My chimchar, Hestia, has a bad habit of forgetting the fire on her back is lit and climbing on things and setting them on fire. How can I help her remember to be more mindful? She’s only a baby right now

Baby fire-types are always a bit of a challenge, anonymous, but in the case of chimchar, it may be manageable. You see, chimchar, as a primate pokémon, possesses a decent level of intelligence, so if you try to teach Hestia something simple, she may have an easier time grasping it than, say, a cyndaquil.

Or in other words, when she lights something on fire, turn her around and show her. Have her help you put out the fire and explain to her that the fire came from her. Train her a bit as well so she understands how to consciously use her flames, and teach her why she can’t simply set everything on fire in the same way you might teach a small child why they can’t do something dangerous.

Sometimes, trainers also find it helpful to give their chimchar a pokémon doll to carry around when they’re young. If their chimchar succeed in carrying it around without setting it on fire, they’re given a small treat during meals. If not, they have to put it out (and if they do this on their own, they might get a treat, although this might also encourage some chimchar to set it on fire in the first place). But by giving a chimchar something tangible and theirs to care for throughout the day, they gain a better grasp on their abilities and learn a bit quicker to control their back fires.

Most of all, though, be patient. As a baby, she’s prone to get into mischief, but by always guiding her with a gentle but firm tone, she’ll learn, little by little, as she grows.

Best of luck, anonymous!

I’m training in MMA, and I’ve been thinking of having a Fighting-type Pokémon train alongside me! Does that sound like a good idea? If so, what kind of Fighting-type Pokémon would be recommended for younger trainers (around 13 y.o.) in specific?

If you’re careful, it could be a good idea. More specifically, if you do this, be careful about which pokémon you choose. Quite a few fighting-types may be too eager or too rough for a human to train with, while some can tone it down (so to speak) to match the limits of their partners.

In particular, starters are very attuned to human partners and thus can adjust their power fairly easily. The downside, of course, is that no “official” starter line is part fighting in their most basic stages, so whichever you choose will need a bit of training before it can begin mastering fighting techniques. That said, of the three (technically four, if one counts chesnaught, although that requires more rigorous training than the others), the torchic line tends to be the most popular due to its flexible fighting style and the fact that it’s neither too fast to keep up with (as in the case of monferno and infernape) or nearly too bulky to train with (as with pignite and emboar). But really, any of them may make excellent choices.

Alternatively, if you can’t obtain a starter, machop tends to be both easy to obtain and easy-going in personality, and as such, it can make for a patient sparring partner. Meditite as well, particularly if you’re looking for a less aggressive approach. Members of the makuhita line are popular among fighters due to their bulk; they can take hits as well as show their human partners how to perform formidable punches of their own. Conversely, hawlucha and members of the riolu line are often sought-after as training partners due to their eagerness to train; it’s fairly easy to learn along with these pokémon as a result.

Whatever you choose, anonymous, always remember that training your pokémon is as important as training yourself. Be sure your pokémon understand your limitations and boundaries before engaging in any sort of training with a fighting-type.

Good luck, anonymous! Your journey sounds like it will be quite interesting, although I admit I don’t entirely know what MMA means exactly. I imagine it’s something like judo?

EDIT: After having discussed this entry with my editor, looked it up, discussed this entry again with my editor, and then discussed it with the lawyer who handles many of the issues surrounding my work, I am now obligated to add that I am not an expert in human sports or health and that neither I nor the editor are liable for whatever happens as a result of my advice concerning either of those particular subjects. I am also obligated to phrase that as “as a result of my advice, however ridiculously terrible it may be” for reasons I’ve been told I’m not allowed to question.

Bill, for some reason when I just read the ask about Ditto making good parents I thought it was asking if Ditto would make a good parent for human children. So now I gotta ask, would a Ditto make a good parent for a human child? Could I have a Ditto babysit human children?

The thing with ditto is that because they’re pokémon and not humans, they don’t fully understand human needs or society. (Granted, there’s always a possibility that there’s a ditto out there who does, but those are very likely extremely, extremely rare. And there certainly hasn’t been any documented case of such … probably for good reason, but that’s a tangent.)

So would they make good parents? Not really, no. They can provide basic care, but it’s unlikely they’d be able to provide the emotional support and general wisdom a human needs growing up and learning how to navigate our part of the world.

As babysitters, however, yes, most ditto have some level of baseline judgment skills that would allow them to keep human children out of trouble for short periods of time. Some might even be better babysitters than humans.

(Granted, why people leave small children in the care of teenagers is beyond me. Some of them can barely take care of pokémon.)

Bill. Remind me again how old you were when you moved out to the middle of nowhere on your own and became the storage system administrator of two heavily populated regions? —LH

Yes, but let’s be perfectly honest with each other, Lanette. Would you trust me with small, human children? —Bill

Fair point. —LH

I recently got out of a very abusive relationship and have physical and emotional scars to show what I’ve been through. My absol went through similar issues due to my ex now has a very strong fear and anger of men and stands between me and any man that tries to get near me, will growl as a warning but I believe he won’t hesitate to attack if someone were to be near me. What can we both do to heal our emotional wounds?

Recovery will always take time, anonymous, including and especially for emotional wounds. It’s important, for both you and your absol, to take it slow and take it easy. It might also be an excellent idea to talk to someone—Nurse Joys can provide such a service for both you and your partner if need be, if not suggest someone else who can.

In the meantime, outside of professional help, form bonds with others. Seek out a support group (both in literal terms and in the sense of a solid base of friends or family) who can help rebuild both your and your absol’s trust in humans in general. Once that trust is rebuilt, you may be able to move on and work on getting comfortable with men again, but again, don’t rush too much. It’s not unusual for some hurt to linger well past traumatic events, and pushing yourself when you’re not ready may open up old wounds.

If, however, you mean what should you do if your absol tries to attack a man on the street, again, training is of the utmost importance. As difficult as this may be, teach your absol the difference between a threat and a non-threat. Have him learn how to trust his instincts again too. His abilities are his best means of figuring out what is and isn’t a danger to you, but he’s become so fixated on what has already happened (perhaps through his guilt of being unable to prevent it) that he seems to be relying on the past as his means of judgment, not his ability to read the future. Speaking with a professional, comforting him, and retraining him, in combination, should be able to help him heal enough to learn how to use his species’ inherent powers again.

Best of luck, anonymous!

Hey Bill: I was reading my Pokedex on Aerodactyl, and Mega Aerodactyl, and then I read your entry about it, and other fossils and I noticed you didn’t have any information about Mega Aerodactyl. Are what scientist say about Mega Aerodactyl being it’s true appearance a widely accepted thing, and does it have any truth in it? I am extremely interested in this flying fossil friend and/or foe.

Ah yes. I should get to those mega evolution entries someday.

[Yes. Yes, you should. As you’ve said more than a year ago. —LH

Patience, Lanette. Good things take time to produce. —Bill

You designed the storage system in a month. —LH

…touché. —Bill]

On a serious note, anonymous, that’s actually a point of contention within the scientific community. Some scholars say that mega aerodactyl is what the species had looked like in ancient times, yes, but others say there’s actually no fossilized evidence that this is the case. If you look at the rock surrounding an aerodactyl fossil, the type of stone surrounding the skeletal structure is often uniform in nature, meaning the stone protrusions the pokédex claims were originally there are, well, not. Moreover, aerodactyl is traditionally revived through samples of old amber, which preserves the structure of tissue much better than fossilization does (for, well, obvious reasons included in the definition of “fossilization” itself). Yet no sample of old amber exists with any such stone fragment, not even in the famous sample of old amber found recently that successfully preserved a considerable amount of ancient aerodactyl tail. For that reason, I’m personally skeptical about the pokédex entries myself, as much as it pains me to admit that I disagree with reports vetted by a distinguished member of the Pokémon Symposium.

As for whether or not mega aerodactyl’s violence can be attributed to the strain its physical form places on it, I’m admittedly just as skeptical. It’s uncommon but not unusual for a pokémon to undergo some level of personality change when mega evolving, just as they do when simply evolving, and aerodactyl is a notoriously difficult to tame pokémon to begin with. It’s likely that the violence mega aerodactyl displays is merely the result of the freedom it gets from its boost in power, rather than specifically due to the form it’s forced to take or the process itself.

so i have feelings for my best friend, and i often have romantic dreams about him… well my musharna has been taking my dreams and trying to broadcast them to him! i manage to stop her before he sees visions of us kissing, but this is so embarrassing. i know she means well and wants him to know how i feel so i can be happy, but how can i get her to understand i need to take this at my own pace?

Communication is key here, anonymous. It’s important to set boundaries with your musharna and make it clear that although you appreciate your help, you don’t feel comfortable with her sharing your most intimate thoughts with another person. It may help to visualize with the utmost clarity what you think would happen if your best friend were to see these visions so she can see your viewpoint in terms she understands.

Additionally, consider confiding in your musharna more often. She may be attempting to make herself “useful” by connecting you to your best friend, but if you give her another purpose, such as talking to her about your feelings whenever you can, she may feel less inclined to act on her own in order to make you happy.

Best of luck, anonymous!

I’ve been reading up on ralts and kirlia pokedex entries since my gardivor had her eggs and I’m really worried. Ralts and kirlia are the feeling and emotion pokemon and flourish when their trainer have positive emotions, but I have very bad depression issues. When my gardivor was a ralts and kirlia I was 10-15 and my depression wasn’t bad and I was happy a lot… but now as an adult I’m really scared of somehow hurting the babies with my emotions

It’s heartwarming that you’re concerned for the well-being of your pokémon, anonymous, but you needn’t worry. Your pokémon have spent all this time bonding with you, so they likely already know the inner workings of your mind. That isn’t meant to alarm you; rather, it’s meant to say they very likely already accept your depression, no matter how intense it may be. They’ve had time to grow used to how your mind works, even though it hasn’t been as bad as it is now, so they can adapt well enough to the emotional changes you’re going through. In fact, if they haven’t reacted to your fear of hurting them (or if they hadn’t reacted badly to it, anyway), then very likely, they’re strong enough to shoulder your emotions, even when you’re not feeling well enough to do so yourself.

That having been said, though, it’s actually a great thing to be bonded with a psychic-type pokémon when you’re struggling with depression. Not to be a bit of a broken record, but psychic-types more than most others are attuned to the minds of their owners. As such, they’re also capable of understanding your needs. Being bonded with a psychic-type, in other words, allows them not only to develop the strength to help you but also to have a better understanding of what helping you would mean.

So in short, you shouldn’t worry about hurting your pokémon. If anything, you should let them help you because they’re likely your best assets at this time of your life.

Best of luck, anonymous!

Hi there, Bill! I have a quick question. My Ampilus is the sweetest Luxray you’ll ever meet, but he’s been lonely since I had to trade away my Infernape. Any suggestions for a good companion for him? (We do battle for fun on occasion, but we mostly just like to go on long bike rides.)

Well, that depends. If you’re looking for a pokémon who can keep up with the both of you while running, pokémon such as decidueye or mightyena might keep up with your luxray, while galvantula’s speed may be comparable to your old infernape’s.

Alternatively, if you’re looking for a pokémon that can provide great companionship to your luxray, mightyena is still an excellent choice that often gets along well with members of the shinx line (despite being canine in nature). Alternatively, your luxray may get along well with samurott (whose general temperament blends well with luxray, despite the fact that samurott is elementally weak to them), stoutland, liepard, zoroark, midday lycanroc, meowstic, zebstrika (if you don’t mind two electric-types following you), and pyroar. Especially pyroar, actually, and on that note, only consider pyroar if you intend on getting a male or if you have no qualms about taking care of kittens.

Alternatively, you could also consider getting a jolteon, seeing as they’re also part of luxray’s egg group.

Bill. What I said earlier wasn’t a challenge. —LH

And? —Bill

Two questions that don’t realy go together my charizard has gained a fasination with water. I was thinking of buying him a kiddy pool to play in but was wondering if that mite kill him. Or would just jerry rigging it to be a small hot tub workout. I’m thinking of evolving my eevee into a glacion. Will his body temperature change, whant to know for snuggle resones.

1. It won’t exactly kill him, but it’s highly recommended that you avoid submerging the tip of his tail, as doing so would be a risk to his life. While there isn’t exactly a product out there specifically designed to do this, you might be able to fashion a floatation device that can be placed around his tail close to the flame on its tip to keep it upright and out of the water. Alternatively, the kiddie pool idea would work, but always be sure your charizard’s tail remains outside of it.

2. The bad news is yes, an eevee’s body temperature does indeed drop upon evolution into a glaceon. The good news is it doesn’t drop to a point where a glaceon can’t safely be cuddled. Just be wary of any signs that he’s getting overheated, and he should be fine.

my flygon and i were traveling around through the sky and we came to a little village to relax and regroup as we hadnt found any pokemon centers for a while. Well, this village had never seen a pokeball before… nor a flygon but thats a different story. they were mystified that i had 6 pokemon with me, and even more so by the device that kept them carryable at my side. are villages like this common?

They’re not exactly common, but they’re not unheard of, either. This world is a vast place, and while humans have been fairly ambitious in the past, in recent years, one could say we’ve done an excellent job at not colonizing every strip of land we’ve ever come across. That is to say, these sorts of villages do indeed exist in the plural, in the most remote parts of the world. These are places such as the Amazon rainforest or some parts of the Orange Islands that are typically too difficult for a person to reach, even with the assistance of a pokémon.

That is to say, it’s rather impressive that you’ve found these people, anonymous.