Pokemon Ascendance: Origins of Holon

20

Elsie and Skye took a breath as the Totem Marowak approached them.

'This one is definitely more intimidating than the other Totem Pokemon that we've seen before.' she thought. 'But...a challenge is still a challenge. I can't falter...not after all the hard work Skye has been putting in this trial.'

"Skye, let's start this off with Bite."

The Rockruff nodded and dashed forward, using Bite. But it didn't do any damage to the Totem Marowak. It wasn't long after Elsie realized that Marowak had used Detect.

'So Marowak has a way to protect itself...'

Totem Marowak wasted no time calling forth his ally pokemon, which came in the form of a Salazzle, who immediately used Torment.

'A pokemon with Detect and its ally with Torment. These two have a pretty solid strategy.' Elsie thought. 'At least Skye has more than one move that's good against the Marowak.'

"Let's try to slow the Totem Pokemon a little. Skye use Rock Tomb!"

Skye nodded and immediately used Rock Tomb on the Totem Marowak. It stumbled for a moment when, but then it quickly recovered and used Flame Wheel. Skye managed to dodge it but landed in a cloud of Salazzle's Poison Gas. When the gas cleared, Skye coughed and grimaced, the Poison Gas quickly taking effect.

'This is bad. I should switch Skye out for someone else but with how he's been acting throughout this trial, I doubt that he's going to wanna quit.' she thought. 'But...Skye's safety and wellbeing come first.'

She pulled out the Rockruff's Pokeball. "Skye, rest up for now."

Skye looked back and growled, jumping out of the way of the red beam of light before running at the Totem Marowak again, this time using Rock Throw. Marowak endured the hit and used Brick Break. Salazzle followed up with Venoshock.

Skye fell at Elsie's feet. Out of shock, she dropped the Pokeball in her hand and knelt down beside him, scooping up the injured pokemon in her arms.

"Skye! Are you okay!?"

Skye slowly opened one eye and nodded, then looked back at the Totem Marowak and growled, trying to wiggle out of Elsie's arms to resume fighting.

'There has to be something that I'm missing.' Elsie thought. 'Something that Skye is noticing that I'm not. This trial did seem to be about observation after all.'

She tried to recount everything that happened in the battle. Thinking about it now, Marowak's Brick Break and FlameWheel seem to be a lot stronger than she saw in previous times she saw those moves. And Skye seemed to be aiming his Rock Throw at Marowak's bone. Elsie studied the bone the Totem Marowak was holding.

'Could that be it?'

"Skye...I think I get why you're so determined to keep fighting. You found out the secret to why Marowak is so strong didn't you?" Elsie asked as she sprayed a Super Potion on her Rockruff. Skye turned back to her and nodded. "Well, I think I have a plan now."

Skye smiled and jumped out of Elsie's arms. Elsie stood back up, taking a breath before facing the totem pokemon again.

"Alright Skye, let's give it one last push. Use Tackle!"

The Totem Marowak stood there in confusion as Skye ran towards it. Salazzle jumped in front and used Venoshock which Skye jumped over. He soon landed on the Marowak's arm.

"Now take that Thick Club away! Then use Bite!" Elsie called out.

Due to the confusion of the ineffective attack, Marowak didn't have enough time to react when Skye grabbed onto the Thick Club and threw it out of reach before Biting down on Marowak's shoulder. Flame Wheel soon threw off Skye. As Skye and Elsie had expected, it did a lot less damage.

"Now that the Thick Club isn't boosting Marowak's attack, we can take them much easier. Skye, defeat the Totem Marowak with Rock Tomb."

With a howl, Skye landed his final attack. When it landed, both the Totem Pokemon and Skye had fallen.

"Thanks for all your hard work, Skye. Take a well-deserved rest."

The tired Rockruff nodded and smiled as he returned to his Pokeball.

"Prism, let's finish what Skye started."

Prism nodded and jumped off Elsie's shoulder, prepared to face the Salazzle. Without thinking, Elsie grabbed the Normalium-Z and placed it on her Z-Ring. The crystal glowed brightly and so did Prism.

'What's this...odd feeling? Is this...a surge of power? No, not the time to dwell on that. I have a trial to finish.'

"Prism...use Breakneck Blitz!"

The Salazzle stood there in fear as Prism came towards it at blinding speed. With it exhausted from trying to attack Skye, all it took was one hit for the ally pokemon to retreat.

Elsie let out a sigh of relief, knowing that the trial was over. "That duo was definitely a challenge. Good thing that Skye noticed the Thick Club to make this more manageable."

"Well done, challenger," Kiawe said. "You and your pokemon's observation skills even discovered the secret of Marowak's power. Take the Firium-Z as proof of your victory."

The moment the Z-Crystal was handed to her, Lucien came out of his Pokeball, his tail wagging rapidly.

"Oh hey, Lucien. Guess it makes sense that you would wanna see the Fire-Z move. Let's hope I can remember the moves..."

Like she did with the other Z-moves presented to her, Elsie studied the movements before mirroring them. Lucien ran around excitedly.

It wasn't long until Hau and Lillie came running forward.

"Wow, taking away the Thick Club to lower Marowak's attack. That was pretty awesome El." Hau said with a grin.

Elsie couldn't help but smile at the compliment. "Thanks...I'm really starting to see how Akala Island is the hardest island for trial-goers to get through. But...I'm getting through it so I guess I'm stronger than I thought."

"Next trial you'll face is in Lush Jungle but before that. There's someone that I want you to meet." Lillie said.

"Guessing the person you're talking about is Professor Burnet huh?" Hau said. "Her lab isn't that far from here after all."

"Yeah. It'll be nice to see her again. Plus she's already heard about Elsie from Professor Kukui and has been wanting to meet her."

Elsie nodded. "Oh, okay. I can do that. It'll be nice to take a little break from the trials anyway."

"Great. Let's race there!" Before either of them could react, Hau ran off.

"H-Hey, you could've at least started the race after I take Skye to the Pokemon Center!" Elsie called out as she and Lillie ran after their friend.