Episode 53: A recipe for victory

"And now, for the second round of the Champion's League! Last night, Niko from Pallet Town, and winner of the Lumiose Conference, defeated Malva of the Kalos Elite 4 and has earned the right to challenge the next in line—Siebold! Niko has thus far given us some pretty heated and exciting battles to watch, will this one be any different?"

"This will be a six-on-six Pokémon battle. The winner will be declared when they have defeated their opponent's full party of Pokémon. Either trainer may substitute Pokémon. You may begin when ready."

"Heh, I definitely remember you know, Niko," Siebold said, looking up and across the field at his opponent. His battlefield was similar to Malva's—circular, and with two columns on the sides, only they were held up by chains with two disks that resembled razor blades instead of just columns of fire. Instead of having a transparent, glassy floor, the battlefield was actually a shallow pond, with a circular platform in the middle that stood above it.

"As do I. We met on my first day in Kalos," Niko said with a smirk. He then held out a pokéball. "It's an honor to finally battle you."

"Hopefully I can say the same. Walrein, I choose you!"

"Venusaur, you're up!" Niko shouted, summoning the Seed Pokémon. "Walrein, eh? We can take that," he said, sizing up the Ice Break Pokémon. He then felt his Key Stone warm up. Are we ready to immediately mega evolve? Niko wondered. Venusaur simply nodded, not bothering to look back at his trainer. "Alright, then. Venusaur, mega evolve!"

"He's mega evolving so soon?" Warren said. "But…what if it exhausts him too much?" he turned to Charlotte, who simply shrugged. She couldn't quite understand why Niko was doing this, either.

"He won't," Fay said, without explaining his reasoning.

Venusaur quickly transformed, clearly impressing Siebold, who raised an eyebrow.

"Fair enough. The Champion's League allows you to use whichever Pokémon you think are best. It is my job as an Elite to be able to handle anything. Walrein, use blizzard!"

"Frenzy plant!" Niko commanded, feeling surge of energy course through him. He wasn't about to let mega evolution bring him down. Not now. Mega Venusaur roared out, causing, spiked roots to erupt from under the battlefield and strike at Walrein, who responded by quickly freezing all of them. Niko suddenly felt cold—as if he were connected to the roots, or Venusaur was, and by association Niko as well. "P-p-petal bl-blizzard!"

"VENUS!" Venusaur roared, summoning a vortex of pink petals towards Walrein, who shifted out of the way by moving through the shallow water.

"Hail!" Siebold commanded. Suddenly, the battlefield began to get colder and, surprisingly, not freezing the shallow pond. Then, just as suddenly, Walrein began to emit a light, transparent aura. "Heh, ice body. It heals the user in a hailstorm. Walrein, use blizzard!"

"Venusaur, solarbeam!" Niko shouted, knowing fully well it would take time to use the attack. Mega Venusaur and Niko both felt a cold, piercing feeling all around their bodies as the blizzard struck them. Just as it stopped, Niko noticed the solarbeam was ready. "FIRE!"

"VE-NUS!" Mega Venusaur cried out, firing off a bright green blast of solar energy and striking Walrein directly.

"Don't give it time to relax! Frenzy plant!" Niko commanded, thrusting a palm outwards. Mega Venusaur didn't take any breaks, summoning spiked roots once more that threw themselves at the Ice Break Pokémon, knocking it from side to side before leaving it laying down in the cold, shallow water.

"Walrein is unable to battle, Venusaur is the winner! Siebold will now use his second Pokémon!"

"Walrein, return. I've watched your league battles, Niko, in preparation for this match. That Mega Venusaur of yours is uniquely impressive. I'm glad I got the chance to battle it. Starmie, I choose you!"

"Venusaur, return," Niko said. "Manectric, I choose you!" This'll be interesting.

"Starmie, use dazzling gleam!" Siebold commanded.

"Manectric, use thunder!" Niko commanded. The Discharge Pokémon roared out, summoning a massive bolt of lightning to strike down on Starmie, who quickly used its own attack before getting electrocuted. "Now, wild charge!"

Manectric rushed forward, its body alight with electricity. The pond around it was exploding in reaction before it intended to crash into Starmie, who used psychic to throw it to the side.

"Starmie, use dazzling gleam again!" Siebold commanded. The Mysterious Pokémon summoned a blinding light that, like Slurpuff's, focused concentrated blasts of light that all hit Manectric, pushing the electric type further away. "Now psychic!"

"Discharge!" Niko commanded. Manectric roared out, releasing as much electricity as he possibly could, causing the battlefield to explode. When the smoke settled, Starmie looked unharmed. Huh?

"Light screen," Siebold said. "A tasty move, but only for the right occasion. Starmie, psychic!"

"Discharge again!" Niko commanded. Manectric released more electricity, blocking the psychic attack, somehow, from doing anything. "Now wild charge!"

"Dazzling gleam!" Siebold commanded.

"Fight through it, Manectric! Keep going!" Niko shouted out. The discharge Pokémon roared, dashing off towards Starmie, who fired off several more concentrated beams of light. Manectric skillfully dodged each one before tackling Starmie, launching it across the battlefield. "Use thunder!"

"Light screen!" Siebold commanded. The light screen managed to block—or at least minimize—the thunder's power, but it certainly couldn't stop Manectric from using another wild charge, paralyzing Starmie enough for Niko to then command Manectric to use discharge. Starmie collapsed, face-first, into the shallow pool of water that was getting re-filled due to Manectric's constant usage of electric moves.

"Starmie is unable to battle, Manectric is the winner! Siebold will now use his third Pokémon!" the referee declared.

"Starmie, return. Clawitzer, I choose you!" he shouted.

"Manectric, can you keep going?" Niko wondered. The Discharge Pokémon nodded, although Niko could tell it was breathing heavily. It was not ready for another fight. "Use thunder!"

"Block it with dragon pulse!" Siebold commanded, knowing fully well that Manectric would use the opportunity to use wild charge again. "Now, aura sphere!"

The Howitzer Pokémon fired off a powerful, blue orb of energy at Manectric while he was charging forward, as expected, and ripping up the battlefield in the process. Manectric collided with the attack and was rocketed backwards, collapsing onto the ground directly in front of Niko.

"Manectric is unable to battle, Clawitzer is the winner!" the referee declared. "Niko will now use his next Pokémon!"

"Clawitzer, return as well," Siebold said. "Barbaracle, I choose you!"

"Eelektross, you're up buddy!" Niko commanded. "Use coil!"

"Cross chop!" Siebold commanded. The Collective Pokémon charged down the battlefield, splattering water everywhere, as he crossed two of its four arms and aimed directly for Eelektross, who was wrapping himself up in anticipation of the attack. Barbaracle landed it, but in return Eelektross leapt into action, wrapping himself around Barbaracle and using thunderbolt. "Use x-scissor!"

"Eelektross, dodge and use charge beam!" Niko commanded. Eelektross leapt off of Barbaracle and, whilst still in midair, fired off a stream of electric energy at the back of his opponent, knocking it forward. "Now, wild charge!"

Eelektross dropped out of the air, electricity flaying about it, before the EleFish Pokémon collided with his opponent, who retaliated by smacking it to the side. Eelektross quickly reeled from the attack and coiled himself again, waiting to strike.

"Interesting strategy, Niko," Siebold said, "this recipe is very, for lack of a better term, electrifying. Well done. Barbaracle, use stone edge!"

"Eelektross, dodge!" Niko commanded. The EleFish Pokémon shot to the right, moving out of the way of the pointed stones erupting towards him. "Now, charge beam!"

"Barbaracle, use stone edge!" Siebold commanded, successfully blocking the attack. "Now, use x-scissor!"

"Wild charge!" Niko commanded. Eelektross burst off of the ground, hovering over the water, sparks all around it. It collided with Barbaracle and immediately wrapped himself around it, taking the x-scissor attack in the process. "Thunderbolt!"

Barbaracle roared out as the electricity surged through its body. Eelektross then let go, allowing the Collective Pokémon to collapse face-first into the water in defeat.

"Barbaracle is unable to battle, Eelektross is the winner!" the referee declared. "Siebold will now use his next Pokémon!"

"Return, Eelektross," Niko said, waiting on his opponent to do the same.

"Gyarados, go!" Siebold commanded, summoning a familiar-looking atrocious Pokémon.

"Magneton, I choose you!" Niko shouted. "Use thunderbolt!"

"Dragon dance!" Siebold commanded. Niko nodded, realizing how quickly he needed to take this thing out. He disliked dragon dance, for a few reasons. The thunderbolt ripped through the red aura surrounding the sea dragon, electrocuting it. Magneton then stood completely still, to prepare a zap cannon on Niko's command. "Use earthquake!"

"Magneton, hold tight…" Niko said. "We can do this, just don't…don't give up, buddy."

The Magnet Pokémon winced as it felt the earth shaking underneath it, clearly unsettling it. However, it finally was ready to fire, and did so. With a massive crackling sound, the zap cannon struck, firing across the field and causing the battlefield to again explode. Amidst the smoke, Gyarados still stood. It seemed like the Atrocious Pokémon had dodged the attack.

"Blast it!" Niko shouted. "Magneton, magnet bomb!"

"Gyarados, waterfall!" Siebold commanded. The sea dragon forced a column of water to fall down in front of it to protect from the glowing gray magnet bombs hurled at it. "Now, earthquake again!"

"Rise into the air and use thunderbolt!" Niko commanded. Magneton nodded, launching itself into the air and, spinning around to gather electricity, fired off a bolt of thunder at its opponent, who skillfully dodged it once again. Then Niko got an idea.

"Zap cannon!" Niko commanded. "Directly below you!"

"Ah, I've seen that before. Gyarados, use dragon dance!" Siebold commanded.

The two trainers waited for Magneton's zap cannon to complete and, when it did, Siebold ordered Gyarados to use waterfall. The Atrocious Pokémon conjured a column of water to collapse on Magneton in an attempt to disrupt the attack.

As it turned out, there wasn't much Siebold could have done to block this move. The zap cannon roared towards the ground, shattering the raised platform directly below Magneton and causing the entire field to explode. Gyarados had nowhere to run. When the smoke cleared, and Magneton was still standing, Gyarados collapsed to the ground.

"Gyarados is unable to battle, Magneton is the winner! Siebold will now use his next Pokémon!" the referee declared.

"Gyarados, return," Siebold said, sighing. "This is not how I planned for it to go, Niko. But that is fine. I will still eliminate each of your Pokémon in turn. Clawitzer, I choose you!"

"Magneton, return," Niko said. "Eelektross, you're up! Use coil!"

"Dark pulse!" Siebold commanded. The Howitzer Pokémon fired off a nexus of dark energy at Eelektross, who simply took the hit while coiled up. "Now, dragon pulse!"

"Get up and use wild charge!" Niko commanded. Eelektross leapt into action, rocketing down the battlefield, electricity flaring up around it. He collided with the dragon pulse and ripped through it, nearly striking Clawitzer, had the latter not used aura sphere at the last moment, hitting Eelektross and knocking it backwards. "Charge beam!"

"Clawitzer, dark pulse!" Siebold commanded. The two attacks fired off, meeting in the middle of field, and resulting in a stalemate. However, once again, Eelektross came running down the battlefield with wild charge. "Heh, again? Clawitzer, use dragon pulse!"

This time, Eelektross couldn't maintain his attack as long, and was knocked backwards and to the ground by dragon pulse. The EleFish Pokémon tried getting back up, but couldn't.

"Eelektross is unable to battle, Clawitzer is the winner!" the referee declared. "Niko will now use his next Pokémon!"

"Eelektross, return," Niko said. "You did great, buddy. Please rest now. Chesnaught, I choose you! Use seed bomb!"

"Clawitzer, block it with dark pulse!" Siebold commanded. The two attacks ended in a stalemate, with Chesnaught now running down the battlefield. "Aura sphere!"

"Knock it away with needle arm!" Niko shouted. The Spiny Armor Pokémon obliged, his arm glowing bright green as he slammed the attack to the side and continued down, surprising both Siebold and Clawitzer. "Now, needle arm on Clawitzer!"

"Dragon pulse!" Siebold commanded. As Chesnaught was about to bring down his needle arm, as a sword of sorts, the Howitzer Pokémon struck the glowing green arm with a burst of draconic energy, launching Chesnaught backwards.

We need to get that Clawitzer to move…Niko thought to himself, because it's simply not going anywhere. "Chesnaught, use rollout!"

"Clawitzer, halt its advances with dark pulse!" Siebold commanded. Clawitzer fired off a dark nexus of energy at the Spiny Armor Pokémon, who continued to shift and move out of the way before leaping forward and crashing into the Howitzer Pokémon. "Dragon pulse!"

"Seed bomb!" Niko shouted. Both attacks fired off, repelling both of them backwards. Chesnaught landed on the ground, skidding to a stop right in front of Niko. "Let's win this, buddy. Use needle arm!"

"Clawitzer, use dragon pulse!" Siebold shouted. Clawitzer released another attack from its massive claw, striking Chesnaught before he could get even halfway down the battlefield. The Spiny Armor Pokémon collapsed, dropping face-first into the shallow water. He slowly got back up—he wasn't yet out of the fight. "Hmm, quite some Pokémon you've got there."

"Chesnaught doesn't give up," Niko said. "Not anymore. Chesnaught, use needle arm!"

"Dragon pulse!"

"Spin around and use spiky shield!" Niko commanded. Chesnaught skidded to a stop in the ankle-high water and spun around, using his shell as a protective barrier from the draconic energy. It seemed to work out successfully enough, and the Spiny Armor Pokémon got back up to continue it charge towards the Howitzer Pokémon. "Needle arm!"

"Aura sphere!" Siebold commanded. Clawitzer fired off an aura sphere, only to be blocked once more by Chesnaught's needle arm. "Dark pulse!"

"Needle arm!" Niko commanded. Chesnaught finally got close enough to landing, but this time instead of Clawitzer retaliating by striking its arm, the Howitzer Pokémon hit Chesnaught's leg, causing the grass type to fall forward onto it.

"Dragon pulse!" Siebold commanded. Chesnaught was rocketed backwards, spinning and rolling through the air before crashing in front of Niko.

"Chesnaught is unable to battle, Clawitzer is the winner!" the referee declared.

"Return, Chesnaught. You helped me come up with a way to beat this thing. Thanks," Niko said, looking appreciatively at the pokéball before exchanging it. "Magneton, you're up!"

"Clawitzer, use aura sphere!" Siebold commanded.

"Magneton, block it with magnet bomb!" Niko shouted. "Magneton, prepare zap cannon!" Hopefully this works…

"Again? Niko…" Siebold said, shaking his head in apparent disappointment. "This is a spoiled strategy. You can't cook up victory with it! Clawitzer, use aura sphere!"

"Also use magnet bomb!" Niko shouted, hoping it would work. It did—Magneton walked and chewed gum at the same time! The Magnet Pokémon fired off magnet bombs. Surprised, Niko continued. "Aim for the claw!"

Three magnet bombs fired off, two of them aimed at the aura sphere, and one at the claw. In what amounted to a series of fortunate events, the single magnet bomb lodged itself inside the claw. Siebold and Clawitzer both looked at one another, and then at Magneton, in shock and awe.

"ZAP CANNON!" Niko roared out, punching the air in front of him. Magneton released the powerful move and, like the sound of thunder, zap cannon erupted out, striking a now temporarily disabled Clawitzer, forcing it to collapse onto the ground in defeat.

"Clawitzer is unable to battle, Magneton is the winner!" the referee declared to a now silent stadium.

It was well known that Pokémon could only use one move at a time. The sheer fact that Magneton pulled it off was amazing on its own. That it used it to defeat a Pokémon was equally impressive.

Niko's friends and family sat there in the stands with their jaws on the ground. Warren, who usually had a knack for commentating, had no words. It was incredible.

Niko himself let out a breath of relief. "Well done, Magneton. I knew you could do it."

The Magnet Pokémon turned to Niko and buzzed wildly, an indication of its happiness.

"Return, Clawitzer. Niko, that was something else. Well done. You have now brought me down to my last Pokémon. My ace—my strongest. If you can defeat this, you deserve to move on. Blastoise, I choose you!"

The Shellfish Pokémon that came out of Siebold's final pokéball was different than ones Niko usually encountered. It was wearing a harness on its head with a mega stone on the front.

"Magneton, be careful. We have the advantage, but we don't know what its capable of," Niko said cautiously.

"Let's just move to the main dish already," Siebold said, clutching his frilly blue tie. "Blastoise, unleash your potential! Mega evolve!"

A light erupted from Siebold's Key Stone, reacting to the Blastiosinite. The Shellfish Pokémon began to transform, eventually growing larger. It developed two smaller shells over its arms, each with their own water cannon. The two cannons on its back were replaced by a single, central water cannon of greater size. This cannon extended forward over its head. Small ridges developed over its, now red, eyes and extended to its ears. The ears angled slightly backward and there is a small point on its chin.

"Magneton, use thunderbolt!" Niko commanded.

"Blastoise, use hydro pump!" Siebold shouted. The two attacks collided in the middle of the field. Magneton then, as soon as the smoke disappeared, began charging up zap cannon. "Dragon pulse!"

"Sonicboom!" Niko commanded, trying to replicate his previously impossible strategy. Magneton clearly tried, but couldn't succeed, instead allowing the dragon pulse to strike it. Magneton rocketed through the sky, nearly hitting the stands before collapsing onto the ground. It slowly got back up, amazingly enough. "Heh, that's right. Magneton, use magnet bomb!"

"Block it with dragon pulse!" Siebold commanded. While Mega Blastoise dealt with this, Magneton shifted to the side of the field.

"Up close thunderbolt!" Niko shouted. If Magneton was going down, it was going down at least damaging this opponent. Magneton charged forward, the trio of magnets spinning as they conjured electricity and crashed into Mega Blastoise. The Shellfish Pokémon fired off a hydro pump that resulted in a powerful explosion, launching both of them backwards. However, having sustained damage from two previous battles, Magneton collapsed into the shallow water, unable to continue.

"Magneton is unable to battle, Blastoise is the winner! Niko will now use his next Pokémon!" the referee declared.

I've still got Venusaur if I need him. But I'd rather not risk nearly fainting. This Blastoise is tougher than Greninja was, Niko said to himself. "Torterra, I choose you!"

"Ah, Blastoise, use dragon pulse!"

"Leaf storm!" Niko commanded. The Continent Pokémon whipped up a vortex of leaves that seemed to, at least, diminish the damage done by dragon pulse. "Now, energy ball!"

"Hydro pump!" Siebold commanded. Torterra fired off several energy balls at his opponent, each of them coming up against the high-pressured jet of water.

"Earthquake!" Niko commanded. Torterra shook the ground underneath him and his opponent, causing Mega Blastoise to stumble slightly before getting onto a single knee and holding itself in place. "Leaf storm!"

"Skull bash!" Siebold commanded. Mega Blastoise tucked its head and limbs inside and shot off towards Torterra, who used leaf storm in retaliation.

The two Pokémon struck, with Torterra taking the brunt of the attack. Mega Blastoise jumped out of its shell and used, on Siebold's command, power-up punch, slamming a powerful fist down onto Torterra's head, causing it to collapse into the ground. In response, Torterra fired off leaf storm from the tree on his back, engulfing Mega Blastoise. The two merely stood there for a moment, both of them waiting on their trainers.

"Dragon pulse!" Siebold commanded.

"Crunch!" Niko shouted, remembering how strong Torterra's jaw actually was. The Continent Pokémon reached forward and bit down on Mega Blastoise's hand, causing the Shellfish Pokémon to misfire the dragon pulse. "Now energy ball!"

"TERRA!" Torterra roared out, firing off the sphere of pure energy at his opponent. Mega Blastoise was launched backwards as leaf storm quickly followed, bringing it to its knees.

"Earthquake!"

"Dragon pulse!"

Both attacks struck their respective targets with everything they had. Niko kept shouting for Torterra to not give up, and it clearly didn't, continuously forcing the battlefield into a chaotic state of shock, and knocking over Mega Blastoise in the process. Seeing his opponent fall, Torterra was immediately stricken by his own exhaustion, and collapsed as well.

"Blastoise and Torterra are both unable to battle! Since Niko still has one Pokémon remaining, he is the victor!"

Niko quickly waded through the shallow pool to see Torterra. "Excellent job, buddy. I'm so proud of you for sticking through it. We can advance now because of you, and the others who also competed. Thanks."

Torterra briefly nodded before collapsing onto the ground. Niko returned the Continent Pokémon and, as he stood up, saw Siebold and Blastoise standing behind him.

The Elite held out his hand. "That was a well-crafted battle. Niko, Pokémon battling is a form of art. While yours wasn't particularly stylish, it was succinct and effective. I've learned, over the years, to find more appreciation for that type of battling. So, congrats. Your next opponent will be Drasna, tomorrow at the same time."

Niko returned the handshake. "Thank you, Siebold. It was a pleasure battling you."

"Likewise."


"Dragons now, eh?" Sydney said. "You've always had difficulty with those, right?"

Niko nodded, with all of his former travelling companions backing him up on this. "Yup, but I think I can beat Drasna. I have enough counters for dragon types, plus I have one of my own."

"Well, after this and it gets a little easier, right?" Warren asked. "Because that would leave Wikstrom, who uses steel types."

"Right, I can handle those for sure," Niko said with a smirk. He then looked down at his dinner, reflecting on the battle he just had. Just then, Charlotte touched his arm. "Hmm?"

"You didn't use Venusaur very much, did you?"

"No, using him first was intentional. Mega evolving immediately wasn't. But it's weird…remember when Siebold's Walrein used hail? I felt the coldness that Venusaur felt. When he used blizzard on Venusaur's frenzy plant, I felt that too!"

"Odd. I mean, normally you'd probably get a chill from your opponent using hail under normal conditions, but it sounds like it was a different feeling this time."

"It was, Charlotte," Niko said. "I'd like to go visit Professor Sycamore, either tomorrow before I battle Drasna, or after. It doesn't make a difference to me."

"How about before, then? Do you plan on using Venusaur?" Charlotte asked.

"No. He needs to save up his energy in case we make it all the way. Plus, I already have a team in mind for Drasna."

"Then let's just go tomorrow and see what Sycamore has to say."

"Yeah, we can help your Pokémon train in the meantime!" Jake offered. "I have a dragon or two that can act as practice battlers!"

"I'll help, too. I brought Kingdra and Dragonair with me," Fay added.

Niko smiled. "Thanks, Jake, Fay. I appreciate that," he said back in his seat, feeling ready for the upcoming battle. It would be, without a doubt, the toughest one yet, at least as far as the Champion's League is concerned. It might even be the toughest battle Niko has ever had to face. That, however, remained to be seen.


Author's Note: Another milestone reached during this league-this season is now officially the longest by word count! Next episode: Niko vs. Drasna!