Nemona's Current Team:
Dun - DudunsparceMiles - RotomNightwing - GliscorNotch - DianciePhantasm - Hisuian ZoroarkAthena - LucarioBahamut - HaxorusRadiance - Iron MothAnya - GothoritaCataphract - Hisuian SliggooTestudinidae - Torkoal
Elsa’s here, I noted as I scanned the crowd and waved to my friends. She wasn’t officiating, just watching this time. What are you thinking? Are you worried that I’m succeeding, or do you think Charlotte will be the wall I bounce off of. I’d like to say that it wouldn’t matter if I did, but the truth was that losing here would be a blow to my confidence.
That wasn’t the only thing on my mind, however; there was also a tune being hummed by… someone. Yet no matter how hard I listened, I couldn’t find the person in the crowd making that sound.
Charlotte was walking onto the field at the same time as I was, though she had a large pink cake in her hands that she was… ‘devouring’, though I felt that word was too light for how she inhaled the food. As she finished, she tossed the plate to the side and wiped her hands on her pants.
“What? I got peckish,” she defended at my aghast stare. That’s not the issue here- well, it’s kinda the issue. Who gets ‘peckish’ for a whole cake? But also, just terrible manners.
I shook my head. It doesn’t matter. All that matters right now, is the fight. And we’re going to win. Readying my Pokeballs, I got ready and my opponent did the same.
“No one can fight everyone by themselves, you know.” I said, knowing there wouldn’t be many chances to talk when the battle was underway. Oh sure, we might have moments where we can exchange a line or two in between commands, but not a full dialogue. Attempting to do so leaves you on the backfoot in responding to the other Trainer’s orders.
“Still going on about that shit? Just sounds like loser talk, to explain away why you’re going to be the one eating dirt when this is done!” She shouted as the signal was given for us to release our Pokemon. On her side of the field, a case of contrasts appeared; her left side was dominated by a towering green titan, many patchwork scars covering the Tyrannitar’s thick plated hide, the ones that poked out under the massive flak-jacket he was wearing. To the right was adorable looking pink-and-white cream with a pair of strawberries by the top of her head. Despite her bright smile, I shivered, realizing Alcremie’s fae attitude was likely just as, if not more vicious than her partner’s.
I didn’t get to see much more than that clearly before the sandstorm kicked up over the field, obscuring my vision. Phantasm hissed at the whirling particles while Bahamut did his best to stoically bear the pain, but I could tell he felt it too.
“Oh no no no, this isn’t me covering my bases; this is me explaining why I’m the best Trainer here!” I could feel Elsa’s gaze boring into the back of my skull, but I ignored it. This is my moment, you can get in line.
The countdown began and there was no more time for banter. At the signal, I yelled “Opening beta!” While I’d played around with numbers and different combinations, some of the more complex stratagems got too difficult to remember - for my Pokemon, but also for me. Or at least too hard to remember and use quickly, which is what matters in the heat of battle. In the end, I settled a couple of basic patterns with some variations in how and who was targeted. Alpha was an all out strike, Beta was focused on buffing my team up, while Omega was about debilitating our opponents.
Charlotte simply said, “Go,” and her Pokemon knew what to do here. Alcremie tossed a glob of cream into Tyrannitar’s mouth, which he caught even as he danced sinuously around. I’ve never seen Decorate used like that before, but it is on brand. Wait- is he using Dragon Dance while wearing an Assault Vest? How?!
It clearly was that Move, however as Bahamut was using the exact same one. “Knock Off! Dazzling Gleam!” As the Alcremie did a little twirl, gathering sparkling light around her, I detected a hint of an odd fragrance and put the pieces together. Her Ability! It stops her allies from being restricted in the Moves they can use. I didn’t realize she’d worked out a way to let T-tar use Dragon Dance even with an Assault Vest though. I felt there were probably some limitations to it - perhaps just that specific Move he had learned to use, or maybe just the first non-attacking Move in a fight, but it hardly mattered with the tyrant king on the hunt.
“Get ready, he’s coming! Iron Head!” I called out in response. Bahamut blitzed across the battlefield, slamming Alcremie with the Super Effective attack, knocking her surprisingly dense body back. The pseudo-Legendary swung an arm down at Bahamut, and I wasn’t sure if that was because of a strategy Charlotte was pursuing or just because he was closest. The attack missed however, whiffing hard. Then, Tyrannitar was hit by a powerful blast appearing out of nowhere, the shot cracking his hide with a thunderous ‘boom’ from the impact. Alcremie winced through the pain and brought down brilliant beams of light that pierced Bahamut, but earned little response from where Phantasm seemed to stand.
“Not bad, but those cheap tricks won’t save you forever. Earthquake!” She declared, clapping her hands together. Alcremie did the same, boosting her partner even further before getting taken out by another Iron Head from Bahamut. Then Tyranitar stomped the ground, and the world shook. Or at least it felt like that, the ditto block structure shaking even beyond the bounds of the arena. Within, it was cataclysmic, the earth rising so high in places that I thought my Pokemon might hit the top of the arena. The shaking lifted rocks into the air which Tyrannitar turned into a Rock Slide as well, blending it smoothly with his first Move.
Phantasm had grown quite skilled in her illusions, concealing the exact location of Bahamut and herself away from our foes, even in the middle of the Sandstorm. But nothing could have let her avoid the devastating Earthquake or foe had just unleashed, dealing massive damage and snapping the Focus Sash she wore. Luckily, she deftly avoided the falling rocks, which caused even more damage to Bahamut, who took the brunt of both attacks.
So strong! I shouldn’t be surprised though - she does have that Guzzlord of hers. One thing that casual fans or inexperienced Trainers didn’t always understand was that most of the rare few people who had a Legendary Pokemon (or one designated as such, like the Ultra Beasts), didn’t get them by ‘luck.’ Oh sure, occasionally, someone finds a Mythical or the like that is friendly to them and decides to be a young Trainer’s partner on their own whim - I think there’s a Latios that joined a member of the Joy clan that way - but most of them? Most Legends need a prospective Trainer to prove themselves to the Legend. Which means the rest of their team is strong too.
Charlotte was proving herself to be no exception to this rule, with her mighty Tyranitar nearly taking both of my Pokemon out of commission. “Switch,” I said, returning Bahamut just as she sent out her next Pokemon, a Snorlax as large as I’d ever seen, almost 3 and a half meters tall and several tons. The ground shook from her entrance too, though this was just from her weight, not an Earthquake.
I could see that Tyrannitar was about to use that Move again, so I ordered Phantasm, “Focus Blast, fast!” As I sent Nightwing out. Any pretense of an illusion was abandoned, though even that left her little more than a blur as she rushed at Tyranitar. The blast hit hard yet again, chipping off a spike and causing him to stumble back. It also proved that the Assault Vest was not just for show, and with that and the Sandstorm boosting his defenses, he survived the attack.
His retaliating Earthquake knocked Phantasm around and into the walls of the arena repeatedly, though it did next to nothing to Nightwing, who bounced off the ground like it was an inflatable bouncy castle and it was her birthday. Each slap of her tail sent her own ripple back, shaking the earth back, knocking Tyranitar in turn. Snorlax alone was unmoved by the attacks, having put up a Protect that blocked both of them, the effect leaving an unusual circle of stability amidst the churning of the rest of the arena. I could see the ditto blocks slowly shifting back to normal as the attacks died down, but even they were having problems with this, and neither of us was letting up.
“Crabhammer!” I shouted, even as Snorlax began beating on her belly, powering up immensely, her thick fat rolling with each strike. Nightwing needed to deal with Tyrannitar before he scored another hit, but seeing that did have me change who I was swapping in, opting to use Testudinidae here.
Tyrannitar finally fell, though managing to Knock Off Nightwing’s Toxic Orb on her way down. Not a big loss, Nightwing already got poisoned by it and will start healing the damage immediately. That Snorlax though, she’s a problem. Luckily one I had an answer for. My Torkoal taking the field cleared up the sand and brought the sun, shining brightly over the arena. She also brought a bunch of smoke with her, and that would be the key to beating this gigantic menace.
“Pulverizing pancake!” Charlotte said, dancing about, incorporating a toss of her next Pokeball into the motions.
“Double up!” I shouted, hoping that my Pokemon could hold out. A Z-Move will still probably break through, but it’ll be a lot less powerful and then she’ll have used up her special… My thoughts trailed off as Snorlax, who had been readying herself to jump up, suddenly stopped, a confused look on her face as if she’d just forgotten what she was doing. Dammit, she tricked me!
It was frustrating, but also somewhat encouraging. None of the other battles I’d seen of hers had her resort to such tricks; even the battle she lost against Elsa had been pretty much her using brute force all the way through. Clearly, she’s taking me a bit more seriously, I thought as I watched Swallot take to the field.
“Swords Dance, Clear Smog,” I called, trying to turn things around. Nightwing danced gracefully in the air, and I thought Snorlax might go after her, but Charlotte directed her behemoth of a Pokemon after my fiery tortoise.
“Puh-lease! You’ve been using that strategy way too much! High Horsepower, crush her!” Snorlax ran forwards, stomping hard on Testudinidae.
“No!” I shouted just before a sickening crunch sound. The powerful attack cracked her shell and cause her to cry out in pain, but she held out long enough to let a burst of Clear Smog at Snorlax, greatly weakening her.
I recalled Testudindae quickly, not wanting to risk her getting hit any further, even if she looked angry enough to throw down with the powerful Normal Type. Those cracks in her shell looked… bad. Pokemon can recover from a lot, but this will take some time. I wondered if Charlotte knew how tough Test could be when launching that attack, or if she even cared.
Of course, this left me in a bit of a tricky spot, as Swallot on the other side of the field had used Encore and locked Nightwing into Swords Dance. I need someone who can handle both of his Pokemon. Three choices came to mind, and I settled on Radiance in the moment, tossing their Beast Ball out on the field as Snorlax’s head started to droop, the gluttonous Pokemon falling asleep.
“Sextruple charge!” I called out, electricity already crackling all around Radiance from the Booster Energy, now gathering at the points of their wings. The beams lanced out, striking Snorlax six times over, dealing weak damage individually, but a massive amount when combined. The feedback loop was more important, however, and I watched as four of their six wings glowed brightly from that. Not bad, not bad at all.
Attempting to use Charge Beam six times simultaneously had proven difficult, even for a Pokemon as strong as Radiance, but in our testing of Booster Energy, we discovered something interesting. They could convert the speed boost from it into the custom Move, letting it work perfectly. Charge Beam itself didn’t always empower the user, but it had good odds, and when fired six times, would give plenty of boosts.
Swallot released a Yawn over at Nightwing, who was still dancing uncontrollably through the air. It’s risky, but I have to leave her in - I’ve got to save my counters to Guzzlord, and any of those would be vulnerable to Earthquake. I knew that Snorlax knew the Move, and she’d be tempted to use it if I put a second Pokemon weak to Ground Type attacks on the field, even with her Swallot vulnerable.
The fact that Snorlax was asleep was of little concern, as we both knew. She began Sleep ‘Talking’ almost immediately, popping up and rushing in with a High Horsepower aimed at Radiance. My Paradox Pokemon easily dodged it however, drifting out of the way from her blind charge.
“Dance!” I called out as Nightwin ironically finished her own, her power having shot sky high before falling asleep. Radiance struck through, landing a few burning cuts on Snorlax, which she recovered from well. Another rest? No, no enough for that, and her jaw is moving, she must be eating a berry. I was surprised she had enough control for that. I wouldn’t have expected Charlotte to have that much control herself. Then again, I should perhaps hold her Pokemon to a higher standard than their Trainer.
“Target the Swallot!” I called out, watching as the blobular Pokemon began directing several yellow Yawn clouds at my currently awake Pokemon. Radiance attempted to dodge, but was getting hemmed in by Snorlax chasing after them too, not having to worry about the attacks her teammate was using.
“Push through the clouds, Electric Terrain!” No longer having to fear the clouds, Radiance sent several sparks to the ground, stopping them from falling asleep… but doing nothing to help Nightwing, still dozing quietly. Gah! Even though she’s face down in the ground, Nightwing is too ‘risen’ by her Flying side to be affected by the Electric Terrain. It at least gave Radiance some protection, though it gave my foe some time to prepare as well.
“Belly Drum! Encore! Trying to stall things out won’t save you; it only makes it worse!” Charlotte taunted as she changed tactics.
“Dance,” I called out again, and Radiance set their six fold wings ablaze once more, cutting into Swallot before he could even slap his goopy hands together once. “I’m hardly stalling - way I see it, I’m winning here!” I declared as I felt Radiance’s power grow even higher. The sun Test had conjured was starting to fade, but there was a greater heat building within the arena, so sweltering that the barrier couldn’t contain it all.
“Discharge!” I shouted, hoping to get a double knockout. That was stymied when Charlotte called out for a Protect, but gave a signal for her Swallot to attack. As I saw a spectral force rise out from Swallot’s body, I recognized why. Damn it, I didn’t even know Swallots learned Destiny Bond! “Hang in there!”
Miraculously, my shout (and Radiance’s stubbornness), won out against the Move. It helped that it only managed to catch one wing by the time the Discharge went out and fried her Poison Type. If the attack had fully encompassed them… doesn’t matter; I’ll have time for what ifs later. It had drained Radiance slightly, even still, but more pressing was how Snorlax had closed in on my Paradox Pokemon, moving slightly even while maintaining her barrier.
As it faded, she launched herself forward, eyes cracked open to glare at the Paradox Pokemon, her Rest having worn off. Radiance attempted to flee, but the Giga Impact Snorlax had a great deal of speed making up its force as well. The attack smashed straight into Radiance, sending them into an uncontrolled spin, crashing in the dirt covered blocks (the repeated Ground Type attacks having left a covering of it all over the field that hadn’t faded yet).
Snorlax continued forward with the Giga Impact, hitting the edge of the arena hard enough to shatter the barrier, though it did at least finally stop her. Nightwing swooped towards the exhausted enemy, furiously striking and swiping at her, Acrobatically attacking and doing significant damage. Less than I expected though - what happened to all the power from Swords Dance- ahh, the sneaky Swallot must have hidden a Clear Smog within the Yawn. Most of Nightwing’s boosts are gone.
Not all though, and she was attacking an already injured, weakened target. She would be able to finish the Normal Type quickly under… normal circumstances. But the entrance of Charlotte’s next Pokemon had all of us stopping and staring.
Pitch-black skin with yellow highlights for the tips of its claws and all over the teeth on its wide jaw. Two sets of pale, glowing blue eyes, one set right above its mouth, the next on a set of spikes that formed something akin to a crown above its spherical body. Two smaller clawed hands sat atop it as well, with a set of far larger pincers, and its massive bulk was supported by a pair of stubby legs. Sticking out the back was a tail with a spikey ball on the end.
The Ultra Beast was tall, nearly twice as tall as the gargantuan Snorlax on the opposite end of the field and at least as wide. Despite the fact that this size mostly consisted of a gaping wide open mouth, the heavy thud from its landing indicated it was at least as heavy. Said mouth was constantly open, pale blue on the inside, and covered with spikes even in that cavernous cavity.
Immediately, the beast was in motion, running forward. As it moved, it continuously shovelled ditto blocks into its mouth (and I suspected only those because they were the things nearest to it). At the back of its mouth was a circular plate, opening in a jagged line horizontally and revealing a glowing blue entrance. There was no room for anything that the Guzzlord ate to have gone elsewhere in its body, yet each block that fell in the hole disappeared - never to be seen again.
The creature was unsettling, far more than I realized it would be from the few videos I had watched. It was only a few moments, but I, and Nightwing, were distracted enough that Snorlax recovered just enough to swing out with an Ice covered fist, nailing my Pokemon. I scrambled to send Athena out as Nightwing attempted to recover.
She did an admirable job, twisting and weaving around through the air, striking at the Ultra Beast as she did so. She landed some solid blows, deep gouges into its skin (surprisingly easy to hurt, for how large it is), but eventually one of the upper claws snagged Nightwing, tossing her to the ground.
Athena knocked out Snorlax with a lightning-fast Extreme Speed before she could sleep and heal up again, while Guzzlord snatched Nightwing in one pincer to stop her from escaping under the surface of the arena, smashing her with the other, until it knocked her unconscious. It attempted to toss her into its gullet, but my recall beam saved her from that fate.
“Control your Pokemon!” I shouted over the chaos and sound of Guzzlord devouring anything in sight. “I won’t tolerate anything else like that!”
“Aww, whittle baby going to quit because she can’t wi-” she tried to say as she sent out her Mawile, the intimidating growl and snap of its back jaws a moment too late to affect Bahamut as I sent him back out. A blade of wind struck out, cutting her just above her left eye, just before the arena barrier fixed itself.
“Consider yourself warned,” I growled, raising a fist, the Key Stone shining brightly on the end of it. “I’m not quitting, not ever! Mega Evolve!” My whole body shook from the energy, the drain it placed on me, but I was prepared enough to keep standing as Athena’s Lucaronite Z reacted to my Key Stone.
The change was far more drastic than that of a regular Mega Evolution - her fur became a lighter blue and more to the extremities. The Aura sensors hanging down behind her head became far longer, and a set of antenna extended outcurving around her right ear and hanging down on that side. In contrast, some of the thicker yellow fur on her torso extended downward, flapping over her left leg. The fur on her face was light black, save for the grey markings around her now deep blue eyes, like a stylized mask. Behind, her tail thickened, growing almost shark-like as it waved back and forth.
This only remained for a moment before energy began coalescing around her, forming the shape of titanic Lucario, dwarfing even Charlotte’s Guzzlord and scraping the top of the newly made barrier. She floated in the center of the Aura-construct, the entire thing looking akin to a Dynamaxed Pokemon. A not unfair comparison, given the enhanced drain this form gives.
“Go,” I said, and my Pokemon attacked. Underneath, Bahamut duelled the Mawile, who was using a Life Orb to boost her strength to try and match my Dragon, even with Type advantage. Above, strikes fell as rain, pouring down on the Ultra Beast.
“As I said, I’m going to be the best there ever was! The strength for that, comes from caring for others! You think I could achieve this if all I was focused on was myself?!” I shouted over the din, gesturing at my Pokemon. There’s a double meaning there; both the fact that Mega Evolution needs a close bond in the first place, and also the fact that I needed connections to obtain the Lucaronite Z.
Guzzlord’s already impressive strength had increased upon defeating Nightwing, but it wasn’t enough. The thousand and one blows Athena laid unto the beast, each moving at the speed of thought, Auric limbs growing and blurring in a frenzy, drove it to - for once - stop eating and only focus on surviving. But it was still being worn down, bit by bit, limbs breaking, spikes shattering off it, and the beast being tossed across the field. Bahamut ducked his head low, narrowly avoiding it at one point and the Play Rough Mawile directed his way.
I caught a glimpse of Charlotte on the other side of the arena, glaring daggers at me, though as we locked eyes for a moment, I saw her slowly start to grin. Athena and Guzzlord fought across the arena, once more obscuring our vision making it hard to get a read on her. I gave a signal to Bahamut to fight cautiously, and he started interspersing Protect in with his strikes, which blocked Mawile’s strikes, her Life Orb draining her further.
Charlotte spoke loudly. “You think you have to work with others for power, but beyond your team, you don’t need any of that shit! That might be a fancy new Mega Stone you got, but you don’t need to ‘play nice’ for that. If like someone, I’ll fuck em, if I’m hungry, I’ll eat something, and if I want something? I’ll just take it!” She laughed as if it was the simplest thing in the world, though still having the wherewithal to give some signals to direct her Pokemon.
“That’s- that’s insane! You got away with it for a while by being young enough but the world won’t let you get away with that! And don’t say you can fight everyone!”
The dust cleared from the latest flurry of blows Athena struck, driving Guzzlord into the ground. Charlotte struck a pose, and I realized too late that it wasn’t a mere signal, but the prelude to her Z-Move - and this time, it would be no Fake Out. “Yeah but… aren’t you the one that told me how you were gonna get stronger than all those people that beat me? And if a scrawny brat like you can do it, I sure as heck can too! So I guess I should thank you for pushing me here, cause I’ll use that to become stronger than anyone who gets in my way! No, I’ll get stronger than everyone! The whole world could stand against me and I’ll chew them all up! Ma ma ma ma ma!” She laughed.
“Mega Knuckle!” I called out, committing to offense in the face of her power, rather than trying to defend. Athena can’t hold onto this form for too long anyways, we need to end this now. Her giant, glowing blue fist struck Guzzlord hard, leaving a massive dent in its side. But as I heard a ‘snap’ sound, I knew it had held on, if only by the skin of its teeth (or Focus Band, as the case may be). It was enough to let the Ultra Beast blast ahead, the Inferno Overdrive scorching across the field and burning everything in its path.
So powerful; must be Heat Crash, that’s the only Move I could think of that would be so strong and it fits her style of- oh I need to dodge. Throwing myself out of the way, I watched as the attack smashed through the Auric construct Athena had made, into Athena herself, and then through the arena barrier, a wave of heat and force blasting forth, sending me flying to the side. Guzzlord’s charge was mostly stopped by that, the Ultra Beast coming to a halt atop the platform I had been standing on, though the heat still carried forward and would have washed over the crowd, were it not for the frosty barrier that Elsa’s Frosslass had conjured.
Huh, never noticed how her barriers have little snowflake patterns on them. Do all Ice Types have that, or did Elsa purposefully train them that way? I thought as I slowly pulled myself back to my feet. Guzzlord was standing only a few meters away from me, Mega Lucario Z was lying on the ground right by the audience barrier, but I felt no fear.
“All that talk, and you weren’t strong enough to stop me!” Charlotte jeered, then stopped, realizing something was missing, but not consciously putting it quite together.
“That’s not going to happen,” I said slowly, as the dust cleared. “Because I’m the one who will be the best! And I’ll - no, we’ll stop you!!” Athena, still Mega Evolved, the first clue that this fight wasn’t over (the second being that Guzzlord had not received another Beast Boost), rose to her feet. She had to use makeshift Aura constructs to stand on them, blood matting her fur, but she had Endured the hit.
[‘I didn’t hear no bell,’] she mentally projected before appearing above the Ultra Beast. Placing one paw upon the top of its head, she sent a ripple of force down, spread across Guzzlord’s entire body and drove it through the arena floor, and then through the island itself. A massive crater formed, and I thought I heard a splash, the other worldly entity driven into the water itself.
Her power drained, Athena’s Mega Evolution ended, and she reverted back to normal, being caught by Bahamut who leapt up to stop her from falling into the hole she made. “Good job,” I told Bahamut, weakly scratching the top of his head as he landed beside me. For defeating Mawille, for letting Athena finish the fight when I know you wanted to show off your Draco Impact, and for saving her…
I was a little lightheaded, and I thought that was why I felt the floor moving, but another shift had me snap to clarity and realize no, this wasn’t just me. We had done too much damage, and now the very island this arena was built upon was cracking apart.
“Everyone! Do not panic!” Elsa called out sharply, snapping the other students out of the panic that was forming. “Please proceed in a calm and orderly fashion off the island,” as she spoke, she released her starter, the Vanilleuxe, creating two platforms of ice connecting to the mainland, to help the audience members farther away from the main bridge evacuate.
Some of them did so, while others would release Pokemon who could fly or teleport and used them to escape. I was in the same boat, recalling Athena and letting Bahamut carry me, my Dragon leaping up to the mainland in one single bound. He let me down and I stood on unsteady legs.
People made swift progress off of there, but I noticed how the damage was spreading faster and faster, chunks of land beginning to fall into the artificial sea. It looked like all the audience would make it off, but Charlotte, who had been further away and busy recalling her fainted Pokemon, likely wouldn’t. Locking eyes with her, I saw that she knew it too, her frantic pace stopping as the earth split beneath her feet.
“Go, save her,” I told Bahamut, and he obeyed me without hesitation, jumping back. The force of his impact was light, but enough to break the ground she was standing on. It didn’t matter though, as before they could fall to their dooms (or rather her doom - Bahamut was tough enough to survive the fall), he scooped her up and kicked off a falling rock, leaping back to my side. He then dropped the pink-haired girl unceremoniously.
There was a shocked silence and then the students gathered around erupted into cheers. At my victory, or saving my foe, or both, I didn’t know. My head was pounding before then, and the loud noise didn’t help, but I couldn’t leave yet. There’s one message I have to deliver first.
I stepped forward to Charlotte, just standing above her. She slowly pulled herself up, and I noticed the cuts on her arms, Bahamut having neither the time nor care to avoid scraping her with his claws while saving the teenager, unlike with me. Charlotte didn’t seem to notice herself, possibly still in shock.
“Guh-going out of your way to help me? S-so dumb,” she tried only for me to cut her off.
“It’s a lesson. You needed my help to live, to survive your own destructive personality.” There’s some debate to be had there, I caused a lot of the damage too, but I was the one able to get out of that mess on my ‘own’ (if we’re counting our teams as a part of our individual strength).
“I coulda got out of there just fine!” She tried, and I could practically hear everyone around us raising their eyebrows at that. “Whatever,” Charlotte slurred slightly, and I wondered if she had hit her head on a rock and had a concussion. “You got lucky this time, but next time-”
“There won’t be a next time. At least not while we’re both at Blueberry Academy. Athena’s technique at the end there, Mountainbreaker,” I said, ad libbing a name on the spot since we hadn’t actually settled on what her enhanced, super Force Palm-esque Move would be called. “It hit all of Guzzlord equally. Your Ultra Beast should be able to heal it all in time, but it’s going to take a lot of time. More than the few months you have left here, probably even requiring careful medical aid for the first few months when you get back to Alola.”
“Hopefully, that’ll get you to really understand just how much help we all need, and have you learn a little empathy for others. But if not, well, I do like Alola. I’d love to come by and visit…” I said before grabbing her by the collar and dragging her down to my eye level. “And pound that lesson into your skull once again,” I declared before letting her go.
I heard someone say ‘Oh snap!’ As I walked away, striding a couple of feet before the ground rose up to meet me.
A/N: Big Mom Charlotte Linlin down! This was an interesting one for me; Charlotte was always meant to be a simple character, but no less scary for it, like her namesake. A few things about her namesake did change admittedly, some of the specifics of her motivations that wouldn’t fit in this world, but I wanted to retain that all-encompassing ego and hunger for more. Hopefully, I did a good job.
She was also one who affected Nemona as much as was affected by her. It’s not going to be any big changes, but I like planting the seeds for future development here. And now it’s just the rematch fight I’ve been building to for a while now, the fight against Elsa.
We’ve got some other school stuff to deal with too, but before we leave, I want to say that I had a lot of fun designing a team around ‘eating a lot’ (with Alchremie getting slotted in because she fits the sweets that Charlotte enjoys). On that note, what sorts of fun ‘themes’ have you all thought up for teams and the like?