December 20, 2016

I just realized I didn't write an entry after my Grand Trial yesterday! The battle was so exiting that it completely slipped my mind. Let me go back and catch you up.

I trained hard for hours yesterday. I finally felt ready when the afternoon approached and headed straight to Iki Town, where Professor Kukui and Lillie greeted me and wished me luck. I found Hala in the main square. As we prepared for battle on the stage, I noticed the villagers coming out of their houses to witness the event. I smiled when I saw Hau standing next to Lillie and Kukui.

"Allow me to properly greet the young adventurers embarking on their island challenge," Hala said, looking mighty formidable. "I am Hala, the kahuna of Melemele Island. Shall we begin? The final trial here on Melemele Island will be a Pokémon battle against me, the kahuna! It is known as the Grand Trial. It seems that both you and your Pokémon are prepared to combine your mental and physical strengths to unleash your full power! Well, Selene, you have been entrusted with the Sparkling Stone by Tapu Koko! Now show me you and your partner Sun's full power! Old Hala here will also be going all out. Let the grand trial begin!"

Hala chose a Mankey as his first Pokémon, and I decided to go with Sun. The Litten was revved up and ready to go. I was unused to battling fighting Pokémon, so I got off to a rough start. In the end, Sun's fire type moves won the round for us.

"Not bad," Hala said. "Let's see how you handle my Makuhita!"

I decided to withdraw Sun and go with Twitters after Rotom informed me that flying type moves worked well against fighting types. Sure enough, the Trumbeak's Peck and Pluck attacks soon defeated the Makuhita. I now felt pumped and ready to take on the final Pokémon.

Hala released a Crabrawler. I recognized the Pokémon because Crabrawler were often hidden in berry piles under palm trees. I had already had to fend off a few of them. I paused to consider my options and then pulled out Valerie's Pokeball. I knew she would be disappointed if she did not at least have a shot in this battle.

The Bagon growled as she faced her opponent. She responded immediately to my command to attack, but the Crabrawler slipped out of the way and proceeded to execute his own move. Valerie howled in frustration. Thankfully, her next attack hit the pot, but it did not do a lot of damage. This continued for another minute until Hala activated his z power. He used All-Out Pummeling, a fighting z-move that left me in awe and Valerie on the ground, fainted.

"Now what will you do, Selene?" Hala said with a calm smile.

I hesitated. I could use Twitters again since his flying moves would be very effective. However, Hala could not use a z-move again, and there was something I wanted to try out. "Sun, come back out!" I took a deep breath and let it out slowly. I hoped I did this right. "Breakneck Blitz!" I moved my arms in the motions that Ilima and Kukui had showed me. Sun glowed with power and then moved forward at lighting speed. I watched with wide eyes as he hit his opponent, causing a spark of bright light.

"Way to go, Selene!" Kukui called from the sidelines. "That's how you use a z-move! Woo!"

Hala let out a deep laugh. "Very good, child, but this battle is not over yet."

He was right. Crabrawler had been severely damaged, but he was still standing. Sun managed to dodge his next attack and get close to him to use Fire Fang. It was this move that sealed the victory. Just before I could celebrate, however, Sun started to glow.

"Whoa!" Hau exclaimed. "Your Litten is evolving!"

Sure enough, when the light faded, I saw that Sun had grown and developed orange fur with a weird yellow orb under his neck. While I examined him, Rotom flew out of my bag to explain: "He evolved into a Torracat. At its throat, Torracat bears a bell of fire. The bell rings brightly whenever this Pokémon spits fire."

"Sweet!" Hau said with a grin. "You've got a great Pokémon there, Selene. I can't wait to battle him!"

Hala laughed. "Wait until you take me on, boy."

Hau put his hands behind his neck and smiled sheepishly. "I still need more training, so that will probably happen tomorrow."

"Then we'll for Akala Island on Wednesday," Kukui announced. "Oh yeah! Shall we say eleven in the morning?"

I jumped off the stage with Sun. Wednesday was in two days. "That works for me." I pushed down the uneasiness I felt at the prospect of the open water.

A moo made me turn my head. My Tauros friend had suddenly charged into the square. He stood before me, swishing his tail. Hala suggested I set up a ride pager so I could call on Tauros to ride him whenever I wanted. The idea intrigued me, so I agreed. Hala gave me ride gear and showed me how to use the pager. Then I climbed onto Tauros' back. Hau waved at me from down below. Everything sure looked different from up there.

I got off Tauros and thanked him, telling him we could go on an adventure the following day. Ilima then approached and explained he helped develop the ride pager. On Alola, Pokémon and humans worked together to get things done. Ilima requested a battle with me if I had time before leaving the island, and I agreed.

I was prepared to return home when Lillie called out to me. "What is it?" I said. Nebby floated next to her, appearing quite peaceful.

"You see, Nebby is..." She hesitated and started again. "His real home is far away from here, and I want to help him get home. It's like I told you before; Nebby saved my life once when I was in trouble. Now I want to save him! I feel like there's not much I can do on my own, since I'm not a Pokémon trainer, but if I had a real trainer like you helping me, Selene, then maybe... But I probably shouldn't ask a random person to help, right? I know it's just my own wish, and it has nothing to do with you."

I shook my head. "Of course I'll help! You're my friend now, and that's what friends do."

Lillie brightened. "Oh, thank you so much. I'm so glad! I really didn't know what else to do." She glanced at Nebby. "Then I suppose the two of us will be heading to the next island as well!"

I smiled. "I look forward to it. Good night, Lillie."

"Good night, Selene."

Now I knew I really did have to find a way to gain the courage to get on that boat to the next island. There was no way I could let Lillie and Nebby down!

So this morning I decided to take Tauros out for an adventure around an island. Nothing builds courage like riding around on the back of a Tauros, right? I returned to the meadow on Route 3 and found a hidden, which was a lot of fun to explore. Then I started for Ten Carat Hill.

I read in a guide book that Ten Carat Hill used to be an active volcano, but now it lays dormant. Actually, all of Alola is made up of volcanoes that are now extinct in the form of mountain ranges. It's really neat that every living thing on Alola - humans, plants, and Pokémon - had to voyage there at some point. The unique setting is what created regional variants among the Pokémon.

Tauros and I entered the hill and found ourselves in a cave. I slipped off his back and grabbed Valerie's Pokeball. I knew wild Pokémon were likely to attack, and the Bagon probably wanted to work through her disappointment from yesterday.

Valerie crossed her arms and turned her head away from me. She did not appear up to doing anything right now.

I bent down so I was on her level. "I'm sorry about the battle yesterday, girl. It wasn't your fault. We should have trained more together. I heard there are Rockruff around here. Do you want to help me catch one?"

Valerie stared at me for a long minute. Finally, she grunted and nodded her head.

I smiled in relief. "Thank you."

We strolled through the cave at an even pace. Wild Pokémon attacked like expected, and Valerie made quick work of them. I was just wishing I had a map when a whine hit my ears. Valerie took off running, and I followed close behind.

We came to a particularly rocky area of the cave. And there on the far wall was a Rockruff! Valerie stood next to it and pointed to it. The Rockruff whined again, and I gasped when I saw the reason why: its hind leg had gotten trapped under a rock! I ran over to assist.

I could have used Tauros to smash the rock, but I did not want to risk injuring the Rockruff. I turned to Valerie. "Can you get the rock off of him?"

The Bagon nodded. She positioned herself in front of the rock and then pushed with her small arms. Meanwhile, I took hold of the Rockruff. The rock moved ever so slowly. Finally, the Pokémon was free. The Rockruff wagged his tail happily and licked my face. I laughed and set him down. "You're welcome."

Suddenly, the Rockruff flattened his ears and whined again. He glanced around the cave and sniffed the air.

"Are you looking for something?" I said. The Rockruff barked, so I took that as a 'yes.' "We're exploring the hill here, so if you come with us, maybe you'll find it."

The Rockruff padded to my side and barked again, so I figured he liked the idea. I called back Tauros, and then the four of us continued to walk through the cave.

After a few more turns and battles with wild Pokémon, we arrived at the center of the hill. I gasped as I looked all around us. It was like we were in a large, dug out hallow. The hill jutted out all around us in a circle with fields of grass in the center. I could hardly believe that lava used to flow form here. "This is amazing. Elio would have loved this."

The Rockroff barked and looked at me with questioning eyes.

"My brother. He's... not here anymore." I wondered if he would be disappointed with my inability to be near water. I am sure he would not have a problem with it if it was the other way around. "Do you have a family, pup?"

The Rockruff whined appearing sad again.

I glanced at Valerie. "Can you see if there are more Rockruff around here?"

The Bagon disappeared into the tall grass. A minute later, I heard her call. I jogged into the grass with the Rockruff on my heels. Then I saw Valerie facing a group of snarling Rockruff. The Rock Pokémon stopped growling and barked when they saw my new friends.

The Rockruff leapt from my side and happily joined the others. They all licked him and wagged their tails. The original Rockruff turned and barked at me, seeming to thank me.

I smiled slightly. "You're welcome. Good luck out there, Rockruff." Then I turned and walked away. Valerie hurried to my side and gripped my leg. "What?"

The Bagon pointed to the Rockruff and then back at me. She tilted her head to the side, questioning.

"No, I'm not going to catch him. If he's still got family to go back to, then he can choose to stay with them." My suddenly melancholy made it not feel right to take him against his will. I did not know if Valerie understood, but she continued to walk with me. We caught up with Tauros, and then I rode out of Ten Carat Hill.

Later that day, I found myself seat at the beach, gazing out at the ocean. Despite all my victories thus far, I was questioning all of my choices in Alola, starting with my decision to move there in the first place. Part of me could not help but think that this had been one tremendous mistake. There was no way I could make it through this Island Challenge. Not if I had to cross the water.

"Hey Selene! I won my Grand Trial!"

I gave Hau a small smile as he plopped down next to me. "Congratulations. I knew you could do it."

"Are you excited for tomorrow? I've never been off this island, you know. I bet Akala is super cool and full of cute Pokémon!"

I wished I could share his enthusiasm, but I could not shake my somber mood. "I can't do it, Hau. I can't get on that boat tomorrow."

Hau frowned. "Is it because of the water?"

"Yes. And what about my mother? She hasn't been alone since-" I sucked in a sharp breath. Would I be abandoning her?

Hau laughed and shook his head. "You don't have to worry about that, Selene. Haven't you see how many friends your mom has made already? She'll be perfectly fine! And I bet she wants you go have fun on your Island Challenge."

"Then I'll disappoint her by not being able to continue on." I sighed and returned my gaze to the water. "What if something happens out there? What if we don't make it to Akala Island? What if the mere sight of the ocean freezes me on the spot?"

"Then I'll help you, of course!" Hau said in a matter-of-fact way. "You've got to stop trying to do everything on your own, Selene. Rely on your friends a little more. We're here to help you."

I looked at him, wondering how he could be so calm and serene. If it wasn't ignorance... then why? "But what if-"

"You're thinking too much. If anything happens, we'll face it together. It's time to start living." He grabbed my wrist and pulled me to my feet. "Come on!"

I was surprised when he started to drag me off the beach. "Where are we going?"

He looked back at me and grinned. "To the mall! They just reopened after renovations, and I've been wanting to go see it. It's super awesome, Selene! You'll love it!"

I didn't notice until now that he had successfully distracted me from my own thoughts by his spontaneity. I wonder how much of it was on purpose and how much of it was just him being himself. Either way, I know I am lucky to have a friend like him. Maybe he does have a point.

The mall is this huge building in the shopping district of Haua'oli City. I had passed it many times and been curious about it, but this was the first time it was open. Hau took me to a bunch of interesting shops. Then, before we called it a day, we stopped by the Battle Buffet - after calling my mom to tell her I would not make it home for dinner, of course.

"This place is the best," Hau said as we stood in line. "Not only is it an all-you-can-eat buffet with amazing food, you get to have Pokémon battles! If another trainer wants the same food as you, you battle to decide who will take it. You have ten turns to win as many battles as possible, and then you eat!" He grinned at me. "What do you think?"

"It sounds like one way to work up an appetite," I said, unsure about the whole idea.

"It is! I've only been here once when I first got Feathers. We were inexperienced, so I didn't get to eat much, but with both of us it will be a piece of cake!"

"If they let us battle together," I said.

It turned out they did allow tag teams as long as we let our opponent use two Pokémon. When we entered, my eyes were immediately drawn to an ice cream buffet. Of course, we had to battle to earn the privilege of eating it. Hau and I defeated a young boy with his Pikachu and my Pichu. Then we battled for some soup and some pasta. And after the last battle, Luana evolved!

"Wow, that's awesome, Selene!" Hau exclaimed. "Now we've both got Pikachu! They're really cute, huh?"

I smiled. They were cute. The two Pikachu walked around each other, sniffing each other. Then Luana happily moved her new yellow tail with a heart for a tip. I remembered I had caught Luana to give me strength and confidence. Pichu only evolved through a close bond with their trainer, so I hoped this was a good sign.

We released our Pokémon so they could eat the food set out for them and then took a seat to enjoy the prizes we had won. The food was pretty good, and it tasted even better after all those victories. Perhaps this place is onto something.

Afterwards, Hau and I chatted as we walked back to my house. At that point, I had completely forgotten what I had been brooding over earlier that day.

"I'll see you tomorrow, Selene," Hau said as I made my way to my front door. "You'll make it to Akala Island for sure!" He gave me a thumbs up.

I smiled and nodded. "Yeah. Thanks, Hau." Somehow, someway, I would get on that boat.

Selene