I was awaken by a roar in the sky.
My eyes struggled to open even after I wiped the sleep from them. Skitty growled at me for being woken up at this hour.
Mind you it is only 8:30 but for Skitty that is just an ungodly hour to be up and about.
That's when my phone went off. It was Caleb.
"Cameron, go to the Mahalo Trail now. Team Skull has taken Hala."
Well shit.
I quickly threw on clean clothes and slipped into a pair of loafers. I didn't grab my backpack, just my belt with my pokeballs.
My mom is in the kitchen and she is telling me there is smoke coming from the North. I look outside the window facing the North part of the Island and see smoke. It's Iki Town.
"It's Team Skull," I say to her.
"Team what?"
"Nevermind. Just lock everything." I let out Yungoos and Grimer and tell them to keep stay here. I don't think Team Skull would come here to pillage but this'll make me feel comfortable to leave.
I storm out of the house and run towards Iki Town. The black smoke gets closer as I approach the town.
A home is on fire and the malasada cart that is always near the center is completely destroyed. It's complete mayhem as people use their Pokemon to handle the fire. Aaron is here helping. His Milotic is spewing water onto the fire as Pelipper drag water from the sea to douse the flames.
I find Professor Kukui who is attending to an elderly man who looks to be in bad shape.
"Is this Team Skull?" I ask Kukui as I look around at the destruction.
"Yes. Caleb and Illima ran towards Mahalo Trail. You must go now."
I don't hesitate.
This new found bravery is strange to me. I recall being at the pier a couple days ago when I charged Team Skull. That is not something I do. At all. I thought maybe I did because of the morals my dad had. I had seen him do this exact thing many times and it was somewhat instilled in me. But then I found what the real answer may have been; Caleb. He's emboldened me in a way I don't think I can explain yet.
Either way, maybe this is me making a change and becoming a stronger person.
Like my dad.
Mahalo Trail is claustrophobic with bushes, ferns, and trees on either side of me. As I came to a clearing I saw a bridge. Across that bridge I saw a large contingent of Team Skull members surrounding Caleb, Illima, and Hala.
I run across the bridge, ignoring the fact that I was literally standing 100 feet or so over water and rocks, and barged my way through two grunts.
"Who the hell is this?" A tall man with white hair said. He walks up to me when I don't respond. "Do you speak, boy?"
"Cameron. I'm Cameron."
I'm not going to lie. I am scared shitless. There are like 15 Team Skull Grunts here, so this is not my forte, no sirree.
The man laughed.
"You know who I am?" the man asked.
"I don't care." The crack in my voice betrayed me.
"Oooooh. A rebellious teen, huh?"
He circles around me eyeing me up and down. His band of thugs seem bored as they hold the encirclement around us.
Skitty hasn't made his way across the bridge. He is more terrified of heights than I am. I suspect he may go to sleep over there until this is all settled.
"I'm the big bad boss, Guzma. The boss that is going to beat you up and knock you down, boy."
I nearly chuckled as my nervousness continued to try and betray me, but was able to compose myself and coughed instead.
I reach to my belt and grabbed a Pokeball. "Go Oricorio!"
Don't ask why I think this is a good idea.
Guzma and his band of idiots laughed.
"Is that how you want it to be? So be it, boy." He too grabbed a Pokeball. "Go ahead Golisopod," he said calmly with a self-righteous smirk on his face.
"Please, you can't do this. This is sacred ground to Tapu Koko." Hala pleads with us not to battle. I look over to Caleb who hasn't said a word.
Illima offers his stance, "Cameron has to do this. It's the only way, Hala."
Hala looks very concerned but then puts his head down in resignation.
"Oricorio, Aerial Ace!"
Oricorio pierces through the air towards Golisopod. Guzma chuckles. "Dodge it! Then use X-scissor." Golisopod successfully dodges and goes on the attack.
"Oricorio, double team and then Aerial Ace again." Golisopod misses my Oricorio and is dizzied by the double team. "NOW!" Oricorio quickly slashes through the air and hits Golisopod.
It hurts Golisopod but it still stands tall. "Hmmm. Not bad, boy. Not let me show you how good boss Guzma is." He laughs again.
I think he likes to hear himself laugh a lot. Kinda annoying.
"Golisopod, Focus Blast!" Golisopod focuses on Oricorio and in one moment sends a blast it's way.
"Dodge it Oricorio!" Oricorio struggles to get out of it's way. The blast hits it's wing leaving her unable to fly. Guzma laughs.
"One more time, my wonderful Golisopod."
Oricorio looks back at me and I can tell it won't be able to move. I immediately call it back, but in doing so the blast gets redirected. Golisopod's blast lands in front of me sending me flying.
I can hear someone yelling, maybe Caleb, I don't know. My mind is fuzzy. It almost feels like it's expanding and contracting in my head. My abdomen is also hurting but I'm able to compose my breathing.
I hear a grunt and a thud in the direction towards Guzma and see Guzma on the ground. Skitty is standing a few feet away from him. Skitty focuses on Golisopod and charges it in a bolt of lightning.
Golisopod is sent several feet back and struggles to it's feet.
"Focus Blast!" Guzma yells furiously.
"NO!" I yell as I saunter up from the ground. I run as fast as I could as Golisopod focuses on Skitty when I see Caleb get off from his knees and runs to cover Skitty. He's going to get hit.
I shove a Grunt out of the way as Golisopod sends its blast towards Caleb as he hovers over Skitty like a shell. I run in front of the blast and I hear a quieted grunt before a loud bang.
When the dust settles I realize that I am still standing. Caleb is still hunched over Skitty.
What happened?
I look at Hala and Illima. They are looking at me with their mouths open. Then I realize that several Team Skull members are also doing the same.
Except they aren't looking at me. No. They are looking right by me as if I'm invisible.
I turn around and see a figure standing in front of me. It's body is yellow with designs on it almost as if it is a shell. That's when I recognize the figure from painting and statues I've seen around Melemele Island.
It's Tapu Koko.
Tapu Koko looks at me with it's black eyes. A blue and orange hue surround the black almost as if his eyes were a painting.
I look back at Caleb who continues to hunch over Skitty and I get down and place my hand on his back. He's shaking.
"Caleb, it's okay."
He turns his head and looks at me and then down at Skitty. Skitty rubs up against his leg and then mine.
"Thank you for protecting my Skitty."
"Thank you for protecting me," he says as a tear breaks from his eyelids. He reaches for me and hugs me, holding tight.
"This is really touching an all but I have a Guardian Deity to capture," Guzma says.
Tapu Koko reacts as if it understood what Guzma says. It quickly approaches Guzma and stares at him. Guzma is now a little startled. Then Tapu Koko quickly lifts its arms as dark clouds quickly move in over us.
Crackles of thunder shook the ground. No rain.
A lightning strike zips from the clouds above hitting Tapu Koko. Then a quick dash of electricity exited it's hand and hit Golisopod. Golisopod fainted quickly. The dark clouds leave as fast as they came.
With Tapu Koko staring at him after delivering it's message, Guzma motions his gang of hooligans out. They left back down Mahalo Trail and never look back.
Tapu Koko levitated over to Hala who looked happy to see Tapu Koko. Then his face dropped. "I'm sorry, I failed to keep your land safe. I do not deserve to be the Kahuna of Melemele Island."
"That is nonsense," Illima exclaims. "This is not your fault."
Tapu Koko just stares at Hala as Hala takes off this bracelet he is wearing. It looks old and ancient. I wonder if it's something all Kahunas receive.
He holds the bracelet up to Tapu Koko as if he wants it to take it. Tapu Koko doesn't. Instead he looks at my Skitty who is sleeping at my feet. Then he looks at Caleb and me.
Then suddenly, Tapu Koko flies to the sky. He doesn't come back. He just leaves.
I hear a roar in the sky. The same roar that woke me up earlier.
Hala looks down at the bracelet and slowly places it back on his wrist.
"Guess Tapu Koko was satisfied with you," Illima says. Hala just shakes his head.
"No. Caleb and Cameron's actions gave me another chance. Tapu Koko approves of them."
I didn't quite understand what he meant by that. I wasn't going to ask. To be honest I don't think I cared. Hala seems relieved to still be Kahuna, Caleb and Skitty are okay so I'm pretty satisfied with how this turned out.
That is until my adrenaline dies off and the pain resurfaces.
"You okay, Cameron?" Illima asks.
"Yeah. That blast is just catching up to me."
When we get out of Mahalo Trail, the house that was on fire had collapsed but the fire was extinguished. People were helping each other.
I spotted Aaron near the home that burned town. He was placing a towel around this young girl who was wet and shaking. Those dark clouds that came by must've delivered rain over here. To be honest it seemed like Tapu Koko caused the clouds.
I'd think that'd be strange but in Hoenn we have two legendary Pokemon that are said to be able to control the weather too. Pokemon are too powerful sometimes.
Aaron spots me and immediately runs over.
"Are you okay, Cameron?"
This sudden show of concern for me sets me aback a bit. "Um yeah. I'm fine."
He takes over for Illima who was helping Caleb carry me and brings me over to a bench and sits me down.
"Mom is gonna freak."
"Can we tell her I fell down the hill?" I jokingly suggest. In one of the rare times over this past year I saw Aaron laugh.
"I don't think she'll buy that excuse again."
A couple years ago in Hoenn I broke my foot. I was climbing the side of a building to get a peek at some tech gadget that a local collector was working on. When a wild Taillow flew by my head it caused me to lose my footing and fall down breaking my foot.
I didn't want to tell my parents what actually happened. I would get in serious trouble. So, um I said that I fell down a hill near the beach. I didn't plan for the fact that my mom had a friend who was working at the beach selling goods. So when she called this friend and mentioned how I fell the friend told her she never saw me. However, she did hear that a young boy matching my description had fallen off a building.
So I got a broken foot and was grounded for a month.
Aaron was satisfied with my condition and left me with Caleb who was oddly quiet during the walk back on Mahalo Trail and still is.
His mom and sister were quick to spot him and immediately hugged him. He told them that I jumped in front of a blast to protect him. He made it seem more heroic than it really was if I'm being honest. They both graciously thanked me.
They both left when a woman screamed out across the town. I don't know what happened, but I was too tired and hurt to focus.
"Why did you protect Skitty?" I asked as I pet Skitty's now dirty fur.
"Because I know how much he means to you." He looked away briefly and asked, "Why did you protect me?"
I swallowed hard. "Because of how much you mean to me."
We locked glances for a couple moments when another wail from across the town interrupts us. Caleb and I both look over and see a group forming. People are crying.
"Help me up," I request.
I can walk, but my ankle really hurts. It's not broken, just hurt from the landing after being sent flying by the stupid blast.
We walk over to Kukui who is standing on the South side of the circle.
That's when we see why people are crying.
"Sometimes, the worst of mankind seems to overpower the good of it." Kukui's words lingered for a bit as I looked down at the woman hunched over crying.
Vanessa and my mom, who I didn't know was here, were near the woman. My mom was holding one of her hands and Vanessa had a hand on her back.
Caleb slid his hand into mine and gripped it tight.
The woman wailed another uncontrolled cry.
Underneath her lied a dead Rockruff. The Pokemon died when the building collapsed, trampled by the weight. The woman didn't know her Rockruff was inside when the fire ripped through it.
A hushed hymn breaks out from the other side of the circle where Hala stood with his eyes closed.
Everyone in the circle grabs each other's hands as the humming gets louder. A few words here and there are said as Hala sings and hums. It's a hymn that honors the death of innocence, Kukui told me.
I don't know it but I catch on to it and hum along. I've noticed Caleb has gripped my hand harder. I rub his hand my thumb in reassurance.
Today has been hard, hard on both of us. The realities of the real world stinging so harshly. So unruly.
An undeniable bolt of anger filled my chest all of the sudden. A Pokemon died today. Team Skull did this. Team Skull killed an innocent Pokemon.
They will pay for this.