Too late, we realized we should've asked Estelle to teleport us to the nearby town. Mari's Android had never Teleported with a human before and we were not willing to risk it. It took us ages to find our way back onto the main path towards Oldale Town. Then we had to rush to Slateport City via Route 103, a route neither of us had travelled before. We missed the ferry there that took us to Ever Grande City via Pacifidlog Town. That might be a stroke of luck; we managed to squeeze in a last minute shopping trip for something presentable to wear in Ever Grande City before the next ferry. We were very nearly late. As it were, we only had time to check into the hotel and take a quick shower before dashing to the stadium.
The stadium was a large indoor arena, not unlike Arthur's basement. This arena was a large dome with stands upon stands packed with people surrounding the battlefield. Upon entering, Mari and I were blasted by the cool air conditioning. The atmosphere was alive with cheers and applause, punctuated by sharp whistles feeding the excitement in the air. We squeezed past the people who were already seated, receiving glares from those we passed. I can imagine how they felt, because I had given similar glares in the cinema. After many uttered sorries and excuse mes, we finally found our seats. The match was starting. Elite Four Member Ridwan Saldi was standing at one end of the battlefield, Ronnie on the other. From our seats, they looked positively tiny. So I looked up to one of the large screens, which was currently zoomed in on Ronnie. I sucked in a breath. I wasn't ready for the sudden swell of emotion upon seeing her again. She lifted her head, her gaze sweeping the audience. Apparently not finding what she was looking for, she faced Ridwan again, hooking her thumb into the pockets of her black pants. She was wearing a blazer on top of a form fitting crop top to pass her outfit as smart casual. And damn she was hot, the top giving tantalizing glimpses of her toned abs. Stupid teenage hormones.
Ronnie released Galene the Shiftry. Damnit, we had missed the introduction. Ridwan released an Alolan Marowak in response, causing many of the audience to ooh and aah at the exotic Pokemon. A weird choice, choosing a Pokemon that was weak and strong against the opponent at the same time The Marowak kept his eyes purely focused on his opponent while his right arm whirled the bones, the turquoise flame creating a hypnotic pattern. On the other hand, Galene looked around the stadium, fiddling with her leaves somewhat nervously. Ronnie looked cool and composed as ever, despite the fact that her Pokemon was facing a type disadvantage. While the Elite Four members were not privy to the Challenger's team for the match, their own team were highly publicized. Ronnie would have studied up extensively on him and create a strategy according.
'Galene, Extrasensory.' Ronnie instructed, taking the first move.
'Flare Blitz,' Ridwan countered.
For a moment, nothing moved. Then the Marowak's head jerk back in a noticeable flinch. Galene's attack must have hit first, causing the Marowak to Flinch and hence, unable to use its move. Galene was dashing towards the Alolan Marowak before Ronnie gave her second command.
'Night Slash.'
'Bonemerang.'
'Leaf Blade.'
Galene jumped aside just as she was about to collide with the bone thrown by Marowak. Her Leaf Blade slashed across the bone as she passed, spinning it off course. The Marowak dived to the side to avoid blades of leaves shrouded in darkness. The super effective attack made contact with its tail, sending it stumbling in front. The Bonemerang, which had went sailing towards the audience, now curved back in a wide arc, heading back for its master's grasp via Galene.
'Dodge, Air Cutter.'
Then, Galene sank into the ground before our very eyes, before rising from behind the Marowak. It delivered an Air Cutter to its back. As the Marowak stumbled, it missed the opportunity to grab its bone. The bone slipped past its outstretched arms and crashed into its chest with a loud crack. The Marowak went down, laying motionless on the floor. The audience was in an uproar. Ronnie had defeated a member of the Elite Four in 3 moves. Four, if you counted the Marowak's own Bonemerang. But it was almost unheard of. Moreover, what Galene did sent most of the crowd into a frenzy. She literally disappeared into the ground and appeared behind the Marowak. It looked extremely familiar though. The shadows. I distinctly recalled a certain dark purple ghost rising up from my own shadow to scare me. Galene must have used been using shadows to travel. Was this a property of the Dark and Ghost types? Could Abraxion do that? I have never seen it before. And so did most of the audience. Those who were not cheering and clapping were wearing identical faces of confusion. There were people in the audience who were nodding in approval, indicating that they have seen in done before, most likely in higher levels of Pokemon training.
Ridwan was cool and did not break his composure as he returned his Marowak. I was surprised when Ronnie did the same. I thought she would have kept Galene out after her spectacular performance. She released Thanatos, who landed on the battlefield on all fours, glaring at the audience. The large alligator's maroon scales gleamed in the stadium's lights as he trashed his tail on the ground in annoyance. He did seem every bit like the moody teenager Ronnie described him to be. Ridwan drew his Pokeball and released a Breloom without missing a beat. While he didn't know Ronnie's current team, he must have studied up on her as well, predicting who she would bring. All official League battles were filmed and I imagined that the League probably has all the videos stored up in a archive somewhere, accessible to all the Gym Leaders, Elite Fours and Champion. It was stated in the terms and conditions when we sign the formed before Gym Battles. I checked it thoroughly when I was at the Mauville Gym.
'Lorrie, Sky Uppercut.' This time, Ridwan made the first move.
Lorrie the Breloom, who was bouncing on her toes, pushed off the ground, arms pumping as she dashed towards Thanatos.
'Dig,' Ronnie had her hands in her front pockets, her face a picture of calm.
Before Lorrie could reach Thanotos, he had Dug a tunnel, disappearing from view. It must have been his favourite move, to be able to sulk underground without interference from everyone.
'Follow the tremors, Dynamic Punch on the ground.'
Lorrie stilled, placing both feet firmly to the ground and dash off, presumably towards where Thanatos had dug. Ronnie tapped her foot twice on the ground. Thanatos emerged in an explosion of concrete, startling Lorrie. She recovered fast, managing to dodge Thanatos's attack and diverted her Dynamic Punch towards the scaly reptile in front of her. It was an impressive display of nonverbal command. And the crowd absolutely loved it, many gasps and cheers abounded.
'Crunch then Dig' Ronnie ordered.
Thanatos ducked under the attack and took a quick Crunch at Lorrie before disappearing underground. Of course, his attack did nothing to the Grass and Fighting Type Pokemon, who merely shook the hand that was bitten. She went off after Thanatos, who appeared with another Crunch. After a series of Dig and Crunch, sometimes with Lorrie going entirely the wrong way and Thanatos popping up from the opposite end of the battlefield, Lorrie finally got in a Sky Uppercut that send Thanatos flying out of the tunnel he emerged from. Sprawled on the ground, he was unable to get up before Lorrie launched a barrage of Seed Bombs at him.
'Dig,' Ronnie ordered.
When the smoke from Seed Bomb cleared, Thanatos was nowhere to be seen, having escaped underground. Then, Ronnie tapped her foot three times. The entire battlefield started to shudder, before violently quaking. I appreciated the beauty of nonverbal command then. It had let Ronnie communicate with Thanatos underground. There was no way her spoken command who have reached Thanatos, especially not over the roar of the spectators. Ridwan would also have no idea what move Thanatos was going to use, as did the entire audience. That is until the effects of the move were seen. In this case, Thanatos clearly used Earthquake while underground. His previous digs had rendered the entire battlefield unstable and it promptly collapsed from the sheer power of his move.
'Iron Tail.'
Thanatos burst out from the debris, his tail had the telltale metallic sheen of his attack . Lorrie had stumbled from the powerful Earthquake attack. When the ground collapsed beneath her, she completely lost her footing, rendered merciless to the Iron Tail attack. If the battlefield had not been reduced to chunks of broken concrete, she would have been crushed to death by Thanatos' Iron Tail in her position. However, in the current condition of the floor, the Iron Tail attack only send her crashing through the layer of debris. She let out a groan, struggling to get up. But it was clear that she was out of commission. Ridwan returned her, as did Ronnie. The crowd went Zubat-shit crazy. The second battle was over in less than 5 minutes. Ronnie had taken a break from the Hoenn battling scene and now, the audience were now being reminded of how much of a prodigy she was during her gym circuit run, before she went off the grid.
Ridwan merely nodded at her, raising his hand, palms up, in an indication for her next Pokemon. He seemed like a man of few words. Also probably a no nonsense kind of man. His face held a slight frown, the only indication that the match was harder than he expected. Ronnie released Enyo. The majestic unicorn shot off into a gallop around the stadium straight out of the Pokeball, flames streaming behind her, showing off her extraordinary speed, the broken battlefield not slowing her down in the slightest. Ridwan called out his Gliscor. Enyo whinnied a challenge to her opponent, who had took off into the air.
'Aerial Ace' Ridwan called.
'Megahorn.'
The Gliscor dove for Enyo who cantered over to meet him, leaping nimbly from stone to stone. The Gliscor weaved around Enyo's horn and delivered the attack straight to Enyo's back. Enyo neighed in outrage, whipping around to face her opponent, but her horn missed the target. The Gliscor did not escape unscathed though; its wings were smoking slightly with a few embers. It was gone with a quick flap of its wings.
'Thunderfang.' Ridwan said.
'Megahorn, again.'
Ronnie had a gleam in her eyes, a plan. If I knew her, she would be trying to ground The Gliscor. True enough, the tip of Enyo's horn caught Gliscor's wings. Enyo slammed the Gliscor to the ground and reared up, just as Ronnie gave her command.
'Stomp.'
Enyo delivered the move smoothly, crushing Gliscor through the debris before it had the chance to react. However, Ridwan's face remained unchanged. He must have wanted Enyo to do that.
'Earthquake.' He ordered.
Ronnie, who had anticipated this, told Enyo. 'Bounce, then Flare Blitz.'
Ridwan's face flare up briefly in surprise as Enyo jumped up just when the battlefield started to shake. The move caused the debris to clatter loudly against each other, resulting in the front few rows wincing from the din. Ridwan's face quickly smoothed out.
'Aerial Ace, then Earthquake.'
'Bounce, Enyo.'
Ridwan's quick thinking was a testament to the prowess of an Elite Four member. The Gliscor shot up towards Enyo, delivering the Aerial Ace attack to Enyo's belly. Enyo was thrown off course onto the battlefield on her side, the fragments gorging into her flank. Gliscor was also flung from the collision with Flare Blitz onto the ground. However, it recovered faster than Enyo, pulling off an Earthquake before she could Bounce off into the air. Enyo sank into the mess of debris and Ronnie recalled her, forfeiting that match.
Ronnie took out her next Pokeball, her thumb rubbing it once. She had a hint of a half smile on her face, a blaze in her eyes and a tic on her temple that I knew meant she was fired up and more than excited for this match. She released Theodore onto the battlefield where Gliscor was waiting.
'Psychic.'
Theodore unfurled his ears to let out a mental attack so strong Gliscor was blasted off from the ground. He landed painfully amongst the debris and lay unmoving, though the screen showed that its eyes were wide open. Half the audience shot up in their seats at that scene, wanting a closer look at the battlefield rather than looking at the screens. For an agonizing moment, I was back in the caves of Mt. Chimney, staring at the wide, peaceful eyes of my Pokemon. Then Gliscor's eyes darted around wildly, and I realized it was merely pinned onto the ground by Theodore's psychic abilities. Even if Gliscor had been injured in the previous battle, it was testament to how strong Theodore was, to be able to hold down a Pokemon in the Elite Four's team, having it merciless to the next attack. Ridwan, realizing this, returned his Gliscor, forfeiting the round. He let out a Skarmory instead. I saw her flinched at the sight of the silver metal bird that so closely resembled her old friend. A flinch so subtle it was imperceptible to anyone who didn't know her well. Her smile turned wistful as she gave her next command.
'Theo, get on Skarmory. Disarming Voice.'
I realized then her words in Lavaridge were probably true. That she hadn't been wiling to go to Mt. Chimney because that was where she had met Leon. Because she was still greiving the death of her Pokemon. Which made what I said true, though it was only words I came up with at that time to hurt her as she had hurt me. The guilt of it sliced at me now.
'Shake it off, Lux,' Ridwan called.
Theodore Teleported onto the back of Lux the Skarmory, who bucked and thrashed. Before Lux could go into any fancy aerodynamic displays, Theodore let out a high pitched screech that cut through the voices of the audience. Though there were force fields in place to protect the audience from the attacks, Theodore's powerful Disarming Voice had all of us covering our ears, or at least wincing in response. If there were effects on us through the force field, Lux had it worse. He screeched in obvious pain, shaking his head to clear the ringing that was no doubt in his ear, just as it was in many of the front rows audience.
'Thunderbolt.'
While Lux was distracted, Theodore Teleported with him to the ground before releasing a large amount of electricity directly on him. The move looked extremely familiar to me.
'Hey,' Mari nudged me, then dropped her voice down to a whisper when the old lady next to us gave us a glare. Seriously, the entire audience was way louder than us. What do old people get off from glaring at us? 'Didn't you use that with Estelle in Fortree Gym?'
I turned my eyes back to Ronnie. Though her hair was tied up in a high ponytail, a few flyaways had stuck to the side of her face. She appeared relaxed, a half smile playing on her face. Could she have watched my Gym Battle? It might have been a common enough technique, I wasn't sure. Regardless, it seemed like my theory about electricity was right. And it was also a reason why she had destroyed the battlefield in the second round. The subsequent battling was so intense it had exposed part of the Earth beneath the concrete. With the bird grounded, electricity flowed though it at astonishing speed, as if it was starving and the ground provided the most scrumptious feast. It might have something to do with the bird being metal as well. Lux jerked and convulsed. Ridwan returned the bird before Theodore can do more damage. That marked the second Pokemon Theodore took out before it could even use any attack. Holy shit. When I watched her battle with Mirabell, I knew she was good. But that was with a Pokemon whom she knew for a short time. This was the team that had grinded with her through her journey from the very start. The ones that have been through hell and back with her. Of course, it helped that Ronnie was a natural battler. She had good instincts and was quick on thinking on her feet. Besides, she knew how to make use of the battlefield. And she had studied her opponent well, predicting the Pokemon he'd use against hers, then finding strategies to combat her weakness. I gulped. I had kissed that girl.
'Stop drooling,' Mari nudged me with a laugh.
'Damnit, I'm not!' I wasn't even aware that my mouth was opened.
Glancing around the spectators, I was gratified that I wasn't the only one. Many of them were sitting in stunned silence, their mouths opened at that display. Especially from a Pokemon that most people considered only average amongst the Psychic types. Following the shocked silence, gasps and exclamation filled the air. Ronnie had withdrawn Theodore and released Serena. The beautiful Milotic drew its serpentine body up to her full height, letting out a captivating battle cry. Everything about the Pokemon was enthralling. From the alluring gaze to the glistening scales of her body that seemed to mesmerized the audience. Arceus knows how she managed to get a Milotic, let alone tame it. No, not tame. If I had learnt anything from her, she befriended all her Pokemon, even moody Thanatos. Even Ridwan was not affected. He stared at the enchanting Pokemon with fascination for a moment before releasing his. A metallic anthropoid burst out of his Pokeball. A Metagross. It gave a roar of such power that it broke Serena's spell, the audience shocked out of the hypnotic calm of Milotic.
'When your Android becomes so powerful, don't forget me.' I told Mari, whose gaze was riveted on the Metagross.
'If I can even find another Metang to evolve mine. Does your brother know where to find one?' Mari asked.
'SHH,' The old lady next to us glared at us.
Gee what is her problem. Many of the audience were engaged in similar conversations. Maybe she uses Apple. At least we can ignore her without worrying she was someone important. All the VIPs had seats near to the front, in a section specially marked out for them – the League head, other Elite Fours, some Gym Leaders, past Champions, Captains of the HSF and so on. Besides, she looked about a million years old.
'Meteor Mash,' Ridwan made the first move.
The Metagross scurried over the uneven floor. The battlefield worked in Ronnie's favour, as the Metagross slipped and wobbled over the loose debris.
'Dragon Pulse.' Ronnie said.
Before the Metagross even reached halfway to Serena, the serpentine let out a pulse of draconic energy that shook the floor. The Metagross stumbled even more, falling to the ground. The attack did not seem to damage it much. He merely got up and continued its way to Serena. All the while, Serena let out several pulses that rocked the battlefield. Those attacks couldn't have been part of Ronnie's end game. I suspected they were there to unsettle the Metagross. True enough, when Metagross neared, Ronnie called.
'Bulldoze the ground, then Hydro Pump.'
Serena raised her impressive tail, smacking down onto the ground with a loud boom. Chunks of debris that flew up was caught in a large jet of water and were forcefully thrust towards Metagross. The arm raised to deliver a Meteor Mash bashed into several large slabs of concrete. The rest reached the body and legs of the Metagross in a torrent of water that blasted it backwards, dragging through the rubble. It was another one of Ronnie's fantastic, and super effective, combo moves. While her Mirabell was graceful in battle, Serena took it up a notch, displaying her impressive power elegantly. Clearly, short range attacks isn't going to work on Serena. Ridwan noticed this as well.
'Kit, Psychic.'
Kit let out a strong wave of mental attack, so fast that Serena didn't have time to react. She was sent flying backwards almost to the opposite end of the battlefield.
'Serena Ice Beam.'
Unlike Mirabell who needed to skate around to freeze the ground, Serena slithered up in an arc from her roll with a powerful Ice Beam. In a fraction of a second, the Battlefield was covered in ice at least half a meter thick. Kit's legs were encased in the trap.
'Kit, Hyper Beam!'
'Bulldoze.'
Serena shot towards Kit from her position blindingly fast. Before Metagross could even form a glimmer of energy, her tail was slapping down onto the metallic spider trapped in the ice. Just before the tail could connect, Ridwan returned him, conceding the battle to Ronnie. The crowd screamed and cheered. Ridwan was down to his last Pokemon, while Ronnie still had 5 who were unbeaten. It was almost unheard off. Only years and years ago, before many of the League rules and structure had been implemented and changed countless times, a Trainer by the name of Steven Stone rose to become the Champion by sweeping the Elite Four without losing any of his Pokemons.
As Ronnie released her last Pokemon, Ridwan's composure broke. He had a frown on his face and had clearly been expecting something other than a monstrous bat dragon. Maybe they didn't have access to Kalos Gym Battle tapes. Or maybe Kalos doesn't tape their Gym Battles. Perhaps it threw a wrench in his plans, but his features quickly returned to normal as he called out his last Pokemon. It was a Kingdra, which surprised me, to say the least. If he had been expecting a Skarmory, the Alolan Marowak would have been a better choice against Ronnie's Leon. I guess Kingdra was better defensively, but offensively? This worked out better for him. Kingdra was a good matchup against Rogue. Not that match up mattered whatsoever with Ronnie. She trashed my brother's well trained Bullet with a tiny Mirabell whose type was at a disadvantage. Now that the battlefield was iced over, it seemed to be Kindgra's terrain. Though it didn't matter much, because Kingdra was floating slightly above the ground. I wondered how it did that. It stored a large amount of water as a gigantic sea dragon that allowed it to float? Or some physics about the water tension that I won't understand. Unless being a Dragon allowed it to fly? Do all Dragons fly?
'Boomburst.' My train of thought was broken by Ronnie's command.
Rogue swop through the air, delivering a series of soundwaves that reverberated a steady beat through the stadium. Other than a few flinches, the sea dragon looked unaffected by it.
'Flash Cannon!' Ridwan ordered.
'Shadow Ball!' Ronnie countered.
The Kingdra gathered energy in front of it, shooting short bursts of light at the airborne Rogue, all the while moving in a zig zagged manner across the ice. Rogue dodged the attacks with glee, swooping up and down, banking hard and doing 360s in the air. All the while, Shadow Balls formed in his claws and he flung them at the Kingdra in between Kingdra's attack. This went on for a while with neither attacks landing.
'Boomburst, Dragon Pulse.' Ronnie called.
'Counter with your Dragon Pulse!'
Rogue sent out a series of Boomburst, interjected with a Dragon Pulse. The Kingdra let out his own burst of Dragon Pulse. The collision resulted in a loud boom that shook the entire arena. The Kingdra slid back on the icy floor while Rogue was thrown backwards in the air, wings flapping hard to steady himself.
'Ice Beam!'
'Dive, Shadow Ball!'
The Kingdra let out a stream of Ice Beam, following Rogue's dive close enough that frost appeared on the back of Rogue's wings. Rogue closed up on the distance between him and his opponent, releasing a ball of dark energy at close range. Kingdra staggered from the attack, its control on its Ice Beam broken. Rogue quickly released two more Shadow Balls before ascending up to the air, the frost disappearing with each flap of his wings.
'Flash Cannon!'
'Dragon Pulse!'
Both Pokemons proved adept at dodging, neither attacks landed as they nimbly swerved in their respective elements. The match continued in that fashion for a while. Kingdra skating across the ice while Rogue performed an amazing aerodynamic show in attempts to dodge and attack. Ronnie would not send Rogue near Kingdra unless she was sure she was able to avoid a direct Ice Beam. Finally, Ridwan called out a move he had yet to use, perhaps as a distraction.
'Hydro Pump!'
One side of Ronnie's mouth quirked up in her half smile. She must have been waiting for him to use this move. Rogue instantly shot towards the ground, landing with a thud, cracking the ice beneath him.
'Boomburst, then Hurricane.'
Rogue directed his soundwaves towards the ice. The entire battlefield shattered under his attack, the ice glistening in a million pieces. He then flapped his wings, directing waves of wind into both the icy ground and the Kingdra's Hydro Pump, all while lifting himself up into the air. The result of the combination was a large storm that brewed, confined only by the force field. The air inside the force field was churning with rain and ice. It was impossible to see through the wall of the storm, only flickers of distorted, dark shadows appeared. The roar of both Pokemon could be heard faintly through the hurricane, both clearly affected by this collision of attack.
'Ice Beam!'
'Dragon Pulse!'
It was a genius move by Ridwan. An Ice Beam would have frozen the entire storm, and Rogue with it. But he was too slow. Upon creating the storm, Rogue had already been moving towards the Kingdra. There was a turquoise flash of light bouncing off the million shards of ice and water droplets, creating an impressive lightshow that signaled that Rogue had succeeded in pulling off his move. The hurricane died down, revealing Rogue with his claws on Kingdra's throat in the most dramatic manner possible.
Ridwan studied the battle scene in front of him in slight shock. His mouth pressed into a thin line, he returned his Kingdra.
'Congratulations,' He nodded to Ronnie.
The audience, who was left hanging in their seats, all holding their breath when the storm started, went wild, screaming and cheering for Ronnie.
