pinkhairedgardie
replied to your post “Do pokemon enjoy being shown affection (such as petting, hugging,…”
Bill…what did you do to that Clefairy colony?
I walked within sight of them. Apparently, clefairy are highly timid pokémon on their own. In groups, however, that would be an entirely different matter.
spookyscaryexoskeletons
replied to your post “Surskit and Masquerain”
Bill I’m kinkshaming
I lost a follower over the last entry, so I suppose I deserve this.
@bills-pokedex Can you confirm the observations my father and I made when we went out into the field to observe a flock of Spearow and Fearow? We inferred that the Spearow line are more aggressive because their smaller numbers require them to work harder to obtain food and resources. I was wondering, can the relative aggression of every Spearow and Fearow in the world be attributed to this, or are there more things that make the line more belligerent, especially towards the Pidgey line?
It’s certainly possible in smaller ecosystems for spearow’s aggression to be explained by sheer competition. However, for the most part, when food sources are abundant and spearow outnumber pidgey, spearow are still rather aggressive. This could potentially be because of prehistoric rivalries of the nature you’re describing, but more than likely, given how aggressive all spearow are towards anything that’s not a spearow, it’s just that the species is just ornery by default.
Of course, it’s very true that all pokémon should be respected and deserve love and understanding. It’s just that some behaviors exist for no deep reason.
You’re welcome, @evetype. I do hope you and your togepi—or, perhaps, togetic by now—are doing well.
To answer your question, pokémon tend to give off different signals when they wish to be caught, depending on their individual personalities.
One possible signal is the tendency to want to challenge you, personally, to a battle. If the gible focuses primarily on you and isn’t attempting to intimidate you (signs of this include standing tall to make itself look bigger, baring as many of its teeth as possible, and hissing), then this is a sign that it wishes to test you and push you into trying to capture it. Engage in battle, then throw a poké ball at it. Even at its weakest, it should be able to dodge if it’s decided it doesn’t want to be with you after all.
If it doesn’t appear to be challenging you, pull out your poké ball and present it to the gible. Ask it if it would like to come along. If it seems enthusiastic by the appearance of the ball or responds positively to your question, then yes, it wishes to battle you.
Finally, if it does neither of these things, walk slowly home or to wherever you’re staying for the night. If it follows you all the way there, even after you’ve made it clear you have no desire to continue feeding it scraps for the day, then it wishes to remain by you. Alternatively, approach it slowly. If it allows you to get closer, chances are it trusts you enough to be interested in your companionship. Proceed by offering a poké ball to it.
Conversely, if it jumps and keeps its distance whenever you try to approach it, if it immediately abandons you when you make it clear you have no more food, or if it goes through the intimidation tactics mentioned above whenever you pull out a poké ball, take it as a sign that it wishes to be left in the wild. It may also be a good idea to stop feeding the gible scraps.
You are also very welcome, anonymous. I’m glad you were able to get to the bottom of your predicament, and hopefully, you were able to clarify to your charmeleon that there are better ways of showing affection.
In the meantime, I congratulate you in advance for the hatchlings that are very likely soon to come.
{This, meanwhile, is a missing ask. D: Why, Tumblr.}
You’re very welcome. I’m glad to hear that you were able to resolve the issue peacefully. May the bonds between your zoroark and lucario grow ever stronger!
psychms
replied to your post “Are some species pokemon more prone to certain illnesses or conditions…”
Huh, it seems cruel that despite the fact that Audino tend to have anxiety due to an inborn aversion to humanity, they are so often seen in Unovan Pokemon Centers. Don’t they have to deal with a lot of human contact there? What’s the deal with that?
Very astute of you to point out, @psychms!
In truth, anxiety in pokémon, particularly the more human-like ones such as clefairy or audino, can possibly be managed the same way human anxiety is with proper care and patience from their human partners. In other words, it’s entirely possible to work with these species in order to maintain or even lessen their symptoms so that they may lead functional lives alongside humans. However, the younger such care begins, the easier it is to acclimate one of these pokémon to a human-based environment, and many Unovan audino nurses are actually specifically bred for the job from carefully selected parents who do not exhibit anxiety at all towards human kind. (Not all audino have this aversion, strangely enough. The ones that appear in what local Unovans call “shaking grass” are of particular note for this behavior.)
Of course, the inborn aversion is related to these species’ sensitivity to noise, and particularly loud noises may cause these pokémon to panic. That’s why nurse audino undergo special training to minimize the likelihood of this occurring.
Admittedly, it’s true that it seems a little odd to go to these sorts of lengths just to groom an audino to be a nurse, but in truth, issues with noise aside, audino are actually the third best suited pokémon for medical work in existence due to their other abilities, including an inclination to help others, ability to hear another’s physical state, and actual healing techniques. (The first and second best nurse pokémon are, of course, chansey and blissey, respectively.) Once trained to manage its sensitivity to noise and its shyness around humans, it can also be a highly dedicated worker and loyal companion to a Nurse Joy.
bird-nerd-the-third mentioned you in a post
@ bills-pokedex Just wondering… who’s that brown-haired fellow and why does he look like you so much?
Ah yes, I do believe that would be Todd Snap, the world-famous pokémon photographer. I’ve always wanted to meet the fellow. He’s managed to photograph some of the rarest pokémon in the world, including both legendaries and those thought to have been extinct. It would be incredible to ask him what it was like to see such incredible pokémon!
Odd that these photos would surface of him, though. They’re taken at such odd angles that they can’t simply be candids.
In any case, I don’t entirely see the resemblance, but I do admit that certain hairstyles were very fashionable in Johto a few years ago. Perhaps he has also been acquainted with the Haircut Brothers of Goldenrod City?
Hey Bill, how do you feel about people who hate common Pokemon such as Pidgey and Zubat? I’m mostly concerned about the Pidgey haters here, because it makes me so angry when anyone insults Flying-type Pokemon. I believe Pidgey are wonderful little birds that evolve into something amazing. It’s not their fault that they’re very common around Kanto and Johto, and I think that just because a Pokemon is common doesn’t mean that it’s any less interesting. What do you think? I’d like to hear an expert’s take on common Pokemon. Especially Pidgey.
Ah, hello, Falkner! I hope all is well at your gym!
To answer your question, short of phobias and trauma-induced fear, I’ve never understood how anyone could hate a pokémon, to be honest. Although, yes, some pokémon are a bit more intimidating than others, all of them are wondrous, fascinating creatures, and it’s important to acknowledge both this and the fact that we share our world with them.
It’s also important to put things in perspective. While humans are the dominant species of this planet, it’s true that pokémon are far more powerful and far older (generally speaking) than we are. Even magikarp possess the capability of overpowering a grown man, so it’s only by our own cleverness and our usefulness to pokémon that we may continue to exist in their world, rather than the other way around. This isn’t to say that we actually live in a dystopia centered around a delicate balance between humans and pokémon. It’s more to say that we humans have a duty to respect and care for all nature, including the pokémon that inhabit it. The world and all the pokémon in it can survive without us; we can’t survive without them.
Of course, this is just a word on pokémon in general, but pidgey and other common birds are most certainly included in this statement. Pidgey, pidove, hoothoot, and all the others are just as important to this world as ho-oh, charizard, and all the other rare pokémon one can think of.
Thank you for your insights, Bill! I’m impressed by your breadth of knowledge and your insightful observations.
And yes, everything is going well in Violet Gym. If I ever have any pressing questions about bird Pokemon, though, would you mind if I asked you them? I know a lot about the type I specialize in – if I may say so myself – but I think there’s still a lot for me and all of us to learn.
Thank you as well, Falkner. It would be my pleasure to assist a gym leader such as yourself in any way I can, so if you have any further questions, please don’t hesitate. Certainly, as with any profession that requires a level of expertise, there is always room to learn more, and interactions with you and other gym leaders have the potential of teaching me just as much as it would teach you. In other words, I look forward to future conversations!
anonabsolxwolf
replied to your post “The Nincada Line”
How is that “luckily” though?
When a ghost-type devours your soul, it’s presumed that you cease to exist in as painless a method possible, unlike when a ghost-type leads you to a hellish ghost world (as with dusknoir and the drifloon line) or when any other pokémon eviscerates and devours you physically.
The pokémon world is a wondrous place, is it not?
The Pokédex According to Bill 