers, and wetlands in the interior of all four islands, as well as in a few cold-water estuaries such as Kala’e Bay. They are most easily seen in the day. Unlike noivern, sunning fearow are fair game. Trainers pursuing fearow should be advised that the bird probably has a mate that will hound the human who took partner. For these reasons, only spearow is recommended for capture. It is still legal to capture fearow, although it is usually best to capture both mated pokémon or to watch a fearow over the course of several days to make sure that it does not yet have a mate. In addition, spearow can be purchased at some agricultural specialty stores.

Spearow can be purchased, adopted, or captured with a Class I license. Fearow can be purchased, adopted, or captured with a Class II license.

Breeding

Fearow choose mates the third spring after they reach full size. Once bonded pairs stay together for life. Widows and widowers do not pick new mates.

The male begins building a nest in the early autumn by bringing sticks into the tree and building a skeleton. The female eventually adds in the fine details. Only two or three eggs are laid at a time but mated couples breed every year and survival rates for chicks are rather high. One bird will always be incubating the eggs and the nest is big enough for both parents to stand in. Fearow and spearow do make sure to defecate outside of their nest, but they seldom bother to go very far. As such fearow nests often have white rims.

Around their first birthday spearow are taken to a farm or prairie by their parents. The fearow will go back to the marsh and the spearow are left to find others and find for themselves.

Fearow can be bred in captivity. However, doing so requires staying stationary for several months at a time and accepting that one partner will always be on the nest. Fearow can breed with pelipper although they rarely do so in the wild. If there is another bird on the team of the opposite sex, fearow may still bond with it and even mate. No viable offspring will result. Mated fearow are less attached to their trainer than fearow that are single or in a non-reproductive pairing.

Subspecies

Despite being closely related to swanna, pelipper, cramorant, farfetch’d, and other waterfowl and shorebirds, the Japanese fearow seldom gets near the water. Japanese spearow are very similar to the Pacific spearow. Upon evolution, fearow keep much the same color scheme as their juvenile stage. Also unlike the Pacific fearow the Japanese subspecies must compete with pidgeot. This causes the fearow to stay near the fields where they lived as spearow. They use their sensitive hearing to listen for bugs and their beak to stab through trees or earth to snap them up. Because they share their range, fearow continue to watch out after their offspring until and even after evolution.

The California fearow was driven extinct by a combination of DDT, an oil spill, and mercury poisoning in the 1960s. They were golden in color and slightly larger than the Pacific fearow. Because they were free from competition from large piscivorous raptors or dragons, the California fearow nested on the ground and hunted for prey in the ocean.