Disclaimer: I do not own Pokémon, or any other property in this work that I did not make myself.

Pokémon: Sinnoh no Isekai

Chapter Two-hundred and ten: Melemele Knights- The Ballad of Sophocles

As per the rule of Professor Kukui, the field trip to Akala Island that Class 1-A of the Melemele Island trainer school was taking will end upon Ash, Dawn, Kenny, and Trip each clearing the grand trial against Kahuna Olivia. Ideku Badorigo was also taking the challenge and, seeing that Kukui said he wanted to get his students back to the safety of the trainer school ASAP, said he'll wait to take his go until after Ash, Dawn, Kenny, and Trip all clear theirs. As such, the students of Class 1-A all were able to relax for a bit, hoping to avoid further confrontation with Team Scorn.

During this time, Ash and the reborn trainers were able to get in some training for their Pokémon. This included seeing Kenny evolve his Rockruff, a boy who Kenny named Terroriser, into a Midnight Form Lycanroc that night following Kukui's decision earlier that day to take the class back to Melemele Island after the grand trials. The following morning, shortly before she had the first go against Olivia, Dawn was able to evolve her Rockruff, Fenrir, into Midday Form Lycanroc, making both Dawn and Kenny happy they got their respective timings right.

Speaking of Midday Form Lycanroc, Olivia used one, along with a Probopass as Olivia revealed that all battles against her for the Akala Island grand trial are double battles. Nodding once in understanding, Dawn sent out her Infernape Chi-Chi and, to the surprise of the others watching, her Staraptor Cyrus. The others did not know what to make of Dawn using a flying type whose other typing did not mitigate its weakness to rock. However, the others soon got their answer when the battle between Dawn and Olivia finally kicked off, and saw that Dawn had an amazing level of foresight.

Olivia, sensing that Dawn was trying to lure her into taking bait by sending out a Pokémon weak to rock, decided to focus on Chi-Chi by having Lycanroc use Drill Run and Probopass use Giga Impact. Dawn had Chi-Chi use Earthquake which hit both Lycanroc and Probopass, and then Dawn had Cyrus use Close Combat on Probopass on the assumption it had Sturdy as its ability. As a result, Dawn won the battle against Olivia on the first turn as the combined Earthquake Close Combat combo knocked out both Lycanroc and Probopass. Olivia, laughing in amusement, gave Dawn a Rockium Z crystal.

Later that afternoon, after Olivia's Pokémon had time to rest, they had their tango against Kenny, who sent out Roshi and Zarbon, his Torterra and Machamp respectively. Kenny's Pokémon were able to score the win and help Kenny clear the grand trial of Akala Island, although at one point to save Roshi from taking a Drill Run from Olivia's Lycanroc, Zarbon ran in and stood between them, and ended up taking the Drill Run right onto his fanny. Ovilia was touched by the friendship that was evident between Kenny's Pokémon, but Dawn heard Kenny's Machamp moan in a way that suggested he actually enjoyed the punishment to his fanny.

After the battle between Kenny and Olivia, the Class 1-A students from the trainer school watched a sunset, which Ash's Rockruff saw with Fenrir and Terroriser. There was a bright green light which seemingly resonated with Ash's Rockruff, and while that green light shone, Ash's Rockruff evolved, ending up as a Dusk Form Lycanroc. The new form of Lycanroc, which none of Ash's Alolan classmates were familiar with, took them by surprise, and it was something that Kukui said he'd like to study given that Ash gives him the okay to do so. Ash saw no problem with it.

Speaking of Ash, his battle with Olivia was next the following morning and, with a mix of his newly evolved Lycanroc and his Greninja, Ash was able to cinch the win against Olivia, doing so far more easily than what Dawn remembered from the anime in her previous life. Later that afternoon, after Serena came back with details about the Pokémon Contest that was going to be held on Akala Island soon, Trip had his battle against Olivia. Using a mix of his Electivire Fourze and his Gliscor David, Trip won against Olivia in a manner similar to Dawn; have a flying type out so its partner using Earthquake won't hit it but still hit Olivia's Pokémon, then have the flying type hit Probopass.

With Trip's victory, all of the heroes in class 1-A taking the Island Challenge cleared the Akala Island grand trial. Also, it was the signal for Kukui to take his class back to Melemele Island, due to worrying about his students due to the increased Team Scorn activity on Akala Island. He was also hesitant concerning Serena wanting to enter the Pokémon Contest that would be held on Akala Island, as well as any other Akala Island Contests after the first, but relented when he realized he couldn't reallt stop Serena, although it did help that Contests had very good security.

Thus it was how Class 1-A returned to the trainer school on Melemele Island, just before they were able to see Ideku have his battle against Olivia.

"So..." Lillie said as she saw Ash's Lycanroc stand side by side with Fenrir and Terroriser, "...There are THREE forms of Lycanroc." The three different Lycanroc kept a distance from Lillie, having been told that she's still skittish around Pokémon, but still let her get a look at them. Turning to look at her classmates, Lillie went on, "I think that Professor Kukui is in the right to wanna learn more about the form that Ash's Lycanroc took upon evolving. This is my first time seeing such a form for Lycanroc."

While Lillie wrote something down in a notebook, Sophocles's Togedemaru, looking pouty and annoyed that Lillie was focusing on a Pokémon other than Togedemaru itself, gave an excited and loud cry before jumping up and hitting the floor of the classroom rolling, speeding right up to Lillie and crashing right into her, making her cry out in a freaked tone as she scrambled to get away. The three Lycanrocs, seeing this, rushed Togedemaru to attack, but Sophocles seeing this quickly recalled his rather mischievous Pokémon before it could face consequences.

"Sophocles, why won't you control your Togedemaru?!" Mallow snapped, "It keeps ramming up into Lillie and making her freak out because she still has issues with being in contact with Pokémon!"

"Oh sure," Sophocles said, "Always let Lillie wholly off the hook because of her freak outs, why don't you! You know, she needs to get over herself eventually! We can't coddle her forever! She's gonna have to get back to being used to being in contact with Pokémon eventually, and if we get into trouble because of Lillie refusing to get over herself, don't be surprised when I say something along the lines of 'I told you so'!"

"Sophocles, why do you have to be such a jerk?!" Lana snapped.

"Why do you guys always have to let poor lil' miss victim over there slink away from growing the hell up?!" Sophocles shot back.

"Sophocles!" Kenny shouted as he pointed at the door, "Principal's office! Now!"

"Fine!" Sophocles snapped back, "I'm tired of people always being on my case anyway and always making me out to be the bad guy despite how I originally didn't start things first!" Sophocles then went to the door, opened it, and slammed it shut behind him as he left the classroom.

Everyone was silent for a moment after Sophocles left. The silence remained for a few moments until Kenny said, "...Holy crud, I can't believe that actually-"

*BANG*

Everyone jumped a bit when the door leading into the classroom was thrown back open loudly, and Sophocles came stomping back in. "Hey wait a minute Kenny!" said Sophocles, "You don't have the authority to send me to the principal's office like that!"

"Well it worked for long enough, didn't it?" Kenny replied.

Sophocles was about to get into another tangent, but was cut off by Kukui showing up. "What is going on here?" Kukui asked.

"Sophocles is being mean again!" Lana said while pointing at Sophocles, "Also he still refuses to rein in his Togedemaru!"

"Kenny tricked me into leaving the classroom!" Sophocles exclaimed, "Also Lillie still refuses to get over herself!"

After getting the class to settle down, Kukui got the full story. "...And why did your Togedemaru rush Lillie while she was looking at the Lycanrocs that Ash, Dawn, and Kenny have?" Kukui asked Sophocles.

Shrugging, Sophocles said, "I don't know, maybe Togedemaru isn't used to the idea of folks focusing on Pokémon other than itself?"

"So it's a spoiled brat that demands to be the center of everyone's attention at all times," Mallow summed up, an unamused scowl on her face.

Gesturing to Sophocles, Dawn said, "Seriously Sophocles, you NEED to get your Togedemaru under control. That near incident with Fenrir, Terroriser, and Ash's Lycanroc isn't the first time other Pokémon attacked or tried attacking your Togedemaru because its behavior irritated them. If things keep up at this rate without having your Togedemaru learn to behave itself, then it'll cause a mess that there's no slinking away from."

"There's also how it keeps harassing Ash's Pikachu as if it expects Pikachu to like it back," Serena said, "AND Togedemaru still hasn't apologized for its showing of being a sore loser when Ash's Greninja beat it in that balloon popping game!" Folding her arms over her chest, Serena said, "Seriously, Sophocles! Why do you not do anything to get Togedemaru under control?!"

"Because Togedemaru never gets on my case about anything!"

Everyone stopped short when Sophocles yelled what he had just yelled. "Seriously!" Sophocles went on, "It's been like this since day friggin' one since we first met and became classmates! I hadn't even done a damn thing yet on the first day, yet you three-" Sophocles paused to gesture to Mallow, Lana, and Lillie, "-Were already trying to leave me high and dry, Mallow and Lana especially!"

"Well you made that one rude comment about Lillie being afraid of Pokémon after she refused your Togedemaru wanting her to pet it before it rammed right into her!" Mallow snapped.

"Which I didn't make until YOU Mallow barked at me to 'reign in that little beast'!" Sophocles snapped back, "What, do you expect me to just stand there and take it when you and the others blatantly insult me and Togedemaru? We aren't allowed to shoot back?"

The female Alola classmates heard someone suck in a cringing breath, making them turn to see that it was Kiawe. "...Actually girls," Kiawe said, "From what I remember, Sophocles although he had been rude didn't start that business until AFTER you girls got on his case for seemingly no reason."

Kukui nodded in agreement. "Yeah, I did notice how Sophocles wasn't trying to instigate anything, heck he even tried being friendly and cordial towards you girls, until you had started firing shots at him seemingly umpromted. And unless I'm mistaken, none of you even knew Sophocles even existed until you all met him back on the first day of class." Folding his arms over his chest, Kukui said, "So tell me... what is it? What could Sophocles have possibly done to any of you girls to warrant how you had started things against him?"

Pointing at Sophocles, Mallow said, "Well there's his being rude after his Togedemaru frightened Lillie-"

"-Which he didn't do until AFTER you rudely told him off first," Kiawe pointed out, making Mallow take pause, "Don't you think it's possible that your rudeness towards Sophocles made him rude in return? That it's possible that he would have been nicer had YOU been nicer about handling the situation?"

Ash and Serena weren't entirely sure what to say here, but the reborn trainers, Dawn especially so, felt like there was... a bandage to rip off, as it were. "...You girls are afraid of getting romantically involved with Sophocles, aren't you?" Dawn said, catching everyone's attention, "That's why you started things."

As everyone looked at Dawn in surprise, Mallow said, "...Umm... one of the girls in Class 1-B did on the first day of school tease us about how us in Class 1-A are bound to form couples with one another, and further added that one of us girls is 'bound to reel in a big one' while pointing Sophocles out to us, he wasn't paying attention due to talking to Kiawe at the time."

"It was super embarrassing for us," Lana further admitted, looking similarly as embarrassed, "And we didn't want that girl to further tease us like that, so we... we hoped for any excuse period to make Sophocles out to be the bad guy and use that as an excuse to not get involved with him."

"I... just followed Mallow and Lana because I was afraid of being alone on the first day of school," Lillie confessed.

Kukui wiped a hand down his face, gave an exasperated sigh. "...Wow, I have never been more disappointed in anyone ever, yeah?" Looking at the Alola born girls in class, Kukui went on, "You girls had started all of that business up against one of your own classmates solely because a student from a different homeroom teased you about potentially getting romantically involved with said classmate? Are you kidding me?"

"Uhh, how does this explain Sophocles's Togedemaru being a total brat?" Kenny asked, raising a hand.

"Due to how little respect and friendship I was feeling at school," Sophocles began, looking embarrassed and... a little upset, actually, "I ended up spoiling Togedemaru because it was always sweet and affectionate towards me. I was actually trying to get Togedemaru to learn some obedience before school started, but after the girls all ganged up on me the way they did on day one, I... sort of relapsed on Togedemaru's obedience training and started spoiling it more than I did prior, to compensate for how little I felt I mattered to my classmates."

"So you compensated for the lack of respect you felt back then by spoiling your brat of a Togedemaru," Trip reasoned, "I... actually have heard of similar cases such as that before. It's not as uncommon as you'd think. At least that's how I see it."

Turning to look at Mallow, Lana, and Lillie, Dawn said, "So you girls made Sophocles out to be a bad guy at your first opportunity because a girl from our rival class had teased you about one of you potentially becoming Sophocles's girlfriend, and it super embarrassed you and you wanted to do anything to avoid giving that girl anymore ammo to tease you with." Mallow and Lana nodded in unison in agreement, and Lillie started nodding as well about a second after Mallow and Lana started.

Kukui wiped his hand down his face again, gave another sigh. "...Alright, here's what's going to happen." Clapping his hands together, Kukui said, "Mallow, Lana, Lillie, each of you will write a sincere letter of apology to Sophocles for what all you've done against him since school started. This will be an actual homework assignment, I expect to see that you've all done it by tomorrow morning when class starts. Sophocles will similarly write each of you a sincere letter of apology for how he had reacted towards you girls, those letters are also an actual homework assignment due tomorrow. After that, I want EVERYONE in class to stop mistreating one another like that, am I clear?"

"What about addressing Togedemaru's misbehavior?" Serena asked, "Even if Mallow, Lana, Lillie, and Sophocles all kiss and make up, that won't technically fix the issues with getting Togedemaru to behave itself."

Shrugging, Kenny remarked, "I say let Togedemaru learn by experience."

Knowing what Kenny meant by that, Dawn said, "Let's... try another method or two first."

The following day at trainer school, Sophocles and the Alola born girls showed their letters to Kukui, he approved all of them, and then Sophocles and the Alola girls exchanged them. Sophocles was even given extra credit by Kukui for calling Togedemaru out and making it formally apologize for its behavior, with especial focus on apologizing to Ash's Pikachu and Ash's Greninja. Judging by the firm tone Sophocles was using when commanding Togedemaru to apologize to Ash's Pokémon, the class could tell Sophocles was getting back to instilling discipline into his Pokémon.

"Also Togedemaru," Sophocles said while pointing at a carrier that Ash had, "You had better not aggravate the Pokémon that Ash has in that carrier."

"Actually Sophocles," Ash said, "The carrier contains a wild Pokémon I brought here for you to catch. I was originally planning to do something similar for you back when you were moving, but I was still a bit upset with you at the time. Sorry about that, by the way. Anyway, this one here-" Ash paused to gesture to the carrier "-Actually came wandering over to me while I was having my Grubbin and Salandit spar with one another and my Grubbin evolved into a Chargabolt during said sparring." Ash then opened the carrier, and a Chargabolt came inching out. "It's another Chargabolt," Ash said, "I guess it saw one of its own kind when mine evolved from Grubbin, so it came over to say hi."

"Oh yeah," Kenny said, "I forgot that Ash caught a Grubbin."

"Also I thought that it was Dawn who caught the Salandit," Trip admitted.

Sophocles, touched by Ash's gesture, thanked him and proceeded to catch the Chargabolt from the carrier. "Hoo boy, I hope my girlfriend won't freak about this," Sophocles said as he looked at the ball that held his now Chargabolt.

Hearing Sophocles say that caught everyone's attention. "...Girlfriend?" Lana said, "You have a girlfriend?"

"Oh yeah," Sophocles said, "I video chat with her on my computer regularly because she lives in another region. Anywho, she isn't all that fond of bug Pokémon, so I'm not quite sure how she'll take the news of me catching Chargabolt here."

"Well take it from someone who has a friend who is also bug Pokémon-phobic," Ash said, "Just get used to her eccentricities."

As the other classmates congratulated Sophocles, the reborn trainers looked to one another. "...Oh, how convenient," Kenny whispered to Dawn and Trip so the other classmates couldn't hear him, "His girlfriend lives in another region."

"I call shenanigans," Trip whispered, his tone agreeing with Kenny's.

The next evening, Ash and the reborn trainers were watching Serena train and get ready for a Pokémon Contest that will be held over on Akala Island, the venue being a Contest Hall located close to the big hotel where Dawn and the boys are staying. "So how will Serena do this time around?" Kenny asked, "I mean, she's gotta go up against May, Shauna, and Ochaco again among many other Coordinators."

"I helped Serena work on having her Pokémon learn come new attacks," Dawn said, "In particular her Braixen who I'm hoping to have Serena evolve it into Delphox because it'll help against some heavier hitters she'll encounter in the Alola Contest scene." Folding her arms over her chest, Dawn went on, "I also suggested to Serena that she finds and captures a dark type Pokémon."

"Why a dark type Pokémon specifically?" Ash asked.

"Oh, I think it's because Dawn is hoping to get Serena to evolve her Pancham into Pangoro," Trip said, "Which requires Serena to have a dark type Pokémon in her on hand party to pull off. I think Dawn also said something about having Serena do a trade back and forth because Phantump evolves into Trevenant via trade."

"Serena is working in Contests," Dawn said, "Which if she advances far enough will have her take part in rounds where she and her opponent will battle one another in an actual Pokémon battle, albeit one that's scored differently than traditionally. That said, having extra strength and skill in battle is a must, whereas in the Showcases in Kalos, Serena was able to get away with solely looking good." Nodding once, Dawn said, "Contests, in addition to needing to look good, also require one to be strong in a battle, something that, with all due respect, will require more evolved Pokémon as time goes on."

Ash, normally one for working with a Pokémon as is, sort of relented. "...Serena did lose to Ochaco in her first contest because Ochaco's Lopunny was stronger and more well trained than Serena's Phantump."

"For now," Dawn said, "Serena will be focusing more on Braixen and Sylveon, hopefully with luck that'll push her to her first Tiki Necklace." The boys all nodded in agreement with Dawn as they all turned back to look on at Serena as she practiced on. "Oh, things between Sophocles and the girls in class have gotten way healthier," Dawn remarked, "I'm glad to see they're no longer taking shots at one another, and Sophocles was quicker to scold Togedemaru for accidentally frightening Lillie than Mallow or Lana earlier in class today."

"We also found the girl in Class 1-B who had teased the girls in our class and started the whole mess in the first place," Trip added, "Hoo boy, the look on her face when she was told how much damage her little bit of teasing had caused was epic. It also explained why she was so apologetic, she just wanted to playfully tease and didn't actually mean to cause any real harm."

Kenny nodded once, saying, "Such is the ways of life at school."

The following day, Serena entered the Contest Hall on Akala Island, hopes high to earn her first Tiki Necklace. Like last time, Ash, Dawn, Kenny, and Trip were there to support her. However, unlike last time, Mallow, Lana, and Lillie were able to come along to support Serena as well; Kiawe and Sophocles couldn't make it as Sophocles's mom wanted to do some furniture rearranging and Sophocles asked Kiawe to help. "So... this is a Contest Hall," Lillie said as she looked around, taking in all of the sights, as she held Snowy in her arms. Snowy was also looking around, same as Lillie.

Stretching her arms into the air, Serena said, "Well, here goes noth-"

"Hey Dawn, Kenny! Max told me he ran into you two a few days ago!"

Serena was cut off when she and the others heard May call out; sure enough, May came walking up to the group, followed by Max who was being followed by a shiny Midday Form Lycanroc. "Oh yeah, Kenny and I met Max when we went to investigate rumors of a sighting of a Pokémon we suspected was a shiny Rockruff," Dawn said, "It turns out there was one but Max caught it." Looking to the shiny Midday Form Lycanroc next to Max, Dawn said, "And I can see it has since evolved."

"Yeah, Lycanroc actually evolved from Rockruff earlier this morning," Max said, "When I was feeding her and my other Pokémon."

"Oh, it's a girl?" Lillie asked, sounding surprised.

Max nodded once in confirmation. "The only girl Pokémon that I have." To Lillie's surprise and mild worry, Snowy leapt out of her arms, landed on the ground, and walked up to Max's Lycanroc. Snowy gave the blue Midday Lycanroc a happy cry that was clearly a greeting. Max's Lycanroc, in turn, gave a simple cry of, "Lyc," before she reached forward and sniffed at Snowy. After a few seconds, Max's Lycanroc proceeded to lick Snowy around its left ear while gently wagging her tail.

Lillie, smiling gently, decided to approach Max's Lycanroc, albeit slowly and carefully. She held a hand out to Max's Lycanroc, who saw it, stopped licking Snowy, then turned to sniff Lillie's outheld hand. After a few moments, Max's Lycanroc proceeded to lick Lillie's outheld hand, making Lillie jolt a bit but she settled down as she realized it was Lycanroc being friendly. Mallow and Lana were able to similarly interact with Lycanroc, but when Lycanroc got to Mallow, when she sniffed the green haired girl, Lycanroc clearly got excited and quickly, somewhat furiously sniffed at Mallow before licking her outheld hand furiously, wagging her tail quickly. Lycanroc looked up at Mallow and, with a clearly excited and happy look on her face, gave a likewise bark at Mallow.

"Whoa, what's gotten into Max's Lycanroc?" Kenny asked, amusement clear on his face, "She's really excited to sniff at and greet Mallow!"

Folding his arms over his chest, Max explained, "It turns out that my Lycanroc has an attitude similar to what my sister has when it comes to enjoying food. I know that Mallow works with food a lot due to helping out with her family's restaurant, so Lycanroc probably smells food scents on Mallow."

"Tell you what," Mallow said, "If today's Contest is won by either Serena or May, then we'll celebrate at the restaurant with a meal on the house."

"Sold!" May said instantly, already fired up for the Contest. Serena was also fired up, but that was because she still needs to win her first Tiki Necklace, and there was no way she was going to give up.

...

The first Akala Island Contest got well under way, and it had Lila, Johanna's friend, as master of ceremonies again. The panel of judges was very similar, only using a Nurse Joy native to Akala Island and using Kahuna Olivia rather than Kahuna Hala. Johanna herself was still on the judge panel. Remembering how Johanna upheld a clear professional standard last time, Dawn and Trip were assured that their mom will continue to be professional and not let personal bias color her decision making, even if it meant she'd have to judge Serena and other friends in the Contest harshly.

But that harsh judging never came, as the friends of the heroes in the Contest proved that they had the skill and talent to get the approval they were given. It was to the relief of the heroes that Serena made it through the appeal round, although Shauna, May, and Ochaco did as well. Then came the battle round, and after one or two rounds things were down to just Serena, Shauna, May, and Ochaco, just as it was during the previous Contest on Melemele Island, where it was Ochaco who ended up taking home the Tiki Necklace.

...A feat that did NOT repeat here in the Akala Island Contest, as Ochaco was eliminated by May in the battle round; the battle round saw May's Wartotle face Ochaco's shiny Mawile and, while neither Pokémon went down within five minutes, when time was called it was seen that May had more points left than Ochaco, albeit by a slight smidgen (the judges actually had to look at numbers on a touch pad connected to the monitor above the contest battle field; when time was called May had exactly two points more than Ochaco).

As such, May had advanced to the final round, where she'd face whoever it was between Shauna and Serena who won their battle in order to determine who will take home the Tiki Necklace today. The battle between Serena and Shauna ended up seeing Serena win out; Serena's Sylveon faced Shauna's Floette and, after about four and a half minutes, both girls were surprised when the battle was called. It was the Nurse Joy who explained to the girls that Serena won because Shauna had actually run out of points; the girls were so caught up in appealing and battling they failed to keep track of the score.

As such, the final battle saw Serena face off against May. May's Pokémon of choice ended up being her Beautifly, whereas Serena sent out her Braixen. Thanks to the type advantage, Serena defeated May and won her first Alola Pokémon Contest as Braixen straight up defeated Beautifly in battle; knocking out an opponent in battle in a Contest's battle round is also a valid win condition. Serena was elated to have finally won her first Contest, and upon receiving her Tiki Necklace, she realized that she had a long way to go before she could enter the Alola Pokémon Contest Grand Festival.

...

The heroes who saw the Akala Contest, plus May and Max, made their way to Mallow's family's restaurant, which they saw had an obvious paint job on the one outside wall that clearly was done to cover something up. "Well it got you guys the extra help you needed to cover the contest season fans, didn't it?" Kenny asked.

Inside the restaurant, the heroes were surprised to see that Clemont and Bonnie where there, with Bonnie talking to Mallow's older brother. "Seriously," Bonnie said to Mallow's brother, "I think that you really ought to consider the benefits of your sister marrying my brother."

"Yo Clemont, is Bonnie playing matchmaker for you again?" Kenny called out, making Clemont, Bonnie, and Mallow's brother all turn to see that Kenny and the others had all walked in.

Clemont was about to speak up, but was cut off by Bonnie crying out in happy excitement before she rushed Max and grabbed a hold of his left arm, holding onto it in a hugging hold. "Max! It's so great to see you again!" Bonnie said, clearly trying to flirt with him, "How you been?"

"I... umm... well I caught a Rockruff like I wanted and she recently evolved into a Lycanroc," Max said, looking a little embarrassed. May, due to finding Bonnie flirting with Max to be cute, and Clemont, due to wanting to get Bonnie to not try and hook him up with a wife again, had the little ones sit together. Eventually, everyone got food, and while eating they regaled Clemont, Bonnie, and Mallow's brother with tales of the Contest on Akala Island earlier. "Serena won?" Clemont said, "Oh, that's great to hear! Congratulations, Serena!"

Serena nodded once. "Thanks, although I think it was mostly due to luck. I faced May in the last round and she used her Beautifly while I sent out Braixen."

"I need to be more careful next time, it would seem," May said before taking a bite from her food.

"Wait, I got it that Ochaco had entered the Akala Island contest," Bonnie spoke up, "She was practically unbeatable in Showcases back in Kalos, and lost in the Master Class Showcase because the judges felt spamming the use of shiny Pokémon was cheating despite how at the time it technically wasn't against the rules. Ochaco also won the first Contest here in Alola."

Gesturing to Bonnie, Kenny said, "Again, it was mostly luck that saw to Ochaco being eliminated. May beat her in the battle round with Wartortle squaring off against Ochaco's shiny Mawile, and the battle reached time and May had more points left than Ochaco. May's sheer skill and experience helped her out."

"Only for a bad choice in the final round against Serena seeing to May going down," Max went on, "She could have done better had she used Wartortle again."

"Well I didn't wanna risk it as Wartortle was exhausted following the battle against Ochaco and her Mawile," May explained, "Although I did notice that Serena was using Braixen and Sylveon on and off, if I bothered to keep that in mind I might have been able to anticipate she'd use Braixen against me, then send out a Pokémon that could keep up with it."

As the group all talked while eating, Serena looked at her Tiki Necklace which she wore. She would have to earn three more of them before she could reach the Alola Contest Grand Festival and compete to try and become the first Contest Kahuna in Alola region history. But now, with her first success, Serena was fired up more than she was before, and was going to train and practice to keep up with what she was sure would be the tougher challenges ahead. She was also planning to follow Dawn's advice and look into evolving her Pokémon as much as possible.

They will still be able to appeal and look good, but they will need the extra power.

END, CHAPTER TWO-HUNDRED AND TEN

Author's notes;

This chapter wraps up Island Challenge business for the heroes on Akala Island, before diving right into Sophocles and Togedemaru and how they weren't as nice as they could have been. As it turned out, it was the Alola born girl classmates, mostly Mallow and Lana, who instigated things by subtly trying to make Sophocles out to be a 'bad guy' due to a girl in the rival class casually teasing them about one of them ending up as Sophocles's girlfriend. Mallow and Lana, super embarrassed by this and not wanting that girl to have more ammo to tease them with, went as far as they did against Sophocles who, due to lack of camaraderie he was feeling, compensated by spoiling Togedemaru. The worse part is that stuff like that can actually happen IRL due to how social stuff works in schools; I actually saw it happen to a friend of mine some time ago. The lengths kids in school will go to in order to avoid being embarrassed.

The air is cleared, apologies are (made to be) given, and Class 1-A's overall social health is able to recover; Sophocles is even able to start disciplining Togedemaru again. After that, Serena gets into her second contest and is able to win this time, netting her first Tiki Necklace. She will need three more, but how she will get them will be seen later, as the next chapter will see the heroes' class go on their field trip to the Kanto region, where they will be greeted by a surprise guest who will request their help to deal with a problem in Viridian Forest. Until then, take care.

Dawn's Pokémon: (on hand) Chi-Chi (female Infernape), Lincoln (male Latios), Argent (male Arcanine; alpha; Hisuian), Kirara (female Torracat), Tsukune (Palkia), Cyrus (male Staraptor)

Kenny's Pokémon: (on hand) Roshi (male Torterra), Zarbon (male Machamp), Cell Jr. (male Dartrix; shiny), Kermit (male Politoed), Darknyan (male Meowth; Alolan), Shenron (Rayquaza)

Trip's Pokémon: (on hand) Myde (male Empoleon), Fourze (male Electivire), David (male Gliscor), Suzaku (male Brionne), Deelia (Dialga), Tetsu (Xerneas)

Ash's Pokémon: (on hand) Pikachu (male), Greninja (male), Goodra (male), Lycanroc (male; Dusk Form), Rowlet (male), Litten (male)