Dual Pokemon Quest

[Blacksheep]

Jaden turned and asked the shuppet to explain where they were going the best they could. Jaden wanted to follow the shuppet, but he trusted Uri. If Uri said they would die if they went, he would trust him on that. Perhaps the shuppet could clear up what was so dangerous about it so they could face it properly, instead of blind. Otherwise they'd have to turn back.

The shuppet did their best to explain. Unfortunately it was clear that the same problem that had plagued Jaden with the absol was in play here. He simply couldn't understand what the shuppet was trying to say. Sam played translator this time, proudly telling Jaden that they were going to "home, where everyone goes".

[ ]Apologize and turn back
[ ]Trust the shuppet and keep going
[ ]Write-in

 

[Blacksheep]

Lee didn't like this situation. The golurks made him uneasy. He knew it wasn't their fault, but he couldn't shake the feeling of drowning from when he'd come too close to the golett. He couldn't just walk away from the dangers in the tower however, no matter how wise that may have been. He had to make sure it was safe. It was the only way forward.

The golurks whirred for a moment before stepping back without warning, leaving a clear path to the door. Lee was surprised, but took the chance to study the door that held whatever Team Magma was after. The door was covered in ancient writing that he couldn't read, and a dial with symbols on it. It was likely that the writing gave a clue to what the dial needed to be turned to in order to open and unlock the door. Lee tested the door's strength just in case, and it didn't budge at all. The door seemed, at the very least, solid.

It was with a bit of reluctance and a lot of relief that Lee turned and started heading back up. Kate and Jasper made sure to stay between Lee and the goletts that wandered on the upper part of the tower. They were thankfully more scarce as they explored up there. Lee followed the vague sense he had received when he'd dove into the current to lead them to a room with a handful of small stones with fossils imprinted in them. The faint traces of a plant and the traces of a shelled creature were printed on them.

[ ]Take the fossils
[ ]Sketch the fossils

They wandered through the tower once more once they were done until they found one of the vulpix. It was startled to see them and quick to vanish, clearly unhappy with the humans being within the tower with it.

[ ]Follow the vulpix
[ ]Make plans for leaving the tower
[ ]Try the door again
[ ]Write-in

 

[Space Jawa]

On the surface, the fossils didn't seem anything special.

However, Lee had very much seen beneath the surface. He didn't know exactly what to do with them yet, but he had a feeling he should bring them along. There had to be some usefulness to be had from them.

[X] Take the fossils

---

Reluctantly, Lee gave up hope on the Vulpix, at least here. They clearly didn't like visitors, it wouldn't make do to agitate them further.

---

[X] Examine the door some more, try to figure out its secret

Against all his dislike of being in the presence of the Golurks, he couldn't resist the urge to unlock the secrets of the door. Or at least try. Something about the scene told him that the key to opening it was right there in plain sight, if only they could interpret the hidden 'key' correctly.

 

[Tascion]

[X]Apologize and turn back
-[X]We aren't yet ready to go home, we still have adventures here to explore. Perhaps when we're older, we'll be ready to follow you.

 

[Blacksheep]

Jaden apologized and turned back.

The shuppet didn't understand. They couldn't, not really, not with what they were. All they knew was that the friends they had made were turning away, deciding they didn't want to follow the shuppet home after all. And they had been so excited to show it to them. They watched Jaden and his pokemon walk away wondering what went wrong.

Uri was greatly relieved. It was hard sensing things here, the closeness of ghosts and spirits clouding his sight. At least the death they had been walking to had been strong enough he had been able to prevent them from all walking in blind. His trainer was wonderously curious, and he was eager to see the world beside Jaden, but they both had, as Jaden said, a lot more to do before they went on this particular adventure.

[ ]Ask if the shuppet wants to come along to play some more
[ ]Look further through the shrine to see what else is here
[ ]Return to town
[ ]Write-in

 

[Blacksheep]

The fossils seemed simple, something cool to look at and a nice souvenir. If there hadn't been that glimpse of more, Lee would have left them.

Root Fossil and Claw Fossil gained

The trip up to the top of the tower had given Lee courage to come back down and face the door with the golurks once more. The golurks once more weighed them, as if they had not just met. The same heavy weight of duty and judgement filled the air before parting to let them study the door. Lee stared at it, willing it to unveil his secrets to him. It wasn't any clearer this time.

[ ]Copy down the runes from the door
[ ]Try to guess the code randomly
[ ]Try to use aura to read the door
[ ]Write-in

 

[Space Jawa]

"We..." Lee started as he worked up the necessary courage to do what needed to in spite of what loomed large in the room. "we should search the room for clues, see if there's anything in here that might give us a clue about what we should be doing."

Following his own advice, Lee looked not just at the door, but the rest of the room as well for signs of anything that might be useful in figuring out how to advance.

[X] Search the room for clues

 

[Tascion]

[X]Look further through the shrine to see what else is here
-[X] Ask the people running the temple about where the shuppet was taking the group, and how to comfort it if possible.
-[X] Ask about different sorts of ghost pokemon
-[X] Ask about the gym here

Feeling bad for the shuppet, it wants friends and can't quite relate to a world where death remains dangerous.

 

[Blacksheep]

The murals around the room were clear in their depictions of battle, with the large golem that had helped the people build and spread so far often leading the way to victory. And yet there was a clear sadness in the murals at the same time. Kate found herself staring at the murals as Jasper watched the golurks carefully. They were being peaceful, but he still wanted to be ready. They were after all wild pokemon.

[ ]Leave the tower
[ ]Try to use aura to read the door
[ ]Copy down the runes
[ ]Randomly try the dial
[ ]Write-in

 

[Blacksheep]

Jaden wasn't done with adventure yet. There was still more to explore here. He continued to wander through the shrine. Occasionally he would catch glimpses of spots that he thought the shuppet would have liked. It was really hard to see. Jaden hadn't seen the secret spot that the shuppet had lead them to at all until they'd been following the shuppet. This place was really fantastic at keeping secrets.

He found one of the priestesses working in the shrine and came up to her. "Excuse me. I met a shuppet here, and they were going to take me somewhere. Where was the shuppet going?"

The priestess paled and grabbed onto Jaden, dragging him over to one of the areas set aside for the priestesses to work. She pulled open a drawer and pulled out a paper before scribbling out a talisman and slapping it to Jaden's body. "Here, this should cleanse you." The priestess took a deep breath. "This place is close to death. The ghosts live in the realm of the dead. If you had followed that shuppet, you would have crossed over to there and died."

Jaden tugged Sam a little closer for the charmander's warmth. Sam was unafraid, he could hold back the cold that hearing those words had brought. "Why would they do that?"

"Because it's their home. The dead don't see things the same way the living do," the priestess explained. "We try to keep things peaceful here, for the living and dead to interact safely, but it is a delicate balance."

"So...there's more than just shuppet here?"

"There's gastlys and haunters and misdreavus and banettes and duskulls and dusclops," the priestess listed. "And of course those who are not ghost pokemon, but the dead who have become trapped between."

"Trapped between?"

The priestess smiled sadly. "You would think of them as the ghosts in horror stories. Humans and pokemon that died but came back as a ghost to haunt somewhere."

Jaden listened with awe. That was so cool. "Do you think I'll see one?"

"Not if you're smart." The priestess frowned. "You were very reckless. You need to take time away from here, and let yourself be cleansed fully from death."

[ ]Listen to the priestess and take a break
[ ]Finish exploring the shrine first
[ ]Make plans to come at night to look for ghosts
[ ]Write-in

 

[Tascion]

[X]Listen to the priestess and take a break
-[X]Thank Uri for protecting us, and for being confident in his thoughts.
-[X]Head to the pokecenter, get everybody checked out, and get a good night's rest
-[X]Take a hike up towards the summit of Mt Pyre

 

[Space Jawa]

Lee Hinsu faced an unfortunate and uncomfortable conundrum.

The room wasn't provided clues for how to advance.

They didn't know what to make of the runes, and Lee wasn't thrilled about the idea of trying to take them with and sneaking back again later. Jasper, at least, probably wouldn't be happy about it either.

Trying to approach the door randomly was probably a pathway to frustrating failure.

The one idea remaining that presented itself as a realistic option was trying to use Aura again. Except the last time he'd used Aura he'd come dangerously close to losing himself.

Facing the prospect of two terrible alternatives - either going back where he was not prepared to or giving up - Lee contemplated the question, uncomfortable as it was, as to whether there might be some way to use Aura to interact with the door the didn't require returning to the current.

It had been years since Zangoose had trained him, leaving Lee rather rusty on such matters, but he was pretty sure he remembered that tapping into the current wasn't the only thing Aura could be used for. Might there be some other use for it that could be applied here?

[X] Look for a way to use Aura to unlock the door that doesn't require tapping into the current.

 

[Blacksheep]

There were more ways to use aura than just the current. The current was perhaps the most direct way to do so, and the easiest for Lee with his training, but he knew that theoretically he could reach out to a single being or item and get a sense from it. It would be like a shallow version of touching the golett. He felt sick doing it, but he refused to back down. He reached out and touched the door-and the door reached back, reading him as he read it.

This didn't feel the same as it did with the golett. This was controlled. The door was designed to read those who touched it, and measure them. An extra measure beyond the dial. The door weighed Lee and judged that he was worthy. The answer for the runes whispered in his mind. They were fuzzy, but he had them.

Lee took a step back. "Are you alright?" Kate asked in concern.

"Yeah, just...just a lot."

"We don't have to press forward if you're hurting," Kate told him.

Lee smiled. "I know. But I'm not going to turn back." He didn't know the meaning of surrender. He sat down and focused on the runes the door had whispered to him. It took a bit to bring them into focus. There was more a feeling of what the runes were meant to translate to than an exact translation. The code for the door was "in dire need and respect we ask for you". Lee stood up and input the runes, and the door cracked open.

Inside, a giant rocky golem stood. It was far larger than Lee had expected, as tall as a gyarados standing on its tail. As it moved the very earth itself seemed to move in response. The regirock stared down at the trainer that had called for it, waiting.

[ ]Write-in

 

[Blacksheep]

Once Lee is done in Mirage Tower I am changing seasons, so please sit tight for a bit Tascion!

 

[Space Jawa]

Passing through the door, finding what waited on the other side, Lee Hinsu stood speechless. He was hit by a sense of awe that was mixed by just a little bit of terror. They'd been informed that there was some kind of golem living in the tower alongside the Vulpix, but Lee had presumed it was just a Golem - a fully evolved Geodude - that had taken up residence in the tower same as the Vulpix. That it was just a visitor that had made the Mirage Tower its home, that there was some form of valuable artifact hiding within.

What had hadn't expected was that towering titan of rock that now stood before him. Or rather, that he now stood before.

It was like nothing Lee had seen before. Or imagined, for that matter. He was pretty sure it was a Pokemon, but a Pokemon like no other. Whatever it was, its power was beyond obvious.

"Is this...is this what the tower was hiding?" He wondered. "Was this what Team Magma was after?"

It very much left him wondering if he'd been worried over nothing. If this creature was what the Magma goons had been searching for, Lee couldn't help but wonder if it would have been fine on its own all along.

Which in turn left him terrified about what it could do to Lee and his traveling companions. The good news was that it hadn't actually attacked yet. The bad news - the big question - was that it hadn't actually attacked yet and with no idea what its intentions actually were.

What even was Lee supposed to do now?

At a lack of good ideas, he did the only thing he felt comfortable doing in the moment.

[X] "Hi?" Lee said, half a greeting, half a question as he carefully raised up an arm in a weak attempt at making a customary wave and hoping the thing wasn't instinctively hostile.

 

[Blacksheep]

The regirock stared down at Lee, a heavy weight of expectation filling the air. Lee had come here, sought it out. The regirock had purpose, and it was ready to fulfill it. Lee had been judged worthy and opened the door. Now all that was required was for Lee to present why he had come all this way, pushed through the tower to the door, and awoken it.

A blur of movement rushed past Lee, and Kate attached herself to a rocky leg in a hug. "It's so big! And amazing!" She did her best to hug the rocky surface. The giant rock golem seemed to take ages to register her presence before it began to bend down towards her. Jasper tensed preparing to fight for Kate's life, when instead it very awkwardly tried to pat her. Kate giggled, despite the motion probably being very uncomfortable to experience.

"How?" Jasper whispered.

[ ]Write-in

 

[Space Jawa]

Lee breathed a minor sigh of relief.

Either Kate was the single most impressive Pokemon trainer in history and she just hadn't quite figured out how to refine the combat half of her unparalleled raw talent, or the stone titan before them was as harmless as such a creature was capable of being. Either way, they were about as safe as could be in the moment.

He turned to glance at Jasper.

"You have my envy." Lee whispered to him with a distinctly humorous tone. Even if Kate was a walking disaster magnet, it was pretty easy to see why Jasper put up with the full-time job of keeping Kate alive in spite of herself.

Taking a deep breath in and out, Lee cautiously walked toward the rock titan.

"Hello." Lee said to the titan, trying to project confidence but still clearly nervous. "Oh...how do I phrase this..."

Awkward empty space filled the air for a moment.

"I guess...what brought us to now is that there's this group of bad people, we're not exactly sure what they're up to or what their goal is, but we're pretty confident that they're bad people and it would not be good if they succeeded. But they're very determined to find this place, they were really confident that there was something very valuable in this tower, and so we wanted to find this place first to make sure they couldn't get it and use it for whatever their evil plans are."

A second time, Lee stood there awkwardly, unsure what to say.

"So, what else?" Lee said to Kate and Jasper, hoping they might fill in any important gaps in the story.

He was at a bit of a minor loss as to what came next. Between the Golurks outside and the clear power of the titan itself, Lee felt pretty confident that the power that Team Magma was after was safe from them. Did they really need to do anything else, or was the matter solved?

And yet, what lingered in the back of Lee's mind was getting overconfident about it. The situation seemed secure, but Lee didn't know what kind of resources Team Magma had at its disposal, he suspected they had no shortage of determination to take what they wanted. And, however powerful the titan before them was, Lee himself was carrying no less than three Master Balls that he'd acquired through mysterious means that he himself didn't fully understand.

Three of them. When once upon a time he'd imagined such a thing to be first unthinkable, then question how could there be more than one. If he himself was carrying three Master Balls, how could he rule out the possibility that Team Magma might have one of their own and be fully prepared to use it?

Did he dare try convincing the titan to come with him? Was it necessary for Lee to try to claim the power for himself just to make sure Team Magma couldn't get their hands on it?

[X] Try to explain to the titan (awkwardly) what brought the group here.
-[X] See if Kate and Jasper have any input.
--[X] Contemplate the situation and what to do next.

 

[Blacksheep]

Jasper smirked. "That's my girl. Capable of befriending anything."

The regirock's attention shifted back to Lee as he walked forward, the heavy weight of its gaze staring into the trainer. It listened to every word Lee had with expectation.

"It's a very good pokemon," Kate spoke up.

"The gang doesn't know where the Mirage Tower is for now, but they're searching for it, and sooner or later they'll get lucky," Jasper added in. "And they aren't happy with us. Hopefully they don't have a good description of what we look like, but they know about us now and will be eager to make us pay for meddling in their business."

The regirock rose. It made a sound similar to the feel of listening to a far off avalanche just as it started. Purpose. Destroy enemies?

[ ]Confirm purpose
[ ]Suggest something different
[ ]Write-in

 

[Space Jawa]

Lee suppressed a laugh as he wondered if what it would take for Kate to say that a Pokemon wasn't good.

That humor quickly disappeared as the stone titan seemed to speak. It said something that the fact that the Pokemon was speaking to him in such a way felt like a bit of an afterthought next to what was being said.

'Destroy Enemies'​

Lee's eyes went wide as his mind quickly started realizing the true implications of such words. He glanced back out from the room, to the outer chamber and the halls beyond with the murals. Murals that he suspected told some kind of cautionary tale.

"Well...not exactly." He said.

All he'd really wanted to do was ensure Team Magma couldn't use the power in this room - this Pokemon, apparently - to achieve whatever their plans were. If the Pokemon was able to help them do the opposite by stopping Team Magma, that was a hard offer to turn down.

But the last thing Lee wanted to do was unwittingly unleash untold destruction upon the world and cause far more damage than Team Magma was planning. And with the pure, raw power that could be felt coming from it, Lee could easily imagine the whole situation getting really out of hand real quickly.

He looked to Jasper, hoping he might have some angle on the situation figured out better than Lee did.

The key issue, unfortunately, was that while they knew Team Magma had some kind of plan - an organization like theirs didn't just try to acquire legendary Pokemon for the sake of it, they had to have some kind of end goal the Pokemon were meant to help them achieve - they didn't actually know what Team Magma's actual objective was. Without knowing Team Magma's true objective, it was hard for Lee to imagine a proper proper purpose that wouldn't risk its power going out of control.

"I wonder if giving it a purpose of 'help us' is too vague." Lee wondered, not sure if even he was confident in such a wording.

[X] Figure out something less ominous

 

[Blacksheep]

Jasper nodded at Lee as he glanced at him and turned to the enormous titan of a pokemon in turn. "Your purpose is to protect us leaving the desert safely, and then to serve Kate as she commands." He gestured to his girlfriend. The regirock took in those words and glanced down at the human still hugging him quite happily. It turned to Lee to confirm that was its orders.

[ ]Write-in

 

[Space Jawa]

Lee was initially taken aback by Jasper's solution, but after actually having an opportunity to process it, the idea increasingly grew on him. Not only could Lee hardly imagine a person better suited and more trustworthy for wielding that kind of power, but Kate could hardly ask for a better guardian.

It was about as perfect a solution as Lee could imagine.

[X] Confirm Jasper's stated purpose for the rock titan

 

[Blacksheep]

With the purpose confirmed the regirock bent down and picked Kate up. Kate squeaked in surprise, and Jasper clenched his fists. If they had messed up and Kate was about to get hurt, everyone would pay for it. But the regirock just carefully held her in its arms before carefully crouching to leave the room and heading forward. The golurks watched the one they had been made to guard leave the room with silent respect.

The regirock did not move with ease through the tower. It was not quite built for its size. But it could manipulate the stone, causing it to flex and expand just enough to let it squeeze through in a crouch towards the door. It looked behind them to check that Jasper and Lee were keeping up before exiting out into the desert, and in large strides began to cross it.

The regirock was tireless. It checked on them often, thankfully, and took breaks when Lee and Jasper would tire. It finally stopped when it was late, and knelt down to let Kate stand for herself. Then it stepped forward, and did something with its hands. A moment later the desert shivered, before dropping a few feet in front of it as it compacted into a solid stone floor. The regirock picked up the stone floor it had created and placed it down before looking at them. It had created a safe spot for them to camp.

Camp Actions
[ ]Seek out vulpix
[ ]Plan route once out of the desert
[ ]Try to talk to the regirock about what it may know
[ ]Talk with Kate and Jasper
[ ]Battle Kate
[ ]Battle Jasper
[ ]Take the risk of tapping into the current
[ ]Stargaze
[ ]Write-in

Pokemon Actions
[ ]Train pokemon in battle
-[ ]Train Archer
-[ ]Train Crunchbite
-[ ]Train the team together
-[ ]Write-in specific training (speed, offense, dodging, train a move)
[ ]Play with your pokemon
-[ ]Archer
-[ ]Crunchbite
-[ ]Play with them together
[ ]Write-in

 

[Blacksheep]

The priestess' words were honestly a little spooky. Jaden was glad to gather his team together and head back to the pokemon center. He very carefully got everyone checked over. It seemed everyone was alright. Sam was a bit impatient at being checked over, insisting that he had been untouchable. Jaden was really glad to have that evidence as he pulled everyone in close for a pile on the bed he got. "Thanks for getting us out of there, Uri," he told his abra. "It's really good you told us what was going on, and made sure we listened. You were awesome."

Uri smiled and nudged Jaden lightly. He was more than happy to lend his abilities to his trainer. Jaden was an incredible human, and he was very eager to see how far they would go on their adventures. As Jaden had said, they could come back to this one some day.

The next morning Jaden was more than happy to take his team on a trip up Mt Pyre to the shrine that sat at the top. The trip itself was a lot of fun. Jaden got to climb over rocks, and poke at tree roots, and watch Sam proudly lead the way and declare his challenges to anything that even dared to breath too close to the group. When they took a short break Oliver took it as a perfect time to start digging a hole to curl up in. He was not so pleased to abandon the hole to resume their climb.

The shrine at the top looked really cool, and just crossing into it made Jaden feel wiser and holier. He walked up to where there was a bell that had a plaque explaining that ringing it could send messages to the dead from the living. And even further back, in a small room that was carefully set up with a priest and priestess peacefully kneeling by it, was a table. On the table were two orbs, a blue one and a red one.

"What are the orbs?" Jaden asked curiously.

The priest smiled. "They are remnants of the primal power that helped shape the world into what it is today. Touching one gives a glimpse into what it would mean to be there when the sea first rose and volcanoes shaped the earth."

"Whoa," Jaden breathed.

"We don't allow visitors to touch them, but you can have a closer look if you want," the priest invited him. Jaden was more than happy to take advantage of that to peer closer at the orbs. They really did seem to pulse with power. Jaden could almost hear them calling out.

It was unfortunate that Mt Pyre didn't have a gym. Jaden had been really hyped up at the thought of challenging one. The next place he went, that would surely have a gym he could face.

Pokemon Actions
[ ]Train your pokemon in battle
-[ ]Write-in specific training (speed, offense, dodging, train a move)
--[ ]Train pokemon team
--[ ]Train Oliver
--[ ]Train Sam
-[ ]Train Uri
[ ]Play with your pokemon
-[ ]With all
-[ ]With Oliver
-[ ]With Sam
-[ ]With Uri
[ ]Write-in

Travel
[ ]Take boat to Route 123 in the south
[ ]Take a boat back north to Route 121

 

[Tascion]

Touching museum stuff was nearly always a no go, unless it was a special touchable exhibit. Touching by looking was the only option for delicate or dangerous things.

Touch the red one; mentally. Touch it all over and rub mental fingers on it. Now Jaden was the unstoppable one. He had the power, not the museum curators.

Afterwards, ask for permission to ring the bell. If granted, ring the bell to send a message to the death that the shuppet wanted us to visit. Let the death know that we're sorry we weren't ready to visit yet, and that the shuppet was nice to hang out with for a while.

Lastly, ask Uri if he'd like to try teleporting the group back to the poke center. If so, go for it. Otherwise, hike back down.

[X] museum rule breaking
-[x] the red one
-[x] message the death
-[x] teleport or walk back down

 

[Space Jawa]

It wasn't until they departed the tower that Lee realized how tense he was. Even after leaving the tower, there was a certain lingering fear in the back of his mind that something might go wrong. Lee wasn't sure what it was, but merely being in the presence of something that powerful filled him with awe and a certain underlying feeling of dread.

Something that powerful, that could probably end them all in an instant if it really wanted.

And it currently answered to perhaps the nicest, friendliest, most care-free person Lee had ever met.

"So." Lee said after they'd set up camp atop the recently formed slab of rock that Kate's new Pokemon had created for them.

"I think Kate may be one of the single most powerful people in the world right now." He joked. A nervous joke, but there was a clear attempt at levity behind it, and built on a some element of truth. Kate was undoubtedly as cheerful as ever, Jasper he wasn't sure how he was feeling. But for Lee, at least, it helped him move into a better mindset before breaking into conversation about planning what, exactly, they were going to do next.

They'd found the Mirage Tower, Kate now controlled the very power that Team Magma had no doubt been after, now they just had to figure out what to do with it. Even before the Mirage Tower, Lee hadn't been exactly sure what was to come next, and now that Team Magma and this titan were a thing, he imagined that all their previous plans - both his and his companions - were in need of examination.

"I think our big question right now is where to go next." Lee said. "I don't know where you were planning on going next, but I think our major options are either Mauville City, or Lavaridge Town. On the one hand, going south to Mauville is straightforward, and it'll give us a good option for finding the right people to talk to about Team Magma and handing off what we've learned."

"On the other hand, I could be wrong about this but I think Lavaridge is kind of isolated, only one major path in or out." Lee continued. "With Team Magma trying to isolate the desert, who knows what kind of effect that might be having there. We may want to make sure that town is doing fine and warn them of what's going on before Team Magma starts causing them trouble."

Assuming, of course, Team Magma wasn't already causing them trouble...

[X][Planning]
-[X] Speak with Kate & Jasper
--[X] Ask what Kate & Jasper's next plans were
---[X] Plan next route: South to Mauville City, or West to Lavaridge Town
----[X] Check to confirm if Lavaridge Town really does have only one way in or out
--[X] Kate should probably figure out a Pokeball for her new Pokemon sooner rather than later, otherwise it's going to be impossible to go anywhere without attracting attention we probably don't want.
--[X] Try to talk to the Stone Titan, figure out what its deal is, see what it knows, find out what the Pokedex can tell us about it

---

With the group planning their next collective move, Lee was likewise planning his next personal move, though very much with consideration of ensuring it lined up with the three of them were doing next.

However, he faced an unexpected...well, block.

While he'd had questionable results locating Vulpix thus far, he still had sights set on acquiring one.

How to do that while dealing with the Team Magma problem, however, that proved a bit of a conundrum. He could only spend so much time looking for one, and it would be hard to justify going out of the way for one.

For a moment, a possible solution came to him - among the most reliable outcomes of diving into the current had been discovering the location Pokemon. Could he perhaps use the current to help him find Vulpix?

Except...just as the idea came to him, he quickly remembered the last time he'd entered the current. The idea of entering it again, to locate Pokemon, when they were still so close to the Mirage Tower...

...no, he needed another approach. Entering the current again, this close to the Mirage Tower, there was no way he was going to risk losing himself again like that. He'd have to consider other options.

For now, if nothing else, he did still have his Pokedex. That could certainly help him figure out his options. Maybe help him consider options he wouldn't have considered otherwise.

[X][Research]
-[X] Use Pokedex to see where Vulpix can be located
-[X] Use Pokedex to see where Eevee can be located
-[X] Find out what Pokemon are available between Route 111 Desert and Mauville City, and what Pokemon are available between Route 111 Desert and Lavaridge Town

---

[X][Pokemon]
-[X][Archer] Continue to let Archer rest and take it easy until we reach more hospitable environment
-[X][Crunchbite] Train Dig
--[X] Train to use Dig as the first half of a combo (Dig into Bite, Dig into Astonish, etc)