Tag: our world

Can humanoid pokemon be trained the same way as animal like ones (giving treats when they do sonething right) or are there other methods?

Yes, positive reinforcement works on essentially all pokémon. All people as well. Basically, anything that can comprehend a rewards-based system can be trained using one.

Just think of training a humanoid pokémon like training a child. Sure, you can simply teach a child how to do basic things such as read or tie their shoes or whatnot, but they become far more engaged if the learning was fun. This is why teachers in certain school systems reward their children for attempting to learn, either with literal rewards or by making the learning in itself a wonder. By contrast, try forcing a child to learn something they clearly have no interest in using methods that in no way makes the learning itself a pleasure. Chances are good that the child will refuse, sometimes rather vocally.

Humanoid pokémon are the same way, as are any other pokémon, and that’s the core principle behind positive reinforcement. The main philosophy is making the training seem worthwhile to the subject and helping them equate the task with goodness by associating the feeling of being rewarded with the task itself. If you want a hitmonchan to punch a target quickly, you make a game out of punching things or add a reward for doing so or both. Eventually, the hitmonchan understands that the faster and more precise it punches, the happier you and he will be, regardless of whether or not there is an actual reward for doing so.

Honestly, this method is the most humane. Simply teaching a hitmonchan the physics of punching or why he needs to punch won’t be as effective at helping him remember what he learned or why he needs to punch, and using negative reinforcement (threats and abuse) not only does more literal harm than good but also is both fantastically illegal and the sort of thing that would make you a terrible person.

what qualifies a pokemon as your partner? i have a lot of pokemon i love and dont want to choose between them by calling them a partner and not the others!

Any pokémon you have a strong bond with can be considered your partner, anonymous. There is no real limit to how many that term covers, either. So long as you feel close enough to your pokémon that you would do anything for them, then they’re your partners.

So I wouldn’t worry about it, anonymous, unless your team consists of forty pokémon or more. Then perhaps choose six at a time—if not for anything else, because there are League rules about that.

How did no one realize pokemon like the clefable line, the wifglytuff line, the togepi line, the gardivor line, etc was fairies until recent years? Why aren’t the skitty line and the blissey line fairies?

These two asks cover your first question, anonymous:

http://bills-pokedex.tumblr.com/post/149815193841/so-typings-are-interesting-before-the-fairy-type

http://bills-pokedex.tumblr.com/post/150152083081/i-do-sometimes-wonder-if-our-understanding-of

To put it in short, though, type classification is a complicated process, especially given how vastly different the physiologies of each member of a type actually is. This isn’t just taking into consideration secondary typings either (although, yes, things such as the fact that wigglytuff doesn’t respond to the fighting type the same way as gardevoir does due to one being fairy/normal and the other being fairy/psychic does make things a little more complicated). It’s also taking into consideration the actual, literal physical differences between the two. Taking wigglytuff and gardevoir for an example again, wigglytuff are a hardier species than the more physically fragile gardevoir, so even if both shared the exact same type configuration, figuring out that they are, in fact, the exact same type would require a keen enough eye on a researcher’s part to understand the difference between physical and elemental response. In other words, if a gardevoir and a wigglytuff were simply fairies (and not fairy with a secondary typing), if you punched such a gardevoir, it would bruise more than the wigglytuff, and it takes someone with particularly keen observational skills to know that this is because of physical frailty, not a weakness to the fighting element.

This all is to say that determining a pokémon’s type is a lot harder than many trainers know due to the interaction of different factors, and to do it because you had just found a type and need to go through hundreds of already discovered pokémon to see if there are any examples of that type in action is even harder. You can’t simply tell what a pokémon is at first glance, and there isn’t an interface that will tell you what moves are and aren’t super effective against a defending pokémon. You simply need to know what to look for, and sometimes, the signs are subtle.

As for your question concerning the skitty and chansey lines (blissey included), that’s actually an excellent example of what I was just saying at work. While it’s true that blissey can take a physical, fighting-type strike, the fact of the matter is that blissey reacts to the fighting element as a normal-type, not as a fairy-type. Likewise, skitty’s body reacts as a normal-type. Just because a pokémon is pink and/or cute doesn’t make it a fairy-type. For another example, jynx, which is thought to have witch-like powers, is not a fairy-type but rather a psychic, simply because she reacts to elements as a psychic would. It’s all about elemental reaction, not physical appearance, in short.

What do you consider the top 10 scariest Pokémon in the world?

Well, if we start off from 10…

10. Lugia. You see, in Johto, parents used to tell children stories about Lugia—specifically that it would drag misbehaving children to its dark, cold lair beneath the Whirl Islands. In theory, this was supposed to keep children in line; in practice, it simply gave many of us nightmares.

9. Suicune. Technically all of the Johtonian legendary beasts because of their duty as judges for humanity, but Suicune is the least frightening. After all, while it, too, flies across the region to determine our worthiness and smite those who aren’t quite as worthy, it also purifies water, helps with crops, and is generally the most merciful of the three.

8. Entei. Like Suicune, Entei’s duty is also to wander the region and smite the unworthy in an attempt to purify Johto and prepare it for Ho-oh’s return. Likewise, it controls volcanoes, and it’s said that volcanic activity occurs whenever it roars. As both Kanto and Johto are highly volcanic regions, this of course is cause for worry alone, but at the very least, Entei is a very justice-minded pokémon and (according to legend, anyway) prefers to simply observe than exercise its power.

7. Raikou. As with the other two beasts, Raikou is also a judge of humanity, but unlike the other two, it freely uses its power against those who cross it. Some say it’s because its power is neither beneficial to humanity (like Suicune’s) or sourced from the earth itself (like Entei’s) but rather both destructive and contained wholly within its own body, allowing it to use it whenever it wishes. Regardless of the cause, Raikou’s Thunderbolts are about as potent as the Thunderbolts from a thousand pikachu, so it’s not a pokémon I would wish to cross myself.

6. Celebi. Despite its cute appearance, Celebi is not a pokémon you would want to encounter. It’s notoriously capricious, and with its time-traveling ability, it’s been said that anyone who encounters it may disappear, perhaps lost through time. I don’t think I need to go into the repercussions of that anytime soon, no pun intended.

5. Dialga. On that note, Dialga is essentially like Celebi in that it has the power to control and travel through time. It’s just that Dialga is the embodiment of time itself, and with that much power, who knows what it’s capable of doing to any human in its presence?

4. Palkia. As Dialga’s partner, Palkia’s abilities are just as potent but tied completely to space. However, as such, Palkia’s powers aren’t well understood, even within its religious contexts. According to stories, Palkia has the power to transport anything across space in an instant, as well as alter the very fabric of reality itself. In this sense, Palkia may have the ability to erase anything it deems unworthy from existence itself (thereby removing it from its own domain of space), if not simply transport that nuisance across space to the very edge of the universe.

3. Azelf. Granted, all three of the Lake Guardians of Sinnoh are terrifying in their own rights (Mesprit can remove a human’s ability to feel emotion upon physical contact, and Uxie has the ability to completely erase the memories of anyone who looks into its eyes), but Azelf’s power is by far the most terrifying. According to Sinnohan belief, if a human being harms Azelf, even by accident (apparently aside from consensual battling), Azelf will remove that human’s will to do anything. Not just live, mind you, but literally do anything at all. Imagine suddenly being trapped in your body and not even minding.

2. Darkrai. My reasons for this are very much like Azelf’s. According to Sinnohan folklore, Darkrai has the ability to trap anyone within an unending nightmare. Thus, the victim is forced to spend the remainder of their lives dreaming horror after horror, all while their bodies in the physical plane waste away. Azelf is one thing; at least you don’t even care that you waste away. But with Darkrai, you’re aware of yourself. You may not be fully aware that you’re dreaming, but you know you want your torment to end. The worst part about it is that attempting to wake you through normal, conventional means (anything from shaking you to using a pokémon’s Dream Eater on you) won’t work according to that very same legend; the only way to wake you is to obtain a feather from the equally rare and difficult-to-find Cresselia.

1. Fearow. For … for reasons.

Bill, I have a problem. While studying in Alola for school, I happened across a Mimikyu. There are only a few pokemon that scare me, and Mimikyu is one. I tried to quitely sneak off, but the little ghost kept following me. Im not sure if it smelled the food for my other pokemon or what, but it wont leave me alone! To add onto this, I spilled some pokeballs while trying to get away, and the Mimikyu went ahead and got caught in one! What should I do?

Well, now that it’s been captured, it should be easier to handle, anonymous. Simply take your new mimikyu to either an adoption center (shelter, pokémon center, breeding center, etc.) or create a listing on the Global Trade Station for it. The latter is perhaps preferable, as you’ll be able to connect with other verified trainers around the world and thus have better chances of finding a caring home for this mimikyu.

Best of luck, anonymous!

What recommendations do you have for Poison-types who wish to help people and Pokemon, especially in medical fields? Asking for a certain Weezing I know, who was unfortunately denied from taking a job at the local hospital because Poison-types, due to their body composition that has a high risk of harming patients, can never work in hospital grounds for safety reasons.

Have you tried fire and rescue?

While that may seem unusual for a pokémon known for its volatility, some fire teams employ weezing and similar poison-types for the cases in which firefighters need to enter burning buildings. Because weezing consume poisonous gases, they can enter such environments easily and consume carbon monoxide and smoke to reduce the hazards either pose to human victims or firefighters.

Additionally, some weezing can be used by rescue teams during floods and other missions that require care and precision, as weezing’s ability, Levitate, allows them to hover wherever a rescue worker needs them. Their durability as well allows them to carry small children or pokémon out of harm’s way. (Granted, most rescue teams prefer more durable and stronger pokémon such as carnivine or a psychic-type, but weezing is also an option.)

Finally, weezing may also be used in law enforcement, as its smoke-based moves, such as Smokescreen or Haze, can be used to block a perpetrator’s escape, leading to an increased apprehension rate.

In short, there are certainly plenty of ways a weezing can help humans and pokémon. I would start with asking your local fire department if they could use him and then move to the other options.

As for other poison-types, it really depends on which one you’re referring to, as each one has different abilities. For example, skuntank may be used in law enforcement for the same reason as weezing, but it’s also a great substitute for growlithe due to their exceptional senses of smell. However, skuntank can’t be of much help to a fire crew the way weezing can, as skuntank can’t tolerate heat and doesn’t possess any natural skill that would be of much use to them. Meanwhile, serpentine poison-types such as arbok and seviper can be used to tunnel through debris and are thus fantastic companions to search and rescue teams, but they’re not much help for firefighters or law enforcement. Meanwhile, the gulpin and grimer families are great for sanitation teams, but … they’re not quite as great anywhere else, especially grimer (although some people use grimer as a guard pokémon, as they make wonderful deterrents for robbers).

The point is that whenever looking for your pokémon’s purpose, always take inventory of what abilities and skills they already have. Adapt those skills in new and different ways by merging them with their interests, opening your mind to the vastness of possibility, and being particularly creative and inventive with your abilities.

This piece of advice, incidentally, works just as well with discovering your own purpose … or, well, editing your resume.

Good luck, anonymous!

Why is the flygon line not bug type?

The trapinch line, despite their insectoid appearances, do not actually exhibit any affinity for the bug element naturally, anonymous. (Or, well, vibrava is capable of learning Bug Buzz without assistance, but other than that, I mean.) Rather, the entire line exhibits a strong alignment with the ground-type at first, then with the dragon-type as it grows into its advanced stages. This goes for both its offensive and defensive capabilities. It’s not only true that members of the trapinch line are incapable of learning bug-type moves, but it’s also true that none of them display any of the weaknesses or resistances of a bug-type.

Remember, anonymous, a pokémon does not simply receive an elemental classification according to its physical appearance. What matters more is that pokémon are both capable of controlling a certain element and respond to other elements in a certain way.

what are common pokemon used in modeling?

Practically all of them, anonymous. The modeling industry consist of highly creative individuals, and many agencies emphasize the idea that quite literally anyone and anything can be a model. It’s admirably progressive, in my opinion. Especially considering the fact that I never would have been able to conceptualize using a muk as a model, yet one of our most famous pokémon models is a Kantonian muk named Fragrance.