HOME | DD

Description
Houndour (the Dark Pokémon) is an uncommon Dark/Fire-type Pokémon found among forests within the Kanto, Sinnoh, Kalos, Alola, Paldea and Kitakami regions as well as the Unova region on rare occasions. Though they might not be very large, Houndour are vicious little beasts that have little trouble taking down opponents much larger than themselves with coordinated teamwork and tactical precision. They might not be able to take much in the way of damage before fainting, but whenever these vicious little beasts enter the battlefield, you can almost guarantee that someone is going to get burned in the end!

Although Houndour are generally more noted for their impressive Dark-type abilities, they actually don't earn the ability to utilize their first offensive Dark-type move until relatively late in life; instead, most of their life is spent utilizing their otherwise underdeveloped combustion organs. Even so, Houndour are powerful beasts and are able to utilize their Ember attack to scorch most types of opponents fairly well in battle. In addition, Houndour have one other dangerous trait that can make them a problem in battle even if they can't attack very well: a slightly poisonous bite. Since their combustion organs are undeveloped, Houndour tend to generate a lot of smoke and toxic fumes whenever they use their Ember attack; instead of allowing these toxic gasses to simply float out of their mouths, however, Houndour let the fumes sit in their jaws for a little while before letting them out, in turn allowing some of the toxic material to bind with their teeth and giving them a septic bite that can at least grant them a little retribution against attackers before they can properly utilize an actual Bite attack in battle.

Houndour are naturally pack animals and are almost never seen outside of a group of at least eight or more members. While they might be young, Houndour are very intelligent and are perfect at coordinating amongst each other to capture small and even large prey; in fact, except for their evolved form, Houndour are considered to be unrivaled among wild Pokémon for their teamwork skills. This surprising ability is due to the fact that Houndour communicate with each other before dawn arrives using cries, howls and barks generated at abnormal frequencies that are otherwise impossible for anything other than another Houndour or Houndoom to translate. This trait enables Houndour to loudly yell out their positions when surrounding an enemy without actually giving their position away much at all, in turn ensuring that a single pack can take down even the sturdiest of prey without being attacked directly. However, it is noted that despite their impressive teamwork abilities, Houndour are flawed in that they are unable to actually attack with many powerful moves and are thus limited to basic surprise and assault tactics when hunting, in turn possibly explaining their unusual rarity in the wild. Regardless, these canines are deceptive beasts and have taken down even human hunters on more than one occasion, a fact that has led many hunters to use them in place of traditional hunting dogs if they can be afforded, especially since they can be just as loyal and obedient to their owners as Growlithe can if properly trained.

Though they still might be a bit underdeveloped, Houndour are vicious little creatures that can more than hold their own in battle if given the chance. It might take them a little while before they finally gain access to some seriously damaging attacks, but as long as you hold firm to training these pups, there's no telling how much destruction they will become capable of after evolving. Just try not to wear any flammable clothing while trying to train them; they might not be outright vicious towards trainers, but it's unlikely anyone else at the dog park will appreciate it if you end up walking around in burnt rags at the end of the day!

Professor Wormwood