Molayne flicked the switch with a click, and a cascading series of lights turned on to illuminate a room that stretched on for hundreds of feet.

“We don’t use this place very often, but it’ll work well enough for a battle,” he said. “Its main purpose is to be a warehouse, but if this place is cleaned up, it could serve as a space for Soffy’s—I mean, uh, Sophocles’s—Gym Battles, too.”

When Molayne said “warehouse,” he wasn’t kidding. This room, built underneath the Hokulani Observatory, was as big as a hangar and was stuffed with, well, stuff. Boxes littered its sides, and old, abandoned machines were strewn about. Occasionally, I could see shuffling within the piles, with apparently wild Grubbin and Charjabug having snuck into the room. At one point, an overly round Togedemaru poked its head up from a pile of scrap only to dive back down when it saw the set of humans now present near it.

"There’s enough room for at least three or four battlefields in here," Hope mumbled. "If you can clean this up, it's enough space for practically an entire Gym!"

"Complete with room for all of the pre-Gym trials, or it can be reworked into habitats for local Electric Type Pokémon," I added.

While he wasn't with us right now, Sophocles was the Trial Captain for the observatory’s Electric Type Trial. Molayne has been in Sophocles's role before him but as a Steel Type Trial Captain instead. When he retired from the position a few short years ago, it was his cousin, Sophocles, who took up the job in his place.

We would need to test the boy as well, but he was busy managing the Trial itself at the current moment. More specifically, Lillie was in the process of battling him for practice now that she’d earned the Electric Type Z-Crystal last night.

"We'll keep that in mind, but it’ll only matter if Kukui approves Soffy as a Gym Leader anyway,” Molayne said. “You still have to test me, which, um, well, to be honest, I'm still getting over the surprise from when Kukui told me I was on the Elite Four list a few months ago."

He chuckled awkwardly as we moved over to an empty space on the floor. Stepping to it, I could just barely make out that there was a field drawn out here. However, it had faded enough that the field’s boundary lines were nothing more than flaking scratches on the ground.

"You know Kukui well?" Hope asked.

"Well?" Molayne gained a slight smile and let out a soft laugh. "I took part in the Island Challenge the same year as him. Never was able to beat him, though."

"You're kidding. Wait, but you're old—"

"I took it a bit later than others. I'm only a year older than him," he interrupted. "I know it doesn’t look that way, but blame our lifestyles—Kukui is a health nut, and outside my work with Minior every few weeks, I mostly stay inside and help manage Alola's PC system. Where do you think all of this electronic scrap came from?"

"Well, it is an Electric Type Trial," I said.

He laughed.

"Yeah, that’s a fair point.”

We reconvened at the center of the field, where Molayne looked around.

"So, how is this going to work?" he asked.

"We'll battle you on behalf of the Pokémon League, so we need to test your team. With the two of us here, that's two different perspectives. Given you have a team of six," I paused for confirmation, and Molayne nodded his head, "we'll be able to divide up the battle into two three-on-three matches."

"I can work with that," he replied. "Which of you will be battling me first?"

Hope and I exchanged a look. We already knew the answer. Considering Molayne fought with Steel Types, and Steel Types were strong against Fairy Types, I wanted to have a chance to fight him while knowing as little as possible about his team going into it. Seeing how he acted with what would be a relative advantage would help us make a decision.

"You'll be facing me first. Do you mind if I send out some Pokémon to watch?"

"Not at all. Go ahead and send them out," he said.

Thanking him with a nod, I went ahead and sent out the four Pokéballs containing the four, newer members of my team. I crouched to better speak to them as Molayne took up his position on one side of the faded field.

"Watch this battle closely," I told them. "Molayne is a Steel Type specialist, and I want you to see what the Type is capable of at its peak before you get into any similar matches. Steel Types tend to be strong, dauntless, and unbreakable. Tinkatuff, I doubt I have to explain it to you, but also keep an eye out to see how his Pokémon both attack and take a hit. He's an Elite, after all."

Togetic and Eevee gave me firm nods, and Cutiefly almost fell out of the air with how adamantly he nodded his head. Tinkatuff, however, glanced over to Molayne with a curious look in her eyes. Distracted, she wasn't able to prevent Togetic from casually patting her head.

That made Tinkatuff jump in surprise, and Eevee snickered besides her. Togetic sent her an apologetic look—she only meant to pat Tinkatuff in a friendly manner, not to surprise her—and Tinkatuff grumbled before returning to stare out over the field.

"Just focus on the battle," I said.

I got another round of nods in response.

Moving over to stand opposite to Molayne, Hope took up position on the side to serve as the ref, and Molayne shouted to speak before we could begin.

"My team was rated at near twelve stars in the past, but we're a bit out of practice, so I'd say we're closer to the bottom of eleven!" he yelled.

"I'm the opposite—my team sat at eleven for a long time, but we've recently been rated to be at twelve!" I replied.

"A good match, then." Molayne rubbed his chin in thought.

Hope went over the basic rules for this fight now that we had nothing more to say. This match would be a set of three individual battles where the overall victor would be determined by the number of wins. However, even if one person got two knock-outs right away, the match would continue regardless as we still needed to see his entire team.

Z-Moves and Mega Evolution were allowed, but I didn’t plan on using either of them for this. There weren’t any other, additional rules, so both Molayne and I sent out our first Pokémon.

"Florges!"

"Klefki!"

I smiled at the sight of Molayne’s first Pokémon.

Klefki might have been a Steel Type Pokémon, but it was also part Fairy. It consisted of a small head and long, thin arms that wrapped around into a circular keyring. It was actually the perfect size to function as one, too, being roughly as large as Molayne's head. Not only that, but a variety of keys hung off its arms, and Molayne blinked and chuckled awkwardly when he saw that.

"I'm, uh, forgetful sometimes. Klefki actually has a lot of the keys to this place on her. Does your Pokémon know any Fire Type moves?"

"Not this one," I replied.

"Then we should be fine. Florges? Please avoid hitting her arms,” Molayne asked.

Florges gracefully nodded, and Molayne let out a sigh of relief.

I wasn't expecting him to have a Fairy Type like this, especially one as tricky as Klefki. It was one of the few Pokémon that had Prankster as its ability, so there was a decent chance for it to actually be able to mess up how Florges liked to battle.

Not to mention that Klefki is infamous for a certain strategy from the games. We’ll need to watch out for that, just in case.

"Then, if there's no other words that need to be exchanged..." Hope said, looking around. “Trainers! Let the battle begin!"

Molayne shouted first, his two word command being shoved out of his mouth as fast as he could say it.

"Thunder Wave!"

My own command of calling for a Misty Terrain fell flat. The Klefki stopped it before Florges could even think about causing mist to leave the ground.

The head of the keyring sparked and crackled with electricity, and a lightning-quick zap shot off of Klefki and connected to Florges on her chest. The coursing energies caused her arms to lock out straight down from her sides, and she went stiff from paralysis, thanks to the move.

Klefki then began to rush forward over the field, keys jingling behind it. It didn’t move very fast, but with Florges’s speed cut due to her debilitating condition, it was rapidly approaching her. I also knew that its Prankster ability was going to make any follow-up status moves that much more speedy. As it stood, Florges would have trouble fighting back.

Thankfully, we had a solution in our pocket.

"Aromatherapy!"

Florges's base movements might have been locked up, but to use Aromatherapy, all she had to do was puff out the faint, pink gas from her flowers. The move carried a potent curative within it, and it cured the stiffness that came from paralysis. Unfortunately, while the gas from Aromatherapy lingered around Florges for just long enough to potentially make the next Thunder Wave ineffective, it would do nothing to prevent confusion, and Molayne knew it.

“Swagger!” he shouted.

So he is using that strategy!

Both Thunder Wave and Swagger combined was a trick made infamous during the sixth generation of Pokémon, back in my old world. It seemed Molayne was wasting no time to set it up here. Dubbed “paraswag,” Klefki took advantage of the fact that both moves made it difficult for a Pokémon to react at all. Combined with Prankster, there were few ways to avoid being stuck under Klefki’s dreaded debilitating set that practically crippled an opponent’s effectiveness in battle.

Florges was confused, but if Klefki got a paralysis off, this battle would be good as over, difference in strength or not. However, just like Aromatherapy, we at least had one counter that would stop Klefki in its tracks.

I finally went ahead and called for a successful Misty Terrain.

Florges might have been confused, but she’d frequently suffered from the condition thanks to her practice with Petal Dance. Swagger carried the risk of enraging her to increase her physical power, thus making any slip-ups as part of the confusion that much more damaging, but she knew how to mitigate that chance through all of her practice.

Though stumbling, Florges just barely managed to focus her energies and send a pulse of pink out around her. She barely caught herself after, taking her remaining focus to not fall from the ground, but pink mist not unlike the gas from Aromatherapy started to emanate from the ground.

As Misty Terrain prevented both status effects and confusion, there was no way for Klefki to paralyze Florges again. Once her confusion faded, too, Klefki would be unable to confuse her a second time as long as the terrain lasted.

I didn’t call for Florges to use any attacks, as I knew it wouldn’t be worth the risk while she was working off her confusion. She turned and spun, mostly due to her loss of balance, but well-built muscle memory meant all she did was spin as if she had just finished a dance.

It wouldn't be long now before she could move normally again, but then Molayne revealed a secondary strategy.

This had been nothing but a distraction. He’d been thinking like a Fairy Type specialist all along and used our defensive reactions to give Klefki an opening to get close.

"Fairy Lock!"

With Florges so caught up in her efforts to stop those two conditions, there was no chance for her to properly prevent Klefki from moving closer. Still spinning, confused, she could do nothing as Klefki masterfully unhooked itself without dropping any of its keys before locking itself right around Florges’s neck.

There was a click; something mystical came into effect. While unneeded, Fairy Lock prevented either Pokémon from being switched out, but, more importantly, it put Klefki in the perfect position to both attack and dodge.

After all, how many Pokémon could safely unleash attacks at their own neck?

“Now, Fairy Wind!” Molayne shouted.

"Calm Mind, resist!"

Klefki was a collar that constantly sprayed crackling gas up into Florges’s face. The shock of it was enough to snap her out of confusion, but the constant Fairy Wind in her face made it both hard to breath and hard to react.

Rather than attack, however, I specifically called for Calm Mind for two reasons: one, to help Florges calm herself from the surprise of Klefki locking itself around her neck, and, two, to make sure Florges could withstand anything Klefki sent her way.

Thankfully, even in this amount, Fairy Wind wasn’t too strong of an attack as Klefki was rather weak offensively. As a result, Florges was able to withstand it pretty well. Calm Mind’s built and built, enhancing her into a threat that would eventually make her nigh-unbeatable foe.

Molayne quickly shifted gears to something super effective.

"Flash Cannon," he ordered.

"Don’t worry about it. Keep Calm Mind and carry on," I said.

Klefki’s Flash Cannon was like a Steel Type uppercut right into Florges’s chin, and through that impact, Florges’s head snapped back. A second Flash Cannon shot upwards, but that previous knock-back actually helped her, as tilting her head upwards made it the second move only a glancing blow.

Then, a third Flash Cannon shot out from Klefki, but Florges had finished setting up her Calm Minds. A blue glow, and a Psychic deflected the move. Florges was ready to finally attack right back.

“Stored Power,” I ordered, knowing it was time to finish off this match.

"Light Screen, as fast as you can!" Molayne shouted.

Unfortunately for Klefki, while both its Steel Type and the newly created screen helped mitigate the damage of the Psychic Type attack, Stored Power had simply become too strong to handle when combined with so many Calm Mind boosts. Florges quite literally blasted Klefki off of her neck, and its arms flailed as it sailed through the air, landing hard on the ground with a bounce a short moment later.

Keys went everywhere. With Klefki unhooked, there was no way for it to properly keep its precious items still on its body. Panicking, it moved to try to collect what it could, but all that did was give Florges the time needed for one last Stored Power to finish it off.

Molayne let out a sigh as Klefki was knocked to the ground, unconscious.

"We must be more out of practice than I thought," he mumbled.

He moved to return his Pokémon, but he paused when he saw Florges kneel down around Klefki’s body. One Wish later, and Klefki blinked a few times in surprise as it slowly woke up from being knocked out. Florges sent a smile its way, and, together, they collected the keys that had been scattered over the ground during their match.

Once all the items were collected, Klefki bowed gratefully towards Florges. The pair of them were returned right after.

"Thank you," Molayne said as Klefki disappeared into its ball.

"As someone who knows what Klefki is capable of, I'm impressed with how you used her in the match. I imagine that she's great at locking down almost all of your opponents."

Molayne laughed slightly and stared at his Pokémon's Pokéball.

"Yeah. A lot of people don't expect me to use a Fairy Type like an actual Fairy Type. I know I'm supposed to be a Steel Type specialist, but a lot of the time it feels more due to coincidence than anything else. I train Pokémon I like, and I just happen to like Steel Types. I trust my Pokémon, and they trust me. That's what matters in the end, right?"

I couldn’t not smile at that.

"Right."

My four Pokémon were still watching intently. Cutiefly buzzed loudly to cheer for Florges even though she was no longer on the field.

"Send out your next Pokémon, please," Hope called out.

"Dedenne!"

"Dugtrio!"

This time around, Molayne paused at the sight of who I chose.

"Is that a Totem Pokémon?" he said.

The larger-than-normal Dedenne appeared on the field with a squeak, and his opponent seemed to dig out from the ground rather than naturally coalesce from the light of its ball. Alolan Dugtrio was a bit different from the Kantonian variant, as the Pokémon looked the same except that it had metal fibers growing out of its head that resembled an incredible mane of blonde hair.

This should have been a bad matchup for us—after all, Dugtrio was a Ground and Steel Type, a combination that had the advantage over both Electric and Fairy respectively. However, when Dedenne appeared on the field, he paused, his whiskers twitched as he sniffed the air, and then his tail shot straight up as he literally glowed.

Dedenne literally glowed.

"Aw, man," Molayne groaned.

Dedenne puffed up and sparked with electricity, suddenly becoming infused with power. The way lightning crackled off his body made it feel like I was watching some kind of shounen-anime powerup. He was filled with latent energy, standing as tall as he could get.

“Can someone explain to me what’s going on?” I said as the empowered Dedenne flexed and laughed to himself on the field.

“Trial locations aren’t coincidences,” Molayne replied. “Their locations are chosen based on where there’s natural currents of Ultra Wormhole energy. That energy causes certain Pokémon to become greater in size, and if they’re in a place where their Type energy lines up...”

My eyes widened. Dedenne was right where the Electric Type trial took place. The boost he was experiencing was the same boost an Electric Type Totem Pokémon would undergo when battling a trainer for their trial.

“This is a boss fight. Dedenne just became a boss fight.” I pressed a hand to my forehead in disbelief while Dedenne snickered on the field. “Is even this allowed?”

Both Molayne and I turned to Hope, who, as the referee, technically had the final say on this matter. Seeing us look to her for a ruling, she blinked, not expecting that, but she did end up humming and rubbing her chin in consideration.

“Considering this is more of a test than an actual battle...” She looked between us then shrugged. “I kind of want to see how this plays out, so, sure, I’ll allow it.”

Molayne let out a groan, but he didn’t make any complaints.

“At least neither of us will have to hold back,” he mused. “Dugtrio is immune to Electric Type moves, and this place is rated to withstand attacks from even certain Legendaries.”

I blinked.

So much for that boost. What’s the point when Dugtrio is immune?

“Let’s go wild!” Molayne shouted. “Now, Dugtrio! Use Earthquake!"

“Jump!”

The following exchange happened in two blinks of an eye. Dedenne moved incredibly fast—much faster than he normally could—and he pushed off the ground to enter the air and bring himself to a surprising height. The Alolan Dugtrio, however, disappeared underground. From there, the floor began to shake, but the room was sturdy enough that I only felt the lightest of vibrations from where I stood on the edge of the field.

With that Earthquake, the ground literally cracked and churned underneath Dedenne, and his eyes widened as he flailed in the air. For all the power his temporary state as an empowered Totem Pokémon granted him, he had no way to attack a submerged Ground Type, and he only had one proper way to resist the Ground Type move.

Then again, that was the exact technique we needed.

“Endure!”

When he landed, Dedenne braced himself, taking the Earthquake damage head on. The ground erupted underneath him, digging into him with its raw power, and Dedenne let out a cry.

However, even with that super effective damage, Dedenne’s Endure ensured he was not knocked unconscious.

“Dig!” Molayne shouted.

The Alolan Dugtrio burst out from directly underneath Dedenne, and the impact of its three heads sent him blasting up into the air. Dedenne should have fainted here in most other situations, but he was used to fighting at low health, allowing him to bite down on the Petaya berry in his mouth.

His stored food healed him thanks to Cheek Pouch, and the energy granted to him from the berry ensured his next attacks were even stronger. Looking at Dugtrio, most of Dedenne’s moves were useless, but there was one TM move he had learned a while back that would serve as a decent response.

“Seed Bomb!” I ordered.

Now falling after being knocked into the air, Dedenne swished around the food in his mouth. The energy coming off his body pitched up for a brief moment before he infused it all into the attack he prepared.

He spat out three large seeds right at Dugtrio. Each one was as large as a pit of a peach. Dugtrio’s inherent Steel Type provided a slight bit of inherent defense to the Grass Type damage, but its inherent Ground Type balanced it out to an even attack.

One clunk. Two clunks. Then, a third. Each of Dugtrio’s individual heads received a smack right between the eyes.

"Iron Head!" Molayne yelled.

"Stay jumping, Dedenne!"

It was thanks to his Totem Pokémon power-up that he had the agility to move first.

Pushing off the ground back into the air, three more seeds left his mouth to bang against Dugtrio’s heads yet again. The Pokémon’s iron hair provided a bit more defense this time around, but it just barely missed its chance to land its attack when Dedenne jumped off the ground.

Dugtrio looked annoyed. It bent forward before flicking its heads back, causing its hair to wave like something right out of a shampoo commercial. Behind it, Molayne’s eyes darted around as he tried to find the exact spot where Dedenne would hit the ground.

As it stood, unless Molayne had another trick up his sleeve, with Dedenne’s empowerment, he would likely be worn down in the end. Recycle ensured Dedenne had a way to recover his health multiple times over, and he even started to use that move as he fell back towards the earth once more.

Unfortunately for us, it seemed Molayne was willing to end things now.

“Fissure,” he said.

His order came out resigned yet confident. Dedenne’s eyes widened with fear, and he tried all he could to prevent himself from landing on the ground yet again. However, he was a rat. A fat one at that. There was no way he could fly, and all he could do was flail as Dugtrio moved through the earth like a fish in water to position itself right under him.

With Fissure used, the field literally split in half. I tried to yell for a Protect, but, even then, I knew that would be pointless. Between the damage Dedenne has suffered earlier and the sheer Type disadvantage he was fighting at, Dugtrio was somehow stronger even through the boost from his stature as a Totem-sized Pokémon.

Dedenne disappeared into the newly formed crevice before the two halves slammed together like the jaws of an awaiting predator. It even rumbled as if chewing when Dugtrio disappeared underground once more.

“Dedenne?” I asked meekly.

Fissure was a one-hit-KO move for a reason. It was simply too overwhelming for most Pokémon to withstand. Only the Sturdiest of the Sturdy could withstand those types of moves, and Dedenne didn’t have the relative power to outmatch Dugtrio and last through the attack.

Something on the field shifted, and the ground broke apart into a small pile of bulging dirt. I saw the color orange—which meant it was Dedenne pushing his way back to the surface—but when that orange gave way to yellow hair, I quickly saw that it was only Dugtrio bringing up the fainted Dedenne to return.

“That’s match two for Molayne. Sorry Alex, but taking out the empowered Dedenne like that is pretty impressive,” Hope said.

"You pulled off that Fissure incredibly well," I reluctantly said to Molayne.

The both of us returned our Pokémon, and I gave Dedenne’s Fast Ball an apologetic look before clipping it back to my belt. Honestly, as far as match-ups went, Dugtrio was basically the perfect counter to him. For all the benefits his status as a temporary Totem Pokémon granted, he just couldn’t handle the one-hit attack.

"Pokémon need proper finishing moves, and Dugtrio has spent a lot of time practicing,” Molayne said.

I gave him a slight nod as he put Dugtrio’s ball away, and I briefly glanced over to where the four Pokémon on the side of the field were still watching the match.

"So that's an incredibly tricky Klefki, and a surprisingly speedy Alolan Dugtrio,” I mused. “When it comes to Steel Type moves, you’ve only used Flash Cannon twice. You’re not fighting in any way I expected.”

Molayne chuckled slightly.

"Ah, yeah. I prefer to fight cleverly rather than lean too hard into defense. Steel Types might be sturdy, sure, but unlike Rock Types, people tend to forget that they're pretty flexible, too."

I grinned at him.

"So, then, for your last Pokémon of this set, what do you plan on showing me?"

"I honestly haven’t thought that far ahead,” he confessed with a shrug.

I watched as he pulled back his blue jacket to hover his hand over the balls on his hip. He trailed over them, lost in thought, until he very notably picked up a worn Pokéball in the very back.

Seeing that, I purposefully did the same, selecting a specific Premier Ball that contained a Pokémon that was genuinely awful to use against Steel Types. Still, while Ninetales would have a four-times vulnerability, I trusted my starter Pokémon to still be able to pull off a win.

"Trainers!" Hope shouted. "Send out your Pokémon!”

"Ninetales!"

"Metagross!"

I held back my shocked reaction at the presence of a pseudo-Legendary.

Molayne’s Metagross didn’t have the platinum-color of a shiny Metagross, but its deep, polished blue spoke of a Pokémon well trained. Four heavy legs dug into the ground as intelligent, red eyes analyzed Ninetales where she stood.

It didn’t get a chance to look for long as snow rapidly covered the field and hid Ninetales within it. The weather muffled the sound of Molayne humming, but he gave an order all the same.

“Bullet Punch.”

“Aurora Veil!”

Metagross did not let Ninetales get far away from where she first appeared. It brought up a leg and used the momentum of its punch to bring itself forward. The sheer power contained within the punch caused the weather to briefly be pushed back. Ninetales was exposed right when she managed to conjure up an iridescent aurora, and that combined with a few, lingering flakes barely managed to stop the punch from where it came.

“If you want Steel Type, we can give you Steel Type!” Molayne shouted as the snow began to fall back down. “Metagross! Use Meteor Mash!”

The same leg it had punched with remained in the air and now glowed with the energy of a shooting star. Seeing that power, I knew that Metagross would stop any attempts to trick it with sheer brute force. If we were to win, Ninetales needed to prove herself more powerful than her opponent. We had traveled together for far too long to fail here right now.

“Dark Pulse!” I ordered.

She actually used Agility first, activating the speed boosting move to glide backwards over a patch of hastily conjured ice. The Meteor Mash smashed into the floor where Ninetales had stood only a second ago, but with Metagross jabbing its claw into the ground, it was rendered immobile for her next attack.

A burst—a wave of pure darkness pushed out of her, and Metagross’s eyes flashed with a glare. It took the super effective move head on, but the Scary Face it used ensured Ninetales cringed just enough to be slowed from here on out.

“Flash Cannon!”

“Dazzling Gleam!”

A ball of light formed in front of the metal X on Metagross’s face right as Ninetales flashed. Dazzling Gleam wasn’t that great of an attack, but it was enough to throw off the Pokémon’s aim with the blinding light.

Thankfully, it worked, as Metagross was unable to track her through the gleam. The Flash Cannon sailed forward with the force of a literal cannon, and it exploded behind Ninetales, only a few feet away.

Do we go for a Dig, or—

“Earthquake!”

Well, that answers that.

Earthquake would have been twice as powerful if Ninetales had entered the ground. Instead, as Molayne switched to a wide-ranging move that had a higher chance to hit, Ninetales stepped up onto her Aurora Veil to help her withstand the attack.

Dark Pulse would be good here, but it’s too close-ranged to be worthwhile. We’ve managed to stop its Bullet Punch and avoid its previous Meteor Mash, but if even a single one of those moves hit, Ninetales might be knocked out thanks to her extreme vulnerability to the Steel Type.

We need a way to win, and Metagross resists practically all of her other attacks. Given our options...

I grinned. A viable plan came to mind.

“Icy Wind, constant! Don’t let up until it's unable to move!”

“Psychic, grab it Metagross!” Molayne yelled.

I didn’t need to say anything for Ninetales to know she needed to avoid that attack.

Once more Ninetales leaped back, creating even more distance between her and the Metagross. Her opponent’s eyes glowed, an attempt to telekinetically grab her with its impressive psychic force, but a weak Dark Pulse interrupted the effects.

Then, a cold wind blew. Coming from Ninetales, frost formed on Metagross’s metallic body. It might have resisted the attack as a Steel Type, but it did not resist the secondary, slowing effect. The Steel Type’s body slowly hardened and became harder to move. With the ice slowly coating its body, our chances to win increased by the second.

“Bullet Punch, take her out, now!” Molayne ordered.

Metagross brought a leg back once more, but I was already readying orders for two final moves.

“Calm Mind, full defense!”

“Oh no you don’t! Not again!” he yelled.

Unfortunately, with Ninetales attempting to focus herself with Calm Mind, she wasn’t in a position to dodge before Metagross’s claw tore across her face. As both an Ice and Fairy Type Pokémon, Ninetales suffered greatly from the move. She had used Aurora Veil long enough ago that the screen literally shattered under the force of the attack, and the four-times effective Bullet Punch launched squarely on her cheek.

She was no Azumarill; she was actually relatively frail when it came to taking physical attacks. The padding of the snow helped reduce the damage, but I still felt as though my heart stopped for a moment when she was sent back and didn’t move. Hope eyed her carefully but did not call the match. Thankfully, though with shaking legs, Ninetales pushed back to her feet and sent Metagross a similar glare.

One look to Molayne, and I could tell he was ready to finish this off. Honestly, with the power a Metagross could wield, he would likely be successful, too. However, between the Icy Winds, the Calm Mind, and the other, previous, damaging attacks, all of this combined set it up to ensure Metagross was currently weaker than her.

After all, within her blizzard, Ninetales had the power of the storm itself at her disposal.

“It’s time, Ninetales! Use Sheer Cold! Combine it with Blizzard!”

“Protect!” Molayne shouted as fast as he could.

Since he had finished off Dedenne with a one-hit-KO move, it was only fair we did the same back to him.

Metagross was slowed thanks to the Icy Wind, and it had trouble putting up a strong defense in time to withstand the attack. However, Protect didn’t need much movement, and its eyes flashed as it reinforced itself with the defensive energies of the move.

Ninetales didn’t even blink at that, though. She instead simply brought forth the full power of the snow around her. She sat on her haunch, bringing her head back, and the storm itself seemed to flow and coalesce in front of her mouth. She howled. While she was vulpine in nature, I almost felt as if I was watching a wolf calling to her pack. The snow eagerly responded to her will and rushed forward in an all-out attack.

For all the effort Metagross went through to protect itself, it wasn’t ready for the bone-chilling (steel-chilling?) frost that absolutely consumed its form.

Neither of Molayne nor I could see Metagross as Ninetales’s tails flicked about and waved in the wake of her own conjured wind. We both held our breaths as the combined Ice Type moves passed over Metagross’s form on the field.

A second passed.

Then two.

Three.

Ninetales dropped, her energy expended, and we looked over to see what state Metagross was in.

First off, it hadn’t fainted, which was an absolute shame. Sheer Cold expended a lot of energy, and Ninetales had taken enough damage that she was too exhausted to continue the fight.

However...

“Metagross is unable to battle! Alex wins!” Hope called out.

Molayne blinked and rubbed his eyes. Where Metagross stood, there was now just a large, blue chunk of ice. It glowed as Metagross tried to break free with its psychic power, but the ice did not relent. For all the failure Sheer Cold had been, the amount of ice and snow it had reinforced alongside Ninetales’s Blizzard had completely frozen over Metagross.

“Being frozen isn’t a binary thing,” I called out to Molayne as Ninetales tiredly let the falling snow dissipate. “A lot of moves cause the cold to slowly build up. Usually it's Ice Beam that builds up ice over a Pokémon’s body, but the frost from Icy Wind can work in a pinch too, especially when combined with both Blizzard and Sheer Cold.”

With how Ninetales used those moves, it was like she had performed some sort of ultimate, Ice Type attack. If I had an Ice Type Z-Crystal, I would have used it here, but Ninetales had spent literal years developing her cryokinesis. She didn’t need any extra enhancing effects to display her skill in this fight.

“I didn’t expect to lose like that,” Molayne mumbled as he looked over his frozen Metagross. “Your Ninetales... Man, Alola doesn’t really have any dedicated Ice Type specialists thanks to our hot climate. I’m not used to fighting against the Type.”

Florges released herself from her ball, and then I sent out Altaria, too. A Sunny Day was set up to help provide heat for the ice, and both Ninetales’s recently learned Weather Ball and Altaria’s Flamethrower served as Fire Type moves to begin to free Metagross from its icy prison.

“That battle was great. You showed off your team well.”

“Thanks,” Molayne mumbled in response to my words. His reaction was somewhat subdued after that loss.

“Don’t forget, you have to fight me next!” Hope added, too.

Molayne frowned and took one look at the current state of the field. Not only was it covered in cracks from Dugtrio, but the melting snow and ice from Ninetales’s battle had caused it to become slippery and wet.

“Mind if we take a break as I grab a Pokémon to fix the area? The battlefield’s a bit of a mess after that last fight.”

Hope shrugged.

“Yeah, sure. Alex, you’re going to ref, right?”

I nodded.

“I’m looking forward to seeing how you fight against a Steel Type specialist, Hope. And Molayne, I’m interested in seeing what other tricks you have up your sleeves.”

As Ninetales chattered on next to Metagross, talking about their match, Molayne smiled a defeated smile, unaware of the thoughts going on in my mind.

His team had been impressive, even though it was “only” eleven stars. The sheer variety in his strategy made it clear that he knew exactly how to best use his Pokémon in a match. Given the chance, he already had my recommendation. Even more, if he started practicing again, there was no doubt he’d be an incredibly strong member of Alola’s Elite Four.

The region’s Pokémon League was slowly coming together.