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Description
8/16/2021 NOTE: This is an upload/update from THE FUTURE!!! If you want to check out the original upload, the reposted version of that is over here !

********************

"This kind of AMBIPOM is an incessant troublemaker, stealing anything not tied down and appearing when nobody wants it to. According to legend, its fur was cursed to be the same color as its heart once upon a time."
"It's said that only the greediest of AIPOM evolve into this cruel variety of AMBIPOM. They lead troops of their kin that act like gangs, chasing anyone who happens to be carrying food before robbing them for an easy meal."

Type: Normal/Dark
Height: 4'01"
Weight: 53 lbs
Ability: Technician/Pickpocket (Skill Link)
Evolution: AIPOM --> leveled up while knowing Nasty Plot in the Sundo region --> SUNDONESE AMBIPOM
Egg Groups: Field

Basis: The Celebes crested macaque (Macaca nigra) and the sarugami , a malicious yokai monkey, with a bancho (Japanese delinquent) motif. The shiny sprite is based on the moor macaque (Macaca maura).

Moves Learned: Almost exactly the same as regular Ambipom (Baton Pass, Swagger [replacing Tickle], Fury Swipes, Dark Pulse [replacing Swift], Screech, Torment [replacing Agility], Double Hit, Fling, Nasty Plot, Last Resort, and starting moves Scratch, Tail Whip, Sand Attack, and Astonish), but with added Heart Scale move Thief instead of Dual Chop.
Notable Other Moves: Notable TMs are Embargo, Brutal Swing, Work Up, Hone Claws, False Swipe, Psych Up, Revenge, Scary Face, Smack Down, Tail Slap, Fire Punch, Thunder Punch, Ice Punch, Power-Up Punch, Rock Smash, Snarl, and Quash. Notable TMs include Low Kick, Block, Snatch, Charm, Payback, Breaking Swipe, Iron Tail, Power Whip, Role Play, Focus Punch, Trick, Shadow Claw, Agility, Beat Up, Foul Play, Outrage, Dual Chop, Knock Off, and Low Sweep. Egg moves are unchanged.

Base Stats:
HP: 65
Attack: 100
Defense: 56
Sp.Atk: 90
Sp.Def: 56
Speed: 115
TOTAL: 482

**********

Just a few more revisions are left before I can consider the Sundo Region fakedex reasonably complete! This was one I felt was necessary even though I didn't actually want to do away with the previous concept. A howler monkey/Aztec death whistle Ambipom was a really cool and imaginative idea, but this was one of those I ultimately realized wouldn’t fit in with an Indonesia-inspired region. It's the same reason for my having removed a few other designs that were inspired by several other regions, but the previous idea was just way too good for me to discard entirely. It definitely fits the Ghost-type better, though, so perhaps in the future I might come up with a Ghost-type Aipom variant to go with a redesign for it for an Americas-based region. Who knows?

In any case, I knew I had to come up with a new design and concept for Sundo's Ambipom variant that was more appropriate for Southeast Asia. To this end I looked up a few species of primates native to this part of the world, and while the proboscis monkey will still be the basis for the Primeape variant that is this Ambipom's counterpart, another species that stood out to me was the Celebes crested macaque, which for those unfamiliar was the subject of the infamous "monkey selfie copyright dispute" that went down on Wikimedia way back in 2011. The central issue of that kerfuffle was really the ownership of the photos more than anything else, but there were actually reports that the monkey depicted outright stole the camera and used it to take photos of itself, which isn't actually the case (the photographer said that it was instead messing with a tripod-mounted camera). Regardless, the hair tuft on the head of this species made me think of a pompadour, and from there I ended up designing an Ambipom variant using the coat patterns of the macaque and a related species as the basis for the color palette, and based the overall aesthetic on a Japanese bancho delinquent, which also ties into the Japanese legend of the sarugami, a monkey-like vengeful nature spirit. It wasn't until I showed it off to some Discord acquaintances though that they pointed out that I'd accidentally left out the magnificent unibrow this species has (though I think it’s more like a brow ridge or something), so thanks to the magic of Photoshop layering I added it in along with adding eyespots to the "palms" of the tail hands (well, the visible palm, because I intended the tails to be positioned in a way suggesting a "bring it" gesture) for visual interest after someone suggested that they looked a bit too plain. I will admit that this design is not quite as clever as the death whistle howler monkey one from before, but it definitely fits the Normal/Dark type combo much better, and it'd certainly be more suitable for a Southeast Asian region.

For those just tuning in, the reason for this Ambipom variant existing in the first place was actually for competitive reasons - a conversation with the Smogon CAP Discord channel led me to think about one of the site's articles regarding retyping certain Pokémon to make them more competitively viable, and a Normal/Dark Ambipom was proposed as a boost for several very specific moves that already benefit from his speedy, physically-inclined stat distribution, with Fake Out and the now deprecated move Pursuit being the two main ones. I still think this retype would've been useful for Ambipom even in the Sword/Shield era if he was actually obtainable in the most recent games as of this post (which he sadly isn't), because while Pursuit didn't make it into the currently available moves in the games, there are a few other Dark-type physical attacks that did. Knock Off in particular is such a meta-relevant move in general, so STAB on it combined with Ambipom's stat spread would make for some pretty hilarious and awesome shenanigans, though its base power is a bit too high for a Technician boost. I thus changed the relearnable starting move from Disarming Voice to Thief, which is boosted by Technician, can also remove items, and makes thematic sense. Perhaps STAB Technician Brutal Swing could also work out if you don't mind collateral? In any case, while the design and concept did change significantly, I kept the stat distribution changes the exact same and altered the movepool only slightly, replacing several moves that I figured weren't thematically appropriate with some that are and which also provide Dark-type STAB in the case of attacking ones. Since sound-based moves are not a major part of this variant's skill set anymore, I also changed the ability to Pickpocket, so he can remove items with ease due to being best suited as a physical attacker with a lot of contact-based attacks, allowing him to neutralize a lot of item-reliant strategies, although again, Technician would be better for the use of Fake Out as the article mentioned. Not much else was changed aside from that, but what did get modified is hopefully critical!

And there you have it, a Sundonese Ambipom that's more appropriate for this region! Expect to see Sundonese Primeape's update later this week as well; that should be the last of the remakes and then I can take care of the Megas and some little minor changes to the artworks of the remaining Sundo 'dex fakemon. Though of course I have Kemet to worry about, too, so it's either wrapping up the Sundo dex revisions or finally starting the new region. Decisions, decisions...

Pokémon, Ambipom © Nintendo
SUNDONESE AMBIPOM is mine!

Description
8/16/2021 NOTE: This is an upload/update from THE FUTURE!!! If you want to check out the original upload, the reposted version of that is over here !

********************

"This kind of AMBIPOM is an incessant troublemaker, stealing anything not tied down and appearing when nobody wants it to. According to legend, its fur was cursed to be the same color as its heart once upon a time."
"It's said that only the greediest of AIPOM evolve into this cruel variety of AMBIPOM. They lead troops of their kin that act like gangs, chasing anyone who happens to be carrying food before robbing them for an easy meal."

Type: Normal/Dark
Height: 4'01"
Weight: 53 lbs
Ability: Technician/Pickpocket (Skill Link)
Evolution: AIPOM --> leveled up while knowing Nasty Plot in the Sundo region --> SUNDONESE AMBIPOM
Egg Groups: Field

Basis: The Celebes crested macaque (Macaca nigra) and the sarugami , a malicious yokai monkey, with a bancho (Japanese delinquent) motif. The shiny sprite is based on the moor macaque (Macaca maura).

Moves Learned: Almost exactly the same as regular Ambipom (Baton Pass, Swagger [replacing Tickle], Fury Swipes, Dark Pulse [replacing Swift], Screech, Torment [replacing Agility], Double Hit, Fling, Nasty Plot, Last Resort, and starting moves Scratch, Tail Whip, Sand Attack, and Astonish), but with added Heart Scale move Thief instead of Dual Chop.
Notable Other Moves: Notable TMs are Embargo, Brutal Swing, Work Up, Hone Claws, False Swipe, Psych Up, Revenge, Scary Face, Smack Down, Tail Slap, Fire Punch, Thunder Punch, Ice Punch, Power-Up Punch, Rock Smash, Snarl, and Quash. Notable TMs include Low Kick, Block, Snatch, Charm, Payback, Breaking Swipe, Iron Tail, Power Whip, Role Play, Focus Punch, Trick, Shadow Claw, Agility, Beat Up, Foul Play, Outrage, Dual Chop, Knock Off, and Low Sweep. Egg moves are unchanged.

Base Stats:
HP: 65
Attack: 100
Defense: 56
Sp.Atk: 90
Sp.Def: 56
Speed: 115
TOTAL: 482

**********

Just a few more revisions are left before I can consider the Sundo Region fakedex reasonably complete! This was one I felt was necessary even though I didn't actually want to do away with the previous concept. A howler monkey/Aztec death whistle Ambipom was a really cool and imaginative idea, but this was one of those I ultimately realized wouldn’t fit in with an Indonesia-inspired region. It's the same reason for my having removed a few other designs that were inspired by several other regions, but the previous idea was just way too good for me to discard entirely. It definitely fits the Ghost-type better, though, so perhaps in the future I might come up with a Ghost-type Aipom variant to go with a redesign for it for an Americas-based region. Who knows?

In any case, I knew I had to come up with a new design and concept for Sundo's Ambipom variant that was more appropriate for Southeast Asia. To this end I looked up a few species of primates native to this part of the world, and while the proboscis monkey will still be the basis for the Primeape variant that is this Ambipom's counterpart, another species that stood out to me was the Celebes crested macaque, which for those unfamiliar was the subject of the infamous "monkey selfie copyright dispute" that went down on Wikimedia way back in 2011. The central issue of that kerfuffle was really the ownership of the photos more than anything else, but there were actually reports that the monkey depicted outright stole the camera and used it to take photos of itself, which isn't actually the case (the photographer said that it was instead messing with a tripod-mounted camera). Regardless, the hair tuft on the head of this species made me think of a pompadour, and from there I ended up designing an Ambipom variant using the coat patterns of the macaque and a related species as the basis for the color palette, and based the overall aesthetic on a Japanese bancho delinquent, which also ties into the Japanese legend of the sarugami, a monkey-like vengeful nature spirit. It wasn't until I showed it off to some Discord acquaintances though that they pointed out that I'd accidentally left out the magnificent unibrow this species has (though I think it’s more like a brow ridge or something), so thanks to the magic of Photoshop layering I added it in along with adding eyespots to the "palms" of the tail hands (well, the visible palm, because I intended the tails to be positioned in a way suggesting a "bring it" gesture) for visual interest after someone suggested that they looked a bit too plain. I will admit that this design is not quite as clever as the death whistle howler monkey one from before, but it definitely fits the Normal/Dark type combo much better, and it'd certainly be more suitable for a Southeast Asian region.

For those just tuning in, the reason for this Ambipom variant existing in the first place was actually for competitive reasons - a conversation with the Smogon CAP Discord channel led me to think about one of the site's articles regarding retyping certain Pokémon to make them more competitively viable, and a Normal/Dark Ambipom was proposed as a boost for several very specific moves that already benefit from his speedy, physically-inclined stat distribution, with Fake Out and the now deprecated move Pursuit being the two main ones. I still think this retype would've been useful for Ambipom even in the Sword/Shield era if he was actually obtainable in the most recent games as of this post (which he sadly isn't), because while Pursuit didn't make it into the currently available moves in the games, there are a few other Dark-type physical attacks that did. Knock Off in particular is such a meta-relevant move in general, so STAB on it combined with Ambipom's stat spread would make for some pretty hilarious and awesome shenanigans, though its base power is a bit too high for a Technician boost. I thus changed the relearnable starting move from Disarming Voice to Thief, which is boosted by Technician, can also remove items, and makes thematic sense. Perhaps STAB Technician Brutal Swing could also work out if you don't mind collateral? In any case, while the design and concept did change significantly, I kept the stat distribution changes the exact same and altered the movepool only slightly, replacing several moves that I figured weren't thematically appropriate with some that are and which also provide Dark-type STAB in the case of attacking ones. Since sound-based moves are not a major part of this variant's skill set anymore, I also changed the ability to Pickpocket, so he can remove items with ease due to being best suited as a physical attacker with a lot of contact-based attacks, allowing him to neutralize a lot of item-reliant strategies, although again, Technician would be better for the use of Fake Out as the article mentioned. Not much else was changed aside from that, but what did get modified is hopefully critical!

And there you have it, a Sundonese Ambipom that's more appropriate for this region! Expect to see Sundonese Primeape's update later this week as well; that should be the last of the remakes and then I can take care of the Megas and some little minor changes to the artworks of the remaining Sundo 'dex fakemon. Though of course I have Kemet to worry about, too, so it's either wrapping up the Sundo dex revisions or finally starting the new region. Decisions, decisions...

Pokémon, Ambipom © Nintendo
SUNDONESE AMBIPOM is mine!