Although far from the weakest of unevolved grass pokemon, Smoliv, it must be acknowledged, are certainly the most easily frightened. Skittish and quick to flee, these pokemon rival only Wimpod in their lack of courage, and have become well-known for this quality; severe social anxiety, in Paldea, is also known as Smoliv Syndrome. Much like Horsea are fond of smokescreens, Smoliv protect themselves by spraying oil into their predators' eyes, and hope to have bounced far, far away by the time one retaliates; although Smoliv are edible, and Bombirdier consider them delicious, humans have therefore declined to raise them for food.

When not sprayed directly into one's eye, however, Smoliv oil is a delicious condiment which can also serve as a perfume and industrial lubricant. Typically, a machine resembling a Cacturne is used to harvest Smoliv oil, whose 'eyes' are in reality a passageway to the buckets where the outcome of the attack is collected. Paldean farmers have therefore long tried to tackle the challenge of raising Smoliv, but most of them gave up and settled for harvesting Dolliv or Arboliva oil; the less scrupulous ones even try to pass off their farm's products as having come from still-unevolved Smoliv, and counterfeiting remains a major problem in the industry.

Customers should be aware that fresh Dolliv oil does not taste like fresh Smoliv oil, but like Smoliv oil that has been open a few days. This is the reason it is still sold in such tiny bottles; the aristocracy of old Paldea, admittedly, loved to slather their foods with Smoliv oil, but this particular sales custom did not originate as a money grab.