This week's entry of The Alola Pokedex is a tribute to The Curious and the Shiny: New Game Plus by NebulaDreams for tying for the top prize in Serebii's 2018 Fan Fiction Awards. You can check it out on their profile. Be forewarned that this entry contains moderate spoilers.
Downloading from The Alola Pokédex Online Appendix . . .
Luxray (Shinx, Luxio)
Overview
Pokémon are not equally intelligent. Some, such as slowpoke, may not be sapient or sentient at all. Many have intelligence roughly equivalent to a non-pokémon animal or a human toddler. Others roughly equal us in intellect. Slowking see us as toddlers, metagross as dumb pets.
Pokémon are also not mutually intelligible. Members of Carnivora can't understand the language of most ungulates, and vice-versa. There is an open debate over the extent to which pokémon even have languages, in the human understanding of them.
At some point, perhaps as early as 1980 and perhaps continuing to the present, at least one group set out to change this. No records survive and all of our knowledge comes from the few participants in the programs who want to talk about their experience. Their reports mostly align, and the results, talking pokémon from several species that have never spoken before, lend credibility to them.
Some of the survivors have settled in around the world. Many have begun to raise families that display similar intelligence. The results appear to be more pronounced in less intelligent species, with affected alakazam being only marginally smarter than the baseline for their species (albeit with fewer of the mental health drawbacks). These new populations have been preliminarily dubbed gestalt pokémon.
The only gestalt population on Alola is a group of luxray on Akala. Given the large number of gestalt luxray around the world, most of whom claim to be from different facilities, as well as the slight genetic variance in gestalt luxray, these were probably genetically modified and captive bred by the responsible organizations.
Gestalt luxray are a protected species in Alola. Capture is only permitted with the luxray's consent. Please be aware that these luxray are considered to have slightly above average intelligence by human standards. Furthermore, they have the most human-like mentality of any other pokémon species in Alola. Trainers who are not prepared to treat their pokémon as equals should avoid training this species.
Physiology
Gestalt luxray are pure electric-types.
Outside of some slight genetic differences, a more elastic brain structure, and more complex vocal chords, gestalt luxray are identical to standard eastern luxray.
The back half of shinx is coated in black fur, and most of the front half in blue. A yellow star tops their long, thin tail. The star and the tail are the shinx's primary tool for channeling electric discharges. Shinx have ringed golden eyes and a black "collar" of fur. They also sport yellow bands on their front ankles and yellow inner ears. These are not used to channel attacks and are purely ornamental. The size of the ears gives shinx the best hearing of the feline pokémon.
Luxio develop a more complex ornament on their tail, allowing for more powerful and accurate discharges. They gain another stripe on their forelegs. Shinx's thin black collar grows into a head-framing black mane of fur as they grow. Luxio's ears are proportionally smaller than shinx's, but they are larger overall and shinx's senses get stronger with age until they are fully grown.
Luxray have a different coat pattern than shinx and luxio. The back legs are covered in blue fur, while the black mane expands to cover the front of the forelegs. Another stripe develops on the forelegs, but all stripes are now only visible from the back. Luxray have a very large headcrest, but it sticks back in large tufts rather than encircling their full face like a male pyroar. A small blue patch develops in their midsection.
The species is one of two electric cats, along with umpaka. Their electricity is generated by muscle movements and stored inside of their fur as static. The fluffier a luxray is, the more danger it presents in a fight. Their bolts are channeled with their tail. Alternatively, they can be steadily discharged from their fur to create a glowing effect or a temporary shield of static electricity, depending upon the amount released.
Luxray (and, to a lesser extent, luxio) also have the ability to sense electrical currents around them. This ability includes the currents in the nervous systems of other animals and pokémon. While using this ability, the pokémon's sclera glows red.
Adult luxray are typically around one meter in height and weigh around forty kilograms. The lifespan of the eastern luxray is fifteen years. Several gestalt luxray have reached this age with no serious deterioration. In fact, no gestalt luxray has yet showed signs of aging.
Behavior
Young shinx often have only a limited ability to speak, although they can understand most feline pokémon from birth and begin to develop an understanding of other spoke languages before their first birthday. They will usually not be able to speak fluently and without stutters or other errors in any non-feline language until they are nearly two years old.
Because luxio and luxray can track patterns much more complex than letters, luxray are among the most literate of the gestalt species. They can often read in several languages before they master speaking other feline dialects.
The Alolan charge of luxray live as one large family group.
While male and female luxray look very similar (although the males manes are a little longer), they are very different in temperament. Male luxray shy away from all violence and are generally laid-back, social, and considerate. They raise the kittens in the wild. Females are high-strung, somewhat rude, and love violent play. Female luxio and luxray hunt for the charge. Both genders and all three stages are obligate carnivores.
Husbandry
Gestalt luxray have many of the same advantages and drawbacks as other intelligent, social species. Males can be taught rules and routines from a very young age and will attempt to obey them, even if there is very little in the way of reinforcement. Females will at least understand rules, but see no need to obey them.
Luxray should be provided with an abundance of reading materials as books are their preferred toys. While they are capable of reading electronic books, they strongly prefer paper books as they are easier to use without breaking them. Females will also entertain themselves by hunting or through battle. Males are reluctant battlers and prefer socializing and exploring. Some sort of a fitness regimen should be given to a male luxio right after acquisition to ensure they stay in shape. It is best if the trainer engages in the same activities to avoid building resentments.
Eastern and gestalt luxray are ambivalent about water. Eastern luxray will sometimes swim in the wild for entertainment, hunting, or transportation. Gestalt luxray prefer not to get wet as it interferes with their ability to store charge, but will do so for baths. Because the bathing and grooming processes necessarily entail electric discharges, anti-static gear should be worn at these times.
Male luxray will eat dry cat food or well-cooked meat. Female luxray enjoy fresh meat and tend not to enjoy cat food at all.
Most intelligent pokémon have mindsets that are entirely alien to humans. Even if they are as smart as a human, these pokémon should not be treated exactly like one. Zoroark and luxray are the two exceptions in Alola. Luxray need trust, respect, and freedom. They should be allowed to use their own preferred name and should not be forced to do or refrain from anything outside of dire circumstances. Suggestions, rewards and compromises are the best ways of getting them to do something that they do not want to do. Luxray will develop their own hobbies, friend groups, and interests. Gestalt luxray understand the concept of purchases and, if given an allowance, are quite capable of making their own financial choices.
Adopting a luxio is equivalent to adopting an adolescent human. You may be their legal guardian and primary caretaker. The luxio may respect and love you for it.
You will never, ever own them.
Illness
Gestalt luxray are incredibly resistant to almost every common feline disease, including rabies.
The bigger challenge for the line are mental health issues, as their brains do not have centuries of evolution to adapt to high intelligence.
Depression is the most common problem in males. It can be hard to tell a depressed male luxray from a normal one due to their natural temperament, but a total loss of interest in things they used to enjoy is the easiest symptom to identify it by. No anti-depressant works on luxray. Talk therapists willing to take on a pokémon client and qualified to do so are very rare. This means that the trainer will usually have to do their best to make sure that the luxray is regularly socializing, exercising, and eating the proper amount of food.
Females have different issues, some of which might just be the natural disposition of the species rather than a problem that should be treated. ADHD-like symptoms are one such example, as female luxray tend to have high energy and low concentration and see nothing wrong with it. Many could be diagnosable with a personality disorder, but most luxray object to this diagnosis. Even if it useful for describing the symptoms, they contend that they should not have to fit inside of human norms for no discernable reason. If their behavior is actively self-destructive, the trainer should try and subtly help with the luxray's permission. Otherwise, it is best to let sleeping cats lie.
Anxiety is the most common problem in female luxray that they will need help with. Merely being high-strung is not a problem. However, if they find themselves not engaging in things they want to do because they are constantly obsessing over risks, than they should probably be helped through it. Talking through choices with the pokémon and offering frequent reassurances are the best way for a trainer to assist.
Evolution
Shinx evolve for the first time between two and four years of age. Luxio evolve for the second time between three and five years of age. The pace of development is strongly linked to battle and hunting experience. In practice, females usually evolve before males.
Both evolutions are classic flash-evolutions that occur over a matter of seconds. The newly evolved luxio or luxray is absolutely brimming with charge upon evolution.
Battle
No Battler-ranked trainer uses a luxray on their main team. Grounded electric-types struggle to justify their spot over mangezone, eelektross, vikavolt, and hodad. While they are less rough on personal electronics (luxray can even safely use computers), the lack of power and maneuverability makes them unpopular. They also struggle to compete with the faster manectric, which can also mega evolve. Despite these drawbacks, several noteworthy trainers on the Asian and European regional circuits use either an eastern or northern luxray.
Shinx, luxio, and luxray all fight in effectively the same way. They defend themselves with a shield of static electricity that grows stronger as they run around the field. The longer the battle goes, the harder it is to hurt the pokémon. Then they discharge the shield either all at once or in smaller blows. Luxray hit hard, but they are unfortunately not very durable beyond their shield. If an opponent gets in one or two strong hits very early on it will be difficult for the luxray to pull off the round. Discharges also temporarily weaken the shield. These drawbacks mean that luxray struggle as revenge killers because they need time to set up themselves, and they also have serious difficulty pulling off a sweep.
In a bind, luxray can release electricity from their claws to create long, thin electrical burns on their opponent.
Fortunately, luxray are not very common in Alola and were only recently introduced. This means that opponents may not know to hit luxray early on and keep them from running. If they try to ignore their opponent and set up, they may find themselves in for a nasty surprise.
Gestalt pokémon have the benefit of being intelligent enough to think on their own feet. This lets them handle basic responses and strategies without needing to receive commands while their trainer focuses on longer term strategies and watches for threats that are not immediately obvious.
Acquisition
Luxio require a Class II license to capture.
Per commonwealth law, only luxio may be taken from the wild. Even then, this can only occur with the luxio's explicit and ongoing consent. The charge can usually be found within the bounds of Akala National Park, usually in the lowland plains. Once or twice a month they will come to the Northern Shores Resort or Dividing Peak Tunnel. On one occasion they went all the way to the Pink Fields Stadium. They are not shy and will usually approach nearby humans.
Breeding
All luxray breeding must occur in the wild in Alola.
Getsalt luxray usually mate for life, but can end long-term relationships for many of the same reasons humans do. The female enters a twenty day pregnancy and lays four to six eggs. These eggs will hatch after roughly two weeks into shinx kittens. Newborns are usually less than six inches long and grow to their full size over the course of six months. Infant mortality rates for all subspecies of shinx are among the highest of any feline pokémon.
Curiously, gestalt luxray that spend enough time around either non-gestalt eggs or growing shinx can convert them into a gestalt shinx. This process even changes the genetic code of the converted pokémon. Neither pokémon scientists nor the luxray themselves understand how this works, and gestalt luxray almost always refuse to submit to rigorous examination.
New shinx eggs and young shinx are occasionally given to the Alolan charge to expand the population without causing severe inbreeding.
Subspecies
There are four other subspecies of luxray.
The eastern luxray are native to coastal China. They are physically near-identical to gestalt luxray. The pokémon live in charges of a dominant mated male and female pair and their descendants. Female children stay with their parents; males go to other charges to be with their new mate. One charge can consist of the dominant pair, several female children, their mates, and their children. Up to fifteen luxray have been spotted in a single charge.
When the dominant female dies, her children split up and form their own charges. If the male survives, he will typically live with one of his children until he passes. If the male survives and has no fully evolved children of his own, he will probably choose a new partner. The new dominant female will kill all of the male's surviving children before mating with him.
The subspecies sticks to dense forests near open grasslands. At night, the females go out onto the plains and try to spot their prey with their electric vision before they are spotted in turn. They will silently creep as close to their prey as they can, sometimes staying in the forest edge during this process, and then break into a run. Females can run at speeds of up to twenty miles per hour for mid-distances. If they cannot outrun their prey in the initial charge, they will keep up the hunt until they have enough stored power to strike their prey down from a distance.
Eastern luxray are reasonably popular as pets due to their exaggerated facial expressions, and escaped individuals have formed charges on the outskirts of Kotobuki City, Atlanta, and several Western European cities.
Northern luxray have thicker coats and are generally larger and lighter, growing up to 1.5 meters at the shoulder. The northern, southern, and western luxray usually live alone, with pairs coming together for around one year to mate and care for their young until they reach their full shinx size. Then the shinx are left to fend on their own. This subspecies lives in the forests of the Amur watershed. All hunting occurs within forests, and despite their size northern luxray are primarily ambush predators and scavengers. Electric vision is helpful for identifying buried pokémon, and their size allows them to scare off many predators from their recent kills. The subspecies is the most popular in zoos due to their size and fearsome appearance, as well as their docile nature and ease of adjusting to captivity.
The southern luxray lives in the rainforests and swamps of Southeastern Asia. They are about 30% smaller than the eastern luxray and have a much thinner, waterproof coat. Thinner coats mean that this subspecies has the least ability to store electricity. Their preferred hunting method is sitting motionless on the edge of cloudy water and waiting for something to swim nearby. Then they will send a quick burst of electricity out to stun their prey before diving in to make the kill with their teeth and claws.
The western luxray is the smallest and most endangered subspecies. They have the fluffiest coat and even more expressive body language than the other subspecies. Large paws help them move in the deserts they inhabit. Small, digging species are their primary prey. Unlike their relatives, western luxray do not usually release their stored energy as electric bolts. Instead, the stored charge is converted into a temporary surge of kinetic energy released in one direction. Western luxray run around looking for prey with their electric vision. When they find a tunnel, they stand above it and send a pulse downward to collapse it. They will then either dig through the rubble to eat the crushed prey, or catch anything they tries to flee the tunnel through the new hole. Come morning, western luxray return to their own burrows and sleep.