Chapter 12: Discovery of the Sea Gauntlet!
Last time on "Pokémon Alola Journey", Kaito kept himself isolated from the others on a quiet morning, when he revealed his aquakinesis powers to the others yesterday. After some comfort from Shizuka however, Kaito suddenly became determined to find the answers of his powers and visions.
But before he and Buizel left, the mother of Kaito requested the Water Type to protect his human brother, now that his powers were discovered, causing Buizel to accept the request as both he and the Alola boy headed for the Melemele Library.
But as the two got there however, they ran into both Lana and Lillie, as the girls were researching about Kaito's aquakinesis abilities, ever since theyve seen it when Kaito used it against Team Rocket to save the Marine Pokémon.
As Lillie read the story about the Alolan Sea Kingdom involving King Kaisuke and his family, Kiawe joined up with the three, as Lillie explained about the Undersea Ruins.
It seemed to be the location of where all secret sea treasures were stored, which could possibly be the gift that King Triton had for his son, the Prince of the Alolan Sea. At the mentioning of the Ruins, Lana remembered about a marine biologist that could help them get there.
With the four students making their decision to head for the Undersea Ruins, Kaito, Kiawe, and Lillie meets Liana Summers, the biologist who seems to know Lana a little. As the four explain about their reasons of seeing her, Liana agreed to help them, as she guided them to her submarine!
But, just as the five were making their trip underwater, no one noticed a group of trio from Team Skull plotting to take the sea treasure for themselves! The competition was on, until Kaito and the others discover the Undersea Ruins in front of their eyes.
"Don't worry, kids... I'm sure we're almost there! I've located the Undersea Ruins by using the submarine's coordinates to find it before we started moving. We should be able to see it right... now!" Liana said as she caused everyone to look and see where she was looking at!
The four students all widened their eyes along with Buizel and Popplio. In front of them, seemed to be an underwater ruins... There were some pillars, and broken statues that seemed to symbolize the merpeople. And straight ahead, was an entrance of some sort.
Some Water Types were swimming around the ruins, as if they didn't care on what it was. "Is that the place? Is that... the Undersea Ruins?" Kaito asked as Liana gave a small nod in affirmation as she confirmed Kaito's hopes and belief.
"Yes, Kaito... That's the place. The Undersea Ruins..." Liana said as Lana, Lillie, and Kiawe all watched in amazement. For the Alola boy, he watched in awe with Buizel on his shoulder. Now that they were here, he would finally solve the puzzle of his visions and his powers!
"The Sea King's gift to the Prince of the Alolan Sea... It has to be in there, then..." Kaito spoke, as Buizel kept a close eye on it. "Bui..." Buizel said as he was determined to help his human brother achieve his goals of solving the puzzle.
"It's huge..." Lana commented as Popplio expressed its agreement as well. Lillie and Kiawe couldn't say anything at seeing this, as they were only impressed and amazed with how the temple looked as the marine biologist began to head inside the entrance to the temple.
As soon the sub headed inside, the four students noticed some unknown writing on the wall street as they passed through as Kiawe noticed on how weird the writing looked. "What are these writings on the walls?" Kiawe asked as Liana explained.
"I believe these writings were from the merpeople that discovered the ruins for the first time. It's something about the ruins, and on how protected it is, for those that want to explore it..." Liana explained as Lillie blinked at hearing Liana's words.
"Huh? Does this mean, there are Water Type Pokémon inside these ruins?" Lillie asked as Liana just smiled, before confirming Lillie's thoughts with her answer.
"Yes... From what the story said about the Alolan Sea Kingdom, after the Prince went missing, some of the Water Type Pokémon used their time to guard the ruins, so that no intruder would be able to touch or seek the treasure that belonged to the Prince." Liana explained.
Kaito gave a glance at the marine biologist, as he realized that Liana was aware of the Sea Kingdom story and about the merpeople as he noticed something up ahead when he turned to where Liana was facing.
"Mrs. Summers...? Is that light up ahead?" Kaito asked as he pointed to where light was coming from the surface as the marine biologist nodded. "Yes... We should be able to surface from up here and see what the Ruins is truly like in the inside once we're out of the sub." Liana explained.
With that said, she drove the sub to head for the surface as they broke through, causing the four students to widen their eyes at what the ruins was like on the surface. There were some pillars and blue crystals, with two pathways up ahead, one pointing left and the other pointing right.
The left pathway had two Floatzel statues next to the entrance while the right pathway had two Relicanth statues next to the entrance. Kaito, Kiawe, Lillie, and Lana all got out of the sub, with Liana following them as Kiawe noticed the two pathways.
"Great... So, there are two pathways... How do we know which is the right path?" Kiawe asked as Liana folded her arms, before she made a suggestion. "Why don't we split up? That way, it'll be much easier to see which path is the right one." Liana suggested.
Lillie frowned as she remembered of what Liana said about Water Pokémon guarding the Ruins. "Um... Mrs. Summers? Would it be alright then, if I go with you? I'm not exactly comfortable with the wild Pokémon around..." Lillie asked nervously.
Kaito sweat dropped as he face palmed with the excuse Lillie was making to hide her fear as he spoke sternly. "Lillie... When do you think you can drop that fear of yours? It's starting to become a headache..." Kaito asked as Lillie frowned at Kaito's words.
"I-I know... But I can't help it..." Lillie said as the marine biologist smiled at the timid girl as she agreed to let her come with her. "That's fine, Lillie. You can stay with me. Believe it or not, I'm a strong Pokémon Trainer myself!" Liana reassured softly.
Lillie nodded thankfully as the marine biologist assigned the other three to head for the other pathway. "Lillie and I will head to the pathway where the Relicanth statues are... You three, can you head to the pathway where the Floatzel statues are?" Liana asked.
"That's fine." Kiawe said, with Kaito and Lana nodding along. With the agreement settled, the two groups headed to their pathways, both hoping to reunite with each other later on as the underwater expedition was about to begin for the group.
Kaito's POV
As we parted from Mrs. Summers and Lillie, I couldn't help but feel whether Lillie would be okay or not. If she were to let her fear get to her, then it's going to be a very serious problem for both her and Mrs. Summers, whether the marine biologist was strong or not.
But as Kiawe, Lana, and I continue to walk with Popplio and Buizel at our sides, I knew that I had to focus on dealing with what could be up ahead. As we were walking, Kiawe was taking the lead as he looked around carefully, aware of the risks of one mistake.
"Be careful around here, guys... There could be traps here to-"
CREAK
Just as he was about to finish his words... he just had to step on a plate that activated the trap... didn't he?!
He paralyzed himself because of that as both Lana and I looked around in shock as I snapped at my classmate for jinxing himself. "What were you saying!? Be careful of traps!?" I snapped at Kiawe, who sweat dropped at his own mistake.
Then, before he could respond back, there was rumble on the ground as Buizel and Popplio got onto the ground, preparing to fight on what's coming! We all turned to the direction to where the rumbling was happening until the three of us and the two Water Types saw what was coming!
On our left, was some sort of... FLOOD!?
"Wh... Gah! Move, move, move!" I yelled as I ran ahead, pulling both Lana and Kiawe with me as the two ran as well. Popplio got back onto Lana, getting onto her head while Buizel got onto my left shoulder as the flood was starting to catch up on us!
"It's catching up to us! We'll never get through this at this rate!" Kiawe grunted as he kept running. Suddenly, as we were running, Lana noticed a fork up ahead! "A fork on the road! Guys, let's split up!" Lana shrieked as she ran ahead.
As the three of us kept running, Kiawe took the left path along with Lana and Popplio! But for me, I somehow ran in the other pathway, heading for the right! By the time I realized my mistake of splitting with the others, it was already too late.
"Kiawe! Lana!" I yelled as Buizel cried out for Popplio. But as I spoke, the flood started to get closer until a stone door slammed down, coming from up above! It blocked the flood, but prevented me from going back. "Dammit!" I ran to the door and slammed onto it.
Buizel did the same, using his body to try and move the stone door, only for no results to occur. At realizing that we were getting nowhere even with our efforts, I gave up on trying to open back the door, as I slumped down with my back against it.
"Bui...?" Buizel said as he watched me in concern as I began to curse myself for letting this all happen. "Dammit... What... What now? Now it's just the two of us, separated from the others..." I said annoyingly as Buizel frowned. He's always like that... Worrying about me when I get upset about something.
He came over to me and nudged his nose against my cheek, touching the twin black marks on the process. I blinked, as I turned to him, seeing his worried expression as he offered to give a hug. I could only smile weakly as I accepted it, causing the two of us to embrace each other.
"How did it come to this, Bui...?" I asked my best friend as Buizel looked up at me in confusion. While he asked with a 'Bui', I looked up to see the stony ceiling of the Ruins, as I explained about the question I asked.
"This all happened because if my selfish desire to learn about my connection... My connection to the Prince of the Alolan Sea... And about my powers... Could this all have happened because of me?" I asked as Buizel widened his eyes, before he quickly shook his head in protest.
"Bui! Bu bu bui! Bu bui!" Buizel protested, his sudden tone change surprising me. In all my life when I met Buizel the first time, I've never seen him this protesting before, as his eyes showed on how serious he was on letting me take the blame for all this mess.
"If you're saying that it's not my fault, then... I want to believe that... But, don't you get it? Lillie, Lana, and Kiawe all got dragged into the mess that I was supposed to handle alone, especially since it had to do with me..." I started to say until Buizel gave a pouty face.
Oh no... Once he makes that face, he...
"Bui!" He called out as he used his right paw to call up some rain clouds to float above and pour rain on me, causing me to yelp in surprise for the sudden rain again. "H-Hey, Buizel! Stop that!" I yelled as I tried to get away, only for the clouds to keep following me.
But as I was starting to get wet from the shower I was getting, I noticed the look Buizel was giving me with his eyes and face expression, as if he was telling me to make up my mind and forget about blaming myself for all the troubles that happened so far.
Forgetting about the Rain Dance that was pouring onto me, I suddenly began to realize that I was being scared for nothing. Even if Buizel and I were apart from Kiawe and Lana, there's still a chance for the two of us to reunite with them, along with Lillie and Mrs. Summers.
Heck, if they were here right now, Kiawe would probably be teasing me for giving up already, while Lillie and Lana would try to encourage me to get up. I don't know about Mrs. Summers, but she would probably act soft, while stern at the same time.
By the time Buizel recognized me face as he realized that I began to change my thoughts, he commanded the rain to stop, causing the Rain Dance to end, while leaving me drenched a little in the process. "Bui? Bu bui?" Buizel asked as I could only smile, realizing on what Buizel was trying to do.
"I'm fine now, Bui... I think... I know on what you're trying to say. Have faith in the others and move on, right?" I asked as Buizel only smiled to that question and nodded back, as if confirming my thoughts to what he was trying to tell me.
I shook some of the water off of me as I knelt down to my partner, giving him a thankful look for the encouragement. "Thanks, Bui. I think I can move on right now." I said reassuringly as Buizel nodded back, with me allowing him to climb up to my left shoulder.
With my decision settled, I began to move on ahead, deeper into the Undersea Ruins, so I could get even closer to my answer of my connection with the Prince of the Alolan Sea.
As I kept moving down to the Ruins, I kept looking around cautiously, in case if there could be traps around here somewhere. I didn't want anything else to happen like what Kiawe did when he accidentally caused a flood to happen.
But as I kept moving, I saw a faint light up ahead as Buizel seemed to notice as well. Moving at my usual pace with Buizel remaining on my left shoulder, I reached to where the light was coming from. As I came to where it was, I widened my eyes to see a large corridor.
On the two walls, there seemed to be paintings of the underwater world, along with words that I've never seen before. But, even with me not knowing the language... I felt like... I've known this for a long time.
"What is this place...?" I asked Buizel as the Sea Weasel Pokémon was awed as I was. I could tell by that even Buizel didn't seem to know this place as well... Wait, what am I saying? Of course he wouldn't know, considering this is his first time here, too...
Why am I feeling this way? Is the truth coming to me closer than I imagined? Was that the reason why I was thinking a bit weirdly right now? I didn't know what else to think I shook my head, trying to get my mixed thoughts out of my brain, as I slowly began to walk through.
As I passed through each pictures, each of them seemed to show the story of the legends of the Undersea Ruins as I kept walking. As I did so, more words were shown, written on the walls as they seemed to be describing on what was happening.
I stopped for a moment for each section, trying to understand on what it's saying as I kept on moving. I may not have come here before, but for some reason... I felt as though I've known this place for quite a while...
As Buizel and I kept walking, we soon reached the end of the corridor, arriving at a large room where there were water surrounding the land. "Whoa..." was all I could say or think of as the room were filled with aquatic crystals... The sight was something that couldn't be forgotten at all.
But just as I was getting ahead of myself from the pretty sight, Buizel tapped me on the shoulder, catching my attention as I turned to him. "What is it?" I asked as my best friend pointed ahead. "Bu bui!" Buizel cried out, as he seemed to be excited about something.
I turned to where he was pointing at, where there seemed to be a large pedestal with some sort of a treasure on top of it. As I approached it to take a closer look, it seemed to be... a golden armband?
The golden armband seemed to look like a gauntlet. And with the size of it, it looked like it could pass through my hand and fit perfectly on my wrist. What I didn't notice, was that when I approached the golden armband, my Waterium-Z on the Z-Ring began to glow on and off.
"Is this... the treasure of the Undersea Ruins? The gift that King Kaisuke was planning to give to his son?" I asked as Buizel was awed by the looks of it. While Buizel was awed, I noticed the words on the pedestal as I narrowed my eyes to take a closer look at it.
Surprisingly, I was somehow able to read what it said, despite the fact that's it was the same language as the ones I passed in the corridor.
"The Sea Gauntlet... A gift to the royal family of the Alolan Sea Kingdom... The Gauntlet that shall only be used for those that are connected to the sea and to the royal family. Those who wear this gauntlet shall be given tremendous amount of power from the sea, as the one who wears it, must unlock the secrets before wielding it as the true master of it..."
That's what it seemed to say as I turned to see Buizel giving me a shocked, but impressed look, like he was surprised to see me reading the unknown text. "Oh... Uh... Well, that's what it says, Bui... I just... don't know how I understand it..." I tried to say.
But Buizel seemed to understand immediately as he nodded with a smile. I sighed in relief... I didn't need a good friend or "brother" of mine to doubt me right now, especially since he trusts me the most.
As I walked up the steps to where the pedestal was, I felt as if, the Gauntlet was calling to me... I don't know how to describe it, but... for some reason, I felt as if something was calling me for a while when my friends and I had reached the Undersea Ruins with Mrs. Summers.
And as I was getting deeper, the call was getting clearer as I thought I heard my name from that call.
"Bui? Bu bui?" Buizel asked, as he was confused on what I was doing. Jerking my hand back from the gauntlet, I shook my head. "Tch... Was this how greedy people were tempted when they were near the treasure they were searching for...?" I grumbled.
I realized that I had to stop myself from being tempted... Otherwise, there would be no going back for me if I were to become one of the morons that loved treasure better than the ones they already have... such as their families and their lives...
No way... Just no way am I going to be tempted...
"Bui?" Buizel asked again as I gave him a sheepish smile. "Sorry, Bui... I guess I was being tempted by the Sea Gauntlet. If I did, then I would've ended up as the same category with the people that were greedy for treasures like this..." I said apologetically.
"Bui..." Buizel said, as I took a step back from the Gauntlet, until I heard three familiar voices that sounded REALLY annoying.
"Tch... Looks like the shrimp got to the treasure first!" The first voice snapped as I turned to see who were here. Both Buizel and I widened our eyes as we recognized on who we were facing. Team Skull! And three of them, to be exact! Wait...
"You three? You're those three morons that Kiawe, Ash, and I had fought at the entrance of the Pokémon School!" I said in shock, before I started to become unimpressed. How those three got here without getting injured by the traps was beyond my knowledge.
"Who are you calling a moron, kid?! We wanted the treasure, so that's why we're here!" The fat Team Skull member snapped as the pink-haired female member spoke as well, expressing her annoyance at me.
"Yeah! So if you don't want to get hurt, little boy... Then you have to get out of here and leave that treasure!" The female grunt snapped as the first member, who seemed to be the leader of the two stepped up and made his declaration.
"Yeah, that's right... From now on, that weird treasure belongs to Team Skull! Simply put, it belongs to us! Now scram, unless you want to fight for the treasure!" The leader demanded as he took out a Pokéball, causing his lackeys to take out theirs as well.
"You three are going to regret coming here deeply..." I said bitterly as I took out Rockruff's Pokéball, as Buizel jumped off my shoulder to face the goons. "Rockruff, show them your determination!" I called out as my first caught Pokémon came out of his ball.
"Rock! Rockruff!" Rockruff barked out as he growled at the three goons. Both he and Buizel took battle stances, allowing the three morons to send out their Pokémon for battle!
"Alright, Salandit! You're up!"
"Zubat, let's go!"
"Go, Garbodor!"
The three Poison Types appeared for battle, facing my two as I glared at the three. Poison Types... Did these morons ever catch any other Pokémon? Because seeing the same Types is starting to get old AND annoying!
Team Skull: Salandit / Zubat / Garbodor VS Kaito: Buizel / Rockruff
"Alright, Salandit! Use Venoshock!"
"Zubat, Use Bite!"
"Take them down, Garbodor! Sludge Bomb, let's go!"
The three foes of ours launched their attacks as they were headed straight to us as I called for a countermove. "Counter them with Aqua Jet, Buizel! And Rockruff, you use Rock Slide!" I yelled as Buizel surrounded himself with water, dodging the Venoshock and Sludge Bomb attacks.
As he dodged the two, he slammed into Zubat first! Then, Salandit was next, followed by Garbodor. The three morons narrowed their eyes as they realized they've been countered as Rockruff took his turn! He summoned the boulders with his howl as they crashed onto the three Poison Types!
"Come on, Salandit! Get up right now!"
"You can't let them beat you like that, Zubat!"
"Get up, Garbodor! Get up right now!"
Despite the encouragement from their Trainers, the three Poison Types were struggling to stand as Buizel turned to me with a determined look on his face. "Bui! Bu bui!" He cried, pointing at my Z-Ring as I nodded as he and I prepared to use our Z-Move.
"Hey! Morons! You know what this is?" I asked tauntingly, before I revealed my Z-Ring with the Waterium-Z Crystal attached to it as the three paled to see it as they began to panic to see another Z-Move user. "Oh no! Not this one, too!" The first yelled in despair.
"Why is he holding one!?" The female grunt whined as the fat one stepped back. "I'm not feeling good all of a sudden..." The fat grunt babbled as Buizel and I posed together, with Rockruff watching us as the two of us began our Z-Move.
"This is one place you don't deserve to be in, morons! The cool and calm of the ocean and the sea... They deserve to be clean, until you morons pollute it with your existence! Hydro Vortex!" I yelled as the Z-Ring glowed once Buizel and I finished our Water Type Z-Move pose.
The energy from our bond and pose came to Buizel's body, surrounding him with a bright aura! "Bui!" My "brother" cried out as he ran as fast as he could, creating whirlpools from the water surrounding the land we were on!
The whirlpool surrounded Salandit, Zubat, and Garbodor as they yelled in pain for Buizel slamming onto them multiple times as the great power from the Z-Move sent them all flying into the air! They all crashed to the ground, creating one huge pile, leaving the victory as ours.
Winner: Kaito
Panicking from their easy defeat, the three grunts returned their Pokémon as they were unsure on what to do. "To think a shrimp like you would be able to use a Z-Move... But no matter! That treasure will be ours no matter what!" The leader cried out.
He turned to his two lackeys, as they nodded in understanding. Their persistence was starting to piss me off as I got ready to fight again, with Buizel and Rockruff at my side. Even with their loss, they still don't get when to give up!?
But before the three Team Skull grunts could take any step closer with their lunge for the Sea Gauntlet, something appears from the water and crashes onto the grunts! "AHHHHHH!" The three screamed as the water current caught them, before they were dragged away from the room!
"No! We won't forget this!" The leader screamed.
"You're going to be sorry for this, kid!" The fat grunt snapped.
"Yeah! What they said!" The female grunt cried along.
By the time they were gone, all I could do was stand in shock along with Buizel and Rockruff, and see who "saved" us. To my surprise, it was a creepy-looking Pokemon that seemed to be both a bug and a fighter! But I recognized this Pokémon as I took a step back.
"That's... a Golisopod..." I whispered, catching both Buizel and Rockruff's attention as the two faced Golisopod, who turned to us with a stern expression on its face. It hissed at us, as if it was telling us to step away from the Sea Gauntlet as I stood my ground.
There was no way I was getting intimidated now, now that I've come here so far! "I don't know what you want us to do, but if you're asking us to leave, then the answer is no! We've come too far to just quit and leave!" I said bravely, catching Golisopod's attention as it narrowed its eyes.
Golisopod VS Kaito: Buizel / Rockruff
Seeing Buizel and Rockruff determined to fight, Golisopod let out a battle cry, which shook the whole room! I was taken aback as I realized that I must've made the Guardian of the Undersea Ruins mad. My thoughts were correct as Golisopod lunged at the three of us with an X-Scissor attack.
Jumping to dodge, I rolled on the ground to face Golisopod properly as Rockruff and Buizel got ready to fight back.
"That was close... Rockruff, Rock Slide, go!" I cried out, as Rockruff did so! Howling again, he summoned forth the boulders to smash Golisopod away, until my surprise turned into a shock! Effortlessly, Golisopod deflected all the boulders with its Razor Shell attack!
Rockruff was surprised too as he jumped back, allowing Buizel to make his move as I tried to keep fighting on. "Argh... In that case, how about an Ice Punch! Do it, Bui!" I called out as Buizel did so, jumping in the air to make an aerial attack on Golisopod!
But just before my partner could even reach Golisopod by an inch, it covered itself with an iron glow, a move that I recognized. "It's using Iron Defense! Ice Punch will be meaningless if the defense is raised up!" I said in shock as Buizel widened his eyes as well.
Stopping his Ice Type attack, he jumped back to join up with me and Rockruff as the three of us faced Golisopod, who was able to counter our every move. Then, remembering my Waterium-Z, I looked at my Z-Ring, catching both of my Pokémon's attention.
Buizel seemed to know what I was thinking as he nodded to me, saying that I should use it while I still can. To be honest, I was a bit hesitant. Even if I use the Z-Move now, will it be enough to defeat Golisopod?
Since the Hydro Vortex can only be used with Aqua Jet, it's a physical attack, which would be weakened, thanks to the Iron Defense that Golisopod had done to block the Ice Punch attack. Not to mention, Golisopod was also a Water Type, which means that Hydro Vortex wouldn't be much effective.
I clenched my fists as I wasn't sure on what to do. Giving a look on both Buizel and Rockruff, the two of them had determined looks on their faces. It was as if, they were telling me to use the Z-Move, so that the battle would be much easier to win in.
But looking back at Golisopod, who was waiting for the next move, the doubt was still eating me away. "Bui! Bu bui!" "Rock! Rockruff!" My two Pokémon shouted out, catching me by surprise. As I looked down at them again, they seemed to be a bit upset for having doubts on them.
I frowned, not wanting to doubt my Pokémon's power... but I realized that having these thoughts made them believe I was doubting them. With that in mind, I realized that I couldn't doubt myself or the two friends that were fighting besides me right now.
Closing my eyes for a moment, before I opened them again... I took a deep breath before I turned to Buizel with the Z-Ring showing. "Sorry... Let's do it, Bui. Our Z-Move!" I said bravely, causing Buizel to grin and nod as Rockruff just barked happily for my spirit returning.
Golisopod took notice of this as it got ready to defend as Buizel and I got ready to use Hydro Vortex again. Using the energy from our bonds and from the Z-Crystal, the two of us began to move in motion again, making more wave motions with our arms and body.
"Here goes! This is the proof of how strong our bond is when we think and act as one! Let's see if this gets through to you! Hydro Vortex!" I yelled out loud as Buizel gained the power to bash into Golisopod and trap it in the whirlpool, while making multiple hits at the same time!
As the Z-Move was beginning to do its work, I held onto my breath, having hopes that the Hydro Vortex attack would show Golisopod on that we didn't mean harm and that my bond with Buizel was the proof of it. As it was finished, Buizel jumped back to join up with me and Rockruff again.
I didn't notice the amazed and impressed look Rockruff had as he seemed to look awed with how much power Buizel's Z-Move had as I narrowed my eyes, still having my hopes up until I noticed a large shadow taking shape from the mist that was caused from the Hydro Vortex attack!
"N-No way..." I said in disbelief. Buizel and Rockruff felt the same as they were shocked to see their opponent still standing as well! Our fears were correct as the mist cleared to show Golisopod, who seemed to be scratched up a little, but that's it...
It was just as I feared...
"Hydro Vortex wasn't enough...!" I said, taking a step back as Rockruff and Buizel got ready to fight again. But to our surprise, Golisopod didn't lunge at us or try to attack us as it only knelt down with one knee, as it seemed to be making a bow... towards me?
"Um... What is it?" I asked as I slowly approached the Hard Shell Pokémon. But to my surprise, Golisopod stood and gestured to the Sea Gauntlet, as if it was telling me that I was allowed to touch or take the Sea Gauntlet now, before it jumped back into the water.
"Wait! Golisopod!" I called, trying to call our former opponent back. But I was too late as Golisopod was already gone and out of my sight. Buizel And Rockruff ran over, as they were both confused on what just happened. "Bui...?" "Ruff?" They expressed their confusion as I turned to the Sea Gauntlet.
Winner: Kaito
It seemed to be glowing a bit, as I noticed something glowing from me. I looked down to see that it was my Waterium-Z! As I raised my Z-Ring up, the glow from the Z-Crystal began to glow on and off even brighter, as if it was responding to the Sea Gauntlet's presence.
As Buizel and Rockruff noticed the two glows from the Gauntlet and my Z-Ring, they were starting to get anxious on what was happening, until I tried to comfort the two that everything was alright.
"It's okay, guys... I think what Golisopod was trying to tell us, was that we're allowed to take the Sea Gauntlet now..." I said, as I walked back to where the pedestal of the Sea Gauntlet was. As I approached it carefully, I heard footsteps running to us as I turned to fight whoever was coming.
Buizel and Rockruff did the same until I recognized on who were coming. "There he is! Kai! Buizel! Rockruff!" "Pop Pop Pop!" Lana and Popplio cried out as the three of us widened our eyes to see Kiawe, Lana, Lillie, and Mrs. Summers all approaching us as they arrived at the room as well.
"Lana? Kiawe? Lillie? And Mrs. Summers, too? How did you all-" I started to ask until Kiawe answered with a smile.
"After we were separated from each other, Lana and I met up with Mrs. Summers and Lillie, and we had to solve some puzzles in order to find our way here. It wasn't... exactly easy..." Kiawe explained as Lana turned him with a dark look on her face.
"Of course it wasn't easy... You're the one that triggered the trap and got us all separated in the first place, Kiawe..." Lana said coldly, freezing Kiawe in his tracks as Lillie spoke up, asking for my safety, along with my Pokémon's.
"Kaito, are you okay? And Buizel and Rockruff?" Lillie asked as I could only smile for how concerned she seemed as I reassured her and the others with a small and cool smile on my face. "Yeah... We had a bit of trouble, but... The three of us are fine! Right?" I asked my two friends.
"Bui bui!" "Rock!" Both Buizel and Rockruff cried out happily as Mrs. Summers sighed in relief.
"Oh, thank goodness... When Kiawe and Lana approached the two of us with you missing, I assumed something bad happened to you while you three were together... But, now that I'm seeing you here, I guess I was just worrying about nothing..." Mrs. Summers said in relief.
I nodded back in understanding as the four of them approached to where I was standing as they noticed the Sea Gauntlet on the pedestal as Lillie was amazed on how it looked. "Mrs. Summers... Could this be...?" Lillie started to ask as the marine biologist smiled.
"Yes, Lillie... This is the Sea Gauntlet. The treasure, or should I say gift that was supposed to be given to the Prince of the Alolan Sea..." Mrs. Summers said as I turned back to it. The look of it... why does it feel so familiar?
Before anyone else could react, I started to reach for it with my left hand and just when I touched it, a painful feeling came to my mind as I widened my eyes before I started to black out! "ARGH!" I yelled as I fell one knee, with my left hand still touching the Sea Gauntlet.
"Kai!" "Kaito!" "My goodness! Are you alright!?"
Voices were calling out to me, as I started to drift away from reality and into the dream world, as I heard both Buizel and Rockruff calling out to me in frantic as I began to lose consciousness...
Vision
As I felt as if I was drifting away, I slowly opened my eyes to see that I was... underwater!? I flailed around until I realized that I was able to breathe. Looking around and myself, I still had my original clothes on, with my arms and legs okay... but I realized that no one else was around.
"Where... Where am I? This is... the sea, right?" I asked myself weakly, despite knowing what the obvious answer was. Realizing that I was just floating underwater, I swam around, trying to see if I could find someone that I know...
Eventually, as I started to lose hope of finding the people I knew, I bit my lips until I saw some figures coming to my way as I widened my eyes before I hid behind a rock. Once I did, I gave a peek out to see who was coming. To my surprise, I couldn't believe what I was seeing.
It was a group of people... that seemed to be half-human on their upper parts of their body while their lower parts were just fish tails! "Merpeople..." I could only breathe out as I watched them pass me. There were some mermen, mermaids, and along with some children as well.
They weren't the only ones swimming by, though... There were some Water Type Pokémon swimming by, as if they were equals with the merpeople. Then, I remembered from the story that Lillie read to me and Lana back at the Melemele Library.
"The two kinds are as one... They treat others as equals..." I said, remembering parts of the story as I quietly swam after them, using my arms and legs. I don't why I was able to breathe while I swam, though... Was it because this wasn't real?
Am I in some sort of a vision...? Then again, I remembered that I blacked out after I touched the Sea Gauntlet at the Undersea Ruins. Was the Gauntlet doing this? Was it showing me this scene? But why...?
Having the questions in my head wasn't helping me with the answers as I kept swimming after the merpeople and the Water Types as I soon reached where my eyes felt like it was about to pop out comically. Up ahead... was a large underwater kingdom.
Remembering the story, I recognized it as the Alolan Sea Kingdom, the same undersea kingdom that Lillie had read in the story once. I quickly swam to where the kingdom was, where the gates seemed to be open. As I passed through it, I noticed that the guards didn't bother to stop me.
It was as if, they didn't see me passing through. Taking that thought out of my mind, I continued to swim and follow the merpeople and the Water Types to see where they were going to as they were heading for the undersea palace, which seemed to be where a royal family lived in.
"Could this be... the palace of where King Kaisuke and his family lives in?" I asked myself as I swam forward to take a closer look. As I managed to get a closer look, a group of Seadras getting out of the way, allowing a familiar merman to pass through!
At the appearance of that merman, all the merpeople began to cheer and call for their King, causing me to recognize that the merman in front of me was none other than King Kaisuke, ruler of the Alolan Sea. As he swims by, I noticed he seemed to be carrying something on his left arm.
Remembering that no one can see me, I swam over to it, only to widen my eyes in surprise. It was... an baby merchild? His face and hair... looked a bit familiar for some reason. Besides the little cobalt tail, he looked so familiar... But why?
Just as the question came to my mind, the scene all of a sudden started to get fuzzy as I widened my eyes, only to hear a couple of familiar voices calling to me as a bright light shone onto my face! "What... What is this...?" I asked myself as the bright light soon enveloped me.
Reality
"Kai! Kai, are you okay? Wake up!" Lana called out to me, causing me to stir. Ow... She could've lowered her volume a bit... All that yelling in my ear was making my ears hurt...
I slowly opened my eyes to see myself lying down on... my bed? I blinked, realizing that I was outside and out of the Undersea Ruins as I looked up to see Lana, Kiawe, and Lillie all looking down at me in worry as I stood straight, shaking my head as my three classmates smiled at my recovery.
"You're okay!" Kiawe said in relief as Lillie sighed along in relief. "You weren't waking up, so we thought something bad had happened to you..." Lillie said in worry as I smiled weakly at the three, apologizing for blacking out on them.
"Sorry if I made you guys worry... What happened?" I asked as the three looked at each other before Lana pointed to my left arm nervously before she spoke. "Um... Kai? Look at your left arm..." Lana said, causing me to blink as I slowly looked down to see what happened as I widened my eyes in shock.
Where my Z-Ring should've been, was the Sea Gauntlet! It was attached to my left arm, making me look like a royal person somehow as I lifted my left arm up to see it as I was confused. "Why... Why is this attached to my arm?" I asked nervously as Kiawe folded his arms with a frown.
"It happened so fast... When you passed out all of a sudden after touching the Sea Gauntlet, the Gauntlet and your Waterium-Z glowed on and off several times, as if they were communicating with each other... Well, that's what Mrs. Summers said..." Kiawe said as I turned to him in confusion.
"Mrs. Summers? Where is she...?" I asked as Lillie made the answer. "She headed back home, to Akala Island. She said she would research on why the Sea Gauntlet attached itself to you all of a sudden." Lillie explained as I nodded in understanding. Placing my hand on the Gauntlet, I tried to pull it off.
But to my surprise, the Sea Gauntlet wouldn't move as I tried pulling harder, until Lana stopped me with a worried look on her face. "Don't... We all tried to pull it off of you, but nothing would work. Even with the three of us, it wouldn't budge." Lana said nervously as I widened my eyes.
"S-Seriously...? So, this is like, stuck on me forever?" I asked shockingly as I noticed that the Waterium-Z was attached onto the empty slot of the Sea Gauntlet as I bit my lips, before I realized something. "Hold on... Where's Buizel and Rockruff?" I asked as Kiawe smiled, before he gave the answer.
"They're downstairs with Shiho and Seita... Those two were the most worried ones ever since you suddenly blacked out." Kiawe said as he stood up from the chair he was sitting on. Lana and Lillie stood back up as I tried to follow, despite of the little trouble I was having.
Looking at the Sea Gauntlet that was attached to my left arm, I frowned. With things the way they are, I don't know how I'm going to be able to take this off. But, thinking back... Maybe I was "destined" to wear this?
I remembered about the vision I had when I blacked out, about King Kaisuke and the Alolan Sea Kingdom. And not to mention, there was that little merchild as well. The one that seemed familiar to me. What connection do I have with the vision I had just now?
By the time I asked myself in my thoughts, to familiar cries called for me as I returned to reality to see both Buizel and Rockruff running towards as me as my partner jumped into my arms, followed by Rockruff, catching me by surprise as I catch the two of them, before falling to the ground.
"Bui! Bu bu bui!" Buizel said frantically as he looked all over me, checking to see if I was hurt or not, as Rockruff sniffed all over me, feeling the same as I smiled at the two for their worrying. "I'm fine, guys... Really!" I said reassuringly, before I hug the two to try and reassure them.
The two of them knew how to worry well as they accepted the hug and embraced me back, just as Shiho and Seita ran over to see me. "Big bro!" "Big brother!" The two cried out as I smiled at my two siblings, before letting my Pokémon down to walk over to them.
"Are you okay? Kiawe, Lillie, and Lana said you were knocked out..." Shiho said as Seita couldn't find anything else to say as I only gave a reassuring smile to the two. Heh... They're no different from Buizel and Rockruff, huh?
"Don't worry, you two... I'm fine. It takes more than that for me to stay down, right? I'm sorry if I worried the two of you..." I said apologetically as Shiho pouted tearfully, causing me to hug my little sister as Seita joined in, as the three of us embraced each other.
Once we let go of each other, Shiho slowly went back to her true self as she smiled, feeling relieved that I was alright. But Seita on the other hand, was a little doubtful that I was alright, but went along with Shiho, as the two headed back to their rooms as it was starting to get late.
As I said goodbye to my three friends that left for their homes, I looked up at the sky that was orange, before looking out at the sea. Something tells me that my involvement with the sea will happen again, as long as I have the Sea Gauntlet with me.
As Buizel, Rockruff, and I looked to see the sun setting, I remembered something that was missing. "Where did Mom go...?" I asked as I realized that she wasn't in the house again. Was she at work?
End POV
Meanwhile...
Shizuka was walking across the sand in a deserted area where no one were to come around. Holding onto the water droplet jewel necklace that was on her neck, the mother of Kaito walked to where there seemed to be a small lagoon up ahead as she took a deep breath.
Then, without hesitation, she walked to where she was told to meet as she arrived at the lagoon, before she approached the shore to see the person she was supposed to see. As she waited, the water started to bubble a little, before something surfaced, catching Shizuka by surprise.
"Kaisuke... You never cease to surprise me, do you?" Shizuka asked softly as the King of the Alolan Sea smiled at his queen, giving her the soft smile that he gave her always. "And you, never cease to be more beautiful as ever, Shizuka..." Kaisuke said softly.
The Queen just smiled before she sighed. "May I ask why you called me here? If this is about our son's powers, then I already know. His friends already knew it before I did." Shizuka asked as she began to go down to business as Kaisuke opened his eyes, his expression looking unfazed.
"I see... And I know as well, thanks to my young messenger. And no, that's not the reason why I called you down here, Shizuka... It's about the gift that I was going to give to our son before we were attacked..." Kaisuke explained as Shizuka blinked in realization.
"Do you mean... the Sea Gauntlet? The weapon that was passed down from your descendants during the ancient times?" Shizuka asked as the King nodded before he explained.
"Yes... I received a message from Golisopod who was guarding the Undersea Ruins... He told me... that our son had managed to pass his trial and receive the Sea Gauntlet." King Kaisuke said, catching Shizuka by surprise as she widened her eyes in disbelief.
"He... did? But, that means..." Shizuka started to say as the King nodded, before he looked up at the now night sky.
"Yes... This means that his days as a human are soon coming to an end..." King Kaisuke said as Shizuka blinked, before she gave a soft smile. Then, her smile had fallen, being replaced with a small frown on her face as she spoke again.
"Do you think... our son will like it, becoming a Prince again? He's spent most of his life on land as a human, making some great human and Pokémon friends... Even if he's regaining his powers, it probably doesn't change the fact that he wants to stay as he is." Shizuka said doubtfully.
Kaisuke gave a soft, but serious look at his Queen, knowing what she meant as he looked back at the sea. As he looked, the sea was showing its beauty as the rising moon was shining its light on it, causing the water to reflect the light.
"I'm well aware of that, Shizuka... But as time passes by, he'll have to choose whether to remain as a human, or become the Prince that our people loves again..." Kaisuke said as the two became silent.
Now that time was passing by, the two of them began to have doubts, both realizing that their son would soon be pulled to two different directions, one leading to land, and the other leading to the sea. And he could only go to and stay in one.
To be continued...
Kaito's Team:
Buizel (M): (Ice Punch, Agility, Rain Dance, Aqua Jet)
Rockruff (M): (Bite, Sand Attack, Rock Slide, Howl)
Next chapters:
Chapter 13: The Sneaky Cat Thief, Litten!
Chapter 14: The Night Battle Against Persian!
Chapter 15: To Care an Egg! Kaito's Decision!
Chapter 16: Responsibility to Protect and Save
Chapter 17: The Chaos Involving a Raticate!
Next chapter preview:
Kaito: So you need food again for him, huh? There has got to be a better way than stealing, Litten...
Ash: Oh man... that Litten had me completely fooled with its mischievous tricks!
Mallow: You mean, the little Fire Type that prefers to be distant with people like us?
Ash: Yeah! That's the same one that snatched my sandwich away! That's it! I'm going to catch it!
Kaito: Shouldn't be you be thinking straight? Litten took my lunch too, you know...
Kiawe: This could mean Litten stole your lunches for a reason... a good one, that is...
Events that occurred:
- Kaito discovers the Sea Gauntlet that soon becomes stuck to his Z-Ring (left arm)
- Kaito regains little of his true memories as the Prince of the Alolan Sea