Number: # 033
Type: Psychic - Flying
Species: Bat
Gender: 50% Male – 50% Female
Japanese Name: Koromori
Description: If you're walking through a cave one day and hear the sound of furiously flapping wings, prepare to be smooched!
These Pokémon are epidemic throughout all mountains, caves and forests all throughout Unova, and they make their presence very well known. You will know immediately when you have stumbled upon a Woobat nest.
The most prominent part of their body is the nose, which is curiously shaped like a love heart! These noses can suck in huge volumes of air, and they use these noses to stick onto surfaces to sleep with the power of suction. Whenever they detach from a surface they leave behind a heart shaped mark, made by their single nostril to mark where they have been. Woobat are a territorial species so they use these marks to warn other people and Pokémon that they have invaded their territory; a crime that is severely punishable.
Contrary to popular belief, Woobat do indeed have eyes. However, these eyes are near useless and serve almost no purpose, so the Woobat allow their fur to grow over them without a second thought. Instead of eyesight, they use the power of echolocation to navigate their home and identify food and enemies. What is echolocation, you ask?
Echolocation is a form of navigation that some Pokémon, and even blind humans, use to find their way around. The Woobat emit high pitched cries, and these sounds bounce off anything obstructive and return to Woobat. Using this, Woobat can build a 3-D map of an area inside its head; and with this form of sight it can notice things that even people with healthy eyesight cannot see. However, they can only see things that their cries can bounce off, so Ghost Pokémon or rapidly moving objects cannot be detected. Given that Woobat are Psychic types and thus have a weakness to Ghost, this makes Ghost types extremely dangerous. One Yamask can easily take down an entire colony of Woobat without being detected.
Woobat live in colonies of 20 – 100 individuals, and all work together in perfect harmony in order to survive. Each Woobat has their own frequency and pitch with which they echo with. This is important, because if they all used the same frequency all their cries would interfere with each other, rendering the entire colony blind. They all perform the same action at the same time, for example; they all sleep together, eat together, and fight together. This means that no Woobat becomes separated from the colony so they never have to worry.
They share multiple traits with the Roggenrola family. Both use echolocation, both live in caves (often the same ones!) and both work in unison with the entire colony. Woobat have lived in Unova for thousands of years, whereas the Roggenrola have only been around for a hundred. Some biologists suspect that Roggenrola observed the Woobat and behaved identically in order to survive, or alternately the Woobat took sympathy on the new species and taunt them a few survival skills.
Even though they attack in packs, they are very weak even in groups, so catching one shouldn't be a problem at all.
Personality: They are incredibly hyperactive; and whenever they are not sleeping or eating they flit about their home maniacally, chasing each other and investigating anything that looks remotely interesting. They can only evolve when they feel that they are very close to someone (in the wild, another Woobat. In captivity, you.) So they play together for hours in search of someone who they can identify with. Whenever they spot a human they fly over to interact, for better or for worse. If they are in their home, they will attack you without thinking, the whole swarm of them. Alternately if they are somewhere else, they will simply hover around you and sniff curiously before flying away again. Some may stick behind and attempt to play with you or your Pokémon, however. This sets them apart from the Roggenrola; the Roggenrola dislike leaving their home and only investigate humans when they enter their home turf.
Woobat are very emotional Pokémon too, they wear their heart on their sleeve (or nose!) as you could put it. They often overreact when angered or excited, making big fusses over trivial matters. They often act dopily, much like how a young Lillipup acts. This doesn't mean they are stupid; they just like to fool around a little. They crave social interactions, and readily become depressed should they go on without friends for a period of time.
With their big nose, they 'kiss' people or items they have become attached to, leaving a stamp mark behind. Apparently this feels like being kissed by a Jynx. *shudder*
Lifespan: As expected of a Flying type, they have shorter-than-usual lives; on average, they reach about 10 – 20 years before passing away. But since their evolution and health depends on friendship, one can die twice as quickly if isolated.
Diet: Woobat are omnivorous, but prefer berries and nuts. They leave their home at night to forage for food. If there is a shortage of food and are desperate, they will resort to eating smaller Pokémon such as Patrat to survive. During the great war hundreds of years ago, when humans slaughtered each other and burnt Unova down, Woobat were seen eating human corpses due to all the forests being destroyed. This was done out of severe desperation, and has never occurred since.
After being captured they aren't particularly fussy, so as long as you always have a bag full of berries, nuts or pellets, you will be fine. Be advised that they will eat Pokémon if you neglect to feed them, and this includes any of your Pokémon if you have any young ones. They regret eating other Pokémon however, and may resent themselves for doing to.
How To Bond: After catching them, they will be very frightened and confused. The moment you let them out of their pokeball, they will fly away to re-join their colony; undoing all your efforts to catch it. To stop this let them out in a closed environment, and don't forget to close the windows!
As they flit about examining the place, sit calmly in a chair or on the floor and watch them. Soon they will take notice of you and fly down to inspect you, now this is your chance to give a good first impression for Woobat. Introduce yourself cheerfully and hold out a handful of berries, making sure not to be overly loud or threatening. In the wild, offering food is seen as a request for friendship, and a Pokémon like Woobat will be more than happy to accept.
When you have ensured that Woobat isn't going to fly away, take it outside to play. Let it explore the surrounding area, but remind them not to wander off. Woobat has a tendency to forget things, but this is a case where you have to rely on trust. As the amount of time spent together increases, Woobat will gradually become more attached to you and the chances of it flying away will decrease likewise. After they trust you intimately, they will frequently smooch you with their nose to display their affection. This may be a little icky, but you mustn't react angrily or negatively. They will take it straight to heart and will become very depressed. These kisses will usually have no bad effects, but if Woobat has a cold you might want to wash your face afterwards.
Battling: They aren't particularly strong, and their dual typing gives them a slew of foreboding weaknesses. If you're going to use this Pokémon to battle, you need to have a clear idea of what you're doing.
For most Flying types, speed is the best stat, but poor Woobat's wings are designed for deftly navigating confined caverns rather than hurtling across the sky; and thus their speed is rather lacklustre in comparison to other Flying types. To confound his problem, their bodies are frail and cannot take many hits before the drop like stones. This may make Woobat sound like an absolutely useless Pokémon, but it does have one silver lining; its evasiveness is astounding. Because it is so accustomed to dodging stalactites and shards of rock in the shortest periods of time, most attacks won't land anywhere near Woobat as it squeals in amusement. This type of battling is a real gamble, because chances are the foe will get one injurious blow in at some stage.
Even new-born Woobat naturally know Confusion. It's a weak move, but it does have a very slight chance of inflicting Confusion. As any experienced trainer knows, confusion is one pain in the rear. (Or Ponyta!) Assurance isn't a very strong move either, but it will allow you to strike back at any Psychic or Ghost types giving you a bother. But given that Woobat has extreme difficulty finding Ghost types, you will have to use Odour Sleuth prior. Odour Sleuth will let Woobat sniff out Ghost types, rather than see them, but regardless it will still become aware of their presence.
Heart Stamp is the Woobat family's signature move, as you could easily tell. Through some mysterious action, they damage their opponent with their soft and snuffly nose, leaving behind a heart mark to boot. While it doesn't do much damage, it does have a decent chance of making the foe flinch, plus it is pretty hilarious to see a really grumpy Pokémon with a love heart on its face! As an alternate to Heart Stamp, you could use Air Cutter to deal with anything resisting Psychic type moves. It's not as strong as cannot make the foe flinch, however.
Rock and Ghost types are your biggest threats. One accurate Rock move will take vulnerable Woobat down straight away, and Ghost types will easily overwhelm Woobat unless it uses Odour Sleuth.
On a last note, teach Woobat the TM Double Team! Do it! If it uses this move, the enemy will almost never hit Woobat, it's that effective. If you teach it the TM Clam Mind as well, and then follow up with Heart Stamp/Air Cutter, you could spam these three moves all the way to victory for every battle!
With Fellow Pokémon: Woobat are highly sociable creatures and slip into most teams quite happily. They play nicely with others and show kindness and consideration, although some Pokémon may not appreciate being smooched. When yelled at, or even told to go away, they becomes very upset and hide away to cry. If you find out that this has happened, tell your Pokémon to apologize straight away. As sad as it might be, Woobat will readily perk back up when spoken to nicely.
They have a deep fear of both Ghost and Ice types, with the prior being the most evident. Their fear of Ghosts is very understandable, imagine working beside someone you can't see, and that person can hurt you anytime they wish without you being able to stop them. Not a very pleasant idea, is it?
As a Flying type, they are weak to the cold and have trouble flying in cold weather, so this may explain why they don't like Ice types, particularly if they cool the air around them!
Warnings: None.
Summary: Woobat is weak but easy to catch and makes a good friend. It is cooperative and plays along nicely with other Pokémon. Having a Woobat and Roggenrola on the same team is a good idea. They aren't the best in combat, but do become competent upon evolution. This Pokémon is a good recommendation for starting trainers.
Next Time… Number 034 Swoobat!
A/N: When I first saw Woobat, I didn't like it. But that's because I thought its nose was its eye. When I found out the truth, it didn't seem so bad and it's kinda grown on me. Also, Psychic – Flying is a weird typing, isn't it? I'm really tired, so I'll start on Swoobat tomorrow...
Also, I must point something out. In the battling section I mentioned how Heart Stamp is Woobat's signature move, but while it should be, it isn't. This is because other Pokémon can learn it in the same generation it was introduced.
For Heart Stamp, the user hits the opponent with a heart shaped body part. Woobat uses its nose. Jynx can learn it, and it probably uses its heart-shaped lips. *shudder*
The only other Pokémon that can learn this move is Miltank, although I would hate to know what heart-shaped body part it would 'hit' you with… *double shudder*
Fun Facts: The Woobat family is an expy of the Zubat family. (Although I'd much rather see a Woobat than one of those horrors) Both of them are Bat Pokémon species, live in caves or other dark places, and have no visible eyes; furthermore, both of them reach their respective fully-evolved form by friendship.
Karl from the 13th movie (Zoroark: Master of Illusions) has a Woobat image on his hat.
Woobat is based on a Honduran White Bat, and is a literal interpretation of the Heart-nosed Bat.