Finished Chapter 12 while editing this chapter. So beware, if November doesn't go as I hope and I don't get a lot done on my stories, the next chapter might be the last promised chapter. Not that I plan to abandon this story or anything, but the last year has shown me that I just don't get much time in real-life to write.
Warning: PoV Section 3-Aliahra, After Darcy's PoV and before Terra's PoV, will contain illuded to Periods (Menstrual Cycle). It's meant to be lighthearted but it's fine to skip. It's mostly meant so Nami, Aliahra, and Vivi can bond a bit and continue to show Zhaleh is a masochist who likes challenges and pain.
Anyways, I hope you enjoy the chapter!
Zhaleh does end up getting his level, but only after another lunch hunt. He isn't so pleased about Terra getting another level too, since it means he's still the lowest level of the bunch. But at least Niran's awake now!
"You can't catch me!" Niran taunts, dashing out of the way of a reaching, rubbery hand. He starts laughing but not for long as he crashes into Carue.
"Got you!" The Spot-billed Duck races out of the way of a retaliatory strike.
"Luffy, Carue's it!" Niran calls out.
"Got it!" Luffy calls out in reply, instantly switching to trying to catch the duck instead of the horse.
The game of reverse tag is stopped however when Nami steps out and smashes a fist on both Luffy's and Carue's heads. Niran stops short of tagging Carue when Nami sends a glower in his direction. Before anything could happen, most likely Niran deciding to test boundaries a bit too much and accidentally getting into a battle, Aliahra switches in with him.
"Ah, Nami." She begins, trying to smile. "It's just a game of High-Speed Tag. Niran was feeling couped up and-."
Nami's glower intensifies. "And that makes this okay?" She asks, thrusting an arm out to gesture towards the deck of the ship. A broken railing, numerous spots of charred wood in the shape of horse prints, a bundle of once tangled but now torn rope, and many dents all over the deck, the walls, and even on the masts.
Aliahra, along with Niran, Luffy and Carue survey the damage that their game had done to the ship. Patting the deck next to her knees, Aliahra whispers an apology to the Going Merry and a thank you for carrying them anyway. Niran whines until Darcy hits him and dashes off. Nico joins in on the fun as well, but she shamelessly takes advantage of flight as much as possible.
Darcy and Niran have no problems teaming up against her whenever she dares to try flying out of reach. Niran's a really good jumper.
They all take care to avoid Zhaleh where he's napping but Terra and Giratina move to shield him so they can wreak havoc inside the Distortion World. Gira is looking really bewildered by this turn of events.
Forced to take the fallout for her recently recovered brother, Aliahra steps up to do the cleanup he was supposed to do. Namely, she shotguns doing the dents and the broken railing before switching in with Terra, who with his Grass-typing, is able to breathe life into the wood of the Going Merry and have her pretty much fix herself. He gets to practice and do photosynthesis afterwards, he's fine with it.
The snort of laughter from Darcy and Terra's complaints may try to say otherwise but he really is fine with it. In fact, he's actually really grateful for this opportunity she gave him.
'NO!' He is completely fine with having to do work.
Darcy's continued laughter gets him temporarily kicked out of the game. At least until he pulls himself together and makes an epic comeback. Because of the noise, Zhaleh kicks out in his sleep at Aliahra, but Gira moves one of his shadowy tendril wings in the way. She grins up at them before carefully patting Zhaleh, making sure not to wake him up.
"This is the Distortion World. I am its ruler, the Renegade Pokémon." Gira mutters. "When did it become a playground and I a caretaker."
It's all spoken quietly enough no one should be able to hear it, but Aliahra hears it all the same. She hides her grin. They wouldn't want to know they'd been heard. Although maybe they shouldn't have spoken aloud if they didn't want it heard.
"Oi, Zoro!" Darcy calls out, jumping off the upper floor balcony and onto Zoro. The swordsman doesn't react beyond adjusting his stance slightly. Unperturbed, he continues his reps.
Darcy doesn't bother hiding the bit of petulance he feels at being ignored as he kicks at one of Zoro's arms. Zoro continues to ignore him, toughing out the admittedly light taps. After a few attempts, he pouts and sits down on his shoulder. He isn't sulking, he's just taking a moment to come up with a new plan. Apparently, insanity can be defined as doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different result. Or was that stupidity? Both make sense.
"What is it?" Zoro grunts, still continuing his reps. Darcy's never bothered to learn how to count before, but that doesn't mean the fact that he can't count how many reps Zoro's done isn't any less impressive.
"Gira's told us 'bout dis thing called EV trainin'," he begins, resisting the urge to fidget. It's okay to be a bit emotional around Zoro, he didn't make any fusses when he cried, but fidgeting is still out of the question. Crying is healthy, nerves and fear aren't. "It's ta do with does stat things Aliahra told ya about when she explained Abilities. Apparently, we can train dese things called Effort Values ta increase our stats."
A leg sways a little bit, so he stops it before it kicks out into a swing.
Zoro just hums in interest. He's curious, but he knows he doesn't need to talk to tell Darcy he wants to know more. It's nice having at least one of the humans in on the loop that he's an empath.
"Lucarios are typically mixed attackers. While I don't know any Special Attacks at the moment, I will after I evolve." He continues, feeling curiosity peak again at the mention of evolving. But Aliahra decided that they'll get to learn it with a live demonstration when Terra evolves in three levels' time. The Turtwig's been pretty excited about it. It's annoying.
Especially since Darcy still doesn't know why he hasn't evolved yet.
He must have been silent for too long. Since Zoro finally stops his reps and puts the giant weight down. He jumps over to his other shoulder after he towels the sweat off of it. There's a grunt with a sense of absentminded thankfulness.
"It's possible ta EV train outside of battle, it's usually done in it since different opponents train different stats. Like Bidoof with HP- except ya don' know what a Bidoof is. Um, like Niran with speed. 'Cause he's fast, so fighting 'im means ya learn 'ow ta fight fast too." He jumps down and indulges in his own curiosity to test the weight of the weight Zoro was using, which is admittedly amplified by feeling another's curiosity even though it's not about the same thing.
It moves, but it's really heavy. He glares at Zoro, even though he knows the reason he can't lift this is because he's a lower level and unevolved. But he doesn't need the reminder he's weak and for some reason broken.
"So what? You want to fight me because you think it might help one of your attack stats?" Zoro questions, grabbing the weight again and storing it properly.
Darcy shakes his head. "Nah, fightin' ya would probably help one of da defence stats. Ah'm a Sweeper, so defence trainin' is detrimental for me." The word detrimental has to be sounded out, but he knows what it means. He jumps up and grabs the end of Zoro's towel, using it to climb back up on his shoulder. Being short was something he was used to but being two feet tall is something he'd thought he managed to outgrow. He hates being a Riolu again.
"Nah, Ah was wonderin' if ya 'ad any ideas on 'ow Ah could train my Physical Attack stat." He let his leg kick out this time, but only because he is curious how impacting a towel would feel. He stops it at one.
Zoro gives him a look, a raised eyebrow and everything, but he considers his question. Darcy uses the silence as a chance to listen in on Giratina's lesson about EVs and IVs. Aside from Darcy, everyone's asleep. So Aliahra's getting a lesson from Giratina since they don't know how to interact with her aside from telling her things.
They're talking about numbers but it's clear even just from looking that Aliahra's not really paying attention anymore. Numbers are hard, so he doesn't bother prodding her into paying attention or telling Gira that she's mentally drifting.
"What sort of opponents would increase your attack stats?" Zoro asks.
"Apparently Turtwigs like Terra, but afta he evolves ya can learn a little defence too and afta he evolves for da last time ya can learn a bit more attack. Gira used numbers like 1 and 2. Uh, 1, 1 and 1, 2 and 1." He frowns and after seeing how the numbers really don't matter to Zoro, tells him he can ignore it and continues on. "Staraptors like what Nico'll be, Riolus like me now an' Lucarios like Ah will be."
"They don't just have to be Pokémon that I know," Zoro says, locking the last of the workout equipment away. "You've battled opponents that'll give you those attack stats in the past, right?"
Darcy nods, even as he protests that apparently everyone lost their EV stats when they left their home island anyways, Gira's fault. Zoro waves that off and looks around at his equipment for a moment before laying out his towel and rolling it up. Grabbing some spare rope – actually, it looks to be the remnants of the ruined rope from the game this morning – he ties it so that it stays rolled up and so it can hang, swaying from where it dangles from his outstretched hand.
"Visualisation can be just as effective as doing," Zoro states, drawing inspiration from something. "While it's not the exact same, it can supplement your training. Imagine this is one of those opponents that give you those Attack EVs and attack it."
Darcy blinks at him, letting his bewilderment flow to him. Zoro just conveys confidence as assuredness back at him. Tentatively, he jumps and punches the towel, imagining it to be a Staraptor that's flying just off the ground.
"Again, with effort this time. EVs are short for Effort Values, right? How are you going to get them if you don't put any effort into your actions?" Zoro commands.
With more effort this time, he leaps up and punches it. The towel rocks back with more force.
"Keep going."
Another punch.
"Again."
This time a kick.
"Keep that effort up."
When he goes up to hit the towel this time, he adds some spin to it. The towel breaks out of its rope carrier and falls on the deck with a small hole, the size of his foot, in it. Before Darcy can tense up – Nami was furious earlier today when Niran and the others broke things in their game of High-Speed tag – Zoro nods in approval and gives him a slightly stiff pat on the top of his head as he goes down to pick up the towel.
"Good, your form was improving with every hit." He says. "I'll see about getting you a better punching bag on the next island."
Darcy gapes at him in shock for a few seconds before switching with Aliahra, the only one awake. Giratina stops their explanation about how IVs can't be more than 31 and are assigned at birth unless one undergoes something called Hyper Training at Lv 100 to give him a look.
"Shuddup! Ah don' wanna talk right now." He knows if he were human then his face would be burning. Unfortunately, he's a Riolu so his entire body feels like it's burning as embarrassment makes his blood pump faster. At least he has fur, humans turn such a bright red it's obvious whenever they're feeling flustered.
"I had not said anything," Giratina speaks.
"Ah said shuddup!" He yells back, running off to a corner to avoid Terra's sleepy Razor Leaf. The Turtwig already has the worst night shift; he does not want to be woken if possible. Everyone's been learning pretty fast not to wake him up unless it's a fight or an emergency.
"TERRA!" Aliahra yells, leaping onto the once-sleeping Turtwig.
"Aliahra, I have told you. It is a natural bodily function-" Gira tries to say before they are cut off.
"Terra! Wake up, I'm bleeding!" At this yell, everyone is now awake. Even the emotionally exhausted Darcy. Nico continues to laugh at everyone, removed from the scene since she's up in the crow's nest on the Going Merry, already proving herself unhelpful.
"Where are you bleeding?!" Terra asks, looking over her. Frowning as he continues to see no visible injuries.
Aliahra opens her mouth to say where before she finds herself suddenly in the women's cabin. Nami glares at her, or more specifically, where Nico's face would have been.
Back in the Distortion World, everyone's demanding to know where she's hurt while Giratina tries to tell them that she's fine and that the blood is a natural bodily function. Niran just says bleeding is a natural bodily function when a person's injured in response. No one is buying Giratina's nonsense.
"Aliahra, Nico better have a damn good reason why she woke me up in the middle of the goddamn night." Nami says, her eyes shadowed.
Aliahra finds herself flushing, embarrassed. It's one thing to tell your brothers after your sister seemingly failed to help and your… what is Giratina in this family dynamic anyways? They're too old to be another sibling. They did call themself a Caretaker earlier... Anyway, it is one thing to tell family, another thing to tell the scary navigator of the crew you're travelling with.
Tell her, Aliahra. Gira prompts her. So, with a deep breath, she does. Burying her face in her hands as soon as the words come out.
Nami blinks at her in surprise before sighing. "This is the first time this has happened right?"
Aliahra wheels back and falls off the bed with a thump. Vivi blinks awake at the noise. "Wha-?"
"You mean to tell me this can happen again?!" Aliahra asks, clutching at the bits of her that are in pain. "It hurts and Darcy says that means something's wrong!"
Nami sighs and gets out of bed, waving at Vivi to tell her she can go back to sleep. She doesn't and instead she gets up. Aliahra's not sure how she feels about that, considering she barely knows the Princess they're escorting and has no idea how to talk to her. At least the awkwardness was mutual.
"Right, what is happening will happen again every month-," Nami tries to begin.
"EVERY MONTH!" Aliahra cuts her off, all of her Pokémon aside from Giratina echoing her.
Nami nods, hands on her hips. Looking clearly displeased at being interrupted. She clamps her mouth shut with a hand as a physical reminder and listens as Nami explains what is happening to her body and Vivi stays awake as emotional support.
Hey, why can't I be a girl? Zhaleh asks, for some reason annoyed that his body isn't going to attack him from the inside every month so that one day it could go through a thing called labour if she wants kids because humans evolved that way.
'Gira can you switch mine and Zhaleh's sex's?' Aliahra asks, laying defeated on the floor.
No. Giratina merely states.
'So mean.' She says, Zhaleh repeating it.
Why da ever wanna do dat, Zhaleh? Darcy asks Zhaleh, his voice conveying the confusion of them all.
Zhaleh shrugs. What? Labour sounds fun.
You, dear brother, are a masochist. Nico states before noping out of the conversation by falling asleep.
Ah, Zhaleh, there are the nine months of pregnancy beforehand too. Niran adds, pawing at the ground.
Zhaleh merely raises an eye ridge. An interesting challenge.
Zhaleh, sleep. Terra sighs, shifting and stretching since it's supposed to be his turn awake now anyway. Darcy, Niran, you too.
Aliahra leaves Zhaleh out to sleep in her hammock while she cuddles with Terra and Giratina in the Distortion World. The next few days are going to suck.
Terra watches as everyone screams at the sight of what they thought was a normal-sized dolphin on its own in the distance suddenly revealing itself to be quite large.
He lucks out with a crit Razor Leaf to knock it out in a single hit. Leaving everyone gaping at him in shock.
"What? Size doesn't mean much to Pokémon." He says, disappointed that the battle, short as it was, hadn't been enough to push him over the edge to the next level. One more battle, it's got to be. Then he'll be just two levels away from evolving.
Luffy laughter is the only reaction he catches, most likely because his laughter is so loud and he's trotting away to hide in Nami's tangerine grove for his daily photosynthesis. A bit early but he had been woken up early last night. Besides, if they simply grabbed the oversized dolphin then they'd have enough meat for lunch anyways. There is no need for Zhaleh to go hunting.
Yes, there is! I want to level up, damn it. Zhaleh shouts.
With growing experience in the task, Terra just ignores him as he settles in for a nap. Yeah, a mid-morning nap sounds pretty nice.
Don't ignore me, you pea-brained twig! Zhaleh protests before Aliahra quietens him with pats.
Darcy makes sure to keep his laughter quiet and muffled so as not to set off the Vaporeon or disturb the Turtwig's impending sleep. A good brother, that one.
The Tiger, supposedly a creature that gets referred to as the King of the Jungle, drops dead. Usopp and Nami start panicking over setting foot onto the island, considering that it has some exceptionally dangerous predators.
Zhaleh, who once went into another dimension to battle a banished god who had been in the process of destroying his home dimension because they were having a hissy-fit, just found himself disappointed. "I don't even know why we're trusting you guys with our safety if you always panic over small fry like that."
Before anyone could protest, he jumps off the ship. Because like hell is he going to stay coddled on that ship.
Zhaleh. Giratina began, but he doesn't let him finish.
"Fuck off, Gira. Let me grind for fuck's sake!" He practically growls. He doesn't have to look into the Distortion World to know everyone recoiled at his words and tone.
But he is tired of being the weakest. He's supposed to be the strongest. He's the only one who's fully evolved. How the hell can he protect the rest of his siblings and Aliahra if he is forced to remain so weak?!
He notes that the anchor gets dropped after he leapt into the water of the inlet and races down the river, his body moving faster underwater than it can on land. Since he's invisible, no one follows him. Although he notes that the level 10 duck tries to follow, actually going into the water, before realising how fruitless attempting it would be.
'Zhaleh.' Aliahra tries, her voice soft.
He slows a little, but he keeps going. Remembering is painful but back in the East Blue they did train underwater, and he knows being loud is just going to attract unwanted attention. 'I need to get stronger, Aliahra. Please, just let me.'
'Stick around the ship at least. We don't know how long it'll take for the log pose to set.' She concedes.
The log pose will take around a year, however, the Straw Hats will find another log pose that will get them where they need to go. Giratina interjects.
I need my photosynthesis time, Zhaleh. Terra states.
At all of this, he finally stops. Letting the current drag him a little. With a mighty sigh, he nods. 'I'll be back in time for lunch.'
Zhaleh flinches as he's unexpectedly Headbutted by a creature that looks a lot like the Omanyte-Omastar line. It tries to attack again, but this time he manages to avoid it. The creature not expecting him to be able to suddenly move so fast. However, any advantage to speed Zhaleh gets from being underwater is matched by this other underwater creature.
'Omanyte and Omastar are Fossil Pokémon, right? They're both Rock-Water Types?' Aliahra asks after he notes what they look like.
Indeed. Giratina says.
Dis is great! All Fossil Pokémon are part Rock, so dis should be easy trainin' for half of us! Darcy cheers.
Nico and Niran yell because of the fact that they're both weak to Rock and can't participate. Zhaleh snorts, preparing to attack the creature.
Ammonite, Lv 17
The higher level doesn't bother him. With only one truly good move at his disposal, of course Zhaleh uses Surf.
Not very effective.
The message and the meagre amount of damage he had dealt leaves him so shocked that when the Ammonite Headbutts him again, he doesn't even attempt to dodge. Underwater, Water-types don't resist Water Attacks unless they're immune like he is. Against a Rock-type, it should have been super effective. He quickly tries Tackling it.
There is no message saying it's not very effective. The Ammonite isn't a Rock-type, but it isn't just Water-type either.
'Giratina?' Aliahra asks for them all, while Zhaleh quickly Sand-Attacks the Ammonite.
Being invisible seems to help evasion a little, so he can dodge without Aliahra's input, but the Ammonite is dealing more damage to him than he is to it. Thankfully, being underwater is activating his Water Absorb so that he's healing gradually. It's not the quarter health return from being hit by a water attack, but it is something.
While some Fossil Pokémon were originally Rock-types, such as Cranidos and Rampardos, along with Aerodactyl, not all Pokémon were Rock-types when they were first alive. Being brought back to life from a Fossil has left a mark in changing or adding a type to most Fossil Pokémon.
During Giratina's lengthy reply, Zhaleh is hit by an Aqua Jet which with the gradual healing from the environment brings him back to full health and lets him get off another Sand-Attack. He dodges the next attack, recognising it just in time as a Headbutt, and strikes back with a Surf.
It still doesn't do much but at least it's more than a Tackle.
Zhaleh. Terra asks. And as much as he doesn't want to, he lets it happen. He's still going to get experience for surviving the encounter. He doesn't have to be the one to knock it out.
Terra tanks the Headbutt and lashes out with an Absorb. Even if it's not a Rock-type, it should be Super Effective because it's a Water-type.
There isn't a message to say it's super effective. Terra's healed a bit from the attack, but the Ammonite is still conscious and fighting back. This time, it uses its tentacles to Bind. There's no switching if a move like Bind is used.
"Shit!" Zhaleh swears, ignoring Giratina's displeasure at his language.
Terra doesn't let the fact he's now alone to face the Ammonite for the next four to five turns, losing an eighth of his health after every turn, phase him. The Bind shouldn't have hit in the first place. Zhaleh had hit two sand-attacks, and Bind was never an accurate move in the first place.
The battle between a Lv 16 Turtwig and this Lv 17 Ammonite isn't fast by any means, but it is obvious how Terra is the one winning and there is nothing the Ammonite can do as Terra just steals health back every turn.
It fights back, and Terra definitely doesn't end up completely healthy. Zhaleh can at least feel happy about the amount of missed attacks since he knows he's the one responsible for them all, but it's still a smack in the face.
Not even Aliahra's hand soothing down his back makes him feel better. He jostles it off and waits for the battle to end. When it does, Terra is still in the green but only barely and he grows a level. Making him the first of them all to get to Level 17. Zhaleh gets his experience, but he doesn't level up.
Terra grew to level 17. Terra wants to learn Curse, what do you want to forget?
"Forget Withdraw." Aliahra speaks, not moving from beside him but acquiescing to his silent request to stop patting him.
'Huh? Okay. I never learned this move before.' Terra says.
Aliahra's different. She never let Terra learn this move before. It really is another smack in the face. He looks away from her and finds his attention drawn to Darcy for some stupid reason. The Riolu nods, somehow understanding his feelings. Which of course he fucking does! He's a Riolu, they're empaths!
Foreign reassurance washes over him and Aliahra puts her hand on him. Not a pat, he doesn't deserve one, but it is still physical contact. Terra doesn't resist as he switches them.
The next opponent is something called a Prototurtle. Thankfully this one doesn't resist Water, so he gets to fight it himself, but it's only Lv 14 like himself. Not enough to get him another level. No one protests as he rushes about for another opponent.
The opponents from the river stop eventually, and so they head on land to find more creatures to fight. So far, none have been weak to water, but aside from the Prototurtle, none have been weak to grass either. Giratina has confirmed that all dinosaurs share a type, but it clearly isn't rock like fossil Pokémon.
The Tyrannosaurus they fight is one of the few that doesn't resist both types. Aliahra has a sinking feeling as she considers her limited knowledge of Type Matchups.
"Giratina, what type resists both water and grass?" She asks as Zhaleh silently fumes through being carried by switch training. They've almost got him another level, but switch training means the experience is being divided between him and Terra. Nico, Niran, and Darcy are all on standby in case the dinosaurs become too much for Terra.
"Only Grass-Types and Dragon-Types resist Water and Grass Attacks." Giratina states.
Zhaleh glares at Giratina. "You mean to tell me, that we are on an island full of Dragon-types?"
Despite his expression, his voice is calm. Too calm. There's nowhere for any of them to hide if Zhaleh decides to attack Giratina. He'd use Surf, regardless of the fact it won't be very effective, because his only other attacking move is Tackle. And Tackle is a Normal Move. Giratina is a Ghost-type, they're immune to Normal-type attacks.
"Zhaleh-." Today seems to be the day when no one lets Giratina speak. Aliahra finds herself grateful that being treated so harshly hasn't made Giratina snap. Or at least, she's grateful they haven't snapped yet.
"No, you knew this when we came to the island. Why didn't you say anything?!"
Giratina is silent for a moment, but when Zhaleh remains silent and gives them the opportunity to talk, they take it. "Devil Fruits that give people the ability to turn into dinosaurs are the Dragon-Dragon fruits. However, not every opponent we face will have something in the world informing me about its type. I am not the one assigning types, it is the native universe after it has been affected by me, but I do not have as great control over this world as I did back in Sinnoh. You all need to become adept at identifying your opponents' types with as little input as possible."
They all are silent as they take this in, Nico, Niran, and Darcy keeping themselves silent and out of the way as Zhaleh comes to terms with this information. Terra stands awkwardly over the unconscious body of the Tyrannosaurus Rex he'd knocked out. Waiting for when Zhaleh will take over and decide for them whether or not to continue grinding.
Aliahra can't help herself. She speaks up. "It's because of me, isn't it? I am the one who's supposed to know all this stuff but because I barely know any of the type matchups and I no longer have any of the experience I once had in battling, you're making sure everyone knows now."
Giratina merely nods. Zhaleh sees this and sighs, sounding miserable.
"Of course, we had to come to this island when I no longer had an Ice-type move. Of course, we had to come here while Gira's trapped in the Distortion World making sure reality doesn't reject us. Of course, it had to be while Darcy's still a Riolu and doesn't have Lucario's Steel-typing to resist any Dragon Attacks. Fucking typical." He mutters, not even raising his head.
Aliahra tries patting him again. He lets her do so this time, but she's unsure if he's merely letting her because he can't be bothered shrugging her off. She pulls him up into a hug instead. He's heavy in her lap. Before panic could properly rise up, it's washed away and drowned by foreign reassurance.
Darcy jumps up into the hug and lays on Zhaleh, wedging himself between her and the Vaporeon. "Even wid a type disadvantage, we're still kickin' dose dragon's arses." Everyone ignores Giratina's disgruntled look at the course language. "Ya only a few levels away from learnin' Aurora Beam if I remember, an' den you can get back ta takin' all da good fights. Which'll be annoyin' but ya not gonna get a choice about it this time so Ah'll let it slide. But when Ah can learn Dragon Pulse again, ya not gonna be da only Dragon killer on da team, ya got it? So be ready ta share da battles, you battle hog Princess."
Zhaleh's ear fin wacks Darcy in the face, leaving him spluttering. But all his words are silenced by one word from Zhaleh.
"Brute."
Zhaleh sounded so amused even while sounding so tired as he spoke that word.
"Does this mean I can have a fight now? I haven't had one in ages!" Niran asks, only kind of ruining the moment but Nico gently smacks him with one of her wings.
"I believe that I haven't had a battle for longer than you." Nico speaks up.
Darcy stands up at that, but he stays between Aliahra and Zhaleh, just peaking his head over her shoulder so he can shout at them clearly. "Oi, Ah didn' get any fights dat night. Ah got dibs on da next fight!" Although if memory serves her right, he did get to knock Miss Valentine out. So he's not right, even if he's also not entirely wrong.
Giratina is the one that puts a stop to the argument, probably because they know that with Aliahra laughing so hard, she isn't able to nor is she willing to.
"This island has a volcano that regularly erupts. When it does so, the two Giants that have called this island their home for the last century will have a fight. The Straw Hats will be fine without you, but you may want to go see the fight yourselves." From the way they say that last bit, it doesn't really feel like Giratina is giving them the option. "Judge your opponents, guess their type, and choose who is best to defeat them, Aliahra."
Aliahra does not appreciate the pressure that responsibility puts on her, but she accepts it. Although she wishes choosing who to send out into battle is always going to be just as easy as who hasn't battled most recently, they aren't going to have that privilege forever.
She is going to have to learn how to be a trainer on the job. The night-time lessons really haven't been cutting it for her.
Next up: The Power of Friendship