Pokemon - To Catch Them All - Preparing For Wallace

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#52 of Pokemon - To Catch Them All

Leo begins last minute preparations for his gym battles against Wallace


After Altaria landed on Dewford I thanked him and returned him to his Pokeball so he could get some rest, likely there would be many Pokemon battles awaiting us at Sea Mauville and that would make us even stronger in the end. First however, I wanted to search for Clamperl and Relicanth and those Pokemon were found so deep in the ocean. I'd either need to dive down with my Pokemon and somehow battle the deep dwelling Pokemon. Or have my Pokemon go down and see if they could find those Pokemon then weaken them and then I throw a Pokeball at the weakened Water Pokemon. However, that method felt very convoluted so it was abandoned. Thankfully, I could hold my breath for some time and my Pokemon would be with me if anything went wrong during my underwater excursions.

Choosing a Water Pokemon to help me get down there was the next decision but it wasn't difficult. I could use Milotic he was fast and slender enough to keep a hold off. "Milotic I need your help once again!" Milotic appeared noticing that I had taken my shirt off and was wearing shorts. Milotic seemed confused so I explained the situation. "There are a few Pokemon I need to catch that live deep underwater, two Clamperl and a Relicanth. I however, can't get them easily without endangering myself. Humans can't hold their breath for long periods of time. I also don't have the proper equipment to dive underwater and catch them safely. Milotic that's where you come in, would you be able to battle those respective Pokemon without commands and help me catch those Pokemon?" Milotic immediately agreed but did seem extremely concerned about my well being. That was just like how I was concerned about his well being back when he was caught as a Feebas.

I took a deep breath and Milotic began swimming with me down to the depths of the ocean. Thankfully I had some goggles which allowed me to see the bottom of the ocean clearly. Milotic had quickly found a Clamperl and began attacking using Dragon Pulse which created a powerful shockwave which almost blew me away. Had Milotic not been around to keep me safe, I may have been blown away. I grabbed a Pokeball and Milotic brought the Clamperl over where I could tap the Pokeball on Clamper. I watched as the ball shook, once, twice, three times before the capture was confirmed. Rotom registered the new entry while Milotic swam me up to the surface so I could get a breath of air ready for the next dive down. "Clamperl has been registered to your Pokedex. Clamperl the Bivalve Pokemon a Water Type. It makes a single pearl during its lifetime. The pearl is said to amplify psychic power."

At first I was curious about the pearl that Clamperl held wondering why it would amplify a Pokemon's psychic power. Then it clicked that Spoink had a pearl which seemed rather similar in appearance. Could the two pearls be somehow connected? I bet the Professor would know. Milotic asked whether I was prepared to go back down and I breathed in and descended once again. This time I had more time to admire the beauty of the ocean. When I was younger, I did have a slight fear of the ocean and what was beneath the open ocean. As a kid diving down and seeing a Gyarados suddenly lunge out of the darkness and approach you sounded like a terrifying encounter. But having Pokemon with you at all times, protecting you, it showed you that Pokemon aren't out to attack you just for the sake of it. My musings were interrupted when Milotic found a second Clamperl and engaged in combat. Eventually Clamperl was weakened and I again tapped Clamperl capturing it. At that we headed to the surface once again.

There was now only one final Pokemon that I had yet to catch that was found at the bottom of the seafloor and that was Relicanth a Water and Rock Type. Relicanth was as I had already mentioned a very interesting Pokemon too me. A Pokemon that looked so ancient in appearance and yet it hadn't gone extinct which was wonderful news. It meant there was hope for that species of Pokemon. That was enough musing from me, Milotic and I descended once more and I knew this might be more difficult, unlike Clamperl who didn't really have many attacking moves, I doubted Relicanth would be so defenceless. However, Milotic remained fully confident in his abilities and as such I was confident as well.

Eventually after searching for what felt like a very long time, even though it was actually a few minutes we eventually came across a Relicanth. Relicanth spotted the approaching Milotic and seemed unconcerned. Relicanth had encountered Milotic in the past and had never really been attacked by any of them. What caught Relicanth's attention was the fact that Milotic was accompanied by a human. Relicanth knew of humans, they lived on the surface and very rarely, had Relicanth ever seen humans so deep in the ocean. Usually those humans, were treasure hunters or deep sea divers. The fact that this human and Milotic however, were approaching him directly meant that Relicanth was their target.

That was true, Milotic approached Relicanth unleashing Hydro Pump against Relicanth who just barely managed to dodge before attempting to counter using Rock Tomb. Milotic simply smashed the rocks away using his tail before then using his tail as a battering ram. Using Aqua Tail, Milotic managed to score a direct hit against Relicanth weakening it enough for me to use a Pokeball on Relicanth. I watched as the ball shook, once, twice, three times before the capture was confirmed. It was good timing as well as I was running out of breath. Sensing the situation, Milotic immediately grabbed Relicanth's Pokeball and me simultaneously and began swimming to the surface which incredible speed. While that was happening Rotom registered the new encounter to the Pokedex. "Relicanth has been registered to your Pokedex. Relicanth the Longevity Pokemon a Water and Rock Type. This rare Pokemon was discovered during a deep - sea exploration. It has not changed in over 100 million years."

I immediately breathed in the air happy that was done and I would never have to do that again at least until I visited another region which required me to go underwater again. I thanked Milotic for everything and Milotic smiled nuzzling me with his face while wrapping me up in a gentle and powerful hug. Eventually releasing me when I needed to dry up and change clothes. Once that was done, I knew I needed to speak with the new captures to explain what had happened and to get to know the new captures as well. "Come out Clamperl and Relicanth." The two Clamperl appeared and Relicanth swam beside them too. They each seemed to understand that they had been captured and decided that it wasn't such a bad thing either. "Sorry I couldn't directly communicate with you under the water. Humans don't have that ability, but my name is Leo and I hope we can be good friends and work together to get stronger."

I wondered whether they would disagree and prefer to be released back into the deep ocean however, they seemed to be rather happy at the prospect of being caught. Both Clamperl were male and Relicanth was also male, though I was surprised to see on Relicanth's Pokedex entry that a larger majority of Relicanth were male compared to female. I guess you learn something new about Pokemon every day, that must be what makes Professor Oak so happy to research Pokemon all over the world. At that I had finished with the water captures and decided to continue along Route 108 to then arrive at Sea Mauville. When I arrived at Sea Mauville it was an impressive sight to behold.

A ship abandoned by humanity, something that we would have used to traverse the globe. Now it was a home to Pokemon what a wonderful thing it was. Outside Sea Mauville I was challenged by a Tuber who sent out a Corphish and I sent out my Crawdaunt having him use Night Slash defeating Corphish. The second opponent outside was a Sailor who sent out a Wailmer and I sent out my Sceptile having him use Leaf Blade defeating Wailmer. The second Pokemon sent out was a Machoke and I substituted for my Swellow having him use Aerial Ace defeating Machoke.

I climbed aboard Sea Mauville and began challenging the trainers inside the ship. Inside I was challenged by Mysterious Sisters who sent out a Chingling and a Kirlia. Linoone and Mightyena worked together to defeat their opponents. Since the trainers appeared rather weak, it felt like a good opportunity to see how strong I could get Clamperl and Relicanth too be. Only where water was available for battling and most areas did have that area. Heading further a Young Couple challenged me with a Volbeat and Illumise and I sent out my two Clamperl having them combine their power defeating the Bug Types with a powered up Water Gun. Unfortunately, the rumours that powerful trainers competing here for something had already gone long ago. This meant the voyage here, wasn't completely wasted as I was able to catch Clamperl and Relicanth and even get some training with the respective Pokemon too. That made me happy enough.

While here though, I did carry on training with Relicanth and was surprised at just how durable and powerful he was. Relicanth already knew, Dive, Ancient Power, Take Down and Flail. Some decent moves but what really caught my attention was Rotom informing me that my Relicanth had the ability Rock Head which meant when using a move that would cause recoil damage, such as Take Down, the user would take some damage. However, when a Pokemon had the ability Rock Head the user didn't take any recoil damage whatsoever. This was great for Relicanth to go all out when attacking and not be concerned about recoild damage. Clamperl meanwhile were very defensive Pokemon, both of them, they each had exactly the same moves and seemed quite capable.

At the moment I didn't think it was right to evolve them for a few reasons. First I still required some items which Clamperl needed in order to evolve into a Huntail and a Gorebyss and second I hadn't spent all that much time with them battling wise. I felt I needed to form a stronger connection with them both in order to believe that we were connected as one. I had patience and so did they, Clamperl couldn't tell me but they appreciated their trainer taking time training them before simply deciding to evolve them for the sake of getting stronger. While they trained I figured it was about to time to head on over to Sootopolis City for my final gym badge. I'm certain my Pokemon were all strong enough to handle Water Types thanks to their training against the several swimmers across the watery routes of Hoenn. Getting to Sootopolis wasn't difficult either, ferries ran from Slateport City to Sootopolis regularly.

I decided to head on over immediately, "come out Swellow!" Swellow appeared and allowed me to climb aboard as he began flying straight towards Slateport City. Soon enough we landed and I began searching for what time the next ferry would depart for Sootopolis. Turns out it would be several hours which would be enough time to search for two specific items. They were both important for Clamperl to both evolve, one being the Deep Sea Tooth and the Deep Sea Scale. These were quite rare but after all the training against the multitude of Water Pokemon it wasn't difficult to obtain these items. However, I would still wait until I was confident that Clamperl were ready to evolve.

Before leaving to Sootopolis City I had Milotic, Swampert and Crawdaunt begin searching for the Deep Sea Scale and the Deep Sea Tooth that I needed to evolve Clamperl into it's final evolutions. Specifically the Clamperl evolved into Huntail when holding a Deep Sea Tooth and Gorebyss when Clamperl held a Deep Sea Scale. While I waited on Swampert, Milotic and Crawdaunt to search the ocean for these valuable and rare treasures. I knew the search would take lots of time. However, the ferry leaving for Sootopolis City wouldn't be leaving for quite some time. Several hours at most meaning I had plenty of time.

Thanks to knowing that I had that time, I good begin training Clamperl and getting them stronger preparing them for their evolutions. At the moment, Clamperl only had a few moves and most of those moves weren't very powerful and in comparison to my other Water Types. There was a massive power difference with speed as well. Both Clamperl knew the exact same moves, they were as follows, Iron Defence, Whirlpool and Water Gun. While the moves themselves weren't bad at all, its the comparison that showed the problems.

For the next few hours I trained Clamperl and by extension Relicanth as well since he was also a new Pokemon too. I could have taught Clamperl several moves by having my other Pokemon teach them for example having Milotic teach them Ice Beam so they could handle themselves against Grass Pokemon when the time comes. However, I didn't want to rush the training and moves on them as they were still very new to the team and that wasn't there fault.

Eventually, I was satisfied with the progress that they have achieved and around that time, Swampert, Milotic and Crawdaunt had resurfaced from their underwater excursion. They didn't looked exhausted at the search even though they had been searching for quite a few hours. Swampert and Crawdaunt exited the ocean while Milotic patientl waited watching everything. "Did you manage to find what we needed?" At that Swampert and Crawdaunt happily nodded, before dropping the Deep Sea Scale and Deep Sea Tooth in my hands.

"Thank you all for looking! It must have taken such a long time and you all must be exhausted. You should all rest up in your Pokeballs for now." I thanked them extensively and the Water Types smiled accepting the praise even though they themselves weren't even exhausted. They had been battling against a large amount of Water Pokemon but had prevailed thanks to their strength. At that I returned to see Clamperl who had been observing the Deep Sea Tooth and Deep Sea Scale that the Water Pokemon had given me.

"This here is what you both need in order to evolve into Huntail and Gorebyss respectively. So, it's up to you, would you both like to evolve? There's no rush at all." I reminded them and the Clamperl seemed to pause briefly before they accepted. At that I handed one the Deep Sea Tooth and the other I gave the Deep Sea Scale. At that the first requirement had been met, the second however, was finding a fellow trainer to briefly trade my Pokemon so they could evolve.

It didn't take long to find some trainers who were more than happy to help me evolve my Clamperl. So are a brief trade and then a trade back, I released my former Clamperl's and saw their new evolved forms as Rotom registered the new entries. "Huntail has been registered to your Pokedex. Huntail the Deep Sea Pokemon a Water Type. It lives deep in the sea. With a tale shaped like a small fish, it attracts unsuspecting prey." At that Huntail swam through the ocean getting used to his new body. I had to admit that Huntail looked pretty amazing, he had that aura of toughness and aggression that came with him being a predatory Pokemon.

Next was Gorebyss, "Gorebyss has been registered to your Pokedex. Gorebyss the South Sea Pokemon a Water Type. It lives at the bottom of the sea. In the springtime, its pink body turns more vivid for some reason." Gorebyss happily swam over to Huntail and the two began swimming together. They seemed happy to have evolved and seemed to be adapting to their new bodies at a good speed. The timing couldn't have been more convenient as the ferry that was leaving for Sootopolis City had just announced they were preparing to depart.

At that, I returned Huntail and Gorebyss and brought at ticket before boarding the ferry to Sootopolis City. While on the way to Sootopolis I released Pelipper knowing that he would enjoy the sensation of being out on the open waves. He seemed to enjoy the sensation back when he was a Wingull when we headed to Dewford Town. Since I had some time before we docked I began thinking about the gym battle against Wallace. I did some research on his battle style and the Pokemon he was known for using against Gym challengers.

However, there was something to note about Wallace. Firstly Wallace was renowned for being a Contest star. He was usually always accompanied by his beautiful partner Milotic. Not a surprising Pokemon for competing in contests that's for sure. However, that meant Wallace had experience battling not just as a gym leader but also using combination strategies in his matches. That could prove to be a unexpected obstacle that I'd need to somehow overcome. I managed to find the Pokemon that Wallace used in his matches and they were, Milotic, Swampert and a Walrein.

All of those Pokemon were exceptional and I knew that simply because I owned those Pokemon myself. The battle would therefore be three on three which wasn't too bad. Sceptile would have a type advantage and his speed and agility were a sight to behold. He may only be matched by Shiftry and Blaziken when it came to speed. Meanwhile, Blaziken being a Fire Type would not be used against Wallace, he could likely dodge all the attacks, but dishing out attacks that wouldn't be very effective was the problem. Then there was Swampert who could battle on a neutral battlefield. Being a Water Type, he could hold his own on land or even in the water battlefield.

Mightyena had been training on his own and with my other Pokemon, in his own time. This was separate to when I trained and battled with him. Mightyena had managed to learn a new move that being Thunder Fang which could come in handy against the Water Types, though it would be ineffective against Swampert. Linoone to had learned a new move, thanks to Manectric to teaching him it and that was Thunderbolt. Learning that move helped Linoone get even stronger. Beautfifly and Dustox were likely not going to battle against Wallace but that hadn't stopped them from training. Beautifly could hold his own by using Energy Ball and so could Dustox as well.

Ludicolo had the advantage of being a Grass Type and that was super effective against Water Types. Ludicolo could easily take advantage of that to take down his fellow Water Types. Shiftry had been training recently with fellow Grass Type Sceptile. Shiftry saw that Sceptile could match him when it came to speed and agility and as such saw Sceptile as a worthy rival and that motivated him to become even stronger for me. Swellow and Pelipper had been competing together in friendly aerial races and even some battles. That helped them both get stronger, faster and their endurance improved as well.

Gardevoir and Gallade had always been close together, mainly because they were brothers and I had caught them back when I was first beginning my journey through Hoenn. Gardevoir and Gallade had been helping one another improve their Psychic abilities. Masquerain likely couldn't battle against Wallace, but he had improving in his offence as well. Breloom had a good type advantage and could easily defeat Water Types, thanks to his experiences. Breloom had even been having boxing matches against Blaziken. Slaking had immense strength and I sometimes was on the receiving end of his extreme hugs. He was definitely strong enough to hold his own against even my own Hariyama.

Ninjask and Shedinja would not likely be used against Wallace. However, in the case of Shedinja, he was immune to Water and Ice moves, mainly moves that Wallace would be using on his Pokemon. However, it would be likely that his Swampert would carry a Rock Type move. That's what my Swampert has so that is my assumption. Exploud had great physical strength but his main power area was his voice. Exploud had even recently learned Boomburst a move that he was quite proud off. However, he didn't like to use the move as he believed it would also hurt me and he didn't want that. I assured him that there was no need to be concerned for my safety. Exploud seemed to be happier after that reassurance.

Hariyama has as mentioned briefly been training against Slaking helping him overcome his Fighting weakness. However, Hariyama himself had been noticing that he could be improving his speed as that's where he currently lacked. As such Hariyama had been training with Blaziken, one of my fastest Fighting Types and it seemed to be gradually paying off. Nosepass would not be battling Wallace either, simply because Water Types are super effective against Rock Types and even though Nosepass had excellent defences I doubted they could withstand those Water moves.

Delcatty had been much like Linoone and had learned a new move, Thunderbolt also from Manectric. Delcatty had always been more interested in brushing and receiving attention. However, Delcatty also rather enjoyed showcasing his battling abilities as well. After all, most opponents underestimated Delcatty as they assumed he was rather vain and cared more about his appearance than his strength. Sableye could handle himself against pretty much any opponent since his type could be difficult for most opponents to deal with. His trickster personality also provided some opportunities in battles as well.

Mawile if he battled against Wallace would likely be battle of attrition since he didn't really have many moves that could deal with Water Pokemon. Aggron, was quite the powerful Pokemon, however, he was also quite the gentle giant, much like Tyranitar was. Aggron had immense defence but similarly with Nosepass I wasn't quite sure whether I wanted Aggron to face off against his weakness. Medicham still considered Gallade to be his rival since they shared the same typing. Medicham even tried to one up Gallade by learning a new move that he believed would help his beloved trainer out and that was Thunder Punch. Gallade responded by learning Leaf Blade as well. Both Pokemon were determined to bring their trainer victory no matter what. They were sometimes quite entertaining to watch, it was clear that they were fierce rivals but they also seemed to love their trainer.

I spoke to the two rivals before they could fight once again, "your both super strong you know. I bet if you keep training together instead of fighting one another. You could grow even stronger. Could you do that for me?" Both Pokemon blushed in embarrassment before they fist bumped together and then with me too. Manectric had been exceptionally helpful with teaching my other Pokemon new moves of his own volition. He just wanted to help his friends become stronger and achieve victory for his master. He would also be a good choice of battling Wallace, but I'd need to be careful against his Swampert. Plusle and Minun battled better together than apart thanks to their ability. They were strong though and could handle Water Pokemon of that I was sure.

Volbeat and Illumise hadn't seen all that much action but that didn't mean they had been side-lined or forgotten. They had been training in their own time and with me separately and had even managed to learn some new and powerful moves. Volbeat had learned Thunderbolt and Solar Beam and Illumise had learned Thunderbolt and Shadow Ball. Roserade was a powerful and capable battler and he was a good choice to battle Wallace. However, he'd also been helping me throughout Hoenn. Whenever we came across a berry patch, Roserade would take some berries for me to use and then replant some berries to ensure the local population would still be able to thrive.

Swalot hadn't been battling that much either, since we had mainly been exploring the ocean and that wasn't a good place for a Poison Type. However, in his own time, he had been getting stronger in preparation for battles even learning a defensive move Stockpile. Sharpedo had grown powerful thanks to ferrying me across the oceans of Hoenn as such he had gained endurance and stamina from the arduous journey. The same went double for Wailord and I also knew that when I returned to Kanto after completing the Hoenn Pokedex I was going to need to some work to increase the size of the lake that was at my home. Luckily for me, each day it was getting bigger thanks to the work and determination of all my Water Pokemon. When I arrived it should be even bigger and I'll lend a hand with that work too.

Camerupt would not be battling Wallace since he was very weak to Water Type moves and that was the same for Torkoal however, Torkoal did have a slight advantage to Camerupt and that was he could use Sunny Day to weaken the power of Water moves and allow him to use a Solar Beam without charging. Grumpig had been training together with Gardevoir, both of them had been increasing their Psychic powers with a little bit of friendly competition. Spinda hadn't been battling much but he was still very powerful as well. He'd even recently learned Double Edge a powerful Normal Type move.

Flygon could have been a good choice for battling against Water Pokemon simply because of his aerial abilities he could easily dodge attacks and retaliate with powerful Dragon moves. However, most of Wallace's Pokemon likely knew Ice moves and Flygon was exceptionally weak to Ice moves no matter how powerful he was they would hurt. Cacturne however, could be a good choice against Water Pokemon his Energy Ball was quite powerful and could do a lot of damage against his opponents too. Altaria was much like Flygon and speaking off which, Flygon seemed to have a little rivalry with Altaria. Though Altaria seemed to be unconcerned about the rivalry simply wanting to get stronger and bring his master victory in battles.

Zangoose and Seviper when outside of their Pokeballs could sometimes cause some problems. They still battled one another but that was too be expected, However, their battles were no longer vicious as when I had caught them. Now the two seemed to consider each other as rivals, just not as friendly as the other Pokemon were. Seviper after any victories or training, loved to encircle his trainer with a powerful hug, rubbing his face lovingly to Leo while at the same time smugly smirking at Zangoose. Zangoose would attempt to remove the snake from his beloved master by any means necessary.

Lunatone and Solrock were a refreshing sight, as instead these Pokemon worked together to bring their trainer victory instead of competing against one another. Though they did sometimes battle one another in an attempt to grow stronger and help one another. Whiscash would likely not be used against Wallace simply because his typing would make the battle more difficult. His moves wouldn't have much effect either. Crawdaunt may have been in a similar situation however his Dark moves would still be good against Water Types. Claydol being a part Ground Type had a disadvantage against Water Types so Claydol had anticipated he wouldn't be used and as such had time to grow stronger thanks to training from his master.

Cradily and Armaldo had been improving really well and I couldn't wait to reintroduce them to Omastar, Kabutops and Aerodactyl. Something told me that all of them would get along exceptionally well together and could help each other grow stronger too. Milotic had been helpful in helping me understand Wallace's potential battle style or strategy too. I had a good understanding of how my Milotic battled and that helped me formulate a effective strategy to defeat my opponent. Castform had one potential strategy and that was ultimately the same as Torkoal, by using Sunny Day to weaken the power of Water moves and then allowing my other Pokemon to take advantage of that opening.

Kecleon had a interesting ability which could allow him to cause some issues with Wallace's battling style. As Kecleon changed types based on what move hits him. Banette could use his ghostly abilities to dodge attacks and retaliate with some powerful moves of his own. Dusclops may have been slower than Banette, but he was still strong enough to handle himself. Tropius had a similar issue to Flygon and ALtaria he had the type advantage however, but was exceptionally weak to Ice Moves and that was a big problem.

Chimecho didn't have many moves that would be advantageous against Water Types but he had been growing steadily stronger in his own time. Absol had been working with Mightyena, the two had made good friends and seemed to work well together. Likely because they shared the same typing and personality too. My Wobbuffet evolved from my Wynaut could use Mirror Coat and Counter to cause some massive damage, though that all relied on what my opponent would do. Glalie and Froslass couldn't do much damage to Water Types but they still could handle themselves come what may.

Walrein, had excellent defence and could take attacks off any type even Electric and Grass for that matter. However, that meant Wallace's Walrein could do much the same. Huntail and Gorebyss being some of my newer Pokemon they likely wouldn't be getting much battling in against Wallace mainly because of their typing. The same went for Relicanth though he had managed to learn the powerful Double Edge and thanks to his ability he didn't even take any recoil damage either. That was a powerful combination. Finally there was Luvdisc a Pokemon that could make opponents rather frustrated, he could use Attract to infatuate the opponent, or Sweet Kiss to confuse them. That then gave him the opportunity to then finish the opponent with either Scald or Ice Beam. He had become a rather deceptive and dangerous opponent that most trainers underestimated due to his appearance.

After that training session I had decided on what Pokemon I would use against Wallace and they were. My Sceptile would battle against Wallace's Swampert. Against Walrein I'd use Gallade and finally against Milotic I'd use Manectric. After claiming the gym badge I only had a few Pokemon remaining to catch in order to complete the Pokedex. That was excluding legendary Pokemon of course and those were Bagon and Beldum. Those two were quite rare and evolved into some incredibly powerful Pokemon too. But first was the gym match against Wallace.