Track 10 - "Let Me Ride"


The day after Leinani defeated Uhuli, she spent most of her time in her bed. She knew that she'd be either camping or sleeping in Pokémon Centers for the following months, so she wanted to appreciate the softness of her blankets and her multitude of pillows as much as she could while she could.

But her sense of appreciation didn't just stop there. When she finally found the energy to remove herself from her blankets and get dressed, she roamed the streets of Malie City. She chose to go with soulful music as she made her walk. She was happy that she'd get to move on from Ula'ula Island, but she also was going to places new to her, and she was scared. The music reflected these feelings. It was light in tone with the lyrics sounding optimistic but upon closer and repeated listening, ultimately having a deep sadness to them.

She passed by the gym. She had spent so much time there refereeing and cleaning the floors that it became a second home to her.

She passed by her mother's salon. She could go there anytime that she wanted for haircuts. She loved listening to the gossip that the hairstylists shared, and her mom always had good music playing in the background.

She passed by the trainer's school and the library. When they were required to take written tests, she'd study alone at the library. The librarians hated her for listening to her music too loud though.

She passed by the sushi restaurant. Her family would go there often and order the highest quality sushi that they possibly could. They hadn't been there for a while, because Leinani had been so busy with graduating from trainer's school.

She passed by the malasada shop. She knew deep down in her heart that the malasadas from Malie City were the best, but she was curious to try out the different styles from the other islands.

Instead of passing by, she decided to walk through Malie Garden. She took her time and enjoyed the weather. There were a lot of other people around today, which she found as a relief. She leisurely strolled over to the centermost red pavilion, the area where she received DJ. She sat down and remembered that day. It was only a couple of weeks prior, but she felt like so much had happened since then.

She bobbed her head back and forth while listening to the soulful tunes. She closed her eyes and hummed along with the lyrics. The words weren't explicit or angsty like a lot of the other music that she listened to, but even so, she did feel as though there was some kind of adult meaning to this particular song.

Suddenly, she felt a wind whip past her, blowing her hair slightly. She opened her eyes and then looked to where the wind had blown. It wasn't a natural breeze, and she swore that she could have felt something physical scrape against her. She looked down to her arm, noticing a small, centimeter long, paper cut across the top of her right forearm. Blood slowly started to leak from it, and the stinging pain made itself known.

Leinani closed her eyes and put her left hand on the cut, squeezing it tightly. It didn't hurt too bad, and it'd stop bleeding in a couple of minutes, but she didn't want to get any blood on her clothes, especially her sneakers.

She stood up from the bench in the pavilion and followed where the wind had gone. On the other side of the garden was a forest that she had never visited before. She never had any reason to. It was dark in the forest and full of wild Pokémon.

The wind slightly picked up and blew against her back, as though it were pulling her towards the forest. Then, something white and small, no taller than a foot, floated out from behind a tree.

Leinani reached for her Pokédex in her pocket.

"Leilei!"

She stopped, and the creature in the forest flew away, disappearing into the darkness.

Leinani took in a deep breath, sighed, and then turned around to find her family and Uhuli standing in the pavilion. They all had smiles on their faces, but it looked as though Kaiko had finished crying.

"Wassup?" she said cooly, making sure to keep her hand on her arm.

"We wanted to see you as a group and congratulate you on your victory yesterday," Uhuli said. "I went to your house, but you were gone."

"And not just that! And not just that!" Kaiko said. He looked back and forth between his parents and Leinani.

"What?" Leinani asked.

Kaiko glanced nervously at her and then rubbed the back of his head. "Well, I know that we said we'd only travel in Ula'ula together."

"Yes."

"But-"

"But what?"

Mrs. Koa stepped forward and smiled. "Kaiko is already the smartest kid in class. We discussed it with his teachers, and only if it's okay with you, would you mind bringing Kaiko along with you for the remainder of your journey?"

Leinani made a look of disgust and then cocked her head. "Really?"

Kaiko stood up straight and smiled from ear to ear. "If you allow me to, I'll have to write a huge report for school! They'll use it to better prepare students for traveling. But you don't have to, Leilei! I totally get it! But, I'd love to go with you! But I totally get it if your answer is 'no!'"

Leinani ran her tongue through the insides of her cheek and then bobbed her head back and forth while she thought it over. "If you interrupt my music, you're on the first boat home. If you talk nonstop, then I'm going to break your glasses."

"So that means I can go?!"

"Yes."

"Woohoo!"

"No woohooing!"

"Alright. Um. Yippee!"

"That's undeniably worse."

Mr. Koa laughed. "Well, that went better than I expected. I guess we can move onto the other reason why we're here."

"Another reason?" Leinani wondered.

Uhuli nodded. "Yeah. You see, I noticed something yesterday with our battle. There's something a little bit odd about DJ."

"Odd? Is it her heart leaf? I think it's cute," Leinani said defensively.

"No. It's not that," Uhuli said. "Can you scan DJ with your Pokédex for me and get some additional information on her for me."

"Yeah," Leinani said. While trying to hide the small cut with one hand, she awkwardly released DJ from her ball and then grabbed her Pokédex and scanned it. "Additional information?"

"Yes, please. You're looking for DJ's nature and ability."

"Alright," she said before pushing the buttons on her Pokédex. "She's a jolly nature."

Uhuli and Mr. Koa exchanged glances. "That's why she's so quick," Mr. Koa said. "And her ability?"

"It says Long Reach," Leinani answered. "What's that? It's not Overgrow like what I read it'd be."

Uhuli snapped his fingers. "I knew it. Your little DJ is special!"

"Long Reach is the Rowlet evolution line's special ability. She'll be able to use physical attacks like Tackle and Steel Wing but remain at a relatively safe distance from enemies with abilities like Static, Poison Point, or Rough Skin," Mr. Koa explained. "You got real lucky with DJ."

"Oh yeah?" Leinani said. She looked down at her Pokémon, remembering that she didn't even want the Rowlet to begin with. "Well, I'm glad that we're a team, DJ."

Rowlet trilled happily.

Mrs. Koa stretched her arms above her head and then cracked her neck. "Well, now that we got all of that out of the way, what do you say to sushi?"


AUTHOR'S NOTES:

Might be my shortest chapter, BUT it's an important one.

I have a question/survey for ya'll. I've been considering putting Gladion into this story. However, I have no intentions of writing in Lillie (I don't dislike her or anything), but after replaying the game and watching the anime all the way through (I cried at the end), I've kind of realized that it's hard to write either of those characters effectively if you don't write both of them. Would you all be okay with me writing JUST Gladion, or would you all prefer that I make up a new character that can serve the same purpose as Gladion/Lillie? Basically, someone who dislikes the Aether Foundation and also has Type: Null.

REVIEWS:

wisdom-jewel - "I think Grubbin would have been a bad idea anyway in this battle. And it seems that Naomi is in this chapter winning a badge. I wonder she will show up again later on. How she interact with Leinani and Kaiko." - She will show up again at least one more time.

CrescentApple - "Okay, if Uhuili evolved Vulpix in a pokemon contest like he did here, he'd probably score some big points. The battle itself was... unexpected. Shure has more more bulk against Sandslash who has more power. Leilani used Shure's speed to take advantage of the ice. Even when she lost rapid spin and withdraw, both of Shure's assets, she thought on her feet with brick break. And I especially liked how she purposely kept metal claw hidden until the last moment to surprise Uhuili. I reread the chapter, but I didn't understand what Uhuili meant, when he told Leinani brick break wasn't going to work on ninetales. Was it because of the move spite? Naomi. I actually remembered her! And... Pokemon chronicles, her chapter, probably takes place around this time. In my own opinion, I think Leilani has great potentail, but as a new trainer she needs help to think up new strategies to take on bigger challenges. Twice she needed assistance from others to defeat both gym leaders. I don't know if that was intentional or not." - In response to Brick Break and Ninetales - Because Ninetales became a Fairy-type, Brick Break wouldn't do as much. The next gym battle, she will be mostly independent. However, it looks like Kaiko will always be there to coach her.

pokestets23 - "Great chapter. She showed some true talent and proved herself to her island. Naturally, its time to go." - Let's do this!