#prof. bramble

Actually, in a way, its both!

Appletun actually sheds the ‘skin’ on its back near constantly, as well as secrete a rather sweet ‘nectar’! Both of these are edible, and rather sweet. In the wild, they’re sometimes picked off by larger Pokemon who catch an Appletun, but more often its a way to lure in Bug Pokemon for Appletun to eat; despite how they look, they’re largely carnivorous!

However, the Appletun itself is... Not exactly edible. This is because most of the Bug Type Pokemon it lives off of are poisonous, and it absorbs that into itself. So while you could in theory eat it, it’ll just make you sick.

Most likely you heard one of the local tales though! There’s a rather interesting story about an Applin and its Trainer, from before we were actually ‘Trainers’ at all! I don’t remember the specifics well, but the summary of it is that the Trainer keeps the Applin and even when they run out of food, the Trainer feeds it the sweetest apple she could find. In turn, the Applin changes itself in a way that makes food for the Trainer, and they make it through the famine. If I remember correctly, depending on the region you’re in, they phrase the ending as something akin to, “And the Appletun was born, and the Appletun gave its flesh for their survival.”

...Don’t quote me on that though, its only a rough translation and its been a while since I heard that story in particular.

To answer your question though, its never been popular to eat Appletuns themselves, but it is rather common to eat Appletun products, such as Crisps, Nectar, and Gateau Tann, which requires both the shed ‘skin’ and nectar to create!

Hmm, well... It’s uncommon, but not abnormal, I’d say. If it becomes an obsession, it can become a problem, or indicate an issue. But if they’re just mimicking it, then I’d say it’s probably fine. If you’re worried, you can always take them to the PokeCenter and get a second opinion, of course!

But if you’re worried for their safety... Well, there are a few things you could do.

Option number one is that you convince Sobble to stop, or get Infernape to not practice Flame Charge around your Sobble. This can be a bit of a rough thing to do, and doesn’t always work, but usually you can work something out.

Option number two is to let it continue, but supervise them! You can give your Sobble an Item to hold that keeps it safer from Fire Type moves, and keep potions and fire extinguishers on hand, for example! You can have a chat with both Pokemon about being safe, even.

The thing to remember is that while its rather rare, Sobble can actually learn Fire Type moves! It can be Variant related, but it is also sometimes just... Possible for them to learn. This can be because they had a Fire Type relative somewhere in the past, but it also can be completely unrelated to that.

Most Pokemon can learn all move Types, though its seldom that they will. Obvious exceptions being some Flying Type moves, though I’ve heard some ways around that for particularly determined trainers and their Pokemon. Just because its rather rare doesn’t mean its completely impossible. Fire Type Pokemon generally avoid Water Type moves due to fear, but its not impossible for them to learn! They’re just predisposed towards other Types, and so very few even have the interest to learn them. In fact, most Pokemon that are asked to learn a Move outside of what they’re comfortable with will flat out refuse, which is why so many people think its impossible.

Your Sobble very well may be able to learn Flame Charge! It’s also possible that they may learn a Water or similar Type move that mimics Flame Charge! You can prevent it, if you wanted, or you can encourage it and just make sure they’re safe. There’s benefits to each option, and I can’t tell you which choice to make. You know your Pokemon the best, after all.

Of course!

I’ll admit, this took a bit of thinking; partially because I was determined at first to find you an Eevee. They’re so adaptable, I figured that would yield the best match up.

However, none of the variant Eevee I have currently would work; they’re either too tense and vocal, so easygoing they wouldn’t help you with time, or have a high chase drive; that is to say, they’d scare off the Pokemon you’re trying to photograph!

After I realised this however, it hit me rather quickly that I actually have a Pokemon that would suit you just fine. Or, I think I do, anyways!

Anyone who’s met a Skiddo knows, they’re easygoing, friendly Pokemon, who don’t require food provided they receive enough sunlight.

And anyone who’s owned a Skiddo knows, they’re also very in tune with their Trainers. They’ll learn a schedule within just a few days and stick to it, to the point of pushing you out the door; literally!

They’re a friendly, active Pokemon who enjoy being outdoors, and this one is no exception! Though she may be quieter than some of her counterparts, don’t take that to mean that she isn’t ready to go out there and play; she’s just a bit pickier about when, and with whom!

Her autumnal coloring is permanent, which would likely make her near invisible in forests and fields at any time of year, between the autumn leaves, and leaf litter on the ground year round. It might be a bit more difficult if you plan on going somewhere snowy, but I’ve found that she rather enjoys the cold weather as well, and likes to hide in snow banks. Just be careful you don’t lose her in one!

Her roses do fall off, and make an excellent tea. Her leaves, however, do need to be trimmed twice a year, though you can trim them as short as you want; just be sure to not remove them all, since she needs them to get nutrients from the sun. The good news? Her leaves are edible, much like Appletun’s shed ‘Crisps’, and make a nutritious snack if you forget to pack yourself a meal!

And some more good news; her previous owner spent a lot of time traveling with her, and got her registered in most of the larger open Regions. I’ll be sending the certification and card over alongside her. But this means you won’t have to go through any of those tedious processes before you two head off traveling.

I hope that you two enjoy eachother, and she helps to remind you to eat and keep a working schedule!

That depends on you, I think! The Gastly line is often saved for people who know a bit more about Pokemon, but then again, most Ghost Pokemon are. Personally, if someone is willing to put in the effort, I don’t see why their first Pokemon couldn’t be a Gastly, or even something only for ‘experienced’ trainers, like a rare Roselia.

But that’s beside the point, sorry. You said you were looking for decent Ghost Type starting Pokemon to raise along with your Gengar, right?

Right away my mind goes to the Drifloon line. They’re relatively gentle and don’t need much extra handling, though obviously you still have to train them. Rotom are also a decent start; Almost everyone has one now with RotomPhones and the like anyways!

But you said you wanted to try caring for one from the start, and have already gotten a Gengar! So I think we can try something that’s a bit more difficult, no?

Litwick is a good middle ground, I think, as well as Phantump, or Pumpkaboo. They all are rather childish and will allow you to really understand young Ghost-Type Pokemon’s needs, without making it unnecessarily difficult on you. They’re still mischievous as most Ghost Type Pokemon, but tend to have a bit softer personalities, meaning you’ll likely have to be rather gentle with them, like you may a child.

Sinistea is also a fun one, if you like doing calmer activities with your Pokemon. Or, if you prefer something more active, the Dreepy line may be more your type!

Ah, those.

To start, I’d like to say a disclaimer; Fossil Pokemon in general are rather important for research regarding long-term evolutionary lines, extinction events, and current extinctions. I think, were these Pokemon revived with their correct halves, I would have no problem with them. Now, that’s a controversial subject in of itself, but I wanted to make my general stance clear; I approve of Fossil Pokemon being revived and recreated, as long as it’s done correctly, and monitored closely. (The fact that they seem fine giving some Fossil Pokemon to new trainers is a bit of an issue, but a separate enough one for now)

However, the Galar Fossil Pokemon are... Well, they’re not only pieced together from different species, but different egg groups, and, in at least one case I’ve seen, with parts put together completely wrong. (In case you’re wondering which of these specifically I'm referring to, its the one with the exposed abdomen that seems to be called Dracovish. That’s absolutely the worst one.)

Now, this is, in part, interesting to me scientifically speaking. Which is to say, the fact that these Pokemon are somehow able to be merged with any sort of survival rate is unexpected. The fact is, realistically, this is a bit like sewing a Magikarp’s head to the back end of a Sceptile, and it actually working, in that the Pokemon pieces that were sewn together actually survive; and not just for a few moments, but actually what seems to be a minimum of weeks, if not months. (This is a fairly recent thing that’s happening, and to the best of my knowledge, none of them have actually died yet) That is, personally, fascinating.

And that’s the problem, I think. This 'Professor’, and I do hesitate to call her a Professor, did not look at this and realise there was any sort of problem. Accidents can and do happen, and occasionally things like this just... Occur. Not on purpose, but mix ups can and do happen, and I can’t fault that. But continuing on, or doing so on purpose... There is a point where your ethics and morals must kick in, and hers have not.

The only excuse I could see here would be if any of those Pokemon could or were thriving, but the problem there is this; We don’t know what those Pokemon look like or act like normally. There is no way we can actually tell if these are in pain or if their behavior is normal, because there is no baseline. Even if, best case scenario, they were doing fine, this would still be unethical simply because we cannot Prove this. There’s no knowledge to be gained here because there is no preexisting background to base our theories or conclusions off of, and thus they cannot be accepted as accurate. That means the only possible reason for doing this is simply because ‘we can’ or ‘we have the power to’, which is, in my opinion, not acceptable. If we aren’t doing something for the betterment of Pokemon, their care, or the safety and health of others, then I cannot condone any suffering, or the possibility of it. That price is, in my opinion, too high of one to have a payoff that is not drastically beneficial to at least one species.

I… I don’t like the phrasing here.

But as there’s no Rowlet in my Lab causing chaos and mayhem, I’m going to pretend I trust you. I hope that my Lab continues to stay Rowlet free.

Now. It should be noted that because Rowlet stores energy during the day, I’d assume that this accident might happen during the night. In which case, the Rowlet would have an excess of energy… Oh, about three minutes past eating the sugar cubes? They’re small and process food energy rather quickly, after all.

A thing to remember here is that while many people think sugar makes you hyper, it doesn’t, it simply gives you immediate energy, unlike protein, which takes longer to break down and thus gives you energy throughout the day. In some Pokemon, however, they break sugars down so quickly it can actually seem like its making them hyper! So while the process is different between a ‘sugar high’ and what you might think of when I say sugar high, it would be functionally the same. A quick, sudden burst of hyperactivity, followed by the normal energy usage the Pokemon might normally go through. Generally this could mean anything from using Moves at random to use up its excess energy, to spending the entire time very focused on grooming its feathers.

If we were to talk about things you should absolutely not feed a Rowlet, for fear of a longer amount of hyperactivity… There are actually some Bug flavored treats out there, and a good number of them are specifically targeted towards Trainers who need that extra bit of energy, or are going long distances with their Pokemon. Think energy bars!

There’s a certain brand I personally would avoid because of how hyped they can make Pokemon, unless you plan on doing something intensive, called Mach Bars. They were created to help Fighting Type Trainers have intensive workouts with their Pokemon buddies, and have a good mix of easy and hard to digest energy sources.

Hmmm… I think I have a good idea of who might suit you then.

How do you feel about Miltank?

This buddy is a fire-type variant! While they’re not common by any means, there is one place I know of that has exclusively this variation, due to the fact that their milk tastes spiced! It makes for very flavorful hot cocoa with a bit of a bite, and goes wonderfully with cookies. If you want to bake with it, the flavors really shine through, due to them growing stronger with heat, and you can even make cakes with only their milk as flavoring.

They’re a bit hotheaded, so they need a Trainer who’s really dedicated to them, but are easily distracted from their anger, and become extremely loyal to their Trainers. This means Trading them can be particularly harsh on them, though.

They’re well adapted for both cold and hot climates, with fur that insulates them and keeps their bodies at a toasty 130F, or 54C, which also makes them great to hug in the winter. And don’t worry; that’s not a flame on their tail, so they won’t be setting your furniture on fire! Though they can learn fire-type moves, so be careful when training!

They do indeed! Now, I don’t have first hand experience with Support or Service Pokemon for Maladaptive Daydreaming, but I’m sure that there are Psychic Type Pokemon that can be taught to help with it! Pokemon have such a wide range of abilities and ways to help out, and it wouldn’t surprise me at all.

Dissociation however I know there are ways Pokemon can help with that! Some can help snap you out of a Dissociative state, for example, by providing tactile stimulation, deep pressure therapy (Wander does this!), or certain noises, such as mimicking songs or voices. I’ve heard of a few people who use Psychic Pokemon to help get them out of that state, but I’ve heard it can be rather hit or miss, and many people don’t exactly enjoy their Pokemon poking around their heads.

Another way they can help is to lead you to somewhere safe, and try to keep you there until it passes, or someone can get you. This can sometimes be a preventative task, for Pokemon who can tell that the state is coming on, but often is more reactionary, to keep you safe and prevent you from... Well, accidentally injuring yourself, or getting lost!

When you’re wondering if a Pokemon can help you with something, the answer is usually yes! But you have to break the issue down into smaller tasks. For example, my anxiety can’t be cured by Pokemon, but they can help mitigate some of the specific issues, such as stopping myself from injuring myself when I’m in a panic! So, if you can break your problem down into smaller issues, you generally will have an easier time knowing if there’s something a Support or Service Pokemon can help you with!