Being back in Alola was the best! The sounds, views, and scents were as good as I remember. Even the sweet old lady in the market, the one that always gave me free fruit, was still there. I love being back! I only wished that I would have gotten the chance of bringing Stoutland back one last time. But unfortunately, that will never happen.
I never thought I would come back home, or that I would come back as part of a hero's family. Wherever we go, we got recognized and asked for a photograph or be congratulated for something Ash has done. The story of Faba had spread rapidly throughout the islands. It did not help that Ash had decided to tackle the Island Challenge in only a week, dragging us from one corner to the other, helping people at every chance and battling anyone that asked. I think I know more about the islands now than I did when I left. On the positive side, Gliscor, Rowlet, and I got to battle with every beginner trainer that Ash accepted to battle, gaining a lot of experience. On the other side, Roowlet seems to have swallowed an Everstone and has gotten into the habit to use it for Seed Bomb. Ash did not seem to mind that his baby pokemon had no desire to evolve, for now, so I did comment on it, not that anyone in the team bat an eye at the strange situation.
"That's just our family," Pikachu had chuckled sweat dropping. "Stranger things had happened."
Oh, yes! Gligar had decided to evolve into Gliscor! Gary had given Ash a Razor Fang as soon as he had arrived on the islands. That was quite the discussion in the family, one that took various of my siblings by surprise. Ash not being supportive of one of them deciding to evolve or not was strange... it never happens strange. However, Ash did not want one of his pokemon to evolve simply because they were afraid of flying. He had wanted Gligar to surpass her fear before evolving. Which got him electrocuted by Pikachu and scolded.
"Is this about Gligar's fear or that you are wounded over the fact that you have not been able to train a pokemon in flying?" We had all watched in shock as Pikachu yelled at Ash, we've never seen them fight like this. The older pokemon had laughed at the scene, saying that it was long overdue. It seems that Pikachu and Ash used to fight all the time like this, which showed their incredible bond. However, because of Ash's problem with aura, Pikachu had become more reserved about how to interact with him. Now that it had been solved, they were back to how they used to be.
So, Ash nodded his head and apologized to Gligar, giving her the Razor Fang and congratulating her on her evolution. Calling her beautiful and aiding her to get used to her new form. The change was like day and night! The way Gliscor glided through the alolan sky was breathtaking and so smooth. Our opponents never saw her coming down for an attack.
When The Saint Festival our family's popularity tripled. Which I did not think possible. It was only the second day and we could not take a step out of James' beach mansion or our dressing room in the Manolo Stadium, before being hounded and stalked by... everyone! Fans, trainers, reporters, it was madness!
But none of that mattered now, one of my brothers had just evolved and we were all over the moon.
"Flygon you were wonderful out there!" Ash praised the dragon pokemon, caressing his wings tenderly, as Flygon hummed in quiet happiness. "You look beautiful!"
"Not bad little dragon," Altaria praised the younger dragon. "Maybe now we will be able to bring Charizard down if we work together."
"Ja! Good luck with that!" Pikachu barked a laugh. "He'll torch you with gusto for daring to think that's a possibility!"
"I don't know... did you see that Hurricane and Earthquake combo? They do have a chance, especially if one of them learns how to use Draco Meteor." I commented, jumping on Ash's lap as soon as he took a seat on the armchair in the dressing room. I received an angry hiss from Espeon, but Sylveon kept her in check with his ribbons.
"We will show Charizard the fury of dragons!" Flygon exclaimed, eyes shining with new power, uncontrolled power.
"Well, I'll see what I can do about arranging a training meeting with Charizard," Ash commented, being able to follow the conversation through Espeon's telepathic translation. "Maybe I'll send both of you to the Charizard Valley, you'll be able to learn Draco Meteor there," that seemed to have both Flygon and Altaria rearing to go. "But for now, both of you are out of commission, I will not have a newly evolved pokemon fighting out there." Flygon was ready to protest, but one look from Ace Ranger Ash shut him up. "No. If everyone else has to wait and get used to their new bodies, so do you." Flygon looked down mollified but smiling at the care Ash showed. Ash turned to my other siblings. "Espeon, Sylveon, Hitmontop, Zangoose, I'm counting on you for the rest of the battles."
"Leave it to us!"
"We will not fail Master."
"This will be so much fun!"
"You can count on us," they all answered.
Before Ash could reply, the dressing room's door was slammed open. Which had us all jumping before Ash and ready for a fight. Only for Lance to fucking skip around us to hug Flygon and start praising the ground he walks on. Then again this is one of the strongest champions out there and trains Dragon-type pokemon for a living. No wonder, we did not scare him. It seems that the older pokemon was pouting over that fact, having gotten used to criminals getting scared simply because of their presence.
"Lance, what's gotten into you?" Ash laughed, and that was all they needed to stop pouting and start smiling. If there's something all of my siblings and I share, is our love of Ash.
"Can't I be happy that my little brother's pokemon reached his last evolutionary stage?" Lance asked, beaming at Ash, before grabbing him for a hug.
"And this has nothing to do with the fact that Flygon is a dragon?" Ash chuckled, melting into the hug.
"Well, it is your fault that you've waited four years before catching a Dragon-type!" Lance complained. "I've been waiting for a while now!"
"Sorry," Ash laughed in reply.
"Hey, your next opponent is Ilima. He seems to be some kind of idol from Alola," Lance commented. "Maybe he'll take some of the attention from you."
Lance might have been teasing my trainer, but Ash answered him seriously: "Please! Let him!" Which had the champion laughing and hugging Ash again.
"Do you know him?" Zangoose asked me.
"His name seems familiar," I hummed. "I think I heard some school girls chatting about him in the market one day."
"Oh, crashing him will be quite the delight then," Espeon smiled her scary smile, which sent shivers down my spine.
"Darling, Zangoose, and Hitmontop are next," luckily Sylveon was there to keep her in check.
"What a pity!" Espeon pouted, cuddling close to her chuckling mate.
Sooner than we would like we were called back to the battlefield. Rowlet and I were allowed out with Pikachu, as we were alolan pokemon and it was good for publicity. Pikachu was there because he was as much part of Ash's image as Ash himself. The moment Ilima entered the stage, a cheerleading squad appeared above his gate to cheer him up. I was stunned, who would have guessed that even with Ash here someone else would get cheering. Ash was ecstatic about not being the center of attention for once.
"Ash, doesn't this remind you of Gary's cheerleading squad?" Pikachu asked him, making both of them laugh, Espeon keeping up the telepathic connection all the way from the dressing room.
"At least, he seems to be humble, unlike Gary back then," Ash chuckled. "Not to mention, he is cuter."
"Don't let Gary hear you say that, or he'll get jealous," I commented while chuckling. I might be new around here, but even I have eyes.
"He won't mind, I prefer them... hot than cute," Ash replied, with a sly smile. I did not think Ash could smile like that. Neither did his fangirls from all the squealing he received.
"Are you ready?" Anna asked, smiling excitedly as both trainers took out their Poke Balls. "Let the battle begin!"
Zangoose and Hitmontop appeared on our side of the battlefield, while an Eevee and Kangaskhan appeared before our opponent. What is it with this competition and Eevee and their evolutions? Weren't they suppose to be rare? I've seen ten of them in just two days!
"Zangoose, Hitmontop, Close Combat!" Ash was quick to the start, the fighting combo and their teamwork were solid and a good way to start the battle. However, Ilima was quick to the uptake commanding Eevee to use Protect and Kangaskhan Focus Blast, which send my brothers back various yards. I winced when they hit the ground, that must have hurt! "Zangoose Revenge on Kangaskhan! Hitmontop Gyro Ball!" Ash did not let it bother him and went for the counterattack.
Kangaskhan went down and so did Eevee, but as Hitmontop was going back for another hit, Ilima called out: "Eevee, Double Team, and Swift! Kangaskhan Aerial Ace on Zangoose!" Eevee evaded the Gyro Ball with Double Team, before surrounding Hitmontop and bombarding him with Swift from every side. Zangoose was no better, having gotten hit by an Aerial Ace point-blank. My brothers were slower than ever, this festival has done wonders to all of our stamina, but even then we were starting to get tired from the continuous battles. Maybe next time we can spread the event around a whole week and give use more pairs. "Eevee, let's do this!" No, not another Z-move! I moaned internally. Alola sure loves them. I lamented as Ilima and Eevee got in position. "Extreme Evoboost!/Extreme Evoboost!"
Then the weirdest thing happened eeveelutions from all around the stadium came down and aided them on the Z-move. I could see that even Ash was shocked at the scene before us, so shocked that he did not call my brothers to move out of the way or anything. If it had not been for Zangoose's fast thinking to use Aerial Ace to evade the Z-move, he would have fainted alongside Hitmontop.
"Ok... that just happened," Ash murmured stunned, as he recalled my brother. "Is that even legal?" He inquired, as, thankfully, the eeveelutions left the battlefield. "You know what? I won't ask more, Z-moves are awesome!" He gave a full belly laugh, smiling predatory at Ilima, as both, Zangoose and him, got ready for their own Z-move. "Let's do this! Supersonic Skystrike!/Supersonic Skystrike!"
That did take down Eevee, but it seems that Kangaskhan took a page out of Zangoose's book and evaded the Z-move with an Aerial Ace. How much would you bet other trainers will now be doing the same thing? No bet? No one? Smart choice...
"Outrage!" Ilima called out, as soon as my brother landed back exhausted from his Z-move, as he recalled his Eevee.
"What?!/What?!/What?!/What?!" Ash, Pikachu, Zangoose, and I exclaimed at the same time.
Because, of course, the Kangaskhan knows Outrage!
To say the rest of the battle finished rapidly, would be an understatement. While Ash might be feeling delighted for having two interesting trainers to mentor during the Training Camp, I could not stop myself from feeling disappointed that we had lost again. Which was ridiculous, as the following eight battles were easily won by Espeon and Sylveon, that pair is truly terrifying, even by Ash's standards. We had won over 58 battles in the last two days, and those two losess were weighing on me.
And I did not even battle once!
That's what being part of a family means, I suppose. We share all; our losses, our wins, our sadness, and our joy.
I don't mind this feeling... if anything I like it.