章節 4: Journey to Striaton

The sea in Unova teams with a wide variety of different pokemon, aspiring water-type specialists will spend most of their time by the sea or other large bodies of water such as the two rivers that cut through the region.

While the ocean is home to a plethora of powerhouses that roam its dark depths, the same can't be said about the cove that leaks into route 1.

Its moderately shallow depths combined with how close it is to the sea makes it a prime area for weaker species of aquatic pokemon.

Another interesting fact is that since there are many rivers leading into the sea from here, you get a mixture of pokemon that prefer salt and fresh water in the area. It all depends on which area you arrive at.

After batting a few more trainers on the way over and raking in some more cash, Magnus and Rookidee were standing next to the water.

"I probably should've asked you this before, but do you want a nickname?" Magnus somewhat apologetically asked his pokemon.

Hearing its trainer's question, Rookidee took a moment to mull over it. After considering it, the small bird shook its head in denial.

"That's fine, if you end up changing your mind just tell me" he said to which Rookidee squawked.

"Right then, do me a favor and fly around for a bit and see if you can find any pokemon that'd like to join up with us. Make sure to tell them what they're getting into, we don't want to have any slackers in the team. While you're doing that I'll get some food ready for us."

Opening his backpack, Magnus pulls out two small pouches where he keeps all of the cooking equipment and food. Reaching inside he wacks out a table, a seat, wooden cutlery, paper plates and food for both humans and pokemon. All of which seemed wildly too large to fit inside the pouches, but fit comfortably thanks to the shrinkage technology imbued in them.

The pouches were a gift from the Gym Leader Drayden, he gave them to Magnus as a farewell present when he left the academy to do work under Professor Juniper.

Before Rookidee took off Magnus asked "You fine with this stuff?" gesturing to the slightly open bag of pokemon food.

Rookidee hopped up on the table and gave the bag a few sniffs before nodding. After Magnus nodded in return the bird did a quick salute and took off into the distance.

Once Rookidee left, Magnus got to preparing his own meal. Living alone did wonders for Magnus's cooking skills, it was an easy way to save money and eat tasty food at the same time. While he wouldn't call himself great by any means, he still prides himself on being a better cook than most.

Just under an hour later Magnus was sitting at the table scribbling a few things down in his notebook - strategies, tactics, training and whatnot, then far away screech was heard from over the water.

It took a moment for his eyes to locate the source of the sound but he eventually zoned in Rookidee, who blended in pretty well with the waves. He was flying slowly just above the water and trailing behind him were two shadows, one larger than the other.

At one point, the larger of the two began swimming in a different direction… well more than once. Rookidee had to basically hold its hand so it never wandered off in the wrong direction.

Eventually though Rookidee and his crew made it to the shore. Magnus had to walk out into the water a bit since the beach was so shallow, as he did Rookidee perched upon his head while he got a look at the pokemon.

"Good work Rookidee" He said, petting the bird gently for it's work. "So we've got a Feebas and a Magikarp" Magnus said as he inspected each fish.

Feebas skipped out of the water as Magnus said his name, revealing its lackluster body, sunken eyes and blotchy scales. In all honesty Magnus thought it looked like the old man that lived underneath him back at Opelucid. Shame he died a year ago.

Magikarp on the other went above and beyond as a prime specimen of its species, it was a genuine monster of a fish, possibly being the same height as himself - 5'9 - which is a mean feat for a magikarp. Its pristine orange scales that bordered on red shimmered in the sunlight, its crown unblemished and barbels long and thick.

The only thing that wasted the sight was the sheer vacancy of intelligence within its wide eyes as it splashed towards the land. Rookidee just looked tired of it all and let the fish flounder its way out the water only to be confused as to why there was none of it when he was finally out.

From this display alone Magnus could tell that this Magikarp - amazing as it was - was lacking severely in the IQ department, even when compared with other magikarps. Never in his life has he ever seen a Magikarp so thick that it left the water and started rolling around on the dry sands.

Pulling out his pokedex he gave the Magikarp a quick scan.

'Magikarp, the fish pokemon. A water type. Because all Magikarp seem to do is splash around, some consider them weak, but they're actually a hardy pokemon that can survive in water no matter how dirty it is.'

'This Magikarp knows the moves: Splash, Tackle and Flail'

"How did you even manage to get him to follow you?" Magnus asked curiously to the bird on his head. Rookidee just tweeted back but if Magnus could see him, he'd notice the bird just shook his head and shrugged.

Putting the big boy on the back burner for a moment Magnus turns to the Febass who patiently waited next to him, unlike a certain orange fish.

"So you interested in Rookidee's offer huh?" Magnus said to the pokemon.

"Fee…Bas" She slowly murmured, contrasting her slow style of speech Feebas excitedly swam round in circles.

"Take it that's a yes then", kneeling down so he could touch the pokemon's body he said "You wanna get some grub before we do the catching then?"

Feebas started swimming in circles again, Magnus mentally noted that it probably does that when it means to say yes.

Before he left though he scanned Feebas as well.

'Feebas, a water type. Feebas's fins are ragged and tattered from the start of its life. Because of its shoddy appearance, this Pokemon is largely ignored. It is capable of living in both the sea and in rivers'

'This Feebas knows the moves: Splash, Tackle, Dragon Breath, Haze, Hypnosis and Mirror Coat'

"The fuck?" Magnus said as he looked between the Pokedex and a calm looking Feebas.

Stroking the fish's blotchy body he asked "How'd you learn those moves girl?" to which Feebas just waggled its little blue fins.

Shrugging, Magnus headed over to the table, poured a bowl of pokemon food for Rookidee and poured Feebas's into the water around her. Then he turned to Magikarp, who was still flopping up and down at a steady pace while dully taking in the surroundings.

"Magikarp!" Magnus shouted, seemingly getting the fish's attention as it spun around mid air and began to face him. Maybe he's not so stupid afterall.

"Catch this!" Magnus said as he threw a block of food at it.

Zeroing in on its meal Magikarp used his only move splash against the sand and bounded into the air, going just high enough to catch the food in his puffy lips. He never even chewed, just straight up gubbed the whole thing down.

"Karp Karp Karp Karp" Magikarp repeatedly said, bouncing up and down with even more vigor than before.

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The rest of the meal was quite uneventful, Rookidee chirped happily as it pecked away at his food and choking occasionally when he tried to eat too fast. Feebas just quietly sucked his food in through her pink lips, barely making a sound as she did so.

Magikarp looked to be having the time of his life though, and Magnus was happy to humor him. Magikarp seemed to make a game out of eating his food, each time Magnus threw a piece he'd switch up his throw a little but Magikarp had no trouble at all adjusting to the change.

At one point he got curious as to how high the fish could jump, and the answer is pretty fucking high. Magikarp was clearing some of the smaller trees with the all powerful move splash and this was all out of the water.

Say what you will about Magikarp but you can't deny they've got some serious muscle for splashing… even if that's the only thing they have.

Now that everyone had finished eating and Magnus put away all the stuff, he pulled out a pair of pokeballs.

"You guys ready?" he asked the pair of water types.

"Fee…Bas…Bas" "Karp Karp" the pair both made the usual noises but never showed any signs of refusal.

Priming both pokeballs, Magnus casually tossed the pokeballs at their respective targets. Feebas waited for her's to impact before getting sucked in, but Magikarp took matters into his own hands. Splashing against the sand once more he leaped at the capture device in a similar manner to how he was catching his food.

When Magnus saw his mouth widening, he almost thought Magikarp was going to eat the Pokeball. Luckily that never came to fruition, Magikarp swiveled his body and the pokeball smacked against his scaled side.

Two clicks later, Magnus's team was up to three members. Picking both balls up and releasing their inhabitants he spoke a few words to both.

"Now you're with me I'll make sure to train you both real hard so that you'll become the best Milotic and Gyarados about" he said while patting the two fish.