It was past sunset when Grimsley and Nanu made it back to Ula'Ula Island. While several Pokémon were roaming in the grasses, there were no Team Skull grunts as the men made their way through Ula'Ula Meadows and Route 17. Grimsley remembered Lillie and Selene mentioning they had met them at Aether Paradise. He wondered why all of Team Skull would be at that place and not return yet. Perhaps some of them went to find Guzma who had disappeared with Lusamine.
When he and Nanu stepped inside Po Town's police station, they were greeted by the sight of Acerola playing with several of the Meowth. She waved a toy with a bell and feathers at them, and they jumped unsuccessfully to grab it. Acerola stopped once she noticed the men and beamed at them.
"Oh, hey you two! How was the trip?"
"It went fine for the most part," Grimsley said as he sat down on a chair. Nanu went to sit next to his desk. "I believe you know Hapu?"
"Hapu? Oh, the girl with the Mudsdale! I met her a couple times in Malie City. Heard she's the granddaughter of Poni Island's last kahuna."
"She is. Just recently Tapu Fini appointed her as the kahuna there."
Acerola's grin widened. "Really? That's great news!"
"It's true," Nanu said, leaning back against his seat. "I witnessed her going against Tapu Fini and everything."
"Did she really do that?" Acerola's face fell and she giggled. "Wished I could've seen that."
Grimsley swallowed and his hands grew tense. A part of him wondered how Acerola would react if she were stuck inside Tapu Fini's mist and met her late parents. It probably would be a bittersweet reunion like with his father.
"You'd probably enjoyed it," Nanu said. "She has a pretty strong Golurk."
"Wow, really? I need to visit Poni Island soon!" Acerola paused for a second, and she beamed. "Oh yeah, Uncle Nanu! Iokua just called. He asked if we would like to join him for lunch tomorrow?"
"Hm?" Nanu straightened himself up and blinked. He seemed to contemplate for a moment. "Not thrilled about that after coming back from Poni Island, but I'm willing to go to Malie City tomorrow. I'll give him a call in a bit."
When everyone went silent for a moment, Grimsley realized that he didn't mention to Nanu yet that he was able to use both Never Ending Nightmare and Savage Spin Out. He better do that now so he wouldn't forget.
"Say Nanu, do you recall saying that you would battle me if I can do Never Ending Nightmare and Savage Spin Out?"
"Yeah. What about it?" Nanu asked with a raised brow.
"Well, I'm able to use those two Z-Moves now. You're not backing out, are you?"
Nanu glared at him, his fingers tapping on the surface of his desk. "I actually haven't seen you do them yet. You could be lying for all I know."
Grimsley offered him a deepened frown. "So you don't trust me, huh?"
"Well, you're a gambler after all, and I've dealt with a lot of those." The kahuna sighed and rose from his chair. "After I come back from seeing Iokua, I want you to show me one of the Z-Moves. Got that?"
Not pleased with that, Grimsley pressed his lips and crossed his arms. After some consideration, he sighed and rubbed his forehead.
"I guess it's only fair. All right, I can do that."
"I take it you'll be training in the meantime?" Acerola asked.
"That's not a bad idea, actually." A small smirk curled around Grimsley's lips. "I can prepare in anticipation of the battle."
"You can train at the beach next to the Aether House! Hunter and Gracie would love to see you again!"
"I'll go over there to train, then." Grimsley was a little disappointed his battle with Nanu would be delayed a little longer, but he should be able to show him one of the Z-Moves easy enough. It shouldn't be too long now.
xxx
After leaving the police station the next morning, Grimsley had Blackjack take him through Route 16 and to the Aether House. The waves were calmer than the last time they went through here, though Grimsley would still wince whenever water splashed on his face. Only a couple swimmers and some water Pokémon were out at the moment.
Once he and Blackjack reached the shore, Grimsley thanked his Pokémon and returned him back to his pokéball. He flinched when a bird's shriek was heard, so Grimsley turned around to see Kukui and Kahili were having a Pokémon battle. One was an Altaria and the other was a Ninetales but with curly tails and blue fur instead of white. The two children Hunter and Gracie cheered from the sidelines. Both trainers yelled out their commands.
"Go ahead and hit hard with Steel Wings, Ally!"
"Counter with an Ice Beam, Diva, woo!"
Ally's wings glowed and she swooped down towards her opponent. Diva took a stance and all of her nine tails stood up as she fired ice energy from her mouth. Before Ally could reach her, the Ice Beam hit her chest and she screeched in pain, but she was able to recover quickly.
Both Kahili and Kukui ordered their Pokémon to use Moonblast next. Ally and Diva released large pink balls of energy at each other, which collided with one another and created an explosion. Hunter and Gracie continued cheering while Grimsley crossed his arms and watched with a stern face.
"I see that you haven't been slacking on your training," Kukui said with a grin.
"Of course not if I don't want to fall behind. However, we're not done yet." Kahili gazed up at Ally and a confident smile formed on her lips. "Are you ready to Mega Evolve?"
Grimsley's eyes grew wide and a lump formed inside his throat. He didn't notice until now that there was a pastel colored keystone attached to Kahili's visor. When she touched the keystone there, Ally glowed and her body began changing shape. Eventually Ally's Mega Evolution was complete and Grimsley couldn't tear his gaze away at her. The Altaria's face remained the same, but her blue belly was exposed and more cotton-like fluff on her neck and back. Her feathers shimmered like a rainbow in an afternoon. Kukui and the children also looked on in amazement.
"Woah, Kahili's Altaria changed!" Gracie said, pointing at her.
"That's Mega Evolution," Kukui said, his grin widening. "It causes Pokémon to change form and become much stronger, yeah!"
"And you get to see it in action," Kahili said to the children. She faced back up at Ally and whistled.
Her Altaria responded quickly by accelerating down in the blink of an eye and ramming into Diva. Diva fell hard on the ground, but she picked herself up quickly and shook the sand off her fur. Both Pokémon stared at each other while panting.
"Looks like our Pokémon are at their limits now." Kukui held out his wrist, showing off his Z-Ring and a Z-Crystal attached to it. "Why don't we end this with a bang?"
After his Pokémon offered an approved bark, Kukui began posing while Diva did a stance. He put his arms together, pulled them above his head, and made a swirling gesture. Diva howled, and a cold breeze swept through the air, causing Grimsley to grit his teeth and tug at his scarf.
"Ally, Protect now!" Kahili called out urgently, clenching her fist.
At that instant the Ninetales stood atop a large ice pillar and blasted a beam of ice straight at her opponent. Ally managed to form a green energy shield around her before the blast hit her, and more pillars of ice popped up. Within seconds all of the ice disappeared, small flakes glittering in the air. Ally was breathing hard and had some bruises on her neck and stomach, but otherwise was still standing.
"Thank goodness," Kahili said with a sigh of relief. Her facial expression changed back to her looking more focused. "All right, let's end this with a Flamethrower!"
Upon that command, Ally opened her mouth to release a stream of flames at Diva. Kukui urged her to watch out, which she did by moving away as fast as she could. Diva was able to dodge several of Ally's attempts, but she got struck by one of the flames which engulfed her for several seconds. As soon as the flames disappeared, Diva collapsed on the ground and didn't get up. Kukui rushed to his Pokémon's side.
"You okay there, Diva?" he asked as he kneeled down and petted her. A few seconds passed until Diva opened her eyes and licked Kukui's cheek, causing him to chuckle. "You did great out there. Take some rest, yeah?" he said and returned her.
"That was a great battle there." Kahili approached Kukui with Ally, back to her normal form, behind her. Kukui stood back up, grinning.
"Same here, cousin!" he said, and they shook hands.
"I can't wait to be a strong trainer like you guys!" Hunter said and beamed. Behind him, Gracie hummed in agreement.
A small smile formed on Grimsley's lips. He had one hand on his side and said, "Indeed that was a fun match to watch."
Both Kukui and Kahili gasped and turned around to see Grimsley. They gave him welcome smiles.
"Oh, Alola there Grimsley!" Kukui greeted him. "Kahili and I are preparing for the upcoming Pokémon League tournament."
"That makes sense," Grimsley said with a nod. He faced Kahili and Ally. "I'm surprised that you know how to use Mega Evolution."
"I've been doing it for a couple years or so now." Kahili stroked Ally's cheek, who cooed and leaned against her palm. She chuckled and returned her back inside her pokéball. "TheGym Leader Winona taught me Mega Evolution while I was visiting Hoenn."
"Winona, hm? I've heard about her from my friend Sidney, one of Hoenn's Elite Four." Grimsley didn't know too much about her, just that she was the current gym leader of Fortree City, loved flying, and was on the quiet side.
"Speaking of her, is she planning to come see you compete in the Pokémon League?" Kukui asked.
"She just got back to me last night saying that she will and is very excited."
Kahili turned her head for a second, a slight blush forming on her cheeks. When Grimsley noticed that, he blinked and wondered if there was something going on between the two. He thought back to Kahili's battle with Kukui and an idea occurred to him.
"Kahili, you can do both Z-Moves and Mega Evolution, right? Have you ever attempted to do both at the same time?"
Kahili stared at Grimsley blankly, and she shook her head. "I tried that a few times, but I've been unsuccessful."
"Z-Moves and Mega Evolution requires a lot of energy from the trainer and their Pokémon," Kukui said. "Trying to both simultaneously won't be easy."
Grimsley frowned, slightly disappointed in hearing that. There was another topic he wanted to discuss with him.
"Have you heard about how Selene, Hau, and Lillie were at Aether Paradise a few days ago?"
Both Kukui and Kahili exchanged grimaced looks at each other. The professor sighed and had one hand rub the back of his neck.
"Magnolia had called me over that. I was about to go there myself, but she reassured me that Wicke is watching over them."
"I can confirm that's the case. I recently met with Lillie, Selene, and Wicke over at Poni Island."
"Oh, you met Lillie and Selene?" Gracie asked. "How are they?"
"They're doing fine and are now finding a way to rescue President Lusamine from somewhere else." Grimsley didn't think it was necessary for the children to know the full details of Lillie and Selene's grand plan.
"Kukui and I were talking about that earlier today," Kahili said. "If I had known, I would've gone to Aether Paradise myself."
Grimsley bit his lower lip. He couldn't help but shake this feeling that something big was going to happen and he was going to be dragged into it.
At that instant, a loud noise that resembled thunder boomed. Grimsley flinched and gazed up, two swirling wormholes cracked open the sky with several streaks of lightning shooting out. The thunderous noise and wormholes grew louder, and two strange creatures appeared. Everyone froze and locked their gazes at them.
The first creature resembled a large mosquito but with a strong body. It threw its head up and flexed its muscles. The second creature had a large ball as its head and looked to be wearing a clown costume. Its head popped out of its body and rolled from one arm to the next like a bowling ball.
"Ahhhh, what are those things?" Gracie cried out, "I don't like them."
"Are they gonna eat us?" Hunter asked in a choked voice.
"They must be the Ultra Beasts, right Kukui?" Kahili asked.
"I believe so, yeah," Kukui said with narrowed eyes. He turned to Gracie and Hunter. "You kids better run inside now. We'll take care of them."
Both children stared at him for a second, and then they nodded and dashed off towards the building. Kukui and Kahili pulled their pokéballs out.
"Okay Katsuo, I need your help!" Kahili released her Toucannon, who flew up and squawked.
"You too, Chavo!" Once Kukui let out his Incineroar, the dark-and-fire type roared and pumped his chest up, the flames on his belt bursting out.
"Looks like I'll be joining, too." Grimsley pulled out his own pokéball and released Roulette. She assumed a stance and growled.
The mosquito-like Ultra Beast jumped up in the air and lunged at Chavo. Chavo grabbed its arm before it landed on him and tossed him on the ground. The strange creature picked itself up quickly and a cold mist formed on its right fist. Chavo's own fist burst into flames, and when the pair collided an explosion occurred which caused them to back away from each other.
While Chavo and his opponent exchanged blows, the second Ultra Beast threw crimson orbs at Katsuo and Roulette. Kahili and Grimsley's Pokémon managed to dodge and slice through the Shadow Balls with Steel Wing and Night Slash. After Kahili ordered Katsuo to get close, his beak began to swirl around as he struck it into the Ultra Beast's chest. That caused it to scream in pain, and when Katsuo moved out there was a big bruise on its chest. When the Ultra Beast popped its head out and threw it in the air, both Kahili and Grimsley's eyes grew wide.
"Watch out, you guys!" Kahili warned them.
Before Katsuo and Roulette could react, the ball exploded and scorching flames were showered at them. Both Pokémon cried out when the flames touched them, but they were able to shake those off easily. Within seconds, the Ultra Beast's head had regrown just like that. Grimsley's brow furrowed and he pressed his lips.
"That thing's head can grow back?" Kahili asked in shock.
"It needs to be taken down quickly," Grimsley muttered. He gazed down at the keystone pinned on his scarf and then at Roulette. "You ready to Mega Evolve, Roulette?"
After a brief moment, Roulette looked over her shoulder and gave an excited bark. With a grunt and a nod, Grimsley touched the keystone. He felt his energy surging with Roulette's as she was engulfed in bright light. Like when she had battled against Ryuki's Garchomp, her appearance changed with her fur bristled and horn grown. She glared at her opponent, her teeth showing.
The Ultra Beast gave out a strange noise and threw several Shadow Balls at Katsuo and Roulette. Once they dodged those, Roulette's arm was fused with dark energy and she swiped at the Pokémon with her claws. The Ultra Beast screeched and backed away, claw marks left on its head.
"Good work, Roulette! Keep it up!" Grimsley said, clenching his fist. He watched as Roulette and the Ultra Beast exchanged blows, but turned around when an explosion was heard.
Apparently, Chavo and the other Ultra Beast continued to throw punches at one another, electric and fire sparks flying each time their fists connected. Eventually one of Chavo's punches missed, which gave the Ultra Beast the opportunity to drop down and do a Low Sweep at Chavo's legs. Chavo picked himself up quickly, but the Ultra Beast didn't give him a chance to act by punching him on the chest several times.
Once the Ultra Beast stopped and moved away, Chavo breathed hard and could barely open one eye. Kukui grimaced.
"Kukui!" Kahili yelled worriedly. She faced Grimsley. "Grimsley, can your Absol hold off that other Pokémon on her own?"
"Huh?" Grimsley stared at her blankly but realized that Kahili was going to help Kukui. He looked back to see the other Ultra Beast having a dark fused claw and swiping at Roulette, but she was able to push back its assaults with her Night Slash. He grinned and said, "Roulette can take care of things from here."
"Good, then." Kahili gave an appreciative smile, and she looked up towards her Toucannon. "Alright Katsuo, let's get ready with our Z-Move!"
Immediately, Kahili executed the pose for Supersonic Skystrike, her Z-Ring glowing brighter than the sun. Katsuo was bathed in golden light for a second, and he launched up into the sky like a rocket. In the blink of an eye, he dived down towards the mosquito-looking Ultra Beast and an explosion occurred. Katsuo flew away from a short distance and glared at his opponent, who stood up with bruises on its body.
Grimsley furrowed his brow. Kahili's Pokemon barely made a dent on that Ultra Beast. When a loud yelp was heard, Grimsley turned around and his eyes grew wide when the clown-looking Ultra Beast threw its head in the air and exploded.
Like before, flames were showered down on Roulette and scorched her fur. The Absol jumped at her opponent with jaws wide open and crunched on the Ultra Beast's right arm. The strange creature let out a confused cry and tried to shake her off. Roulette held on, so the Ultra Beast's other arm fused with ghost energy and the Shadow Claw swiped at her. After crashing hard on the ground, Roulette picked herself up and growled.
The Ultra Beast attempted another Shadow Claw at Roulette, only for her to counter it with her own Shadow Claw. With extended claws, the two exchanged blows at one another like wild beasts. Eventually, the Ultra Beast dodged Roulette's claw, cloaked itself in flames, and slammed into Roulette to cause her to crash on the ground again. Seconds passed until Roulette picked herself up and winced, her legs shaking.
Grimsley grunted and bit his lips. He could feel his own legs shaking from the energy used for Mega Evolution. He wondered if the odds weren't in his and Roulette's favor.
The sound of electric sparks popped up and the wormholes appeared once more. The two Ultra Beasts glanced at each other before gazing at the sky. They took one last look at the humans and Pokémon, and they hopped into their respective wormholes.
Grimsley stared dumbfounded at the disappearing portals for several seconds. Despite his, Kukui, and Kahili's Pokemon knowing Z-Moves and Mega Evolution, the two Ultra Beasts were hard to take down. Would they be able to handle them the next time they showed up?
His breathing grew louder and he felt a little lightheaded due to using Mega Evolution. Back to her normal self, Roulette approached him and rubbed against his leg. With a frown, he petted her head.
More exhausted than him, Kahili dozed off and started to fall. Kukui rushed to her side, grabbing her before she hit the ground. Katsuo also approached them with a worried look on his face.
"Are you okay?" he asked.
It took several seconds until Kahili opened her eyes. "I'm fine, just a bit tired from using both Mega Evolution and a Z-Move immediately after." Her movements were still sluggish, but she managed to stand back straight.
"We should get back inside. I need to call Magnolia and the kahunas."
Both Grimsley and Kahili hummed in agreement. Everyone returned their Pokémon and headed towards the Aether House.
Reflecting that fight, Grimsley was astonished at how strong the Ultra Beasts were. He dreaded that this wouldn't be the last time they would come here.
Author's Notes:
Wow, I intended to have the hiatus lasted only for a few months, only for several months to have passed. I was distracted with writing Fire Emblem: Three Houses fanfiction for a while and then needed to sort out some real life stuff (and still do). I actually have Chapters 28 and 29 in my backlog. I barely made a dent with Chapter 30, but I hope I'll make some progress with that chapter before I post Chapter 29.
So yeah, updates will still come spontaneously. This is the final arc, though, so we're getting closer to the finishing line!