My Gallade, Lancer, had evolved several weeks ago. Ever since my he evolved, he’s been afraid to battle. He was always timid and he got better as a Kirlia, but now he gets anxious at the very thought of fighting. I’m worried that it’s because he’s self-conscious about his new form. Is there anything I can do to raise his confidence?

Well, your first step is to avoid forcing him to battle. Sometimes, pokémon simply don’t want to, and that’s perfectly fine. If you’d still like to leave it open as an option, you may, but always allow your pokémon to choose to battle, especially if they seem nervous.

In the meantime, work on his self-confidence by focusing on talents that don’t necessarily have to do with battling. It’s possible that he is self-conscious about his new form, as you say, and if so, then it’s up to you to teach him that being a gallade is a good thing (and that he hasn’t made a mistake in choosing to be one). Think about his interests and draw out one that might highlight the benefits of his new form. For example, if he enjoyed gardening, show him how to trim plants and pick fruits with his blades. If he liked to paint, show him that his improved strength as a fighting-type can help him carry an entire easel to wherever he would like to set up. Linking positive experiences (from encouraging him to pursue his interests) with his form as a gallade can, at the very least, help him see his evolution as a good thing; at the very most, should his self-image not be the problem, it should help lift his spirits enough that he may be able to communicate to you what his reservations actually are so you can work with those.

Above all, be patient. There is always an adjustment period after evolution, and this period lasts longer for some pokémon than others.

Best of luck!

Hey Bill, I have a problem with my Absol, she was my starter and is a wonderful sweetie. Anyway, while in a battle she mega evolved, but a while later in the same fight she just, devolved. She looked alot more tired than usual, she’s incredibly lethargic, and her mega stone shattered. Should I just remove her from battles until she’s feeling better, or take it to Nurse Joy? Is this a sign of old age, or did she just push herself a bit too hard?

Given the fact that her mega stone shattered, that’s definitely a sign that she’s pushed herself too hard. Taking her out of rotation (and perhaps listing her temporarily as a companion instead of a battle-ready pokémon) would be an excellent idea. Give her some time to rest. Then, when she’s more up for it, wean her slowly back into battling. Treat this as you would a physical injury and urge her not to push too hard to get back onto the battlefield.

Best of luck with this, by the way, and may she get well soon.

bill, is there a fandom schism between pokemon furries and animal furries or do they somehow get along

Well, I heard from a friend that for the most part, they get along just fine, but there are very small circles of both sides that consider their style of “furry” to be “authentic furry.” Which my friend thinks is rather silly because ultimately, furries are already judged so harshly by the rest of the internet that it just doesn’t make sense to judge each other more, and in any case, if one is having fun and not harming anyone (actively or passively), then what does it matter if one identifies as a dragonite while the other identifies as a house cat?

Bill … would this friend of yours be H.N. Eon, the dragonite? —LH

No. —Bill

And is that last part referring to anon hate H.N. Eon got on his secret furry sideblog? —LH

No. —Bill

My Zorua, Kitsune, lately hasn’t been able to control his illusions. He’ll randomly become a spinark, or turn into someone he sees on the street and look completely confused upon doing it. Is this some type of disease or deficiency in zorua?

More like a possible sign of stress, actually. While zorua illusions normally require a certain level of concentration, some zorua may do it on instinct as a self-defense mechanism. You may wish to examine zorua’s daily habits (his sleep schedule, whether or not he’s eating well, and so on) to see if anything’s bothering him, and if nothing jumps out at you as strange, then pay close attention to his behavior shortly before he changes. If he seems agitated, it’s a self-defense mechanism, and you may wish to train him to better control his panic. If he seems fine, then yes, you may wish to take him to a pokémon center for a check-up, just to see if anything internal is causing him stress.

Best of luck!

Do Ghost-type Pokemon like Halloween as much as humans do or is the correlation just because we consider them ghost-like

They do enjoy it, but not for the reason one might think. While they vaguely have a concept of Halloween, they don’t actually fully understand it now. They know, at least, that humans honor(ed) their dead on this day, and the gastly line (especially haunter and gengar) seem to know that long ago, humans once worshipped them on this day. They also know that humans enjoy being scared right around this time and that if they do so, they’ll earn free candy.

But mostly, they know that Halloween is that day when humans hang up fake ghost-type decorations, and they find this incredibly entertaining.

Hi Bill! Perhaps you can help me with something of a problem? Although, in regard to the Aspiring Dark Rookie Trainer’s father, maybe this wouldn’t be so bad. I run a ranch north of Tohjo Falls, and the Eevee family is kind of our signature. While my partners (a male Jolteon and female Umbreon) are only responsible for a handful of the Eevee produced, about 70% of the pups are evolving into Umbreon, even outside normal conditions. Some of my…less pleased clients are threatening to sue. Thoughts?

Hmm. It’s extremely rare, but there are cases in which eevee that are comfortable and raised in a fairly safe and consistent environment (meaning, there are no particular controllable factors that would affect their evolution present) will be “locked” genetically. That is to say, if one or both parents are eeveelutions, one parent will pass down genes that will essentially choose which evolution an eevee will undergo pre-birth.

There are ways to counter this, however. Usually, the introduction of another environmental factor will knock their pups’ genetics “off balance” so to speak, just enough to allow them to access all of their potential evolutions again. So for example, you could plant a thunder stone near the parents’ burrow, in a place the eevee themselves can’t access but just close enough to allow the stone’s radiation to seep into the nesting ground. Alternatively, samples of moss or ice rock or the other evolution stones will work.

Also, because you live in the mountains, you may wish to keep an eye out for clefairy. While eevee don’t evolve via moon stone, high exposure to fragments of moon stone (otherwise known as moon shards) can sometimes influence an eevee into evolving into an umbreon, regardless of the time of day, so long as its other requirement of closeness with a trainer is met. Clefairy often collect moon shards to build their own moon stones, so if you happen to see a clefairy nearby, there’s a good chance there’s a moon shard cache (along with a clefairy colony) nearby too. These are just as rare as the above possibility, especially if you live in an area that hasn’t seen a clefairy colony before, but given how capricious clefairy can be and given the possibility that the recent bizarre weather we’ve been having could very well have carried moon shards down the mountains, it’s still worth looking into. Should you have a clefairy invasion on your hands, calling in a trainer or few should help clear that up. As in, a sufficient number of humans heading directly towards a clefairy cache will often encourage the colony to pick up and leave on their own.

Best of luck!

I have kind of a problem I’d like some help with. I’m training a cute a male Snorunt. After seeing my aunt’s Froslass, he really took a shine to her, so now he wants to be one too. My aunt mistook him for a female, and told him he could evolve into a Froslass too. She bought him a Dawn stone, but nothing happened. Now he refuses to let go of the stone. He doesn’t move or eat… he just sits and occasionally starts to cry, as he holds the stone.. What do I do? This has been going on for days.

Have your aunt’s froslass comfort him if you can.

I know this seems counterintuitive, but your snorunt may be more willing to listen to her, and she, as a member of the snorunt line, may be in a better position to understand his emotional needs. Also, giving your snorunt a mentor will provide him with not only a means of uncovering his potential as a (perhaps) future glalie but also give him some life guidance in general.

If it’s not possible to get your aunt’s froslass to mentor him, finding any similar pokémon (preferably an ice-type) will work too.

Finally, if he still needs some comfort, even after these pokémon offer, many outlets sell snorunt-sized froslass costumes this time of year (or you could make your own). It’s worth a shot.

Best of luck!

Why are Ice and Water so different elementally speaking when regular ice is just frozen water?

Put it this way: Calling it the ice-type is admittedly a bit of a misnomer. While, yes, most of its associated moves use literal ice, the element’s core actually centers around cold. As such, most of the other elements are reacting to ice’s need or use of cold temperatures, rather than its need or use of frozen water. The only exception to this is the fighting-type, which doubles in strength against ice-types because it’s reacting to the physical fragility of ice against a good whack.

Hey bill, I was in alola recently and someone made a passing remark along the lines of “wow, rotom dex is amazing, what’s next, a rotom in the PC?” And it got me wondering, could a rotom possess your storage system creating a new form? I think you should try it out zzt

…I’m actually torn between saying absolutely not and being curious enough to do it.

I’m not. You’re not doing that. —LH

You’re right. Something that complicated would probably send a rotom’s mind reeling. —Bill

Yes. Yes, that is exactly why you shouldn’t do that. Not the end user or how many people in the Association would murder you —LH

I heard a rumor that steel and rock types can’t swim because they just sink, and when my mawile went near a pond i accidentally panicked and now shes freaked out by water, so first is the rumor true and if it isn’t could you give me some tips to help her get over her new fear?

Contrary to popular belief, it’s not true—many examples of both types can swim. This is especially not true for steel-types, which consist of pokémon that have the flexibility to physically swim or that have abilities that help them repel off the planet’s own gravitational field enough to keep them afloat. (That last one is not actually a pun. I do mean they literally bob in the water and fail to sink solely because their magnetic forces keep them from doing so.)

That having been said, at the risk of putting things bluntly, your mawile has a fear of water because you taught her to have a fear of it. This isn’t me accusing you of wrongdoing; your fear was indeed valid due to how much that rumor has been perpetuated in our way of thinking about steel-types. However, it is important to know because it’s the key to helping her overcome her fear.

What I’m trying to say is you need to teach her that it’s safe. If you can, go back to the same pond. If you can’t, any large body of water will do. Once you get there, get in the water yourself. Swim out a bit and show your mawile that you’re fine. She doesn’t need to get in herself at this point; she just needs to see you work with water so she understands that it won’t necessarily hurt.

Then, start with a bit of exposure therapy. Begin with smaller bodies of water: a bathtub or a very slow, very shallow stream will do. Have your mawile rest in it for as long as she feels comfortable, then take her out, dry her off, and give her a treat. Repeat this until she grows used to the smaller body of water, then move up to the larger. Once you get to sufficiently deep bodies, you may also wish to give her a few swimming lessons. (Some towns have water-type specialists who offer swim lessons for non-water-types, but if this isn’t an option due to finances or the lack of one yourself, just know that swimming for a mawile is very similar to swimming for a human. The only difference is that they need to exert more effort in keeping their upper bodies above water due to their false jaws.)

Either way, work your way up until you can return to the pond and let her swim. Take it easy and maintain a good hold on her until she’s relaxed and capable of either standing at the shallow end or swimming on her own.

It will take some time, yes, but with effort, consistent rewards, and a lot of patience, you’ll be able to teach her that there’s nothing to worry about when it comes to water.

Best of luck!