Disclaimer: This story, the OC -main, secondary or otherwise- don't belong to be but to a dear friend of mine who decided not to share it here. So I took it upon myself to do it for her.
However as to not be accused of plagiarism, I still made a few changes so it was more in my style than in hers (but that's about all that'll be changed). If anything, think of it as a remake.
Regarding the main cast from Pokemon, they belong to Game Freak or whoever own them.
Results and Announcement
As I exited the Pokemon Centre located on the harbor where I had left my Pokemon so they could get some rest and heal after their training, I saw that all the gang was already there, speaking excitedly. Though, contrary to what I'd have thought, Ash wasn't the most excited of them all, Lillie and Lana were. I also noticed that neither the Kahuna nor Professor Kukui were with them.
"Hey guys," I greeted them. "What did I miss? All I understood from Ash's ramble is that you all had a great time."
"We sure did!" Lana answered with a bright elated smile.
"And did you all find great treasures?"
"You bet!" Kiawe answered. He was about to go on and tell me what he has found when Ash interrupted him. Or rather, his stomach did, bringing our attention to him.
"Eh… I guess I am hungry after today's adventures." He said sheepishly. "And Kahuna Olivia had told us of a great place where to eat…"
"Eating sounds good right now," Mallow approved. "And besides, I managed to find a few good mushrooms and a Lansat Berry." She proudly showed off the red spiked fruit. "That'd make a very good salad." She assured us.
"You don't plan on cooking it though?" Sophocles asked. "We're not going to go at your family's restaurant. You should take it easy and let other people prepare your food." he stated on a dogmatic tone.
"Alright, fine." she relented. "Still, that's a shame to have such good food go to waste."
"Why would they go to waste?" I asked. "You could give them to a Pokemon. Or turn them into Poffin. Pokemon like the taste of Poffin."
"It's a nice idea, Jade. However I don't have the material to make Poffin."
"I could lend you mine." I offered. Mallow just stared at me as if I had sprouted another head. "What? My mother made me pack it in case Gaïa or Marie would like to have some Poffin." I explained with a shrug. "I am not good at it, but I know the basic… I could show you how it's done."
"That's a very nice offer." she exclaimed, taking my arm and the lead to the restaurant the Kahuna had told them about. I wanted to tell them that I wasn't hungry as I had eaten not too long ago, yet I decided not to. After all, even if I didn't eat, I could still share a drink with them, and I still wanted to know what they had found.
The restaurant itself didn't look like Mallow's family's restaurant. Where Mallow's was bright yellow with a white board displaying the name 'Aina's Kitchen' and showing a cute pink flower, this one was light blue with several water type Pokemon painted upfront and on the front window. I supposed it mostly sold sea food.
"Here we are!" Ash gloated. I could almost see him drooling from imagining what his meal would be. "Let's go in!" He didn't wait for us and went inside. I shook my head. This boy was even worse than my Pokemon when it came to eat. "What are you waiting for? Come in!" he called us from inside when he saw we hadn't followed him right away.
"Is it me or doesn't he know what patience is?" Mallow asked, crossing her arms over her chest.
"Let's go though, I am getting hungry!" Lana countered even though she seemed to agree with her friend's statement as she nodded.
The inside of the restaurant was nothing like Mallow's. Inside is almost entirely white and blue with the painting of a beach on one of the wall. There was an aquarium standing in the middle of the dining room with several Shellders inside. Up on the ceiling and on one of the wall, behind the counter, the owner had thought it'd be a good idea to have fishnets hanging. There also was a brown wooden tiller and several other sea related items. There weren't too many people in, a few locals and some tourists. Ash was already sitting at a table, checking the menu.
"All of it looks so good!" he said with enthusiasm. "I don't know what to choose!"
"I'd advice you to take something you know and are sure to like!" I answered, sitting down between Lana and Lillie as the others took their seats. I skimmed through the menu and nothing in it seemed appealing to be. I didn't mind fish, but I was a girl from the land, nothing beat a good steak to me.
"How can we help you today?" A waitress, a sweet looking dark skinned girl with Wishiwashi barrettes in her braided hair. Her outfit was blue and white and she had a gentle smile as we all gave her our order, Ash's taking longer, of course, as he was hesitating.
"So, Kiawe, what did you find during this hunt?" I asked the tall and dark boy. I remembered that he had seemed really pleased with himself.
"Several fossils." he answered. "A plume fossil and a skull fossil!" he proudly added. "And with these, I earned 300 points!"
"A plume and a skull fossils?" I repeated. "How lucky you are." I had heard of the plume fossil at school and, of course, of the Archen Pokemon it was the remains of. I didn't expect to have such fossils here on the archipelago though. "Are such fossils commonly found here?"
"Not at all." Sophocles informed me. "Kiawe got extremely lucky!" he went on, crossing his arms over his chest, while the taller boy's skin darkened around the cheeks. "I discovered that a meteor had fallen on Akala Island several thousands of years ago, breaking apart into many valuable fragments. It probably was also responsible for the fossils that Kiawe's Stoutland had unearthed. The professor was surprised and deeply interested, of course, even though it's not his field of research. He said he was going to send them to different museums. With Kiawe's approval, of course."
"And what have you found?" I asked the overweight boy, curious about his own discovery.
"This!" he stated, putting his hand in his pocket and showing me a small red star shaped shard. "A star piece!"
"And… what's the use of it?" I wondered out loud, a bit disconcerted by the find and unaware if it was something rare or not.
"None. It's just pretty." Sophocles replied. "I plan on giving it to my mother. Or I could ask the Kahuna to set it on a ring?" he suggested for himself. "I am sure she'd like that."
"I'd think so!" Lillie agreed with a nod. "Jewels are so pretty and enhance a woman's beauty." I chose not to say anything about that. After all, I was wearing some sort of jewellery too with my dog collar, but it certainly wasn't to 'enhance my beauty'. I just thought it looked cool. And fierce.
"Have you found one of those star pieces?" I asked, tilting my head. "You seemed rather satisfied earlier."
"That's true. But I haven't found any stones or jewels."
"Some berries or fruits then?" I suggested as the waitress came back with our order. The conversation lulled until she had served us all and had gone away under our thanks.
"Not at all. Actually… I didn't go treasure hunting." she confessed, looking down and her cheeks turning slightly pink.
"You didn't? What did you to then?"
"I… I managed to ride a Stoutland!" she proudly announced as if it was an amazing feat. Given who it was who was talking, it actually was an amazing feat. I wondered if she was going to say this to Gladion and how he'd react. From the little I had seen and deducted from him, I could picture him being delighted at the news, in his calm way, and congratulating her.
"How did it feel riding a Stoutland?" I chose to ask her instead of mentioning her brother, as I sipped a bit of the juice I had in my glass.
"It… It felt great!" she exclaimed. "I could never have guessed that their fur was so soft. And they are quite peaceful too! The Stoutland I had just took me from one end of the track to another. Pikachu and Snowy could follow it." She really looked pleased and as if she had just mastered some impossibly hard skill.
"My congratulations to you!" I said, raising my glass as if raising a toast at her victory. All the other raised their own glasses and mirrored my words, making Lillie giggle. I turned to Lana. "That leaves you and Ash."
"True. Do you want to tell what you found Ash?" Lana asked, a cryptic teasing expression on her face.
"Meh… I know I lost." the dark haired boy stated, sulking. Which didn't prevent him from eating his meal with good appetite. "I only found some coloured shards. Kahuna Olivia said they were pretty, but also pretty common. She uses several of these in her shop to create stuff for the tourists."
"Don't be so disappointed," I commented. "I am sure your findings made a young girl happy with the bracelet Kahuna Olivia will make of them." I teased Ash who just shrugged at that, clearly not caring what happened with those shards. I waited for Lana to show what she had found, but nothing came. She was focusing her attention on the content of her plate. I found it strange.
"Lana…?" I called her. "Don't tell me you haven't found anything."
"Me?" she said, looking innocently at me. "Oh, I have found something."
"And…?" I was growing impatient.
"And I don't have it with me." she replied with a laugh and a wave of her hand. "I left it with Kahuna Olivia."
"Was it some shards too?" I pressed her and the other. They knew what she had found, yet they didn't say anything, playing Lana's game and waiting for her to tell, in her own time.
"Not at all." She took a dramatic pause during which she placed her cutlery neatly next to her finished plate. "It was a Z-Ring ore!"
"A… A what?" I exclaimed, raising a brow. It was a lame answer, and I had guessed it had something to do with the Ring I had on my wrist, but I had never heard of 'Z-Ring ore' before.
"Oh, that's right. You don't know because you got yours from Tapu Bulu." Lana laughed. "A Z-Ring ore is an ore used by the Kahuna to make Z-Ring! And it's the most valuable find one could make!"
"That makes sense!" I admitted. "Congratulations! You won the contest then?"
"Sure did! I could have had the rewards too, but I decided not to take it. The Z-Ring itself was more than rewarding. And you know that I didn't think I was going to win?" she excitedly added. "The Stoutland I had was rather hard headed and didn't seem to be willing to help me. So I decided to count on my Popplio…"
Lana proceded to tell how she managed to find the precious ore and how it got her 500 points, thus securing her the first place. By the time she was done, we were heading back to the Pokemon Center where we'd be spending the night. This time, the professor was there.
"Hey children. I hope you had a good time today! How did your training go, Jade? As good as you'd have hoped?"
"And even better!" I answered with a smile, though I didn't explain further. After all, I had promised Gladion I'd not tell that he was there to anyone, especially not his sister. "I am so ready for the battle against the Kahuna!"
"But you know that before it can happen you'll need to defeat some totem Pokemon." he stated.
"Oh, I know that." I replied. "And if we are ready for the Kahuna, we are ready for any Totem!"
"That's the spirit!" he said with a laugh. "And you might find one sooner than expected!" he added with a wink.
"What do you mean?" But the professor didn't answer. Instead, he asked the Nurse Joy where we'd be staying and she told us two rooms – one for the girls, the other for the boys – had been booked for us upstairs. "What was Professor Kukui saying?" I asked my room mates as we entered the bedroom.
"Tomorrow we're going to Brooklet Hill!" Lana explained, letting herself drop on one of the beds.
"Brooklet Hill? What's there?
"You don't know?" Lana hollered, sitting back up.
"I…. Well, no. Otherwise I'd not be asking." I replied, taking my toothbrush and toothpaste from my backpack.
"It's an awesome place, you'll see. There are many lakes and Water Type Pokemon!"
"And Totem Pokemon too." I completed.
"Maybe. If we are lucky." she admitted.
Hm… That meant a change of plan. If the Totem Pokemon I was supposed to battle was a Water Type, Gaïa would come in handy with her newly mastered Leaf Blade, I thought, staring at the Pokeball in which my Servine was soundly sleeping, unaware of what awaited her the next day. Still, I couldn't just rely on Gaïa for this, could I? I was pulled out of my thoughts when a pillow landed on my head.
"Hey! What…" But I couldn't finish my sentence as I got another hit from another pillow. "Alright girls, you want to play this game…" I seized the pillow that had fallen on my bed and joined the fight with delight.
