Sableye Report

Sableye (the Darkness Pokémon) is an uncommon Dark/Ghost-type Pokémon found among dark caves and arid environments within the Hoenn, Unova, Kalos, Alola, Galar and Paldea regions as well as the Kanto and Sinnoh regions on rare occasions. Exceptionally mischievous and creepy to a fault, Sableye are devious little creatures that enjoy scaring the pants off of travelers and trainers alike simply for the fun of it. They might not be the strongest of fighters or have much potential in a professional fight, but for trainers that are just looking for a little fun, you probably won't find a better companion to work with than one of these gem-eating frights!

While the diets of most creatures tend to vary depending upon their own anatomy, Sableye are particularly noted for their abnormal choice of food: gems. Unlike most living creatures (a term used tentatively here, as Sableye possess organs like any other creature but are still spiritual in construct), Sableye are able to tear through and crush gems with their thick, pointy teeth and break down their crystal structure in digestion in order to obtain the nutrients they need to survive. They rarely tend to be very picky about the quality of a gem or its size; the only thing that matters is color, as color can be a direct reflection of the elements contained within a gem, and they often find a great deal of favor with the gems contained in Carbink even though they are usually outcompeted by Gabite for them. Unfortunately for Sableye, this abnormal diet does come with some fairly serious consequences, in particular the way waste material is disposed of. While Sableye do possess a definite internal anatomy, their limited diet of gems eliminates the need for intestines to dispose of food; instead, the leftover elements that are not needed from a gem are simply excreted through the surface of their skin. Over time, however, this unique form of solid-state diffusion causes significantly large gems to grow from the bodies of Sableye in various places, most notably their eyes. This does not actually harm their eyes, however, as the gems merely grow around the organic tissue; in fact, these gems prove to be a boon for Sableye as they magnify the amount of light that their eyes register at any given moment, in turn granting them excellent vision in the dark. Sadly, this also means that walking outside on a bright sunny day would be enough to blind a single Sableye after just a couple of minutes, so they generally stick to living within dark caverns where light is limited enough for them to see without being completely blinded.

Although Sableye generally get a bad reputation for scaring travelers senseless in the dark, behavioral analyses of the species seem to indicate that this is not done on purpose. As it turns out, Sableye are rather kind and playful in nature, but their partial Dark-type construct seems to slightly twist their minds into thinking that the best way to earn friends is to simply scare them. This rarely ever earns these creatures new friends as one might expect, but this doesn't seem to bother them much; after all, people and Pokémon are always getting lost in caverns, so there are usually many opportunities available to make friends in any given month or year. It is also duly noted that there are many tales within the Hoenn region claiming that a Sableye will steal the spirit of anyone that looks it in the eyes when they start to glow with a sinister shine; in practice, this is completely false. However, it is noted that pointing a bright flashlight at a Sableye is probably not a good idea, as the feedback of light from their gem-encrusted eyes is often enough to partially traumatize if not blind anyone foolish enough to stare directly at them.

It is lastly noted that Sableye is one of only 46 species of Pokémon known to be capable of undergoing Mega Evolution. With a Sablenite clutched in their claws, Mega Evolution radically changes Sableye into powerful little monsters that can more than put up a fight and take a beating by taking advantage of their unusual anatomy. In Mega Evolving, Sableye focus all of the energy associated with the process into the gems on their body, bleaching their eye gems a brilliant red and fusing all of the gems in the front of their body into a single, massive red gemstone that forcefully rips itself from their body while the rest of their internal and external gems are forced into a massive clump on their backs. This massive gem is absolutely perfect in its symmetry and shines a brilliant light when exposed to direct sunlight, but this is rarely ever utilized by Mega Sableye. Instead, they use this massive gem, which is actually a bit larger than their entire bodies, as a defensive shield to protect against attacks in battle. Because its form is effectively perfect, this gem is impenetrable and most powerful attacks will bounce right off it and won’t even leave a scratch on its surface; as such, Sableye can patiently wait behind this massive gem until they see an opportunity to attack, usually after observing a weak point of some sort in its opponent during the initiation of an attack. While their stats in general do not increase enough to be considered a massive threat, Mega Sableye are nonetheless able to use this gem to absorb most incoming attacks without ever receiving direct damage, making them a severe annoyance to anyone that cannot break through the barrier to strike them or otherwise find a way to hit them from behind where they are completely exposed to attack. Furthermore, although Sableye are noticeably slowed down by having to carry the gem with them wherever they go, they have at least learned how to use it as both a physical weapon and a focusing beacon for special attacks and are thus able to wield it as much more than a shield when needed. As such, in terms of stats, this gem considerably decreases Mega Sableye’s base Speed stat but more than makes up for it by slightly increasing its base Attack stat, moderately increasing its base Special Attack stat, and astronomically increasing its base Defense and Special Defense stats. In addition, the unique crystal properties of this gem allow them to actually reflect damage not directly caused by an attack, effectively granting Mega Sableye the Magic Bounce Ability and in turn making them a tough nut to crack both defensively and in terms of heckling them.

They may be more of an oddity than something to worry about to most trainers, but for those that know how to use a Sableye properly, there are few other creatures that are as naturally versatile and difficult to predict. With a startlingly wide variety of attacks at their disposal and almost no natural weaknesses to worry about in battle, it can certainly be said that any confrontation with a Sableye will not be easy for the average strategist. The fact that they can't really battle very long in daylight might make them a bit difficult to work with, but as long as you keep a close eye on the sun, you shouldn't have too much trouble getting used to their abnormal time-clock; just try not to wear too much jewelry around one, or your Sableye will be the next one to wear it...and not in a good way!

Professor Wormwood