Track 15 - "Brass Monkey"


Leinani had spent most of her time in recent weeks training with her Pokémon. The two would walk back and forth up Route 4 and 5, exploring every corner of the routes and battling any trainers that they came across. But Leinani's training was beginning to wire down, and it was time to move on. However, there was one more area on Route 4 that they had not gone to.

"Welcome to Pikachu Valley!" an overly excited girl dressed in yellow overalls screeched upon seeing the duo. "I'm so Pika-happy to have you here!"

"What did she just say?" Leinani asked through mumbles.

"Nuh-uh uh!" the girl said while wagging her finger. "Here in Pikachu Valley, we celebrate everything Pika-Pikachu! Every sentence, you must add 'Pika!'"

"That sounds Pika-fun!" Kaiko exclaimed.

Leinani shook her head and glared at her brother. She looked past the girl and at all of the yellow Pokémon that had grouped up. They were dancing and chanting their names.

"Yeah, nah. This isn't happening. We're leaving."

The girl appeared panicked. "Don't Pika-go! Pika-wait!"

Leinani grabbed the girl by one of the straps on her overalls and pulled her closer. "Why don't you go Pika-fu-"

"Leilei!" Kaiko interrupted. He pulled his sister away. "We have to Pika-be off! I'm Pika-sorry!"

The girl was stunned into silence, and she watched the siblings as they left the village. When they were gone, she turned back to the group of Pikachu and started to chant along with them, not bothered by Leinani's hot-headedness.


Leinani had been continuing her training on Route 5. The two were staying at the Pokémon Center in Paniola Town, which allowed them to freely go to and from Route 5. Leinani was beginning to feel the urge to move on, but there was one place that she was yet to train in.

Brooklet Hill was considered one of the most beautiful watering holes in all of Alola. It was made up of small waterfalls that originated from the middle of Akala Island. The waterfalls all poured into small pools which eventually led to Alola's ocean. Dozens of Pokémon made it their home, and because of that, it was a popular spot for trainers to visit, train, and catch.

The duo rented a small boat and a pair of fishing rods. They floated in the middle of one of the pools and cast their lines. With two quiet plops, they started fishing. And they waited. And waited. And waited.

Kaiko took a drink of his soda. It was large, which meant that his stomach was full. He had reached the end of it, and now was sucking mostly air through his straw, which created a loud noise.

Leinani looked back at him. "You're supposed to be quiet."

"You're lecturing me about noise?" Kaiko snapped back with a smile.

Leinani ignored him. She put her headphones over her ears and then started to listen to her music. She always listened to it as loud as she could, and today was no different. They were noise-canceling for Leinani, but Kaiko could hear every horn from the rap song that she was listening to.

Kaiko looked down at his shadow, noticing the two red eyes staring back up at him. He smiled and then put his drink on his seat before looking out at Brooklet Hill and admiring the scenery. He looked towards Leinani, who was enjoying her music with her eyes closed. She bobbed her head back and forward and tapped her foot. What she didn't notice was that her fishing rod was starting to bend.

"Leilei!" Kaiko yelled. She didn't hear him. "Leinani!" he yelled again, now pushing her foot with his own.

Her eyes opened and she took immediate notice of the fishing rod. She grabbed it before pulling her headphones off. "Why didn't you tell me?"

"I just did-whatever!" Kaiko said. He stood up and watched as Leinani struggled with the rod.

"It's strong but small," Leinani said. "I can tell!"

"How can you tell?"

"I can tell! I'm a natural fisherman!" she exclaimed. In truth, she had no idea what she was doing. She grabbed a hold of the reel and started to pull the Pokémon in, but it started to fight back harder.

Kaiko stepped forward and grabbed ahold of the rod, helping Leinani keep her grip on it as the tugging got more erratic and increasingly stronger. The area where her bob was started to glow light blue, and the Pokémon below the surface became suddenly stronger.

"Pull on three!" Leinani yelled.

"One!"

"Two!"

"Three!"

The two pulled as hard as they could, yanking the Pokémon from the pool. It wasn't small like Leinani had predicted, but rather a behemoth of a Pokémon, the size of which Leinani couldn't possibly explain. It was midnight blue with bright white eyes, and it leaped over their boat, keeping the line in its mouth. As soon as it landed in the water, Kaiko pulled out Leinani's Pokédex and scanned it.

"Wishiwashi, the Small Fry Pokémon. Called "demon of the sea" by some, when Wishiwashi are injured in battle and their numbers dwindle, they become a regular school," the Pokédex chimed.

"I can't even imagine what a group of those Pokémon would look like!" Leinani exclaimed. "And a small fry? I think not!" She held on tightly as the Pokémon tugged on the line, now strong enough to pull the entire boat with it. Leinani refused to let go though, which led to the boat being pulled in circles around the pool.

"Leilei, let go! What are you doing?!" Kaiko screamed.

"First off, if I lose this fishing rod, I'll have to pay for it!" Leinani yelled back. "Secondly, I want to catch myself the demon of the sea!"

"You're kidding, right?"

"I'm very serious!" She tugged harder, forcing the Pokémon out of the water momentarily. "DJ, use Razor Leaf!"

Rowlet trilled and then flew from Leinani's hat. She shot a multitude of leaves from her wings, slicing into the larger Pokémon. It didn't do much though, and Wishiwashi disappeared back into the pool once more.

"DJ, be careful!" Leinani warned. She looked down at her belt and considered her other options. In the middle of a body of water, both Sandshrew and Sandygast couldn't do much. She'd have to go with Charjabug if Rowlet couldn't get the job done, and she wasn't sure how that was going to work. For the time being, she couldn't even choose a Pokémon to support Rowlet if she wanted to, because she had to keep a tight grip on the fishing pole.

Wishiwashi emerged from the water and shot a blast of water from its largemouth. The blast was relatively weak, and Rowlet was able to dodge quickly.

"DJ, use Steel Wing!"

Rowlet rounded through the air and then came back down, her wings turning hard as steel. She rammed one of her wings into the top of Wishiwashi, seemingly ripping off part of the Water-type. The bits that flew from Wishiwashi seemed as though they were alive though, swimming away.

"Wait up," Leinani remarked. "Somethin' ain't right."

"It's coming this way!" Kaiko yelled as the tug on the line loosened. Sure enough, Wishiwashi's form was charging straight towards the boat.

"You think you and Togedemaru can help?" Leinani asked, anger in her voice.

"You got it! Nuzzle!" Kaiko ordered. He held Togedemaru near the water, who started to spark slightly.

Wishiwashi rammed into the boat, creating a small wave that forced them into the air a few inches. However, Togedemaru's move was effective, and Wishiwashi's body started to spark. Its movements started to slow down, but the damage to Togedemaru was done.

"What now?" Kaiko asked. He held Togedemaru close to his chest. "I'm sorry, buddy!"

"It's paralyzed and slow now! DJ and I will handle the rest!" Leinani exclaimed. "DJ, use Peck!"

"Row!" the Pokémon trilled. She dove forward, lightly grazing the edge of the water.

Wishiwashi peeked its head from the water and unleashed another blast from its largemouth. Rowlet was too slow to move this time and took the attack head-on. However, it was a lot weaker than Rowlet had anticipated, and she managed to get off her attack, crashing into the front of Wishiwashi, taking off what looked like more chunks of flesh.

"Something is up," Leinani said.

Rowlet flew into the air, now with a slight blue aura to her. She appeared confused and uncomfortable, as though she had something changed about her.

"I think that was Soak!" Kaiko said. "It changes the target's type to water!"

"Wait, are you saying that Rowlet is a Water-type, now?"

"For awhile! Yes!"

"Son of a-"

Wishiwashi roared. It came out of the pool and into the air. It flew over Rowlet momentarily before pointing its body downwards in an intimidating fashion.

"It's going to use Dive!" Kaiko warned.

Then, Wishiwashi shot down, ramming its large body into Rowlet. Leinani's Pokémon was forced into the water, and soon, both Pokémon disappeared.

"DJ!" Leinani yelled. She tugged onto the fishing pole, but Wishiwashi had let go, so she felt nothing. "DJ! Where are you?"

"Oh no."

Leinani took off her hat and put it on the wooden seat before diving into the water.

"Leilei, no!"

But Leinani couldn't hear Kaiko anymore. She swam through the pool and looked around desperately for her Pokémon. The water was peaceful, but she could feel it push up against her slightly. She turned around, finding herself face to face with Wishwashi. She glared and then pulled out her Poké Ball.

Suddenly, Leinani's Charjabug materialized. Leinani couldn't give a command, but it wouldn't have mattered. Charjabug's survival instincts kicked in as soon as she found herself in an unfamiliar environment. She started to spark, lighting up the surrounding area. Leinani and Wishiwashi were shocked, electricity running through their bodies. Wishiwashi roared and then jumped out of the water again. Leinani grabbed a hold of Charjabug and then swam towards the surface. She held Charjabug up once they reached the top. The two were now face to face with Wishiwashi, who was coming down just as it had before. Rowlet's cries could be heard from within its body.

"Give me back my Pokémon! Spark! Give it all you got, Boombox!" Leinani yelled.

Although she didn't want to shock her trainer, she did as she was told. Charjabug sent sparks around her body as Wishiwashi came down. This shocked all of them once again, freezing Wishiwashi in the air.

But then, Wishiwashi exploded. Rowlet emerged from her remains and then fell into Leinani's arms. Leinani had taken a lot of damage from Charjabug's attack, and she let herself float in the pool. She put both of her Pokémon on her chest and groaned.

"I'm sorry, guys. I guess I was biting off more than I could chew."

Her Pokémon sighed, but they nuzzled into her.

Leinani's eyes widened, and she looked around, afraid to find blood and guts of the supposedly blown up Pokémon. But she found no such thing. Instead, there was a small light blue Pokémon floating in front of them. It had a panicked look in its eye.

Kaiko had rowed the boat in closer to retrieve Leinani, and he scanned the Pokémon.

"Wishiwashi, the Small Fry Pokémon."

"Huh?" Leinani said.

"When it's in a jam, its shining eyes attract others of its kind. The light from its eyes is visible almost 25 miles away," the Pokédex added.

"It says that this is its solo form!" Kaiko exclaimed. He pressed on the screen. "And before was its school form!"

"I see," Leinani said. "So, this thing is actually weak, huh? All bark; no bite."

"I guess so," Kaiko muttered. "Guess you're having second thoughts on catching it."

Leinani reached for her belt and pulled out a Dive Ball that she had bought at the boat rental shop. "Nope." She pressed the ball against the small Wishiwashi, and it immediately dinged.

"Leinani, how do you expect to battle with it?! Moreso, how do you plan to carry it around with you and communicate with it?! We won't always be by the sea!"

Leinani pulled herself from the water and back onto the boat. She shook her head, letting the water from her hair fling all over the place. She only did it to annoy Kaiko. "You said that it's unfortunate that the Pokémon of the sea don't get the chance to battle and have trainers. You made me feel guilty, so here we are! Me and Wishiwashi are gonna be a team and battle! We're gonna make it work!"

"But, it's gonna be so hard!"

"We just gotta buy a fishbowl," she said. She grabbed Kaiko's empty soda cup and dipped it into the pool, scooping up some of the water. She then put the Dive Ball above it and released Wishiwashi. "Hey, buddy!"

"Wi," the Pokémon said shyly.

Leinani took her Pokédex back and scanned the Pokémon once again. "It's male! I gotta think of a name."

"Can I suggest a name?"

"Yeah, sure! What you got?"

"David!"

"I'm going to throw you off of this boat. I have a theme going, ya dork," Leinani said. She looked out at the pool and thought for a moment. "Mixtape."

"Mixtape?"

"We'll call him Mix for short. When he's with his friends, he's all mixed up. So, he's Mixtape. Mr. Mix. Mix."

"Wishi."

"I love it! Best name yet!"

"Thank you."

"Mr. David Mix!"

Leinani stood up and grabbed Kaiko by the collar. Then, without any more warning, she tossed him into the pool.


AUTHOR'S NOTES:

Wishiwashi was the Pokémon that I was referring to a while back. I ended up using one in my Ultra Sun playthrough, and it was amazing. I also want to challenge myself to write battles with it. Because of the nature of its ability and the fact that it's a sea-based Pokémon, it seems like it's going to be a very hard Pokémon to write for. We'll see how it goes. Actually, the first thing that inspired me to write this story/character was the image in my head of a trainer holding a fishbowl with a Wishiwashi in it. The music was the second thing I thought of.

REVIEWS:

wisdom-jewel - "I wonder if Marshadow would become Kai's Pokemon in the future. Though the bigger question, how long can he hide Marshadow and how will Leinaini would react to this news." - It's gonna be quite awhile, I think. Marshadow can hide forever if it wants to.

UKEagleClaw - "A reformed version of Team Skull has piqued my interest. Presumably Guzma's going to have to sort them out. Haha. Very nice battle sequence. From how the grunts were talking at the end, I presume they're Aether Foundation members disguised as Skull." - I think that once Guzma catches word of it, he's going to be livid. I'm gonna make him have a stroke.

CrescentApple - "I had expected Leilani to come save him, but he really proved himself despite his misgivings. I thought all that talk of being a purple belt was just talk. Little guy has talent! It'll be cool to see how this pokemon bonds with Kaiko and others. Team skull is another interesting thing. They take off the getup so they are... in disguise... team rainbow?" - If I ever write for Team Rainbow Rocket, it'll be way down the line. As for Kaiko, yeah. He's a true purple belt. He's probably my favorite character. When I got his art commissioned, I got the idea that he'd look great doing kung fu moves. If Leinani has to ever get in a fight, she'd probably just be a brawler.