Mudkip tilted his head in confusion, not quite understanding what Gary meant.
After all, Damp is a passive Ability—it activates automatically when Mudkip is on the field. Right now, Mudkip couldn't consciously control his Ability.
"It's okay. You've got great potential," Gary praised.
Mudkip wore his usual blank expression. It was hard to tell whether he was happy or not—he didn't seem to care much about his talent.
Gary recalled Mudkip into his Poké Ball.
He figured it was normal for Mudkip to be a little dim-witted. Mudkips were simple-minded by nature, and they only became rougher and bolder after evolving into Swampert.
"With this, the team is complete. Now it's time for training," Gary said to himself.
His Hoenn Region team was finally assembled.
Now, all he had to do was train his Pokémon hard and evolve them to their final forms.
When Gary returned to the campsite, he saw Zinnia in the middle of a training session with her Pokémon.
[Lv. 32 Tyrunt ♂ / Quasi-Elite]
[Lv. 27 Noibat ♀ / Elite]
[Lv. 42 Shelgon ♂ / Champion]
Zinnia's Pokémon were leveling up fast. Their strength was now comparable to Gary's own team.
If Gary hadn't been using Rare Candy, his team might've fallen behind.
Especially her Shelgon—only 8 more levels before it evolved into Salamence.
"You're back early," Zinnia said in surprise when she spotted Gary.
Usually, Gary didn't return from fishing until around 3 p.m., but now it was just a little past 2.
"I already caught the Water-type I wanted, so there's no need to fish anymore. I figured I'd come back early," Gary explained.
"Is it Feebas?" Zinnia asked.
She remembered that Gary had told her he wanted to catch either Feebas or Mudkip.
Zinnia had hoped Gary would catch a Feebas since she knew from him that Feebas evolved into Milotic, the most beautiful Pokémon in the world.
Although Milotic wasn't a Dragon-type, it was in the Dragon Egg Group—meaning it had a connection to dragons. If it were Dragon-type, Zinnia would definitely want one herself.
"No, it's Mudkip," Gary replied.
Hearing it wasn't Feebas, Zinnia lost interest and returned her focus to supervising her Pokémon's training.
Gary then released Mudkip to introduce him to the rest of his team, letting Mudkip meet his future battle companions.
By 3 o'clock, after packing up camp, they continued on their journey.
A week later, they finally spotted some modern-looking buildings ahead.
It was the Hoenn Weather Institute, the center for studying the climate and weather patterns of the Hoenn region.
Even though Hoenn had a tropical climate, sudden rainstorms and droughts sometimes struck without warning.
These extreme weather patterns were caused by Groudon and Kyogre. It wasn't that Groudon and Kyogre did it on purpose—it was just part of how they balanced the environment. ʀᴇᴀᴅ ʟᴀᴛᴇsᴛ ᴄʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀs ᴀᴛ 𝓷𝓸𝓿𝓮𝓵~𝕗𝕚𝕣𝕖~𝙣𝙚𝙩
Although they often clashed, both Groudon and Kyogre played key roles in maintaining the region's climate. As long as they weren't fighting over natural energy or meteorites, they generally stayed dormant.
"What's that building?" Zinnia asked, curious as she gazed at the Institute.
"That's the Weather Institute. It's where they study the weather and send out the forecasts you see on TV," Gary explained.
"Wow, that's amazing."
Zinnia hadn't realized that people outside of her village could predict the weather with science.
"It's nothing special. Lots of Pokémon can predict the weather too. Let's keep going," Gary said.
"Aren't we going to go in and check it out?" Zinnia asked, slightly interested.
"Didn't you see the sign? 'No unauthorized entry.'" Gary pointed out.
There wasn't much in the Weather Institute for them anyway—just some scientists studying climate, and data on Groudon and Kyogre, which Gary didn't need.
Only Team Magma or Team Aqua would bother trying to steal that information.
Zinnia really wanted to learn how they predicted the weather.
Just as they were about to leave, a boy walked out of the Weather Institute—and spotted them immediately.
Zinnia and Brendan called out to each other at the same time.
Gary was slightly surprised too.
Huh, this feels just like the plot in the games.
In the original Pokémon Ruby, Sapphire, and Emerald, the rival challenged you near Route 119, not far from the Weather Institute.
"Are you heading to Fortree City?" Brendan asked.
Anyone coming through Route 119 was most likely on their way to challenge the Fortree Gym.
"Yeah. What about you? And how did you get into the Weather Institute? Didn't the sign say non-staff aren't allowed?" Gary asked.
"Ah, my dad asked me to deliver some Poké Balls for the Castform here," Brendan explained.
"Couldn't they just send them through the Pokémon transfer system?" Zinnia asked, puzzled.
"The Weather Institute's teleporter is broken. They can only use the one in the city. I was in Fortree anyway, so my dad asked me to help out," Brendan said.
"Oh, I see. Wanna travel together?" Zinnia offered.
"No thanks, I'm going to catch a Flying-type Pokémon first. Then I'll challenge the Fortree Gym," Brendan said.
"But didn't Gary say the Fortree Gym uses Flying-types? Shouldn't you use Rock or Electric-types to fight them? Why catch another Flying Pokémon?" Zinnia asked, confused.
"Because the Fortree Gym battles take place in the air. Rock-types can't reach that high, and I don't have any Electric-types. So, I need a Flying-type of my own," Brendan explained.
"So... you failed the Gym battle, huh?" Zinnia teased.
Brendan's face darkened.
I was being nice enough to warn you about the Gym's battle format, and this is how you repay me? Brutal.
"Yeah, I lost. But I still want to see how strong you've gotten, Zinnia. How about a battle?" Brendan asked, eager to settle the score from their last encounter.
He hadn't forgotten his previous loss to Zinnia. Months had passed, and his skills had improved. Now was the time to redeem himself.
"Not now. We've been traveling all day, and my Pokémon haven't had a proper rest. If you want to battle, meet me tomorrow at the Pokémon Center," Zinnia said.