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A newly-hatched Skarmory had to come in to be weighed and I just can't this is genuinely what they look like as babies 😭

This little girl is only a couple days old. By week 2, she'll have her full feathers grown in, and she'll look more like the skarmory that we're used to seeing. At around 4 weeks, her mom will start taking her for flying lessons ^^

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Ex-Trainer Stories: Rehoming My Scizor

I've been lurking for quite a while, but I finally decided to sit down and write up a proper blog post for this Pokéblog!

I used to compete in League battles as a bug-type specialist, but chronic illness & life stuff led to me leaving the competitive scene and getting more into breeding & husbandry. So what happens when a team of battling Pokémon need to be retired?

Sometimes a Pokémon can just be retired as a pet, like Shuckle or Foretress. In the wild, these guys are naturally docile, slow-moving, and don't need a lot of stimulation. They still need lots of battling and socialising compared to the average pet, though! After all, they've spent years surrounded by people and play.

These kinds of Pokémon are good League rentals, so they get dropped off for "daycare" at the local gym, who use them as teaching Pokémon at the local trainer school. if you're ever lent a Pokémon by a gym, it probably belongs to a trainer like me!

However, some Pokémon aren't suitable to be rentals, and one of those is Scizor.

To be honest, you do not want to encounter a Scizor unless it's very very very well-trained. In the wild, Scizor are:

carnivorous

aggressive

up to six feet tall

very, very territorial (with big territories)

Which is not really very good to give to a ten-year-old ever.

When a Scizor like mine retires from competitive, it's going to be a working Pokémon forever. It may be very well-socialised and polite, but it's got chainsaws for hands and it's gotta use em for SOMETHING.

It is also quite intelligent, which is bad because it's a solitary bug-type with a natural urge to attack. If you don't give it a job, it will give itself one. Bad idea!!!

So, when the time came I contacted my local Pokémon professor and asked: Do you need a big deadly steel machine of death? She can slash all the trees in a moderate radius and is very talented, her name is Snapdragon.

And the answer was: Yes, absolutely! Please let us meet Snapdragon!

Because while Snapdragon is a territorial attack beast, she is a trained territorial attack beast who -- this is important!! -- assumes every person she meets is a Trainer.

So, when she sees an unfamiliar person, she will approach them, stand at a moderate distance, and start making a "challenge" display, waiting for them to send out a Pokémon.

This is pretty scary, but it's way better than if a wild Scizor (or another big wild Pokémon) who did not recognise trainers saw an unfamiliar person. They would see either prey or a threat -- in both cases they try to kill you!!

That makes Pokémon like Snapdragon useful for habitat control. Anywhere close to people, there's a risk if powerful wild Pokémon live nearby. By rehoming a trained, naturally aggressive Pokémon along a border between human and wild habitats, you have a natural defence against wild Pokémon who might otherwise move in.

So Snapdragon lives on the edge of my professor's research area, where she's marked a portion of woods as her territory. We regularly check in and monitor what she's up to, and she keeps the area clear of any other dangerous Pokémon who would compete with her, like wild Beedrill or Yanmega. That keeps her busy and provides the enrichment she's used to from competitions!

The prof & the local rangers know Snapdragon and regularly check on her, but I'm still on call if they need someone to handle her in a dangerous situation. If I wanted to "give her up" entirely, I'd have to find another trainer who I trusted to handle her in my place.

When they say a Pokémon is for life, this is what they mean!! A lot of people find the idea of having a very strong, smart battling Pokémon around really cool and exciting, but the reality is, it's a lot of responsibility to take on.

By raising Snapdragon, I'm responsible for what she does with her strength and her training, even after we're done battling together.

But responsibility is cool too! It's good to find ways to contribute and give back, and it's worth it so have people and Pokémon living happy and healthy lives, where they don't kill each other.

Don't be discouraged from training if you're passionate and willing to commit. I love my weird cryptid who terrifies the local children.

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Here is my first Guide to Cyclizars! For this first edition it's breeds! Next time we will be tackling color morphs! :]

[this information was brought to you by @werewolfcave & @cassi-pokeblogging-hub / @max-starfall ]

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my friend said I should upload this

[thanks to @realpokemon for this! it looks fantastic!]

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Jolteon was my starter. Was I scammed chat?

if i was a pokémon and my trainer sent this ask i would probably thunderbolt them

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heard the words "white smoke" and got excited cause i thought we were talking about torkoal but apparently it's just the new pope. LAME

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Spring! ♥

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Bathing my gastrodon. For enrichment

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It was colder than usual today, so Aggravated Assault gets his mittens and coat :)

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She's been staring at the window for a while now, even after I closed the curtains. I don't think she's entirely used to the time zone difference yet.

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We here at Sylph Co. are proud to announce the opening of an official tumblr account. By manufacturing and distributing Pokéballs and Trainer Acessories, we're not just selling supplies, we're selling connections between people and pokémon

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la creatura

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As far as Pokemon trainers go I'm basically a huge badass. Any kid who enters my line of sight is going to get destroyed by my Pidgey. And if that doesn’t work? I have a second Pidgey with the exact same move set.

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gonna doxx a palossand

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found a goomy doodle i did a few months back--- it's unfinished but cutee (who's gonna tell goomy that they're weak to ice,, they're gonna get sick rip)

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friend texted me this pic with the text "forgot to put the fucking travel lid on my tea"

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itty bitty guy...