the-legendary-professor-cherry

[the-legendary-professor-cherry]

Hello there! The area I live in has reported sightings of Zapdos. What does a Zapdos sighting mean, and am I able to capture it without a permit? Thanks!

In ancient times, Zapdos were said to be rainmakers, and bring floods of rain with them wherever they were sighted. This was generally seen as a good omen, as rain benefits the growth of crops, but in areas that tend to suffer from flooding Zapdos were seen as harbingers of doom!

Scientifically speaking, Zapdos travel with large thunderstorms so they can feed off of the lighting and gain energy from it.

They do require permits to own, as almost every Legendary does. The only exceptions are “harmless” Pokemon such as Shaymin and Phione.

—Professor Cherry

[the-legendary-professor-cherry]

So, I know most of the legendaries are a considerable size (kyogre, groudon, etc.) So my question is, exactly how rare of an occurrence would it be for one to be much smaller than normal? Like say, a groudon the size of a charizard?

This is relatively unheard of and exceptionally rare; The closest known Legendary to exhibiting this kind of trait is a Latias in the Hoenn region, affectionate dubbed “Little Lady” by the community.

Its a few inches shorter than other recorded Latias and is dwarfed by the Latios it tends to travel with, but it by no means exhibits the aforementioned qualities in your ask.

I hope this answers your question adequately!

—Professor Cherry

[the-legendary-professor-cherry]

Alright then. I recently got a permission to train a Heatran and I became curious about 2 things: first, Heatran is the only legendary/mythical that can be either male or female while all the others are either genderless or are gender exclusive (mine is male). Second, he doesn't blink, at all. I think he can't close his eyes. How does Heatran sleep, then?

Hello!

Heatran do not sleep the way you and I sleep—it does not close its eyes and drift off slowly. In fact, it goes into a bit of a “blank” state, for lack of a better term. It will cease movement and its body temperature will drop for several hours, and once it is ready to function again, it reheats itself and begins movement again.

Hope this helps!

—Professor Cherry

[the-legendary-professor-cherry]

Good time of the day, Professor Cherry. Me and Trace the Mew are doing just fine (we did end up being kindred spirits, apparently), but, just a few days ago, we've got a new one amongst our ranks. Apparently, another team of scientists took a shot at making Mewtwo and even succeeded... and then, knowing, how do the teams like this tend to end, decided to dispose of still-sleeping clone in the safest way possible. Long story short, do you have any advice on raising a newborn Mewtwo? Thank you.

This is a tricky situation, and for instances such as these I will always recommend you take the infant to a proper facility to care for it and ensure it grows into a nice specimen safely, so that it has the best chance of survival possible.

Young Mewtwos are notoriously unstable and can suffer from numerous potential health issues. On top of this, once it begins to function a bit more, it will have little to no control over its psychic powers and can cause catastrophic damage to its surroundings and those within the range.

Exercise extreme caution.

—Professor Cherry

[the-legendary-professor-cherry]

Hey Professor, I need advice on something. I'm a Top Ranger, and happen to work closely with a Latias. It's great and all, but Latias is, for a lack of better words, a asshole to anyone who isn't me. Everything I have read says that Latias are kind and gentle, and whenever I convince it to come to a Pokemon Center, they can't find anything physically wrong. Do you have any ideas on why?

Pokémon personalities vary between individuals. While it is true Latias have gained a reputation of being sweet and gentle beings, that does not necessarily mean they all are! This particular Latias may simply be fiesta by nature! It’s best to keep it away from other people and Pokémon as much as possible to avoid any potentially dangerous circumstances!

Good luck!

—Professor Cherry

[the-legendary-professor-cherry]

AM SWIMMING- SAW KYOGRE-??? HHHHH

Hello??

Hello??????

Anon, are you alive??

—Professor Cherry

[the-legendary-professor-cherry]

I've recently learned that my Celesteela really enjoys listening to music! Whenever I'm out in the backyard playing music, she'll sort of bob her head and smile, and it's really cute.

Ohhh, how intriguing! What kind of music did it seem to respond to best?

—Professor Cherry

[the-legendary-professor-cherry]

What makes a Pseudo-legendary different than a Legendary? For example: What makes a Dragonite different from a Lugia (aside from the size and typing, obviously), considering that they can be found in similar habitats (at least as Dratini and Dragonair) and the fact that both can, in their own way, manipulate weather (At least Dragonair can. Dragonite, I'm not sure)?

Answered here.

—Professor Cherry

[the-legendary-professor-cherry]

Is it legal to own a legendary that doesn't play a mandatory role in the world balance? Examples: Latios/Latias, Heatran, Shaymin, Zekrom/Reshiram... Possibly Shaymin is the easiest to take care of these...

Answered here.

—Professor Cherry

[the-legendary-professor-cherry]

Hello, everyone!

Just wanted to post a quick reminder to please please please take a look at this blog/check the tags/read the FAQ before submitting your questions. There are a number of questions I’ve been receiving lately that have already been answered multiple times on this blog, and as much as I love getting to answer your inquiries, I simply don’t have time to be answering exclusively repeat questions!

If you can’t find the FAQ on mobile, pull it up in the search bar—it’s there, I promise!

[the-legendary-professor-cherry]

for a lil context: im severely germophobic, so i might just be being stupid here. i picked up a trubbish so I could beat the fairy type gym, meaning to release her afterwards. long story short, that never happened. how do i play with my beloved garbador without getting a disease?

Hello!

Once again, this blog only answers requests for Legendary and Mythical Pokemon.

—Professor Cherry

[the-legendary-professor-cherry]

What exactly is the reason why Rayquaza fights Deoxys? I seem to remember seeing a news report or something on this destructive event, many buildings damaged/destroyed, and I'm so glad that I was not in the vicinity of the fight....

Territorial disputes, primarily. Rayquaza are notoriously territorial by nature, especially against their own species. Occasionally, a Deoxys colony will emerge on a large meteorite a Rayquaza deems it’s territory and the two will engage in combat over the right to maintain that land.

Experiencing this sort of event up close is... exceptionally rare—that one event on Earth is one of the only two recorded instances of something like this happening. The other was thousands of years ago, and is only depicted in a single ancient underground mural in the Hoenn region.

—Professor Cherry

[the-legendary-professor-cherry]

I bet you were a little nervous when Mewtwo appeared at one of their "shrines" right in front of you, and also was very grateful to you, that you did that for him…I know I would be nervous!

(( I’m not quite sure what this ask is referring to, dear anonymous! Are you playing off of an old post of mine? If so, I’m not sure which one it would be, so please feel free to message me so I can give a proper back and forth to this ask!💕 ))

[the-legendary-professor-cherry]

(celesteela update) My lawn chair is one of those metal folding chairs, so yeah, I can understand why Celesteela tried eating it. I'll have to get her some SteelMix next time I go shopping.

Thank you for the update! Best of luck!

—Professor Cherry

[the-legendary-professor-cherry]

Where does one obtain a permit

Also which category are the island guardians?

And category of the ultra beasts

Answered this question a while ago.

Tapus are Category 1 Pokémon. They are island peacekeepers, and removing them from their natural habitat could be devastating to these lands. Ultra Beasts, on the other hand, are just Ultra Beasts. They don’t fit into our worldly categories because they aren’t from our world. They aren’t really considered Legendaries.

—Professor Cherry

[the-legendary-professor-cherry]

So exactly how rare of an occurence would it be for a lucario to be scary to a legendary/mythical? My mewtwo pair seem to be fairly scared of him, always backing away. Even my zeraora stays away.

I answered a similar question here.

Pokémon have a very advanced silent language they use to communicate. Body language is exceptionally important to read and address if your Lucario begins behaving like a bully. Keep an eye on things and make sure no one is getting hurt.

It’s not rare. Any Pokémon can be wary of another, whether they both be Legendaries or otherwise. Behavior is universal. Personalities vary, and sometimes they clash. If you’re concerned, please visit a local behavioral specialist—they’ll be able to help you more than I can without being there in person!

—Professor Cherry

[the-legendary-professor-cherry]

How exactly are Pokemon classified as legendary, or even mythical? Pokemon like Palkia or Kyogre seem fairly obvious. Others like Entei or Zapdos don’t seem stronger or rarer than Pokemon like Garchomp. Locario populates Sinnoh history and myth even more than say, Manaphy. Even Rotom, Phione, and Zorua have seemed unclear at some points. And this isn’t even bringing up the complications of man-made Pokemon and genderless-ditto breeding. So in short, how are Pokemon classified as legends?

This is a wonderful question! There’s truly a large number of factors that go into determining the classification of Legendary and Mythical Pokémon, so I’ll do my best to cover the basics.

First and foremost (and the most obvious in my opinion) is the mythology of the species. Most Legendary Pokémon have an incredible amount of history surrounding them, dating back to ancient times. As you said, not all Legendary Pokémon are as widely-renowned as the likes of Rayquaza and Arceus, but in most cases there’s a deep history of their sightings dating centuries back. Yes—Lucario has been seen in myths more often than Pokémon like Manaphy, but that’s simply because Lucario’s history is deeply intertwined with mankind. Similar to Arcanine and other loyalty driven Pokémon. Believe it or not, Manaphy fossils date back further than some Relicanth fossils!

I know what you’re thinking—What about Pokémon like Genesect and Silvally, though? They aren’t ancient by any means and have only been brought into existence in recent years. This is also true! We categorize them as Legendary/Mythical because... they don’t quite fit into any other category! They’re so new to the scene we don’t know for sure what they’re capable of and what effects they have on their respective environments. Until we have concrete proof and enough study to make a fairer judgement, they’ll be staying on the list.

Lastly, most Legendary Pokémon cannot breed through regular means or evolve. Manaphy can produce eggs, but the eggs will always hatch into Phione—never a new Manaphy. The only true exception to this is Cosmog/Cosmoem and Lunala/Solgaleo. An argument can be made in the case of Type:Null, but it’s relatively agreed upon that Type:Null seems to undergo a permanent form change (simply a voluntary removal of the control mask) rather than an evolution when becoming Silvally.

Pokémon like Garchomp and Metagross barely miss making the list. Their high stat totals put them in the runnings for powerful Pokémon capable of giving some Legendaries a run for their money, but ultimately they fall short due to their breeding and evolution process and relatively shorter history.

This was quite a bit of information, and I hope I explained clearly! Thank you for your question, and if you have any further questions feel free to send a follow up!

—Professor Cherry