This entry commissioned by sneakyhint on Spacebattles.
Torterra (Turtwig, Grotle)
Prathama yaatree poorvka
Overview
Contrary to popular belief, most of the major ancient civilizations knew that the earth was not flat. This did not mean they knew it was a ball of rock spinning around a ball of plasma. To the ancient Indians (and most of their trade partners) the world we knew was simply the back of an enormous torterra shell. Earthquakes occurred when it took a step. The tallest mountains were actually the bases of giant trees stretching to the heavens.
Torterra were never common in India itself. Even the ones that currently live there may have been imported by traders. Scholars believe that torterra were originally native to Indonesia and portions of mainland Southeast Asia. They would then spread out across most of the major islands of the Pacific. Some drifted there: grotle float, can raise their head high enough to keep it above water, and can go up to two years without food or water. They may have meant to travel to the island next to them but were instead carried off to more distant shores. But most were brought to their new homes by humans.
Torterra can live a long time without food. Their bodies retain water for longer than almost any other species. And explorers have long maintained that they tasted better than any other option they could keep with them on their ships. Sailors from the wayfarers to pirates to the United States Navy have brought torterra with them wherever they went.
The torterra, in return, tended to remain oblivious to their potential deaths as long as they were given scratches and the occasional drink of water.
These days most torterra populations are endangered. The island species were threatened first by overhunting as marine travel became more and more common, and then by other introduced species they had not been used to competing with. In Alola there may have been multiple decades where no turtwig hatchlings lived to evolution without being eaten by rattata or yungoos. The prohibition on eating or capturing torterra and a strong captive breeding program have helped the population rebound over time. The eggs of wild torterra are usually dug up by naturalists so they may hatch in captivity and be released back to the wild once they evolve and can better defend themselves.
Recently the population has rebounded enough that wild capture quotas have been reestablished. Trainers with enough money can purchase a captive bred specimen instead of playing the quota lottery. Those that do obtain a member of the line will find a loyal and powerful companion with a surprising amount of personality.
Physiology
All three stages are classified as dual grass- and ground-types. There is some dispute over the designation for turtwig and grotle. The two juvenile stages do not have anywhere near the terrakinetic power of their adult form. However, they still use their abilities to sense vibrations through the ground and dig burrows more easily than they otherwise could. These traits combined with a preference for keeping the same typing throughout an evolutionary line have led to the current designation.
Turtwig are small turtle-like pokémon. They have a saddle-backed shell that is relatively flat. Turtwig's skin is black but their back, neck, and upper head appear to be green. This is because of the lichens growing on them. The lichens provide turtwig with some of the sugars they generate. They can also be used as fuel for powering up grass elemental attacks. Turtwig's heads are relatively large to accommodate their powerful jaws. Their neck is also quite long to let them reach up to tree branches. Most of their neck is usually kept inside the shell so it can be difficult to see just how long it is. Almost all of the head can still be withdrawn into the shell. The exception is a turtwig's stem, a woody growth extending from the top of their head that ends in a leaf. The stem helps direct the pokémon's elemental attacks. It can be regrown if eaten or otherwise damaged.
Turtwig, like their evolutions, are almost entirely deaf. To compensate for their lack of hearing they have an uncanny ability to sense vibrations through the ground. Turtwig can quickly learn the pattern of their trainer's footsteps and track them from up to five miles away. Their senses of sight and smell are good but not exceptional. The collection of their sensory abilities make them away of larger land-based predators well before they can close the distance but almost entirely oblivious to large birds. Smaller land-based predators can also sometimes slip under their radar until they are too close to run away from.
Grotle's shell expands further so that the tail is fully covered from above, although the tail can still move from side to side. The shell can also protect the pokémon's head if they are grazing from the ground. This gives them increased protection from aerial attack while still allowing them to breathe while floating in the water. The back of grotle's shell is usually coated in a thin layer of soil that helps support larger plants. Most grotle have at least one small bush or tree growing out of their back. The plant receives water and nutrients from the pokémon's bloodstream. In turn it provides its host with sugars to reduce its need for food.
Grotle are well built for marine travel. Their necks are long enough to extend the head out of the shell and above the water's surface. They can go without water for months on end, although the plants on their back will begin to wilt after a few weeks without a drink. They will be replaced by a layer of lichens that need less water to survive. Grotle can also use their back legs and tail to swim through the water, although they will only do this when land is in sight. In the open ocean they will stay motionless and use as little energy as possible. Finally, torterra are strangely resistant to the negative effects of inbreeding. Genetic disorders are rare in the species, even in fairly small and isolated populations. This helps them populate islands with relatively few founders. All that is needed are either a single male and female torterra or a pregnant female.
Torterra are much larger and more heavily armored than grotle. Bony spikes extend from either side of their head while prominent spikes rise up from their back. A ridge encircles the back, but this is less for defense and more for reducing runoff of nutrients. Lichens cover almost the entirely of torterra's back. The remainder hosts at least one small tree. As with grotle's bushes, the tree's roots extend into the pokémon's circulatory system to allow for an exchange of nutrients. The remainder of torterra's body is black.
Many trainers think that torterra grow a more rounded shell rather than the saddlebacked shell of their youth. This is not the case. Instead, layers of hardened soil form a mound on top of the existing shell. This makes them look bigger than they are and helps support the plant growth on their back.
Torterra can grow to be seven feet long including the tail and weigh up to 1000 pounds. Their wild lifespan is estimated to be around 200 years. The oldest recorded captive specimen lived to be 190.
Behavior
Torterra live in groves consisting of up to forty torterra and their offspring. On islands with less available food the groves are much smaller and torterra are very territorial. Alola's abundance of rain and plant life means that the tortoises don't mind the presence of conspecifics.
They prefer to live at the edges of forests. Turtwig and grotle dig burrows in the forest to sleep in at night. Torterra just make a pit they can lower themselves into. during the day the grove heads out to nearby meadows to graze and photosynthesize.
The line are generalists and can eat many different kinds of plant life. This helps ensure that they can support themselves whatever island they end up on. Cactus pads seem to be their favorite food but they can extend their neck down to eat grass, lichens, and woody brush or up to eat fruits and leaves. They will also scavenge from any carcasses they find, including those of conspecifics.
Water is needed to fuel their metabolism but is not needed on a daily basis. The pokémon can simply become less active until an opportunity to drink presents itself. In drier areas torterra often lick the dew off of rocks. Over time this can create peculiar rounded indents in the area's boulders.
Water is also good for creating mud. On warmer days torterra love to wallow in mud to cool off. Grotle and torterra are careful to keep their foliage above the mud's surface. When mud is unavailable they can clean themselves off and replenish the dirt on their back with dust baths.
In addition to providing the torterra itself with food, their trees also provide a home for small birds. In exchange for protection the birds will help their host by removing parasites from difficult-to-reach gaps in their armor. Some of these are beneath the shell. Torterra have been known to abruptly pull their legs in and crush the bird to death under their weight when they want protein. There are few other options for scavengers as slow as they are on an island with an abundance of predators.
Turtwig tend to stay near their parents for protection and learning opportunities. While few predators are willing to attack a torterra, many will target turtwig hatchlings and even larger specimens. Rattata are desperate enough to risk retaliation from torterra and are known to dig into the turtwig's burrows to kill them in their sleep. Large birds can also pick them up, carry them to coastal cliffs, and drop them on the rocks until the shell breaks. Turtwig's senses also make them oblivious to braviary until it is far too late to get to shelter. This is another role that torterra's birds play: they can use their keen eyes to alert the grove of circling braviary in advance. Turtwig's low speed means that they are still often unable to shelter in time.
Torterra can communicate with members of their own grove and others by creating low-frequency vibrations in the earth. The waves can reach torterra on the other side of Ula'Ula. The species makes very few vocalizations that humans can hear. On occasion they will make a bellow that is felt more than heard. Higher-pitched sounds wouldn't be heard by conspecifics, anyway.
Husbandry
Torterra are low maintenance for their size and power. Some regions even given them out as starters despite the awkward logistics: a turtwig is not ready to evolve until it is several decades old, requiring the area to keep a large-scale breeding program for over twenty years before it is viable to give them out to new trainers as starters. Alternatively, some trainers are given the option to take a turtwig when they are much younger than the standard journeying age in the hopes that it will be ready to evolve into a grotle shortly after their proper journey begins.
All three stages can be fed standard greens mixes. Spinach, bok choy, and dandelion greens are recommended as a base for trainers wanting to make their own mix. Cactus pads and berries (especially those with a hard exterior) are excellent treats but should not make up a substantial portion of their diet. Water can be provided in bowls. They should be given the opportunity to drink in the morning and evening at minimum.
Grotle and torterra also need to spend several hours a day photosynthesizing. They need not do this every day, but it should occur more often than not. During this time they might also take the opportunity to graze. Unless specifically disallowed by local regulations they can be allowed to do this.
All three stages have a relatively high tolerance for pokéballs. Turtwig prefer stasis balls over habitat ones. Grotle have no strong preference. Torterra have a slight preference for habitat balls, although it varies by individuals.
Many trainers are surprised by how much personality their newly acquired tortoise has. The exact details of care beyond food and water can vary depending on individual preferences.
Housebreaking is usually impossible. The species is intelligent enough to learn the concept but are not built for holding in waste for long once processed. Their low speed and low storage times can make it difficult to reach the designated point in time. Growing frustration with the seemingly impossible task can eventually drive them to give up altogether.
Wild turtwig and grotle make burrows to sleep in. Grotle can make their own burrows outside. Turtwig should not be allowed to do so due to the risk of predation. Instead, they often enjoy boxes with a layer of dirt-based substrate on the bottom and blankets to curl up in. Some are willing to cuddle with their trainer at night for the heat and feeling of protection. Grotle who grow up doing this may be willing to continue.
It would take an extremely durable bed to support a torterra. In any case, they do not regularly make burrows in the wild. A sandbox or other area of loose soil is an adequate sleeping area for them. The line will rarely defecate or urinate inside their burrow or pit.
All stages are surprisingly curious and active. They should be allowed to explore new environments at their own pace. New toys should be introduced every so often to keep them from getting bored, especially if they live in one enclosure most of the time.
Finally, most captive torterra do not have birds in their tree. Their trainer will need to take up some of the roles they fill, including grooming. All stages love having their neck scratched. Joints and other unarmored areas are also good scratching spots. There are no reports of torterra intentionally collapsing on their trainer to kill them during a grooming session, but out of an abundance of caution it is not recommended to place one's entire body beneath a torterra. Reaching out an arm or grooming stick is encouraged instead.
The line should be brought inside or brought within their pokéballs if the temperature dips below seventy degrees for more than three hours. If the temperature rises above ninety they should be withdrawn, brought inside, offered a shade structure, or given a pool or mud pit to wallow in.
Illness
Grotle and torterra are very hardy. Only poison, serious injury, extreme temperatures, or several months of neglect can kill them. Even rough compliance with the guidelines above will keep them healthy. Calcium supplements and the occasional anti-parasite pill are all that is needed for preventative medicine.
Trainers that do not battle with their pokémon will also occasionally need to trim their beak to keep its growth in check. The first few beak trims should be done under the guidance of a veterinarian. Pokémon that have grown used to the process will rarely put up much of a fuss as, when done correctly, it does not hurt them. Nail trimming can be done on an annual basis.
Turtwig are far more vulnerable to dehydration and starvation than their evolutions. Health problems will usually result in their leaf beginning to wilt. A few days of high-quality care will usually reverse the problem and bring their leaf back to full health. Consult a veterinarian if the situation does not improve.
Evolution
Wild turtwig evolve into grotle around their fortieth birthday. The process is gradual and can take up to six months to complete. The formal demarcation line between the stages is the extension of the shell such that the pokémon can graze without exposing its head. Evolutions in captivity tend to occur earlier and faster due to increased exposure to battle. Still, the youngest turtwig to ever evolve was twenty-four. The process still takes roughly three months to complete.
Grotle evolve in the wild after journeying to a new portion of the island or to another island entirely. Once they have established themselves in their new home they begin to evolve. The process usually takes four months in the wild and captivity, although they will continue to grow in size for decades after evolving. The formal demarcation line is the emergence of head spikes.
This evolution requirement is very easy to satisfy in captivity. A move to a new home or an island challenge will both be enough to trigger evolution. Newly evolved grotle often immediately begin evolving into torterra in captivity.
Battle
While torterra are not particularly popular on the international stage they are still used on occasion, usually by newer trainers who received a turtwig as a starter. They can keep up with most opponents, but the limits of their armor are sorely tested against the aces of most ranked trainers. Their low speed makes dodging practically impossible, so if their armor cannot withstand their opponent's blows they will go down very quickly.
Torterra are tanks. They are not particularly fast but their armor is durable and they hit surprisingly hard with bites, seismic attacks, and grass elemental energy. They can also use rock-based attacks to help ward off flying opponents, although they will never be good at dealing with fliers they can barely sense. Their difficulty hearing commands has led some trainers to communicate via baritones or other instruments with a low pitch. This can help tell torterra where a flying opponent is located.
Torterra's utility movepool is shallow but functional. Stealth rock can be used to set entry hazards, synthesis can extend their time in battle, and protect can let them take single hits they otherwise would not enjoy taking. Some trainers have attempted to abuse rock polish to make torterra faster, but this can only take them from very slow to moderately slow.
Most of their direct damage is dealt with seismic attacks. Bulldoze can slow and trap opponents while earthquake has more raw power. Opponents that get close can be hit with a nasty bite-based attack or wood hammer. Fliers that attack at range can be hit by stone edge, although torterra have some difficulty aiming the attack.
Torterra are unusually vulnerable to fire- and ice-based attacks due to their foliage. If they believe that their tree is under threat they will usually bow out or try to retreat. Their combat drive is generally low as they are herbivores that rely on their size and armor to deter predation attempts. Training is somewhat unnatural to them and they can be reluctant battlers.
Turtwig rely more on grass attacks such as razor leaf to deal damage at range while their powerful jaws can finish off opponents who get close. Torterra can rely on their tail and seismic attacks to deter opponents who get behind them, but turtwig have no such options. They are very vulnerable to opponents who slip past them or manage to knock them over.
Grotle are a strange mix of the two. Their armor is not developed enough to shrug off weaker attacks like torterra can. They have begun to grow far stronger than turtwig, however, and can physically overpower many opponents with their muscles. They can be used as tanks, but are better off as primarily ranged attackers that can pack a punch to anything that slips past their razor leaf attacks.
Acquisition
Torterra prefer to live at the edges of forests. This limits the amount of suitable habitats for them. Populations still hang on within Poni Island and Mauna Wela National Parks. More live on routes with lesser protections. Due to the population's precarious status capture of turtwig and torterra has been banned. There are relatively few annual captures of grotle allowed as well, most taken from stable populations in semi-protected areas such as the meadows of Ihā Palace National Monument or the portions of Route 8 bordering Alolan Rainforests National Preserve or Mauna Wela National Park.
Grotle are generally willing to go with a trainer without a proving battle. They know that journeys are an excellent way to move somewhere else and evolve and are eager to do so.
Alternatively, turtwig can be purchased from specialty reptile breeders or adopted from some state-run breeding centers. As the wild population stabilizes the Alolan government is allowing some trainers to take turtwig as an alternative starter every year. Some trainers also die without a plan for the future care of their pokémon. Shelters will occasionally end up with a pokémon this way, usually a grotle or torterra, and adopt it out to any trainer with the proper licensing and the ability to pay a modest adoption fee.
Turtwig and grotle require a Class I license and Torterra a Class II to acquire.
Breeding
Torterra rarely mate for life. Instead mating happens sporadically throughout the year. Males will lower themselves in front of a female to offer themselves as a mate. The female may either ignore him or show interest.
Male torterra cannot properly mount females given the tree and spines on their back. Instead, they must stand on their hind legs for the duration of the mating act. The task is made somewhat easier by their powerful back leg muscles and very long genitalia, but it is still sometimes too exhausting for a weaker or larger male to complete. If the female is uncooperative, either from lack of initial consent or growing bored or distracted midway through, it is impossible.
Females have a gestation period of twenty days. During this time they will migrate to the nearest beach and dig a burrow behind them using their hind legs and terrakinesis. They will then lay a clutch of twenty to thirty eggs and bury them in sand. The top of the burrow is then sealed with a mix of soil and urine to make breaking through more difficult.
The turtwig will hatch three months later. The entire clutch is usually all male or all female depending on the temperature of the burrow. Climbing out can take weeks due to their small size and very weak terrakinesis, although the egg yoke will sustain them in this time. Sometimes flooding will drown all the hatchlings before they can escape or make the sand too compact to dig through, trapping the hatchlings in the burrow. After the hatchlings escape they will slowly make their way to the nearest torterra grove.
Sometimes a particularly diligent mother will come by to ensure her babies escape and offer them a ride on her back. Most will not bother. Torterra have little loyalty to their children. They will tolerate the turtwig's presence and offer them shelter but almost nothing else. This lack of care is a large part of why mortality rates have been so high in recent decades. The initial trip from the beach to the grove has very high mortality rates after the introduction of many smaller predators.
Captive breeding requires introducing two torterra that are at least somewhat familiar with each other. If the female is receptive the two will mate. She will then seek to bury her eggs in sand after the gestation period. Conscientious trainers may want to use the pokémon's urine to recreate the plug after digging up the eggs to place them in incubation, but most torterra will not care about losing their clutch after the eggs have been laid.
Higher incubation temperatures produce more females. Lower incubation temperatures produce more males. Because males can mate with multiple partners, conservation agencies usually go for more females. If there is only space for a limited number of torterra it is best to have the minimum number of males to preserve genetic diversity and a large number of females to create more turtwig.
Torterra do not care if their offspring are given to other trainers or organizations after hatching. They may even receive better care from a human breeder than they would from their birth mother.
Relatives
Grotle travel between islands with enough frequency that there is only one species in Alola spread out over multiple islands. Other archipelagos have their own species or subspecies that are usually similar to the Alolan torterra, just smaller. This reduces the amount of food they have to consume on smaller islands and allows for more individuals to live there. Torterra subspecies can be found across the Pacific. None are different enough from the Alolan torterra to warrant further discussion.
The three other species of torterra are the Malayan or Indian, the Sri Lankan, and the Indonesian torterra.
The Indonesian torterra is native to most of the Indonesian archipelago and the extreme northern extent of the Australian rainforests. Vagrants have recently established a fledgling population in the Philippines. The dense rainforest of Indonesia presents fewer opportunities for basking in natural meadows for light. This is why torterra's powerful jaws initially developed. They will take bites out of a tall tree until it is structurally unsound. The torterra can then ram the tree until it falls down, creating more light. The resulting growth of smaller plants is more favorable to the herbivorous torterra. Groves will maintain large artificial meadows in the middle of the rainforest. Oddly enough they are one of the few species in the area that deforestation has benefitted due to the expanded range it creates.
The Malayan, Indian, or mangrove torterra (henceforth Malayan) is native to portions of mainland Southeast Asia stretching north to mainland China and west to the Sundarbans. The species do not have trees. Long grasses grow up from their backs instead, providing camouflage and the ability to photosynthesize in or out of the water. This is a useful adaptation as all stages spend far more time in the water than on land. They have weaker terrakinesis than their island counterparts but have developed limited hydrokinesis in its place. Their head is also flat and leaf-shaped for camouflage under the surface. This leaves them unable to fully withdraw it into their shell as grotle and torterra, however.
These torterra use their jaws not for cutting down trees but for killing prey in a single bite. They wait patiently on the bottom of the water, only rarely coming up for air. The grass or moss on their back makes them blend in well with the foliage around them. Their tongue is tipped in two strange growths, one pink and one green. This attracts fish interested in grazing on grasses and worms. When one gets into its jaw the pokémon will snap down and eat it. This is the preferred hunting strategy of turtwig and grotle. Torterra hunt more like crocodilians, lying in wait at the water's edge and lunging out of the water to snap up anything that large that comes for a drink. Their hind legs allow them to make one fast lunge, but anything that escapes will not be caught. These torterra are actually slower on land than their Alolan counterparts. On balance, living almost exclusively in the water has allowed them to develop even heavier armor. While ambush predators are generally unpopular in competitive play, the Malayan torterra has been used by four ranked trainers in the last fifty years.
The Sri Lankan torterra are by far the largest species. Hatchlings are almost a foot long. Adult torterra can weigh up to four tons. They are more fond of the water than the Pacific and Indonesian torterra, but not quite as fond as the Malayan. They often swim through or walk along the bottom shallow streams. They do not hunt other animals or pokémon. They graze upon the grasses at the edge and bottom of the stream. Their sheer size keeps almost any aquatic creatures from bothering them. Land based predators usually hesitate to attack because they could not drag the torterra out of the water after killing it. Like the Malayan torterra the Sri Lankan species has substituted its ground typing for water.