Dear Bill, I live about a mile outside Fortree city. Last night, I wake up to hear my Guard Lycanroc raising cain. I go out, thinking it’s some plusle and minun harassing them, but instead, i find a pair of Eon Chicks, no older than maybe a month. I hadn’t heard of Eon pokemon living in my area, so i worry they might be the victims of poachers. Any advice on how to care for them until i get a letter to the Fortree Nurse Joy? Also, another matter of concern that i’ll dedicate another ask to CONT.

Well, first and foremost, it’s perhaps a bad idea to seek help for emergencies through my ask box, as one reader unfortunately found out…

That having been said, though, your first step should be to call the local center and the Fortree authorities, not send them a letter. It’s faster that way, and all pokémon centers have their own phone lines. Likewise, it’s rare these days for a home, even one on the edge of civilization, to have no means of communicating rapidly with the nearest hospital or center for emergencies, and most trainers in Hoenn should have a phone system built into their pokénavs. This isn’t an attempt to shame you, of course, anonymous. It’s simply to say that you are (or were, anyway) dealing with an emergency, so it’s quite honestly more appropriate to reach out to your emergency services.

With that having been said, allow me to address the eon hatchlings first. Take a good look at the surrounding area. If they’re alone, then it’s probably best to leave them alone unless one (or both) of them is(/are) injured. Poachers are unlikely to leave something as rare as a pair of eon hatchlings alone, even if a gardevoir is nearby. Not that I know this from personal experience (I quite frankly detest the entire practice of poaching, let alone the sale of pokémon outside of sanctioned breeders), but eon hatchlings can be highly profitable to certain types of individuals if sold on the pokémon black market. So if a pair of hatchlings are completely alone, it’s more likely that their parents are nearby, which can pose a threat to you, as they may likely attack in order to protect their young. (This might also have something to do with the gardevoir’s state.) Alternatively, if the eon hatchlings are fully feathered and capable of refracting light off their down, then they’re not actually hatchlings at all but instead a fledgling and are actually fully independent at this stage. Either way, it’s best to leave them alone.

If, however, you see humans nearby, contact your local authorities and keep an eye on the humans’ activity but keep your distance at the same time. Poachers are highly dangerous and quite often armed with more than just pokémon. It’s best to let the authorities handle this.

As for the gardevoir, while she’ll survive without her skirt, she’ll need immediate medical attention to avoid complications, especially if the skirt was severed close to its roots (that is, close to her major organs). Even if the wounds were cauterized, she’ll nonetheless need a thorough examination and quite possibly treatment for anything from blood poisoning to internal bleeding, never mind possible surgery to minimize pain. In short, please take this gardevoir to your nearest pokémon center immediately.

That having been said, as a reminder to readers, the ask box is not for immediate advice. If you’ve encountered an emergency, please seek help with your local authorities or emergency medical services, whichever is more appropriate.

The Ralts Line

bills-pokedex:

As an apology for our delay in both the response to the last question and our entries as a whole, please accept this special, extra entry for the day. Thank you for your patience. —LH

Ralts
The Feeling Pokémon
Type: Psychic/Fairy
Official Registration #: 280
Entry: A childlike pokémon native to the quieter forests of Hoenn. Because of its ability to sense the emotions of others, it typically avoids contact with anything that is not of the ralts line and is, therefore, extremely rare and difficult to find. However, because of its timidity, its soft but cute cry, and its eagerness to please others (in order to neutralize any negativity that surrounds it), it is also a popular pokémon among children and young adults … which very likely does absolutely nothing to alleviate ralts’s aversion to drama and high doses of extreme emotion.

Kirlia
The Emotion Pokémon
Type: Psychic/Fairy
Official Registration #: 281
Entry: The evolved form of ralts, by battle experience. Although kirlia possesses more mastery over its psychic abilities than its predecessor, it is still prone to being highly affected by the emotions of its trainer. For example, trainers who experience incredible emotions of joy or pride may cause their kirlia to dance with happiness. Trainers suffering through negative emotions will find that their kirlia has become lethargic and depressed. And trainers in the vicinity of other humans they find incredibly attractive will cause their kirlia to ███████

Really, Bill? Really? —LH

Gardevoir
The Embrace Pokémon
Type: Psychic/Fairy
Official Registration #: 282
Entry: The evolved form of kirlia, by battle experience. Only the strongest trainers who form the closest, most loving bonds with their kirlia may see their pokémon evolve to their final, natural forms. Thus, a gardevoir is born out of strong feelings of loyalty, so it stands to reason that gardevoir in general are inherently extremely protective of their trainers. This is true; all observable tamed gardevoir have been known to go to extreme lengths to protect their trainers from any potential threat. Unfortunately for most people, “extreme lengths” may include creating a miniature black hole, and “potential threat” may include literally anyone within five feet of their trainers.

Gallade
The Blade Pokémon
Type: Psychic/Fighting
Official Registration #: 475
Entry: The evolved form of male kirlia, by exposure to dawn stone. Although its sibling evolution results from the incredible bonds formed between a kirlia and another being, this does not mean gallade do not experience similarly intense urges to protect their trainers and loved ones. If anything, their ability to sense the emotions of potential foes, combined with the drive to battle inherent in all fighting-types and extreme fondness for using the swords hidden in their forearms, make them even more gung-ho about protecting the people and pokémon they value the most. Therefore, trainers should be extremely wary about teaching their gallade to attack only on command, rather than any time they sense danger. Well-meaning researchers who intend to give gallade to sisters with questionable tastes in men, however, are free to teach their pokémon whatever they wish.

They aren’t, but good try. —LH

Mega Gardevoir
The Embrace Pokémon
Type: Psychic/Fairy
Official Registration #: 282+
Entry: The advanced form of gardevoir, with gardevoirite. Due to this pokémon’s bridal appearance and strong associations with emotion, it’s said that those who manage to mega-evolve their gardevoir in tandem with a partner’s gallade are destined for one another. Unfortunately, the author has yet to verify these claims, as the only person he knows with a member of the ralts line has been a less-than-willing subject.

I’m not evolving my kirlia until he’s ready, just because you want to test the validity of old wives’ tales! Also, you don’t even have a gallade! —LH

Mega Gallade
The Blade Pokémon
Type: Psychic/Fighting
Official Registration #: 475+
Entry: The advanced form of gallade, with galladite. Due to this pokémon’s noble, swordsman-like appearance and strong associations with protection, it’s said that those who manage to mega-evolve their gallade in tandem with a partner’s gardevoir are their partner’s destined protector. Unfortunately, the author has yet to verify these claims, as the only person he knows who could secure a galladite for testing has been forbidden (by the editor of this blog) from selling evolution stones of any sort to him without the reassurance that it’s not for science.

Stop telling Steven you’ve gotten my permission too! —LH

I’ve been reading up on ralts and kirlia pokedex entries since my gardivor had her eggs and I’m really worried. Ralts and kirlia are the feeling and emotion pokemon and flourish when their trainer have positive emotions, but I have very bad depression issues. When my gardivor was a ralts and kirlia I was 10-15 and my depression wasn’t bad and I was happy a lot… but now as an adult I’m really scared of somehow hurting the babies with my emotions

It’s heartwarming that you’re concerned for the well-being of your pokémon, anonymous, but you needn’t worry. Your pokémon have spent all this time bonding with you, so they likely already know the inner workings of your mind. That isn’t meant to alarm you; rather, it’s meant to say they very likely already accept your depression, no matter how intense it may be. They’ve had time to grow used to how your mind works, even though it hasn’t been as bad as it is now, so they can adapt well enough to the emotional changes you’re going through. In fact, if they haven’t reacted to your fear of hurting them (or if they hadn’t reacted badly to it, anyway), then very likely, they’re strong enough to shoulder your emotions, even when you’re not feeling well enough to do so yourself.

That having been said, though, it’s actually a great thing to be bonded with a psychic-type pokémon when you’re struggling with depression. Not to be a bit of a broken record, but psychic-types more than most others are attuned to the minds of their owners. As such, they’re also capable of understanding your needs. Being bonded with a psychic-type, in other words, allows them not only to develop the strength to help you but also to have a better understanding of what helping you would mean.

So in short, you shouldn’t worry about hurting your pokémon. If anything, you should let them help you because they’re likely your best assets at this time of your life.

Best of luck, anonymous!

Hey Bill, my kirlia used to be very excited to evolve, but recently she’s gotten upset every time I’ve brought up the topic. I think it might have something to do with the fact that she doesn’t have the choice to evolve into a gallade instead. I’m not sure if the exact issue is that she wants to be a gallade or if it’s just that she feels it’s unfair that she doesn’t get to choose, but she’s very upset about this. Anything I can do to help?

Whenever dealing with kirlia who wish but are unable to evolve into gallade (or a pokémon that’s unable to evolve into one of its evolutionary branches, such as eevee or snorunt), it’s extremely important to first emphasize both their own self-worth and the worth of their alternative evolution, gardevoir. Teach them that they can be strong, no matter what evolutionary form they take, and inform them of the strength of their alternate evolutions. In gardevoir’s case, this may be as easy as showing them videos of Champion Diantha’s gardevoir, as she’s well-known (to the point of being an idol for quite a few kirlia I know) for her strength and grace.

Additionally, consider teaching them techniques that can be translated into the evolutionary form they can take. Consider teaching your kirlia Focus Blast shortly after they evolve, or teach them to move about the field using the fencing techniques they would utilize as a gallade. This may help your kirlia feel as if they can get the best of both worlds, so to speak.

Above all else, though, reinforce the idea that you value your pokémon, no matter what forms they take. Let them know that they are still vital parts of your team, and show them—through affection or through displays of your trust—that you will always consider them to be your close companions, even if they can’t evolve into the form they wish.

Also, regarding the kirlia who may be upset that she doesn’t have a choice in the matter, the above advice is only if you’re sure that’s what she’s concerned about. I highly recommend that you communicate with your kirlia first, as what’s bothering her may have nothing to do with evolution at all.

Best of luck to the both of you!

Help! I think my Absol is becoming homicidal! A few weeks ago, he slaughtered an opponents Pichu in a battle. Since then, he’s done the same to 4 other Pokémon, and the other day he attacked another trainer. I love my Absol, but I don’t know how to stop this behavior. What do I do?

Please excuse the highlighting. We forgot to close our search after we located these asks. —LH

Pokémon are rarely (practically never) aggressive for no reason, especially if they previously weren’t, readers. Before anything, it’s imperative to figure out why your pokémon are suddenly displaying the behaviors you’ve described, then work to correct the problem from the root. Observe your pokémon to see if you can find any possible triggers. Communicate with them if you can. Consider taking them to a pokémon center to see if their changes in behavior have physiological roots or to receive more personalized care.

Without knowing that root cause, it’s difficult to offer advice, as each of the possible causes come with wildly different solutions, including avoiding certain situations or places (if your pokémon are precognitive, as absol may be—or if they’re simply reading emotions in the case of gardevoir or remembering past traumas in the above ninetales’s case), more rigorous training (if it’s a simple behavioral problem in one or more of the above cases), or even antibiotics or surgery (if the problem is physical in nature). Thus, all I can say is consult your local pokémon center for treatment options, but also, be vigilant in your observations and keep your pokémon’s poké balls on hand at all times.

Lastly, of course, if your pokémon are suicidal, please also be as supportive as possible. Get them the help they need, yes, but also make sure they understand you care deeply for them and will do anything you can to help them.

Best of luck, everyone!

Would a Gardevoir be a good pokemon to have to help with a person’s sensory issues because of their psychic power?

If we’re talking about those with hypersensitivity issues, yes, indeed!

I touched upon how pokémon with psychic abilities may assist those with sensory issues in an earlier post (http://bills-pokedex.tumblr.com/post/162059972964/are-there-any-service-pokemon-youd-recommend-for), but to put it in short, the reason why psychic-types may be popular for this kind of work is because they’re capable of either teleporting their partners to a safe location, assisting with communication if their partners become overwhelmed, projecting calming auras or leading their partners in on-the-spot grounding exercises (as an immediate coping mechanism), and/or by either detecting or predicting oncoming situations that their partners may have difficulty navigating due to their sensory issues.

That having been said, though, while gardevoir isn’t necessarily the most popular choice for this work, it is fairly popular for hypersensitive people due to the empathic abilities of its evolutionary family. With these abilities, gardevoir (as well as ralts and kirlia) are capable of detecting the subtle shifts in their partner’s emotions, and thus, they can tell when their charges are overwhelmed, sometimes even before their charges themselves realize it.

For hyposensitive people, however, gardevoir’s empathic abilities are less effective because hyposensitivity is marked by a lack of reaction to a stimulus (and you can’t quite detect an emotional reaction that doesn’t exist), so you would be far better off with a pokémon that either has quick reflexes (such as medicham) or precognitive abilities (such as gothitelle). The reason here being that it becomes much more important to assist a hyposensitive person with literally navigating the world, rather than coping with overstimulation, and these pokémon can either predict obstacles or react rapidly to them to keep their partners out of immediate harm.

How do human like Pokémon like gardevoir and medicham sleep? Do they need a human bed? Or can they curl up like eevees and other Pokémon do?

They sleep very much like humans, anonymous. That is to say, they don’t curl up but rather lie down wherever they can. However, they don’t necessarily need special beds. Oftentimes, they’re content enough to sleep on whatever soft surface you have at the ready, including a couch, a cot, blankets on the floor, the ground itself, trees (in the case of the more … unusual sorts of fighting- and grass-types), or in very rare cases, your bed. Of course, many trainers still like to offer a simple bed to their pokémon anyway, although this isn’t always feasible for every trainer.

As a separate note, regardless of what less scrupulous blogs may have you believe, pokémon such as gardevoir, lopunny, and so forth are not the pokémon I was referring to when I said some human-like pokémon enjoy sleeping in the same bed as their trainers. (In fact, gardevoir especially prefer sleeping spaces as far from their trainers as possible, due to their inherent psychic abilities.) Rather, I was referring to sawk, throh, mr. mime, elgyem and beheeyem, and members of the machop line (but especially machamp).

Furthermore, I would not advise sharing a bed with a machamp. I will let your imaginations come up with the reason why.

I am a pokemon groomer, and i have my own shop where my psychic types: Gardevoir, alolan raichu, and meowstic, and my fairy type: sylveon and mimikyu help me groom the pokemon. Well, a ghost type pokemon that i havent been able to identify has been haunting my shop and scaring the customers pokemon! I’ll feel a cold chill and objects in the shop will start floating or get thrown across the room. What do I do to take care of this?

You have a couple of options, anonymous.

The easiest would be to use your gardevoir’s empathic abilities to detect the location of the ghost and determine what it might want. (It’s unlikely that you have a ghost/dark-type on your hands—that is, a pokémon who can resist your gardevoir’s psychic abilities—as most of those have clear, tangible forms, which means you would already know where it is.) Have your gardevoir follow its mental signature or its emotions back to the source, then either try to reason with it or use your mimikyu’s ghost-type techniques to draw it out into the open. Once in the open, you may wish to battle and capture it, or simply chase it out of your shop. (I would recommend capturing it, however, as letting it go risks amusing it with your reaction and thus encouraging it to return.)

The second easiest would be to hire a trainer or a channeler to remove the spirit for you. Of the two, the trainer would likely be the more desirable route, as a channeler’s methods can sometimes lead to unpredictable results, including more violent hauntings.

The third and possibly the hardest would be to acquire a pokémon that can use either Odor Sleuth or Keen Eye, both of which are techniques capable of locating or uncovering ghost-type pokémon, even when disguised. Use either of these techniques, then attempt to calm and reason with the pokémon (again, by having your gardevoir detect what it may want and then using a bit of verbal diplomacy to reach a compromise) or battle and capture it (by using either the pokémon who identified it or your mimikyu—or perhaps even both).

In short, the most important first step is to find a way to locate this pokémon and draw it out into the open. From there, what happens next may be a simple matter of befriending a pokémon, either by simply talking to it and helping it get what it needs or by battling it, depending on its preference or actual aggression levels. However, in my opinion, it seems that this ghost-type in question may simply be playing with you, which is why I say this part may be far, far easier than you would think—at least, compared to locating it in the first place.

Best of luck, anonymous!

Hey bill, ever since I’ve moved to alola, my gardevoir has been having trouble with the heat, it seems that her dress is heating her up. Is there an alternative such as shortening her dress or replacing it to reduce how quickly she heats up?

Do not cut a gardevoir’s dress! I apologize, anonymous, but what many people often perceive as being a dress are actually skin flaps designed to protect a gardevoir’s fragile legs. Cutting these skin flaps may result in severe bleeding, and it will certainly result in intense pain.

That having been said, what you can do is ensure your gardevoir is well-hydrated and help her acclimate by providing her with plenty of shade until she adjusts to Alola’s tropical environments. You may also be able to clip a gardevoir’s dress back by using soft bands or ribbon to gather her skirt behind her, much like a ponytail. Alternatively, you may also wish to teach her ice-type moves, such as Ice Punch or Icy Wind. Generating either will create a short blast of cold air that she can summon at any time to cool herself off.

But really, the most important thing to keep in mind is hydrating, as when it comes to that at the very least, a gardevoir’s body works the same as a human’s: the more water she drinks, the easier it will be for her to regulate her temperature.

Best of luck, anonymous!

Since it came out that mega evolution seriously hurts and changes a Pokémon in that form I have lots of issues with it. I’m a 5 time champ in Kalos and Hoenn thanks to my mega gardivor but now.. I don’t feel right mega evolving her

Not necessarily, anonymous.

Put it this way: the ralts line are highly empathic. If you haven’t felt any overwhelming waves of pain any time your gardevoir has mega evolved, chances are she’s fine. Likewise, mega evolution only really carries a risk to the pokémon the first few times they do it, as the process introduces a surge of power they’re not used to handling (for the most part). Once trained, a pokémon can learn to control that power enough to reduce or eliminate the pain involved with transformation; it really depends on the amount of care and work their trainers put into helping them.

In short, I have no doubt your mega gardevoir is fine, anonymous, but if you wish for further reassurance, all you would need to do is ask her how she feels about mega evolving.