Auron walked and browsed. Ghost-type Pokémon eggs were painfully scarce—out of all the eggs he'd examined so far, the only one had been that Golett from earlier.
*At this rate, I might actually have to go to the Ghost-type section,* he grumbled internally as he pressed on.
Along the way, he'd spotted quite a few interesting eggs.
Take a Zangoose with the Toxic Boost ability, for instance. When poisoned, its Attack rose by fifty percent. Combine that with its STAB move Facade, which doubled to 140 base power when the user was statused, and the damage calculation got wild—Attack multiplied by 1.5, Facade at 140 power, then another 1.5x from STAB. Enough to one-shot a same-level Seviper outright. That one ability put Seviper at a serious disadvantage in their age-old rivalry.
Another interesting find was a Teddiursa with its Hidden Ability, Honey Gather. In-game, the effect let it collect Honey after battle if it wasn't holding an item. In the real world, the ability translated to quickly locating Combee nests in the wild and easily harvesting Honey.
But spotting the Teddiursa made Auron think about Ursaluna. With the word "invincible" practically stamped on its face, Ursaluna backed up that claim with its monstrous stats across the board.
Unfortunately, this particular Teddiursa had the Hidden Ability, which meant its Ursaluna evolution would also be stuck with the Hidden Ability.
And Ursaluna's Hidden Ability, Unnerve, really couldn't compare to its two regular abilities. Guts went without saying—absolutely ferocious in every sense.
Then there was its other standard ability, Bulletproof. It effectively blocked most of the physical Grass-type moves that would deal double damage—moves like Bullet Seed, Seed Bomb, and Energy Ball. The remaining Grass moves that could threaten it were few. There was Power Whip, sure, but the number of Pokémon that could actually learn Power Whip was tiny.
Same went for Grassy Glide and Leaf Blade. Grassy Glide depended on Grassy Terrain being active, and Leaf Blade—while a fine move—did a Grass-type Pokémon really want to go toe-to-toe with an Ursaluna in close combat?
Of course, Grass-type coverage was a minor concern. The real prize was that Bulletproof blocked the Fighting-type moves Focus Blast and Aura Sphere.
For Ursaluna, the message was simple: *As long as you're not kiting me with ranged attacks, I'll take you on head-to-head any day.*
"Lucas, have you ever considered raising a Teddiursa?" A spark of excitement hit Auron as the thought crystallized.
Ursaluna and Tyranitar were both heavy hitters, sure. But Ursaluna had far fewer weaknesses. Leave aside its immunities to Electric and Ghost—it had only three weaknesses: Fighting, Water, and Grass.
And it wouldn't take much collateral from Sandstorm either. Ursaluna could easily serve as a mid-battle pivot after Sandstorm weather faded. Even if it wasn't needed as a pivot, it could enter the field while Sandstorm was still raging.
The only downside was the same as any Sandstorm team member—a vulnerability to Fighting. But if it joined Lucas's team, it'd actually be a solid fit.
Lucas looked puzzled. "Why would I raise a Teddiursa?"
"Don't you think Teddiursa is cute?"
Auron flashed a mysterious smile, then turned back to continue browsing, leaving a thoroughly confused Lucas frozen in place. He still couldn't figure out why his master had suddenly brought up something seemingly random.
"Well... I mean, Tyranitar's cute enough," Lucas mumbled, unable to make heads or tails of it, but he obediently followed behind.
*Come to think of it, I haven't seen a Peat Block anywhere. It's not online either. Don't tell me it's like Z-Crystals—not yet discovered in this world?*
Auron scanned egg after egg, his mind wandering. *Hmm, I wonder if the National Vault has one. I should go check in the next couple days—might as well claim my rewards while I'm at it.*
*And if possible, maybe I'll get to see Rayquaza? A black Rayquaza must look incredible. Oh right, what does Rayquaza need for Mega Evolution again?*
Just as his thoughts drifted to Rayquaza's Mega Evolution, a Ghost-type egg caught his eye.
Pokémon: Corsola (Galarian Form)
Gender: Female
Type: Ghost
Ability: Cursed Body (When hit by a contact move, 30% chance to disable the attacker's move.)
Quality: Orange
Base Moves: Tackle, Harden
Egg Moves: Head Smash, Water Pulse, Confuse Ray, Destiny Bond
Auron studied the egg, stroking his chin as his thoughts drifted again.
*A Galarian Corsola? Its evolution Cursola is kind of awkward. If I remember right, Cursola actually has a lower usage rate than Corsola itself.*
*A Galarian Corsola holding Eviolite has way more battlefield utility than the evolved Cursola. Apart from Cursola's obscene Special Attack, everything else about it is kind of underwhelming.*
*At least it's not the Weak Armor ability. With Cursola's pitiful physical Defense, that would've been ugly. Hmm, but come to think of it... I haven't seen Eviolite around either, have I?*
Auron blinked, suddenly realizing he'd never actually come across an Eviolite. If it existed, it would settle a lot of questions about which Pokémon had undiscovered evolutions.
*Whatever, I'll check the National Vault when I go in a couple days. If it's not there, I'll ask Grandpa.*
He shook his head again—another unconscious tic.
Lena and Serena exchanged a glance. Then, in unison, both burst out smiling. They'd clearly guessed that Auron was lost in his own head again.
"What are you two laughing about?"
"Nothing—I just thought of something happy." Serena barely held back her laughter.
Auron turned to Lena, who'd already smoothed her expression back to normal.
"I also just thought of something happy."
Auron eyed them both suspiciously. When he couldn't detect anything, he turned to Lena. "Would a Galarian Corsola work for you?"
Lena's eyes lit up. "You found a Pokémon for me?"
Auron shook his head. "I wouldn't say it's perfect for you, but it's decent."
Galarian Corsola was workable. Its evolution Cursola had terrible Speed, but paired with Trick Room, it could become a formidable special attacker.
"It's got clear strengths and weaknesses. Let me explain—"
Before Auron could finish, Lena snatched the egg and hugged it to her chest. "We can keep looking, but I'm holding onto this one. I'm not making the same mistake Tim did."
"Hey, hey—that's too far! It's in the past, okay? Can we please not bring it up again?"
Tim protested immediately. That moment of hesitation had cost him an excellent team member, and it was still a sore spot.
"Nyeh~"
Lena stuck her tongue out at Tim with a grin, then held up the Corsola egg and waved it at him.
Tim snorted coldly, turned away, and refused to engage.
Once the two stopped bickering, Auron smiled. "Actually, there's one more Ghost-type egg."