Experts [Yuletide one-shot]
Dec 31, 2018 7:18:34 GMT
Post by Dramatic Melody on Dec 31, 2018 7:18:34 GMT
My Yuletide fic for Bay, who wanted an alternate take on how Grimsley and Nanu would first meet if they didn't do so like in Foul Play!
“Come on, Grimsley. Don’t be so pessimistic! This could be a great experience for you!”
He highly doubted it as he entered the dome housing the Pokemon World Tournament, which has rapidly become one of the most popular tourist destinations in Central Unova. Not being one for huge gatherings, Shauntal had to convince him an uncomfortable number of times to accept Clay’s invitation.
“If it isn’t popular, then why won’t he discontinue that tournament?” he remembered telling her after seeing the invite.
“Well, Clay’s not known for giving up so easily,” said Shauntal with a smile. “Besides, don’t you want the opportunity to battle several expert trainers of your favorite type?”
The invite was given to all Dark-type specialists across several regions, asking them to participate in a special type expert tournament in the PWT. Due to the lack of gym leaders that specialized in the type, it didn’t have the same draw as the other type expert tournaments in the venue, where fans of different gym leaders would regularly fill the seats to see their favorites in action.
“But with a huge event with all the popular specialists like yourself, it’s sure to draw in a huge crowd!” the invite read. “And it’ll be a rare opportunity to see which among the Dark-type experts is the best!”
Grimsley was the furthest from interested, as he didn’t see the need to prove himself to anyone. He was already a member of the Unova Elite Four, wasn’t he? That was more than enough proof of his strength for anyone. Besides, why would he want to risk the reputation he had worked hard to rebuild in the chance—no, the off chance that he face a stronger opponent?
But he still found himself entering the dome with Shauntal, his invite RSVPed and his reputation risked.
“Hey! Glad you could make it, Grimsley,” greeted clay as the two Elite Four members entered the lobby. “You better make sure you make Unova proud, ya hear? Lots of strong Dark trainers from other regions flew in, so you gotta show ‘em how strong we Unovans are, yeah?”
“Of course,” he said with a smile. “I wouldn’t have come if I didn’t plan on winning.”
“Hah! That’s the spirit!” said Clay. “Just give yer name and invite to the lady in the counter and you’ll be all set for the tournament.”
Grimsley was about to bow out of the conversation when Shauntal asked, “If you don’t mind me asking, Mr. Clay, who are the other Dark-type specialists you invited for the tournament?”
“The big ones are Elite Four members from other Leagues,” he answered. “But most of ‘em are veteran trainers without League positions, the ones who participate in the tournament on normal days. There sure aren’t many of you Dark-type folks, huh?”
It wasn’t a secret that Dark-type Pokemon were more difficult to train than others, so becoming a specialist was an even longer and tougher journey than usual. It didn’t help that many of the unruly teams and organizations that popped up here and there often used Dark-types to further their respective agendas. So Grimsley knew he was part of a very small group, and he could already guess who he’d be facing in the tournament.
“That makes them all the more special, I think!” said Shauntal, much to Grimsley’s embarrassment. “Thank you for the invitation, Mr. Clay! We hope it will be a success for you and the World Tournament.”
“I appreciate that, Ms. Shauntal,” said Clay as he glanced at his watch. “You’ll hav’ta excuse me, I need to check on the other participants. Best of luck out there, Grimsley!”
As Clay left them, Grimsley approached the woman in the registration booth and gave her his invite. Once he completed his registration, he had a couple of minutes to burn before he had to go backstage for the event.
“Do you already have an idea on who you’ll see in the tournament?” asked Shauntal after he finished talking to the woman in the counter.
“I’m sure Karen’s gonna be here,” he replied, remembering his meeting with the Johto-based specialist years ago. “She’s all about proving how strong her team is even if they aren’t the usual powerhouses.”
“Ah, I remember her!” said Shauntal. “What was her famous quote again? I think it was about strong Pokemon and weak Pokemon—”
“Yeah, that’s her,” interrupted Grimsley, having heard that quote far too many times. “And I know Sidney’s not gonna let this pass. He likes showing off his Mega Absol every chance he gets.”
“He’s the one from Hoenn, right?” asked Shauntal. “I think I remember Phoebe mentioning him before.”
“Yeah,” he replied. “Don’t know any other Elite Fours who specialize in the type, so Clay should’ve invited both of them.”
The two then heard an announcement of the tournament starting in a few minutes, requesting all the participants to go backstage. With a hug, Shauntal wished him a final good luck before heading to the bleachers.
“You’ll do great!” she said. “I can already see the first line of tomorrow’s news: Elite Four Grimsley proves he’s the strongest Dark-type specialist in the world!”
“Thanks, Shauntal,” he said with a smile. “See you later.”
As Shauntal left him, Grimsley saw the hallway monitor display the tournament’s roster of 16 trainers. As he expected, Karen and Sidney were among them, and he was half-disappointed and half-relieved that they were both in the opposite side of the brackets. The rest of the names were vaguely familiar to him, some being the usual Dark-type trainers that Clay hired for the tournament, others being specialists that had approached him once upon a time to ask for advice.
But as he looked closer, he saw one unfamiliar name in the list. Try as he might, he couldn’t remember any instance in his journey when he came across that name.
“Who’s Nanu?”
“Come ooon, Uncle Nanu! This’ll be fun!”
“Hmph” was all Nanu could respond. He didn’t think much of Acerola’s invitation to take a vacation in Unova—it sure beat being stuck in Po Town for another week. But he had a lot to say about Acerola accepting a tournament on his behalf without telling him.
“It’s a tournament for Dark-type experts!” said the trial captain with a smile. “Hee hee, isn’t that exciting? You’ll get to battle all these other trainers who have the same favorite type as you do!”
“Exciting” was the last word on Nanu’s mind. He was hardly a fan of these flashy tournaments—hell, he wouldn’t even be battling frequently if Tapu Bulu didn’t select him as Ula’Ula Island’s kahuna. That already took more time and energy than necessary.
But he found himself completing his registration anyway. He couldn’t say no to Acerola—or rather, she didn’t give him the chance to.
“Ooooh, I can’t wait!” she said as the lady in the registration booth confirmed his invite. “You’ll do great, Uncle Nanu! These Unova trainers won’t expect to battle someone as good as you! Hee hee!”
“Hmph,” he said, his arms crossed. “Can’t you do it instead? Don’t they have a tournament for Ghost-type trainers or something?”
“Yeah, but this one’s special cause it’s invite only!” replied Acerola. “I heard that you’ll even get to battle some of the most powerful trainers in the world! They call themselves the Elite Four, and they sound like they’re the kahunas of other regions!”
He was well aware, as he’d met Karen, the Dark-type specialist of the Indigo League’s Elite Four, back when he was keeping an eye on Team Rocket for Interpol. But he wasn’t looking forward to meeting her again—or meeting anyone, for that matter.
“And this’ll be a great chance for you to go all out!” Acerola continued. “You don’t need to teach these trainers any lessons or make sure they don’t cause any trouble, coz they’re all great trainers! And that includes Alola’s very own Kahuna Nanu!”
He knew there wasn’t any way out of this, so he let Acerola do her thing. Besides, win or lose, it’d be great exercise for his Persian, who hasn’t battled ever since they boarded the plane a few days ago.
All Nanu could hope for was that it wouldn’t be too tiresome.
“Finish it with Iron Head!”
Grimsley knew he was eventually going to face off with the mysterious Nanu. He was the last trainer he had to beat before going to the finals with Karen, who had beaten Sidney in the other semifinal bracket.
But this Nanu was proving to be a difficult obstacle. Sure, Grimsley’s Liepard made short work of his Sableye, but Nanu had the strongest Krookodile he’d ever seen. It plowed through his Liepard and even beat his Scrafty despite the type disadvantage. And his Bisharp didn’t win unscathed—the Krookodile managed to sneak in a quick Aerial Ace before finally going down.
“Hmph, return,” Grimsley heard his opponent say. From what he’s gathered, this Nanu didn’t look like he was enthusiastic about the tournament either. But it was hard to assume anything from his vacant expression. Was he bored? Was it his version of a poker face? Was he silently judging his opponents? Grimsley could only guess.
“Go, Persian,” Nanu mumbled as he called out his final Pokemon. Grimsley was shocked in more ways than one—this Persian was apparently a Dark-type, and she looked nothing like the white regal felines he occasionally saw on TV. Instead, she had dark grayish-blue fur, fitting of her new Dark typing. But most weird and oddly impressive of all was her head, which looked like it was stung by several Beedrill.
“Haven’t seen an Alolan Persian before, huh?” he suddenly heard his opponent say, the first time Nanu had struck a conversation the entire battle. “Heh, never get tired of all the surprised looks.”
Grimsley was about to reply when Nanu added, “Fake Out.”
At once, the odd-looking Persian moved at lightning speed, hitting a confused Bisharp for free damage. Grimsley was worried at how uneasy Bisharp looked after what was supposed to be a weak and resisted attack—if he wanted to win, he needed to play as quickly as possible.
“Hit it with a Low Sweep,” Grimsley commanded. Bisharp ran toward Persian, occasionally disappearing and reappearing from sight—a tactic he and his trainer had perfected in order to confuse their opponent. But it was Grimsley who was confused when he saw that Nanu hadn’t given Persian any commands, as if they were waiting for the attack.
With a snap of his fingers, Grimsley signaled Bisharp to hone in, appearing right beside Persian.
“Jump,” Nanu said almost mechanically. The feline pokemon leapt just in time before Bishar’s feet hit her.
“Screech,” Nanu added. Persian let out a loud cry, rattling Bisharp and breaking him off his stance. But when Grimsley heard the command, he made a slight grin. That should’ve activated Defiant, he thought. Perfect.
“Let’s try that again,” said Grimsley. “Faster.”
Upon hearing the command, Bisharp’s form disappeared, appearing in even quicker flickers that trainers in the higher seats of the arena weren’t able to see him. But Persian kept her stance, listening to every instance of her opponent’s flickers, until she heard her trainer command, “Jump.”
“Hm, too early,” Grimsley mumbled to himself as he watched the Dark-type Persian leap into the air. With a snap of his fingers, Bisharp appeared right behind her and completed the attack, making the feline Pokemon roar in pain as she slammed to the ground.
“Snarl,” Nanu said with no hint of worry in his voice, confusing Grimsley even more. As Persian got up, she let out another loud roar, letting a dark aura surround her body. Bisharp began flickering in and out of sight to avoid it, but as Grimsley realized what attack she was preparing, he snapped his fingers again.
“Get hit,” he commanded in a low voice. “But make it subtle.”
Nodding, Bisharp slowed down his flickers, with the aura eventually creeping up to him and hurting his head. But Grimsley’s smile widened at the successful attack. That’s two Defiant activations, he thought. That should be enough.
“Once more. Let’s end this,” he called out to Bisharp, who replied with an understanding nod. Again, the ninja Pokemon started appearing and disappearing in flickers around his opponent, with the Persian only tilting her head left and right to keep track of where her opponent was. But the moment Grimsley snapped his fingers to give Bisharp the signal, he saw Nanu’s expressionless face turn into a slight smile.
“Tank,” he said as Persian firmed herself up. She was visibly hurt by the boosted Low Sweep, but she followed her trainer’s command, doing her best to stay put as Bisharp only nudging her slightly.
“Good girl,” Nanu said as he slowly tilted his head sideways. “Foul Play.”
Persian grabbed Bisharp’s stretched foot with her paws and, letting out a loud growl, she twisted it and tackled her opponent with all her strength. Grimsley was taken aback, and as the attack completed, he saw his Bisharp lay motionless on the floor.
“Grimsley is out of usable Pokemon!” he heard the referee say. “The winner of the semifinal round is… Nanu!”
“Oh, isn’t that Nanu over there?”
True enough, Shauntal was pointing to the mysterious trainer that beat Grimsley. While Nanu eventually lost to Karen in the finals, Grimsley was still in shock at how this unknown trainer was able to outsmart him in almost every way. He saw that Nanu was with a younger girl who looked like his daughter, or at least someone his daughter’s age.
“We should talk to him,” said Shauntal. “You told me it’s your first time battling him, right? Now’s the perfect time to get to know him!”
“Wait, Shaun—” he called out, but the Ghost-type specialist had already made her way to the pair and greeted them.
“You’re—you’re Shauntal! Oh my gosh!” he heard the young girl say as he approached the three. “I’m such a big fan! I’ve read so many of your books! There’s a special shelf in our library back in Malie that’s filled with all of your novels!”
“Aw, that’s so sweet!” said Shauntal with a smile as she noticed Grimsley standing behind her. “Ah, Grimsley, this is Acerola. She’s a trial captain from Alola. And of course, you know Nanu. He’s one of Alola’s kahunas.”
“Nice to meet you both,” said Grimsley. “And congratulations on coming in second place in the tournament, Nanu.”
All Grimsley got from the kahuna was a grunt for a reply. He wasn’t sure if it was because he was frustrated about the loss or because he didn’t want to talk to them. Or maybe it was a mixture of both?
“So Acerola,” began Shauntal, breaking the silence, “what’s a trial captain and what’s a kahuna?”
“Ah, right, you don’t have those in Unova!” Acerola replied. “Well, from what I’ve read, trial captains are pretty similar to your gym leaders, like Mr. Clay! And kahunas are our Elite Four members—they’re everyone’s final obstacle before becoming an island challenge champion!
“Island challenge champion?” Grimsley repeated. “That’s new. What does it take to become one?”
“Well, you have to complete all the trials!” said Acerola. “They’re a bunch of different tasks, and they include battles, too! And at the end there’s— oh, I shouldn’t say since it should be a surprise! Hee hee!”
“Intriguing, said Grimsley. “And are all the Pokemon in Alola different? Like Nanu’s Persian?”
He took a quick glance at Nanu, who still had his eyes closed and shoulders shrugged.
“Not all of them!” said Acerola, her demeanor almost the exact opposite of the kahuna’s. “But there are some like Grimer and Rattata that are Dark type in Alola! It’s very interesting!”
“Interesting indeed,” said Grimsley, his hand on his chin. “What else—”
“Hmph, we should get going,” Nanu suddenly said, interrupting Grimsley. “We’ve stayed too long.”
“Ah, right! We have a reservation in Cafe Sonata in Castelia!” said Acerola. “It was very nice meeting you, Mr. Grimsley! And Ms. Shauntal, we should battle sometime! I’d love to learn some tricks from a Ghost-type master!”
“Absolutely,” said Shauntal. “I hope you enjoy the rest of your vacation!”
As Acerola and Nanu exited the hall, Grimsley couldn’t help but wonder—why did Alola sound so intriguing? Why do they have these Dark-type versions of non-Dark-type Pokemon? And what was up with this Nanu person?
“Hm, maybe going to Alola would answer all those questions,” Grimsley mumbled to himself. “Maybe.”
Experts
“Come on, Grimsley. Don’t be so pessimistic! This could be a great experience for you!”
He highly doubted it as he entered the dome housing the Pokemon World Tournament, which has rapidly become one of the most popular tourist destinations in Central Unova. Not being one for huge gatherings, Shauntal had to convince him an uncomfortable number of times to accept Clay’s invitation.
“If it isn’t popular, then why won’t he discontinue that tournament?” he remembered telling her after seeing the invite.
“Well, Clay’s not known for giving up so easily,” said Shauntal with a smile. “Besides, don’t you want the opportunity to battle several expert trainers of your favorite type?”
The invite was given to all Dark-type specialists across several regions, asking them to participate in a special type expert tournament in the PWT. Due to the lack of gym leaders that specialized in the type, it didn’t have the same draw as the other type expert tournaments in the venue, where fans of different gym leaders would regularly fill the seats to see their favorites in action.
“But with a huge event with all the popular specialists like yourself, it’s sure to draw in a huge crowd!” the invite read. “And it’ll be a rare opportunity to see which among the Dark-type experts is the best!”
Grimsley was the furthest from interested, as he didn’t see the need to prove himself to anyone. He was already a member of the Unova Elite Four, wasn’t he? That was more than enough proof of his strength for anyone. Besides, why would he want to risk the reputation he had worked hard to rebuild in the chance—no, the off chance that he face a stronger opponent?
But he still found himself entering the dome with Shauntal, his invite RSVPed and his reputation risked.
“Hey! Glad you could make it, Grimsley,” greeted clay as the two Elite Four members entered the lobby. “You better make sure you make Unova proud, ya hear? Lots of strong Dark trainers from other regions flew in, so you gotta show ‘em how strong we Unovans are, yeah?”
“Of course,” he said with a smile. “I wouldn’t have come if I didn’t plan on winning.”
“Hah! That’s the spirit!” said Clay. “Just give yer name and invite to the lady in the counter and you’ll be all set for the tournament.”
Grimsley was about to bow out of the conversation when Shauntal asked, “If you don’t mind me asking, Mr. Clay, who are the other Dark-type specialists you invited for the tournament?”
“The big ones are Elite Four members from other Leagues,” he answered. “But most of ‘em are veteran trainers without League positions, the ones who participate in the tournament on normal days. There sure aren’t many of you Dark-type folks, huh?”
It wasn’t a secret that Dark-type Pokemon were more difficult to train than others, so becoming a specialist was an even longer and tougher journey than usual. It didn’t help that many of the unruly teams and organizations that popped up here and there often used Dark-types to further their respective agendas. So Grimsley knew he was part of a very small group, and he could already guess who he’d be facing in the tournament.
“That makes them all the more special, I think!” said Shauntal, much to Grimsley’s embarrassment. “Thank you for the invitation, Mr. Clay! We hope it will be a success for you and the World Tournament.”
“I appreciate that, Ms. Shauntal,” said Clay as he glanced at his watch. “You’ll hav’ta excuse me, I need to check on the other participants. Best of luck out there, Grimsley!”
As Clay left them, Grimsley approached the woman in the registration booth and gave her his invite. Once he completed his registration, he had a couple of minutes to burn before he had to go backstage for the event.
“Do you already have an idea on who you’ll see in the tournament?” asked Shauntal after he finished talking to the woman in the counter.
“I’m sure Karen’s gonna be here,” he replied, remembering his meeting with the Johto-based specialist years ago. “She’s all about proving how strong her team is even if they aren’t the usual powerhouses.”
“Ah, I remember her!” said Shauntal. “What was her famous quote again? I think it was about strong Pokemon and weak Pokemon—”
“Yeah, that’s her,” interrupted Grimsley, having heard that quote far too many times. “And I know Sidney’s not gonna let this pass. He likes showing off his Mega Absol every chance he gets.”
“He’s the one from Hoenn, right?” asked Shauntal. “I think I remember Phoebe mentioning him before.”
“Yeah,” he replied. “Don’t know any other Elite Fours who specialize in the type, so Clay should’ve invited both of them.”
The two then heard an announcement of the tournament starting in a few minutes, requesting all the participants to go backstage. With a hug, Shauntal wished him a final good luck before heading to the bleachers.
“You’ll do great!” she said. “I can already see the first line of tomorrow’s news: Elite Four Grimsley proves he’s the strongest Dark-type specialist in the world!”
“Thanks, Shauntal,” he said with a smile. “See you later.”
As Shauntal left him, Grimsley saw the hallway monitor display the tournament’s roster of 16 trainers. As he expected, Karen and Sidney were among them, and he was half-disappointed and half-relieved that they were both in the opposite side of the brackets. The rest of the names were vaguely familiar to him, some being the usual Dark-type trainers that Clay hired for the tournament, others being specialists that had approached him once upon a time to ask for advice.
But as he looked closer, he saw one unfamiliar name in the list. Try as he might, he couldn’t remember any instance in his journey when he came across that name.
“Who’s Nanu?”
“Come ooon, Uncle Nanu! This’ll be fun!”
“Hmph” was all Nanu could respond. He didn’t think much of Acerola’s invitation to take a vacation in Unova—it sure beat being stuck in Po Town for another week. But he had a lot to say about Acerola accepting a tournament on his behalf without telling him.
“It’s a tournament for Dark-type experts!” said the trial captain with a smile. “Hee hee, isn’t that exciting? You’ll get to battle all these other trainers who have the same favorite type as you do!”
“Exciting” was the last word on Nanu’s mind. He was hardly a fan of these flashy tournaments—hell, he wouldn’t even be battling frequently if Tapu Bulu didn’t select him as Ula’Ula Island’s kahuna. That already took more time and energy than necessary.
But he found himself completing his registration anyway. He couldn’t say no to Acerola—or rather, she didn’t give him the chance to.
“Ooooh, I can’t wait!” she said as the lady in the registration booth confirmed his invite. “You’ll do great, Uncle Nanu! These Unova trainers won’t expect to battle someone as good as you! Hee hee!”
“Hmph,” he said, his arms crossed. “Can’t you do it instead? Don’t they have a tournament for Ghost-type trainers or something?”
“Yeah, but this one’s special cause it’s invite only!” replied Acerola. “I heard that you’ll even get to battle some of the most powerful trainers in the world! They call themselves the Elite Four, and they sound like they’re the kahunas of other regions!”
He was well aware, as he’d met Karen, the Dark-type specialist of the Indigo League’s Elite Four, back when he was keeping an eye on Team Rocket for Interpol. But he wasn’t looking forward to meeting her again—or meeting anyone, for that matter.
“And this’ll be a great chance for you to go all out!” Acerola continued. “You don’t need to teach these trainers any lessons or make sure they don’t cause any trouble, coz they’re all great trainers! And that includes Alola’s very own Kahuna Nanu!”
He knew there wasn’t any way out of this, so he let Acerola do her thing. Besides, win or lose, it’d be great exercise for his Persian, who hasn’t battled ever since they boarded the plane a few days ago.
All Nanu could hope for was that it wouldn’t be too tiresome.
“Finish it with Iron Head!”
Grimsley knew he was eventually going to face off with the mysterious Nanu. He was the last trainer he had to beat before going to the finals with Karen, who had beaten Sidney in the other semifinal bracket.
But this Nanu was proving to be a difficult obstacle. Sure, Grimsley’s Liepard made short work of his Sableye, but Nanu had the strongest Krookodile he’d ever seen. It plowed through his Liepard and even beat his Scrafty despite the type disadvantage. And his Bisharp didn’t win unscathed—the Krookodile managed to sneak in a quick Aerial Ace before finally going down.
“Hmph, return,” Grimsley heard his opponent say. From what he’s gathered, this Nanu didn’t look like he was enthusiastic about the tournament either. But it was hard to assume anything from his vacant expression. Was he bored? Was it his version of a poker face? Was he silently judging his opponents? Grimsley could only guess.
“Go, Persian,” Nanu mumbled as he called out his final Pokemon. Grimsley was shocked in more ways than one—this Persian was apparently a Dark-type, and she looked nothing like the white regal felines he occasionally saw on TV. Instead, she had dark grayish-blue fur, fitting of her new Dark typing. But most weird and oddly impressive of all was her head, which looked like it was stung by several Beedrill.
“Haven’t seen an Alolan Persian before, huh?” he suddenly heard his opponent say, the first time Nanu had struck a conversation the entire battle. “Heh, never get tired of all the surprised looks.”
Grimsley was about to reply when Nanu added, “Fake Out.”
At once, the odd-looking Persian moved at lightning speed, hitting a confused Bisharp for free damage. Grimsley was worried at how uneasy Bisharp looked after what was supposed to be a weak and resisted attack—if he wanted to win, he needed to play as quickly as possible.
“Hit it with a Low Sweep,” Grimsley commanded. Bisharp ran toward Persian, occasionally disappearing and reappearing from sight—a tactic he and his trainer had perfected in order to confuse their opponent. But it was Grimsley who was confused when he saw that Nanu hadn’t given Persian any commands, as if they were waiting for the attack.
With a snap of his fingers, Grimsley signaled Bisharp to hone in, appearing right beside Persian.
“Jump,” Nanu said almost mechanically. The feline pokemon leapt just in time before Bishar’s feet hit her.
“Screech,” Nanu added. Persian let out a loud cry, rattling Bisharp and breaking him off his stance. But when Grimsley heard the command, he made a slight grin. That should’ve activated Defiant, he thought. Perfect.
“Let’s try that again,” said Grimsley. “Faster.”
Upon hearing the command, Bisharp’s form disappeared, appearing in even quicker flickers that trainers in the higher seats of the arena weren’t able to see him. But Persian kept her stance, listening to every instance of her opponent’s flickers, until she heard her trainer command, “Jump.”
“Hm, too early,” Grimsley mumbled to himself as he watched the Dark-type Persian leap into the air. With a snap of his fingers, Bisharp appeared right behind her and completed the attack, making the feline Pokemon roar in pain as she slammed to the ground.
“Snarl,” Nanu said with no hint of worry in his voice, confusing Grimsley even more. As Persian got up, she let out another loud roar, letting a dark aura surround her body. Bisharp began flickering in and out of sight to avoid it, but as Grimsley realized what attack she was preparing, he snapped his fingers again.
“Get hit,” he commanded in a low voice. “But make it subtle.”
Nodding, Bisharp slowed down his flickers, with the aura eventually creeping up to him and hurting his head. But Grimsley’s smile widened at the successful attack. That’s two Defiant activations, he thought. That should be enough.
“Once more. Let’s end this,” he called out to Bisharp, who replied with an understanding nod. Again, the ninja Pokemon started appearing and disappearing in flickers around his opponent, with the Persian only tilting her head left and right to keep track of where her opponent was. But the moment Grimsley snapped his fingers to give Bisharp the signal, he saw Nanu’s expressionless face turn into a slight smile.
“Tank,” he said as Persian firmed herself up. She was visibly hurt by the boosted Low Sweep, but she followed her trainer’s command, doing her best to stay put as Bisharp only nudging her slightly.
“Good girl,” Nanu said as he slowly tilted his head sideways. “Foul Play.”
Persian grabbed Bisharp’s stretched foot with her paws and, letting out a loud growl, she twisted it and tackled her opponent with all her strength. Grimsley was taken aback, and as the attack completed, he saw his Bisharp lay motionless on the floor.
“Grimsley is out of usable Pokemon!” he heard the referee say. “The winner of the semifinal round is… Nanu!”
“Oh, isn’t that Nanu over there?”
True enough, Shauntal was pointing to the mysterious trainer that beat Grimsley. While Nanu eventually lost to Karen in the finals, Grimsley was still in shock at how this unknown trainer was able to outsmart him in almost every way. He saw that Nanu was with a younger girl who looked like his daughter, or at least someone his daughter’s age.
“We should talk to him,” said Shauntal. “You told me it’s your first time battling him, right? Now’s the perfect time to get to know him!”
“Wait, Shaun—” he called out, but the Ghost-type specialist had already made her way to the pair and greeted them.
“You’re—you’re Shauntal! Oh my gosh!” he heard the young girl say as he approached the three. “I’m such a big fan! I’ve read so many of your books! There’s a special shelf in our library back in Malie that’s filled with all of your novels!”
“Aw, that’s so sweet!” said Shauntal with a smile as she noticed Grimsley standing behind her. “Ah, Grimsley, this is Acerola. She’s a trial captain from Alola. And of course, you know Nanu. He’s one of Alola’s kahunas.”
“Nice to meet you both,” said Grimsley. “And congratulations on coming in second place in the tournament, Nanu.”
All Grimsley got from the kahuna was a grunt for a reply. He wasn’t sure if it was because he was frustrated about the loss or because he didn’t want to talk to them. Or maybe it was a mixture of both?
“So Acerola,” began Shauntal, breaking the silence, “what’s a trial captain and what’s a kahuna?”
“Ah, right, you don’t have those in Unova!” Acerola replied. “Well, from what I’ve read, trial captains are pretty similar to your gym leaders, like Mr. Clay! And kahunas are our Elite Four members—they’re everyone’s final obstacle before becoming an island challenge champion!
“Island challenge champion?” Grimsley repeated. “That’s new. What does it take to become one?”
“Well, you have to complete all the trials!” said Acerola. “They’re a bunch of different tasks, and they include battles, too! And at the end there’s— oh, I shouldn’t say since it should be a surprise! Hee hee!”
“Intriguing, said Grimsley. “And are all the Pokemon in Alola different? Like Nanu’s Persian?”
He took a quick glance at Nanu, who still had his eyes closed and shoulders shrugged.
“Not all of them!” said Acerola, her demeanor almost the exact opposite of the kahuna’s. “But there are some like Grimer and Rattata that are Dark type in Alola! It’s very interesting!”
“Interesting indeed,” said Grimsley, his hand on his chin. “What else—”
“Hmph, we should get going,” Nanu suddenly said, interrupting Grimsley. “We’ve stayed too long.”
“Ah, right! We have a reservation in Cafe Sonata in Castelia!” said Acerola. “It was very nice meeting you, Mr. Grimsley! And Ms. Shauntal, we should battle sometime! I’d love to learn some tricks from a Ghost-type master!”
“Absolutely,” said Shauntal. “I hope you enjoy the rest of your vacation!”
As Acerola and Nanu exited the hall, Grimsley couldn’t help but wonder—why did Alola sound so intriguing? Why do they have these Dark-type versions of non-Dark-type Pokemon? And what was up with this Nanu person?
“Hm, maybe going to Alola would answer all those questions,” Grimsley mumbled to himself. “Maybe.”
