Hau's, Nicole's, Zack's, Darwin's and Hala's eyes all widened as Hariyama fell down with swirls in its eyes, indicating it had no more energy in it to keep fighting. Dawn on the other hand let a smile grace over her lips - Ash was just as strong as ever. And it actually meant a lot to her that the raven-haired boy was still, in some sense, using her spinning technique.
"No way...Hariyama lost?" Hau finally spoke up, making the others look towards him, the shock written not only over his face, but most of the others. The triplets were mostly in shock because, when they had battled Hala all those years ago, Hariyama had been the toughest pokemon of Hala's to beat. So much so that each of the triplets lost multiple times to the kahuna.
Hala himself was beside himself with shock - Hariyama was a pokemon he had had for many, many years, and was a pain in the ass to beat for most trainers. But the young man that was Ash had managed to beat the strong fighting type using only a few attacks. Be that they were direct contact attacks, but even then, Hariyama wasn't a push over when it came to taking attacks.
"Hariyama, return" Hala finally said as he came out of his shell-shocked state, raising the fallen pokemon's poke'ball and recalling it. Looking back at Ash, Hala let a small smile grace over his lips before it extended into a full blown grin, followed by a hearty laugh, "That, my boy, was one of the best battles i have ever witnessed!" Ash just nodded, walking over to his still panting Pikachu and picking him up, "Never before have i seen such a powerful un-evolved pokemon in my life as a kahuna!" Hala continued, making Ash almost blush slightly at the praise. Almost. He knew Pikachu was strong, especially given the fact he was un-evolved, but so much praise was unfamiliar to the raven-haired boy.
Slipping his bag of his back, Ash set it down before leaning Pikachu against it gently, "You did well Pikachu, take a rest" Ash said before turning to face Hala once more, "Shall we continue?" Hala let out another hearty laugh as he shook his head, reaching into his pocket as he walked over to Ash, "No need my boy! You have defeated my most powerful pokemon, and to continue would just bring pain to my other pokemon - plus you are clearly worthy of the Fighting Z-Crystal! Here!"
Ash blinked, accepting the item slowly - he could feel a new found respect for Kahuna Hala. Though Ash had a distaste for people, he did respect his elders and people who wouldn't force their pokemon to continue when the only thing that would come is pain for said pokemon, "Okay...what do i do with this one?" Ash slowly asked, watching as Hala bent his knees and punched his hands forward rapidly, "You and your pokemon do this and you will activate the Z-Move, All-Out Pummelling"
Ash nodded as he slipped the fighting Z-Crystal into the same pocket as his first Z-Crystal, "Okay cool" He stated as he knelt down and picked Pikachu up, walking down the steps after slipping his bag back onto his back whilst cradling Pikachu in his arms.
"We should get Hariyama and Pikachu to a pokemon centre! Let's go!" Ash frowned at the mention of the pokemon centre and shook his head, "Were good...you go ahead, ill catch up soon" Hala looked confused, going to say something but stopped when the triplets indicated for him to leave it, "Okay then...Well, we will see you there!" Hala said, grinning as per normal as he, Hau and the triplets left towards the pokemon centre, leaving Ash and Dawn alone in the centre of Ike Town.
"That was an exceptional battle!" Hala stated as he, Hau and the triplets entered the pokemon centre, "Never have i seen such a technique as a spinning Iron Tail!" He continued, handing Hariyama's poke'ball over to Nurse Joy and walking with the others over to the waiting room.
"Yeah. It was cool - but why did you end the battle so soon? You still had Crabominable and Primeape left and ready to fight!" Hau asked as the four trainers sat around the kahuna, who smiled at first before a serious look crossed his face, "I have my reasons my boy" He stated, making Hau look even more confused, "Like what?"
"There is something in that boy that i can sense is not right. Given how he fought with that Pikachu, directly hitting Hariyama in the head with a tail as hard as iron makes me believe that he has doesn't believe in holding back. To be honest, i didn't want my pokemon to get hurt" Hau frowned slightly at the assumption, as did the triplets. Hau had never thought that Ash was the type of trainer to hurt another pokemon on purpose, but he trusted his Tutu.
The triplets just looked at each and shook their heads, "Ash isn't like that - he may be cold and rude, but he cares a lot about his and others pokemon" Nicole spoke up, making Hala frown, his serious look not leaving, "I'm unsure if i believe that" Nicole and her brothers shook their heads once more, "Let's not argue about it" Darwin interjected, calming the situation down, the rest of the time spent in silence as they waited for Hariyama's recovery.
"That was an awesome battle!" Dawn gushed as the others disappeared from site, leaving her alone with Ash once more, "I can't believe you still use that spinning technique. It was cool to watch Pikachu spinning like that!" Ash let a small smile ghost over his lips as he looked down at a now sleeping Pikachu, "Whilst training, i remembered how efficient the spinning technique was back in Sinnoh, so i thought it be best to keep practising it with Pikachu and the others"
"Speaking of the others...can i see some more of your pokemon?" Ash smiled weakly and shook his head gently, "Not today...i have a better idea" Dawn blinked and looked at Ash curiously, who smiled knowingly, "Remember how i said i needed some new clothes? I was thinking, now that the others are gone, we could go do that now"
Dawn's eyes lit up at the idea of shopping and a grin spread across her face, "Awesome idea!" She exclaimed, blushing when Ash flinched and shot her a look, "Sorry...but come on! Lets go!" Ash let a weak chuckle out as Dawn ran ahead of him, turning to look back at him, "Come on!" Ash just shook his head as he followed her slowly, careful not to wake up his resting pokemon.