Episode 38: Digging in against Nanu!
It didn't take long to find the site for the Grand Trial. From Po Town, it was only an hour's walk east along the coast of Ula'ula Island. When Niko, Charlotte, and Warren arrived there, they noticed Nanu was sitting near the edge of the concrete battlefield, staring out into the ocean. It was midday, and there was a light ocean breeze about them that made the trio question what season it actually was, since it felt more like late summer than late autumn.
"Nanu…?" Niko asked in an ordinary tone. The Island Kahuna turned his head slightly, nodded, and lazily got up to face them.
"Hey. Ready?" he asked with a slight grin on his face. Niko nodded. "Which one is first?"
"I am," Charlotte said, as Niko had gone first during Acerola's trial. Nanu nodded and stepped up to his end of the battlefield while Charlotte stepped up to hers. Niko and Warren each took spots on the sidelines, and a judge explained the rules of the three-on-three Pokémon battle. Allowing them to begin promptly.
"Sableye," Nanu said, summoning a small purple creature with light gems for eyes.
"Mudbray, let's go!" Charlotte shouted, summoning the Donkey Pokémon for his first ever battle. "You ready?" she asked. Mudbray nodded, only having eyes for his opponent. "Use high horsepower!"
"Sableye, slow it down with power gem," Nanu commanded. Sableye thrusted its arms forward and fired off small pink gems, each of which successfully hit Mudbray, who hardly seemed to slow down from his own attack. He succeeded in crashing into Sableye, knocking the Darkness Pokémon backwards. Charlotte looked with surprise at the battlefield. Mudbray's attack left a pair of parallel black streaks on the ground.
"That's stronger than it used to be…" Charlotte said, looking up at Mudbray, who was stricken by a shadow ball to the face, forcing him onto his right side. "Mudbray!"
"Power gem," Nanu said calmly. Sableye fired off several pink rocks at Mudbray, leaving bruises all around his body. Charlotte couldn't bear to let it continue and held out her pokéball.
"Return," she said. We need to work on that. "Salazzle, I choose you!" she shouted, summoning the Toxic Lizard Pokémon. "Let's go. Use toxic!"
Salazzle leaned onto all fours and shrieked out, summoning an oozing purple circle underneath Sableye. The circle burst upwards, spraying poisonous material all over the Darkness Pokémon. Sableye then collapsed onto one knee before reaching forward and firing off another power gem from its left hand. Salazzle skillfully dodged each move before slithering forward and slamming its tail into Sableye and knocking it over.
"Use flame burst!" Charlotte commanded. Salazzle opened her mouth and quickly shot a close-range fireball at Sableye's head, sprayed fire everywhere and burning some of the leftover poison on the battlefield. Sableye then swiftly shot its head in Salazzle's direction and fired a shadow ball upwards, hitting the Toxic Lizard Pokémon in the neck and causing her to stumble backwards. "Dragon rage!"
"Power gem!" Nanu commanded, a little sterner this time. The purple flames from dragon rage collided with the pink gems, creating a stalemate between the two Pokémon. "Dark pulse."
"Flame burst!" Charlotte commanded. Salazzle shot out another small fireball that flew through the dark pulse before colliding with it mid-attack, causing a lopsided explosion that hit Sableye more than the lizard. Sableye collapsed backwards, giving Charlotte and Salazzle the opening they needed. "Use dragon rage!"
"Dark pulse," Nanu said, although it was too late. The purple flame engulfed Sableye, with the poisoned effect adding to it. Sableye collapsed, its head softly hitting the concrete below it.
"Sableye is unable to battle, Salazzle is the winner!" the judge declared. "Kahuna Nanu will now send out his second Pokémon!"
"Return, Sableye. Krokorok, I choose you!" Nanu said, lazily throwing out another ultra-ball containing the sand crocodile that Niko and Charlotte were familiar with. "Use earthquake!"
"Toxic!" Charlotte commanded. If Salazzle were going down, then she'd at least try to do some lasting damage. However, her Toxic Lizard was stronger than that, which made her grin. Once the earthquake terminated, Salazzle turned to her trainer and gave a pained grin. "Good job," Charlotte praised as Krokorok was overcome by the poisonous material. "Now, dragon rage!"
Salazzle leaned forward and shot off more purple flames, engulfing Krokorok. She then, surprisingly, slithered forward and, opening her mouth, sprayed poison all over the Desert Croc Pokémon.
"What the…?" Charlotte asked curiously. She recognized the move from somewhere, but certainly not from Salazzle. Did she just learn something new?
"Bzzzt, Charlotte!" Rotomdex cried out, "Salazzle learned venoshock!"
"Venoshock…" Charlotte said, nodding and smiling. "Well done, Salazzle!" she shouted happily. Salazzle once more turned to Charlotte and grinned. However, neither of them saw Krokorok shoot downwards, bite onto Salazzle's tail, swing her upwards, and spin her around mercilessly. "No!"
"Use assurance!" Nanu commanded. Krokorok, finished spinning Salazzle, then slammed her into the ground before shaking the ground viciously.
"Salazzle…" Charlotte said before the judge declared her unable to battle.
"Salazzle is unable to battle, Krokorok wins! Charlotte will now use her next Pokémon!" the judge declared.
"Lapras, I choose you!" Charlotte shouted. She knew that, as usual, Lapras hated being on land, but she wanted the Transport Pokémon to see battle again, since the last time was against Kahuna Olivia, where her shiny Pokémon had won her the match. "Lapras, you can do this. Just follow my lead, alright?"
Lapras turned to Charlotte and nodded before bellowing out in a threatening tone. Krokorok got into a battle stance, clearly also ready to fight.
"Earthquake," Nanu said coldly.
"Stop it with ice beam!" Charlotte commanded. Just as the earthquake started shaking the battlefield, and Lapras along with it, the Transport Pokémon attempted to fire off an ice beam. She was successful in using the attack, however it misfired and hit the space to the left of Krokorok. Charlotte grit her teeth before commanding Lapras to use water pulse, to which Krokorok responded by using Assurance to block it, causing the pulsating orb of water to burst and spray everywhere.
It'll be hard because Lapras doesn't move very fast, or very far, on land…Charlotte thought, trying to come up with a successful strategy that involved mobility. With most of her other Pokémon, this wasn't too difficult. With Lapras, it was quite the opposite. In fact, it was her least mobile Pokémon, both from her Kalos and Alolan Pokémon teams.
"Krokorok, use earthquake," Nanu commanded.
"Ice shard!" Charlotte shouted. This time, Lapras managed to strike first, thrusting small bits of sharp ice at the Desert Croc Pokémon, striking it in the shoulders and arms and causing it to collapse forward. "Now, use ice beam!"
Lapras continued with the onslaught, firing a beam of ice energy at Krokorok, freezing its feet before shooting out a water pulse to finish the job.
"Krokorok is unable to battle, Lapras is the winner!" the judge declared, "Kahuna Nanu will now send out his third and final Pokémon!"
"Yes!" Charlotte shouted, leaping in the air happily. "Well done, Lapras!"
Nanu nodded, a smirk etched on the side of his face. "Not bad, not bad. Persian, you're up," Nanu said, throwing out a third ultra ball, this time containing a Pokémon that Niko and Charlotte thought they were familiar with. Only…it looked different.
This variation of Persian was grey-blue in color with a larger and rounded face with noticeable jowls. Its eyes were in a half-closed state, and instead of a red forehead jewel, it had a blue jewel.
"Bzzzt, that's a Persian!" Rotomdex declared, "It's a dark type, and is known as the Classy Cat Pokémon! Its round face is a symbol of wealth. Persian that have bigger, plumper faces are considered more beautiful."
"Dark pulse," Nanu said calmly.
"Water pulse!" Charlotte shouted. Lapras opened her mouth and summoned another pulsating orb of water that was thrown forward, exploding upon colliding with the nexus of dark energy emanating from Persian's blue jewel.
"Fake out," Nanu continued. Persian charged forward before shifting to the left. Charlotte ordered Lapras to use ice beam, however the Persian she aimed at immediately disappeared. Suddenly, from Lapras' right, a claw slashed at her face, causing her to wail out in pain. "Dark pulse!"
"Water pulse!" Charlotte shouted. Persian landed on the ground and fired a dark pulse just as Lapras mustered the energy to throw her head towards the Classy Cat Pokémon and release a final water pulse. The resulting explosion launched Persian backwards like a rocket and caused Lapras to fall forward in defeat.
"Lapras is unable to battle, Persian is the winner!" the judge declared. "Charlotte will now use her third and final Pokémon!"
"Return," Charlotte said with a sigh. All she had left was Mudbray, who barely got out of a battle with Sableye. Can he fight this thing? It's stronger. Also…Nanu hasn't used a Z-move yet. What's the dark type Z-move? "Mudbray, you're up!" she shouted, summoning the Donkey Pokémon. "I'm counting on you buddy. We can do this."
"She's down to her newest Pokémon…" Niko muttered, slightly worried about his girlfriend's prospects. However, Charlotte had been through tougher situations before. This would be no different. "Go Charlotte!"
"Persian, dark pulse!" Nanu commanded, suddenly feeling more fired up, and uncharacteristically so.
"High horsepower!" Charlotte commanded. Mudbray nodded, charging forward at a blinding speed, quickly moving to the right to evade the move before turning again toward Persian. However, Mudbray ran too fast and missed, nearly falling off of the edge behind Nanu and into the water. "Mudbray, be careful!" Charlotte shouted, worried. Sighing, she thought of what the little Donkey Pokémon knew besides high horsepower. "Use stomp!"
Mudbray nodded, charging once more at Persian, dodging a power gem along the way. He attempted to leap into the air, with the intention of landing his powerful hooves on top of the Classy Cat Pokémon, only to miss and get faked out by his opponent, thrusting him onto his side and into the ground.
"High horsepower!" Charlotte shouted, running out of ideas for a potential strategy. Persian wasn't making this easy. Mudbray successfully used the move this time, but took a power gem in exchange, launching him backwards and nearly off of his feet once again. "Now…bide!" she commanded. High risk, high reward move… Charlotte muttered.
Mudbray then took beating after beating from Persian. Nanu smirked, realizing what she was doing. Then, once it seemed like Mudbray was about to release his pent-up energy, Nanu lifted his Z-ring to reveal a black crystal sitting in it.
"Persian!" Nanu shouted, again uncharacteristically, "Use Black Hole Eclipse!"
"Oh no…" Charlotte muttered. Persian roared out, summoning a massive black hole above it. The attack began sucking everything around it on the battlefield, specifically the energy beam fired off by Mudbray. However, the Donkey Pokémon surprised everyone—especially his trainer—by resisting the Black Hole Eclipse. "How…?" Charlotte wondered, looking down at Mudbray's hooves.
He dug into the concrete.
We have a chance now…Charlotte realized, looking up at Nanu with a determined expression. She then reached into her pocket and pulled out Normalium-Z. "Mudbray, let's go," performing the poses for Breakneck Blitz, she shouted the moved and, upon energy transfer, Mudbray charged forward. "Aim for the blue jewel!" she added. Mudbray nodded, bursting towards his opponent with the fury allowed by the Z-energy.
Mudbray collided directly with Persian, headbutting it as their bodies met. Persian was shot backwards, landing right behind Nanu and near the edge of the coast that they were on.
"Persian is unable to battle, Mudbray is the winner!" the judge declared, "the victory goes to Charlotte from Castelia City!"
Charlotte smiled happily. "We did it, Mudbray!" she said, leaning down to pet the mud-caked Donkey Pokémon. "I'm so proud of you for digging in. Let's use that strategy again, alright?"
Mudbray nodded and, for the first time, he smiled at Charlotte.
Half an hour later, once Nanu's Pokémon had healed, it was Niko's turn. The judge explained the rules once more to them and, before Niko knew it, the battle had started.
"Sableye, you're up!" Nanu commanded.
"Drampa, I choose you!" Niko shouted, summoning his newly-caught dragon Pokémon. "You ready buddy?" Drampa turned and smiled warmly to Niko, who nodded with an equal amount of determination. "I know. Drampa, use dragonbreath!"
"Sableye, shadow ball," Nanu commanded. The two attacks collided before Drampa lifted himself into the air and flew around Sableye. Meanwhile, Niko was trying to figure out a specific strategy for Drampa, who knew only one move that could truly damage the dark type Sableye. He knows natural gift…what does that do? Niko thought to himself. "Drampa, use natural gift!" he said naively.
Drampa, from midair, turned to Niko with a confused look.
Dammit, what does that do?
"Bzzzt, Niko! Drampa needs a berry to use natural gift!" Rotomdex shouted. Niko reached into his bag and threw an Oran Berry to the Placid Pokémon, who quickly flew down, dodging a dark pulse, and ate the berry. He then turned viciously to Sableye and spewed poisonous energy at the Darkness Pokémon. Sableye quickly sidestepped the attack and responded with power gem, which successfully hit Drampa.
Then, Niko realized, Drampa began to fume. He looked angry. Without warning, the Placid Pokémon spewed purple and orange flames everywhere, engulfing Sableye who used a panicky dark pulse that ultimately missed.
"Drampa! Another!" Niko shouted, throwing his Pokémon another Oran Berry. Drampa, despite his rage, took the berry happily before spewing it back at Sableye, quickly defeating the Darkness Pokémon.
"Sableye is unable to battle, Drampa is the winner!" the judge declared. "Kahuna Nanu will now use his second Pokémon!"
"Return, Sableye," Nanu commanded before summoning another ultra ball out. "Krokorok, I choose you. Use assurance."
"Drampa, dodge and use dragon breath!" Niko commanded. However, they both learned that Krokorok was far faster than Drampa, sprinting forward to slash at the Placid Pokémon before he could take flight and fire off an aerial dragon attack. Drampa roared out in pain as he collapsed back to the ground.
"Earthquake," Nanu commanded coldly. Krokorok obeyed, shaking the ground underneath it. Drampa had difficulty getting up during the earthquake, eventually electing to wait it out before getting into the air. However, before he could Krokorok bit down on his wing, once more preventing the Placid Pokémon from taking flight. "Assurance!"
"Dragon breath!" Niko shouted, angered by the difficulty in handling the Desert Croc Pokémon. Drampa managed to remove Krokorok, but not before collapsing back to the ground in defeat.
"Drampa is unable to battle, Krokorok is the winner! Challenger Niko will now use his second Pokémon!" the judge declared.
"Drampa, return," Niko said calmly. It was only the beginning—he had two more Pokémon, after all. "Vaporeon, you're up!"
"Krokorok, be careful with this one," Niko overheard Nanu say quietly to his Desert Croc Pokémon. "This one is faster. Use earthquake to knock it off balance."
"Vaporeon, into the air!" Niko shouted, surprising both Vaporeon and Nanu. The Bubble Jet Pokémon nodded, leaping as high into the air as she could before throwing down a water pulse onto the quaking battlefield. "Now, again, but in a different direction!"
Nanu quickly saw what Niko was trying to do and had Krokorok attempt to break the newly formed ice battlefield with earthquake. However, it hardly seemed to work, since Vaporeon managed to use the ice to slide right into Krokorok, dodging an assurance and firing a close-range water pulse to knock the Desert Croc Pokémon backwards.
"Well done, Vaporeon!" Niko praised. "Let's keep it up! Use aurora beam at Krokorok's feet!"
"Think you can repeat that strategy?" Nanu asked with a wry smile. "Earthquake and follow up with assurance!"
"Vaporeon, dodge and use water pulse!" Niko shouted. Vaporeon used the remaining ice to slide to the left and quickly spin back around, firing a water pulse in front of Krokorok. "Aurora beam!"
The Bubble Jet Pokémon released a beam of rainbow-colored energy at the puddle creating by water pulse just before Krokorok got there, freezing the battlefield directly in front of Niko and causing the Desert Croc Pokémon to fall forward.
"Water pulse!" Niko shouted. Vaporeon slid along the ice and leapt into the air using her momentum and shot a pulsating sphere of water onto Krokorok's back. It burst, defeating the crocodile.
"Krokorok is unable to battle, Vaporeon is the winner!" the judge declared. "Kahuna Nanu will now use his third and final Pokémon!"
The tables have turned, Niko thought. Let's do this.
"Persian," Nanu shouted, summoning the Classy Cat Pokémon. "Use power gem."
"Evade and use aurora beam!" Niko shouted. However, Vaporeon barely managed to get out of the way, as one of the fast-moving pink gems struck her in the side, causing her to spin around and crash onto the concrete battlefield. "Water pulse, quick!"
"Persian, dark pulse," Nanu commanded, and the two attacks collided without much of note. "Now, let's finish this off," he said, holding out a Z-ring. "Black Hole Eclipse!"
"Vaporeon, aurora beam your feet" Niko shouted, trying to replicate Charlotte's strategy. At first it seemed to work, however the ice wasn't stable enough, and Vaporeon was sucked into the black hole above Persian before being spit right back out, crashing into the battlefield like a rocket.
"Vaporeon is unable to battle, Persian is the winner!" the judge declared, "Challenger Niko will now use his third and final Pokémon!"
"Return. I'm very proud of you, buddy. Umbreon would be, too," Niko said, looking up at Nanu while pulling out a third pokéball. "All up to you. Ribombee, you can do it!" Niko shouted.
"Fake out," Nanu said. Persian charged forward, attempting to strike first at the tiny Bee Fly Pokémon. Ribombee simply moved out of sight once Persian got close enough, managing to successfully evade it before releasing a blinding light.
"Dazzling gleam, well done!" Niko said excitedly. "Now Ribombee, use energy ball!"
"Persian, power gem!" Nanu commanded. Niko could tell he was getting amped up now, as his back was certainly against the wall. Ribombee's energy ball blasted through the pink gems, however missed Persian who managed to evade. "Power gem once more!"
"Dazzling gleam!" Niko shouted. Ribombee fluttered through the air, emitting a bright pink light that blinded Persian, causing the attack to once again miss. Niko, feeling successful now, lifted his Z-ring to show the Bee Fly Pokémon. "You ready?" Ribombee nodded. "Just like we practiced, buddy," he then began to perform odd-shaped poses, sending the Z-energy into Ribombee. "Savage Spin-Out!" Niko shouted proudly. Ribombee then shot silk from his hands, engulfing Persian in threads of it. Ribombee then grabbed ahold of the last thread he spun before picking up Persian using the remainder of his Z-energy and throwing the Classy Cat Pokémon around and slamming it into the ground, shattering the concrete underneath.
It didn't take long for the judge to determine this match. Nanu and Niko already knew from the moment that Ribombee successfully executed his attack that the battle would quickly be over.
"Persian is unable to battle, Ribombee is the winner!" the judge declared. "The winner is Niko from Pallet Town!"
Niko pumped his right fist as Ribombee, now overjoyed, fluttered jovially around his trainer. He had never won a trial on his own before, and Niko only realized it when he saw the happiness in his Pokémon's eyes.
"Hey buddy…" Niko said, holding out his palm for an exhausted Ribombee to sit down on. "I'm very proud of you. You took no damage from a Kahuna's strongest Pokémon. That's truly something."
Ribombee nodded before collapsing from exhaustion. He might not have taken any direct damage, but he looked more tired than ever. Z-moves seemed to exhaust his little body more than it did for most Pokémon.
"Niko, Charlotte," Nanu said, walking up to the couple minutes later and holding out two black Z-crystals. "As a reward for defeating me, and on behalf of Tapu Bulu, I award you both Darkinium-Z. In addition, I will contact Kahuna Hapu, the Kahuna of Poni Island, of your imminent arrival. Sound good?"
"Yes, thank you Nanu," Charlotte said, eying the Darkinium-Z, and wondering if she could even use it. Niko knew he could—but the one Pokémon he knew could use it was very upset with him at the moment.
"Where on Poni Island should we go next?" Niko asked.
"Seafolk Village. Hapu and one of the Trial Captains of Poni Island, Mina, both live there. You can take a boat from Malie City—Poni Island is far away."
"Noted," Niko said, turning to Charlotte. "Think Lapras can make it?"
"After she rests, of course!" Charlotte said as the trio completely ignored Nanu's advice. The old Kahuna sighed before turning and leaving.
"Good luck, you two," he said, hiding a concerned expression. "I have to go now. See ya."
"Bye, Nanu!" Niko, Charlotte, and Warren said as they waved to the Ula'ula Island Kahuna, who left the battlefield at a quickened pace, leaving the trio alone to consider their trip to the final island of Alola.
Author's Note: Hey y'all, a close friend of mine is in the middle of writing a Fantasy story on , the sister site to . If you're at all interested in fantasy stories, I highly recommend it. It's incomplete, but the author is looking for feedback to help them continue. The story is called FireHeart, and here is the link for the author's page:
u/1107346/BlitzGirl
Enjoy!