Entry #16 Being timely never works

Trainer: Triton
Money: 119068
Badges: 6
Pokémon Team:
     King Pepé (Kingdra) Level 44 Ability: Clear Body
     Sandy (Charizard) Level 44 Ability: Shell Armor
     Gigabuzz (Electabuzz) Level 45 Ability: Overgrow
     Tsuntsun (Claydol) Level 43 Ability: Torrent
     Polyphemus (Machamp) Level 45 Ability: Magma Armor
     Flafa (Venomoth) Level 42 Ability: Hustle
Note: I'm back from Europe! Our trip took us through Venice in Italy and Taormina and Syracuse in Sicily. Then we took a long and absolutely incredible train ride from Italy, trough the Alps, and into a mountain town in Germany. We hiked for a few days and then set off to see some castles before spending our final days in Munich. On our last day, we took a great bike ride around a huge whatchamacallit lake with a long name that I don't remember.
The significance of that last bit is that my legs have been dead through the travel back and I didn't want to do anything but sit around. I had to work, so that didn't work out, and then some demon inside convinced me to run eight miles, so needless to say I really need some time to sit down and have a little fun.
But first, some things from my trip that were sweet.

In the Deutsches museum, I found a trombone with a Charizard head. It has to be Charizard because it's the only dragon-like Pokémon I've ever seen stuck in a pipe.

During one of our hikes in Germany, I took a look back on the mountain town, Mittenwald, from above. This is a view I never want to forget.

During a boat ride in Sicily, I took photos of the coastline under Mt. Etna (right) and a really cool close up of the town that we left from (above).

Yeah, Mt. Etna is huge, and it erupts every decade. Kind of like Mt. Chimney when Groudon has Insomnia and has to use crappy sleep medicine that allows him to wake up in a bad mood every now and then.

(Journal start) In this case though, it was the blue orb. When I approached Maxim, he used the thing and Groudon went off from his lava pool to who knows where. Maxim, not suspecting Groudon's absence to be a quick coffee break, turned his anger upon me and sent out a Taillow. Venomoth had a type disadvantage, but Psybeam took care of it before Endeavor and Wing Attack could do much. His other two Pokémon were both Chanseys, and Sandy (Charizard) was more than happy to clean them up with Strength.

Afterwards, Maxim ran after Groudon (hopefully catching some better Pokémon on the way), leaving me alone with my victory in the scorching heat of a gigantic volcano... that I hadn't explored for the 17 days of my absence in Europe.
I went for the door of the cave right behind the lava pit and found myself back in the maze of caverns. A pokéball item nearby revealed itself to be an escape rope, and I considered just escaping that way. A leave of three weeks builds up rust though, so I took my time searching my way out and learning how many Thunderpunches and Psybeams it took to kill everything in the cave.

PSYbeam PP: 5..... 4..... 1 due to Pressure..... No PP left, Struggle

After I finally got out of the cave, I needed another refresher on where the plot goes next. My friend Google put me in Slateport City, where Captain Stern was meeting with reporters asking about an underwater cave he discovered. The people there were too caught up to notice Aqua goons stealing into the harbor and taking Stern's submarine for their base. I chased them back to Lilycove and made the day's second base raid, taking out trainers and such with my veteran battlers. In one room, I encountered four pokéballs, two that I knew were fakes and held Pokémon. The first fake I found was a level 30 Raticate. Okay, Raticate are cool, strong too, but when compared to the level 30 hulking SLAKING in the second pokéball, it looks like fate is screwing with you. I named the Raticate Etna, after the active volcano that dominates my memories from visiting Sicily.

Ability: Rock Head

I took the last two Pokéballs then, a Master Ball and a Nugget (), and continued cleaning out Team Aqua's rotting sea cave. Eventually, I reached the officer who was guarding the submarine and almost missed the battle with him when I blinked to find Kingdra's Twister sending his Bellosom and Zubat across the room.

The raiding of this base overall took about six minutes, five minutes of which were random aqua guys throwing their Pokémon at Claydol and watching helplessly as Teeter Dance and a well-picked move sent them right back. I compared this to my first run of Emerald, in which it took my young self around forty minutes to clear it due to paranoia trips to the Pokémon center and the warp panels screwing up my navigation. Back then, I could understand why Team Aqua's submarine got away; that length of time is generous enough to get wind of intrusion, pack up, and shoot out of the harbor, but SIX MINUTES? My new conclusion is that the warp panels are rigged. I must be plunging through space time for hours during each transit. The trainers are a distraction, THE BATTLES ARE A LIE

I'm enraged, that submarine is lucky to escape, or we're looking at the next underwater Hindenburg.

Sandy's autograph not included

To Mossdeep City....

Trainer: Triton
Money: 128628
Badges: 6
Pokémon Team:
     King Pepé (Kingdra) Level 45 Ability: Clear Body
     Sandy (Charizard) Level 46 Ability: Shell Armor
     Gigabuzz (Electabuzz) Level 46 Ability: Overgrow
     Tsuntsun (Claydol) Level 43 Ability: Torrent
     Polyphemus (Machamp) Level 46 Ability: Magma Armor
     Flafa (Venomoth) Level 43 Ability: Hustle