Kangaskhan
Macropod ruberupes
Overview
The giant kangaskhan of Australia fascinated the first Europeans to visit. Over time they became nearly synonymous with the continent itself in the public imagination. Kangaskhan are large herbivores with strong maternal instincts and the power to defeat almost any predator on the continent in a straight fight. Over time the giant kangaskhan has been introduced to safari parks the world over. They have often escaped to form feral populations.
There are no feral giant kangaskhan in Alola. There are, however, golden kangaskhan. This species is smaller than the giant kangaskhan but far more agile. In Australia they are commonly found in arid, rocky terrain. A mob escaped from a private collector on Akala in 1983. Since then they have begun to thrive in the area around Mauna Wela. The Department of Natural Resources has not taken action against them for a few reasons. The first is that as a large herbivore they are filling a niche otherwise unoccupied in the Mauna Wela area. They also prefer to browse from trees and shrubs than eat grasses, meaning they do not directly compete with marowak, either. The second major reason is that the golden kangaskhan are an endangered species in Australia due to poaching, capture for the pet trade, and habitat fragmentation. There is less interest in ex situ breeding efforts than the more charismatic giant kangaskhan. Akala's feral population is therefore an important bulwark against the species extinction.
Golden kangaskhan may only be about as quarter as heavy as their giant counterparts, but their superior agility means they can be nearly as useful in battle. Kangaskhan adjust well to captivity and can even be quite protective of their trainers. They have the same logistical problems as other large herbivores but are otherwise relatively easy to care for. Kangaskhan are a good choice for trainers who are serious about seeing the island challenge to the end and want to add a relatively friendly normal-type to their team.
Physiology
Kangaskkhan are classified as pure normal-types. The designation is not disputed.
While giant kangaskhan are very stocky and usually walk upright, golden kangaskhan are smaller and only stand on their hindlegs and tail to fight or survey the area. They otherwise walk on all fours. Golden kangaskhan have relatively lean bodies. Their hindlegs are long and have an unusual toe pattern. The first digit is absent, the third and fourth digit are fused and much longer than the others, and the fifth digit is comparatively short. Kangaskhan's hindlegs also contain an unusual Achilles' tendon that can stretch to hold mechanical energy before releasing it in a powerful bounce. Landing stretches the tendon again, allowing for another bounce. Golden kangaskhan's comparatively long hindlegs let them bounce faster and for longer distances than the giant kangaskhan who only bounce to get in close for a melee attack. Their tail is still stocky like their larger cousins but is longer and used more for balance while moving than balance while standing. Golden kangaskhan's forelimbs are shorter and heavily muscled. Their digits are tipped in claws to increase the power of their punches.
Golden kangaskhan have yellow fur over most of their body with a white patch on the stomach around the pouch. Instead of thick fur they have thin red ruff on their limbs. Kangaskhan have a dark red patch on the top of their head. Leathery callouses cover important joints and arteries to provide a crude form of armor.
Kangaskhan are most famous for their pouches. Females have a pouch on their lower abdomen that contains two teats. Joeys live in the pouch until around eighteen months of age and continue to intermittently suckle until they are almost three years old. This is not the strangest part of kangaskhan's reproductive anatomy. Aside from the day they give birth, sexually mature females are always pregnant. This is due to their two small wombs and their ability to hold embryos in a state of stasis called embryonic diapause. Upon mating the kangaskhan will keep two fertilized embryos in her wombs. After developing the embryos for a few weeks, kangaskhan can freeze their development while keeping them alive. They will continue to hold both embryo in diapause until their most recent joey leaves the pouch. Then they will resume the development of one embryo while keeping the other in stasis. The kangaskhan will mate shortly after to fertilize a second embryo to hold in diapause. Males also have pouches, but theirs lack an opening and the teats within are underdeveloped.
Like other related marsupials, kangaskhan lack lower canine teeth. Instead their two lower incisors are large enough to cover the gap. This is an adaptation to support their diet of grass and browse.
Kangaskhan can grow to be six feet tall when standing bipedally and weigh up to one hundred and fifty pounds. They live an average of fifteen years in the wild. Captive specimens can live for up to thirty years.
Behavior
Kangaskhan live in mobs of ten to two hundred individuals. The females and males have their own hierarchy with ideal basking spots and access to mates determined by rank. Captive mobs tend to have particularly strict hierarchies. In the wild where disfavored individuals can simply leave and space is not an issue social status is much less important. It can takes weeks of observations to determine social rankings if no mating is observed.
While giant kangaskhan prefer to stick to savannahs, forest edges, and tall grasslands, golden kangaskhan live in some of the harshest environments in Australia. Their longer limbs and lower weight make them ideal rock climbers that can traverse nearly vertical cliffs with ease. Golden kangaskhan can sweat, pant, and lick their forearms to help with thermoregulation in desert environments. They are primarily nocturnal so they can avoid activity at the hottest parts of the day.
Golden kangaskhan are primarily grazers that feed on grasses and shoots. They can also stand upright to eat low-hanging fruits and nuts. The entire mob will forage in the same area. If one detects danger they will thump their tail against the ground. The males will then band together to deal with the predator while the females and juveniles escape. Success in fights against predators is one of the key factors in determining social rank.
While kangaskhan live in large mobs and engage in collective defenses they are not actually social creatures. Males almost never interact with conspecifics outside of mating and battle. Adult females are doting mothers but otherwise keep to themselves. The mobs are arrangements of convenience more than elaborate social networks.
Females will almost always have two joeys. One will primarily live in the pouch. The other will primarily live outside of it. Pouched joeys almost never go more than a body length or two away from their mother. Free-roaming joeys become increasingly independent as they grow older. There is a formal ceremony of sorts for when a free-roaming joey leaves their mother. This occurs when the pouched joey becomes large enough to wander away from her mother. The ritual consists of a loud call from the mother that has been compared to a wailing lament. Translated conversations suggest that there is some anthropomorphizing in this view: the primary purpose of the call is actually to signal that the mother's joey is now an independent member of the species and that she will be receptive to mating in the coming days once the new joey is born. The older joey would actually be kicked out if they continued to stay around too much longer after their younger sibling has left the pouch.
Kangaskhan retain a loose matrilineal network. Mothers will generally be willing to socialize with or provide some care for their adult children. They just will not watch over them constantly or provide continuous assistance like they previously did. Adult children can overstay their welcome with their mother. There are documented instances of aggression between a mother and her adult children.
In Alola kangaskhan are more prone to browsing on low tree branches than grazing on the dry grass. Marowak can already do the latter while there is little competition for the browsing niche around Mauna Wela. Kangaskhan can still feed on yellow or brown grasses, though, and often do so in Australia.
Husbandry
Kangaskhan are medium-sized herbivores. They will require one pound of vegetables and four pounds of leafy greens or hay per day. Vitamin E supplements should be given once a week to prevent deficiency. Leafy greens are more nutritious but hay is often cheaper and easier to acquire and transport. Some places will allow kangaskhan to freely graze or browse. Others will not. Check the restrictions on your travel path ahead of time. Peanuts and fruit should not be a core part of a kangaskhan's diet but make for good rewards. Females often dislike bending over and prefer to eat out of elevated food bowls. Males prefer to eat off the ground.
Golden kangaskhan are well adapted to life in arid deserts. They can go several days without drinking water. They should still be offered a water bowl or a suction-based water dispenser at least once a day. Kangaskhan with a primarily hay-based diet should be offered water at dusk and dawn.
During the day kangaskhan mainly rest. Sometimes they will seek out shade. Most days they enjoy sunbathing. Kangaskhan prefer to be held in their ball when traveling during midday. During the night, dusk, and dawn they are more active and dislike being held in their ball. As a nocturnal species their activity spikes when their trainer is most likely to be attempting to sleep. While they are not a social species that will demand their trainer's time, kangaskhan are large pokémon that need space to bounce around. Some pokémon centers will have fenced off yards the pokémon can use at night. Others will not. Kangaskhan are too large for most predators to bother dealing with them, making it generally safe to leave them out at night on the trail. An exception should be made in places with large carnivorous dragons or pack-hunting canines.
Kangaskhan's favorite enrichment opportunity are chances to climb. Large piles of rocks, steep cliff faces, and some playground equipment are great places for them to explore and rest on. Kangaskhan are also generally tolerant of children and will tolerate being pet gently by strangers. This makes them popular visitors to larger city playgrounds. If they do not want to be pet they can always retreat to the roof of the structure or some other place out of reach. Kangaskhan can jump eight feet vertically or twenty feet horizontally in a single bound. Their exceptional balance lets them walk on narrow ledges. However, they do not enjoy most climbing walls. They are usually too steep and the footholds too small for them. Kangaskhan have been known to climb up the waterfalls or rapids for entertainment and bathing.
Male kangaskhan are usually wary of very large carnivores but otherwise fine with all teammates. They are unlikely to socialize but also will not cause problems. Female kangaskhan often lash out at any predatory teammates in preemptive defense of her children. Even ghosts and large herbivores can put females on edge.
Female kangaskhan will spend most of their time watching over their children and tend to see the trainer as a food source and occasional inconvenience more than anything. They can be bonded with and become strong and willing battlers, but this is difficult. Pokémon Centers will also count the free roaming joey as a separate team member, putting the effective team size limit at five pokémon. Males are easier to acquire, calmer, and somewhat larger and stronger than females.
The one advantage female kangaskhan have is that they are very nurturing. They will sometimes adopt young teammates and make sure they are well cared for and protected. Pre-teen trainers will often earn the same protectiveness.
Illness
Kangaskhan are one of the few pokémon whose most common and most serious illness in captivity is a dental problem. Lumpy jaw is a bacterial infection that begins as swelling inside of the bones of the jaw, distorting them and leading to internal honeycombing as pus builds up. The infection will eventually break through the skin and result in a great deal of discharge. Advanced cases will spread to other bones and distort the shape of the head. Infected kangaskhan have a 60% mortality rate. However, there are ways to prevent and treat the disease. Frequent dental checks can catch it early when treatment is more likely to succeed.
Curiously, lumpy jaw has never been seen in wild populations. It is believed to be a problem of captive diets, although nutritionists are still studying the exact causes. At present it is believed that kangaskhan diets should be firm rather than soft, but contain no sharp edges that could cut the mouth and be a vector for infection.
Other illnesses are usually hidden by the pokémon for as long as they can get away with. They are a prey species and are reluctant to show any sign of weakness. Females in particular will act as if nothing is wrong until they are on death's door. Some illnesses will result in a discharge of bloody mucous. If observed the pokémon should immediately be taken to a veterinarian.
If the joeys are sick their mother will become very agitated and demand the trainer do something. They have been known to take out deaths on their trainer regardless of how responsible they actually were. Do not approach a female in mourning without ample protection and an air of caution.
Evolution
For the time being free-roaming joeys are not classified as a separate evolutionary stage. They are physiologically identical to adults save their smaller size, slightly brighter colors, and sexual immaturity. There is some debate as to whether in-pouch joeys should be their own stage. Very young joeys are developmentally similar to the fetuses of placental mammals, just moved from the womb to the pouch. Infant and planktonic forms are not usually classified as evolutionary stages in their own right. For now kangaskhan remain a single-stage evolutionary line.
Female giant kangaskhan are capable of mega evolution. Some golden kangaskhan are as well, although others do not take to the process. Males cannot mega evolve. All of the energy is directed to the in-pouch joey, accelerating their physical development and making them far stronger and tougher than they should be. The enhanced joey also appears to be mindless outside of attacking their mother's enemies. Mega evolution does not appear to cause long-term harm to the joey. The mother will still be distressed during and after the battle. It should be used sparingly, if at all.
Battle
People still use mega evolved giant kangaskhan in battle because they are good melee fighters. The mother fights even harder with her joey on the field and the joey is unexpectedly formidable. Giant kangaskhan in general are quite durable and can punch harder than some fighting types. Anything that gets behind them can be hit by a tail swipe. They are not as formidable as machamp or hariyama but are far more durable. There are similarities between their playstyle and that of snorlax, another durable, strong, and slow normal-type. Kangaskhan are far easier to care for than the bears.
Without mega evolution giant kangaskhan can still hold their own on lower competitive circuits, even if they do not see much usage in the upper echelons. All three of the ranked trainers known to use kangaskhan consistently mega evolve theirs.
Golden kangaskhan are smaller and less durable than their cousins but are considerably more agile. They can run circles around smaller opponents, waiting for a chance to land a devastating punch or kick. This is not enough for them to see use at the top of competitive play and Australian trainers typically have access to giant kangaskhan. They are still occasionally seen and do rather well, just not well enough for them to have a consistent niche.
Kangaskhan are relatively straight forward in battle. They keep hopping around the field to find an opening and, when they find one, they leap in to land a flurry of melee strikes before leaping back out of range. Their vertical jumps give them some ability to hit fliers, especially in indoor arenas. Anything faster than them can be difficult to deal with. Particularly durable physical walls can also take their hits and land a devastating counterattack. In island trials they are best deployed towards the end of the battle when the totem is ideally tired and weakened. Kangaskhan excel at getting in and landing the final strikes.
Out-of-pouch joeys should only be battled with against very weak opponents and with their mother's permission and presence. In-pouch joeys old enough to fully leave the pouch will be taken out and sent to the sidelines before a fight. Kangaskhan battling with an in-pouch joey will be extremely cautious about blows to the abdomen and strike with extra ferocity when they do get the chance. This is usually more of a drawback than an advantage. Mega evolution can somewhat mitigate this problem. Males are still recommended for casual trainers.
Acquisition
Kangaskhan can be found within Wela National Park. Vagrants sometimes wander into Routes 5, 6, and 7. As an introduced species capture is usually legal, even within park limits. Sometimes the National Park Service (NPS) will restrict capture of males or the entire population. The introduction program is still being studied. For now, the NPS wants a small but self-sustaining wild population.
Males can typically be captured after a proving battle and a few bribes of nuts and fruit. They settle onto teams easily enough and seldom cause problems. Be absolutely sure that the male you are attempting to have a proving battle with is an adult. Anything that appears to be shorter than five feet tall is suspect and poses too much of a risk of provoking an angry mother.
Females are unlikely to take capture attempts well. They have one to two joeys to look after and are not interested in making major life decisions with an uncertain outcome. Capture can still be done but the female is unlikely to be cooperative, even after bribes. Make sure that any out-of-pouch joeys are also captured. Most trainers who use female kangaskhan acquired theirs from a breeder rather than the wild. This is the best way of doing so. Akala has a kangaskhan specialist breeder who works with both giant and golden specimens. Ula'Ula has a generalist Australian mammals breeder that works with giant kangaskhan, marowak, blissey, lycanroc, and komala. Out-of-pouch joeys are also occasionally available for sale or adoption from private trainers.
Male kangaskhan can be captured, adopted, or purchased with a Class II license. Females can be adopted or purchased with a Class III license or captured with a Class IV license.
Breeding
Kangaskhan breeding is usually as simple as introducing a male to a female as soon as her out-of-pouch joey leaves. Mating should occur within a few days, at which point they can be separated again. To avoid conflicts the mating pair should have their own paddock away from other males or females. Males and females can use large mixed- or same-sex yards when breeding is not occurring.
At most times kangaskhan will be pregnant with two fetuses and have two children they are looking after. They are quite capable of looking after their children on their own outside of medical emergencies. Even trusted trainers should be hesitant to approach an out-of-pouch joey. Kangaskhan are anxious mothers and seldom give warnings before lashing out.
It can take several months to realize that a joey has been born. Some captive-born kangaskhan will accept pouch checks. Others will not. Around 130 days after birth the joey will begin to partially emerge from the pouch. They will not leave it entirely for another 100 days. For another 130 they will still spend a great deal of time sleeping in the pouch. At this point they will emerge from the pouch full time (except for nursing) and the old out-of-pouch joey will be kicked out. At this point it is safe to remove the joey from the enclosure and adopt or sell them to another trainer.
If a mother dies and leaves joeys behind, another kangaskhan will step up to watch over her offspring. Kangaskhan have also been observed adopting other marsupials, placental mammals, humans, and even young predators like rockruff. One was seen shepherding a geodude around the Australian desert. They are particularly likely to adopt after one of their own joeys has died. This is when almost all interspecies adoptions occur.
If no male kangaskhan is available for a month after the female becomes receptive she may become willing to crossbreed with other marsupials. Other kangaskhan species are still their preferred mates. Golden-giant hybrids are sometimes bred for their mix of durability and mobility. Males are less willing to mate outside their species than females.
Relatives
The giant kangaskhan (M. macropod) are relatively popular pokémon. Some trainers even pick them as alternative starters. Males can grow to be nine feet tall and weigh six hundred pounds. Females routinely grow to be seven feet tall and weigh four hundred pounds. They are much bulkier creatures than golden kangaskhan with femurs thicker than some golden kangaskhan's necks. This leaves them unable to move quickly over long distances. Giant kangaskhan instead stand their ground against attackers and use their devastating strength to deal with anything that approaches. Most predators give them a wide berth. Giant kangaskhan are obligate browsers that fare poorly on a hay-based diet. Browse and leafy greens should make up over 80% of their diet while vegetables and the occasional treat cover the rest. This makes giant kangaskhan rather expensive for a casual trainer to raise. It also limits them geographically to savannahs and forest edges, while golden kangaskhan can survive much further into the desert. Giant kangaskhan are capable of moving on all fours and frequently do so. They just stand upright to survey their surroundings, browse, and jump.
There are five other living macropods, all smaller than the golden kangaskhan. Grant's kangaskhan (M. sciurus) are only around three feet tall and are excellent climbers. They prefer to live in dense forests, using their leaping abilities to get into the branches and move from tree to tree. This ability lets them access fruits and avoid ground-based predators. The blue kangaskhan (M. wilsoni) use their tails and large hind feet to swim through the water and feed on the grasses at the bottom of shallow ponds and rivers. This does make them exceptionally vulnerable to the crocodilians that live in Australia's waters. They were probably never common but are now critically endangered due to human development and pollution in their habitat. The other three species are smaller versions of the giant and golden kangaskhan that make up for their smaller size with numbers and the ability to hide in tall grasses. They also need less food, allowing them to survive in even harsher environments than the golden kangaskhan can.
The extinct praetorian kangaskhan (M. imprerius) was a relative of the giant kangaskhan that may have reached heights of fifteen feet or more. When the glaciers receded and the climate became increasingly hotter they were unable to support themselves in the increasingly arid interior or comfortable maneuver in the coastal rainforests, eventually leading to their extinction. There have been attempts to revive the species via cloning but they have not yet succeeded.