Alola readers, Brav is back with another chapter! I know this has been quite a while since my last update and there's been times of having zero time to write or even construct ideas. I've started to turn the rusty cogs again and hopefully get it back on track.
But one chapter at a time. Without further ado.
Rather than battle on the pier and destroy public property, the group opted to take the contest to the nearby field that was unoccupied and open along the side of Banyan Street where pokemon battles could be conducted. The sun began to set, an indication that the evening would be upon them soon.
"Are you zure you are ready for thizzz?" Rotom Dex buzzed at Elio's side. "I had no idea he wazzz the kahuna until he told uzzz."
"I'm not really ready, but we'll see how it goes." Elio took his spot at one end of the field as Nanu sauntered over to the opposite. Gladion stood at the center and glanced at both trainers. The impatience on his face was unmistakable, yet he seemed to have respected the other man's wishes enough despite showing a rebellious streak. Elio was impatient too, still a bit reeling from the revelation and anxious to get Lillie out of harm's way the first moment he had.
"This uh...grand trial battle between challenger Elio and Kahuna Nanu of Ula'ula Island. Each trainer will use um,"
"Four." Nanu firmly said.
Gladion opened his mouth again. "Four pokemon each, one on one. The battle concludes when all four pokemon of one trainer have been defeated. Substitutions are allowed for either side. Do you both accept these terms?"
"Yes," Elio said. Nanu simply nodded.
"Good. Trainers sent out your pokemon."
He's actually kinda good for a ref. Pretty even keeled and a big contrast since he was about to blow his top not hours ago.
"Oh and I forgot the island music for thizzz!" Rotom began playing that similar tune. "There's nothing like making a battle exciting than a bop!"
"Your 'Dex has some good taste." Nanu said, something that surprised both boys, but he leveled Elio with his dark eyes. "But this is gonna be anything but easy. Show me what you can do if you can take on Team Skull."
He flipped a poke ball onto the field, releasing a small bipedal pokemon with a violet colored body. It was eyeless, instead having two blue gemstones in its place.
"New pokemon detected!" Rotom said. "Sableye. Darkness pokemon. Materials from the raw gems it eats float to its skin and can form an infinite number of patterns among individuals. Sableye is a dark and ghost type. Additional information is available upon catching this pokemon."
"Okay," Elio flicked a poke ball to his hand and tossed it out. "Let's do this." On the field, Kamua stretched her limbs, shaking her puffy tail from side to side. It was her first official battle with him and though he wanted to ease her into it, this would be good practice.
Even if it was a very important match against an island kahuna. Arguably the strongest he had to face thus far.
"Kamua, use-"
"Glimmer, fake out."
The alolan vulpix was in the mid of summoning a move at Elio's command when the sableye lunged forward in a blindingly fast move, striking her with his clawed arms. She visibly flinched and shuddered, unable to retaliate as Glimmer retreated back to his own side.
Elio kept himself from an exasperated gasp, hitting himself once again for not expecting a first off move like Guzma had pulled with his golisopod's first impression.
"Feint attack."
"Kamua, powder snow quick!" Elio cried. She inhaled a breath and exhaled a wave of glittering energy that felt cold even though he was standing back. The snow crystallized, blanketing an even larger area than he expected.
"That powder znow is even bigger than I imagined! Bzzt!" Rotom said to him. "The humidity of thizzz place iz good for freezzzzing!"
Glimmer dove in for the feint attack after he tried to draw her out, however the snow seemed to affect his movements and his gemstone gaze turned down to stare at the shininess of the snow on the ground. Kamua fired another powder snow that battered the small ghost type, sending it tumbling back. Glimmer wasn't down yet, easily climbing back onto his feet.
Nanu studied Elio as their pokemon clashed yet again. Glimmer sprinted across the ground, careful to avoid the snow as his arms grew larger with pulsing sinister energy. He slashed at her with a shadow claw, forcing Kamua to narrowly dodge. She used another powder snow attack, however this time it was Glimmer who dug one claw into the ground and flung dirt upwards, essentially creating a bit of a smokescreen to take the brunt of the attack.
Nanu's mouth twisted in a grin. "Use swagger."
Glimmer hissed in delight and shouted something in its own tongue. Kamua's own eyes widened at it and she suddenly shook her head as if she was struck by some sort of stun.
"Oh no," Rotom Dex said behind Elio. "She'zzzz confuzzed!"
"We can confuse him right back." He said. This wasn't going to stop him at all. He tried getting to her for a confuse ray, but she seemed ignorant of his own commands. Her steps were erratic and her eyes blinked rapidly in an attempt to clear her head. She was an easy target.
Glimmer's eyes glowed bright and they erupted in spreading beams of energy that caught Kamua and sent her tumbling back into the snow. Rather than use the attack he wanted; Kamua shot a small golfball sized chunk of ice into the sky, which exploded and suddenly started summoning pellets of hail down onto the field. She was slow to get up; the rock-type power gem had done quite a bit of damage.
However the instinctual hailstorm was the break Elio needed. As Glimmer grimaced in pain from being pelted by the hailstones, it created a fine mist on Elio's own end that blanketed the area.
"And that kidzzz izzz alolan vulpix'zzz zpecial ability znow cloak!" Rotom said to nobody in particular, even though everyone was well aware of what it did. "Kamua izzz now harder to hit!"
To his own surprise Nanu chuckled, but it was a bit of a colder one.
"Well done kid, you've actually managed to turn things around when I had ya on the ropes. Unfortunately for you, that doesn't help with Glimmer's own ability; keen eye."
Dammit. Elio should've known since that was also Akela's. Snow cloak's boosted evasion didn't matter against an ability like that.
"And I still have feint attack."
Glimmer took that cue to lunge forward, intent on landing a sucker punch.
But Elio had his own advantage. While Glimmer was able to see Kamua in the foggy center, Nanu was not. Her soft coo from within told him that she had used the cover to fully snap herself out of confusion. It would just be a couple of attacks and he'd be one pokemon up on his opponent.
Glimmer darted in.
Kamua fired her confuse ray as soon as she could. Nanu's own face turned from unsmiling to a bit of disbelief as his own pokemon stumbled about in confusion itself.
"You got him?"
Kamua cooed an affirmative. Elio resisted the urge to grin back.
"Take him out with moonblast."
"Moonblast?" Nanu's eyes went wide for a split second before he regained his own composure. "Glimmer, detect!"
Elio hadn't wanted to show his hand so early that he brought a small and fragile, but powerful pokemon that learned one of the most powerful moves against dark types. In fact, he just wanted to see if the two of them could battle well and it turned out right in his luck that Nanu would indeed be a dark type specialist, something fairy moves were particularly strong against.
Elio's such luck ran dry again when Glimmer focused just enough to skate underneath the dark pink ball of light that Kamua fired out of the hailing mist. It sailed harmlessly past, exploding with the noise of a firecracker.
"Return." Nanu whipped out his poke ball and called his own pokemon back, much to Elio and Gladion's surprise. "Bella."
Bella? Elio wondered what that had meant as Nanu placed Glimmer's poke ball on his belt and instead deployed a large canine pokemon with lithe limbs, orange snout and curled gray horns. As the dog opened its mouth, a puff of flame dissipated.
Ah crap. It's the houndoom.
"Fire type isn't good for Kamua." Elio reached over to his poke ball, but Kamua seemed to be knowing what he was about to do.
"What are you talking about?! This isn't a battle you'll be able to win!" Elio shouted. His pokemon continued its protest, but suddenly perked up and narrowly dodged a flamethrower that seemed to come out of nowhere through the mist. Bella rushed in with incredible speed, her eyes locking onto Kamua, who seemed frozen and stricken with uneasiness. Unlike Glimmer; Bella seemed to have no hesitation darting forth in or even slightly affected by the hail that pelted her slender frame. She was faster than her recalled teammate and her half fire typing meant that Kamua's moonblast wouldn't be as effective.
Yet she wanted to keep on fighting.
You want to go down swinging? Let's do it.
Elio wasn't sure what to do, but he thought to roll the dice and see what happened.
One advantage he did have was the fact that the houndoom didn't have keen eye. Therefore the evasive advantage was back on his side. However the hail had been falling for quite some time. If he wanted to keep her snow cloak in play, he'd have to reset it.
"Rotom how much longer do I have hail cover?"
"It'zzz going to expire at any minute now bzzt!"
Then we'll just have to keep it on the ropes until I can get it up again.
"Powder snow and use that to refresh the hail."
Kamua blew out another wave, crystallizing the ground and spreading outward. Bella countered with a heat wave, a similar attack exhaled from her mouth that melted the snow and briefly cleared the mist. As it did, she fired another ball into the sky to explode and continue the hailstorm.
The two pokemon unleashed both their attacks at once; Kamua's moonblast sailing right past Bella's flamethrower. And both of them hit. Bella staggered back, damaged even further by the onslaught of hail.
Kamua let out a muffled cry as she came to a halt at Elio's side. Her eyes were closed, fainting instantly from the super effective fire type attack.
"Kamua is incapable of battling!" Gladion pointed to Nanu's side. "Four on three! Kahuna Nanu in the winning side."
Stubborn little one. Elio knew that she wanted to get stronger to protect and fight for her sister. He crossed over and knelt down, picking her up and carrying her back to his side. Her eyes fluttered open weakly, stiffening in pain from her sustained wounds.
"Hey."
She looked away, a bit ashamed of her actions.
"We're not done yet. We'll talk about this stuff later. You did good." He noted that it wasn't all for nothing. Bella had taken a hit from that moonblast and suffered some damage from the hail. "Rest up. We'll win this as a team, or lose trying."
After returning her to the ball, he slipped it on his left side. The next combatant was up. He chose Akela. The werewolf pokemon stared down the canine opposite and bared a lopsided grin. Bella narrowed her eyes.
Again, Nanu's expression was mostly unreadable. He didn't look displeased or impressed. But he barked out commands with authority, resuming the battle.
Bella kept Akela at range and dodging using her flamethrowers. As he commanded him to counterattack with a rock slide, Nanu had his own pokemon deflect it with a wave of dark umbral energy that emitted in plumes of black and purple orbs that widened. It sounded like an awful buzzing or vibrating noise at a higher frequency.
Dark pulse.
The hail kept coming down and now without an ice type; Akela began to suffer a bit of damage as well from being exposed for a prolonged amount of time. Thankfully he would be resistant to the fire type attacks, but aside from reversal and rock slide, most of his other moves were dark type, ineffective against its own.
Nanu had Bella perform a nasty plot, something that caused the dog to shake its head from side to side and growl as it gained additional power. Now was his chance.
Akela attacked, slamming his paws into the ground for another rock slide that Bella had to narrowly dodge. She unleashed another dark pulse, this one visibly much stronger than the previous. He was unable to evade this one, landing on the ground and tired from being hit, but he growled with the same determination.
It was a bit of a stalemate; he couldn't close in to do any moves like crunch, sucker punch or reversal because he'd have to get past the stronger flamethrower or dark pulse. And it was more than easy to counter his rock slide.
Nanu broke it either way. "Inferno!"
Bella howled in response, the hairs raising themselves on Elio's arms. She gathered a swirl of fire in her mouth and blasted it at Akela, a cone shaped funnel of swirling white hot flames that quickly overtook the coolness of what snow remained. Akela pivoted to dodge, sliding laterally and surprised as the attack seemed to narrow until it was simply a long stream of flames. Inferno was powerful, but its accuracy was less so. Even with his resistance to fire, Elio knew that getting struck would do some serious damage.
Akela tensed as Bella unleashed another dark pulse. He jumped up and over, slamming his paws into the ground for another rock slide. As the houndoom moved to dodge, he moved in for a crunch.
"Bad move kid." Nanu's chuckle grew dark. "Thunder fang."
Akela still managed to bite his powered fangs onto Bella's midsection, but the dark pokemon was a bit more agile than him. She juked out before biting down on his own throat with her teeth pulsating with electricity.
"Joke's on you," Elio flicked out his hand, knowing this was his chance. "Counter!"
Akela's eyes snapped open and he snarled, focusing all the incoming damage into retaliatory energy through his paw. Punching the other canine, she was thrown away with a yelp and skidded to the ground. She was very slow to get up.
"Rock slide!" Elio commanded. Akela was just as slow too, but he saw flashes of static electricity covering his fur; the thunder fang got a lucky paralysis. His movements stiffened, but he managed to get it off as Bella attacked again with another flamethrower. The jet of fire pierced through the boulder wave, but it wasn't enough. The rocks battered her from all sides, but amazingly, Bella managed to hang on.
She blasted the rest of the rocks away with another dark pulse and quickly gathered more fire for another inferno. Akela was a much easier target this time around thanks to the paralysis, he was slower to dodge. However he did go for another rock slide that swept Bella away as the flames from the inferno sizzled past. As the dust settled down, the houndoom was sprawled on her back in the middle, knocked out from the blow. Similarly, the clouds overhead vanished and the hailstorm subsided.
"Bella is incapable of battling!" Gladion gestured to Elio. "Tied. Three on three!"
"Smart move kid," Nanu returned his defeated pokemon and pocketed it. "You took the risk and it paid off. Just know that it won't work on me twice. Khan will make sure of it."
He tossed his next pokemon out, a large ursine mammal creature that had patches of cream and gray fur. Its surly eyes narrowed at Akela as it chewed the stubble of a twig in its mouth. A short cape appendage on its back drifted slightly in the breeze. Its height towered over Akela, nearly seven feet tall.
"New pokemon hazzzz been detected! Bzzt! Pangoro. Daunting pokemon. It is the evolved form of pancham. It can deduce its opponent's movements through the bamboo leaf it keeps in its mouth. It is eager to tussle, but kindhearted towards its own companions. Pangoro is a dark and fighting type. Additional information is available upon catching this pokemon."
Fighting type? I can still use reversal, but this is not a good situation. Akela's paralyzed and I'd be on the losing end if I lost two pokemon. I still have two that have yet to enter the battle and he has one. But he still has that sableye.
Khan snarled and moved in, he wasn't as quick as Bella, but his size made it almost frightening how quickly he lunged. His fists hammered away at Akela, who missed the first couple flurries, but caught the others in a rattling noise that knocked the breath out of him. Akela used a counter, dealing back double the damage. Yet Khan looked as if he was merely inconvenienced.
"Be careful! Bzzt!" Rotom told him. "That pangoro hazzz the ability iron fist, which increazzzez the power of punching movezzz. And that wazzz bullet punch, which can go azzz fazzzt azzz a quick attack!"
Though that set an alarm in Elio's mind, he squashed it. Despite the paralysis, Akela was very much a threat to Khan thanks to his fighting type moves. His dark and rock ones, less so, but Nanu was slowly playing into his favor. If he could just get him low enough to deliver a powerful reversal, he might be able to take it out.
Nanu saw that Akela was able to use a counter properly from that bullet punch. He's going to hit first, but if he does, I'll keep on countering. I have to expect he's expecting me to do that.
"Rock slide!"
Akela looked ready to commence the attack before he suddenly seized and the electricity took hold of his body, canceling out any further action.
Khan leapt into action, closing the distance again as he brandished his fists. Instead of glowing with the shine of metal, they were white in color. He hit Akela twice and then a third time that sent him reeling over on the ground. Despite Elio's call for a counter, the paralysis convulsed his body, leaving him immobile.
"Don't give up, we're not out of this yet!" He called to his pokemon. "Remember what to do when you're like this?"
Imperceptibly, Akela had nodded. As Khan moved in for another bullet punch, he had been secretly biding his strength and trusting that his luck would hold out in that the paralysis from the thunder fang would not retrigger at the worst opportunity.
He closed in.
Elio's blood pumped in his ears. "Now."
Akela had been on all fours, but Khan was on him in a flash and his trainer was half worried that he was too late.
However it had been just at the right time as he planted his right paw into the ground and swung the reversal attack upwards like a dervish, similar to how he had seen Hakamo-o's sky uppercut. Khan was caught off guard and the force, plus the super effectiveness of the fighting type move sent his massive frame reeling back. He shook his head and lunged back in the fray just as quickly as he had been struck. His larger bulky shoulder barged into Akela's side and with great strength, lifted the werewolf pokemon and threw him into the ground.
Vital throw.
Elio's pokemon didn't get up.
"Akela is incapable of battling." The hand went to Nanu's side. "Three on two. Kahuna Nanu in the lead."
So now what did Elio do? He may have been fighting with initial type advantages, but they were over the secondary types of Nanu's pokemon. The only pokemon he had on hand that fit that bill was his next battler.
"Hakamo'o, let's go!" He threw him out. The dragon pokemon deftly landed on the ground, raising its scaly arms to shield its face from the dust. Across the way; Khan looked rather unimpressed and rolled its knuckles.
The battle started right away. Khan looked much more worn than when he faced off against Akela, but that didn't make him any less dangerous. Despite the type disadvantage, he was a much more seasoned fighter. Elio had yet to use Hakamo'o since he evolved in a legitimate battle and a bit of him remained worried his youngest team member wasn't going to be quite up to the task.
There's always the chance I can be surprised. I was with Kamua.
And he was. Khan and Hakamo'o traded blows, getting in a bullet punch and a headbutt respectively. Sun was a bit irked that his dragon's intrinsic bulletproof ability had no imperviousness to a move that was aptly named for being useless against.
Whatever. Just means I can't take things for granted.
Khan's larger limbs and slightly slower speed meant Hakamo'o could get in close to mix things up. He ducked underneath the pangoro's attempt to grab him in another vital throw and viciously smashed the crown of his iron head into his ribcage. However Nanu was ready, ordering a payback attack where Khan smacked his hands together and thrust them out to repel Hakamo'o as he moved to attack again. Payback's double damage after being struck was amplified, doing a considerable amount of damage despite being type resistant.
Nanu still thinks I have to move in close to fight. Let's show him that isn't the case.
"Bulldoze!"
Hakamo'o growled and stomped the ground, creating a shockwave that rippled across the field. Khan took the hit, stumbling about which gave him the perfect time to strike. Hakamo'o lunged across, striking with another sky uppercut that had knocked the larger pangoro on his back.
Elio gaped, still a bit in awe at his pokemon's immense strength.
He's come a long way since he hatched from that egg.
Khan wasn't giving up without a fight. Nanu's posture showed that he was disinterested, but Elio know that it could just as easily be a ruse of him not trying. Guess he'd find out eventually.
Khan staggered to his feet and glared at Hakamo'o. The smaller dragon crashed his knuckles together, making a clanging noise of dense metal armor.
"Your little dragon is putting up quite a fight." Nanu called out. "Most other pokémon are usually felled by Khan's strikes."
"Not us."
"We'll see about that." Nanu's expression turned into an intense grin. "Hammer arm!"
Khan roared loudly, stomping over and raising them into the air. Elio gulped, seeing them large and strong enough to snap Hakamo'o in two.
He was in the middle of warning him when the dragon's gauntlet hands lashed up, catching the limb right before he had brought it down on his pokemon. Hakamo'o strained with the weight as Khan's eyes narrowed in determination to beat him.
Nanu let out another dark chuckle. "Your mistake kid."
Elio had forgotten all about Khan's other hand. It struck a series of lightning punches straight into the chinks of Hakamo'o's shoulder epaulets. The dragon hissed, throwing the hammer arm aside before Khan took the initiative again to body slam him careening into the ground.
Damn it.
"I may be a dark type specialist, but that don't mean palupalu."
Nanu was able to take advantage on his own. I have to find my own way.
Khan kept up the pressure even as Hakamo'o staggered to his feet and shook off the blows almost as if they were nothing. Elio was immensely proud of his pokemon, knowing that he had cemented his place as a permanent member.
He had done more than that.
He stomped a bulldoze into the ground, but unlike the previous time, Khan anticipated it coming. The dark pokemon jumped incredibly high for his size to bypass the seismic waves and launched another bullet punch as he descended. Hakamo'o was able to dodge this one, not wanting to get caught by being struck in the chinks of his scaly hide again. Khan redoubled his efforts, arms outstretched as he dove for Hakamo'o in a vital throw.
"Protect!"
He threw up the barrier just in time, causing the pangoro to slide right off and over. As he dropped the shield, his fist curled down in another sky uppercut and he had to bend his knees and jump upward to add onto its super effective power. Khan snarled in fury, his head whipping to the side as the dark power of a payback was starting to coalesce.
Hakamo'o threw up another protect to shield himself, however as the attack dissipated, he saw Khan coming at him yet again.
Elio cursed himself, knowing that Nanu goaded him into using protect from the first attack and suddenly improvising to open Hakamo'o's defenses up. Khan wrapped a burly arm around Hakamo'o's midsection and tossed him onto the ground in a suplex vital throw.
"Bulldoze once you hit the ground!"
He tried, but Khan kept a steel hard grip and landed a bullet punch that stunned him. Despite that, Hakamo'o freed his legs out from underneath and used the throw's momentum to stamp the ground and create another shockwave. Though it didn't do much damage, it was enough to jar Khan so that the hakamo'o could slip free.
"Iron head and then sky uppercut!"
Khan was still reeling when a bludgeon smashed straight into his chest, doubling him over.
At the perfect angle for another sky uppercut that was right on target. The pangoro growled as his head was thrown back. His entire body stiffened like a board of wood as he fell backwards onto the ground with a heavy thud that kicked up dust.
"Khan is unable to continue battling!" Gladion's eyes were a bit wide with surprise as he waved a hand to Elio's side to signify the round's winner. "Two on two!"
"It's been a while since ol' Khan's had a tough fight like that." Nanu said gruffly as he returned his defeated pokemon. Hakamo'o beamed with pride, but his eyes remained raptly focused as he clanged his armor together again. "That hakamo'o is something special kid. Don't waste it."
"I don't plan to."
"Then let's see what you're really capable of." Nanu saw Gladion tense as he threw out his next pokemon. "Are you ready to face off against Bigglesworth?"
Bigglesworth? A persian? Elio had to resist the urge to laugh out loud at the nickname.
Sure enough it was. The evolution of meowth, but Elio had to guess that it was the Alolan subspecies. Rather than the normal white or cream colored coat; Nanu's was dark gray with a bulkier set of limbs, wider ears and the face was oddly rounded. He couldn't tell if that particular feature was natural or artificial since it looked so out of place. Instead of the dark red jewel on its forehead, this one had an ocean blue color.
There was also something else in the alola persian's eyes that Sun found a bit unnerving, they were the eyes of a cunning strategist. The ones in Kanto had violent temperaments, even with trainers who had them since they were meowth kittens and some were known to lash out ruthlessly at any other pokemon...or human who boldly stared at them in the eye.
His gaze met Nanu's own pokemon, yet he didn't see any changes in the feline's behavior.
"New pokemon detected! Bzzt! Persian. Alola subspecies. Classy cat pokemon. It is the evolved form of meowth. It looks down on everyone except for itself. In contrast to its considered beautiful appearance, this pokemon is extremely brutal and cruel, attacking by blindside attacks. Alolan persian is a dark type. Additional information is available upon catching this pokemon."
Both pokemon tensed, knowing the battle was about to resume.
"Bulldoze!"
"Use foul play!"
Hakamo'o stamped its foot as Bigglesworth lunged with lightning speed. Rather than go directly at its foe, the cat skirted to the outside and attacked him from a flanking spot. Despite the ineffectiveness of the dark type move, Hakamo'o had been worn out with the battle against Khan and nearly toppled over, using his clawed hands to catch himself.
"Play rough."
Bigglesworth landed on the ground and stood on its hind legs, jumping up and arcing down to Hakamo'o, its eyes gleaming with vicious intent.
He was able to throw up the protect in time, glancing off the blow of what would've likely taken him out. As Bigglesworth retreated, he stomped another bulldoze that rattled the feline and tossed it down. However it seemed to do almost no damage.
"How?"
"Alola persian'zzz ability izzzz fur coat! Bzzt!" Rotom told him. "Your phyzzzzical attackzzz won't do much!"
"Yeah thanks for telling me this now! You couldn't have mentioned it earlier?"
"You did not azzzzk! Bzzt!" The haunted 'Dex gave a mock salute. "I'm juzzzt trying to do my job here! Bzzt! Do you know how hard it wazzzz for all thezzze pokemon entriezzz to be written? Bzzt!"
I really don't want to debate this now! Elio thought to himself as Hakamo'o dodged an abrupt dark pulse and moved in to try and counter attack. The cat was quick however, moving just as fast, but also with enough precision that left it in an opening to attack again on one of his blindsides. If he kept it up, Hakamo'o would tire himself out trying to get a sky uppercut to actually stick, which would make him an easy target.
He's already an easy target. Fighting Khan like that took just about everything out of him. Really all Nanu has to do is wait until he wears out.
Wait.
That's it! I doubt we'll knock Bigglesworth out, but we can at least try to even the odds.
Hakamo'o began to show signs of frustration as Bigglesworth skated out of its effective range up close. Nanu's strategy was paying off.
Unbeknownst to him, so was Elio's.
Exhaustion began to creep up into his arms and he finally separated, moving back to Elio's own side of the field.
That was his cue.
Bigglesworth kept moving to Hakamo'o's peripherals and once out of his sight for a moment, dashed around and lunged from behind in a play rough.
"Sky uppercut now!" Elio shouted.
He threw it up just in time, eyes flashing to his left as the dark persian seemed to pounce from the shadows. A gauntleted fist connected with the cat's round face and sent it flying in the air. However the gem on its forehead began to glow as it fired a power gem attack. Hakamo'o threw up a protect to guard it and stamped the ground in a bulldoze as it landed. In the middle of the stun, he jumped forward himself to deliver a devastating iron head. Bigglesworth snarled angrily and began to fire another power gem.
Hakamo'o brought up another protect bubble, however Elio saw the sly look in his opponent's eyes.
"Wait!" He called out.
But it was too late.
"Feint."
Bigglesworth seemed to lunge to attack anyway as Hakamo'o had thought, however instead he darted off to the side and rushed through with shoulders leading. The persian's claws pierced the edges of the green shield before they turned outward and ripped it apart. Hakamo'o jumped in surprise and automatically tried to use another iron head, but Bigglesworth seemed amused and easily dodged while raking him across the chest with claws.
Feint is an attack that bypasses protect! He was waiting for this!
"Buddy, I know it's hard, I know you're tired. But stick with me, we're going to win!"
The dragon stirred and wobbled to his feet, shaking his head and lifting his gauntlets again.
The two fighters circled one another again. Bigglesworth crouched low to the ground and taking deliberate, patterned steps. Hakamo'o was battered and clearly the more tired of the two, but he kept pace.
One of the cat's paws stopped to break its cadence of a stride and Hakamo'o tensed.
But it didn't act.
Bigglesworth had been watching his eyes. And when it broke the cadence again, Hakamo'o had made the mistake of continuing to track and ended up looking past.
His eyes were off for just a half second, but that was all the devious feline needed to dash lightning quick away in the opposite direction. Even as it processed in his mind to try and get another lock on look; his limbs tensed, knowing the dark type would be looking to strike while it still had the blindsided advantage.
Hakamo'o threw another sky uppercut to his right just as Bigglesworth lunged out of the shadows in a play rough. He managed to win, sending the big cat careening into the ground. As it writhed its limbs to spring back up, he reared his head back, stiffening the front as hard as metal for another iron head.
Bigglesworth's gem gleamed and it fired a thin beam that struck Hakamo'o's armor with a loud clang. The power gem wasn't effective, but it did the job in knocking him askew enough for another play rough. Paws slashed and slapped as the dark cat jostled and slammed its body repeatedly into Hakamo'o's. The super effective attack relentlessly took what little fight remained in the dragon. As it walked away; he slumped over, having fainted.
Gladion motioned to Nanu's side. "Hakamo'o is incapable of battle! Two on one!"
Elio grit his teeth, returning his defeated pokemon on his side.
"Thanks buddy. You did great out there. You deserve a rest." He whispered quietly. There was no need to debate who his final choice was. He had yet to enter the battle, yet Nanu's persian looked almost bored and fresh as ever despite the number of bulldozes having slowed it down. Not to mention Glimmer the sableye was still in play.
"You're on the ropes kid." Nanu gave him that same disinterested look. "Maybe you were just lucky that you managed to walk out of there in Po Town."
"Luck doesn't mean skill." Sun shot back. "You may still have two pokemon to my one, but the battle isn't done."
That same look appeared in the kahuna's eyes. Almost as if hints of a smile flickered across his face. "You're absolutely right. Show me. So let's see what else you can do."
Elio threw out Torracat. At seeing another feline pokemon as his opponent, the bell bristled with yellow and orange flames. His competitiveness was back, but he was more worried about his physical state.
Let him battle more. The more he does, the more incentive he'll have to evolve.
Bigglesworth was still faster and leaner, despite the larger size. It moved in for a feint attack. Torracat was much quicker and alert than Hakamo'o and it had grown a bit complacent. As he threw the sucker punch, Torracat lashed out with his rear paws to get struck and counter with a double kick. The addition of another super effective fighting type move made the persian snarl in fury and narrow its eyes despite the little damage received from the fur coat. Torracat was underestimated once and that was a mistake it aimed to not happen twice.
It's not going to do me any good if Bigglesworth can swoop in and attack while evading mine. Elio thought to himself as Torracat was barely able to scramble out of the way from another feint and had to keep moving to avoid a dark pulse. Unlike Bella's; Bigglesworth's was more powerful and there were dark bolts that popped with a hair-raising noise to do additional damage, like submunitions from a cluster bomb. Torracat jumped underneath the wave, kicking up a flame charge to slam into the persian's midsection. He was getting hits in, but it was limited because of Bigglesworth's fur coat ability.
So I basically have to weaken him until I can get one overheat to take him out.
"Use ember, let's see if we can keep him from hitting us."
Torracat's bell heated up on his neck and he spat a fine ball of flame. Bigglesworth easily saw the attack coming, using his front legs to dodge. While he did that, Torracat rushed forward in another flame charge. His speed began to increase, slowly rising to match Bigglesworth's.
"Use water pulse."
Biggesworth bared its teeth in a sadistic grin as it formed a ball of clear water, which it launched.
Torracat had to use another flame charge to dodge it in time as Elio shook his head in disbelief at how much he was being blindsided.
How does Nanu have almost a supereffective counter for every one of my damn pokemon or scenarios?
The kahuna merely turned the tables around, having his own pokemon launch an array of power gems, water pulses and dark pulses which kept Torracat from attacking because he had to jump and avoid getting struck by an attack that would more than likely take him out and cause him to lose the battle.
However Elio saw the immediate advantage; the more he used flame charge, the faster Torracat got. Soon enough, he didn't need to use it to boost himself out of the way. And he knew Nanu was likely aware of it or even worse, making it part of his strategy.
"Use swift."
Bigglesworth launched a barrage of star shaped projectiles that curved onto Torracat's signature like homing missiles. As they scratched his body and he curled up to lessen the impact, he moved into the other cat's blind spot for an attack from behind. He knew what was coming.
"Torracat, use overheat directly behind you!" Elio cried, hoping he wasn't too late.
He wasn't. His pokemon had to uncurl himself, suffering another hit from the remaining swift stars before whirling around with his mouth wide open to unleash a fine beam of white hot fire. Though his aim was a little off, it was enough to catch Bigglesworth off guard and send his momentum crashing into the ground. His fur singed, he was slower to get up and it lacked its usual twitchy, catlike grace. The overheat did a big portion of damage. But what was really intriguing was that Bigglesworth seemed to have lost his step and initial advantage of that blindside attacking. Torracat was much more sensitive and aware.
Not ideal progress, but I'll take it.
"Use swagger."
The dark persian snarled in response, causing Torracat to do the same. A brief red aura flashed around him before he blinked rapidly and staggered from side to side in confusion.
There wasn't much Elio could do to overcome confusion, but hope that he didn't hit himself. He knew if Torracat did just that; it would do even more damage from the increased attack.
"Torracat listen to me." He felt his voice beginning to grow hoarse. "Keep dodging and countering with ember. You can't let him get a bead on you!"
He stiffened as he tried to move, clearly trying to resist the myriad of thoughts that attacked his head. His mouth twisted in growls and angry cries. Bigglesworth's irritating smirk grew and he fired a power gem from his forehead that struck Torracat and sent him tumbling back. Elio was hoping that getting hit in a way would snap him out of his stupor, but he remained in the trance, stumbling around as if drunken.
"Looks like this is the end of the line kid." Nanu said. "Nothing personal of course."
"You're wrong."
A gray eyebrow shot up in surprise. "Am I?"
"I didn't come out of Team Skull's hideout with my pokemon just to lose in a manner like this."
"We'll see about that." Even Gladion found himself shivering at Nanu's dark retort. He wondered if Elio was going to be able to come out of the setback.
Torracat's erratic movements were strangely methodical in avoiding the dark persian's attacks. Despite the overwhelming confusion, he was still able to deke out feint attacks and counter power gems with embers. At least he had some control.
Nanu let out a hmph and shrugged his shoulders. "I did say I was going all out on you kid, just like how I expected the same. But it's time for me to finish this."
His Z-ring gleamed with power and Elio felt a lump in his throat.
C'mon buddy.
"Beholden to the power of dark and shadow." The kahuna crossed his arms, hunched close to the ground and waved them up as if he was a demonic monster emerging from the depths of hell. "I call upon my kūpuna to empower myself and my partner for carrying on ho'oilina."
Torracat's eyes blinked and Elio saw him shake his head. The confusion wore off in the whole time Nanu had been charging his Z-move.
C'mon Elio. Gladion stared at him firmly, hoping the other boy had some sort of ace still hidden up his sleeve. Figure something out.
His own thoughts seemed to reach him, because he saw a dark red Z-crystal in his hand.
But he didn't put it in.
"That persian's going to be too fast for you! Flame charge!"
Torracat looked a little confused, but did as he asked. He rushed forward cloaked in fire to strike Bigglesworth. The larger cat barely flinched, but held on as the zenith energy continued to build. Nanu increased his pace of the dance as his own Z-ring rippled with power, intending to finish it before Torracat got lucky.
"Again!"
"Hit him again!"
"And again!"
Still more hits, quicker and more accurate. But the damn cat held on through innate tenacity. Every time Torracat bounced back, its smirk grew, knowing that its final ultimate move would be more than enough to finish him off.
"Channel feint attack into Black Hole Eclipse." Strangely unlike anyone else who had possession of a Z-ring, Nanu did not shout or say his command with any other sense of urgency. Elio wasn't sure if that was a good or bad thing. Or maybe it was rather unnecessary. Either way, he had to hope his starter pokemon had the resilience to survive.
Bigglesworth spread his forelegs out wide, creating a spherical rift that was dark enough to absorb the surrounding light. It grew bigger as sand and dirt suddenly was sucked inwards, seeping into an abyss. Torracat felt its pull and dug his paws in, yet even his heavy frame and increased speed was losing the battle.
I hope this works.
Torracat's efforts were in vain as he was pulled inside. Elio got worried suddenly, as if he just lost his pokemon.
No. He couldn't have. But I've got one shot to make this happen.
The fightinium Z in hand from the wristband attached to his right arm, he slapped it into his Z-ring, hoping that maybe it would still work for him despite his pokemon in some other dimension. The zenith energy flickered to life, bathing the entire area in a bright glow that even the entropic pull couldn't extinguish.
Having memorized the dance enough, Elio was a natural through the motions, emulating quick repetitive strikes, feeling its intense power course through his ring and into his limbs.
"Channel double kick into All-Out Pummeling!"
Right on his cue, the gyre widened again, sending Torracat hurtling out. Elio could see entrails of shadowy sinister power that had attacked his pokemon and he was worried that he was expending all the zenith energy on him when he was unable to battle.
I can't think that.
His zenith ring glowed again just on time. The tendrils of light easily found Torracat midair as it empowered him.
For the first time since meeting him; Elio saw Nanu's eyes go wide with surprised shock.
"What?!"
Torracat let out a cry of something, either anger, power or adrenaline as he summoned his barrage of fists, the same characteristic smirk seen on Bigglesworth plastered on his face.
The dark persian was agile, trying to avoid them all, however he was struck by one and felled before the remainder closed on the downed target. Bigglesworth flailed about inside the fusillade before his limp body collapsed onto the dirt.
Gladion's mouth hung open, but he waved a hand towards Elio. "Bigglesworth is unable to battle. One on one!"
"One?" Elio's mind wandered before he realized that Nanu had recalled Glimmer earlier in their battle. "Right."
Torracat was still high on a massive surge of power and his body rippled with the same energy that he had when he fought Cicindel at the Skull Mansion.
Elio shielded his eyes as he began to glow brighter. His form began to change.
Torracat was evolving and this time, there wasn't going to be any interference.
The form grew larger, developing a bulky upper body as its legs gained increased strength of its own, to the point where his starter pokemon no longer stood on all fours. He grew in height, now towering over his trainer.
When the glow faded, he was completely surprised at the drastic changes.
Gone were the adolescent feline's features, replaced instead with ropey muscles that bulged underneath a neatly trimmed coat of dark red fur. Elio noted that his starter's build looked more like a football linebacker with well muscled, but elongated lanky arms and strong legs. The bell of fire was gone, instead an intense belt of yellow flame circled his waist and a thin tail idly waved behind.
But what Elio liked most about it was the competitiveness. Though he couldn't put nature in his favor, he had felt like his first pokemon reaching its final evolution was long overdue.
And it was worth it.
"Well finally! Bzzt!" Rotom floated over and circled Elio's newly evolved starter. "It'zzz about time you wrote thizzz part!" He launched right into his usual. "Incineroar. Heel pokemon. It is the evolved form of torracat. Although it's rough mannered and egotistical, it finds beating unworthy opponents boring. The way it helps out smaller pokemon and children shows it has a kind side as well. Incineroar is a fire and dark type."
Nanu chuckled to himself on the other side. "Wow. Talk about being able to pull through for you and your team. You're definitely a sharp one, but it's time to see if it's really all the hype."
Glimmer appeared once more, flashing a toothy grin at Incineroar, who merely narrowed his eyes in a keen focus.
"You may have heard of this power before." Nanu removed a small object from his belt and snapped it onto his wrist. "Though it's debated where it originated from in Kalos, Hoenn or elsewhere. Mega evolution is where the bond between a trainer and their pokemon reach a certain potential. Not all pokemon can do it, but those that can take their battle prowess to new heights. Glimmer and I have fought some vicious opponents in the past and so far, there are few like you."
He twisted the key stone on what Elio guessed was the mega accessory. While he thought he might get nervous, it was more rather fighting a stronger opponent that was going all out rather than the sensation of getting screwed.
"Show me."
Glimmer snarled as it began to be covered in a shell of glowing energy. Elio could see the shape of it inside undergoing a transformation. Even Gladion was staring in awe, clearly entranced by its incredible power.
The shell cracked and Glimmer emerged, hefting a massive gemstone that was nearly twice its height. The blue eyes it once had also from gems were now red and the spines that ran along the arms and back had grown more prominent.
Elio studied it for just a moment before their pokemon leapt into action. Incineroar immediately brandished his hands in dark energy and spun at the mega evolution.
"Darkezzzt lariat!" Rotom Dex exclaimed. "It'zzz a hard hitting dark type move that can bypazzzz any defenzzzive or evasion booztz.!"
Despite the new move, he merely glanced off the gem's smooth surface, instead sommersaulting through the air and landing deftly on his feet, both legs and one arm on the ground, the third slightly tucked behind in reserve.
The stance reminded Elio exactly of a linebacker; a three-point that was ready to explode and pounce on his target.
Mega sableye wasted no time in launching a shadow ball, amplified as if it were a beam through the gemstone prism. Even larger and more powerful, he narrowly evaded it.
"Get close again," Elio ordered him. He wanted to see something.
Incineroar closed the distance once more, now much quicker and able to sprint on his rear legs. Nanu had Glimmer fire off a dazzling gleam that halted his charge before a power gem came his way. Again he was forced on the defensive and unable to move in.
"Wait a second,"
Nanu was keeping him at a distance on purpose. It only confirmed his suspicions.
While indeed powerful and the gemstone all but unbreakable, it left Glimmer nearly immobile from supporting its weight. He'd be free to hit him on flanking maneuvers, especially when his aim had to be adjusted.
That meant hitting the target's left side. The weak side.
"Flank right!"
Nanu raised an eyebrow as Incineroar dashed there, avoiding more shadow balls and power gems. He fired off another overheat and dove in behind it. Glimmer held its own behind the stone, but he could tell the onslaught was beginning to persist through.
"Now use flame charge to close the distance!" Being enveloped into an attack of his own might be enough to dampen anything he got hit with.
He just had to look out for that dazzling gleam again.
"Dazzling gleam!"
Ah crap.
The sableye's eyes flashed and flung him backwards again. In the time it took for him to recover and get back up, it had adjusted its own stance and blasted him with another power gem that had to have taken a big chunk of his health.
"Come on man get up." Elio muttered. He'd come too far to fail now.
Incineroar grunted and rolled onto his feet. He glanced back at his trainer.
Elio saw no remorse, no animosity or anything. Just trust. Trust in that he had a plan, even if one was still being formed in his mind.
I appreciate the faith pal.
"Again!"
"Well whatd'ya know?" Nanu muttered to himself. Glimmer fired off another power gem that was easily dodged. "Up to try the same thing? No way you're that stupid."
"Alright, let's go to the strongside." Elio gestured towards the mega sableye's right side; their left. "Get yourself there and make sure you don't get hit!"
There was no way Nanu was going to take it sitting down. Glimmer flashed off another dazzling gleam, but this time Incineroar was off at an angle that the main blast of light did almost nothing to hit or stun him.
The kahuna knew of his own pokemon's weakness of being able to slowly turn and begun to figure out that Elio was intending to exploit it. Not on his watch.
Incineroar came off the strongside, at the angle that was most protected by the massive gemstone. From here, Glimmer didn't need to rotate and Nanu was waiting for the moment to have another dazzling gleam stop the newly evolved pokemon in its tracks.
Incineroar closed the gap. Still, the mega sableye didn't move.
Not yet.
Gladion switched his attention to both combatants, still unclear at what Elio was planning.
Not yet.
Nanu cursed under his breath. "Dazzling gleam!"
Now.
"Execute on the strongside."
The moment he saw Glimmer's eyes flash to fire off another dazzling gleam, Incineroar sidestepped at a much closer range, again avoiding its deadly flash. The mega sableye grabbed its jewel and lifted it up slightly to put it once again between itself and the attacking pokemon.
What they didn't notice was Incineroar sidestepping once again back to his original vector and he lunged forward, arms raised up like hammers simmering with sinister black energy in another darkest lariat. At this rate it wouldn't be able to bring its shield up in time.
However Nanu remained impassive as ever. It was only when he called out Punishment when Elio felt his stomach drop.
No! I should have known he was waiting for something! With his speed and attack bolstered, that could take him out!
It never got the chance despite forming a long fist of dark energy in its free hand. Incineroar smashed through, his arms striking and hammering Glimmer to the ground. There was no need to declare a winner, yet Gladion did in waving a hand to Elio's side. The mega sableye's advanced form vanished, leaving it facedown.
"Glimmer is incapable of battling further. All of kahuna Nanu's pokemon are defeated, clinching the winner to Elio!"
We did it? A mega evolution and we managed to defeat it so handily? We can do anything at this point!
He let out a breath he didn't know he was holding.
Incineroar threw his arms out and roared in triumph before turning back to his trainer.
"You did so well and you evolved!" Elio ran onto the field and met his pokemon halfway, jumping up to bump hips in midair and wanting to scream in elation. The larger pokemon's bulk surprised and nearly knocked him down, but instead of getting upset, he just laughed even more. "I'm so proud of you buddy."
Incineroar growled in approval.
"Handshake my guy." Trainer and pokemon bumped fists, before clasping hands into a bro hug before yelling with their arms out. Gladion looked surprised, both because of the spontaneity and how the two perfected it for the very first time in sync. His face fell, knowing that the same bond between this other kid and his first pokemon was something he didn't have himself.
"I'm gonna have to give you a nickname now. No more this Litten, Torracat stuff." Elio said, the smile still gracing his handsome features. "Might have to take me a while to get used to it since it wasn't written in."
Wait written in? Where's that from?
I got it.
"Strongside."
Like the strongside linebacker. Like the strategy we just used to win against our third kahuna!
Incineroar paused for a moment, but growled and smiled in approval. He liked it.
"Should've done that when I first met you, but back then you were just a little litten. You're not that anymore."
"Well shoot." Both turned to see a rather lopsided dark grin plastered on Nanu's face as he pocketed Glimmer's ball. Elio wasn't sure if he should have been delighted or slightly terrified. The island kahuna didn't seem like the type to smile often and when he did, it usually was not very warm. "I knew you had the sacks to take on Team Skull in Po Town. But I had no clue you were this damn good. Your pokemon worked hard for ya. Let me fix them up for you."
"Yeah of course." Elio returned Strongside, patting it before handing the poke balls over.
Nanu healed them up with medicine before returning them. "Passport."
"Oh right." He fidgeted with his bag and dug it out, handing it over. Nanu opened it and licked his fingers to turn to a page before stamping it with a seal he carried.
"There you go." He grumbled, tossing the passport back. Elio caught it and noticed that there was an obsidian crystal inside, the same size and shape as a Z-crystal.
This must be for the dark-type.
"Aww yeah." He spun in a circle, holding the crystal skyward. "Grand trial complete."
"You guessed it kid. The zenith crystal for dark. The Darkinium Z. In order to activate it, you go like this."
Elio had to keep himself from laughing out loud as Nanu formed the stance with an X before crouching down and slowly moving his body up, arms raised menacingly as he held the pose. The same one he had used with Bigglesworth, except that he wasn't particularly paying attention. Gladion's mouth dropped open in disbelief.
What? That's it? Either that's extremely stupid or dumb. Maybe both.
"So yeah. Congratulations or whatever on finishing all the Ula'ula trials. Also that Incinium Z you got from the nutty professor also uses that particular stance." Nanu dropped his arms. "You got somewhere else to be huh? Try not to destroy the entire place."
He shrugged. "So that Ride Pager. Probably found out it wasn't working. Next time, avoid traffic and near incidents when you're sharpedo racing. I don't want to hear those people at Alola Transit complaining that you're disrupting boat traffic because you're trying to compare sizes."
Elio pulled out the device and to his surprise, it powered right on with zero issues on his end. It cost him somewhat of an embarrassment and he now knew that its use was a privilege and not a right.
Count my blessings.
Nanu gave them a polite nod and began to amble down back towards the city. He stopped about halfway and turned back, pegging them both with a stare. Elio and Gladion were still looking at him go. He focused on the blond.
"And you boy. Gladion. If you're really trying to get stronger as you say, what are you depending on Team Skull for?"
"Hey!" Gladion folded his arms. "I have my reasons."
"Probably the same reasons I saw you going in and out of 'Ume'ume Maka."
The blond looked like he was about to deny something when Nanu waved his hand in farewell and disappeared onto the streets.
Elio raised an eyebrow as he turned back towards the older boy. Gladion's hands were balled into fists and he glowered in the direction of the kahuna, but he knew a pout when he saw one. It was almost like Lillie when she was upset too.
Speaking of which.
"I was curious okay?! Now I'm gonna raise your voice an octave if you ever tell anyone I was in there." Gladion seethed quietly.
"You were where?"
He opened his mouth, suspecting Elio was messing with him yet again but realized by the smirk that it wasn't exactly that.
"Relax. I'm not gonna tell anyone."
"Yeah you better not."
Don't piss me off then. It's perfect blackmail, so cross me at your own peril Haircut.
Before either of them could say anything else, they heard the sound of footsteps pounding on the concrete. Elio saw Hau's sprinting form as he finally caught up to them. The other boy couldn't even muster a hello and had his hands on his knees as he sucked in lungfuls of air.
How long have you been running?!
"He-ha Hey guys." Hau managed to wheeze through breaths. "S-sorry I'm late."
"Brah, take it easy," Elio walked behind and unhooked the bottle of water from Hau's backpack, unscrewing the lid and handing it over. "You're here. Take a drink."
Hau gulped thirstily and managed a breath before he stood up again.
"I'm out of shape."
"Nah, you're good. Maybe have one less malasada a day if you can help it."
"That's…that's a good idea." His breathing returned to a normal pace. "I'm sorry I'm late. I tried to get here as soon as I could, but the ride pager is down."
"It went back up." Elio held his to show. "Nanu restored our access which was cut off because we were disrupting traffic with our little sharpedo race. I aim to not do that again."
"What the racing?"
"No, interrupt boat traffic or whatever. I'm sure if we go to open water, it's fine there."
Gladion moved over to them, glaring at Hau as he approached. "Don't you dare say a word about this being fun."
"He's right," Elio was more than willing to get back to an adventure, but this wasn't exactly going to be an expedition trip.
"Okay. I'm sorry." Hau's face fell. "I'm sorry I wasn't strong enough to beat Team Skull or stop Lillie from being taken."
"There were too many things at stake." Elio told him. "It wasn't your fault."
"It was," the reply took the other boy off guard. "I wasn't strong enough. I fell short. I failed. You don't have to sugarcoat it."
Elio made to say something but he saw Hau sigh and shrug his shoulders.
"But where could they have taken Lillie? It couldn't have been Po Town. Elio was there the entire time and would've come across them."
"So you're not quite as dumb as you are naive." Gladion scoffed and folded his arms.
"It'll be Aether Paradise."
And I feel that's the solid stopping point. I'm tired as hell writing this and am off.
I remember a lot of people asking me why I took so long to evolve Torracat. Yes; he should realistically have done so a lot earlier, BUT considering that the type of Z-crystal to perform the dance prior to executing the move isn't learned until Nanu is defeated, it felt off having access to that strong of a Z-move and yet somehow the player can pull it off despite never seeing the pose before. It just felt off, so I just delayed Torracat's evolution until this chapter. I hope it's well worth it because I do have a lot of fun ideas of how to write Strongside.
Strongside is aptly named after the strongside linebacker position in American football. One of the most important roles in the defensive side; strongside linebackers typically line up on the right end of the defensive line and are renowned for their blend of speed, strength, toughness and relentlessness. I'd probably say his body frame is modeled after well-known strongside linebackers such as Demarcus Ware and Chandler Jones.
'Ume'ume Maka - Eye Candy (In this instance, affectionately known as UM. This is the only adult store in the Alola region...at least in my universe)
Paluplau - Flexible/Versatile
Kūpuna - Ancestors
Ho'oilina - Heritage/Legacy
As always; mahalo for reading and reviewing. You give my writing purpose.
Brav