All I knew was that I was trapped.

I was stuck, and my only goal was to break out. I was curled up around myself; I could barely move anymore, it was so cramped. If knew that if I didn't get out soon, I would die. I had to try to break this strange prison I was in.

It was the only thing I knew how to do.

So I banged the tip of my snout against it. All of a sudden, everything became so much brighter, more clear.

Light. For the first time, I was seeing light.

In fact, I was seeing a LOT of things; things moving around outside my prison, shouting at one another, exclaiming things.

"Egg's hatching!"

"Come on, come on, get the other asset, move it along, people."

"Where's Owen!? Owen! Barry!"

"Is she comin' out?"

"You're right on time. Make sure you're the only one in the room with her. Barry, you stay here."

"I know."

"And make sure not to break anything! We don't want to have to start all over again!"

"God, Claire, is that all you see these things as? Assets?"

"Owen, I understand your bond with these animals, but you know just as well as I do how much-"

"I get it, I get it. Jeez, you're boring..."

Everything went quiet, and I heard someone approach. I could just barely see the figure from the crack I made. Who was this? WHAT was this?

"Come on, now...You got this."

I felt that I could...trust it? I had to get out and see it for myself, though, to make sure. So I tapped against the walls a bit harder. The crack got bigger, and I could see more.

The being that hovered over me looked...strange. But I didn't think much of it; now that the hole was big enough to peek through, I had to open it up the rest of the way.

I looked down at the tiny claws on my hand; I didn't know how, but I instantly knew what they could be used for.

I pushed them up against the edge of the hole, and it got bigger, the little shards falling away. The walls around the hole bore cracks in them, and I pushed the tip of my snout through the hole I'd made. Before I even knew what was happening, I fell over forward, along with the rest of my thin-shelled imprisonment, and the impact was just enough to make the thin walls crack even more. Wanting to be rid of the stupid shell, I kicked my hind legs until I finally broke free, the shards spilling out on the ground around me.

I was out.

And there, hovering over me, was a strange creature. It was the first living thing besides myself that I ever saw.

And, for reasons that even I didn't know, I liked him. I trusted him. I knew he would protect me.

But now a new uncomfortable sensation made itself present.

It felt like my entire middle was just an empty pit that had to be filled, and it had to be filled quickly. So I did the only thing that I knew how to do.

Scream.

It was only a matter of seconds before the creature held something out in front of my gaping mouth for me to snatch, and I gulped it down in little time. Whatever he'd given me seemed to settle the feeling of emptiness inside me.

Hunger...That was what I was feeling. I'd just eaten for the first time.

Just when I thought things would be alright, yet another terrible sensation appeared.

I felt constricted. Tight. I started shaking. And I had no idea why.

Again, the creature who stood with me solves this; he lifted me up off the ground and into something warm and soft, wrapping it around me and holding me.

I'd been cold. And now I was warm.

The creature brought me somewhere warmer, and a bit darker. I smelled something...odd. It smelled a bit like...me? How?

My question was answered when he unfurled the covers over me and gently lowered me down onto warm earth. Something else was sitting next to me.

I didn't know how I knew, but I knew that this...thing before me was one of my own kind. It was grey, mostly, and had a deep blue stripe running down each side of it.

She stood up on her hind legs and sniffed at me for a few moments before making odd, rhythmic noises. Why did I know what they meant? I'd never heard them before?

Communication.

{Hello,} she greeted. {Are you a friend?}

{I...don't know,} I answered her. {I came out of somewhere dark and cramped.}

{I was in a dark, cramped place a few days ago, too...You smell like me. I think we should be friends.}

{What's it like being friends?} I wondered aloud.

{I don't know; I've never had any,} she admitted. {But I think it's supposed to be good?}

{I'll try it.}

{Are you cold? You're shaking.}

{I am?}

It was true; even if it was warmer than before, it wasn't enough to be comfortable. Maybe my new friend would be warm? There was only one way to find out.

I scooted right up against her and tucked in all of my limbs.

{I'm happy we're friends,} I yawned, my eyes suddenly feeling heavy. {Do you think there are more of us?}

{We'll have to see about that...I hope there are. More friends means...more happiness, right?}

I agreed with a light chuff before letting my eyes glaze over, and the great big world around me faded into oblivion.

...

My senses returned slowly and gently.

I opened my eyes; I was beside the Pokémon Center again, with Rotom and the egg. They both looked warm and secure.

I didn't want to wake them up too suddenly, for I just looked around for a bit; the sun had since risen above the horizon, but its light was still soft and gentle, and the morning sky faded from pink to gold the closer to earth it seemed. The softness of the atmosphere almost prompted me to go back to sleep, but I wasn't tired enough, and I didn't want to miss any of it.

As I scanned over my surroundings, the dream I'd have began to come back to me. In a clear state of mind, it made much more sense.

It'd been a recollection of the day I hatched from my OWN egg.

I broke out of the shell, and there was Alpha, standing over me. I was fed, swaddled, then brought over to Blue; Charlie and Delta weren't there, though. Maybe they hadn't hatched out of their own eggs yet?

Was that the way every creature felt when it emerged from its egg? Tired, cold and hungry? What a way to be welcomed into the world...

"...M-mornin' boss."

{Rotom. You're awake,} I acknowledged, looking down at him as he stretched his blocky arms. {Good morning to you. Is the egg doing alright still?}

He looked up and down the tan-spotted egg curiously, looking for any cracks, smudges of dirt, dampness and other things, but finding none.

"Egg lookzzz fine!" he chippered. "Uh, but I do have a question."

{What is it?}

"How are we gonna carry it around safely? I mean, we can't just leave it here! Something might get to it while we're away! Bzzt!"

{For now, I'll just carry it by hand; as long as I don't run with it, it should be alright. Besides, I don't really trust anyone else with it; it's my responsibility.}

"Hmm...Well, if you say so. But just remember I'm helpin' out, too, so I can keep an eye on it if you ever need me to!"

{Thanks, Rotom. Now...Let's see about the next trial. Brooklet Hill is just past this Pokémon Center, right?}

"That'zzz right! Wonder if the captain's there yet; it's kinda early, ain't it?"

{There's only one way to find out,} I answered him, slowly shifting my legs and pushing myself up onto them. My PokéDex displayed the map on his screen.

"Okie-dokie! lead the way! Zzrt!"

I took a peek at the sign just beside he Pokémon Center.

"Brooklet Hill:

Designated trial site for the Island Challenge."

I nodded in acknowledgement, then passed through the thick foliage growing around the path, finding myself face-to-face with a small slope of wooden planks descending down on the dirt road. Past the ramp was a bridge, and right in front of the bridge there was...

A human.

One clad in blue and white, and perhaps slightly shorter than Hau, but a bit older, it also looked.

"Hello," she greeted us. "You're Echo, aren't you? The trainer from Melemele Island that everyone's been talking about?"

I glanced shyly off to the side, giving a light nod and low growl. I chittered to Rotom, and he presented the question I had.

"Uh...Are you Captain Lana?"

"Yep. That's me. I run the trial here in Brooklet Hill. I've been waiting for you, Echo. Once I caught wind of you from the Island Kahuna, I decided I'd head up here early, seeing that you were going through the Island Challenge. I guess that was a good idea, wasn't it?"

{Excellent. That's what I'm here for,} I told her, and Rotom did his usual job of translating for me. {What exactly do we have to do for the trial?}

"Well, just follow me, and I'll explain everything. Erm...You don't have a ride pager, do you?"

{A what?}

"A what?"

"Here. Follow me and I'll tell you once we're at the site."

She lead us through some scattered patches of taller grass; I didn't want to waste my Repel, so once Lana went through, I caught up to her by leaping over them, and trailed slowly behind her as she lead us to a body of water. There was what looked like a Pokémon of some sort sitting idly along the shore, and it turned its long, graceful neck to face the Trial Captain with a liquid song of a cry in greeting.

{What is that, Rotom?} I asked, very intrigued by the graceful-sounding Pokémon with the shelled back.

"Scanning...Scanning...Scan complete!"

And he began.

"Lapras: The Transport Pokémon! A kind and gentle Pokémon, it enjoys carrying people across bodiezz of water on its back! Due to poaching, it almost went extinct, but conservation efforts have been so successful that now there are tonzzz of them! Here in the Alola region, they serve as an important means of transportation! Bzzzrt!"

"Hello, Lapras," the Captain greeted it. "The Trainer from Melemele Island is here. Are you ready?"

It nodded to her, and Lana turned to face me,

"This is Lapras," she explained. "In order to partake in the trial, you will have to ride her across the water. Can you do that?"

{Wait...Ride? As in...On top of her shell?}

Rotom translated my skeptical question.

"That's right."

{Are you sure I won't...}

I looked down at the large, curved sickle claws on my feet. What if, while I rode her, I somehow nicked her with one of them? Nick...Those claws could do way more than just nick skin. In the right place, and with the right motion, those claws could kill, even by accident.

{...That I won't...Hurt her by mistake?}

She noticed that I was looking down at the deadly weapons on my inner toes.

"Oh...I can see where your concern is stemming from. As long as you keep those on her shell, it shouldn't be an issue; it's very durable, so those claws won't do much against them. Go ahead and hop on; see how you handle it."

She motioned for me to approach the Pokémon, and I stepped closer towards it. Lapras' large, curious, somewhat dubious eyes peered right into mine, and I chittered to her.

{I assume you've never carried anything like...myself before, have you?}

She shook 'no,' and...for a moment, I could have sworn she was looking into my mouth instead of my eyes.

{I didn't think so...But I promise I won't hurt you. I'm here for the trial, just like any other Trainer...Are you, uh...ready?}

She nodded, and I was just about to climb onto her shell when...

I realized that I was still holding the egg in my arms.

I backed away from Lapras, holding my precious cargo a tad tighter.

"Something the matter?" Lana inquired, her eyes then falling onto what I had in my arms.

"Oh...Your egg. Well, I agree with your not wanting to take it out onto the water; it's not safe. It'll have to be kept on dry land while you do the trial. I'd be more than happy to keep it safe for you while you're out in the pond."

{You! With my egg!?} I screeched, shielding the object in question from the human. {What if you break it!? What if something happens while I'm out there and you don't know what to do!? I have to keep it safe! No one else can have it!}

"Um...What's she saying, Rotom? She sounds upset about something."

"She'zzz gotten pretty attached to Junior ever since we picked it up from the Pokémon Nursery; said she'd guard it with her own life. What she's saying, in a nutshell, is that she doezzzn't trust anyone with it but herself! Zzzt!"

"Oh. I see...Well, Echo, I'm pleased to tell you that I've handled the eggs of my own Pokémon in the past, so there'll be no trouble if I keep it for you during the trial."

I was still extremely skeptical; I'd only just gotten this egg, and now I was entrusting it to someone I barely knew? It sounded like a bad idea. In fact, I wouldn't have even trusted Blue with an egg, had we ever received them back when we lived in the Paddock.

...But, then again, Owen had been entrusted with MY egg as I hatched from it, and nothing had happened to me.

And Lana...Yes, I'd only just met her, but she didn't seem like someone who would deliberately harm the egg. Most of the humans in the Alola Region were good(with the exception of Team Skull.) And she couldn't be one of them; how would she have become a Trial Captain, if that were the case?

I held the unborn Pokémon a bit more snugly again, still worried about what could happen.

{...If I give you the egg,} I told Lana. {Will you guard it with your life?}

Rotom translated.

"Well, this part of Akala Island is fairly safe; I highly doubt it will get to that point."

{You'll watch it?}

"Yes."

{Keep it warm?}

"Oh, absolutely."

{Drive away ANY hostiles with any means possible?}

"If, somehow, it gets to that point. I will say that Sneasel are common egg eaters, but they only live in really cold climates."

{So there aren't any Sneasels around here?}

"No. Not wild ones, at least. And trained Sneasel are typically kept in check by their Trainers."

I looked down at the egg one more time, emitting a shakily uncertain sigh as I slowly passed it onto her.

{...Rotom. I want you to stay here with Captain Lana and the egg. You're the only other one I MIGHT trust with it.}

"I'm on guard, Echo!"

{Okay...I'm going to start the trial. Erm...Before I go, Captain, would you give me a rundown of what I have to do so I can...um...do it right?}

"Before we begin, you'll have to see what Pokémon is splashing over in this body of water. Then you'll go to the opposite shore, descend the hill and meet the next pond, where you'll have to battle the Totem. Keep in mind that you won't be able to catch any Pokémon until you clear the trial, and if you exit the gates at any given point before you finish, you'll have to start over from the beginning. Got all that?"

{I only have to battle one trial Pokémon before the Totem this time?}

"That's right."

{Wow...Well, okay. I've got it.}

"Good luck out there, bucko!"

{...Stay safe,} I chittered to the egg, even though it couldn't hear me.

I re-approached Lapras and chittered to her.

{I'm ready.}

She nodded at me again, and I carefully stepped up onto her grey shell, steadying myself with my forearms as I saddled it, putting one leg on each side, and, out of sheer irrational fear, pointed the tips of my sickle claws away from the Pokémon's shell.

I was pretty sure I looked ridiculous riding the Transport Pokémon; another reason I wanted to get the trial done as quickly as I could. But when I looked back at Lana and Rotom on the shore, the former flashed me a thumbs up, the egg set securely in her lap.

A nervous chill went up my spine at the sight of it, but I kept reassuring myself that it would be alright, so I nodded back to them, then looked out over the water.

There was something splashing not too far out into the pond. That must have been the trial Pokémon Lana was talking about.

{Okay, Lapras. Go head over that way towards the splashing,} I instructed the Pokémon, and she complied.

I reached into my bag to fetch Dartrix's Poké Ball; it was likely that these would all be Water-Type Pokémon, and my starter would definitely have the upper hand.

As we went along the surface, I noticed that the sun shining down from above had grown dimmer. It was never too bright to begin with, seeing that it was only morning, but it'd definitely gotten darker. I looked up to see that a mass of grey clouds had obscured it, turning the morning cool a bit chilly.

I didn't know why, but it made the situation a might unsettling.

We reached the spot, and the splashing stopped, a Pokémon rising up out of the water to face us.

...It looked absolutely pathetic.

It was nothing but a scrawny little fish, small enough to be scooped up out of the water with my hat. Any attack would send it flying, likely. I almost felt sorry for the poor creature...But I had to fight it in order to complete the trial. If this was what the Totem Pokémon would be like, then it looked like I was in for an easy victory.

I called out Dartrix, and he hovered over the water with spread wings. The sight of his opponent made him let out a chirpy snicker.

{Nothing overboard yet,} I told him. {Try using Astonish.}

He obeyed, getting right into the fish's face and giving him a nasty nip, paired with a shrill scream. The Pokémon fainted instantly, though neither of us were really sure if it was the damage that did it in or the frightening noise Dartrix had made.

"Krrroo?" Dartrix trilled curiously.

{Well, Dartrix,} I said to him, a grin spreading across my lips. {It looks like we're off to a good start!}

"Kroo!"

{Lapras. Take us to the other side of the pond.}

She obeyed, gliding across the surface of the water until we reached its edge, and we unboarded. I kept Dartrix out in the open so we would be ready for our next battle, and we descended towards the next pond. The slope of the hill allowed the Lapras we'd been given to ride to slide down without much effort after us, the dampness of the ground also aiding her.

We made it to the other body of water, and I stepped through the gate with Dartrix at my side, Lapras plodding eagerly along not far behind. Once she reached the shoreline, she pushed herself forward with her back flippers and got herself floating again.

I was about to get back on her shell when I felt something wet hit my snout. I looked down at it to see a droplet of water running down the side of it from the top.

And then another one landed on the ground right beside my foot.

And another on Dartrix's head.

Their number grew, and they began to dampen the ground.

...It was raining.

And it was getting heavier by the second.

{Alright, you two, let's do this!} I hollered. {We don't want to get too soaked, do we!?}

I hopped onto the Transport Pokémon, and she was quick to approach the vigorous splashing towards the other end of the pond.

But as soon as she reached the spot, the splashing ceased. A very brief moment of dead quiet followed.

And then came a crash of thunder from above. In an instant, the rain started coming down twice as heavy. I could feel Lapras trembling.

I looked down into the water, and I could see those tiny little fish Pokémon swimming through, coming from all different directions. But they all seemed to be heading to the same spot in the pond, and it looked like they were all accumulating there, forming a giant mass of themselves. Lapras was staring down at the scene, but was much more fearful of it than Dartrix and I were.

Something was about to happen.

The mass of Pokémon grew bigger, and bigger, until it was almost half the size of the monster that me and my sisters faced back home.

{No...No, no, not that,} I uttered, shaking my head in denial. The last thing I wanted was to face some sort of beast worse than that!

But it looked like it was about to happen anyway. And now I knew just why Lapras was so afraid.

And now, so was I.

With a tremendous splash, something rose up from out of the water; a horrible aquatic beast that was composed completely out of a vast multitude of the tiny fish Pokémon we'd underestimated. Every part of it was made of the fish; it's teeth, its fins, its tail, even its eyes were entirely made of them. It looked like some horrible mutant creature from the depths of my nightmares, almost as terrible as the last awful monster I'd fought.

And now I had Pokémon it could go after.

I snarled. Despite my fear, I was NOT going to let anything like that happen again.

{Dartrix!} I commanded. {Use Razor Leaf!}

Sensing my fear, the Blade Quill Pokémon didn't hesitate to follow my order. He fired up the greatest amount of the sharpest leaves he could muster, and then fired them at the Totem Pokémon at blinding speed.

"Koo, koo, koo-RRRRROO!"

It was one of the strongest Razor Leaf attacks I'd ever seen from him; a critical hit, no doubt, but even still, it was astounding.

The creature bellowed in agony as the attack landed, the leaves cutting through its form. Just as soon as it'd appeared, the beast began falling apart, the fish Pokémon that made up its body coming away and landing back in the water. It wasn't long until the Totem Pokémon was nothing more than a disorganized school of fish, and now, at the mere sight of the comparatively superior Dartrix, they scattered and fled in a frazzled fashion.

And then they were all gone.

I blinked at what I'd just witnessed. Was that it? Had we defeated the Totem Pokémon? That horrible beast went down with just one Razor Leaf.

Even Dartrix's eyes were wide with shock.

{...Did we win?}

He looked back at me from where he hovered, then back at where the Totem had collapsed, then back to me again. He banked one of his wings and headed back over to me to perch on Lapras' shell beside me, still dumbfounded by his own strength. But despite his surprise, he managed a nod.

{...Wow.}

Another crash of thunder sounded off from above, and I realized that Dartrix's feathers were soaking wet. And frankly, so was I.

{Let's get back to shore, guys. Rotom, Lana and the egg are-}

"Hey! Over here!"

I looked out to the shore; Lana was standing there holding a blue-striped umbrella, shielding Rotom and the egg from the rain. She and my PokéDex were waving for me to return, both of them beaming.

Lapras strode ashore, and I returned Dartrix to his dry Poké Ball as I hopped off of the Transport Pokémon.

"I...I must say I find myself at an impasse here," Lana admitted, returning her Lapras to her Poké Ball. "All of the Wishiwashi that I so diligently trained up for this very moment were defeated so easily...But at the same time, I can't possibly let your completion of my trial go uncelebrated. I may be somewhat frustrated at the swift fall of my Totem Pokémon, but just how impressed I am with your Dartrix alone far surpasses that. You were amazing, Echo. Truly impressive. You bare the marks of an excellent Pokémon Trainer."

"Bzzzt, didja hear that bucko!? Even the Trial Captains think you're amazzzing! You've got nothing to worry about!"

Now I was smiling along with them.

"Your Dartrix is a fine specimen," she continued. "...But I do assume you have at least one or two more Pokémon along side you beside him and this egg?"

She motioned down towards the egg in her arms.

"Oh, yes. That reminds me. You'd probably like it back now, wouldn't you?"

I stepped underneath the umbrella in order to keep the egg dry during the exchange, and she carefully passed it on to my awaiting arms. I chittered softly to the unhatched Pokémon, wondering if it could hear me.

{I'm back,} I purred to it. {I'm back and I'm right here.}

"Let's take this conversation to the Pokémon Center just outside of here so we can get you and your Pokémon dried off some. Knowing what Dartrix are like, yours would probably like that idea. Now, me? I typically like being out in the rain. I admit the main reason I took it out were for your teammates' purposes."

{Really? You did that just for them?}

"It'zzz a good thing she had it on her, or my circuits probably would've been fried! And Junior here probably might have-"

He stopped abruptly at what happened next. The egg shifted in my grasp, and I could have sworn I heard a tiny noise come out of it.

...It'd heard me.

"Well..." the Trial Captain remarked. "It seems like whatever Pokémon is in your egg is doing just fine. But we should still get it somewhere warmer before that changes."

{I'm not the biggest fan of being wet myself,} I chattered as we went up along the path. {Everything go alright while I was gone, Rotom?}

"Well, you were barely gone for five minutes! There wazzzn't much time for anything to go wrong! Hee hee!"

"Hm..." I scoffed. It was probably funny because it was true; one hit and the Totem Pokémon was down. Looking back it seemed fairly anticlimactic, but if Dartrix could really do that much to something as big and powerful as this, then he would certainly win me a lot of battles in the future.

"By the way...Did you two know that I reeled in a red Gyarados once with my trusty fishing rod?"

"A Gyarados!? You mean the Atrocious Pokémon known to destroy entire cities when its mad!?"

He displayed the Pokémon on his screen as he gave the description; a giant serpentine fish-like creature with a flailing blue body and a furious gaze. It would have likely been more frightening than the Totem Pokémon itself had I been seeing it in real life.

"Wow...A red one? Really, cap'n?"

Lana giggled.

"Well, what do you think?"

...

"I have to say, I'm more than a bit curious about you, Echo," Lana told me as we sat at the café, both of us sipping on mugs of hot Tapu Cocoa she ordered. "Would you mind telling me some things about yourself? Where you're from, what it was like there? I don't mean to prod, though; I'm only wondering."

{Well...} I replied, Rotom doing a good job of translating for me yet again. {It's all kind of fuzzy. I've been remembering bits and pieces as I go along, and I've put some of them together, but I don't have a big picture yet. And I know a lot more things now than I used to. Like, before I came to Alola, for some reason, I
...couldn't understand any of you humans. But now I do, all of a sudden. And I have no idea why."

"Peculiar...Are there any others like you?"

{Yes...Well, there were, at least, I know that for sure. My sisters...There were four of us: me, Delta, Charlie and Blue. And then there was our Alpha, Owen Grady; he was a human, like you. And he had an assistant Alpha...We all called him Alpha-Beta, but he did have a human name...What was it...Barry, I think? Yes, I think that was what it was.}

"So, where are they? Why is it only you?"

{They...We...Well, I guess I can't bottle it up,} I decided reluctantly. {Just a number of days ago, my sisters and I were all let outside to chase something down, and that something tured out to be this...monster of some sort. It didn't look like anything that should exist...And it made us attack humans for it. We didn't want to, but...It told us it'd kill us if we didn't.}

"That's...This sounds serious. I don't know why no one's heard anything about this incident."

{So, we ended up chasing some humans back to Main Street where I'm from, and when we got there...I don't exactly know how, but Owen convinced us all to stop what we'd been ordered to do and retaliate against the monster.}

"What happened with that?"

{Charlie wasn't there when it happened. I don't know what might've happened to her...But the last I saw of Blue was the monster slamming her into a wall, and I saw Delta get thrown somewhere while she was attacking the monster, and then there was an explosion, then the monster threw me across Main Street. It must have hurt me pretty badly, but I managed to get back up and run away, and...}

"And what?"

{Well...The next thing I knew, I was lying on the beach just outside the Professor's lab back on Melemele.}

"It sounds bad."

"She doezzn't really like talking about it, I don't think," Rotom added. "She has a pretty pessimistic view on the whole ordeal. The good news is, though, that she's finding a new place here in Alola, with new friendzzz and family to sort of fill in the gap! Zzrt!"

I nodded in response to him.

"Well, I'm glad everything's going alright for you since you came here...I hate to cut it short, Echo, but there are likely to be more Trainers showing up for their Trial here soon, so I'll have to return to Brooklet Hill."

{Are you sure you don't want me to pay for my part of the order? I still have 100₱.}

"No, no, it's no big deal; the drinks here at the café aren't expensive, anyway...Well, good luck to you. Oh, and I should notify you; Kiawe's trial is up next for you, and that's in Wela Volcano Park in eastern Akala. Rotom should be able to guide you there when the time comes."

"Kiawe's Trial is in Wela Volcano Park. We got it! Thanks, cap'n, bzzt!"

Saying this, she left the Pokémon Center. I downed the rest of my drink, then picked up Dartrix at the front desk. The Pokémon Center nurse had dried him off for me, as he hadn't been in much need of healing. When I approached the front desk, my Pokémon fluttered over to me and perched on top of my pack. I nodded to the human in thanks, then turned to leave the building myself.

"We hope to see you again!" she called out.

When I stepped out onto the grassy ground outside, the rain had mostly lifted, save for a few stray droplets here and there. Nothing that would put Rotom in any danger, and nothing that Dartrix would be particularly bothered by. And certainly nothing that would get the egg cold, so I decided to backtrack to Paniola Town and see if I could find my way to Wela Volcano Park from there.

I'd only just gotten started again when I saw something happening barely halfway down the road.

Hau had since caught back up to me, and he was returning his fainted Brionee back to her Poké Ball.

"Oh, well! Guess we lose this round! Ha ha ha!" he laughed.

His opponent was giving him a cynical look.

"Are you even taking this seriously?"

"Seriously? Heck yeah! I seriously enjoyed that!"

The other human scoffed in an unamused fashion.

"...You probably wouldn't know anything serious if it died right before your eyes," I heard him mutter to himself.

I didn't like this human. And he was wearing black...He wasn't a member of Team Skull, was he?

I let out a concerned chuff, and Hau turned around to see what the noise was.

"Oh, hey, Echo! Check this guy out! He's plenny scary!"

I looked over at the other human, and that was when we made eye contact.

And from the look in his eye, I could tell that he meant business.