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#0229 Houndoom (Daemonodon cynocephale)
Houndoom is a cunning mammalian pokemon. While it is an ungulate, its precise classification is still unclear. Despite being related to many peaceful grazers, it is an adept predator, hunting in coordinated packs. They communicate with their packmate using bark and howl like vocalizations. A pack usually consists of a pair of adults and their offsprings, called houndour, though it isn’t uncommon for them to stick around after becoming adults. Males have a pair of scent glands on their chest, appearing like a small skull, that they use to scent mark the pack’s territory.
#0282-475 Gardevoir and Gallade (Gynaiornis phomeriosa)
G. phomeriosa ("Gallant bird with a dress") was thought for the longest time to be strictly sexually dimorphic, where males would sport the common name "Gallade" and female "Gardevoir". It was more recently discovered nearly 25% of "female" Gardevoir were in fact males. While Gallade males show off by flapping the feathers on their chest and often clash with eachother using the large spurs on their wings, Gardevoir males are more sneaky, and mate with females without Gallade males noticing.
Female Gardevoir do not seem to have a preference for either male morph, but will engage in dances with males before accepting to mate, explaining the presence of unique characteristics such as a longer tail than Gallades.
During breeding season, Gallade males sport bright red feathers on their wings and longer tail feathers, granting them th nickname "Mega Gallade". These bird pokemons are generalists and will eat anything that fits in their beak, be it fruits or bugs and rodents that they kill using powerful kicks.
#0286 Breloom (Typtopteryx mycocephala)
Brelooms are a species of bird-like pokémon, whose primitivity is best shown by a long bony tail. Like some smaller passerines, it is an adept hopper. Males bear a larger and more vivid 'mushroom cap' and spurs. They fight viciously for females, punching, kicking and bitting their way to victory. Once a male has earned the favors of a female, they will mate and the female will lay a large, circular egg, brownish grey on the top and deep green on the bottom, camouflaging amoung the humus. They also show some some eye like black spots and are commonly called 'shroomish'. Brelooms are woodland dwellers that feed on anything they can get their beak on from seeds to rodents, nothing is safe from the insatiable appetite of the mushroom birds
#319 Sharpedo (Brachycanthus xanthocephalus)
A common sighting in tropical area, the Sharpedos are fierce predators. Propelling themselves with their strong pectoral fins, they dart through the water catching anything that fits in their jaws. They are known to be territorial and will also target larger opponents that they percieve as threats, such as unlucky boats or trainers surfing with their Pokémon of choice.
Males grow a modified tentaculum in the head resembling a saw that they use to fight and occasionally stun prey. During breeding season combats happen almost everyday for males and they come out covered in deep scars, testaments to their durability.
#0450 Hippowdon (Arenachoerus xanthus)
Hippowdon is an ungulate pokémon most closely related to Wailord and Palafin. It spends its time in the desert sands eating dry grass and sleeping. Because it injests a lot of sand while eating, it has developed special "sand glands" to eject the sand from its body While the individual pictures here is a male, females look geyer.
#0530 Excadrill (Aegirhynchus ceratops)
This species of mammalian pokemon is, much like diglets, almost exclusively subterranean, though they still have small eyes for when they explore above ground. Their powerful forelimbs help them dig in various soil with ease, and they possess a leathery “shield” over their nose to prevent it from being damaged while tunneling. The horns they sport on top of their head help them defend agains’t would be attackers, as they can quickly swing their face backward and stab the unlucky opponent.
#0752 Lurantis (Mantopteryx crucicaudata)
Another strange member of the Alolan fauna, lurantis is a predatory bird specializing in the large bug types that populate the undergrowth of the Akala island, though it is not picky and will also go for reptilian, mammalian and avian pokemons. It stalks the jungle at night using the foliage as cover, grabbing unfortunate souls with its modified wings equipped with hooked claws, devouring them on the spot. Like other terrestrial birds, the males take care of the offsprings, and both sexes will compete for the best mates, showing off their vivid plumage and fighting with wing clashes.
#0775 Komala (Patagiursa cinerea)
Komalas are a species of strange arboreal mammalian pokemons. While they are related to pokemons such as Woobat or Noivern, they are entirely flightless and live a similar life to young slakoths. They feed on toxic leaves from local trees, but the digestion process is very energy consuming and they need to sleep nearly 20h a day. Despite that they can still react to external stimuli and attack if threatened, relying on their great sense of hearing.
#0780-0784 The Dragons of Alola
Because of its isolated nature, the fauna of the Alolan island is peculiar, highly endemic and full of familiar yet alien forms.
Among these are its two species of “dragons”, termed Komo-o and Drampa, strange relics of a past long gone. Their group is of course only found on the archipelago, and is distantly related to bird pokemons.
#0780 Drampa (Orodrakon obsoletus)
These rare beasts are the more endangered of the two species. In fact no juvenile has been spotted in years. In turn, very little is known about their reproduction, but it seems that breeding male will molt, trading their white downy feathers for black ones and more vivid greens. This has been termed as them “rejuvenating”. Their lifestyle is peculiar, almost not moving during the day, simply reaching for leaves with their more than two meters long neck and occasionally pulling branches closer with their claws. They stay high up in the mountains, though this has been suggested to be a consequence of the decrease of their population due to human activity. The calm demeanor they exhibit has made them well liked by the people living around their domains, who still stay cautious around these ancient giants, fearing their legendary wrath.
#0784 Kommo-o (Chrysoplumus pugilus)
These opportunistic omnivores bear a striking gold-and-silver feather coverage. Almost scale like, the feathers of the shoulders are modified so as to produce a powerful rattling sound when shaken. The longer segmented “plumes” only grow after sexual maturity.
Their solitary nature and low population density makes them a rare sight in the Alolan archipelago, but one moment to locate individuals is their breeding season. Males will construct elaborate leks in the middle of valleys, and emit powerful resonating calls combined with the rattling of their feathers to catch the attention of the nomadic females
When two males battle for a lekking spot, they first size each other with their rattling sound and feather colors. If there is no significant difference between the two of them, they will then wrestle viciously with their powerful forelimbs until one abandons.
If the calls of a male are heard and a female is to come, both animals will engage in a dance, showing off the vivid plumage they sport, for males are the ones to take care of the eggs and want only the best females to mate with.
#0916 Oinkologne (Gravichoerus glandocaudus)
Often found in in the forests and medows of Paldea, Oinkologne shuffles through the litter in search of anything from mushrooms to small mammals. They are characterized by a pungent smell that differs based on the sex of the individual. Females spread it with their tail tuft for their piglets to follow, while the enlarged glands at the end of the tail of males is used to mark their territory and advertise fitness. They have long been raised in farms across the region, but only the young, colloquially named Lechonk, are eaten as adults have a smelly meat. They have thus never been truly domesticated, although they may be used to search for rare mushrooms.
