After Brock and Misty had headed back to Kanto, Brock still looking faintly confused, Kukui's whole class went on a field trip to Poni Island.
Ash came along, as well, because he hadn't done any trials on Poni Island – unless you counted Nebby's evolution, which had involved four Tapus and two Z-Crystals but probably didn't fit.
"So!" Kukui began, as everyone disembarked on Poni Island. "What is everyone going to do?"
He smiled. "This isn't one of those normal field trips where I have something special to show you! This is a field trip of self-guided individual study, so each of you have your own personal projects, and I'd be Fascinated to hear what they are!"
"I… just want to get stronger, really," Kiawe admitted. "To work better with Marowak, Charizard and Turtonator. Sorry, it doesn't sound very interesting now I say it…"
"Oh, it's perfectly important to develop your relationship with your Pokémon!" Kukui said. "That's a fine goal, Kiawe, don't worry."
"I'd like to get some Poni Radishes," Mallow told them.
She waved her hands. "There's potential there for a new recipe! But if we got just one Poni Radish then we couldn't experiment with it to the level you need to experiment to come up with something new – at that point it's just guessing – so I'm after having several Poni Radishes!"
Lana considered. "I think mine is a lot like Kiawe's, in a way, but it's focused on Popplio specifically. Sandy's probably going to be happy to be here, because he's… just, happy about everything, it's amazing… but Ida's taught me a lot and it'd be nice to meet up with her in person again."
"Hmm, and who is this Ida?" Kukui said. "I'm not going to Block you, I'm just interested."
"She's one of the Seafolk," Lana explained.
"Oh, are they like the People of the Water?" Ash checked. "I met some of those once! My friend May's Manaphy is the Prince of the Sea, and there's a giant sometimes-invisible floating building that he travels around in."
"Um," Mallow said. "Do you mean when he's not with her, or that she travels around in it as well?"
"No, it's because of Acid Armour," Ash told her.
It was presumably meant to be an explanation, even though it wasn't.
"Maybe I'll ask?" Lana decided.
Lillie held up her hand. "I'm planning on studying Poni Island's Pokémon. It's only recently that I've been able to face doing that up close, and with Snowy by my side I'll be safe."
Snowy rubbed her tails against Lillie's leg, and Lillie smiled at the contact.
"And I'm going to Vast Poni Canyon to evolve my Charjabug," Sophocles finished. "I checked and Charjabug's interested!"
"Those all sound like excellent projects," Kukui decided. "Now, Ash, there is one thing I want to warn you – Poni Island currently has no Kahuna. I know you were here for the Trials, but that could be a problem."
"That's fine," Ash shrugged. "I can do an Island Trial, and then I can ask Tapu Fini what's going on and see if she wants a battle!"
"That's Ash for you," Lana said, trying not to laugh.
Since so many of them were going in the same direction, Ash, Mallow and Sophocles all stayed together at least as far as the Ancient Poni Path.
"This place is pretty cool," Ash said, looking around. "From the name, I guess people have lived here a lot longer than the rest of Poni?"
He shrugged. "The rocks are definitely old, but they're old everywhere, right?"
"That's a good point," Sophocles agreed, frowning.
He glanced down at Togedemaru. "But… sometimes things get names because they're that thing at some point, and then we forget why. If at one point somewhere was a new building, it could end up being known as the New Tower, even if everywhere else gets knocked down."
"That's a great point!" Ash approved. "Huh, I wonder if there's anyone who'd know…"
"Radishes!" Mallow pointed, noticing a nearby farm. "Look, that Golurk's picking some!"
The Golurk crouched down, and lifted up a radish which turned out to be several feet long.
"Those are the famous Poni Island Radishes, right there," Mallow declared. "I really hope we can get some."
Ash walked up to the fence.
"Excuse me?" he asked. "Is your trainer around? My friend would like to get hold of some Poni Radishes!"
Golurk regarded him. "I will see," the Ghost type said, and walked towards the main farm building.
They dropped the radish into a holder, and went straight through the wall.
"It's always weird to see a Ghost type do that," Mallow admitted.
Then Golurk returned, along with a girl wearing overalls and a large purple bonnet.
"What's this?" she asked. "Hey, I recognize you from somewhere…"
"I'd like to buy some of your radishes," Mallow explained, stepping up. "I don't know how much they cost, but… I'm going to be here for several days, if that helps?"
The girl considered.
"Tell you what," she said. "It's hard working the farm by myself, I could do with a bit of help. Help me out for the next few days and we'll see what happens, okay?"
"You work the farm by yourself?" Ash asked. "Well, apart from your Pokémon, I guess?"
"That's right," the girl said. "My name's Hapu. This is my grandfather's farm, and I'm keeping it up in memory of him."
Mallow had been processing for the last several seconds.
"Sure!" she said. "Thank you for the offer – I'm so-"
A green blur went bonk off her head.
"-grateful?" Mallow finished, a bit startled, then saw where the blur had landed. "What just happened?"
"Wow," a Shaymin mumbled, uncurling. "You really were grateful… thanks for the soft landing…"
The Grass-type shook herself. "Turns out trying to fly without Gracidea is a bad idea…"
Ash sent out Lokoko. "It's nice to meet you, Shaymin! But yeah, flying without Gracidea can be tricky. How did you try?"
"I jumped off the nearby cliff," Shaymin said. "In hindsight that was not a good idea- ah-choo!"
She sneezed, and Mallow gasped.
"That's so cute," she said.
"...am I the only one who's confused?" Hapu asked. "That's a Mythical Pokémon, it just fell out of the sky."
"It's Ash," Sophocles said, which was fair enough.
Leaving Mallow to get to know Shaymin – who wasn't quite her Shaymin yet but who seemed interested in the idea – along with Lokoko who was willing to hang around, and then seeing Sophocles off to train, Ash trekked up the Poni Canyon to the closest spot Arc flagged as having one of the Totem Pokémon nearby.
"Should be nearly there, right?" he checked.
"No, left," Arc corrected him.
"Oh, yeah, there we are," Ash said, turning left. "And… inside the cave?"
"Correct."
Arc used Flash, which involved lighting up with a brilliant golden glare, then turned themselves down again until they just provided useful illumination.
"What is it?" a Hakamo-o asked, jumping down in front of them. "Is there danger? Is something wrong? Does the Original One call the Totem Pokémon to battle?"
"No," Arc replied. "Nothing is wrong. My trainer wishes to have a Totem Battle. I simply had my Flash set on high by mistake."
"Yeah, sometimes you don't remember the setting you last had it on until you check again," Ash said. "Sorry if we confused anyone!"
"Right," the Hakamo-o said, a bit embarrassed. "I'll… just go and get the totem Pokémon, then…"
"Since you're Ash Ketchum, we're going to try something a bit different," the Totem Kommo-o said, crouching down. "Since it's your last Totem Trial, we're going to give you an especially strong challenge."
"Fine by me!" Ash declared. "I'm excited to see what it is!"
"You will get two Pokémon at a time," Kommo-o explained. "Meanwhile, I will have my entire force of Ally Pokémon able to contribute to the battle at once, at any time and in any number. Plus, of course, your team will have to deal with me personally."
Ash nodded, thinking about that. "Got it… hmm, okay, I need to check a couple of things with my Pokémon first, okay? I've got a strategy but I want to make sure it's okay."
"Be my guest," Kommo-o agreed.
As Ash went off into a corner to check, one of the Jangmo-o raised her paw.
"All of us at once?" she asked. "Are you sure?"
"That's Ash Ketchum," one of her cousins replied. "Honestly I think the main thing we're aiming to do here is make it difficult for him, not actually beat him…"
There was a flicker of movement, then another, and Ash came back over.
"Yeah, I switched out my team a bit," Ash explained. "Ready?"
Kommo-o nodded, and Ash sent out Servine and Goodra.
"Ah, bonjour, it is a delight to be here!" Servine said, with a bow. "And Goodra, enchanting to be by your side again."
She rolled her neck. "Let's go."
"Yeah!" Goodra agreed.
"I will give the signal to start," Arc volunteered. "Three. Two. One. Start."
All of the Ally Pokémon began jumping in at once, some of them using Dragon Dance and others leaping right in with Dragon Claw attacks, and Servine did a twirl.
"Lunar Blessing!" she announced. "Moon power, make up!"
Silver moonlight surrounded her, lighting up her leaves with ethereal highlights, but she took two or three claw-swipes just during her power-up sequence, and began to look a little rattled.
Then Goodra made his contribution.
"Clanging Scales!" he announced, shaking his whole body at once, and a loud shockwave went racing out in all directions. It passed over Ash, Pikachu, Arc and Servine without any impact, and some of the Ally Pokémon ignored it as well, but at least half were hurled backwards into the cave walls with a series of overlapping wham sounds.
"What?" the Totem Pokémon demanded, before using the move themselves. That time it hit both of Ash's Pokémon and ignored all their allies, but Kommo-o was still annoyed. "That is literally my signature move!"
"It's Dragon-type, I'm an expert in Dragon-type moves!" Goodra explained.
"Great work, Goodra!" Ash said. "Servine, Moonblast!"
Servine duly used Moonblast, sending out a pulse of light which hit several of the Dragon-types very hard, and Goodra completely avoided taking any damage by the simple expedient of being on the Dark Side of the Moonblast. Then the Hakamo-o and Jangmo-o used Echoed Voice, which didn't hit any of the Ally Pokémon still in the battle, and Kommo-o made their own contribution with Boomburst.
Ash put his hands over his ears.
"Wow, this is a loud battle!" he said. "Goodra, Core Enforcer, shut down their Soundproof! Servine, Moongeist Beam!"
Goodra used Core Enforcer, focusing his Dragon-type energy through all of his cells and firing the result out as a pulse, and two Jangmo-o got knocked out instantly by the resonating Echoed Voice before the rest of the Trial Pokémon realized what the move had actually done and stopped using sound moves that could affect their allies.
Meanwhile, Servine's Moongeist Beam hit one of the Hakamo-o.
"Dynamax Cannon!" Goodra added, aiming the beam at the totem Pokémon, but he missed thanks to a Hakamo-o using Protect and getting in the way.
In lieu of a Boomburst, Kommo-o used Drain Punch, hitting Goodra hard towards the ceiling.
"Timeskip out of it!" Ash called.
"Roar of-" Goodra began, then hit the ceiling.
"Roar of-" he tried again, then hit the ground.
Ash waited for a moment, then recalled him.
"Great work!" he praised. "Dartrix, your turn! Sunny Day! Servine, Moonlight!
"Fighting evil by moonlight," Servine announced. "Of course, you are not evil, but it is the same skills, no? And the moon shines all the brighter when it reflects the sun!"
"It is a good thing that the patch has been applied," Arc noted.
"Well," Kommo-o decided, eventually.
There were Blade Quills sunk into the walls up to their feathered vanes, courtesy of entirely too many Leaf Blade attacks. There were scorch marks, scratch marks, and puddles. There were Dragon-type-shaped craters in the walls, floor and ceiling, along with a Jangmo-o who'd hit the wall recently enough that they hadn't been removed yet.
The rest of the Ally Pokémon were in a large, scaly pile, for convenience.
Also, Kommo-o was encased in ice up to their neck, after Servine had pointed out that the moon was cold.
"I think you've earned one," they decided.
"Of course, I work well with everyone, but it was still a fine display, was it not?" Servine asked.
"Yeah!" Dartrix agreed. "Our styles are like night and day!"
"Hmm," Kommo-o added. "Does anyone have a Fire-type move?"
Arc transformed, activated their Flame Plate, and delivered an extremely precise micro-Judgement.
"Thank you," the Totem Pokémon said. "Now, let's see… do you have Fighting and Dragon yet?"
"Yeah!" Ash agreed. "Electric, Grass, Ghost, Rock, Normal, Dragon, Fighting, Ground!"
"Dark, then," Kommo-o said. "I don't suppose you'd be willing to help with the cleanup?"
"Of course," Arc confirmed. "Playing roar dot wav."
AN:
Sometimes it's a bit hard to come up with a challenge.
Advance warning: the next two chapters, in particular, involve Tapu Fini. This means characters meeting the spirits of friends or relatives who have passed on, and thus heavier content than I've shown in most of this fic.