#pr-a

It seems that your instincts were right on the money, as an audino would indeed make an excellent pet! In fact, here we have another pokémon that would be particularly well suited for training as an emotional support or service pokémon.

To begin with their size, audinos are on the medium-large size standing at three and a half feet tall and weighing nearly seventy pounds. However, as bipedal pokémon, I’m more confident in saying that they could get around in a home as easily as a short-statured human could. Now, at nearly seventy pounds, they are not particularly easy to transport; many people may have a hard time picking up an audino and carrying them around for a longer period of time. In order to get an audino places, like veterinary appointments, they will have to be trained to not wander off. Thankfully, given their friendly personalities, I would assume this won’t be a particularly difficult task.

Audinos are described by the pokédex as “kind hearted” and attuned to the condition and needs of those around them (Shield). They aren’t known to be violent, and pose little threat to humans as far as their moves go. Some moves, like Wish, even serve as a benefit to an audino’s health, as they can use it to heal themselves. So far, it seems that, like many Normal-Types, an audino would be well suited for home life. It goes beyond this, though: as I mentioned at the start of this post, this species has special potential as a service pokémon for humans with mental or physical health conditions.

Audinos have a superb sense of hearing, capable of hearing something as quiet as a “pebble rolling along over a mile away” (White, Sword), making them aware of their environment at a level exceeding most living things. Additionally, an audino can make use of the feelers on their ears to detect another creature’s heartbeat, using this information to tell how they are feeling emotionally or physically (Black, Black2/White2, X, Y, OmegaRuby, AlphaSapphire, Shield, Legends: Z-A). With proper training, an audino would excel in detecting heart problems, seizures, and other medical episodes before they occur, acting to alert their owner and keep them safe. With their ability to detect emotions, they could be particularly keyed in to when someone experiencing depression or anxiety may need additional support and comfort. In addition to these detection abilities, audinos with the Healer Ability are capable of curing effects like burns, paralysis, and poisoning for those around them. There are many cases in which audinos would be perfectly suited to support disabled or medically vulnerable humans.

Ah, finally! A nice, simple “yes”! A lillipup would make a great pet for most owners, and they are in fact already “extremely popular” as pets, according to the pokédex (Sun). Essentially, adopting a lillipup is no different from adopting a puppy of the same size aside from their higher intelligence. Let’s get into it!

Lillipups are the perfect size to be house pets at just over a foot tall and weighing less than nine pounds. Very few owners would have any trouble getting a lillipup around, and they could easily feel comfortable in even the smallest of homes. As mentioned above, lillipups are “extremely popular” pets, especially for those living in apartment buildings, due to their quiet nature; they aren’t known to make a lot of noise, making them an ideal option for urban life (Sun).

Lillipups are intelligent and sensitive, making them great companions for humans. Their intelligence is comparable to that of a young child (Shield), making them exceptionally easy to train and raise as a pet (Ultra Moon). This intelligence also keeps them safe; lillipups are brave but cautious pokémon with the wisdom to avoid fights that put them at a disadvantage (Black, Black2/White2, Y, Alpha Sapphire, Ultra Sun, Sword). This means that a lillipup is unlikely to get in scraps that put them in danger. It also makes them far less likely to attack a human, though such an attack is not so great a concern as to disqualify this species, by any means. Considering their move pool, a lillipup could certainly hurt a human, but I’d wager that, given their size, they aren’t much more dangerous than a large puppy.

Add on to all of these accolades one more: a lillipup could be trained to be an excellent medical support or service pokémon! The long fur on lillipups’ faces allow them to “sense subtle changes” in their environment and the condition of other living things around them (White, X, Omega Ruby, Moon, Sword). With proper training, this would allow a lillipup to keep careful tabs on a human’s physical state, meaning that they could alert their owners of otherwise undetectable or unpredictable medial conditions or episodes. Given their small size and keen judgement, they could really make a difference for a lot of people.

Time for a breath of fresh air! A leafeon would indeed make an excellent pet: friendly, easy to care for, not to dangerous, and even good for your health, this pokémon is a great option for those interested in eevee’s evolutions.

Like the others in its evolutionary family, leafeons might be on the larger size of what you would think of as a house pet, but at just over three feet tall and fifty-six pounds, I would say they are far from too large to be comfortable in most homes so long as you are comfortable with a pet that won’t be too easy to carry around. Thankfully, leafeons’ needs are pretty straightforward. In fact, these pokémon don’t even need to eat: their plant-like cellular composition allows them to derive energy from the sun through photosynthesis (Diamond/Pearl, Platinum, Sun, Ultra Moon). So long as you live somewhere where your leafeon could get a healthy dose of sunshine, it should be pretty easy to meet their needs.

Leafeons are a great candidate due to their pacifism, making them a very low threat to humans. Leafeons hate to fight to the point where the pokédex claims that they “basically [don’t] fight” (Black/White, Ultra Sun). We aren’t entirely out of the woods here, though; I would definitely recommend spending time on training to avoid any violent accidents. Wild leafeons do need to defend themselves and those that they care about from time to time, after all, and do so with the sharpened leaf on their tail, which through moves like Razor Leaf and Leaf Blade can cut through solid trees in one stroke (Ultra Sun, Shield). Making sure to find ways to manage your leafeon’s protective instincts and to redirect energy through safe play will be a must. However, like I said, this species’ well-known pacifist disposition keeps their danger score fairly low.

In addition to everything I’ve discussed so far in leafeons’ favor, they may even have a positive health effect on human. For one, they can keep your home smelling fresh with their well-known fragrant scent, which transitions as they age between different botanical scents (Moon, Sword). Through their natural photosynthesizing, leafeons also purify the air around them, resulting in them always being “enveloped in clear air” (Diamond/Pearl). Those who have conditions or illnesses that affect their breathing could certainly benefit from having a leafeon around. On top of all that, it is pretty easy to keep leafeons in good health themselves. Those with the Leaf Guard ability are actually immune to poisoning, paralysis, burning, and other effects while in the sunshine, and the move Synthesis allows them to use energy from the sun to heal themselves.

Meganium is a very interesting case. They are, as you pointed out, pretty big. Yet, despite that, my assessment algorithm gave them a glowing score. In fact, meganium is easily the largest A-tier pokémon we’ve covered on this blog! Let’s get right into it.

I won’t stick on this point for too long, but as I said, meganiums are pretty big for a pet, coming in at just under six feet tall and two-hundred and twenty-one pounds. A meganium may certainly have a hard time getting around inside a home, and transporting them won’t be a breeze. If one is to adopt a meganium, it must be done with the understanding that they will most likely need to live outdoors. Not necessarily a dealbreaker, but not the perfect fit for every owner.

However, this downside is somewhat offset by this species’ unique biology. Their breath can revive dead or sickly plants through a mysterious, as of yet unknown means (Silver, FireRed, Diamond/Pearl/Platinum, Violet), and their petals emit an aroma that has a distinct refreshing effect on humans who can smell it (Crystal, Scarlet), even calming aggressive feelings (Gold, Ruby/Sapphire, Emerald). This not only makes them lovely and even therapeutic to have around, it is a strong indicator that they avoid violence when possible, which combined with their role as easy-to-train starter pokémon in a few regions of the world makes them a nonviolent, safe choice.

That isn’t to say, of course, that meganiums can’t pack a punch if they choose to. Moves like Razor Leaf and Poison Powder certainly should raise your eyebrows, and Body Slam, at their size, is also a serious issue. Their nonviolent nature offsets the effects of these moves on their score quite a bit, along with moves and abilities that make them easier to care for. Synthesis allows meganiums to heal themselves, and those with the Leaf Guard ability are immune to poisoning, burns, and other ailments when the weather is sunny.

A skiddo would indeed make a good pet! These pokémon have lived along humans for quite some time, their easygoing lifestyle and personalities making them model companions.

Standing at nearly three feet tall and weighing nearly seventy pounds, skiddos are on the slightly larger size, though I wouldn’t say they are too large to be a house pet. They may not be the easiest for every owner to carry around, however, meaning that transporting them might not always be the easiest. Thankfully, given their friendly personalities, most skiddos should be rather easy to train. In certain parts of the world, skiddos have even been used as transport by humans, carrying them along mountain paths (Scarlet). This certainly opens up opportunities for skiddos to serve as service pokémon for humans with mobility impairments and disabilities! Considering how easy it is to care for this pokémon, problems posed by their size are essentially negated.

Skiddos, in fact, don’t even need to eat food, requiring only sunshine and water to live due to their ability to convert sunlight into nutrients through photosynthesis (Y, Alpha Sapphire, Violet, Legends: Z-A). So long as you live somewhere sunny and have a dedicated outdoor space for them to spend at least part of the day, a skiddo should be able to get all the sustenance they need at no additional cost. Even if it is a cloudy day, you should be able to get by with emergency backup food for them; the pokédex doesn’t imply that they can’t eat, after all. If you are looking for a pretty easy pet to take care of or to introduce to children learning to care for pokémon and animals, a skiddo might be just right for you.

As far as danger goes, there isn’t much to worry about here. Skiddos can use pretty standard Grass-Type moves that may pose a concern in the hands of a more violent pokémon, but which aren’t much of a threat given their size. Skiddos are also well-known to have placid, easygoing personalities, and have lived in safe harmony with humans for generations (X, Omega Ruby). So long as a skiddo has been healthily socialized, I don’t foresee any serious problems. Some moves, like Synthesis, are even bonuses as they allow skiddos to heal themselves when injured!

If you've done Absol already, then Munna?

Munna fit into a curious archetype, which I have covered a few times on this blog in the past and which seems to net pretty positive scores: dream-eaters. Like other dream-eaters, munna are exceptionally easy to care for and may be able to serve therapeutic roles, all which combined with their size makes them a pretty solid candidate.

While they may be larger than one assumes at two feet tall and a little over fifty pounds, I would say that munna would not have a hard time getting around in most homes. They aren’t the most acrobatic pokémon with those little legs, instead floating through the air at all times (Black), so as long as there is enough clear space for them to float around, they should be fine. The pokédex doesn’t indicate that they have any other particular environmental needs. In fact, the pokédex doesn’t give us very much information about this pokémon in general, aside from their diet.

Munna have a documented history of living alongside humans (a distinct plus) in a, for the most part, symbiotic relationship (Black2/White2, X, Omega Ruby, Sword). As mentioned at the top of this post, munna feed on the dreams of humans and other pokémon. This means that feeding them is essentially free for most owners! As I have mentioned in other posts about dream-eating pokémon, this could certainly have therapeutic use as well, especially for those who struggle with nightmares. While munna can eat both good dreams and bad dreams, they seem to be particularly drawn to humans who are having nightmares (Black2/White2, X, Omega Ruby). There is, of course, a payoff here: if you allow a munna to eat all your dreams, good and bad, you won’t be able to remember the good ones (Black). Otherwise, though, this seems like it is hardly an inconvenience. The only byproduct of this dream-consumption, it seems, is colored mist, the color of which is determined by the type of dream consumed. (White, Y, Alpha Sapphire, Shield, Legends: Z-A).

Some of you may be concerned about a particular detail which I have thus far neglected to address: the move Dream Eater, which munna can learn, is a damage-dealing move. Does this mean that munna harm humans when they eat their dreams? I don’t think so. Given the neutral to positive tone of pokédex entries describing this Pokémon’s behavior, I am inclined to believe that the damage-dealing effect of Dream Eater is elective, not inherent. That doesn’t mean, however, that we can discount it entirely: gibbing a munna free access to your dreams carries with it the risk of an attack in your sleep. This, combined with potentially dangerous sleep-inducing moves like Hypnosis, makes munna rather dangerous if left untrained. I would argue that a munna could be an excellent low-maintenance, therapeutic pet, provided they have been trained to do so.

This is actually a pretty simple one, fitting for a purely Normal-Type pokémon. Aside from their size, which may be larger than one would expect, a smeargle could make a good pet for someone who knows what to expect from their behavior.

As I mentioned above, smeargles may actually be quite a bit larger than you would expect, standing at nearly four feet tall and weighing nearly one-hundred-and-thirty pounds. This definitely places them on the larger end of house pets, and would make them pretty difficult to transport without the use of a pokéball, meaning that you will need to invest in a lot of training. Thankfully, these pokémon don’t really have any particular habitat needs, so they should be alright living inside otherwise. However, the kind of indoor space where you live matters a lot…

Smeargles are best known for their artistic behavior, generating a “mysterious” fluid from their tails with which they mark their territory (Gold, Ruby/Sapphire, Emerald, LeafGreen, Diamond/Pearl/Platinum, HeartGold, Black/White, Black2/White2, X, OmegaRuby/AlphaSapphire, Sun, Moon, Ultra Moon, BrilliantDiamond/ShiningPearl). These marks are highly individualistic, with each smeargle even generating their own color (Crystal, Violet). There are benefits and drawbacks of this behavior, which is probably pretty obvious. On a positive note, this behavior provides a unique way to determine if your smeargle is in distress: when a smeargle’s emotions change, the intensity of the hue of their paint does as well (Ultra Sun). This means that if you notice your smeargle’s marks changing hue rapidly, it might be a good idea to check on them as their heightened emotions may be the result of distress. The drawback is a lot more obvious: if you have a smeargle, their graffiti is simply going to be everywhere. This may be counter-balanced through careful training to establish an area that is specifically okay for them to paint in, but not every owner will be able to provide this dedicated space. If you rent your home, a smeargle would certainly not be the best option for you.

Thankfully, these pokémon aren’t very dangerous at all. Smeargles are only capable of using one move from birth, Sketch. This move alone poses no threat to humans: rather, it allows a smeargle to learn any one pokémon move that they witness, which they can then use whenever they want. This is where responsible adoption practices come in. If you are adopting a smeargle, you will want to check with the rescue you are adopting from to see if the pokémon has already used Sketch on a relatively harmless or even beneficial move. If they have not, you will definitely want to introduce them to t a trusted pokémon who knows such moves, in order to replace Sketch with a safe option. If a smeargle has already learned a dangerous or life-threatening move, you should only adopt them if you have the means to do so safely, otherwise they should be cared for by a professional. As long as you go about adopting a smeargle safely, you shouldn’t have any safety issues to contend with.