#dolliv

alt forms under the cut, beware of potential spoilers

This post will be a little bit simple, as we honestly as of writing do not have much data about the behavior or biology of this unique Paldean pokémon. While be all accounts in terms of safety, size, and personality, a dolliv seems to be an ideal pet candidate, their migratory behavior may make them ill-suited for living as a permanent companion.

Standing at exactly two feet tall and weighing less than thirty pounds, a dolliv would be right in the size range we would be looking for in a house pet. Dollivs don’t have any particular environmental needs that we know of that would make them difficult to accommodate, another big plus. So long as they have access to sunshine, you should be all good (Violet). As far as their personalities go, dollivs have been well-documented as living alongside humans for much of history, sharing their natural, fresh-scented oils with their human friends (Scarlet). Again, so far, so good!

When it comes to how dangerous a dolliv is, we’re looking at a pretty standard Grass-Type pokémon. Dollivs can use moves like Absorb, Razor Lead, and Mega Drain, all of which can certainly pose dangerous in the wrong situation. I believe that these risks could be fairly easily mitigated by training, considering the long history of cohabitation between humans and dollivs. The pokédex makes no indication that altercations between this pokémon and humans are common, so I’m willing to say that the danger here, while existent and certainly worth consideration, isn’t too much to worry about.

All of this is rendered somewhat null, however, by the little information we know about this species’ natural behavior. You see, I mentioned earlier in this post that dollivs need access to sunshine to be happy and healthy. This is because they spend much of their time waiting for the fruit on their head to ripen. Once this occurs, according to the pokédex, a dolliv “departs from human settlements and goes on a journey” (Violet). As should be pretty clear, this is a problem. At a certain point in their growth, a dolliv will experience a natural instinct to go out on their own. It seems to me that it would be somewhat cruel to prevent a dolliv from following this natural instinct, and doing say may even result in negative mental or physical health effects!