Region of Ishtar

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What inspired the living book dragon?

The living book dragons were inspired by the pun Bookwyrm.

Their typing was inspired by the Ultra Beast Kartana, which is why they paper based Fakemon have the Grass Type.

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What is 78 and it's split evo based on?

#78 and its evolutions are based off Chinese Dragon. It starts as a snake, like Chinese Dragons are said to, and become one of three types of Long.

Fucanglong were associated with volcanoes, so it’s Dragon/Ground.

Shenlong brings rain, so it’s Dragon/Water.

Tianlong were celestial dragons, so are Dragon/Electric.

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What's the Zhulong piglet/Zhulong?

Zhulong is the name of the Pig Dragon artifacts found in China.

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Why does the Qilin Pokemon start as a deer?

Because Qilin are Deer Hybrids.

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Which starter is your favorite?

Probably Shui, just because that life cycle is never used.

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What was the most fun type combo to do?

The Dragon/Fairy Melusine line.

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What is the Bakunara Fakemon?

The Bakunawa Fakemon is based of the Bakunawa, a Moon-Eating Sea Dragon from the Philippines.

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Why does the Sea Nymph become a Charydbis or Scylla?

The Sea Nymph becomes a Charybdis or Scylla because Charybdis and Scylla were transformed Nymphs in mythology.

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What kind of rodent is Pikrychu?

Pikrychu is a Jerboa, specifically one of the genus Jaculus.

The reason? The Jaculus in mythology is a winged serpent.

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What inspired the Guivre line?

The Guivre line was inspired by four dragons from the mythology of France.

The Guivre itself is based off of fairly ordinary serpent dragons said to inhabit France for a while. It then evolves into three unique French Dragons.

The Tarasque, Peluda, and Gargouille were all one off River Dragons of France, and serve as the evolutions of the Guivre.

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Finally gonna answer these.

Undecided, though I may make it sort of similar to the slate from Breath of the Wild. Stone artifact that is simultaneously advanced technology.

I do not.

I like making the ones based off various mythology dragons. I like having a dragon pop into my head, and going “Oh, this type combo could work. I should add it to the dex.”

There aren’t any gyms or trials. Instead there are Elder Challenges. There are many Elders, but there are Type Elders. These must be challenged, though the nature of the challenge is up to the Elder.

Probably not.

[thesilkenlair]

Credit for the second image goes to flyingviperart on deviantart!

Ishtar once again, with a review on a wonderful little snake, and the milk powered venomous wyvern it becomes! That’ll make more sense in a second, trust me.

Vypar is a pure Poison type snake Pokemon, based on the mythological Gwiber, which starts life out as a viper or adder. Vypar is obviously based on the former, and would be pretty standard fair as far as snake Pokemon go, but there’s nothing inherently wrong with that. More snake Pokemon isn’t a bad thing. All snakes are good snakes.

Gybwe is a Poison/Dragon type, being based on the rest of the Gwiber myth. The myth says that when a viper/adder drinks milk it becomes the Gwiber, but not just any milk, breast milk. Gwibers are serpentine wyverns with wings and legs, with a snake like head and a pair of large fangs. Gybwe’s also sporting some feathers here and there, which is cool. Feathered serpents are cool. To go with its myth, Vypar only evolves into Gybwe under certain conditions. Vypar needs to be in a party with a member of the Elusine line. I won’t go into detail on that one here, that’s for a later review obviously, but it’s the only Pokemon in the region that could possibly give Vypar what it needs. A good connection go the mythology here as usual.

The Vypar line is a perfect example of how many Pokemkn can be made just by looking at mythology. The evolution works with it perfectly, a more serpentine wyvern is great, and I love the Poison/Dragon typing. Overall the Vypar line gets four Questing Beasts out of five.

[thesilkenlair]

Today’s Ishtar review is a mix of folklore, related life animals, and a theory to tie them together! It’s the Plume line!

Plume is our first stage, based on a simple pheasant. A Normal/Flying is about as common a type as it gets, but it’s one that works for a non elementally aligned bird, so I’m okay with it. Plume is a simple name as well, but it’s one that works, especially with the feathers a pheasant has.

Kuill is where it gets interesting, turning from a Normal/Flying into a Dragon/Flying feathered serpent. This may seem like a strange jump to make, but let me explain. kuill is based on a Welsh Feathered Serpent, a type of serpent that preyed on chickens. The accounts talk about it like it was just a normal animal, not like it was some mythical creature. This lead to the theory that it was a real creature, with the feathered serpent part being an exaggeration of what it actually was: a pheasant. Pheasants are completely capable of attacking and killing chickens, and we’ve exaggerated things into monsters before, so it’s not hard to believe the same happened here. Besides, a winged serpent with feathers is just a good design on it’s own, the folklore and theory just make it better.

The Plume line is great, with a deceptively simple start into a great looking evolution, with real precedent for what it becomes. Compare with the earlier Pyroraptor, which had to stretch to make the Draconic connection. Overall, the Plume line gets four Questing Beasts out of five.

[thesilkenlair]

Today is our “early rodent” family of Ishtar, and as always, there’s a dragony twist!

Minirpent is the first stage, a Dragon/Normal type. It’s a fairly standard four legged, winged dragon, being based on the mythological dragonet. The dragon was a small one, and Minirpent, as it’s name implies, is one as well. Minirpent is roughly the size of a child, which isn’t small per se, but for a dragon? Definitely.

Dimiagon is next, not changing too much from Minirpent. The main difference would come in the increase in size, now about the size of an adult. While bigger than Minirpent, it still is smaller than what you’d expect from a fully grown dragon. It’s got a few Poison attacks in it’s roster, referencing the poisonous blood the dragonet itself had, which is a small but nice touch.

These two are a good way to make an “early rodent” dragon type, and fit the rather plain Pokemon usually associated with the spot, except being dragons so automatically better. Because of this however, they kind of fade into the background when it comes to some of the ones we’ll be seeing soon. Nothing wrong at all, just nothing to push them out above their peers. That’s why the Minirpent line gets two Questing Beasts out of five.

[thesilkenlair]

Back to it after a couple days without one! Today it’s a mix of mythological creatures, dinosaurs, and our early bird!

Phorm is the oddest first stage early bird Pokemon by far. The reason being, well, it’s not a bird. The Phorm line is based on the Phoenix, and something left out in pretty much every depiction is the fact that they start life a worms. Yup. Phoenix start out as small worm-like creatures, and Phorm is just that. Phorm is a pure Fire type worm, with a mouth shaped like a beak, and colored red and gold. It’s definitely not what you expect from the early bird Pokemon, but I’m all for subverting the usual formula.

Fearnix is the Fire/Flying Phoenix Pokemon, resembling an eagle. Like Phorm, it’s primary color is red, with gold as the secondary color. Fearnix looks like an eagle, because that’s what phoenix look like. They aren’t even described with similar features, it’s straight up said that they have the same size and shape of an eagle. Fearnix would also have an extra long tail and crest, just to add to the magnificence of a big red and gold eagle

Sporting an awesome name is Fenitheft, who takes the phoenix into a different direction, from Fire/Flying eagle to Fire/Dragon…super ancient eagle. Fenitheft is based on a species of raptor known as the pyroraptor, and let me just get it right out of the way, a raptor Phoenix is awesome. Replacing Fearnix’s beak is a raptor’s toothy maw, and the tail and claws of one as well. Fenitheft doesn’t have any real connection to the phoenix, but the dinosaur it’s based on has pyro in the name, so there’s at least an attempt to connect it to the fire theme of the phoenix.

The Phorm line is a little shakier with it’s Dragon typing than our previous Fakemon, but it does a better job than the Vega phoenix I reviewed. There is an attempt to connect the Dragon typing to the phoenix myth instead of just slapping it on there. That’s why the Phorm line gets three Questing Beasts out of five.

[thesilkenlair]

Today we have the only other Bug type(as of now) in the Ishtar region, the the Vermis line!

Vermis comes first, with a design based on a mix of giant earth worm and old school beastiary depictions of worms. The Dragon type comes from two things, one being that “worm” was the name used for dragons in several languages, and two, they were considered Serpents, and serpents are the basis of most mythological dragons!

Olgoihol is based in the much more specific Mongolian Death Worm, a cryptid native to the Gobi Desert is Asia. Olgoihol has both a stronger connection to it’s Dragon typing than Vermis, and a looser one. Being based on a specific creature may make the connection stronger, as the Mongolian Death Worm shares traits with mythological dragons, but it also has a looser connection since we’re not entirely sure if it’s believed to be a dragon by the people who believe in it. It’s a hard call, but I feel comfortable in allowing this Dragon typing. Plus, the Mongolian Death Worm is known for its poison and electric shocks, so it would probably learn a few of those type moves by level up!

At the end is Roncit, and like Olgoihol is based on a cryptid, but with some real life thrown in. Half the inspiration is the dragon milipede, that bright red fellow, which works well with Plgoihol’s inspiration, as the Mongolian Death Worm is usually depicted as bright red. The second piece of inspiration is the Con Rit, a giant aquatic milipede that is believed to be the inspiration for Vietnamese dragons. these two are a good choice, as they together very much justify the Dragon typing here, but that’s not the only mythological reference here. A unique ability would belong to Roncit, one that would allow it to absorb Dragon type attacks as either HP or stat boosts. The reason being that in Chinese mythology, milipedes are among the only thing they fear, as they crawl up the dragons nose and, uh…eat their brains. Yum

There’s a good mix of inspiration here in the Vermis line, which is always a good thing in my book. I don’t like it quite as much as the other Bug native to Ishtar, but as with other Pokemon that is merely a matter of my own taste. That’s why the Vermis line gets three Questing Beasts out of five.

[thesilkenlair]

As with many regions were stepping into the more common Pokemon, in this case the early evolving Bug type. However, the native Ishtari Bug Pokemon are scarce so what we have stands out more than usual. Such is the case with today’s Pokemon, the Lepidrak line!

Lepidrak is first up, being based on the dragon head caterpillar, so it’s a long awaited Bug/Dragon. It’s prime Pokemon material once again, the creator has a knack for picking out what to use here. Lepidrak has far better in store for it than a normal dragon head caterpillar. The name is extra clever too, being a mix of Lepidoptera and drak which make a perfect name when put together. I might actually do a post on some of these Fakemon’s names, since I can actually ask the creator what inspired them if I need to.

Geord is the usual coccoon evolution these early Bug types get, but with an added twist. Being a Dragon type, Geord doesn’t have any normal coccoon, no. Geord’s coccoon is made out a geode! The coccoon stage can be pretty bland usually, looking at you Cascoon/Silkoon, but combining it with something inherent to it’s half Dragon nature is a great idea, especially with mythological dragons and their fascination with gemstones. It’s something we haven’t seen before with these stages.

The final evolution of Lepidrak shouldn’t be anything special, but once again the Ishtar region pulls through, and Locii is a great package all around. Design wise it’s based around a rather infamous picture of some kind of dragon, the fourth image, that has baffled many people with what it’s supposed to be, with many thinking it’s some kind of locust. However, a suspicious similarity was discovered with the hummingbird hawk moth, and looking at them side by side, yeah I can totally see it. Locii wouldn’t be one over the other, but a mix of the two, with the horns from it’s first stage being present as well. The end result would be a horned fluffy locust moth dragon, and come on, who doesn’t want that?

The Lepidrak line has no right to be as awesome as it is, with mythology packed into it on top of clever names and design choices. It’s a great way to keep something done to death interesting. That’s why the Lepidrak line gets four Questing beasts out of five.