Poliwag was inherently a weak Pokemon. There were some Pokemon species that were weak in their pre-evolution form. Poliwag was one of them. It didn't have hands, and its legs would not support its whole body. Its speed on land was laughable, and most of the time, it would only live in the water. It was a powerful swimmer, but here, there was no source of water.
So, Axel thought that this might be the best first battle for Koffing. Koffing had just reached the required age for training and had yet to battle any Pokemon. It had trained itself and improved its stats, but practical experience was needed.
Axel didn't want Koffing to lose its first battle and dampen its confidence, so he believed this battle would be ideal for it.
Usually, Poliwag would not have fought against Koffing, but when it saw the bottle of mystic water appearing in Axel's hand, it wanted to give it a try.
This mystic water was a reward from the system for doing one of the side quests. Since it was a reward from the system, Axel could put it on system inventory. Axel wanted to use it on Blastoise when it reached elemental rank. The quality of mystic water was too high for the current Blastoise.
However, since he found himself in this situation, he decided to gamble. Besides, he believed that Koffing would not lose.
Since this was the first battle for Koffing, Axel decided to take an active role in commanding it.
Other Poliwags gave space to Koffing and Poliwag to fight.
Axel picked up a small pebble and said, "When the pebble hits the ground, the battle will start."
By saying this, Axel threw the pebble towards the sky.
Tick.. tick.. tick….
"Koffing, use 'Stockpile'."
But Poliwag was faster. It used the move 'Dig' and then went underground. Koffing was able to use 'Stockpile' once, but Poliwag came out from the other end just behind Koffing. Now, Axel knew how amateurs used the move 'Dig'. He was 90% confident that Poliwag would come just behind Koffing, and he was right.
What he had not expected was the sheer speed of Poliwag. By the time Koffing used the move 'Stockpile', Poliwag was already behind Koffing, and used the move 'Hypnosis'.
Now, this 'Hypnosis' was very weak and was not adequately trained, but it was enough to stagger Koffing for a few seconds.
Poliwag took that time and began to dance weirdly.
"How does it know 'Rain dance'?", asked Axel, completely bewildered.
'Rain dance' was a higher-tier move, and it was very complicated to learn and master. A common rank Pokemon who had just come out of its baby phase should not be able to know such a move, but here it was, using the move.
"Koffing, use 'Heat wave'."
After getting hit by 'Hypnosis', Koffing didn't fall asleep, but it was confused and drowsy. So, it could not use moves like 'Toxic' or 'Gunk Shot' because those required accuracy, but 'Heat Wave' didn't.
Koffing used the move. Axel saw the problem in Koffing. It was not fast in using its moves, while Poliwag seemed to be doing it as if it could do it in its sleep.
The move 'Heat wave' did hit Poliwag, but by that time, it was able to complete the dance. Dark clouds started to hover around, and it began to rain.
"Koffing, try to use 'Neutralizing gas'"
'Neutralizing gas' was an ability of Koffing that had an incredible effect of neutralizing abilities of all Pokemon in battle. This ability was valuable because there was a chance that Poliwag might use abilities like 'Swift Swim', which would increase its speed in the rain.
'Neutralizing gas' was a powerful ability, but since Koffing had yet to master it properly, it could not activate it 100% of the time. Luckily, this time it did.
Yet, by this time, Poliwag had already used the 'Mist' and 'Icy Wind'. This hid Poliwag in mist, and the cold, icy wind also decreased the temperature even further. Koffing's speed decreased, and Poliwag was finally able to hit it with 'Water Pulse'.
It may be due to 'Rain Dance', but Koffing was confused after the move hit it. Poliwag got ready to use another 'Water Pulse'.
"Koffing use the move 'Swallow' and then use 'Toxic'"
There was not much Axel could do. Koffing had not been trained properly, and its move pool was quite limited. It did regain a portion of its health by using 'Swallow', but the 'Toxic' missed, and Poliwag was able to use another 'Water Pulse' on it.
BANG!!!
The confusion on Koffing increased, and after a few 'Water gun' and 'Water pulse', Koffing gave a big cry, and it fainted.
Thankfully, Axel had some potions, and Koffing's injury was not too bad. But Axel didn't bother to use the potion. He directly told Togekiss to use 'Wish' on Koffing.
Finally, its breathing became normal, and Axel took a deep breath of relief. He looked at Poliwag and started to think.
Many things astounded Axel about this Poliwag. First of all, its speed was higher than Koffing's. This was unusual because Poliwag had very weak legs, and they were not very good runners on land. Secondly, its move execution was on the spot as it had been trained for many months.
Did Poliwag win because of where it was living? Togekiss did say that the infinity energy here is denser. That might also be the reason. But Axel and Koffing had lost, and he had to give mystic water to Poliwag.
While Axel didn't consider this a loss, Blastoise didn't think so. This was supposed to be for itself, but now it belonged to Poliwag because its young friend, Koffing, lost the battle. Blastoise could not accept it, but it could not make a scene here. It decided to take revenge on Koffing one day.
Axel handed the bottle of mystic water to Poliwag and said, "It is powerful. Consume it when you reach elemental rank."
Even though it was a wild Pokemon, it was still very young. So, he gave it some advice.
But it seemed like Poliwag didn't bother to listen to him. It quickly cracked open the cover of the bottle and drank the whole thing. It also sprinkled the rest of the water on its entire body.
"What the hell are you doing?", shouted Axel.
The quality of mystic water was high, and Poliwag could not possibly handle the aftereffects of it. Also, mystic water was not to be used in such a way. It should not be applied directly to the body. That was a complete waste of mystic water.
Axel could feel that the aura of Poliwag had started to increase rapidly, and suddenly, there was an evolution glow.
"It is evolving, right now?"
This was not unusual. The energy of mystic water was so high that it would force the Pokemon to evolve.
Axel patiently waited for its evolution. He felt that the rain had become fiercer than before. This showed the power of mystic water.
The evolution process lasted for 5 minutes, and finally, a new, stronger, and bigger Pokemon came into view.
"POLIWHIRL!!!"
Axel realized that this Poliwhirl was bigger than its standard counterparts. It must be around 5 feet tall, while normal Poliwhirl are around 3 feet tall. He was surprised that it looked healthy and there were no side effects from taking the mystic water at the moment.
But how?
The potency of the mystic water could not be denied. But how was this Pokemon able to take all its nutrients and not burst out?
Was this Poliwhirl really special? Or were all the Pokemon here special due to the environment? Axel wanted to catch this Poliwhirl, but he could not do it.
First of all, it was the leader of the group and would not come with Axel. Secondly, none of his balls were working, and he already had too many water-type Pokemon with him.
Axel wanted to see its stats, but the system was not functioning properly at the moment. So, he decided to be honest right now.
"We are new here and we are lost. So, can you help us out?", asked Axel.
Axel knew that this group didn't know complicated things like where they were right now because they were just kids. They had grown up in this place and had never been out.
But for some reason, Poliwhirl could not understand human language. It could only understand some of it due to Axel's body language before.
So, Togekiss had to translate, and it agreed, jumping and saying that it would help. It told Axel to follow it.
All of them started to follow Poliwhirl and the group of Poliwag. They went through a lot of trees and hurdles. Axel realized that the trees were extremely strong and sturdy for some reason. Some thick branches were blocking their road, and Axel could not even cut them with the help of his sword. What were they made of?
After following Poliwhirl and the group of Poliwag for an hour, they were still in the middle of the forest, but that was when the group stopped. Poliwhirl then turned towards Togekiss and started to say something.
"What is it saying?", asked Axel to Togekiss.
'It is saying that a group of Primeapes are living there. It is their territory, and they could not cross it. It feels that since Garry is with us, the group will accept us.'
That might not be the case. These wild Primeapes might not invite them with open arms. From what he knew, Primeapes were incredibly territorial, and they valued family despite their anger issues.
"Togekiss, ask Poliwhirl if it knows how powerful they are.", said Axel.
Togekiss asked Poliwhirl, but the result was negative.
'They had never gone to their territory. So, they don't know.'
By showing the direction, Poliwhirl began to move towards its destination, bidding farewell to Axel and the team.
Axel didn't know how powerful they were, but as of right now, he didn't have any choice.
"Togekiss, you and Lucario will first enter their territory, and both of you will report to me about their strength."
Both of them possessed excellent sensory abilities and were well-suited for the job.
###
After giving the required instructions, Axel told the rest of the team to start gathering edible fruits. Helping Poliwhirl had given them some advantages. Poliwhirl had shared which fruits were edible and which were poisonous. So, now, they didn't have to rely on hunting Pokemon for food.
This was good news.
Poliwhirl also shared the location of the nearby water source. So, Axel was happy that they could live here without any issue, at least for some time.
As they were doing their jobs, Togekiss and Lucario came back.
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A/N: There are more than 60+ advanced chapters in pa-treon along with two new side stories of the novel. If you are interested in reading more and getting ahead in the story, subscribe to my pa-treon channel.
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