Author's Note:
And the next chapter is here, and not after something like 5 months! Isn't that great? Not much to say other than...wow, Ash has a Dragonite now. Who's excited about that? Anyway, hope you enjoy.
Chapter 47: Performing With a Watery Charm
"All right, Greninja use Double Team!"
Ash spread his arms out in front of him, feeling the rush of power in his veins that he knew the Ninja Pokemon felt as well. This time, Crabominable wouldn't stand a chance. As copies of Greninja spread around the battlefield, on the ground and in the air, their opponent stared around cautiously, his trainer calmly watching from behind him. Hala wasn't one to be taken off guard, so Ash knew this strike needed to be executed perfectly.
"Now!" Ash yelled, raising his right arm up above him as though holding up the sky. He could feel his heart racing, energy surging through him. "Let's do this! WATER SHURIKEN!"
All the Greninja copies in the air cried out in answer, the echoing giving Crabominable a slightly hesitant look. Each raised his arm, the water rising above and spinning rapidly, glowing in a bright blue light. Then, Ash felt his heart somehow beating faster, feeling the desperation in both him and Greninja to make this work. It was a connection of their hearts he had rarely felt as strongly.
"Greeennnn!" Greninja cried out, his copies rushing to a spot in the air, the spinning shuriken above his real form expanding more and more, glowing brighter and brighter, changing from blue to yellow to red and orange.
Ash vaguely noticed Hala starting to move his arms in rhythm with Crabominable, but he and Greninja weren't worried. They were ready this time. They wouldn't fail. They were stronger than ever. They were more connected than ever.
"GOOOO!" Ash shouted, thrusting his arm out in front of him with all his might. If he hadn't been so focused on the attack, he might've winced at the pulling of his muscles.
As Greninja's glowing Water Shuriken rushed towards Crabominable, the opposing Pokemon unleashed his own move, the flying fists of All-Out-Pummeling coming out to meet Greninja's attack. Ash felt as though it was all in slow motion, the two mighty attacks heading to meet on an ultimate collision course.
But then Greninja's shuriken met the Z-Move, and it evaporated in an instant.
"Gren!" the Ninja Pokemon cried out in surprise.
Ash couldn't even react as Greninja was struck by the mighty fists that rushed towards him. He felt his chest and stomach sting from each hit, and his eyes bulged with the final one that sent Greninja crashing to the ground. Both trainer and Pokemon dropped to the ground as Greninja's form faded.
"Greninja is unable to battle!" Professor Kukui called out from the sideline, waving his arm to Hala and Crabominable. "Hala and Crabominable win the match!"
"Ruff ruff!" Rockruff barked from the professor's side, before the Puppy Pokemon ran forward to Ash, eyes wide in concern.
Ash smiled weakly as Rockruff reached him, struggling to his knees. Rockruff had made a habit of ensuring he was okay whenever he collapsed after a battle with Greninja. That was often over the last week and a half.
"Thanks Rockruff," Ash whispered, sitting up a little straighter and taking a few deep breaths. "I'm okay." Rockruff barked happily at that and hopped into Ash's lap and gave his face a few licks, before Pikachu and Riolu came over to also make sure he was okay. Once they were all convinced, Ash quickly headed over to Greninja, helping his fierce fighter to his feet, while Kukui and Hala came over.
"I thought you had it there for a second, cousin," Kukui told Ash chuckling as he looked to Hala. "You're pushing him pretty hard!"
"I'd like to go easier," Hala answered with a hearty laugh. "Ash won't budge on having me use Z-Moves whenever we battle."
"If we're going to get stronger, we need to fight the toughest opponents at their best," Ash said stubbornly, smiling as Greninja nodded his approval. He was relieved as Greninja managed to stand upright on his own two feet, although he was still breathing heavily from the exhaustion of the battle.
Kukui seemed impressed by that, nodding in agreement. "That's the way to do it, cousin!"
"Ruff ruff!" Rockruff barked, as though voicing his own approval. He even seemed to growl a bit, as though he wanted to battle after watching all of the training sessions between Ash and Hala.
"Looks like you've got Rockruff more fired up than ever!" Kukui said, looking almost surprised as he exchanged a look with Hala.
"The sign of a true trainer," Hala said knowingly, nodding slowly. He seemed distracted a moment, then looked at Greninja. "I suppose we'd better end it there for the day, Ash. I expect you'll want to get Greninja to the Pokemon Centre."
"How about battling some of my other Pokemon?" Ash asked, not wanting to stop. "While Greninja's at the Pokemon Centre, we could have another battle!"
Hala chuckled, shaking his head. "You need to take a break as well, Ash. Why don't you explore Melemele Island for a bit. You haven't seen as much of it as I'm sure you'd like to."
Kukui nodded, looking up as they noticed Kiawe and Sophocles emerging from one of the school buildings. "You could head out with Kiawe and Sophocles," he suggested, waving them over. "You guys are heading out to meet Lillie and the others today, right?"
"Yeah," Sophocles said excitedly. "They're finishing up that project on water Pokemon."
Ash hadn't met these other students yet, and was excited by the thought of seeing some new water Pokemon if there were any. "Are there lots of Pokemon that are only in Alola where you're going?" he asked eagerly.
"I guess so," Sophocles answered. "Lana has a Popplio, too, so you'll be able to see that at the very least. And Mallow and Lillie's Pokemon."
"I'm in!" Ash said excitedly, Kiawe and Sophocles looking pleased by that.
"Ruff!"
"I think Rockruff wants to go with you as well," Kukui laughed, the Puppy Pokemon nodding. "Well, why don't you get Greninja to the Pokemon Centre and head out to find the others. I'm sure they'll be waiting for you."
The three trainers nodded, Ash returning Greninja to his pokeball, before they set off in the direction of the Pokemon Centre. It wasn't too far way, with one having been set up by the school when it was opened, so once Ash had entrusted Greninja to Nurse Joy's care, he and his friends were quickly able to set off towards the forest where Ash had first seen the school from when he'd arrived in Alola.
He wondered briefly if he would see that strange Pokemon again, but he didn't have much time to think about that, with Kiawe and Sohocles leading him down a path he'd never even noticed before when he'd rushed into the forest without any idea of where to go. For once, Ash decided to take it easy and let Kiawe and Sophocles lead the way, still feeling the tiredness from his battle with Hala.
It was quite interesting to be able to see the forest a little clearer on this outing, with a few more unfamiliar Pokemon out and about. Ash realized he'd probably been so focused on that Grubbin back when he'd first been here that he hadn't even noticed all of the other Pokemon. Sophocles and Kiawe were able to fill him in on what some of the Pokemon were though, and he was excitedly fiddling with an empty pokeball at his waist, thinking about trying to catch one, when they finally exited the forest, reaching a clearing that led towards a small beach area.
When they emerged, Ash noticed two girls up ahead, running towards them, apparently noticing their arrival right away. One was a green-haired girl in grey overalls over a pink shirt, the other a blonde girl with a white dress and hat. Both were carrying Pokemon in their arms, the green-haired girl holding what appeared to be a pink fruit-like Pokemon with green growth emerging from its head, the other girl holding what Ash was sure was a Vulpix, but it was white as snow.
"Sophocles! Kiawe!" the green-haired girl cried out. "Lana's in trouble!"
"What?!" Kiawe shouted in surprise, his hand quickly going to his pokeball that held his Turtonator. "Where?"
"At the beach," the other girl said. "There was a wild Popplio, and it...I don't know, it got mad at her when she thought she saw Kyogre."
Sophocles sighed in exasperation, despite the panicked looks on his friends faces. "Kyogre...it's always Kyogre."
"Never mind that," the green-haired girl said quickly. "Come on!"
Ash followed as the others ran, not sure what was going on, but ready to help if needed. Pikachu and Riolu seemed ready as well, as did Rockruff, the Puppy Pokemon growling in anticipation of the coming fight he seemed to expect. Ash wasn't sure what to expect, but he was assuming they were in for quite a fight.
When they rounded the corner and looked upon the scene at the beach, however, what he saw made his jaw drop in surprise. There was another girl, this one with blue hair like the sea, and next to her was a blue sea lion Pokemon with a big pink nose. They were crouching behind a big rock, while something seemed to be attacking them with a never ending Bubble Beam. When he squinted his eyes, he could see that it actually seemed to be the same kind of Pokemon that was with the blue-haired girl.
He decided to act, seeing that his friends were too unsure of what to do, and he prepared to order Pikachu to use Thunderbolt, but Rockruff jumped in front of him right away, looking back at him and giving him a quick bark. Ash grinned, knowing what Rockruff wanted. "All right, Rockruff! Help out with Rock Throw!"
"Rrruff!" Rockruff cried out, running forward as fast as he could, before leaping over the blue-haired girl and on top of the rock she was hiding behind. He didn't quite have the precision of Pikachu, but he was clearly pretty fast, and Ash was impressed with his determination. The Puppy Pokemon's neck fur began to glow, and a moment later, stones blasted forward, meeting the Bubble Beam head on before pushing forward and exploding in front of the opposing Pokemon, causing it to leap backwards, flipping over and landing atop another stone, balancing perfectly on its bottom two flippers.
It seemed like a reflexive flip, and Ash was sure that this Pokemon was going to quickly follow it up with a dangerous attack. Instead, though, it looked up at the new arrivals curiously. Then, it bowed, its head tilting upwards after a moment, watching the newcomers expectantly.
"Ru ru ru!" Riolu suddenly cheered, starting to clap from Ash's shoulder.
"Pika chu chu!" Pikachu then joined in, applauding as well.
Ash hesitated a moment, and then realized that it actually seemed to be working. The Pokemon seemed to be quite pleased, forgetting the blue-haired girl entirely as the other trainers joined in with a few weak claps. When they were finished, Ash looked up at Riolu, giving the young Pokemon a thumbs up for getting it started, even though he suspected Riolu had just legitimately been impressed.
"Is it safe to come out now?" the girl behind the rock called out, looking up nervously.
"I...I think so, Lana," the green-haired girl said, looking curiously at Ash and then to her friend and nodding. "Are you and Popplio okay?"
"Yeah," Lana muttered, getting up and looking cautiously at her attacker, who was now doing a few flips on its own, as though warming up for something later. "Geez...all Popplio and I were doing was looking for Kyogre, and then that one got upset because we weren't paying attention to its dancing." She looked back as Rockruff bounded over to the group, and then up to Ash. "Thanks for helping me."
"No problem!" Ash said happily, smiling. "My name's Ash by the way. And these guys are Pikachu and Riolu!" he gestured to the Pokemon on his shoulders.
"Ash is in Alola learning about Z-Moves and doing some special training with Hala and Kukui," Kiawe explained, fingering his Z-Ring as he spoke. "He's a student in the Kalos region."
"Kalos?" the blonde girl asked, looking interested. "Where Hala went last semester?" When Kiawe nodded, she looked to Ash, eyes wide with curiosity. "I'm Lillie, and this is Snowy," she said, holding her white Vulpix up. "Hala and Kukui have mentioned you. And another student at your school...Serena, I think?"
"Serena's one of my best friends!" Ash told her, nodding. "She's still in Kalos, but Hala did talk to her about something."
Lillie nodded, smiling. "She sounds like an amazing person. I've heard all about what she did with helping that Absol heal from a serious injury."
"She's the best," Ash assured her, happy to know that Hala had spoken highly of Serena. "She's getting Absol trained up for Pokemon performances now."
"Pokemon performances?" the green-haired girl, who quickly introduced herself as Mallow, asked. "Are those like trials?"
Ash didn't quite know how to answer that, but Kiawe answered for him. "Not quite. From what I've heard, they don't involve battling, although some parts involve doing different tasks, and there's a lot of dancing it seems." He seemed pleased by that last part.
"Serena would explain it best," Ash said, glancing over as the Popplio who'd attacked Lana seemed to be hopping closer to the group, apparently waiting for them to watch it do more flips or something. "There's a Theme Performance and a Freestyle Performance. The Theme Performance has things like fashion shows, solving puzzles and baking with your Pokemon, while the Freestyle Performance involves trying to do a whole bunch of amazing moves with your Pokemon to impress the crowd and judges. Unlike Pokemon Contests and their Appeals round, the trainer has to be an important part of it, too."
"That sounds really fun!" Mallow exclaimed, looking at her Pokemon, which Ash discovered was a Bounsweet from his PokeDex. "I bet we'd do really well at the baking, right Bounsweet."
"Pop! Lio popplio!"
The group all glanced up as the wild Popplio cried out, sounding frustrated. Lana sighed in exasperation as she looked at it, her own Popplio looking a bit nervous. "Speaking of performances...this one seems to like eyes on it all the time." She glared at the ground a moment. "Can't even look for Kyogre..."
Ash scanned the Popplio with his PokeDex, finding the feisty Pokemon to be pretty entertaining as it did a flew flips through the air with its newly assembled audience. "Popplio, the Sea Lion Pokemon," the PokeDex spoke, an image of it appearing on the screen. "A water type. Popplio can control water balloons and works hard so it can make bigger balloons." As the PokeDex finished, Ash glanced up to see Popplio demonstrating its water balloon talents, a big bubble expanding above it, before it swatted it up into the air, where it popped and showered it with a sparkling spray.
"It seems like a real...Performer." Ash glanced up at Pikachu, his partner Pokemon looking thoughtful as though thinking the same thing as him.
Lillie surprisingly seemed to read Ash's thoughts, politely applauding as Popplio began to do version of juggling with three smaller water balloons. "Popplio could probably use someone to bring out its performing talents even more."
"Serena doesn't have any water types..." Ash paused, watching with the others as Popplio continued performing a few simple routines. It definitely had a bit of an attitude, constantly looking at the group as it finished up a different stunt, and refusing to do more until there was some applause. It reminded him a bit of that Jigglypuff that used to run around Kanto and Johto.
"Pikapi?" Pikachu asked, patting his cheek from his shoulder.
Ash looked up at him. "I think we should see if Popplio would like to take its talents to the big stage." He then stepped forward, the others stepping back, looking excited to see what would play out. "Popplio!" he called out, getting the Sea Lion Pokemon's attention as it bowed once more, finishing a routine. "I want to challenge you to a battle. I think I know someone who would love to perform with you. If I win, would you let me bring you to her to meet her?"
Popplio at first looked irritated that he hadn't been applauding its most recent routine, but as he spoke, it considered him curiously, tilting its head. Ash smiled, seeing that his request seemed to intrigue the water type.
Then, Riolu hopped down off of his shoulder, running up a few steps closer to Popplio, and he began to do a small dancing routine. It almost seemed to be a mixture of Hawlucha's posing antics, and some of Serena's more graceful performance routines, but it got Popplio's attention. "Ruru!" Riolu cried out as he finished, looking up excitedly, before giving himself a little cheer, which the others chuckled at, before joining in.
"Yeah, Riolu learned that from Serena," Ash continued, giving the young fighting type a thumbs up. "Serena can teach you even more, and you can perform on a stage and help her become Kalos Queen!"
"Pop popplio..." Popplio's eyes were bright with excitement and interest, and before Ash could react, it was leaping forward, staring down Riolu, before looking up at Ash, and narrowing its eyes. So it wants to battle Riolu. Well, he beat a Z-Move, so I bet he can handle it.
"You ready for a battle, Riolu?" Ash asked the Emanation Pokemon, Riolu turning around in surprise, but nodding and smiling a moment later.
"Be careful, Ash," Lana spoke up, watching the opposing Popplio nervously. "It's not just a performing Popplio...it's a fighter."
"We've seen Ash and Riolu fight, Lana," Kiawe said confidently, folding his arms as he looked ahead to watch the battle. "This'll be a piece of cake."
Ash appreciated the warning and the kind words. Lana was right that he needed to be careful, though. This wasn't quite like his battle with Hau. Popplio had a much different style, and that would mean he'd have to approach the fight much differently. Speed and in close fighting could get him in trouble. Although he wasn't sure he had much else given Riolu's lack of experience overall.
"Pop!" Popplio then cried out, deciding to begin the battle. It was leaping towards Riolu in an instant, and Ash barely had time to order a counter.
"Endure!" he shouted, Riolu, bracing himself in tune with his call.
"Ru!" he grunted out, feet sliding back on the sand as Popplio, body enveloped in water, struck with all its force. An Aqua Jet, Ash noted, smiling. He'd always found that move useful with Buizel and Oshawott. Unfortunately, it seemed too useful for Popplio, Riolu's reaction time just a little off and unable to brace himself for the full power of the attack. His legs gave way and he fell back, propelled along the ground a few feet, before he struggled to stand once more.
Ash wasn't going to let Popplio react first again this time, though, and he quickly ordered Riolu's next move. "Quick Attack!"
"Ruru!" Riolu shouted, a white aura around his body as he darted forward at full speed.
Popplio's performing ability proved useful, however, and as Riolu tried driving his body into it, the Sea Lion Pokemon, flipped up, forming opening its mouth as it descended back to the ground with Riolu underneath it. "Liooo!"
The Bubble Beam crashed into Riolu from above, the Emanation Pokemon taken completely off guard. Unfortunately, that wasn't it, with Popplio swinging its bottom flippers out to send Riolu flying back across towards Ash with a mighty Pound attack.
"You okay, Riolu?" Ash called out, unsure of how much more he could push the young Pokemon. Riolu had managed to fight Crabrawler with speed, but Popplio was holding the advantage with that in this battle.
"Ruru!" Riolu cried out, looking determined as he got to his feet. He wasn't going to give up. I won't give up either, Ash vowed silently. We'll need to be more careful, though. He smiled as an idea came to him.
"All right, Riolu, let's use Quick Attack again!" Ash heard the others murmur in surprise, but he was confident this time. Popplio couldn't beat them the same way twice.
As Riolu charged forward once again, picking up speed with his Quick Attack, Ash noticed Popplio preparing to leap up again. He wanted to time his move right, though, and waited until he saw the Sea Lion Pokemon narrow its eyes and tense its flippers. As it started to jump, he called his next order.
"Endure!"
Riolu skidded to a halt, crossing his arms in front above his head as Popplio leaped upwards and flipped, aiming its Bubble Beam down towards him. He held on with everything he had, but he wasn't unguarded as Popplio began to descend this time, another Pound being prepared.
"Now, Quick-" Ash's eyes widened, watching Riolu's eyes suddenly narrow, before his arm darted upward, just as Popplio was about to reach him.
"Ru!" the Emanation Pokemon cried out, a white light surrounding his fist, looking sharp as he slashed upwards with it.
"Metal Claw!" Sophocles shouted in excitement from behind Ash.
"Liooo!" Popplio cried out, surprise and pain in its voice as it was sent flying into a nearby rock.
Ash blinked, surprised himself at the strength of the Metal Claw. Riolu was certainly impressing lately. He knew he couldn't think about that now, though, quickly looking ahead to his fighting type and pointing ahead. "All right, Riolu, use Quick Attack!"
Popplio was desperate now, knowing that the tide of battle had turned, and it managed to recover enough to prepare an Aqua Jet. Its body was surrounded by water, and it moved to meet Riolu just as the Emanation Pokemon was about to reach it. They crashed together, and water and sand flew up around them.
Ash knew who had more power behind their attack, though, and as Riolu skidded back out of the dust cloud, he called his last attack. "Metal Claw!"
He saw Popplio once again try to block, flipping back and dodging the first strike, before swinging its flippers forward with a Pound. Unfortunately, its smooth movements just weren't enough, and Riolu knocked it back into the sand. Ash moved to grab his pokeball.
"Go, pokeball!" he shouted, throwing it forward, watching the capture device fly out, hit the downed water type, and pull it in in a beam of energy. It shook three times, as usual, before a soft ding signalled its capture. "Yeah!" Ash shouted in glee, running up to congratulate Riolu, before picking up the pokeball. "We got Popplio!"
The others quickly came over, congratulating Ash and Riolu on their impressive victory. Rockruff seemed the most fired up, almost looking like he wanted to challenge Riolu as he began growling and pawing the ground in his excitement. Pikachu managed to settle him down, though.
"I bet Popplio will be very happy to be able to perform in Kalos," Lillie said excitedly. "It sounds like it'll be a perfect match.
"And if it isn't, it's a pretty good fighter for you, Ash," Sophocles pointed out.
Ash shook his head, although he knew it was somewhat true. "No, I have a gut feeling that Serena and Popplio will be great friends." He held up the pokeball, feeling it shake just a little at that. He sighed, looking at his new friends, while he thought of his other friends. Battling with Popplio had reminded him just how much he missed them. Maybe it's time for you to meet Serena, Popplio.
"Now Absol, try it again! One more time!"
Clemont watched from the sidelines with Trevor, Tierno and Shauna, as Absol braced himself, watching the barrage of bubbles rush towards him from Dawn's Piplup. For a moment, Clemont was sure the Disaster Pokemon would finally pull it off, his fur even standing up somewhat and ruffling a little. Unfortunately, he sagged as he was unable to do it, before sliding back and grunting as the Bubble Beam hit him.
"Don't worry, Absol, you'll get it soon!" Shauna called out encouragingly, absentmindedly stroking her Skitty's fur.
Clemont was sure that Absol would get it eventually, but he wasn't so sure about it being soon. Once he'd proposed working on the new move with Serena, she'd been interested right away. They'd worked on it every day since the semester had begun, along with their other friends. The most progress they'd seen so far, though, was a bit of his fur standing up and rustling.
"Is Absol okay?" Dawn called out, as she and Piplup moved across the battlefield to where Serena was crouched next to Absol.
"Sol," the dark type grunted, looking stubbornly at Serena, as though wanting to continue the training. Clemont knew Serena wasn't going to, though. She was always careful not to push Absol too far.
"It was still a good day, Absol," he heard Serena saying to the Disaster Pokemon. "You had better focus, and I was sure I felt a little breeze. I know you'll get it eventually!"
"Absol, with the way you got your rhythm back after your injuries, this'll be a piece of cake for you," Tierno added, nodding as though it was the most obvious thing in the world. Clemont couldn't disagree, though. He was sure Absol was capable of much more with how hard he tended to work.
Trevor was holding up his camera, looking down at some pictures he had been taking, and he smiled as he paused on one. "It does look like Absol's made some progress, especially recently," he said, showing Clemont a picture from a couple days ago when Absol had first shown signs of t, where Absol was looking like he was particularly straining. In the photo from today, he seemed to be far more relaxed and focused.
"I wish Ash was here," Serena then said, giving Absol a comforting hug. "He'd know what to do to take the next step."
Everyone was silent at that, likely all feeling the same way. They knew Ash had desperately wanted to learn more about his connection with Greninja, but that didn't make his absence any easier to deal with. And training and doing classwork without him just wasn't the same. Not to mention, with the first IPL match of the next semester not too far away, they were going to need him back.
Fortunately, they didn't need to dwell on that too much for the moment, as they noticed the doors to the battlefield area open up, and Marie entering through them. She looked quite excited as her eyes locked onto them and she ran to join them. She'd had a class when they'd first arrived, so Clemont supposed she had just finished.
"Hi Marie!" Dawn called out first, coming down off the battlefield to greet her roommate. "How was your class?"
Marie almost seemed ready to burst, holding something behind her back as she looked at everyone. "I had Yuzo's class that the guys had last semester," she began, smiling widely as she revealed what was behind her back. "And I got the starter Pokemon he gives the students!"
Everyone gathered around her quickly at that, all excited to see what she got. "Levels and Experience is one of the best classes," Trevor said as Marie held up her pokeball, ready to open it up. "There's nothing like getting to bond with a Pokemon for one of your classes."
"It's especially good for someone like you, Marie," Clemont added, knowing she was excited about learning more about battling. She'd been training hard with her Fletchling in their recent trips to the training facilities. "You'll have to get your new Pokemon ready for a pretty tough exam."
"So what is it?" Dawn asked, leaning forward excitedly as Marie grinned. "I hope it's a Piplup. Then we can train a bunch together for some cool moves."
"It's not a Piplup," Marie said with a laugh, "but I'm sure it can learn a lot from yours." She then opened up the pokeball, the flash of light revealing a small, four-legged Pokemon with a leaf atop its head and pale green body.
"A Chikorita!" Trevor exclaimed, snapping a few quick pictures as the grass type looked up curiously at the trainers in front of it. "That leaf looks like it's a little longer than most...it must be pretty rare."
Marie raised an eyebrow at that, but ignored it as she looked at her friends, eyes narrowing challengingly. "I need to start training Chikorita right away. Can I battle one of you?" She looked around at them all quickly, and her eyes settled on Clemont. "Clemont! You're the Gym Leader! You have to accept my challenge."
"What?" Clemont took a step back, nervously adjusting his glasses as he glanced at the others, who were watching the exchange curiously. "I...this is different, Marie. Chikorita will need more training if it's going to be ready for a gym battle. And my gym is generally one of the later ones challenged."
"Oh Clemont, why not battle. You can use your Elekid," Dawn suggested, smiling encouragingly. "You've only just started training him."
Clemont paused, not too sure about the idea. The truth was, he didn't quite have a grasp on how strong Elekid was just yet. Although, it might be a good idea to see if he could exercise some self-control. Grotle had certainly been testing his patience in that regard. He sighed, pulling out the electric type's pokeball. "All right, Marie. I accept."
Before he knew it, Marie was already on the battlefield, anxiously waiting for him, and he had to scramble up as quickly as he could, calling out Elekid as he did so. He tried telling Elekid to take things easy, but he wasn't quite sure if the Electric Pokemon understood. Still, he took his position opposite Marie, and then Dawn took up the referee position, calling out the rules, which both trainers agreed to. Then, Marie eagerly made the first move.
"Chikorita, use Razor Leaf!" she called out, the Leaf Pokemon nodding at the order before raising her head and flinging a dozen or so spinning leaves in Elekid's direction.
Instinct took over, and Clemont found himself ordering a Swift attack to counter it. As Elekid send out the shining stars, the Lumiose Gym Leader couldn't help but wince at how quick and easy he'd made it seem, the Razor Leaf intercepted without any worry on Elekid's part. I should try to give Marie some kind of confidence boost, Clemont thought.
He hoped Elekid would understand. "Elekid, use Swift one more time!" he called out, the Electric Pokemon glancing back and seeing Clemont just barely wave his hand down to signal for him to not overpower Chikorita. He was glad to see Elekid nod.
"Bee bee!" Elekid shouted, raising his arms, before flinging them forward and sending another set of shining stars towards Chikorita.
This time, Marie countered, another Razor Leaf shooting out, and this time on the defensive. However, Clemont couldn't help but smile as she followed it up. "Now use Tackle!"
"Low Kick!"
Clemont watched closely, impressed by Chikorita's speed as she darted through the smoke of the colliding attacks. As she reached Elekid, the Electric Pokemon tensed, raising his right leg. She cried out as she leaped forward, just as he ducked down to strike at her feet.
"Bee!"
Their friends cheered from the sidelines. Chikorita hopped back, landing softly on her feet, while Elekid grunted and stood up from where he'd landed. He seemed pleased, looking back at Clemont and smirking. Clemont couldn't help but smile as well. This was turning out to be just what they needed. Elekid was strong, and Clemont could see that he had had the opportunity a couple times now to strike Chikorita with a hard blow, but Chikorita still had good instincts. By helping her and Marie, Elekid and Clemont could get stronger as well.
Just like a true Gym Leader.
Author's Note:
So Ash caught Popplio...but not for him. I know that idea is a bit meh for some people but I tried to make it clear Popplio's on board and would totally be happy with it. We'll see next chapter. As for Clemont, he's becoming quite the leader isn't he? Is he the new Ash?
Hope you all enjoyed, and I'll have chapter 6 out for you on Friday.