Episode 4: The ultimate moves
"So…this is the Survival Area…?" JJ asked as they looked down at their next destination from the top of a hill. The Survival Area itself was a small town, akin to Solaceon Town or Celestic Town. However, there was a massive stadium on the northwestern end—in the side of a mountain—that seemed to stick out like a sore thumb.
"Yep, this is the Survival Area…" Niko responded, also in awe at the dichotomy sitting in front of him. They walked down the hill into town, eager to heal up their pokémon after their multi-battle the previous day. Entering the Pokémon Center, they approached Nurse Joy as usual, who took their pokémon and brought them up to a healing machine.
Just as they turned to head towards a booth, they saw a familiar face sitting in the closest one. He turned to face them, his jet-black hair unmoving. "Hey!" Fay said cheerfully, getting up to greet his friends and former travelling companions. "What're you all doing here?"
"Competing in the Battle Frontier." Niko said. "What are you doing here?"
"I'm here on some business for Oak, but while I was at it I figured I'd check out this place. Niko, there's something I'd like to show you, actually." Fay said as they all sat down. When Niko raised an eyebrow with intrigue, Fay continued explaining. "Did you bring venusaur?" Niko nodded. "Great. There are apparently special moves that 'starter pokémon' can learn. An old lady up in the mountains east of the Battle Hall teaches pokémon how to use them. Would you be interested?"
"Would I ever?" Niko replied. This move might help me beat Palmer…I definitely need to give it a try. "When can we go?"
"She's busy for the rest of the day—already checked. But we could go there tomorrow, if you're interested. She seems nice, from the sound of it." Fay shrugged. "But I don't know. I would like to have charizard learn this move, in case we ever find ourselves in a rut."
"How powerful are these moves?" JJ asked.
"Supposedly some of the most powerful moves out there. I only remember the fire move—blast burn. There are grass and water moves as well. But again, only pokémon given out to trainers—or 'starter pokémon'—can learn them. That's why I asked if Niko had venusaur on him, since they're close enough that learning the move might be easier."
"Well, he has torterra as well. Couldn't they both learn the move?" Brittany asked.
"Yeah, I'm sure he could. I don't know what this woman's requirements for tutoring are, though." Fay said. "Anyways, I'm looking forward to this! It'll just be like old times!"
Niko nodded, happy that he was working with Fay again, and even more elated that he got to spend time with venusaur and learn a move that could win him the Tower Print from Palmer. It was all so exciting to him.
The following morning, the group met up with Fay outside of the Pokémon Center to begin their trek towards the Move Tutor's house. The trek took half an hour, with the five of them traversing uneven—and sometimes unstable—terrain. The entire time, Niko looked out on the island to the south of them, marveling at the forest of palm trees littered with small black hills. In the far-off distance, he could see what looked like a desert. He stopped for a moment to take it all in, and only continued on at the urging of his friends.
They eventually make it to the top, where a small house sat roughly a hundred yards away. Niko and Fay first approached the door, with the latter knocking. They could hear someone moving around in there, but after a couple of minutes there was no response, and Niko was about to turn around and leave when the door opened. Behind the front door stood an elderly woman, shorter than the both of them but still taller than Lauren. Her graying hair was tied up in a ponytail that fell down to her shoulders. She wore thick-rimmed glasses that rested atop a crooked nose.
"Hello?" She asked in a slightly crass voice. "What do you want?"
"Hi, are you Irma?" The lady nodded. "Hello. I'm Fay, and this is Niko, and we were wondering if you could teach the both of us the ultimate moves?"
"Why?" She demanded.
"Well, merely out of interest." Fay explained. "You see, I'm a researcher, and Niko's—"
"Not a good reason. No one battles 'out of interest.' Thank you, good day." Irma then slammed the door, leaving Niko and Fay standing there looking stupid.
Niko sighed before knocking on the door again. Once more, Irma opened the door and demanded to know why they were still there. "You see, we're both trying to beat the Battle Frontier, and to do that we want to learn these ultimate moves, and you're the only one that can help us."
"I don't help new trainers. End of story."
"Who's saying we're new trainers?" Niko shot back. "I've competed in four Pokémon Leagues already. Fay here in two."
"Oh? And how well did you both do?" They both explained their placements. "Top 8 three times in a row? Pathetic, but it's clear you need some help. Fine, whatever. I'll help you both. But only today. After that, you're on your own, got it?"
Niko and Fay both nodded eagerly, and they waited as Irma grabbed some materials and met them outside on the black rocky surface surrounding her house. They then walked a distance from the house, presumably to provide ample space to learn these powerful moves. Irma then demanded they send out their pokémon. Fay sent out a familiar orange winged lizard—charizard—and Niko sent out his venusaur.
"Hey buddy, this lady's going to teach us a powerful new move. Are you ready?" Niko asked. Venusaur simply nodded his head before turning to the woman.
"Alright, charizard and venusaur…been a while since I've tutored these pokémon. Usually trainers want me to help out the pokémon that cook Rowan gives them. Finally, a little variation…" She said while rolling her eyes. "Anyways! The moves you'll be learning today are frenzy plant for venusaur, and blast burn for charizard. They are the most powerful known moves that each type can learn, and as such they require an incredible amount of energy. Neither of your pokémon will be able to attack for some time after using the move, so it is best used as a last resort to win the match. Understand me so far?" Niko and Fay nodded, as did venusaur and charizard. "Excellent."
She then summoned two pokémon of her own—a meganium and typhlosion. Irma ordered each pokémon to use their respective moves, with meganium going first. Niko and venusaur watched carefully as meganium's body began to glow a light green. The herb pokémon raised her front two feet and then slammed down on the ground in front of them. As it did, massive roots with spikes erupted out of the ground and then arched forward, moving to attack the air in front of them, as if they were striking an opponent. Niko's eyes widened at the sheer power of the move. Venusaur is capable of learning that?
Next was typhlosion. The volcano pokémon roared out, engulfing itself in bright orange fire. It then bent down and slammed its right fist into the ground, and energy began to move through the ground. Once it reached an invisible target, the energy burst upwards out of the ground in an explosion of orange flames, similar to a volcanic eruption, or a geyser.
"There. Those are the moves. Any questions so far?" Niko and Fay shook their heads. "Good. Now that you've seen the moves, I want you to attempt them yourselves. Venusaur, you'll start. Feel the earth beneath you. The natural energy in the world. That's how you will be able to command the roots for frenzy plant. It's important that you learn to become one with the natural world, or else the roots will run wild and you won't be able to control where they go or what they hit."
Venusaur nodded, closing his eyes and attempting to feel around for the earth underneath him. Niko tried doing the same, calming himself down and putting himself in a meditative state. After what seemed like several minutes, they both opened their eyes. Nothing.
"Hmph. Alright, think about what might have gone wrong while I turn to charizard. Now, like venusaur you must also focus on the energy in the natural world. Only this time, it requires less manipulation than frenzy plant, since there is a single eruption of fire that you must control. However, it requires far more energy to produce a single burst, while frenzy plant's energy is more evenly distributed among the different roots. Make sense?" Charizard and Fay both nodded. "Excellent. So, the first exercise is the same. Charizard, I want you to focus on the natural world underneath you. Search for the fire. Search for the energy hidden underneath the ground. Go."
Like with venusaur, charizard closed his eyes and attempted to look for the energy buried in the earth. After what seemed like an eternity, the flame pokémon opened his eyes to see the woman shaking her head.
"Both of you! You have to search! You have to then become one with the world! If you cannot do that, then I cannot teach you, and you cannot succeed in your endeavors. Try again, now!"
Meanwhile Lauren, Brittany, and JJ were watching all of this from a small bench next to the Irma's house.
"This doesn't seem like a lot of fun for either of them…" Lauren admitted. "Irma is kind of a kook."
"Agreed." Brittany replied with a nod. "She's irritable, for seemingly no reason. I wonder if there's anything that makes her act like this."
"Either way, it doesn't look like an easy move to understand." JJ added. "But this will be really helpful to Niko if he and venusaur can master this move."
Lauren nodded. "I would ask if infernape could be taught this move, but I don't want to deal with that woman. Maybe Fay will teach it to me later…"
"I'm sure he would if you asked." Brittany said with an eager smile. "He's always around to help others."
"I hope Niko is doing alright, though." Lauren said, watching her boyfriend and venusaur focusing on learning frenzy plant. "He's been off the past couple of days."
JJ nodded. "True. I think he just needs a win under his belt, y'know? The last battle he won was against you."
"Well, the last time I won was against Ian!" Lauren protested.
"Right, but I think rampardos' injury played a role in it. Plus, he was against Hunter, who wasn't nice to him at all. And your matches against Niko and Palmer were closer than his against Hunter and Palmer." Brittany explained.
Lauren nodded, not saying much more. She continued watching Niko, trying to understand him better. The biggest problem of his, from her perspective, was that he didn't open up to her as often about his issues, or to anyone. She found that Niko would, but only when she persuaded him to. He would never do it on his own volition. She sighed. "Hopefully we can get through all of this."
Meanwhile, Niko and venusaur kept trying to use frenzy plant. Each time, they would close their eyes and try to feel the earth beneath them. Niko didn't have to, and was by no means required to, but he wanted to feel what venusaur was feeling, and be one with his pokémon.
After several hours, he began to notice a green aura surrounding the seed pokémon. Cheering, he then was dismayed when venusaur wasn't able to call up the spiked roots from the ground. "Dammit…" He muttered to himself, even though venusaur could hear it. Turning to his pokémon, Niko realized the error of his ways. "Sorry, didn't mean that. I'm just…I wish we were stronger." Venusaur nodded, and nuzzled Niko's side with his head. Niko returned the gesture with a rub atop the grass type's head. "But we're going to get this, buddy. You and me, together we're going to master frenzy plant and defeat each Frontier Brain." He looked venusaur in the eye. "I promise you that."
Just as he said that, he heard an explosion off in the distance. Looking over, he saw an eruption of fire from under the black earth of the mountaintop. Leaning over, he saw Fay nod approvingly as charizard pumped his fist.
"Congrats, man." Niko said with a smile. Venusaur nodded his approval in the lizard's direction.
"Thanks, Niko. Have you gotten it yet?" Fay asked. When Niko shook his head, Fay shrugged. "You're going to get it eventually. Just don't give up."
"Absolutely, Fay. We definitely won't."
Irma then walked up to the both of them, the sun setting behind her. "Well! Charizard, it seems like you've figured out how to use blast burn. Very well done. Venusaur…you have to practice more if you ever hope to control the ultimate move." She looked down in disappointment. "There is no more time for me to teach you. If you hope to master frenzy plant, you must learn on your own. I wish you luck."
"Thank you so much for the opportunity, Irma. I promise that venusaur and I will continue to work on this and successfully master frenzy plant."
"No need to promise me. Work." Irma said, turning and walking away. "Now leave me. Good evening."
Niko and Fay looked at each other, shrugging. They then returned venusaur and charizard and, with the other three, began their trek back down to Survival Area by dark. Along the way, Fay explained to Lauren how blast burn worked, as she had expressed interest. The entire way, Niko was deep in his own thoughts, trying to understand what went wrong with venusaur and frenzy plant. Occasionally, he would look up at Fay and Lauren, the former of whom was cracking jokes and generally acting charismatic around Lauren, who returned the jokes, sometimes even at Niko's expense.
Niko hardly ever felt jealous about women, but in that moment, he certainly did. He was silent until they got back to the Survival Area.
"So, Niko," Lauren said, hugging his side. "When are we going to take on the Battle Hall?"
"I'm fine with whenever, but we could go tomorrow if you feel ready."
"Do you?" She asked, looking up with a slightly concerned expression. "I've noticed you've been quiet most of the way back."
Niko thought about it for a moment, and then nodded. "Yeah, I'm ready. Let's do it tomorrow."
Lauren smiled. "I'm glad. I think we'll win this time."
"Me too." Niko said before kissing her forehead. "Me too."