Alola readers! Brav is back with the first of several grueling chapters of harrowing pokemon battles! Especially since I want to do them right by mixing in believable strategies and dipping a little bit into creativity. The battles against Gladion and Hau were more or less test runs to see how well I could do with incorporating strategies that were a little more complex as well as seeing how I'd fare with full 6v6 fights.
Needless to say, as fun as they may be to read, they are not easy to write at all. However I'm very glad to see that most of you that have reviewed thus far are enjoying what I've written and found a good sort of rhythm to write longer battle scenes. However I've obviously learned that the kind I'd like to write are quite taxing and do take a lot of sitting down and imagining things/plotting out scenarios with the possible movesets. So if I can, I'll keep 6v6 battles to those that are important such as rivals, Elite Four and Champion fights.
This chapter was supposed to be out earlier, however I had suffered an injury at work which required several trips to an urgent care and two trips to the hospital due to it being borderline sepsis. Thankfully the hospital staff put me right back on track even though it was a difficult fight, I'm doing much better now. Not fully 100%, but enough to where I've got my arm and wrist functioning again.
So without further ado, the first of the five 6v6 battles I've got back to back. I hope everyone enjoys.
This was it! It's time for Elio's last grand grand trial of them all! He had to face off against 4 of the most powerful trainers in all of Alola!
The stadium is so cool! I've never been inside a League venue before, only really seeing this place from the concept art when Kukui had it open on his computer. It's incredible and I'm pretty sure there isn't anything else like this in the world.
Either way, it was time to buckle up and see Elio's amazing talents as a trainer pushed to their limit. I want things to be easy for him, but I don't think he'd be satisfied that way.
"This is incredible!"
Lillie heard Hau's excited voice as she and Gladion made their way around the stadium's winding halls, escorted by a League attendant showing them to the Kahuna Iulio suites. Arguably the top tier box seats, Professor Kukui had reserved the best one that overlooked the center court nearly right down the center. One of eighteen that all had unrestricted views of the court.
The stadium had a natural bowl shape, rising edges that were ten feet above the bottom court which could be accessed by four tunnel entrances at each corner. Their box seats were situated directly above the lower level and a few rows of upper level seats that were perched behind superior to them.
Lillie saw that the roof curved into a dome that had been built into the peak of the mountain, almost as if they were sealed inside a crystal glass. Four enormous pastel panels were rolled up to form a circle, one each colored in yellow, pink, red and purple to symbolize the four islands of Alola. When retracted, they allowed the stadium to be naturally cooled to a comfortable, yet brisk temperature for those outside.
Festivities were already underway, with dozens of hula and fire dancers all moving in their own choreographed motions. While it was an incredible spectacle, most people were kept entertained while waiting for the main event. Skilled curlers were at the ends of the court, dazzling onlookers with their precise throws of alolan sandshrew across the smooth floor. Professor Burnet had explained that "curling" was a longstanding traditional game of Alola that continued to this day.
"How many people you think this stadium has?" Elaine was asking Professor Burnet as Lillie entered behind Gladion. The blond stopped for a second to marvel at the flawless poplar finish on the furniture before looking to secure his seat. Each section was stained in a rich brown color and white granite countertops with a stainless steel fridge, sink and range for cooking, all with utensils and cookware that was just shy of any gourmet kitchen. To their right next to the entrance were two bathrooms and a wardrobe where people could hang their coats or other garments.
It was as opulent as it could get, from watching the highest level of pokemon battling in the Alola region.
"Lillie!" She was taken out of her muse as Hau and Leilani bounded up to her and Gladion. She smiled, accepting gracious hugs from both teens. "It's so good to see you!"
"Same!" She did the same with Professor Burnet, the older woman gently kissing her on the temple. "I missed everyone and really needed a break."
"Hello Lillie, how are you?" Elaine put an arm around the younger girl while firmly shaking Gladion's hand.
"I'm good Miss Northstar." She beamed back. "You know I wouldn't miss this for anything."
"You're not worried about him?"
"After what we saw him in Kokealola? Absolutely not. He's got this and gonna give everything whether he wins or loses."
"Woah!" Hau looked amazed as Gladion found a switch on the side of the front observation area. Pressing a button would lower the glass windows in front of them, allowing the room to naturally cool. "How cool is this place?!"
"You're amazed by that?" Gladion raised an amused eyebrow, looking just a tad annoyed and shook his head. "That's…something."
"Chin up," Leilani chimed in. "This is coming from a guy who went straight for the bunch of drinks on the counter and couldn't believe how soft the main seats were. He ain't used to this."
"I can tell."
"Kukui went down as he's set to officially kick things off." Burnet explained as she poured herself some juice from the counter. "It's about to start."
As if on cue, the crowd burst into applause as the dancers took a bow and their leave to the northwest entrance. Lillie recognized the most decorated one at the front leading them; Kiawe of Akala Island.
The chatter grew from the stands as most of the people had taken their spots. Overhead the lights had darkened, leaving only the center court as the lone bright spot.
It's starting! Lillie's heart started racing as Hau, Leilani and Elaine took seats all along the front. Suddenly the idea of getting food and drink appealed and she scrambled up, making a beeline to the counters. She poured a glass of juice and grabbed a bunch of the available meats and cheeses from the charcuterie board, racing back just in time as the applause started. There was also a basket of warm malasadas, something she was sure wouldn't go unnoticed by Hau for long.
Overhead they could see four slanted screens, one facing each direction as it flipped between different camera views. Lillie glanced up and saw that there were at least half a dozen magneton and metang that had cameras mounted to allow for clear line of sight to the court and all possible angles. More of them lined the sides just in front of the firstmost seats.
Professor Kukui tapped the microphone as the crowd quieted.
"Hello all and a great big Alola to all of you!"
"ALOOOOLA!" The crowd roared back. Even all the way back up in the box, they could all feel a shiver run down their bodies. There was no denying the energy inside the stadium was electric.
"Welcome all to Mauna Lanakila Stadium and the tallest point in our great region! We're all here today to see the hopeful rise of Alola's very first champion! And I must say that this crowd really gets me takin' off like I can fly! Woo!"
He gestured to the screens above. "I can tell you he's in the building and can't wait to get out here and start whipping up a whirlwind of excitement! But first, I know this dear cousin of mine is the real deal!"
Moments later the screens flashed as the court darkened. Multiple clips were then shown on the screen, some of them depicting Elio as an infant and a toddler. That got quite the endearing reaction from the crowds.
Awww, he looked so cute as a baby.
"I know it's not an easy climb," Elio was saying as the videos kept playing over the montage of his childhood. "Sometimes you have to go looking for the right chances and jump on it as best you can."
"Not only is he the favorite of all the challengers to win the League that have come forth, but he's got the favor of the deity of conflict, Tapu Koko itself!"
"That's wild Chris! No doubt you'll be seeing the world wanting to look at this kid who's quickly emerging! I think it's not a matter of if he becomes a champion, but when."
Hold on. Lillie looked at the smaller flat screens mounted above them. Their chairs could be reclined so that they could still have a perfect view of what was happening on the court. Those are the same words as that of the announcers going on right now!
"Woah." Gladion was surprised at the slowed battle shown, a clip of Strongside the incineroar that had delivered the final blow to knock out Hau's decidueye Auwana. The owl had prepped to fire an arrow in mid tumble through the air. Strongside's beefy leg connected with Auwana's side and the flames flickered wildly from the finishing strike. The view then changed to Elio grinning and giving a two fingered salute while fist bumping his pokemon.
"Aww man they had to show that?" Hau grumbled, but laughed. "Just goes to show you he's on an entirely new level!"
"As a team that is cohesive and together; the chain becomes even more difficult to break with each member contributing and pushing in our own way to not be the weakest one that does snap." Next the video flipped to Elio at his Kokealola! interview during the previous night. As the recording ended, the screen went dark and changed to a view of him barely visible in the shadow. All around him were the glows of several pokemon, which many had begun to assume were his team.
"Go in and battle the best you can and hold your head high. Don't look back with any regrets." Finally the video closed out, ending with a motion-still of Elio in his formal challenge photoshoot, crossing his arms and glancing ahead with a fierce intensity.
They were promptly returned to their balls and she realized that it was his back turned to the camera. Lillie glanced around at any of the entrances and spotted a tiny shape of a distant camera metang. It jumped into the air, hovering over as hidden machines began to push an artificially generated fog into the area.
Once again the spotlight went to Kukui. "Our challenger today is just twenty nine days past his seventeenth birthday! He's completed his island trials and grand trials with flying colors and now stands before the Elite Four of Alola brave as a bird! He hails from Cerulean City in Kanto and has been of curious inquisition by our very own Tapu Koko itself! Give it up for our challenger today Elio Northstarrrrr!"
Okay. Stomach's full of food, even though I could hardly eat or drink. Pokemon are all rested and we've fine tuned our strategies best we could. I used the bathroom thank goodness.
A couple of growls and coos interrupted him as he saw his team surrounding him. They all stared his way, expecting him to rouse them with some pep talk.
Just like before a basketball game.
"Hey guys. It's been a long journey for all of us. A long way to go too. This ain't the end of it at all. I might've been good at basketball back when I was younger and reckless, but that didn't mean I was good at hype speeches. So I'll just say this. Be smart, decisive and together. This is our moment! You go out there and you dominate on every play, we're gonna fight and fight and fight! I don't care if we lose as long as we give everything we got walkin' outta here with our heads held high! We're a team and I'm proud as hell to have all of you here!"
Strongside was the first to acknowledge him, pounding a fist to his broad chest. Lochagos, Nani and Akela nodded in agreement. Arclight buzzed happily and lastly Bravo cawed, flexing his huge wings.
"Thanks guys." Elio looked at Rotom Dex next to him. "You too buddy."
"It'zzzz been a pleazzzure being your ever loyal and awezzzzome pokedex! Bzzt! Go and win a championship!"
He returned his pokemon, clipping them on his belt and looked outside.
"Give it up for our challenger today Elio Northstarrrrr!"
The adrenaline didn't start pumping into his system as he ran out of the tunnel and the light finally focused on him. A second later, the crowd went wild with a roaring cheer that rumbled in his ears and kicked his own body into overdrive.
He was pretty sure he was doing the same stuff he did when celebrating at basketball games. Yelling at the top of his lungs and eyes closed to find a single speck of serenity in the chaos.
Can't yell too much. Otherwise I'm gonna lose my voice before long. And I'm gonna need that.
As much as he wanted to show off that he was on camera, he knew that all of Alola and much of the world would be watching. Once his nerves started to calm from being adjusted to the loud environment, he made his way next to Professor Kukui, who waited for him at the center of the court. The two shook hands.
"How you feelin' cousin? Faster than a 'lectro ball?"
"Ready to go." Elio's tone was firm and decisive. His nerves were still frayed, but he didn't dare say anything about his nervousness. You got this.
"Get right to it?"
"Of course. I don't like to be kept waiting." At that, he heard the crowd's favorable reaction.
"That's what I like to hear cousin!" Kukui waved over the two officiants on the side. "Before we start, we'll need a Ward test."
Moments later, everyone had gasped when a shimmering barrier flickered to life around the stadium at the edges of the battle court, curving upwards to dispel powerful attacks. Earlier Leagues had stationed several pokemon using powerful protect barriers to prevent excessive damage, but the development of research had introduced powered devices that could produce the same effect in detecting attacks going out of bounds to be rendered harmless. Each wall appeared as if a thin oily liquid ran across its smooth surface to easily absorb and dispel any errant pokemon moves. As quickly as it appeared, the Ward projections disappeared, remaining invisible to the naked eye. They would only flare to life if in action to intercept and stop a move from causing damage to property or person. Similarly, the trainers would also have an invisible bubble surrounding them as well.
The referee shook Elio's hand and climbed onto a nearby metang that had a chair mount to where he could observe the match.
"Hello Mister Northstar." He spoke through a microphone headset. "And alola to the Pokemon League here at Mauna Lanakila. Ho'omaikai'ana for making it this far. I'll go over the rules before each match of the Elite Four, but for those listening…the challenger must battle each of the Elite Four in successive pokemon battles. Defeat of an Elite Four member will give the challenger access to a healing machine that will restore his pokemon to full health and optimal battling condition. In Alola's Pokemon League, the challenger will be able to choose the order of which Elite Four member is faced in battle however he pleases. The hai aku will conclude when the challenger becomes the champion or if he is defeated by anyone before attaining the title."
The referee eyed Elio atop the metang. "Terms accepted?"
"I accept." Elio said back. On his side of the court, a parabolic microphone could pick up the conversation to be played out from hanging speakers over the stands.
"Our challenger has accepted the terms of the hai aku." The man turned to Kukui. "You may proceed."
"Mahalo." Kukui said to him. "Alright folks, we've got our challenger in here, so let's begin! Well cousin, you've got four torches that are lit, each signifying a member. One of a ghost, a feather, a rock and a fist."
Elio knew who each of them were as he spotted four long torch poles behind on his side of the court. Each torch had a small symbol carving into the center just under the flame and a poliwag was next to it, ready to extinguish whichever fire necessitated.
"Your first match begins now! You will have thirty seconds or one will be selected at random for you."
Elio looked over at the four torches as a big timer began to appear on the overhead screens, followed by a ticking noise. A chorus of shouts came from the stands, all of them blended together and he could hardly make out what was being said, though he assumed it was them trying to help influence his decision.
Olivia is going to be rough. Half my team is weak to her. But I've never fought something that specializes in flying types.
He made his decision.
"Professor. I choose the ghost torch."
"Good." Kukui said, as the crowd applauded. "Elio chooses to face our ghost type specialist first. She descends from royalty right here in Alola and does the double duty of a trial captain in Ula'ula Island's second island trial. Give it up for Acerola of Kaauilo!"
Elio saw the short, purple haired girl walking out of the tunnel opposite and waving to the crowd, spinning on her back heel, much to everyone's delight. She gave them a big smile and sauntered over next to Elio and Kukui.
"Hey you!" Her enthusiasm was unshakeable. "I guess Kahuna Nanu couldn't refuse a tapu choosing him to serve as its kahuna, but he'd be darned if he had to sit on the Elite Four panel just because some guy asked him."
"I tried." Kukui shrugged, speaking softly enough that the microphones hadn't picked it up.
"So I'll just have to do and make up for him not being here! Come on, I'll take you on!"
On cue, the referee again hovered in front of them on top of his metang. "Alright, here are the rules as explained for League sanctioned matches. The battle between challenger Elio Northstar and Acerola of Kaauilo is about to get underway. This will be a six on six battle, single format. Battle will be concluded when all six pokemon of one trainer's side are no longer deemed fit to continue. Both the challenger and the Elite Four will be allowed to switch their pokemon at any moment they please. Only three voluntary switches are allowed per battle." He looked between Elio and Acerola.
"Do the both of you accept these terms?"
"Yes." He got affirms and nods from them both.
"Good. Assume your position and send out your pokemon! Battle begins!"
"You finally made it!" Acerola grinned and spun around happily. "I'm so excited after seeing how you crushed that ghost trial that you've grown into such a really good trainer! But now you're here where it's the best of the best."
Something flashed in her eyes. "So just because we're the bestest of friends and I want you to win doesn't mean I'm letting up at all!"
"I wouldn't dream of it." Elio said back as Kukui and the referee vacated off the court. Above them, the four large screens changed to a scoreboard, showing six slots on each side for their pokemon and another circle that was sequestered into thirds to indicate the amount of voluntary substitutions.
First in Elio's hand was Bravo's ball. As he tossed him out onto the field, he saw Acerola summoning her first pokemon.
The ghost creature gave an eerie smile, maybe about the size of his trainer. His body was a light gray with flimsy waving limbs, staring across with empty reddish eyes and a twisted grin of gold teeth.
"Banette." Elio muttered to himself, bringing up Rotom Dex's information feature. As much as he enjoyed listening to what the haunted Dex had to say, he figured it would be better to read it on his own while standing in front of thousands.
"Banette. Marionette pokemon. It is the final evolution of shuppet. A formerly stuffed toy that was discarded and possessed, ever searching for the one that threw it away to exact vengeance. Banette is a ghost type. Additional information available upon capturing this pokemon."
Bravo screeched upon release and spread his magnificent wings. He blinked in surprise at the new environment and kept a steely focus.
Here we go. Elio was almost in the midst of ordering to begin even as the referee made a chopping motion down the center.
With the same practice as they had worked on; Bravo thrust his wings forward and cast a tailwind that blew at their backs. Elio wasn't sure if ghost types were particularly fast, but he knew that Acerola had her own strategies to start putting in play.
His intuition was spot on, Bravo using the extra speed boost from the winds to dodge a lightning fast thrown thunderbolt that exploded out of the banette's hands with little warning. He rolled over multiple arcs, building up speed and power. His brave bird soared above and down like a missile, slamming into the banette's front. The ghost had halted its thunderbolt attack upon getting hit and fell to a knee.
Elio raised an eyebrow, surprised that such an attack appeared to have taken such a big chunk out of the banette's health. It wasn't without a cost as Bravo would suffer some knockback damage as a trade off for brave bird's power and heightened risk.
"LaChaise, double team!" Acerola said. The gray creature blinked and suddenly five more exact copies materialized out of nowhere. While all but one of them were fake, the attacks given off by it were very much real.
Three of them launched another array of thunderbolts while the other three gathered puffs of blue and red flames, shooting them up in different directions.
"Bravo dive into them again!" Elio cried out. "Steel wing!"
With a screech, his braviary swooped down and gained more speed, aided by the tailwind. His wings glistened and took on a metallic shine as he struck two of the copies right from the get go, but had to abruptly bank left to avoid an incoming will-o-wisp. Elio held his breath, if one managed to hit that meant he'd have significantly reduced attack power.
Burned or paralyzed by thunderbolt potentially. Neither is a good option.
Both the ones that Bravo had swept through with his steel wing were fakes and the other four had turned over. Elio had taken a gamble that he'd take the right one and lost out.
But he had another way to find the real LaChaise.
"Aerial ace."
Bravo looped in the air, vanishing for just a moment before he slashed and reappeared at the same time against the second copy on the left. LaChaise growled in pain, sounding as if it was crying out through clenched teeth. Elio had read somewhere that the source of a banette's power was contained within its mouth and opening it would allow it as well as its grudge life force to escape.
LaChaise's copies faded just a few seconds later and it flicked its fingers to shoot another thunderbolt that Bravo dodged right on time. He had been assisted by the tailwind, but to Elio's own dismay, it had dissipated a few moments later.
"You're not the only one who can use unavoidable attacks!" Acerola smiled at him. "Feint attack!"
LaChaise jumped up, moving barely above the ground as if it had become unhindered. Bravo was swooping up when it reappeared suddenly underneath, throwing a punch infused with dark energy into Bravo's underside.
Though his pokemon cried out, he kept his focus and powered himself up to shoot forward in another brave bird. LaChaise's copies had faded into thin air, leaving just the real one left to target.
"Oh no!" Acerola cried. "Quick, phantom force LaChaise!"
Bravo had finished powering up his brave bird and exploded ahead like a rocket when LaChaise turned opaque and completely vanished out of sight.
"Huh?!" The crowd gasped in surprise. Bravo was forced out of his zoning brave bird and constantly scanned his surroundings.
Wait a second, phantom force is a ghost attack. Doesn't work on normal types. Why did Acerola use it?
Movement caught Bravo's eye and he made to dodge as the banette rematerialized into the physical world and slashed down with dark purple ghost energy in its arms. While the attack did nothing to damage Bravo, it had moved him to look up, so that as the null attack had finished, it had put LaChaise behind his pokemon that was fully exposed.
Elio's blood ran cold realizing her strategy. "No! Get out of-"
Acerola shouted for a thunderbolt that was immediately charged and launched out of both outstretched hands. Bravo had no chance as he was hit from behind, wings folding in and he plummeted to the ground in an explosion of dust and shed feathers.
The referee guided his metang above the action and descended slightly. He waved a flag in Acerola's direction.
"Bravo is unable to battle further! LaChaise is the winner! Six to five! Acerola in favor!"
The crowd burst into applause as the signs lit up in signifying a round victory. Elio saw Bravo's icon on his side of the board wink out to show that he was down a pokemon.
He felt tense again and the creeping worry of losing nagged the back of his mind.
Relax. You're gonna take losses. Remember this is a marathon, not a sprint.
"Mahalo Bravo." He softly said, returning his fallen eagle back to his poke ball. "You rest up and we'll finish this."
Down one pokemon. He still had five left and plenty of time to turn the odds back into his favor.
Acerola looked like she was going to say something, but cut it short when Elio had produced his next poke ball to bring out onto the field.
Wordlessly he had summoned out Strongside and the two pokemon launched into action just as the referee waved his hand and quickly ascended on his metang again.
Strongside seemed ready, rushing forwards on all fours in a flame charge. LaChaise vanished as he passed through. Phantom force again.
Can't even dodge this. How the hell are we supposed to win if I can't hit the ghost until it attacks again and can't avoid that?!
Strongside kept his guard up. Elio knew that ghost moves weren't going to do much against dark types, but it was an upgrade above normal types that were immune to said moves. Still…he wouldn't put it past Acerola to try and do a sneaky backstab type attack like she had done to finish off Bravo.
Strongside sensed something coming and turned as LaChaise phased back in and raked his arms across his chest. Growling in protest, he quickly readied a flamethrower that forced the banette's follow up thunderbolt to go wide left.
"Use swagger!"
LaChaise snarled and waved his arms in a threatening manner that instantly angered Strongside. He roared and the fire around his belt intensified. While he rapidly blinked his eyes and wobbled balance from the ensuing confusion, Elio saw a sharp grade stat flare surrounding his pokemon. His attack had been "sharply" boosted.
It was a double edged sword that could go south for the swagger caster quickly as the move relied on a pokemon's confusion ending up hurting itself. If Strongside was able to shake it off, he'd have a double damage buff to his physical attack…something Elio immediately wanted to exploit.
For now, he just had to keep Strongside away from LaChaise until that confusion wore off. Unfortunately that seemed what Acerola was trying to prevent him from doing. The banette drifted in the air, hitting Strongside with another feint attack as the heel pokemon continued to move erratically.
Dammit this confusion is taking a lot longer to wear off. I could bring him back, but I don't want to not take advantage of the attack flare Acerola just gave me.
"Strongside, flamethrower!"
The huge cat took just a moment to warm up the belt and spewed a jet of fire that was aimed far off that LaChaise didn't make an effort to dodge. Much of the flames coated the ground and burned up into smoke.
Strongside turned towards the fire still burning and shook his head, his posture relaxing into the familiar battle ready stance. The confusion was finally gone.
"Let's go! Flamethrower again!" LaChaise was already on the move again as Strongside's fire just grazed its side doing little damage. Acerola swore under her breath, hoping to have stalled him out just a little longer. LaChaise performed another double team and all six copies readied a thunderbolt.
"Oh no you don't." Elio pointed. Still got something to bypass that evasion. "Darkest lariat!"
Strongside executed it perfectly, going into a spun as he swung his arms threateningly and targeting the furthest one to his left. LaChaise tried to adjust the aim of the thunderbolt, but Strongside's improved speed allowed him to easily back off from his projected approach and then zoom right back in to deliver the fatal strike.
LaChaise was flung down, crashing and flipping over to lying headfirst in the ground.
"LaChaise is unable to continue battling. Strongside is the winner! Five on five!" The ref declared.
Though it was a win, Elio allowed himself a slight sigh of relief. He couldn't get comfortable now that the momentum was on his side, but he had to make the most of it. You only got so many.
Either way, he had to tune out the crowd. Forget them and everyone else watching. A battle between him and the Elite Four that he was here to win.
"Hmm," Acerola cupped her hand to her chin. "Now what shall I do here?"
She nodded just a second later, drawing a second ball and tossing out a large bulbous creature that floated just above the ground with magenta colored tentacles. A lighter shade of saclike structures surrounded the middle like a collar and it glanced down with beady eyes and a set of small pink lips. A crown sat on top of its "head"
More pokemon he hadn't faced before. That must've been what people were expecting to have in curveballs. Still, he recognized it to be an evolution of frillish that he had yet to actually encounter until now.
"Jellicent. Floating pokemon. It is the final evolution of frillish. Fishermen greatly fear this pokemon as it is rumored to drag them into the sea and steal their lives away. Its body is comprised of mostly seawater. Jellicent is a water and ghost type. Additional information available upon capturing this pokemon."
"No rest for you!" Acerola thrust a hand out when the ref signaled to begin. "Missus, water spout!"
Elio watched as the jellicent tilted forth so that it floated horizontally and it fired a wide spray of frothed water. It was only Strongside's catlike reflexes and heightened speed that allowed him to duck underneath, grabbing the ground with one of his paws to help propel to the side. Unlike LaChaise; Missus seemed to be a lot slower to react. Strongside powered up a darkest lariat, rushing forward to deliver another super effective blow.
Only for Missus to shoot more streams of water at the ground. While not directly at Strongside, they struck right in front as she floated a little higher and spun her body.
That was whirlpool!
The jellicent sat at the top of the tower of water as it contracted, shrank and stretched together. She wasn't completely unreachable, but the whirlpool meant that getting up close to use darkest lariat would mean he'd be exposed for a longer amount of time.
Then there was her offense. The whirlpool vortexes suddenly darted out from the main one, encircling in an orbiting pattern. Strongside could time it to go through, but he saw that the whirlpools changed speed and distance from the center at random erratic intervals. Getting swept up in one was not ideal.
Acerola wasn't going to wait around either. Missus launched another water spout, arcing in the air and crashing down to where Strongside had narrowly evaded. The whirlpools came closer and he was half a foot away from being sucked inside.
Wait a second. It goes up?
Strongside kept trying to look for an opening, but Missus having the height advantage was able to force him back with another water spout. It wasn't favorable as not only did he have to avoid those, but the swirling whirlpools as well. Some of the first that were formed began to weaken and disappear, but Acerola had her pokemon cast more of them to replace the ones lost.
Then it all came to a head when Strongside dodged another spout. He had dived to the ground, right in front of the oncoming path of a whirlpool. He yelped in surprise as the vortex overtook his entire body and he flailed about passing through.
"No!"
Missus sat waiting until Strongside was able to free himself.
What they did not expect was for his own pokemon to formulate a plan as he was regurgitated in the water spiral. As he was flung out with a mighty spray of white foam, Elio saw that he had both his arms spread wide and rife with dark energy. A darkest lariat.
Strongside read his mind as soon as Elio shouted out the attack himself. He cloaked himself in more flames, using the charge to close the gap just as Missus had finished readying an ice beam.
"She meant to freeze him in the whirlpool!" He gasped in surprise. "Not on our watch."
Missus was just too slow in adjusting her aim. The fire cat swung his arms down, slamming them just to the side of her crown and knocking her off her whirlpool tower. He changed stances and jumped off, using one of his claws to slow his descent. The darkest lariat had done a lot of damage, but Elio saw that Strongside's own body shimmered with a ghostly power for a moment as she plummeted off into one of the smaller whirlpools. To his dismay, she had quickly righted herself and floated out with seemingly zero effort, showing no sign of being battered by the raging currents.
"Darkest lariat again!" Elio wanted to go right for the kill. Strongside paused and spread his arms out wide, blinking in dismay as the attack didn't power up. "Huh?"
His mind went back to the first one hitting Misus and the ghostly aura surrounding him. The cursed body ability. Shit.
The momentary distraction was all Missus needed to regroup and she launched another whirlpool. Strongside narrowly evaded, retaliating with a flamethrower. The jellicent wasn't as evasive as his own pokemon, but the fire did little damage.
"Use sludge wave!" Acerola cried.
Strongside watched and used flame charge to go through the oncoming attack. Missus had formulated a large curled tsunami not unlike surf, except the liquid was a sickly brown. Strongside punched through at the bottom of the curve, breaking its momentum and causing it to crash down violently. He was now up close again with Missus, swinging his burning feet around in a spiral to deliver that double blaze kick. Elio frowned as the cursed body activated again, now disabling blaze kick.
Does that mean darkest lariat is now un-disabled?
"Alright, let's try a darkest lariat again!" Strongside nodded and to his relief, he was able to gather dark energy in his hands and spin in for another devastating slam. Missus cried out, floating in the air before she flipped over on her back to impact the ground with a wet thud. Her large balloon body immediately deflated, gushing seawater through the lower tentacles.
"Missus is no longer able to battle!" The referee waved a hand to Strongside. "Strongside is the winner! Five on four, Elio in favor!"
Up in the Kahuna Iulio box suites, everyone was cheering loudly as Elio scored the second knockout. Gladion hollered at the top of his lungs while Hau and Leilani jumped up and down in excitement. Professor Burnet and Elaine chattered to one another while looking between the televisions showing different angles of the action.
Lillie was surprised herself at how much she was enjoying the competitive scene. She kept her eyes glued out to the court, seeing Elio as he paced to and fro in his usual battle stance.
You've got this.
"And Elio stayed cool and collected, not letting the confusion and attack boost scare him. As it wore off, he was able to get the upper hand despite darkest lariat being initially disabled by that cursed body."
She looked back over the court and gasped, as did the rest of the crowd when Strongside had visibly stopped and knelt on the ground. Acerola was in the middle of recalling her defeated pokemon.
"Oh no." They heard Hau's voice drop. "He must've got poisoned when going through that sludge wave."
"So that means?"
"Means that even if Strongside doesn't get hit by an attack, he'll eventually faint on his own from the constant poisoning damage. He's got to either recall him, which means he'll lose the increased attack power from swagger or he's got to make the most of it while Strongside is still able to fight."
"Wow. I guess my little swagger trick has kinda backfired huh?" Acerola swayed her hips from side to side. She plucked another poke ball from her belt. "I'm not out of this yet. Go Navy!"
The next pokemon was one Elio had never seen before. It was massive with a long brown anchor decorating its front, dripping with ribbons of green seaweed. A helm wheel was stuck to the top of the anchor and it glared at Strongside with a single eye lens on its left side.
"The hell is that?" Elio muttered, glancing down at his Dex.
"Dhelmise. Sea creeper pokemon. What actually looks like green seaweed is part of its body. The massive anchor can be swung and fired, capable of knocking out a wailord in a single blow. This pokemon has been seen coexisting with skrelp and dragalge. Dhelmise is a ghost and grass type. Additional information is available upon capturing this pokemon."
"Ghost and grass huh? Got the advantage…at least on paper." Strongside paced back and forth, still hunched in an attack ready stance, but Elio saw that the poisoning he had suffered from Missus' sludge wave was clearly bothering him.
"I'm keeping you in if you're still good." Elio told his starter. "If you're not, I can substitute in Lochagos or Arclight."
He got a growl in response. Strongside seemed uninterested in being withdrawn in spite of the whittling poison.
Alright. Just don't exert yourself. This isn't the only battle we gotta win.
Elio was dimly aware of the buzzer sounding when Strongside went on the attack. With the limited time he had from the poison, he knew that his pokemon wanted to make the most of it. The heel pokemon fired a beam of white hot flames from his mouth.
Navy seemed to uncoil itself from a large metal chain that kept it attached to the anchor and he heard the chain grind against itself, creating an earsplitting screech that was enough to deter Strongside's attack. The overheat stopped and he fell to a knee.
Elio saw it wind up the anchor and then shoot it out with a burst of compressed air. Strongside had finally recovered enough, but was hit by the bottom shank with the velocity of a speeding car. He winced from the sickening sound of the blow as Strongside was knocked onto the court. Amazingly, he had survived the anchor shot, albeit greatly weakened from both that and the residual poison.
"Use hex!" Acerola called out.
Navy's anchor yanked free of where it had been embedded and it quickly reeled the heavy object back in while gathering wisps of a ghostly purple energy under the wheel.
Strongside was still shakily getting back onto his feet when Navy launched the hex attack. He crouched low, into another running position as the orbs sailed overhead and launched his knees into the air, feet sparking with embers for a blaze kick.
"Ah perfect." Acerola said. "Use power whip and trap him!"
Navy's chain suddenly split into smaller strands and one of them lashed out at Strongside's leg as he prepared to deliver the kick. He yelped in surprise as it snared his ankle, quenching the flames around it with a hiss. Navy swung him down to the ground face first, using the others of the power whip to lash out on his back.
"Shit." Elio cursed to himself. "Gotta do something."
Wait.
"Strongside, flamethrower with your feet!"
The entire stadium gasped as the large tiger had used his free arms to prop his trapped legs upwards and blindly channel a burst of red fire from his heels. His aim was just a tad off, a glancing blow just underneath the "wheel" part of the dhelmise's body, but it was enough to catch both it and Acerola off guard for enough time to wriggle free. The startling was short-lived however, as Navy used another power whip to recapture his prey, but Strongside saw it coming, flipping through several of the vines in their attempt to snare him once more.
"Use anchor shot!"
Elio had forgotten that Strongside was still right in the center of the kill box for Navy's most powerful attack. The dhelmise rotated its body and launched the anchor. It was only thanks to his pokemon's own will to stop and change directions to spare him from the potentially lethal blow. Strongside couldn't breathe a sigh of relief even if the anchor shot had missed him by only a few inches. Navy was on the attack again with another chain power whip.
"Darkest lariat on the anchor. Grab it!"
Strongside spun around, swinging his arms with the dark power and grabbed onto the shank with both arms, grunting with exertion as he pushed on the side in an effort to budge it free.
Navy wasn't about to let him finish and gathered another hex attack.
Not happening!
Finally the anchor popped free of the ground and Strongside hefted it atop his shoulders, growling in protest. Navy immediately started to retract it back towards itself, but instead of reeling the anchor, the rest of its body was instead the part being pulled.
The look on Acerola's face told him that this was something that was not planned.
Time to capitalize on it.
"Strongside, spin in a darkest lariat and throw that anchor as hard as you can!"
His pokemon looked confused for a moment, but did as he asked. His body began to rotate as the darkest lariat hit its mark. Navy cried out, but suddenly another pair of hex orbs had begun to form. Acerola had snapped out of her surprise and was already formulating a counterattack.
The anchor's weight made him go slower to start, but the rotations meant that trying to get the anchor back into place for another powerful anchor shot was going to take longer. Elio wasn't sure how much more Strongside could take if he got hit by a hex, but he had no interest in his pokemon being on the business end of another harpoon anchor if he could help it.
Strongside finally reached a good speed just as the wheel of Navy had reaffixed itself to the anchor, which potentially could have made him unstable. With a guttural roar, the fire cat had let go, flinging it like an athlete in a hammer throw event. The gigantic pokemon screeched in surprise as the massive kinetic energy and momentum sent it careening into the wall where it disappeared in an explosion of dust and smoke. The hex attack unexpectedly stopped.
Onlookers nearby had jumped for cover, but the Ward technology had performed flawlessly, activating and completely absorbing all the energy from the impact and keeping it from escaping to harm anyone. The energy shield shimmered before fading back into obscurity without as much as any reminder that it was even active. A person standing at the very front seats just above where Navy had struck would've felt nothing more than a brief gust of wind.
Strongside must've sensed it wasn't quite down yet and jumped forward, firing another uninterrupted beam of white hot flames into the smoke and dust.
I'm now officially worried about Strongside. Elio thought to himself as he saw his starter pokemon fall to his knuckles and knees after completing his attack. Out of the corner of his eye, he could most definitely see that Navy had been knocked out from the combination of the darkest lariat and the overheat.
As much as he wanted to take him out, there was no denying that he still had a hot hand. Strongside still kept that heightened attack boost from the swagger by LaChaise and if he was smart enough, he could take out another one of Acerola's pokemon.
But he didn't want to get greedy either. Though he had won, each of his opponents had chipped in little by little to have slowed him down.
Just was it enough?
How far was he willing to win?
The Elite Four is the most grueling test a pokemon trainer can go through. If I can't accept that and push myself and my pokemon team to their limits or beyond, then I have no business of being a champion.
Easier said and thought than done. Elio knew now that there were going to be circumstances that he'd have to make those kinds of decisions he wasn't fully comfortable with.
Not to mention using one of my voluntary switches. It might work as a bit of a last resort, but if I have to go through multiple pokemon when Strongside is bruised, tired and on the verge of fainting from poison…
The sound of a pokemon being released from Acerola's side caught his attention. Elio realized that he had completely missed the referee's declaring Navy out of the match. Now standing opposite them was a large bulbous dark purple pokemon with four long waving gold ribbons. It stared at them with empty red eyes and a gold colored cross right over a thin mouth.
"Drifblim." Elio glanced down at his Dex.
"Drifblim. Blimp pokemon. It is the final evolution of drifloon. Even while under careful surveillance, flocks of drifblim spotted at dusk will inexplicably disappear from view. There's a rumor if you touch this pokemon while it floats in the evening, you will get carried to the afterlife. Drifblim is a ghost and flying type. Additional information is available upon capturing this pokemon."
Elio glanced at Strongside. The fire cat was still growling in exhaustion, having gotten up to a single knee. The poison had continued to gnaw away at his strength, yet he was still willing himself to continue to fight. Slowly he had gathered enough endurance to stand once more, much to the crowd's delight as they had burst into applause.
His trainer though, was less than thrilled despite how proud he was of his pokemon. Any lasting injuries he might sustain in this battle could prove bad for another…and this was just one of four battles he had to win.
"You sure you're good to go?" Elio asked him.
Strongside growled in response, assuming his hunched stance. Through the shakiness of it all and immense effort he had taken to regain his balance; Elio knew that the next time Strongside was knocked down, he wouldn't be getting back up.
"Darkest lariat!"
Strongside gathered the dark energy in his hands and rushed forward, jumping up to meet the drifblim.
Only for the balloon pokemon to simply allow itself to be brushed aside with the minute wind currents. Strongside didn't let up, planting a foot on the ground and jumping right back up with his rear foot ablaze. As if the drifblim could predict his movements, it had simply been blown aside while both of Strongside's attacks met empty air.
Acerola seemed to have enough enjoyment playing around and Elio saw it formulate several hex orbs and launch them towards Strongside.
The heel pokemon growled in protest as he was hit across the chest and finally sent toppling to the ground. As he had predicted, that had been the finishing blow to finally take him out of the fight.
"Strongside is unable to continue battling!" The referee waved towards Acerola. "Petra is the winner! Four to three! Elio in favor!"
"After all that." Hau sighed, gripping the tabletop with his fingers white-knuckled. "It finally caught up to him."
"He was pushing his luck." Gladion shook his head. "Keeping Strongside in there gave him an early lead…but now all those advantages he had have been nullified."
Though the way he fought that dhelmise…that was actually pretty creative.
"So what happens now?" Lillie asked.
"My guess is that he's going to use that vikavolt of his next." Gladion said. "We saw how that drifblim takes advantage of those little wind currents most of us wouldn't think twice about. Any big projectile attack is gonna have some disturbance or displacement…or physics stuff that I even have a hard time explaining myself. Like rocks, which is why I wouldn't be using his lycanroc. Electricity isn't really bound by those rules, plus it's also effective against flying."
"Huh." Hau and Leilani exchanged a confused look. Gladion rolled his eyes.
"Plus, vikavolt can maneuver in both still air and high winds while a drifblim might not have that same freedom."
"Guess we'll see."
As Gladion had predicted, Elio opted to choose Arclight for his next pokemon. The vikavolt took to the air, the dark carapace opening up on her back and her wings beat faster than the eye could follow. They made a soft droning sound.
The referee signaled to begin and both pokemon immediately went on the attack. Petra gathered several bursts of ghostly blue flames that launched Arclight's way. She barrel rolled out of their path, quickly gathering energy for a discharge. Elio thought he might've been able to score a hit, but that was quickly disproven by a shimmering protect barrier that surrounded Petra's entire front.
He may not have done any damage, but it confirmed to him that electricity hadn't created wind of its own to be able to naturally push the drifblim out of the way.
Not entirely a shot in the dark.
"Get ready to launch another discharge!"
Acerola seemed to read his mind as she shouted back at her own pokemon. Petra's body seemed to inflate before suddenly venting out from the bottom to belch a cloud of thick smoke that obscured the court. Elio hissed in frustration as Arclight glanced left and right. He wasn't concerned about the haze resetting any stat changes, rather it blocking his vision.
"Time for the ol' Acerola special with this one! Mask shadow ball!"
Mask shadow ball?
Elio was confused until he saw Arclight suddenly tumble back from an impact. Petra had fired a shadow ball from within the blanketing haze.
The hell did that come from?
His eyes moved to the haze. Arclight by now had recovered enough where she quickly built up a charge in her front jaws and fired a zap cannon down the accelerator. The shot went wide left and he didn't hear the sound of it hitting his opponent.
That's crazy. Even a blind shot in this soup must've at least gotten close enough.
Then it hit him.
The haze.
Because the electricity hadn't disturbed it like most other attacks, it kept the hazy smokescreen up to give him a literal shot in the dark. Acerola's shadow ball attack somehow had gotten the thick of it to adhere to the edges and in the gloom it was virtually invisible to detect until the attack was right on top. The air was too thick and dense to discern anything.
So if the air is dense and the drifblim is in the middle of it.
"Arclight, dig now! Charge while you go!"
She dove down, using her long forelegs to burrow into the court's ground. It had come just in time as another shadow ball appeared out of the soup.
"It's no use! We can still see you!"
She doesn't know we've dug underground!
"Ominious wind!" Acerola shouted. Petra suddenly spun out of his view and unleashed a vortex of gusts imbued with sinister ghost energy that quickly parted the haze curtains.
Elio held his breath, trying not to display any glee that he had been right. The haze's denser air had put Petra nearly touching the ground. She only began to slightly rise after purging it within her envelope.
The girl gasped in surprise at Arclight's disappearance mere moments before the ground underneath erupted and she emerged. Petra once again used the passive wind currents to casually brush aside, but the real advantage was that she was in virtually point blank range of any electric attack. Elio saw that the charge was successful and she was ready to deliver the killing blow.
Acerola's panic was quickly replaced by a reflexive command as both trainers shouted their attacks.
"Zap cannon!"
"Destiny bond!"
Thanks to the pre-charge done while digging belowground, Arclight was able to fire the zap cannon down her accelerator jaws in the blink of an eye. As she did, there was a flash of some other spectral power at work that covered Petra before she vanished in a thunderous explosion of dust and electricity.
Under the cloud, they saw her deflated form skid on the ground, rolling to a halt mid court.
Arclight buzzed in triumph before that same blue purple spectral power suddenly surrounded her and she inexplicably stiffened, falling down to the court floor with a loud thud.
What the? Oh goddammit, destiny bond.
"Petra and Arclight! Both pokemon are unable to continue battling! It is now three on two! Elio still in favor!"
Elio tried his best not to make it look like the nerves were getting to him. But there was no denying that he was playing with a lead that was diminishing. He still had the numbers advantage and both him and Acerola only had pokemon that were yet to enter the battle.
It was only then that he noticed how galvanized the crowd was getting around him. He had been so in tune to the battle that everyone watching had merely faded into background noise. Same with the dozens of drone cameras and those mounted on pokemon crews that were recording the match.
I'm being broadcasted to probably the entire world. Doing great so far.
Except for how thirsty he was. He made sure to get a bottle of water when this match was done.
"Are you doing alright?" Acerola asked him.
"Huh?" Elio paused, not expecting the question. "Uh yeah I guess."
"Heh, get used to it. Because you got three more like this."
"I appreciate the encouragement." He told her, causing the girl to laugh.
"That's the spirit! Let's gooo!" Acerola spun around and threw her next pokemon out. It was a thin white creature with a robe-like body and a wide rounded dark head. He immediately felt a slight chill in the air. There was a red band around its waist that looked like a traditional johtoan obi.
"Froslass. Snow land pokemon. It is a final evolution of snorunt. It is said that the soul of a woman who was lost in the mountains possessed an icicle to become this pokemon. If it finds people or pokemon it likes, it freezes them and carries them back to its den to be displayed as trophies. Froslass is an ice and ghost type and a female only species. Additional information is available upon catching this pokemon."
"O…okay. That's kind of one of the more unsettling things I've read in the Dex so far."
Acerola chuckled. "Ghosts can be…a little different. I know everyone's not a fan since their behavior isn't like most other pokemon. Lots of people find them 'oko'a. But I guess I have some natural ear for them. They're pokemon too."
They're pokemon too.
"Yeah. Yeah they are. And you've really raised a great team."
Acerola giggled. "Thank you. And you have as well! But I have a feeling you're not satisfied with me saying that."
Correct. Elio brandished the next ball in his hand and tossed it onto the court. Nani uncoiled herself and let out a wailing coo, which got quite a bit of a reaction from the audience. Milotic was a rare pokemon to see.
Elio studied the froslass on the other side. I'm going to guess that it's going to try and entrap us with ice and blindsided attacks. She's female too, so attract is off the table.
"Nani, scald!"
She quickly gathered water and spat it out. The boiling hot stream immediately cast a thick cloud of vapor overhead. The froslass dodged and flung a handful of sharp icicles that hit Nani quicker, throwing off her aim. She zipped to the side, her eyes glowing as she fired two beams of red and black.
Nani was quick to counter with an ice beam of her own. It collided with the night shade, throwing up another thunderous explosion that blanketed the area in more dust.
"Ah perfect." Acerola jumped up. "Ailsa, use hail!"
The froslass was barely visible on the other side of the court, but Elio saw it shoot up an icy orb into the sky. Within moments he saw small pea sized stones begin to pelt the ground.
Nani flinched as her skin was stung.
"It's all right. I got you."
She nodded and summoned a thin veil of water to surround her. The aqua ring flared to life, immediately going to work to heal the small damage the hail had inflicted.
While Elio was confident that Nani would be able to hold out from within the aqua ring, he was more concerned that Ailsa had vanished in the hailstorm, taking advantage of her snow cloak ability.
Not this again! Unlike Petra the drifblim, Ailsa was much quicker and nimble, meaning she could easily slip away back into the cover of the hail. And somehow, she was able to detect her position through the thick of it.
Maybe that's all ghosts? They can see heat sinks or infrared?
"Nani, use ice beam at the ground in front of you!"
As she gathered energy and fired it, Elio saw that the ice quickly built up small mound structures just a few feet in front of the aqua ring. She moved her head to erect more in a semicircle.
Perfect. Elio thought to himself. Sort of guarded her blindside.
Nani didn't have to wait long for Ailsa to attack. The froslass had bypassed the makeshift barricades that Elio had set up and he saw its dainty figure just too late.
"Look out!"
Nani was quick to react, but Ailsa was quicker. She blasted the milotic with another night shade attack that flung her out of her aqua ring just as she was sharpening into her signature iron tail sword. It swung by harmlessly, but Nani wasn't about to let her get away with that. She blasted forth an ice beam that caught Ailsa's legs in place. Not much damage there, but it was enough to hold her still for Nani to slither quickly back into the aqua ring and swing her sword up high.
But Ailsa leaned back. Because Nani was a little hasty in trying to get a hit in, her swing came up just short enough to cut through the thin ice that had trapped her. Ailsa slipped free, firing off another handful of ice shard to help cover her escape.
"Nani return!" Elio called out, holding her ball up. She was quickly pulled back inside and he grunted as he threw in her substitution.
"Lochagos?" Hau cocked his head in confusion as the announcers on the television were also in a frenzy. One of the switch icons on Elio's side winked out, indicating that he used one of his voluntary substitutions. "What? Has he lost his mind?"
"He's at a huge disadvantage." Leilani said. "Dragon is weak to ice and fighting type moves can't even hit ghosts. I know he's got iron head, but…I dunno."
From above they could see that the hailstorm did far less damage to Lochagos' scale armor than to Nani's thinner skin. Each stone shattered into tiny crystals and he seemed to flinch less as they stung his body.
"What are you up to?" Gladion whispered to himself. "He had…he had to bring him out for a reason."
Lochagos was a lot more alert to Ailsa darting around in the shadow of the hail, as Acerola continued to try and have ice shards fired from the shroud. The kommo'o's heavy armor deflected most of the icicles and him constantly shifting made it hard for her to get a shot in.
"Draining kiss!"
"Lochagos, repulse it!"
To his surprise, Lochagos was flanked easily and Ailsa brought both her thin hands together to the edge of her mouth and flicked them towards him. Somehow at the last moment, Lochagos had sensed her presence, raising his gauntleted arm up and activating the weakened protect to deflect the attack that was coming behind him.
Acerola and Ailsa gasped in surprise as the pink blip was thrown right back, splashing over her delicate form. Lochagos used the opportunity to charge forward, swiping up with a dragon claw that sent her into the air.
"Oh no the hail." Acerola muttered under her breath. "Get out of there!"
Ailsa launched another hail orb to resume the weather, vanishing into the storm before Lochagos could get a second dragon claw in. This one was far more intense than the last, the stones almost doubling in size and coming down at a more astonishing rate. He began to growl in protest as they began to hit the softer parts, namely the joints in between the gaps of his armor.
Acerola's gonna take advantage of that.
His intuition was spot on as Lochagos had to throw up another full protect to block another incoming draining kiss. He stamped the ground in a massive earthquake, the shockwave quickly spreading across the court. Elio heard Ailsa's cry of surprise at the same time his pokemon did, knowing they had scored a hit.
Lochagos wasted no time rushing forward, lowering the crown of his skull to deliver an iron head.
However as he ran forth, the stones continued to batter his armor and the joints to slow him down slightly. While barely noticeable, it was enough for him to pick out Ailsa starting to get back up after being struck by the earlier earthquake.
She flung another handful of ice shards in another desperate gambit. Several of them spattered harmlessly against his armor, but a lucky couple had managed to pierce the weaker and softer breastbone area. Lochagos screeched, the sudden unexpected impact causing him to lose balance and topple over.
"Ice beam!"
Ailsa was up and shooting within nanoseconds, forcing Lochagos to once again put up another protect shield to cover himself. Elio watched and suddenly turned to dismay when the froslass had finished and then put both her hands to her mouth area.
Shit! That was to get me to use up protect and leave him defenseless for draining kiss!
That was when Elio noticed that Lochagos' arm scales were starting to vibrate and shake as he rolled back onto his feet. He was ready to attack, just had to be quicker than Ailsa getting off her draining kiss.
"Now!" Lochagos slammed his largest gauntlets together, timing the clanging scales perfectly. Ailsa was just about to launch her draining kiss when the concussive soundwave hit her and blew her backwards onto the ground.
Don't let up! I don't want to have to deal with this thing anymore!
His dragon seemed to read his mind and took off the moment he finished his attack, lowering his head and rushing forward.
"Ailsa no!" Acerola cried. "Destiny bo-"
Ailsa was hit in the midsection by Lochagos' iron head and she wailed while being violently thrown into the ground. Lochagos stood over her, breathing heavily and trying to tune out the stinging sensation of the hailstones that continued to assault his armor plating.
Elio found himself breathing a sigh of relief. He had knocked her out before she had a chance to do the same thing Petra had successfully did in taking his own pokemon down in another destiny bond.
"Ailsa is incapable of battling further! Lochagos is the winner! Three on one! Elio in favor with the potential to clinch the match by his knockout!"
"Wow." Acerola breathed, returning her fallen froslass and smiling at him. "Look at you! You're nearly there!"
Only one more pokemon.
Elio finally began to hear the growing noise of the excited crowd. Looking up and around, many of them were clapping and on their feet. A growing number were getting phones and cameras out, knowing that this could be the deciding matchup. On Acerola's side, only one blank spot for her final pokemon remained and the three switch icons winked out. Having one pokemon meant that said switches were no longer available.
I can do this.
"Not very many trainers get me to this point. She's been with me for a long long time, ever since I began to train with ghost types back when I was playing on the beach…not far away from where you had undertaken the trial of mine at the abandoned Megamart."
Acerola spun around and threw the ball out. "Say hello to Ikaika!"
The pokemon emerging was nothing like Elio had seen before. It resembled a large sandcastle that had towering walls and elongated turrets along either side. Through the holes at the central section were two beady white eyes. Small iridescent shells covered the front and he saw a tiny shovel protruding out of the top of its central tower.
"What is that?" Elio looked down at his Dex to scan it. "Palossand. Sand castle pokemon. It is the final evolution of sandygast. Known as the beach nightmare, this pokemon resides on sandy beaches over a nest of bones of beings drained of their vitality. Palossand is a ghost and ground type. Additional information is available upon capturing this pokemon."
"You better get ready!" Acerola pumped a fist. "Because here we come!"
So are we! Lochagos roared in affirm as he stamped the ground. The earthquake caused the palossand to shudder as fine grains suddenly exploded out of its side. Through the powerful attack, Elio saw that the earthquake had somewhat destabilized it.
"You're not the only one who can quake the ground like that! Earth power Ikaika!"
Strangely, the other pokemon didn't move and Lochagos stared in confusion before suddenly the ground directly underneath had split open and a massive plume of energy poured out from the rift. Lochagos snarled in agony, finally able to step away, but Elio could tell that him stumbling around meant that it had taken a lot out of him. Overhead the hailstones continued their onslaught and Lochagos had to raise his shield gauntlets to cover himself from the worst of it. Ikaika shuddered as they splashed across her sandy body with splattering impacts. She was not immune to its damaging effects either.
Holy!
"And no better time to wrap this one up!" Acerola flashed a zenith crystal in her hand, slotting it into the ring on her wrist. Elio gulped, knowing that someone like her was able to execute a successful Z-move within seconds.
"Lochagos, scale shot! Don't let her finish!"
His pokemon grumbled, still in a daze from the abrupt earth power. He thrust his hands out to try and use a protect, but it couldn't get set up in time.
"Z-move unleash! Shadow ball into never ending nightmare!"
Ikaika made a melancholic howling noise as the entire lights seemed to dim to where it cast an eerie light over the air. The crowd gasped as four gigantic tendrils with tiny hands sprouted up surrounding Lochagos as he finally got his bearings and flung one of the scale shots he could muster. The single throw hit Ikaika, doing little damage other than chipping away some of the well-packed sand on the left turret.
Each shadowy arm bent down until all four of them smothered Lochagos within and glowed bright with sinister power. Then one by one, they all detonated in a loud thunderous explosion that reverberated through the stadium. Onlookers gasped as the edges of the power's splash reached the edges. The Ward flickered to life, easily absorbing the remnants and preventing it from breaking out.
Everyone stared in stunned silence as the darkness slowly ebbed away and Elio blinked, trying to clear the ringing in his head. He saw that Lochagos was on his hands and knees, breathing heavily and exhausted from the previous attack.
"Is he?"
The dragon made a low groaning sound before his limbs finally gave out and he collapsed onto the ground.
"Lochagos is unable to continue battling!" The ref waved towards Acerola's side. "Ikaika is the winner! Two on one! Elio still in favor and able to clinch the match by his knockout!"
Okay. Elio shakily returned his kommo'o. He knew that Acerola was starting to creep back and make it a closer match. Still had the numbers advantage, but for how long?
What should I do? Akela's at a disadvantage and there's going to be little I can do without having to get up close. Nani would give me a better chance.
He made his decision. The crowd once again murmured as the serpentine tender pokemon cooly faced her opponent.
"Ah yes, I've been waiting for you!" Acerola made it sound as if she was trying to get him to draw Nani out.
"Usual setup girl." He said. "Aqua ring!"
Nani weaved her head from side to side as another aqua ring unfurled around in a glorious halo. The little damage the hail had done to her skin was quickly healed and to his relief, the clouds vanished. No more worrying about hailstones anymore.
Ikaika waited until the aqua ring was fully ready before she launched a giga drain. Nani slithered to dodge only for Elio to realize that it hadn't been aimed towards her at all.
The giga drain had permanently aimed it at the aqua ring's edges, ready to siphon off any regained health she might gain back. Nani slithering back into the rift meant that it would instantly sap it away and it being a grass type attack would put her in jeopardy.
"Dammit." I guess that means the safe space is off the table. And I can't use aqua ring to bolster any water attacks. "Stay out of that aqua ring! Hydro pump!"
Nani dodged another earth power and used her flexible serpentine body to go down low and shoot the hydro pump towards Ikaika. The palossand hardly moved, but grunted under the pressure of the super effective attack. Water mixed with dark sand seemed to explode from the point of impact and Elio saw that part of the creature's left turret was deformed.
Then a rising stat flare cascaded upwards. Elio looked at his Dex to see that the physical defense had increased.
"Stamina? Like Miles?" A look at the info screen told him that he was wrong...or at least not completely right. Palossand's own ability of water compaction had kicked in, raising its defense if struck by a water attack.
Okay could be worse, but if Nani gets taken out and I keep raising its defense, then my last option of Akela is gonna be in for a hard time.
Ikaika formed more shadow balls, one on each tower and fired them into the air like mortars. Nani's eyes sharpened and she slithered to and fro, weaving in between as they fell to the ground and detonated like grenades. Two of the shadow balls had straddled her on either side and the third had hit just behind. However moments later, an earth power had erupted just underneath where she was headed, throwing her off course. Nani landed in a tangled heap and frantically attempted to uncoil herself as Ikaika readied another trio of shadow balls to be launched.
"Ice beam for a barrier!"
She only had just a couple of seconds, blasting the ground in front and curving the trajectory up to form a half dome. Ikaika's aim was just as good, two of the shadow balls again straddling on both sides while the third looked right on the mark. She had just gotten the ice set in time for it to impact and shatter it into thousands of crystals. While spared from the damage, Nani was thrown to the ground.
"Use shore up."
Elio watched in dismay as sand was drawn from the ground to flow into the damaged turret. Cracks were repaired and the overall structure of the pokemon looked to have been restored to optimal fighting condition.
Nani quickly slithered out of the way just as another earth power erupted underneath where she had once stood and gathered energy for a dragon pulse. The green orb sailed through the air, striking the less-than-mobile pokemon in the middle and exploding three times. More sand was kicked up into the air, clearing just enough to see that Elio had done enough damage to the left turret. Ikaika was already retaliating with another shadow ball, however only the right turret and center were actively shooting.
Those turrets help it out. Maybe if I can disable them.
An idea popped into his head. It would have to involve more water attacks, but if it paid off, he might be able to put it down for good.
Nani impeccably dodged the two shadow balls and closed the distance between them. She stopped just for a second at Elio's command to fire a scald at the right turret.
Ikaika groaned, staggering back from the impact. He ignored the rising defense stat flare as Nani spun her body around.
"Ice beam on the turret!"
"Shore up!" Acerola called out.
Ikaika drew more sand towards her damaged turret, but the ice crystals had packed tightly within the tiny gaps, preventing it from fully healing. She growled in frustration.
"Now, iron tail!"
Nani quickly sharpened her fins and jabbed it like a spear into the center of the frozen sandy block. Ikaika's entire tower shattered in a detonation of wet sand that blanketed the entire area. With the other turret also damaged, that left the palossand's main structure as the only functional section.
"We're not going down without a fight!" Acerola said. "Ikaika! Giga drain!"
Her pokemon groaned, but shot another dart of energy that hit Nani in her midsection. Immediately she felt weak from the attack's siphoning effects.
"Don't give up Nani! Hydro pump! One last push!" Elio shouted.
Nani stiffened and cried out, but she finally opened her maw and blasted forth a fine stream of water. While only half the size, Elio noticed that it had far more pressure and velocity to it than a normal hydro pump attack. The blast hit Ikaika dead center, the water compaction ability quickly giving way as the relentless onslaught eroded chunks of wet sand to literally break the pokemon's body down. Water gushed and sluiced along the ground, quickly saturating it into a thick gritty mud.
Nani finally felt the relief of the giga drain ease away and she halted her attack, reducing it to a firm flow and then a trickle as she panted heavily while trying to stay upright.
The crowd was holding their breath as the sand billowing out had begun to settle. As it cleared up, they could all see that Ikaika's mighty fortress turrets and main structure had all caved in to a mounded mess of shells and large rocks that held it together. The shovel at the top central spire had twitched before finally going still.
Holy shit. It's out. It's OUT! I won! Still, Elio held his breath as the officiant guided his metang overhead, glancing down at the fainted palossand.
Finally after what seemed like forever, he nodded his head to confirm to himself something and waved a hand to Elio's side. "Ikaika is no longer able to battle! Nani is the winner! Challenger Elio Northstar clinches the battle!"
Now you can relax. Elio blew out that breath he was holding as the crowd exploded into cheers and applause and he joined them.
"Yessssssss!" He pumped both his fists and sprinted right out onto the court, nearly tackling his own pokemon in jubilation. Nani stiffened and relaxed to his touch, gently nudging his shoulder with her rounded snout. "That's my girl! I knew we could do this!" She was covered in gritty sand and the scabs from fresh wounds across her body, but she didn't seem to care. All that mattered was that she won the battle and it made both her and her trainer happy.
"Hell to the yeah!" Elio made a sidewinding motion with both his hands, Nani copying his movements as the two seemed to share a bit of a victory dance.
Okay…time to lay off the showboating. While it's a big accomplishment, we're not done. We're nowhere near done. This was just the first stretch.
The crowd didn't seem to care about that and their cheers continued to rock the stadium. He couldn't see or hear them above the roar, but all of his friends, companions and mother were joining right in.
"We only got a little bit of a breather." He told his pokemon. "Few minutes of a break and it's time for the next battle. I'm gonna need you and the rest of the team."
Nani nodded to reassure him.
"Good. Let's rest up and keep on going. We're not satisfied with one win are we?"
No we are not.
He returned Nani to her ball as he saw Acerola do the same to her defeated pokemon and skip across the court. Elio extended his hand out for a shake but was taken off guard when Acerola practically jumped into his arms, throwing hers around his shoulders and clamping down for a fierce hug.
"Look at you!" She said to the crowd's delight. "You…totally slayed out there! And I mean slayed!"
"That…that was insane. Exhilarating!" Elio's grin plastered on his face didn't waver. "This is what it feels like."
"This is exactly what it feels like! Welcome to the big leagues cousin!" She let go and put her hands on her hips. "You've got one of us elites down…three more to go! I hope you're ready because they're a lot tougher than me!"
I'll try not to let that get to me. Elio thought to himself. "Guess I can't let my guard down just yet."
"That was some flatter of a battle cousin!" They heard Professor Kukui saunter across the court, his microphone picking up what he had said and his words immediately quieted the audience. "That's one of the elites down. Three left. Poliwag, if you'll do the honors."
Elio turned to the torches as he saw the attending tadpole pokemon jump up, squirting a burst of water from its mouth that struck the torch with the specter emblem, extinguishing it with a hiss.
He made a fist as the crowd applauded the formality.
Professor Kukui announced that there would be a ten minute intermission before Elio would be summoned to begin his next battle. Turning the mic off, he said that he'd have access to a bathroom and a snack station where he could help himself to refreshments of food and drink. The healing machine was also located in the rest area where he'd drop off his pokemon.
"Got it." Elio spotted that the intermission timer was already beginning to tick down. Nine minutes and sixteen seconds.
"Maika'i loa. We'll be cheering for you!" Acerola shook his hand before he parted and headed to the side entrance.
Up in the Iulio suite, Lillie couldn't believe how animated both Gladion and Hau were talking to one another about the battle they had just watched. Her own brother was pointing out several issues with Elio's strategy while Hau was just happy that his best friend had won. The quarreling almost reminded her of their bickering back at the Paradise until Leilani almost had to physically step in.
"I'm just saying! There's a lot of stuff I think I would've done differently." Gladion huffed and crossed his arms. "Doesn't matter anyway. He won right?"
"It's not how you start, it's how you finish." Hau said, wiggling his eyebrows. Leilani had caught the gesture and rolled her own eyes. "Hey, but Sun won! It may not have been perfect, but he made it work."
"That's true." Gladion did see Hau's point. "That's fair enough too. And Elio's got a lot more on his plate if he wants to really finish this."
"I know he can." Lillie stepped forward and leaned over, ignoring the televisions that had the commentators already giving their in-depth analysis of the match. "He's far from done and he isn't going to give up."
"Agreed. Someone who like us, took on an entire Aether Foundation isn't going to back down or be satisfied with this now."
Hau made to say something, but they heard an audible growl of his stomach. Even Elaine and Professor Burnet, who were a row above them talking to one another and sipping on chalices of wine had taken notice.
"Whoops sorry. I guess all this watching the crazy action made me hungry again." Hau let out an embarrassed laugh and put his hands behind his head in his usual flabbergasted gesture. "K'ou ino."
Lillie pointed back to the food still on the counter. "It's a good thing we still have plenty of food and drink."
"Oh of course. And it's calling my name too!" Hau bounded up, much to the groans of the other teens. "Those malasadas ain't gonna eat themselves!"
"I'll go and make sure he doesn't overindulge." Leilani sighed and got up after her boyfriend. She gave Lillie a wink before leaning in her ear to whisper. "You let us know when that cute boyfriend of yours is out for the next round."
The blonde could only stare as the other girl walked back to join Hau in the kitchenette, unable to fight the growing blush or say anything herself.
Whew. Battle is done! I hope everyone enjoyed it! We've got three more and then the Champion battle which will pretty much conclude the main story as well as a handful of epilogue chapters! Stay tuned!
Translations:
Ho'omaikai'ana - Congratulations
Hai aku - Declaration
'Oko'a - Scary/Creepy
Maika'i loa - Best of luck
K'ou ino - My bad
As always, mahalo for reading and reviewing. You give my writing purpose.
Brav