because i am a gigantic entomology nerd, i've gone in and sorted every arthropod-inspired pokemon by what order their inspirations are in. but that made me realize... there are a lot of insect orders that don't have a pokemon representing them- at least, in the official games. so, fuck it! i'm starting a project where i make fakemon for every taxonomic insect order that pokemon hasn't done!
(i'll be tagging this with #pokedex entomology project for anyone who wants to keep up or follow along themselves!)
starting us off is raphidioptera, aka snakeflies!
Grubble (Bug/Rock) hatches from eggs laid on stony riverbeds. it hollows out pebbles with its hard, strong mandibles and wears them to protect it from birds and other bug pokemon
when it's time to evolve, a grubble will burrow into a large rock and become Castalys (Bug/Rock). what it lacks in mobility, it more than makes up for in defenses. it's sturdy enough to tank an earthquake, and its jaws can dish out a mean crunch
eventually, a castalys will break out of its stone shell, emerging as a Raphidrake (Bug/Dragon). it may look strange and unwieldy, but its sturdy grip and winding neck make it more than easy for raphidrake to catch its prey. ancient legends say there was once a raphidrake that was so gluttonous, it grew to the size of a wailord- before it became such a problem that a local hero had to slay it in battle
their names come from grub + rubble, castle + chrysalis, and raphidioptera + drake. grubble is based on snakefly larvae. castalys is based on insect pupae and castles- the two are rock type because snakeflies often lay their eggs in rocky crevices. raphidrake is based on adult snakeflies, as well as actual snakes. it's also a slight pun on "wyrm"/"worm", with its neck looking a lot like an annelid
