"Froakie."
This wasn't just any ordinary starter pokémon.
Froakie itself is a Water-type, but its final evolution, Greninja, is a dual Water and Dark-type!
The Water typing would perfectly fill the gap in his team's coverage against Fire-types.
And the Dark typing aligned perfectly with his current team-building strategy centered around the Dark-type.
More importantly, the brief glimpse at the pokédex just now had revealed four words—Protean!
A Hidden Ability!
A Greninja with this ability can change its typing at any time during battle based on the move it uses. Every attack enjoys a Same Type Attack Bonus (STAB), while simultaneously allowing it to instantly change its weaknesses.
This wasn't just simple power; it was a tactical core, a top-tier ability capable of shifting the entire tide of a battle!
The tactical variety a calm Trainer could pull off with a "Protean" Greninja was enough to make any opponent's skin crawl.
Ariel's breathing couldn't help but quicken slightly.
He hadn't expected to encounter such an unexpected windfall on this trip to Meteor Falls.
He watched the surface of the water where the Froakie had disappeared. The ripples were gradually settling, but a massive wave was surging in Ariel's heart.
He composed himself and gave a look to the Inkay beside him.
In his team, it was the only one capable of going underwater.
"Kay?"
Inkay understood immediately. Its small tentacles made an "OK" gesture in front of its chest, and then with a "plop," it turned into an inky blue shadow and silently dove into the deep pool.
The pool water was bone-chillingly cold, and light was quickly swallowed by the darkness beneath the surface.
The glowing rocks at the top of the cave could only cast faint, flickering pillars of light, creating patches of bizarre, mottled shadows underwater.
Inkay nimbly wiggled its body, moving through the water.
From time to time, startled Magikarp and Goldeen fled in a panic, kicking up small splashes of water.
It followed the faint current fluctuations left by that Froakie, tracking it all the way.
Soon, in the shadow of an underwater rock, Inkay found its target.
That Froakie was perched nimbly on a flat stone. The bubble "scarf" around its neck pulsed occasionally, looking quite leisurely and content.
However, beside it, a massive shadow occupied almost Inkay's entire field of vision.
It was a Whiscash of staggering size!
Its body was even larger than Ariel's Krokorok. Its deep blue skin was covered in the marks of time, with several bone-deep scars crisscrossing its broad back, testifying to the brutal battles it had experienced.
It lay quietly in the silt at the bottom of the water, like an eternal sculpture. Its long, golden whiskers swayed slightly with the current, and its closed eyes gave the illusion that it was sleeping.
But Inkay could clearly feel a heavy, concentrated sense of pressure radiating from that massive body.
Froakie didn't seem to have the slightest fear of the behemoth beside it; it even playfully blew a bubble that hit the Whiscash right on the forehead.
The bubble popped with a "snap."
Whiscash didn't even lift an eyelid. Its long whiskers simply curled up slightly and brushed over Froakie's back, as if soothing a naughty child.
Inkay observed for a while and wisely did not act rashly.
It memorized the environment here, quietly backed away, and then quickly surfaced.
Splash—
Inkay emerged from the water, shook the droplets off its head, and quickly swam to Ariel's feet.
It first extended its tentacles, stretching them out as far as possible to gesture a huge outline, while making a muffled "gurgle gurgle" sound from its mouth.
Next, it used two tentacles to Mimic long whiskers by its mouth and took on a posture of lying down lazily.
Watching Inkay's strenuous performance, Ariel understood instantly.
"A Whiscash?"
Inkay immediately nodded excitedly, then pointed to itself, then to the huge outline it had just gestured, and shook its small head vigorously to indicate the massive disparity in size.
Finally, it hooked two tentacles together in a gesture of close intimacy.
Ariel's brow furrowed.
"A Whiscash that it's on good terms with?"
According to Inkay's description, the strength of that Whiscash was likely far beyond any wild Pokémon he had encountered before.
A symbiotic relationship?
The thought flashed through his mind, but he quickly dismissed it.
Inkay's description sounded more like a simple elder and junior relationship.
In the world of wild Pokémon, inter-species friendships were not uncommon.
But this undoubtedly made things tricky.
"This is a bit troublesome," Ariel whispered.
It wasn't that he lacked the confidence to defeat that Whiscash, but the problem was that the battlefield was underwater.
Underwater was Whiscash's home turf; his Pokémon's strength would be greatly diminished.
Although Krokorok was a crocodilian, it was a Pokémon that lived in the desert. Just like Garchomp, it wasn't used to water and could only'swim' in the sand.
Sneasel's Ice-type advantage would also be difficult to utilize in the water.
As for Inkay, the only one who could go underwater, it probably wouldn't last a few rounds against a monster of that build and level.
As long as that Froakie and Whiscash stayed in the water and didn't come out, there was nothing he could do.
A direct assault would be no different from striking a stone with an egg.
Ariel's gaze returned to the map in his hand.
On the map, the location of this cave was clearly marked with the word—"Nest"!
This indicated that there was likely more than just one Froakie here.
"A wild starter pokémon colony?"
Ariel's heart gave a violent thud.
If this guess was true, its value would be simply immeasurable! Whether for the League or for the Team Rockets, this was a fortune sufficient to cause a massive stir!
A wild colony of starter pokémon—its significance even surpassed that of some small-scale mines!
But massive opportunities were often accompanied by dangers of the same level.
A colony that could thrive to this day must have its own powerful guardians.
That Whiscash was perhaps one of them.
The leader of the colony was very likely a powerful, battle-hardened Greninja!
Ariel suppressed the agitation in his heart and forced himself to calm down.
The more it was like this, the less impulsive he could afford to be.
"I'll observe the surroundings first."
He made the safest decision.
Know yourself and know your enemy, and you will never be defeated.
Before figuring out the full situation here, any reckless action could lead to total ruin.
He had Inkay stand by on the shore while he withdrew his other Pokémon, suppressed his own presence to the minimum, and began to carefully scout the surrounding terrain around the pool.
The cave was very damp, the air filled with thick water vapor and the fishy smell of rocks. The roar of the waterfall echoed inside the cave, forming a natural barrier that perfectly masked the sound of his footsteps.
Soon, on the other side of the pool, on the damp sand near the rock wall, he discovered some small, fresh footprints.
They were webbed footprints.
Clearly, these belonged to Froakie.
And there was more than one!
The footprints were scattered about, some large and some small, extending all the way toward a crack in the rock wall obscured by a massive stalactite.
The crack was very narrow, only wide enough for a person to pass through sideways. It was pitch black, leading who knows where.
A faint draft came from the crack, carrying an even stronger scent.
This is it!
Ariel's heart jolted; this was almost certainly the entrance to the true Froakie nest!
He held his breath and was about to approach to investigate.
Suddenly, a clear voice that didn't belong here pierced through the roar of the waterfall and reached his ears.
"Misato, watch your step, it's very slippery here."
It was Sen's voice!
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