[ON INDEFINITE HIATUS] Alolan Adventures: An Original Pokémon Story

25. Challenge

Gladion's POV

     "All right. Axol, do you want to be the referee?" Gladion asked. Axol ran down from his room, a GameCube controller in his hands. 

     "Ooh. A battle between lovers. Heck yeah, I want to be the referee," he said. Both Snow and Gladion's faces turned dark red. Snow gained her composure first and nodded. 

     "Okay, but shut up, Axol. Let's make this a double battle," Snow said. Gladion nodded, but from the look in Snow's dark brown eyes, she had something up her sleeve. Axol stared at Snow incredulously.

     "Seriously? You're making the poor guy have a double battle, with you? Everyone knows that you're legendary at double battles," he protested. Snow sent him a look that perfectly conveyed her message: shut up. She sighed and ruffled her little brother's hair.

     "Way to ruin a strategy," she said. "Thank goodness I'm smart enough to have made a second one. You dummy, you weren't supposed to say that I was good at double battles. I guess now I have to prove just how good I am." Axol grinned and slapped Snow's hand away playfully.

     "At least I'm better at you when it comes to thinking outside the box. You're all weird and logical, like a robot. I don't come up with strategy, of course. I just go WHAM BAM and then I know what I need to do from my heart," he said. Snow sighed. 

     "Because that definitely helps me. Whatever. Let's get on with it outside." she said with a smile. Gladion nodded. Now that Axol had revealed Snow's biggest strength, he regretted agreeing to a double battle. He had never trained for one before, so he was at a disadvantage. 

     The trio headed outside to the beach, the white sand making for a perfect battlefield. Axol stood in the middle.

     "Send out your Pokémon!" he said. "Oooh, refereeing is fun. I should do this more often." Dragonite nodded, already working on a sand castle that looked like the real thing. Snow grinned.

    "Gentlemen first," she said. Gladion laughed and pulled out two Poké Balls.

     "Silvally and Lycanroc, I choose you," he said. Snow smiled, another one of those looks in her eyes. She took out two Poké Balls, throwing them onto the battlefield with vigor.

     "Sandslash and Reshiram, you're my team today!" she said. Axol nodded, already seeming to know what would happen. He raised his arm into the air, and sliced it downwards.

     "Battle...begin!" he said.

     "Sandslash, move in with Blizzard, Reshiram, stay back and defend with Overheat if necessary!" Snow said, still while Axol was finishing saying 'begin.' Gladion smiled. That girl always wants the first move.

     "Silvally, Lycanroc- hold your ground!" he said, knowing that Alolan Sandslash's Blizzard was unavoidable. The wind picked up, soon throwing Lycanroc against Silvally, as he braced for a wave of cold to hit him. Soon, the entire beach was white with snow, Silvally buried up to its legs. Snow grinned.

     "Bring it on, Gladion!" she said. "Make your move." Her eyes glowed with manic energy. So this is her battling style. No punches pulled. I won't let her boss me around. 

     "Let's do this. Lycanroc, Stone Edge, and Silvally, Air Slash!" he yelled. Snow grinned.

     "Sandslash, break that stone with Metal Claw, and Reshiram, deflect that Air Slash with Dragon Breath." she said calmly. Her plan worked. Gladion's attacks were completely neutralized by her counters, and now he had played into her hands. She smiled slyly and thrusted her hand into the air. "Now, let's finish this! Draco Meteor, Reshiram!" Suddenly, meteor-like rock formations rained down upon Lycanroc and Silvally. Snow smiled, while the two Pokémon took a lot of damage, but flat-out grinned when Lycanroc got knocked out.

     "Lycanroc is unable to battle! That means that Gladion has one Pokémon left to battle with. This is now a two-on-one," Axol said. "The tables have turned."

      Gladion gritted his teeth. He had to do something to end it all- wait. 

     "It's time for a Z-Move," he said. Snow's face remained a mask of ice, not moving a bit. "Breakneck Blitz!" Silvally rushed forwards with incredible speed, tackling Snow's Sandslash and Reshiram to the sand. Once the dust cleared, Snow's Reshiram was knocked out from the force of the Z-Move, at the last second taking the brunt of the attack so both Pokémon wouldn't be knocked out. Snow smiled. This seemed to be a strategy she had used before.

     "You battled with the force of a dragon. Thank you, Reshiram," she said, returning it to its Repeat Ball. "Now it's up to you, Sandslash. Let's do this!" Silvally, already tired from its previous Z-Move, was on its last legs. She smiled and crossed her arms, her long, thin fingers outstretched. 

     "This is our strike," she said, before crossing her arms above her head twice. "Take the power of winter, and make it yours!" There must've been something wrong with Gladion's eyes, because as Snow thrust her hands out from her body, she opened her eyes, seeming to flash silver again with Z-Power. "Subzero Slammer!"

     Sandslash opened it mouth, letting loose a beam of pure ice, encasing Silvally in its cold before expanding to a giant mountain of blue spikes. As soon as it formed, it shattered into a million pieces of diamond-like dust, fluttering around the beach until it cleared, and Silvally was visible again, its eyes dull. Snow smiled and returned Sandslash to its Master Ball. Gladion returned Silvally to its Premiere Ball as well, as Snow ran to him and wrapped him tightly in a hug.

     "You won," he said with a smile. Snow grinned and ruffled his blond fringe. 

     "And you put up a good fight as well, Chopstick Hair," she said affectionately. Gladion's face turned pink, and he laughed. 

     "I like that nickname," he said. Axol walked over, separating the two.

     "Take it slow," he said with a grin. Snow smacked Axol again, laughing.

     "Dummy. We're dating, and you know it." she said. Axol laughed and raised Snow's hand in the air.

     "You win," he said. "Although the poor guy didn't even know how good you are at double battles. Guess next time he should choose." Snow nodded.

     "Sorry for trying to pull a fast one on you," she said. Gladion laughed and kissed Snow on the cheek. "Next time, you make the rules." He nodded. Axol grinned.

     "Hey, he should battle me!" he protested. "Besides, I'm better at you when it comes to single battles." Gladion grinned and ruffled the younger kid's hair, just like Snow did all the time.

      "Next time, I'm going to win, if it's againt Snow or you," he said to the younger Trainer. "Although I should work on my double battling skills." Snow laughed and kissed him again, this time on the lips.

     "You'll learn from the best," she said, once they came up for air, Axol tossing a gag-me-now gesture. The three were Trainers, after all, and they would all learn to be best friends. To be family.