Chapter 17 - "Whoa. Whoa. Bro."

It had been a couple of days since Cyan caught Oranguru, and the duo was now headed towards the southern side of Akala Island where Cyan was set for his grand trial.

"But first we have to go through Diglett's Tunnel," Kala said as the two walked through Heahea City. "When we arrive in Konikoni City, you can battle Olivia, who is the Island Kahuna."

Cyan nodded. "Sounds great! I wonder what kind of Pokémon she's going to use. Do you think I'll have time to practice my Z-Moves beforehand?"

"I mean, we can stop at a Pokémon Center and try to practice a bit, but do you think you can do one now?"

Cyan folded his arms and looked down at the bracelet. "When I was fighting Oranguru, I could feel the energy of the Z-Crystal, and I know Ivysaur could too. We were connected together in a way that I haven't felt before. I know I'm close. I know I can do it."

"Then let's keep practicing."

"Have you ever done a Z-Move?"

Kala stopped walking. "Um. No. I guess I haven't, but I also don't have any Z-Crystals, ya know?"

"I guess that's true," Cyan said. He flipped his bag around to his frontside and then opened the pocket that held all of his crystals. He pulled the fire red crystal from its spot and held it tightly in between his fingers. "I know that I technically earned this, but I'll give it to you. You've helped me out so much, so I want you to have the Firium Z-Crystal for Litten."

Kala took it hesitantly. "Okay. Thank you."

He patted her on the back. "Don't worry! And don't be so nervous!"

The two continued through Heahea City until they reached Diglett's Tunnel. It was a dark place, and a cool wind flowed through it, blowing against Cyan and Kala, making them shiver.

"I guess this is what we prepared for in my first trial," Cyan said. "Let's go!"

They entered into the cave, and once they were inside, it was much warmer. There were many people in hardhats, walking around and seemingly in the middle of a dig. Cyan and Kala tried to ignore them and continue through the cave, but they were forced to do a detour and walk around all of the equipment.

And as would be expected from a place called "Diglett's Tunnel" the wild Pokémon in the area were mostly Diglett with their cute little blonde wires sticking out from the top of their heads. They dug peacefully along the path, mostly ignoring Cyan and Kala, but Cyan, naturally curious, couldn't help but try to watch what they were doing.

"In Kanto, there's a place called Diglett's Cave. I've never been there, but I guess it's a place where a lot of people go to train," Cyan said. "There's a lot of strong Diglett and Dugtrio there, I've heard."

Kala smiled. "I'd like to visit Kanto one day."

"Whoa. Whoa. Bro."

The two stopped and looked up, finding two familiar hairstyles attached to two familiar young boys with wiggly arms.

"It's those two nerds we fought at Paddy Wack Ranch!" the boy with the blue hair yelled.

"Paniola Ranch," Kala muttered.

"Bro, I remember! I think it's time we show them how much stronger we've gotten!" the boy with the slicked back green hair yelled.

"Yeah! Our eggs have hatched!"

"We're dads now, bro!"

Cyan and Kala looked at one another, unsure of how to approach the situation.

"Are you sure?" Cyan asked. "We can not have the battle but say that we did."

The two Team Skull members glanced at one another as if they were trying to figure out a difficult math question. They whispered with one another before coming to their conclusion.

The one with the green hair pointed out violently. "That ain't gunna cut it, bro!"

Kala, seemingly fed up with everything, grabbed at her belt and tossed a Poké Ball onto the ground. Rowlet appeared, and he stretched out his wings before looking at the Team Skull members and then yawning.

"Hey! It yawned at us!" the blue-haired boy screeched. "I think it's time you meet my new Pokémon! Go, Stufful!"

A small pink Pokémon with a large head but small brown legs appeared on the ground. It looked up at Cyan with cute eyes.

"It's adorable!" Cyan yelled.

Kala nodded. "Yeah, but that thing is strong enough to over-power a pro wrestler, so we have to be careful."

Cyan thought for a moment. "But wrestling is fake?"

"Don't forget about me! Cutiefly, let's do this, bro!"

From the green-haired boy's Poké Ball, a small yellow Pokémon with long and thin legs materialized in the air. It floated with a wide smile on its face.

"So cute!" Cyan screeched.

"Cutiefly can sense the auras of other beings, so it'll be able to predict our movements with ease. We have to be smart with how we battle," Kala said. She looked at Cyan. "Speaking of which, are you gonna choose a Pokémon?"

Cyan fumbled around and looked at his belt. He grabbed his new Great Ball and then tossed it onto the ground. Oranguru emerged, and he lazily scratched the top of his head. He looked back at Cyan before sighing and then standing up.

The two had spent a couple of days together already, and while Oranguru wasn't entirely thrilled to have been captured by a young trainer, he was still willing to battle.

"Bro, their Pokémon look strong," the green-hair boy said quietly.

"Quiet! Our Pokémon are just as strong! Stufful, use Brutal Swing!"

"Bro, Struggle Bug!"

Team Skull's Pokémon lunged forward. Stufful's paws started to surge with dark energy while a dark green hue came over the entirety of Cutiefly.

"Razor Leaf!" Kala commanded.

"And Confusion!"

As the opponent's Pokémon came closer, Rowlet unleashed his leaves onto the field. They went forward, but Cutiefly tore through them with ease. And the energy that Oranguru created with his finger seemingly did nothing to the oncoming Pokémon. Cutiefly crashed into Rowlet, and then Stufful picked up Oranguru with ease before tossing him back. The two Pokémon landed in front of Cyan and Kala's feet, and they looked at each with confused expressions.

"Wow. So you weren't kidding around," Cyan said. "We need to be smarter."

Oranguru huffed.

"Okay. I need to be smarter."

"I'm going to take a more direct approach," Kala said. "Use Peck!"

Cyan nodded. "In that case, we'll use Nasty Plot!"

As Rowlet bounded forward, Oranguru returned to a sitting position. He put his hand to his chin and began to meditate, increasing his offensive capabilities. Rowlet jabbed its beak into Cutiefly, but the Bug-type shifted back and escaped from a full forced attack. She buzzed away and looked down at both of the Pokémon, waiting for her trainer's instructions.

"Bro, you're gonna have to do better than that!" the green-haired trainer yelled. "Use Silver Wind!"

"We got this! Stufful, use Flail!"

"Fight back with Ominous Wind!"

Oranguru grinned and then stood up, looking back to Cyan for directions.

"Alright then. Use Zen Headbutt!"

"Oran!" the Pokémon yelled as he charged forward. The Psychic-type clashed with the Fighting-type, shooting a wave of powerful energy throughout the tunnel. All of the Diglett in the surrounding area were terrified by the sheer power, so they hid away in their holes.

The two powerful wind-based attacks clashed into one another, but neither gave in, and there was a standstill between all four of the Pokémon. They all glared at one another, waiting for further instructions.

"Draining Kiss, bro!"

"One more Brutal Swing!"

"Peck!"

"Confusion!"

Once again, the four Pokémon all collided with one another. Cutiefly tried to zip around Rowlet, but the Grass-type was a little bit faster. He got under her small body, and jabbed, sending her backwards. And then Stufful tried to get a grip on Oranguru, but the Psychic-type was able to overpower her with his own attack. He held out his finger and lifted Stufful into the air before throwing her backwards. She crashed on top of Cutiefly and fainted on the spot.

"Bro!"

"Our babies!"

The two Team Skull members ran out onto the field and to their Pokémon. They knelt down, and it looked like tears were forming in their eyes.

"How could you?" the blue-haired one yelled.

Cyan sighed. "You guys started it. We didn't want to battle."

"Whatever, bro!" the green-haired member snapped. He pulled out his Poké Ball and returned his Cutiefly. "Next time, it'll be different!"

The blue-haired boy stood back up. "You don't take us seriously, do you?!"

Kala shrugged. "Not really."

The Team Skull members glanced at one another.

"You will, bro. You will."

With that, the two members were off, running down the opposite path and disappearing into the tunnel.

"What a waste of time," Kala muttered. She looked at Rowlet who then started to surge with energy. "Wait up."

"I think he's evolving!" Cyan exclaimed.

Rowlet began to glow white, and his body grew in size as it changed its shape. The white energy exploded off of him, and he cooed softly as his new form was revealed.

"Whoa," Cyan said quietly. "What is it?"

Kala smiled as she knelt down and lightly pet her new Pokémon on the top of the head. "This is Dartrix."

AUTHOR'S NOTES:

I love the pro wrestling line, just saying (I also love pro wrestling, and I kind of like the idea of Logan loving pro wrestling and Cyan thinking that it's ridiculous).

With how short I'm keeping this story (in comparison to Healing in Hoenn) it's hard to keep the Pokémon that Cyan uses balanced. Rockruff doesn't get a lot of action, so I wanted to have her battle, but I decided to have him use Oranguru this time around for their first battle together. Also, Rowlet evolved! The pace of this story is a lot faster, so the Pokémon evolve quicker. I hope that's not too much of an issue. If I were to rewrite this series, I would definitely add in a lot more adventure chapters to flesh out the characters of the Pokémon. But at this point, I'd rather just learn from my mistakes with the characters' next journeys.