Tag: Anonymous

Hey bill, I’m currently training to be a psychic type trainer and I’m looking for two more Pokemon for my team, I currently have a meowstic, a wobbuffet, a gardevoir and a metagross. Could you suggest some psychic Pokemon that are easy to care for but also have a good record in battles? Thanks.

Well, I can’t recommend members of the abra line enough. Although abra is a bit difficult to train at first (what with the fact that most wild-caught ones can only use Teleport until it either evolves or undergoes special training via TMs, HMs, or tutoring), it grows quickly, it’s loyal, and it’s highly intelligent, qualities which can make it a ready and capable partner early on. Moreover, it’s quite powerful in its own right (especially when its final evolution is allowed to mega evolve), but by itself, an abra can encourage a trainer’s growth by forcing them to think creatively on the battlefield. Let’s just say that Teleport is far more useful than one would imagine at first glance. 

Alternatively, members of the gothita line fill a similar niche on the battlefield (although—and perhaps this is my own bias in saying so—not quite to as powerful a degree), as do starmie and, believe it or not, mr. mime. For those with the same temperament as members of the abra line, you may wish to consider gallade (which would also make an excellent partner to your gardevoir), meditite, jynx, or woobat.

On that note, as many psychic-types can be a bit fragile, you may find some luck in adding a member of the solosis line to your team (yes, even though you have the steel-type metagross to support you). Members of the solosis line are notoriously bulky, and as such, they’re capable of taking hits just as much as they are dealing them. Slowbro is also capable of filling a similar niche, but the problem is that members of the slowpoke line (except slowking, which is difficult to obtain) are a challenge to raise—not because they’re disobedient or unruly but instead because they’re highly capricious and, well, slow to respond to commands. That and slowbro works best when paired with a mega stone of its own. However, with persistence and a mega stone, slowbro has the potential to fill its niche better than reuniclus can, so one should think carefully about trade-offs if they’re considering a defensive psychic.

If you’d prefer speed, look no further than an Alolan raichu. Few psychic-types can outspeed an Alolan raichu surfing on its own tail, but it’s vital to remember that a pikachu must evolve within the regional boundaries of Alola to attain its half-psychic form. Even pichu and pikachu raised in Alola all their lives will evolve into their standard forms if removed from Alola and exposed to a thunder stone anywhere else in the world. This, of course, makes obtaining an Alolan raichu rather tricky, as adopting one already evolved can be quite expensive for this very reason.

Finally, should you simply want something easy to train, the fennekin line evolves into the psychic-type, and starters are among the easiest pokémon to train, as they were bred specifically for that. Unfortunately, the downside is that delphox isn’t quite the strong pokémon you may be looking for.

If all else fails, eevee can evolve into the psychic-type espeon.

Bill, you can’t keep suggesting eeveelutions whenever someone asks you for help on building their teams. —LH

Watch me. —Bill

My Chatot may have a heart condition. I Joy said to keep her from getting too excited, but Chatters gets incredibly excited when I so much as walk into the room. What can I do about this?

As counterintuitive as this may sound, your best chance is actually to strengthen your chatot’s heart. You see, the advice Nurse Joy was giving you wasn’t because your chatot’s heart would explode or because getting excited would induce a heart attack. Rather, it’s because your chatot’s heart is currently weaker than most other chatot’s, and as such, a lot of exercise would exhaust her (or, more specifically, her circulatory system) a lot faster and put her other organs in danger due to restricted blood flow. However, there are ways to prevent this from happening, but it will take time and a few lifestyle adjustments for Chatters.

Nurse Joy should have given you tips on where to go from here, but it comes down to the classic diet and exercise technique. If you haven’t already, add more plant matter to your chatot’s diet. Consider greens, as well as certain seeds such as flax (ground, of course, to prevent Chatters from choking). Aim for foods rich in omega fatty acids, as these acids are anti-inflammatory in chatot such as yours.

Additionally, add a bit more exercise to your usual routine. While it’s not recommended to overdo it, a little extra exercise will help your chatot strengthen her heart and improve her overall circulatory health. Every day, have her flap her wings vigorously in repeated bursts of movement for as long as she can go. Have her fly about the house, and consider building her a small “gym” (this can be as simple as a climbable stack of books) that she can go up and down on foot.

Finally, if Nurse Joy gave your chatot a prescription, don’t skip a day. That goes without saying, but even the small things will help in the long run.

Again, these solutions will take time, but addressing her health issue rather than attempting to force her to rest is honestly the best way to go about ensuring your Chatters can get back on her feet, so to speak. As for the short-term, what-to-do-about-an-excitable-chatot part, my best advice is to increase the amount of time you spend with her in order to teach her that you haven’t abandoned her. It may be that she’s excitable because she didn’t think you were coming back (a common problem with house pokémon), so training her to understand otherwise will help her stay calm, even when she sees you again.

Was wondering, if one where to fined or catch an undiscovered Pokemon. What usually happens? And would we get to keep it.

Well, that’s typically up to you. While the pokédex network will automatically register that you’ve encountered an unidentified pokémon if you try to scan it with your own, you technically don’t have to do anything. However, the Pokémon Symposium thoroughly encourages you to contact your nearest pokémon professor so they may do a few initial observations or instruct you on how to take notes yourself. This can be as simple as a five-minute videophone call to whomever gave you your current pokédex.

Otherwise, under most circumstances, you would get to keep it. Really, the only times you wouldn’t is if it posed a very clear threat to you somehow (which is extremely rare but still a possibility outlined in the Symposium guidelines for discovery procedures) or if it was a legendary (at which point you may be asked politely but firmly to put it back where you found it, depending on the professor).

i work with professor birch in Hoenn, and recently went to Johto to provide information discovered by Birch to Elm. Well while i was staying with professor Elm, one of the starters he had, cyndiquil popped out of its ball and imprinted on me. is it common for pokemon like this to choose their trainer?

Only in Johto, Unova, and occasionally Kalos. (Alola as well, but for them, it’s less an accident and more a cultural point.) No one is quite sure why, but the going theory is that the starters often emulate the disposition of the people within their region of origin.

As a Johtonian, I feel like I should be offended by the implication that my people are all impulsive and extremely transparent about their opinions of others, but on the other hand, you wouldn’t exactly be wrong if you said that…

Hey Bill, I need advice. I’ve had this really turbulent relationship with Pokemon and training them. I was going through one of those phases where I questioned if it was really right to capture and train Pokemon at all. I gave up my whole team, including a Munna I had raised since birth. It was a scary time for me. I was wondering if there are any Pokemon that would be great for former trainers wishing to get back into the swing of things. Preferably something local, you know how Unova can be.

Ah yes. You must be referring to the Plasma Incident. I have more than a few choice words about Team Plasma, but unfortunately, as that would be a rather strong tangent, I’ll simply say that it’s a shame to hear from another victim of their rather unique grip on pokémon welfare. That is to say, I’m terribly sorry to hear that this happened to you, anonymous.

That having been said, as odd as it may seem to be, have you considered another munna? While another one may be no decent replacement for the one you once had, you’re already very familiar with caring for one, and thus, bonding with another one may be easier than you might think.

However, if the thought of raising another munna is too painful for you (which would be understandable), Unova is home to a fantastic wealth of pokémon that are easy to care for and fully capable of helping you heal. For example, audino are very perceptive to a trainer’s needs, both physically and emotionally, and they’re surprisingly resilient and versatile on the battlefield. They’re also fantastically abundant across Unova, so finding one may be a fairly simple matter for you. (You may even be able to adopt a retired nurse audino or an audino that didn’t quite make it through its medical certification. These audino may be the best for you, as they’re trained to be calm and comforting in most situations.)

Alternatively, common pokémon—such as lillipup, pidove, and purrloin—are fantastically loyal pokémon that typically evolve into capable battlers later on (although liepard is admittedly not as strong as other choices, and purrloin is often mischievous and a challenge), as are the starter lines (which are often difficult but not entirely impossible to obtain). Other pokémon that simultaneously make for wonderful companions and perfect partners for former trainers include the gothita and solosis lines (as their psychic abilities make it easier for some trainers to bond with them), as well as golett (both fantastically loyal and easy to train), pawniard (same), minccino (popular domestic pokémon), emolga (same as minccino), and axew (none of the above, but the challenge in both taming and training axew may bring out the best in both you and it while helping you to heal from releasing your munna).

In all, I would highly recommend a pokémon you’re most likely to bond with. What you need right now is to heal and to be reassured—even if you’re consciously certain—that raising pokémon is perfectly ethical. So I would strongly suggest trying to raise a munna, but if not, go for something that’s guaranteed to adapt well to training in the first place. (Unless you really do want to try training an axew. Again, the challenge is often worth it.)

Best of luck!

My shinx, Sparky, is a recent adoption and he likes sleeping on my legs at night. The only issue is that he lights up in his sleep so I wake up to him glowing with energy. This light also wakes him up and then he cries for me to pet him because he sees I’m up. This usually all happens at 2-4 am and it messes with my sleep schedule. How can I prevent this?

Invest in a sleeping mask for yourself and a pokémon-sized one for your shinx. Additionally, consider giving your shinx a blanket. The point is, your main problem is your shinx’s light (as lighting up is an unconscious action I doubt you’ll be able to prevent), so the more of it you can cover up, the easier it will be to sleep. This may be uncomfortable at first, but you may find yourself growing used to a mask over time.

Alternatively, try drinking herbal tea (chamomile for yourself; catnip for your shinx) to relax before going to bed. Some studies suggest that the more relaxed a pokémon is before it falls asleep, the less likely it will use its more passive abilities during its rest.

Best of luck, anonymous!

I just found an egg and I took it to the Pokémon center and told nurse Joy that the parents are nowhere to be found , I waited for hours for them and they never came and she did an ultrasound and I found out it’s an espurr, I’m keeping the little cutie.

Ah, it’s good to hear the hatchling will have someone to care for it. Follow your Nurse Joy’s directions for newborn pokémon care and best of luck.

Congratulations, anonymous!

So my sylveon adopted a shiny shinx that had been rejected by its parents and is raising it along side her two eevee babies. The shinx is around the size of the eevees right now but when shinx evolves into a Luxio and luxray do you think there could be problems with the currently happy family?

Not at all! Pokémon are highly adaptable creatures. Think about how many of them form families within their own teams. A trainer can catch a wide variety of different pokémon—even pokémon whose elements are by no means compatible with one another—and those pokémon will still be able to bond with one another and see each other as great friends, if not practically family. Moreover, pokémon from the same egg group (as the eevee and shinx families are) often take care of other members of that same group, regardless of actual species. In other words, sometimes, an eevee and a shinx can actually be blood relatives, and the two pokémon would still get along quite well.

In short, barring conflicts that would have nothing to do with your shinx’s species or physical attributes (because no family is without its differences, believe me), your shinx should do just fine. If anything, you should likely be wary about the fact that it’s shiny, but given the other fact that your sylveon and eevee are all tame, it’s likely that even that won’t be an issue.

Best of luck and congratulations, anonymous!

Ever since my Leafeon evolved, she’s been acting sad and depressed. This is unusual because she seemed perfectly happy as an Eevee. I’m worried that she may be having regrets about her evolution. What should I do to help her feel better?

Well, first and foremost, determine that it is this. Communicate with your leafeon, or observe her behavior. If she seems to act more depressed upon exposure to other eeveelutions (either by seeing them in person or on TV, in movies, or so forth), consider that a confirmation, then proceed with this: reassure her that she made the right decision. Be there for her and give her plenty of affection. Perhaps teach her new techniques to help her better acclimate to her form, and use her in battles so she can see how useful she still is. The more you have her exercise her form and the more you’re there for her, the easier it will be for her to adapt and feel comfortable in her skin.

If, however, her mood doesn’t change—especially if her leaves begin to soften and wilt—then she’s not actually sad or depressed but rather lethargic and sun-starved. Take her outside more often and move her bed to a sunny spot in your home. Increase her water intake and talk to your local Nurse Joy about vitamin supplements for grass-types. If you do all of this, you’ll likely see improvement in her health and mood in no time.

Best of luck, anonymous!