Tag: asks

Why is Swellow such a great, beautiful pokemon <3

You really ought to look into farfetch’d, Falkner. Those are good, reliable pokémon.

Edit: I have just been informed by my editor that this response may be considered “rude.”

It’s difficult to say what, objectively, makes a pokémon so great, anonymous. In my personal opinion, I find its protective flocking habits to be fascinating: that’s unusual for a final-stage bird pokémon. Most others prefer living on their own or controlling vast amounts of territory that their pre-evolutions just happen to live on. Swellow, on the other hand, live in true communities, and it’s quite inspiring to see the lengths they would go to in order to protect their flocks.

Of course, that’s just my opinion, and other people are certainly welcome to disagree or to find something else even more fascinating about swellow.

Hey Bill, I’ve had a Kirlia for a long time, and he’s getting close to evolving, he’s been my travel partner for the longest time, and I want to give him the choice of if he evolves into a Gardevoir or a Gallade, any advice for my Kirlia and I?

As always, research is key here. Do as much research as you can into kirlia’s evolution, using the internet, opinions from trainers who own gardevoir or gallade themselves, and guidance from your pokédex or regional professor. Share all of the information you gather with your kirlia at each stage of your investigation, and let him decide what feels best for his identity, based on what you’ve told him.

I’d like to refrain from giving you too many specifics because I don’t want to sway your decision, but I will say that, of course, gardevoir is the more psychic evolution, while gallade is the more physical. Both stand on equal footing, as both fulfill their respective roles reasonably well. It’s just that gallade might be slightly more difficult to obtain due to the rarity of dawn stone, but that doesn’t mean he wouldn’t be worthwhile to train (or that he’s more desirable than gardevoir, for that matter).

Best of luck, anonymous, but one last piece of advice: give your kirlia an everstone until he’s ready to evolve. He needs to focus on his decision, not on resisting evolution, and the effort put into resisting evolution may either put him off the idea of being a gardevoir or make him feel like he needs to give up and become one, depending on his personality.

Out of curiosity, what *are* your theories involving Mr. Mime and evolution?

Oh, quite simply that it can evolve, anonymous.

Let me put it this way. Of the 151 Kanto Dex pokémon, several were archived as single-member evolution families. Of those, four are considered to be standalone, bipedal, borderline humanoid or actually humanoid pokémon: magmar, electabuzz, jynx, and mr. mime. HOwever, in the Johto Dex, three of these were recorded with pre-evolutions (magmar with magby, electabuzz with elekid, and jynx with smoochum). Mr. mime, before the archival of the Sinnoh Dex, was thus considered to be an oddity.

Of course, that changed when the Sinnoh Dex was archived, which added magmortar, electivire, and mime jr. (The conditions a mr. mime needs to meet in order to produce a mime jr. are a bit complicated, hence mime jr.’s obscurity up until this point.) Thus, mr. mime was placed in the same general category as jynx, as being one of the aforementioned Kanto pokémon with a pre-evolution but no evolution.

Granted, the argument against this logic is that mr. mime, when bred without the odd incense, only produces more mr. mime, which means it has more in common with snorlax than jynx, but I say what’s stopping snorlax from evolving? There could be an as-of-yet unknown super-snorlax evolution, just waiting for discovery!

That … is genuinely terrifying, Bill. And this is coming from someone who has heard this exact theory of yours so many times she should be immune to its horror by now. —LH

I honestly don’t know what you’re talking about. Who wouldn’t want to see a bigger, more powerful—oh, now I see what you mean. —Bill

My kirlia has just evolved into a gardevoir and her attitude has completely changed. When she was young, she was shy and usually only made physical contact with me when it was supper or bedtime. Now since she evolved, she’s become much more touchy, such as holding onto my arm, or laying down near or on me. I’m only worried because it seems like her nature did a complete 180. It’s not a bad change, but i’m worried for if something happened to her mind or not?

Evolution does funny things to a pokémon, anonymous, and behavior changes are certainly a possibility. In gardevoir’s case, their psychic abilities are boosted exponentially, and physical contact further amplifies their already potent telepathic and empathic powers. In other words, touching you feels far more intense than it had been when your gardevoir was younger. Imagine being nearsighted and going about your entire life only seeing your world as one massive blur, and all of a sudden, someone gives you a pair of glasses that sharpens every little detail. Everything seems sharper and newer, and thus, the world feels more exciting to you. This is what it feels like to be a pokémon that undergoes evolution, but it’s especially true with something as sensitive to others’ psychic energies as gardevoir.

That boost, in turn, factors into the other changes about her. All pokémon, when undergoing evolution, typically become more mature or confident, in a way. Think of evolution as being the process of growing up, with the first stage being your childhood and the last stage being adulthood. While some adults are certainly childlike, many others become wiser or otherwise more confident what they can do. This is true for pokémon that reach their final evolution as well. Just as adults grow more and more capable with interacting with the world around them, final-stage evolutions grow more comfortable with their abilities and interacting with their trainers (either in a positive or negative light). Combine this with the aforementioned power boost, and you have one of the most protective pokémon in existence.

In other words, the “touchiness” you’re describing is actually perfectly normal for a gardevoir. It’s her way of not only taking in how different you feel (now that her powers are at their best) but also of establishing a literal personal connection (as to her, being in physical contact with you is not only a sign of affection but also a nonverbal reassurance that she’s there to protect you). It should only really be a cause of concern if she takes the affection too far or if it otherwise becomes uncomfortable for you—which sometimes happens with gardevoir trainers. If that ever occurs, it’s important to establish boundaries. Tell her politely that you appreciate what she’s doing, but you’d prefer physical distance. Let her know that you still want her to protect you and to work with you in a trainer-pokémon relationship; it’s just that your bond should be strictly platonic.

Good luck, anonymous, and congratulations on the recent evolution!

What’s the story behind the giant slowpoke? And what was Bill supposed to be doing at the time?

Unfortunately, I can’t entirely say, anonymous.

Bill was supposed to be debugging the storage system. What he did instead was pull a giant slowpoke from what should have been an unused data bank (which he had no reason to check anyway). This just happened to be a giant slowpoke with the power to induce euphoric lethargy in certain humans when stared at for certain periods of time, and right when he really needed to be focusing on debugging the system to prepare it for Celio’s link-up with my part of the system, he stares at it. Because of course he would. —LH

To be fair, have you ever seen a finer slowpoke specimen in your life? —Bill

I feel like you’re missing the point. —LH

You’re just upset that I put it up for display in the Pokémon Cutting-Edge Technology Research Center’s Open House Day that one year and got more attention for it than those old poké ball prototypes from that one researcher you fancied. —Bill

I feel like you’re really missing the point. —LH

He wasn’t your type anyway. —Bill

Bill, you left Celio and me waiting for eight hours. —LH

Hi there! My husband and I are thinking of adopting either a Growlithe or Houndour puppy. Which has better temperament, house broken, health concerns, and recommendations to ‘fire-puppy’-proof our house? :)

In general, growlithe tend to be among the easiest pokémon to train for domestic purposes, hence why they’re far more popular as pets than houndour. Don’t get me wrong, of course. Houndour are also excellent pets and far better guard pokémon. It’s just that they’re less friendly, more stoic, and otherwise pack creatures. They’re not the sort who will be eager to entertain the way growlithe are, and they fare much better when homed with at least one more of their own species. As such, it may be harder to get them to listen to commands than it would be for the notoriously loyal growlithe, which means it may be harder to housebreak them, walk them, and generally train them.

On the other hand, they’re also less excitable than growlithe, and thus, they’re less likely to bark or use their fire abilities excessively. Very minimal fireproofing is necessary for a houndour, whereas a growlithe may howl, pounce, and use Ember in celebration for your return home after a long day at work. Thus, for a houndour, you may only need a handy, charged fire extinguisher in as many rooms as humanly possible, whereas growlithe need training and a constant water-type partner at minimum.

In short, I supposed it would depend on your needs. Growlithe are easier to train and more affectionate, but houndour are quiet and well-behaved by default but not quite as emotionally available as growlithe may be.

One last note, though: if you have small children or are expecting, contrary to popular belief, houndour are excellent choices—far better than growlithe. Not only is this because houndour are generally calmer, but it’s also because their pack instincts kick in around human babies and toddlers. The truth is, you’ll likely find no canine pokémon more protective and concerned for a child’s well-being than a houndour, even though the species is often (wrongly) associated with violence.

Hopefully, this helps, anonymous. Best of luck with your decision.

Hello, I was traveling through Floaroma Town recently (I’ll be staying a while) and the PC in the Pokemon Center is down since a Rotom has taken it over. The Nurse Joy there said that the Rotom’s trouble has just been taking over the PC and preventing trainers from using it, no pokemon have been released from it, and that someone has been contacted about the problem. I was wondering how long will getting the Rotom out take and is this a common problem?

Rest assured, anonymous, it’s not a common problem. It should be resolved in a few hours.

Or it will be once someone stops letting the rotom get away by taking selfies with her possessed computer instead of doing her job.

To be fair, Bill, do you remember what happened when you found the giant slowpoke? —LH

That was an anomalous slowpoke! That’s different! —Bill

Hello Bill! I have a sweet little happiny in my care, I was wondering if you had any tips on raising her? Another thing is she is very shy and has a hard time interacting with the rest of my team, any tips on integrating her? Thanks so much!

First, the necessary information. Much like babies, happiny need plenty of sleep. Ensure they have a soft bed and warm blankets. Do not swaddle them but rather loosely cover them if they look cold. Feed them at least twice daily with either kibble or pureed fruits and vegetables, as well as milk for calcium. Baby formula, strangely enough, also works. Happiny will also need a litter box with standard poké filler, and this should be changed daily. Give your happiny a daily bath with gentle soaps in your sink or tub. Finally, happiny should be given durable, soft or plastic toys—never anything with small parts—as well as a polished, round stone that resembles a miniature chansey egg (an oval stone, in other words). Even if you don’t evolve your happiny, the stone does wonders for its mental health.

Now! As for integration, this is a bit tougher. If you still have one or both of her parents, allow them to help you with this. Let them show her that the rest of her team is friendly, and let them introduce her. If you don’t still have her parents or if you adopted her, start with the youngest, gentlest member of your team. Introduce that specific pokémon to her on its own as a playmate. Let that pokémon play with her and “babysit” her, as it were. Once she begins to trust that team member, introduce another one with the first one present. Work your way towards introducing her to your team one by one until she meets the fiercest, oldest members, and have each of your team members play with and care for her in turn. Introducing her to your team all at once may intimidate her, but going slow and allowing her to start with your most approachable members allows her to get comfortable with them at her own pace. Likewise, keeping the members she’s already befriended out as you introduce her to someone new allows her to seek comfort in the friends she’s already made.

Best of luck and congratulations on the new addition to your family, anonymous!

Recently my late wife’s Aggron laid a small clutch of eggs. We turned most of them over to a licensed breeder, but my daughter decided to keep one and use it as her starter when she starts her journey in a few months. The two of us have been taking care of Aggron the past few years, but it had been fully evolved long before I met my wife. Is there anything we should know about raising a young Aron, both for the next few weeks at home, and later when my daughter sets out?

Luckily, you still have the aggron parent. That makes things immensely easier, not only because the aggron will do much of the work to take care of its child for you but also because aron will generally need many of the same things as aggron, just in smaller doses. Aron still need cool, dry places to sleep; rocks to supplement its diet (if you don’t feed it exclusively stone); and plenty of time to battle so it may gain experience and harden its shell. I would recommend a diet of pure stone, incidentally, as well as at least one hour of defensive training a day. Aron’s best traits on the battlefield is its defensive capabilities, so the harder its armor when it begins its time as your daughter’s starter, the better. It may also be worth it to invest in a sand bath of its own, complete with a few stumps or stones for it to Tackle. That way, it can bathe, play, and continue to work on training its defenses, all in one.

The only trouble you may encounter would be at the start of your daughter’s journey. Your late wife’s aggron may cause trouble, as losing her trainer would have been traumatic enough, but with the departure of her child and one of her caretakers, she may see the journey as less an opportunity for the both of them and more the act of losing half its family. It’s important to spend time with her and make it clear that you won’t leave her. If you have any other pokémon, have them bond with her too. If you don’t, consider getting her a long-term mate or ask the breeder who took on most of her clutch if she can visit until the hatchlings are adopted (or if she can spend time on the ranch, caring for any other pokémon—even this interaction will do wonders for her).

As for your daughter and her aron, have those two bond as much as possible. It sounds like the aron will still be young when it leaves home with its trainer, so you’ll need to focus on making the separation from its parent go as smoothly and as non-traumatic as possible. By having your daughter take an active role in caring for it—by feeding it, battling with it, playing with it, and so forth—the aron will bond with her more readily and, therefore, see her as its main family and caretaker, or someone who will be there for it and who it can trust.

In short, take care of the aron the same way as you would an aggron. The same could be said after your daughter begins her journey. She’ll need to continue feeding her aron and battling with it regularly. The only change is that she may need to polish her aron by hand, using a rag and standard steel-type polish, available at any pokémart. It’s just that prior to her departure, ensure that both your wife’s aggron and your daughter’s aron are emotionally prepared for the separation.

Good luck, and congratulations on your daughter’s journey!