Since furries exist in the pokemon universe (I mean some trainers recreationally wear pokemon costumes, you can’t deny they’re fursuiting), which pokemon do you think are the most popular fursonas? My bet is Lucario.

Arcanine, actually. Ninetales of both varieties are a close second.

Not that I would know this first-hand.

Hi there! I’ve been traveling with my Growlithe and I started wondering, is there a right time to evolve it? Should I wait until it learns a certain move or is it ok to evolve it when I feel the time is right?

This is actually quite an interesting question because it depends. Some trainers prefer to wait until their growlithe learn Flamethrower, as it’s sometimes easier (by which I mean cheaper) to let it learn that move naturally, rather than use the TM system. Others prefer waiting until their growlithe learns Crunch, which typically happens much, much later. On the other hand (compared to both options), some trainers prefer evolving their growlithe right away, as arcanine is very adaptable to the TM system, and only younger arcanine can learn Extreme Speed (a move inaccessible to growlithe). Likewise, such trainers very rarely have use for Crunch, or if they do, they also are acquainted with a move relearner or tutor capable of teaching newly evolved arcanine Extreme Speed far later than they would naturally.

In short, the answer is it depends in part on which move you would like your arcanine to know. If you’d prefer a faster arcanine, evolve it sooner, but a stronger arcanine (or an arcanine that requires fewer TMs) should be evolved later. (There are no differences in health if you choose to wait. In fact, the vitality an arcanine gets through evolution means that a growlithe that waits to evolve is just as healthy as one that’s evolved immediately.)

Ultimately, though, waiting until the time is right is also sound advice and perhaps the better avenue, especially if your growlithe has a strong opinion one way or another. If your growlithe is impatient to evolve, consider doing so sooner, whereas a hesitant growlithe should hold off until they’re ready.

Best of luck!

How long after mating should i expect eggs from my pokemon? Specifically an arcanine, but does it differ between all pokemon

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.

Do growlithes or rockruffs make better travel companions ? What about service animals?

This is difficult to say, anonymous, because they both have fantastically similar dispositions. Both are extremely loyal, friendly, and easy to train, both require exactly the same kind of care, and both have excellent hearing and senses of smell, among other physical attributes.

As a traveling companion, it really depends on which region you’re starting in. For many regions, beginning with a fire-type is a bit more challenging than beginning with a rock-type. Additionally, in some regions, the fire stones growlithe need to evolve are rare to nonexistent, which only adds to the challenge. On the other hand, just because rockruff may pose less of a challenge when it comes to the gym circuit and evolution doesn’t necessarily mean it won’t be difficult to handle overall. While it’s true that lycanroc are generally more powerful than arcanine, they’re also generally more fragile as well, and rock-types have more weaknesses than fire-types. Likewise, the midnight form of lycanroc are notoriously rowdier but also slower than either its midday counterpart or arcanine.

As a service pokémon, it’s roughly even … but there’s a footnote to this. Growlithe is slightly easier to train than rockruff when it comes to getting them to heel and work, but rockruff have the ability to sense when their trainers are in need of emotional support, which makes rockruff slightly better as an emotional support pokémon than growlithe. However, growlithe are highly difficult to evolve, so they rarely need retraining because they’ll often remain growlithe for their entire lives. Rockruff, on the other hand, evolve by field experience, which means they can evolve at any time if they’re not wearing specialized collars equipped with everstones. This is dangerous because both of its evolutionary forms may pose a risk to their human partners. Obviously, midnight lycanroc are naturally hot-blooded and must be retrained to heel. Otherwise, they have a tendency to run off and challenge practically any pokémon that wanders into their line of sight. Midday lycanroc, meanwhile, are highly obedient and loyal and thus don’t actually need retraining … it’s just that their manes contain extremely sharp and long rocks that can damage property or anyone that touches them. If these manes are trimmed and smoothed down, then they’re actually fantastic choices for service pokémon, but it’s very rare to find a lycanroc who will sit through such a procedure.

oh god i left my arcanine alone for three minutes. THREE MINUTES. and she managed to find and harass the ONE skuntank within ten miles and now i can’t go near her without coming this close to passing out. what do i do, Bill. there’s so much fur, so much fur drenched in spray, six feet of shaggy dog covered in skunk. my house stinks. my yard stinks. everything i own stinks. please. please, Bill, how do i fix it. how do i get rid of skuntank spray. please help i can’t breathe

….

You know, I really ought to get better at answering these.

In any case, anonymous, as noted in the skuntank entry (viewable here), your best hope is one quart hydrogen peroxide, quarter cup baking soda, and two teaspoons of dish soap. (You may wish to times this recipe by six for every foot of dog pokémon.) Mix these ingredients together in a tub or spray bottle, get your arcanine to stay still, and bathe her vigorously in this. Do not leave the solution on her fur for too long, as it will bleach it and lead to a rather upset arcanine. Also, wear gloves. Trust me. You will need gloves for this.

Alternatively, purchase a bottle of Skuntank-Off de-skuntanking spray and a bottle of skuntank shampoo from your local pokémart, spray your arcanine, and bathe her immediately afterwards. The above-mentioned solution (no pun intended) is simply the cheaper route, especially considering the fact that neither Skuntank-Off nor any brand of skuntank shampoo is sold in high enough quantities to cover an entire arcanine.

Good luck, anonymous—which I mean genuinely this time.

I have a growlithe service animal (for anyone who needs a service animal I totally recommend them) and was wondering if it would be a bad idea to evolve him? I use him for anxiety and he sleeps with me at night. He has an amazing sense of smell and can detect any ingredients in foods I cannot eat, as well as can sense when I’m gonna have a panic attack based on my heart rate and breathing patterns. Would that change if he was an archanine?

Excellent question—and one that’s important for all those who rely on service pokémon.

The truth is that, yes, evolution will actually improve a pokémon’s ability to perform. In your case, your growlithe’s senses of smell and hearing will be sharpened exponentially upon his evolution into arcanine, so if you thought he had an amazing sense of smell now, imagine having a pokémon who can detect panic attacks faster, the millisecond your breathing and heart rate change.

However, there is a price to it, and that’s the fact that while your growlithe may be two feet tall (assuming he is of average height), your arcanine will be over three times as large. For humans who live in rural or suburban areas or whose arcanine will also be helping with their partner’s mobility, it’s easy to take this difference in height in stride. However, for people living in urban areas or who otherwise can’t deal with the difference in size, evolving a service growlithe may result in more troubles than it’s really worth. You likely won’t be able to enter the same establishments or do many of the same things as you had when you just had a small growlithe by your side.

In other words, while evolving your service pokémon generally does enhance their abilities to assist you, always keep in mind that evolution brings about a physical difference that not many people can handle. It’s a good idea to do plenty of research into the changes that would occur to both your partner’s form and powers before going through with it.

I really love this blog, your answers are always so cool! (I’m the anon who asked about raising a Bulbasaur.) Anyways~ My growlithe recently evolved into an Arcanine. He’s surprised to find he’s much bigger, so he can’t jump onto people, and he can barely fit on his favorite couch; and, Arcanine is much harder to walk with now since he’s so big. He accidentally hit my Bulbasaur a bit to rough during one of their sparring matches. Have any ideas on how to get Arcanine adjusted to his new size?

Thank you! I’m glad to hear that your bulbasaur is doing well—or I presume as such, at least.

In any case, regarding your arcanine, that can be rather tricky. Some arcanine only need a few days to get used to their new forms; others are a little bit … difficult to teach. If your arcanine is of exceptional intelligence, then all you may need to do is give him space—literally. Putting him in the backyard and allowing him to run about may help him adjust by way of giving him plenty of opportunity to stretch, exercise, and understand his body.

If your arcanine is not quite as quick-witted, however, then I would still recommend allowing him in your backyard, but I would also recommend spending as much time with him as possible. Play fetch or other physical-based games so he can understand himself in comparison to you. The more he sees how small you are, the more likely he’ll begin to grasp that he’s not quite as small as he used to be. It’s also worth it to bring him to a battlefield and train with him a bit more often for the same principle: the more he’s allowed to stretch out and use his newly strengthened abilities, the quicker he will come to knowing his own strength.

Of course, I would not recommend allowing him to play with your other pokémon until he begins to understand his new form, but it may help to have them present and provide him with support—the extra two examples for how much larger he’s gotten may reinforce his sense of self.

In short, it will take patience, like most things related to raising pokémon tend to do. However, the more time you spend focusing on training him to recognize his size in relation to the world around him, the easier it will be. It might just take a few concrete examples and physical interactions for him to get it.

Growlithe and Arcanine

Growlithe
The Puppy Pokémon
Type: Fire
Official Registration #: 58
Entry: An extremely loyal dog-like pokémon, growlithe is eager to execute any order to the best of its ability, and when not given an order, it tends to remain perfectly still. Yet at the same time, when ordered to guard a home or valuables, it will bark and bite at anything that is not its trainer, even if that anything is another human being. If the reader believes that these two states are not contradictory, then one has not watched a growlithe happily stand by and watch their owner get robbed on the streets of Goldenrod City because it has not been ordered to attack.

Arcanine
The Legendary Pokémon
Type: Fire
Official Registration #: 59
Entry: The evolved form of growlithe, by exposure to fire stone. In China, arcanine are widely regarded as legendary pokémon. Given the commonness of growlithe and the fact that arcanine is not regarded so highly anywhere else in the world, you would think this would result in major debates across the planet concerning religion, culture, and the definition of “legendary pokémon,” but somehow, the human race has gotten along just fine without talking about it.