Alola readers! Brav is back for probably one of the most important chapters of this entire story! After four breakdowns and working on it in chunks, a day after I said it would come out (this is what I deserve when I announce deadlines) and a couple of refits, I'm glad to finally get this one out...and a huge weight off my shoulders!
I really hope the final product is something you all enjoy. Without further ado, let's kick off this high octane chapter!
I can't describe any of this. All this fighting. The worst happened. Nebby was tortured to death. Gladion and Hau are fighting a beast and the leader of Team Skull. And Elio…Elio has to fight my mother.
This was not what I wanted. Why? Why is it that I try and try and try and still can't get to her to listen to reason?
I want to give this up. I really want to turn back, quit…but I can't. I can't describe this either, but it was almost like Elio was pushing me forward. He's saying I can do this, even after he was angry with me. I don't blame him one bit. It was all my fault, but I could continue to be hopeless…or do what he told me to push through.
She had no idea how Elio kept a calm and collected outlook, even as her own mother demanded that Guzma "quiet" the annoying children for her. Neither side wasted any more time with words, having already sent out a pokemon all too familiar with her. A tall pinkish fairy pokemon with pointed dark ears.
Pix the clefable was still just as she remembered as a young girl. Constantly watching her and her brother under her mother's orders as they ran in their games of tag in the courtyard and sanctuary. More than once had she stepped in to make sure they weren't bothering the other associates as they bustled around their work.
Now here she was, attacking them on the behest of her mother's orders.
"Pix," Lillie whispered softly, not wanting to look at the fighting. Elio had no idea how much Lusamine's longtime partner meant to her; he saw it just as another obstacle in his path.
Sounds of a scuffle got her attention as she turned to see Gladion and Hau going on the offensive in their battles. Sparks easily floated on his surfboard tail out of Ananzi's string shots while Gladion and Null stared down the beast as it made another earpiercing shriek.
Elio resisted the urge to scream and looked to Lusamine, who seemed unaffected by it in the slightest.
"See? Isn't it beautiful?" Her irascible attitude irked him all the more as her eyes shifted to the blonde girl standing next to him. "Unlike some things in this world."
"Shut up." He snarled, gripping his shoulder again. The pain whittled away at his consciousness and he shook his head, trying to stay in it.
"If you're wanting to walk yourself to your own demise, fine by me."
Elio had sent out Quria who immediately ignited a crescent purplish psycho cut blade. At a simple nod, she launched forward and ran quickly across the ground, slashing with the tip of the sword. Pix seemed to sigh with disinterest and merely floated out of the way using the small wings attached to its lower back. She powered up both her fists and thrust them forward, causing gigantic steel projectiles to erupt forth.
Quria's reflexes were swift enough that she managed to evade one of the meteor mashes, but the second one grazed her side, enough to cause her to stumble. While not doing much damage, it meant the bisharp temporarily stopped moving to regain her balance. Lusamine's smile widened just a bit as Pix brought her arms together, charging up a deadly focus blast much faster than Elio would have liked.
"Look out!"
No sooner had the warning left his lips when Pix released the boulder sized sphere of power. It was much smaller than what he had seen the attack before, but the charge-up time was quicker and the velocity was almost that of an aura sphere. Quria quickly jammed her blade into the floor, halting her from moving forward and torquing herself back, narrowly missing it sailing by.
Okay, another psycho cut. Let's show her we don't need to get up close and personal to still be a threat.
She dashed back over to the sword, removing it and swiping upwards. Instead of lunging for a direct contact of an attack, the psycho cut spread forward in a growing crescent that struck Pix dead center. The clefable staggered back, but didn't fall. Had this been an honorable sanctioned match, Elio probably would've remarked openly about her resilience.
"That is but the last hit you'll be allowed to land." Lusamine scoffed, her eyes narrowing. Play time was over.
"Hey, why are your lips moving?" Elio asked, not even sure if it was his own conscious means to annoy or maybe the pain was finally getting to him. "Didn't I fuckin' say shut up earlier?"
"And still mouthy and defiant," The Aether President waggled a finger at him. "Your petulance will get its due. Fire blast!"
With the same blinding speed, Pix circled her arms to create a halo of glowing orange fire before releasing it. As the attack accelerated, the ring began to shrink in size and increase in power.
The same way Brendan's camerupt does it.
He also knew that it was an easy mask to go straight through.
Lillie watched from the side as Elio shouted at Quria to jump through the hoop. She had watched her mother battle before, both from her own younger years as a trainer as well as practicing and watching film from Pokemon League matches. Pix was a frequent partner of hers alongside Soffie and she knew that Lusamine had the strength to rival that of gym leaders and possibly the Elite Four. No way would she telegraph such an obvious attack like that.
Quria swiftly vaulted into the air, feet first through the opening.
Lillie gasped in realization. Elio was being baited!
"Elio look out!"
Oh shit! Through the gap, Pix rapidly manifested another focus blast, using the prior fire blast to bait her foe into being funneled into a narrow gap where dodging the much stronger attack against a bisharp was far less easy to evade.
He was about to cry out in despair when Quria's fast reflexes saved her from an early knockout. Her psycho cut sword blazed to life and she thrust it forward as Pix fired the orange and black orb of energy. The focus blast struck the tip of the psycho cut, quickly collapsing in composure and combusting with the fire blast from earlier to detonate in an explosion that rocked the entire room.
Elio grunted in pain as the shockwave threatened to blow off his hat. The explosion knocked Quria down, but she was able to quickly scramble back to her feet, now much closer. The clefable had hardly moved, summoning a swirl of starlike lights to surround her, followed by a rising stat flare.
Cosmic power. As if the damn thing wasn't already tough enough. She swung her blade, casting another crescent psycho cut that hit Pix again. With her heightened defenses, Pix took less damage but staggered a bit more than last time. Not wanting to let up his advantage, Quria lunged forward smashing into her foe in a supereffective iron head. Pix squealed in protest, actually knocked down for the first time.
"Life De-"
"Hit it again!" Elio cried. The bisharp hit her again before she had a chance to cast the self-healing attack. Pix skidded to a halt before wagging a finger.
Oh no. Metronome. Elio knew the move randomizer could be potentially dangerous, or a complete dud.
He got his answer a moment later. Pix spun around, using her feet to fling an array of glowing white spikes all along his side of the field.
Elio went back on the offensive. He couldn't let up and give Lusamine an opportunity to heal her durable pokemon. Quria's psycho cuts helped her close the distance, forcing it to dodge as she lowered the blade on her crown for another iron head.
"Focus blast!" Lusamine shouted to her pokemon. "This is no different than watching footage of Olavarrieta!"
It wasn't in time. Lillie flinched as Elio's bisharp hit the clefable in the side faster than it could charge up its attack, sending her sprawling back on the floor where she lay unmoving.
He…he actually knocked her out. I don't think I've ever seen that happen before.
Lusamine's expression didn't change as she returned her defeated pokemon and sent out one all too familiar to Elio.
The milotic uncoiled herself, glaring at him with ruby red eyes. Despite its beautiful appearance, it gave off the same fierce vibe as Nani did.
This one was also larger, much older and seasoned than his own.
Quria glanced back at him, insinuating that she wanted to continue.
You got it. Elio blinked, again stymying the creeping darkness at the edges of his vision.
"Gisele, brine." The serpent twisted to rise up in the air before launching a large sphere of crystal clear water as if it were a mortar. Quria deftly dove out of the way and on her trainer's cue, dashed forward again.
"Night slash when you get close!" Elio called. "Watch the tail!"
As he had predicted, Lusamine's milotic quickly prepared an aqua tail as she closed the distance between them as a means to a close range physical defense. Gisele swept it like a hammer right as Quria got within striking distance. This time, she was too slow to evade and got caught in the brunt. The single hit did a huge number on her health.
No way was he going to get caught by surprise like that again. Quria stayed back, a little more leery of a quick swinging aqua tail. She spun around, launching another crescent psycho cut. Like Pix, Gisele wasn't nearly quick enough to dodge and was jostled down.
Now's our chance. Quria went back in again for a night slash.
Then Lusamine did something Elio was not expecting at all.
"Guzma!"
Huh? Milliseconds later, a wire thin string stuck to the back of Quria's leg as she lunged forward with her blade arms ready for a night slash. The sudden stop of momentum caught her by surprise. Ananzi, Guzma's ariados had snagged her in the midst of fighting and harshly yanked her to the ground.
Elio wasn't sure what to make of that. How Guzma was able to shift his focus off Hau for just that little moment to interrupt his can't-lose battle against Lusamine.
"Brine." Lusamine's cold voice pierced the action and Elio didn't need to do any mental notes to know that Quria was done for. Gisele launched another orb just as she had cut herself free with the night slash, but it was too late. The milotic might as well have been shooting at sitting duckletts. Quria grunted, tumbling from the gigantic splash of water, completely out cold.
With no time to waste, Elio sent in his second pokemon. He would have no moment to contemplate that kind of underhanded tactic, much less Lusamine's decision to resort to one.
Even Lillie was surprised at his choice. But Akela was one of his longstanding veterans and had faced down foes even with him at a type disadvantage. As he took his side though, several of the spikes laid by Pix had started to glow before striking his legs as if drawn by magnets.
Lusamine seemed surprised at it too and gave a petulant huff, extending a hand out.
"Destroy them Gisele."
The milotic cooed softly as she spun in another coil. Akela saw another brine coming and quickly slammed his fists into the floor. Instead of causing rows of them to spike his foe, the stone edge formed a protective barrier pocket that broke the oncoming attack. Water violently battered the font face of the rock, shearing off massive chunks as if standing against breaker waves. Akela saw the entire thing as a perfect opportunity to slam his fists into the floor, erupting into a wave rockslide that battered the serpent. Gisele was struck hard with several of the boulders before she used another aqua tail to clear them out.
"Sucker punch!" Elio called out. The werewolf drew his fists back again, jumping forward to dodge another oncoming brine and throwing one into an uppercut that connected with Gisele's jaw. He felt a bit of triumph, but that couldn't be celebrated yet. The milotic was down, but she wasn't out.
"Sorry about that!" He heard Hau shout from his side. Elio snuck a glance over, seeing that Acheron the vaporeon was squaring off against Guzma's pinsir Miedo. The stag beetle pokemon was much slower and Hau's setup of aqua ring and layers of acid armor were making things intensely frustrating for the Team Skull boss. Miedo was strong, but the added defensive measures and aqua ring's rapid healing almost completely erased any damage it was dealing within a short period of time.
Next time they battled, he'd have to make a mental note to find a way to counter it.
"Hau, you remember how long the Ultra Wormhole was kept open?"
"What?" Hau stared at him in disbelief. "We're fighting for our lives here and that's what's on your mind?!"
Okay that does seem crazy and out of context given our situation.
"Can you just tell me what you think it was?" Elio knew that Hau probably knew. While not always completely aware and savvy, Hau had a surprisingly good memory.
"It said approximately ten minutes." Hau had to hurriedly issue a command to his pokemon as Miedo dove for the kill again. "Give or take. A'ole maopopo. Why do you ask?"
Elio didn't answer him. It wasn't that he didn't have one, it was just that he didn't want to give away what he was really trying to accomplish. His eyes went back up to the Ultra Wormhole, still shimmering and rippling with awesome power.
Ten minutes until the Wormhole collapses or something. I guess that means I need to keep Lusamine busy for eleven. Or however long we've been spending battling already.
"Elio watch out!" Lillie cried, her voice piercing above everything else.
The boy's awareness snapped back to the battle in time to see Gisele opening her mouth to unleash a massive torrent of water with the force from a pressurized firehose. Akela barely reacted in time, throwing up another stone edge bulwark. Unlike the brine, the hydro pump was far more powerful and almost immediately shattered the stones. Akela had no time to dodge and was thrown backwards end over end before he crashed at the base of an empty trophy display. His fur was waterlogged and he groaned in protest, barely hanging on.
Gisele tucked her head low and slithered fast towards his downed form, tail coated in slick water to deliver the final blow.
"Reversal!" Elio shouted, hoping he wasn't too late.
"Oh no you don't." Lusamine hissed venomously. "Ice beam."
Akela's paw raised up as he struggled back to his feet, but Gisele fired it, rapidly creating layers and layers of laminated white ice. The remains of the hydro pump water that hadn't drained instantly froze, enough to pin Akela where he stood.
Dammit.
With him immobilized, there was nothing to stop him from avoiding another one of the super effective water attacks. Elio braced for another hydro pump.
Then a thought struck him at that moment. "Reversal again!"
Lusamine was about to laugh at his futility when she realized that the reversal attack he commanded wasn't to strike her pokemon.
Akela's paw hit the ice, sending a nexus of cracks in the top surface and just enough for him to wiggle free. The long blue scaly tail swished dangerously before stiffening and sliding towards him.
"Get ready, here it comes!" Elio called out.
Akela knew that this would be a barely survivable blow and focused his entire power on being able to withstand a brutal aqua tail.
Gisele's tail slammed into his side with all the strength he could muster and it took just as much of his own strength and resolve to endure the hit that probably would've taken him out otherwise. His legs dug into the floor, yet the force behind it pushed him back several feet. With the worst of it behind, the front of his two paws tightened on the thin ropey end, easily finding purchase in the grooves of her tail.
No thanks to the training with Nani.
With a snarl of defiance; Akela brought his free hand to deliver the counter of double the damage he had received at the milotic's hands. She was thrown clear across the room to Lusamine's feet, nearly tripping the woman had she not deftly jumped aside in time.
Lillie watched her mother return Gisele, "Perhaps I did underestimate you child. That is a mistake that will not happen again."
The third pokemon she summoned was a tall green and white humanoid creature with pale orange eyes. A beautiful red and orange flower had bloomed on the side of its head and it had a collection of leaves forming a bulbous section around its waist resembling a gown.
Is that a lilligant?
"Petal dance Makamae."
Akela was on his last legs, but another fierce howl told Elio that he wasn't going to go out quietly. The lilligant twirled on its feet and used its leaf limbs to fire a cone of glowing green petals. He dodged the first one, closing the distance. Though he was still fast on his feet, Elio could tell the fatigue was setting in from the hit by Gisele earlier. He wouldn't be able to dodge forever.
Akela closed in with another reversal. Makamae closed her eyes and jumped to the side, spinning around to ready another petal dance.
Elio knew that petal dance could only be used so many times before the user's own fatigue would set in causing it to self-induce a confusion status. If only he could hold out a little longer.
"Rock slide!" Akela stopped mid dodge and hit the floor again. Another wave of boulders crashed on the top, meeting the oncoming petal dance. The two attacks threw up a ton of dust, petals cutting through the chunks, but it was also the perfect smokescreen for Akela to regain his bearings and go back on the move. Makamae was hit by some of them as well. He powered up a reversal, jumping through the dust and swinging.
Only to meet empty air as Makamae had gracefully danced out of the way, her own posture unfazed.
What?! Isn't it supposed to be confused if it uses petal dance too much?
Then it hit him. Lilligant's ability of own tempo. It would never be confused off fatigue from repeated petal dances. Lusamine had baited him into overextending and exposing Akela to a perfect shot.
Lusamine let out a chilling laugh, "I think I'll have some fun with you instead. Teeter dance!"
At her command, Makamae spun around in circles and Akela's eyes were drawn immediately to the rapid movements. It was both incredibly graceful and dizzying. The werewolf snarled in anger, rapidly blinking his eyes to clear his head.
"Snap out of it!" Elio knew that every moment of him being in the open and not completely aware of his surroundings was another opportunity to knock him out.
No! He watched with disbelief as the lilligant spread her arms out to cover the field between them in a glowing green and yellow glow. The grassy terrain's aromatherapeutic energy quickly healed her wounds. As if to add to his agony, he felt the pain in his shoulder flare up again and he winced, trying his damndest not to cry out. No way was he going to give her the satisfaction of his anguish.
Hold on a sec. Lusamine doesn't even know her own strategy is kind of her undoing. The longer we battle, the less time she's going to be able to exploit that Wormhole!
He had to play along at her game.
Akela confusion still persisted and he waved his arms around. He attempted another reversal, but only ended up hurting himself. Elio was amazed that it hadn't caused him to faint.
Lusamine scrutinized him. "Such a waste."
"Didn't I just say shut up?" Elio focused back on the battle as Makamae again spun around to shoot off another petal dance. Despite Akela's confusion, he seemed to clear his enough to slam his fists into the floor again to create another stone edge barricade. As the petal dance pelted the opposite end, he pummeled the floor several times and caused a trio of alternating rockslides from the safety of his cover. The lilligant dodged the first two and stayed far away from the third, keeping a fair distance in case Akela decided to sprint back out from cover.
I don't know how much longer he can stay fighting. Elio watched as the grassy terrain underfoot had ebbed away some of his pokemon's exhaustion, but he had to score another hit at least otherwise Akela's entire fighting would have been for naught before the Lusamine's pokemon was completely healed.
"Your pokemon is looking unwell." Lusamine said. "Shouldn't a talented trainer such as you know when it's had its limits?"
Akela has defied the limits every time I've set them for him.
"Stone edge!"
Makamae's dodge was just a little too slow as Akela hit the floor again in an offensive spread, causing a row of large spiky stones to sprout up from the ground. The attack nearly skewered her, but it did send her tumbling back with a great deal of damage. Akela's stone edge was among his strongest attacks and Elio had to give credit for the other pokemon's resiliency too.
She was a bit slow to get up too.
Hold on, this is our chance! "Akela, reversal! Hurry!"
Lusamine's face twisted into a cruel smile. "Oh how predictable you are."
She watched Elio's own expression twist into one of horror as Makamae powered up and twirled around to shoot a huge fusillade of extremely powerful leaves, more powerful than her petal dance from earlier. Akela had jumped into the open again and was easy picking.
The leaf storm caught him dead center and this time, being struck with another super effective attack was too much. Elio remembered that Brendan also liked to save using the move as a show of force as the attack had a penalty of sharply dropping a pokemon's special offensive stat every time it was used.
Which means that either Lusamine felt that her lilligant was on the verge of being knocked out and that she wanted to cause as much damage as possible.
Or it was as above. A show of force. Trying to further intimidate him.
Perhaps both?
Lucky for us, I'm not intimidated as easily.
Elio winced at the pain in his arm again as he recalled Akela. "Thank you, we'll finish this."
His next choice was Hakamo'o. Though Strongside would probably be able to easily take Makamae on, he wanted to keep him in reserve as whatever else Lusamine might have would need someone like him.
Not to mention the spikes were still on the ground. Elio shuddered as Hakamo'o reflexively raised his arm gauntlets to protect his midsection from several of the spikes flying out of the floor. He'd have to watch out for those for the remainder of the battle.
"Oh please. Another." Lusamine spread her arms out. "Teeter dance!"
Hakamo'o knew what that meant and he quickly erected a protect bubble around himself to shield its confusion effects. As the lilligant stopped, he stamped his foot in a bulldoze that shook the room. Makamae stumbled, an aura flare falling to indicate a lowered speed stat as he took advantage of her disrupted state to deliver a sky uppercut. The lilligant's head snapped back and she collapsed instantaneously. As she fainted, the grassy terrain finally began to subside.
"H-how! You are not suppo-" Lusamine stopped herself in her own disbelief. "Very well. A fighting type like that does nothing for Skell!"
Lusamine threw out her next pokemon, a large ghost creature with dark violet coloration. It stared at him with eerie pale yellow eyes under a wide brim that looked like the hat of a witch or sorceress. Wisps of black energy shimmered from her body and the bright reddish jewels arranged chest height.
Hakamo'o wasn't intimidated in the slightest, but Elio felt Lillie tense next to him. He almost jumped out of his skin when his left hand felt hers slipping through.
"Be careful," her eyes met his. "Skell is extremely strong."
And remember. Stall. Either that or knock her pokemon out quickly.
"I will be." He turned back to the battle in time to see Skell already on the attack. Hakamo'o responded with a bulldoze, but the shockwave completely let it unaffected.
On the other side, Lusamine laughed mockingly. "Surely someone like you knows that a mismagius has levitate for its ability?"
Dammit think straight! And thus makes it completely useless to use ground type moves. Yeah, I should know that.
The ghost was muttering strange incantations as it weaved around, keeping itself far away from Hakamo'o and shooting off a ray of glowing rainbow colored psybeam attacks. Thankfully, staying the distance gave him enough time to avoid them.
One of them finally found its mark and pushed him back. He had thrown up his armored gauntlets and shakily found his balance again. This was Lusamine's chance. Skell manifested a sinister blue and white flame in front before shooting it like an ember. Hakamo'o knew that the will-o-wisp would not only hurt, but significantly cut his attacking power and cast another protect dome. The flame instantly extinguished once it hit the wall.
Skell formed another one.
"Skell! No!" Lusamine cursed herself for being duped into it again. Elio's smirk gave it away.
"Hakamo'o, repulse it!"
She was at the end of trying to stop her pokemon from firing the second one when Hakamo'o timed it perfectly to throw up his right gauntlet, deflecting the will-o-wisp right back at its user. Skell was not expecting it to come right back at her and screeched in protest in the midst of her haunting chants as the flames licked at the edges of her robe.
Underneath her stoic facade, Lusamine was seething. How dare this boy be able to trick her like that. She may be down a pokemon to his, but the rest of her party was more than raring to go and he had a modicum of talent, but nothing that overly impressed.
Hakamo'o took advantage and jumped forward, slashing at her robes with his dragon claw. Elio's eyes went wide at the fact it had very nearly taken her out. The burns activated again, causing another portion of the mismagius' health to whittle down even further.
Very well.
"Ha! To think of improvising something so unconventional!" The words came out less than genuine. "But it's too bad I have to do this."
Not really. Petulant pest of a trainer refuses to give up.
"Skell, use pain split!"
Both Elio and Hakamo'o looked confused for a moment before the latter cried out in agony as he suddenly collapsed on his hands and knees as if an invisible weight had pressed down on his back. On the other side; Skell twitched in a similar state.
What's happening?!
As the convulsions subsided, Elio saw that Skell had regained some of its health while Hakamo'o was a little worse for the wear. Some of her strength returned, the ghost continued its nonsensical muttering. Though he didn't understand the entire thing of the move, he had to guess that pain split equaled both battlers' strength. Since Skell was nearly out, she would gain some of her health back while Hakamo'o would lose some.
"Now that we can once again battle on equal footing!"
What a cheap ass move. Elio grunted as the pain in his shoulder started to act up again. Part of him wondered if it was just adrenaline pumping through his system that made him forget about the aching or whether it was acting up in the intervals. Still, the seductive embrace of unconsciousness was unrelenting in tugging at the edges of his vision. Skell fired more psybeams that Hakamo'o narrowly evaded and he shook his head to banish the darkness.
The ghost stopped its psybeam and quickly formed a large dark blob of energy. She launched the shadow ball towards him.
For a second, Elio was considering doing nothing since Hakamo'o had bulletproof as his special ability and rendering him impervious to shadow ball. But there was the chance she didn't know.
"Hakamo'o, repulse! And jump towards Skell!"
The shadow ball flew towards him much quicker than he anticipated, but his timing was spot on whilst closing the gap between the combatants. A loud clanging noise confirmed that Hakamo'o's gauntlet had successfully repulsed the shadow ball, but Skell had seen it coming, quickly floating to the side and emitting a powerful flash from its glowing yellow eyes.
"Oh crap that's dazzling gleam!" She caught him in the center and the super effective fairy attack doubled him over, almost putting him on the verge of fainting. Hakamo'o groaned in protest, falling to his hands and knees. The scaly limbs slowed in movement as Skell drifted closer to float in her victory.
"Finish it off." Lusamine said coldly. Skell complied, forming another shadow ball in front.
Neither of them noticed Hakamo'o digging his claws into the floor to gain traction. His head snapped up and he gave a defiant snarl before launching forward.
Out of surprise, the mismagius fired the shadow ball which hit dead on target, Hakamo'o's smirk caused the color to drain from Lusamine's face. Bulletproof did its job with the dragon perfectly able to shrug off the attack to land an iron head. Skell screeched as she toppled back, again barely hanging onto a sliver of her health.
President Lusamine smirked, knowing the battle wasn't over and her pokemon wasn't going down so easily. But she wondered for a moment why Elio had a similar smirk on his own face.
Skell cried out as the flames ignited once again around her slender form, the burn damage sustaining once more and she finally collapsed in a heap at her feet.
Thank you for being strong for me. Your training is seriously paying off.
"You're proving yourself to be very troublesome and very aggravating to defeat." Lusamine put a hand on her hip. "If things hadn't had to be this way, I'd be enjoying this battle."
Elio said nothing, trying to tune out the rest of the chaos going on behind him. Gladion was in the middle of shouting as the beast fired a ray of powerful light beams that hit his golbat in midair, knocking it out. He returned him to his ball and instead brought out his zoroark.
The next pokemon Lusamine sent out was one actually quite familiar with him and one that definitely gave him the same type of unease as Skell. She was humanoid dark skinned pokemon with gold blonde hair and a gown that flowed elegantly behind. Her movements were almost hypnotic with an alluring grace and wide eyes that stared at him unblinking.
A jynx. These things have always creeped me out.
"Hakamo'o return!" If she wanted to fight with ice, then he definitely had someone for that. He called back his pokemon and sent out another. "Kamua, let's go!"
"You are losing focus," Lusamine told him. "I can see the strain this is taking on you."
"HA! No less done by yourself, crazy lady! I'm not the one that's running out of time!"
Kamua's wispy tails flowed elegantly behind her as she shook off the spikes that slashed at her paws. She shot an icy orb into the sky, casting low hanging clouds and a steady falling of pea sized hailstones. While the jynx was unaffected, Kamua seemed to disappear into the storm. She'd be harder to hit.
"Glacinta, use psychic."
Elio braced for Kamua to get hit, but when he heard Gladion cry out in surprise, he glanced over.
Lusamine hadn't had her pokemon use psychic on his, instead on her son's. Null struggled in the air as his claws had been outstretched in an attack on the beast when she had stopped him short. The jellyfish creature shrieked again forming another power gem and hit Gladion's pokemon.
"Get that shit under control!" Gladion shouted. "I can only do so much from here!"
"I'm trying!"
Kamua fired another moonblast, which was countered by Glacinta weaving her hands to form a glass wall of light between them. The light screen dampened the damage done and her retaliatory psychic attack completely missed. Kamua was in her element in the hail.
So while he might not be able to knock it out, he could do a number of damage from the safety of the snow cloak while stalling for time, both for the Wormhole to start collapsing and for the light screen to wear off. Assuming she didn't put it up again, but so far through his strained concentration; Lusamine was completely unaware that her own defensive type of strategy was working against her.
Moonblast was the only effective move she had against a jynx and being able to fire them with the velocity of the shadow ball and other projectile attacks came in handy. Glacinta was fast and often had to stand still to predict where Kamua was going to fire from. Lusamine ordering psychic and an attack called lovely kiss ended up going nowhere. Though he could tell she was getting frustrated, he refused to believe that the President's penultimate pokemon was this much of a pushover. Even trying to use psychic to redirect a moonblast didn't do much.
He had to work quickly to keep his evasive advantage, but at the same time try to outwait the light screen. Otherwise the ha-
Lusamine sensed her own chance to strike as the hailstorm began to lighten up and disappear entirely. Her own defensive measure was still up.
"Ah what perfect timing. Glacinta, skill swap."
At her command, the jynx waved her arms again, causing both combatants to emit a pulse of light before said glow exchanged to the other. Not liking that in the slightest, Elio's snow fox cast another orb into the air to return the field between them to a hailstorm.
Hold on a second. Skill swap does- His eyes went over as Glacinta unleashed a powerful blizzard that caught Kamua and blasted her back. She dug her paws into the floor to slow her momentum, but now to his dismay, it was Glacinta who was shrouded in the hailstorm instead of his pokemon.
Lusamine had flawlessly tricked him into refreshing the hail and then skill swapping to use his own ability for herself.
"Ohohoho!" She laughed, making Elio's skin prick and an ember of frustration lighting inside him. "That went off far better than planned!"
Kamua stood her ground though, blowing a powder snow into the obscured section to see if she could force her foe to step out. A parting of the shroud though had quickly alerted her to an oncoming blizzard which she narrowly avoided. The brief window did, however, give her an opportunity to fire back another moonblast that scored a hit. The timing on that had been precise enough to strike just moments after the light screen faded.
"Hit it again!" Elio cried. "Don't let her put up another!"
Through the haze, he was able to spot Glacinta as she waved her hips and arms to re-erect another light screen. Kamua's powder snow attack slowed her hands and Lusamine had her pokemon use psychic. The wave caught her in the middle, ceasing her movements before the second telekinetic force flashed and connected. Kamua yelped as she crashed to the ground, just barely hanging on.
"Skill swap." Once again, Glacinta waved her hands, causing two small glows of power to exchange between the battlers. Kamua was unable to keep going and finally went limp.
"Alright," Elio's blood boiled. "You want a damn fight? I'll give you one."
He threw out Nani's poke ball, hissing in pain almost right after as it flared up yet again in his shoulder. It had to be messing with him on both a physical and mental level. Despite his own chiding himself to stay focused, it was impossible to completely take his mind off the throbbing which by now had a burning sensation as the tissue around the scars had taken on a rosy pink hue.
The good news was that the bleeding had all but stopped and he was fortunate enough to only have the lower part of his white shirt sleeve stained. Maybe it'll come out in the wash.
"So you do have a concept of beauty after all," Lusamine purred, staring rather approvingly at Nani. She narrowed her eyes and sized up Glacinta, trying her best not to get distracted.
"Let's finish this damn thing off." Elio pointed. "Use scald!"
Nani was quick to summon the boiling water from her gaping maw and sprayed it into the shroud. Rather than hearing a cry of pain, both trainer and pokemon were blindsided that Glacinta seemed unaffected…even more invigorated by his attack. Elio was starting to regret powering his Rotom Dex down despite finding that he relied on its outlook a little too much. This was not a battle he could afford to make more errors. The jynx had to have some ability like water absorb or dry skin.
Which had to be the one Kamua had when she skill swapped them.
Lusamine was definitely glad by the turn of events and sensed that the momentum was returning to her side. She placed a hand on her hip, her gait a lot more confident. Elio still had Strongside, but he wanted to save him for her final pokémon, which he assumed would be the most difficult of hers to defeat.
I played into her hands again.
With water attacks just healing Glacinta, he had to think of yet another solution. He didn't want to show that he had iron tail. Not yet.
The hail continued to fall down and Nani stiffened as many of the stones pinged against their scaly hide. While no stranger to this harsh weather, he hoped that she'd be able to put up with it just a little longer.
Glacinta used another psychic, the telekinetic wave hitting Nani as she flinched from the impact. The milotic quickly recovered, forming a dragon pulse. She wasn't able to dodge it in time and the orb exploded into raw dragon energy, imploding and exploding twice to deal additional damage.
At least she doesn't have the snow cloak anymore. Finally a target we can hit.
"No water attacks." Elio told his pokemon. "We don't want her healing up again."
"Use hydro pump!"
"And you think that water attack will do better than your measly scald?" Lusamine made a "hmph" of disapproval. "Your mistake."
"It's your mistake you didn't pay attention to where Nani's hydro pump went."
Lusamine's eyes went up to the onslaught of foamy white water, headed straight for the beast as it battled Null and Gladion's zoroark. Null had seen the attack coming and quickly retreated, allowing the beast to press its own attack right in its path.
With a sense that he still couldn't believe, the jellyfish creature turned in time to be hit by the water's full force, knocking it down to the floor. It was exactly what Gladion needed to shout at Null to take advantage of the stalemate they had been having with it.
Lusamine's expression turned horrified. "NO!" She screamed, "Don't you dare hurt my sweet beast! Glacinta, stop that abomination!"
"Null is NOT an abomination!" Gladion's face twisted into that of fury. "I am fucking SICK and TIRED of you calling something that you couldn't succeed in as something worthless as a trinket!"
"Don't you speak to me like that again Gladion! You should have done as I wished and this would never have happened!"
Glacinta thrust her palm forward, summoning a large stream of wintry particles to pelt Null and Zoroark. The dark fox immediately jumped to action, countering it with a jet of fire. Both the flamethrower and blizzard attacks collided in the middle, causing a rush of wind that rippled at everyone's clothing. Nani moved into assist, but she was stopped by seeing in her peripherals that Lusamine had sent out another pokemon, her final one.
Elio tried not to look intimidated. While the large light pink and black ursine mammal wasn't particularly possessing any frightening features, he did remember seeing its gigantic frame moments before he had been flung into the wall with a force far greater than anything he had experienced. Even if it had been just a couple of moments as he had jammed his switchblade into anything he could find to get it to release him.
Through the entire chaos that seemed to only be escalating, he looked over at Lillie, who was on her knees, hands clutched on her temples and fighting with every inch of her body to resist screaming.
I can't…I can't take this.
Soffie swiftly moved in on an intercept path for Nani as she quickly slithered away. Once at a safe distance, she fired a hydro pump as the bewear had put her arms in front to block the worst of it. Despite the immense pressure and volume of water, she only looked a little worse for the wear.
"Zion, use flamethrower again!" Gladion said. "Keep her away from the beast!"
"That will not happen. Glacinta, psychic on Null." Her eyes narrowed in a venomous leer. "Crush it."
The jynx stopped her blizzard from earlier and focused again on her telekinetic power. Her eyes began to glow and Null was surrounded by a similar aura as he stopped in his tracks. Sensing that the "beast killer" was disabled for the moment, the jellyfish had seen Zion unguarded and launched a blob of pale yellow liquid. Zion hadn't been expecting a sludge bomb and was knocked out in a hit. Glacinta's psychic kept up the pressure and Gladion could do nothing but watch in horror. The psychic weight snapped a restraint on Null's large brown mask as the outer edges seemed to crumple in.
"No! Stop!"
"More," Lusamine said. "Do not let up."
Glacinta wasn't certain, but her trainer's words were absolute. She focused her mind again, the next psychic wave would be much more lethal.
Before a gigantic bladed tail swept out from behind, hammering into the jynx's side and knocking it out with a pained cry. Nani hissed violently with triumph as her distracted foe had fallen to the ground.
Her moment of victory was short lived as Soffie came barreling into her from behind. The bewear's gigantic fist reared back, crackling with electricity and coming forth.
Only to be intercepted by a green bubble that deflected the attack. Lusamine whirled around to see that Elio had sent out his Hakamo'o, which was much quicker than Soffie to get between her and Nani to protect his ally. Despite barely having any energy left to fight, Hakamo'o had shrugged off the spikes laid by Pix earlier.
Neither of his pokemon wasted the brief surprise lull to recompose themselves. Nani fired a dragon pulse while Hakamo'o went for a sky uppercut. The small dragon's attack hit first, but the bewear's thick coat of fluffy fur seemed to absorb most of the super effective move to nearly nothing. Nani's green dragon pulse hit it just a moment later which seemed to be a little more powerful, but again the combined attacks didn't seem to be doing any significant damage.
Elio's two pokemon split up as Gladion nodded to him that he could continue the fight. The beast had another stat flare that looked to be reminiscent of the moxie ability. He trusted him though, even though there was still some bit of waning mutual resentment.
Soffie didn't seem fazed to face two opponents. Both were battered and had already taken a beating from previous battles, moving a little slower, but no less determined.
"Hakamo'o iron head! Nani, recover!"
Soffie moved faster than before, her large body displaying an amount of agility that shouldn't have been possible for her size as she closed in on Nani as she surrounded herself with a healing aura. Hakamo'o hit her on the side with the crown of his head, but she stumbled forward fist surging forth in a devastating thunderpunch that knocked the tender pokemon out on contact. She crashed to the ground, her tail whipping the floor dangerously.
Even before Nani was out of the fight, Soffie had already turned to Hakamo'o, towering over him. He threw his arms up in a repulse, but Elio saw that he had done so just a hair early. The bear's giant arms swung with the force of a freight train, the brutal swing being briefly deflected.
"Hammer arm." Before Hakamo'o could ready a sky uppercut, Soffie's free arm swung in too, much faster than the first, catching the smaller pokemon in his midsection and sending him careening into a block of preservation ice, shattering it on impact. Elio could not be certain whether or not that one among the dozens in this twisted trophy room had contained a frozen pokemon.
I really hope not.
It was down to Strongside. His last pokemon. He didn't think he was going to be pushed this far to his limits. He was growing more and more disoriented, the sounds of Gladion, Hau and Guzma battling blending into the background. The whole throwing out Strongside to confront Soffie hadn't even registered in his mind.
Unlike Cicindel and Guzma; Lusamine and Soffie seemed oblivious to Strongside's flippant demeanor. The two bipedal pokemon circled one another, daring the other to make a move. While Elio was certain Strongside's quickness would give him the advantage, staying out of reach from the bewear's lethal arms would be key. It was regarded as among the most dangerous pokemon in the Alola region after all.
"Flame charge!" Elio yelled. He ignored the soreness in his throat from using his voice so much. How Lusamine hadn't tired out from this was beyond him.
Strongside barreled his shoulder into Soffie, covered in orange flames. The bewear made little noise during the entire time she had been on the field other than short grunts and the shuffling of its feet. Given its immense size, it had a rather terrifying combo of being a silent hard-hitting juggernaut. So far, many of his Pokémon's attacks had yet to even knock it off balance.
Though he did see that it seemed to have more of an upset reaction through his hazy vision.
I bet this giant fluffy furball doesn't like fire at all.
Soffie swung another hammer arm. Luckily, Strongside only had to hunch his head down to avoid getting caught and instead went for a darkest lariat grapple. While not weighing as much as the bigger pokemon, he had enough power to finally force it backwards, using the momentum to light another flame charge.
For the first time, Elio saw Soffie the bewear topple to the ground. She was back up in a flash, grabbing Strongside by the collar and using a brutal swing to toss him away as if he were an unwanted toy.
Strongside used the momentum to roll back onto his feet once he hit the ground, facing her on all fours and baring his teeth in defiance.
"Take down." Lusamine commanded. Soffie moved forward, slowly gaining speed until she was moving again at which he would have thought impossible. Strongside rolled out of the way, but Soffie's hand stretched out to grab his own wrist. His momentum slackened and he found himself about to be on the receiving end of another hammer arm.
"Double kick!" Elio called out. "Go for the knees!"
The incineroar wasn't able to use the ground since Soffie held him in front of her, but he did manage to swing back and as she leaned forward to try and counter his pendulum movement, both his feet jabbed downwards, using his heels.
His timing was spot on, hitting the back of Soffie's knees as she moved again. She buckled and he grabbed his hand with his free arm and both twisted it out and his legs around. She shuddered as he torqued his hips like a wrestler and Elio's eyes went wide as he executed the throw that again toppled the larger combatant to the floor. Even Hau and Guzma, still locked in their battle had taken notice of the sound, mouths agape at the display.
Sun knew it was over when Soffie threw him off again annoyedly. Strongside at the last moment contorted his body so that he would face his opponent as he was flung backwards.
"Overheat!"
His roar furious and fiery breath relentless, Strongside unleashed the strongest he could muster. A beam of searing white hot energy engulfed Soffie, enough power to make even the trainers take a step back and put hands in front to shade their eyes from the burning and glowing that was near impossible to look at. An acrid smell of singed fur permeated the air and as the attack subsided, everyone knew that the bewear was knocked out. She lay in a heap at Lusamine's feet, parts of the pink and white fur visible in patches underneath a layer of dark char.
"H-how?" Lusamine stared at Elio, who could only stare back. "How could you be so awful?"
"It was a battle," he breathed, any elation of winning a battle crushed by the circumstances. "That I could not lose. After all, why would I have to defeat you?"
She saw him point up at the wormhole. As if sensing that the door was about to close, the beast made its way to the opening, slipping through towards the other side.
"NO!" Lusamine turned back to Elio, another twitched eyebrow in anger. "NO! I have worked too hard to let this slip by!"
And that's exactly what I did, prolong the battle and nearly losing because of it. All to prevent you from achieving your goal. All that time you spent…has now been flushed away like a toilet.
"Madam Prez," Guzma almost shoved Hau aside and sauntered towards Lusamine. "We gotta get goin'. Dat portal's been open for so long, it might get closin' soon!"
"You're right." Her eyes flashed with newfound confidence as she glanced back up towards the rift. The anomaly shimmered and crackled as before, but it was evident that it was getting more unstable by the second.
"Guzma, with me. We shall capture the ultra beasts with the special poke balls we've developed here."
Lillie jumped up and almost ran towards them. "Mother please don't go! Please! You can't!"
Lusamine's lips pressed together as she scrutinized her daughter. Lillie gasped as her own eyes softened, almost as if there was some tiny little shred of sympathy…for everything.
"No more. No more suffering. No more of this."
Ignoring Lillie's pleas; Lusamine Hyacinth stepped underneath the wormwhole as invisible arms seemed to grab onto her and effortlessly lift her up through the center. Guzma followed her right away, looking back to give the teens one final gesture with a certain finger before he too…disappeared. No sooner had the two of them gone through when the portal began to crackle loudly again and begin to fade into the air around them. Within seconds, the white noise was gone and there was no trace of it ever existing.
For several seconds, nobody dared to speak. The ringing sounds of the battle still resonated in everyone's ears along with a steady hum of the odd machines arranged in a semicircle.
"Why?" Lillie fought back more tears. "Why is this happening?"
"Nebby?"
"Nebby!" She gasped, running towards the consoles. Amazingly, the box device that had contained the little cosmog had just been barely jarred during the entire brawl, but Elio felt his heart sink when he couldn't hear the pokemon inside.
"Nebby are you alright?" Lillie approached the box. It hummed and pulsated with lights like it had when Nebby had been originally contained. "Please be okay."
She looked it over, trying to see if there was some means to activate a mechanism that opened it. But as far as she could tell, there were no seams, locks or hinges.
It was as if Lusamine meant to seal it in that box with no intention of opening it again after Nebby had served her purpose. Elio felt a chill thinking that.
Discarded once they've outlived their usefulness. Bitch.
"Strongside," he gestured as his incineroar moved over. "Get this open. Nebby is inside, so be gentle."
The heel pokemon nodded and slowly picked up the box, cradling it in his clawed hands. He inspected it for just a moment before digging the sharp edges into the side with a screech that sent everyone's teeth on edge. Once his palms were locked, he twisted outwards to tear a large hole in the side. Elio and Lillie braced for the little cosmog to jump out.
But nothing happened.
"What's wrong?" Hau asked.
"Nebby's not coming out." Lillie said. "Is it?" She paused, not wanting to say the dreaded word.
Elio took the box from Strongside, muttering a slurred thanks and returning him to his poke ball. He peered through the hole, seeing something glint off the light from the outside.
Nebby the cosmog was gone, instead replaced by a small disk like object that was violet in the center and surrounded by golden ridges. There was twinkles in the middle of the eye like the backdrop of stars.
"What is that?" Gladion stepped forward, trying to get a look.
"Nebby changed forms…and it's not moving." Her face looked worried. "Is it even Nebby before?"
She reached for it, but stopped as Elio put his good hand over hers.
"Is it safe?"
Her eyes went back to the object, contemplating his question.
I think so.
They all watched tentatively as Lillie's fingers curled around the disk. As soon as they slid under, it bobbed in midair to float up just above her palm.
It's slightly warm and surprisingly not as heavy as it looks.
Lillie wondered if this meant for once Nebby would stay in her bag. She eased it through the opening of the small duffel and zipped it closed. Anything to get it out of that damned box.
"Come on let's get out of here." Gladion stepped past them towards the pad where they had originally come from. "Nothing good can happen here."
"Agreed." Elio said. "This place gives me the creeps."
As Gladion, Hau and Lillie shuffled out of the room, vanishing through the teleporter, Elio looked at the small prison Nebby had been confined in. A place where like him, it had been subject to horrific torture to serve a purpose.
The pain flared and he felt his anger boil. If Lusamine got what she wanted and vanished straight into wherever the rift had taken her and Guzma, he was more than happy to let them fester.
He hefted the metal box with his good arm, pitching it over the edge where it plopped into the water with a big splash before sinking out of sight.
It was a relief to get rid of another reminder of suffering in this place.
Hau nearly caught Elio as he stumbled out of the teleportation pad as he warped back into the house's master bedroom.
"You're okay brah." He quietly assured him. "You're okay."
The fatigue was setting in now and the voices seemed to all blend together in a cacophony. He saw a taller figure in front, speaking to Lillie and Gladion as all three of them turned with expressions of varying concern.
"Oh my goodness," Wicke went pale. "I…I can't believe the President…actually,"
Before any of them could respond, the Assistant Branch Chief spoke something into the radio attached to her hip.
"I've got the infirmary sending some staff to look at you Master Elio," She gave the slight bow. "And I must say I am relieved that you are all safe."
"I'm fine," He waved her off. "I just need a shower and some bandages."
"You are not fine," Her voice took on a stern tone and he found himself actually flinching at her words. I didn't expect Miss Wicke to have the capability to talk like that. Maybe because I've never heard it before.
"There's still a ton that we have to do," Gladion sighed and took a long glance around the room. With it so pristine, sans the dried blood and dirt on the floor, his dark jacket looked incredibly out of place. "The President and Guzma went through the active wormhole and disappeared. Not to mention cosmog and why it's stopped moving."
"They went through to Ultra Space?"
"Yeah!" Hau nodded eagerly. Both Elio and Gladion were perplexed how he appeared to have the same amount of energy despite the exhausting battle against Guzma just minutes earlier. "Miss Lusamine and Guzma jumped through and it closed! There wasn't any time to follow them!"
"We have to find a way to get it open to bring them back."
As if.
Amazingly, Gladion had noticed Elio's indifferent huff and folded his arms to expect a confrontation.
"And you don't think so?"
"Don't think so? Ha!" The teen scoffed and almost laughed at the absurdity of it all. The two children really were wanting to see it through. "Your mother is crazy already for going all this way…to open up a portal that leads to fuck-knows-where. She tortures a little baby pokemon because it can open it and then does the same thing to me."
He was about to roll up his sleeve when the pain lanced through his shoulder, enough to bring him on a knee as he clutched the swollen muscle.
Goddamm it! That shit fuckin' hurts!
"Even if she is…Lusamine is still our mother." Gladion said, remaining in disbelief at Elio's grievous injury. "We can't just leave her there in the beast's world."
He looked down somberly. "It...it wouldn't be right."
"Honestly if she wants to stay there, just let her." The Hyacinth siblings gasped at his flippant indifference. "She didn't seem too happy about staying here. Welp, there's the door! She's someone else's problem now!"
For a moment, everyone blinked at him as if he had grown a second head. He was willing to bet that nobody expected something so heartless to be said by him.
It was Lillie who jumped to her mother's defense. "Elio, how can you say that?! She's our mother!"
"Your mother?!" He didn't care about where this was going. Just the thought of even putting in any piece of effort to rescue someone who didn't want to be rescued irked him. Someone who had used his shoulder as a canvas for a knife. "Moms are supposed to nurture and love their kids. I'm pretty sure a mother isn't supposed to hurt people like that!"
Lillie opened her mouth to reply, but stopped. He was absolutely right.
"You can't tell me she's thrilled about seeing any of you guys again or within reason. She belittled you, shunned you…made both of you run off with no thought of amnesty or forgiveness. She disowned both of you! I'd never forgive my parents if they did that! Ever!" Elio's shout caused everyone to jump and his entire tense posture and visible panting from the anger was a bit frightening to watch. He was out of breath too.
"I know…but that's not what I'm going to do." The blonde quietly said. "I know I can still save my mother. And I won't stop until she sees reason. I really wish you would understand."
"She won't ever see reason! You and your brother were cast aside without a second thought. No word of forgiveness or anything. Lusamine was completely indifferent. There's nothing in that to understand! She's beyond saving and the sooner you see that, the easier your life will be!"
"You can believe that, but I'm not going to. She's never too far gone."
"Then you're going to be disappointed! Trust me. I once believed it too."
"What, with your father?"
"Yeah," Elio nodded, his own anger simmering, but the combination of fatigue and lack of sleep were starting to get to him. "He's just like your mother. Doesn't give a shit about his kid…just a selfish waste of space."
"You may have given up on him, but I'm not giving up on my mother! She can be saved!" Lillie blinked back tears of her own anger. She hated this. This whole infighting. How Elio was failing to see her side. "So...so if you're not...going to help me! Then leave me alone! You're just as bad as your own father!"
Hau gulped, seeing something flicker in his best friend's eyes. Lillie had struck a nerve. He watched Elio lean closer, his eyes wildly wide and glaring daggers. Jaw tightened and brows furrowed. He was fighting with every bit of himself not to lose it right then and right there.
Why is he fighting me? Can't he see reason? She tried her best not to recoil, but it was just so unnerving to see Sun angry…at her.
"Choose your next words carefully," he seethed. "Say it. I dare you."
The words left her mouth before her mind registered it. But she raised her chin, meeting him at eye level with a fiercely convicted stare of defiance and a level of determination and resolve he hadn't seen before. A level that nobody in the room had seen of Lillie before.
"I'm not taking the easy way out like you did."
His eyes went wide and before he could make another move that he might regret much later, Hau had jumped in between them, putting his larger body in front. He knew that Elio in his distressed and exhausted state was in no shape to keep on going. He needed rest and medical attention badly.
"Stop." The kahuna's grandson said firmly, a tone that was very unlike his cheerful self. "Stop it right now!"
"Hau, fuck off! They have no right to say that shit about my dad."
"I said stop!" Hau's arms held Elio's at his side before putting his hands on the other boy's wrists. Though he seemed to hesitate, there was no telling what would happen in his shaken state of what he might do. "This is not the fight you should be fighting right now! Don't let this be your white wailord."
Elio struggled in his grip, still growling in frustration before finally conceding. He glowered at Lillie and Gladion before the blackness at the edges of his vision finally spread across like fine dark ink to engulf his vision.
The shock and surprise of Lillie and Wicke would be the last thing he would remember.
And that wraps things up for now! Heh, what a ride! With probably one of the hardest battles in this story to write in the proverbial books, we can go back to the adventure and some certain character development I've been meaning to write in for quite some time. You've seen bits and pieces from their various appearances...so here's where things can change for the better right? Even the chapter name of it is one I've been wanting to use for this particular moment! "The Line in the Sand"
Translations:
A'ole maopopo - Dunno
As always, mahalo for reading and reviewing. You give my writing purpose.
Brav