Chapter 181 (Patreon)

Announcement: Double chapter day! Thanks for continuing to read. Life has been a bit hectic for me irl, but I managed to squeeze out two chapters as thanks for the support. However, I can only write so fast, so Chapter 182 is still in the process of being edited. It's almost done, and it should be up within the next few minutes.!
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Missed out on snacks? Ice cream. Having emotional problems? Ice cream.

I liked to treat my team to sweet things like this as a reward, usually as positive reinforcement for wins. Although, for this situation, this was a replacement for the promised treats at the resort we missed out on. I also hoped something this sweet would cheer Lillie up.

We sat on a hillside not too far away from Royal Avenue, all of our Pokémon eating ice cream from disposable bowls. Ninetales was by far the noisiest, her long tongue making horrendous slurping sounds as she tried to inhale even the smallest remaining drop.

"So," I said after taking a solid mouthful of vanilla. "How are you feeling?"

Hope wasn't here. It was just Lillie and I on this hill. We were the only humans around.

"Conflicted," came her answer. "I don't know what to think about Gladion."

"Oh? He's your brother. I honestly don't know much more than that when it comes to your relationship. I'm willing to be an ear if you need to talk."

And that was the truth. No, not being an ear, but my lack of knowledge on the topic. Gladion's relationship to Lillie was unclear to me. I knew he was her brother, but I didn't know how much he cared. For that matter, I didn't know how he left the Aether Foundation or allied himself with Team Skull, either. All I knew was that he was out there with a Type: Null, and that he was a decent trainer in his own right.

"Gladion, he... he left before I did."

I blinked.

"Not at the same time?"

"No, Gladion was gone at least a full year before I was. I guess he recognized the same things I did before me, but..." Lillie let out a long, drawn out sigh, absentmindedly moving her spoon through her ice cream. "Looking back on it, mom always doted on me more than him. It makes me wonder if I was the one to push him away."

"No. Never," I said.

Lillie looked up at me.

"He's your family. I know he cares about you. Don't put blame on yourself that you don't deserve."

Lillie gave me a small smile before going back to her dish. I did the same. Around us, most of our Pokémon had already finished and were relaxing in the waning sun of the later afternoon.

"Did you enjoy the matches, at least?" I asked.

"Yeah! The Masked Royal is really cool, and Gladion managed to hold his own! Then, with him, there was that boy, Hau, and also... Um..." Her face went bright red and she only whispered the name. "Elio."

I laughed as she gained a slight smile. For the rest of the afternoon, we mostly talked about what she witnessed. The Battle Royal Dome was about 4-way free-for-all matches, and over the time I was gone, Lillie saw a decent number of matches.

Eventually, Hope came back, and we retired to the Pokémon Center. I filled her in on what she missed. Gladion had been in the area, Kahili invited me to a game of golf, and we needed to work in a match with the aforementioned Flying Type specialist when we headed back south.

"What about meeting up with Gladion?" Hope asked once Lillie was in her own room.

"We don't need to schedule for that."

"You sure?"

"I'm going to send him a letter. He doesn't directly need the Pixie Plate, he just needs more information. I'll detail what's going on with Lillie to hopefully inform him about his sister's status. I hope he isn't as aggressive as he looks."

Hope gave me a curious look, but she agreed that doing so would be for the best. I had a conversation with Wicke about helping him, anyway. So, with Hope stationed in the Pokémon Center, I started to write. Like what Kahili did to me, I planned to use a Pelipper for this task. I made sure to pen in how Lillie was doing, a basic set of information about Nebby, as well as a few subtle warnings about Team Skull’s potential connection to the Aether Foundation, which I wasn’t sure he was aware of.

Everything was kept indirect and non-specific. Gladion would know what I meant, but there would be plausible deniability if someone else read my words. I could never be too careful about these things. And, once it was done, I was able to send it off for surprisingly cheap.

______________________________________________________________________________________________________

The next day was split between training and relaxation around Royal Avenue. My Elite Four matchup was still fast approaching. I was stressed, but that didn't mean I needed to overwork my Pokémon. A good divide between work and leisure was for the best.

Hope waited outside the Pokémon Center on the day her match with Kiawe was scheduled. She had a wide grin on her face that almost looked feral. Azumarill wouldn't have looked out of place next to her.

"Think you can use Rapidash to track him down, Alex?" Hope said.

"Rapidash might be with me again, but I feel like using a psychic search like that oversteps some moral bounds."

My team had been changed around a bit. I had Ninetales, Rapidash, Gardevoir, and Carbink on my team, and then my collection of four in-training Pokémon as per usual. Cutiefly became sad when Florges returned to our home, but Togepi was overjoyed to see Rapidash again.

We patiently waited as a group, Lillie included, and, eventually, we got a sign of Kiawe’s approach. However, that sign wasn’t anything of someone moving, rather, it was Kiawe directly crashing into the ground in front of us, still on Charizard-back.

"Challenger! Follow me to our battle site!"

Charizard coughed out a puff of smoke, blinking from where it landed on the ground in a tangle of wings and limbs. Kiawe somehow managed to escape unscathed. Even more, after he yelled out that demand, the Pokémon took off back into flight as if nothing was wrong at all.

Did he... did he train Charizard to land like that?

We followed.

With Royal Avenue as popular as it was, many people turned to stare. I covered my face with my hand, mildly embarrassed, whereas Hope just ran after the Fire Type specialist in question.

Lillie walked alongside me as we trailed after them. She had a look on her face that was a mixture between nervousness and excitement. Considering she'd only seen our match against the Grass Type specialist Mallow, this would be the first time she'd watched a battle where we were at a disadvantage.

"Excuse me, Alex?” she asked.

“Yes?”

“Why is Hope so excited to fight Kiawe?" Lillie asked, causing me to tilt my head to the side as I listened in. "He's a Fire Type specialist. Doesn't that mean she'd be at a disadvantage?"

"Well, yeah. That’s exactly the reason. You got it in one."

This time, Lillie tilted her head to the side in surprise.

"Huh?" she said.

"Being a specialist is about knowing the ins and outs of your chosen Type, and that means understanding how to counter your weaknesses, too," I said. "Hope will be fighting with a Type Disadvantage, yes, but she'll be able to try out strategies she's put in place to fight off the relevant Pokémon. Fighting an uphill battle gets the adrenaline pumping in a way that most other battles don't. In a way, it's both an opportunity for her and a way to really test her stuff."

"I never really thought about it that way," Lillie said, scratching a cheek with her hand.

"Keep it in mind as you're building your team," I continued. "It'll be good to know how to fight against Steel and Poison Types before such a match ever comes up. Watching Hope’s match might help to develop your own counters to those Types, so keep an eye out."

Lillie nodded her head, brow furrowing slightly in a way that I recognized meant she was deep in thought. We passed through the crowds of Royal Avenue to get to our destination, a League warehouse built off to the side. It was kind of generic-looking, appearing mostly as a big square, but the inside has been repurposed as a set of private battlefields for League employees' personal use.

Notably, I'd actually been here the day before for some casual practice. The interior was the same as I left it: a wide, open space with three dirt battlefields arranged in a row.

"...eyesore most don't like. Once the League gets established, this warehouse will be repurposed into a Gym. There's some mostly unoccupied tunnels in the base of the volcano nearby that I can use to stable Fire Types, too."

Kiawe's voice sounded casual when we approached, but his expression was anything but. It was a mask of seriousness, his brow slightly furrowed and his lips pushed together in a thin line. I half wondered if he had given a few days' wait for this just to be able to have time to train and prepare for this match.

"Gardevoir, can you ready the screens?" I asked, sending out my Pokémon.

Upon being released, he nodded and moved to the side next to Lillie. Hope and Kiawe were already in their appropriate spots, so I figured there wasn't any reason to wait.

"Trainers!" I shouted, taking up the role of referee. "This will be a six-on-six full battle between challenger Hope and Trial Captain Kiawe. Each trainer will use six Pokémon, and the match will conclude once—"

"Actually, I only brought four team members," Hope interrupted. "That's all I'll need."

She threw up a trio of Pokéballs, sending out Rowlet, Tangela, and Steenee.

"Keep an eye on the match, you three. There'll be a lot of tips and tricks that'll be great to pick up."

As the trio of Hope's newest Pokémon moved to Lillie's side, I saw one of Kiawe's eyebrows twitch. His knuckles were white on a Pokéball firm in his grip. I couldn't help but to let out a sigh.

Wow, Hope. Did you really need to do it to him like that? Well, I guess if there was ever a way to test him under pressure, it would be like this.

I loudly cleared my throat to regain everyone's attention.

"As I was saying..." I said, sending a pointed glance to Hope. "The match will conclude once one side has no Pokémon left to send out, and each trainer will be permitted five—wait, scratch that—Kiawe will be permitted five switches, whereas Hope will be permitted three."

She shrugged.

"That's fair," she said.

"Mega Evolution and Z-Moves are permitted. Trainers, if you'll please send out your Pokémon..."

Hope and Kiawe tossed forward a Pokémon in unison. Hope released her Venusaur, whereas Kiawe released his Charizard. Seeing such a classic match-up between Kantonian starters made me grin. I raised a hand, brought it down, then shouted "Begin!"

“Let’s do it, Venusaur! Mega Evolve!”

“Z-Blast Burn, Inferno Overdrive!”

Right off the bat, both Hope and Kiawe weren’t holding back. I immediately snapped my head towards Gardevoir to bid him to increase the power of the barriers even further, and his eyes closed as he went into extreme focus. Back on the field, Hope held up her wrist to cause Venusaur to glow with rainbow light, growing larger with a denser plant on its back, whereas Kiawe went through the appropriate movements to cause the fiery Z-Crystal on his right arm to become a brilliant red.

“Go!” Kiawe shouted.

Charizard opened its mouth, and a ball of spiraling flame built inside of it. By the time Charizard finished setting up the attack, Venusaur had only just ended the process of its Mega Evolution, so Hope's Pokémon didn’t have time to prepare. When released, the ball of fire grew bigger, and bigger, and bigger, until it took up half the field and exploded against the ground in a blast that caused the screens to flare white.

It was as if a bomb had gone off with Venusaur at the center.

“Again, Charizard!” Kiawe yelled out.

The flames, still having not disappeared, recollected themselves under Charizard’s control to keep Venusaur completely obscured, then they burst up into a massive, twisting inferno that was a follow-up Blast Burn, the strongest commonly known Fire Type move there was. Yet, somehow, from within that mass, a glob of Sludge Bomb shot out and hit Charizard in the chest. It was knocked back in the air, its wings keeping it aloft, but the impact made it fall several feet, and the gunk left behind on its orange skin told me Charizard was now poisoned.

“Venoshock!” Hope yelled.

Venusaur roared. It had taken two back-to-back Blast Burn equivalents and still survived. To be fair, they weren’t truly super effective—Venusaur’s Mega Ability, Thick Fat, reduced the damage of any temperature-based moves. Not only that, but the jungle of flowers growing off its back had motes of light fading away from them. That told me it had used Synthesis, and without that healing move, Hope’s expectations might have been crushed right away.

With Charizard now poisoned and doing its best to stay flying through the exhaustion of Blast Burn, purple-colored needles formed in the air and stabbed out into Charizard. They aimed for the Fire Type’s pressure points, allowing the poison within its body to course through it at an even faster rate. Charizard let out a cry, fell to the floor, but it didn’t faint yet—it pushed back up to one knee.

“Petal Blizzard!”

“Flamethrower!”

And the power of Mega Evolution made itself known, here. The swarm of petals that rushed off of Venusaur’s back was incinerated, but not all of them were reduced to ash. Just enough managed to escape from Charizard’s Flamethrower only slightly singed, and they sliced into the not-a-Dragon-Type dragon to take it out.

Venusaur grunted from pain, but it remained standing. It let out a deep roar of victory.

As for myself, I felt my mouth drop open.

That was seconds! Hope, we’re supposed to be testing the Trial Captains, not crushing them!

I let out a sigh. At my side, Lillie’s mouth was wide-open just like mine, absolutely gobsmacked at the array of enhancing phenomena and powerful moves. Hope’s new Pokémon were similarly stunned as well. I didn’t think anyone expected the battle to start out like that.

I mean, that Z-Move combination? Blast Burn usually needs its user to recover after using it, but by making it a Z-Move, it was able to use it back-to-back. If Hope’s Venusaur wasn’t so tanky and hadn’t Mega Evolved, that strategy would have been liable to faint a successive pair of her Pokémon right off the bat.

“Charizard is unable to battle,” I announced. “Captain Kiawe, please send out your next Pokémon.”

Kiawe’s expression was unreadable, but the loss did seem to shake him a bit. He didn’t send out his next Pokémon right away. Instead, he eyed the Mega Venusaur on the field, which was panting and was singed across its entire body.

Just the barest amount more effort, and Venusaur would faint.

“Turtonator," Kiawe said.

I had to do a double take. Honestly, I had forgotten this Pokémon existed.

Turtonator was a sort of tortoise Pokémon, with a bright red shell that had a bright surface that almost looked like molten lava. Coming out of that superheated shell were hardened, stone spikes that would stab anyone that attacked it from the improper direction.

Its face had a yellow snout, and its eyes were locked into a permanent glare thanks to the flattened, upper portion of its head. Upon seeing Venusaur, it turned around, aiming its spiked back towards the Mega Evolved dinosaur.

"Synthesis, Venusaur," Hope commanded when the battle resumed.

"Oh, no you don't! Overheat!"

Synthesis wasn't a fast move—healing rarely came immediately. It was more like Venusaur caused its burned parts to regrow over a set time period. Turtonator’s Overheat, however, was unleashed right away. The searing blast encompassed the Mega Pokémon, and when it ended, a normal, no longer Mega Venusaur laid on the floor, unconscious.

"Venusaur is unable to battle. Challenger Hope, please send out your next Pokémon," I said.

"Damn. I was hoping Venusaur would get more than one," Hope mumbled.

"Don't underestimate me like that!" Kiawe yelled back at her.

Vileplume came out next, and when the battle resumed, it released a Leech Seed that managed to avoid being burned away in the air. Although, when the vines from the seed wrapped around Turtonator, Kiawe took a moment to use a switch and send out his next team member.

"Talonflame," he said.

This time when the battle resumed, both Pokémon used supporting moves. On the field, Talonflame's wings puffed up from a speed-increasing Tailwind, then Hope called out for Vileplume to buff itself using Growth.

"Aerial Ace!"

Between Tailwind and Talonflame's ability, Gale Wings, this move came out at an incredible speed. Vileplume didn't get a chance to react. The bird disappeared in a flash not unlike Extremespeed, and it reappeared slamming right into Vileplume, beak first.

"Now!" Hope yelled.

From Vileplume's flower, a burst of status-inflicting powder puffed out. The super effective impact served to spread the cloud out even further, like squeezing some kind of spray bottle.

Talonflame was hit by the powder, and it awkwardly flapped its wings to try to get away. Its eyes watered and seemed to be a bit more chaotic. It seemed to be going through some sort of allergic reaction brought on by Vileplume, and I couldn't tell if it was poisoned or paralyzed.

"Now, Growth again!"

"I won't let you set up! Talonflame, you're already poisoned! You don't need to worry about getting poisoned again!” Kiawe shouted.

Vileplume continued to focus on the ground, building up internal energy to use to fuel moves later, and then Talonflame swung down. It let out a strange mixture between a cough and a screech as the air around it whined from its speed.

A second Aerial Ace stabbed into Vileplume, and the Pokémon let out a pained cry. However, Hope demonstrated that was a mistake; somehow, she expected Kiawe to make that assumption that a second set of impact-powders would be useless. Vileplume's stubby hands snapped forward, and they locked around Talonflame's legs, pinning the bird close to the Grass Type.

"What?!" Kiawe shouted.

"You got it! Now, Acid!"

Vileplume's use of Acid reminded me of the dangers of a Victreebel's gullet, except in this case, the move was used externally instead of internally. Yellow-red ooze splattered out of the center of Vileplume's flower, and it coated the bird held in its hands. Talonflame screeched, feeling a burn that Fire Types rarely felt, and it flailed about to try to escape from the grip holding it in place.

"Flare Blitz!" Kiawe called out desperately.

The issue with calling out that move was yes, Talonflame set itself on fire, but it didn't have the momentum to properly impact its foe. Vileplume might have taken a sparse bit of Fire Type damage, but the poison from before combined with the searing acid meant Talonflame didn't have the energy for its ability, Gale Wings, to improve its flight. Not only that, but Vileplume was mixing in a Synthesis with its constant stream of Acid. It was like the flower Pokémon was digesting Talonflame, except Talonflame stayed outside of its body.

"Talonflame!" Kiawe shouted.

After only a few more seconds, Vileplume eventually dropped the bird onto the ground, where it used its wings to push up and glare. It opened its beak to try to send out one last Fire Type move, but a burst of Petal Blizzard hid it in pink, and when the petals passed it by, it was on the ground, unconscious.

With Talonflame handled so well by a Grass Type, of all things, Kiawe's hands gripped open and close as he stared at his fainted Pokémon on the ground. Sure, Hope might have had a stronger team, but only using four Pokémon was an insult in its own right, and the fact that her Pokémon were somehow doing so well would likely be a problem.

Teeth gritted, he returned Talonflame to send out his next. An Arcanine appeared on the field.

"Be careful of getting close. It can explode in a burst of allergenic powders." He paused. "Actually, scratch that, when you get a chance, slam into it with Flare Blitz. Coat your body with flame—the powders won’t be able to get you."

Arcanine gave him a stiff nod as I called out to resume the match. Hope didn't have her Vileplume take any actions just yet—instead, it widened its stance and seemingly braced for impact.

"Flare Blitz!"

It was the same as what Talonflame attempted to use before, but this time, Arcanine was able to accelerate to a dangerous speed. With that, when it slammed into Vileplume, a puff of pollen burst out and for a second, Vileplume’s body was partially seared black. Kiawe’s advice turned out to be correct, too, as any and all pollen that left Vileplume’s body was burned away from the heat of Arcanine’s flames.

With the super effective attack by a physically strong Pokémon, I expected Hope’s Vileplume to faint here, even though she was operating at a higher level than Kiawe. Vileplume let out a grunt, and Arcanine pulled away. The flames around its body faded once it made some distance, and when it glanced back...

Vileplume, somehow, looked even healthier than before.

What?

"Again!" Kiawe shouted.

Kiawe didn't notice—he seemed more focused on how Vileplume's powders failed in the wake of Arcanine's flames. Another Flare Blitz came forward, but this one seemed to be slightly less intense, and Arcanine's speed wasn't as fast.

Hope still didn’t give any orders, and Vileplume still didn’t seem to act. Arcanine slammed into it, dealt super effective damage, and yet, somehow, Vileplume looked like it hadn’t taken damage at all.

From nearby, Lillie gasped. She seemed to have figured out what was going on. On the field itself, Arcanine flagged, and Kiawe narrowed his eyes.

"Hm. I think we might be using a move you're unfamiliar with," Hope said. "Ever hear of Strength Sap? It was a pain to teach, but the healing it provides is unmatched."

I finally recognized what Vileplume had done. Strength Sap drained a Pokémon's physical power to heal whoever used the move by an equivalent amount. When Arcanine slammed into Vileplume, it was taking that super effective damage, but by using Strength Sap upon contact, Arcanine was drained on impact, Vileplume looked as though it had taken no damage thanks to that healing, and the inherent recoil of Flare Blitz hid the drain of the move from Kiawe's eyes.

Arcanine tried for one last attack, but this time, it stayed at range. Unfortunately for it, Vileplume had buffed itself up with Growth too much, and the Sludge Bomb that came out was enough to send the somewhat injured and weakened Arcanine into an injured and catatonic state.

Kiawe, on his side of the field, cursed then recalled his Pokémon. Strength Sap was a surprise move, and now Vileplume was at near full against his fourth Pokémon. Half his team had fainted, and he hardly had anything to show for it. In Arcanine’s place came out Salazzle, the lizard swaying its head as it took in Vileplume.

"Flamethrower. Stay at range," Kiawe ordered.

"Sleep Powder! Get it down!"

The resulting exchange wasn't in Hope's favor—it seemed Vileplume had its moveset more built around dealing with physical attackers. Salazzle's Typing made it so any of Vileplume's attacks didn't matter; it resisted Poison, it resisted Grass, and it resisted the Fairy Type Moonblast, which I knew Hope's Vileplume had learned.

"Ugh," Hope said under her breath.

Vileplume might have been healthy, but there was a level of exhaustion to it that stemmed from overusing so many healing moves. It had simply used too many to put up a decent fight. For all of its countless healing and effects it had done, it was low on energy, and the resulting exchange demonstrated that.

Sleep Powders were incinerated in the air. Petal Blizzards only got a few shallow slashes in. Salazzle purposefully took any Acids, its Poison Typing allowing it to resist the move. All through that, it let out a constant stream of Flamethrower, the heat exacerbating Vileplume’s exhaustion and eventually causing it to be taken out.

Vileplume was silently returned, and in its place, Sunflora was sent out. Sunflora wasn’t commonly regarded as strong, but Hope’s expertise with the Grass Type made it so all of her Pokémon were threats.

Between Salazzle and Sunflora, the two Pokémon stared off. They both grinned, though their smiles seemed to have opposite meanings.

"Sunny Day," Hope said.

My brow raised at the move. That weather would actually empower Kiawe's attacks.

"Big mistake! Fire Blast, Salazzle!"

Hope revealed her simple answer to that—Sunflora knew Protect—and by bracing itself, Sunflora avoided the empowered, super effective damage of the move. Instead of an immediate retaliation, though, Hope held up a hand.

The white glint of a crystal in the light of this building told me she hadn’t brought a Grass Type Z-Crystal, but a Normal Type one.

"Sunflora is Solar Powered, by the way," Hope said, moments before beginning the necessary dance.

Kiawe clearly knew what that meant, and he sucked in a surprised gasp. Sunflora's ability, Solar Power, drastically increased its attack in the sun in exchange for taking a decent chunk of passive damage over time—something that could be offset with Synthesis. That, combined with its Z-Move, meant Sunflora was about to release an incredibly dangerous attack.

"Z-Hyper Beam, Breakneck Blitz!"

Sunflora's face turned pure white. The head of the sunflower was too consumed by light to be visible at all. From the center of its petals, it sent out the empowered Z-Move, a Hyper Beam-like attack that was more like a deathray laser than anything else.

Salazzle didn't have a chance to Protect. I wasn't even sure if it knew Protect. The Z-Move was simply too much, and Salazzle fainted, having been unable to deal damage to Sunflora at all.

Kiawe returned his Pokémon, expression unreadable.

"Marowak," he said.

A familiar Totem Marowak appeared on the field.

Hope clicked her tongue. "Really hoped you wouldn't choose them. I wanted to mimic your Blast Burn strategy and have Sunflora use Hyper Beam again."

Marowak was part Ghost Type and would be immune to the move.

With Marowak sent out, Hope recalled her Sunflora the moment the match resumed. The sole undamaged Pokémon she had left—Tropius—appeared in the air above the field, instead.

The battle resumed, and the two Pokémon released simultaneous attacks. Tropius released several blades of wind, whereas the Totem Marowak sent out several spinning bones made out of shadow.

“Air Slash!”

“Shadow Bone!”

The two moves collided such that the shadowy bones were sliced in half by the incoming air, but the windy blades dissipated after colliding with a target.

Tropius swooped down, aiming straight at Marowak. At the last second, it let itself drop, impacting the ground and sending out waves of dirt with Stomping Tantrum.

“Bone Rush into Fire Spin!”

Bone Rush wasn’t a useful attack—Tropius’s Flying Type made it immune to the Ground Type energies of the move. However, what it was useful for was giving Marowak the energy it needed to pole vault over the Ground Type waves. With Stomping Tantrum avoided, it landed close to the grounded Tropius, then it spun its bone staff around to conjure a tornado of flames that was sent right at Tropius.

Fire Spin was somewhat weak, but it was a clever choice on Kiawe’s part. The move was liable to trap Tropius to discourage it from reentering the air. However, I didn’t think anyone but Hope expected Tropius to avoid that attack by suddenly slamming right into the Marowak next to it. It didn’t use a Normal Type move, as that would have passed right through, but, rather, Tropius used Dragon Tail, turning around and slapping all four of its leaves right into Marowak’s chest.

A pause, then Marowak was knocked straight back over the field. I half expected it to be returned to its ball, given the move, but it seemed that Tropius was just using it to push it away.

“Air Slash!”

“Shadow Bone!”

A repeat exchange from last time took place again. Marowak’s bones were cut in half, and the Air Slash all but dissipated, too.

But, that wasn’t all Marowak had done. Hidden behind those bones were motes of ghostly light. Will-O-Wisp seared through the air past the collision site, and Tropius was burned and weakened by the unexpected attack.

Hope clicked her tongue.

“So much for an exciting match. Take to the air and pester it with Air Slash, stop holding back.”

From that point on, Tropius only used Air Slash, but the Pokémon demonstrated such mastery of the move that not even Marowak’s Shadow Bone served as a block.

Tropius had been weakened by that Will-O-Wisp; by sustaining a burn, Tropius's physical capabilities was cut in half. Now, it had to focus completely on Air Slash, its primary special attack.

Blade after blade was sent through the air, outpacing the swings of Marowak's long bone staff. Tropius had four leaves on its rear that could conjure these attacks, whereas Marowak only had one staff to use to swing and summon bones. It was clear that though the burn was slowly hurting Tropius over time, the rate at which spare Air Slashes sliced Marowak meant it was liable to faint first. That would be the outcome if neither side changed.

"That's enough, Marowak! Take it out with Fling!"

It grasped its bone, chucked it forward, and with a thunk, the staff impacted the flagging Tropius's head.

Tropius paused.

"Outrage," Hope said, with no emotion in her voice.

And then, Tropius dropped out of the sky.

The Pokémon hurtled towards the ground, catching itself at the last second to bring itself into a hovering flight. It was so close to the ground that it seemed like it was touching it, and I actually recognized all the practice Tropius had done flying close to the ocean with Hope back when they were preparing for the Akala Surf Rush.

With all of that combined, and without its staff, Marowak didn't have time to respond before Tropius’s entire body crashed right into it.

Marowak was knocked back, bouncing along the dirt floor, and the Totem Pokémon flailed to try to reorient itself before coming to a rest at Kiawe’s feet. It didn’t get up.

Though, Kiawe didn't even wait to return it. If anything, he seemed almost eager to continue after that outcome.

"Turtonator, Shell Trap!" he shouted, sending out his next Pokémon.

Outrage wasn't a move that could end early; Outrage was a move that lasted multiple "rounds." Turtonator might have been part Dragon Type and vulnerable to the attack, but the command Kiawe gave it was clear enough; it was a trap to make the most of the unstoppable move.

Tropius, already suffering from a burn, slammed right into the spiked carapace, which exploded on impact. A brilliant blaze of fire overtook half the field, almost resembling the Z-Move used at the start of the match.

Tropius fainted, as simple as that. However, Turtonator winced from the pain of the powerful Outrage. If it wasn't for the burn, Tropius might have taken it out, or at least Turtonator might have been at much lower health.

"Sunflora," Hope said.

Sunflora was her last Pokémon.

The sunflower Pokémon appeared on the field smiling, its curved leaves-for-feet allowing it to rock back and forth as it did.

"Ingrain," Hope said. "Then Leech Seed."

Sunflora hunkered down as roots grew out from its base, anchoring it to one spot but allowing it to passively heal from nutrients it sucked out of the floor.

Then, three large seeds sailed through the air, summoned forth by Sunflora itself. Unfortunately, a Flamethrower incinerated them all, and Turtonator remained unaffected.

"It immobilized itself! FIRE BLAST!" Kiawe shouted at the top of his lungs.

The Sunny Day had faded away during Tropius and Marowak’s battle, but that didn’t mean the Fire Blast was weak. A pointed blast of fire that almost resembled the shape of the Johtonion word for “Fire” burned the air itself as it traveled over the field.

Sunflora could have used Protect like it did before, but it didn’t. It took the move head on, and I expected Hope to have something up her sleeve, but when the fire faded, there was nothing. Sunflora laid unmoving, unconscious on the ground.

Kiawe’s jaw dropped open. I raised an eyebrow.

"Challenger Hope has no Pokémon left able to battle. Kiawe is the victor!" I called back.

The Fire Type specialist in question fell to the ground on his butt and stared out over the field.

"What?!"

"I only brought four Pokémon, my dude,” Hope said. “If I had brought even one more team member, that would have been it, but it seems my own arrogance got the best of me."

She shrugged nonchalantly, and I couldn’t help but to send her a suspicious glance. Hope’s team might have been at a higher level than Kiawe’s, but Kiawe’s team was still decently strong. Still, though, that didn’t mean Sunflora should have fainted that easily.

Then again, I guess Sunflora just suffered the effects of a powerful, super effective move?

I shook my head. I couldn’t read minds. Hope probably had her own reasoning for what happened at the end.

"I... I won," Kiawe breathed. He started to laugh. "I won!"

Kiawe jumped to his feet, moving forward to hug the Turtonator still out on the field. Somehow, he didn’t even blink at the superhot Pokémon, hugging it for a moment before pulling back and bringing his fists into the air.

"Now hold on there—winning doesn't mean everything,” Hope said. “There’s still the discussion of your performance to be done.”

Kiawe’s laughter stopped, and he immediately schooled his expression.

"How did I do?" he asked, coughing into his hand.

"Well, I did see some problems. Overreliance on offense was one—try to weaken your enemies for an easier win next time. Protect is a great, almost necessary, move that all members of your team should know. What happened with Salazzle shouldn’t happen again.”

Kiawe nodded.

“Also, study up on obscure moves and abilities. First off, you should have expected Vileplume to explode into powders like that. You should have recognized Strength Sap sooner, too. Not to mention how Salazzle only relied on Flamethrower—now that’s a Pokémon that’s great at wearing down a foe. Corrosion is an ability not to be underestimated; being able to poison both Steel and Poison Types is a wild card most won’t expect."

Kiawe crossed his arms and stared ahead.

"I need to study more," he said.

"Yes. You have the power, but you still need to build up your skill. If anything, with your complete focus on strength, you're the reverse of Mallow, and you two might benefit from training together."

Kiawe nodded, frowning a bit, but at the same time, the advice Hope gave him was invaluable. Sure, his team members were great at punching upwards, but that meant little if he didn't have the strategy to support their techniques. However, there were signs he was getting somewhere—the Totem Marowak's Fire Spin and Will-O-Wisp against Tropius were actually brilliant applications of those moves. I could see Kiawe becoming a true elite-tier trainer if he had a bit more time to learn.

"Thank you for the advice. I will strive to push my team and I to a new level," Kiawe said.

As he said that, he pressed his hands to his side and took a deep bow. Hope laughed.

"You don't need to do that! Remember, we're just doing our jobs. You had a good showing, but you have room to improve. Given that there's time before anything is set in stone, I can see you becoming a hard Gym Leader to beat."

That caused Kiawe to gain a wide smile on his face, and he nodded his head excitedly once more. Hope took off her pack to retrieve a piece of paper, which she then used to take some notes for herself and make a copy for Kiawe. Once that was done, we exchanged a few last closing remarks then headed off, saying goodbye and leaving the building.

A full minute passed before anyone spoke up.

"Excuse me? Hope?" Lillie asked as traveled down the road.

"Yes?"

"Why did you have Sunflora use Ingrain defensively like that at the end?"

I held back a laugh.

Way to ask the question on everyone’s mind.

"Oh, that?" Hope asked. "I just felt like it was the best move at the time."

"But you already demonstrated that Sunflora knew Hyper Beam,” Lillie replied. “With the difference in skill, Hyper Beam would have definitely taken Turtonator out. It doesn’t even resist Normal Type moves like it resists Grass Type moves. Instead, you limited Sunflora's movement and—"

Hope interrupted Lillie by bringing a hand up to ruffle the hair on her head. Lillie gained an annoyed look and pushed the hand away, doing her best to flatten out the blonde strands now messily sticking out.

"Not all battles are about winning. Sometimes, you have to purposefully make openings just to see how someone reacts. Ramos is my master, y'know, and he's big at testing people like that."

I blinked.

"Wait, then when I battled him back in Kalos..." I said.

Hope laughed and didn't respond. The entire way back to the Pokémon Center, Lillie and I teamed up into an unspoken alliance to try to pester Hope into revealing what she truly meant.

And then, the next day, we headed north to gather the stones we needed to face Akala's Kahuna.

====================================================
Author Note:

I've been wanting to write a Hope battle to show off her Grass Type team, and I was initially planning on it being against Hala. However, since Alex’s battle against Hala was already written out, such a match would have traded a lot of the same ground. Thus, we get a Hope versus Kiawe match today. I hope it lived up to your expectations.

Pokémon mentioned in this chapter (contains spoilers):
Alolan Marowak
Arcanine
Charizard
Rowlet
Salazzle
Steenee
Sunflora
Talonflame
Tangela
Tropius
Turtonator
Venusaur
Vileplume

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