#elephantom’s ghost type is a nod to the lines real-life equivalent species being extinct

[inamindfarfaraway]

My Original Pokémon Generation (Iran-Inspired) Part Two: New Pokémon

Part One.

Grass starter: Pescub (from the Iranian ‘peste’ meaning pistachio), Pawstachio and Bruinut (from ‘bruin’, a word for bear in fables) based on pistachios and the endangered Syrian brown bear found in Iran. Pure Grass-type Pescub is a chubby little cub with light brown fur, green eyes, a, well, pistachio green underbelly, and creamy tan pistachio shells over its paws, shoulders, hips, and ears. Tiny green shoots sprout from its body. It is shy and docile. Pawstachio has darker fur, more shells, appearing almost scaly in patches, blunt nutlike claws and pink flowers blooming from the shoots. It’s still fat, but visibly muscular too. It is more assured and inquisitive than its previous evolution, though still not naturally good in groups. Bruinut gains the secondary Steel typing thanks to green shell plate armour as durable as metal with a curved vertical umbel crest on its ‘helmet’ and a stiff pink flower shield growing from its front leg. Its claws are razor sharp. The leg, rear, neck and head fur that is visible is shaggy and a richer, autumnal brown. Despite its menacing appearance, it is solitary, peaceful, and intelligent, the armour and shield mainly serving to defend itself and its cubs and intimidate potential foes to avoid violence.

Fire starter: Flamelly, Tuskraze and Elephantom, based on Ancient Persian war elephants, which were of the extinct Syrian elephant species. Pure Fire-type Flamelly is an adorable red calf with gold eyes, a purple hair ‘blanket’ on its back, matching the tuft at the tip of its tail, and black tusks seemingly made of volcanic rock that are hot to the touch. It’s playful and energetic, and keeps warm by bathing in lava and using its trunk to shower itself with embers. Its evolution Tuskraze is bulkier and bolder. It can shoot fireballs from its trunk and its tusks are now streaked with glowing orange lines that flare up when it’s angry. The back hair blanket is longer with an orange border and four black tusklike spines around it at the corners of a square. Wild Tuskraze carry food and younger siblings inside them. The size of the tusks and spines help determine that Pokémon’s status in their herd. The majestic Fire/Ghost Elephantom is huge with ears shaped like coffins and almost completely molten tusks. The blanket has gold flame symbols within the border and there is a domed, ruby-encrusted golden roof capping the poles. It also has a flop of purple hair on its brow. This line was domesticated during the Naperian Empire as army and royal steeds and cargo transporters.

Water starter: Wadling, Skuattack and Flyrate, based on kleptoparasitic skuas. Wadling is a Water/Flying teal seabird chick with coral eyes, a bright blue hooked beak and legs, a white underside, fluffy white feathers forming ‘shorts’ around its legs, and a black top half of its head like a wrapped bandana with a tuft at the side like the knot. It is cocky and mischievous and loves to flaunt its adeptness in the water and air, but will act guileless the moment it gets in trouble. Skuattack has larger webbed talons and the black head feathers form a horizontal crest and are flared on either side to resemble a bicorn hat. Its plumage is darker teal with black wingtips and stripes on the longer leg feathers. It is a cruel, brazen bully who enjoys playing harmful pranks, including on its trainer. Water/Dark Flyrate doesn’t even bother hunting for its own food any longer, preferring to craftily steal it from other Pokémon. It leads flocks of Skuattack on raids of their nests. It ‘wears’ a black tricorn hat with a simple, stylized skull and crossbones symbol on the front. Its wings have thick black streaks, its beak and legs are navy blue and its eyes are blood red.

Volibal and Voletial (pronounced “volatile”) a feisty, territorial Normal-type line based ostensibly on Persian voles, basically fat, round mishmashes of brown rodents that want to be taken seriously and feared. But much to their chagrin, their small size prevents their best efforts doing more than inconveniencing humans, and their cuteness and abundance of personality make them popular household pets. They have white volleyball stripes on their back, underbelly and forehead.

Hatchol (from ‘gol’ and/or ‘bolbol’, Iranian for rose and nightingale respectively, famously paired in romantic imagery), Muscinia (from the nightingale’s genus, luscinia) and Notingale are a Fairy/Flying line based on the nightingale, the national bird of Iran. They have a history of association with the royal family and their delightful song has endeared them to the whole region. It is literally enchanting; hearing it amplifies your positive emotions and relaxes you. Members of this line frequently ride on Karkrash’s back. Their pastel beige, pink and purple plumage has an increasing number of rose designs and gets fancier with each evolution.

Silverm, Bundlyx (from the silk moth genus name bombyx) and Gossamoth, a Bug-type line based on the domestic silk moth. Silverms were brought to Naper from another region through a trade route and quickly became a staple of the region’s prosperous textile industry. They are silvery white larvae with black eyes and faint yellow bands between their segments. They happily spin silk and will let anyone handle it, sometimes trailing a strand behind them since they struggle to control it. Bundlyx is wrapped in a thick silk cocoon with just its round fuzzy head visible through a hole. Metamorphosis strips them of what control over their silk they had and forces them to produce it manically to envelop their vulnerable bodies, syphoning away most of their energy and slowing their movements. Touching the silk causes them to recoil and removing it will kill them. Gossamoth has finally mastered its silk production. Its silver wings are actually silk sails, the remnants of its cocoon, and it cannot fly. It has lilac antennae and legs and downy white fur.

Kitune and Cheesert, a Ground-type line based on first the sand cat and then the Persian cheetah. The skittish Kitune skilfully digs dens in desert sand dunes. It dislikes people. In contrast, its evolution Cheesert is a daredevil and showoff that can run fast enough to whip up sandstorms to hide and hunt in.

Anarock (from the Iranian for pomegranate ‘anar’), Pomode and Granitum, a Grass-type line based on the pomegranate. Anarock appears to be a round, greenish grey geode creature with stubby limbs, outer shell cracked in places to expose a white underside covered in pink jewels. In fact, the jewels are actually edible seeds and the white inside is the soft, spongy mesocarp of a fruit. It pretends to be a Rock-type to deter predators. Pomode is essentially a bigger, bright red Anarock with longer limbs darkening to brown. Its husk is much more cracked from the number of ruby red seeds inside. Despite it being uncomfortable for the Pokémon, it deliberately pokes the seeds up and shapes them into a gemstone cluster disguise. Giving it a Leaf Stone evolves it into Granitum. It has a deep purplish red pomegranate head with a calyx crown atop a thickset, quadrupedal brown shrub body with green leaves and smaller unripe fruit hanging down from branchlike arms. These eventually detach and become new Anarock. When a herbivore approaches, it secretes a hard, shiny resin over its bark, hides its head in its foliage, stands stock still and intimates a crystalline rock formation draped with lithophytic plants. Why does the line go to such lengths to hide their nature? Because their sharply flavoured seeds are delicious. They’re a staple of Naperian cuisine and the line is commonly owned by cooks who have harmless techniques to remove them.

Jerbolt, a nocturnal, burrowing, extraordinarily speedy Electric/Ground-type rodent based on the Iranian jerboa. It is sandy yellow with maroon feet and ears and purple eyes and pouches. Electricity is stored in circular pouches on its cheeks, but also in ovular pouches on the back of its knees. This second set of pouches charge its long hind legs with electricity to boost its hops, generating enough voltage to turn sand to glass, and it uses this to create underground tunnel networks in the desert and, if male, to impress females in mating rituals. The glass structures these sexually and literally charged contests leave behind are common tourist attractions. It is social and easy to handle.

Dollulent, a Normal-type cat Pokemon based on the original doll face Persian cat (not the unhealthy flat-faced variant). It has a cobby build and gorgeous thick, fluffy fur coat that’s practically spherical, which comes in an array of colours and patterns from pure white, black, brown, ginger or grey to tuxedo to tabby to tortoiseshell. Its eye colour differs depending on the coat. This is explained by Dollulent being a prized show Pokémon and cherished pet worldwide and professionally bred to a greater extent than other Pokémon, leading to more cosmetic variety. It is happy, docile, relaxed and physically affectionate.

Hoverug, a magic Persian carpet Pokémon that is primarily Flying-type with a cloudy sky pattern and feather tassels but its ability Woven Type lets it gain a different secondary typing via a new item called the Elemental Loom. Looms from mountains give it the Ice type, snowflake patterns and stiff icicle tassels; from cities they give it the Steel type, clockwork patterns and copper wire tassels; from near a river or sea they give it the Water type, wave and seashell patterns and lacy sea foam trim; and from forested or grassy areas the Grass type, floral patterns and floppy leaf tassels. Hoverug inspired Naper’s globally famous traditional carpet designs and has the highest ownership rate in the fabric industry. It is a ride Pokémon.

Wightswitch, Ilumirit and Djinpulse, a Ghost/Electric-type line based on genies in lamps, with the twist they’re bound to a lightbulb, a modern electric lamp with a cable, and a system of futuristic floating lanterns in each evolution. Apparently they were originally pure Ghost-type, but behaved so badly Arceus trapped them in light sources. They have their lights’ fully or partially insulated metal wires ensnaring them like chains and shackles, except Djinpulse, who has the broken remains of them floating around him and can weaponize them. The reason for this is that Djinpulse evolves through maximum friendship during the night. Genuine love for its trainer redeemed it and set it free!

Scalet, Seapent and Tsunamaw, a Dragon/Water-type pseudo-Legendary line based on the Persian azdaha race of dragons. Scalet is basically an aquatic snake and evolves to be steadily more monstrous and draconic, drastically enlarging in the process. Human misunderstanding and vilification of the line was widespread in the past, prompting many to be killed by folk heroes. Their numbers are few and they are endemic to the Naper region, because not only would heroes routinely slay them, they were later hunted for the strengthening properties and delicious taste of their hearts. Now they are a protected species. Some elders still distrust them and believe they are servants of Divile.

Karkrash, a stocky Fighting/Fairy-type unicorn Pokémon based on army horses and the karkadann, a ferocious Persian mythical beast akin to a rhinoceros. It was once a valued ride Pokémon until its horn was discovered to have miraculous healing powers and humans turned on them to steal them, killing vast numbers. Poachers remain a problem after the prohibition of Karkrash hunting. It is a ride Pokémon again, but has developed a tough, aggressive attitude and wariness of humans, so is less popular. It can be calmed by the lullaby of the Notingale line. It is a relative of the Ponyta and Rhydon lines.

An Ice/Ground-type Naperian Camperupt line based on Persian yakchals, domed coolers that collect ice in the winter and store it in the summer. Years of artificial selection by farmers in the swelteringly hot parts of the region has caused them to store ice rather than lava in their humps. Numel is even slower than its regular form due to being physically and mentally numbed by its internal cold. It has a light blue body, angular ridges on its hump mimicking the steps of a yakchal and the green parts of a normal Numel are white. Camerupt’s humps resemble snowy peaks and it has a trio of white snowflake markings on the sides of its richer blue fur coat. Its temper is cooled compared to its Hoennian form.

A Steel-type Naperian Cinccino line. Minccino’s fur couldn’t stay groomed, clean, or conserve heat well enough in the snowy mountains, and trying to sweep the harsh environment just made its tail wet and cold. So now it has a wire wool pad for a tail and tough metal bristles covering its formerly soft coat. It uses its tail to polish itself to a gleam. Evolved via a Shiny Stone, Cinccino’s bristles slant down on its body to resemble a cloak and point up on its head to resemble a crown. The long white strands of fur have been replaced with shiny stainless steel chains. It is more hostile, fierce, strict, suspicious and less approachable than its Unovan counterpart.

Legendary one: Shahgacia (‘shah’/‘shahbanu’, Persian for king or queen and sagacity/sagacious), an avian Flying/Psychic-type based on the Simorgh, a mystical giant bird with dazzling feathers, and her relation to Divile mirrors the duality of benevolent supreme god Ahura Mazda and his destructive counterpart Ahriman in Zoroastrianism. Legend says she has survived the end of the world five times and mentored and protected the budding human civilization each time, according to the purpose given to her by Arceus, to nurture mankind. Specifically, she was affiliated with Naper’s ancient kings and helped their empire rise. Imagery of her is common in older or important buildings. The truth is she helped all major civilizations of that period rise, rivals and enemies included. She tries not to pick favourites in favour of seeing the bigger picture, and knows humanity will best succeed through collaboration. Divile is her eternal nemesis. She is considered the embodiment of wisdom and enlightenment. Her appearance borrows traits from birds of prey and peacocks, with iridescent white feathers, a gold crest, beak, and talons, vivid forest green eyes, a long train and broad wings shining every colour of the rainbow in an eye/paisley pattern, echoed in faint sunrise pink on her forehead and breast, the wings wrapping around her iridescent white body like an elegant gown. She nests atop the summit of Mount Skyspear. She is the mascot of Pokémon Rise.

Legendary two: Divile (‘div’, Persian for demon and vile and a twisted version of ‘divine’, also sounds like ‘defile’ fitting how he makes things worse), a serpentine Dark/Psychic-type based on Zahhak, variously a human tyrant cursed to sprout snake heads out of his shoulders and a demonic monster, plus Ahriman and the association of snakes and temptation. He was given the same purpose as Shahgacia, but rejected it and strives to do the exact opposite. In the past he is believed to have sown the seeds of degeneracy in the rulers that led to the empire’s downfall, and is Shahgacia’s sworn adversary. Significantly and unlike Ahriman, he is not technically evil in intentions. The truth is he does care about humans; but having witnessed their selfishness, greed and complacency when they prosper, is convinced negative reinforcement and struggling against integrity-building, cooperation-fostering adversity is the only way they’ll ever permanently improve. The idea of misery building character on a societal scale. He inhabits an underground cavern below Mount Skyspear. His black, purple, red and yellow coat is coarse and spiny, and in reference to the spider-tailed horned viper native to Iran, curved scales at the end of his tail form a beautiful red flower. He has three heads. The left one has yellow eyes, the right purple and the central one‘s are blood red. He is the mascot of Pokémon Fall.

Part Three.

Part Four.