Bill, I’ve recently caught a Shiinotic. Do you have any tips on caring for him and making him as comfortable as possible?

Allow me to answer this for both morelull and shiinotic, as they’re both extremely similar in terms of needs.

The morelull is fairly easy to care for, but it’s also a bit of a challenge due to its behaviors. You see, both pokémon are strictly nocturnal. While it’s possible to train them during the day, they won’t thrive all that well unless you allow them to rest for at least part of the time that the sun is up. Some trainers find it easiest to train their morelull and shiinotic right at the early hours of the night (and then allow their mushrooms the rest of the time to do as they please), but others find it even easier to simply invert their own sleep patterns. Do whatever will be the most comfortable and convenient to you.

Beyond that, morelull and shiinotic need moist environments, preferably outdoors with a tree nearby. Give it a patch of moist soil underneath a tree in a yard if you can, but if you can’t, simply giving them a large pot with some herbs will do just as nicely. Shiinotic and morelull feed primarily by draining nutrients out of nearby plant matter, so it may be a bit of a challenge to keep enough plants on hand unless you have a yard. Otherwise, a shiinotic or morelull’s diet can be supplemented with kibble (so long as it’s soaked in water first) or overripe berries, but it’s still a good idea to give them a moist, dark place to rest during the day.

Both morelull and shiinotic aren’t that difficult to take care of beyond those two major points, as they’re easy-going pokémon that aren’t particularly demanding when it comes to enrichment or companions. Simply let them do their own thing during the night, and they’ll find ways to amuse themselves. However, in the morning, be sure to clean up your home or their enclosure. Vacuum or mop up—do not sweep—any glowing spores you come across. These aren’t exactly toxic to humans, but they are powerful sleep inducers and may lull new trainers to sleep within seconds. While you can build tolerance to your shiinotic’s spores over time, exposing yourself to his spores may still be an unpleasant experience, even then, and it certainly won’t be for guests. I would advise handling these spores while wearing a mask and gloves as well.

As for hygiene, just give a morelull or shiinotic a light spray with a water bottle every few days to clean off excess spores. Also do this while wearing gloves and a mask.

Other than that, as I’ve said, they’re rather easy to care for. Just be wary of their mischievous sides, as they are part-fairy.

Best of luck!

Hi there! My precious Flareon had 4 babies couple of weeks ago, 2 eevees and 2 shinxes. Her partner is my Luxray and I want to ask some tips on how to take care newborn pokemons. Their kits are always hyperactive especially the shinxes where they couldn’t control their electrics perfectly yet. So please help me! I want to become a great caretaker for them.

As I’ve mentioned briefly in a previous ask (http://bills-pokedex.tumblr.com/post/166442752080/um-hi-yes-my-houndoom-hannah-has-recently-begun), for the most part, caring for newborns is complicated, but it’s made easier by the fact that unless the mother has rejected her kits (unlikely, but it happens), she will generally care for her young. This is very true for the eevee family, which are generally protective of their young due to how much the base species is affected by its environment. Likely, your flareon will display similar behavior towards her shinx young, so you won’t need to worry about things such as food or basic care until they grow old enough to be fully independent from their parents.

The same could actually be said for your predicament with your shinx kits. While it may be frustrating to see them unleash their electricity seemingly at random, their luxray parent will instinctually attempt to train them himself unless he’s rejected his young. All you’ll need to do is make sure your shinx kits are given ample space … and that you safely store any object you’d miss.

Once they’re old enough to be weaned, caring for the young is very much the same as caring for the parents, only on a smaller scale, so if you remember how you cared for your flareon and luxray when they were eevee and shinx, you should have few problems. If, however, you had received these pokémon as evolutions or if you don’t remember at all, simply scale back the amount of food and water you give the kits and train them for less time, but provide the same basic care and scale upwards as the kits get older.

If, however, your flareon or your luxray have outright rejected your new kits, feed them formula from a bottle at least once every three hours. (As you get closer to weaning them, you can increase the time between feedings.) Be sure that the formula is warm (but not scalding) and feed them by holding them upright in the crook of your arm, not on their backs like you would a human baby. Swaddle your shinx in rubber-lined cloth (available at pokémarts) or be sure to wear rubber as you bottle-feed them. At one to two months, eevee and shinx can be weaned onto solid food. (Start with wet food in a shallow dish, then move on to dry food soaked in milk and then dry food without milk once their teeth grow in.) At this point, it’s important to keep an eye on their droppings to be sure they’re digesting their food properly. Luckily, eevee can be housebroken fairly quickly using verbal explanations. Shinx may need to be litter trained, however. Rub a cotton ball on each kit’s lower belly immediately after feeding to stimulate their digestive systems, then place them in the litter box and essentially … let them go. Eventually, they’ll get the idea.

Moreover, keep your kits warm at all times. Their ideal body temperatures at this point in time is roughly 100 degrees Fahrenheit. Add a hot water bottle to their carrier or bed if you live someplace cold, and monitor their temperatures regularly. Additionally, bathe your kits regularly by wiping them thoroughly but gently with a warm, wet cloth. Eventually, eevee may need regular baths with eevee shampoo (some, especially those that eventually evolve into espeon, will learn to bathe themselves), but shinx will need to be encouraged to bathe themselves.

Best of luck, and congratulations on your new additions!

My parents got me a Minior for my birthday! Do you have any tips for taking care of/ playing with a Minior?

Well, I would be happy to give advice for both pokémon (especially given that minior’s requirements are few, even though its maintenance isn’t easy), but that would likely create a response so lengthy I doubt anyone would care to read it. (That is to say, once the askbox is open, please feel free to ask about minior care!)

So comfey it is!

Now, keep in mind that as a service pokémon, it’s likely that your comfey will be easier to take care of than you may think. For starters, it will likely be an indoor pokémon, as it will need to be with you as often as possible (depending on how it’s meant to help you), and for another, service pokémon are often already housebroken and well-trained, with minimal requirements because, well, they’re working pokémon.

That having been said, the following is for all comfey, not simply service ones.

The main thing to remember is that comfey’s flowers are not actually part of its body. That is to say, in order to maintain a comfey’s psychological (and, by extent, physical) health, you need to maintain a source of fresh flowers all year round—emphasis on fresh. Unfortunately, silk flowers are no substitute, and of course, as a fairy-type, no comfey will want to touch wilted or rotten flowers. This may make comfey rather expensive to care for, but so long as you maintain a garden during the growing seasons and potted flowers during the colder ones, you should be fine. Alternatively, as edible flowers are typically as fresh as one can get, you might be able to give your comfey a new package of flowers from the supermarket every week.

Either way, luckily, comfey don’t always need bushels of flowers, so when I say “all you will need is a packet of flowers every week,” I do actually mean that will likely be sufficient unless your comfey is ill. (If your comfey is ill, then it can’t maintain its sticky tail, and the flowers that adorn it will wilt faster. This is usually your first indicator that your comfey is under the weather.)

On that note, be careful when bathing your comfey. You will need to wash around the flowers and avoid damaging the blossoms at all costs. Otherwise, comfey should be given a small bath regularly, to remove excess pollen, dirt, and wilted petals. How often depends on how dirty your comfey can get or how particular they are. Some can go for a week between baths; others will insist on daily bathing. Be aware of your comfey’s body language at first to figure out how often it will be comfortable with.

In terms of housing, comfey are most comfortable resting in either a garden or inside the home. They don’t need any special bedding either way (as they simply hang themselves on the nearest available light fixture, if not suspend themselves in mid-air at all times), and if kept outside, you don’t need a litter box. Indoor comfey should be given a small pot lined with soil (preferably with a plant, such as wheat- or lemongrass) to relieve themselves. Additionally, all comfey are diurnal and thus sleep at night, typically suspended on light fixtures or in the air, as previously noted. Yours, as a service pokémon, will follow your sleep schedule, so this may be less of a concern for you.

Comfey are also omnivorous, but they’re largely self-sufficient. Their primary diets consist of plants and the insects that eat them, so if kept in a garden, your comfey will be able to feed itself. Indoor comfey can be fed fresh fruits and vegetables, although live or frozen crickets are recommended for protein. They can, as with all other pokémon, also be fed kibble specific to fairy-types. And of course, always offer water, preferably in a clean water bottle (as comfey struggle with water dishes).

Now, here’s where the main divergence between your comfey and other comfey will be. Distractions. While it’s okay to give your comfey toys (preferably lightweight ones that make pleasant noises, but pay attention to your comfey’s preferences) and treats, as even service pokémon need a break once in a while, you won’t be battling with your service pokémon due to the whole fact that trainers are prohibited from battling a service pokémon in the first place. As such, you likely don’t need to know the following:

If you’re training a comfey, as with all pokémon, train for a minimum of one hour. Increase that time as needed to include special training if you’re attempting to teach it new moves. Comfey’s main strengths lie in its defensive capabilities and support techniques (which is why it’s often used as a nursing pokémon in Alola), so design your training around developing this. Meditation, endurance training, and first aid practice might be excellent options. Comfey, due to their unique body structure, need very little exercise beyond that, although taking walks with it will help it develop its speed (and perhaps its endurance, if you do it on a windy day).

In short, most of what you’ll need to know about comfey involves basic care involving feeding and grooming, but other than that, comfey are some of the lowest maintenance fairy-types one can raise.

Best of luck, anonymous!

Hi Bill, recently my Banette has been very lethargic and disinterested in play. I’ve taken her to get checked out but she isn’t sick or injured and I was wondering if you had any advice to help raise my baby’s spirits

If it’s not a physical issue (not even a nutritional one), it’s possible that it’s a psychological one, anonymous. If that’s the case, then it could be any number of things. Has she experienced trauma recently? Does she have a partner? Is this bout of lethargy a one-off happening, or has your banette experienced anything similar in the past?

Either way, I would highly suggest beginning with communication. Banette, like many ghost-types, are actually highly intelligent and in possession of a level of sentience that nears human thought. In other words, make it abundantly clear that you will always be there to give her whatever she needs to feel safe and happy, whether it’s affection, someone to listen to her ghostly moans, or some sort of distraction or extra outlets for venting.

Moreover, be sure she gets plenty of rest, hydration, and food, and be sure the food she gets meets her nutritional needs. Even basic care can improve a pokémon’s mood considerably, and you’d be surprised how much a lack of water or food can damage one’s spirits.

In all, while I unfortunately can’t guarantee that this will do the trick, it sounds like you may need to assist your banette in administering self-care. Treat her gently and with patience and teach her to do the same, and you may see a bit of her old self growing back.

I don’t live near a particularly large body of water, but I would really love to train a Frillish. Is it possible for Frillish and Jellicent to live in lakes? Also, do you have any tips for raising a female Frillish?

Frillish are fairly adaptable, being partly ghost-types. (Ghost-types tend to be more resilient to environmental changes than most pokémon, except in the case of light.) So yes, absolutely, they will do just fine in lakes.

That having been said, frillish are also fairly easy to care for. To start, yes, they must have a body of water to rest in at all times. Although the salinity of this body of water doesn’t entirely matter, the temperature does; be sure that the temperature of the lake doesn’t drop below freezing … or, in other words, don’t let your frillish be in the part that freezes over. Otherwise, the fluids in her body will also freeze, which won’t necessarily kill her but will be massively unpleasant. Conversely, allowing her to dry out (by neglecting to give her water) results in a deflated frillish. This also won’t necessarily kill her unless she’s dried out for a long time and then salted. (Some parts of Asia consider frillish treated in this manner to be a delicacy, just as a fun side note.) It’s also possible to keep a frillish in a tank during the colder months, although this is only advisable if you have enough space and time to maintain one. Be sure to equip the tank with the usual tools a pokémon fish tank would use, including a filter/aeration system, plants, and a gravel bottom.

In terms of food, frillish are carnivorous (and do not consume the souls of the living, as is commonly thought). They often eat brine shrimp or plankton, both of which are available at most pokémarts, either dried and canned or shaped into a cake. (Simply break off pieces of the cake form as per instructions on the package.) Luckily, a number of fish-like pokémon share this same diet, so it’s not that difficult to find this sort of food for your frillish, but if push comes to shove, a generic water-type poké kibble will do just as well. Cleanup is not necessary unless you keep your frillish in a tank, at which point, clean her tank once a week at the minimum. (Remove all food debris and feces, cycle the water, add water treatments, and clean off any grime or algae buildup. The whole process may only take an hour.)

The hardest part of frillish care lies in keeping her enriched and entertained. Frillish are ultimately social creatures, and many females will want one or more male partners. As such, try to raise yours alongside your other pokémon. If you have a water-type, this will be even better. If you have no other pokémon, consider adding a male frillish to your home to help maintain your frillish’s mental health. Otherwise, provide your frillish with toys (anything light that she can carry or float—particularly waterproof balls or other waterproof toys), and be sure to train her for at least an hour a day, as per usual with most pokémon. Luckily, most frillish aren’t particularly aggressive or mischievous in low numbers, but nonetheless, always be on high alert for any poltergeist activity out of your frillish.

Best of luck!

I’ve recently gotten a Beldum as a starter and I wonder if you could tell me the habits and information I need to know about the evolutionary line? Thanks.

The beldum line tends to be a bit … mechanical in nature. That is to say, unlike many pseudolegendaries (dragonite, salamence, and the like), metagross is a relatively tame final evolution, and its preevolutions aren’t that wild either. At most, you may need to watch out for beldum, as it may occasionally use Take Down for no discernible reason whatsoever, but if you’re a new trainer, you’ll likely spend most of your time outdoors (and thus away from any potential hazards for property damage). On the other hand, you will also need plenty of healing items on hand at all times, as beldum only know Take Down until after evolution, which means the only move they can use is a move that also does damage to the subject. Moreover, beldum—as with many other pseudolegendaries—are notoriously slow to raise, so you may find yourself using Take Down a lot.

In terms of care, beldum and its evolutions need little. Most of their nutrition comes from consuming minerals around them, although you could feed them kibble if you wish. Otherwise, allow yours to roam around outside and plant itself occasionally for feeding. It requires no water, and as it’s a mostly mechanical being, it needs little in the way of distractions. It would be a good idea to read to it now and then, however, as this develops its mental abilities. Likewise, be sure to polish it frequently (ideally every day but more practically, every week), and apply a metal coat to it if you notice any cracks, dents, or other damage in its outer shell.

Other than that, there isn’t much else one would need to know to raise a beldum. They’re essentially one of the easiest pokémon to care for, even though they’re among the hardest for a new trainer to train. But so long as you have patience and plenty of money for a healthy stock of potions, you should be fine.

Best of luck and congratulations, anonymous!

So I recently moved into a new home and was noticing a lot of strange activity. Well, it turns out it was being lived in by a duskull! She’s very sweet and friendly so I’m not upset or anything, in fact she grabbed one of the pokeballs on my nightstand and flew into it. So id like to know the proper methods of caring for duskull! I have a Rowlet, flygon, pikachu, sylveon, and gardevoir on my team

As I’ve mentioned in a previous post, caring for ghost-types is actually relatively easy, anonymous. Most of them only need a bit of food, water, a place to relieve themselves, and little else. Duskull especially are among the most docile of ghost-types and rarely even need a vigilant eye (as they don’t typically engage in excessive pranking). Yours may be even easier than that, as she was eager to become one of your partners.

Thus, all I can offer is a short word of warning: duskull dislike light, more so than a lot of other ghost-types. You’ve probably already realized this through observations of the strange activity in your home. However, the point is, try to give her a cool, dark place to rest if she hasn’t already chosen a part of your home as her own corner already.

Best of luck, anonymous!

my sylveon really likes balloons. so when we go anywhere special we get her a balloon, well today she comes in the house from the yard and has a balloon in her mouth.. well it was actually a driftloon. they get along very well and refuse to part but i dont know the first thing about ghosts or driftloon care!

Well, luckily, drifloon are fairly easy to care for, as most ghost-types are. They only require food, water, a place to relieve themselves, and entertainment. You’ve already taken care of the entertainment with your sylveon (although it wouldn’t hurt to purchase other light items for drifloon to pick up and play with, especially crinkling pet toys); the rest is otherwise easy. Drifloon are omnivorous (contrary to popular belief) but can be fed kibble if you don’t wish to feed them fresh food. They can also relieve themselves outside, but be sure to keep them on a leash tied around one of their strings to prevent them from being blown away in the wind.

In fact, that’s honestly the only challenge to keeping a drifloon: their tendency to blow away if outside. Generally speaking, drifloon can be taught through strength training (that is, training involving tying weights to its strings and having it lift them to develop their flight muscles) to increase their own weight and stay in one place, but until then, it’s imperative that you or your sylveon keep a tight hold on one of its strings.

Best of luck, anonymous!

Do you have any advice on taking care of a Komala? I just got one and named him Eeyore

While I admit I’m curious about the choice of naming a komala Eeyore (given that this is a nickname more commonly given to mudbray), taking care of your new teammate should be relatively easy, @ronnoc32122. Komala sleep most of the day and thus need little in the way of entertainment or enrichment. Simply give yours a sturdy place to rest, plenty of food (either kibble or fresh vegetables—whichever you can keep) and water within reach, and regular baths and exercise (when he’s conscious and you can), and he should be able to take care of himself.

Also, beware of mold. If his log starts growing anything other than moss, you’ll need to shave it, or cut off the moldy or rotting bits. Don’t try to replace Eeyore’s log outright unless you can acclimate him to a different log first.

Best of luck, and congratulations on your new komala!

Bill, some people have asked you about enrichment for various Pokémon. May I suggest children’s picture books? Most Pokémon, in my experience, love to be read to, and to look at bright, colorful pictures. It’s a great bonding exercise between trainer and mon. My scyther especially loves books by Mo Willems, like “Knuffle Bunnelby” and the Donphan and Tepiggy series.

Ah! Excellent suggestion! Yes, books can sometimes be excellent devices for enrichment, as are art supplies, music, and so forth. Of course, it’s also important to be aware of your pokémon’s preferences as well. Some pokémon simply don’t enjoy reading or being read to and should be given other materials. You’ll be able to tell whether or not your pokémon is engaged with the material you’ve given them by their body language and whether or not they’re focused on you (as opposed to quite literally anything else in the room).