WHOO! I'm FREE! Gosh, it's been so long. I'm on break and have more free time to write! This chapter is longer than usual.
Good luck to those taking exams.
Thanks villomaru for helping out with the editing.
Enjoy!
Chapter 10:
"How far is the school?" Liam asked as they retraced their steps back onto Route 1. The hot summer air had cooled down in the late afternoon and a gentle breeze came from the ocean.
"We're almost there," Lillie said, pointing down the path that connected Hau'oli City to Route 1. "Maybe about t-"
"PEWW!" Lillie's duffle bag suddenly squealed with excitement as it jumped around.
"No, Nebby. No!" Lillie said firmly as the little Pokémon tried to escape from the duffle bag. "I told you that you cannot be out when there are people." However, it was too late. Liam and Lillie were in the bright spotlight of every passerby's gaze.
"Come on," Liam mumbled, trying to help Lillie and edging them away from the limelight. Although they meant no harm, Liam hated the stares. He managed to lead them down to a more secluded part of the path but soon found himself dealing with an annoyance of his own that had escaped from his backpack.
[Bzzt… What is this? You have a Pokémon that I do not recognize… Must obtain data…]
"NO!" Liam grabbed Rotodex before it could turn around and take a picture of the small creature. It took several agonizing seconds before he managed to cram it back into his backpack. "No pictures!" The last thing he or Lillie need was Nebby's picture up on the internet website search. Granted, Liam didn't know if Rotodex had internet access, but he would rather not take the risk.
"Okay, there we go," Lillie mumbled as she managed to calm the little Pokémon. Sighing with relief, she looked up and realized where they were. "Oh, and here we are! The Trainers' School is… What in the world?!"
Still zipping up his backpack, Liam almost bumped into Lillie as she abruptly stopped. He gaped when he saw why. Impeding their path was a large Pokémon that Liam recognized immediately.
[Tauros – the Wild Bull Pokémon] Rotodex piped up from the backpack as though to help. [Although it's known to be a fierce Pokémon, Tauros in the Alola region are said to possess a measure of calmness.]
"Shush!" Liam hissed, but it was too late. The bull Pokémon heard its name, turned, and spotted the two youngsters. It gave a rather menacing look as it stomped its hoof against the black pavement. Despite Rotodex's claim, this Pokémon did NOT look calm one bit. Lillie shivered as she gripped the straps of her bag.
Liam had seen enough of this normal-type Pokémon back in his hometown to understand the destructive power one can hold and immediately shifted his body to shield Lillie from a possible attack. The Pokémon didn't move from its spot as it kept a steady gaze at Liam who refused to look away.
"Back up slowly," Liam mumbled to Lillie, staying vigilant. He made sure he heard Lillie take a step back before he did as well.
"Hmm? Liam? Lillie? What are you two doing here? Where is my grandson?" The two spun around to see a familiar face coming up from behind them.
"Kahuna Hala." Liam was taken aback before he realized that they were all still in danger, "Ah, wait, the Tauros!"
"Oh hoho, did that thing scare you two? Don't worry, leave it to me!" Kahuna Hala walked past the two alarmed young teens and toward the stubborn bull Pokémon. The glare from the Tauros' eyes didn't faze the old man who petted and whispered calmly into its ears. Liam couldn't make out the words but whatever words were spoken, they calmed the Tauros down. Its eyes not so menacing as before.
"There we go!" Kahuna Hala laughed as he slapped the Pokémon's back. "Sorry for the scare, friends," he added to Liam and Lillie, "I guess I should take old Tauros back home."
"Thank you very much for your help," Lillie said politely.
"Is this Tauros yours?" Liam was slightly baffled. What kind of person just leaves a Tauros walking around and block roads like that?
"Yup," Kahuna Hala laughed. "It's friendly. Why don't you give him a little pat?"
Liam would rather not, but he didn't want to look like a chicken in front of Kahuna Hala or Lillie so he carefully inched forward. Slowly and carefully, he gave the Tauros a small pat and a scratch behind the ears. Its fur felt coarse between his fingers, but the Pokémon seemed to enjoy it and gave a rather happy moo.
"Hahaha, see that? This rascal already loves you!" Kahuna Hala smiled, "Pokémon become happier when we show them some care." He glanced around, expecting someone to pop out of the bush. "Where did Hau go?"
"He's back at Hau'oli City," Lillie properly explained, "I'm here to show Liam the Pokémon School and find Ilima."
"Hmph, I see. Well, you two take care. Oh, and let the teacher know that the Tauros situation has been taken care of. She was the one who called me." With a wave, Kahuna Hala led the bull Pokémon back to Iki Town.
"Wow, that was scary," Lillie sighed in relief as soon as they were out of sight, "I'm so glad Kahuna Hala was here to save us."
[Bzzt. If I had a pulse, it would have been racing now.]
"Forget racing, I thought I was going to have a heart attack," Liam said, feeling his heart pounding against his chest. "Let's get going before another Tauros comes along and gives me one for sure."
…
"Hello?" Lillie's voice echoed in the empty front hall. The heavy glass doors groaned before finally shutting with a thud. Their shoes squeaked against the polished tile floors but it was otherwise silent.
The school was rather ordinary despite its tropical location. The walls wore an ugly shade of yellow that made Liam grimaced from sight and the air smelled slightly of disinfectant. Lockers lined up against the hallways. The only thing that could be considered unique compared to Kanto was its large training fields outside.
Deciding to pass the time, Liam walked around the small space, observing the posters, furniture, and school pride articles. He was studying the trophy case that was gleaming with awards inside when he heard heels clicking against the tile floors and saw in the glass reflection of a woman with short black hair and square glasses.
"Hi, there." She smiled at Liam and Lillie, "I am Mrs. Emily. How may I help you?"
"Hi, I'm Lillie and this is-"
"Liam, yes. I saw you at the festival," Emily added, seeing the surprised look on Liam's face. "You and Rowlet were wonderful."
"Thanks, Mrs. Emily," Liam said, a bit embarrassed. "We just want to let you know that Kahuna Hala took care of the Tauros problem."
"Oh, excellent! Ilima will be so happy."
"He's still here?" Liam looked up expectantly.
"Yes, he is. Ah-" Comprehension flashed across her face. "You are a trial goer. My apologies; I should've realized sooner. Please follow me. He's with the students."
She led the duo up the stairs, down the hallway, and opened one of the classroom doors. "Ilima," Mrs. Emily called into the classroom. There were between six to eight preschoolers crowding around a trainer as he read a story to them. He was dark-skinned, tall, and older than both Liam and Lillie.
"Hi, Teacher Emily," he looked up from the book he was reading, "Has the Tauros left yet?"
"Yes, Kahuna Hala just took care of it."
"Excellent." The young man got up and spotted Liam and Lillie. "Ah, new students?"
"Actually, this here is Liam and Lillie. They are here to see you."
"I see," he smiled, his soft gray eyes twinkled with realization, "Greetings. I'm Captain Ilima." He gave a casual wave and a lazy smile.
Whatever Liam expected, he certainly didn't anticipate this guy to be Ilima, let alone a Trial Captain. Unlike the Alolan natives, Ilima wore a woolen brown vest over a buttoned white collared shirt and matching-colored khaki pants and loafers. And his hair. It was cotton candy pink and swept to one side of his head. Only a small lock of it remained the opposite side and was held in place by a four-leaf clover pendant.
"My apologies. I was intending to leave earlier, but the Tauros was blocking the path. Are you both trail-goers?"
"I am," Liam said while Lillie shook her head.
"I'm just here to show Liam around the area," she explained.
"Oh, then that means you're-"
"Is that's a Z-Ring?!" Liam looked down to suddenly find himself surrounded by the kids. Lillie found herself elbowed to the side.
"Kids!" Mrs. Emily said sharply. "Behave!"
"Can we see? Can we see?" They all asked, ignoring the teacher.
Uneasy, Liam allowed the kids to crowd around him as they gaped in awe at his wristlet. It was strange to find himself so popular. Of course, the popularity consisted of kids who were about half his age, and to be honest, he didn't really know how to react.
"So cool!" One of girl gushed, her eyes sparkling with amazement.
"How many crystals do you have?"
"How many trials have you defeated?"
"Uh… zero."
"Zero?" The class looked incredibly puzzled by this response. Liam blinked in surprise. Wasn't it normal to get the Z-ring first before competing in the trials?
"Wait, I know you!" This came from a darkly tanned young boy with a white t-shirt and tropical sky-blue shorts. "You're that weakling who lost to that girl at the festival yesterday!"
Liam already hated this brat.
"Joey!" Mrs. Emily shouted angrily, "That's very rude. We do not treat our guests as such. Liam is new to this Alola region, and I expect better etiquette."
"Well it's true," Joey smirked and stuck his tongue out at Liam. Before he could return the gesture, the little girl stood between them.
"For future reference, that girl's name is Ally, and she won the Melemele Grand Trial," she said, glaring at her classmate, "Second, why should it matter if a guy lost to a girl? Last time I checked, I whipped your butt in the last mock battle and the one before that."
"T-Those were flukes!" Joey's ears were bright red now.
"Sure, keep telling yourself that." She rolled her eyes in disdain before she turned to Liam. "As class president, I apologize for my classmate's rude behavior. I know that as someone chosen by the Tapu Koko you'll continue to rise to the top."
"Uh, yeah, sure," Liam said, slightly taken aback, "Thanks." It was weird to have a younger kid defending and then praising him, but he had to admit that she handled it way more maturely than he would. Proper with a no-nonsense temper, she was a lot like Kassidy back in Kanto.
"Liam, how many Pokémon do you carry?" Ilima asked, abruptly changing the topic.
"Just Rowlet, so one," Liam said, wondering where this question came from. The kids were looking at him with some sort of pity now.
"Hmm, perhaps you'll want to fill out your team a bit before attempting my trial. It would be difficult without a full set of Pokémon."
Makes sense. Liam never heard of a trainer who could win any Pokémon battles with a single team member. Though to be honest, if he had known Ilima was a Trial Captain, he would've trained first.
"There are many patches of tall grass around here and in Hau'oli City," Ilima offered, noticing Liam's silence. "Once you are ready, you can find me at the docks of Hau'oli; my trial is held in Verdant Cavern."
"Wait, are you leaving so soon?" The kids immediately cried in sadness and all surrounded Ilima again as though impeding him from the door would force him to stay. Even Jerk Joey seemed genuinely down.
"I'm sorry, kids, but I need to go back to my duties."
"Will you come back again?"
"Of course, you guys."
"Kids, what do we say?" Mrs. Emily instructed.
"Thank you, Captain Ilima," the kids changed in unison.
"Now class, break time is over. Who can give me some examples of items Pokémon can carry?"
"Let's go outside, shall we?" Ilima, Liam, and Lillie quietly back out into the long hallway so that Mrs. Emily could continue to teach. The three walked down the stairs and back out to the entrance of the school.
"I better be going. I have some things I need to take care of, but I sincerely look forward to your challenge, Liam." He held out his hand and Liam took it.
Ilima also gave a small gracious bow to Lillie as well. "It is very nice to meet you too. I hope to see you as well."
"Yes, thank you Captain Ilima." The two watched as the Captain returned back to Hau'oli City.
[What was that about having only one Pokémon?]
"What?" Liam looked up to see Rotodex floating above the two like a weird halo.
[If you haven't noticed, I'm a Pokémon as well.]
"Trapped in a tiny box," Liam said dryly.
"Well, what are your plans now?" Lillie asked.
"I'm taking Ilima's advance and try to find new Pokémon. I think there should be some good ones here."
[You should search south of here. There are some good Pokémon you can catch.]
"Wow, for once, you're actually useful," Liam noted dryly again. "You ready?" He turned to Lillie.
"Right, well… I…" Lillie looked down at her feet, and Liam suddenly realized why.
"We should head to Hau'oli City first," Liam amended. "I can go Pokémon catching after that."
"No, it's okay. I can go back myself," she said firmly. "You shouldn't waste any time to get new teammates."
"Lillie, it's okay. Hau'oli City is not that far and-"
"I'll be fine!" Lillie exclaimed and immediately clasped her hands over her mouth in horror.
[Bzzt. It appears you two have had your first fight. I suggest you apologize first as this is technically your fault.]
"Okay, not helping anymore." Lillie silently watched as Liam grabbed the Rotodex and shoved it back into his backpack.
"Sorry." Liam spoke up immediately, "I didn't mean…"
"No, I'm at fault here. I just… want to be more independent…" Both of them look at their feet, unsure how to remove the awkwardness in the air.
"Okay," Liam said finally, still feeling uneasy at the idea. "Just be careful." Oh no, he was still sounding like his mom. Urgh, how embarrassing...
"I could say the same to you. Oh, wait!" Lillie pulled out several items and pushed them into Liam's arms. "Here. Just in case."
Liam looked down and saw medicines like Potions, berries, Repels, and even an Escape Rope. "Wow, Lillie," he said, stunned, "I can't take all of this."
"It's fine!" Lillie insisted. "You need to be prepared in case something happens. I still got enough Repels to head back to the city."
Without hearing any more of it, she immediately turned toward the direction to Hau'oli City. "I will meet you at the Pokémon Center when you get back. I can't wait to meet your new teammates," she called out and quickly walked down the path.
"Don't worry. I'm sure they'll amaze you."
…
Southern part of Route 1
The search had been fruitless for the past hour. Liam hadn't found any Pokémon that he wanted to team up with. He only had a couple of Poké Balls and though he had improved his throwing skills, he would need to stock up later if he wanted to catch anymore. It also didn't help that he had a irritating partner who wouldn't shut up.
[Common Pokémon that can be found in the area include Rattata, Pikipek, Ledyba-]
"Yes, I heard you the first time. No need to repeat the list." Liam searched through the tall grass, but again, none of the Pokemon caught any of his interest. The Alolan Rattata here were different from Kanto's, but he didn't find any interest in catching one.
[There is a wide berth of Pokémon to choose from. Why are you so indecisive?]
"Other than the fact that your computerized voice is scaring them off? There's the issue of compatibility. I can't just grab any random Pokémon if they don't like my fighting style."
[You have a fighting style?]
Liam was about to make another retort when he noticed the ground was rumbling and shaking.
"What's going on?"
[Bzzt. Tremors. Alola has a volcano, but there is none on this island.]
Wait… Liam squinted his eyes and saw in the distance a large cloud of dust kicked up in the air. He soon found out what was causing it.
It was that Tauros from earlier! Well, at least he was pretty sure it was. It took another long second for Liam to realize that it was heading towards him.
[Bzzt. Run.]
"You don't need to tell me twice!" Liam immediately sprinted as the bull Pokémon came. He threw himself to the side just as the Tauros passed him and slammed into the pile of boulders.
"Owww…" Liam sat up, bruised. When he looked up, he saw Tauros still slamming its head against the broken pieces of rocks, now howling in pain.
[It's been poisoned.] Rotodex said, analyzing the status of the Pokémon. [Probably from Poison Gas. Alolan Grimer are common here.]
"Wait, I thought you said that they were common only on the school grounds. We're nowhere near there. Are you sure it's not some other Pokémon?"
[There are no other Pokémon here that can inflict Poison status.]
Something didn't sound right, but the tearful cries distracted him from exploring the notion further.
Poisoned… Liam immediately rummaged through his bag. Yes! Thank you, Lillie!
[Bzzt. What are you doing?]
"Well, I can't just leave it in pain," Liam said as he walked towards Tauros.
[You should leave. You have no experience in handling the situation. Get Kahuna Hala to take care of this.]
There was wisdom in Rotodex's advice, but Liam didn't like being told off like a kid. Tauros was in pain, and he was going to do something about it.
"Hey Tauros, remember me?" Liam seriously prayed it did as he inched closer. Hearing Liam's voice, the Pokémon turned wildly until it spotted Liam.
"Not going to hurt you. Just want to get rid of that poison." Liam held up the Antidote. "See? This won't hurt you." It didn't charge, which was a good sign. Liam took another hopeful step, making sure to continue to be in its line of sight. Tauros shuddered as it stared, dazed with pain.
The area was deadly quiet besides the painful wheezing. Even Rotodex was in computerized fear.
"Here." Now close enough, Liam sprayed the antidote around its face, causing it to sneeze and to flap its ears. Soon after, the sickness cleared from Tauros' face. "There we go. Feeling better?"
"Mooooo!" Healthy now, Tauros immediately nudged his face against Liam's in thanks.
"Hey, stop!" Liam giggled as Tauros licked his face. It took a while for the excited Pokémon to calm down.
[I can't believe you did something so reckless. You could've gotten seriously hurt.]
"Yeah, well, get use to it." Liam looked up and saw for the first time the path that had opened up behind the boulders.
A cave! Liam peeked in curiously.
[This is Ten Carat Hill. Usually inaccessible without a Ride Pokémon.]
"Ride Pokémon?"
[Bzzt. Correct. They are Pokémon that are specifically trained to help people travel through dangerous terrain.]
"MOOO!" Tauros bent its front legs and stared expectantly at Liam.
"You want me to get on?"
It nodded enthusiastically and motioned its head towards the dark cave.
"Okay, then let's check it out," Liam said, realizing that this was the ideal place to explore. He carefully climbed on, and Tauros immediately stood. Liam felt incredibly tall, perched on top of the bull Pokémon's back, but at the same time, it was a rather exhilarating feeling.
[Bzzt. You don't even have any protective gear! Are you crazy?! ]
"Like I said. Get use to it."
Author's Notes
Yes! Looks like we're catching new Pokemon. Sooner or later. LOL.
For those who celebrated, happy belated Thanksgiving. I was really lucky to spend time with my family this year and I hope everybody stuffed themselves with good food and turkey.
Also, who has played Ultra Sun/Moon? What did/didn't you like about it? Haven't played it yet, unfortunately, but will be as soon as I raise enough money. XP
Thanks for reading and I'll see you in the next chapter.
-JapanDreamer