Writing a story of my Nuzlocke adventure in Alpha Sapphire!
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Hoenn Nuzlocke
- Thread starter Blacksheep
- Start date
- Fantasy
- Created
- Status
- Ongoing
- Watchers
- 8
- Recent readers
- 0
- Threadmarks
- 15
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Statistics (15 threadmarks, 27k words)
User Total Blacksheep 15 Threadmarks Reader mode RSS
New Beginning
- Pronouns
- She
Hoenn was a fresh new start, and would be the place where I would start my pokemon journey. I was so excited to head out and travel. I love exploring, and I love pokemon! I had even registered for Professor Birch's Dex survey, where you're supposed to note what pokemon you encounter on what route. It helped to track the pokemon as they moved around through seasons and changes, make sure the population was healthy. It was a smart way to get people involved and helping too, or at least I thought so. I could play at being a serious researcher documenting what I saw!
Professor Birch was actually out doing a field study when I met him to receive my starter. I picked torchic, and named him Bi De after the story Beware of Chicken. He would grow up to be a mighty kicking warrior! Bi De was as cheerful as I was about traveling out to meet up with Brendan. We saw wurmples, one of my favorite bug pokemon, they are so cute and squishy. We found another researcher in Oledale too, doing sketches of the prints of pokemon who were traveling through the area. I wonder if the sketches were for his own enjoyment, or if he was going to use them for a paper of some kind. He was really invested in getting them recorded properly.
Brendan had been sent up to survey something in a pool of water on Route 103, but he was immediately distracted by the thought of battling me. He had just received his starter recently as well, and his mudkip was a tank. I was really lucky that Brendan was as much at the beginning of training his pokemon as I was, or we would have been completely wiped out! I pulled out a win luckily, despite all odds, and returned back to Professor Birch to receive the official Dex Survey app.
The Dex Survey app was really, really cool. It could scan an area and alert me to pokemon being in the area. It was all text notifications and vibrations, no noise, but still. So cool. And I caught a wurmple for my team! I had wanted one so much, and now I had one! His name of course had to be Evo. He is open possibility, someone that can develop and become anything he wants! He would come with us all the way to the top, and I would love and adore him the whole way! He was such a sweet little fellow, big and soft and cuddly and happy to just nap in my arms.
It wasn't long at all after that that we encountered a poochyena with ice fang. I hadn't known there were poochyena on the route at all. Bi De didn't get a chance to fight before being frozen in place. I could hardly believe it. And then-and then-
Evo was open possibility. He could become anything he wanted. He would-I wanted him to come with us all the way to the top. He napped in my arms. The poochyena swallowed him down in one bite.
I couldn't even avenge him. Bi De was frozen solid. I'm just a human. I had to return Bi De and flee Evo's murderer. It wasn't personal, just a meal for the poochyena, but. I had loved Evo. I had wanted to take him all the way. He was so soft, and trusting in my hold. Now he was gone. I curled up in the pokemon center. If I had been better prepared, moved faster, maybe I could have faced that poochyena. Maybe we could have all escaped together. Instead I messed up. Evo was gone, just like that.
>>>>
Hoenn is meant to be a fresh start. A new adventure. Yet part of me can't help but feel soured after Evo's death. I had wanted so badly to keep him safe and watch him grow. I end up dawdling on the edge of Route 102. I should have been continuing onwards, working on the Dex Survey like I had signed up to. Bi De was okay, if slightly withdrawn from the loss of our first teammate. There was nothing stopping me from really progressing.
A zigzagoon came out of the bush and looked up at me with the most adorable look. He rolled over onto his back to show his furry belly and let out the sweetest little chirp. I instantly melted and was at his side petting him. He was so friendly! Was he someone's pet pokemon? I scanned him, but no, he was wild. Just too sweet for his own good. It felt a little like a gift. A way to move forward after what happened. Zigzagoons are sturdier than wurmples. And he's so sweet and gentle. I ask, and he doesn't hesitate to let me capture him and scoop him up. I name him Rowen. He'll be strong. He will travel with us, like Evo didn't get to.
It quickly became clear that Rowen, the sweetheart, was not a fighter. He had only the very basic moves, and would flee from possible fights. He had been living off of charming other pokemon with his move Charm to let him share in their food and territory. He was very lucky I had captured him! Perhaps he would make a good contest pokemon with all that sweetness and soft fur. Either way, it seemed that Bi De remained the only fighting pokemon on my team. I would have to work with him to make up for that and keep us safe.
We found lotad living in the area, but I didn't get a good picture of them before they vanished to submit to the Dex Survey. I did manage to find a surskit and record it. Then I ran into a trainer on the route that wanted a battle. It hurt some to see him send out a large healthy wurmple to battle against Bi De. It felt almost personal, rubbing in my face how I didn't have my own because of my carelessness. Bi De beat him, and I was more than happy to swiftly move on and return to exploring the route alone. I could face my grief later.
I ran into another trainer who wanted a two on two battle. That was tricky. I do have two pokemon after all, but Rowen doesn't fight. Bi De had to take on that challenge all on his own. Luckily our training together was beginning to pay off, and he gave us a win. He's so awesome and so talented. We passed out of the undergrowth into an open field just in time to watch an entire flock of beautiflies take off. It was incredible. Something so common, and yet it threatened to take my breath away. I never tired of seeing pokemon just living their lives.
A very soft sound from nearby drew my attention, only to reveal a ralts! I hadn't even known any lived near here, and yet here one was, watching the beautiflies like I had been. I hurriedly snapped a picture for the Dex Survey. The ralts vanished only moments later like a mirage. But I had proof! There were ralts living on the route! I couldn't believe they were so close to Petalberg, I would have thought the city would have driven them further away.
I wasn't quite done my survey of the route. I had seen a lotad, and I was determined to capture a lotad for the survey. Eventually I found another staring off into nothing and got a good picture of it. I sent it off and headed into Petalberg proper and down to the gym my uncle ran. He had been so generous helping me and my mom move to Hoenn for our new start.
I watched him do a couple battles before I joined him for lunch. He was so pleased to meet Bi De, praising the torchic for being so healthy and strong, and charmed by Rowen's softness. He did remind me to be careful. Having a pokemon like Rowen who couldn't battle would be tricky. But he was mine, and I was going to love him and give him everything I could.
A really weird kid turned up then to ask for my uncle to help him catch a pokemon. The way the kid asked it was strange, like he was going through the script for something he already knew the words to. He wasn't even surprised when Uncle Norman suggested that I go help the kid. He was calm, and nice enough, but there was something about him that just...I don't know. We walked out to the edge of Petalberg, and a ralts walked right up out of the grass in front of us. Wally then looked at me and gave a smile. He threw out the zigzagoon he'd been loaned, "you're supposed to weaken a pokemon before capturing it, right?" he asked. I don't know if the zigzagoon actually did any damage to the ralts despite attacking. Then he threw the pokeball, and the ralts easily let itself be captured. Wally picked it up with a smile. "Wow, I did it! That was doing everything correctly, right?" Wally asked sweetly. The way he asked was so strange, like he was checking the performance of catching the ralts had been performed correctly. I agreed, and he ran off to show his parents his ralts.
I met his parents later. They seemed rather absent minded. They told me Wally had always been sickly and strange, but that they hoped the fresher air in the town with his cousins would help strengthen him. Where was Wally? Well, I had just missed him. They didn't know, but they were sure he was off to his cousins'. It really left me unsettled. I was very happy to leave and go back to the pokemon center to call my mom and talk to her. She at least cared where I was.
Professor Birch was actually out doing a field study when I met him to receive my starter. I picked torchic, and named him Bi De after the story Beware of Chicken. He would grow up to be a mighty kicking warrior! Bi De was as cheerful as I was about traveling out to meet up with Brendan. We saw wurmples, one of my favorite bug pokemon, they are so cute and squishy. We found another researcher in Oledale too, doing sketches of the prints of pokemon who were traveling through the area. I wonder if the sketches were for his own enjoyment, or if he was going to use them for a paper of some kind. He was really invested in getting them recorded properly.
Brendan had been sent up to survey something in a pool of water on Route 103, but he was immediately distracted by the thought of battling me. He had just received his starter recently as well, and his mudkip was a tank. I was really lucky that Brendan was as much at the beginning of training his pokemon as I was, or we would have been completely wiped out! I pulled out a win luckily, despite all odds, and returned back to Professor Birch to receive the official Dex Survey app.
The Dex Survey app was really, really cool. It could scan an area and alert me to pokemon being in the area. It was all text notifications and vibrations, no noise, but still. So cool. And I caught a wurmple for my team! I had wanted one so much, and now I had one! His name of course had to be Evo. He is open possibility, someone that can develop and become anything he wants! He would come with us all the way to the top, and I would love and adore him the whole way! He was such a sweet little fellow, big and soft and cuddly and happy to just nap in my arms.
It wasn't long at all after that that we encountered a poochyena with ice fang. I hadn't known there were poochyena on the route at all. Bi De didn't get a chance to fight before being frozen in place. I could hardly believe it. And then-and then-
Evo was open possibility. He could become anything he wanted. He would-I wanted him to come with us all the way to the top. He napped in my arms. The poochyena swallowed him down in one bite.
I couldn't even avenge him. Bi De was frozen solid. I'm just a human. I had to return Bi De and flee Evo's murderer. It wasn't personal, just a meal for the poochyena, but. I had loved Evo. I had wanted to take him all the way. He was so soft, and trusting in my hold. Now he was gone. I curled up in the pokemon center. If I had been better prepared, moved faster, maybe I could have faced that poochyena. Maybe we could have all escaped together. Instead I messed up. Evo was gone, just like that.
>>>>
Hoenn is meant to be a fresh start. A new adventure. Yet part of me can't help but feel soured after Evo's death. I had wanted so badly to keep him safe and watch him grow. I end up dawdling on the edge of Route 102. I should have been continuing onwards, working on the Dex Survey like I had signed up to. Bi De was okay, if slightly withdrawn from the loss of our first teammate. There was nothing stopping me from really progressing.
A zigzagoon came out of the bush and looked up at me with the most adorable look. He rolled over onto his back to show his furry belly and let out the sweetest little chirp. I instantly melted and was at his side petting him. He was so friendly! Was he someone's pet pokemon? I scanned him, but no, he was wild. Just too sweet for his own good. It felt a little like a gift. A way to move forward after what happened. Zigzagoons are sturdier than wurmples. And he's so sweet and gentle. I ask, and he doesn't hesitate to let me capture him and scoop him up. I name him Rowen. He'll be strong. He will travel with us, like Evo didn't get to.
It quickly became clear that Rowen, the sweetheart, was not a fighter. He had only the very basic moves, and would flee from possible fights. He had been living off of charming other pokemon with his move Charm to let him share in their food and territory. He was very lucky I had captured him! Perhaps he would make a good contest pokemon with all that sweetness and soft fur. Either way, it seemed that Bi De remained the only fighting pokemon on my team. I would have to work with him to make up for that and keep us safe.
We found lotad living in the area, but I didn't get a good picture of them before they vanished to submit to the Dex Survey. I did manage to find a surskit and record it. Then I ran into a trainer on the route that wanted a battle. It hurt some to see him send out a large healthy wurmple to battle against Bi De. It felt almost personal, rubbing in my face how I didn't have my own because of my carelessness. Bi De beat him, and I was more than happy to swiftly move on and return to exploring the route alone. I could face my grief later.
I ran into another trainer who wanted a two on two battle. That was tricky. I do have two pokemon after all, but Rowen doesn't fight. Bi De had to take on that challenge all on his own. Luckily our training together was beginning to pay off, and he gave us a win. He's so awesome and so talented. We passed out of the undergrowth into an open field just in time to watch an entire flock of beautiflies take off. It was incredible. Something so common, and yet it threatened to take my breath away. I never tired of seeing pokemon just living their lives.
A very soft sound from nearby drew my attention, only to reveal a ralts! I hadn't even known any lived near here, and yet here one was, watching the beautiflies like I had been. I hurriedly snapped a picture for the Dex Survey. The ralts vanished only moments later like a mirage. But I had proof! There were ralts living on the route! I couldn't believe they were so close to Petalberg, I would have thought the city would have driven them further away.
I wasn't quite done my survey of the route. I had seen a lotad, and I was determined to capture a lotad for the survey. Eventually I found another staring off into nothing and got a good picture of it. I sent it off and headed into Petalberg proper and down to the gym my uncle ran. He had been so generous helping me and my mom move to Hoenn for our new start.
I watched him do a couple battles before I joined him for lunch. He was so pleased to meet Bi De, praising the torchic for being so healthy and strong, and charmed by Rowen's softness. He did remind me to be careful. Having a pokemon like Rowen who couldn't battle would be tricky. But he was mine, and I was going to love him and give him everything I could.
A really weird kid turned up then to ask for my uncle to help him catch a pokemon. The way the kid asked it was strange, like he was going through the script for something he already knew the words to. He wasn't even surprised when Uncle Norman suggested that I go help the kid. He was calm, and nice enough, but there was something about him that just...I don't know. We walked out to the edge of Petalberg, and a ralts walked right up out of the grass in front of us. Wally then looked at me and gave a smile. He threw out the zigzagoon he'd been loaned, "you're supposed to weaken a pokemon before capturing it, right?" he asked. I don't know if the zigzagoon actually did any damage to the ralts despite attacking. Then he threw the pokeball, and the ralts easily let itself be captured. Wally picked it up with a smile. "Wow, I did it! That was doing everything correctly, right?" Wally asked sweetly. The way he asked was so strange, like he was checking the performance of catching the ralts had been performed correctly. I agreed, and he ran off to show his parents his ralts.
I met his parents later. They seemed rather absent minded. They told me Wally had always been sickly and strange, but that they hoped the fresher air in the town with his cousins would help strengthen him. Where was Wally? Well, I had just missed him. They didn't know, but they were sure he was off to his cousins'. It really left me unsettled. I was very happy to leave and go back to the pokemon center to call my mom and talk to her. She at least cared where I was.
To Rustboro
- Pronouns
- She
I headed back out to the next route. It didn't take me long before I found a new pokemon to take along with me, a little taillow I named Icarus. He was tiny, and had the very silly adorable look of a fresh fledgling that hadn't quite fully grown into his adult body yet. He's actually quite a timid fellow, I'm hoping the name of someone so bold will help encourage him. Yes Icarus fell, but he reached for the sun first. I just hope that giving him that name doesn't prove to be unlucky. I just want to bolster his spirit some.
I ran into another trainer with pokemon who was running low on potions for his pokemon and traded with him. He was super happy to be able to keep going and traded some training tips with me. It saved me from sending Icarus out into a bad match up later. Wild pokemon can be harder to judge the strength of than I expected!
There's a beach right along the route heading to Petalberg Woods with a ferry that heads down to Dewford. I can't help but take the chance to chase the wingulls that are along down there. It's one of the funnest things to do, startling a flock into taking off as I run after them. I actually caught a wingull that knew twister. I was quick to record that for the Dex Survey. I wondered if that was a sign it was close to evolution, or a unique development in the area. I just didn't know enough about wingulls or the area to be able to tell.
Then it was off to Petalberg Woods and its wonders. I ran into a slakoth that I thought would be a good match for my team, as she actually reached out to challenge Bi De to a battle, but now I'm questioning if she is in fact a good fit. I named her Briar Rose for Sleeping Beauty, but she's reminding me more of briars than roses right now with her knack for drawing pokemon into fights with each other before lazing around to watch the results. I need more pokemon that can battle, not trouble.
I found cascoons and silcoons in the forest. It hurt some seeing them. Evo could have been one. I know that as a researcher I'm not supposed to really interfere with nature, and I didn't plan on catching one of them for my team either. I still set up close by, and helped one of each evolve all the way. Perhaps in this small way it makes up for Evo not quite making it. Perhaps he can live on in these possibilities I've set loose in the world, guarding them and caring for them until they were ready. I hope so.
I'm really glad Rowen is always up for me to cuddle. It felt bittersweet watching the dustox and beautifly fly away.
I ran into a full fledged pokemon researcher working for Devon Corp out in the woods. He was looking for a cluster of shroomish that he had been studying. Of course I immediately volunteered to help out, how could I turn down the chance to watch a real field researcher at work and get to check out a bunch of wild shroomish hanging out together? It seemed it just wasn't to be though, a thief turned up and tried to rob the researcher of his hard work! A poochyena was sent out, and the tricky dark type was quick to tear into Bi De. My big hearted torchic carried the day though. Not even a dark type that played up fear and pain could take him down!
The researcher had to leave immediately to report the attempted theft to Devon Corp after that, so I unfortunately did not get to see the shroomish he was studying. I did at least run into a bug catcher that had a nincada on his team. They are pretty cool pokemon, so fast, and I like how bright they are with their white coloration. Like a moth with how they catch light.
We came across a slakoth that was prepping itself for evolution. Bigger and paler than a normal slakoth, and clearly powerful. Bi De still beat it up. He's starting to show signs of nearing evolution himself, though I don't think he's ready quite yet. I took some time to just hang with my team and spoil them. Bi De, Icarus, Rowen, even Briar Rose. They are mine, and I love them for being mine. Briar Rose is harder to love, but I refuse to neglect her. I'll put in the extra effort. Even if teaching Rowen how to do a high five was a lot more fun and had me squealing over the adorableness.
I came out of Petalberg Forest to run right into a flower shop. I was rather surprised to encounter one out there instead of in Rustboro proper, but it turns out that the people who worked there were working on a project to help spread berries through the region for people and pokemon to eat, and they had great business dealing with people who wanted to buy things after going through the woods. Their project sounded cool, and they were more than happy to explain it to me, and help set me up with an app and kit of my own for planting berries. I could send them notices through the app of where I'd planted berries and what kind for them to use to help track their goal. This was almost as cool as the Dex Survey.
I had a couple battles with a trainer I ran into along the route. I lost the first one with Icarus, but Bi De came through and won in the end, which was fantastic. He's really carrying a lot of the team right now. Icarus is quickly catching up with strength, but he's more fragile than Bi De, and while Briar Rose can battle, she is prone to lazing around even when sent out. It's easier to not ask her to battle. I really need to work on strengthening my team. As amazing as Bi De is, and as much as I love him, I don't want the full weight of everything to be on him.
I ran into a couple trainers who were into double battling, and they helped me figure out on how to start training Icarus and Bi De to battle together. They worked together far better than I expected. I think I'll want to keep up that training, having my pokemon able to work together like that is cool.
I reached Rustboro, and first thing I picked up was the Cut HM. That would be useful in the future. I taught it to Briar Rose, she actually seemed pretty interested in how she could use it. Maybe instead of battling or causing trouble I can have her focus on how she can use Cut to help us. It can help with firewood, setting up camp, getting through denser undergrowth. I also got to meet an old guy with a shroomish he'd decided to name Pekachu. That is just adorable and hilarious, what a silly name for a shroomish!
I peeked in on the Trainer Academy. They say the curriculum there is so good that gym leaders go there for the courses before taking over their gyms. I don't want to be a gym leader, I like exploring too much to stay in one place, but it was cool to think about that. I headed over to Devon Corp too, but the first floor was a pretty boring lobby, and they don't allow visitors past there. I guess I won't see any of the cool things they're doing. It's a shame, even if it is smart. A thief did try to steal from them after all.
I was really nervous going in to face the gym. Two bird pokemon in a rock gym? That didn't really spell good things. Briar Rose couldn't help at all with her normal typing, and she's not nearly as good at battling as Icarus and Bi De. I forgot all that as soon as I walked in though. The gym was so cool. It was designed on the inside to look like a canyon in badlands, even set up with a maze for people to wander through. A super awesome display of different gems and minerals were at the front for people to browse through, and towering above it? Two giant animatronics of fossil pokemon skeletons! It was SO COOL!!!
I came back down slightly when I had to face a gym trainer and Icarus struggled against them. Bi De pulled through though, and evolved on top of that. Just in time! We were gonna face the gym leader, and kick her butt! I came up to Roxanne and faced her. She grinned and sent out her nose pass and geodude to face Bi De. He was soloing it, he had a fighting move with his kicks now. I had to believe in him. And he came through in a big way. We won! Bi De's evolution and his powerful kicks carried us right through, and we won! The odds were stacked against us, with our team definitely not ready for rock pokemon, but we pulled through, and we won.
I was screaming internally and planning how to celebrate, but when we left the gym, we caught sight of a thief running off. The researcher we'd encountered before was shouting for him to stop. Riding high on our victory I charged right after him. He was not gonna get away with his theft and take away all that hard work!
I headed down the route. The thief was heading for the unfinished tunnel that was supposed to connect Rustboro to other areas, so I decided to pick up a whismur to help me navigate down there. I captured a cute little fellow that I decided to name Echo. He seems fairly easy going, but like most whismur when he loses it, he really loses it. It didn't take me long to realize the little fellow was deaf. Thankfully he's super sensitive to vibrations, so it didn't take much for us to figure out how to battle together by me tapping my foot on the ground.
I reached the tunnel just to find out that an old man had had his pokemon kidnapped as a hostage by the thief. The thief just keeps getting worse and worse! Not only is he stealing people's hard work, but people's beloved pokemon too! He had to be stopped. I headed down into the tunnel to face him, Echo bravely leading the way. The thief proved to be a bit of an idiot. He hadn't known the tunnel was unfinished and that he'd raced straight into a dead end.
His idiocy blinded me to how dangerous he was. I forgot that he had managed to kidnap a pokemon and steal from Devon Corp, two things that aren't easy to do. He set loose his poochyena, and almost killed Echo. I barely managed to get him stabilized and back in his pokeball. I didn't hold Bi De back from thrashing the man and his pokemon after that. It hurt too much to think about.
I got back to Rustboro and Echo into the pokemon center. While waiting on him to be cared for I dropped off the research I had rescued to Devon Corp, and returned the kidnapped pokemon to the old man. It turns out that he's an old sailor, and he'd be more than happy to give me a ride on his boat in thanks for helping to rescue his wingull. I think I'd like that, once Echo is better. Maybe going down by the sea will help him feel better too.
Devon Corp's president invited me in for a tour of their fossil lab as thanks for apprehending the thief. It was really cool to look at the fossils they had, the restoration, and the big machine meant for retrieving DNA samples and creating living fossil pokemon. I was given a job after, to take a letter to Dewford and deliver it to someone named Steven.
I headed back to the pokemon center. I needed to tell Echo about our rewards. I needed him to know there was good. He had been so hurt. But he was going to be okay.
He had to be.
I ran into another trainer with pokemon who was running low on potions for his pokemon and traded with him. He was super happy to be able to keep going and traded some training tips with me. It saved me from sending Icarus out into a bad match up later. Wild pokemon can be harder to judge the strength of than I expected!
There's a beach right along the route heading to Petalberg Woods with a ferry that heads down to Dewford. I can't help but take the chance to chase the wingulls that are along down there. It's one of the funnest things to do, startling a flock into taking off as I run after them. I actually caught a wingull that knew twister. I was quick to record that for the Dex Survey. I wondered if that was a sign it was close to evolution, or a unique development in the area. I just didn't know enough about wingulls or the area to be able to tell.
Then it was off to Petalberg Woods and its wonders. I ran into a slakoth that I thought would be a good match for my team, as she actually reached out to challenge Bi De to a battle, but now I'm questioning if she is in fact a good fit. I named her Briar Rose for Sleeping Beauty, but she's reminding me more of briars than roses right now with her knack for drawing pokemon into fights with each other before lazing around to watch the results. I need more pokemon that can battle, not trouble.
I found cascoons and silcoons in the forest. It hurt some seeing them. Evo could have been one. I know that as a researcher I'm not supposed to really interfere with nature, and I didn't plan on catching one of them for my team either. I still set up close by, and helped one of each evolve all the way. Perhaps in this small way it makes up for Evo not quite making it. Perhaps he can live on in these possibilities I've set loose in the world, guarding them and caring for them until they were ready. I hope so.
I'm really glad Rowen is always up for me to cuddle. It felt bittersweet watching the dustox and beautifly fly away.
I ran into a full fledged pokemon researcher working for Devon Corp out in the woods. He was looking for a cluster of shroomish that he had been studying. Of course I immediately volunteered to help out, how could I turn down the chance to watch a real field researcher at work and get to check out a bunch of wild shroomish hanging out together? It seemed it just wasn't to be though, a thief turned up and tried to rob the researcher of his hard work! A poochyena was sent out, and the tricky dark type was quick to tear into Bi De. My big hearted torchic carried the day though. Not even a dark type that played up fear and pain could take him down!
The researcher had to leave immediately to report the attempted theft to Devon Corp after that, so I unfortunately did not get to see the shroomish he was studying. I did at least run into a bug catcher that had a nincada on his team. They are pretty cool pokemon, so fast, and I like how bright they are with their white coloration. Like a moth with how they catch light.
We came across a slakoth that was prepping itself for evolution. Bigger and paler than a normal slakoth, and clearly powerful. Bi De still beat it up. He's starting to show signs of nearing evolution himself, though I don't think he's ready quite yet. I took some time to just hang with my team and spoil them. Bi De, Icarus, Rowen, even Briar Rose. They are mine, and I love them for being mine. Briar Rose is harder to love, but I refuse to neglect her. I'll put in the extra effort. Even if teaching Rowen how to do a high five was a lot more fun and had me squealing over the adorableness.
I came out of Petalberg Forest to run right into a flower shop. I was rather surprised to encounter one out there instead of in Rustboro proper, but it turns out that the people who worked there were working on a project to help spread berries through the region for people and pokemon to eat, and they had great business dealing with people who wanted to buy things after going through the woods. Their project sounded cool, and they were more than happy to explain it to me, and help set me up with an app and kit of my own for planting berries. I could send them notices through the app of where I'd planted berries and what kind for them to use to help track their goal. This was almost as cool as the Dex Survey.
I had a couple battles with a trainer I ran into along the route. I lost the first one with Icarus, but Bi De came through and won in the end, which was fantastic. He's really carrying a lot of the team right now. Icarus is quickly catching up with strength, but he's more fragile than Bi De, and while Briar Rose can battle, she is prone to lazing around even when sent out. It's easier to not ask her to battle. I really need to work on strengthening my team. As amazing as Bi De is, and as much as I love him, I don't want the full weight of everything to be on him.
I ran into a couple trainers who were into double battling, and they helped me figure out on how to start training Icarus and Bi De to battle together. They worked together far better than I expected. I think I'll want to keep up that training, having my pokemon able to work together like that is cool.
I reached Rustboro, and first thing I picked up was the Cut HM. That would be useful in the future. I taught it to Briar Rose, she actually seemed pretty interested in how she could use it. Maybe instead of battling or causing trouble I can have her focus on how she can use Cut to help us. It can help with firewood, setting up camp, getting through denser undergrowth. I also got to meet an old guy with a shroomish he'd decided to name Pekachu. That is just adorable and hilarious, what a silly name for a shroomish!
I peeked in on the Trainer Academy. They say the curriculum there is so good that gym leaders go there for the courses before taking over their gyms. I don't want to be a gym leader, I like exploring too much to stay in one place, but it was cool to think about that. I headed over to Devon Corp too, but the first floor was a pretty boring lobby, and they don't allow visitors past there. I guess I won't see any of the cool things they're doing. It's a shame, even if it is smart. A thief did try to steal from them after all.
I was really nervous going in to face the gym. Two bird pokemon in a rock gym? That didn't really spell good things. Briar Rose couldn't help at all with her normal typing, and she's not nearly as good at battling as Icarus and Bi De. I forgot all that as soon as I walked in though. The gym was so cool. It was designed on the inside to look like a canyon in badlands, even set up with a maze for people to wander through. A super awesome display of different gems and minerals were at the front for people to browse through, and towering above it? Two giant animatronics of fossil pokemon skeletons! It was SO COOL!!!
I came back down slightly when I had to face a gym trainer and Icarus struggled against them. Bi De pulled through though, and evolved on top of that. Just in time! We were gonna face the gym leader, and kick her butt! I came up to Roxanne and faced her. She grinned and sent out her nose pass and geodude to face Bi De. He was soloing it, he had a fighting move with his kicks now. I had to believe in him. And he came through in a big way. We won! Bi De's evolution and his powerful kicks carried us right through, and we won! The odds were stacked against us, with our team definitely not ready for rock pokemon, but we pulled through, and we won.
I was screaming internally and planning how to celebrate, but when we left the gym, we caught sight of a thief running off. The researcher we'd encountered before was shouting for him to stop. Riding high on our victory I charged right after him. He was not gonna get away with his theft and take away all that hard work!
I headed down the route. The thief was heading for the unfinished tunnel that was supposed to connect Rustboro to other areas, so I decided to pick up a whismur to help me navigate down there. I captured a cute little fellow that I decided to name Echo. He seems fairly easy going, but like most whismur when he loses it, he really loses it. It didn't take me long to realize the little fellow was deaf. Thankfully he's super sensitive to vibrations, so it didn't take much for us to figure out how to battle together by me tapping my foot on the ground.
I reached the tunnel just to find out that an old man had had his pokemon kidnapped as a hostage by the thief. The thief just keeps getting worse and worse! Not only is he stealing people's hard work, but people's beloved pokemon too! He had to be stopped. I headed down into the tunnel to face him, Echo bravely leading the way. The thief proved to be a bit of an idiot. He hadn't known the tunnel was unfinished and that he'd raced straight into a dead end.
His idiocy blinded me to how dangerous he was. I forgot that he had managed to kidnap a pokemon and steal from Devon Corp, two things that aren't easy to do. He set loose his poochyena, and almost killed Echo. I barely managed to get him stabilized and back in his pokeball. I didn't hold Bi De back from thrashing the man and his pokemon after that. It hurt too much to think about.
I got back to Rustboro and Echo into the pokemon center. While waiting on him to be cared for I dropped off the research I had rescued to Devon Corp, and returned the kidnapped pokemon to the old man. It turns out that he's an old sailor, and he'd be more than happy to give me a ride on his boat in thanks for helping to rescue his wingull. I think I'd like that, once Echo is better. Maybe going down by the sea will help him feel better too.
Devon Corp's president invited me in for a tour of their fossil lab as thanks for apprehending the thief. It was really cool to look at the fossils they had, the restoration, and the big machine meant for retrieving DNA samples and creating living fossil pokemon. I was given a job after, to take a letter to Dewford and deliver it to someone named Steven.
I headed back to the pokemon center. I needed to tell Echo about our rewards. I needed him to know there was good. He had been so hurt. But he was going to be okay.
He had to be.
Dewford and Slateport
- Pronouns
- She
Echo had finished recovering. He was a bit scarred up, but he was okay. I made sure to give him lots of cuddles of course, and treats. I wasn't gonna let him just suffer. Brendan ran into me just as I was preparing to go back to Petalberg Woods and start looking for shroomish again. There was no way I was moving on before I saw some, their grumpy faces are too charming. Brendan immediately asked how I was doing on the Dex Survey, and started bragging about all the pokemon he had recorded traveling around.
I was not going to stand for that, of course. I can be just as good a researcher! Surveyor. Whatever. I dove right back into Petalberg Woods. It wasn't just a matter of wanting to see shroomish now, it was a matter of honor. I faced a slakoth that knew night slash, and a taillow swarm lead by a taillow on the brink of evolution. They targeted Icarus for some reason, but Bi De drove them off with his flames. Deeper into the woods, and I did it. I located a cluster of shroomish. I immediately took a scan and photo for the Dex Survey. I had done it! I got to watch the shroomish murmur to each other, and occasionally bump into each other in what I think was affection. I left Petalberg Woods with my head held high.
A rich guy I'd battled before challenged me to battle again. I sent out Echo, and he completely thrashed the rich guy's pokemon. I'm so proud of him, he's growing so quickly. He'll go all the way to the top with me, I just know it. I headed down to the dock and talked to Mr Briney. He was more than happy to give me a ride over to Dewford Island. It was a great trip. I got to watch how Peeko helped navigate the wind currents and call them out to Mr Briney, and take in the spray of the water. I let out my entire team to enjoy it with me. It was so fun! I need more boat rides in my life.
I got a fishing rod from one of the fishermen in Dewford. He was more than happy to spend some time talking with me about how to properly cast a rod to lure in water pokemon. I also ran into someone else that had a pet zigzagoon. I immediately released Rowen so they could spend time together. Both zigzagoons were so cuddly and happy, and we got to watch them run around and play together. Occasionally Rowen would come over to use me as an obstacle, or just for cuddles. He's such a sweetheart.
Of course, I had to face the gym here in Dewford. I had come all the way here after all. The gym was actually set up in an exercise gym, with room in the back to face Brawly. Not as cool as the rock gym in my opinion, but it was a fighting gym. Putting that on display would be fairly hard. Brawly started with his machop, which Icarus took down with grace, and Bi De took on his makuhita. I'm not a big fan of the makuhita line, but Brawly definitely knows what he's doing with his pokemon. It really knew how to fight!
With that I claimed my badge, and turned to spend time fishing. Yes I had a letter to deliver to Steven, who was apparently off checking out the caves on the island. I could find him after I spent some time fishing, I wasn't in any big hurry. I caught a magikarp with a surprisingly serious demeanor. I named him Fathom. One day he will be large enough to be one of the great sea dragons of the depths. I just need to raise him and care for him until then. I got to pet him, and while it wasn't as comforting and soft and amazing as cuddling with Rowen, it was pretty cool. If you have never pet an aquatic pokemon before, you have to do it. And he was so happy with the attention too!
I met an amateur fisherman who asked me to watch his line for him while he went to the bathroom. He was so convinced his big catch was right around the corner he was refusing to move from his post. I absolutely laughed at him. How exactly did he think he was going to successfully catch anything when his brain was full of needing to pee?
I met another fisherman that had magikarp he was training up as well, so of course I had to show off Fathom and brag about how he was the superior magikarp. Yes Fathom spent the entire time sleeping while I was demonstrating his awesomeness, but I'm sure some of his coolness came through.
I finally headed down into the caves that Steven is supposed to be exploring. A local gave me a light for the tunnels, and I headed down there. It turns out there's a shrine to Kyogre set down there, with a giant mural depicting Kyogre creating a flood that devastated the island way back when. Steven was studying it, and mentioned that the depiction of Kyogre in this mural was different from others. The markings had altered. He accepted the letter then before heading off to wherever the letter summoned him to, leaving me to study the cave and add zubat and makuhita to my Dex Survey.
I caught a ferry from Dewford to Slateport that wasn't nearly as pleasant as Mr Briney's boat ride. Probably because it had more people on it, and was a lot bigger. I didn't feel as close with the ocean, it was more just a form of transport than an experience. Slateport was a really big city, and more than that, it turned out to be huge in import/export for shipping companies. There were a ton of sailors around that were off on leave. I battled one and was faced with a sound defeat, but I came back and beat him the second time.
I went to look at the lighthouse Slateport has. It's a beautiful building. It's also a lot louder than I expected it to be. I guess that's necessary, considering it acts as a warning to sailors that there's land ahead, but it still surprised me to hear the horn going off. I headed to Slateport's farmer's market next. It had so much stuff! Accessories for your pokemon, fresh fruit and vegetables, baked goods, barbecued meat. I walked out of there stuffed and out a lot of money!
I visited the pokemon fan club the next day. I know they have a reputation of being people that don't really do anything but brag about their pokemon, but honestly, I get it. Sometimes you don't want to compete with your pokemon, you just want to spend time with them, and have other people you can talk to about them with. The club I went to was nice. I absolutely laughed at the portrait of a pikachu stuffed in a suit for a photo. That pikachu clearly loved their human a lot to tolerate those shenanigans.
They had areas set up for dressing up your pokemon, and other areas to just lounge around and let your pokemon out. I talked to several of them there about my pokemon. All of them cooed over my team when I showed them off. Even Briar Rose, with her penchant for causing trouble. I got bombarbed with a fair amount of advice on how to handle more mischievous pokemon and tales of their own pokemon getting into trouble. It was a lot of fun, and they even gave me a bell to take with me when I left, telling me to come back anytime. They were such nice people.
I poked around the docks some and ran into a ship building company. They're working on a pokemon friendly submarine that won't upset the pokemon in the depths. People can dive with pokemon, and there are submarines that can go down for short times, but nothing has been made yet that can go down long term without really upsetting pokemon, so this is exciting. What could be discovered once people can truly explore the depths? A man there suggested that if I was seeking adventure to go to Sea Mauville. Odd advice to tell someone, but I think I will. I'm really curious what I will find there now.
I swung up to the Contest Hall and got to watch one of the performances. One day Rowen will be on that stage and outshine them all. I headed down to the local ocean museum after that. Museums are always enjoyable to poke around, you can learn so many things there. Oddly, there was what looked like a pirate gang in the museum. In fact, there was that thief that I'd run into before! He took one look at me and ditched the others. I didn't care for what that implied this group might be up to. On the upper level I found two of these pirates threatening an older man to hand something over. Of course I wasn't going to abide for that, and quickly stepped in.
One thrashing later and they were worrying about how their boss would respond. The captain himself turned up then, Archie. He looked at me, and told me that humans were wasting the ocean, destroying it. That they were going to reclaim the sea for pokemon, and destroy humans. He left then, willing to bide his time. I was left feeling shaky. I knew that eco terrorism was a thing, but facing maniacs like that up close was something else altogether. What kind of person hates their own species so much they want to wipe them out?
It turned out the man they were threatening was Captain Stern, the head of the ship company working on building the pokemon friendly submarine. They must have been furious that humans were working to press further into the depths of the ocean. He thanked me for helping him and returned to his research, leaving me to take the time to recover. I had less of a taste for the museum after that.
I decided to spend time just training my pokemon and soaking in their presence after that. Bi De's cheer about the world, Rowen's cuddles, and Echo's slow exploration of wherever I place him is soothing. I worked on training with Briar Rose and Fathom, Briar Rose for once being easier to train. Fathom means well, but he is at the end of the day currently a magikarp. There's only so much to work with.
It came as a surprise when first Echo, and then Icarus, evolved. I should have realized with how much Icarus has grown that he was ready to evolve. He's almost big enough to carry me now. Echo seems thrilled by his new ability to make even louder noises than before, though he's still deaf. I can only assume something changed about the vibrations he's able to make. That or he doesn't realize just how loud evolving has made him, which is equally possible.
I threw a party for them evolving, giving them tons of treats and cuddles. They deserved the world after all. I felt a lot better after that too. My team was growing stronger, the next time I ran into bad people I would be more prepared. Perhaps I might even be ready to face Archie himself one day.
I was not going to stand for that, of course. I can be just as good a researcher! Surveyor. Whatever. I dove right back into Petalberg Woods. It wasn't just a matter of wanting to see shroomish now, it was a matter of honor. I faced a slakoth that knew night slash, and a taillow swarm lead by a taillow on the brink of evolution. They targeted Icarus for some reason, but Bi De drove them off with his flames. Deeper into the woods, and I did it. I located a cluster of shroomish. I immediately took a scan and photo for the Dex Survey. I had done it! I got to watch the shroomish murmur to each other, and occasionally bump into each other in what I think was affection. I left Petalberg Woods with my head held high.
A rich guy I'd battled before challenged me to battle again. I sent out Echo, and he completely thrashed the rich guy's pokemon. I'm so proud of him, he's growing so quickly. He'll go all the way to the top with me, I just know it. I headed down to the dock and talked to Mr Briney. He was more than happy to give me a ride over to Dewford Island. It was a great trip. I got to watch how Peeko helped navigate the wind currents and call them out to Mr Briney, and take in the spray of the water. I let out my entire team to enjoy it with me. It was so fun! I need more boat rides in my life.
I got a fishing rod from one of the fishermen in Dewford. He was more than happy to spend some time talking with me about how to properly cast a rod to lure in water pokemon. I also ran into someone else that had a pet zigzagoon. I immediately released Rowen so they could spend time together. Both zigzagoons were so cuddly and happy, and we got to watch them run around and play together. Occasionally Rowen would come over to use me as an obstacle, or just for cuddles. He's such a sweetheart.
Of course, I had to face the gym here in Dewford. I had come all the way here after all. The gym was actually set up in an exercise gym, with room in the back to face Brawly. Not as cool as the rock gym in my opinion, but it was a fighting gym. Putting that on display would be fairly hard. Brawly started with his machop, which Icarus took down with grace, and Bi De took on his makuhita. I'm not a big fan of the makuhita line, but Brawly definitely knows what he's doing with his pokemon. It really knew how to fight!
With that I claimed my badge, and turned to spend time fishing. Yes I had a letter to deliver to Steven, who was apparently off checking out the caves on the island. I could find him after I spent some time fishing, I wasn't in any big hurry. I caught a magikarp with a surprisingly serious demeanor. I named him Fathom. One day he will be large enough to be one of the great sea dragons of the depths. I just need to raise him and care for him until then. I got to pet him, and while it wasn't as comforting and soft and amazing as cuddling with Rowen, it was pretty cool. If you have never pet an aquatic pokemon before, you have to do it. And he was so happy with the attention too!
I met an amateur fisherman who asked me to watch his line for him while he went to the bathroom. He was so convinced his big catch was right around the corner he was refusing to move from his post. I absolutely laughed at him. How exactly did he think he was going to successfully catch anything when his brain was full of needing to pee?
I met another fisherman that had magikarp he was training up as well, so of course I had to show off Fathom and brag about how he was the superior magikarp. Yes Fathom spent the entire time sleeping while I was demonstrating his awesomeness, but I'm sure some of his coolness came through.
I finally headed down into the caves that Steven is supposed to be exploring. A local gave me a light for the tunnels, and I headed down there. It turns out there's a shrine to Kyogre set down there, with a giant mural depicting Kyogre creating a flood that devastated the island way back when. Steven was studying it, and mentioned that the depiction of Kyogre in this mural was different from others. The markings had altered. He accepted the letter then before heading off to wherever the letter summoned him to, leaving me to study the cave and add zubat and makuhita to my Dex Survey.
I caught a ferry from Dewford to Slateport that wasn't nearly as pleasant as Mr Briney's boat ride. Probably because it had more people on it, and was a lot bigger. I didn't feel as close with the ocean, it was more just a form of transport than an experience. Slateport was a really big city, and more than that, it turned out to be huge in import/export for shipping companies. There were a ton of sailors around that were off on leave. I battled one and was faced with a sound defeat, but I came back and beat him the second time.
I went to look at the lighthouse Slateport has. It's a beautiful building. It's also a lot louder than I expected it to be. I guess that's necessary, considering it acts as a warning to sailors that there's land ahead, but it still surprised me to hear the horn going off. I headed to Slateport's farmer's market next. It had so much stuff! Accessories for your pokemon, fresh fruit and vegetables, baked goods, barbecued meat. I walked out of there stuffed and out a lot of money!
I visited the pokemon fan club the next day. I know they have a reputation of being people that don't really do anything but brag about their pokemon, but honestly, I get it. Sometimes you don't want to compete with your pokemon, you just want to spend time with them, and have other people you can talk to about them with. The club I went to was nice. I absolutely laughed at the portrait of a pikachu stuffed in a suit for a photo. That pikachu clearly loved their human a lot to tolerate those shenanigans.
They had areas set up for dressing up your pokemon, and other areas to just lounge around and let your pokemon out. I talked to several of them there about my pokemon. All of them cooed over my team when I showed them off. Even Briar Rose, with her penchant for causing trouble. I got bombarbed with a fair amount of advice on how to handle more mischievous pokemon and tales of their own pokemon getting into trouble. It was a lot of fun, and they even gave me a bell to take with me when I left, telling me to come back anytime. They were such nice people.
I poked around the docks some and ran into a ship building company. They're working on a pokemon friendly submarine that won't upset the pokemon in the depths. People can dive with pokemon, and there are submarines that can go down for short times, but nothing has been made yet that can go down long term without really upsetting pokemon, so this is exciting. What could be discovered once people can truly explore the depths? A man there suggested that if I was seeking adventure to go to Sea Mauville. Odd advice to tell someone, but I think I will. I'm really curious what I will find there now.
I swung up to the Contest Hall and got to watch one of the performances. One day Rowen will be on that stage and outshine them all. I headed down to the local ocean museum after that. Museums are always enjoyable to poke around, you can learn so many things there. Oddly, there was what looked like a pirate gang in the museum. In fact, there was that thief that I'd run into before! He took one look at me and ditched the others. I didn't care for what that implied this group might be up to. On the upper level I found two of these pirates threatening an older man to hand something over. Of course I wasn't going to abide for that, and quickly stepped in.
One thrashing later and they were worrying about how their boss would respond. The captain himself turned up then, Archie. He looked at me, and told me that humans were wasting the ocean, destroying it. That they were going to reclaim the sea for pokemon, and destroy humans. He left then, willing to bide his time. I was left feeling shaky. I knew that eco terrorism was a thing, but facing maniacs like that up close was something else altogether. What kind of person hates their own species so much they want to wipe them out?
It turned out the man they were threatening was Captain Stern, the head of the ship company working on building the pokemon friendly submarine. They must have been furious that humans were working to press further into the depths of the ocean. He thanked me for helping him and returned to his research, leaving me to take the time to recover. I had less of a taste for the museum after that.
I decided to spend time just training my pokemon and soaking in their presence after that. Bi De's cheer about the world, Rowen's cuddles, and Echo's slow exploration of wherever I place him is soothing. I worked on training with Briar Rose and Fathom, Briar Rose for once being easier to train. Fathom means well, but he is at the end of the day currently a magikarp. There's only so much to work with.
It came as a surprise when first Echo, and then Icarus, evolved. I should have realized with how much Icarus has grown that he was ready to evolve. He's almost big enough to carry me now. Echo seems thrilled by his new ability to make even louder noises than before, though he's still deaf. I can only assume something changed about the vibrations he's able to make. That or he doesn't realize just how loud evolving has made him, which is equally possible.
I threw a party for them evolving, giving them tons of treats and cuddles. They deserved the world after all. I felt a lot better after that too. My team was growing stronger, the next time I ran into bad people I would be more prepared. Perhaps I might even be ready to face Archie himself one day.
Mauville
- Pronouns
- She
This was it. The moment I had been waiting for since I truly realized my destiny. The truth of the world, and where I would have to work my hardest, prove my true grit and strength.
Rowen was entering his very first contest.
There was no way that I was keeping this adorable ball of fluff to myself. He's just too charming! He was born to be loved, and performing in front of a crowd for a zigzagoon that had deigned to charm others over battling? This was perfect for him. It was a stage he could truly stand upon and perform. I signed him up for the Cute Contest of course. What other category could I even imagine putting him in? He did amazingly well for his first contest performance, pulling up depths of charm I hadn't even known he was capable of. A more experienced contestant with her zigzagoon took first place, but we secured second. What more could I ask for from his first performance?
I made plans for continuing my journey onwards, and caught sight of Team Aqua. They're planning to go to Mt Chimney to continue whatever trouble they're hatching. I would have to see if my slow meanderings would put me in their way again. I wasn't in a rush to face them, but I certainly wouldn't just let them get away with things if I ran into them. I met a very adorable friendly plusle on this route. She joined my team, and I named her Amia. Perhaps she could perform contests with Rowen, or be a battler, or even just an awesome new companion. She loves listening to music, she perks up so much when I play something on my pokenav.
I ran into a very small oddish I got to record for the Dex Survey after it finished beating Fathom up. My poor magikarp didn't stand any kind of chance, just swam away as fast as he could to me for protection. It was really funny watching the big guy getting beaten on by something so small. Briar Rose evolved a while later, which was fantastic. As a vigoroth she's a lot more interested in fighting directly herself over tricking others to fight for her amusement.
There's a building called Trick House along the route that I can't help but find absolutely incredible. I went in there, and they had really cool puzzles set up to navigate through the building. Some of them you could use a pokemon to help you with, others you had to solve on your own. It was the coolest! I love fun puzzles like that.
I ran into Brendan as I got closer to Mauville, and he instantly launched into a very depressing conversation about how shifts in the globe could lead to loss of diversity and how many species of pokemon had been lost to the past. I know caring about that stuff is important, but it's really a downer of a topic to choose to just go on about when you run into someone. Is Brendan planning on being an eco-scientist when he gets older? Working on studying how biomes work and helping to improve how pokemon and humans live in harmony? We've improved so much over the centuries, but it feels like there's always more that can be done, and it's so exciting when something new comes out.
Brendan eventually wound down his rant and challenged me to a pokemon battle. I sent out Icarus to counter his shroomish, and Bi De to take care of his slugma. That left Echo to face Brendan's marshtomp. The marshtomp was really set on flinging mud everywhere, Echo was going to need a very thorough bath after that battle!
I met a super creepy man only a short way up the route after Brendan thanked me for the battle and split to go do whatever he's doing on his journey. The guy is a "collector", and he was very eager to, well. I don't actually know what he wanted to do with my pokemon, but I was not letting him close. I just did my best to run away from him. I ran straight into a psychic who said he had seen the future, and challenged me to a battle. Then he tried to kill Briar Rose! I won, but the guy kept up the dire warnings after the battle. I tried to brush it off, but it left me feeling a little uneasy about whatever he'd seen to make him try to kill her. I would claim he's a fake, but a fake psychic wouldn't try to kill my pokemon...
I finally reached Mauville. The entire city is contained and built underground, with the upper levels focused as parks and recreation areas. It's so strange to walk into Mauville and head underground into what looks like a tech utopia. It's incredible to look at! The lights, the bots, the colors. And yet I'm not feeling overwhelmed. At least, not by the tech. The crowds of people are more intimidating. It feels like something you would see in a show about possible technology for the future, but it's here, and being utilized! I can only guess that it hasn't spread past Mauville because the tech still takes so much work and expense. The gym leader here is supposed to be a true genius in inventing after all.
I spotted Wally with an adult. He had made it up to Mauville apparently, and the adult was trying to take care of Wally. Wally waited just long enough to learn where the gym was before vanishing, leaving the guy behind to struggle to figure out what just happened. I wonder if the guy knows Wally, or just found himself being asked how to get to the gym by the kid.
I decided to take my time exploring through Mauville. The place is intimidating, I'm sure if I rushed through I'd end up completely overwhelmed. The city is really cool. I visited a cafe that had really good food, and let you eat with your team out. There was a pokemon teacher there that told me he dreams of one day working with mythical pokemon. It's quite a big dream! It's pretty cool seeing this guy out there with his dream, looking for a chance even if he's not actively pursuing it. Who knows, it could happen!
I found a store that was having some kind of clearance sale and got a bunch of plushies for free. I am going to have the comfiest pile to sleep with at night now. I found a massage parlor for pokemon next, and got them for my team. Fathom had never looked so relaxed, he fell asleep from it! There was a store that sold mirrors too. They claimed one of the mirrors there gave you the ability to control storms. It's such a cool story, but the mirror was super expensive. I would have loved to purchase it.
Wally found me as I was exploring, and challenged me to a battle with his ralts. It felt more intense than most of my battles, oddly enough. The battle wasn't difficult, yet I felt more tired than usual after I won. Wally thanked me, and told me he hoped to one day be able to match my abilities. The kid is so weird. The adult he'd taken off on showed up then, and Wally walked off tamely with him like he'd never just streaked off into Mauville alone. I guess the adult did know Wally after all if he sought him out.
The tv studio the HNN Broadcast is made in is here in Mauville. I got to get a glimpse at it. It's cool to think this is where the news is sent out from. I headed up to the parks on top of Mauville at this point to take a bit of a break. I met an old man there reflecting on things. He told me that he'd been living in Mauville City since it used to belong to the Mauville Company. The Mauville Company used to own Sea Mauville and New Mauville as well, until the company went over. It's so weird to think of a company as owning an entire city. I'm glad it went under, the thought of a company owning a city is so weird.
I finally headed down to face the pokemon gym. The inside of the gym was filled with electric currents creating patterns and tesla coils. I walked through until I reached Wattson and faced him down in a battle. I sent Bi De out first for a strong start, but I knew I'd made a mistake when he sent out his magnemite first. Bi De would have done better if I'd held him back for his stronger pokemon. The magnemite tried to paralyze Bi De, but he broke through it!
The magnemite was down, and next was a voltorb. I sent Echo out to face it, planning on having him scream it out, but the voltorb turned out to be soundproof. Even worse, Wattson started playing with using volt switch to trade the voltorb back and forth with a magneton. I didn't have space to switch Echo out, I just had to believe that he could hold his ground and deal with the damage the two electric pokemon were trading back and forth to deal him. Echo was hammered down, again and again, pushed to the brink. I thought I was going to lose-but he turned things around and pulled through, finally taking out the voltorb!
There was no way that I was sending Icarus out in an electric gym, so it was Briar Rose that faced the magneton. She was quick to slam into the steel pokemon and take it to town. All of Echo's work holding the magneton off gave Briar Rose just what she needed to bring us to victory. We won! I did it, my team was amazing, we beat the electric gym! Yes my team is absolutely not specced for such a fight, but we did it anyway! As if to celebrate that, Fathom evolved. He let out a mighty roar as a gyarados-before settling right down for a very serious nap. Gotta love the guy!
Rowen was entering his very first contest.
There was no way that I was keeping this adorable ball of fluff to myself. He's just too charming! He was born to be loved, and performing in front of a crowd for a zigzagoon that had deigned to charm others over battling? This was perfect for him. It was a stage he could truly stand upon and perform. I signed him up for the Cute Contest of course. What other category could I even imagine putting him in? He did amazingly well for his first contest performance, pulling up depths of charm I hadn't even known he was capable of. A more experienced contestant with her zigzagoon took first place, but we secured second. What more could I ask for from his first performance?
I made plans for continuing my journey onwards, and caught sight of Team Aqua. They're planning to go to Mt Chimney to continue whatever trouble they're hatching. I would have to see if my slow meanderings would put me in their way again. I wasn't in a rush to face them, but I certainly wouldn't just let them get away with things if I ran into them. I met a very adorable friendly plusle on this route. She joined my team, and I named her Amia. Perhaps she could perform contests with Rowen, or be a battler, or even just an awesome new companion. She loves listening to music, she perks up so much when I play something on my pokenav.
I ran into a very small oddish I got to record for the Dex Survey after it finished beating Fathom up. My poor magikarp didn't stand any kind of chance, just swam away as fast as he could to me for protection. It was really funny watching the big guy getting beaten on by something so small. Briar Rose evolved a while later, which was fantastic. As a vigoroth she's a lot more interested in fighting directly herself over tricking others to fight for her amusement.
There's a building called Trick House along the route that I can't help but find absolutely incredible. I went in there, and they had really cool puzzles set up to navigate through the building. Some of them you could use a pokemon to help you with, others you had to solve on your own. It was the coolest! I love fun puzzles like that.
I ran into Brendan as I got closer to Mauville, and he instantly launched into a very depressing conversation about how shifts in the globe could lead to loss of diversity and how many species of pokemon had been lost to the past. I know caring about that stuff is important, but it's really a downer of a topic to choose to just go on about when you run into someone. Is Brendan planning on being an eco-scientist when he gets older? Working on studying how biomes work and helping to improve how pokemon and humans live in harmony? We've improved so much over the centuries, but it feels like there's always more that can be done, and it's so exciting when something new comes out.
Brendan eventually wound down his rant and challenged me to a pokemon battle. I sent out Icarus to counter his shroomish, and Bi De to take care of his slugma. That left Echo to face Brendan's marshtomp. The marshtomp was really set on flinging mud everywhere, Echo was going to need a very thorough bath after that battle!
I met a super creepy man only a short way up the route after Brendan thanked me for the battle and split to go do whatever he's doing on his journey. The guy is a "collector", and he was very eager to, well. I don't actually know what he wanted to do with my pokemon, but I was not letting him close. I just did my best to run away from him. I ran straight into a psychic who said he had seen the future, and challenged me to a battle. Then he tried to kill Briar Rose! I won, but the guy kept up the dire warnings after the battle. I tried to brush it off, but it left me feeling a little uneasy about whatever he'd seen to make him try to kill her. I would claim he's a fake, but a fake psychic wouldn't try to kill my pokemon...
I finally reached Mauville. The entire city is contained and built underground, with the upper levels focused as parks and recreation areas. It's so strange to walk into Mauville and head underground into what looks like a tech utopia. It's incredible to look at! The lights, the bots, the colors. And yet I'm not feeling overwhelmed. At least, not by the tech. The crowds of people are more intimidating. It feels like something you would see in a show about possible technology for the future, but it's here, and being utilized! I can only guess that it hasn't spread past Mauville because the tech still takes so much work and expense. The gym leader here is supposed to be a true genius in inventing after all.
I spotted Wally with an adult. He had made it up to Mauville apparently, and the adult was trying to take care of Wally. Wally waited just long enough to learn where the gym was before vanishing, leaving the guy behind to struggle to figure out what just happened. I wonder if the guy knows Wally, or just found himself being asked how to get to the gym by the kid.
I decided to take my time exploring through Mauville. The place is intimidating, I'm sure if I rushed through I'd end up completely overwhelmed. The city is really cool. I visited a cafe that had really good food, and let you eat with your team out. There was a pokemon teacher there that told me he dreams of one day working with mythical pokemon. It's quite a big dream! It's pretty cool seeing this guy out there with his dream, looking for a chance even if he's not actively pursuing it. Who knows, it could happen!
I found a store that was having some kind of clearance sale and got a bunch of plushies for free. I am going to have the comfiest pile to sleep with at night now. I found a massage parlor for pokemon next, and got them for my team. Fathom had never looked so relaxed, he fell asleep from it! There was a store that sold mirrors too. They claimed one of the mirrors there gave you the ability to control storms. It's such a cool story, but the mirror was super expensive. I would have loved to purchase it.
Wally found me as I was exploring, and challenged me to a battle with his ralts. It felt more intense than most of my battles, oddly enough. The battle wasn't difficult, yet I felt more tired than usual after I won. Wally thanked me, and told me he hoped to one day be able to match my abilities. The kid is so weird. The adult he'd taken off on showed up then, and Wally walked off tamely with him like he'd never just streaked off into Mauville alone. I guess the adult did know Wally after all if he sought him out.
The tv studio the HNN Broadcast is made in is here in Mauville. I got to get a glimpse at it. It's cool to think this is where the news is sent out from. I headed up to the parks on top of Mauville at this point to take a bit of a break. I met an old man there reflecting on things. He told me that he'd been living in Mauville City since it used to belong to the Mauville Company. The Mauville Company used to own Sea Mauville and New Mauville as well, until the company went over. It's so weird to think of a company as owning an entire city. I'm glad it went under, the thought of a company owning a city is so weird.
I finally headed down to face the pokemon gym. The inside of the gym was filled with electric currents creating patterns and tesla coils. I walked through until I reached Wattson and faced him down in a battle. I sent Bi De out first for a strong start, but I knew I'd made a mistake when he sent out his magnemite first. Bi De would have done better if I'd held him back for his stronger pokemon. The magnemite tried to paralyze Bi De, but he broke through it!
The magnemite was down, and next was a voltorb. I sent Echo out to face it, planning on having him scream it out, but the voltorb turned out to be soundproof. Even worse, Wattson started playing with using volt switch to trade the voltorb back and forth with a magneton. I didn't have space to switch Echo out, I just had to believe that he could hold his ground and deal with the damage the two electric pokemon were trading back and forth to deal him. Echo was hammered down, again and again, pushed to the brink. I thought I was going to lose-but he turned things around and pulled through, finally taking out the voltorb!
There was no way that I was sending Icarus out in an electric gym, so it was Briar Rose that faced the magneton. She was quick to slam into the steel pokemon and take it to town. All of Echo's work holding the magneton off gave Briar Rose just what she needed to bring us to victory. We won! I did it, my team was amazing, we beat the electric gym! Yes my team is absolutely not specced for such a fight, but we did it anyway! As if to celebrate that, Fathom evolved. He let out a mighty roar as a gyarados-before settling right down for a very serious nap. Gotta love the guy!
Mountain Trails
- Pronouns
- She
I was off and traveling again up on route 112. I ran into Brendan, and he told me he was going to visit a Professor Cozmo up in Fallarbor. It sounds cool. I'd be happier to see Brendan if his kindness and cheer was more of the norm. He's usually so focused on whatever he's doing, it actually felt suspicious of him to be nice! And there it was, the mountain range that Mt Chimney reigned over. Or maybe it was one mountain with several juts and plains? How does one tell when it's one mountain or many anyways? Does it have to have a single peak?
I found a small herd of numels. They are such adorable and sleepy pokemon, and so warm! They just let me walk right up to them and pet them. They radiate a lot of heat off of them. It would be nicer if they didn't already live in such a hot area of Hoenn. There's a desert right nearby after all, and the entire area tends to be warm from the volcano. I coached one into letting me catch her, and named her Dream. She's a bit difficult to handle. She weighs so much, and there's no budging her when she decides on something. Thankfully she's charmed by Rowen and Amia, and will happily follow after the pair.
It would have been faster to take the cable car to Lavaridge, but it was closed. Apparently maintenance was going on? So it was up and through the cave trails. That's not so bad, I do enjoy hiking, and the caves are pretty cool. They're cooler than outside too, giving a brief break from the heat. I still would have liked to have the option.
I found a machop training on the mountain, and it challenged me to a battle to see how far it had come. I was more than happy to do so, and it was so cool to see that this wild machop had figured out thunder punch. Of course, I should have remembered this was a wild pokemon. Control and restraint isn't as ingrained, and Amia was badly beaten in what was supposed to be more of a play match than true battle. The machop looked pretty guilty about it.
I patched her up and tucked her away so Amia could take time to recover. I even fashioned a little saddlebag for her to ride in on Dream. I could have left her in her pokeball, but I couldn't stop thinking about Evo. It was foolish, but it felt like if I looked away Amia might die. She healed and got better, but it still left me more on edge than I liked.
I ran into a thug with a mightyena that tried to rob me. I wasn't really expecting it. He was expecting Briar Rose thrashing both of them without my input even less. I don't think he'll be trying to jump random trainers after that little experience. Shortly after I ran into a nice old lady running a rest stop. It was a very pleasant place, complete with tea and types of little tea cakes and biscuits. It was very tasty. The old woman had a lot of stories to share. She had been quite the adventurer in her life! And now that she was older, she rested her, and let others come to her with stories of their adventures. I happily shared away about my journey, more than thankful for the really wonderful break. I hadn't expected it, and it was fantastic.
I got a brief glimpse of a mawile on my way up the route. It was so exciting, mawile's one of my favorite pokemon! Alas, I didn't get more than that brief glimpse. I don't know if it was just passing through the area, if it in fact had a trainer with it I didn't see, or anything! I can only hope that one day I will catch one for myself.
I also learned I am much less good at reading trail maps than I thought I was. I thought I was going to Lavaridge, but somehow I've ended up at a trail marker pointing to Fallarbor instead. So, that happened? And I don't know how? I'll have to try and get better directions once I reach the town. I caught a skarmory, which was very cool. They're such beautiful pokemon, I love how they're living metal. There's a fluidity to them that you just wouldn't guess at from looking at them.
Then...my luck ran short.
Amia found a trapinch. The pokemon was aggressive, and quick to trap her. I couldn't retrieve her with her pokeball. I couldn't get in close enough to pull her out. Amia fought, but the trapinch just wouldn't let go. It struck, and struck. Amia cried and tried to shock the trapinch, but it didn't work.
It was almost a relief when she died, an end to her cries of pain while I stood close by but utterly helpless to do anything. The trapinch buried back into the ground. It didn't even eat her. It had just taken her out, and I don't know why.
I cradled her body close. She was so small in my hold. So delicate. Perhaps it had been foolish of me to imagine her traveling with me. I wasn't looking for a pet that I could pamper, I was traveling to where wild pokemon dwell. And plusles have never been very strong pokemon. They're quick, and so light. I had thought of entering her in contests. I had imagined that I might train her up to participate in some fun matches.
But that's not what happened.
Saying goodbye was hard. I tucked her away under some bushes. Maybe I should have buried her. I don't know. I looked at the empty bag on Dream. Amia wouldn't be riding there anymore. I had to explain to Dream. The numel gave the saddest cry once she understood.
Moving on felt almost impossible.
>>>>
I reached the ash fields near Fallarbor. Bi De looked pretty happy to investigate it and dive through the ash. Dream seemed displeased at the lack of food to graze on while we walked. There was a glassworkshop set up right in the middle here. They collect the volcanic ash from the fields, and work it into beautiful art. It's incredible to look at. I bought a beautiful glass flute from the shop. I don't know how to play it, but I think I'll put time in to learn. I do enjoy music, and it would be a shame to just carry it around as a souvenir. And maybe it will keep a piece of Amia with us.
I bumped into Brendan in Fallarbor itself. He told me that Professor Cozmo had been kidnapped, and he was going to rescue the professor. I certainly was not expecting that to be what met me when I arrived here! I was hoping to maybe learn what the professor studied, and get directions. Brendan was pretty brave, just charging off after the professor! I wish him the best of luck.
There's a contest hall here. Apparently it's a big scene here in this town. I was quick to brush Rowen up to do his best and enter him once again. The same zigzagoon that Rowen had lost against last time turned out to be here as well! I was so worried that we would again be showed up, but I had learned a couple tricks from last time, and he shone through. We won and got first place! I was left coasting on it for the rest of the day.
Brendan still hadn't returned with the professor. I was starting to worry. I don't actively seek out trouble. I want to have fun and explore. Battling bad guys is just something that's happened a couple times. But I can't help worrying that Brendan's gotten in over his head.
So I'm going after him, and the kidnapped professor. As foolish as this is, I'm not going to just wait to see what happens.
I found a small herd of numels. They are such adorable and sleepy pokemon, and so warm! They just let me walk right up to them and pet them. They radiate a lot of heat off of them. It would be nicer if they didn't already live in such a hot area of Hoenn. There's a desert right nearby after all, and the entire area tends to be warm from the volcano. I coached one into letting me catch her, and named her Dream. She's a bit difficult to handle. She weighs so much, and there's no budging her when she decides on something. Thankfully she's charmed by Rowen and Amia, and will happily follow after the pair.
It would have been faster to take the cable car to Lavaridge, but it was closed. Apparently maintenance was going on? So it was up and through the cave trails. That's not so bad, I do enjoy hiking, and the caves are pretty cool. They're cooler than outside too, giving a brief break from the heat. I still would have liked to have the option.
I found a machop training on the mountain, and it challenged me to a battle to see how far it had come. I was more than happy to do so, and it was so cool to see that this wild machop had figured out thunder punch. Of course, I should have remembered this was a wild pokemon. Control and restraint isn't as ingrained, and Amia was badly beaten in what was supposed to be more of a play match than true battle. The machop looked pretty guilty about it.
I patched her up and tucked her away so Amia could take time to recover. I even fashioned a little saddlebag for her to ride in on Dream. I could have left her in her pokeball, but I couldn't stop thinking about Evo. It was foolish, but it felt like if I looked away Amia might die. She healed and got better, but it still left me more on edge than I liked.
I ran into a thug with a mightyena that tried to rob me. I wasn't really expecting it. He was expecting Briar Rose thrashing both of them without my input even less. I don't think he'll be trying to jump random trainers after that little experience. Shortly after I ran into a nice old lady running a rest stop. It was a very pleasant place, complete with tea and types of little tea cakes and biscuits. It was very tasty. The old woman had a lot of stories to share. She had been quite the adventurer in her life! And now that she was older, she rested her, and let others come to her with stories of their adventures. I happily shared away about my journey, more than thankful for the really wonderful break. I hadn't expected it, and it was fantastic.
I got a brief glimpse of a mawile on my way up the route. It was so exciting, mawile's one of my favorite pokemon! Alas, I didn't get more than that brief glimpse. I don't know if it was just passing through the area, if it in fact had a trainer with it I didn't see, or anything! I can only hope that one day I will catch one for myself.
I also learned I am much less good at reading trail maps than I thought I was. I thought I was going to Lavaridge, but somehow I've ended up at a trail marker pointing to Fallarbor instead. So, that happened? And I don't know how? I'll have to try and get better directions once I reach the town. I caught a skarmory, which was very cool. They're such beautiful pokemon, I love how they're living metal. There's a fluidity to them that you just wouldn't guess at from looking at them.
Then...my luck ran short.
Amia found a trapinch. The pokemon was aggressive, and quick to trap her. I couldn't retrieve her with her pokeball. I couldn't get in close enough to pull her out. Amia fought, but the trapinch just wouldn't let go. It struck, and struck. Amia cried and tried to shock the trapinch, but it didn't work.
It was almost a relief when she died, an end to her cries of pain while I stood close by but utterly helpless to do anything. The trapinch buried back into the ground. It didn't even eat her. It had just taken her out, and I don't know why.
I cradled her body close. She was so small in my hold. So delicate. Perhaps it had been foolish of me to imagine her traveling with me. I wasn't looking for a pet that I could pamper, I was traveling to where wild pokemon dwell. And plusles have never been very strong pokemon. They're quick, and so light. I had thought of entering her in contests. I had imagined that I might train her up to participate in some fun matches.
But that's not what happened.
Saying goodbye was hard. I tucked her away under some bushes. Maybe I should have buried her. I don't know. I looked at the empty bag on Dream. Amia wouldn't be riding there anymore. I had to explain to Dream. The numel gave the saddest cry once she understood.
Moving on felt almost impossible.
>>>>
I reached the ash fields near Fallarbor. Bi De looked pretty happy to investigate it and dive through the ash. Dream seemed displeased at the lack of food to graze on while we walked. There was a glassworkshop set up right in the middle here. They collect the volcanic ash from the fields, and work it into beautiful art. It's incredible to look at. I bought a beautiful glass flute from the shop. I don't know how to play it, but I think I'll put time in to learn. I do enjoy music, and it would be a shame to just carry it around as a souvenir. And maybe it will keep a piece of Amia with us.
I bumped into Brendan in Fallarbor itself. He told me that Professor Cozmo had been kidnapped, and he was going to rescue the professor. I certainly was not expecting that to be what met me when I arrived here! I was hoping to maybe learn what the professor studied, and get directions. Brendan was pretty brave, just charging off after the professor! I wish him the best of luck.
There's a contest hall here. Apparently it's a big scene here in this town. I was quick to brush Rowen up to do his best and enter him once again. The same zigzagoon that Rowen had lost against last time turned out to be here as well! I was so worried that we would again be showed up, but I had learned a couple tricks from last time, and he shone through. We won and got first place! I was left coasting on it for the rest of the day.
Brendan still hadn't returned with the professor. I was starting to worry. I don't actively seek out trouble. I want to have fun and explore. Battling bad guys is just something that's happened a couple times. But I can't help worrying that Brendan's gotten in over his head.
So I'm going after him, and the kidnapped professor. As foolish as this is, I'm not going to just wait to see what happens.
Rescue Mission
- Pronouns
- She
I started on the route after Brendan. There was a sense of urgency this time that had been absent for most of my journey. Sure sometimes intense things happened, but it had never felt like hurrying was important. Not until now at least. I was scared about what might happen if I didn't hurry. I traveled almost all the way to Meteor Falls before I ran into Brendan, beaten and doing his best to run from Team Aqua. He shouted for me, just in time for the thugs to jump him and start dragging him back again.
I meant to sent Bi De out to rescue Brandon, but somehow Dream was the one leading the charge instead. I knew she was weaker than others in my team, and still not quite herself. She charged with bravery, and a recklessness that I knew wasn't in her nature. She kept charging even as the grunts' pokemon beat on her until she was unable to go any further.
I raced over to my brave noble stubborn numel and pulled her large head into my lap. She was breathing heavily. I praised her again and again for her courage. I didn't know yet how bad it was, but Dream seemed content. I returned her to her pokeball, hoping that would be enough to hold her until I could get to a proper center to heal her.
It hurt, but I had to keep pushing forward. I continued chasing after the goons that had dragged Brandon back to camp. I had to get him back, and try to rescue the professor. Was I in over my head? Most likely, but I couldn't bring myself to leave things like this. I headed into Meteor Falls. Any other time I would have loved it here, with the open mouth of the mountain, the craters, and the waterfalls inside. But this time, I was focused on Brendan being dragged forward against his will.
"Let him go!"
The goons turned and faced me. "Oh look, another one to lock up," one complained.
I tensed and released Bi De. My combusken let out a sharp crow and looked at the goons in front of us. The leader of the group stepped forward and looked at me with a frown. "Who do you think you are to challenge Team Aqua?" she demanded.
"I'm Bria, and I'm here to save Brendan." I couldn't call him a friend, but he had been kind to me, and I could not just ignore what was happening.
She scoffed and sent out a grimer. Bi De quickly beat it down using his flames to keep the poison from corrupting him. A carvanha was next, and Icarus speared the fish pokemon with ease. She was really getting angry now and turned to grab the professor dragging him to an edge of a cliff. "Listen moron, we're not playing around. We need this guy's meteorite to combine with Mt Chimney. Now leave or the professor gets it!"
Brendan leaped forward and grabbed the professor dragging him back from the edge. The goons looked ready to dogpile on all of us when a new group came in, attacking and pushing Team Aqua back. A stern looking man with glasses walked forward. "Team Aqua, always causing trouble," he said coolly.
"Maxie," the leader spat. "Archie will see to you, you'll see! We'll be the ones to win!" She retreated, leaving us with the new group in red. I fidgeted awkwardly.
"That was quite brave of you," Maxie said quietly. "I hope you were not too harmed. I do need to warn you however, that this fight is beyond you. Do not tangle with my affairs, and be wary of Team Aqua."
I watched Maxie lead his group as they professionally canvassed for anything Team Aqua had left behind.
"Thanks for that," Brendan mumbled.
"Your welcome. I'm-I'm glad you're okay."
We escorted the professor back to Fallarbor, and I finally got Dream looked at. She was injured worse than I had thought. The nurses managed to save her, but she wouldn't ever be battling again. A kind nurse helped me sign away my rights to her as she was sent to a retirement home for pokemon. At least she was still alive. She was sure to have a better life without me.
>>>>>
I headed down to Verdanturf after that. Route 117 was a lovely area to walk through. Illumise and volbeat live here, and watching them dance together and share their lights is absolutely enchanting in the evening. It was exactly what I needed after all the excitement in Fallarbor. Verdanturf was an adorable town as well. I found the home the man that had been with Wally lived in. It turned out he was an uncle, and Wally had a cousin named Wanda who's boyfriend was digging a tunnel through from Rustboro. He was working by hand to avoid disturbing the whismur, continuing the project on his own after the larger city project had been cancelled.
It's strange to think of Wally as being connected to these rather normal people. Even if he was gone off, with them having no idea where he had gotten to. He was such a strange person. I actually headed up and with Briar Rose's help broke through the last section of the tunnel between Rustboro and Verdanturf. Years of work, finally completed! The happy couple was reunited, it was so sweet to watch.
I found out that Verdanturf is quite the hotspot for contests. It's said that this town may have been where contests first launched into the spotlight in the Hoenn region and took people's hearts. The contest hall here is an old grand thing that reminds me of great plays and masquerades. I actually paid to watch one of the big professional contests, and wow was that a spectacle! The displays the pokemon gave! The complexities of the moves! So much of battling is focused on pure power and accuracy, but in contests it's all about seeing what new things can be done with moves. The ways that they can be challenged and pushed. It's incredible. What I do with Rowen is so small in comparison.
It really inspired me to try and up what I was doing with Rowen for contests. I'm really just a small timer for contests, but I wanted to at least try and catch a small part of the wonder the big contests did. My competition was steeper this time, with a spinda, roselia, and spoink. The contestants were clearly more experienced, or at least more steeped in contest culture than I was. I was so nervous competing against them, the roselia really seemed to sweep the audience clear! But Rowen came out, and he gave the best performance on the routine I'd designed for him that I had ever seen, and the audience was utterly charmed by him. He won! I skipped all the way to the back.
One of the more serious contestants came up to me after, and rather seriously warned me that he wouldn't go easy on me in the future. He was a serious competitor, and wouldn't be swept past by a part timer like me! It seemed I had somehow found a rival, in this rather small community contest. So weird to find someone taking me so seriously in it! It's kind of exciting to think we have that potential.
I found a little girl searching for her pet shroomish, and helped her find the silly thing. It had gotten very confused wandering around in the grass and planted itself next to a post. The shroomish was so happy to be united with her, it even did an adorable little dance! I wish I had found a shroomish of my own. I love my team, but shroomish are just so cute!
I finally left Verdanturf and headed back up towards Fallarbor. I was thinking I might take a proper look around Meteor Falls now that things had calmed down, but the cable car to Mt Chimney was open again. Well, it wasn't blocked off anymore. There weren't people using it, but they probably hadn't seen that. I was more than happy to skip the rush and take a lead up ahead.
I meant to sent Bi De out to rescue Brandon, but somehow Dream was the one leading the charge instead. I knew she was weaker than others in my team, and still not quite herself. She charged with bravery, and a recklessness that I knew wasn't in her nature. She kept charging even as the grunts' pokemon beat on her until she was unable to go any further.
I raced over to my brave noble stubborn numel and pulled her large head into my lap. She was breathing heavily. I praised her again and again for her courage. I didn't know yet how bad it was, but Dream seemed content. I returned her to her pokeball, hoping that would be enough to hold her until I could get to a proper center to heal her.
It hurt, but I had to keep pushing forward. I continued chasing after the goons that had dragged Brandon back to camp. I had to get him back, and try to rescue the professor. Was I in over my head? Most likely, but I couldn't bring myself to leave things like this. I headed into Meteor Falls. Any other time I would have loved it here, with the open mouth of the mountain, the craters, and the waterfalls inside. But this time, I was focused on Brendan being dragged forward against his will.
"Let him go!"
The goons turned and faced me. "Oh look, another one to lock up," one complained.
I tensed and released Bi De. My combusken let out a sharp crow and looked at the goons in front of us. The leader of the group stepped forward and looked at me with a frown. "Who do you think you are to challenge Team Aqua?" she demanded.
"I'm Bria, and I'm here to save Brendan." I couldn't call him a friend, but he had been kind to me, and I could not just ignore what was happening.
She scoffed and sent out a grimer. Bi De quickly beat it down using his flames to keep the poison from corrupting him. A carvanha was next, and Icarus speared the fish pokemon with ease. She was really getting angry now and turned to grab the professor dragging him to an edge of a cliff. "Listen moron, we're not playing around. We need this guy's meteorite to combine with Mt Chimney. Now leave or the professor gets it!"
Brendan leaped forward and grabbed the professor dragging him back from the edge. The goons looked ready to dogpile on all of us when a new group came in, attacking and pushing Team Aqua back. A stern looking man with glasses walked forward. "Team Aqua, always causing trouble," he said coolly.
"Maxie," the leader spat. "Archie will see to you, you'll see! We'll be the ones to win!" She retreated, leaving us with the new group in red. I fidgeted awkwardly.
"That was quite brave of you," Maxie said quietly. "I hope you were not too harmed. I do need to warn you however, that this fight is beyond you. Do not tangle with my affairs, and be wary of Team Aqua."
I watched Maxie lead his group as they professionally canvassed for anything Team Aqua had left behind.
"Thanks for that," Brendan mumbled.
"Your welcome. I'm-I'm glad you're okay."
We escorted the professor back to Fallarbor, and I finally got Dream looked at. She was injured worse than I had thought. The nurses managed to save her, but she wouldn't ever be battling again. A kind nurse helped me sign away my rights to her as she was sent to a retirement home for pokemon. At least she was still alive. She was sure to have a better life without me.
>>>>>
I headed down to Verdanturf after that. Route 117 was a lovely area to walk through. Illumise and volbeat live here, and watching them dance together and share their lights is absolutely enchanting in the evening. It was exactly what I needed after all the excitement in Fallarbor. Verdanturf was an adorable town as well. I found the home the man that had been with Wally lived in. It turned out he was an uncle, and Wally had a cousin named Wanda who's boyfriend was digging a tunnel through from Rustboro. He was working by hand to avoid disturbing the whismur, continuing the project on his own after the larger city project had been cancelled.
It's strange to think of Wally as being connected to these rather normal people. Even if he was gone off, with them having no idea where he had gotten to. He was such a strange person. I actually headed up and with Briar Rose's help broke through the last section of the tunnel between Rustboro and Verdanturf. Years of work, finally completed! The happy couple was reunited, it was so sweet to watch.
I found out that Verdanturf is quite the hotspot for contests. It's said that this town may have been where contests first launched into the spotlight in the Hoenn region and took people's hearts. The contest hall here is an old grand thing that reminds me of great plays and masquerades. I actually paid to watch one of the big professional contests, and wow was that a spectacle! The displays the pokemon gave! The complexities of the moves! So much of battling is focused on pure power and accuracy, but in contests it's all about seeing what new things can be done with moves. The ways that they can be challenged and pushed. It's incredible. What I do with Rowen is so small in comparison.
It really inspired me to try and up what I was doing with Rowen for contests. I'm really just a small timer for contests, but I wanted to at least try and catch a small part of the wonder the big contests did. My competition was steeper this time, with a spinda, roselia, and spoink. The contestants were clearly more experienced, or at least more steeped in contest culture than I was. I was so nervous competing against them, the roselia really seemed to sweep the audience clear! But Rowen came out, and he gave the best performance on the routine I'd designed for him that I had ever seen, and the audience was utterly charmed by him. He won! I skipped all the way to the back.
One of the more serious contestants came up to me after, and rather seriously warned me that he wouldn't go easy on me in the future. He was a serious competitor, and wouldn't be swept past by a part timer like me! It seemed I had somehow found a rival, in this rather small community contest. So weird to find someone taking me so seriously in it! It's kind of exciting to think we have that potential.
I found a little girl searching for her pet shroomish, and helped her find the silly thing. It had gotten very confused wandering around in the grass and planted itself next to a post. The shroomish was so happy to be united with her, it even did an adorable little dance! I wish I had found a shroomish of my own. I love my team, but shroomish are just so cute!
I finally left Verdanturf and headed back up towards Fallarbor. I was thinking I might take a proper look around Meteor Falls now that things had calmed down, but the cable car to Mt Chimney was open again. Well, it wasn't blocked off anymore. There weren't people using it, but they probably hadn't seen that. I was more than happy to skip the rush and take a lead up ahead.
Halfway There
- Pronouns
- She
It has occurred to me that I might be cursed. That, or I might just have terrible luck. I really should have taken the fact that the cable car was so empty as a sign. It's not like Lavaridge's hot springs aren't a popular destination! Arriving at the top of Mt Chimney to find the red guys locked in combat with Team Aqua should not have been as surprising as it was. Maxie was being held back via a large dogpile of Aqua goons holding him back. He was furiously trying to get past, with little success.
If I had been wise, I would have turned straight back around and left. But Maxie hadn't reached Archie, and I knew that Team Aqua had something bad planned. I thought I could try and help clear the path for Maxie. I went forward and found Shelly, the lady that had lead the group kidnapping Professor Cozmo, guarding the way to where Archie stood working with a bizarre machine over the volcano. I can't really say what made me confident to take her on. Perhaps it's that I'd faced her before, or that I'd had more time to train my team since then. But I faced her down, and found myself securing a win.
I pushed forward towards Archie. The dark pirate turned to face me with a smirk. "You think you can stop us from creating a mega stone from this meteorite? There's untapped power here!" He released his mightyena. I quickly released Fathom in response. The gyarados coiled tightly around the mightyena and bit him until he was taken down. Archie didn't stop, releasing his sharpedo. Icarus came in from above, striking hard. The sharpedo took a good bite out of Icarus' wing, almost dragging him down, but Icarus didn't let that stop him from knocking the sharpedo out.
Then it was down to Echo to take down Archie's golbat. Echo let out the loudest shriek he'd ever done, letting it echo until the golbat was dragged down and out. The sensitive hearing of the golbat left it completely unprepared for Echo's sheer volume. Archie looked ready to enter the fight himself, but Bi De stepped forward, and took that chance to evolve fully into a blaziken. He had to have been holding back that evolution for a while to pull that off so smoothly!
Archie still looked ready to rumble, but a phone call stopped him. He said something about Mt Pyre, then looked at me and told me he had to go. That he would enjoy a proper battle with me another time. Archie walked past Maxie with a sneer, telling him he was falling behind. Maxie asked me what that was about, and I told him Archie said something about Mt Pyre. Maxie paled. He stated that Archie must have proved the orbs were real, and grabbed his group, leaving in a rush.
That left just me, the weird machine, and the volcano. It felt strange to have everything move on so swiftly. I felt like I barely understood. Part of me felt like I should be rushing to Mt Pyre as well, to try and figure out what was going on. But if I did that, I'd be letting Team Aqua take more of my journey. No, going to Lavaridge and actually enjoying the hot springs was in order.
Lavaridge had an old fashioned build to it that granted it dignity and beauty. Walking through it was almost like a step into a picture perfect version of the past, with all the amenities of the present but all the future and grandeur that people love in old tales of samurais and lords. The hot springs were perfect to go in and soak, and there was even a section for allowing pokemon out to play! Bi De was a little cautious at first, but the warmth had him settling right on the sides to soak in the steam and occasionally ruffle up his feathers. Icarus joined him in a preening session looking just as happy. Echo was singing away, off key of course, as he waded through the warm water. Fathom had curled himself up and looked like an old majestic sea dragon basking away in the water. Even Briar Rose had calmed down to soak in the warmth.
An old lady greeted me as I came out of the hot springs. "Hello dear," she greeted.
"Hello ma'am, how are you?"
"I'm doing well, thank you," she said. "I just noticed you with your team of pokemon. You are very sweet with them."
"Thank you!"
"I hoped you would be open to caring for a little one?" The old lady pulled out a pokemon egg and held it towards me. I didn't recognize the shell pattern. I reached out and held it carefully. "A pokemon egg?"
"I found it abandoned in my garden. I'm too old to hatch a pokemon myself now, but you seem like a promising trainer."
"I'd love to!" I hugged the egg tight, thoughts of what could be running through my head. It could be anything! And I would be taking care of it, right from the start. I would make sure that it would grow big and strong. It wouldn't be hurt, or die. My team would help me protect and care for them.
The start of that, of course, would be in facing the gym here. I entered in. The place was really cool, set with steam blasts and built almost like a temple. Flannery stood at the front, doing her best to look confident. It was obvious that she was really new to being a gym leader. How many higher level badge trainers had she faced before? It clearly wasn't routine. She got more comfortable once the battle started, but the pre battle banter had just been awkward.
It started with Fathom facing her slugma. He didn't have any good water moves to help him here, but I knew that he was the best bet for taking the direct heat from a slugma. Sure enough Fathom took advantage of his much bigger size and resistance to the slugma's heat to bring forward a win. Then it was Echo facing Flannery's torkoal. It was a bit of a mismatch, Bi De would have been a better pick here, but Echo did amazing screaming the torkoal down. He's come so far from the little whismur I'd first caught! Flannery sent out her ace next: a numel. It was nearing evolution, and was quick to use lava plumes to control the field. Bi De came out hitting hard. He moved fast enough and jumped high enough it was almost like he could fly!
And that was it, I had four badges. It felt strange to look at them and really take in how far I had come. I had traveled a long way from the girl who'd started with Bi De and met Evo. I wasn't done yet, but I was ready to go home for a bit. I could use a break from everything, and get to bask in being home.
It felt good to sleep in my own bed, and introduce my pokemon to my mom. We had a good dinner, and spent some time with Uncle Norman. He asked me about my journey, and at the end of my visit he asked if he could send me off with a gym battle to get me started on the second half of my journey. I was super excited to do so.
Of course, Uncle Norman wouldn't just let me battle directly. Normal pokemon had a reputation for not being a particularly interesting type, and Uncle Norman was focused hard on showing off their best side. Normal pokemon are far more flexible than people give them credit for, and he had a gauntlet that people had to battle through to show that off.
I started off with Fathom facing off against a delcatty. I had thought it would be relatively easy, especially since Fathom had finally harnessed using water attacks. But no, the delcatty paralyzed Fathom with Attract before putting him to sleep! I had to trust in him, and that our bond would be enough to let him break free. And it worked! Somehow my calls reached him, and he woke up and took delcatty out!
The next room focused on stat changes in battle, like intimidate and tail whip. I went through that fairly quickly, as I tend to rely more on evasion and hitting hard than dropping or raising attack and defense. The last challenge before facing Uncle Norman was focused on strength, and Briar Rose came out swinging hard. Then finally, I stood before him, ready to earn my fifth badge and start off my journey once more.
My uncle wasn't going to go easy on me. He started off with one of his big guns, a slaking. I sent Fathom out to match him size by size. The slaking wasn't nearly as big as Fathom, and yet it grabbed my gyarados and threw him around hard! Fathom had to fight back with everything he had, and the slaking just kept getting up! Putting it down was hard. When the vigoroth came out I knew I needed a hard hitter and sent out Bi De. Bi De smoked the vigoroth, and I traded him out for Icarus to give him a brief rest. Icarus of course gave his full heart to fighting the final slaking, but it was too much for him. Thankfully I didn't expect him to manage alone, and traded him back out with Bi De who finished off the final slaking.
Uncle Norman congratulated me on my win, and gave me a huge hug. He told me he was proud of how far I'd grown, and so glad me and my mom had chosen to move to Hoenn to be near him. He's given so much for us, I'm so lucky to have such a great uncle. I ran into Wally just outside the gym. Was his hair always kinda grassy? Feels rude to think that, I'm looking too close at a dye job, that's all. He was pleasant to talk with as I made my plans for the next leg of my journey at least.
Look out world, here I come!
If I had been wise, I would have turned straight back around and left. But Maxie hadn't reached Archie, and I knew that Team Aqua had something bad planned. I thought I could try and help clear the path for Maxie. I went forward and found Shelly, the lady that had lead the group kidnapping Professor Cozmo, guarding the way to where Archie stood working with a bizarre machine over the volcano. I can't really say what made me confident to take her on. Perhaps it's that I'd faced her before, or that I'd had more time to train my team since then. But I faced her down, and found myself securing a win.
I pushed forward towards Archie. The dark pirate turned to face me with a smirk. "You think you can stop us from creating a mega stone from this meteorite? There's untapped power here!" He released his mightyena. I quickly released Fathom in response. The gyarados coiled tightly around the mightyena and bit him until he was taken down. Archie didn't stop, releasing his sharpedo. Icarus came in from above, striking hard. The sharpedo took a good bite out of Icarus' wing, almost dragging him down, but Icarus didn't let that stop him from knocking the sharpedo out.
Then it was down to Echo to take down Archie's golbat. Echo let out the loudest shriek he'd ever done, letting it echo until the golbat was dragged down and out. The sensitive hearing of the golbat left it completely unprepared for Echo's sheer volume. Archie looked ready to enter the fight himself, but Bi De stepped forward, and took that chance to evolve fully into a blaziken. He had to have been holding back that evolution for a while to pull that off so smoothly!
Archie still looked ready to rumble, but a phone call stopped him. He said something about Mt Pyre, then looked at me and told me he had to go. That he would enjoy a proper battle with me another time. Archie walked past Maxie with a sneer, telling him he was falling behind. Maxie asked me what that was about, and I told him Archie said something about Mt Pyre. Maxie paled. He stated that Archie must have proved the orbs were real, and grabbed his group, leaving in a rush.
That left just me, the weird machine, and the volcano. It felt strange to have everything move on so swiftly. I felt like I barely understood. Part of me felt like I should be rushing to Mt Pyre as well, to try and figure out what was going on. But if I did that, I'd be letting Team Aqua take more of my journey. No, going to Lavaridge and actually enjoying the hot springs was in order.
Lavaridge had an old fashioned build to it that granted it dignity and beauty. Walking through it was almost like a step into a picture perfect version of the past, with all the amenities of the present but all the future and grandeur that people love in old tales of samurais and lords. The hot springs were perfect to go in and soak, and there was even a section for allowing pokemon out to play! Bi De was a little cautious at first, but the warmth had him settling right on the sides to soak in the steam and occasionally ruffle up his feathers. Icarus joined him in a preening session looking just as happy. Echo was singing away, off key of course, as he waded through the warm water. Fathom had curled himself up and looked like an old majestic sea dragon basking away in the water. Even Briar Rose had calmed down to soak in the warmth.
An old lady greeted me as I came out of the hot springs. "Hello dear," she greeted.
"Hello ma'am, how are you?"
"I'm doing well, thank you," she said. "I just noticed you with your team of pokemon. You are very sweet with them."
"Thank you!"
"I hoped you would be open to caring for a little one?" The old lady pulled out a pokemon egg and held it towards me. I didn't recognize the shell pattern. I reached out and held it carefully. "A pokemon egg?"
"I found it abandoned in my garden. I'm too old to hatch a pokemon myself now, but you seem like a promising trainer."
"I'd love to!" I hugged the egg tight, thoughts of what could be running through my head. It could be anything! And I would be taking care of it, right from the start. I would make sure that it would grow big and strong. It wouldn't be hurt, or die. My team would help me protect and care for them.
The start of that, of course, would be in facing the gym here. I entered in. The place was really cool, set with steam blasts and built almost like a temple. Flannery stood at the front, doing her best to look confident. It was obvious that she was really new to being a gym leader. How many higher level badge trainers had she faced before? It clearly wasn't routine. She got more comfortable once the battle started, but the pre battle banter had just been awkward.
It started with Fathom facing her slugma. He didn't have any good water moves to help him here, but I knew that he was the best bet for taking the direct heat from a slugma. Sure enough Fathom took advantage of his much bigger size and resistance to the slugma's heat to bring forward a win. Then it was Echo facing Flannery's torkoal. It was a bit of a mismatch, Bi De would have been a better pick here, but Echo did amazing screaming the torkoal down. He's come so far from the little whismur I'd first caught! Flannery sent out her ace next: a numel. It was nearing evolution, and was quick to use lava plumes to control the field. Bi De came out hitting hard. He moved fast enough and jumped high enough it was almost like he could fly!
And that was it, I had four badges. It felt strange to look at them and really take in how far I had come. I had traveled a long way from the girl who'd started with Bi De and met Evo. I wasn't done yet, but I was ready to go home for a bit. I could use a break from everything, and get to bask in being home.
It felt good to sleep in my own bed, and introduce my pokemon to my mom. We had a good dinner, and spent some time with Uncle Norman. He asked me about my journey, and at the end of my visit he asked if he could send me off with a gym battle to get me started on the second half of my journey. I was super excited to do so.
Of course, Uncle Norman wouldn't just let me battle directly. Normal pokemon had a reputation for not being a particularly interesting type, and Uncle Norman was focused hard on showing off their best side. Normal pokemon are far more flexible than people give them credit for, and he had a gauntlet that people had to battle through to show that off.
I started off with Fathom facing off against a delcatty. I had thought it would be relatively easy, especially since Fathom had finally harnessed using water attacks. But no, the delcatty paralyzed Fathom with Attract before putting him to sleep! I had to trust in him, and that our bond would be enough to let him break free. And it worked! Somehow my calls reached him, and he woke up and took delcatty out!
The next room focused on stat changes in battle, like intimidate and tail whip. I went through that fairly quickly, as I tend to rely more on evasion and hitting hard than dropping or raising attack and defense. The last challenge before facing Uncle Norman was focused on strength, and Briar Rose came out swinging hard. Then finally, I stood before him, ready to earn my fifth badge and start off my journey once more.
My uncle wasn't going to go easy on me. He started off with one of his big guns, a slaking. I sent Fathom out to match him size by size. The slaking wasn't nearly as big as Fathom, and yet it grabbed my gyarados and threw him around hard! Fathom had to fight back with everything he had, and the slaking just kept getting up! Putting it down was hard. When the vigoroth came out I knew I needed a hard hitter and sent out Bi De. Bi De smoked the vigoroth, and I traded him out for Icarus to give him a brief rest. Icarus of course gave his full heart to fighting the final slaking, but it was too much for him. Thankfully I didn't expect him to manage alone, and traded him back out with Bi De who finished off the final slaking.
Uncle Norman congratulated me on my win, and gave me a huge hug. He told me he was proud of how far I'd grown, and so glad me and my mom had chosen to move to Hoenn to be near him. He's given so much for us, I'm so lucky to have such a great uncle. I ran into Wally just outside the gym. Was his hair always kinda grassy? Feels rude to think that, I'm looking too close at a dye job, that's all. He was pleasant to talk with as I made my plans for the next leg of my journey at least.
Look out world, here I come!
Grassy Seas
- Pronouns
- She
It was finally time. I had practiced riding Fathom, and trained him to let me saddle him. Now we would actually be going out into a river that cut down to the ocean. I released the big gyarados and climbed up onto him. With a nudge he dove forwards through the water leaving me clinging on for dear life. He'd forgotten he had to stay near the surface! I nudged him again as a reminder, and just as quickly Fathom resurfaced. I broke into a laugh. This was incredible! I was riding my very own sea serpent out through the waters, breaking past it all. I felt so free. I never really liked swimming on my own, but here with Fathom I could imagine an entire life just out here. For a moment I could pretend to be a great sea creature out exploring the depths. Fathom let out a low rumble and I petted him urging him to continue forward. All of that work figuring out how to ride him and teaching him signals had paid off.
I found some trainers to battle with and had fun with that before continuing further up the route. There was so much to explore. I had a Dex Survey I was trying to keep up with after all, even if things had been distracting me from that. It was rather a surprise to run into Steven again, and an even bigger one when Latios came out of nowhere to drop in on us.
Latios is a mythical pokemon. People see one every once in a while, but it can be years between such events, and it's usually at a distance. But Latios came directly up to us! He was asking for help. That was really concerning. Of course we both immediately agreed to, and found ourselves on Latios' back. It was like an incredible roller coaster, soaring through the air at brilliant speeds and Hoenn vanishing behind us. Latios was doing something to keep us from being completely blown back by the wind, and it was nice and warm. It was really cool.
We arrived at a secret island, and I could feel a sense of warmth and sanctuary through the place. It was like being a kid back at home all over again, knowing all my friends and family were just around the corner waiting for me to join them. Latios urged us forward with a sense of urgency, and we headed into a forest through to a glade where Latias rested. Latias perked up at our arrival and called a greeting. Before we could greet her however, a Team Aqua admin came out with a lackey.
"Thanks for clearing the way for us," the giant man barked. He grinned wickedly at us. I had never felt so small before. Somehow he just felt this immense air about him. He stepped further forward. "Now get out of the way, or I'll have to hurt you." No. No, there was no way I was moving, and leaving Latias to his mercy. Steven clearly felt the same way, standing his ground just like me. I unleashed Bi De and Echo. I wasn't going down without a fight.
It was hard, and I felt drained, but we managed to beat the admin back. He snarled threats as he retreated. Latias thanked us, and did something that had me feeling restored like I'd just had a full night's rest. It felt special. I got to reach out and pet Latias. Her feathers were so soft and warm to the touch. It was magical. And I'd proven how far my team had come. I had helped protect Latias and her home! I didn't have to keep being quite so scared.
I didn't think I'd find my way back to their island again. They hadn't remained hidden for so long by their home being stationary. But it had been a really cool experience, and I knew that I would have to write this down to one day share. Then it was onwards down the route, and into the great grasslands of Hoenn. The fields here are full of such diverse types of grass, and there's flowers everywhere. Occasional bushes are hidden away in there too, but the real challenge here is the grass being taller than my head. I can just sink right into it and disappear!
I found a cluster of oddish that had buried themselves into the ground and were sleeping the day away. I was tempted to stick around and take photos of them waking up to soak in the moonlight, but I didn't really have the patience to wait that long, so I just took pictures of them looking like silly blue onions stuck in the ground. I did have a much more tricky encounter when I almost fell into a linoone's den. It was a hole in the ground, and far too well hidden with all the tall grass. The linoone was really not happy with me falling into their home. I managed to get a picture for the Dex Survey at least as I was fleeing.
Echo evolved into an exploud. He's so loud now. He seems shocked by how far his vibrations go now. I had to step in and make sure that he wasn't just sounding off whenever he could just to listen to what he got back in return. He is so lucky that he's deaf. I'm happy for him. It's weird to think my timid little whismur is now this giant beast that happily blasts sound out at the world. At least he startled a kecleon out into the open. It's so rare to actually catch sight of one that's not hiding. It was mostly a flash of green, but I saw enough to be able to identify it!
>>>
The weather really took a turn for the worse as we continued up. The route started turning to mud as we hiked forward. I slowed right down in my travels. I actually spent a day hoping the rain would clear up, but it seemed really determined to pour down hard enough to flood the riverbanks and wash me out. I did thankfully run into an outpost with a couple rangers that were willing to let me hide there out of the rain. We ended up trading stories, and I listened to one about how in the Cave of Origins the spirits of pokemon who were passed were said to return to before moving on. It sounded really cool.
I caught sight of a herd of tropius heading away from the river looking for shelter. I wish I had seen them when it wasn't raining, that would have been a lot cooler. Maybe I could have even seen them fly. I did come across a fighter and psychic trainer duo. They looked to be really close friends, and were joking about doing a brains and brawn duo. I had to battle them, there was no way I was passing up the chance of joining in with them, even if only for a moment.
I finally reached another piece of shelter in the Hoenn Weather Institute. They study all the weather patterns and how pokemon can affect them here. I headed in for a break from the storm, only to find Team Aqua inside. They were menacing yet another group of scientists. I am beginning to think that Team Aqua might just have something against science. Do they not like things being understood? Of course I unleashed my pokemon and got to work clearing them out. I had faced down a much more terrifying Team Aqua member threatening Latias, I wasn't going to back down here.
I found Admin Shelly actually yelling about the storm. She hit one of the scientists before she stormed out. She glared at me, and said that they were leaving, so I might as well have shown up. She seemed worried about the storm, which was odd. Until I found out that Team Aqua had forced the Weather Institute to use their pokemon to create this storm as a test run for something. Perhaps she was starting to have doubts about what Team Aqua was up to. That would be nice, if they came to their senses and stopped being menaces.
Briar Rose evolved into a slaking. I wish I could be more enthusiastic about this, but she's resumed getting others to fight instead of picking fights directly, and she's a lot harder to redirect as a slaking. I really need to search up tips on how to train a mischievious pokemon like her. There has to be something I can do.
Fortree is an incredible city. It looks like it's straight out of a storybook with the city based in and among the trees. I'm climbing up ladders and down into giant trees and watching how they've set lanterns up that won't bother the wild pokemon that drift through the city. I have never seen a place where wild pokemon live right alongside humans. The boundaries are normally so clear, since wild pokemon being territorial can be so deadly for humans. And yet somehow, here, they're making it work! They're really dedicated to their aesthetics too. There's so much artistry and carving. Everywhere I look there's evidence of how much the locals love their home.
Unfortunately I can't access a lot of the city right now, as there's wild kecleons blocking the way. With them being invisible, and blocking a city, there's no way to get past them without breaking things. It's disappointing that I can't look further around the city, I wanted to so much. I'll have to come back another time.
I found some trainers to battle with and had fun with that before continuing further up the route. There was so much to explore. I had a Dex Survey I was trying to keep up with after all, even if things had been distracting me from that. It was rather a surprise to run into Steven again, and an even bigger one when Latios came out of nowhere to drop in on us.
Latios is a mythical pokemon. People see one every once in a while, but it can be years between such events, and it's usually at a distance. But Latios came directly up to us! He was asking for help. That was really concerning. Of course we both immediately agreed to, and found ourselves on Latios' back. It was like an incredible roller coaster, soaring through the air at brilliant speeds and Hoenn vanishing behind us. Latios was doing something to keep us from being completely blown back by the wind, and it was nice and warm. It was really cool.
We arrived at a secret island, and I could feel a sense of warmth and sanctuary through the place. It was like being a kid back at home all over again, knowing all my friends and family were just around the corner waiting for me to join them. Latios urged us forward with a sense of urgency, and we headed into a forest through to a glade where Latias rested. Latias perked up at our arrival and called a greeting. Before we could greet her however, a Team Aqua admin came out with a lackey.
"Thanks for clearing the way for us," the giant man barked. He grinned wickedly at us. I had never felt so small before. Somehow he just felt this immense air about him. He stepped further forward. "Now get out of the way, or I'll have to hurt you." No. No, there was no way I was moving, and leaving Latias to his mercy. Steven clearly felt the same way, standing his ground just like me. I unleashed Bi De and Echo. I wasn't going down without a fight.
It was hard, and I felt drained, but we managed to beat the admin back. He snarled threats as he retreated. Latias thanked us, and did something that had me feeling restored like I'd just had a full night's rest. It felt special. I got to reach out and pet Latias. Her feathers were so soft and warm to the touch. It was magical. And I'd proven how far my team had come. I had helped protect Latias and her home! I didn't have to keep being quite so scared.
I didn't think I'd find my way back to their island again. They hadn't remained hidden for so long by their home being stationary. But it had been a really cool experience, and I knew that I would have to write this down to one day share. Then it was onwards down the route, and into the great grasslands of Hoenn. The fields here are full of such diverse types of grass, and there's flowers everywhere. Occasional bushes are hidden away in there too, but the real challenge here is the grass being taller than my head. I can just sink right into it and disappear!
I found a cluster of oddish that had buried themselves into the ground and were sleeping the day away. I was tempted to stick around and take photos of them waking up to soak in the moonlight, but I didn't really have the patience to wait that long, so I just took pictures of them looking like silly blue onions stuck in the ground. I did have a much more tricky encounter when I almost fell into a linoone's den. It was a hole in the ground, and far too well hidden with all the tall grass. The linoone was really not happy with me falling into their home. I managed to get a picture for the Dex Survey at least as I was fleeing.
Echo evolved into an exploud. He's so loud now. He seems shocked by how far his vibrations go now. I had to step in and make sure that he wasn't just sounding off whenever he could just to listen to what he got back in return. He is so lucky that he's deaf. I'm happy for him. It's weird to think my timid little whismur is now this giant beast that happily blasts sound out at the world. At least he startled a kecleon out into the open. It's so rare to actually catch sight of one that's not hiding. It was mostly a flash of green, but I saw enough to be able to identify it!
>>>
The weather really took a turn for the worse as we continued up. The route started turning to mud as we hiked forward. I slowed right down in my travels. I actually spent a day hoping the rain would clear up, but it seemed really determined to pour down hard enough to flood the riverbanks and wash me out. I did thankfully run into an outpost with a couple rangers that were willing to let me hide there out of the rain. We ended up trading stories, and I listened to one about how in the Cave of Origins the spirits of pokemon who were passed were said to return to before moving on. It sounded really cool.
I caught sight of a herd of tropius heading away from the river looking for shelter. I wish I had seen them when it wasn't raining, that would have been a lot cooler. Maybe I could have even seen them fly. I did come across a fighter and psychic trainer duo. They looked to be really close friends, and were joking about doing a brains and brawn duo. I had to battle them, there was no way I was passing up the chance of joining in with them, even if only for a moment.
I finally reached another piece of shelter in the Hoenn Weather Institute. They study all the weather patterns and how pokemon can affect them here. I headed in for a break from the storm, only to find Team Aqua inside. They were menacing yet another group of scientists. I am beginning to think that Team Aqua might just have something against science. Do they not like things being understood? Of course I unleashed my pokemon and got to work clearing them out. I had faced down a much more terrifying Team Aqua member threatening Latias, I wasn't going to back down here.
I found Admin Shelly actually yelling about the storm. She hit one of the scientists before she stormed out. She glared at me, and said that they were leaving, so I might as well have shown up. She seemed worried about the storm, which was odd. Until I found out that Team Aqua had forced the Weather Institute to use their pokemon to create this storm as a test run for something. Perhaps she was starting to have doubts about what Team Aqua was up to. That would be nice, if they came to their senses and stopped being menaces.
Briar Rose evolved into a slaking. I wish I could be more enthusiastic about this, but she's resumed getting others to fight instead of picking fights directly, and she's a lot harder to redirect as a slaking. I really need to search up tips on how to train a mischievious pokemon like her. There has to be something I can do.
Fortree is an incredible city. It looks like it's straight out of a storybook with the city based in and among the trees. I'm climbing up ladders and down into giant trees and watching how they've set lanterns up that won't bother the wild pokemon that drift through the city. I have never seen a place where wild pokemon live right alongside humans. The boundaries are normally so clear, since wild pokemon being territorial can be so deadly for humans. And yet somehow, here, they're making it work! They're really dedicated to their aesthetics too. There's so much artistry and carving. Everywhere I look there's evidence of how much the locals love their home.
Unfortunately I can't access a lot of the city right now, as there's wild kecleons blocking the way. With them being invisible, and blocking a city, there's no way to get past them without breaking things. It's disappointing that I can't look further around the city, I wanted to so much. I'll have to come back another time.
Mt Pyre
- Pronouns
- She
I found a really cool cave set out in the middle of the lake. I was able to surf out to it with Fathom to check it out. It was mostly filled with zubat and golbat. It felt like I had found a place full of secrets though, and it was fun to poke around in it. There were places inside the cave that had really deep water. I don't know if it was a lake of its own or if it connected to the outside. It was cool to try and peer down in.
Funnily enough shortly after that I ran into Steven heading up to Fortree. He had a delivery of Devon Scopes he was bringing up to help with the problem of the kecleons in Fortree. It was perfect timing, I was able to head back to Fortree with him so I could challenge the gym. Even cooler, Steven had gotten a mega stone Bi De could use! He is such a cool guy, I'm glad he's my friend. I helped clear out the kecleons using a devon scope myself. It just seemed right to help out.
Then it was into the gym, built into the biggest tree in Fortree. They had formed a maze through the spiral path heading upwards that you had to push through the correct way to open it up. It was the easiest and funnest place in Fortree to travel really, getting to walk up a slope instead of a ladder and solve the maze. Right up at the top they had great roosts for the bird pokemon Winona used, and open platforms leading out for riders to fly out on. Winona looked like she was born to have wings standing up there at the top. It seemed almost like it had to be an illusion that she was just ground bound as any other human.
I started with Bi De, mega evolving him right off the bat. I couldn't help myself from doing it, I was so excited to show off our bond and see what we could really do. Winona sent out her swellow, and Bi De completely smoked it. Winona sent out her altaria next, and I knew that Echo would be a perfect match. Altarias are known for their singing, but Echo brought the house down with his screams. I would have been better off reserving Bi De for when Winona sent out her skarmory. It was a large specimen and its sharp edges glinted. I wasn't going to let my mistake stop me though, and sent out the next best thing: Fathom. He was a complete tank, and more than ready to match the skarmory with sheer power.
Winona released her final pokemon, a pelipper. I could taste victory on my tongue. It was a risky move, especially in this gym against an expert, but I let Icarus out. I would show everyone how far my swellow had come, and claim the skies as his right. The pair clashed through the air. Icarus was fast, but the pelipper could take a lot, and was good at blocking the attacks on top of that. I feared I had gambled too much and Icarus would fall from the sky, but I knew if I didn't believe him we were doomed to lose. I had to believe in him and his strength. And Icarus came through! It left Icarus ragged and tired, but he pulled the pelipper down. We had done it! I received the feather badge, and Winona congratulated me on raising such a splendid swellow. I could have exploded with pride.
I took a good look at Icarus after this. I think it's the first good look I'd given him in a while, as I realized that he was finally large enough to carry me. We could fly together. It wouldn't be anything like the great bird pokemon, but short quick flights through the air could definitely be done together. As soon as I managed to get that across to Icarus we started trying. The first flight was a mess of feathers and leaves. The second flight wasn't much better. But we figured out how to start flying together. It was a far cry from flying with Latios, but sharing it with Icarus and everything we'd been through made it perfect.
I started traveling onwards towards Lilycove. I met a trainer that had a milotic. The milotic was absolutely beautiful, and the trainer entered it in contests. They were actually out there training for a performance. The amount of control and coordination on display was absolutely stunning. The milotic looked straight out of some kind of dream with the way they played with water and reflected it around them. I really have to step up my game with Rowan! I'm no professional of course, but it's hard to not be inspired when seeing something so amazing.
I ran into what looked like a pretty scary guy down along the route. I thought it was going to be another mugging attempt, but the guy just wanted a battle. I almost exploded when he released his cacturne out to battle. It was clearly newly evolved, and so happy looking. It was more playing than an actual fight. I learned that he'd raised the cacturne from an egg. He tended to intimidate most pokemon, and had found that caring for baby pokemon made handling them a lot easier, and he really appreciated the companionship they gave him. It was just the sweetest thing. I had to stay after and meet his latest pokemon, a newly hatched tropius. If you have never seen a little tropius tripping over its own little legs before you are sorely missing out.
It wasn't much farther down the path when I found an archeologist dig. Or at least, an old archeologist attempting to start one. He insisted that there was ancient ruins around the area that just needed the right key to be revealed. He could be right, there's plenty of possibilities for hiding things away like that. Or he could just be old. I have no idea. I looked to see if I could stumble across ruins myself, but I didn't find anything. If there is ruins there, they required something more than what I had.
I could tell I was getting closer to Mt Pyre. The Safari was close, and I had run into a shuppet. I immediately had dug out one of my plushies for the shuppet to have. I didn't have room on my team, not with the egg still waiting to hatch, but I couldn't resist giving the shuppet a home. I named him Plush. Maybe I'll enter him in contests besides Rowan. Who can resist the charm of such an adorable little ghost pokemon?
I visited the Safari. Its history is actually quite ironic. It was originally opened as a very expensive ranch for a rich man's collection of rare pokemon to be shown off to the public. While the Safari was exceedingly well designed and the pokemon had fantastic lives, the man ended up having problems funding the place. Eventually he was forced to declare bankruptcy. A pokemon charity that specializes in protecting and caring for endangered species took over the Safari as it was a perfect habitat, and it now runs entirely on donations and volunteers. It's free to visit and look at the pokemon, though you need permission if you want to catch any of the pokemon from the Safari for your team. There's a ton of pikachus in there, considering their popularity has damaged their numbers in the wilds. They're so adorable, and friendly! Well, eager to greet people at least. There was a lot more demanding of treats than I was expecting. It was a good thing I had built up a resistance to such a thing with my team or I would have been absolutely slaughtered by their adorableness!
>>>
I reached Mt Pyre. They say that if you come at night, and say the right things, the dead return to speak with you. I didn't arrive at the right time. It was day when I came. I still hope that my words reached Evo and Aimie in their rest. I miss Dream too. She at least is in a better home than the one I could offer. I fell too short with Evo and Aimie. It hurts being here and knowing that. I played my flute for Aimie. I'm never going to let her joy in music fade from my life.
Team Aqua of course decided to ruin things. I had known they were headed for Mt Pyre, but I had assumed they had gotten here ahead of me. They had had a harder time making it to Mt Pyre with the police trying to catch them than expected though, and the group that arrived with Archie leading the way were in rough shape. I had never hated them as much as I did then. They dared to come in here, and wreck a place meant to remember loved ones with their crap?
Of course I tore after them. They were heading for the top of Mt Pyre where the first shrine is. The grunts slowed me down, but I still made it in time to see Archie knock down the old couple who tended the shrine and steal something from within. He glanced at me and had his admin Matt delay me. Matt was more than happy to buy time. I was shaking with rage as I took down his sharpedo with Echo. They should have never come here!
The old couple were devastated. The orbs had been there since the shrine first was built. It was said they should never be parted. I decided I was done. No more being passive. I was going to hunt Team Aqua down, and get that orb back. I promised the old couple that. They thanked me, and gave me the red orb, asking me to reunite it with the blue orb as soon as possible. It's funny, I felt something holding the orb. Some kind of warmth, and steadiness. I don't know how to describe it exactly. But I felt a little bit stronger, and more ready, as I headed back down.
Team Aqua would pay.
Funnily enough shortly after that I ran into Steven heading up to Fortree. He had a delivery of Devon Scopes he was bringing up to help with the problem of the kecleons in Fortree. It was perfect timing, I was able to head back to Fortree with him so I could challenge the gym. Even cooler, Steven had gotten a mega stone Bi De could use! He is such a cool guy, I'm glad he's my friend. I helped clear out the kecleons using a devon scope myself. It just seemed right to help out.
Then it was into the gym, built into the biggest tree in Fortree. They had formed a maze through the spiral path heading upwards that you had to push through the correct way to open it up. It was the easiest and funnest place in Fortree to travel really, getting to walk up a slope instead of a ladder and solve the maze. Right up at the top they had great roosts for the bird pokemon Winona used, and open platforms leading out for riders to fly out on. Winona looked like she was born to have wings standing up there at the top. It seemed almost like it had to be an illusion that she was just ground bound as any other human.
I started with Bi De, mega evolving him right off the bat. I couldn't help myself from doing it, I was so excited to show off our bond and see what we could really do. Winona sent out her swellow, and Bi De completely smoked it. Winona sent out her altaria next, and I knew that Echo would be a perfect match. Altarias are known for their singing, but Echo brought the house down with his screams. I would have been better off reserving Bi De for when Winona sent out her skarmory. It was a large specimen and its sharp edges glinted. I wasn't going to let my mistake stop me though, and sent out the next best thing: Fathom. He was a complete tank, and more than ready to match the skarmory with sheer power.
Winona released her final pokemon, a pelipper. I could taste victory on my tongue. It was a risky move, especially in this gym against an expert, but I let Icarus out. I would show everyone how far my swellow had come, and claim the skies as his right. The pair clashed through the air. Icarus was fast, but the pelipper could take a lot, and was good at blocking the attacks on top of that. I feared I had gambled too much and Icarus would fall from the sky, but I knew if I didn't believe him we were doomed to lose. I had to believe in him and his strength. And Icarus came through! It left Icarus ragged and tired, but he pulled the pelipper down. We had done it! I received the feather badge, and Winona congratulated me on raising such a splendid swellow. I could have exploded with pride.
I took a good look at Icarus after this. I think it's the first good look I'd given him in a while, as I realized that he was finally large enough to carry me. We could fly together. It wouldn't be anything like the great bird pokemon, but short quick flights through the air could definitely be done together. As soon as I managed to get that across to Icarus we started trying. The first flight was a mess of feathers and leaves. The second flight wasn't much better. But we figured out how to start flying together. It was a far cry from flying with Latios, but sharing it with Icarus and everything we'd been through made it perfect.
I started traveling onwards towards Lilycove. I met a trainer that had a milotic. The milotic was absolutely beautiful, and the trainer entered it in contests. They were actually out there training for a performance. The amount of control and coordination on display was absolutely stunning. The milotic looked straight out of some kind of dream with the way they played with water and reflected it around them. I really have to step up my game with Rowan! I'm no professional of course, but it's hard to not be inspired when seeing something so amazing.
I ran into what looked like a pretty scary guy down along the route. I thought it was going to be another mugging attempt, but the guy just wanted a battle. I almost exploded when he released his cacturne out to battle. It was clearly newly evolved, and so happy looking. It was more playing than an actual fight. I learned that he'd raised the cacturne from an egg. He tended to intimidate most pokemon, and had found that caring for baby pokemon made handling them a lot easier, and he really appreciated the companionship they gave him. It was just the sweetest thing. I had to stay after and meet his latest pokemon, a newly hatched tropius. If you have never seen a little tropius tripping over its own little legs before you are sorely missing out.
It wasn't much farther down the path when I found an archeologist dig. Or at least, an old archeologist attempting to start one. He insisted that there was ancient ruins around the area that just needed the right key to be revealed. He could be right, there's plenty of possibilities for hiding things away like that. Or he could just be old. I have no idea. I looked to see if I could stumble across ruins myself, but I didn't find anything. If there is ruins there, they required something more than what I had.
I could tell I was getting closer to Mt Pyre. The Safari was close, and I had run into a shuppet. I immediately had dug out one of my plushies for the shuppet to have. I didn't have room on my team, not with the egg still waiting to hatch, but I couldn't resist giving the shuppet a home. I named him Plush. Maybe I'll enter him in contests besides Rowan. Who can resist the charm of such an adorable little ghost pokemon?
I visited the Safari. Its history is actually quite ironic. It was originally opened as a very expensive ranch for a rich man's collection of rare pokemon to be shown off to the public. While the Safari was exceedingly well designed and the pokemon had fantastic lives, the man ended up having problems funding the place. Eventually he was forced to declare bankruptcy. A pokemon charity that specializes in protecting and caring for endangered species took over the Safari as it was a perfect habitat, and it now runs entirely on donations and volunteers. It's free to visit and look at the pokemon, though you need permission if you want to catch any of the pokemon from the Safari for your team. There's a ton of pikachus in there, considering their popularity has damaged their numbers in the wilds. They're so adorable, and friendly! Well, eager to greet people at least. There was a lot more demanding of treats than I was expecting. It was a good thing I had built up a resistance to such a thing with my team or I would have been absolutely slaughtered by their adorableness!
>>>
I reached Mt Pyre. They say that if you come at night, and say the right things, the dead return to speak with you. I didn't arrive at the right time. It was day when I came. I still hope that my words reached Evo and Aimie in their rest. I miss Dream too. She at least is in a better home than the one I could offer. I fell too short with Evo and Aimie. It hurts being here and knowing that. I played my flute for Aimie. I'm never going to let her joy in music fade from my life.
Team Aqua of course decided to ruin things. I had known they were headed for Mt Pyre, but I had assumed they had gotten here ahead of me. They had had a harder time making it to Mt Pyre with the police trying to catch them than expected though, and the group that arrived with Archie leading the way were in rough shape. I had never hated them as much as I did then. They dared to come in here, and wreck a place meant to remember loved ones with their crap?
Of course I tore after them. They were heading for the top of Mt Pyre where the first shrine is. The grunts slowed me down, but I still made it in time to see Archie knock down the old couple who tended the shrine and steal something from within. He glanced at me and had his admin Matt delay me. Matt was more than happy to buy time. I was shaking with rage as I took down his sharpedo with Echo. They should have never come here!
The old couple were devastated. The orbs had been there since the shrine first was built. It was said they should never be parted. I decided I was done. No more being passive. I was going to hunt Team Aqua down, and get that orb back. I promised the old couple that. They thanked me, and gave me the red orb, asking me to reunite it with the blue orb as soon as possible. It's funny, I felt something holding the orb. Some kind of warmth, and steadiness. I don't know how to describe it exactly. But I felt a little bit stronger, and more ready, as I headed back down.
Team Aqua would pay.
Hunting Team Aqua
- Pronouns
- She
Hunting Team Aqua wasn't easy. I knew that they were going for Mr Stern's submarine, but I was still behind them. Icarus wasn't a distance flyer. I had to race them over the ground. It felt like I was ridiculously far behind trying to keep up. I barely noticed passing through Mauville back down to Slateport. I arrived in time to see Mr Stern announcing plans for an underwater expedition, just to be interrupted by the wave of Aqua grunts.
I thought I could stop them, but all it took was a single battle to buy enough time for them to disembark. Thankfully Mr Stern had a boat, and we could follow them on it. They headed up to Lilycove-and vanished.
Lilycove is a resort town. It's casual and fun and heavy with tourists. There's plenty of attractions and everything is designed for maximum comfort. That wasn't the Lilycove I walked up to. This one was almost barren on the streets. It felt like something had happened here. Asking around I found out that this was in fact where Team Aqua had their base. No one knew where the actual hideout was, but Team Aqua had taken over the resort town and kept them from calling for help. The people here had been trapped under the gang's control for months. I felt sick thinking about it. How had no one noticed Lilycove had dropped off the map?
I ran into Brendan here, he'd just been shopping at the department store. Somehow he had completely missed the tense atmosphere. I could tell that something was on his mind. He challenged me to a battle, but it didn't feel like even half of what our usual battles felt like. When it finished he told me he was going home. That he felt like he needed to do some thinking, and he might as well help his dad out with his research while he did. He left just like that, leaving me wondering what could have possibly happened.
I might have found out how Team Aqua was getting away with this though. They were just keeping the locals quiet, strong enough trainers could come and go. If they weren't paying enough attention it'd be easy to miss the tension in the air as they passed through. I wasn't going to just leave it like this though. I would find Team Aqua's hideout, get back the orb and the stolen submarine, and stop them.
Icarus and Fathom helped me search. Fathom proved to be more helpful, discovering an entrance to a cave out in the water. I silently rode him back there and stared up in awe. The hideout I found wasn't just something thrown together for a gang to laze around in. No, there was actual serious tech here. I slipped around the base looking for where Archie and his gang could be. There was a bunk room, a fancier kitchen than I expected, a lounge room, and an entire room dedicated to computer servers. Warp pads were the only way to get between rooms, and I had to be careful to be quiet landing to not draw unwanted attention to myself.
I kept going deeper into the hideout. Eventually I managed to find my way to what looked like some rather serious research labs. They were studying deep sea exploration in one room. I couldn't make out what was going on in the other. Everyone seemed excited, like they were getting close to the end. How close was the gang to gaining their victory? How much time did I have left?
I had to stop and pull into one of the storage rooms when I heard the egg cracking. What a time for it to decide to hatch! I finally got to find out what the pokemon was though, a wynaut! She was utterly adorable, and sweet in her innocence as she looked around. I wished this could have happened elsewhere. I wanted nothing more than to spend time pampering her. I just couldn't at the moment. Not in Team Aqua's base while they were in the middle of launching their plan.
I did my best to give some attention to little Baba before catching her in a pokeball. I was likely the worst caregiver for this, but I still wasn't stopping. I finally found where they were working on the submarine and launched myself out. Archie just laughed at me and told Matt to buy time as he started up the submarine for launch. Again I battled Matt, and again it didn't matter that I won. Matt had done what he needed to do: he'd bought the time for Archie to head out for his final plan.
Whatever it was, it was deep in the sea, and I couldn't reach him.
Bitterness flavored my actions as I left Lilycove back to Slateport. I had to tell the police about Team Aqua and their hideout. I could do that at minimum. And I could spend some proper time bonding with Baba. But Archie was down in the sea where I couldn't touch him. I had been too slow. Whatever his plan, he'd succeed.
What was I going to do now?
I thought I could stop them, but all it took was a single battle to buy enough time for them to disembark. Thankfully Mr Stern had a boat, and we could follow them on it. They headed up to Lilycove-and vanished.
Lilycove is a resort town. It's casual and fun and heavy with tourists. There's plenty of attractions and everything is designed for maximum comfort. That wasn't the Lilycove I walked up to. This one was almost barren on the streets. It felt like something had happened here. Asking around I found out that this was in fact where Team Aqua had their base. No one knew where the actual hideout was, but Team Aqua had taken over the resort town and kept them from calling for help. The people here had been trapped under the gang's control for months. I felt sick thinking about it. How had no one noticed Lilycove had dropped off the map?
I ran into Brendan here, he'd just been shopping at the department store. Somehow he had completely missed the tense atmosphere. I could tell that something was on his mind. He challenged me to a battle, but it didn't feel like even half of what our usual battles felt like. When it finished he told me he was going home. That he felt like he needed to do some thinking, and he might as well help his dad out with his research while he did. He left just like that, leaving me wondering what could have possibly happened.
I might have found out how Team Aqua was getting away with this though. They were just keeping the locals quiet, strong enough trainers could come and go. If they weren't paying enough attention it'd be easy to miss the tension in the air as they passed through. I wasn't going to just leave it like this though. I would find Team Aqua's hideout, get back the orb and the stolen submarine, and stop them.
Icarus and Fathom helped me search. Fathom proved to be more helpful, discovering an entrance to a cave out in the water. I silently rode him back there and stared up in awe. The hideout I found wasn't just something thrown together for a gang to laze around in. No, there was actual serious tech here. I slipped around the base looking for where Archie and his gang could be. There was a bunk room, a fancier kitchen than I expected, a lounge room, and an entire room dedicated to computer servers. Warp pads were the only way to get between rooms, and I had to be careful to be quiet landing to not draw unwanted attention to myself.
I kept going deeper into the hideout. Eventually I managed to find my way to what looked like some rather serious research labs. They were studying deep sea exploration in one room. I couldn't make out what was going on in the other. Everyone seemed excited, like they were getting close to the end. How close was the gang to gaining their victory? How much time did I have left?
I had to stop and pull into one of the storage rooms when I heard the egg cracking. What a time for it to decide to hatch! I finally got to find out what the pokemon was though, a wynaut! She was utterly adorable, and sweet in her innocence as she looked around. I wished this could have happened elsewhere. I wanted nothing more than to spend time pampering her. I just couldn't at the moment. Not in Team Aqua's base while they were in the middle of launching their plan.
I did my best to give some attention to little Baba before catching her in a pokeball. I was likely the worst caregiver for this, but I still wasn't stopping. I finally found where they were working on the submarine and launched myself out. Archie just laughed at me and told Matt to buy time as he started up the submarine for launch. Again I battled Matt, and again it didn't matter that I won. Matt had done what he needed to do: he'd bought the time for Archie to head out for his final plan.
Whatever it was, it was deep in the sea, and I couldn't reach him.
Bitterness flavored my actions as I left Lilycove back to Slateport. I had to tell the police about Team Aqua and their hideout. I could do that at minimum. And I could spend some proper time bonding with Baba. But Archie was down in the sea where I couldn't touch him. I had been too slow. Whatever his plan, he'd succeed.
What was I going to do now?