Hey Bill, I need advice. I’ve had this really turbulent relationship with Pokemon and training them. I was going through one of those phases where I questioned if it was really right to capture and train Pokemon at all. I gave up my whole team, including a Munna I had raised since birth. It was a scary time for me. I was wondering if there are any Pokemon that would be great for former trainers wishing to get back into the swing of things. Preferably something local, you know how Unova can be.

Ah yes. You must be referring to the Plasma Incident. I have more than a few choice words about Team Plasma, but unfortunately, as that would be a rather strong tangent, I’ll simply say that it’s a shame to hear from another victim of their rather unique grip on pokémon welfare. That is to say, I’m terribly sorry to hear that this happened to you, anonymous.

That having been said, as odd as it may seem to be, have you considered another munna? While another one may be no decent replacement for the one you once had, you’re already very familiar with caring for one, and thus, bonding with another one may be easier than you might think.

However, if the thought of raising another munna is too painful for you (which would be understandable), Unova is home to a fantastic wealth of pokémon that are easy to care for and fully capable of helping you heal. For example, audino are very perceptive to a trainer’s needs, both physically and emotionally, and they’re surprisingly resilient and versatile on the battlefield. They’re also fantastically abundant across Unova, so finding one may be a fairly simple matter for you. (You may even be able to adopt a retired nurse audino or an audino that didn’t quite make it through its medical certification. These audino may be the best for you, as they’re trained to be calm and comforting in most situations.)

Alternatively, common pokémon—such as lillipup, pidove, and purrloin—are fantastically loyal pokémon that typically evolve into capable battlers later on (although liepard is admittedly not as strong as other choices, and purrloin is often mischievous and a challenge), as are the starter lines (which are often difficult but not entirely impossible to obtain). Other pokémon that simultaneously make for wonderful companions and perfect partners for former trainers include the gothita and solosis lines (as their psychic abilities make it easier for some trainers to bond with them), as well as golett (both fantastically loyal and easy to train), pawniard (same), minccino (popular domestic pokémon), emolga (same as minccino), and axew (none of the above, but the challenge in both taming and training axew may bring out the best in both you and it while helping you to heal from releasing your munna).

In all, I would highly recommend a pokémon you’re most likely to bond with. What you need right now is to heal and to be reassured—even if you’re consciously certain—that raising pokémon is perfectly ethical. So I would strongly suggest trying to raise a munna, but if not, go for something that’s guaranteed to adapt well to training in the first place. (Unless you really do want to try training an axew. Again, the challenge is often worth it.)

Best of luck!

I just got to the age where you can get a Pokémon, but don’t know what to get. I like water, ice, and ghost types, and am afraid of bug types.

My apologies, @ronnoc32122. I hadn’t seen this ask when I responded to another ask concerning ghost-type starters. If I had, I would have responded sooner. In any case, when it comes to ghost-type options, you may wish to revisit that post here: http://bills-pokedex.tumblr.com/post/167247146514/bill-my-daughter-has-always-loved-ghost-type

From there, allow me to address your options for ice-types, as that’s a considerably shorter list. Considering your interest in water- and ghost-types, you may wish to look into options that overlap. For example, spheal is a very basic, easy-to-train pokémon that shares both the water and ice type, and because it’s both highly mobile and a native of tropical regions, it can adapt to inland battling in practically any climate. Lapras is a pokémon that meets similar criteria (water/ice, native to tropical regions, easy to train, extremely friendly), but despite being a formidable battler and an excellent partner, its inability to travel over land may make it less of an ideal partner in most regions besides ones where you’ll encounter plenty of water. (If you live in the Hoenn or Alola regions, however, I would highly recommend giving lapras a try!)

Alternatively, a few pokémon also evolve into ice-types or are ice-types that evolve into partial water- or ghost-types, namely seel, female snorunt, and shellder. Of these, snorunt tend to be the most popular, as they’re highly mobile and friendly, and they’re particularly powerful once they evolve into froslass. (Of course, even if you can’t find a dawn stone on your travels, keep in mind that snorunt’s other evolution, glalie, is still a fantastic partner.)

If, however, you don’t mind working with pokémon that aren’t partly water- or ghost-types, then this opens up your options a bit more. For example, you might also be able to consider cubchoo or vanillite, both of which are fantastically popular among ice trainers. (Cubchoo is cute but evolves into the powerful beartic, and vanillite is the first stage of a powerful three-stage evolution line that’s often underestimated by trainers.) Additionally, if you live in Alola, you may be able to get your hands on Alolan vulpix (a pure ice-type that evolves into the ethereal ice/fairy ninetales) or Alolan sandshrew (a sturdy ice/steel). Vulpix especially is highly intelligent and easy to train, but sandshrew is often seen as a stalwart partner capable of taking hits.

Meanwhile, those who live in Johto and Sinnoh have easier access to sneasel (mischievous and fickle but highly intelligent and loyal once you earn its trust) or smoochum (extremely intelligent but a bit difficult to train due to her lacking defensive capabilities). Swinub is also an excellent choice for those looking for a sturdy and easy-to-train pokémon (although it will eat you out of house and home, as a fair warning).

Really, just about the only ice-type pokémon I wouldn’t recommend is cryogonal, partly because it doesn’t thrive well outside of extremely cold environments and partly because it also often generates extremely cold environments in its surrounding area … which often doesn’t make one well-liked among trainers, wild pokémon, or neighbors.

As for water-types, that is a considerably longer list, which I may not be able to cover completely, I’m afraid. I can, however, say that all regions offer a traditional water-type starter. (Kanto has squirtle, Johto totodile, Hoenn mudkip, and so forth.) These are specially bred to be starters for new trainers, and thus, they often are perfectly balanced in terms of battling abilities, extremely intelligent and easy to train, and lacking in any sort of drawback that would make them excessively dangerous to handle. Above all other pokémon, I would recommend one of these as a starter.

Beyond that, though, the water type is a highly diverse classification of pokémon, and oftentimes, it comes down to what you look for in a partner and what’s most readily available to your region. (At least with ice-types, you will likely need to seek a breeder either way, as ice-types often live in areas too remote for a non-trainer to access.) For example, if you’re looking for an easy-to-train starter, pokémon such as marill, poliwag, buizel, panpour, and wingull are all wonderful choices. For strong pokémon, consider staryu, chinchou, frillish (also a partial-ghost), mareanie, or (if you have the patient for it) magikarp. And if you’re looking for unusual but reliable choices, consider bidoof (which evolves into the water-type bibarel) or lotad.

(As a note, I could also recommend a number of other pokémon, such as alolmomola, but oftentimes, the strongest water-types are strictly aquatic in nature and may be difficult to train on land. I only suggest magikarp because its Splash ability is far more versatile than one would initially assume, and using it for mobility may help it to evolve faster. Just be sure to treat it with an incredible amount of affection if you try this because otherwise, you may be on the receiving end of Twister shortly after your magikarp’s evolution.)

If all else fails, eevee evolves into the ice-type glaceon and the water-type vaporeon. I’m just saying.

Best of luck, good reader!

Hello, Bill! I’ve been having trouble for some time with connecting to any particular Pokémon. It seems that everyone has a Pokémon that they adore (or would even become.) I can’t connect to any one species, or even enough to build a team. I think I’m overthinking it pretty badly. Is there a quiz or book to help me know which Pokémon I’d fit with best? I’m worried I’ll always feel distant to any Pokémon I train…

Well, to be perfectly frank, anonymous, there are tests designed to help match a trainer with a partner, but not many of them are all that accurate. Besides, pokémon are living beings with individual personalities, so it could very well be that even if you found a species you resonated with, you may not get along well with the individual paired up with you as your starter. Conversely, on the other hand, you may find that a pokémon you never would have dreamed of training ends up being your closest companion. It’s all-around a bit of a gamble.

My best advice is actually do continue doing your own research. Get to know as many species of pokémon as you can by simply reading about them in standard textbooks or on the internet. Ask trainers questions about specific pokémon or interact with them at your nearest shelter, pokémon center, or professor’s laboratory. Consider even taking an apprenticeship or internship at one of these locations so you have plenty of opportunity to get to know individuals.

But above all else, be patient. Finding the right partner is rarely as easy as television and movies will have you believe. You’ll find one you resonate with, I assure you, but it will take a lot of research, meditation, and interaction to do so. Then, when you’re on the road with a partner, don’t worry too much about which pokémon will be perfect additions to your team. Part of training is getting to know each pokémon you acquire and figure out from there how to bring out their individual strengths and weaknesses. The act of training in itself will help strengthen your bond with a pokémon, regardless of what it is.

If, however, you mean you don’t have a particular favorite, I wouldn’t worry about this either. Some people have specific favorites, yes, but others may like a wide variety of pokémon. It’s actually a great thing to be open-minded about pokémon, as every one of them has their merits.

In any case, best of luck with finding your partner, anonymous!

Bill, my daughter has always loved ghost-type pokemon, and now that she’s turned eight my wife thinks we should get her one. She won’t be going on her pokemon journey yet, but we thought this would be a good way to introduce her to taking care of her own pokemon. However, I’ve heard that ghost-types, as a whole, don’t tend to be very good around kids. Is this a misconception? And which pokemon would you recommend we get her?

At the risk of being blunt, it is indeed a misconception. While some ghost-types are more difficult to control than others (spiritomb, for example), most ghost-types can be very docile in the hands of someone willing to give them proper attention. Moreover, while it’s true that a ghost-type’s abilities can be rather dangerous, the truth of the matter is this isn’t unique to the ghost-type. All pokémon are gifted with fantastic powers that can be highly destructive or even deadly if handled recklessly, but most pokémon are fully capable of controlling these abilities. It’s only when a trainer forces a pokémon to use its powers recklessly or when a trainer fails to respect a pokémon as a living being that pokémon become threats.

In other words, seeing as your daughter loves ghost-types, I have no doubt she’ll be safe in the company of them. It’s usually those who adore particular pokémon or types who can see the beauty in them and thus know how best to respect them.

That having been said, it depends on where you are and what your daughter would like. Start off by asking her which one is her favorite, and consider getting her the most basic form of that pokémon’s evolutionary line. If she has no preference, allow me to share a few notes on the matter:

Many ghost-type enthusiasts start with gastly, as these tend to be the hardiest and most readily available ghost-types in existence. (They live in practically every region except Unova and Hoenn, and they’re far more common than even native species of ghosts.) However, they can be tricky to handle, not because of their capricious natures or poison-typing but instead because they don’t learn especially powerful moves until they evolve. Not to mention they’re famously difficult to evolve into their final forms as well.
If your daughter is interested in ghost-types that also share elements with traditional starters, litwick and frillish are both exceptional choices for fire and water, respectively. At their most advanced stages, litwick (or chandelure, rather) possesses formidable offensive power that pairs well with its particular battling style, and frillish (jellicent) grows to be fantastically resilient, especially given either of its potential hidden abilities.
As for a grass analogue, pumpkaboo may be the better choice (over phantump), especially if you can obtain one of the “super-size” varieties. This is largely due to the fact that pumpkaboo—particularly at that size—is all-around faster and more defensively capable than phantump … and also partly because of, well, what phantump likely is. However, either way, remember that both pumpkaboo and phantump are difficult to evolve, so if your daughter wishes to train either of these, she should be aware that the road ahead of her may be difficult than that of most trainers.
As an alternative, rowlet may not be a ghost-type, but it eventually evolves into one. Never rule out pokémon that evolve into ghosts just because they don’t start out as one, as that may exclude several potentially excellent partners, such as froslass and Alolan marowak.
If your daughter is interested in more unconventional ghost-types, or if she’s more interested in personality than in type or battle capabilities, golett, being automaton pokémon, are naturally loyal to humans, or at least possess more of an affinity for them. They’re also fairly easy to care for, as they don’t need much more than food, a bit of liquid (but not much at all, given that it’s made of clay), and weekly grooming by way of polishing.
Honedge is likewise more docile than most ghost-types as well as resilient (being part steel), but it’s important to note that the warnings concerning its hilt are true and that honedge can easily be a bad choice for a starter if your daughter is particularly curious.
Sableye is just as easy to care for as golett (its needs consist of water, a plentiful source of rocks, and dark spaces), but as it prefers a quiet life in the darkness of a cave, it may be a bit of a handful for a novice trainer unless the sableye in question is one of the more docile varieties (or unless your daughter befriends it quickly by giving it particularly valuable rocks to eat).
Finally, as ghastly as it may sound (forgive the pun), yamask are also excellent partners for new trainers. Their needs tend to be simple (food, water, and a place to sleep, as with golett and sableye), and like golett, many tend to be loyal and friendly. However, it’s said that yamask are actually incarnations of deceased humans, so in some communities, it may be … not exactly taboo as it is awkward. And even if you don’t believe in the idea that yamask are the returned departed, that they all have complex personalities, and it’s vitally important that you make sure you find a trustworthy, actually friendly yamask to give to your daughter.

Best of luck on your daughter’s journey, anonymous!

My daughter will become a trainer soon, she adores dark types and wants one to be her starter, what dark type would you suggest for a beginning trainer?

It’s always an excellent idea to start off by asking the new trainer in question what their favorite pokémon are specifically and work from there. It’s possible that your daughter might already have a starter in mind, and it doesn’t hurt to indulge her if the starter in question is easy to obtain. She will, after all, be bonding with her starter under your supervision (for the most part), so even the rowdiest dark-types may be suitable starters, if she’s given enough time before the start of her journey.

The other consideration is, of course, where you live. Most dark-types are a bit difficult to obtain in certain regions (or at all), so your choices may be rather limited. For example, while sneasel is a perfectly viable starter in Johto, it’s extremely rare and difficult to obtain in Alola (and its ice typing and dislike of bright light mean it may not fare well in that region anyway), so I wouldn’t recommend even bothering to search for one, even if your daughter is rather keen on them.

With those two considerations in mind, I always like to recommend analogues to the traditional grass, fire, and water starters, as part of the reason why these types of pokémon are often given out as starters is because some combination of these stand the highest chance against the first gym of a circuit. With that in mind, houndour is actually a wonderful choice for a fire-type analogue, but quite honestly, it’s an excellent pokémon beyond that as well. Houndour are often loyal to their partners and incredibly intelligent to wit, and thus, they’re remarkably easy to train.

Beyond that, however, your daughter may need to have patience, as a number of excellent choices only become dark-types in their advanced stages of evolution. For example, litten and froakie are both traditional starters and thus ideal choices for beginning trainers, but the both of them are pure fire- and water-types (respectively) until evolution. Still, if you’re looking for both loyalty and either power or speed, you can ask for no better dark-types than incineroar and greninja.

Regarding partial grass-types, however, it’s a bit more of a challenge. Cacnea (which evolves into cacturne) is an excellent choice, of course, but cacturne may be a bit mischievous and difficult for a younger trainer to handle. On the other hand, the other grass-type option, nuzleaf and shiftry, are powerful, intelligent pokémon in their own right, but seedot (their base stage) is notoriously difficult to train due to its lack of powerful offensive moves at first.

Alternatively, if your daughter is less interested in the traditional trio and more interested in more unconventional choices, you may be interested in:

Pawniard is quite possibly the best choice, in my own opinion. Its disposition is often easy to work with (especially as they will often take orders from anyone who establishes themselves as an authority figure), and it will grow into a rather powerful companion with all the resistances and defensive capabilities of its steel-typing. However, bisharp (despite the loyalty it inherits from its pawniard stage) are a bit of a gamble. Some evolve and retain some semblance of their pawniard personality; others become quite cold and violent (towards an opponent, not their trainer). If your daughter chooses pawniard, she should be careful as she raises it.
Alolan meowth and Alolan rattata. Both are equally powerful and easy-to-train pokémon, which is why they’re often either starters for trainers beginning in Alola or otherwise among their first catches. However, outside of Alola, these pokémon may be difficult to obtain (as noted above), with meowth being easier to find than rattata. The same can also be said of purrloin, although replace “Alola” with “Unova” there. They are also even more fickle and mischievous than Alolan meowth, so your daughter will need to keep her guard up at all times until earning a purrloin starter’s trust and respect.
Sneasel is actually a rather popular choice in Johto, due to its speed, stealth, and intelligence. However, it’s also a fickle pokémon (meaning your daughter must work hard to earn its respect at first), and as noted above, it doesn’t fare well in tropical climates with an abundance of bright, sunny days.
Sableye tend to be a less popular choice, but they have a cult following of their own due to the ease in caring for them (simply give them a few rocks and some water, and they’ll be fine), the beauty of their jeweled skin, and their surprising stealth and power. However, they dislike bright sunlight even more than most other dark-types, so they’re also difficult to train without inverting one’s sleep cycle.
Scraggy are highly popular in Unova for their personalities, but it’s extremely important for your daughter to know that because they’re partial fighting-types, their natural moves consist only of techniques designed for close, physical combat. She will need to keep a particularly close eye on the state of her pokémon during battle if she chooses one of these.
Absol is an often sought-after pokémon for dark-type enthusiasts, and they’re exceptionally strong as starters as well. However, they’re also difficult to find, and in some cultures, they are quite literally omens of death and destruction.
Both sandile and stunky are equally excellent choices with few drawbacks (even in terms of personality). However, naturally, your daughter will want to be aware of stunky’s defensive stench.
If none of these interest her, eevee evolves into the dark-type umbreon. Just a thought.

Best of luck to your daughter, anonymous! May her journey be exciting!

So I went to get my first Pokémon… and was told the order of balls was Cyndiquil, totodile, chikorita. Well I chose left, which was supposed to be cyndiquil but when I got home it was a totodile that came from the ball. Is it common for these mistakes to happen?

If you start anywhere other than New Bark Town? Not at all, as most professors label their poké balls clearly, or the poké balls are up-to-date and thus come with the usual identifying panel that pops up whenever you press the front button.

In New Bark Town, however, which is where you might have been if that was your array of starters, yes, but that’s largely because a certain professor is a bit, shall we say, absentminded.

Terribly sorry for the mix-up, anonymous. There is a chance that if you take the ball back as soon as you can (before the totodile properly bonds with you), you might be able to trade it for a cyndaquil. The professor in question has had this happen frequently enough that, yes, he does keep a few extra on hand; it’s just that your totodile needs to have not bonded with you for the exchange to be made.

Say I already had a Pokémon gifted to me from a parent or something, could I still go to a professor and get a “starter” from them? Is there a limit? Like what if I got a “starter” from kanto and then went to Hoenn. Could I get a “starter”‘there too?

This tends to depend on the regional league’s rules and the distributor’s discretion. In less populous regions where there are fewer trainers starting out (such as Hoenn), you may be allowed to obtain a starter from a distribution point, even if you already have a pokémon registered to you. On the other hand, the leagues of more populous regions with far more new trainers per year (such as Unova) may specify that the first pokémon you have registered to you, regardless of its origins, is your starter, barring you from obtaining a starter from a professor if you’ve obtained a pokémon from someone else first.

On the other hand, distributors may also either create their own rules or file for special cases. For example, Professor Sycamore of Kalos has, on at least one occasion, given an additional starter to specific trainers as part of his research, thereby suspending Kalos League rules for those special cases only. Conversely, while there are no starter restrictions in Alola, Professor Kukui and Kahuna Hala limit trainers who begin their journeys with them to just one starter, due to the specifics of Alolan tradition. (It’s thought that any pokémon given to Alolan trainers is their chosen partner, so those who are already partnered with a pokémon prior to the starter ceremony must undergo the ceremony with that pokémon, rather than one of the traditionally offered trio.)

Thus, it’s a good idea to check with both your local league and the person from whom you plan to get your starter, just to understand the rules in your particular circumstance.

What tips do you have for raising flying type pokemon? Which pokemon would make good partners?

Offering tips for caring for an entire type class is a tricky subject, anonymous, because members of a type can vary wildly in terms of physiology. For example, any tip I have regarding caring for a butterfree absolutely cannot apply to charizard, mantine, or minior, and the kinds of concerns one may have for training a sigilyph or scyther aren’t the same as the concerns one may have for training a hoppip. Care comes to down to species, not to type, and that goes especially for a type affiliation that’s as diverse as flying is.

However, I can at least comment on which would make good partners. In truth, all of them would, but I presume you mean for someone who’s new to raising flying-types. In that case, the flying type consists of not only one starter (rowlet) but also many pokémon commonly found among “beginner” routes, such as pidgey, hoothoot, taillow, and so forth. All of these adapt well to human interaction, and they’re often loyal or otherwise receptive to instruction, making them easiest to train. For those interested in training for tournaments and the like, skarmory, hawlucha, and starly (or, more accurately, staraptor) tend to be popular choices, but zubat (or, more accurately, crobat) and wingull/pelipper are both fairly common choices. Finally, if you don’t mind raising a non-flying-type for a bit, there’s a lot that can be said about gyarados, salamence, dragonite, and charizard. (Yes, contrary to popular belief, training a magikarp is worthwhile. In my personal opinion, even if magikarp didn’t evolve into gyarados, they’re fascinating pokémon worthy of being trained, but that’s neither here nor there.)

So in short, it would perhaps be dependent on what you wish to do, anonymous, but there are plenty of good choices for flying-type partners … and plenty of different ways one could care for them.

Are there any ghost types that would be a good partner for a beginning trainer?

Phantump.

I hope you realize you’re a terrible person, even if you do give to youth-focused charities. —LH

Edit: First and foremost, I could have said dhelmise, but I did not.

In all seriousness, anonymous, short of the notoriously difficult to handle pokémon (namely spiritomb and dhelmise), practically any ghost-type may be an excellent partner for beginning trainers. The only thing about ghost-types is that quite a few of them require patience to raise. For example, both gastly and misdreavus are known for their mischievous sides, but if a trainer is constantly vigilant and establishes clear boundaries early on, handling either species isn’t outside the capacity for even a beginning trainer.

Moreover, some pokémon—such as litwick and honedge—can be quite dangerous if handled improperly. (Never touch either a litwick’s flame or a honedge’s hilt, even if the litwick or honedge themselves are friendly with you.) However, so long as you know the physical dangers of a pokémon, it’s fairly easy to avoid them. And in any case, the truth is that ghost-types are no more dangerous than fire-types, so by all means, never let this warning scare you away from the type.

If we must narrow it down, yamask tend to be the most responsive to human commands, although training yamask can be a bit of a taboo to certain cultures (given the fact that some people believe yamask are human spirits incarnated into pokémon form). Alternatively, duskull is generally docile; it’s not known for either the mischievous streak or the possessiveness (no pun intended) of some other members of the ghost type. Pumpkaboo likewise is relatively easy to train, as are frillish and golett. But above all, gastly tends to be the most popular, in part due to its ready availability and in part because they’re quite affectionate and eager to please once one gets past their prankster sides.

And of course, there’s also phantump, but these carry even more ethical questions than yamask, even if they are possibly the easiest to train ghost-types one can catch.

Finally, should anyone ask, dhelmise itself is not that difficult to train either. It’s just that it’s a seaweed pokémon that prefers wrapping itself around anchors meant for cruise liners, and thus, they are quite literally difficult to handle. For comparison’s sake, starting your journey with a dhelmise would be very much like starting your journey with an onix: it’s not impossible, but quite frankly, you may wish to consider saving yourself (and Nurse Joy) a headache by starting with something smaller.

Have you ever given starters to children? If so what?

The only starter I’ve given away was to my younger sister, and that was simply because I wanted her to have her pick of any viable pokémon in the National Dex and knew I could secure a starter for her on time. Would you believe it, though? Hundreds of pokémon, and she chose squirtle. That isn’t a complaint, of course; I merely find it curious that our older sister started with charmander, I started with bulbasaur, and she rounded out the traditional Kantonian trio.

In any case, while I could serve as a starter point for trainers in and around Cerulean City, it’s just that the Sea Cottage is too remote to be convenient for them to travel to me. Likewise, I could always travel to them, as the regional professors of certain other regions do (Rowan and Sycamore, for example), but quite honestly, the children of Cerulean already have Nurse Joy.