Dylan thought Amoonguss was as reliable as ever. Kukui, however, didn't quite agree.
He was starting to find this situation pretty tricky—his Braviary was asleep, and unless it used Sleep Talk, it was just a sitting duck.
But Sleep Talk was a gamble—it randomly selects one of the moves the user knows. And Braviary had learned way too many.
Should he switch it out? But even then, it'd still be asleep when it came back later.
Grassy Terrain glimmered softly, its green light healing Amoonguss a little.
Braviary, now grounded, couldn't benefit from it while at full HP.
"Sludge Bomb."
While Kukui hesitated, Dylan gave his command.
Amoonguss raised both arms, purple energy condensing before launching blobs of toxic sludge at Braviary.
"Braviary, use Sleep Talk!"
Kukui quickly responded—he couldn't just stand there and let it be pummeled.
Still asleep, Braviary stirred, talons twitching. A soft white glow enveloped it—it used Hone Claws!
Kukui winced. Boosting attack was nice and all, but not very helpful right now.
Amoonguss's Sludge Bombs landed cleanly, exploding one after another. Braviary groaned in pain.
Despite Amoonguss's modest special attack—and the fact it had been weakened earlier by Parting Shot—Braviary didn't have the best special defense either.
As the smoke cleared, Braviary looked pretty beat up.
"Keep it up. Sludge Bomb again."
"Return, Braviary!"
Kukui immediately called it back. He wasn't going to let it take another hit for nothing.
"Ninetales!"
He sent out his third Pokémon—a beautiful, pale blue fox with a regal poise.
An Alolan Ninetales.
Its Ice/Fairy typing was a strong counter to Amoonguss.
Unlike Braviary, who preferred melee, Alolan Ninetales was a ranged attacker. Its offensive stats weren't overwhelming, but its mobility and typing made it very effective.
"Alolan Ninetales has a 4x weakness to Steel, but Amoonguss can't learn any Steel moves," Leaf noted, checking the Rotom Dex.
This one had the Snow Cloak ability—not Snow Warning.
Snow Cloak boosts evasion during hail, but without setting up hail first, it wasn't doing anything.
"Amoonguss is just too slow for this matchup," Itto muttered.
Alolan Ninetales was agile and had decent power—especially under a skilled trainer like Kukui.
"And it can't learn any switching moves either," Lillie added.
"That makes it hard for my brother to rotate, but that's okay. It's just his first Pokémon."
On the field—
"Ninetales, Blizzard!"
Kukui wasted no time.
With a melodic cry, Ninetales gathered icy energy in its mouth. A fierce snowstorm roared across the battlefield.
"Rollout."
Dylan raised an eyebrow. Kukui had quickly adjusted his strategy.
Amoonguss wasn't good at dealing with ranged attackers. Its physical attack was poor, and speed even worse.
Moves like Spore were great—wide area, fast to use, and guaranteed to sleep—but only at close range.
Against distance fighters, it struggled.
Still… not completely helpless.
At Dylan's command, Amoonguss curled up and began spinning rapidly—a genetic move: Rollout.
The rolling mushroom picked up speed and just barely dodged the Blizzard, tucking itself into a corner.
Grassy Terrain pulsed again, healing it slightly.
"Keep rolling forward."
Amoonguss didn't stop—its rolling grew faster as it headed toward Ninetales.
"Freeze the ground with Ice Beam."
Kukui reacted quickly.
Ninetales fired a twisting beam of icy light along the ground, instantly freezing the surface in Amoonguss's path.
Amoonguss hit the slick ice and started to skid—completely out of control.
Dylan chuckled lightly. "As expected of Professor Kukui."
"Blizzard!"
The storm erupted again.
"Protect."
Amoonguss stopped rolling, but inertia carried it forward.
A green barrier flared to life just in time to block the full force of the Blizzard.
"Quick response," Kukui admitted.
If that Protect had been even a second late, Amoonguss would've been done for.
"Sweet Scent."
Amoonguss swung its arms, releasing another wave of pink fragrance.
"Ninetales, back off. Then Ice Beam."
Kukui had learned his lesson from Braviary. No way he'd let Ninetales get close to that suspicious mist.
Ninetales retreated, and as Amoonguss rolled closer, it leapt up gracefully, soaring over the mushroom.
"Ice Beam!"
From midair, Ninetales turned and blasted a freezing beam straight at Amoonguss.
"Spore!"
Dylan didn't hesitate.
Amoonguss halted its roll and flung its arms wide, spraying a dense cloud of spores upward.
"Ninetales!"
Kukui's eyes widened.
The Ice Beam hit, instantly freezing some of the spores, and struck Amoonguss hard.
The frost seared through it—it cried out in pain. Ice was super effective, and it hurt.
Still, it had managed to unleash most of the Spore cloud.
Ninetales, midair, couldn't dodge.
The spores engulfed it, and within moments, Ninetales was overwhelmed by a wave of drowsiness.
Thump!
It fell, fast asleep.
Amoonguss bounced over, tapping Ninetales's head with its mushroom arm again—classic move.
Satisfied, it jumped up and down gleefully and began a ridiculous little dance on top of Ninetales's body.
It liked to dance, apparently.
Kukui: "..."
"Again?" Amelia stared, her expression unreadable. "It's dancing… on her head…"
"This thing is so damn weird," Itto muttered.
He'd initially disliked Amoonguss—ugly and not that strong, he thought.
But now? It had already put two of Kukui's Pokémon to sleep.
That thing could sleep a whole party if you weren't careful!
"See? Amoonguss is adorable," Dylan said, utterly pleased, watching it wiggle around.
He fully believed in his Pokémon's cuteness.
…Cute!?
Kukui had question marks swirling above his head. His usually tan face was darkening visibly.
This ugly, freaky thing—CUTE!?
So that's what Dylan meant when he said Grass Pokémon were cute!?
This thing was dancing on top of his sleeping, elegant, ethereal Ninetales!
The audacity! How dare this grotesque fungus desecrate his graceful ice fox!?
"Return, Ninetales."
Kukui quickly withdrew her. He couldn't watch another second.
Gross. Absolutely revolting. Not only did it sleep her, it danced on her.
That thing needed to go—fast.
"If I let that thing sleep one more of my team, this match is done," he muttered, glaring at the eccentric mushroom.
Grassy Terrain glowed again, healing Amoonguss some more.
"Incineroar!"
Kukui threw out his ace—no more games. He was going to end this mushroom menace here and now.
A flash of white—his powerful Incineroar appeared, growling low.
Amoonguss swayed slowly from side to side, completely unfazed.
"Incineroar, huh?" Dylan raised an eyebrow. "You've got to keep your cool in battle, Professor Kukui."
He sounded amused. Kukui looked dead serious now.
"I am cool, Dylan."
"…Alright then."
"Incineroar, Flamethrower!"
Flames roared from Incineroar's belt, surging toward Amoonguss.
"Dodge it."
Even with its slow speed, Amoonguss had enough distance to hop awkwardly out of the way.
"Fire Spin!"
Another swirl of flames surrounded the area, trapping Amoonguss in a searing vortex.
Amoonguss landed, wincing. It hated the heat.
"This is tricky," Dylan muttered. Kukui was really pushing hard.
That Incineroar was strong, no doubt about it.
Time to wait for an opening—Kukui was bound to go for a close-range move.
"Fire Punch!"
Right on cue, Incineroar charged, flames blazing on its claws.
"Spore!"
Dylan called it—Amoonguss didn't back down.
Even if it meant taking a hit, if Spore landed, it'd be worth it.
Amoonguss hopped back, arms flailing as it unleashed a cloud of spores.
It looked ridiculous, to be honest—but effective.
"Flare Blitz!"
But Kukui was ready this time.
Incineroar roared, flames engulfing its entire body.
Flare Blitz!
It charged straight through the spores, burning every last one away.
"Nice try, Dylan! Spore won't work on my Incineroar!"
Kukui finally grinned again, feeling vindicated.
Dylan just smiled.
Boom!
The Flare Blitz slammed into Amoonguss, launching it across the field.
It crashed to the ground, fainted.
To be fair, it had already taken a lot—Braviary's Aerial Ace, Ninetales's Ice Beam—plus the burning damage.
Grassy Terrain could only do so much.
But Amoonguss had done its job. It had put two of Kukui's Pokémon to sleep—an amazing performance.
"Amoonguss is unable to battle. Incineroar wins," Leaf declared.
"Couldn't hang on, huh? A shame," Itto muttered.
"If it had put Incineroar to sleep too… that would've been insane."
"Well done. Get some rest."
Dylan returned Amoonguss, praising it gently as he clipped the Poké Ball to his belt.
"Finally."
Kukui let out a breath.
That mushroom was deceptively hard to beat.
"You're strong, Professor Kukui. Taking down my Amoonguss is no easy feat."
Dylan smiled, holding up his next Poké Ball.
"I appreciate it. I am a pretty well-known trainer in Alola, after all."
Kukui still stayed modest, though he didn't say he was the strongest.
"Well then… let's see how you handle this one, Professor."
Dylan's smile widened as he threw his second Poké Ball.
"My second Pokémon—Whimsicott! Let's go!"
With a puff of white light, an adorable cotton fluff landed on the field, smiling brightly.
It struck a confident pose, tiny hands on its hips, staring up at Incineroar.
"Whimsicott. Now that's actually cute."
Kukui nodded in approval.
Even he had to admit—it was undeniably adorable.
…Unlike that weird, creepy mushroom.
Besides Spore, what else did that thing even have!?
Whimsicott, though? Now that was a real cutie.