In the ruins of the Hoenn Desert.
Volbeat used its "Flash" move to light the way, leading the group. With Volbeat illuminating the path, everyone walked steadily and they were much calmer.
Xatu stood on Maki's shoulder, occasionally warning them of unknown dangers ahead. Machop was responsible for clearing the path, removing any obstacles that blocked their way.
The path was difficult to traverse... Everyone could see that, but it was precisely because of this that Terrance and the others admired the adventurous qualities of the three.
As they continued, their progress was smooth. After a long time, Terrance was the first to notice something strange about Volbeat...
"I see..." While illuminating the path ahead with Flash move, Volbeat was also using Tail Glow to leave marks in the air. Terrance figured this was likely a way to leave signs to avoid getting lost in such a complex environment.
"That's very thorough," Terrance thought. While this method was effective, he didn't need it because he had Mismagius. With Mismagius' ability, it could create an identical illusionary model in its deep consciousness of any static scene it had seen, as long as the time interval wasn't too long. This meant that for Mismagius, getting lost was no longer a concern on their path.
"We should be close, right?" Maki guessed. Just as she spoke, they took a few more steps, and Xatu suddenly gave a warning.
This time, Xatu's warning was stronger than before. Previously, it had only alerted them to the possibility of wild Pokémon ahead, but now...
Bang! Bang! Bang!
Several large boulders were hurled from deep within the ruins. Thanks to Xatu's timely warning, their Pokémon were ready and sniped the boulders from afar.
"What's going on?!" Albert exclaimed.
Buzz~~Buzz~~Buzz~~
At the same time, a loud noise was heard, waves of noise overlapping one another, causing everyone's faces to tense up.
It was clear... this noise couldn't have been made by just one Pokémon.
"It's Baltoy!" Maki said with a headache. "Looks like we woke them up."
"Just our bad luck to run into a large group of Pokémon," Ishi said helplessly.
With Volbeat's light, they could see the Baltoy clearly. They had a brown, clay-like appearance with red arches where their eyebrows would be. Their eyes were closed to slits. They have flat, elongated arms and the spike on their heads and bottoms, with the spike on their bottoms allowing them to rotate and move slowly towards Terrance and the others.
"I have an idea... If we destroy the ground, we can stop their advance," Murasakibara suggested after seeing how Baltoy moved.
However, Terrance immediately pointed out, "That won't work. Baltoy can use Psychic Type moves to float."
"Terrance is right...this is just one of their ways to move. To get rid of them completely, we have to fight!"
"For you guys, that's the simplest way, isn't it?" Maki smiled.
"That's what I was waiting to hear," Albert and Murasakibara's eyes lit up. They didn't even need instructions from the experienced Adventure Team; they moved on their own.
When it came to battles, this was their specialty. "Breloom, Mach Punch!"
"Sandslash, Dig!"
The two commanded their Pokémon with a focus that contrasted their previous confusion. They also took the surrounding terrain into consideration. Under their orders, the two Pokémon didn't make much noise, and the Baltoy were knocked out one by one.
"Baltoys aren't weak; their Pokémon are well-trained," Terrance and Arvin also didn't want to be left behind. Arvin sent out a small and nimble Weavile, while Terrance's Mismagius disrupted Baltoy's consciousness with illusions, then Shadow Balls flew out, taking down Baltoy at the fastest pace.
In this way, with their combined efforts, the dozen or so Baltoy were all knocked unconscious by the five Pokémon's strong attacks, clearing the obstacles in their path.
"Well done," Arvin gave a thumbs up. If they had to handle it alone, it would have taken much more effort. Having Trainers around definitely eased the burden.
"Not going to capture one?" Passing by the Baltoy, Maki asked.
Terrance and the other two shook their heads. Albert said, "Baltoy... though rare, few people know how to raise them."
"Yeah... we have no idea how to raise them," Murasakibara said.
The two were clearly different from typical Trainers; they didn't have the habit of capturing Pokémon indiscriminately, but considered the aspects of raising them.
Terrance had a different reason; Baltoy simply didn't interest him. He understood why the other two felt this way—Baltoy are mostly found in deserts or ruins, and although one could find plenty by searching meticulously, there is no established system for raising this type of Pokémon.
Baltoy and its evolved form Claydol were mysterious Pokémon born in ancient civilizations. Some said they survived by eating soil, others said they needed to be exposed to mysterious light energy to raise them. In short, there were many theories, but no one had successfully raised one well so far.
"It's very troublesome to evolve Baltoy into Claydol. Their food is also hard to handle; ordinary food isn't suitable for raising them. Moreover, the process of Claydol's formation is very mysterious... Even among dozens of Baltoy, there might not be a single successful evolution."
"Unless...it's a wild Claydol, which would be worth capturing, but they're very rare," Terrance said.
"Raising Pokémon is truly a science..." Ishi sighed.
There are many kinds of Pokémon, each with various ways to raise them. Only a small number of Trainers could truly raise a Pokémon well, so there aren't many well-established training systems that have been passed down.
As for those rare and uncommon Pokémon, even fewer people captured them, and their so-called raising methods were even more vague, requiring Trainers to figure it out themselves.
Baltoy was one of those Pokémon without a known Trainer who used it, so despite Claydol being powerful, no one knew how to raise it...
This situation also contributed to the flourishing of Breeders.
"Shh~~~~~~~"
The group continued forward, sometimes treading lightly to avoid troublesome Pokémon, sometimes launching full-strength attacks to fend off obstructing Pokémon. After a while, Maki finally called for a halt.
The six of them had likely reached a deeper part of the ruins. Various ancient carvings surrounded them, and Volbeat inputted even more energy into Flash move, illuminating the intricate patterns on the huge totem before them. The patterns were chaotic, and the totem was made of rock. They circled it a few times but found nothing unusual.
Maki took out pre-translated ancient texts and began to compare them to the patterns.
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