Tag: Anonymous

I’m a Hoennian and am moving to Alola in a month with some friends. My concern is I have a Dewgong that was gifted to me by my Kanto born mother and I’m worried the Hot environment will be really bad for him. Any tips for us to become better acclimated?

Strangely enough, it’s worth noting that Hoenn hosts a very similar climate to Alola, despite the vast difference in latitudes. Both are tropical regions known for warmer temperatures, so if your dewgong is used to the weather in Hoenn, it’s very likely it should have no problem in Alola. Doubly so because in Alola, there are actually places with colder weather, as evidenced by the fact that Alolan vulpix and sandshrew had to adapt to snowier climates. So if anything, it’s very possible that your dewgong will be more at home in Alola than Hoenn, strangely enough.

Nonetheless, when you get to Alola, keep an eye on your dewgong. If it looks uncomfortable, return it to its poké ball and keep it there until you can find a body of water. Then, release it in the ocean and allow it to soak. While the ocean around Alola is actually warmer than around Hoenn, allowing your dewgong to soak will help it manage its body temperature. It may also help to begin this regimen at night but perform it earlier and earlier each day until you start releasing your dewgong into the ocean during the afternoon. Then, follow similar steps to get it used to climbing ashore: allow it to swim during the afternoon but then allow it to come ashore at night, then repeat this process earlier and earlier until your dewgong can handle being ashore during the day.

Incidentally, this is just for routine care. Your dewgong should still be able to battle either way, thanks to its typing. Ice naturally bring down the temperature of a battlefield, and your dewgong’s water attacks may help it to stay hydrated (by exposing the battlefield to moisture) as it moves. Just be sure to allow your dewgong to soak in the ocean as soon as the battle concludes.

Also, I know you likely meant to ask what you can do in Hoenn to help your dewgong to become acclimated to Alola, but the truth is, the only spot of high heat in Hoenn would be in and around Mt. Chimney—which may be a bit much for an ice-type (even one that’s partly a water-type).

Best of luck in Alola, anonymous!

I was just recently offered the position of fairy type gym leader, and I was wondering how to choose the Pokémon I use in battle? I have very strong fairies but they’re probably too strong for gym Battles… what do I do?

It may be worth it to note that this is a fairly common question for new gym leaders. You see, all gym leaders have strong teams that may be too difficult for a trainer to defeat. We wouldn’t give someone gym certification if they weren’t strong, highly skilled trainers, after all!

For this reason, the first step in any gym leader’s career is to catch and raise a variety of pokémon at different skill levels. Gym leaders typically have two or three different teams, which they rotate to match their opponent’s general ability. Take Misty of Cerulean City, for example. Her more well-known team consists of a young staryu and equally young starmie, which she uses to battle novice trainers. This is because on a typical Kantonian journey, she’s the second gym leader in the circuit, so she needs to be prepared to battle trainers who don’t quite have the skills to take on a gym leader operating at full strength. however, occasionally, she faces experienced trainers from Johto or trainers doing the Kanto circuit backwards (starting from Cinnabar or Fuchsia and ending in Viridian), so rather than allow these trainers to blow past her gym, she instead challenges them with the team that helped her earn her certification, which consists of four highly trained, highly experienced water-types. Additionally, she doesn’t simply keep those; rather, she collects water-types who may one day replace her staryu or starmie if they grow too powerful. (Or, rather, she collects less powerful water-types whenever she isn’t busy loitering on my property uninvited, but that’s neither here nor there.)

The point is, anonymous, don’t feel restricted to your team. By all means, catch another set and train them until they pose an appropriate level of challenge for the trainers you will see on a daily basis. You should have time to do so before your gym is ready to be opened (assuming you’re taking the customary grace period given to new leaders for this exact purpose and for preparing their gyms), and there’s nothing in the rules that say you can’t work with a breeder if you’re worried about time.

Best of luck, anonymous, and congratulations on your new position!

The timburr and/or the sewaddle line please! You’re not far off completing the Unova dex :D

Well, I certainly can’t refuse a request like this, especially when you’re correct about how close the Unova Dex is from completion. Sewaddle will be along tomorrow, anonymous!

Timburr
The Muscular Pokémon
Type: Fighting
Official Registration #: 532
Entry: This short humanoid pokémon always carries a square log with one arm, which it often uses as a blunt melee weapon. These logs are typically of various sizes, but their weight is a good indicator of how old a timburr is. If the log is small and light, then the timburr is a hatchling. If the log is roughly the weight of the timburr itself but slightly taller, then the timburr has reached the peak of its evolutionary stage. If, however, the log is at least twice as heavy and large as the timburr, then it’s close to evolution. Trainers will know that evolution is just about to begin if the timburr throws its log with ease away from its body. Incidentally, it should also be noted that the average timburr is twenty-six pounds, that the statement that the log will be at least twice as heavy as that is not an exaggeration, and that taking a fifty-pound block of wood to the legs is not a pleasant experience.

Gurdurr
The Muscular Pokémon
Type: Fighting
Official Registration #: 533
Entry: The evolved form of timburr, by battle experience. Thanks to their well-developed bodies, gurdurr can lift and carry solid steel beams without breaking a sweat. Additionally, although their muscles are naturally well-toned, they enjoy training themselves constantly using their steel beams and any exercise equipment they can find. Many even adopt strange diets of nutritional powders in order to bulk themselves up and sculpt sets of muscles that they then show off to groups of other gurdurr. Attempts have been made to decipher the gurdurr’s language during such meetings, but the nearest translation any researcher has been able to achieve was the phrase, “do you even lift, brah,” repeated over and over again.

Conkeldurr
The Muscular Pokémon
Type: Fighting
Official Registration #: 534
Entry: The evolved form of gurdurr, via trading. This muscular pokémon is known for carrying not one but two pillars of solid concrete, which it crafts itself shortly after evolution. Conkeldurr uses its own formula for mixing concrete—a formula that, if you believe the Unova Dex, was passed on to humans 2000 years ago. Of course, if you believe archaeological evidence, concrete was actually created by an ancient human civilization in the Middle East roughly 7500 years ago and was commonly employed by the Greeks, Romans, and Egyptians since at least 1400 BC. Then again, as we all know, the Unovan account of human history has never been wrong ever.

When Psychic types “talk” to humans, do they have their own voices and accents or do they just sound like that little voicr in you hear

It depends on their level of mastery over telepathy, actually. Younger, less powerful pokémon tend to sound exactly as they do when speaking aloud. That is to say, an abra’s words will sound like an abra’s barks do to your ears. 

As they get older or more powerful, however, they gain the ability to replicate different voices, and thus, they sound however they feel like sounding. Some of the most powerful pokémon, I’m told, tend to use deeper voices, occasionally with accents seen as being “high class” to humans, all in an effort to instill an appropriate level of respect. For another example, my own kadabra most often reminds me of my grandfather’s voice: bass, smooth, and with an accent much like my own. Amanita’s munna, conversely, often “speaks” with a high-pitched, feminine voice, even though the munna is actually male.

In general, though, psychic pokémon make an effort to avoid using your voice when it speaks. This is for two reasons. First and foremost, using your voice increases the risk that you mistake what they have to say for your own inner thoughts, leading you to inadvertently ignore them. Second, it doesn’t exactly do wonders for one’s emotional stability, no.

I got my pikachu in Johto, if I were to evolve it in Alola would it become an alolan raichu or be a normal raichu because it isn’t originally from Alola?

Unfortunately, should you be hoping for a psychic raichu, the truth is that Alolan raichu are the byproducts of adaptive evolution. That is to say, the pikachu of Alola simply have a slightly different genetic code than Johtonian pikachu (or, for that matter, any other), so pikachu brought to Alola will always evolve into the non-psychic variation. To that same end, pikachu brought out of Alola to other regions will always evolve into the psychic variation.

Thus, to answer your question, a pikachu born in Johto will only evolve into non-psychic raichu.

So I read in a magazine a boy named Ash Ketchum and his greninja were able to sort of fuse and create an Ash- Greninja. Is this fusion possible with all types of Pokémon? Or was that story a hoax?

It’s difficult to say, anonymous. The “Ash-greninja” is a fairly new discovery, and not much is known about how it works and whether or not it’s possible for others. We assume that it’s similar to mega-evolution, but until we fully understand that, it may still be a mystery.

I do know, though, that Ash Ketchum is a rather unique individual, so it wouldn’t surprise me in the least if this is a talent of his alone. On that note, I fully believe that the story was not a hoax … but then again, I first learned of this evolutionary anomaly from Professor Oak, so perhaps my opinions were influenced just a little from the outset.

My boyfriends younger sister is very close to me and I’ve been asked by her parents to figure out a suitable starter for her (I’m a fairy researcher, but I don’t think they know I’m specialized in only one typing) she’s very shy with new people, what do you think a good starter for her would be?

Well, anonymous, that depends. What would your boyfriend’s sister want? If she would be interested in a fairy-type, then there’s actually nothing that would prevent you from giving her one. In fact, given her shyness, some of the ones who do well around humans, such as jigglypuff or marill, may be excellent choices for her, as these may encourage her to communicate with others (rather than run away at the first sight of a human who isn’t her). In fact, marill’s secondary water typing may even give it the advantage in some regions, particularly those where the first gym is of the rock type.

Otherwise, there are quite a vast number of pokémon that would be ideal for people who are otherwise rather shy. The traditional starters themselves are often trained to handle people of all dispositions, including those who might not be comfortable communicating off the battlefield. Of those, grass-types tend to be the calmest and least challenging in most regions, and bulbasaur and chikorita are widely known for their ability to calm those who might be in uncomfortable situations (including socializing).

If, however, the traditional starters are not accessible to you, it would then depend on your region or on which breeders you know. By and large, the more common the pokémon, the more comfortable with humans they are. Naturally, they may also be challenging starters, as extremely common pokémon such as rattata may be weaker than most other available pokémon. Thus, giving your boyfriend’s sister one of these as a starter may do more harm than good for her self-esteem, as early battles may be difficult for her. On the other hand, they also tend to be easier to tame and quicker to train than rarer pokémon, as their requirements for care tend to be easier to meet. Nonetheless, I wouldn’t rule out rare pokémon entirely, either. If you can obtain them, a fair number of them—such as meowth, pikachu, growlithe, or eevee—are both extremely friendly and wonderful conversation starters, meaning it’s more likely that someone would be willing to break the metaphorical ice with a trainer who owns one of these than anything else.

The point is, it’s difficult to offer specific advice because, really, every pokémon may be a suitable starter. I would simply avoid any pokémon who’s also notoriously shy, lazy, or difficult to handle, and many of these are listed as such in their pokédex entries. Conversely, for someone who’s shy around new people, she may fare well with pokémon who are more well-known for being friendly or loyal.

But above all else, you may simply want to ask her what pokémon she would most like to train. Matching her with a partner she wants to bond with will help her feel more comfortable with the idea of training and battling. If she can reach that point, she’ll be able to communicate with others the best way trainers know how: by battling.

Best of luck to you and your boyfriend’s sister!

I have two service animals: an absol and houndoom. While they’re both very gentle and kind, and are very well trained, people always give me dirty looks or tell me that I can’t bring them in stores or restaurants because no one wants a lifelong painful burn from a houndoom or to be cursed by an absol. How can I show people the stigma behind these Pokémon are false and that my Pokémon are just as well suited to service animal life as others are?

I’m afraid that dark-type service pokémon face many of the same challenges pet or battle-ready dark-types face, and there’s not much you can do about that unless you have the energy to educate (which not many people do, I know). There will always be people who are convinced that all dark-types, regardless of training, are uncontrollable beasts who will lash out at a moment’s notice. Sometimes, people can be convinced that your pokémon are harmless if you show them that they’re gentle (perhaps by having a non-dark pet or battle-ready pokémon accompany them), but this could be a distraction for your service pokémon. That and it’s not a guarantee that people will leave you alone, especially if you live in regions that are especially rich with anti-dark-type folklore.

My advice would be to ensure that your service pokémon are wearing their service vests, do your best to keep them professional at all times, and remember that you have an actual human right to bring your service pokémon with you. If a person simply gives you a dirty look, try your best to ignore it and remember that there is nothing wrong with you or your service pokémon. If possible, travel with a friend who’s comfortable with your service pokémon, as having at least one human with you who clearly doesn’t mind your absol or houndoom may be a comfort to others.

If you’re confronted by someone, however, always remain calm. I know, it may seem difficult to stay calm in those situations, especially given how vehemently some people address dark-type handlers, but it’s important to avoid escalating the situation. Therefore, if you’re in an inescapable situation wherein someone questions your service pokémon or tells you that they need to be removed from the premises, calmly tell the other person that you’re disabled, that you need your service pokémon (and, if you wish, for what reason), and that the law of your region (in most cases) allows you to enter a business establishment with pokémon of any type who are trained to assist those with disabilities.

If an employee still has an issue with your service pokémon and they are not a manager, ask to speak with the manager. If it’s a fellow patron who has approached you, find an employee and ask for assistance. And if it’s the manager themselves, remind them that barring you entry is discrimination.

Should this fail to stop the manager or owner from barring you entry or kicking you and your service pokémon out, contact your region’s Division of Human Rights (the actual name also tends to depend on the region—be sure to educate yourself on your local laws and government bodies as well) to file a complaint against the establishment. This, of course, should be your very last option, as filing a complaint means working with the legal system, which itself could be more of a mess than it’s worth, depending on your region. Nonetheless, it’s still a viable option, especially if—blazes forbid—violence was involved.

I know this might not be the answer you’re looking for, anonymous, but I’m afraid the stigma against dark-types is always going to be a problem for us humans. Even if your pokémon are nothing if not professional, there will always be one or two people who will give you strange looks for having dark-type service pokémon. Thus, it’s best to ignore those who don’t engage with you and, whenever possible, to educate those who do. Who knows? Maybe, if your town is small enough or if you frequent an establishment enough, your efforts to educate will evolve into a rapport with the owners and regulars, who can then, in turn, help others to feel comfortable with your pokémon whenever you’re in. Friendship often breeds friendship, which is why it’s very important to stay calm, know your rights, and be prepared to de-escalate and educate, if you can.

Best of luck, anonymous.

My mudkip is an infant and the son of my swampert starter. He really loves me and when I walk around the house tries to follow me, I find this adorable but he likes taking baths and showers with me. As a mudkip I don’t have a problem with that but I don’t want him to continue the behavior into evolution. I would have no room! What do I do?

This may actually resolve itself over time, anonymous. You mention that your mudkip is a newborn, and if you were there for its hatching, then it’s very likely that your mudkip is simply expressing the usual level of affection a hatchling gives a human it perceives as one of its parents. As it gets older and more self-reliant—especially as it nears or achieves evolution—it may give you more and more space.

If it doesn’t, however, you can teach the average pokémon a large number of things via positive reinforcement, including how to give you privacy. If it tries to get in the shower with you, put it outside and give it a toy. For every session it stays outside, give it a treat as soon as you’re done in the bathroom. Eventually, it will begin to understand that staying outside is a good thing, so every time you enter the bathroom, it will wait for you, rather than follow you.

It may also be worth it to do something similar to encourage your mudkip to take baths on its own, especially after it reaches its marshtomp stage. While you should still invest in a pool for your mudkip and its evolutions, some people also like to teach their marshtomp to use the shower, especially if they don’t need to pay for water or worry about droughts. By doing this, not only is the marshtomp encouraged to groom itself, but it also learns where it should go if it needs water whenever you drain its pool for routine maintenance.