We all know of the Seviper and Zangoose rivalry but are their any lesser known species of arch nemises? if not are their any species that tend to be symbiotic towards each other?

Actually, the answer is yes to both questions.

Regarding rivalry, there’s the classic “literally any canine pokémon versus literally any feline,” as well as “literally any feline pokémon versus literally any rodent.” Granted, few of these rivalries actually have any current truth to them. When it comes to canines and felines, that simply has roots in both of their social behaviors. Dog pokémon are highly social and expressive, and they display affection through non-combative play routines. They also have a tendency to chase after pokémon that are smaller than they are, either to hunt or to play-hunt, depending on whether or not the dogs in question are wild. On the other hand, feline pokémon are more reserved and play by sparring with one another, and they don’t take well to anything deemed as a threat, even if that threat is larger than them. Thus, a dog pokémon may attempt to chase after a cat pokémon, which in turn is interpreted as an act of aggression to the cat; alternatively, the cat pokémon may attempt to play in its own way with the dog, which results in the act being interpreted as aggression by the dog. Either way, these miscommunications are interpreted by humans as bitter rivalry, rather than as what they are (that is, an unfortunate crossing of perfectly natural behaviors).

As for felines and rodents, well. Considering the fact that feline pokémon eat many creatures smaller than them, including and especially rodent pokémon, it only stands to reason that the two don’t always have positive interactions for both sides. Granted, humans didn’t help in that regard either: as rodent pokémon had been pests to us at one point, we’ve trained feline pokémon, their natural predators, to … well, chase them off.

Of course, these are only perceived rivalries, or merely interactions between species that are not combative but rather pokémon simply following instinct, no animosity intended. On the other hand, there are plenty of instances of actual rivalries in the pokémon world. Both types of basculin, for example, if only because red and blue basculin are highly territorial and protective of their own kind (and thus, yes, a little bit racist). Then there are yungoos and Alolan rattata (intended to be predator and prey and instead ended up as rivals for territory and resources), braviary and mandibuzz (territory disputes, usually), heatmor and durant (for the same reason seviper and zangoose don’t get along), gyarados and anything that moves, and for some reason, clefairy and jigglypuff. Some even say omanyte and kabuto are rivals, but this is more hearsay from obscure texts, rather than anything founded on scientific fact.

As for symbiotic relationships, that can actually apply to a number of pokémon. Many pokémon are capable of living in harmony with one another, within delicately balanced ecosystems. Take the bibarel, for example. Bibarel create dams, which in turn create freshwater lakes for finneon and shellos. Thus, finneon and shellos tend to gather and follow (in rivers and streams, of course) wherever bidoof and bibarel are, just waiting for either pokémon to construct new habitats and breeding grounds.

Then you have the more well-known symbiotic relationships, such as shellder and slowpoke (the two evolve together to form slowbro or slowking), mantine and remoraid (remoraid helps mantyke to evolve, in exchange for protection), and shelmet and karrablast (they help one another evolve, even in the wild). Most lines that are considered counterparts to each other (nidoran, plusle and minun, miltank and tauros, volbeat and illumise) are likewise actually symbiotic species, as they gather in pooled herds to use their lines’ respective skills for survival. For example, although they may mate with other pokémon in a forest in order to obtain fertilized eggs, nidoran herds will set up combined nests guarded by nidorina and nidoqueen (which are better at defending territory). The male counterparts, nidorino and nidoking, will often either establish and patrol outer boundaries of the warren or go out to hunt and forage for the group, as, being the more aggressive of the two, they can form dangerous mobs to effectively drive away predators before they even reach the nests.

Why aren’t pokéballs reusable? Why, when I miss, do the balls break? Why can’t I just go pick them up again? This sort of planned obsolescence is ridiculous.

Actually, poké balls are quite frequently reusable. It’s just that a number of things may happen in the heat of a battle that render attempts to pick up and try again with the same ball extremely difficult:

1. A trainer may throw the ball too hard and accidentally break it. This occurs more with rock- or steel-type pokémon, or in instances wherein the ball straight-out misses.

2. If by “miss” we mean “fail,” then a pokémon may break the mechanism that generates the capture grid upon breaking free of the ball. (This is the most common reason poké balls are rendered unusable after a capture attempt.)

3. The ball misses and rolls away, to a position that’s not easily accessible by a trainer.

4. The pokémon attacks the ball (after it misses), thus breaking it before continuing to attack you.

5. The ball misses and rolls away, and before a trainer can go after it, the wild pokémon prevents them from doing so, which then causes the trainer to lose track of the ball.

6. The above occurs, but the wild pokémon attempts to flee instead of attack. Depending on the rarity of the pokémon, a trainer may simply forget about their discarded balls in order to go after their attempted catch.

Luckily, in any of these cases, poké balls are rather cheap. This not only means it’s easy to replace them, but … in a way, it’s also an explanation. Common poké balls are made of flimsier material, and thus, it’s not really all that surprising that the most common ways they’re rendered unusable is if they accidentally break due to a pokémon’s efforts or simply by throwing them too hard at a solid surface. The more powerful or expensive a poké ball is (that is, if we’re considering great, ultra, or master balls), the better the materials, of course, but aside from master balls (which are made of the most durable materials but have a nearly flawless capture rate), there’s still the chance that these poké balls’ mechanisms will still fail due to one of the above factors.

How come humans can’t see the items Pokemon hold during battle?

Usually, trainers will give their pokémon special pouches to hold their items in (unless the item can be held or worn in-battle). Sometimes, these pouches are designed to match the color of the pokémon in question. Custom orders of such pouches are incredibly popular, especially on independent artists’ Shuppetsy storefronts.

Alternatively, some pokémon actually have thick enough fur or rolls of fat (it sounds disgusting, I know) to hide smaller items, particularly everstones.

The Vespiqueen post interested me, how on earth do pokeballs differentiate between pokemon? Between members of the same species?

DNA locks, actually. When a poké ball activates on a pokémon for the first time, it scans its capture in order to take careful notes about what it’s containing. This—combined with a pokémon’s decision to either stay or break free, of course—is why there’s a window of time between the ball drawing in a pokémon and the capture being confirmed, wherein the ball could, well, break. It’s simply taking the time to scan and record the genetic code of the pokémon it’s meant to contain.

This all is relevant because even if you have two members of the same species, there are subtle differences in the genetic code of one individual compared to the next. After all, you might not be like any other human in the world, and so, too, each pokémon is different and individual from the rest of its species.

Vespiquen is an interesting case because it forms a symbiotic relationship with another living being. (Actually, slowbro/king and mantine are very similar in nature—it’s just that they share existences with other pokémon, rather than animals.) In her case, though, the point still stands. It’s just that the poké ball scans and records all beings drawn in, rather than just one.

Of course, it gets a little more complicated with evolution, particularly ones that involve multiple members of the same species to achieve (magneton and metang, for a couple of examples). In these cases, though, so long as a considerable amount of the subject’s DNA is present and so long as the subject’s species matches the pokédex database in terms of pokémon that incorporate others into their evolutions, the poké ball will still recognize the pokémon it belongs to. It would then modify its internal code in order to adjust.

Truth be told, modern poké balls seem like they’re simple devices, but they’re actually highly complex and fascinating machines. Of course, I also say that this is all true for modern poké balls. Antique poké balls, particularly of the apricorn variety, are a bit more mysterious, and the art of creating them is a carefully guarded secret.

Is it true that some pokemon like darmanitan and oranguru can learn sign language?

Absolutely. Actually, any ape-like pokémon—even those only marginally apes, such as slaking—are capable of learning sign language. All of them have strikingly human intelligences … as well as the appropriately shaped hands to use with most forms of human signing. It’s quite interesting, actually, and the subject of ape pokémon communication has been the focal point of pokémon behavior and intelligence studies for the past five decades. There was even a rather famous darmanitan named Koko who was known for having lengthy, meaningful conversations with her trainers completely in ASL. I would highly recommend doing a bit of research into Koko to learn more about ape pokémon communication, should you be interested.

To politely ask- How much trouble would you get in for say, knocking a crime syndicate member unconscious with a right hook? Also how do you stop a furret from trying to imitate said punch…

To your first question: That depends. Which crime syndicate? If it’s Rocket, Plasma, Flare, Aqua, Magma, or Galactic, then simply make sure no police officer’s looking and then do it. If it’s the Goldenrod yakuza, I would highly advise against doing that, as they punch back—by which I mean they will immediately break your knees with steel pipes. And if it’s Team Skull, while I don’t know a lot about that syndicate, I’ve been told that this would be “mean” and that “they’re mostly harmless; how dare you.” (Or at least those were the words Molayne passed to me, courtesy of the Alolan champion, just now.)

To your second: In all seriousness, the only way to stop your furret from imitating you is to not do it in the first place; by doing it, you’re broadcasting to your pokémon that it’s okay to use excessive violence. Although really, if you’re punching a Rocket grunt in the first place, do you really want to stop your furret?

I never thought I’d say “please don’t encourage our readers to commit acts of violence” to anyone but Cassius… —LH

do you know gym leader norman??? can you call him?? his kid just walked into my house, talked to all my pokemon and is rooting through my trash. i kno kids go kind of wild on their first pokemon adventure but

There’s at least one in every region, I’m afraid. Not too long ago, one of them walked into my family’s house, examined all of our bookshelves and radio, and somehow managed to get my phone number from my little sister. Just let him do what he needs to do and be on his way; eventually, he’ll save your region from a criminal organization or a legendary pokémon gone berserk or something of the sort.

So I caught a croagunk who is missing an eye due to an accident with some poachers, and was wondering if she would get it back after evolving

I’m afraid not, anonymous. Missing limbs or other body parts, as well as major scars, generally don’t repair themselves as a pokémon evolves. Scientists are admittedly not sure why this is so for scars, especially as an evolution quite literally transforms the body into something new and stronger, but for limbs and body parts, it’s a pretty simple explanation: you can’t transform a body part into something new and stronger if it doesn’t exist.

Don’t worry, though—nowadays, there is a lot more acceptance of pokémon with disabilities such as those, and there are plenty of resources to help you and your croagunk train without being hindered by her lack of an eye. The biggest piece of advice I can give you at the moment is always support your croagunk (or toxicroak) and reassure her that she’s just as strong and capable as fully able-bodied croagunk and toxicroak.

Best of luck!

is it true theres a toy line based off of combining mechas that have designes inspired by the Alolan Tapus and their folklore?

It’s true that there are several toy lines based on this. The concept of pokémon commanding giant guardians is a very popular subject, especially within the sentai genre.

(Of course, not all of them are based on the tapus. There are also several based on fossil pokémon or aegislash, both of which tend to be a little more popular than the tapu imagery. Then there was that one series wherein the robots were actually based on pyroar—that seems really popular at the moment. And finally, there’s Neon Origins Arceuseon, whose robots were based on mr. mime.)

Hi! I found what appears to be a type of fossil I don’t recognise. It looks like a almost human like skull, but with a third eye socket in its forehead. I tried to search the web for it, but had no luck. Who or where can I take this to in order to have it identified?

Interesting. While I’m tempted to say me (as I’m a bit of an expert in extinct pokémon, among other things, and yes, I have an analyzer), it would likely be more professional for me to say take it to your regional fossil expert. You’ll likely need to do research to figure out who this would be and where you might find them. Usually, you’ll have the best luck if you look into who offers fossil restoration services, although in some regions, this might be difficult. Hoenn’s fossil expert is a scientist with Devon Co, for example, and thus, he’s not exactly at liberty to work outside of Devon’s labs for security reasons unless you happen to be Ruby or Sapphire. Alola’s fossil expert, meanwhile … literally lives in a trailer somewhere in the vicinity of Lush Jungle, and thus he’s a bit difficult to find in the first place.

Most of the others are associated with museums or laboratories that are a little more open to the public than Devon, so it should be easier to find someone who can help you.

Best of luck!

(As a final note, if you get this fossil restored, would you mind sending images? I’m quite interested in learning more about what this might be!)