Tag: asks

I’m sorry you’re getting another ultra beast question but this is just about speculation. Why do you think the ones we know about share the ability Beast Boost? Is it possibly something to do with them being out of their own world?

This is a fascinating and excellent question, actually! We know so little about the Ultra Beasts that there’s no one theory that’s more accepted in the scientific community than others, but I have my own. Namely, I think it has less to do with the affects our world has on them and more to do with their specific physiologies. It’s possible that they’re all related in some way—perhaps they’re even actually iterations of the same species, just from alternate dimension. Think of it like you and a you from an alternate timeline.

On that note, I find it quite interesting that they’re all the dominant species of their respective worlds, except for poipole (whose world we came to) and guzzlord (who appeared in an alternate version of our world). If the stories I’ve heard about them are true, anyway.

Hello Bill! How are you doing? I hope all these questions are not exhausting you! I’ve started a new job in the Tapu Village’s clinic. I had to take an assistant with me since I’m on a wheelchair though I’ve never had one in my previous work in Hau’oli City’s children hospital. I’ve began to work with an audino and though he is a sweetie, he treats me like I’m more of a patient than a workmate. How can I tell him that it’s unnecessary? It’s uncomfortable and my human coworkers shrug it off.

It’s not exhausting at all, although I do hope you all will forgive me for my speed as of late.

That having been said, this is a bit of a tricky situation, yes, but luckily, you’re dealing with a medical pokémon. Medical pokémon are highly intelligent to the point where they possess essentially human levels of awareness only, well, without the ability to speak our language. They have to be, not only to maintain excellent bedside manners but also because they’re often asked to perform complicated tasks that a patient’s life may depend on.

I say all of this because your best course of action is … talking to him. While I wouldn’t recommend being blunt about it (as he is your coworker, and in any case, pokémon are still generally more thin-skinned than humans are), simply informing him that you feel uncomfortable with certain behaviors and outline what you would prefer him to do instead should be enough.

Also, make it clear that you’re not in pain and not in immediate need for medical attention. You can also do this through your actions: as with all pokémon that dote a little too much on trainers recovering from injuries, the more your partner sees you completing tasks on your own, the easier it will be for him to understand you don’t need his help with everything (or anything on a personal level).

Best of luck!

How do you deal with overly affectionate Pokemon without hurting their feelings? I have an Eevee that refuses to leave my side and constantly clings to my arm, or leg.. I’ve never had a Pokemon as clingy as this Eevee, and I’ve tripped over her and nearly hurt both of us on several occasions.

Train them, actually. Not training in the battling sense, of course, but rather training in the positive reinforcement sense. A few people have encountered similar issues, so this link should offer several tips: http://bills-pokedex.tumblr.com/search/separation

The key is to be patient and start with a schedule. Schedules are often comforting to pokémon because they’re a constant. A pokémon understands time a little better once they’re on a schedule, and consequently, it’s easier for them to feel normal and safe. Thus, once you establish set times for when your eevee needs to be fed, walked, and so forth, it will be easier to change your routine to include independence.

Or in other words, once you set her on a schedule, then you can train her to handle herself on her own. For example, announce when you’ll leave her side, even for a moment, when you set her down to eat. Get her used to that idea, then use the same cue to announce when you need to leave the room, to leave the house temporarily, to leave for work, and so on and so forth. Start with small increments and work your way up so she grows more and more used to this routine.

Additionally, reward her for behavior in which she handles herself without reacting badly. If, for example, she doesn’t immediately tear off looking for you when you set her down and leave the room, give her a treat or a toy. If she does tear off, sit her back down and try again. Additionally, give her a treat before you have to leave her alone for long periods of time (for example, to take a shower at first, then work your way up to leaving the house) so she associates your absence with something good. Finally, give her something that smells like you to comfort her in between. The more she understands that not clinging to you (literally) is okay, the easier it will be to wean herself off you, as it were.

Good luck!

Hey Bill, can you offer some tips for Mawile care? I got an egg from a Hoarder Situation Rescue, and she just hatched maybe a day ago? What are some Do’s and Don’t’s i should be aware of after she comes back from Nurse Joy? Sitting in a Pokemon Center as i type this on my pokegear waiting for Nurse joy to give her a once over before i start parenting in earnest XD. A concerned Mawile Parent

It’s certainly lucky that you’re getting this mawile as a hatchling, rather than as a pokémon who was raised in the aforementioned hoarding situation. Because of this, you won’t necessarily have to help it through any resulting trauma.

That having been said, though, you’ll of course want to follow the instructions Nurse Joy will give you on infant mawile care. Once it’s grown enough to be weaned and to live on its own, basic care should be fairly easy. It will need a soft bed and a room indoors, preferably one that’s a little on the cooler side if you live in warmer climates or climates in which it gets hot during the summer. Feed it a varied diet (mawile are omnivores) consisting of mostly berries, vegetables, and grains, with leaner meats for protein. Mawile also can be trained to use the toilet, although they typically use a litterbox (as with many fairy-types), and when grooming, be sure to polish your mawile’s horns with standard steel-type polish (as with all steel-types).

About the only differences between caring for mawile and caring for most other pokémon lies in, well, its jaws and nature. First and foremost, as a part-fairy, it’s important to be on guard around it at all times. It’s not as mischievous as, say, a clefairy or a mimikyu, but it’s still well known for deception and trickery. Never hand-feed it, in other words. And make sure you place everything that can fit in its horns out of reach.

As for the second part of that equation, its horns. Those must be well-maintained, and you do this by not only polishing the outside but also brushing the inside as you would teeth. Keep your mawile calm through the process, as challenging as it may be to do so. You may wish to distract it with music, a movie, or toys when it’s young, but it’s also possible to train it to consider such grooming to be pleasurable. That should take care of unintentional bites, but when it comes to intentional, you’ll want to wear heavy gloves at first as you work with your mawile’s jaws. Of course, it’s also important to teach it that biting you would hurt more than just a little bit, but when it’s young, it may be difficult to wean it off mischievous tendencies. Just have patience and reward your mawile whenever it displays positive behavior (sitting still while not biting you), and the job will eventually get easier as time goes on.

Best of luck, anonymous!

Dear Bill, My birthday was a few days ago, and my family, in their ever present lack of communication, got me a Rowlet, a Piplup, and a Torchic, along with a SNivy, Turtwig, and Treeko. Do i need to worry about the Avian starters picking fights with each other? and what of my Grass Reptilians? Also, any Care tips you can suggest for them? and are there any concerns i should watch for in their Later Stages? I’d rather avoid issues BEFORE i need to take a ‘Mon to the Pokemon Center ER.

This is … quite an ask, I must admit. So to begin, I’m afraid I can’t offer care tips for six vastly different pokémon in a small amount of space, so I’ll simply offer this as a general tip: read up on each pokémon species to get hints about their basic needs. For example, treecko is a tropical insectivore, so it will need a moist environment and a largely insect-based diet. While you could possibly double up on habitats or diets for like pokémon, it’s also worth it to be aware that two pokémon, as alike as they may be, might actually have different needs. (Turtwig is an herbivore, and snivy needs larger prey, like feeder mice.)

If you’re out on the road and these are meant to be your starters for a journey, it might be easier to care for all of them (that’s what kibble and general care facilities at pokémon centers are for), but if you live at home, a team this diverse might be difficult unless you have a lot of space and money. If it is difficult, consider leaving a few at a shelter or rehoming them. This goes especially if you plan on evolving them, as their needs—not only for space but also basics—will increase exponentially. It’s not impossible to house six fully evolved starters if you’re not a trainer, but it’s difficult. And, well. Expensive.

As for your avian pokémon fighting one another, most bird-like species are actually highly social, so it’s more likely that they’ll form a flock (and perhaps try to rope in some of the reptiles while they’re at it), especially once they understand they’re part of the same team. The others, meanwhile … generally, you shouldn’t have a problem because in most cases, starters are bred to be amicable with other pokémon, but keep an eye on that treecko and snivy.

Best of luck!

Hey Bill. I’m a trainer, and very recently, my partner, a Larvesta, evolved. Their very capable of holding their own now, and still get along with their team mates, but the oddest thing is that their wings, instead of being Red (Like before) or Yellow (As I’ve heard shiny Volcrona are supposed to be), are Chansey pink with violet spots. They’re doing well, and I’ve spoken with several Pokemon Center workers who claim they could not be healthier. I was wondering, is there a reason for the pink?

There are a couple of possible reasons, actually. For one thing, it could simply be genetic; if your volcarona’s parents were pink or otherwise not as vibrantly red as standard, then that increases the likelihood that they would have offspring that would be pink or off-color in their adult stages. Supposedly, a shiny parent also increases the likelihood that something like this will happen, but frankly, this hasn’t really been confirmed.

Second, it could be diet. Sometimes, eating pale or pink fruits in one’s larval stage changes one’s color later on. This phenomenon is especially true for pokémon that feed primarily on pinkan berries (which are notorious for changing a pokémon’s color after just a few servings), but sufficient amounts of pecha or persim will do it too.

Finally, it could also be environmental. If you trained your larvesta mostly during the evenings or early mornings, particularly during sunrise or sunset, there’s a chance that it will adjust its colors to match those of the sky at that time. Otherwise, most larvesta will try to match the warmth and vibrance the midday sun (even if it’s by memory, if they’re mostly trained at night).

In other words, the pokémon center was absolutely right. Your volcarona is perfectly healthy … just fascinatingly rare.

Congratulations on both this and their evolution!

Hi, Bill! So a few years ago I adopted a Flareon that was abandoned at my local Pokemon Center. Apparently the previous owner abandoned her after she, as an Eevee, found a fire stone meant for a Vulpix. He apparently degraded her often (I’m told he really wanted an Umbreon). But she has quickly become family to me and my longtime partner, Rye (a Manectric). But she is still very uncertain about herself and her abilities, especially in battles. How can I help her become more confident?

Keep battling with her. I know that seems like unhelpful advice, but the best thing you can possibly do to nurture her confidence is continue to train with her while at the same time giving her positive reinforcement. Have her spar every day (either with Rye or in battles against other friendly trainers), and couple this with focused move practice. Every time she successfully executes a move, say encouraging words to her, and after every battle she fought hard in, even the ones she didn’t win, give her a treat. Most importantly, if she struggles to use a move or loses a battle, speak to her softly and reassure her that she did her best. If she allows it, show some affection as well.

It’s important that you push her (gently, of course) to keep trying. The more she battles and trains and the more she hears you encouraging her, the easier it will be for her to feel both confident and comfortable in her abilities.

Best of luck!

Now I’m morbidly intrigued – what horror stories regarding brown bouffalant are we speaking of, and has anything been done about it?

Well…

For starters, I’m not even sure if the materials used to make Brown Bouffalant is entirely edible. For one thing, as recently as earlier this month, it was found that they use pidove feathers as filler. To give you an idea of why that’s bad, that would be very much akin to humans eating cardboard … which, according to one recall, was also used in their dry foods at one point.

Granted, the cardboard was more of an accidental contaminant, which leads us to the next point that is the fact that Brown Bouffalant frequently recalls batches of its product due to contaminants of one sort or another. Last year, an entire line of wet food was recalled due to contamination with heightened levels of miltank hormones (which trigger dehydration and frequent urination in some species of canine pokémon), but there were also the three separate occasions in the past five years in which one particular type of food or another was recalled due to contamination with listeria, salmonella, and for reasons I would love to know myself, formaldehyde. Even the foods that pass inspection (somehow) aren’t always safe, as people who feed their products to their pokémon have also reported everything from mold in the bottom of dry food bags to unexplained kidney failure.

That is, of course, during and after production (although it perhaps says something about the way it treats its workers if standards had been set that low). When it comes to sourcing its materials, well, let’s just say that if your food is contaminated with pidove feathers or salmonella, those aren’t signs that your food sources are treated well.

Of course, Brown Bouffalant has been in and out of the courtroom over these incidents for at least a decade, which in turn has led to the stricter regulations you might have heard about when it comes to pokémon food production. Still, even with these regulations in place and even with the government’s reassurance that Brown Bouffalant’s production methods are completely up to both health and sustainability standards, you still hear about Brown Bouffalant in the news far too often for that brand to be worth it.

The main reason why it’s still around, though, is in part due to the fact that, ultimately, they’re the cheapest pokémon food brand on the market. The other part is frankly a complete mystery, but I have a sneaking suspicion it has something to do with its parent corporation, Rocket Corp.