Pokemon Quest

[JAGwin]

"Sounds like a plan... as long as we don't train in the cave. Nearly dying in there once was enough." Switch Nessie and Rampage with Geist and Zatanna.

[Tempest Kitsune]

I say yes. Swap out Rampage for Bran, as the poor guy is doubly weak to Lorelei's team, and even though Bran is partially weak to the gym, his typing gives him a partial advantage against some of the attacks. We also need to work with him in order to really get to know his battle style and how best to use it and mesh it with ours. I agree with Game about bringing on Zatanna, swap Hogan out for her. Smoot is practically on the verge of evolution, and he's pretty quick on his feet, so I say we see if we can train him up into a proper sweeper, and possibly evolve him into his final form. And while we're at the center, give our uncle a call, find out how the ranch is going. And maybe ask him about that evolution stone mining operation. If we can, work in a question on if they might have found any dusk stones...

Also agree with Jag, once in the cave was more than enough, at least until we're better outfitted and supplied.

[someone]

I don't think a gym battle is a good first field test for Bran. Maybe put him on the team afterwards.

I vote JAG's plan.

[Tempest Kitsune]

This isn't just about the gym battle, it's about training up our stable of mon.

[ShonenHero]

I'll go with Jag and Tempest's suggestions.

[Random_fan]

I agree with Tempest.

[ShonenHero]

Oh, and while we train throughout the week I say we should challenge Rose near the end of it, to help her work out her stress during battle.

[gamebrain89]

Official vote from me, Swap Rampage and Hogan for Zatanna and Geist, Keep Nessie.

[Tempest Kitsune]

Agreeing with Game on keeping Nessie, she's at least good as a wall against some of Lorelei's team.

[shadowspiri5]

Agree withe game's swaps and Tempest's actions.

[MrRigger2]

"Of course we can train together, Rose. Probably be better than just trying to train on our own, too. Um, I want to change some of my Pokemon before we go, though."

Rose nods. "Okay. Yeah, yeah, I think I want to do that too. Oh, oh, I know where we should go! The Lake of Rage! It'll be awesome. We can go swimming after training! It'll be like a little vacation! Wait right here!" Then she runs off in the direction of the free computer.

"...what am I getting myself into...?"

0oOo0

Rose runs off to make sure she has everything for a week at the Lake of Rage, and you head for the computer. You send Rampage and Hogan back to your father's ranch and pull Geist and Zatanna into your party. Then you dial up your uncle's ranch.

"Hello, Moo-Moo Farm, Mrs. Warren speaking, how may I help you?"

"Hi, Mrs. Warren. It's Indigo, is Uncle George there?"

"Sorry sweetie, he's down in Olivine for the day. Won't be back until late tonight. I can take a message if you want."

"Well, I was just calling to check in with him, see how things are going, so if you could just let him know I called, I'd appreciate it. He's still got my number, right?"

"I'm pretty sure, dear. How are you doin' out there on the open road? Havin' fun?"

"Well, I'm in Mahogany Town right now, but a friend and I are heading up to the Lake of Rage for some training in just a little."

"Oh, that sounds like fun. I hear it's beautiful up there. You'll have to take some pictures for the next time you stop by."

"I'll see what I can do. Say hi to Devlin for me, and let Uncle George know I called. Oh, and give my love to Aunt Katherine."

"Will do, honey-pie. Take care out there. Stay safe!"

The line goes dead and you turn off the computer. You don't know where Rose has gotten to, but she said she'd be back soon, so you grab a cup of coffee and check your bag for supplies. After a few minutes, Rose bounces to a stop in front of you. "Ready to go? Cause I'm ready to go and I want to go so let's go!"

You pause, watching Rose practically vibrate anxiously. "Yes, Rose, I'm ready. Let's get going before we lose too much light. Don't want to get caught in the dark."

Rose jumps up and pumps her fists. "Yay! LET'S GO!"

0oOo0

You make good time to the Lake of Rage. The route is a fairly easy walk, since the Lake of Rage is a popular destination for sightseers, whether they're Trainers or not, so it's kept well patrolled by Rangers. Rose regales you with stories about her travels, and you try to explain your unfortunate history with caves.

Just as the sun is falling even with the tops of the mountains, you reach the end of Route 43 and come to the Lake of Rage Basin. It's an impressive sight, and you pause a moment to appreciate it.

Rose does not.

Rose charges straight for the Lake, stripping off her shirt and shorts as she goes. You start to blush, until you realize that Rose was wearing a one-piece swimsuit under her clothes. Then you realize how tight the swimsuit is, and blush anyways.

Rose hits the water running, and keeps going, swimming out and laughing. You see the flash of released Pokemon, and start jogging for the water's edge. You see Totoro floating on the surface, and Flasher jumping over him. Rose is getting towed around the lake by something, but you can't see what kind of Pokemon it is. Seems kind of serpentine, though...

You strip your shirt off and drop your backpack on the shore. You pop two Pokeballs off your belt and stash your stuff by a rock. "Smoot, stay here and watch our stuff. Nessie, let's go for a swim."

Nessie tows you out to where Rose is swimming and you let go so Nessie can enjoy herself. It's been a long time since she's had this much space to enjoy herself in. "Hey, Rose, do you always wear a swimsuit under your clothes?"

"Well, you never know when you're gonna find a place where you want to swim, do you? But actually, no, I just put this on before we left because I knew I was going somewhere I would want to swim. How could anybody not want to swim out here?"

You smirk. "Well, it is known to be home for wild Gyarados, one of the mostly wildly destructive Pokemon in the world."

"I've got my Pokemon to protect me. Besides, this is way too much fun." Rose smiles gleefully and starts swimming in circles around you as you tread water. Once you realize what she's doing, you decide to turn the tables and start swimming around her instead. She laughs and picks up the pace. You laugh right along and decide to forget about your worries for a little while. They'll still be there in the morning.

0oOo0

After you and Rose finally stop trying to outswim the other, and are simply floating on your backs, you speak up. "You know, it really is pretty out here. But it's getting dark, so we may not want to be out here too much longer. If we are going to be swimming in Gyarados-infested waters, I'd at least like to see them coming."

"Well, I suppose we could, and we've got at least a week before we should go back and challenge that meanie-pants Gym Leader again."

You shrug. "It's probably safer. I don't know when Gyarados are most active, but I'd rather not take the chance that it's at night."

"Yeah, that might be a good idea. I'll race you!" Rose splashes you and starts swimming for the shore.

"Oh no you don't!" You give chase and call for your Pokemon. "Nessie! Give me a ride back to shore!" Nessie sings a happy note and moves to intercept you.

Rose gasps. "Cheater! Felix, come give me a hand too!" Something beneath the waterline brushes past your leg, startling you and throwing off your stroke. A long, skinny Pokemon pulls up beside Rose and she latches onto its head.

You grab Nessie's shell and pull yourself halfway out of the water. "Alright, Nessie, it's a race!"

Nessie is a lot stronger than whatever Pokemon is pulling Rose, but she's got too much of a head start. By the end, you've mostly caught up, but Rose still beats you by a few feet. But when you pull up on shore, you don't mind so much. "Is that a Dratini? Rose, where'd you get a Dratini?" you ask quickly, flabbergasted.

"Oh Felix? Isn't he just the cutest little guy you've ever seen? He's so playful, yes you are," Rose says as the Dratini circles her around and around, nuzzling her legs.

"He does seem playful, but that doesn't answer where you got him."

"Oh yeah, I got him in Goldenrod City after I got super lucky at the Game Corner there. I don't know what it was, it was like no matter what game I tried, I just kept winning! It was so funny, but when I went to go trade my coins in, it was like the people were happy to see me go, which doesn't make any sense, cause isn't it fun watching people win? Anyways, that's where I got him, but I'm still working on his dancing lessons. He's got a lot of talent, and I know he's gonna be great now that I've got a while to work with him. And you're gonna be here helping, so it'll be even better!"

"Sounds good Rose. But maybe we should get camp set up before it gets any darker. We probably should have done this before we went out swimming."

Rose sighs. "Yeah, I suppose..." she mumbles. "I'll set up my tent if you can get the fire started."

"Alright Rose. You know, I think this is going to be a lot of fun."

She smiles. "Of course it's gonna be fun, silly! We've got Pokemon with us, and we're camping! We've gotta have fun."

0oOo0

Spoiler: show

Smoot - Quilava - Naughty Nature - Male - Level 34 - Blaze
Nessie - Lapras - Rash Nature - Female - Level 23 - Water Absorb
Dolly - Flaaffy - Jolly Nature - Female - Level 26 - Static
Fezzik - Heracross - Docile Nature - Male - Level 27 - Guts
Zatanna - Kadabra - Hasty Nature - Female - Level 20 - Synchronize
Geist - Haunter - Careful Nature - Male - Level 27 - Levitate

With Dad:

Deedee - Hoppip - Rash Nature - Female - Level 5 - Chlorophyll
Mary Jane - Oddish - Relaxed Nature - Female - Level 7 - Chlorophyll
Amaranthine - Grimer - Relaxed Nature - Female - Level 18 - Stench
Swagster - Poliwag - Docile Nature - Female - Level 24 - Damp
Edward - Golbat - Quirky Nature - Male - Level 22 - Inner Focus
Thea - Ledian - Naive Nature - Female - Level 27 - Early Bird
Hippolyta - Scyther - Adamant Nature - Female - Level 23 - Technician
Bran - Murkrow - Quiet Nature - Male - Level 20 - Insomnia
Madoka - Chansey - Calm Nature - Female - Level 14 - Natural Cure
Rampage - Larvitar - Adamant Nature - Male - Level 25 - Guts
Hogan - Golem - Naive Nature - Male - Level 26 - Rock Head

Reference Maps:
Johto
Route 42
Route 43
Route 44
Mahogany Town
Lake of Rage

Move List and Inventory

Okay, training time with Rose. Any particular Pokemon you want to train with (I know I saw one vote for getting Smoot to evolve)? Do you want to spend longer than a week out here? Do you want to do what Rose said, and just try to have fun for a while? The world is your Cloyster.

MrRigger

[shadowspiri5]

Lets train all of our pokemon but try to have some fun as well. This is a training trip but there isn't any rule saying you cant have fun while training.

[JAGwin]

While I also want to try to evolve Smoot, I think it's more important that we get Nessie and Zatanna up to where the rest of our team is in terms of Levels.

Once done, and Smoot has evolved again, focus on getting the rest of the team up to close to his level until the last day before we can go for that rematch. On the last day before we can have our rematch with Lorelei, let's have a full-battle against Rose.

[Tempest Kitsune]

I agree with JAG, though I figure that using Smoot to train them in dodging exercises would also give him a lot of experience. Lorelei's team are pretty fast on their feet (or flippers, as the case may be), and Smoot is the fastest mon we've got with a projectile attack that can mimic the water guns and ice beams that her team can produce.

[someone]

Train all equally unil Smoot evolves + X days for Smoot to get used to the new form. If that is only a week, great, if it is longer, no problem.

[MrRigger2]

You yawn as you wake up to the sound of Pidgeys singing. You pull the pillow over your head, trying to drown out the noise, but as the past few days have proved, it won't be enough. After a minute or so, you give it up, resigning yourself to getting up to face the day.

You bang into the sides of your one man tent as you change into your clothes for the day, but you're used to it by now. You zip open the door and slide out, squinting against the bright morning sun. You're operating mostly on auto-pilot as you release Nessie in the direction of the lake and nudge Smoot into rekindling the fire so you can heat up your coffee. Once the fire is lit, he curls back up and starts snoozing again. Apparently, he has no problem ignoring Pidgeys in the morning.

You flip through pages on your Pokedex, not really reading, just trying to force yourself awake while the coffee gets ready. Once it does, you abandon the article you're reading (something about how Pokemon go about trapping their prey) and really start getting ready for the day. You sip at your coffee as you fix your breakfast, scratching Smoot on the head as you wait.

As you wait, staring out over the lake, you reflect on the week so far. With Rose there as a mostly constant training partner, you've made some real strides. Smoot is on the verge of evolving, and training against Rose's team is good experience. She's constantly changing her strategies, always evolving her tactics. Of course, her passionate and emotional battling style translates into her training style, which means she alternates between training herself into exhaustion and getting distracted five minutes into a training session. Granted you've found it hard to concentrate on training at times, but you know you're more disciplined than that.

Still, when she's focused, Rose is a great partner to work with. She's always pushes her limits, which forces you to do the same. You've been focusing on training Smoot, Nessie, and Zatanna pretty heavily so far, and you're happy with their progress. All three of them have been put up against those they are strong and weak against, given as varied a training schedule as you can with the limited selection of Pokemon available to train against.

Speaking of Pokemon to train against, Dolly has made unexpected leaps and gains, largely because she's been appointed the main deterrent against the wild Gyarados of the lake. With their extreme weakness to electricity, she's been able to drive off the territorial sea serpents with one or two good attacks. Even though they aren't fainting from her attacks, you're happy with them leaving you and Rose alone. Given that rampaging Gyarados are known to have the destructive power to reduce seaside villages to rubble, your little camp would never stand a chance.

As you finish up your breakfast and start on your next cup of coffee, Rose comes dancing out of the trees, Bouncy the Hitmonlee following right along. She waves at you and starts running towards the camp.

"Hey, hey Indigo, I know what we should do today!" Rose announces as she plops down next to you.

"Good morning to you too, Rose. And since this is supposed to be a training trip, we should probably train today. I know that if we can get a real good day of hard training in today, Smoot's gonna evolve. I can feel it."

"Weeeeeell, we *could* do that, or we could go find this place the Ranger told me about! It's around on the north side of the lake and it's supposed to be really pretty and peaceful and he says that all the Pokemon he's ever seen up there love it and we should totally go so come on let's go!"

You take a swig off your coffee. "I don't know, Rose, I don't know if I want this rematch with Lorelei hanging over my head any longer than it has to, and I really was planning on trying to get Smoot to evolve today."

"Come on, you need to relax some, all you've been doing since we got here is training, you've hardly explored with me at all, so come on, let's take the day off and go have fun!"

"Tell you what, Rose, let me finish my coffee and think about it, and then I'll decide."

0oOo0

Spoiler: show

Smoot - Quilava - Naughty Nature - Male - Level 35 - Blaze
Nessie - Lapras - Rash Nature - Female - Level 25 - Water Absorb
Dolly - Flaaffy - Jolly Nature - Female - Level 29 - Static
Fezzik - Heracross - Docile Nature - Male - Level 27 - Guts
Zatanna - Kadabra - Hasty Nature - Female - Level 23 - Synchronize
Geist - Haunter - Careful Nature - Male - Level 27 - Levitate

With Dad:

Deedee - Hoppip - Rash Nature - Female - Level 5 - Chlorophyll
Mary Jane - Oddish - Relaxed Nature - Female - Level 7 - Chlorophyll
Amaranthine - Grimer - Relaxed Nature - Female - Level 18 - Stench
Swagster - Poliwag - Docile Nature - Female - Level 24 - Damp
Edward - Golbat - Quirky Nature - Male - Level 22 - Inner Focus
Thea - Ledian - Naive Nature - Female - Level 27 - Early Bird
Hippolyta - Scyther - Adamant Nature - Female - Level 23 - Technician
Zatanna - Kadabra - Hasty Nature - Female - Level 20 - Synchronize
Bran - Murkrow - Quiet Nature - Male - Level 20 - Insomnia
Madoka - Chansey - Calm Nature - Female - Level 14 - Natural Cure
Rampage - Larvitar - Adamant Nature - Male - Level 25 - Guts
Hogan - Golem - Naive Nature - Male - Level 26 - Rock Head

Reference Maps:
Johto
Route 42
Route 43
Route 44
Mahogany Town
Lake of Rage

Move List and Inventory

Do we stay or do we go now?

MrRigger

[ShonenHero]

Go hang out with Rose today; too much training with little to no breaks is unhealthy.

[Random_fan]

Yeah go with Rose.

[JAGwin]

"Wait, what Ranger?"

[someone]

Go with Rose, we've got all the time in the world and overtraining is bad too.

[gamebrain89]

Everyone needs a day off now and then. Go with Rose. I SMELL ADVENTURE!

[Tempest Kitsune]

We have been pushing pretty hard. And winding down every once in a while keeps from over-working. Go with Rose, but ask her where exactly she met this Ranger and when they told her about this spot.

(Nice Clash reference btw)

[MrRigger2]

You mull over the decision as you rub Smoot's head and finish your coffee. You have a couple ideas that you'd like to try for training, but you have been working your team pretty hard, maybe taking a break for the day would be a good idea. And it's not like your ideas won't work tomorrow, so you suppose taking a day off won't hurt.

Still, you were hoping to see Smoot evolve today. Well, maybe the anticipation will make the payoff even sweeter.

"Alright Rose, I guess taking a day off won't hurt. You said it was around the other side of the lake?"

Rose nods vigorously. "Yeah, that's what the Ranger said."

"In that case, we should probably get going here shortly. No telling how long it'll take us to find this place if all we have to go on is 'the north side of the lake'."

"Okay, I'll get my stuff!"

Rose dives for her tent, and you start pulling together things you'll need for a day hike. The Ranger Rose mentioned has been pretty helpful so far, allowing you to use his facilities to heal your Pokemon when a good night's rest won't be quite enough to fix them back up, and he's been in charge of patrolling the Lake of Rage area for years, so he knows the area pretty well. If he's recommending some place around here, it's probably worth visiting.

Once your bag is packed, you head down to the water's edge and recall Nessie. Rose is already packed and bouncing anxiously. You like Rose, but sometimes her constant energy is exhausting. Still, it's nice having a companion that can actually talk back to you.

"Come on, Smoot, you can walk with us." Smoot huffs as he pushes up to standing, but doesn't seem to complain. Smoot doesn't seem to have your tolerance for Rose's energy, or maybe it's just his reaction to his impending evolution, you're not sure, but he's been moody recently.

Rose leads the way, charging ahead and blazing the trail, Midnight dancing along at her side. At first, you thought it was a little silly, Rose teaching her Pokemon to dance, but after training against them, you can definitely say that her Pokemon are more graceful than average.

A few hours of walking pass, filled mostly with Rose oohing and ahhing over the sights and good conversation. The first part of the hike is pretty easy, since plenty of tourists visit out here, but after you make it a ways around the lake, the trail becomes more overrun and difficult to pass. The trail is still obviously there, and you're not afraid of getting lost, but most people definitely don't come out this far. But while the hike a little harder, you don't mind, knowing you'll get to see things most people don't.

Of course, most people don't see the bottoms of pitch black caves with endlessly wandering tunnels, and if you never have to see another one of those, it'll be too soon.

Around noon, you and Rose finally make it to the north side of the Lake. "So, Rose, where now?"

Rose chuckles nervously. "Heh heh, um, here's the thing. I kinda just saw it marked on the map in the Ranger station and he said it was a nice place that a bunch of Pokemon were at and I didn't really pay too much more attention after that, cause I knew I had to go."

You sigh. "Okay, we'll just have to look for it. What else do we know about it?"

"Um, he said that it was a waterfall that eventually ran down into the lake, and that it was a clearing where there were a bunch of Pokemon. It didn't look too far away on the map."

You don't know how good her map reading skills are, but you take her word for it. "Then I guess the first order of business is to find a stream that feeds into the lake. Then we can follow it back to the waterfall, I guess."

"Great idea, let's do it!" Rose runs for the shoreline and you follow right on her heels.

You release Nessie to swim ahead and look for anything that looks promising, and you slow down to a more sedate pace. Fortunately, you don't have to look for long. After maybe ten minutes, Nessie comes swimming back towards you, and she leads you to a slow moving stream that disappears into the trees not far from the shore.

Nessie goes back into her Pokeball and you and Rose walk into the trees, following the stream. It's obviously not the main feed for the Lake of Rage, but it's nice enough. The water is clear and you can see Magikarp and regular fish swimming around. A sweet aroma fills the air and you feel tension slipping away.

"You know, Rose, this was a good idea. It's really relaxing out here."

"I know, isn't it? I told you we needed to do this. Wait, do you hear that? I think we found it!"

Sure enough, you can hear falling water, and as you get past a thick patch of trees, you see the waterfall. It's not particularly big, twenty feet tall at the most, but where the water is crashing down it makes a rainbow. Overall, it's a cool effect, and you say as much.

"Yeah, aren't you glad I talked you into this today? It's totally pretty out here. It even smells nice out here."

"Really nice, actually." Something from the article you were reading earlier in the morning tickles at your memory. You scan the edges of the clearing. "Hey Rose?"

"Mm-hmm?" Rose has bent over, splashing at the water.

"Do you know why this place was marked on the Ranger's map?"

"Mmm, not really."

"Could it have been because he was trying to warn people?"

"I don't know, maybe, but why would you want to warn people about this place?"

You grab her shoulder and make her look where you're looking. "Maybe because the Pokemon that he said liked to come here are actually hungry Bellsprout, Weepinbell, and Victreebel, and he was trying to warn you?"

"Um, maybe?" The usual confidence and bravado in her voice is gone, replaced with a nervous tremble. You both look around and see that you're surrounded by Grass Pokemon, their mouths dripping with digestive acid.

"Rose, you know how I said this trip was a good idea?"

"Uh-huh?"

"I'm having second thoughts."

0oOo0

Spoiler: show

Smoot - Quilava - Naughty Nature - Male - Level 35 - Blaze
Nessie - Lapras - Rash Nature - Female - Level 25 - Water Absorb
Dolly - Flaaffy - Jolly Nature - Female - Level 29 - Static
Fezzik - Heracross - Docile Nature - Male - Level 27 - Guts
Zatanna - Kadabra - Hasty Nature - Female - Level 23 - Synchronize
Geist - Haunter - Careful Nature - Male - Level 27 - Levitate

With Dad:

Deedee - Hoppip - Rash Nature - Female - Level 5 - Chlorophyll
Mary Jane - Oddish - Relaxed Nature - Female - Level 7 - Chlorophyll
Amaranthine - Grimer - Relaxed Nature - Female - Level 18 - Stench
Swagster - Poliwag - Docile Nature - Female - Level 24 - Damp
Edward - Golbat - Quirky Nature - Male - Level 22 - Inner Focus
Thea - Ledian - Naive Nature - Female - Level 27 - Early Bird
Hippolyta - Scyther - Adamant Nature - Female - Level 23 - Technician
Zatanna - Kadabra - Hasty Nature - Female - Level 20 - Synchronize
Bran - Murkrow - Quiet Nature - Male - Level 20 - Insomnia
Madoka - Chansey - Calm Nature - Female - Level 14 - Natural Cure
Rampage - Larvitar - Adamant Nature - Male - Level 25 - Guts
Hogan - Golem - Naive Nature - Male - Level 26 - Rock Head

Reference Maps:
Johto
Route 42
Route 43
Route 44
Mahogany Town
Lake of Rage

Move List and Inventory

Ideas?

MrRigger

[ShonenHero]

Throw out Smoot, suggest he kill things with fire, grab Rose's hand, and RUN!

And we thought Smoot wasn't going to evolve today.

[Tempest Kitsune]

Call out Fezzik and Zatanna to back up Smoot (who is already out). "We're not going to be that easy! Rose, call out Rocky!"