Note: What's this? A chapter that isn't incredibly short? Hold your applause, please.

"You ever wonder if those 'Ace Trainer' types get heat stroke or something?" Holtz asked as he and Lillie trekked across the Vast Poni Canyon. The boy had been making observations of this sort for most of their walk, and Lillie would be lying if she said it hadn't kept a smile on her face despite the physical exhaustion. "I mean, how do you guys wear a hoodie in a climate like this, even minus sleeves? I worry about you falling out sometimes. I can hardly stand it, and I'm in a...what's this type of shirt called again?"

"Polo." Chimed Dex.

"Really? Thanks."

"And yet you make it seem like nothing at all." Lillie panted. "Maybe it is the hoodie..."

Lillie paused as she realized that Holtz was staring directly into her eyes. She fought the self-conscious urge to look away, and met his gaze. They had come across a raised bridge not unlike the one that they had first met on. Lillie recalled that encounter vividly; Nebby shouting for assistance on the middle of the bridge, herself immobilized on the far side with panic, before Holtz had come running in to save the Cosmog from oncoming Spearow. Lillie shook her head and gave Holtz her best attempt at a confident smile. "But you know what? I've overcome my fears enough to cross even a high bridge like this one."

Stepping ahead of her partner, she gazed over the bridge and took in a deep breath. "I am not going to be afraid of heights anymore. Next time I should even be able to tackle that bridge on Mahalo Trail."

Holtz grinned, standing behind her and nodding in what was a clear indication that he planned to follow her lead. "I'll hold you to that one."

Lillie returned the nod, feeling aglow with confidence. "Watch this! This is my trial!"

She began her sprint over the bridge, before the whooshing of wings caught her ear. Before she knew it, she was suddenly surrounded on all sides by small bird Pokemon. Not Spearow this time, she noted, but Murkrow. She paused but for a moment, before continuing her sprint. In a moment she was past the birds and on the other side of the gorge.

"Oh..."she said, taking a moment to register what had just happened, before turning to Holtz and giving him a wide, luminous smile as he ran over to join her.

"You weren't kidding." He said, before letting out a soft grunt when Lillie hugged him tightly.

"I did it! I made it all the way across! I cleared my trial!"

"Yeah you did!" Holtz yelled as he returned the hug. Lillie didn't know if it was his intention when their noses pressed together softly, but she was glad it happened. He let go a moment later and turned to the Murkrow, who remained in their position looking at the pair curiously. He walked over to them and crouched low before he spoke. "Thanks for being sports, you guys. You're way better than the last bridge birds we met."

The Pokemon cawed lightly before turning around and hopping off.

"I know this izzzz an oxymoron," Dex said, "but you're totally cool AND on fire right now, Lillie."

"Why thank you." Lillie said gratefully, before striking a pose and pointing her finger toward the nearby cavern. "ONWARD!"

"You got it boss." Holtz said, and onward they went.

It was a little ways later that they realized one of the Murkrow was following them from the bridge. They were alerted t it's presence when it cawed, and Holtz stared down the creature before taking two paces forward. The bird followed suit, hopping forward two jumps so as to keep up. Holtz stepped to the left, and so did the Pokemon. Stepping back to the right achieved the same result.

"This is weird..." he muttered to Lillie. "Not necessarily a bad thing...just weird."

"Letzzz keep going and see what it does."

They continued on, eventually exiting the cave to find themselves at another bridges. As they crossed, they found themselves stopped by a woman who's appearance could best be described as odd.

"Uh, what's with the tie-dye camo look?" Holtz asked the stranger as she stood in the middle of the bridge, framing her hands in front of her face as if taking a mental photo of he and Lillie. "And also who are you?"

"Oh!" She said, ignoring his question. "Now that's a great composition. I could paint a picture of you- the visitors to Poni!"

"How did you know we were visitors?" Lillie asked.

"Betcha it's the clothes. I knew we looked like tourists."

"Names Mina." The woman went on, seemingly in her own world apart from her conversation partners. "I'm the captain. I mean, I sort of am."

"Sort of?" Holtz questioned. "How does that work?"

"I actually just wander around doing my art, so I don't have an actual trial or anything..."

Holtz and Lillie shared a concerned look, though Mina didn't seem to catch it.

"But Vast Poni Canton sure is a wonder, huh? Once you've been through this place, you can really get to understand why that Ilima boy designed his trial the way he did, right?"

"Uh..."

"Oh, yeah. Ooooooooooh yeah. Take this, as a token of our acquaintance."

And without warning, she walked up and granted Holtz a Fairium Z Crystal.

"Wait, what-"

"It's the Fairium Z. Get your Z on!"

"Hang on a second-"

"Um, Miss?" Lillie tried to interject, only for Mina to waltz past them both.

"I'm the captain and all, so I've gotta come up with a trial." she muttered to herself. "Maybe it could involve painting pictures and picking flowers...Maybe a trial like that would be cool. Anyway, see you guys later! Alola, Alola!"

And like that, she was gone. Lillie turned to Holtz as he held up the Fairium Z. "Is this what a contact high feels like? I feel like this is what a contact high feels like."

Before Lillie could answer, a streak of black snatched the Z-Crystal from Holtz' grasp. The two of them turned to see Murkrow, cawing at them as it held the Fairium in its talons.

"Hey!" Holtz cried, stood in shock just long enough for the bird to start flying off. "Why I oughtta-!"

Holtz ran after the bird and Lillie ran after Holtz, the boy jumping up and grabbing hold of the Murkrow by its tail. "Bad! Bad Murkrow! Why would you even do that?"

Rather than answer the Murkrow opted to peck Holtz in the eye.

"OW!" Holtz cried, releasing the Murkrow and falling backwards. The Pokemon then flew past what was obviously a trial gate and into yet another cave. Holtz paid that no mind, running into the cave after it.

"Holtz, wait!" Lillie cried. As if under a spell, Holtz froze in his tracks, but it wasn't long before he began hopping from foot to foot, anxious to continue after Murkrow.

"What is it?" He called back, a good ways ahead of her. "Can't stop! The thing has the thing, lookit!"

Lillie saw a stone erected near the entrance of the cave, and went over to read the message on it.

"I think this cave might be dangerous! This stone has some carvings on it! It says 'Ahead lies the sacred ground of trials. None who do not take part in its trials will be allowed to walk upon this earth-"

"Ok, so that IS really ominous." Holtz said. "But it also sounds like exaggerating. We can worry about whatever after we catch that thieving little- WHOA!" Holtz was suddenly cut off when another Pokemon arrived from some unlit corner of the cavern and tackled him directly in his gut, hard enough that both he and the Pokemon were flung out of Lillie's line of sight.

"HOLTZ!" Lillie yelled, foregoing the rest of the message and running in to check in the boy. Quickly enough she found him lying back on the ground, clutching himself.

"Ack...ribs." He muttered as the offending Pokemon stood a few paces away, crying out adversarially. It was a small creature, really, though one Lillie had never seen before.

"Dex..." Lillie asked as she helped Holtz to his feet. "What is that?"

"Itzzzz a Jangmo-o."

"A what?" She and Holtz asked simultaneously.

"A Jangmo-o." I don't know about you guyzzzz, but I think the trial just started."

"Yeah, well, getting sucker punched by two little upstarts in a row is a great way to start off." Holtz groaned, before pulling out a pokeball and unleashing Harris onto the battlefield. Before the battle could even get started, Murkrow would fly back over their heads, exiting the cave the same way it came in, Fairium still in hand. "Uh, Lillie, hate to ask this, but-"

"I'm on it!" Lillie yelled, running after the Murkrow and following it outside. For a fleeting moment, Lillie was surprised at her own eagerness. Not a few moments ago she had to Steel herself just to bypass these same Murkrow. Now she was chasing after one like a predator after their prey. What made the surprise so fleeting was that she knew she would never have done anything else, not when it was for Holtz. He was the reason she even could, the reason she was stronger than she had been. And of course, he'd have done the same for her with just as little hesitation.

She was lucky (she supposed) that the Murkrow's nest seemed to be right outside the cave, and the creature fluttered over to place the Fairium Z inside. Many other shiny objects lined the nest, but Lillie remained laser focused on the crystal. The Murkrow had nested in a small, and it was perfectly within Lillie's ability to climb up and snatch the item. She should have foreseen the Murkrow getting territorial and attempting to snap her hand off, but give her some credit she was improvising.

The bird had actually managed to nip at her hand, drawing some blood and making Lillie stifle a shout. Still she persisted, and soon enough managed to swipe the crystal.

"No!" She shouted, "Bad Murkrow! Holtz needs this."

Peeved, the Murkrow pecked at her other hand and sent her falling to the ground. Landing on her back, Lillie was on her feet and back in the cave in moments. Holtz wasn't where she'd left him, and she could only assume he was further in the cave. Sure enough, she found the boy shortly after, facing what looked liked Jangmo-o on steroids.

"Oh my..."

"Yeah," Holtz responded, holding up a pokeball, "I think Kommo-o here is mad that I put his little brother in one of these."

Lillie shook her head as Holtz threw the pokeball, releasing Simon for battle.
"Catch!" She yelled, tossing the Fairium Z at her partner. Holtz caught the crystal and activated it.

"Simon!" He said, drawing the pink dog's attention and doing the Fairy dance. "Let's see how this plays..."

Simon growled as his Z-Move became activated. The Granbull tiptoed over to Kommo-o, before dancing and rushing around his opponent and ending off Twinkle Tackle with a light tap. Kommo-o went careening toward the ground ands didn't rise up afterward.

Holtz and Lillie both stood in shock while Simon stood tall with pride. "That was amazing...Simon, that was amazing! Goofy as heck, but amazing!"

Holtz rushed over to Simon, the Pokemon jubilant as Holtz brushed and doted on him. "Hey, hey, who's a good boy, huh?"

Lillie smiled at the display, before looking over her still bleeding hand. Before anything else could happen, a familiar car drew everyone's attention. Of course, Murkrow had followed Lillie into the cave and looked hungry for retribution. Thinking fast, Lillie saw an Ultra Ball in the pocket of Holtz bag, and grabbed it before tossing it at Murkrow. The ball absorbed the bird, before falling to the ground. Lilli, Holtz, Simon and Dex looked on in awe as the ball twitched once, twice, three times, before the sound of a capture could be heard.

"Lillie..." Holtz muttered, before running over and scooping her up in a hug. "Lillie that was great! That was-was..."

He let go of the hug and grabbed Lillie's hands in her own, staring at them as he noticed the bleeding. "You're hands! They're...are you alright?!"

"Yes. I'm fine."

"Hang on." Holtz said, removing his pack and rooting through it. "I can wrap that with something. At least...I think. Why do pokemarts never sell bandages?"

"Holtz, I said-"

"This is my fault, I shouldn't have let you do that, it was stupid-"

"Holtz! I'm fine..."

The boy exhaled, staring her right in the eyes again. He pulled his hand out of his bag, some cloth held in it.

"Silk scarf." he said, wrapping it tenderly around her wound. He pulled the hand up to his lips and kissed it, making Lillie's face redder than Beady's. A moment passed, before the two of them turned to look at Murkrow in the pokeball. "I can tell he's gonna be loads of fun..."

"Hehe...well, I guess you could say that's my second trial complete."