[X] Just... offer them food? They look hungry.
-[X] "Hey little guys, you hungry? I don't have much, but I'll spare what I can."
-[X] If they come up close enough for you to get a look, see if any of them might have potential.
Couple reasons for looking at potential and offering food and everything.
- First is that three smol Shinx are absolutely adorable.
- The second is that we've apparently got a weeks worth of rations on us, so we can afford to feed three small Shinx cubs.
- The third is because this just smells of a plot hook, and so I wanna check if we can find another Huge Potential Pokemon here.
- The fourth is because it might not be a Luxio/Luxray leading this pack. Now, Haru mentioning that usually Shinx packs follow a Luxio leader might just be a bit of Pokedex info Mazz is trying to work in there, but it might also be a hint that whatever is leading the pack isn't a Luxio/Luxray. And considering that we can find Magnemite-line, Electabuzz-line, and Flaffy-line here on this route, along with both the Skitty and Delcatty lines, gives Luxicato plenty of different species "bosses" for a Shinx pack
Also, just putting this out there, but Luxray isn't really that bad of a Pokemon.
It gets x-ray vision, is maybe ridable, and gets access to Rivalry, Intimidate, and Guts as species abilities(Could probably get nonstandard ones like the list I compiled for Maelstrom, but I'm not doing that for a Pokemon we haven't caught yet.)
Additionally, it's fairly fast, has high attack and moderate sp.atk, and gets access to a variety of status effects. (Paralysis through electric moves, Freeze through Ice Fang, Burn through Fire Fang, Confusion through Signal Beam)
I've seen people hating on it for it's relatively low sp.atk and lack of special attacks, but it's sp.atk clocks in at a respectible base value of 95, and it can get a few good ones. (Signal Beam for confusion hax and Dark types, Shock Wave and Swift to completely negate Double Team/speed/dodge tank hax that the enemy might come up with, Discharge for the paralysis chance, Thunder for maximum damage output, Hyper Beam if something just needs to die)
Additionally, the physical moves it has are pretty good. (Thunder/Fire/Ice Fang for that sweet sweet chance of status effect and flinching, because in the games at least those are rolled separately so it's really a 20% to hit the opponent with something every time this move connects. Plus, having an electric and ice move at the same time allows us to hit practically everything for at least neutral damage. It also gets Crunch, which is a fairly powerful move that will wreck any psychic or ghost types, which also has a chance to lower the opponents defense, and Wild Charge, which is just an electric type Takedown.
Plus, as just an extra note, we might be able to leverage the x-ray vision into being able to see phased Ghost types, pretty much giving us a special ability without using an ability slot.
The thing is, we have to look beyond stats and movepools to see what a Pokemon can actually
do in this quest. Like, some Pokemon are just capable of
more than other species. All ghost pokemon, for example can float and could dodge moves like Earthquake and stuff because that's what Ghost types do, they float. And the Magcargo line, for example, could probably gain the benefit of the Flame Body ability without actually having it, because their bodies are literally lava. And Flygon should be able to fly without the Levitate ability, clearing the way for another ability (And wouldn't that be a nice buff for the guy, actually having a useful ability. Note to self, stop by the Desert Resort some time)
And Luxray gets x-ray vision for free, along with a fairly good movepool and might allow Haru to ride it in the future, All in all, I think I'd be satisfied with a Luxray on our team if we find one with huge potential. (If it's not huge potential, then it can begone!)
