Chapter 8: The First Trial

I awoke in the room I'd rented for the night in the PMC. I got out of the comfortable bed and nudged Hau awake, then Robert.

Hau sprang to his feet while Robert sat up and rubbed his eyes. "You guys go on ahead with the trial. I'm gonna get some more shut-eye."

And with that, he collapsed back on the bed and immediately started snoring.

I looked at Hau and he shrugged. "Let's give the man some sleep."

We gathered our things, which included a black backpack the PMC had lying about. We got dressed and left the room and bumped into Lillie and Alex.

"Good morning." Lillie said happily while Alex just muttered, "Morn." I guess she's not a morning person.

As we left the PMC, I checked the time on my watch and saw that it was 8-O'clock.

Alex perked up when the sun hit her face. "Ugh, too bright."

We all walked to the entrance to Verdant Cavern. Alex then stopped.

"I'll do the trial later," she said. "I wanna train more, especially with my new Abra."

"Well then," I said. "See you later. Meet you back up when we're all done with our trials?"

She nodded. "I'll tell Rob if I see him."

She walked off as Lillie also bade her farewell and Hau just sighed in relief.

We then entered Verdant Cavern. Once inside we saw a guy I assumed was in his late teens, if not 20. He had pale pink hair and was wearing school clothes.

"Greetings," he said, noticing us and walked towards us. "Captain Ilima here."

I had a feeling that was going to be his common greeting.

"I assume you all will attempt the Normal Trial?" He asked.

"Just me and Zeno here," Hau said. "Lillie isn't a trainer."

Ilima smiled. "Well then, are you both ready to attempt the Normal Trial?"

I nodded while Hau said, "Let's do this."

Ilima nodded. "Your mission is to find the Pokemon that represents the Totem. Note that this is the Normal Trial, so the Pokemon will be a normal type."

Hau and I nodded and we set off further into Verdant Cavern.

I turned my head to Hau. "So, any idea of the Totem?'

Hau concentrated, then looked at me. "I'm pretty sure the Totem is a Gumshoos, but I've also heard of a Raticate."

I stopped. "Mind getting Rotom out of my pack?"

Hau opened my backpack and began rummaging through it. "When did you get Rotom back from Lillie?"

"When I got the backpack." I said. "She said Nebby was being squished by him, so she was relieved."

"Found him!" Hau exclaimed, pulling out Rotom. "You know, some days it feels like these backpacks are bottomless."

Hau turned on Rotom and he flew into the air. "Who what where!?"

Rotom blinked and looked at me. "So where are we Zeno?"

Hopefully Rotom stayed ignorant of earlier. "Verdant Cavern. I need to see what Gumshoos looks like."

"No problemo." Rotom said and an image of Gumshoos appeared on his screen.

"Gumshoos, the Stakeout Pokemon. Although it wasn't originally found in Alola, this Pokemon was brought over a long time ago when there was a huge Rattata outbreak."

I nodded. "Thanks Rotom. I'll take the Gumshoos if you don't mind Hau."

Hau grinned and shrugged. "I'll look for the Raticate then. Wanna race? Loser has to buy the other malasadas."

I raised an eyebrow quizzically at him. "Malasadas?"

Hau's face got a dreamy look to it. "Deep fried dough with sugar. The best food ever."

I gave a thumbs up. "Then let's race."

We high-fived and Hau raced off. I went at a slower pace to not miss a thing. I saw a couple Yungoos which Rotom identified for me. Regrettably, Rotom was growing on me.

I made my way to a bridge that crossed a ravine that led down to darkness.

I crossed the bridge and still saw no Gumshoos.

Rotom floated next to my head. "Try looking in small holes."

I nodded. "Thanks."

I spotted a small hole and peered inside it. Nothing. I then heard some rustling. I looked up and saw something move in a hole.

I stood and motioned for Rotom to stay quiet. I reached the hole and knelt, peering inside. Suddenly, something knocked me back and landed on my chest. It was a Gumshoos. It jumped off me and scampered up a hill to where Ilima stood with Lillie. They were near a cave exit. Hau then appeared from the exit.

He grinned at me. "Guess who won!"

I ran up to them. "Good job Hau. Now what do we do?"

Ilima smiled. "Now comes the fun part."

He led us out of the cave and into an area surrounded by rocks, but open to the sky above. Ilima and Lillie walked to where they could stand atop a ledge to look down on Hau and I.

"Join us up here Hau," Ilima called to Hau. "Let Zeno go first. He's new and I want to see what he's made of."

Hau nodded and joined them.

Ilima looked down at me. "Now Zeno, prepare yourself."

Out of nowhere, a huge shadow dropped from the sky in front of me. It was a Gumshoos, but it was so much bigger than the one I had saw earlier.

It roared at me and an orange flare started swirling around the Gumshoos.

"That flare boosts the Totem's highest stat!" Hau yelled at me. "In this case, I'm pretty sure it's his defense!"

"Great." I said, pulling out Growlithe's pokeball. I enlarged it and threw it, releasing him. "Let's do this Growlithe."

Before I could do anything, Gumshoos roared again and a Yungoos appeared at his side.

"Forgot to mention!" Ilima called. "Totems can call for assistance."

I smiled. "Well, I can't say I don't love a challenge. Growlithe, use Ember! Direct it at Gumshoos!"

Growlithe fired the Ember, but it didn't faze the Gumshoos. Gumshoos then charged Growlithe, his teeth glowing four large fangs glowed.

"Growlithe, dodge!" I yelled, but the Gumshoos had already clamped its jaws on Growlithe. Gumshoos shook him, then threw him against a rock.

"GROWLITHE!" I yelled. "Come on buddy! Get up!"

I knew what that move was. Super Fang. Halves the HP of its target. But landing against that rock would have damaged him further.

I saw Yungoos charge Growlithe who was struggling to stand.

I narrowed my eyes. "Reversal!"

Growlithe rolled to the side as Yungoos lunged, then slammed into Yungoos, an orange aura surrounding Growlithe.

Yungoos didn't get up, so that left-

"ROOOAR!"

Gumshoos flung himself at Growlithe, his teeth glowing dark, a sure sign that this wasn't Super Fang.

I had no time to react. Gumshoos shook Growlithe around, then dropped him. Fainted.

Growlithe shakily got up and trotted over to me, his head down.

I rubbed his head. "Don't feel down buddy. We haven't lost yet. Why don't you stay out and watch?"

Growlithe barked happily and stood beside me.

I grabbed Rowlet's pokeball. "Here goes nothing! Come on out Rowlet!"

Rowlet popped out of his pokeball and fluttered to the ground and cocked his head at me.

"It's time to battle," I said to him. "And beat this Trial."

Rowlet "Kooed" and faced the Totem Gumshoos.

As Gumshoos teeth glowed once again for Super Fang, I yelled, "Leafage into its mouth!"

When Gumshoos lunged, its mouth wide open, Rowlet fired the leaves straight into its open mouth. Gumshoos stopped mid-lunge and fell to the ground, coughing up leaves.

"Finish this with Peck!" I commanded.

Rowlet's beak glowed and he dived at Gumshoos, but Gumshoos quickly moved and bit down on Rowlet and threw him to the ground.

"ROWLET!" I cried. "Get up!"

Gumshoos lumbered over to Rowlet and towered over him. His teeth glowed, but then a bright light enveloped Rowlet.

Rowlet glowed and grew a little and flew up. The glow vanished and Rowlet fluttered to the ground. Except, it wasn't Rowlet anymore.

His bow tie lightened in color and his upper body darkened. His wings were larger and had a sort of green feather-like hair that he flicked with his wing.

Rotom came to hover next to me. "Dartrix, the Blade Quill Pokemon. Supremely sensitive to the presence of others, it can detect opponents standing behind it, flinging its sharp feathers to take them down."

I smiled. "You evolved."

I looked at Gumshoos, who was beginning to open its mouth.

"Alright Dartrix," I said, clenching a fist. "Let's finish this! Leafage!"

However, instead of firing a clump of energy leaves at Gumshoos, Dartrix fired a barrage of razor-sharp leaves. The attack knocked Gumshoos back, bringing it to one knee.

"That was Razor Leaf!" Rotom gasped.

I thrust out my right hand. "Let's use your new move then shall we! Razor Leaf!"

Dartrix fired another barrage of leaves and flung Gumshoos back into the stone wall behind it. He tried to get back up, but fainted.

Dartrix flew over to me and I hugged him. "That was brilliant."

Growlithe barked happily butted his head against Dartrix playfully. Dartrix looked horrified at this and began preening his feathers where Growlithe had touched him. I laughed while Growlithe looked confused.

Ilima walked down to Gumshoos and revived him. Gumshoos got up and lumbered into Verdant Cavern.

Ilima came over to me. "Good job Zeno. That was some battle. Now, here's your reward for completing the Trial."

He handed me a white crystal with a design on it. "The Normalium-Z is yours."

I took it and fitted it on my black Z-ring. "Nice. How many do I need?"

"To complete the Island Challenge," Ilima began. "11, minimum."

Hau ran up to us. "My turn!?"

Ilima nodded. "Yes. Zeno, follow me."

I followed him up to the ledge and sat next to Lillie.

A huge chattering noise filled the area and Hau grabbed a pokeball. A huge Pokemon jumped from somewhere behind me and landed 15 feet from Hau.

"RAAATICCC!" It cried and I realized it was a Raticate, but it looked different.

"What type of Raticate is that?" I asked Lillie.

"Remember what I said yesterday about Alolan forms?"

I nodded.

"Raticate has one here and that is it. " She said. "All Rattatas and Raticates here in Alola are Normal/Dark types."

"Ah." I said.

I looked back at where Hau was battling Raticate with Pichu. Thundershocks were fired, but Pichu was sent tumbling by the sudden appearance of an Alolan Rattata.

Rotom buzzed awake from where he lay on a rock beside me.

"Rattata, the Mouse Pokemon." Rotom buzzed. "This Pokemon is common but hazardous. Its sharp incisors can easily cut right through hard wood."

Rotom's screen changed from Rattata to Raticate. "Raticate, the Mouse Pokemon and the evolved form of Rattata. Its whiskers are essential for maintaining its balance. No matter how friendly you are, it will get angry and bite you if you touch its whiskers."

"Great advice Rotom!" Hau yelled. "Popplio, use Disarming Voice on its whiskers!"

Hau had apparently switched out Pichu for Popplio. I saw the Rattata fainted near a rock.

Popplio fired Disarming Voice and the fairy move hit Raticate's whiskers, knocking him unbalanced.

"One more time!" Hau shouted.

Popplio used the fairy move again and Raticate fainted.

"WHOO-HOO!" Hau yelled."

Ilima went down to him, revived the Raticate, and presented Hau a Z-crystal.

Suddenly, there was screaming from inside of Verdant Cavern.

I rushed to get up when Lillie cried, "Where's Nebby!?"

"C'mon." I said, grabbing her hand and we ran into Verdant Cavern.

I first saw Hau and Ilima joining Alex and Robert on the bridge. At first I thought it was Alex or Robert that had screamed, but when I got on the bridge, I saw the situation. In the ravine, two Team Skull Grunts were hanging on a thin ledge for dear life. And one of them had Nebby in his arm.

"NEBBY!" Lillie screamed.

"PEW!" Nebby cried, but she didn't look unhappy. On the contrary, she looked quite content.

"What happened!?" Ilima yelled at the grunts.

"We fell!" The one holding Nebby yelled.

"Yeah!" The other one agreed. "Did it trying to snatch this Poke yo!"

"Shut up B." The one holding Nebby growled.

"Give Nebby back!" Lillie screamed at them.

"Uh, Lillie?" Alex said. "I don't think they can."

A cracking sound came from the ledge the grunts were hanging onto.

"HELP!!!" They screamed.

"I'm coming!" I said, surprising even myself. I would have usually left people like them there, but the morals that the few nice people in my past had taught me won me over.

I ran to the edge of the ravine and began climbing down. Another crack sounded from there ledge and I heard my friends and Ilima yell at me, but I ignored them. I was the most capable of doing this out of my friends and Ilima considering what all my coaches had put me through in my past.

I neared the grunts just as the ledge broke and they began to fall. I reached out my hand for Grunt B, but his hand slipped through my fingers. Then my foot slipped and I lost my grip. I began to fall and distinctly heard my friends yelling my name.

Suddenly, I was 9-years old again. I stood next to one of my coaches, who grinned evilly at me. "Time to take a chance Zeno."

Then he pushed me into the opening of the cave and I fell into the darkness.

--

Well, the first trial for our hero is now complete. But now he is falling into darkness and who knows where the bottom is. And what of his past!? Find out next time in a week or most likely longer. Yeah... This update took a bit longer. Oh well. I hope you all enjoyed the chapter and please comment and I guess favorite this fanfic, but no pressure. Also, a big shout-out to the two people who favourited this story and who are now following it. Thank you both. I'm really happy to know that there are people who like my fanfic. Anyway, I know I had originally planned for every three days or so for a chapter, but now I'm realizing that won't really work. So next chapter will be up in a week hopefully, so, till next time. Toodles.