Sam kept his eyes on Alice, unsure of which of the four doors to enter and which trainer behind them to face. As he took a quick look at the symbols above the doors, one of them seemed unfamiliar since he last set foot inside the League. While the Ghost, Steel, and Flying insignias were unmistakable, the green insect icon was now replaced with a magenta light highlighting an icon of an eye.
Alice took the center-left walkway toward the newest door, almost intentionally so. With his sister’s decision made, he took the center-right path toward the Ghost door, smiling with the satisfaction of making the trainer behind it his first battle. As he got closer to it, the door slid open fast enough for Sam to make his way in without having to slow himself.
Running up the stairs, he came to a fast stop at the back end of a wide, circular platform with a purple translucent glass floor. Standing in the back and guarding a deactivated teleportation pad was Acerola, who smiled wide to see Sam arrive to her. Sam gasped upon seeing her. Atop her once-buzzed head was a patch of purple, spiky hair, giving her a slightly more feminine appearance.
“Hey, Sam!” she called with a wave of her arm. “Glad to see you make it!”
“You’re telling me,” Sam huffed. “Though, if you don’t mind, my sister and I are racing to finish the four of you guys–”
“Oh, you don’t have to worry about that,” she guffawed. “Chances are that Alice’s opponent is talking her down too, so you don’t have to worry about rushing this. Truth is, when we first met, and I watched you battle Olivia that one day, and… saw your Honedge evolve, you were the one I was looking forward to facing the most, so let’s savor this battle of ours, Sam. I want to have just as much fun with it as you can.”
Just then, a band of purple light flashed into existence around them, linked by the four supports pointing up from the corners of the platform. Sam looked around, observing the barrier that was just created. Curious, he walked toward where he came in from and reached his hand toward it and touched it, now able to see an ever-changing swirling design on the smooth surface.
“Very cool…” Sam pushed his palm against it, the light surprisingly firm.
“Hey!” Sam jerked around at Acerola’s bark. “Didn’t you say you were trying to beat your sister to the champion’s throne?”
“Yes, right!” Sam stepped forward once again, careful not to pass the white outer ring that had been etched for him and all other trainers who came to face her.
“Then let’s waste no more time!” Stepping up outside her own boundary, she pulled an Ultra Ball from her belt and threw it forward. “You’re first, Sableye!”
With her ball opening up, the white energy bursting forth from it condensed until it formed into her impish gemstone-eyed sprit, whose body and joints jerked about as it stretched and cracked the air from its bones.
Sam smiled as he took out his own first Poké Ball, his choice clear. “Let’s go, Absol!”
Swinging his arm in, he tossed his ball out. Once it faced Acerola and her Pokémon, it stopped spinning and opened up, spilling out white energy that formed into Sam’s lanky large-clawed feline. Acerola straightened her neck as she easily recognized Sam’s Pokémon and the threat it served to her own.
She relaxed herself and casually pointed to it. “I remember that guy when we fought Necrozma together. If memory also serves correctly, you’re able to Mega Evolve her.”
Sam smiled and blew out an audible sigh. “Then I guess there’s no reason to keep it a secret now.” He then forcefully held his left arm up and pressed his fingers against the Key Stone inside his Z-Ring, making both it and the Absolite necklace around his Pokémon’s neck shine brightly. “Respond to my heart, Key Stone! Beyond evolution! Mega Evolve!”
Acerola and Sableye both took steps back as they gazed upon the DNA-tendrils of energy snake their way out of Sam’s Z-Ring, slithering in the air toward Absol before making contact with the Absolite in its jewelry. Trembling with the vast amount of power coursing through its body, Absol tensed its body up as it was slowly covered from the neck out with a bright opalescent aura.
Once it had been fully covered, its fur began to grow a bit longer, especially in one of its bangs, draping over its face. As well, its horn began to turn longer and wavier, and a pair of feathery wings shot out from its back, spreading out and flapping once involuntarily. Once its transformation was complete, the light coating Absol broke away like weightless glass, unveiling Mega Absol to Acerola and her Sableye.
“Not a single attack made,” Acerola taunted, “and you’ve already Mega Evolved.”
“Don’t flatter yourself.” Sam crossed his arms. “If it wasn’t for the fact that only one type of attack can do any real kind of damage to your Sableye, I wouldn’t have had to bring my Mega Absol out so soon.”
“So that means…” Acerola bit her lip, already feeling frailty emerge. “Nanu…”
“Yes, Nanu was kind enough to let the Absol that blocked me from the Thrifty Megamart join my party after I defeated them. She’s served me so well up to this point… and she’ll serve me well today!” Sam unfolded his arms and threw a pointed finger forward. “Mega Absol! Attack Sableye with Play Rough!”
Beating its wings to pick up speed, Mega Absol charged at Sableye, its trainer puckering her face into a determined grimace to pull herself back into focus. Reaching her arm out, she snapped her fingers. Hardly even a moment afterwards, a second Sableye appeared right in front of Mega Absol’s face as it continued running.
With it loudly clapping its hands nearly an inch from the space between its eyes, Mega Absol was frightened hard enough throw itself upward, its back legs swinging out from underneath it and slamming itself onto the ground. With a vicious yowl, Mega Absol swung itself back onto all fours and faced Acerola and her Sableye once again, who now appeared to be several yards away once again.
Sam frowned. “That trick didn’t work for Nanu, and it won’t work for you! Now, again Mega Absol! Hit Sableye with Play Rough!”
Keeping its wings folded to its sides, Mega Absol ran forward at Sableye, this time managing to reach it unabated and grab its head in its mouth like a dog toy. Backing away from its terrified trainer, Mega Absol thrashed its head about, Sableye’s flaccid body getting whipped in whichever direction Sam’s Pokémon’s head went. After several seconds of this, Mega Absol flung Sableye out of its maw and up into the air.
Unfurling its wings once more, Mega Absol climbed up into the air and flew above Sableye as it continued rising. Holding its right arm up, the pads and claws of Mega Absol’s paws began to sparkle and turn pink. Acerola’s Sableye reached the apex of its ascent, Mega Absol slamming its paw into the sprite’s back, sending it careening into the floor where it landed with a hard thud and a twinkly burst of glitter. Sableye was slow to get up as Mega Absol glided back to the ground, its four paws landing gently as it patiently awaited its opponent’s rebuttal.
With the shock of her Pokémon’s assault having passed, Acerola bared her teeth and scowled. “Don’t you speak ill of Nanu like that! Sableye, hit Mega Absol with Brick Break!”
With an ear-splitting screech, Sableye sprinted at Mega Absol fast enough to transform itself into a small, purple blur that quickly escaped the white-furred Pokémon’s sights. The next thing it knew, Mega Absol felt its stomach fold in as a driving force punched its way hard into its gut. With Mega Absol now thrown into the air by the attack, Sam gasped to see Sableye suddenly standing exactly where his Pokémon was with its arm held up and its fist balled tight. Mega Absol landed on all fours, Sam seizing up as his Pokémon yelped, bending its legs to cushion its fall as its stomach came close to crashing into the floor.
“How’s about neither of us bring Nanu up anymore this battle?” Acerola sneered.
With Mega Absol standing back up straight, Sam felt more confident in his next words. “Sounds fine with me. Now, Mega Absol, finish Sableye with Megahorn!”
Mega Absol barked as it sprinted forward, lowering its head to keep the tip of its green-glowing horn trained on Sableye. Acerola’s Pokémon widened its stance and kept its arms out, waggling its fingers as it read and studied Mega Absol’s motions. Once it got close, Sableye leapt high up and swung its body forward, its head aimed down above Mega Absol’s back.
“Nice one, Sableye!” Acerola shouted. “Another Brick Break, now!”
Two small sparkling purple blasts erupted beneath Sableye’s feet, shooting it down into Mega Absol’s back and allowing it to drive the bottoms of its palms into its spin. Mega Absol’s legs slid out away from it, causing it to slip and slam its entire underside into the ground, bouncing up a foot as it weakly tumbled in the air before crumpling to a heap.
“Mega Absol!” Sam continued to watch his Pokémon with his breath caught in his throat, though his tension began to gradually ease as Mega Absol refused to revert to its original form.
Acerola and Sableye also awaited cautiously as Mega Absol stirred, picking up one of its front paws and put some weight on it before finding the strength to put its other down. Slowly pushing up, the Pokémon managed to stand up on its back legs one by one.
“Me… Mega Absol?” Sam’s Pokémon looked back before smiling faintly and giving him a nod, pumping him with newfound determination. “That’s what I like to see, girl. Okay then, Mega Absol! Finish her Sableye off with Play Rough!”
Pressing its claws into the glass floor, Mega Absol began its pursuit, heading in a beeline. As Sableye prepared itself to avoid this next attack, Mega Absol smirked and began to leap left and right in a quick, intimidatingly swift zigzag pattern. Sableye could suddenly no longer keep limbering itself out and only focus on Mega Absol’s motions as it came toward it, closer and closer.
Finally, Mega Absol pounced at Sableye, but Sableye was ready, and it once again leapt high over where Mega Absol had landed. Sam grunted in reaction to his consecutive misfortune as Acerola purred confidently. With it landing with all of its paws brought close together, Mega Absol sprung up and flipped backwards, its toes spread out to grab as the back paws reached up at Sableye still up in the air.
“What?!” Acerola shouted.
Mega Absol’s back paws managed to clamp onto the sides of Sableye’s head, and with a tucking of its back legs, it passed Acerola’s helpless Pokémon to its front paws, where it held on with much greater control. As they both began to fall, the claws on Mega Absol’s paw began to turn a sparkling pink. With a loudening roar, Mega Absol threw Sableye back into the ground, creating another twinkling explosion.
Landing back on the ground with greater strength, Mega Absol and its trainer looked into the cloud of its attack as it quickly began to fade. To their relief, they were able to see Sabeleye lying face down and motionless, devastated by the two attacks that it had to endure.
“Way to go, girl!” Sam exclaimed with a jolly swing of his fist. “Hard part’s done now!”
Mega Absol let out a drawn-out bark in appreciation. With the deed done, Acerola had little choice but to detach her Sableye’s Ultra Ball and return it inside.
“Yeah, okay,” she growled out, “that was pretty sweet. I bet you’re feeling real confident about the rest of the battle now, aren’t you?”
Sam shrugged. “More or less.”
Acerola huffed in amusement as she put her Sableye’s ball back onto her belt and took another from it. “The rest of my team may be more susceptible to the rest of your own Pokémon, but that sure as shit won’t make them any easier to take out! Case in point! Go, Palossand!”
With a throw of her ball, it opened up and spilled out a pile of white energy that turned into a large mound of sand, seashells, and a single red shovel sticking halfway out. Sam and Mega Absol then watched as the sand converged and condensed itself into a giant sandcastle with two bright dots for eyes peering out the outer windows of its center tower, the door in the middle clearly its mouth.
Once the rooks had formed on either side of the tower, Sam couldn’t hold back a giggle. “Neat.”
“Your Mega Absol already took a beating,” Acerola told him, “so this last attack will probably do it! Palossand, attack with Earth Power!”
“Quick!” Sam shouted. “Hit first with Night Slash!’
With its horn turning larger and fuzzy with the pitch-black aura now surrounding it, Mega Absol bared its teeth in concentration, wanting to make this last hit of theirs count. Meanwhile, Palossand pressed its rook sides into the ground, lowering them as they were squished down. Sam then looked as a river of hot red rock began to run across through the glass and beneath Mega Absol.
“Mega Absol, now!” On Sam’s command, Mega Absol swung its head out, a tall band of black energy shooting at Acerola’s Pokémon.
The black blade cut deep into Palossand’s loose, fragile body, even hitting it hard enough to make it double over. Shortly after, the floor beneath Mega Absol exploded, sending it shooting upward in a plume of lava. As it was flung above the eruption, Sam breathed out through his nose as he watched a bright light cover his Pokémon’s body. Making its way back down, the aura broke off of Mega Absol’s body upon its body landing on the ground, Absol now laying still there in its place.
“That’s okay, girl.” Sam pulled Absol’s Poké Ball off of his belt and aimed it at his fainted Pokémon. “You did exactly what you needed to. Thank you.”
The red beam shot out from the center button and brought Absol back in. Before he could reach for his next Pokémon, he studied Palossand carefully as the spot where Mega Absol had hit filled back up with sand.
“So…” he muttered to himself, his fingertips already placed on a specific Poké Ball. “Ground-type? Or maybe Water? In either case…” He plucked the ball off and threw it forward. “Let’s go, Lurantis!”
With the ball bursting open, Sam’s flowery bipedal insect creature leapt out from the white energy and landed upon the ground, already sharpening its scythed arms in preparation.
Acerola smirked as she aimed her Pokémon’s Ultra Ball at it. “Alright, Palossand, you can rest for now!”
Sam and Lurantis straightened up in surprise as Acerola’s ball shot its own red beam out at the sandcastle and returned every grain of itself back inside. She then detached her third Ultra Ball from her belt and tossed it out.
“You got this, Drifblim!” she shouted.
Sam watched as the volatile white energy of the Ultra Ball smoothed and rounded itself out, bursting away to make Acerola’s balloon Pokémon appear, hovering just above the ground.
“You seriously wasted your turn to switch…” Sam’s eyes suddenly shot open in realization, a reaction Acerola apparently took great pride in. “Dammit. Of all the Pokémon you had to battle…”
“So what are you going to do, Sam?” Acerola tauntingly yelled. “You’re more than welcome to switch your Lurantis out for a stronger Pokémon, but I doubt that’ll work out as well for you as it is for me!”
Sam hissed, feeling more trapped than ever. “No, we’ll deal with it! Lurantis, attack Drifblim with Poison Jab!”
Throwing its arms out, Lurantis let out a drawn-out squeal as it ran at Acerola’s Pokémon as fast as it could. Drifblim puffed itself up, allowing it to begin to rise up away from the ground. Lurantis kept its target focused, and with a strong jump, it sprung up and held its arms up high, their tips glowing a bright purple. Lurantis swung the points down, latching into Drifblim’s face as it held onto its spot.
Drifblim let out a loud, booming groan that greatly worried Acerola. “Such strength… Don’t let it get to you, Drifblim, you’re still way stronger than it! Hit her back with Will-O-Wisp!”
With the X-shaped spot over its mouth glowing blue, Lurantis struggled to pull the tips of its arms free from Drifblim’s face. Sam’s Pokémon only managed to free one of its limbs before Drifblim spat a puff of blue fire point blank into it, shooting it off itself and throwing it down to the ground where it bounced and rolled to a hard stop.
“Lurantis!” Sam’s Pokémon weakly got up as the entire front of its body singed with glowing, burning rashes. “You alright?”
With a screech, Lurantis thrashed one of its arms at Drifblim's direction, clearly demanding that its trainer quit screwing around with sentiment.
“Sounds like.” He threw a pointed finger forward. “Lurantis, attack Drifblim again with Poison Jab!”
Lurantis charged at Drifblim with equal intensity, though Sam and Acerola could both see that its strides were now far more lethargic and labored as it fought through the intense stinging all over its body.
“Drifblim!” On its trainer’s call, Drifblim began to rise once more.
With Lurantis’s approach still slower than before, it mustered all of its strength to get out just a little faster. Leaping up, both Sam and Lurantis could see that it would not be able to hit Drifblim dead on this time. Regardless, Lurantis kept its arms held back to swing, the tips of its scythes purple once more. As it began to soar beneath Drifblim, Lurantis swung out, Sam and Acerola tensing up upon hearing the audible drag of the points running along Drifblim’s underside. Lurantis attempted to land into a graceful lunge, only for its rashes to flare up, the pain stumbling its balance. It managed to roll to a tumble before supporting itself with its two spread feet and a single arm.
“Yes, Lurantis!” Drifblim let out another moan as it slowly floated down, Sam bursting out laughing upon noticing the intensely purple glowing gash left behind by his Pokémon’s assault. “And you poisoned her! Yes, you’re awesome!”
With a content warble, Lurantis ran back to rejoin Sam’s side. Acerola, who could only stare at her Pokémon’s improbable injury, squeezed her fists hard enough for them to tremble.
“Drifblim, Psychic!”
With its four arms swinging and pointing to Lurantis’s direction, Sam’s Pokémon suddenly felt its feet anchored to the ground by a sudden, foreign gravity administered by a magenta glow wrapped around its body. Drifblim then swung itself forward and threw its arms up and over, an invisible chain swinging Lurantis back, out, and then up like a trebuchet. Drifblim continued holding on only until it was back upright, taking Lurantis with it and slamming it down into the ground, its body sprawled upon the glass floor.
“Alright,” Acerola whispered, “that should have done it.”
Sam opened his mouth to cry out for his Pokémon, only for Lurantis to push itself off its back by the tips of its scythes. Acerola shook her head in disbelief, but she couldn’t keep a smile from creeping across her face.
“Yes, Lurantis, you got this! The hard part’s over now. Hit her with Petal Blizzard!”
Lurantis wound its arms to the right, the floral plumage beneath the scythes turning a bright white. With a swing and spin of its body, a flurry of petals blew out from its arms and began to spin about into a twister, getting wider and wider until it threatened to engulf the entire platform. Drifblim tried to puff itself away, but quickly realized that the tornado’s pull was far too strong for it to resist as it was sucked inside. Along with forceful gales keeping it trapped, dozens of the petals would pelt and slice into Drifblim’s body as the twister continued raging.
Luranits kept its stance low as it also tried to avoid getting sucked in itself. However, it’s burn rashes began to glow bright again, making it arch its back in as it struggled to withstand the pain. The tornado began to subside and the petals began to fling themselves across the room before disintegrating to nothingness. Once Drifblim was able to slingshot itself out from the vortex, it managed to get a visual on Lurantis, who looked directly into its eyes before sinking to their knees and falling onto their face, unconscious.
As Sam took Lurantis’s ball from his belt and returned his Pokémon inside, he couldn’t help but get distracted by the sudden forceful grunt Drifblim let out as the poisoned wound glowed and pulsed. “Awesome job again, Lurantis.”
Acerola seemed indifferent to the whole situation. “That was incredibly ballsy keeping your Lurantis out against my Drifblim like you did.”
“Don’t sweat it. I’ve got a couple more Pokémon on my roster still that can prove to be a match for your Palossand. Besides, Lurantis is one of my oldest Pokémon. I had faith that she’d at the very least set the pins up for my next Pokémon to knock down.” Acerola kept herself quiet as Sam replaced Lurantis’s ball with his next before tossing it out. “Archeops, finish Drifblim off with Ancient Power!”
With its ball opening halfway between Sam and Acerola’s Pokémon, Archeops wasted no time in soaring out from the ball’s energy and darting at Drifblim far too fast for it to avoid. With its claws glowing bright, it flapped its wings at Drifblim, stopping its advance and fluttering in front of it. At once, several fossils broke out from the mountain walls surrounding them and shot into Drifblim from all sides, each hit slowly deflating it until it was half filled with air.
Just then, Drifblim’s body began to quickly glow brightly before letting out a blinding flash that illuminated the entire arena. As the light subsided, Sam looked down as his Archeops crashed into the floor, its body at several points leaking with an ethereal steam that appeared to cause it great discomfort. Finally, all of Drifblim’s body was empty, and it plopped into a pile in front of Acerola.
“Crap,” Sam huffed. “I completely forgot about Drifblim’s Aftermath.”
“Your loss is my gain then.” The red beam from Acerola’s Ultra Ball receded back into the button, her Pokémon brought in with it before she looked at the front of her ball. “Thank you so much, Drifblim.”
“Okay, so who’s next? Archeops is more than willing to face Palossand if you’re willing to send it back out.”
“Thanks, Sam,” she spat, pulling out her next ball, “but I certainly didn’t reach this spot getting all my pointers from newbies!”
“Wait, newb–”
“Your turn, Froslass!”
Acerola sent her ball forward, and once it burst open, the energy pouring out from it turned into Acerola’s icy kimono spirit creature, looking at Archeops with fixed nonchalance.
“An Ice-type.” Sam then smirked. “Against a Rock-type?”
“Against a Flying-type, genius!” Acerola shouted back.
“Whatever, you’re still fighting a Rock-type, a fast one too! Archeops, Ancient–”
“Ice Shard!”
Froslass whipped its arm out, a large dagger of ice flung from its sleeve. Before Sam could get the declaration of his Pokémon’s next attack out, the attack struck Archeops square in the chest, knocking it on its butt to the ground. Archeops whined pessimistically as it stood on its feet, feeling too demoralized to fly.
“Archeops,” Sam called, “don’t give up now! You still have plenty of spunk in you! Now, hit her with Ancient Power!”
Working the strength to flutter back up in the air again, Archeops flapped both of its wings, this time with less effort than the first. Only four fossils shot out from the rock wall of the room, most of them looking to pass Frosslass by once they came. However, the one shooting in from behind Acerola’s Pokémon to the left struck it in the side of the back, which bounced it into the path of the one coming from behind to the right. Froslass was pinballed into the other two as well, the last one throwing it onto its side as it caught itself before it could hit its head.
“See?” Sam laughed. “That was pretty good!”
Archeops let out a half-hearted croak, showing Sam the bare minimum of its optimism. Froslass floated back up into its original position like a light dress being reeled up by a wire, its trainer waiting for it to be ready for their next move.
“Your Archeops looks a bit tired,” Acerola said. “Let’s put it to bed, shall we? Froslass attack with Blizzard!”
Froslass hugged both its arms in as the flaps on its sleeves began to rapidly frost over. It then swung its arms out, creating a snowy cloud that blew hard and fierce in Archeops and Sam’s direction. Archeops tucked its head in as the frigid winds reached it while Sam held onto both arms and leaned his head into the chill. With Archeops grounded onto its talons, it struggled to keep its footing on the glass floors, which also turned extremely cold with Froslass’s Blizzard raging onto them. Finally, Archeops let out a last cry of reserved strength before its body gave out, getting swept away and tossed about on the ground. Froslass ended the attack, the winds dying down fast enough for Sam’s fainted Pokémon to come to a halt at his feet.
Sam knelt down to Archeops and ran his hand down its firm, freezing neck, sighing in sympathy. “Thank you for your efforts.”
Sam stood back up with Archeops’s Poké Ball in hand, pointing it down at his Pokémon to return it back inside. He then looked over to Acerola and Froslass, whose frowns told Sam that they knew what his next Pokémon would be too.
“Yeah, no-brainer here…” Placing Archeops’s ball back and taking out his next, he wasted no time in throwing it out into the battlefield. “You’re on, Salazzle!”
With Sam’s black-and-violet salamander hopping out from the energy shooting out from its ball, Acerola and Froslass tensed up with worry. “Okay, it’s getting real now.”
“Lets see your Pokémon beat me to this!” Sam threw a pointed finger out. “Salazzle, attack Froslass with Flamethrower!”
Salazzle tilted its head up as fire billowed out from the creases of its mouth. Flinging its head forward, it then launched a stream of concentrated flames into Froslass faster than it could try to avoid, engulfing it in them. With Salazzle refusing to relent, Froslass screeched in pain as it simply became a floating flame.
“Froslass!” Hearing its trainer, Acerola’s Pokémon forcefully spun around, fanning the flames and steam off of its body as Salazzle ran out of breath. “Nice work! Now, hit her with Thunderbolt!”
Froslass clasped its hands together, which began to sparkle and glow with electricity. Throwing its arms forward, it shot out a wide bolt of lightning that made Salazzle freeze up upon seeing its speed. It managed to snap out of it quickly enough to leap forward as hard and as swiftly as it could. Froslass’s attack whizzed right over the length of Salazzle’s body as it began to run at Froslass, whose eyes were open wide over its opponent’s agility.
“Yeah, Salazzle!” Sam cheered. “Now finish her off with Flame Charge!”
Salazzle’s grin grew wider as sparks popped cross its body before one of them ignited and doused its skin with fire. Fueled by the heat, Salazzle ran even faster at Froslass before it leapt up and crashed its body into it, the flames sliding off its oily hide and washing onto Acerola’s Pokemon. Froslass reached out as it tried to resist its backwards fall, but with its eyes easing themselves closed, it succumbed to unconsciousness before hitting the ground and sliding to a stop between Acerola’s feet.
“Nice work, girl!” On hearing Sam, Salazzle sounded off a loud happy, hiss before bounding back to its trainer like a healthy rabbit.
Acerola knelt down over her Pokémon and pet it from the top of its head and back until her hand touched the floor. “That was a tough one, I know. Thank you for your courage anyways.”
Acerola took out Froslass’s Ultra Ball and returned the ice spirit inside of it, standing back up as she placed the ball back onto her belt. As she watched Salazzle frolic around Sam in gleeful celebration, she put her hand over her two remaining Ultra Balls. With each decision looking no more desirable than the other, she stood still as a statue long after Sam’s Pokémon returned to its spot, focused on the next battle ahead.
“Hey, what’s the holdup!?” Sam called up. “Do I actually have you in a bind right now?”
Acerola frowned, almost appearing close to crying. With a grunt, she crossed the point of no return and snatched one of her balls from her belt, tossing it out before she could regret her decision.
“You’re up this time, Palossand!”
With the ball snapping open, the energy spilled out into a pile along the ground, the sand that it transformed into quickly reforming into her possessed, anthropomorphic sandcastle.
Sam couldn’t help but smile upon seeing Acerola’s earlier strategy finally pay off. “So you were saving your Palossand just for her, then?”
“Not exactly,” Acerola answered matter-of-factly. “My other option wasn’t really much better, but I certainly have my best odds going this way.”
“Hmph. We’ll just have to see about that! Salazzle, attack Palossand with Flamethrower!”
Sam’s Pokémon wheezed out another strong plume of fire at Palossand, who was stuck in its place to take the attack dead on. Hunkering down, Palossand let the flames torch it as Salazzle swiveled its head, ensuring that its attack also reached its two side towers. Acerola shielded its face as wisps of fire spilled between the three towers and nearly licked at her. It was then that she acknowledged the Z-Ring on her wrist.
“Okay, enough of this!” Acerola crossed her arms in front of her face, the spark of her Z-Ring and the Ghostium Z inside it stunning Salazzle into ending its attack early.
Sam and his Pokémon continued watching as Acerola put her arms down and crossed them back out, her Palossand doing its best to mimic her movements despite its bulky form. Acerola then squatted down with the tops of her wrists over her mouth, slithering back up onto the tips of her toes before she lunged forward and spread her arms out. Streams of Z-Power shot out of Acerola’s arms as they swirled about and let Palossand absorb them, its aura now surging as brightly as Salazzle’s flames moments ago.
“You’re using your Z-Move now?” Sam questioned in surprise.
“Knowing what you have left,” Acerola answered, “it’ll be much better this way. Now, Palossand, attack Sam’s Salazzle with Neverending Nightmare!”
Palossand threw its head and two tower-arms forward, a shadowy ooze bleeding out from its sandy base. As the dark liquid began to pool on the floor and flow its way toward Salazzle, the lights illuminating the room began to flicker, Salazzle unable to help from being distracted by them. The goop then accumulated around Salazzle’s feet, and once it realized this, it tried to pull them free, only to find them stuck there.
Once the liquid formed into a perfectly circular pool fifteen feet wide, several large shadowy arms with clawed hands jutted out from the pool around Salazzle, only furthering its crippling feeling of entrapment. One by one in rapid succession, the hands slammed and pressed down onto Salazzle, who cried out for its trainer as its outreached hand was covered by yet another spectral claw. Once the last hand laid itself upon the others, the arms all turned a bright purple before exploding in a mushroom cloud that blew the remaining ooze to ash.
Sam blocked his eyes from the bright light with his hands, uncovering them once the explosion’s flash faded and the lights from the room began to brighten back to normal. Sam looked out to where his Pokémon stood, now seeing it laying on its stomach, its arms and legs laid flat and motionless on the floor. Sam still breathed comfortably as he pulled out his Salazzle’s Poké Ball and returned his defeated Pokémon inside.
“Excellent job as always, girl,” he whispered into the center button before returning it to his belt. He then reached for one of his two remaining balls, grinning at what he realized. “So that’s why you activated it so soon.” Picking one of them, he then tossed it out to face Acerola’s ace Pokémon. “You got this, Drampa!”
Sam’s Poké Ball came open, and the energy inside burst all about the arena as it formed into his large, fluffy dragon. Roaring at Acerola and Palossand, both trainer and Pokémon trembled slightly by Drampa’s booming and intimidating battle cry.
“Ghost-types.” Sam cocked his head. “Not great against Normals.”
“The opposite’s also true,” Acerola stated back, “but I doubt that’ll be much of a problem for you.”
“You know it! Drampa, attack Palossand with Ice Beam!”
Acerola gasped as Drampa’s lower jaw became draped with mist as the rest of its mouth became coated in frost. Whipping its head forward on its swan-like neck, Drampa shot its frigid beam dead center into Palossand’s main tower.
“Palossand!” Acerola could only watch as she saw the frost spread around both sides of its main tower as Drampa’s Ice Beam continued on.
Drampa stopped its attack, leaving the front of Palossand’s face with a thick layer of ice. Acerola put her hand over her Ultra Ball, unsure if her Pokémon had survived the attack. With a groan, the frozen sheet covering Palossand began to crack, and with a tilt back of its head, it broke the ice off its body, its window-eyes now furrowed in an angry scowl.
“Way to look alive, Palossand!” Acerola shouted. “Now, attack Drampa with Sludge Bomb!”
Bending its right tower to aim the top of it at Drampa, the dragon saw as the roof of it caved in to form a black, gaping hole. A large cannonball of phlegmy grime was shot out from the newly-formed barrel, lobbing upward in an arc before splattering into Drampa’s head and spraying it all over its body. Drampa mooed in discomfort as it wiggled its head and body like a dog to shake the glop off its coat. As Drampa continued wiping more away with its hands, Sam took a sharp breath in as little splotches of purple began to appear beneath its fur.
Despite the sudden fear that struck Drampa as it doubled over, the poison aching its body and stomach, Acerola smiled in slight satisfaction and retribution over the sight. “Now your Pokémon is poisoned too! Feels pretty shitty, doesn’t it?”
Drampa honked back at her in rebuttal, shocking her into silence.
“Yeah, been there, done that, right, buddy?” Drampa looked back and mewed as happily and as energetically as it could given its predicament. “Atta boy. Okay, Drampa, I think that was its last shot! Now, finish off Palossand with Extrasensory!”
Drampa concentrated on its target as its locks floated up from the side of its head. It then shot them open with purpose, two gleams of magenta light flashing out from them. Following immediately after, two bright flashes erupted inside of Palossand, blowing out two large holes in its center with a sandy dual explosion. With no strength left to reform itself, the eye-lights in Palossand’s windows dimmed off before gravity let the top half of the center crumble down into an amorphous pile.
“Awesome! Great work, Drampa!” Drampa purred in thanks to its trainer, only for its stomach to loudly gurgle, its face contorting into strained agony as the spots on its body flashed and pulsed. “Don’t worry, buddy, four down, one left to go.”
“Ain’t that the truth.” The red beam of Palossand’s Ultra Ball receded back inside, taking the energy-converted Pokémon back inside with it. “And I haven’t even gotten to see your Aegislash yet. Damn, I’m disappointed, Sam.”
“Not that I feel good about denying you the chance to battle my Aegislash,” Sam spoke back, “but Drampa and I are going to try and get this last one done so we can get a move on.”
Drampa roared back loudly in reply, which Acerola stared into much readier and braver.
“You’re going to send your Aegislash out…” Acerola plucked her last Ultra Ball from her belt. “I’ll– no… we’ll make sure of it. Let’s finish this, Dhelmise!”
Sending her ball soaring, it opened up as her haunted anchor-and-wheel Pokémon appeared from inside floating just above the ground as its compass eye tilted studiously.
“Even with as slow as it is,” Acerola shouted confidently, “it’s still faster than your Drampa! Dhelmise, attack Sam’s Pokémon with Power Whip!”
Dhelmise began to spin itself in a wide arc, charging up power for its swing. Detaching its anchor from the wheel, the kelp chaining them together allowed the heavy object to reach even farther out, Drampa now in its path. The anchor’s arm slammed into Drampa’s side, the dragon letting out a piercing squeal as it was thrown off its stomach and onto its side, sliding down near the edge of the platform.
“Drampa!” Sam screamed.
Drampa winced as it pushed itself back upright on the arm folded underneath its body. Before it could settle back down onto its stomach, Drampa hoisted itself up, now floating just a few inches off the ground. Sam, seeing his Pokémon’s vigor, giggled.
“Fighting strong ‘til the very end!” Sam pumped his fist. “Drampa, hit Dhelmise with another Ice Beam!”
Drampa, its mouth still cold and partially frozen from before, opened wide and shot another of its Ice Beams, striking Dhelmise in the knot in the center of its wheel. Dhelmise resisted against the beam’s force, ethereally grunting through the intense chill running through its body. However, Drampa let out a violent cough, forcing it to end its attack.
As the poisoned, purple rashes on Drampa’s body glowed and pulsed even harder, Drampa attempted to catch its breath as it rested its belly down on the floor. With its breathing getting quieter and its eyes slowly closing, Drampa reserved just enough strength to roll over to the opposite side where Dhelmise hit it, enabling itself to get as comfortable as it could before fainting.
“Even when poisoned,” Sam whispered, “you never give up. Thank you, Drampa.”
Sam took Drampa’s Poké Ball out from his belt, aimed it, and returned his Pokémon inside. He then looked to Acerola and Dhelmise, whose smile was almost childlike and genuinely happy.
“Looks like you’re finally getting what you want,” Sam sighed, pulling his final ball off his belt. “Plus, you took out five Pokémon before I could, so that’s something–”
“Just send out your Aegislash already so we can get this over with!” she shouted.
Sam cocked his head, hardly anything else left to say. “Right. Let’s finish this, Aegislash!”
Sam swung his ball out into the battlefield, where it burst open and spat out its white energy that transformed into Sam’s trusty shield-and-sword Pokémon. With it finally in the flesh, Acerola let out a high-pitched giggle.
“Don’t get too excited, now!” Sam exclaimed. “I have the speed advantage again! Aegislash, attack Dhelmise with Iron Head!”
The joy Acerola felt instantly shifted to confusion as she watched Aegislash slide out from the enarme of its shield before catching it with a spin. Keeping its momentum going, it spun around once more and flung its shield with its cloth arm, sending it soaring into the center of Dhelmise’s wheel, sending it shooting back with a loud clang.
“He didn’t use Shadow Claw?” Acerola continued staring at Aegislash as its shield bounced and rolled back into its grasp. “No matter. Dhelmise, attack Aegislash with Earthquake!”
Dhelmise shot back out into the battle swinging its anchor up and over its wheel to blast it into the floor. While the surface of the arena looked unscathed, a pulse of golden energy radiated throughout it, making it rumble with mounting intensity. Just then, the ground underneath Aegislash exploded upward, blasting chunks of glass up into it as they were all launched up into the air.
“Aegislash!” Sam watched as his Pokémon and the rain of the broken floor fell back to the ground, unable to hold onto its shield as it bounced out. “Ae… Aegislash?”
Aegislash rolled over face down before managing to push itself upright with its arms. Balancing on the tip of its blade, it snatched its shield from off the ground and hopped back up to float and face Acerola and her last Pokémon.
“Hey, what gives? Your Aegislash does know Ghost-type moves, doesn’t it?” Sam remained stoic and silent in the face of Acerola’s questioning, annoying her further. “I’m not certain what your strategy is here, but just don’t start crying like a bitch when it bites you in the ass! Dhelmise, attack!”
Dhelmise flew forward at a rapid speed, the tip of its anchor aimed at the pommel of Aegislash’s sword.
Sam smirked. “That’s it. Aegislash, King’s Shield!”
Sam’s Pokémon slipped back into its shield and folded its arms behind it, preparing for Dhelmise’s arrival. Acerola smirked this time, instantly unnerving Sam. Right before Dhelmise’s attack could connect, a rift of bright, purple light opened up in the air right before it, Dhelmise flying into it before it and the portal vanished from existence, leaving no trace of them. The wind trailing Dhelmise blew into Aegislash’s barrier, the force betraying its appearance.
Sam and Aegislash frantically began looking around them, giving Acerola slight amusement. “Did you really think I wasn’t going to be prepared for that? I’m the Ghost-type master around these parts, so Aegislash’s King’s Shield came as no surprise to me. Phantom Force is a wonderful attack to work around it though, because next turn, it’s going to hit, and Aegislash is gonna go down.”
Acerola pointed her thumb downward, making Sam and Aegislash even more nervous. “All you had to do was use Shadow Claw, and you might have beaten me already, but whatever strategy you were planning is going to be for nothing now!”
Sam swung his backpack around and pulled it open, spotting several Hyper Potions sitting amongst the top.
“You want to use your turn to heal your Pokémon?” Acerola tauntingly asked. “Fine. I don’t mind using my next turn to heal mine. I’d like to fight on as even footing as possible.”
Sam could only continue staring at the contents of his bag before Aegislash turned to him, impatiently awaiting his decision.
“Okay, this is taking long enough.” Acerola snapped her fingers. “Dhelmise, Phantom Force!”
Sam dropped his bag to the ground as another purple rift opened directly above Aegislash, pointing up at it with fearsome intensity. “Aegislash! King’s Shield!”
“What?!” Acerola shrieked. “You’d really risk trying that again?!”
“Damn straight! Aegislash, now!”
Dhelmise rocketed down from its portal, its body now trailing a purple energy like a spectral comet. Aegislash let out a metallic shout as it flexed itself up at the oncoming anchor, the center of its shield held to take the center of its tip. Dhelmise crashed into its target, unveiling Aegislash’s blue, hexagonal barrier, several spaces in it missing.
As Dhelmise continued to push forward, more spots in the aural wall began to flicker in and out, Aegislash struggling to maintain it. With a guttural groan turning into a loud shout, Aegislash concentrated and shifted every space in its barrier to the single point where Dhelmise’s anchor pushed down, forming a single, bright space. The shrunken barrier then burst out, blasting Dhelmise up with it, Sam and Acerola staring slack-jawed and wide eyed at Aegislash’s accomplishment.
“Impossible!” Acerola noticed as Dhelmise’s Anchor jiggled slightly loose from the wheel upon its return to its spot. “Its King’s Shield actually worked twice in a row?!”
“Then it looks like my strategy is paying off!” Upon Aegislash coming back to Sam, he crossed his arms in front of his face, his Z-Ring and Steelium Z inside of it flashing to life.
With the Z-Ring glowing, Aegislash slid its cloth arms from behind the back of its blade and crossed them out like Sam was. The two of them then put their arms down before crossing them out in front of them. Sam and Aegislash punched their fists together, a metallic bang sounding off throughout them before they finally punched both arms out, completing the motions.
Two concentrated Z-Power beams shot from Sam’s fists and orbited around Aegislash like electrons on an atom. At once, both beams merged into Aegislash and flared up its aura, awaiting its next attack upon its trainer’s call. Acerola looked on in marvel of Aegislash as its energy surged, easing into a soft, accepting smile before nodding to Sam, giving permission to finish the battle right.
“Okay, buddy,” Sam shouted, “let’s not disappoint her any longer! Now, finish Dhelmise with Corkscrew Crash!”
Hopping out from the handle of its shield, Aegislash swooped down tip-first and caught it in its arm before pulling up and flying its way at Dhelmise. Crossing its arms over its hilt and holding its shield close, it began to spin rapidly, a lustrous wind picking up around it until its body transformed into a blurry drill that only flew faster toward Acerola’s Pokémon.
Dhelmise floated up slightly, Aegislash following it intently to ram itself into its shank. Dhelmise resisted as long as it could, a shower of sparks spraying off to the sides in a curtain of pyrotechnics that dazzled both trainers on either side of it. Finally, Dhelmise could hold on no more, allowing Aegislash to throw itself and its target back into the rock wall behind Acerola, creating a blast of rock and dust that obscured the two Pokémon.
The drone and grinding of metal on metal began to die down, and Aegislash quickly flew out from the cloud to take Sam’s side as they watched and waited to see if it had actually taken it down. As Acerola was finally able to turn around to observe the eventual fate of her Pokémon, she saw Dhelmise half-buried inside the wall, the dial in its compass eye rocking to and fro. As Acerola smiled and aimed her Ultra Ball at her last fainted Pokémon, Sam and Aegislash faced each other before they both yelled in delight, throwing themselves onto each other for a celebratory hug.
“Aegislash, you absolute legend!” Sam howled.
Once Dhelmise returned into its ball, Acerola reached into her jacket pocket and pulled out a small remote with a green-ringed button and a red-ringed button. Pushing the first one, the teleportation pad she had guarded whirred on and lit up in a swirl of multiple colors. As well, the crater left by Dhelmise’s Earthquake began to glow, catching Sam and Aegislash’s eye. They then watched as each and every piece of the broken floor inside and around it began to evaporate into nothingness as the hole in the floor began to morph and rise. The broken surface smoothed out and flattened, and once it became flush with the rest of the floor, the glow of that spot dimmed down, looking good as new once again.
Acerola then walked up to Sam and Aegislash, her arms crossed. “I can’t say that was the battle I was hoping for, but it’s a battle that I’m entirely satisfied with. Thank you so much, Sam, Aegislash.”
“No,” Sam replied, reaching out to shake her hand, “thank you. That was one of the better battles I’ve had since coming here.”
Acerola then reached her hand to Aegislash, who unhesitantly clasped it in both of its cloth arms and let her shake. “I really appreciate it. Obviously, I don’t expect Aegislash in its current condition to be able to outlast any of the next trainers you need to face, so you can stay in here and heal your Pokémon up if you like.”
“Don’t mind if I do.” Sam spun around and squatted over his bag, digging out five Revives and six Max Potions out from his back, sorting them out neatly.
Acerola swung her arms behind her back and playfully stepped around him so that she’d be in the outer edge of his vision. “Although, I’d still like to know something. Why didn’t Aegislash attack with Shadow Claw at any point?”
“I, ehe…” Sam felt a little queasy about the response he was about to give. “Pardon the pun, but… it’s a secret I plan to take to my grave.”
Acerola giggled, nonetheless appreciating it as she stepped aside. “Whenever you’re ready, the pad’s ready for you.”
“Mmhm. Thanks.”
Acerola glanced over to Sam as he quickly tapped a Revive against the center buttons of his Poké Balls with the efficiency and speed of a pitstop mechanic. As the medicine was digitally fed inside each ball, Sam turned to his Aegislash and began to spray him liberally with the first of his Max Potions. As he continued healing his Pokémon, Acerola turned her head away as her cheeks began to blush.