Chapter 48 – The Canyon Room
Bertha stood calmly watching the young woman enter. She smiled in a motherly sort of way. Jill hesitantly smiled back. The Elite was fully aware that Jill had only used two Pokemon to defeat Aaron. However, the young bug type specialist had never before faced someone who was already at a champion level. In fact, Jill could see much of Cynthia in Jill. But much like when Bertha had fought the current champion, she was not going to make it easy for Jill.
"I must say, you remind me so much of Cynthia when she came to challenge the Elite Four all those years ago." Bertha began. Jill nodded her head in thanks. "I will say the same things then: You have spine. It is heartening to see such a young woman aspire to such an auspicious goal. Now come, show an old woman what you have learned." Jill didn't have time to respond as Bertha sent out her Wiscash. The canyon room which Bertha used didn't appear to have any water which made the choice of a water type suspicious. But not all things were straight forward when challenging Elite's. Jill for her part sent out Caladan. Bertha nodded, knowing full well that type advantages were part of the reason the young woman had so easily dispatched Aaron.
"Whiscash, sandstorm please." Bertha's command was spoken quietly, but with such confidence. Jill didn't worry about this, as Caladan's ground typing would keep him from too much harm. The sand began whipping around, stinging both trainers. Bertha wore a coat for her battles for this reason. She was getting too old to really continue taking such abuse from the powerful storms her Pokemon would create. As the field began to become obscured, Bertha launched her second part of the attack.
Jill struggled to see through the storm, but from what she could tell, the Wiscash was creating a pool of mud. The young woman frowned realizing that would give Wiscash the advantage in movement. But it was also a dual type, and grass type attacks should be devastating to it.
"Use giga drain." Caladan lowered his head and concentrated on pulling the energy out from his opponent. Tendrils of green shot out from the tree on his back.
"Earth power!" Bertha called out above the winds. Wishcash which had been using aqua tail on the sandstorm creating a mud pool, suddenly began engulfed in mud, stopping the giga drain from working.
"Try earthquake!" Bertha smiled, allowing Wishcash to simply wallow in the mud. While the earthquake was powerful, enough to crack the field, the water type was in enough mud to swallow the vibrations. Jill narrowed her eyes, knowing that if she was going to win this battle, she would need to get it out of the mud.
"Alright Cal, lets get close." The grass type nodded and began lumbering closer. Bertha smiled, hoping this is what would happen. Once close enough to the mud, most opponents underestimated how quickly Wiscash could move. The Elite watched, her Wiscash knowing this strategy well.
"Now use rock climb!" Caladan pounded the ground with his front legs, prompting three stone pillars to create a rising staircase, with Bertha's Wiscash at the top. Bertha was taken aback by this maneuver, losing precious seconds, seconds that both Jill and Caladan took advantage of by attacking with giga drain again. The two tiered attack knocked Wiscash out.
"Very well done! I should have known you would have a way to get Wiscash out of the mud!" Bertha said still over the raging storm to Jill. The Elite spared a thought for bringing out her most powerful Pokemon, but decided against it for the time being. This storm still had life, and it would be to her Gliscor's advantage here.
The fang scorpion Pokemon immediately took to the air, using the cyclonic air to gather speed. Jill was quick to recall Caladan, sending out Urim instead for this battle. Bertha found the happiness Pokemon a stunning representation of its species. To see just a beautiful Pokemon, the symbol for so many powerful trainers, in Jill's team reaffirmed that this young woman was destined to take on Cynthia. The Elite still had a job to do however.
"Ice fang, Gliscor." The wicked grin on her Pokemon took on a freezing cast as it homed in on the Togekiss. Urim began using his flying prowess to maneuver out of the way. Bertha and the crowd watched in awe at the two gliders whipping around one another. The diving, quick spiralling acesions and rolling were quite something. And while the Togekiss was doing all of this, it too was attacking back, using its water pulse attack. One of those water pulses finally hit, dizzying Gliscor. Bertha winced as her Pokemon crashed heavily to the ground, knocking itself out. The final grains of sand began falling to the ground as well, as if to signal the end of the battle too.
Jill felt confident. Bertha sent out a Golem, so Jill brought Caladan back out. Was it possible that she could take out two Elite's with only two thirds of her team? That didn't seem possible. And yet, Caladan shook the battlefield with such force again, that Bertha's Golem was quickly dispatched. There was no way that she had grown this strong. And yet here she was.
Rhyperior was next to take the field. Jill smiled, noting that unlike Aaron, Bertha's team were mainly slower moving opponents. Caladan was right at home not having to move much, just having to send in devastating attacks from a distance.
"Let's do this again Cal." The grass type was grinning as it prepared another earthquake. Then the world tilted.
"Avalanche." The word cut like a knife through Jill who wasn't expecting an ice type attack like that. The Ryhperior and Caladan seemed to attack at the same time. But Jill knew that Bertha had waited a fraction of a second longer, meaning that the avalanche would be twice as strong going second. The arm cannons on Rhyperior launched out massive ice chunks, falling all around Caladan who cried out in pain. Jill moved on instinct, recalling Caladan as fast as she could. The attack rumbled on, so powerful it shook like an earthquake. And behind it, standing like a behemoth was the grinning rock type. Jill took a moment to call Caladan back out behind her. He was breathing heavily, and the tree on his back was broken.
"Are you alright?" Jill asked kneeling beside her friends' head.
"Not going to lie, that hurt" Caladan's deep voice rumbled back. "I'll be fine though. I can finish him." Jill shook her head.
"Another attack like that and you'll be done. We can't afford that right now." Caladan dipped his head once, understanding the logic, but not liking it. Jill simply placed a hand on his head, turning back to the Rhyperior roaring its pleasure. This massive pile of rocks was surely Bertha's strongest. She'd never seen one so large, it seemed to take up half of the battlefield. However, Jill suspected that it wouldn't be able to move fast enough to cope with Icarium. The fighter took to the field amongst a roaring crowd. People remembered this Pokemon as the one to also take down Volkner's massive Electivire.
Icarium could feel Jill's nervousness at Caladan's close call, but there was also the underlying confidence that she knew what she was doing here. And she didn't need to say what to do. That path was clear enough. Rock type Pokemon, mean getting in there with leaf blade. He would just need to beware of those massive arms. They looked large enough to shatter his bones with a blow. Without further ado, Icarium burst in.
"Rock wrecker!" Bertha called out. Rhyperior roared as it began firing rocks at Icarium.
"Swords dance to dodge!" Jill yelled out, but Icarium was already shifting into that stance anyways, reading his trainers emotions. This was that battle calm which he'd felt before in Jill. The rocks, which were hurled with shockingly fast speed, seemed to come at the psychic type in slow motion. He moved like liquid around the rocks, getting right before the massive rock type. Three lightning fast strikes, and Icarium backflipped away. The flourish probably wasn't needed, but he felt like showing off a bit. The ground rumbled as the Rhyperior crashed to the ground. Jill called Icarium back towards her.
"Was that really necessary?" Caladan laughed.
"Probably not, but your emotions said you enjoyed it." Jill rolled her eyes at the fighter as Bertha's final Pokemon, Hippowdon, was sent in. The crowd was loving this battle. It was a bit more technical than Aaron's had been, showing off a bit more strategy from Jill. But this battle would be straight forward. Jill attacked from the air with Urim, quickly and easily dispatching the large Hippo.
Jill stood in the elevator. Two Elites defeated. And so far, only Caladan had really suffered a serious attack. But Jill also knew that her next opponent was probably the next strongest person behind Cynthia. And Flint was known for fire types, meaning Caladan's speed would be a problem, even if he knew a ground type attack. The elevator rumbled to a halt, doors dinging open. A short hallway stood before Jill. Caladan was back in his ball, taking a rest. It was just Jill and finally she could feel the weight of what she was trying to accomplish here. It was beginning to feel like it was within striking distance.