Hi bill, I need some advice for my lopunny here. See, I just moved back to Alola, and my lopunny can’t take the heat. I’ve tried suggesting we trim excess fur off her ears and cuffs and ankles at a furfrou salon and maybe shape them in cute designs, but she’s TERRIFIED of blades to her sensitive lops (she even attacked the barber). I don’t wanna trade her away or box her, please help a trainer out!

That isn’t so surprising. Lopunny in general are very sensitive about their fur, and if their owners can avoid trimming them, that’s all the better.

Instead, try these steps:

Always supply your lopunny with plenty of fresh, cool water. (You may wish to add ice cubes to her water bottle for added chill.) The more hydrated she is, the easier it will be for her to handle the heat.
On that note, be sure she has plenty of vegetables, not simply kibble. Vegetables can be an added source of liquids, which will help to keep her hydrated.
Allow her to rest indoors as much as possible. When it’s not possible, give her plenty of shade. A shelter lined with cool materials (such as ceramic tiles and frozen water bottles or ice packs) can be sufficient enough at home, while an umbrella may be helpful on the go.
Consider adding a fan to her shelter and running it whenever possible.
Mist her ears, rather than trim them. That is, use a spray bottle to gently moisten her ears. This is important because a lopunny’s ears are vital to maintaining one’s body temperature, so the added moisture to her ears will keep them cool. Be careful not to get any water in her ear canal or on the tufts at the ends of her ears, as this can lead to infection and molding, respectively.
Brush her tufts and ears regularly to remove excess fur without needing to trim. Usually, lopunny can tolerate brushes better than razors, but be gentle either way.

Follow these steps vigorously at first, and your lopunny will find it easier to adjust to life in Alola. Granted, you should follow these steps regardless, but at the very least, making her comfortable by following the above will allow her to nurture a tolerance to heat in as stress-free a manner as possible.

Best of luck, anonymous!

my friends nidorina doesnt seem to like my mimikyu at all… whenever he comes over his nidorino guards him like the small mimikyu on my shoulder would jump off and attack. im not sure why my friends nidorino does this considering mimikyu has never hurt anyone, in fact she’s been nothing but a loving faithful companion who is very friendly with people who are interested in her. what can i do to calm my friends companion?

As with all team issues (even though your friend’s pokémon is technically not on your team), it’s important to communicate in order to determine the actual cause of negative behavior. In this case, your friend should be the one to take his nidorino (I believe? I apologize if it actually is a nidorina, as mentioned in the first line.) aside and determine the root cause of his behavior, then work with you in order to find a workable solution. There’s not much you can do on your own, as it sounds like your mimikyu is well-behaved as it is, which means the issue lies with your friend’s nidorino alone.

However, I can offer a bit of insight as to what may be causing the rift between your mimikyu and your friend’s nidorino. You see, as a ghost/fairy-type, mimikyu sit at a rather unique crossroads. Both types are notorious for their mischievousness, and as such, even other pokémon tend to be wary about them. It doesn’t help that mimikyu are often either shy or the vindictive sort of envious, so it’s honestly no wonder that your friend’s nidorino is especially cautious when he sees your mimikyu.

For this reason, it may be prudent for your friend to teach his nidorino that not all mimikyu aim to trick humans or attack them out of envy. Consider proposing exposure therapy, wherein you introduce both pokémon in a comfortable setting for short periods at a time and work your way up to a point where your friend’s nidorino can safely exist in a room with your mimikyu without attacking her. Either way, the process would be gradual, but it’s up to your friend to work with his pokémon.

Best of luck to the both of you!

Are there any ghost types that would be a good partner for a beginning trainer?

Phantump.

I hope you realize you’re a terrible person, even if you do give to youth-focused charities. —LH

Edit: First and foremost, I could have said dhelmise, but I did not.

In all seriousness, anonymous, short of the notoriously difficult to handle pokémon (namely spiritomb and dhelmise), practically any ghost-type may be an excellent partner for beginning trainers. The only thing about ghost-types is that quite a few of them require patience to raise. For example, both gastly and misdreavus are known for their mischievous sides, but if a trainer is constantly vigilant and establishes clear boundaries early on, handling either species isn’t outside the capacity for even a beginning trainer.

Moreover, some pokémon—such as litwick and honedge—can be quite dangerous if handled improperly. (Never touch either a litwick’s flame or a honedge’s hilt, even if the litwick or honedge themselves are friendly with you.) However, so long as you know the physical dangers of a pokémon, it’s fairly easy to avoid them. And in any case, the truth is that ghost-types are no more dangerous than fire-types, so by all means, never let this warning scare you away from the type.

If we must narrow it down, yamask tend to be the most responsive to human commands, although training yamask can be a bit of a taboo to certain cultures (given the fact that some people believe yamask are human spirits incarnated into pokémon form). Alternatively, duskull is generally docile; it’s not known for either the mischievous streak or the possessiveness (no pun intended) of some other members of the ghost type. Pumpkaboo likewise is relatively easy to train, as are frillish and golett. But above all, gastly tends to be the most popular, in part due to its ready availability and in part because they’re quite affectionate and eager to please once one gets past their prankster sides.

And of course, there’s also phantump, but these carry even more ethical questions than yamask, even if they are possibly the easiest to train ghost-types one can catch.

Finally, should anyone ask, dhelmise itself is not that difficult to train either. It’s just that it’s a seaweed pokémon that prefers wrapping itself around anchors meant for cruise liners, and thus, they are quite literally difficult to handle. For comparison’s sake, starting your journey with a dhelmise would be very much like starting your journey with an onix: it’s not impossible, but quite frankly, you may wish to consider saving yourself (and Nurse Joy) a headache by starting with something smaller.

My Fennekin has this black stuff coming out of her ears. It looks like soot. What do I do?

Soot on any part of a fire-type’s body is an indicator that its body temperature is dropping. That, in turn, is typically caused by exhaustion, stress, or a mild cold. My advice would be to let your fennekin rest and perhaps take her to the pokémon center if she seems lethargic, her nose feels dry, or she’s having trouble eating.

Best of luck, anonymous!

I am a pokemon groomer, and i have my own shop where my psychic types: Gardevoir, alolan raichu, and meowstic, and my fairy type: sylveon and mimikyu help me groom the pokemon. Well, a ghost type pokemon that i havent been able to identify has been haunting my shop and scaring the customers pokemon! I’ll feel a cold chill and objects in the shop will start floating or get thrown across the room. What do I do to take care of this?

You have a couple of options, anonymous.

The easiest would be to use your gardevoir’s empathic abilities to detect the location of the ghost and determine what it might want. (It’s unlikely that you have a ghost/dark-type on your hands—that is, a pokémon who can resist your gardevoir’s psychic abilities—as most of those have clear, tangible forms, which means you would already know where it is.) Have your gardevoir follow its mental signature or its emotions back to the source, then either try to reason with it or use your mimikyu’s ghost-type techniques to draw it out into the open. Once in the open, you may wish to battle and capture it, or simply chase it out of your shop. (I would recommend capturing it, however, as letting it go risks amusing it with your reaction and thus encouraging it to return.)

The second easiest would be to hire a trainer or a channeler to remove the spirit for you. Of the two, the trainer would likely be the more desirable route, as a channeler’s methods can sometimes lead to unpredictable results, including more violent hauntings.

The third and possibly the hardest would be to acquire a pokémon that can use either Odor Sleuth or Keen Eye, both of which are techniques capable of locating or uncovering ghost-type pokémon, even when disguised. Use either of these techniques, then attempt to calm and reason with the pokémon (again, by having your gardevoir detect what it may want and then using a bit of verbal diplomacy to reach a compromise) or battle and capture it (by using either the pokémon who identified it or your mimikyu—or perhaps even both).

In short, the most important first step is to find a way to locate this pokémon and draw it out into the open. From there, what happens next may be a simple matter of befriending a pokémon, either by simply talking to it and helping it get what it needs or by battling it, depending on its preference or actual aggression levels. However, in my opinion, it seems that this ghost-type in question may simply be playing with you, which is why I say this part may be far, far easier than you would think—at least, compared to locating it in the first place.

Best of luck, anonymous!

how often do ghost types possess people? theres a group of girls near where i live who are ghost type users who the town has labeled “Hex Maniacs” and theyre so.. weird… they sometimes have weird jerky movements, when they enter a room it chills… and they have no pupils… ive seen them at night walking around and i hear laughing. its very scary and i dont know what to do about it

Actually, it’s very rare for ghost-types to possess people. It only really happens if the human invites a ghost to do so. (This is why channelers and hex maniacs tend to be more susceptible to it: they’re often working with ghosts to the point where they run at a risk of accidentally inviting such behavior.)

More often than naught, though, hex maniacs are simply eccentric people who are very fond of white contacts, not victims of possession. The behavior you’ve just described, for example, actually sounds pretty accurate for the average hex maniac.

my daughter just became a pokemon trainer. she came home the other day excited to show me her first real capture, but… it’s a drowzee. i don’t want to discriminate, but i’ve heard some scary things about them. am i over reacting or can this pokemon be dangerous for an 8 year old?

I’ve heard about the rumors concerning members of the drowzee line and their penchant for leading children into dense woods for nefarious purposes, but rest assured that these are largely unfounded. (Most stories in which members of the drowzee line attack children are actually about the child wandering into a wild pokémon’s territory, prompting them to attack—if the story is true at all.)

When caught and tamed, most pokémon are relatively docile to their trainers. Even if they dislike being in captivity or if they dislike their specific trainer, pokémon rarely use force strong enough to kill, maim, or otherwise badly harm a human. This goes for psychics capable of hypnosis as well; there are very, very few stories of a tamed psychic pokémon turning their abilities onto their trainers without their consent. This is because most pokémon that allow themselves to be captured actually want to be captured, either because of curiosity, the need to be trained, or the want for companionship. Wild pokémon that don’t want to be captured are often too deep into the wilderness to be found, too strong to allow themselves to be captured, or will otherwise make their desires known before a poké ball touches them.

That having been said, it’s likely that the only thing you’ll want to worry about is your daughter’s drowzee occasionally putting her to sleep for fun, but so long as she isn’t in harm’s way when she does it (and her drowzee will likely also see to that), she should be fine.

Hello! My granddaughter is nearing the age where she’d begin her journey and given her interest in ghost types, the subject of her partner has been a difficult one. Where we’re from, people tend to be a bit wary of them to say the least, and while she assures me that she’ll be fine, I’d still appreciate some advice on the matter.

One of the most difficult things to fight against is cultural opinion. So I’ll begin by saying this: if your granddaughter is serious about her love for ghost-types, she’ll be fine. Despite their reputation, ghost-types are harmless when tamed; they’re simply mischievous and difficult to handle initially because of that. Your granddaughter may be aware of this, but if she isn’t, be sure to teach her to be clever and ever-alert in the presence of a ghost-type.

Wild ghosts, meanwhile, will let you know if they prefer not to be bothered. These are how violent hauntings come about—that is, hauntings that put humans in danger of physical harm. This is typically distinct from a mischievous haunting—the sort in which you may see objects floating about or in which ghosts pop up out of nowhere to scare you—in that when a violent haunting occurs, you may see anything from possession to ominous voices telling you to leave to a ghost physically attacking you (either through thrown objects or through an all-out battle). Often, even inexperienced ghost hunters are able to tell the difference; it’s when you grow to be an expert and thus a little overconfident that you let you guard down and come into harm’s way. Your granddaughter may already know this as well.

If your concern is more towards other people, I wouldn’t worry too much about it. Your granddaughter may already be aware of the stigma ghosts have in many cultures, even if ghost-type pokémon are nowhere near the malevolent forces human ghosts apparently are according to folklore. She may encounter resistance from the people she meets. Others may judge her or even bully her or her pokémon. But if she shows confidence in handling her pokémon and kindness towards her team, she may convince at least a few people that she and her pokémon are harmless. I would say, for your part, that you should support your granddaughter whenever possible, to show her that at least you believe in the best in her.

As for starters, for the most part, starter distribution centers will never offer a starter considered to be too difficult to handle for a new trainer. (There was one exception involving a boy from Kanto and a pikachu, I’m told, but even then, that was a rather unusual circumstance.) For that reason, your granddaughter will likely not be given anything like litwick or drifloon, but if she is, rest assured that so long as she knows how to handle them (that is, if she knows not to touch a litwick’s flame or a drifloon’s strings), then she should be fine.

Best of luck to your granddaughter, anonymous!

My alolan ninetails recently had babies and one of the babies has red fur on the tuff of his chest. I named him Speckles in honor of the red coloring but does that mean he is part fire type? do i have to treat him different than his other siblings?

Very occasionally, Alolan vulpix will be born with spots of red fur due to a slight genetic abnormality, anonymous. However, rest assured that the genes for fur color are not linked to the ones that control elemental affinities in most pokémon, and as such, the difference is purely aesthetic in nature. Your vulpix kit is still an ice-type, and you won’t have to treat him any different than his siblings.

At my university depending on class size you can have a small to medium sized Pokémon with you during lecture. Usually it’s my pikachu or sylveon I have with me but I’ve noticed my recently caught (about 3 months) mimikyu is jealous. Now mimikyu has been as much a partner to me as my sylveon and pikachu has but she’s really shy and so I worry about her hearing a loud noise or seeing another Pokémon and getting scared. I also worry about other people having negative reactions to her. What do I do

Sometimes, the best thing to do when you’re uncertain is to experiment, anonymous. Your mimikyu may seem shy, but you never know if she would be perfectly fine in a public setting if you never give her the chance to try it. Besides, if she’s feeling jealous of the fact that you bring your sylveon and pikachu to class, giving her a chance will allow her to decide whether or not it’s worth it.

That said, for the most part, nervous or socially awkward pokémon can handle public situations if their trainer is close by and capable of keeping them calm. Before bringing her to a lecture, consider exposing her to slightly less populated settings (such as a quiet park or street) and teaching her how to heel. Gradually expose her to louder and busier areas until you reach something comparable to your lecture hall. Then, when you bring her with you to class, keep her close by (in your lap, if you have to) and reassure her every so often with physical contact.

If she can’t quite tolerate the classroom and if she is still feeling jealous despite this, consider doing other things to keep her both entertained and reassured. Study with her and explain your lessons and notes, for example. (This is an excellent way to study for an exam or work on a paper, by the way!) Alternatively, include her in non-academic activities, such as chores around the house, an extra half an hour of playtime, and so forth.

If, however, she enjoys being out in public, when it comes to other people, show them (through the way you interact and handle your mimikyu) that she’s harmless. A fear of ghosts is perfectly natural for humans, however, so keep in mind that sometimes, shouts of surprise or fear are inevitable. Just focus on keeping your mimikyu calm and happy and think about others’ reactions only if they pose a danger to her or if there’s any way you can put their minds at ease without an argument.