my favorite kind of pokemon are steel types, are there any that could adapt well to living in an apartment? it wouldn’t be for battling or anything so it’s okay if i can’t evolve it

Quite a few, actually! The most popular tend to be lucario and members of the pawniard line, as these tend to be calmer and more personable than other steel-type pokémon (even though pawniard and bisharp are more social and aggressive than lucario). Togedemaru is also rather popular due to its cuteness and relative ease in care, and the next most popular after these species would be mawile, which is cute but rather mischievous and difficult at times. Rounding out the most popular choices is klefki, which is popular not only for their inability to evolve (meaning they will always be small and easy to manage) but also their ease of care and their ability to hold onto your apartment keys no matter where you go.

Of course, the more obscure choices fare just as well as apartment pets. For example, some people like to collect bronzor or honedge, not only because they’re not at all difficult to take care of (they need very little besides exercise and a place to rest) but also because they tend to double as fantastic apartment decor. (They don’t even seem to mind all that much. Bronzor in particular prefer to literally hang about an apartment and will be perfectly happy being a conversational piece.) The only danger in keeping these two is that they must never evolve. Bronzong, for one, are large and heavy, which causes trouble in small apartments. Doublade and aegislash, meanwhile, aren’t that much larger than a person, but they can be rather aggressive towards anyone who isn’t their trainer. If you live alone, you might still be able to keep a doublade or aegislash, especially if you’re rather introverted, as they make excellent watch pokémon. However, I would not recommend keeping them otherwise.

Aron, meanwhile, are very much like armored puppies, but unlike honedge and bronzor, they can’t simply lie about the apartment. Rather, they must be cared for like any other active pokémon, with food, water, frequent shining, and exercise. Still, if you can manage this list, then they’re wonderful companions … so long as they never evolve, either. lairon and aggron are even worse apartment pets than bronzong, doublade, and aegislash and should never be kept in any home that doesn’t have enough room for a literal tank. Shieldon is much in the same, except it’s extremely difficult to obtain one, so it’s less popular a choice than aron.

Finally, there’s durant. Durant are manageable, but they come with two setbacks. First, durant are highly social pokémon and fare best when placed in a nest with other durant. Unless you’re willing to raise a full team of six durant, it may be difficult to maintain the psychological health of one. Second and more importantly, they have a tendency to utterly destroy wood, so if your apartment has wooden floors or walls (or furniture), durant is extremely difficult to control.

The others, unfortunately, are often too big, too unwieldy (in the case of ferroseed), or possess strong magnetic abilities that may interfere with your neighbors’ electronics (klink, beldum, and magnemite), so they aren’t pokémon I would particularly recommend for small, shared spaces.

UB-04: Celesteela and Kartana

Celesteela
The Launch Pokémon
Type: Steel/Flying
Official Registration #: 797
Entry: One of the Ultra Beasts, or strange pokémon that had appeared from another dimension. According to witness reports, celesteela possesses incredible firepower—literally. From the cannons that double as its “arms” (no pun intended there), celesteela can shoot blasts of gas so potent it can instantly set fire to an entire forest. This is unfortunate, considering the facts that celesteela is partly a steel-type, that its other type is not fire, and that forest fires can reach temperatures in excess of 1472 degrees Fahrenheit.

Kartana
The Drawn Sword Pokémon
Type: Grass/Steel
Official Registration #: 798
Entry: One of the Ultra Beasts, or strange pokémon that had appeared from another dimension. Despite its status as an Ultra Beast, kartana is not an aggressive pokémon at all. Rather, this small, origami-like pokémon lies still when in the presence of humans and avoids conflict at all times. However, its edges are razor-sharp and capable of slicing clean through steel, so humans should be warned: getting a paper cut from this pokémon is quite literally the worst fate imaginable.

Magearna

We interrupt our series on Ultra Beasts to give you a special entry in time for the holidays. On behalf of the Pokédex, happy holidays, whatever you celebrate!

Magearna
The Artificial Pokémon
Type: Steel/Fairy
Official Registration #: 801
Entry: This unique, doll-like pokémon was created over 500 years ago by a brilliant inventor as a gift to a young princess. It is both sentient and capable understanding human speech, and it possesses both true empathy and an artificial soul. In short, it is a wondrous gift that truly puts every other to shame.

Speaking of inventors who give unnecessarily complicated gifts to young girls, I checked your IP address, Bill, and aren’t you supposed to be celebrating the holidays with your little sister and the rest of your family in Goldenrod, as opposed to, you know, your teleporter and forlorn cottage in Cerulean? —LH

…. —Bill

[BILL has logged off.]

Solgaleo and Lunala

Solgaleo
The Sunne Pokémon
Type: Psychic/Steel
Official Registration #: 791
Entry: The evolved form of cosmoem, by battle experience. According to Alolan legend, this legendary beast came from another world and devoured the sun, then shone the sun’s light from its body before … departing to another world, apparently. Which would take the sun with it, yet not only does the sun still exist, but also, Alola is well-known as being an incredibly sunny region. Also, this pokémon, despite the fact that it radiates light and heat, is not a fire-type at all, and this world is often a fantastic, wonderful place where some things defy any sort of explanation whatsoever.

Lunala
The Moone Pokémon
Type: Psychic/Ghost
Official Registration #: 792
Entry: The evolved form of cosmoem, by battle experience. According to Alolan legend, this legendary beast came from another world and devoured the light of the moon. Which, if one thinks about it for any length of time, makes a little less sense than devouring the light of the sun, but honestly, the author has given up trying to make sense of legendary pokémon at this point.

Pikachu? (Part II)

Togedemaru
The Roly-Poly Pokémon
Type: Electric/Steel
Official Registration #: 777
Entry: Contrary to popular belief, not a round, pointy pikachu. However, this pokémon’s pointy hairs are as just as sensitive to electricity as its mouse-like counterpart. Each hair is an individual lightning rod capable of collecting electricity from the atmosphere and of releasing this stored electricity upon contact. Likewise, when agitated, togedemaru can raise and stiffen these hairs, creating an additional, needle-like line of defense. It is, in other words, just slightly ill-advised to pick this pokémon up.

Mimikyu
The Disguise Pokémon
Type: Ghost/Fairy
Official Registration #: 778
Entry: Contrary to its own belief, not a cuter, more likable pikachu. In fact, as adorable as this pokémon’s pikachu costume is, the actual form of this creature is most definitely not a pikachu. DO NOT ENGAGE.

Nosepass and Probopass

Nosepass
The Compass Pokémon
Type: Rock
Official Registration #: 299
Entry: This statue-like pokémon possesses a highly magnetic nose that causes it to point towards the planet’s northern magnetic pole at all times … except when in close proximity to another nosepass. If placed in the vicinity of another nosepass, both subjects’ noses will force them to turn away from each other, meaning it’s entirely impossible for two nosepass to be face to face or to stand right next to one another. As expected, this can be rather awkward for several reasons, the most obvious of which would be breeding.

Probopass
The Compass Pokémon
Type: Rock/Steel
Official Registration #: 476
Entry: The evolved form of nosepass, by battle experience, if trained in areas rich with the mineral magnetite. This statue-like pokémon’s entire body is highly magnetic and modular. The bulbous projections on its sides are actually miniature statues known as “mini-noses,” which are capable of detaching and flying about for surveillance and incorporation into probopass’s various attacks. More impressively, the black substance beneath its nose is actually a bush of iron filings that form a “mustache.” This particular feature does not actually have a special name or purpose of its own; the author just feels that it’s majestic.

Sinnoh Legendaries, Part VI

Dialga
The Temporal Pokémon
Type: Steel/Dragon
Official Registration #: 483
Entry: One of the highest deities of Sinnohan lore, Dialga was created by Arceus to serve as the master of time. It is said that time began to flow the moment it was born and has continued to flow with every one of its heartbeats. Likewise, because of how integral time is to Dialga, it has the power to control its flow as well as travel backwards and forwards through it, and thus, its title of “master of time” is both literal and metaphorical. As such, you could even say it’s a time lord, except the editor of this blog has requested that the author does not refer to it as that because “honestly, Bill, there are about thirty reasons why you shouldn’t refer to one of the gods of the fabric of space and time with an already outdated pop culture joke, and you have a high enough IQ to figure out why.”

Palkia
The Spatial Pokémon
Type: Water/Dragon
Official Registration #: 484
Entry: One of the highest deities of Sinnohan lore, Palkia was created by Arceus to serve as the master of space. Supposedly, it has the ability to distort space and control the stabilization of dimensions, and with every breath it takes, space becomes more stable. It is also said that as the lord of all space, it’s a rather funny coincidence that its pink, thick-necked, large-shouldered appearance makes it resemble a certain body part shared by some people who think they have the capacity to control all space, but the editor has also requested that the author do not refer to one of the deities of the space-time continuum as a pokémon that resembles such an object. Even though many other people of Sinnohan origin or otherwise think it looks rather phallic too.

Sinnoh Legendaries, Part II

Heatran
The Lava Dome Pokémon
Type: Fire/Steel
Official Registration #: 485
Entry: According to Sinnoh lore, this large, golem-like pokémon is the guardian of caves, of mountains, and of magma—or, more simply, it’s the guardian of volcanoes. Up until recently, given the fact that it’s a bulky-looking, quadruped pokémon whose very roar caused volcanoes to erupt, Johtonians were fully convinced that Heatran was nothing more than a corruption or even mockery of their own legendary of volcanoes, Entei. Then it was discovered that, no, really, Heatran actually existed, and for the first time ever in the history of Johto-Sinnoh relations, Johtonians may or may not have said words that might have given someone else the impression that they were wrong about something and that they apologize.

Hoenn Legendaries Part II

Regirock
The Rock Peak Pokémon
Type: Rock
Official Registration #: 377
Entry: One of the three legendary golems said to have been gifted to humans early in Hoenn’s civilization by the legendary Regigigas. Having been sealed away for thousands of years, Regirock was only recently unearthed in the Hoennian desert. Because early Hoennian records fail to describe Regirock in great detail (besides its purpose as the servant of both humanity and Regigigas), there are many mysteries surrounding it, such as why it was sealed away, how its body can be composed of rock from across the globe, how Regirock is capable of thought, and whether or not it is, indeed, the source of such charming sayings as “you’ve got a head full of rocks,” “you’ve got a stone heart,” and a few others that the author can’t repeat for fear of inciting the editor’s wrath.

Regice
The Iceberg Pokémon
Type: Ice
Official Registration #: 378
Entry: One of the three legendary golems said to have been gifted to humans early in Hoenn’s civilization by the legendary Regigigas. Like its sibling golem, Regice was sealed away for thousands of years, has only been unearthed recently, and is the source of quite a few mysteries of its own. Unlike Regirock, many of these mysteries revolve around two questions. First, why is its body made of solid, Antarctic ice when the Arctic Circle is far, far closer? Second, in what way is that practical for a tropical region, even accounting for the fact that Regice is incapable of melting? (Sure, perhaps it would be nice to have a block of ice to cool down a village, but considering the fact that only one was ever made….)

Registeel
The Iron Pokémon
Type: Steel
Official Registration #: 379
Entry: One of the three legendary golems said to have been gifted to humans early in Hoenn’s civilization by the legendary Regigigas. Like its sibling golems, Regsteel was sealed away for thousands of years and has only been unearthed recently. Unlike its sibling golems, besides the mystery of why it was sealed away, we pretty much understand quite a lot about registeel. The idea of a large, hollow body with a metal coat being tempered by underground heat and pressure for thousands of years makes perfect sense to us. Especially, you know, that describes most steel-types anyway.

The Magnemite Line

Magnemite
The Magnet Pokémon
Type: Electric/Steel
Official Registration #: 81
Entry: This small, magnet-like pokémon subsists entirely on electricity, and as such, it thrives best in urban environments, where it moves in groups from one power station to another. Additionally, it moves by using its electromagnetism to repel off the ground, meaning it’s silent as it moves but is very likely to disrupt electronic equipment (such as a computer, a cell phone, or a television set) as it passes. On occasion, it will glide power lines to residential areas for food, so if your electronics glitch shortly before you experience a blackout, it’s advised that you should check your breaker box, as a large congregation of magnemite may have been attracted to your home. Also, it should be noted that magnemite are capable of learning both Thunder Wave and Electroball prior to evolution, so should you find a large congregation of magnemite attached to your breaker box, it is also advised that you consider moving.

Magneton
The Magnet Pokémon
Type: Electric/Steel
Official Registration #: 82
Entry: The evolved form of magnemite, by battle experience. Yes, magneton is technically three magnemite linked together magnetically, combining their abilities to generate more powerful magnetic fields and techniques. Yes, each magnemite is capable of detaching itself and performing complex tasks for its magneton cluster. Yes, this is considered to be a separate pokémon. No, the author cannot explain the Pokémon Symposium’s reasoning either.

Magnezone
The Magnet Area Pokémon
Type: Electric/Steel
Official Registration #: 462
Entry: The evolved form of magneton, by battle experience, if trained in areas rich with the mineral magnetite. There is a popular theory within the scientific community that magnezone is capable of further evolution. However, experiments launched into finding the requirements of such an evolution have so far failed. As for why scientists believe the magnemite line is capable of a third permanent, non-mega evolution, it could be because magnezone’s abilities have been known to be volatile and capable of being boosted further by exposure to powerful magnetic fields. Alternatively, it could be because it evolves from a pokémon consisting of three magnemite stuck together, and even other members of the Symposium have difficulty believing this is an actual, separate pokémon.