After that phone call, time passed quickly.
Blake successfully caught Dreepy, though that was not exactly surprising.
After all, Blake was the first living being Dreepy had seen after hatching, so its affection for him had started at maximum right away.
Over the past month, Blake had practically become a full-time caretaker.
Aside from occasionally opening the shop at the scenic area to sell a few things, most of his time was spent looking after Dreepy and training Dhelmise.
He had to admit, Dhelmise’s talent really was excellent.
The fact that it had survived in the sea for so many years and had managed to find the Spell Tag purely through instinct was enough to prove that.
The only issue was that it had never received systematic guidance before, so the number of moves it knew was limited, and there was no proper structure to its fighting style.
And that was exactly what a Trainer was supposed to do—help a Pokémon refine and complete its own battle system.
As a Dhelmise with the Steelworker Ability, the power of its Steel-type moves would be boosted.
However, before this, the only Steel-type move Dhelmise knew was Gyro Ball.
Fortunately, Blake’s family did have some accumulated resources.
Although most of them were Ghost-type moves, they also had moves of other types.
Blake managed to dig out Iron Head and Flash Cannon, and Dhelmise had been practicing them during this period.
Perhaps because Dhelmise’s base stats leaned heavily toward physical attack, it learned Iron Head very quickly.
Flash Cannon, on the other hand, was progressing more slowly.
Of course, it had also been learning other moves, such as Iron Defense, Shadow Claw, and Protect.
Those three moves were quite useful for improving Dhelmise’s overall combat ability.
Unfortunately, Blake’s family had very few Grass-type moves, and Grass-type Trainers in Hulbury were pitifully rare, so Dhelmise had not managed to learn any new Grass-type moves for now.
It could only continue using Mega Drain.
That’s right.
Dhelmise had not yet grasped Giga Drain on its own.
After all, in this world, “levels” were merely subjective classifications created by people.
They were not objective numbers that truly existed.
Because of that, learning moves did not happen simply because a Pokémon’s level increased.
Instead, it required understanding and mastery.
At the moment, Dhelmise practiced Mega Drain every day, hoping to learn Giga Drain as quickly as possible through accumulated familiarity.
After all, as a slow, high-attack Pokémon meant to stay on the field, lacking a recovery option was a serious problem.
As for Dreepy, Blake had to say that as a pseudo-legendary Pokémon, its talent was almost absurd.
Aside from the moves it was born knowing—Bite, Quick Attack, Astonish, and Infestation—it had also inherited Egg moves Disable, Double Team, Confuse Ray, Curse, Sucker Punch, and Dragon Tail.
It had inherited practically everything it could inherit, to the point where Blake could not help wondering what kind of monsters its parents had been!
However, because Dreepy was still too young, Blake did not put it through much training yet.
For now, the focus was simply on letting it grow familiar with its body and its moves.
During this period, Nessa successfully passed the Beginner Trainer exam.
Blake held a small banquet to celebrate for her.
Although Blake said that basically anyone could pass that exam, it was still an official League assessment, so it deserved at least a little celebration.
Ms.
Hathaway also fulfilled her promise.
A Pokémon.
More specifically, a Water-type first partner Pokémon.
Because of that, Nessa came to ask Blake for advice.
After all, among the people she knew, Blake was the one with the most ideas when it came to tactics.
“If you can choose, I’d recommend Mudkip.”
After thinking about Nessa’s team for a moment, Blake gave his answer.
“Mudkip?
Why?”
Nessa knew about Mudkip.
As Hoenn’s Water-type first partner Pokémon, Mudkip was fairly popular.
However, it was not commonly seen in Galar at all, and there were no wild Swampert populations in the region.
“First of all, Mudkip’s final evolution, Swampert, is a Water- and Ground-type Pokémon.
That means it’s immune to Electric-type moves, which are one of Water types’ biggest weaknesses.
Aside from Grass-type moves and Freeze-Dry, it barely has any weaknesses.
On top of that, Swampert has a very deep move pool and plenty of move options.
Also, do you know about Mega Evolution?”
Blake looked at Nessa as he asked.
Mega Evolution was a newly discovered form of evolution in recent years.
It allowed Pokémon that had previously been believed incapable of evolving further to undergo a temporary evolution.
The academic world still debated whether this form of evolution was a kind of atavism or a new form caused by external interference, but there was no doubt that Mega Evolution was a method capable of greatly strengthening a Pokémon.
“I know a little, but not much.
Basically, I just know Pokémon can evolve again.
Wait, can Swampert Mega Evolve too?” Nessa asked in surprise.
She was also very curious about how Blake knew about something like this.
“That’s right.
Supposedly, Swampert can also undergo Mega Evolution.
And after Mega Evolving, its Ability apparently changes to Swift Swim, allowing it to reach extremely high speeds in rain.
Paired with the Drizzle Ability of Pelipper after your Wingull evolves, it forms a very powerful system.”
Blake briefly explained the famous Mega Swampert rain team from his original world.
In the Mega Evolution era, it had been a strong and relatively low-requirement team archetype.
Pelipper brought weather automatically with Drizzle and could also use Tailwind, further enhancing Swampert’s strength.
Then Swampert could run Waterfall, Hammer Arm, Earthquake, and Ice Punch.
Combined with Mega Swampert’s 150 base Attack, very few Pokémon could stand their ground in front of it.
And after Blake’s confirmation, Nessa’s Wingull had the Hydration Ability, which meant it would naturally become Drizzle after evolving into Pelipper.
In other words, aside from Swampert and Swampertite, the core of the system had already been established.
On top of that, Galar’s signature Dynamax battle style could create rain through Water-type moves, further strengthening rain teams.
Most importantly, this world did not restrict Pokémon to four moves.
A rain-based Mega Swampert without the four-move limitation?
Blake could hardly imagine how terrifying that would be.
“If that’s really the case, then wouldn’t it be able to punish Grass-type Pokémon too?”
As a Water-type Trainer, Nessa naturally considered Electric- and Grass-type Trainers her lifelong enemies.
There were quite a few Water- and Ground-type Pokémon, after all.
But Grass types were truly frustrating.
Although there were plenty of Water- and Flying-type Pokémon, that was not the same as having an outright immunity like Ground types had against Electric.
So when Nessa heard that Mega Swampert could punish Grass-type Pokémon, her eyes immediately lit up.
“Hmm…
It can, yes.
But the key point remains the same.
That team relies heavily on controlling the weather.
Once you lose the weather advantage, its power drops significantly.”
Blake reminded her.
“Don’t worry, I get it.
But seriously, how does your brain work?
How do you come up with so many weird battle strategies?”
Nessa looked so curious that she seemed tempted to crack open Blake’s head and see whether his brain was built differently from everyone else’s.
Otherwise, how did he know so much?
“It’s nothing.
I read it in books.
Read more, think more, and you’ll get there.”
Blake knew that he was standing on the wisdom of people from his previous world.
After all, in that world, Pokémon was only a game.
No matter how rare a Pokémon was, it was still just a set of data, so players could naturally experiment with countless combinations.
In this world, however, first partner Pokémon were rare Pokémon—at least for ordinary people.
Most people definitely did not have the conditions to experiment through repeated trial and error, so naturally, some broader tactical systems were lacking.
That said, both worlds had their advantages.
Because Pokémon in this world were not limited by move slots, and battles were not turn-based exchanges where one side moved and then the other did, this world had also developed many powerful strategies of its own.
What Blake needed to do was combine the successful experience from his previous world with the experience of this world, then develop it in a direction better suited for reality.
“You really are amazing!
My head hurts whenever I look at those books.
I honestly don’t understand how you can read all those papers.
Oh, right, my friend is coming to Hulbury soon.
You know, ‘Little Yamper’!”
Nessa took out her phone and showed Blake.
“Wait, it’s been almost a month, and she’s only just getting here?”
“They got no choice.
Apparently, they kept getting lost along the way.
The fact that they reached Hulbury within a month is already pretty good.”
Nessa shrugged.
At that, Blake gained an even deeper and more accurate understanding of a certain person’s incredible ability to get lost.
He had to admit, it was a good thing someone was traveling with him.
Otherwise, he might not have made it here even after a month.