Chapter 5: A Forced Hand
Lillie walked up the gloomy Route 17, eyes fixed on the man leaning outside the Pokémon Center. It was time for her grand trial. "Officer Nanu!" she waved out, a nervous smile on her face. "Hm, Good. You're here, and in one piece too."
Nanu gestured Lillie to walk with him, taking her up the hills before speaking. "This is going to be a Four on Four battle." Lillie could feel her heart stop, she only had four Pokémon, and Kartana was not the kind of Pokémon she should be exposing to Nanu. "Uh, yeah. That's fine." she said, mostly to herself however, as she had faith in Clefairy and Bewear to deal some heavy damage.
"Right then, let's begin." Nanu spoke as he threw out a Sableye. Lillie throwing out Clefairy.
"Fake out." commanded the Kahuna, and the mischievous dark and ghost type slunk forward before faking out the Clefairy, causing it to flinch. Lillie frowned, Dark types were always known for playing dirty, but it didn't mean they weren't weak without them. She had to be careful.
"Shadow Ball!" "Dazzling Gleam!" the two trainers called out. The Shadow Ball was able to block most the super-effective fairy type attack, but exploded just short of hitting Clefairy, not even damaging it for the full amount, whereas the Dazzling Gleam was only able to catch the Sableye by its arms. Minimal damage taken on both sides. "Shadow Sneak, then Poison Jab!"
Lillie tried to command a dodge, but it was futile. The Shadow Sneak was faster, and Clefairy wasn't able to avoid the super effective poison type hits, and promptly fainted. Lillie returned her Pokémon with a sombre look on her face. "You did well, Clefairy."
Steeling herself, she threw out her next Pokémon. Her Vulpix appeared and let out a fierce cry, before unleashing a hail attack, courtesy of Lillie. The grim clouds above began to pelt the battlefield with icy particles, causing Sableye to shelter its head with its arms. "Enough fooling around, Sableye. Shadow Sneak and Poison Jab, again!" Lillie smirked.
"Vulpix, dodge, and when it springs up, hit it with your Ice Beam!" Vulpix then seemed to disappear entirely into the hail, much to Nanu's chagrin. Snow Cloak, of course. It was then from out of nowhere that a beam of icy energy soared through the hailstorm, and straight into the Sableye's back, causing icy mist to erupt out of the air. When it had cleared, Sableye was frozen solid, and appeared to have fainted inside the icy tomb.
Nanu returned his Sableye. "That's a shame. Oh well, time to use my secret weapon. Get ready, I guess." he said as he threw out... a Krookodile? Didn't everyone know he had one of these already?
"Okay then, Vulpix use Ice Beam-" but the Krookodile was forward in a flash. "Low Sweep!"
The Krookodile swung out its foot and tripped up Vulpix as her Ice Beam fired off, striking the ground type in the eye as she fell to the ground, not taking the super-effective move very well.
"Krookodile isn't meant to be that fast, and it shook off that Ice Beam like nothing... Something's not right here." Lillie thought to herself, but it soon became clear. The Krookodile's form shimmered, revealing a Zoroark, which grinned mischievously. "Finish it with Foul Play."
The Zoroark then roared and lept onto the downed Vulpix, clawing wildly at the poor Pokémon who screamed in pain as it happened. When it was done, the Ice Type was down for the count. Lillie frowned again, returning it. She had two Pokémon down and Nanu only had one. The worry that she'd have to use Kartana was growing, but she still had Bewear.
"Bewear, please, bring this back for me!" she yelled as she threw out the large pink bear. He responded by roaring menacingly. Hail still fell on the battlefield, fazing the Zoroark more than the Bewear. "Now, use Hammer Arm!" she commanded, as the Pokémon ran forward, excitedly screaming. "Zoroark, counter with low-" but it was too late, as the Bewear had slammed its arm into Zoroark's face, knocking it clean out. Nanu smirked a little, it was actually pretty brutal to watch, but entertaining nonetheless. He returned his Zoroark and sent out the actual Krookodile.
"Right, make use of it's lowered speed, Krookodile. Use low sweep!" But it wasn't enough. Bewear was easily able to jump over Krookodile's low sweep, and hit back with another Hammer Arm attack. "Earthquake!"
The Ground trembled as Krookodile slammed its tail into the ground, causing Bewear to trip over and land on its back. "Now, use crunch, and finish it!" Krookodile lept onto the downed Bewear. "Bewear, block it with your arm!" commanded Lillie.
Bewear raised its arm and got it caught in the powerful jaws of Nanu's Krookodile. Screaming in rage and pain, it furiously used hammer arm, and with Krookodile latched firmly onto its arm, it would deal extra damage. Nanu's eyes widened as he'd realised that he'd been lured into a trap, underestimating the girl.
Krookodile's jaws unhitched from the arm, out cold from the high power attack. Nanu withdrew his Pokémon before sending out his ace, Persian. "Alright, Bewear, please use rest!" she commanded as the Bewear yawned and promptly laid back for a nap. "Not so fast, kid." Nanu spoke, a grin painting his features.
And then Lillie dreaded what she saw. Nanu's Z-Crystal was beginning to glow, as he and his Persian did the signature but awkward dark-type move.
"BLACK HOLE ECLIPSE!" he bellowed, as Persian shot off a sphere of dark energy. Moments later, it exploded in the air, pulling the ground around it, and Bewear, who was still snoring away, into the event horizon, before violently exploding, sending everything flying out again in a flurry of destruction. Bewear landed with a thud, clearly down for the count infront of Lillie, who withdrew him.
"Oh well. There's always next time..." she said to herself.
"Are you forfeiting, kid?" Nanu said, suspicious. "You've got one Pokémon left, and you haven't even given it a chance to try." Lillie could feel the judging gaze of the Kahuna.
"It... It's not ready." she meekly responded, trying to seem as small as possible. "You are the one who agreed to a four on four, don't waste my time!" Nanu commanded, anger beginning to take hold. "Or maybe you're just weak. You'll never get anywhere like this!"
Weak... There it was again. She was certain that she wasn't weak. She had befriended one of the strongest Pokémon, and one of the most dangerous. That was it, something snapped inside Lillie's head. The time for weakness was over. No more games, no more hiding. Her hand was forced.
"You will regret this, Officer." She said, sudden determination lining her features, that had sent a minor chill through Nanu. He had no idea that this girl was capable of being so intimidating.
"Kartana! Lend me your aid, please!" she said as she released the Ultra Beast. The shock on Nanu and his Persian's face was priceless. She had an Ultra Beast!? The Kartana materialized and spun around in the air, waving its blades around threateningly at its opponent.
"Kartana, I didn't want to have to use you for this fight, but please. Stay calm, and listen to me." she spoke to the beast. It understood, nodding its 'head' at Lillie. It must have been feeling its trainer's emotion, and had also been rather determined. Nanu had now broken out of his stupor.
"Persian! Dark Pulse, NOW!" he strictly commanded, but to no avail, as the Ultra Beast effortlessly slipped away from the attack on the wind. "Now, Kartana! Sacred Sword!" she commanded with renewed vigour, as the Ultra Beast shot towards the dark type, its bladed arms glowing with a immense power.
And then the two Pokémon collided in a cloud of dust. Kartana shot out, still in one piece, and Persian was down. After one attack. Nanu was shocked, his ace had been felled by an Ultra Beast in one hit.
"Kartana, you did it!" Lillie said as she ran up to the Ultra Beast, carefully hugging the usually timid beast. Nanu stood in shock, before returning his downed Persian and walking up to Lillie. A very suspicious glare on his face. "Where did you get that ultra beast, Kid?" he spoke, venom dripping from his voice.
All determination that Lillie had, drained away, Kartana seemed to share this feeling too, as its bladed arms visibly drooped. Lillie stuttered, she had revealed to the Kahuna that she had an Ultra Beast. Something she promised herself she wouldn't do, but had been caught up in the heat of battle.
"I... I... Please don't tell anyone..." She said, her eyes widening and desperately trying to pull an adorable pleading face to the older man. Nanu looked taken aback, and whilst he was slightly annoyed, his stone heart cracked a little, and sighed. "Fine. Your secret is safe with me kid, since you two seem to have a good bond. BUT, if anyone else finds out, I didn't know. Is that clear?" Lillie nodded vigorously, relieved that Nanu was probably weak to the pleading face due to Acerola.
"Good. Now take this, and go, before I change my mind." he said, depositing a Darkinium Z into Lillie's hand. "Th-thank you, Officer Nanu." she bowed as he walked away. She looked down at the Kartana in her arms. "That was close. We need to be careful now, Kartana." The Ultra Beast whistled in agreement.
Lillie swiftly returned her Pokémon, and began to make her way back down Route 17. She promised mother she'd be back as soon as the Grand Trial was done, but with how close she was to Dulse finding about about her new friend, she had to think of another excuse to get away from home for a while.
The Foundation came into sight from the boat as it bounced across the waves. His blonde hair that usually covered his green eyes, bouncing too. He had finally made it back to the Alola Region from Kanto, and he needed to see if his little sister was fine. Although he was certain that she would be, considering that she had started on the trials.