Omni Spectator (Guest): Indeed it is. But Kukui's cool enough for Kitty...most of the time.
Gamelover41592: Hey, Emma's pretty bright and Kitty's not exactly stupid either.
Matt (Guest): In more ways then one.
So, I actually wanted Emma to be the focus of this Trial, but then I remembered what the Trial entailed and realized that Kitty had to do this. Don't worry. Emma gets the next one.
"Geez, it is hot here. Although I guess that makes sense," Kitty said as she tugged at her collar. After meeting up with Emma, they headed straight for Wela Volcano Park. Brionne was able to make short work of most of the wild Pokémon in the area. But it was still a long trek up the mountain. Finally, Kitty reached the Trial gate.
"Good job making it this high!" The lady watching the gate commended. "Why don't I heal your Pokémon?"
"Yes please!" Kitty cheered as she pulled out her Pokéballs. The lady pulled out some potions and sprayed them over the Pokéballs.
"Good luck with the Trial!" The other Trial worker, an older man, offered.
"Thank you!" Kitty said as she walked inside. Much like he said, Kiawe was waiting for her.
"I see you arrived." He said. "My Marowak and I are students of the accident dances that have been passed down in Alola for generations. The Trial of Kiawe...you will find that it is a bit different then the Trials you have faced at this point, but of course, you will attempt it, right?"
"Heck yeah I will!" Kitty proudly declared.
"My Trial will test your powers of observation! There will be a dance...and then another. Your task will be to find the difference between the two." Kiawe explained. "Begin!" The three Marowak waited for a song to begin before twirling their sticks and moving, before posing once the music stopped. "Watch carefully and memorize this dance." The music began to dance again, only this time, when the music stopped, the middle one was in a different pose. "What was different from the previous dance?"
"The middle Marowak is in a different position!" Kitty answered.
"B-but how?!" Kiawe asked, sounding extremely impressed. "That was truly spectacular! And to add to the spectacle...come Marowak!"
"Wa-wak!" The Marowak then jumped off the stage and stood before Kitty, ready for battle.
"Oh! So that's how we're gonna play? Let's do this!" Kitty declared as she sent Brionne out. "Alright, Scald!" Brionne landed the attack, quickly knocking the Marowak out. Kiawe revived it right after.
"Marowak was so pleased by your right answer that it simply had to battle you," He explained to Kitty. "Onward to the second dance!"
"Okay, so I just had to watch for the Marowak that's different," Kitty thought to herself as she watched the second dance. But when the dance ended, she noticed that all the Marowak were in the same place...and there was a random hiker now on the platform.
"What was different from the previous dance?" Kiawe asked.
"Um...that random hiker?" Kitty offered, not at all sure about that answer.
"You are correct again!" Kiawe congratulated her.
"Wait what?" Kitty asked before she could stop herself. Thankfully, Kiawe either didn't notice or ignored her.
"And to add to the spectacle…" Kiawe trailed off before smirking. "Come, my fine hiker!"
"Alola!" The hiker yelled out as he tossed out his Pokémon, a Magmar. Yet again, due to the type advantage, Kitty won with ease.
"My hiker friend was so pleased by your right answer that it simply had to battle you," Kiawe explained. "Onward...to the final dance!" This time, the hiker was part of the first dance, while the second had a new Pokémon that had joined in: a Salazzle. "What was different from the previous dance?"
"It's the Salazzle," Kitty declared, already reaching for her Pokéball.
"Well done!" Kiawe said. "Now...come, Totem Pokémon!"
"Salaa!"
"Let's go Brionne!" Kitty ordered. She ordered Brionne to launch another Scald, but unlike with the last time, Salazzle was not knocked out. It retaliated with a Toxic. Kitty flinched. She knew what poison did to Pokémon. Still, she decided to have Brionne attempt to stick it out.
"Brionne, Aqua Jet!" Kitty ordered. Moving a bit slower, Brionne attacked, launching into the Salazzle. Yet again, it didn't lead to a knock out and Salazzle attacked with Venoshock. Brionne survived, but was in no position to be attacking. "Come back! Rockruff! Finish this!"
"Ruff!" Rockruff called out as he came out. Kitty was mentally cursing herself for not using her Water Z-Move, but she couldn't go back now unless she wanted to fail the Trial.
"Okay buddy, you're gonna need to finish this!" Kitty ordered. "Now...Rock Tomb!"
"Rock….RUUFFFFFFFFFF!" As Rockruff launched the attack, he began to glow. Once it subsided, Salazzle was knocked out and Rockruff had evolved into a Lycanroc!
"Lycanroc, the Wolf Pokémon, Midnight Form: They live alone without forming packs. They will only listen to orders from Trainers who can draw out their true power." Rotom-Dex revealed.
"Ro-Lycanroc?" Kitty questioned. Would Lycanroc obey her?
"Lycan!" Lycanroc happily pulled her into a hug. Kitty hugged back, in spite of her face getting brushed up against his now rather sharp mane.
Kiawe walked over, clapping proudly. "Whoa! S-spectacular! WIth your keen observations, you were able to see even the fine differences in our dances! And you defeated the Totem Pokémon with such ease!" He paused, nodding his head. "The Totem Pokémon protecting this Firium Z. Now it is yours." He handed Kitty the Z-Crystal. He then performed the dance for Kitty. "Thank you, my dear Marowak!"
"Thank you for the Z-Crystal!" Kitty cheered.
"Thank you for your masterful performance in my Trial," Kiawe replied. "What's now! You may now use the Ride Pokémon Charizard." He then registered the Charizard into her Ride Pager. "Charizard will lend you his strength, and you will be able to go anywhere you've been in an instant! The Firium Z….you should show it to the Trial Guide outside the Captain's barricade at the bottom of the mountain. It is time for us to return to our dance. The feelings of the Alolan people and our Pokémon, and the true nature of Z-Power…" He then smiled. "The answers lie in our dance! And so we must dance on!"
"Emma! How did it go?!" Kitty exclaimed as she saw her sister fly back down the mountain on the back of another Charizard.
"Mudbray and Rockruff handled it with no problem," Emma replied as she wiped some sweat off her forehead. "How did things go with you?"
"My Rockruff evolved!" Kitty cheered as she let Lycanroc out.
"That's awesome, Kitty!" Emma cheered as he pulled her sister into a hug. "Now, how about we get that gate opened up?" The girls broke apart and began to walk towards the gate, only for a strange middle aged man to walk over to them.
"You two...you passed Kiawe's Trial! Well done! Okay! So that means you can now ride on Charizard...In that case, why don't I tell you about a great way to play with the Pokémon in your Boxes?"
"Uh...sure?" Emma replied. She and Kitty had both caught some of the Pokémon they had trained against and since they didn't want to use them on their teams, had stuck them into the PC Boxes.
"You ready for this?" The man asked. "Here, follow me!" He then called his own Charizard and flew off, causing the girls to follow him. They landed on a strange island. "Welcome to Poké Pelago!"
"This place is so cute!" Kitty gushed. "And you set this up yourself?"
"I sure did," The man replied. "My name is Mohn and...that's about all I can tell you." The girls chose not to question. They explored for a bit longer, then returned to Route 7.
"What is with us meeting weird blond haired people on this adventure?" Emma questioned.
"Huh, I didn't notice that," Kitty admitted. "You think if I dyed my hair blond, we'd scare them off?" The girls howled with laughter over an admittedly dumb joke. But it didn't matter since they were together. Once they stopped laughing, they walked over to the Trial Guide who was standing by the gate.
"Ho! That's Firium Z!" The Guide marveled. "Congratulations on clearing Kiawe's Trial! In that case…" She stepped aside and opened the gate up. "Here you go! You're free to pass! Captain Mallow's Trial is up ahead. Go along Route 8 and you'll find it. Lush Jungle!"
"Thanks!" Emma called back as she and Kitty walked into the tunnel that the gate was blocking him. Zossie and Dulse were standing near the other end.
"Wow! The aura readings are going crazy!" Zossie exclaimed. Emma and Kitty looked at each other. What aura? Riolu and Lucario only lived on Poni Island. She turned around and saw the girls. "Hi Emma and Kitty!"
"Interesting...so this is what you call a tunnel...I would like to investigate it further if we only had the time to do so," Dulse said. "Greetings Emma. Kitty. It seems your Island Challenges are going well?" He then continued. "It appears my guess was correct: battling the Totem Pokémon, which are wrapped in aura, is having an effect on you two as well."
"What do you mean?" Emma asked.
"And those Z-Moves envelop your ally Pokémon in aura, do they not?" Dulse continued.
"Uh...yeah?" Kitty replied unsurely.
"...Are you able to fully control aura then?" Dulse asked.
"Uh…." Emma and Kitty looked at each other. Could they?
"Maybe….?" Emma finally offered. She made a mental note to 100% do some research into the topic.
"I suppose it does not matter to us either way," Dulse replied. "But once...long, long ago, our world was also awash in wondrous light, like the light of those Z-Moves you can use…."
"Dulse? It's about time for our meeting," Zossie reminded him.
"Yes. We will be getting the aid of a scientist who is well educated in the ways of Pokémon. We need his help to find ways we might use our technology to achieve our goals." Dulse reassured her. They then walked off. Emma and Kitty just looked at each other. Were they cursed or something?
Heroes of Pokémon games always get their journeys interrupted, girls. Sorry, that's just how it works. Next time, we are going to be exploring more of Akala because their is a lot to cover. See you then!