Persephone
The Vulture Queen
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- Apr 12, 2014
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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.
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.