Tentacruel (Tentacool)
Sicarius fleckeri
Overview
There are dozens, if not hundreds, of species of tentacruel. Alola is home to several species. Most are not sentient, much less sapient. The sentient ones tend to be small. The largest and most intelligent subspecies of tentacruel found in Alola is Fleckeri's tentacruel. While it is not the easiest to care for it is the one that behaves closest to a normal pokémon. The 'Relatives' section will detail the smaller, safer, and stupider alternatives.
Even being the most intelligent tentacruel, P. sicarius lacks a brain. It still has a complex enough nervous system that it can detect and react to threats. They can even mimic some of the attacks they witness. There is some evidence that they can recognize their trainer. Some specimens learn to associate battling with large food rewards and begin to instinctively attack anything unfamiliar they encounter. This is not a good thing, as Fleckeri's tentacruel is one of the most venomous creatures on the planet. A full powered sting from a very large tentacruel can permanently cripple a wailord or kill a gyarados.
Thankfully, tentacruel hold back. They gauge the size of their target and only release enough to severely wound. This avoids spending excessive venom and ensures that the target will both never bother them again and live with their disfigurement as a warning to others. Thankfully, tentacruel antivenom has been developed and widely distributed. Almost every beach and stadium in Alola has some prepared. Research into tentacruel venom has helped lead to treatments of other cardiovascular ailments. It is possible that in the near future there will be more lives saved by tentacruel every year than lost to them.
Outside of antivenom research there is very little reason to own a tentacruel. They are not intelligent enough to be social or refrain from stinging their trainer. Tentacruel quickly dry up on land, making them near useless in most battle arenas. Finally, tentacruel use is generally considered unsporting. The Alolan League once outright banned them. The new, relaxed policy is that they can be used if the trainer informs the referee ahead of time that they will be using the pokémon and there is time to secure a dose of antivenom. The trainer using tentacruel will have to pay for this dose if it is required. Tentacruel antivenom costs a minimum of $50 a dosage.
Physiology
Tentacool and tentacruel are classified as dual water- and poison-types.
The body is almost entirely made up of water. What remains is thin, gelatinous flesh. The main "bell" of the subspecies is roughly box shaped, with four corners on top and curtains draping down from it. The bell can be relaxed and constricted in such a way that the pokémon can swim. Tentacruel can reach speeds of seven knots for short periods of time. The bell contains a mesh of nerves just below the surface that helps the tenatcruel process information. The sheer size of the pokémon makes them more intelligent than other subspecies.
Curiously, tentacool and tentacruel also have fully functional eyes with corneas and irises. In fact, they have twenty-four eyes. These are grouped into four clusters, two on each 'side' of the bell. From a distance they resemble two normal eyes, but when viewed up close it becomes clear that each eye is six closely packed stalks, each with an eye at the end.
Tentacruel have no need for lungs as oxygen can be absorbed directly through their thin skin. The bell is wrapped around prey and emits acids to break down the flesh. Nutrients are then directly absorbed into the bell's cells. Individual tentacles are occasionally brought into the bell alongside the food so that those cells can also be replenished. With no need to carry oxygen or nutrients throughout the body, tentacruel do not need blood. This means they have no use for a heart.
While most of their body is translucent, tentacool and tentacruel have three markings on the bell. These are bioluminescent and can be made to glow red. The purpose this serves is debated. The old dominant theory was that this was a means of communication between tentacruel, but recent research has shown that tentacruel show no reaction to simulated light patterns if there is not a conspecific physically present. It is now believed that tentacruel send this signal to warn other species to stay away. It is only shown in deeper waters, where tentacruel do not hunt, and it saves them from making biologically expensive venom. Tentacruel have only two predators in Alola, both uncommon, so they gain more from conserving venom than they lose from increased predation. These lights can also be used to mimic confuse ray, but this is only seen in captive specimens who feel the need to stun foes long enough to catch up and sting them.
The most distinctive feature of the species is their long tentacles. Tentacool have only two, while tentacruel can have up to sixty-four. These are lined with nematocysts that inject venom into anything organic they come across. Tentacruel venom is designed to inflict shocks great enough that the heart of their prey stops functioning. Lesser doses are designed to inflict severe pain, scarring, and mild disruption of the cardiovascular system. These rarely result in a heart attack and death unless the tentacruel intends on eating its prey. Anything longer than half the width of the tentacruel is functionally inedible. This means that humans and most large to mid-size pokémon are safe from even the biggest tentacruel. Some species with weak hearts or lungs will still die from a tentacruel sting. Humans who are very old, very young, or who have weakened cardiovascular systems can also be killed by a strike intended to maim.
Tentacool can survive being almost entirely dehydrated. When they are left stranded by currents or tides, tentacool will begin to shrivel up and contract. They will rehydrate and begin functioning once a storm or high tide puts them back into the water. Tentacruel cannot survive full dehydration and use their weak hydrokinesis to resist waves and currents pushing them ashore. They move out to sea and towards the ocean floor when storms approach.
Tentacruel can grow to a diameter of one meter across the bell. Their tentacles can reach over five meters in length. The largest recorded tentacruel had a dry weight of only eight kilograms. Captive and wild tentacruel seldom live for more than two years after reaching the medusa stage.
Behavior
Tentacruel come into the shallows during the day to hunt. Their main prey are small fish such as magikarp, feebas, remoraid, basculin, and wishiwashi. Tentacool typically eat non-pokémon fish and invertebrates. The pokémon drifts on the currents and spreads out its tentacles far enough apart that it becomes difficult to see any single one. When a hunting specimen feels something brush its tentacles it uses hydrokinesis to judge how large it is. If it is just the right size to be both edible and worth eating a killing sting is delivered and the tentacles are used to reel in the prey. Even as digestion begins the tentacles are spread out once more in hopes of obtaining more food.
At night tentacruel swim out to deeper waters. They slowly lower themselves on to the ocean floor and bury tentacles in the substrate as anchors. The pokémon will remain motionless until daylight comes and it is time to resume hunting. Tentacruel will also do this when they sense a storm coming in. One day without food will not kill the pokémon – in fact, one captive specimen stayed in stasis for over three months when feedings stopped. It promptly began to move and hunt the moment prey was added into the tank again.
Alola's most popular beaches are surrounded by netting capable of keeping tentacool and tentacruel out. The remaining beaches close at the times of the lunar cycle when the tides push more of the pokémon in than usual. Attempts to spot the dull red parts of the bell are sometimes successful, but the pokémon is built to blend into the water. Visual spotting is not particularly reliable as such.
Alomomola primarily subsist on eating tentacool. Lapras occasionally eat one, but this is not the core of their diet. Both are highly resistant to tentacruel venom, so their prey's only defense is to disorient them with current manipulation or flashing lights.
Husbandry
Tentacool and tentacruel need tanks at minimum the length of their body in all three dimensions. These tanks also need to be custom built with small currents in mind. A day-night cycle should also be employed. There is some research that simulated lunar and tidal cycles also help improve health. In practice only professional trainers, wealthy collectors, and public aquariums have the resources to accommodate tentacruel. Tentacool can be stored short-term in smaller tanks, but eventually they will outgrow their enclosure.
Very young medusa should be fed brine shrimp. Tentacool can have slightly larger fish placed into their tanks. Ordinarily it is not recommended to feed pokémon living food for ethical and practical reasons. It is unfair to put prey in a situation which they cannot escape. There is also a real chance of injury to the predator. The problem is that tentacool and tentacruel do not actively hunt. They rely on things brushing against their tentacles to trigger a reaction. Some aquarists recommend live feedings for this reason. Others have found success dropping food directly in to the pokémon's tentacles every so often does the trick. Some aquariums employ current systems sophisticated enough to keep prey floating in the water column without having currents so strong that they injure the predator. The pokémon will begin to light up once it is done eating.
Enrichment is mostly unnecessary. There should be enough substrate at the bottom of the aquarium to anchor in. Anything more complicated is more likely to harm the pokémon than it is to be used as a toy. Battling trainers may occasionally wish to put their pokémon into a pool with other pokémon, ideally with a barrier separating them from each other. The tentacruel may come to imitate moves it sees observed, especially water- and poison-type attacks. Some have even learned to use recover to speed up their natural healing.
Illness
Tentacruel do not recover lost eyes and tentacles. Almost every other part of the body can be regenerated over the course of days. Elderly individuals slowly experience senescence as their bell begins to fray and tentacles gradually fall off or stop working. Eventually the entire pokémon will stop moving and begin to break apart. This process is a natural part of the pokémon's life cycle.
Trainers stung by tentacruel should immediately apply antivenom. Even with quick exposure it is likely that the sting area will scar. It will probably remain extremely painful for days or weeks. Failure to use antivenom can result in shock, delirium, cardiac arrest, and death.
Evolution
Tentacruel's life cycle contains a third stage that is not technically a pokémon. This is a polyp, a small creature that attaches itself to flat surfaces and steadily grows. Unlike most 'eggs,' the polyp can both hunt and reproduce. It uses small tentacles to catch nearby zooplankton for food.
Eventually the polyp will grow out two tentacles and absorb the others into the main body, which will become the bell. It will break off into the water and begin moving. Over time the tentacool will grow a bell with a diameter of around forty centimeters. Then the other tentacles will begin to grow in. Evolution formally occurs when the new tentacles reach the same length as the original two.
Battle
S. fleckeri is intelligent enough to learn rudimentary battle strategy. Some even listen to their trainer's verbal commands. They are excellent combatants in the water, able to knock out most opponents in a single sting from one of their long tentacles. They also have very little ability to harm things out of the water beyond shooting hydro pumps or scalds out of the pool and hoping they hit something. Faster water-types can also outspeed tentacruel, although maneuvering around every tentacle can be tricky. The species is popular in underwater battling exhibitions. It sees almost on use outside of these specialized matches.
Both tentacool and tentacruel are essentially useless on land. They also struggle to hit enemies not in the water with them. In aquatic matches it is best to let them hunt on their own. Luigi Ricci famously defeated half the team of a water-type specialist by sending in his Fleckeri's tentacruel and letting it stand still, waiting for the opponent to inevitably stumble into a translucent tentacle and get stung. Trainers who want to take a more proactive path can attempt to teach their pokémon confuse ray, scald, or ice beam.
Acquisition
The easiest way to obtain a tentacool is to go onto any unenclosed beach in Alola at low tide, find a dried out specimen, and then drop a ball onto it. Tentacruel capture is more difficult and requires going out on a boat or a long pier. During the day of a new moon or full moon there will be an abundance of tentacruel in shallow waters. A pokémon care try to wear one down from a distance before capture is attempted.
Do not sail towards a tentacruel while riding on the back of a pokémon. This is likely to end in disaster.
Tentacool require a Class III license to possess; Tentacruel require a Class IV.
Breeding
Polyps can reproduce asexually via 'budding,' where a second genetically-identical individual grows out of the polyp before eventually splitting off into a separate organism. Fully grown tentacruel reproduce in January and July. They congregate in a handful of spawning areas. All adults will then release a cloud of sperm or eggs. A tentacruel seems to pick sperm or eggs at random. Should they survive to a second breeding session they will release the other gamete. Some eggs will encounter sperm and become fertilized. They will then latch on to any hard surface they find and begin to develop into a polyp. Tentacruel death rates are exceedingly high following spawning events, perhaps to reduce competition for new young or to put more biomass in the water as the adults disintegrate.
Tentacruel in aquariums have never been observed spawning. Captive specimens will spawn if released into a group of other spawning tentacruel. It is impossible to keep the children of the captive specimen, so this is seldom done.
Relatives
The most impressive species of tentacruel is the aptly named giant tentacruel. This species can have a bell nearly ten feet across and tentacles over fifty feet long. It also has the ability to concentrate light into powerful laser attacks launched from the bell. Unlike S. fleckeri, it can also sense the world above the surface with enough detail to aim attacks. The giant tentacruel has been known to actively hunt birds by shooting them out of the sky and then reeling the stunned bird into its bell. The giant tentacruel's venom is not nearly as potent as that of Fleckeri's tentacruel. It is only strong enough to kill zooplankton and small fish. Lasers are relied upon to kill everything else.
The giant tentacruel lives in cold waters near the Arctic. Some can be found as far south as Sinnoh or the mainland United States, but this is rare. These sightings are becoming even less common due to climate change. Because their lasers require solar energy to fire, the giant tentacruel is only active for eight months of the year. During the winter they dive deep into the ocean and become dormant for months.
The Rockingham tentacruel, by contrast, might have the smallest adult stage of any known pokémon. Their tentacruel phase has a bell less than a quarter inch across. Their sting is initially painless. Humans stung by Sicarius rockingham will go into cardiac arrest within fifteen minutes. There is effective antivenom, but most victims will have no idea they have been stung in the first place. Once symptoms arise it will be too late for the antivenom to have any effect.
Most tentacruel are nowhere near as large as the giant tentacruel or as venomous as those in the Sicarius genus. The coral tentacruel does not have a tentacool stage. To some observers it looks like they barely leave the polyp state. The bell is anchored to a hard surface such as a rock or coral reef. The tentacles grow out into the water and rise towards the sun. Zooxanthellae on the tentacles lets the pokémon gain food via photosynthesis. They almost never move.
The species most often seen in public aquariums is the minor tentacruel. Minor tentacruel reach bell widths of one to two feet. Their venom is only potent enough to kill zooplankton, their main prey. Researchers did not classify them as pokémon until 2004, when it was demonstrated that they possessed the ability to manipulate elemental signatures. This effect can be observed by running weak electrical currents through the water or using area of effect attacks such as trick room. The tentacruel will begin to glow strange colors as the energy around them is partially negated, sparing the pokémon from the brunt of the attack. Why a pokémon with almost no natural predators evolved such a sophisticated defense system is unclear.