Alola readers! Brav is back with a much anticipated chapter. I've been waiting for a long time to get this one done and it's finally happening. The showdown with Guzma is here!

As I said in the previous chapter, the rating has now been upped to M. Though these next few chapters will likely be the only ones being M rated as once I finish this and go to Poni Island to round the story out,

Elio couldn't waste time.

Neither could Hau.

Yet every time they tried to move forward after defeating a pair of Skull grunts, it seemed like there was another pair just a ways down the path.

Gladion was quick to challenge Guzma, who was more than happy to indulge him. The enforcer's pokemon were putting up a fight, but even at a distance and engaging with Guzma's men, Elio could tell that he was outmatched. Gladion's frustration was starting to build when a loud booming sound of white pin missiles streaked across the sky, exploding in midair and causing his golbat to plummet back to the concrete.

"So was the Foundation really working with Team Skull all along?" Hau asked as they jogged along the path. "That's like…way too super mind blowing to think about!"

"If they are, then it's even more crazy how long Lillie was under their radar." Elio didn't really want to comprehend how it had felt for her during that entire time. Team Skull, he could understand wanting to avoid. Rambunctious, no respect for order or authorities, but he found a portion of them were just misfits that didn't really integrate into society or seen as rejects. Some got dealt a bad hand. He wasn't sure why, but he felt compelled to at least give something back to help the ones that deserved a second chance at redemption. That was a matter that could be addressed once things got resolved.

Crazy how the ideals of Kahuna Encarnacion were the basis of this group.

Then there were the truly violent ones, ex-cons who were more than willing to hurt other people for their own selfish gains.

Like the one who attacked Lillie and tried to…

I don't think I was more scared for her than then.

Those were the ones he wanted put away. How Guzma let a guy like that in his group that was beyond him. Despite the man's issues, Elio still had a small shred of belief that he had a sense of honor and something like that wouldn't be tolerated in his ranks.

"Yo yo numskull!" By now there was one grunt that stood in his way between him and the ongoing rout. "Pretty strong aren't ya? Not me. I ain't gonna fight no battles I can't go winnin'! Well you're right on the front seat for another one of the boss' good ol' fashioned beatdowns!"

Elio slipped past him and stood just a little behind Gladion, trying to silently will him to at least win.

Null fought ferociously for his trainer, but it was clear that Guzma and Cicindel still had the upper hand. The huge bug brandished its liquidation swords in one hand, using its free one to block Null's crush claw and shove it away.

"Come on Null!" Gladion shouted. "We can do this!"

"Do this? HA!" Guzma laughed out loud, throwing his head back. "If ya beat Cicindel and that's a big gigantic IF, you'll still have to go through four more of my pokemon!"

"I don't care. I'll beat them all if I have to."

Elio had to give Gladion some credit and respect for that type of grit.

Guy fights to the last bullet.

Null righted itself, growling softly and then rushing forward with its bladed head lowered in a take down. Cicindel was actually caught off guard initially, struck in the midsection and buckled under the other pokemon's heavier weight.

Gladion issued another command, but stopped as the golisopod once again shoved Null off it, rearing its arm back to form the long liquidation blades again.

"Null the swords!" His pokemon tried to disengage as Cicindel spun them like a buzzsaw at a speed that made Elio pale.

Holy shit.

The blades hit the ground, throwing up sparks and chips of concrete which pelted Null just enough to cringe slightly. Cicindel went on the offensive, lunging forward with its spare claw glowing with noxious purple energy. The poison jab struck the strange pokemon in the ribs and Null gave an agonizing cry. The armor clanked as it fell backwards, stumbling as a toxic film caused it to shiver. Being poisoned sapped their strength.

"It's only a matter of time before I bleed you dry." Guzma flashed him a taunting smile. "Another reminder of ya boi Guzma superiority!"

"I'm not giving up yet!"

"You're done kid." The Skull boss waved a dismissive hand as their pokemon clashed again. "You want me to finish it for good this time? Fine by me. Pin missile."

Cicindel quickly obeyed, planting its claws on the ground and opening its rear armor plating. Elio heard the popping noise and saw a literal swarm of the thin white rockets trailing through the air before they locked onto their target and accelerated with lethal speed.

He gulped, it was the most he'd ever seen.

Null barely got back on its feet when the furious salvo hit it from all directions, the noise of the explosions drowning out Gladion's cry of protest as it kicked up dirt and dust that obscured the entire area.

"No!" Gladion charged straight in as soon as it ended. Null laid on its side, covered in scuffs and bruises along its armor. He did see it move from breathing which gave him a bit of relief that it was still alive.

"I'm sorry…I'm still not strong enough." He whispered. "I'm so sorry Null. All that time of struggling alone…it was for nothing?"

The pokemon groaned at that, weakly moving its head to nuzzle its trainer.

That familiar ember of anger started to return and this time it refused to be snuffed out.

We're beating his ass this time.

"And you'll never be." Guzma's smug aura was ever so mocking and despite Gladion's anger, he was powerless to do anything about it this time.

"Oh look who's here to the party," Gladion turned around, gasping at Elio's approach. "I did this spoiled little brat a favor and crushed him! Yeah all me baby! Y'know kid, ya got some stones to run away from home like that, thinking you'll get stronger! I'll give ya that. Ya just barked up the wrong tree."

Gladion glared at him.

"Going so far as joining Team Skull! And even rejecting your own mother!"

"Guzma stop!" Gladion shouted. "I don't care about getting stronger right now! You don't know my mother like I do!"

Guzma spat on the floor, the same habit that seemed to tick everyone off. "There's nothing to be made of that. You lost. Now go and sulk like you always do. Just remember that nobody here beats you down quite like big bad Guzma here!"

His eyes shifted over to Elio and that same smirk returned.

"And now it's your turn? Dang, if I knew that I was gettin' all my duckletts in a row I woulda brought out da red carpet!"

His dark eyes met Elio's grey. The stare was piercing, but unlike the uncertainty of the last two times they had met, Sun refused to give in. He wasn't here for formalities. It was all business.

"You're in my way Guzma. Let us through."

"Ha!" Guzma spat on the ground again. "What makes you think I'm going to yield to a kid that's zero for two. Ya still got that nerve."

I guess I have that effect on people.

He saw the boy's hand go down to his poke ball.

"Ya annoyin' kids keep getting in my grill like some smoke. Fine by me if ya don't wanna just give up. 'Bout time I put the fire out at this source!"

With no further words to be spoken, both trainers drew their poke balls and threw their pokemon onto the field. Elio bristled at the gigantic size of Cicindel, but he remained poised as he sent out Kamua. The ninetales stared her opponent down coolly. She was a pokemon Guzma had yet to face on Elio's team, so he was hoping that added an edge of unpredictability.

Speaking of being predictable.

"Use first impression."

Cicindel practically vanished, lunging at blinding speed. Kamua only had a split second to brace herself for a head-on attack. Except he struck at her side. She tumbled with a yelp of pain, staggering to her feet a lot slower than Elio expected. While he didn't expect a dodge out of the first impression, he had assumed that Kamua's fairy typing would help reduce some of the damage she'd receive.

Apparently he was wrong.

Guzma went back on the offensive as Cicindel formed its twin liquidation swords and charged forward.

"Use hail." Kamua fired a small orb of ice energy into the air, which exploded into a blanket of fine clouds. Within moments, small stones of ice began to freely fall from the sky. Cicindel was pelted instantly, many of them splintering or deflecting on its heavy chitinous armor. The rattle tapping noise sounded as if it was being hit by bullets from multiple automatic firearms.

Despite its armored exoskeleton, Cicindel wasn't entirely protected from the onslaught of the elements. Some hit the exposed joins and it flinched. More so than normal.

Elio hadn't told anyone yet, but he had thought of a concept when Kamua was just a vulpix of using a combo of ice shard and hail to make some of the falling hailstones have a sharp pointed edge. Though it tended to be smaller, the faster velocity and conical shape meant that damage on a pokemon would be much more than normal and he was pretty sure that it would hit Cicindel's weak points very quickly.

The hail had another effect too, shrouding the ninetales' location from its snow cloak ability.

He had her fire a moonblast, using the snow cloak to keep her concealed. From Guzma's perspective it came straight out of nowhere, giving Cicindel barely enough time to reflexively bring up a gauntleted arm to take the brunt of the attack. The next one it had casually deflected, but the third one was fired just as more of the sharp hail pelted another vulnerable spot and the flinch caused the giant bug to lower its guard, causing Kamua's moonblast to score a direct hit.

Guzma gritted his teeth in frustration, but his pokemon nodded in confidence that he could handle it.

The liquidation blades were brought back out, but this time Cicindel spun them at an angle above its head. Elio immediately saw the genius behind that, especially after having not fought against his type of hail until just now. Both rotating blades blocked the majority of the hailstones, leaving less visible flinches and opportunities to attack.

"Aurora veil." Elio wasn't sure when he'd have another chance to strike again, but at least using that in the hailstorm meant he'd have some defensive help of his own. Kamua cast a ribbonlike barrier similar to the reflect he had faced earlier.

Kamua kept to the shroud of hail falling down, continuing to shoot moonblasts from her concealed position. Cicindel kept its head on a swivel, using its free claw to deflect any that happened to hit close by.

Guzma's stalling until the hail lifts up. I need to force him to attack.

"Powder snow! Aim for those swords!"

From the shroud, Kamua exhaled a breath, spraying a barrage of fine snow crystals. While it didn't do much in terms of damage, it did exactly what he had hoped. Froze the blades solid. Now much heavier and unwieldy, the liquidation swords fell away to expose Cicindel to the hailstorm onslaught.

Elio wasted no time going on the offensive, having his pokemon launch a series of moonblasts. Cicindel managed to avoid and deflect a couple before the hail got to it again and its flinch stalled it long enough to score yet another hit.

Guzma growled in frustration. His pokemon was durable, but even he knew that he was being pushed on the ropes.

Cicindel drew its arms back, showing dark water edges on its gauntlets and charged forward. The sudden deviation from its normal behavior caught Elio and Kamua off guard as it went towards where she had fired her last moonblast. Even worse was that her pattern was predictable enough that it managed to figure out her location. The large bug slashed down and Kamua was hit. No sooner did it finish the blow when it activated its liquidation swords again and delivered another strike that took her out.

Woah. Elio tried not to feel the nausea creeping up on him, but it was inevitable. His four to Guzma's five. There was no Quria for this one.

"Look familiar?" Guzma taunted from the other side.

"Hardly. I'm surprised you're being civil."

"Times change."

Elio didn't answer that, instead fielding Nani. Once she took the field, she too was flinching from the sharp hailstones that pelted down. The playing field was even and now she too, was vulnerable to the elements.

The blades spun again as Cicindel vaulted over rotating them at that insane pace and swinging it dangerously close. Nani didn't seem fazed by it and formed her own blade with her sharp tail fins. The iron tail clanged off the liquidation as the two combatants locked blades in a struggle to overpower the other.

Guzma's smirk returned.

So did Elio's.

"Attract."

In their blade lock, Nani winked one of her eyes, splashing a pink heart shaped wave that passed between them. The gait of hostility in Cicindel waned before the liquidation swords dissolved and it cocked its head staring in endearment at the milotic.

"Gah! That's not fair!" Guzma shouted.

When have you ever played fair?

Nani wasted no time as soon as her foe lost the will to fight and fired an extremely powerful dragon pulse. Like her usual technique, it was a large green and white orb that exploded on contact. Cicindel was thrown to the ground before the detonation imploded in twice and exploded again to deal much more damage than a regular one. To Elio's shock, the golisopod kept standing and barely looked tired as if his milotic's most powerful attack had barely scratched its smooth diamond armor.

Cicindel hissed and suddenly vanished, going into the poke ball in Guzma's hand. The boss himself gave a flippant shrug. "Guess he wasn't impressed."

"I call bullshit."

"Call it whatever ya want." Another pokemon was thrown out, this one another that Elio didn't recognize. It was globular in shape, two beady eyes staring out of a seam in a chitinous shell. Four long hollow red protuberances stuck out in different directions along its shell.

Forretress. He scanned it with his idle Rotom Dex. Bagworm pokemon. Bug and steel type. The shell opens with incredible speed that nobody has ever seen the inside when it devours its prey. This pokemon shoots out bits of its shell out of the barrels on the side of its body.

He'd have to expect ranged attacks. One benefit was that the hailstorm had weakened and disappeared.

"Nani, attract it."

She did as requested, winking her eye and surrounding the other pokemon with the pinkish aura. However this time, he didn't see the letdown of its guard and it instead spun on its shell to cast a field of spikes across his end.

How could it? He stopped. Oh great. It's female. Attract won't work.

Nani didn't let the failed attract stop her from acting on her own initiative. The forretress levitated just slightly off the ground and spun its large cannon appendages. As it rotated towards Nani, the front two began to glow and it fired a ball of glowing electricity.

Oh shit! That's zap cannon!

She was quick to avoid it, slithering up and over to let it pass harmlessly by and fired a scald. Forretress' defensive properties seemed much better, but it also meant it would be sacrificing speed. The scald scored a hit despite the spinning seeming to deflect some of the blow.

"Smoothbore, double-edge."

Now it had stopped spinning and hovered forward, rushing to deliver a powerful slam. Nani attempted to dodge, however her quicker speed worked out of favor as she dove left just a hair too early. Smoothbore adjusted her course and hit Nani, causing the two to tumble back. The bagworm pokemon was quick to get back up.

"Nani, scald again!" Elio cried. She gathered more water in her mouth, ready to hose her target. Instead of a boiling hot stream, she sprayed a massive blast that completely overpowered the forretress, lifting the heavy pokemon up and the immense pressure causing a considerable amount of damage.

Hydro pump. Elio couldn't help his pride and amazement. One of the most powerful water type moves out there.

"Again! Hydro pump!"

"Smoothbore, zap cannon!" The two pokemon launched their attacks at the same time and Elio realized a heartbeat later that he was going to be at a massive disadvantage.

The zap cannon was on course to collide with the hydro pump that had been aimed to lead Smoothbore's lateral movement as it attempted to thread the move. When the electrifying orb hit the start of the water, it met a bit of resistance before slipping through like a sleeve. Conducting electricity the zap cannon shot began to move through even faster. It struck Nani well before her hydro pump even reached its target. She crumpled to the ground, twitching from the jolts of electricity arcing across her body.

Smoothbore wasn't able to spin or dodge in time. The huge spray of water sent the heavy pokemon hurtling backwards, rolling to a stop at Guzma's feet.

He spat on the concrete again. "Ya gettin' lucky kid. You'll pay for that."

"Try me."

Elio got a glowering look in return, but Guzma was all business in throwing out his next pokemon. He recognized the hard brown shell with vicious pincers and its violent disposition.

He was down to three pokemon, while Guzma still had four.

His next pokemon was Hakamo'o, who clanged his scale gauntlets together. Miedo seemed unfazed and launched straight into action, sprinting forward and diving headfirst with the barbed pincers. Rather than avoid like he had always tried to tell him, the dragon met the attack head on, throwing up a protect barrier. The pinsir was strong, but the protect had easily held and once it had bounced off like rubber, Hakamo'o lunged forward to slam a devastating iron head.

Elio was impressed at his dragon's bravery, especially at the battle against Nanu where he fearlessly faced down the pangoro that was several times larger than himself. Hakamo'o's own spirit didn't change even with Miedo being a physically stronger pokemon.

The two combatants circled one another, Hakamo'o countering his foe's movements. Miedo's body structure kept it low to the ground and like its species, favored grappling where it could use its heavier weight and pincers to its advantage.

"Submission." Miedo broke the trance and dove forward again. Hakamo'o tried to put up another protect, but the pinsir was faster this time around, diving low. The barbed pincers wrapped around Hakamo'o's legs, toppling him to the ground. In a flash, Miedo had loosened his grip and adjusted his posture so that he used his long chitinous arms to keep Hakamo'o pinned between himself and the ground.

Guzma pointed, flashing a malicious grin. "Vital throw."

Like a wrestler, Miedo lifted itself off Hakamo'o, freeing its arms. The dragon seized the moment, grabbing part of the concrete to pull himself away. Miedo stayed on top, grabbing his back ankle and viciously tossing him into the ground. Elio flinched at the sharp crack when Hakamo'o's armored scales hit the hard floor, but the dragon had climbed back up pounding its breastplate with its fists in fierce defiance.

"Use superpower. And stay down this time!"

Elio saw that Miedo was already building up his attack, knowing it could launch at any second he figure that Hakamo'o didn't have enough time to bring protect back up.

The pinsir lunged again, sticklike arms outstretched into glowing claws, faster than he ever expected one to move.

"Bulldoze!" Elio cried.

Hakamo'o stomped the ground with his foot, sending a tremor shockwave cascading outward. Miedo ran straight into it, suffering little initial damage, but the blue flare energy around his body falling down indicated a slight drop in his overall speed. It was just enough for him to laterally sidestep with the claws just grazing a section of the scale armor that sounded like screeching metal that set his teeth on edge.

Neither combatant was done yet. Elio had started to notice that Guzma's tactics still remained that brutal edge, but now he was on more of an offense compared to Cicindel and Smoothbore's more defensive properties.

Makes sense considering how aggressive a pinsir is.

Miedo started running forward again, arms crossed together for an X-scissor.

Hold on a second, he closes the distance and then does a double move with vital throw.

Hakamo'o stamped his ground in yet another bulldoze. This one didn't do much more damage than the first, but the slowing effect was starting to be much more noticeable. The pinsir staggered even after the weak quake had subsided. It was getting shaky.

Hakamo'o glanced back at his trainer for guidance.

"Trust me buddy."

Guzma spat and scoffed. "Trust? You're nuts kid."

So you think.

The dragon's eyes shut in anticipation of the hit as Miedo wrapped around and violently shoved him into the ground.

"Vital throw again!"

Another superpower incoming.

Hakamo'o winced from the pain, but was able to deftly spike the ground to somewhat stem his momentum from hurting too much. He landed headfirst into the concrete, rolling onto his feet just as Miedo launched itself forward from charging its superpower.

Elio gasped in disbelief that it was able to get it started in such a short time. There wasn't time to throw up another protect.

But he shouted it anyway.

Hakamo'o was only able to get one hand up.

It was enough.

Like being hit with a psychic attack from the dragon's gauntlet, Miedo was suddenly flung to the ground as the weaker, but still effective protect had actually deflected the attack since it was positioned at a sloped angle.

Hold up, what just happened?

Elio didn't really have much time to think about it and continued the battle. He'd experiment with that type of thing later. Hakamo'o slammed the ground in one more bulldoze, knocking Miedo back to the ground.

"Iron head!"

He ran forward, lowering his head as the pinsir was slowly starting to stagger back onto its feet. Hakamo'o's hit caused it to spin around, landing face first into the concrete.

Guzma's eye twitched as he returned his pokemon. "You're gonna pay for that."

Elio said nothing and didn't think much of it.

You running out of stuff to say.

He decided to keep Hakamo'o in as Guzma threw in a small white butterfly pokemon that he hadn't seen before. Its most distinctive feature was a pair of antennae that resembled angry red eyes. Like earlier; he wasn't going to get much of an information dump before they went right into action. But he did see the stat flash as an intimidate slightly lowered his attack.

Masquerain. Eye pokemon. It uses the eye-like appearance on its antennae to intimidate predators. If that fails, it makes a deft escape on its small four wings which allow it to fly omnidirectionally. Masquerain is a bug and flying type.

Guzma was probably disappointed that the ability didn't make Elio think twice about going further. He glowered at him as he finally stood up, having squat down to watch the fight from a lower position.

"Why don't you stop wasting my time and give this up?"

"Not a chance." Elio didn't miss a beat. "I'll fight until my last pokemon."

He knew Guzma was going to do the same. Though he'd never admit it out loud, but the Skull boss did have a shred of respect for this boy who had yet to waver.

Yet.

"Mardo, show him the error of his ways." Guzma's eyes went wide and his brow furrowed. "Bubblebeam!" His masquerain hovered up, rapidly beating the small wings on its side as it launched several bubbles in a stream with extremely fast velocity. Hakamo'o only had enough time to bring his gauntlet hands in front to form an X as they popped and splashed all over. The noise of it all sounded like gunfire ricocheting off an armored plate. Mardo halted the attack, spinning around and shooting an energy ball. This time around, Hakamo'o didn't even bother protecting himself, letting the glowing orb strike him dead center. It shimmered, exploding a green aura everywhere as Mardo flew closer for a look.

With a snarl, Hakamo'o lunged out from the obscure center, slashing upwards with a dragon claw. Mardo cried out and spun around in midair before righting itself just before it hit the ground.

"Of course," Guzma muttered to himself. "Should've known it was fuckin bulletproof."

The edge of his lip curled in a smile. Elio would never see this one coming.

"Ice beam!"

He was certainly right in seeing the boy's expression turn white with dreadful surprise. Mardo charged the attack and was quick to shoot it off at almost a point blank range while still airborne.

"Quick protect it!" Elio cried. Like the last time, he wasn't sure if Hakamo'o was going to be able to pull it off. The ice beam went too fast. Luckily, the gauntlet snapped up, creating a smaller, weaker protect barrier that could be activated in a fraction of the time it took him for the full bubble dome. Just the brief repulse caused the ice beam to bounce right off, hitting the small pokemon in midair.

"WHAT?!" Guzma shouted in disbelief as the masquerain entered into another tailspin, plummeting towards the ground.

"Iron head! Finish it off!" Hakamo'o landed on the ground, taking off on a sprint and jumping headfirst to meet the eye pokemon. His timing was spot on, scoring a hit and knocking Guzma's third pokemon out.

The Skull boss slammed a fist onto the ground. "Hey, what's the problem? How come I can't crush ya?!"

That's it. I'm getting to his head.

As much as he wanted to do what it took to gain victory, Guzma looked to know that breaking the rules here wouldn't do him much good. He had two pokemon left and now the annoying kid had three.

"I'm gonna make you regret stepping here and crossing Team Skull."

Elio almost laughed, in full realization that Guzma's words just were slight variations every time.

"Keep saying that and I'll start thinking you might actually like me."

"Not a chance in hell."

Yeah keep telling it to yourself.

He recalled Hakamo'o, knowing the protect would fare well against Cicindel's pin missile and other heavy attacks. Akela was his next choice, landing on its feet and staring across at Ananzi the ariados, Guzma's number two pokemon.

Be careful buddy. We may have the type advantage, but that ariados has more than one trick up its sleeve.

Akela launched into his attack, punching the ground to cause a wave of boulders to accelerate across the field. Ananzi jumped over, spitting a thread on the ground to reel itself forward while using its frontal legs in a lunge attack. The wolf pokemon was hit and staggered back, but didn't fall. Sun nearly gasped in surprise at the strike's power.

"Counter!"

Akela's eyes opened again and he twisted around, using his paw to slam into the ariados' side with the damage he had been dealt earlier now doubled. Ananzi skidded back, digging its legs into the ground to stop his momentum and used its mouth again to fire more threads, this time aimed at Elio's pokemon.

"Look out!" The warning was meaningless, but Elio found himself saying it anyway. Akela moved to the side, jumping over a thread that would've snagged him. All that missed were cut from the attacker's mandibles. Ananzi's structure on its back glowed and it fired a pin missile backwards.

Wait, why did it do that? The fact that Guzma's grin was coming back meant that he was definitely up to something.

"Move in for a crunch." Akela looked puzzled, but did as his trainer ordered, dodging more threads coming his way before baring his outstretched fangs.

The spider pokemon was surprisingly nimble, using its long legs to execute burst dodging as Akela jumped into the fray. It was also using its thread spit to latch onto something and reel itself as if it were a grappling wire. No sooner had it did that when Elio realized he had been funneled into a trap. The two pin missiles had now curved on its own trajectories, approaching rapidly and splitting into several smaller needles.

Akela saw this too and moved to run, but was suddenly stuck in place as Ananzi spit another spray of threads that snagged onto his leg and front paws. In a flash, the spider twisted its body, moving the threads that toppled him over like a downed puppet, dragging across the concrete. The cluster of pins exploded around Akela and he disappeared in a cloud of dust.

Guzma threw him a taunting smile again. "Ooh! Now that gotta hurt real bad! Ya like it?!"

Elio's jaw tightened and he wanted nothing more than to throw it right back.

But he held his tongue. Akela's growls as the smoke cleared and the werewolf stumbling back onto his feet told him his longtime partner wasn't quite yet done.

Ananzi had circled around to the backside and as Akela whirled around to face him, it fired another pair of threads. This time they easily stuck to his sides and were coated with a purplish venom that spread rapidly across and coating his body. He snarled in pain, glaring at his foe.

Oh damn, poisoned.

Hold on.

"Grab the toxic thread and pull as hard as you can!" Before Guzma could issue another command to stop that himself, Akela bared his fangs in an equally menacing grin, snaring the toxic thread with his paws and sharply yanking. Ananzi was caught off guard that it hadn't realized that cutting it with its own mandibles would've prevented the surprise from working and bounced on the concrete as Akela used the momentum to deliver another crunch. He violently tossed the spider away and smashed the ground with his fists, rumbling another wave of rock slide that hammered away, knocking it out. The whole thing took ten seconds.

"H-how?! I had you on the ropes for fuck's sake!" Guzma shouted and stomped his foot. "That's the same motherfuckin' thing that bitch Kukui did!"

Hold on a second, Kukui did that before?

It wasn't like Elio had beat Ananzi that handily though. Akela flinched as the poison film on his body whittled yet another bit of his strength, so he knew that he couldn't leave him in the fight for long. He knew Guzma's final pokemon, the one that had given him such a headache and had still yet to beat.

Strongside's poke ball twitched on his hip, anticipating another rematch to settle it for all.

Not yet.

Would his three pokemon be enough?

"Get ready for some more destruction." Guzma brought Cicindel back out who immediately stared down at Akela with its usual disinterested look.

Here it comes.

"Use first impression,"

Cicindel vanished, reappearing a second later and slashing at Akela with his enormous claws. The wolf yelped, kneeling over on the ground as the poison continued its corrosive work.

"Use counter Akela!" Surely he hoped with all that power in the opening move would be enough to deal significant damage doubled, if not knock it out outright. Cicindel jumped back as Akela was quick to recover and retaliate with his glowing paws. Amazingly, the golisopod still stood and moved as if it had suffered close to no damage despite being hit with a move that was twice the power of its first impression.

What is this thing made of?

Anticipating another pin missile, Elio had Akela summon another rock slide. At the same time, Cicindel planted its clawed arms into the ground and opened its rear armor to shoot another salvo. The rocks tumbled and rolled, some jumping up that managed to block some of the lower flying pin missiles that arced in the air.

Akela dove to the ground, staying on all fours as they crashed into the floor. Cicindel remained squat, still firing several in the back as he moved to get a better angle. He summoned another rock slide, this one coming at a different direction. While the attack didn't necessarily do damage, it forced Cicindel to stop the missile barrage and use razor shell to cut away several of the bigger ones that were nearly there to crush it.

The poison wracked him once more and Guzma used the chance to his full advantage. Cicindel jumped forward without warning, slashing the razor shell across the front in a blindingly quick move that Akela stood on his legs for just a second before he collapsed in a heap.

Dammit, Cicindel's been dealt a lot of damage and it's still as dangerous as ever.

"Hakamo'o, let's do this!" As soon as he threw his pokemon out, the battle had already begun. Cicindel flashed its claws and formed the twin liquidation swords again, casually rotating it behind its armored forearm.

"I've been looking forward to beating this stupid dragon down again." Guzma chuckled darkly. "Show me what you got in the meantime."

Cicindel and Hakamo'o circled one another as the latter adjusted its own arm gauntlets, studying their foes movements. Elio hoped that Hakamo'o was going to exploit the weaknesses in the armor gaps like he had seen last time. On both occasions Torracat was just too underpowered in spite of his resilience to take full advantage to defeat him.

Cicindel moved first, swiping with a razor shell that Hakamo'o ducked, using the lower positioning to power a sky uppercut that threw its head back. As it moved with the razor shell to deliver another blow, he threw up a protect barrier and didn't bother to move for this one. Cicindel's arm glanced harmlessly off the bubble and as soon as it passed and overextended, Hakamo'o powered up a dragon claw slashing away at the exposed midsection. Cicindel immediately hissed in pain, using its other arm in a razor shell, but the protect was still up and the attack similarly bounced off.

Knowing that his protect was ending imminently, Hakamo'o raised an arm to parry another razor shell and moved close. Like with Torracat, his smaller frame and more nimble movements were a favorable mismatch. Another dragon claw raked across the hip area and now it was suddenly kneeling on the ground, still trying to hit back. Hakamo'o jumped away from the interior as Cicindel righted itself.

"Pin missile." Guzma said darkly. "Carpet bomb. Destroy everything."

The armor plates on the giant bug's back slid open once more and a huge barrage of missiles erupted out, crisscrossing the sides before slowing down. As they fell, they locked on his signature and began to pick up speed again.

"Now what will ya do kid? You can't outlast this."

He didn't have much of a choice.

"Hakamo'o, protect again. As long as you can!" He hoped that it was going to be enough.

The bubble was formed as the first of the barrage dove in for the kill. Hakamo'o remained calm as they exploded on the outside, creating sharp cracking noises and throwing up dust that was contrasted by the harsh glowing of the green protect and the white popping of the pin missiles.

Cicindel kept shooting them into the air and Elio found himself starting to cover his hears. Behind him, he was pretty sure Gladion was doing the same.

"Ya can't win! Give up now! I know you got your Torracat left, so spare him the pain!"

"I ain't sparing him anything! If he wants to fight, then he's getting one!" Elio was about to say that his first pokemon wasn't a Torracat anymore, but stopped himself. He has no idea it's evolved!

Through the choking dust, Elio spotted Hakamo'o still holding his own, but a closer look showed that he was straining to keep the protect up from the continuous bombardment which had no signs of waning.

"Hold on buddy! You got this!"

No more missiles were being launched, which suddenly made Elio both relieved and nervous. Cicindel was nowhere to be found either.

Where did it go?

His face went pale.

Oh no.

Through the dust clouds and obscured vision, Hakamo'o had been so fixated on keeping himself protected from the pin missiles, he had failed to notice that Cicindel had moved from his spot.

"Hakamo'o, stay alert!"

His warning proved fruitless. As the dragon turned around to try and locate Cicindel, the massive golisopod lunged from the cover of smoke, spinning its double bladed liquidation sword with terrifying speed. He brought up his shield gauntlet in time to deflect the first blow, which disrupted both combatants. With his free hand, he readied another dragon claw, seeing Cicindel fold its arms into its body and half roll, half slide back. As he approached, the arms sprung out and the legs folded out to let it stand and close the distance, blade in hand again.

Hakamo'o was backing up and the intensity of Cicindel's gaze sharpened as it closed in on the advantage. It swung the sword again, deflected by the gauntlet.

"More! Do not let up! Break it!" Guzma shouted.

The hiss was merciless as the larger pokemon swung its swords up, bringing it down for another strike. Then another. And another. And another.

Hakamo'o's eyes narrowed as it fiercely struggled to hold on. It wasn't able to get an attack of its own off due to how fast Cicindel was trying to hit it. The blade glanced off the gauntlets before one suddenly embedded itself partially in the sharp edge of the scale. Another strike caused it to bite a little deeper and Hakamo'o realized that before long, it was going to cleave straight through.

"Dragon claw at the stomach!" Elio cried. "Hurry!"

Hakamo'o gathered it in his arm that had blocked the majority of the blows while using his other to now block the liquidation onslaught. As he lunged and raked, the golisopod barely even flinched, swinging the twin swords up high and bringing them down. The blades bit harshly into the scale armor, causing an irritating grinding noise. With a savage hiss, Cicindel twisted the blades and spun them in three rapid strikes on the softer less protected backside of Hakamo'o to knock him out decisively.

Guzma's mocking laughter infuriated Elio, but he had to keep on going. He was too far down to turn back now.

"Ya see what ya fuckin' with kid? You can't fuckin' win! Your pokemon fight good, I'll give ya that, but this fight is over. Come at me when you can actually put up a fight with Cin here."

"You want a fight?!" Elio shot back. Just keep him talking. If he wants to use something as a distraction, then so be it.

"So where's that dumb little Z move ya saving up? I'm ready to shut it up real fast!"

"You know what, that's actually good by me. I'm good enough that I'll beat your sorry ass without using one."

Guzma just about rolled his eyes, probably having heard that before. "Nah, you'd disappoint Kukui if you did that. If only ya had a shitty childhood, then we could've been so formidable together."

"You don't know the half of it." Elio couldn't see Guzma on the other end from the dust, but he knew that Cicindel was prowling around in anticipation. Strongside's ball wiggled in his hand. They both knew what was next. "Who says I never did?"

He threw out his last pokemon. Strongside immediately bristled, sensing his rival and turned to his trainer.

"You got this. We couldn't think clearly last time. We couldn't see clearly last time. Now we can. Go show that overgrown insect that he fucked around and now gonna find out."

Strongside's grin turned dark and he vanished into the dust.

"I sense your Torracat's here for another beatdown." Guzma shouted, waving his hand to disperse some of the dust that hadn't yet settled. Cicindel furtively glanced around, activating its liquidation blades and holding them ready in hand.

No response from the other side.

"What are ya waiting for? He wants revenge? Here we are!"

The lack of any retort started to make him feel a little uneasy.

What is it going to take me to get into rattling this stupid kid's head?

Now that the dust was starting to dissipate in the middle, Guzma saw his pokemon's silhouette from the Paradise's illuminating lights. Another shape was barely visible, one that was much larger than his own pokemon with a wiry muscled frame and a long tail. The waist glowed orange with a bright flame.

Cicindel didn't see it move.

"Look out!"

Guzma's warning barely got out on time before Strongside roared loudly and lunged out of the dust, bright yellow eyes glowing and massive hammer arms wreathed in purple dark energy.

For the first time since it had evolved from a small wimpod, Guzma was fairly sure he saw an expression of fear flicker across his pokemon's face.

Cicindel had brought up its sword hand to barely block Strongside's attack in time and the two pokemon struggled to overpower the other. For a moment it looked like it was going to be a stalemate.

Then the incineroar swung its free hand with a snarl, directly underneath the sword arm and hitting the unprotected underbelly. Guzma couldn't hide the disbelief on his face as his pokemon weighing nearly three hundred pounds was effortlessly knocked back like a plastic chair. The clanks of its scale armor hitting the concrete caused him to wince.

The dust cleared enough to see that Torracat was no longer the brave four legged annoyance he had faced the last two times. Now standing nearly six and a half feet tall with thick ropey muscles, it was a much more formidable pokemon who bared his fangs and walked with an unshakeable confidence mixed with its own arrogant disposition.

Strongside stared at Guzma pointing two fingers at its own eyes and then rotating his hand towards him. The Skull boss' eye twitched in disbelief and anger.

It just taunted him. Dared him to make his pokemon take another shot.

He seethed in frustration as Cicindel started to move again. "Ya don't dare cross me like that and live to tell the tale! Ya want me to take a shot? I'll fuckin' do it!"

His smirk back, Cicindel jammed its forearm into the ground, providing a stable platform to fire. The kid would have no idea what's coming. His back armor parted and he launched a volley of pin missiles. This time, it had no need to go into the air and rain down like mortars. They directly sped straight into Strongside's advancing form, exploding on impact and causing another cloud of dust to obscure everything.

Thankfully this one cleared a lot quicker and Strongside sprinted out on all fours, looking unfazed by a point blank salvo. He jumped and angled his body in midair, lashing out with his leg in a dropkick. Cicindel's body jerked backwards and the trainers heard a loud snapping and a pained hiss noise, seeing that the blow had bent the stuck claw over backwards. Strongside landed and spun around, delivering a nasty hook kick that got Cicindel unstuck, but still writhing on the ground.

Guzma wanted to yell at his pokemon to get up as Strongside casually sauntered over, bending down to pick Cicindel up and dragged it to the middle of the concrete path. With a snarl, he threw it in the center, pacing from side to side as the golisopod began to stagger back onto its feet.

"No, this can't be!"

Cicindel's movements slowed, but they didn't cease. Strongside was just about to attack again when it suddenly sprang up, liquidation blades in its good hand. It spun them again rapidly, dashing forward to close the distance. Elio's pokemon was just a little too slow as it went low, hitting the super effective water attack just below the ribs. Strongside growled in annoyance, falling down to his knees, but he refused to be knocked down.

"What a waste." Guzma scoffed and spat again. "To think ya had me."

"Come on Strongside, get up!" Elio told him. "We can't lose this now!"

"But you're about to. Cin, do the honors."

Cicindel hissed menacingly, twirling the blades and jumping up, swinging it down in what would likely be the knockout hit.

At the very last moment, Strongside's head and arms snapped up and he caught the blades in a downward strike. Cicindel tried using a razor shell after the moment of surprise wore off, but realized the shell from the earlier kick had all but broken it off.

Strongside's grin widened as he thrust his hands down, throwing Cicindel into the concrete yet again. As the golisopod struggled to free itself, he launched a double kick, now using a roundhouse and a swinging hook thanks to his longer and more developed legs. The amount of counter struggles in Cicindel started to dwindle as the fatigue set in.

Strongside finally disengaged, stalking around slowly and waited just a couple more minutes when it was getting back up when he walked right back over, planting a foot firmly on Cicindel's back to stop it from escaping. He gathered energy in his mouth unleashed an earplitting overheat blast of white hot energy that struck the bug's rear armor shell at point blank. Elio staggered back himself, in awe at his pokemon's raw power. Cicindel's shell immediately was scorched and blackened, coupled with a crackling noise that even he believed there was definitely some excessive damage.

This was too much.

"Strongside. That's enough." Elio called to his pokemon. He looked back and growled in protest. "No!"

That got him a glowering look from him, but the incineroar finally relented and stepped off the charred form of his victim. There wasn't really a judge needed to declare Cicindel out of the fight and somehow Elio found a bit of pity. If his pokemon went too far, Cicindel might never battle again.

No more. It's done.

Guzma was silent, slowly falling forward and dropping to his knees, eyes straight at his pokemon that laid in a tangled mess of broken limbs and cracked armor shells. Cicindel had tried once more to rouse itself, but the limbs finally stopped moving and it had finally fainted. He stared at Strongside, who could only stare back in that same bitter hatred.

"No." Elio told him. "You're better than that."

The Skull boss watched as Strongside clasped his paws together and leaned his head on top, as if signifying that he had finally put his ace pokemon down.

"Return. Now." Elio recalled his pokemon. No way was he going to let it be a lousy winner, no matter how bitterly he hated his adversary.

"Ya…ya actually did that." His eyes narrowed as he stared at an apprehensive looking Elio. "Ya did that…that's borderline unforgivable."

"It is unforgivable. I even told you Guzma to stay out of my way. I didn't want to fight. I didn't want to hurt your pokemon like Strongside had done. You don't do well with heeding directions do you?"

Guzma spat out the bitter taste in his mouth. The kid was so much like Kukui, refusing to back down even if he was dead wrong.

"You're wrong. You're never good enough."

"But that also doesn't mean I'm not going to deny him a chance at revenge. Let's just say it's personal."

"Ya can say whatever ya want kid." Guzma couldn't bear to look at his own pokemon anymore, so he returned Cicindel to its ball, hoping that he'd be able to get it healed before any of that bad damage was permanent. "But I'm not the one ya need to watch out for. If ya want to get tangled up in her mess, then I'm not gonna stop ya."

"Yeah you're right. I'll just stop you here."

Guzma stared at him in confusion as he pulled out another poke ball and released Kamua. The white fox stared at him while standing firmly beside her trainer. "By the way, she hasn't forgotten about what you and your Skull assholes did."

"Powder snow."

Guzma winced, preparing himself to get struck by the attack, but instead the snow swirled around his feet and froze into solid ice in the blink of an eye. He stared down at it and then back to the boy.

"What's the meaning of this kid?"

"It means I'm now making sure you're not ratting us out while we rescue Lillie and Nebby, that's what." Elio walked forward with his pokemon trailing behind. He pushed out with his hands, catching Guzma completely off guard as he fell backwards. His reflexes prevented him from hitting his head onto the concrete, but he leaned back as if to use them to push up to stand again.

"I said you're not going anywhere." Kamua swirled some more snow and Guzma gritted his teeth as he found the frigid bite of solid ice now binding his fingers. An attempt to tug up didn't work with his hands refusing to budge. He was almost literally immobilized in a position where his body began to shake from muscle fatigue.

"Don't go anywhere until all that ice is thawed."

As Elio walked past him towards the manor's front gate, Gladion joined him.

Guzma grunted as he tugged his legs, yet the ice held firm and his awkward posture meant that he wasn't going anywhere until the humidity weakened it enough for him to yank a limb free.

"Ya can't do this to me!" He shouted over his shoulder. "Ya have any idea what ya interferin' with?! Ya beat me, so I figure that part of it bein' personal is over!"

"That's for imprisoning my pokemon," Elio said as they reached the entrance to the house. "And that's honestly the least of things I'd be worried about now."

The two boys ignored any further shouting and obscenities as they opened the mansion's gate and proceeded inside past the gardens.

Gladion waited for a minute until that subsided before glancing at Elio.

"You're crazy." He shook his head, but he could tell the blond took a little bit of enjoyment watching him knock the Skull boss down a peg.

"Crazy enough to do crazy things to rescue friends. People don't fuck with my family and get away scot-free like that." He shrugged. "Sounds a lot like the kid that led us here huh?"

"Okay, that is a fair point." Gladion said, but he dug into his own backpack to hand him a cluster of medicinal items. "Heal your pokemon before you go in…my mother…may be waiting."

"She battles?" Elio asked as he applied the medicines. Before long his team was good to go.

"Yes." Gladion said. "And she's even more ruthless than Guzma is. No way I can beat her if I can't defeat him. But you,"

"I'm our best shot."

He nodded, face grim. "Please…save Lillie and Cosmog. The Alola region is in danger."

"What about you? I can't do this alone."

"I'm going back to help Hau and see what I can do. We'll be right behind you."

"Okay. Good luck." The two boys split up, Gladion doubling back to the gate as Elio headed towards the door.

The key that Faba carried easily opened the door and Elio found himself inside a room that looked like a mix of a Castelia highrise apartment and a hospital. That same black, white and gold trim along the house with a rich marble flooring. Overhead soft sterile lights illuminated it bright enough to make him wince as he stared at almost a perfect reflection on the diligently polished floor. At the far left and right of the foyer were two flights of stairs that led to a loft and the house's upper floors.

Okay, now where would Lillie and Nebby be in here? Can't be that hard to find.

He walked slowly, crouching low as to not let his footsteps on the floor be a dead giveaway to his position. But there was no sign of anyone.

The kitchen was behind the foyer, a massive eight burner range with a double stacked oven and a grill top. At the end of the wall were many hanging copper pots and pans. A set of ceramic enameled ovens of various sizes were sitting on the granite countertops. The bartop had a small basket of fruit in the middle surrounded by six barstools and there was a long table to the side. He spotted a knife block as well, but upon a closer look, a couple of them were missing.

Elio was no cook, but the amount of materials as well as the grand opulence of the kitchen would make his mother drool.

Where else?

He continued perusing, moving down the corridor past the kitchen. Shivers suddenly ran down his spine. The house was unusually cool in temperature.

Many of the doors on the left were closed and he didn't really hear anything from them.

Then the set of double doors caught his attention. He swore that noise barely even audible was…whimpering.

He slowly pressed his ear to it and froze. There was someone on the opposite end from the shuffling of something sitting in a chair. Whether it was Lillie, he wasn't sure.

As quietly as he could, he unlocked the door with the key and turned the knob. A moment later, his eyes had somewhat adjusted to the dim light and he realized he was in the master bedroom. The entire thing was eerie and it made his heartbeat quicken in pace.

His heart jumped when he saw Lillie sitting in the chair, her back to him and taking ragged breaths. She still was unaware of his presence, but he also had the hunch that this was a trap waiting to be sprung. A glance to each side showed that nothing was waiting, at least that he could see.

His arms snaked out and he clamped a hand over Lillie's mouth. Her eyes shot open and she struggled against his grip, trying to scream.

"Lillie," Elio whispered into her ear. "It's me."

At once, her panic ceased as he let go and crossed to be in front of her.

"Lillie, are you okay?" He glanced down, seeing that his dear friend was bound to the chair by plastic ties around her wrists and knees. He fished inside his backpack and flipped open his knife.

"E-Elio," she started in a stammer, shaking her head as if to convince herself it was actually him. "What are you doing here?"

"To come get you." He started working on her arms first, keeping her talking to take her focus off her fear-inducing object that he used to saw away at the thick bindings. Her right arm's tie finally split and she wiggled it out.

"You can't be here right now! What my mo…I mean Miss Lusamine will do if she finds out,"

"Your mother?" Lillie gasped when he said that. "Yeah, I know she's your mother. Let's get you out of here. Where's Nebby?"

By then, he had finished using the knife to cut through all the plastic ties and she practically flung herself into his waiting arms. Elio staggered back as he caught her and felt her own arms wrap around his back as she practically clung to him like he was her lifeline.

For just a couple of moments he felt like he could forget all about the entire storming the Paradise, facing down Faba, Guzma, the kahuna. Nebby's torture at the hands of the twisted Aether Foundation.

Suddenly nothing mattered except the beautiful girl in his arms.

And I would do anything for her.

A soft clapping noise from behind caught Elio off guard and Lillie gasped. Someone was giving them a rather sarcastic round of applause.

Lillie's eyes turned fearful again and she grabbed fistfuls of the boy's shirt to try and will him to leave. "You need to run…leave me here! Now!"

"How sweet." Elio immediately recognized Lusamine's voice and whirled to the corner where the voice came from. He swore there was nothing there previously.

Then he sensed another presence. Another one much bigger than him, than Lillie or Lusamine.

"My suspicions confirmed. Such a talented trainer who wastes their potential associating with someone like you. How disappointing."

The boy gently moved so that he stood between Lusamine's voice and Lillie, willing her to stay behind him. "We're leaving."

"Without your little cosmog friend? That's incredibly inconsiderate. Going full circle in that case. And you cannot leave. Not anymore."

Lusamine snapped her fingers and Elio turned, seeing a flash of something incredibly huge rapidly approaching them.

Lillie grunted as Elio shoved her to the ground, throwing her hands on top of her head and resisting the urge to scream again. He ducked under a lightning swing of a gigantic fur limb and thrust the knife in his hands upwards, driving it into the arm. The blade sliced easily into the fur, yet the creature showed no signs of pain or discomfort at the rather miniscule weapon.

Elio wasn't finished, even as his heart jumped when a gigantic paw grabbed him by the shoulder, swinging him around so quick that his feet lost balance and struggled to stay on the floor. He grunted with another stab, only to find that the thick layers of fur absorbed the entirety of the metal blade, coming nowhere close to even touching the pokemon's actual skin.

"Soffie?" The pokemon flicked its wrist and Elio was thrown back into the wall, hitting it with a sickening crunch and crumpling in a heap. The blow had knocked him out instantly.

"No!" Lillie cried, a wave of tears coming to her eyes. "Mother please don't."

"But I will until I get what I want…what you stole from me. What you gave up. Why would you give up Paradise?" The creature known as Soffie moved forward as Lusamine stepped out of the darkness. She glanced at an unconscious Elio before turning once more back to her daughter. Seeing that she was truly no match for her mother, nor the massive pokemon that she had known for years, Lillie shrunk back to the chair she had been freed from moments ago.

"However…now that we have another delightful guest to join us. We have much to discuss."

And that's where I'll close the chapter off. These next two are going to be more intense than usual. While I've been fortunate to get these ones off on a weekly basis after resuming full work, these might take longer. I apologize if it is so. One chapter at a time right?

As always, mahalo for reading and reviewing. You give my writing purpose.

Brav