EMPUSA, the Pale Pokegirl

EMPUSA, the Pale Pokegirl

Type: Very Near Human
Element: Dark/Ghost (Celestial)
Frequency: Extremely Rare
Diet: Omnivore, with trace blood
Role: Hunter, Trainer
Libido: Average
Strong Vs: Psychic, Fighting, Poison
Weak Vs: Bug, Infernal, Solar attacks
Attacks: Gatling Strike, Arrow Shot, Drain, Teleport, Divine Blade, Dark Shield, Dark Bomb, Shroud of Darkness, Transcendent Sword
Enhancements: Enhanced Durability, Endurance, Speed, and Strength (x5 each), Enhanced Flying Speed (x3), Hibernation, Venom Glands (Mouth, Transformative venom), Flight (constant Ashen Wings effect)
Evolves: None
Evolves From: Vampire (Angel Stone + Blessed)

A breed that was unknown during the Revenge War, and even for over a century afterward, the Empusa is still a very secretive pokegirl breed. Not even Sukebe's recovered notes ever hinted at the breed, so what little is known about the breed has been gathered as a result of over a century of research and study. The breed has only been known to be kept by tamers, as no civilians have ever been recorded to keep one at all. It is unknown why this is, but researchers believe it is likely a result of the pre-evolutionary breed of the Empusa being the Vampire: which is a dangerous breed that few non-tamers ever keep in a harem (and many leagues prefer to blacklist the breed for pet owners). The first known evolution of a Vampire into the Empusa came when a tamer allowed his Megami to give the Vampire an Angel Stone, and then a blessing. It should be noted that this particular evolution only happens with the Vampire breed: attempting this with any other pokegirl results in the normal Angel evolution instead.

The resulting evolution changes the pokegirl in several ways. Physically, they grow little more than a few inches taller and their bodies grow proportionately as well. Their weakness to sunlight is gone as well, as a result of the change, though the breed does remain essentially nocturnal. An odd fact is that the Empusa tend to have rather pale skin that does not sunburn. They are also capable of hibernating for months to even several years at a time, as one might suspect from certain animals, but with one major difference compared to one might consider a drawback to doing so. Unlike most pokegirls, who require a taming every so often, a tamed Empusa retains her non-feral state for up to 36 hours after awakening from her slumber. However, after this time, she will go feral within 12 hours, giving the pokegirl a total of 48 hours to find a tamer to give herself to in order to keep from going feral. Some few Empusa have been known to physically manifest their constant Ashen Wings, a remnant from when the Empusa was a Vampire, which makes the pokegirl simply look more impressive. However, it does nothing more than allow the pokegirl to fly faster than others that utilize the simple Ashen Wings technique. The physical manifestation only occurs when the pokegirl is flying quickly, and the most common form it takes is of very large, bat-like wings that appear to give the pokegirl a wingspan that is three times longer than the pokegirl is tall.

In battles, the Empusa has a variety of tactics to utilize against an opponent. Commonly, the breed utilizes Shroud of Darkness to begin with, they can then attack from range or point-blank with various attacks, but when nearing the end, the pokegirl often prefers to use Focus to enhance the power of her techniques to end it quickly, before she loses her chance to end the battle. In other types of battles, the breed fairs well, though they do not appear to have a particular aptitude for such either. Tamers who keep a Empusa should be aware that the breed is not allowed to use any biting techniques in any type of battle, as a result of the pokegirl retaining the same ability to convert others, human or not, into Vampires. It is rumored that they can also turn others into Empusas, but this has never been confirmed. Their venom is slightly more effective than that of a standard Vampire's, however, and can fully turn an infected individual in less than five days. Fortunately, tamers have reported that the breed can control their venom production somehow. One additional issue that tamers should be aware of is that the Empusa is that although they are not weak to natural sunlight, they are easily blinded or burned by harsh sunlight or solar-based techniques, such as Solarbeam or Flash.

Although the Vampire is not recommended for a harem, the Empusa commonly is, by those who have them. Their sheer power, along with variety of techniques and versatile abilities make the breed fairly well sought after. They are quite amiable to get along with, for the most part, and are one of the few celestial breeds that can get along reasonably well with infernal pokegirls. Just like the transformation venom, tamers should also be aware that the Empusa still requires blood to survive, though in lesser quantities. This may not be reflected by the pokegirl, however, although they can survive longer without it than they used to be able to do. Like the Vampire, it is recommended that tamers wait until nighttime to let them out of their pokeball, but this is more due to the fact that the Empusa is nocturnal than becoming weak during the day. These pokegirls get along well with Vampires, dark-types in general, and other pokegirls that are nocturnal in nature. The breed does not appear to get along with many avian pokegirl breeds, which has prompted a number of researchers to look into exactly why this is. However, there has yet to be any true reasoning behind it.

Feral Empusa have only been recorded four times in the past several hundred years. These pokegirls have a feral state much like a Vampire's, but are solitary and nomadic, often roaming far and wide both day and night, never sleeping until they are completely exhausted. They also do not have control of their transformative venom, which makes them almost as dangerous as Vampires, if not for the fact that for some reason, while feral, the breed cannot create the venom that transforms others. The few times that they were discovered were along frequently travelled routes, and were only found and captured after rumors of Vampire attacks were prevalent, though there was no real evidence of large number of pokegirl attacks in the vicinity. Oddly enough, the victims of such attacks have never been humans, but pokegirls that travel near routes, roads, and campgrounds. This selective hunting suggests to researchers that the Empusa may have a light feral state. Threshold cases have never been recorded, and are believed to be impossible.