Yes indeed! At least once a year, we’re able to meet in person for a proper game night, but otherwise, we hold a weekly session over video chat. Not everyone attends, but many of us make it a point. It’s a fantastic way to relieve stress, bond with one another, and talk about something other than business (or talk about business but in a relaxed setting).
For those curious, we play something different every night. Some nights, it’s a tabletop game; others, we play board games. It really depends on who’s in attendance and what everyone feels like playing.
On that note, I’d like to add that Bill is our reigning champion of Cards Against Humanity. Make of that what you will. —LH
Yes, it’s absolutely fine to leave your pokémon in a PC if you’re expecting to be incapable of caring for a pokémon over a longer period of time. In fact, that’s actually one of the reasons why the PC exists. We’re aware that not every pokémon is capable of being housed for long-term care, especially given the finite space that traditional pokémon centers, day care centers, or “pokémon hotels” have. (Never mind the fact that most centers and day cares have limits on how long a pokémon may be able to stay, and it’s sometimes difficult to find a reputable pokémon hotel.) The PC will place your pokémon in a safe state of suspended animation until you’re fully capable of caring for them again, so it’s certainly one option.
Understandably, of course, some humans prefer to find actual people who will be able to take care of their pokémon, so I would suggest using the PC as a final resort, if you’ve exhausted all other options…
…short of a pokémon hotel, anyway.
(Seriously, don’t put your pokémon in a pokémon hotel. A day care or pokémon center, perhaps, but not a pokémon hotel.)
Best of luck in temporarily homing your pyroar, anonymous!
Absolutely! Service pokémon, for example, are always separate from your full team of six, as if you have one, then they’re absolutely necessary for your day-to-day life. It wouldn’t do at all to force you to have one less pokémon to battle at your side, just because you need another one for medical reasons.
Outside of service pokémon, people often keep pets in addition to pokémon reserved solely for battling. These trainers are often more domestically-inclined, meaning the reason why they have no problem keeping pets is because they stick close enough to home to take care of them. While teams can double as pets, some people find it’s easier to pamper a pokémon that you’re not trying to train for hard battling. There are no limits to the number of pokémon you can keep as pets in your own home, but for obvious reasons, you can’t take many of them with you on your journey. Typically, the rules for “companion pokémon” (or those that are basically pets or team mascots, rather than team members) varies from region to region, but most of the currently recognized leagues only allow for one companion per trainer. This is largely for similar reasons to the six-pokémon rule: any more than that, and it may get difficult for a trainer to manage.
In other words, you absolutely can bring your umbreon along, so long as he’s properly registered as a pet or companion, rather than as a battler. You can do this by visiting your local pokémon center (or wherever you register for a league) and informing them of your umbreon’s status.
Of course, keep in mind that the rules are extremely strict about using your umbreon to battle, and once he’s registered as your pet, you can’t even use him to help you catch new team members. This may work out for him if he continues to dislike battling, but should he change his mind, you will need to visit a pokémon center to adjust his status.
They can, but most people don’t have the hardware for it. Specifically, every pokémon center has a pokémon transport unit consisting of a miniature teleporter hooked up to one or more PCs. Without that unit and a PC capable of connecting to it, there’s no link between the digital cloud and the physical world. It’s possible to have one of these units in your home as well, but unfortunately, teleporters tend to be ridiculously expensive.
And for that, I have to apologize. I wish it wasn’t like that, but there are costs involved. As in, it’s entirely possible to create open source box management software; the tools needed to do so are largely free or things I would own anyway. It’s far more complicated to create something tangible, and thus, I admit I had to seek funding via the Pokémon Cutting-Edge Technology Research Center. Thus, because the hardware was technically built on their premises and funded by their research facility, they own the patent, and I’m only allowed to produce it by consenting to a rather inconvenient clause stating any hardware I invent must be mass-produced on a for-profit basis.
Thus, for perhaps obvious reasons, this contract also stipulates that I’m barred from informing you that if one emails Cassius Cassine, the Kalos administrator, he can provide you with a link through which you can download a PDF of full and clear instructions on building a safe teleporter using cheaper materials than the ones used in the construction of mass-produced transportation units. I am also not allowed to specify that this PDF also includes thorough notes on maintaining such a unit, as home-built units are naturally less durable than mass-produced ones. Likewise, I cannot say that an easy way to get hired as a storage system administrator is showing me proof that you’ve successfully built and maintained for at least a year one such unit. Because pirating is bad, and I am a responsible, law-abiding scientist. Do not email Cassius. You cannot find his email address by Googling it, either.
You’ve apparently hit upon the one question that my partner has received so often that it reduces him to a state in which he finds it difficult to communicate outside of memes.
(Oh, I can communicate just fine, Lanette. Whether or not you would want me to, however, is an entirely different matter. —Bill)
So rather than take the risk of allowing Bill to say something he would regret—which he would—
(Hey! —Bill)
—allow me to answer this one for him.
Pokémon are perfectly safe, both within the poké ball and inside the storage system. Both technologies take advantage of a pokémon’s ability to change form. Even pokémon incapable of evolving, such as farfetch’d and the like, have this ability encoded in unused portions of their DNA. The poké ball simply triggers this ability and directs it to convert the pokémon’s body into a electrical-digital format. So while it’s not true suspended animation, as a contained pokémon is typically perfectly aware of what goes on outside of its ball, it is a state in which a pokémon no longer needs to eat, sleep, or perform any other function necessary for maintaining their physical forms. This also halts aging and the progress of most ailments, but strangely enough, it does not halt the affects of poisoning or poké rus. This is likely because such conditions are inadvertently converted into patches of corruption, one form of which “corrects” itself over time as the pokémon adapts and heals itself. (Poisoning is a far more difficult condition to self-heal from.)
Additionally, it’s true that most pokémon are initially aware of their surroundings at first, but it’s possible for pokémon to enter extended sleep states while inside their poké balls, especially if contained for long periods of time. This is why it’s important to allow your pokémon time outside their poké balls now and then. Otherwise, according to psychic scans, when stored in a poké ball, a pokémon simply watches what goes on outside of its capture device. This is contrary to popular belief, which is, of course, the idea that pokémon get their own miniature habitats within each ball.
The storage system functions via the same principle, although for it, pokémon enter a true form of suspended animation due to the recursive nature of the process. You are, essentially, nesting a captured pokémon within a capture device within a capture device. Also according to psychic scans, pokémon who have been through the system are not at all aware of entering, nor are they aware of any time spent in storage. They simply, well, sleep.
Granted, some pokémon have shown a vague level of awareness of their surroundings, and for them, we’ve designed wallpapers meant to make pokémon more comfortable. But the main point is, your pokémon are not at all harmed by being stored, so on a technical level, if used as recommended, neither poké balls nor the storage system are cruel.
Nonetheless, yes, we do recommend that you withdraw your pokémon once in a while for psychological reasons. I’m sure you wouldn’t like waking up to know that ten years have passed either, after all.
There, Bill. Was that so hard? —LH
For you, perhaps. You’ve only been asked once. —Bill
The Pokédex According to Bill 