Alola readers! The one and only BraviaryScout is now back with another chapter. Recently they have been taking longer than anticipated once my mind gets fried to a crisp. Seriously, it's getting harder and harder to crank out these chapters consistently especially when i sit and try writing for hours on end. I could try on my phone, but it kind of sucks.

But progress is still progress. The good news is that I did not get a temporary reassignment to another station for work, so I am comfortably at home writing with my laptop. The bad news is I am obviously burning out. I may take a hiatus after this or the next chapter to both get ahead and recharge my mind. I need a vacation, anyone been to Japan?

Okay then, here is the chapter. Enjoy everyone. You all want to know what's in the egg right?


Since it got late after our visit to the library, Brady offered to let us stay at his house in Malie City. I have to admit that he's a very sweet person. He said that his parents didn't exactly get along with what he wanted to do and I could tell that it was affecting their relationship.

I know Elio has his own problems concerning his father and me...well we all know that story. Brady's parents are definitely smart people, but I feel like they're holding him back.

I'm not exactly sure why, but Elio hasn't said much to me since we left. I wouldn't have noticed it until he always seemed to walk away whenever I talked to Brady...Why? Is he jealous or something?

But we also ran into Hau while on the route in the morning and something amazing finally happened that I've never seen before!


The walk to Brady Wainwright's house was uneventful. However the lights of Malie City were incredibly pretty.

Lillie's mouth hung open at the colorful paper lanterns which posed as streetlights underneath canopies to keep them protected from the common rain showers that pelted the city. Compared to other places, the different vibrant colors made it feel more lively and upbeat compared to the normalcy of yellow or white lamps.

Elio didn't really know any city in Kanto that did this, even for festivities.

Brady pointed out many of the things the people were getting ready for the Draconid Festivus. Captain Lochagos was a revered figure in recent Alolan history, responsible for modernizing Alola and bringing it back into contact with the outside after the region had been isolated for the most part. People were smiling as they put up small decorations of small folded paper dragons outside their homes and shops. It was also less known as Lochagos Day and people were already wishing them that as they passed by.

Large canopy tents had already been erected at the waterfront where the big festivities were to take place. The entire marina area was said to be lit up at night with hundreds of paper kites of various dragons that would float into the sky and be set ablaze as thanks to their deity of Lord Rayquaza.

With the recent news of a disastrous meteor that nearly destroyed Hoenn just a while back having been destroyed thanks to the combined efforts of its champion Brendan Maple and the legendary Rayquaza itself, this called for an even more special celebration. Elio had looked at his Festival Plaza feed and saw tons of people saying how excited they were in going. A lot of them were also posting how great it was going to be as they went with their wives, girlfriends or other partners.

I wonder if Lillie wants me to take her? Or even if she wants to go. It looks like a fun time!

Brady led them up some of the slopes streets where the homes began to grow larger with bigger fences and areas of property.

Unlike the other areas that he saw with water stains on the concrete from constant rainfall, it was much cleaner up here.

It could've been that the rain fell less on the hilly areas, but considering the properties looked to be owned by wealthier people probably played into a part of it.

Brady's house was a large estate located on its own outlet with the front yard being almost the size of Elio's own house. There were dark metal fences with a gate that slid quietly open as he punched in a couple of numbers. They crossed the concrete sidewalk onto a cobblestone driveway that branched into three garage ports. The second part of the sidewalk went to the entrance, an entire covered area with a welcome mat in front of a set of double doors.

Arlo dismounted from his trainer's shoulder and looked sadly at him.

"Yeah I know. I'm really sorry."

"Sorry about what?" Lillie asked.

"My parents don't like the thought I want to be a trainer, so they want all the pokemon to be inside the pokeballs while they're in the house." Brady activated the ball, returning his pokemon. "They think I'll get too tempted to try and pretend battle, I'll cause damage."

That sounds incredibly dumb.

"Well," he reached into his pocket and pulled out a gold key. "You ready to see my house?"

"Sure." Elio said. "Thanks for letting us stay."

"I hope my parents say yes. If not, then I'll walk you back to the pokemon center. Hopefully they still have rooms available. I don't care what my parents think of me going past a stupid curfew. You guys don't deserve to wander around an unfamiliar place at night."

He inserted the key into the lock and turned, sliding a bolt out and then opened the door. Immediately, they felt the welcome rush of cool air that felt incredibly soothing.

The foyer was massive with tan tile lining the floor and a granite table in the center that had a vase of flowers. A chandelier hung overhead to cast warm lighting.

"Brady!"

"Hey Mom!" He called out, finally seeing an older woman descend down the spiral starcase at the far right side. "I'm back."

Upon him saying this, the warmth in her voice dropped almost immediately and her gaze sharpened.

"Yes, how great of you to come home...forty minutes after I told you to! What have you been doing all this time?!"

"Um...studying." He answered sort of timidly. "Where's Dad? I went to the library like I said I would." A gesture towards the other two teens beside him. "And I brought some friends too."

"Friends?! You know you're not allowed to have friends over especially when they're-" Her eyes set on Elio and he saw the sense of recognition flash through them.

"You." Her voice dropped to a whisper. "You're the boy who...saved that surfer."

Elio felt like he was being judged. While the humble part of him wanted to deny it, he did save a life that day. "Yes. That's me."

"Well my apologies for such a dramatic ensemble." Her tone softened and she visibly relaxed into an easygoing smile. That caused him to do so in turn and Lillie followed suit, having gotten a little nervous and anxious at the sudden confrontation.

Brady's mother descended down the steps and approached them in the foyer. Her high heels clicked on the tile floor and he could see Lillie cringing every time it made that distinct sound. It seemed to greatly annoy her.

"How delightful." She was taller than all three of them, the heels putting her height right above six feet tall. Like her son, she had bright blue eyes and a honey blonde hair with streaks of dark that glistened in the light. "That means you must be Elio Northstar."

A hand was thrown his way. "Victoria Wainwright. I'm Brady's mother and committee member on the Ula'ula Board Council. My husband Benjamin had to take an unexpected trip down to Hau'oli City for the night in meeting with some of his clients."

"Uh...hi. Elio Northstar. Island challenger if we're exchanging titles."

The quip caused Victoria to laugh rather loudly. "You've got quite a character Elio. I like you."

He was immediately reminded of Lusamine, though she was a little more exuberant. Her gaze immediately went to Lillie.

"And who is this pretty thing?"

"That's Lillie." Brady's cheeks flushed red a little. "She's also a friend of mine."

"I like her too."

"If you um...don't mind." He continued. "I was hoping they could spend the night and head out tomorrow morning. Elio's on the island challenge and his next trial is up at the top of Mount Hokulani."

"Oh." Victoria put a hand on her chest. "Well yes of course! I can't have a local hero and his girlfriend sleep out in those streets. Not with those Team Skull thugs running amok!"

"G-girlfriend?!" Elio and Brady squeaked, almost at the same time. Lillie's face turned even more red and she forcefully looked away.

"Well of course! The entire Alola region is praising you as a hero especially with the pretty girl at your side, rescuing another beauty. I've even heard that some want the two of you to get married!"

Married?! This lady is a little...much. I can't marry Lillie! The legal age is nineteen...and she'd have to say yes and all.

Elio never really had thought about it at the time, but now it wasn't going to be hard seeing her in a wedding gown since she wore almost identical white dresses practically every time they met up.

I bet she'd still look stunning in them. A guy can dream right? Anyone would be super lucky to get married to her.

Still, with the topic up there. He suddenly wanted to be the one to hold her hand in front of everyone while saying vows.

The conversation was drowned out in his head as a sharp pain hit the front of his skull and he grunted, clutching it and squeezing his temples with his thumb and index fingers.

Victoria noticed immediately. "Elio dear, is something wrong?"

"No." He waved her off. "I'm okay. I promise."

"You seem to be getting constant head pains." Lillie's face went concerned and she put a hand on his back. "Are you sure you're okay?"

"I'm fine. I just need some sleep."

"I'll get you some painkillers. You two can sleep on the sofa bed in the living room."

"Sounds good."

Brady needed a little bit of help from Elio after he found the frame a bit too heavy to lift, so the two of them propped the metal legs out and quickly put on a set of bedsheets with blankets and a pillow. Lillie in the meantime, used the bathroom to freshen up and walked back in time as the final touches were being smoothed out. The bed was full sized and with two pillows, was able to fit the both of them comfortably. Victoria assured them that were was food and drink in the fridge in case they got hungry or thirsty and that she would make them breakfast in the morning.

Elio was a little bit apprehensive since this would be the first time he and Lillie were sharing a bed together.

A bunch of thoughts flooded his mind and some of them drifted towards the naughty range.

Stop. You're a man and can put those away.

He did have to admit that he would've been thrilled to be sleeping with Lillie in his embrace.

"Elio?" She whispered, as they sat together on the bedside.

"Yeah. You okay?"

She nodded, lowering her voice again to not wake the sleeping Nebby. "Um...this is my first time...you know...sleeping with a boy."

"Same." He looked back down, fidgeting with his hands and not exactly sure what to say. "Are you okay with that? I'm fine with sleeping on the floor if you're not."

"Elio stop that, you deserve somewhere better than a floor. It's all just new to me. You know...all this liking and all."

"What, do you like me or something?"

"You mean like like right?"

"Well yeah."

"I...I kind of do." Baby steps.

"Well. I like you too that way." Elio's words caused her to blush. "Enough that I'm going to make sure you're still safe. I am perfectly comfortable with sleeping at your side if you are."

"Okay." She smiled at him. "I feel perfectly safe with you. I trust you."

As they lay down and pulled the blankets around each other, Elio watched as her breathing slowed and settled into a steady rhythm as she soundly fell asleep. During the entire time, he was wondering if those strange head pains or the cold sensation would return the closer he got with her and the more of her he thought of. He hadn't taken the painkillers, but didn't have much time to dwell on it before he too went off to dreamland.


"Hey it's you guys again!"

Elio, Lillie and Brady looked up to see Hau bounding happily right in front of them.

"Alola Hau!" The two did their usual handshake and bumped fists afterwards. "What brings you here again?"

"Oh you know, I finished checking out the local malasada bakery, they make excellent pineapple flavor and coffee of all things!"

The three of them woke up to a quick breakfast and headed out early but not before Brady received a stern reminder of his curfew and that he was not to accompany him and Lillie up the trails to Hokulani.

I'd hate curfew too.

Before they were to head off to the route that led up the mountain, Elio suggested that they stock up on supplies they wouldn't originally need on the first two islands.

Ula'ula was rougher and less populated than either Melemele or Akala. Pokemon were much stronger and the elements had the potential to turn disastrous in moments especially with dwindling resources. While Malie City and the eastern part of the island were temperate with the highest percentages of rainfall in the region, much of the island was dry with rocky impassable terrain and a dry desert set in the center. Temperatures could also drop with strong winds at the summits of the tall mountains and some locals even pointed out that the highest peak in Alola was located on Ula'ula. Mauna Lanakila was reported to have snowfall even in the midst of summertime.

Elio wasn't an expert survivalist, so with the help of store associate, began to outfit everyone appropriately for the longer journeys. Gone were the fashionable clothes in favor of something that was going to be both comfortable and preparatory for withstanding the extreme elements.

Brady already had most of the stuff, but he, Lillie and Hau decided on smaller day backpacks, emptying out the contents and putting away some of their heavier things to be sent into the PC back to their families.

The new backpacks were lightweight and held significantly less items, so Elio had to store a lot of the trinkets, putting priority of poke balls, medicine, TMs and fitted one slot with a portable charging unit. Charjabug could be hooked up to the wire to provide a stable amount of electricity as well as boost the reception of signal if they were deep in the remote areas.

The associate also mentioned about water sources being quite different as many sources lacked filter from strains of harmful bacteria in both pumps and the sources themselves. He had suggested a filter straw, which did exactly as said; filtered pathogens and bacteria as the user drank.

Sneakers were ditched in favor of sturdy waterproof boots and they outlined their feet with longer socks to prevent rocks and thorns from scratching their ankles. Some of the trails they would need to take had dense underbrush and nothing was worse than going through it all while being slashed at with sharp edges of any kind.

Overall, the group paid a little more than what they were hoping, but Elio was confident that investing a little more money in things they would rely on often would pay dividends in the end. As they got ready to take off down the route towards the mountain, everyone was satisfied they were prepared and took off at once down Ke Alanui. Rotom had called it the Roadblock trail.


They were journeying for no longer than a half hour on Ke Alanui when Brady noticed something odd coming from Elio's backpack. Specifically the egg incubator chamber.

It's finally happening! Excitement was flooding Elio's veins as the egg inside the clear container was beginning to shake consistently. Small bits of the calcium carbonate that made up the eggshell were beginning to flake off and he could begin to see occasional quick movements inside. Still too early to tell what pokemon it was.

Hau and Brady were brimming with excitement as their own pokemon crept up behind them to watch. Lillie held Nebby in the bag close to her chest, almost wishing she could take the cloud pokemon out to see it happen.

We're too much in the open. Sorry Nebby, but I can't risk it. Maybe later, you and Elio's new baby pokemon can play together. It could be like our own kids on a playdate!

Meanwhile Elio, still stared at the egg in the center and not realizing that the baby pokemon would need to move around once it was "born"

"Bzzt!" Rotom had gotten the hint. "You will need to remove the egg from the incubator! Bzzt!"

"How do I do that?" He got that nervous look in his eyes again. "I don't want to hurt it!"

"There's a release!"

"What release?"

"A releazzze that letzzz you take the top and sidezzz off! Bzzt! Hurry, you want to do it before it fully hatchez!"

Now I kind of know why it's so much pressure on delivering a baby. Elio wasn't delivering a human child though. He did wonder briefly about the couple he had helped back on Akala Island; Adam and Meghan. Had their baby been born yet?

Spotting a small instructions panel on the back, he pressed a button which caused a lock to pop outwards, breaking the seal around both the lid and springing the clear plexiglass open wobbling flexibly as it detached free from its confined frame.

He didn't even give it a second thought and practically threw them aside.

"Okay, now what?"

"I don't know." Hau said.

Elio scowled at him. "What do you mean you don't know? Didn't they teach this in school of how to properly hatch a pokemon?"

"Yeah they did. All they told us to do was to let the professionals handle it. Makes sense when someone knows what they're doing. They're also called a DOCTOR!"

"Hau, this isn't helping!"

"I know...let me think."

"Hurry!"

"Elio," Brady spoke up. "Hau's larvesta. Its ability is flame body."

"Yeah I know it's flame body." Hau spoke up, still glaring daggers at his friend.

"That can also be used to help warm up eggs when they're about to hatch!"

"Rotom!"

"Yezzzir! The nerd is correct! Bzzt! You can uzzze flame body to gently warm the offspring to a nurturing temperature that's suitable for hatching! Bzzt!"

"Okay, then let's do it!"

"Right." Hau looked behind him, gesturing for the small torch pokemon to approach. She quickly inched her way over and already knew what was expected of her. Coming close to the egg, the small larvae pokemon rubbed her whitish fur against the side of the shell.

Almost immediately, Elio began to see the rippling waviness of heat radiating out from her body. The increase in temperature gently warmed the egg where much larger cracks began to appear and spread in random directions, spiderwebbing across its smooth surface.

"Woah." Lillie and Brady's eyes were wide as Arlo climbed onto the latter's back. All of their pokemon were gathering around to see.

Hau's Noibat fluttered close and suddenly circled it from above. Almost immediately, all the other pokemon were backing away tentatively.

"Noibat?" Hau called out. "What's wrong?"

The small pokemon ignored his question and kept flying close by. As another large fragment broke off, it dipped right down, using its feet to snatch up Larvesta and carry her away.

"What in the world is going on?" Elio crept closer, now able to see small gray scaly limbs moving sluggishly inside some of the holes. Steam began to rise out of the openings as it started to shake, growing in intensity until...

Without warning, they felt a sudden blast of heat from the center while small bits of the eggshells blew apart with the force of a grenade.

Elio brought his arms up to shield his face just in time as a few fragments flicked against his skin like blown sand. He staggered back and fell on his butt, staring at the smoldering center that had charred bits of the surrounding dirt and grass.

Eggs explode?!

What?!

"Elio," Brady whispered, "Your Z-Ring?"

Curiously, he glanced at it on his wrist, noticing that the sparkling stone set in the center was beginning to shine. It grew until they heard a faint humming sound before it flickered out.

What was that about?

Everyone was silent when they saw the small new pokemon curled up on the ground and flailing its limbs while laying on its back. Bits of the shells rained down, some of them still with a couple embers that had singed patches of the grass blades. Not wanting to start a fire; Nani and Acheron moved close, lightly spouting streams of water to extinguish them before they could go out of control.

"What is that?"

The pokemon was reptilian, small, quadruped with a gray complexion that was closer to a gunmetal on the scales that clung to its legs. Each foot had a golden tinge color in three digit claws. On its upper body were a few larger scales with a brighter color. The largest scale that it had was on the top of its head shaped in a mix between a heart and a shield.

It sniffed the ground curiously before stretching and taking notice of the entire entourage waiting.

"Wait," Hau started. "Is that?"

"That's a jangmo'o." Brady said, almost in awe before getting Elio's attention. "Wow, that's incredible! Jangmo'o are incredibly rare and often the stuff of legend."

"Jangmo'o?" Elio pulled out his talkative 'Dex. "Rotom, what do you have on that?"

"I'm here at your zzzervice! Bzzt!" He briefly scanned the new pokemon, who jumped up a surprisingly good amount in an attempt to catch it. "Hey, handzzz off the assetzzz okay?"

Rotom's screen went to a standstill of the jangmo'o. "Jangmo-o. Scaly pokemon. They live deep in the mountains where no trace of humans can be detected. Jangmo-o grow little by little as they battle one another. Jangmo-o is a dragon type. Additional information is available upon catching this pokemon."

"A dragon type?" He knew from the stories that the type was resilient and often considered the better of the types due to their overall effectiveness, above many of the others. Elio wondered why his 'Dex had said that, but quickly deduced that it was likely because that while the egg was in his possession, the newborn pokémon wasn't technically his.

Not yet at least.

He dug into his pack for a poke ball.

Wait. Not like this.

"Elio," Lillie stepped forward beside her crush. "What's wrong?"

"I don't know." He never took his eyes off the baby jangmo'o but instead slowly knelt down.

"Hey there little guy." Upon hearing his voice, the small dragon perked its head in the boy's direction. Still on its back, it rolled over and slowly put its feet down. As it tried to stand, the limbs shook.

Jangmo'o kept his gaze on Elio.

"Hey there little guy." He repeated. Carefully, he reached out with his hand. Jangmo'o stared at it curiously.

"Hey you have to remember it's still a baby." Brady reminded him. "He's not going to know all of this stuff."

Elio saw his party close by.

"Akela." At the mention of his name, the werewolf pokemon stepped foreard, nuzzling his trainer's hand with his snout before swinging his head around to watch and see if the baby would do the same.

Jangmo'o took a cautious step forward, examining his fingers with beady eyes. Elio found it incredibly cute with the small scale on its forehead as well as its curious nature. Slowly, it put a shaking leg in front of the other, moving forward again with its own determination spurring it on.

Sun was already impressed that it had learned the ability to walk even after being just a few minutes old. Meanwhile, Akela stayed by his side, reaching out with a paw to steady it along and he was grateful that one of his longtime partner pokemon was already stepping into the role of a big brother.

Torracat saw him take the initiative and bounded along the other side. The rest observed patiently Hau, Lillie and Brady seemed to wait with held breaths.

Jangmo'o lost his footing on the third and fourth steps when his hind legs and he buckled down.

Akela moved to help.

Elio waved him off.

"He needs to learn." He explained after receiving a rather confused look. "Help him, but don't do the work."

Jangmo'o was already working on his recovery, shaking and slowly staggering up. His legs struggled to hold his weight again, but he persisted, never wanting to give in or quit.

Nobody else said or did anything, merely watching.

"This is like teaching a baby how to walk." Hau remarked.

Brady nodded in agreement. "There are a lot less people than you think who want to raise baby pokemon aside from breeders. It's just like caring for an actual human child, lots of learning involved with small gradual steps. If you're impatient, then not only does it show you're inadequate at raising pokemon from their infant stage, but it also reflects on who you are as a trainer."

"It's all about growth." Lillie said, still a little entranced by Sun as he softly spoke to the little dragon, still encouraging. She was almost to the point of gushing not just how cute the pokemon was, but also the trainer who nurtured him, gently encouraging him along as if he was a…

A father.

I think Elio would make an amazing father to both pokemon and children of his own. Whoever is the mother would be one lucky girl and one really happy one too.

Jangmo'o took another step and she resisted the urge to cheer loudly. Elio said something that made it continue and take yet another step. One foot right in front of the other, gently setting on the loamy soil before he gently leaned his head into Elio's palm. They all heard it make soft squeaking sounds as it closed its eyes and rubbed the side of its head.

Sun felt the skin to be dry, coarse with the occasional prickly scale that would probably nick his calloused hands if at the right angle.

"Dragon pokemon are probably not one for inexperienced trainers." Brady stated, although he in no way implied Elio was such. "While they are among the strongest types if not THE strongest type, they are also incredibly smart. Even at an early age, they command a lot of respect and trainers can bring out their full power by giving it the respect it deserves."

"Do you want to go in a poke ball?" Elio brought a normal out one, thumbed the arm button, however before he could throw it to capture the pokemon, it lashed out with a claw, swatting the metal device in the ground. It rolled across the dirt with a couple of marks that gouged into its smooth metallic surface.

It was basically ruined.

"I guess not." He looked back down again to see him giving off an innocent look. Jangmo'o curled up at his knees and closed eyes.

Looks like all that time hatching took a lot of energy.

"You're on the right track though." Brady said, bringing Elio out of his thoughts. "Remember that dragon pokemon are a lot smarter than we often give credit for. You want him on your team, then you'll have to earn its respect."

"I see." He reached into his poke bean case and pulled out one of the speckled kind. It was noticeably more rare than the solid colored, but pokemon seemed to find it more tasty. Jangmo'o was only a few minutes old and Sun had to guess that it was fairly hungry.

Jangmo'o sniffed the air before slowly opening his eyes and staring at the morsel in front. His beaked mouth opened, clamping down and breaking off a chunk. It took a couple seconds as he tried to chew. Elio saw small bits of white inside the gums from developing teeth.

I may have to liquefy some feed next time. Looks like he's not ready to eat solid food just yet.

Sun remembered the basics from pokemon care back in school that dragon pokemon were often carnivorous, but were also able to digest plant food as well. Fish was a particular favorite of many.

Jangmo'o was still wrestling with the bean, almost half his size when Elio picked him up again. His claws stretched out for the tasty treat, so he picked it up and give it to him while cradling in his arms.

"If you're not wanting a poke ball, I'm gonna have to carry you or some other way."

The pokemon squeaked softly, still enticed by the bean, but his forelegs gripped Elio's backpack strap and he tried to climb upwards. Elio used a hand to help as Akela walked behind him, ready to catch the baby if it fell.

He had to give it credit for being quite intelligent already. The dragon used its big gold scale on its head to pry the backpack's main flap open and climb inside. There was some shuffling as it tried to make itself comfortable when its head peeked out from the top and it was looking over Elio's shoulder.

Hau and Lillie laughed at the sight. Even Brady was impressed.

"I wish I had a dragon. They're awesome pokemon."

Hau looked at Noibat fluttering beside him. "How come you don't do that?"

The remainder of the route up to the mountain was rather uneventful. The group kept the conversations up as Elio asked Hau of his latest malasada debacle. His only response was that he had discovered a new flavor that someone had come up with to taste like the strong vanilla flavor of the casteliacone, an ice cream delicacy in Unova.

"So they made a cold treat, hot?"

"Yeah isn't it wild? There's actually vanilla farms on Poni Island that's the source of like a fifth of the world's vanilla beans."

"One fifth?" Elio asked. "That's a pretty specific number."

"I have no idea if that's true. I just came up with it."

"If I may butt in Bzzt!" Rotom floated between the two of them. "Hau izzzz right. Alola izzz a zignificant producer of vanilla! Bzzt! The majority of the farmzzz are located on Poni Island for itz fertile zoil! Bzzt! Did you know vanilla izzz the zecond mozt expenzzzzive zpice in the world?"

"Vanilla is expensive for sure."

"That's because of how much effort and labor goes into making the small amount, especially with the extract from its seed pods."

"Wow. I didn't know that."

"That's probably why you paid more for your malasada."

"Speaking of paid," Hau reached into his own backpack. "I got something for you. Olivia gave it to me and when I said that I couldn't use it, she suggested I give it to you."

"Oh yeah?" They stopped at a clearing and waited for Brady and Lillie to catch up behind them. "What was it?"

"Olivia was able to find this really cool rock type Z-crystal specifically for a lycanroc. I don't have one and I'm not planning to have one on my team." He opened his palm, showing a similar copper brown Z-crystal to Elio. It was similar to the rockium Z that he received upon defeating the kahuna, but the normal rhombus shape fattened towards the tips resembling an arrowhead of sorts at both ends.

"She called it the lycanium Z. It's supposed to allow a lycanroc to perform a special Z-move with a certain move."

"Did she say what?"

"No."

Elio shrugged. "Makes sense. Half the journey is discovering things for yourself. No sense in making a walkthrough. But we battled just the other day and you didn't remember?"

It was Hau's turn to shrug too. "I don't know...someone forgot. You know...authors...those forgetful people."

He reached out to take it, but stopped short. "Wait, you're just going to give this to me?"

"Yeah! Like I said, I don't use a lycanroc and don't really plan on having one on my team! There's no use for me to hang onto this and Olivia even suggested it."

"Well in that case." Elio gingerly took the crystal in his hand and fit it into the slot on his Z-ring.

Only it didn't fit.

"Huh. It doesn't work."

Hau looked at the crystal and then the ring. He nodded in agreement, "Yeah you're right."

"I wonder why that is?"

None of that expanding or changing shape for something different? What is this?

"Maybe the Z-ring needs an upgrade. We could ask the kahuna here to do it!"

Elio liked Hau's suggestion, "That's a good idea. It's just that I have no idea who the kahuna is on the island. We weren't greeted like we were on Akala and we didn't know who it was straight away. So...yeah. I guess we'll have to find him...or her. Whichever it is."

"Kahunas have been easy to find so far." Hau commented. "No reason this one shouldn't."

They had all reached a point where the hills climbing upward were getting closer and closer to the steep slopes of the side of the nearby mountain. Overhead there were clouds lazily drifting, some seeming to dip low enough for them to touch. The moisture in the air was more prevalent and it still felt warm despite the overcast weather.

Lillie was quite grateful that Elio had done the extra step in stopping at one of the outdoors type of stores before she accompanied them. The terrain began to grow rougher with the dirt roads being the only stable part of the ground. Either side were rocky outcroppings as the hills sloped above them. Some of the trees grew quite tall, providing patches of welcomed shade along the path. Although unseen, they could hear many cries of pokemon species in the environment around them.

Elio was reminded of the Lush Jungle in a way, but the diversity of Ula'ula's terrain was evident to the more barren areas he could see at the far end which was the southern tip. To their right, the clouds had begun to conceal the summit of Mauna Hokulani. The second largest mountain in the Alola region, it was a favorite for mountaineers, backpackers and hiking enthusiasts alike. Many trails led up in various difficulties while those not wanting to go on such an arduous journey had the luxury of taking a shuttle bus that ran between the small settlement literally called Mountaintop and Malie City.

The trail was definitely dusty, with much of it being kicked up by their boots. By now, the black soles on Elio's were already full of dirt that resembled streaks. He had opted against longer pants, but his socks were already speckled brown with grime.

So was the rest of everyone else. Lillie was glad she had decided against wearing her dress and actually quite liked the wicking shirt that she bought at the store. She was sweating like crazy, yet the shirt seemed to absorb all the moisture she perspired. Elio and Brady also emphasized her to drink plenty of water while they traveled, as the sweat meant that water was leaving the body in order to keep it cool from the heat.

She was down to her last quarter and by the looks of the other bottles strapped to her friends' backpack, they were running low too.

"Rotom," she decided to ask. "Are there any water sources nearby?"

"Bzzt! My zcannerzzz indicate that there are at leazt four zourcezzzz of water nearby. However there have been reportzzz of intenze zicknezzzz in the Malie City Hospital due to drinking from the zourcezzz without purifying the water! Bzzt!"

"And that's why I had all of us get those filter straws. You can bottle it up like normal and then insert the straw into the opening. Boom," Elio spread his hands out. "Pure fresh water just like that."

"It's definitely a good thing we have to filter it." Brady added.

"What? Why's that?" Hau asked.

"Because you'd be sitting on the toilet for days on end while you feel like you want to crap your insides out."

"That'zzzz a nazzzty one! Bzzt!" Rotom buzzed from the side. "I can tell you the type of bacteria that cauzezzz thizzz type of sicknezzz!"

Sun cut in right away, already wondering what other unpleasant effects from drinking unpurified water could be. "Maybe another time. I'm actually ready for something to eat soon and I'd rather not lose my appetite."

Both Lillie and Brady voiced their agreements, so they stopped at a clearing and settled for their packed lunch from the Wainwright household. The canned lunch meat had a little bit of a fishy smell between the slices of bread, but it wasn't perishable so that they didn't need to bring ice packs or one of the refrigerated lunchboxes to keep it cool.

The pokemon ate dried pokefood, talking quietly amongst themselves. Jangmo'o seemed a little disappointed he wasn't able to eat the food like the others, so Elio decided to help water and moisten it into a thick paste which was able to be properly broken down. The dragon gladly buried his beaked mouth into the mess, eating rather sloppily, much to the ire of the rest of his team. When he peeked his head back up, Akela had used his paw to wipe off some of it that had smeared across his nose and mouth.

The water from the stream tasted a little odd, but Elio was pretty sure it was because he had been used to drinking from the tap and bottled, which was enhanced with minerals so it didn't have an underlying foul taste. But the filter did its job, or so they hoped.

"Just out of curiosity." Brady asked while they were still eating. "What if the filter doesn't work?"

"That's why I got these." Elio dug into his pack and pulled out a clear packet of gray tablets. "These are purification tablets that we can drop into water in case something happens to our main filter."

Lillie smiled, knowing that he was coming prepared and even Brady nodded his approval which showed even he didn't think of that.

"Nice."

"I'm super impressed too!" Hau said. "You know a lot about the outdoors."

"Thanks." Elio couldn't help but beam at all the praise being thrown his way. "It really did pay to learn all about this in school."

"You know what," Brady started. "I'd like to battle one of you. Let's make it a quick match. Three on three!"

"Really?"

"Yeah why not?"

"Well I'm not very good."

"What?" Elio exclaimed. "Hau, you're awesome at battling. Why would you say something like that?"

"I don't know." His face fell as it took even him a moment to realize what he had exactly stated. "I guess maybe Gladion was more or less right. I can't win a battle when I'm not serious."

Lillie turned away, but nobody noticed.

Elio leaned forward. "Listen, you ignore every word that prick said. You're battling fine just the way you are...don't let anyone tell you otherwise."

"Who's Gladion?" Brady asked.

"Some guy who works for Team Skull as an enforcer. Whatever that title means."

"Gladion's with Team Skull?" Lillie blurted out which subsequently interrupted anyone's thoughts. As the boys looked over, her eyes went wide and she quickly covered her mouth in embarrassment.

She knows Gladion? Oh great.

"How do you know Gladion?" Hau asked.

"I...I...I'm sorry. My mistake. We could be talking about two different people." She reached behind her head and scratched it while trying to laugh it off.

Elio wasn't really buying it that much. She's still hiding something. The name Gladion isn't one you encounter every day.

Either way, he preferred to drop the subject and instead went back to battling.

"Hau's definitely an unorthodox battler. He takes advantage of a lot of things."

"That's amazing!" Brady exclaimed. "No wonder you guys have been blitzing through the island trials!"

"True. But I honestly think Elio should battle you bro." Hau said. "I'm curious to see your pokemon against his."

"Firstly one rule...no Z-moves."

Elio's eyes flashed competitively. "Deal. You're on."

The clearing had been cleared out so that a standard length between Elio and Brady had been set up. Hau and Lillie sat on a rock to the side about halfway to observe.

"I haven't seen Elio this fired up to battle since he fought me." Hau remarked quietly.

Lillie followed his gaze, seeing Elio put on that "game face" he usually wore during some battle he couldn't afford to lose.

"To be honest, I really love how he's like that." She softly whispered. It still caught Hau's attention and he glanced over at his friend. Her eyes shined with admiration as she looked over to the gray eyed boy. He could tell that she also admired Brady, but there was definitely something she had with Elio that was incredibly special.

He almost felt like it was him when he finally confessed to Leilani how he felt about her.

"Lillie, can I ask you something?"

"Sure. What is it?"

Hau sucked in a deep breath.

"Are you in love with Elio?"

"Wha?" She almost stammered out loud. "In love?"

"Yeah." He looked at Elio and Brady and it seemed that neither were paying attention as Rotom Dex was floating between the two contestants, highlighting the rules of the battle and getting the consent that both agreed.

"Come on Lillie." He nudged. "It's almost to the point where you don't even have to say anything. I can see it clear as day."

"Hau...I."

"Look. Elio is my best friend. My kaikaina. I would never ever do anything to come between the two of you. In fact, I want him to be happy...and you too."

"I'm...I'm not really sure." Lillie hugged her knees and stared at the ground, starting to pick details in the grass blades at her feet. "I'm not even sure what love really is...or if I'm capable of it."

"What? That's preposterous." She was abruptly surprised at his rather advanced vocabulary. "Everyone can feel love and affection for someone or something. Even if it's not, then maybe you care deeply about him."

"I do."

"See, there's a step in the right direction."

"I'm guessing the wrong direction is when you try to spontaneously kiss the person in question?" Lillie shot him a rare knowing smirk.

Hau flushed as his thoughts went to Leilani. "Well...I just did the first thing that came to mind of how I felt when she was being so stubborn. I'm honestly not really sure how Elio would react if you did the same to him."

"I just have so much going on right now. Nebby...getting it home...I'm not even sure what I would do after that's done. Do I really have time to fall in love with anyone right now? Elio of all people."

Hau looked down at their feet as they touched the grass. "I can't give you an answer, yet I love shipping people together. There's a simple yet deep saying that we Alolans have when it comes to romance, love and companionship. E hahai i k'ou pu'uwai."

Lillie moved her lips as she tried to repeat the sound. "E hahai i k'ou pu'uwai?"

"It means follow your heart." Hau nodded. "And it means exactly that. Your heart is telling you what's best and the people of Alola will always choose that...and make the right choice."

Lillie nodded, understanding where he came from.

"Now I'm not saying that Elio is going to go all gushy and be like "I love you too!" because saying it with the true meaning can be a lot for someone, even if that person is with whom your hopena lies. He has to sort his own feelings out too."

"How will I know he feels the same?"

"You will know. He will too."

At the field, Elio and Brady were oblivious to the conversation Hau and Lillie were having. Upon accepting the terms, they had proceeded to go at it right away.

Similar to football games, revealing the first pokemon was a big thing in league battles as it could make switching the order lineup a necessary thing to counteract. One trainer, usually the challenger would choose a side of heads or tails with the referee and would get the choice of revealing their pokemon first or deferring it to the opposition. In the bigger battles, this meant at the halftime point with the intermission, the revealing would be reversed.

Brady had won the "coin toss" from Rotom's screen and he opted to defer, forcing Elio to send his pokemon out first.

"Alright then. I'll use Charjabug!" He tossed her ball onto the field, catching it snugly in his hand as his battery pokemon crackled with tiny arcs of electric energy.

"Go Draft!" Brady threw out his whimsicott, who lazily floated down and spun around happily.

On the sidelines, Lillie was intrigued.

"Brady's using a grass type against a bug type?"

"It's not going to be as super effective as you think. Remember that Charjabug also can use strong electric attacks as well as bug ones. Draft's part grass typing negates that effectiveness despite its vulnerability to bug moves. And that's covered too because of Draft's part fairy typing."

So Brady used it more to slow Elio down than to beat it outright. Smart.

"Whimsicott's ability is prankster," Hau explained as the battle began with Brady already using Draft to whip up a tailwind. "That allows status moves to be executed quicker. Using tailwind is a setup I like to do too since it grants a huge speed advantage."

Lillie looked back at Elio, whose face seemed undaunted despite in just a single move, he was already at a disadvantage.

Charjabug's small mandibles began to glow and it fired off a charge beam which Draft simply jumped into the wind currents blowing around and letting himself be carried out of the beam's way. Charjabug kept firing with two of them being slightly more powerful and at the same time, Draft could only keep dodging for so long before the last charge beam got lucky. Despite being struck direct center, the electric type attack did little damage as Hau predicted.

Elio had her return fire with a signal beam attack yet Draft dodged it again. As it moved, Charjabug powered up a spark, shooting forward to smash into its side and send both pokemon tumbling back. As Draft was getting up, he could see tiny flickers of electricity in its cotton bunch on the back. His movements were jerky too, which was an indication of the paralysis status condition.

"Draft! You okay?" Brady called out. He got an affirmative cry in response.

"Then use giga drain!"

Draft sprouted several large tendrils that closed right in on Charjabug. They latched on, immediately leeching energy off his battery bug.

"Charge yourself up!" Elio called out. "I've got an idea."

I have no idea what I'm doing.

There wasn't much lost health energy for Draft to recover since both electric type attacks didn't do much damage and Elio figured he was going to be playing catch up as long as the tailwind was in effect.

His solution? Draw it out to a point where he could fire off an attack on equal terms. By attaching the giga drain, Draft had established a physical connection to Charjabug despite the attack being special and non-contact.

Charge was just for the extra oomph.

She's gathered up enough energy now. We just need that little stun and then we get things going. That tailwind can't be up for much longer.

Charjabug groaned in protest, hissing softly at the discomfort the giga drain was bringing.

"Okay, now! Charge beam!"

Thanks to the charge attack before, it was readied and launched in a split second to Brady's surprise with even additional power from the previous charge beam. Draft tumbled back, catching itself on the wind currents again, but it looked like it had taken a lot more damage than before even with the giga drain healing a portion of its health.

"Use leech seed!"

Oh that's not good.

Draft started the attack, using its small arms to scatter a few glowing seeds, but he twitched again as the paralysis kicked in to interrupt its attack.

The tailwind was starting to fade and Elio sensed his advantage.

"Charge beam again!"

Charjabug fired another, still growing in power and blasting Draft to the ground. Elio ordered a signal beam launched directly at it. The ray of multicolored lights went like a laser shot and ignited an explosion of dust and dirt that obscured the field in front.

As it cleared, Draft was lying facedown and unmoving.

"Draft izzz incapable of battling! Bzzt!" Rotom waved a stubby hand in Elio's direction. "Charjabug izz the winner!"

Despite the loss; Brady returned Draft to his poke ball and smiled over at Sun.

"That was really smart of you. I guess a lot of reading about battling is different than the actual thing."

"Sure is. School teaches you the fundamentals...and then actually battling makes you think of stuff on the fly."

"Makes sense."

"That was still awesome Brady!" Hau called out with Lillie in agreement. "You're still a great battler! My blood's pumping already!"

"I best not disappoint. Wow. I didn't realize battling competitively like this was so much fun." He chuckled, taking out his next pokemon. "Go! Anansi!"

The poke ball exploded open to reveal a lanky spiderlike creature with shades of aqua blue and bright neon green. Its eyes were translucent, encased in a bubble of a head with sharp fangs on its underside.

Its appearance unsettled Elio just a little. He wasn't afraid of spiders, but seeing one this big sort of creeped him out. Over on the side, he could also see Hau and Lillie with similar expressions.

They don't like spiders either huh.

Elio had never seen this pokemon before, so he asked Rotom.

"Yup! New pokemon detected! Bzzt! Araquanid. Water bubble pokemon. It is the evolved form of dewpider. It usually passes its time in the water. When its belly is full, it stores subdued prey in the water bubble around its head. Araquanid is a water and bug type. Additional information is available upon catching this pokemon."

"I'll admit I've never seen a pokemon like this before."

"You like Anansi? It sounds strange, but the Alolan people actually look at spiders with the symbol of patience and trickery." He smirked, knowing that he could use that to his advantage. "Hope you're ready for Anansi. He's just like that."

As long as he doesn't try to eat Charjabug. Seriously. I need her. She's already afraid of birds, I don't need her scared of spiders.

She was also boosted up, so he'd use that to his advantage.

"Charjabug! Use signal beam!"

She hissed, shooting a concentrated ray of electricity almost instantly. Anansi was quick, using his long legs to jump out and fire a bubblebeam right back. Charjabug dodged too, causing them to splash and pop harmlessly in the grass.

Elio had her go in close with a spark attack, but Brady was ready for it.

Anansi threw up a wall of light in front of him. It wasn't protect since Charjabug passed through, but the damage from her electrical attack was significantly reduced.

Ah damn. Anansi had used reflect, the physical variant of light screen that dampened the effects of physical moves.

I guess we'll have to go special.

Brady unfolded his next move; double team. Anansi shimmered and suddenly a half dozen copies of it surrounded Charjabug.

He told her to charge herself as every one of the Anansis fired bubblebeams from their forelegs into the center. The struck, throwing up dust and droplets of water as Charjabug tumbled out, laying on its side and clearly knocked out of the fight.

"Charjabug izzz incapable of battling! Bzzt! Anansi izzz the winner!"

Elio sighed, returning her and placing the ball on his left hand side.

You did good girl.

"Nice job Brady!" Lillie called out. She nodded at Elio too.

"Thanks!" The big smile he wore from her compliment still irked him. "I did my best."

A little squeak made Elio look back down to see Jangmo'o had crawled out from his backpack and leaning close on his ankles while observing the battle with wide eyes filled with amazement.

"You like buddy?" He knelt down and scratched the baby on the large scale on top his head. The dragon purred and closed its eyes...where a mental note was made since it seemed to really like that.

"Maybe one day, you can be as strong as them." He took out his next pokemon. "Okay, I'll go with Akela!"

The midnight form lycanroc landed on all fours, glaring at the spider who seemed indifferent at the challenge. Elio also saw Jangmo'o perk up when the werewolf was in battle.

They really do have a big/little brother relationship.

'Dex threw his stubby hands down, a signal to begin the battle.

Elio wasn't about to waste any time. "Akela, use rock tomb!"

With a nightmarish howl, he formed several boulders in his hands and tossed them quickly at Anansi. He dodged without effort, using another double team to scale them as they fell and towered over him in the center.

"He's got Akela pinned again." Hau noted.

Brady did the same thing he did with Charjabug, having all copies shoot him with bubblebeam attack. Instead of standing in the middle, Akela had gotten down on all fours, rushing to one side and quickly scaling the face of the nearest boulder.

"Sucker punch!"

Akela had a feral grin on his face as he cloaked his fist with dark energy and swung it at the Anansi copy closest.

"What?" Brady was surprised as the others diminished into the air and the actual one crashed into one of the boulders which splintered into fragments. Out of all the ones he had went after, it just happened to be the real.

"How could that be? He must've gotten lucky."

"How did Akela know which one to go after?" Lillie asked.

Hau was a bit surprised himself. "He must have keen eye as his special ability."

"But I thought keen eye only prevents accuracy loss."

"That's what I thought too."

Brady huffed in annoyance, now figuring out Akela's keen eye ability essentially negated Anansi's double teams. The reflect was also going to be fading in moments.

The werewolf spun around as Anansi was getting back up and slammed both his fists into the ground. With a rumble, the shockwave of his punch caused more boulders to erupt out, tumbling in a wave that struck and battered the spider.

Woah! Akela has learned rock slide!

Anansi was still moving and he rose up on his legs shakily. Just as he did, the reflect had finally fizzled it out. He knew that barrier was the only thing that was keeping it from being knocked out.

"Okay, then use spider web!"

Akela was ready to pounce again when Anansi spat a thread of gooey adhesive liquid that ensnared around his wrist. He snarled, tugging in vain to free himself.

"Stop that! Stay mobile!" Elio ordered. "Don't let it hit you again."

Anansi stayed where it was, patiently waiting.

Brady's waiting for something.

Akela tugged at the webbing, noticing that his strength was able to move it slightly as if it were a flexible rope. Anansi shifted and put resistance on it to keep him from having so much freedom in movement.

Brady's eyes lit up with an idea.

"Anansi, use the double team and bubblebeam combo! Force him to the center!"

The spider hissed, quickly making another half dozen copies to surround Akela again and shoot off another bubblebeam from their forelegs. Some aimed high, some low and some off to the sides. Elio could only watch as Akela did his best to wave through them. He was surprisingly athletic, flipping above one and sliding underneath another while spinning. Some did eventually find him and the splashes from the super effective attack made him flinch and then reflexively dodge more that were heading his way a split second later.

"Use rock slide! Find the real one!"

"Oh no you don't." Brady said. "Spider web and keep it from moving so freely."

Anansi hissed, with each individual copy shooting more webbing at Akela. He used his free hand to slam the ground and start a second rock slide just as it covered his paws almost to the point where he was immobilized. Struggling only proved the bonds could be tightened.

"Now finish it off! Use waterfall!"

The massive spider bent its knees and launched itself full force towards Akela, water began to condense around his front, wisping off in a mist that made it seem like a steaming meteor.

Wait a second, waterfall's a physical attack!

Brady formed a fist as Anansi countered, but he didn't see Akela's eyes flash open and hear him snarl in defiance. All that was left was him flying through the air and landing on his back, all six legs twitching from being struck by a rather harsh blow.

"Anansi?" His spider didn't respond to his name.

"Bzzt! Anansi izzz incapable of battling! Akela izzz the winner!"

"Woo!" Elio pumped a fist, "I knew you could do it buddy!"

Akela didn't respond.

"Akela?"

The werewolf took a step forward...and collapsed onto the ground.

"Oh nozzz Akela izzz incapable of battling!"

"How?" Brady asked, both amazed and dumbfounded. "What did you do?"

"Counter." Elio replied. He tried not to sound smug while saying it, but he did want to explain.

"I drew Anansi close so that Akela could get off his counter to be able to make up for those damages. Looks like he took Akela with him."

"Huh." Brady gave him an honorable nod, knowing he had been beat there. "Well done. It's good experience still. How about we use our first partners for the final battle?"

"Deal."

The scrawny boy at Arlo on his shoulder. "You ready partner?"

His aipom let out a cry of happiness and bounced to the ground, standing nimble from side to side as his strong tail flexed in anticipation.

"Okay Torracat." Elio places Akela's poke ball on his left and threw out his starter. "It's all up to you!" He got a purr of affirmation, even though this battle was for fun, there was no way he wasn't going to be putting his all for it.

"Let's begin then!"

Don't underestimate it just because it's an aipom. They'll use it to their advantage.

Elio's intuition was right as Brady went right on the offensive. Arlo took off at him in a full on sprint as his trainer used his agility. As if it wasn't fast enough, his tail began to glow and ball into a fist.

Torracat tried to move out of the way, but Arlo was too quick, slamming down a powerful focus punch that sent him sprawling into the dirt. He was quick to recover though, jawing down a bite attack when Arlo came in for a second go.

"Iron tail!"

Elio was shocked at how powerful its limb was, effortlessly glowing and throwing Torracat off him. He ordered a double kick, but could only watch again as Arlo sidestepped him as he lunged forward. When they had distance separating the two of them, the aipom jumped into the air, flinging his arms out and unleashing a barrage of swift stars that pelted Torracat.

His fire type's snarl brought him out of his thoughts again. Since they briefly started, they had only did a slight bit of damage while Brady had already put a plan in his head to rapidly execute. Torracat had a bit of strength and he was fast, but Arlo was...fast...on a completely different level.

We could slowly boost us up with flame charge, but if he keeps on using agility, that'll end up useless too.

Maybe he had to hold himself back.

Make Brady THINK he has the speed advantage. That focus punch hits hard though and once he gets the ball rolling, there isn't much outside a strong defensive tank pokemon that could survive.

I COULD burn it. Burning would dial down his physical attacking power and start a countdown until Arlo's out. Risky though.

Arlo unleashed another swift and Elio had Torracat counter with overheat. So far, neither him or his partner pokemon were on the same page. They had to get coordinated fast.

But he had no ideas. His mind was focused on the battle as the stars collided with his ultra hot attack that pricked his skin from so much heat already.

Then he noticed how Arlo moved. His legs were muscular enough to provide the basic form of locomotion, however if he needed to go faster or travel longer distance; he got on all fours to rapidly scuttle like an insect. This made him go over uneven surfaces easily rather than Torracat having to jump and climb over.

Monkeys do that though. It's not Torracat's thing.

"Arlo, focus punch again! Go for Torracat's leg!"

Now's my chance!

Arlo had gotten down on all fours again to close the gap as his tail fist glowed white again.

Wait a second. Focus punch takes a brief moment before it can be launched.

"Torracat, flame charge it!"

The feline snarled and rushed forward, cloaking himself in sparkling embers. Judging by how quickly Arlo's eyes went wide, he had not been expecting that. As he smashed into the monkey's side, Elio could see the focus punch lose concentration in the tail and he stumbled around stunned.

"It's not going to be long before he recovers." He wanted to finish this soon. "Move in with double kick!"

Torracat rushed forward, now boosted slightly with the flame charge. He flexed his legs out, striking Arlo across the chest once. As he did the second time, the aipom slashed forward with his smaller arms in a fury swipes attack that was enough to send the aim of the second kick off. Torracat rolled to his right to dodge a lightning focus punch thrown on the ground and then flame charged out of the way to gain some distance.

Elio saw a blur of motion in the corner of his eye as he ordered another double kick as Arlo had swung and missed. Glancing down just briefly in the direction, he saw that Jangmo'o was missing.

Where did he go?

The sudden rush of fear filled his insides as he saw the tiny gray dragon rush forward, lowering his head in a charge as Torracat unleashed the first of his two kicks. The first one struck and then Jangmo'o tackled the aipom, sending the two of them tumbling away from Torracat.

"Hold up Torracat!" Elio was practically running mid-field despite the protesting concerns from everyone else of how he could get hurt.

Arlo was not happy about being blindsided by an unseen battler and before Brady could muster a command, he unleashed a flurry of swift stars at Jangmo'o.

"NO!" Elio was nearly there, ready to grab the small pokemon and yank it away from the attack. At this young of an age against a somewhat seasoned battler, there were attacks that could seriously injure or even kill a pokemon if they weren't careful.

He heard Jangmo'o cry out as the sharp projectiles raked his skin followed by a reply of multiple clanging noises as if they were bits of shrapnel metal pinging off an armoured surface.

Sun glanced up to see Jangmo'o stagger to its feet, a few scratches and bruises on his scales...but he was glowing white as some form of energy steamed off his body.

The dragon type let out a war cry, something quite ferocious for its small stature and unleashed a crescent of energy that homed right in on Arlo with enough power to send the long tail pokemon hurtling through the air to land in the thicket of some bushes. It was enough to startle and scare off a handful of spearow that were nesting inside.

"Arlo!" Brady called out, rushing over to check on his friend.

"What...was that?" Elio breathed as Torracat came to his side. The look on his face was apologetic.

"It's not your fault buddy." He paid little attention to 'Dex officiating in the background and rubbed his fur. "I didn't realize looking after a baby pokemon was this hard."

He was purring again and rubbing his head against Elio's ribs. He had found out that him doing that was a sign of concern.

"I'm okay. I promise. I'll be alright." The next thing of concern for him was the baby Jangmo'o. It was just a few steps away from him, wobbling lazily with its eyes halfway closed from the fatigue of battling straight away.

Elio was hoping it wasn't going to squirm much when he picked it up and thoroughly inspected it. The swift attack had dented and dinged a few of the fresh scales, but whatever chitinous material they were made of, it was incredibly durable with no alarming injuries other than the few scratches that marred his new scales.

Brady emerged from the shrubs with Hau and Lillie behind him and he carried the unconscious Arlo. His own expression went to concern, but Elio was a little more worried the other trainer would be angry at how Jangmo'o interfered with the battle.

"Is he okay?"

Sun nodded. "Just a few scratches and he's exhausted, but yeah. I think he's unharmed."

He let out a relieved sigh. "Thank the tapu. Arlo's okay too, just a little upset at that cheap shot."

It felt like a verbal blow and Elio inwardly flinched over it. He never intended Jangmo'o to intervene, telling himself that it was natural for pokemon to stay out of battles.

This baby pokemon not only attacked openly, but seemed to enjoy battling.

"I'm sorry about Arlo. I didn't mean for that to happen."

Brady waved him off. "It's okay. There's more important things to hold grudges over and Jangmo'o's still a baby, so they don't know any better. Plus that was a really good bide, especially learning that just hours after he hatched."

"Bide?"

"I can tell you about bide! Bzzt!" Rotom floated over to his side and examined Jangmo'o. "Bide izzz a move that allowzzz the uzer to take continuouzzz damage and then dealzzz double the power back! Very good for using in ztrong defenzzive pokemon! Bzzt!"

"It's a good move." Brady said. "You can use it to really powerful effects if you're opponent is aggressively attacking."

"Yeah that was an amazing battle Brady!" Hau said, already bouncing up and down with excitement. "This makes me sooooo pumped!"

"You both did very well." Lillie added, smiling at both boys. "I...I'm impressed."

"Thanks." They said at the same time, hearing the other as well and glancing over.

Okay that was not awkward at all.

It didn't take long for Brady to heal his team up with some revive medicine and potions before they cleaned up their picnic site to head down the dirt path. The sun shone its mid-afternoon phase, however it retreated behind more clouds that covered the peak of Mount Hokulani right beside them.

As they continued, the highway had fewer cars and branched off to the south where it circled the outside areas of the island. The sounds of the motor vehicles began to grow softer, replaced by the more natural ones of pokemon and nature.

"Don't worry about that. We're not too far off the grid." Brady reassured them. "We meet back up with the road soon enough. There's a shuttle bus that connects Malie City with Mountaintop at the summit of Mount Hokulani. I hear they're going to do the same for the one on Lanakila."

"Lanakila?" Lillie asked.

"Yeah. The highest point in Alola. It's like the only place in the region where snow falls."

"It's that high up?"

"Yeah it is. Pretty awesome right? I want to try snowboarding or skiing."

"Or have a snowball fight." Hau chimed in.

"You're first on my hit list then." Elio said and caused the group to burst out laughing.

Lillie smiled at the boys as they talked and joked with one another, not feeling a bit out of place. She glanced down in the opening of her bag to see Nebby sleeping soundly without any worry in the world. Months ago, she wouldn't have the confidence she had now in getting steps for finding a way to get Nebby home. Now she had visited some tapu ruins, the Malie Library with a plan to maybe find the legendary pokemon of Alola to ask for its help.

At the same time, she could feel shadows creeping up from behind. She had gotten a head start, but that lead was being diminished each day. Nebby's safety was growing more and more paramount and she wanted to make that one final push to get it back home before her mother...or any of her agents found it again.

We'll be alright. One step...one baby step at a time.

The bus stop was in sight just down the hill from them a half hour later. It was simply a roof on four legs to provide shade alongside a concrete curb that branched off to a parking lot behind and walkways descending down the slopes further towards the coastline.

As they finally came into the clearing, the horn on the bus still there honked and it drove off, leaving the teens by themselves.

"I swear it does this every time." Brady grumbled under his breath.

"I'm up for a little bit of a hike." Elio glanced at Mauna Hokulani in front of them. "Anyone else?"

"Yeah I'm gonna pass on that." Brady glanced at his phone. "Besides, when I got signal again, I missed a call from my parents."

"Uh oh." Elio and Lillie shared a sympathetic look, knowing well that missing a call from the parents usually meant trouble when they got back. "What's the matter?"

"And they're not happy either. They said to walk you two down to the bus stop and then come right back home."

Sun felt bad for him. He already assumed it was Brady's earlier defiance of being a trainer. Thei confrontation when they had arrived wasn't a full on argument, but he could still tell there was a layer of tension between the two sides.

And now he has to go back for more reprimanding?

"I'm sorry guys." He said, looking at them. "I wish I could've stayed, but...yeah."

"We understand." Elio said, almost too eagerly. As much as he did, he felt that Lillie was getting interested in the quirky boy. A little too interested. Maybe having him gone would lift that underlying feeling of envy he was starting to brew.

"Hey, we'll meet up again. Maybe when you guys come back to Malie City. We can try some of their famous sushi."

"I love sushi." Lillie said, almost salivating at the thought of it.

Brady smiled. "You and I can get some before we go to the Festivus."

Wait what?

"Oh," Lillie's face fell. "Who, just you and me?"

"Well yeah. You do want to come to the Festivus with me right?"

Wait, he asked her out on a date?!

"I...I don't know." The blonde looked back at Elio. "I just want to go with friends. I don't care if it's just you or Elio or anyone else. I don't want to go alone."

And I'm not letting her go alone. Not when Team Skull likes to make a ruckus of things or some other guy tries to approach her.

Elio spoke up again before Brady could convince her otherwise. "We'll figure it out. It's not for another couple days, so there's plenty of time to coordinate. You sure your parents will let you go."

"It's one of the only times I don't need their permission. They already know I won't do anything stupid."

"What about you Hau?" Elio asked. "You gonna come with us?"

"Festivus yes. Here? Nah. I got a call too while we were out of signal." He held up his phone. "It was Makoa. He said that Leilani's gone from their home."

"What? Why?"

"He's not sure." Hau's tone turned to worry. "But he went to see some of her favorite hangout spots in Hau'oli City and Iki Town and nobody who knew her said they've seen her."

"So then where did you think she went?"

Hau's expression darkened and he stopped, almost hesitant to believe the words he was about to say. "He thinks she went to Suicide Gulch."

"Suicide Gulch?"

"One of the most notorious surfing areas in Alola. Razor sharp rocks during low tide and narrow passes. Wipeouts almost guarantee you'll get scraped or cut or some other form of seriously injured."

"Leilani was almost unable to walk last we saw her." Elio said. "How and why would she do this?"

Hau sighed and looked out to the coastline. They were guessing it was towards the direction the said gulch was located.

"To prove everyone wrong."


Brady felt defeated as he trudged the final few steps up towards the Wainwright estate. He had been defeated, but it was all in good fun and experience. Lillie seemed like a nice girl and he really did want to know her better, but the influence of his parents had struck again when they demanded him be back while gushing how she and Elio made a wonderful couple.

Both of them were a year older yet it was frustrating to see him being held back while they got treated like proper adults that demanded to be adored. Even worse, they were still unmoved at how he could continue to grow as a trainer, no matter how good he battled.

"Mom." He pushed the door open. "Dad. I'm home."

There was no response. Something ruffled the top of Arlo's head and he made a nervous squeak.

He looked back at the lights, which were on and meant someone had to be home.

His eldest brother Aiden was still in Galar which omitted him from being the suspect. Same with his twin brothers Cayden and Jackson. Being members of Team Skull meant they would probably never again step foot in their house.

"Hello? Anyone home?"

Arlo suddenly became aware of a presence watching them and landed deftly on his feet. He crossed his arms and unleashed a volley of swift stars that curved right towards something in the shadows.

Rather than hear the cry of a target, a flash of movement caught his eye in the corner as something swiped its claws and cut apart each star headed for it.

"Arlo you know-" Brady was halfway in reminding him of the house rules, even forgetting himself to return his pokemon prior to entering when the shadow moved out and lunged with lightning speed to strike the aipom in the chest. Arlo flew backwards, recovering with its dextrous tail and landing. The ninja opponent instead flung a volley of its own attack, however as Arlo rolled out of the way; Brady could see that they were small slivers of glistening ice that immediately created puddles as the big change in temperature caused them to melt.

The foreign pokemon came out of the shadows as Arlo's tail balled into a fist to prepare a focus punch. In another blur of movement, it quickly knocked him down and forced his tail fist open to dispel the focus energy gathered.

"Arlo!" Brady cried, stepping forward.

A tongue click stopped him in his tracks as he looked up to see Victoria...his mother and his father right at the entrance to the kitchen.

He wondered if he was in for another reprimanding, but then saw the third taller figure behind them.

"I would hate to do more harm to your parents, yourself or your pokemon." Von Kaiser stepped forward as the pokemon rather aggressively threw Arlo down. It was dark colored with a red crest on its head and neck with long razor sharp claws. The weavile likely sensed Arlo was trying to make a move and quickly extended one, pressing it right to his throat and glaring with all indications of a warning.

"Mom? Dad? What's going on?"

"Unexpected guests." Benjamin Wainwright mustered through clenched teeth. A grunt and leaning on his mother showed that he had suffered an injury of some kind.

"Brady Wainwright." The foreign man stepped forward. "It's such a nice name...fitting for a prodigal son. But I'm here not for their hospitality...so I'll get the pleasantries out of the way."

Another step forward and the boy felt as if he was being sized up. Kaiser's lips twisted in a knowing smile and it made him unsettled.

Everything about this seems wrong.

"You had some guests not too long ago who possessed something called Cosmog. You're going to tell me where it is and where they're headed."


And that's the end. Like I said, I'll declare next update whether or not I'm taking a break or not and how long. I appreciate you all for staying faithful and stay tuned for more updates.

Translations:

E hahai i k'ou pu'uwai - Follow your heart

Ke Alanui - Roadblock/Barricade

Hopena - Destiny

As always, mahalo for reading and reviewing. You give my writing purpose.

Brav