Trainers, which of Ethan's Pokemon do not share a type with either his own or Kris'?
a) Whitney
b) Cynder
c) Shadow
It took several hours of hiking, but Ethan and Kris finally made it to the end of Victory Road. Having travelled all the way from the Ruins of Alph not entirely on Skarmory's wings, it could definitely be called a difficult endeavour. But the true trial?
"Hello, Kris!" a familiar drawl called. Both Ethan and Kris turned around. Sure enough, it was their rival, the thief who stole Totodile.
"You! What pseudonym do you go under today?"
"I? My name is Tom. And you… are going under."
RIVAL TOM wants to fight!
RIVAL TOM sent out SNEASEL!
Go! SKARMORY!
Skarmory swooped in with a Steel Wing, knocking out the Sneasel. However, tired as it was from the flight, it fell as well.
RIVAL TOM sent out GOLBAT!
Go! Shuckie!
Golbat swooped down upon the pebble, and promptly broke his teeth on the Shuckle's iron like shell. Switching to Feraligator, Tom broke the wall that Shuckie offered… but Kris had a clear plan.
Go! MEGANIUM!
The sheer force of Meganium's leaves trickled over Feraligator, dazing it. Feraligator tried a punch, but got his fist stuck in Meganium's flower. Meganium shot spores up the arm in question, paralysing the Feraligator.
RIVAL TOM sent out KADABRA!
Kadabra used his psychic energy on Meganium, only for Granbull to punch the Meganium out of the way.
Forward.
Colliding with the Meganium, the Kadabra was all but knocked out of the fight. Switching to Haunter, Tom intended to never let the incident occur again.
GRANBULL used CRUNCH!
Tom intended for the incident to not repeat. He failed to consider coverage moves.
"No matter, no matter… you are on three, and I on one. I can win this."
RIVAL TOM sent out MAGNETON!
"Good luck dealing damage!"
Kris racked her brains, trying to remember which of her Pokémon could counter a Magneton. She drew blank, but her team was too fully realised to correct this mistake. However, Seadra came out of his own accord.
"Seadra, he'll… oh. Well, let's see you attack, then."
Seadra coated the field in a dark, inklike substance. No one could see how Seadra defeated Magneton. All they got was a proud sea dragon and some scattered magnets.
"Stars above… could it be… your faith in Seadra… maybe… that's what I lack?"
RIVAL TOM was defeated!
"Thank you, Kris… thanks to you, I have come to see what it is that makes me lose. It has to be confidence. …I must train honestly. I must train fairly. One day, I can come and beat you, Kris. But for now… I need to start by returning this Feraligator."
"Well… you're welcome… uh…"
"No sense in lying about my name. It's Silver. Now… you must also make preparations. If I lost to you, the Elite Four should be a piece of cake. …I hope."
The time for the Elite Four was now.
"Welcome to the Pokémon League, Ethan, Kris. Allow me to introduce myself. I am Will. I have trained all around the world, making my psychic Pokémon more powerful. And now, at last, I've been accepted into the Elite Four. I can only keep getting better! Losing is not an option!"
ELITE FOUR WILL wants to battle!
ELITE FOUR WILL sent out XATU!
Go! ESPEON!
Espeon leaped into the battle, her forked tail quivering. Xatu launched a Confuse Ray attack, which Espeon dodged with dexterity. Espeon leered at the Xatu, before chomping down on it.
ELITE FOUR WILL sent out SLOWBRO!
Espeon, barely finished with its slaughter, launched another Bite at the Slowbro, dealing massive amounts of damage.
ELITE FOUR WILL sent out JYNX!
ELITE FOUR WILL sent out EXEGGUTOR!
ELITE FOUR WILL sent out XATU!
Espeon quite nimbly took down the Jynx and the Exeggutor in sequence. But the Xatu was released so unexpectedly, that Espeon was sure to take a blow.
SHADOW fainted!
I never believed in you… I apologise, dark one.
"The fault is mine. I admit… I was a rough kid back then."
ELITE FOUR WILL was defeated!
"Even though I was defeated, I won't change my course. I will continue battling until I stand above all Trainers! Now, Ethan, Kris, move on and experience the true ferocity of the Elite Four!"
"Fwahahahaha! I am Koga of the Elite Four. I live in shadows, a ninja! My intricate style will confound and destroy you! Confusion, sleep, poison... Prepare to be the victim of my sinister technique! Fwahahahaha! Pokémon is not merely about brute force-you shall see soon enough!"
ELITE FOUR KOGA wants to battle!
ELITE FOUR KOGA sent out ARIADOS!
Go! Cynder!
This battle would not be nearly as easy as the previous. Ariados was Double Teaming like nuts. He then passed the Baton to Forretress, which meant there were a whole bunch of Forretress in the arena.
And there was a high probability that there would be an explosion.
Cynder used FLAMETHROWER!
A large number of Forretress dropped. A repeated pillar, and the rest dropped. There was a lot to be said about using a tactical Fire.
ELITE FOUR KOGA sent out MUK!
Muk repeated the evasiveness tactic, this time with Minimize. Unlike the crude Double Team, Minimize wasn't as susceptible to Flamethrower, allowing Muk to take down Cynder.
Go! Nico!
What Koga hadn't counted on was the whole concept of Muk being attached to the ground.
Nico used EARTHQUAKE!
KOGA sent out CROBAT!
Go! ESPEON!
"One last effort for me, Espeon! Psychic away!"
Truthfully, Espeon managed to defeat both Crobat and Venomoth with this tactic. But Ariados, upon re-entry, was just too much for the poor girl. Espeon fainted in Kris' arms.
Go! SKARMORY!
It was Skarmory's wings that saved the day.
"I subjected you to everything I could muster. But my efforts failed. I must hone my skills. Go on to the next room, and put your abilities to test!"
"I am Bruno of Elite Four. I always train to extreme because I believe our potential. That is how we become strong. Can you withstand our power? Hm? I see no fear in you. You look determined. Perfect for battle! Ready, Ethan, Kris? You will bow down to overwhelming power! Hoo hah!"
ELITE FOUR BRUNO wants to battle!
ELITE FOUR BRUNO sent out HITMONTOP!
Go! SKARMORY!
"Darn it! Just when Espeon fainted…" Ethan sighed. He took Espeon from Kris, and began to stroke her. Kris took to the field, and watched as Skarmory slaughtered one, two, three, four of Bruno's 'tough' Fighters. She failed, however, to keep an eye on her HP, meaning that Bruno's Onix was able to defeat the Skarmory.
Go! Waver!
Lucky there was a Water to finish the job.
"Having lost, I have no right to say anything… Go face your next challenge!"
"I am Karen of the Elite Four. You're Ethan and Kris, huh? How amusing. I love Dark-type Pokémon. I find their wild, tough image to be so… appealing. And they're so strong. Think you can take them? Just try to entertain me. Let's go."
ELITE FOUR KAREN wants to battle!
ELITE FOUR KAREN sent out UMBREON!
Go! Bugbash!
Bugbash reared its fists, and began its punching. Umbreon and Houndoom were no match for the Bug-type basher.
ELITE FOUR KAREN sent out MURKROW!
Murkrow's Flying moves would deal massive damage to Bugbash! Ethan switched to Whitney, who used Rollout to take down the crow. With Murkrow's last breath, she forced Whitney to switch to Nico.
ELITE FOUR KAREN sent out GENGAR!
Gengar was no match for Nico's Earthquake. But the following Pokémon, Vileplume, was. Nico fell to the Petal Dance, which left Vileplume dazed.
"Granbull, finish it."
Granbull complied, using his Ice Punch.
"Strong Pokémon. Weak Pokémon. That is only the selfish perception of people. Truly skilled trainers should try to win with their favourites. I like your style. You understand what's important. Go on… the Champion is waiting…"
The correct answer is b) Cynder.