9 Chapter 9: The Grand Underground

"Wow. This place is amazing!" Xander was enjoying traveling through the Grand Underground. He had played the original Platinum game but not the sequels so he was used to the plain dungeon-like area instead of the vivid area he was seeing now.

'How in the world is there a desert down here? With lava? Is this because of Hisui?'

Xander continued to enjoy the scenery while leading Cynthia and the Pokemon toward Veilstone City.

The best thing about the underground is that it went in every direction. There was also no need to worry about lighting due to special crystals that acted as torches. It was an entire world under the region. Because of this, the pair could walk directly toward Veilstone City without worrying about the Pokemon in the forest.

They did need to deal with the Pokemon underground.

"Here comes another one," Cynthia commented

Sand began to launch into the air as a Pokemon quickly tried to emerge from the ground to take a bite of the weak-looking children.

"Lucario. Use [Aura Sphere]," Cynthia had her Pokemon attack before the other Pokemon got close enough to bite her

Lucario put his hands in the Kamehameha position as he gathered aura between his palms. The aura soon condensed into a sphere of blue light.

Once the sphere was created, Lucario shot it in the direction of the incoming Pokemon. Once it made contact with it, there was an explosion of blue energy. When the dust cleared, the pair saw an unconscious Sandile.

Xander walked over to the Sandile to examine it before shaking his head.

"Another weak one. It couldn't even last a single attack," Xander complained before walking back to the group

He was glad that they had arrived in the desert region of the Grand Underground. He wanted to find him a Sandile so that he could eventually evolve into Krookodile. This line of evolution had a unique type combination of Ground and Dark so it was pretty strong.

But sadly for Xander, he had high standards. He didn't want to get any random Sandile but a powerful one with a large amount of potential.

With that in mind, the pair continued on their journey but after a few hours of walking, they needed to rest in one of the oases.

"Lake!"

And with a single shout, Cynthia ran off to the water with most of their Pokemon following her. Xander slumped against one of the trees with Fenris next to him while Cynthia and the other Pokemon were swimming in the lake.

'She is still such a kid. It is so hard to imagine that she will grow up to be the cool, noona-type.'

Xander was about to call out to her and warn them that they were there to rest up, but just as he was about to, Fenris suddenly stood up and looked vigilantly toward the west.

Seeing the usual cool Fenris seemed tense, Xander stood up before sending Cynthia a message with his Poketch. But just as his message was sent out, he also got one from Cynthia.

[About to fight a tough opponent. Be careful over there.]

[Found a Feebas in the lake. Me and Lucario are about to fight it. Be back soon,]

Xander knew that he couldn't interrupt Cynthia's battle now. Feebas would end up being one of the heavier hitters on Cynthia's team. So whatever was approaching them, he had to stop himself.

"Well, shit. Looks like we both are about to have intense battles. You ready Fenris?"

"She!" 'Who do you think you're talking to? I can take down a Dragonite on a bad day.'

Xander was about to reprimand Fenris' confidence when a large amount of sand exploded out of the ground in front of them. A large, white, and brown Pokemon emerged from the ground with obvious hostility in its eyes.

"Oh. Fun. We get to fight us a Larvesta."

As soon as Xander's words finished, the wild Pokemon rushed over in a fit of rage. It seemed as if the Pokemon was looking at the pair as if they were its next meal.

'So this is what the strongest non-Pseudo or Legendary is like? Looks like we need to teach it a lesson!'

"Fenris! Use [Iron Defense!] It has the advantage of speed. Don't try to fight it directly but hold strong and look for your opening. You also have a type advantage over it. Use that to your advantage."

Xander knew that he could only give limited commands. Unlike other media that made it seem like a trainer needed to command every action of their Pokemon, Xander instead felt more like the tactician of an army or coach on a team. His job was to come up with the main plan while his Pokemon executed them how they saw fit. He would only give input if he noticed something since most pokemon were too fast to give verbal commands in real time.

Fenris grunted in agreement before letting out a shout as its body was surrounded by a silver aura. Its shell became shinier as the Larvesta charged over and slammed into its body, before being knocked back by the Dragon-Type.

Larvesta covered its body in a fiery aura before charging at Fenris again. The latter was able to block it beautifully but before he could counter, the Larvesta took to the sky with flames coming out of the spikes near its mane. This left Fenris with no choice but to back up for the moment.

Larvesta was the slightly weaker Pokemon but it was fighting like a wild beast, only using its instincts which made it very predictable. Fenris was fighting like he was a warrior, prepared to ward off any attacker.

Larvesta would attack while Fenris would block or parry the smaller Pokemon. This was how the pair battled for a while. Eventually, Fenris saw an opening and took it.

The Pokemon rushed into Larvesta's attack range once more. When the latter came down to try and hit it, Fenris dodged to the side as a purple orb appeared in front of 

Fenris' mouth. It did not waste any time and struck Larvesta directly in the face.

Larvesta was knocked off balance and lost its momentum when Fenris struck it. Seeing this opportunity, Xander made sure that Fenris didn't miss it.

"One more!"

Fenris moved in to attack once more. But instead of blasting at Larvesta's face like before, the Pokemon fired the beam at its chest, sending it flying and directly into a tree.

'Yes. He is getting faster and faster at charging that move.'

Xander didn't miss his opportunity either though. As soon as Larvesta hit the ground, Xander threw out his Pokeball. The red and white ball made contact with Larvesta for a moment before absorbing it with a flash of red light.

It then fell onto the sand below and shook three times before making a beeping sound. With this, Xander had officially caught his 3rd Pokemon.