I’m planning to aquire a sableye soon and I wanted to know the basics of how to take care of one; diet, toys, and husbandry Anything I should be worried about?

One of the most important things to keep in mind about sableye is that they are nocturnal, cave-dwelling pokémon. While they can be trained to tolerate daylight, they generally don’t, and it’s easier and frankly more humane if their trainer accommodates them, rather than the other way around. Many trainers do this by constructing sableye homes (that is, manmade caves) in their backyards or by allowing their sableye to burrow, but even simply giving them a dark room with either no or covered windows will be sufficient. If choosing the latter option, be sure that the coverings you choose block the light completely, not partially. This room should also be stocked with bedding, food and water dishes, and a litter box. It’s not necessary to line the litter box, as sableye droppings are merely gravel unless you give your sableye a diet of kibble.

What people say about sableye eating rocks is both true and false. It’s true in the sense that, yes, they do subsist largely on stone material. It’s false in that it’s not true that the stones have to be gems. Really, any kind of rock will do; it’s just that sableye prefer precious stones for their taste and the fact that they incorporate them into their bodies. However, if you have a fully grown sableye, it won’t require as many gems to decorate its skin, so you can easily pacify them with any sort of rock you find outside. Of course, as with all pokémon, you may also feed your sableye specialized kibble (especially if you have other pokémon or if rocks aren’t readily available to you), but trainers who live in more rural areas generally find feeding sableye stones is much more preferable to cleaning up the mess produced by kibble.

As for toys, sableye are impish, childlike pokémon, so toys that appeal more to humanoids are ideal. In particular, sableye like shiny toys and toys that make sounds—the former because shiny objects remind them of gems, and the latter because noisemaking toys appeal to their sensitive hearing. Some sableye also like dolls, including pokémon dolls, or anything that’s otherwise soft and easy to grasp and claw. (They do not, contrary to popular belief, use scratching posts.)

When it comes to hygiene, sableye, like other humanoid or imp-like pokémon, are fine with baths. Some trainers even find that they’re surprisingly easy to coax into baths, likely because water helps them wash dirt off their gemstones, and said gemstones are also polished in the process.

Finally, when it comes to socialization, generally speaking, sableye are actually shy pokémon who prefer to hide away in a quiet space (regardless of what their reputation as fearsome pokémon may lead you to believe). This isn’t to say it’s impossible to acclimate one to a team; it’s just a warning that it may take time and patience and that it may be best to introduce your sableye to like-minded pokémon first. However, it should also be noted that because of sableye’s diet, one should never keep a sableye on the same team as carbink unless that sableye is thoroughly trained.

Best of luck, reader!

My slowpoke will be ready to evolve soon into a slowbro but I’m kinda worried. Will it hurt my slowpoke having a shelldon biting it’s tail? Or am I being overly protective? I don’t want my slowpoke to be miserable!

Not at all! When it bites down and changes form, shellder begin to create a toxin that targets and dulls the nerves of its host slowbro’s tail. (It’s called a toxin, but it doesn’t have any real detrimental effects to the slowpoke line other than numbing the area of contact. In sufficient enough doses, it can even unlock psychic and intellectual potential.)

As for the inevitable bite wound, think of it less like teeth sinking into your slowpoke’s tail and more like a body piercing. Once the shellder has attached, so long as you remember to clean around its teeth every so often, it should be perfectly fine. It doesn’t bleed, and eventually, the wound heals around the shellder’s teeth.

In short, no need to worry, reader. Your slowpoke will be fine.

My seel and skiddo are really close friends and the often play together in the shallows however my skiddo wants to bring my seel on walks with us to the woods and I was wondering if there was some safe way to have skiddo carry them? What should I do?

Actually, believe it or not, although skiddo are typically smaller than seel, you should have no problem placing your seel on your skiddo’s back and have it ride without any further cushioning or restraints. Skiddo can take a surprising amount of weight; some have even been known to carry new trainers for hours at a time. So I wouldn’t worry so long as your skiddo is comfortable carrying seel and so long as your seel is comfortable riding on its friend’s back.

Unless, of course, you’re actually referring to multiple seel, as the “them” might also imply, at which point you may wish to consider strapping baskets to your skiddo’s back.

On multiple occassions my ivysaur has shown interest in evolving into venusaur (he gets excited when the subject comes up) but when the time came to evolve, he resisted. This has happened 3 times and I don’t know how to ask whats wrong, I have tried showing my support as best as I can. Can you think of any reason he would do this?

Sometimes, excitement over the subject of evolution isn’t excitement over evolution itself but rather excitement towards an evolved form. Think of it like this. Many of us have heroes, people who are more advanced that we are in our respective fields. However, not all of us want to literally be those heroes. Rather, we all have our strengths and weaknesses, and sometimes, we embrace or prefer ourselves as we are. (For example, I may idolize Professor Oak as many researchers my age do, but none of us want to literally be him. I for one would not want to change anything about myself; I simply want to use this skills I already have or will develop on my own to be as great a researcher as he is.)

In much the same way, it’s very possible that your ivysaur doesn’t actually want to evolve. He may simply idolize venusaur (or even a specific venusaur) for their power. It may be worth it to try to communicate with him in order to see if this is the case, but if you still can’t quite understand him, try training him to use similar abilities to a typical venusaur. For example, try working on increasing the power of his Solar Beam (or work on teaching him that move) until it’s just as powerful as that of his evolved form. Teach him new, powerful techniques. Find things he may be able to do as an ivysaur that he wouldn’t as a venusaur (he’s smaller and lighter, for one) and incorporate that into his battle style. It is, in other words, all about helping him grow and fulfill his wish to be as excellent a battler as something most definitely stronger than he is so that, perhaps, he’ll feel as if he’s living up to his idol’s standards.

If, however, his behavior isn’t because he idolizes venusaur, it could simply be that he’s indecisive on the matter, but the extra training will give him time to settle on what he would like to do.

Best of luck to you and your ivysaur, anonymous!

My little boy is best friends with a trubbish we found/caught in castelia, but the smell is just too much for our house! I’m worried that the town will forcibly remove him if we keep him outside. Can we make him smell better without harming him?

Absolutely. Many trubbish line trainers prefer giving their trubbish citrus peels and sour berries, as the acidity will neutralize the bacteria causing their pokémon’s odor. You may wish to consider leaving out a plate or bowl full of these berries as well as orange or lemon peels for your friend to eat. Additionally giving him a baking soda bath (perhaps by leaving a tray of baking soda out) also works, especially if your friend smells more like vinegar or feet, rather than rotten food. If you can, be sure to put a lid on your garbage to prevent him from eating just anything, and try to encourage him to change his diet slightly. (Non-acidic fruits and vegetables, as well as all dairy products, may make his odor more powerful.)

If all else fails, some air fresheners and air freshening sprays are safe for pokémon such as trubbish and grimer, but be sure to read the label carefully before buying and using it on your friend. Also be sure that if you do use it, only spray it onto his skin; do not let him consume it. For this reason, this is more of a last resort if your town grows hostile to your trubbish friend; it’s a bit too risky to use unless you’ve exhausted all the other options listed above.

Best of luck, anonymous!

Do any regions/cities have leash laws? What Pokémon cannot legally walk around naturally with their trainers in public?

No. The poké ball is typically sufficient enough to keep a pokémon in line. Often, it’s seen as more humane because while a leash restricts a pokémon’s range of movements, a poké ball allows them the freedom to go about as they please while still enabling their owners to pull them out of harm’s way or keep them from doing anything damaging. Of course, most pokémon paired with a poké ball are acclimated enough to human contact to behave well in public, and most trainers who own pokémon that are aggressive or otherwise not well-adjusted to human presence often know better than to force their pokémon to accompany them through high-traffic areas.

That having been said, all pokémon are legally able to walk around with their trainers in public; it’s just that there are some pokémon that are not socially acceptable to keep by one’s side. (Muk, for example.)

When I was a child I got caught in a storm. I was lost and muddy and didn’t know how to get home and a lightning bolt struck a tree next to me and it was set ablaze. Before it fell on me raikou picked me up and threw me on its back… it took me home and saved my life that day. How can I see it again to thank it?

I’m afraid that according to Johtonian tradition, you shouldn’t seek out a legendary beast but rather allow it to come to you. This isn’t, of course, to say that you can’t; technology has evolved to the point where you can track practically any pokémon’s location through the pokédex, pokétch, or pokégear, provided you’ve seen those pokémon at least once. It’s just that it’s rather taboo to do so, and if you’re attempting to give thanks, I wouldn’t recommend it. Especially for a pokémon such as Raikou, which is known for its just disposition.

That having been said, many Johtonians use temples and shrines for this express purpose. If you aren’t a follower of the Johtonian belief, I would recommend visiting a temple; the sages there will help you learn the proper prayers to the legendary beasts. (It’s thought that certain prayers may be carried from areas of sacred ground to our wandering legendaries—or even the stationary but hidden ones—via an elaborate system of spirits. So even if you visit a temple that isn’t anywhere near where you first encountered Raikou, you may still be able to send your thanks through this system and be reasonably certain that the message would be received. Or at least, that’s what the sages will tell you. It’s actually more of a case of “it’s the thought that counts.”)

Alternatively, shrines—smaller, standalone structures, usually located in wooded areas—may be used to contact our kami, but these tend to be riskier. First and foremost, you need to leave an offering suitable for the legendary you wish to contact. As these are signs of respect towards beings more powerful than yourself, you quite obviously can’t leave just anything. Second, shrines are thought to be manned by spirits themselves, and sometimes, the spirits are mischievous and thus extremely dangerous. For example, there is a famous shrine located in the heart of Ilex Forest dedicated to Celebi. The entire forest itself is considered to be Celebi’s domain, and Celebi, a time-traveling legendary, is known to be rather capricious. Consequently, according to local legend, travelers who wander too deeply into the forest’s sacred grounds and travelers who leave the wrong kind of offering at the shrine have been known to disappear, never to be heard from again. Of course, whether or not you believe that is up to you, but all I can say is there is definitive proof that Celebi exists … so make of that what you will.

In any case, regardless of the risk, shrines tend to be the more direct route because you’re interacting directly with spirits. There are some shrines across Johto and Kanto dedicated specifically to the legendary beasts, but really, if you can find one devoted to Celebi, this will work just as well, so long as you make your intent clear and leave an offering for Celebi as well. (It’s said that Celebi is often happy to take offerings meant for one of the beasts to the beast in question, but it’s simply common courtesy to thank Celebi for doing so.)

Whatever your method for contacting the beasts, anonymous, just remember that what you’re dealing with is a regional legendary—one of the most important to a culture. As such, it’s imperative that you show the utmost respect towards Raikou as you thank it. Follow the sages’ advice to the letter or leave a generous offering, and never try to cross Raikou in the process—not even to catch it (unless it very clearly chooses you to be its trainer).

Good luck, anonymous!

Hey Bill! Alolan native here. So in my travels I came upon a Pokémon I had never seen before… it’s about 7 feet tall, white and black on its canine like. Off but it’s front feet are talons and it has something akin to a carvana tail? I think it was experimented on by humans because it has this weird cast iron piece on its head. It’s like it was made of a bunch of Pokémon. Anyway I found it hurt and alone and have been caring for it. It seems too like me a lot and Idk if I should catch it?

Well, if it seems to like you a lot, there’s nothing wrong with asking if it would like to be a part of your team. That is to say, assuming that by “travels,” you mean you’re a trainer as well, show this pokémon some of your other team members to help it understand what a poké ball means and what being a part of your team would entail. Then, ask it. If it seems excited by the prospect of being caught by you (and given the fact that it seems to like you, I have no doubt it would), then go ahead and capture it. However, if it seems hesitant or resistant to the idea, then no, it would be best to simply let it accompany you, at which point the best you may be able to do is protect it on your journey.

I will say, though, that I highly encourage you to try catching it if it consents to that. This pokémon, if it is indeed what I think it is, is extremely rare to the point where only one free specimen is known to exist. No doubt it would need a caring trainer to keep it safe, and in any case, the more trainers are paired with pokémon like these, the more we researchers can glean an understanding of those pokémon by observing the trainers’ experiences with them. In other words, catching it would provide it with many tools for survival and allow us humans to learn more about it in the future. It would be what one may consider to be a win-win situation. Assuming, of course, that the pokémon agreed to be captured.

Hi Bill, zzzrt! I’m a Rotom with an awezzzome trainer, and while we get along juzzzt fine, we have a zzzlight problem. I’m a compulsive shutterbug, and I love pozzezzing camerazzz. I take zzzo many photoz that my Trainer keepz having to zpend lotz of money on ztorage for my habit… and I can’t let him delete any! They’re too preciouzzz! I figure since you know Pokémon zzzo well, you could help me ztop. PS, he doezn’t know I’m posting thiz… yet. Thought I’d zurprize him.

I’m very tempted to ask you several questions, Rotom, but my editor is currently glaring at me via video chat, so I gather that would be a terrible idea.

That having been said, have your trainer purchase a film-based camera. Mini cameras are currently making a comeback, so if you enjoy the feel of something new, that may be an option. Alternatively, older models sell for rather cheap on PokéBay. Ensure that the camera lacks a roll of film, transfer into it, and click away.

Alternatively, if you wish to surprise your trainer, rather than ask for a camera, consider transferring into something else around the house that can move or click, such as a fan, a washer, a remote computer mouse, or any of the like. Use the movement of these objects to relieve your urge to manipulate a camera shutter until you feel comfortable inhabiting a camera without needing to take pictures. The transference of movement should help you by way of being an outlet so that you shift your needs from taking a picture to simply releasing your pent-up energy.

Good luck, little rotom!

Can humanoid pokemon be trained the same way as animal like ones (giving treats when they do sonething right) or are there other methods?

Yes, positive reinforcement works on essentially all pokémon. All people as well. Basically, anything that can comprehend a rewards-based system can be trained using one.

Just think of training a humanoid pokémon like training a child. Sure, you can simply teach a child how to do basic things such as read or tie their shoes or whatnot, but they become far more engaged if the learning was fun. This is why teachers in certain school systems reward their children for attempting to learn, either with literal rewards or by making the learning in itself a wonder. By contrast, try forcing a child to learn something they clearly have no interest in using methods that in no way makes the learning itself a pleasure. Chances are good that the child will refuse, sometimes rather vocally.

Humanoid pokémon are the same way, as are any other pokémon, and that’s the core principle behind positive reinforcement. The main philosophy is making the training seem worthwhile to the subject and helping them equate the task with goodness by associating the feeling of being rewarded with the task itself. If you want a hitmonchan to punch a target quickly, you make a game out of punching things or add a reward for doing so or both. Eventually, the hitmonchan understands that the faster and more precise it punches, the happier you and he will be, regardless of whether or not there is an actual reward for doing so.

Honestly, this method is the most humane. Simply teaching a hitmonchan the physics of punching or why he needs to punch won’t be as effective at helping him remember what he learned or why he needs to punch, and using negative reinforcement (threats and abuse) not only does more literal harm than good but also is both fantastically illegal and the sort of thing that would make you a terrible person.