Disclaimer: What? Pokemon belongs to Nintendo? Oh darn.
------------------------------------
Common Name: Stunky, Skunpu (juvenile), Skuntank, Skutank (adult)
Scientific Name: Felifacies mephitis
Description: Skuntank are low-slung mammalian pokemon with dark puce fur. Their legs, face, belly, and the upperside of the tail are white. Their ears are triangular and perked, and their face is blunt and feline, with a ruff of fur around the cheeks, whiskers, and a soft pink nose. Skuntank can also be distinguished by the folds of pink, hairless skin under their eyes. Their tails are as long as their whole bodies, which measure 39 inches long and 14 inches at the shoulder. Skuntank have long claws, adapted for digging.
Juvenile Skuntank, or Stunky, are very similar to adults, but are smaller and lack the white on the face and legs.
Range: Skuntank are found in southern and central Sinnoh.
Habitat: Skuntank live in foothill woodlands full of evergreens, favoring rich soils and deep shade. They generally dislike both flatlands and high alpine peaks.
Call: Skuntank make a chirping, mewling call that seems quite out of place from a creature their size. Before spraying, they make a gargling noise.
Diet: Skuntank are carnivores, eating mostly Wurmple, Bidoof, and Kricketot, which they unearth from their burrows by digging with their long claws. Stunky feed on insects.
Life Cycle: After breeding in the early spring, female Skuntank lay 4-5 soft, leathery eggs, which she keeps in her den and protects ferociously. After hatching, the baby Stunky are helpless, and are not able to leave the den for several weeks. When they do, they stick close to their mother, following her in a line of pudgy, fluffy kits. When they reach a nose-to-tail length of 30 inches their mother evicts them from the den. Stunky attain their adult coloration by their third year, and live 16 years.
Stunky do not hibernate, though in winter they often only come out of their dens to hunt.
Relationship with Humans: Skuntank are generally reviled for their foul defensive mechanism, and are not often kept domestically. In the battle trade Skuntank are considered more annoying than powerful, as their stink can last for weeks. In designated open space areas Skuntank populations are still healthy, but deforestation has caused a decline. They are not considered endangered.
Naturalist's Notes: Skuntank are best known for their defensive chemicals, which can be sprayed powerfully on predators up to 160 feet away. When threatened, they fold their tail over their backs and lift their hind leg, a clear threat. If their attacker does not retreat, it will spray a scent so foul it has caused retching, burning noses, and even eye damage. Young Stunky have a spray just as powerful as adults, though they cannot spray as far, and often do a handstand to get a better range, shifting their weight onto their front paws.
Interestingly, Skuntank seem to be able to vary the chemical composition of their spray, depending on the severity of the situation. They are even able to make the spray react to oxygen by catching fire, an extremely dangerous technique, both for the Skuntank and for its opponent!
Stunky are eaten by few creatures, but Staraptor will occasionally attempt it, to varying degrees of success.