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Hi Bill! I’ve been reading through your posts on hear and feel like I’ve learned a lot but I have to say, I’m starting to worry about some of my dark types. From what you’ve been saying, most dark types are kinda nasty but all of mine are massive softies. The only time I’ve ever seen them violent or aggressive was when they thought me or my family were being threatened. Do I have to worry about them hiding something or is this sort of thing normal?

LH here, anonymous.

Normally, I let Bill answer these questions himself, but because of reasons that involve my partner’s inability to not scare readers, he’s currently distracted … by another episode of Binaclebob Trapezoidpants.

That said, don’t worry, anonymous. Most of Bill’s pokédex entries are written tongue-in-cheek and refer to either each species’ official entry in the National Dex (which are often themselves referring to wild pokémon only) or his own experiences with these pokémon (which are often harrowing because my partner is a wonderful researcher when it comes to fieldwork—this is, after all, the same man who thought grabbing a honedge by the hilt because “that old wives’ tale about honedge possession can’t possibly be real” was a brilliant idea).

Actual, tamed dark-types are surprisingly more loyal and sweet than most other pokémon. This is because in the wild, dark-types rely on their abilities to sneak or to gang up on other pokémon to survive, either because they’re not actually that strong on their own or because other pokémon would do the same to them. For that reason, they’ve garnered the reputation of being vicious, but actually, when they feel safe—such as in situations when a human is taking care of all their needs—they lose their need to be vicious and adopt more friendly and open personalities. Of course, some pokémon, such as houndoom, will always be aloof in comparison with their non-dark counterparts, but that’s just the way they are. It’s not really any indication of whether or not they’re good, evil, vicious, or friendly.

So really, you don’t have to worry about your own pokémon. They’re most likely every bit the massive softies they seem to be on the surface.

Honestly, though, it’s probably fairy-types if anything that you’d have to worry about. Those know how to use their cuteness to get what they want, but honestly, that’s not exactly dangerous. Just slightly nefarious, but only insofar as pokémon treats are concerned. And honestly, how can you argue with a face that pink and cute?

are there pokemon who absolutely cannot become service pokemon? i was thinking of retiring my pikachu from battling, but he is really helpful when im having anxiety issues so i dont want to stop traveling with him.

There are a couple of things to consider, anonymous.

First, I would hate to say it, but service pokémon are typically trained for their tasks from birth. That isn’t to say your own pokémon can’t help you in their own way, but official service pokémon often need at least a year of task training and public training. You see, being a service pokémon isn’t just about knowing how to perform the tasks a human partner may need. It’s also about knowing how to be professional and calm at all times while on the job, and it’s about knowing how to focus, even in the most distracting of situations. For example, if a pet growlithe barks threateningly at a service growlithe, the service growlithe must know how to remain composed enough to focus on their work, not on attacking the other growlithe. Likewise, service pokémon must be calm and collected, even in settings jam-packed with people or in situations that are life-threatening to either their human partner or themselves (or both).

In some cases, a battle-ready pokémon may be taught to become a service pokémon, but to do so effectively, they must attend training with a specialized trainer, one who is not only capable of teaching a pokémon how to assist with their human partner’s disability but also how to heel and obey properly in any situation. This trainer must be certified for service training, and at the completion of the pokémon’s education, that pokémon must undergo thorough examination to ensure they can work reliably at all times. Only then may a pokémon be awarded the license to be a service pokémon. However, it’s also worth it to note that not every region allows for this process to happen with battle-ready pokémon, as battle-ready pokémon often react to situations with a battlefield mindset (that is to say, by attacking or preparing itself to attack), even years after retirement. Among the regions where you can train any retired battle-ready pokémon to become a service animal, you have Unova, Alola, and Kalos. For all others, it’s highly recommended that you double-check your local regulations.

That having been said, though, most species can be service pokémon. The only exceptions are cases in which the pokémon would pose a threat to surrounding humans (such as grimer, muk, and cryogonal) or are far too large to be usable (onix, steelix, wailord, gyarados, milotic, and Alolan exeggutor). Pokémon that have difficulties traveling on land (most aquatic pokémon) as well as pokémon that are made up of materials that may be detrimental to their environment (slugma and magcargo) tend to have varying regulations associated with them, depending on the region. In Hoenn and Alola, all of these pokémon are perfectly legal, but in Sinnoh, they’re barred. Of course, keep in mind that if you’re traveling to other regions, the only thing that matters if where your pokémon got its papers from, not whether or not your service pokémon is legal in the region you’re currently in. For example, if your service pokémon is a goldeen, you can travel anywhere you’d like with it. It’s just that if you live in Sinnoh, you can’t get a goldeen service pokémon. Also, you may have difficulties, as Sinnoh is a primarily mountainous region with an abundance of land routes that your goldeen may struggle with, but the point is, your service goldeen will still be legal.

So in conclusion, it’s possible to retire your pikachu and train it to be an official service pokémon. However, it really depends on which region you live in and whether or not you’re willing to have your pikachu undergo a full year of training. You can still travel with him, however, as it’s possible to set him as pet or companion pokémon, or one that you’re incapable of using for battle, so if you’re not willing to go through all that hassle, that’s an option as well.

How are there still people that thinking keeping pokemon is cruel? Shouldnt the fact that battling increases happiness, and that some pokemon evolve by happiness under our care, be enough to show them that they are clearly fine with it? Pokemon are intelligent enough to let us know how thet feel about the situatin though arent they

They are indeed intelligent enough, anonymous, but it’s unfortunately the capturing part of it that confuses most people. Oftentimes, people who are of this opinion believe that trainers enslave pokémon using poké balls, then essentially treat them as objects to collect. They see the poké ball as the equivalent to chains or a leash, so they’re convinced that pokémon can’t truly voice what they do and do not want in their relationship with humans. Moreover, they see the act of ordering a pokémon what to do (on the battlefield, for example) or treating pokémon as pets as reducing their identities to mere accessories to humans.

As much as I can understand this argument, I still have to disagree with the notion. Frequently, these opinions are founded on a misunderstanding; people often forget that humans and pokémon form a necessary symbiotic relationship and that poké balls are more like houses to pokémon than cages. I suppose it should go without saying (least of all because I’m certain I’ve covered this in an earlier post), but even disobedient pokémon choose to be with us. After all, one only needs to look at pokédex entries to realize that pokémon are not only fully capable of freeing themselves if they wish to, but they’re also fully capable of killing us if we pose a threat to them or their lifestyles.

Still, as I’ve said, I can understand the argument. In many ways, we humans have done quite a bit to harm our environment and encroach on pokémon territory via developing our cities and towns, so it’s easy to see us as an invasive species, in a way. Likewise, to be fair, many pokémon are near sapient or even far more intelligent than humans, so the question of whether or not it’s ethical to keep them and treat them as pets is still a valid one. For those reasons (and because often, it’s difficult to convince someone who holds this opinion that the act of capturing pokémon is not equivalent to enslaving them), I generally feel that it’s necessary to respect the opinions of those who believe training is wrong—so long as they respect the opinions of those who see nothing wrong with training pokémon. This, I admit, is why I was never all that comfortable with that Team Plasma nonsense that went on in Unova not too long ago. It’s one thing to believe pokémon must be free or to share your opinion with others. It’s another thing entirely to impose that view on others by force. Especially if you employ a strong dose of hypocrisy while doing so.

how do i properly care for a chinchou?

As one would assume, chinchou are primarily aquatic pokémon. As such, just like many other aquatic pokémon, they’ll need a pool or tank of clean water, and it’s important to keep a regular maintenance routine with it. Your chinchou will be doing everything in its pool—eating, sleeping, excreting wastes, and so forth—so it’s of the utmost importance that you ensure the water’s changed regularly. It may also help to invest in a filter, but this shouldn’t take the place of regular weekly cleaning.

Additionally, don’t forget that chinchou primarily live in the ocean, which means they’re saltwater pokémon, rather than freshwater. Adding sand at the bottom of your pool or tank is one step to making your chinchou feel at home, but the second step must be to add saltwater whenever you cycle its habitat’s water supply. You do this by mixing sea salt (available at most pokémarts and pokémon pet supply stores) with any water you add to your tank or pool. Always be sure that the water is clear and that the pH and temperature are just right before adding it to your chinchou’s habitat. If the water is cloudy, then that means the salt hasn’t been fully dissolved, which means the salinity will be too off-balance for your chinchou to handle.

Granted, yes, chinchou, like all pokémon, are highly adaptable and can survive in freshwater (or even on land), but to maintain its peak health, it should be allowed to swim in saltwater on a regular basis. For most people, it’s easier to keep a saltwater habitat than a freshwater and saltwater one, but if you have more freshwater pokémon than marine pokémon (for example, if you also raise magikarp, goldeen, feebas, carvanha, and so forth), it may be more convenient to keep a freshwater tank for all of them. Just be sure to give your chinchou a saltwater bath a few times a week to give it the nutrients it needs and to maintain the texture of its skin.

Chinchou are also carnivorous pokémon, and in the wild, they thrive primarily on shrimp, krill, some cephalopods (particularly cuttlefish), and small, bottom-dwelling fish. In captivity, it’s recommended to put them on diets consisting of mostly fresh or frozen shrimp or pieces of frozen fish (or, if you can afford it, pieces of squid or octopus). Avoid feeding them canned sardines, anchovies, or other fish, as tempting and cheap as that might be, because the processing techniques often render canned fish too fatty for pokémon consumption—especially in the cases of anchovies and sardines. Every so often, you may feed your chinchou frozen peas to add variance and fiber to their diets. If all else fails, there is, of course, pokémon kibble.

As for entertainment and sleeping arrangements, your chinchou will be perfectly comfortable just sleeping at the bottom of its tank, especially if you’ve lined it with sand instead of rocks. Some enjoy sleeping inside artificial caves, so making or buying one and adding it to your tank may be a good idea. Additionally, most chinchou feel safest when hiding in seaweed forests. While you’re rather limited on what you can grow in a domestic tank (many species of aquatic plants found in the ocean can’t actually be grown at home), you can still invest in a few samples of macro algae to simulate chinchou’s native forests. Yes, as much of a hassle as that sounds, it’s better to use real vegetation instead of plastic plants. Oftentimes, plastic plants do nothing more than accumulate bacteria and present just one more thing you need to clean on your weekly maintenance routines. Meanwhile, if you add real macro algae to your setup, they often help regulate the oxygen and nitrate levels of your chinchou’s water supply while giving them a place to rest and hide. That and they sometimes make excellent between-meal snacks for your chinchou.

So long as there’s plenty of water for your chinchou to swim about in, it doesn’t really need anything else in terms of toys. It will simply spend much of its time swimming along the bottom of the tank or coming up to sun on the surface. The only other thing to keep in mind is that every so often, they discharge electricity (as do all electric-types), and it’s highly recommended that you avoid contact with the water when that happens, as it may accidentally electrocute you in the process. If you’d like to minimize the likelihood of that happening while adding something to your own routine that allows you to interact more often with your chinchou, set up a lightning rod somewhere near your pool and set aside time each day to have chinchou come ashore and do lightning training under your watch. That is to say, set aside time each day to direct chinchou into attacking a lightning rod using its electrical techniques, such as Thunder Wave or Electroball. Not only will this give your chinchou plenty of time to discharge its excess energy in a safe manner, but the training will also be excellent target practice as well as preparation for full-scale battles.

In short, initially, chinchou may be a bit more complicated than most pokémon to prepare a habitat for, and the routine maintenance is not only time-consuming but also an absolute requirement. However, once you get your chinchou’s tank set up and integrate it into its new environment, chinchou are among the least fussy pokémon to care for, as they’re frequently content with just water, food, light, and a bit of sand and algae to sleep on at night.

Sinnoh Legendaries, Part II

Heatran
The Lava Dome Pokémon
Type: Fire/Steel
Official Registration #: 485
Entry: According to Sinnoh lore, this large, golem-like pokémon is the guardian of caves, of mountains, and of magma—or, more simply, it’s the guardian of volcanoes. Up until recently, given the fact that it’s a bulky-looking, quadruped pokémon whose very roar caused volcanoes to erupt, Johtonians were fully convinced that Heatran was nothing more than a corruption or even mockery of their own legendary of volcanoes, Entei. Then it was discovered that, no, really, Heatran actually existed, and for the first time ever in the history of Johto-Sinnoh relations, Johtonians may or may not have said words that might have given someone else the impression that they were wrong about something and that they apologize.

What pokemon would be good for someone with different kinds of OCD?

Unlike other mental conditions, service pokémon associated with OCD are often more physical in nature. That is, whereas someone with depression may need a pokémon with Sweet Scent or a psychic-type to go about their daily tasks, someone with certain types of OCD may need something a bit more tangible—something that can touch them. The reason why is because many of the issues typically related to OCD—repetitive behavior, dermatillomania, and so forth—need immediate intervention and therefore can’t be solved by the less intrusive methods other service pokémon offer. For that reason, oddly enough, the traditional service growlithe and houndour tend to be the most popular, as they’re trained to recognize these behaviors as not being standard for a human (as it were) and can therefore paw at their owners when they happen to interrupt. Eevee are also popular for this, especially given that they evolve into espeon, who can detect the beginning of these behaviors before they happen.

For the less physical symptoms of OCD, such as anxiety and intrusive thoughts, pokémon with Sweet Scent and psychic-types are indeed used as well, as described in my earlier post on them. (Click here to read that, if you wish.) This would be why some people prefer to use espeon, rather than the traditional growlithe or houndour, but others prefer the comfort of a pet-like pokémon over the comfort of the aura projected by a psychic.

Finally, of course, there is also the fact that OCD is often treated with medication, at which point, many patients with OCD prefer a service pokémon that can also remind them of when to take their next dose. Service growlithe can indeed be trained to do this, but other humans may wish to pair their growlithe with a hoothoot trained to hoot certain patterns (often just loud enough to force their partners to act to get them to stop) when their internal clocks “strike” the moment their partners need to take their medication.

As always, it’s best to work with both your doctor and your local service pokémon agency to figure out what you would need out of a service pokémon. Given that OCD describes a number of different symptoms (some of which may not be solved by a pokémon alone), you may need one or more service pokémon trained to do specific tasks, so it’s best to communicate with the agency and your doctor to find out what symptoms would work with your specific case and treatment plan.

So I think a ghost Pokémon is reaching out to my friend. He says whenever he crosses a specific bridge he tastes wheat and peaches in his mouth and the wind blows really fast. What should he do about that Pokémon??

Well, anonymous, the first thing you should do is verify that your friend is encountering a ghost pokémon. It’s entirely possible that the bridge is over a windy area, and your friend just really likes peach-flavored oatmeal.

To determine whether or not this is a haunting, take a pokémon that knows Foresight to the bridge. Have that pokémon scan the area, and if a ghost pokémon appears, have your friend connect with it. If it hasn’t stolen your friend’s soul by now, then it’s likely that it’s not entirely malevolent. If your friend is willing to capture it, encourage him to do so and communicate with it later. If he isn’t willing to catch it, ask it what it wants. It may help to use a psychic-type or another ghost-type to serve as a liaison. Once you figure out why it’s haunting your friend (or the bridge, whichever the case may be), you may be able to figure out what to do from there—or whether or not you should do it.

Additionally, should you have no desire to interact with this ghost as soon as you uncover it, it would be wise to get your friend a cleanse tag to protect him as he crosses the bridge. Either that, or encourage your friend to find an alternate route to avoid the bridge altogether.

If, however, there is no ghost … talk to your friend about his love of peach-flavored oatmeal. There are just far better flavors of oatmeal out there.

Hello there Bill, I was wondering what to do with my Sandslash’s old spikes? Every year my Sandslash sheds a few of its spikes and I’ve kept them as mementos but I’m wondering if I should just get rid of them or recycle them somehow?

Most sandslash trainers simply throw them away, yes. Sandslash spikes are much like your fingernails. They’re largely made of keratin and soil, and thus, they’re not actually suitable for much besides composting. Other, more creative trainers do as you do and make jewelry or art pieces out of them. Quite honestly, it really depends on your taste, but I would recommend adding them to your compost bin if you have one. They make excellent fertilizer.

Hello Bill, how often do fully aquatic Pokemon such as Seaking and Lumineon come onto land? Can wild fish Pokemon float in the air when they come onto land the way fish Pokemon owned by humans do? I’ve always been curious about how aquatic Pokemon move and battle on land.

Fully aquatic pokémon don’t often come onto land, no, and the reason why is because they don’t often need to. Their nests and primary food sources are in the water, and it’s far easier for them to travel while fully submerged. It just expends far too much energy to come up on land, especially when there’s very little payoff (in that there’s nothing much to eat).

On that note, tamed fish pokémon only “float” by way of a battlefield mod that may be extended by a trainer shortly before the battle. This is what happens if that mod is not applied. That’s also just about what a wild aquatic pokémon would look like when on land—although tamed specimens generally stay in one place and only moved when ordered, whereas wild aquatic pokémon are always hopping about in a frantic attempt to get at whatever they came ashore to obtain before heading back into the water as quickly as they can.