poke-professor-in-training

[poke-professor-in-training]

….well, she’s got the spirit!

[poke-professor-in-training]

turned 37 today 👍 i was going to take some pictures outside to celebrate it but i literally haven't seen a single wild pokémon like all of today. even in the wild grass. is there like a meeting they scheduled that i don't know about

[poke-professor-in-training]

wait what do y'all mean with "arceus dropped a new bible" WHAT

[poke-professor-in-training]

your honour they deserve every good thing in the world

Adoption Sundays, Halloweek Edition! (Part 1)

Hey guys, happy spooky month! This time and for the next two adoptions, we have some special themes 'mons in need of a new home.

These two are a bit of a handful and they are not recommended for first time trainers, as most dragon-types are. The Axew is very naughty and a bit of a handful, and the Salamence's wings are too small for her to fly so she'll need a trainer that can give the proper exercise and enrichment despite her disability!

Dire Axew: Available! Apple pie Salamente: Available! If you're interested in any of 'em, respond to this posts with your qualifications and why!

//I'll send DMs to potential adoptees to confirm and, once "adopted", they'll get a background-less PNG from this drawing. You're free to do whatever you want with them! No need to credit me from the design unless you use the OG picture.

//As always, it's not first come first get, I reserve the rights to give them to whoever I want. Pokeblogs have priority!

[poke-professor-in-training]

My boy Bobby chilling in the bath

@realpokemon

[poke-professor-in-training]

HAVE YOU EVER SEEN A BABY GASTLY?

NOW YOU HAVE!!!!!!

[poke-professor-in-training]

joltik on da bed

what he gonna do

[poke-professor-in-training]

Great news guys! I've been in talks with a shelter in Floraroma to foster a few 'mons every month at the ranch; and post 'em in Rotomblr to see if they can find a forever home.

We've taken in three more lil' guys. We are waiting for them to get settled, so I'll show 'em to y'all in a few days!

[poke-professor-in-training]

Public Sylveon Announcement

So. It's Pride Month, and the Sylveon are out in droves, being the icons we all want them to be (they adore the attention). During this time, you may be tempted to catch one of these goobers, or perhaps be chosen by one, to raise and train as your own. That's great! As a trainer of a Sylveon for a whole decade, I'm intimately familiar with the ins and outs of this particular Eeveelution and will be glad to share some advice!

Without further ado, here's how you care for a newly caught Sylveon!

0: Don't.

Get yourself an Eevee, and earn your Sylveon.

Understand I'm not saying this with spite, this is genuinely a word of caution, a warning, if you will. Aside from the fact that catching a Sylveon during Pride is almost certainly an "impulse catch" that you may well not be ready to commit to, stop to consider for a moment just how Sylveon evolve. They require affection. Love. A step above "mere" friendship. They require a genuine connection to another that sparks perhaps one of the most unique and precious evolutions known to all 'mon. Straight up catching/adopting one not only skips that entire, critical step, but also more-than-likely deeply implies that the Sylveon you're catching/adopting had that connection and, one way or another has lost it.

We call this baggage and a lot of people aren't ready to deal with it. You could be inadvertently taking in a 'mon with separation anxiety, depression, nightmares and high stress, imposter syndrome, and more.

Start with an Eevee (A child of a Sylveon if at all possible ;D), and evolve it with a healthy baseline into a Sylveon, you'll both be much happier.

"But what if the Sylveon chose me and isn't leaving?"/"I'm aware of the risks, but want to commit to this anyway."

Well, dear reader, keep reading!

1: Be ready for touch.

Sylveon are titled "The Intertwining Pokemon" for a reason. They adore touch. They're hardwired to seek it. Quite literally my own Sylveon is sitting under my desk as I type this, with his feeler wrapped around my leg. It's his favorite place to be that isn't also in my bed. Their feelers can be off putting to a lot of people, especially after one realizes they're flesh and fur, but do not recoil from it, you'll break the poor bab's heart. Touch is how they explore and how they get a read on you and other pokemon (it's also how they lull prey into a false sense of security before they go for the throat, more on that later). Do not touch starve your Sylveon. For a blessing, their feelers are velvety soft and feel wonderful, at least, to most people. If you have other Pokemon, encourage them to get used to the feelers as well. I have a Zoroark on my team, and, though it took a while, he doesn't recoil at Vivi's feelers and lets him explore.

This all goes double for cuddles. Sylveon are perhaps the absolute worst of the Eeveelutions that still believe they're a lap Eevee once they evolve. A lot of trainers will try and tell you to discourage such behavior, since it will encourage them to pounce on other people, but, in my experience, Sylveon are rather adept at knowing who to not pounce on. As long as you're the primary pounce person, your Sylveon will seldom jump on other people that it doesn't consider a friend and knows not to pounce on.

2: Be ready for high-maintenance.

Sylveon (most of them, at least) are spoiled brats in one way or another. It's a common "trap" most trainers fall into when raising one, a lot of the ways you can show one affection as an eevee is to go above and beyond for it in one way or another, and they will get used to that. My Sylveon, as an example, loves baths, and practically requires one daily. Other Sylveon may require a battle on the weekly, or high quality food, or long, scenic walks, or, Arc-save-you, all of the above. They're a very high-energy, high-maintenance Eeveelution, beaten out only by Jolteon.

3: Be ready for noise.

Oh they YELL. Sylveon are talkative little buggers, and the moment something goes amiss they will cry about it. If they're having fun they will cry about it. If they're bored they will cry about it. If they know Hyper Voice, Lord-in-heaven they will cry about it. You can train one to be quiet on demand, but use such commands sparingly, as frequently telling them to "quiet down" will make one start to question if you're mad at it or appreciate it. Which leads us to-

4: Temper your emotions.

Another aspect about Sylveon is they use their feelers to channel a calming Fairy-type energy that quite literally reads your emotions and dulls hostility. This makes them great therapy Pokemon, as it makes it damn near impossible to be mad if one's around, and great hunters, as it makes it damn near impossible to fear for your life when it goes in for the kill! It also, perhaps frustratingly, makes it damn near impossible to be mad at them if they misbehave. And they're a fairy-type, they will misbehave at some point. All a Sylveon wants to feel is love and joy, understandably, but other emotions exist for a reason, and both you and your Sylveon will have to learn to channel and process those emotions in a healthy, controlled manner, as this will reliably get the both of you back to feeling the love and joy you're likely seeking. This process is different for everyone, and Arc-knows I'm far from a licensed therapist, but it's still important to learn how to figure out anger and sorrow with a Sylveon around, and the both of you will need to train yourselves to work through your feelings.

5: Be ready to play.

I'm lucky, I have other mons that'll be playmates for Vivi at the drop of a hat. But one thing I've observed with Sylveon as a whole is that they all need playtime and playmates, and if you don't have other Pokemon that can be your Sylveon's playmate, guess what, bud - that means you're the playmate! Even if you do have other mons you are still a valid playmate!

Buy toys.

Squeaky toys, tug-ropes, ribbons, balls, feathers, and dolls are all fantastic toys for your Sylveon, and if one brings a toy to you, you'd best engage, unless you want an express example of lesson 3. Thankfully, most Sylveon are happy with short and quick play sessions. My own is happy with maybe three rounds of fetch or a brief tug-o-war session before it'll go back to happily cuddling up next to me, but all Sylveon are different in varous ways. Trust your instincts and you'll be able to easily tell when your Sylveon is content.

6: They are smart.

Sylveon are beat out only by Espeon in the overall intelligence category. Being mostly modern/urban life adapted Pokemon that usually spend all their lives around humans, they pick up pretty quickly on language, social cues, tools, and so on. Intelligence is always a wavering factor among all Pokemon, but, on the whole, expect your Sylveon to be far more clever than your average Growlithe or Yamper, and respect that intelligence. It may not ever speak Galarian to you, but it could very well learn to read, open doors, work a TV remote or even keyboard, steal your phone, visit and buy from stores, and so on.

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And there we have it! Past all this, all the standard methods for training and caring for Pokemon apply! Sylveon, on the whole, are quite amicable, and most are perfectly content to chill out and cuddle when they aren't being high-chaos gremlins. They're fantastic battlers as well, with great durability, utility, and surprising potential for damage, amplified only by the love and friendship you provide one.

Give a Sylveon love, and - capital L - Love is what you get in return.

[poke-professor-in-training]

that awesome poggers moment when u run into a nest of voltorbs during a walk in the woods

[poke-professor-in-training]

two and a half weeks in the hospital from a severe poisoning :p had a class in my first year of uni that was all about studying poison types, and my dumbass thought I'd go above and beyond and actually get first-hand data instead of just using pre-established research evidence

the Arboks whose nest I quite literally tripped into were not impressed

rotomblr: reblog with the worst injury you’ve ever gotten from a pokémon, wild or domestic

[poke-professor-in-training]

happy rika pokemas day to all who celebrate

[poke-professor-in-training]

what did it taste like

did it do anything to you???

this is for scientific purposes definitely

Rare candies are really tasty. Nom nom

[poke-professor-in-training]

BRO I WAS GOING TO PUT MY NOODLES IN THERE

[poke-professor-in-training]

When he's off duty, my service pokemon likes to hide behind the microwave

[poke-professor-in-training]

I’ve been away on a trip to the Isle of Armor, hence the relative silence. This guy noticed me take out my sandwich and has been staring at me for the past twenty minutes. I’m kind of scared.

[poke-professor-in-training]