Scrafty Characteristics and Behavior

【Lizard tails are often a different and dramatically more vivid
color than the rest of the body so as to encourage potential
predators to strike for the tail first. Many lizards, including
geckos and skinks, are capable of shedding part of their tails
through a process called autotomy.】
-Scrafty have those little red baubles on their tails, which
serve as their version of the inviting color change many
smaller lizards have on their own. While their ancestral
escape mechanism still works, it hinders them significantly
more than their smaller counterparts because scrafty have
evolved into bipeds. They are naturally a slower species, so
their center of balance being thrown out of sorts in desperate
situations can often leave them completely vulnerable.
Furthermore, while small species of lizard must only wait a
matter of weeks for their appendage to regenerate, the
child-sized scrafty is left off-kilter for nearly four months.
Therefore, this method of distraction is decreasing in usage,
especially in areas where scraggy and scrafty are plentiful
and have space to develop communal culture.

【Males spend most of their energy in fights over a female to
establish dominance and impress females by demonstrating a
high quality of fitness. In White's skink (Egernia whitii),
in southeastern Australia, larger males with strength and
size correlating positively, intimidate rivals with their
size, ward off other males from a female and claim territory
space. The losers of fights have an increased Stress rate and
fewer breeding opportunities while fighting among males, which
only happens during the breeding season illustrates to a
female that he would be able to provide protection for her and
her eggs. Some weapons used are spikes on the body and tail,
teeth, and claws. An iguana's bite force can result in injury
to other males; this leads the weaker male to flee from the
fight and abort his chance of trying to mate. Bite-force
performance predicts dominance in males and who sires more
offspring. Male dominance correlates with a large territory
size and access to females. In the common collared lizard
Crotaphytus collaris, males display their locomotive skills in
order to attract a female by getting to territory and
resources first. Faster males have energy to spend when it
comes to obtaining food and territory and are protective of
their female mate and have a higher reproductive success and
mate with more females on a first-come, first-served basis. In
Australian agamid lizards coloration influences competitive
success; the more intimidating a male is perceived based on
his color, the more likely a weaker male would not want to
compete with him for a chance to mate with a female.】
-Scrafty's most prominent feature is its crest, the size of
which dictates who the most respected member of the group is.
This is likely also relevant to the species' mating practices,
as the specimen with the largest crest would reasonably be
considered the best mate. Curious, however, is that there
seems to be no distinction between sexes in regards to crest
size--if a female ends up with the most impressive features,
she is dubbed the leader. Furthermore, scrafty are naturally
violently territorial and quick to anger, so fighting strength
is the second most important characteristic of a good mate.
This is what all compatible mates will be inspecting
when they consider other members of their egg group, as it's
unlikely that a woobat would care more about a scrafty's crest
than its ability to protect their young. Naturally slow and
bulky, scrafty display their impressive defensive skills by
outlasting their opponent in battle. It is common to find
scrafty covered in welts and scars, as they often purposely
extend the fight to show just how much stamina they have.

【Sexual selection in lizards shows evidence of female mate
choice, favouring males display fitness indicators, such as
fewer ectoparasites.】
-Contrary to popular belief, health and hygeine are important
to scrafty just as they are to any other highly advanced
organism. Plastic toothbrushes are commonly found missing from
stores, snatched by local scrafty looking to take care of
their impressive teeth. They also take care to keep their
shed skin as clean as possible, making sure to shake out any
debris and comb it for parasites on a daily basis. Their
crests, a would-be favorite spot for unwanted guests, are
meticulously cared for to prevent any bugs from nesting.
Although scrafty have no problem nesting in condemned
buildings rife with mold and mildew, they take care to prevent
any of it from following them outside.

【Males in some lizard species can choose the female they want
to mate with. Males prefer more-ornamented females displaying
better fitness and fecundity (reproductive rate). In striped
plateau lizards (Sceloporus virgatus), females during the
breeding season develop an orange color on their throat area
signaling that they are ready to mate, and it represents a
higher quality female (fewer ectoparasites, and larger egg
mass).】
-For those who live in heavily-populated areas, especially,
scrafty enjoy adorning themselves in found objects. It's not
uncommon to see one, gender irrelevant, wearing necklaces and
bracelets. While females prefer more colorful pieces (as
encouraged by the males who seek their attention), urban males
seem to prefer golds and silvers with few color splotches. It
is unofficially hypothesized that this is learned behavior.
Furthermore, male scrafty have been witnessed to seek out mates
with impressive color contrast, within and without sexually-
compatible species. Organisms sporting a rainbow of colors in
their markings and attire, of those who are decorated with
pairings of extreme darks and extreme lights, are adept at
catching the attention of scrafty, should any be around.

【Females in many lizard species have the choice to mate with or
reject males. Females spend energy in investigating a male’s
traits in order to determine if he is healthy and has good
genes. In the species Side-blotched lizard (Uta stansburiana),
males chosen by females had 76 percent less ectoparasites.
Females who are not sickly can spare the energy in
investigating their potential mate’s qualities. Females
prefer males that can afford to spend the most energy in
displaying their traits because it is difficult to fake good
genes. In the species Anolis pulchellus, females chose males
who defended territory 89% of the time.】
-Scrafty are known to be stubborn, a behavior scientists are
not sure developed naturally or became "culturally genetic"
after interaction with humans. Nonetheless, they are often
pushy and take rejection poorly. Disinterested partners must
have the strength to back their choice up, in order to prove
to the scrafty that it is indeed not worthy. This refusal to
accept 'no', as it would be simplified by some, has been the
subject of something of a moral dilemma among humans daring
enough to discuss the elephant in the room. Furthermore, this
trait is fairly common in dark-types in general, only adding
fuel to the antagonism such species face by certain humans.

【Females can determine a male's fitness based on the pheromones
he leaves in an environment.】
-Nearly every macroorganism does this, including humans.
Although lizard-mating-hormones are not received by humans,
educated trainers and savvy locals in communities with scrafty
populations know what's up. Take that as you will.

【Size dimorphisms are common in snakes; females tend to be
larger in populations where the production of large liters is
feasible. Males tend to be larger in mating systems in which
male-male competition is a large factor.】
-Larger pokemon like scrafty usually only lay one egg at a
time, so it is not a species in which females generally
outsize males. Mating competition is usually between males,
but there are always exceptions, especially for those living in
urban areas.

【Vision, including color vision, is particularly well developed
in most lizards. Most lizards communicate using body language,
using specific postures, gestures, and movements to define
territory, resolve disputes, and entice mates.】
-Scrafty are known to be deeply in-tune with the body language
of those whom they associate with. Oftentimes, scrafty will be
the first pokemon on a team to notice a change in their
trainer's mood, and the first in their group to catch on to a
friend's anxiety. The excessive (literal) posturing of humans
is known to annoy them, and a scrafty may decide to strike at
friends and strangers alike whom they deem to be behaving
dramatically.

【Snakes and lizards will sweep the air with their tongues to
sample for airborne particles, then retract the tongue into
the mouth to deliver these chemicals to the vomeranasal organ.
Many species are able to release chemical messages (known as
pheromones) into the environment, which impacts on the
behaviour or physiology of the recipient of the same species.
They represent one avenue of communication between individuals
and are often detected by specialised receptor organs.
Pheromones are produced in exocrine glands and effect sexual
activity (produced by the females when they are ready to breed
and received by the males) or are used to demonstrate
territoriality.】
-In a culturally-uncharacteristic "lizardy" behavior, scrafty
commonly part their teeth and extend their tapered tongues to
scan for airborne chemicals. This behavior is much less common
in urban and homebound scrafty, as the noxious gases from
human technology are a major deterrent. Furthermore, scrafty
native to dusty regions avoid this behavior for obvious
reasons. Many trainers report their scrafty re-developing
their chemical dousing behavior once they travel to cleaner
environments.

【Changes in behaviour can occur in response to social
situations (e.g. displaying signs of aggression or
appeasment), time of day (e.g. increase or decrease in
activity), heat availibility (e.g. extension of the dewlap and
broad side posturing towards a heat source) and so on. Certain
behaviours require fairly high temperatures
(30-37°C/86-99°F - "activity temperatures") which include
foraging and locomotion. In a study involving western garter
snakes (Thamnophis elegans) it was found that activities such
as swimming, digestion, tongue flicking, crawling and oxygen
consumption were at 100% in temperatures of approximately
28-35°C (82-95°F) but most activities were reduced to a 60%
activity level when temperatures dropped to approximately
20°C (68°F). A correct environment that is appropraite to
the species is vital, not only for the health of the animal
but for the facilitation of behaviour as well.】
-Scrafty by nature are extremely combative, so signs of
appeasement are rare. While the weak may flee from a battle,
the act in itself an attempt at appeasement since scrafty are
hardly fast enough to flee from anything, it is exceedingly
rare for one to prostrate itself to appear smaller and less
threatening. Furthermore, time and temperature play heavy
roles in when and where scrafty are willing to indulge their
aggressive nature. They are predominantly diurnal, thriving in
direct sunlight, but take after humans in their willingness to
venture out after dark. Often, scrafty wandering about at
night will seek the warmth of stores and steam vents beside
restaurants and homes. In the intense heat of summertime and
their desert habitats, scrafty are fully active. As
temperatures wane, however, their mood and health dips, and
wild scrafty often struggle to find adequate shelter in cold
weather. In the desert and woodlands, they hole up in dusty
burrows along with a stockpile of food for the worst of the
year, emerging in early spring. In urban areas, scrafty often
have poor luck finding such places. City parks prove lousy
places for burrows due to their traffic, and those who attempt
to dig into abandoned lots could, in the worst of cases,
find their escape route paved over by construction the next
morning. Indeed, there are many cases of the somewhat
diminutive scrafty being unable to survive city winters. The
ones who do survive are generally those who've made some
human friends to rely on, or those who live with warm-blooded
pokemon outside their species.