37.
TRIALS BY INSECT AND ICE
I take a look at the elevator buttons again. The green, blue and black buttons are still illuminated, while the white button is now dimmed to show that I do not need to use it again.
I decide to continue to follow the buttons round in sequence, and so press the top-right button next: the green one bearing the spider silhouette. The lift grinds into action and ascends once more, finally coming to a halt a few moments later. The doors slide open and I step out into the new room.
I blink my eyes in surprise; for a moment I feel like we have stepped outside once again. The floor is green and grassy, with wild tangles of grass growing around the edges and a freshly-mown patch in the centre to serve as the battlefield. Large trees grow in the room's corners, and the sound of cicadas can be heard emanating from within the room. Only by glancing upwards am I reminded that I am still indoors, as I see the metal ceiling of the floor above and the high-set windows in the painted green walls.
I move further into the room, the elevator doors closing behind me, and turn my attention to the figure in the centre, who watches me approach, a smile on his face. The man is tall and slender with short, light brown hair and a goatee beard. He wears a fedora on his head, a khaki jacket and pants which are tucked into his high brown boots. His eyes are a bright green and seem much younger than the rest of his face, which bears a couple of faint age lines.
"Greetings," he welcomes me as I approach him. "You may call me Anton, the Elite Four's master of Bug-type Pokémon. I was watching your battle against Norah. You did do rather well, didn't you?"
"You were watching me?" I repeat.
"Yes indeed," Anton confirms, rubbing his goatee thoughtfully. "We each have a televisual link so that we can observe the progress of challengers through the Pokémon League."
"Doesn't that give you a bit of an unfair advantage?" I suggest. "I mean, you get the chance to see our Pokémon and our strategy before we even meet you. We have to go into battles blind."
Anton gives a genial laugh. "I say, I never thought of it that way," he admits, stroking his goatee again. "Perhaps I shall have words with our President at some point. But now is not the time for that. You are here to face your second challenge in the Pokémon League, and you should know that I will do all I can to provide that challenge."
"Bring it on," I say determinedly, a smile crossing my face.
"In that case, would you allow me to select my Pokémon first?" Anton requests. He detaches a Poké Ball from his belt and tosses it down with a flourish. It bursts open and a graceful-looking butterfly Pokémon emerges, with a dark blue body, large red eyes and gleaming white wings.
"Free, free!" it cries in a high-pitched voice.
"I shall begin with Butterfree, if I may," Anton says. "Please choose your first Pokémon, challenger."
It doesn't take me long to decide which Pokémon to use. I throw down my own Poké Ball and out of it comes my orange Fire Pokémon, Flareon, and one of two members of my team with a handy advantage over Bug Pokémon. "Flareon!" he cries, ruffling his fur menacingly.
"Let the battle begin!" Anton cries. "Butterfree, Stun Spore!"
"Free!" Butterfree flaps its wings and a shower of golden powder descends towards Flareon. It contacts my Pokémon and Flareon shudders. I hear what sounds like a crackle of electricity and realise that the attack has paralyzed Flareon, hindering its speed and its ability to fight.
"Time to even the odds, Flareon," I call. "Use Fire Spin to trap that Butterfree!" Flareon opens his mouth wide and spews out the vortex of flames, which encircle Butterfree, trapping it. Every so often a burst of flame emanates from the ring, striking and damaging the hovering Pokémon.
"Butterfree, blow away those flames with your Silver Wind!" Anton orders. Butterfree begins to flap its wings hard, and the fire begins to dissipate. Eventually it fades completely and a silvery powder whooshes through the air towards Flareon, contacting my Pokémon, although it seems to cause little damage. "Now, for the coup de grace!" Anton cries. "Psybeam attack!"
"Don't let it hit you, Flareon!" I call as Butterfree builds its strength, preparing its attack. "Use Take Down to knock it out of the air!" Flareon leaps up and tackles Butterfree, bringing both of them crashing to the ground and surprising Butterfree to the extent that it cannot prepare its Psybeam any further. "Great, now finish it off with a Fire Fang!" I encourage.
Flareon opens his jaws wide and clamps his burning fangs onto Butterfree's wing. Butterfree cries out with pain and tries to pull away, but Flareon's grip is too strong. Eventually Anton's Pokémon admits defeat and stops struggling, collapsing to the floor, and Flareon finally releases it.
"I say!" Anton exclaims. "That was some move!" He retrieves Butterfree's Poké Ball and holds it up. "Time to come on back, Butterfree," he says as he recalls his Pokémon.
"Nice one, Flareon. Return," I say, calling back my own Pokémon. Once he is back inside his Poké Ball, I look across at Anton. "I'm one round up now," I remind him. "I only need two more wins."
"Then I shall have to raise my game somewhat," Anton says with a grin. He chooses his second Poké Ball and tosses it down. "I choose Beedrill for the second round!" he announces as the ball opens. Out of it comes another flying insect Pokémon, this one with a yellow and black striped body like that of a wasp. It has two large stingers on its forelegs and another on its backside.
"This one shouldn't be too much trouble," I say confidently. "Go, Staraptor!" I throw her Poké Ball down to the grassy arena floor and my bird Pokémon bursts out of it, ready for her second battle against an Elite Four member. "Let's not waste time, Staraptor! Aerial Ace attack!" I command.
"Star!" My Pokémon wraps her wings in tight to her body and launches herself at Beedrill, colliding with the Pokémon and knocking it to the ground. Beedrill takes off again after a moment, though it looks severely weakened by the attack.
"Use its strength against it, Beedrill!" Anton instructs. "Endeavor attack, now!" Beedrill makes eye contact with Staraptor and there is a bright flash of light. Staraptor suddenly looks unsteady, and I realise that this is due to suddenly having its health lowered to the same level as Beedrill's; a technique Staraptor and I have used many times in the past.
"All right, now Poison Jab it!" Anton calls.
"Dodge it with Double Team, Staraptor!" I counter. Beedrill flits over to where Staraptor is as she begins to generate her illusory copies. Beedrill starts to jab with its foreleg stingers, lancing back and forth through the illusions, but never hitting the real thing. "Wait for an opening, then Aerial Ace it again!" I call to my Pokémon.
A moment later, the Staraptor illusions disappear and the real thing appears behind Beedrill. Before Beedrill can react, Staraptor dives at it again, once more knocking it down to the ground, where it gives a feeble buzz. "Beedrill, Endeavor again!" Anton calls, but his Pokémon fails to respond.
"It's too late," I say with a triumphant grin. "Beedrill's been knocked out."
"What a pity!" Anton says. "I would have really had you on the ropes had I hit your Staraptor with a second Endeavor!" Nonetheless he retrieves Beedrill's Poké Ball, and I Staraptor's, and we both call back our Pokémon simultaneously.
"Now it's two-nil to me," I tell him. "If I win this next round, it's a clean sweep to me."
"Very true," Anton agrees. "But that won't happen if Yanmega and I have anything to say about it! Go!" He tosses down his third - and hopefully final - Poké Ball, and out of it comes an enormous dragonfly Pokémon, which I guess to be at least six feet long if not bigger. It is dark green in colour and has three pairs of wings, two on its body and one smaller pair on its tail, and narrow, mean-looking red eyes.
"Hmm…" I consider to myself for a moment. Bug Pokémon are weak to Fire-, Flying-, and Rock-type attacks. That means I still have one Pokémon left with an advantage over Anton, and I choose his Poké Ball now. "Go, Azumarill!" The ball opens and Azumarill emerges once again, so soon after he helped me achieve victory over Norah. I'm about to find out if he can do it again.
"Yanmega, start things off with a Bug Buzz attack," Anton instructs. Yanmega flits its wings rapidly and a loud buzzing sound begins to fill the air.
"Use Defense Curl, Azumarill!" I call to my Pokémon. Azumarill curls up into his protective ball shape, but still shudders quite violently as he feels the force of his opponent's attack.
"Defense Curl won't protect you against Yanmega's special attacks!" Anton cries excitedly. "Yanmega, Air Slash!" Yanmega whips its massive body and tail around, creating a blade of air that slices straight through Azumarill, who shudders again.
"OK Azumarill, time for your Rollout attack!" I cry, and a look of unpleasant surprise crosses Anton's face - clearly he didn't see this coming. Azumarill starts to roll toward Yanmega, launching himself up like a cannonball and colliding with the hovering Pokémon, knocking it down to the ground. As Yanmega struggles to recover, Azumarill wheels around and comes hurtling past again, barrelling over the downed Pokémon another two times.
"Yanmega, Detect the next attack!" Anton orders. As Azumarill comes round for a fourth hit, building up more speed all the time, Yanmega suddenly takes off into the air and starts to hover again. Azumarill rolls right under it and barely manages to screech to a halt before crashing into the wall.
"The damage is done, Azumarill!" I call. "Finish it off with your Surf attack!" Azumarill straightens up and concentrates, and just like in the battle with Norah, a tidal wave appears out of thin air and crashes down upon the battlefield, drenching Yanmega, Anton, Reo and me. When the tide finally lowers and begins to be absorbed by the room's grassy floor, I see that Yanmega has collapsed onto the ground, motionless apart from the occasional twitch of its wings. It has been defeated.
"All right!" I cry in excitement. "We did it! We beat the second member of the Elite Four!" I thank Azumarill and call him back before taking a few steps closer to Anton, who recalls his Yanmega and looks down at me, a smile on his face.
"How disappointing!" he says somewhat sorrowfully. "It's been a while since I received so sound a thrashing from a challenger. Perhaps if I had used some of my other Pokémon instead, things might have gone differently." Anton shrugs his shoulders. "Ah well, hindsight is so wonderful an ability. As you say, challenger, for now I am defeated, and you may proceed onto your third challenge here at the Pokémon League."
After healing my Pokémon for me once again, Anton offers me his hand to shake. I accept and make my way back to the elevator alongside Reo, where we survey the buttons once more. Only two of them remain lit now. I glance between them a couple of times before finally pressing the blue button with the snowflake design. The lift ascends, gives a ping, and the doors slide open.
I step out into the room and almost slip over backwards; fortunately Reo catches me before I land flat on my back. I straighten up and take a moment to behold the room, discovering immediately the reason for my near mishap. The floor, ceiling and all four walls of this room are completely covered with ice that looks a good couple of inches thick at least. Even the windows high up in the walls are frosted over, and a couple of them have started to crack from the immense cold and pressure.
Cautiously and tentatively, I head further into the room, wrapping my jacket tighter around myself and shivering. My body and clothes are still wet from being hit by Surf at the climax of my battle with Anton, and the air in this icy chamber is bitterly cold. I head for the figure in the centre of the room, and she turns to behold me as I draw closer and come to a stop in the challenger's rectangle.
This woman is much younger than Norah or Anton. She looks to be in her early twenties, and is stunningly beautiful. Her white-blonde hair is styled into a long plait that reaches past her shoulders, and she wears a floor-length, aqua blue dress with lighter sleeves and a long, translucent cape that strokes the floor behind her. Her grace, poise and beauty give her the appearance of someone regal and majestic.
"Welcome," she greets me, her voice smooth and calm. "My name is Elsa. I'm one of the Elite Four, and as you can probably guess, I'm a user of the Ice-type."
"H-H-Hi," I respond, my teeth chattering.
"I've been watching your progress so far, Luke," Elsa informs me. "I was particularly impressed with your flawless defeat of Anton downstairs. I suppose that means I'm the third member of the Elite Four you've chosen to face."
"Th-That's g-g-great," I stammer.
"Are you cold?" Elsa asks me, finally noticing my predicament.
"A l-little," I admit. "Wh-What about you? Aren't you f-f-freezing in a thin d-dress like that?"
Elsa shrugs. "The cold never really bothered me all that much," she says vaguely. "When I was a kid, my sister and I used to go out in the snow and play for hours sledging and building snowmen. I guess that's where my love of Ice Pokémon first came from." She smiles at me. "But you haven't come here to listen to my stories, have you? You've come here as part of your Pokémon League challenge."
"Y-Yeah, I g-g-guess I have," I mumble.
"Don't worry, once our battle gets started I'm sure the adrenaline will warm you up," Elsa says soothingly. "Why don't you pick your Pokémon first, hm? Kick things off however you like."
I consider for a moment, still shivering. If I'm going to warm up from my battle, there's one Pokémon I have that would suit that purpose perfectly. I choose his Poké Ball and throw it forward, and it bursts open when it hits the icy floor.
"Flareon!" my Fire Pokémon cries. I feel the heat radiating from his fur and it makes me feel instantly warmer. A grin spreads across my face and I turn to look at Elsa again.
"Ah, that's much better," I say, and she lets out a small chuckle. After surveying Flareon for a moment, she chooses a Poké Ball herself and releases her first round Pokémon. The ball opens in a flash of light, and I take a look at the Pokémon that emerges. It is large and almost spherical, with a body encased in thick, white ice. It has two black horns on its head and a pair of glaring ice blue eyes.
"I shall begin with Glalie," Elsa informs me. Flareon beholds his opponent, looking slightly intimidated by the fierce-looking Glalie.
"Don't let it scare you, Flareon. Your Fire-type moves will wreak havoc against that Ice Pokémon," I tell Flareon confidently.
"OK Glalie, let's get started! Use your Hail attack!" Elsa calls. Glalie focuses its energy for a moment, then suddenly within the confines of the room a hailstorm starts up. The shards of ice that fall from the ceiling strike my Pokémon, seeming to cause some damage.
"Flareon, counterattack with Fire Spin!" I instruct. Flareon opens his mouth wide and blows out a torrent of flames to encircle Glalie, and every now and then flashes of fire leap out and strike Elsa's Pokémon. The damage helps to counteract the damage Flareon receives from the hail that's still falling from the ceiling.
"Glalie, blow away that Fire Spin with your Blizzard attack!" Elsa calls. Glalie concentrates its energy once again, and the hail in the air suddenly starts to grow more and more fierce as it turns into a howling blizzard. The force of the move douses the flames around Glalie, who gives a roar and launches the attack at Flareon. The freezing air and chunks of ice blast my Pokémon, and Flareon shivers violently, struggling to remain standing until the attack finally dies down.
"Time to turn the tide in our favour, Flareon!" I say. "Knock that Glalie out of the air with your Take Down!" Flareon hunkers down despite the persistent hail and leaps at Glalie, who is caught totally by surprise, no doubt assuming that its Blizzard attack would have finished off my Pokémon. Flareon collides with Glalie in the air and succeeds in sending it crashing down to the icy battlefield floor. "Good! Now, Fire Fang it!"
Flareon clamps its fiery jaws around one of Glalie's horns, and Elsa's Pokémon lets out a roar, its eyes rolling back in its head. Finally Flareon releases the Pokémon, and Glalie collapses onto the floor with a thud. It doesn't seem to be able to continue battling.
"Thank you, Glalie. Return," Elsa says graciously, calling back her defeated Pokémon.
"All right!" I celebrate. "You were awesome, Flareon. Come on back for now." I call Flareon back and he does not protest, seeming glad to get out of the hail that continues to fall even now.
"So, looks like you're one up," Elsa muses. "Still, I've got plenty of gas left in the tank. It's time I stepped my game up!" She chooses a second Poké Ball and throws it down gracefully, with a cry of "Come on out, Abomasnow!" The ball opens and a huge shape emerges. Abomasnow is tall and white, with green hands and feet that have an almost leaf-like look to them.
A dual-type Grass/Ice Pokémon? It's a shame I'm not allowed to use Flareon again, I think to myself - he'd have made mincemeat of this one. Nevertheless, I still have one more Pokémon that's good against Ice-types, and I turn to him now.
"All right Reo, you're up," I tell my partner.
"Of course," Reo agrees, stepping around to face Abomasnow. I notice with a jolt of surprise that Reo's fists are clenched. It seems that the hail is somewhat displeasing to him, too.
"Right then, Reo, let's end this quickly!" I say to my partner, not wanting to expose him to the hail any longer than is necessary. "Aura Sphere attack!"
"Abomasnow, Ingrain," Elsa instructs as my Pokémon begins to charge his attack. Roots extend from Abomasnow's feet and anchor it into the ground, giving it a source of nutrients but preventing its movement. Reo fires his attack and it collides with Abomasnow's chest, and although the Pokémon is rocked for a moment, it still seems to have plenty of strength left. An unpleasant shiver passes down my spine, though this time one of unease rather than cold. It appears Abomasnow is just as tough as it looks.
"Reo, if it's Ingrained like that, it must be helpless!" I say, trying to sound more confident than I feel. "Use your Force Palm attack!" Reo claps his hands together and begins to charge toward Abomasnow, moving gracefully and carefully so as not to trip on the icy floor.
"Abomasnow, wait till it gets near you, then pound it with Wood Hammer!" Elsa instructs. Abomasnow watches the charging Reo, and just as he is about to strike with his palm, it whips its right arm down over its head and brings it crashing onto Reo's skull with a sickening thud. Reo teeters back and forth, looking distinctly dazed from the attack. "Now, Icy Wind attack!" Elsa calls.
"Endure it, Reo!" I cry desperately, and Reo wraps his arms around his body to protect himself from the freezing blast of air that Abomasnow now exhales. After a moment Abomasnow leans back, no doubt intending to suck in another gulp of air before going for another blast. "Now's our chance, Reo! Force Palm it!"
Quick as a flash, Reo jumps out of his protective stance and thrusts his right palm forward, striking Abomasnow square in the chest. Abomasnow lets out a howl of pain and collapses backwards, its roots being torn up from underneath it. It hits the battlefield floor with a deafening crash and does not get up again.
"All right, we did it again!" I say in excitement. I notice that Reo looks severely shaken, and is now visibly flinching every time a hailstone connects with his body. I retrieve his Poké Ball from my belt. "Reo, you'd better come back for now." As I recall my Pokémon, he turns back and gives me a grateful look. Once he is sealed away, though, I begin to feel distinctly alone as I turn back to survey Elsa, who has also recalled her Pokémon.
"Well, the pressure is really on me, now, isn't it?" she ponders. "There's only three rounds to go, and I need all three of them to win the match." She pauses for a moment, looking at me. "It's your turn to pick first," she reminds me.
"Oh right, yeah…" I consider my options. Leavanny and Staraptor are both weak to ice, and since I only need one more round I'd like to avoid using them if possible. That leaves Azumarill or Gardevoir. Once again, I realise, Azumarill's Rollout attack is actually super-effective against Ice Pokémon, giving me another unexpected advantage. With this in mind, I choose his Poké Ball and release my Water Pokémon once again. I've now used Azumarill in all three of my battles against the Elite Four, I realise vaguely.
This time, Elsa only takes a moment to select her Pokémon. "Go, Jynx!" she calls as the ball opens. Out of it comes one of the most bizarre-looking Pokémon I have ever seen. It has the appearance of a short, somewhat chubby woman with purple skin, long blonde hair and a red dress that drapes across the floor around it. It has enormous pink lips and staring eyes which make me feel somewhat uncomfortable.
"Azumarill, use your Rollout attack!" I instruct, getting straight to the point. Azumarill springs into his ball shape and begins to roll towards Elsa's strange Pokémon.
"Jynx, Psychic attack!" is the instruction from my opponent, and my eyebrows raise in unpleasant surprise. I hadn't expected Jynx to pull out a Psychic-type move. I guess this is why I need Reo by my side in battles, to help me foresee these things…
Jynx starts to perform a strange kind of dance routine, and this causes the rolling Azumarill to be lifted into the air mid-roll. After a moment, Jynx slams him down onto the ground with its psychic power and Azumarill snaps out of his ball shape looking rather wounded.
"Come on, Azumarill! Try a Surf attack!" I call, refusing to be beaten. Azumarill gets gingerly back to his feet and concentrates his energy, and before long an enormous wave rises from the floor and begins to move towards Jynx.
"Jynx, use your Blizzard attack on that wave to freeze it!" Elsa instructs. Jynx turns to the side and concentrates its energy, and once again the hailstorm in the air gets more and more violent, with Jynx sending all of its energy towards the tumbling wave. Just as the wave begins to crash towards Jynx, it freezes into solid ice, creating a rather impressive-looking frozen curl of water at the side of the room. As awesome as it looks, though, the move has, as a result, caused no damage to Jynx.
"Azumarill, try another Rollout," I call, running rapidly out of ideas.
It seems that Elsa has noticed this, too. "Jynx, dodge the attack and then hit it with a Body Slam!" As Azumarill begins to roll somewhat reluctantly towards Jynx again, Elsa's Pokémon jumps over it in an ungainly manner before simply falling flat onto my Pokémon, squashing it. "That should do it, Jynx!" Elsa calls. Jynx gets up and to my dismay I see that she is right: Azumarill remains pressed into the icy floor, knocked out.
"You tried hard, Azumarill. Come on back," I say as I call my Pokémon back. Across the field, Elsa also recalls Jynx, and then turns to look up at me, a grin now on her face.
"Looks like I've stopped you from getting a perfect run this time," she says. "I'm going to keep up the pressure while I've got the advantage! Go, Glaceon!" She throws down her fourth round Poké Ball and releases her Pokémon. It has a long, slender body of an ice blue colour, a pointed tail and ears and long hair-like fronds that hang down either side of its head. Its appearance looks similar in ways to both Espeon and Flareon, and I presume that this must be another of Eevee's potential evolutions.
I consider my strategy for a moment. Using Gardevoir now is risky because if I lose then I'll have a disadvantage in the all-important final battle. But if I use one of my Pokémon that are weak to ice now, then it increases the chance of having to go to a fifth and final round. I eventually select the Poké Ball containing my Psychic-type Pokémon and release her. Gardevoir gives a stretch and surveys her opponent, looking prepared for the battle at hand.
"Glaceon, start things off with an Ice Fang!" Elsa instructs.
"Block it with Reflect, Gardevoir!" I counter. Glaceon begins to run towards my Pokémon, but Gardevoir is ready for it. She throws up an invisible barrier that knocks the approaching Pokémon backwards and protects Gardevoir from the oncoming attack. "Good work! Now hit it with an Energy Ball!" Gardevoir draws in her energy and fires off the ball of green light, hitting Glaceon as it struggles to regain its feet.
"Glaceon, strike back with Icy Wind!" Glaceon opens its mouth and exhales a frosty blast at Gardevoir, who wraps her arms around her slender body to try and protect it from the attack. "Good work! Now, try another Ice Fang!" I hear Elsa say.
This time, I decide to try something different and use Elsa's own strategy against her. "Gardevoir, Psychic attack!" Gardevoir concentrates hard and lifts Glaceon into the air with her psychic power. Glaceon continues to try and run, surprised, until Gardevoir finally releases her strength and sends her opponent slamming painfully into the ground, where Glaceon struggles to get back up once again.
"One more Energy Ball should finish it!" I cry, and Gardevoir obediently draws in her power once more and fires another Energy Ball at the downed Glaceon. This attack, as predicted, sees off Elsa's fourth Pokémon, as it does not attempt to make another recovery.
"Oh, no!" Elsa cries, surprised. "It's over already?"
"Yeah! We did it!" I cry, punching the air in victory. I run across to Gardevoir and hug her gratefully. "Thanks, Gardevoir. You were amazing." Gardevoir hugs me back, and a surprisingly peaceful feeling spreads through my body. Is this what an embrace from the Embrace Pokémon feels like? No wonder Luna's Gallade is so enamoured.
Finally Gardevoir and I break apart and I return her to her Poké Ball. I walk over to Elsa, who has recalled her Glaceon. "Thanks for a great battle, Elsa," I say to her. "You were right - I don't actually feel so cold anymore. And this battlefield sure is pretty."
Elsa smiles at me. "I'm glad you enjoyed it. And now you only have one more battle to face before you can take on the Champion. With all my heart, I wish you every success in that battle. And now, I'd probably better see about getting your Pokémon healed up, ready for it." I watch Elsa as she leaves the room momentarily to heal my party. She certainly seems to have a much warmer personality than I would expect from someone who spends their life with Ice Pokémon.
Finally Elsa returns with my Pokémon. She congratulates me and wishes me luck once more, and I thank her and make my way back to the elevator, releasing Reo once more when we are inside. As one, we both turn to behold the buttons. Only one of them remains lit now: the black one bearing the crescent moon emblem.
"Only one member of the Elite Four left…" Reo ponders aloud. "And unless he's been deposed since our meeting in Creation Mountain, we already know who that's going to be."
"Then let's not waste any time," I say confidently, pushing the button. The elevator begins to ascend once again, and I stand, determined, feeling my heart beat faster in anticipation.
It's finally time for me to face Brandon one on one.