Gamelover41592: Thanks!
Matt (Guest): Oh don't worry, I have plans for the Ultra Beasts.
Alright, time for some more backstory and then...it's time for Sophocles' Trial! I did have to edit this one a bit to have it make sense in the context of the story, but I think it still works.
After leaving the Garden, Kitty, Hau and Emma all split up again. Emma, for her part, had headed over to the library. But once she arrived, she noticed Lillie walking inside, who turned around and spotted her.
"Emma…" Lillie began as she walked over. "I'm sorry...I ended up getting lost, yet again...I wandered around completely lost until I ducked into the apparel shop...and then I saw this outfit, and they said it was the last one they had in stock, so I bought it...even though I don't think I'd ever have the guts to wear an outfit like it…"
"I'm sure you'd look great," Emma said with a smile.
Lille began to blush and pulled her hat over her eyes, hiding them from Emma. "Oh! Thank you...but the woman working at the store did tell me where to find the library! So I guess you could say it was all for the best...though the library was actually right past the apparel store, if I'd just kept going.
"Ne-e-eh!"
"Yeek!?" Lillie exclaimed as she and Emma turned around to see Hapu's Mudsdale.
"Emma. Been a while, friend," Hapu greeted her. "Looks like your Island Challenge is coming along favorably. That must be pleasing to the tapu."
"Yeah, we just got here," Emma replied with a prideful smile.
"So, who might this be?" Hapu asked as she turned to Lillie.
"Oh! Hello...My name is Lillie," Lillie answered, beating Emma to the punch.
"My apologies if Mudsdale spooked you just now," Hapu said to Lillie, before looking her over. "Doesn't seem like you're a Trial-goer. What are you up to?"
"Oh. I'm actually, um, studying the tapu's ruins. For...various reasons of my own," Lillie answered.
"Well, that's some fine initiative," Hapu said with a smile. "I'd be happy to show you the way whenever you'd like to go. My Mudsdale here is as sturdy as all get-out. She can easily carry two."
"Thank you for your offer," Lillie said. With a nod, Hapu and Mudsdale walked off. Lillie then turned back to Emma. "Shall we check out Malie Library first though, since we're here?"
"You had me at library," Emma replied as she followed Lillie inside.
"The book I'm looking for is a very old one," Lillie explained. "It's a book that contains old myths and legends that Professor Burnet told me about...those tales seem to suggest that Alola's Legendary Pokémon came from another world."
"I've had to take a guess, it would be upstairs," Emma said as she led Lillie up the stairs.
"It must be a very valuable book, so I'm not sure I'll be able to take it out of the library…" Lillie noted as she and Emma began to look over the shelves.
"Is this what you're looking for, Princess?" A voice asked. Lillie and Emma turned around to see a youngish looking girl with purple hair and a dress that looked like it had been stitched together from several different ones. In front of her was an older looking book. "Give it a read!"
"O-oh! Of course…" Lillie trailed off as she and Emma sat down at the table the book was on. The girl remained standing next to them. Emma swore that she looked familiar.
"That it, Lillie?" Emma asked.
"Well...it's titled The Light of Alola." Lillie began as she started to read through the book. "I'll just...um...read it aloud, shall I?"
"Don't do anything you don't want," Emma assured her.
"It's okay…" Lillie assured her as she began to read. Emma found herself engrossed in the story. As Lillie told the story, Emma found herself taking mental notes. In the past, the guardians of the islands had lost to an invader from another world. This invader was only stopped by two beasts, one based on the sun and other on the light.
"Isn't it great?" The girl asked once Lillie finished. "My dad's books are all great!"
"What?" Lillie asked before collecting herself. "I mean, yes, it is. But when you say your father...isn't this book...very old?"
"Yeah, it belonged to my dad," The girl replied. "I know I don't look like it, but my family used to be pretty much royalty. I had to have all my dad's books moved here so they didn't get ruined by the Pokémon. I can tell you lots of other old stories about Alola, too! You interested?"
"Well...that would be wonderful!" Lillie agreed. "I would be delighted, if you did."
"I think I need to go," Emma said as she moved to stand up. "Planning to head for my next Trial."
"I think I'll stay here…" Lillie said. "Good luck with your Trial, Emma!"
"Good luck with your research," Emma said with a wave as she headed out.
"So, Em, you ready for this?" Kitty asked her sister as she and Emma walked towards the Bus Stop.
"Yep! I'm planning to have Mudsdale carry me through," Emma replied. "Which sucks because…" She then tossed out a Pokéball, revealing an Incineroar. "I just had this guy evolve!"
"Nice!" Kitty cheered. She then tossed out her own Pokéball, causing her new Primarina. "My starter evolved too!"
"Of course it did," Emma smiled. She noticed two Team Skull members standing in front of the Bus Stop, trying to get it out of the ground. One of the grunts noticed her staring along with Kitty.
"What? You never see somebody take a bus stop to go before?" He asked her.
"...No?" She finally said.
"Hey yo! You trying to steal our bus stop!?" The second grunt snapped. "Best go find your own, ya heard!?" He then tossed out a Pokéball, sending out a Houndour.
"Incineroar, let's show these guys how to battle," Emma said smugly.
"Incina!" Incineroar stepped forward and flexed.
"Alright, now Brick Break!" Emma ordered. It was an almost instant knockout.
"Hey, yo! When I fight, I'm not supposed to lose!" The grunt protested. He put his hand on his buddy. "Dang, I lost? Then my homie's gotta fight you. That's just life in Team Skull"
"We stand up to even the strong, yo!" The first grunt snapped. "We stand up, but not for long, yo!"
"Hey, if you get to show off, so do I!" Kitty jokingly shoved her sister aside as Primarina moved in front of her. The grunt sent out a Golbat. "Now, Primarina, Ice Beam!" Yet again, it was an instant knockout.
"I don't know if you care, but that bus stop weighs about as much as a Golem!" The grunt called out in shock.
"Yo, think about the bus drivers! If we take this bus stop, they can all chill!" The second grunt protested.
"That is...not how that works," Emma said, even if she knew that she would be ignored.
"Oh, I'm over this!" The second grunt snapped. "Back to livin' large at the mansion! Hmmph!" With that rushed off.
"So, I guess we're just waiting for the bus?" Kitty offered.
"I think so," Emma said as she leaned against it.
"Girls!" Emma and Kitty saw their dad walking towards them. "What's going on? Some Team Skull punks just ran past me going in the other direction, yeah?"
"They were trying to steal the bus stop," Kitty explained. Kukui's eyes went wide before he just laughed.
"I sure wish they'd challenge the League instead of getting up to no good all the time," Kukui noted with a smile.
"You mean the Island Challenge, right?" Emma asked as she stood up.
Kukui laughed again. "I know what I said, Em. Just you girls wait!" Emma and Kitty looked at each other, but decided not to say anything. They trusted their father after all. "But first things first. If you two want to head up to Mount Hokulani, we should take the bus. It'll blast us up to the top, yeah, quick as a Sky Uppercut!"
"I think I see the bus!" Emma called out as she pointed towards it.
"Good eye Emma!" Kukui said as he clapped his daughter on the back before they all boarded the bus.
"Over here!" Kukui called out as he raced over to the side of the mountain. "Mount Hokulani is the second tallest mountain in Alola. And the tallest, as I'm sure you all know...is over there." He pointed towards the peak of Mount Lanakila. The girls could faintly make out a building on top of it. "Check it out, girls!"
"I thought that spot was scared," Emma noted.
"Closest you can get to the Legendary Pokémon of Alola," Kukui agreed.
"So...what are you building on it?" Kitty asked. Her father got so excited.
"That's it! Right there! On the peak of Lanakila!" He declared with pride. "That's where I'll establish our Pokémon League!"
"You're finally gonna do it, huh?" Emma asked. Everyone had known that Kukui had wanted to create a Pokémon League in Alola ever since his travels to Kanto.
Kukui nodded. "We'll get everybody who finished their island challenges, yeah, and up there on the peak of Mount Lanakila, they'll battle against the Kahunas to become the island challenge champion! I've always valued our traditions of Alola, but it's time to make a Champion the whole world will recognize. It's time to get our own Elite Four and make our own Pokémon League!" He then grinned. "To think that, someday, the kiddos in Alola will be able to go from the Island Challenge champion to World Champion! And then, when we have our own Champion, they can show the rest of the world what's so special about their Alolan Pokémon and their Trainers, yeah!" With that, he walked off while Kitty and Emma continued to stare at the construction.
"Emma?"
"Yeah, Kitty?"
"Do you think that I could be the first Alolan Champion?"
Emma turned to face her sister and smiled. "Yeah. Yeah you could totally do it."
"Thanks Em."
"Hey there!" Kukui greeted the man who was standing at the door of the observatory. Kitty was still looking over the soon to be Pokémon League, so Emma was going to take on the Trial first.
"You're still as fired up as ever, eh, 'Royal'?" The man asked.
"Thank you," Emma mentally said, grateful that someone else knew her father's 'secret' identity.
"Ha!" Kukui laughed. "Emma, lemme introduce you. This is Molayne. He runs the observatory here, and also manages PC boxes, but he's not Hokulani's captain."
"But I was the captain once, my masked friend," Molayne replied. "It's Emma, right? Thanks for coming all the way up Hokulani to visit us. But our captain Captain Sophocles is a busy young man. Always calculating comets' paths...so I'll just determine whether you're qualified to take on the Trial. I'll heal your team first, of course." Once her Pokémon were healed, Molayne took a step back. "I'll gladly show you the skills of a Trainer who toughened up while adventuring alongside Kukui back in the idea!" Molayne then sent out a Skarmory, causing Emma to send out Incineroar, who took it out with little trouble. The next Pokémon was an Alolan Dugtrio.
"Okay, Incineroar, come back!" Emma ordered as she returned her starter to his Pokéball. "Alright, Wimpod, let's go!" Strangely, the Wimpod did not look nervous. If anything, it looked ready for something. "Okay, Waterfall!" Emma smirked as the attack landed and the glow began. Sure enough, a Golisopod now stood over a knocked out Dugtrio.
"Golisopod, the Hard Scale Pokémon: The shell covering its body is as hard as diamond. This Pokémon will do anything it takes to win." Rotom-Dex announced to everyone.
"Nice one buddy!" Emma cheered. Molayne then sent out his final Pokémon, a Metang. "Let's finish this, Golisopod! Sucker Punch!" Golisopod waited for Metang to get ready to attack, only to then attack before it could, knocking it out with ease.
"Well, well, you certainly seem qualified to take on the Trial," Molayne noted.
"Yeah, I think she's even stronger than we were at this point of our Island Challenge!" Kukui exclaimed with pride. "One more thing, cousin-the name's Kukui! Who's this Masked Royal you're talking about?!" Emma facepalmed next to him. Kukui then turned to her. "All right, Em, I'm heading back to Malie Garden. I figure Hau should be done eating Malasada by now, yeah? I'll make sure he makes it up here, too." With that, he walked off.
"That guy's as interesting as ever. My good buddy!" Molayne exclaimed with a smile. "Welcome to our observatory, Emma!" He then led her inside. Inside was a young boy, even younger than the girl from before.
"You're getting close to your goal," Sophocles said to her when he saw her. "I imagine that you must have come here to attempt the Trial, huh?"
"You got it," Emma replied.
"So, uh...you ready?" He asked her nervously.
"If you are," Emma replied, sensing his nervousness.
"Oh! If that's the case then...fine. Whatever. Let's get started." Sophocles said. "Right here. Right now. You summon the Pokémon and prove your strength to it...that's what every Trial boils down to, right?"
"That's right," Emma replied.
"So I thought...why not just call the totem here from the start!?" He declared proudly. "So I tried a bit of this and that and I think I've whipped up a little device to call the Totem Pokémon. Perhaps you're wondering why I built a machine?" He didn't give Emma time to answer. "Here at the observatory, we also monitor sounds that we detect from outer space. There are some sounds that are inaudible to people but Pokémon can hear just fine. We broadcast the sounds we gathered terrestrially and monitor the reactions of Pokémon. The machine that summons the Totem Pokémon makes use of this technology...utilizing other sounds we have gathered, we also developed a security system here...but that was actually Big Mo's invention. Just so you know...this will actually be my first time testing it out, so I'm glad you and your sister came. I needed a test subject. Ping Totem Pokémon 2.0 engage!" The machine then sprung to life.
"Whoa!" Emma exclaimed as she watched it start.
"Now, the Totem shou-"
VWOON
The power then went out.
"Uh, was this supposed to happen?" Emma was forced to ask.
"Gyargh!?" Sophocles exclaimed in shock. "No way! Did I blow a fuse!?" He then tried to walk out, only for Emma to hear a loud clang. "Oww! Did the door close!? Let's see, we'll need to turn off the security system to get the door open...you'll have to pass an audio quiz!"
"Wait, why do I have to do it?" Emma asked as she dug a flashlight out of her bag. "And Kitty said bringing this was just taking space in my bag!"
"Let's just say it's your Trial!" Sophocles replied. "I-it's fine. I definitely feel a powerful presence. It's coming now. The Totem Pokémon is coming. So let's get this Trial going, OK? My Trial is about to begin!"
"IN ORDER TO OPEN THE DOOR, PLEASE RESPOND TO THE FOLLOWING AUDIO QUIZ. WHAT SOUND DO YOU HEAR?" A robotic voice asked, before playing a Pokémon Cry.
"I'm pretty sure that's a Rockruff," Emma said.
"CORRECT! OPENING DOOR…" The voice said.
"Grub-rub!"
"Whoa!" Sophocles exclaimed. "As soon as the door opened, a Pokémon came through! I'm counting on you, Emma!" A Grubbin then attacked her, only to be quickly repelled by Mudsdale. "Oh, and just when I said it, the door closed again! I-it's gonna be okay! The Totem Pokémon is on its way."
"DETECTED PRESENCE OF APPROACHING TOTEM POKÉMON!" The voice said again as if on cue. "IN ORDER TO OPEN THE DOOR, PLEASE RESPOND TO THE FOLLOWING AUDIO QUIZ. WHAT SOUND DO YOU HEAR?"
"That cry is from a Mudbray," Emma replied.
"CORRECT! OPENING DOOR…"
"Charj!"
"As soon as the door opened, a Pokémon came through!" Sophocles noted. Yet again, Emma easily handled the Charjabug with Mudsdale. "I knew you could do it Emma!" The door then shut again. "Oh, and would you look at that-the door closed again while I was flapping my jaw!"
"TOTEM POKÉMON STILL APPROACHING!"
"That's one big bug…" Kitty trailed off as she looked over what she could only guess was the Totem Pokémon slowly approached the observatory.
"THE SECURITY SYSTEM HAS BEEN 50 PERCENT SHUT DOWN," The voice declared. "IN ORDER TO OPEN THE DOOR, PLEASE RESPOND TO THE FOLLOWING AUDIO QUIZ. WHAT SOUND DO YOU HEAR?"
"It's a Charjabug's cry," Emma answered.
"CORRECT! OPENING DOOR…"
"I-it looks like the door's about to open," Sophocles realized as he moved to step back. Another Charjabug appeared and was just as quickly dealt with by Emma. And, of course, the door shut itself.
"Why can't we just prop it open this time?" Emma asked.
"Here it comes! We're picking up traces of the Totem Pokémon extremely close by!" Sophocles called out.
"TOTEM POKÉMON INCOMING!" The voice announced. Emma pulled out Mudsdale's Pokéball and waited, knowing that this was gonna be tough. "THIS IS THE FINAL SECURITY QUESTION. IN ORDER TO OPEN THE DOOR, PLEASE RESPOND TO THE FOLLOWING AUDIO QUIZ. WHAT POKÉMON'S CRY IS THIS?"
Emma swallowed hard. She knew what she was about to fight. "A Vikavolt."
"CORRECT! OPENING DOOR!"
"Huhn?" Sophocles asked. "That sound...this presence I sense…"
"Heeeeerrrrrrre!" Emma narrowly managed to get out of the way in time. The power was still out, but she could see the Vikavolt's aura.
"Mudsdale, go!" At this point, Emma knew that, due to Vikavolt's ability, Mudsdale couldn't do much outside of tanking hits, but it was better than nothing. "Stomp!" The Vikavolt was hit, but quickly retaliated with Bug Buzz. "Okay, now Double Kick!" Another attack landed. Vikavolt tried to fight back with Charge, but it did nothing to Mudsdale. "Now, finish this! Stomp again!" With another blow, Vikavolt fell. The power finally clicked back on.
"Soffy!" Molayne exclaimed as he rushed in alongside Kitty.
"Emma!" Kitty exclaimed as practically tackled her sister into a hug.
"Big Mo!" Sophocles cheered.
"Nice work captain," Molayne complemented the younger boy. "You helped Emma here through her Trial and it looks like your experiment was a success! It seems like your Ping Totem Poké uses too much electricity. If we could get a little assistance from Charjabug, we should be able to make some improvements, as long as our other Trial-goer doesn't mind waiting a bit?"
"Take your time," Kitty assured them.
"Here, Emma," Sophocles said as he handed her the Electrium Z. "I'll give you this Electrium Z to reward you for beating the Totem Pokémon."
"Thank you," Emma said with a fond smile. "Oh, and if it means anything, you're a pretty good Trial Captain."
"Uh...thanks…" Sophocles said shyly.
And that's yet another Trial down! Also, I had a question for you guys. So, I'm sure most of you have guessed it at this point, but, yes, Kitty and Hau are planned to hook up at a later point in the story. However, I noticed that Kitty and Lillie also have several cute moments together. So, would you be open to seeing them all as a threesome? Feel free to comment your thoughts!