Episode 55: The Champion of Alola

"Alola, one and all!" Kukui declared. "The moment we've all been waiting for! The battle for Champion of Alola!"

The crowd went wild as the battlefield—an ordinary field, with the only different being that the domed ceiling above the stadium was now open, revealing the sun for the first time during the conference.

"In one corner we have the reigning Champion, Hau of Iki Town!" Kukui shouted. The crowd cheered loudly for the young, dark-skinned man in yellow floral shorts and a black T-shirt entering the battlefield. "In the other, we have the former champion of the Lumiose Conference in Kalos and the champion of this year's Lanakila Conference, who only yesterday defeated the Alola Elite 4: Niko of Pallet Town!"

Niko walked through the tunnel and entered the battlefield. Only minutes before was he speaking with Charlotte about the battle, hugging her tightly. She helped him get to this point, in more ways than one. In his mind, this battle was largely for her.

He looked up. There were more people here than he had imagined. Are Champion battles not normal? He wondered. If that was the case, then was he unique?

"Hey, Niko," Hau shouted from the opposite end of the battlefield. "You've impressed me so far. I was wondering if you'd be able to make it this far, and I'm glad you did. It's not often I get a challenger during the normal conference season," he smirked, "so let's make it count!"

It was to be a six-on-six Pokémon battle—first trainer to defeat the other's full team would not only be declared the winner of the battle, but also the Champion of the Alola region.

Niko could feel his heart beating. In that moment, he couldn't see or hear anything else.

"Begin!"

"Floatzel, I choose you!" Hau shouted, summoning an orange-colored Sea Weasel Pokémon with a yellow, tubular float sack around its neck.

"Swellow, you're up!" Niko said, sending out the Swallow Pokémon. "Use aerial ace!"

"Aqua jet!" Hau commanded. The Sea Weasel Pokémon shot forward, its body entirely contained in a coat of water. Floatzel collided powerfully with the flying type, repelling both in opposite directions from the impact of the attacks. "Hydro pump!"

"Double team!" Niko shouted. Swellow duplicated himself to effectively dodge the attack before moving in with aerial ace again, slashing at Floatzel head-on. "Now wing attack!"

"Ice beam!" Hau commanded. Floatzel waited for Swellow to once again hit before firing an ice beam, freezing his right wing and causing him to crash-land into the ground. "Now hydro pump!"

Floatzel fired another high-pressured burst of water at Swellow, forcing him backwards through the dirt before bringing the Swallow Pokémon to a stop in front of Niko. Swellow slowly got back up, still able to fight. "We haven't battled in a while, buddy, but you can do this. Use aerial ace!"

Swellow cawed out angrily, rocketing straight forward towards his opponent. Floatzel did the same, only with aqua jet. Niko then commanded him to use double team, creating the illusion that he was still aiming for Floatzel. One the Sea Weasel passed through a copy and realized the mistake, Swellow spun around and struck the Floatzel in the back, crashing into the ground powerfully.

"Hydro pump!" Hau commanded. Floatzel spun around and shot a blast of water at Swellow, knocking him out of the air and onto the ground, now in defeat.

"Swellow is unable to battle, Floatzel is the winner! Challenger Niko will now use his second Pokémon!" the judge declared.

"Ribombee, I choose you!" Niko commanded, summoning the Bee Fly Pokémon. "Use energy ball!"

"Freeze it with ice beam!" Hau commanded. Floatzel swiftly fired a stream of ice energy at his opponent, causing it to turn to ice before bursting open. "Use aqua jet into aqua tail!"

Floatzel surrounded itself in water before charging at Ribombee, who responded with dazzling gleam, blinding the Sea Weasel and causing it to crash into the ground in front of him. Ribombee then fired an energy ball downwards. It exploded on contact, causing Floatzel to groan.

"Ribombee, use stun spore!" Niko commanded.

"Hydro pump!" Hau cried out. Floatzel spun around and stood up with unusually fast reflexes and struck the tiny Pokémon with a hydro pump, knocking him backwards and nullifying the stun spore. Ribombee, regaining himself, fluttered forward and spun around Floatzel, trying to use his small size to confuse the Sea Weasel.

"Stun spore again!" Niko shouted. Ribombee spun around Floatzel, who tried to use aqua tail to swat him away. However, the Bee Fly Pokémon successfully landed the stun spore, stopping Floatzel from moving entirely. "Now use dazzling gleam!"

Ribombee conjured a bright pink light that knocked Floatzel off of his feet. The Bee Fly Pokémon followed up with an energy ball to the chest, knocking the Sea Weasel backwards and onto the ground.

"Floatzel is unable to battle, Ribombee is the winner! Champion Hau will now use his second Pokémon!" the judge declared.

"They're…oddly matched," Warren said. "Which makes me wonder what sets Hau apart from some of these other trainers. Why is he so powerful? What makes him so much stronger from the Elite 4?"

No one seemed to have an answer. None of them have ever fought anyone of Hau's caliber…ever. The closest would have been Charlotte, but she fought Hau's current opponent.

"Leafeon, I choose you!" Hau shouted, summoning a green, foxlike Pokémon with leaves for ears and a tail. "Quick attack!"

"Ribombee, dazzling gleam!" Niko commanded. As Leafeon darted towards the Bee Fly Pokémon, the latter conjured an incredibly bright light that caught it off guard, forcing it to crash to the side. "Now, pollen puff!" Niko shouted. He wanted to use stun spore, but he knew it would be useless on a grass type like Leafeon.

"Block it with leaf blade!" Hau commanded. Leafeon leapt forward, a long extended bright green blade protruded out and slashed at the ball of pollen, causing it to explode in the middle of the field, spreading the pollen everywhere. "Now use leaf blade again on Ribombee!"

"Energy ball!" Niko shouted. It wouldn't do much, but it would be enough to block the onslaught of blades coming at his Pokémon. Ribombee darted to the left after Leafeon tried to slash at him, and used pollen puff, hitting the Verdant Pokémon in the side. It wailed in a low tone before turning again and slashing with leaf blade. How is this strategy not failing? Niko wondered. It seemed too simplistic, in his mind, for a Champion trainer like Hau. To be fair, he had his own simple strategies, but this one seemed too simple. Especially against something as small and quick as Ribombee.

Small and quick…Niko thought again to himself. "Ribombee! Stay put and use dazzling gleam!"

Ribombee nodded, nearly taking a leaf blade to the head before he released the same pink light as earlier, knocking Leafeon backwards. Everything made sense to Niko now. "Alright buddy, we need to be careful," he said as Leafeon recollected itself. "Use Pollen puff again!"

"Charge at it and use leaf blade!" Hau shouted. Leafeon, only several yards away, charged at its opponent, slashing at the multiple pollen puffs coming at it. Once it was upon Ribombee, it landed a particularly powerful leaf blade directly on Ribombee's head, just as a pollen puff hit it in the chest. Ribombee crashed backwards into the ground, and Leafeon was sent in an archlike motion through the air and onto its back as well.

"Leafeon and Ribombee are both unable to battle, Niko and Hau will use their next Pokémon!"

"Incineroar, I choose you!"

"Tauros, you're up!" Hau shouted, summoning the bull-like Pokémon. "Use earthquake!"

"Darkest lariat, buddy!" Niko commanded, thrusting his fist forward. "You got it, fight through the attack! Ignore the pain!"

This wasn't much of an issue for a Pokémon like Incineroar who, with the exception of water, could take as much pain as necessary to win. He continued to charge forward, slamming his fiery tornado into Tauros' head, pushing the Wild Bull Pokémon backwards.

"Now double kick!" Niko commanded. Incineroar broke out of the spin and jumped slightly, spinning and slamming his foot against Tauros' side. Before he could say anything else, Tauros' head burst into a light gray color and it slammed into Incineroar's chest, knocking him onto his back.

"Earthquake!" Hau shouted. While on his back, Incineroar was far too vulnerable to the attack. Growling as he tried enduring the viciously quaking ground underneath him. Once it was over, he slowly got back up, a red, fiery aura surrounding him.

Blaze…Niko said. He rarely saw the starter abilities—Overgrow, Blaze, and Torrent—show up, but that meant that they were truly in a pinch and could access their true potential as grass, fire, or water types. "Incineroar, use flamethrower!"

"Block it with zen headbutt!" Hau commanded, knowing that the attack wouldn't affect Incineroar, merely repel the attack itself. However, it didn't work as well as the Champion had hoped, and left a burn mark on the Wild Bull Pokémon's forehead. "Earthquake!"

"Darkest lariat!" Niko roared. Incineroar charged forward, spinning and creating a miniature fiery tornado as he went. He collided into Tauros before, just like before, successfully landing not just one, but two powerful side kicks to each side of the normal type, slamming Tauros into the ground. "Well done!" Niko shouted, thrusting a fist into the air.

Meanwhile, at the Aether House, Gladion sat with some of his Pokémon, the Oranguru caretaker, and the Alolan Sandshrew that Warren and the others found. Watching Incineroar fight like that made him smirk.

"Niko, you definitely can win this with Incineroar."

"Tauros is unable to battle, Incineroar is the winner! Champion Hau will now send out his fourth Pokémon!" the judge declared.

"Niko's in good shape right now," Warren said, sitting back. Poipole, who had been watching the entire time (and was for the most part silently watching), cheered loudly when Incineroar won the battle.

"But Blaze is only as a last resort," Jake commented. "That means Hau's Tauros really did a significant amount of damage to Incineroar. At least enough to activate that type of ability."

"Bzzzt…Jake is correct. Incineroar is on the verge of fainting, it seems," Rotomdex declared.

"It happened when Niko had Feraligatr," Brittany added, harkening back to Niko's victory over Fay in the Silver Conference. "Both Feraligatr and Charizard activated their abilities, and Niko managed to win with that."

Warren nodded. "Incineroar is pretty strong, though. He reminds me of Niko's Braviary, actually. Very similar attitudes about battling."

No one could disagree with this.

"Noivern, I choose you!" Hau shouted, summoning the Sound Wave Pokémon. "Use dragon pulse!"

"Darkest lariat!" Niko commanded. Defensively, Incineroar spun around as the wave of draconic energy shot into him. After the attack hit, Incineroar stopped to take a breath. Niko could tell he was exhausted. "Can you keep going?"

This was a stupid question. Of course he could. And he made it known to Niko when he turned and growled at him.

"Gotcha. Let's use flamethrower!"

"Air slash!" Hau shouted. The light blue blades of air shot downwards at the stream of fire, creating an explosion in the middle of the field. Incineroar then charged forward through the smoke before leaping into the air and using darkest lariat to power the rest of the jump towards Noivern. "Dragon pulse!"

The attack struck Incineroar on top of the head, disrupting his attack and forcing him back to the ground with a loud thud. The Heel Pokémon tried getting back up, only to collapse backwards in defeat.

"Incineroar is unable to battle, Noivern is the winner! Niko will now use his fourth Pokémon!" the judge declared.

"Return. You did great, buddy. I'm really proud of you," Niko said with a smile. He meant that. "Now, for another powerhouse. Feraligatr, you're up buddy!" he shouted, throwing a pokéball into the air containing the Big Jaw Pokémon. "Use whirlpool!"

Feraligatr roared out, raising his hands and, with surprising speed, summoned a massive spinning vortex of water and threw it at Noivern, who forced it to burst with dark pulse.

"Let's get in closer, then. Use ice punch!" Niko commanded. Feraligatr charged at Noivern, taking long, heavy steps across the field. He was itching to battle since his last one. While he was running, he remembered Niko's pitch to the six of them that morning…

"Guys…" Niko said, looking out at all of his Pokémon, but at six in particular. "We're challenging the most powerful trainer in Alola—Hau. In fact, this is the strongest trainer we've ever faced, I think. For that, I want to thank all of you. Really, it's not me that wins these battles. It's all of you.

"After seven years, we might finally make it to the pinnacle of Pokémon training. Tomorrow, we might finally reach our goal. All I want to say is, from the bottom of my heart, thank you. I love each and every one of you.

"But specifically to the six of you battling—this will be your toughest match ever. Hau is the Champion for a reason. All I'm asking from you is to not give up. Not for me, but for yourselves. Fight through the pain! You're all capable of doing it—I've seen it. From our battles in Kanto against Sabrina to that battle against Melinda at the Ruins of Hope, you've all impressed me far beyond my imagination. Venusaur knows how far I've come—he gets how important this moment is for all of us.

"Now, let's go out there and win this! For me, for all of our friends and family, and…" Niko paused, "For Charlotte, too."

"Dragon pulse!" Hau roared. Noivern fired yet another purple wave of energy from its massive ears, to which Feraligatr used ice punch to break through it, watching the energy flow to each side. "Dark pulse!"

"Hydro pump!" Niko shouted. Feraligatr released a high-pressured jet of water from his mouth, hitting Noivern directly in the face and causing it to fall backwards towards the ground. "Now, whirlpool!"

"Get up and use dark pulse!" Hau commanded. Noivern tried to quickly stand on its feet before finding itself in the eye of a massive whirlpool that covered nearly a quarter of the battlefield. Suddenly, through the wall of water came a chilling, ice-covered fist that slammed into the Sound Wave Pokémon's chest. Noivern grunted as it fell out of the whirlpool and again onto its back, now in defeat.

"Noivern is unable to battle, Feraligatr is the winner!" the judge declared. "Champion Hau will now use his fifth Pokémon!"

"Raichu, I choose you!" he shouted, summoning an odd-looking mouse-like Pokémon that Niko had never seen before.

"That's a Raichu!" Kaila shouted. "They're really cool looking!"

"Must be an Alola variant," Warren added. "Because Raichu don't look like that where we come from."

"Bzzzt, Warren is correct. This Raichu is electric and psychic type. It focuses psychic energy into its tail and rides it like it's surfing. Another name for this Pokémon is "hodad."

This Raichu had lighter coloring on its fur and more rounded features. Its eyes were blue with yellow half-circles along the bottom. It had large yellow ears with an inner spiral toward the base and brown on the inside. These ears were thicker and less pointed than a standard Raichu's ear. In addition to its white belly, this Raichu had white markings on its paws with bright yellow lines between its digits. The lightning bolt-shaped tip of its tail had rounded edges.

"Feraligatr, be careful," Niko said as the Big Jaw Pokémon stepped back. "This will be tough, it seems."

"Raichu, use thunderbolt!" Hau commanded. Raichu jumped around on its tail, generating electricity in its cheeks before firing a concentrated blast of electric energy at Feraligatr. In response, the crocodile-like Pokémon punched forward with ice punch to block the attack, albeit with slight success. "Now, use psychic!"

The Mouse Pokémon's eyes began to glow bright pink as it took control of Feraligatr and lifted him into the air before, at the same time, releasing a slightly weaker thunderbolt, striking Feraligatr in the chest and paralyzing him. Raichu then released his opponent, and Hau's Z-ring burst with energy.

Oh no…Niko said as the Champion of Alola performed a series of poses similar to Electrium-Z.

"Stoked Sparksurfer!" he shouted. Z-energy transferred to Raichu, causing it to erupt with an orange aura around it. Raichu lit up with electric energy surrounding it and shot high into the air. Hau then pointed forward, and Raichu angled downwards and charged at Feraligatr. When the Mouse Pokémon struck, a column of electricity shot high into the air, with Raichu flying out of it unharmed.

Once the smoke cleared, Feraligatr fell forward in defeat.

"Feraligatr is unable to battle, Raichu is the winner! Niko will now use his fifth Pokémon!"

"Holy hell," Warren said in shock. "That Raichu…"

"Is his ace Pokémon," Charlotte finished. She was worried now. She knew Niko's last two Pokémon. That Raichu could reasonably defeat one, possibly both. It depended on how Niko fought this next match.

"Raichu, return," Hau said. "Crabominable, I choose you!"

"Magneton, you're up!" Niko shouted, summoning his trust Magnet Pokémon. "Use magnet bomb!"

"Block them with power-up punch!" Hau commanded. Crabominable's massive claws started swirling with orange and brown energy before it slammed them into the small, steel-coated magnets, causing them to prematurely explode. "Now use stone edge!"

"Shoot forward, dodge, and use thunderbolt!" Niko commanded. Magneton nodded, buzzing as it zoomed in and out of the pointed stones erupting all around him. He generated electricity as he went, firing it at close range just in time to take a power-up punch to the face. As it turned out, the attack powered up significantly from the magnet bomb. Crabominable was much stronger now. "Use magnet bomb again!"

"Power-up punch!" Hau shouted. Once more, the Woolly Crab Pokémon punched each one, clearly strengthening its attack power. It then slammed a claw into Magneton, rocketing him backwards. Niko realized he made the same mistake twice. Was this going to cost him the match?

"Magneton, keep going buddy. This hurts, I know, but you're so much stronger than that Crabominable. Let's show Hau how we win battles. Magneton, zap cannon!"

"He's going for the finishing blow so quickly?" JJ asked curiously.

Magneton charged up every bit of electricity that it had. Meanwhile, Hau seemed to be thinking about his response. Niko knew he had to have one.

"Stone edge!" He shouted. Crabominable slammed into the ground with both claws, summoning two rows of pointed stones that shot forwards at Magneton. As soon as they struck the Magnet Pokémon, the cannon fired, emitting an ear-piercing sound that lit up the entire stadium with electric light.

Once the smoke cleared, both Magneton and Crabominable lay in defeat.

"Crabominable and Magneton are both unable to battle, Hau and Niko will now send out their final Pokémon!" the judge declared.

"Raichu, I choose you!"

Niko looked down at his pokéball. Let's win this, friend. "Venusaur, I choose you!"

This was it. The final battle. Both trainer's ace Pokémon were facing one another. Niko began to sweat a little. He was nervous—the stakes were never this high. He could become the Champion of Alola if he took down one Pokémon.

One. Single. Pokémon.

All across the region, people were tuning in. All of the trial captains not already present at Mount Lanakila—Ilima, Mallow, Lana, Kiawe, Sophocles, and Mina. Melinda was watching from a Pokémon Center in Hau'oli City, before taking off for Hoenn. Aaron watched from his television in Kalos.

Oliver, Elliot, Wally, and Ian all watched from different parts of the world. In Pallet Town, where Fay was currently working on a project, watched with Professor Oak.

In the stands Warren, Poipole, Jake, Brittany, JJ, Maizie, Daisy, Emily, and Sydney watched with suspense.

Charlotte watched, more proud than ever.

"It's up to you, Venusaur. Just like it always has been," Niko said with a mixture of unease and calmness. "This Pokémon is powerful and has the advantage. But they don't know you at your fullest strength. They don't know what you're capable of. Venusaur—mega evolve!"

Niko knew what he was doing. It was going to hurt, but it was worth it. He felt his Key Stone burn on his chest as Venusaur was engulfed in energy, surrounding himself with it and transforming into his mega form.

"Use frenzy plant!" Niko commanded. He was going to go all out here. It was worth it.

"Psychic!" Hau shouted. With an unbelievable amount of energy, Raichu took control of the spiked roots and thrust them back at Mega Venusaur, slapping the Seed Pokémon with them. Niko doubled over from feeling the attack hit his Pokémon. "Now, use focus blast!"

"Agh…" Niko said, collapsing to one knee. This Pokémon was tough. But he—and Venusaur—was tougher. "Use…petal blizzard."

"VENUS!" Venusaur roared, summoning a vortex of pink leaves that struck Raichu—for the first time, it took an attack directly—and knocked it off of its "surfboard" and onto the ground. Raichu looked at Mega Venusaur, glaring menacingly. "Venus," Venusaur said with smugness, realizing that his opponent didn't take hits very often.

"Use solarbeam!" Niko commanded. Venusaur obeyed, gathering up solar energy before firing it at Raichu…

…or he should have. Raichu used psychic to carry Venusaur into the air and thrust him back into the ground. Niko felt pain in his legs as he collapsed onto both knees now.

Get up, Niko. Get up, NOW! He slowly stood back up, his legs shaking. This was the most pain he had ever felt—more than his battle against Oliver's Greninja in Kalos. "Use…"

Venusaur attacked anyways, understanding Niko's inability to even speak. He felt Niko's thoughts ramming up against his and used frenzy plant accordingly. Again, Raichu took control of the attacks and sent them back. Venusaur winced, as did Niko, who was struggling against his own will to not cry out in pain.

"That's it, we need to try and finish this," Niko said, slowly holding up his Z-ring containing Grassium-Z. "Venusaur…" Niko said, weakly performing the pose for Grassium-Z. "Use Bloom Doom!" he roared.

Venusaur gathered solar energy into the top of his bulb before firing it high into the air. A field of flowers erupted around him, covering the entire battlefield as the beam of light crashed down on Raichu, who promptly fell to the ground.

Niko felt a sudden loss of energy. It wasn't like when he did this same strategy against Melinda. Somehow, Mega evolution and using a Z-move this time felt far more exhausting. He once more collapsed to his knees. He saw Venusaur's legs wobble, just like his did. His vision quickly began to blur. The last thing he noticed was Raichu standing back up, albeit slowly.

Then everything turned black.


Author's Note: The final episode of this season will be tomorrow evening. It was going to be tonight, but I had a lot to get done in preparation for a new job I'm taking on starting Monday. Hope you enjoyed this episode. Let me know what y'all think.

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!