Tag: Unova

The Sewaddle Line

Sewaddle
The Sewing Pokémon
Type: Bug/Grass
Official Registration #: 540
Entry: This tiny, worm-like pokémon clothes itself in leaves sewn together by its own silk. Because of its cuteness and this habit, it has recently become a popular mascot among Unovan clothing companies. Of course, it probably helps that the only other options for such mascots in the Unova region are extremely human-like and thus far more difficult to depict making clothes while naked.

Swadloon
The Leaf-Wrapped Pokémon
Type: Bug/Grass
Official Registration #: 541
Entry: The evolved form of sewaddle, by battle experience. It’s said that the damp forests in which swadloon live are lush with vegetation thanks to the nutrients from the fallen leaves they leave behind (no pun intended). What’s not frequently said is that, given swadloon’s strict diet of leaf matter, “fallen leaves” is actually a euphemism for swadloon droppings. As an extra comforting thought, all Unovan forests have healthy populations of swadloon.

Leavanny
The Nurturing Pokémon
Type: Bug/Grass
Official Registration #: 542
Entry: The evolved form of swadloon, as a result of a heightened sense of happiness. Leavanny in general are extraordinarily kind or otherwise well-meaning pokémon. In its native forests, if it comes across a small pokémon during its wanders, it will immediately stop and create an outfit for them using broad leaves sewn together using its own sticky silk. In urban environments, however, it has difficulties distinguishing small pokémon from small humans, and thus, it may force dresses made of paper and silk onto small children, including certain eight-year-old system administrators who the author did not think was adorable in such a dress of her own (because he knows all too well that the eight-year-old system administrator also has a munna and a protective older sister).

The timburr and/or the sewaddle line please! You’re not far off completing the Unova dex :D

Well, I certainly can’t refuse a request like this, especially when you’re correct about how close the Unova Dex is from completion. Sewaddle will be along tomorrow, anonymous!

Timburr
The Muscular Pokémon
Type: Fighting
Official Registration #: 532
Entry: This short humanoid pokémon always carries a square log with one arm, which it often uses as a blunt melee weapon. These logs are typically of various sizes, but their weight is a good indicator of how old a timburr is. If the log is small and light, then the timburr is a hatchling. If the log is roughly the weight of the timburr itself but slightly taller, then the timburr has reached the peak of its evolutionary stage. If, however, the log is at least twice as heavy and large as the timburr, then it’s close to evolution. Trainers will know that evolution is just about to begin if the timburr throws its log with ease away from its body. Incidentally, it should also be noted that the average timburr is twenty-six pounds, that the statement that the log will be at least twice as heavy as that is not an exaggeration, and that taking a fifty-pound block of wood to the legs is not a pleasant experience.

Gurdurr
The Muscular Pokémon
Type: Fighting
Official Registration #: 533
Entry: The evolved form of timburr, by battle experience. Thanks to their well-developed bodies, gurdurr can lift and carry solid steel beams without breaking a sweat. Additionally, although their muscles are naturally well-toned, they enjoy training themselves constantly using their steel beams and any exercise equipment they can find. Many even adopt strange diets of nutritional powders in order to bulk themselves up and sculpt sets of muscles that they then show off to groups of other gurdurr. Attempts have been made to decipher the gurdurr’s language during such meetings, but the nearest translation any researcher has been able to achieve was the phrase, “do you even lift, brah,” repeated over and over again.

Conkeldurr
The Muscular Pokémon
Type: Fighting
Official Registration #: 534
Entry: The evolved form of gurdurr, via trading. This muscular pokémon is known for carrying not one but two pillars of solid concrete, which it crafts itself shortly after evolution. Conkeldurr uses its own formula for mixing concrete—a formula that, if you believe the Unova Dex, was passed on to humans 2000 years ago. Of course, if you believe archaeological evidence, concrete was actually created by an ancient human civilization in the Middle East roughly 7500 years ago and was commonly employed by the Greeks, Romans, and Egyptians since at least 1400 BC. Then again, as we all know, the Unovan account of human history has never been wrong ever.

The Gothita Line

Gothita
The Fixation Pokémon
Type: Psychic
Official Registration #: 574
Entry: A small, child-like pokémon first discovered in the grasslands and forests of Unova. These strange pokémon use their ribbon-like feelers to increase their psychic powers, which they in turn use to observe people and pokémon at every waking hour of the day. However, when its eyes widen and its ribbons sway as if blown by the breeze, it is said that the gothita is actually staring at something only its kind can see. What, exactly? Well, readers, considering the fact that they’re notoriously morbid pokémon who constantly observe the living, one can only guess that it is perhaps not the warm aura of love and happiness projected by a trainer and their team.

Gothorita
The Manipulate Pokémon
Type: Psychic
Official Registration #: 575
Entry: The evolved form of gothita, by battle experience. According to many old tales, gothorita create friends for themselves by using their hypnotic powers to control children on starry nights, when the starlight increases their celestial-based powers. This is a gross misconception. Gothorita are not nearly as selective with their victims, they don’t puppeteer humans on only starry nights, and how dare anyone have the audacity to think otherwise.

Gothitelle
The Astral Body Pokémon
Type: Psychic
Official Registration #: 576
Entry: The evolved form of gothorita, by battle experience. Extremely talented in divination and precognition, all gothitelle possess the ability to see into the future by observing the movement and positions of stars and other celestial bodies in the night sky. Upon first meeting with a human, a gothitelle will typically determine their future the first night they get. Humans can tell when a gothitelle has successfully determined their life span when the gothitelle bursts into tears when they next meet. Whether or not that indicates that the human is due to die sooner or later is still a matter of scientific debate.

Joltik and Galvantula

Joltik
The Attaching Pokémon
Type: Bug/Electric
Official Registration #: 595
Entry: A tiny, arachnid-like pokémon first discovered in the magnetic caves of Unova. Joltik’s small, furry body is incapable of generating electricity, so instead, it latches onto larger beings and picks up static electricity from them. It’s important for trainers to check themselves after leaving caves because of this. Although joltik normally latch onto pokémon, they can’t always tell the difference between pokémon and humans, and their tiny size often makes it easy to overlook them. One good way of detecting joltik is by wearing dark clothing when you travel through caves, as their neon-yellow bodies will often stand out against dark backgrounds. Another way, of course, is waiting until you’re randomly electrocuted. At that point, there’s usually a very good chance that you’re unknowingly carrying a joltik.

Galvantula
The EleSpider Pokémon
Type: Bug/Electric
Official Registration #: 596
Entry: The evolved form of joltik, by battle experience. This large, tarantula-like pokémon hunts by weaving an electrically-charged web in its domain. When prey stumbles into this web, the charge instantly paralyzes them long enough for the galvantula to crawl down, bind them in an electrically-charged cocoon, and bite them to liquefy their organs enough for later consumption. Needless to say, this is a brilliant hunting strategy in the wild. When tamed, however … not so much.

The Deino Line

Deino
The Irate Pokémon
Type: Dark/Dragon
Official Registration #: 633
Entry: An aggressive, dragon pokémon primarily native to caves. Beneath the black fur covering its head, there is nothing but dragon skin—that is to say, this pokémon cannot see, as it has no eyes. Strangely enough, unlike other pokémon that lack eyes, it does not navigate its surroundings by either feeling the vibrations of the earth or through the use of echolocation. Rather, it simply moves forward, bumping into anything in its way and biting anything that moves in response. One would think this wouldn’t be particularly advantageous to the species’ survival, and in any case, why would anything adapt to the point where it would do that, but the answer, readers, is that when you develop the ability to Crunch and Dragon Pulse anything that could possibly pose as a threat against you, your species can develop into anything it merry well pleases.

Zweilous
The Hostile Pokémon
Type: Dark/Dragon
Official Registration #: 634
Entry: The evolved form of deino, by battle experience. This aggressive dragon pokémon is built to eat and does little else besides that. When it completely depletes its food sources in its current part of the cave, it moves to another part and begins eating once more. This process, of course, is a bit more complicated due to the fact that zweilous’s twin heads rarely get along and constantly compete for food, which you would also think would be a disadvantage to the species, but again, very little poses a true threat to zweilous. This is because if there’s one thing that its two heads can agree upon, it’s “we like destroying things very much.”

Hydreigon
The Brutal Pokémon
Type: Dark/Dragon
Official Registration #: 635
Entry: The evolved form of zweilous, by battle experience. Upon evolution, zweilous’s brains merge, and the newly emptied head splits into two at the ends of both of hydreigon’s arms. Additionally, this pokémon grows a set of six wings, which it uses to travel out of its cave home and into the surface world, where there are enough food stores to feed all three of its heads. The author would take the time to describe this pokémon as “an aggressive dragon,” but by now, he’s convinced his readers can already figure that part out. They learn Outrage at this point, so if you see one in the wild, godspeed.

The Venipede Line

Venipede
The Centipede Pokémon
Type: Bug/Poison
Official Registration #: 543
Entry: An aggressive, centipede-like pokémon native to dark, moist forest floors. Because this pokémon may charge, trainers are advised to take extreme caution if they spot one. Even the smallest scratch from either venipede’s needles or mouthparts can paralyze the large, avian pokémon that prey on it. Granted, it simply causes a localized numbness in human limbs, but let’s just say that it starts off as a literal ankle-biter and then invites its entire swarm to carry on from there.

Whirlipede
The Curlipede Pokémon
Type: Bug/Poison
Official Registration #: 544
Entry: The evolved form of venipede, by battle experience. This pokémon is literally just a wheel studded with venomous spikes. Because it’s not enough for this evolution line to simply paralyze its predators with a venomous bite; they also have to drive themselves into these unfortunate avians (and observing researchers) at high speeds. Luckily, researchers have retaliated by giving it possibly the punniest species designation we have ever been able to consciously muster. Because some of us are petty, and nature is a wondrous thing.

Scolipede
The Megapede Pokémon
Type: Bug/Poison
Official Registration #: 545
Entry: The evolved form of whirlipede, by battle experience. The claws on this giant centipede’s neck are extremely strong: when they grip prey, they never let go. Instead, they crush the prey gradually until it stops moving, at which point scolipede poisons them with its giant, venom-coated horns. Should anyone wish to bring up the fact that this may be overkill, please note that the average scolipede is over eight feet tall, 442 pounds, extremely fast, murderously aggressive, and vastly interested in hearing you tell it how to live its life.

I’m a hoennian and i’m soon going on a trip to Unova. Is there anything I should know about unovan culture and costume?

Certainly!

The first thing you should do when you get to Unova is go to the nearest travel kiosk, exchange your money, and then book a ticket to Alola and go there instead.

LH: My apologies, anonymous. Bill is kidding. Unova is a nice place, and we both thoroughly enjoy our time there when we go.

Even though certain Unovans have threatened repeatedly to throw tea into my pond while flying the Unovan flag… —Bill

LH: Ignoring that, it’s important to keep in mind that Unova is a bustling, crowded place with a high volume of tourists per year. At first glance, it may seem that Unovans are rude and cold, but many of them are simply tough and proud of their region. So while it’s difficult to ask for directions, if you seem like you’re from Unova or interested in the locals’ perspective of it, then you’ll be treated less like a tourist and more like a friend. In truth, once you get to know them, Unovans are some of the most passionate, friendly people you can meet.

Of course, the passion might seem a little intimidating as well. Unovans are not at all afraid to speak their minds, so if something is bothering them, they’ll let you know. On the other hand, if they’re excited about something, they’re very open about it, and that excitement can get rather infectious. They’re also a highly competitive bunch, so if you’re a trainer, be prepared to battle a lot. They won’t go easy on you in that region, which is why so many tourists flock there. Nowhere else has a league of gym leaders or a community of trainers who battle as hard as Unova’s do, and pushing each other to be the very best is a regional past time. So in short, be prepared.

As for costume, Unova is famous for its fashion and second only to Kalos in terms of trendiness. However, while Kalos boasts European taste and old-fashioned elegance, style in Unova is far more modern. Thus, Unova styles change yearly, and it’s best to do as the Romans do, so to speak. But unlike Kalos, which goes for muted colors, pastels, and stately bolds, Unova is always brightly colored, sometimes with a tastefully distressed pair of jeans. The last time I was there, though, I recall that the latest trends leaned towards hipster chic: a lot of flannel, high-waisted jeans, scarves, hats, sweaters, and old-style glasses. It may have been the only time I’ve felt trendier than my sister, come to think of it.

In terms of culture as in art or philosophy, Unova is again only second to Kalos in terms of that (regardless of what my partner has to say about how much culture his home region boasts). For example, Nacrene City is an entire city full of nothing but artists, and you can find blocks upon blocks of art galleries full of both modern and classical art, and its natural and cultural history museum is not to be missed, either. If you’re more interested in either music or film, Virbank City is home to Pokéstar Studios, as well as a lively underground rock scene thanks to its gym leader, Roxie. Of course, every other city has its own charm or fascinating point of interest as well. Unova is, in other words, a place that has a little something for everyone.

On behalf of Bill and myself, we hope you enjoy the Unova region! It’s not half as bad as Bill ever makes it out to be. He’s just a little too proud of his own region.

psychms
replied to your post “Are some species pokemon more prone to certain illnesses or conditions…”

Huh, it seems cruel that despite the fact that Audino tend to have anxiety due to an inborn aversion to humanity, they are so often seen in Unovan Pokemon Centers. Don’t they have to deal with a lot of human contact there? What’s the deal with that?

Very astute of you to point out, @psychms!

In truth, anxiety in pokémon, particularly the more human-like ones such as clefairy or audino, can possibly be managed the same way human anxiety is with proper care and patience from their human partners. In other words, it’s entirely possible to work with these species in order to maintain or even lessen their symptoms so that they may lead functional lives alongside humans. However, the younger such care begins, the easier it is to acclimate one of these pokémon to a human-based environment, and many Unovan audino nurses are actually specifically bred for the job from carefully selected parents who do not exhibit anxiety at all towards human kind. (Not all audino have this aversion, strangely enough. The ones that appear in what local Unovans call “shaking grass” are of particular note for this behavior.)

Of course, the inborn aversion is related to these species’ sensitivity to noise, and particularly loud noises may cause these pokémon to panic. That’s why nurse audino undergo special training to minimize the likelihood of this occurring.

Admittedly, it’s true that it seems a little odd to go to these sorts of lengths just to groom an audino to be a nurse, but in truth, issues with noise aside, audino are actually the third best suited pokémon for medical work in existence due to their other abilities, including an inclination to help others, ability to hear another’s physical state, and actual healing techniques. (The first and second best nurse pokémon are, of course, chansey and blissey, respectively.) Once trained to manage its sensitivity to noise and its shyness around humans, it can also be a highly dedicated worker and loyal companion to a Nurse Joy.

Have you already visited unova?

I have indeed. Several times, actually—first to select a system administrator and numerous times thereafter to assist Amanita. I must admit that while I am very fond of the regional administrator, Unovan culture goes against my largely Kantonian sensibilities. Culture is one of the few points other natives of my home region and I disagree upon. Johtonians find Unovan culture highly amusing. I find it a bit too much for my liking.

For example, why must all of you put cheese or milk in literally everything? How on Earth is milk even a preservative? Honestly.

I suppose to be fair, at the very least, Unovans understand the concept of lactose intolerance, and they do indeed provide alternatives for those who cannot or would rather not consume dairy. Kaloseans do not grasp this same concept, and it seems that the basis of their entire cuisine is a horrifying mixture of butter and cream. This is part of the reason why, despite the fact that eevee are native to the region, I have visited that particular region a grand total of once and why if any official business needs to be done there, it’s usually performed by my editor instead. She seems to like milk and Kalosean cuisine, but I forgive her for this.