CH186 (800), Well, That’s A Bit Awkward

After leaving Utopia this morning I decided to not only depart the oasis around lunchtime but also start heading for the exit of the Hoenn Desert. I was going to head southwest instead of leaving the desert on a direct route. This would not only allow me to explore the desert a bit more but also overlap with and shorten my travel plan to Fallabor City compared to traveling straight south before switching to traveling west once I left the desert. Not to mention that heading south would have me retrace my steps which would mean I would likely be seeing nothing new.

Anyway, seeing how I was going to leave the oasis after lunch, which was definitely not enough to properly check out the second half of the oasis, I knew I had to prioritize certain things if I wanted to finish in time, so I stopped checking out every Pokemon I came across and prioritized those I had a real interest in. Obviously, that was subjective since sometimes even unassuming Pokemon like Sandshrew and Diglett caught my attention for whatever reason, but if that happened this time, I would only check the individual(s) that caught my attention instead of Observing all Pokemon in its group.

Naturally, if a Pokemon with light blue potential or above showed up my interest would likely extend to its whole group since groups with members possessing a potential of that level usually had at least one member with greenish potential. Such a Pokemon would obviously be a good recruitment target as well, so checking all Pokemon in the group to find it would be worth it. I did not forget to share that decision with Mothra/Butterfree and the Nido Siblings before I told them to keep an eye out for any Sandile, Trapinch, Pawniard, Skorupi, and Drilbur. Following that, I teleported us to the midpoint of the Oasis to resume my search from there.

Keeping to my new resolution I ignored the Sandshrew we stumbled into barely two minutes later, same for the Diglett that popped its head out of the ground not far from us shortly after that. I continuously ignored any of the wild Pokemon we encountered and after more than an hour of walking in expanding circles without finding any Pokemon of interest, I was starting to wonder if I had used up all my luck yesterday. Nonetheless, I kept going and shortly after we passed the two-hour mark my luck seemed to finally take a turn, providing me with an interesting encounter, even if said encounter was not of the nature I would have liked.

Still, I had to admit that coming across another person/trainer was rare, especially one dressed like the person in front of me. I could not help but look at her due to the feeling of dissonance her get-up provoked in me, but I was sure that this was not my fault. Everyone would feel weird at seeing a lady dressed in a fisherman or in this case fisherwoman get up in a desert of all things. We might have been standing in an oasis at the moment, but that did not change that we were inside the desert, so a woman in an angler getup was the last thing I expected to see.

I felt even more startled and a touch embarrassed when she revealed the reason for her getup as well as the reason for her appearance at the oasis. According to Lisa, she was a fishing enthusiast as well as a water-type lover who lived near Rustboro City and had heard a startling rumor that Feebas could be found in the Hoenn Desert, specifically in one of the large oases found there. Lisa could not believe it at first but decided to follow up on the rumor after hearing multiple accounts mentioning the same thing. She happily explained that she managed to determine that this oasis was the one in the rumor and that she was looking forward to catching a Feebas or two.

Lisa practically beamed when she mentioned helping the Feebas evolve into Milotic, and I could not help the growing embarrassment I felt when I heard her enthusiastically sharing her plans as well as hopes. I considered handing her one of the light yellow Feebas for a moment before deciding against it. I could tell that she was a true fishing enthusiast so fishing for a Pokemon was most likely an important part of the whole exercise/routine for her, which meant that she would decline my offer, especially since suddenly being offered a Pokemon like that would feel dubious to most people.

Moreover, it would become awkward when she refused and later struggled to find/fish for a Feebas in the lake. I was confident that there were a few leftover Feebas in there, but their number was likely barely in the two digits, so for Lisa to fish up one of them would require either a lot of luck or patience; Maybe even a combination of the two. I did not want to leave any room to connect that with me since it would be embarrassing. Hence, I did not extend the offer and simply wished her luck before asking if she was interested in a battle to change the topic.

Lisa's eyes lit up at that and she happily agreed. I asked her about the general stage of her Pokemon before quickly following up that I was asking because I wanted to make sure I matched that instead of sending out someone far above it while pointing to Seb/Nidoking who briefly flexed his (high) dark gold stage might to emphasize my point. I saw a curious glint in Lisa's eyes for a moment before she nodded in understanding. She then proposed a 3-vs-3 battle before sharing that she was planning to use two bronze and one silver stage Pokemon.

I naturally did not mind that, and seeing how he had managed to start his limit-breaking training, I decided to give Vendrak/Salandit the chance to battle even if he was at a slight disadvantage since Lisa, as a self-proclaimed water-type fan and fishing enthusiast, was most likely going to use water type Pokemon. Nonetheless, I was confident in Eggy beating at least the two bronze Pokemon Lisa mentioned, so I sent him out as my first Pokemon once we completed the countdown leading to the Pokemon release. The first opponent Eggy got to face was a (mid) bronze stage Poliwhirl, and its first move ended up countering the Poison Gas Eggy released upon appearing on the field.

The raindrops of the Rain Dance neutralized the poison gas in the air since it was not dense enough to withstand the continuous water drops that passed through, dragging a small amount of poison with them to the ground each time they did so. Still, it was not an immediate process, so both Pokemon moved on before that happened. Eggy was the first to complete his second move since it took Poliwhirl longer to complete its Rain Dance. I had him use Nasty Plot since Eggy would need its help if he wanted to use his poison moves against Poliwhirl's water moves during the rain. Not only because the rain (water) affected/diluted the poison, but also because it strengthened Poliwhirl's water moves.

Anyway, Poliwhirl fired a Bubblebeam toward Eggy as soon as it could and I had him retaliate with a Dragon Rage while dodging. Seeing Poliwhirl's quick reaction to the Dragon Rage, I was sure that it had the Swift Swim ability. It was unfortunate that Eggy had yet to learn Sunny Day, but that was okay. We could make use of the other side's confidence in their heightened speed. It would be easier to use poison in this rain if Poliwhirl came closer after all. Eggy and Poliwhirl proceeded to spend a few rounds just exchanging fire, figuratively speaking. Eggy used Dragon Rage and Poliwhirl alternated between Bubblebeam and Mud Shot.

They dodged the attacks they couldn't block, and so far neither side managed to land a proper hit. At least that was the case until Poliwhirl sneaked in a very quick Water Gun after it used a Mud Shot that Eggy dodged before attempting to retaliate with a Dragon Rage. Yet, before the dragon fire inside his mouth could be released Eggy got hit in the gut by Water Gun, causing him to cough in pain, scattering dragon sparks, directly interrupting the release of Dragon Rage. Poliwhirl attempted to take advantage of that by following up with a Bubblebeam, but the bubbles popped after colliding with Vendrak's Protect.

Vendrak ignored the bubbles after setting up the Protect and focused on using a second Nasty Plot. He managed to do so just as his Protect cracked under the Mud Shot that Poliwhirl released upon noticing the failure of its Bubblebeam. While that was happening I noticed that the ground had become quite muddied and that a layer of water had gathered between Poliwhirl and Vendrak. Unfortunately, Vendrak did not know Thunder Fang, but that did not stop me from ordering him telepathically to discreetly release Toxic into the water at his feet. He did so moments before he had to dodge out of the way of the Bubblebeam that finally broke the cracked Protect and continued towards him.

Nonetheless, Vendrak knew what he had to do, and he spent the next two minutes dodging Poliwhirl's attacks while discreetly releasing Toxic beneath his feet. He got hit once by a Mud Shot and got grazed by a Water Gun once, but that was mainly because he limited the number of retaliation/blocking shots he released in favor of the Toxic drops he discreetly discharged into the puddle. He only let out four Dragon Rages during those two minutes to avoid raising too much suspicion about why he was only dodging instead of retaliating like before, but eventually, our tactic worked and the water had been infused with enough Toxic that it managed to poison Poliwhirl, who was standing in it, without having to hit it directly.

Lisa released a shocked gasp when her Poliwhirl suddenly looked a bit purple and flinched in pain, but we did not miss the chance that provided. Eggy directly fired off a Venoshock, which hit Poliwhirl and caused it to bend over in pain. Still, Poliwhirl managed to hold on. Sadly for it, I expected it to do that, so I had Eggy follow up with a Dragon Rage which hit Poliwhirl head-on, finally taking it down. Lisa stared at her beaten Poliwhirl in confusion before she seemed to notice the slightly purplish water it was lying on. I could literally see her realizing how her Poliwhirl had gotten poisoned and she grudgingly praised us on our strategy after recalling her Pokemon, though she declared that we should not expect that to work a second time.

I understood why Lisa was so confident in that when she released a Tenacruel, but unfortunately for her, she did not seem to know that Salandit like Eggy could have the Corrosion ability. She learned it the hard way when mere moments after Tentacruel lifted itself off the ground using its tentacles, it gained a purplish hue. I felt its confusion when it felt the pain from being poisoned, and Lisa shared that confusion. I told her about Corrosion while Eggy used Venoshock. Lisa had an "O" moment, and I could feel a smidgen of embarrassment, which was quickly overshadowed by worry when her Tentacruel released a screech of pain after being hit by Venoshock.

Tentacruel threw Eggy a hateful look after weathering the pain, and it tried to drown Salandit using Surf. I had Vendrak jump up and use Protect which kept the water at bay. It also allowed the wave to sweep Eggy away, which was on purpose since it helped further open up the distance between the two. Not only would that give Eggy more time to react to Tentacruel's attacks, but it would also help him stay away from its many tentacles. Those were the most dangerous things for Eggy during this battle. I was really thankful to see that Tentacruel did not heal under the rain, which meant that it did not have Rain Dish. This meant that all we had to do was dodge and keep our distance to win.

We obviously still attacked from afar whenever the chance presented itself and the combination of poison along with our attacks had Tentacruel down for the count in under three minutes. Lisa gave me a wry look after recalling her beaten Tentacruel before she declared that our strategy would really not work this time. She then released a Pelliper and since it remained airborne from the moment of its appearance she ended up being right. Pelipper was the silver stage Pokemon she mentioned, and it definitely had the Drizzle ability since the rain which had begun to weaken picked up again after it appeared.

However, I still kept Vendrak in for the battle and my boy tried his best, but when Pelipper began to heal after he finally managed to nick it with a Dragon Rage, showing that it also had the Rain Dish ability, I knew that Eggy would not be winning this fight. Yet, Eggy kept trying his best until the end, but he eventually fell after being hit by a Hydro Pump for the second time. Nevertheless, he took down two Pokemon and fought Pelliper for nearly 5 minutes before he fell. It did not matter that Pelipper was nearly as fresh as it was at the start of their battle; Eggy had done a good job, so I praised him on a job well done before I recalled him.

Lisa watched with a happy smile as I recalled Eggy and I decided to match her (mid) silver Pelipper with a silver bird of my own, though mine was at the (high) silver stage, which had Lisa's smile turn a bit strained. Fortuna/Togekiss ended up beating Pelipper without allowing it to do much in retaliation by chaining Air Slash as much as she could. The only reason Pelipper held out for more than three minutes despite being hit so often was its Rain Dish ability and Stockpile.

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