Annnnd I'm back! Boy, life just seems to be out to get me lately. Been so busy and stressed that my memory's starting to go down the drain. Again. Kinda annoying, but I'll live. Also, I just noticed my story was added to a community? Whaat? So cool! Thanks, guys! Anyways, here's the next chapter!


Verdant Cavern wasn't nearly as dark as I thought it would be. The moss in it seemed to practically glow and illuminate the dark. Small rays of moonlight broke through the ceiling as well. The skittering of Pokemon could be heard echoing throughout the cavern, giving it a dreamlike atmosphere. As I approached an open area, I saw Ilima looking at me.

"Ah, Alani, there you are!" Ilima greeted me. "Welcome to the Verdant Carvern Trial. It isn't overly complicated, so it should be perfect for your first trial. I'll explain to you what you have to do." The moment the words left his mouth, a dark Pokemon dashed behind him, making me jump in surprise. It raced off into a nearby hole, eyes glimmering in the darkness. "What you just saw is a Pokemon that is a part of this trial. All you have to do is find and defeat the three Rattata hiding in holes such as the one next to me. Once you manage to do this, head to the back of the cavern and claim the Z-Crystal you'll find there!"

"Ok," I said, "seems easy enough."

"One last thing before you set off." Ilima stopped me before I could go battle the Rattata. "This may be a late warning, but once you go through the trial gate, you can't leave the site until you complete the challenge."

"What?"

"It's the rule for all of the trials. Trials are supposed to test you and your Pokemon's power, and leaving and coming back can be seen as cheating. I'm sure you and your Pokemon will do fine, though."

"Alright. Thanks for letting me know." I set off for the hole that the Rattata hid in. Once I got near it, it leapt out, and it looked absolutely nothing like what I was expecting. This Rattata was not purple or on all fours; instead, it was black with fluffy whiskers, and it stood on its hind legs. I had never seen a Rattata like this one.

"Ok, Puppers, show it who's boss!" I shouted as I sent out my newest team member. Puppers growled at his foe and barked ferociously, preparing for battle. The battle wasn't very long. The Rattata may have looked like it was in the top percentage, but it wasn't strong enough to beat Puppers. He swiftly beat it with a few Embers, and we continued along the path.

The next Rattata ambushed us as we passed a large mossy rock. Puppers still beat it, but he ended up getting hurt a bit more than last time due to the surprise attack. I called him back into his Pokeball to rest, then hesitantly crossed the plank in front of me. Once I was across, I let out a breath I didn't know I was holding, then continued to the next hole. As I approached, the eyes that were staring at me vanished, and when I grabbed a long stick and prodded around, the Rattata was gone. I heard scuffling on the ledge above me, so I went to investigate. The instant I got there, the eyes vanished again, and I could hear scuffling somewhere to the left.

"You have got to be kidding me," I groaned as I chased the sound. Just like the other times, the Pokemon vanished, only for scuffling sounds to come from the first hold I checked. Once I crossed the bridge again, I started to think about how I could corner this Pokemon when my thoughts were interrupted by people approaching me.

"Yo, yo, yo! Look who it is!" a Skull grunt sneered as they approached me. "It's the squirt from before! Come to take on this trial, eh?"

I gave them a blank stare. I really was getting tired of running into these two. I had gotten even stronger since the berry fields, and I doubted they had. While it was somewhat more intimidating meeting them on my own, I knew I could hold my own against them.

When I didn't respond, they looked somewhat offended. "What, do you not recognize us just because we switched places?" the other grunt questioned. "Sheesh! Fine, how about this?" They swapped spots, but they looked almost the same, so it didn't make much of a difference to me. "So, 'B and I are here to mess up your trial, yo! We got you this time! Go, Zubat!"

I sighed as I sent out Puppers to deal with the bat. Would these two ever learn? Puppers took down Zubat with just a couple of Tackles, leaving a panicking Skull grunt to return his Pokemon.

"Yo, nevermind, bro!" the grunt stammered, "This girl ain't just strong-she's straight-up dangerous! Battling her won't get us anywhere!"

"How about we mess her up in a different way?" B suggested. "We could capture the last Pokemon instead."

"Aw yeah, I like the sound of that!"

"What are you two even going to get from messing up my trial?" I asked. I couldn't understand what they had to gain from it at all.

"Well, uh..." the first grunt mumbled as he tried to come up with an excuse. His eyes searched the cavern, as if it would give him the answer. "...Things. Yeah, really good things. Now, we got a Pokemon to capture! Peace out, yo!" The two ran off, but the one who was just talking came back hardly a minute later. "Yo, there's a wicked-tough Pokemon at the end of this trial, yo! If I were you, I'd get outta here while I still can!" He ran off again, finally leaving me to use a Potion on Puppers in peace.

"Man, I have no idea what those people are trying to do," I complained. "Do you have any clue, Puppers?" He huffed and shook his head, signaling that he also had no idea what those two were doing. "Yeah, I didn't think so. They're trying to act tough, but it doesn't seem to be working for them." Looking around, I saw that the grunts were investigating two of the holes from earlier, forcing the Rattata to remain in the remaining one. A smile found its way onto my face. This was our chance. Puppers and I made our way over to the hole. The Pokemon leapt out at us, but it was not what I expected.

"Thaaat's not a Rattata!" I yelped as I stumbled away from the Pokemon.

"It's an Alolan Raticate!" Rotom offered after hopping out of my bag again. "These guys are gourmet eaters, but they still pack quite the punch, zrrt! Like Alolan Rattata, they're Normal- and Dark-types, so I'm going back into the bag before I get hit by a dark-type move!"

Recovering from my initial shock, I refocused on the battle. "Puppers, use Ember!" Puppers shot out flames at the Raticate. It took the move head-on, then charged at Puppers and bit down on his front left leg. Puppers yelped in pain, then proceeded to blast the wild Pokemon with flames again. It let go, and he hopped away.

"Puppers, are you ok?" I worriedly asked. Puppers nodded his head and barked. "Alright, use Ember one last time!" Puppers did as I told, and the Raticate fell over, unconscious.

"Thank you, Puppers!" I said as I walked over to my injured Pokemon. He was avoiding putting too much pressure on his paw, and he kept glancing at it with a concerned expression. I pulled out a strip of cloth, a Potion, and some Oran berries from my bag. "I don't have a whole lot of supplies to heal this," I said as I sprayed and wrapped up his leg, "but this should help a little bit, and the berries should give you some energy. You should take a rest, too, since you worked so hard for me. Pueo and Pitters can handle anything else that might come our way." After he finished the berries, Puppers licked my face, covering me with saliva and berry juice. I laughed and returned him to his Pokeball.

I made my way to the back of the cavern, just as Ilima told me to do. It opened up to the night sky. It had gotten really late while I was in the cave. The moon and stars stood out in stark contrast to the blackness of the sky. Looking back down, I saw a pedestal near the back wall. A crystal was glimmering within it. Smiling with pride at having completed the trial, I walked up to the pedestal to claim the Z-Crystal. A few steps away from it, I froze. I felt eyes boring holes into my head. A power I hadn't felt before seemed to strike fear into my heart. The air above me whipped around as something jumped off of the cliff. It landed with a heavy thud right behind me. Terrified of what I might find, I forced myself to turn around. A Raticate loomed over me, staring into my soul. It screeched, and I quickly ran away from it. Was this the Pokemon the Skull grunt warned me about? It seemed like it. The Pokemon was slightly taller than me, and it had a strong aura about it. Hands shaking, I pulled out Pueo's Pokeball and readied myself to overcome this trial.

"Let's do this, Pueo," I whispered as I sent him out. Pueo looked at the Raticate, then at me, then back at the Raticate. He let out a small hoot, then took to the air. "U-use Leafage!" Pueo released a series of sharp leaves at the opposing Raticate. It winced as the leaves pierced through its fluffy coat, then ran up and used Tackle on Pueo. Pueo was knocked all the way back to me from the force of the impact. I had to catch him, and we ended up falling over from the momentum.

The battle was already difficult, but we had yet to see the worst of it. The Raticate let out a loud screech, and a small swarm of Rattata came to its aid. Fright took hold of us as we looked at the odds. It was practically five on one now. The most I could do to even it out was to send out Pitters. I couldn't even send out Puppers because of his injured leg.

Picking myself up, I stood my ground with Pueo and Pitters as we faced the onslaught of rats. Following my directions, Pueo and Pitters took turns battling Raticate and the Rattata. We made some progress, but there was only so much two small birds could do against a swarm such as this, and all of us started to take more hits from the wild Pokemon.

"What should we do...?" I muttered. "There's too many of them, and we're not strong enough to fend them off for much longer..." A bright light suddenly emanated from Pueo. Squinting, I tried to see what was happening. Pueo seemed to grow in size, and once the light was gone, a new, taller owl stood where my small one once was.

"Bzzrt! Congratulations, Alani!" Rotom's muffled voice came from my bag. "Looks like Pueo's evolved into a Dartrix! What great timing! He'zzz even stronger now than when he was a Rowlet!"

"Cool!" I exclaimed. Maybe we stood a chance against this swarm after all. "Ok, Pueo, use Peck on Raticate!" Pueo rushed up to the Pokemon and pecked it several times. When he flew back, he was holding a Sitrus berry that Raticate was apparently holding. I hadn't even noticed it in the rat's paws. Pueo quickly ate half of the berry and gave the other half to Pitters, who gratefully scarfed it down.

While my Pokemon shared the stolen berry, Raticate squealed in shock. It narrowed its eyes and started to run right at us. It opened its mouth to bite us, and we had to scramble out of the way of its gaping jaws.

"Pueo, Leafage! Pitters, Rock Smash! Aim for Raticate!" I commanded. My Pokemon obeyed, unleashing a devastating assault on Raticate. Pueo's Leafage seemed to develop into more of a Razor Leaf, delivering deep cuts to the overgrown rat and its companions. Pitters made a beeline for Raticate shortly after Pueo's attack. She slammed into its face at full speed, knocking it onto the ground. The Rattata stopped attacking and stared at their leader. When it didn't get back up, they started to panic. Some of them fled, while others stood wide-eyed in shock.

Staring at the unconscious Raticate like some of the Rattata were doing, a smile formed on my face. "We did it. We actually did it," I said breathlessly. Pitters was dancing in joy, while Pueo was busy dusting himself off. I laughed at how Pueo was more focused on cleaning himself off than the fact that we overcame an incredibly difficult battle.

"Well done, Alani!" Ilima's voice broke the calm air as he approached us. "You managed to beat the Totem Pokemon! Your trial is complete. That Z-Crystal on the pedestal belongs to you now.

"Is that why that Raticate's so big?" I asked as I eyed the knocked-out Pokemon. "It's a 'Totem' Pokemon?"

"Indeed. Each trial has a Totem Pokemon at the end of it. Totem Pokemon are much larger and far stronger than ordinary Pokemon of the same species, and therefore are quite the challenge to defeat!"

As I processed the new information, I walked over to the glimmering crystal. It seemed like any ordinary gem, aside from the strange symbol within it. The crystal gave off a strange warmth and power as it rested in my hand. I turned around and looked back at Ilima, who seemed to have something to say.

"That is Normalium Z," Ilima stated. "It can power up any Normal-type move to unleash a Pokemon's full potential in what's known as a Z-Move. To activate it, you'll need to attach the crystal to your Z-Ring, then once you strike a pose such as this one-" Ilima proceeded to preform a strange dance, ending with his arms forming a Z- "your Pokemon will be able to pull off its Z-Move. Breakneck Blitz is the Z-Move of Normalium Z. Z-Moves take up a lot of energy from both Trainer and Pokemon, however, so you can only use it once per battle."

"Alright, that's good to know," I replied, staring at the crystal in my hand.

"Also, I'm guessing you were surprised that Raticate called for help," Ilima asked, though it was more of a statement than a question. When I nodded, he continued. "Yes, calling for help is a tactic Pokemon use quite often in Alola. It's rarely seen anywhere else. Perhaps the Pokemon of Alola are simply more inclined to help one another than Pokemon in other regions?" Ilima shrugged. "Anyways, since you've finished your trial, why don't we head out? I'm sure your friends are waiting to hear the good news." I nodded in agreement, and we headed for the cave's exit.


As we left the cave, I could see Lillie, Hau, and, surprisingly enough, Kukui, waiting for me in front of the trial gates. I held up the Normalium Z in triumph, and Hau started jumping once he saw it.

"Looks like you've completed the trial, oh yeah!" Kukui remarked once we were closer. "I knew you could do it, Alani!"

"Congratulations, Alani!" Lillie said happily. Nebby shuffled around in her bag and made 'pew' sounds, so she had to cut herself short and settle it down again.

"Woo, yeah! I bet your battle against the Totem Pokemon was totally epic!" Hau cheered.

I was surprised that Hau already knew about the Pokemon at the end of the trial. "Wait, you know about the Totem Pokemon?"

"Of course! Everyone knows that-" Hau cut himself off as he realized something. "Oh, wait, you only arrived in Alola a few days ago, huh? Guess the Totem Pokemon came as a bit of a shock to you. Oops!"

"Well, Alani still managed to beat it, yeah, and that's what's important right now, oh yeah!" Kukui said. "This means that you now have the right to start the grand trial and challenge the kahuna to a battle, oh yeah!"

"That's correct," Ilima hummed. "Though, you may want to train for the battle. While your Pokemon will have the type advantage, Kahuna Hala is no pushover."

"Alright. I'll make sure to train up before I get back to Iki Town," I said. "For now, I think I'll stay the night at the Pokemon Center. It's getting pretty late."

"That sounds good," Lillie spoke up once she calmed Nebby down. "I'm sure you and your team will appreciate a good night's sleep."

"Then we can set off again in the morning, oh yeah!" Kukui grinned. "You guys head on over to the Pokemon Center, yeah. I'm going to study some more moves! Woo!" He raced off into the tall grass before any of us could even say goodnight.

"Oh dear," Lillie sighed. "I really hope he doesn't tear up his lab coat while he's doing this. I'm still no good at mending clothes."

"Eh, I'm sure he'll be fine!" Hau laughed. "Let's go get some rest. Alani's gotta train tomorrow, and I need to have plenty of energy to take on the trial myself!" After we said our goodbyes to Ilima, we headed back to the Pokemon Center to heal up and rest.


I tried :D

Dartrix can't learn pluck until level 24, but screw it. For the sake of how I wrote this chapter before realizing that little fact, Pueo just went off and learned it early. I've been trying to keep everything else like this in check in future chapters, but I'll probably end up slipping every once in awhile.

Feel free to leave a review! See ya'll next week!