C104 - Ilima vs Olivia

AN: The app I use to write on my tablet called WriterP had an update on Sunday. The update removed all the files from the app's file system. Thankfully, it was still in my tablet's internal storage, but there's no button to re-add the files in the app. To do that, I have to click each file (one file for each chapter), rename it in the app because it didn't keep file name and then move it to the folders for the individual story with 3 button clicks each.

Holy shit that's annoying. When I was done doing it for the 15 chapters of my OnePiece story, I had to stop and take a breather outside. So I didn't do it for this story. Which means that whenever I want to look something up so I don't mess up the continuity of this story, I will have to browse the story here in the app or in the file system of my tablet, re-add the chapter file and read it... just thinking about clicking the wrong file gives me goose-bumps.

And whatever the app did to the storage of new files, I had to write the end of this story three times because whenever I took a break, half the file was gone to a status of 30-60 minutes ago. In the end, I wrote the last half of this chapter in the Webnovel app...

Needless to say, I'm open to apps you people use to write on a tablet. I'm not above paying. Unless it's O365 or any other giga scam subscription model that has me pay a monthly/yearly fee for a product that's finished and only receives unneeded visual updates.

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Ilima's Kangaskhan was taking more and more damage, and her answers to Olivia's Alolan Golem didn't connect at all. Yet, in all those hits that didn't land, Kangaskhan managed to keep setting up follow-ups. And buff moves - by the deepening frown of the normal pokemon that Pete saw, he was sure it had used the move Rage to buff the attack the more it was hit.

"And Olivia's Golem follows up with another Swift turned electric thanks to its Galvanize ability after rolling away! It uses every opportunity to wear down the normal pokemon it can get!"

Kukui added to his wife's commentary with a sympathetic look directed at Ilima, "It sure looks like Kangaskhan is only getting angrier without having anything to vent it on. Golem is playing its defense perfectly!"

"Though while Golem is playing it safe perfectly so far, I think Kangaskhan is hitting the limit on those attack raises. Every hit that lands will count now! She switched up!" Pete excitedly chimed in. "Instead of going for another singular attack, it expertly used Double Hit and tried landing both hits in quick succession! Golem manages to dodge but is rattled by the switch up."

On the battlefield, the Alolan Golem saw the cracks the last Double Hit palm strike managed to spread on the ground with a solemn expression. It used its Rollout to get back a little further to pepper its enemy with ranged attacks.

It judged that Kangaskhan couldn't possibly hold on much longer after getting hit so often - even though the opponent did get better at moving just enough to make most moves, only hit a glancing blow.

"That short red glare - Kangaskhan used Leer to lower Golem's defense as it fires off another Charge Beam! The beam connects, but - Hold on to your seats, everybody! Kangaskhan moves closer with a gigantic step! Her feet glow in ground type energy, and she uses the ground move Bulldoze! The first spike of ground type energy misses," Pete narrated with a fascinated expression.

Bulldoze was a sort of single target Earthquake ground type move in this world. It was easy to miss the further away the enemy was, but an angry Kangaskhan leaping toward the enemy with a fully raised attack stat got rid of this weakness.

"The next one lands! Golem likely lost a huge chunk of health in that hit, but Kangaskhan isn't done! Another stomp follows and! It lands, too! Critical strike right to Golem's head! Olivia's pokemon becomes disoriented, and Kangaskhan steps close enough to wind up a punch!"

Everyone leaned forward a little in their seats to see the outcome as Kangaskhan's fist descended with what Pete described as the move Focus Punch - one of the hardest hitting fighting moves there was.

Yet the same instant the fist was about to descend, Golem threw up another Protect that shattered louder than any move in this fight so far.

"Incredible! What a ludicrous timing on that Protect! Just moments before getting blasted into the tender care of Nurse Joy!" Kukui shouted in his mic as he stood up in excitement.

Professor Burnet chimed in, just as taken with the magnificent performance as both pokemon and shouted, "But Kangaskhan apparently had enough and grabs Golem by its magnetic beard!"

"Both hands grab on, and Kangaskhan lifts Golem and throws it up into air! Golem snaps out of its dizziness and releases a Rock Throw from a rock shard of its own body followed up by a Discharge on the pokemon following it into air, but Kangaskhan ignores the hits!"

Pete stood up as well and continued Kukui's narration, "It manages to land a grab on Golem's feet just before they reach the high point of their jump! And oh no! Seismic Toss!"

Golem landed on the ground with a thundering boom. It laid in the huge dent on the hard battlefield for a while until the referee finally called the outcome of the first battle: Ilima 1:0 Olivia!

Not a second after that call was made, Kangaskhan toppled over and both trainers hurried on the stage to feed their pokemon the highest quality potions before bringing the pokeballs toward Nurse Betty Joy waiting in a sort of field hospital where her and Pete's pokemon were working on quickly getting the battle pokemon of the competition back to full health.

"What a battle! Young Ilima certainly managed to train a very powerful Kangaskhan! Can't wait to see what he shows us next," Burnet spoke up as the first commentator after the call was made.

"If anything, his Kangaskhan showed true tenacity! What amazing endurance," Kukui said in wonder.

"And now it's time for Ilima to show his next pokemon since Olivia sent out her pokemon first in the previous round," Pete said while his anticipation was showing.

"And it appears to be Gumshoos! Certainly not a pokemon you often see in the competitive scene. But with its abilities Strong Jaw and Adaptability, the pokemon could show us an upset if it lands a lucky hit or two!"

Pete was in his element analyzing Ilima's choice as he explained what the abilities did to the audience, namly increasing the damage of 'bite' moves for Strong Jaw and the damage of 'STAB' moves for Adaptability.

Meanwhile, the pokemon on the stage looked a little ridiculous with its fur on the head swept backward and both its front paws held behind its back as it stood there. It was probably a small wonder that Pete even remembered its abilities.

Pete himself was aware that he was likely a little biased with his opinion since he never really cared much for the 'normal type rodent and bird' that were released for every new generation of pokemon. Nevertheless, Ilima's Gumshoos showed to be quite the fierce fighter in the qualifying battles.

"Let's see what Olivia will counter with," Burnet spoke up to draw the crowd's attention to the defending gym leader.

She threw out her pokeball to show: Carbink!

Pete perked up at seeing the cute fairy pokemon and immediately praised Olivia's choice, "Amazing counter counter from Olivia! With its rock/fairy typing, Carbink will resist the damage of the most common biting moves buffed by Gumshoos' abilities, namely Bite, Crunch, Hyperfang, and Fire Fang!"

Ilima's Gumshoos on the stage turned to Pete with a surprised expression and holding up its paw in a sort of thumbs-up movement while Olivia shot him an annoyed glare.

'Oh, come on! Gumshoos should have known about the typing disadvantage on its own,' Pete thought in embarrassment as he scratched his ear and turned away to dodge Olivia's judge-y look.

Kukui noticed that Pete wasn't paying attention fully and started off the commentary on his own, "And the match starts! Gumshoos immediately starts off with two Mud-Slaps in quick succession to buy itself some time! With the dust and mud still in the air, it uses what appears to be Bide - a normal type move that deals twice as much damage a pokemon received while Bide was activated!"

"Nice thinking, but the accuracy of Carbink won't be lowered with the Mud-Slap thanks to Carbink's Clear Body ability," Pete chimed in.

The audience clearly appreciated the commentary, but Olivia turned to Pete once again to mouth, 'Are you serious?' Which the young assistant professor only replied to with a sheepish grin.

It didn't matter much in the grand scheme of this battle because Carbink never intended to attack at the start. Instead, it simply used Calm Mind to buff its special attack and defense together with Harden to buff its own defenses even more.

Gumshoos quickly realised its folly and canceled Bide to use setup moves on its own with Hone Claws - which somehow affected Gumshoos' fangs as well. It showed that the pokemon still wasn't up to par yet with Ilima's Kangaskhan or any of Olivia's pokemon, because Carbink used the range advantage to start peppering its opponent with two rock type moves: Power Gem and Ancient Power - two of the rare rock type special attacks that hit Gumshoos squarely in the chest and flank.

"The normal type pokemon is using Agility to raise its speed so that it could close the distance. Yet, Carbink isn't done with the barrage of attacks yet and is using... Hidden Power! Its typing is ice," Pete narrated with awe in his voice at Carbink's quick usage of moves back to back.

"Hidden Power lands and Gumshoos is stopped in its tracks, trying to shake off the freezing cold energy remnants. But Carbink prepares another move! It's shining in rock type energies and closes the distance on its own!"

Burnet didn't quite know what move it was going to do next, so she stopped and gave Pete a quick look, and with furrowed brows, Pete stayed silent as well.

Then, the attack connected with an honestly sickening crunch that left Gumshoos fainted on the ground as dust spread through the arena.

Pete unsurely spoke up, "It looks like Carbink after using a bunch of Harden to counter the reflected damage took out Gumshoos with a full body Head Smash. What a devastating combo."

Much quicker than the first fight, the referee called out the new score: Ilima 1:1 Olivia! Cheers rang through the stadium for the battle as both pokemon were once more sent to Betty Joy - even if Carbink was merely there to eat a small Leppa Berry courtesy of Pete's stash of berries. It had barely taken any damage from its own recoil move after all.

"That was quite the battle. Let's hope Gumshoos learns from this and isn't discouraged! Give up another round of applause for this amazing fight!"

Kukui waited until the cheers died down a little and continued, "Next up is once again Olivia's turn to send out her pokemon, though it won't be too much of a surprise anymore who she sends out!"

Both trainers more or less sent out their pokemon at the same time. Ilima only had three pokemon ready for this tournament anyway. And so it came that the battle to decide the match was going to be Olivia's Gigalith against Ilima's... sleeping koala: Komala.

"Give it up for this nailbiter of a fight! Third match start! The water just broke!"

Kukui absentmindedly added onto his wife's start of the match with a whisper away from the mic, "The battle just started, and nobody used a water move yet, honey."

"MY water just broke," Burnet hissed at her husband, and Pete quickly understood the severity of the situation and called a time-out before the battle started.

He hurriedly turned to the extra ripe Alolan professor and asked, "Burnet, need my Metagross to send you to the nearest hospital?"

She nodded, gave Metagross an address, and the two disappeared together with Professor Kukui, who still didn't quite get what his wife meant. Pete figured that would quickly change when he arrived at her gynecologist here on the island where her place of work was.

Apparently, Pete was about to commentate the last match before the break on his own.