Disclaimer: What? Pokemon belongs to Nintendo? Oh darn.
A/N: There's been some confusion about the nature of the world described in this guide. So, I'm going to clear things up. This is basically my reinterpretation of Pokemon.
The 'world' about which I'm writing this guide is not exactly the same as that of the pokemon anime or the games, though it takes inspiration from both. Imagine a real world, much like our own, except their animals just so happen to be quite different from the ones on Earth. On this world, one country (at least), composed of several regions, has a national sport that we would probably find horrifying: capturing wildlife and making them fight each other. A great deal of energy, research and publicity, as well as government sanction, goes into this sport, and it has ancient roots in the country's culture.
These animals, due to the proliferation of 'pocket ball' technology, which convert living things into data and back, are known as 'pocket monsters,' or 'pokemon' in modern slang.
In this world, some of these pokemon species are more powerful than others, just by nature. These were often revered by the country's traditional cultures, and many myths and legends surround them. These are the 'legendaries.' They are not unique. They are very rare, mainly due to over-collection by zealous trainers (as participants in the sport are called). They are very powerful, many of them deadly to humans and difficult to control. But they are not gods.
As a side note, a 'virtual' version of the sport was invented in this world not long ago, and the resulting game and its sequels are extremely popular amongst young children who do not yet have their pokemon training license. A popular television series was also made about pokemon training. However, these media are cartoonized and self-aggrandizing, minimizing the dangers and realities of the sport, and have about as much connection to the real world of pokemon as the 'Roadrunner' cartoon has to Earth's ecosystems.
I hope that makes things clearer.
Common Name: Tangela, Monjara
Scientific Name: Labrusca dendrodiameno
Description: Tangela are very strange pokemon. Standing 39 inches tall on two legs, the shape of their body is almost entirely obscured by a tangle of specialized scales, known as tendrils, that to all outside appearances look like green-blue vines. Each one of these is prehensile and capable of independent movement, and contains symbiotic colonies of blue-green cyanobacteria, giving them their color. Every part of Tangela's body is covered by these tendrils, except for the feet and the area directly around the eyes.
Tangela's body, underneath the vines, is short and squat, with highly atrophied forelimbs that are normally hidden by the tendrils. Their mouths are similarly hidden, though their large, luminous eyes are always visible. Their feet are usually visible when the Tangela is standing on the ground, and are bright red. On the ground, the feet are usually twisted to the side with the toes curled underneath.
Range: Tangela are found in two areas: the southern portion of Kanto and the lower reaches of the Blackthorn Mountains. How these two populations were originally linked is unknown.
Habitat: Tangela live in old growth forests with dense canopies. They stay in the treetops, and rarely touch the ground.
Call: When threatened, Tangela will grunt roughly. They are otherwise silent.
Diet: Tangela get almost all the energy they need from the cyanobacteria in their tendrils, but for extra nutrients they will occasionally eat leaves and fruits. Like many plant symbionts, they will not turn down carrion.
Life Cycle: Unlike many plant symbionts, Tangela are not born containing their partner species. Rather, they are born with pale white tendrils, and must acquire their cyanobacteria from the environment, usually from a pond, river, or lake. If they are unable to, they quickly starve.
Female Tangela do not care for their young, burying their eggs in the soil in late summer to hatch the next spring. This is one of the very few times Tangela will descend from the canopy.
Tangela are not territorial, and in areas where they are common they will often share trees.
Tangela can live up to 25 years.
Relationship with Humans: Tangela are not generally pursued for the arena, being generally nonagressive an unoffensive pokemon. However, logging of the old growth that they need to survive has decimated their population, and secondary growth forests do not have enough canopy to support this species.
Due to Tangela's bare, smooth feet, they are often depicted in media as wearing boots. However, this is simply the color of Tangela's skin, not any sort of covering.
Naturalist's Notes: Tangela can often be seen with their tendrils entangled in the branches of the canopy during the day, soaking in the sunlight. They then forage at night, spotting soft edibles with their enormous, forward-facing eyes. They move extremely slowly, often shifting only one tendril at a time.
Tangela have few direct predators, but some pokemon will tear off and eat their nutrient-rich tendrils, including Mr. Mime, Aipom, and Lickitung. Tangela rarely die from light grazing, as they can regenerate lost tendrils. However, they may become seriously damaged if the foragers bite off too many. To prevent this, the Tangela will writhe their tendrils to warn off attackers, and if very stressed will secrete chemicals that cause sleepiness and even muscle paralysis in the pokemon that try to eat them.