IDDD #14: Relicanth

GENERAL INFO:

0369, Relicanth

Longevity Pokémon

Type: Water/Rock

Abilities: Swift Swim / Rock Head (Sturdy)

Height (avg): 1.0 m

Weight (avg): 23.4 kg

Shape: Fish

Color: Gray

BIOLOGY:

Relicanth are fish Pokémon with tough, craggy, rock-like Deep Sea Scales all over their bodies. This, as well as large amounts of body fat and oil-filled swim bladders, helps them withstand enormous amounts of water pressure. Their bodies are perfectly optimized for their habitat. Their mouths are ideal for deep-sea living as well– their teeth have atrophied, as they serve no purpose in the destitute trenches. Their fins, particularly their pectoral fins, let them Swim Swiftly, as well.

Relicanth is also capable of generating water, like many other Water-types, packing moves like Hydro Pump.

ECOLOGY/BEHAVIOR:

Relicanth feeds on microscopic organisms in the deep sea. They’re found, rarely, in oceans across the world. Hoenn’s seabed is the only time they’ve been directly found in the deep sea, but they can rarely be fished up from the sea off Poni Island, the Battle Zone, Unova’s desert, or the rocky coast of Kalos. They can even be seen swarming Route 12 in Kanto occasionally. (Also, Ballimere Lake in Galar, but they were likely bred and released into it, similar to the many fossil Pokémon in the Crown Tundra.)

In battle, Relicanth mainly relies on its water moves and full-body tackles that would be too risky for other Pokémon. However, their Rock-like Heads let them Head Smash with impunity.

CULTURE:

Relicanth was once believed to be extinct, but during a deep-sea exploration, a living specimen was coincidentally found. Its name comes from the person who discovered it on this expedition. Due to its ancient origins, people call it a living fossil.

Relicanth wasn’t known pre-discovery solely due to fossils, however. The ancient people of Hoenn used it (alongside Wailord) in their ritual to seal away the Regis, possibly due to its scarcity and the remoteness of its habitat– it would be difficult to undo the seal if the requirement is such a rare Pokémon, but doable if it ever became necessary. Whether there was any further cultural context for this is unknown, but Relicanth being present in the ritual, the location of the Sealed Chamber, and carrying Green Shards from the seabed (like Corsola, Chinchou, and Clamperl) implies the Hoenn people had some access to the seabed. (The Sealed Chamber was originally likely above the water, given that people lived there, but may have sunk before the sealing process was implemented.)

SOURCES:

Relicanth’s various Pokédex entries