I'm pretty sure the newest Pokémon games (coming out November 18th!) were made for me. Pokémon Sun and Moon are set in a region based off of Hawaii, and are filled to the brim with incredible new aquatic Pokémon. This cutie, Pyukumuku, is the Sea Cucumber Pokémon! Its name is apparently a combination of "puke," "mucus," and "cuke," which I find utterly charming. I immediately had to make my own little Pyuku.

Since this pattern doesn't make use of safety eyes, it's great for even the littlest Pokémon trainer.

Supplies

Materials

• 60-70 yards black worsted-weight yarn
• Scraps (~20 yards) white worsted-weight yarn
• Scraps (~30 yards) pink worsted-weight yarn
• Small amount white embroidery thread for mouth (optional)
• Fiberfill or preferred stuffing

Tools

• 5mm/US H crochet hook
• Tapestry needle

Abbreviations/Techniques

All pieces are crocheted in continuous rounds, not joined.

If you are having difficulty with the beginning of the body, refer to Mohumohu's oval tutorial here. Finish it off using June Gilbank's Ultimate Finish for Amigurumi. (All other pieces are left open-ended.)

Row 6 of the body has two colors: black with pink for the eyes. For a seamless color change, follow this tutorial. To combine the techniques—once you have 4 pink loops on your hook, yarn over with black yarn and pull through all four loops. Some tips for what to do with the pink yarn between the eyes are here.

Special stitches:

• bs — bobble stitch. This is the method I used, but with only three partial double crochets (4 loops on hook total) for a smaller eye.

Body (make 1 in black)

Stuff firmly. Continue to add stuffing as you decrease.

Finish off. Thread yarn through remaining stitches and pull shut to close the gap.

“Tails” (make 3 in white)

Tuck starting end in, stuff firmly, and finish off.

Small Spikes (make 4 in pink)

Finish off, stuff firmly.

Large Spikes (make 2 in pink)

Finish off, stuff firmly.

Assembly

Using your white yarn or embroidery thread, embroider Pyukumuku’s “mouth” between its eyes. Make five stitches, each about two rows long, in a star shape around your beginning magic ring.

Sew the white bits on the other end, clustered together. Angling the spikes to your liking, sew them onto Pyukumuku's back as the pictures show (large spikes in the center, a pair of smaller spikes to front and back). Bury all remaining ends inside Pyukumuku's body.

Congratulations! Wild Pyukumuku was caught!

Before you go—what are those white tail things that Pyukumuku sports?

First, we have to figure out which end of the cucumber is which. Pyukumuku has an ability called Innards Out. If Pyukumuku is knocked out, a giant white fist erupts from its face end to punch its opponent before it faints.

Real sea cucumbers grow similar sticky white strands at the base of their respiratory system, and when threatened eject the strands from their anus to distract or entangle predators. New tubules grow back within a few weeks. (Some cucumbers don't make tubules, and eject their actual organs instead. In the cucumber species pictured below, the organs ejected are the respiratory trees—basically the lungs. These grow back within a few days, which is good for the cucumber, as they are presumably helpful for breathing.)

So, as cucumbers attack enemies anus-first, we must conclude that Pyukumuku's "face" is, in fact, an anus. By process of elimination, the "tails" must actually be the face.

This likely makes them feeding tentacles, which are fluffy, (usually) white appendages on the actual face-end of a cucumber. Cucumbers scrape algae and other morsels from the sea floor with the tentacles, then fold each tentacle one by one back into the mouth to "lick" them clean before continuing to scrape up food. I love it when Pokémon takes inspiration from real-world biology.

If you have any questions about sea cucumbers or the pattern, feel free to contact me by leaving a comment or emailing me at quillentran@protonmail.com.