Alola and welcome to #3 Elite Four battle we got! Not much to say other than it's time to dive right in!
Some fantastic news about the Scarlet/Violet project as well. I'll put it at the end because there's an epic battle I gotta tell!
Two more Elite Four members to defeat. Elio…I know you can do this. I believe in you. I want you to get this win and so does everyone else. We all love you.
I love you…yeah. I do.
Lillie's fingers continuously tapped the countertop as she watched the timer click down from two minutes until the intermission was over. As soon as Elio had finished formalities with Olivia; he had scurried into the side tunnel, eager to take a break from what she imagined was another exhausting battle.
"Already two battles." Hau mumbled next to her, still stuffing his mouth from the buffet food. "I can barely keep it together with how close he's been managing these."
"That's some crazy amounts of power." Leilani agreed with him. "Not just that, but the amount of strategy Elio's having to use now. No detail is too small to overlook."
Just like her, Gladion drummed his fingers on the table. "Yeah, but he's too far in to turn back now. Going by type matchups, Kahili could be an easier opponent for him, but Hala is another challenge." His words caused everyone else to look at him in surprise. "And from what we've seen from the others, they're not going to rely just on their specialty typings to attack."
Eventually the voices quieted down as Professor Kukui walked back on stage and made a ceremonious showing of the stone torch being extinguished. Only two more remained blazing; the wing and the knuckle.
Elio ran out from the tunnel, causing the crowd to cheer once more as the cameras settled on his face while meeting the professor at mid-court.
"Woo! Two Elite Four swiftly defeated by you cousin!" He had his voice amplified by the microphone and surrounding speakers while he held up his own hand, which Elio high fived. "There's only two more opponents standing between you and that much coveted title of champion!"
He grinned as the crowd cheered. "Are you getting tired yet? Or is this whirlwind something you're able to still handle?"
Elio paused, looking in thought for a moment before leaning close to the microphone.
"The work ain't done yet." That had gotten an even more excited reaction from them as he smirked back at the professor.
"Straight and tackle on the point I see! Very well! So now that you have one of two choices, with this selection…you will determine the final order of which Elite Four you face should you win your third battle. As always, you have thirty seconds to make your selection."
The clock started ticking down and Elio once again tuned out whatever it was the crowd was chanting at him.
Oh wow, this is actually a little more difficult. Do I wait for Hala next or get him out of the way now? Decisions.
There were clear pros and cons to both and now faced with the levity of how much he thought, it wasn't something he was completely satisfied with.
"Ten! Nine!"
Damn those thirty seconds went by super fast!
"Okay professor," he said as the timer wound down to the final four seconds. "I'm going to choose the wing torch. And that means the fist torch will be the last one after I win."
"Oooooohhhhh!" The crowd definitely had liked that coming from him and how his last two battles had gone.
Kukui looked both impressed and surprised at Elio's declaration. "Well it looks like everyone appreciated that. Kahili might be who does you in after you've written her off like that!"
Yeah I hope not. Confident…just don't be cocky.
"Then let's welcome her on in! Alola's very own all-pro Women's Masters golfer herself and a former island challenge champion! Kahili Driver!"
The crowd let out another round of applause and whistles as she strode out. Elio blinked, suddenly recognizing seeing the tall athletic built woman from the Hano Grand Resort where she had given him a flying type Z-crystal.
"I had no idea," he murmured.
Kahili was all smiles as she shook Kukui's hand and then Elio's.
"As always, we thank you for coming, Miss Kahili."
The golfer laughed softly. "Yes, you were koi ikaika about it." Elio knew that it meant persistent as did the crowd from their round of laughter. "But I'm glad I did. Traveling the world in a desire to improve myself both as a trainer and world class golfer was great, but now I'm very happy with this job! You'll have to make this a seasonal thing if you want to keep me around! Golf seasons aren't at any beck and call!"
"I suppose that's right. You've met cousin Elio here?"
"Ah yes." She turned to study him. "Back from the Hano Grand Resort. That is my father's you know?"
"I remember you saying that. It's good to see you again."
"Likewise." He appreciated that Kahili's overall attitude was crisp and to the point. "I even remember the months ago that you challenged me to a one on one. Sadly I had to turn you down, even though you intrigued me as quite the challenger who had a bright future."
She cocked her head to the side. "I say it's time to see who the winds favor today. You or me. Care for a six on six?"
Just the fact that she remembered their run in months ago was exciting. Not only did she recall it, but had in a way honored the rain check that he was given.
Against someone who's actually finished this island challenge…without the League. That's new. I'm stoked. Let's gooooo.
"Yes. I'm ready!"
"The competitiveness in here is hot like a blast burn! Oh yeah!" Kukui shouted into the mic. "Let's get to it!"
Elio and Kahili dashed to their positions on the court. After the much needed intermission break where he had fully healed his pokemon and had some more refreshments, he was fully energized and ready to go. Overhead through the small vented open areas he could see that the sun was beginning to set and cast over that gorgeous orange skylight with hints of purple as it went into the evening.
The referee went over the usual rules which both Elio and Kahili accepted. Once they did, they were instructed to send out their pokemon and let the battle commence.
"Have a look at my fantastic flying type team!" Kahili grinned at him, tossing up a poke ball. "Are you ready to keep up with our speed? Go Palmer!"
A skarmory? Elio wondered to himself. "Wow."
"Skarmory. Armor bird pokemon. The wing feathers it sheds can be made into fine swords and knives recognized by warriors alike. Though sturdy, this pokemon's body rusts easily so it prefers to stay in its nest on humid or rainy days. Skarmory is a steel and flying type. Additional information is available upon capturing this pokemon."
"Okay Arclight, you're up!" Elio knew that if he was going against a flying type specialist, an electric type would be his best bet to gain an early lead.
Arclight buzzed and flexed her jaws, eager for the fight ahead. She didn't look hesitant or uncertain, which Elio was happy about. It was a testament to how far she had come to finally get over her morbid fear of birds when she was just a tiny grubbin.
Now she's on equal terms. Electricity to give them a big shock.
The ref waved for the round to begin.
"Let's start things out the way we do." Elio called out. "Dig and charge!"
Interesting. Still going to do that despite dig doing nothing to flying types. Kahili thought to herself as she watched Arclight zoom down and quickly burrow underneath. She knew that it was just a ruse to safely build up a charge.
Palmer knew what she had been thinking and immediately flapped his wings to whip up a tailwind. The breeze built up, whipping at their clothes as the skarmory was now able to maneuver easier.
Arclight burst from the ground, fully charged while she had dug and launched a discharge. Palmer narrowed his eyes seeing it coming and dove, twisting and rolling out of the way to artfully dodge.
"Autotomize and go in for a hit!"
Elio heard it screech loudly and its sword wings wiggled as if flaps of an aircraft. Its legs folded into its body to become more streamlined. Arclight's own maneuverability kept her from getting hit in spite of the autotomize. Palmer went from being evasive, to going on the attack. As he neared, his talons sprung out and he used a night slash that she skillfully dodged just by flitting around him. He was quick enough to turn his wings up and gain altitude before she had a chance to launch a thunderbolt that would have connected.
Wow, she made that thing be able to turn on a dime! Arclight needs to launch her attacks as they're dodging, not after.
The issue with that was the fact that Palmer was going to Arclight's blind spots as she was evading his attack. A discharge would work, but he knew that she'd take time to launch it off and enough warning meant Kahili could call off Palmer's own attack.
"Alright, again Arclight. Dig!"
She flew low and dove into the ground just as Palmer swooped down with another night slash. He missed and spun around, glancing about to where Arclight would eventually emerge.
Now with the charge, we'll be ready for when Palmer tries it again.
Just as he predicted, once Arclight's dig did nothing and completely missed, Palmer spotted his target and dove forward, rather than going for the night slash, his metal beak began to glow as he started to spin and build up rotating speed.
Palmer closed the gap faster than Elio expected, crashing into Arclight's front. She was flung back, instinctively unleashing a thunderbolt that was swiftly dodged.
That speed is insane! How is this skarmory able to move that fast?
She readied a zap cannon and was about to fire when Palmer launched a barrage of swift stars. As she released the orb, they had struck and threw off her aim just enough for the shot to go wide right. Once he was clear, Palmer summoned a trio of shining blades that circled him once and disappeared before a rising sharp stat flare surrounded him.
Swords dance.
"Palmer, go in for another drill peck! Let's take her out!"
Elio saw Arclight steady herself as Palmer looped in the air and dove back down. As it spun again, Arclight waited until her foe was close and at his command, let out a loud blast of noise from her wings. The bug buzz was perfectly timed, hitting as Palmer was moments away from hitting. The first of the vibration's distortion hit him and he stopped his attack with an annoyed screech.
Elio noticed right away as Palmer's unexpected flinch meant he was a wide open target. As Kahili on the other side was trying to wrangle her own pokemon back under control, he and Arclight were already on the same page and given a rare opportunity to get back into the fight with some offense going. She quickly blasted a thunderbolt downwards, scoring a hit that detonated and threw the metal bird down, vanishing from sight in the dust that had been kicked up..
"Palmer!" Kahili shouted. Elio had Arclight charge up and ready another electrical attack in case it came after her again. She glanced from side to side as if trying to see if it would attempt an escape. But as she flew closer to get a better angle, that's when Palmer struck.
"Drill peck!"
Without any further warning, Palmer's spinning of his beak distorted the settling dust and he exploded out, hitting Arclight in the front and sending her spinning over end to end.
"Finish it with swift!" She was in the midst of steadying herself again when Palmer launched another swarm of sharp star projectiles that slashed across her shell and exploded into sparks. Elio watched in disbelief as Arclight crashed to the ground, knocked out from the blow.
She turned things around that fast! I got drawn in when I could've charged up and waited for Palmer to attack again.
"Arclight is incapable of battling further! Palmer is the winner!" The referee had been in the midst of declaring. "Six on five, Kahili in favor."
Elio sucked in a breath, feeling that familiar sensation of pressure on his chest and back. Like with Acerola, his opponent had gotten one up on him. This one felt just a little worse since he was battling with a type advantage.
But he couldn't stop now. And just like the other ones, he had to keep on going and use the resources he had remaining.
Strongside would be a good matchup, but I'm not comfortable bringing him out to someone already leaps and bounds faster, plus that swords dance.
That part of increasing both speed and attack gave him an idea. He'd have to save it for later though.
"Okay Nani, let's go!" He flipped the net ball in his hand and instead sent out his milotic. She sprang out, curling around and getting into her battle ready stance.
Instead of going for an aqua ring, Nani went right on the attack when she saw Palmer boosting itself with another swords dance. Even while it was completing its own status move, the skarmory still boasted impressive maneuverability in dodging the oncoming scald. It spun again and dove down for another drill peck.
Nani sharpened her rear fins into another iron tail and prepared to swing, but as she did, the tailwind on Kahili's side had suddenly petered out. Palmer slowed only a slight bit, however enough that Nani had not expected the change. She swung the blade too early, which allowed Palmer to anticipate it. He easily flit above and down again to corkscrew hard into her side.
Elio heard her hiss in pain as her serpentine body flailed from the blow. She still swung it, a lucky hit catching Palmer as he disengaged and spun much slower that his defining features could be seen.
"Hydro pump!" He called out, suddenly realizing again that this was another golden opportunity that had fallen into his lap.
Palmer banked left and Nani was already waiting for him to make a move when she opened her mouth and launched a high pressurized spray of water.
He stood no chance. Elio heard the noise almost as if he was inside his mother's car at the automated wash. Just a couple of seconds of hosing the metal ventral section and he stiffened to crash into the ground in a loud thud of scraping metal.
"Palmer is unable to continue battling!" The referee declared as soon as he was able. "Nani is the winner! Five on five!"
"Hmm," Kahili didn't look too discouraged as she returned Palmer to his ball. She crouched down to examine the court, Nani and even appearing to study Elio himself.
"Let us see how this works. Go Mickelson!"
She tossed her second pokemon onto the field, revealing a saurian brown and green creature with an elongated neck and a stocky body that sprouted four long leafy wings. Underneath its chin was a bunch of yellow colored fruit.
Think I've seen that one being native to Hoenn.
He took out his 'Dex. "Tropius. Fruit pokemon. Bunches of delicious fruit grow around its neck, with the variety in Alola being rather sweet compared to other locations it is found in. Tropius is a grass and flying type. Additional information is available upon capturing this pokemon."
"Grass type huh?" Probably to counter anything rock or electric. But that nice double weakness to ice.
Elio was aware that Nani was at risk from any grass type attacks.
"Use leaf tornado!" Kahili shouted. Michelson bellowed loudly as his wings whipped up dozens of glowing leaves in a rapidly growing whirlwind. Nani had shot an ice beam and Elio tried to hide his surprise that it wasn't powerful enough to break through. The icy energy quickly dissipated, suddenly giving way to a pair of white blades that formed out of the diminishing tornado that hit Nani, sending her reeling backwards.
"Air slash." Elio shook his head as his milotic slowly poised herself. "Using the leaf tornado to disguise your attacks."
Nani charged forward, using the tornado to mask her own advance. Mickelson must've sensed her coming as he flapped his wings and took off to the air. She came around the base of it as the attack's power waned off and fired another ice beam.
Higher up and more maneuverable, Mickelson was able to dip down under the oncoming ice beam and shoot off a single seed from his mouth. Elio saw it hit Nani's tail, latching on in the same manner the splinters from Olivia's stealth rock had done.
"Is that?"
Before Nani could attack again, Mickelson whipped up another leaf tornado and disappeared behind it. As she slithered to try and flush him out, he attacked with another pair of air slashes. She expected it coming, but it was enough time for him to shoot a bright orb into the sky to create a temporary sun that illuminated the entire court.
As the first of the rays hit the airborne saurian, the back leafy wings began to glow as they absorbed sunlight. Mickelson's solar power ability had begun to take effect.
Nani launched a dragon pulse that connected as he was readying what Elio guessed was a solar beam. The giant green orb enveloped him before exploding twice and sending him to the ground. Keeping up the pressure, she twirled around the tornado and fired another ice beam.
Shit. Elio cursed to himself, seeing Mickelson able to regain flying and evade the ice beam with ease. He saw the small seed that she had been shot with earlier start to pulse, realizing with horror that it was a leech seed that was sapping her energy.
"Nani, get away! I need you to recover!"
Nani was in the middle of attacking with another dragon pulse that Mickelson dodged, but this time the orb had detonated in midair with a furious explosion of dust and draconic power. He was thrown down and Elio wasn't sure whether to have her use the recover or try to follow to finish off.
I want to use an aqua ring, but that might confine her to a certain area that Mickelson can stay aimed towards. Plus if it's a stalemate with leech seed, it might be a defensive battle I'm not sure I'll be able to win.
Nani seemed to have made that decision for him. While Mickelson was out of sight, she calmly shut her eyes and initiated a full recover move. Elio kept his eyes peeled, watching the other side of the court for any sign of Mickelson emerging to attack.
Kahili was crouched down low, examining the court just as much as him. She was hard to read.
A shadow caught his eye and he got sight of Mickelson flying just above the ground, a little lower than initially thought.
Nani had just completed her recover as the tropius opened his mouth to unleash a beam of white hot energy. Elio thought it was an overheat at first, but when she saw it coming too late and vanished in the blinding light. He heard her crash into the wall as he raised an arm to shield his eyes. The referee's declaration of Nani out of the fight could hardly be heard from the ringing in his ears.
As he returned her to her ball and contemplated his next choice, Elio mentally hit himself for not remembering she knew mirror coat. Or he could've tried something with attract.
I could've turned the tables with her so quick!
"Alright, if you want to fight in the sky, by all means!" Elio sent out Bravo, who cawed loudly and flexed his wings.
On the other side, Kahili's eyes lit up at seeing the sight of a bird on the opponent's side. She even stood up to admire him.
"What a majestic braviary you have there." She said softly. "And I see quite a few scars. He's seen and been through quite a lot."
"Yeah. He has." Elio was a little surprised at the lull in the battle giving way to conversation. He began to wonder if it was genuine or if Kahili was formulating a strategy by keeping him talking. "I met him as a rufflet close to Kala'e Bay. Knew almost straightaway that I wanted someone fierce and brave like him on my team. When we went to Ula'ula…he was injured. Bad by another pokemon. Because of things happening…I had to move on and just hope he'd get better. But I wasn't going to give up on him."
"I see." Kahili looked to be enjoying his story with a thoughtful nod. "While I can't correlate exactly, I can empathize. Just like you now; I stood on this very mountain years ago with my partner pokemon, including Mickelson here."
She gestured to the tropius. "After finishing all of the trials, the grand trials and being crowned an Island Challenge champion…I felt something missing and couldn't help but feel that there was a fault of mine that I felt had come out of not being satisfied."
Kahili took a deep breath. "I was an excellent pokemon trainer, prodigal golfer. But something was missing. It took an old friend of Kukui to bring me right back to my home, where I feel that maybe I can find some purpose and see a rise of a new champion today."
Elio felt his own spirits lift at that and Bravo echoed his sentiment with a caw.
"Your braviary has a strong will of his own. I'd like to see it firsthand."
They got a nod from the referee to begin the match after the brief lull as Mickelson readied in battle stance. His leaf wings glowed, still absorbing solar energy from the overhanging sun. Elio knew that while grass type attacks wouldn't be effective against his own flier, they weren't to be underestimated.
"Let's show her that she isn't the only one allowed to have a speed boost. Time for a tailwind of our own!"
Bravo nodded in understanding, flapping his wings once to kick up a gentle breeze current that blew behind him. Mickelson had in turn whipped up another large leaf tornado that quickly closed the gap. The braviary kept calm, flying to the left and out of its path.
Just as Mickelson flicked its wings to send an array of air slashes. Shooting against the tailwind made them move slightly slower and Bravo weaved over and under the bluish white scythes as they sliced through the open. Sensing that there was a perfect opportunity, he vanished in a loop, striking from below. The tropius growled in protest, quickly evading to the side in a manner that seemed unlike its deft bulk as it flicked the leaf wings again to send another four air slashes.
Bravo had transitioned into a brave bird, but was forced to break off his attack and again spin to avoid getting hit. One of the air slash scythes hit him head on, slowing him down just a hair. He grimaced, but fought through the pain as he came around for another attack.
"Solar beam!" Kahili shouted. "Don't let him charge up!"
"Bravo, aerial ace!"
With the sun still active, it didn't take long for Mickelson to fire off another superfueled ray. Bravo's execution into aerial ace was perfectly timed, vanishing just nanoseconds before the beginning of the attack sizzled through thin air where he had just been. Elio blinked and saw his eagle materialize underneath to deliver a second strike that flung Mickelson down into the floor of the court. He bounced up once from the force of the impact and lay still.
"Mickelson is incapable of battling! Bravo is the winner! Four on four!"
"Well done." Kahili used her poke ball to recall her defeated tropius and fully into the upped tempo of the battle. "I still refuse to let up! Let's go Zaharias!"
The next pokemon she revealed on her side was a bird nearly Bravo's size. Instead of the fierce, battle scarred feathers and physique his bird had; Zaharias was adorned with ivory white bones that formed a belt of sorts around her midsection that looked to be made of a jawbone. A large femur was neatly placed in her hair. Her pink colored neck was curved, swiveling quickly from a down of tan and brown feathers, ending in a dark gray curved beak that was optimal for tearing of carrion.
"Better a scan with the good ol' Dex." He brought out his Rotom Dex, who quickly detected and scrolled information about the new pokemon in their presence.
"Mandibuzz. Bone vulture pokemon. It is the final evolved form of vullaby. Mandibuzz swoop on weakened and tired prey to drag off to its nest. The bones it wears is supposedly to attract mates, but no male mandibuzz have ever been found on record. Mandibuzz is a dark and flying type and a female only species. Additional information available upon capturing this pokemon."
"She probably has something up her sleeve." Elio murmured to himself as Bravo eyed his opponent warily in an attempt to size her up. Nani's attract came to mind and he chided himself for not having taken advantage of that either when he had her out.
Enough with missed opportunities. "Okay, Bravo. I'm taking you out."
A switch icon in Elio's side winked out as he recalled his pokemon and grabbed his substitution. He saw Kahili's expression change slightly in something he couldn't nail down. It could've been curiosity or disappointment.
"Okay Lochagos! Let's do this!" He heard a collective gasp from the crowd upon his mighty dragon appearing and brandishing its scale armor.
Elio waited until the referee backed up, allowing them to begin. "Okay, let's begin with clanging scales!"
Lochagos let out a bellow before he began to vibrate the scale armor on his forearms. As soon as he brought them together; a bright green dome formed over Zaharias where the focused cone of sound damage had bounced harmlessly off. The protect faded and she quickly executed a double team, creating several copies of herself.
Elio saw his pokemon hesitate, waiting for guidance, but he decided to wait and see how things played out. The half dozen copies quickly spread into a flanking formation and one by one, shot downward cloaked in the same harsh meteoric light as Bravo had for his initial brave bird.
Lochagos saw them coming, throwing up his own protect. Many of Zaharias' brave bird attacks bounced off, the copies dissolving. As the shield expired, one of them had swooped in to hit him on the right side and knocking him over. Seeing that he was stunned and would take a moment to recover, two more had zoned in like a pair of missiles.
The first one was met with a sky uppercut that he hastily used in order to fend off the attacking copies. It dissolved, leaving his exposed sternum wide open for the second. Lochagos' eyes went wide, but he quickly thrust an iron head forward that hit something solid. Zaharias squawked in surprise as her eyes bulged upon the unexpected hit. She careened back, tumbling across the ground until her dark talons lashed out to arrest her momentum.
"Torment!" Kahili shouted. "Don't let him use that again!"
The vulture pokemon spread her wings and snarled loudly, causing Lochagos' eyes to narrow in a similar anger. Elio had him use clanging scales again as she vaulted into the air to charge forth with a brave bird.
He felt the breeze die down, realizing that Lochagos had feeding off the benefits of Bravo's tailwind since taking the field. Without it, he was going to be marginally slower and significantly so than Zaharias.
The clanging scales slowed Zaharias just long enough so that she suffered some damage, but more importantly allowed him to get another protect up to keep him safe. Her previous brave bird had done quite a bit of damage and Elio knew that Lochagos' dropping defense every time he used clanging scales meant he was going to take more damage from any physical hits.
"You can't use protect forever." Kahili said to him. "Sooner or later, you're going to need to attack."
And I can't use repeated attacks. So no scale shot or clanging scales twice in a row. The only ranged attacks I've got.
Zaharias gained more altitude and fired a spreading mix of red and black blobs of shadowy dark energy.
"Lochagos, use dragon dance to dodge it!" Elio shouted at him. Time to try this new strategy out I've been working on.
That dark pulse was easily avoided as Lochagos' moves became more rhythmic and his scales slid against one another to create a cacophony of sound. As he completed the ritualistic dance, two rapid stat flares cascaded up to indicate a boost to his attack and speed.
Alright, let's attack again.
Zaharias' position was close and Lochagos lunged forward in an iron head. She easily gained more altitude to soar out of the way before the bone at the top of her head began to glow. Just like how he had headbutted earlier, she led the with crown of hers and darted right into his midsection as he swung a sky uppercut at her approaching. The bone rush hit in the less armored section and Lochagos grunted as he knelt on the ground. His trainer saw that the competitive fire was still in his eyes and he was yet to be done.
Kahili knelt down again to examine the battle from another perspective. "Zaharias, tailwind. I don't want him to get us off guard with his growing speed."
Her mandibuzz quickly whipped it up from her side, but it left her still for just a couple of moments that Elio used to attack again. Thanks to dragon dance's own increased speed, he had quickly closed the distance on all fours fast enough that her own trainer was caught off guard. Luckily for her, Zaharias had thrown up another protect to negate the surprise dragon claw.
Just as quickly as the barrier was erected, Zaharias shifted her posture and another brave bird aura blazed to life. She exploded forward and Lochagos barely got out of the way using another one of the dragon dances. He moved to counter attack, but was forced to break off when she unleashed another dark pulse while still in the brave bird.
Woah! Elio himself had been caught off guard with that one. She's able to use a second attack while in the first?!
Zaharias gained altitude and then dove right back down, still in her brave bird. When Lochagos got into a stance to be ready for protect, Elio snapped his fingers. Curiously enough, his pokemon had heard him.
"Sky uppercut on my go!" The cue was just a couple of seconds later, given the expected tailwind boosted brave bird coming his way. "Go!"
Lochagos didn't have time to question what his trainer was up to and launched into his attack. The crowd was in awe as the large dragon was in mid lunge in what seemed to be a mistimed strike. Even Kahili herself had a split second of confusion etched on her face.
"What the-" Then she saw the flaw she had done. "No! Zaharias!"
Lochagos' premature sky uppercut had once again exposed his weaker midsection, which Elio had anticipated if he presented the opportunity. As Kahili undoubtedly had her own pokemon adjust her course in turning around for another brave bird, she had instead turned into her own tailwind and was now flying against it. It had looked like Lochagos made his own miscalculation, but Elio knew that his pokemon wouldn't have mistimed his strike and had him intentionally do so. Another sky uppercut might've deflected a second brave bird, but Elio's risk paid off. Zaharias' new heading moved under the outstretched sky uppercut arm.
And right into a dragon claw that she couldn't see coming.
Lochagos powered it forth with all his might as she attempted to bank off too late. She screeched in pain as the hit caused her to cartwheel through the air and lose control, spiraling into the ground. The single hit surprised even his trainer, who was almost ready to follow up with a second attack if she managed to endure.
"Zaharias is unable to battle! Lochagos is the winner! Four on three! Elio in favor!"
Elio breathed slowly as Kahili recalled her defeated mandibuzz, uttering a thanks as she slipped it back on her belt. Having the hot hand, he decided to keep Lochagos in with the increased speed able to match Kahili's tailwind.
So far the new idea was working.
"Very creative in your strategy." Kahili remarked, drawing another poke ball and throwing it out on the field. "I'm quite impressed, but Woods and I are not out of this battle yet."
Her next pokemon was a tall greenish bird with white, red and black wings. It stared at him with blank eyes as the wings spread apart to catch the slight uplift from the air current. Despite that, it made no visible movements, even as it appeared to glide on its own power.
"A xatu." Elio said, glancing at his 'Dex. "A pokemon from Johto."
"Xatu. Mystic pokemon. It is the final evolved form of natu. While this pokemon has the power to predict the future, it has no desire to change it nor is it powerful enough to enact. This pokemon remains motionless and watches the sun from dawn until dusk. Xatu is a psychic and flying type. Additional information is available upon capturing this pokemon."
"Flying and psychic." Elio whispered to himself. "Hmph. Challenge accepted!"
He thrust a hand forward, "Scale shot!"
Lochagos' largest gauntlets extended as he detached them to toss quickly. As they spun in the air and made a vorpal chopping noise, Woods' own expression remained unchanged as it simply vanished in a flash of light, reappearing just above where he had aimed.
Woods now moved, spinning in midair to send forth another pair of blue white scythe blades. In the midst of that; the tailwind set up by Zaharias finally gave way and its loss meant the air slash moved just a little slower.
Dodging it was trivial, Lochagos jumped out of its way and used it to start a charge forward, drawing two dragon claws as he advanced. He nearly made it the whole way and was about to deliver the blow when Woods teleported once again to evade. In the process, he saw both the usual falling and rising stat indicator of his defense and speed respectively. For now, he opted to ignore it. Physical attacks weren't a xatu's forte and Lochagos was already quick enough to outspeed even a tailwind boosted pokemon that Kahili might have.
"More air slashes coming in!" Elio yelled as Woods had done as he predicted, spinning and using its wings for another. "Repulse!"
Lochagos was closer this time and was hit by the first of the air slash pair, staggering back with a snarl. But he was able to bring up a gauntlet and quickly activate the fast protect to deflect the second one right back at the xatu, crashing into it with a loud bang. It happened quick enough that Woods had teetered back in midair, righting itself and teleporting just a moment later.
It must've been trying to teleport and finally got around to doing it after a while. Either it was intentional or it's sort of got a cooldown time.
It was going to be hard for him to get Woods pinned if it was merely going to teleport out of trouble. Elio couldn't have Lochagos close the distance without much of a giveaway that he was moving in for an attack.
Similarly, Kahili and Woods were fighting to keep at a distance.
I don't understand. It's teleporting away from scale shot too, a special ranged attack. There's nothing stopping Woods from flying out of the way. Why would it teleport?
"Scale shot again!" Elio said. He wanted to try something.
As Lochagos formed an array of scales to fire at his opponent, the boy studied Woods closely. It flitted up, gaining a bit of altitude to dodge the first one and then summoned another pair of air slash scythes to launch and counter the two successive strikes. Both attacks canceled one another out and exploded with a thunderous boom.
At his command, the armored pokemon sprinted towards the middle, using the smoke as a cover before launching himself up where he last saw Woods to deliver a devastating iron head.
Just as he predicted; the green xatu had teleported and reappeared under the smoke, just above the ground.
"Dragon claw!"
Everyone could hear Lochagos' howl of determination as he dropped down, feet spread wide, but his claws were already poised, glowing dark green and raised out. He was on Woods in seconds and Elio was certain that it wouldn't be able to use teleport to escape this one.
Except Lochagos stopped mid attack.
"What the?" He saw a faint shimmering psychic power around his pokemon as well as a brilliant glow from Woods' eyes. The xatu had used psychic to stop his pokemon in his tracks.
Kahili had watched the entire battle with a growing smirk. Elio wasn't sure why she looked so confident knowing the circumstances until she issued the next attack.
"Psyshock."
Oh shit!
The psychic attack ended and Lochagos was thrown back, tumbling over his head and landing in a heap. He had just finished regaining his balance on his frontal knuckles when a dome of glowing purple needle-like projectiles appeared and circled in. They twisted in midair before shooting inward.
Elio could barely hear himself as he screamed at his pokemon to repulse it. There was no time to form a protect.
Psyshock does physical damage and this whole time of using scale shot and clanging scales that lowers defense. Shit!
Lochagos spun around in a circle, holding up his repulsed gauntlet to try and repel as many of the psyshock needles as he could. They plinked against his armored scales, sounding like machine gun fire bouncing off armored battleplate. Some of them were deflected in all directions, hitting the Ward as others splintered.
The first ones got through and Lochagos flinched, forced to lower his guard as the rest of the psyshock hit him in the center. Thanks to the constant use of moves that had lowered his physical defense, the attack hit him with the strength of a freight train. Lochagos growled in protest, unable to bring up his gauntlets to block the other needles. Several of them exploded against his osteoderm midsection and he was flung back, tumbling end over end with loud clanking noises.
Lochagos was able to halt his skid by punching the ground to stop his flipping, but Elio's heart dropped when his movements were sluggish and he struggled to get up. He was about to say something when his elbows had folded in with the dragon slowly picking himself up. His armor scales were scorched and battered and he nearly fell over again. But he continued to stand up and glare at the disinterested Woods with defiance.
"Impressive." Kahili said. "I was certain that would've knocked him out."
"We're not out of this yet." Elio told her. "Clanging scales!"
The order caused a shift in Kahili's expression. Why? Why go for that unless you're trying to bait another psyshock?
He brought his hands up to his ears in time as his pokemon slammed his gauntlets together to shoot another conical dragon-infused soundwave at Woods. The xatu saw it coming, quickly vanishing in a teleport to reappear again close to the ground.
Hang on a second, this could be my chance!
"Lochagos, go forward! Iron head!"
Kahili's expression shifted to concern as he sprinted ahead, closing the distance in a matter of seconds. If she could get another psyshock in.
"Psychic to stop it then air slash!"
Woods eyes flashed as Lochagos stopped once more, straining to push against the invisible telekinetic force that kept him just two arms lengths away from striking with his iron head. At that close of a range, there was going to be little time to protect against the successive air slashes she'd have.
Woods formed the two blades and sent them towards Lochagos who was barely able to get his arm gauntlets up to deflect them in a repulse. This time around, he hadn't been able to angle it back and both the crescents sailed harmlessly upward.
Perfect. Now that the repulse is on its own cooldown.
"Psyshock!"
No! Not again! Elio knew that Lochagos wouldn't be able to survive another and his own instinct blurted out before it ran across his mind. "Scale shot! Spread it out at once!"
Before Woods could finish to deliver the powerful psychic telekinetic blast, Lochagos held the handful of smaller scales in his concealed hand and found just enough leeway on movement to toss them in a sidearm throw towards his opponent. Each one was smaller than his normal variant, but they spun with sharp cutting edges and glowed bright with green dragon energy.
The psyshock needles formed above Lochagos, nearly ready to sharpen and plunge into his exposed form when the first of the scales hit it on the wing, severing three feathers. The xatu cried out, seeing the others coming and vanishing in a blink.
Elio saw it teleport and now reappearing in the air above and away from his other thrown scales. However the first scale hitting had broken its concentration and the psyshock needles had all flamed out.
Woods was already preparing another one, which Lochagos swiftly used dragon dance to escape from. The missed attack created a bright explosion that was cut short by another pair of rising stats.
"Jump and end this with a dragon claw! Everything you got!"
Kahili's own cool mask slipped and she craned her neck upwards as Lochagos crouched down and sprung up to meet a dazed Woods. "Air slash! Whatever it takes!"
The reaction time from Woods was incredibly fast as he summoned another pair of air blades to shoot. Lochagos' formed claw was in his rear hand as he swung up and over in a skyhook that hit the bird's stomach, causing it to get launched into the air. Both trainers and the crowd gasped as its wings folded it and went limp, going into an uncontrollable spin.
Lochagos landed on the ground with a hard thud, nearly collapsing from exhaustion, but pounding his gauntlet in triumph. In the center of the court, Woods plummeted uncontrollably and fell back down with a loud crash, coming to a still in a heap. Elio saw that some of the wounds were going to require additional attention than a quick heal at the center.
"Woods is incapable of battling!" The referee examined the downed pokemon for a moment, even though it was clear the single hit was more than enough to cause it to faint. "Lochagos is the winner! Four on two! Elio in favor!"
Kahili's own panic faded and she returned to her normal stoic attitude. "Mahalo, Woods. Well done out there."
"Hey um," Elio started, seeing her recall her defeated pokemon. The wing the scale shot had cut off feathers appeared to have been broken. "I'm…sorry about that. About your xatu. It was a little excessive and…I'm just remembering Bravo's injury and,"
"Do not worry about it." Kahili interrupted him, giving a dismissive wave. "Woods and the rest of my team have seen worse."
"Oh…I."
"Sometimes the fights at this level can get brutal." She told him while slipping Woods' ball back on her belt and drawing her fifth pokemon. "You forget that I too once embarked on the challenge you're on yourself."
He saw that she flashed him a wry smile. "You're strong and I appreciate the empathy you have. Do not fret about Woods or any of the other pokemon you've defeated. Like yours, they're resilient and can make a full recovery in no time at all!"
Okay that's good. It had me worried there for a second.
"Besides," Kahili threw her next pokemon onto the field as she spoke. "If you manage to defeat me, the last of the Elite Four you face is much more fierce than I."
"Oh right." Elio remembered that Hala had been a kahuna for as long as anyone had remembered and had to have been around when Kahili herself was going on the Island Challenge. I wonder how that fared given that she's got a favorable type matchup.
Knowing how the battles were going thus far, he doubted it was a clean sweep.
Kahili's new pokemon was a black and red bird that fanned large wings despite its small stature. He saw its sticklike feet rapidly moving and tapping to some odd upbeat tempo. Two long curly appendages hung from the sides of the head like a pair of elegant earrings. An oricorio in the baile style, a fire and flying type that Elio had seen at Ula'ula Meadow.
"Meet Thomson. The match to that powerful kommo'o of yours."
Elio was about to say something about that, but held his tongue. Lochagos while still standing and trying to remain alert as possible had taken a tremendous amount of damage. He had to be on the verge of fainting.
"We can only get faster and hit harder." He told her.
"If you say so."
If I say so. Whatever. I just virtually one shot your xatu and this one will be no different. Elio shook his head. "Iron head!"
Thomson looked uninterested as Lochagos burst forward with surprising speed. As he rushed to close the gap, the small oricorio swiftly jumped aside while waving its feathers rhythmically.
"Icy wind!"
It knows an ice move?! "Lochagos look out!" Elio cried as Thomson twirled and launched a swirling gust that was filled with glistening ice crystals. The chilly blast was going to do super effective damage, but worse slow him down a little bit from a speed drop. "Dragon dance to dodge!"
As he watched Lochagos perform his usual ritualistic dance to evade and raise its own attack and speed, he had failed to notice Thomson doing the same.
"Use sky uppercut!"
The end of the dance let Lochagos easily go around another launched icy wind before he threw his fist upwards. Thomson was small and nimble enough to dart out of the way before diving back in for an acrobatics attack. Thankfully, Elio and Lochagos saw this one coming and he had enough speed to buy himself time to throw up a protect causing the other pokemon to bounce off again.
"Dragon dance!" Elio called out. "Keep up that good speed!"
Then he noticed that Thomson was just a step behind Lochagos as they synchronized movements. The oricorio's wings instead shifted with its choreographed steps, bringing beautiful orange flames in contrast to Lochagos' warrior aura. He knew it was loud, but had tuned the crowd noise out from his head. They were laughing at both pokemon seemingly having a dance-off battle in the middle of the match.
That is actually kind of funny, but when did an oricorio start doing that?
It was after Thomson gained a stat flare to up his speed and attack that Elio realized that he might've gotten himself into a bind.
"Satisfactory enough." Kahili sighed with relief before regarding him with a fiercely determined look. "Set up a tailwind."
Thomson halted his dance routine and thrust his wings forward to cast another breeze that blew from behind. Now the bird was moving a lot more swiftly and quickly to match even the uncontested Lochagos' during his engagement with Woods just prior.
"You seem to have forgotten about oricorio's dancer ability. Copies a dance move in battle." Kahili dryly remarked towards him. "Dragon dance just gave Thomson a free boost to his speed and attack."
And now it's just as fast with tailwind.
"Well we ain't going down without a fight!" As if to agree with him, Lochagos roared and stomped forward. Thomson stared away with disinterest, waiting until the last moment to sidestep another dragon claw that struck the ground and tossed up a considerable amount of dust.
Seeing that it had an opportunity to escape, Thomson darted with its fleetfoot agility, suddenly reappearing around Lochagos' back.
"Protect!" But it was too late.
Another sweep of his wings caused a billowing icy wind to hit the dragon's less armored side and he snarled in fury at being hit by the supereffective attack. His arms flew up to form the protect dome, but Thomson's smaller frame was just enough to get through and hit Lochagos' chest with repeated acrobatics strikes. With his defense lowered so far down and the overall fatigue of fighting for so long, it didn't take much for Elio's pokemon to faint.
I knew it was over. This was a bad mismatch for me.
Everyone was staring stunned as the mighty Lochagos hung standing for just a moment before his body precariously tilted forward and he collapsed headfirst into the court's floor with a resonating thud.
The referee sailed forward, "Lochagos is incapable of battle! Thomson is the winner! Three on two! Elio in favor!"
Elio once again tuned out the crowd's cheering as he numbly took out his pokemon's ball, quickly returning him inside.
"Thank you…friend. You…you did well. We will finish this for you."
"My my, what an incredible battle I'm having here!" Kahili put her arms out, clearly enjoying the breakthrough she had gotten. "I haven't had much opportunities for a trainer to push me to my limits in a long time, so keep it coming and don't disappoint!"
"Right." I gotta move smart now. Bravo'd be a good choice to get a tailwind of my own going again. But I don't know. Can he keep up with Thomson? Or do I maybe go for the type advantage by Akela?
He made his decision, drawing out Akela's ball and tossing out the werewolf. Letting out a howl, he flexed his paws at the oricorio, blood already boiling for a fight.
"No more dances this time around." Elio saw his pokemon nod and they got back in sync together. "Rock slide!"
Thomson's footwork was impeccable as it shook its hips while effortlessly twirling and weaving through the wave of tumbling rocks that had washed over it. As it ran against the tide, the dance turned into trailing ribbons of fire that he quickly channeled outwards into a spiral. Akela yelped and had to dodge it with moments to spare thanks to it coming faster from the boosted tailwind.
"Revelation dance. It's very beautiful and the move type changes depending on which type of oricorio uses it."
"Not for long."
"Revelation dance again!"
"Akela, use stone edge to block it!" Elio cried out. The ribbons flew around in mesmerizing patterns before reshaping and focusing on their target. As they accelerated, Akela had struck the ground and caused an inward salient of razor sharp stone pillars to emerge. The flames struck and blazed hot against the surface, but had failed to penetrate. As it shimmered out, the edge had turned into a glassy obsidian.
Akela used the stone edge cover to leap out from behind as Thomson reacted quickly. He blasted the wolf with another icy wind, stiffening him long enough to cause a drop in speed and hit with another pair of air slash blades. Akela snarled in frustration, shaking his head and mane to try and keep focus.
"It's alright. We got it right where we want it!"
And he did. He just had to wait for the tailwind to finally...
Stop. Almost on queue, maybe a few seconds behind, he had felt the oncoming breeze fade away.
Now. "Taunt it!"
Again; Kahili's poker face shifted ever so slightly as Akela bared his fangs in a wicked grin and curled both his paws in a provocative gesture. Thomson's eyes narrowed and he chirped angrily, roused slightly more than usual due to the baile style's rather passionate behavior. Out of habit, Thomson had been in the middle of resetting the tailwind when the blocking effects of taunt had canceled out his move.
"Now, put all you got into another stone edge again!"
Akela howled loudly and hit the floor again, creating more jagged irregular patterns of puncturing large stone spikes that were thick as tree trunks. Thomson moved to dodge, still weaving through them effortlessly which honestly was beginning to infuriate Elio.
The young trainer got a break when the bird glanced back and noticed Akela moving. In doing so, he had taken his eyes off the stone edge shifting to where his adversary was moving.
It was enough for three successive stone pillars to hit him from below, the two types of fire and flying move being four times as weak to rock type moves. Thomson had barely registered it in his mind before all of them knocked him out almost at the same time. He wheeled in the air and crashed to the ground, wings still flexed in his normal dancing posture. Everyone held their breath, waiting to see if the pokemon was still conscious after the blow.
The referee thought otherwise, waving his flag. "Thomson is unable to continue the battle! Akela is the winner! Three on one! Elio will clinch the match upon knockout!"
Oh man. One left. One to go and this one'll be over. The boy thought to himself. Out on the court, Akela bumped both his fists together and rolled his neck, still springy and ready for the next battle. While having taken some damage from the icy wind and air slash, it seemed as if it hadn't done much otherwise.
"You not cold from that ice?" Elio smirked at his pokemon as Kahili returned Thomson to his ball. Akela flashed him a wide grin and gave a soft growl of agreement.
"Didn't think so."
"Well I guess it's time for my final stand." Kahili rolled the poke ball of her final team member in her hand and smirked at him. "Better hope it doesn't get to yours either."
"Yeah? Well I can take whatever you can throw at me." Elio said back, a little too cockily for his own surprise. "Bring it!"
That got the crowd roaring again after they had quieted down a bit to hear the conversation the battlers were having down on the court. Elio heard his name softly being called before it turned into a chorus of a shout. Everyone in the stands was chanting his name in unison and he felt a shiver run down his spine that hadn't been from the cooler temperature of the Lanakila Stadium.
"Elio! Elio! ELIO!"
It rumbled across in a perfect three syllable chant and he felt something invigorating. Everyone here was willing for him to keep pushing and win. The title of champion was so close, one final pokemon and one entire member of the Elite Four left to go.
"It's really unfortunate that it's my job to disappoint them." Kahili stifled a chuckle as the challenger was still drinking up the praise being given. While he loved the enthusiasm they all were showing, he was still not done.
Raising his hands, he gave them a gentle waving motion to try and quiet the chanting. No reason for them to feel like they were watching an assured victor, as much as he wanted to prove them right.
"Your journey has taken you a lot of places and it will take you a lot more, even if you're somehow unable to win. I'll admit that the final trial of this here at the Alola Pokemon League is far more difficult than what I faced when I was not much younger than you."
Kahili stopped her rolling of the poke ball and held it up. "Now this is my partner pokemon that's been with me the longest. She's been through it all, thick and thin. Think you're up to beating me and her at our best?"
"Only one way to find out."
"Indeed. Okay Wie, shall we?" Elio rolled his eyes at what sounded like a pun, but realized that she had pronounced the pokemon's name in the exact same manner.
Kahili's thrown poke ball burst open to reveal a large black and white bird that had a disproportionately enormous beak that had multiple bands of orange that darkened further away from the pokemon's face. Like Thomson, the bird had rail thin legs that were instead bluish in color and three toed feet that were slightly farther apart.
"I have never seen a pokemon like that before and that's a huge ass beak." Elio muttered to himself, glancing down at his 'Dex.
"Toucannon. Cannon pokemon. It is the evolved form of trumbeak and the final evolved form of pikipek. Known for forming harmonious couples, this pokemon smacks beaks against one another to communicate affection depending on the strength and number of hits. Within the beak, internal gases can heat up and it expels seeds with enough power to pulverize boulders. Toucannon is a normal and flying type. Additional information is available upon capturing this pokemon."
"Interesting." Elio stared to Akela, who remained focused and undaunted by Kahili's final pokemon. Like the oricorio from before, Wie's narrowed eyes and angled head appeared to show that she was even more disinterested than the last one.
Akela snarled in anger at that, upset that she wasn't taking him seriously.
"No." Elio snapped his fingers to try and break his pokemon out of that trance. "Don't fall for that. We're not going to get baited."
Seeing Kahili and Wie sitting and waiting, he decided to make the first move. "Rock slide!" I wanna see what it's capable of.
Akela slammed his paws into the ground to create a turbulent wave of gigantic boulders that shook on the ground and tumbled in every direction. As he had expected, Wie took to the air, flapping her wings to stay above.
"Let's set ourselves with the usual yes?" Kahili asked her pokemon. As it nodded, she gestured forth. "Wie, flame charge!"
Elio's eyes went wide as the toucannon stopped staying in one spot and instead jetted forward, gaining a bit of speed as she went before wisps of fire began to form all around her body. The flames quickly appeared to connect together and she blazed brightly. Not even her feathers showed any signs of being scorched.
Hold on a second, that thing knows flame charge?!
Wie dove down as Akela had just a couple of seconds to assume a defensive stance before she slammed into him at full force. Though the fire attack didn't do much damage, a rising stat flare surrounded the cannon pokemon. Akela had shuddered from the hit, but remained close enough to swing his free paws back to a well-timed counter.
Seeing that Wie was going to take a moment to recover, Akela went back on the offensive to summon a stone edge. Rapid pillars erupted out of the ground towards his target.
"Bullet seed!" Kahili's voice cut through the noise of the rock attack like a knife. Elio saw that Wie leaned forward while slightly widening the stance of her feet. Her beak opened slightly to release a burst of green glowing pits that were clustered close together. One of the stone pillars from Akela's previous attack was in the way, with each rounded pit striking and effortlessly penetrating through the rough surface. Punching several holes caused the entire formation to fall apart and disintegrate as if made of some sort of fragile ashes.
"The hell?" Akela dodged a second burst, almost not in time due to their velocity being nearly as fast as Arclight's charged up zap cannon. Three more bursts came his way, each aimed slightly in a different direction as a means to straddle her quarry. They all hit stone edge pillars, tearing through them like tissue paper with close to no interruption or loss of kinetic energy.
Akela got hit by the fifth and final burst, the pits exploding against his front and successfully knocking him down. Though quick to get back up on his feet, he leapt up and sprinted to close the gap to take advantage of another counter.
Wie was forced to disengage her firing stance and take to the air again. Akela's counter still swung, missing her ventral side with less than a foot to spare.
"Still hot?" Kahili asked her pokemon and getting a nod in return. "Good. Then fury attack."
Wie cawed loudly, diving down as Akela landed deftly on his feet and glanced up to see her swooping upon him. Her beak glowed red hot as she jabbed him several times, striking quick and quickly retreating as he tried to counter them. After the fourth one, he finally got respite when his hand powered into a reversal and swung wide right. Wie was going in for a fifth stab when the punch had knocked her off course just as she thrust forward.
The toucannon toppled over as Elio was still a bit dumbfounded at how Kahili was getting lucky with the multi-hit moves always getting its maximum of five. Akela kept up the pressure with another rock slide that Wie had barely gotten into her firing stance to spray a bullet seed to destroy. She shot them again in a wide bracket and Akela was less lucky this time around, being hit by two of the five bursts of stony fruit pits.
Ah the 'Dex says it has skill link as an ability. Multi-strike moves are guaranteed their maximum number of hits.
Elio had to guess that Wie was going to keep her distance in using the bullet seed since it would require Akela to get up close to use counter. She was also doing well in dodging his rock slide and stone edge, or at least finding ways to avoid taking damage.
Another tailwind. He grimaced as Wie summoned it at their backs. That meant something was coming and he was having a hard time continuing to fight while it was up.
She's going to catch on to my strategy of stalling until it goes down. Elio mentally slapped himself for not having Akela use taunt. Though to his defense; he had zero idea if Wie knew the move.
Of course she knows it. For a trainer that relies heavily on them, it wouldn't surprise me if her entire team did!
He decided to surprise her by going on the offense. At his command, Akela burst forward in running along the court and staying just to the edges of Wie's vision. The toucannon opened her beak to unleash another five bursts of bullet seed. Now fully focused, Akela was able to jump to the side and slide underneath to avoid getting hit before rolling back to his feet and closing the distance.
"Use beak blast." Kahili had another damned smirk on her face. Elio couldn't help feeling he was being baited again.
"Reversal!" If the beak blast took time to charge, he was going to take full advantage of however long he was given.
Wie's beak began to glow a dull red, intensifying as Akela reared his paw back and struck the toucannon. She let out a cry of discomfort and skidded back, but her stance was rock solid and still had him dead in a kill box.
Elio was about to shout something of approval when he heard Akela yelp in pain himself. Seeing him keeling over and clutching the paw that he had hit her with immediately told him that something was wrong. Scorch marks all over his body.
Is he…burned?
"No!" The scream was halfway out of his mouth when Wie opened her beak and launched a projectile that exploded out with a deafening boom and gush of smoky dust that enveloped her. Akela vanished, crashing against the ground and skipping up into the air to hit the wall with a sickening crunch.
Elio's eyes were squeezed shut as he had turned around in the direction. Hands were firmly cupped over his ears and the ringing noise was slow to clear out of his head.
"Akela!"
His pokemon had hit the bottom wall and slumped over. Through the battered burn and scuff marks on his body, Elio gasped as he saw him moving. Slowly at first, but Akela grunted and growled in spite of his body's protests to regain his balance. He glowered and bared his teeth at Wie.
I…I can't believe he's still standing. Elio wasn't sure if he was in any fighting shape to continue, but the referee hadn't declared him unfit yet. Withdrawing meant he'd still have to battle if it came down to him.
Akela. The werewolf staggered, clutching his burned hand as he huffed loudly and kept that grim determination on his face. It was clear that the hit from the beak blast had taken a lot out of him and coupled with the burn damage, he was worried that his pokemon wouldn't last much longer, let alone another attack.
He stood again between his trainer and Wie, glaring down and awaiting Elio's directions.
"Very well." Kahili gave a nod. "Finish this with-"
"Return, Akela." Elio pulled out his ball and sucked his pokemon back inside. "Take a rest. If I need you, I'll summon you again."
He took out Bravo's ball, tossing him in as a substitute and using his second switch. "Bravo, you're back in!"
"Stay alert." Kahili warned her pokemon as Bravo flexed his wings and cawed a challenge. "He is not to be underestimated."
"Bravo, let's lead this off with tailwind! Time to get that at our own backs again!"
That had proven to be a costly mistake that caused Bravo to take damage. He whipped up his wings to cast an equal tailwind that matched Kahili's, but Wie had used the temporary reprise in the fight to get in a fury attack. Bravo had just finished with the tailwind when the toucannon darted in to slam him multiple times with her beak. Though he was the much bigger bird, the weight and size had been enough to push him back where he finally found a tiny opening enough to repel the fifth and final fury attack with a steel wing.
No sooner had Elio's tailwind taken effect when Kahili's had finally petered out. With the speed advantage on his side, Bravo soared up to use the currents to his own advantage.
"Aerial ace!"
The gigantic eagle vanished as he went into a loop, reappearing to hit Wie as she was in the midst of launching a salvo of hurtling rocks. She staggered back, but didn't fall. However the rock blast had to be aimed a lot more precisely as both her and Bravo were rapidly moving.
Bravo looped for another aerial ace and Elio saw Kahili order her pokemon on the ground. Her stance shifted wide and he saw her beak begin to warm.
"Beak blast again." He muttered. Bravo vanished and was on her before he had a chance to call him off. Tailwind now made him too fast. Shit! He's gonna get burned too!
Wie suffered some more damage from the second aerial ace, but Bravo had flinched and shook his down of feathers that were now marred with dark brown marks scorching from the burn.
Two burned pokemon, both taking constant damage from it as well as less powerful physical attack.
"Bravo use-"
Wie fired her beak blast in another deafening boom, the gasses escaping her beak's side directed out as if it were a muzzle brake of a rifle. Through the pain, Bravo had just enough foresight to roll just seconds before Wie had launched her concussive projectile. Something exploded against the ward on the bottom of the wall, causing the crowd to jump as Elio twisted his head to it and then back up to the action. What relief he had was quickly replaced by the adrenaline rush. The kill shot had missed, but Bravo was nowhere near done.
Both birds were airborne, twisting, diving and climbing to get a lead on the other. Bravo's larger frame presented a bigger target, but Wie wasn't going to be able to hit him as easily as she did Akela. Not when both were moving rapidly.
"Use rock blast in a bracket!" Kahili called out. Bravo was in the midst of turning down for an aerial ace when Wie straightened and leveled herself for a second. Elio saw that the toucannon was leading Bravo with her beak and some internal clock gave her the cue to shoot.
Instead of five rocks being fired one after the other; the so-called bracket rock blast spat out all at once splitting in a tight spread as if they were pellets from a shotgun shell. Each one was close to another to where a single hit scored would most likely cause another, but also split apart where dodging was impossible at their velocity.
Elio hoped that his pokemon saw what was happening with the bracket, confirmed when Bravo turned into the shots and activated his steel wing. Using the metal hardened tips, he had sliced through any that would've been scored hits and kept diving. Each rock that hit was bisected and disintegrated into tiny pebbles.
"Superpower!"
"Beak blast!" Both pokemon knew that this was likely going to decide the match and channeled their full power into their attacks. Bravo blazed bright as he lunged forward, shuddering from the burn as Wie had to rapidly heat her beak in time to intercept a tailwind boosted Bravo.
"Now!" Both trainers shouted at the same time. Bravo's closed talons slammed into Wie's front with everything he had at the second she unleashed her warmed shot, causing a thunderous explosion that billowed dust and charred feathers everywhere. The shockwave blasted past Elio, rippling at his shirt as if he were standing in the downwash of a prop and he felt it tug at the bill of his hat.
Wie was wearily flying above, eyes furtively scanning her surroundings for any sign of Bravo. Elio didn't see him on the ground, nor did the official.
The tailwind was gone and Bravo was nowhere to be found.
No. No way…he has a plan?
Elio saw a very tiny flash of a stat flare aura dropping, just hardly visible in the thick dust that choked the court. Bravo's subsequent drop in attack and defense from using superpower.
He was still in the fight, but hanging on by a thread.
"Wie, get to altitude and find out where he went." Kahili said to her pokemon. "Get ready to use a tailwind once you do."
The boy barely heard her words, but realized that she was about to give him a golden opportunity. Even if this failed, he was certain that Strongside was more than able to finish off a much weakened Wie.
"Brave bird, straight up!"
Bravo's war cry betrayed any belief that he was down and out. And the moment Wie saw a bit of movement in the dust clouds, she cast a tailwind that helped to clear it out and find his location.
It was going to be the last tailwind for the battle. Bravo exploded out from the dust screen like a rocket and cloaked in blazing hot white energy.
"No!" Kahili's face went straight to panic. "Rock bl-"
Wie squawked in surprise when she was hit headfirst by the brave bird. Bravo's attack knocked her out instantly, causing her to careen down to the court. Bravo's trajectory had been similarly altered and he went right into a rapid spiral in the corner with a bone jarring impact.
Just afterwards, the crowd had gone into stunned silence and Elio was pretty sure he was going to be able to hear a pin drop. The official tapped his metang and he flew to observe the field, waving a hand to activate ventilators to pump air and dissipate the dirt that had clogged the middle.
Finally, he could see that both Bravo and Wie were sprawled out on the ground and knocked out completely cold. What little endurance he had left was gone thanks to the aftereffect of brave bird's knockback damage.
"Both Bravo and Wie are unable to continue battling! This clinches the match and the victory goes to Elio Northstar!"
"I…I can't believe it." Elio muttered to himself, still finding the strength and dexterity to grab onto Bravo's poke ball. It nearly slipped out of his grasp.
"Thank you buddy." He whispered softly, returning a downed Bravo back to his ball and clipping it on his belt.
By now, the crowd was getting even more fired up. He heard his name being chanted a lot quicker, looking up to see everyone on their feet. They were all waving to him, hands cupped over their mouths to join the chorus. Little pinpricks of light dotted the bleachers, many of them recording the moment.
Elio saw that he was on screen and saluted the crowd, finally feeling that awesome adrenaline that was still pumping through him yet again.
"Ho'omaikai'ana. Giving them a show is always an effort well done." He heard Kahili as she walked across the court. She had returned a defeated Wie back into her own ball and joined him looking up at the celebrating. "You know, I think you'll bring a breath of fresh air to the Alola battle scene. Not using your Z-move and not even giving me a chance to use mine." Elio swallowed at hearing that he managed to be lucky enough for that.
"I was honestly quite annoyed when koi ikaika Kukui kept pestering me to come here, but in the end I'm glad he did. Consider me a fan. I love your style kid. Focused, tricky and your reactive instincts are insanely good, not to mention you are not afraid to take risks…but just…don't get cocky yet. I can't butter you up too much now. You've still got one more Elite Four to finish off. And dare I say that it's going to be the hardest one yet.""
No kidding. I felt almost like I can't be beat. While he had taken the fewest pokemon losses in this particular match, it had been just as grueling and mentally taxing as Acerola and Olivia. If possible, Elio did not want to have to do this one again. No thank you very much.
He shook her outstretched hand.
Yeah I kinda figured if I saved Hala for last, it was going to be that way.
"From one island challenge champion to another potential…I'll be up there with the others that you've defeated in wishing you luck. Don't let me down now."
Up in the Iulio Suite, both Gladion and Hau let out collective sighs of relief.
"Holy shit." The blond looked like he had a bit of a sweat. "That was…insanely riveting. I…I don't even know if I'd have been able to keep on soldiering this far."
"He's nearly done." Lillie said. "He's actually there…he could pass!"
"Yeah. I hope so."
I hope, but I know. So why am I still nervous?
Elio had only one Elite Four member left and then he'd be declared the Pokemon Champion of the Alola League. His goal…all the way from childhood would finally be achieved.
Her heart swelled, knowing she was going to be here to witness it.
Lillie looked over, seeing that Hau had leaned his head on the countertop, intently peering at the court as the flying torch was ceremoniously extinguished and the big timer on the sceen was ticking down from ten minutes. Just earlier, it had shown a close up of Elio as he gave the crowd a send off before he had jogged back into the tunnel.
"Hau," she started, knowing exactly what was on his mind. Leilani joined her boyfriend on his other side. "Are you…going to be alright?"
"Y-yeah." He shook his head. "Yeah I'll be fine. It's just that-"
She heard him give a heavy sigh. "I've never really known Tutu to go all out like he says he does when facing real challengers. I don't see it often. But he's strong, he's really strong. I'm worried for Elio. What if he doesn't win?"
Lillie thought about it for a second. "It's possible. I don't want to think that, but it's entirely possible."
"You ever know those Leagues where the Elite Four are all battled in a set order with the most powerful being last? Tutu is like that and Elio had saved him for last. I just hope he's ready because he'll have no holds barred at all."
He'll be fine. Lillie thought to herself, even though she did start to feel a growing sentiment of concern. Hau might've exaggerated from time to time about things, but his voice had turned bleak for just a moment that she almost felt as if he was genuinely serious about Elio not being able to win. It was already shaping up that it would be the single most difficult battle Elio would have on his hands thus far.
We'll find out if he's up for it or not.
And that brings us to the final Elite Four battle next chapter! Elio is nearly there and I am nearly done with writing these exhausting 6 on 6 battles! After this I'll be perfectly happy to not have to do them for a while.
Speaking of which, I believe it's now time to fully unveil what else I've been working in. I've never shied away from how floored I was with Pokemon's Gen 9 flagship titles of Scarlet and Violet and the DLC made a great story of a game even better, performance gags notwithstanding. It's been worked on a while and sat in development hell while I've made one last push to get this story done so that I'm not massively juggling two large scale fanfics at the same time.
So. Upon the release of the next chapter as the battle against Hala of the Alola Elite Four, I'll so throw out a 2 chapter premiere of A Life You Will Remember, a novelization of Pokemon Violet. Here's a little bit of a sneak peek, fine tuned for a first look!
"Aww! Oh hola! Bienvenidos! It's been a while yes?" A girl's voice sounded from up the stairs over where the fuecoco was standing. The twins saw a hand give an assuring pat to the croc's head before nudging him back towards them.
The three pokemon all gathered at the bottom next in front of Florian and his twin sister Juliana as the girl walked out from behind the hedge bushes.
Florian's mouth nearly dropped open at the sight of her. She was slightly taller than them with a trim, athletic frame that might've passed for a model somewhere else. Like the twins; she wore the standard purple Academy shorts and gray polo with a perfectly ironed tie that matched the shorts. Her jet black hair was tied in a ponytail with a dyed green streak. Light brown eyes held an open friendly expression as she smiled at them with a hand that looked to be an arm brace on her hip. As she approached, they could see a light dusting of barely visible freckles against her caramel colored skin.
Juliana glanced over at her brother and it took everything not to laugh at the dreamy look on his face. Before he or the new girl could say anything more, she stepped close to intervene and dug her elbow into the side of his hip.
Florian nearly flinched, but snapped out of his smitten daydream and looked away. He hated the fact he had been caught staring.
"Are you these three's trainers?" The girl asked as she bounded over to face them directly. Juliana tried her best not to look shy, but at the same time the stranger's exuberance made her feel a little bit uneasy. Florian shifted his feet uncomfortably, not sure if he had been caught staring.
The door to the house opened and the twins relaxed a bit, seeing the familiar figure of Director Clavell step onto the front. He gave them a wave and started walking over.
"Ah not quite yet senorita." He put a hand to his chin in thought upon reaching them. "Master Florian and Miss Juliana here have yet to make their choice, you see. I do wonder which ones they will end up picking."
The pokemon gathered in front of the people. The fuecoco took a moment longer, carrying the charred orange with it. As they stopped and glanced at the humans, it took a tiny nibble and made a throaty gagging noise, dropping the fruit.
Both Clavell and the stranger girl laughed as the quaxly seemed to shake its own head in disappointment.
"Well then." The girl started putting a confident hand on her hip. "Buenas! We haven't met yet, have we?"
Clavell cleared his throat. "I must say, I wasn't expecting to see either of you this soon."
Juliana nodded. "Yeah, but our dad had to leave for work after mama. They wanted to stay and watch, but couldn't."
The girl squinted her eyes at them in recognition. "Hold on a sec. Director, are they who I think they are?"
"Yes you would be correct Miss Nemona. These are brother and sister Master Florian and Miss Juliana, our academy's newest students. They'll be starting the school year as of today."
"Oh so you're the ones living on the west side of Cabo Poco! I've been dying to find out more about who I was about to take under my wing! Anyways, I'm Nemona!" The girl smiled at them again. "Normally I live in the school dorms in Mesagoza, but home is here right in Cabo Poco!"
She lives here? Juliana wondered. How come neither of us have seen her before?
"It's uh a pleasure to meet you." Rian cleared his throat and shook his head, still avoiding eye contact with the extremely pretty girl facing them. "Really it is."
Juliana nearly rolled her eyes. "Don't mind my brother. He's…a little nervous when he meets new people, at least I think. I'm Juliana, but I just like it shortened to Jules. This is my brother Florian and like me, he prefers to be called Rian."
"Easy to say and easy to get along with. Love it!" Nemona exclaimed, stepping forward and offering a hand for them to shake. "So whaddya say? Wanna be friends?"
Juliana enjoyed her enthusiasm as she returned the gesture. "Sure! We both do! Right brother?"
"Heh…yeah let's be friends." Rian shook her hand firmly, gathering enough courage to allow himself to look up and smile at their newly made friend.
Wow. She's really pretty. Okay, now that that's been established…stop being a nervous wreck.
"I love your enthusiasm. Both of you! We're gonna get along just fine!"
I'll have some changes that I'll be putting in compared to trial and error from writing AHHK and the idea is to not make it as lengthy. But overall, I can't wait to get started on that and for the most part; close the books on this one. It's going to take place quite a few years after AHHK and I've hashed out a rough timeline with the other authors in the XOver universe we're all writing in. Stay tuned as I'll input the story's summary as well as a snippet of the story itself!
Translations:
Kuipeia e ka Makani - Blown away on the wind
Koi ikaika - Persistent/Pushy
As always, mahalo for reading and reviewing. You give my writing purpose.
Brav