Chapter 41:
The Mistress of the Z-Moves
Amatree Town
Thankfully, the group managed to reach Amatree Town without further incidents. As per usual, they were greeted by a welcome sign, which said a lot about how many people often visited the town in question:
Welcome to Amatree Town
Wow, you found this place, good job.
While they would normally take some time to go around the town and see the sights, the group's experiences with the Mankey and Primeape troop and the Anthell had left them completely exhausted, so all they could think was in heading straight to the Pokemon Center, leave their Pokemon for much needed medical care, and head straight to bed without even having dinner.
Things turned out to be much better the next morning. After a good night of sleep, the group's energies were fully recharged, and their Pokemon were restored to full health. And given that none of them had dinner last night, they woke up especially hungry, so they headed to the Center's cafeteria in order to enjoy a hearty breakfast.
"So, tomorrow's the contest," Ash began, as he took a bite of a pancake dripping with honey. "What do you plan to do today, Serena?"
"I'd like to train with my Pokemon during the morning and noon, then relax in the afternoon so my Pokemon are fully rested for the contest," Serena explained, before taking a sip from her juice.
"Do you have any idea on Pokemon you're going to use?" Clemont asked.
"I was planning a new performance for the Appeal Round with Selkid and Pancham... then Selkid evolved, so I had to change it to take into account her new form," Serena scratched her cheek. "Then Pancham evolved yesterday, so guess I'll have to see if I can still do it now that he's a Pangoro."
"You should totally use Mega Evolution! I'm sure you'll score first place!" Bonnie excitedly proposed.
"Mega Evolution? I'm not sure..." Serena began. "I mean, I only had Syrentide Mega Evolve once.. can I really do that for a contest?"
"I'm with Bonnie. Plus, sometimes in order to win something you have to risk something," Ash agreed.
"Yeah. If Leona can use her Z-moves in a contest, I don't think why couldn't you use Mega Evolution," Clemont pointed out.
"Well, if you insist so much... I will give it a try then," Serena finally conceded.
"Yay!" Bonnie cheered.
…
Though, once breakfast was over, they moved to the battleground next to the Center in order to train –thankfully enough, it was vacant–. Before starting, Serena made an attempt to talk with Oblivicorn, but the Dark Horse Pokemon refused to listen to her, and went to lie on the ground next to the Center. The honey blonde would have liked to try for longer, but she had only so much time to prepare for tomorrow, so she regretfully left Oblivicorn to her own device and focused on the rest of her Pokemon.
Turns out Serena didn't have to tweak her initial performance that much, given that, despite his much larger bulk, Pangoro had retained almost all of the agility and speed he possessed as a Pancham.
Then came the hardest part, or at least, the part Serena considered the hardest, even if in the end it really wasn't: testing Syrentide's Mega Evolution.
"Alright Syrentide, show us your Hydro Pump!" Serena commanded.
"Greninja, block with Water Shuriken!" Ash ordered.
Greninja, already transformed in order to match his opponent's power, took the shuriken on his back and made it expand until it was twice its original size, using it as a cover from a powerful torrent of water Syrentide was expelling from her mouth, a new attack Syrentide had learned over the past few days after evolving.
And while Greninja was pushed backwards, his defenses held firm until the attack stopped.
"Well, I say that both you and Syrentide are doing pretty good," Clemont observed.
"Yeah, Syrentide didn't go all crazy like Korrina's Lucario when she tried to master Mega Evolution," Bonnie reminded her.
"Lucky me, I guess," Serena replied. "Great job, Syrentide. I think using Mega Evolution for the contest will be safe then."
"Sy, ren!" Syrentide nodded, smiling.
…
Once they tested Mega Evolution, Serena went on to have multiple double matches with Ash using every other Pokemon except Oblivicorn in order to prepare for the battle portion, since she wasn't entirely sure who she was going to pick, though she assured she'll make a choice before the next day.
Noon came much faster than either of them anticipated, so they decided to make a pause to have lunch, before resuming the training.
Later in the afternoon, Serena decided to call it a day and let her Pokemon rest for the remainder of the day. As for herself, she felt she could go on a walk through the town, given that due the circumstances of their arrival, she had barely saw any of it, and asked Ash if she wanted to come and make it into the date he had asked her after he had that mysterious nightmare during their trip through Baykal, something the teen boy eagerly agreed to.
Hand in hand, the two teens walked at a calm pace through the town, taking a good luck at their surroundings, since Serena had never seen such a town like Amatree in her life.
Amatree was a pretty rural town, albeit in a different way from Vinoville: while Vinoville was surrounded by farms and crops, Amatree was a town built in the middle of the jungle, split by a large river. The houses were made entirely of wood, some on the ground and others built on the top of the trees. Dirt roads crossed the town, and as the sun began to slowly set, some people used Palij and Pahar to light large tiki torches that existed in place of lamposts.
Serena would sometimes take a look at her tablet, opened on a website that talked about Amatree in order to learn more from it. Something that amazed her was the fact that, until recently, people there lived without electricity. The town, however, was forced to put a hydroelectric generator by the river which supplied electricity to both the Pokemon Center and the Contest Hall, since the Pokemon League and the Pokemon Contest Committee wouldn't allow a town without a working Pokemon Center up to international standards to have a Gym.
"This town is amazing," Serena said, marveling at her surroundings. "Look at that! Some people even live in treehouses! Have you seen anything like this before?"
"Yeah, people in Fortree City also live in treehouses," Ash casually said. "It's a place in Hoenn."
Serena let out a sigh, but smiled. "Sometimes I forget that by the time I joined you when I started my Pokemon journey, you had already seen so many places..."
"Hey, it's okay. You pretty much saw half of a new region. And in time, you'll see many more," Ash cheered her. "No need to rush it."
"And enjoy the journey, right?" Serena asked.
"Exactly!" Ash energetically said. His statement was followed by a loud roar coming from his stomach. Chuckling, he added: "And a great part of a journey is to taste the different foods from the places you visit, hehe."
"You know, there are a few restaurants that specialize in food using the unique berries that grow on Baykal. Maybe we could have dinner on one of them?" Serena suggested, as she tapped the screen on her tablet twice. "Oh, I think-"
"Praise the Tapus, it's Serena! And Ash!" a cheerful voice said behind the couple, a voice that was familiar yet Serena didn't hear it in quite some time.
Looking to the side, they saw a smiling girl with light brown skin and long hair styled in dreadlocks. A girl they hadn't seen since they left the Tandor Luxury Cruise.
"Leona!" Serena said, just as happy to see her. "I wasn't expecting to see you here. Come for the contest, I guess?"
"Your guess is right," she replied. "I heard there was a contest here, but not that many trainers drop by, because apparently the only path here is a dingy jungle. And I'm like, 'yeah, like a little jungle is going to slow me down!', and if fewer people come here, then there will be less competition, so the better!" she said, before huffing and looking in the direction of the Baykal Forest, as if the mere memory of crossing it exhausted her. "Boy was I wrong. Thank goodness my Pokemon were in top shape, because damn, I know some wild Pokemon can be territorial, but there's being aggressive, and there's being a psycho!"
"Trust me, we can relate," Ash said, chuckling a little.
"Oh well, if anything, it served as some training and- oh wait, you guys are on a date, aren't you?" Leona said, noticing that the two of them were holding hands. "In that case, I won't intrude anymore!"
"You're not intru-"
"You say that, but I'm sure that you're counting the seconds until I scram," Leona said good naturedly as she began to walk away. "So I'll leave you alone so you can have fun on your date. See you tomorrow at the contest, Serena!"
And the Alolan girl disappeared behind a corner, leaving the pair of teens alone again.
"I mean it. As in, it's not that I wanted her to join us for the whole day, but I wouldn't have minded if she stayed and talked for a bit," Ash said.
"I wouldn't have minded either, but I can't say I wouldn't have reacted the same way had our roles been reversed," Serena admitted. "Anyway, before Leona called us, I just found a restaurant that looked pretty good. It's even in a treehouse!"
"Really? Awesome! Lead the way!" Ash said.
Serena did as Ash said. Though, as she walked, her thoughts began to drift away little by little from the date to the unexpected encounter, and the contest that was less than a day away.
"Leona will be in tomorrow's contest. If we battle each other again, she'll wipe the floor with my Pokemon with those Z-moves of hers," she started to think. "Should I change plans and use Mega Syrentide for the battle round then? Though, I'm not really sure if Mega Evolution would be enough to weather the sheer power of those attacks..."
"Serena?" Ash asked, tugging her hand a little. "Are you okay? You're kind of zoning out..."
"Oh! Sorry! I was just... thinking about tomorrow's contest..." Serena began.
"Because of Leona?" Ash ventured to guess. "Yeah, I remember the last contest she was in. If you fight against her again, she'll be a tough nut to crack."
"Yeah..." Serena agreed. Then, her lips curved into a smile as an idea dawned upon her. "Ash, I think I know what Pokemon I'm going to use tomorrow."
…
The next day, the group wasted no time, and once they got up from bed and had some breakfast, they headed towards the town's Contest Hall. While Serena entered through the back door, Ash, Clemont and Bonnie stood in the line to buy a ticket.
Sometime later, once all the tickets had been sold, all the spectators was on their seats, and all the coordinators were ready, the contest began.
"Ladies and gentlemen! Welcome to the Amatree Town Pokemon Contest! I'm your host, Jillian Meridian!" she began, and the crowd exploded into loud cheers. "Thank you! Also give a warm welcome to the judges that will evaluate our wonderful coordinators: Moki Town's own Nurse Joy, the Venesi City Gym Leader Rosalind, and the S-Class connoisseur Ambrose Reigns!"
Jillian then went to explain the rules of the Pokemon Contests for those in the public not aware of them, and then showed the ribbon the contest winner would take with him or her, finishing off with introducing the very first contestant, beginning the Appeal Round.
Coordinators walked in and out of the arena one after the other, their Pokemon doing all sorts of tricks, light shows, dances and acrobatics. Ash found some of them good, while others still had room for improvement. Though Ambrose, as usual, found none to his tastes, which let them know in the harshest possible way,
"Time for our next performance! From Heahea City in Alola, Leona!" Jillian announced.
Leona's body language as she walked into the stage pretty much exuded joy, as she waved and blew kisses at the public, who roared in anticipation.
"Wow, people went wild when Leona was announced," Bonnie noticed.
"Yeah. She seems pretty popular," Clemont agreed.
"Maybe it's because of those Z-moves?" Ash wondered. "They're something most people here haven't seen so far."
"Rise and shine, Vaporeon, Jerbolta!" Leona said, tossing two pokeball forward.
The pokeballs opened, as a torrent of water burst from one, and a mass of yellow electricity from the other, and the two Pokemon emerged from within each of the elemental bursts, Jerbolta shining with golden sparkles.
"Alright Jerbolta, Electroball into the air! And Vaporeon, Aurora Beam into it!" Leona began.
"Jer, jer!"
"Vaporeon!"
The two Pokemon did as they were told, Jerbolta forming a sphere of yellow electricity on the tip of its tail, before launching it into the air, and Vaporeon firing a multicolored beam at the golden orb, which gained the same colors of the Aura Beam once the two attacks collided, resulting in an explosion of multicolored sparks of electricity.
The public gasped in awe.
"A very strong beginning from Leona! Let's see how her performance continues!" Jillian excitedly commented.
"Now Vaporeon, launch Jerbolta into the air with Hydro Pump!" Leona continued.
The Shiny Pokemon ran towards Vaporeon and leaped above it while curling into a ball, and just as Jerbolta was above Vaporeon, the Bubble Jet Pokemon spewed a huge stream of water that launched the Ground and Electric-type into the air.
"Electro Ball all around you while you're in the air, Jerbolta!" Leona commanded.
"Jer, jerbolta!" Jerbolta cried, as he began to spin around, sending a rapid fire of Electro Balls that quickly exploded into a golden shower of sparks.
"And now, for the real meat of this show!" Leona held her left arm, allowing everybody to see her Z-Ring, with a deep blue crystal on it.
The public went wild.
"And Leona prepares to wow the audience with her trademark Z-moves!" Jillian said in anticipation.
"Now Vaporeon, Hydro Vortex!" Leona said, as she made a series of arm poses, ending with a wave of both her arms to the right. Vaporeon mimicked its trainer's moves as well. "And Jerbolta, Thunderbolt into it!"
There was a loud "ohhhhhh" from the audience as a deep blue aura surrounded Leona, before said aura flowed into the Vaporeon through a stream of light of the same color, charging it with power.
"Vaaaaaaa...!" Vaporeon said, as a mass of water began to form around it. "-REON!"
The water around Vaporeon formed into a massive spiraling column that shot upwards, in a way that reminded Ash of the Waterfall attack used by Cali's Gyarados, albeit this attack was much wider and carried far more water. Then, as Jerbolta fell down, it released a massive lightning bolt into the Z-Move, making it crackle with yellow electricity, before the attack dispelled.
"And done!" Leona said.
The public broke into a wild applause, while many began to loudly cheer and shout encouragement to the Alolan girl.
"Once again Leona manages to impress the audience with her performances! Now let's see if the judges are just as impressed as the public!" Jillian said, motioning to the judge panel.
"While admittedly, the Z-moves have lost the surprise factor from the first times you used them, they never fail to bring pure, undiluted spectacle to your performances. Great job!" Rosalind praised.
"Yes. Seeing you on the stage made me wish more people from Alola would come here to take on our Contest Circuit," Nurse Joy added.
"Your combinations were boring and uncreative, so of course you have to rely on those Z-things to make up for your lack of talent, don't you? Unlike the nurse here, I hope we don't get invaded by more one-trick Minicorn who think that they can impress people with the same gimmick over and over again," Ambrose said with his usual venom.
"Thanks a lot!" Leona said, her smile never faltering, before recalling Vaporeon and Jerbolta. "Even if you liked my performance, I hope they can become even better in the future!"
"Thank you Leona, for yet another amazing performance!" Jillian said, as Leona returned to the waiting room. "And now, let's welcome our next coordinator!"
…
"Hey, there, Serena!" Leona skipped towards the honey blonde as soon as she saw her in the waiting area. "How was that?"
"It was simply amazing," Serena told her, smiling. "Those Z-moves are sure something. Though the previous parts were really well planned and executed. Loved the way you mixed water and electricity."
"I know! Water and electricity is a great combination! Except when you're taking a bath, hehe," the Alolan chuckled.
"Anyway, you shouldn't worry too much. With a display like that, you'll be one of the eight finalists," Serena assured her.
"Let's hope you're right. Because I can't wait to win my final ribbon!" Leona said.
"So you have four ribbons already? That's the same as I have," Serena said.
"Ohhh, so you're fighting for your final ribbon too! Then you must be as psyched as I am to win this! But alas, there can only be one winner, and that shall be me!" the younger girl boasted.
"There's only a couple months left until the Grand Festival. I think all the people still doing contests must have at least three ribbons and are trying their best to earn the remaining ones before the Grand Festival begins," Serena pointed out. "That's not even counting those who have all the ribbons already."
"Do you know anybody who already got all the ribbons?" Leona asked, raising an eyebrow. "Because they must be some crack coordinators in order to get all five this early."
"Two people, actually. You know one of them. Remember Sayaka, the girl you fought during the contest at the cruise before you faced me in the finals?" Serena asked.
Leona placed a finger under her chin as she tried to remember. "Oh, that girl! Yeah, I remember her!" Leona said with a snap of her fingers. "That arrogant girl. So she has all the ribbons already? Pity, I was hoping to meet her again. She looked like she needed an even bigger serve of a humble pie with that tantrum she threw after I beat her fair and square. Guess I'll have to wait for the Grand Festival to get my chance."
Right after Leona said that, one of the monitors showed a picture of Serena with the words "NEXT CONTESTANT" written under it.
"At least I may get another chance at fighting you again," Leona said with a shrug. "So go out there and knock them on their asses!" she said with a wink.
Smiling back, Serena walked towards the stage just as the coordinator before her entered the waiting area.
…
"And now, let's give a warm welcome to another veteran of the contest circuit! From Vaniville Town in Kalos, Serena!" Jillian announced.
The audience broke into cheers and applause as the honey blonde walked into the stage, the loudest being those from Ash and Bonnie.
"You can do it, Serena!" Ash cheered.
"Show them who's boss!" Bonnie followed.
"Syrentide, Pangoro, go!" Serena said, tossing the two pokeballs into the air.
The first pokeball released a flurry of golden stars from which Pangoro emerged, while a spiraling torrent poured from the second, revealing Syrentide once it disappeared.
"Alright, time to put on a show! Syrentide, Water Pulse! As big as you can make it, and launch it into the air!" Serena shouted.
"Sy!" Syrentide nodded, as she formed an orb of water between her hands. As she moved her hands outwards, the orb began to grow as the Siren Pokemon poured more of her power into it. Once it was as big as herself, she sent it flying upwards.
"Great! Now, Pangoro, launch Syrentide into the air, and Syrentide, get inside the orb of water and freeze it from the inside with an Ice Beam!" Serena commanded.
"Syren!"
"Goro!"
Pangoro lifted Syrentide with a gentleness many in the audience found surprising, given his appearance, before tossing her upwards, just as the Water Pulse came down. However, the moment Syrentide entered the liquid orb, she froze its surface from inside, encasing herself inside the sphere of ice and water.
"Now Pangoro, push it upwards with Dark Pulse!" Serena called.
"Pan, pangoro!" Pangoro said, thrusting his cupped paws upwards, sending a stream of dark power that pushed it back into the air.
"And now..." Serena said, as she held her right hand, and touched the keystone on the index finger with her left hand. "...Mega Evolve!"
Beams of light shot from the ring and pierced into the frozen bubble without breaking it. However, cracks began to form as the transformation released more and more energy, until it finally shattered, revealing Syrentide in her Mega Evolved form, who pummeled to the ground as the Dark Pulse vanished.
"Catch her, Pangoro!" Serena ordered.
The public gasped loudly, as they began to cheer.
"It seems that Leona isn't the only one using power-ups to enhance her performance!" Jillian excitedly commented. "What a creative use of Mega Evolution to simulate a metamorphosis!"
Just as Jillian finished saying that, Pangoro caught the falling Syrentide between his arms.
"Alright Pangoro, now Stone Edge on yourself, and Syrentide, Sing!" Serena issued.
Pangoro stomped his foot once, rising a pillar beneath his feet that pushed him and Syrentida upwards, while the Siren Pokemon intoned a slow and melodious song, as ethereal musical notes of different colors began to float around the growing pillar.
"And finish!" she said.
Once again, the public broke into an applause accompanied by very loud cheers.
"And once again, Serena's performance never fails to impress! Hopefully, the judges will be just as impressed!" Jillian said, motioning to the judge panel.
"That effect with the Mega Evolution was simply magnifico!" Rosalind gushed. "It's not something you see that often in contests!"
"Plus, I loved the way Pangoro and Syrentide worked together," Nurse Joy added. "Their synchronization was almost flawless while performing those complicated stunts."
"First the Z-moves and now Mega Evolution... is this the future of contests? What happened to pure skill and creativity? Because real coordinators wouldn't rely on these crutches so much," Ambrose scoffed.
"Thank you," Serena said, bowing a little and doing her best to ignore Ambrose's words, before returning her Pokemon and returning to the waiting area.
…
Inside the waiting area, Serena was greeted by Leona, who, looking even more excited than before, grabbed her hands while bouncing in place.
"Oh my goodness Serena, that was amazing! How your Pokemon transformed...!" Leona's eyes were glinting. "What was that!?"
"It's called Mega Evolution. Never heard of it?" she asked.
The younger girl shook her head. "Well, I heard it here and there upon arriving here, but never thought what it was and I never saw it in action! To see Pokemon transform it like that! It was like normal evolution but... it wasn't?"
"Well, aside from Tandor, Mega Evolution is also widely used in my home region of Kalos. Though I myself didn't begin to use it until very recently," Serena explained.
"I see. How does it work?" Leona asked, eager to learn.
And thus, Serena explained the intricacies of Mega Evolution. How in order to trigger it, you needed a Keystone and the appropriate Mega Stone ("Just like how Z-Moves need a Z-Ring and Z-Crystal!"), that it was important for the trainer and Pokemon to have a strong bond or else it wouldn't work ("Z-moves need that to work too!") and how only a few select Pokemon could Mega Evolve, and all of them were fully evolved ("Z-moves can be used by any Pokemon no matter what, though there are some moves exclusive to some Pokemon").
As Serena finished explaining to Leona about Mega Evolution, the last of the coordinators left the stage, concluding the Appeal Round.
"And thus the Appeal Round comes to a close!" Jillian announced. "The judges have already cast their evaluation and score of each coordinator. Now, the eight coordinators that will move to the next phase will appear on the screen!"
Serena and Leona held their hands in anticipation as the faces of the eight finalists appeared on the screen. The tension was short lived, given that they were the first ones to appear on the screen, Serena being the first and Leona being second.
"Yes! We passed!" Leona cheered, as she began to bounce up and down.
"And look at that! First and second places!" Serena pointed out.
"That Ambrose guy might have not liked that we used Z-moves and Mega Evolution for our performances, but even he had to admit how much they rocked!"
While they were talking, the portraits of the eight finalists shifted their position in order to show the order to the matches. Leona's match was the first, while Serena's was third, meaning that they wouldn't face each other unless the two of them made it to the finals.
"See you in the finals then," Serena said.
"Just like in the last contest we both take part," Leona said, before holding a fist and shooting Serena a stare full of resolve. "And just like the last time, my Pokemon and I will walk out as the winners!"
"We'll see about that," Serena replied, her voice carried as much determination.
…
And thus the combat round began. Leona's match went first, and her two Pokemon of choice were something Ash had never seen before. Well, one looked like a Golem, but it didn't look like any other Golem Ash had seen before, since it was a different color, had thick black eyebrows, a beard and a mustache, and two black rocks jutting out of its back that formed a rudimentary looking railgun.
"Is that... a Golem?" Clemont asked, as he adjusted his glasses, echoing Ash's own thoughts.
He pulled out his Pokedex in order to find the answer.
"Golem, the Megaton Pokemon, Alola Regional Variant, the evolved form of Graveler and final form of Geodude. Rock/Electric. It fires rocks charged with electricity. Even if the rock isn't fired that accurately, just grazing an opponent will cause numbness and fainting." The Pokedex explained.
"A regional variant. Didn't Professor Bamb'o say that he studied them?" Clemont asked, his mind recalling their first encounter with the eccentric professor.
"Whoa, a Pokemon from the same species, but another type... seeing one in person is so cool!" Ash gushed. "Wonder if there's a Pikachu variant in another region...?"
"Pika..." Pikachu said, not sure how to feel about that.
"What about the other Pokemon? It looks a lot like Cali's Cararalm," Bonnie pointed out.
Leona's second choice was a huge crustacean Pokemon, with a large, flat green body whose back was covered in sand, and had a large palm tree growing on it, six thick brown legs that looked like the tree trunk of a palm tree, and a pair of huge pincers. It reminded Ash of a Torterra if it was a crustacean instead of a reptile.
"Cocancer, the Beach Pokemon, Cararalm's evolution and Cocaran's final form. Grass/Ground. They bury themselves in the sand and are indistinguishable from ordinary palm trees. When prey walks by, they leap out with surprising speed and crush it with massive claws." the Pokedex explained.
Ash remembered how tough Cali's Cararalm was, and its evolved form didn't look any weaker. All in all, Leona had a rather impressive tag team. Her opponent, for her part, had chosen an Owten and a Terlard.
The ensuing match was mostly even, with both coordinators' score dropping points at an almost equal pace, and neither Pokemon outmatching the other. That's it, until there was one minute late and Leona brought something to the table that disrupted that balance in a major way.
"Subzero Slammer!"
The moment Cocancer unleashed that Z-move, Ash knew that the battle was good as over. The public cheered wildly when Leona executed the spectacular move, and continued cheering when the Alolan girl was declared the winner.
Once the second match was over, it was Serena's turn. Her choice of Pokemon were Quetzoral and Sylveon.
"Huh? Quetzoral and Sylveon? I thought she was going to give Delphox another chance," Bonnie said, scratching her head.
"That was her idea at first. But upon seeing that Leona was in the contest, she decided that it would be better to use those two," Ash explained.
"Makes sense. Of all of Leona's Pokemon we saw, all of them but one have a type advantage over Delphox," Clemont reasoned.
Serena's opponent was a boy with a Drilgann, and another Pokemon Ash had never seen before, a pink bipedal rabbit with a big, white furry tail and a pair of small purple antler-like horns.
"What's that? A regional form of Buneary?" Bonnie asked.
"Only one way to know," Ash said, relying on his trusty Pokedex once again.
"Jackdeary, the Jackalope Pokemon. Fairy/Fighting. It is related to Buneary, but is much more crafty. It conceals itself using trickery, so many people don't believe it exists." The Pokedex droned.
"Close, but no," Clemont commented.
Serena made short work of her opponent, quickly depleting all his points before the timer even reached the two minute mark, allowing Serena to pass to the semifinals.
The semifinals proved to be a little more exciting than the previous matches, though Leona and Serena won once again, the former delighting the audience with a Ground-type Z-Move, the appropriately named Tectonic Rage, which teared apart the battleground almost as much as the opponent's unfortunate Pokemon.
And thus came the final match, pitting Serena against Leona.
"Ladies and gentlemen, the final match of Amatree Town's Contest is about to begin! On one side, Serena from Vaniville Town in Kalos!" Jillian said, and the public cheered.
"Come on Serena, leave them dazzled!" Clemont cheered.
"We're all with you!" Ash added.
"And on the other side, from Heahea City in Alola, Leona!" Jillian said, motioning to the dark skinned girl, and the public cheered just as loud, if not louder than for Serena. "Coordinators, send your Pokemon!" Jillian told them.
"Quetzoral, Sylveon, go!"
"Rise and shine, Golem, Cocancer!"
Serena's pokeball produced a rain of pink flowers and leaves, as well as a waterfall of pink mist, revealing Quetzoral and Sylveon once the special effects dispelled. Meanwhile, yellow lightning bolts and a sandstorm came from Leona's pokeballs, with Cocancer and Golem emerging from said elemental effects.
"The final Contest Battle begins now! Five minutes on the clock! Begin!"
~Serena (Sylveon, Quetzoral) VS Leona (Golem, Cocancer)~
"We'll take the first move!" Leona said, eyes glinting with excitement. "Golem, Rock Blast! Cocancer, Crabhammer!"
"Go, golem!"
"Can!"
Golem lowered its body, aiming its railgun at Serena's Pokemon, and began to fire several rocks at them, while Cocancer rushed forward as fast as its six legs allowed it to, as it raised a massive pincer which was covered in a cloak of water.
Leona's aggressive opening didn't worry Serena much. "Quetzoral, charge an Energy Ball! Sylveon, Swift into it!"
"Queeeeeee...!" Quetzoral cawed as she began to form a green orb of power, while Sylveon waved her feelers, releasing a flurry of golden stars which homed into the Grass-type attack.
As the golden stars touched the Energy Ball, they were absorbed into it, making the latter attack grow. Once it had eaten all the stars, the much larger orb also took the shape of a star.
"Send it forward, Quetzoral!" Serena ordered.
With a mighty beat of her wings, the large green five pointed star flew forward, easily shattering the rocks Golem was firing before homing into the Pokemon launching them, blasting it backwards.
"Golem, no!" Leona cried, bringing her hands to her head.
It didn't end there, since the projectile ricocheted off of Golem, and thanks to the homing properties of Swift, crashed into Concancer next before the Beach Pokemon could reach melee range, blasting it to the side as well.
"And Serena masterfully counters Leona's opening move with a magnificent combination attack!" Jillian commented, as Leona lost no less than twenty percent of her points.
"Golem, Concancer, are you okay?" Leona asked. Despite the powerful hit, both Pokemon managed to get back to their feet, and cried in agreement. "Great! Our start wasn't that hot, but we're about to turn the tables of this match right now! Cocancer, Sandstorm!"
"Caaaaaaa...!" Cocancer cried, before slamming both pincers into the ground, raising a tornado of sand that engulfed the whole arena.
But while neither Cocancer nor Golem seemed affected by the Sandstorm, its effect was immediately felt by Serena's Pokemon.
"Syl!" Sylveon whined.
"Tzoral!" Quetzoral cried as she tried to keep afloat among the Sandstorm.
"You're going to need something more than a little sand to take us out! Sylveon, Moonblast! And Queztoral, combine it with Drill Peck!" Serena ordered. "Aim for Cocancer!"
"Syyyyyyl...!" The Interwinning Pokemon created a glowing sphere of pink power between her feelers before throwing it forward.
"Tzo, quetzoral!" Quetzoral cawed as her beak glowed white and doubled in length, and began to spin like a drill.
Quezoral pierced the Moonblast with her Drill Peck and added its power to her attack, resulting in her beak being covered by a white and pink spinning energy drill. Despite the sandstorm impeding her flight, she was still fast enough to reach Cocancer...
"Huh?"
...right before the Beach Pokemon moved out of the way with surprising speed, making Queztoral miss the move.
"Well done! Now Golem, Mega Punch!" Leona called.
"Gooooo...!" Golem clenched one of its hands into a fist as his body crackled with yellow sparks. The Megaton Pokemon rushed towards Quezoral, delivering a powerful punch that produced an explosion of yellow lightning bolts, sending Quezoral tumbling backwards.
"Quetzoral!" Serena cried, covering her mouth with her hands.
Serena's points dropped to match Leona's.
"Hey, what gives! How is Cocancer suddenly that fast!?" Bonnie protested. "And she said Mega Punch, but that looked like a Thunder Punch to me!"
"Nenene!" Dedenne protested as well.
"I think this is the same as my battle with Davern's Drilgann," Ash said. "Remember how fast it became upon summoning a sandstorm? Cocancer must have a similar ability."
"Hmmm..." Clemont hummed, as he looked at the Golem. "That aura around Golem before it attacked... almost looked like Nucleon when he used a Normal-type move. I believe Golem must have an ability to turn Normal-type moves into Electric-types as well."
"Our turn to counterattack!" Leona declared, thrusting an open hand forward. "Golem, Discharge! Cocancer, Ice Punch on Quetzoral!"
"Sylveon, counter with Shadow Ball! And Quetzoral, Razor Leaf!" Serena ordered.
Golem's entire body crackled with electricity, before firing three lightning bolts, one for each of the other Pokemon on the battlefield. Sylveon managed to intercept one with Shadow Ball while several of the leaves fired by Quetzoral blocked the other. The third one harmlessly washed over Cocancer, coating it in electricity.
"Cancer!" Cocancer cried as it easily dodged the other half of the Razor Leaf, before reaching Quetzoral and delivering an ice-coated pincer smash to the Canopy Pokemon's face, on top of the electricity from Golem's Discharge.
"Queeeeeee!"
"Quetzoral, hang on!" Serena called, as her points dropped even further, now close to the halfway mark.
"It dodged again!" Bonnie protested, as she huffed and crossed her arms. "That darn sandstorm!"
"The synergy between Leona's Pokemon is simply breathtaking! And that Sandstorm only makes things even more difficult for Serena!" Jillian commented.
"In that case, we'll get rid of it!" Serena boldly declared, looking as if she just had an idea. "Quetzoral, Drill Peck, aim upwards! And Sylveon, Fairy Wind into the Drill Peck!"
"Que, quet!" Quetzoral said, as her beak doubled in length and glowed with a white light, before it began to spin like a drill. And just like Serena had ordered, she leaned her head back so her beak would be pointing upwards.
"Syyyyyyl-VEON!" Sylveon waved her feelers, producing a gust of pink sparkly wind, and following Serena's indications, focused it on Quetzoral's Drill Peck,
The two attacks combined, with the Drill Peck shaping the Fairy Wind into something akin to a tornado, which began to grow and expand outwards.
"What... what are you doing?" Leona asked, both confused and a little scared.
"Yes! Keep going! You're doing great!" Serena cheered on.
The pink tornado continued to grow and expand, and as it did that, the sandstorm struggled to continue, until it was broken, the sand falling apart as the wind currents keeping it on the air had been nullified by Serena's impromptu combination.
"Incredible! With that ingenious combination, Serena had put a swift end to the sandstorm!" Jillian gushed, as Leona's points dropped, even if they were still above Serena's.
"And that's not all! Sylveon, Shadow Ball, rapid fire!" Serena commanded, a little emboldened by the sandstorm's disappearance.
"Sylll-ve-ve-ve-VEON!" Sylveon cried, as she fired a barrage of small orbs of pure darkness.
"Golem, counter with Rock Blast!" Leona quickly said, as Golem bent over, and fired a salvo of rocks from his stone railgun.
"Quetzoral, get close and use Giga Drain on Golem!" Serena ordered.
"Cocancer, stop her with Ice Punch!" Leona countered.
"Dodge it!"
As the shadow orbs fired by Sylveon crashed and exploded against the rocks fired by Golem, Quetzoral dived towards the Megaton Pokemon. Cocancer attempted to smack her with a pincer covered in frost, but it was too slow and the Canopy Pokemon reached Golem. Quetzoral's beak started to glow with a vibrant green light and stabbed it into Golem.
"GOOOOOO!" the Rock and Electric type Pokemon cried in pain as Quetzoral stole its vitality.
"Cocancer, Ice Punch again! Rid Golem of her!" Leona hastily ordered.
"Quetzoral, get out of the way, now!" Serena ordered.
With a push from her tail, Quetzoral jumped out of Golem and began to fly away, just as Cocancer, unable to stop its momentum, slammed an ice-covered pincer onto Golem.
"Oh, no!" Leona cried, taking her hands to her head.
"That was quite the blunder Leona made in her rush to stop Quetzoral from further harming Golem!" Jillian commented as Leona's points dropped below the halfway mark.
"Yes! Let's keep our momentum! Sylveon, Moonblast! Quetzoral, Energy Ball!" Serena ordered. "Combine them into one big move!"
Quetzoral and Sylveon came together, and joined their power to form a large orb of power, colored pink with green endges, before throwing them forward. It left a trail of green and pink sparkles as it flew.
"That's not going to stop us! We have a combo of our own!" Leona shouted. "Golem, Discharge again! And Cocancer, Wood Hammer!"
Golem's body crackled with electricity before firing several lightning bolts, one of them harmlessly hitting Cocancer while the others crashed against the Energy Ball/Moonblast combo. Meanwhile, one of Cocancer's pincers began to glow green, before it was covered in an aura of the same color with the shape of a massive tree stump. Swinging the energy stump down against the emerald and pink orb, it produced an explosion of the same color that blasted Leona's Pokemon backwards.
Both Leona and Serena's points dropped, but Leona's went down further than Serena's.
"There's only one minute left, and Serena has quite the comfortable lead!" Jillian pointed out. "What can Leona do to turn this battle around?"
"Do you need to ask?" Leona asked, as she held her left arm, the one with the Z-Ring. It had a yellow crystal on it. "Come on Golem, time to finish this and take that ribbon home!"
The public guessed what Leona was planning to do, as they began to voice their excitement over what the Alolan girl was about to do.
"Yes, she's going to do it!"
"The Z-move!"
"I'm sorry for Serena, but she has already lost!"
"Hey, the match isn't over yet!" Ash protested, but his voice was drowned among the multitude. He didn't need to remember the last time Serena and Leona fought to remember the sheer power of the Z-moves, since the Alolan coordinator had used them in the previous matches, so it was easy to understand why the public already believed that the match was over.
But Serena had a plan in case she had to face Leona and her Z-moves again. It was the reason behind her choice of Pokemon. Ash just hoped it would work.
At the very least, Serena wasn't panicking. That was good.
"Sylveon, Quetzoral, get ready!" she warned her Pokemon.
Leona and Golem made a series of moves, finishing with a pose that looked like they were making a "Z" with their arms. The exact same sequence for the exact same move the Alolan girl had used to crush Serena back at the cruise.
The public's roar of anticipation became even louder.
Just as she finished the sequence, a yellow aura of electricity appeared around Leona's body, before it was transferred to Golem.
"Taste the power of Alola! Gigavolt Havoc!" Leona exclaimed.
Golem spread its arms, forming a massive orb of lightning before thrusting the gigantic lightning sphere forward, advancing unimpeded towards Serena's pair of Pokemon. Despite the scale of the attack, neither Serena or her Pokemon were scared.
"Alright, let's do it! Quetzoral, get behind Sylveon, and prepare an Energy Ball with as much power as you can muster! Sylveon, Protect! Make it big!" Serena commanded.
"Syl, sylveon!" Sylveon cried, her eyes flashing white, before erecting a green barrier around both herself and her partner, just in time to stop the massive torrent of electricity, producing a booming noise so loud, almost everybody was forced to cover their ears while it lasted.
"And... it seems that Serena is trying to block the Gigavolt Havoc with a Protect!" Jillian observed. "Protect can block any normal move, but will it be enough for a Z-move?"
"It won't! Protect may cushion some damage, but it won't stop the move!" Leona proudly added.
And indeed, true to Leona's words, cracks started to appear around the Protect, and while the Gigavolt Havoc appeared to reduce in size, it was still pretty big.
"I know. That's what the Energy Ball is for!" Serena said, before looking at Quetzoral, who was forming an orb of green power almost twice as big as a normal Energy Ball. "Release it, now!"
"Tzoral!"
The Canopy Pokemon did as she was ordered, sending the attack forward. The sphere of natural energy clashed against the torrent of lightning, still grinding away the Protect. And much to everybody's shock, the plus size Energy Ball started to push the Gigavolt Havoc back, which continued to get smaller.
"Yes! She's going to make it!" Clemont said, as his hopes were slowly reinvigorated.
After a few excruciatingly long seconds where the three attacks pushed against each other, all of them burst into a shower of sparks, sparkles and bits of lights, having exhausted all their power.
Serena's Pokemon hadn't been harmed.
For a moment, the most absolute of silences reigned in the contest hall.
Leona's points dropped once again, falling below the twenty five percent mark. Not that Leona noticed, given that she was looking at Serena with her eyes wide open. She blinked once.
"...what?" she asked, her voice almost a whisper.
"Amazing! With a combination of Protect and Energy Ball, Serena has done what no other coordinator has done so far in the season, and put a hard stop to one of Leona's Z-moves!" Jillian announced, her voice carrying even more excitement than usual.
"...what?" Leona repeated.
"Sylveon, Shadow Ball on Golem! Quetzoral, Drill Peck on Cocancer!" Serena said, reminding everybody that the contest battle hasn't ended just yet.
Serena's two Pokemon quickly went on the offensive, Sylveon firing an orb of darkness at Golem while Quetzoral dived at Cocancer, her glowing beak twice its normal size and spinning like a drill. Leona's Pokemon were waiting for their trainer to issue some order, but in her stupefied state, they never came, and the two attacks found their mark, costing Leona even more points.
"Great! Now, Sylveon, Fairy Wind! And Quetzoral, Razor Leaf!" Serena ordered.
Once again, Sylveon waved her feelers in order to create a pink, sparkly gust of wind, which was combined with a barrage of sharp leaves fired by Quetzoral.
Leona was finally snapped out of her trance, not that it did her any good. "Cocancer, Golem, huh... eh..."
The combination attack hit Leona's Pokemon. It wasn't enough to knock them out just yet. Not that it was necessary.
BZZZZZZZZZZ!
"Leona has lost all her points! That means the winners are Serena and her Pokemon!" Jillian announced.
The scoreboard changed to show Serena's picture next to smaller ones of Sylveon and Quetzoral, with the word "WINNER!" written under it. The public broke into a litany of cheers and applause.
"Yes! We did it! We won!" Serena cheered. "Great job guys! You were incredible!"
"Syl, sylveon!" Sylveon replied.
But Quetzoral didn't say anything, and stayed there, immobile like a statue.
"Quetzoral...?" Serena asked.
There was a crackling noise, as Quetzoral's body began to shine with a bright bluish white light, and began to grow and change.
"Look at that folks! The contest might be over, but the spectacle continues as Serena's Pokemon is gracing us with a live evolution!" Jillian commented. Not that there was anyone in the audience who didn't notice such an event.
Quetzoral's body kept growing and growing, becoming more lithe and streamlined in the process, her wings being replaced by small arms. The light fading signaled the end of the evolution, letting everybody see the new Pokemon, gently floating over the stage.
"Co, coatlith!" she cried.
The new Pokemon in front of Serena was, for a lack of better word, massive. If Quetzoral was already taller than her trainer, this Pokemon was almost three times as long. Gone were all the avian features of Chicoatl and Quetzoral, the new Pokemon being a long, serpentine dragon with a green body and a yellow underbelly.
Her face was black and beak shaped, her head ending in a black and red horn, with a pair of red fins at each side of it. She had two small arms ending in red claws, and a row of small red plates ran down her back. At the end of her tail was a massive flower bud, also colored red.
"Whoa, look at the Pokemon Quetzoral evolved into! So big and cute!" Bonnie squealed.
"So Quetzoral had another evolution left..." Ash said, as he pulled out his Pokedex.
"Coatlith, the Forest Lord Pokemon, Quetzoral's evolution and Chicoatl's final form. Grass/Dragon. Early natives of Baykal worshiped Coatlith as gods. They are fiercely devoted to protecting nature, and will attack anyone, friend or foe, who defiles it." The Pokedex explained.
"Wow... that Pokemon must be sure something if there was a time they were worshiped as gods..." Clemont said in amazement.
Back on the stage, while Serena and her friends basked in the glory of her victory, Leona had to endure the bitter taste of defeat.
"I'm sorry guys, I failed you," the Alolan girl told her Pokemon.
"Lem!" Golem said, shaking his head.
"Co, cancer!" Cocancer added, patting Leona's shoulder with a pincer.
"You didn't fail them," Serena said, as she walked towards them, with Sylveon walking next to her and Coatlith floating above. "It was a great battle, Leona."
"Thank you," she said, the girl's usual energy no longer present in her voice. "Heh, I thought I already had you when I was about to use Gigavolt Havoc, and then... bam, I lost."
"It tends to happen. I remember losing a match that I believe was already won because my opponent revealed a hidden ace in the hole," Serena said, placing a comforting hand on the younger girl's shoulder. "Don't feel bad about it. You may have failed here, but the contest season is far from over. Never give up until the very end."
"I... thank you." Leona said, nodding. "Gotta say, that tactic to stop my Z-move... it was sure something. You knew that Protect alone wouldn't cut it, didn't you?"
"My first match against you was difficult to forget. That's why I did some research on Z-moves, just in case we ever crossed paths again, and devised a way to counter them," Serena explained.
"Well, it paid off big time," Leona said.
Serena nodded. "Training hard is well and good, but another rival of mine showed me that research, either be new tactics for you to use or what your opponent does, can carry you far."
"I'll keep that in mind," Leona replied, before returning her Pokemon.
A few minutes later, Serena was standing on a small podium, the three judges and Jillian next to her. Rosalind was the one who was holding an opened box with the Ribbon on it.
"A bellissima victory, Serena," the Gym Leader said, allowing Serena to grab the ribbon inside it. "The Amatree Ribbon is yours."
"Thank you," Serena said, grabbing the ribbon and taking a moment to admire it.
"Given that this is your fifth ribbon, we'll be hoping to see you again at the Grand Festival," the strangely dressed woman added.
Serena nodded, before raising the ribbon above her head. "Ta-dah! I won my final ribbon!"
"Oh, by the way, you're a companion of Ash Ketchum, aren't you?" Rosalind asked. Serena nodded, and the Gym Leader added: "Tell him that, if he defeats Tiko, to come to Venesi City and challenge my Gym. I'll be waiting for him."
"I'll tell him. I'm sure he'll be glad to hear of your invitation," Serena said.
"And thus, the Amatree Town Contest comes to an end! I hope you have a great time, and see you next time!" Jillian said, officially ending the contest.
…
Right after the contest was over, the group returned to the Pokemon Center and had a big lunch to celebrate that Serena had won her fifth and final ribbon, meaning that she was qualified to take part in the Grand Festival, which would take place in Venesi City in two months time.
Serena's victory had pumped up Ash even more than Serena herself, and coupled with the fact that it was still early in the afternoon, plus Rosalind's invitation to her Gym if he defeated Tiko, Ash wanted to do nothing more than challenge Tiko and get his badge right now.
"I'll get my fifth badge the same day Serena got her fifth ribbon!" Ash had boldly declared, as he and the rest of the group headed to the Gym.
"Pi, pika!" Pikachu had agreed.
Unfortunately, they found an unexpected obstacle that would throw a wrench in Ash's optimistic plans: a closed fence on the road to the Pokemon Gym, with a sign that explained that Tiko had been called to deal with some disappearances in the Anthell.
"Aw man, what a bummer," Ash said, slumping a little. "But guess that if there was an emergency like that, it can't be helped..."
"Well, it's not that we're in a hurry, now that there are no more contests in the immediate future," Serena said. "If you still feel with energy, how about if we spend the rest of the day training for when Tiko returns?"
"Yeah. Tiko is West Tandor's strongest Gym Leader. It would do you no good to go unprepared," Clemont agreed.
"I guess I have no choice... alright then, training time it is!" Ash said, immediately recovering all his usual gusto. "When Tiko gets back, he won't know what hit him!"
…
While Ash and his friends returned to the Pokemon Center, deep in the Anthell, a pair of Bug-type Pokemon, a Firoke and a Sponaree, carried a cocoon of silk. One as large as a human being.
And if there were more light, one could see through the silk threads that, indeed, there was an immobilized but still breathing man with dark skin and short brown hair styled in cornrows.
Author's Note: And thus Serena earns her fifth and final ribbon! Beacuse after how awfully things have been going for her recently, I think our girl deserved a respite, don't you think? And the cherry on top, Quetzoral evolving into Coatlith! And yes, I'm aware that this is the fourth of Serena's Pokemon to evolve in a row in less than four chapters, but I just couldn't find better moments for them to evolve. Oh well, at least Serena's team is now completely evolved.
You know, in the game, Amatree Town doesn't have electricity at all, so that means you don't get a Pokemon Center (thankfully, there is an NPC that will heal your Pokemon) and thus no PC, meaning that you will have to be very careful with which Pokemon you choose to bring there, beacuse they will stay with you until you get to another city. But here, in a slightly more realistic setting, I couldn't envision the Pokemon League and the Pokemon Activities Comitee greenlighting an official Gym and Contest Hall in a town that doesn't have a proper Pokemon Center, so I changed it so there is some electric power.
Many people expected Victor to return, and indeed the poor guy has been quite some time absent, but I chose Leona because I wanted to show Serena overcoming a Z-move (without using Mega Evolution herself) before the Grand Festival. Sorry Leona, but that's what happens when you rely on a gimmick to act as a crutch instead of honning your skill.
Next episode, I'd like to say that Ash would be fighting for his fifth badge, but as you can see he's kind of "tied up" right now. Hopefully somebody will fetch him before he becomes some bugs' snack.
Thanks a lot to Fox Mc Cloude, hirowriter, sanji xyz, BrightNova169 and MegaSalamence64 for reviewing last chapter. Sadly, this chapter wasn't betaread by my usual beta Viroro-kun since he was unavailable. Hopefully he'll be back for the next one.
As usual, don't forget to leave a review with your thoughts or opinions on this chapter, since it's the last regular contest of the story. When contests return, it will be the Grand Festival.