Alola everyone! I'm back with another chapter, the first of the new year! Hope everyone had an awesome holiday and I'm hoping myself that I'll get a good amount of this story finished by the end of this year...fingers crossed and all. It's hard when you've lost the thumb drive that held the entire blueprint of the story and have to recreate much of it from scratch.
Regardless, I hope everyone enjoys this chapter. Who's ready for a totem battle?
I'm surprised at how the Totem introduced itself. Much different than the salazzle he faced back on Mauna Wela! Elio's ready for this though! He's going to win! I don't expect anything less from him!
What other things are in store for us when we head back to Malie? I'm assuming that's where we're going since I did say I would go to the Draconid Festivus with him. Maybe it's a date? Should I treat it as one?
In the observation deck, Lillie almost screamed out loud when the lights cut out, dousing everything in pitch blackness.
"It's okay." Molayne had a seemingly unnatural calmness, so she assumed he had experienced this before. "All for the experience of the trial goer."
Lillie wasn't afraid of the dark...at least excessively, however she was unnerved that either of the boys didn't find it much of a bother either.
"Ooh it'zzz zpooky in here!" Rotom buzzed, its screen a blur of light as it floated around the air. "I think it'zzz time for zome muzzzic! Bzzzt! Cue the Aksis theme! Bzzt!"
Lillie began to feel a bit nervous as the haunted pokedex began to play an ominous tune from the inbuilt speakers. She had been a little familiar with musical instruments, having learned to play a couple as a young girl. Heard in the melody, she could pick out violins, cellos and synths all working together.
It was unlike any piece of music she was used to hearing. Most of it had been soft, classical music that soothed her nerves in a quaint atmosphere.
This was intense right from the start and gave her the feeling like Elio was going against something big, bad and sinister, yet it felt like it moved with a hopeful sensation that he was going to be strong enough to take the totem pokemon down.
Now if I could only see the totem pokemon! It's still too dark!
Elio had already sent out his first pokemon to face the unseen opponent; Akela. Lillie had to admit that it was a smart choice, given the midnight form's natural ability to see much better in near-darkness. But it seemed that even the wolf pokemon was having trouble picking it out.
At first, nothing happened.
Then a pair of glowing yellow eyes pierced the black. Another yellow glow appeared in the circular form of an orb. Elio saw the sparks flying off the sides and barked the only order he could in time.
"Look out!"
Akela saw it coming too and deftly leapt to the side as the unknown hostile shot the orb at a dangerously fast speed. It cruised past them, impacting a part of the floor in another shower of sparks.
"Ah we gotta get the damn lights on."
Akela nodded, but stood ready, his eyes darted along the ceiling in preparation to avoid or strike back when the target fired again.
Elio was in the middle of thinking maybe the purple charge in his railgun could help light the place up when he saw the familiar energy flare to life surrounding something at the top of the prism he had just broken open.
There's that totem aura again.
The energy burned brightly around the totem pokemon, enough to apparently cast the lights back on and bathe the entire area in a stark reddish glow this time around. Compared to the normal blue lighting on the previous part of the trial, it was a reminder that much more was at stake. This was the hard part.
He now finally had a good look at the totem pokemon. It was a large beetlelike creature with a chitinous navy blue shell that had somewhat of an iridescent sheen in the red light. The two glowing yellow eyes were narrowed at its prey. Six small legs with silver gripping claws dangled loosely from its thorax and abdomen. Parts of the shell were raised up, allowing a huge pair of wings to rapidly beat to keep it inflight. Rather than make an annoying buzzing sound like other insects, the sheer size and even a light wind that rippled from it made it seem more like he was facing a helicopter.
A very angry helicopter.
However the most striking feature on the totem pokemon were the long jagged mandibles that proceeded the mouth. The edges were spiked with the insides symmetrically placed and crackling with white electric waves.
"Rotom, do you have any intel on this new pokemon?"
"Actually yezzz I do! Do you like the muzzzzic I zet for you?"
"Rotom!"
"Oh right. New pokemon detected! Bzzt! Vikavolt. Stag beetle pokemon. It is the evolved form of charjabug. Vikavolt flusters its foes with acrobatic flying maneuvers. This creates an opening for it to deliver blindingly fast electrical attacks from its linear accelerated jaws. Vikavolt is a bug and electric type. Additional information is available upon catching this pokemon."
"Akela you ready?" He got a growl of affirmation in return. "Alright. Let's take him down! Rock tomb!"
The werewolf pokemon growled, forming rocks in his hands and hurling them straight at the totem. It made no effort to dodge, but the rocks splintered and shattered into powdered bits before they could even touch it.
"Wait, attacks do nothing?"
Akela growled as the totem charged up an attack of energy in its long jaws and casually shot it out. Again, he leapt out of the way, letting it harmlessly pass by.
"Hey, if you're open to any ideas or secrets. I'm all ears."
Seriously Sophocles. Molayne. Lillie. Any advice?
Back up in the observation deck; the blonde had already tuned out Rotom's blaring of the music, even though it was starting to make her heart race.
"Why didn't it do any damage?"
"Because the totem pokemon is protected by a prism shield. Elio needs to find a way to break it in order to let his pokemon do damage. We call this DPS."
"DPS?"
"Ignore him," Molayne chuckled. "It's a gaming term. But what he means to say is that there's only one way to break that totem's shield. Once it's down, Elio will only have a short window of time to deal damage before the shield goes back up and he'll have to repeat the entire process."
"Can I tell him that?"
"Unfortunately no. He'll have to figure just about all of it out on his own."
Sophocles stifled a laugh and it didn't go unnoticed.
"Soffy?"
"Well...I...um maybe went a little overkill here."
"What do you mean?"
"I mean...he has only a limited number of chances he can take down the totem pokemon."
"What?!" Lillie and Molayne gasped. "Why do you say that?"
Okay think...we clearly did that stuff with sniping those buggers for a reason. A lot of these two phase kind of things happen because it's a grasping part of a mechanic that comes into play during the second.
Elio glanced around. The arena had changed from a bowl shape to a three-pronged fork, with open angled sightlines between three raised platforms connecting to the center large chamber where the totem lurked. In various spots close to where he was located; he saw three plates that began to glow different colors. One orange, one blue and one purple; the same of the battery types he had for the railgun. Akela nimbly dodged another quick orb that was launched his way and glanced back at Elio for instructions.
I've seen that attack before. Zap Cannon, one of the most powerful electric moves. If he gets hit, he's automatically paralyzed if it doesn't take him out.
The totem vikavolt raised itself up and let out a loud hissing sound. Moments later, he saw that there were three smaller ally pokemon that appeared; three electrike. At once, they began to sprint, changing directions but making a beeline straight for the glowing plates. When Elio looked closer, he could see that each one was carrying a different colored battery just like the ones he used in the railgun on their back.
So this is how I'll get batteries, but for what exactly?
Something also told him that he needed to slow or take the electrike down before they reached their designated plates.
He opted to range attack the farthest one away before moving to deal with the other two. "Akela, rock tomb on the orange one!"
His werewolf pokemon formed more rocks in his paws and hurled them downrange to the springing electrike. Luck had decided to step in when the totem vikavolt intervened and fired a zap cannon that shattered the rocks into powder. He kept persisting though, already throwing more large boulders that trapped and knocked out the electrike in the middle of the lane.
Elio and Akela took off to their left as soon as he confirmed it was knocked out. The purple electrike was nearly there, but got stopped by another rock tomb since he had to lunge and take the last one down with a well placed bite attack. The blue battery electrike managed to survive and got off a quick attack on him before dashing again for the blue plate. Akela kept on his heels, lunging forward in a sucker punch attack that knocked it out.
Now we need to grab those batteries. Elio moved quickly, bending down to scoop as he half walked, half sprinted in between the sightlines, careful to make sure the totem vikavolt didn't notice him. It was too distracted with Akela who barked and growled to keep the aggro drawn away from his trainer.
One by one, Sun picked up the batteries and the moment he did; all three of the plates behind him began to glow and emit a thin beam of their respective colored light in the direction of where the three lanes began out of the center chamber.
"You're empowered! Bzzt!" Rotom's voice crackled through his speaker. "Now'z the time for DPS phazze!"
So then maybe the light pointing to where the totem is corresponds with what battery I need to use? Is that it?
Guess there's only one way to find out.
"Akela, stay out of sight." His wolf pokemon nodded at him and got down on all fours, prowling low to the ground as he repositioned himself closer to the totem.
The vikavolt zipped right towards the left hand side, where the orange beam was pointing. Elio loaded the appropriate battery into the railgun after unslinging it. He brought it up to his sight, lined it up with the top of the prism shield before charging and letting loose with the shot.
Unlike the previous shots, the battery seemed to be drained of all its power into a single bolt. It blasted out of the railgun's muzzle quickly, the recoil almost tossing it straight out of Elio's hands. However he looked up in time to see it shimmer on the prism shield before winking out, causing the massive beetle to stagger and fall to the ground.
"While it's stunned!" Elio growled to Akela. "Let's go! Bite and rock tomb!"
His pokemon jumped into action, closing the distance, fangs bared and paws outstretched to form more boulders to throw.
Just as he was about ready to land the myriad of attacks on the exposed pokemon, the totem abruptly shot a volley of jagged thunderbolts into the ceiling. At first, both Elio and Akela thought nothing of it and started their combo of attacks. The werewolf lunged in with bites and hurled a rock tomb before quickly jumping out of the way from a quickly fired green sphere from the totem. Elio was half paying attention to Rotom Dex identifying it as energy ball, a grass move that would've proved disastrous if it hit his pokemon.
And then the thunderbolts started raining down, lancing to the floor in a wild pattern and moving as if they were wayward celestial beings. They crackled while spreading around in erratic motions and definitely looked deadly enough to knock out his pokemon if they made contact.
Akela kept up his damages, throwing two more rock tombs that had significantly slowed the totem's overall speed. He did have to admire its resilience though, as the dark colored shells seemed to function like armor plating to deflect off most of his attacks.
The totem flashed with electrical energy and then flew rapidly over to a second spot in the next chamber over. The prism flared back up, this time where the purple beam was directed. Elio loaded the corresponding battery into the railgun, shooting it once again to dissipiate the shields.
As Akela jumped into action, the huge vikavolt fired more thunderbolts into the air, crashing them down moments later and spreading around.
"Look out!" Elio cried.
His pokemon let out a yelp of surprise, again moving to deal more damage, however several of the thunderbolts struck the floor extremely close, forcing him to dodge and backpedal to the point where he couldn't use any moves that made direct contact.
The vikavolt cloaked itself in sparks again, launching itself forward off its hovering spot and hitting Akela across the chest, sending him tumbling backwards. He had used that momentum to get himself on his feet when he turned upright.
"Counter!"
Akela's eyes glowed and he lashed out with his paw, containing double the power from the spark attack he just received. As he lunged, the totem zipped over to the third area, outlined by the purple beam.
"Empowerment'zzz shifting! Bzzt!"
Damn, he lost the energy off that counter. Maybe we trick him again?
"Get ready!" Elio called out. Akela formed more boulders in his paws as he dashed over to the totem, dodging a hastily fired energy ball in the process. "Now!"
He squeezed the trigger, draining all of the battery into one single shot that pierced the prism. Just after it went down; Akela had tossed the rock tomb, following up with a sucker punch that sent the massive beetle reeling backwards with an annoyed hiss.
"Look out! More thunderbolts!"
Unfortunately, it was near-impossible to get sustained damage in without having to either avoid the crashing lightning or the totem's attacks. Akela would always have to be on his toes to avoid something and every precious second wasted avoiding everything meant less time to deal damage before that impregnable prism went back up.
I can't have my pokemon just take those attacks either. I've only got six.
Elio wasn't sure how much had been done in this shield break, but he hoped it was enough if he had to use other members of his team. Either way, he watched the prism flare back up into place, but now the totem had spread its jaw mandibles wide apart and seemed to be taking in electricity from the ceiling and floor from the thunderbolts that it rained down during his damage phases.
What's it doing?
"Rotom, what's going on?"
"I don't know! Bzzzt! Oh no! SIVA density critical! Hurry you need to get to zhelter! Bzzt!"
SIVA? What is that? "What are you talking about?"
"Juzzzt get to zafety! There are zhelterzzzz behind you! Bzzt!"
Elio glanced back, now spotting three shielded doors at the back of the arena. Neither him or Akela thought twice, just bolted straight for the one on the farthest left, sliding through the transparent door as the totem unleashed an incredibly powerful electric pulse. It raced towards them in the blink of an eye with enough brightness to make the both of them turn away. The energy raced up the wall before disappearing into the top.
That looks completely fatal. I hope this suit guards against that.
Just as it was gone, the wall lowered and allowed both the pokemon and his trainer back out. What was most noteworthy was that the wall did not boot back up. That left two more standing now that he had used one.
Oh...so if it has that uber destructive move...that means I have three more of those damage phases that I need to take this thing out.
Akela growled at Elio, pointing to the totem who was now back in its normal position at the chamber's center.
However once he took his eyes off his foe; the vikavolt gathered another ball of electrical energy in its mandible mouth and shot it straight at Akela, striking him dead center. The lycanroc flew backwards, landing in a heap.
"No!" Elio raced over to his side, dropping down on a knee. He had no items, no berries to use. All he could do was hope that Akela was in shape to battle.
There were a few small jolts of electricity that were running along his rocky fur.
He's paralyzed. That was zap cannon.
Akela stirred and began to sluggishly get back up.
"Are you okay?" He got a small nod in reply.
"I'm pulling you out."
The werewolf's eyes narrowed and he almost looked sad that he wouldn't be able to finish the fight.
Elio was touched by how committed his pokemon was to continue battling. "You're hurt. I need you to rest and I'm probably going to call on you again."
Akela seemed satisfied and made no further protest as Elio returned him to his pokeball.
Alright, who do I pick next?
Back in the observation window, Lillie smiled as she watched Elio coach his pokemon into coming back for a substitute. Even better was the resolve Akela had in wanting to fight despite the grievous injuries and paralysis he had sustained.
"I wonder what pokemon Elio izzz gonna pick next? Bzzt!"
Both of them were surprised when he switched him out for Rufflet.
"Rufflet?" Lillie asked out loud. "But why? Aren't flying types weak to electric types?"
"Why yezzz, they are. Bzzt!"
What are you thinking Elio?
"Alright here we go!" Sun called out to his Rufflet, who flew out towards the three electrikes that appeared once again. They each had one battery attached to them of a differing color which in turn swapped with the plates.
He knew that Rufflet was weak to electric moves and was playing a dangerous game that could probably get him knocked out if he wasn't careful.
But the advantages were that Rufflet wasn't stuck to the ground and using the air made him move much faster. Elio's own thinking were getting quick strikes in and out before the totem had a chance to retaliate.
The little bird was familiar with electrike and already went to work once his trainer explained the base behind how they were going to win. He had already jabbed at one enough with a fury attack to knock it out and let Elio scoop up the orange battery. The second one was ready for him, shooting off a thundershock attack as soon as he came into sight. Rufflet rolled out of the way before diving in with an aerial ace to take it out as well.
"Get the third one quick!"
Rufflet looped in midair to rapidly change direction, going after the third electrike. Unlike Akela, he had much more room to avoid the totem's zap cannon attacks and effortlessly rolled around them without much of a worry of getting hit.
The final one was ready for him though, launching itself into the air and springing off its hind legs, lunging up for an attack. Again, he was ready and looped in midair to both evade and strike back with an aerial ace. He swooped back down, snagging the battery and tossing it to his trainer.
All three batteries acquired.
As if on queue, the three colored beams phased in and the totem was hovering where the blue beam was pointing.
"Get ready!"
Rufflet soared forward as the totem turned to recognize its foe. It fired more electrical beams and incoming attacks which the eaglet dodged nimbly. His wings glowed in preparation of a wing attack.
Just a little further.
Now.
Elio charged up the railgun and fired the bolt straight into the totem's prism, causing it to shimmer out at the same moment Rufflet struck its side with his broad wings. The vikavolt wasted no time in launching more wickedly jagged thunderbolts into the ceiling and having them race along the ground in a pillar of crackling light.
In all of his thinking, he would've never logically sent a flying type to face an electric type like this head on. However Rufflet's faster speed and smaller stature allowed him to fly circles around his bigger foe, capitalizing on the multiple rapid hits over someone slower.
Try not to look worried here.
Without warning, the vikavolt zipped straight over to the purple line.
Empowerment shifts.
He loaded the purple battery, firing again. Rufflet was already on his way to intercept its rally point.
However the large beetle was ready and opened its large linear jaws to unleash a charge beam in an attempt to slow the bird.
Uh oh.
"Rufflet, just like we practiced!" Elio called out. "Steel wing!"
Lillie's mouth opened in surprise when she could see the broadened wings shine and glisten as they became coated in a hard metal. Unlike avoiding it before, Rufflet flew directly into the beam of electrical energy.
Elio was holding his breath, still a little unsure if his pokemon was able to pull it off, but was pleasantly surprised when he could see the beam deviating from its path as if it had a sentience of its own. The electricity crackled as it laced through the metallic surface, leaving out from the end of the wingspan and discharging into the ground.
Rufflet's face contorted into a grimace from the pain, but he kept his course.
C'mon, buddy, just a little further.
A thunderbolt crashed right in front of him, causing him to veer off course to the side. The totem's jaws glowed with an orb at the back; another zap cannon was about to be fired.
I have no idea if this is going to work.
"Try a tailwind!"
Rufflet gave him a questioning look, but did as asked when he flapped his wings to bring a breeze that blew from behind.
That might give us an extra speed boost we need to get more attacks in there.
As the vikavolt fired the zap cannon, it flew through the air before slowing almost immediately as if struggling. The gusty tailwind had caught and overtook its initial momentum, holding it to a standstill before curving backwards.
Right into the face of the totem pokemon.
The zap cannon orb crashed into its front with a booming explosion and threw off yellowish sparks of electrical energy that intertwined with a couple thunderbolts that had jumped down. It hissed in protest, shaking itself in an attempt to get its bearings.
And it was exactly the moment Rufflet needed to slam into its side with an aerial ace, followed by a wing attack that seemed to do a good portion of damage. He had aimed for the weaker underside behind where the wings fluttered and the armored chitinous carapace had to expose itself in order to achieve flight.
Should I pull him out? I don't want to overplay my speed and flight advantage with him. Torracat can take over maybe?
The massive totem shifted, flying quickly to the third spot. Elio readied the railgun with the orange battery. Empowerment shifts.
He fired as Rufflet used the currents to boost his own speed.
It began to form another zap cannon in its jaws.
"Rufflet, stay in the center!" Elio called out as he took aim. "The zap cannon is going to curve around hit him!"
His eaglet cawed and centered along the corridor, fiercely staring down the bigger bug as it held the charge. Elio found it strange when it held its fire.
Is he aiming? Is he waiting for an opportunity?
Either way, he held the orange battery in the gun but wanted to fire right at the moment Rufflet began his attack. An uneasy sensation crept up his body.
It was the perfect scenario...for the totem. If it fired the zap cannon, it would render itself almost defenseless not counting its thunderbolts that went...places.
So then why is he holding it back? Maybe he knows about the tailwind and won't shoot if he knows he'll get hit.
Looking back at the beast, he could see its eyes narrow in anticipation.
Rufflet was about two seconds away, so Elio charged the orange battery and fired, breaking the totem's prism.
It fired the zap cannon.
"Look out!" His bird didn't need a verbal warning to smartly roll out of the way and recenter himself. The thunderbolts began to rain down from above, cast by a divine being in an almost angrily manner. None were close, but they provided another obstacle that he had to bank around in order to get another angle. The zap cannon orb was fired at an angle into the wind, curving wide and exploding on the wall, canceling out a thunderbolt that wandered too close.
Totem vikavolt reared back as Rufflet struck it on the underside by an aerial ace, retaliating by forming a series of white orbs that were launched in a helical formation.
Hidden power!
Rufflet was incredibly acrobatic, flying through the twist while spinning himself. The penultimate orb clipped him on the underside, causing him to screech in pain and swat away the final one with a steel wing. He kept his advance, even as he stared directly at another zap cannon that was quickly formed and fired.
He dodged that one.
Rufflet was ready again as it shot another spiral of hidden power orbs, flying again through the attack. Not wanting a repeat of last time, he sped up when he breezed through, aided by the tailwind and spread his wings as soon as he was free.
However it was both a mistake that pokemon and trainer overlooked.
Elio paid scant attention to the zap cannon, even though it was fired as he expected...directly into the wind. Rufflet's own booster worked against it yet again, slowing its velocity and then reversing it in the other direction. As Rufflet spun in a corkscrew through the hidden power attacks, it was funneled right into the path of the incoming attack that put him right in between it and the totem.
Rufflet glanced back, squawking in horror when the orb collided against his body. He vanished in an explosion of smoke, charred feathers and sparks.
Elio's heart lurched in his chest when he reappeared at the bottom, falling lifelessly towards the ground at an alarming speed.
He's gonna get hurt!
His hands fumbled on his belt for the great ball, finally getting it in his hands and hitting the recall feature. The beam raced towards his fallen pokemon, capturing its signature and returning it before it could suffer any further damage.
I'm sorry…I'm sorry Rufflet. I overplayed our advantage.
The totem reset, flying to the center, calmly awaiting his next opponent.
Elio was at a bit of a crossroads of what to send out. Nani was both weak to electric types and ground based. Torracat had an advantage over the bug typing, but he didn't want to play his ace card yet. Charjabug was a last resort.
Jangmo'o?
He pulled out his poke ball. "Why not?"
Jangmo'o curled out as he landed and sniffed the ground curiously. His eyes went wide at seeing the monstrous vikavolt before him, but the fear quickly gave way to that usual fierce determination that he had known him for.
"You're up buddy! It's your time to shine!" He briefed his little pokemon, still a bit unsure if he really understood what was going on at his young age. "That totem can't be hurt, but if you and I work together, we can take it down! I've got a job just for you!"
Jangmo'o nodded his head, flexing it up proudly.
Before he was struck with a zap cannon right in his face.
"No!"
Don't tell me I made another mistake!
"Buddy?"
The electricity arcs began to clear as he now saw Jangmo'o standing firmly where he was before and shook off the effects. Looking closer, Elio saw no signs of singing damage or traces of paralysis.
It did nothing?!
"Rotom, what happened?"
"Jangmo'o'zzz ability izzzzz bulletproof! Thiz makezzz it imperviouzzzz to zzzertain ball, bomb and cannon movezzzz. Bzzt!"
This actually works out! We can do this!
"Alright buddy, here's the plan."
"Wow. He's adapting." Molayne observed, surprised that Elio and Jangmo'o had now unleashed a huge bulldoze attack that wiped out two electrike and a manectric in a single blow. Trainer went left, pokemon went right to gather the batteries. The totem fired another zap cannon, however Jangmo'o stopped in his tracks, taking the blow but no damage.
"Bulletproof protects his pokemon from some ball and bomb type of moves and it's been confirmed by Kukui that zap cannon is one of them. With that bulldoze, he could get the batteries quickly."
Lillie glanced back at the totem itself. "But how is he going to take on it with just that little pokemon? Don't vikavolt have their ability as levitate? He won't be able to use ground attacks."
"I guess we'll have to see. Elio's resourceful. I know that just by looking at him."
Elio kept Jangmo'o out until he had all three batteries and then executed his plan.
He was returned back to his poke ball and instead Torracat was sent out. He advanced with a flame charge, dodging incoming zap cannons and hidden powers with his deft agility and lunging in for the kill at the same moment he broke the prism shield with the railgun.
Unlike Akela who had battled both the ally pokemon and the totem, Torracat was full of energy and only had to concentrate on one target. Plus he had ranged attacks like ember and overheat, so there was less of a risk of getting caught up close.
However, as he unleashed an ember attack; Elio now saw that it had another advantage over him.
Vikavolt zipped around on its highly maneuverable wings, weaving back and forth as Torracat shot more ember attacks to try and scorch it. It had unleashed a volley of more thunderbolt traps, which caused the feline to have to constantly move and spend time avoiding them. Any shot he was getting off was being dodged expertly. It was the same the other way in a stalemate. Neither one could hit the other without risking itself to be struck.
By the time Torracat finished avoiding the thunderbolts crashing against the ground, the totem's own empowerment had already shifted to the next location.
"Again! Overheat!"
Torracat growled, opening his mouth and launching a huge beam of white hot fire. Elio loaded the railgun, firing and dropping its prism shield again. Unlike last time, he timed it so that the shield was broken as soon as the beginning of Torracat's overheat met its mark. The vikavolt let out a panicked hiss, previously unable to move as it did. When the smoke cleared, he was still surprised to see it flying. Its glossy yellow eyes darted around, finding Torracat looking at him from underneath.
Elio called out for him to attack again, but before he could, the totem left as empowerment shifted.
We keep this up and he'll be down and out! He knew that overheat was going to be marginally weaker in power than last time, but as long as he kept that ranged attack, his pokemon would have some time to avoid any retaliation.
He knelt down, loading the final battery of the damage phase and depleting the totem's shield. At the same time, Torracat readied and fired another beam of overheat towards the target. It was smaller and didn't carry the same intensity as the first one, but still burned bright enough for everyone watching to shield their eyes away.
Nobody saw the totem form an energy ball in between its serrated jaws and launch it to counter. The two attacks collided, throwing up a concussive wave and explosion of barely contained power that felt as if it was strong enough to rock the entire observatory.
Torracat stood idle, waiting for another signal to resume his attack when a zap cannon orb seemed to appear out of nowhere without any warning at all. He shrieked as the electricity molded out of its spherical shape and attacked his body, coursing over his fur like fine oil.
"No! Shit!" Elio cursed out loud, before covering the bottom part of his helmet. It wasn't like him at all to swear like that.
"Torracat! Are you good?" He got a mewl in response, agitated and angry that he had let his guard down.
"You're paralyzed! Get yourself back up to speed and attack with flame charge!"
His starter moved, catching a few swirling embers around his body, however the newly acquired paralysis condition caused him to seize up and stumble. The totem once again took advantage of the situation to shoot another zap cannon that sent him tumbling into the side of the wall with a sickening crash.
"No!" Elio took off, sliding right by his fallen pokemon. He wasted no time to return him back and ready his next combatant. There would be time to offer words of encouragement later.
Jangmo'o was back out, but by the time he got ready to begin attacking; the totem was already reaching a critical energy state.
Elio had to act fast and he knew that Jangmo'o's smaller legs wouldn't be able to consistently keep up as he ran to the safe zone. So he did the first thing he could think of at the time.
Jangmo'o looked up at his savior with wide beady eyes as the two of them slid into the final safe zone. He caught his small pokemon looking up at him for guidance and gently rubbed the bottom of his chin.
"We'll figure something out right? We're in this together."
"Elio's got one final damage phase left before the totem vanishes again." Sophocles said nervously. "Is this my fault? Did I make it too hard?"
"Hey easy there Soffy." Molayne soothed next to him. "It's only the first time you've done it."
"I know, but if Professor Kukui finds out, I might lose my status as trial captain."
Lillie didn't know the exact rules of the island challenge, but from what Elio had told her; Captain Sophocles' was different with so many other variables integrated in. The timegated damage phases, the teamwork of both trainer and pokemon having to work together. It all seemed like a well thought out idea, but it seemed raw and lacking in things to fine tune it. She knew that Kukui was a stickler for making the island challenge difficult, but also safe and simple enough that anyone who put their minds to it could succeed.
If Elio failed…
No...he won't.
"I'll make sure."
Sophocles and Molayne blinked at her.
"Um...I'll make sure Professor Kukui doesn't punish you and revoke your status as captain."
"What makes you think that?" The smaller boy's expression brightened with a little glimmer of hope, but Lillie didn't want to make any promises just yet.
"You said Elio is your first trial goer?
"Well yes."
"He's gonna win. I know he will. And you won't worry about because Professor Kukui believes that he can. I believe he can."
"If he doesn't it's impossible."
"This is Elio we're talking about," Lillie ignored the redness growing in her cheeks as she spoke so highly of her crush. "He eats the impossible for breakfast."
"Okay, remember the plan and stick to it!" Elio knocked Jangmo'o on the top of his scaly head. "We're gonna win this yet!"
The totem had completed its wipe oblivion attack as it lowered the energy door protecting them.
Elio and Jangmo'o sprang into action; his pokemon using protect to shield himself from a hidden power attack before smashing his front legs into the ground in a bulldoze.
The ally pokemon this time around were all manectric. They stumbled and took serious damage with two falling, but the third had stayed on its feet, still going despite being hit hard.
Jangmo'o bulldozed him again, sending it out of the fight for good measure.
Alright, the batteries!
Elio stuck by his pokemon's side as he knelt down to grab them as he passed. The totem sensed another damage phase about to commence and launched more attacks from hidden power to charge beams. Jangmo'o proudly stood in front, deflecting the charge beams and used a protect again to stop a well aimed hidden power from hitting him. As an orb exploded nearby, Elio saw bits of frosty ice splash over the metal.
Oh wow, the hidden power is ice type! Bad news for Jangmo'o if he gets hit.
Within a few seconds, he had secured all three batteries, just waiting for the colored beams to activate and tell him which ones to use.
Orange first.
The totem fired another zap cannon as Elio took out Jangmo'o's poke ball to return him. He stopped, allowing his little dragon to proudly take the hit and brush it off with no effects at all.
What he didn't see was the follow up attack like it had done to knock out Torracat.
Jangmo'o made the mistake of looking back at Elio, expectant of praise when a spiral of hidden power orbs helixed towards him, slamming into his side with enough force to knock him down on all fours. He sprawled out on the ground, unmoving.
No. No time to stop. Not when I'm this close!
Now it was the final part of his plan. All he had to do was avoid more ranged attacks.
"Akela! This is it!"
The hard part of it was that he could only do one thing at a time, use his railgun or Z-ring which was the crucial part.
"Wait for it!" Akela bared his teeth, still able to move and dodge incoming attacks while paralyzed. His movement was slower, so it was only a matter of time before the totem got lucky...or smart enough.
"Wait for it."
He saw the vikavolt charge up a zap cannon inside its jaws.
"Now."
Elio dropped to one knee, using his right hand to insert the rockium-Z into the slot on his ring while he aimed with his left. His finger squeezed the trigger.
The railgun charged up and shot out the bolt towards the totem's orange prism.
All looked absolutely perfect, except for one thing.
The bolt was blue.
Oh crap.
It splattered uselessly against the glassy surface, draining away with no visible effect that it even did a thing.
The totem appeared to know it had another opportunity and fired back a salvo of retaliatory attacks. Energy balls and hidden powers arced gracefully above before sinking down towards their position.
The lycanroc growled as the paralysis slowed him down, but at the last moment, he finally regained control of his limbs and was able to leap out of the way. More explosions thundered around the floor, sprouting up where he once stood.
Elio felt the power of his Z-ring hum and tingle through his entire arm, realizing that he had been so focused on powering it up that he neglected to match the battery type with the totem's prism shield.
"Okay, now for the right one." He grabbed the orange battery, loading it in.
The window of his line of fire was short, as Akela had to dodge another volley of hidden power shots and the rapid movements and lights made it difficult to aim.
An idea quickly struck Elio. He sprinted forward, heading straight for
He squeezed the trigger, confident that he was going to correct his previous mistake. It must've worked because he heard the crashing sound of thunderbolts it made when it was in that vulnerable damage state.
"Bring forth the potential of your Z-Power Akela! Channel the strength of the tapu! Z-move unleash! Rock tomb into...Continental CRUSH!" Elio felt his throat burn raw as the glow from his ring intensified. He moved into Olivia's pose that she showed him, squatting down, flexing his biceps before spreading his legs apart and falling to a knee.
Made sure that hip movement did the trick!
Zenith energy erupted from the ring surrounding Akela in front. His eyes began to glow a bright red as he jumped up and became surrounded by thick sandy rocks that built themselves around his form like a cocoon.
The totem fired more thunderbolts that struck out like jagged fingers in a vain attempt to shatter or pierce the mass of rock. All it did was chip off small stones that clattered to the floor in loud metallic clangs.
Akela launched the massive boulder as hard as he could, falling down to the ground as the paralysis wreaked havoc on his limbs. He stood on all fours, watching and not willing to give in until he was satisfied that his foe was going to fall as well.
Continental Crush was a massive boulder that seemed to span the entire room, which Elio had no idea how it was able to fit. It cast an ominous shadow over even the big totem pokemon before gravity seemed to grab it and throw it down on the unfortunate victim. The rock slammed into the metal with a screeching noise that set Elio's teeth on edge before it rumbled again and shattered into millions of fragments and choking powder that permeated the air.
None of his time as a trainer could've prepared him for the oncoming wave of sandy rocks that rushed towards him with intense speed.
"Oh shi-"
The wall had spread out and hit him with enough force to knock him off his feet and send him into an uncontrollable tumble. Luckily, the suit he wore had protected his body from the coarse particles as they pelted his hard visor sounding as if it was being sprayed by a pressurized hose. The best thing he could do was pin himself against the wall and hope it settled down while covering his mask with his hands and pulling his knees up to his chest.
It seemed as if the onslaught of rushing sand would never end...until it did. The gusts petered out and he finally managed to wipe a dirty glove to clear the buildup around his visor.
Akela stood up slowly, still under the effects of the paralysis, but he growled lowly; his expression softening with relief at seeing his trainer okay.
Elio groaned, stumbling around for a moment before he finally fixated his eyes on something that fluttered where the totem once stood.
"No way,"
How? How did it survive?!
Akela bared his teeth, crouching down on all fours when he saw it too. Regardless of the pain and paralysis that he suffered, the will to fight was still within him.
The vikavolt seemed unperturbed by their defiance, standing completely still aside from its wings creating waves that broke up clumps of the thick dust that hung in the air. Up above, the lights cut solid beams down onto the ground, swirling with tiny particles.
His wolf pokemon stood proudly and curled his paw into a fist before hitting his own chest.
Elio's heart leapt when he saw the vikavolt stiffen.
And then it began to fall.
The totem spiraled out of the air like a crashing helicopter, slamming into the sandy floor with a massive thud on its back. The noise of its wings beating whined down as if it were a machine powering down after landing. Its limbs stiffened and body relaxed.
"Is it?"
"And the defeat izzz confirmed! Bzzt!" Rotom buzzed with a hint of static in Elio's audiopiece. "The totem pokemon izzzz out for the count! Elio hazzz defeated the trial!"
Up in the observation deck; all three were speechless.
Sophocles' jaw hung open in disbelief while Molayne smiled to himself while shaking his head.
"I can't believe he did it."
Neither of them initially noticed Lillie, who was initially frightened at the sandstorm, but that quickly disappeared into something more joyous as she let out a loud cheering yell that neither of the men expected.
"Yes! Yes! YESSSSSSSS!" She was grinning happily while practically bouncing around off the walls. "He actually did it! Elio beat the trial! I knew he would do it!"
"Wow." Sophocles was amazed at the display from the normally quiet girl. "She never lost faith."
"No...she didn't."
It took ten minutes for Elio to finally decompress and pull the parts of the suit off his body. As he activated the release, bits of sand that had gotten into tight open spaces dripped out as if he stepped from a sand shower. His face was covered in beads of sweat and even more grains ended up being brushed out of his hair as he ran his hand through.
I hate sand like this,
"Well lookie here! Bzzt!" Rotom was the first to greet him. "Our prodigal trainer returnzzz! Victoriouzzzz I might add!"
"That was...amazing." Sophocles breathed. "I can't believe it worked and all that!"
"Wasn't easy," Elio knelt down to scratch Akela's mane. "Yeah I know, we'll get you healed up as quick as we can okay?" The wolf pokemon nodded and allowed himself to be returned back to his poke ball.
"Excellent work Soffy." Molayne used the captain's affectionate name. "You helped Elio here through the trial and your experiment was a success! It seemed that you may need to tweak the trial mechanics a little bit, if we can get some assistance from all the electrike and manectric, we should be able to make some improvements."
"Thanks Big Mo. I...just wish that I got it right the first time and all that."
"Hey," Elio put up his hands. "That's what it's all about. We look at what we can improve and then go out to do it. I'll take steady progress over perfection any day."
"We'll figure it out for sure." Sophocles said before he reached into his pocket. "Here. This is for you as proof you've cleared the electric type trial!"
"Aww yes!" Elio let the golden yellow crystal fall into his hands while spinning around and holding it skyward. "Trial is complete!"
No sooner had he struck his little pose when he heard a loud squeal and subsequently almost knocked over by a flying Lillie. She excitedly threw her arms around him and squeezed tightly enough for him to practically gasp for a breath.
"You did it! I can't believe you did it!"
"I know right?!" He joined in on her enthusiasm. "It was amazing!"
Lillie beamed at him. "You're amazing!"
"Pew!" They heard Nebby coo from her duffel. The zipper opened and it peered out, waving its little blue could appendages in excitement.
"Oh wow." Molayne crossed over and knelt beside it. "That's quite the interesting creature."
Sophocles was showing Elio the pose meanwhile; throwing his arms into an "X" then weaving them around as if channeling electric currents before striking it opposite ends of one another.
"Yeah. Nebby's a strange pokemon. It came from Ultra Space and I've tried not to draw so much attention, but it's all to get it back home."
"Our lips are sealed." He said with Sophocles nodding in agreement. "You said it came from Ultra Space? How?"
"I...I found it." She lied, "Nebby was lying on the beach and I covered it in this bag, so nobody would take it away."
"If it was on the beach,"
"Then that could mean it dropped out of an anomaly Ultra Wormhole Professor Burnet was talking about!" He turned back to Sophocles. "I've got some new theories and ideas we need to put to the test!"
The trial captain smiled. "I'll get everything ready! Elio, congratulations on clearing the trial. I'll tweak it around so it's not so confusing the next time someone has to take it! How about we have a battle sometime?"
"I'll hold you to that." Sun said, shaking hands.
"Before you go," Molayne gave Elio a rather familiar object. A multicolored mask was pressed into his hands.
Isn't this for the Masked Royal?
"Yeah...I've got a favor to ask of you. Professor Kukui forgot this."
Why did Kukui forget the Masked Royal's mask? Is he like in charge of the guy's wardrobe?
"He said he wanted to meet you back at Malie Garden. So could you take it to him?"
"Um...yes." Elio nodded obediently. "Yes I can."
I have so many questions.
The two of them bid farewell to the others as they rushed to get something else done thanks to the little tidbit of information Lillie had given them.
"They seemed like an interesting pair." She said as they were exiting the observatory. Instead of going to the bus stop, they headed towards the pokemon center with the intention of giving Elio's party healed up.
"I know. But they're both dedicated. I like that."
"Me too. So you have any plans for the rest of the day?"
"Eh...I don't care. Maybe enjoy the view up here a little bit," Elio gave her a blush-inducing wink. "Then maybe head back down to Malie City. The Festivus is tomorrow and we did promise to go. Maybe we'll meet Brady again."
"Nice."
"Actually, what do YOU want to do?"
"I don't know." She shrugged. "I've always really been told where to go and what to do all the time. I don't even know where I'm going half the time."
"At least you're better than Leon from Galar." Elio joked, referring to the faraway region's unbeatable champion who was famously awful at following navigational directions. It caused Lillie to laugh out loud.
"No I'm not THAT bad."
"No you're not."
Her face sunk. "But I've never really had the freedom for all of this and now that I do...I don't know what or where to do anything. It's like I've been thrust right into all of this without a say."
"What do you mean?"
"It's like I've been told to go and be an adult without instructions."
Elio stopped and put a hand on her shoulder. "Lillie...being an adult is something you can't delay. It's going to happen...in a couple of years for us too. Eighteen is going to come faster than we think. We won't be able to postpone the inevitable, no matter what we try to convince ourselves otherwise."
"I know."
"Mom's already told me some of the joys of being eighteen. Stuff like having to file taxes, scheduling your own doctors and dentists appointments. Sometimes people have a hard time transitioning from seventeen to eighteen when they're thrust into it. Hell, one more year after us being eighteen and we'll be able to legally marry." He didn't seem to notice Lillie's blush when he mentioned marriage. "The best thing we can do is start practicing being an adult now. We don't have to go straight into it, but making and following through with decisions is excellent practice and gives maturity points."
He took his hand off her as they entered the pokemon center. She remained quiet as he handed over his party to the receptionist and was told that it would be a quick fix and only take a few minutes.
"So...what would you like to do?" He asked her as they sat down in the waiting area.
"Well...I'd like to go back to Malie City for the Festivus. And maybe we can check out a restaurant at the Wo Fat district! I hear they have amazing sushi and Johtoan food there!"
"They do!" Elio smiled. "How about we find a place? I did just get a text from Kukui too. He wants us to meet him at the Garden when we get back."
"Then I suppose we can't do much adult decision making with plans already being made for us."
"Nope. But don't worry. Once we are of age, there will be plenty of time for that."
And that's a wrap! I'm truly excited for what we have coming next!
As always, mahalo for reading and reviewing. You give my writing purpose.
Brav