Miasma? Uh... Aura and Miasma doesn't seem right. Aura is a word which you can say with an open mouth, which doesn't work all that well with a word like Miasma, which requires closing the mouth and holding it for the 'M' sound. Obscura, on the other hand, has a terse consonant next to a soft one, countering Aura's flowing sense of mouth.

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The chat's suddenly rocketed into action, though I won't remain on for more than half an hour.

Subject is ethics of hunting, apparently.

edited 30th Mar '11 9:31:42 PM by Tangent128

Do you highlight everything looking for secret messages?

Hmm. Seems simple. If pokemon aren't sentient there's no problem; if they are, they themselves do itn so its ok.

Frankly, I never like your Aura/Obscura theory. But I'm a nice guy and I don't have a better idea so whatyagondoo?

Let's make a TCG!

so, here's what I've got for durants!

---

Durant

Morphs [Oak Catalog #]

• Durant [#632]

Physical Description

Durants are ant-like Pokémon with iron gray bodies, six black legs, and a large set of pincers in front of their mouths. They have red eyes with black iris, and two antennae that both have a bulb-like structure on the end.

Rarely, Durants will be born with a more red, rust colored exoskeleton and green eyes.

Notable Biology

The Exoskeleton of a Durant is composed almost entirely of metal. The particular type of metal depends what types of metal deposits can be found near their nest.

Durants are notable for being the fastest of pokemon to incorporate metal into their bodies.

Durants pincers are very powerful, easily capable of crushing rock, shearing off chunks of metal from a deposit, or severely injuring an intruder. They are also used as a sort of shovel to dig through softer materials like dirt and sand.

Durants make extensive use of pheromones to communicate. All tunnels and caverns in a nest will have pheromone markings to designate the purpose of the cavern or where the tunnel leads or if it is a dead end and should ignored. They also leave pheromone marking in the foothill around their mountain, as a way of warding off other Durants. All Durants leaving the nest for whatever reason also leave a pheromone trial behind them, both as a means of easily finding their way back, and also as a defensive mechanism. Should anything threaten the Durants outside the nest, they can “ignite” their pheromone trail, causing a chain reaction in the pheromones leading back to the nest, warning the other Durants of danger. Finally, pheromones are also used for identification purposes: every nest of Durants has a certain pheromone associated with it, and this pheromone is also added to all other pheromone trails. For more information, see Social Structure.

Durants have an amazing sense of geo-location. This is thanks to the bulb like structures on the end of their antennae, which are very sensitive to vibrations. In order to scan an area underground, a Durant will slam its head against the rock, then hold it’s antennae up against the rock to feel the vibrations from the slam. Doing this, a Durant can easily sense many things about the surrounding environment, such as the density and composition of nearby rocks, if there’s an underground lake/river nearby, caverns or gas pockets, and especially metal deposits.

Habitat

Durants make intricate, twisting nests inside mountains. An average nest contains about 1000 Durants, though extremely large nests with numbers approaching 3000 have been recorded. Durants looking to found a new nest will typically send scouts out to nearby mountains to dig exploratory tunnels. While digging these tunnels, the scout Durants will be frequently scanning the surrounding rocks via the geo-location. The goal is to find a mountain with a metal deposit near it. Once the scouts report back, the mountain with the biggest metal deposit is chosen as the new nest, and digging begins. Should none of the mountains have metal near them, the group of Durants will continue scouting other mountains until they find one that does have metal near it and is unoccupied. A new nest is considered fully established once it reaches the 500 Durants mark.

Diet

Durants are omnivores, though they prefer meat. Durants leave the nests in groups of 5-6 scavenge/hunt for food, with a mix of both worker and soldier Durants. Pokémon killed in defense of the nest are also consumed. They also ingest large amounts of metals to provide for their exoskeletons. Durants get this metal both from metal deposits that they find, and also from cannibalizing dead Durants.

Durants in captivity need to be fed a special type of Pokémon food rich in iron. Additionally, chunks of metal can be provided as treats.

Hazards

Durants have an instinctive drive to dig, so unless you want your yard turned into a warren of tunnels, it is of utmost importance to try to rein in this instinct in captured Durants. Also, Durants love to eat metal. If you have metal items in your house, it is best to make sure your Durant understands that they are not food for it.

Durants in the wild are best left alone, as where there’s one Durant, there’s likely more Durants nearby. If you wish to capture one, the safest method is to do it quickly and get out; the Durant likely ignited its pheromone trail as soon as it was engaged, so there’s only so much time before others arrive as Durants are very quick to mobilize in response to threats.

Should you find yourself engaged with a Durant, there are two main methods of attack to watch out for. First, the same head slam technique Durants use for geo-location can also be used to devastating effect against living targets. Second, and most obviously, their pincers can be utilized for a number of different cutting and crushing attacks. Your best bet in combat is a strong fire type Pokémon, as Durants are extremely vulnerable to fire. As mentioned before, however, the safest thing to do is leave them alone in the first place.

Social Structure

Durants are divided into 3 main groups: soldiers, workers, and the queen. The defining trait that determines what group a Durant belongs to is its behavior. Soldier Druants are characterized by fighting all the more fiercely when they are hurt. Worker Durants are much harder working in general then the soldiers, but also much less precise in their actions. Very rarely, an extremely lethargic Durant will be born. They do about half as much work as the other Durants. Lethargic females are made queen because since they cannot work or fight, breeding is all that’s left for them to do. There can be multiple lethargic females per nest, though only one of them will ever be the queen. When the current queen dies, the eldest of the remaining lethargic females will becomes the new queen. Lethargic males, on the other hand, are kicked out of the nest, mostly likely to meet their end in the wild.

When a Durant nest gets too crowded, the youngest lethargic female and retinue of about 60 workers/soldiers will leave the nest to found a new nest of their own. See Habitat for more info.

Durants from different colonies are generally hostile with eachother. The only exception to this is if the nest in question is a direct offshoot of the other nest, in which case the Durants will simply avoid eachother. As mentioned in Notable Biology, every nest of Durants has a certain identification pheromone, and this identification pheromone is included in all pheromone trails lefts by Durants from that nest. Should Durants come across the pheromone trail of a rival Durant nest, they will avoid the area. However, if they should actually come across some rival Druants, a fight is very likely.

Courting and Childrearing

A queen Durants only job is to mate with other Durant and lay eggs. A Typical queen Durant will lay 6-10 eggs per day, though they can quadruple those number in case of an event severely diminishing nest strength or if they are establishing a new nest. The Queen has her choice of males to mate with, with preferences seeming to vary from queen to queen. Once the eggs are laid, a worker transports them to a chamber just for holding eggs. The eggs take about a day to hatch. Freshly hatched Durants have very thin exoskeletons, and are moved to another new chamber where they are fed large amounts of metals to help thicken their exoskeleton. They stay here for about 2 days before they’re considered old enough to join the workforce.

A well established Durant nests will typically have 4-5 other lethargic female besides the queen. Their job is to watch over the growing Durants and observe their behavior so they can decided what positions the young Durants should be assigned to.

In Human Society

There is a popular Durant simulation game called Sim Durant. In this game, the player takes control of a Durant from a Durant nest and performs various tasks such as foraging, digging, and defending the nest. Threats to the player include a rival Durant nest and a single, roaming Heatmor.

In the industrial sector, Durants are both a blessing and a bane to the Unovan mining industry. They are a blessing as their ability to both easily locate metals and then dig their way to them make them invaluable companions to miners. They are a bane because a metal deposit already claimed by a Durant nest is effectively unavailable for human use, as it’s simply too difficult to clear out an established Durant nest.

There are strict regulations on taking Durants outside of Unova. This is due to the belief that, should a Durant colony become established in another region, it would severely disrupt the local ecosystems.

---

you'll notice the 3 different behaviors reflects Durants three abilities: Swarm, Hustle, and Truant.

Questions? Comments? Concerns?

edited 10th May '11 9:17:21 PM by Blissey1

XP granted for befriending a giant magical spider!

It seems decent from a glance. I'm not sure about referring to these guys as "ant-like," but I can't think of any surrogate terms off the top of my head beyond "Formicid"...

Hard Boiled Detective Since 1985

Hymenopteran, perhaps?

The Danse Macabre Codex

That'll work.

Eating a Vanilluxe will give you frostbite.

Hey! Hey look it's a Jellyfish!

---

Frillish Line

Morphs [Oak Catalog #]

• Frillish [#592]

• Jellicent [#593]

Physical Description

Both Frillish and Jellicent sport large round bells made of thick umbrate, which have markings on them similar to a human face. They have three long, downturned triangular fins that begin at a ‘collar’ just underneath the bell, known as the ‘robe’, with the hind fin longer than the two front-most fins. They also have maneuverable tentacles that have pads at the end, used to manipulate objects similar to arms and hands. The top of their bells sprouts a tuft, which contains the protobrain, known as the ‘crown’.

Jellicent have a much larger bell, and their collars have grown to an enormous size. Their robe has not changed in size, however, now appearing much smaller and less important. Their tentacles have grown, however, and are now sporting much larger pads at the ends to hold more things.

The most notable feature of both Frillish and Jellicent is their stark gender dimorphism. Male Frillish and Jellicent are blue, while the female of the species is pink. Outside of coloration, there are several other differences between the genders.

Female Frillish have wavier pads on their tentacles, and a taller crown on their heads that hold a larger ‘protobrain’. The female Frillish also sport a wavier, more frilled robe, whereas the male has little to no frills on their robe and instead sport a diamond-shaped marking. Males have a downturned marking around their jawline whereas females have an upturned marking. Males have red eyes with blue sclera, and eye markings positioned lower, while females have blue eyes with red sclera, their eye markings positioned higher.

Female Jellicent have two eye markings, a visible red marking on their jawline which resembles the ‘heart symbol’, and a taller crown. Their collar is much larger, and sports four distinct puffs. Males have one eye marking over each eye, a collar that has only two distinct puffs around their heads that also obscures the jaw marking, and a shorter crown on their heads.

Notable Biology

Frillish and Jellicent are not in possession of any actual organs outside of a specialized thick skin known as Umbrate, which absorbs water from either the air or the sea into the collar. Underneath the umbrate, Frillish and Jellicent sport a nerve net, which registers pain and controls movement. The eye-like markings on the bell are indicators of a cluster of nerves which register color to the protobrain. However, Frillish and Jellicent are unable to see the color green, and their vision of the world is a muted pallet.

The collar of a Frillish or Jellicent serves as water sacs, which can hold up to one ton of water absorbed from the umbrate in the bell. The collar also houses a thick hinge at the back of the bell, which allows Frillish and Jellicent to split their bells in half without coming apart entirely. Frillish and Jellicent move by squashing into their robes and then stretching back out.

While in the sea, this is very effective when coupled with their method of propulsion (letting out absorbed water in the collar from the robe) but in the air, this serves little to no purpose, and merely do it out of instinct. Frillish and Jellicent instead move on land by simply levitating, though because all members of the line are capable of doing this and thus is not a proper variable, they are not recorded as having the Ability in the Pokemon League.

The crown of a Frillish or Jellicent holds a ‘protobrain’ which controls the nerve net and the rest of the body. While the bell is situated with markings that resemble a human face, it merely houses the digestive tract. They are, however, situated with a jawline marked by an upturned or downturned heart-shape (the marking on a Male Jellicent is merely obscured by his collar).

This evolutionary line hears things via vibrations in the air/water, and is capable of hearing and understanding basic battle commands. Their protobrains are not capable of basic logic, however, merely communication, movement, and shallow comprehension.

Abilities

Frillish and Jellicent both have access to a strange ability to disable a move used on it, known as Cursed Body. Cursed Body is considered the secondary ability of a Frillish or Jellicent, as Water Absorb is more prominently used in tournament-sanctioned battles. Cursed Body is not limited to disabling physical or special attacking moves, and is capable of disabling anything that damages it. Battling a Frillish or Jellicent can prove difficult because of this, as it has a chance of disabling a move that is super effective against it.

Cursed Body has also been known to mysteriously stop many other threats outside of battle, such as stopping an avalanche of rocks before it hit. This was achieved by making the rocks float in the air for a period of time, enough for the Frillish in question to get away from it. This Frillish, known by the press as 'Tommy', had done several other things with his ability, such as disabling an electrical field within Chargestone Cave, and even being able to turn off a radio that was annoying him with only his ability. Further research has deemed that this is not common in Frillish or Jellicent, and that Tommy merely has an unrivaled mastery over the use of his ability.

Habitat

Frillish and Jellicent live in very deep Saltine Water, usually about 800 meters. Most males prefer to stay deep underwater, while the females are more common in shallower waters. Male Jellicent make giant castles out of coral and other means, usually to house him and his family. These castles are very haphazardly made and are surrounded in clashing colors, but it holds up much better than would be expected. Some Jellicent Castles even have rooms, levels, and hallways, with rooms designated for housing, eating, and several random rooms which don’t seem to serve any purpose whatsoever.

Due to the dangers of entering Jellicent territory, Unovan Ships had enacted a precaution requiring all sailors and shipmen to have at least one electric type pokemon or a pokemon capable of learning electric type moves on hand to counter Jellicent. This course of action is frowned upon by many pokemon activists, as Jellicent are not intelligent enough to merely leave the ship when attacked, and has caused many Jellicent to die out as a result. Waterways where Jellicent were once plentiful are now bare, and the only habitat left for them is in Unovan Route 17 and 18.

Diet

When a Frillish or a Jellicent become hungry, they eat whatever is directly in front of them, and continue to eat what is in front of them until they are no longer hungry. They move forward by propelling themselves with water they have absorbed, continuously snapping their bells open and closed until they are full. There is a faint line around the ‘jaw’ which, can be opened up and effectively cuts the bell in half, and is then promptly snapped back together.

The food that has been consumed, which ranges from rocks and sea plants to other Pokémon, is swallowed directly into the digestive tract within the bell. The thick layer of Umbrate on the bell uses mucus underneath it to prevent it from digesting itself, and also to prevent the prey (or whatever they just so happened to have eaten) from breaking out.

As Frillish and Jellicent are passive predators, and because they don’t use all that much energy in the wild, they can go up to three months without eating. However, as soon as the protobrain registers that it does not have ample energy, it fires up a survival instinct. The Frillish or Jellicent can then only think about getting something to eat, and they don’t usually care whether they eat something living or dead (or even animate).

[[Trainer’s Note: battling every day with a Frillish will require a heartier diet. Feed it at regular intervals at least every other week, otherwise a hungry Frillish will attempt to stubbornly eat something bigger than it is, thus starving to death. Jellicent are able to last longer without food than Frillish, but you should still feed it.]]

Hazards

While Frillish and Jellicent both sport a protobrain within their crowns, it is not specialized for rational thought. They are often very unaware of what direction they are heading to or facing, and that has led to several well-documented occasions of bursting through from the bottom of a boat and floating around, thinking they’re still in the water. They habitually destroy everything in their path from treating it all as just more water, causing every ship that enters Jellicent territory to be destroyed, and the people inside to go missing.

If you come across a Jellicent that is hungry, watch out. It will not stop eating until it is completely full, and it does not care what it eats. This means that you, your belongings, and even your Pokémon could be eaten by it, and it would not even realize it did so. While Frillish also behave in such a manner, their primary attempts at eating are much smaller foods, and anything bigger than it is will not be eaten. However, if a Frillish is hungry enough, it will latch onto you in a futile attempt to eat you and/or your soul, and will not let go until it is forcibly torn off.

Breeding captive Jellicent without proper knowledge of how a Jellicent's mind functions can lead to horrendous consequences. One of the most tragic instances of this was between a female Jellicent and a Gallade in a Day Care. The Gallade and Jellicent did not belong to the same owner, and the Gallade was simply hacking away at a tree to sharpen his blades when the Jellicent noticed him, deemed it an interesting sight, and decided to set the tree on fire with a matchstick in order to court him. The Gallade was promptly set aflame as well, and his attempts to put himself out nearly burned the entire route down to ash. Sadly, the Gallade suffered terrible burns and died several weeks afterwards, while the Jellicent continued on her merry way, never fully comprehending what had happened.

Courting and Childrearing

Courting is done only by Jellicent in the wild. When it comes time to mate, the male must gather up his courage and swim, alone, up to the shallows where the females are. Then they engage in odd mating rituals that vary between each individual. There seems to be no pattern to what the male does to grab a female’s attention, and no mating ritual has been done twice. Thus far, males have displayed their ability to hold their breath above water (which is unnecessary considering they can ‘breathe’ in the water in the air), their prowess in an odd dance, their battle capabilities, the highest singing notes they can reach, and various other methods.

When a female has decided she wishes to mate with the male, they shake fins, and then disappear into the deepest trenches of the ocean to breed. Attempts to follow the mating pair down to their ‘breeding den’ have turned up with the specimens mysteriously disappearing at some point, not to be seen until the next day. Jellicent almost always mate for life.

Both the male and the female Jellicent carry their eggs inside their collars until they are ready to hatch. The family then moves into the male’s Castle and lives there with their nuclear family, often extremely large with up to 30 eggs laid. The family seems to have no specific order or structure to it, with every member of the family doing whatever it is they feel like doing. The most structured family known thus far was a family of Jellicent that continuously changed seats at a sunken table, constantly breaking things and singing songs.

Breeding in captivity is not recommended for novice breeders. Jellicent in captivity are very ignorant about the mating customs of other Pokémon in the Indeterminate Egg Group, and often if they see one doing something they deem interesting, they will counter their actions in an attempt to get them interested as well. This hardly ever ends well.

Social Structure

Male and female Frillish usually segregate on a low level, with the female Frillish being slightly more adventurous and swimming more often into shallower waters than males. Strangely, the behaviors associated with males and females in Frillish are reversed from the stereotypical human behaviors; the females are rough and tumble while the males are demure and polite. Males with more courage or incentive to be up in the shallows with the females, outside of mating, can be found, often behaving as though they were also females. What the Frillish do in these shallow water varies by group, which are all very unpredictable.

Often a male Jellicent will refuse to leave his position unless he is either in danger or guarded. This leaves the female, often his mate, to go out with him into the sea, or to go out and generally be active. Usually when a female Jellicent that has mated leaves her castle, she will do whatever crosses her mind, only coming back to the castle when a Frillish daughter of hers decides to communicate with her.

Most male Frillish and Jellicent spend their lives creating the ‘Castle’ for his eventual family, with the inside of the coral foundation holding random objects found at the bottom of the ocean, such as sunken ships, water containers, dead Water Type Pokémon, and once even a somewhat functioning, old television (this has only happened once so far, and the television showed nothing but static, but the Frillish and Jellicent were mesmerized by it all the same).

In Popular Culture

Frillish and Jellicent have been imitated by foreign royalty during periods such as the Renaissance, most notable the color and style of their robes. Many King’s Robes of the time were blue, sharp, and diamond-shaped, while Queen’s Robes were pink, soft, and frilled. The crown atop their heads has been imitated by many a Royal Family as well, with their own special modifications to them over time.

The image of a male Jellicent’s face has also become iconic in modern-day Unova, after being adopted by a tubed potato chip company known as ‘Brungles’. This image soon became the most iconic feature of a Jellicent, and many modern trainers think of the mascot of Brungles whenever they think of a Jellicent. This has led to overcapture of many male Frillish and Jellicent, leading to males of the species becoming even more difficult to find and making females unusually common.

edited 3rd Apr '11 8:05:58 PM by CalamityJane

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Nice reference to the Japanese name for Jellicent, Burungel, and great article overall.

Eating a Vanilluxe will give you frostbite.

I did always think that Burungel sounded suspiciously like "Pringles"

edited 31st Mar '11 12:03:56 PM by CalamityJane

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I suppose if you say it in a certain way.

Eating a Vanilluxe will give you frostbite.

It's mainly the 'ngl' sound. Pringles. Burungels.

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Ah, I see.

Eating a Vanilluxe will give you frostbite.

So, is there any critique for my article? Or is it pretty solid?

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Have ships gotten into the habit of carrying 'mons that can utterly mangle Mr. Pringles aboard? Seeing as I don't see large-scale shipping being viable around Unova if the jellies can phase aboard tankers and the Royal Unova...

Hard Boiled Detective Since 1985

Yes. I should probably mention that. Thank you.

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Both Durant and Frillish look good to me. If it were me I'd mention that Durant can move very quickly, allowing them to mobilise and respond to threats quickly, and I'd mention that if Frillish/Jellicent do decide to do something, they are very difficult to stop from doing that, but since both of those points are derived from the stats, they're only worth adding if you want to add them.

Mistralton City will go up probably on Saturday

When I think defense against Jellicent, the first thing I think of is dark types but maybe that's just me.

also,

don't you mean fins?

as for the the Hymenopteran thing, well, it just doesn't describe what they look like like "ant-like" does.

and is that the only concern with the Durant article then?

XP granted for befriending a giant magical spider!

Dark would work, as would grass. But most ships would be carrying electric/grass types because that's what most threats would be susceptible to. In general, unless you're in some kind of bayou or a river where things like Quagsire are roaming around and bumping into your boat, an electric type would be the best protection on a boat. One would need to bring a few if you're expecting Jellicent company though, not the least because something about them can arbitrarily cause attacks to fail (Cursed Body).

Maybe some Octillery turrets that know Thunderbolt? I mentioned in the Remoraid article that they are popular naval Pokemon.

edited 31st Mar '11 3:21:13 PM by Neo_Crimson

Sorry, I can't hear you from my FLYING METAL BOX!

Octillery in general would be in high demand for this sort of work because they can learn so many moves. There'd probably be at least one transport security company that had an Octillery Training Division. Though they get Charge Beam, not Thunderbolt (at least as of 5th gen). Eh, close enough. Might be more dangerous, actually.

Apart from that, you can give an Octillery Water, Fire, Bug, Rock, Poison, Grass, Ice, Psychic and Steel attacks. And Hyper Beam. That's probably enough to be able to deal with anything out there, especially if there's a few of them...

edited 31st Mar '11 3:33:24 PM by Smiggins

you think said transport defense company contracts out trained Octillary?

edited 31st Mar '11 3:51:34 PM by Blissey1

XP granted for befriending a giant magical spider!

Did some minor modifications to the entry, changed hands to fins, mentioned electric-type moves (not just type) and am currently trying to find where to squeeze a description of the Cursed Body ability.

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I reckon they would. There'd be probably enough of a market for it. You can't rely on wandering trainers, and a ship's captain and the workers on board probably would have different Pokemon (Moving stuff, navigation etc.). It's the price one would pay for solid security.

Perhaps notable biology or hazards.

You got some dirt on you. Here's some more!