Octillery

A red octopus whose mouth someone has replaced with the mouth of a cannon. Its body is that of an ordinary cephalopod — eight tentacles with suckers, large, bulging eyes — but its head ends in a tube, and the rest of the character follows from there.

The Pokédex entries insist on one very specific fixation: holes. It sleeps in rocky cavities, crawls into cracks or inside containers to spit ink from within, and even takes over spaces other Pokémon have dug out for nesting. It is, quite literally, a squatter. The rest of its behaviour comes from the real animal: it catches its opponent with its tentacles, leaves it immobilised and finishes it off with its hard head. If the other one is too large, it releases ink and disappears. That ink is not just a smokescreen — according to the Pokédex itself, it inhibits the pursuer’s sense of smell, even in Pokémon with especially keen noses, and in the game world it is sold as a haute-cuisine ingredient.

At 0.9 metres and 28.5 kilograms, it is compact and heavy for its size. Its official category is the Jet Pokémon, a reference to jet propulsion. It closes out a two-stage line: it is what comes out of Remoraid at level 25, an evolution so unlikely that for years some people refused to believe it.

Its 480 points are distributed in a way that promises more than it delivers: 105 Attack and 105 Special Attack up front, followed by 75 HP, 75 Defense, 75 Special Defense and 45 Speed. It hits with both hands and moves last against almost anything. That 45 is the central problem, because with 75/75/75 bulk, going second means taking the full hit before answering back.

Sniper is the ability that defines it: critical hits go from multiplying damage by 1.5 to multiplying it by 2.25. The catch is obvious — it depends on the critical hit landing, and it cannot force one by itself. Suction Cups, the alternative, blocks Roar, Hyper Voice, Dragon Tail and Red Card; there is no way to drag it off the field against its will. Moody, its Hidden Ability, raises one stat by two stages and lowers another by one at the end of each turn, and since Generation VIII it no longer affects accuracy or evasion.

As a pure Water type, it hides nothing: it resists Fire, Water, Ice and Steel, and falls to Grass and Electric. On the attacking side, Hydro Pump (level 34) gives it 110 power against Fire, Ground and Rock, while Ice Beam (level 25) covers what Water cannot reach. Octazooka, its signature move until Generation VIII, settles for 65 power in exchange for lowering the opponent’s accuracy.

Competitively, it has no niche, and there is no need to dress that up. Where it does perform is in a normal playthrough: it gets Hydro Pump and Ice Beam by level-up, without relying on TMs or items, and 105 Special Attack is enough to clear entire routes.

Water 1 and Water 2 Egg Groups, with a 50% male-to-female ratio. There is none of the imbalance that complicates breeding other lines: any compatible pair will do, and the range of pairings opened up by the dual Water grouping is among the broadest in the Pokédex. Its 20 Egg cycles amount to around 5355 steps, a medium-to-long figure.

The evolution is one of the cleanest there is: Remoraid reaches level 25 and that’s it. No stone, no trade, no time-of-day requirement, no friendship. What stands out is not the condition but the result.

Its level-up list in Pokémon Legends: Arceus is badly distributed. Bubble at 1, Acid Spray at 6, Charge Beam at 11, Water Pulse at 18, Ice Beam at 25, Hydro Pump at 34 and Hyper Beam at 43. Octazooka is already equipped when it evolves, so the change in form comes with the weapon included.

Its habitat is the sea. Its catch rate, 75, lands in the awkward middle ground: neither trivial like the 255 of a route encounter nor locked down like the 45 of a starter, but low enough that a Poké Ball thrown at half health will fail more often than you would like. Defeating it gives 1 Effort Point in Attack and 1 in Special Attack, consistent with its twin 105s, and it grows at a medium pace.