Disclaimer: What? Pokemon belongs to Nintendo? Oh darn.
A/N: Rozonkomo, I would love to discuss and trade ideas with you, but I need a way to contact you! Feel free to PM me.
Common Name: Rhydon, Saidon
Scientific Name: Dicerosaurus terebratus
Description: Rhydon are huge, powerful mammo-reptiles, heavily armored and immensely strong. They stand 6 feet tall on two legs, with a nose- tail length of over 12 feet. Rhydon have two horns, a shorter one in the center of their forehead and a longer one on their nose. The nose horn can be over a foot long in males, but are smaller in females. Rhydon have two external ears and a bony frill on their cheeks, behind their red eyes.
Bony armor plates cover a Rhydon's upper body and tail, and it has a triangular scales in a ridge down its back. It has three fingers and two toes. Rhydon are slate grey, with a beige underbelly. There are two projecting canines in the males.
Range: Rhydon are native to northern Kanto, and have been introduced to the Northeastern Island of Sinnoh.
Habitat: Rhydon are found in high-altitude, conifer forests.
Call: Rhydon call with a distinctive, low, aaaaaa-uhhhhhgng-aaaa. They also have a higher, hee-haw cry.
Diet: Despite their fearsome appearance, Rhydon are browsers, eating huge quantities of nearly inedible conifer needles and cones to survive. They shear off the tough vegetation with their front teeth and chew with their massive rear ones. They use their arms to pull down boughs that are out of reach.
Life Cycle: Although they are surprisingly calm and peaceable for most of the year, during the breeding season Rhydon become extremely aggressive. Males fight with their horns and fangs in violent encounters, charging and shoving each other mercilessly. Older males are often covered with the scars from such battles.
Female Rhydon lay two eggs in mid-spring, and her calves loyally follow her everywhere. Their armor does not harden completely for several months, and they are very vulnerable to predators such as Charizard. They leave after a year, and reach maturity within two more.
Rhydon are long-lived, and may survive 60 years or more.
Relationship with Humans: Due to their size and strength, Rhydon are often caught for the arena, and have a severely fractured range. Rhydon are under federal protection, and the Victory Mountains and the hills of the Cerulean Cape are the only places where capturing is permitted.
Naturalist's Notes: Rhydon have few predators. Charizard are an occasional threat, but usually these flying predators take only very young Rhydon. Young may also fall prey to Onix.
Because Rhydon are more adapted to colder climates, they have done very well on the Northeastern Island. So well, in fact, that some biologists worry that they will swim to mainland Sinnoh, possibly causing problems for the native pokemon. Whether this will come to pass remains to be seen.