Omastar (Omanyte)
Lapispolypus gastaldi

Overview

Upwards of a dozen long-extinct species now roam the Earth once more thanks to fossil revival technology. Trainers with the opportunity to train a fossil pokémon should do so with caution. Omastar are similar to modern cephalopods, just with a shell that adds care requirements from other mollusks. This made learning the basics of their care relatively simple for modern aquarists. It does not mean they are simple for trainers.

Omastar are deep sea cephalopods with all of the associated challenges. They prefer dark, cold tanks with frequent enrichment opportunities. While they can briefly survive on land, they cannot feed on the surface and dislike being out of the water.

Stationary aquarists with a large amount of funding and a desire for a challenge can give omastar a try. All others should just appreciate them from afar.

Physiology

Most fossils have begun to lose their rock-typing over generations of breeding both within the species and with other modern ones. Omastar, one of the earliest and most widely revived fossils, has retained its typing. It is now believed that the original species were dual rock- and water-types, just as the revived specimens are.

Omastar live in a spiraled shell that grows with them from birth. The pokémon itself lives in the outermost chamber of the shell. As they outgrow it, the shell develops further and the pokémon moved forward. The old shell segment is sectioned off by a dividing wall known as a septa. Very old omastar can up to thirty chambers behind their current abode. These chambers are connected by a siphuncle, a long tentacle that helps pump air and water between chambers. Omastar sink by filling chambers with water and float by pumping water out of chambers. The water can also be used as a reserve for breathing and moisturizing when on land. When threatened or in need of preserving water, omastar can close their hood, a plate that fits over the shell's entrance. High power suction keeps anything from getting in or out when the hood is closed.

Omastar have eleven or twelve tentacles, depending on sex. The siphuncle is never visible. Only males have a spadix, the twelfth tentacle. Omastar have a powerful beak over their mouth. Omanyte's is much smaller and usually hidden by tentacles. Omastar also have spikes growing from the shell that omanyte lack. Both stages have crude forward-facing eyes lacking a lens. Their most sophisticated sense is smell. Both stages will often stay still, identifying chemical trails in the water that can alert them to predators or food.

Omanyte tentacles are of roughly equal length. They are used to sift through sand to find food or to draw prey like krill or zooplankton towards their mouth. Omanyte do not have ink glands like modern cephalopods. They also cannot change color. Omanyte can create jets of water for rapid movement, but they have little control over it. This is fine in the open ocean but can cause them to accidentally ram into tank walls and decorations in captivity.

Omastar have six longer tentacles, three on each side, two shorter, broader tentacles at the front of their body, and two more at the back. Each tentacle is coated in adhesives but lack proper suction cups. The tentacles are used to snare prey or move stationary food towards the mouth. Their sharp, powerful beak then breaks through any shells or other armor to kill the prey. This is fine for stationary meals, but does require moving more feisty prey directly towards the core of their body. Omastar soft tissue did not often fossilize so we do not know how much of a problem this posed in antiquity. In the modern era omastar recaptured after escaping to sea tend to have extensive scarring.

Omastar can weigh up to three hundred pounds with a shell four feet in diameter. Captive individuals have a lifespan of roughly twenty-five years, which is unusually long for a cephalopod and largely attributive to the lack of post-reproduction senescence. The few escaped individuals documented rarely survived for longer than eight years in the wild.

Behavior

Omanyte and omastar fossils were rarely found in the same place. This is reflected in the two stages' preferences. Omanyte prefer brighter, warmer waters. They still dislike brackish water. Omastar prefer dark, cold waters. It is likely that omanyte began life near the shore and slowly moved away from it as they grew.

Both stages favor shellfish diets in captivity. Their tentacles are strong enough to grip them and beaks can pierce their shells. Omanyte are not strong enough to break shellder. Omastar are. They are reasonably intelligent and capable of using simple tools to bypass armor or set basic traps.

A population escaped into the North Atlantic after a research vessel carrying ten omanyte and three omastar sunk under mysterious circumstances. The population has stayed at roughly the same size for ten years. Wild specimens seem to be solitary by nature, although omanyte are slightly more gregarious where food is abundant. Cannibalism has been observed in captivity and among the wild population.

Husbandry

Omanyte can be kept in relatively warm tanks, around 70 to 75 degrees. They also need salinities of around 60 parts per thousand, compared to 35 for modern seawater. Omanyte can survive in normal seawater for short periods of time, but it will eventually cause them serious health problems. Both stages also need calcium supplements in the water such as cuttlebones or shells to break down and eat.

Omanyte need wide tanks to accommodate their tendency to jet around wildly. The space requirements can be reduced by the usage of tethers or nets that redirect omanyte towards the center when they jet out too far. These prevent damage to the tank or pokémon from the force of the collision.

Both stages are very curious. While they need slightly less enrichment than modern cephalopods, they should still be given a new toy every few days to play with. They are far more likely to simply bite through or destroy food based puzzles than malamar, making less tangible rewards a better fit.

Omastar prefer dark, cold tanks with roughly the same salinity as omanyte. Light levels can be high enough to observe the specimen but should not be much higher. Adults are far less likely to jet around than juveniles and spend most of their time resting on or near the substrate. Sand is their preferred substrate, but they can also rest on rock. They tend to accidentally shatter glass with their weight and spikes. Omastar need more calcium heavy foods and supplements than omanyte.

The best food for both stages is shellfish. Live specimens are the best as it forces them to demonstrate natural behaviors. Omanyte will need small shellfish they are capable of breaking or tools to assist them. Crustaceans are also favored foods. Omanyte in particular can passively feed on brine shrimp throughout the day. They can eat fish, and will willingly do so, but they seem less interested in them than in invertebrates.

Neither omanyte nor omastar are good tankmates. Their high salinity requirements block most potential species. Both stages are also relatively aggressive and prone to seeing other pokémon as predators or prey. Similarly sized specimens may be tolerated, but at best their relationship will be an uneasy truce.

Omanyte and omastar can be coaxed out of their tanks for small periods of time. It is easier to acclimate an omanyte than on omastar. It is easiest to convince them to come out of their shells if there is food. Over time they as they associate land with relative safety, the specimen may begin to explore for longer periods of time. Some will even battle out of the water, although their heavy shells makes them very slow in air. The ability to stay on land depends on water reserves in the shell. Large omastar can theoretically survive for over sixteen hours out of the water. Omanyte can rarely last more than two.

Illness

Early omanyte often suffered from disorientation, metabolic problems, and strokes. These were the result of keeping them in water without sufficient salinity. After switching to 60 to 70 parts per thousand these problems largely faded away.

Both stages have a high bioload and will need an excellent filtration system to prevent bacterial buildup or hypoxia.

The most commonly reported 'illness' in omastar is the development of a sickly looking, flabby black rim around their shell. This is a temporary affliction and it will eventually crumble away and fall off, allowing for healthy growth. It is a sign of calcium deficiency and is not serious unless existing shell turns black or it occurs twice in a row.

Evolution

Omanyte evolution occurs around one year of age. Some tentacles begin to lengthen while others broaden. Spines grow above major segments on the shell. In the wild, the new omastar probably began to move into deeper waters over the course of the three-month process. The formal demarcation line is the spines reaching three inches long.

Battle

Omastar are too cumbersome to function well in land-based metagames. They can set stealth rock, spikes, and toxic spikes and hit relatively hard with elemental attacks, but there are hazard setters capable of movement speeds greater than one mile per hour. There are even other functionally immobile hazard setters that at least have better defenses. Shell smash can slightly increase movement speeds, but not enough to really make a difference.

In water-based metagames, omastar is still a slow hazard setter. They can maneuver well enough to aim attacks like hydro pump, ice beam, and meteor beam. Alternatively, omastar can use shell smash to become far less cumbersome. The added elemental power makes them a genuine offensive threat. Still, few trainers are willing to risk an expensive specimen like omastar in a casual battle.

Only one trainer has used an omastar on the island challenge. It performed reasonably well in arenas with water features and was usually able to set up a full suite of hazards before being taken down.

Omanyte with the right movepool are solid in the early stages of the island challenge. They are also not very maneuverable outside of unpredictable aqua jets but can set hazards well enough before going down.

The main problem with both omanyte and omastar is competition with other rock-types. Why obtain and risk a rare fossil pokémon that does much the same thing as a gigalith or golem?

Acquisition

As one of the earliest fossils, omastar are becoming increasingly commonplace. They exited the realm of research labs and became established in science museums and public aquaria in the early 2000s. Now they are becoming available to collectors - for a price. The average omanyte costs over $15,000. Specimens bred for a specific purpose or already bonded with humans can cost far more. Consult the largest aquarium specialty stores for more information on obtaining an omanyte.

Both stages can be adopted or purchased with a Class IV license.

Breeding

Male omastar have a spadix, an extra tentacle used to deposit sperm. Omastar that cross paths and wish to mate will face each other, approach, and then float motionless for several hours as the male inserts his sperm. The female will then make a trek towards warmer waters, bury one to two eggs in the sand, and go back to her normal range. In captivity, where females do not have to go through an arduous journey, omastar mate and lay eggs on a monthly basis. They should not be held together outside of mating unless a very large (greater than 100,000 gallon) tank is used. Interest can be gauged by putting unfiltered water from one omastar's tank into the other's. If they become curious rather than aggressive, the pokémon is receptive to mating.

Eggs take roughly one year to hatch. Newly hatched omastar are roughly three inches across. Wild-born specimens have not received any parental care. Captive specimens also show little interest in their children and have even been observed eating them when held together.

Relatives

Theories for omastar's extinction have been wide-ranging. The most common theory was that decreased calcium carbonate levels due to warming temperatures made their large shells impractical and led to the evolution of shell-less cephalopods. Another theory took the opposite approach and held that they went extinct because large shellfish evolved with shells that were too tough for omanyte to crack, leading to gradual population decline from starvation. They may also have been outcompeted by far nimbler predators or done in by the first true titans of the ocean with jaws strong enough to break open an omanyte or even an omastar.

These theories were revised or debunked as more and more recent discoveries were made. The most common species in the fossil record, the one that was ultimately revived, went extinct in the late Carboniferous or early Permian. For a time, it was believed that all omastar went extinct at some point in the Permian and were certainly wiped out by the Great Dying. L. novissime, an omastar species from the Jurassic, was discovered in Syria in 1987. Since then, three more Mesozoic omastar species have been found. These later omastar had gaps in the shell for sideways facing eyes. These were much larger than the eyes of revived omastar, suggesting they lived in deeper waters. It is now believed that species may have persisted through the end of the Cretaceous in the deep sea. Unfortunately, our knowledge of life off the continental shelves remains limited. As such we cannot definitively say how common the deep sea omastar were or how much they had declined before their eventual extinction.