Just as our heroes have finished with the Junior Battle Masters Tournament, they seemed to have come across a strange character.

"Looks like we made it." The guy said as Zorua jumped off his shoulder.

"Ar! Ar!"

"Hi, there. I take it you guys are here to compete as well." The guy greeted as he met Davis and the others, but they were all wondering who he even was. "The name is Keen. It's nice to meet some competition, unless you guys are just spectators. Looks like it's quite the turn-out." He said as he had a look around and noticed all the people. "Although, there aren't as many as I thought. Did they just now open?"

"What is this guy talking about?" Davis questioned.

"Hold on. Are you here to compete in the Junior Battle Masters Tournament?" Cletus asked.

"That's right, and I plan on winning it." Keen claimed.

"Uh... Keen, the tournament is over. It just now ended." Davis said. When he said that, Keen turned to them with a puzzled face.

"What?!" Keen shouted as he couldn't believe this. Even Zorua sighed with annoyance on how Keen just acted.

A new adventure, another day

One more challenge that comes our way

Its up to me and you

I know what we've got to do

We are together now

Friends forever now

Whatever comes our way, we won't run away

Standing tall

And one for all

It's our destiny

Pokemon

(Davis' voice) Alola From Alola

"Are you kidding me?! It's already over?!" Keen called as he couldn't believe it. "I was up training in the woods all this time for this tournament and it's over?! That is so not fair!" Davis and the others weren't sure what to do about this guy. He seemed rather frustrated and upset, but he seemed to calm down once he got it all out of his system. "Oh well... I suppose there's always the Centros League. Right, Zorua?" Zorua barked as it confirmed that.

"A Zorua! I've heard of them, but I've never seen one before!" Cletus said.

"That's a Zorua?" Davis questioned. Davis pulled out his pokedex to learn more about it.

"Zorua, the Tricky Fox pokemon. A dark-type. Zorua are capable of changing into people and pokemon to go into hiding or to surprise their opponents."

"It transforms into others?" Davis questioned. Zorua showed him as it jumped into the air and transformed into Davis. It was like looking a mirror. "No way! It really can transform into people! A rather handsome transformation." Zorua showed off more of it's power and changed into Imperialdramon.

"Hey! I'm suppose to be one of a kind!" Imperialdramon claimed with Zorua changing back to normal.

"That is so cool. It can make it look like a perfect copy of anyone." Tetsu said as he was amazed.

"True, but I'm afraid it can only copy appearance, not abilities." Cletus clarified.

"Keen's your name right? Well, I'm Davis." Davis greeted as he held out his hand and Zorua shook it.

"I'm Imperialdramon."

"My name is Tetsu."

"And my name is Cletus."

"Hi, and you just saw my partner left quite the impression." Keen said as Zorua got back up on his shoulder. "So, I take it you guys already competed in the tournament."

"Yeah, and it was pretty great. Too bad you missed it." Davis said.

"Don't be so blunt." Tetsu said.

"Well, might as well head over to the Pokemon Center and get something to eat. Later." Keen said as he turned around and was on his way. As he was walking, Davis noticed a particular wristband on Keen. He knows he saw it before and it has caught his interest.

"That was weird." Tetsu said.

"Well, he was excited to compete and he clearly missed it." Cletus said. "Anyway, shall we get going ourselves."

"Not just yet." Davis said as he wanted to check out something else.

...

The Pokemon Center

"Nurse Joy, could you make sure my pokemon are doing okay?" Keen asked as he handed over all of his pokemon to her.

"Sure. They'll be in good hands." Nurse Joy said as she took them in the back and was getting to work. All Keen can do now is wait until his pokemon are good to go.

"Hey, Keen." Keen turned around and was met with Davis and the others.

"Hey. Is there something I can help you guys with?" Keen said.

"I wanted to ask you about something I saw." Davis said.

"About what? About that." Davis said as he pointed to the wristband Keen had. The others took a look at it and they realized what he was wearing.

"Is that a Z-Ring?!" Tetsu said.

"It sure is." Keen admitted with everyone surprised that he had one.

"I knew it. I recognized it as the same thing Kaya had when we met her before." Davis said.

"Those can only be found in Alola!" Cletus said.

"Yeah, and that's where it's from." Keen said. Sounds like Keen has a story and they would all like to here it. Wanting to hear more about Keen's story, they all found a table for them to sit at and got to talking. "I'm not from Alola, but my grandfather is. This was once his before he passed it down to me. In fact, Grandpa also gave me Zorua as my first pokemon. It made me feel real special having a Zorua as a partner as well this Z-Ring."

"Z-Rings are used to help perform Z-Moves, but you also need a Z-Crystal." Cletus said. "At least that's what we were told. We've only seen it one other time."

"And you can only get Z-Crystals in Alola." Tetsu said.

"And I do." Keen admitted as he showed he had a few crystals with him. That amazed Davis and the others. "I said I wasn't born in Alola, but I have been there and got a few."

"That's amazing! How did you get those?! I would love to try them myself." Davis said.

"Sorry, but it's not that easy." Keen said. "My grandfather told me I had to prove myself to the Island Kahunas and the Island Guardians."

"Island... Island what?" Davis questioned.

"You guys clearly haven't been to Alola despite knowing about it." Keen said. "First, Alola is comprised of four islands. Those four islands have guardians that are considered legendary pokemon. They're also known as guardian deities or the Tapu. There's Tapu Koko, Tapu Fini, Tapu Lele, and Tapu Bulu. They watch over all of Alola. The Island Kahunas are four trainers the guardians selected to carry out trials."

"Trials?" Tetsu questioned.

"Alola doesn't have gym battles, but they have trials instead. To get one of these crystals, you have to pass these trials that the guardians and kahunas watch over." Keen said, but they all have a hard time getting it.

"Sorry. I'm not sure I get it." Cletus said.

"It's fine. I had a bit of a hard time understanding it myself. Bottom line is that it's not as easy as you think to get your hands on a Z-Crystal. In Alola, they're more historical, traditional, and maybe a bit more mystical than around here. They're not exactly as modern as some other places are." Keen claimed. "Although, during my time in Alola, I heard that they only recently started the Pokemon League. I'm hoping to meet the first champion one day."

"Who's the first champion?" Tetsu questioned.

"It's this guy named Ash Ketchum, and I heard he's also become the Monarch. He's considered the best trainer in the world since he won the World Coronation Series." Keen claimed.

"Hold on. Isn't that the name of your friend, Davis?" Tetsu questioned.

"Yeah. That sounds like him." Davis said as he thought back to him.

"Hold on. You actually know him?!" Keen questioned.

"Yeah... We traveled together when I was just starting as a trainer and we've been together for a long time. When we parted ways, and I thought it was for good, he said he would take care of my pokemon when I couldn't." Davis said. "He's a real friend, and it's like he's so passionate about pokemon and battling that he doesn't really think much about anything else. He keeps saying he's going to be a pokemon master, whatever that is exactly, and it sounds like he's making it."

"And don't forget Pikachu." Imperialdramon claimed. "I'll doubt you'll find a little bundle of electricity as powerful as he is anywhere."

"That's incredible that you actually know the guy." Keen said.

"Yeah, but now I've restarted my journey and this is the first time I'm going in without him or any of the friends I've travelled with before." Davis said. "I came to Centros for a fresh start. Starting with the fact that I plan to enter and win the Centros League. I decided to get myself back in the battle."

"That's awesome." Keen said. That was right when a ringer went off with Nurse Joy and Clefable coming back with his pokemon.

"Keen, all of your pokemon are doing well." Nurse Joy said.

"Thanks." Keen said as he took them back with Zorua jumping back on his shoulder.

"Back at the arena, you mentioned you were planning to enter the Centros League, Keen." Cletus said.

"Yeah, and there's no way we're missing that competition. Is that right, Zorua?" Keen questioned with Zorua barking in agreement. "You're gonna be in it to, Davis?"

"You better believe it." Davis said. "I'm gonna win it. It doesn't matter to me if you got some fancy moves with your grandpa's bracelet thing, no disrespect. I'm not gonna back down from a challenge. Whatever it is you throw at us, my pokemon and I will be able to take it."

"You only say that because you haven't seen what these bad boys can do." Keen said as he held up his Z-Ring and was feeling rather confident.

"He has a point. We saw what Kaya did with hers, but we don't know anything about the other types of Z-Moves." Tetsu said. "Being in a battle against one of those things is probably much different than how we saw it."

"Well, if you're really so confident, how about we have a battle and see what those things can really do." Davis dared.

"I like to, but you're only capable of using one Z-Crystal per battle." Keen claimed. "I wouldn't be able to use all of them. Still, my pokemon are tough in their own right. Just take a look." He said as he took out his badge case and showed he had a total of seven badges. "Seven badges in total. That should show you how tough we are."

"Is that so?" Davis said as he was feeling cocky. "If that's how we're comparing strength, just take a look at this." He said as he pulled out his badges.

"One, two, three... Aw! You have all eight badges!" Keen said with him and Zorua shocked that Davis already has all eight before they do.

"Better believe it." Davis said as he was feeling good about himself.

"This Ash he was talking about might be very passionate about pokemon, but I wonder if he's as obnoxious as Davis can be." Tetsu mumbled.

"Well, so what if you have more badges than me. I'll just go get my eighth one right now and that will fix everything." Keen said. "Besides, I don't have time to be wasting like this. I need to find the nearest gym and get that badge."

"Where is the nearest gym? I saw he had the Hot Badge, so he already challenged Vanessa." Tetsu said.

"Let me see." Cletus said as he pulled up the map and had a look. "It looks like the nearest gym form here is in Wyom City."

"Wyom City... That's where we're going. Let's get moving, Zorua." Keen said with Zorua agreeing. The two of them were heading out to get that last badge.

"Keen, hold on for a minute!" Davis called and got Keen to stop. "Is it okay if we come with you to see your gym battle?" Keen certainly wasn't expecting him to ask that, but Davis wants to see what Keen can really do. He also like to see those Z-Moves in action. Davis has a good feeling about this and wants to be there to see it.

As Davis gets acquainted with a new friend and rival, he learns more about Z-Moves and Alola. Wanting to see what Keen can really do, our heroes might be seeing a gym battle unfold right between them. We'll see what Keen can really do in battle, so stay tuned.

To Be Continued...