Blissey (Happiny, Chansey)

Aglaea aglaea

Overview

There is credible evidence that blissey was the first pokémon to be tamed. Archaeologists have found stone tablets with drawings of blissey in a human camp, and even wearing human clothes, that dated back to 18,000 B.C.E. They were one of the only domesticated pokémon exclusively found in Australia prior to the creation of the mass produced pokéball.

As difficult as it is to believe now, blissey were not introduced outside of Australia until 1842 C.E. Even the wayfarers could not bring them from island to island without stressing the pokémon to the point of death. The pokéball and large sailing ships rectified the problem. At present there are wild populations on every continent except Antarctica.

Blissey is the quintessential healing pokémon of the modern world. Their egg is one of the most potent psychoactive drugs currently known and it is not physically addictive. It also contains every enzyme and growth factor needed for healing in humans. In pokémon it rapidly accelerates the regeneration abilities of almost all organic species and some inorganic ones.

Most Alolan Pokémon Centers have now added blissey or chansey to their staff, either in addition to more traditional options such as comfey and alomomola or as the sole pokémon on hand. They can also be found in the wild on all four islands, although finding or capturing one can be a difficult prospect.

In addition to their use as healers, blissey are the premier special walls in competitive battling. Their combination of power and utility has led to extensive capture (legal and illegal) in their native and introduced ranges, making the remaining wild blissey very skittish around humans.

Physiology

All stages of the evolutionary line are classified as pure normal-types. There has been a substantial push in recent years to reclassify them as dual normal- and fairy-types. However, they have no extraterrestrial ties, weakness to iron, or propensity for pulling pranks. The Department of Agriculture is currently reviewing its ruling to consider the evidence for a fairy-typing.

Happiny are divided into two distinct segments. The lower half of happiny is covered in a hard, dark pink shell. Only their short, stubby legs protrude from the bottom. The shell has a somewhat loose flap of white skin on top of it which happiny often form into a pouch.

The upper half of happiny’s body is covered in short light pink fur. They have two arms, which are even shorter and stubbier than their legs. The face is proportionately large and consists of a mouth and a pair of eyes. They have two darker cheek spots on their face. Towards the top of the head they have three short, hard lumps. These are primarily used for sensory purposes. They have a dark pink ‘bead’ on the very top of their head with a messy, curly ponytail extending from it.

Chansey are shaped like an oval, or an egg. They have two pink feet which are substantially longer than those of a happiny. They also have a tail that can extend for up to a foot behind their body. Chansey’s face resembles that of a happiny but it barely grows as the happiny evolves, making it proportionally smaller. They lose the knobs on their forehead but gain two sets of tufts on the sides of their head where their ears would be. The most notable feature of a chansey is the pouch by their arms. This is often used for holding eggs, but they can put unruly happiny or other small pokemon inside in a pinch.

Blissey’s primary differences from chansey are on the lowest half of their body. This portion becomes coated in fluffy white fur. Four tufts grow out of the white fur and one apiece develops on the arms. Blissey lose the tufts on their head that they had as chansey and gain large fluffs of long, curly, pink fur in their place.

Blissey have a rather large amount of fat inside of their bodies. However, they also have a surprising amount of muscle. This allows chansey and blissey to run faster than they appear capable of moving, and happiny are able to lift far heavier objects than most other pokémon of their size.

No stage of the evolutionary line has ears or a nose. They breathe through their mouth and sense vibrations in the air through their pink fur, allowing them to sense movements around them and process sounds.

Blissey have the ability to sense the emotions of those around them and then seek out the source of particularly negative emotions with high accuracy. They do not appear to have any ability to sense pheromones. It is suspected that they may be empathic. Their obsession with easing the physical and mental pain of those around them may simply be a defense mechanism to avoid those unpleasant feelings entering into their own minds. However, blissey (especially those raised by trainers since birth) can be taught to participate in battles and even inflict direct pain on their opponents. Blissey also have no particular aptitude for casting or resisting mental attacks. Human psychics have reported that the line are a little easier to work with than most human-shape pokémon, but not to a degree that suggests inherent psychic powers.

Blissey usually grow to around five feet in height and weigh between 220 and 250 pounds. They might be immortal aside from stress, prolonged starvation, or particularly severe injuries (see Illness).

Behavior

The evolutionary line is best known for their caring nature. Wild chansey and blissey often watch over sick or wounded pokémon, predators and prey alike. It is suspected that blissey are the reason that Australian predators evolved to be so deadly: if prey wasn’t killed immediately, that prey wasn’t going to be killed. Chansey primarily cure pokémon by giving them their egg. Even wild blissey appear to have some skill in other forms of healing. This appears to be a learned behavior passed down through generations; a chansey raised in isolation will learn no healing techniques outside of giving their egg.

Wild chansey tend to flee from all but the sickest and most depressed of humans. Even humans they feel compelled to heal will be approached with the utmost caution and ran from and the first sign of danger. They will almost always put their own freedom and welfare above the health of other creatures.

Happiny are not known to lay eggs, but they find and carry around objects that superficially resembles an egg and will fit inside of their pouch. Occasionally they will gift their ‘egg’ to a very trusted friend or someone they think needs healed; it is believed that happiny do not understand that their ‘eggs’ do not have any healing properties. The other quirk of happiny that is not present in their adult stages is that they appear to have a low opinion of their appearance. Mirrors anger them and they will attempt to use combs, sticks or anything they can grip to straighten their hair. They are usually unable to succeed. Since they cannot directly touch or see their hair they will eventually forget about the problem.

All stages of the line are highly social pokémon, but they greatly prefer interacting with members of other species. Unrelated individuals will only stay together when one is hurt. Most adults will only associate with their young daughters. When a happiny evolves, mother and daughter will part and then seldom interact in the future. Blissey and chansey tend to keep large ranges that other members of their species do not enter. While they do not fight over territory, the one whose territory is being intruded upon will usually run to the trespasser and puff her fur up. She will stand still, looking at the trespasser until they leave. On the rare occasion that the intruder ignores her she will continue to follow her unwelcome guest until they leave her territory.

When a happiny evolves, a new chansey or blissey is introduced, or a member of their species is captured or dies, all blissey and chansey in the area will assemble, work out new territory boundaries, and immediately go back to their homes. It is unknown how blissey can sense other members of the species entering their territory or know when a meeting is called.

Captive chansey working together in a hospital setting usually need to have individual wings they are responsible for. Working in close physical proximity with conspecifics upsets them.

Blissey will usually bond with one group of a single species. They tend to pick the species most closely related to them. If there are no egg-laying mammals, a placental mammal or a large bird or reptile will be befriended instead. Blissey will help protect the eggs and raise the young of the ward they have attached themselves to. In exchange they will sometimes ask for an egg (see Breeding).

Blissey spend a few hours a day foraging on their own if they are not attached to a ward of herbivores. Otherwise they rely on the ward to bring them food. Blissey’s short limbs make it difficult to pluck berries from trees, and their shape makes it impossible to bend down to eat grass. They can go without food or water for up to ninety days, although they will stop producing eggs if they have not eaten in over ten.

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Husbandry

Chansey and blissey are the rare pokémon that do more to care for their trainer than their trainer will need to do for them. However, they are not a good team member for a trainer who does not wish to have much interaction with their pokémon. Blissey hate pokéballs and prefer to be with their trainer or the other pokémon on the team almost constantly. Fortunately for stationary trainers (and unfortunately for travelers), they sleep around fourteen hours a day.

Growing happiny, chansey and blissey will need about 10% of their body weight in food a week. Fully grown blissey will need to eat 3-5% of their body weight. Blissey that battle at the highest levels will require 6-8% of their body weight in food. They prefer berries, but they will happily eat most plant material and even honey. Blissey should be handfed due to their very limited use of their limbs. If a blissey is taught a telekinetic move such as psychic they will need much less assistance. Blissey get all the water they need from their diet.

Any blissey or chansey will adopt an abandoned happiny. If you find yourself caring for an orphaned happiny you should begin seeking out one of the older stages as well. Otherwise, the happiny will tag along with their trainer constantly and grow stressed if they are separated for a long period of time (including by pokéballs).

Never take the egg (or surrogate egg) of any stage of the evolutionary line. If the pokémon wishes for you or someone else to have an egg they will give it freely. Stealing their egg causes a great deal of stress, which in turn reduces the frequency of egg laying.

Blissey and chansey eggs are incredibly tasty and good for healing tissue, boosting the immune system and reducing pain. This makes the species especially popular among trainers with chronic illnesses. Blissey eggs are also powerful antidepressants with a side effect of greatly increasing the consumer’s desire for social interaction. There are presently no other known side effects aside from minor weight gain. Blissey trainers are well known for being calm, happy and helpful. The government still closely regulates the trade of blissey eggs. To be safe trainers should never own more than one blissey without a specific license to do so. If a blissey gives you an egg you should not redistribute it. This irritates the blissey and is often illegal.

Illness

It is very difficult to kill a blissey. Their body has thick layers of fat around all major organs. Blissey fur also dampens elemental energy. This means that only very, very powerful blunt force attacks and particularly deep and powerful cutting moves can knock a blissey out. Only unrestrained physical attacks from some of the most powerful pokémon in the world can actually kill a blissey. Even then they will almost always fully recover from attacks such as rhydon tail swings, rampardos head smashes, aegislash cuts, and machamp punches. To be safe they should never be left in a fight for more than one of those blows (and smart trainers will put considerable effort into avoiding them altogether).

If a blissey is knocked out in battle they should be immediately withdrawn into a pokéball (ideally a heal ball) and taken to a Pokémon Center as soon as possible. Blissey and chansey are quite good at tending to the wounds of their own species. Less than a handful of blissey have ever died when given proper medical care. Most leagues allow trainers to immediately send a pokémon to a nurse after it is knocked out. This option should be taken whenever available.

Well-fed blissey, chansey and happiny have never been observed catching an illness or having one of their wounds become infected. Adult blissey do not appear to age. Prolonged starvation can kill a blissey and dramatically reduces their ability to heal themselves and others. They become very vulnerable to injury or infection around three months after being withdrawn from food.

The juvenile forms, especially happiny, are somewhat less durable. Chansey can be outright killed by the sorts of attacks mentioned above, and even average high-power physical moves can take them out if left untreated. Happiny are almost always fine fighting baby, juvenile or adolescent pokémon. They can even safely take hits from some adult pokémon provided they are not trained for competitive play or exceptionally strong.

The main reason that blissey and chansey die in captivity is stress. A stressed blissey will experience many of the same symptoms as a starving one. They should be given near-constant social interaction, as much sleep as they want, and frequent access to wide-open green spaces. Confinement indoors or on a small ship is stressful. Some blissey have greater tolerances for battle than others. This should be taken into account when deciding whether or not to use them in a match.

Evolution

Happiny evolve into chansey around their second birthday. The transition is gradual and the formal demarcation is the creation of their first natural egg. In the wild evolution is also marked by the new chansey leaving her mother. Blissey evolution is also gradual and the exact demarcation line between chansey and blissey is in dispute. The shedding of the last ear tuft, the development of white fur across their entire lower half, and the disappearance of their tail have all been proposed. All three events tend to take place around the same time in any case. Chansey evolve into blissey when they have been free from stress for a long period of time. Very close social bonds, particularly with their trainer, can lead to evolution even with low level stressors such as occasional battles.

Battle

Blissey is the premier special tank in international battling. There are very few elemental attacks that they even seem to feel. Even if they are damaged, they can heal themselves in a variety of ways (wish, rest, eating part of their own egg). They can learn a variety of utility attacks such as heal bell, reflect, light screen and stealth rock. Blissey don’t have particularly strong elemental attacks, although they can learn a wide variety. Their elemental well is simply too small to be of much use in high tier battles. Blissey do best stalling out opponents who have been inflicted with burns, curses, or poisoning. In a pinch they can also use counter to deal with physical blows.

Blissey can be overpowered by many physical attackers, particularly fighting-types. Taunt can also seriously limit blissey’s utility. Blissey are also a massive drain on momentum for both the user and the opponent. Those three drawbacks limit their use to defensive or balanced teams.

On the island challenge blissey are still powerful enough to deal with most opponents offensively, especially if they have a way to exploit a weakness. It’s still usually for the best to use them to wall a particularly difficult opponent that can neither switch out or harm blissey, such as elementally inclined totem pokémon.

Chansey play a similar role, although they are faster and somewhat less powerful and bulky. Blissey don’t really need speed for what they do, so chansey are a somewhat niche pick in competitive battling. Chansey are still quite capable of walling almost all elemental attackers on the island challenge, and they’re even capable of dodging or outrunning some projectiles or melee attacks.

Happiny have surprisingly strong tackles. However, they lack a way to reliably heal themselves and they aren’t particularly durable. They can be used to counter weak special attackers that can’t outrun them. Alternatively, a well-trained happiny can learn a utility move or two to help out the team while an opponent struggles to take them out of the fight.

Acquisition

All stages of the evolutionary line can be found throughout all four Tapu Islands. Because they are technically invasive, they can be captured in all protected areas without additional restrictions.

Federal law prohibits a private individual from owning two chansey or blissey at once. This is probably for the best, as outside of a happiny and a parental figure they do not get along when held on the same team.

Happiny can be captured, adopted or purchased with a Class II license. If the trainer also owns a chansey or blissey, only a Class I license is required. Chansey and Blissey can be captured, adopted or purchased with a Class I license.

The main problem with acquiring a member of the line is finding a wild specimen. They are quick to flee from trainers and their fur gives them a pretty good impression of their surroundings. Chansey and blissey are also rather light sleepers. Even if a trainer does find and corner one, her ward will usually come to her aid to avoid losing their resident healer.

In practice, only three types of trainers encounter a wild specimen: the patient ones, the injured ones, and the very depressed ones. In any case sudden movements should be avoided around a wild blissey. It is best to try and bond with the creature rather than capturing it outright as chansey and blissey caught by force tend to be very difficult to tame.

Capturing a wild happiny is also a tricky prospect as they will almost always be protected, either by their mother or by their ward. They are quick to flee, but a moderately fit trainer moving at a light jog can outspeed them. If it becomes clear that a captured chansey or blissey is caring for a happiny, that pokémon should also be captured.

As mentioned above, all stages of the evolutionary line prefer to be held in heal balls. Luxury, love and quick balls are also acceptable, although they will never like staying in the ball for long periods of time.

Breeding

Contrary to popular belief, blissey are not parthenogenic. There are also no male blissey and there is no equivalent species they mate with. Chansey and blissey eggs are impossible to fertilize and are only used for healing purposes. When a blissey wants to reproduce (and only blissey have the ability to do this) they will approach a female in their adopted clan and request an egg. If the female agrees, the blissey will put the egg inside of her pouch.

Through a poorly understood process she will begin to convert the egg into a fertilized blissey egg. The amount of time it takes for the egg to be converted and hatch depends on how closely related the species is to blissey. Bird and reptile eggs can take years to convert. Eggs from kangaskhan, blissey’s closest living relative, can hatch in less than two months.

Blissey breed very rarely in the wild. They only do so when particularly content or when the local chansey population has declined.

In captivity blissey must be very happy and kept with another female member of an egg-laying species. Even under the best of conditions it is unlikely that a blissey chooses to reproduce. Given their very long life expectancies, aversion to their own species, and lack of natural predators, there are sound reasons for the species’ reluctance to have children.

Relatives

Blissey are monotremes. Their pouch makes them an interesting link between monotremes and marsupials in Australia. Their bizarre reproductive scheme makes it probable that they were the true ancestor of the marsupials. It is far more likely that they are a living fossil from an era when the first marsupials were evolving. They may have even evolved alongside and in response to the true missing link species.