Well, Sonata is the name of my kitsune character in the Dojo & Mansion RPs, whose fox form is based somewhat on Ninetales.
As for Absolem, that's the name of the Caterpillar in Tim Burton's version of Alice in Wonderland. Right at the end of the film, a blue butterfly (sound familiar?) lands on Alice's shoulder in the "real" world, which she identifies as a post-cocoon Absolem.
A lot of the names I pick out for my pokemon match their final evolutionary stages better than their earlier ones.
An Aipom called Samba... Samba de Amigo?
Yes indeed. I was planning to call her Akiki, after a particular monkey in the Mario series, but then I played Sonic & Sega All-Stars Racing, and I felt Aipom/Ambipom shared some physical similarities with Amigo. Also, until recently, I thought the main character of Samba de Amigo was called
Samba, not Amigo. Not sure why...
Ah, okay. A bit off topic considering the subject matter, but is Sonic & Sega All-Stars Racing any good?
Yeah, I think so. I still prefer Mario Kart, but it's not a bad effort. I've been playing the DS version more than the Wii one, though.
Ah, gotcha.