Pancham Line
Morphs [Oak Catalogue #]
- Pancham [674] – Ailuropoda proeliatorbrevis
- Pangoro [675] – Ailuropoda praesulater
Physical Description
The members of the Pancham line are a pair of Ursine Pokémon whom both share a Fighting typing.
The juvenile form of the line Pancham possess purely Fighting type characteristics and stands between 45 and 75 cm tall and weighs between 6 and 12 kg. Pancham’s upper body and arms are covered in black fur while its lower body and legs are covered in dark grey fur. The fur in its head and short puffy tail is pure white. Pancham possess a black ring around each of its eyes while its ears and feet are also black.
Upon evolution into Pangoro in addition it its extra height and weight it also gains secondary Dark-type characteristics. Pangoro stands over 21/2 times taller at between 1.9 and 2.5m tall and weighs 17 times more at between 130 and 140kg. Pangoro’s chest, arms, back and lower body are covered in thick, dark grey fur with a long fringe of this fur hanging down its back giving the impression of Pangoro wearing a grey longcoat.
The fur on Pangoro’s head and belly is pure white and it possesses prominent lower fangs which almost always has a thin, leaved shoot hanging from them.
As with all species of Pokémon the Pancham line has members that exhibit a rare phenotype that alters their colouring. As a Pancham these members have brownish fur rather than the usual black and grey while their whitish fur remains almost identical to that of the normal Phenotype.
As Pangoro these members again have brown fur instead of grey while their hands and feet are a reddish colour instead of their usual black colouration.
Notable Biology
The most notable aspect of this line’s Biology is the method by which it evolves. The Pancham is one of only two Pokémon, the other being the Sinnoh Region’s Mantyke, known to evolve by what scientists call ‘Symbiotic Evolution’. What this means is that in order to evolve not only does Pancham need to reach a certain level of strength but it must do so while in the vicinity of another Pokémon, in this case any Dark-type Pokémon. In the case of captured Pancham this is easy as simply being on the same team as a Dark-type Pokémon is enough to trigger evolution, in the wild however a Pancham that is ready to evolve must first locate a Dark-type Pokémon and then achieve the level of strength necessary.
As a Fighting type Pokémon Pancham possess the above average physical strength and fighting skills typical of the type. Pancham’s natural repertoire of damaging moves consists purely from physical attacks most of them some form of martial combat technique. These include Arm Thrust, Karate Chop and Sky Uppercut. With effort Pancham are able to learn a wide selection of moves it couldn’t normally learn with many being from other types. As with its natural move set the majority of these are physical moves such as Aerial Ace and Dig however a few of them are non-physical or ‘Special’ moves such as Sludge Bomb and Dark Pulse.
Like its pre-evolved form Pangoro possesses the signature strength of its primary type, though to a greater extent, even able to snap a telephone pole with just its arms. As a secondary Dark type Pokémon Pangoro naturally possesses a high level of the substance ‘Umbrate’ within its cells neutralising the psychokinetic effects of moves of a Fighting types natural foes. Pangoro’s natural move set is almost identical to that of a Pancham though it now gets a boost to its Crunch attack though the range of moves it can be tutored to know is even more varied than Pancham’s with the Fairy type being the on type Pangoro isn’t known to learn a move from. These moves include such moves as Dragon Claw, Iron Head and Surf.
Pancham and Pangoro are also the only two Pokémon currently known to be able to use the move Parting Shot to lower its opponents attacking strength and allowing the Pancham or Pangoro to retreat from battle safely.
There are three distinct sub-groups of these Pokémon. The first and possibly most used sub-group possess denser, stronger and heaver bones and thicker, more densely packed muscles in their forepaws and stronger bones and muscles in their forearms to accommodate these changes to their tarsals and other associated bones. These adaptations, dubbed the ‘Iron Fist’ ability by trainers, allow the members of this subgroup to deal significantly stronger damage with their punching attacks such as Fire Punch and Hammer Arm.
The second subgroup possesses the ‘Mold Breaker’ ability which gives them the unique ability to ignore and bypass the abilities of their targets that may reduce or negate damage or side effects of attacks used by this sub-group, such as being able to hit a Pokémon with the ‘Levitate’ ability with Ground Type moves. Scientists are still unsure of the workings of this ability/mechanism and are continuing to research possible explanations as to how it works.
The third and rarest sub-group as a Pancham possess trace amounts of Umbrate within its cells normally not seen until evolution and in both forms is able to incorporate trace amounts of this Umbrate into its Fighting and Normal Type attacks allowing the Pokémon to damage Ghost type Pokémon with these attacks rather than having them pass straight through the target. As Pangoro the members of this sub-group have greater control over Umbrate than their counterparts in the other two sub-groups and retain the abilities they had as a Pancham.
Habitat
Both members of this line make their homes in thick dense forests with Pangoro leaving deeper into the forests while Pancham tend to inhabit the more accessible and open areas of the forest. Route 5 in the Kalos region is the easiest location in which to find Pancham though some can be found within the grounds of a Kiloude City attraction having been transported there for the purpose of the attraction.
Outside the Kalos region Pancham have been found on R Outes 10 and 11 of Ula Ula Island in the Alola region with Pangoro known to come to the aid of Pancham that are struggling and distressed in both locations. A population previously found on Route 17 appears to have moved on; whether due to competition or the actions of Team Skull who make the nearby Po Town their base of operations remains to be seen.
Diet
Both Pancham and Pangoro are herbivorous by nature, consisting mostly on the leaves of trees and bushes with the occasional Berry when they come across them. Captured members of the species will also happily eat specially made Pokémon foods though leaves and other vegetation usually continues to make up the majority of its diet.
Hazards
While both members of this line are naturally relatively friendly they will attack if provoked or to defend their young (a situation that will almost universally end with the threat critically injured if not worse). As with any Fighting type Pokémon the greatest hazard involved with these Pokémon is their greater than human strength and prowess in physical combat. Pangoro is also known to be relentless in hounding those who pick on the weak.
When travelling through areas known to be habitats for Pancham and Pangoro it is wise to always have a powerful Flying or Fairy type Pokémon on hand as while a Psychic type Pokémon will be a strong defence against Pancham they will be unable to hit and will even be weak against a rare Pangoro encounter.
Social Structure
Both members of the line are solitary creatures who only come together during the brief breeding season when members in proximity to one another will gather.
Courting
While both members of the line are capable of breeding in the wild it’s usually only Pangoro whom does so.
The breeding season occurs between March and May each year when a female goes into heat for two to three days and only occurs once a year. The male will mount the female from behind while she crouches. Each mating only lasts between 30 seconds to 5 minutes though the male may mount the female multiple times to ensure impregnation. After breeding the male departs leaving the female to raise the young. The gestation period ranges between 95 to 160 days with the, usually solitary, young born live, though in captivity the gestation period is shorter with a less developed young being protected within a hard shelled egg.
The mother will raise and protect the cub until it is around 18 months to two years old at which point the cub leaves to live on its own. There is generally a two year gap between births in the wild.
In Human Society
Pancham and Pangoro are uncommon in media usually being relegated to a background character in martial arts movies with other more human-like Fighting types favoured for starring roles.
They did however get their day in the spotlight as the main character in an animated film where an overweight Pangoro is proclaimed a prophesised Kung Fu master by an aged Torkoal and is trained by a Spinda in order to become a Kung Fu master and join an existing group of masters consisting of a female Incineroar, a male Infernape, a male Scyther, a female Seviper and a male Fearow. A major box-office success, the movie was followed by three sequels.
Written by Shadow6666
