Oricorio
Overview
Whatever else can be said about them, oricorio are extremely versatile pokémon. Every individual is capable of taking four different forms with varying personalities, typings, and battle styles. While some oricorio have a preference for one form or another most do not. This gives trainers four separate tries at connecting with their pokémon. Forms can also be changed for important battles.
Oricorio's drawbacks are in acquisition and logistics. They are rare outside of nature preserves with somewhat strict annual catch quotas. Nectar is somewhat expensive and rather heavy. Most trainers also cannot meaningfully contribute to their oricorio's training and fighting style.
Even with the species' drawbacks, dancers and trainers looking for a versatile pokémon would do well to to learn the laws and set aside time to capture an oricorio.
Physiology
The four forms, or styles, of oricorio all have different typings. All four have a partial flying-typing. Pom-pom style oricorio are also classified as electric-types, pa'u as psychic-types, baile as fire-types, and sensu as ghost types.
All four forms are relatively small bird pokémon with a typical songbird build. All have relatively strong legs and solid balance. Baile style oricorio are the only form that is more comfortable in the air than on the ground, although sensu style oricorio can fly in a pinch. Pom-pom and pa'u oricorio can only jump and control their fall with air current manipulation.
Pom-pom oricorio have a build closer to hawlucha than a typical bird pokémon. They have short wings with bulky puffs of feathers at the ends. Electrical charges build up in these feathers between attacks and pom-pom oricorio can unleash powerful shocks at the start of battles. Between hits pom-pom oricorio can pull off impressive acrobatic feats. This style's skeleton still has the same composition as the others, which limits its ability to take hits or deal powerful blows.
Pa'u style oricorio are almost entirely dependent upon their dances. Only six flight feathers—three at the end of each wing—survive the transformation into this form. The rest of their body is coated in soft pink feathers as well as ornamental skirts and head tufts of white feathers. Pa'u style oricorio are masters at channeling ambient psychic energy into telepathic, empathic, and telekinetic attacks. On balance they are slow walkers and weak jumpers.
Baile style oricorio have the most conventional avian body shape. While they sometimes do take bipedal stances their dances are mostly performed in flight. The style's fireproof feathers are mostly red with occasional fringes of black feathers. Small white spiral patterns rest on the bird's cheeks. Baile oricorio produce fire with every flap of their wings. They can control and shape the flames with their dances.
Sensu oricorio have a similar build to baile oricorio with a slightly more bipedal stance. Their feathers' colors can vary wildly between individuals but usually include some mix of purple, pink, and blue. The sensu style's powers are more similar to pa'u than the other forms; rather than creating ghost energy they manipulate ambient fields. Specifically, sensu oricorio channel the spirits and ghost energy of the area around them into curses, semi-tangible minions, and weak elemental attacks. They rival human channelers in communicating with the spirits of the dead. Mediums seldom employ the birds, however, because they are remarkably cruel beneath their elegant façade.
All four styles subsist entirely on nectar. Their digestive system has many similarities to crobat as a result of their liquid diet. Oricorio spend most of their day feeding with almost all of the rest spent sleeping. Perhaps an hour or two a day is spent dancing for passing humans and local pokémon. They were traditionally believed to be oracles of the tapus. Their dances were often imitated by the priests of pre-annexation Alola until they were banned, first by an Alolan king in 1834 and again by the provisional government after a brief period of legality in the latter years of the Kingdom. While many of the traditional dances have been lost to time and suppression there are attempts to relearn them from surviving documents and the dances of modern oricorio.
All styles grow to weighs of approximately 0.5 kilograms although their heights vary. Oricorio can live for fifteen years in the wild and captivity.
Behavior
No style of oricorio had many predators before contact with Japan and China. Invasive species such as gumshoos and raticate have dramatically changed this situation. Pom-pom and pa'u oricorio are also unable to take to the skies to avoid terrestrial predators. Raticate in particular wiped out the pa'u style oricorio before the remaining portions of Akala Meadow were barricaded off and oricorio from other islands were introduced.
Pom-pom oricorio dealt with the most predators in the past, mostly in the form of the large birds and dragons that roost near Melemele Meadow. Pom-pom style's electricity and near flightlessness help them survive by hiding in the tall flowers of the meadow and shocking anything that does come too close. New predators have forced them to roost in the sparse trees of the meadow and rely on their electricity to deter flying pokémon. On the ground they are still vulnerable to raticate and gumshoos attacks.
The style's high metabolism leads to a need to consume even more nectar than the other styles. On balance they sleep somewhat less.
Pa'u oricorio benefited from the nature of Akala Meadow. Powerful and intelligent psychics often met in the meadow as it was a good central location between the xatu of the south, the oranguru of the north, and the slowking of the coast. Tapu Lele was also a frequent visitor. The pa'u flowers that dominate the meadow absorb psychic energy and slowly radiate it out. All of the ambient energy allowed pa'u oricorio to channel it into devastating mind control and telekinetic attacks when needed. While incineroar were not deterred, torracat were. Pa'u oricorio took to killing any torracat that came near the meadow until incineroar started to reign in their children.
Raticate do not have a non-dark juvenile form. Even if they did the desperate hunger of the average rattata would probably make oricorio's power a rather poor deterrent. Because pa'u oricorio traditionally sleep on the ground at night and rattata can navigate through even thick flowerbeds the oricorio were easily killed
Before the introduction of invasive species the dominant predators on Ula'Ula were ninetales, incineroar, metagross, and flygon. Metagross have always been comparatively rare and flygon seldom leave the Haina Valley. For their part incineroar shied away from the extremely rainy western Ula'Ula. Ninetales and vulpix were the only predators that often slunk down into the meadow to feed. The flames of the baile oricorio have several unique properties to deter ninetales and survive in their environment. The mystic nature of their flames allow them to burn through rain and ninetails-induced snowstorms. The bird's feathers are largely waterproof and they do not seem to mind rain or snow much at all.
Baile flowers are remarkably fire resistant and brush fires were uncommon in the meadow. Trees fared less well with the frequent flames from dancing oricorio and there are rather few in the area. This has come to be a problem for baile oricorio who cannot easily retreat to higher ground despite being able to fly. Conservationists have helped by adding metal perches designed to be unclimbable by rattata and yungoos and too sturdy to be knocked over by raticate and gumshoos. The remaining threats on Ula'Ula—the ghosts and honchkrow—have always been reluctant to attack any form of oricorio.
Sensu oricorio have relatively little direct power to protect them in a fight. Yet nothing, not even rattata, dares to attack them. What makes sensu oricorio nigh-unassailable is their cruelty and intelligence. When stressed they resort to two basic defenses—curses and apparitions. Curses tend to cause long-term physical and mental health problems for the victim that, if they do not result in death, can make the victim wish that they did. While many ghosts (and ninetales) can cast curses, those of sensu oricorio are among the most psychologically brutal. It is believed that the spirits of the dead communicate with oricorio to inform the bird of personal vulnerabilities to exploit. Alternatively, oricorio can simply summon dead loved ones or enemies of their target. Oricorio can control the apparition and make it say things designed to thoroughly break the victim. Their mere presence is a large part of the reason why few souls have dared to live in the eastern half of Poni Island.
Husbandry
The biggest drawback of oricorio is their diet. They only consume nectar from one of four plants, all rare. Outside of their meadows oricorio's food alone can cost up to $300 a month for a relatively small bird. Liquid diets also mean that oricorio constantly need to urinate and are borderline impossible to housebreak. Even brief periods without food can cause serious health problems.
There is also little literature on oricorio husbandry. Much of the traditional knowledge has been lost. It was never common in any case as priests preferred to simply live near the meadows and observe the oricorio in their natural habitat. Only curious birds interested in living with humans were ever held in captivity. They were usually kept within a short distance of the meadows. Widespread husbandry is still very new and mostly limited to a handful of zoos hoping to bolster wild populations with a captive breeding program.
What the literature does reveal is that oricorio's mindset changes when they shift forms. The same basic preferences and attachments will remain filtered through a different personality. As most specimens come to prefer whatever form they are currently in, their trainer can mostly pick what sort of pokémon they want and even try again to start a productive relationship.
In general pom-pom oricorio are the most energetic and outgoing. While generally very friendly they do not shy away from making their displeasure known, mostly through small shocks and songs that somehow sound expletive-laden.
Pa'u oricorio are rather withdrawn. They tend not to notice the world around them and focus on their own inner life. Nice to their friends and mostly apathetic to their enemies, the biggest risk of dealing with pa'u style oricorio is that of accidentally being hypnotized into wasting the day away. These are good partners for relatively inactive and laidback trainers. Constant activity or very energetic conversations annoy them.
Baile oricorio have been described as incredibly dramatic. They approach everything with utmost sincerity and grow perhaps exaggeratedly angry over small setbacks. When the occasion calls for it they want extravagant celebrations. Interpersonal conflicts, even generally positive ones, are prone to grand gestures and dramatic spats that require a lot of emotional investment. If someone they love is hurting, baile oricorio will do everything they can to provide comfort and avenge the harm.
Sensu oricorio are ethereally graceful. Their movements often seem to be too perfect to be natural. The style seldom displays emotion and prefers that all relationships be distant, formal, and abundantly polite. In very close relationships they may behave a little more informally but will always immediately stiffen up and demand formality when anyone else draws close. Above all, sensu oricorio hate surprises or anything that can catch them off guard and ruin the illusion of perfection. Violators can be mercilessly punished. Most sensu oricorio trainers are afraid of their pokémon, even if they love it. Only trainers who have developed an extremely deep relationship with the oricorio in another style and have no serious mental health issues should attempt to train them. Unfortunately, the trainers who are very comfortable with the subdued behavior sensu oricorio require tend to be depressed.
Talented dancers, and to a lesser extend singers, acrobats, actors, and storytellers, are the best trainers for oricorio. Teaching the pokémon a dance style it does not already know is the best way to hold the bird's attention and gain its respect.
Illness
As with most birds, powerful hits can easily lead to broken bones. Trainers should be very careful when picking matchups and be quick to surrender the round.
Oricorio's liquid diet can cause health consequences. Overhydration in particular can lead to kidney problems. Sensu oricorio tend to drink exactly what is needed. Pom-pom oricorio are very fond of their nectar and need to be well-rationed. Baile oricorio's desire for nectar varies wildly with their mood. When focused they will need to be forcefully reminded to drink and when melodramatic they will need to be cut off. Pa'u oricorio often forget to drink altogether.
Evolution
Oricorio take the form of the nectar they consume the most. After one day to a few weeks on another nectar, depending upon the pokémon's preference for different styles, flash evolution will occur. Oricorio is one of the only species that can flash evolve many time in its life and even evolve between forms as an adult.
Battle
No oricorio is widely used on competitive circuits. While there is some speculation that pa'u oricorio could be very effective when paired with a psychic terrain setter or used on a monotype team this has never been tested at high levels. Sensu oricorio could theoretically force some forfeits from opponents who don't want to deal with their nightmare apparitions but this is a cheap strategy that requires spending large amounts of time around a sensu oricorio. There is serious discussion of preemptively banning the sensu style from the U.S. and Alolan Leagues to prevent a potentially uncompetitive strategy.
All styles tend to use the same basic strategies. They open by distracting the opponent through the subtle emotional manipulation of their core dances. As this continues they slowly start to work in calm mind while maintaining enough of the oracle dance in their style to keep the opponent distracted. When that is done the oricorio shifts to unleashing powerful revelation dances and hurricanes. Weak hits can be blocked by substitute or shrugged off with roost.
Every style has their own variation on this formula. Pom-pom oricorio tends to rely more on dodging attacks than distracting opponents. Pa'u style can use powerful attacks right off the bat in some instances but can quickly deplete the ambient energy on the battlefield. Baile style have some difficulty using calm mind at all. Sensu style must be taught to boost before attacking and use powerful elemental attacks rather than psychological torture. It is debatable if such cruel tactics are even effective in the long term. To start with they are a good way to gain the ire of other trainers and lose access to professional events. Opponents may also be frustrated and less willing to hold back, a bad position to be in when battling with a bird. Without boosting sensu oricorio also lose most damage races, even against distracted opponents.
Acquisition
The easiest styles to start training with are baile and pom-pom.
Baile oricorio are somewhat rare but still present in Ula'Ula Meadow. A few wander towards Castleton or onto Route 17. One small troupe has been seen around an abandoned baile flower garden in Po Town. Pom-pom oricorio live almost exclusively in Melemele Meadow with a few vagrants in other parts of Route 3 and northern Route 2.
The easiest way to bond with an oricorio is to simply play a song and dance in a style similar to that of the pokémon. One may take notice join in with their own. This may need to be repeated for a few days before the pokémon begins to follow when their new trainer leaves the meadow. At this point they may be captured without a battle. Skilled dancers are advised to try their hand at capturing baile oricorio. Unskilled dancers or singers with enough enthusiasm may be able to draw the attention of a pom-pom oricorio despite their lack of talent.
Pa'u oricorio can be captured through a similar method but they are very rare outside of Akala Meadow Preserve, a wildlife park with a full capture ban and strict visitation rules. Royale Avenue has begun to introduce a few and allow them to free roam. Various pokémon are employed to kill any pests that enter the area and threaten their birds. Employees of the Royal Arena and Pokémon Center are allowed to capture pa'u oricorio that agree to join them. Capture rights can also be earned as a reward for performing shows or winning battle royales.
Sensu oricorio are not recommended as a starting form. Their capture is legal (within the annual quotas set by the National Park Service) and they can be found throughout Poni National Park, even away from the central meadow. Strangely enough, setting up a tea party with an empty chair with a cup of nectar can attract sensu oricorio. If very proper manners are observed and an interesting story is told with proper respect and minimal emotion the oricorio might consent to capture. Alternatively, trainers with ties to at least one god can sometimes get sensu oricorio to seek them out. It is not necessary to capture these birds after tea parties and they handle polite rejections shockingly well.
There is a relatively small population of oricorio available for sale or capture. They are rather expensive and can sometimes struggle to adjust to a new trainer.
All oricorio styles can be captured, adopted, or purchased with a Class III license.
Breeding
Oricorio tend to live in troupes of two to ten mated pairs and their young children. Mated pairs spend most of their day together with their children and then the troupe reassembles around dusk to sleep in the same general space. Little is understood of oricorio mate selection, mating, and childrearing due to the very dense meadows they inhabit.
Oricorio were first bred in captivity twenty-six years ago. The only successful births so far occurred in large greenhouses with thick flowerbeds and little human disturbance. Most of these were baile style oricorio. Pa'u style oricorio were bred for the first time two years ago in San Diego. Sensu and pom-pom style oricorio have yet to breed in captivity.
Subspecies
There may have been other oricorio styles in the past whose flowers went extinct. Several skeletons of a potentially undiscovered style have been unearthed in Northeastern Ula'Ula and on the slopes of Mt. Hokulani. Carbon dating has determined the skeletons are twelve to three thousand years old. It is possible that minior, claydol, metagross, or decidueye in the area may have firsthand knowledge of this style.