This document describes the organization of the Goldenrod Nidoran Colony (GNC) in the WAAPT alternate timeline. The regular timeline organization is similar to the one described in the PEFE article and preliminary development notes.
The Goldenrod Nidoran Colony is a macrosystem modeled by the Nidoran inhabiting the midland coasts of the region of Johto. It is a superstructure integrated and blended to the habitat that spans at least the forests surrounding Rt. 35 and Rt. 36 by the east and south respectively. It comprises all the forest lines, valleys, plains and ponds located in the areas not reachable in game going east from Goldenrod City and southwest from Rt. 36. Spread across these lands, an amount of no less that 6,000 Nidoran individuals make their lives interacting with species such as Yanma, Hoothoot, Spearow, Abra, Snubbull, Wishmur and Buizel.
The approximate gender distribution of the Colony is 1:1 (female:male), whereas the approximate evolutionary stage distribution is 300:75:1 (V. lapin, V. trux, V.atrox).
The overall colony limits are as follows:
Hidden at some point in this area there is a praire of rich grass where the leaders of the Colony hide.
The Colony boundaries dynamically grow and stretch with the seasons by the explorations made by advance groups of the Nidoran army, as well as breeding or exploration troops. In particular, Nidoran dominion has reached into the east side of the city, including the flowershop district and the streets east of the Department Store. A tendril of Nidoran dominion also stretches deep into the city to reach Goldenrod University, and another one reaches across Rt. 35 to the entrance of the Pokéathlon Stadium.
The Colony is organized into “rings” that follow different activity patterns and are dedicated to different tasks. Mobility from one ring to the other in the social order is possible under certain circumstances reserved for groups, not individuals, with the exception to the (self-)promotion to cabal breeder or Ring-0. With the exception of the two innermost rings, each ring has a relatively even gender distribution. Adult morphs are more common in the center and outermost rings; the “Royal Evolutions” do not partake into ring formations at all, and respond to a different social ordering.
Each ring is split into a different amount of “slices” defined by their tasks and family ordering (ie.: siblings tend to share slices). Those slices must uphold their resources, be it water, grass or berries, as well as interact, overlap and even cross over a neighbour ring about twice a year, leading to a fluid social structure. Each “slice” is usually guarded by two Nidorino buddies of age 3 or older who tend to be blood siblings.
The members of the colony respond to either their parents, their slice's Nidorino guarders, or an emissary couple from an innermost ring, in respective order of immediate availability. The chain ends with the higher leaders of the Colony, a group of anywhere from 4 to 8 Nidorina “breeders” forming a cabal. These Nidorina have the highest social order and take all the important decisions regarding the distribution of territory and resources across the rotating rings.
The organization allows the colony to protect its core resources and breeding factor from Elil or predators, which include, in approximate increasing order of threat:
Except for the last two levels of predation, the colony has established measures to deal with the other predators on a group basis, and policies to take care of the kits so they are not subjected to surprise predation, so predation reaching the innermost levels of the Colony is a very rare occurrence, if it ever happens (again; barring Skarmory and Psychic types).
The Colony also establishes alliances with species sharing its habitat, allowing mutual access and share of resources, most notably:
The Colony also has an odd relationship with the Nildro – Murkrow, who have invaded the city of Goldenrod and established murders by using TMs brought from elsewhere. At the time of the events in the AU, the situation had almost escalated to a war due to revelations that the Murkrow have previously sided with a Pokémon regent trying to assert dominance over the world, and whom the Colony believes, due to a lack of channels of information, to have attacked U Frithrah's prophet “Luke”. However, after Luke returns in good condition and Rommel attacks, the Nidos and Murkrow ally to defend Rt.35.
Due to the Murkrow being evicted from Goldenrod City during the invasion, the Nidos help build nests for the Murkrow population alongside Rt.35.
This is the Breeding Cabal Ring, formed by the top breeder Nidorina and their breeding partners each season.
The females who make part of the breeding cabal hold the highest breeding rights and at the end of each courting season they can pick males of their choosing, even if they have already been earned by a lower-order female. Successfully raising a litter of 4 or more each year is one of the requirements a cabal breeder must fulfill to retain her position.
At the time of the events in the AU the Breeder Ring is led by a 5-year-old female of name Mayonaka, who has the 5-year-old army's leader Taisho as her mate. The other four members of the cabal have their sights fixated on seven different males, two of them Rize (Army higher-up) and Vinollo (Owsla leader). At some point, the Ring-0 has been moved towards the south, past the Magnet Train railroad and closer to Azalea, to a more dense and well-protected forest, in preparation for Rommel's last stage of invasion.
Attributions of the breeding cabal include but are not limited to:
(A † indicates AU!only attributions)
The innermost ring of the Colony is protected from ground predation at all times of the day by selected Nidorino scouts placed on Ring-1, who bet their chances to have a breeding partner next season on this task. Sometimes a member of the Owsla, the Colony's secret guard, is placed to also protect the innermost ring. Trusted Spinarak or Yanma companions help detect other threats.
Excepting Skarmory or Psychic types, any predator who manages to survive these barriers and reach Ring-0 should be already dying from its wounds, and be left to become easy revenge prey for the cabal Nidorina. Once the predator is killed, its corpse is usually offered to the training schools at Ring-1 so they can be used for ramming practice.
This is the innermost Protection Ring, formed by Nidorina and Nidorino tasked with teaching the kits the techniques of battle. This ring is also the only one an Owsla is allowed absolute combat discretion in, up to and including killing intruders.
At the time of the events in the AU, the Protection Ring is split into three slices; a western one, a southern one, and a larger one. Owsla Leader Vinollo lives in and handles the southern slice.
Attributions of Nidorans in the protection cabal include but are not limited to:
(A † indicates AU!only attributions)
While this ring is well-protected, it is also the less populated in terms of density. A predator reaching Ring-1 triggers a response from the guarding Nidorina and Nidorino stationed on each slice to perform two tasks: the first, moving all kits towards Ring-0 (unless evaluation of the threat suggests evacuating to Ring-2 instead); second, a gathering of all capable adults to fight the threat and corner it at the border of a slice, which are marked by landmarks usually hard to navigate by invaders. Once located, the predator will be never chased away, but cornered and killed by the attacking adults, to secure the location of Ring-0.
On rare occasion a high-ranking member of the Owsla, the secret guard, is called in to assist to the prosecution of a predator in a slice that forms part of the particular Nido's territory, or forms part of a breeding affiliation. Once this call is made, the predator won't usually last long enough for other adults to join the battle.
This ring extends to most of the family burrows, and spreads far enough to encompass the largest and richest patches of grass of which the Nidoran line primarily feeds.
When predation reaches this ring, it is usually chased out by the combined efforts of patrolling Nidorans and allied species, in particular Hoothoot. As a general rule, predator or invader kills are not carried out in this ring to avoid disturbing the routines of resource collection of the Colony.
During the fall and winter, females from the innermost rings move to this area to secure a temporary territory and feed on stored resources, with the purpose of dedicating the early spring only to the evaluation of potential males.
To be completed
This is a ring where there are, as a general rule, no permanent burrows. It is guarded by scouts, patrollers, allied species (in particular Yanma) and very rarely a low-ranking member of the Owsla. This is also the only ring where interaction with humans under the terms of The Vow is allowed indiscriminately by the basic morphs.
In the particular case of the Goldenrod Colony, Ring-3 extends as far as the borders of Rt. 36 and the National Park, where it has the largest surface and is guarded permanently by an Army patrol.
To be completed
At the time of the events in the AU there are five Royal Couples roaming the Colony outskirts. One such pair is comprised by Maekrite's parents: Inka and her mate. All of the royal couples have basic military-grade battle training and knowledge of Ground-type and Bug-type TM moves.
Keeping of the Nidoran lore is carried by the group of elders, low-level but long-lived adult morphs who have experience with the human world. The elders spread around the colony, stay close to and watch a set of locations of interest to the Colony. One of such locations includes a hidden cave in the forest south of the Magnet Train railroad where an unknown armor lies, custodied by Inka.
Other roles of the elders include keeping in touch with Ecruteak City to the north, where the tower of u Frithrah (the Bell Tower) is located.
At the time of the events in the AU the Nidoran Army is led by Taisho, Mayonaka's mate, in an administrative role, and amounts to ~2000 basic morphs and ~600 adult morphs, plus two Royal Couples, in active positions. The leading positions are held by the top three Commanders, two Nidorino and a Nidorina. One of such Nidorino is Rize. After Rommel's take over of Goldenrod City, ~1000 basic morphs and ~200 adult morphs are drafted into service, most of them female.
A Nidorina or Nidorino in the Army has power and experience approximate to a in-game level of 35, with knowledge of Poison-type TMs and some breeding moves; they also have extensive knowledge of the terrain of both the Forest and the City according to their rank and location. Rize has power and experience approximate to a in-game level of 38, knowledge of Substitute and Bide, and strong bias towards Speed EV. A basic-morph Nidoran in the Army has power and experience approximate to a in-game level of 20 and with a strong bias towards Attack EV.
A first approach between the Army and Rommel's forces lead to the loss of ~100 basic morphs and ~100 adult morphs either killed or captured. The Army experiences mild losses during the urban warfare in Goldenrod City, amounting to ~200 basic morphs and ~300 adult morphs, most of them during surprise attacks in the east side of the city.
After the occupation of Goldenrod is ended, the Army suffers the loss of 196 adult morphs part of a battalion of 200 adult morphs among other units who moved to Unova to take part of the battle at Relic Castle. The attack was led by Rize.
During its existence the Army supported themselves by alliance with other species inhabiting the area, in particular Hoothoot/Noctowl, Teddiursa/Ursaring, Beedrill and Wooper. Espeon and Umbreon also took part in particular missions.
Under a situation of emergency, any adult morph (Nidorino or Nidorina) who has not gone mated during the present year and who is not raising a youth can be drafted into the Army; additionally, parent-children pairs in Ring-2 and outer can be drafted temporarily into the Army for particular missions. Silfay orphans are automatically drafted into the Army at age 2 and usually serve lifetime.
Besides the Nidoran Army, which is a AU!only addition, there is a “secret” group of Nidoran guarders who roam the colony either alone or in groups of two or three, and carry out missions on their own or in behalf of the Breeding Cabal, either inside or outside the Colony. These are called the Owsla and are considered Nidoran “civilians”.
At the time of the events in the AU the Owsla is comprised of about 20 basic-morph Nidoran and up to 12 Nidorino and Nidorina, and is headed by a Nidorino of name Vinollo, with power and experience approximate to a in-game level of 35 plus knowledge of forgotten (ie.: Gen1 and Gen2) TMs and breeding moves. Vinollo operates usually alone and is also equipped with military-grade armor.
The Owsla are organized in six ranks with different attribution as follows:
| Rank | Level Range |
Attributions (including lower ranks unless noted) |
Techniques Available (including lower ranks unless noted) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Maestro | 35+ |
|
|
| Veterano | 30~40 |
|
|
| Guerriero | 30~35 |
|
|
| Discepolo | 25~35 |
|
|
| Milite | 25~30 |
|
|
| Assistente | 18~25 |
|
To be completed |
| Servitore | ≤20 |
|
To be completed |
Royal Evolution couples, when active, are considered honorary members of the Owsla with an automatic rank and attributions of Guerriero plus the attribution to execute intruders at their own discretion.