Age to Own a Pokemon?

Its sort of a good idea to say that ten year olds should be able to take care of completely harmless Pokémon like Ratatta and the like. but not extremely powerful and sometimes almighty, legendaries or even Pokémon with extreme supernatural powers or just plain harmful in any way, like how powerful it is. basically, leave all the harmful, legendary, powerful or supernatural Pokémon to once the trainer is 18. that way, they would have more responsibility and think better when it comes to these types of pokemon. because, who knows what could happen if they were given one at age 10?

It's hard to say, really.

I've always grown up around pets, be it my own or another family member's, and that's been long since before I could walk. People would leave me alone for a minute and I actually remember my mom having pictures of when they would return and the animal would be laying next to me or cradling me or what have ya.

So, given the theory that Pokemon are much more intelligent than our own animals, I'd say that a very young child actually having a Pokemon of their own wouldn't be something too obscure to imagine. Especially if the Pokemon itself is a decent bit older than the child, then I'm sure it understands the difference between an adult human and a younger human, especially if it were the case of the adult's Pokemon's offspring being given to the child, where the mother of that Pokemon would be there to oversee the young Pokemon's powers and abilities in check around the human child, and the human parents to keep their own child in check as to be gentle and kind to the Pokemon.

As for journeying out on your own with Pokemon, 10 is just way too young. Like, way too young. At nine years old, a child's brain has JUST been able to accept the fact that a hotdog cut into tiny pieces is still the same amount of food as a whole hotdog, where as a child any younger still sees the tinier pieces as being more food, because there is a larger amount of it. A child who has JUST learned that not even a year ago is just way too young to be given a giant fire-breathing dragon and told, "Go out on your own and be a Trainer."

To me, 17 or 18 is about the age I'd let my child venture off with a Pokemon. Much like how many parents do in our world, I feel that 18 is ready to start making decisions of their own about where they should live, what they should do, and where they should travel to.

I think that kids should be able to own their own Pokemon at any age. Just like pets, Pokemon and young kids get along well for the most part. I think that trainers should be able to leave home at 16 and start their pokemon journey. I believe that all trainers should have some kind of schooling before going on their journey to learn the basics of Pokemon. :

I'm not sure if there's an official mention of age to own a Pokemon. The only mention of age at all that I can think of would be the start of the anime with the whole 10 years old thing. I like to think that's just Ash's mother's personal restriction.
I don't think there would be any age restriction for owning Pokemon, though really young children would most likely have help from their parents. I had a dog since I was very very young, but of course I wasn't the only one taking care of her at that age.
It's hard for me to imagine parents letting any of their children younger than their late teens going off on their own with nothing but their pet(s). The age when a person starts their journey is probably down to the preference of the child's parents though.

There isn't an offical age, it seems, but like with owning a pet, legally the responsibility rests with the parents of someone under 10. That's why we don't see preschoolers walking around with Charizards and Scyther. Parents are responsible enough to set a limit on what pokemon to give to their small kids, or maybe even make the pokemon old an Everstone in some cases until the child is at the right age

Whenever said Pokemon felt it could trust the person enough to allow them to catch it, age shouldn't have to be a factor best make it 18 to be on the safe side though.

In my opinion 10 is a very ripe age to own a Pokemon.

Of course, I think that it really depends on the types of pokemon, as some are presumably more dangerous than others (i.e. a Magmortar vs a Magikarp). Pokemon that are pre-evos or have generally complacent personalities are good for younger trainers. I think to be able to go out and "catch em all" you should have to be 16, so similar to a driver's test. You'd need a license to train, and you could get one for basic mons as young as ten and move up through the years.

Having a strong pokemon is a huge responsibility especially if its capable of mass destruction. You could easily endanger yourself, others, or the pokemon itself. And I think it's only sensible for kids to wait until they're at least 16 to go solely traveling around a region. It's dangerous for those younger - 18 probably makes the most sense, but I suppose it's up to the parent's discretion.

Ten is a great age to learn pokemon basics like the game shows us. I think for a kid that may not have been raised around pokemon much, or their parents didn't let them out in the house, it's a new feel and experince. To raise and capture pokemon would be through the parent's opinion, if the children where responsible enough and factors like that. To actually get a starter from a professor of your region would require something outstanding, as the starters are deemed 'rare' in most cases