+ So the end result is that I have a Slowpoke to take care of now.
+ Honestly, my plan is just to head to the Isle of Armor and release it
+ back into the wild; I don’t have any need for another pokémon but
+ mainland Galar is clearly not its correct habitat.
+ I might see if Professor Magnolia has any tasks I can do there as
+ well—not exactly looking forward to spending the next few months in
+ Wedgehurst while everybody else is off having adventures.
+
+: [2023-08-30]{as=time}
+
+ There were still a few pokémon local to the Wedgehurst area that I
+ hadn’t yet made a pokédex record for, so I decided to try to find
+ them before setting out.
+ Purrloin wasn’t too hard to find, but Hoothoot sure is rare!
+ To give a sense for how long it took, several of the bug pokémon I
+ had under observation had already evolved by the time I found one.
+ It was several trips to the Pokémon Centre because my party just kept
+ getting worn out!
+
+ On a more positive note, while hunting through the tall grasses of
+ Route 2 I managed to befriend an incredibly shy Yamper—it fetches
+ my pokéballs for me when I miss.
+ I named it Ballecherche, which is a pun on the Kalosian _aller
+ chercher une balle_{as=i lang=fr}, meaning “to fetch a ball”.
+
+: [2023-08-31]{as=time}
+
+ I finally made it to the Isle of Armor!
+ Bit of a strange sequence of events upon my arrival :—
+
+ - In the station there was a guy evidently looking to join the dojo
+ on the island—except he’s averse to weirdos and there’s one
+ hanging around outside.
+ I immediately don’t think he’s dojo material, and weirdo evidently
+ agrees, as he mistakes me for the new member and pays the other
+ guy no mind.
+
+ - Weirdo (Avery) turns out to be the same guy who was super into the
+ Slowpoke back at the station—turns out he already is training
+ one, which explains why he didn’t catch it back then.
+ I find this out because he challenges me to a battle—he doesn’t
+ seem to remember me from the station.
+ I’m not big on battling, but I want to get a sense of his strength,
+ and it turns out he is pretty green.
+
+ - After we win the battle, Sobble evolves into Drizzile, and it seems
+ pretty interested in the idea of dojo training.
+ The guy whose place I stole seems fine with it—he evidently has
+ second thoughts about training on a remote island with the likes
+ of Avery.
+ I don’t get it—the guy’s bark is waaaayy worse than his bite.
+
+ - The dojo accepts me as a new member even thô I’m _not_ who they
+ were expecting.
+ We’re immediately set on a task of chasing down some quick
+ Slowpoke, which my experience running down pokémon for the lab
+ evidently prepared me well for.
+ Then we’re given another task of mushroom foraging, and the dojo
+ instructor evidently likes me because he tells me just where to
+ find them.
+ It’s mushroom soup for dinner.
+
+In all this I forgot to release the Slowpoke, although I suppose
+ there’s no rush.
+As a reward for the first trial I was offered the opportunity to raise
+ a Squirtle or Bulbasaur—it’s not often you find those in Galar and
+ these have the Gigantamax factor.
+I agreed and went with Bulbasaur.
+
+: [2023-09-01]{as=time}
+
+As Avery and I performed the best in the dojo trials, we’ve been asked
+ to compete for the top spot in a pokémon battle at the end of the
+ month.
+I’ve never had difficulty taking on Avery before, but I admit that
+ battling isn’t my strong suit.
+In the meantime I’ve been familiarizing myself with the local ecology
+ and running down Diglett which have escaped a trainer from Alola.
+Bulbasaur evolved into Ivysaur after not much time together, but
+ Venusaur is likely still a ways out.
+
+I’ve decided to keep Slowpoke in my party for now.
+I may still release it after my battle with Avery, but for the time
+ being a larger party is better, and we’ve developed at least a little
+ rapport.
Lady’s Gitweb / Wiki / blobdiff