Okay so not sure how well this chapter is going to go. Either way, I do hope you enjoy it!
Chapter 8-Royal Fire
After a rather uneventful Water Trial, Collin made his way to the Royal Avenue as instructed by Lana. When he got there, it seemed that everyone in town was focused on a massive building that was in the middle of town. Curious about what the building was, he made his way towards the building and spotted someone he hoped not to see again.
"Hmm...come on Null, let's go drown our sorrows in the crowd" said Gladion, walking into the building.
"Oh for fuck sake, why is HE here?" said Collin out loud. Despite this, he followed Gladion and entered the building. Upon entering the building, the main area was full of people, too many for Collin to hear what they were saying. He then spotted another familiar face and this time, it was someone he was more than happy to see.
"COLLIN!" shouted Hau, walking towards Collin.
"Hey Hau! Did you manage to do more training?"
"Oh yeah! My team is super trained up now and totally ready for the Water Trial!" said Hau. Hey, you gonna compete in the Battle Royal?" asked Hau.
"Battle Royal? What's that?"
"I CAN ANSWER THAT!" shouted a man. Collin and Hau looked up to the balcony and saw a man wearing a mask. Collin mentally slapped himself in the face, knowing who was under the mask, his beard gave it away.
"Oh my Arceus! It's the Masked Royal!" said Hau who looked absolutely star struck!
"Oh ho! It's always great to meet a fan!" said the "Masked Royal" walking towards the two males. "So you wanna know how a Battle Royal works young man?"
"Yeah I kinda do...Professor." said Collin, showing a smirk across his face. Despite being under mask, he could tell the "Masked Royal" was sweating.
"Um...I think you have confused me with someone else!"
"Yeah Collin. I doubt Professor Kukui is the Masked Royal. He's in Heahea city by now!" said Hau.
"Yeah...right...sure...whatever. So "Masked Royal", what are Battle Royals?" asked Collin. The Masked Royal seemed to recover from Collin's comment and returned to his confident state.
"I'm glad you asked! Four trainers faced each other in a Free For All battle! Pokemon with the most health after one Pokemon is knocked out is the winner!" The Masked Royal looked pumped up. "So, you two wanna join me for a Battle Royal?"
"Sure fuck it, might as well do it." said Collin bluntly.
"YEAH! But wait, don't we need another person?" asked Hau.
"True. Hmm..." The Masked Royal looked around and noticed Gladion.
"You there! Why don't you join us for a Battle Royal?" he asked. Gladion however, didn't look impressed.
"Tch, fine." he said, walking into the Battle Arena, leaving the other three stunned.
"...okay...I'll see you two in there!" The Masked Royal made his way into the Battle Arena, followed by Hau and Collin.
Of course, Collin came out the victor, targeting the Masked Royal's Rockruff with Prinplup. All four exited the Battle Arena and came out with different feelings.
"Man! You really know how this works Collin! You should try to become a regular challenger here!" said the Masked Royal.
"Eh, honestly it's not for me. I do see the appeal. Maybe sometime in the future when I get the time I'll come back."
"I'm gonna totally try to take this as a back up plan in case I don't pass the Island Challenge!" said Hau smiling. "What about you Gladion? What did you think?"
"What does it matter to you? Never asked for an annoyance to ask how I feel about things." he said with a dark look on his face. "You wanna take my advice to heart." And with that, he left the building. Hau was not looking happy, he looked pissed.
"Tch, someone is waking up on the wrong side of the fucking bed." he said before realizing what he said and covered his mouth. "...please tell me you didn't hear that you two." he said, muffled by his hands. The Masked Royal could only nod.
"...Honestly Hau, cursing doesn't suit you at all." Hau nodded at Collin's response.
"I'm...just...gonna...go...I'll see you...some other time." said Hau, awkwardly and left the building. It was just Collin and the Masked Royal now.
"Poor Hau, I think that Gladion fella is giving him too much of a hard time."
"He's an asshole. We just met him earlier today and the fucker thought he was so cool. I shut his trap that's for sure. If he ever goes after Hau again, I'll be pissed."
"Just don't get yourself in trouble." The Masked Royal let out a mighty roar. "Well I better get back to battling! Enjoy your Island Challenge!"
"I will...Professor." said Collin, leaving with a massive smirk on his face and the Masked Royal stunned again. After some asking around, Collin found out that the Fire Trial was up on the Wela Volcano Park.
Collin made his way towards the Park and climbed it. He thought Alola was hot enough, but this was ridiculous. He begged that the Trial was quick and easy like the last one. After battling some trainers, he came across a Pokemon.
"Ssssssssss!" it hissed at him.
"GO PRINPLUP! Use Bubble Beam!" The beam hit the lizard like Pokemon and knocked it out. "Alright, Pokeball go!" Collin through a Pokeball toward the Pokemon and after three shakes, the Pokemon was caught. "Yes! Rotom, what's the Pokemon?" Out of his back came Rotom.
"Salandit. The toxic lizard Pokemon. Fire and Poison. Female. It burns its bodily fluids to create a poisonous gas. When its enemies become disoriented from inhaling the gas, it attacks them. You got lucky cuzzz! From whatz I waz told, only Female Salandit can evolve!" Rotom returned to the bag with a zap.
"Huh, guess I am lucky." After collecting Salandit and more training, Collin finally made his way to the entrance of the Fire Trial. Entering the Fire Trial, he noticed a man standing next to what looked like Marowak but...different. The man turned to face Collin.
"Welcome Challenger! I am Captain Kiawe of the Fire Trial. I assume you are here for the Trial itself." said Kiawe
"Yes. Before we start, what's with the Marowak? I never seen a Marowak like that before."
"I guess you could call it Alolan Marowak. Instead of a Ground Type, it's a Ghost and Fire Type."
"So that's that's what Professor Oak was talking about. Mind if I take a picture of one? I need to send this to Professor Oak for research." asked Collin.
"Sure, these Marowak love to pose." After a few pictures were taken, Collin returned to where he was standing, preparing for the Trial. "Now, your Trial is simple in concept, but the challenge is there. You'll be examining these three Marowak's dances. They'll will dance twice and you'll need to find what was different about the dance."
"So spot the different?"
"In a way yeah. You up for the challenge?" Collin nodded in response. "Okay! The Trial Starts...NOW! Marowak, do your thing!" The three Marowak got onto the stage and began to dance. Collin studied the dance as carefully as he could. The second dance was preformed and Collin noticed the difference.
"There! The Marowak on the left is in a different pose than the last dance."
"B-But how?!...you have good eyesight. Come Marowak!" The Marowak came and prepared to attack. Collin sent out Prinplup and took it down easily. "Marowak was so impressed by your skills, it had to come down and challenge you. Anyway, onto the next dance!" The three Marowaks got back on stage and began to dance. When the second dance began, a flash of white blinded Collin for a second. Thinking this would add challenge, his eyes adjusted and saw a hiker in front of the Marowak.
"...It's...the...hiker..." said Collin, gobsmacked by how ridiculous it was.
"Yes! Good that you didn't fall for the trick!"
What fucking trick?! thought Collin before the Hiker sprinted up to him.
"ALOLA!" he cried before starting a battle, before once again Collin winning. While Collin was upset with how easy the Trial was so far, he had to admit it had charm and it was funny to witness.
"Okay, you're on to the final dance! Marowak, do your thing!" The Marowak's joined on stage for the final time and preformed a dance. The ending pose was a Marowak taking a picture with the other two Marowak posing and the Hiker in the middle. The second dance began but in the end pose, a new Pokemon was in the "frame". It looked like his new Salandit but was much taller and feminine looking. He knew exactly what it was.
"The Totem Pokemon is new!" he shouted.
"Well done! Totem Pokemon, begin your fight!" shouted Kiawe.
The Totem Pokemon faced Collin, ready for battle.
"HISSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS!" it cried.
"GO PRINPLUP!" Prinplup came out of it's Pokeball and prepared to attack. "Alright let's make this quick! UNLEASH Z-MOVE!" shouted Collin, using the Waterium Z with Prinplup. He did the dancing motion that Lana taught him and aura surrounded Prinplup. "NOW USE HYDRO VORTEX!" Prinplup set out a massive wave of water covering the Pokemon. He then circled around the Pokemon, causing it to be bashed about in a vortex. When the water cleared, Collin's mouth was wide open. The Totem Pokemon looked unharmed!
"Hissss!" it cried and it looked like it was laughing.
"W-w-what just happened?!" shouted Collin. The Totem Pokemon continued to laugh even harder.
"It looks like Salazzle has caught onto what other Trial Goers have been doing. So she sent out a Salandit to take the Z-Move from her.
"Clever girl. Looks like we'll need to do this the hard way!" Prinplup prepared himself to attack once more. The Salazzle shot Toxic out her mouth that was heading to Prinplup. "Dodge and use Bubble Beam!" Between the fire, poison and water, the stage was covered and almost broken. By the end of it all, the Salazzle fell to the ground, defeated. Prinplup slowly fainted himself and was returned to his ball. Kiawe was still in shock.
"I-I-I can't believe you done the Trial! Normally this is where everyone fails at least once!" Kiawe recovered from the shock and walked over to Collin, smiling widely. "Congratulations, you've beaten the Fire Trial. You win the FIrium Z!" Kiawe handed the Z-Crystal to Collin, which he took.
"Thank you. So what is the next Trial?" asked Collin.
"The next Trial is the Grass Trial, just head north on the path you came here and you should be able to make your way to Lush Jungle. That's where the Trial is."
"Okay. Thanks Captain Kiawe." said Collin, just about to leave.
"Wait!" shouted Kiawe, making Collin stop. "I just want to say, because of how well you did the Trial, you can barrow my Charizard to travel to what is called Poke Pelago. I think it might catch your interest." said Kiawe, handing the details to Collin's Ride Pager.
"Thanks, I'll do that now. COME CHARIZARD!" shouted Collin as Charizard appeared. Collin got onto him and it began to fly away, before waving at Kiawe.
Collin landed on a lush island that was teaming with plant life and tons of Pokemon. They all seemed to be playing with each other or eating. A man wearing a sun hat and white shirt was feeding some Pokemon before he spotted Collin.
"Ah hello new friend! My name is Mohn and I run the Poke Pelago. Here, I look after Pokemon that have been put into trainer's PC Boxes. It allows the Pokemon to run free, be happy and even train." said Mohn.
"Wow. Never knew something like this existed. No other regions seemed to have this idea."
"Yes well it's a fairly new thing. I hope that one day it could catch on. Say, why don't you have a look around. I'm sure some of these Pokemon will be great to your Pokedex."
"How did you know I have a Pokedex?" asked Collin.
"Most trainers who come here use it to fill up their dex. So I assumed you have one. Go ahead." Collin did just that. He spent a solid ten minute checking new Pokemon and deciding if he should use one if he comes across them in the future.
"This place reminds me of Professor Oak's garden back in Kanto." said Collin.
"Hmm...that name is familiar." said Mohn.
"I guess he's not as big over here compared to Kukui huh?"
"Kukui? Never heard of him. Sorry lad, I'm afraid I have a touch of memory loss. It's been hard to remember things for the past ten years." confessed Mohn.
"That's a shame. Who knows, maybe it will come back one day."
"Hopefully." Collin continued to look around for another few minutes before he decided he seen enough.
"Okay Mohn I'm gonna head back to the Akala. Gotta finish the Island Challenge and all."
"Not a problem my boy. Please do drop by from time to time. You'll never know what Pokemon could be here." said Mohn
"I'll be sure to do that. Bye Mohn!" said Collin, jumping onto Charizard and flying away from the Pelago. Something about Mohn did feel familiar, but he couldn't put his finger on it. Maybe the hair? Either way, Collin didn't let it get to him as he landed at the foot of the volcano and began to make his way towards the next Trial.
Another struggle with this one. Honestly I'm super happy the next island only has two Trials that I have to write for. I think those are the problems I'm having with. Either way, reviews and comments of any nature are welcomed and as always, I'll see you in the next chapter. Cheerio!