Pokeshell

Pokeshell is a small critter that consumes Polluted Dirt, Rot Pile, or Slime and excretes Sand while producing Pokeshell Molt shells during growth and death. Wild Pokeshells inhabit polluted, coastal, and tide-pool biomes where their food sources occur; they are a source of Sand and Molt (which can be crushed into Lime or Wood at a Rock Crusher) and interact with breeding and morph mechanics that let them produce Oakshell or Sanishell variants under specific liquid conditions.

Pokeshells pass through a juvenile-to-adult molt: a juvenile that matures drops a Pokeshell Molt, adult deaths yield 10 kg of Pokeshell Molt and juvenile deaths yield 5 kg. The base Pokeshell excretes Sand from consumed Polluted Dirt/Rot/Slime and does not provide the extra byproducts or grooming effects of its morph cousins. Pokeshells require a steady supply of dirty material to remain fed; Polluted Dirt is the most practical continuous feedstock (an Ethanol Distiller supplies enough Polluted Dirt to sustain nearly three domesticated Pokeshells running).

Pokeshells have three morphs (Pokeshell, Sanishell, Oakshell). Morph chance is affected by dwelling in substantial Water or Ethanol:

• Dwelling in Water substantially increases the chance to lay Sanishell Roe.
• Dwelling in Ethanol substantially increases the chance to lay Oakshell Roe.
• Not dwelling in either increases the chance of laying the base Pinch Roe (default Pokeshell). Morph‑chance mechanics depend on a threshold liquid mass (the same level that causes buildings to flood). Even with continuous submersion there is a small non-zero chance to produce other morphs; fully biased breeding requires multiple egg cycles to approach very high probability levels (for example, ~3.6 cycles for ~80% correct-egg chance, ~23.6 cycles for ~99%).

Pokeshells are normally non-hostile, but they become aggressive when they can path to a Pokeshell egg within 32 cells. In this "protecting" state they turn red and will attack and kill Duplicants or critters in their path; they calm down and revert to passive behavior once separated from their eggs. This behavior makes egg extraction and ranch layout safety important: keep egg tiles inaccessible to Duplicants, use unpassable Pneumatic Door segments as safe roofs/floors for egg retrieval, or confine wild populations to a single room with restricted access.

Operational and ranching notes:

• Feeding: Rot Piles, Slime, and Polluted Dirt are messy and transient sources because they offgas Polluted Oxygen; consistent feeding is the challenge. Groomed but unfed Pokeshells live long enough to reproduce once, so groomed-only ranches can produce eggs with minimal feeding (though growth size and population are limited without feeding).
• Resource chain: Pokeshell Molt crushed produces Lime or Wood in a Rock Crusher. Oakshell and Sanishell morphs alter outputs dramatically (Oakshells produce large Wood molts and can be very valuable when run in ethanol loops; Sanishells provide cleaning in liquid and large Raw Shellfish drops on death).
• Feeding infrastructure: Ethanol Distillers and Water Sieves produce Polluted Dirt; an Ethanol Distiller provides enough Polluted Dirt to feed about three Pokeshells, whereas a continuously running Water Sieve is insufficient to feed even one.
• Use cases: Pokeshells work as early-game Polluted Dirt consumers and Sand producers (useful for deodorizing and localized sand needs), garbage disposal for tiny food debris (not practical for sustained feeding), and as a supplemental Lime/Wood source when their molts are processed.
• Safety: When managing outhouse cleanup or other sources of Polluted Dirt, ensure dupes extract eggs promptly; once a Pinch Roe is laid, any nearby Pokeshell may enter protecting mode and must be separated or pacified to prevent duplicant deaths.

Maintaining a successful Pokeshell operation requires balancing feed availability, safe egg handling, and morph control via liquid exposure if specific outputs (Sanishell/Shellfish or Oakshell Wood) are desired. Wild Pokeshell populations can be corralled into a single room for a passive source of molts and Lime, but domestication should start with a single tame specimen to avoid accidental mass aggression when eggs are present.