Everyone crawled into the small tent as the sun rose. Night was unfortunately much shorter than the daytime, leaving less time to do things they wanted. They slept through the day undisturbed, and by the time the sun was setting, they were all ready to continue their adventure.
Their heading was northeast, towards Virbank. Some trees got in their way, but the heading was relatively straight. Some zones had to be bypassed due to the danger they held.
“Oh?” Lilith said, surprised.
Sableye was good at sneaking around, being the first to return from scouting. He would come back to give updates, having something to tell her.
“Lead the way.” She whispered, intrigued by the find.
Absol followed behind him, having come back to search for the interesting find. They tried to stay under the radar, but random Purrloin liked to stare at them as they went by. None approached due to how relatively strong they had become, but nothing in the area was a threat.
“Hmm, what do you think?” She asked. Looking around.
Sableye stopped, having brought them to their destination. The duo were unsure how to proceed with such a find, having involuntarily followed the same path they had traversed weeks before. Trees gave way as a small marshy collection of water came to the forefront. Little ponds dotted the landscape along with wilting trees and unstable ground
“Sol!” Absol barked, having noticed the similarities
The occasional Whooper trudged along, but it looked like most had vacated the premises.
“I guess it’s decided...” Lilith whispered.
They would try their luck at challenging Palpitoad.
‘Recon. I’m not going into a battle like we did with Tropius…’ She thought.
They had experienced the wet mud once before and how hard it was to stand on. The initial area wouldn’t be the best choice to challenge anything, a Pokemon in their natural habitat was much more dangerous than ones out of it.
“We would need to lure it away somehow…” Lilith gathered her team into a huddle.
They whispered together for a while before everyone scattered to the wind, ready for some reconnaissance.
Sableye took a forward position. stalking closer to the separate tiny puddles and began to rethink the plan as he did. The tiny tadpoles fought for supremacy, literally aiming to be the big fish in the smallest pond. Survival wasn’t so easily won, especially when their species reproduced by the dozens due to being hunted down and eaten for food. Their natural response was to over reproduce and hope that some made it into the first star. Once they could defend themselves at least a little they would stand a chance at survival.
An easy opening move like Fake Out simultaneously surprised his prey, along with finishing off their Health instantly. The difference in their power was just too great, with the tiny tadpoles standing no chance. Shadow sneak served as an escape, disappearing into the darkness to wait for a response.
Lilith watched and waited from the distance. The way the ground shifted left a natural vantage point on a nearby hill. The land was dry, being much higher than the surrounding marsh. Her spot covered in greenery proved to be the ideal location
Flashbacks to her time in the Desolate Lands came back in full force. The manipulation and deceit needed to survive. A small part of her was glad to be back, to challenge her limits and see how high she could fly. On the other hand, her sudden realization that none were infallible still jabbed at her. She wanted to take risks but not at dangerous costs and was reminded whenever she got a little too reckless.
Absol’s position was nowhere to be seen, just as intended. The pond started to ripple, sending warning to all that Palpitoad wasn't happy. The Pokemon was anything, if not predictable, appearing at such an easy provocation.
The murky, muddy, water gave way for the fat tadpole that now stood on two legs, having grown much more than her pre-evolved form. She wasn’t quite a frog, but well on her way to becoming one. Her stubby feet circled the tiny pools, looking for the intruder that dared attack her children.
Her lumpy body rippled and gave off a gross sensation. Water seemed to pour from her bulbous sacs, but the thing that stood out most was her aura. The energy radiating off Palpitoad was easily in the second star.
Sableye took a chance.
His invisible body moved forward, their prey vulnerable from being grumpy. She couldn’t be blamed, as the frog was both woken in the night and found her family attacked.
She hopped around, looking for someone to beat up.
A small orb of Confuse Ray formed between Sableye’s hands, ready to be released at a moment's notice. He looked for the best moment to unleash his surprise attack when the unexpected happened. Palpitoad turned straight to where he stood, like she could peer through his veil. Bubbles formed around her mouth and shot them out forcefully into his direction.
‘Darn it!’ Lilith thought.
This novel is published on a different platform. Support the original author by finding the official source.
Sableye had been spotted somehow.
‘There’s no reason to stay
It was bothersome knowing that Pokemon could see him invisible without her knowledge. Ignorance was dangerous, and she would have to fix that soon, especially when his whole strategy revolved around never being seen.
“Retreat!” She shouted, backing off from her initial position.
Sableye hit the deck as the Beam of Bubbles flew over his head. He was unhappy with his execution of moves, Palpitoad must have sensed his energy somehow, thinking that there was no way she had found him visually. His eyes dulled as he tried hiding himself completely.
A moment of respite gave way once Lilith was revealed. The frog-like Pokemon turned towards her, surprised by an extra invader. The split second let the small ghost fade away.
Their initial plan would have to be scrapped. Sableye had been aiming to Confuse his prey and lure her to a spot picked out for an ambush. With the surprise along with advantageous terrain, they had a good shot at victory. Instead, she had spotted the ruse and attacked without mercy.
Both seemed to be free and clear, disappearing from sight one after the other, each acting as the other’s distraction. They both continued cautiously until returning to the rendezvous spot. Sableye appeared next to her, sitting on the ground patting his head in disappointment. She could feel his sentiments in being spotted along with the reluctance to go into battle once more. Lilith sighed, reflecting on her ambitious plan. It was time to move on.
“Sol!” Absol barked.
“Hmm no, I think it's best if we skip this fight.” She countered.
Absol’s ears drooped in sadness, hoping to get a real challenge.
“Don’t worry girl, you’ll get a chance. This time it was too risky.” Lilith patted her Partner’s head.
The trio retreated post haste.
They tried their best to head North, but without directions it was hard to know the right direction to head. It was frustrating having the compass app yet proved to be totally useless without a reference point.
Lilith continued her jog as Sableye watched her back. They weren’t sure if Palpitoad would chase, but he would be there if she did.
‘There’s still so much to learn…’ She thought.
The battle was definitely demoralizing, but glad the team had made the right call. She just had to accept that losses were the way to grow.
‘What’s the best way for Sableye to grow?’ She thought.
Absol was set for the foreseeable future, having a good moveset to play towards. Her new Pokemon on the other hand, had much less diversity. If he came across someone who hard countered him, then he would be at their mercy. Prankster helped against all out attackers, getting a status condition down before massive damage could be taken.
‘I need access to some T.M. 's to give Sableye more status coverage…’ She thought.
Confusion was a soft Status Condition, with others like Infatuation, or Leech Seed also going away when recalled.
“Smack!” Lilith stopped in her tracks.
‘How could I forget?!’ She berated herself for such foolishness.
What she had forgotten was that Magic Coat stopped all status moves, even the Hard Status’. Sleep, Paralysis, Poison, Burn, and Freeze were only healed through outside means such as Items or berries. She was so focused on the most devastating moves, that the easiest slipped right through her defenses.
‘I guess we have to practice using Magic Coat more…’ She thought.
The duo ran a good way before stopping to catch her breath. It was the one thing she hated the most. The thrill and chase of danger was a rush, but once she had to turn tail and run, the fun was over. She fell onto her back, ready for some rest.
‘Magic Coat would have countered Whirlwind…’ The more she thought, the more foolish she felt.
‘ I really have been reckless… Missing such obvious counters…’
“Hahh, that was a close one, thanks Sableye.” Lilith said once she regained her breath.
He appeared like usual, as he nibbled on a rock he had picked up somewhere.
“I think this should be far enough.” She decided.
There had been so much commotion that they decided that a break was well deserved. Lilith checked her Pokedex and Holo Caster, both being out of range. No new notifications were present, so she closed them both before going to bed.
***
The following night was rather uneventful.
Lilith woke up, finding her whole body was sluggish. Her body wanted to go back to bed, but she decided it was better to lounge around instead. The trio gathered together and lost track of time enjoying each other's company. No one else was around, so they could let loose completely.
It was enjoyable to have some relaxation time every once in a while, playing around and giving some pats. Everyone lost track of time unwinding, almost missing the Sun’s rise.
‘Have we been playing all night?!’ Lilith’s eyes bulged.
Their roughhousing and playing in the dirt came to an end, turning in for the night once more. With the day going by quickly, the group jumped into gear to make up for lost time. They continued to head in a NorthEasterly direction until they were closer to Route 20 than 19. The trio inched closer to their destination as the difficulty of their journey increased ever so slightly. Sewaddle swarmed everywhere as they dodged patrols, not wanting to be seen.
“Shh…” Lilith whispered, having spotted another one.
Something had spotted something off in the distance so she motioned for the two to stop. The rustling became more extreme as many more Sewaddle descended from the trees, followed by Swadloon. Their numbers continued to rise until there were too many to count. Everyone started to regret taking the uncharted path when there were such high stakes. They could probably take on a Swadloon 1v1, but the swarm would never let that happen. Instead, they were caught in limbo, having juicy targets but unable to eat them.
They continued their march forward, ignoring their tiny group. They had a particular target in mind, marching off to a designated battlefield. When the group halted, everything became clear. A different species of Pokemon stood off against them, but much less in number. They too were Bug type, but with a different secondary type. They had hunched backs and small heads, looking like a short and fat roly-poly, only much larger.
Their bodies were bright red with beady orange eyes. The coloring made sense, considering Poisonous species usually advertised their status in hopes that they would be left alone by predators who knew better. Their bodies were about the size of football’s, primed and ready for the match.