Chapter 50 – The Final Hurdle

The lights dimmed slightly in the dark purple room. The only light was coming from four brilliant white orbs in the corners of the room, and the small lights throughout the crowd seating. There was a peculiar feeling of pressure that seemed to permeate the room, unlike any of the Elite fields in the rest of the tower. A floor below the Champions level it symbolized the final hurdle for challengers. It also created the anticipation of possibly facing the strongest trainer of the region. For all the people who had filed in to see this next match, the sound was still subdued.

Jill could feel the electricity and excitement in the air. Everyone in the next room believed she might make it to challenging the champion. This is what they had come to witness. However, this hero trainer would still have to get through the most difficult Elite yet.

"Hello once more Jillian." Lucian's easy smile could send hearts fluttering, but Jill was no fanciful maiden walking in. "It probably rings hollow considering the deeds you have rendered to this amazing region, but I am impressed you have made it this far. Your mastery and teamwork is to be commended!" The crowd applauded the Elites speech, agreeing with the psychic user.

"Thank you" Jill responded.

"That said, there are many who consider me to be the toughest Elite. It is a reputation I shall have to live up to. Are you ready?" Jill simply smiled and nodded. "Then let us begin!" Lucian threw out his first Pokeball releasing his Mr. Mime. Jill responded by sending out the one member of her team that had not seen any action yet.

Chase bared his fangs at his opponent. The mime tilted its head taking half a step back, clearly intimidated by the electric type. For his part, Chase was excited to finally see some battle. Adrenaline was working its way through his system, and this dimly lit room was exactly how he preferred to battle.

"Let's start with crunch!" Jill called out. Chase bound forward, not worrying about incoming attacks. He was strong enough to defeat whatever they might attempt. Mr. Mime held up its hands which glowed oddly translucent briefly, right before Chase connected with the psychic type. Chase's lunge was met by an invisible wall, still causing Mr. Mime to stumble back, but deflecting away the worst of the attack. Chase shook his head as he stalked around his opponent. The crowd was a bit surprised at the fact that Jill had finally been thwarted in an attack.

"Counter with psychic!" Lucian called out. Chase growled as the mime sent forth his mental powers to knock the electric type down. Jill's mind started racing as she knew that the reflect wall Mr. Mime had put up would defend any physical attacks. And Chase was primarily a physical attacker.

"Alright Chase, looks like we're going to take a page out of Sphyrna's book."

"Ha, all out offensive?" the lynx called back with a feral grin. Here was his time to shine. The Mr. Mime was preparing to attack again, but Chase wasn't about to let it. Bouncing forward, Chase began lunging at every opening he could find, whether it was legs, arms or torso. The psychic type was trying to use its mental powers to lift the lynx away, but Chase was too close and too relentless.

"Chase try using spark then crunch!" Jill suddenly called out. The electric type let loose his built up static, which the mime dodged, but only just. It created enough of an opening that Chase was able to get his jaws around the upper arm of the psychic type and drag it down into unconsciousness. Letting go of his prey, Chase chest heaving walked back towards Jill. The young woman knelt down beside her friend.

"That was amazing Chase."

"Thanks blue, but that was damn hard." Jill gave a small laugh.

"There's a reason they're called Elites." The sound of Lucian's second Pokemon caused Jill and Chase to appraise the opposite side of the battlefield.

"Damn, a Bronzong" Jill said.

"I can deal with it" Chase replied confidently.

"Not this time Chase. It's part steel type, and will be far too slow to compete with Epona."

"Oh sure let fireball take the glory…" Jill shook her head as she withdrew her electric type and instead released Epona. The equine neighed tossing her head, sending small embers into the sky. There was still something incredibly captivating about the fire type. Lucian was smiling at the brilliance of Epona's coat.

"Your Rapidash is something else Jill. Her beauty and grace will be the talk of your battles I'm sure!"

"Thank you Lucian, but you should know, Epona isn't just looks!" The psychic trainer smirked as he flicked his hand forward. The gong-like Pokemon shifted forwards before slamming down onto the ground. Epona yelled out as she attempted to keep her footing. She knew that if she were to fall, that would spell disaster for not only herself, but Jill as well. Lucian grit his teeth as he saw the turning earth wasn't enough to stop the fire type.

Epona fought through the waving earth enough to gather up the air in her lungs, expelling it along with a withering torrent of fire turning into the fire blast attack she had showcased in her first battle with an Elite. The coruscating ball of fire found the slow moving steel type an easy target, exploding out with such force and heat, the people in the crowd closest to the battlefield flinched back. Shockingly, the Bronzong was still floating, its eyes wincing in pain, its normally dark blued body a mass of black scorching.

"Another earthquake!" Lucian yelled out. That deep gonging noise, which Jill took to be the Bronzong's voice, shook the floor once more before the steel type pounding back down.

"Bounce up and try fire blast again!" Jill countered. Epona sprung up into the air a fraction before the first wave of earth could strike at her again. Lucian winced, knowing full well that his Bronzong was not nearly fast enough to react to this changing tactic. Epona once more let loose the withering flames, the shock and explosion lashing out towards the trainers. Both trainers stepped back to avoid the last of flames, buffeted by the hot air. For her part, Epona landed gracefully beside her fallen opponent. Two down, Jill thought to herself yet knowing full well this battle was far from over.

Lucian had paused for a moment weighing his options. Jill's Rapidash was powerful there was no doubt about that. It was also faster than most other Pokemon, creating an interesting challenge. However, his ace might just be able to handle it. What caused the Elite to pause was the fact that this young woman was probably strong enough to challenge Cynthia, something that had not happened in years. Lucian had not lost a battle in such a long time, due in no small part to his ace, creating the hesitancy to releasing it too early in the battle. But he also needed to get the momentum back in his favour.

"I believe you are familiar with this next flavour of opponent?" Lucian asked as he released his Gallade. It was Jill's turn to grimace knowing this next challenge was going to be a tall order.

"One such as Icarium" Epona noted, tossing her head once more. She flared her nostrils, preparing to begin moving with all the speed she could muster. If there was one thing she knew about training with Icarium, it was to knock him off balance before he could get moving.

"You know what to do" Jill told her friend. Epona took off galloping ahead. The opposing Gallade had not yet moved a muscle. It's steely gaze was part of what people loved about Lucian's ace. It seemed to show raw power simply by standing there. Epona's speed brought it so close but just before attacking, the Gallade shot into action, pounding down into the ground, thrusting up a pillar of stone. Epona jerked out of the way, having difficulty changing paths, and getting grazed by the stone in the shoulder. The movement pushed the fire type further off course. Jill quickly recalled her equine, frowning. This fighters style was different from her own, meaning her strategy would have to be different as well.

"Urim!" Jill cried out, releasing her Togekiss into the sky. A warm glow infused the area around Urim as it glided over the battlefield. The Gallade looked up tracking the avian's movements.

"Urim, you need to be careful of…"

"Stone edge once more!" Lucian called out, interrupting Jill. Here was his chance to bring the battles momentum back onto his side. Jill was calling out for her airborne friend to dodge, but he knew his Gallade would be able to pinpoint attacks. The first pillar of stone erupted once more from the ground causing Urim to bank sharply to avoid being hit.

"Try using air slash to make it move!" Jill called out. Urim was quick to respond, lashing his wings down and send blasts of razor sharp air down to the ground. Some of the happiness' Pokemons glow seemed to infuse a few rips of air, one of which connected with the Gallade, causing it to flinch. Jill smiled, pumping her fist as Urim attacked again. What both had forgotten was Gallade's ability. Jill's excitement quickly grew into a flutter of panic as the part fighting type started moving around the field with far more speed than it initially had.

"Thank you for the speed boost Jill!" Lucian exclaimed across the battle. "Get in there and finish this!" Lucian's Gallade hastened to follow the command, slamming its fist down again. Urim was knocked out of the sky by the attack, landing heavily in front of Jill. The young woman threw herself down beside her flying type. Urim climbed back to his feet, chest rising and falling rapidly as he tried to regain his breath.

"Are you alright?" Jill asked in a worried tone.

"I'll be fine" Urim assured his trainer. Jill looked across at their opponent. Urim may have taken the heavier hit, but that Gallade wasn't looking prim and proper anymore. She knew that it was exhausted as well.

"We can't risk you taking another hit. We still have Cynthia to deal with and I'm going to need you there." Urim nodded, not arguing the fact. Jill withdrew Urim, and grabbed Sphyrna's pokeball. Still, she hesitated. She didn't want to wear down her team too much, but she was so close. Only Sphyrna had the speed now to deal with Lucian's remaining team, but was she relying too much on one team member to get her through? Closing her eyes and clutching the ball tight, Jill finally released her dragon once more.

Lucian was smiling as he watched Jill release the Garchomp again. Here was the demon who single-handedly took down Flint. The question now was if Lucian could fare any better. His Gallade sensed the Elites emotions, and stepped back into a fighting stance. The Garchomp noticed this and roared its pleasure. Those amber eyes were alight with the thrill of battle Lucian could see. That any Pokemon was willing to look that beast in the face and move forward with battle took a level of courage few could understand. Jill was not the only Garchomp trainer in this tower however. Lucian had trained against Vervada, attempting to understand how Cynthia controlled such a powerful ally. And one of the tricks he had learned, was to keep the damned things at a distance.

"Time to go long range Gallade" Lucian said just loud enough to be heard over the crowd. The psychic type gave the slightest incline of its head, not letting his eyes off the opposing dragon. Jill called out her attack and the Garchomp moved in at astonishing speed. Gallade channeled his psychic power into his arms and began whipping them out, sending powerful lances of energy out. The Garchomp lowered itself and began ducking around the attacks, realizing quickly that it could not get close. Lucian smiled, as momentum had swung back in his favour. A lance of energy connected with the rock hard scales, causing the dragon to cry out in anger and pain. Lucian heard Jill call out another strategy but the psychic Elite could not tear his eyes from the dragon. He could see its nostrils flare out, the amber eyes narrow on its target. Gallade seemed to read Lucian's mind as it stepped forward and let loose another withering barrage of psychic energy, but the Garchomp seemed to rip right through them. Two lances struck the left shoulder, then the right, but the Garchomp shrugged them off, closing the gap and slashing out across Gallade's chest. The fighting type fell unconscious while the Garchomp roared its victory.

Lucian quickly understood why Jill was ready to challenge Cynthia. Her team was rather close in composition to the current Champions, and it was a team that no trainers had defeated in over a decade. Still attempting to salvage the battle, Lucian sent in his Alakazam. The psi pokemon was incredibly powerful, using psychic to attempt to keep the Garchomp at bay. The dragon was directed underground though, causing the Alakazam to quest its senses down. Lucian realized too late that was exactly what Jill wanted, as the Garchomp reappeared, not using dig but rather crunch. Lucian's Alakazam was thrown bodily to the Elite's feet. Grimacing, Lucian sent in his last team member. The Espeon was glaring at her opponent, but missed its shadow ball attack as the Garchomp was upon the psychic type within seconds. Another crunch finished Lucian off. Head still held high, Lucian met Jill at the middle of the battlefield.

"Your power is incredible Miss Heart." Jill blushed at the compliment. "And you have now defeated the Elite Four of the Sinnoh region. There is no trainer who can boast of such a feat since Aaron himself only three short years ago."

"Thank you Lucian, it means a lot to me." The Elite smiled.

"You are most welcome, but your challenge is not yet done. Behind me is the last elevator which will take you up to the Champions room." At this last statement, the doors behind the Elite hissed open, beckoning Jill forward.