Pokémon Alola Journey VOL 1

by 19jchoi

In the peaceful Alola region, Kaito Shirogane is a student of the Pokémon School, who meets Ash and Pikachu as they arrive in Alola. With his partner, Buizel, Kaito will need to overcome the obstacles and the trials that he will need to face for his future. But while attempting to conquer his trials, Kaito hides a secret power that no one, that not even he knows about!

44. An Alternative Bond and Friendship!

Chapter 44: An Alternative Bond and Friendship!

Last time on "Pokémon Alola Journey", Kaito was about to have a picnic with Shiho and Seita, when they were almost struck by lightning that blinded the three of them and Buizel when it had struck the ground.

Luckily, no one was hurt, except that the air around the forest seemed to be a little different to the Alola boy. As the three went on to find a perfect spot for their little picnic, Kaito saves a white wolf, who turns out to be a wolf boy named Yuki Fenrir!

The wolf boy was about to fall off a cliff with his Rockruff, Dusk, until Kaito managed to save the day, bringing the two back up in time. In response, the Alola boy found himself meeting new faces...

As Yuki introduces himself of where he is from, Kaito discovers something confusing as he had never heard of Nome Island or anything related to that island before in his life. But before they could continue with the questions, it was time for lunch...

With that, the Alola boy offered Yuki and his friend, Dusk, and his father figure, Balto to join in on their meal. As the lunch went on smoothly, Yuki explains briefly about why people feared or hurt him because for what he was.

Not wanting to let his new friend look down, the Alola boy decides to challenge Yuki to a battle, something he never would've done, which seemed to surprise both Shiho and Seita by their brother's request.

---

Kaito's POV

"You bet!" Yu called out as he took out a Pokéball of his own to prepare for battle.

"Okay! I'm ready Kai!" Yu called out as I smiled... So was I. While the two of us stood opposite from each other, Shiho and Seita watched on the sidelines with Balto while Buizel stood on my side with Dusk standing at Yu's side.

"Here goes... Let's go, Vulpix!" I called out, as I sent my youngest member of the team out to face Yu and whoever he was going to send.

"Vul! Vulpix!" Vulpix cried out, sounding rather excited to battle. At the sight of her however, Yu look excited as he brightened up with an excited question.

"Ooh! A Kanto Vulpix?! How did you get that?!" Yu exclaimed as I gave a smile. If I'm right, and if he knows the others, then... No wait, what am I saying? Before I could respond, Balto called out to his son with a reminder.

"Yuki, stay focused." He reminded him, causing Yu to blink before he grinned with a nod.

"Oh right! Okay dad! Go Passimian!" I blinked in surprise upon seeing a Passimian appear to face Vulpix, who looked surprised to see a new Pokémon and an opponent to fight against.

Passimian... Those types of Pokémon mostly live in Akala Island... But there is a group that lives in Melemele Island... Could he have gotten that Passimian from the group that lives in Melemele Island?

Whatever the case, I knew what was going to come if I made one wrong move.

Yuki: Passimian + Dusk + 1 VS Kaito: Vulpix + Buizel + 1

"Passimian... This is going to be tough..." I spoke out as Vulpix was ready to fight. We stared at each other for a minute, before...

"Now, Vulpix! Quick Attack!" I shouted out, as I watched my Fire Type charge at Passimian with her speed attack. From what I learned by watching Ash, he's more into using a move that goes with speed.

So if I attacked with speed first, how will he respond? Of course, I got my answer quick when Yu countered back with one of Passimian's moves.

"Bulk Up!" Yu called out, as Passimian flexed his muscles. But I knew that those muscles aren't just for show. It increases its attack and defense power, which means it'll be much more difficult to beat!

"Now, Vulpix! Ember!" I shouted out, allowing the little Fire Type to shoot fireballs! But Yu seemed to have seen it coming as he gave a toothy grin before he countered with another move for Passimian to use!

"Counter that, Passimian, with Power-Up Punch!" Yu shouted out.

With a fist, Passimian easily broke through the Ember attack, catching both me and Vulpix by surprise!

"No way!" I gasped, with Vulpix widening her eyes in surprise. But apparently he wasn't done, as Yu called for another attack to use!

"Yeah! That's it! Now use Rock Smash!" Passimian responded to his order before aiming his fist at Vulpix to smash her! But I wasn't going to let Vulpix get taken down that easily as I called for a countermove this time.

"Dodge, then use Ember!"

Without a second to waste, Vulpix narrowly dodged out of the way before she blasted a fireball at Passimian, who winced, but wasn't fazed much from the weak Fire Type attack, much to my frustration.

This Pokémon... was it able to withstand many attacks? No... I couldn't let that get in the way of my chance to win!

"Vulpix, Quick Attack, back to back!" I shouted out, as Vulpix did so.

If you're probably thinking that I'm crazy, then you're probably right. With Bulk Up increasing Passimian's defense, it might do very little damage. But still, even if it won't do much, it'll still take the hits as I watched Vulpix continue to hit Passimian back to back.

But with its defense up, Passimian wasn't that fazed while Yu was ready to wrap the first round up.

"Let's wrap this up, Passimian! Give it another Power-Up Punch!" Yu shouted out. And that did it...

WHAM!

"VUL!" Vulpix screamed as she was bashed away by the boosted offensive power from the Power-Up Punch attack! Widening my eyes in shock, I ran over to where my little Fire Type have fallen.

Kaito: 2 Pokémon

"Vulpix, no!" I shouted out before I cradled her into my arms. As she awoken from her injuries, Vulpix whimpered for being defeated so easily as I comforted her with a soft smile on my face.

"You did great, girl... Now take a long rest. You deserve it." I assured, as she cooed sadly before I called her back to her Pokéball to let her get some rest. With that done, I turned back to Yu, who looked ready to battle once again.

"...Not bad, Yu. I certainly didn't expect for you and Passimian to pull that off. It really caught me off guard." I admitted, as it was true. With Bulk Up and Power-Up Punch raising its offensive powers, I should've known on how hard it would be to beat.

Yet, instead of gloating, Yu seemed to be impressed with how Vulpix fought too, despite the fact that she was completely outmatched in terms of strength.

"Thanks! And your Vulpix was quite tough!"

"Pass!" Yu praised while Passimian gave a cry of agreement. I was a little amused and confused at this. They thought Vulpix was a good opponent...? Heh... I guess anyone can be friends with him with the way his personality is.

I only nod to him before taking out my next Pokéball.

"You may have taken the lead now, but can you handle this tough guy? Let's go, Rockruff!" I shouted out before I sent Rockruff to face against Passimian! My Rock Type friend howled before he faced Passimian.

At the sight of Rockruff, Yu widened his eyes, as did Dusk.

"Whoa! Look at that, Dusk! There's another you!" Yu called out, much to Dusk's awe as he waved at my Rockruff.

"Ruff!"

In response, it was a howl of joy from my tough Rock Type.

"Ruff!"

But my next choice seemed to have made my siblings confused as Seita remembered the type advantage and disadvantage a Pokémon had...

"Hold on... Rockruff is a Rock Type, right? Aren't Rock Types weak against Fighting Type Pokémon like Passimian?" Seita asked, until Shiho smiled, looking like she already believed that Rockruff was going to win.

"Don't worry! This is big brother and Rockruff we're talking about! They were able to beat Kahuna Hala's Crabrawler despite the type disadvantage, remember?" Shiho reminded, causing Seita to widen his eyes in realization.

"Oh... Oh yeah! They did!" Seita exclaimed as I smiled. Yeah... So they remembered or heard about it? Well, it was true... Rockruff was able to defeat Kahuna Hala's Crabrawler while Bui took down Hariyama at the Grand Trial battle.

Of course, my thoughts were interrupted when Yu grinned at the sight of Rockruff, as he seemed to know the type advantage he had with Passimian by his side.

"This is gonna be awesome! This is so gonna be an easy win for me!" Yu declared, until Balto gave him a reminder of what could happen.

"Yuki, don't underestimate that Rockruff. He might be as strong as Dusk." Balto called out, causing the wolf boy to blink before he nodded to his father figure, before turning back to me with a determined look.

"Okay dad!" Yu called out as I called out the first attack.

"Ready? Now, Rockruff! Howl!" I called out, allowing my Rock Type to howl in order to boost his strength!

"Quick, Passimian! Take that chance to use Karate Chop!" Yu called out as I narrowed my eyes. If he thought it was going to be easy on striking Rockruff, that's where he was wrong.

With the speed that Rockruff had, he was able to dodge Karate Chop before I called out a countermove.

"Sand Attack!" I exclaimed, allowing Rockruff to kick sand into Passimian's face! The Fighting Type growled and winced at his eyes getting hit by the sand. With that set, it'll be difficult for Passimian to land a direct hit!

"Uh oh...!" Uh oh was right for Yu as I was ready to make a comeback.

"Now, Rockruff! Rock Slide!" I called out, as Rockruff did so, howling to summon boulders to shower down onto Passimian! And man, was it hard! Passimian screeched in pain from the boulders that hit him as he became trapped inside!

"Passimian, no! Come on, get out of there!" Yu exclaimed as Passimian struggled to get out of the heavy boulders. But with the opponent trapped, I was ready to make the finishing blows.

"Wrap it up! First, start with Howl! Then Crunch! Then, use Rock Slide again!" I exclaimed.

Wasting no time, Rockruff howled loudly before he gnawed on Passimian's arm hard, causing Passimian to wince and lower his guard. It was at that moment when Rockruff knocked him away with another set of Rock Slide attacks!

The strong Fighting Type screeched in pain before he tumbled back to where Yu was standing at, who was shocked to see what had happened.

"What?! Passimian, are you alright?!" Yu gasped as Passimian looked at him with a soft smile and slowly nodded. Nodding in understanding, Yu called him back to make his Fighting Type rest up...

Yuki: 2 Pokémon

"Get some rest pal..." He spoke before he turned to me with a mischievous grin.

Something tells me that it wasn't a good grin that he was giving me as he took out another Pokéball to send out.

"Okay, you're toast now, Kai! Go Emolga!" Yu called out as a new Pokémon replaced Passimian in the battle. An Emolga? That's a surprise. I honestly didn't expect him to have this one. But then again...

As he called it out, it flew around before landing on top of Yu's head, much to Yu's joy. So they're close...

"Okay Emolga, go get him dude!" Yu called out.

"Emol!" Emolga agreed before he flew down and glared at Rockruff determinedly.

"Emolga, huh... That's an interesting choice. An Electric-Flying Type... Rockruff, keep your guard up." I reminded, causing Rockruff to bark in understanding as he got ready to fight with Emolga.

"Ruff! Rockruff!"

With both of us only having two Pokémon left for this battle, Yu made the first strike.

"Let's do this, Emolga! Use Electro Ball!" Yu shouted out as Emolga did so, launching the Electric Type attack to where Rockruff was! I narrowed my eyes, before calling for a countermove.

"Counter with Rock Slide!" I exclaimed as Rockruff did so, causing the two moves to collide. Of course, I wasn't ready to see Emolga flying past the dust and getting in front of Rockruff...!

I widened my eyes in surprise, as did Rockruff, who yelped in surprise as Yu immediately called for the second attack!

"I gotcha now! Acrobatics!"

The Flying Type attack did the trick, knocking Rockruff back, as he growled at the damage he had taken just now. Emolga on the other hand, smirked at his opponent angry at him before he was ready to fight again.

Well, if that's the case...

"Rockruff, Rock Slide one more time!" I exclaimed, allowing Rockruff to do so, while Yu was ready to counter with the same attack.

"Electro Ball, Emolga!" And with his order, the two moves collided once more. But I was prepared this time as Emolga came through the dust to make a surprise attack! Rockruff must've seen it coming too as he growled.

"Crunch!" I shouted out, causing Rockruff to bite onto Emolga's wing, causing the Electric-Flying Type to yelp in pain before he was taken down to the ground due to one of his wings being bitten.

"Uh oh... Oh wait! Discharge, Emolga!" Yu exclaimed as I widened my eyes.

"Quick, Rockruff! Back away and use Rock Slide!" I shouted out. In time, Rockruff managed to dodge the close range shock before summoning boulders to bash Emolga away! The impact sent Emolga flying as he wailed from the blow.

"Don't give in, Emolga! We can still win this! Use Nuzzle!" Yu exclaimed as Emolga dove in to nuzzle Rockruff on the cheek! If it was normal, it would've been a sign of affection... but Nuzzle wasn't one of those normal nuzzling where it shows affection...

It shows shock instead! And that's what Rockruff had to take when he was shocked by the Nuzzle attack! Wincing in pain, my Rock Type friend stumbled back, before feeling the paralysis in his body from that attack.

I narrowed my eyes before feeling sweat from my forehead. Despite of it being weak, Nuzzle can also cause paralysis, which could mean trouble for Rockruff. And I was right to believe that when Yu wasn't done calling his attack!

"It's time, Emolga! Electro Ball!" Yu exclaimed as Emolga shot and blasted Rockruff in the air with the Electro Ball attack! Rockruff wailed at being hit as I gritted my teeth. Electro Ball was strong already, but since Rockruff was paralyzed, that was sure to have done more damage!

"Hold your ground, Rockruff! Rock Slide!" I exclaimed.

"RUFF!" Rockruff howled before summoning more boulders as Emolga struggled to dodge them all. But that was the chance I was about to take with the next attack.

"Now go! Use Crunch!" I exclaimed" I exclaimed as Rockruff did so, crunching onto the same wing as hard as he could!

"EMOL!" Emolga wailed before he struggled to keep flying, only to fall as one wing wasn't enough to fly up in the air. Yu gasped before he tried to think of a countermove. But before he could do so, I was ready to make the risky chance.

"Rock Slide!"

Howling while still biting onto Emolga, Rockruff summoned the boulders, causing them to crash onto both himself and onto Emolga! I could only wince from the hit those two took together, as did Yu.

Seita and Shiho winced while Shiho covered her eyes, as if she didn't want to see Rockruff get hurt any further. Balto on the other hand, kept his eyes on the battle as he retained the stern and serious expression on his face.

"Those two are getting intense..." I thought I heard Balto spoke to himself before I watched to see Emolga getting Rockruff off of him before I called for another attack to try and wrap this part of the battle up.

"One more time, Rockruff! Get some distance and use Rock Slide!"

"I don't think so! Counter that with an Electro Ball, Emolga!"

With the both of us saying our attack command, both of our Pokémon did so, shooting their attacks! But to both of our surprise, instead of colliding with each other like the previous times, the two attacks passed each other!

Electro Ball blasted Rockruff away while Rock Slide knocked Emolga down hard!

"Rockruff!?"

"Emolga!" The two of us called for our Pokémon as the smoke cleared away to show... a double knockout! Both of them were out cold from the last moves they've taken as we both widened our eyes in surprise.

Kaito: 1 Pokémon

Yuki: 1 Pokémon

"Rockruff!?" I exclaimed before I ran over to my defeated friend and picked him up with my arms. Yu did the same thing for Emolga, trying to see whether if he was okay or not.

"Hey... You okay, Emolga?" Yu asked.

"Emol...ga..." Emolga spoke weakly as he smiled, before calling Emolga back.

"You deserved some rest. We'll heal ya later." Yu assured as the two of us called our Pokémon back after praising them a little for the great amount of effort they've put in this battle just now.

At that moment, Yu turned to Dusk, who was surprised with how the battle turned out so far.

"Okay Dusk! It's all up to you! Let's show Kai that we're quite a team!"

"Ruff!"

Dusk barked happily before jumping into battle, showing off his battle stance and growl. Huh... This one has a lot of spunk. It kinda reminded me of Rockruff, only to have a bit more spunk than what my Rock Type had...

Knowing the fact that the final battle will be even more tougher since Rockruff was his partner, I turned to Buizel, who seemed to understand on what I was going to ask him.

"So we're both left with one Pokémon. Buizel, let's show them our strong bond together!"

"Bu bui!" I didn't need to ask twice for Buizel to get out there as my Water Type brother figure ran out to the field to face Rockruff, who growled in determination.

"This is it... This will decide everything." I spoke out, as Yu grinned toothily, as he seemed to have heard me speak.

"Yeah... Let's give it all we've got, Kai! Dusk, use Iron Tail!" Yu shouted out.

Without a second to waste, Dusk did so by jumping up and aiming his now steeled tail to where Buizel was! But what Yu doesn't know, was that Buizel was good for both speed AND offensive as I called out to my Water Type partner.

"Agility!" I shouted out. And that was the only word I needed to use to make Buizel easily dodge the Steel Type attack!

"Huh!?"

"Ruff!?" Both Yu and Dusk looked shocked for what they've seen before I countered back with an attack of our own.

"Now, Buizel! Aqua Jet, back to back!" I exclaimed. And Buizel did just that, knocking Dusk over and over with the super effective attack! Wincing and whining in pain, Dusk tumbled backwards as Yu bit his lips.

"Whoa... That was strong and fast...! But that won't stop us from winning! Now, Dusk! Use Rock Throw!" Yu exclaimed as Dusk did so, launching the Rock Type attack to where my Water Type partner stood.

"Ice Beam!" I shouted out in response, causing Buizel to freeze the rock with the Ice Type attack.

"Buizel can use an Ice Type attack!?" Yu exclaimed as I sweat dropped at the question. Of course they can. Many Water Types can use Ice Type attacks. That was when Balto called out to his son figure.

"Be careful, kiddo... There's no telling of what might happen if you make one slip up..." Balto warned, earning a nod from the wolf boy.

"Okay, Dad... I got ya!" Yu exclaimed before he turned back to face me. At that point, I was ready to show off my signature combo, but... That's something I want to save for later, in case if Bui gets cornered.

"Aqua Jet, again!" I called out, as Buizel got ready to make the continuous strike attacks! But I quickly came to realize that Yu wasn't going to fall for the same technique again as he called for a countermove!

"Dodge it with Dig!" Yu called out as Dusk quickly dug underground before Buizel could make a hit! That surprised Buizel at first, but he remained focused on trying to find where Dusk went. But to my surprise...

"Do it now! Rock Throw!" Yu shouted out, catching me by surprise as a spot on the ground bursts with Rock Throw, causing Buizel to yell in surprise and pain as he gets knocked to the ground by the attack!

"It's a surprise attack!?" I exclaimed in surprise, earning a toothy grin from Yu.

"Yep! Betcha didn't see that one coming, right!?" Yu exclaimed excitedly as I gave a sheepish smile. No I had not... But I should've known that Dusk was able to use Dig... Well, in that case...

"Don't think that's going to end the match, Yu! Now, Buizel! Ice Beam!" I shouted out as Buizel shot the Ice Type attack. But Yu was ready to counter as he called forth the same Ground Type attack!

"Use Dig again, Dusk! Time for surprise attack number two!" Yu exclaimed as I smirked. Yeah... like I was going to fall for it again. Now it's time for my own surprise attack as Buizel was ready for it!

"Ice Beam at the hole!" I called out, much to Yu's surprise. Before he could respond, Bui shot the Ice Beam at the hole, causing Dusk to screech and be forced to come out of the ground with his tail caught on ice!

"Ooh! That's gotta be cold...!" Seita exclaimed while Shiho continued to watch.

"Dusk, calm down! Let's use Iron Tail for an extra attack boost!" Yu called out as I blinked. Iron Tail with the tail covered with ice? That does sound like an attack boost since the ice is making the Iron Tail even harder...!

"Counter with Agility and Aqua Jet!" I exclaimed.

With the speed from Agility and the power from Aqua Jet, Bui was able to easily get out of the way, much to Dusk's surprise before he was bashed back by the Water Type attack!

"Ruff!?" Dusk yelped as Yu widened his eyes.

"No way! Dusk!?" Yu gasped as Balto called out to the wolf boy.

"Don't panic, Yuki! That's only going to get you down during the battle!" Balto advised, causing Yu to quickly calm down before he took a deep breath and regained his focus as he turned to his Rock Type brother figure.

"Dusk... You with me?" Yu asked, earning a bark of affirmation by Dusk, as Yu gave a toothy grin before he returned to the battle.

"Alright! Rock Throw!" Yu exclaimed as I narrowed my eyes. What was he thinking? Was Rock Throw going to be a decoy? Nevertheless, I was ready to counter back with the same attack that I had used...!

"Ice Beam!"

And Ice Beam froze Rock Throw, making them useless. But unfortunately, despite of my earlier prediction, I was wrong. Rock Throw wasn't a decoy... because there were more Rock Throw attacks coming at Buizel!

"There's more coming!?" I exclaimed as Rock Throw knocked Buizel away!

"And now, use Bite!" Bite was coming towards Buizel's way as he was caught on Dusk's jaws! I could only wince, thinking of how painful it would be as my Water Type partner was thrown away by Buizel!

"Stay strong, Bui! Aqua Jet!"

"Take him out, Dusk! Iron Tail!"

The two physical attacks made contact with one another, causing both of them to be blown back by the collision as they skidded away from each other before they glared at each other with smirks on their faces.

But while they were enjoying with how the battle was going, they looked exhausted due to how tense and short their breathing seemed to be as they panted from the struggles they had against each other.

"Bui... Bui...

"Rock... Ruff..."

Man... Even I was starting to feel weary as I began to pant a little from the tension the battle was giving me, along with the fact that so much time has passed despite of how short the battle seemed to be.

"Man... I never had a battle that went so serious! I'm enjoying every bit of it, Kai!" Yu exclaimed with a toothy grin as I smiled back, before I was ready to end this with one more attack.

"So am I... But a battle has to come to an end. Ready to make one last attack?" I asked, before revealing my Sea Gauntlet, which began to glow, along with the Waterium-Z that was attached to it!

In response, Yu grinned before he revealed his special Z-Ring that had the Rockium-Z attached to it.

"Here we go Dusk! Continental Crush!" Yu called out as he got ready to pose with the Rock Type Z-Move. And in response, I was ready to perform the Water Type Z-Move as I began to pose with Bui.

"Right back at you! No more holding back, Buizel! Hydro Vortex..."

But then... Right before we could unleash our Z-Move...

WHAM!

"AH!" The sudden yell caught us by surprise as we dropped out poses while my two siblings yelped in surprise to see Balto getting attacked by someone...

"Balto!"

"Ah!" The two cried out in surprise.

"Huh? Dad!" Yu gasped in shock, with Dusk as they watched to see the wolfdog get knocked by someone...

"What in the...!?

"Bui!?" Even Buizel and I were a little surprised as Yu glared at his surroundings, trying to figure out who caused the sudden attack.

"Hey! What's going on?!" Yu snapped as Balto shook his head, recovering from the sudden assault before he pushed the attacker off of him, who jumped back.

"Ugh... hey! Who did this? Oh wait... I have a feeling that I know who." Balto grunted as he turned to where his attacker was. As I turned, I blinked, seeing that it was a dog of some sort, but not a friendly kind of dog.

"Well, well, well... I knew that I would track you and your freakish son here, lobo." The dog sneered at Balto before the wolfdog growled, as he glared at him.

"Steele!" Balto snapped angrily as Yu and Dusk glared alongside with the wolfdog.

"Not you again!"

"Ruff!" Yu and Dusk complained as I raised an eyebrow. So this was the dog? The dog that hated both Yu and his father figure so much?

"Steele...? The dog that hated both you and your dad with an iron fury?" I asked, while Buizel glared with a cautious tone and expression. As for the dog, he smirked darkly, confirming my thoughts to be correct.

"The one and only." The dog, which I know now as Steele declared before he made a nasty smirk at me, Bui, and my two siblings.

"But I have no time with you brats. My concern is getting rid of lobo and his freakish son." Steele scoffed as Yu glared at him for the nasty words.

"Hey!" Yu snapped as Balto glared at him, before making a calm, but serious look at the dog.

"Steele... how many times do I have to tell you? I am not going to fight you." Balto declared as Steele only scoffed at him, making me rather a little annoyed. He's annoyed that Balto doesn't want to fight him...? But then...

"That's what you always say. You're supposed to be a wolf dog yet you can't fight back. I knew you were always weak. You and that freak should have gone back to your pack." Steele scoffed, causing Balto to narrow his eyes at him.

Okay... That... is... it.

"That's enough, you glory hound...!" I snapped, causing both Yu and Balto to flinch at my tone before I stepped up to confront this... this glory hound. He's calling him and Yu freaks when they haven't done anything wrong!

I mean, what's with that!? That's completely messed up...!

"I may not know why you hate them so much, but that doesn't give you the right to call them freaks. From what I can tell, unlike you... They have a good heart together, as father and son, since all they wanted to do, was to what's right." I snapped coldly.

Steele only narrowed his eyes and growled as I continued on with my harsh words.

"You, on the other hand, only settle for pointless grudges and stupid reasons to fight. If anything, I believe that the one who's really weak... is you, Mr. Glory Hound." I snapped coldly, with Buizel nodding with me in agreement.

"Bui... Bu Bui..." Buizel agreed while having an unamused tone.

At my tone, Yu looked at me what seemed to be a little awe while Balto looked a little relieved or happy for what I had said just now. The glory hound on the other hand, just glared at me, turning his attention to me briefly.

"Hmph! I don't need anyone else to interfere! I want revenge for those two ruining my life! They took away my fame! My glory!" The glory hound growled, while Shiho and Seita looked at each other in confusion.

It's like they were confused of what he meant. Heck, even I'm confused as to what the glory hound meant.

"Fame...?" Shiho questioned.

"Glory?" Seita questioned along, before Shiho continued with her question.

"Does that mean you're famous? Sorry, but we never heard of you..." Shiho started, before Seita agreed loudly with a frown.

"Yeah! And even if we did, we'd never think of you as a REAL hero, like big bro Yuki and Balto!" Seita added, earning smiles from both Yu and his father figure.

"Thanks..." Yu spoke, as if he sounded touched for what my younger siblings had said. Even Balto looked appreciative as he smiled, before turning back to the glory hound with a stern glare.

"I really appreciate that. But if you must know, Steele used to be known for being the leader of the Nome Island's dog sled team, and he always picked on me for my wolf heritage while the others joined in, because they were afraid of him making the others be convinced that those who won't hurt me are just siding with me and are targeting for bullying." Balto explained to us.

That caught me off guard, but apparently that wasn't all as Yu explained another part of why the glory hound was all bad news...

"And during the Diphtheria Run practice trial, we both succeeded in getting into the team, but Steele rejected our offer and even made his owner reject the both of us by making him see us bearing our fangs after he stomped on Dad's foot." Yu added with a frown.

That... Okay, wait... That's...!

"Oh, for crying out loud... That makes him even worse than the people that feared you!" I snapped, not knowing how else to say this.

"Bui...!" Buizel growled, while my siblings were annoyed and upset at hearing the new facts about the glory hound.

"That's so horrible... He's a monster..." Shiho started, with Seita glaring.

"Yeah! A monster!" Seita added, with Yu giving an angry pout as well.

"Tell me about it!" Yu added as well, before Balto explained even more bad news about the glory hound. And the more we listened, the more I noticed on how annoyed and angry the glory hound seemed to get.

"And soon after going through to get the medicine, he and the others got lost and we managed to track them down, but he refused our help and tried to kill us. He even bitten Yuki and just laughed after defeating him, but I defeated him." Balto explained sternly.

"That's not the worst thing he did! He even managed to fool and lied to everyone that we died along with his team onto delivering that medicine, and to make sure that we couldn't find our way home. He create many claw marks onto the trees that dad made to help us find our way back. Luckily, Mom didn't fall for it and kept believing that we were alive." Yu added as I shook my head.

I couldn't hear this anymore... I got all the words and proof that I needed to hear to realize that the glory hound was nothing but all sorts of trouble to anyone that would get in his way.

"...Stop, Yu. I don't think I want to hear about this glory hound anymore... Already hearing that he hated you two for soing the right thing is making me feel queasy and ugly..." I groaned, before holding my head with one hand.

Even Bui looked rather annoyed as he folded his arms with a frown.

"Bui..." Buizel added, causing Yu to blink before he made an apologetic look to the two of us. The same went for Balto as they gave us sheepish smiles.

"Oh! Sorry about that! Me and Dad got carried away there." Yu spoke sheepishly with Balto nodding in agreement.

"Me too. Sorry about that." Balto added as I shook my head with a little smile before turning to where the glory hound was standing. To be honest, I was surprised that he hasn't lunged at us for the bad news we were getting about him...

"It's fine... Although it helped me give a reason as to why I need to call him an enemy." I assured softly, before taking a little deep breath to calm myself down mentally.

"He's just like those weirdos... um... Oh! Team Rocket!" Shiho started, before she recalled the moronic trio.

"Oh yeah... They're just like him, only weirder and less monstrous, I think...?" Seita added as I couldn't help but agree mentally. They are annoying, but at least they don't go so far as to killing...

But the glory hound on the other hand, seemed rather annoyed at my two siblings for making fun of him for being more monstrous than the moronic trio.

"Them? Don't compare me to those losers? All they've done was humiliate me more. They can't even catch a single Pikachu, showing how worthless and pathetic they are." The glory hound growled.

"So you're with them? I guess that makes you even more of a loser, since you're continuing this pointless grudge of yours..." I reminded, causing the glory hound to grit his teeth while Bui and my siblings snicker, the same going for Yu.

"Nice one, Kai!" Yu snickered as the glory hound stomped his left paw on the dirt ground.

"GRRR! It's not my fault that those pointless buffoons can't help me defeat lobo and his freakish son! I have more pride than those bastards." The glory hound snapped, only to get retorted by Yu.

"Says the one who can't even accept a no from Jenna. She isn't into you, because you're a dirty slob of a loser." Yu added bluntly, causing me to try and hold back my snickering. His father figure and brother figure on the other hand, snickered at the insult he gave to that hound.

"I don't need to hear it from you, freak show! Jenna is just hard to get!" The glory hound snapped, until Yu reminded him of one thing.

"...Despite her already married to dad?" Yu reminded, causing me to understand that this Jenna was his mother figure... The dog that this girl Rosy seemed to have with her as her family pet.

"Shut up!" The glory hound snapped, clearly not wanting to hear the painful truth from Yu's lips. But of course, I decided to make him a little more angry by playing along by saying on what he was.

"He's hopeless... Completely and utterly hopeless when it comes to love and life..." I sighed with a shake of my head, while Buizel seemed to get it as he played along with a small smirk on his face.

"Bu bui..." Buizel agreed, as Yu decided to play along too, while none of us noticed on how angrier the glory hound was getting by his face, as he began to twitch a little while getting red in the face a little.

"Can't help but agree with you. Steele is always fighting over us on the things that he can't take back." Yu added, before the glory hound let out an angry bark before he lunged towards us!

"That's it! I have had enough!" The glory hound bellowed before Balto tackled him to defend us as he and his enemy faced each other.

"Leave my son and his friends alone. You've gotten them almost hurt, even the small ones." Balto reminded sternly, only to get an angry scoff from the glory hound.

"Tch! Like I would care who gets in my way, they're just spoiled brats that needs to be taught a lesson." At that moment, the words that the glory hound said just now made me darken my face and look down a little.

"Spoiled brats... huh? Shiho, Seita... Get behind me." I spoke darkly, causing my two siblings to nod as they got behind me, in case if the glory hound were to try and hurt them again.

"Buizel... help me out here." I spoke out, earning a nod and a "Bui" from my Water Type partner, as he got ready to face the glory hound. The fact that he called my siblings spoiled brats... That's going too far... And he's about to pay for it...!

"Yu... Dusk can still fight, right? Can you two help me and Buizel out here?" I asked, causing Yu to flinch a little at seeing my expression before he slowly nodded in understanding. Even Dusk looked a little freaked out.

"Y-Yeah Kai..."

"Ruff..." The two spoke together as I nodded to them before turning to the wolfdog.

"Great... Balto, your son and I can take it from here. Can you watch over my siblings for me?" I asked, causing Balto to gaze at me. At first, he looked reluctant to do so, probably with how I looked right now.

But he didn't say anything as he just nodded before he ran over to my two siblings and stayed in front of the two.

"Get behind me, you two. I'll protect you both." Balto called out, allowing both Shiho and Seita to understand as they ran from me to get behind Yu's father figure.

"Mm hm..."

"Right..."

As they did so, the glory hound just raised his eyebrows in both confusion... and what seemed to be amusement as he turned to me with a nasty smirk...

"Heh... what's wrong brat? You can't take my insults?" The glory hound questioned me as I tensed a little. It's not that I can't take your insults... But when it comes to insulting my siblings, that's going too far.

Yu seemed to notice on how annoyed I was getting as he tried to stop the glory hound from making fun of me.

"Umm... Steele, I think you should stop... like, right now? He's just defending his siblings." Yu tried to tell him, only to be scoffed at by the glory hound, who didn't seem to understand what it means to protect someone...

"Defending his siblings? Please, that's ridiculous. That what makes you and that brat weak and pathetic, relying and caring for your so called family." The glory hound smirked darkly, earning glare from Yu. As for me...

"You definitely make a terrible father." Yu growled as I spoke up, with my face remaining darkened.

"Hey... Glory hound... You want to know what happens when someone tries to hurt or make fun of my siblings when they didn't do anything wrong to them?" I asked, with Bui smirking at the hound.

He knew where this was going as the glory hound looked oblivious as ever, as he continued to taunt me for the words I threw at him.

"What? Cry to your mommy? That's rich." The glory hound chuckled, as Yu tried to make him stop once again, this time with pleading words.

"Steele, I beg of you! You should stop and apologize to his siblings!" Yu pleaded, only to get shot down by glory hound once again. Not that I was surprised, especially since he didn't seem to be the type to listen to anyone...

"Oh please! Like you would care! I don't care what you idiots are saying. I'm just saying when I call it." The glory hound spoke, which seemed to be the last straw as I stomped my foot on the ground, before bellowing out loud...

"SHUT UP!" I snapped as little shockwaves spread across from where I was standing at. Both Yu and Balto were a bit shocked while my siblings were a little surprised, but they weren't frightened.

Because this wasn't the first time they had seen me like this. Not even Buizel was fazed from my attitude changing up a little.

"W-W-What the?! Whoa Kai, take it easy!" Yu called out, trying to get me to calm down while Balto sounded worried for what I just did.

"Oh no, this can't be good." Balto started before Yu turned to the glory hound with an order, sounding desperate for him to stop, despite the fact that I was almost at my limit of blowing up out of anger.

"Steele, apologize to him!" Yu called out.

But before the glory hound could say anything, I had Bui already make his move.

WHAM!

"Whoa! What the?!" Yu was right to be surprised as the glory hound growled angrily for being slammed hard to the dirt ground, before he turned to see Buizel behind him, having used Aqua Jet against this hound.

"That was Aqua Jet just now!" Shiho pointed out while Seita recognized on what Bui must've done under my order.

"Big bro must've used both Aqua Jet and Agility together to make the attack look too fast to see!" Seita pointed out as I couldn't help but smile on the inside. Yep... That's exactly what I did, Seita...

Yu on the other hand, was a little surprised before he blinked, looking as if he recalled the combo I had used in our battle, with Buizel using the speed from Aqua Jet and Agility together to make a fast and hard combo.

"Ooh... that's pretty clever and awesome at the same time." Yu spoke out while the glory hound hissed for the brutal beating he had gotten in a matter of seconds.

"B-Bastard..." Steele growled as I looked down at him with a stern and cold look.

"I warned you of what would happen if you tried to hurt my siblings or insult them... Did I not? Don't worry. There's more where that came from. Rain Dance, Buizel!" I called out, allowing Bui to raise his paws in the air, causing the sky to darken before rain began to shower down!

Again, Seita recognized this combo as he gave a small grin for what's about to come to the hound.

"Ah! He's going for a much better combo!" Seita exclaimed, causing Yu to look at my younger brother in confusion. But before he could ask...

"Aqua Jet, back to back! Along with Agility!" I shouted out, as Bui did so, wasting no time attacking back to back with the Aqua Jet speed combo, which made Bui look nothing but a quick blur!

Despite the glory hound trying to resist and fight back, the speed boost that Bui gained from the rain and with Agility, it was going to be impossible as he continued to get bashed around...!

Yu seemed to recognize on what was going on as he watched in awe as the glory hound was getting hit back to back by Buizel's speed combo.

"Whoa! Buizel is using its ability!" Yu exclaimed in awe while Balto just winced for every hit the glory hound had taken. Even Dusk seemed to pity him as he looked a little worried for what was going to happen.

"Ooh... something tells me that Steele isn't gonna feel anything after this." Balto commented with Dusk giving a small bark of what sounded like an agreement.

After one more blow, the hound splashes into the mud that was created by the rain and the mud. From the way he looked, he widened his eyes in shock at his fur being covered in mud before he glares to see me glaring at him with my face still darkened.

I wasn't going to let him get off that easy, especially with the taunts and insults he had said about my siblings, and about Yu and Balto.

"So what now? I'm tempted to knock you out, but Buizel and I are both merciful... Leave now, and I'll forget every insulting word you said about Yu, Balto, and my siblings... But if you want to keep going... Well, you know things are going to get even uglier than they are now..." I warned darkly.

And I was planning to keep my word with that, because I'm not that merciless like he must've been back in the past. Even Bui seemed to understand as he glared sternly at the glory hound.

"Bui!" He cried out with his arms folded, and remained cautious in case the hound were to attack.

"Grrr…" From the way he looks and sounds, he apparently doesn't want to leave before at least trying to put up a fight. But by then, I noticed a little that he made a small nasty smirk before saying...

"Very well... please forgive my insults." The glory hound grunted, much to our confusion as Balto was more confused than the rest of us. Even Yu questioned of the act that the glory hound was showing us.

"Oh? Already? You're... forgiving Kai and the others?" Yu asked him, while the glory hound remained soft for a minute...

"Please! Forgive me! I didn't mean for what I said!" The glory hounded pleaded on what seemed to be sincere. But I knew better, because I had taken notice of the nasty smirk he was hiding on his face.

"...Quit lying. I can tell from your fake tone and that fake expression that you don't feel sorry at all. Why don't you tell us on how you're really feeling about this, glory hound?" I asked him seriously.

At that point, the hound dropped his façade, before glaring at both me and Bui.

"Well... if you want to know..." And at that moment, the hound pounced at both me and Bui, getting ready to strike us down! But that wasn't going to happen as Yu quickly called for Dusk to intercept his attack.

"Dusk, use Iron Tail!" Yu shouted out as Dusk did so, jumping into the air and slammed Steele in the face, before throwing him to the other side of the field with a Bite attack after the Iron Tail attack...

"Ruff!"

"Don't mess with my friends and my dad, Steele!" Yu snapped while Dusk barked at the glory hound, who winced from the hard hit he had taken from the Steel Type attack. I gotta admit, that did look like it hurt, too.

At that point, I lost my anger towards the glory hound as I turned to Yu with a calm smile, feeling grateful for his help.

"Thanks for the assist, Yu." I spoke out.

"Bu bui!" Buizel added, as if he was saying his thanks to both Yu and Dusk. In response, Yu grinned toothily at the two of us before he gave us a peace sign.

"No problem, Kai! Anything to help out!" Yu exclaimed as I nodded to him, before turning back to the glory hound. The hound was struggling to get up, looking rather stubborn despite the hard injuries he had on him.

So he was still planning to take revenge despite his wounds? This hound is stubborn, that's for sure.

"Just leave, glory hound. You won't win at this rate. Your body is taking a heavy toll with your wrong decisions. And not to mention, you're outnumbered, with no other way to win." I reminded him seriously.

I got dark glare from the hound in response before he turned to see Balto giving him a glare, too. And at that point, he must've realized how right I was, as he huffed before immediately running off and out of our sight.

"Thanks again Kai and Yuki. I appreciate that." Balto said gratefully as the hound was gone. I only let out a soft smile, before turning to the father figure of Yu.

"No problem at all, Balto. I mean... I couldn't just stand there and let the glory hound make your past wounds even worse..." I spoke out, feeling rather sheepish for the acts I've done during my first confrontation with the hound.

"Bui! Bu Bui!" Even Bui seemed to have felt the same as he had cried out in agreement with a smile on his face.

"It's okay. If it wasn't for Yuki back then, I wouldn't keep holding back my fears of being a wolf." Balto assured to the two of us, while Yu smiled at his father figure.

"Neither did you, dad. If you hadn't encouraged and believed in me back then, then I wouldn't accept who I was." Yu said with a soft smile. I turned to him with a small smile on my face, before remembering something...

"...That reminds me, Yu... You said before that the glory hound really hurt you, right? Mind if I see those wounds?" I asked, wanting to see if I could deal with those wounds that must've hurt him.

At my request, he looked at me with a surprised look before frowning and nodded before taking off his undershirt, allowing me to see a barely noticeable scar on the right side of his hip.

So that's where he had gotten hurt because of the glory hound.

"It's not much, honest. Had this for about two years and I kinda almost forgot all about it." Yu tried to reassure me, but I wasn't convinced. I just hope that whatever I'm about to do, will help him out.

So... I place my left hand softly on the wound, catching both Yu and Balto by surprise.

"O-Oh!" Yu gasped, at feeling my hand touch his wound. It must've stung him a little despite of it being a while, but I was willing to go through with it as Balto watched me with a small frown on his face, looking as if he was concerned for his son figure.

"What... are you doing?" Balto asked, as I continued on.

Suddenly, just as I predicted would happen, the Sea Gauntlet began to glow, forming water out of nowhere! Bui watched with a smile, while the siblings watched in awe. The water formed around the wound, before disappearing...

Thankfully, the wound had completely disappeared as well.

"That should do it..." I sighed, feeling relieved that it worked very well. Yu and Balto on the other hand, were shocked as they widened their eyes to see what had happened to Yu's wound.

"That's so awesome! How did you do that?!" Yu exclaimed in awe as I smiled sheepishly, before I tried to explain.

"Don't know... Even before I got the Sea Gauntlet, I've been able to heal wounds with water, with the first being Buizel whenever he got hurt." I explained, with Bui calling out his agreement with a smile.

"Bu bui..."

"But... Maybe it's related to the past that I can't recall and that I'm trying to figure out." I added, not sure of which part was true or which part was false. But that didn't seem to matter as both Yu and Balto looked happy for what I did for Yu...

"Well still, thanks Kai! You know, you're pretty awesome!" Yu exclaimed, with Balto giving a nod of agreement.

"You can say that again. Thanks again, Kaito." Balto added, causing me to nod back before I said those same words to the wolf boy.

"No problem... And I should say the same for you, Yu... You're pretty awesome as well." I added, while my siblings seemed to agree.

"That's right... You can turn into that cute white wolf!" Shiho giggled, causing Seita to be a little confused with her words as he seemed to have a different idea of what Yu was like to him.

"Cute? It's cool, actually!" Seita pointed out with a pout, only to cause an argument between my two siblings as they glared at each other for what they believed was right to describe Yu's wolf form.

"Cute!"

"Cool!"

"Cute!"

"Cool!"

This was getting out of hand. Thankfully, before I could intervene between the two, Yu took the initiative by getting in between them while transforming into his white wolf form, trying to get the two of them to calm down.

"Hey! Calm down! I think being a wolf is both cool and cute!" Yu grinned as he let my siblings pet him as I watched with a smile. But at the same time, a question kept nagging onto me as I asked without thinking...

"Hey... How are you able to turn into a white wolf in the first place? I mean, it's cool, but how...?" I asked, causing Yu to frown. Oh man... did I make him remember something bad...?

"To be honest... I don't know. I'm not sure how I even become one, but my dad told me that I was born with it. Well... my last dad..." Yu started to say as I frowned. By his last dad, he must be... talking about his real father...

"You know, you don't have to tell them..." Balto tried to say to Yu, as if trying to prevent his son figure from feeling any emotional pain from remembering the horrible past he must've went through... But to his surprise and mine...

"I don't know, Dad... I think it's alright. I can trust them..." Yu assured weakly before I frowned, trying to change the subject so that he didn't remember the past that he had to go through because of what he was.

"You don't have to if it reminds you of the horrible times in the past..." I assured him, only to get a shaking head from the wolf boy, as he smiled weakly, before speaking with a sheepish tone.

"No Kai... it's alright. I'm done running away like many years ago. I promise... Hey, why not we both talk about our pasts? I'll share mine if you share mine. I promise that I won't laugh... Wait, what am I saying? Why would I laugh about that?" Yu chuckled to himself weakly.

I raised an eyebrow, knowing that he was trying to hide the suffering that he had in him with that tone and that expression. Not to mention, I was unsure of whether to sure mine, but... with us getting along... I just know... that I could trust him.

"It's fine if you laugh about mine... Anyways, that's fine. I'll tell you mine first if you'd like." I reassured him, before Yu nodded as he sat down on the ground as I began my story of what I thought was my past.

"Okay..." Yu said as he sat with Balto and Dusk, while Bui watched me with Shiho and Seita by his side.

"To be honest... I've been told from my Mom and Dad that we moved to Melemele Island five to six years ago... I don't really remember much, but... Ever since I've discovered my powers related to the Sea and attracting Water Type Pokémon... I felt like I had a past that I've forgotten... The past that happened when I was younger or when I was born into the world..." I started to say, before feeling hesitant to continue.

But by keeping my resolve in me, I took a deep breath before questioning Yu about what I knew and the subject that could possibly be a part of my past... whether I believed it myself or not.

"Tell me... do you know the legends about the Alolan Sea Kingdom?" I asked, causing Yu to be confused before he shook his head in denial.

"Hmm... No. I never been told about that before. What's that?" Yu asked me, as I started to explain, although it felt kinda weird.

"It's um... well... related to people that are half-fish and half-humans that live under the sea... Merpeople, to be exact. Does that sound funny...?" I asked, sweat dropping from the details I had given him. But to my surprise...

"Not actually. I mean, hello? I'm half-wolf, half-human. But besides that, that's sounds pretty amazing!" Yu exclaimed with a big toothy grin on his face. Okay... That wasn't the reaction I expected, but still... it felt nice to hear that he was interested in the merpeople...

"That's a relief... Anyways, there's a story about a young prince being born into the Sea Kingdom, with two rulers ruling the Kingdom and the Alolan Sea... One of them was King Kaisuke. As for the queen, well... Her name hasn't been known or revealed for some reason." I started.

As I was talking, Yu listened carefully before I continued with the little history story about the Alolan Sea Kingdom.

"And the Prince's name hasn't been known for some reason, either. The Prince was born gifted, as he was loved by many Water Type Pokémon, which made it easier for him to become great friends with them. The Kingdom had high hopes for the Prince, as he promised to rule the Kingdom someday, so that the merpeople and Water Pokémon would have a bright future... Of course, that was when until..."

"Until... what?" Yu asked, sounding curious. That was when I decided to get a little serious with the story as I got to the part where the war began between the sea folks and the humans.

"Humans declared war, because the leader of a group demanded the Kingdom to hand over the Prince, so they could use the Prince's powers for their own sake. Of course, the Kingdom had a clear advantage since the battle had taken place at the Sea... But as the battle went on, the Prince was badly wounded by a human that tried to hurt some Water Type Pokémon. Because of how much danger the Prince was in, King Kaisuke made one choice: to turn his Queen and Prince into humans so they would be protected until the war was over. After the war, the Queen and the Prince was nowhere to be found. But the King had hope that his wife and son would return someday... and that they will be reunited happily once more." I explained before I sighed.

That was well... detailed as I explained it as I took a deep breath before losing my serious expression to Yu.

"Well... That's the main story of it." I explained, causing Yu to feel a little sad for what he had heard from my words.

"That's so horrible... I don't get why the humans needed the Prince's powers? Do you think they might be a good reason why? I mean, I'm not siding with them, just curious." Yu frowned as Balto looked as if he was thinking, too.

"It is true... Hey... Kaito, about that Prince... It almost sounds like you considering that Yuki did mention about seeing you attracting many Water Type Pokémon along with having the Sea Gauntlet." Balto explained while turning to me.

So even Balto was starting to think that I could be the Prince, but... But I...

"...Honestly, that did kinda cross my mind... Some people were pointing out that I could be the Prince... And with the way the Sea Gauntlet got attached to my left arm when I searched for it... But that couldn't be it." I spoke out with a frown.

"I mean, that would mean that my father would be the King instead of the father that raised me this way, right? I mean, if it was true... then that would mean both my parents have lied to me this entire time..." I added.

And that was something I didn't want to know. I didn't want to believe that the life I was living in right now was a lie. I want to believe in the fact that I was living in a great life with little problems, along with my friends.

Yu seemed to notice my troubles as he turned to me with a soft smile on his face, as if he was trying to comfort me with the problems I'm having.

"Hey, don't feel so bad Kai. Maybe it could be possibly, and it was. Don't hate your parents. So it could be possible that it might that way, but if that was the case, I'm sure they had a good reason to do that and even if you were raised by your father, you should still thank him and love him to the end. Believe in him..."

That's easier said than done, especially since I haven't heard from my father ever since he left on that little expedition of his...

"Speaking of which... What happened to your father?" Balto asked me, causing me to blink before I explained to the two of where he should be at right now.

"...A few years ago, he went on a small expedition related to Water Type Pokémon legends... My mom's been getting updates from him, but I haven't heard of him for a while. And now that he's gone, even Mom's busy with work related to Water Types." I started before I sighed.

"Neither of them have been home for a while, so it's just been me, Shiho, and Seita... along with my Pokémon family." I added, sighing at the end.

"I... I see. I'm sorry... but hey, I'm sure if you keep believing and have faith in him, surely he'll come back..." Yu spoke before he sadly frowned.

"You're lucky Kai... your Dad is somewhere out there while mine..." Yu started to say before he stopped himself. At that moment, I started to feel bad, thinking that I knew on what he was about to say.

So... At that moment, I decided to try and do something that Zeraora did to me once before leaving. Standing up, I faced Yu, who stared at me in confusion while remaining sitting on the ground.

"Huh? D-Did I say something wrong?" Yu asked as I gave him a soft smile. Without saying another word, I poked his forehead gently with my two fingers... the same way as Zeraora did to me a few times.

"Huh? What... are you doing?" Yu asked me in confusion, as I gave him a sheepish smile apologetically.

"Sorry... A Pokémon sometimes does this to me before it leaves... It's as if that Pokémon knew me for a long time. Thought it might snap you out of your sad thoughts..." I explained softly.

At my explanation, Yu only smiled at me, looking grateful for the comfort I attempted to give him just now...

"Thanks Kai... Well, thanks for telling me your story. I'll share you mine now." Yu started, before he took a deep breath. As he turned to his father figure, Balto only gave him a nod and an encouraging smile.

I did the same to Yu, nodding to him, before he smiled as he slowly began to explain his childhood story... The time when he had to struggle so much during his life... All because of what he was to other people.

"Well you see, I never knew much about my mom. She wasn't around when throughout my entire childhood, and I never did found out whatever happened to her. Whenever I ask my dad about her, he doesn't reply and makes a sad gaze. I didn't knew why but later I soon understand why...he really missed her. He was always the best, always knew how to cook, and whenever I was being taunted by the people of my old home, he would always defend me." Yu started sadly.

So his father was a good man... The best person Yu ever lived with, despite of the people making fun or hurting him for what he was.

"Though, he always get angry complaints for those people. Sometimes, I always think it's my fault why this is happening. No matter if I was a wolf or human, he loved me deeply like he loved no one else. The people back then... they would always stay away from me. Whenever I want to play around with the children, the adults would always telling their child to stay away from me or just throw rocks at me, even accuse me for things that I haven't done at all. One of them even told me that I was nothing more than my dad's pet..." Yu added sadly.

That caused me to twitch a little in anger, as I wanted to feel angry for the people that hurt him all because of his half-wolf heritage. But upon knowing that nothing good could come from feeling that way now, I kept ahold of my anger and remained calm.

My siblings on the other hand, felt differently. Shiho looked sad for Yu while Seita was angry for what the morons did to him...

"Oh..." was all Shiho could say. As for Seita...

"Those jerks! They have no right to do something like that to you! They're real jerks!" Seita snapped angrily, allowing me to agree with him mentally. They were jerks... Jerks that had no heart...

Yu only smiled at us sadly before turning to me, as my face darkened... Nevertheless, Yu continued with his sad life story as he continued on for what he had thought about himself in the past.

"It really caused me to bear my existence whenever I was a human... or a wolf. One day, I got into a fight with my dad because I wanted answers! But he wouldn't give it to me and it... really made me angry that I ran off and stayed in my room for a long while till my dad came in and cheered me up, saying that he didn't care what I was and that I was his son, and will always be. People even told him to abandon an excuse of an experiment, but he refused to." Yu explained.

At that point, I felt ready to blow up, but once again... I held my anger of the people that made him suffer, before speaking of what I guessed could've happened later on as I spoke with a serious tone.

"...Let me guess... Is that when things started to get worse for you? Because of those morons?" I asked sternly. But to my surprise... Yu shook his head and explained with a sad look on his face.

"No... it wasn't that. It was... not the only reason why I ran away. It was because that one night... when I stopped going to school and went to play around with the forest woodland Pokémon and a special friend of mine." Yu continued on, causing me to raise a brow.

He... had a special friend? A Pokémon, maybe? But I continued to listen as Yu began to reach to the part where something terrible must've happened... to not just him, but to his biological father.

"I noticed that my dad didn't come and pick me up. I felt worried and when I came home, I saw my dad lying on the ground barely breathing. I managed to wake him up, and brought him over to his room, and he began spewing up some blood out of his mouth. I-I didn't know what to do, and I asked him what happened and his response was this..." Yu started before he spoke of what his father had said...

"Yuki... it was so nice to see you again, son... I'm sorry that I can't stay with you anymore..."

Those words felt like sharp ice trying to freeze my skin up as I widened my eyes in shock... That meant...

"I was such an idiot for not realizing it as I felt so confused by that, and he told me about a medicine in the pantry that he bought. I ran over and looked over to search for some medicine, but there was none. And I realized that he makes the medicines himself, not buying it from the store. I immediately ran back to his room and it was locked and inside..." Yu started, looking sadder as he continued on.

At that point, I didn't want to hear anymore, because I started to understand on what might've happened to his father as I shook my head...

"...Don't say it. I think I'm starting to understand on what happened to your human father. I'm sorry, Yu..." I apologized. Shiho and Seita both looked like they were going to cry from the story they were continuing to hear.

Bui looked as if he felt sorrow for the white wolf boy as he frowned, giving a sad cry for Yu...

As for Yu, he let out some tears, sniffing from the sad past he was forced to remember... All because I asked him about it...

"It's okay... but yeah... I cried so hard when he didn't respond back. I tried to get help... but nobody believed me... except for a police officer. I think his name was something like 'Nanu' or something." Yu explained, causing me to blink.

Nanu? As in... Nanu, the Island Kahuna of Ula'ula Island?

"He was a nice officer that never suspected me for being a monster. He grabbed the other officers and discovered what happened... he died from Diphtheria, the same illness that infected the children of Nome Island." Yu explained sadly.

So that's it... The same disease that caused the people of Nome Island to suffer... So that's what happened...?

"I was so heartbroken while the crowd grew outrage by it and felt worried as well upon hearing this. I was all alone... and then Officer Nanu offered to take me... but I refused because I was too afraid. I didn't trust anyone so... I ran away from home and never looked back. I accidentally fell into a river stream after not paying attention and I managed to survive the forest. But it's okay, some kind folks took me in before I met Dad." Yu finished.

I narrowed my eyes, understanding of how Yu went through his life... So he went through all that before he had met Balto, huh...

Basically, he suffered for what he had become to the people... Not only that, he suffered more trauma after witnessing his father's death... But in return, he had met Balto, who soon became his father figure...

Still... I just... couldn't believe it. He suffered so much in his life... Being hurt, teased, dealing with the trauma... I just... couldn't imagine of what he had gone through all for what he became when he was born...

"That's good to hear, but... still... I can't believe you had to go through all that... I'm sorry... I'm sorry about what happened to you, Yu..." I apologized, still feeling sad for the horrible experiences Yu's been through in his whole life...

"Bui..." Bui said sadly, as he felt sorry for what Yu's been through, too. But to our surprise, Yu just smiled happily, as if the sadness in his face or eyes were gone completely!

"It's okay! I know my dad wouldn't want me to keep mourning but wants me to move forward. Besides, they were really nice folks that took care of me for a while...despite being wolves and a pack filled with both forms of Lycanroc." Yu explained brightly.

Okay... That was a surprise. Did he really felt sad earlier...? Or was that just an act? It looked sincere, especially since he had to go through so much trouble in the past, because he was half-wolf...!

"I don't believe it... First, you were crying, and now you suddenly brighten up..." I spoke in disbelief, while Bui stared at the white wolf boy with what seemed to be a bewildered expression on his face.

"That's what makes Yuki 'Yuki'. No matter what he's feeling, he always brings it back with a smile. I rarely ever see him mourning because he wants to stay in the present instead of the past." Balto explained as I smiled.

"Hm... So that's how it is..." I started to say, before I recalled of what Yu had said about this special friend... Curious to know, I raised that question to him.

"Hey, Yu... This special friend of yours...? Is it a Pokémon?" I asked, causing him to grin and explain about his friend.

"Oh yeah! She saved my life when I fell into a river stream once. It was flashing yellow, had lightning coming out, and almost looked like a cat. I think she even told me her name... Zeraora." Yu explained to me.

That caught me by surprise. And it wasn't just me... Bui, Shiho, and Seita were all surprised to hear that, too. But wait... she? The Zeraora Yu knew was a female? The one I knew was a male, but...

"Eh...!? Do you mean the Thunderclap Wanderer, big bro Yuki?!" Seita asked in shock as Yu nodded with a smile before he explained.

"Yeah! I once followed him to the deepest part of the forest, and it took a while to get him to notice me but he thinks of me as a friend. Why do you ask?" Yu asked as Shiho was the one who responded for me.

"Well... It's because big brother believes that the Wanderer is a friend that big brother lost memories of a few years ago..." Shiho explained, causing me to receive the shocked looks from both Balto and Yu as they seemed to be shocked for what they heard just now.

"A-Are you serious?!" Yu exclaimed in shock, before Balto questioned me.

"So you know Zeraora as well and met her by person?!" Balto exclaimed as I nodded, before recalling the previous times when I had encountered Zeraora...

"Well, yeah... I believe so. I mean, that's what it looked like when Zeraora kept rescuing me in the past few weeks... The first time it happened was when a group of Alolan Grimer and Muk stole Vulpix when she was just an Egg. Lana and I would've been toast if it weren't for Zeraora saving us and the Egg..." I started.

That time was one of the great times, despite of that time having a difficult situation.

"The second time was when it saved me and a friend of mine named Hau from a bunch of Team Skull grunts when they tried to ambush us and steal our Pokémon... It even gave me the Electrium-Z..." I added, before showing Yu my Z-Crystal.

Yu stared at it with awe before I recalled my third encounter with the Thunderclap Pokémon.

"The third time it rescued me was when Lillie and I was attacked by Team Rocket when they wanted to steal Snowy and Vulpix on the first day they hatched... It was kind of close, but it saved me once again..." I added, before recalling the fourth rescue encounter...

"And the fourth time was when it saved me and a new classmate of mine, Akira, from a man named Dulio, who worked from an organization called Team Kings." I added, before thinking back to our first battle together.

"Finally, we met again when I challenged it to a battle... After the battle though, I lost... but I managed to remember it's name somehow... It kinda... made me sad for some reason. Don't know why that is, though..." I added, before frowning.

Sad... Maybe... was it because I had finally remembered Zeraora's name... when I had forgotten about him all those years...?

"Maybe something happened between the two. Surely everything will be explain soon enough Kai. But who's Team Kings? Oh no, don't tell me it's another organization that likes bullying the trainers like Team Skull?!" Yu asked me as I slowly nodded to confirm that it was true.

I unfortunately wouldn't know much of them since I only encountered one of their members. But with the way he targeted me and Akira... I mean, the first time I've encountered him, was when we were registering for the Iki Town Pokémon Tournament.

He looked freaked out upon seeing the Sea Gauntlet attached to my arm...

"Huh... that is weird." Yu breathed out as Balto gazed at me, which caught my attention. Then, something must've hit his mind as he asked me something...

"Hey... you don't think because of the Alolan legend? You did say that you almost looked similar to the Alolan Sea Kingdom prince, right? Do you think it's possible that they are the people from the legend who tried to kidnap the Sea Prince?" Balto asked me.

That question caught me off guard a little before I began to think. Balto could be saying the truth, as the Sea Gauntlet was attached to me when it should be attached to the Sea Prince of the Sea Kingdom...

Not only that, I've been getting funny feelings earlier, and not only that... I even witnessed my legs turning into blue fins... the fins that merpeople would have...

"Mm... I think so, too... That can certainly explain one thing..." I agreed reluctantly while Bui gave me a concerned look.

"Bui?" I could only smile and rub his furry head, as if to comfort him on saying that I was fine. But in truth, I wasn't really...

"Anyways... It's something that concerns me alone... I can't get anyone else involved..." I spoke, as Yu smiled, looking as if he understood on what I meant.

"I can understand that. You're afraid that they might target your friends and family in order to get them to you, but you can't tackle them alone. If I was being targeted, then I would believe that Ash, Mom, Dad, and the others would save me while I can try my best to defeat the bad guys! I hope that you teach Team Kings a lesson about being jerks!" Yu exclaimed with a big grin.

Heh... Well, that's really nice to hear and... at the same time, it's kinda motivating... Motivating me to try harder for myself and the others...

"Thanks, Yu... That really means a lot. You know..." I started, causing Yu to blink at me in confusion.

"This may sound weird, but... We're kinda the same, aren't we? We both have troubling pasts... But, unlike me, you remember everything about yourself and had to go through a hard time. I on the other hand, don't recall much about my past, yet I didn't have a hard time... That is, until troublemakers and morons started to ruin the peace in Alola..." I began, before feeling a little sheepish.

"We may look normal, but we aren't. You're half-wolf and half-human, while I'm a human, but I have these strange powers relating to the sea..." I finished, before feeling a little weird from that little explanation.

I could only give him a sheepish smile, feeling apologetic for speaking too much.

"Sorry... That sounded weird, didn't it?" I asked, only to get a toothy grin from Yu, much to my surprise.

"Nah! That was quite inspirational! And you're right, while we may looked normal...we're still people who can always help a friend indeed. But I know that one day you'll remember everything." Yu assured to me softly.

"He's right." Balto called out before coming over to me to lick me in the cheek...

Um... Well, that kinda felt comforting at least... Heh...

"I have a feeling that you'll unlock your past and remember everything." Balto assured to me with a soft smile... A smile that... a father would give. At those words, I could only smile, feeling grateful for the two.

"Thanks... Both of you... That really means a lot. And I hope you two can overcome anything that comes to your way... Even if something tough comes up, I'm sure that your bond as father and son together, along with the bond you have with others... will help you overcome anything... Even that glory hound that keeps pestering you guys." I said to them thankfully.

Yu responded back with a toothy grin on his face... Would that be his signature smile too...? In a way, it looks nice and comforting to see him like that after the sad story he told to me and my siblings.

"You too, Kai! I'm really glad that I met Balto and became a son to him, and I'm really glad that I bumped into you guys. I hope we meet again one day!" Yu exclaimed cheerfully as I nodded back to him in agreement.

"Right-"

"KOKO!"

Wait... That cry...! Both Yu and I looked up with Balto and my siblings to see...

"Tapu Koko!?"

Yeah... The Island Guardian of Melemele Island... But why is he here? Is it to challenge me or Yu? Or was it about something else?

"Tapu Koko...? Why...?" I started to ask it, only to hear a voice... An unfamiliar, yet familiar voice that kinda caught me off guard. Heck, even Yu seemed to be caught off guard by the voice, too.

"You two already created a bond... yet... You two are from different universes..." The voice spoke out, causing the two of us to blink before we looked around to see where the voice was coming from.

"Is... that you talking, Tapu Koko? With telepathy?" I asked it, earning a nod from the Island Guardian.

"Yes... Young one. It is I that's communicating with the two of you and your companions now." Tapu Koko confirmed, causing me to widen my eyes in surprise. Yu looked more surprised as I was, as he gaped at hearing it in his mind.

"No way! I never knew you could talk through our minds!" Yu exclaimed in disbelief. To tell you the truth, I wasn't quite expecting this, too... But Balto seemed to have a different subject in mind as he questioned Tapu Koko.

"What do you mean Tapu Koko? They created a bond yet we're from different universes?" Balto asked before the Island Guardian turned to me, as if he was pointing to me as he explained to us.

"It's exactly as I said... You, young one... Do you recall encountering something strange?" Tapu Koko asked me as I frowned in confusion. That was when something hit me as I recalled something peculiar earlier.

"Something... strange? Oh yeah... Now that I think about it, we were nearly struck by lightning which created a blinding light... But then, nothing seemed to have happened..." I breathed out, recalling that strange time.

"Something did happen, young one... You, and your siblings... were brought to this universe, forced to leave yours." Tapu Koko explained to us, much to my shock and to Bui's. Even my siblings were shocked to hear such news.

"Say what!?"

"Bui!?"

"No way! So Kai, Shi, Bui, and Sei are in our universe! No way!" Yu exclaimed in disbelief. He seemed to be as equally shocked as I was, while Balto was looking rather confused with how it could happen...

"But... how could have this happened? They left their own universe?" Balto questioned before Tapu Koko gestured to Yu this time by turning to him.

"It was not their will... It seemed fate has brought them all to you, young one..." Tapu Koko spoke, making Yu look awed as he gave a smile for the words the Island Guardian said to him.

Fate... So such things even exist, then? I guess... it would make sense since I had a dream about Yu while he had a dream about me... Then, we both meet each other, both knowing each other because of those dreams we had...

"Wow... fate. That's really awesome. I guess whatever happened it brought us together and I say it was awesome considering that I met another trainer and his siblings to understand me, Dad, and Dusk!" Yu exclaimed excitedly.

He's excited about me and my siblings being a part of his world? Heh... I guess I could understand, as maybe I could've felt the same if Yu was in my world with Balto and Dusk by his side.

"Yeah... And I guess... I understand now... That's why I didn't know anything about Nome Island, or about you and your friend, Rosy. Maybe that's why you didn't know me or about the Alolan Sea Kingdom. Since we were from different universes..." I spoke out in realization.

My Water Type partner looked awed, as did my siblings as they said nothing... Were they speechless?

"But even so, it was quite awesome to hear us talking about different places and what we know!" Yu exclaimed with a toothy grin, causing me to nod in agreement before I realized something...

"Yeah... It was... Hey, Yu?" I turned to him, causing him to look at me with a questioning look.

"Yeah, Kai?" Yu asked me, before I took out a Mystic Water pendant from my pocket... It was one of the treasures that Buizel and I had found underwater together... before our trip to Treasure Island with Ash.

"I want you to take this... It's the Mystic Water, one of the treasures that Buizel and I found together." I explained before I placed it in his hand. His reaction? Well, he looked down at it with a surprised look.

"Whoa... Y-You want me to have it? But isn't it yours? You and Buizel did find it yourselves, right?" Yu asked me, before Balto smiled, looking as if he understood on why I gave him one of my treasures...

"I think he wants you to keep it Yuki... as a memento." Balto explained, causing him to look even more confused.

"What? But why?" Yu asked, before I smiled, reminding him of the time we spent together so far, despite of that time being a little short.

"We may have just met today, but... It's like Tapu Koko said... We created a bond together, didn't we? By fighting together and revealing our past to each other openly... I'd say we became quick good friends... Which is why, I want you to keep it, so you can remember me and our times together, even if it was short..."

"Bu bui..." Buizel nodded at my words, as if he agreed with what I was saying. My siblings watched me with smiles on their faces, as they seemed to understand what I was saying too, as they both said their agreements.

"Big brother..."

"Yeah..."

At my reminder, the white wolf boy smiled happily at me, before taking something out of his pocket as he presented to me... a fang?

"Thanks... This is a wolf fang that me and Dusk found when we were playing around the beach with our friends, well... the ones in my universe. You can have it, you can always think of the time we spent." Yu explained to me with Dusk barking in agreement.

"Ruff!"

I could only take it with a smile, before looking at the two with a grateful look on my face.

"Thanks... I'll cherish it, remembering the time we've spent together." I spoke softly, earning a nod from Yu, while Tapu Koko watched the two of us, looking rather content for what we were offering to each other.

At that moment, the wolfdog seemed to understand on what this meant for now...

"So... I guess this is goodbye." Balto spoke out, causing Yu to frown a little, before he made a weak smile to me, as if trying to keep himself feeling positive.

"Yeah... but hey, we'll see each other again... Someday, right?" Yu asked as I smiled to him.

"Yeah... And when we do meet again, let's battle again, shall we? Our battle was interrupted by that glory hound, but... Next time for sure, we'll settle on who had the stronger bonds with our Pokémon." I spoke to him before raising a fist for him to bump back.

"Bu bui!" Buizel cried out as Yu smiled before fist bumping back to me. Dusk and Bui did the same while Balto nuzzled at Kaito's siblings to wish them goodbye

"Goodbye, Balto... Big bro Yuki..." Shiho said, feeling a little sad for having to say goodbye.

"Yeah... See you next time..." Seita added, sounding a little sad himself. At that moment, the same bolt of lightning suddenly strikes, creating a portal for me and my siblings to go through.

I was about to head in with my siblings until I remembered one thing to remind Yu of.

"Oh...! And one more thing..." I called out, catching Yu's attention.

"Huh? What is it, Kai?" Yu asked me as I gave him a little smirk by reminding him of his true feelings for that girl, Rosy.

"Stop stomping on your tail! You'll only hurt yourself more if you do that! And also... You better tell Rosy on you really feel about her, okay? You keep those feelings hidden... some moron might try to steal her away from you!" I called out to him.

That caused him to blush a little as he chuckled nervously at me.

"You're right! Thanks for the advice, Kai! I promise to tell her one day!" Yu assured to me with a determined look on his face.

That made me smile... That's what I want to see and hear as I nodded to him, before I was ready to head into the portal... Shiho and Seita were ready too, along with Buizel as we headed into the portal to head back to our world...

"Goodbye Kai! Shi! Sei! Bui! We'll see each other again!"

"We'll meet again someday! Goodbye for now!"

"Ruff! Ruff!"

Those were the last time I ever heard those three before a bright light nearly blinded me and my siblings until... it died away. As we all opened our ways, we found ourselves at the forest, but with a different feeling...

We're home... back to our universe...

I smiled... knowing what could happen if I trust in fate... We will meet again someday, Yu... And when that time comes, I'm sure... we'll be able to make a stronger bond than when we first met...

To be continued...

---

Kaito's Team:

Buizel (M): (Ice Beam, Agility, Rain Dance, Aqua Jet)

Rockruff (M): (Crunch, Dig, Rock Slide, Howl)

Vulpix (F): (Ember, Roar, Baby-Doll Eyes, Quick Attack)

Eevee (F): (Quick Attack, Swift, Attract, Dig)

Next chapters:

Chapter 45: A Masked Pokémon to Bond! Pt. 1

Chapter 46: A Masked Pokémon to Bond! Pt. 2

Chapter 47: The Pokémon School Open House!

Chapter 48: Family Work Together to Win!

Chapter 49: The Masked Problem to Crack!

Next chapter preview:

Hau: Thanks for coming with me to help me find a new Pokémon to catch and to play with, Kai!

Kaito: Anytime, Hau... I think I need a new companion too, especially since I remembered how strong Tokio was...

Hau: Whoa... What's that Rowlet doing over there? It doesn't seem to be Ash's Rowlet... Could it be a wild one?

Kaito: A wild Rowlet... That's rather rare. And compared to Ash's Rowlet, this one seems to be quite- Whoa!

Hau: Ah! What is that!? Doesn't that strange Pokémon look a bit familiar...!? I think he was called... What was it called?

Kaito: Type: Null... But this seems to be a different one. There's another Pokémon like this...?

Events that occurred:

- Kaito challenges Yuki to a battle, which ends in no result due to interruption by Steele

- Kaito and Yuki discovers that Kaito was in a parallel world where Yuki lives in

- Kaito receives a wolf fang from Yuki after he gives him the Mystic Water