Seaking (Goldeen)
Hortus princeps
Overview
Seaking have been semi-domesticated for over two centuries. For most of that time they were kept in large garden ponds as a regular food source. This changed in the 15th Century when the emperor declared them noble fish that could not be eaten or owned by peasants. They were kept primarily in the garden ponds of the nobility behind walls, although they could be used as an emergency food source during a siege.
The Japanese perfected the art of Seaking breeding. During the 19th Century a series of selective breeding programs created seaking with ever more elaborate patterns, colors, and body shapes.
In the 1920s the practice of seaking breeding spread worldwide. Enthusiasts continued to crossbreed and manage their populations for ever more fantastic results. Casual hobbyists and landscapers put them into large ponds because they looked nice. During floods some of these seaking would escape and found a wild population. Seaking can now be found on every continent but Antarctica.
Seaking are excellent pets for trainers with a large ponds. They are beautiful fish that are also reasonably friendly and intelligent. On the island challenge seaking face the same drawback as most other fish: they can't breathe or move well on land. Trainers must be committed to staying near freshwater or brackish sources at almost all times to successfully use them. This can be very difficult in the rain shadow of Alola's mountains. Traveling trainers looking for a water-type are advised to pick an amphibious pokémon, or at least one with a slightly higher salinity tolerance.
Physiology
Goldeen and seaking are classified as pure water-types. The ruling is not controversial.
Wild goldeen are pale fish with a deep body shape. They have muted white scales on most of their body with patterns of orange, red, and brown scales to help them blend in with the substrate. They have particularly broad caudal and pectoral fins and comparatively small dorsal fins. The caudal fins split in to two trains extending from a single fin. The most notable feature of wild goldeen are their horns. The horns are made of keratin and can extend several inches from the forehead. They are surprisingly sharp and durable, making them goldeen's greatest natural weapon.
Captive goldeen can have a wide variety of body shapes, colors, patterns, fin shapes, and textures. The easiest way to determine a fish is a goldeen is their horn. Otherwise goldeen can more closely resemble other species than other breeds.
Wild seaking are primarily white in their ventral region and brown or red in the dorsal region. They also have thin black patterns in the dorsal region to help camouflage them against the substrate. The male's colors grow more vibrant in the autumn. Seaking have even longer pectoral and caudal fins than goldeen. The dorsal fin is longer than it was as a goldeen but is still shorter than the pectoral and caudal fins. The horn is longer in real terms than a goldeen's but proportionally smaller.
As with goldeen the horn is the easiest way to determine the species of a captive goldeen.
Seaking can live for fifty years in the wild or two hundred years in captivity. Wild specimens typically grow to lengths of three feet from the snout to the end of the caudal fin and weigh around forty pounds. Captive breeds vary widely in length and weight.
Behavior
Seaking spend most of their lives in lowland lakes, rivers, and, occasionally, estuaries. They primarily live and feed along the benthos. Most of their diet is made up of vegetation such as grasses and any tree roots that find themselves submerged. On occasion they will hunt small benthic dwellers by sucking up the substrate into their mouth and filtering out edible invertebrates with their gill rakers. This tends to increase the turbidity of their ponds, making some of the rivers they have been introduced to considerably murkier.
Goldeen and seaking tend to live in loose-knit schools of up to five hundred individuals. Social hierarchy is determined in part by horn length and hardness. Goldeen in particular are known to compare horn length and strength in 'jousting' contests with each other. Seaking only do so during mating season and when resources are scarce.
Seaking are commonly preyed upon by larger aquatic organisms and raptors. Young goldeen are preyed upon by almost every piscivore they encounter, especially if they were born to other goldeen (see Breeding). Their mortality rate in the wild is high. Even in captivity their ponds can be raided by hungry predators.
Husbandry
Seaking are best left in large ponds. They will attempt to shatter any glass they are held in. On the trail they will need to be held in a specialty pokéball whenever away from freshwater, which can take a mental toll on them. The only alternative to ponds are concrete pools. These are sometimes preferable for industrial-scale breeding operations but are usually more expensive and less visually appealing than a simple pond.
Both stages are primarily herbivorous. They will eat any leafy greens or peas given to them and these should constitute the majority of their diet. Any food not immediately consumed should be removed so it does not decay and lower the water quality. Seaking prefer to be fed at night and dawn but will happily eat at any time of day. Some of seaking's diet can be made up of invertebrates or specially made pellets. Floating pellets will drive the fish to the surface where they can be inspected for wounds, discoloration, or odd behavior.
Seaking's metabolism dramatically slows in winter and they will barely eat anything at all. This is unlikely to occur in much of Alola but is important to know when relocating.
Seaking can quickly come to recognize their trainer as a source of food and protection. They are unlikely to be particularly affectionate or social outside of feeding.
Some aquarists have added water slides to their pond complexes in an effort to replicate seaking's natural behavior of swimming upstream. These tend to be a little too successful as all of the seaking will swim upstream from every available route, crowding each other out at the top and preventing any of the fish from going back down the slide. Modified slides have since been built with an elevated pool and one entrance too high out of the water to jump into but not too high to cause serious injury upon reentry. These seem to be very popular enrichment items with seaking and increase the likelihood of successful breeding.
Illness
The two most common diseases in seaking are seaking herpes virus (SHV) and spring viraemia virus (SVV). Vaccines are available for SHV. While not required, they are highly recommended. There is presently no vaccination or reliable cure for SVV. It is a disease of the liver and kidney. Sometimes it will manifest as discoloration or profuse bleeding for no apparent reason. Sometimes it has no symptoms at all.
In the hands of inexperienced caregivers, seaking can also suffer from ammonia poisoning. Too much waste building up in the water can poison the pokémon in it. This can be mitigated by water changes or reducing the stocking concentration. It is especially likely to occur in new ponds that have not had time to build up the necessary microbes to break ammonia down. Ponds should either be allowed time to sit before stocking or, at the very least, have substrate from other ponds. The latter can be dangerous as it could introduce viruses or other biological contamination alongside the desired bacteria. Plant life can also reduce the risk of ammonia poisoning, but seaking will graze down the plants to nothing unless the concentration is so low ammonia poisoning is unlikely I have been an issue in the first place.
Aside from the above problems seaking are remarkably hardy creatures with long lifespans.
Evolution
Goldeen are the rare pokémon that reach sexual maturity before evolution and almost always evolve if they live long enough. Goldeen evolution is gradual and consists of the growth of fins and darkening of the scales, as well as a deeper elemental well.
In the wild evolution usually occurs around five years of age. The exact trigger is closely tied to combat experience. Wild goldeen can evolve one to ten years after hatching, depending on how often they are battled with. Older goldeen often seek out conspecifics to spar with in the wild and will be willing to battle other water-types in captivity.
Battle
Seaking can only survive for two minutes on land. They can move water to open up new paths, but struggle to create water outright. Their ranged arsenal is not impressive enough to let them be competitive in arenas that only have a small water feature.
In the open water seaking are decent battlers. They are relatively fast and can create small whirlpools centered around their horns that are intense enough to tear through some armors. Seaking's support options and movepool can make them decent on offense or defense. Still, seaking will never be more than decent. They have never seen serious competitive use and probably never will.
Goldeen are less durable than seaking. In exchange they have good speed and power for unevolved pokémon. They can be used however the trainer wishes. Some use goldeen as rushdown attackers, others as tanks using aqua ring and rest to stall out opponents. There are better options for either, but they are not bad at their roles.
Acquisition
Wild seaking can be found in the coastal waterways around Brooklet Hill and the northern portion of Ula'Ula. They can be baited with insects or brussels sprouts. Seaking do not adjust well to traveling when caught in the wild, but are usually content to relocate to a suitable pond.
Goldeen can be purchased for as little as $50 from aquarium and garden supply stores. Special breeds can be considerably more expensive. A seaking once sold $2,000,000.
Breeding
Goldeen and seaking are both reproductively viable. They have similar breeding habits six months apart. Goldeen breeding season begins in early spring with males gaining brighter colors and performing mating dances for females. After pair bonding the goldeen will begin swimming upstream towards springs. They can swim at speeds of up to five knots even when going against the current. Goldeen are also fantastic jumpers and can climb up waterfalls when needed.
Any goldeen that have lost their mate in the journey upriver will pair off again at the spring. Then a mass spawning event will occur in which the female goldeen lay several thousand eggs each. Then the goldeen will swim back to the downstream waters they call home.
Seaking mate in the autumn. The other major difference is that seaking defend their offspring. Males will use concentrated whirlpools to carve a hole in to a boulder. They will then fill it with plant matter. After the female lays her eggs in to the hole, the parents will take turns guarding it until the goldeen hatch. At this point the seaking stay in the spring for another two months before going back downstream with their offspring.
Most migratory breeders cannot reproduce in aquaria. Seaking can even without specially-designed facilities, although water slides and connected ponds increase the likelihood of breeding. Seaking will need boulders to lay eggs in and will not appreciate attempts by humans to collect either the eggs or the offspring until the winter solstice. Goldeen do not need boulders and do not object to eggs being harvested and moved to a separate tank.
Relatives
Seaking have been subject to more selective breeding and cross-breeding than any other fish pokémon. They cross well with other fish and usually inherit patterns or other morphological features from them. Seaking have been bred in almost every color. Some breeds have almost no scales and others have thick armor.
There are two main areas of emphasis for breeders: horns and fins. The longest seaking horn ever recorded was nearly 90 centimeters long. At least one breeder has managed to produce seaking with two horns. Fin enthusiasts select for long, flowing fins and interesting color and scale patterns. The two groups do not get along well and have made repeated attempts to categorize fin-selected and horn-selected seaking as different species.
They are not. However extreme the breeding, the population quickly returns to the mean in feral populations. Centuries of hard work are undone in just a decade or two outside of deliberate efforts to maintain it. Were all human records lost there would soon be no evidence at all of the breeder's work save the species' introduction across the world. Some poets have proposed seaking as a metaphor for humanity's place in the world: apparently dominant and able to shape the biosphere as we wish, but unable to fully conquer or separate ourselves from it.