{Aww, thank you so much! 😀 It’s certainly been fun to run this blog for this long. And also? I’m really glad to hear these posts have been helpful to the community at large. Like, aaaaaaaaa, yes, indirectly helping someone else to create something awesome!
(Feel free to dunk your headcanon blog into the asks, by the by! I’m curious! :D)}
{To the easier of these two questions, alas, no. I would love to see someone try, though, and on that note, submissions are still open, and the post in question is somewhere in the Dragonite tag. I’m just sayin’. 😉
On the harder and more serious of these two questions, I think it’s more about variety than anything else. Sometimes, when I get a question, I’d actually get something like five or so of them, either intentionally (like how I currently have five asks I’m working on for facts related to different species because of the Decidueye fact post) or unintentionally (the numbers of times people ask about how to take care of standard/Alolan Vulpix at the same time or what happens when you have them mate with each other). Don’t get me wrong; I enjoy answering these asks. It’s just that after a while, they get harder to answer because I feel like I’m going through a template of sorts. That’s why I tend to stall out on questions about caring for different pokémon and why I might skip around the ask hopper a little.
If I had to choose a specific topic, though, I’d probably say more worldbuilding asks. Like, not necessarily “tell me everything about this city” so much as “hey, I have this specific not-necessarily-pokémon-related interest; what can you tell me about it?” I’ve always been fascinated with worldbuilding/building societies and cities and whatnot, so the sorts of questions that make me go deep into the setting itself are just fun, even if I fully acknowledge the fact that Bill probably doesn’t know everything about those topics. Or if he did, he might not always speak of them favorably. (Looooool, his opinions on Unovan politics are pretty much “it’s a garbodor on fire; next.”)
Also, full disclosure: asking Bill or Lanette personal questions is like free license to stan, so that’s always fun.}
{With Bill’s, I stick to canon: eevee and all of its evolutions, with a preference for flareon, jolteon, and vaporeon in particular for the latter. He’s still fond of the pokémon on his team as well (kadabra and venusaur and so forth), but really, eevee and its evolutions have always taken his top spots.
As for Lanette, she’s got a soft spot for anything that’s cute, especially any and all feline pokémon (of which delcatty is probably her favorite). She’s also very fond of clefairy, which are basically the magic spacecats of the Pokémon world anyway … and also because she’s gained a new appreciation for them thanks to the whole Clefairy Incident. (She thinks they’re hilarious now; Bill decidedly does not.)}
{Haha, no worries!
In all seriousness, Bill’s interests are … pretty much clean. Sure, he’s a scalie, but he’s part of that huge chunk of the furry fandom that … pretty much has no interest in the subculture’s dirtier sides.
But to get a little further into it, Bill’s (sex-positive) ace(/panromantic) but curious. As in, he doesn’t really have actual fetishes, but he’s pretty much willing to try a lot of things, just because it’s in his nature to ask questions and experiment with everything if it’s brought up to him. So you could literally tell him, “Hey, how do you feel about being handcuffed to a pole while I drip hot candle wax on you, and by the way, you’ll need to wear this rubber mask of Professor Oak while I’m dressed as Delia Ketchum,” and his response would probably be, “I have no idea why that would be pleasurable, and I actually sort of want to find out now.”
Or in other words, Bill’s not really into anything, but you could still probably get him to do anything. Within reason. Like, he won’t do it if it’s very clearly illegal. Or extremely dangerous. In that order.
But as a casual thing to do with partners? Nah, if anything at all, Bill much prefers just, you know. Vanilla stuff. Although he’d very much prefer just taking Netflix and chill literally, if we’re honest.}
{If we’re talking about the one where people and pokémon were once the same species (or at least married each other), the latter, I have to admit: it’s just a myth, not really truth. It’s more or less the equivalent of all those Greek/Roman myths about Zeus or Poseidon or somesuch turning into swans or bulls to go after mortals, except somewhat less … disgusting.
To go just a tiny bit more in-depth, the thing about that myth is that it’s (seen by modern anthropologists as) an attempt from early/prehistoric humans to “humanize” those strange, magic creatures with whom they shared a world. That is, in order to fully understand aspects of their world/pokémon themselves, the people of the pokémon world would write these elaborate tales that featured pokémon that essentially lived their lives as humans, that talked and plotted like humans, or that were literally humans at one point or another but were either transformed into pokémon or could go back and forth between human and pokémon forms at will. Somehow, some of the origin myths (or in other words, prologues to such stories) wound up in books about the origin of the world itself, which is why some people might be confused or might otherwise think humans and pokémon are related.
It doesn’t help that a number of humans do actually display the abilities of pokémon (psychics, Aura users) or some sort of affinity with pokémon (anyone who can talk to pokémon, such as N), but as far as anyone knows, these abilities are unrelated to pokémon … despite the fact that they’re still not well-understood on their own.}
{Answering in reverse order, but you’d be surprised! Not too many people notice if I’ve accidentally contradicted myself. I guess it helps that I only publish once a day, and with about three years’ worth of content, there’s just so much to look through it’s easy to forget if I’ve covered something already, even for me.
And in a way, that actually helps me too. Like, for the bigger stuff (like stuff about Bill or Lanette, the general world, etc.), that’s usually actual headcanon that I’ve had for ages, and other stuff I just remember because it’s hilarious (like how to properly care for an unown). But the other stuff, like how salandit evolution works or somesuch? That can get trickier. If I’m not 100% certain how something works, I usually make it a point to look through the tags/search myself to see if I’ve written about it, then go from there. But if I don’t find it at first and I’d already written about it (which happens from time to time), usually, people don’t notice, no. It’s actually more frequent that I get asks about stuff I’ve already covered (no salt intended there), so … to be honest, I don’t worry too much about whether or not I’m about to say something that contradicts another post, haha. :’)}
Excellent choice!
Believe it or not, porygon (and its evolutions) are actually some of the easiest pokémon to care for. A porygon (or its evolutions) doesn’t actually need much in the way of food, and water should be kept to an extreme minimal anyway (as it doesn’t interact well with its electronic-digital nature). It can eat if they choose to, so it wouldn’t hurt to offer the option. Should you choose to do this, porygon and its evolutions will literally eat anything you tell them is food, and they will do so happily. The same sort of kibble you give the rest of your team or small, extra portions of whatever your other teammates will eat should do. Alternatively, you can offer an extra portion of your meals whenever your porygon seems interested. Remember, the main point is feeding porygon only if it seems interested, not because it needs to, as it really gains no nutritional value from what it eats. On the other hand, your porygon will likely engage in mirroring, or the act of mimicking the humans or pokémon around them in order to understand and bond with them.
In truth, what a porygon needs more than anything is a computer. That’s where most of your maintenance will occur. Porygon aren’t tied to any specific computer, so you won’t have to worry about, say, needing to transfer your porygon whenever you buy a new computer. However, it’s always a good idea to start out with something sturdy, quick, and equipped with a considerable amount of RAM and powerful antivirus and anti-malware software. A connection to the internet is also highly recommended to allow your porygon to move from one device to the next without having to exit into the real world. (I would also recommend coupling other devices, such as your pokégear, pokénav, phone, or so forth, with your computer from time to time to allow your porygon to jump from something you own to another piece of personal tech.)
As a note, whether you want a laptop or a desktop is entirely up to you. Desktop computers tend to be sturdier and have more power, but laptops are portable, allowing your porygon to have a refuge no matter where you go. Thus, if you tend to stay at home, consider a desktop, but if you frequently travel, a laptop should do.
That said, once you get this computer, power it on for at least a few hours every day. Encourage your porygon to enter your computer at least once a day to recharge, which is its equivalent to eating. During this time, run your antivirus and/or anti-malware software to “groom” your porygon. If you have a poké ball transporter and a home connection to the storage system, I would also recommend uploading your porygon’s poké ball and running the system’s backup software. This will also pull a backup from your porygon, even if it’s not within the storage system itself.
Also, don’t worry about your porygon wandering around the internet. Porygon and porygon2 are extremely obedient, and it’s unlikely that they’ll wander too far without you. This is also tied into their care regarding play and training. Porygon need very minimal training, not only because they don’t often display behavior that needs to be trained but also because their bodies don’t require much exercise. The only thing you’ll need to be concerned about is really target practice; it’s essential that you hone your porygon’s aim and accuracy especially, as these need to be calibrated over time and are key to their beam attacks. As for play, porygon and porygon2 are fantastically intelligent but also extremely agreeable, and they can get the psychological relief they need from playing any sort of game with you, from fetch to chess. You can even open up a creativity program such as Photoshop and let your porygon play through artistically expressing itself. (You won’t believe how much art on the internet was actually created by porygon. It’s quite fascinating, really.)
Of course, this leads to the metaphorical donphan in the room: porygon-z. Porygon-z, being a pokémon with rather unconventional origins, has a risk of tripping your antivirus software or negatively affecting any computer it touches. For this reason, it’s important for you to be extremely careful when it comes to handling its maintenance and its training. Don’t run your antivirus software on your porygon-z, but if you absolutely must, make sure your porygon-z is whitelisted. You should still run the backup, however; rest assured the system administrators have taken porygon-z’s unusual nature when designing the backup system.
So really, your biggest concern is training, as porygon-z gains more of a personality and thus may pick up several bad habits. Luckily, it’s not as bad as many experts will lead you to believe. In truth, the only reason why porygon-z seems like an insurmountable challenge is because trainers are used to training porygon and porygon2, both of which are among the easiest pokémon to train (in terms of behavior, anyway). With that in mind, porygon-z is really just about as easy to train as any other pokémon; it’s just that you may need to deal with its newfound curiosity. Keep an eye on it and have patience with everything it does. Teach it the difference between exploring its world safely and doing so impulsively or dangerously, and don’t be afraid to use positive reinforcement to help it understand right from wrong.
Best of luck!
Actually, the answer is yes to both questions.
Regarding rivalry, there’s the classic “literally any canine pokémon versus literally any feline,” as well as “literally any feline pokémon versus literally any rodent.” Granted, few of these rivalries actually have any current truth to them. When it comes to canines and felines, that simply has roots in both of their social behaviors. Dog pokémon are highly social and expressive, and they display affection through non-combative play routines. They also have a tendency to chase after pokémon that are smaller than they are, either to hunt or to play-hunt, depending on whether or not the dogs in question are wild. On the other hand, feline pokémon are more reserved and play by sparring with one another, and they don’t take well to anything deemed as a threat, even if that threat is larger than them. Thus, a dog pokémon may attempt to chase after a cat pokémon, which in turn is interpreted as an act of aggression to the cat; alternatively, the cat pokémon may attempt to play in its own way with the dog, which results in the act being interpreted as aggression by the dog. Either way, these miscommunications are interpreted by humans as bitter rivalry, rather than as what they are (that is, an unfortunate crossing of perfectly natural behaviors).
As for felines and rodents, well. Considering the fact that feline pokémon eat many creatures smaller than them, including and especially rodent pokémon, it only stands to reason that the two don’t always have positive interactions for both sides. Granted, humans didn’t help in that regard either: as rodent pokémon had been pests to us at one point, we’ve trained feline pokémon, their natural predators, to … well, chase them off.
Of course, these are only perceived rivalries, or merely interactions between species that are not combative but rather pokémon simply following instinct, no animosity intended. On the other hand, there are plenty of instances of actual rivalries in the pokémon world. Both types of basculin, for example, if only because red and blue basculin are highly territorial and protective of their own kind (and thus, yes, a little bit racist). Then there are yungoos and Alolan rattata (intended to be predator and prey and instead ended up as rivals for territory and resources), braviary and mandibuzz (territory disputes, usually), heatmor and durant (for the same reason seviper and zangoose don’t get along), gyarados and anything that moves, and for some reason, clefairy and jigglypuff. Some even say omanyte and kabuto are rivals, but this is more hearsay from obscure texts, rather than anything founded on scientific fact.
As for symbiotic relationships, that can actually apply to a number of pokémon. Many pokémon are capable of living in harmony with one another, within delicately balanced ecosystems. Take the bibarel, for example. Bibarel create dams, which in turn create freshwater lakes for finneon and shellos. Thus, finneon and shellos tend to gather and follow (in rivers and streams, of course) wherever bidoof and bibarel are, just waiting for either pokémon to construct new habitats and breeding grounds.
Then you have the more well-known symbiotic relationships, such as shellder and slowpoke (the two evolve together to form slowbro or slowking), mantine and remoraid (remoraid helps mantyke to evolve, in exchange for protection), and shelmet and karrablast (they help one another evolve, even in the wild). Most lines that are considered counterparts to each other (nidoran, plusle and minun, miltank and tauros, volbeat and illumise) are likewise actually symbiotic species, as they gather in pooled herds to use their lines’ respective skills for survival. For example, although they may mate with other pokémon in a forest in order to obtain fertilized eggs, nidoran herds will set up combined nests guarded by nidorina and nidoqueen (which are better at defending territory). The male counterparts, nidorino and nidoking, will often either establish and patrol outer boundaries of the warren or go out to hunt and forage for the group, as, being the more aggressive of the two, they can form dangerous mobs to effectively drive away predators before they even reach the nests.
Actually, poké balls are quite frequently reusable. It’s just that a number of things may happen in the heat of a battle that render attempts to pick up and try again with the same ball extremely difficult:
1. A trainer may throw the ball too hard and accidentally break it. This occurs more with rock- or steel-type pokémon, or in instances wherein the ball straight-out misses.
2. If by “miss” we mean “fail,” then a pokémon may break the mechanism that generates the capture grid upon breaking free of the ball. (This is the most common reason poké balls are rendered unusable after a capture attempt.)
3. The ball misses and rolls away, to a position that’s not easily accessible by a trainer.
4. The pokémon attacks the ball (after it misses), thus breaking it before continuing to attack you.
5. The ball misses and rolls away, and before a trainer can go after it, the wild pokémon prevents them from doing so, which then causes the trainer to lose track of the ball.
6. The above occurs, but the wild pokémon attempts to flee instead of attack. Depending on the rarity of the pokémon, a trainer may simply forget about their discarded balls in order to go after their attempted catch.
Luckily, in any of these cases, poké balls are rather cheap. This not only means it’s easy to replace them, but … in a way, it’s also an explanation. Common poké balls are made of flimsier material, and thus, it’s not really all that surprising that the most common ways they’re rendered unusable is if they accidentally break due to a pokémon’s efforts or simply by throwing them too hard at a solid surface. The more powerful or expensive a poké ball is (that is, if we’re considering great, ultra, or master balls), the better the materials, of course, but aside from master balls (which are made of the most durable materials but have a nearly flawless capture rate), there’s still the chance that these poké balls’ mechanisms will still fail due to one of the above factors.
That depends. If there are just a lot of clefairy, I would advise calling in a professional poison- or steel-type specialist, just to discourage the colony from making contact with the miltank. If there are a lot of clefairy and strange lights in the sky at night, I would advise calling your local equivalent of the FBI. I’ve been told that they have agents who may or may not be interested in that sort of thing. Usually paired with agents who are decidedly not.
The Pokédex According to Bill 