When it comes to pikachu, actually, it does strongly resemble a mouse in both aesthetics (past its long ears) and behavior, especially when it comes to its habit of burrowing into walls and biting into the wires inside. Likewise, pikachu generally move about much like mice by scurrying instead of hopping, and they organize themselves into mouse-like nests instead of rabbit-like warrens. In every way, pikachu actually is a mouse-like pokémon; it’s just that its ears have evolved to be a bit longer due to their secondary function of detecting electricity in the air in conjunction with their tails.
As for rattata, that … is actually an excellent question, as they very clearly rats instead of mice. It could very well have to do with the larger raticate’s tendency to battle its own preevolution with incredible viciousness, much like how their mammalian counterparts often hunt and consume mice.
Either way, I assure you, highly qualified pokémonologists are responsible for giving each pokémon their names and official designations, and in any case, I was only responsible for dratini … which I named when I was eight. Just in case you were thinking of judging me for giving dratini a name that amounts to “mini dragon.”
Honestly, mareep and electrike are excellent choices and could be easy to obtain if the members of your team have breeding partners. Mareep are a rather timid pokémon and thus are considered to be easy to tackle for newer trainers. (Novices in Johto tend to train against these, wooper, and bellsprout, for example, along with the usual pidgey, hoothoot, sentret, and rattata offerings.) Electrike, meanwhile, is speedier and a bit more aggressive, but it’s just loyal enough to understand what you mean if you order it to hold back.
Other than that, it would largely depend on which region you’re living in. While rules vary from league to league, most gym leaders seem to prefer building teams of pokémon that are native to their region. Do research into what’s available in your location and compare the average battling capabilities of each available species. Take into account both physical and special prowess, as well as what moves they can naturally learn and their special abilities.
As for which is easy to raise, they all have their individual strengths and drawbacks, but it may be important to note the following:
1. Pikachu can sometimes be a handful for unprepared trainers, as they can be both capricious and ornery at times, particularly to trainers they don’t trust.
2. While grubbin (which is not an electric-type but evolves into one) is one of the easier ones to evolve, charjabug only evolves when exposed to strong magnetic fields and thus may be difficult to raise to maturity as a result.
3. If the reason why you’re preparing a new team is because many of your challengers are novices, keep in mind that your trainers may only know the very basics of battling and type matching. Hence, pokémon such as emolga or those that can resist most types of damage (such as togedemaru and members of the magnemite line) may prove to be a bit too difficult for your average challenger.
4. Voltorb don’t learn Self-Destruct until they’re old enough to understand that using it freely is dangerous, but this doesn’t mean they won’t use Sonic Boom or Spark more often than they should.
Hello again! Excellent to see you settling into Sinnoh so well!
To answer your question, while it’s true that on the surface, midnight lycanroc can sometimes resemble dark-type pokémon, in truth, they have about as many similarities to members of that element as midday lycanroc. In terms of battle capabilities, midnight lycanroc’s elemental balances and lean towards defense over offense (physical attributes aside) are actually reminiscent of a rock-type, and its favored battling style (aggressive, direct assaults) diverges from a dark-type’s general preference for sneak or mob attacks. In fact, regarding the latter, midnight lycanroc actually more resembles a fighting-type like lucario than it does a dark-type.
However, off the battlefield, the comparison is apt, given the typical lycanroc’s generally aggressive and sometimes difficult-to-tame nature. For this reason, if trainers are asking you for tips on caring for a midnight lycanroc, it’s fair to advise them to take care of theirs the same way you would a dark-type. (The only difference, really, is that lycanroc should be allowed to self-groom, due to their rock element—that is, only give them baths if absolutely necessary.) If, however, trainers are asking you for tips on raising a battle-ready lycanroc, it’s important to remind them that it is a rock-type and should be raised as such.
I have indeed, anonymous! You don’t get to where I am in the field of pokémon technology without having your fingers on the metaphorical pulse of, well, pokémon technology—and the “rotom dex,” as it’s called, is certainly the innovation of the year. I’ve heard about it for months, ever since word first spread out of Kalos about its development, and believe me, since the moment I’d heard about it, I have always wanted to get my hands on one. Unfortunately, while I could easily get the shell, the rotom is the difficult part. Even with my connections, not a single one has a rotom to trade, let alone any definitive leads on where one might be (outside of Sinnoh’s Old Chateau, which is unfortunately spoken for in terms of a trainer).
That aside, it’s entirely possible. Being ghost-types, rotom are naturally mischievous, and they don’t lose all of their personalities upon possession of an electronic device. On the other hand, Alola is hardly the only region with morbid entries (for good reason, oftentimes), so in some cases, it may simply be the nature of the subjects themselves. This, quite honestly, is one of the many reasons why I would love to get a rotom dex of my own.
(The other reasons, of course, largely involve the idea of holding actual conversations with a ghost-type pokémon.)
It really depends on the pokémon, anonymous, but generally speaking, unlike their mammalian counterparts, pokémon can lay eggs as quickly as once a day (much like birds). However, this occurs mainly in pokémon raised specifically for breeding (and, well, all bird pokémon); wild ones and ones trained for other purposes may see eggs once a month to one or two times a year—hence why some of the larger pokémon have mating seasons. Arcanine in particular lay eggs only twice a year, following patterns very similar to estrous cycles in dogs.
Likewise, sometimes, it depends on the individual themselves. Mammalian pokémon generally prefer laying their eggs in places where they feel the safest, and some pokémon find it difficult to like their breeding partners enough to lay eggs together. However, a comfortable female paired with a male she happens to like can achieve that one-egg-a-day pace rather easily.
It may be a good idea to communicate with your gallade—specifically through means your new traveling companion can’t eavesdrop on. Gallade are highly protective pokémon, but it’s also important to remember that in addition to this protectiveness, they’re also psychic. While it’s entirely possible that your gallade is simply being overly cautious around your friend, it’s also possible that your companion presents a very real danger that your gallade has picked up on. Communicating with your gallade through subtle channels will help you determine whether or not the threat is valid and what actions you would need to take after that.
If your new companion is indeed a threat (and, of course, always investigate before assuming your gallade is completely correct), it’s important to take caution in your dealings with him from that point forward. I would advise parting ways with him in a public area (and doing so politely but confidently) to minimize the possibility that he will respond violently. Be sure to have your pokémon close at hand for a few days afterwards for protection, and try not to make it obvious that it’s because you perceive him as a danger to you.
If, however, your companion is not a threat, try to explain to your gallade that your friend is trustworthy. I would also suggestion having your friend and your pokémon engage in team building exercises (such as, for example, allowing your friend to help take care of gallade or having your gallade and your friend work together to set up camp) so that the two of them may begin to build bonds with one another. Eventually, the longer your friend works with your gallade, the more likely your gallade will finally let his guard down.
If you’re comfortable sleeping with a ghost, it should be fine. Keep in mind that just like many ghost-types, mimikyu are cold to the touch and often not that comfortable to snuggle at nights. Granted, its disguise is often padded and plush, which allows it to cushion its body and dull some of its coldness, but if you’re particularly sensitive to cold as some born-and-raised Alolans are, it may not be the most ideal sleeping arrangements.
Would it be detrimental to your mimikyu’s psychological development? Not really. Mimikyu are often insecure and lonely; this is one of two possible reasons why they create pikachu costumes, after all. Allowing yours to sleep with you will reaffirm your bond with her and reassure her that you love her as she is. Doubly so if you let her sleep with you in spite of how cold she may be to the touch.
As you might have seen from the salazzle entry posted shortly after we received this ask (and I do apologize for the delay!), salazzle excrete powerful hormones that attract every male salandit in the vicinity. This is an unconscious act, and it’s basically a survival mechanism. Because female salandit (and by extension, all salazzle) are extremely rare, it’s necessary for a salazzle to be able to make herself as appealing as possible to ensure she breeds and thus perpetuates the species. The fact that males obey her and form a harem around her is part of this survival mechanism as well (not to mention it also explains their behavior towards yours).
Unfortunately, because all of this is inherent in the salandit line, it’s extremely difficult to stop it from happening. You can, however, apply synthetic scents (that is, perfume) to your salazzle to mask her scent and mix with her pheromones in ways that are unpleasant to salandit, but this may be uncomfortable to your salazzle herself. It may be worth trying, however, if her harem is interfering with her day-to-day life with you.
Alternatively, having her lay a nest of eggs typically causes the males to flock towards the nest, rather than towards the mother, as they become far more interested in fertilizing and protecting the eggs at all costs. So, quite literally, allowing her to breed may be another method.
I’ll answer both of these at once, as taking care of both lines is actually astoundingly similar.
In many ways, taking care of jangmo-o or axew is a lot like taking care of any other reptilian pokémon. For one, temperature is important, especially in the case of the tropical jangmo-o (although axew also shy away from cold as well). Thus, always be sure your jangmo-o has a flat rock for sunning during the day and hiding beneath at night. For axew, be sure you have a shelter with nesting materials (such as straw) for nights and a clear space for sunbathing during the day. In colder weather, move both pokémon indoors and provide them with enough space to roam about and a sunlamp. As both are mountainous and cave-dwelling pokémon, they don’t need much more than that to sleep on, so beds aren’t necessary.
Also, be sure they both have clean water dishes, and change this every day. Likewise, line their enclosures with poké litter or straw and change this often. Both axew and jangmo-o, being reptiles, are at a high risk for carrying nasty bugs such as E-coli and salmonella, so changing their enclosure linings frequently minimizes the risk of allowing diseases to spread to you or your other pokémon. Grooming consisting of giving them warm baths every so often further minimizes this risk and, in the case of jangmo-o, helps polish pokémon scales.
As with most dragons, jangmo-o and axew are also primarily carnivorous, but their diets can be supplemented with leafy greens and berries as well. Cleaning their enclosures also removes stray food and prevents rot (especially if you choose to supplement their diets), but when your jangmo-o or axew lives outdoors, you can easily sweep these to an inaccessible corner for easy composting.
When it comes to toys, while they do enjoy chew toys and bones, many axew and jangmo-o do just as well without them. You may even find that your dragons will prefer exploring their environments or sunning to occupying themselves with objects. In a way, this means they’re a little bit more of a challenge than most pokémon to satisfy in terms of enrichment, but that’s where the battling part of their lives come in.
You see, in both cases—but especially jangmo-o’s—it’s necessary to train and battle with them, even if you don’t claim to be a trainer. Even setting up a training dummy would be sufficient, but ideally, you should set up sparring matches between your dragons and other pokémon, as well as create specialized training exercises to develop specific attacks or skills. Either way, it’s important to keep in mind that unlike many other pokémon, battling is mandatory for them, else they won’t be able to develop the skills they need to survive later in life. For example, although haxorus are gentle pokémon, fraxure most certainly are not, and the fact that they aren’t is both the contributing factor to why their tusks are so long and sharp as well as their main method of keeping them pared down to a reasonable length. Hence, training axew from an early age and instilling a strict regimen of fighting and battling allows it to build up the strength, skills, and endurance needed for proper battling as a fraxure.
In a similar manner, jangmo-o comes from a line that eventually gains the fighting element in its more advanced stages. Additionally, just like fraxure, both hakamo-o and kommo-o are well known for their battling prowess and their predilection to battle each other on sight. Thus, a battle regimen is in a way especially important to jangmo-o, as battling is essentially a part of its nature.
Here’s where the two species diverge, however. While axew and haxorus may be able to get along with their own kind, fraxure actually cannot, as the fraxure stage represents a departure from one’s birth nest to lay down the groundwork for their territory and breeding nest. Fraxure see one another as competition for the same territory, so keeping multiple fraxure of the same gender may get complicated. By contrast, jangmo-o are a more tribalistic species in that they form groups that are highly dependent on one another. Raising multiple jangmo-o is thus sometimes preferred, as members of the jangmo-o line feel most comfortable battling one another. On the other hand, members of the jangmo-o also get particularly enthusiastic about battling one another, so a match between two or more jangmo-o may be just as destructive and violent as a match between two or more fraxure.
In other words, always hold your dragons’ battles outdoors.
The Pokédex According to Bill 