#AMA for both of you. Pancakes or waffles? (The mun may answer too, whoever that may be…)

BILL
That depends. Are we referring to lactose-free pancakes and/or waffles? Because if not, then both would make me rather ill, but if we are referring to lactose-free variations, then I really have no preference. And no, colleagues, it has nothing to do with the fact that I don’t eat breakfast to begin with.

LH
Waffles. There’s something satisfying about using a waffle iron … and then topping your creation with an abundance of whipped cream and chocolate syrup.

Again, why do you like dessert for breakfast so much? —Bill

Because unlike some people, I understand that breakfast is the most important meal of the day, so you might as well make it thoroughly enjoyable. —LH

{MUN
Pancakes! :D}

Solgaleo and Lunala

Solgaleo
The Sunne Pokémon
Type: Psychic/Steel
Official Registration #: 791
Entry: The evolved form of cosmoem, by battle experience. According to Alolan legend, this legendary beast came from another world and devoured the sun, then shone the sun’s light from its body before … departing to another world, apparently. Which would take the sun with it, yet not only does the sun still exist, but also, Alola is well-known as being an incredibly sunny region. Also, this pokémon, despite the fact that it radiates light and heat, is not a fire-type at all, and this world is often a fantastic, wonderful place where some things defy any sort of explanation whatsoever.

Lunala
The Moone Pokémon
Type: Psychic/Ghost
Official Registration #: 792
Entry: The evolved form of cosmoem, by battle experience. According to Alolan legend, this legendary beast came from another world and devoured the light of the moon. Which, if one thinks about it for any length of time, makes a little less sense than devouring the light of the sun, but honestly, the author has given up trying to make sense of legendary pokémon at this point.

What are different care methods for alolan vulpix compared to normal vulpix?

There are actually a lot of similarities, anonymous. As both are vulpine pokémon, both require the same diet (meat, if not kibble), the same spaces (outdoors to relieve themselves and wide-open areas to run about indoors), and even the same toys (canine chew toys, balls, and soft toys, depending on preference). Moreover, both forms of vulpix share requirements with growlithe, houndour, rockruff, and other dog-like cousins; the difference is that vulpix, being foxes, are a little bit harder to housebreak and leash train. They can be, of course, but it takes a bit more time and patience due to their wilder natures.

The differences between an Alolan and standard vulpix lie in their tolerances to water and heat.

For example, the standard vulpix is partially a fire-type, and like most fire-types, it’s uncomfortable when exposed to high volumes of water. While, like its aforementioned canine cousins, the standard vulpix can be trained to endure water and thus handle a bath, it much prefers to self-groom or have a dry bath consisting of sand and a thorough brushing from its trainer. Additionally, its fire typing means it prefers warmer environments and will often breathe small balls of flame to warm itself up. As such, a trainer needs to be wary of allowing it anywhere near anything flammable, and it’s recommended that they keep their home above 65 degrees Fahrenheit.

By contrast, the Alolan vulpix, being an ice-type, has no problems handling water at all and should be bathed regularly to maintain the cleanliness of its cloud-like tails. However, Alolan vulpix also grow heavily uncomfortable in the heat and thus should be kept cool at all times, even in the summer. If it’s too warm, it may create ice shards around itself to cool itself off, which provide an entirely different domestic hazard for an unwary trainer.

Also, keep in mind that the standard and Alolan vulpix have different types of coats due to the fact that they adapted to different types of environments. The standard vulpix is a short-haired variety that rarely sheds, but it’s very proud of the way its coat shines. It’s necessary, then, for a trainer to brush their vulpix daily to maintain both the smoothness and the shine of this coat; otherwise, the coat becomes dull and matted rather quickly, leading to an irritable vulpix.

Alolan vulpix, meanwhile, are less demanding in terms of personality and more demanding in terms of practicality. As mentioned above, Alolan vulpix have cloud-like tails and manes, which means it’s necessary to brush them to keep their thicker, curlier fur free of dirt and other debris. Additionally, although Alolan vulpix don’t fare well in warmer months, they still have both a summer coat and a winter coat and will shed their fur to cycle through both. It’s not unusual to wake up one autumn morning to find much of your home covered in fluffy, white clouds of fur quite literally everywhere, so invest in a good vacuum cleaner and an equally good pet pokémon brush.

trainersofhoenn:

“How long have you been working on the storage system?”

“I’ve been with it since its inception, actually, so that would be—oh—several years now. My partner, a Kantonian named Bill, and I went to Celadon University together, and one day, he shared the original prototype of the system with me. Back then, it had a text-based interface and was nearly unnavigable, and I told him that under no circumstances could he release something like that to you poor trainers. He invited me to help him develop the system further, and I gave it a proper GUI and cleaned up his code a bit. The system saw a worldwide release only a few months after that.”

“Ooh, that sounds like a lot of hard work! Can you share what challenges you faced in implementing it?”

“Well, it was hard at first to convince people to want it in the first place!”

“Whoa, really?”

“Yeah. It’s a great idea, and the general public thinks so now, of course, but how do you explain it to people who have no background in quantum mechanics, engineering, or digital physics? I can’t tell you how many times my partner and I have had to convince others that the system is perfectly safe, that Pokémon don’t feel a thing when they’re transferred, that it’s impossible to delete or modify Pokémon as they pass through the system, and so on and so forth. If you can think of a question regarding whether or not Pokémon would be harmed as they pass through the system, I’ve had to answer it at least 10 times.

“And that isn’t even getting into the financial aspect of it. I won’t go into too many details about that for fear of boring you, but let me just say that convincing people to invest in putting a PC in every Pokémon Center turned out to be far, far more complicated than figuring out a way to turn living creatures into electricity and data.”

“Huh, I didn’t know that! But hey, since we’re on the subject… I’m sure I’m not the only one wondering this, but how does it all work? You know, the process of storing Pokémon?”

“Oh, I can’t tell you all the details, partly because some of it is a trade secret and partly because the full explanation may take more time than you’d probably like. Whenever any of us—Bill, myself, or the other administrators, I mean—whenever we’re asked this, we often compare it to a telephone. Basically, a telephone works by converting the sound of your voice into electrical pulses, sending those through a wire as electricity or through the air as radio waves, and converting those pulses back into your voice on the other end. The storage system works in a similar manner. The matter converter breaks down a Poké Ball, draws it into the digital matrix, and sends it into our cloud-based system until you specify a destination whenever you withdraw a Pokémon. There’s a bit more to it than that, but then we’d have to get into the nature of Pokémon and how it’s possible for them to perceive their surroundings, even in an electro-digital state such as the one they assume inside a Poké Ball, and that gets a bit messy.”

“It all sounds so complex and fascinating. I’m sure I speak for everyone when I say that I couldn’t imagine being a trainer without the storage system! Is there anything you want to say to all the trainers out there whose lives have been made easier because of your work?”

“Much of what we do isn’t for you; it’s because of you. So the first thing I’d like to do is thank our users, not only for using the system but also for going out, exploring the world, and discovering new and exciting things. In turn, you inspire us to create and explore, and with your help, we come that much closer to understanding the Pokémon we share the world with. And with that said, second, never stop being curious. Keep exploring, and keep befriending the people and Pokémon you meet.”


Lanette’s dialogue was written by @bills-pokedex! Her blog is this awesome project where she writes Pokédex entries as the Pokémon researchers Bill and Lanette, and it also doubles as a platform for trainers to ask for advice! There was no one else I would’ve considered for writing the Lanette conversation, and after reading this, I’m sure you all see why. Be sure to check her blog out! 🙂

{Congratulations to @trainersofhoenn for two awesome years! As someone who lurks this blog like whoa, it was fun to collab with the voice behind Brendan and help celebrate a highly ambitious and creative fan project.

Also? If you’ve somehow never heard of this blog, give it a look! You know how Humans of New York is all about sharing the unique stories and struggles of the everyday human being? Trainers of Hoenn does very much the same thing, only it’s one person running it, and it’s all about Pokémon characters. You get a story on your dash every day, and each one adds depth and character to even the most ordinary-looking NPCs. It’s funny sometimes, it’s heartwarming at others, and it’s all-around fun, period.

Thanks to the blog’s mod for the collab, and congrats again for another year!}

Cosmog and Cosmoem

Cosmog
The Nebula Pokémon
Type: Psychic
Official Registration #: 789
Entry: This strange, nebula-like pokémon possesses a body made entirely of gas, and as such, it’s said to be physically frail. On the other hand, it also possesses incredible powers, such as the ability to open portals to strange and wondrous dimensions. It is either because of its composition or this ability to teleport that causes it to be highly difficult to capture, but either way, it is strongly recommended that you do not put it in a bag.

Cosmoem
The Protostar Pokémon
Type: Psychic
Official Registration #: 790
Entry: The evolved form of cosmog, by battle experience. After enduring incredible hardship, cosmog undergo the process of evolution, whereby its entire body mass becomes highly compressed. In truth, its nebulous body is really the very core of the black sphere at its center, while the rest of its appearance is really added matter that forms a solid cocoon. Consequently, the resulting cosmoem is extremely dense. Needless to say, it’s also not recommended that you put this pokémon in a bag, but in cosmoem’s case, it’s less because of its ability to escape (which it no longer has) and more because when the author says that this pokémon is extremely dense, he really means it weighs well over 2200 pounds.

#AMA Bill and Lanette, if you were in the Hunger Games (a fight to the death on live television, with 24 participants), what would be your strategy and how long do you think you would last?

BILL
Fight to the death?! I’d rather not, reader, but thank you.

LH
I would locate and gather as many poisonous berries as I can find, then put them in the containers given to me by sponsors and leave them all over the arena. I would use any remaining berries to taint any available food supply I can find, and I would strike up alliances, then claim the berries are perfectly edible and offer them as gifts for my new allies. If anyone is still standing after all of that, I would run them ragged through the arena and then force berries down their throats when they’re at their weakest.

Why are you so quick to answer this question? —Bill

#ama did you make up bill and lanettes last name or are they revealed somewhere

{Lanette’s is the easier one to explain here, and the answer is, yep, I made hers up! If anyone’s wondering, Lanette’s last name partly comes from her Japanese name (Mayumi, which refers to Hamilton’s spindle) and partly from this awesome systems engineer.

The history of Bill’s last name is a bit more complicated because I actually stole it from the official Pokémon website’s episode summaries back when they weren’t as well-written as they are now. Whoever wrote the summary for Bill’s episode pretty much just tried to turn his Japanese name (Masaki) into a western one, rather than use his actual localized name. I just thought at the time that it was about as close to a last name as we’re ever going to get, so I’ve been using it ever since. Long story short, I technically didn’t make it up, but it’s also less an officially given name and more of a translation error.}

Type: Null and Silvally

Type: Null
The Synthetic Pokémon
Type: Normal
Official Registration #: 772
Entry: According to files from Aether Foundation, this synthetic pokémon was created specifically to counter the power of the Ultra Beasts. It was forged from the DNA of several other species of pokémon, each of which was chosen for their incredible strength. However, because its creators feared that its power would render it difficult to control, it was forced to wear a restraint mask that greatly limited its true potential. Because no one in the history of this world has ever created the world’s most powerful pokémon and then forced it to wear power limiters, and this has never turned out to be a horrendous idea.

Silvally
The Synthetic Pokémon
Type: Normal
Official Registration #: 773
Entry: The evolved form of type: null, as a result of strengthened bonds with its trainer. It is, quite literally, a type: null that has managed to break off its limiting mask. The author is not quite sure what else to tell his readers there.