#[so take that with a grain of salt. also apparently some reptiles legitimately do demonstrate seasonal endothermy?]

[pkmnherpetology]

Oh, any interesting facts about Feralgatr or Skeledirge? I've raised a Totodile before, and have met people who work with Fuecoco, but have been curious about the best practice differences between the two, especially regarding thermoregulation (Raspberry, my Feralgatr had a full pool to cool off, but considering all i hear about Charmander and other Fire types' aversion to watering I admit I am... apprehensive about how one would best handle Fuecoco's thermoregulation situation). Keep up the good work!!

hello hello!! i'm very glad you enjoy the blog, and glad to have an ask that will force me to get off my ass and actually use this account.

so, not all fire types have an aversion to water. it should be reiterated that typing is largely a reflection of a species' habitat, behavior and ecological niche. for example, something like a furret is classified as a normal type because it's a generalist that can live in a broad variety of habitats.

fire types can share a broad range of characteristics- many fire types, such as the salandit line and turtonator, live in hot, arid environments. most are preyed upon by some combination of water, ground and rock types. they themselves may prey upon some combination of grass, bug, ice, and/or steel types. they also broadly experience higher degrees of resistance to high heat, and many have tough skin or specialized fur that makes them less likely to experience burn wounds.

i should also mention that, while the charmander line does have an aversion to water, they will not actually die if the flame on their tail goes out. it's not good for them, but they can recover from it.

anyway, that brings us to your question. the fuecoco line is a fire type line that does not, in fact, avoid water. they live in and near it quite often, as a matter of fact! this is (in part) because fuecoco is not, like most other reptile and amphibian mon, an ectotherm, at least not in the way we typically imagine. while their temperature is still more influenced by ambient temperatures than mammals or birds, their fire typing comes in part from their ability to somewhat maintain their internal body temperature using the same metabolic functions that allow them to produce fire. they share this trait with the charmander line, a true dragon species.

owing to this, the fuecoco line demonstrates an expected difference from the totodile line in the number of mitochondria in their cells. it is said that their greater number of powerhouses allows them to generate heat (and also fire) in a way that their more thoroughly cold-blooded relatives cannot. because of this, the fuecoco line also must eat a great deal more than other crocodilian pokémon, which can be troubling for trainers as skeledirge is not a small creature. this can also be slightly troubling for the pokémon themselves, since, as mentioned, the fuecoco line is still semi-aquatic and often finds itself taking on prey with a type advantage.

anyway, all of that is to say that the fuecoco line benefits immensely from having access to water, but does not need quite as much help with thermoregulation as the totodile line does. they do, however, need much more food than the totodile line.