So who's ready to meet the edgy boy? I feel bad about writing for Hau as I feel like I don't write much for him. But I'll try to have him as true to character as possible. Enjoy the chapter!
Chapter 7-Deep Water
"Brionne, return!" said Hau. Of course after reaching Paniola Town, Collin and Hau had a battle, in which Collin was the winner. "Man, that was like one of those old Unova movies! I was expecting a tumbleweed to blow past us it was that intense."
"Yeah. Your Pokemon are really getting strong Hau. Keep it up man." Collin was very impressed of how well Hau was improving in battles. He became less sloppy and more confident.
"Wow! You think I can be as good as you one day?" asked Hau.
"Well honestly Hau, it's not about being as good or better than someone. I've seen many people lose it because they can't get better than one person. As long as you have fun while on a journey, that at the end of the day is the most important thing." The light seemed to glimmer in Hau's eyes. "But to answer your question, I think you can be better than me one day if you keep trying. And I'm being serous when I say that."
"You can count on me! I've only been on the road for at least a day, and already I'm learning so much. Not just from you, but from battling other trainers and taking care of my Pokemon. It's hard, but that's what makes it fun." said Hau, his smile never leaving him.
"Exactly. So, what are you going to do now?"
"I'm gonna head to the Water Trial. I'm sure Pikachu can handle it no problem at all. I guess I'll see you there!" Hau walked off to the trial, like he said. As usual, Collin stayed behind to train more. Upon healing up his Pokemon again, he made his way towards the Water Trial. Along the way, he spotted Hau outside another Pokemon Center and some other guy Collin never saw before.
"Pikachu! Return!" he heard Hau say. "Man, that was some Pokemon battle! I need to get some serous training done before I tackle the Trial. Woo boy this is gonna be good!" said Hau, his smile not leaving his face. The other guy didn't seem impressed, rather more annoyed than anything.
"Are you even taking this seriously?" the unknown person asked.
"Do I need to? As long as I'm enjoying the challenge, that's all that matters to me!"
"...Enjoying it? You can enjoy Pokemon battles when you put everything you have into it...which clearly you haven't." said the unknown person. Somehow, someway, this took the smile off Hau. Collin had just enough of this and butted in.
"Hey! Who the hell do you think you are huh?" asked Collin.
"Hey Collin, this guy is pretty strong." said Hau cheering up but still looking down.
"You're Collin?" asked the person.
"Yeah. That's my name. Want anything else? Phone number? Bank card? The name of my mother's pet Goldeen?" said Collin, showing his snark.
"Not wise are you? Most people would keep there names to themselves rather than let strangers know them." said the person. To say Collin was confused was an understatement.
"What in the blue hell are you talking about? Have you ever met a human before? Isn't that the whole point of getting to know someone?" he questioned.
"Hmph. Fine. My name is Gladion and my-"
"Nice to meet you Gladion. I'm glad we got onto the same page here." said Collin, interrupting Gladion. Again, Gladion wasn't impressed.
"Tch, as I was saying. My partner, Null, battle to make ourselves stronger. I woke as an enforcer to Team Skull, despite only doing small jobs." Hearing the words "Team Skull" come out of his mouth already took Collin's mood away.
"Team Skull? Buddy, you just made a mistake. You wanna mess with my friend here and go on about Team Skull? I'm not gonna allow that." said Collin getting is Pokeball out.
"So be it. Battle me, and I won't take no for an answer!"
"GO NULL!"
"GO CRABRAWLER!" The two Pokemon shot out of their Pokeball's prepared for battle. "Let's start off with a Rock Smash!" Crabrawler pulled it's fist back and punched the weird looking Pokemon in it's chest area. Despite this, it looked like very little damage was dealt.
"Null! Use Tackle!" Null charged forward and unleashed a powerful tackle. With a lack of speed, it made up for it in power.
"Come on Crabrawler! You can tank that!" shouted Collin. Crabrawler got up and nodded. "Good job. Keep your distance and use Bubble Beam!" Bubbles shot from Crabrawlers mouth and hit Null. She now looked tired and turned to Collin, showing him she's tired. "Okay, you done the best you could. Return!" he said getting her Pokeball out.
"Null, use Pursuit!" Without warning, Null was chasing Crabrawler and managed to hit her just before she got into her Pokeball. She was sent flying and landed on the ground, knocked out.
"CRABRAWLER! UGH, YOU DIRTY FUCKER!" shouted Collin. "Return. I'm so sorry I wasn't fast enough." Crabrawler returned to it's ball. "GO PRINPLUP!"
"Give up. It's not like you're going to win." said Gladion as soon as Prinplup came out.
"Oh buddy, you have no idea what I've faced. Prinplup, use Metal Claw!" Prinplups arms became sharp as steel and he raced towards Null, slicing at the Pokemon. Null cried out in pain and knocked Prinplup back.
"Damn it Null! Come on you can do it! USE TACKLE!"
"DODGE AND USE METAL CLAW AGAIN!" Prinplup managed to dodge the attack and sliced at Null. This was too much for him and the Pokemon fell to the ground, defeated.
"Null, return!"
"Phew, well done Prinplup!" said Collin, returning both their Pokemon to their balls.
"Ugh, how annoying. It's not like me to slip up that badly. I guess I'm still not ready." said Gladion, looking away.
"Ready for what? You're strong I'll give you that."
"It doesn't matter to you. That kid though," he said, pointing to Hau. "His Pokemon aren't weak. And sure it's fine to enjoy battles. But the brat uses it as an excuse to not try hard enough!"
"Hey! I do try hard enough!" said Hau.
"Just give up already. You'll never beat me, you'll just get your Pokemon hurt for no reason." said Gladion. This made Collin's blood boil.
"Now hold on here. Who do you think you are? Hau can do whatever he wants. And you, you better get out of this stupid edgy teen phase you have. You'd never make any friends or even a good relationship with it. Now I suggest you leave to where ever you need to go, because I'm done with you." said Collin through his teeth.
"Tch, whatever." said Gladion, walking back to Heahea City.
"Man, that guy has issues. Thanks for standing up for me Collin!" said Hau, his smile returning.
"No problem. Hey, don't listen to him. He's just some edgy teen who thinks he knows everything. Don't let him to you."
"Yeah. Still, I think I should train a bit more before doing the Water Trial. What are you gonna do?"
"I'm gonna heal up my team and head for the Trial. Might as well get it over with. Where are you going to train?" asked Collin.
"Probably around Route 4...after I eat some Malasada's. I'll see you later Collin!" Hau walked back to Route 4, while Collin healed up his Pokemon, and headed to the Water Trail.
Upon entering what was known as Brooklet Hill, rain poured down from the sky. It was the first time he saw rain since being in Alola. It absolutely covered him but it was refreshing after being in the sun for so long. The feeling of the rain got to him so much that he didn't noticed a young woman approach him.
"Hello. I'm Lana. I'm the Captain of the Water Trial. I assume you are here for the Trial?" said Lana.
"Yeah, name's Collin."
"Well Collin, you look like a strong trainer. Can you help me with something?" she asked, showing puppy-dog eyes.
"Okay, what is it?" said Collin.
"Just follow me and I'll show you." The two walked further into Brooklet Hill till they reached a series of lakes. On one of the lakes was a large ripple that expanded the whole lake. "You see that? There must be some fearsome Pokemon in there. So, brave Trial-Goer, can you investigate what's under there please? You can use Lapras to help you across the water." Taking said Lapras, Collin made his way to the source of the ripples. However when he got close, Pokemon seemed to swim away from him and he had to battle a single fish. He used Dartrix to take care of the Pokemon.
"What was that?" he asked.
"That was Wishiwashi. Seems that more of them have gone to the other lakes. Can you take care of them while you are here?" As Collin went through the lakes, he wasn't sure if this was apart of the Trial, or she was using him to do her job. Either way, he continued to get rid of the Wishiwashi.
"How many of these things is there?" he asked, almost out of breath.
"Could be tons. You think that's bad? I had to take down Kyogre once." she said with a deadpan voice. Collin however, due to past experience, didn't believe a word she said.
"Yeah right. Sure you did."
"Darn. People normally fall for that. You're smart. By the way, I think I saw the last one go into that lake over there." she said, pointing to the biggest lake in the Hill. He followed her down the path and noticed the pillars that were the same as the one he saw in the Normal Trial.
"So wait...I WAS doing the Trial and not helping with a problem?"
"Yep. Sorry, but that's the way it works for this Trial. Anyway, you passed the normal part, now you must face the Totem Pokemon. Be careful, this guy isn't pretty." Sure enough, Collin made his way onto the water to meet the Totem Pokemon. He saw what looked like a bunch of Wishiwashi come together and make whatever was under the water bigger. Suddenly, a large Pokemon, way bigger than the Wishiwashi he face, jumped out of the water and faced him. The same aura that surrounded the last Totem Pokemon surrounded the massive Wishiwashi.
"OKAY! GO DARTRIX!" Dartrtix appeared out of his ball and prepared to attack. "Use Razor Leaf!" The sharp leafs hit the Wishiwashi hard, causing it to summon another Wishiwashi for aid. However, Collin was prepared. "Dodge their attacks and use Razor Leaf again!" More leafs shot out and hit both Wishiwashi's. To Collin's surprise, both Pokemon fainted, ending the Trial. Lana was watching and her mouth was agape.
"Wow...that...was...quick. Honestly I didn't think you'd beat it that fast." she said as Collin came to sure.
"I mean, I did have a Grass Type Pokemon. So it was an easy win from the get go."
"Very true. Anyway, congratulations! You passed your second Trial and now you get Waterium Z." She handed the Crystal to Collin. "Now, here's how you activate the Z-Crystal." She proceded to dance, using her arms in a wave motion to emulate water flow. "Still, it's amazing how big and different water Pokemon can be. Did you know I once caught a Red Gyarados?"
"Oh really now?" said Collin, raising his eyebrows. This got a giggle out of Lana.
"Heh, I thought I'd get you with that one. Anyway, up next is the Fire Trial. You'll need to head to Royal Avenue to get to it. It's just south of Route 5. Maybe I'll see you again sometime."
"Maybe. Thanks again for the Z-Crystal and directions! Bye!" Collin exited the Trial no problem. With two Z-Crystals on his Ring and the way to go to next, Collin had the feeling this wasn't going to be as short as last time. With his mind on Gladion, he hoped he'd never bump into him again.
This was actually quite a struggle to write for some reason. At one point I wanted to give up. But I'll keep going as much as I can. Not sure if uploads will be consistent though so hopefully you'll understand. Comments and reviews of any nature are welcomed and as always, I'll see you in the next chapter. Cheerio!