Disclaimer: What? Pokemon belongs to Nintendo? Oh darn.
A/N: Edited from its original version
Common Name: Rhyperior, Dosidon
Scientific Name: Dicerosaurus longaeulnas
Description: Rhyperior is a truly awesome pokemon to behold. Standing over 7 feet tall, measuring almost 17 feet from nose to tail, and heavily armored, these creatures are not to be trifled with!
Rhyperior stand on four legs, though they rear onto their hind legs when agitated. These pokemon have a thick tail ending in a large, bony club. Their bodies are deep and barrel-like, and their arms are powerful, with a long, bony shaft extending from their elbows, formed by an extension of the ulna, a bone in the arm. This shaft attaches to a tough membrane that stretches from the ulna to the forearm. Rhyperior have two horns, one extending out from the forehead (4 inches in females and 7 in males), and the other from the nose (two feet in both sexes!). Six short fangs extend from the upper jaw. The species has three fingers and two toes, all with thick nails.
Rhyperior have thick, medium-taupe skin and red eyes, with bony orange scutes on the top of the head, above the eyes, in the upper-middle back, above the shoulders, around the knee caps, and in an unusual 'belt' around the waist. The ulnar membrane and the groin are orange as well. Rhyperior's throat is pale grey, and is unarmored.
Perhaps Rhyperior's most unusual anatomical feature is the ulnar pouch, which lies in the hollow ulnar shaft and the membrane, and opens below the palm of the Rhyperior's hand.
Range: Rhyperior were once found throughout mountainous regions of Sinnoh, but today are only found in the Sinnoh Victory Mountains.
Habitat: Rhyperior live in conifer forests high on mountain slopes.
Call: Rhyperior, when angered, let out a truly terrifying roar. They may also make low grunts and growls.
Diet: Despite their very fearsome appearance, Rhyperior are herbivores, like their relatives the Rhydon. They feed off of tough conifer needles and bark, and spend much of their time simply digesting this low-nutrient fare.
Life Cycle: Rhyperior are much calmer in disposition than their relatives, possibly because of the deadliness of their weapons. If they fought whenever they met each other, they would run a large risk of killing each other. As a result, they have developed a method of reducing violent confrontations.
The ulnar pouch, which is in the Rhyperior's forearm, is full of scent glands. Rhyperior, when they mark their territory, stuff this pouch with cobble-sized rocks, impregnating the stones with their scent. They may carry rocks in their pouches for some time, then go to the boundaries of their territory and eject the rocks with powerful muscle contractions. The rocks Rhyperior shoot from their hands this way can travel over 20 feet, and are scattered liberally at the edges of the pokemon's territory. This creates an effective 'scent barrier' against other Rhyperior.
In the rare case where a Rhyperior will ignore this boundary, the disagreement is often settled with a simple comparison of size, without the shoving, charging, and biting seen in Rhydon. Even if the confrontation does escalate into violence, one Rhyperior will often end the fight quickly by showing the pale patch on its throat, a 'white flag of surrender,' if you will. No Rhydon or Rhyhorn would ever show its throat to its opponent!
Even during the mating season, Rhyperior do not severely injure each other over mates. Instead, males will throw scent-marked rocks at each other until one submits.
Female Rhyperior lay one or two eggs per season, and the calves stay with her for two years, hibernating in a cave over the cold winters. The young's scales are dull colored, and do not become bright orange until they leave their mothers.
Rhyperior may live 45 years.
Relationship with Humans: Although they are not naturally very aggressive, trained Rhyperior can become excellent, powerful battlers, and they are often sought for the arena. Due to this, they have become quite rare in the wild. Although they are registered as endangered, there are no reserves or protections for this species.
Naturalist's Notes: A famous anecdote from a researcher describes a Rhyperior grabbing and throwing a Geodude, much to the smaller pokemon's misfortune! However, this does not happen nearly as often as is portrayed in popular culture and folklore.
The only pokemon that prey on Rhyperior are Palkia. These dragons are in fact the only mountain-dwelling predators large enough to take on Rhyperior, and are likely the evolutionary reason for their heavy armaments.