“Yeah, but I don’t think it’s usually this easy, even if they don’t have to deal with the hassles of air terminals,” Cyan pointed out. Only a few hundred meters away, a man was waving us down, a large house behind him.
And we have it fairly nice, always flying first class at minimum. God, I can barely even remember the last time I flew like a regular person. Hmm… I mean, this visit was approved by two Leagues, so I can see how Friede got permission to land this time, but I wonder what he has to do every other time he hops around the world on his research tasks?
Questions for later. With the airship docked, I jumped over the rail, landing on the soft sand. The air was warm and humid, with the sun shining down brightly upon us. Past the beach sat lush fields of grass, tropical trees towered high above, swaying slightly in the wind. Wow, so this is Alola.
I didn’t have too long to bask in the tropical paradise before Friede (with Captain Pikachu perched on his shoulder) and Cyan walked down the gangway and caught up with me. The others were staying to keep an eye on the ship but had told me they ‘were eagerly cheering me on.’ “You shouldn’t run off like that,” my big sister chided.
“Sorry,” I said, my tone entirely too cheerful to be apologetic. “But Notch was so excited, we couldn’t hold back,” I explained. That was only half-true - while Notch eventually got too excited and shot off ahead of our landing, I definitely could have stopped myself from rushing ahead. But where’s the fun in that? If God didn’t want me to jump dozens of meters off an airship, then Arceus wouldn’t have granted me anime-esque physics.
That thought caught my head for a moment. Not for the first time, I wondered about how much of my existence was planned by some creator deity. If my life was just an entertaining show for some distant figure or if I was dropped into this world with nary a second thought, and which option worried me more.
By the time I’d shoved that minor existential crisis down, Notch had returned, looping around the beach having taken in much of the little cove. At the same time, the man waving at us approached as well. He was a well-tanned, decently muscular man wearing a lab coat without a shirt and long gray shorts. Atop his head sat a white baseball cap with a rainbow image, the hat covering up most of his short brown hair. He wore a pair of tinted glasses that were closer to a visor with how wide and far across his face they went. This is the Pokemon Professor of Gen 7, a specialist in Pokemon Moves. I suppose I shouldn’t have been surprised when I read the briefing Geeta gave me that he’d be the one to assist us with this, even if he's hardly the only scientific mind on the island.
“Alola, cousin!” Professor Kukui said to us, waving his arms in a semicircle.
I copied the motion when I greeted him the same way. “Alola, cousin!” I cheered, earning a surprised look from Friede.
“Wait, Professor Kukui is your cousin?” He asked, eyes darting between the two of us. “You never told me that!”
“Haha, nah, that’s just how you greet people in Alola, all friendly-like, as if we’re family.”
Kukui grinned brightly at my explanation. “Yup! Couldn’t have said it better myself.” Mostly because I pretty much stole your words from a video game. “I’m surprised; not many outsiders know that about Alola,” Kukui said leadingly.
Scratching the back of my head, I responded, “Well, Alola’s always been a place I wanted to visit. Proper visit, that is, not a quick stop like this.” Maybe someday after I’ve finished at the Blueberry Academy, I can do the Island Challenge. Though I’ve gotta go to Uva with Arven and stop the bullying problems festering there, help Penny and Team Star… So much to do, so little time.
My thoughts were bouncing around inside my head, my excitement growing with every moment. Okay, calm down, me. This is just another experiment. Admittedly, one I have very high hopes for and have invested a lot of time and effort into, but-
“What’s the hurry, cousin? I was thinking we’d stop over at Iki Town, give you all a chance to put up your feet before we begin.”
Shaking his head, Friede said, “This little pioneer has a big match to prepare for, or rather, several of them. Nemona’s taking on the Elite Gauntlet soon back in Paldea.”
“Oh wow,” the other Professor said, a nostalgic expression coming over him. “Reminds me of the time-”
“That you fought Ash in the first-ever Alolan Championship?” I blurted out, causing everyone to stop and look at me. Blushing, I mumbled, “Uh, just, it was a cool battle. I may have watched it a few times.”
“More like a few hundred,” Cyan fake-cough/said.
“Sis!”
“What, he’s hardly the only one you’ve obsessed over. I can’t count how many times I’d find her holed up in her room obsessing over various battles, gushing about how great a certain play was.”
“Better than spending my time going gaga over influencers! Most of them are flash and no substance!” I shot back at my sister, and there were sparks flying between us.
“Ha, wow, okay then!” Kukui said, just slightly louder than normal, clearly trying to head off the impending sibling conflict. “In that case, why don’t you just wait here at the lab? We’ll be going over to Ten Carat Hill, which is only a Rock Throw over thataway.” The professor pointed off in the distance, past long fields of grass and a few denser clumps of trees.
It took me a second but I chuckled at the pun once I got it. Kukui led us to his house while pulling out his Rotom Phone and sending a quick message.
“There, just fired off a message to the League Official, they’ll be here in about half an hour, then we can begin, yeah.” He opened the door to his ‘laboratory’ as he spoke, revealing the large open space within. There weren’t many walls between the different sections of the house, the kitchen flowing into the living room into a sleeping space mounted above a large aquarium, all very organic feeling.
There were a few places that were closed off behind doors, like a washroom and what I assumed was Kukui and Burnet’s bedroom (mostly due to Burnet exiting it and waving at us). Some stairs led down to the basement where Kukui told us some of the more delicate research took place, something I deduced had to do with the inhabitants up here.
All around us there were Pokemon hanging about, sleeping, eating, and playing with each other, including a Litten, Rowlet, and Popplio (the latter of whom my sister was instantly cooing over, fondly remembering the time when her starter was that small). While they were relatively well-behaved, a bunch of rambunctious Pokemon could lead to their fair share of accidents. And holes in the walls, I thought, glancing at the various patch jobs around the walls.
On a counter I saw an old picture of the couple on their wedding day, looking as happy as can be. Wow, I didn’t realize Kukui could wear a shirt, let alone a full suit. While he had aged quite well, there were still a few signs of time taking its toll on the Professor compared to the photo. Little things, like a few more lines around his eyes and a strand or two of gray hair.
Burnet looked quite good as well, I noticed as she sauntered over, giving her husband a peck on the cheek. “Hey honey, what’s going on here?” She was wearing a simple black tank top and blue skirt with gray leggings. She had long, somewhat spiky, white hair, with a green headband to keep it relatively under control.
“We’re just waiting for the League representative to come here, dear. Nemona and her friends are eager to get a start on their experiment.” Burnet smiled down at me, a twinkle of kindred emotion there. She is a scientist as well, and one just as accomplished as Kukui.
She was also intimidating in many ways. For her incredible looks, but also for what she studied. Multidimensional travel. She’s made Ultra Space and those wormholes her life’s mission; heck, I think she was studying such theories even before a minor outbreak of Ultra Space that sparked greater investigation into the phenomena a few decades ago. While the Legendaries whose domains cover such fields may be capricious, Burnet is quite reasonable by all accounts, in this life and the last. If there was any human I could ask for a chance to return to my old world, she’d be the best.
I caught my sister's gaze for a moment and turned away to hide the tears that welled up there. If that was what I wanted. Of course, I couldn't exactly explain my sudden outburst of nostalgia, love, and pain, so I pretended to fuss over Notch for a moment.
Faithfully, Notch helped me keep up the deception until I was presentable as Kukui finished his round of introductions. “... And this is the woman of the hour, Nemona Glitterati. Give us your best First Impression, yeah!”
Turning back, I got a face full of a blinding smile from Professor Burnet. “A pleasure to meet you,” she said, and I shook her hand.
“Ah, the pleasure’s all mine, ma’am.”
She waved me off. “Please, I don’t look that old, do I? Just call me Burnet.”
“You look great,” my mouth said before my brain could hit the abort button. Deciding to toss gasoline onto the fire, I frantically followed up with, “I just meant, you look very young for- ahhh...” My whine couldn’t cover up the adults' laughter or my sister’s giggles, as I blushed ever harder. New plan: Ask her to toss me into an alternate universe where I’ve never met any of these people and I get a do-over.
After the meet-and-greet was over, Friede saved me and asked, “Speaking of a representative, why do we need a League Official to oversee this?” It was a good question; there was a limited number of experiments that couldn’t be run with just one Pokemon Professor overseeing them, let alone two. “And more to the point, what exactly are we doing?” He tacked on, staring intently at me.
“Oh, did I forget to mention that?” I asked faux-sweetly. The younger Professor gave me an exasperated look.
“Considering that I’ve asked you about it a half-dozen times on the way over, no, I don’t think you forgot.” Kukui looked surprised, his eyes dancing back and forth between us. Of course he’s already been filled in on it; I had to state my hypothesis in the forms I filled out requesting permission for my experiment.
“Don’t worry, just a bit of an inside joke,” I told Kukui before turning to Friede. “As well as maybe wanting to tease you for your own forgetfulness, I wanted the experiment to be viewed with unbiased eyes. I can explain the process now, but I’ll ask that if there are any objections, you save them until after we’re done, ok?”
“Uh, sure,” Friede said, and I laid out the plan for him. After I was done, he looked shocked, then frowned. “But-”
“Ap ap ap!” I countered, holding a finger up to silence him. “Save it till after. Please,” I added upon seeing how he still looked like he had issues with that, and he slowly nodded.
For Kukui’s part, he was practically vibrating with energy. “It’s definitely interesting; can’t fault the little lady on that, yeah. I suspect I'll have a million questions by the time this is done, woo!” I gave him a small smile. Makes sense that he’d be so excited to see this kind of experiment work. But if it does - or honestly, even if it doesn't fully - it could open up a lot of research avenues people haven’t looked into, particularly with Moves.
“So yeah, that’s why we need a League Official to let us visit a Diancie. When I heard that there was a Carbink colony with one of those Legendaries here, I sent a request as soon as I could to the Alolan League. It took a while to get an answer back, so I was pretty surprised when they suddenly accepted.” It really was sudden; the documents Geeta forwarded to me showed they had only approved of the visit a few days before I put in my Elite Gauntlet request.
Kukui scratched his chin. “Well, they can be pretty particular about Legendary visits and the like, especially here in Alola, with the Tapus living in such close concert to the people. A lot of foreign Trainers get it in their heads that they can get the Tapus to do anything for them, forgetting - or ignorant of - the Tapu’s place in our society.” There was a singular note of distaste in his voice, hardly overwhelming but making it clear to me that he’d had to deal with several of those kinds of people.
“Because of that, most requests to ‘visit’ Legendaries get promptly ignored by the League,” he finished his explanation. Which likely explains why my requests here were ignored… at least until our Top Champion got involved. I think, there could be some other reason too.
“Huh,” Cyan vocalized before blinking at the glances she got. “Uh sorry, just, never realized how big a deal Legendaries were. I mean, it’s in the name and all, but Nemona’s stories and all made them feel strong, but not like unbeatable or anything. Didn’t you say that a Quagsire could ‘wall’ Kyogre?” Her question brought forth a round of snickers from the adults.
I still think the right Quagsire could totally do it! “Uh, I was really young back then; I can barely remember any of that stuff,” I deflected. I suppose it’s better that they think it was just dumb childish fantasies than hints of knowledge I shouldn’t have. Heh, kinda funny; I know so many crazy secrets that could lead to great power, but what I’m attempting here, the connection between Carbink and Diancie, was only ever hinted at in the games. This could be- will be - something completely new.
A knock on the door got our attention, Kukui quickly opening it to reveal a young, red-haired man in a plain suit. “Professor,” he said with a slight incline of his head before setting down his briefcase.
At first glance one might be inclined to say that he looked like Larry, what with the suit and fairly neutral expression on his face. Looking a bit deeper though and it was apparent that he was nothing like the tired Gym Leader. The man carried himself rigidly, and eyes were sharp, as if just looking to tear into something.
“Sorry about the mix-up, cousin. I thought we’d be taking it easy at first, but Nemona here is raring to go at Extreme Speed! Oh, this is Percival Wailani, everyone.”
“Just call me Percy. Nemona, Cyan, and… I’m sorry, who’s this?” The man said, stiffly gesturing at Friede.
Friede stepped up and offered a hand to the man. “Professor Friede, I’m a friend of Nemona’s and-”
“Would have thought you too young to be a Professor, the man responded dryly. Friede’s left eye twitched at that, but he didn’t respond to the implied insult. “Let’s just get this show on the road; there’s no point in wasting more of our day.”
“Hey now, I’m sure it’ll be a learning experience no matter what happens,” Kukui leapt to my defense before I could snap back. “And who knows? We might just see a miracle today.” His eyes shone brightly as he spoke and I could tell that he believed it was possible, at least. That's good, we'll need that belief.
Friede nodded. “I might have been skeptical, but at the very least, nothing like this has ever been attempted ever before. Trying new things is what science is built on.”
The officious official looked like he was struggling not to roll his eyes. “Then let us hurry and get on with your ‘science,’” he declared before striding back out of the house.
“Don’t let him get to you,” I told Notch, wrapping an arm around them. “This is gonna be your day; I can feel it.” My Pokemon made a reassuring chiming sound to say that they were unbothered by him… Or they were plotting to bury Percy in a landslide. One or the other.
Burnet waved us goodbye (having her own research and things to do) as we left, following after him. Friede and Kukui chatted, the two Professors both rather gregarious and easily able to fill the air, both with noise and some interesting factoids they each knew. Despite having different fields of study, it sounds like they know a lot of similar facts. Plus, it must just be a fun treat for them to get to talk to another Pokemon Professor in person; I imagine most of them don’t get to do that, too busy with their own research or League-based assignments. In any case, it made up for the dour attitude Percy carried with him, the heavily perspiring man only speaking when spoken to, and only then in short, clipped responses.
The young and inexperienced Pokemon of the grassy hills and plains we traversed stuck far out of our path. The Pokemon at our side (Notch and my sister’s Smeargle), combined with the size of our group, dissuaded any wild Mon that might be feeling bold.
Even with the path clear, it still took a while to get to the entrance, with some particularly large rocks forcing our party to climb over or walk around them, slowing most (i.e., everyone other than me) down. It took so long that we stopped outside the cave to have a snack, courtesy of a picnic box Murdock had packed for us.
With the beach so close by as we ate, Kukui had plenty of interesting facts to share with us about the nearby ocean, something my sister was fascinated with. “Wow, that’s so cool. I’ve got a Toxapex on my team. They’re really strong, but we had serious trouble with a Bruxish that Kofu sent against us, and after our match he told us that they’re natural enemies, but usually Toxapexes are disadvantaged. The Mareanies and Toxapex of Paldea tend to stick to the marshy lands rather than the open oceans, where they’d be easy prey, but it’s totally opposite here!”
“True, and we have Bruxish in Alola too, but the two species keep to different waters,” Kukui explained. “Bruxish are almost always found in Ula’Ula, while Marenies are common in Melemele.”
Friede chimed in. “The difference in environment also gives them access to different prey. Corsolas aren’t native to Paldea, but they’re plentiful here - and easy pickings for the Mareanies. Though in recent years they’ve had to cut back due to over-hunting. The Aether Foundation set up deterrents to save the Corsola population, so now they go after the Wishiwashis,” he said, pointing at one of the small white fish that happened to bob its head up out of the water. “Though they’ve had mixed results with that.”
Rather than be disturbed by Friede’s somewhat frank discussion about Pokemon predation, my sister just looked curious. “Why’s that? Sorry if I’m missing something, but that Wishiwashi doesn’t look like much.”
“All by their lonesome? They aren’t,” Kukui agreed. "But when one of them is in danger, hundreds of their kind will rush to their aid from miles around! They fight as one, becoming a threat that even a rampaging Gyarados would fear!”
“Whoa…” My sister breathed out in awe before turning to me. “Did you know there were Pokemon that worked like that?” Cyan asked, questioning my lack of reaction to that fact.
“Yup. Wishiwashi is probably the only conjoined Aura species that can be caught individually, unlike Exeggcute or others like them. In a battle they’re treated as a single entity in terms of Moves and effects - and for official rulings - at least until the swarm gets beaten badly enough to be dispersed. It’s a very interesting phenomenon, and I wonder why Magikarp or other weaker fish-like Pokemon have never adapted such a thing.”
“Good question,” Friede said. “It would be hard to form a study of such a thing, but I’d hypothesize that it has to do with Wishiwashi lacking an evolution. Most Magikarp will never grow into the pinnacle of their strength, but the fact that some can spurs them to seek individual growth over the betterment of the group.”
“Interesting theory. It would fit with how Wishiwashi don’t have the Ability to call upon others of their kind at first. Only once they’ve gotten strong enough to ‘prove’ their leadership can they call upon and unite a large group.” As I talked, I saw my sister’s eyes sparkling, gazing out at the deep blue ocean in front of us. “Uhh, I know as a group the Wishiwashi can be strong, but you’d need to catch a lot of them if you wanted some as battlers, since they aren’t native to Paldea. Plus they’d probably need a specialized environment to stay in.”
Both to keep them safe from any wild predators getting funny ideas and to contain them if they ended up being an invasive species. Generally the Pokemon League was fairly hands-off about a Trainer bringing home a Pokemon they caught, provided the capture didn’t go against any existing guidelines - one or two Pokemon could hardly upset the rugged balance of any region. For Wishiwashi, you need hundreds of the little guys, though, so that could be trickier.
“You may not attempt to catch the Diancie,” Percy suddenly said, and it took me a moment to realize that he was talking to me. “Nor take anything from its domain.”
“Huh? Uh, yeah, wasn’t planning on it. We were talking about something else.”
“And I hadn’t even settled on Wishiwashi. They sound cool, but so do Araquanids and so many other Water Types,” my sister piped up.
"Those would need proper processing to leave the country as well, but again: do not attempt to catch the Legendary." Percy fixed me with a glare before turning away, tugging at his tie. If you’re too hot, you probably shouldn’t be wearing a suit in Alolan weather.
I was prepared to let his snootiness go, but Cyan felt differently, pressing the issue. “What is your problem, Mr. Wailani? We haven’t even gotten to the experiment yet, but you’re acting like you’re too good for any of this? Why are you even here?”
There was a brief glance from the League Official to Kukui, the Professor shrugging his shoulders and telling Percy he was on his own. With a long-suffering sigh, the man said, “I am here to ensure Alolan League rules are enforced. International Rules as well. Do you know how many cases we get of Trainers attempting to obtain Legendary Pokemon for themselves? Too many to count.”
Marching over from his spot, he towered over us, continuing. “And many of them, like your sister, have some excuse, some reason to try and get close to a Legendary so they can catch them. It’s no coincidence that the majority of Legendaries ‘just happen’ to have been ‘found’ by the rich.”
I bristled at the insinuation. “Just what do you think I’m planning to do? I’ve got two accredited Pokemon Professor’s at my side, and we’re even putting up with you - I’m hardly going to steal the Diancie.”
He sneered back. “Even for those not attempting to ‘poach,’ one will try to get close to them; we can hardly take away a Pokemon from a Trainer who has formed a close bond with them, after all. So what I think you’ll try to do is, after this ridiculous ‘experiment’ fails, you’ll try to cozy up to the Diancie and convince them to become your Pokemon. I’m aware that you’re attempting to- to take on the Paldean, uhhh…” His voice trailed off as the wind whirled violently around us, like a localized miniature storm.
“Go on; it sounded like you had a lot to say,” I commented casually, my arms crossed in front of me.
“Um, you’re attempting to take on the Paldean Elite Four, and you’ll try to seek out every advantage you can get,” he finished, much of the fire taken out from his words.
“You think you know a lot about me. Let me tell you a little bit more: I’d do anything for my Pokemon. When I met Notch, they stood up to a Kommo-o for me, the strongest Dragon I’ve ever seen - And I've fought Hassel of our Elite Four - without a hint of hesitation from them.” Notch demurred, a few tinkling sounds, and I smiled fondly at them.
“Their fondest wish is to become a Diancie, and I’m going to make that happen, no matter what it takes. I believe that meeting with this Diancie will help them transform, but it’s only Notch I want by my side at the end of this. Arceus themself could appear before me, but if they wanted to be on my team at the cost of Notch, I’d tell the Original One to fuck off.” I spoke very directly at Percy for the last two words before letting the storm drop and walking past him, Notch at my side. “Now let’s get a move on; we’re wasting daylight, right?”
We entered the tunnels in silence, the argument having dampened any cheerful mood. Well, relative silence; Friede whispered, questioning my sister as to ‘what was that all about?’ She didn’t verbally respond, so I assumed she just shrugged, but it did remind me of how careless I'd been. Well, at least it shut up that jerk Percy.
Within the cave there were a few Digletts tunneling about, plenty of Zubats flying around, and even a single Machop, looking warily at us. However, what was immediately apparent was the abundance of Carbinks floating around. The Rock Types carried on with whatever it was they were doing without a care for any other denizens, but most of them did lock onto Notch, swarming around us.
With a set of rapid-fire chimes fired back and forth, the native Carbinks stared at Notch and then at me (and I believed I was now proficient enough in Carbink body language to catch the disbelief in their stares) before departing. Some set back to their tasks, but I noticed a couple trailing off down side passageways.
Continuing through Ten Carat Hill, we eventually found the exit to the valley at the center. Or at least it was supposed to be a valley, I thought to myself as we stepped into the fresh air and I beheld what was there.
Rather than grass and small hills I vaguely recalled from the games, the open space was covered in gems. Diamonds, for the most part, blanketing the ground before stretching up and covering much of the walls that encircled the opening. The setting sun’s light hit them, creating a glittering, dazzling field of brilliance, only further enhanced by how it reflected off all the other Carbinks working within the valley and the gemstones stuck to their bodies.
Within the center, I saw a pile of knickknacks: toys, wrappers, and other assorted goods, all piled up beside a small throne made of various gemstones, precious minerals, and shiny rocks. Sitting on it was a Diancie, attended by a pair of Carbinks.
“Wow, I think even our parents would find that gaudy.” I whispered, breaking the stunned silence and earning a snort from my sister before we all stiffened up at Diancie’s approach. There were many similarities to their bodies and Notch’s; both had rocky, angular, gem-encrusted forms. There were also several differences too, though.
Diancie was much larger, for one; the bottom section of their body was about as large as my Pokemon’s. Rather than a small ring of fluff surrounding the small top of their head, the Diancie’s white fluff was smooth and covered their humanoid torso, like a long-sleeve shirt. The fluff covered all but their dainty hands, which were somewhat like pincers, with a thumb and one wide, flat finger to grab and manipulate things.
The fluff stopped at their neck, leaving their face very open and expressive, with large round red eyes and a mouth, contrasting Notch’s small beady blue eyes and jaw hidden beneath the fluff. Unlike the sporadic, light blue colored gems sticking out of Notch’s body, the Legendary had pink diamonds adorning their body, and aside from a few random scatterings on their lower half, their gemstones sat symmetrically, one like a necklace below their face and most above, a large circular one on their forehead and several more sticking up out the top and to the sides from their head, like hair.
[‘What strangers trespass on my Queendom- oh? What do we have here?’] The telepathic demand from the Legendary turned into a question as they inspected Notch. Surely the other Carbinks warned them of our approach, so what are they doing?
My question was answered as they reached into Notch’s fluff, pulling out the Diancite hidden within. [‘Ah! This is a fine tribute. Welcome, guests-’] they began, attempting to pull the Diancite away from them, only to be stopped and thrown violently with Psychic by Notch.
Carefully, they tucked the stone back in their fluff as Diancie rose from the ground, enraged. [‘You dare? To strike my royal person? I am Diancie!’] There’s something missing there, some element to the name that’s more than just their species, but even with the telepathy, I guess a human mind can’t pick up the names as precisely.
Kukui tried to step in here. “Whoa, whoa, no need for any Frustration. I think Notch was just a little surprised there. We’re quite grateful to be in your presence, your majesty, but you can’t just take someone else’s belongings.” His tone struck the right mix of placating and stern to calm down the Legendary, who gave the telepathic equivalent of an ojou-sama hair flip.
[‘Very well then, I shall excuse your rudeness, but I still wish to know why you are here. I’ve kept to my deals with those insipid men and women at the League,’] they said, gesturing a dainty hand out at Percy. [‘I’ve kept my territory contained within this small space.’] I raised an eyebrow at that statement.
These fields are at least a few city blocks across in diameter, and they’re clearly not limited in sending the Carbinks out into the surrounding tunnels. Deciding not to mention that to them, I cleared my throat. “We came asking for your aid in an experiment. It should just be a small thing-”
“You’re free to say no if you want, and we’ll be out of your way,” Percy interrupted, and I whipped around, glaring daggers at the man.
[‘Oh perfect, I refuse then!’]
“Now see here,” Friede said, before wincing at the sharpness of the ground even through his shoes. Guess literal diamond floors don’t exactly make for easy living conditions for anyone who can’t float. It also explains why Percy told us we couldn’t take anything and why the League doesn’t want them expanding further. “She came a long way; can’t you at least hear out Nemona’s plan? It really won’t be much effort on your part.”
They waved an arm, motioning for me to speak. “I want to turn Notch into a Diancie, and if you just-”
[‘Aha! So that is why you refuse to give me the stone of such great power.’] Diancie interrupted me. [‘Do you truly believe this runty one could use it better than me? I, who was chosen to stand above the rest?’] Adopting an expression of pity, they shook their head at Notch. [‘There’s no shame in being born lesser, and I sense a modicum of power from you. Give me the stone, and I would accept you as a valued member of my court.’]
Notch made a few chiming sounds in response, as calm as ever. Whatever they said exactly did not have the same effect on Diancie, who swung their arms out, crying [‘WHAT?!’] Accompanying the mental exclamation was a horrendous cracking sound, a line ripping across the entire valley of diamonds in response. [‘How dare you? To claim that this human of all beings was chosen beyond me? Inconceivable, utterly inconceivable!’]
Before they could make any more aggressive moves towards us, Kukui stepped in. “Let’s stay calm here, okay?” There was a flash from his Z-Ring, so quick that I barely caught it, but Diancie clearly did, stiffening up. I wonder if they can sense that the power of a Tapu once touched that ring, many years ago? In any case, this place is pretty far from the Tapu’s Temple, something that I don’t believe is a coincidence.
“Indeed. We will be leaving now,” Percy quickly interjected, directing his perpetual frown at me before Diancie stopped him, holding up a hand.
[‘I have not expelled you from my domain. Not yet, at least.’] They seem to have calmed down, but I don’t like that smirk on their face. [‘Notch, if you are so certain of your power and the ‘specialness’ of your Trainer, why not prove it? Battle me. If you win, I shall do my best to help you transform. Of course, when I win, you must give me your precious, powerful stone.’] They declared, pointing at where the Mega Stone was currently concealed.
“That’s not on the table. We might be able to make a different deal, but-” I cut myself off as I saw Notch shake their head/entire body. “You’re up for it?” A single, determined chime rang out from them, the clear note echoing throughout the diamond valley. Notch believes in me that much, in the training and guidance I’ve given them. The least I can do is have the same faith in them.
Turning back to the Legendary, I agreed. “Very well then, I accept your terms.” Belatedly, I asked Kukui, “This is alright, right?”
He chuckled. “No worries, cousin. If the Diancie wants a fight, you best give it to them. Show us your strongest Moves.” I can hardly use a Z-Move but we still have some tricks- oh, he said something about the 'strongest Moves' being the one you use when you and your Pokemon work together in the games, right? I can hardly remember, it's been so long.
Keeping my head in the game, I asked Diancie, “Is this where you want to fight? We could move to an arena if you don’t wish to damage your-”
They snorted dismissively, as if the thought of us being able to damage their domain was ludicrous. [‘No, we will fight here. Alert the others!’] they told the Carbinks by their side. [‘The colony shall behold a grand spectacle on this eve, and all shall watch it.’]
Those Carbinks left while the others in the valley floated up to the edges of the caldera. “We’d best clear the way then,” Friede said. “Though I’m not sure where we could view the battle from and not be at risk…”
This story is posted elsewhere by the author. Help them out by reading the authentic version.
“Oh, there’s a great spot up a ways; Khali was telling me all about how she used to golf from here. Was complaining a bit about how ‘her’ field has been ruined, actually…” Their voices trailed off as they went back into the tunnel, with me catching Cyan’s gaze for a second, the older girl nodding. Good, she knows what to do.
Notch floated a bit closer to the center of the valley to get ready for the fight, while I felt a Psychic sheathe cover me, shielding me from stray attacks. Glad to see that Miles is on top of things. Now to figure out how to win this fight…
I didn’t have long to plot before Diancie hovered over to meet my Pokemon, but even that was enough time for me to note how quickly they moved through the air. There wasn’t any agreed-upon signal to begin the fight; they simply said, [‘Let us see what you’re worth!’] And I knew the fight was on.
“Power Gem, keep your distance!” Notch immediately flew away, firing off beams of light from the gems embedded in their body at the Legendary.
Said Pokemon dismissed the attack with a wave of their hands, somehow diffracting the beams into harmless light. Didn’t even know that was possible, but I guess that’s a part of fighting a Legendary. Still, it proved what I suspected: they’re slower than Notch. Diancie lacked the speed to avoid Notch’s attack.
“Reverse course, get hopping mad!” There was a devious light to Notch’s eyes, and I suspected they would be smirking if they could as they charged ahead. Diancie was surprised by the sudden change, only landing a glancing blow with a Power Gem beam of their own before Notch had closed the distance. The physical attack slammed into Diancie, pushing them into the ground with the barest of microfractures visible on their body.
The Legendary struck back, pulling up stones from the ground with a loud cry and hurling them at Notch, like they were senate seats and my Pokemon was Yoda. Notch tried to dodge them, but they were too large and fast, knocking my Pokemon aside and chipping them slightly with the still diamond-encrusted tops.
Diancie makes any Ancient Power my team could use look like pebbles. That feels way stronger than just twice what Notch’s base attack power is, but I can’t exactly rely on game stats here. Nor was I limited by how things worked there either.
“That all you got? I was expecting something flashier,” I taunted Diancie before muttering something else under my breath. “Flash Cannon, rebound edition,” I whispered in the wind, an Aura trick carrying my words solely to my Pokemon’s ears. It took Notch a second to get what I meant and plot out a course, but they soon aimed their attack.
Just in time, Diancie’s body lit up, glowing bright pink as they blasted Notch with a Dazzling Gleam. My Carbink took the shot with barely a wince, using it to light up their own attack. The Flash Cannon reflected the light that had been sent at them from the top gemstone on Notch’s head, sending the Steel Type attack out, not directly at Diancie, but instead off to the side. There it hit some of the diamonds on the ground, shattered them, but reflected off, striking off another section on the cavern walls before rebounding again and striking into Diancie’s undefended back.
The twice-over Super Effective attack earned a howl of pain from the Diancie’s lips, their voice ringing discordantly in my ears. The wild Carbinks high above were all visibly shaken by what had happened to their queen. [‘Wh-what was that?’] They called out, thrown off balance. Slowly, a small piece of one of their pink diamond spikes of ‘hair’ fell to the ground, chipped off by the attack.
I didn’t have time to explain what a Technical Machine was or how it could help Pokemon learn Moves outside of their usual set before they went back on the offensive, enraged by the minor injury we had caused them. Suddenly, a hundred hand-sized diamonds appeared, conjured out of thin air around Notch. They hung in the air for a fraction of a second before whipping around like a storm, tearing into my Pokemon.
Diamond Storm, the signature Move of Diancie. “Flash Cannon!” I shouted out, and Notch complied, struggling to fire a beam off at the Legendary again. This time, the straightforward attack was easily dispersed by Diancie, the light scattering with a wave of one hand. As I thought, they can pretty much deflect any light-based attack with ease. Well, relative ease. The defense had still stalled their offense enough for Notch to slip out of the storm, as I had hoped.
“Stone Edge, use their gems against them!” Notch pulled themself back up, their ears waving hard as they focused hard. Beneath Diancie's floating body, the ground cracked as it shifted before erupting up, the diamond-tipped pillar of stone stabbing into our foe.
In response, they lifted a hand up, and I shouted, “Left!” Notch drifted to the side, narrowly avoiding a similar Stone Edge the Diancie had tried to use on them.
“Psychic, pin them down and Flash Cannon again!” A blue Psychic glow surrounded Notch’s ears, which they used as channels to cover all of Diancie, locking their arms in by their sides and smashing them against the ground. Stuck there, Notch blasted them with Flash Cannon once more, the Move hammering into the Legendary.
Diancie attempted to deflect the attack, and I saw a few sparkles off to the sides from the beam, but it failed. Most Moves are instinctually trained to be channeled through certain body parts. Not sure what kind of Move that deflection is, but like most of what they do, Diancie naturally channels the attacks through their hands. I’ve trained my team to be able to use most Moves without that need, but for this Diancie, likely rarely if ever challenged before, they can’t-
My thoughts were cut off by Diancie letting out a screech that ripped through the air like a shockwave, the force of it ripping away the Psychic bonds holding them in place, unraveling the Flash Cannon beam, and pushing Notch back a meter. Oh, come on! What kind of Yonko-esque bullshit is this?!
I didn’t have time to bemoan how unfair it was as the enraged Legendary continued their assault, summoning more diamonds to attack Notch. “Weather the storm!” I shouted, having to fly away from my own starting point with the wild attack sweeping all around the valley. The few stray shards that might have hit me were deflected by the field Miles was holding around me, and Notch was conjuring a similar field around themself to better defend against the Diamond Storm.
As much as Reflect improved Notch’s defense, the very attack Diancie had just used ended up powering up their own guard as much, the Legendary calling up stray chunks of diamond to partially armor their body. They also weren’t a complete fool, calling off the Physical Attack and raising their hands to the sky and the moon above.
The sun was almost fully set by the time our fight began. Now, as they called upon the lunar energies above, it felt like night had fully covered the island, the moon glowing immensely bright as a large sphere of energy dropped down on Notch. “Light Screen, then rebound shot again!”
Even with another barrier protecting them, Notch let out a sharp cry as the powerful Moonblast hit them. The attack is finished, but I could still swear that the moon is shining too brightly now. At least it gives the others a good view of the battle. They were gathered in an outcropping on the other side of the valley watching in awe, Cyan’s Smeargle Sketching the epic clash furiously. I can see why they’re called Legendary, viewed as deities by many cultures - their Moves can change the world on a scale few others can match.
Few, but not none, as my brave Carbink proved, determinedly blasting away with another rebound shot. Diancie’s eyes darted around, fearing the powerful Steel Type attack, and they managed to partially dodge it as the attack clipped them from the side. [‘Quit that!’]
“What, stop winning? Nah, not really our style,” I taunted the Legendary. As they turned to glare at me, I subtly motioned for Notch to power up, my Pokemon centering themself with a quick Calm Mind.
[‘You’re nothing! These- these cheap tricks can’t help you-’] Suddenly they whipped back, glaring at Notch again. Could they somehow sense the power building up in them? Whatever, we got a slight boost.
“Power Gem with quick bursts, Psychic for mixed control,” I called out, giving abbreviated commands for Notch to pick up on as Diancie attacked once more, another Diamond Storm sweeping across the field.
This time, rather than making diamonds out of thin air, they ripped up most of it from the ground and walls, tearing apart their own brilliant domain in an effort to attack Notch. And to stop us from using the rebound trick any more. Carbinks up top wailed distantly at the site of the destruction.
With Psychic, Notch contested Diancie’s control over the hard gemstones they were flinging at my Pokemon. Notch couldn’t directly stop the Legendary, but they were able to deflect the brunt of the attack while firing Power Gem beams at the Diancie, who was too distracted to disperse them and simply tanked the attacks. All the while, more diamonds were pulled up to coat the Diancie’s body, armoring them further.
Attacks like Flash Cannon and Power Gem will just pass straight through, but they have other methods to deal with those. Physical Moves are right out, except maybe- we need more setup though. “Full focus on Psychic, all offense! Just dodge the storm, float like a leaf on the wind!”
Notch focused, telekinetically slamming Diancie while they wove between the shards of diamond that swirled violently, seeking to tear into them. Each hit from them to Diancie was like a pulse or punch, rather than the traditional telekinetic ‘squeeze’ Psychic would do. Makes it harder for Diancie to just gather their power and break through the attack again if each hit is staggered. Such a modification was difficult to do for a Move on the fly for most Pokemon, but Notch had spent hundreds of hours practicing and perfecting their use of the Move to use as a substitute while they lacked hands.
Somehow, miraculously, the majority of the storm had missed them when Diancie finally dropped it. Reaching out, they broke off Notch’s next Psychic, then grabbed my Pokemon with the same force, tossing them telekinetically to the ground. Then again, as they tried to rise back up.
[‘Ha! I can do that thingie too, see!’] They cried, overpowering Notch once more. Damn, didn’t expect them to be able to learn Psychic on the fly. We still have options, though.
“Stomping Tantrum!” I commanded, Notch using the force of being pushed back down to strike the ground hard, the impact lobbing a solid chunk of earth at the Legendary. With the storm down for a second, I could see the damages that had accumulated on Diancie’s body. Some of it was obscured by the solid diamond covering most of their form, but there was definitely wear and tear from the beatings we had delivered.
On the other hand, Notch wasn’t looking too great either. A few of their own gems were chipped or torn out completely, and much of their rocky body had gouges cut in it. Notch looked as badly hurt as I had ever seen them before, and that included any Gym fights or training where they clearly pushed too far. But the stubborn gleam in my Pokemon’s eyes told me they weren’t giving up yet, and I wasn’t about to throw in the towel either. We still have a few cards left to play.
“Strafe, pelt them with Flash Cannon again.” Notch followed my command, and Diancie was put on the defensive, deflecting the attack. To our foe, I called out, “You might be strong and tough, but you can’t match Notch’s speed, and that’s what really matters in a fight.”
[‘I’ll show you speed!’] Their body gained an even greater sheen to it as they used Rock Polish, speeding up. Zipping around the field, they called forth another Diamond Storm, the speed of their body giving their Move greater speed too.
“Protect! You’re too slow!” I called upon all of my experience as a Sonic main in Smash Bros. to add to the taunt. That skill, or perhaps seeing the strongest attack they could muster bounce harmlessly off the greenish spherical barrier that had snapped into place around Notch, caused Diancie to throw any caution to the wind and fall for my taunt again, dropping the attack to speed up again.
“Trick Room,” my voice was calm, but excitement was bubbling up within me as I felt the field building up around me, and I floated out of range. Diancie finished the second Rock Polish, now moving like a blur so fast that even I was having trouble keeping up - until they instantly decelerated, stopping an inch away from Notch. Trick Room locked into place, appearing fully visible, covering the entire valley within it.
Diancie’s hand was still outstretched, reaching towards my Carbink like it was moving through molasses, unable to connect before Notch blasted them with a Flash Cannon. “Yes!” I cheered. “Keep going, hit them as hard as you can!” They continued their assault, hitting Diancie a few more times before I noticed a flicker within the field.
What? It’s too soon for that, and I don’t think Notch weakened it by making the field that large or anythin- it must be Diancie! Either they were going to break it apart with the kind of brute force only a Legendary had, or they'd figured out the Move from seeing it once and were going to reverse it by using it themself. Whatever the case, we only had a moment, so I shouted, “Psych Up!”
Notch cut off their attack, rising up in the air as they pumped themself up, looking at how strong Diancie was and imagining they had the same boosts. The Trick Room dissipated, and Diancie zipped around again, their speed returned. With the Psych Up complete, though, Notch could match them; no, more than match them, was faster than the Legendary. I hadn’t been lying before when I said Notch was faster… but I was when I said speed was everything in a fight.
My Pokemon’s defense had shot up greatly, now shining with a similar sheen to mimic the diamond armor Diancie wore, but they were still heavily damaged from everything before. One more shot could take them out, even a glancing blow.
“Let’s end it, right here and now: Body Press!” I cried, tossing my Tera Orb over the arena. Please let this work, please let this work. The shaking from the device felt weak, barely noticeable when I had grabbed it, not like the usual arm-shaking force as it charged up. Notch dived down toward Diancie and on a trajectory to carry them under the Tera Orb, which shook, then cracked open, enveloping Notch in a chunk of crystals. “It worked!”
Diancie held up their hands, conjuring their largest amount of diamonds from thin air yet, all striking towards the descending crystal. Notch burst forth, Terastalized with a large fist Tera ‘hat’ above their head, battering through the deadly storm, smashing into Diancie like the world’s most aggressive meteor.
A shockwave burst out from the impact, and then again as Notch’s force carried the two of them into the throne, the last intact part of their domain - and then no longer. It shattered, the Move sending tiny shards of diamond flying everywhere. As I pulled my arm back down from where I had instinctively shielded it, I saw the final result.
Diancie’s armor was entirely shattered and scattered across the valley, amidst the other shards twinkling brightly in the moonlight. They lay in their half-ruined throne, attempting to pull themself up for a moment before giving up, lacking the strength to rise from where they slouched.
Notch’s Terastalization ended instantly, and I wasn’t sure if that was due to the damage they had taken or simply how little power the phenomenon had to last on these foreign lands. My Pokemon lay unmoving on the ground beside Diancie for half a minute. I began my descent to look after them, but then, slowly but surely, they rose. Floating up above Diancie, who still couldn’t muster the energy to fight, Notch began charging up another Flash Cannon.
[‘I… I yield.’] Diancie admitted, and Notch powered down, just in time for me to give them a flying hug.
“You did it! You did it!” Notch gave a weak chime, their hard body worn down enough that even a human’s squeeze could feel tight. Quickly I sprayed them with potions and elixirs, giving them health and energy back. Then I did the same for Diancie.
[‘How could I lose… to a mere Carbink? I don’t understand. Aren’t I special?’] The Legendary Pokemon looked on the verge of tears, and I felt enough pity to toss them a bone, even with how abrasive they’d been before.
“You are. It’s just that Notch is very special too, and we’ve trained very hard to get where we are.” The answer seemed to satisfy them, and they rose, taking in the sight of their ruined domain. “And, uh, sorry about all that damage.”
Diancie waved me off. [‘It’s fine. I’ll build a new domain, bigger and better than ever before! Shinier too!’]
“Glad to see you're in such good spirits.” Kukui said to them before stepping carefully towards us. There was a fair bit of debris and random spikes non-flying people had to worry about, but they were making their way over as quickly as they could. “That battle was like a non-stop All-Out Pummeling! Wow cousin, just... wow. I’d like to see what Notch could do with a Z-Crystal.”
“That was incredible. I’m still not sure about how your plan will work exactly, but I have no doubt that Notch deserves it after a fight like that.” Friede commented.
“We got it!” Cyan said excitedly too.
[‘I suppose I should hold up my end of the bet. I will help ‘Notch’ transform. Uh, what exactly was it you needed from me?’]
“I don’t think we need anything anymore, actually.” At their furious look, I quickly added, “But I’m sure Smeargle could use a few more examples of Diamond Storm, right, sis?”
She rolled her eyes but nodded, sending Smeargle forward, letting the painter Pokemon take in the Move. What he already had on the easel looked good, but something about watching the different ways Diancie used the Move, for grand displays, to forceful attacks targeting nothing in particular, and even starting to rebuild their domain… All of it helped make the painting Smeargle had been working on deeper and more vivid. Subtle things, but any bit that made our goal more likely, I’d take.
Not sure how the Sketch works exactly; Smeargles hardly need to keep the painting of the Moves they copy to use them, though most will, hanging their favorite pieces in their abodes in the wild. I guess the act of making it is what imprints the Move within their mind? In any case, I’d love to at least get a copy of the painting. In it, Notch stood (well, hovered) defiantly, a sea of diamonds between them and Diancie, conducting the storm like a maestro.
As that was taking place, Percy eventually slid up to me, a strange look on his face, like he was confused and having digestive problems. His voice was smooth, but I could literally feel his emotions and how pained he felt as he praised me. “Congratulations on your fight. It was… impressive. I did not believe a regular Pokemon could defeat a Legendary by themselves. You're a skilled Trainer.”
He's hardly making a huge apology for his prior behavior - doubt I'd ever get it from a guy as stiff as this - but at least he's trying to offer an olive branch. I decided to take the win rather than poke at him further.
“Thank you, but I can't take all the credit. We worked together, Notch and I. Having each other’s backs, that bond, it means a lot, ya know?” I didn’t wait for an answer before adding, “It was still a tough fight. In terms of power, we were definitely outmatched, but there’s more to a battle than just that. Proper planning, skill, and, in a pinch, a bit of misdirection… it all goes a long way.” The man simply nodded. Such tactics and planning didn't seem to be his strong suit, so he was probably just taking my word for it.
It was nearing midnight by the time Smeargle felt there was no more to be done, putting their tail/paintbrush away. Everyone was hungry and tired, including myself, and part of me wanted to call it a night, but then I looked at Notch. Small scars and chips still marred their body, but they were shining brighter than I’d ever seen them before. The mindset is critical for this; we have to seize this moment.
Still I asked, “You ready?” Notch was nodding before I was even finished talking. “Alright, let’s do this! Everyone, give us some room, please.” I asked, and everyone (including Diancie and the hundreds of Carbinks) backed up and gave Notch, myself, and Smeargle half of the valley to use.
“First, let’s set the stage. Notch, Misty Terrain.” My ever faithful Pokemon didn’t question my command, and a misty pink field spread out around them, covering the valley. Not sure if this part matters, but I don’t think it will hurt our chances.
“Cyan, if I may?” I asked, and my sister nodded. We already agreed on this, but it’s always polite to ask before giving an order to someone else’s Pokemon. “Smeargle, Inverted Assist! Let Notch use Diamond Storm!”
Smeargle leapt up, waving his arms and clapping wildly at Notch, their fingers inverted and pointing down. My Carbink focused, their eyes scrunched up tight, ears flapping hard as they attempted to copy. Assist usually lets the user utilize another Pokemon’s Move. But at its base, it’s about helping one another out. A Diancie couldn’t learn it, but a Smeargle, which can potentially learn any Move… perhaps this will be what we need to break through that barrier.
When I’d first asked Cyan if she could do that, she said I was crazy, but eventually she agreed to the plan. ‘Inverted Assist.’ Aside from being what my sister pointed to as ‘definitive proof Nemona shouldn’t be allowed to name things,’ it was what I hoped would be the key to our success today.
Coal began forming in the air, which was then compressed until it was diamond. An impressive showing for most Rock Types, but we were well beyond that already. Notch needs to make diamonds. For all their power, that had been something of a hard limit for them. But not tonight. “C’mon, you’re doing great, Notch! Push harder. After everything you’ve done, every trial we’ve faced together, I know that this is your night. You can do it, Notch. Believe in yourself - I believe in you!”
A glimmer in the air caught my eye, a tiny, sparkling diamond appearing within the air, then a slightly larger one, this time pebble-sized. Then a few more. More and more, with the stones becoming larger and larger, until it was as large as any Diancie had created earlier, filling half of the valley. The twinkling lights of the Terrain reflected off the gemstones, sparkling brightly, giving the space an ethereal feel, like we’d entered a fey realm.
Despite that, as I looked over at the star of the day, Notch remained the same. At least they learned an incredible new Move. This was still a worthwhile trip. I paused, trying to come up with the words of encouragement to give Notch for all their efforts- CRACK. We all looked around for the jarring sound until I realized it was coming from Notch. “Look!” I couldn’t help but shout, pointing at my Pokemon as they transformed.
And it was very much a transformation, not an evolution. No glowing light surrounded Notch, their body breaking and shifting, stretching out as they grew. Atop their head, Notch’s ears shrunk inward, the left one keeping the notch upon it that was the basis for their name. Diamonds grew out atop their head, forming a similar but unique pattern to what the wild Diancie had. The gems were a light pink color, and the rest of the gems on the lower half of their body also shifted in color to reflect that. Instead of having a diamond around their neck like the wild one had though, the Diancite simply hung there in its place.
The white fluff they had covered the torso, leaving Notch’s new face bright and clear. Another loud cracking sound accompanied two rocky appendages bursting free. The arms were the most obvious difference between the two Diancies in the valley, with Notch’s being far thicker, with large biceps and larger forearms, each hand capped with a set of four fingers and a thumb.
“Notch,” I whispered reverently. “You achieved it. Your dream. You are, a Diancie.” This fact was further confirmed a few seconds later by Kukui’s Rotomdex floating up and scanning them.
“Ro-to-to… Diancie, the Jewel Pokemon.”
[‘YES! I DID IT! YOU DID IT! WE DID ITTTTTTT!!!’] They telepathically screamed, rushing over and wrapping me in a bone-creaking hug. Welp, this is a good way to go. I thought, my vision growing dim before they let me go and I could breathe again.
Percy and Friede stood, dumbfounded, the latter with a hint of awe in his gaze. Kukui clapped heavily while my sister cheered. “We knew you could do it!” After a moment, the wild Diancie clapped politely as well.
[‘I suppose I shouldn’t be surprised by this point, very good. Now, if you wouldn’t mind leaving, we have a lot of work to do,’] they said, shooing us off. Notch accepted, but only after shaking their hand out of respect for the match.
Well, that’s what I’ll tell anyone who asks. Considering how they gave everyone multiple high fives and are now touching the walls as we walk back, I think they’re just reveling in having hands, and you know, good for them. As we marched back, any trace of fatigue in the group had been completely wiped away, watching the splendor and sheer joy Notch carried with them.
By the time we exited Ten Carat Hill, Friede had recovered enough to ask, “Okay, that was amazing, and I’m sorry for doubting it, but how did that work, exactly?”
Percy cleared his throat. “You can feel free to explain the method to the Professors here, the League has protocols to keep such things secret for Trainers. We’ll give them NDAs-”
“Why would I want to keep it a secret?” I asked, cocking my head to the side. “I’ll admit, it’s a bit trickier than it looked, but…”
That seemed to baffle Percy as much as the transformation. “But- you’re a Trainer. Don’t you want a competitive edge?? What if other people copied you and had Diancies of their own?”
“Let em,” I said with a shrug. “They can have Diancies too if they want, but they won’t be Notch. Won’t beat Notch either,” I said with a sharp grin. My new Legendary Pokemon swooped in at that line, hand raised, and I gave them another high five. In their excitement this time, though, Notch hit with a bit more force, and my hand whipped back before I clutched it tight, pain flooding me for a second.
[‘Oh no, are you alright?’] Notch asked, hovering over me.
“It’s- it’s fine,” I hissed out. “And hey, you’ve learned how to control your telepathy volume,” I said, still grinning. Honestly, there’s not much that could ruin this moment. With that much power, I think there’s decent odds Notch can learn Mega Punch too.
After a minute to compose myself (and for Miles to make a few ice cubes from their Fridge Form that I could hold against my hand), I continued, answering Friede’s question. “Well, if you’re asking how this was possible, I first theorized that with the similarities between Carbinks and Diancies, the key difference was the ability to create diamonds from the carbon molecules in the air. So I thought, ‘What if we reversed the cause and effect?’ What if instead of Diancies being able to create diamonds, it was that any Carbink could become a Diancie if they could create diamonds like that? The ones born as Diancies simply had the mutation that let them do so in the first place, but if I could engineer a way for Notch to create diamonds themself…” I trailed off meaningfully.
“Then it would let Notch turn into a Diancie!” Friede declared, slapping a fist into his palm (which Notch immediately mimicked adorably before going back to running their hand through the sand). “Wait, no, that still doesn’t explain things,” the Professor said after a moment. “Even skipping over the ‘Inverted Assist’ Smeargle used that still doesn’t-”
“Whoa, whoa, you can’t just ‘skip over’ the best part!” The other Professor exclaimed, interrupting Friede. “A wholly original Move, invented by a Pokemon known for only copying Moves! That was huge! I'm as fired up as a Blast Burn!” Kukui then turned to my sister and begged "Please, pleasepleasepleaseplease stay in Alola for a while? There’s so much I want to study about this!”
Cyan laughed nervously before scratching behind her head. “Well, actually, about that…”
“It was fake,” I stated bluntly.
“““Huh?””” [‘Huh?’] Came three verbal and one telepathic voice. Notch paused, creating a small, singular diamond between their hands, waving at it as if to say, ‘If it was fake, then how does this work?’
“Yeah, I know in the study we had that plan written down, and I do still think such a Move could be made, but… we just didn’t have enough time. I didn’t think I’d be in this much of a rush, or that we’d get the chance this soon, so someone didn’t teach Smeargle the Move.” I said with a pointed stare my sister’s way.
“Oh, you try coming up with an entirely new Move-” I opened my mouth to speak before swiftly closing it at Cyan’s next words. “-And also being a full-time student, Miss-trains-twenty-four-seven!”
“Ok, that’s fair. So yeah, the Inverted Assist didn’t quite pan out, but that was fine. Making diamonds instantly out of the air or making another rock and compressing them into diamonds... those are just minor differences. Physically, the process works the same, so I knew if Notch thought they could, they’d be able to make a Diamond Storm of their own, especially after studying it so intently.”
“But that wasn’t the main point you were talking about, was it?” I asked Friede, and the young Professor nodded. “It’s the fact that as much as I dressed it up nice, genetics don’t actually work like that.”
[‘Wait, but if they don’t then how did I…?’] Notch trailed off, looking at their new hands before I grabbed them lightly.
“You were the key to your own success all along. Creating diamonds out of thin air, transforming, that potential was always in you; I just needed you to believe.” I had plenty of theories on how ‘natural’ Diancies were created, the subconscious belief of a group of Carbinks that needed a leader, with tales long passed of how Diancies could be born from regular Carbink eggs and that belief, that collective desire, then making it into a reality with one of the next eggs to hatch. Still doesn’t explain how the first Diancies came to be, aside from Act of Arceus, but I think it works. Also, while inside the egg, the Pokemon within wouldn’t have any doubts of their own that might counter the process.
[‘I see. Well, finding out you deceived me isn’t great, but on the other hand, I have hands now!’] Notch cheered joyously.
To the others I added, “So yeah, that’s how we did it. Technically it shouldn’t be possible, but it sounded ‘right enough’ to pitch to Notch. It had to be something that sounded legitimate enough. An idea specific and difficult enough that no one would have tried it before, so we could be the first ones to pioneer it. For a Fairy Type determined to grow, making it ‘seem’ right was far more important than how the world actually works.”
“So the key is deception?” Percy said. “Well, at least that will make it easier to stop everyone from getting their hands on a Legendary when you publish your paper. It will be much harder to fool future Carbinks-” I groaned, cutting him off.
“Did you get nothing about what I said? The deception might have helped set the stage, gave Notch a push in the right direction, but that wasn’t what made them transform: it was faith. I had faith in Notch, they believed in me and my methods, and that belief helped them achieve their destiny.” Sure, sounds crazy, but there’s weirder things in this world. Besides, the anime and games were always about ‘believing in your Pokemon,’ so why couldn’t there be a ’‘belief’-based transformation?
I added, “If anything, it should be even easier for other Carbinks to do the same, now that Notch has proven it’s possible.” The League official's composure broke and he let out a pitiful whimper, clearly imagining how to report/deal with this when it reached the global stage.
I had even more thoughts, theories on how exactly it worked for Notch and the connection with how Diancies were naturally born, but I felt almost jittery, still too excited and elated over what had just happened to properly elaborate on them.
[‘With the guidance of the chosen one leading them, I’m certain they’ll succeed.’] Notch chimed in, and now it was my turn to groan.
“Wow, you really do think of yourself as a ‘chosen one,’ huh?” Friede said to Notch, and I shook my head, sighing. Before I could deflect, my Diancie ‘explained.’
[‘Myself? No, I am merely a humble supplicant. It is Nemona who was chosen by the great creator, Arceus themself.’] Everyone else in our group turned and looked at me. Come on, it’s not my fault! I didn’t put those weird ideas in their head!
“I keep telling you, I’m not a ‘chosen one’ or saint or anything like that. Normal girl with normal knees.” C’mon everyone, be distracted by the RWBY reference none of you will understand, and don’t listen to Notch!
Notch gave me a faux-sweet smile. [‘You have been gifted in many ways, and on this very night, you performed a miracle. I’m sorry, I don’t make the rules.’]
“I know for a fact that you are codifying the rules to the religion you’re making up!” I shouted, earning many peals of laughter from my sister and the others. I sighed before joining in. Oh, what the hell. It’s fine; I’d deal with a million sermons for this moment. If you are listening, O llama god, thank you. For everything.
Omake Time!
Just when I think I’m out… she pulls me back in. Yes, that’s right, we’ve got our new DLC, exploring Blueberry Academy. We get to meet a bunch of quirky new students, try out the synchro machine for funky Pokemon walking animations, get a bunch of new Pokemon to collect including all the regional starters in the expansive Terarium… and we get another battle against Nemona.
This one is optional after you invite her to the Blueberry Academy three times, and we actually get a bunch of fun interactions with her, talking about her past, how she used to go to BB before graduating and attending Uva/Naranja. But that’s all stuff you can find out in game, let’s talk about how to beat her.
As this battle is within BB and she was a student there, she’s facing you here in a double battle. Nemona will lead with either a Wash Rotom and Gliscor or Dudunsparce and a freaking Diancie (She even mentions having a mega stone to mega evolve them but says she won’t use it because you don’t have one which on the one hand is nice, but on the other I really want to see megas again!). And you won’t know who she’s sending in before the match as it randomizes it every time the battle is initiated so you can’t save scum to line up your team right.
Both of the initial teams have different area Moves to spam. Gliscor has Earthquake, taking advantage of Rotom’s Immunity to avoid hitting her partner. She also has Taunt, Protect, and Dual Wingbeat. Her Ability Poison Heal and a Toxic Orb to constantly heal over the course of the battle while locking her out of other status conditions after the first turn. The Rotom is in Wash Form giving them only one weakness (and one usually checked by the dual wingbeat of her partner). It has Electroweb for speed control, with Hydro Pump to give them high single target damage. Will O Wisp Burn will cut most Pokemon’s Attack, while Pain Split gives them a recovery option, alongside Leftovers.
On the flip side, Dudunsparce has Hyper Drill to make use of his surprisingly high attack and punish anyone that thought they could Protect/Detect to avoid the onslaught of his partner. If that doesn’t work he has Glare to cut down an opponent’s speed with Paralysis, Helping Hand to boost his partner (despite not having hands...), and Roost to keep him in the battle longer. And what a partner he's paired with Diancie uses the insanely broken signature Diamond Storm to hit both foes with a 50% of a Defense boost by two stages. This fuels their Body Press, making it hit even harder. Moonblast rounds out her offense and makes use of her Fairy STAB. Trick Room turns the abysmal speed those two share into a boon. Dudunsparce has a Lum Berry for a one time status block, while Diancie has a Babiri Berry to cover taking quadruple effective Steel attacks at least once.
So this might not seem great, but you might think of just preparing for one team. Like hey, maybe Gholdengo would be good against the Dudunsparce and Diancie team? Wrong, or at least wrong half of the time. See, there’s a 50% chance that either of the leads you see on a given team are actually her Hisuian Zoroark in disguise. This greatly changes things, as you can think that you’re going to be clearing out Dudunsparce with a Fighting move only to watch it whiff. Or letting him boost a Move of hers that would have been resisted if they replaced Diancie. H-Zoroark has Hyper Voice for spread STAB damage and Bitter Malice for single target STAB with a nasty attack debuff on top (also, when did we start getting base 75 power Moves with guaranteed stat drops?!) Burning Jealousy is there to give her more coverage, is another spread Move, and will punish you if you want to/have already set up. She's built for speed and power, with her EVs maxed out in speed and special attack, and she's got Protect too, to help keep the disguise going and to stall out things like Sucker Punch for a turn. Her Focus Sash helps with that, so even though she’s frail, you’ll need two hits to take her out.
The final Pokemon on Nemona’s original team is Lucario. She’s got a lot of offense with Close Combat, Meteor Mash, and Extremespeed, boosted by her Life Orb. Her last Move is Swords Dance, letting her setup to sweep you, if given a chance. Nemona will send Lucario out a bit later, usually to plug any holes you’ve poked in the offense going on so far.
Like your previous fight against her Nemona will feel free to switch her team around and Tera whenever she feels necessary. And on that note, here’s what she has going for her team.
Tera List:
- Dudunsparce Tera Ghost (Stops Fake Out and gets rid of Fighting weakness)
- Diancie Tera Grass (feels weird, but it covers most of her weaknesses as well as giving Nemona something against powder Moves)
- W-Rotom Tera Electric (Boosts Discharge damage and takes away weaknesses)
- Gliscor Tera Ground (Boost Earthquake damage, not quite as badly affected by Ice after)
- H-Zoroark Tera Normal (Pretty rare to see this one, opens her up to Fighting and Normal attacks but gets rid of Dark weakness and boosts Hyper Voice)
- Lucario Tera Fighting (loses a lot of resistances but also all of her weaknesses while gaining new ones to Flying, Psychic, and Fairy. Also powers up Close Combat)
For this battle, you’ll probably want to just pick a starter set and prepare for that, just reloading until you get the right starter set. It’s very possible to have answers for one set, and even for either of the two starting Pokemon possibly being her Zoroark in disguise to start. It’s a lot more difficult to try and deal with 5 potential different Pokemon to start. If you absolutely feel the need to do so, make sure to have Protect and other stall Moves to get a clearer picture on what she’s throwing at you first, then respond. Priority Moves like Sucker Punch can do a lot of damage as she doesn’t have many counters to those either.
She lacks most methods to remove your buffs, terrain, entry hazards, or weather (thankfully), but given how hard she’ll hit, often nailing both Pokemon on your team twice, Nemona will quickly tear through your team if given the chance. There’s no competing weather or terrain setters so any Pokemon with Abilities that can set up those up for you without giving up a turn are quite handy.
Your Pokemon for this battle are going to vary wildly, it really depends on what combos you have ready. While her Pokemon are decently fast, Gen 9 metagame is insane so a lot of Paradox and Legendary Pokemon beat her for speed, which is good… unless she sets Trick Room up. Room Service may be an item you can consider using for those Pokemon. Here are a few others that we’ve found generally handy.
Scrappy Flamigo is a solid counter to H-Zoroark and Dudunsparce even if they Terastalize. Storm Drain Gastrodon can block Rotom, and can threaten Diancie and Lucario, and even Gliscor with Ice attacks. Maushold can be either an offensive threat with Technician Beat Up/Population Bomb and Wide Lens to threaten all but Diancie and Lucario, or as a support with Friend Guard and Moves like Helping Hand, Follow Me, Encore and the like. Rillaboom sets up Grassy Terrain to limit the effectiveness of Gliscor’s Earthquake, while also threatening Diancie. Palafin outspeeds all but the H-Zoroark, so you can Flip Turn easily, or just switch out if you’re scared of that with a bunch of support options in Haze, Encore, and Taunt, as well as just insane stats once Zero to Hero is triggered.
Incineroar or any Intimidate Pokemon are generally traps here. Nemona has three physical attackers, but only one (Gliscor) can be affected by Intimidate. Lucario has Inner Focus which stops flinches and Intimidates as of this gen, and Diancie has Clear Body making them immune to all stat drops from enemies. You can aim for a Trick Room team of your own, but that can be difficult to set up given how much offense Nemona has, and you need your team’s speed to be really low so that Dudunsparce and Diancie can’t take advantage of it themselves.
It’ll be a tough fight, but try it a few times, get a feel for how she tends to respond and do your best to predict her Moves and switches because she will be prepared for you. If you show up with two Pokemon that know Steel Type attacks, don’t be surprised if she swaps her Diancie for Rotom as you try to double tap them, etc. With enough perseverance you’ll emerge victorious.
After all of that? She’ll do the trade like every other mentor you can call into the club does, with Nemona offering a Shiny Dunsparce. Which might not seem like much until you learn it’s guaranteed to evolve into a three segment Dudunsparce, saving a bunch of time for collectors… or not depending on how long it took you to beat her, haha.
A/N: The second one of these! This time we get to see her original team in double battles (those are going to be fun/complicated to write). I originally planned to have Nightwing use her Fling → Acrobatics strategy I have in the story, but with how long it would take to set up Toxic Orb self poison, Fling to get rid of it, then Acrobatics, it just seemed too easy to see through in a video game and made Nightwing way too open to counter play. Miles’ Moveset got changed around dramatically as well, as I realized I was hewing too closely to what their Moves are now, in the story. Which works there, but wouldn’t in a double battle, especially in a game with move limits and the like.
Nemona's Current Team:
Nemona's Current Team:
-'Dun' (Dudunsparce, Male, Normal Type, Starter)
- Tera Type: Normal
- Held Item: Expert Belt
- Abilities: Run Away, Serene Grace
- Moves known:
- 'Miles' (Rotom, Genderless, Electric/Form dependent Type)
- Tera Type: Electric
- Held Item: Life Orb
- Ability: Levitate
- Moves Known:
- 'Nightwing' (Gliscor, Female, Flying/Ground Type)
- Tera Type: Water
- Held Item: Toxic Orb
- Ability: Hyper Cutter, Poison Heal
- Moves Known:
- 'Notch' (Diancie, Mega-Evolvable, Genderless, Rock/Fairy Type)
- Tera Type: Fighting
- Held Item: Light Clay
- Ability: Clear Body
- Moves Known:
- 'Phantasm' (Hisuian Zoroark, Female, Normal/Ghost)
- Tera Type: Ghost
- Held Item: Lax Incense
- Ability: Illusion
- Moves Known:
- 'Athena' (Lucario, Mega-Evolveable, Female, Fighting/Steel)
- Tera Type: Fighting
- Held Item: Clear Amulet
- Ability: Steadfast
- Moves Known:
-'Bahamut' (Haxorus, Male, Shiny, Dragon)
- Tera Type: Dragon
- Held Item: Dragon Fang
- Ability: Mold Breaker
- Moves Known:
- 'Radiance' (Iron Moth, Genderless, Fire/Poison)
- Tera Type: ???
- Held Item: None
- Ability: Quark Drive
- Moves Known:
*Custom Moves