Professor Wei Gingko

Pokemon Archaeologist and Head Honcho at West of Wyndon Pokemon Sanctuary //[Pokemon world Ask/RP blog]

[pokefossilclub]

Hi everyone!

My name is Professor Wei Gingko, and I'm here to- well, okay, I'm here because I kept getting into fights on Twitter so I've lost posting privileges on the Sanctuary account. But I'm also here to provide knowledge about Pokemon and answer your questions! I'm a certified Pokemon Professor, though I don't currently work as one; I run a Pokemon Sanctuary specialising in Fossil Pokemon, unusual cases, and smuggled 'mons, and I'm also an archaeologist and historian!

PLEASE refer to the Blog Infomatics post and the FAQ post before sending your asks!

Looking forward to hearing from everyone!

ASK BOX OPEN FOR: Pokemon fun facts; pokemon care advice; personal questions; ghost story requests

[pokefossilclub]

Heyyy I sent an ask for advice to the lovenpeace blog about my Thievul who just doesn't wanna mate (they told me to ask others). pleeeaaase can you help me deal with my extremely picky possibly lesbian fox please 🙏😭I tried putting a cute bow on the head of a male Delphox to make her think it's a female. I'm desperate

Well, this is certainly the first ask of this type I've ever got!

I'm no kind of expert on breeding- I run a rescue, not a Nursery, breeding does go on here but not on a large scale and we have people better equipped than me to handle it- but I might be able to help!

We should start with one question! One very important question!

Why do you want to breed from your Thievul specifically so badly?? It doesn't seem like she has any real urge to do so, if she's so determined to reject every partner you've given her!

Thievul are a very independent species, who do not generally live in significantly large groups; they do, however, pair up for the duration of producing and raising their litters. As such, Thievuls of both genders can be extremely picky- as you said- about mates, even when mating with other species of Pokemon! After all, they are expecting their mates to help support them and their offspring for some months before the kits are able to leave! Given that their natural hunting behaviour is extremely stealthy and careful, it is doubly important for the chosen mate to be competent at it, as if they hunt as a pair a failure of one almost inevitably means failure for the other as well. Humans can take the place of the mate in this kit-rearing season- which is largely how matings between Thievuls and other species who do not engage in dedicated parenting behaviour in the same way are arranged- but the human must be a deeply trusted figure for this to work.

It seems to me that if you have failed so completely in finding a mate your Thievul approves of, you have not been taking proper note of what it is she actually wants! Either you are providing mates who are not her type in the slightest, or you are attempting to force her to breed when she does not wish to. And if either of these things are true, it is no wonder that she is not willing to let you stand in as her mate when she rears her litter!

So perhaps instead of putting bows on Delphoxes- what difference would that make, in any case?- please instead put that effort into working out what exactly your Thievul wants and providing it to her.

[pokefossilclub]

Professor! Am the Dreepy mf!

Are Octillery smart?

Ah, Octillery! I've not had a lot of experience working directly with them, but they're relatively common here in Galar, so I've met a few!

In some aspects Octillery are very smart indeed! In others... perhaps less so! They are quite specialised for their ecological niches!

The thing they are absolutely the most smart about is getting in and out of places!

They are adapted to hide in all kinds of nooks and crannies, and they don't really care whether or not humans or other Pokemon want them in there! Small spaces don't concern them at all, as they have really nothing in the way of bones or hard internal materials to be worrying about: even their famous 'rock hard heads' are actually just a product of them being able to inflate a special sac in their heads with water, and thus most of the time they're as squishy as the rest of them! And while just being able to fit through small spaces has nothing to do with smarts, Octillery have definitely being recorded using this to their advantage to solve puzzles that would be a lot harder otherwise! They are in general extremely good at finding their ways through things designed to keep them out, to the extent that a lot of frustrated people who work with water pipes swear they're getting into the systems on purpose to be annoying. But the most common reason is simply that they love to be in caves and nooks and niches, so they can lie in wait for their prey and ambush it with their tentacles! It also provides a safe place from 'mons that want to eat them, as it is much easier to spray ink from a hole and then vanish further back into said hole than it is to get away in the open!

Things they are not smart about... well. They are very stubborn, and don't tend to work well with other Pokemon, not even other Octillery! They will attempt to eject any other 'mon they find in a hole they want even if it's going to get them in trouble, or would be more to their advantage to share. And although they do generally know when to give up a fight, they almost invariably try fighting first and fleeing second. Even a well-trained and affectionate Octillery will attempt to fight its trainers hand if they reach into the nook where it's sleeping unexpectedly!

[lovenpeace-pkmn]

...Could you reblog this post if you are someone who accepts asks about Pokémon care, behavior, and biology? It would be nice to know where to send people who are looking for information on those things.

[pokefossilclub]

Dreepy mf here!! Was the one that got the Tyrantrum!! They're doing fine btw hehe. Thanks for the advice!!

So I've been dealing with a couple of things that are more tied to my sort of depression and mental problems. Been hearing a couple of people say that Psychic types, especially Gardevoir, help in like soothing their trainees whenever they sleep or whatnot??

I'm not saying I wanna get a Gardevoir for this reason alone, nor do I wanna get a psychic type just for soothing my nightmares and instead giving me somewhat of a better sleep (most of my Pokemon already know this of me and have helped me tremendously), but, coming from a professor such as yourself, is there any validity in psychic types being able to alter the chemicals within our brains to allow us to have better sleep?

Oh, I am glad to hear that the Tyrantrum is doing well! They can be just big softies if you treat them right!

As for Psychic types and sleep! Well, I'm no sleep expert (some might say i consume too much caffeine to be anything close!) but it is true that various- well-trained!- Psychic types can and have been used for inducing sleep and reducing nightmares!

Gardevoir was probably brought up because the line bonds very tightly to their trainers and are deeply empathetic, meaning they are quick to pick up on disturbances and will do their best to soothe them- and they're very popular! However they have no innate ability I am aware of to directly control sleep or dreams, nor human brains in general. The obvious lines for sleep specifically are the Drowzee line and the Munna line!

The Drowzee line gets a lot of bad press, and Drowzee specifically is not a particularly good pick if your trouble is nightmares, as they prefer to eat good dreams and bad dreams can even make them sick! But Hypno does not have that problem, and is extremely efficient at putting people to sleep; clinics in Alola pioneered their use in difficult insomnia cases with a great deal of success! There has been less research into specifically their dream eating, and this may be because the Munna line fills that niche and does not have the same (almost entirely undeserved) bad press!

The Munna line does not per se put you to sleep- unless you find the presence of a sleepy, cuddly, adorable little pink thing soporific, which I can say from experience works better than you might think!- but they excel at consuming dreams both good and bad, and Musharna can even replay these dreams, which I believe has been trialed as a form of therapy- as in, replaying the dreams in a safe environment for analysis of what may be causing them or contributing to their imagery. Some people have reported that Munna who eat primarily bad dreams become more aggressive and less friendly, but this had not been fully confirmed in a scientific setting to my knowledge. Others have reported experiencing lingering confusion and derealization after waking from Munna-line influenced sleep, and some find the experience of remembering absolutely nothing of their dreams, not even vague impressions, unsettling and uncomfortable, so it may not be for everyone!

Even outside of the sleep-specific abilities these lines have, however, Psychic types who excel at emotions- such as Indeedee- can also play a role simply by reducing stress, as reduced stress means better sleep! And it is a fact that, as you have so happily found with your own existing Pokemon, that having any Pokemon who is well-trained and well-bonded and loves you can be helpful in making you feel better!

[pokefossilclub]

Dreepy man!

I have a niece that's just getting into Pokemon caretaking, and just like her big ol business father, she enjoys battling a lil too much.

I think seeing her peer's evolved Pokemon made her overextend herself forcefully? Instead of letting evolution come "naturally", she's trying to force her Pokemon to evolve faster than expected.

What I'm wanting is to get her to stop this method as forced evolution can be seen as a form of betrayal? At least to me, growing up way too fast isn't the healthiest way to perceive the world. But, like most kids, she is stubborn.

So I wanted to ask a professional professor (you) what evolution represents in Pokemon. Whether they represent growing up with age, a new proper body that is fit for their higher echelon of power, or maybe something else. Or is it more of a case by case basis?

Really, I feel like she needs a professional to tell her what's up cause when her family says it, I feel like it for her perspective, it feels like everyone is looking down on her, while in reality all we want is to cherish the moments she has with her Pokemon, not trying to grow up too fast, like how sometimes we as adults kinda had to, for reasons more than one.

Ah! Perhaps naturally, but very unfortunately from an adult's point of view, it is in fact very common for youngsters to want both their Pokemon and their own selves to grow up far too fast!

It most certainly is not worth it, however!

It can be very easy to look at a Pokemon and the way they evolve, and see only a smaller and weaker creature becoming bigger and stronger in one exciting moment! And when you are stuck in your own human body, which grows at its own slow pace and absolutely will not be hurried up no matter how much you would like it to be, this is very attractive! When I was a child I too wished I could simply find a special stone, or meet a particular development criteria, and transform magically into a fully functional adult without having to do stupid things like 'puberty' or 'school'!

But the thing is, even Pokemon grow like humans do! If you look at a Zigzagoon that has been a mature Zigzagoon for years, it will look different than one that is only a few months into its maturity! Not as different as between a Zigzagoon and a Linoone or even an Obstagoon of course, but it will be bigger, with more developed muscles, rougher fur, and longer, harder nails. All these things are things that make it better at being a Zigzagoon! And a Zigzagoon that is good at being a Zigzagoon will, once it has adjusted, be good at being a Linoone!

And why is that? Well, one thing a lot of people forget is that, even in very dramatic evolutions, that is not a whole new body for the evolving Pokemon! It is the same body they had before, just altered! A Pokemon that has had time to grow into its body, to become good at using it in its previous form, will find it much easier to learn to use its altered, evolved body, no matter how many new limbs it has!

After all, imagine a little toddler who has only just learned to walk suddenly being given an adult body to move around! They would have an awful lot of trouble with that!

The thing is, if you wish to battle a Pokemon, they have to learn to do a lot of different things. They have to learn to use different moves in different situations, to dodge other attacks, to recover quickly from being hit by attacks, to know when to hold their ground and when to advance or retreat even if their trainer isn't telling them every little detail. All of these things are much easier to do when they have a good grasp on how their bodies work! Base form Pokemon have less raw power to work with, so they are less likely to hurt themselves or others in the process of learning how to channel their abilities!

And... being young is the time for learning! Pokemon, like humans, have brains that absorb knowledge like little sponges when they are young! You may think this contradicts what I said earlier- after all, wouldn't then it be easier for a young Pokemon to learn to use its new body? - but in actuality that is such a big task that it distracts from learning the other important things, like how to be a good friend to its teammates and trainer, and how to battle effectively! You will have to help a newly evolved Pokemon learn how to battle in new ways in any case; it is a lot easier to do so if they have already learned the basics!

In summary: the way to get a good battling Pokemon, a Pokemon that can help you all the way through the Gym Challenge if you choose to take it on, or through Contest battles, or even with Ranger training, is not to rush straight away to the evolution with the most power that the Pokemon will then struggle greatly to know how to use, but to let them learn and grow in their own time, and learn exactly how battling works for them, before you introduce a different body and more raw power! Less power, wielded effectively, can beat more power wielded without skill any day!

[pokefossilclub]

Dreepy mf has returned!!!

Ummm... ummm... do you know how to take care of a Tyrantrum??? Someone left it and it's PokeBall at my doorstep. I made sure that they didn't put it at the wrong door but no one knew of the situation too so I have to assume I am supposed to raise one???

I have no idea how to raise it and earn it's trust as it's a lot more nimble and gracile, more than what I had expected from its more bulkier body. Given I raise a dreepy, Torterra, and mons that aren't particularly fast, how do I allow it to live it's life happily?

Or live it's life as best as I can allow it to have?

It's got the personality of a young Growlithe so I have no idea if it sees me as it's actual trainer or more of a friend??? I am so confused at my predicament.

Hello again! And goodness me, what a situation to end up in! A Tyrantrum is certainly not the Pokemon I would choose to have randomly dropped on my doorstep, and I have a degree in Fossil Pokemon care and have worked closely with the Tyrunt line many times before!

I do commend you for being willing to work to give your new friend the best quality of life, because unfortunately it will likely be a bit of a learning curve! However, you have already learned one of the key lessons: that despite their size, they can move quickly and with surprising nimbleness! As well as this, the fact that it has what you describe as essentially a puppy Pokemon personality also points to it having been raised around humans, probably from hatching, and this is most certainly a point in your favour; when raised away from humans, both Tyrunt and Tyrantrum can be extremely wary and aggressive. And I think you'll agree that is not what you want from a companion of such size and power! My suspicion is perhaps a trainer revived a Tyrunt, trained it very quickly into evolution, and then discovered that said rapid training did not give the poor 'mon the grounding it needed to be a competent battler in its evolved form- and that if even a Tyrunt can accidentally hurt you badly with clumsy play, the risk is far, far higher with a Tyrantrum!

So, my first advice is quite simple: remember that your new friend probably does not know their own strength, and begin training them to understand better immediately!

It is also important that you train them to respect your other Pokemon! The Tyrunt line is notorious for being rather demanding of their trainer's time and energy and jealous when that time and energy is given to others, and will default to attempting to overpower these rivals physically, which can lead to harm to both. You have no way of knowing how well their previous trainer dealt with this, so you must essentially start from the beginning! If you aren't sure if they see you as a trainer or a friend, this muddies the water in a way that will confuse both of you, and I would say that in this circumstance it is better to aim for trainer first and friend second- not because I advocate in any way for treating Pokemon without affection, but because a Tyrantrum is far more likely to listen to a human established as an authority figure than one who is simply a source of only nice things! In the wild- or as close to the wild as revived fossils get- they seem to maintain a strict dominance hierarchy amid individuals with adjacent territories, and while no human could possibly attempt to establish dominance in the way another Tyrantrum could, there are plenty of other ways to gain respect!

The third important thing to teach them is that not everyone who comes into your space is a territory invader who needs to be threatened. This should go along with teaching the previous two things quite neatly!

More generally, Tyrantrum require a large space to exercise in, but most of the time will exercise in short, intense bursts interspersed with longer rest periods where they sleep, play more lazily, or slowly patrol their territory. They are not massively clever, but enjoy simple, robust enrichment toys like a large, tough ball with food hidden inside, and the majority of them take immensely well to battle training with a trainer they trust and respect. They love to sunbathe and dust bathe, do not like the rain or snow (to avoid having to keep them in their ball through all inclement weather, it is best to provide a large outdoor shelter for them), and in my experience I have never met one who does not adore being scrubbed down with a firm, dry brush! And as you may well have already discovered, they can be exceedingly affectionate with those they like!

Good luck!

[pokefossilclub]

(@zoruascanbetrainerstoo) Hihi. I'm reallyreally scared. I met a reallyreally weird woman named Cara Liss on Galar Route 6 who said she could revive fossils if I gave her two of them, and I gave her a Plume fossil and a Sail fossil, but there's only one revived Pokemon, an Archen-Amaura, and they're in a lot of pain and I don't know how to help them. -Illanero

Oh dear! Such a shame she hasn't been caught or at least chased away in your universe yet! Of course she hasn't been caught in mine either, but one of these days-

Anyway you are clearly upset and now is not the time for my own vendettas!

I understand that this must have come as a great shock to you! It still comes as a shock to people, seeing the fossils as they are! But I want to assure you that all is not lost!

Your new friend may well be in a lot of pain right now, but odds are good they will not be forever! The initial revivification process can be a shock to the system even for normally revived fossils- after all, they are coming to life in a very different place and in a very brand-new body, and the adjustment can take them a while! For the chimerical fossils, it unsurprisingly can take their minds and bodies much longer to adjust to things!

The good news is that if they were not capable of living without severe medical intervention, this would have been obvious very quickly! They very likely would not have successfully revived at all!

I admit to have not worked with a Plume-Sail fossil chimera personally before- they do not occur naturally in Galar, and if anyone in my universe used out-of-region fossils in Liss' 'machine' they did not turn the resulting Pokemon in to any authorities or even register it properly (a great shame). However, I can try my best to give you some pointers regardless!

The most important aspect is to discover where your new friend's 'weak points' are, and act to solve those first! Many chimeras need attention to diet, as they are often revived from fossils which had different dietary needs; the Archen line are primarily insectivores and the Amaura line are primarily herbivores, so there may be conflict there, but the Archen line can also freely digest many kinds of fruits, so it may be easily resolved! They may also struggle with movement; while Archen can only glide, rather than fly, until they evolve, Amaura obvious cannot achieve the air at all and are therefore built very differently, which could result in difficulty getting around depending on which features are prominent in the chimera. Amaura also spend their lives entirely on the ground whereas Archen climb! Finding ways to balance these needs and requirements physically and-no less importantly- psychologically is why identifying them so early is so important!

These two problems are not the only ones that could crop up, of course, but they are the most common. Sometimes it can be very difficult to work out what is a major vs a minor problem, of course, especially when everything is emotionally overwhelming, so I advise trying to identify problems with the digestive system, the endocrine system (hormones!), or mobility first; these are places where unsolved problems can cause a lot of difficulty! Once you have identified and solved- to the best of your ability- the major problems, you can work on any minor ones. It may be that your new friend can solve their own minor problems if the major ones are worked out, even! Pokemon are very resourceful.

Remember: revived Pokemon are not the creatures who were fossilled millions of years ago, they are only their clones! Your new friend does not remember or mourn being two different creatures so long ago; this is the only body they have ever known, and they will get to know it far more intimately than you as an outsider ever will! If they are provided with the tools they require to have their biological and psychological needs met, they are as capable as any 'normal' fossil of living a long and fulfilling life! After all, even a perfectly averagely revived Archen will still be dealing with a world very different than the one they evolved to live in, and would require aid that a modern Pokemon does not.

It is also, I may add, counterproductive to blame yourself for their predicament! Liss offered a service that seemed appealing to many people, especially people without an in-depth knowledge of the fossil revival process, and you were not and could not be fully informed in your decisionmaking. You made a mistake; she made a career out of lying to people and wielding scientific knowledge in a way that was, at best, deeply irresponsible.

[pokefossilclub]

Dreepy man is back!!

Hey man!! Just arrived at my parent's place for like a week and wanted to ask you something. Are... are crossbreeds a thing?

I say this because ummm, there's a Boufallant... with Tauros' three-tail.

Hello there! Always great to hear from you!

And say hello to your crossbreed for me too, because they do happen! You can't really expect to breed two different species and not have a little bit of crossover after all!

Pokemon always have variation in their appearances, and a lot of times whatever it is can be affected by their lineage! Usually this is a matter of coat patterns, eye colour, shape of certain appendages and so on- small details that change while maintaining the general body pattern of the mother's species. But it's not so uncommon for larger, more obvious aspects, like tails, to pass down almost whole! This seems to be more common in Pokemon species that have very similar body plans to each other- like, say, Bouffalant and Tauros! Which is perhaps why people are often surprised by how often it can happen- it isn't necessarily hugely obvious! The vast majority of these special little guys live completely normal lives and breed completely normal offspring of their own, although sometimes they will pass down their unique trait- this is theorised in some circles to be part of the development of regional variants!

What is often called 'true' crossbreeds, or hybrids- Pokemon where the bodyplans of the two different parental species are mixed in the offspring to the extent that it is not obviously either one or the other, or the mother's species' bodyplan is significantly changed to the extent of majorly altering things like behaviour, required habitat etcetera- are much rarer, but they also happen! They usually survive better under human care, as it is much easier then to make sure their own unique requirements are being met, but provided this is the case it is more common for them to thrive than not!

Unfortunately however for the many people who would love to breed a new species of Pokemon, or an exciting new battle or contest variant, they are also almost always sterile!

[pokefossilclub]

Hey! Dreepy man! Thanks so much for the help!

I am nearing my travelling date back home, so I wanted to ask for ideas on what Pokemon I should get for my second brother.

He used to be a photographer and used to travel the world, but now he's an editor for a channel and last time I heard he wasn't... doing so well mentally. In that he doesn't necessarily take care of himself that well. He barely goes outside and he's mainly editing for the company that he's working for. So I wanted to at least give a Pokemon that'll give him at least some boost in morale.

I'm not sure on where to start, but I do know it needs to be one of those pokemon that will only tolerate one person and ONLY one person (in our home we have a ranch of Pokemon but our parents are taking care of em, not my brother), I want a Pokemon that will only depend on my brother, forcing him to get out of his room and enrich the Pokemon. I honestly might get him an egg so it can imprint onto my brother if that's the case?

I also don't necessarily want something... too demanding, something that he'll reject completely from the get-go from how hard it is to take care of so... any thoughts on what Pokemon I should get him?

Oh, I'm sorry to hear about your brother's struggles! Having a Pokemon to look after has been well-proved to help with motivation and 'getting out there', but you're right that not just any will do!

I would be perhaps wary of getting him an egg, I'm afraid, simply because if you are afraid of him deciding caring for a Pokemon is too much effort, well, freshly-hatched Pokemon require more care than an already mature individual, and an egg as an object can be harder to bond with directly than a creature with a face that can easily respond to you, so it runs the risk that he could decide to get rid of it before it hatches and he bonds! A younger Pokemon in general, however, may be a fine idea.

If you think your brother would appreciate something cute, a Vulpix could be a good option- either Kantonian or Alolan, depending on if he prefers warm or cold! They are cuddly, intelligent creatures who bond tightly with trainers, and they require regular exercise and benefit greatly from socialisation- but their care needs are not too complex, they are popular enough both as battling Pokemon and as pets that food and equipment for them is easily accessible, and they are unlikely to be so clingy that receiving care from others when necessary would be difficult. Skitty would be another similar option, without having to do any Fire-type proofing or minimise cuddles in cold weather- the Normal-type is popular as pets for a reason! However they are very high-energy, and if your brother struggles with that he may find it more annoying than endearing! Delcatty, their evolved form, would remove that potential problem, but if not bonded with early or as a Skitty they can be very independent in a way that could be counterproductive.

Should your brother not appreciate cute so much, or prefer something more unusual, I could suggest Shuppet. They are emotivores, meaning they eat emotions, usually negative ones, and it has been reported that this can help people suffering from mental illness get a better grip on emotions that could otherwise be overwhelming. They are also very sweet and social, and do not require very much bodily care, being Ghost-types. However, they may not get him out much, and if too many Shuppet feed on one singular person, that person's emotions can easily be deadened beyond what is helpful. Another non-overtly-cute option might be a Steel-type such as Klefki or Klink. Klefki are surprisingly social and intelligent little creatures, and he might find interest in collecting keys for them to keep. Klink are, despite their appearances, very curious, and love to find new things and places to interact with, trying to fit themselves and various objects into and around each other! Steel-type care is not always intuitive to newcomers, given many of them are not mammals like humans are, but there are plenty of guides out there (I can give recommendations if requested) and, at least for the two I've named, is really not that complicated!

I wish your brother good recovery from his mental health diffculties, and I hope this gives you a notion what might help him out!

[pokefossilclub]

Hey! Dreepy guy back!

Wanted to ask, is it alright if I carry more than 6 Pokemon just in general? Like if I'm not battling, can I carry more than 6? Because I'm aware that if you need to battle the maximum regulations is six Pokemon, but if I'm doing nothing and just shopping or going on about with my Pokemon on a normal day, can I just bring like more?

You absolutely can, as the six Pokemon per team limit is indeed a League rule that applies (usually! Check local regulations to make sure!) only to League-relevant battles! But you should probably be aware of your own ability to keep track of and control said Pokemon in case they get themselves or someone else into trouble!

[pokefossilclub]

Hey! I'm Dreepy guy and the guy that asked for a team built for my marine biology studies! Thanks for that mate! Appreciate the help!

Anyways I'm finishing up my final exams and will plan to head back home for my family and was contemplating on particular gifts for my family; my brothers specifically!

My oldest brother has a profession or is in the business industry, and I kinda wanna give him a Pokemon that'll keep him company. I was thinking of giving him a Duraludon but they're dragon types and my assumption is that they are on a different level of caretaking, so I wanted to hear your thoughts on a simple pet that would complement his more business lifestyle.

Hello there! You are, as always, very welcome!

Now, I can't say I'm very familiar with the 'business lifestyle'! But I would say that the kind of Pokemon he needs would depend on how he likes to spend his downtime! I know there are some people who come home from the office and like to work off the stress through exercise or entertainment, whereas others prefer to spend their off-hours quietly!

If your brother is of the first type, a Duraludon may actually be a good choice! While Dragon-types do often have complex care needs, Duraludon is one of the easier ones all told, and while they do need far more exercise and enrichment than might be obvious from their appearance, it is generally taken in relatively short bursts. Many Duraludon would be quite happy to spend time quietly at the office so long as they are exercised before, during lunch hour, and afterwards! Their grooming needs are also relatively simple, focused mostly on preventing rust, and they are generally non-destructive unless unhappy, unlike many Dragons!

If your brother, however, prefers a quieter life or fewer distractions from his business, there are still plenty of Pokemon that have much lower care needs that might suit! Grass-types are popular for many, as they often smell and look nice as well as being- generally, but far from always!- easier to care for; Sunkern and Sunflora especially have simple care needs while being little rays of cheerful sunshine! The Hoppip line is also an excellent choice if you prefer your Pokemon more mobile! Should Grass-types be unideal, and should your brother be able to set up and maintain an aquarium or pool of a suitable size there are many Water-types who also fit the bill- Luvdisc perhaps, or Poliwag (unevolved; its evolutions' care needs are more complex), or Horsea (again, unevolved).

And if your brother prefers a very quiet and emotionally undemanding companion, I would recommend perhaps Solrock or Lunatone, or Natu as a smaller option that can more easily accompany him to the office or on business trips!

[pokefossilclub]

Hey, I'm the dreepy guy. Thanks for answering my question! And I have come back to ask another!

Any suggestions on Pokemon that'll help me with my profession as a marine biologist?

Since I'm near or halfway done with my marine bio major, I realized that my team doesn't look like anything a person that does marine biology should have. Not that I'm gonna ditch my family, never, but I need a couple of Pokemon that'll help me out with my major.

Any suggestions or an overview on who I should be looking into?

Hello again! Yes, I believe I can help you out! While I do believe that many an unlikely Pokemon can proove to be remarkably helpful in the strangest of places, I do also quite understand that you at the very least might want to add a Water-type or two!

As always when considering new Pokemon, especially for a future career that involves travel, bear in mind any species restrictions your home region and any regions you may need to visit for work might have! It is almost always possible to gain travel permits for working Pokemon, but you need to know you need one in the first place! I don't know which region you're in, but if wild Dreepy are frequenting your area I would hope it is Galar or Paldea, two regions which have relatively strict laws about bringing in non-natives, meaning brushing up on what is and isn't allowed is doubly important!

Now, perhaps surprisingly given what I just said (since they are native to neither region!) the first good Water-type that comes to my mind is actually Bibarel! They are sturdy, confident and friendly Pokemon who in their home region of Sinnoh are trained in a wide variety of field moves even by relatively inexperienced trainers! Given their versatility, excellent temperaments, and ease of training, it is also not uncommon to find them bred specifically for certain roles, meaning of all possible non-natives it will probably be easiest to find an already usefully trained one or one you can easily train yourself in a way that will make it a great deal easier to gain permission to keep them. However, while they are skilful swimmers who can easily swim with a human passenger, they are not exactly designed for the true open ocean, and may struggle if your work finds you out there most of the time!

The other top contender is the Popplio line! They are much better suited for the open ocean, and as a species selected as official Starters they are again generally very good-natured and easy to train- as well as permitted in just about every region known. Their singing attracts and mesmerises other Pokemon, which could certainly be useful, and their other notable trait is the bubbles they blow- which, which sufficient training, can become big enough to encompass almost anything up to and including humans. I can imagine that being very useful as well! The main downside is that Primarina can be, well, divas, and if not selected carefully for temperament the whole line can have a tendency to be what we Professors call terrible silly-billies.

If you're willing to put in the work and raise or find one, I can also imagine Slowking to be useful in marine biology (I would recommend a Johtoan Slowking over a Galarian one, unless you feel prepared to deal with the poison!). They are, of course, much smarter than their pre-evolution, quite smart enough to easily understand the exact task at hand and come up with a few helpful ideas of their own, and can be given a much wider variety of tasks to boot- and they never panic, and many of them also never become disorientated or Confused either. They are not the fastest or most agile of swimmers, but they are powerful and can carry passengers. However, they are still Slowpoke-line so they tend to take everything at a very ponderous pace, and unless you have raised them yourself or otherwise gained their respect, they can be very prone to simply deciding that they know best and don't have to listen to anyone else.

A non-swimming alternative could also be Pelipper! We all know how useful these big guys are for carrying mail, and I imagine they could be equally useful for carrying marine samples, since those beaks can hold a startling volume of liquid! Plus, having aerial support is almost always useful in one way or another, and if you obtained a Fly permit they could also be aerial transport for you yourself. Just make sure they don't try to eat the subjects of your studies!

A last and slightly more out-there suggestion would be the Staryu line. They are unsettling to some, but I'm sure as a marine biologist you have an appreciation for the strange things of the ocean! Starmie are surprisingly intelligent, quick-witted, and observant, and psychic powers are always useful to have in a tight spot. The light their gems emit can be seen at quite a distance even through water, and I've known people who teach them to transmit Morse code that way in case of communication breakdown! They are easy to care for in general, robust- with the ability to regrow missing limbs if their core is intact- and their patience and ability to hide themselves away means they make for excellent long-term observers of areas of interest. They are, however, also notoriously difficult to, shall we say, troubleshoot if something goes wrong with them.

I hope this little list has at least given you somewhere to start your considerations! I wish you all the best in your studies- the ocean is an incredibly fascinating place, and I've always meant to get some training in underwater archaeology and head down there my own self to look for secrets!

[pokefossilclub]

Any tips on taking care of a dreepy?

Uni student here and uh, a dreepy has been following me for a while now and it does not seem to have a trainer. I decided to catch it after seeing that it didn't have a trainer at all.

So any tips/tricks on raising a dreepy?

If it evolves, do I also need to account for new mouths to feed? Like if it evolves into Drakloak or Dragapult down the line, would I need to care for the new dreepies too?

Well! Congratulations on your new little friend! Dreepy are very social, so if it was spending a lot of time with you and not with other Dreepy, it was most likely very happy to be caught!

Luckily, they are also not very difficult to take care of!

Unlike some Ghost-types they do require regular feeding as they do not feed on emotions or life energy at all, but Ghosts don't generally eat a great deal regardless and they are also rather small! Any commercially-available Ghost-type food should be nutritionally complete for them; for supplementation or treats, they very much enjoy foods made from marine sources, such as seaweed and small Water-types! They are the ghosts of sea-dwelling Pokemon, after all!

Behaviourally, as I said, they are very social, and as yours has clearly already decided you are good company, will benefit from spending a lot of time with you! If you have other Pokemon who are likely to be friendly, I also highly recommend introducing them to each other as soon as possible so they can hang out! If you don't- and also just in general- arranging socialisation and playdates with other Pokemon outside the home is usually beneficial for them!

They tend to have bursts of playful energy where they can be very mischievous- and not at all above hassling and harassing people and Pokemon if they don't feel they're getting enough attention!- interspersed with longer quiet periods where they will generally be quite happy to just keep you company. If you're happy to, letting them sit on your head is their very favourite place, followed by shoulders! Luckily they are relatively simple creatures, so their mischief can be easily curtailed if they're focusing on something you'd rather they didn't, by distracting them and moving things to Dreepy-inaccessible places (although, remember they can become incorporeal!). And, of course, they LOVE to be yeeted! Please feel free to use your new friend as a projectile as often as you please!

As for gaining more mouths to feed if your friend evolves! While it is essentially inevitable that a Drakloak or Dragapult will pick up a few Dreepy friends (and a lack of interest in doing so can be a sign of serious behavioural or medical issues), generally speaking they will take responsibility for feeding and generally caring for their new buddies! You may have to shell out for a little more food as they will be sharing theirs, but as previously noted Dreepy are not big eaters in general! You are not required to catch or even pay much attention to the Dreepy your friend collects, and the ones that show up may change on a more or less regular basis depending on how many wild Dreepy in general live in your area and also how many wild Drakloak and Dragapult are around, but it is rarely a bad thing to take an interest and your friend will likely appreciate that you do! Just remember, if you do catch any of them, they become legally your responsibility!

Dreepy are very sweet and affectionate little creatures, and can be great fun! I wish you many years of happiness with yours!

[uncle-dusknoir]

(@works-of-magic) Where does one obtain Haunted Wine? I don't even drink wine but I might start if it comes with a free ghost attached.

it was a!!! (deeelibird?i think a delibird day) gift from @pokefossilclub thank you for the haunted wine wei

[pokefossilclub]

You're very welcome! A vineyard near- where else- Stow-on-Side makes it, although I think this particular kind is only available around Halloween! They do plenty of other kinds all year round though, which may or may not be haunted! There's an awful lot of very long history in that area!

[nifuunbakufuun]

Hello! Your name was suggested to me as someone who might be able to help me, as you have some practical experience with ancient Hisuian forms and species!

I'm curious- are there notable differences recorded in the Hisuian breeds of Stantler that possess the ability to evolve into Wyrdeer?

-Professor Wei Gingko [@pokefossilclub]

Apologies for the wait with answering! I needed to look through some of our archives... And I fell into my Nuckrar's den yesterday which wasn't any fun. I am regretting giving him my backyard.

>> iiiii toooold yoooou

Hush.

There do not seem to be any major physical differences between the Odoshishi of today and the Odoshishi of Hisui, surprisingly enough. At least, nothing that would immediately and blatantly stand out against a modern specimen. (It has only been so long since they stopped evolving in nature, after all.)

Rather, like many of the Hisui evolutions, it's much more likely to be a result of changes in the environment. Harsher living conditions, perhaps, or a large amount of Fighting or Poison predation that caused them to be more adept? Or, much like my Bakphoon, it was the energy of the land itself that gave Odoshishi the power to be Ayashishi.

Some of these papers say that the evolution seems to be prompted by frequent use and practice of a specific Move, as well...

The name seems to have been taken by Time, unfortunately, but I'm certain that a strong enough Odoshishi or one in the right environment could relearn it.

[pokefossilclub]

Awww, well, at least you can be sure your Trapinch is happily engaging in healthy natural behaviours! Like turning your back garden into a pit trap! It sounds like he's anticipating plenty of large prey- though possibly not that you would be among the numbers!

Thank you so much for the information! I ask because I have- well! At the end of last year, my Pokemon Sanctuary was given an egg found lying alone with no obvious source! It hatched into a Stantler, which is doubly unusual since Stantler are not native to Galar, and therefore their usage and breeding is very restricted here- if anyone was breeding them legally in the region, it would be a matter of public record! We initially assumed simply careless and illegal trainer activity, and that is still the most logical explanation, but...

Well, I began his battle training recently and he... how to put this! Pokemon- as you undoubtedly know- have instincts as to what moves they generally learn and in what order, and he doesn't seem to have the right ones!

For instance, despite having taken to battling extremely well and already showing considerable talent for it, he has still not mastered the move Leer. But he showed signs of trying to channel Psychic power into a damaging move very early on, and while I initially thought his lineage gave him access to Extrasensory, it soon became apparent that the move he was trying to learn was Confusion. Which I have not found on any list of moves recognised as learnable by Stantler, in any region!

He is otherwise a very normal youngster, and there is no real reason to assume he is anything notably unusual! But I am in the historic field, and I am aware that Stantler were previously rather different, and I am aware that there have been great strides recently in rebreeding and rediscovering Hisuian forms and Pokemon previously thought lost...

[pokefossilclub]

Dear Professor Gingko, I'm sure by now you've seen the paper published by the Académie Kalosienne des Sciences last month, but apparently work with reviving frozen Amaura has revealed that, in life, they were Electric/Ice types, as opposed to Rock/Ice, and that the Rock typing only crops up in specimens revived from fossils, and those descended from them. I'm curious about the implications this has for reintroduction efforts, and how this impacts both Pokémon revived from fossils, and our reconstructions of ancient ecosystems. I'm also curious as to how your... I feel "nemesis" is the best term, Cara Liss managed to avoid the artificial Rock type insertion of standard revival technology. Obviously, if you don't have any information on that topic, I understand.

Oh yes, I was fascinated by that article; I heard the research was proceeding apace a few months ago at a conference and was awaiting the results. Honestly, the fossil scientific community had somewhat anticipated something like this; it seemed rather too unlikely that every single species thus revived was a Rock Type!

Obviously though the scientific confirmation of this does have implications! First of all, to my mind, it confirms that re-introduction efforts should be, and really never should have been, about re-introducing the Pokemon exactly as it was in prehistory to the modern world. That would, in any case, most likely not work! The world was extremely different back then! Now that we have proof that the creatures being brought back are fundamentally different enough from the creature that left the fossil to be an entire different Type, even in part, I believe this should lead to greater efforts to make them, shall we say, modern-day-friendly. By which I mean not attempting to deliberately change their behaviour or physical characteristics per se, but instead working to make sure they can cope with the modern day changes in oxygen levels, the different foods, changed climates and so on.

Of course, that then raises more questions about re-introduction, as fossil Pokemon who have been bred to be more adapted to modern conditions will have an easier time potentially out-competing existing Pokemon species and becoming a nuisance or actively damaging to the ecosystem. However, re-introduction efforts should already be considering the possibility that the re-introduced species becomes invasive, and the re-introduction efforts should be kept to small and extremely well-observed areas for some years after they are begun!

Obviously, Fossil Pokemon bred from revived individuals are another kettle of fish, and tend to be much better adjusted from the get-go, especially the further back in the family tree their revived ancestor was. However, giving them a solidly well-adjusted genetic line from the beginning can only be beneficial in my mind!

Another option is of course to continue to refine the revivifiation process until it is capable of erasing the artificially induced Rock Typing and bringing back the original Typing. I am not actually a scientist who works in the labs reviving fossils; I have a Master's degree in Fossil Pokemon Care, meaning I work with the living specimens only! This means that although I would follow any research along these lines with interest, it is somewhat less in my wheelhouse!

The last option would be to attempt to work with revived Rock Typed fossils to see if they can regain their lost historic Typing, perhaps using similar methods that developed regional forms. However, the methods even of regional form development are still rather unclear in many cases, and obviously attempting to induce essentially the same mechanism artificially runs the risk of causing harm. Admittedly, so do the previous two options! Unfortunately, it is something of a hazard of working with living, breathing creatures full stop. However, I believe this method runs the risk of causing the most harm.

The impact on paleontologists is fairly obvious: it can no longer truly be said that the behaviour of revived fossils maps exactly to the sort of behaviour they would display in prehistory. Of course, only academically lazy individuals ever tried to say it would these days, but there are unfortunately more of those about than you'd like!

As for effects on the Pokemon themselves brought on by gaining the Rock Typing... well, it's honestly very hard to say. They are forced into gaining a great deal of new behaviours simply by having to adjust to living in the modern world, after all. It doesn't appear to be leading to notable physical health issues, or issues using Rock-typed moves, at least in the vast majority of individuals. Again, bred individuals who have, as you might say, been 'born into' the Typing, show what I would call no significant problems that could be ascribed to being the 'wrong' Type. It would, however, explain the fact that many of them show unexpected affinities for learning other Typed moves!

There are obviously arguments that fossils should never have been revived in the first place, but to that I apply the same logic as to the chimera fossil species: they are here now, and they are not going away, and thus it is our responsibility as the species who brought them back to give them the best lives we can manage!

As for how She managed to avoid the Rock-Typing... as I said, I am not a revival scientist myself, so the intricacies might be escaping me. But I do have one guess. It seems to me that the process of forcing chimerism, and whatever processes she used to force, for example, organ growth in Dracovish, would interfere with the DNA extracted from the fossils a great deal more than usual revival processes do. However naturally enough this is unlikely to result in 'natural' typings either!