Absolutely. It’s a common misconception that absol bring disaster; however, what they’re actually doing is merely warning us of it. They just often have … rather inconvenient timing, I’m afraid.
Tag: Absol
I often go to bed with my absol at the foot of my bed, and when I wake up she has usually found away underneath the blanket and my legs. When I leave without her to go to work or something she gets very stressed and sometimes I find the house messy, what can I do to ease her separation anxiety? Do I need to stop sleeping with her at night?
Not necessarily. For separation anxiety, what’s more important is that you establish comfort with your absol during her waking hours. Leave her in a comfortable atmosphere with plenty of food, water, and toys, and always tell her when you’re coming back. Furthermore, stick to your schedule, including when you’re at home. If you feed her, walk her, and perform all the same tasks at the exact same time, you’ll train her to understand the concept of time itself, which will help her know when to expect you. Then, reinforce this concept by leaving at the exact same time every day and trying to come home, also at the exact same time.
In addition to this, never leave her sight without giving her that cue. When leaving a room, tell her where you’re going, and when you reenter a room, announce yourself. This will train her to understand cues as well. Reinforce this idea by feeding her a treat every time she takes your absence well.
Once you establish these ideas, be sure to announce when you leave for work shortly before walking out the door, and announce yourself when you come home. Give your absol a treat if you come home to find your home in order and your absol fairly relaxed. Eventually, through a combination of strict schedules, verbal cues, and positive reinforcement, your absol will get a sense for how long you’ll be gone and when to expect you, so it will be easier for her to understand that you are coming back. Once that happens, you should find that she’ll be more and more at ease while you’re gone. She may even find it easier to sleep at night once she no longer needs to be constantly reassured of your presence.
Best of luck, anonymous!
My partner absol and I go on lots of adventures and hike and journey together, but since getting pregnant I’ve been more stationary. She’s been very Antsy lately and I assume it’s from lack of the usual amount of stimulation and exertion. I take her on walks (for as long as a pregnant lady can) and to the pokepark but that doesn’t seem to be enough. I’m not really sure what to do at this point
Do you have family or a close friend who may be able to take care of your absol now and then? Although this seems a little less than ideal (separating yourself from your partner, that is), think of it like allowing a close friend or family member to babysit a child for a day. So long as you instruct your absol to listen to her temporary caretaker and ensure that said caretaker knows how to handle your absol, letting her go on daytrips as often as possible may be enough to alleviate the restlessness that she feels.
If, however, you don’t have a trusted friend or family member, you may be able to find a trainer who specializes in “babysitting” pokémon. Alternatively, your only other option may be to reassure your absol that this change is only temporary and that when the baby is old enough, you will not only be able to resume your adventures, but you will also do it with a new companion (so long as the adventures in question aren’t dangerous for a small child).
Best of luck, and congratulations, anonymous!
Recently a wild absol has taken to hanging out in my garden, and I’m going crazy trying to figure our what it’s warning me against. How can I possibly heed the prognostications of something that can’t speak human? Please advise, as I am very worried.
Bill: It’s very possible that, like this anonymous asker, the absol isn’t trying to warn you at all and is simply enjoying your garden. This can happen if you live in or very close to an absol’s mountainous home … and if you have a particularly relaxing garden, for that matter. As with the other asker, you should observe its behavior and try to determine whether it’s relaxed or tense. If it’s relaxed, then there is likely nothing you should worry about. However, if it’s tense, keep an eye out for any changes in its behavior, as increasingly frantic behavior (pacing, barking, approaching with a severe expression, and so forth) indicate how close disaster is to striking.
Best of luck!
I need advice. A wild absol has recently taken to hanging out in my back yard. It comes almost every day, and just sits there, looking at me. It doesn’t appear to be injured, and when I ask it what it wants it runs away, only to return the next day. If it’s trying to warn me of an impending disaster, it’s not very forthcoming about what that disaster is. It’s giving me both the willies and a reputation for being a jinx. I have no pokemon of my own to battle the thing with. What do I do?
Absol rarely are forthcoming, but take a good look at its body language to be sure.
If it looks concerned, worried, or deadly serious, keep an eye out for further activity. The more agitated it seems, the closer to disaster you are. Pay attention to it if it begins to bark or if it runs at you. You see, absol predict disaster; they don’t bring it. As such, when they appear before humans, what they’re actually doing is making an active attempt to warn or protect us. Thus, in a way, this absol may be keeping an eye on you because it knows there may be disaster in your future, but it’s not immediate. It will, however, take action and do everything it can to warn you away from danger if it senses that the threat is very close at hand. (Unless of course it’s a particularly sadistic absol … at which point keep an eye out for any excited behavior anyway.)
If, however, it looks relaxed, it simply feels that your yard is a safe place to sit, or it found a food source somewhere close to where you live. You may consider approaching it and offering to train it in this case (and if you do, be aware that you’re dealing with a wild pokémon and thus should do so cautiously), but otherwise, it’s really nothing to be concerned about.
Hello Bill, I recently caught an Absol and raised him. We are trying to take on the Battle Tree but usually lost, so I tried to take him and my Goliosopod to Resolution Cave, but my Absol seems completely against going too deep within the cave, only seeming to accept the early foggy section with the hanging vines. Is there something deep within the cave that seems to continually concern my Absol? Both he and Goliosopod are more than capable of handling the wild Pokemon.
Hm. Resolution Cave is located on Poni Island, yes? If so, I must admit I’ve never been there myself, and Poni Island is notoriously rough and barely charted territory. There are rumors among Alola natives of dangerous pokémon deep within Resolution Cave, but other than common but rather ordinary pokémon of exceptional strength, many of these rumors are unsubstantiated. Likewise, according to the Alolan administrator Molayne (who himself has a team strong enough to protect him against the wild pokémon of Poni Island), the terrain of Resolution Cave itself is rough and dangerous, but he admits he’s never been much further than the area you’ve described. It could very well be that your absol is simply reacting to the risks presented by these pokémon, or perhaps risks presented by the terrain of Resolution Cave itself. Either way, I would trust your absol on the matter.
I have two service animals: an absol and houndoom. While they’re both very gentle and kind, and are very well trained, people always give me dirty looks or tell me that I can’t bring them in stores or restaurants because no one wants a lifelong painful burn from a houndoom or to be cursed by an absol. How can I show people the stigma behind these Pokémon are false and that my Pokémon are just as well suited to service animal life as others are?
I’m afraid that dark-type service pokémon face many of the same challenges pet or battle-ready dark-types face, and there’s not much you can do about that unless you have the energy to educate (which not many people do, I know). There will always be people who are convinced that all dark-types, regardless of training, are uncontrollable beasts who will lash out at a moment’s notice. Sometimes, people can be convinced that your pokémon are harmless if you show them that they’re gentle (perhaps by having a non-dark pet or battle-ready pokémon accompany them), but this could be a distraction for your service pokémon. That and it’s not a guarantee that people will leave you alone, especially if you live in regions that are especially rich with anti-dark-type folklore.
My advice would be to ensure that your service pokémon are wearing their service vests, do your best to keep them professional at all times, and remember that you have an actual human right to bring your service pokémon with you. If a person simply gives you a dirty look, try your best to ignore it and remember that there is nothing wrong with you or your service pokémon. If possible, travel with a friend who’s comfortable with your service pokémon, as having at least one human with you who clearly doesn’t mind your absol or houndoom may be a comfort to others.
If you’re confronted by someone, however, always remain calm. I know, it may seem difficult to stay calm in those situations, especially given how vehemently some people address dark-type handlers, but it’s important to avoid escalating the situation. Therefore, if you’re in an inescapable situation wherein someone questions your service pokémon or tells you that they need to be removed from the premises, calmly tell the other person that you’re disabled, that you need your service pokémon (and, if you wish, for what reason), and that the law of your region (in most cases) allows you to enter a business establishment with pokémon of any type who are trained to assist those with disabilities.
If an employee still has an issue with your service pokémon and they are not a manager, ask to speak with the manager. If it’s a fellow patron who has approached you, find an employee and ask for assistance. And if it’s the manager themselves, remind them that barring you entry is discrimination.
Should this fail to stop the manager or owner from barring you entry or kicking you and your service pokémon out, contact your region’s Division of Human Rights (the actual name also tends to depend on the region—be sure to educate yourself on your local laws and government bodies as well) to file a complaint against the establishment. This, of course, should be your very last option, as filing a complaint means working with the legal system, which itself could be more of a mess than it’s worth, depending on your region. Nonetheless, it’s still a viable option, especially if—blazes forbid—violence was involved.
I know this might not be the answer you’re looking for, anonymous, but I’m afraid the stigma against dark-types is always going to be a problem for us humans. Even if your pokémon are nothing if not professional, there will always be one or two people who will give you strange looks for having dark-type service pokémon. Thus, it’s best to ignore those who don’t engage with you and, whenever possible, to educate those who do. Who knows? Maybe, if your town is small enough or if you frequent an establishment enough, your efforts to educate will evolve into a rapport with the owners and regulars, who can then, in turn, help others to feel comfortable with your pokémon whenever you’re in. Friendship often breeds friendship, which is why it’s very important to stay calm, know your rights, and be prepared to de-escalate and educate, if you can.
Best of luck, anonymous.
Follow up question about Absol. So, should I assume that my Absol keeping a friend of mine from leaving the house has something to do with bad luck? Like last week a Gengar tried to drain their life force, they tripped down the stairs of their apartment building, and somehow set their hair on fire. So, is my Absol trying to keep them in place to try to protect them? Since Absol hasn’t let them leave my house for 24 hours now. At least they can do their work from home.
Given your friend’s personal history … yes, your friend’s absol may be trying to protect them.
I would recommend bringing meals to your friend’s home and removing all sharp objects.
I was wondering, Absol can sense natural disasters like earthquakes or tidal waves, but can they sense other type of disasters. Like if a person is a walking natural disaster or has really bad luck?
I’m afraid so, anonymous. Absol’s ability to detect any kind of bad luck is not limited to natural disasters. It’s just that the worse the disaster is, the more clearly an absol can see it. However, it can foretell practically anything that’s considered unlucky for anyone surrounding it, from death to its owner losing half of their favorite pair of socks. So if you own an absol and happen to be particularly unlucky, your absol will be able to pick up on every last bit of bad luck that is fated to come your way.
Absol
[[Writer’s Note: In light of yesterday’s entry, I have been informed by my editor, partner, and dearest friend L.H. that I am not funny and that I am to apologize and write a proper entry in response to my equally dear follower, @anonabsolxwolf. Thus, I present to you, my readers, the entry for the day and my sincerest pleas for forgiveness. —Bill]]
Absol
The Disaster Pokémon
Type: Dark
Official Registration #: 359
Entry: A mountain-dwelling pokémon with the ability to foretell disasters. In ancient legend, absol—then referred to as the hakutaku—foretold that a deadly plague would sweep across the Hoenn region and that only a very specific herb found on the side of Mt. Pyre would be able to cure it. For this reason, Hoennians worshipped absol as a guardian spirit of herbal medicine for several centuries until modern Western medicine was introduced to the region. Absol’s prophecies for various natural disasters are still accurate, of course, but humanity has an unfortunate tendency to ignore voices of reason during times of desperation. In short, absol has gone from being a guardian spirit of herbal medicine to the patron saint of underappreciated minds whose reasonable advice goes unheeded by the Pokémon Association.
[[Editor’s Note: You are still not funny, Bill. —LH]]
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