Hi there! My precious Flareon had 4 babies couple of weeks ago, 2 eevees and 2 shinxes. Her partner is my Luxray and I want to ask some tips on how to take care newborn pokemons. Their kits are always hyperactive especially the shinxes where they couldn’t control their electrics perfectly yet. So please help me! I want to become a great caretaker for them.

As I’ve mentioned briefly in a previous ask (http://bills-pokedex.tumblr.com/post/166442752080/um-hi-yes-my-houndoom-hannah-has-recently-begun), for the most part, caring for newborns is complicated, but it’s made easier by the fact that unless the mother has rejected her kits (unlikely, but it happens), she will generally care for her young. This is very true for the eevee family, which are generally protective of their young due to how much the base species is affected by its environment. Likely, your flareon will display similar behavior towards her shinx young, so you won’t need to worry about things such as food or basic care until they grow old enough to be fully independent from their parents.

The same could actually be said for your predicament with your shinx kits. While it may be frustrating to see them unleash their electricity seemingly at random, their luxray parent will instinctually attempt to train them himself unless he’s rejected his young. All you’ll need to do is make sure your shinx kits are given ample space … and that you safely store any object you’d miss.

Once they’re old enough to be weaned, caring for the young is very much the same as caring for the parents, only on a smaller scale, so if you remember how you cared for your flareon and luxray when they were eevee and shinx, you should have few problems. If, however, you had received these pokémon as evolutions or if you don’t remember at all, simply scale back the amount of food and water you give the kits and train them for less time, but provide the same basic care and scale upwards as the kits get older.

If, however, your flareon or your luxray have outright rejected your new kits, feed them formula from a bottle at least once every three hours. (As you get closer to weaning them, you can increase the time between feedings.) Be sure that the formula is warm (but not scalding) and feed them by holding them upright in the crook of your arm, not on their backs like you would a human baby. Swaddle your shinx in rubber-lined cloth (available at pokémarts) or be sure to wear rubber as you bottle-feed them. At one to two months, eevee and shinx can be weaned onto solid food. (Start with wet food in a shallow dish, then move on to dry food soaked in milk and then dry food without milk once their teeth grow in.) At this point, it’s important to keep an eye on their droppings to be sure they’re digesting their food properly. Luckily, eevee can be housebroken fairly quickly using verbal explanations. Shinx may need to be litter trained, however. Rub a cotton ball on each kit’s lower belly immediately after feeding to stimulate their digestive systems, then place them in the litter box and essentially … let them go. Eventually, they’ll get the idea.

Moreover, keep your kits warm at all times. Their ideal body temperatures at this point in time is roughly 100 degrees Fahrenheit. Add a hot water bottle to their carrier or bed if you live someplace cold, and monitor their temperatures regularly. Additionally, bathe your kits regularly by wiping them thoroughly but gently with a warm, wet cloth. Eventually, eevee may need regular baths with eevee shampoo (some, especially those that eventually evolve into espeon, will learn to bathe themselves), but shinx will need to be encouraged to bathe themselves.

Best of luck, and congratulations on your new additions!

i work with professor birch in Hoenn, and recently went to Johto to provide information discovered by Birch to Elm. Well while i was staying with professor Elm, one of the starters he had, cyndiquil popped out of its ball and imprinted on me. is it common for pokemon like this to choose their trainer?

Only in Johto, Unova, and occasionally Kalos. (Alola as well, but for them, it’s less an accident and more a cultural point.) No one is quite sure why, but the going theory is that the starters often emulate the disposition of the people within their region of origin.

As a Johtonian, I feel like I should be offended by the implication that my people are all impulsive and extremely transparent about their opinions of others, but on the other hand, you wouldn’t exactly be wrong if you said that…

Hey Bill, I need advice. I’ve had this really turbulent relationship with Pokemon and training them. I was going through one of those phases where I questioned if it was really right to capture and train Pokemon at all. I gave up my whole team, including a Munna I had raised since birth. It was a scary time for me. I was wondering if there are any Pokemon that would be great for former trainers wishing to get back into the swing of things. Preferably something local, you know how Unova can be.

Ah yes. You must be referring to the Plasma Incident. I have more than a few choice words about Team Plasma, but unfortunately, as that would be a rather strong tangent, I’ll simply say that it’s a shame to hear from another victim of their rather unique grip on pokémon welfare. That is to say, I’m terribly sorry to hear that this happened to you, anonymous.

That having been said, as odd as it may seem to be, have you considered another munna? While another one may be no decent replacement for the one you once had, you’re already very familiar with caring for one, and thus, bonding with another one may be easier than you might think.

However, if the thought of raising another munna is too painful for you (which would be understandable), Unova is home to a fantastic wealth of pokémon that are easy to care for and fully capable of helping you heal. For example, audino are very perceptive to a trainer’s needs, both physically and emotionally, and they’re surprisingly resilient and versatile on the battlefield. They’re also fantastically abundant across Unova, so finding one may be a fairly simple matter for you. (You may even be able to adopt a retired nurse audino or an audino that didn’t quite make it through its medical certification. These audino may be the best for you, as they’re trained to be calm and comforting in most situations.)

Alternatively, common pokémon—such as lillipup, pidove, and purrloin—are fantastically loyal pokémon that typically evolve into capable battlers later on (although liepard is admittedly not as strong as other choices, and purrloin is often mischievous and a challenge), as are the starter lines (which are often difficult but not entirely impossible to obtain). Other pokémon that simultaneously make for wonderful companions and perfect partners for former trainers include the gothita and solosis lines (as their psychic abilities make it easier for some trainers to bond with them), as well as golett (both fantastically loyal and easy to train), pawniard (same), minccino (popular domestic pokémon), emolga (same as minccino), and axew (none of the above, but the challenge in both taming and training axew may bring out the best in both you and it while helping you to heal from releasing your munna).

In all, I would highly recommend a pokémon you’re most likely to bond with. What you need right now is to heal and to be reassured—even if you’re consciously certain—that raising pokémon is perfectly ethical. So I would strongly suggest trying to raise a munna, but if not, go for something that’s guaranteed to adapt well to training in the first place. (Unless you really do want to try training an axew. Again, the challenge is often worth it.)

Best of luck!

My shinx, Sparky, is a recent adoption and he likes sleeping on my legs at night. The only issue is that he lights up in his sleep so I wake up to him glowing with energy. This light also wakes him up and then he cries for me to pet him because he sees I’m up. This usually all happens at 2-4 am and it messes with my sleep schedule. How can I prevent this?

Invest in a sleeping mask for yourself and a pokémon-sized one for your shinx. Additionally, consider giving your shinx a blanket. The point is, your main problem is your shinx’s light (as lighting up is an unconscious action I doubt you’ll be able to prevent), so the more of it you can cover up, the easier it will be to sleep. This may be uncomfortable at first, but you may find yourself growing used to a mask over time.

Alternatively, try drinking herbal tea (chamomile for yourself; catnip for your shinx) to relax before going to bed. Some studies suggest that the more relaxed a pokémon is before it falls asleep, the less likely it will use its more passive abilities during its rest.

Best of luck, anonymous!

I just found an egg and I took it to the Pokémon center and told nurse Joy that the parents are nowhere to be found , I waited for hours for them and they never came and she did an ultrasound and I found out it’s an espurr, I’m keeping the little cutie.

Ah, it’s good to hear the hatchling will have someone to care for it. Follow your Nurse Joy’s directions for newborn pokémon care and best of luck.

Congratulations, anonymous!

So my sylveon adopted a shiny shinx that had been rejected by its parents and is raising it along side her two eevee babies. The shinx is around the size of the eevees right now but when shinx evolves into a Luxio and luxray do you think there could be problems with the currently happy family?

Not at all! Pokémon are highly adaptable creatures. Think about how many of them form families within their own teams. A trainer can catch a wide variety of different pokémon—even pokémon whose elements are by no means compatible with one another—and those pokémon will still be able to bond with one another and see each other as great friends, if not practically family. Moreover, pokémon from the same egg group (as the eevee and shinx families are) often take care of other members of that same group, regardless of actual species. In other words, sometimes, an eevee and a shinx can actually be blood relatives, and the two pokémon would still get along quite well.

In short, barring conflicts that would have nothing to do with your shinx’s species or physical attributes (because no family is without its differences, believe me), your shinx should do just fine. If anything, you should likely be wary about the fact that it’s shiny, but given the other fact that your sylveon and eevee are all tame, it’s likely that even that won’t be an issue.

Best of luck and congratulations, anonymous!

Ever since my Leafeon evolved, she’s been acting sad and depressed. This is unusual because she seemed perfectly happy as an Eevee. I’m worried that she may be having regrets about her evolution. What should I do to help her feel better?

Well, first and foremost, determine that it is this. Communicate with your leafeon, or observe her behavior. If she seems to act more depressed upon exposure to other eeveelutions (either by seeing them in person or on TV, in movies, or so forth), consider that a confirmation, then proceed with this: reassure her that she made the right decision. Be there for her and give her plenty of affection. Perhaps teach her new techniques to help her better acclimate to her form, and use her in battles so she can see how useful she still is. The more you have her exercise her form and the more you’re there for her, the easier it will be for her to adapt and feel comfortable in her skin.

If, however, her mood doesn’t change—especially if her leaves begin to soften and wilt—then she’s not actually sad or depressed but rather lethargic and sun-starved. Take her outside more often and move her bed to a sunny spot in your home. Increase her water intake and talk to your local Nurse Joy about vitamin supplements for grass-types. If you do all of this, you’ll likely see improvement in her health and mood in no time.

Best of luck, anonymous!

Hello! I’d like some help with taking care of my Pokémon. Recently, my Eevee has evolved into a Jolteon, and sometimes when she encounters something new the first thing she does is try to shock it lightly, which has startled people and Pokémon that she comes across. Sometimes I can convince her not to do this but other times she gives in to her curiosity. How can I help her to stop doing that for the most part, or is it a friendly gesture of the Jolteon species that can’t be stopped? Thank you!

Unfortunately, anonymous, a lot of electric-types tend to use their electricity to explore their worlds in exactly the manner you’re describing.

Fortunately, it’s not entirely preventable, although it is difficult to curb. One of the things you can do is teach her to heel (see this ask: http://bills-pokedex.tumblr.com/post/163998759883/help-my-cubchoo-has-an-insatiable-appetite-for), then combine that with a bit of training to teach her not to shock. Alternatively, teach her to use her other senses, particularly smell, rather than her electrical reading.

I realize that sounds a bit vague, but it hinges a lot on the same principles as teaching her to heel. In other words, you need to use a lot of positive reinforcement. When she shocks, tell her no (or to heel), then follow up by instructing her in as clear and simple a manner how to properly interact with an object of her curiosity. When she interacts with that object in the correct manner, however, you should reward her until she begins to understand the difference between wanted and unwanted behavior. Once that difference is ingrained in her mind, she’ll begin to follow wanted behavioral patterns, at first consciously and then habitually as time goes on.

Of course, because you’re working against instinct, it will take a bit more patience and persistence than usual to get what you want her to do to stick. She will, at first, be more inclined to follow instinct, especially because electrical sensing tends to be more comfortable for electric-types. However, be as consistent as possible, and slowly but surely, you’ll be able to teach her to use her nose instead.

Best of luck, anonymous!

Hey bill sick with the flu wish me luck, anyway bill i was wondering what happens to a pokemon if their ball is destroyed, either while theyre inside and while theyre outside. Do you happen to know?

First, best of luck and plenty of rest, anonymous. I hope you get well soon!

To answer your question, it may be a comfort to know that inside every poké ball in existence, even traditional ones made by Johtonian artisans, there is a failsafe system. If a poké ball loses functionality (by breaking, by losing power, or so on), the failsafe will immediately nullify the capture matrix and release the pokémon the ball is synced to. In laymen’s terms, that means that a pokémon will be released if its poké ball is too damaged to work. Furthermore, let’s say the poké ball is outright crushed with a pokémon inside. If this happens, the same thing occurs: the capture matrix (which you might see as a flash of red or white light) will be negated, and the pokémon it’s containing will be released.

Incidentally, when I say “released,” I mean “the pokémon will need to be captured again.” Without a poké ball, neither the storage system nor the league’s database cannot keep track of your pokémon, so for all intents and purposes (i.e., legally speaking), the pokémon that had been inside that poké ball is no longer considered to be officially yours. Granted, pokémon that have bonded with you will very likely still be loyal to you regardless of whether or not they have a poké ball, but it’s nonetheless a good idea to keep this in mind, should you find yourself with a broken poké ball and an unruly tyranitar you were in the middle of training.

How does Skitty use Assist? How does it work?

I’d answer “quite well,” but there’s a part one to this ask, and my editor has preemptively sent me a very stern warning punctuated with a screenshot from the latest episode of Binaclebob Trapezoidpants.

That said, the short answer is that it’s very similar to Metronome (whose mechanics I’ve talked about here: http://bills-pokedex.tumblr.com/post/167427470140/how-do-moves-like-metronome-work), just on a limited basis. That is, whereas Metronome may call upon any move in existence, Assist only calls upon moves known by the members of a single party, including the user themselves and party members that have yet to be born (i.e., eggs). How it does this is a bit of a mystery in the pokémon research community, although there are theories, two of which are strongly related to the theories behind Metronome.

The first theory is that all moves are hard-coded into every pokémon’s DNA (as every pokémon is the descendant of Mew, which supposedly could learn a wide variety of moves); it’s just that most techniques have been blocked off by eons of evolution and the development of physical blocks. However, as with Metronome, Assist allows a user to temporarily overcome these blocks and call upon moves that would otherwise be inaccessible to them. The difference is that while Metronome requires no examples to use, according to this theory, Assist actually calls upon memories of the user’s teammates either using these moves or educating the user about how they’re performed. In other words, the skitty (or other Assist user) watches the move being used and emulates it later through Assist. Unfortunately, the problem with this theory is that Assist can also call upon the moves of unborn teammates or moves that a teammate hasn’t yet had the opportunity to use in the first place, but in terms of practicality, this theory makes a bit of sense.

Personally, though, I prefer the second theory, which is that the user themselves don’t call upon the technique Assist emulates but rather the move itself does. However, unlike Metronome, Assist operates on the bonds between the user and their teammates (including the bonds a skitty or what-have-you has with an egg) in order to detect aural potential and project a randomly chosen move. In other words, I feel that there’s a deep connection between a pokémon’s abilities and its life force, that Assist uses a pokémon’s feelings towards others to reach out and detect abilities as encoded in their life force, and finally that Assist uses this information to temporarily bestow upon a user the ability to use one of their close friends’ powers.

In other words, a lot of it is magic, but it’s an explainable magic.