in retrospect "faux mantis" was not especially subtle
i found out today, eight-ish years after playing pocket monsters: sun and moon when it came out in 2016, that fomantis/lurantis are not actually orchid mantises1, but mantis orchids2—that is, they're just grass-types, not bug/grass like i always thought and apparently never noticed otherwise
while we're on the subject, i just want to appreciate the double-meaning and translation work happening here:
the totem fight with lurantis in sun/moon was always a highlight of that game for me. mostly because it kicked my ass square on the ground and reminded me a bit of of the stalker FOEs from Etrian Odyssey.