Calem's Alola Adventure

by warriorseadra

A pyrrhic victory. Team Flare was stopped, but Kalos fell. Five years have passed since and Calem moves to Alola with his mother to start a new life. However, while the dead are mourned, the survivors are the ones burdened with living. What kind of adventure will Calem have in Alola? Can he even have one while chained down by his past?

3. Chapter 3

Alola Adventure

Chapter 3

By: Gandire

Calem receives a letter from his mother the following morning. According to her, it's from a pink haired trainer. It reads: I am captain Ilima. My trial is held in Verdant Cavern.

Mawile's eyes shine bright with the expectation that they'll continue with their journey as she looks up at him. He rubs her head and says, "Fine, fine, let's go." He gets dressed, puts the egg he was sleeping with into its incubator and into his bag, tucks his mega-necklace underneath his shirt, and picks up the black pokeball. He stares at it for a few moments before placing it on his belt behind Mawile's premier ball.

Hesitating on the side of the road outside his house is Lillie. She jumps when he calls out to her. "O-oh, Calem… I just thought maybe I could keep showing you around since we've already come this far together. There's still a lot to see. But… maybe you don't want to? You were… very upset yesterday."

Calem shakes his head. "Sorry, that wasn't because of you. Please, I'd be grateful if you could sho-" Calem points to the bushes behind her. "Nebby is out."

"Pew!"

"Nebby! Not again!"

Lillie leads the way back into the city. Along the way, he tells her of the letter he received. Lillie says, "I can take you there after showing you around the city." As they pass the school, she says, "You know, Mawile really trusts you. So does Nebby. Maybe it's because of the courage you showed on the bridge? I still can't figure out why a person like yourself would have been rejected by Kahuna Hala's pokemon."

"Being liked by pokemon doesn't make someone a good trainer. Pokemon need to be able to trust their trainers."

"That doesn- Oh no, Tauros! He's blocking the road again!"

Calem continues forward. Tauros snorts and leaps onto its hind legs in a show of might, but Calem isn't deterred. He waits for the pokemon to plant its feet on the ground, before spreading his arms open. He speaks with a calm voice, "I'm not here to hurt you," and takes slow steps forward. Tauros snorts, but doesn't attack.

Lillie watches in panic as Calem walks up to Tauros and hugs the pokemon's head. "Calem… That's amazing. How did you do that? This pokemon is famous for its rough temperament."

Calem rubs Tauros's neck. A lot of pokemon rampaged after the fall of Kalos, many attacked humans on sight. Maybe they could somehow tell it was humans who were responsible for what happened? Perhaps they were just lashing out at the race who destroyed their lives? Either way, what mattered was that those pokemon were just frightened, desperate, and anxious. They wanted reassurance that everything would be okay.

Calem was blind to those feelings the first time he was attacked, but with each encounter they became louder and clearer. Maybe it was because of the emotional shock he went through, but over time he learned how to approach and sooth them. "Pokemon are more aware of our intentions than ourselves. They won't attack someone who doesn't want to hurt them. Tauros here just wants someone to play with."

Kahuna Hala's belly rumbling laugh gets their attention. "Right you are, Calem! Seeing this really shows your potential as a trainer. You can leave the rest to me. I'll get ol' Tauros back home from here."

Hau says, "Yeah, thanks for your help! What you just did was really cool!"

As Kahuna Hala walks off with Tauros, Lillie says, "He's right, that was really cool. Weren't you afraid?"

"Tauros wasn't going to hurt me."

Hau says, "You're totally down playing this too much. I've only ever seen the Kahunas calm rampaging pokemon without battling first! I like Tauros and all, but he's pretty scary! I don't want to ride on him!"

"No wonder Tauros is bored."

Lillie says, "How do you know that?"

"Picking up on the emotions of pokemon… It's something a lot of people became able to do after Kalos…" The mood grows quiet as Lillie and Hau understand Calem's hidden implication, suffering breeds empathy.

Hau tries to lift everyone spirits, "So, where're you guys off to now?"

Lillie says, "I was thinking I should show Calem around Hau'oli City a bit."

"Nice idea! Are you always so on top of things, Lillie? Let me tag along too and I'll show you both were to get some good eats!"

"All right. Let's go together."

"Then what are we waiting for? This way, come on!" Hau runs off without waiting for anyone else.

Lillie shakes her head. "Oh, Hau… I guess we should go catch up with him before he gets too far, Calem. Hau'oli City is the biggest city in all Alola."

Hau takes a slight detour through the beach as he waits for Calem and Lillie to catch up. They find him offering a sun bather to rub tanning lotion on her back. Lillie puffs her cheeks at the sight. "Are girls and food the only things on his mind?"

Hau gives up upon seeing her boyfriend and returns to them. "What took you two? Come on, this way!"

Lillie shakes her head. "Let's go… Who knows what will happen if we take too long."

Once they catch up again, Hau says, "So, Calem, what do you think? Alola is something, right? It's gotta be the best place ever to live. The sights are to die for!"

Calem follows Hau's gaze and find a group of bikini girls. Two of them are making out.

Hau then claps his hands together. "Oh, right. We need to make a quick stop in this store." He walks up to the service counter and says, "Hey, miss. Is it true that you can get some kinda special gift if you have a Rotom dex?"

"My goodness, you get the news fast! Hardly anyone has a Rotom dex, but it is true that we have a special item to go with it. It's our very own poke finder! Here you go."

"Awesome, a poke finder! So, like, what's a poke finder?"

"The poke finder is a tool that lets you take photos of pokemon. Rotom will help point out places where you'll be able to take photos, too."

"Man, Calem, that Rotom dex is cool. It's like a whole nother partner on top of your pokemon partner."

"Rotom is a pokemon."

"Oh, yeah, I guess you're right. Silly me! Either way, you're pretty darn lucky!"

Rotom says, "A poke finder? I want to give it a try! Zzz-zzt! Boy, I might never want to leave this pokedex!"

Calem feels something stir inside of him. He looks at his hands, but has no idea what he's searching for. Instead, he walks outside and finds Hau and Lillie trying to peek through a crack in a wall. Hau calls out to him, "Hey, over here! Try and see if you can take picture of these pokemon."

Calem shrugs and gets the poke finder ready. Just as he gets closer, but before Lillie and Hau can walk away, the Rotom dex flies out of his hand snaps a picture of all three of them. Hau is grinning, Calem is impassive, and Lillie is shocked.

Hau laughs, "What was that for, Rotom? Take pictures of pokemon, not us!"

Rotom giggles and says, "Saving, bzzt!"

The first pokemon Calem sees through the hole is a pikachu. He manages to get a picture of her rubbing her head, but then she walks away. The second picture is of a rockruff. The pokemon scampers around, but Calem holds off on taking a picture. Only once the pokemon jumps does he snap his pictures.

He stops and finds Hau trying to flirt with Lillie despite her discomfort. He waits to see if she'll tell him to stop before acting, but after seeing her says, "Umm…" "Maybe…" and "N-no…" six times, he interrupt.

To Lillie he says, "Do you want to see the pictures?"

"Yes, please!" She answers faster than normal. Hau must have really made her uncomfortable. She says, "This rockruff is so cute! Getting it mid-jump like that is amazing!"

Hau grumbles to himself on the side. He doesn't intend for anyone to hear him, but Calem does, "Maybe I should get a Rotom dex too…"

Hau walks a bit ahead of them once they resume walking. From his appearance, he's deep in thought, probably wondering how he can get a Rotom dex. Lillie asks Calem as they pass by the clothing store, "Calem, do you pick out all your own clothes?"

"I used to, years ago… My mother buys all my clothes now so they'll always match no matter what I choose."

"Your mother has a great sense of style then. I love the way that you dress."

"I stopped paying attention. I just grab whatever."

"I… I've always just worn the clothes that my mother wanted me to wear. I don't really know what kind of thing would suit me."

"Bright colors like sky blue or pink. If you do wear something dark, make sure to contrast it with a bright one. Green also goes with your eyes, so you could also add small bits of that to your wardrobe, too. Just try not to overdo it. Unless, of course, you're trying to match with Nebby. That open a whole different set of possibilities…" Calem stops upon seeing her shocked stare. He shrugs, "I used to live in Kalos. Not knowing how to dress was an invitation for public ridicule."

Lillie giggles, "You sharing your fashion sense with me… I guess we both have something in common now." She hums to herself for the rest of the journey.

Hau says, "And here we are! Time for some good eats, malasada! Once I get some fuel in me, I'm gonna go right down to the Marina and scream out loud, "Watch me, Tutu!" No! "Watch me, world!" I'm gonna beat even my old gramps someday!"

Calem says, "Wait too long and everyone will beat him."

Once they finish eating, Lillie leads them to route 2. Hau runs ahead saying, "Wait right there Lillie. I'll finish this trial way before Calem!"

Once he's out of sight, Lillie says, "Your first trial, Verdant Cavern, is up ahead. A barricade will keep you from walking past it. Once you overcome the trial, the way further will be opened to you. I read something in an old book once. It said that the island challenges were once a journey made to prove yourself and gain the strength to battle against the guardian deities of Alola."

Lillie's words, "Strength to battle against," causes Calem to grip his black pokeball. Upon realizing what he's doing, he moves his hand away from it.

Lillie continues unaware of Calem's dilemma. "Guardians like Tapu Koko. The people in Iki Town said that Tapu Koko loves pokemon battles, didn't they? If we could meet Tapu Koko once more, do you think we would find the answer to why it saved you and Nebby that day?"

"Pew?"

"I don't think that pokemon would care to tell us."

"Calem… Good luck on your first trial. I will hope that it goes well for you."

"Thanks."

Calem ignores all the trainer battles and runs from all the wild pokemon he encounters. One delibird, however, takes hold of Calem's bag. Calem asks, "You want me to follow you?"

The pokemon nods, tugs, and takes off running. Calem, concerned, follows the pokemon to a berry farm where a pair of gangster thugs dressed in black are harassing the farmer. They try to act tough by shaking their arms to emphasis their words. One says, "You got a lame bunch of berries… Now Team Skull's your adversaries! Takin' berries off your hands is just the start of our plans, yo!"

The other Team Skull thug says, "Let's get figy with it! Watch while I nanab me some berries."

The farmer says, "I'll share my berries for free with any pokemon, but you'll not have a single one from me!"

The first Team Skull thug goes up to the farmer's face. "So, what? I'm lower than a pokemon? I already got self-esteem issues, man!"

The Skull themed clothes and dialect is different, but they're just like Team Flare. No one thought much of them at first; they were simple nuisances. As the weeks passed, the reports about them grew worse and finally, they used an ancient weapon to try and destroy the world. If Calem had acted sooner, could Kalos could have been spared too? It's a question he wonders every night.

Calem won't make the same mistake in Alola. "Get lost!"

The first Team Skull thug says, "What do you want? Huh? Huh? Huh!"

The second Team Skull thug says, "You got a bone to pick with us, homie?"

"Yeah, disband."

The farmer says, "I appreciate your concern, child. But these Team Skull punks do nothing but talk big and act small. Carry on with your island challenge. Don't give them a moment's notice."

Calem doesn't spare the farmer a glance. He holds up Mawile's premier ball, "I said, leave."

The second Team Skull thugs says, "That's big talk for some kid. We're gonna hafta take your pokemon along with the berries. Check out how underhanded Team Skull ge-"

"Mawile, iron head!" Calem doesn't let him finish.

The first Team Skull thug sends out a Drowzee to defend his partner. Mawile strikes the pokemon before a command can be issued.

Calem, speaking out in anger, says, "Fire fang!" There's no need to read Drowzee's posture or consider the possibility of a trap. The psychic pokemon is off balance and he's going to keep it that way. "Don't let up, Mawile! Ice Fang!"

The Team Skull thug calls Drowzee back after a few more hits. Both thugs act tough despite losing and leave.

"Pathetic."

"Maw!"

The farmer says, "Ho! You and Mawile there did quite the number on them! Take some berries as thanks for driving off those Team Skull numskulls." He laughs and says, "Berries grow like weed here in Alola. Feel free to pick up any you find!"

Calem thanks the famer and leaves. Rotom says, "I'm curiouszzz about Team Skull now. But right now, letzzz get to that trial!"

"We'll probably see them again."

A cutiefly attacks Calem as he crosses through some tall grass. He runs, but the bug pokemon chases after him. Unable to shake the pokemon, he darts into a pokemon center with the intent to wait in the café until it leaves.

Hau calls out to him upon entering the building. "Howzit, Calem? Guess you musta passed me. Your pokemon doing all right?"

"Never better…"

"Ha, my team's seen better days, that's for sure! Anyway, you know that Verdant Cavern place, right? I guess it's kinda, like, sacred to Tapu Koko. You aren't even allowed to go into it unless you're on your island challenge. Well, I'll see you later."

Calem steps out of the pokemon center half an hour later and Cutiefly rams him from behind. "What a stubborn pokemon… Fine, Mawile, fire fang."

Mawile springs from its premier ball and swings its second mouth at Cutiefly. The bug pokemon evades and uses gust. Mawile braces itself to take the hit and retaliates with iron head.

Calem doesn't give Mawile any commands. He instead watches Cutiefly's movements. Right now, the bug pokemon is still going strong, but she's favoring her left. She only evaded Mawile's attack by fly right the first time. Iron head must have damaged one of her wings. She could be faking, but unlikely…

Calem pauses. His thoughts shouldn't be this clear, not anymore. He points his Rotom dex towards the cutiefly. Rotom says, "Cutiefly, bug/fairy, they detect the aura of plants, pokemon, and people. That's how they detect which flowers are about to bloom. They sometimes even circle around the head of people with strong emotions. Buzzzt, looks like this one is attracted to you."

Calem thinks. Strong emotion? He's angry, obviously. His focus returned because of his encounter with Team Skull. Once he calms down, he'll probably go back to how he was. Doesn't matter, this might not be the best method, but right now he can fight. "Mawile, iron head."

Mawile strikes the pokemon from below. Before Cutiefly can regain her balance, he throws a pokeball at her. The ball lands, rolls to a stop, and shakes. It shakes once, twice, thrice, and grows still.

Calem picks up the pokeball. By keeping Cutiefly with him, maybe he'll be able to remember the determination he feels now and apply it to future battles. If not, at least this event can mark a beginning of sorts.

With a new partner, Calem continues to Verdant Cavern. Outside stands a boy with pink hair. He's, maybe, a year or two older than him. "I'm Ilima. So, we finally meet. I wanted to talk to you back at the trainer school, but you walked off before I could introduce myself. Actually, I saw how you interacted with all the students there and I got to say, I'm not impressed. Seeing as to what type of person you are, let's just get to it.

"For my trial, you'll have to defeat three of the pokemon that lurk in the dens inside. Then reach the pedestal deep within the cave and collect the Z-crystal there. You'll fail if you aren't in complete sync with your pokemon. Do be careful. The pokemon in here are quite fierce and they don't take well to rudeness. Once you enter, you won't be able to leave until after seeing the trial through. This is only one of the seven trials you'll have to complete during your island challenge. Good luck, you'll need it." Ilima walks into the Verdant Cavern.

Synchronizing with his pokemon? A sense of nostalgia comes over him as he touches the mega-necklace hidden underneath his shirt. However, there's one problem. Ilima said synchronize, that implies something different than mega-evolution.

Calem walk into the trial site. Rotom says, "Soundszzz exciting! Let's do thiszzzzt thing!"

The first den is right in front of the entrance. An Alolan rattata jumps out, and is defeated by Cutiefly. The second Alolan rattata in the second nest is just as easy. At the third den, the two thugs from Team Skull return to get in his way. The first Team Skull thug says, "Yo, yo yo! It's your berry thief boys, back again! Remember us?"

"I told you to disband."

The second Team Skull thug says, "Who cares about that? We're here to mess up your trial, yo!"

"Get lost, leave that stupid team, and go home."

"Maw."

The two Team Skull thugs step back at Calem's glare. The first one says, "Y-yo! Who you trying to intimidate? Yo-you're not scary at all."

Calem steps forward, they step back. "Mawile."

The second thugs says, "Fo-forget this, we're outta here! We've got bigger fish to fry!"

Calem watches them run until their out of sight. "Idiots…" Once they're gone, he looks into the third den and finds an Alolan raticate. "Mawile."

"Maw!" Mawile defeats the pokemon with a single hit.

"I guess the pedestal is further in?"

Mawile nods.

Calem finds an exit in the back of the cavern. Through it is a chasm with vines, grass, and small trees growing from its high walls. At the far end is a golden totem housing a strange stone. Nothing seems to be guarding it, but the area is too quite. He walks towards it while saying, "Mawile, get ready."

He ignores the piercing gaze that falls on his back upon reaching the pedestal and takes the Z-crystal. A shrill "Kiiiiiiiiii!" echoes from above and down jumps a giant raticate. A flaming aura explodes out from within the pokemon as it attacks.

Mawile deflects the pokemon's pounce with her second mouth and retaliates with, "Ice fang!" Raticate cries out as it gets up and a rattata comes to the pokemon's aid. While the rattata scampers around Mawile with hit and run tactics to distract her, the raticate attacks with hyper fang.

"Sucker punch!" Mawile turns around and smacks the large pokemon aside despite the size difference. Calem would smirk if he could still feel the emotion for it; after everything he and Mawile have been through, simple tactics like this area easy to flip around. She then defeats the rattata with vice grip and turns her attention to the raticate. The pokemon holds his left arm close to his chest- No, he's holding his chest. The way the pokemon breathes isn't normal either. Those are controlled shallow breaths. Perhaps they are meant to minimize chest movement?

"Mawile, let's go."

Mawile gives the raticate an intimidating glare and walks off with her trainer. She looks up to Calem and says, "Maw Mawile?"

"We already got the Z-crystal. Defeating that ratticate isn't part of the test."

Ilima waits for by the chasm exit. "A loop hole, but I'll concede that you defeated my Totem pokemon. Totem pokemon are stronger and fiercer than the rest of their kind. You could consider than as a final boss of sorts. As much as I hate to admit, you've cleared the trial of Ilima. The normal Z-crystal, Normalium Z, is now yours."

"Normal? You mean there's one for each type?"

"Along with some special variants. Let a pokemon hold it and then," Ilima places his arms together, moves them in a circle, spreads them apart, and strikes "an elegant pose. Do that with your pokemon to bring out the true power of the normal type."

Calem stops Ilima who begins to walk off. "Am I going to find a totem pokemon at the end of each trial?"

Ilima turns his head back towards Calem enough so that his voice will have clear projection. "That's right. Each trial will have a particularly strong pokemon. A person like you definitely won't get that far though." Finished speaking, he leaves.

Ilima didn't have any intention of telling him about the totem pokemon. He didn't even comment about how raticate called for help. Is that a tactic all Alolan pokemon do, or just totem pokemon? Calem will have to be careful around Ilima from now on. He doubts the trial captain will actively stand against him, but being cautious won't hurt. Lack of precaution did destroy an entire region once.

Outside on route 3, Calem searches for the barricade Lillie mentioned. A fenced off area is further up the mountain trail. A person stands guard in front of it. After speaking to him, and showing him the Z-crystal, he lets Calem through.

Further up the road is Professor Kukui. "Hey there, Calem! Seeing you out here must mean you've cleared your first trial. Going to have to mention this to Kahuna Hala later. By the way, now that you can use Z-power, here's some advice. Using it heaps all of your emotions on your pokemon and tires them out. The limit is once per battle, cousin." He then gives a quick demonstration with Rockruff against a wild Bagon.

That sounds a lot like mega-evolution. However, as Calem though, something feels different about the two of them.

"By the way, would you mind helping me look for Lillie? We were walking around this route and I seem to have lost her."

"You should have said that first!" Calem says while running off. Trainers call out to him for a battle, but he ignores them. Lillie doesn't have any pokemon. She uses repels, but that won't do her any good against thugs like Team Skull.

A sign he comes across reads Melemele Meadow. If Lillie got lost chasing Nebby, then there's a high possibility the pokemon ran in there to play. He hears Lillie before seeing her, "Nebby! Nebby, come back!"

Lillie stands worried at the edge of a flower field. She turns upon hearing Calem call out to her. "Ah… Calem… Nebby ran off into the meadow here…" Nebby stares at some flowers on a ledge at the opposite end of the field. "And right after it got into so much trouble on the bridge, too… What if a wild pokemon attacks it? It doesn't have any moves it can use to battle!"

Calem makes his way through the field without encountering any pokemon. He crouches down next to Nebby and the pokemon says, "Pew!" Together, they walk back to Lillie.

"Oh, you!"

"Pew?"

"Thank you, Calem. You too Mawile."

"Maw."

"Nebby, back into the bag please. I know there aren't many people around to see you here, but that's hardly an excuse! We should be going now, too. The professor will probably be worried after the way we just disappeared on him…"

Calem recalls how Professor Kukui casually congratulated him earlier. "Maybe not as much as you'd think."

Hau's voice calls out to them as they leave the meadow. "He-e-ey, Calem! Oh! You're with Lillie… in the meadow… We're you guys on a date?"

Lillie's face burns bright red as she shakes her head. "N-no! Calem was just helping me find Nebby… What are you up to out here?"

Hau flex an arm and pats his bicep. "I just finished my trial!"

"That's great! Congratulations!"

"I know! Calem, you finished yours too, right! We should celebrate! But first, let's battle and see if we learned anything."

Calem hesitates for a second before saying, "Sure…" In the rush to search for Lillie, his anger from encounter Team Skull dissipated. Without that to help focus his mind, this match is going to be trouble. He has already been reviewing how he handled those earlier battles. Each reflection reveals a different way in which he could have messed up.

"Great, come on out, Pikachu!"

"Cutiefly!"

"Electroball!"

"Dodge it!"

The electroball left Pikachu off balanced. That happens to pokemon who use moves they haven't fully mastered. An opening? Would Hau really use such an attack without creating a way to cover that weakness? Pikachu could have static fur. Then a long distance attack? Which one would…

"Electroball!" Pikachu sends another attack and Cutiefly again dodges. The pattern repeats itself five times until Cutiefly gets frustrated and charges Pikachu with a tackle.

"No, stop!" Calem tries to warn her, but Cutiefly rams into Pikachus stomach. The bug pokemon shakes as she flies away. Too late, Cutiefly is paralyzed.

"Pikachu, thunder shock!"

Cutiefly tries to dodge, but is too slow. The attack hits and she faints.

Hau fist pumps saying, "Alright, I win! My pokemon are awesome!"

Calem calls back Cutiefly with a sigh. "Just rest for now." He over thought the battle, again. If he attacked when the opportunity showed, Cutiefly wouldn't have gotten hurt. Since he was worried about static, he should have used an attack like gust. Hopefully, Cutiefly won't hold the loss against him.

Hau says, "Looks like I've gotten stronger, but I wonder if I'm strong enough to beat my gramps…"

Professor Kukui calls out to them. "Hey there, Calem! Knew I could count on you, yeah! Thanks for tracking Lllie down for me!" Upon seeing Hau's glee, he says, "What's this, then? Hau, you finished your first trial, too? I bet you used some stylin' moves, yeah?"

Hau chuckles and says, "That's right!"

"Hala's probably rubbing his hands together in anticipation right about now, oh yeah!"

Lillie says, "What do you mean?"

Hau says, "It's all a part of the trials, yeah? After you clear one island's trials, you gotta battle that island's Kahuna."

Calem says, "Wouldn't a beedrill be stronger."

Lillie says, "Kahuna, not Kakuna."

Professor Kukui says, "Taking on the island Kahuna in battle is called the grand trial! Events like those are the best opportunities for me to study fierce pokemon moves."

Calem says, "Four islands, four grand trials… They're like gym leaders and the elite four all in one."

Hau says, "I guess, I've never been to any other region, so I wouldn't know."

Professor Kukui says, "Anyway, come on! Back to Iki Town. We'll need to make preparations for your grand trials tomorrow."

As they walk, Rotom says, "It's almost time to face the Kahuna himself. Tomorrow we return to Iki Town, if you dare."

---

A/N: I know I said Wednesday updates, but this week was busy. One day late isn't too bad, though. Next Wednesday should be on time. Anyway, about this chapter, I'd say we're starting to see how the diverges from the game are affecting the story. We also learned a bit more about Calem and Hau. I'm actually not sure what to say right now... Hmm, well, let's just say that we are almost finished with the prologue.

Thanks for reading and please review,

Gandire