Dartrix (Rowlet, Decidueye)
Sagittarius bombycilla alola
Overview
Rowlet is one of the three traditional starters in the Alola region, alongside litten and popplio. Of the three it is the easiest to take care of and the most sociable. They also have the least combat potential without fully evolving, and evolution carries a steeper cost than for torracat and brionne. Rowlet are the best choice for trainers who care more about socialization and exploration than the challenges of the island challenge. If they change their mind and decide to go into a career in battling, decidueye can carry them there.
Rowlet’s sociability is in large part due to the coevolution of the species and the Polynesians who scattered them across the Pacific Ocean. While they are not domesticated and wild colonies exist, they are easily adjusted to working with humans. Rowlet born in captivity seem to accept humans as large, featherless decidueye.
Physiology
Rowlet and dartrix are dual grass- and flying-types. Decidueye are officially grass- and ghost-types, although there is some controversy over whether or not they should retain the flying classification as well. This guidebook will not delve into the controversy over the so-called triple-typings.
All stages of dartrix possess excellent hearing and night vision. Rowlet and dartrix can see perfectly well on cloudy nights with a new moon. Captive decidueye have been able to strike targets in perfect darkness in laboratories.
Rowlet resemble a small, almost spherical owl with pale brown body feathers, a white “mask” and a green crest on their chest. It is widely, and incorrectly, believed that this crest forms two intersecting ovals in the rough shape of deciduous leafs. While some Rowlet do have crests like this, the exact shape and shade is unique to each rowlet. The crests of related rowlets are usually similar, allowing them to serve as an identifier. Rowlet are born pure white and slowly develop their colors as photosynthetic symbiote colonies grow inside of their feathers.
Dartrix are slightly wider than rowlet. They gain a green headcrest and the brown feathers on their body darken considerably. Mature dartrix have developed projectile “blade feathers” that aren’t actually feathers at all, but rather thin spines coated in alpha keratin. These replace their talons as their main form of defense.
Decidueye’s green crests grow to surround their entire head and an orange one forms where their crest originally was as a rowlet. Decidueye wings are dark brown. Their quills are much sharper and harder than those of dartrix, and a trained decidueye is capable of shooting them at speeds of up to one hundred and fifty feet per second at ranges of up to fifteen hundred feet.
Adult dartrix in Alola are roughly two feet tall and weigh around five pounds. Dartrix can live up to thirty years in the wild and twenty-five in captivity.
Decidueye grow to heights of five feet and weights of fifteen pounds. It is unclear whether or not decidueye ever die of old age in the presence of combat and stress.
Behavior
Wild rowlet are nocturnal, although captive rowlet can be quickly trained to be corpuscular or diurnal. They perch on top of the highest trees in their area and spread their wings to allow their symbiotic bacteria to photosynthesize. At night, they leave their perches and eat leaves. This is both for nutritional reasons and to clear up more space to roost in direct sunlight during the day. In spite of their representation in folklore as powerful hunters, all stages of the evolutionary line are primarily herbivorous. They prefer to eat berries and other sugar-dense plants. On occasion they will hunt insects or small mammals.
Their reputation as warriors comes from the hunts of decidueye. When dartrix colonies face predators, the decidueye in the flock are known to set out at night and assassinate all members of the predator species within a radius of several miles. Some subspecies have also been documented killing predators who did not hunt dartrix so, in the future, those species will aggressively cull those that do prey on them.
Captive rowlet are intensely social while awake and prefer to rest in direct sunlight or cuddle against warm-blooded animals or other rowlet for warmth. When allowed to do so they will frequently perch on top of their trainers. Dartrix, thankfully, grow out of this practice. They still enjoy engulfing their trainer in their wings.
Decidueye’s behavioral differences will be further detailed in the Evolution section.
Husbandry
It is best to acquire a member of the line while it is still in its first evolutionary stage. Rowlet prefer stasis balls than habitat balls, but do not like either. Rowlet should seldom be placed inside of a pokéball or separated from its trainer for more than twenty-four hours at a time. Separation for any length of time is stressful for very young rowlet and should be avoided whenever possible. The pokémon should be exposed to direct sunlight for at least six hours a day, five days a week. Most Pokémon Centers in Alola have rooms which can simulate natural sunlight. These rooms in the busiest Centers are typically filled with rowlet and dartrix, allowing for socialization and an exercise in remembering your rowlet’s crest. During periods of particular stress rowlet prefer to be cradled by humans or dartrix or, at the very least, given a cramped space to hide in.
The dartrix line, like most birds, tend to defecate whenever they get ready to fly. Thankfully, rowlet and dartrix much prefer short hops and walking on their talons to flight (see Battling). They are still quite difficult to house train and the only real consolation is that their waste is more solid, and thus easier to clean up, than most birds. There is a five hundred dollar fine for not cleaning up your bird’s waste in a public area.
All stages of the dartrix line should be fed a mix of berries. Each individual develops their own preferences. Some very well-trained dartrix can be trusted to point to want they want when taken to an orchard or farmer’s market. Rowlet are more likely to jump in to a pile of fruit, rake their talons over it, and then eventually pick out a piece to eat.
Adult dartrix can be held in pokeballs for considerable lengths of time, although most find this irritating. Using their pokéball frequently will undermine trust in their trainer. Dartrix without a photosynthesis-conducive pokéball should get thirty hours of direct or simulated sunlight a week. Decidueye need only three hours of sunlight per week, although they will become more active if exposed to more light. Decidueye also tend not to have strong feelings on being held in their pokéballs.
Illness
The most common illness by far for all stages of the dartrix line is feather bleaching. During a bleaching episode a dartrix loses all color in their feathers and become pure-white across their entire body. Bleaching can be caused by prolonged exposure to cold temperatures, severe injury, inadequate exposure to sunlight, too little humidity, isolation, disease, starvation, overeating, or for no apparent reason at all. They will quickly heal if the stimulus is removed, they are given rest, and the symbiote is introduced via injections or proximity to other dartrix. If your dartrix begins to bleach, immediately consult a veterinarian.
It should be noted that molting, the loss of feathers in certain parts of the body and slow regrowth of initially white feathers, is separate from bleaching. Unless feathers don’t gain color for over a month in an adult or three months in a juvenile it is not necessary to consult a veterinarian.
Evolution
Rowlet naturally evolve into dartrix provided food, sunlight, companionship and time. The formal point where a rowlet becomes a dartrix is the growth of a full headcrest. This typically occurs when a rowlet is nine months old. It takes another five for a dartrix to fully mature and become ready for their next evolution.
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Wild decidueye are exceedingly rare. In times of great external stress such as pandemics, sudden habitat loss, natural disasters, or predation, the eldest dartrix in a colony will begin to rapidly gain size and start to develop projectile quills. This will continue to happen with more dartrix evolving one by one until the crisis is resolved. Decidueye only live for one to three years after the most recent crisis.
Projectile quIlls can be surgically removed to render evolution impossible. Otherwise, a dartrix exposed to enough battles over the course of roughly one year (or a handful of particularly dire ones in rapid succession) will begin to evolve on its own. During evolution, dartrix should be offered greatly increased amounts of food and sunlight and given as much as it wants of both.
Dartrix evolution is not recommended for all but the most serious of trainers. Decidueye cut off from frequent, high-level battles tend to rapidly decline in health and die within a year. This makes retirement effectively impossible for decidueye trainers. Decidueye also undergo a temperamental change arguably greater than their physical ones. Decidueye sleep less than two hours a day and spend the remainder of their time hyper-vigilant and seeking out battles. If no opponents are presented to them in formal engagement, they will pick their own fights.
Decidueye otherwise lose almost all of the cuddly and expressive nature that dartrix are known for. While they will not decline physical affection, they will almost never initiate it. The bird will stand guard for their trainer when outside of their pokéball and do little else. Because of this many trainers who evolve their dartrix complain about a death of personality in their beloved pet and some will lose interest and abandon their decidueye. The dual shocks of combat withdrawal and losing the “colony” they evolved to protect and will usually kill the decidueye within six months. Decidueye seldom accept new trainers once abandoned.
Battle
Rowlet and dartrix are relatively durable pokémon and both are far cleverer than they appear. They have naturally good aim for the handful of projectile attacks they have. Unfortunately, they are not so capable at flying as to be able to dodge projectile attacks. Most dartrix and all rowlet are unable to dodge melee moves from average-size pokémon. They also tend to loathe battling and must be bribed into each individual fight. As such, they are not the recommended starter for trainers interested in serious battling.
Decidueye, as mentioned above, are addicted to combat and violence. They are much more adept fliers than dartrix, have near-silent movement, and can put their natural aim to much better use with their quills. Their only real counters are pokémon capable of taking a quill to any point of their body and continuing to fight. Projectile moves that manipulate temperatures to either extreme are damaging to their tissue and symbiotes and should be avoided. Very fast attacks from behind can also throw a decidueye into a panic. Decidueye tend not to surrender fights until they are physically incapable of continuing, so a trainer should be mindful of the above weaknesses and withdraw their decidueye if they appear to be visibly hurt.
Acquisition
Children between the ages of ten and twenty can obtain a rowlet from certified distributors free of charge with a Class I certification. Children who have cleared the grand trial on at least one island and did not receive a rowlet as a starter can purchase or adopt one. Dartrix in licensed shelters can be adopted with a Class II license or higher. Decidueye adoptions are handled on a case-by-case basis.
Dartrix colonies are found in Poni National Park, Exeggutor Island, the interior forests of Melemele, and Alolan Rainforests National Preserve. It is illegal to collect any member of the line from the wild without explicit government approval. It is also entirely unnecessary given the strength of captive breeding programs.
Breeding
Dartrix mate in May. Unlike most owls, dartrix are highly social with conspecifics and are not particularly territorial. They tend to mate with the strongest opposite-sex individual that they know well and will mate with them. Individuals usually mate with the same partner every year. Interpersonal drama or the arrival of a new potential mate can disrupt the status quo. While dartrix can squabble over mates, most of the drama is limited to displays of feathers and hunting prowess. Violence usually only occurs when an existing mating dynamic is broken. An ousted partner may attack their former mate or their replacement. Alternatively, an interloper may attack an individual to prove their dominance and steal their mate.
Decidueye do not reproduce.
Captive breeding requires a Class IV license with an additional certification in dartrix breeding. The certification course has further information.
Relatives
As island-dwellers with limited flight, there are nearly two dozen subspecies of the island dartrix. As such, this section will not cover them all in detail.
The small islands of the Pacific are littered with different dartrix subspecies. Most of them are quite similar to the Alolan dartrix, but smaller. Almost all are endangered. The Heahea conservatory has an exhibit showcasing several of these subspecies.
Indonesian and Filipino dartrix species (Filipino, Sumatran, Javan, Bornean, Guinean) typically have wingspans twice those of their Alolan counterparts at all stages. They are also much more capable fliers, and even some rowlet are capable of sustained, powered flight for a kilometer or more. Most of these subspecies are omnivorous during the wet season. However, their quills are not nearly as developed as the other subspecies and they hunt primarily through a combination of their talons and their silent flight.
The Queensland dartrix (S. b. meridiem) is the only dartrix species with naturally venomous quills. Queensland decidueye are less than a meter tall and their dartrix are correspondingly small. Their quills take several weeks to regenerate. These drawbacks have kept them from gaining popularity in the competitive battling scene.
New Zealand previously had two species of dartrix. The North Island dartrix is now extinct and the South Island dartrix (S. pariccidalis) at risk of extirpation. South Island dartrix regularly evolve into decidueye, regardless of external stressors. They are also nearly as large as the Sumatran decidueye and have much thicker coats. Despite their wingspan, they are nearly flightless and only use their wings for getting into and out of trees and slowing falls. Their primary weapons are their quills, by far the largest of any species of decidueye. Photosynthesis aside, South Island decidueye are almost entirely carnivorous. During the summer they stay nearly stationary with their wings spread out in a field. In the long winter nights, they take up position on a low tree branch and wait to kill anything that comes close.
South Island decidueye form mated pairs until their chicks evolve into dartrix, at which point the pairs split up and leave the dartrix on their own.
While they have nearly been hunted to extinction in New Zealand, an invasive population in the Canadian boreal has become rather large. The latest estimates place the decidueye population in Alberta alone at over ten thousand. They have become a major safety risk for humans in the area as they will kill and eat any human who enters their territory in the winter. It is all but impossible to notice a decidueye before it notices you.
Due to legalized hunting and capture of Canadian decidueye, they are quite common on the international battling scene. They are also the ninth most lethal pokémon worldwide and require a Class V license to possess in the United States.
Island decidueye are descended from the continental decidueye (S. triaferit). They are most similar to the South Isle decidueye, leading to a theory that continental decidueye directly made it to Aotorea. Continental dartrix routinely evolve into decidueye. Unlike the South Isle decidueye, where only dartrix are fertile, continental decidueye routinely mate, lay eggs, and guard their offspring. Dartrix reproduction is uncommon if decidueye are present.
Continental dartrix grow quickly, typically reaching full size and evolving within eight months of hatching. This is necessary to avoid dying in the winter from cold temperatures and a lack of light, especially in the northern portions of their range. Decidueye have small wings and can barely sustain powered flight. They prefer to climb trees with their talons and then glide with their wings. Continental deciduye have long feathered legs and relatively small talons, letting them run at speeds of up to thirty miles per hour. In the winter decidueye primarily hunted fish and marine mammals, using their powerful legs to break open holes in the ice and then using arrows or kicks to kill anything that came to the surface. They would supplement their diet by using stealth and ranged attacks to kill larger terrestrial prey. Decidueye are solitary and migratory, preferring to live alone in a very wide range.
Continental decidueye were already uncommon in most of their former range by the time human civilization began to flourish. They had evolved to handle the cooler temperatures of the ice age. In warmer climates they were outcompeted by the earliest island decidueye, who in turn were pressured off the continent by noctowl and snakes. Hunting for their thick coats and sharp quills led to the demise of the last mainland populations by 1880. The last wild population persisted in Hisui until habitat fragmentation, deforestation, the introduction of noctowl, and DDT finished them off. The last confirmed wild sighting was in 1988. Unconfirmed sightings have continued, but their large size and vast ranges makes it unlikely they persist.
Captive populations persist, although the lack of initial founders and inbreeding has led to interbreeding with South Isle decidueye. They are generally nervous creatures who need a lot of room to run and are aggressive towards conspecifics. Captive breeding facilities need to be very large as a result. There have been discussions on reintroduction programs after the ban of DDT, but all proposals have been rejected out of fear of their effect on already struggling marine mammal and fish populations. Hisuian settlers also reported decidueye attacking their livestock in the winter, although predation on humans was apparently rare. Cross-breeding with South Isle decidueye may have changed this. Modern continental decidueye seem more aggressive than historical records suggest.