Episode 54: Ghost and flying
"Welcome to the third round of the Champion's League! I'm your host, Kukui, who will be announcing the two trainers facing off in the third round. We have Niko from Pallet Town, the Champion of the Lanakila Conference, versus Acerola, a Trial Captain and member of the Alola Elite 4! Like the first two matches, this will be a 4-on-4 Pokémon battle. Now, when the judge has explained the rules of the match, we'll begin!"
"Hehe!" Acerola said as she giggled. "Hey Niko! I'm excited to battle you today! You were pretty impressive against Olivia and Molayne," her expressed turned to a smirk. "I will not go down as easily. Dhelmise, I choose you!" she said, summoning a large anchor-shaped Pokémon that Niko recognized from a battle during the Lanakila Conference.
"Pangoro, you're up!" Niko shouted. He was ready for Acerola. "Use crunch!"
"Dhelmise!" Acerola said with a wide smile on her face. Use earthquake!" The ground shook heavily as Dhelmise, with a heavy amount of weight behind it, slammed into the ground, causing the purple-carpeted floor underneath them to shake viciously. Pangoro halted his attack, standing entirely still as he tried to maintain balance. Then Dhelmise leapt into the air, spinning its body and gaining a deadly momentum "Heavy slam!" Acerola shouted.
"Pangoro, roll to the side and use crunch!" Niko said. Maybe Pangoro wasn't the best choice.
But it was too late—the Daunting Pokémon couldn't get out in time, and Dhelmise struck him with incredible force, rocketing him backwards, past Niko, and into the wall near the tunnel.
"Pangoro is unable to battle, Dhelmise is the winner!" the judge declared. "Niko will now use his second Pokémon!"
"Incineroar, I choose you!" Niko shouted. Maybe should've started with him actually. "Use flamethrower!"
"Phantom force!" Acerola shouted with glee. The Sea Creeper Pokémon, out of nowhere, disappeared, dodging the flames originating from Incineroar's waistbelt.
Niko and the Heel Pokémon looked around, waiting for something to happen. Suddenly, Niko noticed a flickering behind his Pokémon. "Darkest lariat!" Incineroar spun in place, creating a fiery tornado that struck the reappearing Dhelmise and knocked it back. Incineroar stopped, turned to his opponent and, on Niko's command, belted out a powerful jet of flame that struck Dhelmise, causing it to crash into the floor in defeat.
"Dhelmise is unable to battle, Incineroar is the winner!" the judge declared. "Acerola will now use her second Pokémon!"
"Mimikyu, I choose you!" she shouted, summoning a familiar, ragged-looking Pokémon. "Hehe, play rough!" Acerola said with a wink. Mimikyu charged at Incineroar, who attempted to use darkest lariat but was out-sped by the Disguise Pokémon, who slammed its tail like a whip across the Heel Pokémon's face, knocking Incineroar back.
"Fire fang!" Niko shouted. Incineroar grabbed Mimikyu, mid-attack, and bit down on its tail before spinning around with darkest lariat and throwing it into the ground. Mimikyu tumbled onto the purple carpeted battlefield like a ragdoll before leaping into the air and re-orienting itself, its head now tilting to the side.
It then made a sharpening sound that sounded similar to Braviary using hone claws before charging at Incineroar a second time with play rough. However, it attacked at his heels this time, tripping the fire type and knocking him to the ground before spinning upwards and to the side and slamming its tail a second time on Incineroar's back. He let out a groan as Mimikyu continued "playing rough" with him.
"Incineroar, get up!" Niko shouted. "And use flamethrower!"
Incineroar slowly did, trying to grab Mimikyu but missing. He fired flames from his belt that ultimately missed. Mimikyu had dodged the attack and shot to the side where it used dazzling gleam, blinding Incineroar temporarily and allowing the Disguise Pokémon to strike again with play rough, on Acerola's command. This time Incineroar was knocked on his back, with Mimikyu slamming its tail onto his chest aggressively.
"Hone claws, Mimikyu!" Acerola said with a wink. The Disguise Pokémon stepped back, sharpening its claws while the Heel Pokémon attempted to get back up. He was panting slightly by this point—the little Pokémon was really doing a number on him. It made Niko wonder if using the Z-move would be worthwhile here. Realizing it wouldn't be, he continued.
"Darkest lariat!" Niko shouted. Incineroar nodded, spinning across the field and trying to slam into Mimikyu who dodged his attack each time. Mimikyu then waited for the attack to finish before using dazzling gleam again, surprising Incineroar and using the opportunity to finish him off with play rough, slamming its tail into this stomach and knocking him decisively to the ground.
"Incineroar is unable to battle, Mimikyu is the winner! Niko will now use his third Pokémon!" the judge declared.
"Return, Mimikyu," Acerola said with a grin. "Froslass, I choose you!"
"Rampardos, I choose you!" Niko said without missing a beat, summoning the Head Butt Pokémon. Acerola was making this easy for him now. "Use flamethrower!"
"Thunderbolt, hehe!" the Elite 4 member shouted. Froslass charged up with electricity and fired it downwards onto Rampardos just as he released a stream of fire from his mouth. The attack hit, causing him to roar out from the pain. In his anger, Rampardos charged at Froslass, his head bursting with energy. Niko didn't issue this command, but he knew what the rock type was doing.
"HEAD SMASH!" Niko roared. Rampardos charged faster than he ever had before towards Froslass, who simply moving out of the way and fired a shadow ball at Rampardos' side, interrupting his entire momentum and forcing him to crash into the ground. "Flamethrower!"
"Ice shard!" Acerola commanded. Before Rampardos could react, Froslass fired nearly a dozen small, sharp pieces of ice at the Head Butt Pokémon, causing him to groan in a low tone. "Now use blizzard!"
A cold air mixed with bits of ice and snow covered the field, with the wind blowing directly at Rampardos. He slowly got up, the blizzard not doing much to him, and blasted a jet of fire directly at his opponent, who disappeared into the blizzard, leaving Rampardos to look around. He could take whatever hit Froslass threw at him—he himself knew that—it was just a matter of when.
Then he felt electricity surge through him. Thunderbolt. In response, Niko roared.
"Turn to the right and use head smash!" Niko shouted. Rampardos turned sharply, noticing Froslass there. In retaliation, he quickly lowered his head and, in a single bound, lunged forward and struck the ice type with his red-plated head. Froslass rocketed backwards, slamming into the wall on the side of the battlefield, falling to the ground in defeat.
"Froslass is unable to battle, Rampardos is the winner!" the judge declared. "Acerola will now use her fourth Pokémon!"
"Drifblim, I choose you!" Acerola shouted.
"Rampardos, return," Niko said. I might need you for Mimikyu. "Eelektross, you're up!" Luckily choosing Pokémon with raw power is giving me an advantage. He thought as he summoned the EleFish Pokémon. "Use coil!"
"Drifblim, will-o-wisp!" Acerola commanded. Niko and Eelektross didn't react—they let the attack hit, leaving a small burn near Eelektross' left fin. "And use shadow ball!"
"Uncoil and use thunderbolt to block it!" Niko shouted. Eelektross unfurled himself and, using some of the electricity he generated, struck Drifblim, knocking the Blimp Pokémon backwards. "And follow up with wild charge!"
"Psychic!" Acerola shouted. Just before Eelektross hit his opponent with the attack, Drifblim's eyes began to glow purple. He threw the EleFish Pokémon into the ground powerfully, forcing Eelektross to land on his burn, which made him groan. However, Eelektross was tougher than that. He slowly got up and struck Drifblim with charge beam, directly on the yellow "x" mark on the ghost type's face. "Shadow ball!"
"Wild charge!" Niko shouted. Eelektross burst forward, enveloped by light yellow electrical energy, and struck the Blimp Pokémon just as it fired shadow ball. Both attacks hit both Pokémon, causing them to rocket in opposite directions, and at an angle. Drifblim shot higher into the air, and Eelektross crashed into the ground. However, by the time Drifblim regained its composure, it faced a charge beam to the face that quickly sent it hurtling into the ground.
"Drifblim is unable to battle, Eelektross is the winner! Acerola will now use her final Pokémon!" the judge declared.
"Hehe, you're doing well, Niko! But it's over for you, now," she said with a friendly wink. "Mimikyu, come back out! Use dazzling gleam!"
"Coil, Eelektross!" Niko shouted. The EleFish Pokémon wrapped himself up, wincing from the damage of the pink light. Moments later, he felt Mimikyu slamming its tail against him, but he waited. And waited. And waited. "Now! Use wild charge!"
Eelektross unfurled himself and began charging at the Disguise Pokémon. Just then, Niko saw Z-energy transfer to it. Acerola was using a Z-move.
"Let's Snuggle Forever!" Acerola shouted with a giggle. Mimikyu then shot around the battlefield at a pace Eelektross' eyes couldn't keep up with. Then, from above and behind, the Disguise Pokémon landed on Eelektross and enveloped him with its Pikachu-shaped rag. Mimikyu didn't let go, and Niko could see his Pokémon trying to resist. However, Mimikyu then threw Eelektross out of its rag. The EleFish Pokémon tumbled across the ground in defeat.
"Eelektross is unable to battle, Mimikyu is the winner!" the judge declared. "Niko will now use his final Pokémon!"
"Rampardos, you're up!" Niko shouted. "Well, Acerola, this has been fun, but I think we're about to finish this," he held out his own Z-ring with Rockium-Z inside. "You ready, buddy?" he asked. The Head Butt Pokémon nodded. Before the battle, he had shown each of the Pokémon he wanted to use in this battle how to perform some of the Z-moves that they were capable of.
Niko then performed the poses—alongside Rampardos—necessary for Rockium-Z to transfer energy from his ring to Rampardos' body, causing the Head Butt Pokémon to emit an orange aura around himself. Niko then shouted for him to use Continental Crush. Rampardos leapt high into the air, causing any and all nearby rocks to collide together and form a massive one above his head. With whatever energy he had left, he thrust the rock down on Mimikyu, who attempted to use dazzling gleam to throw off Rampardos but wasn't fast enough and as a result was crushed by the rock.
Rampardos successfully landed back on the ground, albeit very exhausted. The rock shattered, leaving bits and pieces around. Niko and his Pokémon waited. The entire stadium waited with baited breath for how Mimikyu reacted to the attack.
It simply lay there, unable to move.
"Mimikyu is unable to battle, Rampardos is the winner! The victory goes to Niko from Pallet Town!" the judge declared.
"And for the third time today, Niko has defeated a member of Alola's Elite 4!" Kukui shouted excitedly. "Niko! Your final battle today will be against the final member—Kahili—in a couple of hours. Please be ready by then, cousin!"
"You've never made it this far!" Warren said as he hugged Niko when the latter arrived outside of the tunnel and into the lobby of the stadium, where his friends and family were waiting for him.
"I knew you could do it," Charlotte said, hugging him.
"Thanks. Now I have the last one—maybe the hardest one, too," Niko said, reflecting on his battle with Kahili a few months prior. "Kahili is tough. She used to be an Island Champion, before they had the Alola League. I've battled her before and she isn't to be messed with."
"But you didn't have your reserves. And she uses flying types. You can win against those no problem!" JJ commented.
"True, and true. I'm just not going in with expectations, I guess," Niko said with a shrug. I need to go talk to the Pokémon that I'll be battling with, I'll see you all in a bit alright?"
They all nodded, turning to one another. Niko seemed different now. He was serious, not like before Acerola's battle, where he was feeling high on life. No, this was different.
In the Champion's Box, Kukui heard a knock. Turning, the door opened to reveal a portly man in a pin-striped suit. He smirked upon seeing the Professor, the remaining Elite 4, and the Kahunas. "Afternoon, Kukui."
"Ferdinand Diamond. Always a pleasure," Kukui said in a diplomatic tone. "Are you here to see Kahili's battle?"
"Yes. It's against the same trainer that she defeated a few months back—Niko, right? That kid is something else. A pain in my ass, and with high standards that shouldn't exist."
"A pain in your ass? Niko?" Kukui asked incredulously.
"His little girlfriend stole one of my Pokémon. They're criminals, Kukui."
"I'm sure that's just some mis—"
"STOLE."
Kukui backed off. He never enjoyed interacting with Ferdinand Diamond. He was the sort of person that, no matter what, always got what he wanted, in contrast to Kukui, who had to work for his success. If Diamond didn't control most business interests in Alola, he'd say more, but he didn't want to anger the absurdly-wealthy man.
"Sorry, I let my anger get the best of me. I hope Kahili beats the stuffing out of this kid, just like she did last time. He's weak, you know, and the weak don't succeed in this world."
"He just single-handedly defeated Molayne, Olivia, and Acerola," Kukui explained.
"Bah, they're nothing," Diamond said, right in front of said Elite 4 members. Olivia looked ready to punch him in the face, but Hala calmed her down, holding an arm out in front of her. "Kahili will win, no doubt about it."
"Welcome, one and all, to the final match of the Champion's League! Today we have the final member of Alola's Elite 4, Kahili, up against the challenger, the Champion of the Lanakila Conference, Niko! If you haven't been paying attention today, Niko has defeated each other Elite 4 member in quick succession, and without too much difficulty," he said before eying Ferdinand Diamond, "Now, in a 4-on-4 battle, he will face the final Elite 4 member and, should he win, get the opportunity to challenge the Champion of Alola—Hau!"
The audience was berserk as Niko and Kahili approached the field. The woman in teal-colored hair and tennis garb approached the side opposite Niko's. Their battlefield resembled a tennis field, only without the net in the middle. The judge explained the rules and, within moments, both trainers summoned their first Pokémon.
"Luxray, I choose you!"
"Braviary, you're up!" Kahili said. "I'm excited for this re-match, Niko. Now you're not confined to a specific team, right? I want to see you at your best now. Can you do that for me?"
"Of course," Niko said with a smirk. "Luxray, use electric terrain!" he shouted. Quickly, the field burst into a bright yellow hue, with small sparks emitting in random places. "Now, use discharge!"
"Braviary, crush claw!" Kahili shouted. The Valiant Pokémon charged down at its opponent, making its way through the discharge and, its talons bursting into a blue aura, slashed powerfully at Luxray. "And superpower!"
With the same talons, Braviary lifted Luxray high into the air before dropping the Gleam Eyes Pokémon, dropping him to the ground. Then, Braviary dove directly downwards, its body bursting into a light blue aura again as it used brave bird and crashed into Luxray, causing a cloud of dust to erupt around them.
Luxray slowly got back up, groaning as he did. The series of attacks swiftly landed on him hurt him more than he or Niko realized at first.
"Use discharge again!" Niko commanded. Luxray obeyed, releasing as much electricity as he could, paralyzing Braviary as a result. "Now thunder fang!"
"Hone claws!" Kahili shouted. Though Braviary could barely move, it gathered enough strength to scrape its claws against the ground, sharpening them for its next attack. It took the thunder fang and a subsequent discharge from Luxray before releasing himself from the paralysis and flying back into the air.
"Discharge again!" Niko shouted.
"Brave bird!" Kahili commanded. The Valiant Pokémon burst into a bright blue aura and charged downwards at its opponent, flying through the electricity and crashing into Luxray. Just before impact, Niko commanded the Gleam Eyes Pokémon to use thunder fang. The resulting collision of attacks created a larger explosion than before.
Once the smoke cleared, Niko and Kahili found their Pokémon laying against one another in defeat.
"Luxray and Braviary are both unable to battle! Both trainers will use their second Pokémon!" the judge declared.
"Return," they both said. "Mandibuzz, I choose you!" Kahili added moments later.
"Glalie, you're up buddy!" Niko said, sending out his overexcited Face Pokémon. "I missed you too. Now let's win this. Glalie, use ice beam!"
"Mandibuzz, air slash!" Kahili commanded. The dark type flew into the air, firing light blue blades of air from the tips of its wings and striking Glalie, who blocked using protect. The ice beam missed. "Now use toxic!"
Mandibuzz charged forward towards Glalie before spewing toxic material everywhere. The Bone Vulture Pokémon was faster than Niko had expected, but not stronger. Glalie winced from the poison getting all over him. We won't make that mistake a second time, Niko thought. "Use ice beam!"
Glalie fired a stream of ice towards Mandibuzz, following the dark type as it flew in the air. Eventually Glalie faked it out, pausing the ice beam and quickly shifting to the right. He fired it a second time and struck Mandibuzz' right wing, forcing it to crash land onto the tennis court-battlefield.
"Air slash!" Kahili shouted.
"Double team," Niko said calmly. Glalie duplicated himself nearly a dozen times. The air slash took out a few of them just as Glalie had conjured them. "And ice beam!"
All of the Glalie copies used ice beam, firing at Mandibuzz wherever it went. Eventually freezing it from the consecutive attacks. The Bone Vulture Pokémon, who had tried to escape by flying directly into the air, crash landed and shattered the ice covering it. Mandibuzz tried to get back up but collapsed in defeat.
"Mandibuzz is unable to battle, Glalie is the winner!" the judge declared. "Kahili will now use her third Pokémon!"
"Oricorio, I choose you!" Kahili shouted, summoning a red-colored Oricorio. Fire type, Niko thought to himself. "Use revelation dance!"
The Oricorio danced around, generating flames around its body that it eventually used to fire at Glalie, who attempted to block with protect but failed due to the poison taking control of him. He winced as the poison and flames did a combined number on him. Oricorio, not missing a beat, fired a series of air slashes at him. This time he tried to block with double team, but the Baile Style-bird wouldn't let up, dousing Glalie in attacks.
"Teeter dance!" Kahili commanded. Oricorio performed a somewhat clumsy dance number that Glalie had difficulty following, ultimately confusing him as a result. "And now revelation dance!" she shouted after the Face Pokémon attempted to use ice beam, only to wobble to the side on accident and misfire. Oricorio then performed its usual dance, generating flames that it shot at Glalie, enveloping him in them and knocking him onto his back, now in defeat.
"Glalie is unable to battle, Oricorio is the winner! Niko will now use his third Pokémon!"
"That's more like it," Ferdinand Diamond said. "See? Kahili can win, Kukui. You have too much confidence in this joke of a kid."
Kukui rolled his eyes before watching the battle unfold more.
"Boldore, I choose you!" Niko shouted, summoning the Ore Pokémon. "Use smack down!" he shouted. Boldore summoned a golden orb with a rock in the middle that swiftly fired at Oricorio, hitting the Dancing Pokémon just as it used revelation dance. "And stone edge!" Niko commanded. Boldore slammed his foot onto the ground, causing pointed stones to erupt out of the ground towards Oricorio, who managed to fly out of the way and attempt to use teeter dance, to which Boldore hardly seemed effected. The Ore Pokémon, using sound to detect his opponent's movements, had to rely on Niko to see where Oricorio was going n the air. "Wait for it…" Niko said calmly. "And now! Use smack down to the right and a little bit in the air!"
Boldore fired the golden orb, missing Oricorio by a hair. The Dancing Pokémon then shot down towards Boldore from the side. However, he could hear the air separating around something and, stomping his foot, summoned stone edge to strike Oricorio in the chest, rocketing it high into the air.
"Smack down!" Niko commanded. Boldore shifted to the side and fired a third golden orb that quickly brought the Dancing Pokémon crashing into the tennis court-battlefield.
"Oricorio is unable to battle, Boldore is the winner!" the judge declared. "Kahili will now use her fourth and final Pokémon!"
"I'm impressed, Niko. I figured you were tougher than you appeared last time we battled. No one wins the Lumiose Conference and isn't at least a decent battler. But let's see if you can still keep up with this last one. You'll remember Toucannon!" she said, summoning a familiar-looking bird Pokémon.
"Boldore, return," Niko said calmly. "Manectric, you're up!" he said, sending out the Discharge Pokémon. "Use howl!"
"Beak blast!" Kahili shouted. Niko knew how long this sort of attack took to warm up, and promptly asked Manectric to switch it up and use discharge. Manectric obeyed, releasing electricity in every direction possible and causing the beak blast to prematurely explode on contact.
"Wild charge!"
"Rock blast, Toucannon!" Kahili commanded. Surprisingly, Toucannon fired rocks from its mouth in Manectric's direction, but the Discharge Pokémon largely ignored them. Manectric didn't get the chance to battle with his trainer much and wasn't about to lose that opportunity by losing the battle. He also knew that Toucannon was the last Pokémon—Niko mentioned that this Pokémon would be Kahili's strongest.
Nevertheless, Manectric struck Toucannon, forcing energy to surge through the Cannon Pokémon. Toucannon angrily slammed its massive, curved beak into Manectric, knocking him into the ground aggressively.
"Bullet seed!" Kahili commanded.
"Discharge!" Niko shouted. Both attacks struck, repelling one another, but severely hurting Toucannon. Niko then realized he could finish this battle right now, in this moment. He looked down at his Z-ring, holding the Electrium-Z that he got from Sophocles. It was time.
Kahili also noticed this and lifted her own Z-ring. "Toucannon! Use Supersonic Skystrike!" she yelled. The Z-energy transferred immediately to Toucannon, enveloping it in an orange aura. The Cannon Pokémon shot into the air before preparing a quick descent.
Niko also lifted his Z-ring and, alongside Manectric, performed the Electrium-Z poses. "Gigavolt Havoc!" Niko shouted. Manectric collected a massive sphere of electricity and fired it just as Toucannon crashed into him with its Z-move.
A massive explosion erupted. It took a while for the smoke to clear, but when it did, it found Toucannon laying on the ground, unconscious. Manectric was barely standing, wobbling in fact. He, Niko, and Kahili all turned to the judge, who issued the declaration.
"Toucannon is unable to battle, Manectric is the winner! And the victory goes to Niko from Pallet Town!"
Niko wasn't surprised until it dawned on him what this particular victory meant. He was challenging the Champion of Alola now. He was at the peak of his performance.
Charlotte greeted him with a warm hug as he met up with his friends and family for the fourth time that day. Warren and JJ were losing their minds from the excitement of it all. Just before he left the stadium, Niko shook Kahili's hand.
"Good job, Niko. If anyone deserves to challenge Hau, it's you," she said with a smile. "I don't normally have this much respect for another trainer. You're different, though. You're unique. Don't forget that, alright?"
"Thanks, Kahili. I appreciate that."
"Niko!" Kukui shouted from the Champion's Box. "Your battle against Hau will commence tomorrow afternoon! Get some rest, cousin. We'll see you then!" he said as the mic cut out.
"Well?" Kukui asked as he turned to Ferdinand Diamond.
"He…Hau, beat him," Diamond said, turning to Hau, who sat in silence. He smiled warmly.
"I'll do my best. But Kukui's right—he is tough."
"You're tougher," Diamond said bluntly.
Later that evening, Niko laid down on his bed. After four consecutive battles, he was exhausted. More so than he had imagined originally. Minutes later, he felt Charlotte laying down next to him.
"How're you feeling?"
"Nervous, excited," Niko said. "I didn't think I'd finally be making it this far. I'm not sure what to think, honestly."
"Just do your best. We're all here for you," Charlotte said, kissing him on the cheek. "And so are your Pokémon.
"I know. I don't know anything about Hau."
"So just use what Pokémon feel right to you. Definitely use Venusaur, though."
"Oh, without a doubt. He's itching to battle again, I bet," Niko said.
"Well, goodnight, Champion of Alola," Charlotte said before promptly falling asleep. Niko wanted to as well, but his mind kept racing. The only thing on his mind was the battle the following day. His toughest battle was about to begin.
Author's Note: If all goes well, i'll be posting the final two episodes tonight. Hope you enjoyed this one-and the next two!
A close friend of mine is in the middle of writing a Fantasy story on the sister site to this one. 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!
