"The Challenge of a Lifetime" is back, everyone! Sorry for the HUGE delay, for I've been busy with work and recovering from Infinity War. Plus, I've got trailers to put up online and outlining to come up with these stories.
As for this chapter, Calvin now has a Z-Ring! I wonder how this may affect him and his sister… Let's find out right now!
POKÉMON SUN & MOON
THE CHALLENGE OF A LIFETIME
The Ketchum boy slid the new bracelet over his left hand onto his wrist, staring at it in wonder while smiling brightly. The rest of his family aside from his twin sister all grinned as well, while she blinked in surprise, turning towards the island's strongest trainer.
"Um… where's mine?" she asked curiously as she trotted up to him, making him perk up.
"Oh I apologize, Erika," he responded sheepishly, "If Tapu Koko had left a stone for you as well, I would've been grateful to gift you with a Z-Ring," he explained as she lightly gasped in astonishment, which Leslie took notice of.
"Oh…" she uttered somewhat sadly, lowering her head.
"Hey, you'll get one!" her brother reassured as he lightly tapped her right shoulder with his right fist, catching her attention, "After that, we can have a real battle against each other!" he suggested to her excitedly.
"Yeah… I guess so…" she concurred, appearing despondent as she glanced away, causing both of her parents to give off worried expressions.
"Pika…" Pikachu sighed out of concern.
"Well, I wish you both the best of luck for the week!" Hala told the twins, "There are only so many amulets for the Island Challenge this year!" he mentioned, making both of them blink in shock, "Ash, Mira, you two take care of those kids well," he advised with a wave, heading towards the door, "I'll be seeing how they've progressed by the end of their school run!" he added, causing the pair of new trainers to perk up even more out surprise.
"What's he talking about?" Calvin asked as the kahuna left the household through the front door, letting it shut on his way out.
"Sounds like you'll be finding out once you're both done at school," his older sister answered with a grin, causing him to blink out of confusion.
"At any rate, you two are gonna do great," the Omni Force member of the family stated as he placed a hand on their shoulders, "I get the feeling you'll both be amazing trainers," he added, making his son smile happily, while his young daughter just stared off at her sibling's new trinket.
"Dinner'll be ready in just a minute!" Mirajane promised, going back over to the kitchen counter. A while passed as Pikachu set the table alongside Popplio and Litten, who were still glaring at each other as they helped. Yungoos was chomping away at bowls of Pokémon food one by one, even eating out of the bags themselves as the white haired beauty deeply sighed, knowing that she'd have to buy more the longer he was in the house. As she was preparing dinner, Ash, Leslie, Calvin and Rockruff were watching a re-run of the Unova Champion Master's battle against the former champion, Iris. A Hydreigon had just unleashed a powerful, multicolored beam of energy in the shape of a dragon's head towards the white haired girl's Lucario, who jumped back to evade it as it struck the dirt field in a massive explosion of dust and smoke. Leaping out from it moments later, Lucarus rapidly kicked and punched the Brutal Pokémon over and over, striking him down to the ground.
"And Leslie's Lucario lands a strong Close Combat to the champion's Hydreigon!" the announcer exclaimed from the television as the dust on the screen cleared to reveal the Dragon/Dark lying upon the field with swirls in his eyes, "That gives the challenger the first victory in this full battle for the title of Unova Champion Master!" he pointed out excitedly.
"Rah, ruff!" the Puppy Pokémon barked, wagging his tail before the white haired girl pulled him in with her arms, having him sit on her lap.
"So… what's the Z-Ring for, exactly?" her brother asked, catching his father's attention as he saw him looking at the new trinket upon his wrist.
"I think that's something you'll have to find out for yourself," he responded with a grin, making him puff out his cheeks in frustration.
"Well… I guess I'll know sooner or later…" he grumbled, looking over the bracelet again as it hung freely from his wrist. His sister giggled, but then noticed that her other sibling was nowhere in sight. The door out to the side porch had been left open, enticing her to get up with the Rock type still in her arms, trotting over to it. As she started to pull on the handle to close it, the dog-like creature perked up suddenly, jumping out of her arms as he ran over to his trainer, who was staring up at the night sky with an unusually despondent look in her eyes.
"Rah, ruff!" her teammate yipped, trying to get her attention. The girl's sister walked out, shutting the door behind her.
"Dinner's gonna be ready soon," she pointed out to her, failing to make her look over as she lowered her head.
"Why didn't Tapu Koko give me a special stone?" she suddenly asked, causing Leslie to perk up in surprise, "I mean, I helped out at the bridge, too…" she grumbled as she folded her arms, "Is it only because Cal was holding that weird thing that girl carries around?" she inquired, sounding frustrated.
"And here I thought I was kidding myself…" the white haired woman noted with a light giggle, catching Erika's attention finally.
"What's that supposed to mean?" she asked, narrowing her eyes.
"You're upset that you're not as great as Calvin," her sibling replied, leaning onto the wooden railing of the porch as she saw the girl beside her widen her eyes in disbelief, "You were the least excited about being here and thought Cal was feeling the same," she explained as she smiled, "but he once he got into it and had fun, then you started to feel left out," she concluded, turning her head to face the aspiring kunoichi, "Am I right?" she guessed. The girl just blushed slightly out of embarrassment and turned away in a huff.
"Well, I don't really care…" she lied, "I just wanna go home and be what I wanna be…" she proclaimed, clutching her arms tightly.
"And what do you wanna be now?" her older sibling asked, causing her to blink in surprise as she looked to see her open the door to the house, heading inside. The question rang in her head for a moment as she looked back at the starry sky, wondering if she would spot Tapu Koko again.
"Rah?" the Puppy Pokémon uttered, placing his front right paw onto her leg to get her attention. She merely stared on, contemplating her own purpose of being a trainer in Alola.
Tourney On Your Head!
"You got that from Tapu Koko?!" Trent exclaimed in absolute shock the next day at the school, gathered with Hau, Paige, and Pyrrha around Calvin at his desk, observing his new trinket.
"Well… I technically got the stone from it that Hau's grandpa made a Z-Ring out of…" he responded, "but yeah," he said with a grin, "You guys have any idea what it's supposed to do?" he asked curiously. Everyone around shook their heads in reply, much to his chagrin as he sighed.
"I know Tutu keeps some Z-Rings handy for when challengers beat him, but he's never told me what they're for," he explained, folding his arms over his chest. As the conversation continued between the five kids, Erika sat off all by herself at her own desk, staring ahead blankly at the erased chalkboard. Leslie's words had gotten to her overnight, and she was now wondering whether or not she actually cared about being a potentially good trainer.
"Oh, Calvin!" a familiar voice chimed in, catching the attentions of the group around him. They turned to see that Lillie had entered the classroom, clutching the straps of her duffel bag.
"Hey Lillie!" the ponytailed boy of the group greeted as she approached them, "How ya doin'?" he asked.
"I'm fine," she responded with a smile, "I see that you're all ready for class," she noted to them, while the aspiring kunoichi listened on from afar.
"Aren't you the girl who was hanging out with Professor Kukui yesterday?" Trent inquired while arching an eyebrow.
"Yeah, you're his new assistant, right?" Pyrrha guessed, receiving a simple nod in reply from the female.
"Though… it's only temporary…" she mentioned, causing the Ketchum boy to perk up in surprise, "I'm staying with Kukui until I can start heading off on my own," she told them.
"On your own?" Paige uttered out of confusion, "Does that mean you're gonna take part in the Island Challenge?" she inquired curiously.
"Um… well…" she tried to respond, blushing a little.
"Oh yeah!" Hau suddenly interjected with a snap of his fingers, "When Cal got that Z-Ring from Tapu Koko, it's because he saved-!" Without warning, Lillie slapped her hand over his mouth, preventing him from speaking any further while surprising the rest of the group, especially the Ketchum boy as he noticed her nervous and scared expression.
"Um… Hau? Calvin?" she said, making the two perk up, "Can I talk to you alone for a minute?" she requested as they blinked in surprise. A little bit later, the three of them were gathered alone outside of the room.
"You don't want us to talk about Nebby?" the ponytailed boy questioned after hearing the girl's words, seeing her shake her head in disapproval.
"See… Nebby was being used by some really awful people… and I don't want them to find out where it is…" she explained, looking into the small opening of her duffel bag to see the little eyes of the gaseous creature, "Could you please keep what happened that night a secret between us?" she pleaded to them. Admittedly surprised at first, the capped boy took on a serious expression.
"You got it, Lillie," he responded, "I'll make sure my sister knows to stay quiet about Nebby, too," he promised with a grin.
"Thank you…" she said out of gratitude. Just then, the bell started to ring, catching their attentions.
"Oh crap!" the dark green haired boy yelped in realization, "We're gonna be late!" he exclaimed, rushing off with his cousin back to where they were before, leaving the sunhat wearing girl behind.
'I wonder…' she pondered for a moment, clutching the straps of her bag as the Cosmog poked its head out from it.
"Pew?" it uttered in confusion. Back in the classroom, Emily was showcasing a Meowth at the front of the room for the students; some of whom were especially in awe. Unlike the regular Scratch Cat Pokémon, hers had fur of a light blue-gray color, and the tip of his tail, whiskers, digits, and the insides of his ears had a whitish-gray shade. He also had slightly curved whiskers and silvery eyes.
"For those of you wondering, this isn't a Meowth of a different shiny color," she told the class, "Due to Alola's climate, certain Pokémon in Alola have a different appearance than those in other regions," she explained, "Meowth, for example, was introduced to Alola in the past as a gift to royalty," she mentioned, glancing over at her partner, "Unlike the Normal type Meowth you probably all know, this little one here is a Dark type," she finished.
"So it's weak to Bug, Fairy, and Fighting types, right?" Calvin asked as he raised his hand high, catching her attention as she blinked in surprise.
"Yes, that's correct!" she responded with a bright smile. Erika just rested her head against out of boredom, hearing her brother furiously scribble down notes in his book while continuing to listen to the lecture. "Now then…" the teacher began, "I think it's time to talk with you all about the Island Challenge," she declared, reaching into one of the drawers of her desk and pulling out an object that seemed like an oddly-shaped trapezoid in design, with brown leather tassels hanging off of the ends, and a string on top that she held it by, "In order to partake fully in the Island Challenge, a trainer needs to have one of these amulets on their person," she explained, "By the end of this week, you'll be tested in both the classroom and on the battlefield," she told them, "Only the top eight trainers here will receive an amulet from there and take on the challenge," she finished. Almost everyone began mumbling in surprise from what they had just learned.
"Only eight?" one girl muttered nervously.
"And it's not just battling… there's gonna be a test, too!" a boy grumbled, rubbing his fingers through his hair wildly.
"So in the end, we'll end up ranked based on our battling skills and what we've learned in class…" the Ketchum boy realized, rubbing his chin with his right hand.
"Might be dull to take a test, but it'll still be fun to battle, right?" Hau implied, causing his cousin to chuckle.
"Yeah," he agreed, sharing a fist bump with him. Trent, Paige, and Pyrrha all shared their own excited looks of anticipation, while the aspiring kunoichi remained despondent and distant, uninterested by the entire prospect.
X
The next few days passed by quickly as Calvin busily studied and trained with his Pokémon, preparing himself for the upcoming event at the school. His twin sister, on the other hand, was quite the opposite. Though her own Pokémon were practicing themselves, she still was not actively participating in the battles that they took part in. On top of that, she barely paid an ounce of attention in the classroom, not retaining a single thing. She had dreaded the idea of school in the first place, so she was not up to be as accepting as her brother was.
"Aaaaahhhh…" she yawned long and loud from her bed the night before the supposed competition, while both Popplio and Rockruff were asleep upon a small cushion just beside it. As she lied down, she took notice of her brother on his computer at the desk with both Litten and Yungoos beside him on the tabletop, seeing him going through the notes he was typing furiously on his keyboard. She then turned away, shutting her eyes despite the sound of the keys being hit and the light still on in the shared room, trying to fall asleep. She only had them closed for a moment as she felt something land on her head. "Huh?" she uttered, removing the object to see that it was her sibling's notebook as she sat up.
"You haven't studied yet, right?" he inquired, catching her attention, "I got pretty much everything down from class in there, so it'll help," he pointed out. Erika blinked in surprise at his generosity, turning away for a moment. She wanted to just give it back, but realized that he must have already finished getting all of his notes down onto his computer. She dropped it onto the floor, causing both of her teammates to wake up with starts while also making her brother and his partners perk up. He noticed the fallen notebook and then her turning away from him.
"I'm not like you, Cal," she suddenly said, shutting her eyes again with an annoyed expression on her face, "I don't care about this stupid Island Challenge or this dumb region like you do…" she grumbled. Her sibling merely glanced down for a moment in thought, while both the Sea Lion Pokémon and the Puppy Pokémon worriedly looked at her.
"You know why I changed my mind about this place?" he asked rhetorically, making her slightly open her eyes, while the creatures in the room looked over at him, "It's because I've got something that I never really had back in Pallet Town…" he stated, taking off his Z-Ring and looking at it, "Not just the Pokémon, the Island Challenge, and the battles we have…" he listed off, grinning a little, "but all of the friends I've made this week," he finished, causing his sister to widen her eyes in shock, "Even if I had a rough start with some, I really feel like I have more friends than I ever did back home," he confessed, "I don't know why exactly… but it makes me really happy!" he declared.
"Mraw!" Litten purred in agreement, nuzzling her left cheek against his.
"Yung!" Yungoos added happily, allowing himself to be petted by his master.
"Anyways, get a good night's rest," he advised to his sibling, getting up from his chair and turning off the light, "Like it or not, you'll need it for tomorrow," he mentioned with a chuckle, getting into his bed with his teammates jumping onto it and curling up beside him as he lied down, shutting his eyes.
"Ar…" Popplio moaned dejectedly afterwards, looking over at Rockruff, who had a similarly depressed expression.
"Rah…" he agreed as they both then glanced up at their supposedly sleeping trainer. Though her eyes were closed, she was shaking in frustration, affected by her brother's words as she could not purge them from her thoughts.
X
The next morning, Calvin slipped on his clothes, setting his cap as he looked into the mirror of the bathroom to make sure it was straightened on his head. A grin came across his face as he put the straps of his backpack over his shoulders, checking his belt to make sure both of his Poké Balls were there. Suddenly, he heard a knock at the door, followed by it opening to reveal his mother there.
"Are you excited?" she wondered, noticing his smile.
"Yeah," he replied with a nod, looking back at the mirror, "I'm ready as I'll ever be for this," he added as he adjusted the Z-Ring upon his wrist.
"I noticed that you didn't pack your music lacrima…" Mirajane mentioned, holding the object in her hands, along with his spiked headphones, "You sure you don't want them for when you-?"
"I'm good, mom," he interjected, making her blink in surprise, "Uncle Laxus' gifts were great, but I need to stay focused for today," he stated. She was admittedly stunned by his new attitude and outlook at first, but simply smiled as it meant that her son was prepared for today's event. His sister, on the other hand, was not. Though he had gotten out of bed and was dressed for the day, she still had her brother's words lingering in her thought process.
'Friends…' she inwardly grumbled, scowling as she reluctantly put on her flowery hat. She was about to grab her holster that lied upon her bed, but she suddenly stopped herself, thinking still about what her sibling had said.
"You're gonna need this," a familiar voice chimed in, catching her attention as she suddenly saw her bag flung her way, having to quickly catch it as she yelped. She looked and growled to see Leslie there, folding her arms over her chest at the doorway to the bedroom.
"Thanks," she mumbled, getting the bag's strap over her left shoulder.
"You all right?" her elder sister asked, noticing the rather upset expression upon her face, "You seem a little more out of it than usual…" she noted, making her groan angrily.
"I'm fine," she retorted, walking out of the room after shoving the white haired woman aside, much to her surprise. She had never seen her act hostile, at least when it was not just for a prank. She then saw her brother's notebook lying on the floor next to the aspiring kunoichi's bed. Sighing in realization, she looked to see the twins head out the door, with the female of the pair slowly trudging after her jogging brother.
'Still not into everything, huh?' she inwardly concurred before heading over to her own room.
"Happy Friday, everyone!" Emily greeted as she clapped her hands together excitedly. The whole class of sixteen students were all gathered in their seats, anticipating the competition to begin right away. "Now as I've said earlier in the week, this contest will have two parts," she started to explain as Calvin listened on nervously, while Erika yawned again, "The tournament portion will take place after you all complete the written portion," she told them.
"Which will be handed out by me," a voice added, catching the entire class' attention as they turned to see someone walk into the room. It was a slender young man with dark skin, medium length light pink hair and light blue eyes, donning a brownish vest with a diamond-like pattern on it, along with a white undershirt, long white pants, brown and white shoes, blue socks, a blue bag strapped to his pants, and a glove on his left hand. On his right wrist, the lightning mage noticed that there was a Z-Ring, making him widen his eyes in surprise. He also was aware of the strange medallion that acted as a hair tie upon the left side of his head as he walked up to the front of the classroom with a manila folder in hand.
"Oh my gosh!" one girl in the room squealed excitedly as she stood up from her seat, "It's Captain Ilima!" she exclaimed, causing several of the other students to perk up with huge smiles.
"Captain Ilima?" the capped boy uttered in confusion, arching an eyebrow.
"Oh, he's a part of one of the eight trials here in Alola!" his cousin quickly responded, catching his attention, "They have captains like him watch out for trial-goers when they go on their journeys to each of the four islands," he explained quickly, "Ilima's the only captain here though," he pointed out to him.
"Huh…" he said in surprise as he blinked. The pink haired boy undid the clamp of the folder, opening it to pull out several sheets of paper.
"This here will be your examination," he told the class, "Once you receive this, you'll notice that they're all going to be different from each of your classmates' copies," he noted, causing everyone except for Emily to perk up in shock, "Each of you will be tested on your knowledge of Pokémon types, items, battle capabilities, moves, and so forth from this entire week," he continued with a grin, "You can start once you get it," he finished, walking down the first row of desks, giving some nervous students, including Pyrrha, the exam paper.
"Boy, this is givin' me chicken skin…" Hau admitted in a whisper to his male relative as he was sweating a little, "Did your dad make you study all night, too?" he asked him.
"Hey, shush!" Trent yelled quietly to the ponytailed boy, making him silence himself instantaneously as he shut his mouth. The boy distributing the test finally made his way to the back row, first gifting the kahuna's grandson with his before moving onto Calvin, and then Erika. Once they received the paper, the two boys took out their pencils and immediately started writing, whereas the girl just glanced down at hers in an uninterested manner.
'Who really cares about some stupid test?' she inwardly grumbled, 'Besides Cal and Hau, I doubt anyone's really…' she continued to think, only to stop as she started to realize that everyone else was writing furiously on their papers, including Pyrrha and Paige. She then looked over at her brother, seeing him concentrate as he wrote down what he wanted to on his test, which appeared to be multiple choice and some short answers. Looking at her own exam, it seemed to be arranged in a completely different format from his. Her expression suddenly contorted into one of fear and anxiety, knowing that everyone but her was putting a lot of available effort into their respective tests. She quickly grabbed the pencil she had on her desk and was ready to write until she actually saw the questions. While the lightning mage was quickly going through each question without doubt in his mind, his sister was completely baffled with every question on the paper, sweating madly. Emily took notice and developed a worried expression, while Ilima watched on curiously at all of the students. About two minutes passed by before someone slid their chair back, catching everyone's attention as they saw the Ketchum boy looking over his answers. Once he was done, he trotted up to the front of the classroom, handing it off to the teacher.
"Quick work, Calvin," she commented with a grin, looking at the paper for a brief moment, "Were you just wanting to get it over it?" she inquired to him.
"Wanted to make sure it was all right first," he replied jokingly, causing her to giggle. She handed the paper off to the trial captain, who looked at it with a curious grin. The capped boy just made his way back to his seat, while both his cousin and his rival got up and handed in their tests. Seeing people already having finished the examination while barely beginning brought more and more anxiety onto Erika's face. She began to get so paranoid, she started filling in multiple choice answers with whatever came to mind from the options given, leaving her with the short answer questions.
'What are the moves of one of YOUR Pokémon?!' she screamed inwardly as she saw the question on the paper. She looked up again to see the two girls her brother had been friendly with turning in their tests. Soon after, everyone but her made their submissions. The pink haired man there was grading the exams at the front desk, making marks on all but a few sheets. Being the last one remaining, the aspiring kunoichi quickly scribbled down whatever she could think of for answers in the blank spaces. Her brother took notice of her erratic behavior, seeing her quickly get up from her seat and jog up to the front of the classroom.
"H-Here you go…" she stuttered nervously to the instructor, giving her the paper she completed.
"Thank you, Erika," she said in gratitude, seeing that she was sweating still, "Are you all right?" she asked out of concern.
"Y-Yeah… I'm fine…" she stammered out, letting a breath of relief leave her lips as she trudged back to her desk, tugging at her shirt to try and cool herself down. A few more minutes went by as Ilima was still grading the last of the tests, carefully marking in red pen what was right and what was wrong.
'It's okay… it's okay…' the Ketchum girl repeated to herself, trying to calm down as her left foot nervously tapped against the floor. She had guessed for every single question on her exam and was not certain that she had passed. Even so, there was still the tournament portion that she could potentially do better in. Just then, the captain set down his writing utensil, standing up from his seat.
"All right, everyone," he began, catching their attentions, "The exam results will come after today's tournament," he told the class, clapping his hands together, "Now let's all head out and do our best!" he exclaimed to the students, who all, except for a few, cheered in excitement.
"Finally time for me to show everyone what I'm made of!" Hau declared as he pumped his right fist.
"I'm ready to just do my best with my team," Pyrrha confessed while walking beside Paige.
"Me too!" she agreed excitedly.
"Who knows?" Trent suddenly said, catching Calvin's attention, "Maybe we'll have an even better battle today…" he suggested, causing him to perk up in surprise before grinning.
"And we'll bring our a-game," he declared in reply, making his rival smirk with a chuckle. Slowly trudging behind them was Erika, who not only felt isolated in terms of the group's relationship, but also the fact that they likely had a better handle on the exam than she did, which scared her.
X
"Litten, Scratch!" the Ketchum boy commanded outside at the school's dirt fields. His Fire type partner was in the midst of a battle against another student's Ekans, drawing her claws and making them glow a bright white before slashing by her foe, causing him to fall down to the ground in a heap.
"Kaans…" he weakly hissed with swirls in his eyes. A referee at the side of the field raised up his left arm upon seeing the result.
"Ekans is unable to battle!" he declared, gesturing towards the Fire Cat Pokémon, "Litten is the victor, and the match goes to Calvin!" he added.
"Yeah!" the capped boy exclaimed excitedly, allowing his teammate to happily jump into his arms. Since the tournament period had begun, he had already gone through two rounds of battles to the quarterfinals. His friends and his sister also made their way to that point, though the latter was somewhat having more struggles than others.
"Sure is a great day for battling!" Kukui noted from afar, standing beside Emily and Ilima.
"I'm especially impressed with the trio that submitted their tests first," the trial captain pointed out, catching their attentions, "They've shown quite the knack for battling this early on," he mentioned as he placed his hand upon his chin.
"Definitely," the teacher agreed, keeping a close and worried eye on Erika as she lied back against the wall with both Popplio and Rockruff next to her. Just then, she noticed that more people were arriving through the school gates, including Ash, Mirajane, Leslie, and Pikachu. Sawyer and Lisanna were among the groups of parents as well, excited to see their children compete.
"How are things going, Professor?" the Unova Champion Master asked as she approached the shirtless researcher.
"Your brother and sister both made it to the quarterfinals, so I'd say they're doing pretty well for themselves," he implied in response, looking over to see the eight remaining trainers all gathered together with the referee deciding how they would be matched up for the next round. The white haired girl took notice of her sister looking rather anxious, much to her concern as she frowned slightly.
"Our first quarterfinal matchup will be Pyrrha against Calvin!" the official suddenly declared, causing the two students to perk up excitedly as they glanced over at each other.
"I didn't know Pyrrha was enrolled in the school…" the take-over wizard mentioned as she blinked in surprise.
"Me neither," her husband concurred, rubbing the back of his head.
"Guess this means we're finally gonna have that battle after all," a familiar voice chimed in, catching his attention as he and his wife turned around and widened their eyes to see Sunset Shimmer standing there with her arms crossed, "Well, in a sense…" she corrected with a roll of her eyes.
"Sunset!" the white haired woman exclaimed, going over to her and embracing her kindly, as she did the same back, "How have you been?" she asked curiously, pulling herself away.
"Good, all things considered," she responded, "Still trying to get my superhero daughter to go out on a date for once, and my husband is bogged down at Sabertooth…" she listed off, glancing away for a moment, "but that doesn't mean I can miss Pyrrha's big day," she pointed out.
"Or our kids'," Ash added, causing the group to laugh. In the meantime, the two students made their way to the field, standing on opposite sides.
"Mraw!" Litten cried out, catching her master's attention as she had her front right paw upon his ankle, giving him a pleading look.
"All right Litten, go for it!" he responded eagerly, allowing her to jump out onto the dirt field.
"So you're going with Litten again, huh?" the blonde haired girl noted as she readied a Poké Ball, enlarging it by pressing its center button, "Well, she might be cute," she began, "but she's no match for my Fire type!" she bellowed, tossing the container up. It popped open, and the light that spilled forth from it formed upon the ground, dissipating to reveal a Cyndaquil.
"Cin…DAH!" he squeaked as his back ignited with flames, much to the opposing trainer's surprise.
"A battle between two Fire types…" he uttered in realization, pulling off a grin, "Sounds like fun!" he exclaimed with a pump of his fist.
"Li ten!" his teammate agreed, getting into a ready stance.
"Let's do this, Cinder!" Pyrrha cheered.
"Cin!" the Fire Mouse Pokémon concurred as he prepared himself.
"And… begin!" the referee shouted at the center of the field, throwing his right arm to signal the start of the match.
"Ember!" both trainers commanded. The tufts on the Fire Cat Pokémon's back spiked up as he shot a fireball out from his mouth towards his foe, who also fired off his own as his back remained ignited. The two attacks collided, creating an explosion of smoke at the center of the field.
"Now Quick Attack!" the girl cried out. A white outline shrouded her teammate's body as he lunged forwards in an instant through the smoke, ramming into his opponent head on to send her tumbling back across the dirt.
"Mrr…" she growled as she got back on her feet.
"You okay?" her trainer asked in concern.
"Mraw!" she replied quickly with a nod towards him.
"Okay, then use Scratch!" he ordered, enticing her to draw her claws and make them glow a bright white before jumping out at her enemy.
"Dodge and use Smokescreen!" the Eucliffe girl yelled. Her Cyndaquil hopped away from the attack just in time, puffing out his cheeks before unleashing a blast of black smoke onto the field, veiling it completely from view.
"Li, liten!" Litten roared angrily, coughing within the cloud.
"Don't worry, Litten!" Calvin reassured, getting her attention as she perked up, "Fire off an Ember, straight ahead!" he advised loudly.
"Mraw!" she responded as she nodded, letting the tufts on her back stick up again as she readied a somewhat larger fireball than before, launching it through the smoke as it collided with the opposing Fire type, making him cry out in pain.
"Cinder!" Pyrrha cried out worriedly, seeing the smoke clear to reveal her partner shaking his head as he breathed somewhat heavily.
"All right, Fire Fang!" the Ketchum boy commanded. Having her body become shrouded in a light red aura, the Fire Cat Pokémon lunged out with her mouth ablaze as she was prepared to bite down on her opponent.
"Counter with Quick Attack!" the blonde haired girl called out. Her Cyndaquil regained himself, outlined in a bright white light as he dashed forward to collide with his foe in a fierce explosion. As the battle raged on, Leslie trotted over to her seemingly anxious sister, poking her on the shoulder.
"AH!" she yelped loudly, much to everyone's surprise aside from the battlers as they looked over to see her start to blush out of embarrassment.
"So how was the test?" her older sibling asked, folding her arms over her chest.
"F-Fine…" she stuttered in reply, looking away, "I need to stay focused…" she mentioned, wanting the Unova Champion Master to leave her alone.
"Ar…" Popplio barked worriedly. Rockruff had a similar expression, seeing the white haired girl just respect her sibling's wishes, walking away.
"Is… Erika all right?" Lisanna asked, noticing the lack of interaction between the two.
"She's normally been all fire and vinegar about being in school…" her sister replied with a nervous grin.
"But now…" her husband began, catching their attentions, "She… seems unsure of something…" he pointed out, folding his arms over his chest.
"Come on Pyrrha!" Sunset cheered, causing the other adults to perk up and put their attentions back onto the battlefield.
"Litten, Scratch!" Calvin commanded. His partner lunged forward again with her glowing claws extended, slashing by the Fire Mouse Pokémon as he fell to the ground in a heap.
"Cindah…" he moaned in agony with swirls in his eyes.
"Cyndaquil is unable to battle!" the referee declared with his right arm raised, "Therefore, Calvin moves on to the semifinals!" he announced, gesturing towards him.
"Yeah!" he exclaimed excitedly, letting his partner jump happily into his arms. The blonde haired girl went out and picked up her own teammate in her arms, cradling him gently as she approached the victor.
"Congrats, Cal," she complimented, catching his attention as he saw her come up to him, "Good luck the rest of the way!" she added, "I've got a good feeling you'll have an amulet by the end of this!" she confessed, making him widen his eyes in surprise before smiling brightly.
"Thanks!" he replied in gratitude. The adults there clapped in applause as the two children made their way back to the sidelines, allowing for the other battles to take place. Hau and Trent each won their battles afterwards, leaving only two competitors for the last semifinal spot.
"Our fourth and final match of the quarterfinals will be Paige against Erika!" the official told the crowd, gesturing for the two girls to come onto the field.
"All right, let's hit it!" the former of the two exclaimed excitedly, while the latter just gulped as she slowly trotted out to her place on the field with Popplio and Rockruff beside her. Her nerves were rising as she came to a stop and took a deep breath, still sweating. Her opponent readied a Poké Ball, reeling it back in her right hand after enlarging it.
"Go Meditite!" she called out, tossing the container up into the air. It popped open with the light coming out onto the ground, forming and then dissipating to reveal the Psychic/Fighting type.
"Med!" she exclaimed, thrusting her arms out and palming the air around her. Upon seeing her, the Sea Lion Pokémon put her front left flipper onto her master's leg, catching her attention.
"Pua, pop!" she barked pleadingly with a serious expression on her face, wanting to battle.
"O-Okay then…" the aspiring kunoichi stuttered, allowing her to hop out onto the field. Emily noticed that she had not made the selection herself, developing a concerned expression as were the girl's parents.
"And… begin!" the referee shouted, swinging his right arm down from the center of the field.
"Um, Pound attack!" the short haired girl ordered unsurely. Making both of her flippers glow a bright white, the Water type leapt up and dove down towards her enemy, prepared to strike.
"Heh," Paige chuckled, "Confusion!" she commanded, throwing her right arm out.
"Tyte!" her teammate responded, making her eyes glow a bright purple, suddenly outlining her target in the same light, stopping her in midair.
"Ar?" she uttered in surprise, widening her eyes to find herself unable to move.
"H-HUH?!" Erika yelped out of shock.
"Now throw 'er down!" the perky girl cried out. The Meditate Pokémon swung her arms downwards, causing her opponent to be slammed against the ground in an instant, creating a cloud of dust. Once it dissipated, it revealed Popplio slowly getting back up, shaking her head in agony before giving off a serious expression.
"Yikes…" Hau muttered from afar, watching the battle beside his cousin, "I didn't know Paige was so tough…" he noted, grimacing a little.
"I didn't know she had a Meditite…" Calvin added, having Litten perched on his head, "Guess it's a good thing she didn't go with Rockruff for this fight…" he pointed out as he laughed a little.
"Doesn't look like Popplio's doing any better…" Trent chimed in, catching their attentions as they looked back at the battlefield.
"Now Meditate!" the peppery haired girl yelled, clapping her hands together. Sitting down and getting into a meditative stance, the Psychic/Fighting type closed her eyes, humming as a reddish aura flowed up her body. The aspiring kunoichi blinked in confusion before grinning deviously.
"Hah!" she laughed, "Now you're a sitting duck!" she proclaimed arrogantly, causing her sister to sneer at her angrily, "Popplio, Pound!" she ordered to her partner, who leapt up again with only her right flipper glowing a bright white. The opposing trainer let off a confident grin, spreading her arms out.
"Detect!" she bellowed. Suddenly opening her eyes and making them shine a bright white for a moment, the humanoid-like creature dodged the attack in an instant, much to her enemy's surprise.
"Er…" Erika growled in frustration, clenching her teeth, "Do the Water Gun attack!" she ordered.
"Ar!" the Water type responded with a nod, hopping up and arching her head back before spraying a blast of water towards her opponent, who had her back turned to her.
"Detect again!" Paige shouted. Making her eyes shine white once more, Meditite dodged the water as it struck the ground, creating a cloud of dust in the process. "Now Force Palm!" her owner commanded. Turning around and leaping out from the veil, the Psychic/Fighting type reeled her right arm back, prepared to palm her opponent on her head.
"Uh, Water Gun!" the short haired girl cried out quickly in a panicked tone. The Sea Lion Pokémon unleashed another spray of water in an attempt to stop her foe, but she merely blocked it with her right hand, making it dissipate instantaneously.
"That's some Meditite Paige has got…" Kukui noted with his hand upon his chin, "Using Meditate to increase her attack power and Detect to avoid close attacks…" he added as he grinned.
"On the other hand…" Ilima began, looking worriedly over at Erika with Emily.
"Now Confusion!" the perky girl bellowed. As her eyes shined a bright purple, the Meditate Pokémon suddenly caught her enemy in a bright purple outline, using her psychic hold to send her hurdling down to the ground hard in a flurry of dust.
"Popplio!" the aspiring kunoichi cried out in concern, seeing the dust clear to reveal her teammate lying on the ground, moaning in agony as she slowly arose.
"Oh dear…" Mirajane uttered from afar, clasping her hands together before her chest worriedly, while her husband remained stoic and focused on the battle. His battling daughter continued to sweat and clench her teeth as she had no idea what to do.
'Come on… Come on…' she begged inwardly, 'There's gotta be another way we can beat her!' she screamed to herself, 'Does Popplio even know another move?!' she asked through thought, grabbing at her head. Seeing her growing confusion and frustration, Rockruff developed a serious expression before turning towards the battlefield.
"Rah, rah ruff!" he barked out to his comrade, catching her attention as she had fully gotten up.
"Ar!" she responded with a nod. Everyone was surprised, especially the short haired girl as it seemed like the Puppy Pokémon was issuing commands for her. Suddenly, the Water type reeled her head back, unleashing a beam of pink-purple hearts in a loud shrieking voice towards her foe, who took the attack head on as she folded her arms over her head to try and endure it.
"Med!" she yelped as she fell over in a heap onto her back.
"That was Disarming Voice!" the professor pointed out, narrowing his eyes, "Question is, did she know that?" he wondered in concern.
"Ruf, ruf!" the Rock type cheered, hopping up and down. His trainer seemed to have regained her confidence for the moment as well, smiling a little.
"Okay, Pound attack!" she called out, enticing her teammate to lunge forward as her front right flipper glowed a bright white.
"Counter with Force Palm!" Paige yelled. The Meditate Pokémon got up onto her feet and leapt out while reeling her right arm back, colliding her palm against her foe's flipper. Both of them were blown from the collision, creating a huge gust of air to blow about. The seal-like creature was sent back further, lying on the ground in a heap as sparks of electricity emanated from her body.
"Ar…" she moaned in agony, struggling greatly to get up.
"Popplio!" her trainer cried out worriedly.
"So that Force Palm paralyzed her…" Calvin realized, narrowing his eyes. Litten was watching the match carefully, seeing her fellow starter Pokémon slowly rise up, glancing over to see the somewhat condescending stare from her.
"Puap…" she growled angrily. Without warning, a light blue aura began to overtake her form as she stood with a serious look in her eyes, much to her opponent's surprise.
"Heads up, Meditite!" Paige advised loudly, "Let's finish this with one more Force Palm!" she ordered, enticing the Psychic/Fighting type to charge towards her foe, who arched her head back. She then unleashed a massive spray of water, much larger than the previous ones as everyone gasped. It struck her target head on, sending her flying into the wall beyond the field as the ground was practically soaked.
"Meh…ty…" the Meditate Pokémon muttered out as she fell onto the earth face first with swirls in her eyes.
"Meditite is unable to battle!" the referee announced upon seeing the fainted creature, raising his left arm into the air, "Therefore, Erika moves on to the semifinals!" he declared, gesturing towards the aspiring kunoichi, who smiled happily for a moment until she saw her partner breathing heavily before her.
"Popplio!" she yelped, kneeling down to pick her up in her arms as Rockruff trotted over.
"Ar…" she groaned with sparks of electricity still emanating from her body.
"Hm…" Ilima hummed curiously. While the spectators clapped for the competitors, the teachers were concerned with how out of control the battle was for the short haired girl, seeing her get her partner tended to by the school's nurse.
"Now that we've entered the semifinals," the official began, catching everyone's attention, "our first match will be Hau against Calvin!" he stated, causing the cousins to perk up in surprise before glancing over at each other.
"Well, it's not the finals," the former of the two began, "but at least we get to have our rematch!" he exclaimed with an excited thumbs up. The Ketchum boy blinked afterwards, remembering the battle they had at the Iki Town Festival only so long ago.
"Yeah," he agreed as he nodded, clenching his right fist, "And we're gonna win!" he declared with confidence in his tone. In the meantime, Trent glanced over at his future opponent, seeing her nervously make sure that her teammate was okay as she was being treated.
"Rah, ruf?" Rockruff asked, catching his trainer's attention.
"D-Don't worry!" she stuttered in reassurance, "We can still win this the rest of the way with you," she pointed out, picking him up in her arms, "Right?" she inquired nervously. Her expression was not a sign of encouragement that the Puppy Pokémon could take in, but he went along with it as he nodded.
"Ruf!" he yipped.
"Huh…" the greenish boy sighed disappointedly upon seeing what conspired.
X
After a little while of down time for the remaining four trainers to prepare for the semifinals, both Calvin and Hau made their way to their respective positions on the field. The latter of the two enlarged a Poké Ball in his right hand, slightly tossing it up and catching it before throwing it out onto the field. It popped open, and the light that came out from it went onto the field, forming and then dissipating to reveal Rowlet.
"Koo!" he chirped excitedly.
"Mr…" Litten growled upon seeing him, still angered by how she was defeated in their last battle. Her trainer understood her frustration, grinning up at her.
"Ready to do this, little girl?" he asked her, catching her attention.
"Li ten!" she exclaimed in response, jumping off of his head and onto the field.
"Go for it, Cal!" Ash cheered loudly.
"Do your best, Hau!" Sawyer yelled. Their respective wives both giggled at their husbands' shared excitement before Sunset approached them.
"Did either of you hear about the new mission Ben's planning for?" she asked, catching their attentions.
"M-Mission?" Lisanna stuttered in confusion, while her elder sister let off a slight grin.
"About the last three stones, right?" she guessed, receiving a nod in reply from the Omni Force squadron leader.
"He thinks it's about time we take action and get all six of them together," she explained as she folded her arms over her chest, "And maybe then…" she continued, suddenly feeling Mirajane's left hand come onto her shoulder.
"Yeah," she agreed with a light grin, allowing her to stop speaking, "So will you need Ash for a few days?" she inquired to her.
"Probably just one to break down what'll happen," she replied with a simple shrug.
"And… begin!" the referee bellowed, swinging his right arm down as the attention of everyone was brought back onto the battlefield.
"Litten, Ember!" Calvin commanded as he threw his right hand out.
"Li!" she responded, letting the tufts on her back spike up as she was prepared to attack.
"Rowlet, use Astonish!" Hau called out, enticing his partner to suddenly fly out, forming a dark aura around his body as he approached his opponent. The aura then became a ghastly apparition that had glowing pink eyes, a wicked smile, and a red energy shrouding it as it struck the Fire type, causing her to stumble back in surprise.
"Litten, you okay?!" her master questioned worriedly, seeing her shake her head as she tried to regain herself.
"So Rowlet has Astonish to make an opponent flinch…" Kukui noted, chuckling a little.
"Oh, so I'm missing the festival rematch, am I?" a familiar voice chimed in, catching his attention as he looked over to see Hala approaching with Lillie beside him.
"It just started, Hala," he responded, placing his hands at his hips, "But where have you been?" he wondered as he tilted his head to the side.
"Guiding Lillie, it seems," the kahuna responded with a hale and hearty laugh. However, the professor's assistant seemed to be very upset.
"I'm sorry…" she apologized, causing them to both perk up, "Nebby wanted to go up to the Ruins of Conflict again, so I got lost…" she confessed, clutching the strap of her duffel bag tightly.
"Hm…" the researcher hummed, "Seems as if Cosmog's really interested in Tapu Koko…" he pointed out.
"Or perhaps… the guardian deities themselves," the strongest trainer of Melemele added as a suggestion.
"Use Peck!" his grandson cried out, catching his attention along with those of the others.
"Counter with Scratch!" Calvin bellowed. Drawing her claws and making them glow, the Fire type lunged out at her flying enemy, who shrouded himself in a light green, bird-shaped aura as he dove down at her. The two collided, going past each other afterwards as Litten landed upon the ground, sliding across it before coming to a stop.
"Mrr…" she growled in frustration, seeing the Grass Quill Pokémon fly off.
"Ember!" her master yelled out, enticing her to let her red tufts spike up on her back before unleashing a fireball aimed for the owl-like creature.
"Rowlet, use Razor Leaf!" Hau shouted quickly. Turning around and making his wings glow a bright green, the Grass/Flying type flapped them forward, sending multiple green glowing leaves clustered together toward his opponent in the form of three different sized arrows. They collided with the fireball in a large explosion that made smoke shroud the entire battlefield.
"Litten, you good?" Calvin called out in question to his partner.
"Lit!" she responded, coughing all the while from the black cloud she was within. The ponytailed boy grinned in realization, snapping his fingers.
"Rowlet, Tackle!" he bellowed, causing his cousin to perk up instantly.
"Litten, turn around and use Scratch!" he shouted into the cloud.
"Mraw!" she responded, drawing her claws again and swiping what was behind her, which turned out to be her foe, who yelped in shock before being struck, tumbling across the ground.
"Roo…" he cooed weakly, trying to get back on his feet.
"Now Ember!" the Ketchum boy ordered. The red tufts spiked up along the Fire Cat Pokémon's spine once more before she launched another fireball from her mouth towards her opponent.
"Rowlet, Razor Leaf!" Hau commanded quickly. Unfortunately, just as his partner made his wings glow green, he was struck by the fireball, causing the remainder of the smoke to clear as everyone saw the owl-like creature tumble out of the field's bounds before flying up, having scrapes and marks of ash all over his body.
"Row…" he chirped out of agony, shaking his head and twisting his face from side to side in order to regain himself.
"He's gotten really good at battling…" Pyrrha noted with a light grin.
"He might even give Trent a run for his money," Paige joked, laughing with her. Hearing them made Erika feel somewhat dejected, watching the bout continue to unfold.
"Litten, Fire Fang!" her twin brother yelled. Engulfing her mouth in flames as a light red aura shrouded her form, the Fire type got into a lunging stance. Realizing that this was potentially his last opportunity to make a comeback against his cousin.
"Counter with Peck!" he commanded to his partner.
"Koo!" he replied, flying up and somersaulting before diving down with the same light green, bird-shaped aura shrouding his form. His target jumped at him, biting down upon impact, creating an explosion in midair with black smoke to follow. One of the two fighters appeared to have fallen as something flew out from the cloud and crashed into the ground. The Fire Cat Pokémon then landed safely on the ground, maintaining a serious poise as she no idea if her foe was still able to continue. As the dust finally settled, it revealed that Rowlet was lying upon the ground with swirls in his eyes, moaning in pain.
"Rowlet is unable to battle!" the referee declared after a moment to assess the situation, raising his left arm up, "Therefore, Calvin will go to the final round!" he announced, causing the crowd to cheer excitedly.
"That's my boy!" Ash cried out happily.
"Oh, honey…" his wife muttered with a giggle and a roll of her eyes.
"We did it, Litten!" their son exclaimed, allowing his partner to jump into his arms for a gracious hug.
"Rowl…" the Grass/Flying type moaned disappointedly, hoping that his master would not be too upset with him. To his surprise, he was picked up in his arms and smiled at.
"Cal finally got us good, huh?" he noted, somewhat upset, "Guess it was gonna happen sooner or later…" he grumbled cheekily, still smiling, "Hey, cuz!" he cried out, catching his attention as he saw him approach, "You better keep up the pace in the final round, ya hear?" he advised seriously, giving out his right hand for a fist bump.
"I hear ya," the Ketchum boy responded in promise, bumping his right fist against the ponytailed boy's. As they then departed from the field, Trent made his way over, causing Erika to perk up as she realized that she was next to battle, jogging over to her side quickly in a panic.
"Rah, ruff!" Rockruff yipped as he followed her over. As the two trainers took their positions, the male readied his Poké Ball, tossing it up into the air. It popped open, and the light that spilled out from it formed and dissipated into his Froakie, who promptly landed upon the ground.
"Fro!" he croaked, having a serious expression upon his face.
"All right…" the aspiring kunoichi muttered with a gulp, "Go for it, Rockruff," she told the Rock type, who nodded before running out onto the dirt field.
"A Rock type against a Water type?" Sunset uttered in confusion, turning towards her Omni Force teammate, "Uh… does she know that's not exactly a good matchup?" she wondered.
"Huh…" Ash sighed deeply, folding his arms over his chest. Leslie watched on worriedly, hoping that her sister would at least show more effort to be prepared than in the last battle she partook in, but it was already clear by her choice of Pokémon that it would not be the case.
"And… begin!" the referee shouted, swinging his right arm to signal the start of the match.
"Rockruff, attack!" Erika ordered, throwing her left hand out. Making the rocks around his neck glow white, a multi-colored orb of light appeared on the dog-like creature's tail. The orb then dissolved into multiple sparkles that turned into rocks with a white glow surrounding them, which he subsequently fired towards his foe.
"Dodge with Quick Attack!" Trent called out. The Bubble Frog Pokémon was shrouded in a white outline as he dashed forward, avoiding the oncoming rocks and slamming into his enemy head on, sending him sliding back across the field.
"Rah…" he growled angrily, lunging out to try and tackle his opponent, who awaited a command.
"Use Bubble!" his trainer ordered, enticing him to arch his head back before launching a flurry of bubbles from his mouth, striking the Puppy Pokémon in an explosion that resulted in a cloud of white smoke.
"Rockruff!" the aspiring kunoichi cried out worriedly, hoping that he was all right. From within the veil, he coughed, breathing heavily upon taking two straight hits.
"Rrrr…" he growled angrily, jumping out from the cloud as his teeth glowed a bright white, about to chomp down on his adversary.
"Dodge it!" the greenish haired boy shouted. The Water type jumped away, having to hop back quickly again and again to avoid each attempted bite from his foe.
"So it's been Rock Throw, Tackle, and now Bite…" Kukui listed off, placing his hand onto his chin.
"And yet, Erika hasn't called for a single one of those moves…" Lillie pointed out, developing a concerned expression.
"Hm…" Hala hummed curiously. His grandson watched on in worry alongside his cousin, seeing the Rock type fail to land a single attack onto his opponent.
"It's like she just another cheerleader in the crowd…" he noted, while Calvin merely nodded in agreement.
"Froakie, Water Pulse!" Trent commanded. Readying a blue sphere of energy in between his hands, the Bubble Frog Pokémon fired it off as his enemy approached, striking him fiercely as he was blown back.
"Arf, ar…" he groaned, struggling to stand up afterwards.
"Come on, Rockruff!" Erika yelled with a panicked expression on her face, "You can do it!" she cheered pleadingly.
"Rah… ruff!" he yipped, standing up fully and glaring down his opponent, who merely stared back at him.
"Finish him off in one attack!" the aspiring kunoichi bellowed. The rocks around the neck of the Puppy Pokémon glowed a bright white once more as an orb of multicolored energy shrouded his tail. A flurry of rocks was then unleashed from it, heading straight for the Water type.
"Water Pulse!" Trent ordered, enticing his partner to form another sphere of blue energy, launching it out. It mowed through the oncoming rocks, much to the dog-like creature's disbelief before he was struck head on in an explosion of white smoke.
"AH!" the Ketchum girl yelped out of shock. A few moments passed before the smoke finally cleared, revealing the Rock type lying upon the ground in a heap with his eyes in swirls.
"Rah…" he moaned in agony.
"Rockruff is unable to battle!" the referee declared upon witnessing the result, raising his right arm up, "Therefore, Trent moves onto the final round!" he announced, gesturing towards the victorious trainer, who returned his teammate to his Poké Ball in a beam of red light.
"Heh," he uttered, cracking a smirk.
"Whoa…" Calvin said in awe as his eyes shook. In the meantime, his sister gave off a frustrated expression for a moment after losing, but let it dissipate as she went and picked her comrade up in her arms.
'It doesn't matter,' she inwardly grumbled, turning around and walking off of the field, 'I made it to the semifinals, so I automatically should get one of those amulets, right?' she inquired to herself, seeming unsure as she looked rather despondent.
"Hey Calvin!" the greenish haired boy called out, catching everyone's attention as his future opponent perked up, "Why don't we settle this right now instead of making everyone wait a few more minutes?" he suggested honestly, enlarging another Poké Ball by pressing its center button in his right hand. The lightning mage was admittedly surprised by the proposal at first, even initially assuming arrogance from his rival. However, he realized that it was eagerness to have another honest battle, remembering their first bout on the first day of school.
"Litten, you okay with sitting this one out?" he inquired to his partner, who jumped down from his head.
"Mraw!" she replied with a nod, licking her left front paw nonchalantly to clean it. Her trainer smiled, turning back to face his opponent.
"You're on, Trent!" he bellowed, preparing his own Poké Ball as he made his way to his position on the field, enlarging the containment by pressing its center button, "It's not gonna be like last time!" he declared, reeling his arm back.
"Damn right…" the greenish haired boy agreed quietly, tossing up his own spherical container. Calvin did the same, and they both popped open, allowing the light within them to spill out onto the ground. They each formed and dissipated to reveal Poochyena and Yungoos respectively, who glared at each other as the final round was about to begin.
X
"Well, isn't this a great development!" Kukui laughed, folding his arms over his chest.
"I didn't realize our son was so eager to get an amulet…" Mirajane admitted to her husband, somewhat embarrassed for not knowing as she blushed a little.
"All right…" the referee began as he raised up his right arm, "if both trainers are ready," he continued as the creatures upon the field took ready positions, "then begin!" he bellowed, swinging his arm down.
"Poochyena, Bite!" the Kalos native commanded quickly. Letting his teeth glow a bright white, the Bite Pokémon ran out towards his target, prepared to attack as he jumped out at him.
"Use Sand Attack!" the Ketchum boy called out, enticing his teammate to smack his tail against the ground and spin, making a wave of sand fly right into the eyes of his foe's eyes. He fell down to the ground, blinded as he sauntered aimlessly to the shock of his trainer. "Now Tackle!" the lightning mage shouted. The Normal type slammed into his target head first, sending him tumbling across the ground before coming to a stop on his feet.
"Rrr…" he growled, shaking his head and blinking to regain his vision.
"All right, Howl!" his master ordered. Taking a deep breath, the Dark type howled up into the air, suddenly causing a reddish aura to flow up his body.
'So he's gonna try and finish Yungoos off quickly by increasing Poochyena's attack…' the capped boy realized inwardly, looking over at his teammate.
"Yungoos, Tackle!" he shouted again. The Normal type ran out once more, prepared to slam into his opponent.
"Counter with your own Tackle!" Trent yelled, causing his teammate to ram into his enemy head first, creating a stalemate between them as they clenched their teeth, "Now Sand Attack!" he bellowed, much to Calvin's surprise.
'He knows that, too?!' he exclaimed through thought. Poochyena placed his front paws against the ground, prepared to fling up dust into his enemy's eyes.
"Watch out!" the Ketchum boy yelped, enticing the Loitering Pokémon to quickly hop back, narrowly avoiding the flurry of dust sent his way.
"Now use Bite!" the greenish haired boy commanded, closing his right hand into a fist. Leaping out, the Dark type bit down onto his foe's neck from the left side with his glowing jaws.
"YUNNNNGGG!" he screeched in pain, writhing to try and free himself.
"Use your own Bite!" his master cried out quickly. Yungoos had his teeth shine a bright white before biting his opponent's neck, making him grimace as they held their ground for a moment.
"Come on, Cal!" Hau cheered from afar.
"Mraww!" Litten roared. The crowd itself watched on and yelled themselves, excited to see how the rest of the battle would unfold. In the meantime, Erika watched on with frustration apparent in her eyes. While she had gotten through all of her previous battles by practically dumb luck, her brother was clearly making an effort to win, issuing commands to work with his Pokémon. Her expression caught the attention of her sister, who sighed very deeply.
"Poochyena, toss him!" Trent bellowed, enticing his partner to spin around with a grip still on his enemy, causing him to suddenly let go as he was flung fiercely away, tumbling across the ground.
"Yungoos!" his trainer exclaimed in immediate concern as he came to a stop, standing back up.
"Yung, goo!" he yelled angrily, turning back to his owner, "Yung, yung goo!" he told him as he blinked in confusion.
"Yungoos…?" he uttered, arching an eyebrow as he was completely perplexed at the moment.
"Tackle!" his rival suddenly shouted, causing him to perk up as he saw the Bite Pokémon charging towards his target. However, rather than dodge the attack, the Loitering Pokémon took it head on, sliding back upon impact.
"Huh?" his trainer uttered out of complete confusion, wondering what he was up to. Just then, he noticed a reddish aura building around him, causing him to gasp in realization.
"What the heck is that?" the Kalos native wondered, unsure of what to make of it, "Tackle again!" he commanded, disregarding the aura. His teammate lunged out and rammed into his foe once more, causing him to tumble across the ground before halting himself. Numerous scrapes lined his body as he breathed heavily, but the energy around him had built up to a point where it was twice as large as his own body, much to the shock of his adversary as he took a nervous step back.
'A Pokémon can know up to four different moves…' Calvin recalled inwardly, 'Up until now, I never knew if Yungoos had a fourth…' he admitted to himself, grinning as he threw his right arm out, 'but now I do!' he exclaimed through thought.
"Yungoos, free the Bide!" he commanded.
"B-Bide?!" Trent stammered in disbelief. Opening his mouth, the Normal type suddenly fired off a white beam of light straight ahead, striking his target before he even had a chance to react in a fierce explosion.
"Oh my!" Lillie yelped in shock, while the rest of the crowd was just as stunned by the sudden development. As the dust finally settled from the impact of the last attack, it revealed Poochyena lying upon the ground in a heap, having his eyes in swirls.
"Poochyena is unable to battle!" the referee announced after a quick assessment of the situation, lifting up his left arm, "Yungoos wins, and therefore…" he continued, gesturing towards the Ketchum boy, "Calvin wins the tournament!" he declared. The lightning mage was stunned for a moment before finally smiling in realization.
"YEAH!" he exclaimed, jumping up excitedly with a pump of his fist. The crowd cheered happily, clapping for the victor as he went up to his teammate on the field.
"Yung goo!" he said happily, hopping up and nibbling on his trainer's ear, causing him to laugh.
"H-Hey!" he stuttered, still giggling, "Cut it out!" he demanded amidst his laughs. Litten ran over and jumped onto him as well, while the Kalos native went up to the Dark type on the field, kneeling down and petting him as he awoke.
"Raw…" he moaned, disappointed in himself.
"It's fine," his trainer reassured, taking out his Poké Ball, "Get yourself a good rest, okay?" he advised to him.
"Rawr," he responded with a nod, allowing him to return him to the spherical container in a beam of red light. Afterwards, the greenish haired boy got up and trotted over to the winner, catching his attention. Without a word, he stuck his right hand out to him, offering for a handshake. Not missing a beat, the capped boy accepted it without a second thought.
"Thanks for the battle, Trent!" he said in gratitude, smiling brightly. While the whole crowd applauded still, Erika glanced away dejectedly, wishing that it had been her instead.
X
"In recognition of his efforts today and throughout this week," Hala began as he gathered around the thirty-two students that partook in the week-long course, "I hereby grant Calvin Ketchum the first Island Challenge amulet!" he declared, gifting the boy with the trinket. He held it in his hands and stared in wonder with his teammates, excited to know that they had the opportunity to start another chapter in their journey.
"You also performed exceptionally well on the written portion," Emily noted, handing him back the paper. He blinked in surprise as he looked at it, smiling as he saw the results.
"A perfect score!" he exclaimed, making his twin sister perk up in shock.
"Actually, you and a few others were the only ones with perfect scores in the class," the teacher whispered in admittance to him with a wink.
"Now we'll announce the remaining seven to get their amulets!" the kahuna declared, holding out the trinkets in his hands, "Hau, please come forward!" he beckoned to his grandson, who beamed.
"Yes!" he yelped happily, jogging over. One by one, he, Trent, and a few others were receiving their amulets to take part in Alola's famed challenge. But with each name called, Erika realized that her chances of being selected were becoming very slim, especially as Paige was apparently selected before her.
'No way…' she uttered inwardly, lowering her head in frustration, 'I made it further than any of these guys did…' she noted to herself, clenching her fists tightly, 'So… why?' she asked through thought.
"And finally, Pyrrha!" the bulky man announced, much to the aspiring kunoichi's shock as she saw the Eucliffe girl go up and receive her amulet for him, graciously bowing afterwards.
"All right, everyone!" Ilima called out, catching their attentions, "If you're prepared to start your trials here, then you'll be journeying out to Verdant Cavern for the trial of my own conjuring, Captain Ilima," he explained, "As such, I'll be expecting all of you on the way there," he announced.
"And last but not least, good luck with all of the challenges you'll face ahead!" Emily added reassuringly, "Although some of you didn't make the cut," she continued, "you still have a chance to catch up if you work hard and do your best!" she exclaimed with a pump of her right fist. A while later, everyone was getting their written exams returned to them, with some marveling in surprise at their scores, while others were shocked and appalled by what they received.
"Miss Erika?" the trial captain uttered, catching the attention of the Ketchum girl as she was given her test, which was folded up, "I believe you should seek tutelage from your brother while he's still with you," he advised rather seriously, "And I'd also like to say that your battling capabilities have a lot to be desired," he added. The harsh reality of his words crashed down onto her, but she remained poised even as she crunched her failed test in her hands.
"Thanks," she muttered out, walking past him aggressively. After a long while, all of the families and students had departed except for the Ketchums and the Hughes.
"Bye everyone!" Pyrrha yelled in farewell as she walked alongside her mother out of the school grounds.
"Hee, hee!" Hau chuckled, "Great to know we're all gonna head out and start our journeys together!" he exclaimed excitedly with a pump of his fist.
"Well… uh…" his male cousin began, gesturing towards his twin sister, who was turned away and despondent.
"Oh… sorry, Eri…" the ponytailed boy apologized in realization. He did not receive a response from her though, as she remained quiet.
"Ar?" Popplio barked in concern, while Rockruff gave off his own worried expression. Just then, they noticed Leslie approach.
"You've still got a chance to get an amulet, you know," she pointed out, folding her arms over her chest while not noticing the rising ire in her sibling as she gritted her teeth, "All you need to do is study hard, battle seriously, and-"
"SHUT UP!" she snapped loudly in interjection, catching the attentions of the families along with Kukui, Hala, Ilima, Emily, and Lillie. She then pointed accusingly towards her brother. "This is all your fault!" she shouted, much to his shock, "If you hadn't saved that dumb cloud back then, I'd be the one with the Z-Ring right now!" she bellowed.
"E-Eri…" her ponytailed relative stuttered, somewhat frightened by her tone.
"The only one at fault here is you, Erika," her sister stated firmly, making her perk up, "You didn't study, you didn't try," she listed off, "And now you're blaming your own brother for all of that?!" she wondered angrily. Before she could say anything else, the aspiring kunoichi punched her in the face with her right fist, running off in tears afterwards.
"Hey, Erika!" Mirajane exclaimed.
"Young lady, get back here!" Ash demanded, but to no avail as she had run off.
"Are you okay, Leslie?" Lisanna asked as she and her husband helped her stay up.
"Yeah, I'm good," she reassured, "Normally, that would've hurt a lot more," she mentioned, looking out to where her sibling had run off to.
"I'm so sorry that you had to see that…" the elder take-over wizard apologized to the teachers.
"No, it's understandable why she'd react that way…" Emily noted, giving off a concerned expression.
"I think there may be a way that we could help her," Ilima admitted, placing his hand onto his chin, "wouldn't you agree, Kukui?" he asked the researcher beside him.
"Yeah," he responded with a nod, "I think I know somethin' we could cook up for her to help," he told the white haired woman, who beamed graciously.
"Thank you so much," she said with a bow. In the meantime, her son stared out worriedly towards where his twin sister had run off to, as her Pokémon remained behind, still shocked by her actions. The sunset shined brightly as the families made their way home.
X
The next morning within the vacation house, Calvin put on his shoes and set his cap properly onto his head. After eating breakfast and brushing his teeth, he was ready to embark on his island challenge, a journey he did not even consider a week ago. Adorning his backpack was his new amulet, gifting him with the title of a trial-goer.
"You're gonna meet up with Hau?" his father asked, seeing him tighten the straps of his bag.
"Yeah, in Hau'oli City," he replied, heading towards the door, "I think we're gonna see if we can find some new Pokémon before taking on the trial," he told him.
"I packed you some extra clothes and new Poké Balls in case you need them!" Mirajane mentioned as the capped boy was about to head out the door.
"Thanks, mom!" he cried out in gratitude, "I'll see you later!" he yelled out, running off to the city.
"Huh…" the take-over wizard sighed happily, "I wish both of them were going together…" she admitted, giving off a saddened expression.
"Is she up yet?" her husband asked, glancing over towards the family room, where Leslie was watching television all by herself.
"Nope," she responded, letting off an exasperated sigh from her lips. Within her little sister's room, the aspiring kunoichi stared out the window at the hill leading up to the ruins, where her brother had been saved by the island's guardian deity.
'If it gave Calvin a Z-Ring…' she inwardly began, clenching her fists, 'then it'll give me one, too!' she thought, prepared to face that test as she stood up from her bed.
END
SUMMARY
Episode Seven: Trial by Conflict!
Wanting to prove that she's as strong as her brother, Erika heads up to the Ruins of Conflict to obtain her own Z-Ring from Tapu Koko. Will she succeed?! Also, Calvin meets up with Ilima and is challenged to a battle! Will he emerge victorious?!
END SUMMARY
Phew… Okay, a few housekeeping items to get out of the way. One, I know it's been a while. I've been playing Pokémon games for reference and just to have some fun. Clearly, I have not been spending my time well…
Secondly, writer's block sucks. I have incredible ideas ready to throw out there, but I'm just… unmotivated to get them out to show you guys. I'm sure a lot of readers have probably moved on by now, but I'm alive and well, rest assured. I've thankfully gotten a lot of inspiration lately as a result of My Hero Academia, Marvel, and many other forms of media.
Lastly, my internship… lasted a month. It was difficult and turned out not to be the best fit for me, but I'm good. I have a new job starting next week, so I should be fine. Plus, I'll have more time to continue writing.
With this chapter done, I will be moving to the next one in my schedule, which is in fact for this story, so stay tuned!