A Hui Hou Kākou

by BraviaryScout

As they continue on separate paths; the newly crowned champion of Alola, Elio "Sun" Northstar looks back to remember the one person who gave him the strength he needed to complete his island challenge while he awaits her return. Pokemon Moon novelization. Sun X Lillie. Hau X OC. M for later chapters. Cover art by Chocolexii. Same universe as Brendan's Journey by jmoul18.

89. Entry 85: Pa'a Pōhaku

Alola readers! Brav is back after nearly a month from writing and then rewriting and then rewriting the second half of Elite Four battle #2! As usual, this one took quite a bit to look over and I wasn't particularly happy with how things originally played out, but I'm hoping this one is better. I'm satisfied with it at the very least.

Let's get to it.

---

If the first battle was any indication of how intense these can get, I can't believe how heart-stopping they are! Elio was finished with one and it seemed so fast that it was time for the next one!

---

The ten minute break went by much quicker than Elio would have wanted.

Dropping his pokemon off at the healing center, the attendant quickly got to work. He left the woman to it and immediately made a beeline for the small side counter where a basket of snacks and a fridge of drinks lay for challengers to help themselves during the breaks in between the battles.

Water….I need water. Elio's hands shook as he twisted off the cap and had to restrain himself from gulping the entire thing down. He took slow gentle sips, feeling his body gradually rejuvenate itself.

"Oh man." He sighed heavily and leaned back against the counter.

The battle was exhausting, more so than the ones he had waged against Gladion or Hau.

And he still had three more of them.

No wonder this is like the pinnacle challenge for any pokemon trainer. That was just a single battle and it was grueling.

The one part he was grateful about in the League was the option to choose his opponent in the order of which he faced them. It didn't mean he could avoid anyone, but it helped open up any ideas he could have on the best way to surmount. Would he go after the strongest one first? Or was he to deal with the others while trying to deduce some sort of strategy?

It's okay. You got this.

"Five minutes." He heard one of the stadium's staff from the entrance to the tunnel. Nodding his thanks, he drained the last of the water in the bottle and polished off the remainder of the cheese cracker pack he had opened to munch on alongside his drink. A quick pit stop to relieve himself and making sure there weren't any crumbs on his face or shirt and he was good to go. All he had to do was retrieve his pokemon from the healing center.

Here we go. Round two.

---

Lillie heard the crowd's pitch start to go up and rushed to the window. Elio was back on the court, running towards his side. He gave a simple wave to the spectators as he came to a halt where Professor Kukui was waiting.

"Wow." She whispered. He's so serious and dialed in. This kind of stuff is just one of the many things I love about him.

The intermission timer hit zero and the crowd's cheer began to die down as Professor Kukui tapped his microphone.

"Alola again cousin! Get a nice refresh?"

"Enough to recharge." Elio sighed, but smiled anyway. "I'm ready to start the next battle."

"That's what I like to hear! Woo!" Kukui gestured to the three torches remaining and the poliwag standing next to them. "You once again have thirty seconds to choose the torch and the Elite Four member you would like to face next."

I wonder which one he's going to-

---

"I choose the stone torch." Elio spoke with much less hesitation than last time.

"A fine choice!"

"Let's give it up for our next member of the Elite Four to face our brave challenger today! The kahuna from Akala Island from a very young age and a specialist in the ever-strong rock type pokemon, let's hear it for Olivia Riosssssss!"

The crowd went wild as Elio saw the young woman confidently stride out from the tunnel on the opposite end. She reached both him and Professor Kukui, shaking their hands earnestly.

"Alola to you Elio! And ho'omaikai'ana for making it this far! I must say that seeing you here at the new Pokemon League of Alola is not much of a surprise!" Over the crowd noise, she had to almost shout to make herself heard.

"Thanks? I guess?"

Olivia chuckled. "When you did face me in your Akala grand trial just a few months ago, I was very impressed with your battling skills and I know for a fact that you've only improved on what you've learned thus far. Now…now you're in for what the true might of what rock type pokemon can do! They'll grind you into dust!"

"I don't lose. Not today." At Elio's competitiveness, Olivia smirked at him. Just what I like to see in someone that's earned the attention of the Tapu.

"How lovely. I am ready to begin whenever."

Kukui nodded to the referee who stepped forward, explaining the rules once again to both trainers and receiving a nod of affirmation after laying out the terms of the sanctioned League battle.

Elio felt his blood pumping as he made his way back to his side of the court and turned around. Kukui and the officiant vacated and he was left face to face with Olivia taking her spot.

"Trainers! Summon your pokemon and let the battle commence!"

"You'll find that I have a lot more weapons at my disposal than what you saw when you battled me back at Akala Island. You best be prepared for ones like Axis here!" Olivia tossed her first poke ball out onto the court, revealing a large probopass. He recognized it as the same one that watched over her jewelry shop whilst she was away.

"Okay Akela, let's do this!" He hadn't had to use his midnight lycanroc against Acerola, so now was as good a time as any to get him up to speed.

Akela howled and flexed his lanky forearms, staring down Axis on the other end.

The ref signaled for the fight to begin and both pokemon immediately launched into their attacks. Akela jumped up high, raising a paw above his head and bringing it down in a swift chopping motion. Axis had gathered light energy in front of it and fired an orb just as quickly.

Akela was forced to use the brick break to swat away the flash cannon. Axis wasn't done though, rapidly gathering more light to launch another. Elio knew that it was going to be just as fast, but moving in close range meant that Axis would have less maneuverability and brick break would deal quadruple damage thanks to the rock and steel typing.

Akela deftly landed next to the probopass and as the larger pokemon rotated in midair to face him, he lunged with another downward brick break. Despite the massive damage sustained, Axis only let out a grunt of distress.

"Perfect, if we can stay this close to him then-" Elio was cut off when he saw the three smaller "noses" that were attached to the sides and rear suddenly come loose and hover above Axis' main body in a triangular formation. They all pointed down and each emitted beams of bright light that knocked Akela back. The power gem attack gave Axis enough time to retreat to a safe distance. Elio's pokemon quickly jumped back on his feet, shaking it off as best he could.

"Lock-on to his hand." Olivia said. One of the noses lowered down to Axis' eye level and pointed a non-damaging thin red beam at Akela's right paw. As the midnight lycanroc was in motion, the nose shifted to keep a line of sight on it, staying close to Axis' side.

Almost like a laser sight. What's she up to?

"Zap cannon."

Axis formed and fired the electrical orb just as quick as Arclight did when she was boosted by the charge. Akela was in motion, moving laterally to the left.

But the orb abruptly curved in midflight as the the lazer shifted to follow his right hand. As it closed in, Akela stood still for a moment before he suddenly shifted his hand back behind his body and unleashed a stone edge in an attempt to block the incoming attack. To Elio's horror, the zap cannon appeared to account for the stone edge barrier, winding around one of the jagged stalagmites.

"Shit!" Akela yelped as the zap cannon exploded against his fur, tossing him back. He staggered to his feet, twitching as arcs of static electricity coursed through. Elio knew that a zap cannon scoring a hit was a guaranteed paralysis.

"Rock tomb." Olivia shouted. Axis formed several large boulders and tossed them forth at different intervals. Akela's reduced speed meant that he was going to be an easier target. Many of the large rocks landed close by and fell down towards him. Akela snarled in defiance as a couple landed on his good paw, essentially trapping him.

"Akela, use counter to get yourself out!"

The werewolf pokemon howled and tried to yank his paw free, but the paralysis flickered to life and he cried out, twitching as it interrupted his concentration.

Smart. Olivia is making up for the rock type's shortcomings, namely the slower speed by slowing us down too.

Axis hurled another rock tomb and Akela was finally able to break through the paralysis momentarily to jump out of the way. Several boulders once again fell around him, forcing him to remain on the move.

Getting close is going to be tricky. I can't have paralysis stop me in my tracks out in the open.

If only there was some way he could force Axis to-

Wait. That's it!

He had Akela launch a rock slide. As one of the few ranged attacks he had, he wanted to be able to get the probopass in a position where it would have to overextend itself. Though the paralysis made his limbs ache in protest, Akela was able to slam his paws into the ground and create a fanning out of large boulders erupting from the ground. Axis rumbled in surprise, throwing up a protect that blocked the first few, but found itself battered by several more. As Elio predicted, it did little damage.

That wasn't something he was exactly going for. Akela broke contact from the first rock tomb and burst into the open field, running forward. As soon as he felt the paralysis flare back up, he slammed his paws into the ground to cause another rock slide. Axis was forced to move or be hit by more of the boulders.

"I know what you're trying to do," Olivia smirked. "And it's not going to work. Axis, use rock tomb and trap him again."

"Get ready." Elio told him. "Here it comes!"

Axis summoned another volley of boulders, tossing them effortlessly as if it had known psychic. They fell down around as Akela covered his chest and head, forming another shell and surrounding him. The rocks would then fall inward, effectively trapping him and any damage would also lower his speed output.

"Lock-on. I don't want it getting away again."

Elio watched Axis rise up, using one of the small noses to act as an eye level laser sight.

Hopefully that's not a zap cannon she's preparing.

Akela had finally wriggled free and Elio was about to tell him to stay in the cover of the rock tomb when an idea suddenly struck him as he saw Olivia's expression turn to surprise.

"What the? No, he couldn't have freed himself that fast!"

He saw Axis summoning another rock tomb and knew that this was his chance.

"Counter!"

Olivia froze, realizing that now Akela being in the open meant that he was free to use counter on the physical rock tomb at will. Elio held his breath, hoping that the paralysis from the zap cannon wouldn't interrupt his plan.

"No! Axis stop!" But it was too late.

The boulders were already being hurled downward as Akela jumped up to meet them. His strong hind legs struck the largest one, kicking it back as his paws swatted another two headed straight for him. Now dealing double damage, Axis had no room to dodge itself and rumbled in agony as the three boulders crashed into the large reddish nose. He spun in midair, rolling uncontrollably across the ground.

Elio made a fist, knowing this was the perfect time to go for the kill.

Akela raced down, dodging one last rock from the rock tomb and sprinted alongside a rolling Axis who was trying to steady itself. His paw powered up in a reversal and he swung it forth, connecting with the other pokemon's backside. Axis was thrown into the wall with a loud crash where it finally stopped moving and gave out.

"Axis is incapable of battling further! Akela is the winner! Six on five! Elio in favor!"

The boy was finally able to breathe out a sigh of relief as Akela grinned triumphantly and raised a paw in the air, much to the crowd's delight. He shuffled back to Elio's side of the court, looking battered and bruised, but his trainer could tell that he was still raring to go and fight on, even with the annoying paralysis condition.

"Thank you buddy." Elio gave him a thumbs up. He wanted to hug his pokemon in thanks for putting up an immense effort, but there would be a time where they would get the gratitude they rightfully deserved. "Thank you so much."

"Mahalo Axis." Olivia was recalling her defeated pokemon as its icon winked out on the screens overhead. "Well fought."

She turned to Elio. "I can tell you've grown and no longer stand as a trainer just starting to break in and make a name for yourself. You now are showing the world what kind of a boy…no…I'm sorry...that's no longer correct. What kind of a man you are."

Elio found himself standing up just a little straighter. Though he knew it was inevitable, finding someone addressing him as an adult made him feel like his own confidence could skyrocket.

"Axis has given many trainers a great struggle simply because they approach battle with a rock type trainer in the traditional sense. Sluggish in speed. Faster pokemon often take the advantage because of this. Axis is but one of the pokemon I use to equalize one of its biggest weaknesses. Now that the playing field is leveled, that's where some of rock's strengths can shine like beautiful gemstones."

She cleared her throat. "You're one of the few trainers to overcome this despite my best efforts. But I hope you're as well prepared to take on the rest of my team."

It wasn't without cost. Akela got paralyzed in the process. Elio watched as she threw another pokemon onto the field, his head suddenly shifting in surprise as he saw the lithe form of Fenris, her own midnight lycanroc.

Wait isn't that her own strongest pokemon? There has to be a reason she sent it out this early.

Elio saw the wave to begin from the referee and jumped into action, not wanting to give the Akala kahuna any more of an advantage she might have.

Akela thrust his paws into the ground, creating another turbulent wave of rocks. On the other side, Fenris had scoffed, throwing up its own stone edge to break it at the front.

"Stealth rock." Olivia had commanded smoothly. Fenris raised its arms to launch fistfuls of rocks that floated in the air above Elio's side of the court. As soon as they settled, he saw them turn clear and vanish as if they never existed.

"Stealth rock." Elio grit his teeth. I'm stuck with that from here on. No way to clear it right now.

"Let's show her that it doesn't matter." I just need to bait her to attack and a good counter will take this one out. "Reversal!"

Akela snarled in fury and lunged forward, showing the distinct sizes between Olivia's own much larger midnight lycanroc. His paw swung in a blow, but Elio saw the paralysis flare up and stop him short. The attack ended up being little more than a love tap that Fenris made zero effort to dodge.

Olivia smirked as her own werewolf made a bloodcurdling howl and swatted Akela aside with its own counter attack. He hit the ground, tumbling to a halt and strained to try and get back on his feet. The paralysis continued to crackle and cause his body to convulse involuntarily.

"Reversal again!"

To his shock, Fenris was already on the move. He sucked in a breath, knowing that this was a nightmare scenario. No way Akela was strong enough to withstand a hit like that and power through his paralysis to use a counter.

"Counter!" He had to try.

Akela strained his teeth, glaring in anger as he mustered what he could in bracing for an attack.

Fenris swung his paw in a wide haymaker and Akela automatically moved to counter. But at the last moment it had looked like the bigger werewolf hesitated for a moment before completely shifting the angle of the reversal strike to undercut and plant its fist straight into Akela's solar plexus. He yelped with the blow knocking the wind out of him with an explosive whoosh.

Elio's heart skipped a beat as Akela collapsed after being hit back several feet. Then to everyone's own astonishment, despite the paralysis flickering in his limbs, he was shakily standing up yet again.

"No way."

Akela growled and bared his teeth, glaring daggers at Fenris on the other side.

Then he collapsed again, a slow wobble before his eyes closed and gave out.

"Akela is incapable of battling further! Fenris is the winner!"

Elio let out his breath. As much as he was hoping that Akela was able to continue fighting the good fight, it gave him a bit of a relief that he wouldn't risk himself any further.

I want to win, just as much as you do buddy. He held out his ball to return him. But remember, this isn't the only battle we have to account for.

"Fenris return." Elio was still pondering his thoughts when Olivia recalling her lycanroc took him by surprise. She holstered its ball and drew another one to toss out onto the field as one of her switch icons dimmed out.

The new creature had a smooth rounded body and small stubby arms and legs that Elio immediately recognized as a golem. However the main difference was a two pronged structure lined with sparks of electric accelerators. A big tuft of hair was under its chin with another bit that appeared similar to a mustache.

His offline Dex still detected the new pokemon in their presence. "Golem. Megaton pokemon. Alolan subspecies. It is the evolved form of graveler and the final form of geodude. Tremendous electric shocks are emitted from the rocks it can fire out of the launcher on its back. It can't fire these rocks rapidly, so it may use nearby geodude to shoot as ammuniton. Alolan golem is a rock and electric type. Additional information is available upon capture of this pokemon."

It's rock and electric? Elio had already preselected Nani in his head as the next pokemon he wanted to use. He had hoped that Axis was Olivia's lone pokemon that had anti-water type capabilities.

Yeah I should've known better.

Nani sprung out of her ball, coiling down and getting into her fighting stance. Elio saw her tail fins lock into the sword and silently appreciated her approach. She knew from the jolts that ran alongside the cannon accelerator on the golem's back that she was up against an electric type and the iron tail sword lightningrod might be needed at a moment's notice.

"Oh shit." He heard the stones suddenly whip out of the air where they had been hiding to pelt her scaly skin from all directions. Nani hissed in protest, but shook it off moments later. It did not escape his notice that several of the largest stone shards had embedded themselves into her skin.

If it's anything like Arclight, anything shot out is gonna go really fast.

"Ice beam!" Instinct and adrenaline suddenly shot through his system as Olivia was already shouting an attack. Nani cast it just in front to create a short wall of crystalline ice that was shattered seconds later by a rock blast that went faster than Elio could blink.

And that was just one.

"Nani, look out!"

The alolan golem fired another rock just as fast. Nani was in the middle of moving when she was hit square in the head and she reeled back with another pained hiss and an explosion of powdered dirt and static electricity. As she was lightning quick to spring back up, she was knocked down again by a third rock.

Elio heard the golem's back make a clicking noise as if racking the pump of a shotgun. In his haste to get Nani to dodge, he realized that it had been the rear launcher arming and loading another "round" into the chamber.

Nani had stayed down for just a moment longer, but this had played into her own advantage as the golem fired its next rock blast just above where it had expected her to get back up. The rock narrowly missed and Nani shuddered from the static that emanated from it.

She launched a scald attack the moment the attack had safely subsided. The golem, which Elio now knew that its name was Gigas, had grunted from being hit by the first of the stream. It had powered through from withstanding the super effective attack by shooting back a volley of sharp stones out of the ground.

Nani saw it coming and slithered out of the way, forced to break off her scald attack in order to do so. She stopped and seized up abruptly as Elio saw the small teeth-shaped stone shards that were stuck in the center of her body had glowed bright. Nani twisted onto her back, rubbing against the court as it seemed to greatly bother her.

"How do you like that little extra punch?" Olivia smirked, noticing Nani's predicament and enjoying Elio's confusion. He almost fell for the distraction as Nani and Gigas exchanged a hydro pump and a thunder that were respectively dodged by each. "It's an old technique dating back to the days of Hisui. Those splinters in your pokemon from the stealth rock create lasting damage until worn off."

No point in giving her the satisfaction that I can't clear stealth rock from my side right now. That just made a bad problem even worse and I have three pokemon that this is going to be an even bigger problem for.

Nani knew her trainer and used the brief lull to set up an aqua ring. The thin veil of water created a perfect circle as well as giving her ample room to dodge attacks while staying within its enclosure. Slowly he saw that it had begun to heal the small wounds she had sustained. The stealth rock splinters had activated again, but shortly after, they had finally fragmented and crumbled off.

Gigas had used the time to set up as well, energizing the ground that immediately turned into a full floor of yellowish electricity.

Elio knew that the electric terrain would just make any electric attacks more powerful. As Nani blasted another hydro pump, he saw Gigas skate to the side, moving more swiftly than before. She stopped and resumed her attack just as Gigas gathered and released a huge thunderbolt that went straight for the front of the stream.

"Nani stop!" He remembered how Guzma had taken advantage of using her hydro pump to accelerate his own electric attacks. As she disengaged; the thunder attack was drawn straight to the water splashing harmlessly to the side. It was in time as Elio knew that she would've taken massive damage if he hadn't stopped her. She took a second to recompose herself and then blasted a ray of ice beam across the court. Gigas stiffened as he was hit, but had been able to avoid getting frozen solid in a block of ice crystals.

"Gigas, double-edge!" Olivia shouted. With his renewed speed, the alolan golem took off running forward, using its small stubby arms back and forth as its speed increased. With the electric terrain seeming to feed energy into the pokemon's feet, Elio wondered for a second if that just made it faster.

Nani swiveled her head in the charging pokemon's direction and had a dragon pulse in the midst of forming when Gigas had lowered its shoulder to barge into the center of her body. He heard a loud cry of pain as she was bodied and sent careening into the wall. The crowd closest to her point of impact had jumped in fright as the Ward shields activated and prevented any collateral from spilling out. Nani hit the translucent wall and slumped over.

Elio couldn't hide his shock at how much damage she had been dealt. Double-edge was already a powerful move, but it was almost as if Gigas had the capability to take her out in a single hit. Nani was still moving as she slowly picked herself up despite the much more serious battered wounds that peppered her lithe frame.

"Rock blast!"

Gigas lowered its accelerator and prepared to fire.

Except nothing happened. Olivia tilted her head in confusion as did much of the spectators. Elio looked over and saw something that might've been a huge breakthrough for him.

Nani's ice beam in the process of glossing Gigas over, had built up around and within the accelerator's chamber, effectively jamming it shut. The alolan golem was unable to properly launch the rocks it stored and load the next round to fire.

No telling how long that's going to stay. But now with the distraction he needed, he could get Nani to recover.

She seemed to read his mind and made a beeline back towards the aqua ring she had set up earlier. Gigas saw her going and immediately launched himself forward on a course to intercept with another double-edge. Nani would make it to her aqua ring in time and be able to pull off a recover to restore her health, but the timing of it wasn't ideal.

"Ice beam! Try to slow it down!"

Nani cooed softly and launched it in front. The golem skated out of the way, but as Elio had trained her, she kept the beam sprayed in a semicircle to create a wall of ice to block it from attacking head on.

Elio had her use recover and she immediately sharpened her tail, watching the sides in case Gigas decided to flank around the ice structure.

He sighed with relief as she completed the regeneration move, which brought her back from being on the brink of fainting. Good…he was going to need her later.

"You good?" She nodded. "Okay, return!"

---

Lillie watched Gladion and Hau similarly sigh with relief as Elio had when he recalled Nani back into her ball.

"Thank goodness," her brother's voice had a tinge of worry in it. "I really thought Elio would really be in trouble. If he loses that milotic this early in the battle, he's really going to be in trouble."

"I'm just amazed at how powerful that double-edge was." Leilani said from their other side. She hadn't taken her eyes off the court since it had started and everyone sat down. "Taking Nani out was probably the best move he's done."

Wait a second. Lillie gasped. "I read about it! In a book in Professor Kukui's lab! The geodude and its evolutions in Alola!"

Everyone turned to her. "What do you mean?"

"One of the abilities they can have is called…gal…galvanize…I think that's how you say it. But it converts normal type attacks into electric type attacks and they gain a big boost in their power."

Gladion turned back to the court as one of Elio's substitution markers blinked out. He had replaced Nani with Strongside. Everyone had winced as another barrage of stealth rocks materialized out of the air to pelt the heel pokemon. This one dealt far more visible damage than the one that assailed Nani.

"Combined with the electric terrain setup, yeah Elio is very lucky that he didn't lose her." Hau said. "But that stealth rock is something he'll need to watch out for too. Half his team is weak to rock type moves and stealth rock continues to attack any pokemon on his side that switches in."

"And I don't think he has any way of clearing it out." Gladion added.

I wonder why he didn't send out Lochagos. Earthquake or bulldoze would deal quadruple damage since an alolan golem is rock and electric.

"It's okay. He'll be okay." Lillie clenched her fists and brought them to her lips as if she could will him to win. "He's beaten Olivia once and he can do it again."

---

Strongside wasn't particularly happy that the stealth rock shards that were stuck in his fur had caused extra lasting damage, but he had withstood worse. Gigas' oncoming double edge had shattered the ice wall and forced him to use a flamethrower in reflex to mask his dodge to the side. The golem's charge had went straight into the flames anyway, but came out with its stony skin scorched and blackened. Strongside had gotten lucky with his flamethrower scoring a burn.

As it readied for another attack, Elio saw that the ice buildup jamming the launcher on its back had all melted to steam curling out of the open section.

Damn it.

Gigas hunched over and readied it to launch another rock blast. Unlike with Nani, Strongside had no means to block.

"It fires really fast!" Elio shouted to his pokemon. "Move when it does! Not before!"

Easier said than done. Once Gigas' boulders left its body, the travel time between him and his target was blindingly fast. Likely even faster with the electric terrain.

Gigas' first boulder was on target. Strongside tried to dodge and block with his forearms crossed, but it had shattered upon impact, staggering him back and forcing him to stretch his arms out to regain his balance.

Move dammit! He had to know that standing still would make him an easier target. Gigas loaded with the same clicking pump and fired another rock. Strongside had finally stopped and listened to the other pokemon's pacing before dropping to the floor. The second rock sailed overhead, missing its mark.

He then gathered dark energy in his palms, spinning in a darkest lariat that deflected the next two rocks. Elio was taken aback by his pokemon's own ingenuity.

Huh…I guess that works.

"Gigas, meet it on with double-edge!" Olivia yelled. As Strongside continued his darkest lariat spin, the megaton pokemon launched forward, lowering the shoulder to collide forth. Both attacks struck one another in the center and they seemed to be at an equilibrium, canceling one another out. Strongside hissed in annoyance as the splinters dug into him again, but Gigas had a reaction of complete surprise, definitely not expecting to be stunned like that.

Elio wasn't going to let that moment go to waste. He likely wouldn't get another. "Strongside, before it recovers! Cross chop!"

The large cat was deft on his feet as he raised his hands up and brought them down in a strong X motion atop the shorter pokemon's head. It had been in the process of trying to get a thunder attack off when Strongside's faster reflexes had knocked it out. Gigas had swayed on its feet for a couple of seconds before it fainted and rolled on its back with a loud thud. He made a fist in triumph, only to grimace when the splinters had hurt him again. Thankfully after the second time, they had crumbled into dust with their lingering sharp pains beginning to wear off.

Strongside backed off as the ref floated over, examining the fallen pokemon. "Gigas is unable to battle! Strongside is the winner! Five on four! Elio in favor!"

He saw Olivia have a slight smile as she returned her golem. The crowd's roar grew, knowing that the challenger had the numbers advantage and it was getting bigger. She took another pokeball and threw it out onto the field.

"Dominus!" Elio tried not to blanch at the enormous size of the new creature. It was definitely saurian with a ruddy red skin that looked as hard as chiseled stone. Its arms were smaller, but the legs had to be thicker than tree trunks, supporting its wide and bulky midsection and long tail. Its eyes glared at Strongside underneath a gold crown and a beard of pearly whitish feathers that also formed a collar around its neck. What made him recoil was the gigantic set of jaws that were half open to reveal rows of serrated teeth that felt as if they could rend through the air itself. Even with his larger than average size, Elio estimated that Lochagos would still be shorter.

"Is that the tyrunt that we faced in our kahuna battle?" He was willing to bet it was, but used the Rotom Dex to check anyway.

"Tyrantrum. Despot pokemon. It is the final evolved form of tyrunt. This pokemon was king of the ancient world though complete restoration is impossible leading paleontologists to believe that it had a much larger coat of feathers. Tyrantrum's jaws can crush a car and shred through steel plates like paper. Tyrantrum is a rock and dragon type. Additional information is available upon capturing this pokemon."

"Let's try out that new technique we've been working on." Olivia said as the referee waved to begin the round. "Stone edge!"

Dominus roared loudly and stamped the ground with his large legs. Elio saw large jagged stones erupt at an angle, but instead this one was in patterns of three. Strongside jumped out of the way as they reached him. Not one moment later, he saw that Dominus stomped the ground again, sending the stones skidding across the court. The subsequent stomping tantrum attack had forced him on the defensive where he crouched low to the ground jumping aside and carefully eyeballing when the next ones would come.

He jumped the last one, gaining a little bit of altitude and opening his mouth to launch a powerful overheat. Dominus roared in protest as the superheated beam had blasted him back nearly out to the sidelines, but even the onslaught was not enough to knock the gigantic pokemon over. Strongside finished his overhead and followed it up with a flamethrower, however the falling stat flare meant that his special attack would be a bit weakened. Dominus grunted as the stream of fire hit his larger body, but Elio saw it plant a foot in the ground and trudge forward, lowering its head.

"Strongside look out!"

It had been too late. Dominus' head smash attack speared through his weakened flamethrower and hit him before he had a chance to dodge. Strongside hit in the shoulder, blasted across the court and landing in a heap in the corner.

Nonononono! "Get up! I know you can still fight!"

The heel pokemon groaned in protest, but Elio felt a bit of relief as he saw his limbs twitch and slowly move. He rolled onto his feet, shakily getting up and rolling his muscles.

"You're good! Let's keep going!" Strongside nodded, refocusing on his larger opponent.

"Darkest lariat!"

As he prepared his attack, Dominus went for another stone edge and stomping tantrum combo. This time around, Strongside was able to use his spinning motion just like he had against Gigas the golem in deflecting oncoming the oncoming sharp rocks as he closed the distance. Dominus' rotating speed as it shifted to turn and face him was too slow as Strongside hit him on the right side. Elio nodded in approval.

Hit it in the side where it can't turn as quickly.

Dominus' small arms suddenly sprouted larger as it prepped a dragon claw that forced Strongside away from striking again. But the heel pokemon did his thing in keeping to the side, but every time he thought he had an opening to attack; Dominus would use its elongated neck and face it while turning as quickly as it could. Elio did not want his pokemon to go into the tyrantrum's waiting jaws.

"I know what you're trying to do and it's not going to work." Olivia told him. "I applaud the efforts."

Elio ignored her as Strongside dodged a dragon claw before he finally found the chance he was waiting for. Dominus overstepped just a little too far and he immediately had planted a foot in the ground and took off in the opposite direction. He was nearly upon him by the time Olivia realized her mistake and yelled at her pokemon to correct his course.

Strongside's feet swept out, lashing in a double kick to Dominus' left leg, aiming specifically for the joint. Both times it had visibly flinched in a twisting jerk, but the tyrantrum had put the majority of its weight on the other leg that wasn't hit and moved around to use its longer neck.

"Look out!" Strongside was already in the midst of a cross chop when Dominus' teeth glittered with sparks of electrical energy. Elio realized that the thunder fang attack was going to be more powerful thanks to Gigas' electric terrain still active.

It should've been gone by now!

Dominus closed its gigantic jaws around Strongside's shoulder, clamping down as if he were a mere chew toy and the volts of electricity charring the fur. Strongside cried out as he was effortlessly lifted up, but he had mustered just enough to spit a stream of fire from his belt. Dominus grunted in surprise from the unexpected attack, just opening his jaws long enough for him to drop free.

Elio was wondering if Strongside was going to be able to continue, but his heart began to sink when his stance was sluggish and he staggered to his feet. His arms went together for a cross chop, but the smirk on Olivia's face told him that this round was going to be over. The tyrantrum used another stomping tantrum that shook Strongside off balance where he finally staggered, before fatigue took over and he sprawled onto his side.

"Strongside is incapable of battling further!" The referee waved in Dominus' direction. "Dominus is the winner! Four on four!"

Elio shrugged and returned his pokemon. No sense in lamenting what I could've done differently. Just gotta keep on going.

As Strongside's icon on the board had faded to indicate his defeat, Elio pondered what strategies he could do. The electric terrain was still up although he was fairly certain that it was going to fade at any moment. Tyrantrum's ability of strong jaw meant that its biting moves were already more powerful, which included the thunder fang.

"Lochagos, you're up!" If this was a fight for brute strength, Elio would meet the challenge with one of his own. As the kommo'o flexed its arms to take the court, the stealth rocks shimmered out of the air and sunk into his skin with their sharp edges. Lochagos growled in protest, lowering his arms as many of the stone pellets struck the thicker armor. While he knew that a lot less damage was suffered due to him being half fighting, the real benefit was that the flexible harder skin underneath the scale plates had prevented any of the splinters from latching and digging in to cause the continuous damage.

"What a surprising choice. This is one I haven't seen you use as of yet." Olivia said with a hint of curiosity.

"He's got all sorts of surprises." Elio told her. "Right Lochagos?"

He clicked his tongue. "Let's show her what we can do, sky uppercut!"

Dominus was already in motion by the time Lochagos had run forward on all fours. He stopped several feet away and jumped up. Even with his near-totem size, he was still much shorter than the tyrantrum. The dragon claw that Dominus was using blazed to life and he swung up high.

Lochagos had landed on the ground just out of the claw's reach. Realizing his mistake, Dominus' teeth had crackled and he lunged for a thunder fang. The electric terrain powered it up just before finally disappearing. Lochagos' free hand had pushed the larger foe's head aside, giving him a clean opening to strike in the devastating sky uppercut. He had aimed for the neck area and the super effective attack sent it staggering back with a loud roar. Dominus gnashed his teeth, bulling through and lunging with another dragon claw. Lochagos met it with one of his own, unwilling to be intimidated on the rare time that he was the smaller combatant.

The tyrantrum snapped his jaws in a crunch attack, but Lochagos was just light and nimble enough to deftly dodge the next two attempts. There was one occasion where he had turned just too quickly and Elio had to shout out a clanging scales before the rows and rows of knifelike teeth sunk into his arm. His hands flew to his ears just in time before the earsplitting attack shook the entire stadium, taking it by surprise.

Despite the attack's super effectiveness, Dominus staggered back again and still refused to go down. Elio saw that its balance was wobbly at best on a backfoot and the previous attacks to its large knees by Strongside's double kick hadn't been for naught.

That also put him in a more precarious position as well. Lochagos' clanging scales meant his physical defense would drop every time he used the powerful attack and now showing his hand to Olivia meant that she was going to prepare and adjust accordingly.

Just keep on attacking him buddy. Elio's eyes drifted to the tyrantrum's footwork. Its thick scaly hide was enough to repel even super effective dragon and fighting attacks. Getting locked arms with dragon claw wasn't much of a question as Dominus' longer neck was able to flex and close its huge jaws.

Maybe I can get that to happen.

"Jump Lochagos!" Elio called. "Clanging scales from above!"

Dominus was in the midst of a stone edge when Lochagos used one of the jagged pillars for a little extra height in his jump. His frontal plates vibrated and he slammed them together, creating another devastating soundwave cone that came at an angle up high. Dominus instinctively crouched and curled up to try and withstand the grating attack. Even as Lochagos' defense fell again, he was on the move as soon as he hit the ground, coming through the open where the stone edge spikes closest to them had been shattered by the soundwave's sheer might. Dragon claw in hand, he prepared to lunge and rake them across the tyrantrum's knees.

It was a foolproof plan, except when Lochagos had reached him, Dominus was already up and readying a dragon claw of its own. Olivia had anticipated him.

Dammit! Lochagos was forced to disengage from his original target and bring them up to meet his foe's. The dragon claw deflected off his scale plating, but as he tried to get a strike in, Dominus shifted his stance backwards to where he couldn't be hit without Lochagos overextending. The two pokemon were locked in a battle for dominance and Elio glanced at Olivia, his blood running cold when he saw that she had a hint of a smirk on her lips.

Oh no.

Dominus' long neck craned down and his jaws were wide open. Elio had already envisioned it happening before it actually occurred.

"Iron head, straight forward!"

He heard the bigger pokemon roar as he chomped down, but Lochagos was in motion, lowering his own head and ramming it forward as Dominus' jaws clamped down.

Much larger and harder and unused to anything other than a soft pokemon's hide, several of the large teeth splintered and chipped with Dominus reeling back in surprise.

"Now, dragon claw! Go for the knees!"

Olivia's pokemon wasn't in her elite team for no reason and tried to move out of the way, but that had proved to be its undoing. Lochagos' haste to attack had allowed it to regroup and prep for a counterattack, which it launched a wave of stone edges. The kommo'o slammed the ground with his front gauntlets in a quick repulse to blast away the stones and used them as a base to spring forward with his claws outstretched.

As Dominus attempted to sidestep, Lochagos timed it and struck the left knee at the precise moment the larger pokemon had begun to apply weight. This time the effect was much more noticeable. Dominus' leg buckled and he began to uncontrollably fall over. Lochagos remained steadfast, even as the tyrantrum was beginning to open its jaws for another biting attack. He waited just a second and then barreled forward, smashing the crown of his scaly crest into his foe's side. Dominus roared in pain, finally falling over onto his front and slumping over. Lochagos had to jump out of the way of all the oncoming dead weight, ambling back over to Elio's side. He had taken some nasty hits, but a nod of his head told his trainer that he was raring to keep on going.

Meanwhile Dominus had failed to stand or listen to a confused Olivia. "Dominus is unable to battle! Lochagos is the winner! Four on three! Elio in favor!"

Elio barely heard the crowd erupt in a roar of applause, having been firsthand witnessing a spectacle of a clash between two titanic pokemon. The slugfests seemed to be what a lot of them wanted to see.

"Well done Dominus." Olivia returned to her senses and called back her defeated tyrantrum and plucked another ball from her hip. "Fenris, you're back up."

Fenris again? Elio thought to himself, seeing Olivia's own midnight lycanroc flex its paws and stare down Lochagos. He still bore scuffed fur and injuries from the other battles before being switched out, but he knew that her ace pokemon was still raring to go.

It also presented him with a unique opportunity. The chance to take it out. Olivia had brought him in each time to deal with a weakened one of his pokemon and likely had done so again against the only pokemon he had that could directly resist rock.

Besides Nani, Lochagos was also his best chance of defeating Fenris. And if he could, that would assure his team could be safe from the stealth rock once he cleared it out.

We'll deal with that in a moment. First up is defeating this damn thing.

Lochagos was unnerved by Fenris' antagonism, but he leaned forward on his powerful forearms, determined to keep focus on the battle.

Let's not get baited into doing something stupid. I don't want to squander the opportunity to take Olivia's ace out.

The referee signaled to begin.

Lochagos was the first to move, lunging for a sky uppercut. The werewolf pokemon easily sidestepped it, extending a paw and curling it backwards and causing him to growl angrily.

Elio groaned, knowing that the taunt basically put a wrench in his own plans. Another sky uppercut dodged and Fenris waited until the fist had passed upwards before throwing a lightning fast thunderpunch in between his ribs. Lochagos cried out, falling to his hands for support as more wicks of static electricity rippled across his body.

No. The teenager bit back another curse that threatened to escape his lips. Another paralysis? How is Olivia getting this damn lucky?

Worse was that the paralysis slowing down an already slower Lochagos meant that Fenris was able to easily float in and out of his bigger and more powerful attacks while jabbing at his weak points.

It was exactly as he feared. Fenris' quick stepping evaded a dragon claw and a sky uppercut and he again used a reversal that sent Lochagos sprawling across the court. The paralysis flared up and his limbs seized, twitching in annoyance. He was being worn down slowly.

"Finish it. Reversal." Olivia called.

Fenris jumped up and down with his fist pulled back. At the very last moment, Lochagos was able to summon a protect that caused the reversal attack to bounce off harmlessly. Like he had done before, Fenris' overextension of its arms meant it was able to execute a counter in time.

Elio just hope that the paralysis wouldn't stop him.

"Earthquake!"

Olivia smirked at him, commanding her pokemon to do something Elio couldn't discern. As Lochagos stamped the ground and sent a shockwave across the court, Fenris had landed ahead of it and punched the ground to summon a wave of stone edge pillars. Just like he had seen from the old battle against her in his Akala grand trial, the werewolf jumped atop the stones and over as the initial shockwave of the earthquake had passed underneath, shattering the stone placement, but sparing it from the brunt of the attack.

In a way it told Elio as well that an attack like that would've finished him off if he managed to land the final blow. Olivia would not have gone for a counter unless she knew her pokemon was able to survive the hit.

Fenris was already on his way down, powering up another thunderpunch. Lochagos met it with a sky uppercut, both attacks parried and thrown off their target, but what worried him now was that Fenris was in close where his smaller and more nimble frame was just fast enough and able to juke around Lochagos' slower attacks. They also seemed to be doing a good bit more of damage, likely from the clanging scales' drawback effect of lowering physical defenses.

Lochagos' swings with his fists proved futile as Fenris again jumped from side to side, easily evading the blows. When he went for another protect as Fenris prepared to strike back, the latter executed another taunt and prevented him. Elio felt his frustrations grow.

"Earthquake! Let's get him away from you again!" No way Olivia was going to counter if she knew her pokemon wouldn't be able to survive.

"Fenris, reversal one more time!" Olivia shouted. "Now!"

Fenris darted forward just as Lochagos brought his foot down. Elio watched carefully and then blanched when the werewolf reared its paw back and struck forward on Lochagos' knee just as he was beginning to apply his own weight down. The kommo'o screeched, losing his balance and toppling over in a loud roar of scales scraping against the court.

"The hell?" Elio stared in disbelief, hoping that Lochagos would start picking himself up, but he knew from his sprawled and unmoving form on the ground that he was out cold. The referee hovered over and waved a hand to confirm it.

"Lochagos is unable to continue battling! Fenris is the winner! Three on three!"

The teen could hardly hear anything anymore as he blinked and shook his head, still in an attempt to find out what had happened.

She used the same exact strategy I had Lochagos use against Dominus. And she did it just as quickly! How? How in the hell?

There was a reason the Akala kahuna wasn't your average rock type specialist.

No sense in dwelling on what happened and what I could have done differently. We're tied at three apiece, but she's using that wear down strategy of paralysis or something else, combined with that lasting stealth rock splinters.

Elio hadn't told anyone, but he had eventually crafted a solution around that. Whether now was the time to use it was the question.

Two of my pokemon are weak to rock types and neither have entered the battle yet. If Olivia pulls Fenris out, she'd use her final switch. I still have two, but I'm gonna hate myself if I have all these chances to take her ace pokemon down and fucked every single one of them.

Decision made, Elio spun the next ball in his hand as Olivia and Fenris cooly awaited his next move.

"Okay, Bravo! Let's go and do this!" He heard the crowd gasp as he tossed out his gigantic eagle pokemon. The braviary screeched upon release and immediately got serious as several of the jagged stealth rocks decloaked and shot towards him as if attracted by a magnet. He took to the sky, dodging the first few as the referee waved, considering the early evasion attempts to be a battle-worthy action. That also meant Fenris was able to make moves of his own.

Bravo rolled, but was struck by three rocks causing him to cry out. The splinters came to life and dug deeper into the skin, their sharp edges slicing past his coat of feathers to cause additional damage.

Elio scowled at that, but he remained calm. As long as Bravo isn't knocked out quickly, he can be the last pokemon that gets hurt by those.

He was expecting Olivia to pull Fenris out of the action, saving him for the coup de grace blow on whatever his final pokemon. However she raised an eyebrow in curiosity and opted to keep him in. He tried his best not to give her the satisfaction of thinking he was making a mistake.

Fenris' stone edge was like Dominus' earlier where gigantic cones of rock sprouted from the ground and shot out as if being launched by compressed air. Bravo rolled to dodge several of them, activating a steel wing and diving down to cleave through the final two.

"Taunt it." Olivia commanded. Bravo narrowed his eyes and screeched loudly as Fenris executed it perfectly. She smirked at him upon its completion. "Nice try now, but no tailwind for you."

Oh. Elio kept focus, trying not to betray the fact that he hadn't intended for Bravo to set that up. Though he assumed it was from when Olivia was watching his battle with Acerola. The first thing he had done when he summoned him in the previous battle was to get the wind at their backs for an edge in speed. It was less needed here since rock types were generally slower with Fenris being a bit quicker than the rest of her team…but still none were as fast as Bravo.

Bravo shook his head in frustration and glanced back at his trainer. Elio nodded, keeping a tight lid on his emotions as he tried to regain control of the battle.

"If we can't set up a tailwind, we'll just go on the attack!" Bravo nodded in earnest, zooming forward for an aerial ace.

Aerial ace?

"Bravo no!" The words were halfway out of his mouth when Bravo had looped and struck Fenris before he could call it off. The midnight lycanroc gave a wicked grin while reeling from the blow as he lunged in turn when Bravo attempted to flit away and delivered a perfect counter. That unexpected hit caused him to dive down and crash into the ground.

"Get up!" Elio shouted, seeing Fenris already jumping forward to meet him, fist crackling with electricity for a thunderpunch. "You need to move!"

Bravo shuddered from the splinters digging into him as he regained his balance and spread his wings, now battered with dirt and bruises. He glared at Fenris and jumped back into the air as the werewolf swiped and missed. When he gained enough altitude, he folded them back and dove down, stretching the wings at the last possible moment in a steel wing attack.

Fenris' eyes went wide with alarm and he jumped up, causing Bravo to swoop low underneath. He readied another thunderpunch, but Bravo smartly gained more altitude just as quickly by shifting his wings up. Olivia muttered something under her breath on the other side. Elio had to guess she was similarly frustrated as him in having an opportunity for a knockout and missing it.

However the boy wasn't primarily interested in defeating it right away. While definitely something he wouldn't pass up, his priority was elsewhere. Mainly waiting for that damn taunt to wear off.

Bravo kept attacking with his steel wing, dodging Fenris' retaliatory stone edges and thunderpunches. The former was a bit better at reaching him, but any that were set to hit were quickly disintegrated by the steel wing. Elio kept the attacks up while waiting for any signal of the taunt finally shaken.

One near miss almost caused Elio's heart to stop. Both of Fenris' fists had surged with electrical energy and he swung one that blatantly didn't even come close. But as soon as he thought he was in the clear, the second fist came in wide right. Bravo's eyes snapped open in surprise and he angled his wings down to drop underneath and turn around.

Elio guessed that the taunt had worn its course and he just needed a second to pull off his wild card.

"Show them our little equalizer." He told Bravo. "Defog!"

The large braviary screeched, flying out of Fenris' reach and cast his wings to create a single powerful gust of wind. Though the lycanroc was unaffected by this one, the real effect that Elio wanted was the stealth rocks.

Shimmering back into being visible again, the wind easily crumbled every single one of them into fine dust that was blown away by the gale.

He didn't expect the crowd to gasp. Even from his spot on the other side, Elio saw that Olivia's poker face vanished and she was unable to hide her surprise. Bravo shuddered as the splinters dug into him again, but Elio knew that it would be for the last time.

Now he just had to make sure Fenris didn't have the opportunity to reset them.

"How interesting." Olivia said. "You've become quite the alaka'i for your team of lovely pokemon."

Let's not give her that chance.

"Taunt him again!" The kahuna shouted. "We can't let him get the upper hand on us!"

Fenris waggled his paw in an antagonizing gesture and Bravo again narrowed his eyes, screeching angrily.

If he wants to fall for the taunt, then fine. The damage is done. No more stealth rocks and I'm about to make sure of it.

"That's a clever trick you've got there." Olivia told him. "Waiting until that first taunt wore off. But you made a kuwi hewa in showing your capability too early. The one who cast it in the first place is still standing."

True. Elio didn't let his smile falter, something the cameras caught and showed it on the screen.

"So did you with that taunt, Miss Olivia!" He glanced up at Bravo, who immediately folded his wings into an attacking stance. "Brave bird! All you got!"

Bravo screeched loudly and cloaked himself in a harsh white energy as he surged forward with incredible speed, even without a tailwind at his back.

Olivia was in the middle of having Fenris re-set up its stealth rock when she saw that Bravo would be upon them in moments. He had forked her choices, either Fenris reset the stealth rocks, leaving himself open to attack or he had to dodge.

"No!" Bravo slammed into him before he could bring up a counter or a thunderpunch and the impact sent both pokemon careening into the far wall, vanishing in a cloud of smoke and dust that enveloped the court.

Elio shielded his eyes as some of it reached him while everyone else was leaning forward in anticipation.

Fenris was seen first, lying on his side and then Bravo had his wings outstretched. Both were unconscious and fainted, Fenris from the hit of brave bird and Bravo being close to fainting himself from the earlier counter. Brave bird's knockback damage was enough to take him out of the fight.

"Fenris and Bravo both are unable to continue battling! It is now two on two!"

---

Up in the Iulio suite, Gladion let out a breath he had been holding.

"So he did have a way and got rid of the stealth rock. That's going to be huge. But it cost him a pokemon in the process."

"He couldn't have waited?" Lillie asked. "Going all in with brave bird?"

"Then Olivia would have set them up again." Hau said. "Elio would have shown his hand and it would've been useless. He had to go straight for the knockout because any bit of time given to Olivia and she would set up another stealth rock."

Glaidon nodded in agreement. "And that taunt too. It would've prevented him from using defog and she'd use that time to knock out likely the only pokemon that was able to clear it. He had to go for the kill. I'd almost even say taunting to bait him into attacking actually had worked out in his favor."

He leaned on the table, staring down at the court. "Risky...but he pulled himself out of that one pretty good. I hope."

Lillie followed his gaze, seeing Elio and Olivia return their respective pokemon and beginning to choose their next options. "But what if another one of Olivia's pokemon knows stealth rock?"

"It's possible. But you saw how surprised Olivia was when he cleared it away. I don't think another one she sets up with a pokemon besides her lycanroc is going to have that extra powerful splinter stuff."

---

There was no saying how euphoric the relief was going through Elio's system. He had actually taken out Olivia's ace pokemon before it had been her last. She brought it in enough times to knock out several of his team members, keeping it in on a blatant advantage and it worked when he finally found a fix to turn the tables.

That didn't mean he could fully relax. While the adrenaline was still rushing, Elio knew that Olivia was very much able to adapt and change her strategy if things didn't go as she planned.

Unfortunately for her, so did he.

"Let's get straight to it, but I do admit that being able to finally go all out in a long time is exhilarating!" Olivia summoned her next pokemon with a swift toss of the ball. "Meet Arenarius!"

Instead of something huge like most of her team had been, the pokemon was a small craggy rock that was dark gray in color with sparkling jewels that were embedded in its rough surface that floated just above the ground. Two small flat gray ears were on top of its head, staring out at him with small beady cyan colored eyes.

"A carbink?" Hmm. Haven't seen this one before.

"Carbink. Jewel pokemon. Although this pokemon is not especially rare, its glittering jewel draped body draws attention from people. Their soft manes are often used to polish the jewels and keep them free of tarnish. Carbink is a rock and fairy type. Additional information is available upon capturing this pokemon."

Arclight materialized out of her thrown poke ball on the other side. Elio caught it and breathed a sigh of relief when no sharp jagged stones appeared to try and attack. She was his only pokemon still standing weak to rock and he wanted to save Nani for whatever else Olivia had up her sleeve.

Maybe now I can return the favor of delivering some much needed paralysis payback.

The battle began as both pokemon immediately went into setups. Elio and Olivia had the same idea in trying to get buffs or upgrades in before launching their attacks. Arenarius cast a glass light screen as Arclight gathered electricity to be stored for a quick discharge or zap cannon.

Arenarius formed a sphere and fired it. Arclight buzzed and swiftly looped around, charging her jaws at the same time. As soon as she completed the evade around the moonblast, she fired the zap cannon.

The carbink wasn't as quick to dodge as Olivia's other pokemon, with the orb passing through the light screen which had absorbed a significant amount of its power. Arenarius flew back, quickly regaining balance as small arcs of electricity surged through its rocky form.

Elio gasped; aside from the inflicted paralysis, Arenarius barely looked fazed even with the charge to boost Arclight's most powerful attack.

That light screen didn't help matters.

Arclight quickly strafed to evade an oncoming ancient power. Unlike most of his pokemon, she had the deft control to stop, twist or roll on dime. Elio saw her even fly backwards while getting off a bug buzz through a rare opening in the rocky barrage. Arenarius again shuddered and quickly shook off any ill effects.

"I know what you're doing again." Olivia told him. "Keep on trying to stall out for light screen like you did with the taunt. It's not going to work."

She gestured to her pokemon. "Skill swap."

Arenarius glowed brightly before shooting a small orb that hit curved to Arclight and then a second one emerged from her own body back to the carbink. Arclight suddenly dropped to the ground, looking around in confusion.

"Huh?"

"Earth power!"

No time to ponder! "Arclight move!"

She started forward and just barely managed to catch flight when the ground suddenly split and a rush of power plumed out of the ground. Arclight was tossed up and Elio hoped that maybe getting airborne like that could restart her flying. Instead she tumbled through the air and her wings spread out just in time to prevent a rather harsh landing.

Meanwhile Arenarius floated even higher off the ground, shooting another moonblast that Arclight barely managed to counter with a barely formed discharge.

"Arclight, dig! We'll give them the special surprise!"

As she tunneled underneath, Arenarius stopped for a moment while seizing up from the paralysis' nagging effects.

The ground shifted as the vikavolt emerged, but to Elio's own shock, she had done no damage whatsoever.

Elio cursed his oversight yet again on the situation. Ah dammit! Skill swap gave Arenarius levitate! He mentally hit himself in the head. Dig was also the only move Arclight knew that would've done super effective damage. Now it was worthless and Arclight having a different ability removed her own immunity to ground attacks.

That's why she dropped and can't fly much and earth power was able to hit her.

The nullifying of levitate also took away her nimble maneuverability as her wings were much less used to the immense strain. She had to rest on the ground much more often.

Arenarius now dove towards the ground and began to rotate until it spun in a corkscrew. The gyro ball hit the ground and quickly reached Arclight, who managed to dodge with a burst of power from her wings. She did another bug buzz that caused it to pause momentarily before continuing on.

With the paralysis slowing it further, that meant gyro ball's own power was going to increase. Even if Arclight resisted a steel move, it was going to take a great deal of damage. Arclight saw it closing in and blasted a discharge in its direction. Arenarius' fast rotation allowed it to deflect a majority of the electricity like it had with the bug buzz. What little got through had been dampened by the light screen.

Arenarius stopped mid spin as the paralysis interrupted its attack. Instead, several of the gems embedded in its rocky body began to glow and emit fine bursts of light. Arclight flitted about to dodge, remaining low to the ground for a quick rest of its wings before moving again.

Stay mobile!

The light screen had to almost be done by now. Elio didn't want Olivia putting up another one, so maybe if he got several shots off once it wore off.

"Arclight, dig!"

Dig again? Olivia thought to herself. What are you up to this time? She knew that Elio had a tendency to go for some blatantly obvious tactics that looked obsolete on paper. That only meant one thing; he was up to something. Arclight quickly tunneled underneath again,

"Ready Arenarius?" Olivia asked it. "Good! Meteor beam!"

Meteor beam?

Arenarius' jewels began to glow as its mane started to collect energy that emanated from the light it reflected. Its eyes searched down for Arclight, trying to discern where she would pop out.

Elio saw a rising stat flare around Arenarius, an up to the special attack.

But meteor beam takes a while to charge?

Arclight shifted underground and exploded out in a spray of dust. Like the previous attempt, Arenarius' levitate nullified any damage she would inflict.

However the dig was for her to build up a charge while staying safe from any attacks. But Olivia seemed to time it so that Arenarius was ready itself when Arclight inevitably emerged.

The carbink fired first. Arclight's limited flight prevented her from swiftly dodging and she was struck on the back as she was still in the air. Through the explosion that quickly combusted with a loud bang. Arclight was in a spin with smoke trailing off charred sections of her shell, but her wings buzzed loudly as she tried to lift just a little to soften her landing. She skidded across the court, finally using her legs to stop and aimed upwards where Arenarius was preparing another gyro ball.

"Now." Elio's worry made him think his voice came out as a shout, but he had spoken with a collected voice that oozed confidence.

Arclight knew what she was going to do next and aimed perfectly dead center at Arenarius before firing a zap cannon shot. In a massive stroke of luck, its gyro ball was stymied by the lingering paralysis and leaving it completely out in the open.

Elio ignored Olivia's shout to Arenarius to try and resume a light screen as Arclight fired. The charge boosting its power, buildup time and velocity to something far greater than the previous meteor beam. Arenarius' eyes went wide as the zap cannon hit it center mass and it fell down.

Amazingly, it had floated up again after a couple moments of it going limp, but Arclight's shot had done far more damage than the previous ones.

"Don't give it a chance to set up a light screen!" Elio shouted. "Thunderbolt now!"

That was what it had been trying to do, but now it was forced to use another power gem to counter and block the oncoming thunderbolt. Flashes of white and yellow light strobed across the arena. Elio kept the offensive pressure going with Arclight going into a bug buzz that stunned the carbink enough to get a charge up.

However it had managed to recover and use another light screen just as she launched another powerful thunderbolt. Arenarius moved to dodge, stopping as the paralysis caused it to seize up again and just kept it still long enough for the thunderbolt to find its mark.

Arenarius fell once again, this time around unable to float as it crashed into the floor of the court.

"Arenarius is unable to battle! Arclight is the winner! Two on one! Knockout by Elio's pokemon will clinch the match!"

Yet another sigh of relief escaped his lips. Though it had been hard, he had managed to hang onto a win and push through with brute force. Now he was on the home stretch with just two pokemon left to Olivia's one.

At least it's not her ace. THAT was the hard part…I think.

His mind was already working to how the remainder of the battle might play out, tuning out the cheering and growing fever pitch of the crowd around him. Like in his match against Acerola, everyone knew the stakes and that he was on the cusp of victory. As much as he wanted to ride the high wave and live in the moment, the hai aku was far from over.

Olivia gave a light laugh as she returned Arenarius to its ball. Up on the board, her final pokemon icon flashed and the switches dimmed to show she was now unable to use them. "Well done. Truly! I have no doubt you'll be a champion worth bragging about when Alola is finally on the map of the Pokemon Leagues around the world! Just one more pokemon until I'm finally no longer a worry for you! So don't let up!"

She flipped the ball in her hand and sent it out. Appearing in a flash of light was a gigantic stony blue creature with four long legs that were the size of tree trunks. Irregularly sprouting out of its body were jagged red crystals that appeared to glow with a fiery aura in the light. It had two narrow yellow colored slits for eyes.

Woah. Elio tried not to hide the nervousness he had as he analyzed it. Looks like it's going to be a hard hitter, but not particularly fast. I'm sure Arclight and Nani can outspeed it, but will they have enough power to knock this thing out before it does the same?

He checked his Dex, which flashed an alert for new information on a yet-to-be-discovered pokemon. "Gigalith. Compressed pokemon. It is the evolved form of boldore and the final evolution of roggenrola. This pokemon is a popular partner for construction workers and projects due to its hefty horsepower. It can absorb energy from sunlight and focus it in powerful beams of energy capable of leveling mountains. Gigalith is a rock type. Additional information is available upon capturing this pokemon."

Elio saw the gigalith's body billow out a cloud of sand that quickly blanketed the court. The sandstorm was quick to obscure vision and Arclight shuddered as the fine grains buffeted the parts of her carapace that weren't protected by her shell.

Dammit that might limit her flying even more if sand gets in there. Plus the sandstorm brings up special defense of rock types and the light screen.

Not ideal.

But it's what I'm faced with and have to work through.

"Alright Arclight, one more knockout and we're good!" Elio pointed, trying to find the gigalith in the sandstorm best he could. "Thunderbolt!"

Arclight buzzed, firing it off from the edges of her jaws. The lightning blast split the air and sand hitting the ground, but no hostile pokemon.

Clever. Olivia was using the sandstorm to hide her gigalith's movements in lieu of its slower speed. He heard something going on and Arclight sensed it too, jumping to the side and using her wings to gain a bursting glide. Several large stone edge spikes erupted from the ground, these ones covered in the same reddish crystals that lined its body.

"Arclight, dig!"

She stopped and quickly burrowed into the ground. He couldn't see the smirk returning on Olivia's face. Didn't matter. She had to get out of there before another stone edge hit her.

The gigalith's front two legs reared up and stomped the ground in an earthquake. Elio nearly passed it over, it didn't hit because she had levitate as her ab-

"Shit!" The ground suddenly erupted in another plume of dust, similar to the earth power from before. Without her ground type move nullifying ability, Arclight was susceptible to earthquake. The huge shockwave caused her to jump out preemptively, having suffered a lot more damage. Elio was almost literally shocked at the battered state she was in, but yet he saw her wings flutter and her jaws close together in the optimal firing position, still very much in the fight.

Even better was the fact that she had managed to complete a charge buildup while digging to avoid the stone edge.

And perfect aim at this close of a range. There was no way she'd be able to properly target the gigalith in the sandstorm without practically being in its face. She'd just have to make an escape before it could strike back.

"Zap cannon!" In the two seconds that it all happened, Elio shouted the command as quick as it crossed his mind.

Arclight's electrical pulses ran down her serrated jaws as she fired another glowing orb that went nearly point blank. Though the light screen flickered to soften the damage, Elio saw the gigalith's gigantic frame weighing over five hundred pounds lifted into the air in an explosion that blew a huge portion of the sand up into the air. It slammed into the floor on all fours, digging in with its hind legs, leaving long trail gouges in the court's floor. Jolts of electricity caused it to involuntarily twitch.

Good, her final pokemon is paralyzed! This should make it easier!

"Colossus, rock blast!" Olivia called.

The gigalith, now known as Colossus rumbled back up and Elio could see its distinct shape in the sandstorm as it launched a fist sized rock at Arclight, striking her in the midsection and sending her flight off course. She spun, disoriented and unable to find her opponent, but Elio could see that the first strike had taken so much out of her, he didn't think she'd last another.

"Thunderbolt behind you!" Elio shouted. "You're facing the wrong way!"

Arclight fluttered her wings and took off, but the pause and irritating grains of sand continued to wear her down that it was essentially a chip shot for Colossus.

The second rock exploded on Arclight's back, causing her to drop and lay still. She was out of the fight.

"Arclight is unable to continue battling!" The referee had donned a pair of goggles to clearly see through the thick sandstorm. "Colossus is the winner! It is now one on one and the victor of the next round clinches the match in their favor!"

"Okay, just stay calm and in control." Elio tried not to worry this time around, even though the match was coming down to Nani.

Just take a look and assess the situation, see your variables and the opponent's. Then just battle.

He'd be lying to himself if he claimed he was relaxed on the cusp of losing. Returning Arclight, he placed her ball on his left side, grabbing Nani's…and his last hope for winning.

Type advantage was his and Colossus' sluggish movements meant it was going to be a rather easy target for any water attacks.

However Olivia had been rather smart in setting herself up defensively. Arenarius' light screen was still in play plus the sandstorm granting the rock type a passive bonus to special defense. It was very possible that Colossus could handily survive a direct hit from her hydro pump.

If I have to guess anything, Olivia's going to go on the attack as much as she can. Both the sandstorm and the light screen won't last forever and it'll be an easy kill.

"It's up to you and me Nani," Elio tossed out his final pokemon. Nani cooed softly, wincing as the abrasive sand pelted her skin and she gently sprayed the rest of her body with a little bit of water to soothe it.

Just a little more and that sandstorm will be a memory.

"Comes down to this Elio." Olivia said from the other side as the referee waved for the round to begin. "As much as I want to see you succeed, I must do all in my power to ensure my own victory!" She snapped her fingers. "Stone edge Colossus!"

The gigalith rumbled and slammed his front two legs into the ground. Nani saw the spikes sprout out, branching towards the outside of the court in what looked like an irregular pattern. She immediately formed an aqua ring, surrounding herself with the circular healing zone that had already begun to ease away the little bits of chip damage from the sandstorm. One of the sharp spiked columns of rock came close, within the confines of the aqua ring.

Colossus wasn't nearly finished. It hit the ground for another stone edge and this one forced Nani to go outside the aqua ring. She narrowed her eyes in an attempt to scan for the compressed pokemon, firing out a scald into the sandstorm soup that ended up hitting nothing.

Light screen has to be down by now.

However moving rather blindly through inadvertently put her in the path of an oncoming stone edge and she let out a sharp cry as she was hit and tumbled to the ground.

"Nani!" He heard her fall and his own heart sunk. Nononono! This can't be the end!

"Earthquake! A little Akala special!"

Colossus stamped the ground, this time on all fours to cast that shockwave that quickly reverberated across the entire court. The Ward shield walls absorbed any that went outwards while Nani was hit as she attempted to get up yet again. Nearby rock formations from the stone edge suddenly shattered and Elio saw several of the shards had broken off in fine serrated crystals.

Like the stealth rock! Oh shit! SHIT! They're splinters!

"Nani, get out of there!" Elio shouted as loud as he could, hoping she could hear the urgency in his voice.

The milotic's eyes snapped open and despite her growing fatigue, she was slow to slither out of the way. Several of the rock shards fell and stuck themselves to her skin, embedding further inside as her body rolled over. She hissed in pain, glancing down to see that they were already causing even more damage and discomfort.

"Back to the aqua ring!" Nani did find the strength to form an iron tail and swatted aside a pair of rocks from an oncoming rock blast attack. Olivia was still keeping the pressure on him. "Use recover when you're there!"

Nani pushed through the pain and made it to the ring, sticking to the left edge which was closer to where Elio had guessed Colossus' location. He took a deep breath, scanning for any sign of it as Nani bathed herself in a soft green light to rejuvenate herself. It wasn't optimal condition, but enough where he thought she'd be able to survive another direct hit. The stone splinters dug into her scaly hide again, but she kept to the confines of the aqua ring to minimize the damage done.

Elio reached over to his zenith ring, finding the waternium Z and flipping it between his fingers.

"Just a little…more." Finally after what seemed like an eternity, the sandstorm was beginning to wane, with much of the blowing grains starting to settle and blow across the ground.

Colossus rumbled and went on the attack again, using another stone edge that Nani dodged, but now it charged forth and lowered its head in front in a headbutt attack. Elio didn't want to find out if she'd get more splinters embedded. Nani parried it with her iron tail, not having enough time to hit it with one of her water attacks. But as it skid away, it had coalesced a majority of the sand that was billowing around it.

"Right on time Colossus. We won't let her escape this time!" Olivia flashed a smile. "Sand tomb!"

Elio wanted to disrupt whatever plan the Akala kahuna was cooking up.

It's time.

The waternium Z's brilliant sapphire glow caused the other trainer's expression to freeze in surprised horror. Elio inserted it into the ring's socket, the only thing focused on his mind was finishing this battle.

Nani was in the midst of another recover as Colossus set off another earthquake that only served to slightly rattle her. Despite the splinters still nagging at her, she blasted it back with a scald that missed, causing it to have to dodge instead of trying to counterattack.

Olivia shouted something to her pokemon…something that couldn't be done as the paralysis inflicted by Arclight's zap cannon finally acted in Elio's own favor in keeping it from moving.

He waved his arms and swayed his hips, completing the Z-move's dance as the energy overflowed and surrounded Nani with unimaginable zenith power.

"Z-move unleash!" Elio shouted, the roar of the crowd feeling like that of a massive wave surging towards the shore and running through his veins. "Channel hydro pump into hydro vortex!"

Colossus' five hundred pound frame was suddenly yanked from the ground in a swirl of raging water that grew exponentially in size just within a matter of seconds. The turbulent vortex surged, spraying the entire court in a fine mist and blanketing the area with vapor as Nani remained at the bottom in the eye of the raging storm. On the outside, the crowd watched with mixed emotions of awe and fear at the raw power on display. Despite that, the Ward's shields held up as expected to keep the spectators safe. However it didn't do much to spare anyone from the earsplitting noise that was loud enough to invade Elio's own thoughts, more than the clanging scales had done earlier.

Colossus was thrown about like a child's toy in the twister's center as gigantic waves smashed together in the center in a relentless torrent that finally broke loose with the energy escaping upwards to dissipate. The water splashed against the shields and dripped down until panels close to the walls had opened to reveal large storm grates that quickly drained the flood that now lay on the court, mixed with dust and dirt from the previous engagements.

Colossus rumbled as it lay across from Elio and Nani on Olivia's side as it tried to stand. For a second, it looked as if it might've been successful. Exhaustion and the paralysis was now proving too much and the frontal limbs gave out, causing it to collapse onto the ground once more. Elio now finally knew that he had knocked out Olivia's last pokemon.

The crowd began cheering, before the referee had a chance to assess the knockout. He flew over anyway, though the outcome was evidently clear.

"Colossus is unable to battle further! Nani is the winner! This clinches the match to Elio Northstar's favor!"

He breathed out, sighing once again with relief and seeing Olivia's final pokemon icon dim before his own covered the screen with celebratory confetti to declare him as the winner and moving on.

"We did it." Another relieved breath. "We actually did it. Two down!"

A coo through the crowd's noise cheering brought him out of any thoughts he was gonna have. Nani gently pressed her face against his and he immediately felt relaxed as if he could take on anything in spite of his exhaustion.

"Thank you girl. Mahalo." He gently wrapped an arm around her neck and pulled her close. "You and the rest of this team worked your asses off! I'm so damn proud of you!"

"He's done it!" They heard the announcer over the loudspeakers that boomed over the crowd. "Elio Northstar has finished his second Elite Four battle as the winner and he'll be moving onto the third one of his choice."

"Return Nani." He recalled her back into her net ball as Olivia did the same to Colossus and approached him. "Rest up, because we're far from done."

"That was excellent." Olivia reached out and Elio was surprised she instead pulled him into a gentle hug, holding him close. "Elio, that was a wonderful and lovely battle!"

"T-thanks." He laughed softly. "You weren't easy to win against."

"Then I did my job right." They separated and she put her hands on her hips to study him over. "I no longer see that same look in your eyes or the same way you carry yourself back when I battled you on Akala Island for your grand trial…months ago. You must have had some experiences that you'll carry with you forever."

"Yeah." Was all Elio could muster, almost wondering if those words caused a slight ache in his scarred arm. It wasn't all bad, the good memories came flooding back in a flash, namely when he and Lillie shared that-

"I wish you Pōmaikaʻi iā ʻoe with the rest of the Elite Four." Olivia told him, giving an encouraging wink. "Make Alola proud to have a champion like you at the forefront."

---

Phew, that's two Elite Four battles down and two more to go! I hope you all enjoyed this one and I'll see about getting the other two done when I can!

Translations:

Pa'a Pōhaku - Hard as rock/sturdy

Alaka'i - Leader

Kuwi hewa - Error/mistake

Pōmaikaʻi iā ʻoe - Good Luck

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

Brav