Bulbasaur, actually! The circumstances in which I’d acquired a bulbasaur in Goldenrod City of all places were quite unusual, I admit, but I don’t regret it at all. If it wasn’t for that bulbasaur’s help, I doubt I would have done any of the things I’d achieved during my time as a trainer, from catching an abra to, well, realizing that I wanted to be a researcher instead. (Have you ever seen a venusaur bloom? I highly recommend it—it’s quite an incredible experience!)
Tag: asks
Me, my Chandelure, and my Volcarona all recently moved to Alola from Unova and since Alola’s more… tropical, Chandelure seems to have a bit of trouble adjusted to the weather, although my Volcarona seems just fine. I’m not sure what to do or if I can even do anything, as it seems to be weather-related?
Hm. Without knowing the exact symptoms, it’s difficult to say. It is worth it to note that, given chandelure’s typing, it would be rather odd for it to feel the heat, so to speak. Perhaps it’s struggling with the humidity, at which point I’m afraid there’s not much you can do besides provide your chandelure with as dry a place as possible to rest. (Space heaters are especially effective with removing moisture from the air, so those may be a worthwhile investment.)
More likely, your chandelure is struggling to cope with the particularly bright and sunny daytime climate of the region. Many ghost-types like chandelure struggle with the brightness of the archipelago—doubly so for trained ghost-types, as their trainers frequently forget that most ghosts detest sunlight. If this is the case, be sure to allow your chandelure to sleep in a dark room during the day and train it only at night. This may wreak havoc on your own sleep cycle, but it will ensure the mental and physical health of your chandelure.
So I live in a house converted to two apartments, and am friends with the upstairs neighbor, and we both have house Pokemon. We have a male Alolan Persian, they have a female Umbreon, and we were making progress at slowly introducing them (taking one into the other’s house but allowing a clear exit, letting both explore the stairs), until Umbreon just /looked/ at Persian (no vocalization that I could hear, neutral body language), and now Persian refuses to even go near the stairs. Any advice?
Sometimes, two pokémon’s personalities aren’t quite compatible enough to promote a healthy relationship between them, even if they share elements and are otherwise extremely sweet and kind.
You’re on the right track with taking it slowly and giving both enough space to explore on their own and grow accustomed to their environment. If this has been going on for months, you may wish to consider taking the next step, which is a supervised, formal introduction (rather than the perhaps unsupervised chance introduction your persian has just had). Set up a time to meet with your neighbors and bring along both your pokémon. Your neighbor should leash their umbreon if they have a leash, but if not, it will be important for the both of you to keep your poké balls close by. Be sure to bring along treats or water for your persian so it will be easier to tell when he’s relaxed. Have the umbreon and your persian stay in the same room until your neighbor’s umbreon relaxes and begins to ignore your persian and until your persian seems calm and accepts a snack or water. Continue with this type of meeting until your persian understands that your neighbor’s umbreon is not a threat. Then, try an unsupervised interaction (in which you both leave your pokémon in a room) to be sure they can get along well.
If, however, your persian still seems tense during the supervised interactions, continue to keep both pokémon separate, even when you’re not at home. Try a supervised interaction again after a few days. If your persian never feels comfortable with your neighbor’s umbreon, then it’s likely that his personality just isn’t compatible with hers, and this is unfortunate but perfectly normal. That scenario will simply require you to keep the two separate indefinitely.
Of course, his avoidance of the stairs might also stem from other factors. If, for example, your neighbor’s umbreon has marked the top of the stairs (or the stairs themselves) as her territory, then your persian may be avoiding them for that reason alone. There are products on the market that you may be able to use to remove those scent markers, but it will be up to your neighbor to train their umbreon to not mark public spaces.
Alternatively, the problem may be the stairs themselves as well, so be sure to test their integrity and make sure there’s no chance that there are exposed nails or splintering boards.
Best of luck!
Are there illnesses that can be passed from pokemon to people and/or vice versa?
Yes, of course. In fact, many diseases can pass from one species to the next—even from pokémon to animals besides humans and vice versa—and a number of these have had historically devastating consequences.
While I could name a number of those (certain autoimmune diseases, smallpox, a number of neurological diseases including rabies, and even some forms of tuberculosis, to name a few), the most readily apparent, the most important, and the least graphic to talk about would likely be influenza. Technically, it’s just as rare for the flu to jump from a pokémon host to a human as it is for it to jump from animals to people, but it still is a possibility, especially in areas where consuming pokémon is prevalent and where sanitation isn’t quite up to code. Once it makes the jump, however, this strain of the flu can be just as contagious as any other, which means it can still be a very real threat. (You may have heard of the torchic flu outbreak that began in Orre a few years ago, for example.) So even if you do live in a region where pokémon consumption is low and where medical and sanitary education is high, it’s still important to vaccinate both yourself and your pokémon (if both you and your pokémon are medically capable of doing so), just in case you encounter a trainer or other traveler who isn’t quite as lucky as you are.
Of course, there are plenty of other diseases that don’t necessarily make the pokémon host sick but can certainly sicken you. This is especially true with parasites, as well as bacteria normally contained in pokémon fecal matter. Some pokémon—particularly reptilian ones—may also carry salmonella on their skin, so in general, it’s an excellent idea to wash your hands after cleaning your pokémon’s enclosures and after handling reptilian pokémon.
As for pokémon getting sick from our diseases, despite the fact that human beings are not actually the cleanest organisms in existence (there is a reason why we have an extensive list of procedures for self-maintenance), it’s less common for a disease to jump from us to them. However, it still happens, and it’s often said that if a trainer is sick, then their team is too. So always practice good hygiene on your travels (even if it doesn’t seem that convenient to you), and if you feel under the weather, be sure to keep your pokémon within their poké balls as much as possible and seek shelter to rest until you’re well again.
I keep waking up in the night to my togedemaru having his spines poke out and hurt me. he is asleep when he is doing this and i wake him up and he cries. why is this happening
Sometimes, pokémon simply react to the things they dream about through physical movement. For example, a meowth may twitch its hind legs because it’s dreaming about a catch, a growlithe may roll over and whine because they’re dreaming about receiving affection from their owners, and pokémon that can extend spikes (such as quilfish or togedemaru) may do so in response to a nightmare. The latter sounds like it may be the case with your togedemaru, particularly given the fact that you’ve mentioned he cries when you wake him. (Alternatively, if you touched him to wake him up, he may be startled. If that’s the case, try to avoid touching him to wake him in the future.)
If your togedemaru is experiencing nightmares, there are a couple of things you can do to limit their occurrence. For one, keep in mind that nightmares are often the result of stress or anxiety in one’s waking life, so if your togedemaru seems particularly stressed out during the day, try removing the source of the stressor. Reduce the intensity of your training regimen. Ensure your togedemaru’s environment is comfortable. If you have an important battle coming up, do your best to reassure him that he’ll be fine and consider adding meditation exercises to your training routine. In fact, you may wish to add meditation exercises to your routine anyway, as this will help reduce your togedemaru’s daily stress levels.
Also, be sure that your togedemaru is getting enough sleep at night, and avoid allowing him to eat before bed. Sleep deprivation can actually cause nightmares by increasing stress levels during the day, and eating before bed (especially eating certain foods, such as sugary berries) may cause digestive upset during sleep, which will of course affect his dreams. Practicing good hygiene in general also contributes to the level of comfort your togedemaru experiences during sleep.
If none of this helps, there are licensed Nurse Joys out there who may offer your pokémon some psychological counseling. It may be worth it to ask your local Nurse Joy for help.
Best of luck, anonymous!
Is it true that you will be cursed if you see Mimikyu’s true form? If so, would you be cursed if you only saw it in a photo and not actually i front of you. Does Mimikyu apply the curse or is there some other force? If not, how did this rumour come to be? Sorry about the qeustions, Mimikyu is such an interesting pokemon.
Not cursed exactly. It’s more like mimikyu’s actual appearance is so shocking that it’s been known to literally trigger cardiac arrest, particularly in those who have underlying heart conditions already. In that sense, looking at a photo of its true form may induce a similar phenomenon.
Of course, some mimikyu—especially the more aggressive ones—have been known to take advantage of a victim’s shock by using their spiritual abilities to induce nightmarish hallucinations, but not all mimikyu actually do this. The rumors of the species’ “curse” may stem from this particular behavior or the cases in which a more benign mimikyu accidentally killed a victim through shock alone. Anthropologists can only really theorize which based on historical accounts and local folklore, but the prevailing theory has more to do with the latter (accidental death through shock) than the former.
Are some pokemon more likely to go beserk than others when mega evolving and if so which ones and why do you think so?
Generally speaking, pokémon that receive a significant boost in power are more likely to lose control of it—and, by extent, themselves. Consequently, while you have pokémon such as audino, altaria, and sableye, all of whom take to mega evolution with very few problems, you also have pokémon such as charizard, lucario, and tyranitar, all of whom are liable to lose control rather easily until they grow used to the transition.
Alternatively, if a pokémon’s abilities are psychic or meditative in nature (see alakazam, gardevoir, and medicham), then they’re less likely to lose control, as their abilities require the utmost self-discipline to use in the first place. Kangaskhan also rarely loses herself, largely because of the nature of her particular mega evolution. (You can read about kangaskhan’s mega evolution here: http://bills-pokedex.tumblr.com/post/152049372796/another-kangaskhan-question-sorry-its-my.)
Conversely, certain mega evolutions simply boost a pokémon’s natural aggression, as in the case of gyarados (which gains the dark type as a result, even), sceptile (which gains the bestial dragon-type), and pinsir (whose aggression can simply be chalked up to the fact that it has just realized it can fly and therefore terrorize mortals from literally any direction).
Finally, you have mega slowbro. Mega slowbro does go berserk, but this is less because of its actual emotions and more because it loses any form of control over the way it moves, as having a 265-pound telekinetic creature with a notoriously slow response time spin about on the tip of its tail is a fantastic recipe for mass destruction.
Hi Bill, I have a lovely Sylveon who is really social, and that sometimes leads him to some trouble, particularly with my Bewear and Incineroar, both of whom nearly crush him in their attention, any way to help them not accidentally rip eachother to shreds?
In your case, strength training is of the utmost importance. This may sound odd—training your pokémon to get stronger and all—but in truth, strength training also involves a lot of discipline. By helping your incineroar and bewear to grow stronger, you also help them familiarize themselves with the way their bodies work, which in turn allows them to understand how to apply weaker amounts of pressure if needed. You may also wish to target precision specifically by having them attack specific targets, rather than use all of their force in order to achieve a particular goal. Either way, be vigilant during your training exercises and be sure to guide your pokémon into understanding that control, rather than pure strength, is the key to success both on and off the field.
Once they grasp this, having them show affection to your sylveon should be rather simple.
Your sylveon, meanwhile, might need to be taught a bit of restraint—especially if his charisma has anything to do with his fairy-type abilities, such as Baby Doll Eyes—but by and large, it may be more effective to target your bewear and incineroar’s levels of discipline, especially given the fact that this is their teammate.
Best of luck!
Hi Bill! I have a primarily fire-type team, which causes a lot of problems since everyone tends to be a little ‘hot-headed.’ I just adopted a quilava, and my vulpix, growlithe and flareon have been picking on him a lot. They’ve started a LOT of fires, and now they’re dragging the rest of the team into things… let’s just say a certain vaporeon got fed up with the bickering and I had to rush someone to the pokemon center last week. Any suggestions?
You may wish to consider spending a bit more time training each of them every day. For your vulpix, growlithe, and flareon, this is a great way to release pent-up aggression in a constructive manner, especially if you also train them to focus their negative energies into their attacks. You may also consider some team building exercises, such as double-battling or joint-training. This can be done either by pairing your other pokémon with your quilava (which will help him integrate into your team) or with each other (which will help reinforce what it means to be on a team in the first place). Finally, see if you can communicate how destructive behavior—including bullying and literally destroying your home with fire—is affecting not only your quilava but your family as a whole. It’s possible that if you speak clearly but firmly like a loving parent, your pokémon will understand.
If all else fails, training will of course help your quilava to get stronger, and it can learn the rock-type move Rollout naturally, just before evolution. Just as a thought.
I have recently befriended a Ralts who has displayed suprising telepathic talent, but she has started avoiding some of my trainer friends, sometimes going as far as teleporting out of the area when they enter the room. Any advice?
Well, that depends. If your ralts had never met these trainers, she may be exhibiting her species’ signature shyness. If that’s the case, then it’s important to work with her and get her used to spending time around people other than you. Doing this involves a process similar to getting a pokémon acclimated to a new environment or a new teammate: start off gradually (perhaps by introducing her to only one or two friends) and work your way up until she can handle more.
If she seems disgruntled towards these trainers, however, or if this is a sudden change in behavior, then there are two possibilities for what might be going on. First, it’s possible that your ralts is experiencing jealousy. Members of the ralts family are some of the most loyal pokémon in existence, so they’re extremely protective and sometimes possessive of their trainers. It’s not unusual for a ralts to become aggressive towards other humans they feel are jeopardizing their relationship with their trainers. If this is the case, it’s important to explain to your ralts that your relationship with her isn’t going to change just because you’ve met new people. I would recommend increasing the amount of time you spend training her or giving her a bit more affection than usual to reinforce this.
The second option, meanwhile, is that there is something very wrong with the trainers you’ve befriended. Remember that members of the ralts line are talented empaths and can thus sense when someone is not being entirely truthful to you. If your ralts is reacting to specific friends or if she seems on edge as she teleports away, it’s important to communicate with her and try to determine what she’s detected. From there, you may be able to determine the best course of action, whether it’s reassuring your ralts that your new friends are trustworthy or taking action to distance yourself from potentially toxic people.
Whatever you do, anonymous, communication and observation are the keys. Pay attention not only to what your ralts is doing in general but also her body language and any other signal she may be sending you.
Best of luck!
The Pokédex According to Bill 