Hiya Mr. Bill! I was wondering, are Pokemon with the ability Poison Heal actually disturbed by being poisoned? My dear Breloom, Toadstool, seems really uncomfortable whenever he gets poisoned in battle, even with his Poison Heal. He’ll scratch at his tufts, and shake his head back and forth so much, it’s like he Confused. I cure him as soon as I can, of course, but I’d like to know whether or not I should be more cautious. Thank you for your time!

This is an excellent question because not a lot of humans realize this, but … unfortunately yes. Putting it another way, imagine what it’s like taking medication. The medicine might help you feel better, but the act of taking it might not be pleasant. Poison Heal works in the same way. To a pokémon that has it, being poisoned won’t exactly hurt or be excessively uncomfortable, but it’s uncomfortable nonetheless. It wouldn’t hurt to avoid a poisoning whenever possible, but if it’s unavoidable, rest assured that it’s nothing a pecha berry, an apology, and a brief massage won’t cure.

Shroomish and Breloom

Shroomish
The Mushroom Pokémon
Type: Grass
Official Registration #: 285
Entry: Contrary to popular belief, this mushroom-like pokémon is not hallucinogenic. You cannot, as the urban legend claims, snort its powdery spores in order to experience transcendental visions. Rather, its spores are actually toxic and will simply cause paralysis and full-body pain when inhaled. Also contrary to popular belief, the author does not know this from experience; he simply went to college with several gullible gentlemen and a girl who had a shroomish and a strong dislike for college first-years who would hit on her then-fifteen-year-old sister.

Breloom
The Mushroom Pokémon
Type: Grass/Fighting
Official Registration #: 286
Entry: The evolved form of shroomish, by battle experience. It’s never easy to figure out whether one should be more wary of the front end of the back end of a breloom. On the one hand (no pun intended), breloom are famous for their lightning-fast punches and kicks, facilitated by the elasticity of their claw-tipped limbs. On the other, they also possess hollow rattles on their tails—seeds containing highly toxic spores capable of inducing horrendous stomach aches when ingested. Should anyone wonder exactly how the dangers of ingesting breloom seeds are relevant to its battling style, please note that breloom can learn no fewer than four different seed-based attacks, two of which come naturally. And yes, this is something the author knows from first-hand experience.

So my Breloom keeps spraying spores out of her cap and I have to spend hours cleaning up the house because it’s really making my hay fever act up. Help??? Is this normal, should I be worried, and is there any way to stop it? I love her and all, but she’s really stressing me out at the moment. Thanks!

It’s actually very natural for breloom to spray spores, so it’s not exactly something to worry about. That is to say, your breloom is perfectly healthy; it’s simply that she’s responding to environmental issues.

Specifically, there are two reasons why a breloom may spray spores. The first and, to be honest, less likely reason is because she’s feeling threatened or stressed. If you’ve recently moved, if you’ve obtained a new pokémon, or if there is a bit of activity around your neighborhood (such as a construction project), your breloom may be attempting to comfort herself by spraying poisonous spores as a means of self-defense against the perceived threat. If you notice a slight purple sheen to your breloom’s spores, then this might be the case, and it’s important to calm her down and explain to her that she’s perfectly safe.

However, if this has always happened, if you’re finding it all along your baseboards, and if you don’t detect a purple sheen, then this may also be her way of marking her territory. In their native forests, breloom outline their territory with a boundary of spores. This boundary serves as a warning; to other pokémon, it means that beyond that line, there is a breloom ready to fight. So every time you clean those spores up, you’re basically erasing your breloom’s territorial boundaries, which in turn may be confusing her. To counter this, try to explain to her that the walls are territorial boundaries enough. If she doesn’t quite understand and still sprays spores, try to strike a compromise with her. Assign her a room (even a closet will do) that’s completely hers and tell her that she may only spray her spores there, as that is her only territory in the house. The rest of the house is your territory, and thus, you don’t appreciate having her mark every wall in your home. Reinforce either idea positively: give her treats, either for every day she doesn’t spray (for a few weeks, anyway) or for going into her designated space to spray whenever she feels the need.