Talk:Dr. Footstep

Several Pokémon, such as Unown and the Magnemite evolutionary line, do not say anything at any level, other than "Shhnnn... shhnnn..." This should probably be noted but I don't know the best way to word it, nor do I know all of the Pokémon who are like this. They seem to mostly be the "non-biological" ones... DocSigma 13:03, 16 July 2008 (UTC)

Adding onto that, both my Drifblim and my Golbat said something about being shunned... but they said it at LV. 4 happiness and LV. 1 happiness, respectively. We should probably put something on there that tells the reader that some Pokémon say different things, but I'm not sure how to word it...--The Kkllnnator blastoise 22:08, 11 November 2008 (UTC)

Okay, based on my Lileep, Haunter, Vulpix and Lickilicky, I added a couple of others. I remember a full L4 Ghost would say something about chomping on the trainer's neck, but I forgot some of it. - unsigned comment from Draikonor (talk • contribs)

Clefairy's quote on level 4 (I got the ribbon on this level): "If I said there can be friendship between Pokémon and people, will Pokémon's friends understand? But if you see Trainer and Pokémon, you will understand. Because Trainer and Pokémon are friends!" - Maybe different Pokémon sometimes have different level 4 quotes as well? RegalStar 22:58, 5 December 2008 (UTC)

Perhaps we should come up with some sort of classification system of sorts. The responses seem to depend on biology and "intelligence" of the Pokémon in question. PDL 01:30, 8 January 2009 (UTC)

Classification

From my observations, I have figured that there are TWO sets of classification determining which set of lines a Pokémon would say when it is presented to Dr. Footstep. Well, actually, three to be more exact:

1. Whether the game characterizes the Pokémon's species as either "Powerful," "Cute," "Creepy," or "Ditzy." (Note that these are merely the terms that I am using to describe the tone of each set of lines assigned to the species, not taken directly from within the game.)

2. Whether the Pokémon has an actual footprint or not, as indicated by their Pokédex entry. The Pokémon with footprints have lines with more casual, down-to-earth tones, while those without footprints have lines with more ambiguous, mysterious tones. I think this is what some of us have meant by saying, "ghosts appear to have different lines."

3. And there are the "voiceless" Pokémon, like Magnemite, Unown, or even Kabuto and etc. These appear to be Pokémon which the game sees as "not having human-familiar features" enough to be given a humanlike voice. These are usually the species with no distinguishable "face," or "expression".

I'm sure that many of us by now have visited this guy enough to observe these patterns, or agree with it at least (well, maybe it's just me. -_- Dr. Footstep is one of my personal favorite NPC to visit in my D/P games) It's just that I myself am unsure of whether I am in a position to make such an extensive edit to a page. (also not too confident with my own experience with HTML) I humbly suggest, maybe we could make a chart of some sort that includes each set of lines under columns and rows indicating the classifications listed above? - unsigned comment from Crystallinefeathers (talk • contribs)

His two Japanese names

I bet 100 bucks that Futomaki is his real surname, while "Footsteps Doctor" is his (probably self-proclaimed) title. The English version just refers him to as his last name (Footstep). --Maxim 16:22, 17 March 2009 (UTC)

New LV 2

I just found a new lv 2, (1 heart) interpretation

“Hnurr… Me? Uhm… There are lots of kinds of moves. I like those Dark-type moves, oh, and those Dragon-type moves, to… How would they be for this Pokémon? Will they be for me? Or a no, no, no sort of thing? Hnurr…”

Corvy 22:15, 18 April 2009 (UTC)

New LV 1

So I just decided to give contests a try, and I pulled out a Buneary from my Box 1. I decided to see what the good Dr had to say regarding its feelings toward me, considering I put it into the box almost after it catching it a while ago. This is what I got....

"Aw....Mike only plays with other Pokemon. Buneary feels neglected. Does Mike not like Buneary that much? Buneary will try harder for Mike. Please be nicer to me!"

Just thought I'd share that to help get the page up to date. BTW, Buneary and I are on much better terms now :P --Agent Zero 02:51, 15 May 2009 (UTC)

Added. R.A. Hunter Blade 12:08, 15 May 2009 (UTC)

I think this rating is used for Pokémon that have a happiness value of zero. So it could be like a LVL 0. PDL 01:15, 9 June 2009 (UTC)

Wouldn't matter. It's like floors in a building. You wouldn't say you're on the zeroith floor. You'd say you're on the first floor. Also like tiers/brackets in a tournament. You're in the first round/match/whatever. R.A. Hunter Blade 03:29, 9 June 2009 (UTC)

... Except most Pokémon don't start out at that low a happiness rating. Most start off at a happiness rating of 70 while Buneary is special in that it starts off with a happiness rating of zero. Also your building analogy doesn't make sense either since buildings often have basements to them. Either way, it doesn't constitute as a "lvl.1" rating since you have to raise the happiness to even get to the same level most pokémon start out with when they are first caught! PDL 05:06, 10 July 2009 (UTC)

Another from...0?

Another one from an angry rapidash

Why does TRAINER always use other Pokémon? Am I not needed much? Would I have been better off if I remained in the wild? No, I should give this Trainer a little more of a chance...

If I'm right, Palkia reacted like that, too. - unsigned comment from Brightfire10 (talk • contribs)

Possible 0/-1 rating?

I got this one with my freshly-caught Houndour in Platinum.

That TRAINER...What is that Trainer thinking? Why make me join the team, then call upon me for nothing? Am I considered useless? Is the Trainer regretting having me? Does the Trainer dare disrespect this HOUNDOUR so easily?

He sounds pretty mad. Did Platinum add a bunch of new analyses or something? - unsigned comment from Clockspider (talk • contribs)

That tends to happen with some Dark-types. My Absol was a bit like that when I caught him. R.A. Hunter Blade 15:24, 11 August 2009 (UTC)

Darkrai?

My Darkrai has 1 small heart, and it said: "Our kind prefers to lurk in dark and dank places... But being with TRAINER, even bright and festive places seem less threatening... TRAINER has a strange charisma..." Pkqls 21:17, 15 August 2009 (UTC)Pkqls

Yeah. We still have 4 or 5 we need to find and get up. I still need to go get all of them for my Slugma. I'm only on the first level. And if you could keep putting what Darkrai says up here, that'd help a lot. R.A. Hunter Blade 23:01, 15 August 2009 (UTC)

Nicknames and LV -1

I give my Pokémon nicknames, y'see, so I get different results than the ones listed here. Many of the "Pokémon" fill-ins actually turn out to be "Nickname." How does that sound? I was thinking I'd go through and change them, once I've actually found out where they go. I had put "---" whenever there was a variable and I didn't record the heart level, so I have to go through my records and fill those in before I post the responses I have. There's quite a few.

And on that note, I can say for certain that there is some sort of negative heart level because on the Happiness Checker App, Pokémon will actually move away from the stylus. The last two responses under the "Level 1" header on the main page therefore belong in this category. I just wouldn't know what to call it; the Fan Club woman in Hearthome can rate a Pokémon as "warming up", which means LV 1 to me, or as "neutral", which I take to mean "LV 0". These levels illicit the same Footstep responses, whereas "LV -1" has a different set. Thoughts?

...I'm rambling. chaude~froide 02:50, 25 August 2009 (UTC)

Level one is actually the no hearts, but moves twoards the stylus. Level zero, which is what legendaries and Buneary have when first caught, are when they move away from the stylus. That's at 0 out of 225 for happiness. We just don't mention anything about level zero, because technically it's not in the games. Dr. Footstep's ratings start at Level one. R.A. Hunter Blade 03:18, 25 August 2009 (UTC)

Ah, right, I see now. I suppose that would explain why those responses are listed after the "Ssshhnnn...", rather than before. Well, I'll just stick to this format for now. Took me all day, but I've finally classified all the responses. Now I just gotta type them all... ×_×; chaude~froide 00:55, 26 August 2009 (UTC)

It has nothing to do with where the "Ssshhnnn..." is. xD

It's just like that because people only bothered getting us the quotes for the first level, and not for any of the others. That's why "Ssshhnnn..." is at the end of every section but the first. R.A. Hunter Blade 02:41, 26 August 2009 (UTC)

More about categories

What would be really great would be if we could make a proper table, indicating which Pokémon give which responses. It'd be a big undertaking, but I've established a few things via testing: firstly, the same species at the same happiness level always gives the same response. Secondly, different members of the same line don't necessarily give the same response: I had a Wooper and Quagsire respond differently. Thirdly, at least at level 1, there are at least two responses for Pokémon without footsteps (not counting "Ssshhhnnn" which seems to be independent of whether there are footprints or not). What I might do is finally create my userpage, and put up my own research on there in full. Bikini Miltank 23:41, 17 September 2009 (UTC)

Done some further research. I think we have all the responses down: if so, there are sixteen for level one, and eight for each of the other levels (not counting "Ssshhhnnn"). I'm now trying to ascertain if these additional responses for level one are consistent for a species, or if there might be an additional happiness level that we've missed. Bikini Miltank 13:35, 18 September 2009 (UTC)

The responses for Lv. 1 that are listed after the "Ssshhhnnn" technically aren't level one, but more of a level zero (the Pokémon moves away from the stylus on the Checker App). However, I was told that Lv. 0 doesn't actually exist in the games... so I put the responses at the end of Lv. 1. So in a way, yes, there is an additional happiness level.
And some info on the way the resonses are listed. There are four "classifications" with two quotes each, one for footprints and one for without. I don't really know what to call these classes, but the order is Cheerful, Slow, Intelligent, and Creepy with footprints, and then Cheerful, Slow, Intelligent, and Creepy without. Hope that makes sense. :/ Anyway, I'd be glad to help compile a data table or whatnot. --ChaudCo~ 19:20, 18 September 2009 (UTC)

Haha, as luck would have it, I'd just independently confirmed that half of those Lv 1 responses are really Lv 0. As for it not existing in the games, I don't follow the logic there: if there are responses for it, it exists. Plus, all of the levels bear a relation to the Friendship Checker: Level 0, as we're calling it, is where the Pokémon moves away from the stylus.

My own instinct would be to rename Lv 0 as Lv 1, and have levels 1-5. This is because some Pokémon do actually seem to start at the very lowest level when caught in the wild (Buneary, Ralts, legendaries and a lot of Dark types) so it's not as if this is a 'hidden' level you can only reach through being mean to your Pokémon. I just think having levels 1-5 would be less confusing than 0-4, but it's not such a big deal right now.

Thanks for the clarification on how the responses are set out at the moment. They seem like they'd go nicely into a table. I'd also like to make a table of which Pokémon fall into which categories. I've been testing this and I'm going to put the data I have on my userpage: I don't have a full Pokédex and quite a few of my Pokémon are over in Ranch at the moment, but I should be able to provide data on maybe 100-200 different species. Bikini Miltank 10:20, 19 September 2009 (UTC)

Yeeeaaah... have fun with a table that has all 493 Pokémon. As for the level 0, already talked about that in a few sections above. R.A. Hunter Blade 16:07, 19 September 2009 (UTC)

Well, some sort of list might be nice, if not a table. I've put up a list of the Pokémon I've been able to test on my user page. Also: I've read the discussion about level 0 above, and I just don't understand the argument being put forward. How can it be said that it doesn't exist in the game if it has separate responses both in the Friendship Checker and from Dr Footsteps? I'm not trying to be contrary here, I just feel like I'm missing something. Regardless, the level 0 and 1 responses should be separated somehow, because at the moment it looks like there are sixteen equivalent level 1 responses. (edit: oops, linked to wrong page...) Bikini Miltank 17:10, 19 September 2009 (UTC)

Well, we can make a section that says "0 happiness". It just seems kinda stupid to have a "Level 0". Nothing starts at level 0, it's always level 1. R.A. Hunter Blade 01:38, 20 September 2009 (UTC)

That was pretty much my original argument, heh. It feels more logical start at level 1 and go up to 5. I'll have a go at re-organising the article a bit later when I have some free time. Bikini Miltank 09:30, 21 September 2009 (UTC)

Soooo... I now have all of the Dr Footstep data listed on my userpage. We now have to decide what to do with it. I think a table would be nice, but it would also make this article way too long, I fear. So I'm leaning towards a separate article for this information, with a table a little like the one in List of Pokémon by habitat. Any objections before I plunge headlong into this? Bikini Miltank 23:08, 22 October 2009 (UTC)