SHEYING, the Murky Wyrm Pokégirl

SHEYING, the Murky Wyrm Pokégirl

Type: Near Human - Humanoid Metamorph (Serpentine Animorph)
Element: Dragon/Ground
Frequency: Rare
Diet: Omnivore
Role: Ambush Striker, Lieutenant, Scout
Libido: Average
Strong Vs: Dragon, Electric, Fire, Poison, Rock, Steel
Weak Vs: Flying, Ice
Attacks: Blur, Cocoon of Darkness, Dark Goggles, Dragon Claw, Dragon Coils, Drill Strike, Earthquake, Entangling Darkness, Resonate, Scent Alteration, Shadow Walk, Thunder Tail
Enhancements: Advanced Regeneration (Lunar), Affinity (Dark), Allure, Camouflage (Shadow Blend), Enhanced Agility, Endurance, and Speed (x3 each), Enhanced Durability (x5), Enhanced Senses (Olfactory & Touch; x2 each), Enhanced Strength (tail only; x6), Enhanced Strength (x2 overall), Emotional Control, Improved Respiration, Internal Compass, Intuitive Aptitude (Fighting), Natural Weapons (Claws on both hands, tail)
Evolves: None
Evolves From: Ulupi (Diamond Stone)
Revised: November 2012

During the Revenge War, there were numerous pokegirls that were created to fill the ranks of Sukebe's armies. Of them, a clear minority of the hundreds of pokegirl breeds were made to lead them while the legendaries were busy with his more important missions. Of those, only the strongest and most intelligent survived human attacks, as many of Sukebe's greatest commanders (according to records from the war) were less interested in tactics and more interested in proving their supposed superiority over their far more fragile yet greatly more numerous human foes. When Sukebe's great commanders lay dead, there were few pokegirl breeds with the intelligence, designed personality, and way with their fellow pokegirls that could continue to raise and carry the torch of his war. Of the few that stepped up to fill the void left by various 'superior' pokegirl breeds, the Sheying was one that proved to be similarly capable, even if not quite as powerful or as obvious a leader as those they came to replace.

Though their use before the middle of the war is relatively unknown, with only a few scattered reports of a pokegirl matching the breed's appearance being recovered from various surviving human army databases. Typically saddled as a second-in-command, the Sheying worked with their fellow pokegirls and despite the superior numbers of their human foes, managed to defeat them on many ocassions, even as the rest of Sukebe's forces began to lose more steadily against the new human tamer forces. Near the end of the war, however, the breed could not be found amongst the pokegirl armies, and there were a large number of reports throughout the world of serpentine pokegirls giving themselves to various tamers of their own choosing. After the war, however, those that had not been tamed by a human tamer were rarely, if ever, found in the wilderness. Evolution into the breed was thought to be impossible until an experiment with an Ulupi and a Diamond Stone was discovered to work, and so numbers for the Sheying slowly began to increase again.

Physically, the Sheying is a large breed and obviously non-human, and as a result that cannot possibly hope to pass as human without either illusions or careful planning. The color of their scales, typically a deep brown, russet, black, or in rarer cases, green or blue, covers most of her body other than the human skinned torso, which otherwise ranges within the human norm. The pokegirl's hair colors typically match, or are a shade lighter or darker, than the pokegirl's scales. Though their top portion is that of a female human's torso, and their face is human-like, most of the rest of their body is more that of a serpent. From just below the thighs and extending for an additional 4.24 to 6.06m is a lengthy serpentine tail (leaving the pokegirl to an average height/length of 5.6 to 7.43m, from the top of her head to the end of her tail), which is rather strong due to it's size. The pokegirl's scales extend from the lower arms along the back of her arms, transitioning into human-like skin only along the pokegirl's front side while the scales continue along the breed's back, down her sides and hips as well until they meet the tail portion. The pokegirl's arms are scaled from just above her elbows, and enlarged from the elbow downward to easily twice the size of a typical human's arm, ending in four clawed fingers and a thumb. Their hands are a bit more than twice as big as the average human's, giving them an advantage of sorts when it comes to grappling, though handling small or fragile items is far trickier. Their scales are typically hard when the pokegirl has the mindset to do battle, but outside of battle, their scales are much softer like a snake's scales (however, they are more durable than the scales of most pokegirls with snake-like scales, even when soft). As might be expected, the Sheying shares a few physical characteristics with her pre-evolutionary form as well. The vestigal hood-wings from their Ulupi form is lost, evolving instead into sensitive organs that allow the pokegirl to better sense nearby impacts with precision, practically giving the pokegirl a form of precognition as a result. Despite their large size, the Sheying require little more food than the average human, thanks in part to their efficient metabolism and the fact that they can actually metamorphose into a more human-like form with legs, rather than a tail.

In human form, they remain fairly tall for human females, at around 1.8 meters in height. They cannot change their scale coloration, however, and retain other features of their standard serpentine form. Some of this breed have arms can sometimes retain their over-sized features when compared to human and pokegirls of similar size, while the arms of others of this breed will become similar to humans. This oddity has been noted with both feral-born and domestic-born pokegirls, which has led to researchers being unable to ascertain just why this happens. Though the breed, in human form, have legs, they do retain a drastically shorter tail that is only about half a meter in length (and is usually as large in diameter at the base as a human's arm is), which tapers from the base to the end of it. It is not truly prehensile, and does not appear to assist greatly in balancing or swimming, though it is strong enough to be used while attacking, if used correctly. This form is most often used while being tamed, as it appears most Sheying are more comfortable in their serpentine forms than in a human form. Studies have shown that while in their human form, a Sheying will typically remain as close to her owner/tamer as possible regardless of where they are, and coil their serpentine tail around any part of her tamer's body (commonly a hand or leg) for reassurance.

In a battle, the Sheying uses whatever terrain is available to her advantage, and if that is not available then they are known for making it available. Using the technique known as Entangling Darkness ensnares her nearest opponents and slows them down so she can handle them easier, utilizing the darkness in order to facilitate her Shadow Walk technique. When shadowy areas present themselves, the Sheying can hide within them, bringing her otherwise bulky body out of harm's way while setting up to strike her target from most any shadow in the area. Though still susceptible to techniques like Flash, the Shadow Walk technique along with her Scent Alteration allows the pokegirl to ambush most any unsuspecting prey. Even if caught unaware, unprepared, or even outmaneuvered entirely by something ready for battling a Sheying, the breed has shown remarkable aptitude for on the spot strategies and choice of attacks that make the Sheying a rather sought-after pokegirl in various parts of the world. However, their lack of staying power (in relative terms) makes the breed a poor choice to utilize in long battles. Researchers believe this is why the pokegirl has access to the techniques that she does, however, enabling the breed to overcome her weaknesses through skill and techniques rather than brute-forcing her way past obstacles. It must be noted that the advanced Shadow Walk technique that the Sheying utilizes can only make use of natural shadows or that of Entangling Darkness, and that dim artificial lighting (not including Flash techniques) do not impede her movement within these shadows. Natural light, Flash techniques, and light given off by various other techniques (such as fire, ice, and steel attacks), on the other hand do impede her abilities to use the technique to the breed's unique capacity.

Within a harem, the Sheying tends to get along well with most pokegirls- perhaps, as researchers have noted, due to their ability to command others and become a leader in a short amount of time. Their allure is what served the breed well during the war, and continues to make them leaders even today, though the breed has often been noted to become intrigued by individuals whom can prove steadfast against their allure and powerful presence. That is, other than bug-type pokegirls, whom have proven to have some sort of innate defense against the Sheying's allure. A Sheying can quickly assert herself and become the Alpha of a harem if she so chooses to do so, but many naturally become a Beta instead, rising to become an Alpha only when either the time is right or when they are truly needed to be one. Some Sheying fall into the trap of becoming obsessed with their ability to assert their wills unto others within the harem with little effort, becoming full of themselves and viewing others as lessers barely worth anything more than a glance... a trait that has been noted within numerous dragon-type pokegirls. This is not as common as one might believe, however, with numerous individuals averting this trend, so one should see each individual as just that. Upon Alpha-bonding, however, the Sheying's allure toward her tamer becomes less effective and in the case of strong willed tamers, even nullified- which can lead to a Sheying in power to try and keep an emotional distance between herself and her tamer so that their bonds cannot deepen easily. A further disadvantage as a result (for the Sheying, at least), is that their allure's effectiveness also lessens toward any other pokegirls that her tamer has bonded to in any way.

Sexually, the breed enjoys the company of both male and female partners, and many keep their options open when it comes down to it. Coiling their bodies around their partner(s), outside of a battle at least, is primarily a form of intimacy for a Sheying, and will remain coiled with their partner (tamer or not) throughout the night. Though this is attributed mostly to a want for intimacy, it may easily also be indicative of a preference for being with a source of heat as well (despite being warm-blooded themselves, rather than being cold-blooded like some pokegirls seem to be). The breed appears to associate it with intimacy, however, as there are few known instances of any unbonded Sheying initiating any sort of coiling with her tamer for fear of instigating a deeper bond between the two. Bonded Sheying, however, seem to not share this worry during taming, and have been noted to initiate coiling with those she trusts. Delta-bonded Sheying can be difficult to pry off- the breed, when deeply bonded with their tamer, tends to almost never leave his or her side, and vastly prefers to remain in physical contact with her tamer. As a result, some tamers whom are forewarned as to the breed's future proclivities take the same approach as an unbonded Sheying done before the delta bond can manifest itself. One cause for concern, and therefore recommendations to nullify this by researchers, is the fact that the breed has claws and a very strong tail, which can make things rough for a tamer during taming if not planned for. However, Sheying are mindful about their power and can instinctively regulate their physical strength, leaving little to no actual need for restraints most of the time.

The breed's size makes them typically poor choices for most pet owners or tradesmen, but their capabilities do lend themselves well to pokegirl hunters and bounty hunters. Though primarily excellent fighters, they take well to learning how to strategize and to learn new techniques to further their capabilities. Pet owners with large homes have sometimes taken a Sheying as a pet, and with their Shadow Walk abilities, are excellent at maid duties and working quietly. The pokegirl can be trained to be nocturnal, which allows them to be utilized while most others in the house are asleep, while also doubling as security for their home. They are, however, quite difficult to procure for pet owners and tradesmen do to their rarity and the interest in the breed by both hunters and tamers. Pet Owners who do have a Sheying often show them off as a trophy of sorts. Merchantile tradesmen are, however, banned from using the breed to influence meetings or trade negotiations in multiple leagues, and those that do have them and insist on bringing the breed to such sessions are typically countered by the presence of one or more bug-type pokegirls.

Feral Sheying are quite rare, considering how the breed comes into existence via an evolution stone (most of the time). Feral Sheying can be found, typically, almost anywhere near a river, forming or taking over a burrow within hillsides and cliffs. Their cunning extends even into ferality, and so tamers should be cautious when near the suspected lair of a Sheying. The breed can still use, and often do use, their advanced Shadow Walk technique to hunt prey, especially at night. They are also often blamed for the deaths of inattentive tamers and their harems that have settled down for the night, striking after the tamer and his/her pokegirl(s) have exhausted themselves after a round (or several rounds) of taming and easily killing them all as a result. Threshold cases are far more common, though most do change into an Ulupi rather than a Sheying. Those that do find themselves inside a shell that covers their body, the vestigal hood-wings being the first things to become pronounced from the change that then extend all around the pokegirl's body. A week later, the new Sheying hatches from her shell, with the pokegirl needing to relearn how to move once more without legs or feet.