Tag: Water

Which Pokémon do you think would be good for a treasure hunting scuba diver? I can’t swim or anything so it’s not for me, but I’m interested in what you’d think. Personally I think Lanturn could help because of the light they give. Suicune could purify the water, but of course, catching legends is morally and ethically and generally Not Good.

Lanturn is indeed an excellent choice, particularly if trained to light up when it finds something. Because its light is so intense, it’s possible to use a team of lanturn to minimize the amount of time a human needs to dive (or fish) by having them do all the hunting and signal to the surface when they find something. Starmie can be used for the same purpose, but in both cases, be sure that their abilities aren’t Illuminate. The last thing you want is to attract more pokémon during their hunt.

Alternatively, strangely enough, magikarp might be handy in this case. Most water-dwelling pokémon leave them alone (either because they aren’t worthy prey or because they often evolve into gyarados mid-hunt), and magikarp are hardy enough to survive in the roughest territory—including anywhere treasure might be.

If your treasure-hunting friend is interested in accompanying their pokémon on a dive, use literally any pokémon that can use Dive. Mantine tend to be popular in Johto for this, as are dewgong and many starters. You may also wish to consider something capable of battling (such as bruxish or gyarados) to protect yourself from wild water pokémon.

Legendaries, of course, aren’t particularly recommended, not because they shouldn’t be caught but instead because many of them possess abilities that will be useless for treasure hunting at best. At worst, they might actually inadvertently kill you.

The Mudkip Line

bills-pokedex:

Mudkip
The Mud Fish Pokémon
Type: Water
Official Registration #: 258
Entry: One of three pokémon traditionally offered to new trainers at the beginning of their journeys in Hoenn. A small, amphibious pokémon native to Hoennian rivers. It uses its large head fin to sense the flow of water and its large back fin to propel itself through turbulent currents with surprising power for its size. Likewise, the large gills on its cheek allow it to breathe even in the murkiest, muddiest depths, and its physical strength alone allows it to pick up and push boulders along river bottoms. In general, mudkip is a fascinating pokémon, and this is because the species itself carries a number of interesting qualities, not because someone “herd u liek it.”

Marshtomp
The Mud Fish Pokémon
Type: Water/Ground
Official Registration #: 259
Entry: The evolved form of mudkip, by battle experience. An amphibious pokémon primarily native to rivers and banks, marshtomp had to develop strong, bulky legs to compensate for the fact that its habitat lacks stable footing. Thus, marshtomp is capable of literally standing through even the fiercest earthquakes, the likes of which routinely plague its volcanic home region of Hoenn. A less composed young researcher would likely say that marshtomp has had the foresight to “not skip leg day,” but luckily, the writer is not the storage system administrator of Sinnoh.

Swampert
The Mud Fish Pokémon
Type: Water/Ground
Official Registration #: 260
Entry: The evolved form of marshtomp, by battle experience. Never let its seemingly cute species name fool you. In actuality, swampert is a four-foot-tall mass of pure, sea-tempered muscle. It is powerful enough to tow ships to shore, rend boulders in two with one swipe of its bulky arms, swim against the current of stormy waves, dive to the depths of the Hoennian sea, and spew jets of water that can tear holes in the hull of the ships it had towed to shore at the beginning of this list. About the only thing cute about it is the fact that it still wears a perpetual grin and enjoys belly rubs and literally sucking down insect prey, just like its ancestral cousin, quagsire.

Mega Swampert
The Mud Fish Pokémon
Type: Water/Ground
Official Registration #: 260+
Entry: The advanced form of swampert, via swampertite. Mega swampert is the only starter that doesn’t change drastically in terms of physiology or elemental affinity upon mega evolution. It simply becomes more muscular and adept at punching things … which is why it’s perhaps a bad idea to imply its mega evolution isn’t as interesting as its peers’ while it’s within earshot.

Carvanha and Sharpedo

bills-pokedex:

Carvanha
The Savage Pokémon
Type: Water/Dark
Official Registration #: 318
Entry: A piranha-like pokémon native to warm, freshwater rivers. Although carvanha is known for its viciousness, it is actually a highly social pokémon among its own kind. When left in the same body of water with carvanha just as vicious as it is, an individual carvanha specimen will school with others, forming groups capable of ripping apart even the bulkiest wailmer. However, on its own, carvanha become docile, shy, and even a little skittish, which some believe is an accurate depiction of most people who spend any amount of time on the internet.

Sharpedo
The Brutal Pokémon
Type: Water/Dark
Official Registration #: 319
Entry: The evolved form of carvanha, by battle experience. This shark-like pokémon possesses fangs that can rip through the steel hulls of ships (and grow back if they snap off in their efforts to do so), barbed skin capable of lacerating anything that comes into physical contact with it, powerful fins that can propel it up to 75 miles per hour at prey, and a keen sense of smell that can detect the smallest drop of blood from yards away. With all of this in combination, sharpedo is often nicknamed “the Bully of the Sea,” which is unfortunate because sharpedo is actually a gentle pokémon that only wants affection.

Sorry, no, it indiscriminately rips apart anything that enters its watery territory short of anything else that has the audacity to train it.

Mega Sharpedo
The Brutal Pokémon
Type: Water/Dark
Official Registration #: 319+
Entry: The advanced form of sharpedo, via sharpedonite. The yellow markings that criss-cross its body are not, as the Alolan pokédex states, souvenirs from this pokémon’s long history of battles; rather, they’re simply markings that all mega sharpedo have. However, the tidbit about its spikes regenerating as often as its teeth (which is to say, constantly, whenever either are broken off) is completely true, as is the fact about its unusually aggressive temperament. In short, the entire idea that mega sharpedo is a “pointy ocean doggo”? Also not true, regardless of how many times the internet insists otherwise.

Kanto Starters III: Squirtle

bills-pokedex:

Squirtle
The Tiny Turtle Pokémon
Type: Water
Official Registration #: 7
Entry: One of three pokémon traditionally offered to new trainers at the beginning of their journeys in Kanto. As the most defensive of the three starters, squirtle is born with a shell that hardens to a rock-hard consistency as it grows older. It also has the ability to retract its softer head and limbs into this shell in order to protect itself as it uses its array of bubble- and water-jet-based attacks. That having been said, one of the most common questions posed about squirtle is “what does it look like without its shell,” and in order to answer all of them in one fell swoop, the writer would like to remind the general internet that a squirtle’s shell is actually an adapted ribcage and thus, a squirtle without its shell would look rather unfortunate.

Wartortle
The Turtle Pokémon
Type: Water
Official Registration #: 8
Entry: The evolved form of squirtle, by battle experience. Legend has it that healthy wartortle may live up to 10,000 years. This, of course, is not true; rather, it is a euphemism for two things. First, it refers to the wartortle’s resilience, particularly in the case of its shell. Upon evolution, a wartortle’s shell hardens and continues to harden, and much of wartortle’s battle style hinges on the use of its shell as both its armor and its shield. A battle-experienced wartortle will always sport a plethora of scratches across its rock-hard shell. As for the second point to the legend, it simply refers to humans’ inability to tell reptilian pokémon apart, as well as the wartortle’s general apathy towards being confused with its abundance of cousins and blood relatives.

Blastoise
The Shellfish Pokémon
Type: Water
Official Registration #: 9
Entry: The evolved form of wartortle, by battle experience. Blastoise tend to be extremely proud of its muscular bulk and water cannons, to the point where much of its battle techniques hinge on either throwing its weight at an opponent or drowning them with high-powered jets of water. When it comes to the latter, its aim is deadly accurate, and a well-trained blastoise is capable of shooting a target up to 160 feet away. Additionally, despite the fact that they lose their feather-like ears upon evolution, it should be noted that blastoise generally have excellent hearing. For example, if a blastoise whose trainer happens to be a researcher’s grandson is standing more than soccer field’s length away from said grandson right at the moment that another researcher advises him on specialized diets for blastoise that no longer participate in battling circuits, that young, well-meaning researcher should be aware that he can still be shot with a Hydro Pump from halfway across the laboratory’s preserve.

Mega Blastoise
The Shellfish Pokémon
Type: Water
Official Registration #: 9+
Entry: The advanced form of blastoise, via blastoisinite. Upon mega evolution, this pokémon gains a considerable boost in power, largely due to the addition of a massive, third cannon jutting out of its shell. It should be noted that this cannon exists strictly to add firepower to this pokémon’s arsenal, enabling it to use the hidden ability Mega Launcher, and not because the entire species is “overcompensating for something.”

The Slowpoke Line

bills-pokedex:

Slowpoke
The Dopey Pokémon
Type: Water/Psychic
Official Registration #: 79
Entry: A sweet sap leaks from the tip of this strange pokémon’s tail. Although mysterious in its production, this sap tastes exactly like a sweeter form of honey and thus is effective in attracting pokémon. Slowpoke frequently use this to their advantage, as the core of their behavior centers around their fishing rituals, in which they flock to the banks of a slow-moving body of water, dip their tails in, and wait for a bite. However, as slowpoke are not the brightest pokémon nor pokémon with the fastest reflexes, they often fail to notice when they get a bite—or, for that matter, much about their environment at all. Which leads into the second fact: that some humans have found that slowpoke tails are not particularly nutritious but are quite frankly fun to chew on. How we as a species discovered this about a creature who is completely incapable of noticing when anything—human or otherwise—is chewing on its tail is probably best left up to one’s imagination.

Slowbro
The Hermit Crab Pokémon
Type: Water/Psychic
Official Registration #: 80
Entry: The evolved form of slowpoke, by battle experience. Or, rather, to be more accurate, slowpoke evolves into slowbro after it gains enough strength to fish in waters where shellder naturally live. This is relevant because it is the shellder that enables a slowpoke to evolve by clamping down on the tip of its tail. However, curiously enough, a slowbro will always revert to a slowpoke when the shellder is removed, which raises several questions about the nature of slowpoke’s evolution. One possible hint to the existence of slowbro as its own pokémon lies in the fact that due to shellder’s hold on slowbro’s tail, the slowbro host can no longer fish and is, therefore, forced to hunt literally by hand. Thus, slowbro is quite possibly not a true evolution but instead what happens when a slowpoke is forced to give up its sheer laziness.

Slowking
The Royal Pokémon
Type: Water/Psychic
Official Registration #: 199
Entry: The evolved form of slowpoke, when given a king’s rock and traded. It is said that a king’s rock is actually a piece of fossilized shellder that, when traded, reverts back to being a shellder and subsequently bites its companion slowpoke’s head. Upon dual evolution, this shellder then leaks toxins into its host, which breaks down slowking’s literal mental barriers and gives it a drastic boost in intelligence. Given that this means slowking’s intelligence is chemically enhanced, the writer would like to take the time to note to younger readers that drugs do not, in fact, result in intelligence boosts in humans. Just say no, children, and stay in school. Unless you go on a trainer’s journey, at which point never eat mushrooms you can’t identify.

Bill, in case you were still wondering why Fennel won’t leave Amanita with you unless another adult is present to supervise, this. This is why. —LH

Mega Slowbro
The Hermit Crab Pokémon
Type: Water/Psychic
Official Registration #: 80+
Entry: The advanced form of slowbro, via slowbronite. Despite the expression on its face; its erratic, spinning battle style; and the fact that it has somehow been nearly completely consumed by its symbiotic shell, mega slowbro does not need assistance. It is trying its best, dear readers. Just … just let it.

Magikarp and Gyarados

bills-pokedex:

bills-pokedex:

Magikarp
The Fish Pokémon
Type: Water
Official Registration #: 129
Entry: Harmless.

Update:
Entry: Mostly harmless.

Gyarados
The Atrocious Pokémon
Type: Water/Flying
Official Registration #: 130
Entry: The evolved form of magikarp, by battle experience. Twenty-one-foot-long sea serpent that consists of about 95% teeth and rage. Exercise extreme caution when engaging with this pokémon. Chances are incredibly good that it either hates you or, worse, likes you and would like to show affection with its three rows of foot-long teeth.

Mega Gyarados
The Atrocious Pokémon
Type: Water/Dark
Official Registration #: 130+
Entry: The advanced form of gyarados, via gyaradosite. Twenty-one-foot-long, 675+-pound sea serpent that consists of about 99% teeth and rage, plus a new affinity for the dark type and a power boost that together blind it to everything but its insatiable need to burn everything around it to the ground.

In other words, somewhat harmless.

Magikarp and Gyarados

bills-pokedex:

Magikarp
The Fish Pokémon
Type: Water
Official Registration #: 129
Entry: Harmless.

Update:
Entry: Mostly harmless.

Gyarados
The Atrocious Pokémon
Type: Water/Flying
Official Registration #: 130
Entry: The evolved form of magikarp, by battle experience. Twenty-one-foot-long sea serpent that consists of about 95% teeth and rage. Exercise extreme caution when engaging with this pokémon. Chances are incredibly good that it either hates you or, worse, likes you and would like to show affection with its three rows of foot-long teeth.

Mega Gyarados
The Atrocious Pokémon
Type: Water/Dark
Official Registration #: 130+
Entry: The advanced form of gyarados, via gyaradosite. Twenty-one-foot-long, 675+-pound sea serpent that consists of about 99% teeth and rage, plus a new affinity for the dark type and a power boost that together blind it to everything but its insatiable need to burn everything around it to the ground.

In other words, somewhat harmless.

okay so.. wow i never thought i would have this problem. due to a… incident in my childhood im absolutely terrified of the water and most water types. well… i recently rescued a baby squirtle that was seprated from its family and was being attacked by another pokemon.. well now squirtle has imprinted on me and while i know it can walk on land and all that… but what do i do about its water needs? i have a pool and things i can take him.. help?

That may be all you need to do, anonymous. Give it a pool and let it do the rest, that is. A squirtle will know by instinct how to swim, as well as how to use its basic water-type moves, so you won’t need to teach it yourself. You can simply place it in the same vicinity as the pool, and it will know what to do.

What’s more important, though, is your fear of water-types. Your fear of water may resolve itself over time through exposure therapy (that is, the longer you care for your squirtle, the more you’ll be able to tolerate water), but the problem is that you won’t be able to receive that exposure therapy unless you’re certain you can handle your squirtle. It sounds like this squirtle is among the water-types you can handle, certainly, but nonetheless, think hard about whether or not this is something you can do. If the answer is no, then it’s far better for the both of you psychologically if you rehome it.

Rehoming may be a tricky process for a pokémon so young (one that’s imprinted on you, no less), so it must be done carefully. First, find a reputable foster pokémon organization that will help you find a foster trainer. The caretakers in this shelter must be as caring and attentive as possible, as surrounding your squirtle with caring people will make the transition easier. Next, once a foster trainer is found, work with them for the first week in order to establish a relationship between your squirtle and its new (temporary) trainer. (If one isn’t found and you must rehome your squirtle immediately, simply work with the staff of the shelter instead.) Lessen your presence little by little over time until the squirtle is comfortable without you in sight.

Alternatively, if you don’t want to place your squirtle in a shelter or a new home, train yourself to tolerate your squirtle’s presence, perhaps through exposure therapy as well. If you have a partner or someone who shares your home with you, ask them to help you care for your squirtle, but make it a point to spend a period of time each day with it. If you live alone, simply have it play in the pool or a bathtub as much as possible, then interact with it when you need to care for it. (As a note, yes, it’s young, so you will have to spend time with it. Furthermore, you need to remain calm during these moments, as any indication that you’re afraid of your squirtle will have adverse psychological effects on it. I highly recommend meditating before attempting to interact with your squirtle in order to calm yourself.) During these time periods, do something fun to engage with your squirtle: a game, a bit of (non-water-based) training, exercise, and so forth. Increase the amount of time you spend with your squirtle each day until you get used to its presence enough to feel comfortable around it.

As a note, this may not completely cure your fear of water-types in general, but at the very least, growing used or even close to a single water-type may help you handle brief interactions with others. If you wish to rid yourself completely of your fear of water-types, you’ll need to confront both your past traumas and the fear itself. Professional therapy may be a good idea.

Best of luck, anonymous!

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!