The Pokédex - Extended Fanon Edition

I've read somewhere that TV Tropes forums is experiencing a general activity low these days. Maybe it's the World Cup, the awesomeness of the picture of the Universe, the date (Jul 4 and all that) or something else...?

I myself am locked at home w/o inet so I can connect from college only. And yes, still working on that Nido entry. Maybe I should write another one in the meantime, again.

It's been busy for me in Real Life at the moment; probably will be a week or two before I'm properly back on track, so indexing might be sporadic.

(Still, looking forward to the Nido entry. I imagine Nidoran couples are a common Valentine card motif?)

↑Oh yeah they are. But that's just the effects of media advertising; I'd guess the "reality" of things would be vastly different.

I'm trying to pick an evolution line for the next entry, right now down to either Zigzagoon or Rayquaza since I like them too, that I can do while I complete the one-that-you-know.  ^⧄

Incidentally, is it just me or we do have a Ponyta entry that has not made it into the Index?

edited 7th Jul '10 6:13:02 AM by SilentReverence

Prepare for a Mind Screw with the...

Porygon Line

Morphs [Oak Catalog #]

• Porygon [137]
• Porygon-2 [233]
• Porygon-Z [474]

Notable Biology

Porygon may very well be the most remarkable Pokémon to date, being artificially engineered autonomous AI programs. They were first designed by Silph Co. as a personal utility for managing large computational operations that their employees would need to use. Indeed, Porygon can handle, store, and sort enormous amounts of data.

With the proper technology (which can easily be integrated into a standard Pokéball), Porygon can "project" their basic equations into a tangible form from surrounding molecules, resulting in a blocky, computerized-looking creature. This is not the "true" form of a Porygon, which is in fact an intangible mass of equations.

The Porygon-2, an upgraded model of software, debuted to much fanfare and proved to be superior than it's predecessor. Furthermore, any Porygon could quickly be upgraded into a Porygon-2 through a computational process resembling tradition evolution. Any device that communicated wirelessly could potentially store a Porygon-2; this new model posessed the ability to email itself wirelessly onto any device. and, by compressing and zipping itself, it can even fit itself onto a Pokédex. Much concern was initially raised about this controversial feature from some sources; soon after Silph Co. released a firewall program that can block a Porygon-2 from entering. In addition, like it's predeseccor, it has the ability to project itself into the real world. A Porygon-2's projected form is much smoother and sleeker than a Porygon's. Online, however, Porygon-2s can change their appearance to suit the tastes of their users; it is disappointing, but wholly unsurprising, that the vast majority of Porygon-2s are told to take on the appearance of scantily clad women or worse.

The Porygon-Z was a commercial flop. Designed initially to be a more rugged field-utility for Trainers, a rushed program design and dubious software resulted in a glitch-filled mess. The line was cancelled soon after release, although one can obtain by subjecting their Porygon-2s to certain amounts of data. Porygon-Zs are still usable in both computational programs and in battle, although they are prone to freezing up or "glitching" out of the arena.

Habitat

Porygon usually exist within computers or other advanced computer devices. A Porygon-2 can cram itself into any device that has more than 7 GB of memory. Recently, Professor Birch has discovered a bizarre phenomenon- occasionally, Porygon will go missing from their computer, only to reappear hours or even days later, completely unchanged. A recent theory put forth by a famed scientist is that the continuous wireless communications and quantum entanglement practiced by today's incredibly advanced machinery may indeed have somehow created another plane of existence reliant on the rapid transferrance of quantum information and balancing of equations, a sort of "digital world", often abbreviated to "the Digiworld hypothesis.". Some believe that Porygon can upload and later download themselves into and from this hypothetical world, though exactly what sort of conditions or life-forms exist there, or even if this world is real at all, is still unknown. Recently, a group of children claimed to have entered this world and befriended the local life-forms; they are all currently under psychiatric evaluation.

Diet

None.

Hazards

The physiology and personality of Porygon in themselves are not harmful at all; they are friendly and enjoy working with their masters, whether in day-to-day life or in competitive battles. However, many have exploited their Porygon for less-than-honorable purposes. A trained hacker can insert a virus into their Porygon's system, despite most models having a rapidly-updated firewall system. Porygon-2s can email themselves from machine to machine, spreading this virus onto another computer's native Porygon. The largest such outbreak is belived to have been started by Team Rocket and infected at least 300 Porygons and Porygon-2s, in addition to taking down the computers of multiple Pokémon centers, banks, and homes. In addition to this, a faulty Porygon can cause seizures for those who look at a screen that is connected to a device it is occupying. This bug was fixed with the release of Porygon-2.

Courting and Childrearing

None.

Social Structure

Porygon, Porygon-2s, and Porygon-Zs are all capable of interfacing with one another and uploading or downloading data into one another's systems. Networks of up to a hundred Porygon-2s have been formed, capable of handling and sorting two terabytes of memory.

edited 7th Jul '10 4:11:50 PM by CrowT.Robot

Ooh, connecting the Pokemon world to the Digiworld? This will be fun.

I don't remember a Ponyta entry...

edit: it was mentioned on page 32, but that's it.

ninja'd by entry: This could be a can of worms... ^_^;

edited 7th Jul '10 6:58:30 AM by Tangent128

ya know, I've always been of the opinion that pokeballs each have their own "digital world" that it sends the pokemon too. Each world custom designed to the type of pokemon, of course.

and as to the dearth of activity, I lost my internet connection on the 3rd and only got it back just yesterday. The Diglett entry is understandably behind schedule.

Here's my first try!

Jigglypuff Line

Morphs [Oak Catalog #]

• Igglybuff [174]

• Jigglypuff [039]

• Wigglytuff [040]

Notable Biology

All three morphs have pink, extremely round cephalothoracic bodies. Because of their need to be able to inflate themselves with lots of air, most of their organs are concentrated around their spinal column. This leaves room for their gigantic lungs, which can inflate to an enormous degree, puffing up the entire Pokemon’s body to much bigger proportions than their default, deflated height. For this ability, their lungs are very sturdy and flexible, and are much more resistant to puncture and injury than human lungs. If one were to shave the pink fur off of one of these Pokemon, one would find skin of a similar color. However, Igglybuff have a unique difference in skin color, as mentioned below.

Igglybuff are obviously the smallest, with a size of only 1 foot tall, or 0.3 m. They have odd, bumpy lumps on the top of their heads, and a slight curl of black fur on their foreheads. Unlike their evolved forms, they are albino, and thus have red eyes and when their pink fur is shaved off, one can see that their skin is much lighter than the skin of full-grown Jigglypuff and Wigglytuff.

Jigglypuff, the most commonly seen of the species, have a similar spherical shape to Igglybuff. Their ears are bigger and more noticeable, having a triangular shape similar to cat ears. The lump on an Igglybuff’s head has changed to a very fluffy puff of hair that curls above the Jigglypuff’s eyes. Jigglypuff are slightly bigger, being 1’ 08”/0.5 m.

Wigglytuff have a slightly different body shape than their unevolved forms, with a more oval shape to their bodies. This also gives them a more distinct “head,” as their eyes and mouth are now distinctly at the top of their bodies. Their ears have lengthened considerably, and are more like the shape of rabbit ears. They also have white fur on their tummies, and their fur in general is known to be very luxurious and soft.

Habitat

These Pokemon tend to live in warm grassland areas, usually near places known to have an abundance of Moon Stones, such as Mt. Moon in Kanto. Young Igglybuff are usually raised around water sources, as these young ones’ vocal capacities are still developing, and they need plently of water when they get sore throats. They are generally rare, but are found in Kanto, Johto and even in Hoenn. The colder climate of Sinnoh makes it more difficult for these Pokemon to expand their lungs and sing effectively, and thus they do not usually live in that region.

Diet

These Pokemon generally eat fruits and berries, being herbivores. While they aren’t usually picky eaters, most members of this species prefer apples to other fruits, especially very big, tasty apples that are known in some places as “Perfect Apples.”

Hazards

The main danger that members of the Jigglypuff line pose is their hypnotic singing that can make anyone who listens to it fall asleep, barring Pokemon with abilities such as Soundproof or Insomnia that prevent this effect from working. While merely falling asleep is not normally dangerous, it could potentially be so if one heard a Jigglypuff’s song while engaged in an activity where alertness is essential, such as operating machinery or crossing a raging river. While most Pokemon of this species know that their song has this effect, there are a few individuals, mainly young, newly-evolved Jigglypuff, who don’t understand why people and Pokemon fall asleep when they sing. Thinking it is because no one likes their singing, some of these individuals are likely to pull a prank on or even attack those who fall asleep during their singing.

While the Jigglypuff line is normally peaceful, the moves they employ in battle can still be dangerous, and it is not advised to anger one, especially a full-grown Wigglytuff. Their Doubleslap attack is vicious, as well as their ability to Body Slam and Bounce on their victims. Probably the most dangerous move a Pokemon of this line can use is Hyper Voice, which has been known to cause small earthquakes, deafen those who are foolish enough to not protect their ears, and it can certainly shatter glass when used in human urban areas. Some very powerful Wigglytuff become feared by even otherwise more powerful Pokemon for their use of Hyper Voice, most particularly one who leads a band of Pokemon who do rescue work.

Courting and Childrearing

This species has a gender ratio of only 1 male for every 3 females, and thus female Jigglypuff and Wigglytuff compete for mates. Usually the alpha females are first in line, and they compete by having mock battles where they bounce around in a ring, the winner being the one who stays in the ring the longest without being bounced out.

Socialization is an extremely important part of raising baby Igglybuff, as it is forming strong bonds of trust and having fun with friends that helps them evolve into Jigglypuff. Sometimes these bonds are formed either with family members such as parents or siblings, but socializing with other Pokemon is encouraged, especially other Pokemon like Chatot and Whismur who have similarly vocal communication methods. When Igglybuff evolve and leave the family, they usually pair up with their beloved partners, either other members of their species or other Pokemon, though finding trainers to pair up with is not unknown.

Social Structure

Like humans, they tend to live in small, nuclear family structures, though sometimes with members of the extended family as well. Because there are so many more females, they have a matriarchal structure, although it is not unknown for males to have positions of power as well. Because of the gender ratio, it is not uncommon for there to be several females, usually lower in hierarchy, who never reproduce. These usually act as guardians for individual families, scaring away predators with their vocal attacks.

edited 7th Jul '10 12:06:32 PM by Rainbow

Nice Pokemon Mystery Dungeon shoutout. (Although I don't know if that is canon or not...) My only real nitpick is that you may have anthropomorphized them too much. That may not be a bad thing, though.

^I like it. You did an excellent job with the biology.

I also greatly enjoyed the Porygon entry. "Digital World", huh?

I would remove the Ash Ketchum reference; in-universe, most readers won't have any idea who he is, much less his experience with the Jigglypuff.

While it'd be interesting to see how Rescue Teams could be incorporated into the Pokédex writers' world, I'm not sure how relevant one individual would be to an article on the line as a whole.

Otherwise, nice article!

I'll take out the Ash Ketchum thing, that's a good point.

edited 7th Jul '10 12:14:14 PM by Rainbow

Yeah, I was going off the assumption that the anime happened where applicable and cool enough, and while some of those incidents are probably common knowledge, the personal details probably aren't.

Maybe a Rescue Team could be similar to St. Bernard dogs and other "working-class" animals in the real world. There are humans involved, but the Pokemon are trained enough to operate independently for long periods of time.

I concur with Crow on the subject of the Rescue Teams. I think it makes them easier to write as well.

Also, hurra! for removing Ash Ketchum.

I'll third the "rescue teams as St. Bernards" theory. The Diglett entry will be coming up Soon™

Maybe Rescue Teams are related to Pokemon Rangers in some way?

The Narmiest thing I have ever seen on a TV show was in an episode of Pokemon, where a Pokemon ranger twirls a stylus around while screaming incredibly loudly. Hilarious.

^ I actually have an idea for that in my fanfiction arc, but there's no way in hell I'm going to take it seriously.

edited 7th Jul '10 12:57:34 PM by Pykrete

Yeah, I'd guess that on Rescue Teams as well, they are more like independant teams.

↑,↑²: on the Rangers: thank $DEITY that I'm going to "abandon" the "Narmly throw swirly thingy to Pokémon to make them obedient" thing for the (Spanish) fic I'm writing and take a more Rangers-as-in-Walker-Texas-Ranger approach. I had liked the idea of Rangers a lot until the 9th movie came around and the Ranger guy enslaves ZAPDOS with one of those swirly-thingys.

edited 7th Jul '10 1:36:45 PM by SilentReverence

I haven't had time to make any more entries due to my schoolwork. I will have plenty of free time next week, however.

Cool articles by the way you two. I liked the reference to the Digiworld in Crow's Porygon entry.

Right. The long-in-coming Omanyte/Omastar entry - after all, Everythings Squishier With Cephalopods!

Yes, I am a bit of a nerd for marine biology. x_x;

Omanyte Line

Morphs [Oak Catalog #]

• Omanyte [#138]
  • Omanyte is a pelagic cephalopod adapted to survival at all levels of the water column. Relatively lightweight and compact, Omanyte shells tend to measure roughly a foot in diameter while the creature itself weighs between eight and a dozen pounds. Measured weight tends to be slightly higher in the modern day due to a unique quirk of the reanimation process (explained below), as well as its predilection for taking on water and storing it within its shell. Omanyte display a range of colors upon their mantle, but they prefer shades of blue. A rare few display a purple shade, usually chalked up to a slight mutation in the chromatophores.

• Omastar [#139]
  • Omastar is the adult form of Omanyte, and is virtually identical in every way besides scale. Minor differences from Omanyte are mostly personality-based; Omastar enjoys showing off and displaying the famous cephalopod beak that Omanyte hides. Its one interesting new development is a row of stout spikes on its shell. As a last ditch defensive measure, Omastar can actually fire these spikes from its shell, being one of the very first creatures known to have employed self-generated projectile attacks. The mechanics of this fascinating ability are nascent in its juvenile state and develop as it matures.

Notable Biology

As cephalopods, Omanyte and Omastar display formidable intellects, especially for such ancient creatures. They are adept at problem solving like the more recent Octillery, viewing the world through tactile input. Their brains are recorded as being the highest-developed in the ancient seas, well before the advent of the more sophisticated Psychic-types of more modern eras.

These creatures have an innate understanding of hydrodynamics and pressure regulation, traits which they employ to great effect with their other notable development: their pressure-vessel shells. The shells of these creatures are fascinating to behold, and surviving fossils can be analyzed for the elegance in their design. These pseudo-nautiloids’ shells are formed in a logarithmic spiral, expanding ever greater as the creature grows, separated into distinct thick-walled pressure chambers permeated by the mantle of the creature itself.

The really clever development is that owing to the exceptional durability of the shells, these chambers can be used as buoyancy chambers to allow Omanyte and Omastar to operate like living submersibles, changing their buoyancy as they see fit. The creatures can pressurize their shells with exceptional force, held in check by a series of bony siphuncles to regulate it. This allows them to squirt jets of water or ink through their siphons with extreme force, even under water, a ‘special attack’ power unmatched by most marine Pokemon to this day. With some training, these intelligent Pokemon have been noted to use even ice-based attacks by controlling chambers of differing pressure to draw heat out of their stored water supply.

Omastar deserves special mention here as its unique evolutionary development – the firing of spikes – is the extension of this mechanism. The spikes are held in place by a ring of shell thinner and weaker than the rest, and when its chamber is pressurized enough, this ring breaks and the pressure propels the spike with deadly force through its adversary. This is, of course, a defensive maneuver as it leaves a hole in the shell through which parasites can enter, and requires Omastar to regrow the damaged shell over a period of some weeks, mixing brine in its chambers in order to sterilize the wounded area. The spike in question likely proves fatal to the predator, however.

Diet

As with most cephalopods, Omanyte and Omastar are predatory. In the ancient past, when prey was considerably slower, their main sources of food were ancient crustaceans, the ancestors of modern Krabby and Corphish for example, as well as the odd Lileep should they be feeling brave. Their strong beaks, hidden within their ring of tentacles, serve to crack open the shells of smaller prey. Omanyte, as a pelagic species, could often take ancient precursors to Tentacool, as well as harvesting corals and the like. In turn, it was preyed upon by the ancestors of modern Sharpedo and Lapras, considerably larger and fiercer than today.

Omastar was a benthic or reef-dwelling ambush predator, content to sit and draw its prey close. These crafty creatures would often decorate their shells with anemones and sea lilies in order to camouflage themselves, striking out with several extendible tentacles to ensnare prey. Faster-moving prey, such as Relicanth or Kabutops, could be targeted with bursts of water from the siphons, stunned and then dragged into its beak, while the less picky individuals would simply scavenge from corals and the kills of others. Omastar was not an apex predator per se, in that it was not the ultimate predator of its day, but it was very rarely preyed upon due to its perilous defensive measures, and often enjoyed the position of top predator in its particular environs. Had the two top reef predators – Omastar and Armaldo – existed during the same era, their fight would have doubtlessly been epic.

Habitat

Omanyte fossils have been found wherever the ancient seas were located millions of years ago. The caverns of Mt. Moon have proven particularly prolific with the pernicious pelagic predators, indicating that the tunnels were formed far before the water drained from it. There is considerable speculation of a geological event in the world’s past that upshifted the mountain from the seafloor, bringing its bounty of fossils aboveground.

In its day, Omanyte was thus found everywhere. While its thick shell and awkward swimming motion limited its speed, it had the ability to float upon the surface taking in plankton and jellyfish, basking itself in the sun. Such a tactic could cover plenty of distance at the cost of making the little pseudo-nautiloid more vulnerable to hungry predators large enough to crack its shell. Omastar fossils are considerably rarer and tend to be found within the remains of ancient reefs. Undoubtedly it could use its bathysphere shell to travel between the reefs near the surface or to escape into its little rapture-of-the-deep near the seafloor where the surface world would nary hinder it. However, fossil records of the deep are extremely rare and only now beginning to surface, and it is unknown just what kinds of alien organisms would be found down there in the ancient past.

Nowadays, both are found near-exclusively in research laboratories and certain wealthy marine parks.

Socializing, Courting, and Childrearing

Omanyte and Omastar come from a time when the rudiments of modern cephalopod socialization were beginning to take shape. They possess some of the same characteristics, such as flashing shades and colors to each other via chromatophores, as well as the tendency for them to brush their tentacles over everything to gather sensory input. They have a very tactile method of communication, and will poke, prod and jet each other to get their point across when visual references such as color-shifting don’t quite convey everything. That said, their interactions are rudimentary compared to the more sophisticated Pokemon of today and they can ‘run out of words’ unless given adequate learning time.

Unlike bivalves and gastropods, cephalopod mollusks are generally gender-separated, with the ratio of females to males running roughly one in eight. Mating is a simple affair, where female Omastar will select suitable caves for the laying of eggs, lying in wait for males to present offerings, usually of shellfish. Females select males based on the cleverness involved in obtaining the offering. A swift fish presented stunned if still alive is the most desirable, as these heavy creatures rarely taste fish. When the female chooses a mate, the ceremony is simple; the male will help her clear her cave and deliver a packet of spermatophores on the end of a modified tentacle. Males live perhaps three months after mating, during which time they will have no further contact with the female.

The females protect their eggs, laid in long ribbonlike tendrils dangling from the cave roof, until they hatch. She never leaves the cave and may have to self-cannibalize some of her own arms for sustenance should prey foolish enough to walk by be in short supply. The Omanyte hatch as free swimming larvae and immediately join the plankton stream; the mother’s last matronly act is to blow them towards the surface where algae and plankton are abundant. The majority of the horde will not survive, and their critical period is their first year, after which the Omanyte are large enough to prey on most of the small fish which made meals of their brethren.

Extinction and Legacy

The common theory to the Omanyte/Omastar extinction is that the creatures’ shells became too heavy to move or hunt effectively. Obviously, this is grossly oversimplified – what sort of evolutionary tact is developing a massive and heavy shell for the hell of it? This line of thinking is the same that presents other extinct creatures as slow, stupid and inferior compared to the ‘more evolved’ creatures of today, a fallacy prevalent in popular culture.

The shell, as our culprit, was itself developed as a beneficial adaptation to allow the species its range in habitats and its diving ability – not only that, it’s thick enough to contain the pressures necessary for most of their special abilities. First thought to be uselessly heavy, the shell provides the means for their greatest ecological advantages.

Like millions of other extinct species over our world’s history, then, the erasure of Omanyte and Omastar was due to extraordinarily bad luck – that is to say, the great Marine Cooling Event of 250m BCE. As global temperatures fell, so did sea levels, shifting currents and tradewinds. The Marine Cooling Event was responsible for some 76% of invertebrate extinction while spurring the development of larger animals to conserve heat and facilitate migration. The Lapras line began to flourish after this event in particular, many of its rivals having been eliminated. The cold blooded creatures of the time, accustomed to warm temperatures, fared poorly as average temperatures fell within the span of a few centuries. More robust ones, such as large ancient fish, could follow the food towards the equator, but less migratory animals were left stranded as their food supplies dried up. Ironically, the Kabuto line, long having been prey for the craftier Omastar, were better able to cope with the changes due to their greater mobility, following the prey equatorially while their former predators often starved.

In a way, then, the ecological niche of these creatures – represented and carved by their iconic shells – is what left them unprepared for such a disaster. To say “their heavy shells prevented them from catching food” is a falsehood; “their specialization towards vertical travel and reef dwelling predatory status rendered them vulnerable to catastrophe” is rather more accurate. As with most extinct creatures, they were exterminated not by poor design, but by extraordinary misfortune.

Life in Captivity

As an exclusively marine species, the Omanyte line is perhaps the rarest of the reanimated fossil pokemon among adventuring trainers. They are primarily found in research institutions and high-budget public aquariums, like the Saffron aquarium, host to ‘Amelie,’ the first Omastar to give birth on national television (with the help of a male on loan from the Cinnabar Research Institute). Omanyte and Omastar are not easy to keep in captivity, as they require specialized filtration equipment, temperature regulation and different water chemistry than modern creatures. All Omanytes receive antibody baths at least once upon hatching and then biannually afterwards – this is necessary, as their soft mantles are vulnerable to parasites and diseases their ancient immune systems can’t cope with.

Shortly after the first batch was cloned, the scientists soon discovered –mostly by using loose-fitting aquarium covers- that they could survive out of water for short periods of time by storing water inside their chambered shells. The carefully-sorted Omanyte specimens –one to an aquarium – would all pile into the corner of one aquarium overnight – usually the one closest to the window. These creatures are annoyingly good at getting out of their aquariums by undoing latches or pushing their covers off and can make treks across the room to raid the feeder tank. It didn’t take more than a week before industrial strength locks were fitted to the tanks to prevent these nefarious behaviors.

Anyone who can finish the mountain of legal documents and husbandry evaluations to be granted an Omanyte as a companion is in for five to fifteen years of joy, smiles, and massive headaches as, like all cephalopods, they’re villainously intelligent and enjoy playing games with their owners. “Games,” however, are an altogether different concept to these ancient tentacle-faced creatures, as they display an altogether different and alien form of intelligence to what most are used to. Often times, they will play dead or attempt to hide within their tanks, pranking their owners with strong jets of seawater or ammonia-smelling ink.

Training and Hazards

Training an Omanyte or Omastar is similar to attempting to train other fossil Pokemon – difficult, expensive, and requiring extensive research and dedication. This is not the Pokemon for some snot-nosed ten year old registering for the Gym Challenge and traipsing everywhere by bicycle; Omanytes require biannual antibody baths, specially formulated saline solutions and easy access to aquariums wherein they can rest and recover. A strong movement insists that using fossil Pokemon for battles is cruel, and works to ban their usage on the competitive scene out of concern for their well-being. The few seen on the battling circuit are, like their fossil brethren, extraordinarily few in number and often used to raise awareness of scientific research; they are tended by a team of paleobiologists and carefully monitored before and after their fights. Rarer still are the Omanyte and Omastar in private battling ownership; less than half a dozen are listed in the Challenge registrar, and all to enthusiasts and scientists.

These creatures can be formidable in battle if given proper training, but keep in mind that they come from a time before humans and have trouble adjusting to the modern era. Despite their intelligence, they are strongly weighted towards the ‘nature’ end of the nature-versus-nurture development spectrum and often will refuse to follow orders as nonsensical as what are standard fare in a Trainer battle. “Stay in your cave and blast them” resonates with them, for example, whereas “hop out of your aquarium and engage that flamethrowing lizard” do not.

Omanyte and Omastar react similarly to danger – should they be properly intimidated by an opponent or approaching human, their first reaction is to pull back inside their thick shells in the hope that the offender will simply go away. Do not, under any circumstances, attempt to pick them up while retracted, as they can store plenty of water, brine and ammoniated ink within their chambered shells and even small Omanyte can fire them all with damaging force through their siphons. The brine and ink in particular can damage human mucous membranes quite badly and the smell of ammonia can linger for days. Always keep a licensed first aid kit nearby in case these creatures panic.

Should they be irritated further, they will come back out of their shells – quite quickly, in fact – in a blur of dozens of tentacles. While their suction cups are smaller and less well developed than, say, Octillery or Cradily, they have considerably more of them and can leave painful welts. As the panicked cephalopod is now doubtlessly dangling from your face and can weigh quite a lot (especially heavier Omanyte; it’s unlikely one could even lift an unwilling Omastar), the resulting Face Fault can injure both the animal and especially your face – their beaks are designed to crack shellfish, mind you.

Note that an Omastar that has come back out of its shell and then retreated a second time should be left alone at all costs – it’s not cowed, it's preparing to fire its spikes at you and is building to firing strength in its main chamber. Back away slowly and surely and make yourself small in order to convince the creature that you are not a predator – Omastar can fire its spikes with deadly force, in turn endangering itself to modern infection.

Perhaps the most difficult aspect to training these creatures – a trait shared with most fossil Pokemon – is that they lack a concept of ‘holding back’ in battles like modern Pokemon do. They hail from a time before humanity, where the ultimate apex predators were perhaps more savage than today’s. This means that unless trained heavily, they fight for survival, not for sport. This can lead to them unexpectedly savaging a foe they believe to be incompetently predating them. The same extends to other Water-types; expect your Omastar to try to make a meal of anything vaguely similar in size or smaller; not even Kingler or Crawdaunt is safe if caught by surprise, and they may react with panic and perhaps a Spike Cannon to being faced with larger Water types like Gyarados.

Naturally, the best way to train these creatures is through food; they have a nearly genetic predilection towards fish (being a sort of unattainable goal for most of these heavy creatures) and respond very well to small fish as treats. Magikarp and Goldeen fry are cheap and readily available through pet stores and work quite well to strengthen the bond between trainer and trained.

edited 7th Jul '10 3:36:41 PM by Isotrope

"This is not the Pokemon for some snot-nosed ten year old registering for the Gym Challenge and traipsing everywhere by bicycle."

This is possibly the best line in this entire thread so far.

EDIT: I added a bit more to the Digiworld stuff. Also, I can't believe nobody caught the Electric Soldier Porygon bit...

edited 7th Jul '10 4:14:59 PM by CrowT.Robot

whoo. I wouldn't want to be whoever has to follow that class act.

Damn you people who actually know biology putting the rest of us to shame...

Tangela entry's coming right along, by the way.

^^ I did, I just didn't feel like mentioning it.

Great article on the Omanyte line. I ought to be putting my biology skills to better use in my own entries.

Perhaps we should make an entry about the Pokedex itself.

edited 7th Jul '10 4:59:25 PM by rmctagg09

Not bad, not bad at all but the complete contrary: 18K of immensely useful content and an interesting insight on such a Pokémon written in a manner that is both akin to an encyclopedia in presentation and actually luring towards the experience of such (mis)adventures. A good thing the Nido entry reaching about 22K of fanonical pseudoencyclopedic content :D

edited 7th Jul '10 5:11:15 PM by SilentReverence