A/N: I've had this chapter completely written since I uploaded the last chapter on Friday and yet I almost forgot to upload this chapter today. I only remembered last night, "I haven't uploaded the chapter yet!" Anyway, I hope you'll enjoy three back-to-back intense battles between Nanka and the Elite Four, with a few spices of comedy thrown in-between. Enjoy!
Nanka's Pokémon Miiverse Adventure Act 9 Continued!
All Nanka had wanted to do was travel. She had no destination in mind; she had just wanted to travel across Kanto, going wherever her curiosity drove her.
She had not expected to defeat eight Gym Leaders, encounter Legendaries, take on a criminal organisation or be about to take on the Pokémon League. One Pokémon encouraged her to do all that.
"Piiikaaa!" Jolt cheered, charging forth excitedly into the Elite Four chambers, with Nanka following with a thankful heart to her starter.
"You know, all I really need now is a crown or a tiara and it would like I'm dressed as a princess." Nanka commented as she admired her pumpkin coloured dress and adjusted the ghostly decoration around her neck. "I wonder if we could get one when we're crowned champion."
"Pika pi, Kachu! Pika pi." Jolt said with a grin, happy to see Nanka so confident about their upcoming battles. "Pi, Pikachu, chuuuu!"
After only a short series of steps, the elegantly dress Pallet Town girl and pumped-up starter hailing from the Viridian Forest arrived at aqua coated doors decorated sparsely with dazzling diamonds. With a nod to one another, they opened up the double doors, prepared for any situation.
'How do I…
"Looking beautiful, ladies!" The cameraman praised as he took several photos from several angles. "The camera's lovin' ya!"
…keep getting caught…
"You're doing great, sweetie." The red haired beauty beside her commented as she hugged up against Nanka, smiling to the camera.
…in these situations!' A blushing Nanka internally screamed as she stood, garbed in a pink skirted swimsuit, alongside a bikini-clad Lorelei whom was beaming with glee as the photo-shoot proceeded.
'Ten minutes earlier'
Nanka and Jolt had entered a large azure room surrounded by water; immediately noticing a voluptuous bikini clad woman in the centre of the room, smoothly transitioning between graceful and sexy poses as a photographer rapidly took photos from a multitude of angles.
"Ohhh, you got me a co-star for tonight!" The red haired beauty said upon noticing Nanka, rushing on over to the girl and throwing an arm around her. "Come along, sweetie. I've got just the outfit for you!"
"P-pardon, but I, um, I'm not…" Nanka started to protest as she was ushered along down a side path and towards the dressing rooms.
"Oh, I'm so sorry, sweetie." The red-haired lady, whom Nanka now knew as Lorelei of the Elite Four, apologised with a chuckle. "It's been almost two years since we had regular challengers, so I assumed you were here for the photo-shoot."
"T-that's okay…" Nanka stuttered out, her head muddled and hot with embarrassment from the multitude of swimsuit posing, much of it with skin-to-skin contact with the curvaceous Elite Four member.
"If it is any consolation, I'm sure the photos of us will be spectacular. You're innocently adorable," Lorelei complimented, such comments preventing Nanka's blush from leaving her fair face, "an you're developing stunning legs."
After delivering a series of kind comments that only served to disorient the flustered teenager, Lorelei adjusted her red-rimmed glasses and stared at Nanka with cold determination, "I am Lorelei of the Elite Four! No one can best me when it comes to icy Pokémon! Are you ready?"
"No." Nanka stated as she hugged her pale skinned body, shivering from the frosty room as she squirmed on the spot, unused to the greater skin exposure from the pink two-piece than her usual swimsuit. "C-could I have my clothes back first? They were bought specially for my Elite Four challenge."
"Oh, yes, yes! Of course! You go get yourself changed." Lorelei said with a chuckle as she ushered Nanka back into the dressing room. "I suppose I should as well. Even I get a bit chilly fighting with ice in swimwear."
"Let's make this quick, Dewgong!" Lorelei, now dressed in a shoulder-less and short skirted black dress, shouted as she sent out her water/ice type. "After this we've a book signing to attend and a charity fundraiser the following morning."
'She sure has a busy schedule.' Nanka, now dressed once again in her pretty orange dress, couldn't help but think as Jolt leapt out of the pool in the room and ran onto the blue tiled arena. "Let's make this quick, Jolt."
"Pika!" Jolt agreed as he quickly fired off a large Thunderbolt at the pearly bodied sea creature.
"Thunderbolt? Sweetie, you shouldn't hold back…" Lorelei remarked as her Dewgong took the electric blast head on, enduring through it with a grin, "or you'll regret it."
Dewgong retaliated by pelting Jolt with a Bubble Beam. Jolt gritted his teeth as each bubble stung him, enduring the water type attack with ease thanks to his typing, though the attack still packed quite the punch.
"Jolt, if your first Thunderbolt wasn't strong enough," Nanka begun to suggest, only to smirk as she noticed her Pikachu well ahead of her, sparks dancing around his whole body even amidst the blasting bubbles, "…then use an even stronger Thunderbolt."
"Piiikaaaa!" Jolt yelled, flinging an even mightier Thunderbolt towards the Dewgong, which blew back the bubbling beam until it zapped the 'icy' type unconscious.
'We should take out that Cloyster before it uses Clamp.' Nanka thought as Lorelei sent out her hard shelled Pokémon, the confident Elite Four member having remained silent and smiling even as she returned her fainted Pokémon. "Jolt, let's try and use Thunder this time."
"Chuuu!" Jolt shouted out as he summoned storm clouds, a rod of lightning dropping down.
With a flash of light, the Thunder descended… only for Cloyster to roll out of the way with shocking speed.
"Eeek! It dodged!" Nanka screamed in alarm as the beaming Cloyster begun firing spikes at Jolt with the sheer force of cannonballs.
Cloyster's Spike Canon launched Jolt past Nanka, pinning his small body over the water and up against the ceramic walls.
"Cloyster, it's time to finish him off with Clamp!" Lorelei commanded as her Cloyster speedily rolled his way into the pool water, and then just as speedily swam up to the trapped Pikachu.
As the Cloyster got face-to-face with Jolt, his shell wide open and prepared to strike, Nanka shouted, "Jolt, now!"
"Pi! Ka! Chu!" Jolt yelled, blasting the open shelled Cloyster with a thunderous assault and launching the black sphere Pokémon all the way back over to his trainer.
"Your Pikachu's cute and strong!" The red haired woman complimented with a wanting gaze, Jolt responding to 'cute' with an annoyed huff, before unpinning himself and swimming back to the battle arena. "He's getting tuckered out though; even with a type advantage, your Pikachu won't last much longer against my team."
Nanka looked to the tired, panting Jolt with concern; noticing his red eyes from the Bubble Beam and various cuts from the Spike Cannon. As Jolt stood unsteadily against his next opponent, a big and dopey faced Slowbro, Nanka started to wander if she should return him.
"Jolt…" Nanka begun to say, though seeing her Pikachu grin back at her quickly changed her tone of voice, confidently adding, "You can do it! Fight on!"
If Lorelei's smirk and her Slowbro's narrow-lashed eyes had been any indication, it appeared they had been planning something. Whatever plan they had shattered when Jolt fired off two Thunderbolts in quick succession; fainting the salmon-pink Slowbro before she had a chance to react.
"Yaaayyy, Jolt! Three in a row!" Nanka cheered, throwing up her arms as Jolt proudly puffed out his chest.
"Your Pikachu's been doing great with his type advantage, but I wonder how the two of you will handle a non-water type?" Lorelei teased as she sent out her lilac skinned Jynx.
"Jynx, Jynx, Jynx!" The golden locked Jynx chanted as she waved her hands in the air, an icy chill emanating from them.
'That's strange; I thought Jynx had black skin…' Nanka thought as the red dressed lady-like Pokémon danced on the spot, frosty winds continuing to flow from her with a psychic pink tint to it, 'or at the very least, a darker shade of purple.'
"Well I'm sorry to say miss Lorelei, but…" Nanka started to say with a giggle as Jolt leapt forth and performed a Body Slam on the Jynx, "my Jolt's a bit of a brawler."
"Jynx, create some distance and Blizzard that Pikachu!" Lorelei quickly commanded as she watched her dual ice and psychic Pokémon be forced into a close range brawl.
Jolt didn't give chance for the Jynx to escape though, swiftly closing any distance made between them and slamming into the Jynx with another Body Slam. As he kept up his physical barrage, his long haired opponent began panicking, Thrashing about. Jynx's Thrash landed a couple firm blows on the brawling Pikachu, but it was not enough to deter Jolt, who soon won the tussle.
Lorelei tried to keep a straight face as her fourth Pokémon was struck down by a single Pikachu, even as that same Pikachu danced about with his trainer in celebration.
"There, is, still, one, left!" Lorelei said slowly as she sent out her Lapras, the temperature plummeting from her very presence. "The best is saved for last; my very first Pokémon."
Jolt sprung back into battle with glee; sparks flying.
"Jooolllttt!" Nanka cried as she ran over to her squished Pikachu. "Are you okay?"
"C-chuuu… Pppp." The currently flatter Jolt tried to sit up, only to fall back down, fainted.
Filled with confidence from four wins in a row, Nanka and Jolt were both sure that one Thunder would end the match. Jolt had wasted no time in summoning thunder clouds and preparing his lightning strike, only for the small and nimble Lapras to leap up and crush him underneath a Body Slam. Jolt's Thunder hit down hard on the Lapras, but not in time to prevent his own fainting.
"Even with a Thunder attack…" Lorelei said with a flick of hair, "you couldn't stop my Lapras."
"Laaa-ap!" Lorelei's Lapras started to roar in triumph, only to freeze up, paralytic sparks coursing through her body.
"Go ahead…" Lorelei said with a defeated tone, "it seems your Pikachu managed to stop my Lapras after all."
Nanka smiled, knowing that the Elite Four member meant. With a flick of her wrist, Nanka sent out her own Lapras, Ferry.
"Ferry." Nanka said as she stared at the paralysed and vulnerable Lapras opponent. "Body Slam that Lapras."
Lorelei could only sigh as her beloved Lapras was given the final blow, falling down by her feet, fainted.
"I suppose I've become a little rusty." Lorelei said, her crestfallen look shifting to a sunny simper as she returned her Lapras and looked over to the victorious challenger. "Congratulations, Nanka. You have just defeated the first member of the Elite Four."
"Thank you very much; it was a lot fun!" Nanka beamed back as she simultaneously gave Jolt a Revive and gave Ferry several congratulatory pets on the head.
"By the way…" Lorelei smirked as she adjusted her red rimmed glasses, "if you're interested, I'd be happy to have you join me in another photo-shoot."
"I-I'll think about it…" Nanka lied, blushing at the very suggestion.
"Piiikaaa!" Jolt cheered as he regained consciousness, his first celebratory instinct being to dive into the nearby pool and splash about with glee. "Kachu, Pikachu pika pi!"
"First he zaps all my water types and then he starts using their pool." Lorelei remarked, causing Nanka to chuckle. "So is your Lapras going to join him?"
"Oh, Ferry can't swim." Nanka stated plainly as Ferry shook his head in fright.
Lorelei's glasses begun to slip off as she looked back and forth between the swimming Pikachu and pool-dreading Lapras, stupefied.
"Before you go sweetie, I'd like to give you this…" Lorelei said as she approached Nanka, handing the readying girl a small box, "it's only fair you keep the swimsuit you modelled in."
"I, ummm, t-thank you." Nanka stuttered out as she accepted the swimsuit. 'I… did want a new swimsuit and it is cute, but I was kind of hoping to get another one-piece.'
"By the way…" Lorelei started to say as Jolt finished drying himself off, hopping on over to the gigantic doorway to their next challenge, "try not to be too scared of Bruno, okay?"
Nanka looked back to the defeated Elite Four member, puzzled, "Ummm, okay, I'll try…"
With that said Nanka and Jolt proceeded to leave Lorelei's chilly, water-filled room and entered Bruno's expansive, rocky, battle-arena styled room. The trainer and Pokémon walked across wooden floorboards akin to a fighting dojo, gazing around at the various boulders about the place and noticing many broken pieces of rock likely destroyed from practise sessions.
Looking straight in front of them they instantly noticed a muscular, spiky haired man sitting at the back alongside his scar-headed rock snake; Bruno and his trusty Onix.
'I'm not sure why Lorelei warned me to not be scared of him.' Nanka thought as she slowly approached the smiling Bruno, making sure her long dress didn't brush against the numerous rocks and boulders in the room. 'He seems so nice and gentle sat next to his… Onix?'
Nanka and Jolt's slowed down to a halt as they noticed the large shadow cast over them, the duo looked up to the seated man… the size of the eight metre tall Onix next to him.
"I am Bruno…" The man said with a calm but booming voice, "…and I am a giant."
Nanka and Jolt's mouths were agape as they looked to the, whilst seated, over eight metres tall man towering above them. Bruno in turn cast his gaze downwards, his smile turning to a worried grimace.
"A giant!" Nanka blurted out… in awe. "That's amazing! How did you get so big, Mr Bruno? O-oh, where are my manners; I'm Nanka and this here is Jolt."
"Pika pika! Pikaaa?" Jolt also inquired excitedly.
Seeing the duo's fearless curiosity, Bruno roared with laughter, "Well Nanka, Jolt; I learnt to punch from my Hitmonchan, to kick from my Hitmonlee and"-Bruno glanced over to his stern faced Onix-"to be big from my Onix!"
"That makes no sense but it is still amazing!" Nanka replied as she and Jolt ran around Bruno, inspecting the shirtless giant.
Bruno laughed more, "So it doesn't, but it's the only explanation I've got. Why I got so big hardly matters right now though, we've got a Pokémon battle to get started."
Nanka skipped on over to the opposite wooden end of the arena, sitting down in a seiza position and even giving an honourable bow to her Elite Four opponent.
Chuckling, Bruno remained seated cross-legged as he declared, "Onix here shall be your first opponent."
"Then Mr Bruno," Nanka said as she sent out her Gyarados onto the earthy centre of the arena, "my Chu-Chu here will be your first opponent."
"Dos!" Chu-Chu declared as he stared confidently at the opposing Onix.
Bruno's Onix charged forth, faster than expected for such a large Pokémon. Unfortunately for the oncoming rock type, Chu-Chu didn't need to move quicker to fend off his opponent.
"Chu-Chu, you should stop that Onix with an Ice Beam!" Chu-Chu's princess advised most graciously.
Loyal as ever, Chu-Chu didn't hesitate to perform his knightly duties, shooting out an Ice Beam at his would be assailant. The keen eyed Onix managed to swerve to avoid the freezing beam at first, but a quick shift of Chu-Chu's head allowed him to direct the Ice Beam into a powerful blow against the Onix.
"I'm sorry, friend." Bruno apologised as he returned his fainted ground type into a custom made Pokéball, big enough for Bruno's giant hands. "Hitmonchan shall win in your name!"
Out from a large Pokéball on Bruno's belt came a Hitmonchan, the brown bodied and purple clothed boxer appearing in the arena with a grin. His beaming expression shone even more as he looked to the awaiting sea serpent, punching his fists together and generating furious sparks of electricity.
"Piii… Kachu, Pikachu pika pi?" Jolt spoke up, looking to the electric fists of the Hitmonchan with envy and then to his own plain paws.
"Hmmm, oh yes, it would be cool if you could use Thunderpunch. Maybe there's a TM for that." Nanka answered her now shadow-boxing Pikachu, before looking over to Chu-Chu. "Those punches are dangerous for a Water type like you Chu-Chu, but I think Surf might be the best option."
Hitmonchan's bold and brave expression showed a brief sign of surprise as Chu-Chu summoned a larger tidal wave, proceeding to ride it towards Hitmonchan. Undaunted, Hitmonchan struck back against the tidal wave with a lightning fuelled uppercut… but it wasn't enough. Hitmonchan was swept away by high tides.
"Sir Chu-Chu." His fair princess called out with the softest of tones and the sweetest of smiles. "I believe it is time for you to don your armour."
"Dos!" Chu-Chu agreed to his Princesses suggestion at once, urging within him the power of Reflect, casting a blue-tinted glass-like wall around his body.
The opposing knight, protector of the Kanto kingdom itself, failed to harm Chu-Chu with his barrage of kicks thanks to the Gyarados' equipped mystical protection.
"If you are going on the defensive…" Bruno said with gleaming eyes, just as his kick expert Hitmonlee began creating duplicates of himself, "…then we shall go on the evasive."
Chu-Chu lunged at the nearest Hitmonlee, fangs ready, only for him to bite through an illusion and receive a taste of the soaked rocky ground. Illusion after illusion, Chu-Chu chased after the duplicating Double Team's of Hitmonlee in an attempt to find the real fighter, but to no avail.
"Chu-Chu! Right in front of you!" His Princess shouted out in alarm.
The gazing knight locked his gaze to directly in front of him; immediately spotting the spring legged knight readying a kick to his face. As the kick neared, the Gyarados had no time for anything grand; a quick and snappy Bite would suffice as he clamped down onto Hitmonlee's leg.
"H-how did you know?" Bruno asked, still in shock over his Hitmonlee's defeat, even as his second Onix started to eagerly fight against Chu-Chu.
"That's easy, it's because…" Nanka begun to reply as Chu-Chu managed to summon another Surf, his mighty tidal wave ploughing through the steadfast Onix's Rock Slide, securing Nanka's team their fourth victory, "…your Pokémon are nice and honourable. They don't seem the type who would attack from anywhere but head-on."
"Piiikaaaa, Chu-Chu! Piiikaaa!" Jolt cheered proudly at his fished-up Pokémon fourth win in a row.
"I appreciate the compliment, as my Pokémon will, those you have bested valiantly. Now though…" Bruno said as a four-armed humanoid Pokémon leapt off of the nearby tall boulders and landed in the arena, "…now you face my ultimate fighter! Now you face Machamp!"
Nanka saw the well-muscled Machamp look over towards Chu-Chu, his multiple fists clenching and his legs pumped to sprint forth, "Chu-Chu, don't let him in close!"
Chu-Chu immediately understood the danger the powerful looking opponent posed, throwing out another wide and heavy Surf attack. The Machamp altered his stance at the very presence of the water attack, grounding his feet and pulling his arms towards himself in a defensive stance, just in time for the Surf to hit.
"That move was enough for the others…" Bruno said as his now drenched Machamp endured the hit with a smile, "…but not for Machamp's superior power."
Chu-Chu Surfed, summoning another fierce tidal wave and sending it right towards the mossy skinned Machamp. Grinning, Machamp showcased his immense strength by simply clapping, the mere shock-wave from his four hands pushing back the whole wave. The effected Chu-Chu little, who fell to the ground with barely an injury, but-
"Eeeeek!" His Princess screamed as she and the Captain were swept up by the reversed Surf and flung to the back of the room, much to Chu-Chu's horror.
"Are you okay back there?" Bruno called out, getting only groggy responses from the waterlogged girl and Pikachu.
"Chaaammmppp!" Machamp yelled as he lunged at Chu-Chu, swinging his fist for a sure hit…
"Ma? Maaaa!" Machamp cried out in shock as Chu-Chu caught the Machamp's punch with sharp fangs, attacking back against the fighting type with a boulder crushing Bite.
Angered, Chu-Chu the Gyarados released his wrath, slamming the captured Machamp into the ground.
"Machamp!" Bruno called out as his Machamp was felled by the fanged throw-down.
"With all our training, it seems we were no match." Bruno commented as he scooped up his fallen friend with both his giant hands. "Nanka and the Pikachu! I ask again, are you both alright?"
"Y-yyyyeeeaaahhh." Nanka mumbled as she laid on the flooded ground, her lovely new dress now drenched and dirty as she remained dazed from the Surf.
"Gyaaarrr!" The victorious Chu-Chu cried out, sliding on over to check on his downed Princess and Captain, giant tears of relief streaming from his eyes.
"I assure you my brave knight, all is well and I am fine." Princess Nanka reassured Chu-Chu as she rose to her feet with sheer grace, her dazzling hair falling out of it's braid and shimmering from the water. "In fact, I must congratulate you. Thank you, Sir Chu-Chu for a glorious victory."
"Pika, Chu-Chu! Pika!" Captain Jolt added onto the praise with his grand and heroic voice along with a mighty thumbs-up.
"Indeed, I have been bested; congratulations are in order." The giant protector of the land said.
Chu-Chu was ecstatic over all the compliments; laughing loudly with a single and hidden tear of joy coming from his eye.
"My duty is done." Bruno said, blindfolded and facing the wall. "Go face Agatha when you're ready."
"I-I'll be ready soon!" Nanka called out from behind some boulders. "Razor, are my clothes dry yet?"
Nanka peeked over the boulder just a bit, looking to her Charizard, who was currently holding her orange dress over a Flamethrower generated fire. Jolt stood by the flames, bathing in his warmth, as he too dried off.
"Ri?" Razor replied, gently stroking the clothes with her claw, then nodding as she threw the dry clothes over to her trainer. "Ri!"
Having waved goodbye to the defeated Bruno and now garbed in dry attire, Nanka and Jolt made their way from a rocky training arena to a graveyard shrouded in drab fog. Nanka was immediately ecstatic about her surroundings, whilst Jolt had immediately grabbed onto her leg; trembling.
"Those eyes, that green hair," A greying-blonde haired lady at the back of the ghoulish room said, looking to Nanka with glistening eyes, "Oak's told me all about you, Nanka."
'The spectre enchantress knows my name!?' Nanka squealed internally.
"That old duff has high hopes for you." The spectre enchantress, otherwise known as Agatha of the Elite Four, said with an eager grin. "Seems to think you'd make a good research assistant for him; goes on and on about how you love to travel and learn and how that's perfect."
"T-that's nice and all b-but… but I'm sure if he hired anyone, he'd ask G-Man first." Nanka replied, flustered from all the praise. "He's far better at catching Pokémon and knows all about their moves and all that sort of stuff."
A short laugh escaped Agatha's wrinkled lips before a frown settled upon her face, "Please, that fool hardly mentions that grandson of his."
"R-really…" Nanka mumbled, her thoughts turning back to past mentions of G-Man and his grandfather and recollected more subtle interactions between them that she had never paid attention to at the time.
"Enough about that old 'researcher' now!" Agatha snapped, sneering as she said the word researcher. "We're here to fight, not fiddle about with data."
Agatha tapped her cane on the dusty ground, a shadow spiralling out from a Pokéball atop the wooden stick, "Nanka! I'll show you how a real trainer fights!"
Resembling a fusion of the pointy eared and stubby limbed Clefable with the poisonous purple body of a Haunter; the shadowy Pokémon that rose up before Nanka introduced himself as, "Gengar!"
"Oh my gosh; a Gengar!" Nanka gushed with joy at the ghost Pokémon before her, whilst Jolt cowered behind her.
"Hey! Hurry up and send out your Pokémon!" Agatha snapped, showcasing the master of ghost's famous short temper.
"O-oh! R-right away, Ms Agatha!" Nanka replied as she tossed Venom's Pokéball high up into the air.
Agatha chuckled in her head as she watched the heavy Nidoqueen begin falling down to the floor, 'The moment that Nidoqueen lands, she's finished. Gengar knows to fire off a Confuse Ray as soon as he can and with his superior speed, he's sure to land the move.'
Venom's foot touched fog-obscured floor… immediately stomping down onto it, shaking the whole area and cracking the earth beneath. The cracks spread out, shooting up dirt and shattered tiles out at the Gengar; the super effective ground attack flinging the ghost type into the ceiling.
Venon allowed herself a small smirk on her face as her fainted foe drifted down to the floor like a plastic bag, rather chuffed to have pulled off an Earthquake the very moment she had landed.
"Yippee, Venom! Just like we practised!" Nanka cheered, jumping and down with joy.
"How did…" Agatha murmured, amazed at Venom's quickly executed Earthquake, "…she took advantage of her fall to fire an Earthquake as she landed, but such tactics will be of no use against my Golbat!"
From atop one of the many graves in the room, the light of a Pokéball shone, with Agatha's Golbat emerging in response to her name. Flying swiftly around the room, Agatha's speed demon of a Golbat flapped down before her master, gnashing her fangs in excitement at the battle before her. Venom then immediately performed a Body Slam on the Golbat.
"How is your Nidoqueen so fast!?" Agatha snapped as her Golbat struggled to get away from Venom's rapid-fire Body Slams.
"It's because of the training I had Venom do." Nanka explained as Venom continued her repeated Body Slams, the rough skinned horned Pokémon becoming rather annoyed as the Golbat barely evaded the attack and prolonging the time Venom had to stay awake. "We trained a lot in the abandoned Power Plant, learning how to deal with fast Pokémon."
"Tsk, how about floating ones then?" Agatha asked, sneering as she returned her injured Golbat, just in time for her Haunter to emerge from another nearby grave and float up to the ceiling of the room. "What will you do now, child?"
Venom looked up at the floating Haunter, who stuck her tongue out at the Nidoqueen. Venom just sighed, continuing to look up at the Haunter with disinterest.
"See, your Nidoqueen can't even touch my Haunter with Earth"- Venom slammed the ground with an Earthquake, one so strong that the ceiling started to crack, chunks of it falling down and crushing Agatha's Haunter-"quake... Curse you, child!"
"I can why Oak has an eye on you." Agatha commented as she sent out her Golbat once again. "Though your remarkable talents would be wasted on research; such refined training and keen battling senses deserve to flourish on the battlefield!"
'I'm being praised by the master of ghosts! The master of ghosts!' Nanka squealed in her head, hiding her blushing face and gleeful grin behind her hands.
"P-Pika, Kaaaa…" Jolt replied with a mixture of joy and nervousness, happy that Nanka got praised and encouraged for Pokémon battling, but still restlessly looking about the cemetery room for fear of any further nightmarish ghosts popping up.
Venom managed to deal with the already bruised and slightly more 2D now Golbat with ease, but just before she delivered the final Body Slam, the Golbat managed to get off a parting Supersonic!
"Venom, please be okay!" Nanka called out with concern as Venom staggered about the arena, hitting herself.
"At last, this is where I shine, dear." Agatha noted with an excited grin as her Abrok slithered out from under one of the gravestones and onto the arena. "Acid the confused soul, Arbok!"
Agatha's Arbok began pelting Venom with Acid, whittling away at Venom's defences. Venom meanwhile raised her fist to hit herself again, only to stop at the last second. Within her confused state, Venom's sensible nature questioned why she was trying so hard, when she could be napping.
This question led her to her answer, led her to think straight, led her to Earthquake the Arbok into oblivion!
"I'll have to get you some nice stones after this." Nanka said to her fourth win victorious ground type as she hopped with merriment, much to the still leg-clinging Jolt's displeasure.
"P-Pika!" Jolt stuttered out a cheer, still trembling and now feeling somewhat nauseous as he let go of Nanka's leg.
It was then that Jolt heard a laughing sound, a creepy laugh, from right behind him. Jolt looked back and down to see his shadow wobbling, a ghostly grin staring up at him.
"Kaaaaaaaaaaa!" Jolt screamed as he collapsed.
The Gengar slid out from beneath the collapsed Jolt, rising up before Agatha, grinning with evil intent.
"An now we have my final Pokémon; my greatest Gengar!" Agatha boasted with a smirk. "This Gengar is larger than most, crueller than most and far more powerful than most Gengar. I'd say you'll have some trouble-"
"Yippee! You're fantastic, Venom!" Nanka said as Venom swiftly felled the Gengar.
Agatha was silent at first, motionless as she gazed down at her defeated Gengar and gazed forth to the celebrating girl and her subtly smiling Nidoqueen.
"Woo-hoo!" Agatha suddenly burst out, startling Nanka, followed by a fit of laughter. "You're something special, kid! It's been ages since I've had even a challenge, yet in this week alone I've been trounced by two trainers! It's been so much fun!"
Nanka stood beside a proud but tired Venom, stunned at Agatha's showering of praise.
"I can see what the old duff sees in you now!" Agatha commented with a growing grin and a wink. "Though when you get older, don't you dare go soft like that old coot. Be like me and keep battling."
"O-okay." Nanka stuttered out, whilst inside, she was squealing and dancing with joy from the praise.
"Sooo..." Agatha begun to say, "...you want to know more about the old duff?"
"M-more so about the Professor and his grandson, G-Man." Nanka said with a nod, wiggling her fingers nervously. "I... never noticed anything odd growing up, but now... with what I've heard... d-do G-Man and the Professor not get along?"
The battle had been over for only a short while, in which time Venom had gone to sleep, Jolt had tucked himself beside his ghost-busting ally for protection from his current horrific surroundings and Nanka had struck up a conversation with Agatha. The battle-loving woman was happy to share tips, tricks and tales of old with the winning trainer, though soon Nanka managed to ask a lingering question and wind back their conversation to before their fight took place.
Agatha sighed, "Of course not... the child takes after his father way too much."
"Y-you mean Mr U-Train?" Nanka asked, immediately remembering G-Man's confident, boastful, music-loving Dad. "But why would"-
-"Oak never did like his son-in-law." Agatha interrupted, giving Nanka a brief, stern stare for talking before she could finish. "I guess he saw him as taking his daughter away from him, halting her potential. Ironic really, I say he wasted his Pokémon trainer talents and he thinks his daughter ended up wasting her Pokémon researcher talents."
"Riko was Oak's little assistant, his budding professor to be..." Agatha recalled, tapping her cane continuously, "...then she fell in love with U-Train and the field of music."
Nanka sat, silent, listening intently as she absorbed all the new info.
"Y'know, you remind me of Riko when she was young." Agatha noted, pointing a wrinkled hand to Nanka. "Probably why Oak talks about you so much."
'I'm like Mrs Oak?' Nanka asked herself, thinking back to what she remembered about G-Man's mother before… the boat trip. 'I mean, maybe; she was very polite. We had green tea together and she showed Daisy and me how to braid our hair… she braided her hair…'
Agatha was silent through all of Nanka's internal questioning, seeing the troubled face on the girl. As respectful as she was though, the battle enthusiast was impatient, beginning to scowl more and more as she waited.
"O-oh; I'm sorry, Ms Agatha!" Nanka piped up, shuffling nervously on the spot. "Thank you for telling me that. It's given me… given me a lot to think about."
A/N: There we go, the beginnings of Nanka's battles against the Elite Four. When I initially made this chapter back on the original site, I was expecting to fit in the fight against Lance as well. Turns out I went into too much detail with these fights, though that has in turn made them super-easy to rewrite them for this Director's Cut. Slight improvements and I believe only one or two added scenes per fight was that was needed to update this chapter.
Starting things off with Lorelei, my pitch for my interpretation of her character came first from her being a swimsuit model, but I felt that was a bit too... shallow to have the only young lady of the Elite Four be only a model. I didn't want to get rid of the idea because I had come up with the funny scene of Nanka being caught up in a swimsuit shoot so I instead expanded her character; used her in part as a vehicle to drive home how long it had been since the Elite Four had a proper challenge or new challengers. Lorelei has so much time on her hands that she can do all these actives; charity events, book writing, swimsuit modelling, Pokémon battles, etc.
The characterisation of Bruno is based entirely off a joke between me and my brother (my Grin Brother as it were) regarding how when his sprite is put next to his Onix he is shown to be as big, whilst also sitting down. As such we joked about him being a giant and in turn Bruno has been depicted here as a giant. The rest of his characterisation was derived from my recollections of the Pokémon anime, including a scarred Onix beside him.
Agatha was a funny character to write for; she's full of personality and her connections to Professor Oak made her perfect to expand key story elements and backstory. I also absolutely annihilated her, much to my surprise. I didn't think Venom would have such an easy time, but the battle went exactly as told in this story. Agatha was also a fun character to have interacting with Nanka and Jolt; one who adores ghostly aesthetics and the like whilst the other is terrified of them.
That concludes the first three fights of the Elite Four but do look forward to next week to see how Nanka and Jolt fare against the fourth member. What was his name again? Dance? Eh, probably not too important. Regardless, I hope you enjoyed this chapter and thank you so much for reading! Cheerio for now!