Episode 49: A mixed reunion
Magmortar, Rampardos, Staraptor, Prinplup, Luxray, Torterra; Glalie, Numel, Manectric, Aggron, Swellow, Sceptile; Delibird, Yanmega, Noctowl, Feraligatr; Shellder, Hitmonchan, Magneton, Kadabra, Pidgeot, and Venusaur.
They all looked at Niko with a wide range of expressions. Some, like Aggron and Delibird, were through the roof to see Niko again. Others, like Torterra, Prinplup, and Rampardos, were not. Feraligatr and Magneton seemed understanding, but still not entirely pleased. Venusaur—arguably the one with closest relationship to his trainer—had a look that mixed disappointment and satisfaction together.
"Look…I've missed you all. I really, really have." Niko began. "I…I don't know where to start, actually." He looked to his mother, and then to Charlotte and Warren. None of them were helpful in the least. "I left you all because I felt like it was the best thing for me at the time. I—we—had lost to Palmer enough, and I couldn't find a way to beat him, and so I forced us to forfeit the match. Then after that, Lauren and I broke up. That hurt. And then my dad died! I was at a low point. I was vulnerable. And the only way I saw out of it was to give everything up and start over, somewhere new.
"And so, I came to Unova, intending to never be a Pokémon trainer again. That's when I met these two." He motioned to Charlotte and Warren. "And…her…" He said, pulling out a pokéball and summoning Serperior. "Everyone, meet Serperior. She's one of the Pokémon I've been raising. Serperior…these are all of my other Pokémon."
The Regal Pokémon eyed each of them with both curiosity and suspicion. In turn, Niko's other Pokémon looked at her with more mixed responses. Some were curious; some looked full of contempt.
"These are Charlotte, and Warren. I met them in Castelia City, which is a big port city. Warren was my roommate for a while. Charlotte…well, I just met her randomly. But they got me back into this, as did Serperior. She loves to battle, and I wanted her to be able to do that. So, I got back into it reluctantly and, as time went on, began to enjoy it again. And I started to think about all of the times we've had—the good and the bad. I've talked about you all so much to these three, and to my other Pokémon. And now we've gotten eight badges, and are at the Unova League in Vertress City.
"I guess my Mom brought you all here in case you wanted to participate in it with me. And I would love it if you did. But if you don't…I understand." He sighed heavily. "We might be up against some tough trainers. You remember Elliot? He's here." Venusaur raised an eyebrow to this, remembering Elliot vividly. "And…so is Hunter." Niko specifically turned to his Sinnoh Pokémon. He noticed Prinplup's face particularly darken. Rampardos seemed a little frightened, but tried to hide it with a frown. "So, it's up to all of you. You don't have to make the decision today, but if you want to, I'll be ready." Niko said. He turned to his mother. "Should I just return them? Or did you want to be with them."
"I'll handle it, Niko." His mother replied with a smile. Niko then turned to leave, with Warren and Charlotte following closely behind.
"I didn't know you had such a wide collection, Niko." Charlotte said. "I mean…you've mentioned it before, but it didn't feel real to me, I guess."
"Thanks, Charlotte. They're good Pokémon." He said, noticing Serperior slithering at his side. "Did you like them too?"
She shook her head.
"Ah. Figures, I guess." Niko muttered. "You'll like them once you get to know them, I think." Serperior rolled her eyes, but slithered on.
As they were about to enter the lobby, they noticed someone hurriedly walking towards them. Then, out of nowhere, Warren ran up to her. Soon enough, Niko and Charlotte recognized Sydney embracing her boyfriend.
"Niko! Charlotte! Hey!" Sydney said, hugging both of them as well. "Congrats!"
"Thanks." Niko said, scratching the back of his head. "It's going to be tough, I think."
"Of course, but from what Warren has told me, you're going to kill it out there!"
"Well, I hope so." Niko said, looking back towards his Pokémon, who were still being returned to their pokéballs by his mother. "Anyway, I appreciate you showing up."
"Of course! I told you when you left that I would!" Sydney said, a bright smile etched on her face. Her general optimism always brightened Niko's day when he was living in Castelia City. It's probably why her and Warren worked so well together—they had more optimism than most. "Oh, and I have something for you as a gift for making it this far. It's from Warren and I—his idea, but I managed to find one in a small shop in Castelia City." She said, reaching into her bag and pulling out a shiny, translucent yellow stone with a lightning bolt on it. "Do you know what this is?"
"Yeah, I do actually." Niko said, eying it. "It's a thunderstone. What would I do with this, though?"
"Eelektrik evolves with a thunderstone." Warren said. "Sydney and I figured that you'd need all of the power you can get to achieve your goals. Part of that would be to evolve your—now Eelektrik—all the way to its final form which, according to you, is quite strong."
"I don't know what to say, actually." Niko said, looking at the stone. The little Tynamo he had once met; the same Tynamo with a smaller membrane than most, and was shorter than most, would become a larger, powerful Eelektross. "I really appreciate this. I'll need to talk to Eelektrik about the idea of evolving first, but I'm sure he'll appreciate it as well."
"If you do choose to evolve him, can you let us know?" Warren said. "I'd like to see it, too."
"Yeah, me too!" Sydney said excitedly.
"Why wouldn't I?" Niko teased, looking behind Warren and Sydney and noticing an unwelcome sight. Behind them, Hunter walked through the entrance to the main stadium, not even realizing Niko was there. When Charlotte, Sydney, and Warren all gave him confused looks, Niko elaborated. "Just saw Hunter walk by."
"You have to beat him if you can, Niko." Warren said with an unusually serious expression and tone. "I noticed how some of your other Pokémon reacted to hearing his name. It's clear to me now how deep the animosity goes for some of them."
"Mhmm. He hurt my Rampardos. And that Prinplup of mine…used to be his."
"OH." Warren said in genuine surprise. "I didn't know that."
"Explains a lot, doesn't it?" Niko said, with his friends nodding in agreement.
Niko placed the thunderstone on the table in the common area of their suite. Across from him was Eelektrik, sitting in one of the chairs. Behind him were most of Niko's Unova Pokémon—at least, the ones that could fit.
"Eelektrik, this is a thunderstone. It allows you to evolve into your final stage, Eelektross." Niko began. "This is actually a gift to me and you from Warren and his girlfriend, Sydney." He motioned to the couple. Sydney greeted the EleFish with a friendly smile and wave. Eelektrik returned it with sparks emitting from his head. "I'm now giving you the option of interacting with this thunderstone which, as I understand it, is all that's required for you to evolve. You don't have to, by any means. You're powerful enough as is, in my opinion. But I've also seen Eelektross in battle before, and it's quite strong." Niko then stepped away to allow Eelektrik to make his decision.
While Eelektrik weighed his choices, Reuniclus was sending Niko images that described the other Pokémon's thoughts on the matter. Braviary wanted Eelektrik to take the stone and evolve; Boldore didn't think it was necessary, and Lampent seemed thrilled at the opportunity, but understood Eelektrik's choice wasn't exactly the easiest. Reuniclus, Niko gathered, seemed entirely neutral in the matter.
Eventually, the EleFish jumped off of the table and walked up to Niko, nodding.
"You want to?" Niko asked. Eelektrik nodded a second time, and within moments the thunderstone was in Niko's palm. "Alright, then. Let's evolve!"
Eelektrik lurched his head forward, essentially putting the thunderstone in his mouth. Just then, he began to glow, and expand his body outwards, stretching to uncomfortable lengths in the relatively small common room. Niko and his friends backed away to give Eelektross some space to move around.
Eelektrik had grown much longer, resembling more of a lamprey than an eel at this point. He had a long tentacle-like, finned limb extending from his head; red eyes, a dark blue body, and possessed clawed, paddle-like arms with yellow spots and yellow-and-red- palms. On the upper portion of his body he had a beige fin and similarly colored fin-like legs below.
Niko looked at his new Pokémon, thoroughly impressed. The powerful Pokémon that he and Charlotte met in the Battle Subway was now standing in front of him as his own.
"How do you feel, buddy?" Niko asked. Eelektross looked at his body carefully before nodding with joy. "Good. The first round in the Unova League is a one-on-one battle. How about you and I go at it together? I want to give you a chance to use your new strength and show Vertress City that we aren't messing around."
Eelektross nodded, a fire burning in his eyes. Niko stared at his EleFish Pokémon, proud of how far he had come in such a short amount of time.
"Welcome, one and all, to the Vertress Conference!" A familiar voice echoed through the microphone. Niko smiled as he saw the President of the Pokémon League's face appear on a massive monitor hanging on the side of the main stadium. "As usual, I'm President of the Pokémon League, Colton Goodshow, and I'll be your host for this year's Pokémon League, here in the Unova region!
"As usual, there will be 128 trainers, from Unova and around the world, registered in this single-elimination, tournament-style competition. Tomorrow, the first round will consist of preliminary, one-on-one pokémon matches. Once the Top 64 trainers have been decided, we will conduct the second round of battling. There, trainers will compete in two-on-two battles against one another to decide the Top 32. On the third day, the third round will begin, with each of the Top 32 trainers dueling it out in three-on-three match-ups to decide the Top 16. During all of these matches, trainers will be divided amongst the four smaller stadiums and this main stadium. Once we get to the full team pokémon battles, all battles will be conducted in this stadium.
"On the fourth and fifth days, we will conduct the full 6-on-6 pokémon battles until one trainer is left standing. At any point in any match—with the exception of the first round—trainers may substitute their pokémon like they are permitted to in gym battles.
"And now, we will light the torch to commence the annual Vertress City Pokémon Conference!" Goodshow announced, and immediately Niko saw a man running up to the massive golden cup to light it, indicating the start of the tournament. "And now, on the monitor you will see the pairings of trainers for the first round."
Niko looked up to see four faces—his own, Hunter's, Elliot's, and Charles'. As it turned out, he wasn't facing any of them. Instead, he was against a black-haired women with a green scarf around her neck and a white pokéball on it. All of his rival's opponents were also unfamiliar to him.
"Looks like you're not against them yet." Warren said as Niko ate with his friends and his mother that evening, out at a restaurant in Vertress City.
"Nope. But that's fine. If I'm up against Hunter, I want it to be a full battle."
"Why? Wouldn't that make it harder to beat him?"
"No. I've thought of ways to beat him, and they involved as many Pokémon as I can have." Niko said plainly, shutting down the conversation at that point.
"It almost sounds like you want to battle him now." Sydney added.
"Well, I'm prepared to if I have to. But…after seeing how Rampardos and Prinplup reacted to it, I have a score to settle with him. And I'll be more than happy to do that." Niko said, now in a serious tone.
"And you will." Charlotte said quietly, but in a decisive tone. A little surprised, Niko turned to her and nodded, even though she didn't notice it.
That evening, Niko went to take a walk outside. He brought his pokéballs with him, in case he wanted someone to talk to. Warren, Sydney, and Charlotte were all off to bed, but Niko couldn't sleep. Sitting near one of the fountains, Niko reflected on all of the other times he had been in the same position before this. He thought about his first league—the Indigo Conference, where he and Fay battled, and then Fay and Elliot; the Silver Conference, where he and Fay battled again, and then he and Elliot; the Ever Grande Conference, where he and Wally, and he and Melinda battled; and the Lily of the Valley Conference, where he and Lauren, and then he and Hunter battled.
All of those moments, piled up on one another, contributed in small ways to who he was in that particular moment. In the present—at the Vertress Conference.
"I'm going to win this." Niko said, sending out his team of Unova Pokémon. "We're going to win this, guys." He said, looking up at the six of them. "Us—and Druddigon—are going all the way. We'll win, and then fight Caitlin, and Marshal, and whoever else stands in our way. But I'm a Pokémon Trainer, and I will be the strongest one out there. With you all by my side, we can't lose."
They all nodded. Braviary let out a powerful cawing sound in response.
"And in the first round of the Vertress City Conference, we have Niko from Pallet Town versus Drake from Nimbasa City!" An unfamiliar announcer shouted through the microphone, as Niko was in one of the smaller stadiums for the first round.
The referee for the match explained the rules. Once Niko and Drake nodded, they were permitted to begin. Niko knew exactly who he wanted to use.
"Eelektross, I choose you!" He shouted, summoning the EleFish Pokémon.
"Stoutland, you're up!" Drake called out. Erupting out of his pokéball was a large, terrier-like Pokémon with a massive coat of fur that hit its feet. Its whiskers were dense and ran in two individual strands to the sides.
"Stoutland, the Big-Hearted Pokémon. Normal type. Being wrapped in its long fur is so comfortable that a person would be fine even overnight on a wintry mountain."
"Stoutland, take down!" Drake shouted.
"Eelektross, coil!" Niko commanded. The EleFish Pokémon brought himself low to the ground and curled up, emitting a faint aura from his body, just as Stoutland entered into a full-body tackle. "Now, charge beam!"
"Fire fang!" Drake shouted, but his Stoutland couldn't seem to match Eelektross, who blasted the normal type backwards with charge beam. "Giga impact!"
"Eelektross, dodge and use coil again!" Niko shouted. True to his word, Eelektross obeyed, slithering through the air away from Stoutland and wrapping himself up once again. He then got an idea, borrowed from Serperior's fight against Marlon. "Use coil on Stoutland!"
Eelektross leapt forward at the Big-Hearted Pokémon, engulfing it with his now-longer body, which managed to wrap once around Stoutland.
"Thunderbolt!" Niko commanded. Eelektross nodded, conjuring a surge of electricity from his body and sending it through Stoutland, forcing his opponent's hair to stand on end. Eelektross then leapt off of Stoutland and created some space between the two of them. Niko then smirked, and nodded to Eelektross. "Finish it off with wild charge!"
"Take down!" Drake shouted before realizing that his Stoutland wasn't able to move. His eyes then widened as Eelektross' body surged with electricity before the EleFish Pokémon dashed at Stoutland, colliding with the paralyzed Pokémon. Stoutland fell to the side, now unable to battle.
"Stoutland is unable to battle, Eelektross is the winner! The victory goes to Niko from Pallet Town!" The referee declared.
Niko nodded proudly. Eelektross had made the right decision to evolve.
Later, Niko watched the other matches with his friends and mother. They caught Hunter's battle, which was held in the same stadium, as well as Elliot's, which managed to be in the main stadium. Hunter and his Toxicroak managed to quickly put down a Jellicent, allowing them to advance. Elliot dealt with a Drapion, and quickly defeated it with his Emboar. When seeing his opponent for the second round, he noticed Charles had also advanced, but was not his opponent.
For the two-on-two battles, also held that same day, Niko would be up against another unfamiliar opponent. He felt better about this. And, after consulting with Professor Juniper, he felt even better.
Author's Note: Is it hard to tell that I really like Eelektross? Or the move coil? Just making sure. Hope you all enjoyed the episode!