Who I Am - Lightning99
Chapter 35:
Kiawe's Troubles
Following Ash's victory over Kiawe's trial, their whole group descended the volcano via the public path that rounded the exterior and headed back to Heahea City. Whence on the ground, they unanimously decided to conclude their excitable day at the city's malasada shop, a decision Hau was happier than a Happiny about.
Spread over two comfortable yellow booths, the group chatted long into the night, leisurely nibbling on their puffy malasadas. They mostly babbled about random topics: Lana detailed her eventful day of fishing to Brock – she said she hooked an Araquanid, Dawn and Lillie delved into the technicalities of coordinating, and Hau, Mallow, and Clemont indulged in laughter over Hau's jokes and dubious tales. Sitting in the centre of the rabble, Ash happily bounced between conversations, but for once, he wasn't too heavily involved. Fatigue was the reason; he felt exhausted after the trial and the volcano's draining heat.
But Ash was also tired because of relief. It sounded strange even in his head, but that was the only way he could explain it. Going into the trial he had been excited as usual; however, he had also been worried that the recent events overtaxing his brain and heart would have hindered him. After completing the trial, that tension had fizzled out of his body like paralysis doused by a Full Heal. In all, the trial tired him out physically and the alleviation of his worries left him mentally drained. It was a pleasant feeling, though: Ash knew he would sleep excellently that night.
Ash noticed he wasn't the only uninvolved member that evening, though. Kiawe didn't speak much either. He didn't even reprimand Hau when he accidentally bumped a waiter's arm by suddenly leaping out of his seat, almost causing them to drop some food. Rather, Kiawe wore that same deep-thinking expression he had taken when they were training the day before. It was strange. Since he had just completed his trial, Ash had assumed Kiawe would be as upbeat as he had been beforehand.
On their way to the Poké-Centre afterwards, Kiawe called him to the back of the pack, just behind where Lillie was walking alone. Strangely, she had become noticeably quiet too. Ash was worried about her. Lately, she didn't seem as joyous and happy as she had been before. Something was definitely her. Ash made a mental note to check-in with her soon.
"Ash, this might be a strange request, but could you meet me at Paniola Ranch tomorrow afternoon? Say around half six? That's when I leave my Trial Captain post," Kiawe asked.
"Yeah, of course," Ash answered, nodding. "Is everything alright?"
"Thank you, Ash. I would just like to show you something is all. And, possibly, get your opinion on something."
"Anything you need," Ash answered.
The next morning, to pass the time until he was to meet Kiawe, Ash decided to test his idea of how to train Bagon, to have him shed his so-far uncooperative stance – he didn't count the trial as cooperation since all Bagon had done was unleash his rage indiscriminately.
He set off through the forest near Brooklet Hill keeping close to the cliff edge while scouting for a test site, a difficult task because he needed certain conditions for it to be useable.
After a while of shuffling, stomping, and kicking through the overgrowth, Ash found his area: a fairly high clifftop with a small patch of sand nestled at the base of a bay. There were even some rocks positioned at such a way beside the cliff that he could climb back to the top via them. It was perfect for the crazy idea he had in mind.
"What're we doin' here?" Hau, one of his two companions for the day asked, who was peering over the edge. He gave a loud whistle. "What a view, though!"
"Training!" Ash replied happily, sending out Bagon. He squatted to Bagon's level. The small dragon attacking him had become a routine thing, so Ash instinctively lifted his hand in front of his face to block the incoming Headbutt. It still stung his palm, though.
"Bagon, take a look over the edge of the cliff," Ash said, flicking his hand in reaction to the pain. Bagon grunted stubbornly and turned towards the forest. "For Arceus sake!" Ash groaned and grabbed Bagon himself. He marched to the cliff edge and turned him to face the bottom. Bagon's struggling in his grip stopped abruptly. "See? It's like your training spot in Kāla'e Bay. Just go for it. Train as you want to, not how I wanted you to."
It was a simple solution. All Bagon wanted to do was continually fling himself off cliffs in his endeavour to evolve. Having him listen to other methods of training wasn't currently going to work. This was the best way to get through to Bagon, at least initially.
Ash let Bagon down, who stared at him for a second. Then Bagon turned, stepping up to the edge. He looked at Ash over his shoulder, nodded, and then jumped off the edge. A loud thump sounded a few seconds later as Bagon inevitably hit the ground.
"Ah, I see," Dawn, his second companion for the day, said.
"Yeah. I've been trying to get Bagon to listen to me, but he only wants to do this. If I can gain an understanding of him and become closer to him through allowing him to train this way, I hope then he'll be a bit more cooperative."
"Huh. That's a good idea, Ash," Hau added.
Ash smiled, nodding as thanks. Although, there was one other aspect to his plan, too. And he didn't know how his companions would react to it.
When Bagon climbed back to the top, Ash stopped him as he was going to jump. Taking a peek behind him to the onlooking pair of Dawn and Hau, Ash nonchalantly flung his t-shirt and cap onto a nearby rock leaving him only in the swimwear he opted to – and recommended his companions to – wear.
"Ash?" Dawn asked.
"This time, Bagon, you're not doing it alone," Ash said, smirking at the small dragon.
Without even a moment to think about what he was planning to do, not a moment to let the hesitation hit him, Ash peered over the cliff, took a few steps back, and sprinted toward the edge. He heard Hau and Dawn shout his name as he leapt off the cliff – mid-jump he even heard Bagon cry out. It became drowned out when Ash yelled as loud as he could, unleashing the adrenaline fuelling his recklessness as a bellow of excitement.
The whooshing wind deafening to his ears, Ash plunged safely into the sea with a giant splash, a fleeting sting tingling the bottoms of his feet. As the bubbles from his landing dispersed, Ash spotted some Pokémon eyeing him with wide eyes: some Wishiwashi and Dewpider, Magikarp, Shellder and Corsola. There were some he hadn't seen before too: a pink and yellow fish with a big antenna, and a purple-bodied one with what looked like light blue hair with pink projections.
Admiring the Pokémon until his eyes began to sting, Ash kicked to the surface. When he broke the water, the first thing Ash saw after flicking his hair from over his face was Dawn and Hau looking down at him from the clifftop, then Bagon plunging onto the sand too. He gave them a wave, then swam to the shore, greeting Bagon who was flashing one large, fanged grin his way. At that moment, Ash knew his plan would work.
"What on earth are you doing?!" Dawn asked him in a panic after he climbed to the top, slapping him lightly on the shoulder.
"Huh? I… was training?" Ash asked, stumped as to why she sounded so worried.
"You jumped off a cliff!" Dawn yelled.
"Oh… Well, I thought that doing it would be like I was training alongside Bagon, you know?" Ash reasoned.
"I… I suppose that makes sense…" Dawn muttered more calmly.
"And I mean… that's not the first time I've done that," Ash said.
Dawn sighed deeply. "You've got a point there…"
"No, that was awesome, Ash! It looked like so much fun! I wanna try!" Hau shouted, raising his hand like a school child.
"That's why I told you to bring your swimming stuff," Ash said, grinning.
"Ooh hoo, let's do this!"
Next thing Ash knew, Hau flung his t-shirt onto the ground and tottered to the edge. Ash waited a moment, expecting Hau to jump, but then he backed up.
"Uh, that's quite high," Hau muttered.
As Ash went to answer, he saw Bagon leap from the top again. He smiled.
"The key is to not think about it," Ash said, taking a few steps back. "Just go for it!" And he leapt off the edge once again.
By the time Ash landed and poked his head through the surface of the water, he saw Hau leap from the top, his limbs flailing. A wild, frightened-yet-exhilarated yell followed, then a loud, slapping splash. Ash cringed, but when Hau surfaced, he seemed fine, indicated by his dazed grin.
"Oh man, I'm shaking!" Hau said, chuckling to himself. "That was awesome! Is this seriously how you train, Ash?"
"Well, this method is a little crazier than usual, but–" Ash was cut off when a loud thump hit the sand nearby – Bagon jumping again. "Yeah. I do whatever strikes me at any time. It seems to be working. Bagon hasn't cooperated any other time I've tried yet."
"Man, I've gotta hang out with you more!" Hau said.
"That'd be–"
"Watch out!" Ash suddenly heard, then a loud shriek. He looked up quickly, spotting Dawn plummeting towards them. Ash and Hau shouted simultaneously, ducking under the water to avoid Dawn clattering into their heads.
When they all surfaced, Dawn flicked her long hair from her face and grinned at the pair.
"Did you think I'd let you boys have all of the fun?" she said, winking. Dawn waded back to the beach and gestured them to follow, smirking.
"Ooh, you're on," Ash said, excitedly clambering through the water.
They continued cliff-jumping throughout the day, stopping only for some food. Bagon, however, didn't even stop for that, and Ash returned quickly to his side. Throughout their crazy training session, Ash found Bagon to be somewhat more understanding and communicative. Although it had only been a few hours, Ash was glad to see some change.
Seeing how invested he was and recognising the newfound understanding their cliff-jumping had instilled in their relationship, Ash decided to leave Bagon to his training when the time to meet Kiawe arrived, hoping that would instil even more trust between them. He told Bagon to meet him at the Poké-Center later and left with Dawn and Hau, parting with them too when they reached the path leading to the meeting spot.
Ash arrived a little early, but Kiawe soon ambled into sight, greeting him with a small nod and smile, two actions that were incredibly unlike Kiawe's natural vigour – usually, he would have grinned, he would have shouted and jogged to meet him. He would have been erupting with energy. It seemed to Ash that something was on his mind.
"Let's get going, shall we?" Kiawe said, setting off.
Ash followed him around the Pokémon Day Care and through the forestry behind it. After a short distance of repetitive forestry, they came to an incline. The trees ended atop the hill, providing an open view of the valley below.
Settled down between a ring of Akala's mountains was a farm. There was a small brick farmhouse towards the south, several wooden stables with brown rooves cluttered in the centre, and two steel silos placed at the top left. Green fields and pen-less pastures encompassed the buildings, around which Miltank, Tauros, Mareep, Mudbray, and many more Pokémon freely roamed. Thin sandy pathways sectioned each area, and a thin stretch of river ran to the north.
Ash paused a moment for a fond glimpse but soon noticed Kiawe moving and followed him down the hill, who hadn't wasted a moment on the sight. Ash guessed it was likely because he had seen it many times before.
Kiawe led him down the hill and into one of the stables. Within it were multiple muddy Mudbray munching on bales of hay. Tending to one of the Mudbray was a short girl wearing a pink dress whose shades of hair – dark brown with pinky-red tufts – resembled Kiawe.
"Mimo!" Kiawe suddenly exploded, his vigour returned. "Approach Mudbray from the front; they're liable to kick out if startled!"
The small girl groaned, spinning to face Kiawe with a stern expression, her arms and legs growing taut. "Kiawe…" she whined, "I know what I'm doing!" Nevertheless, the small girl listened, rounding the Mudbray to approach from the front.
"Ah, so she's your sister," Ash said, hitting his palm with a hammer fist. It was a simple deduction given the resemblance and Lana's insistence on teasing Kiawe for his overprotectiveness.
"Yes. This is my sister, Mimo," Kiawe explained as he took a seat upon a golden bale of hay, watching Mimo work with a fond smile.
Mimo jumped up from her task and scurried towards them. "Yep! I'm Mimo! Are you Ash?" Mimo asked.
"That's me! Nice to meet ya!" Ash crouched down putting his hand out to Mimo. Mimo gave him a powerful high-five.
"Wow… You look as cool as Kiawe's been telling us!" Mimo said, grinning shyly then scampering away again. Ash couldn't help the joy he felt hearing that Kiawe had spoken of him in such high regard.
"That's my sister for you," Kiawe said, "she's always like that."
"She seems nice. Is this farm your home?"
"It is indeed," Kiawe said. "The reason I brought you here specifically was to show you my home. We've created quite a bond since we met, and I just felt you should get to know more about me. Since we know your whole story."
"I see. Thank you."
"Also…" Kiawe paused, looking back to Mimo who was petting one of the Mudbray. "There's something on my mind and I was hoping you'd be able to help."
"Of course," Ash said. "Any way I can."
"Excellent. Before that, I have some jobs to do around the farm. Would you mind helping out?"
"Not at all! What've we gotta do?"
For the subsequent few hours, Ash found himself carrying out countless odd jobs around Kiawe's farm: herding Mareep with his Pokémon – which he turned into a little training exercise, scrubbing mud from Mudbray that had become drenched in it, even feeding some of the Tauros – something he did with such mastery given his experience that Kiawe praised him unnecessarily.
About two hours into their work, two hours that felt like seconds because Ash was enjoying it so much, Kiawe's parents exited the farmhouse to a scene Ash thought would be quite amusing: Kiawe diving across the field towards his sister because he thought she'd fall over. Ash fell to the floor with laughter when Kiawe landed head-first in a Mudbray's food, resulting in a firm kick to the chest. That had Ash cringing.
While Kiawe's facial features were more like his father's, he carried himself with the same pridefulness as his mother. Like Kiawe, his mother was a very strong-looking woman. She was tall and sturdily build with the same brown hair as Kiawe, sharing the familial trait of coloured hair hanging over her forehead and beside her ears. She wore an orange wrap skirt and tube top with sandals, exuding an aura of confidence in her bared skin. Again, a trait that followed into her son. The whole time Ash met her she was grinning, an expression that made her look even tougher as if nothing fazed her.
Kiawe's father, on the other hand, looked to be the most reserved family member behind his glasses. He wore a modest blue shirt and shorts, and his hair was only one shade of dark brown. Where his wife spoke as if she were an announcer in the Battle Royal Dome, his voice was soft, quiet. All in all, they were a very diverse family. A family Ash knew he could never dislike.
Their final task at dusk included wrangling the Tauros for the night, a task that Ash once again took as training – Torracat and Rockruff seemed to enjoy participating. Afterwards, he and Kiawe settled on the hill with water bottles, observing as the sun sank beyond the mountains. As was regular occurrence now, Rockruff was completely entranced by the dusk sky.
It was quiet for a long while, the breeze whistling and the far-off Mareep bleating beautiful background noise. Ash was almost startled when Kiawe spoke.
"Have you ever felt inadequate?" Kiawe suddenly asked, a sombreness in his tone that did not suit him.
For a moment, Ash glanced at him curiously. Kiawe simply stared at the sky as if he weren't even talking to him. Ash deduced that this must be what was on his mind, so he mimicked Kiawe, watching the movements of the clouds.
"In what way?"
"Just… generally."
"Yeah, of course, I have. Loads of times. When I lose a Pokémon battle. When I can't help somebody. When I think I've failed. I felt like that after my whole ordeal too."
"That's only natural given the circumstances. Sorry, that was an obvious question."
"No need to apologise, Kiawe."
"When you say in Pokémon battling…" Kiawe said after a momentary pause.
"Mmm," Ash nodded. "Everyone feels like that. You come up against someone much stronger than you, somebody you just can't beat. You wonder why you couldn't win, why you weren't strong enough. In that sense, you feel inadequate," Ash answered. "I experienced it during all my journeys, but especially during the Sinnoh League. Somebody defeated us with only two Pokémon. They were strong, but it still bothered me. There's another type too, the feeling that you've let your Pokémon down, that you're not a good enough trainer for them."
"And how do you cope with that feeling?"
"Hmm…" Ash muttered, thinking. "It's gotta be training. It's simple, but you become stronger after that feeling. It can be a good motivator to get stronger so you can win next time."
"I see. Yes, that is the most likely solution." Kiawe sighed. "What about if you don't feel you are improving as you train? What if you just can't get stronger? Of course, I'm only hypothesising here."
"I guess… if you can't improve on your own, ask for help? If you've got friends around you that are willing to help, you can improve that way. It's been like that for me. In times of struggle, I've had friends around me to give me pointers on how to improve, to inspire me to change it up. You don't have to train alone, you know?"
Out of the corner of his eye, Ash saw Kiawe nod, but he didn't respond for a while.
"I've been feeling a little bit inadequate lately," Kiawe said.
"Is that why you've seemed a little down?"
"I suppose it must be," Kiawe said. "First it was watching you, then it was meeting Brock and Clemont, then battling Brock, then your trial. Your Torracat, which you caught a month ago, defeated a Salazzle I've had for years. Brock's Steelix defeated my Turtonator, the ace of my team. It's strange. I used to think that, in terms of trainers within my own region, I was one of the strongest. It may sound like overconfidence, but I have not lost a battle in a long time.
"But then you arrived from abroad and your skills were far superior to my own. I noticed it immediately. Brock and Clemont, too. There is a certain… aspect to your abilities that overshadows my own. You have such creativity that I could never hope to attain; Brock has such a sound, logical mind that it compliments his battling perfectly; Clemont, while I haven't yet battled him, is a Gym Leader so young. In comparison, I find my battling to be… dull. Too basic. Monotonous. How can I not feel inadequate in comparison? I can't help wondering if the fact that I've mentally decided I'm one of the strongest in my home region has made me ignorant of the wider world. Conceited."
Ash pondered what Kiawe said for a moment.
"Honestly, you might be right in some ways. It's true that we battle differently, that we have our own styles. We're from abroad, from regions that are more serious about Pokémon battling. There are loads of different styles all over the world. In a way, secluding yourself to one region can be restricting. But I don't think you're inadequate. You may not realise it, but you have your own battling style too. You have your own strengths, your own weaknesses," Ash said.
"And yet I still do not compare to you," Kiawe said.
"…Good."
"What?"
"It's a good thing that that's how you're thinking. It proves that you're not conceited, that you don't think you're the best. It's having that feeling of somebody being better than you that pushes you to work harder. If you didn't have such a figure in your life, I imagine all you'd do is stay the same. You won't find a more powerful motivator to get stronger than a rival. That's what it's been like for me, anyway."
Kiawe chuckled. "You may be right."
"Don't get down about it. Use that feeling to get better," Ash said.
Another pause arose between them. This one was more comfortable. Ash could see Kiawe smiling to himself.
"Thank you for your help today, Ash," Kiawe said eventually. "It's been a lot more fun sharing these tasks, this side of my life with a friend."
"No problem! I've had a lot of fun, too. Anytime you need any more help, let me know."
"I'll do that. After all, you're somebody I consider my greatest friend, and now, my greatest rival."
Serena sighed, lowering her town map. She glanced hopelessly around the forest path they were walking along. Somehow, despite their experience and prior exploration of the region, they were completely lost.
A few days had passed since they met up with Ash's Goodra. It had been a fairly short reunion. They had explained the situation as best they could because of their inability to wholly communicate with Pokémon, but it seemed Goodra understood. From what Serena could infer, Goodra decided to wait at its home until they found Greninja. They had left shortly after, heading to the forest where Ash and Greninja had parted. Unfortunately, their maps hadn't been all that helpful in navigating it when they had arrived. Though, Serena knew – and she knew the others did too – that there was another reason they were lost.
"Ok, so, I think we've already passed this tree stump three times," Tierno said, twisting his town map side-to-side in his hands as if it were going to help.
Trevor sighed. "Please could I have a look? I'm sure I can figure it out."
"Nah, Trev, I told ya I wanna be the one to get us outta here. I can't always rely on you."
Trevor sighed again. "If you say so…"
"Oh, come on, Trevor, it's like our own little adventure!" Shauna said.
"I agree," Serena added. "This is kind of how Ash used to travel. He'd follow a map vaguely, but we ended up lost a lot. It was fun."
"If you say so," Trevor said again. "I suppose I may see some beautiful sights to take pictures of that I never would have seen this way."
Serena smiled, watching as Trevor lifted his camera to his eye and started scoping the area. Trevor was an incredible photographer; she had flicked through some of his photos the night before last, the ones beautifully capturing some Vivillon, Spritzee, and Klefki impressing her the most. She wondered if she could get Trevor to take photos of her Braixen, Sylveon, and Pancham for her Poké-Vision sometime.
"Serena, I've been thinking," Shauna said. "You're going to Alola when we find Greninja, right?"
Serena nodded. "I am."
"In that case, I may have to join you. I'm looking for something new in my Poké-Vision videos and my performing. I looked up Alola the other night, and I saw some beautiful places I'd like to look at. They have their unique dancing styles out there, too. I'd love to learn them!"
"Oooh, me too!" Tierno added. "If they're dancin' I'm there!"
"That would be great! It's your decision, though. When I go, I don't know how long I will be there, so I'd recommend planning ahead if you just want to take a small trip," Serena answered.
"Oh, I don't mind how long I'm there. I can return whenever I want too, right?" Shauna said. "Oh. Wait, I get it. You don't want us inter–"
"Quiet you!" Serena said, quickly eyeing Tierno and Trevor who did not seem to catch Shauna's meaning.
"Guys!" Trevor suddenly cried, removing the camera from his eye. He was looking up at the treetops, startled.
Serena followed his gaze, and she gasped. Balanced on a thin branch near the peak of a tree was Greninja, with the two small Zygarde cores perched on his either shoulder.
The forest path was silent for a long time as the two groups stared at one another. Serena didn't know what to do, what to say. It was obvious that it was Ash's Greninja and that he recognised her, but there was something about his stance – slightly faced away from her, his head tilted and eyes sharp – that made her hesitant. It was nothing like Goodra's reception to them: Goodra had charged, hugging them all but her especially. Goodra had obviously missed her, but Greninja seemed off.
Serena took a deep breath, steeling her nerves. Red had asked her to find Greninja. This was all for Ash. With those facts in mind, she stepped forward.
"Greninja, hi," Serena started, feeling quite awkward. "It's me, Serena. I've come to find you. Something has happened with Ash and–"
Greninja, in one swift motion, launched off the branch and into another tree, then another, hopping from branch to branch with practised ease.
"Wait!" Serena called, but Greninja had already cleared five trees.
"What was that about?" Shauna asked, still following him with her eyes too.
Serena shook her head. "I… I don't know."
That wasn't entirely true. She had a hunch. The look he was giving her, the way he fled… Oddly, it seemed as if he was conflicted.
"Should we leave him be?" Tierno asked.
"No," Serena said firmly. She let out her Rhyhorn and quickly climbed on, tying her hair into a ponytail with a band from her bag. "We're going after him."