Chapter 4: Island Challenge Start and Unwanted Changes

Have you ever found yourself in a situation that made you question how you got here, and thus you think of every action made that led up to said moment?

This can occur for a multitude of reasons, whether the situation be that of great a great occasion or celebration, or you find yourself doing something you really don't want to have to do, or life and death is before your eyes and you wonder if there was anything you could have done to change it?

Unfortunately, for me, it was the last scenario that was occurring, and I began thinking how I had reached the point where my very life and future were depending on the actions I made right then.

As I stood on all fours, facing the Salamence that had flames licking out through its jaws, with two crazed men right behind it ready to capture me, I thought about earlier that day, and the events that led to this point.

~Line Break~

We had finally made it up through route one, and were now standing outside of Iki town. For the first time since I had arrived, Iki town was relatively the size as it was in the games, with only ten to twenty viewable houses making up the actual town. Heck, it was more of a village than a town, but that didn't really matter.

Standing at the entrance to the town was a large old man with white hair, shorts and belt, a blue shirt, and a long yellow jacket that draped over his shoulders. His skin was a dark tan, and his hairstyle showed the resemblance he held with Hau.

Hau ran forward and hugged his grandfather, Kahuna Hala, while the rest of us greeted him with the Alolan greeting.

Hala laughed at this, and did the same. "Alola! It's good to see my favorite grandson and his good friend Moon again, along with you too Kukui!"

He then turned his head to me. "Ah, and you must be young Jack, the trainer that Kukui has been telling me so much about!" He said, holding out his hand.

I grinned and took it, realizing how strong a grip he had for his age. "It's good to meet you too, though I'm not really that young. I'm actually twenty, though I know I don't really look it."

Hala laughed, while Hau, Kukui and Moon looked mildly surprised. "Wow, you're two years old than us?" Hau asked. "I thought you were at least seventeen!"

"Well, either way, you're still much younger than I am, so I can call you young all I want!" Hala laughed, before turning around. "Now come, I know how eager you are to get your island challenge tag, so let's go get the ceremony started!"

I nodded, and so the four of us stroad forward further into the village.

Upon going up the stairs, I saw the familiar wooden battle arena. Looking around, I saw several villagers setting up chairs and preparing to get some entertainment through my battle.

Now, apparently I didn't need to actually win the battle against Hau, who Hala had given two pokemon to use. I just needed to prove that I have what it takes to be a trainer, and the strength to take on the island challenge.

I still planned to win, of course. Losing isn't that fun after all.

Stepping onto the arena, with Hau standing on the other side, Hala stood between us and began speaking, showing that the ceremony had begun.

After about five minutes of speaking, asking for the guardian pokemon to watch after us in our fight and so forth, we were finally ready to begin the battle.

"Alright, go Ember!" I said, calling her forth as I threw the pokeball. With a flash of light, Ember appeared on stage, with the crowd mumbling to each other excitedly, as many had never seen a Fennekin before. This time I managed to catch the ball as Hau called out his pokemon.

"Go Pichu!" He yelled, and a small yellow and black mouse appeared before us. I was honestly surprised at how small the pichu was, only being about the size of Ember's head, and I almost died from the cuteness (what can I say, I know cute when I see it, and a small pocket sized Pichu is adorable).

Pulling out my dex, I took into account its level. "Alright, level seven. This will be easy enough."

"Pichu, use thunder shock!" Hau called out.

"Ember, jump over it and use ember!" I called out.

Ember jumped over the thunder shock, a lot like she had when we had faced the principal's magnemite. However, as Ember released her signature small flames, Hau grinned.

"Dodge it! Now, while she's open, use thunder shock again!"

My eyes widened as well as Ember's as a small jolt of lightning hit her out of the air, knocking her to the ground. It didn't do too much damage, thankfully, but by sheer bad luck Ember had become paralyzed.

"Alright! Now, keep using thunder shock while they can't move!"

"Ember, try to move out of the way and use ember to the left of the Pichu!"

Ember looked at me like I was a tad crazy, while Hau held a small confused look on his face. However, Ember complied, and managed to move out of the way from another bolt of electricity.

Shooting flames forward, the Pichu dodged to the right, placing her right in front of Ember, who had jumped right to avoid the electricity.

"Now, use scratch to knock them down, then finish it with ember!"

"Pichu, get out of the way and use thunder shock!"

Unfortunately for the Pichu, Ember was faster, and soon enough the Pichu had been knocked onto its back, and then knocked out by Ember's ember.

The crowd cheered from my first victory, loving the tactics I had used. Hau and Hala both grinned, and I could see Moon and Kukui clapping amongst the audience.

Hala withdrew Pichu, before pulling out his second pokeball. "I won't be defeated so easily! Go, Machop!"

I was a bit surprised at this, though it did make sense as it was a pokemon loaned to Hau by Hala. A moment later, a small grey humanoid pokemon stood before us, ready for a fight.

Pulling out the dex revealed it to be level nine, and so I stood ready for its attack.

"Machop, rush forwards and use low kick to knock them down, then use karate chop!"

Remembering Moon's tactic from earlier, I waited for Machop to close the distance between Ember and itself, though Ember was looking a tad uncertain from my silence.

Right as the Machop was preparing its leg for a kick, I shouted, "Ember, use ember, and then scratch!"

The Machop's eyes widened as Ember opened up her mouth, though it still tried to complete its attack. However, Hau was giving it the order to try and jump away, causing the fighter pokemon to try and use its swinging leg to jump away.

This resulted in the Machop falling on its face, which caused it to dodge the ember. I blinked at this, but Ember was already following my second command, and was repeated using scratch atop the Machop's back.

Being pinned down, the Machop could only lay there and take the hits, and soon enough had fainted as well.

The crowd once again cheered, though this time louder than before as I had been victorious. Hau grinned as he withdrew Machop and walked towards me, ready to shake my hand.

"That was a great battle!" He said. "I take it you learned the waiting tactic from Moon?"

I grinned back at him as we shook hands. "Yeah, she used it to deflect my first attack. I take it she's used it on you before?"

Hau laughed before shaking his head. "More times than you can believe. You'd think I would have learned my lesson by now, but then again, I was expecting you to do that rather than Moon. Either way, it was a lot of fun to battle you!"

I agreed, and then stepped back as Hala approached me.

"Jack, I congratulate you on your victory, and would like to present you with two gifts for not only achieving victory, but also proving your worth as a trainer and showing that you not only have the strength to take on the island challenge, but also the heart to look after and care for your pokemon that will aid you in your journey."

"I present you with your your challenge tag. Keep this on your bag at all times, and you'll be able to access any island challenge, as long as it is available to you." Hala proceeded to give me a colorful band, which I thanked him for and tied onto my pack.

"Also, at the request of Kukui as one last gift before you begin your journey, I present you with a Z-Ring."

The crowd began murmuring at this, many being as surprised as I was as I was handed a black and white band, resembling that of a watch though much larger and more sophisticated.

"Normally, we don't give this to every challenger. However, I believe you have proved yourself more than capable enough to wield such a powerful tool."

I thanked him sincerely before placing the band around my left wrist and tightening it. Looking down at it, I could only grin. I would now be able to use Z moves, once I gained a crystal and had a pokemon that matched its type.

"Now, with that, we end this ceremony. Thank you all for coming, and be sure to congratulate young Jack as he takes his leave."

With that, Hala turned around to leave, but not before saying one more thing. "I wish you luck, young Jack, and look forward to our battle. Be sure not to keep me waiting too long!"

"Don't worry, I'll be back here to battle you as soon as I can!" Hala nodded, as if knowing as much, before leaving.

As I walked down the platform's stairs, with Ember right next to me, I was approached by Kukui, Hau and Moon, who were all smiling at me.

"Glad to see you're ready to take your challenge Jack. I wish you luck in your journey, and I can't wait to see how far you've come next time we see each other." Kukui said.

I looked at him, a tad confused. "Where are you going?" I asked.

"I have to go to the lab over on Akala island. My team said they might've found something concerning that…" Kukui paused, glancing over to Hau and Moon, "Incident that occured the other day, and they want me to look it over."

Kukui then reached into his pocket, before pulling out a key and held it out to me. "That's a spare key to my lab, so if you ever need a place to stay, even while I'm away, my home will always be open to you."

I stared down at the key, then back up at the Professor. He had done so much for me ever since I had arrived in this strange new world. He pulled me off the beach, kept my secret hidden, helped me become a trainer, got me a Z ring, and gave me food and a place to stay.

Moving quickly, I gave Kukui a hug before he could react. He looked surprised, as did Moon and Hau, though Moon was smiling at the action.

"Thank you for everything Kukui." I said, before letting go of the hug and stepping back. "I'll be certain to somehow make this up to you one day, I promise."

Kukui smiled back at me, though his smile was softer this time than his usual energetic smile. "There's no need. I was just happy to help someone get started on fulfilling his dream. That's payment enough for me."

Turning around, Kukui began to leave, though he turned his head around and waved to Moon and Hau. "It was good to see you two again, and I can't wait till see get to meet up again in the future. Be sure to treat Jack right before you both leave, alright?"

The two nodded and waved goodbye to Kukui as he left, before turning to me. "Alright Jack, how about we go get some celebratory malasada, my treat?" Hau asked.

Moon bumped him in the side with her arm, a grin on her face. "You're just trying to make an excuse to go eat malasadas again, aren't you?"

I grinned as Hau shrugged, a smile on his face. "What can I say, if I was able to I'd have malasada for every meal! Now come on, I'll race you to the Malasada shop!"

Hau turned around and ran off. "You're on!" I said, running after Hau. I already knew where to go, as Kukui had pointed out the shop to me when we had been in town the other day.

"Hey you two, wait for me!" Moon yelled out, and soon the three of us were making our way to celebrate my victory, and my start on the island challenge.

~Line Break~

After about half and hour, we found ourselves inside the Malasada shop, sitting in a booth. I had gotten there first, somehow being much faster than Hau and Moon, though I suspected it might have been partly due to my changes. (At this point I made a note to begin recording everything that my changes had done to me. The list is as follows.

(-Gave me a Zorua's eyes, hair, ears and tail.

-Granted me with heightened sense of hearing

-Made me much faster and gave me more endurance

-Gave me the ability to use pokemon moves

-I can understand pokemon

-I have the ability to cast illusion upon myself, like a Zorua)

Hau actually arrived last, even though he had the head start. Moon had somehow beaten him, though neither of us saw how. One moment, she had been behind him, next she was standing next to me in front of the Malasada building.

After having ordered six malasada (one for me, one for Moon, one for Ember, one for Moon's Rowlet, and two for Hau), we began talking about what each of us would do next.

Apparently, Hau was an actual spokesperson for the Malasada shops of the Alolan region, and he spread the word by being a traveling trainer (which explains why he was paying, as he didn't actually have to pay). He would have to go back on the road soon, and was using this as a day off to visit Kukui and his grandfather.

Moon would have to go back to the pokemon league to accept any new challengers that appeared. She was thankful that Kukui had called her out, as she had been looking for a break for a while now.

I of course was planning to start my journey though, and I was going to start it by looking for a new pokemon. Thinking back to the games, I would like to get a Noibat in Verdant Cavern, as that would eventually get me a Noivern, who was one of my favorite dragon types (dragon flying with a high speed that almost always gives you the first attack. Such a beautiful pokemon).

Finally, our malasadas arrived. Being Hau'oli City, their malasada were of the sweet variety, which apparently had a filling made with sweet berries.

As soon as they were handed out to us by the waitress, Hau immediately dug into his first one. Moon smiled as she took hers in one hand and began taking small bites out of it. Our pokemon went to town as well, digging away with glee.

I however looked at the malasada for a moment, since I had never actually seen what they looked like before (even though they had been a real food back home, I never bothered to look them up). To me, it appeared to be a fried jelly donut, with powdered sugar on the top.

Taking the malasada in hand, I took a bite, and instantly my mouth was filled with the warm, creamy, chewy and sweet taste of the malasada. My mouth watered as I took another bite, and before I knew it, I was already halfway done eating it!

"Glad to see you're enjoying the malasada Jack!" Hau said, having already finished his first one and eyeing his second. "Then again, I haven't met a single person who doesn't like these! I mean, they're made with the freshest fruits and dough, and made using berries that even pokemon can eat!"

I grinned, looking to see Ember was thoroughly enjoying her malasada, along with Moon's Rowlet.

My smiled disappeared suddenly, however, as a wave of pain quickly crossed over my stomach. I hunched over, almost doubling over from the sudden pain.

"You know, a pokemon's happiness can greatly increase if you give them a malasada, but how greatly depends on if you get them the flavor they most enjoy, such as if….Jack, are you feeling alright?" Moon asked me, noticing my expression.

"I'll….I'll be right back." I said, the pain beginning to not only get worse, but it was also beginning to spread.

Getting up from the table, I headed to the bathrooms of the Malasada shop, meanwhile Moon, Hau and Ember watched me with concern.

"Man, I hope he didn't get a bad malasada." Hau said, looking down at my half eaten malasada.

If only it had been as simple as that.

Locking myself into a toilet cubicle, I panted heavily, now beginning to sweat as the pain coursed throughout my body. It got to the point where the pain was so bad, I fell to the ground, now on my hands and knees.

"Wh...what…..is happ...happening….to me…?" I asked to no one, and then cried out as a surge of pain wracked my body to its core, sending me to the ground.

I stared forward with half open, tear clouded eyes, but then noticed something that was happening. My arms appeared to be...shrinking?

Watching in horror, I stared as not only my arms, but my whole body began to shrink down and compress in upon itself. I kept shrinking and shrinking, until I had sunken into my clothes and was the size of a mid sized dog.

Then, my arms and legs began to change, with several pops and cracks making me want to cry out in pain, though I was already too deep in shock to make a sound. It was a miracle I could even stay awake at that point.

Due to all this pain, my ears and tail had reappeared, and unbeknownst to me, the fur from them began to spread across my body, covering me in almost black grey fur.

I only noticed once the fur spread across my arms, and traveled to my small hands that began changing shape as well, turning into small padded paws covered in red fur.

As I stared, my jaw began to ache even more, and I stared down at it in horror as it shifted into a small muzzle, with more of the dark colored fur spreading across it.

Finally, after how much more time passed, the pain faded away, and I was left panting on the ground. However, I managed to gather all of my strength, and forced myself to stand up.

...Or at least, I tried to, but I soon discovered I could no longer walk on two legs, and fell over onto my side.

"What...what happened to me?" I thought, before pulling myself up again, this time staying down on all fours, which felt more….natural at the moment.

Slowly moving forward, taking the time and effort to try and walk on four limbs instead of two, I made my way out of my shirt. Walking over to my pants, I struggled to reach my paws inside and grab my pokedex, as I didn't have any thumbs to grab onto it with.

After a minute of trying, I sighed and instead reached my mouth into the pocket instead, wrapping my jaws around the dex and pulling it out.

Placing the dex on the floor, I proceeded to stare into the reflection of the screen, and found that my assumptions had been correct.

Staring back at me from the reflection of the screen was a Zorua.

"Not just any Zorua." Dusk said, sounding surprised and astounded. "That's me!"

I blinked at what she had just said. Sure, it made sense, since I had turned into a Zorua and it would make more sense for me to turn into her rather than a random Zorua, however…

"Does...does that mean I'm now a...a…?" I slowly looked under my legs before having my head shoot back upwards.

"Yep, by the looks of it you're a girl now." Dusk said, sounding even more surprised than before. Meanwhile, my eye began to twitch.

"First, I was fused with a Zorua and made a hybrid. Now I'm a full Zorua, and a female one at that. And right before I was going to become a trainer too. Alright, I think now is the time to finally have that panic attack that I've been holding out on."

However, before I could begin to scream, I heard the door to the bathroom open, and a concerned voice speak out.

"Jack?" Hau called out. "Are you alright? You've been in here for a while now and the others are getting worried."

"Crap!" I thought to myself. "I can't have the others seeing me like this! What would they think! Would they even realize it's me, or would they just see a wild Zorua and try to catch me? I have to get out of here!"

Looking around, I saw that at the top of the wall behind the toilet was a small window, too small for a person to get through, but if I could squeeze through, I'd be able to get out that way.

Taking a moment to prepare myself, I bent down all four of my legs and prepared to jump towards the window.

"Jack?" Hau called out again, this time knocking on the stall I was in. I didn't have any more time to waste, and so I jumped towards the window, ready to grab onto the ledge and then open it enough that I could squeeze through quietly.

That plan went out the window the same time I did, as I underestimated just how much power I could store into a jump now.

As I leapt forwards, I found myself flying through the air, and then connecting face first with the glass.

With a loud crash, I broke through the window, sending me flying all the way down to the grass on the other side.

I landed horribly on my side, not having any time to try and catch myself as I had just jumped through a window. As I laid there, I could hear a concerned Hau called out, and the sound of a bathroom stall door being kicked open.

Standing up, I began to shake my body side to side, trying to dislodge any broken glass from my fur. "Dang that hurt more than it looks in the movies." I thought to myself, before inspecting myself for any cuts.

Surprisingly, upon inspection, I appeared to only be bruised, and hadn't been hurt at all by the glass thankfully.

Also, after everything that had happened, my Z Ring was still somehow holding onto my wrist. Upon inspection, it had snagged onto my fur when I had changed, and wouldn't be coming off unless I took some scissors to my fur.

After inspecting myself, I heard the front door of the Malasada place open quickly, and heard several pairs of feet coming my way.

Looking around, I saw the familiar tall grass that pokemon like to hide in nearby, and frantically made my way towards it. Standing just a little over my head, it would give me just enough room to hide in without being seen.

Climbing into the grass, I got in just enough that I would be completely hidden, but at the same time I'd be able to see the building in front of me.

And not a moment to soon, as Hau, Moon and Ember came running around the corner towards where the window was. "I just don't get it!" Hau said, holding onto my bag which now had my clothes stuffed inside it. "There's no way Jack could have gotten through that window, it's just too small! And why would he leave all of his stuff behind?"

"I don't know, but something isn't right about this." Moon said, looking extremely serious for the first time since I had met her. "Jack seemed too serious about his upcoming journey to do anything like this. Something must have happened to him, though I have no idea what might have happened just now."

"Maybe it had something to do with when he left?" Hau said. "He looked like he was in pain when he went to the restroom. Maybe something happened that way?"

Moon shook her head. "Even if that's the case, we don't know what it could be. We should split up and begin searching for him. You go check by Kukui's place, see if he's there. I'll start looking around town for him." Looking down, she noticed Ember, who was looking quite depressed. "I'll keep Ember with me, in case we find him."

Hau nodded. "Alright. I'll be sure to call you once I get there." With that, Hau began running off around the building and towards the street, meanwhile Moon was shaking her head.

"Just what happened to Jack?" She mumbled to herself, though I was able to hear it just fine with my large ears.

As she looked down at the ground, Moon noticed something. "Maybe it has something to do with these tracks." My eyes opened wide as she looked towards the tall grass I was in, before looking back at Ember. "Come on...Ember, was it? Let's go find Jack."

Ember nodded as that two began running towards my position. I proceeded to panic, and turned around, starting to run away deeper into the grass.

"Hey, you in the grass! Stop right there and tell me where my master is!" I heard Ember yell, and I could tell she was gaining on me. After all, she had more experience running on all fours than I did, and could run much faster.

"Imagine it like how you used to run. Now, act as if your front legs are your first leg and your back legs are your second leg, though be sure to keep enough space between them so that you don't trip."

I followed Dusk's advice, and soon found myself running much faster than before. However, upon looking ahead, I realized that I was running out of grass, and was approaching a clearing that had two gates on either side that led to the streets.

Knowing I needed to get out of here, I began running to the right, planning to lose them by running through the busy streets of Hau'oli city.

Upon reaching the clearing, I prepared to leap up and over the fence. Bending my legs, I hopped forwards, sending me flying through the air.

"Is that a Zorua?" I heard Moon call out, still running after me. "What's a Zorua doing in Alola?...Ember, wait!"

Upon landing on the street, this time only stumbling as I landed, I took a moment to take a glance behind me, and cursed under my breath as I began running through the streets.

Ember had leapt over the fence as well, and wasn't planning on letting me escape. Moon however had to take the time to go to the fence gate to exit the clearing, which would at least allow me to get away from her.

Zigzagging around people and pokemon alike, running under vehicles and around buildings, I soon found myself gasping for breath, not knowing if I had escaped Ember or not.

I found myself in an unfamiliar clearing surrounded by trees and buildings to my left and right. It was a dead end, unless I wanted to brave the forest that stood in front of me.

However, as I panted for breath, I felt something suddenly on my back for a brief moment, along with Ember screaming out "Gotcha!" as we proceeded to tumble and roll around on the ground.

Ember stared down at me, panting for breath as she pinned me to the ground, the sun beginning to set behind her.

"Now...you're going to tell me….where my master is, or else!" Ember panted atop of moving, also having exhausted most of her energy chasing me.

"You're looking at him." I said. Ember looked at me confused for a moment, before looking angry. "Look, I know it doesn't make sense, but you have to believe…"

"Shut up!" Ember shouted, slamming her paw against the side of my face. "Stop lying and tell me where my master is right. Now." As Ember said this, flames began appearing around her muzzle, and I knew that if I didn't say the right thing, I'd soon be getting a blast of flames straight to the face.

"Ember, please, you have to believe me!" I said, making her stop upon hearing her name. "I can prove I'm Jack! I met you in Kukui's lab, after having saved your pokeball from being destroyed in a fire! You used to be owned by a girl named Sara, but have now decided to join me on my journey of the Alolan Island Challenge!"

Staring down at me, confused even more than before, Ember eased off of me a bit. "Jack?" She asked.

I nodded. "The one and only, though now a bit different than before."

"But...but why were you running away from me? And why are you suddenly a Zorua?" She asked. "A female one at that?"

I blushed mildly at the last part. "I can explain the first part, and mildly the third, but not the second. I was running because Moon was with you, and since she's a pro trainer, I was worried she would want to capture me."

"As for the….female part, I was fused with a female Zorua, and have apparently become her for the time being. I have no idea why I was changed fully into a Zorua now, and having you pinning me down on the ground isn't helping me calm down from the panic attack I'm kind of having at the moment."

Ember finally got off of me, now choosing to sit down in front of me. "Sorry about that." She said, looking down at the ground sadly.

I looked at her with remorse. "Hey, it's fine. It's not your fault this happened to me. One second I'm eating malasada just like everyone else, the next I'm on the floor of the bathroom in immense pain as I was turned into this."

Ember smiled softly, thankful for the encouragement, before a look as if she thought of something came across her face. "Maybe that's it! Maybe it was the malasada!"

I cocked my head at her, not fully following her. After all, people ate malasadas all the time and no one ever had problems like mine before. Then again, most people weren't like me either.

"What I'm trying to say is maybe it was the berries that were used in the malasada that somehow did this to you! After all, they are made with berries so pokemon can eat them as well, so maybe it was because of the berries?"

Nodding slowly, I began to understand where Ember was coming from. "That does make sense, but then again..." I sighed, before looking at the ground. "That doesn't really give me a way to turn back at the moment. If it was a berry that turned me into this, would I just need to eat human food to change back? Or a different kind of berry?"

Ember shrugged, looking as stumped by this as I did, before looking like she had another idea. "I know! I'll go and find Hau, then take your bag back from him and bring it here! Your bag has a bunch of travel food and berries because you were getting ready to leave tomorrow, so we can just have you keep trying food until you turn back!"

I thought about this, and nodded. "Alright, it's our best bet. I'll wait here for you to come back, alright?"

Ember nodded, before giving a solute with her paw. "I'll be right back master!" She said, before turning around and running off.

Watching her run off, I was thankful to have such a loyal pokemon be the first to join me on my journey, even though she had lost so much.

However, as I watched her run, now being the same height as her, I saw something underneath her tail that caused me to instantly look away, blushing deeply while Dusk began laughing inside my head.

I sighed, laying down on the grass to rest from all the running while I waited for Ember to return.

Unfortunately, life chose that moment to screw me over once again, and I heard a deep chuckle from behind me. Instantly getting up and turning around, my eyes opened wide at the two people that were approaching me from the forest behind me.

One was a familiar muscled bald man with a scar across his face, the other a now mildly burned bulky man who was being pushed forward in a wheelchair, slowly clapping as the two approached.

"Well, well, well, this is certainly a surprising side effect!" Rook chuckled, noticing my unpleasant expression upon seeing him. "And it's nice to see you again Jack. It's been what, two days now? I must say, you've shrunk since the last time I saw you!"

I growled at Rook, wondering how in the hell he was still alive. "What do you want with me?" I asked.

Rook cocked his head, still holding his evil grin. "I'm sorry Jack, but sadly I don't speak pokemon. But if you're wondering why I'm here, it's to capture you of course! My employer has only given me five more days to bring you to him, and I'd love it if you made it easier for me and just gave yourself up."

It was my turn to laugh. "Give up? Like hell! By the time I'm done with you the police will have to scrape you off those trees." I growled.

Rook sighed, though you could tell it was quite fake. "Once more, I don't speak pokemon, but judging by your expression, you just threatened me." Rook then pretended to act like he had an idea. "I know, I have a friend who could meet you that you could talk to!"

With a hand motion to his assistant, the bald man reached down behind the chair and pulled out a great ball, before handing it to Rook. Rook grinned towards me before throwing the ball into the air and releasing his pokemon as I watched.

The earth shook at the size of the pokemon before me, and my body locked and and my heart froze at the sight before me.

Standing much larger over top of me was a large blue, silver and red dragon, which let out a mighty roar as it looked down towards me. "The moment my master commands it, you will be destroyed." The Salamence growled at me, causing my legs to shake.

"Now, I wouldn't want to bring you to my employer beaten and broken, but if that's what I have to do to get you to comply, then that's what will happen." Rook then paused for a moment, before laughing. "Actually, I think I'll just have Salamence here beat you up a bit anyway. Think of it as payment for breaking my spine." He growled.

"I'm afraid that I'm not going to allow that to happen." A calm female voice said from behind me.

I whirled around, being met with the strangely calm face of Moon as she approached us. She stared forward at Rook, his partner and the Salamence, only taking a brief glance in my direction with a small smile.

"And just who do you think is going to stop me? You, a little girl? Please, my Salamence has defeated trainers with much more experience than you'll ever have. Now run home to your mother before I have Salamence use hyper beam on both you and the Zorua."

Moon shook her head slowly, a soft smile on her face. "I might have done that if I was a normal trainer, but unfortunately for you, there are two factors occurring here that keep me from leaving."

"One, I have never run from a battle, and that's what allowed me to become the Champion and defend my title for the last seven years." At this, Rook's eyes widened, and he looked mildly afraid.

"Secondly, even though I don't know the full story, I do know that this Zorua is connected to the disappearance of a new trainer I just met, who I might be able to one day call a friend. I'd like to find him soon, so if saving this Zorua from whoever you two are is what it takes, then so be it."

Rook's eye appeared to be twitching, before he laughed. "Your friend is closer than you think, but that won't matter in the end. Salamence hyper beam!"

My eyes widened as the Salamence opened its mouth, a ball of white light appearing in its mouth. I was about to run, but Moon shot a hand down towards me, motioning for me to stay. Meanwhile, with her other hand, a pokeball was tossed forwards, appearing to be a premier ball.

As the beam of light was shot towards us, I braced for a large amount of pain as the ground around us exploded, showering the area in debris and smoke.

Rook laughed as the Salamence panted, needing some time to recover after having used such a powerful move. "Ha, so much for the pokemon champion! Now, to find Jack's beaten body and to get out of…"

The smoke had finally cleared enough that Rook could see us again, appearing to be just fine much to my surprise. "But….but how?" Rook asked, looking shocked.

Finally, all the smoke had disappeared, revealing a tall green and white figure standing in front of us. The Gardevoir put its hand down, and a shield of blue disappeared from in front of her.

"Thank you for using protect Gardevoir." Moon said, smiling at her pokemon, who smiled back and nodded her head. "And thank you, strange violent man. Now I know that this Zorua is in fact Jack, even if that doesn't make much sense. However, I do know I should end this before you try to hurt us again, so…"

Moon then proceeded to make calculated movements with her arms and legs, while I watched on in confusion and Rook watched with great fear.

As Moon made a heart with her hands, I noticed the white Z Ring on her wrist, now glistening with a pink gem clamped inside. My eyes widened and a smile crossed my face as I realized what Moon was doing.

Standing in a strange pose, I watched as power energy began coming off of Gardevoir, before she rushed forwards and towards the Salamence, who had almost finished recovering from the hyper beam.

With a burst of the energy, the area became covered in a form of pink energy, while Gardevoir glided in front of Salamence. Raising an arm forward, a large star formed in front of her, before shooting forward and hitting the Salamence.

The Salamence roared in pain as it was sent flying through the air, and I could tell it had already fainted as it fell back on the ground, landing on top of Rook and his partner.

As the two groaned, Moon looked towards her Gardevoir. "Keep an eye on them and make sure they don't leave, though I don't expect them to be going anywhere now."

Gardevoir nodded, before floating over to them. Moon then proceeded to pull out a small phone, before dialing in a quick number.

"Hello, yes, I'd like to get the Hau'oli city police over to the clearing right of the tourist bureau. There are two men here who were conducting illegal capture and trainer methods, along with planning to sell to the black market. You'll be over shortly? Great."

Moon proceeded to hang up her phone, before turning to me. "Now, while we wait, you should probably try your best to explain the situation without being able to talk to me Jack."

I gulped, noticing the suddenly serious look on her face, before beginning the most difficult game of charades of my life.