Disclaimer: I don't own Pokémon. But I do very much support the return of Brock and Misty. Now if only we could've made it stay that way...
"Speech"
'Thought'
"Mechanical Speech"
Being guaranteed a rematch was very satisfying to Sun. Somewhere in the back of his mind, the boy still craved for a proper battle against somebody of Brendan's level. He was also holding onto some symbolic reasoning at the time of opportunity.
Which probably explains why he chose to hold the battle at the Altar of the Moone.
"Pretty far away from the last one," noted Brendan with a hint of boredom. "Don't want anyone to know that you lost twice?"
"Shut up. I just like this place a lot," answered Sun with slight irritation.
It was at that monument that Sun shared two important moments with Lillie. The shrine was the place that Nebby experienced its rebirth and it becoming Sun's Pokemon.
Erica looked around the place, very interested in the design and the fact it even existed.
"It's been a while since I've seen a shrine dedicated to a legendary Pokémon," noted the blonde with some fascination.
A moment of pondering came to her. Why would people worship another Pokemon alongside the Tapus? Was it their ruler? Her moment was defined by thought provoking questions.
Ironically, that didn't last because she turned around and walked back down the stone staircase. That odd action elicited an curious response from Sun.
"You're not gonna stay for the match?"
"I think I know how it will turn out, so no thank you." She pulled the green object out of her bag. "I've gotta search for more of those Zygarde cells. It was nice meeting you."
Although the beginning felt like an insult, the middle was seasoned with a little mystery (he didn't know that the cells were Zygarde), Sun chose to let it all slide and accept Erica's kind parting.
"Ok. It was nice meeting you, too." Erica took that humbly before disappearing from sight.
With only the boys left, it was time to begin the match. Brendan decided to make the first suggestion of the rules.
"How about we make this a 3-on-3 like last time?" Said the older brunette which Sun didn't initially agree to.
"You won't see us at our best with just half of us. Let's make it 6-on-6!" Responded the younger brunette eagerly.
Unfortunately, to some of his chagrin, Sun's offer was met with denial as well as Brendan shook his head. He did have a good reason to do so. Learning about how the Tapu interacted harmoniously with the rest of Alola was pretty important.
But Sun couldn't let go of the urge to experience a full battle.
"Come on. Why not?"
"Fine, let's make it 6-on-5. I only have 5 Pokémon with me." Sun peered down to Brendan's belt to see that he was right, only five pokeballs.
This was actually pretty common for the younger trainer to see. Rarely, if ever, did anyone challenge him with a full team.
Both boys went to opposite sides of the shrine with the rules finally decided. Brendan chose to give Sun an advantage by sending his Pokémon out first.
"Ok. Let's go, Apato!" The Breloom burst out of the pokeball with the readiness to fight.
Choosing carefully, Sun threw out his first Pokémon. Charlie spread out his wings and jaws to express his joy for a battle.
Brendan and Apato both had stars in their eyes at this arrival. A reaction like that was something Sun shared with them. 'Yeah, Vikavolts are pretty cool.'
Awe was cast aside when the first attack was announced. "Apato, use mach punch!"
The grass-fighting type rushed forward with incredible speed and connected his fist to Charlie's abdomen. Little damage was dealt, leaving plenty of room for a counter attack.
"Charlie, use bug bite!" Yelled the younger brunette.
His Pokémon quickly turned those fangs onto the Breloom's abdomen. There was some resentment for that quick attack. Sun took note of how little that first punch did, something didn't seem right about it.
'It was pretty weak, and I saw that before...was that not meant to hurt Charlie?'
Brendan was also having thoughts on the other side of the battlefield. 'That did a little more than I thought it would. Glass cannon?'
Recalling the experience from the last match, the younger brunette decided the next move.
"Charlie, use bug buzz!" The flying stag beetle vibrated his wings at high speeds to cause a powerful screech.
Apato was far away enough from Brendan that he couldn't hear, even if his trainer did yell a command. However, he somehow knew what to do anyway just by looking over to said trainer.
Rushing in, the Breloom powered through the pain to deliver a painful uppercut. Charlie's song was cut short.
"Are you ok Charlie?!" There was honest concern dripping from the voice of the Alolan Champion. He knew all to well his Pokémon's limits.
Those very limits were also picked up by the opponent. He pulled out his Pokémon's premier ball and recalled it. Some natural instinct for Sun kicked in as Brendan pulled out a different pokeball.
"Zap cannon!" That command was issued the moment the next Pokémon came out.
Charlie drew forth a lot of electric energy and passed it through his jaws like a rail cannon.
The electric blast slammed into the opposing Pokémon, possibly dealing serious damage.
"Flamethrower." A jet stream of fire penetrated the leftover smoke and roasted Charlie. The Vikavolt fainted from the damage.
Natsumi stood in front of her trainer as the Pokémon that was called out, they shared an unmoved expression. Sun answered that with a sour frown.
"You switched out to hit Charlie when he was weak," criticized the black-haired boy.
"It's not always going to be super-easy," retorted the brown-haired boy.
Along his entire journey, only two battles seemed to be difficult to Sun: Lusihilego and Kukui. He comprehended the idea of rising difficulty adequately.
'But I also know how to hit back even harder,' thought Sun before carefully choosing his next Pokémon. A little smirk appeared before tossing the next pokeball in the air.
Brendan carefully watched for whatever pocket monster his opponent was calling upon. He deadpaned when it turned out to be a fish flopping in what little water there was.
"R...really?" Disappointment echoed in that expression.
"Yes. Cause I guarantee that you've never seen this!"
On cue, the water in the area started to gather around Wawi. The Small Fry Pokémon started to grow in size considerably before his own body shape was changing. Wawi had entered into his school form and placed a nervous grin on Brendan's face.
Shrugging his shoulders, the older brunette had to admit to what Sun had said.
"Ok. Never seen that one before."
"Told ya." That upbeat and mocking nature was quickly tossed aside for the battle. "Use water gun!"
Such a basic water attack was usually miniscule when launched, but a school form Wishiwashi definitely packed more power. The water gun was practically a geyser.
"Flamethrower!" Yelled Brendan quickly. Natsumi launched another jet stream of fire.
Logically, the water would quickly extinguish the fire and lay waste to most of the area, yet Natsumi managed to push back.
Seeing such a magnificent clash between orange and red against blue and white left Sun immobilized with fascination. Time slowed for him as he realized what this would mean.
'This is only a little bit of what I could find out there.'
Luck sided with Sun. Even in his dazed state, the boy still had the upper hand. Wawi's water managed to power through Natsumi's fire and damage her.
Ending the struggle brought Sun back.
"Yeah! Way to go Wawi!"
"Sunny day," said Brendan calmly, indicating that the battle was far from over.
Focusing, Natsumi employed energy towards the sky to intensify the heat in the area. Water attacks would no longer do as much damage.
A sliver of nervousness plagued Sun as he recalled the intense firepower of the Ninetales. He didn't allow himself to lose focus. Wawi still had immense power with his school form.
"Use water gun!" Commanded the Alolan Champion. His aquatic giant responded by performing the same attack again.
"Dodge back!" Said Brendan in return.
His Ninetales maneuvered backwards, and the water hit the ground before coming anywhere close to her. Bearing witness to this caught the younger trainer off guard.
"Let me guess. Your Pokémon stays like that thanks to the water in the cracks, right?" Guessed the older brunette somewhat mockingly.
Much to his chagrin, Sun was being bested again. Wishiwashi normally maintained a school form by calling on others when they were in large bodies of water. However, he learned with Wawi that they can also maintain this form by just calling forth nearby water if they were too far from other Wishiwashi.
Doing such left them in a weaker state depending on how much water they could hold together.
Adding in the fact that Wawi needed his 'body' to stay connected to water robbed his giant form of intimidation. Shifting his gaze was one way for Sun to accept the assumption.
"Maybe."
"I still admit that I've never seen anything like that, but we're still going to win," proclaimed the older trainer. His Ninetales chuckled a little.
Narrowing the eyes of his water body was a better way for Wawi to show his frustration; his little body couldn't be taken seriously.
"Hey." The water type turned to his trainer. "Don't worry. We still got something."
That was easily heard by Brendan; he perked an eyebrow in return. Sun returned his gaze with vigor.
"Surf!"
Everyone else were shocked by that one word. Even with the intensified heat, the conjured water from such a powerful water Pokémon would be obscenely massive.
Wawi discarded his shocked expression for a sneer and followed his trainer's command. Water poured out from his body and onto the rest of the platform.
Brendan quickly regained his composure. A reflex guided his next command.
"Solarbeam!"
Natsumi absorbed sunlight and blasted it out her maw. The bright beam pierced through the incoming wave, but failed to be an impediment. The crashing wave slammed with water dripping off of the sides of the altar.
One glance at his Wishiwashi and Sun could tell that it wasn't a flawless step forward. Solarbeam did hit and inflict damage; it was probably diluted by the water, though.
Another glance to his opponent rewarded him with the sight of Natsumi on the ground.
'Yosh, one down!'
Retrieving his Pokémon, Brendan retained a neutral expression. That was the first time that Sun succeeded in knocking out any of his Pokémon.
Some hints of frustration hit him, though they didn't last long.
"Don't get ahead of yourself. You've still got to get through 4 more if you want to win," said the older trainer, maintaining a sense of control.
"Yeah. But beating just one of them already makes it feel like we can win," retorted Sun.
Rousing a Charizard as a Pikachu would be tough, but the young Champion could bear to look past it all.
Brendan scoffed before sending out his next Pokémon, Dusknoir. Instead of battling right away, however, she turned around and started hugging her trainer. Wawi's big eyes somehow enlarged at the scene and so did Sun's.
'That kind of reminds me of Bewear,' thought the boy with a little concern. "Are you ok?"
"Yeah. She just gets very happy sometimes," wheezed Brendan. His Pokémon released him from the death grip and returned to a fighting ready position.
There was no blatant type advantage for Sun to work against with this situation, so concern was reduced on his side. Wawi was weakened, but he bore an advantage in pure power.
"Surf!" Repeating the same tactic seemed to be the best approach.
The giant water conglomerate summoned more water to send out from his body. Neither Brendan nor his Dusknoir displayed any emotion, if the latter even could.
"Dokoro, shadow sneak." His command was leveled and prepared.
Within a second, Dokoro dived into her own shadow and raced towards her opponent. Being in the shadow literally allowed her to bypass surf and get straight to Wawi.
Sun was caught baffled. From his point of view, the ghost Pokemon completely vanished. It wasn't until he registered Brendan's words that he understood what happened.
'Where is she?' His mind panicked to find where Dokoro was.
Suddenly, the shadow could be seen next to Wawi's right fin. "Look out!"
The Wishiwashi gawked as Dokoro popped out of her shadowed and slammed him. She had more potency because Wawi was disconnected from the water and left sprawled on his side.
"Wawi!" Sun dashed to his partner's side.
Expression was difficult for the school form, but the fact that Wawi was still maintaining it was reassuring.
A flip back up allowed the Wishiwashi to reconnect his fin to the water.
"That was really fast," noted the younger trainer, trying to uphold a calm demeanor. "You won't catch us off guard again.
Waves from surf gave Dokoro's shadow ample cover; Sun would need to avoid using that attack again. That wouldn't be too difficult, sunny day had worn off and Wawi still had enough power.
The power that was attained between Sun and Wawi alone should have been proof that he had enough skill to move on to the next level.
However, the next level was still a steep climb.
"You sure about that?" Questioned Brendan as he placed his hand on Dokoro's body.
A tense feeling spread through the challenger when he saw this, he was still aware of the gap between the teams. He was about to see that in even more effect.
No words were spoken, Brendan and Dokoro sank into the ground completely. It didn't take Sun long to realize what was happening this time.
'They used shadow sneak again?! How'd he get in there?' Screamed the boy in his head. He had seen and gotten his Pokémon to use that attack. However, a human fitting inside of there was definitely new. How and why were certainly up for debate.
Imitating Professor Kukui would have to wait; the shadow was starting to move just like before. Tricking Sun the same way twice wouldn't be a cake walk.
"Wait, Wawi," instructed the trainer calmly.
The agile and fluid movements of the shadow indicated the Brendan was trying to knock Sun's concentration off.
Gunning it straight for the water Pokémon revealed exactly where Brendan planned to attack.
'Wawi's tail!'
Reflexes demanded that the young boy utter an attack command immediately. He rebelled against it, choosing to wait for the exact moment the shadow stopped.
Said moment arrived much quicker than expected!
"Aqua Tail!" Said Sun, lining his words with panic.
Wawi didn't need to hear his trainer's panicked voice to understand the tense situation. He lifted his tail off of the ground to smash his oncoming opponent.
Tension exploded along with the water from the attack. Brendan and Dokoro were indeed visible around Wawi's water body, insisting upon the idea that the ghost could keep fighting.
"Alright, that may have not been enough, but we-"
Abruptly, Sun stopped talking when he noticed that Wawi was falling to the ground. Every bit of his water body flowed away and revealed the defeated Wishiwashi.
"But how did you beat him? He should have at least survived a ghost attack," noted the surprised trainer.
"Yeah, but not an electric one." Brendan's explanation did little more than confuse his opponent even further. "Dokoro knows thunderpunch. Using that canceled shadow sneak."
All of that clicked in place for Sun once it was explained.
Using shadow sneak with the trainer inside of the shadow prevented the opponent from hearing another attack command. He didn't realize the additional benefit of extra force from canceling shadow sneak, they would have been shot out.
It was no wonder Brendan was able to take on such a powerful legendary Pokémon.
"I see," said Sun as he retrieved Wawi. "Thanks for trying, buddy."
To get through the match he would probably have to shamelessly rely upon type advantage of whatever Pokémon Brendan had sent out.
"Go, Maggie!" Sending out a ghost to fight a ghost was derived of ingenuity; both of them were supereffective against each other.
'She may not have shadow sneak, but we have something else. He just has to use shadow sneak again.' Sweat dripped from Sun's forehead. His chances of winning were slipping.
Brendan narrowed his eyes for a moment, almost disappointingly. Pulling his hand from Dokoro's back, against Sun's prediction, and he issued the next command.
"Dokoro, use shadow ball." The ghost cyclops conjured up her attack and launched it.
"Maggie, use shadow ball!" Sun panicked, realizing how much of this was going against him and Maggie.
Both ghost attacks slammed into each other, causing an explosion! The force of the blast knocked Maggie back a few feet because she was lighter than Dokoro. This gave Sun an idea.
However, it would also rely on Brendan giving a certain command to Dokoro. Keeping silence was actually the best way to make that happen.
Brendan became a little bored and perturbed at his opponent's lack of commands.
"Use shadow ball, again." His voice was really starting to lack enthusiasm.
"Maggie, you use it too," said the Alola trainer with much more focus lining his voice.
Shadow balls collided into one another again, but with a difference. Dokoro's was significantly stronger than before and managed to somewhat penetrate towards Maggie.
The Mismagius took a significant amount of damage from that attack and was knocked back again. This was playing straight into Sun's plan.
'That's pretty far away. Sending Dokoro that close without shadow sneak could be a risk,' thought Brendan.
He couldn't see, or rather believe, that his opponent was planning something. "Dokoro, use shadow sneak."
The cyclops nodded before using her agile and effective attack. Sun smirked at his luck and ingenuity. Once the Dusknoir was only 5 feet away from Maggie, he uttered the command.
"Confuse ray!"
Nothing more needed to be said. The Pointed Hat Pokémon understood what her trainer was planning.
Right as Dokoro exited her shadow to perform the attack from behind, she was might by the blinding flash of confuse ray. Her attack still connected, leaving Maggie with very little health to cling on to, but she was now dazed.
A wealth of revelation burst in Brendan's gray eyes. It was temporary, however, as he readied to issue the next command.
Sun was first to speak, though. "Use shadow ball!"
Maggie resourcefully abused the close distance between her and Dokoro to inflict serious damage with her spectral ball.
Brendan refused to take this standing down. "Dokoro, shadow punch!"
Although the Gripper Pokémon heard and understood what to do, the confusion caused her to slam into the ground. Things were starting to turn against the older brunette.
Sun was unable to suppress his grin; his use of tactics and good luck were making things so easy for him and his Pokémon.
"Maggie, use hex!" The ghost witch smirked, content with the clever finish.
"Shadow sneak!" Brendan accented his voice slightly with panic.
His luck won out. Dokoro had enough balance and hearing to slip into her shadow, sneak behind Maggie, and deliver a finishing blow. The Mismagius landed in the open arms of her trainer.
An expression denoting sour disappointment held her down. Sun laughed lightly in response.
"Come on. You know they didn't cheat," said the trainer. His Pokémon only looked away before closing her eyes to rest.
Retrieving his Pokémon, Sun turned his gaze over to Brendan, who seemed a little irritated. That panic in his voice made it seem like Sun really was gaining a foothold in this battle.
The gray eyes met with the brown ones. "You tricked me."
"And you thought we couldn't do any better," retorted the younger trainer with a hint of taunt.
Administering a full restore, Brendan would be sure that that wouldn't happen again. Air started to tense up around Sun. His last three Pokémon were arguably his best. All three of them would need to be enough to pull this match through.
Sun would need to be vigilant and reserved to carry them too. In fact, that moment seemed like a good time to pull out a good trick.
"Go, Mimi!" Said the boy as he sent out his Mimikyu.
Perking one of his eyebrows, Brendan was curious at the appearance of this challenger.
"A Pikachu?" Sun chuckled a little; he never got tired of the joke that was people mistaking Mimi for a Pikachu. "Whatever, use shadow ball."
Dokoro opened the mouth on her stomach and fired a larger variant of the attack. The sphere's collision with Mimi caused a wide explosion, giving the appearance of a knock-out attack. The clearing of the smoke revealed one hilarious fact, though; Mimi was standing perfectly fine.
Her 'head' did tilt to the side a little too much, though
"Use shadow claw!" Said Sun with plenty of vigor.
Brendan was caught with surprise yet again as the 'Pikachu' dashed over just fine. A black arm extended out and swiped Dokoro and inflicted massive damage.
"What? That's not a Pikachu!" Stated the surprised trainer.
"Yep, it's a Mimikyu!" Responded the confident trainer. Rotom popped out of his backpack and continued explaining.
"It'z a Pokémon that choozzez to disguize itself like Pikachu on purpozze," explained the machine.
A bit more surprise appeared on Brendan's face when he saw this. A talking Pokémon was rare, a floating machine was rare, and that would make the chances of seeing the Rotom Pokedex almost non-existant.
Casually, Sun turned over to his friend. He had actually forgotten that Rotom was in the backpack.
"Were you just sitting in my backpack the entire time?"
"Yeah. You weren't really doing that good, zzo I got bored," answered the Pokémon.
Expectedly, Sun felt a little betrayed and defensive after that comment. Logic and reason still remained and prevented him from being completely agitated.
"What're you talking about! I'm doing great!" Argued the boy.
"Yeah, sure. Keep telling yourzzelf that."
"Fine! Mimi, use shadow sneak!" The Alolan trainer brashly returned his attention to the battlefield.
"Dokoro. Use shadow sneak too."
Both ghost Pokémon submerged into their shadows and darted around the ground. It would stand to logic that Dokoro, who had much more experience in battle, would be able to strike first and deal more damage.
However, Sun had inadvertently stumbled upon another advantage between him and his opponent; size.
The shadow of the Mimikyu was much easier to see because it was smaller and faster. She pervaded past each serpentine movement made by Dokoro with her own quicker variant.
A somewhat irritating game of tag persisted for at least ten seconds before Mimi's shadow crossed into Dokoro's. A smaller, circular shadow formed where the two once were.
"What the?"
"That's new," noted Brendan.
A few more seconds passed by before both Pokémon reemerged through a jump. Dokoro landed on her back while Mimi perfectly dismounted.
One could clearly see the outcome of the fight. Although Mimi was the winner, she sustained some damage.
'Did they fight in the shadow?' Thought her trainer while she dusted herself off.
The older brunette spoke no words. A subtle, sympathetic smile was cast towards his partner before she was retrieved. She must have held a great deal of loyalty towards Brendan and received friendship back.
But that was a fleeting moment. Brendan pulled out a plain Pokeball and sent out his next Pokémon, a Mightyena.
"Never seen that one before," said Sun without noticing the glare being cast towards Mimi.
Rotom flipped around to take a picture before explaining. "Thatzz a Mightyena. Itzz a Pokémon from the Hoenn region."
"Isn't it a little unfair to get help from somebody who is not battling?" Suggested the opponent.
Unexpectedly, Rotom did take some offense to that accusation.
"Hey! I'm a Pokedex too! There'zz nothing wrong with me lending a hand to my buddy!" Protested the Pokémon possessed machine.
"But, he does kind of have a point," said Sun. "You shouldn't tell me stuff when he would have to look it up."
Upset, Rotom backed away from his friend to take more pictures without disturbing the fight as best as he could.
Brendan took into account what was said. If Rotom really was Sun's Pokedex in addition to also being his friend then it would not be unfair for the machine to tell him things. But it wasn't the time to be thinking over semantics.
It was the time for battle.
"Rin, use fire fang!" With her sharp fangs ignited, the dark hound leapt forward and sunk her mouth into Mimi.
The Mimikyu struggled wildly against Rin's grip. She was out of control at the sight of her costume being ruined, something that Sun quickly picked up on.
"Mimi! It's ok! Calm down!" His words did little to dissuade his Pokémon from her episode.
Talking her out of this with logic and reason wouldn't work. It was possible that he could use this agitated state to inflict more damage. "Alright. Then use play rough!"
Just as Sun said that, the Mightyena let go of Mimi. The latter quickly took the opportunity to slap her vulgar assailant around with some fury; a small cloud formed around them.
When the comedic cloud vanished, it appeared that Rin didn't take that much damage. She was still standing with only minor damage.
'What? But fairy is super-effective to-' Sun stopped himself when he realized what had happened. 'She was using intimidate earlier.'
Understanding the disadvantage he was at, Sun contemplated his options. Keeping Mimi out on the battlefield with her ruffled appearance and mindset would surely work against them. Sending out Nebby now would be a terrible idea since a Mightyena had a large advantage naturally.
Manny was the only Pokémon who seemed to be a fitting opposition.
"Sorry, Mimi. Take a breather," said the boy before pulling out the pokeball. The Pokémon looked a little sad before being retrieved.
Trusting in his choice and partner, Sun sent out his Incineroar.
This was an interesting match up. A dark hound who could bite with flaming fangs against a dark panther who could punch with fiery fists. A tension was burning in the air at how this would turn out.
Until Manny laid down onto the ground and chose to ignore Rin entirely.
"What?"
"Manny!"
The dark wrestler looked back at his trainer with arrogance and slack; he obviously lacked interest in this battle. Something that went against what everyone else expected.
"Come on, Manny. I need your help against Rin." Sun was practically begging. His partner responded by looking over to Rin and scoffing, making her angry.
Incineroars were known for their desire to be in the spotlight. However, for Manny to outright refuse to participate made him look much more like a Charizard. Amidst his begging, Sun noticed what was really going on.
"Uh, Brendan? Any chance you could change your Pokémon?" Requested the boy sheepishly.
"Why?" There was a lack of cooperation with the opposing side.
"I think Manny wants to fight Apato. He doesn't like to take defeats laying down," explained Sun with a sheepish grin.
Brendan sighed with irritation. Estimating Sun's prowess as a Champion was starting to become more and more annoying. He complied, however, for nothing else than to really see what they could do.
"Fine. Sorry, Rin," apologized the trainer before retrieving his Mightyena. He tossed out the pokeball and released Apato.
Manny smirked before getting back up and towering over his opponent. The Breloom responded with a blank expression. Somehow, there was intensity between the two.
"Flame charge!"
"Mach punch!"
It was a repeat of what occurred when they fought the first time, but with some difference. Manny's flame charge was stronger this time. He may have take the hit, but he was also able to send Apato back a few feet.
"Apato. Seed bomb," said Brendan with cool tone. His Pokémon followed that command and flung the seeds off of his tail.
They exploded just in front of Manny, obscuring his vision. A vision that was soon clouded with a speeding Breloom.
Sun panicked to counter. "Flamethrower!"
Manny managed to hear the command just in time. He opened his maw and managed to inflict damage.
His effort was only partially successful, though. Apato managed through the flames and delivered a painful right hook. The fire-dark type stumbled backwards again and clung his cheek.
Worry dawned on Sun's face while watching this.
'Oh no! This isn't going to end well.'
The yellow eyes of Manny met with the worried brown ones of his trainer. A bond always existed between these two, ever since that time of choice. So many important moments shared between them.
They were friends.
Manny pushed aside all of his pain, stood up, and huffed with a semi-authentic glare. Sun and Rotom were filled with energy at seeing this.
"Yes! You can do this, Manny!" Cheered Sun.
"Yeah! Go get em!" The support from both of his friends gave Manny a confident sneer.
Brendan couldn't suppress a small laugh from this spirit. Very few people showed this much determination in a battle to him. It was invigorating to his passion.
"Flame charge!" Manny dashed forward and slammed Apato, the tiger was slowly becoming a blur.
"Low sweep!" A spin of the Breloom's legs knocked the Incineroar's.
This match was already close from the beginning, and it was only becoming even more intense.
"Cross chop!"
"Sky uppercut!"
Manny's raised claws quickly collided with Apato's skyward attack. Neither move connected with the head of either Pokémon, they had entered into a struggle of strength. The contest ended with no winner because they were knocked back by almost equal force.
Given the physical state both Pokémon were in, a finishing blow was sure to come.
But who would be first to fall?
'This is gonna be a close one,' noted Sun before meeting his eyes with Brendan's. There was an undeniable excitement brimming in those eyes.
"Dynamic punch!"
"Darkest lariat!"
Dashing forward, both Pokémon reeled back to deliver their blow. Potency was definitely siding with Apato; his attack would deal far more damage. The dynamic fist aimed straight for Manny's side.
'Come on...'
Miraculously, Apato missed. His fist went straight past Manny's side before being hit by the spinning swipes and knocked out. The proud Incineroar got his victory and got it good.
Brendan walked over to his Pokémon, now down on the ground. "Good job."
He pointed the pokeball towards the Breloom and retrieved it. Apato let out a grin before getting some rest.
Calmly, he sent Rin back out into the battle. Although she was a dark type as well, her intimidate ability would lend favor to their side first.
"Use rock smash," said the older brunette calmly.
Rin leapt forward with her right paw drawn back. This was a fighting type move that potentially weakened the defense of whomever it hit; two advantages in one fell swoop.
Too bad it didn't hit.
Manny dodged backwards, avoiding an attack yet again. This space of difference gave Sun the opportunity they needed.
"Flame charge!" Yelled the young boy enthusiastically. His starter Pokémon slammed into Rin, nailing a critical hit.
The dark hound was sent skidding across the ground towards her trainer with no effort to get back up; she was done. Miniscule traces of shock painted Brendan's eyes. That physical attack should have been weakened by half.
'Unless...' He glanced over to the Incineroar, now literally on fire. 'Did he just ignore Rin's intimidation?'
A smirk flashed across his face. There was definitely more to this trainer than he had given credit for.
"Is she gonna be ok? We kinda got carried away." Sun's expression was of genuine sympathy.
"Yeah. Just gotta make sure that Natsumi doesn't know about this." Casually retrieving his fallen partner, Brendan decided to flatter Sun a little bit for his skill. "I'll be honest, you've done much better than I thought you would've."
Turning down that compliment was certainly out of the question, but Sun could tell from the pause that there was more.
"And?"
"But this is where it ends."
The difference in expectation of sentence was a tiny surprise to Sun. Brendan tossed the pokeball into the air. It released the Pokémon within with a little more flare than previous entrances.
What came out of the shining light was a Swampert, another Pokémon that Sun had never seen before.
"Wow, I've never seen that Pokémon before. It muzzt be rare!" Rationalized Rotom. Sun nodded in agreement to that statement, a rarity that was supposedly like Manny. However, there was something else odd about this one.
Swampert's expression remained blank in contrast to Manny's exhilarated moxie. Even without the attitude of the latter, there was still something odd about the former.
'Is it...bored?'
Regardless of whatever disposition the opposition took, Sun would need to hit hard.
"Manny! Use darkest lariat!" Using a dark type move would be wise. Swampert looked like a water type; so fire was pointless.
A great flare proceeded the Incineroar as he started. The boost from flame charge made him incredibly fast. Potency and ferocity were combined into that one attack.
Connecting the blow with Swampert sent some air back with a boom. It was certainly a powerful hit.
"Alright! Great start!" Cheered Sun.
Manny shared in his trainer's enthusiasm. Victory didn't seem too far away. Suddenly, h quickly felt something else; pain.
Looking down at his lower torso, he could clearly see the Swampert's fist firmly embedded. A simple flex was all that was needed to send Manny stumbling before collapsing on the ground. He was down and out.
"What?! What happened?" Bafflement conquered the face of the young trainer.
"I didn't even see that attack!" Stated an equally surprised Rotom.
The Swampert retained it's bored face. However, some personality came into the mix when he turned his head over to his trainer.
"Don't underestimate these guys, Aqua."
Sun looked down at Manny with mixed feelings, mostly surprise. Anger was most certainly absent from the mixture. The sheer determination that his Pokémon displayed was more than enough to be grateful for.
"Thanks, pal," said the boy before retrieving Manny.
The attack that knocked out Manny was likely a fighting type. Mimi would definitely be able to work around that.
"Alright, go Mimi!" The fairy ghost returned to the battlefield, but this time with her disguise broken. "Play rough."
There was no doubt from either side that she was faster than Aqua. The comedically colored cloud covered both of them up. Interpreting the end result was especially difficult because of how Brendan was.
'He's still so calm. I can't tell if that means it's working or not,' noted the younger trainer.
"Mud bomb." The older brunette broke the tension by saying only one command.
Dismissing the cloud revealed an amazing, or hilarious, sight. Aqua held a giant mud sphere over his head with Mimi right in front of him.
That bored expression stayed even as he slammed it down onto her. Mud was no doubt super effective against the Mimikyu, because she couldn't stand the fact of her outfit getting so dirty.
'Oh no.' Thought Sun upon seeing this. His Pokémon had literally fainted because of appearance.
"Isn't that playing a little dirty?" Asked Sun.
"I wasn't really thinking. Mud bomb was the first move that came to mind," explained Brendan with a shrug of the shoulders.
Odds of winning seemed very ambiguous to the Champion of Alola. Brendan and his Pokémon had found a way to trump anything that they were met with, Sun had barely been able to scrap together to get this far, admittedly. To top it off, Aqua was a Pokémon exhibiting power unlike anything he had ever seen before.
'But I still have Nebby.'
The Champion and the Lunaala had a deep bond. Not the deepest, but a bond regardless. Sun's heart was devoid of any doubt in Nebby's power. He held the nest ball in hand, assurance in his eyes.
"Go! Nebby!"
The Moone Pokémon burst out of the pokeball, spreading its gorgeously astral wings with a shriek.
Awe struck Brendan's face when he saw the legendary Pokémon, even Aqua was slightly surprised.
"Yeah. There's no doubt that that's a legendary Pokémon." The older brunette raised his arms with the right fingers pointed at the bracelet on his left wrist. "I guess we'll take it one step further with Mega Evolution."
Pressing the rainbow gem, he sent energy towards Aqua. The Pokémon was engulfed in a pink sphere as the ground shook.
Aqua had burst out with greater muscles, longer fins, and a satisfied expression; he mega evolved.
Seeing the magnificent arrival of Nebby and the first demonstration of Mega Evolution made Sun's soul flare. He couldn't help himself at all; this is what it meant to battle alongside Pokémon.
To push even further.
"Mud shot!" Brendan took the first initiative with his partner. Aqua swung his fists, shooting out mud blasts.
Sun's reaction would need to step up to match this.
"Psychic!" Nebby utilized telekinetic abilities to halt the incoming attacks and send them flying back.
Skidding across the surface of the water, Aqua evaded every single shot that came back. He rushed forward with his fist drawn back.
"Ice punch!" The fist suddenly turned cold and punched the Moone Pokémon square in the face.
"Shadow claw!" Damage was quickly reciprocated as Nebby slashed Aqua's right arm.
The water-ground type retreated a few steps, inherently knowing that his trainer wanted him to. Nebby and Sun initially perceived this as gaining a foothold on their side.
"Muddy water!" Aqua summoned more water out of thin air and created a wave heading straight towards them.
Sun's reaction needed to be quick to avoid this. He remembered more than one way to fight.
"Teleport!" Nebby instantly disappeared before way could hit.
The opposition were surprised, having rarely ever seen this move used in a fight. Even more surprise came when the legendary appeared right behind Aqua, an opportunity that wouldn't be wasted.
"Now use shadow ball!" Little distance made the attack deal more damage when it shot from the hole in Nebby's head.
They were gaining more ground. Sheer power and experience may have sided with Brendan and his Pokémon, but Sun was able to match it with unorthodox techiniques. Victory's sweet taste was slowly coming to them.
"Nebby, use lots off shadow balls!" Said Sun seriously.
His partner shot out many of the spectral spheres from all around its body.
"Get in close." Said Brendan. Aqua rushed forward, water shooting out of the back of his fists to give more speed.
Very few of the attacks were actually able to reach him. It didn't take long before he was in front of Nebby. "Use power-up!
He had abbreviated the name of the attack to save time. However, Aqua's fist just past through the Lunala without dealing any damage.
'Ghost type.'
"Fly up! Get back!" Sun wasn't going to pass up this chance for safety. Nebby beat it's wings to fly upwards, logically, towards a safe distance.
"Water gun!" The Mega Pokémon shot out the attack and landed a direct hit, but Nebby still remained airborne. "Get close!"
The orange membranes on Aqua's arms shot water yet again, this time with enough force to lift him into the air. Being above ground no longer offered any protection for Nebby.
"Ice punch!" Commanded Brendan.
As the water starter approached the lunar legendary, Sun carefully waited for what would happen. He knew exactly how to respond.
"Teleport!"
Like Goku with his instant transmission, Nebby avoided the attack with only a split second to spare. It reappeared behind Aqua with shadow claw ready.
'What? I didn't even tell him to do that yet.' Sun was witnessing the deeper bond he forged with Nebby, and it was spectacular.
As Nebby poised to strike, Aqua swerved around and parried the attach with his hand. The Legendary was wide open. Throwing this opportunity aside was certainly out of the question.
An ice punch landed straight in the center of Nebby's body, knocking the air out of it.
Sun had to admit that he didn't expect that; but he should have seen that coming given Brendan's record. He noticed that Brendan had taken up a fighting stance; there was much similarity between him and his Pokémon in position.
As Aqua descended back to the ground below, guided safely by water jets. Nebby prepared to give chase.
That was quickly halted by a halting hand signal from Sun. A plan was brewing the Alolan Champion's head.
"You can't just keep relying on teleport, you know," noted the older trainer. "But you two have used it in a way that we've never seen before."
"Thanks. I guess doing the same thing over and over again doesn't always help that much." Admitted Sun before smirking. "How about I show you something else that I guarantee that you've never seen before."
Offering that flashed something across the Mega Swampert's face; interest.
Seeing that gave the Alolan Champion even more reason to be excited.
"Alright, we'll play. What else do you have up your sleeve?" Asked the older brunette, masking his excitement well.
Turning his head upwards, Sun prepared the stage. "Nebby, get ready to use moongeist beam!"
The Lunala would have used the attack immediately had its trainer not said to get ready.
Bracing his wrists together, Sun revealed the Ghostnium Z that he had set on his Z-ring. The excitement on his face was hidden as he placed his hands in front and bent his back down. Pulling himself back up, Sun put his hands outward with the fingers pointed downward; he was taking a jumpscare position.
Seeing this was most certainly novel for Brendan, and it only got more interesting as energy literally fluxed from Sun upwards to Nebby.
Placing its wingtips atop the crescent crown, Nebby absorbed surrounding light. The sky was starting to become dark before the Z-energy surrounded and entered him.
Nebby could feel it. This was the power that he got from Sun!
"Now!"
Moongeist beam rained down onto Aqua. It was an extremely powerful beam, but a brief one. The ground started to darken as the beam subsided.
Dark hands emerged out of the ground and grabbed the Mega Pokémon before pulling him underground. Brendan had no time to process this before a large explosion erupted from the attack.
The blowing wind was refreshing for the worn down Alola trainer. Nebby floated down to him, panting from the power of that attack.
"We did it." The Champion and Pokémon shared a content smile. They had truly come far together.
"You guyzz, that wazz awesome!" Yelled Rotom as he floated over. "I took a lot of picturezz, but that was the coolest! We need to frame that!"
A small chuckle resonated from the trainer. The last time the three of them were together, they were having a good bonding moment. Another had come for them.
A little concern sprouted from Sun for his opponents when they didn't respond for a few seconds. That attack was pretty intense. While looking over to the other side of the arena, he could faintly hear Brendan's voice.
"Hey, are you guys ok over there?"
"Roaring wave."
Suddenly, in an instant, Aqua was right in front of Nebby; his left fist only inches away from the legendary Pokémon. Sun couldn't even see what had happened.
Nebby was launched back with tremendous force before being embedded into a cliff. It was a complete knock out.
Slowly, Sun turned his head towards Brendan. His surprise-coaxed expression was met with one of fierce seriousness; was the older trainer mad? He was mimicking the same pose that his Pokémon had taken on.
"D-did you see that?" Asked Sun to Rotom, who was also shocked.
"N-no."
Brendan quickly calmed down. It was if he snapped out of a trance.
"Oh, sorry about that." He scratched the back of his cap with a sheepish grin. "We got a little carried away."
Subjectivity definitely applied to what little meant in that context. Sun was completely shocked at this turn of events.
'I can't believe it.' His thoughts were somewhat sour and childish. 'I really wanted to win too.'
However, the younger boy had learned from his previous mistakes. Throwing a tantrum of emotions would reward him no benefits. Accepting his loss was the most responsible option.
The desire had yet to vanish, however.
"You ok?" Asked Rotom sympathetically. A content expression was offered in return.
"Yeah, I'm good."
"You put up a good fight," complimented Brendan as he walked over.
Sun noticed that Aqua wasn't around, probably returned to the Pokeball. He quickly did the same for Nebby.
"Thanks. You were amazing with your Pokémon."
"What was that thing you did?" Asked the older trainer.
"It'z called a Z-move. It super powerzz an attack to a different stage," explained Rotom before turning over to Sun. "But what you did wazz so awesome. I bet nobody's ever done that before."
"Thanks." A beeping red screen on Rotom indicated that he was running low on power. He hopped back into Sun's backpack to recharge, frequent use of the camera must drain the battery.
The young trainer turned over to the victor of the match. "You and your Pokémon were definitely cool."
Flattery did very little to change Brendan's attitude, so Sun had to get straight to the point. "So, what do you think?"
Understanding that he made a promise, the older brunette pondered over the results of the battle for a few seconds. Several times through the course of the match, he failed to maintain a collective mind against this younger trainer.
The power on display from Sun's legendary Pokémon was also quite exceptional.
"You do have some good skill." His compliment perked the Champion up. "But the answer is still no."
Feeling like a student who got another D on his exam, Sun was partially disappointed. Giving everything and creating a new move were still not enough?
"Come on? Really?" Complained the black-haired boy.
"Yes, really."
"I think we tried really hard." He looked away with a disappointed face.
Brendan sighed in response; dealing with eager young children was never easy for anyone older than that age. Admittedly, he did feel some nostalgia of himself from Sun.
Because of that evocative sensation, the older boy decided to elaborate.
"You're definitely good, but you only got us a few times because you used surprises," explained the brunette.
As much as he wanted to deny it, Sun had to comply with what was being said. Wawi's school form, Mimi's disguise, and the Z move itself were all things that were not really seen much outside of Alola.
"But what about Nebby? The two of us together could definitely help," argued the younger boy, still not wanting to yield.
"Really good, especially with teleport. But still not even close to what Erica-chan and I had to deal with," retorted Brendan.
That probably wasn't too much of a surprise either. Nebby was only able to defeat Lusiheligo after Sun and his other Pokémon weakened her.
"Also, we were pulling a few punches," said Brendan.
Sun's eyes tripled in size when he heard that. Whether it was from the shock that this trainer was literally that good or anger that he didn't get the full treatment like he wanted.
"How?!"
"I could have sent Aqua even more energy, and I did agree to rules that you wanted just to make things easier for you."
Even more points that weighed against him. Now it seems that the odds of winning were never truly in Sun's favor at all.
A sigh of pure irritation and self-disappointment escaped from him. Breaking his end of the deal was definitely not on his agenda. Brendan and his Pokémon had done more than enough to convince him of how much more fearsome the outside world could be.
'Now that I think about it. Alola is probably more for me.'
There were a lot of people in the tropical region who would definitely miss him if he left. That's not even mentioning the complexities of trying to keep his title as Champion.
"Sun." Brendan spoke to garner some attention. "Why did you want to leave Alola?"
A simple question, but most certainly one that revealed much. The initial reason he wanted to go with Brendan was to see the rest of the world as a hot-blooded trainer would. However, there was definitely another reason lying under it.
"I guess...I was hoping that I could see a friend again. One I really like," explained the boy with some shame. He was starting to realize that he hadn't escaped from his lament entirely. "She left a while ago. I wanted to tell her that I really like her, but I didn't."
"Too scared?" Brendan just seemed to have all the answers.
A small laugh resounded from the younger boy. "Yeah, I didn't want to hold her back from her dreams of being strong."
Brendan sighed again, but this time with content instead of irritation. He pulled several revives and potions out of his bag before offering them to Sun. They were obviously accepted.
"You'll get another chance. If she is really your friend like you think she is."
"Thanks. I'll definitely tell her next time."
Brendan nodded and walked towards the stone staircase. There was much more than a good match that he and his team were able to provide for this region. Before disappearing from view, he turned around for one last thing.
"There's definitely more to that Z move thing. Keep on it. I want to battle you and your team again when you guys are ready."
A confident nod reciprocated that demand. "Yeah. I'll definitely get better with Z moves and battle with you again!"
No more words were spoken as the older trainer left the younger with a new sense of the world. Now Sun did know what to do, stay in Alola and continue to grow stronger alongside everyone.
Returning from her job in Hau'oli city, Sakura wiped the sweat off of her forehead. It was most certainly difficult at that said job.
"But it is much better when I get home." Her Meowth came up to her and rubbed its head to her leg. "I know, I missed you too."
Her sight shifted to the countertop where she noticed something very odd. There were no grocery bags on it. Sun had always been willing and helpful to go get the groceries whenever asked. However, he didn't share that willpower in putting the bags away.
'But I thought that he got to the farmer's market three hours ago,' thought Sakura.
The possibility of Sun's depression taking control again came to her. She shook her head violently, making her hair spin. If he snapped at his friends before, what worse things could come after that?
"No! I don't want to think of what could happen."
Right as she finished saying that, Sun walked in. Sakura ran over to make sure that he was alright. She wanted to make sure that no self-inflicted injuries were present.
"Uh, Mom, what are you doing?" Asked her confused son.
"I just want to make sure you're ok. I'm still worried about you." A mother's love was one of the most powerful forces in the world.
"It's ok. I battled against that guy I was talking about the other day," explained Sun with an honest expression of assurance.
"Oh?" Her interest peeked at that answer.
The next few minutes were spent with Sun trying to recount the amazing battle that he had Brendan and the lesson that he learned from it. He was now confident of what he needed to do.
"That's good. I'm glad you're ok."
Sun couldn't hold back the warm smile he crafted in response. However, that didn't last long as he noticed his mother's expression darken.
Meowth picked up on this and ran away. The boy soon realized exactly what was about to happen.
"I...I forgot the groceries...didn't it?" The slow nod of his mother indicated that this conversation would be long and painful.
On that day, Sun learned several things. The road to facing the rest of the world is a long and arduous one, staying in Alola to get stronger there was important, but he was still a 12-year old boy living under his mother's roof.
So, according to the counter, this is the single longest chapter I've ever written. Congratulations if you made it this far! Anyway, thanks for reading this chapter. I hope you liked it. Please leave a review if you have something to say or favorite/follow.
I did look it up to figure out that how I portray shadow sneak is not correct, but I'm a little too far ahead now to go back and change that. Whoops.
Only one more chapter to go for this story. Look for it in the near future!