Phantump Line
Morphs [Oak Catalog #]
- Phantump [#708]
- Trevenant [#709]
Physical Description
A Phantump is a coal-black ghostlike creature with a pair of almost vestigial arms, a pair of simple glowing red eyes, and a wispy tuft atop its head. The creature wears a hollow brown stump around its head, with a wavy branch on either side adorned with a minimal amount of green leaves, a large pair of holes carved into the front for it to see through, and a small mouthlike pore underneath them. Certain specimens have a white stump with red leaves and display a more ashen grey coloration with a pair of blue eyes; these Phantump have been highly sought after by collectors.
Trevenants far more resemble trees than stumps, and are almost entirely encased in wood; there are jagged breaks in the bark around the waist, neck, shoulders, and elbows through which one can see the central body, as well as a single eye hole in the head that reveals a single, glowering eye. Six rootlike limbs surround the base of the Trevenant's armor, allowing for a spider-like locomotion, and a few conelike projections droop from the center. The upper arm has a single leaf on each side; the lower arm has a large collection of foliage around the wrist, a single wavy branch behind them with a few more leaves, and three thick, clawlike fingers. The helmet has three horns, with the two outer ones being larger than the center and bearing a few leaves, while the center one is bare but in front of foliage that covers the top and the back of the helmet. Most Trevenants retain the brown bark, green leaves, coal black body and red eye coloration of their pre-evolution; those that were white-barked, however, retain their unusual coloration when they evolve.
Notable Biology
While the Phantump line, like most Ghost type pokemon, utilizes umbrate in the formation of their bodies, they rely on their more plant-like nature in day to day life. Most Phantump and Trevenants will remain inert for long periods of time, rooting themselves into the ground. However, their ghost-type abilities allow many Phantump to cleanse themselves of diseases, poisons, and other conditions with a few moments of peaceful concentration; other Phantumps will use their extra-sensory perception as they enter a battle to detect anything their foe is wielding. Trevenants in general will also have one of these two abilities, and additionally a rare strain actually grows berries on their own branches; in the wild, this strain is only encountered within attack groups, but it has been successfully bred into a captive Phantump population.
Both the Phantump and the Trevenant will spend a large amount of time communing with the plants in their environment, somehow using them as a secondary nervous system to monitor the area in which they live. Both morphs are also able to control the local plantlife to a high degree, although the motions of a Phantump are somewhat less exaggerated than that of a Trevenant doing the same thing. In fact, this line is unique in that it is able to actually force various mosses and other plant forms to root into the skin of other creatures, giving them both the strengths and the weaknesses of a grass-type pokemon. This, in combination with their ability to wrap foes in roots and common tendency to ally with certain other pokemon, has caused them to be known as dangerous protectors of the forests.
Social Structure
Phantump will form small packs with their brothers and sisters, usually consisting of four to six individuals, who keep in contact using their plant-based communion. These packs will work together to mislead travelers, defend trees from being cut down, and arrange vines to form confusing paths through their forests. They are not territorial, as they will be amicable to any other Phantump they encounter, and in fact packs of Phantump will often communicate with childish voices. Packs that have been reduced to one or two members will seek out a larger pack to join; a pack of ten members will always split in half.
Exactly how Phantump evolve in the wild is unclear, as captive Phantump only evolve when traded; it is assumed that the same radiation that causes other lines to evolve when traded is responsible for the Phantump's evolution. Phantumps that become Trevenants are generally no longer recognized by their former pack, forcing them to form another pack with other pokemon. Trevenants will be protective of their new pack, to the point where they will defend them and their home against any incursion. However, Trevenants will always join up with any other Trevenants and their "packs" whenever they meet; attack groups of three to five Phantump defending a territory from intruders are not uncommon.
Habitat
Phantump and Trevenants live in thick forests far from civilization, and are difficult to find due to the Phantump's frequent habit of creating false and misleading paths as well as their tendency to lay inert. Occasionally Phantumps will drift out of the forest, attracted by the scent of the yellow flowers native to Kalos; Trevenants, on the other hand, will always remain in the forest, though they can be found more often near red flowers (or find themselves under assault by an attack group). It was initially assumed that the Phantump line was native to the Kalos region, but an enterprising trainer released a number of Paras trained to release the scent of Kalos' yellow flower into the Petalburg woods of Hoenn, drawing out a hidden population and bringing this wisdom into question.
Diet
The Phantump line absorbs nutrients into its barklike outer armor while it is rooted. However, they do not properly photosynthesize like a number of other plant-type pokemon; where most use sunlight, the Phantump line feeds off fear as a catalyst. Phantumps blow air through their mouth pores, simulating a variety of animal and human sounds to lead their prey off course; as the target slowly grows more lost and terrified the Phantump will feed off the fear. Trevenants, on the other hand, will form a symbiotic relationship with some pokemon, allowing them to roost on its inert form and "awakening" if they are attacked by predators, feeding off the sudden terror of the attackers.
Hazards
The primary danger with Phantump is their tendency to mislead travelers in forests and leave them hopelessly lost, usually by mimicking the sounds of lost children. Phantump avoid direct confrontations, preferring to use their plant-controlling abilities to hide and deflect pursuers. However, a cornered Phantump will just as easily turn the same plants on their attackers, binding them with roots and vines and using their ghostly abilities to trick the senses; some Phantump will even use their voices to summon forest pokemon to their defense, using their unique ability to change an attacker into a grass-type in order to provide a weaker target. Phantump will also defend other members of their pack from afar, if they come under assault.
Trevenants, on the other hand, present a far more aggressive and dangerous foe. Threatening any pokemon under their care will cause a Trevenant to snap awake from its inert position, charging at the attacker with all the power of the woods behind them. Since they not only resemble trees while inert, but also use actual trees as a secondary nervous system, their appearance is often a dangerous surprise and even moreso when an attack group bands together to go after a threat to their territory.
In both cases, Trainers should encourage a Phantump or a Trevenant to adopt the pokemon team as its new pack. While it may take some time to come round, both morphs can become incredibly loyal and protective of their trainers. It is suggested, however, that you do not force them to remain in cities or other low-plantlife regions for too long, as they will grow nervous and liable to lash out at any perceived threat. Feeding the Phantump or Trevenant fear is also necessary, but normally simply visiting a movie theatre while a horror film is playing will give the creature enough ambient terror to last for a week.
Courting
Female Phantump will land on the ground and go inert when they are ready to mate, releasing a scent very similar to that of the yellow Kalos flower. Her siblings will patrol the area until another pack of Phantump arrives, whereupon they will "examine" the males of that pack and decide which ones are worthy. The males of the pack will then descend and scatter pollen over the female Phantump; it may take two or three packs worth of males before the female feels she has had enough. Once she rises from the ground, the female rejoins her siblings and continues their usual pack methods; some time later, however, she will lay a nest of four to six eggs, and the whole pack will use their communion with the forest to wrap it under thick branches and roots. Beyond that, they do not care for their eggs, and when they hatch the young Phantump must learn how to push away the plants around them or die, trapped and starving.
It is unknown how Trevenants reproduce in the wild, but it is assumed they have a similar method with, perhaps, a scent more akin to the red Kalos flower.
In Human Society
The Phantump's unique voice has spawned a number of rumors of lost children in the woods over the years, to the point where rare Phantump sightings were assumed to be the ghosts of children who died within. A number of fictional works build on this premise, having the Phantump only want to play with travelers without realizing the danger they're leading them into, or guiding a friend to a "fun secret" and innocently watching them be gruesomely killed. Some stories even postulate that spending too long with a Phantump will change a person into a bush, a tree, or even a Phantump themselves! However, Phantump have rarely been portrayed as outright evil, and sometimes they'll be portrayed as merely playing a game with a child while the parents desperately look for them; in some cases they outright protect their newfound friends.
Trevenants, on the other hand, have a more spotty reputation. Their frightening appearance and tendency to protect their packs have influenced a number of works, where they serve as frightening foes or angered defenders of the forest. However, their protective nature has also put them in good light; a number of fantasy works have the Trevenants on the hero's side as both sources of wisdom and powerful allies.
Written by Masterweaver
