"It's great that you're here in Alola for the rest of the year Cass." Mallow said, as she and Lana were walking with her after school.
"Did Ark ask you guys to follow me home." Cass asked.
"Nope," Lana said. "We're walking with you because we want to."
"Also Lillie is staying after school to talk with Principal Oak about regional variant studies, and Ark had to go to the Aether Foundation for a special project." Mallow said, "And we figured you could use someone to talk too."
"Well if you two want to talk so much, can I ask you about something I saw about the blackboard." Cass said inquisitively.
"The blackboard?" Mallow asked, "What about the blackboard?"
The group had agreed that just like the rest of their families, Cass would be informed of their work as Ultra Guardians once they had a good opportunity, but she'd only been here a few days and Rotomdex still wasn't ready to come back onto the field.
"Well, those tallies in the corner. The rest of the board is cleared daily, but why does Ark have 10 on his own, while the rest of you are grouped together for 12?" Cass asked.
"Oh, that." Lana said with a sigh of relief.
"Yeah, what did you think I was talking about?" Cass asked.
"Nevermind, we had a bet at the start of the year, that Ark could earn more Z Crystals than the rest of us combined. If he won we had to stop bugging him about his hair, but if we won, we got to shave it off." Mallow said with a smirk.
"Okay, two questions. Since I'm part of the class can I join? And what's a Z Crystal?" Cass asked.
"You've actually seen them in use, and on all of us." Lana said, fidgeting with her Z Ring for a moment before pulling off her Waterium Z.
"We all have a few, Ark has the most, but he's also alone." Mallow said, showing her Grassium Z. "The real question is, which side would you be on?"
"Come on, the guy needs a haircut." Cass said with a laugh. "So are these something you buy, or do you have to make them?"
"I guess since you grew up in Kanto you wouldn't know, you earn these through trials on the islands." Mallow said.
"But you also need to have a Pokemon." Lana added.
"Ark didn't." Mallow countered.
"Ark and Pichu were already partners when they earned their Z Crystal, he just hadn't caught him yet." Lana retorted.
"Okay, so I need a Pokemon to enter a trial, to earn a Z Crystal, to enter the bet." Cass listed off.
"You know, if you want help with getting into the bet, we could talk to the Kahuna." Mallow offered.
"The ka what now?" Cass asked.
"The Kahuna, each island has one chosen by the guardian deities." Lana said.
"Yeah, I have not caught that far up in my homework yet." Cass admitted.
"Let's go talk to Hala, he could probably explain it better." Lana said.
"Actually, why don't we see another Kahuna, I know where Olivia is going to be today." Mallow said, grabbing Cass's hand and running towards her family restaurant.
At the Family Restaurant
"Dad! I'm home and I brought some friends!" Mallow called out.
"This is her home?" Cass asked.
"Technically her home is upstairs but this is her family's restaurant." Lana said, taking a seat as she saw Steenee and Dartrix get to work. "Come on we're always welcome here."
"Lana it's great to see you, and I don't think we've met, my name is Abe what can I get for you today?" Mallow's father said.
"Umm, I uhhh." Cass said, looking at the giant menu.
"We'll take two Pinap Juices." Lana said.
"Coming right up." Abe said.
"So this Kahuna Olivia, is she normally here?" Cass asked.
"Not always, but Mallow usually knows when she's showing up." Lana said calmly.
"HELLO AINA'S RESTAR WOAHWOAHWOAH!" Olivia exclaimed, bursting through the doors only to trip on a floor board, Exeggutor just barely catching her with his psychic abilities before she fell over.
"Olivia it's great to see you." Mallow said from the kitchen. "If its alright they had some questions about Kahunas."
Olivia turned to see Lana and Cass looking at her in a state of bewilderment.
"Oh, always happy to answer questions." Olivia said. "You know my order."
"Coming right up!" Mallow said.
Olivia went over and sat down at the table, carefully sitting across from both girls.
"Now I'm pretty sure Lana knows all she wants to know about Kahunas, you however are new, now let me see, Lana's sisters are younger than you, Mallow only has her brother, Kiawe's sister is at home, and those brown eyes are too dominant to be from Sophocles, and you don't have the normally signature Aether look, which makes me think you're Ark's sister!" Olivia determined excitedly.
"Impressive." Cass admitted.
"So, what would you like to know about Kahunas, oh but first what do can I call you?" Olivia asked.
"My names Cassandra, but everyone calls me Cass." Cass responded.
"Alright then Cass, how can I help?" Olivia asked.
"I'm confused on the whole Z Crystal and Island Challenge tradition, also what are these guardian deities I heard about?" Cass asked.
"Great questions all around." Olivia said. "Z Crystals are one of many gifts to us from the island, they are packed with energy, and there's all sorts of them, take this one for instance a Rockium Z, with it I can turn a rock type move into Continental Crush, or with Lana's Crystal a Waterium Z it can take a water type move and make it Hydro Vortex."
"So when Ark uses Giga Volt Havoc, he's using his Electrium Z, right?" Cass asked.
"You catch on quick." Olivia said with a smile. "As for me my job as Kahuna is to take care and watch over all of Akala Island, as well as test trainers when they wish to take on a Grand Trial."
"But how did you get picked for that?" Cass asked. "Was it family like gym leaders?"
"No it's not, in fact the Kahuna before me was Kiawe's grandfather." Olivia admitted. "No the Kahuna's are chosen by each island's guardian deity. For Mele Mele you have the electric type Tapu Koko, on Akala Island we have the Psychic type Tapu Lele, Ula Ula Island has the grass type Tapu Bulu, and all the way on Poni is the water type Tapu Fini."
"So each island has a Kahuna and a guardian deity?" Cass asked.
"For the most part yes. Poni Island's last Kahuna passed recently and Tapu Fini has yet to pick a new one." Olivia said.
"So what do the guardians do exactly?" Cass asked.
"They watch over their islands, keeping an eye on promising trainers, sometimes before they even begin like your brother." Olivia said with a smirk.
"The guardians have been watching Ark?" Cass asked.
"Yes, Tapu Koko gave him his original Z Ring and Electrium Z, even bringing Pichu along with them." Olivia said with a smile. "And since then the other guardians have taken interest in Ark, I'm very curious to see just what his life has coming for him next."
"Knowing Ark it will be something big." Lana said with a laugh.
At the Aether Foundation
"Alright Rotom, are you ready for your new body?" David asked.
"More than anything, this computer is hooked up to nothing! I can't wait to return to my body!" Rotom exclaimed.
"It hasn't been the same without you Rotom, and before you went in, we wanted to show you something." Ark said, holding up the new case.
"YOUR COLORS!" Rotom exclaimed excitedly seeing the white with gold accents.
"Figured since you're part of my team you should match my uniform." Ark said with a smirk.
"Now are you ready to download?" David asked.
"Yes, more than anything!" Rotom exclaimed.
"Alright, beginning download now." David said.
Notes
Sorry about the late upload, been busy today. As for the poll it is at the top of my page on the desktop version.