Alola Adventure

Chapter 5

By: Gandire

Calem wakes up in one of, the pokemon center's, trainer beds in Paniola Town the next day. Rotom says, "Ahhh… Now this izzz a mighty fine place. I reckon I could get to like it here, pardner."

Tauros and Miltank are seen grazing in the pasture from the window. A small group are exercising by running up and down ramps on the side. He rubs his pokemon egg while saying, "It doesn't feel right not seeing rhyhorn and ponyta."

Hau calls out to him upon exiting the pokemon center. "Hey, Calem! Glad I ran into you. Let's battle and see who's stronger now! My gramps must have thought I did good enough in my grand trial, 'cause he gave me a Z-ring too." Hau fist pumps, "Having a battle in a place like Paniola Town feels like we're in a real old-fashion Western showdown, right?" He then shoots a finger gun at a passing pokemon breeder. The girl crosses her arms over her heart as she pretends to be shot before winking.

The two walk to a more open part of the road. Hau says, "Awrite, Pikachu let's show this newbie what Alola's got!"

"Cutiefly, stun spore."

Pikachu dives underneath the powder and releases a thunder shock which Cutiefly dodges to the side. Judging from the quality and amount of electricity being released, Hau's pokemon is in top form. In a match against speed, Cutiefly and Pikachu are about even. Pikachu, however, has an advantage with static fur.

"Silver wind!"

Pikachu again dives underneath the attack. Calem predicted the action, but stops himself from saying "stun spore." The small gap between shifting from silver wind to stun spore is more than enough time for Pikachu to use volt tackle. Cutiefly is a small target, but that's no guarantee she'll be fine. Better to create some distance.

Cutiefly cries out as Pikachu lands a thunder shock. Pikachu proceeds to pounce on the fairy pokemon as she falls and releases an electrical discharge.

"Cutiefly, rest easy for now."

Hau hugs Pikachu, "Great going, pal!" To Calem, "Well, I'll catch you later." He then walks off for the ranch with the pokemon breeder from earlier. She's been batting her eyelashes at him since getting shot.

Calem gets a quick breakfast at the pokemon center café and also heads for the ranch. A rancher calls out to him. "Hey, you're a trial goer, right? Well, you've got some good timing. The captain's actually here now, so come on. If only my daughter was here and not messing around… This is a great opportunity learning opportunity for her, but instead she's sharing a tauros saddle with some boy."

Mallow is in the pasture milking a miltank. She masks her cold glance at Calem with cheerful smile and big wave. "Thanks for stopping by! The Moomoo Milk from Paniola Ranch is always rich and creamy when used in white sauce. The taste can't be described." The miltank's "moo" emphasis her statement.

"I'll take your word for it."

Annoyance creeps into Mallow's voice, "What's that supposed to mean?"

"I lost my sense of taste a few years back."

"Shame, you're missing out."

"I'll live."

Mallow makes a face, but then shakes her head. She reasserts her cheerful smile and says, "If you go all the way down route 5, you'll come out on Brooklet Hill. You'll find my friend Lana up there." She then thanks the farmer for the milk and runs off.

Calem wonders what he could have done to tick off Mallow. They first meet one another just yesterday. Then again, she is a trial captain. Ilima could have told her about him. To believe a simple rumor without verifying the facts… pathetic.

Calem thanks the farmer, but before he can leave, is asked to help calm one of their pokemon. A new tauros has been resisting all efforts into being trained into becoming a ride pokemon and the farmer thinks he needs help burning some excess energy. "Couldn't you have asked the trial captain?"

"I did, but she said some trial goers were coming and that this would be a good experience for them. The other one ran off with my daughter before I could ask, so help out, would ya?"

"Fine."

Tauros claims a corner of the ranch for himself. He snorts, thrashes his horns around, and jumps onto his hind legs as Calem and the rancher draw near. Unlike Tauros on Melemele Island who was looking for a good time, this one is determine to assert himself as an alpha male. He already has a pair of milktank lounging by his side.

Tauros has the arrogant look of a king in his eyes. He won't accept anything less than full, outright defeat. Trickery, states conditions, sleight of hand, any of that and he'll act up again upon recovering. "Cutiefly, struggle bug."

Tauros flails its horns and tails, but Cutiefly flies around them and onto an unreachable section of his back. Tauros bucks around, but Cutiefly holds tight and continues its attack.

"Cutiefly, get away." The fairy pokemon flies away just as Tauros flops onto his back. "Silver wind."

Tauros charges through the scales with a head smash. Should he have Cutiefly flies over him? No, Tauros will whip her with his tail. Below? No, he can just throw himself down on her. The side? No, the tail again. Calem, unable to make a decision, is forced to watch Cutiefly take Tauros's attack.

The fairy pokemon slams into the ground, but undaunted, flutters its wings and rises once more. He shouldn't hesitate over this. Cutiefly is fast. Doesn't matter which direction she evades, she should be able to avoid all of Tauros's counters. No, she would have avoided them, and that's assuming Tauros would have been able to make any. If Calem wants to break past this hesitation, there's only one option. He takes a breath and forces himself to try again, "Cutiefly, silver wind."

Tauros once more forces his way through with head charge. Calem visualizes Tauros flattening Cutiefly with his body and then stomping her with his feet. Even if she gets through, he could whip her with his tail. No, he shakes his head. He's prepared for the consequences. He won't lose his voice this time. "Cu-Cutiefly… Di-dive underneath!"

This could fall apart at any moment. Calem shakes from fear that Cutiefly might get hurt. Still, he forces his eyes to remain open. Cutiefly is so small, Tauros doesn't even see her zip underneath his mane. He keeps imagining that the normal pokemon will discover what happened and react, but Cutiefly breaks through. She then loops around and attacks Tauros's back with drain kiss. The pokemon slows, stumbles, and falls over.

Cutiefly flies to the front of Tauros's face as he tries to get back onto his feet. She zooms back and then smashes herself against his face with a headbutt. Tauros's head jerks to the side with a "Tau…" as he fall over unconscious.

Calem's legs almost give out on him as he breaths out in relief. He pets Cutiefly as she lands upon his shoulder. "That was completely reckless. Nice going."

Calem receives some Moo Moo milk from the rancher as thanks. After giving some to Cutiefly and Mawile, he leaves.

Route 4 is full of trainers and wild pokemon. Whenever Calem crosses eyes with one, he runs away at full speed. Upon entering route 5, he passes a girl riding atop of a Tauros. She is glowing with happiness, evident from the red marks on her neck. Other than her, this route is the same as the previous up until Hau calls out to him. "Man, Calem, did you see that? I totally lost."

The person he lost against, a blonde about one to two years older than them, scowls. "Are you even taking this seriously?"

"I am! I'm seriously enjoying it!"

"Enjoying it? You can enjoy pokemon battling when you put everything you have into it… which clearly you haven't."

Hau turns to Calem. "Watch out, Calem. This guy is plenny scary!"

The person cups his chin. "You're Calem?"

Calem, put off by the person inquiring to his identity, says, "Who wants to know?"

"You're pretty cautious. Looks like you have a high sense of preservation. I'm Gladion."

"Calem."

"I battle for my partner, Null, to make it strong. Though most of our time gets used up doing small jobs for Team Skull."

Calem's indifference changes into irritation. His tone shifts from curious and guarded to annoyed. "You work for those low lives? Here I thought you were a decent person."

"Battle me. I won't take no for an answer. Type: Null, crush claw."

"Mawile, sucker punch." Mawile lets the opposing pokemon get close and throws off its aim with her attack. Calem uses his next command to try and figure out the Type: Null's type, "Fire fang!"

Mawile tries to clamp her second mouth into Type: Null's side, but its reflexes only let her attack brush against its side. Calem guessed wrong. Judging from the pokemon's lack of reaction, it isn't a steel type. Whatever it is, it isn't weak against fire, either.

Gladion says, "Take down!"

"Iron head." The two attacks meet and cancel out. It isn't a type that's weak against steel either. "Thunder fang!"

Again, the pokemon twists away from being caught in Mawile's second mouth. The pokemon also isn't weak against electric attacks.

"Rage!"

Calem thinks about Type: Null's name and considers its three attacks, crush claw, take down, and rage. "Brick break!"

Mawile swings its second mouth into the oncoming pokemon's side. Type: Null, too worked up by its own attack, is helpless to defend itself and ends up receiving the full brunt of Mawile's strike.

Gladion calls back his pokemon with a "How annoying…" under his breath. "Hmph… It's not like me to slip up like that. I've got to keep fighting stronger opponents. Looks like I'm still not ready…"

"Who are you fighting against?"

Gladion ignores Calem's question and points at Hau. "Your pokemon aren't weak. And sure, it's fine to enjoy battling… But you! You're just using that as an excuse not to try hard because you can't beat the Kahuna. Because you can't beat Hala when he's serious!"

Hau chuckles. "You know my gramps? Wait, you think I'm strong?"

Calem says, "Your pokemon are strong, he's calling you pathetic."

"But I'm stronger than you and you beat him. Must mean I weakened 'im for ya, don'cha think?"

A pair of Team Skull thugs, one female, the other male, appear from over a hill before Calem or Gladion can respond. "Awww, look at you, little Gladion! Aren't you just a real cool guy?"

The second one says, "I guess it's no surprise a homeless kid would turn out spineless, too, huh? No worries, we've got enough backbone to cover for you!"

Gladion says, "Just give it up already."

"Huh?"

"You know you can't beat me. You'll just get your pokemon hurt for no reason." Gladion turns to Calem, "They're good pokemon."

Calem shrugs, "I just don't want them to get hurt."

The girl Team Skull thug says, "We came all this way, and for what? For a big fat waste of our time, thanks to you. If you hadn't gotten in our way, we could've stolen the totem pokemon from Brooklet Hill! Let's get out of here. Look, the murkrow are crying, and it's time we should be flying."

The male Team Skull thug says, "Listen up good, Gladion… The boss does like you. That's true. But you're just some hired help we keep around for when we need you. You aren't part of Team Skull, not really. And you never will be. Got it? You better get it."

Calem and Hau watch Gladion walk away after the Team Skull thugs leave. Calem says, "He really does come off as a decent guy." Could he be using Team Skull for some as a way to get stronger? Revenge against the reason he's homeless? What really stands out, however, is how similar he looks to Lillie.

Hau says, "Thanks, Calem. And Mawile, too. It was a good battle! Still, saying you beat the guy I lost against really doesn't feel right… Looks like I've gotta train up my team if I'm gonna take on the trial at Brooklet Hill next! Come on, Calem! Let's beat this island challenge."

Calem takes a short break in the pokemon center before continuing onto Brooklet Hill. A blue haired girl three to four years younger than him sits on a pier like bridge. She's fishing, but doesn't appear to have caught anything. Calem intends to walk past her, but she calls out to him. "You look like an able-bodied trainer. Could I ask for your help with something?"

Calem pauses for a moment to look the girl over. She has her own pokemon and neither she nor they look weak. Normally, he'd say no, but running into Team Skull earlier skewed his thought process. "Yeah, ce qui est errone?"

"Then follow me. This way, please." The girl leads Calem down the path to a small lake and directs his attention to something splashing in the water. "See? Do you see that there? Look at that vigorous splashing. I wouldn't be surprised to find a fearsome pokemon causing it… Could I ask you to investigate it for me? Here, use my lapras. Just give me a moment to set up the riding equipment."

"Stop, you don't need to do that." Calem jumps onto Lapras's bare shell and swims out to the splashing. As he gets closer, a school of wishiwashi break away and swim downstream. One remains and attacks. Calem, still somewhat angry from his encounter with Team Skull, has Cutiefly defeat it within the minute.

The blue haired girl says, "So it was Wishiwashi kicking up all that water? Even small fish can make such big waves…" She turns her head at the sound of splashing. "Oh me. What is that?"

"More splashing."

"It comes from over there and sounds even larger than what we just saw. Is it a pokemon? Is it a person? I suppose we had better go check."

Calem follows the girl down another hill where she says, "Look, there it is. Ah… I'm sorry. What was your name?"

"Calem."

"Of course, Calem! It is a lovely name. Just lovely." Calem wonders if she's flirting with him, or just trying to slip underneath his guard. She turns to the lake. "Now look over there. Do you see that? Whatever is kicking up such lovely splashes must be rather big… A strapping young swimmer, perhaps? Or an amazing pokemon specimen?"

Calem rides Lapras out to the splashing. Water sprays him as he gets closer. It's refreshing underneath the hot sun. Upon getting closer, another school of wishiwashi break away and swim downstream. A remaining wishiwashi attacks and is also defeated within moments. Rain begins to fall the second Wishiwashi faints.

The girl says from the opposite bank, "Oh my, so it was another Wishiwashi that was kicking up all that water? Hmm. How unfortunate. It wasn't a strapping young swimmer after all…"

"Were you hoping to find some guy drowning?"

More splashing gets her attention. "Oh my word. Now what is that? Even more furious splashing? It sounds as big as a wailord. It might just be another pokemon, but… Maybe, just maybe, we'll be lucky enough to find a spry young swimmer floundering in the water in need of saving."

"And maybe even in need of CPR?"

The girl turns towards Calem with more vigor than she's shown before. "Let's go investigate it." Unlike the previous times where she walked, she runs ahead. Calem finds her at the bottom of the hill waiting for him to catch up. She says, "Brooklet Hill… Within it lies the legendary pokemon said to be the embodiment of the sea itself… the mighty Kyogre."

"Really?"

Calem's expressionless face and flat tone make Lana blush. She shakes it off with a shrug and says, "Darn, I was really hoping to get you with that." She then turns around and walks Calem to the shore, "But we are near the sea. If that splashing sound is coming from the sea… then I wonder what is causing it. And now that it is raining, the power of water-type moves will be boosted. Could those splashes be caused by some pokemon whose moves are now growing ever stronger in the falling rain?"

They stop by the water's edge and she says, "Calem, you've come all this way with me… I didn't mention this earlier, but I am Lana, the trial captain."

"I know."

Lana almost shouts, "You knew? And you didn't say anything? Since how long?"

"The start. Why else would strong trainer with strong pokemon ask for help? So, did I pass your test?"

"You even saw through that… Yes, you helped a complete stranger without hesitation or question. You're the cool, quiet, mysterious type, but also a good person at heart. Now, to clear my trial, you must defeat the great totem pokemon known as the lord of the ocean! You'll probably find the totem over there by that spray of water. You've already proven your strength of character, defeat whatever comes at you and prove your strength of might."

Calem rides Lapras out to the splashing to find a wishiwashi. The water pokemon cries out and soon a school of wishiwashi surround the original one to create a wishiwashi sea-monster bigger than Lapras. Calem has the trembling Lapras evade the water pokemon's pounce and make for some nearby rocks. "It really does look like Kyogre."

Rotom says, "Wishiwashi have an ability known as school. It lets them combine with other wishiwashi to create that faux Kyogre there."

"Strength in numbers, clever." He jumps off Lapras for a large flat platform and returns her to her pokeball. He then calls out, "Mawile!"

This battle will be difficult. Unlike the battle with the other wishiwashi, he's no longer angry. Lana's antics during their trek there calmed him down. His earlier guidance of Lapras was pure reflex. Thunder fang will be key to winning this battle, but with his fears and hesitation, how will they land it?

A flaming red aura surrounds Wishiwashi as it stares down Mawile and Calem. Despite the water pokemon's immense size, Mawile's glare intimidates the pokemon.

A horrible idea strikes Calem. His reflexive command of Lapras arose from an instinctive desire to survive. This idea is dangerous, but both breaks past his condition and also solves the issue of landing thunder fang. "Mawile…" He doesn't want to say it. He has to say it! Everything will be pointless unless he does. "Mawile," He swallows and, "Ta- taunt!"

Wishiwashi leaps out of the water to dive bomb Mawile with Calem as collateral. Not only does this plan lure the water pokemon in, it also prevents him from calling any help. But first, they need to avoid getting squashed underneath the enormous water pokemon. Thunder fang will be pointless if they can't. Now to think of a solution…

Calem doesn't turn away from the looming Wishiwashi. The stronger the sense of danger, the more his instincts and thoughts should refine themselves. He can see down Wishiwashi's gullet. He wants to close his eyes, turn away from the danger, but he won't. That would make this set up pointless. He grits his teeth and, "Iron head!"

Mawile plants her feet on the ground and with a "Maw!", slams her second mouth upward and into the side of Wishiwashi's jaw. The force of her strike changes the angle of Wishiwashi's drop, creating an opening for Mawile and Calem to duck into where they avoid his body slam.

Calem sees Wishiwashi's shadow pass underneath him. The water pokemon is right above them… This is the perfect opportunity. He looks up towards the tail, "Thunder fang!"

Mawile rips Wishiwashi's tailfin off with her attack and tosses the individual wishiwashi back into the ocean. "Taunt, once more!"

Wishiwashi, enraged from the damage he received and the attack, dive bombs Mawile again. Calem repeats the same tactic as before, this time having Mawile rip off part of his fin.

"Taunt!" This is a battle against Wishiwashi's intelligence. Repetitive use of this strategy gives the water that many more opportunities to learn and develop a counter. Not using it and letting such a powerful pokemon call for backup is worse.

Mawile succeeds in ripping out a few more chucks from Wishiwashi's left side, but the sixth "Taunt!" is ignored. Wishiwashi glares at them and soaks them with mucus and water. Brine, until the mucus dries, Mawile is for all practical purposes a water type pokemon. Wishiwashi has no intention of getting close to them either.

"Rock throw." Mawile rips out a piece of the stone from their platform with her second mouth and hurls it at Wishiwashi's left side. The water pokemon tries to evade, but due to repeated damage to said side, finds he can only swim to the left and into the attack.

Wishiwashi stops trying to evade the rocks after the second hit and calls for help. Answering the call is an Alomomola.

"Taunt!" The new comer charges and leaps at Mawile. A "sucker punch" knocks it aside and a "thunder fang" scoops the water pokemon out of the air. With "Spit up," Mawile throws the pokemon back at Wishiwashi. Wishiwashi, however, is no longer there to receive the attack.

"Mawile."

"Maw!" Mawile nods and they both stop. They shut their eyes and breathe.

Wishiwashi is circling around behind them. Calem waits for the sound of water breaching, "Iron head!"

Mawile doesn't waste time turning. She flicks her second mouth to the side and slaps Wishiwashi onto the rocks. "Play rough!" Mawile jumps on the beached water pokemon and literally tears him apart. When only the original Wishiwashi remains, she picks him up and tosses him into the ocean.

Calem rubs Mawile's head. "Nice, you were amazing out there." He then shakes his hand the get off the goo he picked up from her head. More than just victory, he also learned something else. Being in danger also serves to focus his mind. It might be better than anger, but it's no substitute for a clear, rational thinking. There's also the problem of how often he will even be in danger.

With Wishiwashi defeated, the rain stops and the sun appears. Calem and Mawile ride Lapras back to shore where he returns the water pokemon to Lana. She says, "I… I must say that I find myself at an impasse here. All of the wishiwashi that I so diligently trained up were defeated, and that is very frustrating… but of course I cannot let your completion of my trial go uncelebrated, Calem. The way you faced that totem pokemon head on was breath taking.

"Please take this, the waterium Z. Watch, this is how you use it." Lana makes an X with her arms and then separates them to circle them around herself where she then waves them to her sides like in a hula dance. "One more thing, here, this is my special lure. Keep it with you at all times for good luck."

Lana puts on a serious expression. "By the way. Did you know I once reeled in a red gyarados?" She doesn't shift her eyes and nor does her face twitch.

"Did you really?"

Lana turns around to giggle. "Well, what do you think?" She faces Calem upon regaining her composure, "You did a fine job today. Shall I see you back to the pokemon center of route fi-" A low grumble from her stomach cuts her question short.

"I'm actually about to stop at café. Want to come?"

"Yes! Ahem, I mean, of course. Let's be going then."

Lana sees Calem off with, "Next is Kiawe's trial at Wela Volcano Park. Oh, that reminds me… Did you see any sudowoodo by Paniola Ranch?"

"I heard there were some around, but I didn't bother to search for them."

"Well, they were causing some trouble for people, so I gave them a little dose of waterium Z. It was just a little lesson for them. I wonder how they will react now that they see that you have waterium Z, too?" She giggles and says, "Fare well."

The sudowoodo in question bolt at the sight. A young trainer, brought to laughter at the sight, comments that they're heading towards the Battle Royal Dome. "Maybe they're trying to get stronger?" Calem ignores the comment and continues walking. He wants to get to the next town before nightfall.

A mudsdale blocks the entrance to Royal Avenue. Calem circles around the ground pokemon to find Team Skull harassing a trainer. She notices Calem and says, "You there, Trainer. Can you come to my aid?" She's protecting a drifloon from them.

A Team Skull thug says, "Yo, yo, yo! Don't go turning your backside on us!"

That phrase. "Yo, yo, yo" strikes a cord within Calem. He gives the two Team Skull thugs a look full of disgust. "Again?"

The second Team Skull thug says, "You! You're that numskull trainer from Melemele, yo!"

The trainer gives Calem a look. She says, "These scoundrels are pokemon thieves. You're on familiar terms with them?"

"Yeah, comme un exterminateur avec un rat embetants."

The trainer hears his first word and tunes out the rest that's in French. "I'm Hapu. Life in the big city sure is something else. Pokemon thieves roam about brazenly and trainers interact with them like normal."

The first Team Skull thug says, "We're not thieves, you! It's a legitimate business!"

The second Team Skull thug says, "First we get straight messed up on Melemele… Then we get exiled to Akala and get played by some girl… Now this? We ain't going out so easy"

Hapu clicks her tongue. "Forget it, I'll deal with this myself! Mudsdale!"

The ground-type pokemon stomps its hooves and rips through the drowzee and zubat sent out by Team Skull. The two thugs cower upon calling back their pokemon. "With all these losses, we're gonna anger out bosses!"

"These tears taste like salt, yo! It's all your fault, yo!"

Mudsdale snorts and they run off. Hapu jabs a finger into Calem's stomach, "Don't think I forgot about you! Take this as a warning. Keep associating with punks like them and I'll set you straight too." Mudsdale gives Calem a snort before leaving with his trainer to see Drifloon home.

Rotom says, "Wowzers, looks like you totally gave her the wrong impression! Think we'll run into her again? Zzzzt!"

Calem continues into the city with a "Probably." The sun hasn't fully set by the time he's finished checking in at the pokemon center, so he decides to explore the city. Outside the Battle Royal Dome, he recognizes Gladion's blond hair and distinct black hoodie.

Calem follows him inside and finds that he's registering to compete. Calem is still angry from his recent encounter with Team Skull, but can't decide if it's enough to enter the competition. While still hesitating on what to do, a masked man from above says, "Glad you could make it!"

Many people cheer and wave as the man descends the stairs with his head held high. "I'm here today, yeah, to spread the word, oh yeah, about Battle Royal! They call me… the Masked Royal! Woo!"

From the wrinkles at the side of the Masked Royal's mouth, the shape of his teeth, and cut of his goatee, "Professor Kukui?"

"The Masked Royal! I'm here to teach you, oh yeah, about the battle rules passed down in Alola for generations... The Pokemon Battle Royal. Woo!"

Calem's flat expression doesn't break as he listens to the Masked Royal's overly dramatic explanation. By the end of the explanation, however, any irritation he had from seeing Team Skull is gone. When the Masked Royal says, "First, just give it a shot! Pick your pokemon, and let's do this!" Calem's answer is overshadowed by Hau's appearance on the balcony. "Dude! It's the Masked Royal! I wanna battle! The girls won't get enough of me once I battle against you!"

Masked Royal looks to Gladion, "You there! You just register! Looks like we'll be having fun together in the next match.

"It's time for a Pokemon Battle Royal! Ready… fight!" Hau and Masked Royal drag Calem into the arena.

The packed stadium shakes from the crowds cheering as Calem walks out the tyranitar corner. Upon entering the ring, "Cutiefly."

Hau calls, "Brionne," Masked Royal, "Rockruff," and Gladion, "Type: Null!"

Calem thinks back to when he and his partners would have thrown themselves into the center of the fry. Cutiefly's small size and speed make her a difficult target, but right now, he rather she stays by the sidelines.

"Null, charge in there with crush claw!" Gladion's aggression separates him out from Masked Royal and Hau. Whatever drove him to join Team Skull really burns in this match. More than that is his frustration. Loosing really irked him, as if he defines himself through victory. Interesting is the way he clutches his arm. He did the same during their previous battle. Some sort of nervous tick, maybe?

Masked Royal has Rockruff meet Type: Null head on. Hau keeps his distance and fills the field with bubbles. Their attacks tell a lot about their personalities. Masked Royal is the kind who'll throw himself into the wild and experience new thing to their fullest. Hau looks like he's just being cautious, but when compared to how he behaved in previous battles against Calem, fears committing himself unless he knows he can win.

Rocks from Rockruff's mane fly about in the bubble covered field, but there's a pattern. Where they go depends on the angle Type: Null receives them in. The air pressure from those rocks, and bubbles popping from the rocks, influence the flow of Brionne's bubbles.

Neither Calem nor Cutiefly want to sit by without doing anything. He sees the battle field's flow, he can guide Cutiefly though this mine field… but one misread and everything will explode in Cutiefly's face. The weight of that responsibility numbs him. It erases his voice.

Calem clutches his throat. He wants to command Cutiefly, and she wants to receive a command. Going in is too dangerous. "Sea- sev- sail- sla-" He can't say silver wind. He can't give the command that would be safest. He shuts his eyes and, "Acrobatics!"

The numerous methods this attack could fail play themselves out in his mind. Each one grows worse the further Cutiefly progress into the maelstrom. He can't make himself watch. But even while looking away, he can't shut out the buzz from her wings.

The erupting cheer makes everything go silent from the noise. Calem hesitates, but cracks open an eye. The battle ended. Cutiefly is fine, her target Type: Null is limping, but also standing. Rockruff is down at the opposite end of the ring besides the untouched Brionne. Calem releases his breath. The battle is over.

Outside in the lobby, Masked Royal says, "So what do you think? It's easy to have a fun time with Battle Royal. Woo! You even have a shot at beating real tough opponents this way, yeah?"

A stranger interrupts. "That was an interesting battle. You, trial goers, both of you held back, but for different reasons it seems. I hope you bring real fire with you to my trial." He walks over once he has everyone's attention. "The name's Kiawe, the fire captain. I'll be waiting on the peak of Wela Volcano."

Once Kiawe walks way, Masked Royal says, "So! Calem, Hau. How are your trials going? I hope you and your pokemon are working hard and havin' a blast. Woo!"

Hau's taken aback by Masked Royal's words. "But, Mr. Masked Royal… How's you even know that we're doing our trials right now? Oh! It must have been our amulets, huh? Well, I'm having a blast. I've gotten to know so many different girls." Hau then turns to Gladion, "Why are you here? Why would you even wanna do a Battle Royal?"

Gladion gives Hau a cold glance. "Because Null and I have to make it on our own. And I don't ever want to forget that." He turns his back to everyone and leaves.

Hau says, "…Wow. You're just a ray of sunshine, eh. I think you'd have a lot more fun if you just let yourself have a good time with everybody else. You can do a lot more together, too!"

Calem says, "Not everyone gets that luxury. Fun and relaxation are pointless when you're trying to survive." He leaves without another word to check into the pokemon center for the night.

A/N: That's another chapter down. I don't really have much to say here. Hmmm… So, I've taken to playing Legend of Zelda, Hyrule Warriors. It's a hack and slash, but more addicting that I would like. I just have this urge to keep playing and unlock the master sword or go on and get all the pictures. That drive to unlock what comes next sure is annoying… Anyway,

Thanks for reading everyone. Please leave a review,

-Gandire