First of all, I must apologize for how long it took to get this chapter out. I had SEVERE writers block on how to handle this chapter and it's contents, as well as the reveal of Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon throwing me off. I actually almost stopped writing this story until November when they came out, but I kinda realized that I could just incorporate elements from them into this story as I go on, just like the anime kinda does.
Thanks to The King of Emerald as always for beta reading my story, and thank you to Umbruhon and pokemonking0924 for reviewing Chapter 5. Enjoy this chapter!
Wes:
Nayru the Kirlia (Friend Ball, shiny)
Faye the Cutiefly (Level Ball)
Rose:
Bagon (Great Ball)
Popplio (Poke Ball)
Rockruff (Fast Ball)
Maple the Pikachu (Love Ball)
"Akala Island?"
Wes and Rose both turned to look at one another in confusion before turning back to Professor Kukui, who only nodded in response. "Correct, after all since you two had Extreme Speed in the first trials," he grinned wider at his move pun, which was only met with groans from both Wes and Rose. "You are moving on to the second batch of trials, which will take place on the second island."
"What about the class?" Wes asked, earning a few funny looks from his other students, who didn't expect Wes to actually care about attending class. "If me and Rose are on Akala Island, then how will we continue our schooling?"
"I'm glad you asked," Kukui said. "But the answer is really simple. This Pokemon School has not one, but four locations spread across each of the four islands in Alola. We will just simply be moving class to that island within the coming week. Being Friday, you all have time before you need to be at the new school location on Akala Island on Monday, so if you want to spend the weekend here before catching a boat to the island, feel free! Just make sure you are ready to go for class on Monday."
"The location of the school is in Heahea City, meaning that all students will have to do is arrive by boat before being at the school's location," Jason explained, pointing at the island location on a map of the Alola region. "All students are getting free tickets for the boat from here to Akala Island, but no where else. I'll be heading on the first boat out of here this afternoon, so anyone who wants to come to the island right away just meet me at the docks in an hour."
"As for Wes and Rose, you two must be at the island today in order to meet with the Island Kahuna," Kukui stated, gathering up his papers. "Be at the docks in an hour, and Jason will take you there personally, along with any other student who wants to go today to the island. That's all for today, see you all in Heahea City on Monday!"
"I heard a lot about Heahea City," Rose explained, turning to Wes. "Apparently it was founded a long time ago by trainers from both Kanto and Johto, and it is tied with Malie City as the second largest city in all of Alola."
"What's the largest city?" Wes asked.
"That would be Hau'oli City, the very city we're in," Jaun explained, walking up with Lillie. "Since Hau'oli City is essentially the tourist hotspot, they had to make it large to accommodate all the people that would visit Alola year round."
"Heahea does have some hotels and other accommodations, but isn't as popular as Hau'oli when it comes to vacations," Lillie stated. "It should be quieter when we are there so we can study easier as well."
"Which is convent for us, since we will be there for a while," Juan sighed, sitting down on an empty desk.
"Hey, don't get too comfortable when we are there," Wes grinned. "Rose and I will clear through that island just like we did through this one!"
"Don't get carried away," Jaun warned him. "Yes, you two did clear this island very easily, but that was also because of how little there was to do for the challenge on this island. Kukui has an entire lesson plan for the second island, which means that even if you two clear the island quickly, we're going to be stuck there until the lessons are done, which is about a month and a half long."
"That bites," Wes sighed, leaning back.
"Well, it makes sense," Lillie explained. "Akala is the largest of the three islands, and it has three trials instead of the one here. Additionally, a lot of the island is going to be used for field trips for our lessons, including a lesson about Pokemon Eggs!"
"Well that should be interesting," Rose said with a smile, looking at Wes. "Wouldn't it be great to see how Pokemon Breed?"
"Yea, they bone and out pops an egg," Wes muttered, earning himself some odd looks from his peers, especially Nayru, Maple and Shiron, who looked offended.
"Anyway..." Juan cleared his throat, crossing his arms. "I was thinking of accompanying you two to the island. I would like to explore Heahea before we start classes up again."
"I would like to come as well," Lillie said with a grin.
"Um," someone suddenly said, and all four of them turned to see Chloe standing there, shifting her body as she blushed, looking at them awkwardly. "W-would you mind if I came with you guys?"
"Of course you can," Rose said, though her glance at Chloe seemed to have some mild irritation behind it.
"Thank you," Chloe bowed with a smile, missing Rose scowling a little at her.
"Anyway, we should get going," Juan said, sensing the tension. "Jason said our stuff will be packed and transported to the island by the staff, so we don't need to worry about packing."
XxXxXxX
"Is this boat really safe?" Lillie shouted, having to talk over the roar of the engine and the rushing waves that hit the side of an old platoon boat, with various dents, and patched holes on the surface of the boat.
"Yeah, it's safe," Jason shouted back at her, both of his hands on the wheel. "As long as you hold onto something."
"That's not really giving me much confidence!" Lillie sighed, her knuckles already white from hanging onto the rails. Shiron wasn't fairing much better, his front paws and legs wrapped around Lillie's leg.
"You'll be fine," Jason replied with a annoyed tone. "If you fall off, I'll send out Namira to catch you."
"What kind of island are we going to anyway?" Wes asked, looking over his shoulder at Jaun.
"Akala is the largest of the four major islands in the Alola region," Jaun explained. "They got a ranch for breeding Pokemon, two major cities, a volcano and a jungle, as well as a place housing a Battle Royal facility."
"Battle Royal?" Wes asked.
"A Battle Royal involves four Trainers all battling each other at the same time," Rose answered.
"The format is based on the battles that the four guardian deities of Alola take part in to decide who is the strongest of them all."
"In a Battle Royal, each Trainer brings up to three Pokémon into the ring, using one Pokémon at a time," Jaun explained farther. "At the end of a turn, if a Trainer has no Pokémon left, the Battle Royal ends. All participants are scored based on the number of Pokémon they knocked out, and the number of Pokémon they have remaining."
"That sounds awesome!" Wes grinned with excitement. "I want to try that first!"
Jason shook his head. "Cool your jets. The Battle Royal Dome is on the other side of the island from where we will be staying, and even when you guys go on your field trip, none of you will be allowed to compete. The Royal won't allow it."
"The Royal, as in a person?" Chloe asked, looking confused.
Jason nodded. "Yeah, the current champion of all Battle Royals. A masked figure who made a name for himself with a powerful Rockruff, but no body knows who he is." At that, however, they all noticed him roll his eyes, as if it was obvious who this masked man really was.
"That bites," Wes sighed, looking out to sea. "I was looking forward to winning there, right Nayru?"
"We'd need another Pokemon first, master," Nayru pointed out. "After all, they said three Pokemon at a time, and we only have me and Faye."
"I'm sure there will be some great Pokemon on Akala Island for you to catch," Rose stated, pointing. "Look, there it is!"
Sure enough, in the distance, Wes could see the island getting closer and closer, with the city of Heahea overshadowing everything due to them heading right towards the port. The boat made a less then smooth landing due to age and inability to brake, earning it another dent, but none the less they had all arrived safely, with Jason tying off the boat before disembarking the ship.
"Alright, normally I would watch over you kids to make sure none of you get into any real trouble," Jason sighed, stretching.
"You're only a year older then us!" Wes snapped, glaring a little.
"You aren't coming with us?" Lillie asked.
"Nope," Jason said with a hand wave. "I need to go run a few errands for the school and the Principal, but before I do that, I was told to give Rose and Wes these." He held out two pagers, which were green in color.
"What are these?" Wes asked, taking the device and looking at it with confusion.
"Ride Pagers," Jason yawned, as if he was in a hurry to get going. "Here in Alola, the native Pokémon lend the natives their strength and let us ride about on them. Right now, all you can call are Tauros, but as you venture on through your trials, you're going to need the help of more Pokemon, which you can call from various stations across the region. Speaking of..." Jason pulled out his own device and pressed a button on it. A few seconds later, a sharpedo emerged with a saddle on his back, looking at Jason.
"Were are you off to anyway?" Wes asked.
"None of your Ribombee-wax," Jason stated, getting on Sharpedo's back, sitting firmly in the saddle and grabbing reigns.
"Alright, Principal, whatever you say with your Pokemon puns and all," Wes said. The glare that he got from Jason sent chills down his spine, causing him to step back a bit and hold his hands up. "Relax, I was joking."
"You better have been," Jason growled a little, snapping the reigns and taking off on the back of the shark pokemon.
"Glad to see he still hates me," Wes sighed.
"Hates is a strong word," Rose stated. "Strongly dislikes, that's more accurate."
"Still," Wes sighed, turning and heading into town, with the others following after him. "It's not like I want his approval, but it would be nice if he could at least treat me like I'm not the scum of the earth."
"I think you are fine just the way you are, Wes," Chloe muttered, blushing a little.
"Did you say something?" Wes asked, turning to her in confusion, having not heard that she said.
"A-ah! N-no I didn't!" Chloe stammered in embarrassment, her blush getting bigger. Rose seemed to have heard with Chloe said, though, and gave her an odd look, though the redhead quickly looked confused shortly after. Why was Chloe, and her recent interactions with Wes, making her so mad? She decided to brush it off for now, though, snapping back into reality.
"We probably should head towards the school before anything," Jaun said, pointing towards a large building that resembled the school on Melemele. "Check in and make sure our rooms are ready for us."
"Alright, lets go!" Wes shouted, running into the road, before suddenly a grey blur rushed into him, sending him flying a few feet away and causing him to fall flat onto his face.
"Wes!" both Rose and Chloe shouted, rushing towards his side.
"Are you ok!?" Lillie asked in a panic.
"Did someone get the number of that truck?" Wes's voice came from the concrete in a muffle, his face planted into the ground.
"That was no truck," Jaun mumbled, looking to where the blur headed. "That looked more like a creature to me."
"Rotom, did you get anything?" Rose asked.
"I couldn't get a clear picture, zzt," Rotom-dex responded, hovering a bit.
"I am picking up some thought patterns," Nayru stated, staring off where the blur vanished. "They're... so different from anything I've ever experienced before. Almost... not human or Pokemon in nature."
"Let's go investigate!" Wes shouted, suddenly bolting up and getting to his feet, picking Nayru up and placing her on his shoulder. "I want to see what that was that ran into me!"
"Wait, Wes!" Rose shouted, racing after him as he took off towards where Nayru was facing, followed closely by Maple, Chloe, Jaun, Lillie and Shiron. Wes continued running, his eyes focused on the road ahead, before rounding the corner and heading out of the city, his friends shouting behind him to slow down, but he could barely hear them.
"Whatever it is, is up in the clearing ahead," Nayru warned, causing Wes to slow down and part the bushes, but when he did, he gasped in shock and almost recoiled back. Rose finally caught up to him, and looked like she was about to go off on him again before she too let out a gasp of shock.
Standing in the middle of a meadow was a creature unlike anything that had ever seen before. The first thing Wes noticed was short fur covering it's back body and hind legs, except the front legs were insect like in appearance, green in color with spikes going along the back. The rear legs had thick, purple scales on the flanks, shins and top of the feet. A fish-like tail was present on the creature, consisting of two dark blue spines with a light blue fin stretched between them, the top spine has a line of short, gray spikes. A mane of grey fur hung down, covering the shoulders of chest of the beast. What was most noticeable about the creature, however, was how the head was enclosed in a brown helmet with green markings, especially around the hinge of the helmet, which had green X shaped markings. The helmet has a large jaw piece that wraps around the front with large, round hinges on the side. Small gray eyes were pering out of two eye slits in the helmet, which looked angry and scared. Around the base of the helmet was a collar with four protruding vanes that are tipped with a three-way spike.
"What is that thing?" Jaun asked, finally arriving with Lillie and Chloe.
"It's huge!" Lillie gasped, falling back a bit.
"Rotom, what is that?" Rose asked.
"I wish I knew, zzt," the floating device said, looking puzzled, the screen turning into three red question marks. "But I am just as confused as you are!"
"Is it even a Pokemon?" Chloe asked, peering at the creature from behind Wes.
"I'll find out," Wes suddenly said, walking between the bushes and approaching the creature.
"Wes, wait!" Rose hissed. "It's too dangerous!"
Wes ignored her, and continued to approach the creature with caution, who finally noticed him and locked its eyes on him, growling a little with a mechanical sounding noise. "Take it easy," Wes whispered, holding his hands up to show the creature that he would not hurt it. "I won't hurt you... Nayru, are you sensing anything?"
"It's thought patterns are very complex, but I think I got something," Nayru whispered. "Apparently this creature is named 'Type: Null'."
"Null?" Wes asked, continuing his approach, which seemed to aggravate the creature. His front legs suddenly began hitting the ground, as grunts of anger escaped from the helmet. Wes stopped his approach, keeping his hands in the air for a moment, before carefully continuing to walk, just within arms reach. A sudden yell caused Rose and the others to scream in panic, coming out from behind the bushes, Poke Balls at the ready, but they need not be alarmed. Wes was softly stroking the side of the creature, petting his long grey mane. Null was looking at him was interest, but he seemed much calmer now.
"I can't read anything else," Nayru muttered. "But this is a Pokemon, and it's name is Type: Null."
"Null?" Rose asked, walking over. "Why would-"
But her approach caused Null to roar again, stoping on the ground in rage. Rose quickly backed up, as Wes placed both of his hands on Null. "It's ok! Rose is a friend of mine, she won't hurt you... the others are friends as well, Maple, Chloe, Lillie, Shiron and Jaun. We want to help you." Null looked at Wes for a moment, his right front leg raised as if he was about to attack, but he put it back down, huffing a little as Wes continued to pet him.
"That was scary," Rose sighed, looking in fear at Null. "Rotom, are you sure there is no information on this Pokemon?"
"I am scanning all of my data-banks, but nothing is appearing," Rotom stated. "I will make an entry for this mysterious Pokemon... adding Type: Null into my records."
"Why Type: Null though?" Wes asked. "If anything, he should be named something cool... like Zero! That sounds badass!"
"Wait, this Pokemon is marked," Rotom suddenly said, looking over Null, who was watching Rotom with caution.
"Marked?" Wes asked.
"It means that a PokeBall is registered to him," Rose explained. "Nayru is marked to her Friend Ball, despite never going in, as well. I guess Null has a trainer already."
"If that is the case, it might be best to just leave Null alone," Lillie stated, almost relieved to get away from the creature. "Still, why do I get the feeling that I know Null from somewhere?"
"I can't just leave him though," Wes protested, looking at Null as he pet the creature's mane. "Zero might be attacked out here."
"Is it really wise to nickname another trainer's Pokemon?" Jaun asked.
"Regardless of that, I am sure Null can take care of itself," Rose sighed.
"I'm going to head back into the city," Jaun sighed, turning around and walking off. "Who knows, maybe Null's trainer is back there."
"I'll come with you," Lillie shouted, racing after him.
"Come on, Wes," Chloe said, starting to walk over, but Null hissed at her which made her recoil. "L-let's head back."
"Alright..." Wes sighed, taking his hand off of Null. "Be careful when searching for your trainer, Zero." But he didn't get more then ten steps away before suddenly he was nudged from behind. He turned around to see Null was following after him, looking at him with interest.
"Great, now you done it," Rose groaned. "Null likes you."
"That's not a bad thing, is it?" Wes asked, petting Null once again.
"It is if Null has a trainer already," Rose sighed. "Well, now what? We got some strange Pokemon that is going to be following you around, and I get the feeling that we can't just waltz into town with a Pokemon like that!"
"You two go on ahead then," Wes suggested. "I'll look around Route 4 and 5, maybe I can find Zero's trainer."
"No way, I am not leaving you alone," Rose bluntly stated, earning a glare from Chloe.
"I think Wes is perfectly fine taking care of himself and Zero," Chloe said in defense.
"Oh, don't you go calling it Zero now too," Rose snapped, glaring at Chloe. "That's probably the reason Null likes him in the first place!"
"Wes is a very likable person," Chloe shouted back. "It's not his fault!"
"But Null doesn't belong to him!" Rose screamed at her.
"Exactly," a voice suddenly said. Wes and the others rounded around sharply, looking over to see a kid standing there, wearing a black outfit entirely with several rips and tears on it. He had blonde hair and piercing green eyes, almost resembling Lillie in a way. "So do me a favor... step away from Null, or else."
"You're Null's trainer?" Rose asked.
"Not exactly, but I need Null to come with me," the kid said, stepping forward and pulling out a PokeBall. "Comply... or else I will use force."
"If you aren't Zero's trainer, then why should I had him over to you?" Wes asked.
Wes calling Type: Null 'Zero' seemed to make the kid angry, as he suddenly glared at Wes fiercly, putting his left hand over his right eye. "How dare you! That Pokemon is not yours to nickname and do what you please with! Arghhh! I'll show you how angry you make me! Battle me, I won't take no for an answer!" He then threw a PokeBall into the air, which popped out a Zubat.
"Zubat, huh?" Wes thought for a moment before pulling out his level ball. "Go, Faye!" Faye emerged from her ball, zipping through the air and facing off against the blue bat hovering a few yards away from her.
"Zubat, Wing Attack!" the kid ordered. Zubat obeyed instantly, flying forward and hitting Faye with his wings, which did massive damage to her, though she flew back into the air ready for more.
"Faye, use Moonblast!" Wes ordered. Faye obeyed, sending a large pink orb of energy at Zubat, but the attack barely seemed to do anything, and without even a word from the punk kid, only a point, Zubat flew at Faye again and knocked her out with another Wing Attack.
"Wes, use your head!" Rose shouted at him. "Zubat is a Poison and Flying type, both types are bad for Faye!"
"Don't lecture me," Wes snapped at her, recalling Faye into her ball. "Nayru, Psyshock!"
"On it," Nayru shouted, leaping down from Wes's shoulder and creating an bunch of purple and blue orbs of energy, which slammed into Zubat, knocking it out instantly.
"Not bad," the punk kid said, recalling Zubat. "But now face my full might! Go, Null!" Out from a Premier Ball he threw emerged another Type: Null, which roared in anger and fury at Nayru.
"Wait, you have one too?" Wes gasped in shock.
"Null, use Tackle!" the punk kid ordered. Null nodded, charging forward and slamming into Nayru, who yelled at she was sent flying back. Wes shouted at her, running up to where she landed, only to see her knocked out on the ground. The punk kid huffed, looking at him. "Do you see why I need Null to come with me now? He is too powerful and dangerous to be left in the hands of an amateur such as yourself. Now comply with my demands, or I will use force."
"You already won the battle!" Chloe shouted at him. "You don't have to hurt him!"
"I do if he doesn't listen to me!" the punk kid shouted, but suddenly he stopped, his eyes going wide. The Null that Wes was calling Zero suddenly got in front of him, staring at the kid with a defiant expression. The two Null's roared at one another, communicating to one another.
"What..." Wes asked, confused.
"T-the Null we found is telling the other Null that you mean no harm," Nayru muttered weakly, looking at them both.
The punk kid looked shocked, until his Type: Null turned to him, looking at him with a gaze that seemed to calm him down. "Forgive me, I acted rash."
"What is going on anyway?" Rose asked, walking over to Wes and the Type: Null dubbed Zero. "Who are you?"
"My name... is Gladion," the punk kid said. "And until that Type: Null comes back with me, I am afraid I cannot go anywhere."
"Actually, I am afraid you will be coming with me for some questioning," a familiar voice suddenly said. Jason emerged from the bushes, looking from Wes, Rose and Chloe, to the two Type: Null, to Gladion himself. "I have SEVERAL questions for you, kid."
"Jason, I thought you were going away on business," Rose stated, looking confused at him.
"Turns out, my business was to find out what mysterious Pokemon escaped captivity from a certain location that I cannot discuss with you kids," Jason explained. "And well, here I am, looking at a mysterious Pokemon that seems to have escaped captivity."
Gladion hissed at Jason. "Sorry, but I cannot go with you. I need to get this Type: Null back before it does any more harm."
"You can trust Wes with taking care of that creature," Jason replied, looking over at Wes. "It seems to like him anyway, and would rather go with him than you."
Wow, Jason is being a dick to someone else for once, Wes thought.
"That isn't an option, but if you continue to insist, then I will use force," Gladion said, his Null running up to face Jason. "I win, you leave. You win, I will go with you."
"Uh, dude," Wes piped up. "That's not a good idea, that dude is the Kalos Champion."
Gladion ignored Wes, prompting a sigh from Jason. "Fine... go, Cedric." Out from a standard PokeBall emerged a tall, owl looking Pokemon with piercing red eyes, a brown feathery body and a dark green hood covering his face and shoulders.
"Now this Pokemon I can get you info on," Rotom said, springing to life. "Decidueye, the Arrow Quill Pokémon and the final evolved form of Rowlet. It fires arrow quills from its wings with such precision, they can pierce a pebble at distances over a hundred yards. Although basically cool and cautious, when it's caught by surprise, it's seized by panic."
"Null, use Pursuit," Gladion ordered. Null leapt his his opponent, charging rapidly. Cedric the Decidueye, however, did nothing, taking the hit but not getting hurt by it at all, only staring with a bored expression on his face.
"Leaf Blade," Jason cooly ordered. It was over in an instant, with Cedric's wing glowing green and slashing the air as if it was a sword. Null stood there for a moment before falling over, knocked out from the force of the attack. Gladion's eyes widened, but he just sighed, recalling Null into it's ball. Jason recalled Cedric into his ball as well, eyeing Gladion as he did. "We had a deal."
"Right," Gladion sighed, turning to Wes and pulling out a Luxury Ball from his pocket, tossing it to Wes. "Here, that ball is the one that contains that Null... but I swear to you, misuse Null and I won't hesitate to take it from you by force."
"I'm not going to abuse Zero if that is what you mean," Wes shouted at him, holding the Luxury Ball up. "And next time we meet, I'll be the one winning our battle!"
Gladion huffed, walking off with Jason following after him. They got quite a distance away before Jason put his hand on Gladion's shoulder to stop him. "This is far enough." They froze for a moment before Gladion turned to look at Jason, who eyed him with suspicion. "Now, tell me everything you know about Aether Paradise and the Aether Foundation."
"What makes you think that they are the ones behind Null?" Gladion asked in defiance.
Jason stared at him for a moment before speaking. "I think my instincts are right about my guess... son of Lusamine, President of the Aether Foundation, who has currently gone missing and sent the staff into a panic. Need I say more?"
Gladion flinched, before sighing. "Fine... I'll tell you everything I know."