Slowpoke (Slowbro | Slowking)
Dormitabis arkos
Overview
Slowpoke are an extremely primitive amphibian. Fossil evidence of large turbann shells date back to the early Carboniferous, suggesting that slowpoke or their close relatives have been alive for hundreds of millions of years.
As out of time as they are, Alola’s population is equally out of place. The North Atlantic slowpoke is believed to have been declining long before humanity’s meteoric rise. The combination of hunting for their tails and to eliminate slowking and the end of the little ice age caused their already teetering population to collapse into extinction.
At the same time as sailors in the North Atlantic saw the last of the cold-weather slowpoke die off at the edge of the Arctic, a new population was discovered in the middle of the tropical Pacific. Scientists are still uncertain how a population of Arctic animals ended up in Alola. They do not migrate long distances. Few lapras are willing to carry a passenger non-stop from the top of the world to the equatorial regions. On Alola they are limited to the glacier-fed rivers flowing from Lanakila and a few subterranean caves on Melemele kept artificially cool by ice-types. The native Alolans claim that the slowpoke were already on the island when they arrived. A slowking features prominently in their myths as a cruel figure who taught the Alolans medicine but was nonetheless locked away to the edges of the islands for their experiments.
Slowbro are somewhat dim but very lovable pokémon that can hold their own through the end of the island challenge. Slowking are unpleasant to deal with and actively dangerous to all but the most experienced of trainers. Trainers are encouraged to obtain a slowbro only after it evolves to avoid the risk of an unfortunate evolution path.
Physiology
Slowpoke are classified as pure psychic types. Slowbro and slowking are classified as dual psychic- and poison-types. Slowpoke are not yet particularly toxic and rarely employ poison moves. They also rarely employ psychic moves beyond borderline accidental releases of power. There are those who advocate for normal or water to be their primary type, or at least a secondary type. This remains a minority view as slowpoke and both of their evolutions are telekinetic.
Slowpoke are pink salamanders with a gold-colored forehead and tail tip. They are notable for their unusual tolerance for cool, saline water. While submerged in brackish water slowpoke will constantly shed salt through their anus and tears. They rarely submerge fully in seawater, preferring to simply dip their tail in. If they must they can swim in ocean water for up to a half hour before dehydrating. In brackish water they can survive for hours at a time. Near the Arctic slowpoke will sometimes hibernate in winter. Unusually for amphibians, slowpoke have a layer of subdermal fat that helps keep them warm. They also greatly enjoy basking.
Beyond their environmental adaptations, slowpoke’s galarica-heavy diet makes them mildly toxic. It also lets them emit a sweet neurotoxin from the tip of their tail that draws prey in and seriously disorients them when they get close.
Slowpoke have an extremely primitive nervous system. They are guided almost exclusively by instinct and rarely seem to understand what is happening around them. On occasion a slowpoke will have a moment of awareness and critically examine their surroundings before going back to their usual behavioral patterns. This still makes them considerably more intelligent than the other living slowpoke species.
When injured, slowpoke have shown a remarkable ability to regenerate body parts. With time and food they can fully heal almost any wound except shredding and decapitation. Even on the time scale of a single battle slowpoke can still begin to knit their injuries back together while resting in a habitat or heal ball.
Slowbro are far larger than slowpoke. They can also stand and walk bipedally, even if they usually prefer to swim. Slowbro have predominately pink skin with a gold or yellow belly and purple bands on their limbs and head. Three of their limbs are tipped in two sharp claws that can help them grip each other, the environment, or enemies. By far their most formidable weapon, though, rests on the second forearm. In slowbro turbann are modified into a cannon for launching poisons. The turbann contains pressurized air compartments to launch poison and multiple storage spaces for different blends. Their most common blend is a neurotoxin whose fumes daze enemies, allowing slowpoke to escape or finish them off at leisure. Their next most common projectile is a corrosive that steadily eats through metal and bone armor to get to the flesh beneath. The other poisons, if any, depend on diet, region, and experience level.
Slowking almost always stand bipedally. The turbann has latched onto their head and subsumed their nervous system. Only the slowpoke’s mouth is still visible from the original head. The turbann darkens in color and begins to develop external eyes to compensate for the loss of their host’s vision. A green pearl develops above the eyes. Slowking have a set of frill-like gills on their neck right beneath the turbann. These are kept cloaked in moisture when out of the water. Most of their upper body is purple. Slowking blood is extremely toxic and they are capable of emitting vapors that inflict seemingly random effects. They love to experiment with different plants, elemental inputs, and odd ingredients to make new potions they store in seashells or pilfered glass containers. Slowking do not seem to instinctively know what a potion does. Slowking rarely swim but are capable of dong so as needed. Unlike slowpoke and slowbro, slowking are incredibly intelligent creatures that are not to be underestimated. They are more than capable of learning to understand and telepathically speak human languages and manipulate others into doing their bidding.
Slowpoke grow up to three feet long and can weigh up to thirty pounds. They are functionally immortal if they do not evolve. Slowbro grow to be about six feet tall and weigh over 130 pounds. Slowking are usually about a foot taller due to the turbann and weigh about as much as slowbro.
Behavior
All three stages have very different behaviors.
Slowpoke live in slumbers of ten to two hundred, depending on the availability of food. Despite living in large groups, slowpoke only seem to interact with each other when two or more are having a flash of inspiration at the same time. They spend most of their time fishing in cold streams by lowering their tail into the water and waiting for something to bite it or at least swim close enough to be disoriented. The slowpoke will then fling it onto land or go into the water to finish their prey off. Sometimes slowpoke will fall asleep with their tail in the water and only wake up when it is bitten. Usually slowpoke will choose to sleep in shallow water, often huddled against other slowpoke to preserve heat.
In addition to fish, slowpoke will also eat galarica reeds. Galarica is a mildly toxic plant that thrives in the same cold waters that slowpoke favor. It imbues slowpoke with poison and, in return, is protected by slowbro from any herbivores that would entirely uproot it. Slowpoke will also sometimes spread seeds by defecating at the far edge of their territory. Neither slowpoke nor slowbro are terribly mobile, so this is often only about one hundred yards from the plant’s location. It is still the only reliable way to spread seeds upriver.
Slowbro are more active and territorial. They use their telepathy to locate benthic organisms and dig them out of the substrate to eat. In a pinch they can also poison the water to kill off small fish around them. Slowbro can also use their cannon to kill and eat birds, but they will only do this for very large prey or in times of extreme scarcity. Using venom requires burning calories to replace it.
When they are not hunting, slowbro watch over a slowpoke slumber. They rarely interact with them, finding even their own limited intelligence to be far above that of the juveniles. If something tries to eat the slowpoke they will deal with the wrath of a slowbro. Most large slumbers have two or more slowbro. In smaller ones in areas with less abundant food it is common for one slowbro to decide the river isn’t big enough for the two of them and challenge the other to a duel. Outside the Arctic circle, duels occur when the sun reaches its zenith. One will toss a rock to the side. The moment it hits the water, both will raise their arm and fire. The first to launch an accurate shot wins the duel and keeps the territory. The other must find a new home. They are generally tolerant of humans passing through so long as they do not bother the slowpoke.
In more consistently cold climates, the slowpoke and slowbro will usually hibernate during the winter. If their water body does not entirely freeze or dry up they will rest at the bottom of the river. Otherwise they will dig into the snow and reemerge with the galarica. This is rare in Alola as both the Lanakila lowlands and the Seaward Cave are consistently both cold and full of running water year-round.
Slowking are known for their cunning and cruelty in equal measure. They tend to wander far more than slowpoke and slowbro, if only because they are kicked out of their old home. Slowking are boundlessly curious about magic, poisons, and the dead. They will often attempt to learn basic spells or other more arcane attacks. It’s common to hear the low chanting of a slowking when in their territory. Older slowking can come to master advanced ghost-type techniques and learn to cast status conditions in odd ways.
Many slowking can be found in the areas that ghost-types congregate in. They are fascinated by ghosts and will attempt to learn their secrets. The ghost-types tolerate them because slowking will help defend their home from outsiders and they generally do not feed on the same things. Slowking eat a mixture of galarica, seaweed, leafy greens, and animal meat. Slowking see hunting as a form of enrichment and will often hunt in inefficient (and spectacularly cruel) ways for the thrill of it.
Other pokémon tolerate slowking for their potions. Slowking experiment with different combinations of toxins, enchantments, and natural ingredients to form new potions. They are more than happy to give healing potions to volunteers. These work well about ninety percent of the time, although there are often curious side effects like an inability to see a certain color or increased sleepwalking. The remainder of the time the potions do not work as intended and can either fail to do anything or inflict far more suffering than the original injury. Slowking claim not to intend for these outcomes but do not seem to be particularly upset about them.
Scientists have sometimes attempted to learn magic from slowking in an attempt to recover knowledge that has been lost or closely safeguarded for centuries or millennia. Most give up rather quickly. Slowking are happy to have an apprentice and do make efforts to teach them, but the researcher inevitably becomes a target of experimentation. Most decide that the knowledge is not worth the price.
Aside from mating, slowking avoid conspecifics. Sometimes they will meet briefly and compare notes. Even cordial meetings usually break down when one purposefully or accidentally insults the other and a fight breaks out.
Slowking rarely hibernate, preferring to wander a bit further south or retreat into a cave with a stockpile of preserved foods. Most learn basic preservation techniques shortly after evolution and keep stockpiles of food hidden in the snow in case of future emergencies.
Husbandry
Slowpoke and slowbro’s diets should consist of a mix of seafood, galarica, and other greens. Seafood should make up about half of their diet. Slowpoke prefer fish while slowbro are happy with worms and crustaceans. Land-based meats make a good treat for slowbro. Galarica should make up another thirty percent. If the pokémon shows signs of hunger after their usual meal, more greens should be provided. Captive specimens can be quite greedy and are prone to obesity if given too much seafood. Cool, fresh water for bathing and drinking should be available at all times.
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Slowking are intelligent and capable of telepathic communication. A trainer can give advice on their diet but for the sake of peaceful coexistence it is usually best to let a slowking plan and prepare their own meals. Shopping should be done by the trainer to avoid terrorizing service workers. Slowking are generally cordial with strangers, especially strangers who they stand to gain something from, but most people are still unnerved by them. This is generally good practice. Slowking are usually only cruel to those close to them or enemies on the battlefield, but they are mercurial and prone to atrocities when bored.
Enrichment for slowpoke and slowbro is very basic. They appreciate pools, occasionally having something to hunt, and a basic toy or two for slowbro. Slowbro also get along well with almost all other species with the exception of a few benthic species that are seen as prey and a few of the most aggressive or territorial pokémon. Slowbro are generally peacekeepers on teams that dislike conflicts and may resolve them by using paralytic venom or strong depressants to induce sleep on both parties until they agree to behave.
Slowking mostly keep to themselves. They enjoy the company of ghost-types and any fairy that will tolerate them. Poison- or grass-types with interesting venoms or other compounds can also be of interest. Slowking will usually expect trainers to occasionally test their spells or potions. If consent is repeatedly withheld for even relatively basic experiments they will either leave, ignore boundaries entirely, or both. Trainers should negotiate limits with their slowking early and be prepared to provide test subjects on a regular basis if they do not want to be experimented on themselves. Negotiations will inevitably involve compromise. Trainers who are entirely unwilling to compromise on their bodily autonomy should not raise a slowking.
While slowking do occasionally kill a teammate, intentionally or accidentally, they are far more likely to be killed by an aggressive pokémon that grows tired of them. Sometimes being put in their place non-lethally makes them tone back their worst tendencies until they are almost pleasant companions. It usually just makes them plot revenge. Slowking can be incredibly patient when it comes to dealing with enemies.
Illness
It is far more likely that slowking inflict illness on others than fall ill themselves. All three stages can recover from almost any flesh wound with enough time, food, and moisture. Limbs, tails, and even most of the torso can be healed. Only damage to the brain and heart can truly kill them. Slowpoke can even survive decapitation, although they will eventually succumb to starvation without IV drips or other alternative feeding methods.
The most common ailment in the line is hyperthermia. Arctic slowpoke evolved at high latitudes where near-freezing water is common and months at a time are spent in near-constant darkness. An extended period of time basking in the Alolan sun can cause serious metabolic disruption and lethargy that lives them unable or unwilling to eat or defend themselves. Air-conditioned buildings are cool enough for them. Dry, warm, sunny days should be avoided. If hyperthermia symptoms are observed the pokémon should immediately be withdrawn into their pokéball and be taken to a Pokémon Center to begin recovery.
Evolution
It is a common misconception that slowpoke are bitten by shellder and evolve. This is not the case. Slowpoke evolve when bitten by turbann, an orthocone that has long lived alongside slowpoke at the edge of the world’s oceans. While slowpoke may have varied across time and space, turbann fossils from hundreds of millions of years ago are nearly identical to their modern counterparts.
When a slowpoke is sufficiently cognitively developed they will swim into deeper, saltier water and emit a chemical signal to drawn in turbann. One will eventually appear and the two will swim closer to shore. Then the turbann will bite the slowpoke on the arm or the head. If the slowpoke is bitten on the head, their nervous systems will fuse and the turbann will take control. If the arm is bitten, the two will retain separate central nervous systems with some interlinkage. The slowpoke has most of the control.
In either case, the slowpoke will begin to eat far more and grow rapidly over a period of weeks as they approach their final size. The turbann will also expand and change into its final role as a venom storage and deployment weapon or a large piece of head armor.
Trainers are strongly encouraged to obtain a slowpoke that has already evolved rather than risk evolution into slowking. There is no reliable way to guarantee which evolution occurs.
Battle
Slowbro do not have the most devastating venom in the world. They do not even have the most varied arsenal or the most reliable way to deliver it. Their accuracy and versatility, combined with their healing rate and lack of critical weaknesses, still makes them a reasonably popular pokémon in the circuits where they are native. Slowbro can reliably deliver paralytics, depressants, or hallucinogens straight to an opponent’s eyes from a range of fifty feet. Only very fast pokémon or illusionists can reliably avoid this. Slowbro can also learn a good variety of offensive moves and even some useful defensive ones like slack off. Their telepathic abilities are also useful against pokémon weak to them, although slowbro are not exceptionally powerful telepaths. They struggle against fast opponents and those whose physiologies make them highly venom resistant or too well armored to hit in a weak point. Against most organic pokémon they are a perfectly reliable but not particularly exceptional pokémon.
Slowking are neither reliably nor unexceptional. Their strange poisons, mystical connections, and amorality can make them brutal opponents on the battlefield. They are also far stronger telepaths than slowpoke and slowing down opponents with illusions and sudden, irrational bursts of emotion. This gives them time to deliver poisons or cast a spell. Unfortunately, slowking’s potions and sorcery are not always reliable and slowking are reluctant to only use old, proven attacks. They will always innovate, sometimes to devastating success and sometimes in ways that backfire on them. On balance slowking are versatile, powerful pokémon that can scare even hardened combatants before wearing them down with poison and curses. Sometimes they will go even further and dominate matchups they have no right to with techniques the opponent could not plan for. Sometimes they will fail spectacularly and accomplish nothing on the battlefield. Trainers usually only use one in matches where they are the underdog and need to gamble for a victory. When playing against slowking it is best to use mineral or phantom pokémon and try to take them out quickly. Dark-types can ignore telepathy and hit for super effective damage, but organic dark types can still be vulnerable if the slowking manages to hit them with a gaseous poison or a liquid that only needs skin contact to take hold. If this is not an option, hit the slowking hard and fast and hope for good luck.
It is not recommended to use slowking on the island challenge for reasons that have nothing to do with their strength. Slowking are clever and can sometimes take out a totem themselves if they get lucky. Even if they don’t they can still unnerve or weaken them for other teammates to take down. Their typing does leave them at a disadvantage in the later grand trials, though.
Slowbro are good at reliably poisoning a totem at the start of a battle. That might be all they can accomplish as they are quickly overwhelmed by multiple foes working in concert due to the sheer amount they have to process and their difficulty making quick decisions. Poison- and psychic-typing, while bad against the later grand trials, is still useful in the last two traditional trials. With clever maneuvering they can also come in late in a fight to finish off a totem once their allies are knocked out.
Slowpoke are best not battled with. They can defend themselves in a pinch but any kind of strategizing is next to impossible.
Acquisition
Slowpoke, slowbro, and slowking can be found at the base of Lanakila, especially along runoff streams, and around a few subterranean rivers on Melemele and along Kala’e Bay. Slowpoke and slowbro can usually be found at the water’s edge. Slowking prefer isolated caves or abandoned buildings. They are especially drawn to the ruins of the Tapu Village and their abundant ghost-types. One claimed an abandoned pharmacy in the aftermath of the village’s destruction and was only removed two years later with the aid of Tapu Bulu. The area was promptly sealed off. What was found inside remains classified.
Slowpoke can be adopted, purchased, or captured with a Class I license. There are slowpoke breeders in the island, including public aquaria, but it is generally not recommended to acquire a slowpoke if evolution is a possibility. Many people adopt slowpoke as a low-maintenance pet with no intention of evolving them.
Slowbro can be found interspersed along the rivers, ponds, and deltas inhabited by slowpoke. Wild individuals will usually accept the results of a proving battle and travel with someone who demonstrated that they can conduct themselves honorably and have things to teach them. Alternatively, they can be adopted or purchased from a number of aquaria and slowbro specialists. This is recommended to ensure the proper evolution. Slowbro require a Class II license to possess.
Slowking can be found in secluded areas around slowpoke habitat. They are most commonly seen out and about at night. Catching their attention is best done with an injured pokémon, a ghost-type partner, or simply by standing outside and chanting gibberish on the night of a full moon. Slowking may negotiate temporary capture in order to have access to more information and test subjects at the expense of some limitations on behavior. They will often chafe at these requirements. Unlike fairies, which will almost always follow bargained-for agreements to the letter but may violate the spirit of them, slowking can and will break negotiated pacts without warning if they no longer find them suitable. They require a Class IV license to possess.
Breeding
Slowbro produce more turbann. Slowking produce more slowpoke.
Slowbro reproduce based on the sex of their turbann rather than their own anatomy. Two will meet, test each other’s power and accuracy, and potentially mate. The mating act involves pressing their turbann together and exchanging gametes through the tips. The slowbro with the female turbann will swim deeper than is normal for the species and deposit eggs on the seafloor. They will then return to shore and continue on with their life.
Slowking reproduce based on the sex of the slowpoke rather than the turbann. They mate infrequently, usually only when slowpoke populations become low. The slowking will meet and compare intelligence, potions, and magic. If one is obviously superior, they will refuse to mate with the other. Only an evenly matched pair will mate. Slowking give live birth to six to eight slowpoke after twenty weeks. The slowpoke weigh about ten ounces upon birth. A slowbro will supervise the offspring until they reach an acceptable size. Slowking take no part in child rearing.
Captive breeding of either slowbro or slowking is possible but rare. Breeding slowking requires having two trainers with similarly-powered slowking interested in reproduction or purposefully interacting with a wild specimen. Some captive slowking are eager to breed. Most are not. Even those that are usually just want more test subjects. When Alola’s slowking found out that their species were probably extinct in their home range they temporarily increased reproduction to provide more slowpoke for reintroduction efforts.
If two or more slowbro with opposite turbann-sexes are on the same team or held in the same area they may mate. This will produce turbann, who are difficult to raise in captivity and common in the wild. Few trainers bother to intentionally breed slowbro and usually just let them deposit their eggs in the ocean when the time comes.
Due to the significant differences in breeding methods between D. arkos and the other slowbro species, crossbreeding is impossible. Some taxonomists put the species in its own genus due to the significant differences between the species and the possibility that all remaining northern slowpoke have an extraterrestrial origin.
Relatives
Northern slowpoke probably went extinct between 1760 and 1810. Sailors from the days of the Vikings onwards had intentionally killed slowpoke and slowbro to reduce the numbers of slowking. With the increase in long-distance voyages and the exploration of the remaining North Atlantic islands, the species gradually ceased appearing. The last confirmed sighting of a slowking was in 1795, although less credible reports continued for another fifty years.
Slowpoke, like many pokémon around Mt. Lanakila, are suspected to have traveled through ultra space from an alternate earth. Scientists continue to debate what sort of world would have Galarian slowpoke and an abundance of ice-types living in the tropics.
Temperate slowpoke (D. loricatorum and D. frigorepaludas) are split into three populations. D. frigorepaludas lives along the eastern coast of North America from Nova Scotia to Delaware. D. loricatorum lives in the Pacific from Japan through the Aleutians down to California. The third is an introduced population of D. frigorepaludas inhabiting portions of coastal Paldea and Kaloa. Both species are remarkably similar to each other and were long classified as a single species.
Temperate slowpoke are dual water- and psychic-types. They are barely sapient and operate almost entirely on instinct and habit. Any change in their environment can cause serious damage to the population as slowpoke continue trying to fish in polluted or frozen rivers. They are almost entirely carnivorous, rarely supplementing their diet of fish with cattails or other nearby vegetation.
Temperate slowbro have a turbann latched to their tail rather than their arm. They are incapable of launching poisons and have less accuracy in their ranged attacks. On balance, their regeneration is superior to that of northern slowbro and D. loricatorum are capable of mega evolution. The lack of poison and lower intelligence reduces their caloric needs, allowing them to stay motionless for months only to abruptly move when food comes near.
Temperate slowking are highly intelligent and curious creatures, but they are also generally benevolent. They are obsessed with learning everything from literature to philosophy to mathematics. Interest in the occult is rare. They seem to be deeply uncomfortable with their northern counterparts and some even assisted in their extermination. Temperate slowking have a fused nervous system, but the slowpoke is generally understood to be in control.
Temperate slowbro have their turbann detach entirely when they reproduce, returning to their base form if the slowpoke survives the experience. This is one of the only known cases of an evolution being reversed.