Track 11 - "Bye Bye Blackbird"
Leinani and Kaiko had been on Akala Island for a couple of days now. They explored every nook and cranny of Heahea City, which included the two going to the Dimensional Research Lab. Kaiko was interested in the mysterious Pokémon that came to Alola a couple of years prior. The two had been in school at the time, and they were forced to go into lockdown, but they were told that the situation was dire. All of the gym leaders, trial captains, Elite Four members, and even the champion were tasked with battling the creatures and warding them off. But even with the combined strength of all of the strongest trainers in Alola, people still lost homes and some lost their lives.
Leinani had been to Akala Island a few times when she was younger. One of the many school trips that she went on was to the Paniola Ranch, and she remembered how delicious the Moomoo Milk was. But today the Koa siblings were spending their time on Heahea Beach, a place they had avoided because of the crowds. It was one of the smaller beaches on the island, but it was still popular and filled with trainers and people on vacation.
Leinani set up an umbrella and laid on her beach towel to take a nap. Her Rowlet, Sandshrew, and Grubbin all joined her. Rowlet was light enough to sit on her stomach while Grubbin and Sandshrew curled up at her sides, enjoying the shade. She played her music quietly from her speakers, not wanting to bother other beachgoers. Rowlet bobbed slightly from side to side while she drifted in and out of sleep.
Kaiko exercised in the water while Togedemaru floated and played around. The round Pokémon swirled around in circles repeatedly. No matter how excited he got, it never broke Kaiko's focus as he went through the motions of his usual routine. He took in deep breaths before rhythmically moving his arms and legs to balance himself. With his eyes closed, he quickly struck a pose with his arms extended and shouted, "Kyah!" The water around him splashed around, and Togedemaru was pushed to the shore.
"Whoa!" a voice yelled back in response. "That's quite the dance you have goin' on there! Practicin' for Z-Moves, are ya?"
Kaiko turned around to find an elderly gentleman. He wore a mint green Alolan shirt and white khaki shorts. His hair was a greying light brown and slicked back into what only could be described as a mullet.
"No, sir," Kaiko responded, slightly embarrassed. "It's kung fu."
"Kung fu?" the man exclaimed with a laugh. "You don't strike me as the kind of kid who does kung fu."
"Looks can be deceiving," Kaiko said with a smile. "I'm a purple belt! My name is Kaiko! It's nice to meet you!"
"I'm Oak, Samson Oak!"
Kaiko thought that he recognized the man, but he wasn't sure. "You're a Pokémon Professor, right? I've read about you!"
Oak seemed embarrassed, but he kind of enjoyed the attention. "Yeah. I study regional forms, specifically Alolan forms. I'm also the principal of the trainer's school in Melemele Island. Speaking of which, shouldn't you be in school, Kaiko?"
Kaiko shook his head and then recovered Togedemaru. "Nope! I'm on an extended field trip, so to speak! I'm traveling with my big sister while she takes on the gyms." He pointed over towards Leinani who was sprawled out on her towel.
Oak looked closely at the girl and her Pokémon, taking notice of the Sandshrew. He slowly made his way over to Leinani, and he smiled once he could hear the soft music that had been coming from the speakers.
"Fitzgerald?" he wondered.
Feeling the presence of someone new, Leinani cracked one eye open. When she noticed Oak, she snapped awake, sending Rowlet tumbling down her body.
"Pervert! Big pervert! Big old pervert!"
"What? No! I'm not a pervert!" Oak responded. "I just wanted to get a closer look at your-"
"At my body?! You pervert! You big pervert! You big old pervert!"
"-at your Sandshrew! And then when I heard the song, it brought me back to my youth! I'm sorry. I didn't mean to impose!"
"Kaiko, it's a pervert!" Leinani yelled.
Kaiko ran onto the beach, bouncing Togedemaru up and down with every step. "It's okay, Leinani! This is Samson Oak! He's a Pokémon Professor and principal of a trainer's school!"
"And a pervert!"
"I'm not a pervert!" Oak snapped back. He was now trembling out of nervousness. Leinani's sudden outburst had caught him by surprise. He wasn't used to being yelled at by someone so small yet scary. "I just wanted to get a closer look at your Sandshrew!"
"Shure?" she wondered. "Why? What do you want with him? He's not for sale."
Oak laughed. "No! No! I study Pokémon like, Shure, you said? You see the Sandshrew that we find in Alola are, well, different from the ones found in other parts of the world. The Sandshrew here are Ice and Steel-types while the ones found in Kanto, for example, are Ground-types."
"Ground-type?" Leinani wondered. "That sounds ridiculous. Next thing you're going to tell me is that there are Fire-type variations of Vulpix found in Johto."
"Well, yes, actually. Wow. Lucky guess."
"What?! No way!"
Oak laughed. He knelt and waved over Sandshrew. The Ice-type was shy, but he trusted the general vibe that Oak gave off, not thinking of him as a pervert. "Pokémon like Sandshrew, Vulpix, and even Meowth are different in Alola. They're the Pokémon that I study."
"So, my little Shure is special too?" Leinani asked. "Amazing! My team is awesome!"
Oak petted Sandshrew on the head. "I guess so. Anyways, it was nice to meet you both! I should probably get back to Melemele Island before my students realize I'm gone." He laughed and then stood up, popping his lower black with a loud crack.
Oak left the two alone, and they resumed what they were doing before. Kaiko played in the water, now joined by DJ and Boombox. Shure was still afraid of the water, so he stayed behind, sitting next to Leinani as she listened to her soft music.
She lightly patted him on the back of the head. It was one of the softer areas on his body, so he could enjoy it.
"You worked really hard the other day against Uhuli. Thanks for giving me your best."
"Shrew!"
"We'll be battling with the next gym leader in only a couple of days. It's nice to relax like this, but we can't make a habit of it. Technically, Kaiko isn't studying as he should be," she said.
She laughed as Kaiko and the Pokémon ran back and forth on the beach, playing a game where they couldn't allow the water to touch them. There was one powerful wave, in particular, that was able to graze Kaiko's foot. He fell dramatically as though he had been shot, and then the Pokémon dogpiled on him.
"Oh! No! You're so heavy!" he said sarcastically towards the three lightweight Pokémon. He put his head down on the sand and then turned, finding a sudden black blob that had been washed up from the wave. "Ah! Leilei! There's something?"
"Something?"
"A blob! A blob of something!"
Leinani stood up and then ran over to Kaiko. She observed the blob, noticing that it had the same consistency as the sand that it laid on. In the middle of the blob was a small yellow shovel sticking straight out. The blob shifted slightly and then, two eyes made of ghostly energy appeared.
"It's a Pokémon!" Kaiko exclaimed. "I'm sorry for calling you a blob, dude!"
"Gast," the Pokémon murmured weakly.
Leinani drew out her touchscreen Pokédex and then took a quick photo of the Pokémon.
"Sandygast, the Sand Heap Pokémon. If you build sand mounds when you're playing, destroy them before you go home, or they may get possessed and become Sandygast," the Pokédex chimed.
"The Pokédex has a different color than this one," Leinani said. "In my Pokédex, Sandygast is light brown, but this one is black."
"Maybe it's a regional variant? Maybe this Sandygast washed up from someplace far like Orre or Kalos!" Kaiko suggested. "Even better! Ciprys!"
"I don't think so," Leinani said while playing with her Pokédex a bit more. "The Pokédex is saying that they're the same typing."
The Sandygast bobbed up and down slightly before letting out a loud cough, sending some sand from the hole which made up its mouth.
"Maybe this one is sick?" Leinani wondered. "I'm going to catch it and take it to the Pokémon Center." She ran back to her backpack and dug through it before pulling out a Poké Ball with a blue and red upper half.
"A Great Ball?" Kaiko wondered.
"If it really is sick, I don't want to hurt it and make it worse. I don't want to take chances, so I'll use this. I was able to buy a few with the money I earned from my battle with Uhuli," she explained. She took aim and then dropped the Great Ball on Sandygast's blobby body. The entirety of the black Pokémon was absorbed, and then the ball fell to the sand. It wobbled back and forth a few times before letting out its signature ding.
"Awesome! Let's get back to the Pokémon Center!" Kaiko said. "Do you think Sandygast will be mad that I called it a blob?"
"You're still fixating on that?"
"Well, it's joining our little family, so I don't want it to dislike me!"
Leinani shook her head and then sighed. "I don't know if I intend on keeping it. If it's sick, then it's probably best to send it to the Aether Foundation or something."
"You're so smart and kind, Leilei!" Kaiko exclaimed.
"I am," Leinani said with a slight blush. "Enough about me. Let's go!"
The two packed up their bags and to save time, they decided not to change. It wasn't unusual to see people running around in their swimsuits on Alola's streets, but it did make Leinani uncomfortable to be slightly exposed in someplace other than a beach.
They quickly arrived at the Pokémon Center. Leinani handed over her bags and umbrella for Kaiko to hold, and then she rushed to Nurse Joy. The nurse smiled, as they were trained to do, and her partner Pokémon, Comfey, cheered.
"I found this Sandygast on the beach, and I think it might be sick. I caught it and brought it here to get checked out. You should hurry. Its color is off!" Leinani explained while handing over the Great Ball.
Nurse Joy took the Great Ball and continued to smile. "It's no problem! We'll get right on it! You're very smart and kind for bringing it here when you did."
"I know. I know. I'm very friggin' awesome," she replied, slightly irritated.
Nurse Joy and Comfey disappeared into the back room, leaving Leinani and Kaiko alone in the lobby. Kaiko took the chance to go to the rented room and change his clothes, but Leinani simply opted to put her regular clothes over her swimwear, not wanting to miss any news on the Pokémon.
She sat down in one of the chairs in the lobby and flipped through the magazines, mostly disinterested in what they had to offer until she found one that had Uhuli's photo on the front. He had modeled for the magazine meant for tourists, which was the gym leader edition. She opened it up to find that some of the pages had been torn out, including Guzma's and Uhuli's profiles. People weren't allowed to take the magazines home with them, so some opted for simply stealing pages. However, Hano Beach's gym leader's profile was still intact.
"Xerxes ʻŌpūnui, the Hano Beach Gym Leader. World traveled and born with a silver spoon in his mouth, Xerxes is a man of many experiences," Leinani read. She stopped. "Man? He's only 18. He's still a boy!" She continued. "Xerxes first started his journey on Akala Island where he completed the Island Challenge. He would then go on to travel through Unova, Galar, and Sinnoh before he was called back to Alola to partake in the Alolan Pokémon Tournament. Xerxes was unsuccessful, having lost to Lilo Kalani, who would go on to win the whole thing, but he did impress the Pokémon League enough to grant him a gym leader position. Xerxes returned home to Akala Island, building his gym at the Hano Beach Resort. Although he started with a small Bounsweet, Xerxes now specializes in Psychic-type Pokémon."
"That's good to know, I guess," Leinani said. She observed the boy's picture closer. He was dressed in a black suit with purple trim. His skin was slightly tanned, and his hair was dyed bleach blonde. His teeth were unbelievably white.
"Excuse me, Leinani," Nurse Joy's voice called from behind. Leinani snapped around and put down the magazine on the table. Nurse Joy stood with the Great Ball in her tray. "There's absolutely nothing wrong with your Sandygast. She's a little tired from being tossed around by the waves but other than that, she's perfectly okay."
"Wait, really?" Leinani asked. "Then what's up with her coloring?"
"Well, after a little bit of research, it turns out that your Sandygast is a shiny Pokémon."
"Shiny Pokémon?"
"Yeah. Some Pokémon have different colors to them. They're extremely rare. You have a 1 in 8,000 chance of finding one in the wild. It seems like you got pretty lucky."
Leinani took the Great Ball and smiled. "My team is so cool! You have no idea!"
Kaiko came out from the backroom, rubbing his head with a towel. "Is Sandygast okay?"
"She's fine!" Leinani exclaimed. "She's just shiny and all that. C'mon, let's head to the back."
Leinani rushed past Kaiko and ran towards the backdoors. When outside in the small Pokémon Center courtyard, she released Sandgast onto the cement. The Pokémon chirped happily when it appeared, and the rest of Leinani's team surrounded it.
"Hey, buddy. My name is Leinani."
"Gast."
"Would you be down for joining my band of misfits? We'll treat you really well. You even get your own cool nickname."
Sandygast looked around at the three Pokémon before bobbing up and down happily.
"Dope!" she exclaimed.
"What are you gonna name it?"
"Her name? Well, she's kind of a big deal with how rare she is. And I think that her black sand is gorgeous. Welcome to the team, Vinyl!"
"That is a pretty rad name, Leilei!"
"Welcome to the band, little Vinyl!"
"Sandy-gast!"
AUTHOR'S NOTES:
This was another one of my favorite chapters. I love writing Leinani's dialogue. I find her hilarious.
For other writers who are reading this, how would you have formatted the part where Leinani is reading about Xerxes? I'm not sure if I did it correctly. At the very least, I want to know how it's done properly.
For anyone confused, when Kaiko said "Cipyrs," he was referencing UKEagleClaw's story Pokemon: Infinite Legacies. Give it a read!
REVIEWS:
wisdom-jewel - "Short but sweet. And Long reach that's interesting. I would love to see how they work with it." - It'll be fun to write DJ's attacks!
pokestets23 - "Gladion would be okay. You could always write Lillie off and explain why she isn't evolved." - It's looking like most people want Gladion, so I'll find a way. I don't think it'd hurt to put them together.
CrescentApple - "Leinani doesn't express as much joy I noticed. I cant tell if she is trying to act cool because others are watching, or thats just the way her character is and she can't help it. Unique Either way, I like Kaiko, glad he's joining." - Leinani isn't the stereotypical "I'm so excited to be on an adventure!" character. She has a goal in mind, and she wants to focus on it.
UKEagleClaw - (Chapter 9 review) - "Naomi's from Galar, isn't she? That 'deadpan expression' is recognisable, haha. Can't remember when exactly, but she's shown up before, and had a Chronicles, I believe. Interesting cameo there. 'Once Sandshrew reached the crescendo of his Brick Break beat'—very nice flow to this. Again, like the musical element to this and Leinani getting into the flow just before, reinforces the musical attribute of her character." - I'm so glad someone appreciates my 'Brick Break beat.' Naomi is from Galar! She was one of Yurie's opponents in Healing in Hoenn. (Chapter 10 review) - "Right decision, I think, for Kaiko to go too. Dialogue brilliant again and amusing, haha. I don't know if it was your plan to have it as a twist from the beginning or what, but readers seem to like him I did notice the fanfic description change recently, so I'd wondered whether he was going to be sticking around." - I didn't really intend for it to be a big twist. I actually only changed the description once, and it was to remove Guzma from the tags. Also, this story's genre has been Adventure/Family since the beginning, so I wasn't trying to be too secretive about it! But, I'm glad that some people believed Kaiko was only short term.
