Tirtouga

It looks like a sea turtle hatchling, but it is actually a fossil brought back to life. Tirtouga resembles a young leatherback turtle, with a blue body, a dark shell and facial markings that look like a mask. Its shell is extremely tough, and its anatomy allowed it to descend to 1000 m, an unintuitive ability for a creature that also came ashore in search of prey.

It lived in temperate seas 100 million years ago and had a wide hunting range, from the coast to the depths of the ocean. Pokédex entries describe it as an active hunter, not a passive animal that simply floats or hides. It is also considered an ancestor of many turtle Pokémon.

It occupies the first stage of a two-species evolutionary line. At level 37, it evolves into Carracosta, which retains the Water and Rock types and develops its prehistoric turtle appearance even further.

In standard battles, it rarely justifies a team slot: its 54 HP and 45 Special Defense leave little room against special attacks, while its 22 Speed forces you to set up the right turn. In return, it has 103 Defense and 78 Attack, a useful combination for taking physical hits and hitting back hard.

Solid Rock is the ability that best defines its profile. It mitigates super-effective moves and lets it survive attacks that would normally cut short its attempt to set up. Sturdy serves a similar purpose by preventing one hit from knocking it out outright. Swift Swim only comes into its own in rain, where it boosts its Speed.

Water and Rock provide good offensive coverage: Aqua Tail, Stone Edge and Crunch cover different targets, while Aqua Jet partly offsets its sluggishness with priority. Shell Smash is the core of its offensive set: it sharply boosts Attack, Special Attack and Speed, although it lowers both defenses.

Its typing resists Fire, Flying, Poison, Normal and Ice, but leaves it exposed to Grass, Electric, Fighting, Ground and Rock. In Little Cup, it has a clear role as a Shell Smash attacker that makes use of Sturdy, or as support with Stealth Rock. Outside that environment, its special defensive shortcomings and reliance on a setup turn weigh too heavily.

Tirtouga belongs to the Water 1 and Water 3 Egg Groups. Its gender ratio is heavily skewed: only 12.5% are female, so getting a specific mother takes more attempts than with many common species. Its eggs take 30 cycles to hatch, equivalent to about 7905 steps using the usual formula.

Its notable Egg Moves include Knock Off, Water Pulse and Rock Throw. Knock Off provides utility against opponents that rely on an item; Water Pulse offers a special Water-type option, while Rock Throw fits its secondary typing. It can also inherit Slam, Rollout and Block.

The evolution is exact: Tirtouga evolves into Carracosta at level 37. Its catch rate of 45 puts it in the difficult range, which fits a fossil species normally obtained through restoration rather than as a regular encounter. Its growth rate is Medium, and it yields 1 Defense when defeated.