Welp, might as well give this a try...
These Skarmory adapted to the open lands of the Orre region by losing their ability to fly. Their metal armor is still lightweight for fast running.
They subdue their prey with bone-breaking kicks and beak attacks. Once they have bought down a meal, their shrieks of victory echo for miles.
Updated Type: Steel/Fighting
Updated Abilities: Battle Armor/Sturdy (Hidden Ability: Aerodynamic [Steelworker but for Flying-type moves])
Updated Stats: 65/100/100/40/70/90
Removed Moves: Leer, Sand Attack, Steel Wing, Spikes
Replacement Moves: Screech, Work Up, Double Kick, Quick Guard
New TMs: Revenge, Brick Break, Bounce, Low Sweep, Smart Strike, Brutal Swing
Flavor/Design: Skarmory are not native to the Orre region, and like many other Pokémon, they were presumably imported there ages ago. They are most comfortable in the desert and open plains areas where they have no natural enemies, and over the years they evolved to become the apex predators of this environment, completely discarding their ability to fly and spending their entire lives on the ground, their long legs being perfect for great strides across the plains as they run down their prey. The wings are reduced to small, useless fan-like structures protruding from the shoulders, somewhat resembling the eagle feathers of a Native American war bonnet, while the tail, which now sticks out horizontally from the back end of the body, lacks a notch, instead being circular with a spike coming out of the free end. On the other side of the body is a long, plated neck which looks similar to normal Skarmory, but thicker and more muscled; the head itself has a smaller crest on the top, and the upper lobe of the beak is shaped like the blade of a hatchet. The color scheme is more striking as well, with the dark blue parts now being pewter-gray, and the rest of the body being stark white like certain tin alloys - more notable is that the wings are now not the only parts of the body that have a splash of color, since the "helmet" including the beak and tail have it as well: a bright sky-blue.
Stat and Gameplay Changes: Skarmory's original stat spread is 65/80/140/40/70/70. Taking 40 points from the Defense, I added 20 to Attack and 20 to Speed. This gives Orrean Skarmory less defense, but better Speed and Attack, allowing it to exploit STAB such as Iron Head, Steel Wing (still learnable via TM), Double Kick, and Brick Break. With HA Aerodynamic, it adds Brave Bird and Drill Peck to the mix as well, allowing it to punish Fighting-types hoping to come in on its Steel typing now that it is no longer neutral to them. Orrean Skarmory trades its Ground immunity for a Ground weakness, and retains its weakness to Fire, but it still has eight resistances including quadruple ones to Rock and Bug, giving it a surprising amount of staying power despite its ho-hum HP and special bulk. Its main failing is that it struggles against Ground- and Fire-types, which it can only defend against with the relatively weak Icy Wind and Sand Tomb, respectively, with its unchanged and pathetic Special Attack being even less helpful here. It's obviously meant as a physical sweeper and team lead, abusing its triple STAB and solid attack power to bully Fairy, Dark, Grass, Ice, and Rock-types among others, but its resistances and lack of any glaring double weaknesses also allow it to serve as a backup attacker, switching in on foes that it knows it can hold its own against and then tearing them to ribbons in retaliation.
Inspirations: Skarmory is my absolute favorite Pokémon, needs more love, and never deserved to have its stats not be indicative of flavor related to speed and offensive weaponry, although it's obviously an excellent tank to this day. Still, I figured a more offense-based Skarmory variant would be a fun little creative exercise. I was originally going to have it be more anthropomorphic with a valkyrie inspiration, but then I had a better idea when I noticed how similar Skarmory looks to one of my favorite modern birds, the cassowary. That idea changed once again to factor in Skarmory's predatory nature, so this version is based on a terror bird. I originally considered giving it haida-style patterns, but... nah. That'd be overdoing it, I think.
They subdue their prey with bone-breaking kicks and beak attacks. Once they have bought down a meal, their shrieks of victory echo for miles.
Updated Type: Steel/Fighting
Updated Abilities: Battle Armor/Sturdy (Hidden Ability: Aerodynamic [Steelworker but for Flying-type moves])
Updated Stats: 65/100/100/40/70/90
Removed Moves: Leer, Sand Attack, Steel Wing, Spikes
Replacement Moves: Screech, Work Up, Double Kick, Quick Guard
New TMs: Revenge, Brick Break, Bounce, Low Sweep, Smart Strike, Brutal Swing
Flavor/Design: Skarmory are not native to the Orre region, and like many other Pokémon, they were presumably imported there ages ago. They are most comfortable in the desert and open plains areas where they have no natural enemies, and over the years they evolved to become the apex predators of this environment, completely discarding their ability to fly and spending their entire lives on the ground, their long legs being perfect for great strides across the plains as they run down their prey. The wings are reduced to small, useless fan-like structures protruding from the shoulders, somewhat resembling the eagle feathers of a Native American war bonnet, while the tail, which now sticks out horizontally from the back end of the body, lacks a notch, instead being circular with a spike coming out of the free end. On the other side of the body is a long, plated neck which looks similar to normal Skarmory, but thicker and more muscled; the head itself has a smaller crest on the top, and the upper lobe of the beak is shaped like the blade of a hatchet. The color scheme is more striking as well, with the dark blue parts now being pewter-gray, and the rest of the body being stark white like certain tin alloys - more notable is that the wings are now not the only parts of the body that have a splash of color, since the "helmet" including the beak and tail have it as well: a bright sky-blue.
Stat and Gameplay Changes: Skarmory's original stat spread is 65/80/140/40/70/70. Taking 40 points from the Defense, I added 20 to Attack and 20 to Speed. This gives Orrean Skarmory less defense, but better Speed and Attack, allowing it to exploit STAB such as Iron Head, Steel Wing (still learnable via TM), Double Kick, and Brick Break. With HA Aerodynamic, it adds Brave Bird and Drill Peck to the mix as well, allowing it to punish Fighting-types hoping to come in on its Steel typing now that it is no longer neutral to them. Orrean Skarmory trades its Ground immunity for a Ground weakness, and retains its weakness to Fire, but it still has eight resistances including quadruple ones to Rock and Bug, giving it a surprising amount of staying power despite its ho-hum HP and special bulk. Its main failing is that it struggles against Ground- and Fire-types, which it can only defend against with the relatively weak Icy Wind and Sand Tomb, respectively, with its unchanged and pathetic Special Attack being even less helpful here. It's obviously meant as a physical sweeper and team lead, abusing its triple STAB and solid attack power to bully Fairy, Dark, Grass, Ice, and Rock-types among others, but its resistances and lack of any glaring double weaknesses also allow it to serve as a backup attacker, switching in on foes that it knows it can hold its own against and then tearing them to ribbons in retaliation.
Inspirations: Skarmory is my absolute favorite Pokémon, needs more love, and never deserved to have its stats not be indicative of flavor related to speed and offensive weaponry, although it's obviously an excellent tank to this day. Still, I figured a more offense-based Skarmory variant would be a fun little creative exercise. I was originally going to have it be more anthropomorphic with a valkyrie inspiration, but then I had a better idea when I noticed how similar Skarmory looks to one of my favorite modern birds, the cassowary. That idea changed once again to factor in Skarmory's predatory nature, so this version is based on a terror bird. I originally considered giving it haida-style patterns, but... nah. That'd be overdoing it, I think.
These giant predators are similar in form to an ancient Pokémon that stalked Orre millions of years ago. They are very rare in the wild, living only in remote areas.
With one swing of its axe-shaped beak, a Skarocious can split an armored truck cleanly in two. Many sport dents and cuts in their armor from territorial combat.
Name origin: Sky + Scar + Ferocious
Type: Steel/Fighting
Abilities: Battle Armor/Sturdy (Hidden Ability: Aerodynamic)
Stats: 65/120/140/40/70/90 = 525
New Moves: Bite, Ancient Power, Crunch, Dragon Claw, Close Combat
Evolution: Have Orreian Skarmory level-up while holding any Fossil (the fossil isn't consumed)
Flavor/Design: A convergently-evolved imitation of a colossal predator from a time long since past, Skarocious is the apex of Orrean Skarmory's evolution, found only in a few remote, secluded places in southern Orre. Its appearance is, in fact, eerily similar to Tyrantrum, being considerably bulkier in build than Orrean Skarmory and almost a half-size taller (the same size and weight as Tyrantrum, in fact), with a more massive head and thicker, heavily built legs. The proportional size of the wings compared to the body is the same as in Orreian Skarmory, but a set of six larger blades also extends from the back of the head, almost akin to Braviary's war bonnet or the head feathers of a secretary bird. The head itself, attached to a shorter but even thicker armor-plated neck, is absolutely massive, the crest now swept back like a Pteranodon but shorter, and the now cruelly hooked beak conversely flares slightly upward at the top with a much longer, more pronounced hook, the front end of the beak also being equipped with razor-sharp edges; the whole head thus has the shape of a tomahawk head when viewed from the side (and there are still teeth in the beak as well, now similar to the vicious chompers of Aerodactyl). Complementing this, the enormous legs are similar in appearance to those of Tyrantrum, but with the armor plating and toe arrangement of Skarmory's legs (two toes forward, one back); the toes themselves are thicker and sturdier to support its weight, with enormous claws for tearing into prey. The tail, meanwhile, is now enlarged and elongated to balance out the rest of the body, with a bit of a downward slant, but otherwise similar to that of Orrean Skarmory. The color scheme is largely the same, but with red tips to the blue areas (beak, tail, feather blades) as well as red lower legs, albeit with the feet and claws remaining the same in color.
Stat Changes: Because the rules needed the BST to be between 500 and 530 for a regional evolution, I decided to have the BST be at a nice 525 so the additions to the stats add up to a multiple of 10. This was simply adding 20 points to the Attack and 40 points back to the Defense, meaning that Skarocious enjoys the same tankiness as Johtonian Skarmory, but with greatly increased Attack and better Speed along with Fighting STAB and Flying pseudo-STAB with Aerodynamic. The Speed being unchanged means that Skarocious won't be winning marathons most of the time, but it will have more than enough power and tankiness that EV training can be dedicated to Speed and HP instead, aiding in its survivability against physical combatants.
Inspirations: Terror bird!Skarmory was already a pretty solid idea, so I felt I didn't need to reinvent the wheel for the regional evolution. The decision to have it be a bigger, badder Orrean Skarmory imitating a giant carnivorous theropod was heavily inspired by this awesome mod for Jurassic World: Evolution, which replaces the Baryonyx model with an oversized Kelenken, and the Native American elements a la Braviary are based on the discredited belief that the terror bird Titanis, the only phorusrhacid to make it to North America, was the inspiration for several bird-related mythical figures in the cultures of the indigenous people, namely the Thunderbird and the Raven spirit. And the idea of a giant dinosaurian predator living in the equivalent of the American Southwest was inspired, of course, by Ray Harryhausen's The Valley of Gwangi, albeit with a terror bird instead of a carnosaur.
With one swing of its axe-shaped beak, a Skarocious can split an armored truck cleanly in two. Many sport dents and cuts in their armor from territorial combat.
Name origin: Sky + Scar + Ferocious
Type: Steel/Fighting
Abilities: Battle Armor/Sturdy (Hidden Ability: Aerodynamic)
Stats: 65/120/140/40/70/90 = 525
New Moves: Bite, Ancient Power, Crunch, Dragon Claw, Close Combat
Evolution: Have Orreian Skarmory level-up while holding any Fossil (the fossil isn't consumed)
Flavor/Design: A convergently-evolved imitation of a colossal predator from a time long since past, Skarocious is the apex of Orrean Skarmory's evolution, found only in a few remote, secluded places in southern Orre. Its appearance is, in fact, eerily similar to Tyrantrum, being considerably bulkier in build than Orrean Skarmory and almost a half-size taller (the same size and weight as Tyrantrum, in fact), with a more massive head and thicker, heavily built legs. The proportional size of the wings compared to the body is the same as in Orreian Skarmory, but a set of six larger blades also extends from the back of the head, almost akin to Braviary's war bonnet or the head feathers of a secretary bird. The head itself, attached to a shorter but even thicker armor-plated neck, is absolutely massive, the crest now swept back like a Pteranodon but shorter, and the now cruelly hooked beak conversely flares slightly upward at the top with a much longer, more pronounced hook, the front end of the beak also being equipped with razor-sharp edges; the whole head thus has the shape of a tomahawk head when viewed from the side (and there are still teeth in the beak as well, now similar to the vicious chompers of Aerodactyl). Complementing this, the enormous legs are similar in appearance to those of Tyrantrum, but with the armor plating and toe arrangement of Skarmory's legs (two toes forward, one back); the toes themselves are thicker and sturdier to support its weight, with enormous claws for tearing into prey. The tail, meanwhile, is now enlarged and elongated to balance out the rest of the body, with a bit of a downward slant, but otherwise similar to that of Orrean Skarmory. The color scheme is largely the same, but with red tips to the blue areas (beak, tail, feather blades) as well as red lower legs, albeit with the feet and claws remaining the same in color.
Stat Changes: Because the rules needed the BST to be between 500 and 530 for a regional evolution, I decided to have the BST be at a nice 525 so the additions to the stats add up to a multiple of 10. This was simply adding 20 points to the Attack and 40 points back to the Defense, meaning that Skarocious enjoys the same tankiness as Johtonian Skarmory, but with greatly increased Attack and better Speed along with Fighting STAB and Flying pseudo-STAB with Aerodynamic. The Speed being unchanged means that Skarocious won't be winning marathons most of the time, but it will have more than enough power and tankiness that EV training can be dedicated to Speed and HP instead, aiding in its survivability against physical combatants.
Inspirations: Terror bird!Skarmory was already a pretty solid idea, so I felt I didn't need to reinvent the wheel for the regional evolution. The decision to have it be a bigger, badder Orrean Skarmory imitating a giant carnivorous theropod was heavily inspired by this awesome mod for Jurassic World: Evolution, which replaces the Baryonyx model with an oversized Kelenken, and the Native American elements a la Braviary are based on the discredited belief that the terror bird Titanis, the only phorusrhacid to make it to North America, was the inspiration for several bird-related mythical figures in the cultures of the indigenous people, namely the Thunderbird and the Raven spirit. And the idea of a giant dinosaurian predator living in the equivalent of the American Southwest was inspired, of course, by Ray Harryhausen's The Valley of Gwangi, albeit with a terror bird instead of a carnosaur.
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