"Ah! Don't go, Hippopotas!" Seeing Hippopotas use Dig, Lemon immediately threw a Poké Ball. But it only struck the sand-Hippopotas had already disappeared.
"How could this happen? I finally managed to beat it..." Lemon's joy instantly turned to dejection.
"Come on, don't be sad. There's more than one Hippopotas here. Let's keep looking. Next time, though, save the celebration until after you catch it!" Liu Qing said with a smile.
"Right!" Lemon nodded. After gathering their things, they picked a direction at random and headed off.
"Here! There are signs of Hippopotas activity here, too!" After an hour of aimless wandering through the desert, Lemon suddenly grew excited again. He crouched to examine the clearly disturbed sand beneath his feet, failing to notice Liu Qing's eyes light up beside him. With a mischievous smile, Liu Qing quickly backed away a few steps.
Boom! A violent tremor suddenly struck, knocking the unsuspecting Lemon to the ground. Then he felt the earth beneath him heave. With a wild roar, an enormous Hippowdon burst out of the ground, carrying Lemon up with it. He slid down its back along with the streaming sand and landed hard on his backside.
"H-Hippowdon!" Forgetting the pain in his rear, Lemon stared at the back of the enormous creature, which stood a full two meters tall, utterly stunned.
"What are you standing around for? Attack!" Liu Qing had detected Hippowdon with his Aura earlier, which was why he had immediately stepped back. Seeing Lemon still frozen in place, he called out.
"Oh, right! Mothim, use Tackle!" Lemon brushed the sand off himself, stood up, and quickly gave his command.
Mothim charged straight at Hippowdon. But instead of knocking Hippowdon over, Mothim bounced backward from the impact. The attack caught Hippowdon's attention, and it abruptly turned to face