"Wow. This place is amazing!" Xander was enjoying traveling through the Grand Underground. He had played the original Platinum game but not the sequels so he was used to the plain dungeon-like area instead of the vivid area he was seeing now.

'How in the world is there a desert down here? With lava? Is this because of Hisui?'

Xander continued to enjoy the scenery while leading Cynthia and the pokemon toward Veilstone City.

The best thing about the underground is that it went in every direction. There was also no need to worry about lighting due to special crystals that acted as lighting. It was an entire world under the region. Because of this, the pair could walk directly towards Veilstone City without worrying about the pokemon in the forest.

They did need to deal with the pokemon underground.

"Here comes another one," Cynthia commented

Sand began to launch into the air as a pokemon quickly tried to emerge from the ground to take a bite of the weak-looking children.

"Lucario. Use [Aura Sphere]," Cynthia had her pokemon attack before the other pokemon got close enough to bite her

Lucario put his hands in the Kamehameha position as he gathered aura between his palms. The aura soon condensed into a sphere of blue light.

Once the sphere was created, Lucario shot it in the direction of the incoming pokemon. Once it made contact with it, there was an explosion of blue energy. When the dust cleared, the pair saw an unconscious Sandile.

Xander walked over to the Sandile to examine it before shaking his head.

"Another weak one. It couldn't even last a single attack," Xander complained before walking back to the group

He was glad that they had arrived in the desert region of the Grand Underground. He wanted to find him a Sandile that he could eventually evolve into Krookodile. This line of evolutions had a unique type combination of Ground and Dark.

But sadly for Xander, he had high standards. He didn't want to get any random Sandile but a powerful one with a large amount of potential.

With that in mind, the pair continued on their journey but after a few hours of walking, they needed to rest in one of the oases.

"Lake!"

And with a single shout, Cynthia ran off to the water with most of their pokemon following her. Xander slumped against one of the trees with Sneasel next to him while Cynthia and the other pokemon were having a swim in the lake.

'She is still such a kid. It is so hard to imagine that she will grow up to be the cool, noona-type.'

Xander was about to call out to her and warn them that they were there to rest up, but just as he was about to, Sneasel suddenly stood up and looked vigilantly toward the west.

Seeing the usual cool Sneasel seemed tense, Xander stood up before sending Cynthia a message with his Poketch. But just as his message was sent out, he also got one from Cynthia.

[Found a Milotic in the lake. Me and Lucario are about to fight. Be back soon]

"Well, shit. Looks like we both are about to have intense battles. You ready Sneasel?"

"Sne!" 'Who do you think you're talking to? I can take down a Dragonite on a bad day.'

Xander knew that he couldn't interrupt Cynthia's battle now. Milotic would end up being one of the heavier hitters on Cynthia's team. So whatever was approaching them, he had to stop himself.

Xander was about to reprimand Sneasel's confidence when a large amount of sand exploded out of the ground in front of them. A large, red pokemon emerged from the ground with obvious hostility in its eyes.

"Oh. Fun. We get to fight us a Krookodile."

As soon as Xander's words finished, the wild pokemon rushed over in a fit of rage. It seemed as if the pokemon was looking at the pair as if they were its next meal.

'So this is what the Bully of the Sands is like? Looks like we need to teach it a lesson!'

"Sneasel! Use [Bulk Up!] You have the advantage in speed. Don't try to fight it directly but move around and look for your opening. You each have a type advantage over the other. Use that to your advantage."

Xander knew that he could only give limited commands. Unlike other trainers that felt the need to command every action of their pokemon, Xander instead felt more like the tactician of an army or coach on a team. His job was to come up with the main plan while his pokemon executed them how they saw fit.

Sneasel nodded before letting out a shout as its body was surrounded by a purple aura. Its muscles became slightly larger as well before it charged at the Krookodile. The latter saw the much smaller pokemon approaching it in such an aggressive manner and became even more enraged. It had never been looked down on before.

Krookodile covered its tail in dark energy before taking a swing at Sneasel. The latter was able to dodge it beautifully but before she could get closer, the Krookodile tried to take a bite out of her. This left Sneasel with no choice but to back up for the moment.

Krookodile was the obviously more powerful pokemon but it was fighting like a wild beast, only using its instincts. Sneasel was fighting like she was a trained warrior.

This is how the pair battled for a while. Eventually, Sneasel saw an opening and took it.

The pokemon rushed into Krookodile's attack range once more. When the latter came down to try and bite it, Sneasel dodged to the side as white light surrounded both of Sneasel's hands. It did not waste any time and struck Krookodile in the side of its face.

Krookodile was knocked off balance and lost its momentum when Sneasel struck it. Seeing this, Xander made sure that Sneasel didn't miss it.

"One more!"

Sneasel moved in to attack once more. But instead of punching at Krookodile's face like before, the pokemon raised its hand before bringing it down on top of Krookodile's hand, sending the pokemon's face smashing into the ground.

'Sweet! She learned Brick Break.'

Xander didn't miss his opportunity either though. As soon as Krookodile hit the ground, Xander threw out his Pokeball. The red and white ball made contact with Krookodile for a moment before absorbing it with a flash of red light.

It then fell onto the sand below and shook three times before making a beeping sound. With this, Xander had officially caught his 3rd pokemon.