Me and Prim both instinctively reach for ours, and...
Both still have them.
I take the pinnie from the confused fighting type, and read the insignia...
Aqua.
We both breathe a sigh of relief.
"That was too close. We need to be more prepared." Prim sighs, and I nod.
"Agreed. Cel, would you and Manny be able to scout for us?" They both nod, and blip out.
We grab our bags from where wee dropped them, and keep going.
Master! Master!
Manny flies around the corner in front of us, and stops ahead, trying to catch his breath.
"Manny! Whats up?" I hand him my water bottle, which he quickly drains. Francis fills it again, and he drains that one as well.
Trainer... ahead... Rayna...
He gasps, but I sit him down.
"Close?"
Two corners and fifty feet. I think she saw me.
"Thats okay. Jump up onto my shoulders, you deserve a rest." He hops up, using telekinesis to keep himself comfortable, and we start jogging.
Cel is waiting behind the second corner, and she smiles.
It is Rayna.
"Thank you, Cel." I kiss her forehead, and walk around the corner.
"Whoa!" Rayna starts to fall backwards, but I catch her just in time.
"Fancy meeting you here!" I laugh as it takes her a moment to realize who I am, then she hugs me.
"Cole! I was so scared! Nareen and I..." She trails off, but I nod.
"Nareen's out already?" I ask, but she shrugs.
"I don't know, we got attacked by a Salamance, I think it was at least, and we got separated. Both our team mates are out, though." I nod, as we sit.
Prim hugs her too, and grabs a small pot out of her bag, beginning to boil water.
The sun is starting to go down as we eat, and Cel summons us a shelter.
"Thank you, Cel. Have a good night." I kiss her hand, and she bows deeply.
Of course, Cole. I will watch over you.
With that, she quickly blips away.
"So, how has it gone with you? How many trials have you guys undergone?" Rayna asks, and Prim tilts her head in confusion.
"Trials?"
"Yeah, the gym leaders and Elite Four scattered around? I've only had to deal with this one woman, Karen, I think her name was..." She trails off, and Prim scoots a bit closer.
"Karen's test was horrible. We have had two, Flint and Karen." Rayna nods.
"Tomorrow, we are going to try to find Nareen, if she's still around." I decide, and they both nod.
After a few minutes of idle chat, we all roll over, and quickly fall asleep.
"COLE!"
"WAKE UP!"
I can barely hear the voices over the loud rumbling outside the shelter.
I sit up quickly, and both girls are beside me, eyes wide.
"What?" I shout, and they point out.
I turn...
The maze.
It's... moving!
"CEL, GROUND US!" Cel appears, and strengthens the gravity around us so we dont get thrown around.
Walls are sliding, and appearing around us, and everything is moving.
"WHATS HAPPENING?" Rayna cries, and I shake my head.
"WE RIDE IT OUT, FIND OUT MORE AFTER." Prim says, and I nod.
Rayna sends Pikki out, and she flies quickly up.
"RECON." She explains at my confused look, and I nod.
The rumbling soon stops, and Pikki flies into our tattered shelter.
She say's something to Manny, who translates;
The maze is now... a different maze.
His face is confused, but I nod.
"You guys stay here, Cel and Manny come with me." The girls nod, and begin cleaning up the aftermath.
I head out, both Psychic types following close behind, and gasp.
We were situated in a corridor before, but now I am standing in the middle of a large arena, with four doors around the edges.
The girls come out, all of our stuff in bags and ready to go, and gasp.
"Well, let's not waste any time. We need to find Nareen." They nod, and we set off.
The entire maze now is a series of conjoined rooms, all with four doors, and no roof.
We enter yet another room, and find someone standing in the middle.
Rayna giggles, and flies in for a hug.
It is a man, with extremely tan skin, a chiseled face and abdomen, and fiery red hair in the front, but darker brown in the back.
He is not wearing a shirt, but his shorts are bright red and he is wearing sandals.
"Hello challengers!" He laughs, hugging Rayna.
"Kiawe! How are you?" She laughs as he fixes his hair.
"Good, darling. Good. Now, lets cut to the chase. My challenge is a remembrance test." He releases three pokemon, all Alolan Marowak.
"I love this!" Rayna pulls us over to where two chairs are, and a third one magically appears.
"Tell me what differences you find between the dances..."
"Wow! You kids are the first ones to pass my test! The first two kids failed miserably, and had to wait a day."
Prim lets her hair down from where it was tied.
"Here are your rewards-" He hands us each a small bag, "-and do you have any questions?" He smiles, and I feel my legs turn to jelly.
"You single? Asking for a friend." Prim asks nonchalantly, running her fingers through her hair, and Rayna chokes.
"Yes, happily single at the moment. Waiting for the right... person." He pauses, choosing his last word carefully, and Rayna flashes me a smile.
"Well, we'd better get going! Thanks, Mr. Kiawe!" I grab the girls, who are both giggling away, and drag them away.
Rayna suddenly stops, and runs back, returning in a few moments.
"Nareen passed through here yesterday, and failed! She must be nearby!" We nod, and set into a healthy jog for the next room.
Before we enter, there is a loud crash from inside.
Rayna turns to me, her eyes wide, as she throws the door open.
Inside the room, Nareen is being held by... the two Galactic members, Ram and Wendy.
"Let me go!" Nareen shouts, her hands tied behind her back.
"Not yet, you could be useful..." Ram laughs, his voice gruff.
None of them have seen us in the shadows, so we quietly sneak off to the side, as they grab Nareen and push her forward, and into the next room.
"We have to help her, before they take her pinnie!" Rayna whispers, and Prim shushes us, handing me her bag and pokeballs.
She takes her shoes off, and motions for us to hide.
We enter the next room, and me and Rayna duck into the nearest shadow, as Prim makes her way into the middle of the room, where the other three are.
"Excuse me?" Prim asks, her voice rough, as if she'd been crying.
All three contestants whip around, both Galactic's have their hands on their pokeballs.
"Wait! I'm Primrose, from Plasma? A wild... a wild Zoroark took all my stuf... you wouldn't happen to have any food, would you?" Prim sniffles, and Wendy's face softens.
"We barely made it out of that battle, to. Here, have some-" She's cut off as Nareen's foot slams her in the neck, throwing her to the ground.
"Go, Ramp-" Ram is cut off as Prim lands on top of him, dragging him to the ground as well, and pinning him there.
Me and Rayna run forward, as both Nareen and Prim relieve their victims of their pinnies.
"Nice try, Galactic. Better luck next time." Nar flashes them a smile and grabs two pokeballs from one of their bags, as they sulk away, off to the nearest gymleader/E4 member.
We cut the ropes holding her hands in place, and she hugs us.
"I'm so happy you guys are okay!" She cries, as we hand her a sandwich and some water, which she happily takes.
Before anyone can react, four small packages float down from above, their mini parachutes have names embroidered in them...
Our names?
"Here, Cole." Rayna hands me mine, the smallest of the four, and I wait until everyone else has theirs before opening it.
Inside is a...
Mega Stone?
I almost choke as I throw it away, watching as it bounces merrily into the nearest wall.
Manny appears, grabbing it and bringing it back.
I look to see if there is anything else, and there is... a note.
I open it carefully;
Hey.
This is an Ampharosite. I know you'll be reluctant to use it, but please, Cole- don't let your fear overcome you. I just want you to know...
I love you.
-N
I wipe a tear from my eye, and look around.
"Full Restores! Yes!" Nareen giggles, placing the new medicine in her backpack.
"Ah! A knitting kit!" Prim laughs, already setting in to making something.
Rayna opens her package last, and we all wait to see what it is, but her expression is... confused.
"What..." She lifts out the item inside and it's...
It's a...
"Is that even allowed?"
"Wait, who, what, why?"
"Why are there so many?"