For generations of young Alolans, pulling pranks on each other with Pyukumuku was an integral part of a day at the beach. The Pyukumuku would be buried in sand up to its spikes, until some unwitting tourist or absentminded local stepped on it, cried out in a mix of surprise and pain, and had to wash their newly slime-covered foot off in the ocean.
Pyukumuku are not poison pokemon, and their spikes, while annoying, are not sharp enough to break the skin, so these pranks were long regarded as harmless childhood fun, until tragedy struck. A young woman, visiting from Kanto, stepped on a Pyukumuku – but instead of laughing it off, she started bleeding and had to be rushed to the hospital, where she passed away within days.
The people of Hano Beach still debate the exact cause of her death; some say the Pyukumuku was buried too deep, began to suffocate, and lost control of itself, while others claim the woman had either an allergy to Pyukumuku mucus or some kind of medical condition which doomed her to an early grave. A few even saw the Pyukumuku in question as finding the game humiliating and striking a blow for its species in its willingness to end it, for Pyukumuku had long been regarded as weak, harmless, living children's toys.
With tourists staying away and international eyes on this tragedy, Pyukumuku were banned from Hano Beach, but a municipal edict could no more remove them than a king from an island near Kalos could outlaw the waves. Pyukumuku continue to wash up on Hano Beach's shores, and teenagers today, rather than burying them, earn pocket money by throwing them back into the ocean.