Ch. 8- Kaya Gets Schooled
Part 2


Pokemon © Nintendo, Game Freak

Kaya and her team © Me

Mao (mentioned) belongs to Ego-Man25


After taking some time to train Waiwai, Kaya learned a few things about her newest party member. First off, Waiwai was rather proud of herself...perhaps a bit too proud and maybe too independent, too, always ignoring Kaya and acting aloof. She didn't seem to get along with the rest of Kaya's team, either, especially Goldie and Tapper, the latter of whom often being subjected to getting chased by the Dark-type. When Kaya caught her in the act, Waiwai would try to play listen by just meowing sweetly and licking her paw to groom herself, but Goldie was never convinced.

However, Kaya felt that with enough time, the Alolan Meowth would eventually get used to the other team members.

As Kaya and Goldie went to search for the two remaining trainers at the school...she heard a voice shouting "Wait! Get back here with that!"

"Huh?" Kaya muttered as she looked around. "Who could that be?"

Not long after, something jumped out from around the corner, and Kaya gasped upon seeing that same Rockruff, the one with the brown spot on his eye, from before. He still looked rather scratched up, but it seemed like most of them had healed on their own. Also, he was holding what looked like a sandwich in his mouth.

"That Rockruff from before!" Kaya whispered as he scampered passed her, not even giving her a moment's notice, and soon after, a female Young Athlete Trainer ran by Kaya, chasing after the pup.

"I said wait!" she cried. "Get back here! That sandwich was supposed to be my lunch!"

But it was too late. The Rockruff had managed to squeeze his way through a hole in the fence and ran off.

"Hah...hah...oh, darn it!" the Young Athlete panted. "Stupid Rockruff!"

"Umm...are you okay?" Kaya asked, causing the girl to gasp and turn to her.

"Oh! S-sorry," she said. "I'm Hiromi. One of the students at this school. You're Kaya, right?"

"That's me," said Kaya. "So, I'm supposed to battle you, right?"

"That's right," Hiromi answered. "So, you ready to do this?"

"Yeah, sure!" Kaya replied as she took out a Poke Ball, which caused Hiromi to do the same.

"Go on, Pikipek!" the Young Athlete called as she tossed the Poke Ball, causing a Pikipek to come out.

"You're up, Waiwai!" Kaya called as she tossed her Poke Ball, too, from which Waiwai emerged.

"Meowth..." Waiwai meowed, licked her paw.

"Use Peck!" Hiromi ordered, which caused her Pikipek to fly towards Waiwai in attempt to peck her with her pointy beak.

"Use Fake Out!" Kaya called, but instead of doing so, Waiwai just sat there, licking at her paw and grooming her whiskers. "Waiwai, I said use Fake Out!"

"Mrroooowwth...!" Waiwai yawned, but then, BAM! She was suddenly hit Hiromi's Pikipek's beak, causing her to get knocked back.

"Looks like you didn't train your Meowth very well," said Hiromi.

"I know what I'm doing!" Kaya called. "Come on, Waiwai, try again! Use Fake Out!"

Waiwai growled before she lunged at Hiromi's Pikipek, but instead of using the ordered attack, she bit down on the poor bird's tail feathers, causing her to squawk in pain.

"Pikipek!" Hiromi cried.

"Waiwai!" Kaya shouted. "Bad kitty! I said use Fake Out, not Bite!"

Waiwai only snickered mischievously, holding one of the poor bird's tail feathers between her teeth.

"Use Echoed Voice!" Hiromi commanded, causing her Pikipek to let out an echoing squawk.

"Dodge and use Fury Swipes!" Kaya shouted, and Waiwai did dodge by jumping to the left...but instead of using the attack Kaya commanded, the Dark-type Meowth lunged for the bird and tried bite at her again. Thankfully, she managed to fly up higher in time, but this only caused Kaya more frustration.

"Waiwai!" the brown-haired girl shouted. "Why aren't you doing what I tell you?!"

"Lu..." Goldie gave an annoyed groan, which only caused Waiwai to snicker again.

"Oh, you think you're smug, don't you?" asked Hiromi. "Well, I got news for you kitty! You picked the wrong Pikipek to mess with! Use Peck, again!"

"Pikipek!" Hiromi's Pikipek chirped before she made a dive at Waiwai, who turned to dodge...but the tip of the Flying-type's beak ending up just slightly grazing the one thing that every Meowth holds dear: the coin on her forehead.

"Meowth!" Waiwai cried as she landed on the ground, looking up worriedly at her coin. She pulled it off her forehead...and she gasped when she saw a very tiny smudge on the surface.

"Uh-oh...!" Kaya whispered in horror, remembering what Rotom had said earlier. "N-now, Waiwai! Let's calm down! It's just a tiny smudge! No reason to lose your head!"

"Lu-lu...!" Goldie whimpered, her paws gripping her head in worry.

A pause...but then Waiwai seethed as she glared at Hiromi's Pikipek, who gulped nervously as she tried to back way.

"MRRROOOOOOOOOOOOOWWWWWWWWTH!" Waiwai screeched as she lunged at Hiromi's Pikipek, her claws outstretched.

"PIKIIIIIIIIIIIII!" the little bird squawked as she flew out of Waiwai's reach, but the cat turned and lunged for her again, hissing and screeching wildly.

"Waiwai, stop!" Kaya shouted. "Leave her alone!"

"Pikipek!" cried Hiromi. "Quick, come to Mommy!"

The frightened bird obeyed, flying straight into Hiromi's arms, just as Waiwai was about to lunge at her again.

"MROOOOOOOOOOOOWWWWTH!" Waiwai screeched again as she jumped at both Hiromi and her poor Pikipek, but then...

"Waiwai, return!" Kaya called as she held up her Poke Ball, which shot a red beam and pulled the angry feline back inside. "Phew!" She then looked at Hiromi, who glared at her.

"What is the matter with you?!" questioned Hiromi. "Get that Pokemon of yours under control!"

"I-I'm sorry," Kaya apologized. "I just caught her, so I-"

"You know what?!" Hiromi questioned. "I don't care! Just go! Get outta here, you and that crazy cat of yours!"

Kaya gasped silently before she sighed and turned away, with Goldie following after her, glancing up at her trainer with worry.

"Lu...?" Goldie muttered as she nudged Kaya's hand, causing her to look down at the Shiny Riolu and pet her head gently.

"It'll be okay, Goldie," she assured. "I guess...training Waiwai's not gonna be easy as I thought."

"Riolu..." Goldie murmured, as if saying "That's for sure."

XXX

A little while later, Kaya had reached the tennis courts, where Joseph was waiting for her, only know, he didn't seem to have that bitter expression anymore.

"Hey," Kaya greeted. "You okay?"

"Yeah," Joseph answered. "Look...sorry about how I acted earlier. I got my butt kicked, but you know what? I'm over it. Gotta say, though, that Mao is something...he's actually pretty chill."

"I agree with you!" called out Joey from inside the building. "He's actually not as bad as I thought he was!"

"Yeah...rumors aren't really a good thing to spread," said Joseph. "Anyway, you up for this thing or what?"

"Sure am!" Kaya grinned.

"Lu-lu!" Goldie chirped.

"Okay, then," Joseph smirked as he held out a Poke Ball. "Let's go, Grimer!"

He tossed the Poke Ball, and soon after, a Grimer emerged, only this one was green with a yellow "beard" of some kind and...what looked like bucked teeth.

"Grimer~!" Grimer shouted.

"A Grimer?" Kaya muttered as Rotom came out. "Rotom, scan!"

"Scanning!" Rotom exclaimed as it floated before Joseph's Grimer. "Scan complete-bzzzzzt! Name: Grimer. Classification: Sludge Pokemon-krrrzzzzzzzt! Egg Group: Amorphous. Height: 2'04"-brrrrrrrrrrzzzztt! Weight: 92.6 lbs. Ability: Poison Touch. Description: They were once just big piles of living pollution-zzzzzzzt! But now, Grimer has been turned into a clean-up crew in Alola, and turned into this form. They're not even stinky anymore-kzzzzzzzzzztt! The two "teeth" are actually crystals that are made of lethal toxins. If they break, the toxins get out-bzzzzzzzzzzzzzzztt!"

"I see," Kaya muttered as she smiled. "Alola is so full of surprises!"

"Yeah, you see a new thing or two when you live here," said Joseph. "So, which one of your Pokemon is up next?"

Kaya smiled before she took out the Poke Ball that contained Nalu.

"Nalu, you're up!" she called as she tossed the Poke Ball, which caused Nalu to emerge.

"Popplio!" she barked as she clapped her flippers.

"A Popplio, eh?" Joseph mused. "That's cool! Let's see what you got!"

"Use Water Gun, Nalu!" Kaya ordered, causing Nalu to fire a Water Gun at Joseph's Grimer.

"Dodge, and use Pound!" Joseph called, causing his Grimer to duck down into a puddle, avoiding the jets of water altogether before slithering towards Nalu and raising his hand to use Pound.

"Dodge and use Water Gun, again!" Kaya commanded, causing Nalu to roll out of the way before firing another Water Gun from her mouth, which landed a direct hit!

"Not bad," Joseph grinned. "Not bad, at all, but let's see you get outta the way of this! Use Bite, Grimer!"

"Grimer~!" Grimer cried as he attempted to bite Nalu with those poisonous crystal teeth.

"Dodge, Nalu!" Kaya called, causing Nalu to flip over the big pile of moving sludge. "Now, use Water Gun again!"

Nalu fired more shots of water at Grimer, who ended up getting hit, once more.

"Use Poison Gas!" Joseph called out, causing his Grimer to open his mouth and spew a purple gas from it, which caused Nalu to gag and cough as she stumbled back, a purple flush on her cheeks.

"Nalu!" Kaya cried.

"Pliiiiiooo...!" Nalu slurred before she shook her head and growled, unwilling to back down.

"Nalu, you think you can get in one more hit?" asked Kaya, causing Nalu to turn and nod at her, despite wobbling a bit. "Okay...since you're already poisoned...use Pound!"

"Popplio!" Nalu shouted as she leapt up into the air and slammed her tail against Grimer's head, causing him to fall down with a dazed look in her eyes.

"Yes!" Kaya cheered. "You did it, Nalu!"

"Plio..." Nalu smiled, despite her current state.

"Oh, right!" Kaya realized as she knelt down and opened her arms. "Come here, you. Let me give you some Antidote."

Nalu nodded, crawling into her trainer's arms while Goldie sat next to her, looking at her in concern, while Kaya reached into her bag and pulled out a bottle of Antidote, which she began to spray on the poisoned Water-type.

"You really care for your Pokemon, huh?" asked Joseph. "That's good. No wonder they obey you so much."

"Well...not all of them," Kaya muttered.

"What do you mean?" Joseph queried.

"Don't worry about it," Kaya answered as she finished spraying Nalu with the Antidote. "How do you feel, Nalu?"

"Pop-Popplio!" Nalu chirruped, happily as she embraced Kaya, who laughed as she hugged the little seal back.

"You're welcome," she said. "Great battle, by the way, Joseph!"

"Thanks," Joseph grinned, but then...

"Will the girl known as Kaya please come inside the building. Miss Emily wishes to speak with you. That is all."

"...Uh-oh," Kaya muttered, worriedly.

"Lu-lu..." Goldie groaned.

"I think you better get goin'," Joseph said.

"I think so," Kaya answered as she summoned Nalu back into her Poke Ball, then she and Goldie headed to the front campus, where she soon saw Lillie and Kukui.

"Please tell me you're not in trouble," Lillie said, worriedly.

"I'm fine, Lillie," Kaya assured. "I mean...at least I think I am. I'll be out in a bit."

With that, she entered the building and headed upstairs, where she soon found Emily.

"Hello, Kaya," Emily greeted.

"I'm not in trouble...right?" Kaya asked, worriedly.

"Trouble?" Emily queried. "Oh, not at all! I just saw you beat all 4 students, that's all. So...now's the time to test your merit!" She then held up a Poke Ball. "So...you ready?"

"Am I?" Kaya inquired while Goldie had a determined glare in her eyes.

"Magnemite, go!" Emily called as she tossed the Poke Ball, causing a Magnemite to emerge.

"Magne-Magnemite!" Magnemite droned.

"Goldie, you're up!" Kaya ordered, causing Goldie to step forward to face her opponent.

"Use Thunder Shock, Magnemite!" Emily commanded, causing Magnemite to begin electrifying its body before releasing a powerful electric shock.

"Dodge and use Aura Sphere!" Kaya commanded, causing Goldie to strafe around the sparks of electricity before she stood up, formed a cup shape with her paws, causing a ball of blue energy to form, which she then hurled at Magnemite.

"Dodge and use Tackle!" Emily called, and Magnemite hurled its round into Goldie, who cried out in slight pain, but was otherwise unharmed.

"Use Focus Punch!" Kaya ordered, causing Goldie to reel back her paw, which glowed white, before she slammed it against Magnemite, whose pupil formed into a dazed swirl.

"Magnemite!" Emily exclaimed as she summoned the Steel/Electric-type back into its Poke Ball, causing Goldie to grin confidently.

"Good job, Goldie!" Kaya praised, causing the Shiny Riolu to run up to Kaya and lick her face happily.

"Lu-lu~!" she exclaimed, excitedly.

"That's one strong Riolu you have," said Emily. "Then again, you two have been together a long time, right?"

"That's right," said Kaya.

"Well, no wonder," Emily mused. "However, don't rely on her, too much, okay?"

"Oh, don't worry," Kaya replied. "I know the balance."

"All right then," said Emily as she tossed another Poke Ball, and out came another Alolan Meowth.

"Goldie, you pull back, for now, okay?" Kaya asked, causing Goldie to nod before she sat behind her. "Nalu, you're up!"

She tossed the Poke Ball, and soon, Nalu emerged.

"Popplio~!" Nalu exclaimed as she looked at her opponent...and almost immediately, the spark of dislike had struck, causing the seal pup to glare at the feline, who hissed at her.

"Whoa!" Emily cried. "Looks like these two already have it out for each other...looks like we're about to have one exciting battle, here!"

"Nalu, use Water Gun!" Kaya ordered, causing the Popplio to fire jets of water at Emily's Meowth, who ended up getting completely soaked...and that only succeeded in making her even more mad.

"Okay, now I know Meowth's not gonna like your Popplio," Emily said, which caused her soaking wet Meowth to glance at her before she smirked, which caused Emily to nod. "Scratch!"

"MRROOOOOOOOOOOOOWWWWRRRTH!" Emily's Mouth screeched as she lunged for Nalu, clawing at her face with her claws, causing the poor Popplio to cry out in pain.

"You all right, Nalu!?" Kaya questioned, which caused Nalu to glance back at her and nod her head. "I thought so. Now use Disarming Voice!"

Nalu smirked at Kaya before she took in a deep breath and let out a loud but charming cry, which ended up putting Emily's Meowth in a bit of a daze as she stumbled back from the super effective attack.

"Good job, Nalu!" Kaya praised, causing Nalu to smile at her, happily.

"Good try," Emily smirked, "but we're not done yet! Meowth! Use Bite!"

"Dodge and use Water Gun, again!" Kaya ordered, causing Nalu to jump back from Emily's Meowth, performing a back-flip as she did while firing more jets of Water at the feline.

"Dodge it, Meowth!" Emily called, causing her Meowth to leap out of the way of the shots of water. "Now, use Scratch!"

"Use Pound!" Kaya ordered, causing Nalu to come spinning down, head over flippers before she slammed her tail on Emily's Meowth's head and effectively knocking her out, thus ending the battle. "Yeah! Way to go, Nalu!"

"Popplio!" exclaimed Nalu as she jumped into Kaya's arms, with Goldie joining in on the celebration.

"Very good, Kaya," Emily praised, summoning her Meowth back into her Poke Ball, too. "Perhaps you should become a teacher when you grow up!"

"Ah, shucks, Miss Emily," said Kaya. "I have to give you props, too. Your Meowth actually listened to you...but I just got mine today."

"Oh, I saw," said Emily. "Listen, I'll talk to Hiromi for you. I'm sure she knows you didn't mean to let your Meowth get out of control. Hopefully, she won't stay mad for long. As for your Meowth...give her some time, and she'll eventually come to trust."

"Thanks," said Kaya. "I'll keep that in mind."

"In the meantime," Emily began as she handed Kaya a box, "here, take these!"

Kaya opened the box up and found 5 Great Balls inside!

"Wow!" she exclaimed. "Thanks a lot, Miss Emily!"

"These are better at catching Pokemon than regular Poke Balls," said Emily. "Just use them wisely, okay?"

"Of course!" Kaya nodded.

"Know your Pokemon and their moves," said a familiar voice. "That's the basics of a Trainer!"

Kaya and Goldie turned to see Kukui, as well as another young man with pink hair, a white shirt, gray khakis, and a brown sweater vest.

"Oh, hi, Professor!" Kaya greeted. "Who's this?"

"Hello, there," said the young man. "Captain Ilima here."

"Oh, hello, Captain Ilima!" Kaya greeted, shaking him by the hand.

"I've been observing how you battle for quite some time, now," said Ilima. "You seemed so skilled with your Pokemon that I just had to summon you here, you see. Kukui, here, claims he sees a lot of potential in you, young lady. I look forward to seeing how you perform in my trial."

"I-I'll do my best, sir," said Kaya. "...Um...what do you mean your trial, though?"

"Ah, yes," said Ilima. "An explanation is in order, of course. You see, it is a captain's job to conduct the trials you face before you take on the island's kahuna. My trial is held in the Verdant Cavern. When you feel you are ready, please feel free to drop by there, no?"

"No," Kaya answered. "I-I mean, yes! Yes, Captain Ilima. That sounds wonderful."

"Splendid," Ilima smiled. "I look forward to seeing you!"

With that, he turned and headed down the stairs.

"That reminds me," said Emily. "I put in a report about that Tauros that's blocking your way to the city. He should be dealt with, soon."

"Thank you, Miss Emily," Kaya replied. "What is the deal with that Tauros, anyways?"

"Oh, yeah!" Kukui exclaimed. "He's pretty much a celebrity on Melemele, y'know?"

"Well, Kaya, you're dismissed," said Miss Emily.

"Thanks, Miss Emily!" said Kaya as another announcement came on.

"Attention students! Kaya has officially completed her lesson at the Trainer's School!"

At that moment, she heard a roar of applause from many of the other students...even from Hiromi, who was smiling genuinely as she clapped her hands. Kaya smiled back at her as she nodded her head, which earned a nod from the Young Athlete in return.

"Good luck on your challenge, Kaya," said Hiromi.

"Thanks," said Kaya as she began to walk down the stairs with Goldie following after her. "Let's go, Goldie!"

"Lu-lu!" Goldie barked as she followed after her, heading for the next step in their adventure.


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