"Oh?" The egg in Alex's arm shook and the shell began to crack. She placed it on the ground, watching excitedly as the shell splintered and broke open, revealing an Eevee. Alex gasped. "An Eevee, how cute!" She held her arms out to the baby Pokemon, which was looking at her curiously. "Come here, can I hug you?" The Eevee cocked its head to the side, as though it didn't understand her. Alex chuckled. "I guess life is pretty confusing when you're just entering it, huh?" She took out a Pokeball and put it inside. "Well, now we have a new friend! Let's keep going!"

Alex was now on Route 5. Brooklet Hill, the location of the next trial, was close. The path turned to the left, and Alex could see a Pokemon Center in the distance. She moved along the path and slowed her pace when she saw two figures ahead: Hau and a boy Alex had not seen before.

Hau chuckled and put his hands behind his head. "Man, I lost again!"

The new boy had such a serious expression. "Are you even taking this seriously?" he said sternly.

"I am! So seriously! I'm seriously enjoying it!"

There was a pause. The boy closed his eyes. "Enjoying it?" He narrowed his eyes at Hau. "You can enjoy Pokemon battling when you put everything you have into it... which clearly you haven't."

What a serious guy! It was like he was the complete opposite of Hau. Alex moved closer to the two. "Whoa! Hey, Alex!" Hau said when he saw her. "This guy is plenny scary!"

The boy reacted to her name, folding his arms and looking at her. "You're Alexandra?"

Alex blinked and looked at him. "Wait, you know who I am?"

The boy snorted. "Not very cautious. Even some Pokemon have a better sense of self-preservation than you apparently do."

Alex frowned. "Excuse me?"

"I'm Gladion," he continued, ignoring her. "Me and my partner, Type: Null, are training to get stronger... We have to get stronger! Though most of our time these days goes to working for Team Skull as their muscle."

Wait, he was part of Team Skull? He wasn't a bumbling idiot like the ones she had encountered until now... This guy was actually a bit intimidating.

"Battle me," Gladion said. "I won't take no for an answer."

Gladion furrowed his brows, holding his head in one hand. "It's not like me to slip up like that. I've got to keep fighting stronger opponents. Looks like I'm still not ready..."

Alex tilted her head to the side. "What? What are you talking about?"

Gladion's eyes shifted to Hau. "That kid there. His Pokemon aren't weak. And sure, it's fine to enjoy battling... But this brat..." he narrowed his eyes, "he's just using that as an excuse not to try hard because he can't beat the kahuna. Because he can't beat Hala when he's serious!"

Hau grinned and put his hands behind his head. "You know my gramps? Wait, so you think I'mm strong?"

"Aww, look at you, little Gladion!" a voice said. "Aren't you just a real cool guy? Hehehe..." A pair of Team Skull members approached the group.

"I guess it's no surprise a homeless kid would turn out spineless too, huh?" the second member sneered. "No worries! We've got enough backbone to cover you!"

Alex glanced at Gladion. Homeless? Is that why he was working for Team Skull?

The duo moved to Gladion. "Just give it up already," Gladion said to the grunt, his back turned to Alex.

"Huh?"

"You know you can't beat me. You'll just get your Pokemon hurt for no reason," Gladion said, giving the grunt a piercing glancing. "They're good Pokemon."

The second grunt shrugged. "We came all this way, and for what? For a big fat waste of our time, thanks to you. If you hadn't gotten in our way, we could've stolen the Totem Pokemon from Brooklet Hill!" The girl grunt snorted. "Let's get out of here. Look, the Murkrow are crying, and it's time we should be flying." She turned and began to walk away.

The first grunt huffed and put his hands on his hips. "Listen up good, Gladion... The boss does like you. That's true. But you're just hired help we keep around when we need you. You aren't a part of Team Skull, not really. And you never will be. Got it? You better get it." Gladion remained silent, and the grunt walked off. Gladion, with an indifferent expression, followed after.

Alex frowned. The more she saw of Team Skull, the less she liked them. They were so mean to... everyone, Pokemon and people alike!

Hau looked at Alex and smiled. "Thanks, Alex. And Dartrix, too. You both gave it your all!" He sighed. "Looks like I've gotta train up my team if I'm gonna take on the trial at Brooklet Hill next!"

Alex nodded. "Yeah, I think I'll be doing the same."

"Here, Alex, take these with you. We're gonna beat this island challenge!" Hau said confidently, giving her more healing items for her Pokemon.

Alex grinned and took the items. "Absolutely! Let's do our best!" Hau returned her grin and ran off, as he always did.

She finally reached the Pokemon Center just outside Brooklet Hill. She healed her Pokemon and looked around, seeing a girl standing by the bowl each Pokemon Center had, which was filled with water and red flowers. Curious, Alex approached her. The girl looked over at her. "Hey, hey, did you know?" the girl said, gesturing at the water bowl. "There's a secret about the flowers in the water bowl!"

Alex blinked and looked at the bowl curiously. "Really? What is it?"

"You see, the flowers..." the girl trailed off. The door to the Center opened and a Comfey floated in. It looked around and floated over to the two girls. It cried out and floated over the bowl, then dropped a few flowers into the water. It looked at the girls and waved. Oh my, that's adorable! "As you saw, they belong to Comfey! They have a healing effect, so they're great to have in a Pokemon Center! It always brings flowers in the morning, to help heal everyone who comes here!"

"Oooh," Alex awed and smiled at the Comfey. "That's amazing! That's very sweet of you, little friend. Thanks!"

The Comfey cried happily, flipping over the flowers. "Comfey is so caring," the girl continued, "it uses Floral Healing the momeny any Pokemon are near, just in case!"

"Oh! Come on, Comfey!" the nurse behind the counter snapped. "Just because your Ability is Triage doesn't mean you can go ahead and heal other people's Pokemon! That's my job!" The Comfey frowned. Alex frowned as well, glancing back at the nurse. Well that was rude... She sighed and left the Pokemon Center. She took a deep breath and walked into the area marked as Brooklet Hill.

The first thing she encountered was a pond with a wooden bridge across it, the lake itself contained between rocky walls. Alex crossed the bridge and approached the path marked by the trial pillars. A young girl stood there, blocking the path. The girl glanced up at Alex when she approached. "Hello, I'm Lana," she said. "I serve as the captain of Brooklet Hill." Alex's eyes widened. This girl is the captain? She's so young! "So, trial-goer... Will you be attempting my trial?"

Alex nodded. "Definitely."

Lana smiled, and all Alex could think was how cute she looked. "Then I will explain the trial to you. My particular trial is this... I wan you to herd the Pokemon found in the pools of Brooklet Hill, driving them downstream to draw out the Totem Pokemon. If I might be so blunt, they are Wishiwashi." Alex tilted her head to the side, wondering what that looked like. "It's Wishiwashi I want you to herd... but I won't expect you to swim through all the pools yourself. I have a lovely gift to help you."' Lana asked to see Alex's Ride Pager. She added something to it and returned it. "If you climb atop Lapras theree, you will be able to travel over bodies of water. Now you'll be able to help drive those Pokemon downstream for me!" Alex looked down at the pager in her hand. Wow, that sounds really helpful.

Lana turned to look down the path leading deeper into Brooklet Hill. "So if you're ready... please follow me this way." Alex nodded and followed after her.

Alex was lead to a lake that tiered down into bigger ones. Lana looked over at her. "So you made it..." She paused. "Ah, I'm sorry. What was your name?" Alex told her. "Of course! Alexandra! It's a lovely name. Just lovely."

Alex smiled. "Thanks."

Lana turned to face the lake. "Now, then. Do you see those two splashes over there?" Alex looked to the lake as well. There was indeed two spots in the water, something moving under the water to disturb the calm surface. "I'm thinking that at least one of them might contain a Wishiwashi. In fact, it's likely both might be. Don't you agree?"

Alex shrugged. "I have no idea, really."

"Would you try to drive them downstream with a little help from Lapras?"

Alex nodded and called the Lapras on the pager, then climbed onto its back when it came. "All right, let's see..." She looked over the lake again, directing the Lapras towards one of the splashing spots. When she came close, a Dewpider popped out of the water. She frowned at it. "You're not what I'm looking for. Get out of here!" The Dewpider cried out and dove back under the water. She then turned the Lapras towards the other splashes and saw a Wishiwashi flailing under the water. "There you are." She directed Lapras towards the little fish Pokemon, and it swam down the stream that lead down to the next lake.

"Well, this is a lovely surprise!" Lana called out. "You're quite the trainer, Alexandra! Please carry on driving the Wishiwashi downstream just like that." Alex nodded and continued down to the next lake.

Once again, there were two splashes disturbing the water's surface. She approached the first splash, and saw the next Wishiwashi. "There you are!" She did the same as with the first, and it swam downstream.

She blinked when she felt something wet landed on her cheek. She looked up, seeing rain beginning to fall from the gray clouds that quickly appeared. "Wow... that moved in quick." She looked downstream and continued.

The last body of water was connected to the ocean. Lana ran after her, stopping at the shore. "Alexandra, look there! Yes, over there!" There was only one splash this time. "It would see we succeeded in drawing out the Totem Pokemon!" She glanced at Alex. "Strike against the totem with all your strength, and seize victory!" Alex grinned and nodded, moving to the splashing water.

The rain started to fall harder. She water was clear, and see could see many Wishiwashi swarming together, their shadows merging into a bigger form. "What are they doing?" Alex mumbled, watching the shadow grow even bigger. Another shadow formed behind it, even bigger than the Wishiwashi. It darted towards the first shadow and covered it. Wishiwashi leapt out of the water and disbursed, as if trying to escape the second shadow.

The second shadow began to surface. Alex cried out and fell back on the Lapras as the giant Pokemon towered over her. The Totem Pokemon was a giant Araquanid!

Alex sighed in relief, wiping a mixture of sweat and rain off her forehead. The Araquanid was defeated. "That was a hard one..." she said to herself, patting Lapras on the back. "Thanks for the help." She looked up when a stream of sunlight broke through the clouds, and the gray cover began to float away. The rain was stopping as well. Was that all because of the Totem Pokemon? Lana was still at the shore, waving for Alex to come to her. "Very well done, Alexandra!" she called out. "Please come back this way!"

"With pleasure," Alex mumbled to herself, then had Lapras swim her to the shore.

"What a very surprising surprise... Who would have thought it?" Lana mused. "That all those Wishiwashi gathering would have summoned an Araquanid, that is." Oh, I thought she was talking about my winning for a minute... Lana chuckled softly. "Even I was caught- hook, line, and sinker!" The girl smiled. "You were amazing, Alexandra. Truly impressive. Please take this." She held out her hand. There, in her palm, shined the Waterium Z crystal.

"Yes!" Alex cheered, taking the crystal into her hand.

"You do know what this is, don't you?" Lana asked.

"Of course!"

"Watch. This is how you use Waterium Z." She waved her arms, like the dancers in Alola, as though suggesting the waves. "And I have more than just that to offer you. Another for clearing my trial..." She picked up something from the sand. "Here, this is a Lana original. One of my own handmade fishing rods."

Alex gasped and took the rod. "You made this?" she asked, looking it over. It was a well crafted piece. "I can catch more water types now!"

"If you want to catch any of the Pokemon you fish up for your team, I recommend Dive balls," Lana said. She held up a small bag, which contained 10 of the mentioned balls. Alex took the bag and bowed her head gratefully.

Lana put her hands on her hips and closed her eyes. "By the way... Did you know I once reeled in a red Gyarados?"

Alex paused, looking at the girl. "Did you really?" she asked skeptically.

Lana chuckled. "Well, what do you think?" I guess it's not impossible... "You did a fine job today. Shall I see you back to the Pokemon Center on Route 5?"

Alex nodded. "Yes, please. That Araquanid really kicked my butt."

Lana smiled and nodded as well. "Good. Let's get going, then, and you can always do a spot of fishing later."

Lana led Alex back through Brooklet Hill and back to the Pokemon Center on Route 5. "Next is Kiawe's trial. It will take place at Wela Volcano Park."

Alex widened her eyes. I have to go up on a volcano or something?!

"Oh, and that reminds me... Did you see any Sudowoodo by Paniola Ranch? They were causing some trouble for people, so I gave them a little dose of Z-power, using my Waterium Z. Just a little lesson for them. I wonder how they will react now that they see that you have Waterium Z, too?" Lana grinned mischievously and walked back into Brooklet Hill.