Tag: asks

if alola is such a harsh environment for both cubone and marowak, then why is it that only marowak evolved to become a fire type

Alola isn’t so much a harsh environment as it is a different environment from the other regions where cubone and marowak thrive. More specifically, cubone are largely unaffected by their Alolan environment in all ways except the circumstances of their evolution. You see, most cubone have latent spiritual inclinations, possibly due to their natural passions and the lifelong sense of grief that tends to be inherent for their species. Under normal circumstances, however, they evolve into ground-types to anchor themselves more to the physical world, but upon death, even marowak are more inclined to release spiritual energy. (There was one such instance of a violent haunting at Pokémon Tower, caused by the spiritual energy released by a recently deceased marowak.)

The region of Alola, however, is saturated with a lot of spiritual energy itself, largely due to the presence of the tapu. While cubone are still born ground-types (as that’s their natural state of being, spiritual tendencies aside), they soak up the spiritual energies like a sponge. So in an environment that’s already high in that type of energy, a cubone will incorporate some of what they’ve soaked up into the only major physiological process they go through: evolution. Consequently, that energy drives them to gain the ghost element when they take the form of a marowak. This is why all cubone will evolve into an Alolan marowak, even if they were originally born in a completely different region.

As for why Alolan marowak gain the fire element as well, this may have to do with the vulnerability of a cubone during that physiological shift. As in, they’re already forcing themselves to change elements, so the normally tropical environment causes cubone to incorporate fire into the genetic makeup of their evolution. If, however, a cubone is raised primarily on the slopes of Mount Lanakila (a snow-covered part of Alola, where ice-types such as vulpix’s and sandshrew’s Alolan variations thrive), then the change becomes more of a conscious effort than a subconscious one; the extreme cold of Lanakila’s environment forces that cubone to adopt the fire element to cope.

why does alolan persian have such a fat god damn head

It’s mostly fur, actually. They are, as my partner puts it, “round and fluffy,” and they are perfect the way they are.

I think this anonymous was asking about the reason behind the adaptation, Bill —LH

Edit: Oh. Well, that’s simple, anonymous. They were deliberately bred that way, to be honest. Because Alolans, too, acknowledge the wonder of a fluffy mane. (This may or may not also be why there are feral eevee on one of the islands.)

Hey Bill, what do you think would occur if a regular-form and an Alolan-form Ninetales were bred together? Or would they not even be compatible mates since they would never interact in the wild?

They’re technically breeds of the same species, so yes, they’re compatible. What’s interesting about both forms of ninetales is actually that whether their young is fire or ice depends on two factors: which region the egg is laid in and whether or not one of the parents is holding an everstone. The more obvious of the two is the regional detail. An egg laid in Alola will always hatch into an ice-type, whereas an egg laid elsewhere will hatch into a fire-type. This may be because the unique environment of Alola triggers the shift towards vulpix’s Alolan variation, even if one of their parents is the fire-type ninetales.

As for the everstone, that is an interesting object in general when it comes to pokémon breeding. By itself, the everstone has the power to override a pokémon’s physiological shifts. Outside of breeding, this means that the everstone has the power to block evolution, even if a pokémon wants to evolve and/or is in contact with an evolution stone. When it comes to breeding, however, an everstone has the power to boost a parent’s genetic traits and “lock” them into their young. For example, let’s say you have a pikachu with Lightning Rod as its ability. Even though this is technically a recessive gene for the pikachu species, giving that parent an everstone overrides the egg’s tendency to shift towards the more dominant option of Static and instead locks it onto the same ability as the parent pikachu. Something very similar happens when breeding an Alolan and a standard variation of a pokémon. If you give an everstone to the Alolan parent, the breed of the egg will “lock” onto the genes for an Alolan variation. If, however, the standard variation is given the everstone, then the resulting egg will become a standard variation of that species.

Bill, I’m sure you’re the best person to ask about this, how does Payday not ruin the economy?

Contrary to popular belief, Pay Day does not generate money from thin air. Rather, it generates meowth charms from thin air. These meowth charms are not technically money but may be sold back to pokémarts for a certain amount, depending on the quality of the charm, the karat of the gold, and the seller themselves. Ultimately, however, the amount a charm can be sold for goes for less than ¥100, so while some young or unlucky trainers may be desperate enough to sell these charms, they’re more or less trivial little trinkets to anyone else but meowth aficionados, as the effort to generate and cash them far outweighs the payoff.

For those wondering how generating anything out of thin air that may be sold to an ordinary pokémart doesn’t ruin the economy or bankrupt a mart, also note that the charms can then be sold to local meowth afficionados, who are as numerous as they are gifted with vast disposable incomes. There are entire online communities dedicated to meowth fanatics’ vast collections of Pay Day-generated charms, with users from all over the world. Apparently, every charm is unique in color, texture, quality, luster, and so forth, and many forums are dedicated to the sharing and discussion of meowth charm flaws. Some meowth fanatics even travel from region to region, visiting pokémarts in a dedicated search for charms to add to their collections.

Of course, as tempting as it would be to judge, I’d advise you not to do so. There are certainly communities of species-specific pokémaniacs that are a bit more avid in their collecting habits than this.

The eevee fan communities, for example, compare shades of non-shiny eevee fur. —LH

Which are a vast spectrum of different but equally fascinating shades! —Bill

They’re brown, Bill. Also, do you really need sixteen threads dedicated to that? That’s what a sticky is for! —LH

what would you recommend for a regular starter? my younger cousin really wants one (not necessarily a starter trio though) and although he loves ghost types and dragon type i dont know of he’ll be able to raise them properly, since they’re pretty difficult. i’m sorta leaning towards giving him something simple like an eevee or maybe a basic water/fire/grass/electric type. which pokemon in particular would you recommend for an 11 year old?

Almost any pokémon can serve as an adequate starter for an eleven-year-old. It really depends on how patient the eleven-year-old is.

However, if you’re interested in giving him a water/fire/grass/electric-type and if he’s very interested in training a ghost or dragon, might I suggest rowlet? They’re traditional starters in Alola (and thus easier to care for than most), but they evolve into the ghost-type decidueye.

Alternatively, the water/ghost frillish, the grass/ghost pumpkaboo, and the fire/ghost litwick aren’t that difficult to take care of. They’re simply a bit on the mischievous side, especially litwick, and may require a bit of extra patience and awareness. As for dragons, there is technically horsea (which evolves into the half-dragon kingdra), but seeing as that evolution is induced via trading or extreme age, it may not suit your cousin’s tastes, and there aren’t really any other dragons that dual-wield elements from the list you’re considering.

Of these, though, I would still highly recommend rowlet, as rowlet are normally bred to be easier for beginning trainers to handle than most grass- or ghost-types. The only thing your cousin will need to worry about is rowlet’s nocturnal sleep cycle, but if he’s considering training ghost-types in general, he’ll likely invert his own sleep cycle eventually anyway.

Best of luck to both you and your cousin, anonymous!

I’ve noticed that in some asks about a pokemon’s behaviour, sometimes you recommend and in others you don’t bring this up at all and instead suggest allowing them to breed. Is this because certain pokemon cannot be neutered? Which ones?

Actually, I don’t often bring up the subject of breeding because not all behaviors have to do with sex, contrary to what Freud may have you believe.

Joking aside, whether or not it would be prudent to have a pokémon breed depends on completely on circumstances. If a pokémon is depressed, then companionship may be the best solution, as many pokémon are actually social in nature. However, aggression is a sign of unchecked sexual frustration, and sometimes, neutering can allow a pokémon to gain control of their temper by reducing their hormone levels to a manageable state. Likewise, if it’s clear that the owner doesn’t wish to raise young or if the pokémon wanders off to mate with a large amount of wild pokémon (or pokémon owned by other trainers), neutering may help to reduce a pokémon’s urges, which in turn will help control the population of unwanted hatchlings.

In other words, whether a pokémon should breed or should be neutered depends entirely on circumstances. In some cases, one is simply a far better option than another. Likewise, it’s also worth it to note that although I was largely kidding in my first line of this response, it’s true that not all instances of aggression or wandering have to do with a pokémon’s libido. Sometimes, they’re simply signs of stress, lack of sleep, or something far, far simpler than sexual frustration.

Its not possible for a pokemon to impregnate a human, right? For context, have this. I run a hot spring and there are alot of volbeat and illumise that fly overhead at night, and since they are classified as ‘human like’ breeding wise, please, please tell me that none of my clients are at risk?

It is indeed impossible for two reasons. First, volbeat and illumise are genetically incompatible with human beings, and thus, they can’t crossbreed (regardless of what early Sinnohan myth may say). Second, one would assume that “please do not engage in intercourse with wild pokémon in the hot spring” would be among your policies because of sanitation issues.