"Rookidee might be an ultra-rare Pokémon in other regions, but in Galar, they're basically the regional early-route bird—like Fletchling, Pidove, or Pidgey, common wild bird Pokémon you can find anywhere."
"So we don't need to focus too much on Rookidee. We can just catch a couple with decent potential along the way! The real priorities are Hatterene and Indeedee—"
"Speaking of which, I remember Hatterene's habitat is around the Lake of Outrage—"
As he spoke, Hayashi turned his gaze toward Sabrina and said, "By the way, Sabrina, have you decided which ability you want for Hatterene?"
Sabrina: "What abilities does Hatterene have? Explain—"
Hayashi rubbed the bridge of his nose as he recalled.
"'Healer,' which has a chance to cure allies' status conditions."
"'Anticipation,' which senses dangerous moves."
"And 'Magic Bounce,' which reflects stat-lowering effects back at the user."
After hearing all three, Sabrina immediately declared without hesitation, "Is there even a choice? Obviously Magic Bounce!"
"Good taste."
"Of course—"
Hisako chimed in, "Now that we have a plan, should we get going?"
"Let's go, go, go!"
...
...
The Lake of Outrage is located in the northwest of Galar's famous Wild Area, home to a large number of wild Pokémon. For trainers in the Galar region, it's a place they both love and hate—by the way, in the anime, Ash and his goofy dog encountered that Gigantamax Snorlax here in the Wild Area.
Inside the train compartment, Erina asked in confusion, "Why is it a place people both love and hate?"
From Erina's perspective, an area teeming with wild Pokémon would be the equivalent of "a massive estate filled with all kinds of rare ingredients" in the culinary world, right?
Wouldn't that be absolutely beloved? What's there to hate?
Hayashi pinched Erina's cheek with a mix of amusement and exasperation, saying, "My silly girlfriend! Not every wild Pokémon is as friendly as your Pikachu or Hisako's Tropius! Some wild Pokémon can be extremely aggressive—"
That's the source of the "hate." Sometimes, you set out with grand ambitions to catch a seductive catgirl in the wild and, well, have some fun! But what happens? You barely step outside before a buff minotaur girl drags you back to her lair and drains you dry...
Truly tragic.
Erina suddenly understood, then asked worriedly, "In that case, could we be in danger too?"
Hayashi wasn't too concerned. He pointed at Sabrina and said, "Don't underestimate Sabrina. Even though she's just a Gym Leader, with her psychic abilities, her ace Alakazam's strength is easily at Elite Four level."
Hearing this, Erina turned to Sabrina, who elegantly puffed out her chest—See? I'm amazing! Feel free to admire me even more!
Hisako immediately saw through Sabrina's thoughts and leaned in, grabbing her hands with a serious expression. "Sabrina-chan, our safety is in your hands now!"
Ding! Sabrina is motivated! Sabrina's fighting spirit rises! Sabrina's morale rises! Sabrina's combat power rises!
Ding! Sabrina enters Super Ultra Awesome Mode.
"Leave it to me!"
She thumped her chest confidently.
"With me here, no Pokémon can harm any of you!"
Hearing Sabrina's confidence, Hayashi hesitated for a few seconds before couldn't help but ask, "What about Sableye?"
Sableye, a dual Dark/Ghost-type Pokémon, is completely immune to Psychic-type moves, while both Ghost and Dark-type moves deal double damage to Psychic-types.
Clearly, Sabrina knew this too. The moment Hayashi mentioned Sableye, her confident expression stiffened slightly before she replied with a twitching smile, "If you can talk, talk more—lest people mistake you for mute."
Ugh, you're the kind of person who always gets rained on while grocery shopping, gets served last at restaurants, runs out of toilet paper mid-business, and hits pity on every gacha pull.
How cruel.
...
...
Half an hour later, the four of them disembarked at the Wild Area station.
"Come out, Alakazam—"
Upon arriving in the wilderness, Sabrina immediately tossed her Poké Ball, releasing her ace, Alakazam.
Alakazam
Gender: ♀
Level: 69
Nature: Timid
Ability: Magic Guard
Skills mastered: Disable, Teleport, Psybeam, Reflect, Ally Switch… (omitted)
"Alakazam, I'll leave everyone's safety in your hands later—"
"Alakazam!"
Alakazam held her spoons with a serious expression, nodding solemnly as she floated quietly beside Sabrina, casting a slightly wary gaze around.
"Then I should too…" Hisako pondered for a moment before opening Tropius's Poké Ball and calling out, "Come on out, Tropius!"
Tropius
Gender: ♀
Level: 47
Nature: Bold
Ability: Harvest
Skills mastered: Growth, Leaf Storm, Leaf Tornado, Dragon Dance, Air Slash… (omitted)
"Umm—"
Tropius let out a soft cry before affectionately nuzzling Hisako's face with her own.
Hisako patted Tropius's cheek with a smile and said, "Alright, alright! Tropius, we're heading to the Wild Area later, so I'm counting on you to keep everyone safe!"
"Umm—"
Tropius nodded firmly, then raised her head to survey the surroundings with pride.
Hmph, what a bunch of amateurs!
Seeing this, Hayashi chuckled and crouched down to tap on his shadow, saying, "Dummy, pig-head, time to work (whipping motion)."
Recalling the past in the 70th version, Hayashi had once been a Summoner clad in the Dance of Flowers set, gallivanting across the continent of Arad in his Wild Boar set and Horn. Yet, in the end, he couldn't resist Asuna's allure—after purchasing the SAO package, he turned to the Sword Master's embrace, reaching his peak in the Prey version before meeting his demise on the eve of the 100th level.
Gengar
Gender: ♀
Level: 59
Nature: Timid
Ability: Cursed Body
Skills mastered: Lick, Shadow Ball, Mean Look, Perish Song, Night Shade, Fire Punch… (omitted)
"Geehee—"
A few seconds later, Gengar sprang out of the shadow with her arms raised diagonally upward, then waved her right hand playfully at Hayashi with a grin.
Ah, don't worry, I'll protect you!
"Awesome!" Hayashi high-fived Gengar and said, "I'm counting on you!"
"Geehee!"
Gengar nodded, first patting her chest before striking a boxing pose. After throwing a few swift punches, she turned sideways and gave Hayashi a thumbs-up.
Watching the three of them summon their respective bodyguards, Erina glanced down at the Poké Balls in her arms—
Alcremie (Lv.11), Vulpix (Lv.7), Pikachu (Lv.22), Feebas (Lv.9).
None of them seemed suitable for a situation like this.
Erina muttered to herself, "Maybe I should catch a Pokémon with some combat ability too?"
She couldn't afford to hold everyone back in critical moments just because she lacked fighting power. Back when she read shoujo manga, there were occasionally scenes where the heroine was captured by villains to threaten the male lead. Although things always turned out fine in the end, such plots often left Erina feeling quite displeased.
She definitely didn't want to become that kind of heroine.
"Oh?" Hayashi, who had overheard Erina's muttering, sidled up to her with curiosity. "Erina's planning to catch a strong Pokémon? Awesome—"
Erina said somewhat sheepishly, "It's just an idea! After all, I don't want to become the one holding everyone back—"
Hisako quickly reassured her, "Erina, we would never think you're holding us back!"
"But I would feel that way myself—" Erina shook her head and continued, "For example, if villains appeared and you all had Pokémon to protect you, but I got attacked and captured because I lacked a strong partner, then used as leverage against you—I couldn't bear that scenario."
Hayashi nodded lightly and said, "From that perspective, it does make sense to equip you with a fairly strong Pokémon."
Erina tucked her hair behind her ear and said, "For now, let's focus on helping Sabrina catch Hatterene first! As for my new partner, we can decide when we encounter a suitable one—"
While planning ahead allows for some preparation, even the best plans can't keep up with sudden changes, right? What if Erina prepared to catch Hydreigon, only for a black mega Caterpie to fall for her cooking skills and desperately insist on becoming her admirer?
Wouldn't she have to catch it then?
...
...
The Wild Area resembled the overworld map from the games, where not only would wild Pokémon spawn, but elite or even boss monsters would occasionally appear—referring to Pokémon that had accidentally Dynamaxed due to leaked Dynamax energy.
"So huge—"
Hisako stared dumbfounded at the suddenly Gigantamaxed Snorlax, her eyes widening at its mountain-like size.
"Damn, with a size like that, how much would it even eat—" Hayashi clicked his tongue and shook his head. "Not even a Gigantamaxed Alcremie could satisfy it, right?"
Erina smacked Hayashi's arm in annoyance. "What are you thinking? You can't feed someone with Alcremie!"
Alcremie is so adorable—how could anyone eat Alcremie?
"Haha, just joking—" Hayashi reached out and cupped Erina's face, grinning. "It's just that Alcremie looks so much like a strawberry cake—"
Its regular form was one thing, but a Gigantamaxed Alcremie practically resembled a towering, multi-layered wedding cake—it looked absolutely delicious.
Sabrina couldn't help but wipe the cold sweat from her brow and said, "Let's take a detour! A Pokémon of that size would be an absolute disaster if it started moving—"
Unlike in the anime, this Snorlax wasn't blocking any train tracks but was peacefully lying in the open field, so there was no need to disturb it.
Once they reached a safe distance, Sabrina's eyes sparkled as she looked at Hayashi and said, "Is this Gigantamaxing? It can actually get this big? That's incredible! Are all Gigantamax forms this powerful?"
Hayashi raised an eyebrow and replied, "Both Dynamaxing and Gigantamaxing significantly increase a Pokémon's stamina, but the difference lies in the effects of their special moves after transformation."
So, surely no Pokémon's Gigantamax form is weaker than its Dynamax form, right?
Right, Duraludon?
So, surely no one would choose to Gigantamax their Duraludon if it's weaker than Dynamaxing, right?
Right, Raihan?
----------
For advance chapters join my Patreon.
[email protected]/Aarvan