I’d like to ask for your advice. I have a very frail, sickly son, who just became 12 years old. He can’t go outside much and gets sick quite easily. My husband and I decided to catch a Pokémon for him, and he said he preferred an ice type. The only ice types near our home are Vanillite and Cubchoo. Which one would you recommend we’d catch? Because of our son’s weak constitution, we’d prefer a Pokémon that doesn’t require a lot of exercise to keep them happy and healthy.

This is a bit of a tough decision, admittedly, but it hinges on whether or not your son would like a pokémon capable of evolution.

You see, if we’re only considering base evolutions, vanillite is actually the harder of the two to care for. While it doesn’t need much in terms of basic care (it only needs water and food and is perfectly content staying indoors, playing easier games with its owners), it does require cold at all times. This means an air conditioned room in your home all year round, as well as enough space in a freezer for it to rest if it gets sick. Technically, it can survive at warmer temperatures, but you may find that it will be a bit more lethargic than how it was when you caught it.

Conversely, cubchoo doesn’t necessarily require cold; it simply prefers it. If trained properly, cubchoo can survive at pretty much any temperature short of tropical or desert heat. However, it’s a far more active pokémon than vanillite and requires daily exercise and training. On the other hand, a daily walk or an easy game of fetch may be enough for some cubchoo, but this only means you’ll need to be careful when selecting your catch. The cubchoo you give your son must be of a calmer nature, or you’ll find that it will need a more active lifestyle than what your son may be able to provide.

Conversely, if your son evolves his pokémon, then the advantages will be flipped, so to speak. As a vanillite progresses up its evolution chain, its ice powers will grow stronger and stronger. In turn, this means it will gain the ability to adjust the temperature immediately surrounding it to its own liking, which will make keeping one indoors a much easier task. (As a side note, yes, some vanilluxe gain the ability Snow Warning as a result of its strengthening powers. Many believe this to mean that it will always be hailing whenever one is present, but this is only true on the battlefield. Otherwise, a tame vanilluxe with the Snow Warning ability will just be keenly capable of producing that cold aura.) Meanwhile, its needs, including its activity requirements, will likely stay roughly the same, and it’s likewise a very easygoing and caring pokémon.

On the other hand, beartic are notoriously more difficult to care for. It is, after all, a giant bear with ice powers, and as such, its appetite will grow considerably, its space requirements will increase, and, most importantly, it will require more vigorous exercise than before. (Again, it’s possible to have a more sedentary lifestyle with a beartic, but it’s not particularly healthy.) Likewise, remember that beartic are apex predators, and they need to be trained behaviorally as well. Otherwise, their tempers, which they are also notorious for, can be quite dangerous to anyone around their trainers.

So ultimately, it comes down to this: if your son has no intent of evolving his pokémon, consider a cubchoo. Catch a docile one and give it an everstone, and your son will have a partner who will be fairly easy to care for.

If, however, he would prefer to let his partner evolve, catch a vanillite. Just be sure you have enough room in your freezer for it, or help your son train it until it’s ready to evolve. Either way, over the long term, vanillite’s evolutions are excellent indoor companions.

Best of luck!

Help! My Cubchoo has an insatiable appetite for Seels and Spheals. This makes it a challenge whenever we’re just trying to do some friendly battling and someone sends out either Pokemon because my Cubchoo, while usually well-behaved, cannot seem to control himself at the presence of “food”. I don’t want to be accountable for my Pokemon eating another trainer’s Pokemon!

There are two things you can do to prevent this, and both should be done together. First, if you know you’ll be up against a seel or spheal (which you can discern by simply asking a potential opponent), feed your cubchoo before setting the battle conditions. If necessary, lead with a different pokémon to ensure that cubchoo doesn’t get sick or wracked with cramps, but feeding him beforehand will help prevent the hunger pangs that will send him after an opponent. Second and naturally, keep his poké ball on hand and withdraw him immediately if he seems like he’s losing control.

Off the field, you can help cubchoo learn self-control through more thorough training exercises—specifically ones designed to teach him to heel. As your cubchoo clearly understands commands, you may have an easier time doing this than most trainers. Begin by training him via short walks. Keep a treat in your left hand, a clicker (small device that makes clicking noises, typically used in dog pokémon training) in your right, and your cubchoo at your side. Walk forward slowly until your cubchoo begins to follow, then stop and call out “heel.” Every time he stops when you do, use your clicker and give him a treat until he begins to associate the word “heel” with stopping.

After you establish this, continue training for a week, then move on to more advanced training. Advanced training should begin with a bipedal leash (a specialized leash designed for small, bipedal pokémon) but works in a very similar way as basic training. The difference is that, first off, the walk should be longer. Second, you won’t need your clicker. Rather, give him a gentle tug if he doesn’t stop when you call “heel” and verbal praise and a treat when he does. Additionally, if he wanders too far or disobeys the “heel” command, turn around and walk back a few paces to force him back. This will teach him that when you call “heel,” he should move back towards you in addition to stopping what he’s doing.

Eventually, wean him off treats altogether, then follow up with weaning him off the leash. If you’ve done it correctly, your cubchoo should be able to walk at your side on his own and stop when he hears the word “heel.”

Once you reach that point, you can use the heel command in battle to call off your cubchoo. Whenever he hears the command, he’ll know that you want him to stop an attack and move back to your side of the field, even if facing a prey pokémon for his species.

Best of luck, anonymous!

My Cubchoo is a pain! He has this disgusting habit of slathering his mucus, gnawing and leaving freezing saliva on things that he likes. Including me for some reason. It is not a pleasant experience, I’ll tell you that. Why is he doing this? There are moments where he taps me with his paw and looks up with this blank, vacant stare before he whacks me on the shin with his hardened snot like a club. And then he runs away. Yet he keeps stalking me too (he caught himself). What is wrong with him?

Nothing, really. A lot of base-level bear pokémon (such as teddiursa, pancham, and—yes—cubchoo) are mischievous in nature and enjoy displaying affection through bizarre acts designed to catch their trainers off-guard. It sounds as if your cubchoo is particularly affectionate towards you, which is a good thing! Cubchoo can be difficult to get close to compared to their ursine cousins.

However, if you’d like for this behavior to stop (especially if it’s physically painful for you), it may be best to train him not to do this. Use positive reinforcement to teach him acceptable ways of showing affection, and avoid responding (even through shock) when he reverts to using this method instead.

Cubchoo and Beartic

Cubchoo
The Chill Pokémon
Type: Ice
Official Registration #: 613
Entry: The nose of this small, polar bear-like pokémon is constantly running. When in battle, it sniffs its giant drop of snot back into its nose because the mucus provides it with the raw material needed for its ice powers … and also because making an opponent feel immensely disgusted is a fantastically effective distraction.

Beartic
The Freezing Pokémon
Type: Ice
Official Registration #: 614
Entry: The evolved form of cubchoo, by battle experience. An apex predator of the frosty north, this polar bear pokémon is capable of exhaling freezing breaths. It uses this breath to form icy claws and fangs to fight and take down prey … because the six-inch claws and three-inch fangs it already has is certainly not enough.