As the sun rose above the rippling surface of the ocean, its red and orange rays shot across the water, right toward the eastern shore of Poni Island. Licking and tickling the side of the ranch house, the light crept into the living room, where Reimu, still snoring away, lay flopped out across the leather couch.
As the snot bubble grew and shrunk, as the z's floated and popped, as the log was sawed, the tap-tap-tap of two pairs of feet pranced across the wooden floor, right toward the couch where Reimu lay.
"Up! Up!"
"Get up!"
Hoisting Reimu up off onto her feet, the two dancers, Satano and Mai, happily marched her into the bathroom, where they fixed up her hair, brushed her teeth, and helped her into a clean set of clothes from her bag, all the while mixing dancing into their movements in an attempt to rouse her physical and mental vitality out of the pit of slumber.
The dancers then guided the barely-awake shrine maiden into the kitchen. As they got closer, a delicious smell wafted through the air and into her nose, perking her up more and helping steer her toward its source. It took the smell of brewing coffee and tea entering her nostrils for her to become fully lucid, and looking around, a number of familiar faces greeted her.
Hau turned to greet her. "Hey there!" All the others just smiled and waved. Reimu got a good look at the food that Hapu recruited Hau, Lillie and Elio to help make: biscuits and gravy, sausage links, waffles, scrambled eggs, an assortment of fruits, berries and veggies, and even traditional Japanese gohen on Yukari's suggestion and direction.
A smile grew across Reimu's face, seeing all these people who cared about her enough to not only accompany her on this mission, but also make this delicious breakfast.
"...hey," she smiled and waved.
Over breakfast, the group shared some more stories, such as more anecdotes from Gensokyo (including one incident where someone - to this day, no one would fess up to it - spiked the alcohol at a party with a love potion), or one time back when Elio was a child when he and Selene were visiting Goldenrod shortly after Team Rocket took over the radio tower. Ran and Chen both were under the table licking up scraps (they really were animals, after all), and Reimu had also let Wakasagehime outside to go hunt for a bit while they were eating. The golden sun beamed into the kitchen as the group enjoyed their breakfast, with all of them knowing what awaited them that day.
Hapu's grandmother wanted to make sure everyone was covered for lunch as well, and handed everyone a sack lunch with sandwiches and whatnot, and even some extra food and Pokebeans for their Pokemon. All of them waved goodbye to her and the ranch hands as they left, the day still young and small bird Pokemon flapping through the air, singing a joyful chorus.
It didn't take very long to reach the mouth of the canyon, a hulking gate of rainbow rock with wind blowing down out of the gorges behind it. It actually whipped the hair and dresses of everyone there. And just ahead, Reimu could already see trouble.
"What are those guys?" Marisa asked pointing.
"Team Skull grunts," she said. There were about five or so squatting down blocking the entrance to the canyon. "They're not much of a threat, so I'm surprised they're not running away from a huge group like this, led by me no less." She went out ahead of the group. "I'll go handle this, you guys just hang back."
Man, she's really straightforward, Marisa thought. Elio was similarly impressed, seeing her just march right up to a group of grunts like they were nothing more than some trash that needed to get swept up.
Approaching the grunts, Reimu told them, "alright, boys, after everything that's happened, it seems you still don't understand what happens when you get in my way."
"You're makin' a big mistake if you think were just some ordinary grunts, 'yo!" one of them boasted.
"Oh?" Reimu asked skeptically. "What does that mean? That you have some actual Pokemon to fight with as opposed to cannon fodder scrubs?"
All of them got up and did their dance, before shouting, "check this out!" They sent out their Pokeballs, and out came two Gumshoos, two Raticates, and an out-of-place Hatterene. Reimu facepalmed and sighed, knowing this would be yet another slaughter on her trail of destruction. So, sending out Lucario, she snarked, "oh my, how threatening, I'm really scared." She pointed and commanded, "Lucario, show these losers the business so we can get this over with…"
"Leave them alone," came a voice from the side. Reimu looked over, and saw Plumeria squatting atop a large rock next to the path. She jumped down and walked over to the shrine maiden. Waving her and at the grunts, she commanded, "recall all your Pokemon. I need to speak with her." Silent, the grunts did as asked and recalled all of their Pokemon before stepping aside.
"So, we meet again," Reimu greeted. "What is it? You want a piece of action as well?"
"No," Plumeria answered, "I just wanted to talk to you. I knew you'd probably come here at some point, so I brought a few grunts with me here a couple days ago. We haven't been interrogated by the investigators, although I heard most of them were released or got off with minor drug charges."
"What is that supposed to mean?" Reimu sternly asked. "Are you trying to scare me?"
"Not at all," Plumeria dismissed. "I'm not here to fight. Instead… I just thought I needed to tell you everything. In light of everything that has happened so far." She turned to face the group, took a deep breath, then spoke.
"There's a reason they call me the 'mom' of Team Skull. Most of these kids are all runaways, dropouts, and other misfits, a lot of them came from broken homes and backgrounds. Not me. I might not look like it, but I grew up in a wealthy house, my dad is a tour operator, my mom a psychologist. Back when I was going to school, I used to pass by Team Skull Grunts all the time, and I would even use them as practice for my Pokemon because they were so weak. But then I was visiting Ula'Ula one day on my Island Challenge, and saw the conditions they live in at Po Town. I also heard some of their stories, and what drove them to join Team Skull in the first place. They just wanted a place where they would be accepted despite their failures. And you know, I have a pretty big heart and I just couldn't bear to see them living aimlessly like this. So I joined as a way to look over them, try to help and guide them, take care of them… just try to give them a better life, you know? Of course I earned my parent's scorn for doing so, but you know what? If joining them is what I have to do to make sure these guys and girls don't self destruct, then so be it. Drug use has gone down since I joined, mostly because I've been very strict about helping them get off them."
Reimu crossed her arms and nodded. "So basically, you sacrificed your own comfortable, silver spoon-fed life to bring light to the lives of these kids?"
"Yes," Plumeria said.
Reimu was silent for a moment, before telling her, "you know, you're a bigger heart and a better person than I could ever hope to be."
"You really think so?" Plumeria asked. "Because you seem like you'll go to far lengths to protect not just the ones you love, but even people you don't know. I've heard about all the incidents you've been involved in, I certainly wouldn't be able to do those things. And now look: your home has apparently been dropped right here in Alola and you're trying to get it all back to where it comes from."
Reimu looked down. "True… but I possess powers bestowed upon me, both by my lineage and the shrine. I would be little more than a normal girl against all those demons and goddesses without them. Not only that, but as a member of the Hakurei line of shrine maidens, it is my sworn duty to keep the balance of Gensokyo and protect it from all sorts of threats. Nothing compelled you to give up your way of life to take care of these grunts. You could have ignored them and walked away from the problem if you wanted to. Instead you chose to walk the hard path to lead them down the path of light."
"That is true," Plumeria conceded. "Nothing is making me do it other than my own heart. And it sounds like you have a pretty weighty duty on your shoulders, keeping Gensokyo's order… but what about here? Alola, I mean? You seem like you care a lot about this place, even though you have no reason to. You just happened to end up here, and you said you were working on trying to get home. If that's all you were trying to do… then why would you set out on the Island Challenge?"
Reimu kicked her foot around a bit, saying, "I just thought it would be a good way to go around finding clues."
"Alright," Plumeria said, "but then, you also chose to dress like a local."
"To fit in," Reimu responded.
"And that's not all… you've gone out of your way to save Nebby from trouble, not just at the meadow but also when you saved that other Cosmog, which you have with you, from those strange birds at the volcano. You went to Aether Paradise, knowing you'd be diving right into a hornet's nest, to try and get Nebby back, and not only that but you helped Lillie steel herself to go back when she didn't want to. Heck, part of why you're on this mission is to save Nebby, once again, except this time from Necrozma. And it's not just Nebby; on Ula'Ula, you almost fell to your death while trying to fix the snowstorm covering the island." She paused, then said, "that means you were willing to die to save the lives of people and Pokemon you didn't know."
"Er, well, we just happened to…"
"When you confronted Guzma, you had every reason to scorn him for stealing a kid's Yungoos, but instead you challenged him to overcome his issues and become a better person. You helped a skittish Mimikyu find the strength and confidence to become a Totem Pokemon. You were quick to assist many, many injured Pokemon that tried to attack you, like that Totem Lurantis that was near-fatally poisoned or even Tapu Fini yesterday. Heck, you even helped Tapu Bulu defeat the thing causing the snowstorm and let it land the finishing hit. You've done a lot of things that you didn't have to, as if they were out of habit. The way you battle and the way you train your Pokemon, how you're a master at surfing, racing, skiing... I mean, look at how many people you've inspired. And," she looked at Lillie, Hau, Elio, and Zinnia, "look at the friends you've made along the way. No, I think that you're a better person than I could ever hope to be. You might think you're just a lazy, cranky person, but deep down, you care for everyone and everything around you, you keep your head up against overwhelming odds, and you will go out of your way to help people sort out their issues even when you have so much more on your hands." She put her hands to her sides. "Five-hundred years ago, prince Kamehameha set out on a quest around the islands, came here, and was given a mission by Solgaleo and Lunala to unite the islands and strike down Necrozma. Now, you're retracing his steps to do the same thing, but the stakes are even higher. It might not be much, but I do want to give you all something to help you out." She reached into her bag, got out a bunch of Poisonium-Z's, and flipped one each to Reimu, Lillie and Hau.
As Reimu caught hers, she looked at her and said, "...you know, as I went from one island to the next, I did start to feel close to this place. Your world is a lot better world than the one I come from. And," she looked down, clearly saddened, "I can't really bring myself to leave this world behind, even though I know I have to because it's right. Once we confront Necrozma… first off, I'm still not certain any of us are going to make it out alive, given that it can strike down the Great Dragon and all. But if we do, and it sets everything back to how it was as I will ensure it will do, then I won't be able to come back. That means I won't be able to see Lillie and Hau again." She paused, and a tear could be seen going down her face. "And since Marisa is from here, I'll have to leave her behind as well. Not just me, but also Alice and Sunshine. Solving incidents just won't be the same without her can-do attitude, and as much as I hate to say it, I'm going to miss her crashing at my place and getting into all sorts of mishaps." She started to sniffle and turned away from the group so the wouldn't see her.
Then, she felt a pat on her back.
"Eh, don't worry about it," Marisa said. "We're goin' into this knowing we have to open up some Ultra Wormholes. It's like I said on the boat: we'll probably just find some way to make it so we can each still visit every now and then. And knowing Alice, she'll prolly just insist she come with me anyway, if only to make sure I don't get into any trouble. Remember, Necrozma messed everything up to begin with, and we're gonna go kick it's ass right now."
Silence, before sniffling gave way to Reimu trying to keep herself from laughing.
"You just don't know when to quit, do you?" Reimu joked. "You do realize that that would be a boundary violation if we did that, right?"
"Er…"
"I'm kidding, I don't think anyone would really care," Reimu told her. "Knowing your optimism, you'll probably ransom Necrozma into making it possible if you had to, and I wouldn't mind. That's just you being you."
"Well if that's what I gotta do, I'll make it happen. Ain't that right, Sunshine?"
Sunshine looked up and gave a sweet smile. "...yeah."
"That my girl!"
Happy that their resolve had been solidified, Reimu shot a determined glare at the canyon, gathered her strength, and declared, "now then… let's bring it all down to the ground." She marched right into the canyon's maw, and everyone else was compelled to follow her right in. In the distance, the Altar of the Sunne rose above the canyon floor, acting as a beacon and a symbol of everything they each were trying to accomplish. Everyone knew history would be made that day. They just didn't know how.
The interior of the canyon proved to be just as wild and just as untamed as its outward appearance suggested: thick tree roots bridging across from one ledge to the other, mighty streams pouring down gushing waterfalls out down to the distant ocean, huge volcanic erratics littering the floor, and of course, numerous exotic Pokemon, many of which were rare or even unseen outside the vast, rocky labyrinth. The group were not the only ones trodding through the canyon that day, for the path to the Altar was littered with Ace Trainers, Veterans and other tough trainers looking for rare Pokemon and treasure, as well as grizzled, adventurous backpackers challenging themselves and their Pokemon in braving the relentless conditions. Add to that high winds, winding caves, and a piercing vibe from the foreboding Altar, and you had a rough, tough and wild land which few dared to enter.
But from Reimu's perspective, it was just another day on the clock.
Not far from the canyon entrance was a massive boulder sitting next to a crevice in the ground, which blocked their path. The crevice seemed too wide and too deep to jump over safely.
Looking at the boulder, Reimu thought, if only we could push that thing into the crack… aha!
"Hey Hapu," she said, "yesterday I saw you use a Ride Pager to summon a Machamp to push that block around. You think we could do the same thing here?"
"Absolutely," Hapu answered. "Can I see your pager? You might not have it on yours yet, it's fairly new." So Reimu handed her Ride Pager, and Hapu added Machamp Shove to it. Upon request, she also added it to everyone else's pagers, and pretty soon, there were a total of five Machamps out ready to push the boulder aside.
"Does it gotta hold me like a bride?" Marisa complained.
"I think you make a good bride," Reimu snarked.
"H-HEY!" Marisa yelled. "...DUMMY!" Everyone got a good laugh at Marisa's blushing, before directing the Machamps over to one side of the boulder, with three pushing and two lifting it up from the bottom in order to get the rock out of the ground. It took wrenching it a couple of times, but soon, the rock, which was the size of a house and weight several tons, was slowly unearthed, lifted up on one side, and rolled over. Once fully unearthed and on its tip, the rock reached thirty feet into the air, forcing the spectators to step back for safety as they watched. The bottom side of the rock was dotted with jade olivine beads, which sparkled in the sunlight that hadn't hit them in centuries. It took flipping the rock over a couple more times before…
"Heave…. HO!" Reimu yelled. All at once, the line of Machamps pushed the rock into the crevice, where it hit the ground with earthquake-like force and echoed several miles up the canyon, causing many bird Pokemon to scatter into the air and dust to erupt and spread across the surface.
Once the dust settled, Hapu clapped, "well done! That was very impressive! You were a very good team to be able to get that giant rock into the hole!"
Everyone sent the Machamps back, and Hau looked at the boulder in the ground. "Daaaaaaaaang," he expressed. "Machamps sure are strong!"
"It's the muscles," Elio said swinging his arms around. "I've seen them punch holes through solid metal doors. Did you know they can throw as many as a thousand punches in a second?"
"I think I've seen oni punch that fast," Reimu remarked. "Suika could probably bench lift that boulder all by herself. Hell, I bet she could hold it with one hand, seeing as how she can rip mountains apart if she really wanted to. Did I mention she looks like a scrawny young teen?"
"Sounds intense," Elio remarked.
"Oh, and don't ever accept her challenge to a drinking contest unless you like liver failure," Reimu warned them.
"You sound really adamant about that," Hapu noted.
"Trust me, I've seen smart people fall for it, not knowing that she has literally infinite tolerance and gets stronger the drunker she gets. It's lucky her aim is worse than Horn Drill's, otherwise she could probably punch you to the moon. Even Protect won't save you from it."
"Sounds like an idea for a Z-Move!" Elio said excitedly. "Drunk-Girl Punch!"
Crickets.
As they ventured further into the canyon, they inevitably got split up, which no one was really worried about happening since they knew the canyon narrowed into the Totem's Den and the path to the Altar anyway. Marisa had Sunshine, Yukari was most likely just floating to the end, Hapu and Zinnia went down another path with each other. This left a group consisting of Reimu herself, Lillie and Hau again, with Elio and the dancers following close behind. Along the path they chose were lots of caves, which meant having to swat Zubat out of the way constantly, not to mention dealing with the many experienced trainers, many of which used Pokemon that Reimu had not yet seen in person such as Sigilyph, Tyranitar, Blaziken, Flapple and Hippowdon. These trainers were from all over the world, yet all of them had heard of Reimu's exploits and were honored to battle her even if they lost.
At one point, the group came across a green-haired Ace Trainer, who instantly recognized them.
"You're Reimu Hakurei, aren't you?" she asked.
"The one and only," she said blankly. "Ready to lose?" she taunted.
"As if," the Ace Trainer retorted. "I had the opportunity to visit that island that appeared suddenly a few days ago. I'm told that's your home? Totally crazy. Anyway, I found something interesting there, and I wanted to test it out."
Reimu tipped her hat. "Well, let's do it then. Show me what you got!"
The Ace Trainer turned out to have two Pokemon, the first was one that Hoennese Ace Trainers like her often carried, that being a Gardevoir which a single Flash Cannon from Lucario downed. The second one, however, came as a massive surprise: a small doll-like creature, dressed like a wizard and wielding a stick like a wand.
Reimu pointed at it aghast. "Is… is that a Wisdoll?! Like Ichigo?!"
"Oh… so you know this one?" she smirked. "I just found it roaming wild in a flower patch. Almost got run over by this insane green-haired lady with a parasol while catching it. It might not look like much, but I can teach it almost anything! Observe!" It threw out a Focus Blast, forcing Lucario to dodge and retaliate with Flash Cannon. The attack, although it hit, wasn't quite enough to knock it out, giving it the ability to retaliate with Moonblast. Lucario intercepted the attack with Aura Sphere, dashed around the cave, then landed atop Wisdoll and stomped it into the ground to beat it.
Recalling Lucario, Reimu told the Ace Trainer, "lots of moves don't mean much if it can't fight well. I suggest you train it more if you want it to become more capable." She paused, then said, "and yeah, Yuuka is usually like that. I'm surprised you actually got out of there with your life."
A while later, the group was faced with a natural stone bridge, spanning across a ravine. Flying overhead, a small flock of Murkrow circled above looking for easy pickings.
Crowding at the ledge, Reimu looked up, looked at Lillie, and told her, "you know, this is just like that day when I first fell here, when you were trying to save Nebby who was stranded out on that old wood bridge surrounded by Spearow."
Lillie looked across the bridge, and at the Murkrow. "Yeah. Hard to believe that was only a couple of weeks ago," she remarked. "Ever since you came here, it's just been an absolute whirlwind of change. Back then, I had no Pokemon of my own, and I was so timid I couldn't even run up to a bunch of little Spearow." She looked across the bridge with determination, then turned around and spat. "Like hell I'm scared of any little birds anymore."
Reimu giggled. "Heh. You really are Marisa's sister, aren't you?"
Lillie didn't even respond. Instead, she took a step, and began walking across the bridge, as if it were nothing. The Murkrow above her took notice and dived down to attack her. "Caw, caw, murrr-caw!" they called out, ready to attack this seemingly hapless person.
Lillie only shot a casual yet evil glare as she sent Adele out to show them the business. You could hear brakes as the Murkrow hurriedly stopped their dive, visibly panicked as they saw the Grim Reaper in front of them ready to throw down, and scattered in all directions down either side of the canyon.
"...ah dear," Lillie casually said. "It seems I scarred the little guys for life." She recalled Adele and continued her stroll across the bridge.
Over on the ledge, Reimu, Hau and Elio could only look on as Lillie, who only recently was a timid yet caring girl, now seemingly just channeled Yukari of all people. It's only been a couple of days , Reimu thought, and she's already rubbing off on her?
Once Lillie reached the other side, she turned around and asked them, "...you all coming?"
"Oh, right!" Reimu said. She then walked across the bridge, followed closely by the dancers, then Elio, then Hau in the back, the canyon breeze blowing gently on them as they crossed, and a gurgling stream surrounded by a wetland populated with fish and opportunistic hunters like Dragonair.
Some time later, the group was walking alongside a small lake at the floor of the canyon, when all of a sudden, there was a loud rumbling sound.
Reimu jolted and held out a Pokeball. "What was that?" she exclaimed. The rumble was heard again, coming from Hau's direction. Focusing in and pinpointing the source, Reimu realized that the sound was coming from Hau himself.
Hau looked down, heard the rumbling, then looked up at the girls. "I think I'm hungry," he cheekily said.
Lillie felt a small gurgle in her belly as well. "You know, I'm feeling a little peckish myself," she smiled.
Elio looked at his phone and saw that it was midday. "Why don't we take lunch here?"
"Lunch! Eat! Energy!" The dancers were as agreeable as ever, it seemed.
"Eh, I guess," Reimu shrugged. "According to the map, we're about two-thirds of the way there, we should be there fairly soon." Settling down on the side of the lake under a palm tree. Taking out their sack lunches, they found the sandwiches made by Hapu's grandma, some cut-up veggies, an apple and a cookie. It was pretty basic, but sometimes basic was best. Satano and Mai both whipped out bento boxes from nowhere, no doubt provided by their master.
Elio took a look at his map. "So, two-thirds you said?"
"Looks like it," Reimu answered. "And it looks like it should be easy to get most of the rest of the way on the backs of Tauros or Mudsdale, so we won't have to worry about making it there in time as long as we make lunch short."
"Hopefully we won't run into too many more trainers," Hau remarked. "At least some of them are letting us past because we know we're here to do something important, and they've also been giving us extra stuff."
Reimu looked at her phone and saw its one-bar reception. It had been five bars at the mouth of the canyon. "It looks like cell reception is dropping out here. So we won't be able to access our boxes for much longer."
"I bet it's not just because of remoteness," Elio pointed out. "That Altar is likely sending out a crazy amount of energy, interfering with everything. They say you can evolve Vikivolt, Magnezone and Probopass out here because of it, and before the power plant was built this canyon was the only place here in Alola that you could do so."
"Interesting," Reimu noted. "Yukari did say that the boundary between this reality and Ultra Space is weak here, and that's why it's unsafe for her to use her powers here. Ultra Radiation and I'm sure other energy must pour out through all those invisible gaps and weaknesses."
"How strong is Yukari?" Elio asked.
"She possesses very nearly omnipotent power," Reimu explained. "Her power is to manipulate boundaries. That might not sound like much, but the term 'boundary' can apply to a lot of things: political boundaries, truth and lies, life and death, the fabric of reality itself… she can also use this power to generate 'gaps' to travel between places instantly as much as she likes. The Hakurei Border was her idea, based on a similar barrier the Lunarians have to conceal the Lunar Capital from terrestrial observers. And just to put it into perspective, legend states that she was the first ever youkai, since she's been regarded as the leader of all youkai for quite some time. That's thousands of years. Thousands of years she's been shaping Gensokyo's politics, and it was she who picked my distant ancestor out of a crowd of commoners and deemed her the first Hakurei Shrine maiden. She's watched over the Hakureis ever since."
"Wow," Elio expressed, "I had no idea she was that powerful. When I saw her, I knew she must have been very influential, but damn."
"She's very good at hiding it," Reimu said. "...well, that and she's also reeeeeally lazy, to the point where I have to do most of her work."
Elio thought for a moment, then realized something. "So, if she can manipulate boundaries like that, how come she didn't use those powers to take you home when you first disappeared?"
"Good question, and I think I've known the answer for some time," Reimu said. "As powerful as Yukari is, her powers do still have limits. For one, she wields godlike powers but at the end of the day, she's still just a youkai. That means the same wards and amulets I use to exterminate lesser youkai can seal her powers and even kill her as well. She actually helped set the shrine and the shrine maiden's powers up in such a way that me and my ancestors could do that if ever she went rogue, but because of how important she is to running Gensokyo, I'll never do it unless there are no other options; Yukari is no friend to humans, but she'll never, ever consciously do anything to jeopardize Gensokyo's existence, nor will she commit evil acts for no reason. Her powers also have an upper limit. She can't mess with the spacetime continuum, for example, and larger reality-bending can tax her vitality something horrible. Because of that, accessing Ultra Space is beyond her capabilities. Even if she could do that, this is just one reality out of perhaps infinite realities, and she wouldn't immediately know which one I fell into. She couldn't sense what realm I was in for the same reason. It also sounds like her border-bending powers and Ultra Radiation don't mix, if she thinks doing so here would create unpredictable and explosive results."
Elio sipped some water. "I bet it must have been very stressful for her, not knowing where you went and not being able to help you even with her powers."
"I mean, yeah, she squeezed me like a jelly tube when she saw me again." Reimu trailed off, noticing some rustling in the grass off in one direction. "...hm?"
"What is it?" Elio asked, before he noticed it as well, as did Lillie who looked up from her food to look around, thinking it might be a wild Pokemon.
Then, all of a sudden, Hau jumped up and pointed, "LOOK!" Everyone looked where he was pointing, and the sight was surprising, to say the least: a herd of Jangmo-o, marching through the valley, grazing, catching small animals, and play-fighting with each other. The baby dragons all seemed to be unprotected and vulnerable, but as everyone knew, even the weakest Pokemon could really put up a fight if they needed to, and Hau knew just how fierce they could be.
"Wow," Reimu marvelled. "Aren't they supposed to be really rare?"
"This is the only place in the islands they can be found," Hau said. "I've always wanted one ever since I saw them in a zoo! And now I'm here, where they are, and they're out in the open!" Hau sent out Raichu and readied an empty Pokeball to catch one, when Lillie tugged on his shoulder.
"Hau," she smiled.
"Aw, what is it?" he asked, annoyed.
Lillie pointed upward. "I wouldn't quite say they're all alone." Everyone looked up to where she was pointing, and saw what Lillie was talking about: standing above atop a ledge was an imposing figure, its tail moving left to right and its stare fixated on the herd of Jangmo-o down below. No doubt about it, it was a Kommo-o, watching over the younglings and ensuring no harm came to them.
"Ahaha," Reimu snickered. "Seems as though it won't let anything touch the kids if it can help it. It's looks pretty formidable, surely we don't want to anger it."
Hau put the empty ball down. "Hmph," he grunted. "But I really want one. What am I gonna do, just find one that's all alone or something?"
"I have an idea," Elio suggested. "When they get to a certain age, Jangmo-o go out on training journeys. Maybe you could show how you're a strong trainer, and if you do, you might be able to catch the eye of one of them."
"How am I supposed to do that?" Hau asked.
"Well, how about a quick battle?" Elio said. "I've got more Full Restores and Revives than all of us will need, so we don't have to worry about that."
Hau looked at the Jangmo-o behind him, then turned to Elio, clenching his fist. "Yeah, let's do it!"
The two decided on a 3v3 match. Elio elected not to use Alduin or Dragonite, since he needed them to be healthy just in case they got stuck and needed to get to a safe place quickly. So instead he intentionally led off with something Raichu was strong against, that being his Lapras. The girls propped themselves up atop a rock spire to spectate the fight and provide encouragement.
Hau directed Raichu to use Thunderbolt in order to shock Lapras to oblivion, only to quickly discover that Elio was no rookie trainer. He could order his Lapras to nullify the attack by blasting water over to one side, attracting the electrical current to it and causing it to dissipate into the canyon wall when the water splashed there.
"Oh, come on, don't think I don't know how to counter that," Elio said wagging his finger. "I learned the hard way from dealing with Lt. Surge that I needed to know how to help Lapras cover its weaknesses, so I came up with a way to have it blast water to draw the attack away from it. If you're gonna take down Lapras, you'll have to find some other way!"
Hau was frustrated. Raichu's strongest attack was no good against Lapras, forcing him to come up with another method to beat it. He knew he could just switch Pokemon, but then Elio would likely just switch to something to counter that . And he knew Lapras was pretty bulky, so it could take several Psychics to bring it down, something he wasn't willing to do because he was trying to conserve his Pokemon's energy.
...wait, he thought. He taught Raichu Focus Blast at some point, didn't he?
That's right! Lapras was also Ice-type, so using that move could be effective. Normally, using moves of different types than the Pokemon's wasn't as effective, since they weren't as proficient at using them; it would be like a karate master also using tae-kwon-do moves: they could probably use them well, but not as effectively as a specialist. This was especially true if your same-type attacks could also hit super-effectively. But in this case, it was either that or doing no damage.
"Raichu, use Focus Blast!" he directed. And just as asked, Raichu conjured a blue-and-orange energy ball above its head, then did a flip as it fired it at Lapras. Hau looked up to see if the attack hit, only to see Lapras's eyes flash blue as it caught the attack with Psychic and deflected it.
"Nice try," Elio said again, "but Focus Blast is predictable enough that deflecting it is easy. Looks like you'll have to come up with some other way to beat it." He then directed Lapras to attack with Ice Beam, which Raichu narrowly dodged knowing that being hit by it could turn it into a popsicle.
"Hah." Hau was now very frustrated. At this point, he was just having Raichu deflect and avoid attacks because he couldn't figure out how to hit Lapras. Trying to hit it super-effectively wasn't working, since it could just parry anything sent at it. How was he supposed to beat it at this point?
…
Then it dawned on him. Elio was using out-the-box tactics, so what if Hau did the same?
Hau came up with a quick plan. He directed Raichu to use Focus Blast again, then directed it to also immediately use Thunderbolt right behind it. Now, with two attacks coming at it, and unable to counter both, Lapras was forced between a rock and a hard place. The resulting indecision meant that both attacks hit, knocking it out cleanly.
"W-wha?" Elio exclaimed in surprise.
"Guess Lapras can't counter two attacks at once," Hau bragged.
Elio regained his composure, and smirked. "Well done. But if that's the game you're gonna play, guess that means I'll have to step up mine as well!" He recalled Lapras and replaced it with a Tauros. And Hau thought, what better way to fight a Tauros than with my own? So he praised Raichu, then swapped it out with his Tauros. What happened next was predictable, as the two rival Tauros charged each other and locked horns, each one trying to push the other into the lake which surrounded them on both sides.
As the battle wore on, one of the Jangmo-o looked up from grazing to observe the fight. It was impressed with how Hau had managed to outsmart Lapras's strategy by simply overwhelming it, and now with how Hau was essentially playing the part of a matador when Hau decided to replace Tauros with Hedwig, who even started using her wings like a capote to get Elio's Tauros to smash into the rock wall, after which she slashed at it with Leaf Blade. Elio's response to that when Tauros was knocked out was to have his Victrebel go after her with its vines and poison. The resulting scuffle could only be described as a slog; Hedwig eventually went down, but Victrebel was so drained from fighting her that one Ice Hammer from Crabominable was enough to finish it. Seeing that last blow was enough to convince it that Hau was a tough trainer, and that if it joined him and his Pokemon then surely it would become stronger.
"Heh," Elio huffed slumping over. "I have to admit, you're just as tough as your grandpa."
Hau flashed a wicked smile and pointed at him. "That's what you get for messing with me!" Everyone then broke out laughing. "I'm kidding," Hau said. "But that was a pretty good match! I wonder if -"
He felt something butt up against his leg, and when he turned to see what it was, he saw the little Jangmo-o, recognizing his prowess and looking at him longingly, as if to say "let me join you plz."
Hau smiled and crouched down to his level, holding out a ball. "Well, hi there! I guess you wanna join my team?" The Jangmo-o eagerly nodded yes, and with one flick of the Ultra Ball, it went inside, shook a couple times, and clicked.
Hau then held up the ball triumphantly, shouting, "yeah! I finally did it! I caught one!" He opened his eyes, and looked up at the Kommo-o watching over the herd, half expecting it to do something now that the Jangmo-o was captured.
A few tense moments passed, before it visibly crossed its arms and seemingly gave a nod of approval, before jumping up into the air toward the center of the canyon, leaving behind it a telltale trail of radiation.
"Ohohoho…" Reimu remarked jumping down from the rock spire. "Looks like it wasn't just any Kommo-o, but it was the Totem Pokemon as well! Guess it would have been really bad to anger it in that case, at least before the Trial."
"Who knows," Elio said. "Maybe it was testing us."
"Maybe," Reimu replied.
In a flash, Rotom came out of the bag and registered Jangmo-o, in the process identifying it as a female. Hau wondered to himself what he was going to name it in light of finding that out.
"Gosh," Hau said crouching down. "I named Hedwig, but other than that I suck at coming up with girl names."
Reimu thought about how Kommo-o were warrior dragons who primarily fought with their fists… similar to someone she knew, before she turned into Rayquaza.
"How about… Meiling?" Reimu suggested.
"Meiling?"
"Meiling was the gardener of the Scarlet Devil Mansion, before she turned into a dragon. She was also the gatekeeper, and very good at martial arts. I'm sure your Jangmo-o will grow into a powerful fighter just like her!"
Hau thought about it for a second. He wasn't really sure what to make of it, but at a loss for other names he decided to just roll with it.
"Alright," he chirped, "Meiling it is!"
"Nice!" Reimu said clapping. "Now let's just hope those scales are strong enough to repel knives!"
"...eh?" Hau wondered.
"Oh, nothing, it's just a bad joke. You wouldn't get it." Reimu, of course, was talking about that time Sakuya got drunk and got into a fight with Meiling when she caught her napping outside, which ended when she stuck a knife through her hat. This only happened once and their relationship was otherwise amicable, but ever since then people joked that Sakuya knifed Meiling whenever the latter slacked off, something which neither of them were every really able to live down.
After lunch, they wasted no time continuing up the canyon, along the way meeting more trainers, more obstacles which needed Machamp to shove and Tauros to break, rough ground for Mudsdale to carry them over, and even stranger Pokemon and plants which dwelled in the canyon depths. Two hours later, they finally caught sight of the light at the end of the tunnel: the large, faded Trial arch adjoining the entrance to the Totem's Den, beyond which the Altar of the Sunne, now dominating the skyline, lay. A thick ramp of roots and vines led down from the cave they had just exited down to where the Totem's Den was.
"Alright," said Reimu. "Just a little further, everyone. We're so close!"
"Yeah! We're really close!" Hau shouted. And so they skipped, scampered and slid down the wild roots down to ground level. As they descended down to the canyon floor to the Totem's Den, Reimu spotted a single person blocking the path ahead of them, which Reimu assumed to just be another trainer to quash before going through the Totem and reaching her long-awaited goal.
As they reached the bottom, Marisa and Sunshine caught up with them from a cave on the right side. Moments later, Hapu and Zinnia pulled up on Mudsdales from the left, and Yukari simply floated down on her parasol.
"Impeccable timing," Reimu said. "Everyone's here all at once." Looking at the girl ahead of them, she added, "and it looks like we have yet one more obstacle to get through."
"Hey," the girl said sauntering up to them. "Took you all long enough to get here. My name's Mina. I'm a Trial Captain."
Reimu was suspicious of her claim, given that she was wearing ripped jeans, a large white shirt smeared with paint, and also that she looked like a stoner with her blank expression and blase attitude. "Oh, right. Then I'm assuming this is your trial?"
Mina looked behind herself, and said, "no, it's not my trial."
"...huh?" Reimu was confused.
"Oh, yeah, sorry. I just became a Trail Captain yesterday. Hapu called me up and asked me if I wanted to be one and I said 'sure.' I don't even have a Totem Pokemon yet, much less a trial."
"It's true," Hapu chuckled. "We've known each other for a while, and she wanted to be a Trial Captain after she completed her Island Challenge, but there wasn't a Kahuna to do it. Now that I'm a Kahuna, I can nominate Trial Captains, and she was the first person I thought of. I told her we were coming here before we left this morning, and to meet us right here in front of the Totem's den."
"But I don't want to run a Dragon trial," Mina lazily said. "Besides, the Pokemon in there run it just fine without one."
"There's no Trial Captain?" Reimu asked.
"There's never been one," Mina added. "The Jangmo-o, Hakamo-o and Kommo-o in this canyon just kinda came up with their own trial here, and they also guard the Altar of the Sunne over there. It used to be a trial site for something else, but it was abandoned and they just occupied it later."
"Interesting," Reimu thought. "I've always wondered exactly how lucid and sentient Pokemon are, since they seem to be all over the place from just wild animals to that talking Meowth back in Seafolk to ones that can communicate with telepathy. These ones can maintain their own trial, a human idea."
"I mean, I guess," Mina shrugged. She then came up and handed her, Lillie and Hau Fairium-Z's. "Here," she said. "I guess I should normally battle you all, but Hapu told me you were in a rush so I'll just give them to you for now. But now I'm gonna bug you all about coming and doing my trial once I set it up, alright?"
"Um… alright," Reimu said awkwardly as she accepted hers.
Mina then looked at Marisa and Sunshine. "You two are trainers too, right?"
Marisa jolted around from spacing out. "Er, what? I mean, yeah, we totally are!"
"Here." Mina handed each of them a Fairium-Z.
"Eh… what am I supposed to do with this? I mean, I don't even have a Z-Ring or anything like that!"
"You can probably just stick it on your phone case or something until you get one," Mina said. "The Z-Ring is more symbolic than anything else. And besides, given what lives in there plus what it sounds like you all are about to go try and beat, it might come in handy." Mina then seemingly pulled a large white canvas on a stand from nowhere and started penciling something on it.
"What are doing?" Lillie asked her.
"Oh, me?" Mina said. "Well, unless you were going to do the trial first, I wanted to paint you three in those weird dresses of-"
"STOOP IIIIT!" Lillie shouted stomping the ground. "THAT'S NOT FUNNY AT ALL! I'M GOING IN THERE RIGHT NOW!" She began to rush into the Totem's Den before Reimu stopped her.
"Lillie," Reimu reminded her, "Adele is a Fairy-type. She's going to blast those dragons into orbit if you go first and so me and Hau won't be able to do our trials either." She turned to Mina and asked her, "hey, if you don't mind, could you paint something else?"
"Alright," Mina sighed. "Guess I'll just do another landscape or something."
"Oh, I'm sure you could paint me," Yukari offered. "I'll just remove all my clothing and pose like a French-"
"WE HAVE CHILDREN HERE," Reimu yelled.
"I'm only teasing," Yukari laughed nobly.
"It's hard to tell when you're joking or not," Reimu replied. "Anyway, I'm going in there first. Everyone, do me a favor and make sure Yukari doesn't troll anyone and that Satano and Mai don't wander off without an adult, okay?"
Marisa shrugged. "Eh, can't guarantee they won't try nothin', but eh, is what it is."
"Whatever," Reimu said dismissing them as she walked through the arch into the Totem's Den.
The commotion and squabbling outside soon gave way to the eerie silence of the Den. Not a single creature could be seen inside the dark cavern, as if a heavy, oppressive presence was keeping them away. Moss grew on the moist walls of the cave and water dripped from the ceiling down onto shallow puddles on the ground. Cautiously, Reimu proceeded, ready to battle anything which jumped out at her and attacked. But after a few minutes of slow, tense walking, nothing. She kept her guard up, looking around and expecting some kind of trap or an ambush to spring out at any moment. She didn't want to appear threatening until she was ready to fight, so she kept her Pokemon sheathed until the moment came. But instead, there was only silence, which made the vigilant shrine maiden all the more apprehensive and was driving her crazy all the while.
In the end, the path the the Dragonium-Z's pedestal was unimpeded. Beyond it, a massive opening leading to the Altar itself. But Reimu knew what must be done first. She felt that, of her Pokemon, Sanae was best suited to taking on the Totem Kommo-o, since she wasn't weak to its main attacking types and had three ways of striking back super-effectively, so readying a Flyinium-Z, she slowly and carefully approached the pedestal. Treading lightly and quietly, and keeping watch for any threats that might be around her, she continued closer. Seeing as how this still somehow wasn't prompting its appearance, she continued right up next to it.
She looked around. No obvious signs of the Totem Kommo-o about to attack her, like thundering footsteps or the rattling of pebbles. Perhaps it would only react to her actually trying to take the Z-Crystal for herself, she thought.
Taking a deep breath, she reached out, and touched it.
The moment she did, a shadowy blob began to form around the pedestal and her feet. "What the?!" she gasped. Quickly, she ran away to a safe distance away from the shadow, in just enough time to turn around and witness a huge, shadowy maw reach up from the ground and engulf the pedestal, then briefly retreating before, in one swift movement, something huge surged from the ground up into the air. Reimu caught sight of the pedestal in this time, and saw it to be empty, with whatever the shadow was having taken it.
She looked up, and saw yet another Doomer descending down toward the ground, this one golden and far larger than any of the four she had previously faced. Its face was obscured by its wings at first, before opening them and letting out an ear-piercing screech, with the Dragonium-Z clearly visible within its body. This was no "ordinary" Sphere Doomer - there was only one title that fit this monster - the Grand Doomer.
The Grand Doomer's wingbeat blew a mighty gust of wind in all directions, causing Reimu to stagger back a couple feet and protect her face as she stood her ground. Once it stopped, she stared it down.
"So… you're the leader," she said. She sent out Lucario to face it. "If that's the case, then I suppose it's time I made you pay for the actions of your minions." The Grand Doomer obviously took that as a threat, since it responded by bum-rushing her almost immediately, which Lucario blocked with a kick.
Recoiling back, the Grand Doomer decided to unveil the rest of its arsenal: waves of searing hot orbs of energy, shooting lightning, stirring up tornadoes… it could even freeze the groundwater and force spires of ice to violently erupt from the ground to try and skewer Lucario, but all Lucario did was jump from one to another like the world's coldest, pointiest plum flower poles ever, before jumping into the air and sinking an Ice Punch into its forehead. The heat of the Sphere Doomer's body was cancelled out by the cold energy surrounding the punch, robbing the Grand Doomer of some of its energy as Lucario punted it into the ground.
Of course, as it had demonstrated before, it could move around under the ground as a shadow, which tried to lock onto Lucario. Thinking quickly, Reimu replaced Lucario with Sanae, whose ability to fly let her glide above the Grand Doomer's attempts to pull her into the ground, forcing it to take to the air and engage Sanae head-to-head. There was not much space in the cavern for an aerial battle, meaning that their duel briefly took them outside in front of the Altar steps. Reimu directed Sanae from the ground as the two duked it out and traded shots. At one point, the whole thing resembled a danmaku fight given the amount of projectiles being slugged around. The imposing Doomer, though, ultimately proved to be very draining for Sanae to fight, causing her to tire out and miss most of her shots. The Grand Doomer saw this opening and used it to sucker-punch Sanae with its wing, casting her aside and forcing Reimu to recall her before she hit the ground.
"Gah!" Reimu was frustrated. "That thing is tough!" She reached for Wakasagehime's Pokeball before she noticed that the Grand Doomer had now decided to take her down while she was distracted. Spreading its wings and letting out a wicked cackle, it dive-bombed her, causing Reimu to duck down quickly to try and avoid the attack.
She heard a forceful blast as the Grand Doomer hit something , not herself. Looking up from the ground, she saw what had caused it: the Totem Kommo-o had appeared, and had punched the Grand Doomer with its mighty fist, sending the beast back many meters reeling in pain.
Reimu looked up at it, and it looked down at her. They looked at each other in the eye for a moment, before nodding in agreement about what had to be done now.
It didn't take long for the Grand Doomer to regather enough energy to jump back into the fight, and it was absolutely pissed . Reimu sent out Sasha, and the two fighters together made "bring it" gestures to taunt it and enrage it even further, causing it to just go all-in for retaliation instead of using any sort of actual strategy, assuming it was using strategy at all from the start.
The Grand Doomer first used an attack resembling Flare Blitz to charge Kommo-o, but fortunately it knew Protect to block the attack. Rotom used this distraction to scan the Grand Doomer, looking for any weaknesses.
"What do you have, Rotom?" Reimu asked.
"Thizz is strange! It doesn't have any weaknessez or resistancezzz!"
Reimu looked at the Grand Doomer again. "Neutral to everything, huh? Well, I guess since it's flying Earthquake won't hit it, but other than that, no shortcuts. Guess I'll just have to give it everything I got!" She ordered Sasha to tackle it to the ground, which he did, jumping into the air, grabbing it, pile-driving it into the floor of the cave, and then headbutting it for good measure, all of which Kommo-o followed up with by slashing it with its mighty claws.
The Grand Doomer dug itself out of the ground, and used another attack: encasing itself in a thick, stone-like substance and leaving it looking like a floating rock, with only its evil eyes still appearing through the material. In this mode, it attacked mostly by bounding around trying to crush its opponents. Reimu guessed that this was some sort of "safe mode" that it entered when it was in bad shape. She directed Sasha to attack it, but the hard rock repelled any attack that struck it, it seemed. Every attack, that is, except for Kommo-o's, whose giant uppercut sent it flying upward into the air, causing some of the armor to fall off.
Intrigued by this, Reimu decided that this part of the battle was largely out of her hands, since her own Pokemon could do nothing to break the armor, although she felt it would still be a good idea to support Kommo-o somehow. Thinking quickly, she revived Sanae back to full, fighting health, and swapped Sasha out for her. She directed her to fly around and distract the Grand Doomer so that Kommo-o's attacks could hit it without it trying to dodge. Since it had no projectile attacks in this form, Sanae could get close to it relatively safely, draw its attention away from Kommo-o, then lead it within striking distance so that more of its armor could be knocked off. The first pass was a success, as Kommo-o managed to land a precise Flash Cannon ( so that was its plan for Fairy-types, huh? , Reimu thought) to shave off more of its armor. It now only had half of it remaining. Just two more hits, Reimu thought, then it will be ready for the final strike.
Reimu repeated her strategy a second time, this time seeing if she could draw the Grand Doomer closer to Kommo-o and potentially allow it to slam it into the ground, leaving it open to just being pummeled instead of having to rely on stray hits from a ranged attack. So Sanae flashed her butt at it and stuck out her tongue, enraging it and causing it to chase her, bounding up and down all the way. Once it was within smashing range, Kommo-o grabbed it and slammed it into the ground, then bearing down on it with both hands like hammers, knocking off even more armor. But then, just before it could land a final strike, the Grand Doomer popped out of the ground suddenly and delivered a devastating body-slam, knocking Kommo-o back and leaving it disoriented. Worryingly, this also caused its Totem Aura to drop, and when it tried to hit the Grand Doomer again, its attack did nothing, just like Reimu's Pokemon.
Reimu was a little panicked at this point. The Totem could no longer hurt the Grand Doomer, and her own Pokemon's attacks were useless against it. How was she supposed to…
...of course. The reason Kommo-o could hurt it was because it was powered up by its Aura. So of course its attacks no longer worked. All she had to do was invoke a little Totem Aura herself. So, holding up the Flyinium-Z, she made a pose reaching into the sky, sending Z-Power coursing into Sanae's body. She had an angry look on her face. Now was the time for payback. Rising up into the air, she turned around, then shot down toward the Grand Doomer at supersonic speeds - Supersonic Skystrike! The Grand Doomer stood no chance as she slammed into it at full force, knocking off the rest of its armor and creating a massive dust cloud which obscured everything.
Once the dust settled, Sanae settled back down onto the ground next to Kommo-o, and they and Reimu watched as the Grand Doomer, now back to normal, came back down to the ground, seemingly gathering energy for some crazy last-dich attack, glaring at Reimu with extreme prejudice. Undeterred, Reimu simply commanded Sanae to finish it off, but before she could she could hear very rapid footsteps behind her. Turning around, she saw a fast-moving object leaving a wide trail of dust behind it, moving in from the cave entrance at high speed, right for the Grand Doomer. The only thing Reimu could process at that moment was the thought to dive out of the way and grab Sanae as she did so. The object just barely missed her as it jumped up into the air and struck the Grand Doomer head-on. Time stopped for a second as everything went color-negative, before the Grand Doomer started flailing around with lights coming out of it, before dissolving and then exploding, sending dozens of Dragonium-Z's shooting in all directions.
Looking back over Totem Kommo-o, who had shielded her from the blast, Reimu briefly wondered what on Earth just happened, before Meiling, now a freshly-evolved Hakamo-o, touched down onto the ground, the last of the Z-energy dissipating as she did so. Hau, and everyone else walked up to them while he clapped and cheered.
"Nice job, Meiling!" he congratulated. "Man, if it weren't for you and Breakneck Blitz, she would have been in real trouble!"
He just can't read situations well, can he? , Reimu thought. She had it under control at that point, and he would have been more useful two minutes ago.
Regardless, she humored him and applauded. "Well done, Hau. Well done."
"Thanks!" Hau chirped. He then saw the Dragonium-Z's littering the cave floor. Distracted by their shininess, he was quick to reach for one, before he realized he probably needed the Totem's permission first. So he looked up at it, and just stared, a little intimidated. Totem Kommo-o stared back, then looked at Meiling, who walked up to its side. They appeared to have a moment as they rubbed together in a peculiar fashion.
"What are they doing?" Hau asked. Then, Elio spoke up.
"Oh, I know this!" he called out. "This is a familial greeting. They explained this in one of my high school biology classes. It seems like Meiling is Totem Kommo-o's child, and she's indicating that she's ready to leave and train to get stronger."
The two rubbed together for a couple more moments before Meiling stepped back, and both of them rose up their arms and rattled their scales. Kommo-o then turned to Hau and gave him an approving gesture.
"I think it approves of you being Meiling's trainer," Elio told Hau.
Hau looked back at Kommo-o and clenched his fist. "I will train her until she grows very strong!" he declared forcefully. He then picked up a Dragonium-Z and showed it off to everyone.
"That's the spirit!" Zinnia cheered. "Start your path as a Dragon trainer!"
Reimu picked up a Dragonium-Z herself, and her and Kommo-o gave each other nods. It recognized her strength fighting at its side, and allowed her to mark off her trial as complete. Even so, Reimu could tell it wished to challenge her properly at some point, in order to see her full potential and that of her Pokemon.
Looking ahead, the group laid their eyes on the stairs that lay just outside the cave. They had overcome their final barrier between them and the Altar of the Sunne. There was no turning back now, no further tests. Everyone silently understood what would happen now.
Reimu took the first step. She quietly motioned to everyone else to also go forward. Gathering their resolve, they did just that, exiting the cave outside to the Altar.
Lillie, just before leaving, turned around and let Adele out of her Pokeball. "Um," she asked, "do I still need to battle you? To clear my trial, I mean?"
Kommo-o looked at her for a second before its neck spontaneously lengthened and it ran out the other side of the den.
"I take that as a no," she shrugged, before recalling Adele and scooping up a Dragonium-Z for herself as she walked out.