
It was a bit disheartening hearing that the little critter before him wasn't likely to put up much of a fight at higher levels of competition, for as much as he'd like to believe in its fighting prowess like Bat, he was intimately familiar with the practical constraints of a pokémon defying the conventions of its species. For a depressingly large percentage of species, the convention was to be outshone. To offer a unique combination of traits in battle that was ultimately without significant merit, or perhaps worse, did offer something special, only to be countered by pokémon who could simply wield greater raw power.
Kaison didn't think he resented straightforward strength in a pokémon. Half his team, give or take, could probably be called relatively simple in terms of their gameplan, and he cannot deny that he chose, in part, to raise them because of the potential their species held as battlers. Although he certainly isn't the type to look no further than their raw power, there are some pokémon he fears he would simply let down as their trainer. After all, when he felt his team could be improved by a water type, his first thought was the 'Beautifly of the Sea.'
Storm Drain... Perhaps in double battles, though he didn't often partake in them, and his team mainly wanted a water type to handle opposing fire and ice types. Swift Swim? Besides Avici, his team couldn't particularly support weather manipulation, and they weren't known for their offensive prowess to begin with. W- ugh. Water Veil wasn't really an ability any water pokémon often needed, much less ones who didn't particularly fear the physical limitations a burn imposed. Looking at moves... Tailwind support? Defog support? Swagger and Psych Up combined with... uh... No Aqua Jet? It gets- but it doesn't get- that wouldn't work, maybe- no. Urgh.
No matter how he tried, he couldn't plan out a strategy that could take full advantage of a Lumineon's strengths, and as the Captain finally arrived and a girl named Tess made mention of her Mantine, he couldn't help but be reminded of one of the many pokémon species he kept comparing Lumineon to. Tougher. Stronger. Able to learn Defog, Tailwind, and even having a reliable recovery move in Roost whereas Lumineon was stuck relying on Rest, it was hard to argue that a Lumineon could do a Mantine's job better. He didn't want to accept training up a pokémon only for it to be a functionally inferior version of another species doing the same job. He didn't want that for any of his pokémon, ever. Perhaps his inability to find a way to use Lumineon was just his failing as a trainer. Perhaps he was grasping for some type of equality where there wasn't any. Who's to say? Grimsley would have said that nothing but the outcome matters, but he never did ask him what that would mean for the use of such pokémon.
He supposes it doesn't matter now that he has little Téhōm. He might adopt more pokémon in the future, perhaps even more water pokémon, but he finds it difficult to imagine another pokémon being quite as reliable as his cute little Téhōm.
Back to reality, he supposes he should clarify his identity. "Kaison, present."
Now, on the topic of the ship captain's Machamp... Kaison idly pulled out his phone, looking through databases with the relevant information on the species. No Guard and Dynamic Punch, obviously, but there's also Skill Swap shenanigans in doubles, often with a more supportive role with Wide Guard, usually partnered wi-
Wait a second... Machamp can learn Fissure!?