Chapter 22 - "I Can't Do That. It's Against The Rules."

Three Years Previous

It was a warm day in Alola, as was usual. Kala, a young girl of only eight years, walked slowly along Mahalo Trail, hand in hand with her mother, Kaarina Māhoe. Kaarina wore a red dress that went down to her ankles. It had the traditional Alolan flower print, and around her neck, she wore a lei.

"Is Tapu Koko real?" the young Kala asked.

Her mother nodded. "Of course it's real, Kala. It protects the island from any threats."

"Have you ever seen it?"

"When I was very young. When I started my island challenge, we had an encounter."

"What about grandpa?"

"Of course he's met Tapu Koko."

"Who would win if they battled?"

Kaarina laughed. "Well, that's hard to say. When you're grandpa is taking his battles seriously, he's one of the strongest trainers in all of Alola."

"What if you battled Tapu Koko?"

"Oh, no one messes with your mom. I could take it."

Kala giggled and then released herself from her mother's grip. She ran forward and then pointed out towards the ruins, only a short walk across a scary bridge away.

"I want to be strong like you and grandpa one day."

"Oh yeah?"

"Yeah! I want to battle Tapu Koko! I want to be the Island Kahuna!"

Kaarina lunged forward and playfully picked up Kala before pulling her close and hugging her. "Oh yeah? I think you'll get there. But you have to keep practicing hard. Show me your dance moves?"

Kala squirmed from the hug and then stood in front of her mom. She raised her arms, and then as asked, performed her grandpa's vintage fighting dance. Kaarina cheered and clapped as Kala finished.

"Perfect!" she exclaimed.

"Really?"

Before Kaarina could respond, there was a sound of cracking thunder. A flash of light flooded the area, and suddenly, a large yellow Pokémon appeared between mother and child. Kala, frightened by the appearance, fell backwards, and she immediately felt tears welling up. Kaarina, equipped with motherly instinct, rolled under the yellow Pokémon and then took a fighting stance in front of her daughter. In a flash, she held her Poké Ball tightly, prepared for battle.

Kala was struck with fear, but she tried to peak out from behind her mother's leg, noticing that the Pokémon that floated before them had an angry expression on its face, and its beak appeared sharp, only adding to its scary demeanor. But then, upon making eye contact with Kala, it's eyes seemed to change, and it lowered its arms, relaxing its posture.

"It's very rude of you to scare my daughter like that," Kaarina said.

"Tapu… Koko…" Kala muttered.

The Pokémon slowly floated around, circling the two. It reached out one of its large hands, allowing Kala to grab ahold. With a quick pull, it brought Kala back to her feet. The two locked eyes before bowing. And then, in another flash of light, Tapu Koko disappeared.

Kaarina knelt down and put her hand on Kala's back. "Are you okay? That was a bit scary."

Kala nodded. "It was beautiful."

"Tapu Koko shows itself to people that it sees a lot of potential in. Who knows? Maybe you'll one day be tasked with protecting Alola like the Tapus do. Maybe you are meant to become the Island Kahuna," Kaarina said. She wiped away the tears from Kala's eyes.

Kala didn't respond. She had felt a mix of emotions surge through her body in the past minute, and she wasn't sure of how she currently felt. She hadn't even realized that she had been crying. Her body was frozen with fear, but her mind was ecstatic at the thought of seeing the legendary Pokémon

Present Day

After Cyan finished his trial, the two stayed at the mountain's Pokémon Center. They got a good view of the stars, and ate the specialty food that they served. But it was soon morning, and they were set to go back down the mountain.

Once again, as they descended using the bus service, Cyan's ears popped on the inside. He moved around his jaw back and forth to try to get the sensation to go away.

"You okay?"

"Just… pressure in… ears."

"Do you want some gum?"

"That sounds wonderful!"

Kala nodded. "Probably should have bought some back at the Pokémon Center then."

Suddenly, the bus came to a stop. The driver seemed perplexed by something that the passengers couldn't see. He adjusted the microphone that was connected to his hat and then spoke into it, "Uh. I apologize for the sudden stop, but there is an unexpected roadblock."

The bus shook slightly, and the passengers all looked out, noticing multitudes of Pokémon, seemingly made from stone, positioned on all sides of the bus.

"What in the world?" Cyan wondered.

Kala got a closer look at the roadblocks. The Pokémon were dark grey, round, and only had muscular arms for appendages. They floated in the air by some sort of magnetic force, and their thick black eyebrows of stones gave them an angry appearance. "Those are Geodude. They often get stepped on, and they'll respond with a shock. Maybe the bus driver accidentally drove over one or something?"

"They look different than the ones I saw in Kanto."

"Uh. I'm not sure what to do," the bus driver said.

It was then that the shaking got more violent, and the Geodude seemingly got more aggressive, creating a personal earthquake for all the passengers.

"I'm not trained for this!" the bus driver screamed.

Cyan and Kala looked around. All of the other passengers seemed to be tourists, and there was no one outside, so they weren't getting help. They nodded at one another before running to the front of the bus.

"Let us off," Kala said.

The bus driver shook his head. "I can't do that. It's against the rules."

Cyan looked for the lever that opened the door. He grabbed ahold of it, and the bus driver, in a panic, screeched.

"We'll take care of them," Cyan said. He grabbed the lever and pulled it, opening up the door. Immediately, two Geodude locked eyes with the trainers, but they were prepared.

From the flashes of the Poké Balls' lights, Brionne and Dartrix emerged.

"Bubble Beam!"

"Razor Leaf!"

The two Pokémon unleashed their attacks, easily knocking Geodude backwards and creating a path for Cyan and Kala. They left the bus, and more of the Geodude turned their attention towards them. They all charged forward, but Cyan and Kala weren't deterred.

"Another!" they both yelled in unison.

A flurry of bubbles and leaves tore through the group of Geodude, sending most of them flying backwards. Some that were able to avoid the attacks started to cackle with electricity, and they glared at the trainers.

"What do you say we do?" Cyan asked.

Kala looked around. "We take out the leader. Wherever it is, we find it, we beat it, and they all stop."

"You really think that'll work?"

"That's how it works in movies!"

The ground started to shake as the remaining Geodude pulled stones from the ground. And then with one big heave, they tossed an avalanche of rubble towards the trainers.

"Brionne, let's do this!" Cyan said as he raised his arm, showing off his blue crystal.

Brionne nodded, and the two quickly struck the four poses necessary to send energy flowing through their bodies. And then, Brionne shot forward. He created a mass of water from his mouth, turning it into a whirlpool that absorbed the remaining Geodude. And then, like before, Brionne dove in. Unable to fight back, the Geodude were repeatedly tackled into, their cries barely breaking through their watery prison. When the water slowly died down, all of the Geodude collapsed to the ground.

"Yatta!" Cyan yelled, but his happy expression soon faded away as the ground continued to move, revealing more Geodude had come to the area. Their heads bobbed up and down as they came in closer, and the reality of the situation began to set in.

"We're trapped," Kala said as she looked around. There were dozens of Geodude, and they were infuriated by the audacity of the trainers.

Then, all of the Geodude stopped, and they punched the ground with their massive fists. They chanted as they created a path, revealing a larger Pokémon behind the group. It slowly walked down the path, shaking the ground with each step. It was a darker grey in color, and it had multiple black rods protruding from its arms.

"Let me guess. That thing is a Graveler?" Cyan asked as he looked at the Pokémon.

Kala nodded her head. "They're very quick tempered, and the people call the sparks that emit from a Graveler in battle 'the fireworks of the earth,' so let's be careful."

"Bring it, bub!" Cyan said.

The Graveler roared back, and four Geodude took their positions in front of him. They all started a roll towards the two trainers.

"We got this!" Kala exclaimed. "Razor Leaf!"

Dartrix flew in front of Brionne before he unleashed a dozen leaves from his body. They shot across the road, slicing into the Geodude and forcing them to sink to the ground immediately. Graveler, seemingly impressed, lifted one of the Geodude, tossed it away, and then puffed out his chest.

"I'll take 'em," Cyan said.

"Graveler…"

Trainer and Pokémon stared at one another, waiting for the other to make their move. The wind blew through the road, and the other passengers on the bus watched as the tension grew and grew. And then, Cyan made his command.

"Aqua Jet!"

Brionne covered himself in aquatic energy before he exploded forward. But Graveler had the proper counter. His right fist started to cackle with electricity, and he swung wide, knocking Brionne directly in the face. The Water-type fell hard against the ground, rolling backwards. He quickly recovered though, standing up on his two front legs.

"Let's go for long-distance!" Cyan yelled. "Bubble Beam!"

"Brrri!" the Pokémon called as he unleashed a wild flurry of bubbles from his mouth.

Graveler didn't seem to have a proper counter-attack like before, so this time, he lifted one of the other Geodude, barked orders, and then tossed his comrade into the air. Geodude started to glow with a white energy, and then, before anyone could figure out what was happening, it exploded. The white energy covered the area, and knocked most of the other Geodude off of the road. It wiped out Brionne's Bubble Beam completely, and then flung Dartrix and Brionne to their trainers. From the white light, Graveler emerged, his fist cackling with electric energy once again.

"Icy Wind!" Cyan desperately called.

Brionne was heavily damaged from the attack, but he managed to open his mouth and release the cold wind. It blew over Graveler, slowing down his movements, and with time, the electricity faded away as he fought back against the attack.

"Disarming Voice!"

Brionne, now a little bit more recovered from the previous blast, stood back up on his two front legs, and then let out a shriek. This time, Graveler stopped moving completely, and he winced as the pink energy washed over him.

Cyan took his chance. "Let's finish this with Aqua Jet!"

"Brrri!"

"Graveler!"

Brionne was once again encapsulated by aquatic energy before he shot forward. Graveler, bothered by the attacks from before, glared. He started a forward run, and electricity sparked off of his body. The two Pokémon crashed, creating an explosion of smoke and dust, and when it all faded away, they were both lying on the ground unconscious.

"Here's my chance!" Cyan said as he drew a Poké Ball from his belt.

"You're gonna catch that thing?!"

Without saying a word, Cyan threw the ball, making it curve at the last moment. It connected with Graveler, and all of the Geodude watched in horror as their kingpin was absorbed with the white light. The ball fell to the ground, and it started to rock back and forth.

"Geo!"

It rocked.

"Dude!"

Back and forth.

"Geodude-dude!"

And then it let out its soft ding. Graveler was caught.

Everyone went silent as Cyan slowly walked to the Poké Ball. He knelt down, putting his hand on Brionne's head. The Water-type cooed before allowing himself to be returned, and then Cyan pushed the button on Graveler's ball. Graveler emerged, and he shook his head. He glanced at Cyan in disbelief.

"Alright, so I caught you," Cyan said. "I need you to tell your Geodude that they need to leave this area and stop bothering people."

Graveler was silent. His look turned to a glare.

"And I need you to know that you're not unbeatable. It's not nice to bully people." Cyan motioned to the passengers in the bus. "They did nothing to you, so they didn't deserve this today. Got it?"

"Graveler."

"Good," Cyan said. He pushed the button twice on the Poké Ball, and a blue light emitted from it. It covered Graveler before exploding off of him. The passengers and group of Geodude stared at Cyan and Graveler with a look of confusion over their faces. "I've released you, because your Geodude need you. Do better by them."

Graveler, puzzled at what to do, simply said, "Graveler." He turned to his gang and started to bark orders. The Geodude complied with whatever he said, and they moved off of the road.

"Good," Cyan said. He stood up and walked back to Kala. "Let's get going."

Graveler never moved. He watched as the two trainers got back onto the bus and took their seats. Cyan didn't look back at him, and before Graveler knew it, the bus roared up again, and it was back on its way. The Pokémon watched as the bus continued down the road and the boy who defeated him left.

"Graveler…"

AUTHOR'S NOTES:

This was a fun chapter to write. Getting a little bit of Kala's background, and the Graveler gang was interesting. I'm going to continue writing some of Kala's background throughout the next few chapters and such. I want to flesh out her character a little bit more.

REVIEWS:

wisdom-jewel - "The battles are great and very enjoyable as always." - Thank you!

pokemonking0924 - "I'm just wondering if Cyan will get the hidden z crystals" - If I'm being 100% honest with you, I haven't decided yet. I know that Logan has three of them, and Cyan has the potential to get two, but we'll see.