Dhelmise
Ghost/Grass
Asexual
A common specter in sailor ghost stories, and a probable encounter for anyone who sails a lot.
Description
Dhelmise is ghostly seaweed. Literally. The Pokémon is the seaweed. The anchor and helm are a body it binds to and a specialized flower/sensory structure, respectively. Even when the anchor is heavily rusted, it will be coated in seaweed. The seaweed can also extend tendrils that form like green, photosynthesizing chains over hundreds of feet. Size and mass of the full creature is partially dependent on type of anchor, potentially into tons of anchor and hundreds of kilograms of greenery.
Dhelmise is a Steelworker. That is to say, it has adapted to growing on metal anchors to an incredible degree and can handle Steel energy as well as its native Ghost and Grass energy.
Battle Characteristics
Dhelmise has stat variation depending on what anchor it bonds to. As a rough average, its stats are as follows. Moderate constitution, moderate high Power. Good Resistance, great Toughness, exceptional Strength. Low speed.
The moves available are more consistent. Ghost, Grass, Steel, and Normal. It even has a signature move in Anchor Shot, which damages and entangles the target in the chains. TMs offer at least one option each from a variety of Types.
Legends/Folklore
Dhelmise has haunted humans as long as metal anchors existed. In the event that Dhelmise starts taking over an anchor, the crew will pop the pin on special links in the chain and thus sever the chain at that link. It is preferable to the alternative.
Deep in the oceans, a variant of Crustle exists called Shipwreck Crustle. The name is quite accurate. These living biomes carry a large chunk of a ship on their backs, inadverntently acting as a home for many small Pokémon. A symbiotic relationship develops between the Crustle, the inhabitants of the wreck, and the Dhelmise that inevitably latch onto the ship. In exchange for a tithe of life energy, the Dhelmise defeat and defend against large foes like Gyarados. Dhelmise gets life energy, Crustle gets a body to eat, and the small fry get scraps and bones to repair the shipwreck.
Dhelmise could be used as an anchor on a ship, but it is much safer to use normal anchors instead of ones with attitude and an appetite for life. Unless the ship in question hunts Wailord and other big beasties.
It is confirmed that at least some Dhelmise are actually sailors that died and came back.
Somewhere out in the ocean, a Dhelmise and a haunted diver suit merged into an unkillable titan of the deeps, hunting and killing sailors, even whole ships, for various crimes.
Life Cycle/Evolution Conditions
Dhelmise starts as a small seed or bundle of seaweed floating in ocean currents or nestled in the sea bed. Once it latches onto an anchor, it starts creeping its tendrils along the metal. If it gets a few wraps around the anchor and starts making a bud, the anchor is beyond salvaging or reclamation and is a Dhelmise. Dhelmise usually live for a couple decades.
Diet
Life energy. It prefers big targets like Gyarados and Wailord, but can snack on medium targets like Sharpedo or human sailors/divers when necessary. Submarines in known Dhelmise graveyards have spell tags to help the hull resist and act solid to Dhelmise chains instead of being permeable.
Breeding
Mineral Group in captivity. Wild breeding is different for them. The helm is actually a flower, bearing both aspects of reproduction. For the trainers daring enough to go for it, 86,000P can purchase an infested anchor.
Wild Behavior/Threat Level
Dangerous predators. Yet, they are manageable because sailors have long known how to drive them back. Something as simple as a sea ax with a shaft of thoroughly dried, dead wood can keep them at bay.
Bonding and Care
Taming and commanding them takes skill and experience, but is not beyond the skills of a moderately skilled trainer. They need to be firmly reminded that they are not to eat the life energy of the team semi-regularly.
Human/Pokémon Relations
They can be tamed because they acknowledge the human element of their origins.
With Family
No. They eat life energy.
Team Compatibility
They can be manageable, but if they are near large Pokémon, they might leach some life away.
Warning
They eat life. The chain-tendrils can stretch over a hundred meters.
Summary
Unliving anchor monsters.