Yes. Hi. Um.

Sorry I haven't updated the story since, like, June?

Life's been kinda nuts for me. I spent most of the summer just staring at walls because calc left me so broken. And, as I predicted, Splatoon 2 distracted me from writing. Plus, I've had a major creativity block since I've gotten to college. Legit, even drawing, which is my thing, hasn't been clicking for me. I've only managed to get one drawing done, but I haven't been able to post it since it's gonna be in a Zine my friend's putting together (Back to Alola!), so it looks like I've done nothing artsy in forever. I'm not complaining too much, though. I got cool friends here. I tend to gravitate towards friends more than art. Anyways, the main main reason why this chapter took so damn long was because of the creativity block I mentioned earlier. The writing aspect of it hit me during the summer, and I just could not figure out how I wanted this chapter to go. It took so long, I made fun of myself in a couple chapters for it.

I'll add more notes down at the bottom, which will basically just have more of my random thoughts and some small mentioning of plans for this story.

Once I reached the top of the stairs, I was practically at the mouth of the volcano. The air was sweltering, yet the man I met at the Battle Royal Dome was dancing with a flaming rod on a platform alongside three Pokemon the looked like Marowak. The man noticed me watching the dance and stepped off of the platform.

"Ah, you're that girl from the Battle Royal Dome. Alani, was it?" When I nodded, he smiled and continued. "As I mentioned back there, I am Kiawe. I study the dances that have been passed down in Alola for generations. The trial of Kiawe... You will find that it is a bit different than the trials you have faced to this point, but of course, you will attempt it, right?"

"Definitely," I said. "My team and I are ready for whatever you throw our way!"

"Very well then. My trial will test your powers of observation!" Kiawe explained. "These Marowak will perform a dance...and then another. Your task will be to find the difference between the two. Begin!"

The Marowak began twirling their bones as they danced in a circle. They performed various tricks, creating a spectacular display of crackling flames. The middle one unleashed a huge flash of light, and I was forced to look away for a moment. Once the light died down, I saw that the Marowak had struck a final pose.

"Once more!"

The Marowak began to dance in the same way as they had before, but after the flash, the Marowak in the middle was in a completely different pose.

"So, Alani, were you able to figure out the difference between the two dances?" Kiawe asked.

I nodded. "The middle Marowak ended in a different pose in the second dance."

"Very impressive!" Kiawe grinned. "And to add to the spectacle... Come, Marowak!" I was barely able to register what was happening when the middle Marowak ran to the edge of the stage and let out a battle cry.

"Ah! Um, Clyde, I choose you!" I fumbled for Clyde's Pokeball, then tossed it into the air, sending out my companion. "Alright, Clyde, use Mudslap!"

I bit my lip in worry as I watched Clyde use the move. This Marowak looked like it was an Alolan forme one, based on the flames on the ends of the bone it was holding. I could only hope that the move I told Clyde to use was fully effective against it.

The Mudslap connected with its target. Marowak stumbled back from the force of the move, wiping its eyes in an attempt to remove the mud left on them. It glared at Clyde and rushed at him with its bone primed for attack. The bone smashed into Clyde's side, causing him to near stumble down the stairs. He was able the recover his balance just before he would have started tumbling and let out an indignant bray while running up to Marowak. He let loose a Double Kick, but strangely enough, the move didn't even seem to faze his opponent.

"Alolan Marowak are part Ghost-type," Kiawe informed me. "Normal and Fighting-type moves won't do a thing against him!"

I sighed. If this Marowak was part Ghost, then that left Clyde with only two moves that would be able to even touch him. "Hey, Clyde, try using Bulldoze!" Clyde began to stomp on the ground. The vibrations caused by the impacts knocked Marowak to the ground before he got a chance to attack Clyde again. Clyde rushed in to deliver a Mudslap, but Marowak quickly rolled out of the way, causing Clyde to nearly crash into the platform.

Marowak began to cloak itself in flames, confirming my suspicions of him being a Fire-type as well. He roared and charged at Clyde at full speed.

"Clyde, dodge it and use Bulldoze again!" Clyde whipped around and saw the flaming ball of angry ghost barreling towards him. He let out a short bray of surprise before jumping onto the platform and leaping over the incoming attack. He landed behind Marowak and used his own attack, making Marowak collapse and become unable to get up.

"Very impressive!" Kiawe said. "But, please, be more careful about what moves you use here. We are on an active volcano, after all."

"Ah, right! Sorry!" For some reason, the environment never came to mind as I was battling. Now that it was brought to my attention, it was so obvious that using a move that shook the ground was a pretty bad idea on a volcano. I returned Clyde to his Pokeball, partially to let him cool down after battling on a volcano, partially to keep him from using Bulldoze again.

Kiawe nodded in acknowledgment. "Very well. Onto the next dance!" The Marowak had brought their fallen companion onto the stage while Kiawe and I were talking and managed to get him back on his feet for the dance. They twirled their bones again as they danced in a circle and ended in a new pose after the flash of light. They reset and then started up the dance once more. I braced myself for the flash of light again, but when I opened my eyes, I saw a hiker had somehow walked in front of me and was staring right at me. I shrieked and stumbled back in surprise.

Kiawe quietly chuckled. "So, I suppose you know what the difference is this time?"

After I calmed myself down a bit, I glanced at the Marowak behind the hiker. They looked like they were in the same pose as before, which had to mean...

"The hiker?" I said, not fully certain of my answer.

"Correct!" Kiawe confirmed. "And to add to the spectacle... Come, my hiker friend!"

"Alola!" the hiker bellowed heartily as he sent out a Magmar.

I pulled a different Pokeball so that Clyde could take a break. "Creampuff, let's go!" Creampuff appeared from her Pokeball with a bark. She eyed her opponent and out a ferocious growl, one that I had never heard from her before.

"Magmar, use Fire Spin!" Magmar unleashed a spiraling column of flames in Creampuff's direction. Creampuff glared at the flames as if looks alone would extinguish them.

"Creampuff, dodge it and use Sand Attack to give yourself some cover!" Instead of following my directions, Creampuff glanced at me and chose to use Bite instead. I was shocked. "Creampuff, what are you doing? You're gonna get burned!" Sure enough, Magmar's Flame Body ability kicked in, and upon contact with it, Creampuff sustained a nasty burn.

"Add to that burn with Ember!" Magmar roared and blew out more flames towards Creampuff. Creampuff whined as the flames touched her already burned muzzle.

"Creampuff, you need the take a break. Return!" I pulled out her Pokeball and tried to return her to it. Emphasis on tried.

The instant I pulled out her Pokeball, Creampuff glared at me and dodged the beams of energy coming from it, startling me into stopping. She landed facing her opponent and howled. The rocks on her neck started to glow as she used Rock Throw to attack Magmar. It grunted in pain as the rocks began to pelt it. Magmar tried to take cover, but Creampuff was relentless. She chased it all around the platform, despite her injuries. Magmar eventually collapsed, and Creampuff let out a victory bark. She ran over to me and began running in circles to show how excited she was.

"Creampuff, what were you doing?" I chided. "You weren't following any of my directions. That was bad!" Creampuff whimpered and hung her head low. I sighed and pulled out a Burn Heal as well as a couple of Potions. "We'll talk about this later. For now, please try to listen to me a bit more, ok?"

"You did well to defeat my friend David here, I suppose..." If we were in an anime, Kiawe would probably have been sweatdropping. "Did you by any chance receive that Rockruff from a friend?"

I shook my head as I tended to Creampuff's burn. "No. I caught her back on Melemele. She's never acted up like this before."

"Hm. That's odd." Kiawe held his chin in thought. "You should probably try to find out if this is normal behavior for Rockruff. I wish I could help, but I'm no expert when it comes to Rock-types. Perhaps Olivia knows something."

"It's alright," I said, standing back up. "Can we go ahead and start the next dance?"

"Right. Come, Marowak! Onto the next dance!" The Marowak began a dance that was much flashier than their previous dances. They jumped and twirled through the air, posing with David at the very end. Without needing prompting, the Marowak started their dance again.

Given how the last two dances went, I figured that the finale would once again be the difference. Sure enough, it was: a large black Pokemon was posing behind one of the Marowak. The moment I saw it, it felt like the temperature dropped several degrees, though that wasn't really saying much, considering we were on top of an active volcano. It glared at me with cunning eyes, and it almost looked like it had a grin on its face.

"So, Alani," Kiawe said, snapping me from my trance. "Can you spot the difference?"

I looked back at the new Pokemon. "That...that Pokemon behind Marowak. On the left."

"Correct! And to add one last flourish to the act..." Kiawe grinned devilishly. "Come, Totem Salazzle!"

"Wait, that's the Totem Po-" Salazzle let out a ferocious roar, cutting me off. Creampuff barked at it in retaliation. Panicking, I pulled out Clyde's Pokeball so he could help Creampuff in the battle.

I looked at Salazzle again. It looked a lot like Salandit, and the name itself sounded similar, too, but I still wanted to confirm my suspicions. "Hey, Rotom, can you pull up any data on Salazzle?" I was met with silence. "Rotom? Come on, this is really not the time to be taking a nap!" Still nothing. I shook my head in exasperation. I'd deal with it later. I had a battle to focus on, after all.

Creampuff and Clyde had already started their assault on Salazzle. Clyde was focusing on taking out its legs, while Creampuff was going for its face. Salazzle looked increasingly irritated as it was hit with waves or rocks and mud. It didn't take long before it cried out in frustration-and for help. Dozens of Salandit began to crawl out of their hiding spots, coming to the aid of the Totem Pokemon.

I quickly glanced between Salazzle and the Salandit gathering around it. Clyde and Creampuff alone wouldn't be able to take them all on. There were far too many of them for the Pokemon I had out to take on. They needed someone else to take on some of the Salandit while they focused on taking down Salazzle. I considered the other Pokemon I had. Pueo had an extreme disadvantage in this situation, while Puppers wouldn't be able to dish out much damage on our opponents. That left Mestrix as my only option.

"Hey, Mestrix, use Swift on those Salandit and help out Clyde and Creampuff!" Mestrix appeared from her ball in a flash of light. With a small battle cry, she leaped into the air and unleashed a flurry of stars at her opponents. It wasn't enough to take them out, but it did distract some of them from their original targets.

I looked up to check on Clyde and Creampuff. They were doing remarkably well at taking down Salazzle, despite Creampuff's obvious distaste of working as a team. When I looked closer, however, I realized that Salazzle was staring to release a purple cloud of gas. That could only mean one thing.

Poison.

"Clyde, Creampuff, back off for a moment! Salazzle's releasing poison!" I warned. Clyde understood and ran a safe distance away from Salazzle, taking out any Salandit in his path. Creampuff ignored me at first, then decided to heed my warning and hopped away from the poison gas.

I gritted my teeth as I glared at our opponents. They had numbers on us, but that just meant I had to come up with a new strategy. One that could help three Pokemon overcome a swarm.

At that moment, two Salandits tried to get the jump on Creampuff. Growling in annoyance, she used Sand Attack, giving herself an opportunity to get out of the way of the attacks. The Salandit duo, being blinded by the kicked up dust, crashed into each other and fell to the ground unconscious.

"Oh, of course!" The gears in my head finally started turning again as I watched what happened. "Why didn't I think of that sooner? Creampuff, kick up more sand to create some cover!" Creampuff barked and began dashing around our opponents, leaving clouds of dust in her wake. The Salandit hissed in frustration as their vision was obscured by the dust.

"Alright, Clyde, start taking them out with Mudslap!" I grinned as I watched the battle unfold. After what felt like an eternal struggle, things were finally starting to get going again. After a few minutes, most of the Salandit left, being too irritated by the barrage of stars and mud to continue.

Creampuff turned to me, wagging her tail in excitement. Rocks began to form around her as she began preparing a move, waiting for a signal. At my nod, she unleashed her attack on the other Pokemon, pelting them with sharp rocks. The last of the Salandit skittered away, leaving just the Totem Pokemon standing before us.

Salazzle narrowed its eyes and growled at us. I saw its gaze flicker to Mestrix, then it charged at her full-speed. Mestrix yelped and threw herself behind a nearby rock, narrowly avoiding the attack. The rest of us were forced to take cover as well while Salazzle continued its rampage.

I glared at Salazzle as it dashed around. It was hot, I was tired, and my Pokemon were probably ten times as exhausted as I was. It was time to finally bring this battle to a close.

"Mestrix, hit 'em with with Swift! Clyde, Creampuff, follow up with your strongest attacks!" My Pokemon cheered, though I could practically hear Creampuff rolling her eyes. Star-shaped rays began shooting out at Salazzle, providing cover for Clyde and Creampuff to rush in. Rocks and mud joined the shooting stars as Salazzle was slowly forced to its knees. With a combined cry, my Pokemon delivered the final blow, knocking Salazzle out.

I leaned against a nearby boulder as I caught my breath, a small grin on my face. "We...we did it. God, that felt like it took forever, but we did it. We beat the Totem Pokemon."

"That you certainly did," Kiawe said as he walked over to me. "With your keen observations, you were able to see even fine differences in our dances, and you were able to topple the challenge placed before you. Well done!" He searched for something in his pocket, then held out a shining red crystal. "This is a Firium Z-Crystal. It is yours now."

I wearily accepted the reward. As tough a battle as this was, I could at least use this crystal. As I pocketed it, my Pokemon came running back, jumping in excitement. A laugh escaped me as I bent down to meet them.

"The bond you share with your Pokemon is very strong," Kiawe said as he watched us. "I'd be lying if I said I don't expect great things of you. Now, allow me to show you how to use the Fire-type Z-Power!" Kiawe began to perform a dance that somehow seemed familiar. Once he completed it, I realized it was part of the very same dance that the Marowak had been doing this whole time.

Kiawe pulled another device from his pocket. "One last thing. Allow me to see your Ride Pager for a moment." I fished the pager from my bag and handed it over to Kiawe. He glanced between my pager and the other device in his hand as he typed something into it, then handed it back to me. "I registered the Charizard Flight system to your pager. Now, you'll be able to call a Charizard and fly anywhere you'd like. Fair warning, though, the system can get busy at times, so I wouldn't rely on it all the time. Sometimes, simply walking would be faster."

"Alright, I'll keep that in mind," I said as I took back my pager. "Thanks, Kiawe!"

Kiawe grinned. "It's the least I can do. You still have a long journey ahead of you. No doubt that being able to fly will help you in a pinch. Now, it's getting rather late. You and your companion best get going. There's a motel further up the path. You can't miss it. I'd recommend staying there for at least one night, then going to Lush Jungle and taking on Mallow's trial."

I looked at him in surprise. "Oh, Mallow's trial is actually that close? Wow. I didn't even realize that." I returned my Pokemon to their balls so that they could rest up. "Well, I think I'll follow your advice. Thanks so much!" I took my leave of the trial site, ready to find the motel and get some well-deserved shut-eye.

So. I know Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon are coming out in a couple weeks. I, for one, am super hyped, especially since I've been dodging spoilers for, what, five months now? I wanna see what's in store for us! I wanna go beat up the bad guys and hopefully have a bunch of multiverse/timeline shenanigans and have at least one ultra plot twist! Take pictures with my team! Explore Ultra Space! So exciting!

Mini rant aside, I'm sure you guys are wondering if the Ultra games will affect this story at all. And all I'm saying right now is this: Depending on what events play out in the Ultra universe, if I can play my cards right while writing and coming up with ideas... It's gonna be good. Until I get to that deciding point, everything's most likely gonna stay relatively true to the events of Sun/Moon. Which brings me back to the current story itself. I'm trying to get the rest of this island finished before I post anything more. Honestly, I wasn't even gonna post this now, but I saw that people still look at this story, despite how I haven't updated in forever, so I figured one couldn't hurt. I just don't know when the next one's gonna pop up. But it's definitely better than this chapter, at least in my opinion.

See ya...whenever, I guess.

"Zzt! Blast through that Captain'zzz barricade and into your next adventure, pal! You're on fire!"

"Oh sure, now you're awake!"