Arguably Coswellia’s most famous regional variant, the Clef line have adapted to the harsh and quite literally ‘alien’ enviroment of Groom Mountain (and several other locations throughout Coswellia) by becoming part Steel type. The metal that covers their hands, ears and forms the ‘skirt’ on the latter two of the line is incredibly tough (so tough in fact that there is no known way to scratch it) and is instrumental in regards to their culture and general place in the region.
General notes
The coloured gems that form from the fingers (and decorate the skirts) are not predetermined and genetics play no part in dictating what the offspring will have. It is entirely possible to see one of the line with a set of identical coloured fingers or (admittedly far more rarely) a full skirt of one colour, but both at once has only ever been rumoured at. Aficionados continue to search.
The gems serve as both a means for the line to channel their attacks as well as communication over vast distances via pulsing them with moonlight, both between individuals of colonies and entire colonies themselves.
It is not uncommon on clear nights to see Groom Mountain - and the sky itself from Clefable - lit up by various coloured lights from all around the region as colonies and individuals communicate.
So far this language has yet to be decoded but the similarity of this to the Beeheyem line has been noted. The two species even be able to communicate like this to a degree, when they meet on good terms.
These gems, much like the metal itself, is impossible to damage or remove normally. They are anchored into place heavily, even on the skirts of Clefairy where they seem as if they could be torn free.
They are, as a subspecies, incredibly industrious. It is believed they have the capacity to shape the ore found in Groom Mountain (and wherever else they dwell) into the same metal as coats them, which they use to form their dwellings and line their burrows. There are entire ‘villages’ to be found in Groom Mountain, if one knows where to look.
As with all members of the line, they worship the moon - and the displays from the various colonies on the full moon can be absolutely breathtaking; it is almost impossible to miss them and they make a wonderful tourist attraction (from a distance!).
As noted, the line is incredibly popular and forms the basis for many tourist-related attractions in the region, though there are strict limits on tourists interacting with colonies under normal circumstances so as not to cause too much disturbance.
They are primarily nocturnal, though it is not impossible to spot them out during the daytime.
Cleffa
Cleffa are the most difficult of the line to find naturally in the wild in Coswellia, as they will typically stay incredibly close to the nests. The most curious will wander away and can be found, however.
They do not gain the Steel typing until they evolve, remaining pure Fairy.
They have limited control over the intensity of their gems; while they have an instinctive knowledge of general communication the majority of their own inter-colony language will be taught by their evolution (or more experienced Cleffa!).
In practice this means that their most common defensive technique against a threat is to temporarily blind them - they can learn Flash naturally!
Clefairy
Clefairy are, as expected, the most commonly found of the line (though Clefable are actually not far behind compared to most regions). They form the bulk of the colonies in Coswellia.
They gain the Steel typing at this point, naturally.
Their skirts grow in upon evolution and, as stated above, the pattern of gems that forms the hem is random. This is also true for their new fingers!
Clefairy cannot truly fly as their evolution can, but they are also capable of walking on the ground. Their skirt is flexible enough - and short enough - at this stage to where it is an option.
Clefairy will instead ‘bounce’ by storing moonlight in their wings and projecting it in bursts through their skirt, allowing them to clear gaps and climb throughout their homes. This is also how they cross long distances; they will propel themselves off of high enough ledges and harden their skirt while projecting stored moonlight through it - allowing them to float incredibly long distances. Alongside their evolution (who are far more culpable) this is the main cause for ‘UFO’ calls from tourists and unaware natives who glance a Clefairy gliding through the night sky.
Their wings act as rudders and propulsion both, as with the main Kantonian species!
This also plays a big part of how Clefairy will fight off threats if possible - floating above attackers and hammering them with fairy and steel attacks from their gems.
Most Clefairy will not evolve into Clefable - they will live their entire lives in this stage.
Clefable
Coswellian Clefable are surprisingly the most seen of all of the line in stark contrast to most regions and they make up a larger percentage of the total population than most too. This is thought to be down to the higher concentration of Moon Stones in the region as much as it is the role Clefable play in colonies.
Though smaller colonies may only have a single Clefable, they often take up leadership roles as well as forming both the primary means of defence for the colony.
At this point their skirt elongates and hardens into complete rigidity. The length of the skirt surpasses the length of the Clefable’s body and thus they become incapable of touching the ground with their feet. To compensate for this, Clefable utilise stored moonlight as a means of constant propulsion - they hover several feet off the ground at all times (thus gaining Levitate).
Being caught under this beam of moonlight does nothing, though people have reported they feel ‘floaty’.
They are also capable of complete and total flight, unlike Clefairy - they can ascend, descend and move in any direction at will and at considerable speed. It is because of this that they are the most often seen in the night sky as they go about their business. They are also the primary source for UFO scares in the region!
The gems that formed the hem of their skirt as a Clefairy solidify into clusters around the ‘tors’, allowing Clefable to channel much more powerful attacks through them and giving them far greater offence than their pre-evolutions. The sheer level of firepower they can dish out is terrifying in battle. They are also incredibly good defensively, both given their types, aerial mobility and access to various barriers.
These gems are also the brightest and Clefable are responsible for the most complex communication between colonies.
OOC notes:
So these are the first in a line of hopefully many more posts about my region, Coswellia! As one can imagine these regional variants were inspired by UFO’s, the fact the line is likely from space and their episodes in the anime! As well as movies like Close Encounters of the Third Kind!
A massive thanks to @invictarre for the artwork (love you!) and if you have any questions please feel free to ask!
Coswellia prides itself on being a region of scientific pursuit, but there is far more mystery to the Region than one initially expects. One such area to the north of Groom Mountain is the Pastel Weald, which can only be described as a Fairy Tale Forest in stark contrast to the rest of the region, as if torn straight from the pages of a folk tale - filled with glowing mushrooms and shining Fairy Rings, with Pokemon of all descriptions from Teddiursa to Comfey to Shiinotic.
It is also the location of the 7th or 8th Gym Leader (depending on which you fight first), Charlotte, who specialises in Fairy Types.
Nobody truly knows how old Charlotte is nor exactly what she is - though she is amicable and friendly so long as you do not do harm to her forest. The Weald itself is even more of an enigma - a place where psychics reportedly get splitting headaches and psychic types do not willingly tread alone.
The town on the edge of it (a picturesque village) has a story that claims there was a time before the forest was the way it is now, that many hundreds of years ago a young girl they claimed to be a witch was lost in the forest during the panic of the Meteor landing atop Groom Mountain and that it was this act that warped the forest. Some say that girl is Charlotte.
The gym itself is at the end of a long winding trail; built into a grand and beautiful tree - though unlike any other gym in the region given it is not a true man-made structure. Charlotte seems to care little for the workings of the league or much of anything else but the travellers and their desire to battle interest her enough to partake. Her Pokemon, too, are not kept in balls - and it honestly isn’t known whether or not she simply calls upon the wild Pokemon living all around her as needed or if she owns them.
Charlotte isn’t well known outside of the region because of this (if at all) and in fact her status (and appearance) often comes as an incredible shock to anyone who is pointed her way. She’s also has no online presence at all, though to partake in meetings beyond her borders she was taught how to use a phone with a built-in webcam function.
She gets on very well with Rosa and the pair delight in one another’s company.
Coswellia’s current champion is Madeline Ripley. She’s thirty five and has held the champion spot comfortably for eight years - no easy task given the types of trainers that Coswellia draws, to say nothing of the native ones.
As a former Head Ranger she’s incredibly devoted to her region and the health of it - though technically no longer employed she’ll still occasionally lapse into old habits and run a patrol through the wilderness and visit isolated homesteads to check up on the families there. She’s a very down-to-earth Champion, eschewing the idea that she should be on some untouchable pinnacle like in Kanto or Johto.
In fact to that end she’ll often do live Q&A’s or general streams to the Region when she’s at home; lounging around without makeup or pomp and devouring a whole pizza several sizes to big for her. Above all Madeline wants to be seen as someone the Region can look up to, seen as a friendly face.
She wants to inspire people; not just to come to challenge her but to do whatever they want to do in life.
Terrasect are basically that meme where Godzilla is rampaging through a city and the camera pulls back and its just a kid in a costume kicking over tiny cardboard buildings. They don’t do nearly as much damage as they think they do.
That isn’t to say they don’t cause problems now and again but they’re not going to be scorching the region and terraforming it into their idea of a good home... ever.
Are there any invasive pokemon species in your region?
Funnily enough one of the NATIVE SPECIES is invasive! Or rather, trying to be.
Terrasect - a dual Fire/Bug type - is roughly analogous in the pecking order to Blipbug in Galar or Caterpie or Weedle in Kanto. Unlike those species however they are incredibly social and form mass swarms, usually around the sites of fallen meteors. In fact it isn’t uncommon for new colonies to spring up around freshly fallen meteorites which has given rise to the idea they’ve come from space.
They are incredibly expansionist and aggressive to almost all other pokemon and even the enviroment itself. They will actively scorch the earth surrounding their nests and expel toxic gasses into the air to better change things for them. Fortunately given they’re so small this impact is negligible even en-masse outside of battle (given they can naturally learn attacks like smog and poison gas); a child night end up with a sore throat for a few days if they spent fifteen minutes at ground level in these areas at worst.
In addition they’re incredibly weak and function as a prey species for many of the other pokemon surrounding them. They’re readily devoured in great numbers by bird pokemon and many others. Plus the bulk of the swarm often sticks close to the nesting sites, with the scouts being the individuals most often encountered elsewhere by trainers.
They’re also - oddly enough - very popular amongst new trainers! Despite how aggressive they are they’re also inherently hierarchical. A trainer fills the role that their ‘boss’ might and as such a captured Terrasect is incredibly loyal and will give its life for its trainer.
Terrasect is also capable of evolving! It has a branched evolution, in fact. The catch? It evolves in game terms close to level 60. Its evolution is one of the region’s psuedo-legendaries.
In terms of the region though? This means that 99.9% of Terrasect will never evolve and will likely be eaten or live their entire lives in this first stage. Those that do, at least in the wild? They cause problems.
Okay so truth is I have very little on them right now! I’m sort of torn in two directions with them and I’m not sure which I’ll fit them into so I’ll get back to you?
Though semi-related as a whole, poaching is a big problem in the region. As I said in the Clef line post, a lot of areas are protected and have strict limits on what you can and cannot catch just to be fair to the ecosystem. This means there is big money in other regions for these Pokemon and the Rangers spend a lot of time breaking up smuggling rings and smuggling operations.
Introducing the first of Coswellia’s Gym Leaders, Rosa! Though technically she isn’t actually the first numerically - she’s the seventh/eighth (depending on who you battle first!) and specialises in Bug Types.
Rosa took over from her father when he retired three years ago due to health concerns; a surprising move given she was only eleven at the time. Many questioned her competency for the position given where it stood in the league but given it was the beginning of winter during the hand-over and there were no other pressing matters Madeline decided to personally oversee her training.
As it turned out, Rosa was already an incredibly competent battler and was a natural at coming up with strategies and techniques on the fly from watching her father - Madeline had no trouble endorsing her and so by the time the next spring came she was officially the gym leader (and as a testament to this only four challengers across the entire season managed to get past her).
Naturally given her age the majority of her gym team is in fact her father’s Pokemon that she grew up with, other than her own Yanmega who functions as her ace. She’s also very much about using the terrain to her advantage and given the battlefield is an artificial forest she can be incredibly scary - growing up watching her father fight on that terrain as well as her own experiences make her a force to be reckoned with after all.
When she isn’t scheduled for a match she’ll either be at school, studying, at home helping her parents or taking care of the numerous wild bug types that inhabit the area surrounding the gym.
Rosa is incredibly personable and outgoing when she’s not in a match - very few people leave an encounter with her without a smile on their face.
“I’ve met a lot of people - in all walks of life! - that reach a point where they feel like they’ve reached their pinnacle or plateaued. It can become extremely demotivating to hit that state of mind because it isn’t until that point that you realise one of the best parts of the journey is getting there and now you are there and where do you go?”
“But that’s often when you just need to look around! I hit that point about four years into my time as Coswellia’s Champion. I was in a slump and I felt like I’d sort of hit the limit regarding what I could offer to up-and-coming trainers and myself in matches.”
“So that winter when the circuit was closed I took a break - I travelled! I actually went to visit the Reborn Region, which isn’t terribly far away. I’d heard a lot about it and its unique gym circuit and the challenges it offered. I was fortunate enough to meet several of the wonderful Gym Leaders there, discussed their strategies and teams and use of items. A lot of it was not something I could translate back to Coswellia easily of course - but some of it I very much could. They were a wealth of information on things I’d never even considered when it came to battles!”
“After that I took some time to myself to enjoy the region, caught some new team members that continue to be apart of my life four years on and came back the next spring entirely refreshed - and haven’t missed my stride since.”
“So if you ever feel that way - take time to yourself, approach things in a different way and you’d be amazed at what you find!”.
