Asking again for help on the Altru. Inc article.

Sorry, but I don't think I can help you seeing as I have never played Pokemon Ranger before.

Looks good.

What do you know? The end of the week sure comes fast...

Morphs [Oak Catalog #]

• Tepig [#498]
• Pignite [#499]
• Emboar [#500]

Physical Description

The three Pokémon of the Tepig line are porcine creatures that share few constant physiological traits beyond a rough color scheme, red-tipped snouts, bodies coated in a layer of fire-resistant hairs, and a capability to expel or otherwise manipulate bursts of fire.

The intial stage of this line, Tepig is a quadrupedal creature that typically stands approximately 50 centimeters tall upright and weighs in at just under 10 kilograms. Some of Tepig's most immediately noticeable features include feet with toenails that are similarly colored to the surrounding hairs on its hide, a prominent snout, a curling tail tipped by an orb-like growth similar in coloration to the tip of its snout, and a pair of prominent, narrow and movable ears at the top of its head. All regions of a Tepig's body barring its snout and tail orb are covered in a layer of short and bristly hairs, these regions include a prominent patch of yellow hair in shape vaguely resembling a vertically-stretched pentagon located between its eyes stretching from its snout to its forehead, regions of black hairs covering the front and top of its head, its ears, its front feet, and a region encompassing its lower back and abdomen, its posterior, and the majority of its tail, with the rest of its body covered in regions of orange hairs.

Tepig's first evolution, Pignite, is a portly, vaguely egg-shaped bipedal creature that usually stands around a meter tall and typically weighs approximately 55 kilograms. Some of the most readily apparent physiological distinctions between Pignite and its younger form beyond its newfound bipedalism include the emergence of grayish nails on its digits, one on each foot and two on each hand, the development of two vertically-oriented vaguely swirl-shaped growths near Pignite's pectoral regions, a greater distance between its two ears on the top of its head, a shorter and less pronounced snout, the emergence of two exposed teeth along the sides of its lower jaw, and the growth of a thick puff of hairs over its tail orb. Pignite's overall color scheme shares the same palette as its younger counterpart, though exhibits patterns that differ significantly from those possessed by its younger counterpart. Pignite possess regions of yellow hairs around a pair of bands around their wrists, as well as covering their two swirls, black regions that include its ears, its hands and fists, the top of its head, a small "bridge" between its eyes, and a region appearing not wholly unlike a pair of black, bristly overalls, which incorporates the entirety of its lower torso, the majority of its back, and bands covering regions on both the front and back of its shoulders, a Pignite's tail is covered in similarly colored, though darker bristles to these black regions, with the remainder of its body covered in orange hairs.

The final form of the Tepig line, Emboar, is an imposing bipedal creature that typically measures approximately 160 centimeters in height and weighs 150 kilograms. Two of the most evident departures that Emboar's physiology exhibits from that of its younger brethren include a proportionately leaner build, the growth of a longer coat of hairs, a snout that is slightly more pronounced than the one that it possessed as a Pignite, the emergence of multiple digits on its limbs, two per foot, and three per hand, a straighter tail terminating in a brush-like array of bristles, ears that due to the growth of regions of hair on its head, appear to be fused with a pair of bushy "eyebrows," and a prominent "beard" of live flames that rings the front and sides of an Emboar's neck for the duration of its life. The regions on Emboar's body are primarily covered by regions of black hairs, which includes a broad band dominating its torso, its lower and middle arms, its "eyebrows" and ears, and its tail. Emboar's body also sports yellow hairs on three prominent horizontally-oriented yellow "swirls" that occur on the front and sides of the middle of its torso, as well as on bands separating the black regions of its arms from its orange shoulders and head, and a jagged pattern separating its black lower legs from its upper legs, Emboar also possess red hairs on two bands that that ring their wrists as well as a region encompassing its upper legs and lower torso.

In rare circumstances, individuals from this line exhibit genetic mutations that give them an appearance that deviates significantly from that of their normal counterparts. As Tepig, these mutants possess pinker snouts and tail orbs, and have regions of brown, yellow, and tan corresponding to the black, orange, and yellow regions on the bodies of normal Tepig. As Pignite, the black regions on the bodies of mutants have the respective shades of the hairs on their tail and the rest of their bodies inverted, with violet regions in place of the yellow regions on normal Pignite, with other regions of their body covered in pale orange hairs. Emboar carrying this mutant phenotype share the same black-haired regions as their normal counterparts, but possess sky blue hairs on regions covered by yellow hairs among normal Emboar, and faint violet-blue regions in place of normally red regions. This phenotype apparently also affects the glands that produce the oils that fuel the fires produced by these creatures, as flames produced by carriers of this mutant phenotype are blue as opposed to the normal orange flames produced by members of this line without this phenotype, which is most readily evident from the blue fire "beards" of mutant Emboar.

Notable Biology

One of the most prominent features of the biology of Tepig and its evolutions is the complex biological structures that enable it to produce and manipulate live flames. Like a number of other "Fire-Type" Pokémon, the members of the Tepig line produce a flammable slurry as a side product of digesting food, which is concentrated within an internal organ, whose contents are set alight by constant weak charges from electrogenic cells that remain throughout the duration of an individual's life. Unlike most Pokémon that are capable of utilizing incendiary attacks, the members of the Tepig line possess electrogenic cells that are located relatively deep within their body, which due to the constant bleeding off of a flammable, oily slurry produced by these creatures' bodies, makes it one of a small number of Pokémon to possess live internal flames. The final stage of this line, Emboar, appears to possess a system of tubules that allow for small quantities of oils to be secreted through pores on different regions of its bodies. Two regions appear to possess these structures, Emboar's neck, which also contains electrogenic cells located along the edges of its pores, as well as the back of its hands, which lack the electrogenic cells needed to ignite the secreted oils. The efficacy of these creatures' electrogenic cells to ignite the oils produced by their bodies appears to be influenced both by hormonal levels as well as overall health, as ill and depressed Pokémon from this line have been noted to produce substantially weaker flames accompanied by large quantities of smoke, whereas irate or excited individuals produce intense flames with very little accompanying smoke. Unlike most Pokémon that utilize incendiary attacks, Tepig and its evolutions expel flames not from their mouths, but from their nasal passages.

Members of the Tepig line also exhibit what appear to be highly developed problem solving skills and logical capabilities. One of the behavioral quirks among Emboar is the practice of moving the back of their hands near their "beards" in combat, which causes accumulated oils to burst into flame and enables them to utilize potent "Fire Punch" attacks. Pokémon from this line have been recorded attempting to mislead potential rivals from food sources, in order to stem competition for sustenance. The members of the Tepig line also appear to interact with Pokémon outside of their immediate line more readily than most other Pokémon, and groups of these creatures have been documented forming and attempting to form structures with unrelated Pokémon exhibiting a wide range of behavioral patterns that appear to be analogous to defensive alliances. Members of this line appear to exhibit a greater degree of self-consciousness regarding their perception by other creatures, which can be most readily seen in the formation of such "alliances," where groups of creatures in this line have been documented avoiding counterparts in other groups that have fallen afoul of their allies.

Habitat

As of present, the members of the Tepig line do not have a reliably cataloged stable population, though such populations are inferred to exist within the Unova region due to the plethora of sightings of wild creatures from this line reported on an annual basis. Based upon sighting patterns, it appears that Pokémon from this line appear to prefer woodland and grassland habitats. In recent years, there has been an increase of sightings of Tepig and its evolutions near human settlements, though it remains unclear whether this phenomenon stems from the encroachment of human activity upon these creatures' natural habitat, the formation of feral populations from lost or abandoned captive members of this line, or simply members of this line being attracted to human settlements by relatively easy-to-access food sources in garbage bins and gardens.

Diet

Members of this line possess a firmly omnivorous diet, and will happily consume a wide range of plant matter and meats, which are typically roasted by fire attacks prior to consumption. Among wild populations, Tepig and its evolutions typically feed via a combination of scavenging and foraging, which typically results in a diet composed primarily of plant matter supplemented by carrion and creatures that are near death. In some circumstances, the older stages of this line have been recorded engaging in less passive predatory behaviors and actively pursuing prey. Among wild Pignite, such hunts are typically carried out by a party of 3-4 Pignite, wild Emboar recorded actively hunting appear to typically hunt alone, though instances of Emboar participating in group hunts have been noted.

Hazards

Although the reputation that Tepig and its elder counterparts possess is undoubtedly rife with hyperbole and at times borders upon libel, one must remember that as with an overwhelming majority of Pokémon, trifling with these creatures, especially wild members that have been less socialized with human beings than their captive counterparts, is an exercise for the foolhardy. All three members of this line employ a range of melee attacks. Although physical attacks by Tepig are unlikely to exceed "Tackle" attack capable of moderate bruising and knocking oneself off of one's feet, the same cannot be said for its bulkier evolutions. Pignite and Emboar both routinely utilize techniques involving attacks with their arms, which include powerful open-palm slaps and punches. Depending upon the strength of the individual, these attacks' effects range from severe bruising, the breaking of major bones, internal bleeding, to gashes from the sharp nails on a Pignite or Emboar's nails. One particularly potent technique utilized by members of this line is a tactic that involves curling into a ball and rolling into an opponent at high speed, a tactic that when coupled with the significant bulk of the latter stages of the Tepig line, is capable of severely wounding a trainer unfortunate enough to be caught in such an attack's path. It should also be noted that all stages of the Tepig line are also capable of utilizing incendiary attacks, which are capable of inflicting second and third-degree burns over large portions of the body, it should also be noted that a number of techniques utilized by Pignite and Emboar combine incendiary attacks along with physical assaults, which in addition to inflicting severe burns, are capable of inflicting the same injuries that these creatures' purely physically-oriented attacks do. Pignite and Emboar have also been recorded spewing clouds of smoke at assailants in an attempt to either weaken them or to buy time to flee, which is capable of causing injuries related to smoke inhalation.

As with most other Pokémon, a poorly trained member of this line may wind up inadvertently causing its owner great harm. Tepig often have a fondness for setting small objects ablaze, which while relatively safe in its native environment, has led to many a house fire being caused by a Tepig not trained sufficiently to distinguish environments where it can safely indulge its playful tendencies with fire. In addition, all stages of the Tepig line appear to have a propensity to engage in rough play, which has led to numerous trainers being hospitalized by well-meaning attempts by Pignite and Emboar to roughhouse with their owners or owners' relations. A safety hazard unique to Emboar is the presence of its constantly-fueled fire "beard," and proper caution should be exercised when attempting to allow Emboar to rest outside of the confines of its Poké Ball.

Courting

Although all three lines are fertile, courtship among Tepig is effectively unheard of in wild populations. In wild populations, courtship is limited to individuals that have attained the Pignite or Emboar forms. Courtship is typically initiated by males, who compete for the affections of female Pignite and Emboar via a combination of gifts and ritualized displays of strength. Although the process of suitor selection is typically resolved peacefully, an uncommon, but well documented phenomena in Pignite and Emboar courtship is that of battles among particularly competitive suitors. Unlike many other Pokémon with similar courtship behaviors, battles amongst Pignite and Emboar suitors appear to lack a significant degree of restraint, with such battles often resulting in severe injuries or deaths amongst the individuals involved. After a suitor is chosen, the male and female will mate shortly afterward in a secluded location, with the male beginning a semi-aloof lifestyle bonded to his mate, which typically lasts for the duration of time that his mate bears and cares for her young, typically 1-4 offspring. A number of unions between male and female Pignite and Emboar appear to last for multiple mating cycles, with a small minority of such unions lasting for the duration of their members' lives. Occasionally, Emboar have been recorded both courting and being courted by Pokémon outside of their immediate line, though this practice is markedly more common in captivity.

Social Structure

As with the eggs of other mammalian Pokémon, Tepig eggs are capable of surviving birth by both ovoviviparous and oviparous methods, with the former method most commonly documented among the young of wild Pignite and Emboar, and the latter most commonly documented among Tepig and captive Pokémon from this line. Gender ratios among Tepig appear to typically skew towards having more males than females, a phenomenon that is curiously more pronounced in captivity, where the average documented gender ratio is 7 males for every female.

1-3 days prior to the birth/hatching of her young, a female Pignite or Emboar will construct a large, mound-like nest. Where she and her young remain secluded from other creatures for the first week of her offspring's lives. Afterward, a female member of the Tepig line will return along with her young into her native sounder of fellow Pignite and/or Emboar. Tepig are typically cared for by their mother and her fellow members of her sounder for the first 10-14 months of their lives, and are left to fend for themselves afterward.

There appear to be a number of social units among wild Pokémon in the Tepig line. Females typically organize themselves into sounders of 3-4 Pignite and/or Emboar along with any young, and typically do not interact with male members of the Tepig line beyond current mates, prospective suitors, and the periodic visit by independent offspring. Male and female members of this line organize themselves into groups of 6-7 individuals as Tepig, which progressively shrink in size and segregate by gender with evolution. Male Pignite typically live in groups of 3-4 individuals, while a majority of male Emboar appear to lead solitary existences, with groups of male Emboar an uncommon occurrence in wild populations.

In Human Society

Historically, Tepig and its evolutions have generally been held in low regard in human societies exposed to these creatures, despite its current status as a starter Pokémon officially endorsed by the Unova League. The initial stage, Tepig has long been domesticated en masse for food, and as a means of disposing refuse by human societies in close proximity to Tepig populations, due in no small part to their physiology and the relative ease of maintaining and raising these creatures. Tepig and its evolutions occasionally see other agriculture-related applications, one of the most prominent being the use of creatures from this line to ferret out TinyMushrooms and BigMushrooms in forests to be harvested. Unlike a number of other Pokémon raised as livestock, there does not appear to be as much of a rise in qualms amongst the general public about the consumption of Tepig meat. This lack of public empathy appears to be closely tied to the perception of members of this line as a whole as being dirty and dim-witted creatures, with the latter forms having to bear the further ignominy of being perceived as aggressive brutes, a depiction which has long been present in human folklore. This perception continues to exert a heavy influence upon contemporary media, and has led to the final form of this stage being utilized either directly or as an inspirational basis for a number of antagonistic characters. Among them include the use of antagonistic creatures modeled after Emboar in a number of fantasy tabletop games and works, the use of an Emboar as the true form of a recurring antagonist in an action adventure video game franchise, the use of "'Boar cops" in a first-person combat franchise infamous for its erratic development cycles, the use of a greedy, self-centered Emboar as a recurring minor antagonist in a rail shooter franchise revolving around more hominid Pokémon, and the use of an army of soldiers in uniforms modeled after Emboar in the third installment of a cult role-playing franchise. Despite this, Tepig and its evolutions occasionally receive more sympathetic portrayals in human folklore and media. Some of these depictions include the presence of an Emboar in a popular set of folk tales surrounding the adventures of a staff-wielding Infernape, who becomes an progressively more sympathetic, albeit flawed, character throughout the duration of the narrative, the presence of a number of sympathetic characters explicitly modeled upon creatures from this line in a collection of folk tales based upon a series of military conflicts in the distant past, and the use of an Emboar as the "uncle" to the protagonist of a cult action-adventure series.

And that's what two sessions on the chatroom is capable of, folks.

So... Any further details that this line could stand to use? Stylistic niggles? Random commentary?

edited 1st May '11 10:58:33 PM by TracerBullet

Good to see the chatroom sessions brought to a net result.

You posted this about the time I was going to sleep, but when I get up tomorrow I can help tropefy the entry. Beyond that, I'd check, if we haven't discussed already, how to bring their DW abilities in and some minor details in the habitat.

Not sure how DW abilities will be implemented, though some articles are gonna have to be rewritten because of them.

The key question is how do we interpret the dreamworld; in my case I just left these abilities as normal abilities, just only recently identified (and I work the "an individual is not restricted to one ability" angle, due to interoperating with the TCG, but that's another matter). I don't even understand how the games are interpreting the dreamworld...

I say make it so that few Pokemon get them, they're rare abilities.

Firs toff, the last section under notable biology about Emboar as depicted in media doesn't really fit under notable biology, but then again, it doesn't really fit anywhere else, either. Perhaps an "other" heading might be useful for certain articles?

second, recalling what we've been talking about in chat lately, the hazards section is just a bit TMI IMO. For instance,

edited 16th Mar '11 9:55:04 PM by Blissey1

↑I use a "In Popular Culture" header.

^x2 I'm going to presume that you meant that it seems kind of unnecessary. Personally, I'm one to disagree, but this is a collab article, so I'll go back and axe that blurb.

^ It's just a wee bit more than popular culture, but I spun that chunk off into its own subsection anyway.

edited 16th Mar '11 9:54:02 PM by TracerBullet

er, yeah, I meant unnecessary.

and in human society sounds good.

Oh yeah, not to throw off the momentum of the Tepig buffing or anything, but I'll be adding Druddigon to my queue of impending joint writes.

I decided to do a Ghost type.

Tell me what you think.

Shuppet Line

Morphs [Oak Catalog #]

• Shuppet [#353]
• Banette [#354]

Physical Description

The juvenile morph, Shuppet,resembles a dark purple cloth being draped over a sphere with a point on top. Holes in the "cloth" show purple and blue eyes. The pupils are yellow due to the fact that Shuppet's eyes emit a yellow light.

The adult morph, Banette, has the entire body covered with a similar black "cloth". It is roughly humanoid in shape, with short legs and long flat arms. Its head has developed to more points on the side, and a long "ponytail" streaming behind it. A small round tail protrudes out of its back. The Banette's eyes have changed color to red, while on its face there is a always closed mouth that resembles a zipper.

Notable Biology

Samples taken from the line show that the "cloth" that forms their skin is completely different for each one, some of which aren't even fabrics. Older members of the line have been found to consist mostly of cotton and wool. While newer ones have been formed of man made fabrics like polyester and even plastics! Further research has shown that, as far as researchers can tell, the line possesses no internal organs of any type. Instead their bodies consist of material similar to that of their skin.

Like other Ghost type Pokemon Shuppet and Banette can become intangible and invisible at will.

Habitat

Unlike many Pokemon, Shuppet and Banette prefer to live near human settlements. You will often find them in allyways and near houses. It is not uncommon to find a Shuppet in a garbage can or dumpster either.

A large colony of the line, however, resides on Mt. Pyre within Honen.

Diet

While Shuppet will occasionally eat berries, Banette has never been observed eating due to its mouth never opening.

Instead, the line is like several other Ghost type Pokemon in that is gains subsistence from emotions. In particular they prefer negative emotions like envy and anger. Shuppet will cluster around areas where such negative emotions occur. Banette are more proactive, and will attempt to cause this negative emotion.

However, there have been examples of Shuppet and Banette feeding on positive emotion. All cases known are of young children "adopting" and caring for the Pokemon in question.

Hazards

Like most Ghost Pokemon, the line has a love of committing pranks. It is wise to train your Shuppet to not perform pranks, or at the very least, to not do it to you or your immediate family.

Banette, in particular, are considered one of the most difficult Pokemon to train. This is largely due to the fact that, since they feed on negative emotions, a trainer getting frustrated or angry at it is exactly what it wants. Banette have been known to deliberately lose battles in order to feed on this frustration. Even if you avoid this, the simple fact that you need to surround yourself with unpleasant emotions in order to feed your Pokemon puts a psychological toll on the trainer.

Since Banette will attempt to cause negative emotions, anyone who lives near them is wise to keep a cool temper. Remember that unless you see someone do it directly, any slight against you may be a Banette attempting to feed off you.

Finally, there have been cases where Banette attacked humans. These attacks seem random, with no pattern seen in the behavior of the Pokemon or human. What's known is that some humans will cause a Banette to go into a rage. In this state it will focus solely on attacking that human. The strangest part of these attacks is the victims testimony. Rather then seeing a Pokemon, they see an old worn out doll. The doll is often broken in some fashion.

Courting and Childrearing

Neither Shuppet or Banette have ever been observed mating or courting. It is unknown how they reproduce. Attempts to breed the Pokemon in captivity have failed as well.

Social Structure

While Shuppet and Banette group together, this is merely due to them clustering around food sources. Banette will sometimes team up to commit larger pranks, however.

So then since there are no problems, I guess there's no need for proof reading?

Also, doesn't this chat have an IRC channel? It should have one.

The Shuppet article needs serious fleshing out, it's very bare bones. Only the Hazards section seems adequate.

edited 17th Mar '11 3:05:47 PM by Neo_Crimson

Too short.

The Dream World is interpreted in the game as being something that Munna and Musharna are capable of projecting.

while it is a bit too short, keep in mind that we're still pretty iffy on(read: have no idea) what exactly ghost pokemon are(if there even is a common cause for them), which makes any sort of biological explanations quite difficult.

Tangent, we need a major update on the main page.

Well what else is there to add? Length for the sake of length isn't good. What information do you think it lacks?

A few suggestions:

• Taking a look at Banette and Shuppet's mythological analogues could potentially help you come up with fluff. (Their names elude me at the moment, but I'm sure Bulbapedia's got something).
• The line should have something for courtship and/or breeding or failing that, a suitable handwave for why no one seems to know how Chucky and its progeny reproduce. Saying that captive breeding has never been reliably documented among the untold scores of captive Shuppet and Banette already taxes our suspension of disbelief, saying that no documentation of courtship and/or breeding among wild Shuppet and Banette just seems lazy.
• Do members of this line behave differently in different enviroments? e.g. Do Banette living around Stark Mountain (which you did not reference) behave differently from those that live in Mt. Pyre?

Also, were there any further ideas for the Tepig article, or did we want to call it finished?

They're tsukumogami. Inanimate objects that have come to life. In the case of Shuppet, it's dolls. That's where the entire segment about their biology and the human attacking segment came from.

OK, I was going for implications. But let me spell it out.

Shuppet don't reproduce, they are basically a straight tsukumogami. Dolls are thrown away, they come to life and become Shuppet. Why they do, dunno. Thus the line about Shuppet being found in trash cans. That's where newborn Shuppet come from.

Forgot about Start Mountain. But this segment here does feel to me like something I missed.

Thanks for the suggestions.

But wait, if Shuppet do not reproduce sexually, then why are they a gendered pokemon? Even if a doll was supposed to be a girl that doesn't mean it has an actual sex, which is usually what the gender-marker means and when they don't know if it has a sex or not they leave it out entirely.

^x2 Considering all of the liberties that GF takes with biology with its mons, I think that you can afford to take a few liberties regarding reproduction. Think of Shuppet and Banette not as true tsukumogami, but rather creatures that share a number of uncanny resemblances to tsukumogami (Plus it seems kinda bad to be completely throwing out a major portion of game and animu canon).