Episode 2: The Tower Tycoon!
"Tower…Tycoon?" Lauren asked, puzzled. Scott nodded his head excitedly.
"Yes! You both want an explanation, and here it is. In the Sinnoh Battle Frontier, located here on Battle Island, there are five 'facilities'—the Battle Tower, Battle Hall, Battle Factory, Battle Castle, and Battle Arcade. Each facility had a Frontier Brain. They're sort of like gym leaders. When you beat them, you get a 'Frontier Print.' You have beaten the Battle Frontier when you've gotten all five of them. Make sense?"
"And what happens once you've gotten all five of them?" Niko inquired.
"Oh. I'll tell you if and when you get there." Scott replied with a wink. "Now, are you both interested?"
"Of course, we are!" Niko said, pumping his fist. "Where should we start?"
Scott shrugged. "There's no recommended place to start, unlike some Pokémon Gyms are. But, since you're here, and if Palmer is willing, you could both challenge him now." Scott then turned to Palmer, who simply nodded.
"Yes, I'll take challenges from both of you." The Tower Tycoon responded. "That is, if you're both ready."
Scott nodded. "Indeed. Palmer's one of the stronger Frontier Brains, if I do say so myself. But it's completely up to you two."
"I'll do it. Palmer, I officially challenge you to a battle!" Niko said, stepping forward. Lauren did as well, standing next to her boyfriend.
Palmer smirked. "Alright then. It will be a three-on-three battle, and in between battles I have the right to heal my pokémon. Sound good?" They both nodded. "Excellent. Niko, you shall be first." Both Niko and Palmer took opposing ends of the battlefield, the Tower Tycoon pulling out a pokéball while Niko did the same. The referee stood in the middle of the field as usual and explained the ordinary rules of battling. Then, on his command, both Palmer and Niko summoned their pokémon. "Milotic, I choose you!"
"Milotic? Alright then…torterra, I choose you!" Niko shouted, summoning the continent pokémon. "Let's start off with razor leaf!"
"Milotic, attract!" Palmer commanded. The tender pokémon responded by emitting small, pink hearts from its body, all of them floating over towards torterra. Suddenly, the large tortoise gave a shy expression, hinting that he was infatuated with milotic.
"Oh, you're kidding me…" Niko said, smacking his head. "Torterra, snap out of it!"
"Milotic, ice beam!" Palmer shouted. Milotic opened her maw and conjured a steady stream of ice that hit torterra directly in the face. It did not, evidently, stop torterra from having fake feelings for this pokémon. "Now use surf!"
"Torterra, c'mon!" Niko shouted. "Bah! Return, then." Niko said, sending torterra back into his pokéball just as the surf attack missed. "Luxray, you're up! Use charge!"
"Milotic, hypnosis!" Palmer directed. Like with Lauren's haunter, the tender pokémon emitted red rings from her eyes, all of which hit luxray directly, forcing the gleam eyes pokémon to fall to the ground, asleep. "Now, ice beam!"
Niko bit his finger in frustration. When Scott says Palmer is the toughest, he isn't kidding. But we can do this. "Luxray, wake up!" Niko shouted. However, he didn't need to—the ice beam was enough, shocking the electric type out of his slumber. "Use discharge!" Luxray then released all of his stored electricity, sending sparks in every direction, and hitting milotic directly. The tender pokémon slowed down considerably, as she was now stunned. "Thunderfang!"
"Milotic, ice beam." Palmer said, crossing his arms. The jet of ice flew in a direct path towards luxray, who was agile enough to move to the side and continue charging forward towards his opponent. The gleam eyes pokémon then leapt into the air before landing on milotic's body and sinking his teeth into the tender pokémon. "Hypnosis!" Palmer commanded. Milotic once more shot out the red, hypnotic rings at luxray, knocking the electric feline off of her body. Once luxray was on the ground, milotic slowly maneuvered her body to face luxray and used ice beam once more.
Like the first time, the ice beam seemed to wake luxray up. The gleam eyes pokémon didn't seem very happy with it. "Discharge!" Niko commanded, thrusting his hand upwards. Once more, luxray cried out, unleashing every bit of electricity it had acquired, hitting the paralyzed milotic. The tender pokémon then fell backwards in defeat, landing on the floor of the battlefield, spread out.
"Milotic is unable to battle, luxray wins! Tycoon Palmer will send out his second pokémon!" The referee declared.
"Milotic, return. Rhyperior, I choose you!" Palmer said, summoning a massive charcoal-colored pokémon with red armor along its torso, shoulders, and kneecaps. It had a small drill in place of a nose; holes in its palms; and a club for a tail.
"Rhyperior, the drill pokémon. Rock and ground type. It can launch a rock held in its hand like a missile by tightening then expanding its muscles instantly."
"Rock and ground type? Luxray, return." Niko said, pocketing the gleam eyes pokémon. "Torterra, I choose you! Razor leaf!"
"Rock wrecker!" Palmer commanded. Rhyperior then held its hands close together, and small chunks of gray stones came out of its hands to form a massive gray rock with a red aura to it. Rhyperior then launched the rock forward, breaking through the leaves and directly hitting torterra, forcing the pokémon a few inches backwards. "Now, earthquake!"
"Counter with earthquake as well!" Niko commanded. Suddenly both pokémon were shaking the ground underneath the other, turning the match into a stalemate quickly. Eventually, Niko decided it was best to change up the strategy. "Energy ball now!"
"Rock wrecker!" Palmer commanded. Both spheres collided in the center of the battlefield, but torterra secretly conjured a second energy ball that blew through the cloud of dirt that resulted and hit rhyperior directly in the chest. The drill pokémon took a knee from the attack just when torterra launched a barrage of leaves at it, adding insult to injury. "Use rock wrecker once more, rhyperior! We can do this!"
Rhyperior roared out, conjuring a third, and final, massive gray rock and launching it at torterra. Once more, torterra replied with energy ball, but covered himself with a storm of razor leaves. "Now, use energy ball again!" Niko shouted, and Palmer turned to his right to see torterra standing there with another energy ball on the way, along with a torrent of green leaves. The dual attack hit rhyperior, knocking it forwards in defeat.
"Rhyperior is unable to battle, torterra wins! Tycoon Palmer will send out his third and final pokémon!" The referee declared.
"Well, Niko, you're doing quite well for yourself. I wish you the best of luck with this final pokémon. Dragonite, I choose you!"
"Torterra, let's do this! Use energy ball!" Niko commanded, thrusting his hand forward. Torterra conjured a ball of pure energy and launched it at dragonite, who took the hit and didn't move. "Huh?"
"Dragon dance!" Palmer shouted, crossing his arms. A red and purple mist surrounded dragonite. Palmer then nodded, seeming pleased with his pokémon. "And again!"
"Torterra, keep it up! Use energy ball!" Niko shouted, unsure of what else to use. Crunch was too far for the continent pokémon to use, and earthquake wouldn't affect dragonite, who was a flying type. For nearly a minute, dragonite consumed itself in the mist. Suddenly, Palmer smirked. "Oh, no…"
"Dragonite, aerial ace!" Palmer cried out, his deep voice echoing through the room. Dragonite disappeared into the air before reappearing and slashing down on torterra's shell, forcing the continent pokémon to the ground, defeated.
"Torterra is unable to battle, dragonite wins!" The referee declared.
"Luxray, you're up!" Niko commanded, re-summoning the gleam eyes pokémon. "Use crunch!"
Luxray charged forward before leaping into the air and attempting to bite down on dragonite's leg, as the dragon pokémon was floating in the air. However, Palmer commanded the dragon type to use dragon claw in response. Dragonite's claws began to glow with a purple aura and it slashed down on luxray, again with blinding speed. Next thing Niko knew, his pokémon was on the ground, also defeated.
"Luxray is unable to battle, dragonite wins! Challenger Niko will send out his final pokémon!" The referee declared.
"What the…" Niko said in shock. He shook his head. "Alright then. We can do this. Staraptor, I choose you!" He said, hoping that his quickest pokémon could keep up with the unusually fast dragonite. "Use aerial ace!" He shouted.
"Dragon claw!" Palmer commanded.
"Double team!" Niko directed. Staraptor was able to dodge the dragon claw and strike dragonite—but barely. The dragon pokémon noticed only one bird fly past it, and turned with incredible speed and strike staraptor in the back with dragon claw, sending him crashing into the ground.
"Aerial ace!" Palmer shouted. Dragonite dove towards the ground and slashed at staraptor once more, defeating the predator pokémon.
"Staraptor is unable to battle, dragonite wins! And the victory goes to Tower Tycoon Palmer!" The referee declared.
"Staraptor, return…" Niko said, frowning as he did so. How did I lose that? What did Palmer do with dragon dance? He turned to see Lauren getting out of the stands. She walked over and hugged him. "Good luck, alright? He's pretty tough, as you can see."
"I think I've got a strategy around it. But thanks." She let go and walked up to her end of the field. Palmer then returned a minute later with his pokémon healed and ready to go a second time. When he was ready, he nodded to the referee, who explained the rules once more.
"Milotic, I choose you!" Palmer shouted.
"Roselia, let's go!" Lauren commanded. "Use toxic spikes!" The thorn pokémon nodded, shooting out purple spikes from her rose-arms like bullets, scattering them across the other end of the field. "Now, magical leaf!"
"Ice beam!" Palmer commanded. The jet of ice was blocked by the magical leaf, which roselia manipulated to create a wall before sending the ice-covered leaves back at milotic, striking her across the body.
"Now, petal dance!" Lauren shouted, pumping her fist. Roselia spun around, conjuring a vortex of pink petals that spun through the air and flew at milotic, who tried to soften the blow with surf. "Magical leaf again! Don't let up!" Roselia nodded, leaping forward, spinning, and shooting purple leaves out of her rose-arms. Like with Niko's torterra, the dual attack was successful against milotic, distracting the tender pokémon enough for Lauren to continue her onslaught. Milotic tried once more to use ice beam, but roselia was quicker, using another petal dance to defeat her opponent.
"Milotic is unable to battle, roselia wins! Tycoon Palmer will send out his second pokémon!" The referee declared.
"Rhyperior, I choose you." Palmer said, throwing his second pokéball into the air, summoning the massive charcoal-colored pokémon. "Use rock wrecker!" Palmer said just after rhyperior felt the poison from toxic spikes take effect.
"Roselia, petal dance!" Lauren commanded. Rhyperior's rock wrecker blew through the tornado of petals, but just barely missing roselia, who dove to the left and launched a series of magical leaves at the drill pokémon, who used earthquake just after taking the attack. The thorn pokémon struggled to stay on her leafy feet while the ground underneath her was aggressively shaking. Roselia fell forward, landing on her rose-arms just as rhyperior created another rock wrecker.
"Launch it!" Palmer shouted. Rhyperior roared out, sending the gray rock hurdling towards roselia, who jumped into the air towards the rock. Roselia landed on the rock and used it to jump off of and launch a magical leaf directly at rhyperior. The attack landed, bringing rhyperior to a knee. "Crunch!"
"Petal dance!" Lauren commanded. Roselia, while still in the air, spun around as if in a performance, conjuring a tornado of petals around her. Nevertheless, while in the air, rhyperior grabbed onto roselia with mouth, slamming his teeth down on the thorn pokémon. He then dropped her to the ground and used earthquake.
Lauren grit her teeth. She directed one more magical leaf while the ground shook underneath them. The attack hit rhyperior, but so did the earthquake. As rhyperior fell backwards, roselia fainted.
"Roselia and rhyperior are both unable to battle! Tycoon Palmer and Challenger Lauren will send out their next pokémon!"
Lauren knew exactly what Palmer would use, and so she countered it to the best of her ability. "Glaceon, let's go!" Let's get ahead of that dragon dance and land some attacks on this thing she thought to herself.
"Dragonite!" Palmer commanded, summoning his powerful dragon type. "Use thunderwave!"
"Icy wind!" Lauren commanded. While glaceon was able to conjure a cold gale behind her that struck dragonite, the orange dragon cringed before summoning a wave of electric sparks that struck glaceon, slowing her down to the point where she couldn't move. "I-icy wind!"
"Dragon dance, please." Palmer said calmly. Dragonite stood still, the red and purple mist returning to surround the dragon pokémon. The entirety of glaceon's immobility dragonite stood there, focused completely on itself. Palmer then smirked, and Lauren grit her teeth once more. As soon as glaceon could move, Lauren shouted for her to use ice fang.
The snow hat pokémon burst forward, sprinting as fast as she could, fangs baring a chilly touch to them. However, once she was close, dragonite looked up, the mist disappearing.
"Aerial ace!" Palmer commanded loudly. The dragon pokémon shot forward, crashing into glaceon and striking her across the side, knocking her backwards towards Lauren. "Follow up with dragon claw!"
"Ice fang!" Lauren shouted. Dragonite was relentless, however: the dragon pokémon struck once more at glaceon, this time with purple claws. Glaceon fell back to the ground, her teeth losing their cold touch. "Err…icy wind!"
"Dragon claw once more!" Palmer said, knowing fully well that it was the end for glaceon. And he was right—as soon as the dragon pokémon made contact with glaceon, she collapsed in defeat.
"Glaceon is unable to battle, dragonite wins! Lauren will now send out her third and final pokémon!" The referee declared.
"Haunter, I choose you!" Lauren shouted out, feeling nervous. Palmer's dragonite was unusually powerful. And it was because of dragon dance. She just needed a way out of it. "Hypnosis!"
"Aerial ace!" Palmer commanded. Before haunter could even attack, dragonite was upon him, slashing downwards with his claw, white tendrils emitting from them. Haunter crashed into the ground, shooting up a dark pulse in response. Dragonite dodged the move and landed on the ground on the other end of the field, urging haunter on.
"Shadow punch!" Lauren shouted, thrusting her fist forward. Haunter nodded, using one of his disconnected hands and launching a spectral fist at the dragon pokémon. The attack hit dragonite, who quickly got back to a standing position, glaring down at its opponent. "D-dark pulse!"
"Dragon claw!" Palmer commanded. Dragonite burst forward once more, striking at haunter with a claw lit up in a purple and red aura. The attack struck haunter across the face, launching him backwards, past and through Lauren, and into the back wall. Lauren turned around, shivering a little, as she saw haunter collapse to the ground in defeat.
"Haunter is unable to battle, dragonite is the winner! And the victory goes to Tower Tycoon Palmer!" The referee declared.
"Return, haunter. You did a great job, and I'm very proud of you." Lauren said, pulling a strand of light blue hair behind her ear. She watched as her friends and Scott walked up to her. Niko was the first to greet her, hugging her.
"You did great. I'm proud of you." Niko said quietly.
"I know. Thanks." Lauren replied before letting go and seeing Scott and Palmer facing them.
"Niko, Lauren, while I did appreciate those battles, it appears that you still have a lot to learn before you're ready to face me again. I strongly recommend you face the other four battle facilities, earn their prints, and then come back to me. If I remember correctly, then that would be a full pass around the entire island, so it works out just fine. Right, Scott?"
"Indeed." Scott said, nodding his head. "Niko, Lauren, the closest facility to here is the Battle Hall located in the Survival Area. It's just north of here—roughly a couple of days' travel. You shouldn't have any issue getting there…hopefully."
"Thanks Scott, and you too, Palmer." Niko said, frowning slightly. "What is dragon dance, exactly?"
"Hah!" Palmer said with a laugh. "I figured it wasn't clear to you. Yes, dragon dance is an attack that strengthens a dragon's other attacks, as well as speeds it up. It's a highly dangerous move, and if either of you have any chance of defeating me, you'll need to find a way around it." He reached his hand out to Niko. "Best of luck, both of you. I look forward to our rematches."
Niko and Lauren both shook the Tycoon's hand before turning to exit the Battle Tower with Brittany, JJ, and Scott. Once they were on the ground floor, Scoot said his farewells to the group, and the four trainers exited towards the Pokémon Center. With the sun setting on the ocean beyond the Fight Area's port, Niko and Lauren felt more confident than ever about their upcoming challenges.