Number: # 009

Type: Water

Species: Formidable

Gender: 87.5% Male – 12.5% Female

Japanese Name: Daikenki

Description: Congratulations. Those days of wasteful lazing around as an Oshawott, and those exhausting weeks as a Dewott have finally paid off. Your little baby Oshawott has now fully evolved into a proud, fearsome Samurott. And fearsome it is indeed; it's not called the Formidable Pokémon for nothing! Upon reaching their final evolution, Samurott become more reserved than their previous form, and they take on the notion of a calm but stoic warrior.

They are proud of their mighty strength, as well as the many techniques that it has learnt over its life. You would have already noticed, but Samurott is now a quadruped; and this means that a few of the techniques learnt as a Dewott have been negated by this new body form. They will want to spend some more time practising and learning more techniques to replace those lost, but they won't be as intently devoted as they were as a Dewott.

Their old scalchops have also been replaced by new ones, these ones are much longer and sharper, and resemble huge heavy blades rather than seashells. These are stored away within sheaths located upon the forelimbs, and Samurott can draw and wield these scalchops in the time it takes for someone to blink.

Personality: Samurott were young and humorous as a young Oshawott, and calm and focused as a budding Dewott. But now it has shaken off the shackles of youth and become a venerable warrior, with a noble exterior and a doting interior.

Samurott shares a lot in common with its rivals the Serperior family. Both are calm and noble on the outside, both are excellent at battle and both have a secret soft and gooey spot for their trainer. They both even share the same glare which frightens opponents into submission. It has been rumoured that a certain legendary Pokémon taught this glare to both the Serperior and Samurott families during a human civil war, but there is little evidence to fully confirm this.

Samurott are a species of many rituals and customs which have been passed down for hundreds of generations. Each and every Samurott faithfully follows these, and will even disobey their trainer if you give them a contradictory command; this is the only time that Samurott will refuse to follow an order. Some of these rituals include bowing and acknowledging their opponent in a formal battle, and greeting fellow Samurott by engaging in combat. This occurs because they like to test each other's strength in relation to their own.

It is always willing to show off its battling skills, and it displays them with thinly veiled pride. Since it has become so powerful, most standard Pokémon stand no chance, and therefore Samurott takes few opponents seriously. However, Samurott will always appreciate a challenge, and will accept a fight from anyone notably famous or powerful. (Once again a trait shared with Serperior).

As externally callous as they may appear, each Samurott deeply cares for its trainer, more than anyone else. They will even let down their harsh appearance if they are alone with their trainer, so they can display their concealed affection as much as they want. If their trainer is threatened they will enter a furious rage and savagely beat down the perpetrator without any sort of mercy.

Lifespan: This will be the final time I have to repeat myself here. A fully evolved Samurott will die in accordance with its trainer's passing which is quite misfortunate, as in the wild they seem to live for over a hundred years when left undisturbed.

Diet: If close to the sea or even a river, Samurott will go out and get its own meals. Because of this, Samurott can be quite a low maintenance Pokémon in this respect. But if they cannot secure their own catch you will need to supply your own food. They will eat almost any food you give them, but they prefer foods of a oriental origin.

Feeding a Samurott a Slowpoke tail for the first time at this age can be a good or bad thing. A Slowpoke tail is considered a very extravagant wedding proposal gift, (a human equivalent being a three carat diamond ring!) and if your Samurott is attracted to you it will happily accept your (probably accidental) marriage proposal. Samurott mate for life, so you need to take this into consideration should you ever find a Slowpoke tail.

How To Bond: You have already formed a deep bond with Samurott over the time you have spent together, and only you know how to bond with it. The only warning I can provide is that you do not compromise Samurott's customs and traditions, and do not humiliate it or degrade it in anyway; this can erode away at the close bond that the two of you have formed.

Helping Samurott battle and constantly standing by its side through thick and thin will temper you relationship into steel. A good idea is to challenge the Elite Four, Samurott being the prideful Pokémon that it is will adore you for giving it this challenge.

Love: Samurott is a very formal Pokémon, but even the strictest of Pokémon can fall in love, and Samurott is no exception. Unless you have accepted Samurott's love, then it will remain silent on the matter. And even if you have been in a relationship with Samurott for a while now, it will still be reserved and act only on your request. If you really do care for Samurott, you'll insist that it can express itself freely and not worry about your disapproval.

At this stage, Samurott will be expecting some sort of finality, some sort of confirmation about the status of your relationship. The best way of doing this is by gifting Samurott a Slowpoke tail, a most precious of gifts. Samurott will gladly accept this gift, perhaps with a tearful smile. It won't be worried about having a wedding or anything like that, simply this gift will be enough to make it happy forever. Take note that Slowpoke tails are very rare, so you may have to have one imported from Johto.

Battling: Samurott are immensely powerful. With one sweep of their scalchops they can fell many opponents, and disorientate many others. Samurott have also perfected the art of drawing the sword (iaido) and can pull out their scalchops in the blink of an eye; and most battles will end before they even begin. Their depressingly slack defences as an Oshawott have improved quite a bit, to the point where they are no longer considered 'Glass Cannons'. And if you maximise its speed (and teach it Aqua Jet!) it can even have to potential to be a Sweeper.

Samurott are unmatched in the water. Because of this, you should always try and direct the flow of a losing battle into any body of water, you'll be amazed to see the battle rapidly turn around in your favour. They also make a great form of nautical transport if you teach them the HM Surf, a well-practised Samurott can sometimes out speed jet boats!

Typing wise, Grass types will forever and always be your bane. Apart from Fury Cutter, X-Scissor and Ice Beam, you have very little in the way of counters, so it's better that you have a fire type such as Darmanitan to switch in. Additionally many Unova Pokémon have Electric as a secondary type, so you need to be wary of that. This is why I fully recommend you take the time to buy the TM Ice Beam; it can take out Grass, Electric and Dragon types, making Samurott a lot more versatile. Samurott can even use it to extend the length of with scalchops with ice!

The best status move that Samurott will ever learn is Swords Dance. Swords Dance will raise Samurott's already immense strength to obscene levels and clear any opponent! Unfortunately, this does not boost the power of Samurott's strongest attack – Hydro Pump. Hydro Pump is very powerful indeed, but is unfortunately inaccurate, and gives the opponent a chance to gain the upper hand (or paw). You also have to be careful when using it in public or domesticated areas, as it can cause extensive damage to buildings and other infrastructure.

With Fellow Pokémon: Samurott is extremely protective of you, and it will treat every newcomer with suspicion until they have proven themselves to be dependable and reliable. They will personally confront every freshly caught Pokémon and investigate their personality and motives. It will expel any bad eggs without kindness; when this happens you must not question Samurott as it is simply doing its best to protect you, and quite frankly it knows better than you.

Once another Pokémon has become an initiate Samurott will begin to trust them, and even take them under its guidance if they prove capable or contain certain levels of power. Pokémon training Pokémon! Doesn't that make things much easier? Most Pokémon will look up to Samurott with some form of awed respect and submission, as they can sense its power. Pokémon who are stronger than Samurott will take note of its power and behave somewhat…. Hopefully.

Warnings: None. No threat will ever make it to you, excluding legendary Pokémon.

Summary: Samurott is a powerful and noble Pokémon that makes a perfect companion for the rest of your life. You should now take the time to sit back and relax the many months you spent raising it from the inexperienced Oshawott to the mighty creature it is now. Samurott is very strong and very dependable, so everything's all right now!

Next Time… Number 010 Patrat!


A/N: And that's the end of the starters. I felt they were getting a bit repetitive since the starters are so relevant. As much as I like the Samurott family, I'm glad to move onto some more variable types of Pokémon.

Fun Facts: Samurott are based on a sea lion (derp) and a Samurai or even perhaps a Shogun (A war General). Samurott is the only evolved Water starter that walks on four legs.

Samurott's Japanese name Daikenki, literally means 'Sword-wielding Demon' or 'Sword Master'. 'Dai' means big, or large, as it is the largest of its evolutionary forms.