How long after mating should i expect eggs from my pokemon? Specifically an arcanine, but does it differ between all pokemon

It really depends on the pokémon, anonymous, but generally speaking, unlike their mammalian counterparts, pokémon can lay eggs as quickly as once a day (much like birds). However, this occurs mainly in pokémon raised specifically for breeding (and, well, all bird pokémon); wild ones and ones trained for other purposes may see eggs once a month to one or two times a year—hence why some of the larger pokémon have mating seasons. Arcanine in particular lay eggs only twice a year, following patterns very similar to estrous cycles in dogs.

Likewise, sometimes, it depends on the individual themselves. Mammalian pokémon generally prefer laying their eggs in places where they feel the safest, and some pokémon find it difficult to like their breeding partners enough to lay eggs together. However, a comfortable female paired with a male she happens to like can achieve that one-egg-a-day pace rather easily.

When my salazzle and I travel salandit flock to her and follow us. Why is this? How do I get them to stop?

As you might have seen from the salazzle entry posted shortly after we received this ask (and I do apologize for the delay!), salazzle excrete powerful hormones that attract every male salandit in the vicinity. This is an unconscious act, and it’s basically a survival mechanism. Because female salandit (and by extension, all salazzle) are extremely rare, it’s necessary for a salazzle to be able to make herself as appealing as possible to ensure she breeds and thus perpetuates the species. The fact that males obey her and form a harem around her is part of this survival mechanism as well (not to mention it also explains their behavior towards yours).

Unfortunately, because all of this is inherent in the salandit line, it’s extremely difficult to stop it from happening. You can, however, apply synthetic scents (that is, perfume) to your salazzle to mask her scent and mix with her pheromones in ways that are unpleasant to salandit, but this may be uncomfortable to your salazzle herself. It may be worth trying, however, if her harem is interfering with her day-to-day life with you.

Alternatively, having her lay a nest of eggs typically causes the males to flock towards the nest, rather than towards the mother, as they become far more interested in fertilizing and protecting the eggs at all costs. So, quite literally, allowing her to breed may be another method.

Best of luck, anonymous!

Hey there Bill, I’ve had both a Nidoran Male and Female since I was little. I grew up with them by my side and they grew fond of each other. Now they’ve evolved into Nidoking,and Nidoqueen and I was hoping to breed them to get a new generation of Nidorans. I’ve hit a snag though, it seems from whatever reason, they can’t breed. I went to a few other experts and they told me that Nidoqueens can’t breed with Nidokings, and i was wondering if you had any idea why?

By and large, nidoqueen and nidorina are incapable of breeding because for whatever reason, evolution sterilizes female nidoran. Male nidoran and their evolutions, meanwhile, retain the ability to breed throughout their lives, and thus, male nidoran often mate with either female nidoran or ditto to perpetuate their species; they don’t actually mate with a female nidoran’s advanced forms.

As for why evolution sterilizes female nidoran, that’s still a subject of debate in the scientific community, but to be fair, considering the fact that male nidoran grow longer, sharper, and more numerous barbs upon each subsequent evolution (including and especially exactly where you would think), one can hardly blame nature for wanting to offer female nidoran a bit of mercy, if you get my meaning.

How is it that two dittos cannot breed, two magnemites cannot breed, but a ditto and a magnemite can? The one thing I can think of is that ditto can somehow create ‘clones’ of regular pokemon in an egg and they can reproduce alone so there’s no need to breed with each other. What is your answer?

Actually, ditto can’t breed because they lack reproductive organs in their original forms. Instead, they reproduce via budding, so technically, all ditto are really the exact same organism genetically.

However, ditto do not create clones of regular pokémon, although this is an interesting theory. What actually happens is that a ditto assumes the form of whatever pokémon they choose to mate with, but there’s an asterisk to this concept. It’s true that on the battlefield, ditto become exact copies of their chosen target, but off the battlefield, they can actually assume whatever form they want. (They simply need a visual example in order to create an accurate copy.) What this means is that ditto gain the reproductive organs of whatever pokémon they choose, but they can only do so when transformed. At the same time, while on the battlefield, ditto assume the exact form of the pokémon in front of them because it’s quicker, off the battlefield (such as in a breeding pen), they can sometimes get “creative” by assuming the form of a member of the opposite biological sex. For example, on the battlefield, a ditto may transform into a male charizard because a male charizard is the closest example and thus the quickest thing to turn into, but in the breeding pen, a ditto may attempt to create female charizard reproductive organs instead to coincide with the male’s.

On that note, pokémon such as magnemite or staryu or other so-called genderless pokémon actually employ a wide variety of reproductive methods. After all, they need some level of breeding in order to maintain their wild populations. It’s just that they don’t lay eggs in the wild—or they don’t as we know it.

Take the staryu and starmie, for example. These are actually biologically fascinating pokémon, as they are capable of breeding one of two ways, depending on how stressful of an environment they’re in. The most common method is by fission, or the act of splitting themselves neatly through their core to produce two genetically identical specimens. This tends to be quicker, as it requires no gestation time, and the resulting staryu (the children are always staryu, making this a very rare case of deevolution) are capable of fighting immediately. Unfortunately, as one can guess, this reverts the parent to a heavily weakened state. The process essentially resets its genetic code all the way back to its preevolved form, and the resulting children each need to retrain their bodies to use the most powerful attacks their parent knew. Still, it’s the preferred method because the other method, spawning, requires a gestation period and thus can only be performed in situations wherein the parent staryu or starmie are capable of defending their offspring. To summarize this method, keep in mind that staryu and starmie are actually hermaphroditic, not truly genderless. That is to say, all members of this evolutionary family possess both male and female organs, and when breeding, these organs send out clouds of both eggs and sperm to mix with another staryu or starmie’s eggs and sperm. The resulting dust settles on the ocean floor and begins its slow march towards forming new staryu … assuming no hungry magikarp stop by, anyway.

Meanwhile, voltorb reproduces by electrical sporogenesis. When in contact with either eggs laid by ditto or metal and plastic debris (empty poké balls seem to be preferable), voltorb discharges spores containing a mix of its own genetic material and electrical energy. This fertilizes and jump-starts an egg, but when in contact with debris, it draws the material together via static, melds it together, and animates the resulting object to form a new voltorb specimen.

Then, of course, you have porygon, which simply create their own offspring exactly as you think they would (that is, by copying their code and writing their own young into existence).

Hopefully, you get the idea from there.

Where ditto come in, meanwhile, is quite simple. Oftentimes, asexual reproduction is the more costly method to use, especially for trained pokémon. Imagine, for example, that your beloved starmie, who you’ve trained for years, suddenly split itself into two staryu, and you had to start all over again with two new pokémon. Trainers prevent this by pairing their pokémon off with a mate: ditto. By encouraging them to fertilize eggs ditto creates (by manifesting egg-laying organs that are capable of generating eggs that are compatible with these species, as mentioned above), genderless pokémon may relieve their natural drives to reproduce, thus preventing them from, say, splitting themselves in half to form new entities.

In other words, ditto reproduce by budding, most other “genderless” pokémon employ any of a variety of reproductive methods (that don’t use eggs as we know them), but together, they lay eggs because ditto is mimicking them on a genetic level but conceiving of an egg-laying structure that can produce something for them to fertilize.

Except porygon, anyway. It seems all ditto and porygon do is write code together to create an artificial egg. It’s quite entertaining, actually. They’re far better at quality assurance than I am, and it’s a shame the Pokémon Association won’t let me hire them as actual system administrators.

How do Ghost Type Pokemon breed? Some of them are supposed to be spirits of the dead so how do they make more dead spirits?

Think of them less like ghosts from traditional ghost stories and more like reincarnations, anonymous. While, yes, in some cases, they are spirits inhabiting tangible bodies (shuppet and banette, for example), many more have actual bodies with real organs—including, well, reproductive organs. They’re simply imbued with a spiritual energy and the memories of their most recent lives (as well as, in some cases, the ability to become intangible), so they’re not literally ghosts.

So yes, ghosts simply reproduce the way most other pokémon do. In the cases of shuppet, banette, or any other pokémon possessing a body, they do this by manifesting the organs they need to perform. Putting it another way, the bodies that shuppet and banette inhabit didn’t originally look the way they do as pokémon. Rather, the spirits that control them change them to suit their needs—including reproduction.

Should you be wondering, yes, this also means that pokémon such as yamask or phantump (those that are very clearly spirits of the dead, in other words) are indeed born from eggs that are laid by other spirits of the dead. In truth, these pokémon have … interesting reproductive cycles and social structures. Yamask, for example, hatch from eggs, masks and all. Scientists aren’t quite sure how; there are, after all, plenty of mysteries surrounding this world, including and especially what exactly happens when we die. It’s just known that yamask don’t acknowledge their yamask “parents” as their true parents. In fact, yamask tend to be independent after birth, and while they sometimes congregate into groups, they largely begin taking care of themselves after birth, save for a period in which the parent yamask console the newly reborn and help them embrace their new forms.

Phantump, meanwhile, reproduce two ways. The first occurs exactly how you’re told it occurs: when a child dies in the woods, its spirit possesses a stump and becomes a phantump. However, the other way occurs when phantump in general grow old enough to be trained or mature on a mental level. Once a phantump reaches adulthood (in this body, anyway), it becomes capable of mating. As with shuppet and banette, phantump also have the ability to change their bodies and manifest whatever they need to function so long as they remain, ultimately, spirits in a stump. This includes reproductive organs capable of laying eggs. (It’s thought that phantump choose this method of reproduction because they understand that pokémon lay eggs but might not understand … well, how humans do things.)

In other words, it’s very simple, anonymous. Ghost-types reproduce, by and large, by laying eggs just like those laid by any other type of pokémon. Some ghost-types simply need to take a few extra steps before getting to that point.

My mamoswine has been eating a lot more than usual lately and has been very defensive over people touching her. I think she could be pregnant but I’m not sure how to check, or take care of a pregnant mamoswine

Well, ah, keep in mind that all pokémon are oviparous, meaning they lay eggs. In other words, it’s highly unlikely that your mamoswine is actually pregnant because, well, mamoswine can’t actually get pregnant.

It’s likely that she may be sick, dealing with a vitamin deficiency of some sort, struggling with a mental health issue, or had actually laid a clutch recently. First, check her habitat for any sign of eggs. If you don’t see any eggs, take her to a pokémon center as soon as possible and have her examined by a Nurse Joy. Your local Nurse Joy should be able to spot what might be causing these odd behaviors and suggest possible courses of action.

Best of luck, anonymous!

So why dont mammal like pokemon give live births? What is the advantage in the wild (or domestic) to lay eggs?

There are two advantages, anonymous.

First, a live-bearing arrangement simply costs more energy for the organism than simply laying an egg and allowing development to occur outside the body. Think of it like this: for all viviparous (live-bearing) animals, their young are physically connected to them right up until birth. The mother is required to basically care for them through their growth and development, and while the overall impact a fetus has on the mother’s body isn’t exactly as drastic as the entire phrase “[your choice of verb] for two” would imply, the fact of the matter is the mother quite literally carries, eats for, and generally manages the life for her young throughout the gestational period. Then, of course, there’s the actual birth, and given the fact that viviparous individuals are more developed when born than animals that hatch, the process of birth requires even more energy to undergo than simply laying eggs.

Second, keep in mind that battling is a huge part of a pokémon’s life, even in the wild. Moreover, battling for pokémon is much more dangerous than it is for animals, because while animals have their own self-defense mechanisms, pokémon use elemental magic and elaborate, violent techniques to fight. Carrying one’s young into battle may be fine once they’re born (see: kangaskhan), but when they’re still developing within the body, that poses quite a risk for them, especially if the mother takes an attack that can penetrate her body and reach her young (see: electric attacks, ghost attacks, psychic attacks, and so forth). Even attacks the mother launches herself could affect a fetus negatively—imagine attempting to generate electricity within your own body, for example. In other words, while it’s true that viviparous animals have a higher survival rate than oviparous, for pokémon, vivipary actually presents more of a risk, thanks to the biggest part of the average pokémon’s lifestyle. At least with egg-laying, a pokémon can guarantee that their eggs are out of range of an attack and thus, for the most part, perfectly safe. Comparatively speaking, anyway.

My blaziken had just laid eggs and she has been aggressive towards every pokemon around, including her mate. So far I’m the only one in general she allows near her eggs and while I can understand her behavior and was even prepared for it, this is a bit too much. Is there any way to make her feel less on edge?

Sometimes, a blaziken will grow more comfortable and at-ease if you give her treats before her mate approaches, and other times, she may grow more comfortable if you show her that she can trust others around her eggs with your usual daily care. (That means cleaning her nest, refilling her food and water supplies, getting her to exercise daily, and checking on the temperature of her eggs.)

However, it’s also possible that there’s very likely little that you can do until her brood hatches. Remember, blaziken are one of the few bird-like pokémon that don’t normally have “shifts” when it comes to incubating the eggs. That is to say, the hen lays the egg and incubates them; the mate has very little involvement in them after fertilization. It’s very likely that your hen is attempting to drive away what she perceives as a clingy mate—or, perhaps, a threat to her brood (as a male blaziken can get rather aggressive, even to his own offspring).

For that reason, at most, I would advise just keeping an eye on the hen and ensuring that the hatching goes smoothly—and, of course, that the hen doesn’t do too much damage to her mate.

How common is mating between pokemon of different egg groups?

It depends on what you mean by “mating.” If you simply mean “going through the motions of mating,” it’s not particularly uncommon. Some pokémon will attempt to mate with, quite literally, anything that is also a pokémon.

However, if you mean “produce a viable offspring,” this simply doesn’t happen. Egg groups are actual designations that indicate a pokémon’s genetic compatibility with another pokémon. What that means is that all pokémon within a single egg group are just genetically similar enough to breed. Anything outside of a pokémon’s egg group are too distant in terms of genetic similarities to produce anything at all. It would be like a dog attempting to breed with a cat. There’s technically nothing that would stop one from trying, but nothing would come out of it because the two aren’t compatible enough to produce offspring.

How much will a breeder usually charge to adopt a pokemon? If it differs between them, what factors decide the cost? Demand, rarity, region,etc.?

There are a plethora of factors that go into price differences, anonymous, and it certainly doesn’t help that there isn’t really a standard for such. (There really should be, but unfortunately, the Pokémon Association thought that was too minor of an issue to address … just like they thought half of the other points I felt may be important to the prevention of pokémon trafficking were unimportant, but that is neither here nor there.)

That having been said, species is definitely a major factor. Rarer species call for higher prices by default, with starter pokémon generally being so expensive they’re extremely difficult to obtain without a Symposium ID (which allows you to get one designated regional starter each per season for free, so long as you intend on giving them to trainers). This is largely because the amount of security needed to protect their breeding stock from pokémon thieves will play a huge part in how much that breeder charges. Of course, don’t get me wrong concerning rarity. More common species—which are typically bred for show purposes or for particular characteristics that are not present in their wild counterparts (such as specific fur colors)—can still fetch about 50000 pokéyen on average, and even then, it depends on which variations you’re looking for. It’s simply that rarer pokémon such as the starters and pokémon such as beldum and dratini are generally more sought-after on the market, which means they’re seen as being more valuable among breeders than more common pokémon.

Besides overall rarity, some regions have regulations concerning what you can and cannot breed (and in some cases, how many eggs of certain species you can hatch), so in some areas, certain species can be more expensive than they would be if they were bred and sold elsewhere—if they can be bred at all. For example, the entire continent of Australia has very strict regulations regarding which grass-types may be bred. Members of the shroomish line especially, given their tendency to spread their spores to mark their territory, are prohibited from being bred except privately and indoors. Meanwhile, starly can be bred in any region, but because they’re considered to be an invasive species in certain parts of the United States, breeders may only have a handful of starly readily available for adoption (as the regulations tend to limit how many starly they may have to encourage trainers to catch wild ones for the sake of population control).

Of course, as mentioned earlier, certain variations can affect price too. As a general rule, “shiny” pokémon (or those with alternate coloration) may fetch far higher prices than their normal variations, and genetic mutations such as pichu with spike-ear syndrome could fetch even more. Additionally, a pokémon’s special ability varies from individual to individual, and some special abilities are extremely rare within species. In some of these cases, the “hidden” special ability is highly valued, and a pokémon that possesses one may even be more costly than a shiny. For example, people generally value a torchic with Speed Boost more than they do a torchic with alternate coloration, and thus, the former will typically be more expensive than the latter.

And finally, you have custom orders. Very occasionally, a trainer may contact a breeder looking for very specific requirements. These tend to be the most expensive services a breeder can provide, as getting all of a trainer’s requirements may involve hatching many, many eggs, not all of which are guaranteed to find homes. Thus, if you wish to obtain a shiny Speed Boost torchic of a certain disposition, then expect to pay much, much more than you would an ordinary caterpie (a common pokémon that has absolutely no regional regulations anywhere in the world placed upon it).