A Battle in Niflheim
Brendan felt himself becoming mentally exhausted as his Pokémon finished healing and he let Gwen back out, the burn on her chest spike already healed. He was only two battles in, and he was already almost as tired as when he battled Groudon. Well, I can see why people struggle with this challenge. The Elite Four are scary strong, and five battles like this in a row is daunting in its own right, he said.
No joke. I'm just glad we get to rest and heal between battles. Otherwise we'd have lost in the first second of our battle with Phoebe, Gwen said.
I just hope we can keep our momentum, Brendan said.
Up in the stands, May was nervously playing with the ring on her finger, which she was still getting used to wearing. But, her nerves weren't on-edge from being engaged to Brendan. She was having trouble comprehending the skill, power, and sheer terror at the combination she was witnessing in these battles. "I can't believe how strong those Pokémon are. I didn't even think this level of strength was attainable," she said.
"Well, this is the purest form of tournament battling. Trainers at this level have taken battling and turned it into an art," Lisia said. "I've only seen this level of power twice when I attend the tournaments here for my uncle, Wallace."
"Your uncle is the league champion?" Wally asked, not having seen Wallace in the Champion and Elite Four's box the previous day.
"Yeah, he got the job three years ago, today, and he's been getting stronger ever since then," Lisia said. "He started his training as a coordinator, as you probably have heard. But, he changed to a trainer after traveling to Alola to try the island challenge. His apparent favorite spot was Brooklet Hill, which is where he caught his signature Pokémon. That was ten years ago."
"Yes, I remember when he did that," Steven said, having overheard the conversation. "When he came back to Hoenn, he was this perfect combination of coordinator and trainer, so he took the mantle of the Sootopolis Gym leader. I realized he was on-par with my level of skill in battle when I held the title of Champion. Then, three years ago, due to the obligations I will be taking on as the President of Devon Corporation, I couldn't realistically keep the position. So, three years ago, Wallace came and proved his right to be Champion by beating the Elite Four."
May seemed to be getting more nervous as Steven spoke. "D-did he beat you?" she asked, remembering how strong Steven's Metagross had been, taking out Gwen in one hit.
"Yes, but don't forget that he took the position two years ago. A lot has changed since then," Steven said confidently. "I know why you're concerned, considering my battle with Brendan. But, the main reason I lost was because Wallace's style is a bad match-up for mine. I'm a strong defense and strong offense Steel and Rock-type trainer. He is a graceful and strategic Water-Type trainer."
"I see," May said quietly. "So, he had a consistent type advantage over you."
"Yeah, he did. But, I have been training a lot since that day, and I've made adjustments to avoid that, should he and I ever battle again," Steven said, his tone whimsical. "That would be a battle to remember."
May nodded. "Well, right now, I just hope Brendan can show Wallace a battle to remember."
"Knowing how the Elite Four is in Hoenn, I think Brendan's team will struggle against Glacia, but as for who will win…I couldn't say," Steven said.
May's concern only seemed to grow with the realization that Brendan would most likely struggle with this battle, and the ones to come after it. Brendan, Gwen, you two had better play it smart. Don't go in guns-blazing, she thought.
"Ladies and Gentlemen, I have just been given the signal that both battlers are ready for this battle to begin. The next member of the Elite Four is a chillingly strong presence on the battlefield. She comes from Snowbelle City in Kalos, and she is known for her fiery passion in battle. Give it up for GLACIA!" the announcer said enthusiastically. The crowd seemed to go crazy with joy at the sight of the blonde-haired woman in a periwinkle, ankle-length dress that flared out a little at the hips, and had a collar colored and shaped like a snowflake. She wore white gloves and a pair of sky blue high-heeled shoes. She wore a thick white cloth choker around her neck, which held Glacia's keystone a short distance over her sternum.
"So, you're Brendan? The trainer I've heard so many great things about, and the one who rode Rayquaza into Sootopolis to stop the rampage of Kyogre and Groudon," she said with a smile, her voice having the slightest hint of an Eastern Kalosian accent. "Allow me to personally introduce myself. I am Glacia, daughter of the Gym Leader, Wulfric."
"It's a pleasure to meet you Glacia," Brendan said. "And this Gardevoir here is Gwen. Yes, she is as sassy as the rumors say she is."
Thanks for the intro Goldenrod, Gwen said playfully, using her nickname for Brendan.
Glacia giggled slightly. "It seems your bond with her is indeed as strong as the rumors say. That's good," she said. "See, I've traveled the entire world, battling with an icy passion, hoping to find trainers who could match my fiery determination, and my strength in battle. And, I found…nothing. All I ever seem to come across are weak trainers and their Pokémon who get arrogant and think they're strong." She looked at Brendan, a fire already burning in her eyes. "But you…I'm intrigued by your reputation. You've made it to me as a challenger, and the others tell me your passion and ferocity in battle are comparable to a force of nature. Is that true? I hope it is." She smiled with confidence as she and Brendan both pulled out a Pokéball, his first choice being Jack. If what she said was a reflection of her Pokémon type of choice, a fire-type would be essential to winning this battle.
Glacia tossed the Pokéball in her hand like a tennis ball, her smile growing more determined as she saw a similar fire in Brendan's eyes. "I see you're excited. Now, show me what you've got. It would please me to no end if I could battle with everything in my arsenal against you. Now, I choose Khione!" she and Brendan both threw their Pokéballs out onto the field. The fire yak bellowed with determination like his trainer's, making Glacia smile. Her Pokémon, however, put a slightly worried expression on Brendan's face. In front of him was a blue walrus-like Pokémon with lighter blue hair on her head. She had four flippers, and her two tusks looked sharp.
"I think that's a Walrein," Brendan said with uncertainty. "A Water and Ice type. This could get interesting."
As he spoke, Khione fired an icy ball into the air, not unlike a Sunny Day. As she did, gray clouds began to form over the battlefield, and hailstones began to fall quickly, pelting the battlers. Khione seemed unaffected by it, which was to be expected due to her ice-typing. Jack flinched as he was struck by the hailstones, losing a small portion of his health.
"Are you prepared to fight a hailstorm, Brendan? You'd better be," Glacia says. "If you aren't, this will be as far as you go."
Jack snorted angrily as he launched a cluster of boulders into the air, using a Rock Slide to start his attacks. The rocks began to hit the Walrus, who seemed to have limited mobility. Her health initially dropped by about a third, but Brendan immediately noticed something odd. The health bar was increasing each time a hailstone connected with Khione. Does that thing have…the Ice Body ability? Glacia's smirk was all Brendan needed to see to know that was, in fact, the case.
Khione smirked as she opened her mouth and fired a massive torrent of water at Jack, who barely avoided the attack. The resulting splash, however, was enough to take out at least half of Jack's health, and the hail didn't help either as Jack's health further depleted. Meanwhile, Khione's health was steadily being restored.
"Jack, let's increase the power!" Brendan said. Jack nods as he slams his foot into the ground, sending out a focused shockwave. Just as the stones were about to erupt from under Khione, the Walrein jumped into the air. It was a maneuver that Brendan thought impossible for such a hefty Pokémon. She then fired an Ice Beam, the attack barely missing Jack as it formed an ice tower that looked like a pine tree. Khione landed surprisingly softly and fired two more Ice Beams at the ground, making more obstacles and barriers of ice around the field.
Jack snorted and, with a loud bellow, a cone of pure, fiery heat flew from his mouth. It was a powerful Heat Wave attack, and it quickly began to melt the ice around the field. The heat even caused some damage to Khione, but the Walrein was too sturdy to lose like that, as her health dropped to a quarter of her maximum. Khione, however, disliked losing so much health. She gathered an orb of icy energy in front of her and she shot it at Jack, the Ice Beam attack hitting his face, and, with the help of the Hail, Jack's health hit zero. The yak stood for only another moment before he collapsed and the buzzer sounded.
"Jack, come on back!" Brendan said, recalling the Camerupt. "You fought well, I promise you that we will pull through this for you." He then pulled out Clint's Pokéball. "Come on out, Clint!"
Sceptile came out of his Pokéball, looking at the screen as a hailstone hit him on the head. His health bar dropped a little but he was more concerned with the steadily rising health of Khione. Clint grunted, and immediately launched an orb of energy for Sunny Day, nullifying the Hail storm and causing intense heat and sunlight to hit the field. As the sunlight got stronger, Clint seemed to grow more confident. An instant later, Clint fired a Solar Beam at Khione, who fired back with an Ice Beam. Unfortunately for the Walrein, all her attack did was reduce the damage. Clint expression turned to anger, even as the Solar Beam hit Khione, her health nearly hitting zero.
Clint huffed a bit, knowing his fight wasn't done. He powered up a Dragon Pulse this time, firing the purple energy at Khione. The Walrein responded with an Ice Beam, but it wasn't meant to intercept the attack. Instead, she fired it at the ground, launching herself into the air as she came down attempting to land a Body Slam on top of Clint. Clint saw the Walrein hurtling down toward him, but he smirked as he powered up a Leaf Storm and launched it up at the Walrein. Khione was knocked backwards, and she quickly found herself on the ground, the attack taking out the last of her health. The buzzer sounded, and Clint put his hands into the air in victory. Glacia just smirked softly as she recalled Khione, sending out her next Pokémon.
"Go, Fūjin!" she called. The Pokémon that came out looked like a walking, snow-covered evergreen tree mixed with a yeti. He had two green feet, and two green hands, followed by white fur for the rest of his body. His face looked like he had a moustache of pine needles for fur. "Say hello to my Abomasnow, and his ability: Snow Warning!" As Glacia spoke, the sky returned to a hail storm. "It will last the rest of the match, and I am quite certain of that."
To prove her point, Fūjin took a breath and used a powerful Frost Breath. Clint couldn't dodge it as the attack flew at him. He fell to his knees as his health dropped by three-quarters. "Oh no," Brendan said, watching Clint's health drop again. "This isn't good."
"It seems you weren't ready to face me," Glacia said almost condescendingly. "You're indeed strong, but I don't think you were ready for this level." Clint's eyes began to light up with even more anger at her words. He, like Brendan didn't like it when people talked down to him or his friends. He stood up, feeling the sting of hail on him as his health dropped. The Sceptile looked back at Gwen, smirking at his friend. During this journey, they had trained together more often than he thought they would, and during their training together, he had picked up a couple of her attacks. He knew one that would help greatly if it hit its mark…but it wasn't very accurate, and his Leaf Storm against had drained him of a lot of energy. Regardless, Clint knew he had to try. He gathered a golden ball of energy, making it the size of a large cannon shot. He felt another hailstone strike him, and he knew he was close to losing the round, so he fired the Focus Blast. The attack wasn't nearly as strong as it would have been if Clint was in perfect condition, but it would have to do. Unfortunately, Fūjin unleashed a vicious attack of ice and snow, working off the hailstorm for a perfect Blizzard. Focus Blast hit its mark, halving Fūjin's health just as the buzzer sounded for Clint, who looked to be shivering from the cold of the Blizzard.
Brendan cursed a little as he recalled Clint. Thinking for a moment about who he would send out. Avery and Turk would be bad choices, with Abomasnow having a type advantage over both of them.
"Well, so much for you being a hot challenger," Glacia said in a disappointed voice. Brendan looked at her with a slight glare. "So far, you've shown skill…but there's just a spark missing from how you and your Pokémon battle." She sighed. "Oh well. I suppose we can wait for another challenger to show us the passionate fighting that we've been seeking."
Brendan's eyes seemed to light up with a fiercely burning fire. "You want passion?" he asked as he pulls out Nikki's Pokéball. "Let me show it to you!" Nikki came out onto the field, immediately charging forward with her hands both on fire as she prepared two Fire Punches. She charged forward, the blaze on her hands getting more furious. Fūjin smirked, his hands beginning to glow gold as he charged a Brick Break with both arms, seeing what kind of fight this would become. He and Nikki both started what could only be described as a boxing match. Fūjin got the first hits, landing four quick jabs to Nikki's chest. The Slaking groaned and punched back, landing a much more devastating hit. Brendan watched as both Nikki and Abomasnow fought with everything they had, Nikki using a switch-hitter slugger style, while Fūjin was using a more orthodox swarmer style. They both exchanged hits, and both of their health bars were then left with only a quarter total. That was when Fūjin made a critical mistake, going for a Haye-Maker. Nikki took the massive window for a slip, and she delivered a much more devastating uppercut, hitting Fūjin's jaw from below.
The buzzer sounded before Fūjin even hit the ground. Nikki let the fire on her hands go out as she breathed heavily from the bout. Brendan looked at the screen, seeing Nikki's health get to a sliver of red, even with the damage from the hail. He then heard laughing from Glacia.
"Well, now THAT was just about what I've been looking for!" she said excitedly as she pulled out her next Pokéball. "THAT'S what I am trying to draw from you. You have it now, keep that mentality for the rest of our match! You'll need it. Especially against Elsa!" The Pokémon that came out was a nearly pure white spirit-like creature that seemed to be wearing a kimono with a red sash around what Brendan assumed were her hips. She had two horns made of ice, and her eyes were surrounded by purple skin, her eyes gleaming in a starkly contrasting yellow. The hail, however, made the Froslass seem much more like a specter than even any of Phoebe's ghost Pokémon.
To make it worse for Nikki, Elsa seemed to thrive in the hail, vanishing into the storm. Nikki could barely sense where the Froslass was, aside from some creepy giggles that seemed to come from multiple different places at once. Nikki was looking around, struggling to find her target, but she couldn't track the ghost type. To get creative, Nikki slammed her fists into the ground, sending multiple spears of rocks up from the ground in rings. The Stone Edge covered the entire battlefield but Elsa just seemed to dodge easily as she vanished and reappeared in different places around the field. Nikki's health kept dropping with each hailstone, but she stayed standing strong, despite her legs starting to shake from exhaustion. Brendan kept his fist clenched, Nikki knew her trainer desperately needed to win this battle. She closed her eyes, her mind focusing on where this Froslass was going, and where she would appear next. She smirked as she gathered black energy around herself, getting ready to use a Feint Attack. It was a last-ditch effort, but she knew she couldn't miss with this attack. She then seemed to fade into the shadow as she looked for Elsa, finding her and grabbing the ghost and reappearing just to punch the Pokémon and slam her into a nearby rock pillar that hadn't retracted into the ground after Stone Edge was finished. Elsa seemed to giggle as she took the hit, then she delivered a powerful Wake-Up Slap to Nikki's face, sending the Slaking crashing into the ground. Not waiting for her opponent to recover, Elsa disappeared, then fired an Ice Beam, hitting Nikki perfectly freezing her in a block of ice. The ice shattered as Nikki's health hit zero, and the buzzer rang.
Brendan grimaced a bit, recalling Nikki. "I need to go with the smart choice in typing," he said quietly. "And Dark is the best type for beating a Ghost." He then grabbed Turk's Pokéball and threw it onto the field. Turk appeared on the field, looking very ready to battle. He punched the ground with his claws, showing his determination to win this fight and began his attacking by using Rain Dance, his motions making the clouds shift and start producing rain, albeit it was a very cold rain. Turk then charged up a Night Slash, leaping at Elsa in an Aqua Jet.
Elsa would have none of it. She focused for an instant, gathered electricity, and fired a Thunderbolt. With no time to dodge, Turk was hit and sent flying back into the ground, rolling and tumbling for a few feet, grunting painfully the whole way. When he came to a stop, so too did his health bar, which hovered just above a third of his maximum health.
Turk glared at Elsa menacingly, before he fired a Water Pulse at the Snow Land Pokémon. The attack flew across the battlefield, gaining power from Rain Dance, and it nearly hit Elsa, who just barely got out of the way. The attack continued on, splashing against the barrier around the field. When Elsa dodged to the side, she unknowingly played into Turk's plan. Turk jumped up behind her, a Crab Hammer attack charged and given greater power by the rain. He smirked and immediately pummeled her with his claw, launching her into the ground. Brendan took a look at the screen in time to see Elsa's health hit zero, followed by the buzzer sounding once more. Brendan wanted to take a breath and let some tension out, but with Glacia still having three Pokémon left, he couldn't relax yet.
Up in the stands, May was also feeling extremely tense, watching as Glacia sent out her next Pokémon, calling the name "Boreas" as she threw the Pokéball. The creature that came out looked like an ice cream sundae in a dish with two faces, and a few ice crystals near the icy dish. "Woah, a Vanilluxe!" Lisia said excitedly. "It looks just like the themed dessert they have in Slateport!"
"Well, it does look like a vanilla soft-serve sundae," May says, smiling as Turk lunged forward, powering up another Crab Hammer, flying at the ice cream Pokémon. Vanilluxe just casually dodged as Turk flew by, and he simply fired a ball of energy into the sky, returning the weather to a hailstorm.
"Damn, it's like they just don't want to let the other keep a weather advantage," Wally said as he watched the exchange. "But, with Turk out there, I'm shocked that Glacia hasn't used–" he stops as he watched Boreas launched a ball of ice energy that looked extremely cold, almost like it came from liquid nitrogen. The ice then struck Turk, nearly freezing him solid, like a lot of the moisture had left his body. The ice shattered, and Turk fell to the ground, the buzzer sounding immediately. "And there it was: Freeze-Dry," Wally said. "It's the only ice-type attack that's super effective against water-types."
"I was hoping Glacia wouldn't have that attack on her team, but I guess that was just a pipe-dream," May said as Brendan recalled Turk, and sent out Avery. She smiled softly as the Latias nuzzled up to Brendan again, cooing excitedly. "She's such a sweetheart."
"By the way, May, I have a question for you," Lisia said.
"Hmm?" May said as she turned and looked at Lisia.
"Have you given any thought to future endorsement deals?" Lisia asked politely.
"What do you mean?" May looked confused as she asked that question, watching Avery dodge multiple Ice Beams and responding with equally inaccurate Dragon Pulses.
"Well, once you get to the level of either League Champion or Regional Top Coordinator, athletic companies try to get contracts and make new product lines. For example, my contest apparel line became wildly popular in Hoenn and Sinnoh," Lisia said.
"Well, that would be quite nice, but I don't even know what products we would be able to sell," May said with a slight blush.
"Have you not looked around the stadium?" Wally asked. "I've seen hundreds of people wearing a hat exactly like Brendan's. Kantoan Eagle Outfitters has actually sold out of that hat since he became famous. Hell, there are a few women with your style of bow, and there's even a few people who seem to have made a poor-quality dress like Gwens."
May looked around the stadium, and, sure enough, she saw what Wally was saying. There were so many hats like Brendan's that it looked like the hail was falling in the stands. "Well, I think I just figured out what Brendan and I are going to sell in the future," she said, her smile widened. "We'll make a new clothing line for trainers."
As she said that, Avery fired a Thunderbolt at Boreas, hitting her target. Boreas seemed to have electricity arcing from his body slightly. The Vanilluxe's health bar was then surrounded by a yellow highlight as it dropped to the halfway mark. "GREAT SHOT, AVERY!" May cheered happily, standing and clapping. "You've got this!"
When she sat back down, Lisia and Wally were both wearing amused expressions. "You're really into Brendan's battles, aren't you?" Lisia asked.
"Well, yeah. Are you not into his battling?" May asked.
"We are, but nowhere near how into him you are," Wally teased. "I guess that's why you're marrying him."
"Oh, shut up," May said playfully as she sat back down. Brendan, I know you can win.
Back on the field, Brendan was silently rejoicing about the paralysis condition. "Great job Avery, now use Dragon Pulse!" Avery reared back and fired a beam of purple energy at Boreas. The Vanilluxe barely managed to dodge the attack, only for Avery to use her real strategy. She launched an orb of energy into the air, which then split into a shower of meteors, which all flew directly at Boreas. The Vanilluxe couldn't even begin to dodge all of them, getting hammered with the Draco Meteor. While the attack took a lot of power out of Avery, it was clear that it took a hefty toll on Boreas's health. The Vanilluxe glared at Avery for a moment as his health dropped. He was about to pass out but he used the last of his energy to use an Icy Wind, the massive tunnel of ice and snow covering the whole battlefield, slowing Avery down and cutting her health by a quarter. The buzzer then sounded as Boreas fell to the ground.
"I like the style that you are showing with Avery," Glacia said, recalling Boreas as she talked. "You're good for sure. But I wonder if you can beat Shiva." She tossed her next Pokéball, which let out a massive, bipedal polar bear-like Pokémon with icicles hanging from her mouth.
"A Beartic," Brendan noted. "Haven't seen one of them outside of Kanto's Safari Zone Zoo during their special Ice-type exhibit."
Brendan, don't go down memory lane, Gwen said. You need to focus!
I know, Brendan said back. Avery was a bit slower now, but she was able to out-speed Shiva. The Beartic, however, didn't even try to dodge, taking the full force of the attack and letting her health drop lower. She then gathered an orb of icy energy in her hand and threw it into the air. Unlike when the other Pokémon on Glacia's team had used Hail, this one hovered over Avery, following her as she moved. It then began to rain down massive chunks of snow and ice in an Avalanche. Avery cried loudly at each impact, trying to stay strong and fight through it, but the attack just kept coming. She then felt herself drifting slowly to the ground, her vision fading and blurring. The buzzer sounded when she hit the ground, half buried from the Avalanche. Brendan was too far away to go to her side, so he settled for recalling her normally. "Avery, you fought really well. I promise you that I will win this match," Brendan said to the Pokéball. He then nodded to Gwen. They didn't exchange any words, both just knew that they were behind, and Gwen knew she had to beat two Pokémon in a row. It would not be easy, but they had faith they could do it.
Brendan immediately touched his Keystone, knowing they'd need to get as much power as possible to win this match. Gwen transformed into her Mega form in five seconds, her puffy dress flowing beautifully. That, however, was interrupted by a Slash from Shiva. The attack was powerful enough to knock Gwen backwards, dropping her health by a quarter. Gwen teleported away from Shiva, gathering her energy into a large golden sphere of a Focus Blast in front of her, firing it at the Beartic. Her range and timing were both perfect, which made it a perfect hit. The attack exploded around Shiva and sent her flying into the barrier around the field, collapsing to the ground as her health bar shot to zero faster than any had in the past two battles. Huh…a single hit? Kind of anti-climactic, isn't it? Gwen asked.
Kind of, but that's not the climax, Brendan said. We still have one more Pokémon to finish.
Glacia looked more serious now as she pulled out a Luxury Ball. "Well, you've come farther than expected. But, I've seen the pattern to your battles. It's always a back and forth between you and your opponents, and Gwen is always your last. And, I'm going to guess that you think you have a chance to win, but you're wrong. Especially against Morozko!" Glacia threw her next Pokéball out, which released a floating black orb with horns and a face covered by a steel-colored ice cage. He had blue eyes and a mouth that looked like he was gritting his teeth. Around his right horn was a band with Glalite on the front.
Before Brendan could even react, Glacia had already touched the keystone in her pendant, sending light beams together, and Morozko's energy spiked immensely, his mouth seemed to spread and open wide, a third horn sprouted from his forehead, looking to be made of ice, while the other two horns extended slightly and gained streaks of ice. His chin then sprouted horns, with what could only be described as a burly beard, but it was formed by his purely black skin.
Morozko, huh? The East Kalosian name for Father Winter? Gwen asked. Brendan wasn't even going to ask where she learned something so obscure. I can take him, I just hope he doesn't have any hidden trump cards.
Just as she said that, Morozko started to gather a metallic energy around his horns, and he began to spin rapidly. Despite the pace of his gyrations, he didn't move all that fast. He actually seemed to be building up speed with his attack, like a spinning top.
I'm not about to get hit by that Gyro Ball, Gwen said, her worry clear in her telepathic voice. She then took a deep breath. Time for a Hyper Voice. Gwen then screamed at the top of her lungs, the sonic wave hitting Morozko directly. While his health did drop by a third, he also started to spin faster. An instant later, he flew at Gwen, hitting her in the stomach and sending her flying back as nearly all of her health was taken out, leaving her with maybe a fifth of her maximum health. Holy shit, if I ever have kids in the future it'll be a fucking miracle, she said to herself as she saw the Glalie come to a stop beside Glacia.
"Well, we've seen how strong Gwen is, and Morozko seems to be the stronger of the two," Glacia said, sounding almost cocky. "In your position, you should just give in. Ice can be beautiful, but at the same time it can also be incredibly dangerous. And, in this case, ice is clearly far too harsh for you to handle." Gwen saw that both Glacia and Morozko were too caught up in their apparent victory to notice what she was doing. This was her chance. She closed her eyes and allowed the green aura of a Calm Mind to subtly cover her body. The hailstorm still raged on, the stones stinging her skin, but Gwen ignored them as she felt her power increasing steadily. "You fought with passion and a fiery intensity that I've never seen before, and for that I commend you. However, I can also say beyond any doubt that forfeiting is the right thing to do in your position. I really don't like hurting your Pokémon unnecessarily. But, if you insist on taking this path, then the injuries your Pokémon suffer will be squarely on your shoulders."
Gwen's health kept dropping as she felt the hail hit her, including her chest spike. She wanted to keep increasing her power, but now she wanted to get this woman to be quiet. HEY, GLACIA! The Elite Four member looked completely shocked at Gwen's tone, but she didn't say anything in response. Don't you dare count Brendan and me out. You'll regret it! Glacia went pale at the massive fire raging in Gwen's eyes. In turn, she saw that same passion reflected in Brendan's eyes.
"This is it," she whispered. "This is the heat and passion I've been seeking for so long." Morozko sensed that as well, and he gathered his icy energy into a ball of what looked like the coldest energy possible. "It's time for Sheer Cold!" Morozko fired the energy in a sphere of ice and absolutely frigid winds. Gwen didn't even have time to react, nor did she even try. The attack, however, seemed to stop in front of Gwen and simply go around her, as if the power she was giving off was greater than that of the Sheer Cold.
Also, stop monologuing! It's pointless! Gwen said as she gathered energy for another Focus Blast, this one much bigger, and clearly more powerful. See you in the Distortion World! She threw it like a baseball, the orb moving faster than a tank shell. The Glalie tried to move but found himself stuck as Gwen held him in place, the blue aura of her Psychic making that clear. You're not going anywhere!
Morozko grunted loudly as the Focus Blast hit with the force of a mortar explosion, throwing him into the ground and forcing him to revert to his normal form. The buzzer sounded, and Brendan's picture was highlighted in white. The crowd, however, didn't react since the dust hadn't settled. When it did, May was the first one cheering in the stands, which roused the rest of the audience.
"And it looks like Brendan has pulled out the win in a brutal struggle against Glacia!" the announcer said excitedly into the microphone. "He is now moving onto the fiercest of the Elite Four: Drake!"
Glacia recalled her Glalie and smiled as she approached Brendan. "You are very strong," she said with a tone much more pleasant than what she had used before. "And you fought with a fire that not even the coldest ice could extinguish. You truly deserved that win." She then looked to Gwen. "And I thank you for the lesson you've taught me. I might have won had I not assumed my victory." She then turned back to Brendan. "But, I should warn you, as strong as I am, Drake is leagues stronger. He will not tolerate any holding back. So, give it everything…and don't you dare lose to anyone until I face you again."
Brendan smiled at that last line. "Of course. And thank you for the warning," he said as he shook Glacia's hand. The crowd's cheers seemed to show hope for the next round.
So why was it that Brendan only felt fear about the last of the Elite Four?
Well, that took longer than I would've liked. Anyway, glad I finally finished this chapter. Hopefully those boxing terms I threw into the battle between Nikki and Fūjin weren't too much.
For those of you wondering, or who may have seen the patterns, all of the elite four Pokémon are nicknamed in a way that relates to mythology or, in a few cases, pop culture related to their types. Hope you all enjoyed learning about the different Cold, Winter, and Snow deities if you looked up the names.
Until next time ~ jmoul18
