- It seems clear to me that this Marowak has an upturned muzzle. - commented Dawn while she and Ash were looking, close, at the photo that Kiawe, the Captain of the test, had given them in his hand.
- Yes, you're right, it's very obvious. Ash said.
At that moment a shadow rushed at them with great speed. Luckily the coach noticed it and took the girl by the hand moving away.
- Caution! Pikachu, use Thunderbolt! -
- It's the same Pokémon from the photo! - exclaimed the surprised coordinator and then took the Pokédex from her pocket and pointed it at her. - Marowak, Boneguard Pokémon: The bone-flame that Marowak twirls like a staff belonged to his mother, and her spirit protects it. He mourns his fallen comrades as he visits their graves along the roadside. -
While Dawn was still concentrating on consulting the Pokédex, another Marowak jumped up behind them.
- Piplup, use Bubble Beam! - exclaimed the coordinator, turning around.
Both Pikachu and Piplup used attacks ordered by their trainers, however the enemy Pokémon avoided them and jumped to the ground in front of them. Ash looked at them defiantly and Dawn turned to look at them in a similar way.
- Hi you coaches, ja! - exclaimed a blond man with a backpack on his shoulders. - Do you want to wrestle me? Yup? -
The two friends looked at each other in confusion, then the test Captain took a few steps forward and spoke.
- In the first part of the test you will have to defeat the two Marowaks and the mountain man Eric. -
- It will be fun, ja! - Eric exclaimed throwing his Pokéball.
A Magmar came out of the hillbilly's Pokéball and Dawn took the Pokédex again to check.
- Magmar, the fire-breathing Pokémon: a good hot bath is ideal for regaining strength, and
Magmar knows it. Only that he bathes in molten lava! In battle, he shoots flames from his body. -
- Dawn, what do you say? I'd say start with Pikachu and Piplup alone, keep the others at rest until the Dominant Pokémon arrives. - Ash said looking at the enemy Pokémon with a defiant air.
- Okay! - Exclaimed Dawn, looking at him and nodding her head and then turned to look at the Pokémon in turn.
- Attack first, ja, Magmar, use Ember! -
Eric's Pokémon stood still to launch the attack, however the two Marowaks jumped and prepared to use Bone Club.
- Piplup, use Whirlpool! -
When the Penguin Pokémon launched the move it knocked the three enemies to the ground.
- In one move! Dawn exclaimed, turning to the coach, smiling enthusiastically.
- Fantastic! Piplup was great! - he echoed just as happy.
When, however, they exchanged high fives they realized that the two Marowaks had stood up. They were using False Swipe. Luckily Piplup and Pikachu had jumped.
The two friends immediately turned away, alarmed.
- Pikachu, use Quick Attack! -
- Piplup, use Bubble Beam! -
Piplup's Bubble Beam hit the two Pokémon at the same time, staggering them, and Pikachu's Quick Attack knocked them out for good.
- WE REALLY DID IT! they exclaimed happily, turning at the same time towards each other.This time they high-fived each other. One with both hands.
- Very good. - Kawe said taking a few steps and attracting their attention. - But don't rejoice too much, because he's coming. -
- You mean the Totem Pokémon, don't you? - Dawn asked.A few seconds later, heavy footsteps were heard approaching. Ash and Dawn had jumped in alarm, but they knew exactly what to expect. Although Kawe didn't answer, they understood that this was the last phase of the test.
The Dominant Pokémon manifested itself in all its importance. He stopped a few meters from them, uttering his cries, and then looked at them with a sharp, defiant air.
Dawn decided to point her Pokédex at him to hear the description.
– Salazzle, Toxin Lizard Pokémon: It seems that Salazzles are all female. They attract many male Salandit and live in groups. Their poisonous gas is rich in pheromones, which are sometimes used as an ingredient in perfumes. -
- Let's be careful. - Ash said looking at the rival Pokémon with a hard expression. - I have the impression that it won't be easy to defeat him at all. -
Salazzle suddenly used Flame Burst on Piplup and KO him within seconds.
– Oh no, Piplup! - Dawn exclaimed, starting to run, instinctively, to catch up with him.The coach looked at her for a moment, then looked back at Salazzle. He was still worried, but he forced himself to keep a hard gaze.
- Piplup had the advantage of the type, but it didn't help... unfortunately it's as I thought... - he said through gritted teeth, continuing to look at him, quickly reflecting on a possible strategy. - Okay Pikachu! Let's use our Z move!! -
– Pika? - said, confused, the yellow Pokémon, only turning his gaze towards him.
But Ash! It's too early to use the special move already! Dawn exclaimed, in the distance, kneeling next to Piplup.
– Pikachu, go, use 10,000,000 Volt Thunderbolt! -
Pikachu leapt at him to high-five him. When it returned to the ground, facing the Totem Pokémon, it began to store energy and later released it all at once.
Salazzle was hit full blown, however it didn't seem to be affected in the slightest.
- How is it possible?! - Ash exclaimed widening his eyes.
Pikachu, meanwhile, was breathing heavily. Unfortunately, he had already consumed a lot of energy. In addition, using such a powerful move at the beginning of the battle certainly didn't help him.
Salazzle used the Toxic attack on Pikachu and it caused him to get poisoned. In the end, the yellow Pokémon could barely keep its eyes open.
- We have to intervene. - said the girl, with a decisive air, standing up and taking a Pokéball from her pocket. - Cleffa, I choose you! -
However, Salazzle used Toxin once again and hit Cleffa as soon as he hit the ground.
- Oh no, Cleffa! -
– Pikachu, can you do it?! - exclaimed the alarmed boy.
– Pika...! - Pikachu said, with difficulty, making an effort to appear confident, looking at the dominant Pokémon.
– Courage, use Quick Attack! -
However, the Pokémon moved much slower than expected and this, of course, allowed Salazzle to get ahead of it. He used Poison Gas hitting him in full and worsening his health.
- It's going badly! - commented Dawn, terrified, looking at Pikachu.
Salazzle, at that point, quickly approached Cleffa and used Double Slap.
CLEFFA! - exclaimed the mistress returning to look at her Pokémon.
By now he had finished KO, while Pikachu could barely stand up.
– All right, if you really want war... LITTEN, DARTRIX, ORICORIO, everybody get out! -
- Wait, Ash! Let's think about strategy!! So you don't improve anything!! - Dawn exclaimed, more and more worried.
But he didn't even seem to hear her and began ordering them one attack after another.
– LITTEN, USE SCRATCH! DARTRIX, USA CATCHED! ORICORIO, USE AIR SHAVER! -– Ash, what did you do?! They are all direct attacks! They all risk getting poisoned!! -
And indeed, it happened, exactly, like this. The attacks of Ash's Pokémon did little or nothing to the rival and, moreover, they ended up with the poisoning status problem.
- Damn! Dawn exclaimed, increasingly alarmed, shifting her gaze to Cleffa. - Cleffa, use Sing! -
She tried to salvage the situation, however, he soon realized that Cleffa was powerless to do anything. The poisoning had paralyzed him in place, he was unable to act and could barely keep his eyes open.
Salazzle with a well-aimed series of Fire Throw knocked out all of their Pokémon.
- He won't win! - she exclaimed angrily and then turned to her friend behind her. - Dawn, call Popplio and tell him to use his Z-Move! -
- No! Using the Z-Move so suddenly could cause him to run out of energy in one fell swoop!! -
- Trust me! We could win with one move! Popplio has the type advantage!! -
– Salazzle is much stronger than all of our Pokémon combined! How can you expect the type advantage to be a point in our favor!? -
While they were talking, the Dominant Pokémon used Fire Launch again. Ash brought his hands to his head and lowered it slightly as Dawn stepped back to then reach for a Pokéball from her pocket.
– All right, then let's try it... Popplio, use Abyssal Vortex! -
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– Your Pokémon are all fine. - Nurse Joy said, behind the counter, smiling at Dawn. - Undoubtedly, they didn't have a good time, but the important thing is that they recovered. -
- Thank you, Nurse Joy. - said the girl smiling.
But then, instinctively, he turned to look at Ash. He was still sitting, in a chair at the far end of the room, and didn't seem to be looking at anything in particular. At that moment, he got up and started walking away. He passed her as she followed him with a worried look.
- Don't worry, he'll get over it. - said the nurse, attracting his gaze again. - You learn many things from a defeat... and you don't know how many coaches have lost during the Wela Volcano trial, they told me it's one of the hardest trials of the Tour of the Islands. -
The nurse was smiling, so Dawn forced a smile back. However, she was still very worried. He resented Ash a little for being too rash. Perhaps if they had been more cautious they would have managed to turn the situation around and win.
♥️♥️♥️
Dawn had sat down on a bench in the hall. There was, practically, only her in the room. His head was down, needless to say, he was thinking about everything that had happened in the last few hours.
"What should I do? Ash has gone who knows where... I can't say he's training, because I have his Pokéballs... why is he like this? Is it so hard for him to digest a defeat?"
At some point, however, his gaze became more determined. She lifted it and stood up resolutely and then started walking towards the front door.
♥️♥️♥️
Ash, meanwhile, was in his room at the Pokémon Center. He was lying on the bed and stared at the ceiling with an absorbed expression. However, when he heard voices coming from outside, he got up and went to look at the window.
He saw Dawn training with her Pokémon. Notably, at the time, Piplup was using Bubble Beam against Cleffa.
The coach couldn't help but smile. He'd been surprised at first, but it was just like Dawn to react like that to a defeat. Although, he acknowledged, he was most to blame for their failure in the test, she was the one who was training. It was she who wanted to come up with the strategy that he hadn't been able to think of on the spot. She was the one who was working for both of them...but that couldn't be right. Ash wanted to come to take his responsibilities. Maybe it would take some time, but he would have succeeded because he really cared about it.
♥️♥️♥️
- Piplup, use Whirlpool! -
- Pi-piplaa! - exclaimed the Pokémon raising its fins and creating a huge vortex on its head.
After a few seconds, he moved the fins in front of him and the huge whirlpool spun in place.
- Perfect! Gorebyss, it's your turn! - exclaimed the girl aiming the Pokéball.
- Goreebyss! - emitted the water Pokémon jumping into the whirlpool.
- Use Hydro Vortex! -
Gorebyss's attack unleashed a unique power. Thanks to the Z-Move, he was able to move inside the vortex with incredible speed.
- But it's great! - Dawn exclaimed, smiling happily. - Wait for Ash to see it, we have victory in hand!! -
However, she hadn't thought of moving and... the Whirlpool hit her full blown and broke.
- HA! - he exclaimed and then took the Pokéball out of his pocket before falling to the ground. - Gorebyss, come back! -
Of course, Dawn ended up on the ground. It hadn't been a particularly bad fall, she had landed sitting up with her legs folded in front of her. Before she could even reconnect to reality Ash, who suddenly appeared in front of her, held out his hand. The girl was quite surprised, but he was smiling.
- Excellent job, congratulations. - he said even before he took her hand. - You really had a brilliant idea, in this way we can also exploit the surprise effect. -
She blushed a little, instinctively lowering her gaze, then raised it, returning to her natural color, and took his hand to get up.
- I thought maybe we could make better use of the power of the Idrium Z, maybe that's the key to victory. -
- It's a brilliant idea, I fully approve! -
The coordinator hearing him say this smiled with her eyes closed. In fact, she had been struggling not to blush again.
- How about we train together? I know that sometimes I'm really annoying, I get demoralized and you can't tell me anything anymore... I'm like that and I can't help it, but seeing you working so hard gives me a huge boost! -
- Ok, let's train together! - exclaimed the other, in response, continuing to smile and nodding her head yes.