A young relative of mine has recently informed me that she caught a spiritomb. She’s always been a bit of an odd girl but she and the spiritomb seem to get along pretty well. I’m still worried, since spiritomb’s reputation as a species is not the best. How much of this concern is valid?

While I can’t blame you for being concerned, anonymous, it may be amusing to know that as malevolent as spiritomb reportedly is, it’s actually quite harmless thanks to the odd keystone that seals its spirits together. Putting it another way, imagine a sitcom with a cast consisting of 108 people who hate each other, all of whom are trapped in the same apartment for eternity, and that is essentially spiritomb. If anything, it’s more of a danger to itself than to its trainer. And even if it had managed to coordinate together for a single attack, a pokémon’s natural compulsion to work with a human being (or else attempt an escape), which is further reinforced by the poké ball itself, will keep spiritomb from attacking your relative.

Still, your relative should be aware of any poltergeist activity that may occur around her spiritomb. It’s extremely rare—and especially unlikely in this case, given the fact that your relative and her spiritomb seem friendly with one another—but it’s still a possibility.

In short, I doubt you’ll have anything to worry about, anonymous, especially if your relative already knows the risks of training a spiritomb.

The post you did about the care of standard and Alolan Vulpixes was such an informative and great post! I was wondering if you would be able to give tips on caring for the standard and Alolan Ninetales as well. Thank you!

Thank you, anonymous, but I must admit I can’t quite offer that much more information on caring for either form of ninetales.

Consider it like this: there are two types of pokémon evolution. Category A is when a pokémon changes drastically, to the point where their bodies differ so greatly from their predecessor that it’s impossible to care for the two in exactly the same way. This would include pokémon such as octillery, dragonite, huntail and gorebyss, most bug-types that undergo a cocoon stage (as well as the larvitar and bagon families, for that matter), and so on and so forth.

Then you have Category B, which consists entirely of pokémon that undergo a change, certainly, but not enough of one that they require an entirely different set of needs. Most pokémon belong to this category, including ninetales.

That having been said, most of the tips you read about in the vulpix entry will also apply to ninetales, with a few minor changes here and there. For example, keep in mind that your ninetales will be larger and more powerful, so be sure to increase the amount of food and water it receives daily. Likewise, scale up your training methods (that is, increase both the intensity and duration of its exercises) to accommodate its new power levels. Keep an eye on Alolan ninetales as well, as its new fairy-typing may require exercises geared towards training its magical potential (that is, add meditation to its regimen). And above all else, set aside time to help your ninetales maintain its tails, but be careful when brushing, as ninetales tend to be sensitive in that area. The idea that they would curse you if you pull one is a myth, but they will use either Flamethrower or Ice Beam on you (or a similar move, anyway) if you pull too hard. This makes grooming especially tricky for owners of Alolan ninetales, as their cloud-like tails tangle easily and trap quite a bit of debris. Just … be careful, readers.

May I ask how you craft your pokedex entries? Some of the facts are not found in the canon so I was wondering what your process is like. I’m really loving your blog! It’s SO enjoyable to browse through every bit, everything is wonderfully structured and I love your sense of humor and writing style! This blog is currently getting me through a tough time haha. I really appreciate it. Thank you!

{Hey there! Sorry for taking so long! But oi, hope things are going better for you. D: If not, hang in there!

To answer your question, the dex entries usually start with me reading up on the day’s subject(s) through Bulbapedia. Sometimes, something in the biology section catches my eye, if not the actual, canon ‘dex entries or the trivia. I don’t spend too long on this step, and my focus is usually on finding something that strikes me as interesting or funny. I also always make sure to hit up the Origin section to get a sense of what each Pokémon was based on. Sometimes, the best content can be gleaned from the Pokémon’s “source material,” rather than the Pokémon itself.

After that, it’s to Google or to Wikipedia (sometimes to both) to do some extra research on the subject if I need it. Or putting it another way, after doing the above, I usually have a vague idea of what I want to write about, so I pull up Google and/or Wikipedia to develop it further. So if I want to write about Celesteela setting everything around it on fire because that’s what you do when you fire off (no pun intended) a rocket in a forest, I’d look up how hot a forest fire burns and what temperature steel melts. Or if I wanted to make a joke about Politoed and French cuisine (because for reasons I’m not gonna disclose, I already knew frog legs are a French delicacy), I’d look up a few recipes … while also perhaps the actual effects of licking frogs and toads (because for other reasons I’m not gonna disclose, I knew that was a thing too).

Of course, I also admit that some facts are just pulled straight out of thin air. The one about Clefairy having soft fur, for example. That was just something I thought would be hilarious to add to Bill’s entire Clefairy experience. Likewise, I have no idea whether or not Hitmonchan actually will respond to “Eye of the Tiger,” but if I can find a way to make pop culture references to 70s movies that were overdone in the 90s and already dated by the early 00s, I most certainly will.

Either way, once the idea feels solid enough, either through research or my own questionable sense of humor, I put pen to paper, write it out, dose it heavily with Bill’s usual dry sarcasm, hit submit, edit the thing like crap before anyone reblogs, and then, finally, leave it alone and hope to all the gods that it’s as funny as I thought it was at the time.

For those wondering, writing the ask responses operates via the same process, only it’s less jokey (for the most part) and more “I did not know you could Google pet care tips for this, but here we are.”

But! Thanks so much for reading, anonymous, and once again, hope things get better for you if they haven’t yet! :D}

You’ve answered a lot of asks about anxiety management, so I want to know what Pokémon GIVE or PROMOTE anxiety and depressive tendencies??

Well, certain ghost-types may induce this in sensitive people, as their general presence affects humans on a more psychic and spiritual level. For example, a particularly sensitive person can tell that members of the gastly line are present because they inherently evoke a sense of dread. The same can be said for misdreavus, mismagius, the duskull line, and spiritomb. On the other hand, many others who are less psychically inclined have no trouble handling ghost-types, so whether or not they would induce or promote anxiety in a human being really depends on the human themselves.

Meanwhile, poison-types who emit gaseous toxins actually do this more reliably, meaning these will affect most people, regardless of whether or not you’re sensitive to poison-types. The reason why is because the toxins actually affect us humans on a physical level by interacting with our respiratory systems (and thus, everything from our immune systems to even our skin, digestion, and so forth). In turn, this can induce anxiety because, well, the more our bodies react to pollutants, the more our minds react to the warning signs that we’re breathing in toxic air. It’s very much akin to living in a city full of smog and pollution for prolong periods of time: while it’s possible for you to exist that way, you may find that you’ll feel more at ease when you escape to the country and get some fresh air, so to speak.

This isn’t, of course, to say that it’s impossible or not recommended to train a poison-type (or even a koffing or weezing). Many people who own such pokémon find that they’re perfectly happy with their companions. It’s just that it’s highly recommended to give yourself and your body a break from them, especially if you notice changes in your physical or mental health.

(Also, their gases are literally carcinogenic, so don’t plant your face in your weezing, regardless of how tempting it may be.)

My boyfriend got me a buneary for Valentine’s Day, while Cute I have a very rambunctious espurr and sylveon who mess with it constantly. How should I handle bunearys comfort?

Sometimes, teammates push around new recruits because they perceive them as easy marks, so to speak. This may be the case with your new buneary, as not only are members of this species bred to be rather cute and docile, but also, given the typical dispositions of espurr and sylveon, I wouldn’t be surprised if either of yours were attempting to assert some sort of dominance. Think of it as your espurr and sylveon showing the newcomer that you prefer them, in a way.

While team building and mediation techniques are still most certainly important (to make it clear to all members of your party that they are a team and that you expect them to treat one another with respect), what may be more effective is simply training your buneary a bit. Teach it moves to defend itself and make it be a valuable part of your team’s day-to-day activities. If you battle, then most definitely allow your buneary to battle as well. The more you train your buneary, the more its confidence will grow, which in turn will allow it to assert itself to your espurr and sylveon.

Best of luck, anonymous!

There’s a rotom loose in my neighborhood who is going through the power lines and scaring people by popping up in their homes. We’ve had rolling black outs since this rotom showed up. What do we do?

Have a pokémon who can use Mean Look on hand. The faster, the better. Once this rotom appears, have your pokémon trap it with Mean Look, then attempt to catch it.

This might seem a bit brutish, especially since my typical philosophy is to understand a pokémon and then meet its needs first, but rotom are unfortunately extremely quick, especially when close to sources of power. It’s better to trap it if at all possible, then attempt to communicate with it. Catching it is merely a form of security (to prevent it from escaping once Mean Look wears off), but if you’re quick or can appeal to it thoroughly, that may not entirely be necessary.

As for how to get it to come to you in the first place, this may be a bit tricky, but typically, the more appliances you have on hand, the more enticing you may make your own home. Having a lot of personal fans, for example, or computer equipment you wouldn’t mind losing—anything to give rotom a wide variety of options to possess.

Best of luck, anonymous!

I run a breeding facility and have a shiny eevee companion. This woman, clearly rich, came to my facility something and saw my eevee and decided to make offer upon offer for him. When I told her he wasn’t for sale she threw an absolute FIT saying that I was unreasonable and could just “make another”. I banned her from my facility. She was livid and said she’d never come to me again and that she’d tell her friends I was awful and blah blah blah. I don’t regret it but how do I save my reputation?

Be a reputable breeder.

While it’s a shame that a wealthy, supposedly influential terrible customer has been through your establishment and while it’s also a shame how common that is, reputable trainers and customers who are actually concerned about pokémon will care a lot more about the, well, care you put into breeding. If a bad customer spreads the word that you’re a terrible breeder because you won’t fulfill a request—as if a pokémon is an object and not a living being—then while that could damage your reputation a bit, it could also serve as a testament to your concern for quality care over the mass-production of certain traits.

Moreover, reputable trainers understand that breeding for shiny pokémon is not a guaranteed thing and that requests for shiny pokémon are not easy to fill and require enough breeding to tire out the parents and produce more hatchlings than one may be able to home. It’s only a thing that may be done with two mated pokémon that are extremely fond of each other, by a breeder with enough connections to rehome hatchlings humanely. Trainers who don’t recognize this and demand shinies anyway say more about themselves than the breeder, and a breeder who obliges says more about the way they care for their pokémon than their skills.

In short, anonymous, she was a bad customer, but no matter how she spins her story, if she convinces others to avoid your services, those others are not customers you would have wanted anyway.

on pokemon stench, I would like to mention that it is entirely possible to find grimer and muk that dont smell at all. These are the ones without the ability “Stench”, generally. I really wish more people would realize that not all of these goopy friends smell awful….. They still are pretty toxic though.

Actually, all of them do smell due to the combination of chemicals and bacteria in their bodies. It’s just that some grimer and muk’s bouquet of aromas are more subtle than others’, and in any case, the longer you spend with a grimer or muk, the less you notice their stench.

Speaking of which, it’s true that grimer and muk with the Stench ability possess more potent aromas than those without, to the point where they’re able to weaponize it (as opposed to making use of their sludgy, amorphous bodies or their toxic composition, as with Sticky Hold/Gluttony/Power of Alchemy or Poison Touch, respectively). These pokémon are indeed harder to become acclimated to, so whereas the scents of Stenchless grimer and muk are actually rather bearable after a while (perhaps even pleasant to a number of people), the scents of those with Stench may be a different story.

Nonetheless, though, I agree that grimer and muk are a highly misunderstood pokémon, and even if they do possess rather odd aromas, this should be no deterrent to a human trainer.

Just … don’t handle them with bare hands. Trust me on that.

Question on a Pokemon’s Stench

Stunky and Skuntank are known for their noxious, repugnant odor.

I’ve had my Skuntank ever since I was a child and I wonder if I’ve been desensitised to her apparent stink because I can honestly say she doesn’t stink to me – not unless it is an intentional stink.

I’m curious to know if the difference is due to the reconditioning in captivity (tame vs wild) or something else. Is it similar to how Trubbish will cease expelling its foul odors once it has befriended a human? How does that even biologically work? Does it have anything to do with their varying abilities (mainly Stench vs Aftermath)?

On that note, how does Aftermath work? Surely that sort of self-detonation could fatally wound a Pokemon? Yet it doesn’t seem to be the case with my Skuntank.

Thank you for your time, Bill!

Bill: While it’s true that some pokémon, such as trubbish and gloom, emit less of a stench around humans they like, skuntank is a slightly different case. You see, skuntank don’t emit a scent at all unless in self-defense; the scent is actually a biochemical spray (akin to squid ink) designed to deter predators, opponents, and the like. Because this spray takes effort to generate, not only is emitting it a conscious act on a skuntank’s part, but also, whereas a wild trubbish may emit their scent on sight, a wild skuntank may be a bit more cautious. So, yes, it’s not unusual that your skuntank isn’t, well, odorous.

As for Aftermath, it’s not a detonation, no. Rather, a pokémon simply lashes out with a short burst of energy just before fainting, similar to Selfdestruct or Explosion, only on a far, far smaller scale. This is why it occurs after a contact move, actually: because it’s so weak (compared to its cousin attacks, anyway) that it’s simply more effective to use in close ranger than at a distance.

When my Pidgeot was a little Pidgey, my neighbors Poochyena got hold of him and tore his wing up. I took him to a Pokémon center, and he seemed fine. Fast forward, hes now a pidgeot, but his wing bothers him and he can’t fly more than a few miles. I think it’s causing him self esteem issues, because he seems really depressed. Any suggestions?

Sometimes, the older a pokémon gets, the more past injuries come back to haunt them, so to speak, especially if those injuries were particularly traumatic.

However, keep in mind that just because a pokémon can no longer function in certain ways due to physical disabilities doesn’t mean they can’t function at all. You therefore have two options, anonymous. The first is work with your local pokémon center to develop a training regimen that builds your pidgeot’s endurance. There is always a chance that he can regain use of his wing with regular therapy and exercise.

On the other hand, your second option is to change your training regimen. Focus on quick, powerful attacks (not literally Quick Attack, although this too) and teach your pidgeot either Roost or Toxic or both. When training and battling, teach him to fire off one of his wing- or wind-based moves, then land and use Roost or run about on the ground, perhaps while outlasting an opponent thanks to Toxic.

If you don’t typically battle, train your pidgeot to be quick on his feet (literally this time) and perhaps to use his wings for other means (such as secondary hands, which many handless pokémon can do—take scyther, for instance).

The point of the second option is simple: if your pidgeot can’t regain his flight endurance, then it’s important to teach him other ways of moving or making use of his body so that he can continue to feel valid as an individual and useful at that. The more you can reassure him that he’s valuable to you and your team (or that he is, in general, still a perfectly valid pidgeot) despite his inability to fly as far as pidgeot with perfectly healthy wings, the easier it will be for him to understand that flying and his identity are not inseparable concepts.

Of course, if by “bother” you mean that your pidgeot is in physical constant pain, I urge you to take the first option before trying the second as that would be humane, but aside from that, if your pidgeot simply can’t fly for long distances before his wing gives out, at the very least, the second option may help ease his mind a bit.

Best of luck, anonymous!