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 twenty-nine: What is up with Hapu's eyebrows?
Over on Poni Island, Hapu the girl with big ol' eyebrows was tending to her radish farm, aided by her Golurk. A trio of Sensu Style Oricorio flew on over and Hapu, giving them a gentle smile, brought some food over to them. As Hapu fed the Oricorios, her Golurk came over. Hapu, looking even smaller than she usually does due to being right up next to her Golurk, turned her head to look up at her Pokémon, admittedly straining her neck a little bit to do so. Hapu gave her Golurk a happy, at ease smile that denoted she felt content with life.
"I get the feeling that today is going to be a good day, Goluck," Hapu said as she looked up at her Golurk, "I bet that nothing will crop up to throw things off kilter."
...
"FiGhT mEh PoNi IsLaNd KaHuNa YoU cOwArD!"
That was the very first thing that Kenny said when he, the rest of the heroes, and all of their classmates arrived on Poni Island, getting off at the port in Seafolk Village. "Umm, Kenny," Kukui said as he left the students with the Nurse Joy of Poni Island, "There... actually is no Grand Trial for Poni Island right now as the previous Kahuna had to retired due to ill health and old age."
"So what do we do for our Grand Trial," Trip began, "Take on the guardian deity of Poni Island?"
"That would be Tapu Pini you speak of, Trip," Kiawe said, "Do you think that you can take on Tapu Fini, the guardian deity of Poni Island?"
Shrugging, Trip said, "I bet it'd be easy enough if I send out Cameron and spam Thunder."
Tapping a fist into his hand, Kenny said, "Then we shall seek out this Tapu Fini and make it taste the wrath of cringe!"
...
After Kukui left the students on Poni Island to do their personal research projects, Ash, Serena, Dawn, and Trip were dragged off by Kenny on a search for Tapu Fini. As the group walked along the Ancient Poni Path, it was Rotom Dex who spotted a Golurk harvesting radishes. "Hey, those are the radishes that Mallow said she wanted to get some of to use in dishes at her family's restaurant," Trip said.
"Then let's go take a look," Kenny said as he hopped the fence, "Maybe the person who runs the farm here-"
"Get out of my farm, you radish thief!" a female voice called out, "Golurk, use Flash Cannon!"
Seeing the Golurk that was spotted charge up a Flash Cannon, Kenny tossed up a ball and said, "Zamasu, counter with Photon Geyser!" Kenny's named Necrozma came out and blasted Golurk with a Photon Geyser attack, knocking it out before it could have fired its Flash Cannon.
"What in tarnation is that thing?!" the female voice called out again, and this time Hapu came running out into view, revealing herself as the source of the voice, "Where did a radish thief like you get your hands on a Pokémon like that?!"
"One, I ain't no radish thief," Kenny said, "Two, I caught Zamasu here up on Mount Lanakila, three, you attacking me out of the blue without warning is way too damn uncalled for, and four, what the hell is up with your eyebrows?!"
"Go, Mudsdale!" Hapu said as she sent her Mudsdale out after recalling her fainted Golurk, "Let's teach these radish thieves a lesson! Use Double Kick!"
"Zamasu, use Flash Cannon!" Kenny called out.
Mudsdale, despite showing some fear of Zamasu, charged in regardless to strike the named Necrozma with Double Kick. But Zamasu charged up and fired a Flash Cannon that struck Mudsdale directly, throwing it back and knocking it out. After her Mudsdale was defeated, Hapu recalled it and, with an annoyed and vengeful look on her face, tried charging at Kenny with a hoe. However, Zamasu merely grabbed Hapu in one hand making her drop her hoe in the process, raised her up, then slammed her into the ground while keeping her pinned there with one hand.
Kenny, walking up to Hapu, said to her, "NOW will you be willing to listen to us, you conclusion jumping weirdo?!"
"What even made you think we were radish thieves?" Ash asked as he and the others walked up as well.
"The boy with the big black Pokémon hopped the fence!" Hapu said, struggling under Zamasu's hand.
"I didn't see a gate," Kenny defended, "And I was too impatient and lazy to bother with finding one."
...
Over at the local Pokémon Center, Nurse Joy came out to see the heroes' group and Hapu. "Golurk and Mudsdale are going to be fine after some rest," Nurse Joy said, "And although Kenny did kind of over-react to you attacking him out of the blue, you by attacking him out of the blue had also over-reacted." Hands on her hips, Nurse Joy said, "You shouldn't have tried attacking first thing, Hapu."
"So you're Hapu," Kiawe spoke up, making the heroes turn to see him come up. "Sorry, but I had to come here because Marowak got hurt," Kiawe explained to the heroes, "Hence why I'm here." Turning to look at Hapu, Kiawe said, "You wouldn't happen to be the same Hapu who is Sofu's granddaughter, would you?"
"You knew my grandfather?" Hapu asked.
"My grandfather was close friends with yours," Kiawe explained. Folding his arms over his chest, Kiawe said, "I also heard that your farm has had to deal with a string of thefts. What's going on?"
Looking down at the floor, Hapu said, "People keep sneaking onto my farm and stealing the radishes I'm growing. What makes it worse is that the farm is on my grandfather's land, so it's like people are stealing from my grandfather."
Dawn, with hands on her hips, said, "As understandable as it is that you want to protect land that belongs within your family, straight up attacking us without warning was a bit excessive. You should have first verified without violence if we really were the thieves you're dealing with, and when you found out that we weren't, you should have apologized for jumping to conclusions."
Pointing at Kenny, Hapu said, "He jumped the fence."
"Kenny doesn't think before acting a lot of the time," Dawn explained, "But he is still a good person. Also, he has no reason to steal anything."
"I don't even like radishes," Kenny explained.
"I actually have some radishes that Hapu grew on her farm," Nurse Joy said, "I bought them from her because sometimes Pokémon who like the taste come in." With Hapu agreeing it was a good idea, Nurse Joy got some of the radishes, cut them up, and gave pieces to everyone present. Out of the humans who tried it, only Hapu and Kenny (surprisingly enough) were able to tolerate the spicy level of the radish. Nurse Joy was about to give some radish to some of the heroes' Pokémon, but Dawn quickly warned Nurse Joy that some of the Pokémon hate spicy food, and would react negatively to it.
That said, the Pokémon were allowed to sniff at the radishes first, and all but Ash's Eevee weren't interested; Wyrmscale even growled in a frightened tone as it backed away from the radishes. "The radishes are an acquired taste, I will admit," Hapu said.
Kenny, after asking for another piece of radish, said, "Do you have any ideas who may be behind the thefts of the radishes?"
"Maybe Team Scorn's up to it," Serena offered.
"Stealing produce from a farm isn't something I'd expect Team Scorn to do," Ash remarked, "Maybe Team Skull is causing trouble. Sure they have helped us against Team Scorn, but Team Skull still causes trouble themselves."
Pounding a fist into her hand, Hapu said, "Then we set a trap."
...
Later that evening, the heroes and Kiawe who went along returned to Hapu's farm, where Hapu set out a huge pile of her radishes as bait while she and the others hid nearby. "The thieves will see the pile and go right for the bait," Hapu said, "Then we jump out and beat their butts without mercy, saving the asking of questions for well after we teach them a lesson."
"Actually we just confront them, demand answers, and THEN if it proves warranted we resort to violence," Trip said, "There might be some sort of reason behind the thefts, you know."
Hapu was about to speak up, but Ash cut her off by covering her mouth and pointing something out; the trio of Team Skull grunts named Rapp, Tupp, and Zipp hopped the fence into Hapu's farm and made a beeline for the pile of radishes, helping themselves to what all they could take. Hapu freed herself from Ash holding her back and jumped out to confront the Team Skull trio, brandishing her gardening hoe at them. "Aha! Caught you thieves red handed!" Hapu exclaimed.
"Yo, we can explain," Tupp said, but he was cut off when Hapu charged at him.
Hapu's charge was cut off when she was lifted up into the air by psychic power, and the rest of the group came out of hiding, with Dawn having Leni use Psychic to levitate Hapu. "Although Hapu is overreacting, she has some justification as you guys ARE stealing some of her work," Dawn said, "So hopefully your explanation will at least have some justification."
"We were going to use the radishes as bait to lure in and catch Oricorio," Tupp explained, "Because Team Skull needs good strong Pokémon to help fight off those Team Scorn dorks."
"That... I can see why you'd want to do that," Ash said, "I mean, everyone needs to be able to fight off Team Scorn. But one stealing radishes to use as bait isn't all that nice to Hapu, and two radishes with all due respect probably aren't the best bait to use, you're better off using treats made specifically to appeal to Pokémon."
"We lack the funds to get specialized treats for Pokémon from the store," Rapp replied.
Sighing, Serena said, "Then I can just make some Poké Puffs and give them to you guys."
As things were being settled, Dawn turned to look up to where Hapu was still being floated in the air by Leni's Psychic. "See? We were able to settle things without resorting to violence." Hapu, although she still looked annoyed, agreed to settle down, having been shown and made to realize that there were other factors in play that made the way she wanted to do and settle things uncalled for.
The next day, the heroes and their classmates were eating Kenny's campout curry outside of the Poni Island Pokémon Center for breakfast before they resumed their respective individual projects. "Yeah, I wouldn't put one of Eyebrow Girl's radishes itself into my curry," Kenny began, "But I feel that if I can somehow get the spiciness of one of those radishes extracted, then that extract would give the spiciness of my curry an extra kick."
"Eyebrow Girl?" Lana said in a mildly curious tone.
"I think he's talking about Hapu," Kiawe translated, "And anyway, I'm not too sure if messing with Hapu right now is wise. She..." Letting out a troubled sigh, Kiawe went on, "...She lost her grandfather Sofu a while ago. I think Sofu died around the same time that my grandfather did. Heh, they were good friends, maybe that bound them in a way so that they both passed within the same time frame."
"Both you and Hapu lost your respective grandpas?" Serena said, "Oh my goodness! They didn't die to violence caused by Team Scorn, did they?"
Gently shaking his head, Kiawe said, "Actually, the both died well before Team Scorn started acting up in Alola. My grandfather accidentally fell down the stairs one morning while he was home alone, and I got it Hapu's grandfather Sofu died due to respiratory issues." Gently shaking his head, Kiawe said, "And that's not the worst part. Sofu was the Kahuna of Poni Island, but now that he had passed, there's no Kahuna."
"Well how is a Kahuna minted here in Alola?" Trip asked.
Turning to look at Trip, Kiawe replied, "They need the approval of the island's guardian deity. In this case, the new Kahuna of Poni Island will require Tapu Fini's blessing."
"Sooooo..." Kenny began.
"Yeeees..." Kiawe replied when he turned to face Kenny.
"What you're sayin' iiiiis..." Kenny went on.
"Yeeees..." Kiawe continued.
"That IIIIIII..." Kenny remarked.
"Yeeees..." Kiawe replied.
"Should challenge Tapu Fini for my Poni Island grand trial!" Kenny declared.
"Yes," Kiawe answered, "Wait, no!"
"No!" Lillie exclaimed.
"Do it," Trip smirked.
"Doin' it!" Kenny proclaimed.
Dawn let out a mildly exasperated sigh resonating with resignation as she thought, "I should have seen this coming."
...
Later, Ash, Serena, and the reborn trainers were making their way to the Ruins of Hope. "So we just find Tapu Fini," Kenny said, "I challenge it, overwhelm it with one of my heavy hitters, and the Poni Island grand trial is as good as passed for me."
"I came up with a similar plan, but yours is a lot more simple," Trip remarked.
Ash was about to speak up, but the heroes were distracted when they heard a Mudsdale cry out in pain, followed by Hapu crying out in alarm. Going over, the heroes see that Hapu was with her Mudsdale but it was acting wildly. "Hapu looks to be in trouble because her Mudsdale is freaking out!" Serena said, "We need to-"
"Lincoln," Dawn said as she called out her named Latios, "Use Psychic to levitate Mudsdale up into the air and keep it from moving!" Lincoln did as told, using Psychic to make Mudsdale float up while freezing it in place.
Seeing that her Mudsdale was stopped, Hapu turned to look and saw that the heroes were here. "Thanks for helping to make my Mudsdale calm down," Hapu said, "I-"
"-Still have a Mudsdale that's freaking out," Dawn said, "Just because it's being levitated and kept still doesn't mean it's calmed down." Pointing at one of Mudsdale's hooves, Dawn said, "There looks to be a chunk of what seems to be Corsola coral in that hoof. I think that's causing discomfort to Mudsdale, thus making it freak out." At Ash's command, Pikachu used Iron Tail to dislodge the chunk of Corsola coral from Mudsdale's hoof, and a look of relief instantly washed over Mudsdale's face.
After Mudsdale was set back down and released from Lincoln's psychic hold, Hapu had a disappointed look on her face. "Some prospective Kahuna I am. I can't even tell what's wrong with one of my own Pokémon."
"Prospective Kahuna?" Serena asked.
Nodding once in the affirmative, Hapu explained, "I'm aiming to follow in my Grandfather's footsteps and become the Kahuna of Poni Island. I went to the Ruins of Hope to pray there, hoping to get some guidance from my grandfather, as well as wonder why Tapu Fini hasn't ordained me as Poni Island's Kahuna yet."
Shrugging, Kenny said, "Maybe Tapu Fini doesn't think you're worthy because you're stubborn as all get out."
Hapu had a monotone look of dry unamusement on her face. "Want me to have Mudsdale send you flying with Double Kick?"
"Want me to have Zamasu blast you with Photon Geyser?" Kenny countered.
Hapu was about to counter, but she was cut off when she and the heroes heard Lillie call out, "Ash? Serena? Dawn? Kenny? Trip? Is that all of you guys with Hapu?" Everyone turned to see Lillie come walking up with her brother Gladion following her.
Gesturing to the two siblings, Kenny said, "Yo Lillie, what are you and Gladion up to?"
"I aim to find Tapu Fini and challenge it to a battle for my Grand Trial on Poni Island," Gladion explained.
"Huh, Kenny and I had the same idea," Trip replied.
"You can't just battle Tapu Fini for your grand trial!" Hapu declared, "That's not even how grand trials work!"
Turning to look at Hapu, Gladion said, "Well as there's no Kahuna on Poni Island, unless you can offer an alternative then I'm going to go on ahead." When Hapu made a frustrated scoff due to realizing she couldn't come up with anything, Gladion said, "That's what I tho-"
"Fini!"
Gladion was cut off when he and the others heard a cry soiund out, then looked up and saw that Tapu Fini was flying in the air above them, crying out in greeting as it flew past the heroes. After Tapu Fini was gone, Kenny said, "Tapu Fini showing up like that is meant to be a signal for all of us to calm down, relax, forgive and forget, as well as give us hope for the future."
Turning to look at Kenny, Dawn said, "That's rather mature of you, Ken-"
"I still plan to kick its ass in a battle for my grand trial, though," Kenny remarked with a shrug.
The next day at the Poni Island Pokémon Center, Ash and Serena went out and saw that Dawn, Kenny, and Trip were working on training some of their Pokémon. Specifically, the reborn trainers were working on training their more recent catches, and the last thing Ash and Serena saw before training was called to a halt was the sight of Dawn's Naganadel Wyrmscale firing Flamethrowers and Dark Pulses at the water surface along the sandy shore nearby.
"Oh, I was checking to make sure the moves I'm having Wyrmscale learn are solid," Dawn said. Dawn turned to her named Naganadel, smiled gently. "I'd say that Wyrmscale's gotten Flamethrower and Dark Pulse down perfectly, and it's already got a firm grasp on Dragon Pulse and Sludge Wave."
Serena, looking curious, said, "Didn't it know Dragon Pulse as a Poipole?"
"Oh yeah, about that," Trip said, "Professor Burnet was doing some side research on Ultra Beasts by studying the ones that Dawn, Kenny, and I respectively have, and she has reason to believe that Dawn's Naganadel had evolved from Poipole due to getting stronger while knowing the move Dragon Pulse. If that is indeed true, then Ash can use the same method to evolve his Poipole." The reborn trainers already knew that Poipole evolves into Naganadel via level up while knowing Dragon Pulse, but they had to act like they were just learning it so as to not arouse too much suspicion.
"I'll have to look into it, but it does sound promising," Ash replied. His attention was then caught by seeing Dawn's Torracat, Trip's Brionne, and Kenny's shiny Dartrix sparring with one another. "How are they doing?" Ash asked while pointing at the Alolan starters.
"Trip says that he hopes to evolve his Brionne soon," Dawn said, "On the basis that he expects to have to help pitch in to get Hapu to back down when her stubbornness makes her get up in peoples' faces, and she uses ground Pokémon that are weak to water types."
Serena folded her arms over her chest, wore a look of consideration on her face. "...I think that Brionne evolves into a Pokémon called-" Serena was cut off when she and the others heard the sounds of Pokémon evolving. Turning to see, the heroes saw that Cell Jr., Kirara, and Suzaku were all evolving, all of them glowing a very bright white color as their forms shifted and grew. Soon the glowing stopped, fading to reveal that Cell Jr. was now a Decidueye, Kirara was now an Inciniroar, and Siuzaku was now a Primarina. Pointing at Suzaku who was now a Primarina, Serena said, "Yes, Brionne evolves into that thing."
As the heroes congratulated the Alolan starters belonging to the reborn trainers for evolving, Lana came running up with a Brionne of her own. "Hey guys, guess what?" Lana said excitedly, "My Popplio evolved into a Brionne!"
"Suzaku evolved into a Primarina," Trip pointed out, making Lana and her now Brionne turn to see Suzaku who they saw was indeed now a Primarina. Raising his head up, Suzaku celebrated his evolution by loosing a Hyper Voice into the air, and it sounded like a vuvuzela. Gently shaking his head, Trip said, "It still beats me how Suzaku is capable of doing that."
A couple of days later over at Hapu's place, the heroes and their classmates were admiring Kiawe's new Flyinium Z crystal. "So yeah, Tapu Fini apparently set up a special trial for me and I passed it," Kiawe began.
As the heroes admired the new Z crystal that Kiawe got, Ash spotted a book on a nearby bookshelf with the front cover showing, and a familiar looking old man was on the cover. "Hey, that looks like the man that Kiawe and I saw yesterday when Tapu Fini was calling up that mist," Ash said.
"That's my late grandfather Sofu," Hapu explained, "Tapu Fini is said to be able to summon the spirits of those who are departed." Not that anyone aside from Lana and Dawn saw it, but the information took Mallow by surprise.
Pointing to Hapu, Lillie said, "Oh, Gladion heard about that, and apparently he is hoping to see our father via that method."
"I wouldn't recommend it," Hapu said, "People are said to not have returned from Tapu Fini's mist. The idea of meeting a lost loved one and having to say goodbye for a second time is too much to bare for some." Suddenly, Mallow got up and left, causing the others some worry as well as compelling Dawn and Lana to get up and go after her out of worry.
...
Dawn and Lana eventually caught up to Mallow on the beach, although Mallow was walking so far ahead and going so fast that Dawn sent out Wyrmscale to fly ahead and cut off Mallow's path while holding her up, giving Dawn and Lana ample time to catch up to Mallow. "What was with the freak out earlier, Mallow?" Lana said as Dawn recalled her named Naganadel, "Just getting up and leaving like that! As well as you walking so fast Dawn had to send out a Pokémon to cut you off and make you wait so Dawn and I can catch up."
Mallow, a sad look on her face, looked down at the sandy shore of the beach. "...It was what Hapu said, about how one can meet one's lost loved ones in the mists of Tapu Fini. I could potentially meet my mom that way, but..." Gently shaking her head, Mallow said, "...I don't want to."
Dawn could tell that Mallow was totally lacking in resentment towards her late mother, so it wasn't because Mallow hated her late mom. "...Let me guess, you're not wanting to potentially meet the spirit of your late mom because you're ashamed of yourself to some degree."
Mallow's attention was caught by Dawn's words, but the cook girl soon simmered back down. "...Back when I was little," Mallow began, "My mom who recently left the hospital went on a walk in the woods with me, and she caught a Bounsweet for me."
"The same Bounsweet that is now your Tsareena," Lana said.
Mallow nodded in the affirmative. "My mom had to go back to the hospital soon after, and I was so frustrated with my mom always going to the hospital, as well as how she always apologized to me about it, that I got upset and declared that I hated her. That... that was the last thing I said to my mom before she died."
As Lana looked sympathetic towards Mallow, Dawn said, "You were obviously emotionally riled up at the time, as well as how you were a little kid back then. It's not all that surprising you shouted something like that out of frustration."
Lana moved up to Mallow to wrap her arms around her to give her a reassuring hug, but right before Lana could hug Mallow, a mysterious mist rolled in. Both Mallow and Lana grew alarmed, and Dawn instinctively readied the ball that contained Tambourine. "...This is Tapu Fini's mist," Dawn said, "We ought to find our way out of here within short order, otherwi-"
"Mallow."
Dawn stopped short when she and the other girls heard a woman's voice call out. Turning to look, the girls saw a woman with fair skin, dark greenish eyes, somewhat short hair in a neat style, and she wore a long sleeved blue blouse, matching skirt that reached halfway down her shins, and brown shoes. Curiously enough, the woman was accompanied by a shiny Druddigon. Seeing the woman made Mallow look shocked. "M... Mom?" Mallow said, her tone barely loud enough to be heard by the other girls with her.
The woman nodded once in the affirmative. "Mom, I..." Mallow said as she talked to the spirit of her mother, "...I am so sorry about what I said the last time I sa-" Mallow was cut off when the spirit of her mother gently wrapped her arms around Mallow to hug her.
Letting go of Mallow, her mother said, "There is no need to fuss. I understand that you were too frustrated to think straight. I myself was frustrated, as all the time I had to spend at the hospital meant time away from seeing you grow up. Heh, I guess you got more from me than you realized, huh?"
Mallow teared up again, but before she could say anything, the shiny Druddigon with her roared out. "What's with the shiny Druddigon, Mrs. Mallow's mom?" Lana asked.
Turning to look at the shiny Druddigon for a moment, Mallow's mom turned back to look at the girls. "...Druddigon here came along with me because it sensed that someone who knew its trainer would be here. Druddigon here, from what I gathered, was under the ownership of Clair, the gym leader in Blackthorn City, Johto, when it was killed in an attack on Blackthorn City."
"Clair's Druddigon," Dawn said, "Yeah, I was there when Clair caught it."
The spirit of Clair's Druddigon roared out at Dawn, as if it was trying to ask her for something. "...Durddigon is asking to have a battle against you," Mallow's mother said to Dawn, "It wants to see if you can do a job for it, and first wants to test you to see if you can do it."
"...Very well," Dawn said, then she tossed up a Poké Ball while calling out, "Alright, Tambourine! Let's get goin'!" Dawn's named Totem Kommo-o came out with a boastful, challenging roar
Clair's Druddigon roared back in a similar manner before charging right at Tambourine with its tail glowing with Dragon Tail. Mallow and Lana, as well as Mallow's mother, got back to watch the battle unfurl. "Tambourine, counter with Iron Head!" Dawn called out, prompting Tambourine to make its head shine like polished metal before it countered Druddigon's Dragon Tail perfectly.
Druddigon next tried using Slash, but Dawn called out, "Tambourine, use Earthquake!" The named Totem Kommo-o then triggered a powerful quake, shaking the surrounding area and slamming Druddigon with seismic waves. This compromised Druddigon's footing, making it stumble a bit. "Tambourine, use Dragon Claw!" Dawn called out, prompting Tambourine to charge on in and strike Druddigon with claws glowing fiercely with dragonic power. Druddigon was pushed back, and when it came to a stop it fell to one knee.
Dawn was ready to call for another attack, but Druddigon held a hand out in a 'hold up a minute' gesture as it grumbled a bit. "Druddigon is saying that you have proven yourself as able to do the job it would ask of you," Mallow's mother said to Dawn, "I believe that this means you've passed."
Dawn let out a breath, told Tambourine to relax. "Fair enough," Dawn replied. To Druddigon, Dawn asked, "So what is it that you would ask of me to do?"
Druddigon grumbled a bit, to which Mallow's mom translated, "Druddigon is saying that, when the mists dissipate, there will be a scale left where it will be standing. It wants you to collect the scale and have it given to its still living trainer."
Dawn was surprised by Druddigon's request, but she nodded in understanding. "...Very well. I'll collect the scale and have it given to Clair in the Johto region." Druddigon nodded once in thanks to Dawn, grateful that she was able and willing to do the job it was asking of her.
Mallow's mom turned to look at the girls. "...You girls, as well as what all friends you have I am sure, are real stand up people. You all ought to be proud of yourselves."
"...Mom..." Mallow said, tears in her eyes, but before she could start bawling, her mother hugged her, smiling warmly and gently.
Surprisingly enough, Clair's Druddigon also hugged Dawn and Tambourine, gathering girl and Kommo-o into a group hug. Over where Mallow's mother was hugging her, she spirit said, "Mallow... never forget that I will always love you." Soon after Mallow's mother said that, both she and Clair's Druddigon disappeared as the mist was now fading. Mallow cried out for her mother, but it was useless as both Mallow's mother and Clair's Druddigon faded entirely the moment the mist vanished.
As Mallow stood there somberly, Dawn looked around and spotted a scale on the ground where the spirit of Clair's Druddigon had stood; it was an orange scale about the size of a guitar pick. Picking up the scale, Dawn examined it and determined it to be a Druddigon Scale; shiny Druddigon, like Clair's late Druddigon, have orange scales on their head area, so Dawn figured it was Clair's Druddigon's way of saying one last goodbye to the Blackthorn City gym leader. "...I think Iris is still in Alola," remarked Dawn, "I can find her, ask her to bring this to Clair so-"
"Min."
Dawn was cut off when she and the others heard a voice call out, then looked around to find the source. Within a few moments, a sleepy and somewhat nervous looking Shaymin came waddling out from some tall grass and right up to Dawn. It looked right up at Dawn, then turned to look at the Druddigon Scale that Dawn was holding. Shaymin cried out at Dawn in a tone of polite inquiry, and Dawn having an idea what Shaymin was asking knelt down and held the Druddigon Scale out to it. Shaymin then sniffed at the Druddigon Scale
After sniffing at the Druddigon Scale for a moment, the Shaymin gently exhaled in a pleased and comfortable tone, and instantly several Gracidea flowers nearby bloomed. Shaymin then waddled up to Dawn and seemingly tried climbing up her leg as if it wanted to reach her. Seeing this, Dawn picked Shaymin off of her leg and set it back down on the ground. "You... want to come with me, huh?" Dawn asked, drawing an affirmative nod out of the Shaymin. Nodding once in understanding, Dawn took out and used an Ultra Ball on Shaymin, successfully capturing it.
"Wow, you caught a cute little Pokémon, Dawn!" Lana said.
"A lot of beautiful flowers also bloomed after it sniffed at the scale you had picked up," Mallow said, "Weird."
Dawn, after sending one of the balls containing one of her on hand Pokémon to Oak's lab so as to make room for Shaymin, said, "Well, the mist is dissipated either way, so let's get on back to Hapu's." The girls agreed, and together they made their way back to Hapu's place.
...
Over at Hapu's place, everyone exchanged stories as to what they experienced when the mist had rolled in; it turns out that the group of Dawn, Mallow, and Lana were not the only ones who saw things via Tapu Fini's mist. However, it was Dawn's group that got the most focus with their story. "Shaymin is a mythical Pokémon mentioned in the lore of the Sinnoh region," Rotom Dex said as Dawn called out her newly caught Shaymin to show everyone, "It's connected to the Gracidea flower, said to bloom when feelings of gratitude are expressed."
"And the part of the story about encountering Clair's Druddigon," Ash said, "I bet the Scale that Dawn found afterwards is loaded with Druddigon's gratitude towards Clair, given that Shaymin sniffed it and a bunch of Gracidea flowers bloomed nearby immediately."
Kenny and Trip turned to look at Dawn's Shaymin, who was laying on its back on the table as Dawn gently scratched its stomach. When Lana asked tried doing so after Dawn pulled her hand away, Shaymin saw Lana reach for its stomach and immediately had an unamused snarling look on its face at it hissed at Lana in a tone that was more adorably funny than threatening. Even so, Shaymin's displeasure with Lana was clear. "...I think it won't let anyone other than Dawn touch its stomach," Kenny remarked, drawing a confirming nod out of Shaymin.
Dawn's Shaymin then turned over so its back was facing up now, then it gave a small nod towards Lana. Lana took this as a sign that she could try petting Snaymin, and was able to scratch its green leafy back without drawing Shaymin's displeasure. "Heh, so Shaymin will only let Dawn touch its tummy," Lillie said, "That's kind of cute."
"Hey Dawn, what are you going to name Shaymin?" Trip asked as he turned to look at his sister.
Dawn, as Shaymin got up and made its way to her, scooped Shaymin up and held it. "...I'm going to name it Shouta."
As the now dubbed Shouta gave a happy cry of agreement, Hapu spoke up to everyone. "Oh, all of these stories are due to Tapu Fini's mist, and speaking of Tapu Fini it had finally accepted me to take on the role of Poni Island's Kahuna. However, I must first perform in a ritual in order to formally receive the title. But after that, I can take on challengers to the Poni Island grand trial."
Smiling confidently, Ash said, "And I'll be the first to take you on!" This excited declaration from Ash drew amused laughs from everyone, seeing it as Ash just being... well, Ash. It was a sign that things were going to be alright, something everyone was grateful for. And speaking of gratitude, Dawn's named Shaymin Shouta had already fallen asleep on her lap, content to stay there.
END, CHAPTER TWO-HUNDRED AND TWENTY-NINE
Author's notes;
This chapter sees the heroes go to Poni Island for the final Grand Trial, only to learn there's no Kahuna to battle. Ash, Serena, and the reborn trainers run afoul of Hapu due to Kenny jumping a fence, but Hapu was just as jumpy due to dealing with radish thieves who turned out to be Team Skull grunts needing bait to catch Pokémon to use against Team Scorn. The reborn trainers get some training in for their Pokémon, and then the heroes encounter the departed in mists summoned by the powers that Tapu Fini has at its disposal.
This includes Mallow's mom and Clair's shiny Druddigon, the former making amends with Mallow and the later battling Dawn's named Totem Kommo-o before entrusting Dawn with a task. After the mists fade and the spirits return to the afterlife, Dawn finds a Druddigon Scale that a wild Shaymin when it shows up sniffs at before a lot of Gracidea flowers bloom nearby. Dawn ends up catching the Shaymin, and this will actually play into a major plot point for the part of the story that takes place after the Alola saga here.
Anyway, Hapu is officially approved by Tapu Fini to become the new Poni Island Kahuna, but first must carry out a ritual to formally receive the title. After that, she will be taking on Grand Trial challengers, and all of this will be covered in the next chapter. Until then, take care.
Dawn's Pokémon: (on hand) Chi-Chi (female Infernape), Shouta (Shaymin), Lincoln (male Latios), Tambourine (female Kommo-o; Totem), Leni (female Lucario), Tsukune (Palkia)
Kenny's Pokémon: (on hand) Roshi (male Torterra), Badeeyaa (Xurkitree), Zamasu (Necrozma), Cell (male Scizor; shiny), Elay (male Sandslash; shiny), Black (Giratina; Origin Forme)
Trip's Pokémon: (on hand) Myde (male Emploeon), Deelia (Dialga), Space Kitta (Celesteela), Alfred (male Marowak; Alolan; Totem), Foruze (male Electivire), Suzaku (male Primarina)
Ash's Pokémon: (on hand) Pikachu (male), Greninja (male), Torracat (male), Dartrix (male), Lycanroc (male; Dusk), Poipole (gender unknown)