Chapter 3: Beware the Tides
The sliding doors of the Ambrette Town Pokemart caught my eye as I made my way back from the lab, one Skull Fossil lighter, "Hm, I almost forgot, I have enough money for a couple of T.M.s,"
I walked into the white-washed Pokemart, a contrast from the dusty street outside. A tiny bell sound announced my entrance and I was greeted by the cashier with a cheerful, "Hello!"
Logos of mega-corporations like Silph-Devon International and Steele Co. jumped out at me from the shelves as I made my way through the aisles. Those two companies controlled nearly everything Pokemon all over the world, from Kanto to Galar. Everything I own, from my battle-proof trainer clothing to my Pokedex and even my backpack was patented and manufactured by one of the two companies. It was slightly concerning that they had so much control, but the two companies were constantly trying to outdo each other with each new device or idea so at least neither company had a monopoly.
I found myself in front of the blank screen of the cherry red T.M. Vendor next to the cashier.
"Um," I turned to the cashier, "Do you know how to turn this on? It's my first time,"
"Oh, of course," The young cashier came out from behind her counter and joined me in front of the vending-machine-like T.M Vendor, "Here, first, you tap the screen to wake up the little Porygon or Rotom inside,"
She tapped the screen and two electric blue eyes peeled open on the screen as the Rotom possessing the T.M. Vendor woke up and made a digital persona for itself.
"Now, just ask Rotom to look up the available moves for each of your Pokemon, when you make your choice, the T.M. should pop out here," she pointed to a slot around the size and shape of a T.M. disc, "Also if you have a reusable disc, you can pop it into this slot and Rotom will redownload the knowledge for you,"
"And once you're done, just bring them to me and I'll check them out for you," The cashier went back to the counter and pulled out a Rotom phone to text on as she waited for me.
"Thanks, Hmm," The Rotom on the screen beeped at me and typed a message.
"Would you like to choose a new T.M. or revitalize a reusable one?"
"Oh, I'm choosing a couple of new T.M.s," The Rotom blinked and brought a menu to the screen.
"What species of Pokemon would you like me to look up?"
"One at a time or all at once, I have three Pokemon,"
"Oh," The Rotom did the digital equivalent of a giggle, "One at a time please,"
"Well, first up is a Goomy," I watched as the Rotom brought up a new screen showcasing the Goomy species' moveset.
"Here you go! Just tap the Move if you want more info on it and tap submit when you want me to add it to your order, then ask me if you want to change Pokemon species,"
'Easy enough,' I scrolled down Nozomi's possible moveset, 'Hmm, mostly status moves, I think Nozomi needs a mid to long-range finisher move so..."
After a minute or so, I narrowed it down to two moves, Thunderbolt and Sludge Bomb, which were in the same price range and seemed to have the same power level.
"Hm, well, Thunderbolt can cause paralysis and Sludge Bomb can poison, both of which are valuable in slowing opponents, which is what Nozomi needs as a stationary battler, but Sludge bomb seems more likely to poison an opponent than Thunderbolt is to paralyze," I brushed my hair out of the way absentmindedly as calculations ran through my mind, "Thunderbolt would be useful against flying Pokemon though, what should I do?"
"If you need any help with deciding, I can put the move averages side by side," I startled at the sound of the Rotom beeping, to which it laughed again "Here, is this any help?"
The Rotom pulled up a split-screen with the extended menu for Sludge Bomb on one side and Thunderbolt on the other. Decades of data on the two techniques were spread before me, all condensed into a series of statistics.
'Hm, so Sludge Bomb is more likely to poison than Thunderbolt is to paralyze, about 20% more likely by the looks of it,' I selected the Sludge Bomb move, 'It's poison type too, much more compatible with Nozomi's biology,' "Ok Rotom, I made my choice for my first pokemon, what do I do now?"
"I'll just add Sludge Bomb to your cart, and you can choose a new species,"
"Next up is my Frogadier, do you have anything for her?"
"Of course," A similar screen came up for Frogadier instead of Goomy, "Take your pick!"
'Let's see, now what was that move Shiro suggested...Hidden Power was it, huh,' I selected the move to learn its stats, 'Hm, this is... an interesting move, it varies in power and type depending on the pokemon's genetics and with Edge's Protean ability...if Shiro meant what I think he meant, this could be… a powerful asset,' "I'll take this one Rotom,"
"Hidden Power is added to your cart, I believe you have one last Pokemon, correct?"
"Yes, Litleo please," I checked the total price for the two T.M.s so far, "Ooh, 13,500 poke, that'll suck most of my funds, I only have about 4,000 left to spend if I want food for the next few weeks, hmm"
Most of the on Litleo 's available learnset were either too expensive or impractical, like Solar Beam or Toxic, others were interesting and options that I might get later, such as Bulldoze or Wild Charge. Ultimately, I had to decide between two moves, Rock Smash and Flame Charge.
"Well, Rock smash will be particularly effective in the battle ahead, however, it might be harder for Litleo to learn as a move with a different Aura than his own...Flame Charge would fit seamlessly in the combo that we're learning, and with repeated use, he'll be faster than Edge, Hmmm,"
"That is a tough choice," The Rotom pouted and brought up the split-screen again, "Each has their benefits and downsides... do you need more time?"
"No," I sighed in resignation and placed my Pokedex on the screen for the Rotom to scan, "I'll pick Rock Smash, it's the smartest move for the next Gym battle,"
"Okay…" The Rotom processed my Trainer I.D. and began to spit out T.M.s from the slot.
'1,2,3,4, wait, four T.M.s, that isn't right…' I looked at Rotom in its tiny electric blue eyes, and it winked back.
"It appears I have glitched…" It smirked, "Good luck on your Journey, We hope to see you again!"
I stared in amazement at the mischievous little electric ghost as it closed its eyes and went back to the dormant screen it had before it was awakened. I silently placed all four discs in the special pouch of my trainer bag, then walked to the cashier, a small smile growing on my face from the rebellious act of kindness.
"Hm?" The cashier looked up from her phone, "Do you need anything else?"
I collected a couple of dehydrated meals for myself, a herbivore mix for Nozomi, an omnivore mix for Edge, and a carnivore mix for Litleo, plus a special berry paste for Felix and placed them on the counter.
"Oh, a carnivore mix?" The cashier asked as she scanned the items, "Hm, we don't get too many of those, most trainers prefer to hunt,"
"Really?" I had read about the benefits of physically hunting with a predatory pokemon back when I first caught Litleo, but I had not realized it was that popular, 'Litleo does need to gain more weight, I wonder…'"Do you recommend it?"
"Well," The cashier frowned slightly, "Corporate would probably want me to say no, but I get a lot of trainers through here that swear by it, so yes,"
'It can't hurt to try it out… I have a bit more money to spare,' "Do you have any weapons to spare…"
"Honey, we're a Pokemart, We have everything, " The cashier grinned, "However, you need a hunting license before you go anywhere"
"Oh, well…" I was late enough on my journey already, I didn't have enough time for a hunting license exam.
"Oh, it's not that hard, in fact, to get your training license, you already passed the test for a hunting license, you just need to be psych examed,"
I remembered the test, it was mostly about how to hunt Pokemon humanely and safely, it was also why some form of martial arts and/or weapons training was required by the Kalos region. Pokemon were wondrous creatures, but they were also dangerous
She threw a Pokeball into the air, and released a Slowbro next to me, "It'll only take a second,"
"Wait, I…" I backed away from the dull-eyed Pokemon, but it was too late, the curled tendrils of psychic energy reaching into my mind and then fading away just as quickly, like the ebb and flow of the sea. 'Hm, seems he didn't touch anything important, thank Arceus I got my defenses up quickly enough,'
The Slowbro yawned once he was finished and returned himself, most likely to sleep. At some hidden confirmation, the Pokemart cashier typed something into her register and looked up at me.
"See, that wasn't so bad, was it? When you check out, I'll add the hunting license to your Trainer I.D. so you won't get in trouble with the Rangers, now, I believe you need a weapon of some kind to hunt yes?" She exited the desk area and grabbed some keys, "Follow me,"
"Ah, yeah," I followed her to a glass case full of different blades and bows, slightly off-put by the no-nonsense cashier, "What's the best weapon to start with,"
"Oh, most likely a fishing rod, it may be humble, but there is quite literally plenty of fish in the sea near Route 8, would you like to start with one?"
"A fishing rod?" I had fished before with Nozomi in the swamps near Anistar in my childhood, it was a fun and rewarding pastime that got me away from the Pokecenter for a bit, "I, uh, didn't know you needed a license to fish,"
"Oh, don't worry about it, the Hunting license is only for if you graduate to big game, such as Gyrados or Whailmer, or if you catch one by accident, there's a list on your Pokedex of restricted species and other regulations, just check the ranger website,"
She opened the case and reached past the many sharp knives, elastic bows, and deadly guns to grab a small, blue, collapsible fishing rod, a collection of hooks and fishing line, and a shiny, bright orange lure. She counted the hooks and then walked back to the register, "This should be enough, That'll be 300 poke, and with the rest of the meals… 600 poke in all"
I handed over my Pokedex to pay for the items, collapsed the fishing rod, and put the whole ensemble in my bag, "Thank you for your help, Have a nice day!"
I left the pokemart and continued down the dusty road to the Pokecenter.
After I entered the rusty orange and white building, I relaxed my sore muscles and stumbled up the stairs to my room, where I was greeted with a happy sight. Little Nozomi tumbled and swam in an aquarium that must have been brought in while I was gone, he gurgled happily at my entrance, which woke Edge who seemed to have been dozing while leaning against the wall. Litleo's long warm feline body was currently curled around a fast asleep Felix, his fierce golden eyes peering at me from the bed. I smiled, and silently took out the Togepi's ball, then returned him as quietly as I could. Litleo shook himself and stood up the moment the baby was gone, then jumped off the bed to greet me.
"Hi guys," Nozomi swam to a rock on the top of the tank to hear me better, "I'm really glad you guys get along with Felix, I probably should have told you this before he hatched, but, do you guys want to help me raise him?"
Nozomi was the first to burble his appreciation, then Litleo affirmed with a growl, and finally Edge with a slight nod of her head.
"Good, as you probably could tell, Felix can't defend himself from other pokemon whatsoever when he's this young, Can I count on all of you to protect him?"
I looked each of my Pokemon in the eye, testing for their resolve and finding plenty. 'Good, I won't have any problems then,' "Well, now that that's settled, We need to start planning for the Cyllage City Gym battle, It'll take us about a week to get there and about another week to get a battle with the leader,"
I reached into the special pocket in my bag and grabbed the four T.M.s. "I got some moves for all of you, I'll return you all for the night so you can process them,"
Both Nozomi and Edge showed their appreciation with a nod, while Litleo looked curiously at the discs.
"Litleo, these discs can help you get more powerful, they let you learn moves that you usually can't use naturally, instantly," I got down to his level and let him sniff the discs so that he can make his own opinions about them. "Here, it'll be better to go through it rather than explain it, return!"
Litleo returned to his ball, I inserted the first disc, Flame Charge, into his Pokeball, which immediately heated up and flashed with orange light, enough that I had to drop it onto the floor of the room. Once the ball cooled to a more comfortable temperature, I picked it up and inserted Litleo's second new move, Rock Smash. The ball rocked once and shined with a golden light, indicative of its fighting type nature. 'Okay, I'll leave him in his ball overnight to process both moves, then we can start working on it tomorrow,"
"Alright, Nozomi, you're next," I returned him and inserted the T.M. Sludge Bomb. The ball leaked a poisonous royal purple miasma into the air that I made sure not to breathe in, then glowed slightly before the process finished. I put Nozomi's ball next to Litleo on my belt, the small magnetic strip immediately adhering to the ball. He would most likely need time to process the move as well, seeing as Sludge Bomb was relatively powerful in comparison to his other moves.
"Edge, you're up, return!" I placed Hidden Power into her Pokeball. 'Well, Hidden Power is a Normal-type move so this shouldn't be too dramatic…' Just as the thought cleared my mind, Edge's ball exploded with intense rainbow light, far more than even Litleo's Flame Charge. As the light faded, spots swarming behind my vision, I sat onto the bed in shock of the strange reaction. 'How… Normal-type Aura isn't that strong…It must have something to do with Edge's Protean,"
Though I was planning to keep Edge out for the night since Hidden Power was technically no more powerful than her Water Pulse; I decided to play it safe and keep her in.
"Well, I guess I won't have anyone to sleep with tonight, too bad," The waning light of the sun filtered into the room as I undressed and took a shower, washing away the accumulated dirt and dust of a month's travel through Rock-type Pokemon territory. The warm shower water stung slightly as it flowed through a couple of cuts and bruises I got while traveling or training with my Pokemon but other than that, the hot water was an immense relief after a month of washing in cold rivers. It felt great and served to relax my body before I went out to my bed, only to find a certain ovoid Pokemon watching me with his button-sized brown eyes.
"Oh, Felix, How did you…" I knew that Pokemon could release themselves with enough will power and experience in a Pokeball, I definitely didn't expect little Felix to learn it so early. I got dressed in a pair of silken pajamas provided by the Pokecenter, made sure my bag was packed with all the necessities including the brand new fishing rod from the Pokemart and got into bed. "Well, I guess you'll be my bedmate for the night, Good Night, Felix,"
"Toge-pii," The baby bird curled his crown of spikes inward until he looked like the egg he came from. Then, he rolled himself into the crook of my coiled form and closed his eyes, almost instantly asleep.
My own eyes stayed open for a while longer, reflecting on the busy day and what is to come. ' Well, after this gym, I'll be more in the middle of the pack than at the end. The trainers who got to Santalune a few months earlier than me usually get stuck at the Battle Chateau. They train their teams there instead of taking a slower route as I did. I had taken a different route for two main reasons. One, I wanted to start out my journey with as few distractions as possible, and that includes other rookie trainers. I had spent my five and a half months training as hard as I could with Nozomi and Edge in Kiloude City, specifically, the Safari Zone, Kalos's most famous national park. With its multitude of Pokemon types, the Safari Zone was the perfect place to observe the balance of different Pokemon types in battle, a useful skill in most gym battles. Second, My sponsor wanted me to wait out the main rush of rookie trainers for his own reasons, mainly so I could battle only against trainers that were at my level instead of washouts who only wanted to reap the benefits or get a breeding license, but also for...things I didn't want to think about,"
My eyes began to droop, as I began to lose my fight to the cozy bed and the egg-shaped heating pad next to me, 'Tomorrow is when I start strategizing for Cyllage. Let's see here, it's a rock type gym so Edge will be invaluable, same with Litleo's new Rock Smash, depending on how he takes it. Lanelle's the gym leader, from what I saw of her matches, the challenger has to complete some form of physical obstacle before they battle, like a free climb up a rock wall or lifting some of the rock types to the battlefield- That shouldn't be a problem for me. She usually uses two or three Pokemon in her matches, with at least one of them at the same level as the challenger, so I better bring all three just in case. The rock types I observed so far like to make it a battle of attrition, which might be a problem for Edge...I can probably think of a few ways she can turn that on its head...I'll sleep on it...for now,"
My eyes closed completely and I fell asleep.
"Pii...Pii...PII," I was awoken by the rather insistent chirping of Felix.
"Oh, Felix, what time is it?" I got up to look at the time on my Pokedex, "7 AM already? Guess it's time to get up,"
I got out of bed and got dressed in my usual League-issued trainer clothing and put my backpack onto the bed, "Felix, you ready to go?"
The day-old Togepi bounced with excitement at my tone, "Toge, Togepi!"
"Okay then, come with me," I picked the baby pokemon up from the bed and placed him in my backpack, then slung it over my shoulder, "Now, this is where you stay til you are big enough to walk on your own, alright?"
"Togepi!" The Spike-Ball pokemon chirped happily.
I sighed, all I could do was hope he actually understood what I was saying.
I brought my key to the front desk of the Pokecenter.
"Did your Togepi settle in okay?" The young nurse took my key and hung it onto a hook with many other identical keycards.
"Oh, he did great," I jabbed my thumb at the pair of brown button eyes peeking from my pack.
"Togepiii," The baby bird ducked into my backpack once the Nurse joy met his eyes, shy from his previous encounter.
The nurse laughed and waved me out, "We hope to see you again!"
I left the Pokecenter behind, traveling along Ambrette's dusty main road before I came to the beginning of the Muraille Coast. I opened my Pokedex, "Let's see what type of Pokemon are common around here,"
Route 8, also known as the Muraille Coast, is known for its towering cliffs, rushing water, and sandy beaches. Here on Route eight, many bird Pokemon such as Wingull and Taillow roost along the cliffs, alongside mountain pokemon like Mianfoo and their evolution Mianshao. The beaches are dotted with small rock type Pokemon such as Dwebble and the occasional Bianacle, they are most commonly found beneath the rock formations in both the sand and the water. Driftloom and Driftblum can be found at night along the cliff drifting on the cool sea breezes and a multitude of sea pokemon fill the waters of the Galarian Channel. You may catch sight of the rare Bagon or an Absol, however, they are endangered species here and require at least a 4 badge trainer's license to catch. Pokemon to watch out for here on Route 8 are the Malamar lairs that dot the route, each lair is marked on your Pokedex and a warning will appear if you come within their territory. Tribes of Seviper and Zangoose populate the upper cliffs, all trainers are advised to avoid the borderlines of their respective territories. Finally, as it is Dragalge mating season, swimming is discouraged for any trainer below 6 badge level. You will be notified of any local hazards when you come within one hundred meters.
"Hm, pretty standard stuff, I have heard of the Dragalge near here, I don't want to catch most of these Pokemon, most of the interesting ones like Driftblum and Malamar are above my badge level...This will be a nice route to train,"
After traveling along the cliff part of Route 8 for a good five hours without incident, little Felix's eyes always peeking from my backpack, I was forced to hike down from the upper cliffs to avoid a Malamar lair and found a nice stretch of uninterrupted beach, perfect for training.
"All of you, come out!" I threw my Pokeballs into the air, releasing my other Pokemon onto the sand. Nozomi burbled at the sight of me, happy as always, while Litleo greeted me with an excited growl. Edge was reserved as always but had a new look of fierce determination when she met my gaze, she was ready to go as well.
"Okay, let's try out your new moves, Litleo, you're up first," Litleo bounded to my side, then coiled his muscles, raring to go, "Use Flame Charge!"
Litleo bared his teeth in a grin as flames immediately covered him from head to toe, then he leaped into a blazing hot sprint up the beach, white-hot tongues of fire licking up the sand behind his paws. It was a move ready-made for the little fire cub, almost as natural as breathing for him. I could see him grow faster with each loop around the beach, a side effect of the move which is why it was so popular with many trainers.
"Okay, Litleo, now try Fang Blitz on that rock with Flame Charge added on!"
I pointed at a rock formation about as tall as a man, right before a ball of fire and light cleaved the top three feet clean off. Litleo slid to a stop in front of me a few seconds later, chunks of red-hot rock cooling on the sand behind him. He spat out a couple more pieces of rock onto the ground then roared, a sound infused with pleasure and thrill at his newfound power. The combo was incredibly powerful, however, I could tell that it was draining on Litleo's stamina, he could probably only use it two to three times before it would exhaust him
"That was awesome Litleo, now, to finish it off, use Rock Smash on the remains of the rock," Litleo had to focus for a second before the golden energy of the fighting type came to him and gathered in his paw. Three swipes of the move were all it took to turn the rest of the rock to dust, sending a couple of Dwebble scurrying for cover. Litleo began to chase after the speedy hermit crabs, and I decided to let him do it, seeing as he had demonstrated both moves.
"Okay, Nozomi, you're up," I walked about 20 feet from Nozomi and drew a circle about two feet in diameter in the sand, "Use Sludge Bomb on the sand circle, I want to measure its power and accuracy,"
I backed away from the circle as the little slug dragon seemed to gather a wad of spit and slime in his mouth, while at the same time adding a liberal amount of purple Poison Aura. The whole process took about six seconds before he spat a baseball sized globule of sludge that reached the inside of the circle, but not the exact center. A wave of sand and miasma rose from the impact, it seemed like the ball went at least two feet into the ground. I waited a minute for the fumes to be dispersed by the sea breeze then slowly walked over with Nozomi to examine the crater.
I took a picture of the four-foot crater for future reference, then covered my mouth with my shirt and analyzed the Sludge bomb as it dissolved into the sand.
"Good Job Nozomi, It needs improvement, but this move will be very powerful in the future," Again, I could tell that this move was exhausting to perform and the long windup and slightly low accuracy was also a problem, however, this would be an awesome finisher move for now and a great asset for later, "Okay, I can return you now if you would like,"
Nozomi was not suited for the sandy beach, the sand made his slime clump up and the salt from the water irritated his skin. I knew he would want to stay out to be with me, but I wanted him to be comfortable. He nodded and I returned him to his Pokeball.
Out of the blue, I felt a small tug on my backpack's straps.
"What's up Felix?" I turned to see the spiky egg's adorable puppy eyes, with his little arms raised up to reach me, "Do you want to play on the beach while we train?"
The Togepi chirped, "Pii, Piii!"
"Litleo!" I called for the lion cub, who lifted his head from a now-empty Dwebble shell, a single orange claw poking from his mouth, "Come here, Felix wants to play with you,"
I picked the egg-shaped pokemon and placed him on the ground as Litleo swallowed the rest of his prey and bounded over. He herded the stumbling baby to a clear area away from myself and Edge.
I got down to the frog Pokemon's level, "Hidden Power should be similar to Water Pulse, except it will be a different Aura type than your own. However, I have my doubts that'll just work that way with you. This move was recommended by a ranger, one with a Greninja himself, and there was quite an interesting reaction when I inserted it into your Pokeball...You ready for this?"
Edge nodded, there was a fire in her coal-black eyes that I hadn't noticed until now. "Edge, use your Hidden Power!"
Edge focused intensely, with her webbed hands stretched in front of her chest as if to catch a ball. Nothing seemed to happen for a couple of seconds, then the Frogadier's brow tightened with effort and she began to move her hands in a circular motion. Sparks of golden fighting type energy formed in the space between her palms then collected into the form of a softball-sized sphere of tumultuous energy. I stepped forward to give her more instructions, but Edge was not finished. The ball of Fighting-type left the space where it originated to make room for a new storm of Aura sparks, this time the lavender color of Ghost-type energy. The deathly energy converged into a sphere as well, then joined the Fighting-type Aura in orbiting their creator's head. Edge was visibly sweating with the stamina it took to create the two Hidden Powers, and she still was not done. Edge formed a final ball of harsh white Normal energy, which joined its brethren in orbit. Edge opened her eyes and focused on the sheer cliff in front of her, then sent the three Aura balls flying into targets only she could see.
In an instant, the Hidden Powers hit the cliff wall and exploded with the force of grenades, which scared a flock of nesting Wingull into flight. 'I see what you meant, Shiro,'
Each sphere seemed to have a different effect. The Normal type Power scorched the cliff and created a large crater, while the Ghost Hidden Power created a vertical shockwave that withered what little plant life still clung to the cliff wall. The Fighting-type energy seemed to have a similar effect to the Normal Hidden Power, however, on closer inspection, the Fighting-type Hidden Power penetrated far deeper than the Normal Hidden Power, as if it had homed in on a fault in the cliff and hit it. 'So they each have the properties of the Aura Edge collected,"
This epic new power was not without a price, Edge had fallen to one knee, her body straining with the simple effort of keeping her head up. Edge's eyes, however, were alight with vicious joy at the destruction she caused, she had grown stronger. 'I wonder what caused the greatest loss of her stamina, was it the ability in and of itself or the changing of Aura types, We'll have to see once I let her rest for a little, still, I guess I'm doing stamina training for the lot of them, I'll have to tweak my plan…'
"Edge, That was awesome!" I rushed to her side before she could fall, and got there in the nick of time. I propped her up on my knee and returned her to her Netball, "Rest up, for now, we'll be training tonight,"
Edge's eyes glinted in the sunlight as she faded into the scarlet red light and returned to her Pokeball. I turned to the general direction of my other two Pokemon and called, "Litleo, bring Felix back, We're hunting for lunch!"
At this, the lion cub's ears perked up, he was already hooked on the idea of hunting for real. Litleo scooped Felix onto his back and galloped to my side, making sure Felix did not fall and hurt himself the whole way.
I picked up Felix and returned him, then reached to grab the fishing gear out of the digital inventory of the pack. Fishing rod in hand, I looked up and down the beach for one of the rock structures that jut out into the water, like natural piers. I found one a couple of hundred feet from me, jogged over to it with Litleo, then climbed to the end of it with him at my side.
Litleo growled at the waves crashing at the sides of the rocky jetty, both his feline side and his fiery nature opposed to the water.
"It's alright Litleo, you won't be going in the water," I tied a hook and lure to the end of the Fishing Rod's line, and held up the combination to Litleo, "This is,"
I flicked my wrist with the practiced skill I had honed for hours in the swamps of Anistar, and the shiny lure dropped into the sea about 20 feet out.
"This is a slightly different kind of hunting than what you're used to, It's called fishing," I reeled the line in and sent it back out, "I'll keep doing this action until I get a bite, If I bring up a fish, it'll be your job to take it out and make sure it doesn't go back into the water, Once we get a couple of fish, I can cook lunch, or dinner depending on how long this takes,"
Twenty minutes of flicking and reeling went by before I finally got a bite. I jerked slightly, and began to fight with the fish, a game of give and take that lasted for a minute or so until, "Litleo, you're up!"
Litleo's furry, dark body collided with the red-scaled blur that I had lifted from the sea. The battle was short-lived, and it wasn't long before we had caught our first fish, a two-foot Magikarp.
"Nice job Litleo!" I unhooked the Magikarp and flicked the lure back out to the sea, "Now, make sure to guard the fish against any birds that come our way, we don't want it to be snagged by a Wingull,"
Litleo nodded and took a stance over the fish, who was technically as long as he was tall. A couple of tries later, I got another bite and brought up a Feebas to join our slowly growing pile of fish. It took another twenty minutes of tries and two or three bites that got away or broke the line before I felt a massive jerk run through the line, a tell-tale sign of a big fish.
"Get ready, Litleo, this one's big," I fought with the fish for a good 7 minutes, before, with one last heave, a 3-foot Arrokuda leaped onto the pier, 'This one's definitely larger than normal, it's probably very close to evolving,' "Litleo, this one won't be a pushover like the others, use Rock Smash!"
Litleo roared and pounced on the slightly stunned fish with two glowing paws, smashing it into the salty rock. The Arrokuda was snapped out of its daze and retaliated with a Peck that nearly knocked Litleo off the rock.
"Litleo, use Noble Roar then Takedown," Litleo roared again, this time it was with a voice that was not his own, a deep voice of terrible power that echoed the future form of Litleo, Pyroar. Then, Litleo recklessly charged the Arrokuda, who used an Aqua jet as a shield a few seconds before impact. The fish and Litleo both took damage from the impact, and Arrokuda used Aqua jet again before Litleo could recover.
"Litleo, use Flame Charge and run circles around Arrokuda," A plan formed in my mind, 'If Litleo can dry out the air around Arrokuda, It'll be forced to use its own water reserves to use Aqua jet, which will probably dry him out with two or three moves, then we'll strike,"
A circle of rushing fire burned in a four-foot radius around the fish, there was barely any room for it to move, let alone run. 'Perfect,'
The Arrokuda was trapped and it knew it, it tried to break Litleo's Flame Charge with its Aqua Jet five times over, which only served to drain its water reserves. "Litleo, attack now, use Fang Blitz!"
The circle of fire blazed higher before breaking when Litleo backed up to perform the combo. Its eye's widened, the Arrokuda watched its oncoming death with abject terror until a familiar light obscured its body.
"Litleo, No!" Impact. An explosion of fire and white light knocked me off the rock, and almost into the water before I caught a handhold and flipped back upward. What greeted my eyes was a little fire lion standing over a fried Barraskewda, Litleo's eyes now glowing with pride, "Ha, well, I guess you earned your lunch Litleo, you can dig in if you like,"
I made sure Litleo roasted my two fish, then filleted the fish before stuffing myself with the hard-earned meat and setting some aside for Edge's dinner if she felt like it. I released both Nozomi and the rested Edge to continue training. First, I took Nozomi to the side while Litleo rested and Edge began a physical workout I had made for her- one with plenty of suicide sprints for stamina, leaping for dodging ability, and Pounding the plentiful boulders for strength.
"Now Nozomi, I'm going to perform a test on the viscosity of your Sludge Bomb," I let him up on my shoulder, then walked to a rock formation with a flatter top to serve as his platform, "I'm going to draw a circle in the sand about twenty feet from this rock, try to aim for it when you use the move. However, instead of using the same amount of your slime and Poison Aura, I want you to change it up, I'll yell out how much you should use each and we'll do it five times over, do you think you can do that buddy?"
He gurgled in affirmation as I cleared the rock's top of the sand, then let the Goomy slide off onto the boulder. "Alright, try to be as accurate as possible,"
I walked about 8 steps away from the rock and drew a 4-foot circle in the sand.
I opened my Pokedex to the same app I used to test Edge's evolved prowess, opened a new file, and labeled it "Sludge Bomb Variations". Once I was ready, I called to Nozomi, "First, do a regular Sludge Bomb with equal parts slime and Poison energy at the circle. The little snail complied, garnering a similar result to the first time he tried Sludge Bomb; however, he was slightly faster whether through getting more used to the move, or some other reason. I added it to the file, under the title Base, "Now, try using pure slime, don't add the Poison Aura,"
This time, instead of a gob of slime and poisonous miasma, a stream of green slime came from his reserves, coating the sand in a ten-foot cone in front of Nozomi's rock, getting nowhere near the circle. 'It makes for an interesting idea, I know from experience how slippery and sticky Nozomi's slime was…"
I labeled the test Flytrap and added it to the file, "Now, add some poison energy to it, but not enough to make a proper Bomb,"
This time, the Sludge Bomb was more of a spray, it had less width than the previous test but went about five or six feet farther. The spray seemed to be slightly acidic as well, it would probably evolve to become Acid Spray once Nozomi got stronger, or evolved to Sliggoo, which were infamous for their acid. I placed it under Proto-Spray and continued to the next test, "Now, add more Poison energy than slime!"
This Sludge Bomb lived up to its name, the volatile ball of energy looked almost like a flying cell with Nozomi's green slime as the nucleus and the deep purple Poison energy as the surrounding cytoplasm before it hit the ground about six to eight feet beyond the target and exploded. 'It's like a sort of Poison Pulse, but not accurate at all…"
I titled it Impractical Poison Pulse and moved on, "Okay, the last one is all poison aura, then I'll let you rest for a bit,"
Nozomi was quite drained from the added energy of changing the composition of the Bombs, but he had enough to form one last ball of swirling poison. The Poison Aura formed into a disc instead of a ball and began to shift with barely contained power. Nozomi released it before it grew too big for him to contain and it exploded before going ten feet and nearly knocked Nozomi off his rock.
'Hm, so Nozomi's sludge holds it together' I titled the disc bomb Pure Poison- Unstable and walked back up to my Goomy, "Alright little guy, for now, regain your slime reserves with Absorb, I can bring you over to the shade if you like,"
The slimy dragon type burbled his appreciation as I brought him to an overhang near the cliff and set him down, "Once you rest up, practice your Water Pulse and Rain Dance on some of the rocks here, it's going to be your best bet for the gym battle,"
I let the little Goomy begin his healing ritual, and jogged over to Edge, who was currently in the middle of a suicide sprint.
"Edge, I'm going on a walk with Litleo for a bit, Once you have physically exhausted yourself, I want you to work on your water type moves, like Water Pulse and Bubble, then on Quick Attack to up your speed," She nodded in affirmation, "Oh, and make sure to check on Nozomi every so often, I don't want any of the native pokemon to get any ideas while he regenerates his slime,"
The serious Frogadier nodded again before returning to her exercise.
"Litleo!" I called the lion cub from his food-induced nap in the sand, in an instant Litleo jumped to his feet and Charged over to me, "We're going to go for a walk along the cliffs, there's plenty of trainers and pokemon to battle, but for this time, we're going to focus on rock types. I'm going to use you for the first part of the gym battle, so I want you to find out how rock types battle, Okay?"
He growled with determination, ready for the trials ahead, even though fire-type attacks have little effect on the hard rock types. We walked up and down the beach for a long time, never straying farther than an hour or two away from camp, before coming back and bedding down for the night. My pokemon and I spent the next couple of days in a similar manner: waking up and traveling in the morning; fishing with either Edge or Litleo for lunch while the others trained; then walking until sunset with one of my pokemon, combing for trainers to defeat, before settling down for the night. Over these few days, all of my pokemon's stamina improved marginally and they mastered the moves they were given, though Edge mostly learned to focus on one type of Hidden Power at a time so as to not drain her stamina. At the end of the week, only a day's travel from Cyllage, I was about to leave on a walk with Litleo while the others worked on move stamina through constant repetition.
I released Felix into my backpack, seeing the battles with more experienced Pokemon was good for him. The newborn egg pokemon chirped on being released, then snuggled into the confines of the backpack. I smiled at his antics, then started northward on the beach, with Litleo bounding at my side.
The hike was uneventful at first, with Litleo defeating the native Dwebble and Binacle with ease. We ran into the occasional trainer for a one on one battle, which did give a bit more of a challenge for Litleo, but he was defeated by a trainer that overwhelmed the fire cub with an unusually strong Clauncher.
It was around an hour before sunset when I decided to turn around and go back to camp.
"Litleo, time to go back, come on," Litleo was currently sniffing a clump of light-colored seaweed, but when I called him, his ears perked and he began to come back. Just as Litleo began to run, the clump of seaweed moved with astounding speed and grasped his ankle.
"Litleo, get away from it!" As an automatic reaction, Litleo set himself aflame and burned away the seaweed before rushing over to me. The burnt tentacle retracted into the ocean as a massive patchwork monstrosity of rusted metal and sopping seaweed, previously unnoticed by either me or Litleo rose on spectral winds from the shallows, howling with anger and pain.
'Dhelmise...This is bad…' Dhelmise were a ghost/grass type native to Alola. Their natural prey is the massive behemoths of the sea such as Wailord and Gyrados, which is why they disguise themselves as the seaweed on the anchors of large ships. They were such powerful sea spirits that even the most experienced trainers try to avoid catching their ire. It was rare for one to wash up on the shore, but it could happen to a Dhemise that is young or needs more ghostly energy to attack its prey. Even with a type advantage, I doubt Litleo could win against such a creature. I pressed the return button on Felix's luxury ball without moving my eyes from the sea spirit's metal body. 'At least he will be protected if we can't get out of this,'
"Litleo, we have to go, you can't win this one," Litleo growled and stood his ground refusing to leave, "Litleo! This is not the time to be stubborn, we have to let this one go, come on,"
Litleo yowled and nodded to the seaweed tentacles of the twelve-foot tall Pokemon, I walked up to him as slow as possible, making sure to keep my eyes lowered from the broken compass that served as it's eye so as to not get hypnotized, "I know its a grass type but that's not going to help you when it's natural habitat is the sea…"
Litleo was not pointing towards the tentacles themselves, but at two large, squirming bundles already knotted into the Dhelmise' grasp. One was about the same size as me, while the other was closer to Litleo's height, a person and their pokemon. 'They're still alive…This changes things' "Litleo, this is going to be really hard, I think we can save them with your flames but you need to avoid confronting the main body directly like in a real battle, Dhelmise can hit very hard and if you get tangled in its seaweed, it's all over"
"Work Up and Flame Charge over and over, Dodge through its tentacles," I tried to press the panic button on my Pokedex, but I had to leap back from a swing of Dhelmise's tentacles. Litleo's mohawk mane flared with power as Litleo worked himself up and began to dodge the multitude of seaweed tentacles flailing in all directions. Litleo leaped and weaved in the forest of deadly kelp, a flaming torch in the slowly fading light of the sunset. I could see his heroic determination harden as he got closer and closer to his goal. As he ran, Litleo grew faster and faster and his flames reached higher and higher. Where the fire cub's paws touched the shallow water, boiling steam rose on the wavering air. "Litleo, get the smaller bundle first,"
By now, the Dhelmise was definitely angered. One of its tentacles had been burnt right in the middle of its meal and now a tiny ball of fangs and flame is bouncing between its limbs, yet it is unable to catch it. It's one spectral eye narrowed as the sea spirit formed a ball of shadowy energy and sent it toward Litleo, who quickly ducked out of the way and continued to the small bundle.
"Litleo, Fire Fang, rip the bundle out and bring it to me," I had jumped onto a small rock structure farther up the beach, and out of the immediate reach of the Dhelmise, now I pressed the panic button on my Pokedex, 'But the Rangers might not get here for a while, there is a lot of pokemon and trainers here that need monitoring...Shoot,'
Litleo had now ripped out the bundle and was in the process of bringing it to me. He had focused the flames away from his head so as to not burn the bundle between his fangs. Though his progress was slightly hindered by the size of the bundle, it was not too hard to bring the bundle back to me with Litleo's strength. He dropped it as my feet and I began to carefully unwrap the seaweed from the Pokemon victim inside. The Dhelmise roared with intense anger, a sound like the crash of waves against a cliff mixed with the garbled screams of a thousand drowned sailors. It was extremely unsettling, yet Litleo was unbothered by it, if anything, I could see his fiery mane flare higher at the roar as he dove back into the fray to get the last bundle.
'This'll be difficult to pull off, It will be much harder to drag the larger bundle through Dhelmise's reaching tentacles and Litleo is already tired from today's walk,' "Litleo, instead of going straight, zig-zag through the seaweed, tie it up!"
Litleo followed through and began to lead Dhelmise in a chase of cat and mouse, or rather, massive, angry sea spirit and tiny fire cat. The fire of Litleo's Flame charge made sure that the tentacles didn't come too close while his speed made sure that the anchor spirit did not realize how tied up its tentacles had become before it was too late.
As Litleo rushed towards the second bundle in the opening he created, I felt a small buzz from my Pokedex. The screen now read:
"Warning! You are now within 100 meters of a Malamar lair, It is recommended to leave the area immediately,"
'A Malamar? This might be useful…" I had the beginnings of a risky plan that depended on what Malamar will see as a threat, "Litleo, get to me as fast as you can!"
Litleo finished taking out the second bundle and started to run to me, just as Dhelmise finished untying its tentacles.
This time around, Litleo was much slower, and there were several close calls before he got to me and dropped the larger bundle at my feet. The Dhelmise began to pull itself out of the water and onto the sand, now determined to kill the little fireball that had stolen its dinner.
"Litleo, this is going to be extremely dangerous but I want you to lead the Dhelmise towards that cliff wall, I'll return you if things get really bad. If this works, we'll be able to run from here without that anchor on our tail. Are you ready?"
Litleo nodded. The Dhelmise was now close enough that I could smell the sea salt and rust off its body. I began to drag the two bundles away, "Go Litleo!"
Litleo roared with the voice that was not yet his, the rumble of far-off thunder to combat the crash of the waves, and caught the sea spirit's attention. The fire lion waited until most of the seaweed tentacles were coming after him before dashing for the cliff wall.
The Dhelmise followed suit, using its life-sucking tentacles to "herd" Litleo towards the wall. Litleo ran straight at the wall, almost rushing headlong into it, only to turn and find that all exits were blocked by the oncoming Dhelmise. The Dhelmise's great metal top slammed into the cliff with such force that a shower of gravel and dust rained on to its body from above. Litleo was totally trapped, the sea spirit's seaweed now a net circling closer and closer.
I fingered the return button on Litleo's pokeball, but I was too far away for it to do any good, 'A little longer…'
Just as all seemed lost for my little lion cub, an impossibly loud psychic shriek echoed from the cave mouth directly above the Dhelmise and the dark, witch-like silhouette of a wrathful Malamar poked its tentacled head from its lair. I started to run toward Litleo, the two, half-unwrapped seaweed bundles left behind in my wake.
An immense psychic force wrenched the anchor from atop Litleo and threw the car-sized sea spirit a good sixty feet. The Malamar rushed into combat with the largest being that dared to intrude on its territory, and the Dhelmise returned the favor with a couple of Shadow Balls. The two powerful pokemon began to move out to sea, locked in combat, as I skirted past their battle and returned Litleo as soon as I got close enough, "You deserve a rest, Litleo,"
I jogged back to the two bundles, placed the smaller one in my backpack, and began to drag the larger one as far as possible from Malamar's territory. It took about twenty minutes before I felt I was far enough to be safe. I began unwrapping the smaller bundle first since it was the one I had done the most work on. I ripped away the final layer of knotted seaweed to reveal the black feathers of a Corvisquire, one that seemed to be melanistic or darker than normal. It had lesions all over its body from which the Dhelmise was sucking its blood and life-force. I took out two potions and sprayed them on the worst injuries to keep the Corvisquire stable while I worked on the second bundle. Potions were wonders of medical technology that could heal injuries in seconds with a cellular regenerant patented by Silph-Devon. They worked especially well on Pokemon for an unknown reason, I knew that the Corvisquire would most likely be fine.
'It's trainer, however…' I pulled off the seaweed from the larger bundle to reveal a boy about my age now covered from head to toe in bloodied wounds. I sprayed the rest of my stock of potions all over the guy, focusing on areas with major blood vessels such as the neck and chest. I bandage the wounds that had begun to heal and put pressure on the wounds to his arms and legs. His rich brown skin was far paler than it should be, a bad sign for massive blood loss. I kept my fingers on his wrist for his pulse and looked over him for any signs of ID or other pokeballs, eventually finding the Corviknight's Pokeball and returning it. He appeared to be in a light blue Sky-Trainer suit, one now ripped and torn by the rough seaweed. 'He must be one of the flying type specialists that train on the cliffs here, I wonder what his other pokemon are…'
Suddenly, the trainer's eyes snapped open, revealing two sharp golden irises, almost like those of a Talonflame. He began to cough vigorously and tried to move, only to be pushed down by me.
"You shouldn't move, save your energy for something else,"
His voice was weak and raspy, I could barely hear him say "Lance...Where's Lance?"
"If you're talking about your Corvisquire, they're fine, I returned him, you both are going to be fine," I noticed a slight tremor in my hands and forced myself to stop, the adrenaline was getting to me, "The Rangers are coming and they'll bring you to the hospital,"
"So...weak…" The trainer murmured before falling back into unconsciousness.
I took deep rattling breaths while keeping pressure on some of the worst wounds, I was never good at this sort of thing, it was hard for me to keep my cool in situations for long, especially near others. 'That's why the Joys aren't coming after me, not yet, I'm not worth it,'
Just as I was about to break down completely, a Beeheeum and two Rangers with a stretcher and trauma gear appeared about twenty feet away. They ran over to the injured trainer and me the moment they could view the situation. As one of the Rangers and the Beeheeum loaded up the trainer, the other came to where I lay kneeled on the sand.
"Are you the trainer who sent out the panic alert?"
"Yeah," I stood up slowly with the stretcher and released my hands once I felt Beeheeum's psychic pressure replace it.
"What happened to them?" I must have looked pale to the ranger, because she now spoke in a gentle tone more appropriate for calming a young toddler, "It's alright if you don't want to share, but it will help the Ranger Corps with cataloging each hazard along this trail,"
I told her the clip notes version of me and Litleo's encounter with the Dhelmise as I watched the other Ranger assess the Sky Trainer's injuries. She nodded,
"You did good with what you had, that's what Beeheeum saw as well," The psychic pokemon at Ranger Corps headquarters are often used to divine images of what is happening when a panic alert is sounded; that way the Ranger's would have some idea of what is happening before they get there. Psychic clairvoyance is not always accurate and has a limited range so the use of clairvoyance is rare in most other professions. I was always interested in the abilities of pokemon, but at that moment all I wanted to do is get back to my camp and process what had happened.
" I, uhh, don't need to come with you guys right?" I could feel the adrenaline surge beginning to wear off and it was getting harder to keep myself from trembling, "I'm not hurt and I sorta need to check up on my other pokemon…"
"Well, we have to bring this trainer to Cyllage Hospital ASAP, so you are off the hook for now, but let a certified Nurse Joy check you out once you get to Cyllage, You have quite the first aid skills, but even the best of us misses some things…" She said more, but at that point, I was focusing on not breaking down and submitting generic answers until both Rangers left with the Beeheeum.
I stumbled in the dark until I was greeted by one worried slimeball and a slightly annoyed frog. Both Edge and Nozomi reacted to my exhausted state, with Edge leading me to the tent and Nozomi immediately climbing up my leg and covering me with his slimy tongue. I released both Felix and the battered Litleo. The former of which chirped sadly and the latter simply flopped at my feet, too exhausted to growl. I broke down in front of them, curling into a ball and bawling my eyes out until sleep wrapped me like a soft blanket.
The next day I slept through my alarm three times before I came to the waking world, rubbing my goo encrusted eyes and scratching off bits of dried Nozomi slime. I had returned Nozomi, Edge, and Litleo so that they could rest before we got to a Pokecenter, with both Nozomi and Edge in need of a soak. Little Felix had tucked himself into the crook of my arm at some point during the night and cheeped with joy once he saw me awake.
"Hi little one, I'm sorry I couldn't feed you well last night," Though Togepi could feed on regular pokemon food, most of their diet consists of happy feelings, like joy or excitement or connection, and excreted a golden dust that is good for adding a natural buzz into any drink. It did mean that I had to dust him off several times a day when I'm at my most content or when I had played with him for a while, or not at all when I'm sad or afraid. The dust has a slightly corrosive effect on Togepi's eggshell, which is otherwise practically unbreakable. This means that once Togepi have dusted a certain amount of times, they can break out of their shells and evolve. It also means that the closer the Togepi is to evolution, the more fragile their shell is and the more care needs to be given by the trainer.
I packed up my camp into my bag's dimensional space, then put little Togepi into the physical pocket. Next, I cleaned up my campfire and did a final check for anything I missed. I checked my Pokedex for any updates on Pokemon in my area then, I set off on the last leg of my journey to Cyllage, the City of Foundations.
