...huh. "Are you going to be able to help me talk to people?" Also does it want pets, what if he extends his hand.

The Espurr sends a psychic impression of an affirmative to the question, something not quite a nod or "yes" or ✅ but the feeling underlying each of them. He approaches the hand and accepts pets. He doesn't change his face or posture in response to them, but does emit a low and steady purr from deep in his belly.

"That's a good purr," Bianca explains.

"Oh good." Does it have a similar fact sheet to the Starly fact sheet which includes things like how to identify bad purrs if those exist?

Yep! Bianca fishes around in her bag for a binder of care guides, removes one for Espurr, spends a moment jotting a handwritten note on it, and hands it to Kyeo. As with the Starly pamphlet, it will direct Kyeo to the Pokedex app for audio examples.

(There isn't exactly such a thing as a "bad purr". An angry Espurr noise is more of a growl, and a sad one might make any sound or none but will likely cry and project sensory impressions of rain.)

The note reads:

This one in particular is smart, but lacks internal motivation. He'll be able to help teach your other Pokemon commands, but when you give him food and water, make sure to tell him to eat and drink—the exact wording of your command won't matter, with him; his psychic abilities allow him to pick up the intent. Also, if he hasn't battled for two or three days, send him out of his ball and give him an exercise to do for half an hour or so, to keep in shape. He prefers repetitive motion, like running laps.

"How fast does an Espurr run?" wonders Kyeo.

Espurr takes the question as an opportunity to demonstrate! He runs exactly ten yards out and ten yards bsck, taking advantage of the clear lines on the field.

(His speed is about that of a reasonably fit housecat.)

Bianca claps.

"You wanna give him a treat? He likes Leppa Berries; you could give him one now and save the rest for later," she says, handing Kyeo a handful of berries.

"Sure." Kyeo offers the Espurr a berry.

The Espurr pops the berry in his mouth and claps exactly once. He shares a psychic impression with Kyeo of what it's like to eat the berry. It's juicy, and tastes kind of like an apple.

"...are these safe for humans to eat?"

"Yep! Berries have special effects on Pokemon in battle while for humans they're just food, but they're perfectly safe food. Quite nutrient-dense as well."

"Maybe I will see if it tastes the same to me sometime." Not right now though. Do Scallion and the Espurr seem to get along?

Scallion likes the Espurr! She nuzzles him affectionately.

He doesn't give any external sign of awareness that she exists.

Scallion is unbothered! She continues rubbing against him and emitting the occasional happy coo.

Cute. "I'm having a bit more trouble with an Espurr name."

"Hmmmmmmmm...do you want to go with any kind of theme for your team names? 'Food' or 'plants', maybe, based on the Starly's name? Or, like, even if you don't want to do a team theme, having a category of things in mind when naming each Pokemon can help. With a smarter Pokemon like Espurr, you can sometimes even get them to pick their own name from the category.

Or you could go with a physical feature; off the top of my head I'm thinking something like 'Concrete' referencing his grey color—but of course that would change when he evolves, and maybe you're not the type to think Pokemon names that reference an earlier evolutionary stage are cute."

"The Scallion is a constellation from my home planet, I didn't choose it for being a food or a plant. ...what color will he be when he evolves?"

Bianca shows a picture of a male and female Meowstic.

"The male is on the left."

"Oh, that's quite a nice blue. But of course if I name him for something blue that won't be appropriate for a while yet..."

"Naming in anticipation of an evolution is also a tradition! Slightly less common than the reverse, I think, but people will understand what you're going for."

"Maybe after one of Ibyabek's seas, then. The Saeyung, perhaps."

"Oooh, I like it!"

"Purr."

The Espurr nods his approval of the name. He looks somewhat pleadingly at the picture of the male Meowstic, the preview of his future self.