94 CH32 (93), Route 3 (1)
The next day, instead of teleporting to my training spot, I had Xatu Teleport me to the exit of Viridian City towards Route 3 so that I could continue my trip towards the coast.
During my time at my training ground, I had noticed that the composition of the Pokemon appearing on Route 3 was a bit different compared to the one on Route 4. Since Route 4 went through the outer area of the Viridian Forest, there were many bug and grass-type Pokemon among the wild Pokemon.
Compared to that I had yet to see any grass type during the time I was training on Route 3, and the number of bug types was really low. Instead, I had seen a higher number of the usual ones that were practically everywhere like Rattata and Pidgey.
Still, I had not really left my training area during that time. So, it was possible that I would see something different for a change. Anyway, enough about my keen observation skills. After I set foot on Route 3, I started walking towards Dew City, which was the next milestone on my trip to the coast.
Dew City was about 250 to 260 km away at the moment, so I would need around 4 to 5 days to cover that distance. This meant that I would be unable to arrive there this week since today was Giratiday, which meant I had only 3 days left before it was the weekend.
Since those 3 days were not enough to reach Dew City anyway, I decided to actually visit the Bug Club this Dialday as I had previously resolved but time and again delayed. That left me with today and tomorrow for walking along Route 3.
On Dialday I would visit the Bug Club, and during the weekend I would visit Viridian City with my mother to buy some Pokemon for the new family business as we had agreed on last weekend. I was pretty busy this week.
Man, I started to digress once more. As I said, I was currently walking along Route 3 with Xatu and Nyx by my side, occasionally checking some Pokemon or some materials to see if we could find something useful. Until now it has been unfruitful, even if it has only been like 15 minutes.
I had seen a group of Grimer just 5 minutes away from Viridian City but decided to leave them alone, after finding none with any good potential. Either only some of them or none of them had learned how to control their smell, because they smelled to the high heavens. Which was why I didn't try to battle or interact with them, even if it would have been a useful experience.
Had there been only one, I could have maybe endured the stench, but so many of them turned the area around them into a bio-chemical quarantine zone, at least it felt like that to me. I shudder to think about what a group led by a Muk would be like if a relatively small group of Grimer was already this bad.
I was actually surprised that the surrounding area had not started to die yet and was wondering if I had to notify anyone about them. I filed that for later and moved on. Just a few minutes later I saw a Smeargle.
Yes, I saw the most useless and simultaneously useful Pokmon ever, at least according to all the media I had seen in my previous life. In this Universe, they were not as useless as in the games but also not as awesome as in the literature. I, obviously, balled it even if it had bad potential.
'Species: Smeargle
Gender: Male
Type: Normal
Potential: Light Orange
Stage: Iron-stage (mid)
Genetic variation: None
Abilities: Own Tempo
Talents: None
Affinities: Normal'
I personally had no use for it, save for maybe using it for breeding, and I would never do that with Pokemon that had such bad potential. No, the reason I caught him, was to give him to my parents, so they can do whatever they want with him. They would most likely sell him, but to whom and for how much was not my problem.
As for why I said that he was not as useless as in the games, that's easy. While they still had the equivalent of a shitty BS, that could be remedied through copious amounts of back-breaking, hellish training, and lots of limit breaking. Plus, unlike the Smeargle from the games, Smeargle could learn moves on their own as well on Terra. Their possible move pool, without the use of Sketch, resembled that of the Aipom-line.
Now, onto why they were not as awesome as in some of the literature I had read. While the move Sketch still allowed them to permanently copy a move that had just been used, there are limitations. First of all, executing the move and for it to take effect took some time, which made it unviable for battle.
Additionally, the number of moves a Smeargle could simultaneously have that had been sketched was 4. Not only that they could only use the move Sketch 5 times per stage, so depending on how strong they were they could only use it a few times. Fortunately, it was stackable, so leftover uses could carry over to the next stage. Still, this meant it was better to catch them while they were weak to prevent them from wasting those chances.
In conclusion, this meant that they were useful and I would definitely catch one for myself if it had good potential, but they were not the key to unlimited wealth. On a side note, I had a theory that the Smeargle-line had through some lucky genetic mutation bullshit gained the mewtastic, see what I did there, ability to unlock the genetic memory of some moves through the use of Sketch.
This was why they had a limit on it, and why they could not learn them on their own. Still, useful though. Damn it, I keep digressing. Moving on. After putting away my new capture I continued my walk with a small pep in my step. During the next 20 minutes I saw two or three Voltorb and the occasional Meowth but the farther I got from Viridian, the rarer that became.
Another two hours later and the only interesting Pokemon I encountered except for members of the Pidgey-, Rattata-, Spearow-, Ekans-, Sentret- and Zigzagoon-line were 3 Machop. Naturally, I did not forget to mentally note that information down to later tell that to Aaron.
Unfortunately, the best one had only yellow potential so I merely beat them up with Weedle and Nyx as training. I was using some of the stronger wild Pokemon, like Rattata, Pidgey, and Zigzagoon at the (high) iron stage, to train both Weedle and Teddiursa.
I used those even stronger, mostly the evolutions of the previous group, like Raticate and Pidgeotto between the (low) and (mid) bronze stage, to train Nyx and Xatu. Mothra and the Nidos had to get used to the bodies for now, so I didn't use them yet.
It had been some time since I had gotten the two Weedle and using some good old hard training, the occasional battle, and the many, many bug-type supplements that I had, many of which were even extra-useful for members of the Weedle-line, I managed to bring both to the (high) iron stage.
'Name: None (Temporary, Queen Bee)
Species: Weedle
Gender: Female
Type: Bug, Poison
Potential: Blue (0.4%) -> (26.9%)
Abilities: Shield Dust, Run Away
Affinities: Bug, Poison
Bond: Mikail (artificial, weak)
--
Parameters:
Stage: Iron Stage (mid) -> (high)
Vitality: E -> B
Strength: E -> C
Endurance: E -> B
Agility: D -> A
Energy Capacity: F -> C
Energy Density: F -> D
--
Condition: Healthy, Happy, Tired
--
Masteries: Bug E. Manipulation (Initial) -> (Novice), Poison E. Manipulation (Novice)
--
Techniques: Electroweb (Novice) (New), Bug Bite (Beginner), String Shot (Beginner) -> (Proficient), Poison Sting (Proficient)'
I checked her status after her latest battle. My first thought was that I needed to think of a name for her pretty soon. After that came that her potential and parameters had made good progress. Her moves on the other hand had been a bit neglected, even if there was not much that could be done there anyway.
She had increased her mastery of String Shot to proficient, which helped the mastery of her bug energy. Additionally, she had recently learned Electroweb thanks to Mothra. Other than that nothing else changed. The status of her lackey was even less impressive, but his progress was nonetheless not small.
'Name: None (Temporary, Lackey 1)
Species: Weedle
Gender: Male
Type: Bug, Poison
Potential: Deep Green (7.6%) -> (39.3%)
Abilities: Shield Dust, Run Away
Affinities: Bug, Poison
Bond: Mikail (artificial, weak)
--
Parameters:
Stage: Iron Stage (low) -> (high)
Vitality: H -> C
Strength: H -> C
Endurance: H -> C
Agility: G -> C
Energy Capacity: I -> D
Energy Density: I -> D
--
Condition: Healthy, Drained, Tired
--
Masteries: Bug E. Manipulation (Initial), Poison E. Manipulation (Initial)
--
Techniques: Bug Bite (Novice) (New), Poison Sting (Novice) -> (Beginner), String Shot (Novice) -> (Beginner)'
Looking at his status, especially his condition, I decided to let the poor guy rest for like a week. I had made him train even harder to let him catch up to Queen Bee, and he had succeeded, barely, thanks to copious use of supplements. Yet, his move mastery, as well as his general condition, had suffered because of it. At least the supplements used had also given his potential a boost as well.
So, I relocated him to the space and gave him off for the rest of the week and the next week as well. This obviously meant, that I did not use him, while battling the occasional wild Pokemon and trainer, for the rest of the day. Well, that simply meant Teddiursa and Queen Bee, had more opportunities to battle instead.
By the time dinner came around all participants were tired, and we had managed to cover roughly 50 km. Seeing their fatigue I told them that they would not do any training or battles tomorrow. Weedle and Teddiursa weakly complained but I insisted.
I had Xatu Teleport me home, which took a bit longer than usual, because of his tiredness. I simply relaxed the rest of the day, and the next day I had Xatu return me to our last stop. Afterward, I put him and the others into my space for them to chill.
Today, instead of Xatu and Nyx, I had Butterfree and Gaia accompany me while walking. They, along with Seb and Mothra were my battle line-up for the day. Since all of them were at the (high) bronze stage, I ignored all wild Pokemon below the (mid) bronze stage, which left me with much fewer opportunities to battle.
During the whole day, the only ones that fulfilled that requirement were a Raticate, two Fearow, an Arbok, a Linoone, and a Drowzee. I battled against all of them, except for one of the Fearow, who simply flew away, totally ignoring me.
The Drowzee was a surprise for me because psychic types were generally much harder to find/spot in the wild. Had it not been for his light yellow potential, I would have caught him. The Drowzee was already sapient, as nearly all psychic types are by the time they reach the (high) iron stage, and after his defeat, he asked me if he could join me.
For the previously mentioned reasons I declined, and I could see as well as feel his disappointment at my refusal. That made me feel quite bad, and I actually tried to console the guy. I even went as far as to heal him and gave him a few E-Class as well as one D-Class Psychic Seeds before moving on.
It was only the second time a Pokemon directly asked me to join me, and I felt bad for refusing. Don't judge me, okay! Anyway, thanks to those wild battles and some trainer battles, Mothra and the others got some pretty good exercise.
Two hours before it was time for dinner we, actually Gaia, stumbled upon something useful. Quite literally this case, since she fell flat on her face because of it, and I had a hard time not laughing. Regrettably, one or two snorts may have escaped my mouth.
Name: Big Root
Type: Grass
Class: E
Uses: It's a root that mysteriously contains some insight into health-absorbing moves. Can be eaten as food, but tastes pretty bad, and may cause indigestion if more than a small amount is consumed. Upon consumption, the consumer may gain some useful insight into any health-absorbing moves they possess.'
It was a good find, even if its use was pretty limited. What honestly confused me a bit, was how the hell the root held any kind of insight into anything, but I decided to do like a certain straw hat-wearing guy together with his friends always did and simply categorized it as a mystery root.
After stopping Gaia from destroying the root and putting it away, I calmed her down and we continued on. Since I decided to ignore most of the wild Pokemon, we managed to cover more distance than usual. By the end of the time I went home for dinner, we had covered a distance of 80 km.
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