Basculegion (Basculin)
Metuslacus titanus

Overview

Some aquatic pokémon are surprisingly weak. They are easy prey for the average angler and find themselves towards the bottom of the oceanic food web. Yet, they thrive all the same. One survival strategy many water-types share is referred to as The Guardian of the School. Extraordinarily weak water-types are often accompanied by a much more formidable adult that can handle anything that threatens the juveniles. Wishiwashi school, magikarp have gyarados, feebas have milotic, and wimpod have golisopod.

Basculegion take this a step further: the weakness of the basculin only serves to make the protector even stronger. Basculin are common in the waters of Alola. They are also relatively common on Alola's dinner plates. All basculin consumed are imported or invasive littoral basculin. Commercial fishing of Pacific basculin is strictly prohibited to avoid the wrath of a ten-foot-long fish with the strength to rival gyarados and milotic.

The sheer power of basculegion, as well as their ability to float in the air, make them a sought-after water-type. Trainers should still be cautioned that basculegion are both apex predators and ghost-types, neither of which are known for their ease of care. Ideally trainers should have experience with ghosts, large carnivores, and fish before attempting to raise the species. Those that can handle them often find basculegion to be powerful, intelligent, and surprisingly affectionate companions.

Physiology

Basculin are classified as pure water-types. Basculegion are classified as dual water- and ghost-types. Neither ruling is disputed.

Basculin are compressiform fish with green scales and white fins. There are white strips along the later lines with black scales in between them on the dorsal side. This is the root of the other common name for the Pacific basculin, the white-striped basculin. There are several rings of white scales around the eye to make them appear larger. Basculin have sharp canine teeth with very small molars at the back of the mouth. They can dislocate their jaws like some snakes in order to fit their mouth around particularly large meals. Females are 30% larger than males on average.

Basculegion have much longer and more streamlined bodies than basculin. Their white stripes have been replaced with red ones (males) or blue ones (females). A second stripe extends from the upper jaw to just behind the gills. Additional red or blue stripes line the gills. Females also have blue markings around the edge of the jaws. Red or blue horns also grow above the eyes for additional protection.

The most notable feature of basculegion is their spectral armor. An ever-shifting red or blue spectral fog surrounds the back half of their body, often completely obscuring the anal and caudal fins. The spectral fog clings tightly to the body. It does not react to water or air but it hardens up into a thin but nigh-unbreakable armor when anything solid presses against it. Basculegion cannot fully dissolve into spectral fog or phase through objects as they are still mostly organic creatures. Their fog is simply something they can manipulate in battle to strike the opponent with ghost energy attacks or shield the back half of their body. Males tend to have more developed muscles, especially around the jaws, while females have larger fat deposits and a greater affinity for manipulating their spectral fog or moving the water around them. Their caudal fin is also smaller than the male's.

Male basculin are typically two to three feet long while females grow to three to four feet in length. Male and female basculegion grow to similar sizes. Most grow to about ten feet in length, but some exceptional specimens can be nearly twelve feet long. Adult female basculin typically weigh around 30 pounds. Basculegion can weigh 500 pounds. Basculin live for about twenty years in the wild and captivity. Basculegion can survive for over two centuries.

Behavior

Pacific basculin live in schools of between twenty and one hundred individuals. These are only loosely hierarchical. The largest fish is given a wide berth during feeding frenzies but has no other social power. Basculin are timid around larger pokémon and humans and will often flee at the first sign of potential danger. Anything smaller than them is potential prey. If it can fit in the mouth of a single basculin, the fish will try to kill and eat it. Larger prey are torn into alive by multiple basculin at once. The resulting carcass is distributed and eaten in a quick and brutal feeding frenzy.

Basculegion tend to live alone in areas inhabited by Pacific basculin. Basculegion sometimes prey upon smaller fish, reptiles, birds, or anything else they cross. The species can launch themselves up to thirty feet into the air in a single jump and nab a bird mid-flight. Most of basculin's diet is made up of other ghost-types. Jellicent, dhelmise, and palossand are their most common victims. Absent ghost-types basculegion can 'feed' by absorbing spectral energy from the carcasses of recently dead basculin. This means that the more vulnerable the basculin are in an area, the stronger the basculegion can become. Attacking the school only makes their guardian stronger and angrier. This is still cold comfort to the basculin who are killed and the school does everything they can to avoid predators.

Basculegion can survive outside of the water by 'swimming' through the air. They are much slower like this and prefer to stay underwater as often as possible. When there are not enough ghosts to consume in the sea basculegion will come ashore and hunt. Specimens observed outside of the water are still potentially dangerous and should be avoided.

Basculegion can be surprisingly friendly towards humans. They have been known to save drowning children, bring stalled boats to shore, and wander cities at night to people watch. This can be a terrifying experience for those who find themselves stalked by a powerful ghost in the dark. Usually the local rangers will intervene and attempt to guide the pokémon back to the sea.

Littoral basculin have been introduced to several of the ponds and lakes of Alola. Pacific basculin are euryhaline and thrive in everything from the open ocean to the estuaries of Akala to larger inland lakes. Littoral basculegion can only live in lakes with minimal foliage and broad, slow-moving rivers. They tend to separate into two schools in an area, one primarily composed of red individuals and one of blue. Some individuals will cross over to the opposite school. Littoral basculin are far more aggressive than Pacific basculin. While the Pacific species will attack anything that happens to come close, basculin will scour their environment for hidden creatures to devour. They hunt in schools and can distract and overwhelm even some of the largest freshwater pokémon. It is common for species that can move away to do so when littoral basculin arrives. Pacific basculin have retreated to the estuaries and oceans to avoid their aggressive cousins.

The devastation littoral basculin can cause to freshwater ecosystems has made them despised by conservationists. Anglers, however, adore littoral basculin for their size, taste, and the fight they put up on the line. Littoral basculin have been deliberately introduced to many areas by anglers looking for a better fish to catch. Fisherman are often unwilling to deliberately hunt basculin populations to the point of collapse.

Husbandry

Basculin do not fare well on the trail. They are best left in ponds or very large tanks with a full school. Ponds with prey species can support the basculin as long as the prey to predator mass ratio is at least 6:1. In ponds unable to fully support the basculin the species can be fed with specialized pellets. As obligate carnivores basculin need more protein in their diet than many fish. Ideal pellets are around 40% protein and 10% fat. They should also float so the basculin can be checked for injuries when they are fed. Food should be provided twice a day until the basculin stop feeding. Pacific basculin like having grasses to hide in. Littoral basculin prefer open, featureless ponds.

Basculegion are better suited to being a trainer's pokémon. They should frequently have access to at least a 50,000-gallon pond or pool to rest in. ideally it will be considerably larger. Basculegion prefer temperatures between sixty and seventy-five degrees Fahrenheit but can tolerate temperatures up to eighty-five degrees or as low as thirty-two degrees. Basculegion prefer salt water but can tolerate almost any naturally occurring salinity. They are one of the few organisms that can survive for brief periods of time in hypersaline bodies of water.

It is trickier to feed a basculegion than a basculin. They prefer to eat about one tenth of their body mass in live or frozen fish each day. Pellets are an acceptable alternative for short periods of time. The harder part of their diet is spectral energy. Basculegion seek out other ghost-types to kill or seriously injure. They can meet this need in controlled battles against other ghosts, although some consider it unsporting. Dead fish provide a small amount of spectral energy in addition to ordinary calories. Dead basculin provide a considerable boost. Some trainers have made arrangements with the DNR to have their basculegion eat littoral basculin. Most basculegion have no problem with this as it expands the territory of Pacific basculin. It also provides them with both food and basculin souls to consume. Littoral basculin-fed basculegion are some of the strongest known specimens.

Basculegion are usually solitary in the wild. In captivity they can and do bond with their trainer. Usually this takes the form of swimming slow circles in the air around them. They enjoy simple toys they can manipulate with their mouth or fins. Some larger basculegion will allow their trainer to ride them. This can be enjoyable for both parties.

For understandable reasons basculegion make terrible teammates for other ghosts. The mix can be pulled off as long as the basculegion is constantly well fed but is generally far more trouble than it is worth. An improperly trained basculegion can also cause problems for smaller organic teammates. They are large carnivores and the usual best practices for mixing carnivores apply. The strongest carnivore on the team should be the most loyal and best trained. They can keep the others in line. Basculegion, despite being reasonably social and intelligent, are not as easy to train and understand as large mammalian predators. They are best added after another, larger carnivore is established. Basculegion can also be mixed successfully with similar-sized predators, larger herbivores, or inorganic pokémon. Alternatively, milotic are usually able to keep basculegion in line as masterful peacekeepers and negotiators.

Illness

Fungal infections are one of the main illnesses affecting captive basculin. These are most common at cooler temperatures. In Alola these ailments are much less problematic than they are in other parts of the world. Fungal infections usually manifest as a difference in color or texture on a certain part of the body. For this reason, it is important to regularly be able to visually examine the basculin in a pond. Most can be treated if spotted quickly.

In high temperature, high-density ponds dissolved oxygen can become a problem. Basculin prefer environments with limited plants. Warm waters can hold only a limited amount of oxygen. With high stocking density, limited plants adding oxygen, and a low capacity to hold oxygen in the water, catastrophe can strike quickly and with little advanced warning. Stocking densities should be limited and the pond's oxygen levels should constantly be monitored. Bubblers and other devices designed to disturb the surface can also alleviate the problem.

Basculegion illnesses tend to be spectral in origin. While the fish do not themselves feed on emotions, many of the ghosts they consume do. If they eat a sick ghost, they can absorb its ailments. Spectral illnesses can be devastating for fully incorporeal beings. They can easily be fatal for biological organisms. Keep a close eye on any ghosts that basculegion consumes.

Evolution

Pacific basculin evolve in waters with high concentration of schrekstoff, a chemical they emit when stressed. Captive evolution used to require unethical means. Now it can be done by artificially dousing a pond in high quantities of an admittedly expensive chemical. Basculegion that evolve without actually experiencing mass death are noticeably weaker than those that can absorb the souls of their schoolmates. On balance, they they tend to be better adjusted. In the wild one or two surviving basculin will evolve after a mass death event. They evolve via flash evolution which doubles their size and grants them spectral armor. The basculegion will slowly grow to full size over the next decade.

Battle

Basculegion are large, aggressive fish with the ability to shroud themselves in spectral armor to dissipate elemental energy or channel the pain and negative energy lingering on a battlefield into spectacular attacks. This makes them one of the most popular fish in competitive battling. Unfortunately, basculegion are held back by two major weaknesses. Basculegion are fast in the water but can only float at about five miles per hour on land. They also lack a deep utility movepool to help them out when something does have them at a disadvantage.

Male basculegion are more vicious in general and hit harder up close. Very few enemies can come out of a fight with a basculegion without being rent or drowned under the force of powerful bites, short-ranged spectral attacks, and cascades of summoned water streaming off of them. This makes them effective at breaking rock- and ghost-type walls that can struggle to outpace them on land. However, they are a rock-breaker that cannot reliably beat tyranitar one-on-one. As a result they are usually passed over for females in circuits with land-based arenas.

Female basculegion are much better at manipulating spectral energy than males. They can form shields that negate all but the strongest of elemental attacks and unleash punishing curses that can ravage and knock out some opponents in one hit, especially at the end of a protracted and painful fight in a storied arena. Their low-speed matters less because they attack with elemental bursts and ranged curses. Anything that does get close will discover that they still have a nasty bite. Basculegion can shut down some attackers that rely purely on elemental attacks and punish anything vulnerable to their hexes.

There are a variety of ways to counter basculegion. The first is by cleansing the arena's ambient energy with another ghost or through heal bell, heal pulse, or similar restorative moves. This limits the power of basculegion's last respects attack. Other ghosts are usually fast enough to easily outpace basculegion while tearing into the basculegion's spectral armor until it is too dissipated to protect them. Physical normal-types strong enough to take the female basculegion's water attacks can get close and cleave straight through the spectral armor without much fear of last respects. Bulky grass-types, especially ones that can take an ice beam or two, are usually somewhat resistant to spectral attacks due to their unique biology and psychology, can stomach water elemental moves, and are capable of holding basculegion down with vine traps or powder clouds.

Basculin are simple attackers. They should hit hard and fast and never let up lest they find themselves reliant on their scant armor and utility movepool. Outside of the water they pose very little threat. Inside the water they can deal with foes slightly bigger than them.

Acquisition

Capture of wild basculegion is illegal. Attempting to do so can enrage the remaining basculegion.

The capture of littoral basculin is legal with a Class III license or a culinary or sport fishing license. Many chefs will pay well for fresh basculin. They can be found in a variety of lakes, ponds, and large rivers on Akala and Ula'Ula.

Pacific basculin capture is legal with a Class II license, but there are strict annual quotas. They are most common in the Brooklet Hill area, the cool estuaries on Melemele and Ula'Ula, and coastal waters away from human activity. Basculegion will take note of any trainer catching Pacific basculin in their territory and assess their intentions. If the trainer proves that they are an island challenger and reasonably competent at pokémon care through a team inspection and proving battle, the basculegion may allow a capture. Trainers need not actually win the proving battle to earn a fish.

Basculegion rehoming is handled on a case-by-case basis by the DNR. Shelters are often reluctant to keep them. Fish stores are very reluctant to keep and sell Pacific basculin due to the extensive regulations and the risk of a newly evolved basculegion disrupting their operation.

Breeding

Basculin usually breed around late March or early April. Entire schools will swim upstream to the waters around springs. Males will dig shallow nests in the lakebed that consist of a small pit and a few objects to partially cover it. They will then swim around their nest until a female swims by and expresses interest. The pair will share a short ritualistic 'dance' of swimming in spirals around each other and the nest before the female deposits her eggs in the nest and the male fertilizes them.

Females can lay about 5,000 to 10,000 eggs for every pound of body weight. The eggs hatch two to five days after they are laid. The male will continue to guard them in the nest as they feed on their egg yolk. Then he will abandon them. Basculin adults are not cannibalistic towards their offspring. Unfortunately, just about everything else will eat them as they grow. Mortality rates are well over 99% in the wild.

Basculegion rarely mate. They will only do so if the basculin population around them has crashed. When they do mate they use larger, better covered nests than basculin. They will also aggressively target anything they observe hunting their offspring. This deterrence, combined with the sheer number of eggs they can lay, can quickly restore the basculin population.

Basculin can crossbreed with a handful of similar sized fish, especially those with red, blue, or green scales. It is easiest to cross with a male basculin as they are not as selective as females. Most of the offspring will be of the dam's species since she laid the eggs. Crosses with female basculin often require artificial fertilization and lab supervision of the eggs.

Basculin do not mind the fry being removed shortly after they stop being guarded. Clearer breeding ponds or pools with a thick layer of sediment are recommended for this process to ensure ease of harvest for the eggs. Alternatively, eggs and sperm can be surgically removed and combined in a lab to cut out the basculin entirely. Once the egg yolk is gone an abundance of copepods will need to be made available. The fry will cannibalize each other if there is insufficient food. As they grow they can be switched to a diet of real or lab grown fish meat. Fingerlings can be slowly transitioned away from fish meat and towards protein-rich pellets.

Basculegion breed more frequently in captivity than in the wild. If a male seems to be obsessed with digging it may be time to make breeding arrangements. Many trainers are unwilling to care for the sheer number of offspring basculegion can produce. It is best to either let the basculegion go to sea for a time to breed or to arrange for breeding in a controlled DNR or aquarium hatchery. Movement around migration time is perfectly normal for a basculegion and will be readily accepted.

Relatives

The littoral basculin is native to the eastern United States and Canada but has since been introduced to most of Europe and portions of Africa and the western United States. In the west they have hybridized with the local sinfish, a dark-type relative that primarily feeds on bug-types and insect larvae.

The Pacific basculin is endangered or extirpated throughout much of its former range. Dams without fish ladders both provide hydroelectricity and reduce the population of an apex predator that can often be hostile towards humans. Basculegion also usually lack the power to destroy large concrete dams. Unable to migrate, many basculin instead either return to the ocean without breeding or ram into the dam repeatedly until they die. Some nations have taken things a step further and created traps in reservoirs to isolate and kill the basculin while they migrate. This inevitably produces basculegion, but a few professional trainers can keep them in check.

Alola's basculegion do not have far to travel upstream and most of their routes are undammed or even subterranean. Even if basculin were removed the gyarados, milotic, and wishiwashi would remain as formidable guardians of the water. As such it harbors one of the most robust Pacific basculin populations remaining.