Shiftry Report

Shiftry (the Wicked Pokémon) is a relatively rare Grass/Dark-type Pokémon found among forests within the Kanto, Hoenn, Galar and Kitakami regions as well as the Sinnoh and Unova regions on rare occasions and some special reserves. Extremely intelligent and cruel to a fault, Shiftry are devious creatures that have no qualms about literally blowing away their opposition even if it means killing them as the end result. You would best be wary when these creatures suddenly show up, as they live as representatives of the forest and will do whatever it takes to keep their homes safe...even if it means clearing out all life forms outside of the forest in the process!

Little is known about Shiftry because they live as recluses within their natural environments and almost never show themselves to outsiders or even native life forms. Shiftry appear to be relatively calm creatures most of the time and rarely ever bother others, preferring to simply gather up fallen berries on the forest floor and take them back to their homes. Oddly enough, though, Shiftry are rather picky about their choice of habitat and almost never live within a tree unless it is at least 1000 years old, partially explaining their relative rarity in the wild. While Shiftry are not as volatile as Nuzleaf, they are far crueler and have been known to commit acts of extreme violence in order to protect their local environment. Because Shiftry are very careful about who or what they attack, however, it is very rare for an innocent victim to be found in the wake of their fury; nonetheless, Shiftry have become known as dangerous guardians of the forest and are often feared by locals more so than any other Pokémon. It is duly noted that, much like Nuzleaf, Shiftry are extremely intelligent and actually possess some psychic powers, namely their ability to read their opponent's mind; this can prove to be an effective combat tactic for trainers that wish to initiate a preemptive strike before the opposition can even move, making Shiftry one of the few Dark-type Pokémon commonly seen among the parties of Psychic-type specialists.

While Shiftry are somewhat limited in terms of the variety of physical attacks they can deliver (even though their base Attack stat is their strongest attribute), they rarely have to worry about that because most opponents cannot even get close to them. The broad leaves on their hands work much like fans and can be moved up and down rapidly enough to produce considerable breezes; in some cases, Shiftry are capable of generating massive gusts with speeds exceeding 100 feet per second (explained by some in legend as being the result of them existing as birds that had their wings and beaks replaced as divine punishment), which are more than strong enough to level most types of houses, though they are only capable of standing still because their strange feet allow them to maintain static equilibrium regardless of the external forces they are generating. Oddly enough, though, the winds generated by their fans are actually rather cold and have been known to produce minor frosts in some circumstances; as such, many people believe that these plants arrive on chilly winter winds to signal the arrival of the season and only disappear deep into the forest when spring begins to arrive. In battle, these wind storms allow Shiftry to utilize powerful Leaf Tornado (gained immediately after evolution) and Hurricane attacks, both of which are inaccessible to their pre-evolved forms, as well as the Whirlwind technique; this is in stark contrast to their "counterpart", Ludicolo, who are unable to naturally learn any new moves after evolution.

Though they might not be among the most powerful of Pokémon, Shiftry are nonetheless devastating plants that can easily blow away unprepared opponents before they even have a chance to attack. You might have to use a few TMs to make them particularly versatile, but with the right amount of training and practice, these wicked creatures can easily be made into devastating dark-horse candidates for any tournament. If you have to travel within a dark forest alone, make sure that you let everything around you know that you are not a threat in any sort of way...and don't light a fire at night, even if you're cold; it only takes a single mistake to send these creatures into a tizzy, and if they find you, you'll be wishing to wake up with a cold over never waking up again!

Professor Wormwood