The battle against Roark was both uneventful and nerve tingling. Even though Bubbles hardly is a move to reply upon, it did short work of his Geodude and Onix alike, taking advantage of their quadruple weakness and pitiful special defense. As his Cranidos stepped out onto the field, I made the mistake of feeling regret for my foamy onslaught, and decided to switch out to Rushmore so that the match wouldn't end in a hurry. The not-so-very extinct opponent replied with a Pursuit in full force, which left my Piplup in the lower HP region and thus unable to be taking hits for the remainder of the match. With no more water back up, Rushmore remained as the only choice left to guard my ground, and I quickly set up a Rock Polish in the hopes of outspeeding his lizard adversary. Sadly, he didn't, and was met with cold Leers which quickly made his defense less of an insurance against Cranidos' immense attack stat. Several Rock Smashes later, the walking fossil began to falter, but the looming threat of becoming flinched by Headbutt still remained, and I hesitated to throw in another Rock Polish boost to even the field. But as Roarke patched things up with a Potion, the next Smash lowered its defense even further, thus guaranteeing that the next move would seal its defeat. One turn later, and I had acquired the first badge of many to come.
Now being able to smash rocks of the regular kind, I quickly returned to Jubilife to stake out my next destination. Which didn't take long, as my next goal was conveniently marked by two Galactic grunts eager to fight. An unspecified amount of bubbles later, and I had contributed my share to the city's decreased crime rate, along with enough experience to fuel my Piplup's evolution to Prinplup. In the process, he also received Metal Claw, which looked nothing like the Water Gun I wanted, but I accepted it onto his moveset regardless.
Barging through the northern path and into the vicinity of Floaroma Town, my hunt for new teammates began anew.
Gizamuluk, Brave, Swift Swim, Ravaged Path
Tricity, Sassy, Pickup, Valley Windworks
I was pleasantly surprised to see that my captives were neither Bidoofs nor Geodudes. Gizamuluk would serve as an excellent replacement for Bonaparte if he would ever choose to retire prematurely, even though his current shape is tragically weak. The same can be said for Tricity, as it only later dawned upon me just how terrible it is offensively. But my team had plenty of space for an electric type, and so, she was embraced by default, and was then grinded appropriately so that Spark could be made part of her inventory. Team Galactic's attempt to occupy the Windworks was met with complete defeat as none of them had any countermeasures for rock types, thus allowing Rushmore to roam free against the opposition. I was now free to enter new territories, and I quickly began to loot nature of her contents.
Ambrosia, Docile, Shield Dust, Floaroma Meadow
Birka, Sticky Hold, Mild, Route 205
Ambrosia is truly the stuff of remorse. Caught at level 13, it meant that she had not only missed the opportunity to learn Absorb, but Gust as well. Her only move is Harden, and I quietly cursed Gamefreak for not fixing that moveset bug since RBY (pun not intended). I decided to dignify her existence by evolving her to Beautifly, and immediately afterwards descend her into PC prison. She was never meant to be. Birka was a more delightful surprise, since a future Water/Ground is never a wrong choice, thus extending the list further of possible reasons to sacrifice Bonaparte if necessary. I continued on forward, hoping that my next catch would affect my team line-up. It did.
Candy, Naive, Run Away, Eterna Forest
While I'm not lacking in Normal users in any way, this energic rabbit was still a welcome addition, as its evolved form would become a quick avenger with access to a strong fighting move early on. And with that, I had too many overlapping types on the team, meaning someone would have to take a fall in ranks. Wattson had served me well thus far, and even evolved into a Bibarel, but he had yet to be proven really dependable, and would have to wait in the PC until his services would be required once more.
Grass gym up next. The moment Dangerface has been waiting for.