Vulpix and Ninetales

bills-pokedex:

Vulpix
The Fox Pokémon
Type: Fire
Official Registration #: 37
Entry: A small, fox-like pokémon known for its beautiful tails, of which it has six when fully grown. While young, this pokémon’s fire abilities are mediocre at best, and its strongest move, Fire Blast, is roughly as potent as a charmeleon’s Flamethrower. However, in rare cases, vulpix may be born with the passive ability Drought, which allows it to subconsciously call down intense sunlight to strengthen any fire-type move used in its presence. Incidentally, this small, fox-like creature shares the aforementioned ability with the legendary behemoth of the earth, Groudon, a beast known for nearly destroying the world beneath the unrelenting sunlight it called forth. …Which is to say that the pokémon world is a bizarre and terrifying thing sometimes.

Ninetales
The Fox Pokémon
Type: Fire
Official Registration #: 38
Entry: The evolved form of vulpix, via exposure to fire stone. The legend that a ninetales will lay a thousand-year curse on you if you touch one of its tails is exactly that: a legend and therefore not true. What is true, however, is the fact that ninetales are generally sensitive about their tails and will set you on fire if you so much as accidentally brush up against one.

Vulpix (Alola form)
The Fox Pokémon
Type: Ice
Official Registration #: 37
Entry: This adorable cousin to the common vulpix, known by native Alolans as keokeo, is popular in the region not only for its cute appearance but also its practicality. When the weather is warmer than it likes, Alolan vulpix will fan its cloud-like tails and create ice crystals from them, effectively serving as a living air conditioner for its immediate surroundings. However, although it may be tempting to venture into its native habitat on the slopes of Mount Lanakila to catch one, a trainer should be warned that this is a dangerous idea, largely because of the vulpix themselves. Attempting to catch an Alolan vulpix may incur the wrath of other vulpix (which typically freeze intruders solid) but also the ninetales that always lurks near vulpix kits (which will freeze intruders solid before throwing them off the mountain). On the positive side, if your goal was to catch a vulpix in order to cool yourself off on hot Alolan summer afternoons, at least you’ll have that.

Ninetales (Alola form)
The Fox Pokémon
Type: Ice/Fairy
Official Registration #: 38
Entry: The evolved form of Alolan vulpix, by exposure to ice stone. This beautiful Alolan cousin to the common ninetales was once worshipped by native Alolans due to its rarity, ethereal nature, and tendency to dwell only on the peak of Mount Lanakila, the tallest and most sacred site in all of Alola. To this day, it acts as a guardian of Mount Lanakila by guiding wayward souls down the snowy slopes … purely because that’s the only way to get them to leave faster. In other words, this is yet another pokémon after the author’s own heart.

Cubone and Marowak please!

bills-pokedex:

Strange that I’ve never covered this line. They’re truly fascinating pokémon. As they say, coming right up, anonymous!

Cubone
The Lonely Pokémon
Type: Ground
Official Registration #: 104
Entry: Because young cubone are both weak and the favored prey of many pokémon in its native mountains and cave systems, its marowak mother will almost always sacrifice herself to protect her child early in life. As part of its mourning process, the orphaned cubone, sometimes with the help of the rest of its community, will give its mother a funeral, complete with the ritualistic extraction of her skull and one of her femurs. These bones will then become the cubone’s armor and will serve to protect it throughout its life. Either because of the fact that it always carries around a reminder of its mother or because the experience of losing her early in life has scarred it for life, the cubone will never fully heal from the trauma. In fact, the lines that appear to be cracks along the eye sockets of its skull helmet are not cracks but rather stains left by the tears it constantly sheds. The author really has nothing else to add to this entry; he just wanted to inform his readers that those are tear tracks. You’re welcome.

Marowak
The Bone Keeper Pokémon
Type: Ground
Official Registration #: 105
Entry: The evolved form of cubone, by battle experience. Even after evolution, marowak do not find relief from the traumas they had experienced. Instead, evolution brings about the boost in power and confidence that they need to train harder and master the use of bones as melee weapons. Once mastering their style, they collect more bones to add to their armory. No one is quite certain where marowak gets these bones. Some say they excavate them from marowak graveyards. Others who are well aware of the fact that marowak evolve from cubone who had been forced to bury their mothers simply stare at the first group of people in quiet, unbelieving horror while silently praying that marowak just happen upon the remains of other dead pokémon.

Marowak (Alola form)
The Bone Keeper Pokémon
Type: Fire/Ghost
Official Registration #: 105
Entry: The evolved form of cubone, by battle experience, at night, in the Alolan climate. Due to the abundance of its natural predators (that is, grass-types or pokémon that can learn grass-type moves) in Alola, cubone that evolve there take on an affinity for the fire type. Meanwhile, due to the spiritual energies associated with their bone clubs (which are said to not only have come from their mothers but also be possessed by their mothers’ vengeful spirits), they also gain an affinity for the ghost type, resulting in the distinctive fire/ghost Alolan marowak. In other words, with these two origins combined, Alolan marowak is one of the few evolutions to exist that was absolutely, completely born out of raw spite.

i’m an experienced trainer looking for a challenging new partner pokémon but i’m not sure which line would be best. i want one that’s powerful, rare, and a pain to train but there’s just so many to choose from that i’m stuck. do you have any recommendations or info on not so common species? i’m experienced with most pokémon types and have plenty of resources so i can take care of pretty much anything. i’m leaning towards fire or dragon but i’m open to anything really, as long as it’s strong.

Well, ignoring legendary, mythical, or UB pokémon (all of which are nigh unobtainable), most dragon-types are rare and strong, so the easiest way to answer this would be to simply advise you to consider quite literally any dragon-type in existence. In fact, dragon tamers are a class of trainer who set out to do specifically and explicitly exactly what you want to do; they just settle on dragon-types because those are the most notoriously rare and strong. (That is, they settle on this type for this reason, if not because of tradition or something according to their culture.)

Fire is a bit more varied in terms of what you can and can’t train according to the criteria you’ve set. In terms of rare and strong pokémon, you may wish to consider female salandit/salazzle, which are both wily and deadly but can only be found in the volcanic and tropical areas of Alola. Then you have larvesta, which evolves into volcarona (a fire/bug-type that’s so powerful legend says its heat rivals that of the sun), which is difficult to train because of the fragility of its base form, not to mention difficult to find because it’s only native to very remote spots of Unova and extremely difficult-to-find islands off the coast of mainland Hoenn. While you’re in the Unovan desert searching for volcarona nests (and thus larvesta hatchlings), you may also come across another candidate in the form of darumaka/darmanitan, who possesses potent psychic abilities under certain circumstances.

Then you have Alolan marowak, which can evolve from practically any cubone if trained on Alola only, requiring you to brave the rugged wilderness of the island region. Finally, there are also the seven fire-type starters, although these are specifically bred to be easy to work with, so while they may be strong and rare, they might not be what you’re looking for if you want a challenge.

Personally, though, I think that if you’re an experienced trainer looking for a challenge, what you might wish to do is train a pokémon not known for being powerful or rare. Maintaining a healthy battling record is, from what I understand anyway, fairly easy if you train pokémon that are already powerful from the outset, such as charizard, volcarona, dragonite, and so forth. It’s far more impressive if you manage to succeed on the battlefield with, say, a camerupt, simisear, talonflame, or torkoal. As Karen of the Elite Four says, it’s not about strong or weak pokémon but instead which pokémon resonate with you the most. Pick a pokémon you stumble across on your journey and challenge yourself to train it until you can bring out its inner strength, even if it’s, say, a slowpoke.

Best of luck, anonymous!

UB Burst: Blacephalon

Blacephalon
The Fireworks Pokémon
Type: Fire/Ghost
Official Registration #: 806
Entry: One of the Ultra Beasts, or strange pokémon that had appeared from another dimension. This clown-like Ultra Beast is known for slithering up to opponents and, once within extremely close range, detonates its own head in an explosion designed to stun a victim, if not do incredible damage to them. Although one would think its colorful and eccentric appearance would make it difficult for a blacephalon to engage in any manner of stealth, in truth, it more than makes up for it through its lankiness, flexibility, and general agility. These three things, in conjunction with its colorful and eccentric appearance, also apparently make it popular among certain crowds on certain social media websites for reasons that aren’t entirely lost on the author, though he would appreciate any moment in which he wouldn’t have to think about them.

Houndour and Houndoom

bills-pokedex:

Houndour
The Dark Pokémon
Type: Dark/Fire
Official Registration #: 228
Entry: A small, dog-like pokémon native to thick, dark forests. Interestingly, although this pokémon is part of the Johtonian Regional Pokédex, it was first discovered in Kanto and cannot, in truth, be found at all in Johto outside of the Johtonian Safari Zone Nature Preserve. The reason behind this discrepancy is actually quite simple. Houndour hunt in massive packs through the darkness of their native forests, where their pelts can blend in with forest shadows as they corner prey, and Kantonian researchers possess far stronger self-preservation instincts than their Johtonian counterparts.

Houndoom
The Dark Pokémon
Type: Dark/Fire
Official Registration #: 229
Entry: The evolved form of houndour, by battle experience. This dog-like pokémon is capable of exhaling a jet of fire and a spray of incendiary, highly caustic, toxic chemicals at the same time. The effect of these two mechanisms in combination leaves not only second-degree thermal burns (at the minimum) but severe chemical burns as well. According to folklore, anyone unfortunate enough to receive these burns will never fully recover; the burn will essentially be painful forever. However, this is not necessarily true. With proper care, the pain will typically subside within a week, and the resulting scar will fade within a year. On the other hand, not necessarily true isn’t the same thing as entirely false. First, one must remember that centuries ago, back when people first began to think this about houndoom burns, treatments for burns that complex or severe didn’t exist. Second, psychological pain is never a thing that heals easily, and some survivors of houndoom attacks may acquire a fear of houndoom thereafter. Third, either way, being burned by a houndoom feels just about as delightful as being attacked by a swarm of angry magikarp, and based on personal experience alone, the author would not recommend it.

Mega Houndoom
The Dark Pokémon
Type: Dark/Fire
Official Registration #: 229+
Entry: The advanced form of houndoom, via houndoominite. This pokémon is actually a “good fire doggo.” The internet was surprisingly correct about this one, and there’s not much more to say concerning it beyond that.

The Torchic Line

bills-pokedex:

Torchic
The Chick Pokémon
Type: Fire
Official Registration #: 255
Entry: One of three pokémon traditionally offered to new trainers at the beginning of their journeys in Hoenn. A small, chick-like pokémon whose natural body temperature is so hot that the fireballs it launches during battle can reach temperatures in excess of 1800 degrees Fahrenheit. Thus, in Hoenn, it is said that torchic are very warm to cuddle, but given that these are the same people who live in a region that feature a desert, an active volcano, a dormant volcano, and a tropical jungle, outsiders should take torchic’s cuddliness with a grain of salt.

For your information, it is very cuddly, and someone who had the misfortune of being raised in a region where you don’t see sun for six months out of the year because of the constant rain should perhaps keep his opinions about Hoennians to himself. —LH

The reason why I poke fun at every other region but Hoenn, ladies and gentlemen. —Bill

Combusken
The Young Fowl Pokémon
Type: Fire/Fighting
Official Registration #: 256
Entry: The evolved form of torchic, by battle experience. A powerful and energetic pokémon, combusken is capable of delivering ten kicks per second, and each kick is capable of rending solid concrete in two. In Hoenn, this has made combusken a prized fighter ideal for taking on the rock- and steel-heavy Hoenn League. In Unova, however, combusken are noted for their muscular legs, which apparently taste wonderful to an Unovan when said legs are breaded, seasoned, and fried in whatever magical oils the local Floccesy Fried Chicken establishment uses.

Blaziken
The Blaze Pokémon
Type: Fire/Fighting
Official Registration #: 257
Entry: The evolved form of combusken, by battle experience. Upon evolution, blaziken gain the ability to jump thirty-story buildings, set their fists on fire via flame cuffs, breathe jets of flames, and endure hours of intense fighting. Upon mega evolution, it also gains the ability Speed Boost … because that’s exactly what you need a six-foot-tall chicken with fire powers and superhuman martial arts skills to do: gain speed boosts naturally.

Mega Blaziken
The Blaze Pokémon
Type: Fire/Fighting
Official Registration #: 257+
Entry: The advanced form of blaziken, via blazikenite. As noted in the entry for its base form, blaziken gains the ability Speed Boost upon mega evolution. This ability allows it to launch its notorious flurry of kicks with even greater speed than it would as an ordinary blaziken. It does not, contrary to popular belief, allow blaziken to become a “spicy fast boy,” as the internet puts it.

Numel and Camerupt

bills-pokedex:

Numel
The Numb Pokémon
Type: Fire/Ground
Official Registration #: 322
Entry: True to its species designation, this small, camel-like pokémon is known for its dense nature; it doesn’t notice when it’s been hit until much later. Of course, this pokémon’s body is also a walking cauldron containing magma that reaches temperatures in excess of 2200 degrees Fahrenheit, so even if it fails to notice when it’s being hit, that doesn’t necessarily mean hitting it is a good idea.

Camerupt
The Eruption Pokémon
Type: Fire/Ground
Official Registration #: 323
Entry: The evolved form of numel, by battle experience. The “volcanoes” on this camel-like pokémon’s back are actually bone protrusions with direct connections to camerupt’s magma reservoirs. Said reservoirs are normally the source of camerupt’s fire-based abilities, but every ten years—or whenever camerupt is angered—these volcanoes erupt, spewing super-heated molten magma dozens of feet into the air. How can this pokémon’s volcanoes erupt with such force, without harming their camerupt host? That is an excellent question, reader! The answer is [CONTENT TO BE INSERTED WHEN THERE ACTUALLY IS AN ANSWER]

Mega Camerupt
The Eruption Pokémon
Type: Fire/Ground
Official Registration #: 323+
Entry: The advanced form of camerupt, via cameruptite. It is perhaps unsurprising that mega evolution boosts most of camerupt’s capabilities, including both offensive strength (in both forms) and defensive abilities (also in both forms). It is, after all, a creature capable of triggering mini volcanic eruptions from its back in its base form; the extra energy merely disturbs its inner magma enough to strengthen the force of these eruptions. Yet despite how dangerous and utterly destructive mega camerupt can be, its considerable drop in speed, combined with its general shape, have caused the internet to refer to it as “volcano roomba,” because no force of devastation is too cute for the internet, apparently.

Kanto Starters II: Charmander

bills-pokedex:

Charmander
The Lizard Pokémon
Type: Fire
Official Registration #: 4
Entry: One of three pokémon traditionally offered to new trainers at the beginning of their journeys in Kanto. Many people believe that out of the three, charmander are the hardest to raise. This is a fairly understandable statement. Charmander are naturally energetic, and their fire element means they don’t do well against Pewter or Cerulean’s gyms. More importantly, however, charmander are considered a challenge to raise because of the flame at the tip of their tails. A physical representation of charmander’s health and emotions, this flame must be meticulously kept, not only because allowing it to become extinguished would kill the host charmander but also because it is an actual flame that will react to Kanto’s abundance of fields full of dry, tall grass just about as well as you think it would.

Charmeleon
The Flame Pokémon
Type: Fire
Official Registration #: 5
Entry: The evolved form of charmander, by battle experience. Charmeleon are thought to be merciless, bloodthirsty pokémon that will attack foes with their sharp claws and intense flames. This is not necessarily true. While some charmeleon are indeed that aggressive, the vast majority of them are actually simply outgoing. It just so happens that the flame on a charmeleon’s tail grows hotter and taller whenever its host is excited, and charmeleon itself is a very excitable pokémon. As for the note concerning its claws, evidently, a charmeleon’s first instinct upon accidentally setting its new friends on fire with its tail is to smack the flames in an attempt to smother them with their hands. It’s just that charmeleon also unfortunately forget that they have claws, so their attempts to help are often not particularly helpful.

Charizard
The Flame Pokémon
Type: Fire/Flying
Official Registration #: 6
Entry: The evolved form of charmeleon, by battle experience. Stories throughout Europe tell of ancient charizard flying on giant wings and using its flame breath to burn the countryside, the peasants, and the people in their thatched-roof cottages. Only heroes brave enough and with water-types strong enough were able to vanquish this threat and bring peace to the land. Of course, the validity of these claims are debatable. While charizard’s preferred fighting style is indeed a combination of flying over its opponents and breathing flames that reach temperatures in excess of 1000 degrees, historical evidence seems to point to the notion that the stories concerning giant charizard terrorizing the countryside were made up by bored young men who would have liked to think they were braver, funnier, and more attractive than they actually were.

Mega Charizard X
The Flame Pokémon
Type: Fire/Dragon
Official Registration #: 6+
Entry: The advanced form of charizard, via charizardite X. Upon mega evolution using charizardite X, the fire that burns within this pokémon gains mystical properties that in turn imbues it with an affinity for the dragon element, rather than flying. This same process leaves charizard with the appearance of something fresh from a heavy metal album cover; thus, the answer to the age-old question about base charizard’s flying-type is, in the words of the author’s Sinnohan counterpart, because “charizard isn’t normally rad enough.”

Mega Charizard Y
The Flame Pokémon
Type: Fire/Flying
Official Registration #: 6+
Entry: The advanced form of charizard, via charizardite Y. In contrast to charizardite X, charizardite Y keeps charizard’s affinity for the flying type intact but heavily boosts its affinity for fire instead. It does this by granting charizard a number of unique traits, including extra wings to fan its flames, healthier flame sacs, and most importantly, Drought, the very ability that Groudon used to dry up the seas and create continents. So if for trainers who have ever wanted to wield the literal power of a god in the body of a dragon bred to be as loyal and intelligent as a pet dog … charizardite Y can be found in a number of specialty jewelry shops in Kalos and Hoenn.

Can ground and fire and other Pokémon weak to water be in water without it being an attack? Like can I give my sandshrew a bath without hurting it? Can I take my cyndiquil to the beach?

It depends on the pokémon, anonymous. Sandshrew and cyndaquil normally have no problems with water, although sandshrew shouldn’t be bathed regularly to maintain its dry skin. Cyndaquil, meanwhile, absolutely can go to the beach, although be sure to remind it that it can’t ignite its flames in the water. It doesn’t exactly hurt cyndaquil to do so, but if it exposes its flame sacs to water, it may struggle to light them later.

On the other hand, you should never submerge pokémon that are primarily made of sand, rock, fire, or lava, and never wet a pokémon with external flames. For example, while a charmander may be able to tolerate a sprinkling of water, it should never be submerged or bathed, as that will extinguish its tail flame. Likewise, if a slugma’s body temperature cools (say, if it’s exposed to an excess amount of water), its skin will harden into rock and crush its internal organs. Meanwhile, exposing sandygast to water may destabilize its body (even though, yes, it lives right by the ocean—it simply retreats to higher ground during storms and high tide), and the geodude and onix lines should never be soaked, as water can get into the crevices of their bodies and erode their joints.

In short, the rule of thumb is that if a pokémon possesses no external flames and is not made of fire, lava, rock, or sand, they can likely tolerate exposure to water and can be bathed or allowed to swim. They simply might not always like that, and in many cases, be warned that if a fire-type swallows water or exposes its flame sacs to liquids, then it may have difficulty using its fire abilities later on. If, however, the pokémon in question is essentially made of their element, then give them a sand bath and have them avoid water as much as possible.

My Growlithe feels hotter than usual, almost like he has a fever. Is it possible that he’s overheated?

It’s possible, anonymous. As mammalian pokémon, a growlithe’s body temperature can indeed skyrocket if they’re feeling a bit under the weather. However, keep in mind that it’s also possible that your growlithe is reacting to the weather. For half of the world, it’s currently summer, and many fire-types “feed” on the heat, in a way. That is, they thrive in it and sometimes even feel more energetic and powerful on a particularly sunny day. For simplicity’s sake, this process (of “feeding” on heat) is often called “heat-boosting.”

Telling the difference between a fever and a heat-boosted growlithe is simple but requires quite a bit of observation on your part. Keep an eye out for these signs:

Lethargy
Faster or labored breathing; panting if it’s not particularly hot
Dry nose and/or gums
Lack of appetite or difficulty eating or drinking
Runny nose
Shivering
If you’re particularly well-verse in your growlithe’s vitals: increased resting pulse

If you see any of these signs, then yes, your growlithe has a fever, and your next step should be taking him to the pokémon center immediately. If, conversely, your growlithe is displaying these signs:

Disinclination to sit still for at least half a minute
Fire displayed in his mouth, despite the fact that you haven’t ordered him to attack
Increased appetite and thirst
Increased energy and mood overall

…then your growlithe is actually heat-boosted, and it would be a good idea to take him out for exercise, a battle, and a period in cool water, in that order. These steps aren’t for his health, exactly. They’re more for you, as a heat-boosted growlithe will very likely continue to run about attempting to set everything it can see on fire until it releases its pent-up energy, and I highly doubt anyone short of someone paid rather handsomely by the League would have homeowner’s insurance good enough to cover fire damage from a rambunctious pokémon.