Viridian City Gym Battle Pt. 2

Giovanni returned his Rhyhorn and called out a Dugtrio without a word. Pele shifted a bit eyeing her new opponent carefully shifting on her hooves. Dugtrio disappeared into the ground earning a muttered curse and Vali called out, "Pele, Magnitude!"

Vali would likely need to use Elrond to defeat this one, but she couldn't recall Pele just yet. She needed to weaken Dugtrio as much as possible before then to ensure Elrond would be able to battle long enough to be able to use Grass Knot against Giovanni's heavier pokemon. She'd spoken to the rest of her pokemon about this strategy and they'd all agreed to it though Elrond had resisted a bit not believing that he could be the lynch pin. It had taken awhile, but he'd eventually agreed to it with the assurance that she'd pick one of the others instead if they were better suited for the battle. This was going to be difficult, the grin on her lips grew just a bit larger knowing that a great battle was ahead of them.

Dugtrio popped out of the earth close to Pele with a trio of surprised squeaks though didn't seem to be hurt which was slightly irritating given that Magnitude got stronger with every use. It released a Tri-Attack which was one of the moves that they hadn't encountered before since the attack wasn't exactly common. Pele created a shield of earth using Earth Power just as the beams of the Tri-Attack struck causing a minor explosion. The electrical and fire attacks burned the earthen shield while the ice attack coated the area it had hit in a thick coating of frost that looked exactly like ice in the center. Definitely not something Pele needed to be hit by, Vali called out, "Heat Wave!"

Pele's body began releasing waves of heat hot enough to cause sweat to break out on Vali's skin even from this distance. It was definitely one of Pele's strongest attacks that would get even stronger the more she used it. Dugtrio hid beneath the ground with each head releasing a barely heard squeal and Pele used Magnitude again. When Dugtrio reappeared, it appeared close to Pele and used Sucker Punch. The fist of blackish purple energy that appeared slammed into Pele's chest sending her skidding backwards with a sound of surprised pain. Pele released a Flamethrower on impulse earning a squeal of pain and a rapid retreat into the ground by Dugtrio which started up a game of wack-a-mole causing damage to both pokemon. Both pokemon doing their best, Dugtrio dodging Pele's attacks as best it could while Pele did her best to withstand the ground-types attacks.

At the end of the little game, Pele was stubbornly releasing an almost constant Flamethrower that was slowly beginning to splutter. Dugtrio was ducking the stream of flames in an attempt to attack Pele up close and personal. Pele's heavily bruised and scratched form was trembling with exhaustion making Vali grimace a bit. Pele was reaching her limit, but had done quite a bit of damage to Dugtrio in return. Pele stopped the stream of flames in order to use Toxic on Dugtrio up close earning a choked squeal from the three heads that began to gag. Huh, Balto must've taught her that tactic. She grinned a bit since it meant Dugtrio was a on a time-limit. Dugtrio retaliated with another Sucker Punch that sent Pele stumbling back. Pele tottered a bit before collapsing into unconsciousness prompting her to return the Numel as the referee made the call, "Numel is unable to battle."

Vali called out Elrond who's nose twitched as he appeared and she caught sight of Giovanni's surprised expression. Clearly he hadn't been expecting an Alolan Raichu, she smiled while calling out, "Elrond, Pele beat a Rhyhorn and did a lot of damage to that Dugtrio. Let's make sure to beat this one for her."

Elrond nodded eyeing Dugtrio warily, "Psychic and Iron-tail should do it, right?"

Vali hummed in agreement and Elrond started off the battle by pulling Dugtrio plus a large chunk of earth out of the ground. He proceeded to hit Dugtrio with Iron Tail making sure to dodge any attacks the panicking creature shot off. Dugtrio finally used Sucker Punch breaking out of Elrond's psychic hold causing it to fall back towards the ground. Elrond didn't try to grab Dugtrio, but hit it with another Iron Tail speeding up it's fall towards the ground. Dugtrio slammed into the ground harshly with a sharp echoing crack. Elrond picked Dugtrio up again and hit it with another Iron Tail knocking the mole pokemon out.

Giovanni returned it and released a Golem. Vali grinned a bit, "Elrond, you know what to do."

Elrond nodded and zoomed across the field scattering seeds around the battlefield with quite a few landing in the cracks within Golem's plated armor. Elrond gathered the seeds from the fruits he'd eaten alongside a lot of grass seeds. Thankfully any kind of seed would work, the grass-type energy created for Grass Knot transformed them into Grass Knot seeds that would grow as directed by the user. It had taken time for Elrond to figure out how to keep from activating all the seeds when using Grass Knot and despite not having the ability to perfectly control it, he was able to use it in battle without much trouble. Which they'd tested via trainer battles, Elrond had really developed a liking for the move since it gave him a chance to use the heavy weight of his larger opponents against them.

Elrond activated Grass Knot as Golem made a move to use Take Down. Glowing green vines shot from the ground and wrapped around Golem tightly sending it stumbling, the vines snapped at the megaton pokemon's hard shell. Golem let out a grunt and glared at Elrond as it struggled to get up. Elrond raced over and hit it with Iron Tail earning a shout of pain. Golem fought against the Grass Knot vines managing to snap a few and threw a Mega Punch at Elrond. Elrond floated out of reach before speeding back to hit Golem with another Iron Tail. Golem broke free of the Grass Knot vines which left heavy grooves on the megaton pokemon's hard shell and bleeding scratches where the vines had been. A dark brownish grey aura surrounded Golem as it punched the ground. The aura shifted and slipped down Golem's arm into the ground. Frowning a bit, Vali looked around the ground carefully before spotting a flash above the field.

Looking up, Vali saw stones forming and inwardly cursed as she shouted, "Elrond, Rock Slide. Evasive maneuvers!"

Elrond's eyes widened before he quickly began speeding around the battlefield dodging the falling stones. Rock Slide was an annoying move especially in a hand of a well trained pokemon. It took stones from the ground and pretty much teleported them above the the battlefield before allowing gravity to take over. It was a dangerous move for any pokemon outside of a rock type. Even with a type advantage, the move could knock out any pokemon if they were hit hard enough. Golem used the time Elrond was dodging the falling rocks to use Defense Curl and Dig. Elrond frowned as he moved to float high above the battlefield, "This is going to be annoying, isn't it?"

'Can't you use Grass Knot below ground?' Vali asked searching the battlefield for Golem.

"Yes, but not if I can't figure out where my opponent is," Elrond sounded exasperated, "I'm having trouble sensing the rock heap's mind. Perhaps you should call out Celina, she has speed and the ability to dodge any attacks Golem would be able to send towards her,"

'She also has long-range moves that will actually work on it,' Vali agreed as she laid a hand on her ball belt, 'You can use Grass Knot more, right?'

"So long as the seeds aren't destroyed, I won't have any problem," Elrond replied as he floated over to her.

'Thank you for your help, Elrond. I'll call you out again soon,' Vali told him as she pulled out his pokeball and returned him before releasing Celina, "Celina, we've got a Golem. It's underground, so be ready. When it reappears, I want you to hit it as hard as possible,"

Celina nodded and took off into the air already beginning to use Feather Dance to provide a cover for herself. When Golem popped out of the field, it looked around in confusion at the feathers falling from the air and the lack of a visible opponent. Celina dove down on silent wings before slamming a Steel Wing into it's face sending Golem skidding back with an alarmed cry. Celina shot off a Twister which sent Golem off balance and further scattered the Grass Knot seeds. Golem landed on its back and Celina dove forward with a Steel Wing before backing off quickly which proved to be a good idea as Golem's fist was suddenly crackling with lightning as the megaton pokemon took a swing at Celina. As Golem began trying to get to its feet, Celina appeared through the feathers above it and lashed out with Air Slash.

The attack struck Golem sending its already off balanced body tumbling. The blades of Air Slash carved a heavy fissure into Golem's chest and a deep scratch where the top edge had managed to hit the pokemon's touch skin. Golem let out a grinding groan as it hit the ground, but managed to bounce back enough to stand on its own two feet. It glared up at Celina and used Rock Slide again in order to cover up its return into the earth. Celina dodged the falling rocks with some ease and added another Feather Dance into the mix. When Golem reappeared, Celina was already heading towards it with another Steel Wing though this time going in from behind.

Golem seemed to anticipate the attack and turned towards Celina. But strangely enough, the megaton pokemon made no move to attack. It wasn't until Vali saw the light leaking from beneath the green plates of its armor that she realized what Golem was doing. She shouted, "Celina, get out of there!"

Celina's eyes widened and she began to pull back clearly realizing the danger she was in. But it wasn't fast enough, Golem self-destructed before Celina could fully pull away. When the dust cloud cleared from the attack, it revealed both pokemon unconscious with Celina covered in burns and Golem laying on the ground with heavily cracked plates. Vali returned Celina feeling rather shaky and whispered an apology for not seeing what Golem had been planning sooner. She sent out Elrond as Giovanni returned his fallen Golem. Elrond looked at her before wincing as his mind connected with hers, "Ouch. It looks like she'll be spending at least a few days in the pokemon center."

Vali nodded while swallowing heavily feeling a bit upset, 'Elrond, we need to,' She shook her head, 'We have to win this. For Pele and Celina.'

"We will," Elrond's side of the connection glowed with determination.