I’m taking a trip to Kanto and my cyndaquil has been very nervous about all the packing to the point she’ll accidentally set a table on fire. (My poliwag makes sure it goes out quickly) but what can I do to help my Pokémon with her separation anxiety?

Treating separation anxiety in cyndaquil is very much like treating separation anxiety in any other pokémon, but in your case, it depends on how long you’ll be gone and whether or not cyndaquil is going with you. If you’re going to Kanto for a short time period and your cyndaquil will be staying behind, it’s important to get her used to either her poké ball (if you plan on storing her in the PC) or her caretaker (if not). If you plan on having someone take care of her, have them spend time with your cyndaquil. Give that caretaker your cyndaquil’s toys and treats and allow them to feed and play with your pokémon. If you plan on storing her, meanwhile, have her spend at least an hour a day in her poké ball. Start with only one hour, then increase the amount of time she spends inside until she has no problems with being stored. It may also help to switch the wallpaper of the box you plan on using to store her to something she might like; you could even let her decide. Each wallpaper is designed specifically to help a pokémon adjust to their stored environment, so choose something your cyndaquil finds comforting.

If your cyndaquil is going with you, it may also help to use poké ball training as well. Just as described above, have your cyndaquil spend some time within her ball each day until you leave. Then, when you get to Kanto, let her out in environments that she may be familiar with (such as a field or a wooded area—something that resembles even at a cursory glance the outside of your home) for increasing amounts of time until she grows used to being somewhere other than home.

It may also help to keep her out of the room as you pack, as the idea of you going away may be stressful for her, even if she’s going with you. Give her new toys to play with as you work and leave her in a separate room. If you’re not going to be taking her, it may also help to give her toys and leave her at home as you run short errands as well to get her used to you not being physically around. If she is going with you, be sure to take some of her old, more familiar toys as well in order to help her adapt to the new environment.

In short, the key is simply to train her to get used to different situations, depending on whether or not she’ll be going with you. Keeping your poliwag handy is definitely a good idea, but overall, it’s important to train her to get used to not only your absence (if she’s not going with you) or a new environment (if she is) but also, if applicable, her ball and her temporary caretaker.

Best of luck, anonymous!

Yanma and Yanmega

Yanma
The Clear Wing Pokémon
Type: Bug/Flying
Official Registration #: 193
Entry: A large, dragonfly-like pokémon first discovered in the Johto region. Yanma is notorious for its flying abilities. Not only is it capable of seeing a full 360 degrees around itself (allowing it to analyze all potential flight paths and navigate around obstacles all at once), but its unique wing design also allows it to fly at high speeds, maneuver around sharp turns, and stop and hover in mid air. The first and last of those abilities—that is, the impressive flying speed, in combination with its ability to stop at a moment’s notice—are unique in the pokémon world and give yanma an edge when chasing down prey, fleeing from predators, and stopping to turn and fire a Sonic Boom at researchers attempting to approach it from behind.

Yanmega
The Ogre Damer Pokémon
Type: Bug/Flying
Official Registration #: 469
Entry: The evolved form of yanma, by battle experience, if the subject knows Ancient Power. Every part of this gargantuan insect pokémon is powerful. Its mandibles are capable of snapping through femurs, its wings can generate gusts of wind potent enough to uproot trees, and its six spindly legs are strong enough to pick up and carry an adult man. Incidentally, should anyone wonder where the author was for a week shortly after his first visit to Unova’s Pinwheel Forest—one of the few places wild yanmega can be found—the answer is “the hospital,” and quite obviously, this is an entirely irrelevant note that has absolutely nothing to do whatsoever with any of these facts about yanmega or the above entry concerning yanma.

Heracross

Heracross
The Single Horn Pokémon
Type: Bug/Fighting
Official Registration #: 214
Entry: A massive, beetle-like pokémon first discovered in the Johto region. Known for its massive horn, heracross are capable of valiantly defending their territories and beloved honey trees by slipping said horn beneath an enemy and flinging them away. However, despite this habit, heracross are normally docile pokémon; it’s only when eating honey—its favored food—that a trainer should beware of being attacked. Interestingly enough, despite its absolute love for honey, it is not a good idea to offer it some in an attempt to establish a rapport with it. Rather, this is an excellent way to guarantee that the heracross you’re attempting to befriend will slam its horn into your stomach, lift you up, and throw you directly into a tree before taking the entire pot of honey for itself.

Aipom and Ambipom

Aipom
The Long Tail Pokémon
Type: Normal
Official Registration #: 190
Entry: A small, monkey-like pokémon first discovered in the Johto region. This mischievous pokémon lives primarily in the uppermost branches of the trees in its native forests. It’s a deft acrobat, capable of swinging itself from tree to tree without ever coming down, even at a young age. This skill is helped in part by the tip of its prehensile tail, which possesses a strong and highly dextrous hand. Of course, actually having hands would be a little more useful, but considering the fact that aipom has managed to survive this long without them, who is the author to say what would work best for this species?

Ambipom
The Long Tail Pokémon
Type: Normal
Official Registration #: 424
Entry: The evolved form of aipom, by battle experience, if the subject knows Double Hit. Just like its preevolved form, ambipom thrives primarily in the treetops. There, not only is its locomotion aided by its twin tails, but so is every other aspect of its life, from picking and shucking fruit to communicating with fellow ambipom. By this stage of life, it rarely does anything at all with its hands … which is understandable, considering the fact that it still doesn’t have any, Sinnoh.

Kalos Legendaries, Part III

Volcanion
The Steam Pokémon
Type: Fire/Water
Official Registration #: 721
Entry: According to Kalosean legend, this cryptic pokémon dwells in the harshest, mountainous conditions, where no human ever dares tread. It is supposedly a master of steam, with internal steam stores that it can channel through the pipes on its back to let loose a blast of super-hot fog. This, of course, is a nice change of pace from the numbers of quadrupedal beast-like pokémon that dwell within mountains and lord over volcanoes, all of whom prefer to simply channel magma beneath the surface of the earth to create devastating eruptions. In short, the author commends Kalos for its creativity.

Kalos Legendaries, Part II

Hoopa
The Mischief Pokémon
Type: Psychic/Ghost
Official Registration #: 720
Entry: This legendary, djinn-like pokémon is known for being unfathomably powerful in its true form, but even in its “bound” state, it possesses incredible abilities. Namely, using its mystical gold ring, it has the ability to connect its present location with a mysterious, secret location. Using this power, it frequently gathers the things it likes to store it in said location, thus building up a collection of incredible treasures. Given all of this information—including its affinity for collecting things, its ability to transport objects across space and time, and its incredible amounts of power in its unbound state—this pokémon may be considered basically the author if the author had a “pokésona,” as the internet calls them.

You wish, Bill. —LH

Kalos Legendaries, Part I

Carbink
The Jewel Pokémon
Type: Rock/Fairy
Official Registration #: 703
Entry: A small, imp-like pokémon native to the caves of Kalos. Having slept underground for millions of years, the minerals in its body has been tempered by the pressures and temperatures of the earth itself into precious stones, most notably pure diamond. Interestingly enough, despite supposedly being related to a legendary pokémon, carbink are not considered to be legendaries themselves and are in fact fairly common in their native cave systems, which in turn means their diamonds are not particularly rare. In conclusion, for those of you who are interested in female-identifying people, the old saying “diamonds are a girl’s best friend” is terrible advice, but “chocolate is a girl’s best friend” is usually not. Just a friendly tip.

Diancie
The Jewel Pokémon
Type: Rock/Fairy
Official Registration #: 719
Entry: According to Kalosean myth, this small, princess-like pokémon is the legendary of jewels. As such, it has the power to create diamonds by compressing the carbon in the air around it. Additionally, it is not only said to be the sudden transformation of carbink (through a surge of magical fairy energy), but it is also capable of mega evolving into an even more regal and powerful form. And on that note, the author is sorely tempted to make a reference to magical girls here, but unfortunately, the internet has beaten him to literally every possible one conceivable.

Sinnoh Legendaries, Part VII

Giratina
The Renegade Pokémon
Type: Ghost/Dragon
Official Registration #: 487
Entry: A strange and mysterious legendary dragon whose power rivals that of Dialga and Palkia. It is said that Giratina was banished from this world eons ago for its violence, and now, it rules over a dimension on the reverse side of ours known as the Distortion World. Naturally, one might ask what violent act it may have committed to get itself banished completely from reality. The simple answer was that it was created to embody the nothingness and antimatter opposite to the creations of Dialga and Palkia, and thus, there must have been a war between Giratina and the two deities of space and time. But more than likely, knowing Sinnoh legends and given the fact that Giratina is known as the Renegade Pokémon, it’s probable that it was simply the loser of an epic rap battle among the ancient deities.

Bill, no. —LH

Sinnoh Legendaries, Part VI

Dialga
The Temporal Pokémon
Type: Steel/Dragon
Official Registration #: 483
Entry: One of the highest deities of Sinnohan lore, Dialga was created by Arceus to serve as the master of time. It is said that time began to flow the moment it was born and has continued to flow with every one of its heartbeats. Likewise, because of how integral time is to Dialga, it has the power to control its flow as well as travel backwards and forwards through it, and thus, its title of “master of time” is both literal and metaphorical. As such, you could even say it’s a time lord, except the editor of this blog has requested that the author does not refer to it as that because “honestly, Bill, there are about thirty reasons why you shouldn’t refer to one of the gods of the fabric of space and time with an already outdated pop culture joke, and you have a high enough IQ to figure out why.”

Palkia
The Spatial Pokémon
Type: Water/Dragon
Official Registration #: 484
Entry: One of the highest deities of Sinnohan lore, Palkia was created by Arceus to serve as the master of space. Supposedly, it has the ability to distort space and control the stabilization of dimensions, and with every breath it takes, space becomes more stable. It is also said that as the lord of all space, it’s a rather funny coincidence that its pink, thick-necked, large-shouldered appearance makes it resemble a certain body part shared by some people who think they have the capacity to control all space, but the editor has also requested that the author do not refer to one of the deities of the space-time continuum as a pokémon that resembles such an object. Even though many other people of Sinnohan origin or otherwise think it looks rather phallic too.

I recently evolved my haunter into a gengar and he’s become very cuddly since. He used to wander off and return after a certain distance but not he won’t leave my side unless it’s to battle. Is this normal?

I assume you evolved your gengar via trading, rather than by obtaining a particularly old haunter who was just about to evolve naturally. (That’s a possibility as well. A little-known one, as neither trainers nor the pokémon involved find waiting that long to be all that pleasant, but it’s still a method nonetheless, which is why you might come across wild steelix or gengar.)

That having been said, even if you receive your gengar back, the act of trading can sometimes shake a pokémon. Certainly, many who agree to the process do just fine afterwards, but there are those who can’t help but feel as if the act of trading trivializes their relationship with their trainers. Some of these cases feel indifferent to their trainers afterwards, and their partners must then work to rebuild their bonds and reassure their pokémon that trading did not affect how much they care.

Other cases are very much like your gengar: afraid that they can lose their trainers very easily. In these cases, it’s important for the trainer to reinforce the idea that their pokémon that they would never give them up and that the fact that they wanted them back means that those pokémon are still wanted. You can do this simply by making gengar an even more important part of your team. Spend more time with him. Give him a little more affection. Work with him through an extra hour of training. Do everything you can to make him feel wanted and loved, and this will allow him to understand that all you wanted was to help him evolve.

So in a sense, it’s normal, but it’s not usual. It’s rare that this happens. (Normally, either of the other two possibilities—in which a pokémon isn’t affected by trading at all and in which a pokémon grows distant—are far more common.) But it’s also reversible through a bit of extra care.

Of course, also don’t rule out the possibility that it could be something else. Communicate with your gengar and see if he just wants to be more affectionate or if he’s actually being protective due to a real and valid threat. It’s most likely simply a side-effect of the process, however.