Track 38 - Sophia
Only a few weeks had passed since Charlotte's battle with the Totem Togedemaru. To no one's surprise, she easily defeated the Island Kahuna, and when the two were ready, they returned to where they first met Poni Island.
Leinani took her training more seriously, and the two sparred when they could at the Pokemon Center. However, both of them were getting restless, and with the Manalo Conference only a couple of months away, they knew that their journey together was coming to an end.
"So, who are we looking for?" Charlotte asked as the two walked out of the Pokemon Center.
"I don't actually know a lot about your trial or the captain," Leinani said. "Her name is Mina, and she's always been an elusive person."
"Elusive?" a sleepy voice said from behind.
The two turned around to find a girl with long blonde hair. She wore a white t-shirt with paint splatters. She had a foldable easel strapped to her back and a large paintbrush in her hand.
"I wouldn't say elusive. I'm just busy with my passions. I guess that I'm the person you're looking for. I'm Mina, the trial captain," she explained.
"My name is Charlotte from Kalos! I am here to challenge your trial!" Charlotte exclaimed while stepping in front of Leinani.
"That's quite the name," Mina muttered. "I had planned on taking the day off today. The sky is full of so many clouds. It inspired me."
Leinani and Charlotte looked up. There were many clouds, but the sun still managed to peek through in an effort to light up Alola.
"You're right," Charlotte said. "I guess, we can do it another time."
Mina shook her head. "No, no. I've been entrusted with handling the trials on Poni Island. If I meet a trial goer, I must do my job. So, Charlotte from Kalos, what inspires you?"
"Huh?"
Mina put down the easel on the dock and then looked out at the sea. She slowly set up the easel and placed a small board on it. "The Totem Pokemon and I are alike in many ways. We respect those with passion, vision, and heart. However, the Totem Pokemon is going to be a bit more difficult to attract. She likes paintings. Your trial is to make a painting."
Charlotte was dumbfounded. "I have to do what?"
"Paint something," Mina said as she handed over her large brush. "If the Totem Pokemon can sense that your painting is from the heart, then she will come out to play. If not, then you won't be able to battle her."
"I've never painted before," Charlotte muttered.
"This is why I prefer gyms," Leinani said with a smirk.
"And you," Mina said. "You have to make something too!"
Leinani's eyes widened. "M-me?!"
"She won't come if art isn't being made. So, if you want your friend to succeed, then you'll help her."
"My idea of art isn't created with a brush," Leinani snapped back while pointing at her headphones.
"I didn't say that it all had to be done with a brush," Mina said with a gentle smile. "Actually, I only have the one paint set anyway. Take this time to create something that you've been wanting for a while. I still am inspired by the clouds, so I'm going to take a walk and get lost. You two have fun today. Create something from the heart."
"From the heart?" Charlotte wondered while Mina slowly walked away.
Leinani sat down on the dock and looked out at the sea. "What inspires you? What drives you?"
Charlotte thought about it for a moment and then shrugged. "I don't know. I'm a small-town girl who wants to make everyone back home proud."
"Then, maybe you should paint Ambrette Town?"
"Huh?"
"Paint your town. It's a place you love. Maybe painting ain't easy, but it'll be fun if you paint your home," Leinani said.
Charlotte picked up the paint set and looked at the different colors.
"What color do you think of when you imagine Ambrette Town?" Leinani asked.
"Brown. We're famous for fossils," Charlotte answered.
Leinani squirmed. "That's not a great color to start with."
"But, we also have an aquarium! And the sea and beaches are beautiful!" Charlotte exclaimed happily.
"There you go!" Leinani stated. "Mountains and the sea are good things to paint."
"Fantastic!" Charlotte dipped the brush into some of the blue before looking down at Leinani and smiling. "And you? What will you make?"
Leinani thought momentarily. "I'm not bad at origami. But, if I have to make something that I'm passionate about, then it's gotta be a beat!"
"A beat?"
"Yeah! For my music!"
"Fantastic! How do you do this?"
Leinani was silent for what felt like an eternity. "I don't entirely know."
"But you're passionate about it?"
"Just because I'm inexperienced doesn't mean I'm not passionate!" Leinani snapped. "I know that you record sounds and then warp them so they sound cool in a rhythm."
"At least you know more than I do!" Charlotte said as she put brush to canvas. "What kind of noises can you use?"
"Anything, really. But, I want to use the sounds of Pokemon and their attacks to make music. It's ambitious, and I don't know what I'm doing, but I guess now is the time to try," Leinani said. She looked at DJ who was staring at the ocean. The area was quiet, which meant that any sound Rowlet made with an attack could be recorded clearly.
She pulled out her Pokedex and played with the apps for a moment. Kaiko had always been the one to use the Pokedex, so she wasn't sure what she could do with it. However, there was an application that could let her record audio or video.
"DJ, you down for making some music?" Leinani asked. DJ quickly stood up and chirped. "Alright, use your Razor Leaf in that direction!"
DJ flew into the air and swiftly released the leaves made of energy from her wings. They rattled out from her wings and flew over the ocean, dissipating when they got too far.
Leinani pushed the button and listened to the sound of the attack. She liked the noise that Rowlet's fluttering wings made, and although the rapid rattling of the leaves wasn't the perfect rhythm, she thought she could work with it.
Leinani looked through the Pokedex a bit more, finding that Kaiko had downloaded a few music-making apps. She would have to thank him later. But, since the apps were free, they weren't going to be great. She put in her sound file, connected her headphones, and started to make music with the drum settings.
Meanwhile, Charlotte painted away. She wasn't sure what she was making, but she tried her best. On the left side of the canvas, she painted with a dark blue, adding white towards the middle to make it lighter. She painted a single line down the middle with beige to show the beach.
"The colors are flat," she thought out loud. She started to add more shade to the ocean, giving it more of a wavy texture.
Then, in the right corner, she painted a dark brown. She slowly transitioned the brown from dark to light, saving the upper area and lower right corner for the town. She wasn't sure how much detail she could go into, but she wanted to try to paint as much as she could from memory.
Leinani made the skeleton of her beat with the drum application, and she added in the sounds of DJ's Razor Leaf. However, it didn't sound as cool as she had hoped when it was overlaid. She tried speeding it up and slowing it down, but it didn't work how she wanted it to.
Then, she remembered one of the gifts that she earned from her mother, the collection of TRs. She pulled out the small but heavy case, opened it, and flipped through, looking for an attack that'd blend well with Razor Leaf.
"TR 50? This one!" she exclaimed loudly while pulling out a single record. No one seemed to notice. She placed the record on the Pokedex, and the application registered it. She scratched the record, and it broke up the Razor Leaf sounds in a way that she liked. She let the record spin, scratching it when she felt like the sounds needed to be broken up, and soon enough, she had created her first-ever beat.
Charlotte continued her painting, adding in the red and orange rooftops of the buildings that she remembered. She tried to paint in the market, but it turned out to just look like a mess of color. She focused, trying to put as much detail as she possibly could.
"I don't know if it looks any good," she said, but Leinani couldn't hear her, as she was vibing to her music.
"Ribom," something cooed from behind. Charlotte turned to find a massive Bug-type Pokemon floating above her. . The Pokemon looked at the painting and put her small hand to her chin.
"Do you like it?"
"Ribom. Bee," the Pokemon responded. It flew in closer and closed one eye, judging the painting.
"Whoa! That thing is huge!" Leinani screamed. She hadn't noticed by herself but was instead pulled away from her music by DJ. "That's not a regular Ribombee."
"Oh?" Charlotte exclaimed before it slowly came to her. "Oh! Is this the Totem Pokemon?"
"I think so. She's about double the size of a regular Ribombee," Leinani said as she stood up and tucked away her Pokedex. "It looks like she enjoys your work."
Ribombee pulled away and put her hand to her chin again. She pondered the painting and then gave Charlotte a thumbs up.
"I did it!" Charlotte shouted triumphantly.
Then, Ribombee turned to Leinani and cocked her head.
"What?" Leinani asked with a repulsed look on her face.
"I think she wants to judge your work as well," Charlotte suggested.
Leinani crossed her arms. "I don't think so. My art isn't ready to be shown to the world yet. Your head would explode."
"It's that bad?"
"It's that awesome!"
Charlotte giggled and then looked at Ribombee. "What do you say? Let's have our battle!"
Ribombee put her hand to her chin and thought about it. She then snapped her small fingers and nodded with a wink.
"Fantastic! Let's do this!" Charlotte yelled while throwing her Poke Ball into the air. Her Greninja emerged and struck his fighting pose. Ribombee responded by holding up her tiny fists.
"Amphinobi, use Water Shuriken!" Charlotte commanded.
Greninja put his hands together and aquatic energy began to rotate in his palms. He then lunged forward, launching shuriken-shaped energy at Ribombee. The large Pokemon was hit and knocked backward, but she quickly recovered and flew forward. She beat her wings, making a terrible buzz that blasted into Greninja.
Then, Ribombee rounded about, and her eyes started to glow pink. She spread out her limbs and chimed while a blinding light emitted from her body.
"Smokescreen!" Charlotte yelled.
Greninja put his arm into the air and threw a black ball against the ground. It exploded into smoke, allowing Greninja to run off of the dock and into the water, narrowly avoiding Ribombee's strike.
"And now, Extrasensory!"
Then, Greninja rocketed out of the water. He put his hands together and started to make signs while kinetic energy vibrated off of him. The area around Ribombee warped, and she was stunned by psychic powers. Greninja landed back on the dock and stood up straight.
Ribombee looked at Greninja, and the cheerful smile on her face was now missing. She let out a battle cry, and slowly, it started to rain.
"My painting," Charlotte mumbled as raindrops began to pelt the canvas. She pulled a blanket out of her backpack and threw it over.
"I thought that the weather was supposed to be clear today," Leinani exclaimed. She looked up, finding a large white Pokemon flying overhead. It slowly made its way to their small battlefield before letting out a cry.
"If you get to call on a friend, then we can too!" Charlotte said while throwing a second Poke Ball into the air. Her Vivillon appeared and fluttered her wings.
The bird Pokemon flew forward and spit green energy into the air. The energy quickly came down, exploding against both Greninja and Vivillon. Meanwhile, Ribombee stayed behind and started to dance, slowly speeding up.
"Vivillon, use Hurricane!" Charlotte yelled.
Vivillon flapped her wings and then dashed forward. With one heavy flap, she sent a blast of wind down the docks. However, Ribombee was too fast and managed to get out of the way of the gust with ease.
"We're not going to give in that easily! Water Shuriken!"
Greninja did a forward roll and then leaped into the air. He released his projectile weapon, but the bird Pokemon was fast. It flew in front of Ribombee and then started to glow. Seemingly it expanded as it built up some energy inside itself. It took Greninja's attack but showed no obvious pain.
Ribombee then shot forward, fluttering her wings. She unleashed the buzzing sound once again, and Vivillon was forced backward.
"Let's fight back with our own Bug Buzz!" Charlotte instructed.
Vivillon quickly recovered and then flew forward. She flapped her wings furiously, releasing the strong buzzing sound. However, the bird Pokemon flew in the way of Ribombee, taking the attack and making it look like nothing.
"That this is annoying," Charlotte muttered.
Then, the bird Pokemon started to glow as it did before. It suddenly lost its larger size before it spat up energy into the air. The energy came raining down on Greninja and Vivillon, exploding on contact.
"This is your chance! It's weakened now!" Leilani shouted.
Charlotte looked over both of her Pokemon. They were not in the best shape, but she knew that if she could get rid of the bird Pokemon, she'd have a better chance at winning.
"Extrasensory! Bug Buzz! Focus on the Flying-type!" Charlotte commanded.
Greninja clapped his hands together and kinetic energy surrounded him. Meanwhile, Vivillon flew forward, building up the dark green energy around her. She blasted the bird Pokemon directly, only doing a little bit of damage. The Pokemon laughed, but then it suddenly let out a deafening cry as the space around it warped. The Pokemon stopped flapping its wings before it fell to the dock.
"Fantastic!" Charlotte said with a smile, but her smile quickly faded when she looked at Ribombee, who was dancing and becoming faster.
Before Charlotte could give a command, Ribombee's eyes glowed pink. She howled and released a violent pink light from her body. Greninja took the brunt of the attack and was thrown backward, landing in a heap in front of Charlotte's feet.
"That's not good," Charlotte said as she withdrew her starter Pokemon. "Vivillon, we have to fight harder! Use Bug Buzz!"
Vivillon took into the air and flapped her wings, unleashing the loud buzz. However, Ribombee was too fast, easily avoiding the attack. The buzz continued, almost hitting Leinani, who had to be kept from falling into the water by Rowlet.
"Watch it!" Leinani shouted. As she found her balance, the rain suddenly stopped. She looked up, finding that the white clouds were back. "Wait up. Huh?"
Ribombee zoomed forward and grabbed ahold of Vivillon. Charlotte's Pokemon tried to squirm away, but it was impossible. Then, Ribombee suddenly kissed Vivillon above her eyes.
"Hey! That's not cool!" Leinani shouted.
Vivillon started to glow as some of her health was sucked away. Ribombee continued the kiss while giggling to herself.
"Well, gonna be hard to miss now," Charlotte said. "Hurricane!"
While in Ribombee's grip, Vivillon only need to flap her wings once, creating a violent gust of wind that surrounded both of them. They were blasted out of the small storm, hitting the dock.
Charlotte was quick. She lifted her Poke Ball and withdrew Vivillon before throwing another ball into the air. Turtonator emerged and blew fire upward while he roared. He could smell Poni Island, and he liked being back home.
Ribombee tried to stand and attack, but she instead fell flat on her face.
"Fantastic," Charlotte said quietly. "Mosh, end this with Flamethrower!"
Turtonator roared and then blasted a smooth stream of fire from his snout. The fire engulfed Ribombee, who let out a shriek. When the fire ceased, Ribombee collapsed, her body limp.
She's absolutely tamed Most. Incredible. Leinani thought.
And just like that, the battle was over. Charlotte stood still in shock while Turtonator threw his fist in the air to celebrate an easy win.
Breaking the silence was a slow clap. Mina emerged with a deadpan expression on her face. Her clap never picked up any pace, slowly fizzling out.
"Good work. You've earned yourself a Fairium-Z," she said while lazily holding out a pink crystal.
Charlotte took it with a smile on her face before she looked it over. "Now, all I have is one more battle. Fantastic!"
Mina nodded and then walked over to the easel. She took off the blanket and took in the painting, which was now destroyed by the rain.
"Oh no," Charlotte said. "It's been ruined."
"Not really," Mina said. "I think that this adds some flavor to your painting. I can tell that there is some sadness to it, and you clearly miss your home. This painting is fantastic. You did a great job."
"Oh, really?"
With Charlotte's trial finished early, the two set up a small camp at Poni Beach. Their Pokemon got to relax and play in the water. Greninja and Wishiwashi enjoyed racing and swimming while Sandshrew, Sandygast, Tyrantrum, and Turtonator avoided the water. Vikavolt and Vivillon played in the air, and Rowlet stayed close to her trainer.
"Thank you for joining me, Leinani. This has been a really fun few weeks," Charlotte said. "I was able to learn so much about Alola, and I'm not sure if I could have won my trials if it weren't for you."
"I've been happy to join you!" Leinani said with a genuine smile. "It's nice having a new friend."
Charlotte nodded. "Yeah. However, from tomorrow, I want to go on my own again. I want to battle the island kahuna without you around. And, you need to focus on your last gym battle. From tomorrow, we're full rivals, okay?"
Leinani smirked. "That's the way I like it! Let's both do our best, and then we'll battle at the Manalo Conference!"
"Promise?"
"I promise to win!"
Author's Notes: I wasn't sure how to handle this chapter. I just know that I wanted to show off a new trial, and I wanted Charlotte and Leinani to discuss parting ways. Overall, I like the idea of Leinani starting to make music in this chapter using her Pokedex and TRs.
Next chapter, Leinani will battle with Kala once again. We haven't seen her train much in the past five chapters, but I'm sure she'll surprise you all!
