Are pokemon with Sweet Scent, such as Bulbasaur, a good partner for someone with anxiety, specifically social anxiety? Also, what others are out there that can help deal with it?

Before anything else, you may benefit from reading my earlier post on service pokémon, as any pokémon that is kept primarily to help humans with either physical or psychological limitations through their day-to-day activities is considered to be a service pokémon. (In this sense, pokémon are a bit more flexible than animals.) This includes those pokémon that assist those who have anxiety disorders or those who simply need a pokémon to help them focus on the present. I’m throwing a link to that post in this one not to simply say “read that post” and leave it at that; that would be rather rude of me. Rather, there may possibly be information in that post that I’ve simply forgotten to include in this one.

That having been said, to answer your question, absolutely. They tend to be preferable to many other service pokémon trained to handle forms of anxiety, social or otherwise. Most Sweet Scent users have the passive ability to emit pleasant aromas with or without Sweet Scent’s assistance, and as such, they’re a bit more subtle in their approach than an empath, a Singer, or a member of the chansey line. That and this passive ability also has the added benefit of affecting all parties within its range of effect, which means the pokémon’s human companion has the added reassurance that there’s a very good chance any conversation held upwind of their partner will be pleasant.

Of course, as I’ve mentioned above, those aren’t the only pokémon that are used, and although they’re the most popular for anxiety specifically, other humans may have different preferences or needs that require the services of other pokémon. For example, some people may prefer the services of a psychic pokémon, such as ralts, to influence their emotional states. Now, keep in mind this does not mean that the psychic pokémon forcibly enters their human partner’s mind and “erases” their anxiety. That would actually be highly unethical, after all. Rather, psychic pokémon—particularly those with empathic powers (so, again, such as ralts)—have the ability to project certain auras. Think of it like feeling a rush of adrenaline when you hear a fast-paced song or feeling uneasy when you hear a low, vibrating tone. In a similar way, an empathic pokémon influences the psychic energies around itself so that it projects a certain emotion outward that your mind can sense and, subconsciously, adjust itself to. In other words, a ralts may project a feeling of extreme happiness, and your mind would pick up on it and decide for itself to feel at ease because the atmosphere simply feels safe. Thus, the process isn’t quite as invasive as it sounds. Rather, the most invasive a pokémon will ever be is to break into your mind and stop you from doing something dangerous, but obviously, those are in extreme circumstances that may not entirely be relevant to the question at hand.

Back to the point, the reason why grass-types are more preferred than psychic-types is that the passive psychic method really only works for one person. While this is fine in severe cases wherein it’s necessary to focus only on the person with anxiety specifically, it doesn’t quite have the added reassurance of guaranteeing that all human participants are essentially on the same emotional plane.

The same, of course, could be said for the less subtle pokémon, such as those with Heal Pulse (which can be soothing for some people), those who can emit soothing sounds (such as the chimecho and jigglypuff lines), and so forth, although these are seen as less desirable options than either Sweet Scent users or psychic pokémon. While some people find healer or auditory pokémon to be the most effective for their needs because they (the humans) simply respond better to healing waves or soothing melodies, these pokémon may also call attention to one’s social anxiety, which some feel defeats the purpose of having a service pokémon specifically to help them in social situations.

In short, there are a wide variety of different pokémon that may suit your needs. It depends on the specific effect you’re looking for and what your needs specifically are. After all, while it’s true that social anxiety is something specific, there are many different ways to approach it, depending on how severe it is and what a person’s situation may be.

As a colorblind art student, what are some good Pokemon from Sinnoh to help me with my colors?

There are a few that may be able to help. Some artists prefer the more direct approach of using a psychic-type, such as a member of the abra or ralts lines, to use their telepathic abilities to impose images of the colors their trainer wishes to capture on their mind. However, this is also a rather invasive approach, so not that many artists prefer to use it outside of more complicated pieces. (Additionally, excessive use of an abra, kadabra, or alakazam’s abilities may induce rather nasty headaches due to overexposure to psi waves.)

For that reason, most artists in your situation prefer a more synesthetic approach. Rather than forcing themselves to see the colors they need, they prefer using sight or sound to compensate. For example, they may catch a chingling or chimecho (or any pokémon with a very distinctive call) and train these pokémon to emit very specific tone-and-syllable combinations that match different shades of a certain color. A high-pitched “chime” may indicate a lighter shade of red, whereas a lower-pitched “echo” may refer to a dark green. This pokémon can then be asked to survey a model for any color that may present a challenge for their trainers, then indicate that object’s general color and shade with the corresponding tone they were taught to use. They can then guide their partners through the mixing of these colors by observing the artist’s paints and emitting tones until the pokémon’s sound matches the one they used while observing the model exactly.

The olfactory technique works in a similar manner, wherein an artist uses a pokémon capable of controlling their scent (such as pokémon that can use Sweet Scent, members of the budew family, or—in rare cases involving more eccentric artists—stunky or skuntank) to match the scent of a model with the scent of the paint an artist uses. However, because odors can sometimes take time to dissipate, it’s a less popular technique than the auditory one.

Best of luck, anonymous!

May I ask what pokemon would be good to give as a first Pokemon to my disabled younger brother. (He uses a wheelchair because he can’t move his legs at all.) We live in Unova, but my sister and uncle travel a lot so we could get Pokemon from other regions, too. He’s going to be eight.

First and foremost, at the risk of stating the obvious, never use a service pokémon as a starter. I know this should stand to reason, but many people give their wheelchair-bound or otherwise disabled pokémon they believe can perform both functions. The problem with doing so, however, is in the fact that service pokémon should never be allowed to battle, as a fainted or injured service pokémon is not a pokémon that can do its job. Thus, if its human needs it during or immediately after a battle, it won’t be available to perform, which rather unfortunately defeats its purpose as a service pokémon.

That having been said, most likely, your brother should consider getting a service pokémon in addition to a starter, and he certainly can do so without having the former apply to his six-pokémon limit. That is to say, your brother can have a service pokémon in addition to a full team of six, and in that case, which one he chooses should be specific to his case. Very likely, he can work with one of several government or medical organizations to determine which one would be the best fit for him.

With all of that in mind, which starter would be best for him depends on what his interests are and whether or not your sister or uncle can get quite literally any pokémon for him. I do recommend against more energetic pokémon, such as fighting-types or some fire-types, however. While your brother may be able to handle these as he continues on his journey, giving him one early on may pose a difficult challenge, as he will be new to traveling and battling on his own. Energetic pokémon, particularly those of the fighting-type, typically demand rigorous training routines in rougher terrain, and they may not understand the limitations of their own trainer. There have been cases of more experienced trainers with limited mobility figuring out how to balance their limitations with their pokémon’s needs, but this usually comes after years of trial-and-error and, well, raw experience.

By contrast, however, psychic and grass pokémon tend to be less demanding in that department, as their abilities are more meditative or internally-focused. Thus, they require less vigorous physical training and more internal growth and meditation, and these involve training routines anyone can keep up with. In fact, a psychic-type’s need for meditation and mindfulness exercises may be important for your brother’s own development as a trainer. Unova actually has an excellent choice in the form of munna (who, itself, is a formidable battler), as well as solosis and gothita, but ralts is an excellent choice as well. Should you choose a grass-type (which don’t so much meditate as quietly and contemplatively absorb sunlight for the sake of sustenance), most grass-type starters except snivy work well, as do oddish, petilil, budew, lotad, and seedot. (I would, of course, not recommend pokémon that have a tendency to drift on the wind, namely hoppip or cottonee.)

Of course, ultimately, you’ll want to take into consideration what he wishes to train as well. If he does want to train fighting- or fire-types, there are certainly calmer members of either classification you may consider. The point is, don’t give him something that would be too demanding or challenging right away.

I wish you and your brother the best of luck, anonymous. May his journey be filled with wonder.

Do service pokemon exist, like guide pokemon? Can dog-like pokemon assist blind people, or perhaps can psychic type pokemon help a deaf person communicate? And what other ways can pokemon be used like this?

They do indeed, anonymous!

For both the blind and deaf communities, growlithe, rockruff, and lillipup tend to be the most popular choice of service dogs, as they tend to be more loyal and attentive than houndour or poochyena (although some breeders raise those as well). Herdier are occasionally used, but many service pokémon with evolutionary forms larger than herdier are typically given everstones to avoid the awkward situation of having a service pokémon far too large for the job. Those with sensitive hearing, such as members of the clefairy or audino lines, also make excellent guide pokémon.

Beyond that, psychic-types tend to be the most popular service pokémon. For example, for the hearing-impaired, psychics with telepathic and telekinetic abilities open up channels of communication that many other pokémon wouldn’t be able to achieve, yes. (They can, for example, help their humans to manipulate devices that enable them to communicate or simply open up telepathic channels that enable more direct modes of communication.) But beyond that, those with precognitive abilities make excellent companions for those prone to seizures, and those with empathic abilities are typically trained to project calming auras to counteract anxiety attacks. Those with particular mastery over their telekinetic abilities—particularly gardevoir—can even help those with limited mobility.

Other than that, when it comes to those facing limited mobility, fighting-types are the second most popular, as even the smallest ones can help their humans navigate their daily lives (literally, even). More nimble ones like riolu and mankey can also reach items their humans cannot.

Conversely, grass-types, particularly ones known for their soothing scent (such as bayleef) or those who can use Sweet Scent are sometimes given to those who require service pokémon for emotional support. Normal-types—especially members of the chansey, togepi, and jigglypuff lines, as well as audino—may also be helpful to those who require a more soothing pokémon, as these lines often possess techniques to calm and heal in addition to the strong inclination to comfort others. Some pokémon, such as klefki and tangela, can even be trained to provide emotional support in the form of stimming—as in, they hold still and allow their humans to toy with their keys or vines or so forth in order to ground themselves and manage extreme stress.

Additionally, hoothoot is often used for those with memory issues, as these pokémon not only provide extremely accurate mental clocks but also can be trained to help humans maintain schedules (such as, for example, schedules for when different medicines should be taken). Murkrow and chatot, meanwhile, are helpful to those with speech impairments, as these pokémon can be taught to repeat the most immediate thing their humans tell them in the clearest manner possible.

Finally, ditto may be used for any of the above, either in its original form (it’s a popular alternative to klefki for stimming, as its true body is smooth, gelatinous, and difficult to actually damage) or by shapeshifting into any of a select set of forms it’s trained to remember to suit specific tasks. (Service ditto, for example, may be trained to take the form of a growlithe without having to see a growlithe.)

These are, of course, only the few I can recall off the top of my head. I have no doubt there are plenty of other kinds of service pokémon out there.

In short, it’s amazing how many ways pokémon and humans come together, and it is equally remarkable that pokémon can do so much to improve our lives for the better. So yes, there are most definitely service pokémon that are used for a wide variety of purposes. Essentially, if you can think of any reason a human would need a pokémon to help them with day-to-day tasks, there very likely is a pokémon that fills that exact niche.