Struggle in the Seafoam Islands

"Alright Milotic! Time for another swim!" The female trainer exclaimed, sending out the Tender Pokemon while standing in ankle-deep ocean water. As the serpentine Pokemon brought its head in and nuzzled up to its trainer's face, Alexa stroked her Pokemon's long blue hairfins.

"She did awesome in your battle against Blaine!" Bryce said, splashing through the water closer to the Hoenn Pokemon, while his new Omanyte dug into the sand on the beach behind him.

"Thanks," Alexa said, smiling at the boy, while the Shiny Milotic stood tall behind her. "Milotics's seen a couple of battles in her time with me." The teen said, thinking back to two seperate times; when it faced off against a Blaziken on one occasion, and a brutal Nidoking on the other. "Since we're about to head out, do you want to take her out on the water?"

"Really?" The boy asked, gazing up into the eyes of the Pokemon. "You'd let me ride her all by myself?"

"As long as you don't try to pull off any wave jumps," The teen said, pulling a new Pokeball off her belt as she strode through the water. "I don't wanna have to come in and rescue you."

"Fair enough," Bryce said, as the Pokemon elongated its body, allowing him to climb aboard. "But who are you bringing with you?" As he said this, he stuck out a single hand to return his fossil Pokemon on the beach.

"I have two options, but I'm gonna see how things play out first," The teen said. Giving the ball an underhand toss she called out: "Kabutops! Come on out!" The brown, armored Pokemon emerged from its capsule standing in the ankle-deep water. Throwing its blades out to either side and letting out a cry, the Pokemon's black eyes widened as it felt the Cinnabar Island waters splashing onto its legs. With joy, the Shellfish Pokemon jumped forwards into the waters, beginning a content float along the surface.

"He's funny," Bryce said, as the Fossil Pokemon drifted past them slowly, blowing bubbles from its mouth. "Definitely a lot calmer than earlier. You can really tell the water is its element."

"Yeah, not one of my brightest ideas," Alexa said. "He gets to see the world again, and woke up fighting inside a volcano." The girls said, staring out at the Pokemon. "On the bright side, Incineroar has a knack for putting away the opponents."

"That was incredible!" Bryce exclaimed as Milotic strode through the water. "Super tough, and strong! He made lifting an Emboar look easy!"

"I grew up watching the Masked Royal once I started living with Delia," Alexa said to the boy, as her new Kabutops paddled in closer to listen as well. "He's this masked Wrestling Character of a Trainer who hails from Alola! Him and his Incineroar are the toughest there is on the Alola Battle Royale circuit!"

"I've seen quite a few of his matches!" Bryce said.

"Tops?" The Fossil Pokemon said, slightly raising its head out of the water.

"Well, my brother's Incineroar was a rival to it. So I grew up hearing stories all about their matches together. Really made me want to own one for myself one day, so when I met an Alolan tourist looking to trade Pokemon, I couldn't refuse." Alexa said, drifting off to the day a tan skinned boy on the Indigo Plateau offered the Fire Type feline for one of her two Sudowoodos. As the two exchanged Pokemon from the lever-activated transfer system at the Pokemon Center, Alexa was excited to embark on her own journey with a Heel Pokemon at her side. "During his time as a Torracat, he was training at the side of Ash's Incineroar. And he evolved to help me out in Arceus's realm."

"Kabutops!" The Pokemon cheered, springing up to its two feet in the shin-deep water.

"Sounds epic, doesn't it?" Alexa said, making a fist, rallying up the Pokemon before her with excitement. "I'll let you in on some training with Incineroar if you want! Then we can find out if you like battling or not!"

"Kabu…" The Pokemon said, drifting off into thought. Appearing within its mind was the mental image of a saber-toothed bipedal feline, flexing its arms while letting out a roar. Seeing this as an apex Alpha of its terrain, Kabutops raised its arms and nodded its head.

"Sounds like a plan!" Alexa cheered. "Before we do that, I wanted to give you a chance to stretch out and swim in the open ocean! Think you're up for a Surf all the way to Fuschia City?"

"TOPS!" The Pokemon roared, throwing its scythes out to either side. Positioning itself in front of its trainer, the Pokemon allowed the girl to climb aboard its back, as it soon pushed off away from the beach and out into the wide sea in front of them.


Riding across the vast sea on the backs of Milotic and Kabutops, the pair of trainers caught their first sight of land- a pair of islands, each with an interconnecting cave system. As black storm clouds swirled above, the two made the decision to enter the caves, awaiting for safer passage before crossing the sea once again. Finding themselves in a cavern, whose walls were made up of blue shale, Alexa and Bryce sat before a tiny pile of sticks, collected from trees outside of the rainy cave opening.

"Alright Incineroar!" Alexa cheered. "Use… Ember!" The Alolan Pokemon made a guttural noise, as if it were channeling a wad of spit into its mouth. Spitting onto the kindling, a bright orange ember emerged from its mouth, landing onto the fuel, setting it ablaze within the cavern. Returning the Starter to its ball, Bryce and Alexa rubbed their hands together before sticking them out before the fire before them.

"It sure is cold in here…" Bryce said as his teeth chattered. "I learned in school that a lot of Kanto's Ice Types call this place home."

"I can see why," Alexa said, looking up at the glistening icicles that were positioned above their heads. "I'd rather take this than drowning in the ocean, though."

"Agreed," The ten year old said. "You think there are lots of wild Pokemon in this place?"

"I'm sure of it!" Alexa responded. "If you want, you can go exploring while I keep the fire going."

"Alright!" The boy cheered, popping up to his feet, peering down the long, dark tunnel before him. "An Ice Type will totally help me face Erika once we hit Celadon City!" Running down the dark corridor before him, Alexa now sat alone before the blazing fire.

Entering a meditative state, she pondered to herself, regarding the journey she was currently taking. 'Already thinking about Erika? Seems a bit early, but what do I know? Maybe it wouldn't hurt to put a bit more planning into my teams before I go into battle.'

'Nahhh, what am I saying? Everyone's done a great job so far! Electivire did amazing against Steelix! Incineroar put away Magmar and Emboar just fine! I'm sure the rest of the Leaders will be a breeze!... But… when I got overconfident… that led to Lucario getting hurt…' Alexa thought to herself as a mental image appeared in her mind. Experiencing a flashback, she watched on, reliving the memory of her partner Lucario, with gritted teeth covering its bloody face with its forearm.

"No!" The girl exclaimed, as her voice echoed throughout the cavern, soon coming to the realization that her heart was racing. Snapping back to the present-day, she took a deep breath before staring into the flickering flame before her. "Just another one of those dreams again…" The girl said to herself, catching her breath. "You're paranoid, Lex. Everything's gonna turn out just-" But before she could finish, a shrill voice pierced out through the cave. Coming from the direction that Bryce had bounded off towards. "Oh! Why'd I have to go and open my big mouth!" Springing up to her feet, she left her backpack at the side of the campfire, as she rushed off into the darkness before her.


As Alexa rushed through the Seafoam Caverns, calling out for the boy whom she had ventured in with, she prayed that he had not come across any sort of danger without her there. 'How could I be so stupid! The Pokemon here are pretty strong! Who was I thinking that he could handle himself like that!' As Alexa moved faster, trading coordination for speed, she suddenly lost her footing, having hit a slick patch of ice on the ground. Landing sprawled out on her back, she felt the wind get knocked out of her, staring up at the icy ceiling before her. Taking in a deep breath, she knew that aimlessly running would not be helping anyone.

'C'mon Alexa. Bryce is counting on you right now… It would sure help him out a lot if you narrowed your search area,' The teen thought to herself, rising up into a seated position. "It's been a while… but the Aura is my best bet of finding him." Rising up to her knees, Alexa placed her hands on her thighs as she tightly closed her eyes in an attempt to read the energy of the area around her. While it was faint, lingering even, she visualized a blue Aura before her, drifting low to the ground, continuing on the path before her. Locking onto it, she could tell that the source of it was somewhere below her very feet.

"What the hell?" The girl said, upon opening her blue eyes. Making a dash down the tunnel, she heard the sound of rushing water coming in through a wide hole in the floor. Lunging forwards to the edge, Alexa saw Bryce seated on an island in the middle of the rushing waves, of which the lower floors of the Seafoam Cave was notorious for. "Bryce! Are you alright?!"

"The ladder fell into the water!" The boy called up as his voice echoed over the waves. "I don't have anyone to get me up there!"

"Hang on! I'll come and getcha!" Alexa called down, as she retreated back up to her level to make a plan. 'Let's see… That current down there is probably too wild for Milotic to swim in. And neither Electivire or Incineroar could spring down, and jump back up here with him. Abra! I can have Abra Teleport down there!...' As she went for Abra's ball, it was not present on her belt. "Goddamnit! I sent Abra to the Lab so I could get my Kabutops!... Who do I choose? Who do I choose?!''

As the teen grew flustered, a Pokeball on her belt suddenly burst open, as a bipedal Pokemon stepped forwards to the mouth of the hole in the floor as the teen rambled on, paying her no mind. While she was lost in thought, a blue pulse of Aura sent off the Pokemon caused her to cease her thinking and turn. Seeing the canine Pokemon, it had a set of white bandages wrapped around its eyes, and yet acted as if it were staring down at the boy below.

"Lucario…" The teen said. "What are you doing!"

'I've remained still for long enough,' The Pokemon said, pausing, pointing its nose into the hole. While it could not physically see the lower room due to the wraps around its eyes, it could take in the sounds and Aura of the room below. Lucario then leapt down into the hole, prompting its trainer to lunge after it.

"Lucario, no!" She screamed, having a horrific flashback appear within her mind as it jumped.


Fighting side by side with Ash, Alexa had helped pin down Giovanni on his quest to capture Arceus. During a battle in which the universe hung in the balance, Alexa's very own partner would come face to face with the Criminal Mastermind, who's battle strategy was cold and callous.

While Lucario brought its clubs down onto Perrserker, the Galarian Pokemon countered by interlocking its claws to shield itself from the attack. Letting out a roar, Perrserker pushed back and kept Lucario off. Then, leaping forwards with its claws ready to strike, Perrserker slashed Alexa's partner across both of its eyes simultaneously. Lucario let out a cry as it felt the blinding pain of its foe tearing into the flesh on its face.

"Lucario! Are you alright?!"

'Alexa… I- I can't see!'

"How ignorant,'' Giovanni's cold voice said, ringing out in her mind. "You thought that you could outclass my Perrserker with a type advantage, and look at where it got you."


'No!' Alexa thought, scooting back up to the wall. 'I can't let Lucario get hurt again!'

However, the Aura Pokemon below was not in any immediate danger. Lucario hit the ground, landing next to the young boy positioned in the middle. Feeling the ground under its feet, it sent a pulse of Aura outwards from its soles.

'15 meter diameter,' The Pokemon said to itself after checking the diameter of the island they were on. Then raising its two hands, it sent a pulse of Aura, like a sonar, up towards the ceiling of the room. 'And 25 meters high. I can work with this.'

"You must be Alexa's partner!" Bryce cried out with a joyous smile. "So nice to finally meet you!"

"Lucario," Was all that Bryce could hear in response, as the blinded Pokemon nodded its head. Walking up behind the boy, it stuck out a palm reading the Auras of the Pokemon from the balls within his belt. Picking the second one from the left, Lucario unclasped it and handed it over to Bryce.

"You want me to send out Bulbasaur?!" The boy exclaimed. "How did you even know this was my Bulbasaur?!" The boy said, clutching his ball in one hand. Bonking the kid on the top of his head with its hand, Lucario directed his focus back into the moment at hand. "Right; Sorry; Getting out of here!"

Tossing the ball forwards, the Grass Type Pokemon joined the blind Lucario and Trainer on the pedestal of shale. Picking up Bulbasaur, Lucario held it in one arm, motioning for Bryce to unzip his backpack so that his Bulbasaur may partially stick out of it.

'Alright little one,' The Aura Pokemon said, staring at the face of the Starter Pokemon. 'I'll need you to wrap your vines around your trainer and-'

"Lucario! What are you doing down there!?" Alexa shouted down into the hole, with a hint of anger in her voice.

'Ugh! It's fine, Lex! I'm just getting them out of here!' The Pokemon responded with exasperation in its voice, moving its head to the direction of her voice. 'Send out Hitmonlee!'

"What you are doing is incredibly reckless, Mister!" Alexa shouted, pointing a finger down into the hole. "I'm gonna throw out Hitmonlee to help you guys, but once we're done here we're going to have a long conversation about this!" The teen said, pulling out the Kantonian Fighting Type's Pokeball. Standing with a set of crossed arms, with its toes curling off of the hole's ledge, the black eyes of the Pokemon peered down into it.

'Seems as if they've gotten into some trouble,' Hitmonlee's voice said within its trainer's mind, as she could hear it through the Aura around her.

"You're telling me," The girl responded to the Pokemon. "Just help him!"

'On it,' Hitmonlee said with a tip off its brow as it sprung into the hole with a front flip. Leaping down, its coiled legs hit the floor long before the Pokemon did. Landing beside the boy and the Aura Pokemon, Hitmonlee entered a conversation with its teammate over the roaring waters around them. 'Lucario. Great to see you again.'

'You too, my master,' The bandage-eyed Lucario said, bowing its head in respect. 'Shall we?'

'Let's.'

The pair of fighting types sprung into action as they hoisted Bryce into Hitmonlee's arms bridal-style, resting his Bulbasaur within the pack on his belly. The Grass Type starter wrapped its green vines tightly around the chest and waist of its trainer, before giving a readied nod.

'25 meters high. Let's get this kid safely out of here!' Lucario thought to himself. 'Go!' The Pokemon barked out, as it slammed its palm into the ground before it, sending out a pulse of blue Aura. Emerging from the ground below Hitmonlee's feet was a pedestal of earth flat enough to stand on, allowing for Hitmonlee to have a higher vantage point.

Hitmonlee then sprung upwards, carrying the boy while keeping its feet planted on the ground. Extending upwards to an incredible length, Hitmonlee's coiled legs carried the trio up higher and higher towards the ceiling, and their exit. As soon as the hole was about five meters out, Hitmonlee tossed the boy upwards when its legs could carry it no more.

"Now Bulbasaur!" Bryce cried out, as adrenaline filled his body. "Use Vine Whip!"

"Bulba!" His partner exclaimed, keeping a tight wrap around its trainer, as the entrance grew even closer. Just as they passed through the opening, Bulbasaur shot two additional vines from its bulb, wrapping them around a jagged rock next to Alexa. Quickly reeling the vines back in, Bryce and his Bulbasaur were pulled far away from the hole and back into the original cavern. All in a matter of seconds.

Hitting the floor, with his Bulbasaur on his chest, Bryce wrapped his arms around the Pokemon that helped in his rescue. Laying on his back Bryce exclaimed: "Oh my Arceus, Bulbasaur! You are my rescuer! I love you! I love you! I love you!"

"Bulba-saur!" The Pokemon excitedly cheered as it nuzzled into his chest.

"Bryce!" Alexa exclaimed, kneeling down at the side of the boy and Pokemon, embracing him in a protective hug. "That's it! I'm never letting you out of my sight again!"

"We're alright Miss Alexa!" The boy said as his mentor released her grasp. "We went chasing after a Slowpoke!... But then fell down a slippery ladder. Then it fell into the current… Your Lucario and Hitmonlee really gave us a hand down there, though!"

'What do you say my old apprentice? Shall we escape out of here?' Hitmonlee uttered to its companion on the cavern's isle.

'Let's,' The blindfolded Lucario said as it made a dash towards the Kantonian Fighting Type, who had interlocked its fingers giving a nod of its head. With a leap that planted a single foot into Hitmonlee's hand, the Kanto Pokemon threw its arms up, assisting in the launch of Lucario.

Now airborne blasting a singular pulse of Aura from its soles to further propel it, Lucario locked onto the exit hole, sensing the unseen blue Aura flowing beyond it. However, in Lucario's plane of viewing the surrounding world, the blue figure of its female trainer appeared staring down at it.

"Lucario, return!" Alexa shouted, jutting out her partner's Pokeball. From the orange and white orb in her hands, a red beam of light exited, striking her airborne Pokemon on the chest. Enveloped in the red glow, Lucario disappeared from the cavern as it reentered the Pokeball in Alexa's hand.

Clipping the ball back to her belt, Alexa turned away from the hole and proceeded to take several steps back towards Bryce, who stared up at the trainer from his seated position. Soon after, her Hitmonlee appeared behind her, after jumping a great height to return to them.

"Hitmonlee, you did great," The teen said in a cold tone as she returned the Pokemon to its ball from over her shoulder. "C'mon. Let's get out of here." Alexa said, passing the boy as she began to walk down the dark, shale cavern. Springing up to their feet, Bryce and his Bulbasaur quickly gave chase to the trainer leading the way.


Alexa stood with her arms crossed, leaning up against the chilly cavern wall, staring out into the torrential downpour outside. With her leg crooked, while tapping the wall with her left foot to pass the time, it didn't look like the storm was going to clear up anytime soon. Across from her, in a seated position with his sleeping Bulbasaur in his lap was her apprentice, who was learning more and more about his new teacher every day.

Alexa remained silent, clearly emotional in some way from Lucario's appearance earlier. Was this out of anger? Sadness? Or something else…

"So- your Lucario's pretty neat," Bryce spoke up, breaking the silence, but unable to find something else to talk about.

"Bryce. I don't want to talk about him right now."

"Sorry." Once again, silence fell on the two. "So… You're mad because Lucario broke out of its ball to save me-" This remark ceased Alexa's foot tapping. "-but what was your plan to help me out of that hole?"

"I- I don't know," Alexa said. "I'm having some doubts about the current roster I have now. In the wilds like this, you need a team adapted for any occasion. If I had Abra on me, I could have gotten you in and out in the flash of a Teleport."

"But Hitmonlee was the one who helped me out. Why didn't you just send him out right off the bat?"

"I guess it's because… I wasn't thinking straight," Alexa said in a disheartened tone. "Lucario's a leader. He can read a situation and plan accordingly… So much better than I can."

"I can tell your Lucario is super capable! Just because he's blind doesn't-"

"That's enough, Bryce!" Alexa shouted, making her voice reverberate into the tunnel. "I just can't… Can we please move on from this conversation."

"I'm sorry, Miss Alexa," The boy said, dropping his head.

"Hey- look. The sun's coming out," Alexa said, directing the boy's attention to the outside world.

Looking out, Bryce saw the dark grey clouds begin to disperse. The storm had come to a halt, and golden rays of sun began to shine through. "Looks like we're safe to travel again," The mentor said, pulling her student back up to his feet. The pair then began their walk onto the shores of the Seafoam Island they resided on. Tossing out her Shiny Milotic, the pair climbed aboard the long serpent's back, speeding off on the ocean once more. Traveling in an unintended North-Easterly direction…


Author's Note- And Lucario has revealed itself! The sixth member of Alexa's team and her partner Pokemon has taken the field (on its own nonetheless.)

What will the Journey look like for Alexa and Bryce on the road ahead?