Alolan Raticate - Tumblr Posts
@pkmnathlete My take on what Dark Type Pokemon are good or bad for kids
I have opted not to include mega-evolutions. I wasn't able to fit all the Pokemon in the tags
Full list of Dark Type Pokemon
Edit: In light of recent events...
I don't want to talk about it.
While I agree MOST dark types aren't suitable for children, there is some misinformation in this post I need to address.
First, you are spreading some MAJOR misinformation about Absol, because they actually only detect NATURAL disasters, as indicated by all Pokedex entries. Its horn detects changes in the environment, it can't actually see the future. Unless you were dumb enough to give your kid a weather-themed legendary like Kyogre or Groudon, nothing that kid does is going to be detected by Absol at all, let alone overstress it. As for Absol's temperament, it is the gentlest of dark types, which is why I HIGHLY recommend it for kids.
Plus, the more families that are raised with Absol, the quicker people will stop blaming the poor things for natural disasters that they were merely trying to warn people about.
Second, most Dark Types only steal in the wild because resources are hard to come by, with the exception of Honchkrow and Purrloin who will continue to do it for fun. If you get most dark types in its earliest evolution form and give it plenty of food, it will learn it doesn't need to steal, anymore. If you breed it from an egg, many will not learn stealing behavior at all because they never needed to do it.
Third, there are plenty of Dark Pokemon that are KNOWN for and sometimes even bred for being good with kids.
I know you already mentioned Litten, but Incineroar is known for being kind and gentle to children. Its dark-type attributes are mostly for show, as it's a PERFORMING Pokemon that acts as a heel in pro-wrestling shows (and we all know pro-wrestling is fake and scripted).
Maschiff and Mabosstiff are known for being family friendly Pokemon. There have even been cases where in the absence of parents (either due to the parents being dead or neglectful) the Mabosstiff will take care of the kid as if it were its own pup.
Your kid is only getting an Umbreon if it has high friendship with an Eevee at night, in the first place, meaning it has to be well socialized and cared for to even exist (except in places like Paldea where Eeveelutions run wild for some reason).
Alolan Rattata and Raticate are known to make excellent pets, and are common among Alolan children. They also don't steal more than their Kantonian counterparts, and no one has a problem with a Kantonian Rattata being owned by a kid. The only difference in behavior is that Alolan Rattata and Raticate are known to be pickier eaters, to the point a restaurant having an infestation of them is considered a GOOD sign.
Alolan Meowth was literally bred to be a pet, and is sometimes even given as a starter in the Alola region. While I wouldn't recommend it's evolution for kids (for the same exact reasons I wouldn't recommend a normal-type Persian for kids), an Everstone is an easy way to fix that.
Galarian Zigzagoon and Linoone are high energy, but overall not that different from their counterparts in Hoenn. The only thing you have to worry about is it loves battling a little more than Zigzagoon outside of Galar, but since Pokemon already love to battle, that's not really out of the ordinary. It will also settle for play fights and tug a war.
Morpeko is only a problem if you don't properly feed it...and if it's not getting properly fed, then you shouldn't have gotten a Pokemon for your kid at all.
Even the ones that require extra supervision are decent
Poocheyena is a common pet in Hoenn, though it requires more supervision.
While personally I think Purrloin is for more experienced kids, it is a common children's pet in Unova.
Houndor need extra socializing and a fire extinguisher, but it and its evolution Houndoom have been known to be gentle when raised right (Still wouldn't recommend Houndoom itself for small children)
Sandile is actually pretty chill. The only reason I put it under "good with supervision" is that it has extra needs due to being a desert reptile Pokemon, and you'll want to keep it from evolving until your kid is older.
Murkrow is fine so long as you don't let it near a Dusk Stone, but you have to keep an eye on shiny things if you're raising one. Also make sure it doesn't work for a local Honchkrow. The Honchkrow will still consider it part of its flock and give it orders.
Nickit are usually caught while very young, giving you plenty of time to make it realize it doesn't have to steal to survive, anymore, before it becomes habit. Stealing is a LEARNED behavior for Nickit that is taught to them by their mothers. Heck, egg-hatched Nickits often don't learn how to steal at all.
Personally the only reason Stunky is in "bad idea" is because of its poison type attributes, namely its tendency to stink-spray when it feels threatened. It's known to be a decent pet with an affectionate temperament, otherwise.
Here is my personal list
Btw, Skuntank is supposed to be in the "Bad Idea" section alongside Stunky. No, I don't want to talk about the Pangoro incident. All I'm going to say is Pangoro won't harm small children who are bullies. The nearby wall in an attempt to scare them on the other hand...
The truth is, there are plenty of good options for a kid's first dark type (although some can only be found in a few regions and require trading to obtain), but the negative stigma against Dark Types gives them a reputation for being "not kid friendly" even though many non-dark Pokémon are far worse (Looking straight at the people giving "arson lover" Drampa to small children just because it likes kids) and even though there are dark types that are specifically bred to be family friendly.
tbh i dont think a lot of dark types are good first pokemon for kids, at least not if you dont intend on supervising damn near everything the kid does with the pokemon. a lot of dark types require larger groups of pokemon, naturally steal things to survive which will require large amounts of training to get out of them, or can be very territorial without proper training. and no offense but small children do not have the capabilities to deal with these things.
like there are pokemon that do evolve into dark types but arent dark types themselves that i think kids can handle like litten, sprigatito, froakie, corphish (if you make sure they know never to put their fingers near it) eevee, and nymble. maybe cacnea if you push it. notice half of them are starters (eevee is a starter in some places) and this is because starters are specifically bred and chosen for their ease of care in first forms.
stuff like purrloin and nickit CAN be owned by kids but they are known to steal in the wild and many children will not know how to train that out of them or redirect that energy or convince the pokemon that theyre stealing when they really arent and thus require a lot of help from a parent.
ive seen absol be lauded as a good first pokemon for young children because they can warn you whenever the kid is doing something dangerous so theyre good for the parents and tbh absol are not good pokemon around children because children are VERY GOOD at getting themselves into danger and many absol end up extremely stressed around them. source: i have been around my absol since i was a baby. not only that absol dont always consider the same thing disasters. some freak out over shit as small as dropping an ice cream, some will not react to anything less pressing than a natural disaster.
like i get a huge part of babies first pokemon is often having the parents help but a parent will have to do a lot less helping with a squirtle or rockruff than it would with a pawniard or zorua.
like originally i was gonna make one of those tier lists ive seen based on how good of a starter each dark type is and then i realized literally all of these range from only give to the most responsible of 10 year olds with parents who can keep an eye on them constantly to keep away from small children at all cost and i dont think any of those make for good starters. i love dark types but my god.
