Characters / Pokemon Generation IX Sprigatito To Espathra

Main Character Index > Pokémon Generation IX Families > Sprigatito to Espathra (906-956) | Tinkatink to Miraidon (957-978, 996-1004, 1007-1008) | Paradox Pokémon (984-995, 1005-1006, 1009, 1010, 1020-1023)

The character sheet for the ninth generation's Pokémon got so big that it had to be split. This page has the tropes for Pokémon numbered 906 to 956 in the National Pokédex. For the rest, go here. For the Paradox Pokémon, go here.

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Sprigatito, Floragato, and Meowscarada (Nyahoja, Nyarote, and Masquernya)

0906: Sprigatito / Nyahoja (ニャオハ nyaoha)
0907: Floragato / Nyarote (ニャローテ nyaroote)
0908: Meowscarada / Masquernya (マスカーニャ masukaanya)

Sprigatito

Floragato

Meowscarada

Crafty Grass-type cat Pokémon that specialize in speed and seemingly magical levels of sleight of hand in order to bewilder opponents.

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• Accessory-Wearing Cartoon Animal: Once Floragato becomes Meowscarada, the leaves around its neck have become a flowing cape and collar, the markings on its face have grown out to form a mask, and the dark fur on its feet have expanded and now look like thigh-high boots. The rest of its body is covered by just its normal light green fur though, giving it this look.
• Achilles' Heel: Bug-type attacks spell Meowscarada's doom, especially First Impression.
• Always Accurate Attack: It can learn Magical Leaf naturally, which never misses, can be taught Aura in Sphere by TM, and its signature move Flower Trick is also one.
• Armor-Piercing Attack: Meowscarada's signature Flower Trick attack always lands a critical hit, so it rips right through the foe's defense boosts or Reflect.
• Attention Whore: Sprigatito seeks attention, to the point where it will become sulky if its Trainer pays attention to any Pokémon other than itself. Floragato especially will start pranking its Trainer by tying them up with its vines if it's ignored.
• Badass Adorable: The entire line is practically this by default, Sprigatito goes from an insanely adorable Cute Kitten, to the still cute flail-welding Floragato, before finally evolving into the magical stage magician kitty Meowscarada, whose just as adorable as its earlier stages, but is no less powerful.
• Barrier Change Boss: Downplayed. Its Hidden Ability is Protean, which allows it to change its type once depending on the type of the move it uses.
• Bilingual Bonus:
  • Sprigatito has the Spanish word "gatito" (kitten) in its English name. Its Japanese name has the Spanish word "hoja" (leaf).
  • Floragato has the Spanish "gato" (cat) in its English name, while its Japanese name has the Spanish "brote" (bud or sprout).
  • Meowscarada has the Spanish "mascarada" (masquerade) in its English name.
• Bishōnen Line: The evolution line goes from a quadrupedal Cute Kitten, to a bipedal feline Funny Animal (though still cute), then settles on a humanoid Cat Folk (a more feminine one if Meowscarada's animations are to go by).
• Cats Are Magic: Meowscarada is specifically based off stage magicians and is capable of sleight of hand magic tricks to fool opponents. Ironically, it has a higher Attack than Special Attack stats.
• Climax Boss: As is tradition, one of your rivals takes one of the starters you didn't take and uses it as their ace Pokémon throughout the game. Specifically, if you chose Fuecoco as your starter, then Nemona will use the Sprigatito line in her battles with you (including as the final opponent of the Victory Road storyline). If you chose Quaxly, then Clavell, taking a page from Professor Kukui and Leon, will use Meowscarada as his ace Pokémon in his role as the penultimate opponent of the Starfall Street storyline while he gauges whether or not you're strong enough to take on Cassiopeia.
• Combat Pragmatist: Meowscarada is a Dark-type who uses sleight of hand to misdirect its opponents. Its Secret Art, while Grass-type, is basically a rigged bouquet of flowers.
• Confusion Fu: Floragato and Meowscarada rely on trickery and misdirection as the core of their battle strategy. Meowscarada's signature move Flower Trick hits far harder than its unimpressive 70 base power should allow because Meowscarada itself is crafty enough to deceive the opponent so that they neglect to avoid or defend against the attack. This is especially true if they have their Protean hidden ability to make them even harder to predict.
• Cute Kitten: Sprigatito is a small, cute kitten with large eyes and Cute Little Fangs, its evolutions drop these traits, but retain most cute elements.
• Dark Is Not Evil: Meowscarada is part Dark-type, but is portrayed as a deceptive stage magician using sleight-of-hand tricks to attack and is quite affectionate and lovable with its trainer, rather than being an actively malevolent jerk.
• Discard and Draw: Meowscarada gains the Dark-Type after evolving, gaining resistances to Ghost and Dark and becoming immune to Psychic-Type moves. It also becomes vulnerable to Fighting- and Fairy-types, and Bug-Type moves become a real problem for it.
• A Dog Named "Perro": Sprigatito and Floragato contain the words "gatito" and "gato" meaning kitten and cat respectively in Spanish, which falls in line with Paldea being based on the Iberian Peninsula.
• Epic Flail: Floragato attacks by swinging a hardened flower bud attached to a vine. Meowscarada also does this with its flower, but camouflages the vine so that its flower appears to be floating.
• Fighter, Mage, Thief: The thief of the starters. Meowscarada is rather lacking in the "supernatural powers" department and instead relies on speed, critical hits, and trickery to come out on top.
• Glass Cannon: Meowscarada is one of the fastest fully evolved starters and has good offensive stats (especially its physical Attack) and an attack that always inflicts critical hits, but it has rather low HP and defenses and has the most weaknesses ^note (7 compared to the others' 5, with Bug in particular doing 4x damage to the poor kitty) of all 3 fully evolved Paldean starters. Their fragility is downplayed if they have their Protean ability, which lets them change type every time they enter battle.
• Graceful Loser: Meowscarada's fainting animation appears to be it bowing out.
• Green-Eyed Monster: Meowscarada is noted to be very sensitive and prone to jealousy, and will get upset if its Trainer pays more attention to other Pokémon. Gameplay and Story Segregation then kicks in when Meowscarada acts the same as the rest of your party during picnics.
• Green Thumb: A Grass-type starter evolutionary line based on felines whose fur has a similar composition to plants and (at least in the case of Sprigatito) can photosynthesize.
• Hidden Weapons: Florogato and Meowscarada both hide their weapons as seemingly harmless flowers on their bodies.
• Kamehame Hadoken: Meowscarada can be taught Aura Sphere outside of level up. While Aura Sphere is its strongest Fighting-type attack by power, it will run on its lower Special Attack if used, meaning one may be better off with Brick Break instead, unless you want to amp up its far weaker Special Attack to make good use of it.
• Killer Yo-Yo: Floragato uses the hard flower bud attached to its vine like a yo-yo to attack.
• Magicians Are Wizards: Subverted. While Floragato and Meowscarada are based on stage magicians, the line as a whole is biased towards being physical attackers. Rather than using innate magical powers, they rely on trickery and showmanship to disguise relatively mundane attack methods. That said, they can learn Nasty Plot via TM to boost their average Special Attack and can also learn powerful Grass-type Special Attacks, such as Leaf Storm and Frenzy Plant, through TMs, as well as the Fighting-type Aura Sphere.
• Meaningful Name:
  • Sprigatito's name is either a combination of "sprig" or "spring" and the Spanish word for "kitten" (gatito).
  • Floragato's name is a fusion of "flora", a Latin term referring to plant life, and "gato", the Spanish for cat.
  • Meowscarada is "meow" and the Spanish "mascarada", referring to masquerades.
• Red Eyes, Take Warning: The whole line has irises that are varying shades of red, but Meowscarada's really take the cake when combined with their Domino Mask, giving them a sinister appearance (although they're really not bad Pokémon at all).
• Secret Art: Flower Trick, Meowscarada's exclusive move, always lands and always results in a critical hit.
• Shock and Awe: The only Electric-type move that Floragato and Meowscarada can learn is Thunder Punch, which is quite helpful because not only does it work with their high Attack stat, but is useful against most Flying-types and Water-types as well.
• Shown Their Work: Meowscarada having a Mardi Gras theme may seem odd in an Iberian-based location, but Spain at one point did occupy New Orleans, and a part of Southern France is indeed part of the Iberian Peninsula.
• Stage Magician: Unlike the Pokémon that use actual magic, Floragato and especially Meowscarada prefer to use illusions and sleight-of-hand, in line with the performer theme of the other Paldea starters.
• Starter Mon: The Grass-type starter of Scarlet and Violet.
• Turns Red: Has the standard Grass-type starter Ability Overgrow, which boosts the power of Grass-type attacks by 50% when it has less than or equal to 1/3rd of its maximum HP remaining.
• Weaponized Stench: Inverted. The sweet scent Sprigatito releases when it kneads has therapeutic qualities, and can even make its opponents lose the will to fight. Ironically, it can't learn Sweet Scent.

Fuecoco, Crocalor, and Skeledirge (Hogator, Achigator, and Laudbon)

0909: Fuecoco / Hogator (ホゲータ hogeeta)
0910: Crocalor / Achigator (アチゲータ achigeeta)
0911: Skeledirge / Laudbon (ラウドボーン raudoboon)

Fuecoco

Crocalor

Skeledirge

These slow but reliable crocodile Pokémon employ their well-developed vocal chords to help control their Fire-based powers. As they evolve, their increasing power causes more and more Fire energy to vent out from their skull.

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• Achilles' Heel: A Skeledirge relying on Torch Song boosts won't appreciate being sent against a Pokémon with the ability Soundproof, which nullifies sound-based moves, or Flash Fire, which negates the damage and provides the opponent with a boost to their own Fire-type moves. It especially won't appreciate an opponent hitting it with Throat Chop, as not only will it disable its sound-based moves, being a high-damage Dark-type move means it's going to hurt a lot as well.
• Beware the Nice Ones: While Skeledirge is a gentle Pokémon who is more than happy to keep singing, it still breathes flames of over 5,400 degrees Fahrenheit and will use them to incinerate its enemies.
• Big Eater: It loves to eat, and it will gleefully run towards any food it can get its hands on.
• Bilingual Bonus:
  • Fuecoco has the Spanish words "fuego" and "cocodrilo" in its name.
  • "Crocalor" has the Spanish/Portuguese word "calor" ("heat" or "warmth").
• Bishōnen Line: Unlike the other two starters, this evolution line inverts the "stronger form being more human-like" status, starting as a baby example of a Lizard Folk, turning into a crocodilian Funny Animal that stands on its hind legs but runs on all fours, then settling on a quadrupedal and mostly physically-accurate crocodile.
• Calacas: Skeledirge has white scales with spots of brighter colors on the upper part of its snout and head that evoke facepaint typically worn during Day of the Dead; Crocalor has it too, to a less pronounced extent. It doesn't make perfect sense for a Pokémon that resides in the Fantasy Counterpart of the Iberian Peninsula to be based on a Mexican holiday, but hey, it's still cool.
• Climax Boss: As is tradition, one of your rivals takes one of the starters you didn't take and uses it as their ace Pokémon throughout the game. Specifically, if you chose Quaxly as your starter, then Nemona will use the Fuecoco line in her battles with you (including as the final opponent of the Victory Road storyline). If you chose Sprigatito, then Clavell, taking a page from Professor Kukui and Leon, will use Skeledirge as his ace Pokémon in his role as the penultimate opponent of the Starfall Street storyline while he gauges whether or not you're strong enough to take on Cassiopeia.
• Cute Little Fangs: Fuecoco is an adorable little croc that only has three notable fangs — two lower canines and one upper buck-tooth — which do well to enhance its adorably dumb and listless image compared to the teeth of bigger crocodile-based Pokémon.
• Dark Is Not Evil: Skeledirge is part Ghost-type, and it has a friendly personality.
• Discard and Draw: Crocalor becomes part-Ghost-type when evolving to Skeledirge, becoming immune to Normal and Fighting-type moves and adding a Poison resistance while also strengthening its resistance to Bug. On the other hand, it becomes vulnerable to Ghost and Dark-type moves.
• The Ditz: Fuecoco is described as "self-paced and easy-going". Its Chinese Mandarin and Cantonese names (呆火鱷) mean "dumb fire crocodile". The line's Hidden Ability is Unaware to underscore their ditzy nature.
• The Dividual: After growing a fiery nest with a flame egg on top when evolving into Crocalor, evolving into Skeledirge hatches the egg into a bird made of living flames that is believed to have its own soul, the duo perhaps being inspired by the mythical supposed symbiosis between Nile crocodiles and Egyptian plovers A.K.A. crocodile birds. Being born from the flames of the Pokémon, it acts as part of Skeledirge. Notably, it still "nests" in Skeledirge when it sleeps, retreating into the tresses of Fire energy that billows from the sides of Skeledirge's skull and emerging when it wakes up.
• Face of a Thug: Skeledirge has a strong Skeleton Motif combined with a biologically semi-realistic design, resulting in a strong Never Smile at a Crocodile image, but it's just as self-paced and easy-going as when it was Fuecoco, and in fact has taken up gently singing to soothe the souls of those that hear it.
• Fighter, Mage, Thief: The mage of the starters. Skeledirge is the only one of the three that has a high Special Attack stat, and it relies on Magic Music and other supernatural powers.
• Gathering Steam: Upon evolving into Skeledirge, it learns its signature move Torch Song, a special attack-based fire move with an already respectable power of 80; however, Torch Song also raises Skeledirge's special attack by one stage every time you use it, which means it will get stronger with each subsequent use.
• Gentle Giant: Skeledirge is the heaviest starter yet, but retains the same gentle, laid-back personality it had as Fuecoco.
• Head Pet: Upon evolving into Skeledirge, the fireball egg nursed by Crocalor will hatch into a cute little elemental bird that resembles Spritzee. It can also extend its legs to reach the height needed to assist in Skeledirge's Secret Art Torch Song, acting as an amplifier for its powers and looking somewhat like a microphone. The result is it transforming into a larger bird made of fire to strike at the opponent.
• Idiot Hair: "Fire energy" leaks out from Fuecoco's head in the form of two hair-like strands, and it's known to be laid-back in personality. When it becomes excited, Fuecoco's head spews out more fire. These strands grow in complexity and number, as well as changing location, as it evolves, ceasing to take after this trope.
• Lovable Lizard: The Fuecoco line goes from a friendly little goofball to a skeletal-themed flame-spewing Gentle Giant with the same friendly disposition in contrast to its physical appearance.
• Man Bites Man: Given their crocodilian background, they are capable of learning several moves that involve biting. Ironically, their physical Attack is low compared to their Special Attack stat.
• Magic Music: Skeledirge loves singing gentle songs that produce mystical effects on those that hear it, represented in battle by Torch Song, where it sings to empower the firebird on its head before the bird attacks its opponent.
• Meaningful Name:
  • Fuecoco's name is derived from the Spanish words for "fuego" (fire) and "cocodrilo" (crocodile).
  • Crocalor combines "crocodile" with the Spanish/Portuguese word "calor" ("heat" or "warmth").
  • Skeledirge is a simple combination of "skeleton" and "dirge" (a mournful song), referring to both its song-based abilities and its Skeleton Motif.
• Mighty Glacier: Skeledirge has low Speed, but high HP, Defense, and Special Attack — the latter of which can be further boosted by using Torch Song. Furthermore, its Hidden Ability, Unaware, keeps it from being effected by opposing Pokémon's boosts, preventing opponents from powering up to beat it while also giving itself the longevity needed to power up its own stats.
• Never Smile at a Crocodile: Subverted. It is officially referred to as the "Fire Croc Pokémon". Its fully evolved form as Skeledirge is a semi-realistic croc with a freaky Skeleton Motif, but based on the Dex entries, it actually has the Face of a Thug, being more interested in singing over being a threat (though it can breathe flames in excess of 5,400 degrees Fahrenheit at those who make it angry).
• Playing with Fire: A Fire-type starter evolutionary line based on crocodiles. Fuecoco's fire powers come from the square heat-absorbing scales on its stomach and back, and the hair-like strands atop its head are actually the result of leaking fire energy. Skeledirge has flames in excess of 5,400 degrees Fahrenheit, and its Fire energy strands have become masses of billowing heat spewing out of the sides of its face. It even commands a little bird made of living fire that typically perches on its snout.
• Punny Name: Fuecoco's Japanese name is a combination of "alligator" and "ho" (fire), while also including a pun on "hogē" (onomatopoeia for being dumbfounded), referencing its status as The Ditz.
• Recurring Element: Skeledirge follows the same theme as Primarina, in which it is the final evolution of a starter Pokémon that has a theme of singing and music, a second dual-type associated with magical powers (Ghost/Fairy), a Mighty Glacier stat spread with high Special Attack, and a sound-based Secret Art/Signature Move.
• Ridiculously Cute Critter:
  • Fuecoco is a ditzy little crocodile with buckteeth that looks endearingly dopey.
  • Crocalor has an endearingly goofy, cartoonish design and happy-go-lucky demeanor. In-universe advertisements use one as a mascot for a brand of breakfast cereal.
  • While Skeledirge looks more badass than cute, its bird qualifies as this.
• Secret Art: Skeledirge is the only Pokémon that can learn Torch Song, which functions like Volcarona's Fiery Dance, dealing special Fire-type damage while also boosting the user's Special Attack. The only differences are that Fiery Dance is a dance move, while Torch Song is sound-based, and the boosting effect of Torch Song happens 100% of the time instead of 50%.^note Both moves have 80 Base Power and 10 PP.
• Skeleton Motif: Skeledirge is partly Ghost-type covered in white markings that resemble bones. Most notably, the skull-like pattern on the top its head and snout.
• Soul Power: Skeledirge is part Ghost-Type, but rather than being an actual ghost it's a living creature that possesses powers over spiritual energy much like Hisuian Typhlosion, Alolan Marowak, Sensu Forme Oricorio, and Decidueye. The soul within the bird of flame it possesses is said to be the source of its Ghost type powers.
• Spexico: For a Pokémon introduced in an Iberia-based Fantasy Counterpart Culture, the line utilizes quite a few Mexican concepts, with the shape of the egg and nest atop Crocalor's head bringing to mind Sombrero Equals Mexican, the Skeleton Motif of Skeledirge referencing Calacas, and the musical inclination of the line combined with the previous traits bringing to mind mariachi musicians.
• Super-Scream: It learns several sound-based moves by level-up, including (but not limited to) Hyper Voice, Snarl, Roar, and its Secret Art Torch Song.
• Starter Mon: The Fire-type starter of Scarlet and Violet.
• Stealth Pun:
  • Skeledirge's Secret Art is called Torch Song, and its singing soothes the souls of all that hear it. A torch song is a type of sentimental love song, specifically one where the singer laments an unrequited or lost love.
  • Skeledirge is the Singer Pokémon, who literally sings. It's a Fire-type, so it's a Singe-er, but since it's also part Ghost, it's also a soul music singer.
• Turns Red: Has the standard Fire-type starter Ability Blaze, which boosts the power of Fire-type attacks by 50% when it has less than or equal to 1/3rd of its maximum HP remaining.

Quaxly, Quaxwell, and Quaquaval (Kuwassu, Welkamo, and Wanival)

0912: Quaxly / Kuwassu (クワッス kuwassu)
0913: Quaxwell / Welkamo (ウェルカモ werukamo)
0914: Quaquaval / Wanival (ウェーニバル weenibaru)

Quaxly

Quaxwell

Quaquaval

These dance-loving waterfowl Pokémon migrated to Paldea from distant lands long ago and have since established themselves as one of the standard three Starter Mon of the region.

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• '60s Hair: Its head feathers form a hairdo that resembles a pompadour, and it is officially described as a coif.
• Agent Peacock: It has a flamboyant but very effective fighting style. Its tail feathers as Quaquaval even resemble that of a peacock's.
• Bare-Fisted Monk: More like bare-legged monk; Quaquaval is a Fighting type with long legs that are powerful enough to send a truck rolling.
• Bishōnen Line: The evolution line goes from a mostly normal duckling with some Mix-and-Match Critters traits, to a bipedal avian Funny Animal, then settles on a downplayed example of Bird People.
• Blow You Away: Despite not being part Flying-type, the Quaxly line can still learn plenty of Flying-type moves.
• Climax Boss: As is tradition, one of your rivals takes one of the starters you didn't take and uses it as their ace Pokémon throughout the game. Specifically, if you chose Sprigatito as your starter, then Nemona will use the Quaxly line in her battles with you (including as the final opponent of the Victory Road storyline). If you chose Fuecoco, then Clavell, taking a page from Professor Kukui and Leon, will use Quaquaval as his ace Pokémon in his role as the penultimate opponent of the Starfall Street storyline while he gauges whether or not you're strong enough to take on Cassiopeia.
• Dance Battler: Quaquaval is part Fighting-type. Its Pokédex text describes them as the "Dancer Pokémon", and mentions how it "performs striking dances" from far away lands. Its signature move Aqua Step is it outright attacking while dancing with the water feathers it controls. It resembles samba dancers and uses battle animations reminiscent of capoeira kicks.
• Extremity Extremist: It kicks its enemies "strongly and repeatedly" with its strong swimming legs. It cannot learn punching attacks, only kicks and attacks that don't specify.
• Feather Fingers: They're flightless birds that exclusively use their wings as arms.
• Feather Flechettes: Quaquaval's decorative feathers are made of water. When it wants to fight, it can launch them as bladed weapons to slice into foes.
• Fighter, Mage, Thief: The fighter of the starters. Quaquaval is part Fighting type and relies entirely on its high physical attack stat.
• Gathering Steam: Much like its counterpart Skeledirge, Quaquaval can easily get out of hand with a combination of Aqua Step enhancing its Speed and Moxie enhancing its Attack when it knocks out an opponent.
• Girly Run: If you let it out of its ball in the overworld, Quaquaval will flamboyantly (and fabulously) prance around with its arms outstretched.
• Hair Flip: During a cutscene, Quaxly flips its hair for dramatic effect.
• Hartman Hips: Quaquaval's pretty plump in the rump, and its pre-evolution Quaxwell also has some fairly broad hips.
• Jack of All Stats: Quaquaval's stats are all average save for its high Attack stat of 120.
• Kill Streak: The entire line has Moxie as a hidden ability, which increases their attack for every Pokémon they KO'd.
• Making a Splash: A Water-type starter evolutionary line based on ducks. Quaquaval in particular is capable of slashing with feathers made of water.
• Meaningful Name:
  • Quaxly's name is derived from the sound ducks make (quack) and probably the word "wax" due to its slicked-up crest.
  • Quaxwell's name evokes "quack" and "swell", the latter meaning ocean waves.
  • Quaquaval evokes both "quack"^note And intentionally or not, it is also a Bilingual Bonus, as in Portuguese the sound ducks make is normally written as "quá quá". and "carnival", the festivals from which some of its features and dancing are inspired from. it also contains the Latin word "aqua", meaning water.
• Mickey Mousing: Quaquavel's dance steps are always in tune with whatever battle music is playing.
• Mix-and-Match Critters: It's mostly based on a duckling, but it also has blue legs like a blue-footed booby. Quaquaval has peacock-like tail feathers as well as feet and beak structured like a coot's rather than a duck's.
• Neat Freak: Quaxly's feathers secrete a gel that repels water and grime. As a result, it hates getting dirty. Quaxwell are much the same, though their cleaning also has the dual purpose of keeping the shock-absorbing properties of their head feathers.
• Nobody Touches the Hair: Quaxly and its evolutions do not like having their "hair" touched when being cleaned during picnics. Quaxwell will fix theirs with their feather gel immediately after being attacked.
• Playful Cat Smile: The way Quaxly's beak curves at the front allows it to have a cute cat-like grin.
• Quacking Up: Quaxly is a duckling with a teal pompadour-like crest and a cat-like grin.
• Recurring Element: Along with all the usual details from being a starter Pokémon, Quaquaval completes a trio with Blaziken and Hisuian Decidueye consisting of bird-based starter Pokémon that are part-Fighting, with a Signature Move that's a kick.
• Samba: Quaquaval performs samba steps while in battle in between attacks, while its back feathers are reminiscent of those worn by dancers during the Rio de Janeiro carnival.
• Secret Art: Quaxquaval is the only Pokémon that can learn Aqua Step, which deals physical Water-type damage while also boosting the user's Speed.^note Like Torch Song, it has 80 base power and 10 PP.
• Shaking the Rump: Quaquaval shakes its hips as part of its samba dance steps, also a reference to ducks shaking their tail feathers.
• Shown Their Work: Quaxly feathers are not inherently waterproof, they stay waterproof thanks to an external substance. This is also true of real-world ducks (albeit with oil produced by a specialized gland that the duck must regularly apply to its feathers, as opposed to the feathers themselves secreting waterproofing gel).
• Skintone Sclerae: Quaxly's sclerae are the same shade of white as its feathers.
• Starter Mon: The Water-type starter of Scarlet and Violet.
• The Stoic: Quaxwell are very serious by nature and analytically observe humans and other Pokémon in order to incorporate their moves into its dancing.
• Turns Red: Has the standard Water-type starter Ability Torrent, which boosts the power of Water-type attacks by 50% when it has less than or equal to 1/3rd of its maximum HP remaining.
• Visual Pun: Quaxly's teal-colored crest and feet are a play on the teal, a type of duck.
• Work Hard, Play Hard: This line is known for its flamboyant movements and fanciful battle style, but their Dex entries say that they train diligently to improve their conditioning and technique.

Lechonk and Oinkologne (Gourton and Perfuton)

0915: Lechonk / Gourton (グルトン guruton)
0916: Oinkologne / Perfuton (パフュートン pafyuuton)

Lechonk

Oinkologne (Male)

Oinkologne (Female)

Normal-type pig Pokémon known for their good taste in food and have a pleasant odor. When it evolves into Oinkologne, its appearance, abilities and its stats differ between males and females. Both are fastidious about their appearances and give off alluring scents.

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• Com Mons: Very common in the first few routes of Paldea.
• Dishing Out Dirt: As expected from a line of pig Pokémon, they can learn some Ground-type moves, particularly Mud-Slap and Mud Shot.
• Gasshole: Oinkologne can learn Belch, with males learning it at Level 54 and females learning at Level 51, three levels earlier than the males.
• Gluttonous Pig: It's a pig-like Pokémon with Gluttony as one of its Abilities, though this is actually subverted as the site also states it to be quite a Picky Eater, only eating the richest and most fragrant of foods.
• In a Single Bound: Female Oinkologne are able to jump 16 feet into the air, as mentioned by their Scarlet entry.
• Kevlard: Their hidden ability is Thick Fat, protecting them from Fire and Ice moves.
• Messy Pig: Inverted for Oinkologne, as both genders are noted to emit a calming, sweet scent, and the female in particular prefers to keep things tidy.
• Mighty Glacier: Good HP, Attack, and Special Defense, but low Speed.
• Neat Freak: Female Oinkologne are noted to like to keep things tidy in their Violet entry.
• Non-Elemental: A Normal-type evolutionary line that is based on pigs.
• The Nose Knows: Lechonk uses its nose to seek out fragrant wild grasses and flavorful Berries. Trainers even use it to find detached Crabominable arms, as mentioned in the latter's Scarlet Dex entry.
• Pale Females, Dark Males: The female Oinkologne has a brown body and pale hooves while her male counterpart has a black body and dark pink hooves.
• A Pig Named "Porkchop": Lechonk is named after lechón, a Spanish dish made from roasted young pigs.
• Punny Name:
  • Lechonk is derived from lechón, Spanish for "piglet" (or a roasted dish made from a piglet), and chonk, a slang term referencing its rotund build (as well as oink, possibly). Its Japanese name, similarly, combines the words gourmet and ton (pig), but sounds like the English word "glutton".
  • Oinkologne is derived from oink, the sound that pigs make, and cologne, referring to the scent it emits. Its Japanese name combines the words perfume and ton (pig).
• Recurring Element:
  • It fills the role of the early two-stage mammal in Scarlet and Violet — much like the Rattata, Zigzagoon, and Bibarel lines before it.
  • Oinkologne follows the lead of Meowstic and Indeedee from previous generations, being a Pokémon with noticeable gender dimorphism where the males and females have different stat spreads, abilities, and movepools.
• Secret Art: Oinkologne, the male variation specifically, gets Lingering Aroma, which functions similarly to the Unovan Yamask line's Mummy Ability.
• Secondary Sexual Characteristics: A male Oinkologne's body is entirely black while the female has a brown head. The ears of the male are droopier than the female's. Their tails also possess different structures on their ends, the males having a perfume atomizer-shape while the females have a perfume tassel-shape.
• Stout Strength: What looks like fat is actually muscle that Lechonk has built up. However, both Lechonk and Oinkologne can have the Thick Fat ability.
• Weaponized Stench: As a result of its diet, Lechonk radiates a powerful herbal smell that bug Pokémon dislike. Accordingly, Lechonk (all the way to Female Oinkologne) can have the Aroma Veil ability. Male Oinkologne trades this out for its Secret Art Lingering Aroma. Fittingly for such gluttonous Pokémon, they can also learn Belch, with females learning it at level 51 and males at level 54.

Tarountula and Spidops (Tamantula and Wanaider)

0917: Tarountula / Tamantula (タマンチュラ tamanchura)
0918: Spidops / Wanaider (ワナイダー wanaidaa)

Tarountula

Spidops

Tarountula is a spider wrapped in its own silk in a orb shape based on orb weaver spiders. Its threads are strong and very elastic, able to deflect Scyther blades easily. Its evolved form, Spidops, covers its home with its own silk to trap prey and protect it with traps.

---

• Animal Jingoism: According to their Dex entries, Spidops is a rival to Scyther in Paldea.
• Bare-Fisted Monk: For whatever reason, the line is able to learn multiple Fighting-type moves, between them Cross Chop, Circle Throw and Low Kick.
• Big Creepy-Crawlies: Pure Bug-type Pokémon that stand at 0.3 and 1 meters respectively.
• Combat Pragmatist: Spidops is a covert ambush predator that learns a variety of Dark-type moves like Assurance, Throat Chop and Sucker Punch.
• Com Mons: The line is very common in Paldea, but has unimpressive stats even when fully evolved.
• Crutch Character: Tarountula evolves into Spidops fairly quickly, and its Bug type makes it good for some of the early bosses, like Brassius and Giacomo. However, its very low stats for a fully-evolved Pokémon will cause it to fall behind after that.
• Elites Are More Glamorous: Part of the inspiration behind Spidops appears to be a special forces unit. The markings on its chest resemble a ballistic vest, its eyes evoke night vision goggles, its normal palette has colors akin to military camouflage, and it uses stealth to win fights.
• Four-Legged Insect: Averted with Tarountula, which has eight legs. Spidops plays with this trope — it seems to only have four legs, but it actually has eight — it holds its legs together in pairs.
• Green Thumb: Learns a few Grass-type moves like Grass Knot, Bullet Seed and Giga Drain, possibly as a result of their association with trees.
• No-Sell: Their regular ability is Insomnia, which makes them immune to Forced Sleep.
• Punny Name: Tarountula is a round tarantula, while Spidops is a covert-ops spider.
• Secret Art: Spidops is the only Pokémon who can learn Silk Trap, a Protect variant that on successful activation also lowers the attacker's Speed.
• Shown Their Work: Spidops holds its legs together in pairs as a means of camouflage, has enlarged posterior median eyes, and spins sticky silk nets to trap prey, all of which are characteristics of Ogre-faced spiders.
• Situational Damage Attack: The line's Hidden Ability Stakeout deals doubled damage against opponents who switch in that turn.
• Stone Wall: Spidops has above average defenses, but its offensive stats are mediocre and its Speed is very low.
• Trap Master: Spidops covers its den with traps to protect itself and to catch prey. In battles, it has Silk Trap to protect itself and slow down unassuming attackers, and Spikes, Toxic Spikes, and Sticky Web to lay hazards for opponents who are attempting to switch in.

Nymble and Lokix (Mamebatta and Exleg)

0919: Nymble / Mamebatta (マメバッタ mamebatta)
0920: Lokix / Exleg (エクスレッグ ekusureggu)

Nymble

Lokix

Bug-types based on locusts. Both have an extra set of legs with serrated edges; Nymble uses them to jump and dodge attacks, while Lokix folds them out to enter Showdown Mode to finish off opponents.

---

• Action Initiative: The line naturally learns Sucker Punch and First Impression, two of the most powerful (in the latter case, most powerful) priority moves in the game, and Lokix gets STAB on both of them. Combined with its high Attack and Hidden Ability Tinted Lens, it can pose a threat to just about any Pokémon the turn it enters the battle.
• Bare-Fisted Monk: Or rather Bare-Legged Monk as they learn primarily kick-based Fighting-type moves such as Low Kick, Double Kick, and Axe Kick.
• Big Creepy-Crawlies: Nymble and Lokix are giant locusts.
• Combat Pragmatist: Lokix is part Dark-type and can naturally learn moves such as Throat Chop and Sucker Punch.
• Dangerous Forbidden Technique: According to Lokix's Violet dex entry, Showdown Mode is very powerful, but it places huge stress on its body, so it can't stay in it for long.
• Death or Glory Attack: One of the only Pokémon (and the only non-Fighting-type) to learn Axe Kick, a slightly weaker version of High Jump Kick that adds in a chance to confuse, but still features heavy recoil damage if it misses.
• Glass Cannon: Lokix has great Attack and good Speed, bolstered with their Tinted Lens ability, but low defenses, especially on the special side.
• Magically Inept Fighter: Lokix's base Attack stat is decent, but its Special Attack is very poor and it learns next to no special moves.
• Punny Name: "Nymble" probably refers to the nymph stage of a grasshopper's biological development, and to the adjective "nimble". As for the evolution, "Lokix", said out loud, sounds like "low kicks" as well as being similar to "locust".
• Scissors Cuts Rock: They can have the Tinted Lens ability that doubles the power of their moves when used on an opponent with a type resistance, meaning it'll almost always deal at least neutral damage.
• Shout-Out: The entire line is a reference to the Kamen Rider franchise, with emphasis on the grasshopper-based Riders like Rider #1, BLACK/BLACK RX, and Zero-One in particular.
  • The name Lokix/Exleg references the signature "rider kick" the franchise gives to its heroes. Its focus on strong kicks also adds to it.
  • Its Regional Dex number is 15. As in 1 and 5, or "ichi" and "go", a la Kamen Rider #1/Ichigo.
  • A closer look to its eyes reveal that rather than having traditional bug eyes, it instead has tinted "visor eyes" found in Kamen Rider helmets meant for posing/close-up shots.
  • One of the biker helmet types are outright named as Lokix-themed, referencing Kamen Rider being related to bikes.
  • Its "Showdown Mode" is a reference to multiple Kamen Rider power-up forms, especially ones that are activated during dire situations. Its time limit before the state becomes dangerous to the Pokemon specifically bring to mind Stronger's Charge Up. Amusingly, using Terastallized Lokix brings to mind Wizard Infinity Style.
  • Its shiny coloration is a massive telltale of Kamen Rider Zero-One.
  • Its extra legs folded up against its back resemble the back mounted flags of Kamen Rider Gaim's Kachidoki Arms form. It even has the circled "joints" in the same place where Gaim's emblem is on its flags.
• Turns Red: Its standard ability is Swarm, which powers up Bug-type moves when its HP is low. It's also noted by the Pokédex to use its folded-up hind legs in Showdown Mode, which powers it up for a brief period of time.

Pawmi, Pawmo, and Pawmot (Pamo, Pamot, and Parmot)

0921: Pawmi / Pamo (パモ pamo)
0922: Pawmo / Pamot (パモット pamotto)
0923: Pawmot / Parmot (パーモット paamotto)

Pawmi

Pawmo

Pawmot

Marmot-like Pokémon with well-developed forelimbs they utilize for their own special means of Electric attacks. As it evolves, it gains the Fighting type and even the ability to revive fainted team mates by using its paws as defibrillators.

---

• Bare-Fisted Monk: Pawmo and Pawmot are part Fighting-type that have a preference for fist-based moves. They even get Iron Fist as their hidden ability.
• Bishōnen Line: Almost nothing changes design-wise through the evolution line besides coat color, with the main differences being that Pawmi is mostly quadrupedal with limited ability to stand on its hind-legs, Pawmo is mostly bipedal with large arms that cause it to droop into a quadrupedal stance at times, and Pawmot slims down the arms and strengthens its legs to allow it to be completely bipedal. Pawmot's body structure in general is also stream-lined into a Funny Animal design that's much more humanoid than Pawmi and Pawmo.
• Breaking Old Trends: Pawmi is the first Pikaclone after the Pikachu line to evolve.
• Charles Atlas Superpower: Pawmo is one of three Pokémon that undergo evolution simply by walking. They will only evolve into Pawmot after walking alongside the player outside their Poké Ball for at least one-thousand steps.
• Combat Medic: Pawmot is one of two Pokémon that can learn the move Revival Blessing, which is a 1-PP move that revives a fainted ally with half of their maximum HP.
• Elemental Absorption: Both Pawmo and Pawmot have the ability Volt Absorb which heals them when they're hit by electric attacks.
• Fire, Ice, Lightning: Pawmot can learn all three elemental punch moves (Fire Punch, Ice Punch, and Thunder Punch) via TM.
• Glass Cannon: Pawmot has a great Attack of 115 and good Speed at 105, but its defenses are low.
• Heal Thyself: Can have Natural Cure as an ability, which allows it to heal from status conditions upon being switched out.
• Loophole Abuse: A Pawmot with an Electric Tera Type will not lose its Electric-typing if it uses Double Shock while Terastallized^note although the message that it "used up all its electricity" will still display, so it can use it multiple times without having to switch out to regain its typing.
• Magical Defibrillator: Pawmot's electric sacs being placed in its palms plays into it being one of two Pokémon that can learn Revival Blessing.
• Meaningful Name: Pawmi is derived from paw or palm, referencing how it has electricity-generating organs on its forepaws, and nezumi, Japanese for mouse. Pawmo is derived from paw and dynamo, and Pawmot adds marmot as well.
• The Paralyzer: One of Pawmi's standard abilities is Static, which paralyzes the opponent upon physical contact. It loses the ability after evolving into Pawmo.
• The Power of Friendship: The second evolution from Pawmo to Pawmot is triggered after it walks 1000 steps while out of its ball in the Let's Go! overworld mode.
• Power Palms: It discharges electricity through its paws, and uses its developed forepaws in combat after evolving.
• Recurring Element: Fulfills the role of the Pikaclone of Gen IX, being an Electric-type mouse-like Pokémon with spots on its cheeks.
• Secret Art: Pawmot is the only Pokémon to learn Double Shock, a powerful physical Electric attack that causes it to lose its Electric type after use.
• Shock and Awe: It's an Electric-type like the other Pikaclones, though notably it utilizes its specialized forelimbs to help generate electricity in its under-developed cheek electric organs.
• Shown Their Work: Just as marmots are the largest squirrels in real life, Pawmot is the largest of all the Pikaclones (it being around 90 pounds on average). It's also the only one to learn Dig by level-up, reflecting how real marmots usually live in burrows.

Tandemaus and Maushold (Wakkanezumi and Ikkanezumi)

0924: Tandemaus / Wakkanezumi (ワッカネズミ wakkanezumi)
0925: Maushold / Ikkanezumi (イッカネズミ ikkanezumi)

Tandemaus

Maushold (Family of Four)

A line of Normal-type mouse-like Pokémon that live in groups of two to four. Tandemaus live in pairs that do everything together, while Maushold include one to two seemingly younger members amongst the adults. Starting at level 25, Tandemaus can evolve into Maushold, sometimes when you're not even looking.

---

• Actually Four Mooks: Inverted, as what appears to be two, three, or four Pokémon is only considered as one.
• Ambiguously Related: Maushold's Dex entries mention that it's unclear whether or not the smaller members of the group are actually the biological children of the adults or not, or even if they are children at all, since in all cases the little ones simply "appear" with no indication of where they came from.
• Attack Backfire: Population Bomb can completely backfire if the opponent is an effective wall equipped with a Rocky Helmet, whose damaging effect will proc for every hit of Population Bomb. Arceus help you if you end up using Population Bomb on a Pokémon with Rough Skin or Iron Barbs, especially if they have a Rocky Helmet on top of that. Heck, even just hitting an opponent with Static, Flame Body or Poison Point will mess them up because of just how likely they are to trigger them.
• Badass Adorable: They're cute little mouse Pokémon that can easily take on stronger Pokémon, especially as a Maushold.
• Badass and Child Duo: Multiplied with Maushold, with either two kids and adults or two adults and one kid fighting together.
• Badass Family: If an opponent is too strong for just the two adults in a Maushold unit to handle, the entire family jumps in to help.
• Battle Couple: Tandemaus fight in groups of two.
• Born as an Adult: In a similar manner to Kangaskhan, Tandemaus eggs hatch into an adult couple rather than the children that it'll get later on.
• Death of a Thousand Cuts: Their Secret Art Population Bomb only has a base power of 20 and is based on their below-average Attack stat, but can hit up to 10 times if they’re lucky, potentially dealing huge damage.
• The Dividual: They're a group that acts as a single entity.
• Double-Meaning Title:
  • Population Bomb, the Secret Art of the species, is a reference to the Explosive Breeder quality of mice figuratively causing an "explosion" of population. It also can be interpreted as a population literally attacking its foe.
  • The Japanese name of Population Bomb is nezumizan, which is named after a common Japanese word problem based on geometric sequences related to mice being Explosive Breeders and literally means "mouse math". It can also be read as "mouse cut", since "zan" can be read as "to cut", hence why it is considered a cutting move and gets a damage boost from the Sharpness ability in the unlikely situation that it gets Skill Swapped onto them.
• Fragile Speedster: Maushold has high Speed, but all of its other stats are below average.
• Green Thumb: The line can learn a few Grass-type moves such as Bullet Seed and Seed Bomb.
• Half-Dressed Cartoon Animal: The body patterns on the adults make it look like one is wearing only pants while the other is wearing only a sleeveless shirt.
• Item Caddy: Tandemaus has Pickup as an Ability, allowing it to obtain items for the player.
• Lost in Translation: Maushold's Secret Art, Population Bomb, suffers a double whammy of this. It's boosted by Sharpness because its Japanese name, Nezumizan, can be written to mean "Mouse Cut", and despite its English name said move is not affected by Bulletproof, which normally blocks bomb moves such as Seed Bomb and Syrup Bomb.
• Meaningful Name: Maushold's Japanese name Ikkanezumi literally means "family of mice".
• Mini-Me: The babies that appear with Maushold are downsized versions of their parents, looking even more adorable and stubby.
• Nice Mice: Pokémon based on mice that work together for shared happiness.
• No Biological Sex: The line is genderless, presumably because it's a group of Pokémon rather than an individual.
• No-Holds-Barred Beatdown:
  • Population Bomb strikes the enemy from one to ten times. Unlike other multihit moves, Population Bomb's hit count is determined by ten accuracy checks rather than a random roll, with a failed check immediately deciding the hit count. If Maushold holds the Loaded Dice item, the minimum number of hits is increased to four.
  • Maushold can also learn Beat Up, which has the entire team attack an opponent at once.
• No Mouth: Subverted. While it at first seems they have none, it becomes very apparent they have mouths after all when encountered or sent out into battle, it just isn't always seen.
• Non-Elemental: The line is pure Normal-type based on the pack of mice.
• Non-Standard Character Design: Their designs are much simpler than those of most other Pokémon, with very simple, rounded body shapes and Black Bead Eyes that cause them to resemble plush toys.
• Parental Bonus: Leveling Tandemaus to level 25 when it's not your lead (via Exp. Share, etc.) causes it to evolve offscreen without you being notified of it whatsoever, leaving you the surprise of seeing the mouse couple with two (or very rarely, just one) adorable little extra critters standing by their side when you check on them again. Given mice's infamous reputation as Explosive Breeders, it becomes very easy to interpret the parents as having done some intense "gymnastics" while you and your other Pokémon were busy battling.
• Powerful, but Inaccurate: Their Secret Art, Population Bomb, has 90% accuracy and hits 10 times, with a miss causing the attack to stop. A 10-hit Population Bomb is one of the strongest attacks in the game, especially if the Maushold using it has Technician, but getting all 10 hits to land is inconsistent if they don't have their accuracy boosted in some way, such as Gravity or a held Wide Lens.
• Punny Name:
  • Tandemaus is a pair of mouse Pokémon that work in tandem.
  • Maushold is a group of mouse Pokémon based on the concept of the nuclear family, or household.
  • Their signature move is called Population Bomb. This takes on another meaning if you're aware that mice reproduce very quickly.
• Recurring Element: While seldom seen since Generation I, Maushold continues the tradition of evolution only causing the Pokémon to multiply rather than drastically change appearance, as Dugtrio and Magneton had before it. Although Maushold stands out by being The Dividual to begin with, just adding more to its family upon evolving.
• Rodents of Unusual Size: Downplayed, as they're still rather small, but a foot tall is still far above the average height for actual mice.
• Secret Art:
  • The Tandemaus line are the only Pokémon who learn Population Bomb, a Normal-type multi-hit move that can hit up to ten times.
  • Prior to the Teal Mask DLC, Maushold was the only Pokémon who learned Tidy Up, a Normal-type move that increases Attack and Speed while clearing away hazards and even Substitutes. In the two DLCs for Scarlet and Violet, the Sentret and Minccino lines gain Tidy Up as an Egg Move.
• Super-Scream: Learns both Echoed Voice and Hyper Voice by level up.
• Suspiciously Similar Substitute: This line shares more than a few notable similarities to the Minccino line. Both families are Normal-type rodent Pokémon that are Fragile Speedsters who specialize in doing enormous amounts of damage through multi-hit attacks, and each line has a Signature Move which reflects this playstyle. The main difference is that the Minccino line has a higher Attack stat while the Tandemaus line is weaker but can potentially attack twice as much.
• Swarm of Rats: Population Bomb evokes this, having an entire family of mice attack the opponent for up to 10 times.
• Volumetric Mouth: Tandemaus and Maushold don't seem to have any mouths to speak of, but during certain occasions (such as encountering a wild one in battle), it's shown that they have ones that open up pretty wide.
• Weak, but Skilled: Maushold's offensive stats are below average at best, but Population Bomb has the potential to be one of the hardest-hitting attacks in the game, especially if it's paired up with Maushold's Hidden Ability, Technician and boosted via Tidy Up.

Fidough and Dachsbun (Pupimocchi and Bowztel)

0926: Fidough / Pupimocchi (パピモッチ papimocchi)
0927: Dachsbun / Bowtzel (バウッツェル bauttseru)

Fidough

Dachsbun

Fairy-type dogs made of bread. While Fidough's breath makes food ferment quicker, Dachsbun's appetizing aroma helps wheat grow. For these reasons they've been cherished since ancient times.

---

• Anthropomorphic Food: Like several Pokémon (including fellow Fairy-type canines Swirlix and Slurpuff), Fidough looks a lot like a type of food, in this case looking like a pastry. Its body is moist and smooth to the touch, like dough, and its breath contains yeast. Its evolution Dachsbun resembles a larger, baked pastry of a brownish colour.
• Armored But Frail: Dachsbun has a high base 115 Defense contrasted by a poor base 57 HP, meaning moves that bypass its defenses make short work of it.
• Boss Battle: Dachsbun is the Signature Mon of Ortega, the head of Team Star's Fairy-type Ruchbah Squad.
• Dishing Out Dirt: The entire line can learn some Ground moves such as Mud Shot and Dig.
• Elemental Absorption: Dachsbun has the Well-Baked Body ability, which lets it absorb Fire-type moves to boost its Defense.
• Fire, Ice, Lightning: The entire line can learn all three elemental fang moves (Fire Fang, Ice Fang, and Thunder Fang) via TM.
• Make Them Rot: Downplayed. Its breath contains yeast that allows it to ferment things. Since ancient times, humans have used this yeast for cooking.
• No-Sell:
  • One of Fidough's abilities is Own Tempo, which makes it immune to confusion.
  • As a Fairy-type, it's completely immune to Dragon-type moves.
  • Dachsbun's Well-Baked Body lets it ignore Fire-type moves (and boosts its Defense in the process).
• Our Fairies Are Different: Like Swirlix, Slurpuff, Milcery, and Alcremie, Fidough and Dachsbun are Fairy-type Pokémon that look like confections.
• Power Up Letdown: Dachsbun gets Aroma Veil^note Prevents this Pokémon's moves from being locked out as its Hidden Ability, which when compared to Well-Baked Body providing an immunity to Fire-type moves and boosting its Defense, just looks pitiful.
• Pun-Based Creature: Fidough and Dachsbun are dogs mixed with pastries. In other words, they are purebre(a)d dogs.
  • Although not the primary reference, Fidough is a few letters off from "Filo Dough", a type of dough used in Middle Eastern and Balkan pastries.
• Precious Puppy: Fidough's an absolutely adorable beady-eyed dog made of bread dough. Even after it evolves, it still looks precious.
• Punny Name:
  • English: Fidough mixes "Fido", a common name for a dog, and "dough", as it's based on a pastry. Dachsbun is a pun on the Dachshund canine breed and "bun" (a soft bread roll).
  • Japanese: Pupimocchi mixes "Puppy" and "mochi", a popular Japanese rice confection. Bowtzel combines "Bow wow," the English onomotopoeia for a dog's bark, with "Pretzel."
• Secret Art: Dachsbun is the only Pokémon in the game to have the Well-Baked Body ability.
• Stone Wall: Dachsbun has rock-solid physical Defense (which can be further boosted with Fire-type moves) coupled with alright Special Defense, as well as unusually high Speed for a primarily defensive Pokémon. However, its physical Attack is as high as its Special Defense (which means it's still alright) and its Special Attack is nothing to write home about.

Smoliv, Dolliv, and Arboliva (Minive, Olinyo, and Oliva)

0928: Smoliv / Minive (ミニーブ miniibu)
0929: Dolliv / Olinyo (オリーニョ oriinyo)
0930: Arboliva / Oliva (オリーヴァ oriiba)

Smoliv

Dolliv

Arboliva

A line of Normal/Grass, olive-themed Pokémon that share a long history with the people of Paldea. While Smoliv's oil is very bitter, Dolliv and Arboliva's oil is rich and aromatic.

---

• Barely-Changed Dub Name: Arboliva's English name is very similar to its Japanese (Oliva).
• Bishōnen Line: Smoliv is a olive-shaped Waddling Head, then evolves into the more humanoid Dolliv which resembles a little girl, and Arbolivia looks like a refined woman wearing an elegant Pimped-Out Dress.
• Character Development: Implied via its facial expressions as it evolves. Smoliv starts off looking nervous and like it's ready to cry at any moment. Dolliv has a more neutral stare. And finally, Arboliva has its eyes closed, looking serene and at ease.
• Geo Effects: Arboliva's ability, Seed Sower, sets Grassy Terrain after it's hit by an attack. The Smoliv line is also the only Pokémon to learn Terrain Pulse by level-up.
• Green Thumb: A Grass-type evolutionary line based on olives. The entire line can produce oil from their olive-shaped appendages.
• Heal Thyself: Arboliva recovers HP slowly thanks to its ability to set Grassy Terrain once hit. It also has access to Leech Seed, and learns Synthesis and Strength Sap as Egg moves.
• Home Field Advantage: Arboliva summons Grassy Terrain once hit by any attack thanks to its Seed Sower ability.
• Magikarp Power: Smoliv and Dolliv both have fairly low stats for their evolutionary stage, and their abilities aren't very helpful. Arboliva, however, has a high Special Attack stat with good defenses, and gains access to Seed Sower, letting it set Grassy Terrain to amp up its Grass-type moves even further.
• Meaningful Name:
  • "Arboliva" is a compound of either Latin "arbor" or Spanish "árbol" (both meaning "tree") and "oliva". Fitting, since this stage resembles a large tree with black olives hanging from its branch-like "arms".
  • Arboliva's German name, Olithena, is a compound of "olive" and "Athena", referencing the Greek goddess of wisdom who is also associated with olives.
• Mighty Glacier: Arboliva has high Special Attack and Special Defense, and great Defense, but it is very slow.
• Non-Elemental: They're part Normal-type.
• Oil Slick: A different kind of oil than is usual for the trope, but Smoliv will slow its opponents down by shooting out what’s meant to emulate olive oil before fleeing. Despite its similarity, Smoliv oil is inedible.
• Perpetual Frowner: Smoliv always looks worried or scared.
• Punny Name:
  • Smoliv comes from small or smol and olive, the plant it's based on. In Japanese, the pun is based on mini and olive (オリーブ) instead.
  • Dolliv is a doll of an olive, both literally (it looks like a plush doll) and metaphorically (it's a small and huggably cute Pokémon).
• Recurring Element: A three-stage Grass line that starts as a Waddling Head and evolves into a feminine Plant Person introduced in an odd-numbered generation, like Oddish, Budew, and Bounsweet before it.
• Secret Art: Arboliva is the only Pokémon to have the Seed Sower ability.
• Shown Their Work: Smoliv is noted to prefer dry and sunny climates. Real life olive trees do best in a Mediterranean climate, and are intolerant of cold, wet soil.
• Suspiciously Similar Substitute: Their designs appear to be based off of the Budew line, which are entirely absent in Scarlet and Violet.
• Uniqueness Decay: This evolution line has the Grass/Normal type combination, which was previously exclusive to the Deerling family.
• Waddling Head: Like many other unevolved Grass-types, Smoliv's main body consists of a bulb with tiny feet.

Squawkabilly (Ikirinko)

0931: Squawkabilly / Ikirinko (イキリンコ ikirinko)

Squawkabilly (Green Plumage)

A Normal/Flying parakeet-like Pokémon that forms flocks based on the color of their feathers. They are also the main method of Flying Taxi use in Paldea, as the presence of Tinkaton and their habit of rock-throwing makes using Corviknight too dangerous.

---

• Blow You Away: Flying-type Pokémon based on parakeets that learn moves like Air Slash, Hurricane and Tailwind.
• Crutch Character: Squawkabilly's decent Attack and great offensive abilities make it easy to slot in early in the game, but once battles start needing more than just that, its low base stats and limited movepool make it just as easy to bench in favor of better Flying-types. Hustle Squawkabilly counts in particular: its ability lets it spam super-powered Aerial Aces with no drawbacks, but hampers it from hitting anything with its other moves when the damage tapers off later on.
• Delinquent Hair: Squawkabilly has a pompadour and they're known for viciously fighting amongst themselves if they have different-colored plumage.
• Determinator: Has the ability Guts, which increases its physical strength when affected by most status conditions.
• Glass Cannon: Decent Attack and Speed, but very poor defenses.
• Hair-Trigger Temper: While all of them are territorial, Yellow Plumage Squawkabilly are noted to be especially vicious and aggressive.
• Non-Elemental: Normal-type Pokémon based on parakeets, probably referencing their popularity as pets.
• Palette Swap: Comes in four different colorations: green, blue, yellow, and white, with the only gameplay difference between them being what their Hidden Ability could be^note Guts for green and blue, or Sheer Force for yellow and white.
• Power Up Letdown: The Hidden Ability of the White and Yellow Plumage variants is Sheer Force^note Attacks with secondary effects deal 30% more damage, but those effects are removed. Unfortunately, Squawkabilly doesn't have the moveset or stats to take advantage of this, as most of the affected moves run off its poor Special Attack.
• Punny Name: "Squawkabilly" is a pun on "rockabilly", befitting its Elvis-like hairstyle and plumage, and the onomatopoeic "squawk", referring to a bird's noise.
• Shown Their Work:
  • Unlike Chatot before it, Squawkabilly has zygodactyl feet (two toes in front, two toes in back) like a real parrot would.
  • Squawkabilly is based on monk parakeets, who originally come from South America, but have established feral communities in Spanish cities like Barcelona after they were brought to Europe as pets that escaped or were released. They're originally green, but can be bred to be blue, lutino (yellow), or white, which are exactly the colors Squawkabilly can come in.
• Unskilled, but Strong: Two of its abilities, Hustle^note 50% extra Attack at the cost of 20% accuracy and Sheer Force, cause moves to deal more damage with a downside, likely referencing their hot-headed, combative nature.

Nacli, Naclstack, and Garganacl (Kojio, Jiodumu, and Kyojiohn)

0932: Nacli / Kojio (コジオ kojio)
0933: Naclstack / Jiodumu (ジオヅム jiodzumu)
0934: Garganacl / Kyojiohn (キョジオーン kyojioon)

Nacli

Naclstack

Garganacl

A line of pure Rock-types based on salt deposits. Due to being made out of salt, they're sought after by both people and Pokémon who want that salt. Luckily its salt is constantly being replenished so there's enough to go around.

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• Bishōnen Line: As it grows, it develops from just a hunk of salt with a face to a humanoid creature resembling bricks and blocks of salt fashioned together to form a body.
• Dishing Out Dirt: Rock-type Pokémon made of sedimentary rock and salt. In addition to their Rock-type moves, they also learn a variety of Ground moves like Earthquake and Fissure.
• Gentle Giant: Garganacl stands at 2.3m tall, yet willingly heals injured Pokémon.
• Healing Hands: Garganacl can heal even severe wounds by rubbing its fingertips and sprinkling injured Pokémon with its salt.
• Magically Inept Fighter: Garganacl has a decent base 100 Attack, but a very low base 45 Special Attack, and it learns next to no special moves.
• Meaningful Name: The line is named after NaCl, or sodium chloride, the chemical name for table salt, with "stack" and "gargantuan" added with each evolution. Likewise, in Japanese, it's named "Jio" after the Japanese term for salt.
• Mighty Glacier: Garganacl has a great HP pool, 130/90 defense stats, and high physical Attack. However, it moves at a snail's pace.
• Recurring Element: A three-tier line of rock monsters similar to the Geodude, Roggenrola, and Rolycoly lines.
• Red Eyes, Take Warning: Similarly to the Rolycoly line, their eyes glow red when they're attacking.
• Rock Monster: Its final evolution, Garganacl, is a bipedal mineral creature made of rock salt.
• Salt Solution:
  • One of their abilities is Purifying Salt, which protects them from status conditions and also reduces the damage taken from Ghost-type moves by half.
  • Their Secret Art Salt Cure is a Rock-type move that deals damage and inflicts damage at the end of each turn, the latter of which is doubled if the target is a Steel- or Water- type.
• Scissors Cuts Rock: Played with. The line's Secret Art in Salt Cure is a Rock-type move, and therefore not very effective against Steel-types, but its Damage Over Time effect is doubled against Steel-types, dealing 1/4 HP instead of 1/8.
• Secret Art: The evolution line's signature move is Salt Cure, a Rock-type move which inflicts 1/8 HP damage every turn and inflicts double damage when used on Water and Steel-type Pokémon. They are also the only Pokémon that can have the Purifying Salt ability, which prevents them from suffering status conditions and halves the damage they take from Ghost-type moves.
• Shoulders of Doom: Garganacl has some monstrously large brick structures on its shoulders. It's almost like the thing took a bunch of bricks and fashioned half-pyramids then stuck them onto its shoulders.
• Shout-Out: Nacli resembles the Super Mushrooms found in the Mario franchise. Garganacl's design and original name, meanwhile, resemble the Neo Zeong from Mobile Suit Gundam Unicorn.
• Shown Their Work:
  • The ability Purifying Salt is a reference to Halotherapy, which is using salt to heal certain ailments. Indeed, the salty air in the Wieliczka Salt Mine in Poland has been known to make people with asthma breathe better, and gargling salt water is a common home remedy for many maladies. Its reduction of damage from Ghost-type moves is also a reference to salt's status in various religions and myths as Supernatural Repellent.
  • Salt Cure's double damage on Steel-types make sense, as saltwater can corrode metals far faster than rust and freshwater can. Likewise, Salt absorbs water, thus also dealing double damage on Water-types.
  • Nacli and its evolutions are cuboid in shape because that's the natural structure of table salt.
• Stealth Pun: They use salt in order to protect them from damage or inflict damage onto others. They're putting salt on the wound. It also puts a different spin on salt curing - as in, using salt to mend injuries rather than preserving food.
• Violation of Common Sense: Usually putting straight salt in open wounds is a horribly bad idea, as it can not only intensify the pain, but even cause further damage. Yet Garganacl's salt can fix up injuries just fine with no indication of potential issues.

Charcadet, Armarouge, and Ceruledge (Carbou, Gurenarma, and Soublades)

0935: Charcadet / Carbou (カルボウ karubou)
0936: Armarouge / Gurenarma (グレンアルマ guren'aruma)
0937: Ceruledge / Soublades (ソウブレイズ soubureizu)

Charcadet

Armarouge

Ceruledge

Said to be charcoal that came to life, Charcadet resembles a tiny knight and is willing to fight opponents stronger than itself. When exposed to the Auspicious Armor, it evolves into the Fire/Psychic type Armarouge, which is incredibly loyal and shoots fireballs out of its Arm Cannon. When exposed to the Malicious Armor, it evolves into the Fire/Ghost type Ceruledge, which cuts its enemies to pieces without mercy.

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• Arm Cannon: Armarouge can convert its pauldrons into a cannon by moving them down its arms and putting its hands together.
• Black Knight: Ceruledge evokes this with its aesthetic, being a flaming knight that fights dirty.
• Blade Below the Shoulder: Ceruledge has two blades made of fire and ghost energy for arms.
• Breakout Character: Ceruledge became the clear favorite out of the line, scoring very high in a Japanese popularity poll and being a prominent rival's Pokémon in Pokémon Horizons: The Series. It often gets the spotlight over Armarouge in marketing and merchandise.
• Combat Pragmatist: Ceruledge isn't above using tactics like sneaking and surprise attacks to get the advantage.
• Dark Is Evil: Ceruledge has a dark blue/purple color palette, it drains energy from wounds it inflicts on others, and prefers sneaky, underhanded battle tactics. Also, Charcadet evolves into Ceruledge with "Malicious Armor".
• Fell Asleep Standing Up: Ceruledge sleeps while standing in the overworld, unlike its counterpart and pre-evolution, who both sit down to sleep.
• Good Colors, Evil Colors: Armarouge abides by Red Is Heroic while Ceruledge goes towards Dark Is Evil, so fittingly Characadet's color scheme is an equal mix of fiery red and charcoal black, showing it to have the potential for both good and evil.
• Honor Before Reason: Armarouge believes in and will engage in a fair fight no matter how much stronger its opponent is.
• Hu Mons: The Charcadet line consists of bipedal knights, along with being exclusive to the Human-Like Egg group.
• Jack of All Stats: Both Armarouge and Ceruledge have stats that range from above-average to slightly below-average across the board save for a really good attack stat (special for Armarouge, physical for Ceruledge), but their stat spreads have some key differences; Armarouge has better physical Defense and HP stats, while Ceruledge is slightly faster and has better Special Defense.
• Knight in Shining Armor: Armarouge in particular embodies this trope in contrast to Ceruledge's Black Knight with its insistence on fair play no matter how powerful the opponent.
• Life Drain: Ceruledge drains life energy from the wounds it inflicts with its swords. This is reflected in its exclusive move Bitter Blade, which damages the opponent and heals it.
• Magically Inept Fighter: Ceruledge's Special Attack is its lowest stat at a subpar base 60.
• Magikarp Power: Charcadet's very low stat total of 255 more than doubles to 525 as soon as it evolves, going from having poor stats all around even for an unevolved Pokémon to a powerful attacker with either physical or special moves depending on its evolution.
• Meaningful Name:
  • Charcadet's English name is a combination of char or charcoal and cadet.
  • Armarouge's name is a combination of arma (Spanish and Portuguese for weapon), armadura (Spanish and Portuguese for armor), and either rouge (French for red) or 紅蓮 guren (crimson-colored lotus).
  • Ceruledge's English name is a combination of cerulean and edge, while its Japanese name combines "soul" with "blades/blaze"
• Non-Standard Character Design: Armarouge and Ceruledge look decidedly at odds with the rest of the dex, like they'd feel more at home in Mega Man Battle Network as NetNavis than in Pokémon.
• Palette Swap: Heavily downplayed; the shiny coloration for the entire line only changes the color of their eyes. Both Charcadet and Armarouge's shiny forms possess blue eyes instead of red, while Ceruledge's shiny form has red eyes instead of purple.
• Playing with Fire: It's a line of humanoid figures made out of flames, so naturally it's Fire-type.
• The Power of the Sun: Armarouge can learn Solar Beam and Ceruledge can learn Solar Blade by leveling up.
• Psychic Powers: Armarouge is part Psychic-type. The energy for the species' psychic powers is stated to come from the armor they don that originally came from distinguished warriors. It uses the psychic capabilities of the armor to help control the Fire type energy within its body.
• Punny Name: Ceruledge's Japanese name can be read as either "Soublades" or "Soublaze", referencing either its sword arms or its part-Fire typing.
• Recurring Element:
  • They take inspiration from Tyrogue, Hitmonlee, and Hitmonchan, being humanoid Pokémon with a baby Pokémon first stage and a branched evolution path where the final forms are based on fighters and act as foils to each other.
  • They also take after Throh and Sawk, themselves expies of the original Hitmon duo, by following a red/blue color scheme and being version exclusive for the most part.
  • They use the same evolutionary method as Applin, Flapple and Appletun; both lines have a shared first stage with the evolution based on version-exclusive items.
• Red Is Heroic: In contrast to the Dark Is Evil Ceruledge, the bright red Armarouge is a fair-play fighter.
• Soul Power: Ceruledge is part Ghost-type. The species dons old armor steeped in grudges of the fallen, using those lingering grudges to fuel its attacks.
• Secret Art: For both final forms:
  • Armarouge gets the exclusive move Armor Cannon, a powerful Fire-type move that lowers Armarouge's Defense and Special Defense upon use. It's also the only Pokémon able to learn Expanding Force in Generation IX.
  • Ceruledge gets the exclusive move Bitter Blade, a Fire-type move that heals it for half the damage dealt to the opponent.
• Technicolor Fire: Ceruledge's flames are a lavender-bluish color.
• Version-Exclusive Content: While Charcadet is available in both games, the items needed to evolve it are version-exclusive. The item for Armarouge is only in Scarlet while the item for Ceruledge is only in Violet. (This is quite similar to Applin from the previous generation.)

Tadbulb and Bellibolt (Zupika and Harabarie)

0938: Tadbulb / Zupika (ズピカ zupika)
0939: Bellibolt / Harabarie (ハラバリー harabarii)

Tadbulb

Bellibolt

An Electric-type tadpole and frog. They generate electricity using kinetic energy like dynamos; Tadbulb shakes its tail, while Bellibolt stretches its belly. Levincia, one of Paldea's largest cities, gets its electricity from these Pokémon.

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• Big Eyes, Little Eyes: Played with — what initially look like big bulging eyes on Bellibolt's head are actually bumps that discharge electricity. Its real eyes are tiny and closer to its mouth, which, as Iono lampshades, makes it look cuter.
• Big Fun: Bellibolt are very rotund and so easygoing that it's hard to train them to initiate a battle because they tend not to notice an opponent until they get attacked.
• Call a Smeerp a "Rabbit": Bellibolt is called the EleFrog Pokémon, but its resemblance to frogs is… tenuous, to say the least. While its eye-like organs give it a vaguely frog-like face, this is more a case of mimicry, as its real eyes are what would be seen as its "nostrils". Add to that its stubby limbs and shoe-like feet, and it looks more like a Kirby character than anything.
• Cartoon Creature: Averted for Tadbulb, which does look like a heavily stylized tadpole. Played straight for Bellibolt, which just looks like a chunky, cartoony blob with nubby arms and feet.
• Dishing Out Dirt: The whole line can learn Mud Shot and Mud-Slap.
• Faster Than They Look: Bellibolt is quite rotund, usually rather sedate, but can be quite fast when it wants to be, as demonstrated by Iono getting bowled over by her excited Bellibolt in its reveal trailer. It doesn't get to take advantage of this trait during battles, however, as it only has a below average 45 Speed.
• Flying Seafood Special: Tadbulb is a tadpole-based Pokémon that floats above the ground.
• Growling Gut: Bellibolt's stomachs make strange noises when they're hungry, which have been mistaken for their cries.
• Heal Thyself: Naturally learns Slack Off, which heals up to half of its maximum HP.
• Informed Species: Bellibolt is called the "EleFrog" Pokémon, but only very loosely resembles frogs because of the eye-like organs on its head. When looking at its real eyes, it more closely resembles a Cartoon Creature straight out of Kirby. Averted with Tadbulb, though, which looks like a very stylised tadpole.
• Making a Splash: While not Water-types themselves, both of them can learn Water-type moves like Water Pulse and Muddy Water, making for a nasty surprise for any Ground-types which try taking them on.
• Meaningful Name: Its English name combines the words belly and bolt (as in lightning bolt), referencing how its stomach bears a resemblance to an electricity-generating plasma ball.
• Mighty Glacier: Has good Defense and Special Defense, plus a high HP stat to tank hits and a high Special Attack to fight, but has low Speed.
• Perpetual Smiler: In keeping with the "cute cartoony creature" aesthetic, both Tadbulb and Bellibolt's Pokédex images show them with a large smile.
• Power Floats: Tadbulb uses its electrical powers to float, and floats even higher when there's a thunderstorm happening.
• Power Up Letdown: Its Hidden Ability is Damp^note Prevents self-destruction moves from having an effect while this Pokémon is active, which, suffice to say, is a very situational ability compared to Static and especially Electromorphosis.
• Punny Name: Tadbulb's name is a combination of "tadpole" and "bulb" due to its lightbulb-shaped body.
• Recurring Element: The line is comparable to the Bewear family as both are two-stage evolutions with abilities related to damage calculation whose final stages resemble living mascot costumes.
• Ridiculously Cute Critter: Both Tadbulb and Bellibolt are constantly smiling and have cute, cartoony faces that make them look endearing.
• Rubber Man: Bellibolt's body is highly elastic, letting it stretch and squash when struck. This malleability allows them to convert the energy of attacks hitting them into more electricity for them to use, as represented by their unique Electromorphosis ability.
• Secret Art: Has the exclusive ability Electromorphosis, which powers up its Electric-type moves when it gets hit by an attack.
• Shock and Awe: The line is comprised of pure Electric-types. Tadbulb generates electricity by shaking its tail, while Bellibolt is capable of generating electricity by contracting and stretching itself.
• Shown Their Work: The eye-like organs on Bellibolt's head bring to mind mimicry - specifically, eye mimicry (eye spots - or in this case, eye bulbs - making it look bigger than it actually is, distorting perception of its size) and self-mimicry (having a body part mimic another body part, drawing attention away from vulnerable body parts). In a hilariously meta twist, this also fooled many fans.
• Signature Mon: Paldea's Electric-type Gym Leader Iono has a Bellibolt as her partner Pokémon.

Wattrel and Kilowattrel (Kaiden and Taikaiden)

0940: Wattrel / Kaiden (カイデン kaiden)
0941: Kilowattrel / Taikaiden (タイカイデン taikaiden)

Wattrel

Kilowattrel

A line of Electric/Flying types based on storm petrels and frigatebirds. They are common in coastal areas.

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• Animal Gender-Bender: A rare justified example — in real life, only male frigatebirds have inflatable throat pouches, but Kilowattrel of both genders have it. This is because for Kilowattrel, the throat pouch serves a different purpose, namely storing its electric power.
• Blow You Away: Wattrel and Kilowattrel are part Flying-type Pokémon capable of learning Hurricane, Air Slash and Tailwind. They even get a boost to their next Electric-type attack when hit by any wind-based move (Whether Flying-type or not) or when Tailwind starts on the user's side thanks to their Wind Power ability.
• Fragile Speedster: Kilowattrel has a high base 125 Speed but poor defenses.
• Giant Flyer: Kilowattrel is 4'7" on average, and in the overworld you can see how its low-slung body and short legs mean that it is a good deal larger than its height alone would indicate. Larger ones will even tower over the player!
• Meaningful Name: "Wattrel" and "Kilowattrel" refer to the units of measure "watt" and "kilowatt", since they are part Electric-type, and petrel, the type of birds they are.
• Mix-and-Match Critters: Kilowattrel gains frigatebird traits such as its tail and beak shape as well as the inflatable throat sac, but retains petrel-like wings. That Wattrel nests are eaten as a delicacy also borrows from the edible nests produced by the saliva of certain swiftlets for the famous bird's nest soup. Wattrel's short, pointed beak likewise looks more like that of a swiftlet than the distinctively long and tube-nosed beak of a petrel.
• Poor, Predictable Rock: Kilowattrel doesn't learn many types of moves outside of STAB and Normal-type attacks.
• Power Nullifier: The line has access to Volt Absorb, which renders them immune to Electric-type moves, or if injured, allows them to restore HP with them.
• Secret Art: The Wattrel line is the only line that gets the Wind Power Ability, which charges up subsequent Electric-type attacks if the holder is affected by a wind-based move such as Tailwind, Gust, or Hurricane.
• Shock and Awe: Part Electric-types that generate electricity through their wings (Wattrel) and throat sac (Kilowattrel).
• Shown Their Work: Kilowattrel is partially based on a frigatebird, and like one, it is a poor swimmer for a seabird due to its plumage's lack of waterproofing oils. And also like real frigatebirds, Kilowattrel has a very large wingspan in comparison to its overall body size.
• Squishy Wizard: Kilowattrel has a high Special Attack and Speed stats, but poor defenses.

Maschiff and Mabosstiff (Orachifu and Mafitiff)

0942: Maschiff / Orachifu (オラチフ orachifu)
0943: Mabosstiff / Mafitiff (マフィティフ mafitifu)

Maschiff

Mabosstiff

A line of Dark-types based on mastiffs. Maschiff tries to look intimidating, but its goofy scowl makes children laugh instead. Mabosstiff may look intimidating, but it's intensely loyal to its family.

---

• Big Friendly Dog: Mabosstiff stands at 1.1m tall, but has a gentle disposition and loves playing with children.
• Climax Boss: Mabosstiff is Arven's ace Pokémon when he battles you to test your mettle (and how well prepared you are to enter Area Zero) at the end of the Path of Legends storyline.
• Dark Is Not Evil: Mabosstiff lacks any malicious or violent characteristics commonly seen in Dark-types, instead being very protective of its family and loves the adoration it receives from children. That being said, it can quickly turn scary when defending others.
• The Don: Its name in nearly every language references The Mafia, and its protectiveness over its family, as well as its willingness to use fear and intimidation to defend them, are drawn from the image of the head of a mafia family.
• Game Face: Between the big droopy eyebrows, beard, and markings that give the impression of perpetual puppy dog eyes, Mabosstiff doesn't exactly look intimidating. But when it's protecting others, it bares its teeth and takes on an intimidating look best seen in its Pokedex image.
• Jack of All Stats: Aside from an excellent Attack and a mediocre Special Attack, Mabosstiff's stats are pretty evenly spread out.
• Kevlard: Maschiff's Violet Dex entry states that it has thick fat that helps defend it against attacks. However, neither it or its evolution actually gets the ability Thick Fat, and Mabosstiff's defenses are just decent at best.
• Magically Inept Fighter: Mabosstiff has a high base 120 Attack, but a poor base 60 Special Attack, with an almost complete lack of special-based moves.
• Meaningful Name: Maschiff is a mischievous mastiff, and Mabosstiff is a mastiff who's the boss of its fellow Maschiff.
• Puppy-Dog Eyes: Mabosstiff appears to have large, round eyes accentuated by its droopy brows, but in reality, the apparent irises and sclera are actually facial markings while its real eyes are as tiny as they were on Maschiff.
• Secret Art: Mabosstiff is the only Pokémon that has the ability Guard Dog, which boosts Attack when it's intimidated and grants immunity to switch-out moves like Dragon Tail.
• Shown Their Work: Real Spanish mastiffs are also giant guard dogs with long fur who are fiercely protective over their families and can be seriously dangerous if not properly socialized as puppies. It's an ancient breed that had to be very aggressive and know how to stand its ground, because it was originally bred to protect sheep from wolves — it had to be strong and bold to get in fights with wolves, and protective and gentle towards the sheep under its care.
• Situational Damage Attack: The line's Hidden Ability Stakeout can deal doubled damage against opponents who switch in that turn.
• Uniqueness Decay: This Pokémon line, alongside Roaring Moon, gets access to Jaw Lock, a move that was previously exclusive to the Chewtle line.
• You Will Not Evade Me: Jaw Lock prevents both its user and its opponent from escaping until one of them faints.

Shroodle and Grafaiai (Shirushrew and Taggingru)

0944: Shroodle / Shirushrew (シルシュルー shirushuruu)
0945: Grafaiai / Taggingru (タギングル taginguru)

Shroodle

Grafaiai

A line of Poison/Normal types who use their poisonous saliva to mark their territories.

---

• Art Attacker: It primarily uses its paint-like saliva to attack opponents or to lure and trap prey, in a similar fashion to graffiti.
• Art Imitates Art: Grafaiai's behavior of painting trees may reference the Oma forest, a work of public art consisting of trees painted with elaborate colors and patterns, located in the Urdaibai natural reserve, Biscay, Basque Country, Spain.
• Astonishingly Appropriate Appearance: Grafaiai's face bears some resemblance to a gas mask and the coloration of its fur makes it look like it's wearing a hoodie, giving it the appearance of a street artist.
• Creepy Long Fingers: Similar to its animal inspiration, Grafaiai's middle fingers are spindly thin and several times longer then its other ones. Said fingers are always coated in its colorful, poisonous saliva and used to both attack and paint with.
• Fragile Speedster: Grafaiai's highest stat is Speed, and is compounded by decent attack stats. However, its defenses are average at best and it doesn't have a great HP base stat at 63.
• Meaningful Name: Shroodle is derived from shrew and doodle. Grafaiai is derived from graffiti (referencing how it uses its paint-like saliva to mark its territory) and aye-aye. Grafaiai's Japanese name is derived from the words "tagging" (a form of graffiti) and "saru" (Japanese for monkey).
• Mix-and-Match Critters:
  • Shroodle is likely based on an American short-tailed shrew, being a small mammal with a venomous bite, and also a treeshrew, a small mammal closely related to primates and hence related to its aye-aye evolution.
  • Though visually based on the aye-aye, Grafaiai shares similarities with the ring-tailed lemur, who marks its territories using special glands on its wrists. Also, its habit of licking itself with a poison is a trait inspired by a small nocturnal primate known as the slow loris.
• Nocturnal Mooks: It's a nocturnal species.
• Non-Elemental: They're part Normal-type.
• Poisonous Person: They're part Poison-type, and Grafaiai can have the ability Poison Touch. It has poisonous saliva which it uses to immobilize Bug-type Pokémon (such as the Scatterbug in the trailer) or to attack enemies with. It can spit out this substance directly, or coat its middle fingers in it to use for slashing or piercing attacks.
• Secret Art: Grafaiai's signature move is Doodle, which gives it (and its ally Pokémon if in a double battle) the same ability as the target.
• Status Buff: Capable of having the ability Unburden, which boosts its Speed stat if it uses or loses a held item.
• Super Spit: Grafaiai's saliva is a paralytic poison. It can spit it out for attacks, but it more commonly uses the spit to coat its fingers with for drawing traps.
• Technicolor Toxin: The crux of Grafaiai's design concept is that its poisonous saliva has variable, vivid colors it explicitly uses as paint. The color can be changed by what berries it eats, and their alluring appearance and scent is used to make traps for prey or enemies.

Bramblin and Brambleghast (Anokusa and Anohoragusa)

0946: Bramblin / Anokusa (アノクサ anokusa)
0947: Brambleghast / Anohoragusa (アノホラグサ anohoragusa)

Bramblin

Brambleghast

Bramblin is believed to be a soul that couldn't move on to the afterlife, and was blown across the desert until it became entangled with a tumbleweed and turned into a Pokémon. It evolves into Brambleghast, which uses its branches to absorb life energy from its prey.

---

• Bizarre Alien Locomotion: Both Bramblin and Brambleghast traverse the world entirely by rolling, typically first flipping their body to its side, using their branches like the spokes of a wheel. Their floating eyes at the same time reorient to be horizontal as they proceed on their way.
• Ennio Morricone Pastiche: Bramblin's cry almost sounds like the iconic whistle from The Good, the Bad and the Ugly.
• Floating Limbs: Bramblin's eyes just float unattached in the center of the tumbleweed. While it does grow some branches into the shape of eye-sockets after evolving into Brambleghast, both these branches and the eyes themselves are still floating disconnected inside their branchy body.
• Gameplay and Story Segregation: Bramblin is said to hate getting wet, but it's just as resistant to Water-type moves as most other Grass-types.
• Glass Cannon: Brambleghast has great Attack and good Speed, but poor HP and below average defenses.
• Green Thumb: A line of Grass-types based on the tumbleweed. They're able to learn moves like Power Whip, Giga Drain and Bullet Seed.
• Life Drain: Brambleghast's Pokédex entries describe them as having a habit of enveloping its prey with its branches and sucking out their life energy, only expelling them when they have what they need. Also, the line can learn HP-draining moves such as Absorb and Strength Sap.
• No-Sell: Wind Rider makes them immune to wind-based attacks such as Gust, Twister, Icy Wind, Fairy Wind, Heat Wave, and Hurricane.
• Our Ghosts Are Different: A line of Ghost-type Pokémon that resembles a tumbleweed.
• Our Monsters Are Weird: When was the last time you encountered a sentient tumbleweed?
• Poor, Predictable Rock: Brambleghast has a very good Attack, and average stats all around aside from its HP. Plus it has an astounding ability and a none-too-shabby Hidden Ability. However, its type coverage is, aside from the fairly weak Thief and Pounce, limited to Grass, Normal, and Ghost-type moves.
• Punny Name: Bramblin is a ramblin' bush with brambles. Brambleghast is a ghastly bush with brambles.
• Secret Art: The Bramblin line are the only Pokémon to have access to the Wind Rider Ability, which boosts their Attack when they are affected by Tailwind or struck by a wind-based attack, while also allowing them to No-Sell the latter.
• Shown Their Work:
  • Bramblin and Brambleghast are Ghost-types, in reference to the fact that tumbleweeds die in order to become tumbleweeds.
  • Their ability Wind Rider makes them stronger when in strong winds. Real-world tumbleweeds thrive because the wind picks them up at the end of their lifecycle and carries them around, allowing them to spread their seeds far and wide.
  • Brambleghast's Violet Dex entry states that Mass Outbreaks can bury entire towns. Tumbleweed-heavy areas can indeed be buried under hundreds of tumbleweeds during a windstorm.
• Walking the Earth: The soul that forms Bramblin is said to be one that was unable to move on to the afterlife and ended up wandering aimlessly within a tumbleweed. Letting a Bramblin follow you for 1000 steps is actually the requirement for evolving it. Since they are often blown by the wind, wild Bramblin are noted to often have no idea where they are going.

Toedscool and Toedscruel (Nonokurage and Rikukurage)

0948: Toedscool / Nonokurage (ノノクラゲ nonokurage)
0949: Toedscruel / Rikukurage (リククラゲ rikukurage)

Toedscool

Toedscruel

Toedscool and Toedscruel resemble their aquatic counterparts Tentacool and Tentacruel, but like the Wiglett line, they are an example of convergent evolution. In their case, they are unrelated Grass/Ground-type mushroom Pokémon that can run around on mycelium legs.

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• Achilles' Heel: The entire line will be done in by Ice-type attacks.
• Blessed with Suck: Their Mycelium Might ability lets them ignore the opponent's ability with their status moves, letting them perform feats like putting a Pokémon with Vital Spirit to sleep, or setting Spikes against a foe with Magic Bounce. The catch? Not only do Pokemon with Vital Spirit or Insomnia not stay asleep due to their Ability's innate properties, it causes them to always go last when using these moves, preventing Toedscruel from using its good base 100 speed to get the jump on foes with Spore, and also hampering its role as a support Pokémon in general.
• Dishing Out Dirt: Ground-types, though this is oddly downplayed. They can only learn four Ground-type moves, notably being the rare few Ground-types that cannot learn Earthquake, and they can't learn any Rock-type attacks either.
• Fungi Are Plants: Just like other fungal-based Pokémon, the line is also classified as part Grass-type, which encompasses other plant-like Pokémon.
• Green Thumb: Grass-type Pokémon that learn moves like Leaf Storm, Giga Drain and Leech Seed.
• Kill It with Ice: They have a 4x weakness to Ice due to their Grass/Ground typing.
• Let's Meet the Meat: The folds on Toedscool and Toedscrool's heads are said to be delicious and a popular delicacy in Paldea.
• Mythology Gag: Way back in the first season of the anime, during a crowd scene of the Pokémon League participants, a Tentacool can be spotted walking on its tentacles with its trainer. While Tentacool is consistently portrayed as levitating over land in the 3D installments, Toedscool calls back to this initial depiction.
• Necessary Drawback: A guaranteed-sleep move like Spore on something with Toedscruel's high 100 speed would be an extremely dangerous trait, so their ability Mycelium Might makes status moves have lowered priority in exchange for bypassing opposing abilities.
• Pun-Based Creature: The line is based off wood-eared mushrooms (which are also known as "tree jellyfish" in Japan), and they resemble Tentacool and Tentacruel, which are jellyfish Pokémon. In other words, they're literal tree jellyfish.
• Punny Name:
  • In keeping with its punny origin, Toedscool and Toedscruel's names are a pun on "toadstool", another name for mushroom.
  • For their Japanese names: Nonokurage is a portmanteau of 野 no (field) and メノクラゲ Menokurage (Tentacool), while Rikukurage combines 陸 riku (land) and ドククラゲ Dokukurage (Tentacruel).
• Recurring Element: The Toedscool line serves as the "mushroom Pokémon introduced in an odd-numbered generation", following the Paras, Shroomish, Foongus, and Morelull lines.
• Resistant to Magic: Toedscruel's physical Defense is quite mediocre, but its good Special Defense lets it shrug off most special moves... so long as they're not Ice-type.
• Secret Art: They are the only Pokémon with the Mycelium Might ability, which causes all status moves to have lowered priority but ignore the effect of any Abilities that might prevent them from applying.
• Shout-Out: Toedscruel's tubular mouth and the way it props itself up on its tentacles resembles a Martian.
• Shown Their Work:
  • Like Wiglett and Wugtrio, Toedscool and Toedscruel are another example of convergent evolution. Toedscool and Toedscruel developed the ability to walk on their mycelium, causing them to resemble the Tentacool line. Lampshaded by Toedscool's Violet dex entry.
  • The line is based off of a woodborne fungus and Toedscool can often be found standing at the base of trees.
• Silly Walk: Toedscool's running animation has garnered some notoriety for its cartoonish floppiness. It's even a trait illustrated in its official art.
• Springy Spores: In a way. Toedscruel moves about by bouncing with all its legs at once.
• Stone Wall: Toedscruel has excellent Special Defense and high Speed, but its Special Attack is average at best, and its physical stats are mediocre.
• Uniqueness Decay: They are both Grass and Ground typed; as such, Torterra is no longer the only Grass/Ground Pokémon.
• Useless Useful Spell: An innate property of Abilities that prevent sleep is that if they are somehow put to sleep even with the Ability, they will immediately wake up. Thus, Mycelium Might allowing Spore to bypass these Abilities is rendered useless. The exceptions are the Nacli line's "Purifying Salt" Ability, Gholdengo's "Gold as Gold" Ability, and Pokemon with Magic Bounce, as they don't prevent sleep specifically.

Klawf (Gakegani)

0950: Klawf / Gakegani (ガケガニ gakegani)

Klawf

Rock-type crab-based Pokémon that live on cliffsides where they ambush prey from above. Their claws are often harvested to be used in cooking. A certain gigantic Klawf serves as the Stony Cliff Titan.

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• Boss Battle: Klawf is one of the Titan Pokémon you have to fight to obtain a Herba Mystica in the Path of Legends storyline.
• Call-Back: To Minior. Both are Rock-type Pokémon which increase their attacking stats when down to one half of their HP, at the cost of their defenses.
• Critical Status Buff: When Klawf is below half HP, its Anger Shell ability will boost its offensive stats and Speed at the cost of lowering its defenses.
• Dishing Out Dirt: It's a pure Rock-type Pokémon based on a crab.
• Four-Legged Insect: Or rather, Eight-Legged Decapod in this case, since it has three pairs of legs plus claws instead of four pairs.
• Giant Enemy Crab: One individual Klawf, known as the Stony Cliff Titan, is much bigger than any other Klawf, standing taller than a person. It is encountered in the "Path of Legends" subplot. Even regular Klawf are roughly the size of a ten-year-old.
• Glass Cannon: Has a high Attack and Defense, but the rest of its stats are middling at best. One of its abilities is Anger Shell, which makes it faster and stronger, but reduces its defenses.
• Healing Factor: With the Regenerator ability, it'll heal a third of its HP every time it switches out.
• Meaningful Name: Its English name is a combination of the words "claw" and "cliff" (referencing its rock-typing and location).
• Recurring Element:
  • Like Stunfisk, Crabrawler, and Clobbopus before it, it's a sea creature Pokémon that's not a Water-type.
  • The Titan Klawf follows in the footsteps of Brock, Roxanne, Roark, and Lord Kleavor before it, as a Rock-type Warm-Up Boss.
• Secret Art: It gets the exclusive Ability Anger Shell, essentially a less powerful ability version of Shell Smash (lowers defensive stats but boosts Attack, Special Attack, and Speed) that activates when Klawf is at half HP.
• Stealth Pun: Its appearance and typing make it a literal rock crab.
• Wall Crawl: They can cling to the walls of their canyon home, dropping to attack any intruders. The Titan Klawf requires a short hunt after it crawls up and away from where it's resting.

Capsakid (Capsaiji) and Scovillain

0951: Capsakid / Capsaiji (カプサイジ kapusaiji)
0952: Scovillain (スコヴィラン sukoviran)

Capsakid

Scovillain

Anthropomorphic chili peppers that are filled with spicy chemicals. Capsakid's teeth are often used as an ingredient in traditional Paldean dishes. When it evolves it gains a second head and a Fire typing. The red head can convert spicy chemicals into fire energy while the green head has turned vicious due to those same chemicals affecting its brain.

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• Awesome, but Impractical: Its Secret Art, Spicy Extract, lowers the defense and increases the attack of its target by two stages. Turning another Pokémon into a physical Glass Cannon is a flavorful concept, but the main game doesn't have many Double Battles where the Attack boost can be used, and the two-stage Defense drop is overshadowed by Screech, which reduces physical defense without having to worry about the victim being suddenly stronger.
• Blazing Inferno Hellfire Sauce: The Pokédex notes that the extreme spice found in some Paldean dishes originate from Capsakid teeth.
• Crippling Overspecialization: If it has the ability Chlorophyll, Scovillain counts. In the sun, it's able to move quickly and hit hard with boosted Fire moves and Solar Beam, and unlike other Grass-types, it won't take extra damage from enemy Fire-type attacks. Outside of the sun, it's slow and vulnerable to attack, and lacks the sleep immunity of Insomnia or the stat boosts of Moody.
• Fire-Breathing Diner: Played With; while they're not necessarily being consumed to produce fire, the pepper-like, Fire-type Scovillain plays on the concept of "spice equals heat". Scovillain is also capable of learning Flamethrower and Fire Blast.
• Glass Cannon: Scovillain's high attacking stats are belied by its poor defenses. Its Secret Art, Spicy Extract, can also turn the target Pokémon into one by sharply raising its Attack, but lowering its Defense.
• Green Thumb: Grass-types based on spicy peppers.
• Kappa: Capsakid's beak and the design of its cap make it resemble a kappa.
• Magic Knight: Scovillain has equally high attacking stats.
• Multiple Head Case: Scovillain has two heads: a red head that spews spiciness-induced flames, and a green head with a vicious temperament due to the spicy chemicals stimulating its brain. Despite this description, its in-game model uses the green head to spew flames and the red for shooting seeds.
• Not Completely Useless: Spicy Extract is normally a relatively useless move, being a worse Screech if used on an enemy and being risky to use on allies. However, it can be used to freely boost the Attack of a teammate with Clear Body or Big Pecks.
• Oxymoronic Being: Scovillain is Grass and Fire typed. Fire incinerates grass. Fittingly, it's based on a hot pepper.
• The Power of the Sun: Scovillain is tailor-made to be the peak sun abuser. Its unique Grass/Fire typing gives it STAB on Solar Beam, which requires sun to be effective, as well as Fire moves that receive a 50% power boost in the sun. Chlorophyll doubles its Speed in sun, it has access to the sun-empowered Growth to boost both attacking stats, and it has equally high attacking stats allowing it to run whatever kind of offensive set it wants in the sun. As a bonus, because of said Grass/Fire type, it can worry less about incoming sun-boosted Fire attacks since they deal neutral damage instead of being doubled.
• Playing with Fire: Scovillain is part Fire-type, with its red head being used to spread fire energy around.
• Punny Name: Capsakid / Kapusaiji is a capsaicin (a chemical responsible for making peppers spicy) filled kid (ji), while Scovillain is a villainous plant that's full of fiery spice that ranks on the Scoville Heat Scale.
• Secret Art: Scovillain learns the unique move Spicy Extract, where it sharply raises the Attack stat and sharply lowers the Defense of a target simultaneously.
• Spexico: Much like the Fuecoco line, the Capsakid line is based on a concept that's more stereotypically Mexican than Iberian, this being the country's famed love for extremely spicy food and chili peppers.

Rellor and Rabsca (Shigaroko and Beracas)

0953: Rellor / Shigaroko (シガロコ shigaroko)
0954: Rabsca / Beracas (ベラカス berakasu)

Rellor

Rabsca

Bug-types based on dung beetles. Rellor carries around a mud ball made with psychic energy, while Rabsca carries around a ball seemingly made out of psychic energy that contains either its children or its true body.

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• Animal Facial Hair: Rabsca has an impressive ‘stache for a beetle.
• Big Creepy-Crawlies: While a bit smaller than most of the Bug-type Pokédex, they stand at 0.2 and 0.3 meters tall respectively, while real life dung beetles average between 5 and 3 centimeters.
• Charles Atlas Superpower: Rellor is one of three Pokémon that undergo evolution simply by walking. They will only evolve into Rabsca after walking alongside the player outside their Poké Ball for at least one-thousand steps.
• Combat Medic: Rabsca is one of two Pokémon that can learn the move Revival Blessing, which is a 1 PP move that revives a fainted ally with half of their maximum HP. It also has a fairly high Special Attack stat to back up its supporting ability.
• Gold Makes Everything Shiny: Their shiny palettes (literally) evoke this, with Rellor's pushing around a shiny, golden ball instead of a lumpy, brown one, and Rabsca's having golden armor instead of blue.
• Mighty Glacier: Rabsca has great Special Attack and Special Defense, and above average Defense, but it is quite slow.
• Psychic Powers: Rellor rolls around a mud ball made with psychic energy, Rabsca gains a secondary Psychic-type and carries around a ball seemingly made out of psychic energy.
• Scarab Power: The line is based on scarab beetles. Rabsca's Psychic-typing gives it an air of mysticism, and is one of only two Pokémon that can learn Revival Blessing to outright revive a fainted ally.
• Sdrawkcab Name:
  • Rellor is "roller" backwards, though this is zigzagged for Rabsca — Rabsca is "scarab", but with the syllables transposed.
  • The Japanese names are both straight examples based on katakana, with Shigaroko being backwards for korogashi (rolling an object) and Berakasu being backwards for sukarabe (scarab).
• Synchronization: Rabsca has the Synchronize Ability, which causes an opponent to suffer whatever status they've inflicted on Rabsca.
• Shown Their Work: Rabsca's Violet dex entry states that an infant sleeps inside the ball it carries — and if the camera is positioned just right, you can indeed see something within the core. Some species of dung beetle make brooding balls out of dung, burying them underground and laying their eggs inside.
• Support Party Member: Designed to be one, with multiple support moves like Trick Room, Revival Blessing, both screen moves, and multiple weather setting moves. It even gets the Hidden Ability Telepathy to aid in this role.

Flittle and Espathra (Hirahina and Cuespatra)

0955: Flittle / Hirahina (ヒラヒナ hirahina)
0956: Espathra / Cuespatra (クエスパトラ kuesupatora)

Flittle

Espathra

Ostrich Pokémon known for their violent temperaments despite their seemingly harmless outer appearance.

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• Berserk Button: Flittle will relentlessly chase anything that steals Berries from it.
• Cartoon Creature: Flittle doesn't look like much of anything outside of being a floating round thing in a "skirt". Espathra resembles a heavily stylized ostrich in comparison.
• Feathered Fiend: Espathra is a large ostrich-like Pokémon. Its Scarlet Pokédex entry mentions its "vicious temperament". Its "feathers" though consist of strange, frilly structures that emit psychic power.
• Fortune Teller: With its surreal, frilly-looking design and psychic powers, Espathra appears to have been designed with this concept in mind.
• Fragile Speedster: Espathra is very fast, but its defenses are very lacking.
• Increasingly Lethal Enemy: Flittle and Espathra are the only Pokémon to boast the combination of Speed Boost and Stored Power, with STAB on the latter to boot. As Stored Power gets stronger with each stat boost its user has, Flittle and Espathra with this combination will gradually become faster and hit harder just by existing. They can also accelerate this process with other boosting moves like Calm Mind, and Espathra can further bring the hurt with Lumina Crash to make its opponent even more fragile against a constantly-powered-up Stored Power.
• Magikarp Power: Flittle is weak even by early-game Pokémon standards; it has paper-thin defenses and mainly learns physical moves even though its Special Attack is much higher. When it evolves into Espathra, its HP, Special Attack, and Speed drastically increase.
• Meaningful Name: Espathra's name in every language makes a reference to the Egyptian Queen Cleopatra VII, and the Clothing Appendage of the Pokémon takes strong cues from royally clothed depictions of her.
• Punny Name:
  • Flittle / Hirahina is a fluttering (hirahira) little chick (hina)
  • The English name Espathra comes from a combination of "ESP", "empath", and "Cleopatra", while the Japanese name Kuesopatora takes "esper" and inserts it into the Japanese spelling for "Cleopatra".
• Psychic Powers: The Flittle line is pure Psychic-type, with Flittle using its powers to levitate, and Espathra using them to immobilize foes and increase its speed.
• Ridiculously Cute Critter: Flittle is a very tiny and cute bird-like thing. Espathra is more elegant than cute.
• Secret Art:
  • Espathra is the only Pokémon that learns Lumina Crash, a Psychic-type move that does damage and harshly lowers the foe's Special Defense stat.
  • Espathra is the sole holder of the Opportunist Ability, which makes it increase a stat in response to an opponent doing so.
• Squishy Wizard: Espathra has a high base 101 Special Attack, but its defenses are poor.
• Super-Speed: According to its Violet Dex entry, Espathra can run at speeds greater than 120 mph. This isn't just flavor text, as its Hidden Ability is Speed Boost, which increases its Speed at the end of every turn.

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