Before we begin, thanks to pokemonking0924 for reviewing Chapters 6 through 11. It's very refreshing to get reviews on this story, especially since my YuGiOh stories seem to hog all the attention on this site... between you, me, and the fence post, they aren't my favorite stories on this site. My favorites would be this one and my Splatoon story, and the Splatoon story's sequel whenever I can work on that.

Thanks as always to TheKingOfEmerald for being my beta reader and letting me use his characters, Jason and Em. Enjoy the chapter!


Wes:

Nayru the Gardevoir (Friend Ball, shiny)

Faye the Cutiefly (Level Ball)

Zero the Type: Null (Luxury Ball)

Sakura the Milotic (Lure Ball)

Inigo the Torchic (Permier Ball, shiny)

Rose:

Shelgon (Great Ball)

Brionne (Poke Ball)

Rockruff (Fast Ball)

Maple the Pikachu (Love Ball)

Riolu (Ultra Ball)

Salandit (Luxury Ball)


Wes groaned a little, opening his eyes and shifting a bit uncomfortably as he attempted to focus with his blurry vision, before grunting a little, reaching over and pulling on his glasses. He had not slept well that night, having a bedmate that was hogging over two-thirds of the bed next to him. Said bed mate had also awoken, and was stretching and yawning, rubbing her eyes.

"Good morning, master," Nayru said, giving him a small smile.

"We need to figure out better sleeping arrangements," Wes muttered, cracking his back. "You kept trying to shove me off the bed in your sleep."

"First of all, I am not going in the Giratina contraption," Nayru instantly said, referring to her Friend Ball. "Second of all, it's not my fault that I've doubled in height since yesterday. I was a cute Kirlia just the other day, and now I am a beautiful Gardevoir!"

"Right," Wes muttered, taking out his PokeDex. "I forgot to do this yesterday… The Embrace Pokemon…"

"That means I give good hugs!" Nayru cheered, suddenly hugging Wes tightly.

"I don't think it means that kind of embrace," Wes rolled his eyes, but smiled as he went back to reading from the PokeDex. "Gardevoir has the ability to read the future. If it senses impending danger to its Trainer, this Pokémon is said to unleash its psychokinetic energy at full power, even at the risk of its own life. Gardevoir has the psychokinetic power to distort the dimensions and create a small black hole."

"Okay, as awesome as that makes me sound, I call hax," Nayru snapped, letting go of her master and glaring at the PokeDex. "Who wrote that? Do they even know how dangerous a black hole is, even a tiny one!?"

"We both know that the PokeDex exaggerate about a lot, Nayru," Wes yawned, stretching some more as he got off the bed. He walked into the bathroom and turned on the shower, and 20 minutes later emerged from the bathroom, fully dressed. He and Nayru headed down to the hotel lobby, where Rose was waiting for them, Maple riding on her head and just enjoying the view. Jason, Em and the other students were gathered in the café area, so the two trial goers headed over to where they were. Upon seeing them, Jason and Em walked over to great them.

"Rough night?" Jason asked, noticing that Wes seemed to be rubbing his side a lot.

"Nayru kept hogging a majority of the bed," Wes explained, glaring at the embrace Pokemon. "So yes, kind of sore here and there."

"You sleep in the same bad a Nayru?" a few students muttered, with several of them exchanging odd glances in Wes' direction.

"Yeah, so?" Wes asked, glaring back. This didn't stop several of the students from either chuckling at Wes or continuing to shoot odd looks his way. Rose looked at Wes in worry, who was turning red with embarrassment. Nayru looked embarrassed as well, and when she started to back away in embarrassment, this finally caused Jason to loudly clear his throat, catching everyone's attention.

"I see nothing wrong with it," he said, glaring instantly at all the students before another remark could be made. "I guarantee you all of you have cuddled with a Pokemon at one point in your life, am I right or am I RIGHT!?" Everyone sheepishly muttered conformation, which made Jason nod. "Thought so. Just because Nayru is human shaped doesn't mean a damn thing, so you all can stuff it. Why, I once survived in the cold, snowy depts of Unova's highest mountains by cuddling with my Volcarona. I wouldn't be here if it wasn't for him."

"Volcarona?" a female student asked.

"A fire type whose body could replace the sun if it even went out," Jason said in a very as a matter of fact tone, which caused several students to go wide-eyed. "Point is, don't cast stones if you yourself are guilty of cuddling with a Pokemon… and I swear if one of you even thinks about making a pokephile joke, you're getting detention for the rest of the year." This instantly caused a few students to sheepishly squirm.

"Wait, Unova?" another student asked, looking confused. "I thought you were the champion of Kalos."

"And that is a story for another day," Jason replied. "Now clam it, or detention. I need to tell Wes and Rose something."

"Thank you," Nayru muttered to Jason.

"Don't mention it," Jason said, giving her a smile before turning to Wes and Rose. "Anyway, it's trial day for you two… but I think it would be too easy for you two to just waltz in there and use Sakura, Brionne and Maple to defeat whatever Pokemon you are fighting… so I have a rule; no water types or attacks!"

"What!?" both Wes and Rose gasped, flabbergasted.

"Now hold on," Jason stated, holding up his hand. "You can use them, but why should you? It's a trial, after all, you should be challenged. As an incentive not to use water type Pokemon or attacks, I promise you both extra credit."

Wes' eyes lit up at this, while Rose tilted her head and muttered, "but I already have 102% in the class."

Jason ignored this, choosing instead to take Wes' growing smirk as a sign that his rule to them was accepted. "I promise you two won't be type limited again after this, but I thought maybe it would be fun to have an extra challenge this time around. Anyway, off you two go now."

"Good luck in the trial!" Em shouted after them, as the two of them left the hotel lobby and walked out the entrance, heading towards Route 7 and the volcano looming in the distance before them.

"No water types or water type attacks, huh?" Wes thought aloud, boldly grinning a little. "Fine, that is a challenge that I can gladly accept. After all, fire types have other weaknesses as well."

"Well, that's if we are battling a pure fire type," Rose noted, thinking to herself as she looked at the ground, the grass slowly vanishing as they entered the rocky field they were at with the other students yesterday. "If we are battling that Salazzle, then it shouldn't matter, as all the fire type weakness remain, also adding an additional psychic weakness. Rockruff could be useful since Fire-types are weak to Rock, but what about your team?"

Wes thought about it for a moment, weighing his options. "Well, I got Nayru for Psychic, but you are right… I don't have any ground or rock type attacks. Faye would be no good since she is a bug type, and so that really only leaves Inigo and…"

At that, Wes trailed off, his heart sinking as he thought back to the battle against Poipole. Despite listening to all his commands, Zero actually tried to kill the Ultra Beast that they were fighting, and didn't listen to Wes's command to stop. After that, both Dulse and Zossie seemed to be in agreement that Wes did not have control over Zero, at least not full control.

"Wes?" Rose asked, snapping him out of his flashback. "Are you ok?"

"I'm fine," Wes instantly replied, looking forward and trying to be casual. "So Nayru and Inigio it is, since Faye is a no-go and I can't use Sakura."

"What about Zero?" Rose asked.

"Nope," Wes dismissed with a wave of his hand. "Not going to use Zero, another handicap I am putting on myself." Rose blinked, instantly sensing that something was wrong, and turned to Nayru for an answer.

"Before receiving the eggs, Jason was approached by two mysterious people who wanted to battle Wes," Nayru explained telepathically so that Wes could not hear that Nayru was spilling the beans. "During the battle, they used a strange Pokemon known as an Ultra Beast."

"Ultra Beast?" Rose thought, knowing that if she talked aloud Wes would realize they were communicating. "What is that?"

"I can't be too sure myself," Nayru telepathically said back. "But what I do know is that Zero went belistic when battling the creature, and despite listening to Wes' commands, the second the battle ended, Zero ignore Wes' orders to return into his ball… and went for the kill."

"HE WHAT!?" Rose shouted loudly, instantly covering her mouth. Wes looked behind his shoulder in confusion, an eyebrow raised in confusion and suspicion. "Oh, uh… apparently a new article published this morning said that Red went up to Mt. Silver… again… crazy how much he likes mountains, right?"

"Your phone isn't in your hand," Wes instantly pointed out, his eyes narrowing a little.

"Oh, uh, I was half asleep when I read the article, so I guess it just hit me," Rose sheepishly stated, smiling nervously and rubbing the back of her head, with Maple intimidating her. Wes seemed to buy it, but slowly turned back to face forward as he climbed the mountain side.

"Smooth," Nayru commented telepathically. "Anyway, that is why Wes has sealed Zero, at least for the moment. Once he is more confident, he wants to work with Zero… but for now, let him be."

Rose nodded as the psychic link was broken, thinking over what Nayru had just told her, though she didn't have long before they arrived at a plateau on the mountain side, with a arena like area in the center, and the same guy that Jason talked to yesterday standing there, grinning at them. "Welcome, trial goers. My name is Kiawe, and I will be overseeing your trial today. For the first part of the trial, I want you to observe these three Marowak dancing, and tell me what is different between each dance."

"That doesn't sound fun," Wes muttered, looking annoyed.

"Observation is a key part of battle, young trainer," Kiawe commented, looking a little irritated at Wes. "If you are not focused on everything going on in a battle, you will fail to properly command your Pokemon. Memorizing certain parts of a battle, as well as acting on what changes, are important."

"Yes, sir," Rose nodded, though Wes grumbled a little.

"Very well," Kiawe grinned. "If at least one of you understands, then let us begin the dancing!" For the next ten minutes, Wes and Rose did nothing more then observe the dances, and what changed between the two sets. Both trainers were actively getting each one right, though as they got less and less different, Wes and Rose struggled more and more. Kiawe noticed Wes getting very into observing the dance, and grinned, knowing that the silver haired teen finally seemed to understand why he was doing what he did. Finally, two identical dances occurred, with a fourth Marowak appearing behind the trio of Marowak, glaring down at them.

"Uhhh," Wes pointed, his mouth hanging open. "I think that isn't supposed to be there."

"Correct," Kiawe nodded, before flashing a devilish smirk. "And now for part 2 of your trial… Totem Marowak, prepare for battle!"

Rotom took his as his cue, flying out and smiling on his screen. "Allow me, Rose! Marowak, Alolan variant, the Bone Keeper Pokemon. The bones it possesses were once its mother's. Its mother's regrets have become like a vengeful spirit protecting this Pokémon. Its custom is to mourn its lost companions. Mounds of dirt by the side of the road mark the graves of the Marowak."

"Thank you, Rotom," Rose nodded towards the floating device, before turning to the Marowak, which was surrounded by a yellow aura. "I read that unlike Kantoan Marowak, Alolan variant ones are Fire and Ghost types."

"Which means they are weak to Ground, Rock, Ghost, Water and Dark type moves," Wes thought aloud, narrowing his eyes. "Nayru, it's a double-edged sword here, but you're all I got! I don't want to use Inigo unless I have to."

Nayru nodded, stepping forward, a ghostly purple aura flaring on both her hands. "So instead of the Salazzle, looks like I am testing my new powers on you."

Rose pulled out her fast ball, grinning. "Alright, go Rockruff!" The rock puppy Pokemon emerged from the ball, barking and wagging his tail.

"Shadow Ball!" Wes commanded. Nayru nodded, the purple aura in her hands becoming a ball of shadow, before being launched at Marowak, who was hit by the orb of darkness, but it didn't seem to do much as the bone Pokemon shook his head, shrugging it off.

"Marowak are slow, so if we bombard it with attacks, we might knock it out before it even moves!" Rose stated. "Rockruff, use Rock Throw!" The puppy Pokemon barked, creating rocks and sending them towards Marowak, who batted some of them aside but was hit by one or two damaging him. His eyes suddenly flashed, before his eyes glowed red, the same glow surrounding Nayru, who hissed in pain.

"That was Hex, zzt," Rotom stated. "A Ghost type move! I think Marowak wants to take out Nayru first!"

"It's going to take more then that to stop me," Nayru muttered, flashing a smirk. "You'll need to do better then that! Maybe you should just surrender or call for backup!" Marowak blinked at that, but then grinned. He suddenly let out a sharp cry, which caused everyone there minus Kiawe to cover their ears. Suddenly, as if from nowhere, a Salazzle appeared, flashing a grin and getting ready to fight. Nayru blinked, before turning to Kiawe and pointing. "He can't do that… can he?"

"From now on, your trials will allow the totem Pokemon to call allies in for backup," Kiawe noted. "So, yes, he can."

"Thanks, Nayru," Wes muttered, shaking his head. "Alright then, let's take out the ally Salazzle first. Psychock!" Nayru started to charge her attack, however before should fire it, Salazzle reared up and unleashed a cloud of purple gas. Nayru gasped, struggling to breathe before she fired her attack, which slammed into Salazzle and knocked it out in one shot. When the smoke around Nayru cleared, however, she had one eye closed in pain, and the other barely open, as she panted.

"Nayru has been poisoned, zzt!" Rotom gasped, panicking a little.

"Can you still battle?" Wes asked, worried.

"Of course," Nayru panted, glaring at Marowak. "I got this one!"

"Rockruff, back up Nayru!" Rose commanded. "Use Bite on Marowak!" Rockruff let out a bark, sprinting forward before latching onto Marowak with his teeth. The bone Pokemon howled in pain, before throwing Rockruff off and into a wall. He then turned, glaring again at Nayru and unleashing his Hex attack, which Nayru screamed in pain at before falling to the ground, unable to battle.

"Nayru!" Wes shouted, rushing forward.

"What happened?" Rose asked, looking at Nayru in shock. "That poison couldn't have done it's toll that fast!"

"Hex's base power doubles if the opponent is inflicted with something like Burn or Posion," Rotom explained, looking worried. "He knew to focus on Nayru, as she was the strongest on the battle field."

"I am not going in the ball so don't even try it," Nayru hissed, as Wes carried her over to lean on a rock.

"I wasn't going to," Wes said, taking out a few berries. "Here, eat these and I will handle the rest." Wes turned back to the battlefield and walked over, holding Inigo's ball. "Go, Inigo!" The chick Pokemon came out with a sparkle of stars, chirping a little as he landed on the battle field.

"A baby Pokemon?" Kiawe asked, looking confused. "You aren't serious, are you? I doubt he has the experience needed to fight in this sort of battle."

"You would be surprised," Wes stated, glaring a little. "Inigo, Protect!"

"Rockruff, Bite again!"

Inigo surrounded himself with a green barrier of energy, as Rockruff bit onto Marowak again. This time, however, the totem Pokemon glared at Rockruff as he threw the dog off again, before charging forward, his bone glowing a blue color before it slammed into Rockruff, who let out a pain filled howl, and fainted.

"Rockruff!" Rose shouted, taking out his ball. "Thank you, return for now."

"That was Brick Break," Rotom stated. "A fighting type move, hence why it did so much to Rockruff."

"What's next?" Wes asked Rose, who was looking at the remaining PokeBalls she had in her bag. She smirked, taking out the Ultra Ball that contained Riolu and throwing it into the air, letting out the baby Pokemon. Kiawe blinked at that, almost in a stunned like manner, as Rose smirked. "Riolu and Inigo hatched at the same time, so it only makes sense that they battle together as well."

"Yeah, about that," Wes said, sweat dropping. Ingio was suddenly surrounded by a green light, chirping happily and running around in circles. "I… kinda forgot he has Speed Boost."

"Great," Rose muttered, shaking her head.

"Hey, you forgot something too!" Wes glared, pointing at Riolu. "Fighting type attacks have no effect on Ghost types!"

"I know," Rose stated. "But who said I was using Fighting type moves? You focus on your hyperactive chicken and I'll worry about my Pokemon. Riolu, Shadow Claw!"

Wes blinked, before suddenly he smirked, shaking his head. "So we taught our Pokemon the same move… alright then, Inigo, Shadow Claw!"

Both Pokemon rushed forward, with Inigo zooming past, leaping off and slashing Marowak on the head wildly. Riolu finally caught up, leaping up and slamming his claw into Marowak's belly. Marowak looked unamused at the pain these two baby Pokemon were causing him, as the fire on his bone increased in intensity, before he spun it, creating a wheel of fire that threw Inigo and Riolu back. Both Pokemon struggled to get up but stood up and faced the larger opponent. Marowak smirked, looking very confident, though weak.

"I must admit, I am impressed that those two are still standing after that last attack," Kiawe said, looking stunned.

"There's more than one reason I didn't sleep well last night," Wes admitted, scratching his nose. "I was training this little guy."

"I hate to admit it," Rose confessed, sheepishly grinning again. "But I was also training with Riolu last night as well. I'm mostly running on adrenaline and coffee."

Kiawe blinked at that, looking stunned at them, "So despite being very tired from climbing the mountain and battling that totem Salazzle yesterday, you guys STILL trained!?" He then laughed, drying his eyes a little. "Man, you two are too much."

"Enough talk, let's finish this!" Wes stated, grinning. "Inigo, use Shadow Claw again!"

"Riolu, you use Shadow Claw as well!" Rose commanded. Both Pokemon charged forward, Inigo reaching Marowak in lightning speed due to his ability, and slashing at the Marowak again, this time it really seemed to affect the ghostly fire type, before he suddenly was thrown back by Riolu's own Shadow Claw attack. He managed to stand up, however, glaring down at the baby Pokemon. For a few moments, nothing happened, before suddenly Marowak fell over, knocked out.

"Alright, we did it!" Wes and Rose shouted at the same time, high fiving one another in victory.

"Way to go," Nayru smiled, standing up and walking over to them, although she had a bit of a limp. "Got to admit, Master, I was at first shocked when you told me that you planned on using Inigo in this battle, but you really pulled though."

"I was shocked as well," Kiawe admitted, heading over to them. "But you two really managed to pull it off. Here, take these Firium Z, if you use them on a Fire attack, it was transform into Inferno Overdrive." Kiawe showed them the poses, before looking over the mountainside towards the hotel below them. "Well, I guess I better call Jason. I need to tell him that you two managed to beat me without using water types or attacks." Wes' eyes lit up at that, the thought of more extra credit filling his mind as he supported Nayru and began to walk down the mountain side with Inigo in his wake. Rose bowed a thank you to Kiawe before racing after Wes, Maple and Riolu hot on her heels. Kiawe looked after them, grinning. "Those two are going to be big someday… I can tell."


Edit: Forgot to change the Pokemon Listing. Whoops.