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Topic: Technique Research

Soul Bite
Author: Kai Amarin

In my research into the vampirism condition Vo is afflicted with, I came to realize that no currently League-sanctioned technique implements Obscura or Spectral energy for the purposes of a draining attack. All things considered, this is understandable -- the one major historically-documented example of an Obscura-based draining move is none other than Yveltal's own Oblivion Wing. (Amusingly, in all documented cases where it was not used to lethality, it seemed to operate under the Flying-type's effectiveness rather than Dark like one would expect.) However, even including the League's ban on non-Legendary Pokemon using Oblivion Wing, it still stands that there is no acknowledgement of any sort of a Spectral-based technique.

Looking into it, however, there is a somewhat nonstandard technique that has been documented, with a few proposed "standardized" forms. The most commonly proposed is a form referred to as "Soul Bite", a Ghost-type attack modeled after Draining Kiss, which uses Spectral abilities to attach to and leech off of one's life force directly. Referring to the standardized form of Dream Eater as the upper limit of a given draining move's power (100%), limiting Soul Bite to approximately 50% of max power has been seen to give far superior efficiency in retaining drained energy, averaging around a three-fourths retention rate at that power level and lower (again, like Draining Kiss). This, of course, varies from species to species, and depending on the rate that the draining power decays, it is possible that there are more effective power levels; I have not had an opportunity to develop any sort of data set, due to personal moral restrictions on wanton use of life-draining abilities.

I have, however, had the opportunity to work with a number of Pokemon in tutoring the move. Working with Noland of the Hoenn Battle Factory has given me many opportunities to work with species beyond my own team, and as a Frontier Brain myself, this extends to interactions outside of battle as well. I have made a noncomprehensive list of confirmed, theoretically viable, and unlikely candidates for the ability, based on officially-sanctioned abilities as well as acknowledgement of similar lifeforce-feeding traits in the Pokedex.

Species that are absolutely, unquestionably capable of using the move include (in National Pokedex order): [Zubat-line], [Gastly-line], [Misdreavus-line], [Shuppet-line], [Dusclops and Dusknoir], [Froslass], [Cofagrigus], [Foongus-line], [Frillish-line], [Litwick-line], [Honedge-line], [Sandygast-line], [Morelull-line], [Mimikyu], and [Dhelmise]. Most of these are ghosts that are specifically cited in the standard-issue Pokedex to feed on souls, and thus were my first priority to work with. Using similar logic, it stands to be highly likely that the [Drifloon-line], as well as [Shedinja] (despite draining abilities being functionally useless to the species) are able to learn it without significant struggle. Ghosts without specific reference to soul-eating, but with known natural access to draining moves, include [Spiritomb] and the [Phantump-line]. Additionally, it stands incredibly likely that [Giratina], [Darkrai], [Lunala], [Yveltal], and [Marshadow] all probably have the ability to use it, due to legendary status (and my personal experience of seeing Giratina feast on a very unlucky megalomaniacal Gengar a few years prior to this study).

There are several ghosts, however, that do not have much indication for the capacity to learn the move. Most of the remaining known Ghost-type species can learn Dream Eater via TM or Drain Punch via tutoring, but despite this, Myra the Rotom has confirmed she can't figure it out, and Onabarrak the Golett is adamant about not attempting it. If they are capable of learning it, it certainly will prove much more difficult than usual. The one example of a Ghost-type species that is almost certainly incapable of utilizing it is Oricorio, who only have the Ghost-type as one of four forms anyway; Diane Jaide of the Pokedex Extended Fileshare Endeavor has done research on the species, and she is fairly confident in her assessment of the abilities they can learn.

In my list above, I cited a few non-Ghost-types that have successfully learned the move. These species are known for utilizing Spectral energy as well as having significant draining abilities, and therefore found it relatively easy to redirect the focus of the drain via Spectral energy manipulation in order to target the soul. Additional candidates include [Jynx], [Spinarak-line], [Lotad-line], [Cacnea-line], [Lileep-line], [Munna-line], [Klefki], and possibly [Tapu Lele] as well. For the most part, they have access to low-level Ghost-type moves such as Astonish, so in many cases it may take significant work to teach, but it is certainly feasible.

This has been a somewhat taxing study on my own energy, unfortunately, so I will likely put further research of this technique on the backburner.

[Spectrum was here!]

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Re: Technique Research

Ho-oh's Gifts
Author: Kai Amarin

As a J-Teamer as well as a Frontier Brain, I am among a thinly-spread assortment of Trainers who have had close contact and ties with Legendary Pokemon. Specifically, I am a devoted follower of Ho-oh, as is my Flygon, Spectrum. She in particular is in direct service to him, and as a result, has earned an EX blessing. This is by no means an unheard-of occurrence, of course, and any given EX blessing typically manifests as an increase in stamina as well as a move tutored by the Legendary doing the blessing, plus some minor cosmetic changes.

In regards to Spectrum, she has prior associations with Ho-oh, all the way from birth; her father Fuuma had himself been in Ho-oh's favor, and for his good deeds, Ho-oh blessed him and his firstborn with good fortune. To their surprise, the daughter-- the Trapinch who would of course grow up to become Spectrum-- had the unique quality of a "rainbow" voice, in that the sound of it induces a minor synaesthetic reaction (tied not only to audio and visual sensations, but slight emotional stimulation as well) to those who hear her speak. The effect is much more prominently recognizable to those who can understand her; frequently, individuals with no ability to understand Monese are far more likely to ignore the effect. After some time, I came to learn that this effect was an extension of her Heart of Gold, only accessible due to her direct ties to the patron deity of the attribute as a whole. Hearts of Gold, regardless of patronage, are capable of inducing a similar synaesthetic, emotion-triggering effect.

After unlocking my Auric abilities, and particularly Aura Sense, I came to discover that Spectrum's rainbow voice was directly tied to her Aura. For me, I see it as an ever-changing glow of light in every color. Vo, having an Aura Sense based on taste and smell, says it reminds him of rainbow sherbet, except more savory. (I have had to stop Vo from feeding on her Aura on multiple occasions; evidently this flavor in addition to her heightened stamina proves very mouth-watering for vampires like him.) In her training with Ho-oh, she has learned to manipulate her Aura to create a sort of "reserve" of power surrounding her, which I have decided to dub "Rainbow Energy".

Spectrum has learned to utilize her Rainbow Energy in a number of ways. The first technique she learned with it was a move called Rainbow Burn -- research on Ho-oh has shown that this is something he, as well as previous known birds of his species (e.g. Shiranui) were known for using this themselves, and it is among the most documented of Ho-oh's gift moves. In all known cases, the user cloaks themself in Rainbow Energy, then collides with the opponent and detonates the Rainbow Energy upon impact. The detonation is harmless to the user, and even creates a sort of "cushion" so that the user does not take recoil damage. For Spectrum, it operates under Dragon-type effectiveness (extra power on Dragons, resisted only by Steel, and does nothing to Fairies). It is possible that it operates under different types when used by different Pokemon, but I have not had the opportunity to learn for myself. Without any stored Rainbow Energy, the attack has roughly the same damage output as Dragon Tail, but each "charge" of Rainbow Energy gives about the same boost as a typical preparation of Work Up. (It should be noted, Rainbow Energy is not a typical Attack/Special Attack boost. The boost associated with Rainbow Energy only affects Rainbow Burn and other directly related techniques.)

More recently, Spectrum has learned two other techniques with Rainbow Energy. First is Rainbow Shower, a status move. With Rainbow Shower, the user can expend a Rainbow Energy charge to pass stat buffs to their allies; Ho-oh has been known to be able to control how much he passes along, but with Spectrum's inexperience, it is still somewhat of a random process that inevitably passes along all of her boosts, leaving her essentially "reset". I'm curious if this move is related to Ho-oh's well-known blessings of good fortune, narrowed down to a battle context.

Finally, the last technique Spectrum has is something I have dubbed "Rainbow Float". (A better descriptor might have been "Rainbow Dash", but I cannot use that as its name for copyright reasons.) I am hesitant to refer to this as a "move", per se, because it does not have much function in battle except for escape. The user burns all of their charged-up Rainbow Energy to fly at blinding speeds, leaving a path of glowing Rainbow Energy in their wake for the briefest of moments. One can cross whole regions in mere minutes with this move, and I suspect that was how she managed to travel so quickly back when she first evolved; I had originally assumed it was mere J-Team weirdness at the time, since I could seldom remember the travel itself.

I am interested in meeting any other Chosen Ones of Ho-oh some day. I have not seen Luke Donahue or his Feraligatr, Lake, in a rather long time, and I'm curious if Lake can work with Rainbow Energy himself, even if he is not in a constant state of rainbow-voice. I certainly would not be surprised.

[Spectrum was here!]