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Since it’s almost Halloween, I decided to give my female Pikachu a bunch of cute costumes to possibly wear! But a strange thing I notice is that she seem to get “too” into character and even learn a random move that she didn’t have originally. For example, she just suddenly learned flying press in her wrestling costume (and tries to get me into a sleeper hold but that besides the point) and in her rockstar outfit, she gets Metor Mash instead. Is this normal for female Pikachus or what?

Yes, and it’s an interesting phenomenon, really. My partner first observed it in the contest halls in Hoenn, but apparently, female pikachu adore performing so much that certain costumes allow them to adopt certain personas and unlock specific dormant abilities. She theorizes that it’s similar to how all pikachu can learn Fly or Surf but can only do so under very specific circumstances.

In any case, it only seems to happen with five specific costumes, typically available in contest halls under the Angelic Beauty label—or, well, knock-offs thereof. No other costume combination seems to trigger latent moves, I’m afraid, although most pikachu will enjoy dressing up all the same.

I caught a Hydreigon recently and since I brought him home he’s been bringing me… presents in the form of killed pokemon… why is he doing this? He seems excited to show me these presents. He’s been mostly staying away from my other Pokémon, so no fights have been happening. I’m really concerned that one of my Pokémon could become these bloody presents at my door though

Unfortunately, hydreigon are also like cats in a way. As fearsome, bestial pokémon, they take pride in their ability to hunt … but they also expect their young to do the same. Technically, there are actually two possibilities at work here, but both of them are very, very similar. Either your hydreigon is trying to show you his catch because he’s expecting praise for it, or he’s showing you his catch because he’s trying to teach you how to hunt. You’ll be able to figure out which by observing his body language when he brings you his kill. If he sits back and cranes his main neck or if he lies down and rolls over, craning his neck at the same time, then he’s searching for praise. (Both positions are signs of submission among the hydreigon.) However, if he’s pawing at the corpse and looking at you expectantly, then he’s trying to teach you that this is what a kill looks like.

In both cases, thank him for the offering, give him a treat, and dispose of the body (perhaps by burning it, if it’s large) whenever he’s not looking. If he’s trying to show you how to hunt, tell him politely that you appreciate his efforts but that it’s not necessary for you to hunt the way he’s trying to show you. You may even want to let him watch you cook and eat to show him that you’re perfectly fine without hunting. (Sometimes, this method remedies the other motivation behind displaying a kill, but usually, otherwise, that behavior will simply continue until your hydreigon realizes on his own that he doesn’t need to show off a kill to get affection out of you.)

As for your other pokémon, luckily, you don’t need to worry. It’s not so much because your hydreigon recognizes them as teammates as it is because your hydreigon recognizes them as tamed pokémon. Wild pokémon are much more of a challenge to catch and kill (as they more often run or congregate in large groups), and thus, your hydreigon will always go after them instead. Even when faced of a shortage of wild prey, hydreigon would rather go without killing anything at all than killing something owned by a trainer. I’m not sure how comforting that statement is, but at the very least, the point is that your pokémon are safe.

In honor of Halloween, what Pokémon are typically the ones who are regarded as bad luck? You know how black cats are typically looked at with superstition, but what about Pokémon/pokemon typings?

Well, there is, of course, absol, although that’s based on a misconception. Absol predict unlucky events, but they don’t actually cause them. Nonetheless, in certain areas of Hoenn, they’re considered to be extremely unlucky, as the appearance of one surely means bad luck is to follow.

Meanwhile, in Johto (as well as some parts of Kalos and Unova), murkrow tend to be unlucky symbols, especially when seen at night, as their general presence will bring about misfortune and loss. In Unova, meanwhile, people tend to believe purrloin are unlucky, especially if they cross your path.

Some pokémon are thought to produce unlucky events under very specific circumstances. For example, when in the vicinity of electronic devices, kadabra are said to cause shadows to appear on TV and computer screens. Seeing these shadows is an omen of death, and thus, keeping kadabra in the house is considered to be unlucky. (It’s not true, though, just for the record.)

If you can hear wild mismagius or misdreavus, then that’s an omen of death as well, and both pokémon are also unlucky. However, not being able to hear either pokémon is perfectly fine, and tamed pokémon are generally safe—even lucky in some cultures. In a similar manner, seeing wild trevenant, litwick, or sneasel in their native habitats are extremely unlucky, and it’s thought that if you see either of these, you need to immediately turn around and go back the way you came, as proceeding the way you’re going may result in you disappearing forever.

And then you have vivillon. I’m not sure why a lot of people believe vivillon to be unlucky, but some people believe you shouldn’t keep your pokédex open to its National Dex entry.

As for general classes of pokémon, as one might imagine, most people shy away from dark- and ghost-types, as many of these either lead travelers astray or steal their life forces (or both). Some cultures consider psychics and fairies to be equally unlucky—fairies especially when it comes to small children.

My Rotom possessed its own Pokéball and can’t come out??? The Pokéball thinks it’s simultaneously inside and outside???

Press and hold the front button until you hear a pop. This is a safe factory reset for poké balls that fail to work properly. Once you hear the pop, immediately let go of the bottom of the ball (while holding the top, of course), as the ball will immediately eject any pokémon inside, including part of your rotom. Normally, the next step is to use the newly reset ball to recapture your pokémon (unless you’d rather not risk it, which is perfectly understandable), but in your case, you’ll want to set the opened ball on the ground or a solid surface and have your rotom come out. Now that the ball doesn’t recognize the link between itself and your rotom, this will give your rotom a window of opportunity to escape. This should be done quickly, as the ball may snap close and catch your rotom again.

The alternative is, of course, taking a hammer to the ball. (This won’t hurt your rotom, as it’s in an incorporeal form. It will only force your rotom to eject.) But of course, this destroys your rotom’s ball, so it depends on whether or not you’d like to buy a new poké ball for it.

Hey Bill, I just recently caught a dratini and while it gets along fine with my pikachu, it is absolutely terrified of my sylveon! My pikachu and sylveon are pokemon I always have out with me and I’m not sure how to curb my dratinis fear! Help please!

In general, whenever one of your pokémon is terrified of another, it’s best to start slowly. It’s good that your pikachu and dratini get along well, as it may be the key to your dratini’s predicament. Have your pikachu mediate interactions between your dratini and sylveon. Whenever dratini shows any level of discomfort, have pikachu be there to ground it and reassure it that sylveon is a friend who would never hurt it.

Moreover, have them start with short interactions and work up to longer conversations. Think of it like exposure therapy to humans: you want to begin with only a little bit of exposure to avoid trauma, and as your dratini adjusts to that level of interaction, increase the amount of time it spends with your sylveon, bit by bit, until it can tolerate long-term exposure. Eventually, when your dratini can tolerate conversations with sylveon, begin having them fight alongside each other in double-battles to reinforce your dratini’s progress. If you’re not a trainer, have them perform tasks together around the house.

Also, be sure your sylveon is in agreement with whatever you do. That is to say, ensure that your sylveon hasn’t done anything to warrant dratini’s fear, and be absolutely sure sylveon wants to interact with your dratini. If your sylveon is just as uncomfortable with the idea of being on the same team as a dratini, this is something you’ll also need to resolve using similar gradual introduction methods as mentioned above. Your pikachu should be able to help as well. If, however, your sylveon is very eager to make a new friend, allow it to be involved in the efforts to calm dratini down. Ensure your sylveon takes things slow and avoids showing affection through touch at first. At the same time, be sure that your sylveon extends friendly, welcoming gestures—just from afar. As dratini begins to warm up to your sylveon, then your sylveon may show physical forms of affection, but it should still be careful and wary for any signs of discomfort from your dratini.

In other words, some relationships should start slowly and work up to a certain level of closeness, and that goes for pokémon too. Be cautious and careful, show your dratini that your sylveon won’t hurt it, and allow dratini to grow comfortable around your sylveon in its own time.

Best of luck, anonymous.

((Hi, I sent a couple of asks a week or two ago and wondered if you got them? No problem at all if you just didn’t want to reply to them))

{Ah, sorry! We’ve been flooded with asks lately (91 as of this writing), so we haven’t been able to tackle all of them just yet. Digging through the ask box, I’ve found one by you about the ethics of battling pokémon with young. It’s about five asks away from the bottom, so it should be answered soon. But! Because you’ve said asks in the plural, I’m a little worried about the other. D: Feel free to resend that one if you can remember it, and sorry if I’ve lost it somehow!}

I absolutely hate bug types. So of course my purrloin has adopted the habit of bringing them inside the house to play with! First he brings them to me, and when I’m startled he lets them go and they either squirm or fly all over the place! How can I get my purrloin to stop doing this and play with his poke-prey outside and away from me?

As a warning, Bill, Misty knows where you live, so I wouldn’t dare make a comment about her or her fear of bug-types here. —LH

I wasn’t even thinking of it. Misty seems more like a dog person to me than a cat person. Although now that you mention it, she did have that togepi once, so… —Bill

Again, Bill. She knows where you live. —LH

To put it in short, anonymous, purrloin are very much like cats, and they have all the same instincts as our feline friends. This includes seeing us, their humans, as essentially giant hairless kittens. The act of bringing a human any sort of small, weak pokémon, including bug-types, is really an attempt to teach that human how to hunt.

That having been said, there are a couple of ways you can discourage this behavior. The first is by keeping your purrloin indoors at all times. This may be the trickier route, as many purrloin are clever enough to figure out ways to escape anyway, but if you supply yours with an incentive not to (in the form of new toys, particularly puzzle-like ones—some of which can be filled with treats or pokénip), he may simply decide to agree with you.

The other option is by giving him a toy filled with pokénip every time he brings home a new pokémon as a “reward,” then releasing his catch whenever he’s not looking. This may sound a bit backwards, as rewards are typically reinforcements for good behavior, but eventually, purrloin will want the reward over the pleasure of teaching you something, which means he may eventually switch to presenting you with any object (or even the empty toy) whenever he wants pokénip.

Best of luck, anonymous.

The Gothita Line

Gothita
The Fixation Pokémon
Type: Psychic
Official Registration #: 574
Entry: A small, child-like pokémon first discovered in the grasslands and forests of Unova. These strange pokémon use their ribbon-like feelers to increase their psychic powers, which they in turn use to observe people and pokémon at every waking hour of the day. However, when its eyes widen and its ribbons sway as if blown by the breeze, it is said that the gothita is actually staring at something only its kind can see. What, exactly? Well, readers, considering the fact that they’re notoriously morbid pokémon who constantly observe the living, one can only guess that it is perhaps not the warm aura of love and happiness projected by a trainer and their team.

Gothorita
The Manipulate Pokémon
Type: Psychic
Official Registration #: 575
Entry: The evolved form of gothita, by battle experience. According to many old tales, gothorita create friends for themselves by using their hypnotic powers to control children on starry nights, when the starlight increases their celestial-based powers. This is a gross misconception. Gothorita are not nearly as selective with their victims, they don’t puppeteer humans on only starry nights, and how dare anyone have the audacity to think otherwise.

Gothitelle
The Astral Body Pokémon
Type: Psychic
Official Registration #: 576
Entry: The evolved form of gothorita, by battle experience. Extremely talented in divination and precognition, all gothitelle possess the ability to see into the future by observing the movement and positions of stars and other celestial bodies in the night sky. Upon first meeting with a human, a gothitelle will typically determine their future the first night they get. Humans can tell when a gothitelle has successfully determined their life span when the gothitelle bursts into tears when they next meet. Whether or not that indicates that the human is due to die sooner or later is still a matter of scientific debate.