Pokémon Sun & Moon: The Challenge of a Lifetime!

by NegaiFreak

The Ketchum twins are now 10 years old! That means they can travel the world as Pokémon trainers! And their adventure has just begun as they head off to the Alola region to make new discoveries with their family and friends! Pokémon X Fairy Tail Crossover! SHIPPINGS INCLUDED! PLEASE READ, REVIEW, AND ENJOY! THANKS FOR OVER 10,000 VIEWS!

37. How Many Vikavolts Ya Fancy?

Alola again! We're back for another round of Ula'ula action and some side story action! I wanna preface this chapter with the fact that I'll mostly be focusing on "RWBY: Omni Force" going forward with chapters and trying to get these ones released as soon as humanly possible over weekends. With all of this said, let's get back into the story!

POKÉMON SUN & MOON

THE CHALLENGE OF A LIFETIME

"Nine hundred ninety-eight, nine hundred ninety-nine…" a shirtless Asta counted as he was doing push-ups out on the sandy beach just outside of Kukui's laboratory at dusk, "ONE THOUSAND!" he bellowed proudly upon completing his last one.

"GEEE!" his Aegislash exclaimed beside him, also completing his set of push-ups with his sash-like arms. He and his trainer looked towards each other.

"Heh!" the latter of the two chuckled with a wide grin.

"Slah!" the Royal Sword Pokémon rang out, giving off a content look.

"Good to see you two getting along after a few days…" Leslie remarked, standing out on the front porch of the laboratory.

"Yeah!" Asta responded as he stood up with sweat glistening off of his body, "Thanks to the time Captain Yami gave us, we got a lot of time to hang out together!" he noted as he smiled.

"Gee," Aegislash agreed as he nodded his body.

"I'm hoping he didn't just forget about you…" Leslie mentioned in concern.

"Uh… it wouldn't be the first time…" Asta admitted as a response, much to her surprise.

"Peekah, pika!" a familiar voice squeaked out, catching her attention as she looked over to see Pikachu coming out onto the porch from the front door alongside Oricorio… and Gumshoos.

"Oh, this is a surprise!" Leslie admitted, squatting down to pet the Stakeout Pokémon atop his head as he smiled, "Did Calvin send you over here?" she guessed.

"Guh!" he responded with a simple nod.

"Apparently, he caught himself a Poliwag," Ash chimed in, walking outside, "He and Erika are already on Ula'ula now," he mentioned.

"Oh, that's great!" his eldest daughter exclaimed, followed by blinking as she remembered something, "Wait… what about his egg?" she asked, raising an eyebrow. Her father let out a small sigh with a grin.

"That's… a little complicated…" he admitted, scratching at his right cheek. Leslie tilted her head in confusion, looking over to Pikachu for an explanation. He just shrugged, unsure of how to answer as well.

"Hey, Mister Ketchum?" Asta said, catching his attention, "Have you heard any word from Captain Yami yet?" he inquired curiously.

"No, not yet, Asta," the Pokémon Master responded with a shake of his head.

"Hmmm…" the vice-captain of the Black Bulls hummed in frustration, "You know, at this point I should probably just go home…" he admitted out of annoyance.

"G-Gee, slah?" Aegislash stuttered, surprised by how upset his trainer was.

"Well, my mom's gonna be cooking more great food tonight for all of us…" Leslie pointed out as an incentive. Asta's eyes sparkled.

"I'm in!" he exclaimed excitedly.

"Slahhh…" the Royal Sword Pokémon sighed, exasperated with how easygoing his trainer was. Both Ash and Leslie laughed. But then the latter of the two took notice of a pair of figures approaching them. One was a tall man of a muscular stature and pale complexion. He had unruly black hair of uneven lengths that stuck up in tufts around his head, which went down loosely to his shoulders. His bangs fell over his eyes in an uneven fringe. His eyes were sharp and reasonably thin, as their irises were a deep sapphire that faded to a lighter blue and their pupils were a bluish-black, and were framed by thin eyebrows. He wore a dark cyan-tinted version of what seemed like a standard uniform with buttoned white leg-wraps and a pair of white zōri with dark blue straps, the socks underneath the same cyan color as his uniform. Over this, he bore a haori that was split down the middle into two different patterns: the right one a solid pink-red and the left one geometrically patterned with squares of green, orange, and yellow. Noticeably, he only had a left arm as his right was missing.

The other person beside him was a young man with rather tanned skin and an athletic physique. He had ruffled, black hair with burgundy tips, combed back to expose his forehead, and wide, dark red eyes with white pupils that appeared lighter around the lower section of his irises. However, the right one's iris had a dull pink-greyish color, indicating that he had no sight in that eye. He also had a scar on the top left of his forehead. For an outfit, he had on a checkered, black-and-sea-foam-green haori over a uniform similar to that of the man he walked alongside. It was a dark-brown gakuran jacket, a white belt, baggy pants that extend into tabi socks, a pair of zōri with red straps, and bands of white cloth wrapped tightly around his calves, all underneath his haori. To top it off, his outfit included a pair of hanafuda earrings around his ears.

"Oh, Tanjiro!" Leslie exclaimed, jogging off of the porch to go and greet the former Demon Slayer and his friend, "I haven't seen you since the time you were brought to Omnitrix City for treatment on your arm," she pointed out as she approached, "How is it, by the way?" she asked curiously in concern.

"A lot better, actually," Tanjiro replied, revealing his left arm as it was slim… but gaining some muscle, "Thanks to the healing equipment of those other worlds, I think I'll be able to swing a sword again…" he assured to her, "Though having sight in both of my eyes is a different story…" he admitted sheepishly, rubbing the back of his head.

"Tanjiro!" Asta called out, catching their attentions as they saw him jog over with Aegislash floating behind him.

"Hey Asta!" the former Demon Slayer greeted with a wave of his right hand, "I thought I recognized your scent!" he noted with a chuckle.

"It's great to see you, too!" the vice-captain of the Black Bulls responded, putting his hands onto his hips, "Hey, you wanna start training with me?" he inquired as his eyes sparkled with excitement.

"We're not here for that kind of training," Giyu chimed in with a dismissive wave of his hand, causing him to blink in surprise.

"What does that mean, Mister Tomioka?" Leslie inquired, arching an eyebrow.

"I heard from someone that you're offering training for those with Pokémon," the former Hashira replied, much to her surprise as she blinked.

"Uh… who'd you hear that from…?" she questioned on.

"Sukehiro… if I remember right…" Giyu responded, scratching at his cheek as he glanced off to the side. Leslie felt her eye twitch.

'Is he turning me into some kind of training service?!' she wondered inwardly.

"Anyways…" Tanjiro chimed in, causing her to look over at him, "since my arm's not fully recovered, the Omni Force recommended that I have another method to help defend myself if they need me to fight," he explained to her, pulling out a Poké Ball from beneath his haori and enlarging it with the press of its center button.

"So they want you to try and raise a Pokémon," Leslie realized, letting off a smile, "Well… I'd be glad to help out," she affirmed to the former Demon Slayer.

"Great!" he replied eagerly, opening his Poké Ball and letting its bluish-white light spill forth onto the sand, shaping into form before dissipating to reveal a Totodile.

"Dah!" he exclaimed in greeting.

"Oh, a Totodile!" the Ketchum girl squeaked excitedly, squatting down to the Big Jaw Pokémon's eye level, "That seems like a good choice for you from what I've heard!" she mentioned with a giggle to Tanjiro, who chuckled in agreement.

"His name's Tomi," he pointed out, causing Giyu to crack a small smile, "He's still a little troublesome…" he mentioned while crouching to pet the Totodile atop his head, "but he's also ready to put in some work!" he assured confidently.

"Toto, toto!" the Big Jaw Pokémon exclaimed as he hopped up and down, eager to get started.

"My dad might be able to help you out better than I can…" Leslie admitted while standing up, "Isn't that right, Dad?" she asked of Ash, getting his attention.

"Yeah, I'll get Professor Oak to send him over tomorrow," he promised in response. His daughter smiled, turning back to Tanjiro.

"You've got yourself a teacher," she noted with a giggle.

"Thank you!" the former Demon Slayer yelled in gratitude, "I promise… I'll work hard!" he vowed firmly. Leslie smiled, followed by glancing off to the side in thought.

"Would you two wanna stay for dinner?" she offered, "My mom's cooking is one of the best…" she pointed out with a confident shrug. Both Tanjiro and Giyu looked to each other before grinning in agreement.

"We'll have to take you up on that," the latter responded.

"Alright!" Asta exclaimed while pumping his fists up into the air. As he and Aegislash left with the Demon Slayers towards the vacation home beyond the beach, Leslie went back onto the porch.

"So what's going on with Calvin?" she asked curiously.

"You're gonna be surprised…" her father replied as he leaned against the wooden railing, "It's girl stuff," he told her. She blinked twice.

"Wow, already?" she inquired, "Well… he is a little more mature than Erika…" she noted in remembrance with a chuckle, "You better let me talk to him next time," she insisted, "I still gotta congratulate him on his big tournament win," she pointed out. Ash smiled, wrapping his left arm around her and pulling her in close as they watched the sun set in the distance.

OPENING

Insert "Koko" by Beverly

Opens with the rising sun over the ocean horizon as a boat is sailing towards Ula'ula Island. Upon its bow are Calvin and Erika Ketchum, standing alongside their Pokémon as the wind rushes through their hair. They're about to embark on the next stage of their island challenge, smiling with excitement.

As the music picks up, the Pokémon logo appears in bright green letters, followed by "The Challenge of a Lifetime" appearing in bright yellow underneath it. The brightness of the logo envelops the screen before we transition to the Ketchum twins disembarking from the boat onto the island.

We cut to Calvin fishing in Maile Garden as Steenee and Incineroar are bickering in the background. Once Calvin sees his lure go underwater, he pulls the line hard to reel in a Poliwag. Watching from afar, Paige smiles while holding onto his egg, which shakes a little in her arms.

The scene then changes to Erika trudging tiredly up Mount Hokulani. She's about to fall backwards, but Primarina and Lycanroc are there to help push her up. She smiles gratefully, continuing the trek up the mountain.

We then see several new faces around the island, including Samson Oak, Acerola, Molayne, Sophocles, Grimsley, and Nanu. We also get a shot of Guzma, sitting upon his chair in the Shady House of Po Town. He grins deviously at the screen.

As the music picks back up, we see Calvin swing his left arm out as his Incineroar and Marowak charge in with a Flamethrower/Flame Wheel combination to take down a Skarmory. Meanwhile, we cut over to Erika as she orders for Fomantis to use Leaf Blade on an Alolan Geodude. Drifblim then floats in and sprays out a Gust to blow away a flock of Fearow. Afterwards, he floats over Fomantis to her chagrin as she seethes in frustration.

We get shots of Hau with his Alolan Raichu and Decidueye, Trent with his Mightyena and Greninja, Paige alongside her Combusken and Medicham, and Pyrrha alongside her Quilava and Ariados. Each of them are in their own battles, with Hau's Decidueye using Spirit Shackle on a Haunter, Trent's Mightyena blasting back a Kadabra with Snarl, Paige's Combusken using Flame Charge to ram into a Shieldon, and Pyrrha's Ariados landing a Cross Poison on a Sylveon.

The song continues from back on Melemele at the Ketchum vacation home. There, Leslie gets herself dressed and throws on her visor, heading out of her room alongside her Lopunny and shiny Gabite. As she heads outside onto the front porch, she smirks upon seeing Asta Sutarria there alongside Shiki Granbell and Tanjiro Kamado, as all three of them are looking to train Pokémon with her guidance for them.

Asta commands an Aegislash as he takes on his sword form and slashes at Leslie's Magmortar, who jumps back before firing off a Flamethrower. Meanwhile, Tanjiro's Croconaw attempts to land an Ice Fang onto Gabite, who uses Dig to get away before popping up from the ground and chomping down on his foe's tail, causing him to scream in agony. Watching from afar are Shiki and his Bronzor, who both giggle.

We cut back to Ula'ula Island as we see Erika commanding her Lycanroc to use Rock Slide against the Totem Vikavolt inside the Hokulani Observatory. The Stag Beetle Pokémon dodges the attack and lets electricity surge around his body before zipping down at his foe, who prepares to use Counter. Afterwards, we get a scene of Calvin and Incineroar facing down the Totem Mimikyu inside the abandoned Thrifty Megamart. As the Heel Pokémon lands a Darkest Lariat, a smaller Mimikyu watches from afar in awe.

There are several shots of a Cleffa poking out from a sleeping bag, a Togedemaru near a power plant, and an Alolan Sandshrew wandering about the cold area at the base of Mount Lanakila. We see Professor Kukui staring at the peak from Hokulani, hoping to host a Pokémon League there someday. However, we also see him glaring down Guzma in the Maile Garden as his Golisopod appears behind him. We get shots of Plumeria with her Salazzle and Gladion with Null and his Zoroark.

To end the opening, we see an anxious Lillie looking out over the horizon, concerned for the future. However, Calvin and Erika come to her, both giving her reassuring smiles. She grins, thankful for their presence as they all trek onward through the island…

END OPENING

How Many Vikavolts Ya Fancy?

"Huh… Huh…!" Erika breathed out as she slowly trudged up the mountain road with sweat dripping down her face. Even though she knew she was only halfway up Mount Hokulani, she still decided to continue the trek up it on foot. And did she ever regret it. "Kill… me!" she exclaimed, falling face first onto the pavement.

"You're getting dehydrated again, zzt…" Rotom bluntly noted, floating over her. She pushed herself up, wiping the sweat off of her face.

"This… is just… another part of the trials…!" she insisted, trudging onwards, "I can't be far now…" she added confidently.

"Mmmm…" the Pokédex hummed, unconvinced by her declaration. Outside the Pokémon Center at the peak, Kukui had his hands stuffed into his lab coat pockets as he glanced around. He then looked over and cracked a grin upon seeing Erika finally arrive.

"Need… water…" she gasped out before falling onto her face again. Rotom sighed deeply. Moments later, she guzzled down at least two bottles of water inside the Pokémon Center, while the professor and the Pokédex were talking.

"So Pyrrha's gonna get herself trained up, huh?" the former inquired.

"That'zzz right, zzt!" Rotom buzzed in response, "Thankzzz to Erika, I think she'zzz gonna be just fine!" it added assuredly.

"Heh," Kukui chuckled, "Glad to know that you're still ready to help others, including your rivals!" he pointed out to the Ketchum girl, who just finished her third water bottle.

"Huh…" she exhaled with relief afterwards, "Yeah, I'm glad she's gonna get back on her feet…" she confessed as she walked back over.

"So… are you ready to take on another trial?" the professor asked of her.

"Mm-hmm!" she responded eagerly with a nod, "Whatever it is this time, I'll be ready for it!" she declared confidently while pumping her right fist.

"Good!" Kukui said as he grinned, "But before you get started… there's someone I want you to meet," he insisted to her surprise. A few minutes passed before they ventured outside.

"Oh, hold on a sec…" Erika suddenly said, reaching down to her belt. During her rehydration period, she also sent over one of her Pokémon back to her family in order have a space open on her team. She had grabbed her Moon Ball, enlarging it with the press of its center button, "Come on out, little girl!" she beckoned, having it open up as its bluish-white light spilled onto the ground, dissipating to reveal her newly caught Cleffa.

"Cleh?" she squeaked, taking a look at her surroundings.

"Oh, you caught a Cleffa!" Kukui noted as he leaned over to get a better look at the Star Shape Pokémon.

"Technically, zzzhe caught herself, zzt…" Rotom pointed out in correction, "Are you going to uzzze her in the trial, Erika?" it wondered.

"I don't think so," the Ketchum girl replied with a shake of her head, "But I did wanna bring her over to see some of the battles," she admitted, picking up Cleffa in her arms, "Hey, Cleffa," she said, causing her to blink in confusion, "how would you feel about having a new name for yourself?" she asked of her.

"Cleh, fah?" she uttered, very perplexed by the question.

"You wanna nickname her, zzt?" Rotom guessed.

"Yep!" its user answered with a nod, "I figure since I caught her when I was with Pyrrha this morning, I'd give her a name like she does with her Pokémon," she explained, "It's okay if you don't want one though…" she assured to her Cleffa.

"Cleh, clehh fa!" she squeaked out suddenly with sparkling eyes, nodding profusely.

"Looks like she really wants a name…" Kukui noted as he chuckled. Erika smiled.

"Then how about… Starbright?" she inquired.

"Fah!" the Star Shape Pokémon exclaimed happily, nodding in approval.

"She likezzz it, zzt!" Rotom pointed out. With a happy giggle, Erika had her newly-named Cleffa ride upon her right shoulder.

"So the trial's at the observatory, right?" she guessed, looking over with Kukui towards the large blue building with a satellite dish on one side, and a huge telescope on the other.

"Yep," the professor replied, putting his hands onto his hips, "I'll tell you, this first trial might be a bit of a doozy for you…" he noted in warning.

"Ah, we'll be fine…" Erika claimed with a dismissive wave of her right hand.

"Cleh fah…" Starbright agreed, mimicking her trainer.

"We might've not won the Aether Tournament, but we're still ready to take on whatever comes our way!" she declared fiercely as a fire was in her eyes.

"Kleh, klefa!" her Cleffa cried out, just as excited.

"Starbright doezzzn't even know what she'zzz going to do…" Rotom buzzed out, while Kukui laughed.

"Is that you over there, Royal?" a voice inquired, catching his attention along with those of the others as they looked over. Having walked out from the entrance to the observatory was a man with a three-layered set of hair: the bottom one being dark-colored, the middle one brown and the top being colored light-colored. His eyes were grey. He wore a blue jacket with red stripes around his forearms, a teal-collared shirt with two stripes tied in a knot, and some brown pants and shoes. He also had hexagon-shaped glasses with a grey frame. "Figured I'd recognize that laugh!" he remarked with a chuckle.

"Royal?" Erika repeated, glancing over at Kukui suspiciously. He winced in realization, clearing his throat with a cough.

"Hey cousin, who're you calling the Masked Royal?" he questioned to the man walking up to them, "It's Kukui, got it?" he insisted. The Ketchum girl gave off an annoyed look.

'He sounds so uncool when he tries to deny it…' she noted inwardly with a sigh.

"Heh…" the spectacled stranger laughed, "Sure, sure…" he repeated in understanding, "And so who've you brought to the observatory today?" he wondered curiously while glancing over at Erika.

"This is Erika Ketchum, one of Ash's daughters," Kukui introduced, "Erika, this is Molayne," he continued, "He's the head of the Hokulani Observatory…" he pointed out.

"…and the person who designates the trial captains on Ula'ula," the spectacled man finished for his friend. The Ketchum girl blinked in surprise.

"So does that mean you're the island's kahuna?" she inquired curiously.

"No…" Molayne responded with a chuckle while shaking his head, "Ula'ula has interesting circumstances…" he noted to her, "Our kahuna's not exactly one to keep up with the traditions," he mentioned, "so they I, a former trial captain, help with setting up the island's two trials," he told her.

"Molayne's cousin's is actually this trial's captain," Kukui added, "You'll be surprised at how smart he is," he said to Erika as she blinked in surprise.

"Actually… why don't we wait on that for a minute, Royal?" the observatory head insisted to his surprise, "I wanna see just what kinda trainer Miss Ketchum here is," he decided as she lightly gasped, "After all, she ended up in the finals of the Aether Tournament…" he pointed out, taking an Ultra Ball out from his right coat pocket and enlarging it with the press of its center button.

"Hey, it's Kukui! Not Royal!" the professor denied emphatically.

"Well, if you're asking me for a battle…" Erika began, getting their attentions as she ignored their conversation, "then how can I refuse?" she questioned rhetorically. Moments later, she and Molayne stood off about a dozen yards apart from each other in front of the observatory. Starbright was standing off to the side with Kukui, prepared to watch the match begin. Her trainer readied her own Poké Ball in her hand. "Let's go, Magby!" she called out, tossing it up into the air after enlarging it. Upon popping open, the light that spilled forth onto the ground came into form, dissipating to reveal the Live Coal Pokémon.

"Magg!" he exclaimed, breathing out a puff of fire.

"A Magby, huh?" Molayne noted curiously as he blinked, "This'll be an interesting match for us then…" he admitted, tossing his Ultra Ball forward. It popped open, with its light going onto the ground and forming. Once it dissipated, it revealed his chosen Pokémon. Erika blinked twice.

"What the…?" she uttered out. Before her and her teammate was a Dugtrio… though he looked significantly different. Even as he was nearly identical to a Kantonian counterpart, each head had a mop of golden hair formed from modified whiskers. The left head had a bob-cut, the right head has curly, shoulder-length hair, and the last one had flowing hair that touched the ground behind it.

"Treee, treeeoh!" he exclaimed.

"Your Alolan Dugtrio, huh?" Kukui inquired, stuffing his hands into his pockets, "Should've known you'd use something like that, cousin…" he remarked with a shake of his head as he grinned.

"Yeah, you know me… Royal…" Molayne replied while chuckling. Meanwhile, Rotom pulled up an image of the Alolan Mole Pokémon upon its screen.

"Dugtrio, the Mole Pokémon, Alolan Form," it began to describe, "These Pokémon are cherished in the Alola region, where they are thought to be feminine deities of the land incarnate. His shining gold whiskers are advanced sensors that can detect vibrations from sounds several miles away," he explained thoroughly.

"Dugtrio's a prized partner of mine!" the Hokulani Observatory head pointed out, "Beating him's not gonna be easy for you…" he warned to Erika. However, he was surprised to see the puffed cheeks of the trial-goer. She was struggling… to hold her laughter.

"BAHAHAHAHAHA!" she suddenly laughed, wrapping her arms around her stomach as she continued, "Oh my gosh!" she exclaimed, "Dugtrio… looks so dorky!" she pointed out. Everyone else looked at her with somewhat astonished looks.

"Huh…" Rotom sighed, "Why are you alwayzzz like thizzz?" it wondered aloud as its user calmed down.

"Okay… I'm good…" she assured, still giggling a little. The Alolan Mole Pokémon seemed a little annoyed by how his appearance was just mocked. But he let out a sigh, deciding that it wasn't worth getting riled up over.

"You both ready?" Kukui asked of the two trainers.

"Yeah!" they responded simultaneously with nods.

"Then let the battle… begin!" the professor declared, swinging his right arm down.

"Kleh fah!" Starbright squeaked, mimicking his motions.

"Magby, kick it off with Flame Burst!" Erika commanded while pumping her right fist forward. Puffing out his chest, the Live Coal Pokémon was ready to unleash a fireball from his mouth.

"Sucker Punch!" Molayne ordered. All of a sudden, Dugtrio charged forwards as the noses on all three of his heads were enveloped by a dark red aura. Before Magby could even do anything, his foe struck him fiercely at his stomach, sending him tumbling back along the pavement.

"Magby!" his trainer exclaimed in shock.

"ZZZucker Punch alwayzzz goezzz first if the opponent'zzz using an attack…" Rotom pointed out to her as she grimaced slightly.

"Thanks, Rotodex," she said in gratitude, "We'll keep our eyes open from now on!" she promised. The Live Coal Pokémon stood up from the ground.

"Mahhgg bee!" he echoed in agreement.

"Dugtrio, Metal Claw!" Molayne ordered. The Alolan Mole Pokémon's golden hair glowed a bright silvery white on each of his three heads. He zipped forward again.

"Dodge and use Clear Smog!" Erika instructed quickly. Magby was careful as he maneuvered himself around to avoid his foe's hair from swiping him. He leapt up at that moment and spewed out a cloud of whitish smog onto his target, enveloping him completely. "Nice!" his trainer complimented. However…

"Trreeeohhh!" Dugtrio exclaimed as he suddenly charged through the smog and swiped at the Live Coal Pokémon's chest with his hair, making him wince.

"What the?!" Erika yelped, completely shocked.

"Alolan Dugtrio are Ground-and-Steel-typezzz, zzt!" Rotom buzzed, getting her attention, "Poizzzon-type movezzz won't work!" it mentioned emphatically to her.

"Ergh…" she growled in frustration, "Then let's go for Smokescreen!" she called out. Steeling himself, Magby unleashed a spray of black smoke out onto the area.

"Dugtrio, use Dig!" Molayne commanded. The Alolan Mole Pokémon quickly buried into the ground, evading the incoming smoke.

"Shoot!" Erika yelped, grimacing with clenched teeth.

'I know he said he wasn't the kahuna…' she recalled inwardly, 'but this guy… is way too good!' she admitted through her thoughts. As soon as Magby finished spraying out the black smoke, he took notice of the crack in the ground right below him.

"Mah?" he uttered in surprise. All of a sudden, Dugtrio shot up and slammed into him hard, sending him flying.

"Magby!" Erika cried out.

"Mud Bomb!" Molayne ordered. Each of the Alolan Mole Pokémon's three heads fired off a glob of mud up towards his airborne foe.

"Dodge and use Flame Burst!" Erika instructed. Upon hearing her, the Live Coal Pokémon quickly maneuvered himself to avoid the globs of mud, puffing out his cheeks before launching a searing fireball from his mouth that zoomed down and struck his target in a fierce explosion.

"Dugtrio!" Molayne exclaimed, quite shocked by how the attack had worked.

"Now Feint Attack!" Erika commanded as she pumped her left fist forward. Magby landed down behind his opponent just as the smoke cleared. The Alolan Mole Pokémon whipped around to see what his foe would attempt to do. It seemed like he was planning to pivot towards him for a strong roundhouse kick. But it turned out to be no more than a feint as he instead punched his target's middle head square in the nose with his left fist.

"Mud Bomb!" the Hokulani Observatory head ordered afterwards. Dugtrio's left and right heads quickly fired off globs of mud that struck Magby directly, sending him flying before he landed upon the ground hard on his back.

"Magby, no!" his trainer exclaimed in fright.

"Maaahhhh…" the Live Coal Pokémon groaned out, wincing as he slowly pushed himself back up. Kukui watched on with narrowed eyes.

'No doubt Molayne's strong…' he concluded inwardly, 'But that said, Erika and her team are stubborn to a fault…' he mentioned through his thoughts, letting off a grin, 'There's no way they're gonna throw in the towel now…' he affirmed confidently to himself.

"Come on, Magby…" the Ketchum girl pleaded to her teammate as he got onto his feet, "That's it!" she exclaimed, "We're gonna get through this and beat that trial together!" she declared fiercely.

"Mah!" the Live Coal Pokémon agreed… followed by… "BBBBEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!" he screeched into the air as his body suddenly glowed in a bright, bluish-white light.

"Ah!" his trainer gasped in astonishment, while everyone else widened their eyes.

"He'zzz evolving!" Rotom exclaimed. Sure enough, Magby's body grew as his arms and body became bigger, while his tail lengthened and gained a flame at the tip of it. As the light broke apart around him, it revealed that he evolved into a Magmar.

"Maaarrr!" he bellowed excitedly, spewing out a breath of fire from his mouth.

"Woohoo!" Erika yelled with a joyful pump of her right fist. Meanwhile, Rotom brought up an image of the Spitfire Pokémon onto its screen.

"Magmar, the Spitfire Pokémon, and the evolved form of Magby," it began, "When he's tired, he leaps into the mouth of a volcano and soaks his body in magma to ease his weariness. his body burns at two thousand, one hundred and ninety-two degrees Fahrenheit. His entire body is burning. When he breathes, the temperature rises. When he sneezes, flames shoot out!" it explained thoroughly.

"Mahg, mar!" he exclaimed, closing his hands into fists and igniting them with flames.

"Fire Punch, huh?" Kukui guessed, letting off a grin, "Hey cousin!" he called out to Molayne, getting his attention, "I think your Dugtrio's about to be in for quite the big Blast Burn!" he noted jokingly. The head of the Hokulani Observatory cracked a grin.

"We'll take our chances," he remarked in response, "Dugtrio, Dig!" he commanded.

"Tree!" the Alolan Mole Pokémon responded, burrowing into the ground again to disappear from sight.

"He went under again, zzt!" Rotom buzzed. Erika narrowed her eyes, remembering how the last time, Dugtrio had popped up from right underneath her teammate's feet. So now…

"Use Fire Punch on the ground!" she instructed. Magmar blinked in surprise, but decided to adhere to the order as his ignited right fist was slammed against the pavement, heating it up in a fiery blast. What followed was the Alolan Mole Pokémon popping back up.

"TRRRREEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!" he shrieked in agony from the burning sensation he felt.

"Dugtrio!" Molayne cried out.

"Now Flame Burst!" Erika commanded with a pump of her right fist. Puffing out his chest, Magmar launched a searing fireball from his mouth, striking his opponent in another powerful blast. When the resulting smoke subsided moments later, it revealed the swirls in the eyes of each of the Alolan Mole Pokémon's three heads. Kukui grinned, raising his right arm.

"Dugtrio is unable to battle!" he announced, "Magmar wins!" he stated, gesturing towards the Spitfire Pokémon.

"Way to go, Magmar!" Erika complimented as she jogged over to her newly-evolved partner.

"Mahg!" he boomed happily as he raised his fists, making her laugh.

"Huh…" Molayne exhaled while returning Dugtrio to his Ultra Ball in a beam of red light, "Well, I guess that clinches that…" he realized, glancing over to see the smirk on his friend's face.

"Don't be too embarrassed…" he insisted, "Remember, she did wind up almost winning that tournament…" he pointed out, seeing the Ketchum girl pick up an excited Starbright, who was mimicking Magmar.

"I know, I know…" the head of the observatory repeated in understanding with a chuckle, "She's a tough girl…" he admitted, "Soffy's gonna have his hands full with her taking the trial today," he mentioned.

"You think she'll win easy?" Kukui guessed.

"…Nah," Molayne affirmed in response with the shake of his head, "He doesn't let a challenger's strength get the better of him," he assured, "That said, she'll have quite a fun time…" he mentioned.

X

"The Kantonian Pokémon Gym?" Calvin inquired to his cousin in the Pokémon Center that morning.

"Mm-hmm!" he responded with a nod, having shown him an article about the place in question upon his phone, "Apparently, it's modeled after the gym in Vermillion City back in Kanto," he mentioned to him, "I wanna go there and get some extra training in before the next trial!" he declared, "So… you and Paige wanna come with me?" he offered.

"Yeah, I'd be glad to go…" his cousin replied, "But… Paige already left…" he pointed out, much to Hau's surprise as he blinked, "She wanted to go and train up on the coast to get Stufful and the rest of her team ready for the battles ahead…" he told him.

"Oh, I get it," he confirmed, crossing his arms over his chest, "Trial-goers are only allowed to head through certain parts of the islands so long as they've cleared the designated trials," he explained in remembrance, "So there's not really a lot of places she can go…" he mentioned, glancing up in thought.

"Huh…" Calvin uttered, "Never thought about it like that…" he admitted, putting his left hand onto his chin.

"Anyways though," his cousin began, "let's get to that gym before there's too many challengers!" he insisted with a pump of his right fist into the air.

"Heh…" the Ketchum boy chuckled. For some reason, he noticed how… off Hau had seemed after he lost to Erika the other day. Now he seemed to be back to his normal self. But to see that even he was feeling somewhat frustrated about how his battles were going stuck with him. Was that a feeling that was still bubbling inside of him?

A few minutes passed after the boys left the Pokémon Center. Wandering the streets of Malie City, they came across the supposed Kantonian Gym. Calvin could easily tell how it resembled one by the familiar symbol over the entrance.

"This is the place!" Hau exclaimed, putting his hands onto his hips, "You excited?" he asked of his cousin.

"A bit nervous…" he admitted in reply, "I've only ever been to a couple of gyms since Dad and Leslie started that World Coronation Series a few years ago…" he recalled, "Both of them got pretty far… but some trainers turned out to be a lot tougher than others…" he noted in remembrance.

"Yeah…" the ponytailed boy agreed, "My dad wound getting as far as the Ultra Class back then… if I remember right…" he grumbled, folding his arms behind his head, "But let's not worry about that!" he insisted, balling his fists excitedly, "We got a gym to beat!" he declared excitedly.

"Calvin? Hau?" a familiar female voice chimed in, getting their attentions. They looked over to see Lillie and Acerola approaching them. "So you two are still here!" the former noted with a smile, walking over to them.

"Hey Lillie!" Calvin greeted with a simple wave, "Me and Hau were about to try on this Kantonian Gym he told me about," he told her, tilting his head towards the building his question.

"Ooh, I hear the leader there's really something!" Acerola pointed out, "Oh, I'm Acerola by the way!" she introduced, "Nice to meet ya!" she greeted with a grin.

"Likewise!" Hau replied as he smiled cheekily.

"So how's Nebby?" Calvin quietly asked the assistant, getting her attention.

"Quiet, thankfully…" she responded, looking down at her duffel bag, "I think we're going to be heading to the Ruins of Abundance on this island next," she mentioned, "Although…" she continued, giving off a somber look.

"Although what?" the Ketchum boy inquired expectantly.

"A trainer has to clear the two trials on Ula'ula to get to the Haina Desert, where the ruins are!" Acerola explained as she intervened on the conversation to their surprise, "I should know since I'm a trial captain myself!" she added cheekily.

"Y-You are?" Calvin stuttered in question.

"Mm-hmm!" the unkempt-looking girl responded with a simple nod, "I'm gonna be looking after your friend here until there's a trial-goer who's willing to help her get through that desert after he or she clears both trials!" she told him.

"Well… thank you," he said out of gratitude, "I'm sure you can look after Lillie just fine," he added confidently.

"You got it!" Acerola assured with a salute, giggling afterwards.

"So are you ready to head in?" Hau inquired to his cousin, getting his attention. The two girls came with them as the doors slid open. And then…

"ROCK'N'RROOOOOLLLLLLLLL!" a voice screamed loudly into a microphone, causing the new visitors to cover their ears from how loud it was.

"Pew…" Nebby squeaked from inside Lillie's bag as its lips quivered in fright from the loud sound. Calvin managed to bat an eye open to see a Garbodor being knocked down to the metal floor of what acted as the gym field. He noticed the one who defeated him was a bipedal, turtle-like Pokémon with a spiny shell. His skin was a muted green and only visible on his limbs, tail, head, and neck. On top of his head was an additional shell with many points around the brim. This extra shell had a black center, yellow in the middle, and a red outer rim. His eyes had black markings around the bottom, and he had a tubular, yellow snout with a single, large nostril. He also had a wide mouth with the lower lip marked by a jagged yellow line extending from his nose. On each side of his long neck were two short, triangular projections. His front legs had mitten-like hands, while his hind feet had claw-like red growths around them. Most of his tail was also covered by red plating, which had fin-like projections. The shell that encased his body had a red underside with a star-shaped, yellow-rimmed hole in the center. The back of the shell had a yellow center with several spikes: four large spikes with red bases form a star-shape in the center with four smaller spikes around them.

"Turrr…" he growled out as a puff of fire left his nose.

"Whoa…" Calvin uttered out in shock, "What Pokémon is that?" he inquired curiously, raising an eyebrow.

"Oh, that's a Turtonator!" Acerola replied, "You can only find them in Alola on this specific island you know!" she mentioned with a wink.

"From what I remember, Turtonator's a Fire-and-Dragon-type Pokémon…" Lillie mentioned. She suddenly felt her bag shake. "Oh no…" she muttered in realization, knowing that Nebby had woken up.

"That's a strong Pokémon…" Hau noted, "Who's his trainer though?" he wondered curiously.

"Now that was a rockin' time!" the raspy voice from earlier exclaimed through a microphone, thankfully quieter than before. It came from a young guy, whose green eyes were shaded by a dark veil from his white-and-red wild hair, which had a long ponytail. He wore a red bodysuit with yellow markings and black borders, decorated with black metal spikes on his boots, forearms and fingers, except for his thumbs. His bodysuit was exposed in the midriff area, decorated with yellow spikes. He also had a black belt, and a black collar. "You did pretty good, pal!" he remarked to his opponent, who returned his Garbodor to his Ultra Ball in a beam of red light.

"Huh…" he sighed, "Thank you for the battle, Mister Ryuki…" he muttered in gratitude.

"Don't sweat it!" the supposed gym leader responded with a toothy smile through the microphone, "Come back any time you want to try to earn this here Surge Badge!" he advised, showing off the sun-shaped badge in his right hand. His former challenger bowed before turning around and running off.

"Wow…" Hau uttered out, "Guess this guy must be strong…" he realized, sounding somewhat nervous. Ryuki took notice of the new visitors and grinned.

"So which one of you's up next?!" he inquired loudly, causing feedback to echo from the microphone as everyone flinched.

"Ryuki, you can ask without the microphone you know!" Acerola shouted afterwards, catching his attention as he blinked in surprise.

"Acerola!" he called out, putting the microphone aside onto its stand, "How's it going?" he inquired with a grin.

"Good to see you again, Ryuki…" the trial captain responded as she rolled her eyes.

"You know him?" Lillie asked out of surprise.

"Mm-hmm," Acerola answered while nodding, "Ryuki here actually used to be a trial-goer when he came to Alola," she told the group, "He gave up halfway though 'cause he thought it was boring…" she mentioned with a blank look towards the supposed gym leader, "So… he decided to start his own Pokémon Gym right here…" she pointed out.

"And it's been a rockin' time!" he added, "Once there's seven other gyms, we'll finally get ourselves a proper Pokémon League for Alola!" he noted excitedly.

"A Pokémon League?" Calvin repeated out of surprise as he blinked.

"Huh…" Acerola sighed, "If a Pokémon League does come around…" she began, "I think it would happen from the trials, not gyms…" she noted confidently.

"Heh," Ryuki chuckled, "Well… I know you're not here to try and get my badge…" he realized, causing her to roll her eyes out of exasperation, "So who's here to challenge me next?" he asked of the new visitors.

"I'm ready to give it a shot!" Hau proclaimed as he hurried over to take his place on his side of the field, "My name's Hau!" he introduced while pointing to himself, "I'm gonna complete the island challenge and become Alola's strongest trainer!" he declared, closing his left hand into a confident fist.

"Oh, I see…" the gym leader noted with a chuckle, "Well, let's see if you can beat shining stars like me and Turtonator!" he challenged.

"Turrr!" the Blast Turtle Pokémon roared out. The ponytailed boy took out a Poké Ball, enlarging it with the press of its center button.

"Come on out, Ariel!" he yelled, tossing the spherical container forward after flipping it up in his hand. It popped open, and its light spilled onto the ground, coming into form and dissipating to reveal his Vaporeon.

"Reee!" she squeaked in greeting.

"He's using a Vaporeon, huh?" Acerola noted curiously.

"That's a good choice against someone like Turtonator," Lillie added with a small smile. Calvin just watched on intently, wondering how his cousin would fare.

"Let the battle… begin!" the kimono-dressed referee exclaimed, swinging her right arm down.

"Ariel, Water Pulse!" Hau quickly commanded.

"Vay!" the Bubble Jet Pokémon responded, forming a sphere of water in front of her open mouth before firing it off towards her target. Ryuki cracked a wide grin.

"Burn it up with Flamethrower!" he yelled to Turtonator.

"Tur!" he exclaimed in reply, expelling a powerful stream of flames from his nose to make the water sphere burst into a cloud of steam upon striking.

"Ah!" Hau yelped as he and his Vaporeon braced themselves from the resulting steam that washed over them.

"Whoa…" Lillie uttered in surprise.

"A Flamethrower was able to stop a Water Pulse?" Calvin inquired, evidently shocked.

"I hate to admit it sometimes…" Acerola chimed in, getting their attentions, "but Ryuki's actually a really strong trainer," she pointed out, crossing her arms over her chest, "In fact, I'd say he's probably just as tough as an island kahuna," she mentioned firmly.

"Wow…" Lillie said, evidently astonished by just how impressive the gym leader seemed already.

"Turtonator, Dragon Tail!" he suddenly commanded. As Ariel was searching through the steam cloud in search of her foe, she was suddenly struck upside the head by the Blast Turtle Pokémon's tail, which was covered in a green, scale-patterned aura. She tumbled along the floor to her trainer's feet as the rest of the steam dissipated.

"Ariel!" he exclaimed in shock, "Are you okay?!" he asked worriedly, seeing her slowly push herself up.

"Vayyy… porrr…" she groaned, getting onto her feet and glaring at her foe.

"Flamethrower, again!" Ryuki ordered.

"Dodge and use Aurora Beam!" Hau instructed quickly. As Turtonator launched another stream of fire from his nose, Ariel ran out and ducked under it. She opened her mouth and released a multicolored beam of light, striking her opponent directly at his chest as he stumbled back a steam.

"Tur, tohhh…" he muttered out, glaring at her.

"Nice!" the ponytailed boy complimented with a pump of his left fist, "Now Quick Attack!" he commanded. A whitish outline shrouded his Vaporeon as she dashed forward, heading towards her foe. However, Ryuki smirked.

"Shell Trap!" he called out. With that, the Blast Turtle Pokémon turned himself around and aimed his shell towards his incoming foe. She collided with him, but the second her mermaid-like tail hit one of his spikes, all of them glowed a bright orange and exploded.

"RREEEEEEEEEEEE!" she shrieked in agony as she flew out from the resulting smoke.

"Ariel!" Hau cried out.

"What was that?!" Calvin exclaimed in shock, blinking rapidly.

"Shell Trap is Turtonator's signature move," Acerola replied, causing him to perk up and look over at her, "He turns around like he did and lets his opponent hit," she pointed out, "Once the attack lands, Turtonator can made his spikes explode," she explained.

"So in other words, Turtonator was baiting Ariel…" Calvin realized, letting off a grimace.

"Now Dragon Tail!" Ryuki commanded as he stuck his left hand forward. The Blast Turtle Pokémon had a green, scale-patterned aura shroud his tail before swinging it out. He struck the Vaporeon hard, sending her crashing down onto the floor.

"Ariel, no!" her trainer exclaimed in fright, seeing her struggle to stand back up as she grimaced.

"Let's end this number with a bang!" Ryuki insisted, "Turtonator, Body Slam!" he ordered.

"Turr!" the Blast Turtle Pokémon responded as he ran forward and leapt towards the hurt Vaporeon. Hau winced in fright.

"Quick, Acid Armor!" he yelled. A bluish light shrouded the Bubble Jet Pokémon as she looked up to see her opponent. He collided with her fiercely in a burst of dust.

"Ergh…" Hau grunted, having braced himself from the attack as his arms were crossed over his face. He looked out and gasped to see Turtonator looming over Ariel, who lied upon the floor.

"Vayyy…" she moaned in agony.

"Vaporeon is unable to battle!" the referee announced immediately, "Therefore, the victory goes to Ryuki and Turtonator!" she added, gesturing towards the gym leader and his partner.

"ROCK ON!" he screamed happily.

"TURRRRRR!" the Blast Turtle Pokémon roared in victory, raising his arms. Meanwhile, Hau fell onto his knees.

"Ariel…" he uttered in disbelief, trembling a little as he closed his hands into fists.

"Hau…" Lillie said, shocked at how upset he seemed about the loss. From what she remembered, he would still carry a bright smile on his face, even after losing a match. But now… he was heartbroken.

Meanwhile, Calvin was a little angry. Ryuki seemed stuck up and arrogant from what Acerola said, and it showed during the battle. He took a deep breath.

"It's my turn, I guess…" he realized, walking over to the field.

"C-Calvin!" Lillie stammered out, while Acerola blinked in surprise. They saw him go over and put his left hand onto his cousin's shoulder.

"Cal?" he uttered in surprise.

"You did good, Hau," he Ketchum boy assured, "Give Ariel a good rest," he insisted with a smile before looking out at the gym leader.

"So are you up next?" he inquired curiously. Calvin balled his hands into tight fists.

"I am," he affirmed.

X

"Toh, dah!" Tomi exclaimed as he pranced about the Melemele Sea beach excitedly.

"Tomi, hey!" Tanjiro cried out, but to no avail as his Pokémon partner was too focused on enjoying his excursion about the beach, "Huh…" he sighed, "I don't suppose you've dealt with Pokémon like that before…" he noted over to Leslie, who was standing beside him just outside of the Kukui laboratory.

"Someone as rowdy and excited?" she inquired rhetorically, "Oh, plenty of times," she admitted to his surprise, "Thing is, Pokémon are like that a lot when they're young," she pointed out, "Tomi's gonna grow out of that phase eventually," she assured with a grin. The former Demon Slayer smiled back.

"Your father's going to be training me today, right?" he inquired, receiving a nod in response.

"He's the best to help you!" she promised while putting her hands onto her hips. At that moment, she noticed a few figures emerging from the laboratory. One was her father. Alongside him were Pikachu and a Croconaw. And behind him was… a Lurantis?

"So, you ready to get started, Tanjiro?" he asked of the former Demon Slayer.

"We will be, sir!" he assured in response with a bow.

"Dad, who's Lurantis is that?" Leslie questioned, noticing the Bloom Sickle Pokémon behind him.

"Your little sister's," he answered to her surprise, "Yeah, she sent her over this morning to make space for someone new she just caught," he mentioned, "Lurantis, this is Erika's big sister, Leslie," he introduced.

"Lurahh?" the Bloom Sickle Pokémon chittered as she nervously stepped forward to greet the Champion Master.

"Hi, Lurantis!" she greeted back with a have, "Nice to meet one of Erika's other Pokémon!" she added as she giggled, "Did you tell her that I was back?" she inquired to her father.

"Heh…" he chuckled nervously, scratching at his cheek, "I figured you'd wanna talk to her yourself… especially after you saw the videos…" he mentioned, "Besides… you were kinda busy this morning…" he recalled. His eldest daughter let out a sigh of remembrance. Earlier, Asta had gone off on a run around the entirety of the island. She tried to stop him, but he was adamant… and fast.

"Toh, toh!" Tomi exclaimed excitedly as he bounced over. Upon seeing his evolved form, he stopped and stared at him in awe. "Dahhh…" he uttered as his mouth gaped open and his eyes widened.

"Craw," Croconaw huffed proudly.

"Peekah…" Pikachu muttered out, rolling his eyes.

"Leslie, can you look after the lab today?" Ash asked of his eldest daughter, "I'll take care of training these guys," he promised with a firm nod.

"Sure!" she replied, "After all, it'll be great to get to know more about Erika's Pokémon," she added as she glanced over, blinking in surprise to see Lurantis sleeping upon the front porch in the sunlight.

"Lurrr… aaahhh…" she yawned out contently.

"Seriously…?" Leslie grumbled out. Her father laughed.

"Erika's certainly caught some interesting Pokémon," he pointed out with his hands at his hips, "Now let's get ourselves started, Tanjiro!" he insisted.

"Yes sir!" the former Demon Slayer responded eagerly, hurrying off alongside the Pokémon Master with Tomi and the other Pokémon following after them.

"Huh…" Leslie exhaled, seating herself down on the porch beside the snoozing Lurantis, "I wonder what Erika's up to now…" she said, realizing that Ash hadn't mentioned where her little sister was.

She had actually just entered the Hokulani Observatory with Starbright in her arms, while Kukui and Molayne walked in behind her. After taking a quick visit to the Pokémon Center to heal up her newly-evolved Magmar, the trial-goer ventured with the two men into the building. Needless to say, she was immediately in awe.

"Whoa…" she uttered, seeing all of equipment and researchers inside.

"Kleh…" her Cleffa squeaked, echoing her awe.

"Pretty impressive, huh?" Molayne guessed, catching their attentions "The Hokulani Observatory helps us study the various phenomena in space, including the likes of the Pokémon that live there," he explained to the Ketchum girl.

"Like Minior?" she inquired curiously.

"That's right," the observatory head replied, "But even more amazing than them, we've caught glimpses of Legendary Pokémon as well…" he pointed out, walking her and the professor over to view an array of images depicting of what looked like…

"Rayquaza?!" Erika exclaimed with widening eyes.

"Wow, you Locked-On to that pretty quick!" Kukui joked, laughing afterwards.

"You must be really happy with how succezzzful the observatory'zzz been, right?" Rotom buzzed in question, catching Molayne's attention.

"Yeah," he replied with a nod, "But truth is, I'm even more proud of Soffy," he mentioned.

"Soffy?" Erika repeated in confusion with a tilt of her head.

"Fah?" Starbright uttered, mimicking her trainer's perplexed state.

"My cousin, and the trial captain here," Molayne responded, "In fact, I think it's time for you to meet him," he decided with a grin.

"Oh, okay!" the Ketchum girl yelped eagerly. Moments later, they stood just outside a room with a familiar-looking design upon the door. "It's like the ones at each of the trial sites…" Erika recalled curiously.

"It's all you and your team from here, Erika," Kukui noted, causing her to blink in surprise, "Do what you can to Charge through this trial!" he remarked to her with a clenched right fist. She blinked in surprise before smiling, letting off a firm nod. She opened the door and ventured into the room with Rotom floating in behind her. There was plenty of equipment, though it was neatly organized about the room. What didn't seem remotely organized was the section where two couches were, with food and blankets strewn about.

'Boy, these guys must really take their jobs that seriously…' she realized inwardly.

"Excuse me…" a squeaky voice chimed in, catching her attention as she and Rotom turned to see a short chubby boy there, who had orange hair and green eyes. He wore a yellow scarf around his neck that resembled a Pikachu's tail and a white T-shirt, with an orange design of a video game system painted on it. He also donned brown pants with a yellow outline and some green shoes with lightning-like design and blue soles. On his right hip, he had a keychain with a miniature Electrode attached and wore a belt that held a trial captain badge as its buckle. "Are you here for my trial?" he guessed, making her perk up.

"Um, yeah!" she replied with a nod.

"Fah!" Starbright echoed.

"Th-Then I guess we should get started…" the chubby trial captain stuttered out. Erika blinked.

"Right here?" she questioned with a tilt of her head.

"Kleh fah?" her Cleffa repeated.

"Right here, right now," the trial captain affirmed in response as he nodded, "By the way, my name's Sophocles," he introduced, guiding the trial-goer to follow him over to the end of the room where a console was, "Now normally, trials are completed by summoning the Totem Pokémon that you have to defeat, right?" he inquired.

"Yeah, that's pretty much what happens…" Erika recalled, thinking about the various trials she and her teammates went through.

'Every time, we had to overcome battling against two or three different Pokémon before the Totem ever showed up…' she noted to herself.

"So I'd been thinking…" Sophocles continued, snapping her away from her thoughts, "why not summon the Totem right away?" he suggested.

"Wait… you can do that?" Erika questioned, blinking rapidly.

"How, zzt?" Rotom asked on.

"With my Ping Totem Pokémon Two-Point-O here," the trial captain replied, typing in a few commands for the system, "Here at the observatory, we also study phenomena when it comes to Pokémon," he pointed out, "Some of them can only hear sounds that people like you and I can't even hear," he told the trial-goer as she listened curiously, "So the device is meant to summon the Totem in particular and lure it here," he mentioned, "I'm actually glad, since you're the first person I'm trying this device out with," he noted as he grabbed a remote control device off of the console, "I needed a test subject," he added.

"I'm not a test subject!" the Ketchum girl yelled.

"Kleh, kle fah!" Starbright squeaked angrily in agreement.

"Calm down, Erika…" Rotom insisted as it floated in between her and Sophocles. She let out a frustrated sigh.

"Well, I guess it doesn't really matter if the Totem's gonna get here faster…" she concluded after a moment.

"Alright, then let's do this!" the trial captain exclaimed.

"Majuu!" a voice suddenly squeaked, catching their attentions.

"What was that?" Erika inquired. She and Starbright looked over to see a spherical, rodent-like Pokémon waddling over to them. Most of her front was white, while her back was primarily gray. She had black eyes, a short pointed snout with a black nose, rounded ears, and a circular, yellow marking on each cheek. Scattered across her back were 14 fur spikes that appear as yellow and brown triangular markings. There was a tail-like needle on the back of her head. The needle was gray with a yellow tip and was shaped like a lightning bolt. Additionally, she had stubby arms and legs.

"Majuuu!" she squeaked, hopping into Sophocles' arms.

"I was wondering where you were, Togemaru…" he remarked with a smile.

"Togemaru?" Erika repeated, "Is that what she's called?" she guessed, raising an eyebrow.

"That's just her nickname," the trial captain replied, "She's a Togedemaru," he pointed out. As if on cue, Rotom pulled up an image of the Roly-Poly Pokémon upon its screen.

"Togedemaru, the Roly-Poly Pokémon," it began, "The long hairs on her back act as lightning rods. The bolts of lightning she attracts are stored as energy in her electric sac. Her capacity to produce electricity is somewhat limited, so she gets charged up by letting lightning strike her!" it explained thoroughly.

"She's kinda like a Pikachu…" Erika realized afterwards. Sophocles blinked in surprise.

"Well… I guess that's right…" he admitted in reply, letting Togemaru down onto the floor. Starbright suddenly hopped out of her trainer's arms and landed in front of her.

"Klehfah!" she greeted.

"Maju?" the Roly-Poly Pokémon uttered in confusion with a tilt of her face slightly.

"Kle, kleh fah!" the Cleffa squeaked, bouncing off around the lab.

"Mah, majjjuuuu!" she cried out excitedly, rolling after her.

"Hey, be careful!" Erika called out in concern.

"They'll be fine," Sophocles assured to her, "More importantly, you're ready to get started?" he guessed.

"Yeah!" she replied eagerly.

"All right…" the trial captain uttered, placing his thumb atop the button, "Engaging Ping Totem Pokémon Two-Point-O!" he exclaimed, pressing the button down firmly. A machine started whirring. Erika looked over to see that it was one that had several horns that seemed to be emitting sound, though she couldn't hear it.

"Wow…" she said, quite awed, "It's actually working!" she pointed out excitedly. And then the lights went out. "Huh?" she uttered in confusion.

"AAAAHHH!" Sophocles shrieked, "Did it blow a fuse?!" he wondered loudly, "Ah, it's so dark!" he added, sounding scared. Though the Ketchum girl couldn't see him, she could tell he wasn't a fan of being in the dark…

"Hey, calm down…" she recommended reassuringly, "Rotodex, you got a light?" she asked of the Pokédex.

"ZZZure thing, Erika!" it buzzed in response, making its screen shine a bright white to illuminate part of the room.

"Huh…" Sophocles sighed in relief, "That's a little better…" he admitted with a small grin.

"Maju!" Togemaru squeaked, getting his attention as he looked to see her come over alongside Starbright. Her cheeks and triangular markings along her back glowed a bright yellow.

"Good thinking, Togemaru!" her trainer complimented, "But don't go pushing yourself, okay?" he insisted of her.

"Majuu!" she responded with a nod.

"Kleh fah!" Starbright squeaked as she hopped into her trainer's arms.

"So what do we do now?" the trial-goer asked curiously, "Try to boot the thing up again?" she guessed, looking towards the device.

"Hmm…" Sophocles uttered in thought, rubbing his chin with his right hand, "If the Ping worked, then the Totem Pokémon should be coming," she concluded after a moment, "But we should probably find a way to reboot the power so the whole observatory doesn't go dark…" he advised, "There'll be a few security checks at the doors that are still working…" he pointed out, "And you have to answer them," he mentioned. Erika blinked.

"Wait, why do I…?" She trailed off upon realizing. This was her trial. "Oh, I get it," she concluded with a nod, "Okay, let's do it!" she insisted with a pump of her fists. As her trial began, so too did a certain figure on Route 10 take off towards the mountain...

X

"What's your name, kid?" Ryuki asked his new opponent back in the Kantonian Gym.

"Calvin," the capped boy responded as he adjusted his brim slightly. Hau had returned Ariel to her Poké Ball and went over stand alongside Lillie and Acerola on the sidelines.

"Well Calvin…" the gym leader began, taking out an Ultra Ball to return Turtonator to in a beam of red light, "I think you should have a rockin' opponent who's ready to fight!" he insisted as he grabbed another Ultra Ball, enlarging it with a press of its center button, "Take the stage, Drampa!" he called out, tossing the spherical container forward. It popped open, and its bluish-white light formed upon the field before dissipating to reveal a serpentine Pokémon similar to a Chinese dragon. Most of his skin is bluish-green, but the lower half of his face and the underside of his neck were a pale green. There were three spots on each of his sides that were also light green. He had pink eyes with rounded, yellow eyebrows, a short mustache, and a small, white beard with a circular extension. On top of his head was a mop of white hair split into four rounded sections: two draped down either side of his head. Fluffy white fur draped the lower half of his body and concealed his arms as they were tucked against his chest. He had a bushy white tail with a small, curved spike at the base.

"Draaaahhhh…!" he exclaimed, having his arms spread to reveal two short claws upon each hand.

"Drampa, huh?" Calvin noted, narrowing his eyes.

"Drampa's a Normal-and-Dragon-type…" Lillie pointed out curiously.

"Mm-hmm," Acerola said with a nod, "Calvin's going to have to think outside of the box for that one…" she pointed out while her arms were folded over her chest.

"Cal…" Hau uttered out. He saw his cousin pull out two Poké Balls from his belt, enlarging and opening them. Their lights formed upon the floor beside him, dissipating to reveal Steenee and Poliwag.

"Neee?" the Fruit Pokémon squeaked in confusion.

"Poh, poleee?" the Tadpole Pokémon questioned to his trainer. Meanwhile, Ryuki was just as confused.

"Hey, this isn't a two-on-one, you know…" he pointed out.

"Don't worry, they'll just be watching," Calvin promised in response, now taking out a Net Ball and pressing its center button to enlarge it, "Let's go, Araquanid!" he called out, throwing the spherical container forward. It popped open, and its light spilled onto the floor, dissipating quickly to reveal the Water Bubble Pokémon.

"Kwwaaaahhh!" he bellowed out.

"Oh, an Araquanid…" Ryuki noted curiously, "Gotta say, pretty bold to try using a Pokémon that's at a disadvantage…" he pointed out.

"Is that right?" Calvin questioned back, raising an eyebrow.

"Let the battle… begin!" the female referee exclaimed, swinging her right arm down to signal the start of the battle.

"Let's start things off strong!" Ryuki insisted as he clapped a beat up with his hands, "Drampa, Thunderbolt!" he commanded. Yellow electricity suddenly crackled and enveloped the Placid Pokémon before he fired of a bolt towards his opponent.

"Aqua Ring!" Calvin called out. Rings of water suddenly surrounded Araquanid, taking the lightning bolt in a powerful blast that covered him in grey smoke. However, it quickly dissipated to reveal that he was fine.

"Kwaahhhh…" he growled out.

"…Tsk," Ryuki scoffed, rubbing his right thumb across his nose, "Well, let's crank it up to eleven!" he yelled, "Drampa, Hyper Voice!" he commanded fiercely.

"DRAAAAAAAAHHHH!" the Placid Pokémon roared, firing off multiple transparent rings of pure sound from his mouth that slammed into Araquanid like rushing wind.

"Ahhhkwwaaaahhh…!" he grunted out, struggling to endure it as his legs slid back along the metal floor.

"Spider Web!" his trainer instructed. Hopping up and aiming his spinneret forward, Araquanid fired off a strand of sticky thread that split into a net, ensnaring his foe's mouth and shutting it.

"Drrrr…!" he muffled out, trying desperately to shake the webbing off.

"Now Liquidation!" Calvin commanded, pumping his right fist forward. Once he landed down, Araquanid skittered forward. Water swirled down from the bubble at his front right leg as he raised it, slamming it fiercely against his opponent's head in a burst of smoke, sending him sliding back.

"Hey, now we're rockin'!" Ryuki realized, letting off a grin, "Thunderbolt!" he ordered. Electricity enveloped Drampa again before he fired off another bolt of lightning, striking the Water Bubble Pokémon as he too slid back.

"Kwahhh…" he groaned, shaking his head.

"Steee nee…" Steenee worriedly squeaked. She looked to see the determined expression upon her trainer's face. He wasn't going to let the fight end that easily.

"Araquanid, Liquidation back-to-back!" he ordered firmly.

"Drampa, Dragon Claw!" Ryuki shouted ferociously. With both of his front legs raised, the Water Bubble Pokémon let water swirl around them. Meanwhile, his foe unfurled his arms and had a greenish, claw-like aura shroud the ones upon him. The two of them closed in on each other and clashed, making sparks fly in between their blows.

"Keep up the pressure, Araquanid!" Calvin cheered with his fists clenched.

"Let's roar like dragons would, Drampa!" the gym leader called out, "Use Dragon Pulse!" he commanded. The Placid Pokémon managed to snap off the webbing over his mouth, having a multicolored light build within it. Just as his foe struck him hard at the neck with his left front leg, he fired a beam in the shape of dragon's head, swallowing him up before exploding to blow him back.

"Kwaaahhh…!" he exclaimed in agony as he slid out of the smoke, trembling a little.

"Araquanid!" his trainer cried out. Meanwhile, Drampa glared on at his foe. A reddish aura suddenly flowed up his body.

"Wh-What was that?" Hau stuttered in shock.

"Berserk…" Acerola replied with narrowed eyes, "It's Drampa's signature ability," she mentioned to him.

"Oh, that's right…" Lillie concurred, putting her left hand onto her chin in thought, "When a Drampa is weakened to a certain point, their special attack is boosted," she explained.

"Araquanid, you still good to keep going?" Calvin asked of the Water Bubble Pokémon, getting his attention. Rings of water started swirling around him, soothing his body as a greenish light flowed up it.

"Ahkwah," he assured in response, stepping forward.

"Man, you're really shining like stars today…" Ryuki pointed out, sounding somewhat nervous. He hadn't been pushed like this in a long time. "Drampa, Hyper Voice!" he ordered.

"DRRRAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHH!" the Placid Pokémon screeched, unleashing more transparent sound waves from his mouth towards his target.

"Dodge and use Bug Bite!" Calvin quickly instructed. His teammate leapt over the incoming sound waves with ease… followed by his whole body glowing in a yellowish-green aura. "Huh?" his trainer uttered in confusion. That wasn't Bug Bite…

"Aaahhhh… KWWAAAAAHHHHHHHHH!" he exclaimed, colliding fiercely with Drampa in a burst of dust.

"Whoa!" Hau yelped.

"What was that move?" Lillie wondered aloud as she blinked. Acerola let off a laugh.

"That was Lunge!" she pointed out excitedly, "Araquanid learned a new move!" she noted while giggling.

"Lunge, huh?" Calvin repeated upon overhearing the trial captain. An idea started to form in his head as he grinned.

"That's not gonna stop us!" Ryuki proclaimed, pumping his right fist forward, "Drampa, Dragon Pulse!" he commanded. With a multicolored energy building in his mouth, the Placid Pokémon unleashed a beam of it in the shape of a dragon's head, zooming towards his opponent.

"Lunge, again!" the Ketchum boy called out. Leaping over the incoming beam, Araquanid glowed in a yellowish-green light once more before slamming down against Drampa fiercely in a burst of dust. As it settled afterwards, it revealed him pinning his foe to the floor. However, the gym leader cracked a grin.

"Time to end this concert!" he declared, "Use Thunderbolt!" he ordered. Electricity started building up around Drampa's body. But Calvin smirked.

"Liquidation!" he commanded to both Ryuki and the Placid Pokémon's surprise. All of Araquanid's legs had water swirling around them, each pinning his target to the floor. A drop of sweat rolled down his head upon realizing what was about to happen.

"KWAH!" the Water Bubble Pokémon exclaimed, striking him fiercely in a huge burst of white smoke. Both trainers braced themselves from the resulting gust, wondering what had happened. Araquanid leapt back, landing in front of his trainer. Meanwhile, the smoke finally settled to reveal the swirls in Drampa's eyes. He had been bested.

"Drampa is unable to battle!" the kimono-wearing referee declared upon assessing the result, "Araquanid wins!" she announced, "Therefore, the victory goes to the challenger, Calvin!" she added, gesturing towards the capped boy. He grinned.

"Stee neee!" Steenee exclaimed delightedly.

"Poll, polleeee!" Poliwag squeaked, hopping up and down.

"No way…" Ryuki uttered as he fell to his knees out of disbelief, "I got… shut down…" he realized.

"Well done, Calvin!" Lillie complimented as she and Acerola clapped. Meanwhile, Hau's eyes were shaking. Once again, his cousin had done something he couldn't. That… was starting to frustrate him.

"Thanks for your hard work, Araquanid," the Ketchum boy said in gratitude to the Water Bubble Pokémon.

"Kwah," he squeaked as a response, trotting over to Steenee and Poliwag, "Ah, kwah?" he questioned to them. The Fruit Pokémon crossed her arms and looked away, acting as if she didn't care about the final result.

"Nee…" she huffed out. However, Araquanid easily knew it was a front, affectionately poking at her head as she blushed. Poliwag seemed really amazed by how strong the Water Bubble Pokémon really was. He too wanted to be that strong.

"Well…" Ryuki uttered, returning Drampa to his Ultra Ball in a beam of red light after standing back up, "guess that's what I get for getting cocky…" he concluded while rubbing the back of his head. Calvin walked over to him.

"Thank you for the battle," he said politely with a bow to the gym leader, much to his surprise.

"No problem, kid…" he replied, "You know… maybe I oughta' rethink that whole island challenge thing…" he admitted as he grinned, "If there's more trainers like you competing, then I gotta give it a shot!" he affirmed proudly.

"I'm sure you won't regret it," Calvin responded, holding out his right hand to him for a handshake. He accepted it firmly.

"Here, kid," he offered, handing him the sun-shaped badge, "Consider that a memento of your first… and only time beating me," he remarked with a wide grin. The Ketchum boy smirked back.

"We'll see about that…" he retorted. As he and Ryuki chatted for a bit, Hau watched on with a somewhat envious expression. His cousin had won another battle… one that he lost. For once, he was starting to lose faith in himself as a trainer.

X

"Sandygast, Shadow Ball!" Erika commanded quickly as she stuck her right hand out. A purple-and-black ball of energy with purple static formed in front of the Sand Heap Pokémon's gaping mouth. He fired it forward, letting it fly and strike a Charjabug ahead of him in a fierce explosion.

"J-Jaahhh…" the Battery Pokémon moaned out in agony afterwards as the smoke cleared, revealing that he had been bested as his eyes were in swirls.

"Woohoo!" Erika exclaimed happily as she pumped her right fist up.

"Gassuuu!" Sandygast echoed with joy, waving his stubby arms about.

"ZZZandygast learning ZZZhadow Ball really helped out for you, Erika!" Rotom buzzed, getting its user's attention.

"Yeah, definitely!" she agreed with a nod. To complete her trial in the darkened Hokulani Observatory, she had to guess certain sounds in order to pass through the security doors Sophocles spoke of earlier. The sounds were relatively easy to discern. She recognized the Pokémon Center jingle, the sound of her Pokédex, and the chittering of a Charjabug. Each time she answered correctly though, she'd be faced with a Grubbin or a Charjabug, which was why she had Sandygast out.

Despite his normally timid demeanor, he was eager to battle. Thanks to his newly-learned Shadow Ball, he won his battles with relative ease. His trainer was proud of how far he'd come from the scared Pokémon she met at the Hano Grand Resort.

"Huh…" Sophocles sighed in relief as the next door was opened, "Okay, we're almost there…" he said, still a little nervous as the room had yet to re-illuminate.

"Mah, maju?" Togemaru asked of him in concern, getting his attention.

"I-I'll be fine…" he claimed with a stutter, "More importantly, the Totem Pokémon should be here by now," he assured to the trial-goer.

"That's good!" she replied eagerly, "Thinking about it now, the Totem would have to be an Electric-type, right?" she assumed, putting her hand onto her chin in thought.

"It could be a Bug-type Totem, zzt," Rotom pointed out, chiming into the conversation, "Both Grubbin and Charjabug are Bug-typezzz," it noted to her.

"Kle faa…" Starbright suddenly whimpered, shuddering in her trainer's arms.

"What's wrong, Starbright?" she inquired in concern.

"She seemzzz zzzcared…" Rotom noted as it blinked. All of a sudden, they heard buzzing. Loud buzzing.

"G-G-Gassuuu…" Sandygast stammered, hiding himself behind his trainer's left leg.

This must be it…" Erika realized, taking on a firm expression. Hearing that made Sophocles crack a grin.

"What do you think's beyond this door, Erika?" he inquired to her.

"The Totem Pokémon!" she immediately answered. With a nod, the trial captain pressed a button to open the door. Rays of light blinded the Ketchum girl as she winced, shutting her eyes and turning away. However, she then opened them wide to see what was ahead of her. There were dozens of Charjabug gathered about around the walls in what looked to be an empty room with glass windows and a circular opening in the ceiling. Erika glanced up to see a particular creature flying down into it.

It was a beetle-like Pokémon with a large pair of mandibles. His small orange face had robotic, yellow eyes and was covered by a blue carapace. The mandibles extended from that helmet. They were blue on the inner surface and yellow on the outer surface. At the base of each mandible was a large spike and the inside was lined with short spikes. His body was black and divided into three sections by yellow rings. The last two sections had a yellow spot on each side. On his back was a pair of wide, flat wings that were transparent with blue wing covers. He had four legs; the front pair of legs had two claws, while the back pair had only one.

"Veeee… KAAAHHHH!" he screeched as he flew about the room speedily, making a yellowish aura expel from his body.

"So that's the Totem Pokémon…" Erika realized, letting off a nervous grimace. Both Sandygast and Starbright were still trembling. "Huh…" their trainer sighed, pulling out their respective Poké Balls from her belt. "You two get some rest, okay?" she insisted, returning them to the containers in beams of red light. After placing them upon her belt, she stared up at the totem. "Rotodex, talk to me," she advised. The Pokédex put an image of the totem upon its screen.

"Vikavolt, the Stag Beetle Pokémon, and the final evolved form of Grubbin," it began, "He produces electricity via an electrical organ in his abdomen. He overwhelms bird Pokémon with shocking beams of electrical energy. Vikavolt flusters opponents with acrobatic flying maneuvers as well. This creates an opening for him to deliver an electric beam attack," it explained thoroughly.

"So Grubbin's final evolved form…" Erika repeated in understanding, "Guess Trent's got something to look forward to…" she remarked with a grin, reaching down to her belt to pull out a Poké Ball, enlarging it with the press of its center button.

"Ka, volll…" the Stag Beetle Pokémon buzzed ominously as electricity sparked around his body.

"He'zzz using Charge!" Rotom pointed out. The Ketchum girl reared her right arm back.

"Come on out, Magmar!" she yelled, firing the Poké Ball up into the air. It popped open, and the light from it spilled out onto the floor, coming into form. It then dissipated to reveal the Spitfire Pokémon.

"Marrr!" he exclaimed, letting a puff of fire escape his lips. He and his large opponent stared each other down for quite a while.

"Like those other trials you had, you have to defeat the Totem Pokémon to clear it!" Sophocles pointed out to the trial-goer.

"Yeah!" she responded with a nod, "Magmar, start it off with Flame Burst!" she ordered, pumping her right fist out. Puffing his chest out, the Spitfire Pokémon unleashed a powerful fireball from his mouth that seared towards his target. However, he flew away from it easily, letting electricity envelop his body and firing off a powerful bolt of lightning that struck his opponent fiercely in a blast of smoke.

"Marrr…!" he grunted out in agony as he rose onto his left knee.

"A Charge and a Thunderbolt, zzt…" Rotom noted, "Vikavolt'zzz gonna be dangerous if he keepzzz doing that…" it pointed out.

"Ergh…" Erika growled, "Then we'll just have to keep the pressure off us!" she declared firmly. Meanwhile, the Stag Beetle Pokémon dove down towards his opponent, making his mandibles glow a bright yellowish-green.

"He'zzz using Bug Bite!" the Pokédex buzzed out.

"Dodge and use Clear Smog!" the Ketchum girl instructed quickly, swinging her left arm.

"Mag!" Magmar responded, leaping over the incoming totem. He then puffed out his chest before spewing out a whitish smog onto the area. It filled the room, veiling almost everything.

"Nice!" Erika complimented, pumping her right fist back.

'I'm not totally sure just yet…' she began to tell herself, 'but I'm betting at some point Vikavolt's gonna call on the Charjabug to help him…' she assumed inwardly, noticing a few of the Battery Pokémon just chittering off to the side. She could hear the totem's wings buzzing rather loudly.

"Magmar, Fire Punch!" she commanded. Upon hearing her, the Spitfire Pokémon ignited his fists as he ran towards the source of the buzzing, being none other than his very opponent. Electricity was sparking around his body, indicating that he was using Charge again. His foe leapt out and struck him fiercely with his enflamed right fist, blowing him back explosively. He was about to land another blow with his left one, but suddenly, the Stag Beetle Pokémon had a white ball of energy form in front of his mouth. He fired off a white and light blue beam that struck his target, sending him crashing into the floor in a flurry of dust.

"Maggg…" he groaned in agony afterwards as the smog cleared, revealing his current state.

"Magmar!" his trainer cried out.

"Hmm…" Sophocles hummed curiously in thought as Togemaru stood beside him. Yellow electricity enveloped Vikavolt's body as he was prepared to fire a bolt towards his opponent, who was just standing back up.

"Use Flame Burst!" Erika commanded.

"Magg…" Magmar began, rearing his head back and puffing out his cheeks. Just as the totem fired a bolt of lightning, he spat a searing fireball from his mouth. It collided with the incoming bolt, holding it back. For a moment, it seemed like neither attack would break through. But then the bolt made the fireball dissipate, streaking through and zapping the Spitfire Pokémon fiercely upon contact as he yelled, followed by being enveloped in a powerful explosion.

"Magmar, no!" the Ketchum girl screamed. The smoke cleared moments later, revealing her teammate lying upon the floor on his back, having swirls in his eyes. He had been bested. "Ergh…" Erika growled in frustration, balling her hands into fists.

"Jahjah!" the Charjabug cheered about the room as Vikavolt flew about in victory.

"That Charge and Thunderbolt combo izzz zzzcary…" Rotom pointed out as its user returned Magmar to his Poké Ball in a beam of red light.

"Thanks for all your hard work, Magmar," she said in gratitude, "I promise that we won't let it go to waste…" she vowed firmly.

"Veeekahhh…" the Stag Beetle Pokémon buzzed in challenge. Erika pulled out another Poké Ball, enlarging it with a press of its center button.

'So far, he's used Charge, Thunderbolt, Bug Bite… and Flash Cannon,' she listed off to herself in remembrance, 'We need to land some big blows here!' she concluded through her thoughts, reeling her arm back.

"Lycanroc, I choose you!" she called out, throwing the Poké Ball forward. It popped open, and its light spilled out onto the floor, shaping into form and dissipating to reveal the Wolf Pokémon. He glared forward with his crimson eyes.

"RAAAAAHHHHHKKKK!" he roared. Vikavolt didn't seem that intimidated, though he cautiously moved back a little.

"Lycanroc, huh?" Sophocles noted, putting his right hand onto his chin in thought.

'With Vikavolt having Levitate for his ability, using Sandygast wouldn't work…' he pointed out inwardly, 'I'm sure she wouldn't want to after he helped her get this far…' he added to himself, folding his arms over his chest, 'So what's she going to do this time?' he wondered with narrowed eyes.

"Lycanroc, Howl!" Erika called out immediately.

"RAAAAAHHHHHHOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!" the Wolf Pokémon howled into the air, letting his voice echo throughout the room as a reddish aura flowed up his body. His opponent made his mandibles glow a bright yellowish-green as he flew out towards him.

"Catch him with Crunch!" the Ketchum girl instructed. Adhering to the order, Lycanroc made his teeth glow a bright white and sharpen. He ducked under the incoming Stag Beetle Pokémon, biting into his two left legs.

"Veeee…!" he screeched out in agony. His foe then spun him around before chucking him aside, making him tumble along the floor. His wing covers came down as he glared at his opponent.

"Don't let up!" Erika insisted firmly, pumping her right fist back, "Use Rock Slide!" she ordered. Hopping up, Lycanroc had multiple white orbs of energy appear around himself. They then turned into grey rocks with white outlines. Swinging his arms, the Wolf Pokémon launched them towards the totem. He opened his wing covers and flew out of the way from most of them. However, one nicking him upside the head allowed for a few to hit directly, making him fall back onto the floor. "Yes!" the Ketchum girl exclaimed excitedly.

"That wazzz impressive, Erika!" Rotom complimented. However, Vikavolt floated back up as his wings buzzed.

"Veeee… KAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHH!" he screeched loudly, causing the trial-goer to wince as she covered her ears with her hands. All of a sudden, one of the Charjabug leapt out from the wall and landed upon his back.

"Jajah!" he chittered, sparking with yellow electricity like his evolved form.

"Uh oh…" Rotom uttered out, getting its user's attention.

"I had a bad feeling one of those Charjabug would get involved…" she admitted as sweat trickled down her face, "What's gonna happen, Rotodex?" she inquired to her Pokédex.

"Charjabug hazzz an ability called Battery, zzt," it told her in response, "When it'zzz in battle with an ally, their zzzpecial attack getzzz a boost," it explained. Erika looked back to see that both opposing Pokémon were sparking with yellow electricity. She grimaced.

'Taking another Thunderbolt like that's gonna be just as bad for Lycanroc…' she noted to herself, remembering what happened to Magmar earlier.

"Lycanroc, Rock Slide!" she commanded.

"Rahk!" he barked in reply, leaping out at his foes. More white orbs of light appeared around him, forming into large grey rocks with whitish outlines. With a swing of his arms, he flung them out toward his targets.

"Veee…KAAAAHHH!" Vikavolt screeched while immersed in yellow electricity, unleashing a powerful bolt of lightning that blasted through all of the incoming rocks, much to both Erika and Lycanroc's surprise. Afterwards, Charjabug suddenly jumped out with sparks of electricity crackling around his body. His body became covered by yellow electricity before he collided with his target square in the stomach.

"RAH…!" he gasped out as saliva flew from his mouth, getting blown back. However, he managed to land down on his feet and paws, gritting his teeth angrily.

"Huh…" Erika sighed, somewhat relieved that her teammate had evaded the Thunderbolt. Though that didn't deter her worries much. "What do we do now…?" she wondered quietly. As Charjabug landed back upon his ally's back, he had sparks of electricity crackling around him. Seeing that made the Ketchum girl widen her eyes in realization. "Lycanroc, use Howl!" she quickly advised.

"RAAAHHHOOOOOOOO!" the Wolf Pokémon howled out, making a reddish aura flow up his body once more.

"What are you planning, zzt?" Rotom inquired curiously.

"We're gonna thin out the competition…" Erika quipped in response as she grinned, "Use Rock Slide all around!" she commanded, swinging her left arm forward. Lycanroc smirked. He leapt up again and had several orbs of white light appear around himself, all forming into large grey rocks.

"What's she going to do?" Sophocles asked with a tilt of his head. Swinging his arms, the Wolf Pokémon made the rocks fly out not only towards his foes… but also the other Charjabug. They were left completely defenseless as they were struck.

"Char, jah!" the Battery Pokémon upon Vikavolt shrieked. All of his brethren had been taken down by the sudden attack, lying upon the floor and groaning in pain. "Jahhh…" he growled, glaring out towards Lycanroc as he landed down.

"I zzzee…" Rotom concluded after a moment of thought, "You're making zzzure that Vikavolt won't have any more alliezzz!" it realized with a smile. Erika nodded.

"Now it's just a matter of beating him and that Charjabug!" she pointed out, balling her hand into a fist. The totem had a white orb of energy form in front of his mouth, followed by launching a light blue and white beam. Instinctively, the Wolf Pokémon leapt up to avoid it. However, it left him open as the Battery Pokémon jumped towards him.

"Jajah!" he chittered angrily, immersing himself in yellow, sparking electricity as he was about to strike his target. And he did, square in the chest again. But this time, Lycanroc grinned wickedly.

"Use Counter!" his trainer called out. A reddish light immersed the Wolf Pokémon as he clenched his right paw into a fist. Charjabug didn't even have a second to react before being punched down to the floor in an instant.

"Jaaahhhh…" he groaned with swirls in his eyes afterwards, indicating his defeat.

"Veeekaaahhh…" Vikavolt buzzed angrily, seeing his foe land down with a wince. Despite enduring two Charge-boosted Sparks, he was in a substantial amount of pain. And Erika knew that.

'We'll have to settle it with a Z-Move… but only when we've got a clear opening!' she concluded inwardly. Another white ball of light formed in front of the Stag Beetle Pokémon's face.

"He'zzz using Flash Cannon again!" Rotom pointed out worriedly.

"Lycanroc, Rock Slide!" Erika commanded quickly, enticing the Wolf Pokémon to leap up and make many large grey rocks appear around him in flashes of white light. As Vikavolt fired a beam of blue and white light, Lycanroc swung his arms to have the rocks fly out at his foe. Both attacks struck, with the latter of the two being enveloped in an explosion of grey smoke, while the former had rocks pile over him.

"Oh dear, zzt…" Rotom buzzed in concern, while its user kept a determined expression on her face. The dust settled to reveal the totem trying to pry his way out of the rocks he was pinned against. Meanwhile, his opponent shakily stood back up, clenching his teeth together.

"Rrrrr…" he growled out, balling his paws into fists. His trainer set the Rockium Z onto her Z-Ring.

"Here we go!" she yelled, crossing her arms over her face. The Z-Crystal flashed brightly as Lycanroc copied his trainer's motions. Sophocles watched on as the trial-goer and her partner synchronized their movements, making sure they were exact. Vikavolt's body had electricity sparking around it, signaling that he was using Charge again. Erika and the Wolf Pokémon then posed sturdily together with their arms flexed. The brownish aura that had been building around the Ketchum girl shot out in separate streaks, merging with her teammate's body as he stood upright.

"Rawk!" he barked loudly.

"No matter what trial's ahead of us, we're gonna crush it together!" Erika declared fiercely, keeping her fists balled tightly, "CONTINENTAL… CRUSH!" she echoed. With that shout, Lycanroc leapt up as rocks suddenly shot towards him, coming together in the form of a gigantic boulder over his head.

"Veee… KAAAAHHHHH!" Vikavolt screeched, enveloping himself in yellow electricity before firing off a powerful bolt.

"Ryyy… KAAAAHHHNNNNN!" his opponent roared, throwing down the massive boulder. It pushed back against the bolt and slammed down onto the Stag Beetle Pokémon in a fierce blast. Erika, Sophocles, Rotom and Togemaru braced themselves from the resulting cloud of dust that enveloped the large room. It took a moment for it to subside. But as it did, it revealed that Lycanroc was still standing as he breathed heavily. Meanwhile, Vikavolt lied upon the ground in a heap. His eyes were in swirls.

"That's it!" the trial captain suddenly called out, catching Erika's attention as she turned to see him approach, "Nicely done, Erika!" he complimented, "I trained that Vikavolt up especially for the finalists of the Aether Tournament…" he pointed out with his hand upon his chin, "but it looks like you managed to beat it in the end," he noted, putting both of his hands onto his hips.

"So that means we passed?!" the Ketchum girl enthusiastically guessed.

"Mm-hmm!" Sophocles responded with a nod.

"Woohoo!" Erika exclaimed as she leapt up with a pump of her right fist. Lycanroc and Rotom were just as excited as well. "Man, that was a great start!" the trial-goer noted with sparkles in her eyes, "At this rate, we'll mow down any trial in our way ahead!" she proclaimed while giving off a determined look.

"Rahk!" the Wolf Pokémon barked in agreement.

X

"Neen… jahh…" Greninja groaned as he fell onto his stomach in a rocky area out of agony right in front of Trent, whose eyes were shaking with disbelief.

"You've gotta be kidding me…" he muttered out, clenching his teeth as he glared at the group of Team Skull members before him. More specifically, he was glaring at Guzma.

"You were just a quarterfinalist, right?" he inquired to the dark green-haired boy, making him clench his fists tightly. Beside the Team Skull leader was a large, arthropod Pokémon with a hunched, humanoid posture. He had a pale purple body covered with silver armor plating. He also had a relatively small head with bright purple antennae that converged with his mandibles to form a mask around his eyes. The eyes themselves were black and angular with light gray pupils.

Behind his head and curving down his back were several armor plates, each with a long protrusion curving up from each side. There was a small, greenish triangle marking on the center of each plate. Most of his lower body was exposed, but there was additional armor resembling a loincloth around his waist and smooth pieces encasing his thighs and feet. His feet each had a single black claw.

He also had three pairs of arms. The two foremost pairs were thinner, encased in a silver exoskeleton, and each was tipped with a single, black claw. The hindmost pair of arms was longer and had much larger forearms. These large forearms both had three overlapping, armored plates on the back and two black claws. The plate closest to his claws was plain, while the last two each had two greenish, triangular markings.

"Pahhh…" he growled out, making Trent back off nervously.

"Heh!" Guzma laughed, "We'll save our real strength for those two twin brats…" he vowed with a sinister grin.

ENDING

Insert "Fushigina Fushigina Ikimono" by Tortoise Matsumoto

Opens in a hospital, with the newborn Calvin and Erika lying in separate cribs as they snooze soundly. Watching from outside the window to the nursery is Leslie, who's excited about having both a little brother and sister. Her father comes up behind her and puts his right hand onto her shoulder, giving her a warm smile.

We cut to the Ketchum family returning home. Leslie spends a lot of time with the infant twins, helping her parents feed, bathe, and put them to sleep. As the years go by, we see that she struggles to keep up with trying to take care of the rambunctious twins. At one point, Erika actually refuses her baby bottle and tries getting her milk from her sister's breast, much to her shock and embarrassment.

We cut to when the family started vacationing in Alola, with Leslie having drifted somewhat apart from her twin siblings. It saddens her that most of the good memories she had with them are now fleeting. We see her put on her new dress as she goes to the Iki Town festival, where she witnesses Calvin and Erika attempt to battle for the first time. Though they both lose, she's happy that they tried.

From Ash and Mirajane's point of view, they've had a wonderful life with their three children. Ash and Pikachu had helped teach Calvin how to walk, while Mirajane showed Erika how to garden as they water plants together. There's another scene of the twins getting to see their sister in a tournament as her Krookodile goes up against Benga's Garchomp, countering a Dragon Claw with his own.

We cut to the present day, where Leslie contently watches the highlights of the Aether Tournament. As she sees the final match between her twin siblings, she doesn't even realize that she's crying happily for getting the chance to witness it at all. Her parents take notice of her emotional state and venture over to give her a comforting hug.

As the ending slowly winds down, we cut to the twins camping together on Ula'ula. They both glance up at the stars and smile. They're grateful to be on a journey that they never thought they would enjoy in the first place.

END ENDING

Just an FYI, I was planning on having the reveal of Guzma beating Trent to end the last chapter… and I forgot about it. Oh well! No harm, no foul. It's here now, so that should be good.

Anyways, we're finally back into the trials! And not a moment too soon, huh? Next time, it's gonna be Calvin taking on what's up ahead! Here's a summary!

SUMMARY

As Erika returns from her completed trial at the Hokulani Observatory, now it's Calvin's turn! Can his team overcome the trial that Sophocles will give them?!

And Guzma closes in on Malie City! Who will he be facing next before arriving?!

END SUMMARY

See you guys later! We got more of "RWBY: Omni Force" to get through!