Episode 54: The fiercest rival
Niko got up from the seat he was in, as did Elliot. They looked at each other for a split second before parting ways in the stands. The rest of the group was rather quiet as the two left. Seeing an opening, Brittany quickly got out of her seat and ran in Niko's direction.
"Niko!" She shouted, running down the stairs in pursuit of her friend. The brown-haired trainer turned around on the middle of the staircase and looked up at her.
"Yeah? What's up, Brittany?" He asked rather confusedly.
"Good luck!" She said before running down to embrace him. Niko then distinctly remembers her lips touching his for a moment or two before releasing themselves and running away, attached to a now blushing face.
"…what the hell…" Niko muttered to himself. He had seen way too many surprises that day.
Niko approached his end of the field, noticing that Elliot was already standing there, hands in pockets, ready to battle.
"Hey, Niko," Elliot shouted out.
"Hey, Elliot," Niko replied.
"Good luck, man," He said, giving him a two-finger salute. Niko simply nodded as the judge began to explain the rules. Niko and Elliot quietly listened until given permission to begin the match.
"Nidoking, you're up!"
"Noctowl, I choose you!" Niko shouted. As he did so, he realized that something was off. Whether it was the shock of beating Fay, or Brittany kissing him, or him now facing Elliot in the quarterfinals, he didn't quite feel himself. Everything was happening so fast now, and Niko didn't feel like he could keep up. He shook his head to try and rid himself of the thoughts before continuing. "Noctowl, use steel wing!"
"Nidoking, brace yourself for impact!" Elliot said plainly. He hadn't seen Niko's match with Fay, and so he didn't see the switch Niko pulled on charizard in said match.
"Noctowl, switch to hypnosis!" Niko shouted. Nidoking—not the fastest pokémon around—quickly fell under noctowl's spell, crashing onto the ground, fast asleep. "Noctowl, dream eater!"
The owl pokémon stood on the ground and quietly closed its eyes, attempting to break into nidoking's mind. It succeeded when the drill pokémon started shaking violently in its sleep. Noctowl then opened its eyes again as nidoking woke up, clearly upset now.
"Nidoking, take your rage out on noctowl! Use thrash!" Elliot commanded. The drill pokémon rushed forward, kicking and punching as it approached noctowl.
"Noctowl, use hypnosis again!" Niko said. It was too late, however: nidoking had already grabbed noctowl as threw it to the ground and began to stomp on it a few times before the owl pokémon was able to escape back into the air. "Alright then! Noctowl, steel wing!"
The flying type dove back towards its opponent, managing to land the attack successfully before getting thrashed once more. However, after a while, nidoking was so enraged that it accidentally hit itself a few times in confusion. Noctowl, exhausted and in pain as it was, dove once more with steel wing. When the two pokémon collided, neither came back out.
"Noctowl and nidoking are unable to battle! Niko and Elliot will now send out their second pokémon!"
"Wow…" JJ commented. "He managed to tie Elliot already?"
"Elliot's going light on him…" Fay replied, chin resting on his hands as he watched. "Remember, Elliot has a scizor, houndoom, and poliwrath. You've seen them battle, right JJ?"
"That's true…Niko's got a tough fight ahead of him," JJ then turned to Brittany. "Speaking of Niko, why did you follow him after?"
Brittany avoided eye contact with JJ. "N-no reason. J-just wanted to say good l-luck."
"Ah, I see," JJ said, chuckling under his breath before continuing to watch.
"Hitmonchan, let's go!"
"Espeon, you're up!" Elliot shouted. "You sure you don't want to sub out, Niko?"
"No. We can beat you, right hitmonchan?" The punching pokémon nodded in agreement.
"Fine, suit yourself. Espeon, use psychic!"
The sun pokémon's eyes began to glow as it picked hitmonchan up and immediately slammed it back into the ground. It then proceeded to toss the fighting type around several times before launching it into a nearby wall. Niko, in awe at the power of the psychic type, had no idea what to do. Hitmonchan fell to the ground at last, released from the power of espeon's mind. He bit his finger as he slowly figured out how to approach this.
"Hitmonchan, can you keep going?" Niko asked. His loyal fighting type turned and weakly thrust a boxing glove in the air. "Alright…" Niko said with uncertainty in his voice. "Use mega punch!"
Hitmonchan ran forward, its fist glowing bright white, and was able to land an attack on espeon, who hadn't seemed to budge. What the hell…Niko thought. Why didn't it try to dodge? Is Elliot…toying with me?
"Espeon, finish it off with psychic!" Elliot commanded. The sun pokémon took control of hitmonchan's body once more and violently threw it against the opposite wall. The punching pokémon collapsed on the ground, defeated.
"Hitmonchan is unable to battle, espeon wins! Niko will send out his third pokémon!"
"Yanma, let's go!" Niko shouted. He didn't appreciate that rouse from Elliot. It didn't seem fair to him. "Use double team!"
"Espeon, psychic!" Elliot demanded. The psychic type took control of one of the yanmas and tried to collide it with the others. However, it didn't seem to stop some of the copies from attacking espeon, using a mixture of wing attacks and quick attacks. The real yanma then shot from above using wing attack. "Psychic!"
Espeon looked up and saw the real yanma hurtling towards it. It then took control of its body and threw it to the ground.
"Now, use morning sun!"
The sun pokémon began to glow a bright yellow color as it healed itself. Niko and yanma then saw an opportunity to attack and hopefully disrupt the healing process.
"Yanma, sonicboom!" Niko yelled. The clear wing pokémon conjured a wave of sonic energy that it blasted at the sun pokémon, knocking it off its feet. Espeon abruptly stopped healing. "Now, combine quick attack and wing attack!"
Yanma's body began to glow white as it rushed at its opponent, striking with the force of two moves. Espeon fell back over again.
"And this is for hitmonchan!" Niko shouted again in a rather angry tone. "Yanma! Use double team and sonicboom!"
Yanma copied itself a dozen times, surrounding espeon. The copies all released sonic waves, albeit far weaker than the real thing, but damaging nonetheless. Espeon tried to reel back from the attacks, but couldn't. It fell forward, landing on its cheek.
"Espeon is unable to battle, yanma wins! Elliot will not send out his third pokémon!"
"Espeon, return. Great job. Ampharos, you're up!"
"Yanma, return buddy. I'm proud of you. Venusaur, I choose you!"
"Hmm…you're switching based on type now. Good job, Niko," Elliot said, golf-clapping. "Ampharos, use thunderpunch!"
"Venusaur, just like the battle with electabuzz, remember?" The seed pokémon slightly turned its head and nodded. It then released a stream of razor leaves at the light pokémon, who stopped in the middle of field and tried to shield itself from the leaves.
"Ampharos, use thunder!" Elliot commanded, knowing that it would help to stop the onslaught of leaves. Venusaur stopped its move momentarily. Ampharos caught its breath, and rushed forward once more, landing a thunderpunch on the seed pokémon.
Niko, confident that he could beat this electric type, smirked. "Venusaur, stun spore!"
Venusaur surprised Niko—the number of spores emitted from its flower were significantly more than it had ever used before. Ampharos attempted to escape, punching at the spores with thunderpunch, but it still ended up stunned.
"Now venusaur, use solarbeam!" Niko cried out. While ampharos was unable to move, venusaur collected sunlight in its bulb. Nearly a minute later, it released the energy stored in the form of a beam, directly hitting ampharos and quickly defeating it.
"Ampharos is unable to battle, venusaur wins! Elliot will now send out his fourth pokémon!"
"Houndoom, let's go!"
"Venusaur, return," Niko said, exchanging pokéballs. "Feraligatr, you're up!"
"Smart Niko, smart," Elliot said with a more genuine tone this time. For a moment, Niko could see he was enjoying this match more. "Houndoom, use faint attack!"
Again, not knowing feraligatr had learned hydro pump, Niko waited until the dark pokémon had appeared to let out this new trump card. One houndoom reappeared behind feraligatr did Niko shout out commands.
"Feraligatr, use ice punch!" Niko commanded. Feraligatr swung around with a frozen fist, but realized houndoom was gone once again. It had used faint attack once more, hitting the big jaw pokémon in the back again. And again. And again.
Damn, it's fast…Niko thought. He looked just as exhausted as his water type was. "Alright feraligatr, we need to be quicker on our feet!"
Houndoom has reappeared back in the middle of the field, awaiting further command. Feraligatr turned and stared down its opponent.
"Use hydro pump!"
"Flamethrower!"
In a repeat of the previous match with Fay, Niko figured he now had the upper hand. Houndoom was no charizard. That much was obvious.
"Feraligatr, keep it up! You can beat it!" Niko shouted. Soon enough, the blast of water quickly overtook the stream of fire, exploding into a cloud of steam. "Now finish it off with whirlpool!" Niko shouted out. The big jaw pokémon conjured a whirlpool around houndoom, swallowing the dark pokémon inside it and spinning it around, eventually tossing it back onto the grassy field, which seemed to be the theme of this match.
"Houndoom is unable to battle, feraligatr wins! Elliot will now send out his fifth pokémon!"
"Wow!" Jacob exclaimed. "Niko has four pokémon left, and Elliot only has two! This is insane…"
"But scizor is still left, and its Elliot's strongest pokémon by far," Fay warned. "Niko hasn't really fought scizor before. He probably doesn't know what he's getting himself into."
"Poliwrath, I choose you!" Elliot threw out the pokéball containing the tadpole pokémon.
"Feraligatr, return," Niko said, substituting his pokémon. He had other types that could beat poliwrath easily. "Yanma, let's go!"
"Again, nice choice, Niko," Elliot smirked. "Poliwrath, use hydro pump!"
"Yanma, sonicboom!" Niko shouted out as the powerful burst of water met the sonic wave, creating an explosion in the middle of the air. "Now go in for a quick wing attack!"
Elliot smirked again as yanma dove down towards poliwrath, hoping to hit it. "Poliwrath, use ice punch!"
Poliwrath's fist froze up as it jumped into the air and hit yanma on the back as the clear wing pokémon made contact with the tadpole's body. Both flew backwards, only poliwrath was able to land on its feet. Yanma crashed into the ground.
"Niko, you've done well so far, but it ends here. Poliwrath, use hydro pump again!"
"Yanma, get up!" Niko cried out. His bug pokémon was one of the more determined pokémon he had, and didn't want to see it get defeated this way. Yanma slowly got back up, but was hit in the face by hydro pump, knocking it several feet backwards and landed on its back.
"Yanma is unable to battle, poliwrath wins! Niko will send out his next pokémon!"
"Venusaur! Let's go!" Niko shouted out. "Use solarbeam!"
"Poliwrath, ice punch!" Elliot commanded. The tadpole pokémon ran across the grassy field as venusaur soaked in the sun's energy. Right before it leapt at the grass type to land its ice punch, it was faced with a fully charged solarbeam to the face, violently knocking it to the ground.
"Now use stun spore!" Niko demanded. Venusaur released yellow spores from its flower and covered its now paralyzed opponent in them. "And finish it off with razor leaf!"
The seed pokémon bombarded poliwrath with razor-sharp leaves until the water type was released from the stun spore. It got up, enduring the leaves, and slammed its fist into the side of venusaur's face before falling on its back, defeated.
"Poliwrath is unable to battle, venusaur wins! Elliot will now send out his final pokémon!"
"Niko, it ends now. Scizor, I choose you!"
"Elliot, no it does not. Venusaur, return. Feraligatr, let's go!"
"Scizor, steel wing!" Elliot commanded. The pincer pokémon rushed forward at an unbelievable speed, slashing right across feraligatr with steel wing. The big jaw pokémon got down onto one knee, pained from the attack. "Now, use metal claw!"
As scizor began to slam its claw on feraligatr's head, the water type reached up and grabbed onto its claw, holding it in place with incredible strength.
"Feraligatr, use hydro pump!" Niko shouted out. The big jaw pokémon belted out a powerful burst of water at its opponent, sending it flying into the air. As it began to descend, feraligatr prepared an ice punch as a follow up. However, scizor also had a retaliatory measure in mind. Its metal claw collided with ice punch. The two pokémon shot in opposite directions. Feraligatr got back up, albeit slowly, and was quickly met with scizor, who slammed into it with another steel wing, knocking feraligatr back down and out for the count.
"Feraligatr is unable to battle, scizor wins! Niko will now send out his next pokémon!"
"Wow…" Jacob said in awe. "That scizor is strong."
"To be fair," JJ interjected, "feraligatr did take a lot of damage from houndoom previously. But yeah, scizor is strong."
"He doesn't really have anything that is advantageous to scizor anyways…" Fay said, "He has no fire types, and his fighting type has been defeated already…"
"Magneton, you're up!" Niko shouted, summoning his trust electric type. "Use thunderwave!"
"Scizor, fly into the air and strike down with steel wing when you can!" Elliot calmly said. The pincer pokémon waited for its moment to strike its fellow steel type before launching down and doing so. It crashed into magneton as the magnet pokémon released a thunderbolt. It hardly seemed to do any damaged as the two steel types collided with the grassy field below.
"Magneton, can you hold out just a little longer?"
The magnet pokémon nodded, understanding what Niko was indicating to it. He knew Elliot was smart enough to try and evade what he was about to use, and he wanted to keep it secret. This might be his ticket to victory.
"Scizor, use metal claw!" Elliot commanded. The pincer pokémon rushed forward as magneton as it focused on its opponent and, generating more electricity than it normally does, unleashed the zap cannon as scizor was within mere feet of it.
The two pokémon exploded backwards, crumbling into the ground. After rolling for several feet, scizor was able to get back up. It seemed rattled, but not too damaged or exhausted. Magneton, just like the last match with Fay, seemed unable to get up again.
"Magneton is unable to battle, scizor wins! Niko will now send out his final pokémon!"
"Magneton, you did great. Couldn't have asked for more from you. Return. Venusaur, I choose you!"
Niko threw out his final pokéball, summoning his first pokémon.
"How poetic, our most powerful pokémon in the final round of our only match together. Anyways, scizor, use wing attack!"
"Venusaur, let's win this, alright? Use stun spore!"
"Scizor, dodge the spores and attack from behind!"
"What!?" Niko exclaimed as he watched scizor side-step the yellow spores and slam into venusaur's back. The seed pokémon cringed for a moment before beginning to summon solar energy. "Good job, venusaur. Let's do that."
"Scizor, quick before solarbeam launches! Use metal claw!"
The pincer pokémon slammed its light-gray claw atop venusaur's head, knocking the grass type to the ground, the latter's legs buckling under the force of the attack. Solarbeam launched just as scizor landed the attack, launching it backwards several yards, right in front of Elliot.
"Venusaur…" Niko said softly. "Whatever happens here, know that I'm always going to be proud of you. You're always a winner to me. Now, let's finish this. Venusaur, use razor leaf!"
"Scizor, block them with metal claw!" Elliot shouted out. The pincer pokémon slapped away the sharp leaves. Even when they did hit the steel type, scizor hardly seemed fazed. Scizor then leapt at venusaur, its claw glowing light gray, as it slammed it back down onto the seed pokémon's head. More razor leaves hit scizor, causing it to move back a few steps as venusaur charged up a final solarbeam.
"VENUSAUR, SOLARBEAM!" Niko shouted to the heavens.
"Scizor, use wing attack!" Elliot cried out as well. The beam of solar energy hit just as scizor made contact with venusaur one final time. The grass attack hit scizor square in the face, launching it across the grassy field. As it got back up, venusaur collapsed onto the ground.
"Venusaur is unable to battle, scizor wins! The victory goes to Elliot from Viridian City!" The judge declared.
Niko ran over to the seed pokémon and embraced it.
"You did great buddy. Like I said, I'm always proud of you."
Elliot walked up to Niko, scizor at his side.
"Niko, great job, man," He said, holding out his hand. "I hope we get to battle again someday."
Niko smiled earnestly, returning the handshake. "You can count on it. You know, Fay may be my greatest rival, but you're definitely my fiercest."
"I'll take it," Elliot said, smirking. "Anyways, I've got another battle to prepare for. See ya."
"We'll be watching, buddy."
That night, the group celebrated the end of the Silver Conference. Elliot was noticeably absent—he wanted to be alone with his pokémon for the night. The battles were getting far more difficult now, and like all trainers, he was certainly nervous.
"So, what's next for everyone?" Niko's Mom asked, addressing the whole group.
"Well, I'm going home," Niko said, grinning. Fay nodded as well.
"I think I'm going to spend some time in Azalea Town with Maizie, actually," JJ added, his arm over the girl's shoulder.
"I'm headed back to Vermilion City," Brittany replied, "I want to see family, but I was hoping to come and visit Pallet Town again."
"Well, you're always welcome at our house, Brittany," Niko's Mom said, smiling warmly.
Niko and Brittany eyed each other briefly, likely thinking the same thing. They hadn't told anyone about their brief kiss before the last match. Niko wanted to say something about Brittany not being able to stay at his home, but he didn't want to make things more awkward for the both of them.
Jacob and Cody were next. "We're heading back home, maybe do some travelling in Kanto, not sure yet," Jacob said.
"I have to do some work at the shop," Cody added. "But I'll be free again after the summer I think."
"Yeah, I might go and help out the family at work too," JJ added. "At least, until our next adventure, right guys?"
Niko, Brittany, and Fay all nodded with varying degrees of nervousness. Dinner has ended shortly after that, with Fay going up to his suite with Jacob and Cody. JJ and Maizie went to have some alone time. Niko went outside to get some fresh air. He sat down on the edge of one of the fountains, looking up at the stadium, and then the stars.
"Mind if I sit here?"
Niko turned to see a familiar brunette standing nearby. He nodded, patting the space next to him. They were silent for what seemed like eternity before Niko finally spoke.
"So…uh…can you explain…"
"The kiss?" Brittany asked. Niko nodded shyly. "Well, here's the thing, Niko. I kind of like you."
"Why?" Niko asked curtly. Brittany seemed taken aback by this response.
"Because I do Niko! Why shouldn't I? You're such a kind and caring person! You always try to find the best in your pokémon, strong or weak! You are modest! You have humility!"
"Brittany…I'm none of those things."
"I think you are."
"Well, I think you're wrong," Niko said sternly, turning to his friend. "I think that that kiss was a mistake. Now what is going to happen? I don't feel the same way, so now everything is going to be awkward between us! You can't come visit, and we might not get to travel again!"
"Niko…you're talking as if we can't be friends anymore…" Brittany looked hurt. A couple of tears began to form at the bottom of her eyes.
"Well, if I don't reciprocate your feelings, doesn't it basically end our friendship?"
"No…no it does not…" Brittany replied, now on the verge of crying.
"Oh, Brittany…don't…don't cry…please…" Niko said rather pathetically.
"No, I will Niko! You'll always be my friend, regardless of whether or not you like me!" Brittany said, getting up and storming back into the stadium towards their suite, leaving Niko alone.
The following day, the group gathered in the main stadium to watch Elliot's next match in the semifinals. For most of the battle, he seemed to do alright, but his scizor got caught at the end by a powerful fire blast from his opponent's arcanine, effectively ending the match. This trainer ultimately went on to win the Silver Conference.
After the finals, the group went back to their suite to pack up. Niko hadn't tried to talk to Brittany the whole day, and vice versa. Fay and JJ noticed, but didn't want to say anything until they had all arrived back in Pallet Town.
Meeting their friends back in the main lobby, the group said farewell to Jacob, Cody, Maizie, and Elliot. JJ passionately kissed Maizie before joining the rest in their goodbyes to the three rivals.
After several handshakes, the group got into the back of Niko's parent's car with Jake and made the long trip back to Pallet Town by midnight. Brittany asked to stay at JJ's house until morning, when she would be picked up by her parents.
She said nothing to Niko the whole time.
Author's note: Oh man oh man, time for the finale! Will Brittany and Niko become friends again? What will become of the group? Will they travel again and, if so, then where? Find out in the next episode!
