Episode 10: Poison Pin Preparation
Niko spent much of the following day training with his Pokemon. The Pokemon World Tournament was to begin three days from then, and he still didn't feel completely comfortable, although he did his best not to show it. Most of the training work involved honing their moves as they are. Rarely did Niko consider teaching them a new move. Occasionally, his friends would jump in and train with him. Niko's Hitmonchan vs. Fay's Electabuzz; Niko's Sceptile vs. Charlotte's Ampharos. Each time Niko would come out on top, albeit with mixed results: he barely defeated Fay's Electabuzz, for example.
During this time, other trainers would stop by to watch and talk to Niko afterwards, either to get tips and advice from him, or to challenge him themselves.
One trainer in particular was an older man with light-purple hair and a black cloak stood out. He didn't exactly reveal his name, and he refused to battle Niko, but he watched carefully as Niko and his Sceptile defeated Charlotte's Ampharos.
"Good battle, kid," he said calmly as he approached Niko after the battle. "That Sceptile of yours is strong.
Niko was about eye-level with him and smiled. "Thanks, I appreciate that. He's one of my hardest workers, that's for sure."
"I battled a tough Sceptile once before, took out one of my strongest Pokemon. This one battles similarly. Anyway, are you competing in the tournament?" Niko nodded. "Good. I hope to see you there."
With that, he walked off without so much as introducing himself.
"What was that about?" Jake asked.
"No idea. I've been having some bizarre encounters recently," Niko noted. "First the reporter, and now that guy. He seemed nice, at least."
"Sounded creepy, though," Charlotte added, a shiver running down her spine. "I have a bad feeling about him."
"You shouldn't," Niko said, turning to her and rubbing her back. "Everything will be just fine. Alright everyone! Let's keep going!" Niko shouted to his Pokemon.
Since he had, well, quite a few Pokemon on hand, Niko trained them in teams of six, chosen at random. Of those six, one in particular stood out during that training session:
Poipole.
Niko had caught Poipole towards the end of his journey in Alola. It was a fun-loving, curious little Ultra Beast that had slowly befriended Niko on their trip to Ultra Megalopolis, where he intended to take Poipole back home. However, the Poison Pin Pokemon decided on joining Niko's team as his sixth capture in Alola. Since then, Poipole had only competed in one serious battle, but has otherwise not done much besides train with Niko. Since it was the least-experienced member of Niko's group, Poipole required a different sort of training, and worked independently with Niko.
At first, Niko was hesitant about letting Poipole compete in the World Tournament, but the poison type was adamant about it, for whatever reason, and wanted to give it a shot.
Realizing his Pokémon's determination, Niko remembered a brief conversation he had with Ash during their battle against Ferdinand Diamond. Supposedly, Poipole is capable of evolution. However, Niko had no idea how to evolve it, and he didn't exactly have any reference to help him. So, he just continued training with the little creature in hopes of triggering an evolution that way.
"Alright, Poipole! Use nasty plot!"
"Marowak, bone rush!" Jacob commanded. The ground type picked up its long bone and threw it across the makeshift field towards Poipole, who narrowly dodged the attack before shooting forward, spraying venom everywhere.
"Well done, Poipole! Now, use poison jab!" Niko shouted. The Poison Pin Pokemon thrust its tail downwards on Marowak, only to get caught in its opponent's hand and slammed onto the ground on its back. "It's okay, buddy! Use venoshock!"
Poipole started emitting a light purple aura before spraying poison out of every orifice of its body, causing Marowak to stumble backwards. Seeing its opportunity, Poipole surged forward, stabbing Marowak in the chest with its tail and knocking it on its back.
"Wow! Great job, buddy!" Niko shouted as Poipole spun around in the air excitedly. It's getting stronger, that's for sure. Maybe its going to evolve soon?
The battle wasn't over, as Marowak surprised Poipole with a bone rush to the head while the latter Pokemon was spinning victoriously. Poipole took the hit and spun out of control, eventually crashing onto the ground. It slowly tried getting up before taking a flamethrower to the back from Marowak, keeping it grounded.
"Poipole is unable to battle, Marowak is the winner! The victory goes to Jacob!" Fay, who was acting as a judge, declared.
"That's what you get when you fight with type disadvantages…" Cody said while still looking at his tablet.
"Poipole did its best, right buddy?" Niko said as he crouched down to greet his fallen Pokemon.
"Aren't Ultra Beasts supposed to be powerful?" Cody continued, this time with more genuine curiosity than before.
"Yes. They are," Niko said, slightly miffed now. "Poipole is pretty strong, you should've seen it in the Lanakila Conference."
Cody was about to retort when Fay turned to him and shook his head, shutting both him and Niko up.
After lunch, Niko was about to go back out to train, again with Poipole, when he saw someone approaching them from a distance.
It was Ash.
The World Champion waved to Niko as he slowly walked over, his Pikachu sitting peacefully on his shoulder. "Hey, Niko!"
"Pika!"
"Hey Ash, Pikachu," Niko said, his friends at his side. "Did you just get here?"
"No, I've been here for over a week now preparing for the tournament," he waved to Niko's friends, some of whom were in awe at his presence. Ash hardly seemed to notice. "Anyway, I did want to talk to you about something. You own a Poipole, right?"
Niko blinked for a moment. Was this about their conversation in the tundra? "Err…yeah. What's up?"
"Want a tip on raising them?"
"Uh…sure, why though?"
Ash shrugged. "Thought I'd help you out. Poipole is a unique Ultra Beast, and evolving it is just as much. Come on, I'll take you to the practice room we have set up," Confused, Niko turned on his feet and followed Ash, his friends in tow as well. "How're you feeling? The World Tournament starts in a couple of days," Ash asked, attempting to create some small talk between Niko and himself.
"I feel…fine," Niko said hesitantly.
"What's holding you back?" Ash wondered.
"Oh, nothing. I've just never been in a tournament quite like this one."
"It's going to be a little different, isn't it?" Ash said, clearly aware of the trials ahead. "Yeah, my first time was a doozy for sure. I nearly lost in the first round after the preliminaries, when it actually mattered."
"Really?"
"Yeah. I was up against this one girl with a Metagross. She was proving to be way too difficult, even for my Infernape. Luckily, we managed to use the Blaze ability and decisively win, but it was a nail biter for sure."
Niko looked over at Ash. He had never seen the World Champion battle before, excluding the World Crisis, as he had only seen a few of Ash's Pokemon in action. He certainly had far more than that.
"I will say this, Niko—you're lucky you have so many faithful friends here cheering you on," Ash said with a wink, "makes us similar in another way."
"I suppose so," Niko muttered. After walking through the main lobby of the stadium, instead of taking a left to go to the dining hall, they took a right towards an elevator.
"Anyway, this training is really for specific trainers—Champions, Elite 4, and myself," Ash said, "but we can bring guests if we want to."
"Wait…why is it so exclusive?" Charlotte wondered.
"No idea. But those are the rules. I've tried to change them so more trainers can come and hang out here, too, but the World League Committee won't let me for some reason."
"World League Committee…?" Niko asked.
"Yeah, they basically run this thing. It's a group composed of the President—Colton Goodshow—and Champions from each region, plus myself and a few others."
They eventually made it to the bottom floor—at least, they thought it was the bottom floor—and exited the elevator and walked down a brightly-lit hallway until Ash opened a locked door and proceeded through.
On the other side was an ordinary-sized battlefield with some stands on each side. It looked very much like any other Pokemon gym, but with windows above both stands.
"What's on the other side of those?" Charlotte asked Ash.
"Other spectators, if need be. Back there we have a refreshments bar. It's…almost too nice, honestly."
"The perks of being World Champion, I guess…" she muttered.
"Niko meet me in the center of the field," Ash said, beckoning for the younger trainer to join him. "Your Poipole can evolve into Naganadel if and when it learns the move dragon pulse. I'm sure you're familiar with the move?"
"Yeah," Niko replied. He knew Poipole had ambitions to be stronger and doing so would involve having to learn this move. Fortunately, he was familiar with how to teach it. "I have a couple Pokemon that know it already, actually."
"Excellent! Why don't you bring them out?"
Niko nodded, shuffling through his bag to look for Clawitzer and Drampa, summoning them simultaneously. Seeing the two, Ash looked impressed.
"These are difficult Pokemon to catch and raise—well done, Niko. Hi, you two, I'm Ash—the World Champion. I'd like to help your friend Poipole evolve into Naganadel, and it involves learning the move dragon pulse."
Clawitzer seemed unmoved by this but agreed all the same. Drampa, on the other hand, looked excited to help out. Niko then turned to Poipole, who looked at its trainer nervously.
"You're gonna be fine, buddy," Niko said, rubbing the soft shell on the back of Poipole's head, which hardly seemed to calm it down. "Your friends are going to help you get stronger."
"What is Niko's relationship with Poipole?" Fay asked as they sat in the stands.
"It's…well, like any other," Charlotte replied. "They weren't exactly friends at first, but Poipole grew on Niko over time, and it wanted to get stronger anyways," Fay nodded, eying the Poison Pin Pokemon curiously.
The training began with Drampa and Clawitzer firing dragon pulses from one end of the field to the other, and Poipole observing it. For much of this part of the session, Ash stood on the sidelines and watched as well. One of the problems, Niko found, was that each dragon pulse was different—Clawitzer's was more of a burst of energy, while Drampa's took the form of an actual dragon, albeit briefly.
"Is that normal?" Niko asked Ash a few minutes later.
"Yep!" Ash said. "Each dragon has a different pulse signature. Sometimes its barely noticeable, but other times you can really tell. Do you know anything else that knows dragon pulse?"
"I do!" Charlotte said, getting out of the stands and walking to the opposite end of the field. "Noivern, Ampharos, I choose you!"
"Oh, perfect," Ash said, crossing his arms. "Niko, your girlfriend has some pretty solid Pokemon, too!"
"That she does," he replied with a smirk. Charlotte then demonstrated both of her dragon pulse moves. Noivern's was much like Clawitzer's—a burst of energy after charging up. Ampharos' was in the shape of a dragon, much like Drampa's. "Poipole? What do you think?"
The Poison Pin Pokemon turned to Niko looking slightly awestruck, but with a hint of fear. Niko took this as a sign that something wasn't quite right. He didn't share this with Ash or Charlotte, though.
"Well, let's give it another go," Niko said as he caressed Poipole once more. "Pay close attention to the beginning of the move. You know, when that light aura shows up around them," he whispered to the poison type.
Poipole nodded and continued watching. Attack after attack, Poipole watched. After nearly half of an hour, the Poison Pin Pokemon seemed ready to go.
"Okay, Poipole! Let's see what you can do!" Niko said as his Pokemon made way for their teammate. The Ultra Beast floated forward before coming to a stop a quarter of the way across the field. "Use dragon pulse!"
Poipole's body started to glow a light purple aura before disappearing just as briefly. Niko noticed its head droop a little in disappointment. Before he could get to his Pokemon, though, Niko saw Drampa beat him to it, pulling Poipole under his wing and holding it there. Minutes later, Poipole emerged from the wing and gave it another go, this time maintaining the aura for a little longer.
"What's going on?" Niko asked Ash. "Why can't it use the move?"
"Your Poipole might still be too young. That, or its some emotional block," Ash replied. "Niko…where did you get this Poipole?"
Niko recounted the event leading up to Poipole's capture—the mission Hapu sent him on, travelling Poni Island, and eventually reaching Ultra Megalopolis. When he mentioned that Poipole is descended from a more powerful version of itself, Ash's eyes widened.
"Oh…oh my," Ash muttered as he looked at Poipole.
"What is it?" Niko asked in a loud enough voice to catch Poipole's attention.
Ash simply removed a Beast Ball from his belt and tossed it into the air, summoning his Naganadel. The massive poison and dragon type flew around the battlefield before landing near Ash, who had moved closer to a very nervous Poipole.
"Poipole, this is Naganadel. It's what you evolve into when you learn dragon pulse. Naganadel, this is—"
Ash paused. The two Pokemon—Poipole and Naganadel—eyed one another before the latter leaned forward to apparently sniff the former. Poipole, out of nowhere, spat venom at the Naganadel before scurrying towards Niko, nearly tackling him to the ground.
"What the—? Poipole are you alright?" Niko wondered.
"Niko, this Poipole…" Ash said, looking up at his Pokemon, "is directly related to my Naganadel."
There was silence on the field. Niko blinked, looking at Drampa and Clawitzer (both surprised by this), and then Charlotte, before seeing Poipole burying its face in his chest. "How?"
"Naganadel is its parent, as it seems," Ash explained. "You see, I caught Naganadel as a Poipole when I was exploring Alola a long time ago. It later evolved into Naganadel and we separated for a while, as it needed to stay in Ultra Megalopolis. Years later, I was going to defend my title for World Champion and I wanted Naganadel on my team, since my opponent was looking to be a tougher challenge than my first go-around. When I came back I found out Naganadel was about to have a baby and, well, I guess this is it."
Niko was awestruck. When Hapu had mentioned this Poipole was born from a powerful descendent, she forgot to mention it was the Pokemon owned by the World Champion!
"I don't really know what to say…" Niko said.
"Why did Poipole react the way it did?" Charlotte, who had walked up to join them, asked.
"Naganadel has its baby and left Ultra Megalopolis," Ash explained, "to come and battle with me. That was the choice that we both made. It was a selfish one, and because we haven't been back since, Poipole has grown up without a parent."
"That explains how it got out into Alola…it must've just wandered off one day…" Niko muttered. "Poipole…are you alright?"
Poipole looked up at Niko before shaking its head. Niko felt a small hand reach down to his belt and touch the Beast Ball. Within seconds, the Poison Pin Pokemon was inside its ball, clearly not wanting to be bothered.
"Well, there goes that training…" Niko muttered, looking to Drampa and Clawitzer.
Niko spent the rest of the day thinking about Poipole. The young Ultra Beast was, Niko learned, abandoned early in life and never got the chance to meet its parent. If Poipole was to compete, much evolve, Niko figured it'd need to get over this emotional block.
After leaving the training center, Niko and his friends went to grab something to eat. Along the way, they met up with Kaila, who had travelled to Unova to watch Niko compete. The young Melemele girl and her Lycanroc, Ruffy, found them as they reentered the main lobby. Upon seeing Niko and Charlotte, Kaila squealed with her characteristic excitement and tightly embraced them.
"Nice to see you too, Kaila," Niko said calmly.
"Thanks for coming to support Niko," Charlotte added.
"Of course! Why wouldn't I?" Kaila asked with a bewildered expression. "So Niko, are you ready!?"
"I—yes, of course I am," he replied with some hesitation. "Did you just get here?"
"Yep! Ruffy and I landed a couple hours ago. We found a place to stay and everything!"
"Oh…wow," Niko said, surprised that someone as young and naïve as Kaila could figure that out on her own. "Well done!"
The progressively growing group continued on towards the dining hall. The entire time, Niko's thoughts were filled with Poipole. He was at a loss for words regarding how to handle the little creature. Some of his Pokemon had been abandoned before—Magnemite, for example—but everyone deals with it differently. Niko and his Magnemite had never met the latter's parents or dealt with it in any way. Poipole was very different.
"Niko? Are you okay?" Kaila asked curiously.
This caught his attention, taking him out of his mind. "Huh? Yeah, I'm fine," Niko looked to Charlotte, who elaborated for their friend.
"Oh. I getcha," Kaila said, now deep in thought. "Oh! I got an idea!"
"You…do?" Niko said with surprise.
"Yeah! Come on!" Kaila grabbed Niko's wrist, dragging him out of his chair. "Let's go! Bring Poipole with you!"
"O-okay…" Niko said as he stood up next to Kaila. "Let's go…?" he asked Charlotte, Jake, Cody, Jacob, and Fay. The group followed suit and walked with Niko and Kaila onto the fields outside the stadium. "What're we doing, Kaila?"
"You'll see. Ready, Ruffy?" A confused Lycanroc nodded before running forward with Kaila. "We'll battle!"
"That was your idea?" Niko asked.
"Mhmm! A battle can make everything feel better!" Kaila put a finger to her mouth, "or, well, depending on who you are. But it does for me and Ruffy!"
Niko raised an eyebrow. Kaila's spirit was inspiring. "Poipole, you're up!" Noticing the reticence of the little creature, Niko tapped the back of its head to get its attention. "Let's give it another go, alright? I know you're afraid, but you get stronger by overcoming fear. Trust me."
Poipole looked up at Niko and slowly nodded, which made him smile.
"Alright Poipole! Let's go, use dragon pulse!" he shouted.
Ruffy stood still as he and Kaila awaited Poipole's attack. The Poison Pin Pokemon floated completely still. Its eyes were closed and slowly, but surely, a light purple aura surrounded it. Was this the moment? Would it finally conjure the energy to use the move?
"POLEEEEEE!" Poipole roared out in an attempt to release its stored up draconic energy. Moments later, the energy dissipated almost as quickly as it burst.
Dammit, Niko thought. What's wrong with it?
"Niko? Is…is everything okay?" Kaila asked. "Should we try another time?"
"No, no it's fine. Poipole, come here…" Niko said, crouching down on a knee. Poipole slowly made its way over to its trainer, head drooping. "You're afraid, aren't you?" When Poipole tried to shake its head, Niko continued. "I think you are. Seeing your parent for the first time—that's scary, right? You're nervous, angry, sad—I get that. Maybe you think that you were abandoned because you're not good enough? Is that really it?"
Poipole nodded.
"Well buddy, I wouldn't have caught you if I agreed with that. You won in the Lanakila Conference precisely because you're worth it. You're strong—way stronger than you think you are. But you'll only be strong if you can," Niko poked Poipole in the chest, "believe in yourself. Okay? Don't worry about your parent. We'll win the Pokemon World Tournament and face Ash and defeat his Naganadel. Well…you will. Sound good?"
For the first time, it dawned on Niko that he might end up facing Ash Ketchum for the title of World Champion. He tried to hide the fear now setting in, but definitely failed. Fortunately, Poipole was too caught up in its own thoughts to care.
Poipole turned to Kaila and Ruffy and charged directly at the Wolf Pokemon. The spike on its head started glowing purple as it prepared a poison jab. Ruffy leapt into the air and dodged before using stone edge to strike Poipole in the stomach and rocket it into the air. Ruffy then followed up with thunder fang, grabbing Poipole and thrusting it into the ground.
"Poipole!" Niko shouted, running over to Poipole, who surprisingly got up with only a few bruises on its body. "You…okay?"
Poipole nodded, turning to Ruffy and smiling. Ruffy reciprocated. But Poipole's attention quickly turned to…Jacob, of all people.
"Huh?" Jacob, who had been intently watching this all unfold, asked curiously. "What's up?"
Niko looked from his Pokemon to his former rival. "Guess Poipole wants a rematch. You in?"
Jacob smirked. "Of course," he then swapped places with Kaila and pulled out a pokéball. "Marowak, I choose you!"
"Poipole, use toxic!" Niko commanded, quickly getting back into the battling mode. Poipole shot backwards and into the air before spraying poison everywhere. "Now, venom drench!" he cried as Marowak collapsed onto a knee from the poison taking effect. Poipole, energized by its newfound courage, sprayed more venom over its opponent before diving in to use poison jab.
"Bone rush!" Jacob shouted. Marowak lifted its bone and slammed it into the side of Poipole's head, thrusting it into the pool of venom on the ground. Poipole rolled around before getting back up and staring Marowak down. The ground type then shot at its opponent to continuously slam its bone across the Poison Pin Pokémon's body before stabbing Poipole in the chest and rocketing it backwards. "Now use stomping tantrum!"
"Poipole!" Niko shouted as his Pokemon, now laying on its stomach, tried to get back up. Marowak slammed both of its feet on the ground before charging furiously at Poipole. "POIPOLE!"
Poipole looked up at Niko before noticing someone near his friends. It was Ash and Naganadel. They were smiling (as much as a Naganadel could, that is). It then looked at Marowak and, feeling a sudden surge of energy, opened its mouth and fired.
A beam of purple energy shot across the field towards Marowak, engulfing it in draconic energy and halting its tantrum. Once the resulting explosion dissipated, Niko and Jacob found Marowak laying on its back. Slowly, it tried to get back up and, when it did, it was engulfed in a bright white light and covered the field.
Poipole grew exponentially, its body elongating to include a long stinger under its abdomen. Its neck grew longer, and its face covered in a mask-like feature. Lastly, it grew a pair of bat-like wings.
"NAGANADEL!" it roared menacingly, peering down at Marowak, who smirked and spun its bone in its hand. Naganadel then flipped forward, its stringer glowing bright purple as it slammed it down on Marowak's bone in an attempt to use poison jab.
"Woah…" Niko said. Naganadel was now fighting Marowak entirely on its own, using dragon pulse with ease and countering the ground type's attack with its own. At one point, Niko turned to Cody, Fay, Charlotte, and Jake to see their response. Cody seemed surprised—Fay unfazed. Charlotte and Jake were impressed.
Then he noticed Ash and his Naganadel standing nearby, watching with relative excitement on their faces, before turning back to the battle at hand.
"Finish it with dragon pulse!" he shouted. Naganadel fired a final burst of draconic energy at Marowak, who responded with a hyper beam. The resulting explosion covered the makeshift field, Niko, Jacob, and both Pokemon.
Once the smoke dissipated, both Pokemon lay defeated on the ground.
"Nice job, Niko!" Jacob said excitedly, returning Marowak to its pokéball as Niko approached his Pokemon.
"Thanks, Jacob," Niko said, crouching down in front of Naganadel. "I'm very proud of you, buddy. Get some rest," he returned the Poison Pin Pokemon. He then looked to see if Ash and Naganadel were still there, only to find that they had disappeared. "Huh…"
"Well done, Niko!" Kaila shouted as she ran over to her friend. "Naganadel looks so cool!"
"I'll let it know you said that," Niko said, tapping Kaila's shoulder before turning to Charlotte.
"You two did great. What did you say to Naganadel?"
"Just to do its best, basically," Niko said.
"How are you feeling?" Charlotte asked, continuing on.
"I'm fine, Charlotte," Niko said, bringing her in with one arm. "Let's go meet up with Warren and Sydney, alright?"
The group decided to split for the rest of the day. Fay, Jacob, and Cody went off to a bar while the other four met up with the couple and hung out for the rest of the day.
"So…in two days, right?" Warren asked as they sat down at a sushi restaurant that evening. Jake was off with his and Niko's mom, so it was both couples and Kaila sitting around for dinner.
"Mhmm, I believe so. I still need to do some more preparation, but we're getting there," Niko said.
"What's the first round going to be? A one-on-one like usual?"
"No, it's a double battle," Niko explained. "The tournament begins with a preliminary round. There, we have three battles, all different types. You only need to win two of three to advance. The first round is a double battle. Then a triple battle. And then an inverse battle."
"Inverse battle…?" Kaila asked curiously. "What's that?"
"It's where the types of Pokemon are turned inside-out. So, for example, fire type move are super-effective against water type Pokemon."
"Woahh," Kaila said with awe. "That sounds really hard."
"It will be. I'll have to do a lot of preparation for that one, I think," Niko said, his emotions showing on his sleeve again.
"Niko…" Charlotte said, whispering in his ear. "We need to talk later, okay?"
Niko nodded, just as he noticed Wally and Oliver show up nearby. Once the green-haired trainer noticed his rival, he sped-walked over to Niko's table excitedly.
"Hey Niko! You're just the person I was looking for!" he said, holding out a small box.
"What's this…?" Niko asked, looking down at the box. "Hello, by the way."
"How're you feeling?" Oliver asked.
"Good. You? Are you entering?" Niko wondered.
"Yeah, I am. Hopefully we get a chance to battle again," Oliver said with an expectant expression. "By the way, this is a gift from Wally and I—as a thanks for making us better trainers."
"Really now…" Niko said, looking back at the box. It was white with a bright green ribbon on it. He unfurled the ribbon and opened the box.
Inside, resting in a foam surface like a ring would, was a small spherical stone. It was a beige color with a curved forest green streak through it. Niko immediately identified it.
"This is a mega stone…" he muttered.
"A Sceptilite, to be exact," Wally said calmly. "I found it while travelling through Hoenn after the World Crisis. I think if anyone deserves it, it's you."
"Wow…Wally…"
"You're an inspiration to me, Niko. I'm not entering the Pokemon World Tournament, but you can bet I will in seven years. And I'll defeat you for the title of World Champion!"
"But…I'm not the World Champion," Niko said confused.
"You will be, Niko," Wally said confidently.
Niko looked up at the green-haired trainer; the one whom he helped get started as a trainer; his friend and rival for nearly five years. Now a young man who has more personality and potential than Niko thought he personally was capable of.
HE, Niko, was an inspiration to someone like Wally.
It meant more than he realized.
Author's Note: How was this episode? Good? Anything need work?
By the way, episodes might be scarce this week. Out of town and sort of busy. However, now we're really getting into the meat of this arc. The World Tournament begins in the next ep!