Yes, my dad really did buy the CD mentioned in this chapter. I ended up buying it too, so I could listen to it while writing the fanfic. He's a good singer!

Coco is also my favorite movie. I'm madly in love with it. I couldn't resist throwing it in here.

Polaris-Ponyta, Shira-Reshiram, Mia-Cubone, Marin-Primarina, Lunick-Rockruff, Zetty-Rotom Dex

Chapter 5: Unexpected Solos

Everyone came to see my battle against Hala. Ben, Hari, Kukui, Ilima, Hau, and even Lillie. Not to mention most of Iki Town, who loved watching a good battle.

Hala stepped onto the stage and faced me. "I saw you battle during the festival, and now I get to face you myself. Are you ready?"

I nodded and glanced over to where Hari was holding Lunick. I wanted the little Rockruff to see what battling was about.

Hala sent out Mankey, and I sent out Mia. In typical Mankey fashion, our opponent charged forward, flailing his arms. Mia used her bone to block the blows, retreating as Mankey came at her. But as she backed away, she slipped. Mankey was on her in an instant, pummeling her. She shoved her skull into him, gaining space to use Bonemarang. The attack swept Mankey's feet out from under him. She threw again, trying to keep her distance. But this time Mankey was prepared. He knocked her bone out of the air and it skittered across the stage, out of her reach. She took a step back, alarmed. Mankey closed in again. She grit her teeth and fought back with hands and headbutts, but Mankey's attacks were too fierce. She fell.

I returned Mia, running through strategies in my head. Lunick yipped and put a paw on my leg. He'd run up onto the stage and was looking at me with eager eyes. He wanted to fight. It didn't occur to him that we was young, still recovering, and at a type disadvantage. I never planned on using him in this fight. But seeing that wagging tail and determined expression made it hard to turn him down. He almost looked desperate to prove himself. As though afraid he'd be left behind if he wasn't strong enough. But what if he lost? Would it hurt his confidence further? I needed to let him try. I took a deep breath and knelt in front of him. He didn't know how strong a kahuna was. And that might be a good thing. I touched my forehead to his and whispered, "follow my lead."

He nodded, looking determined, then turned and galloped onto the stage. Hala gave me a strange look. Even some of the people in the audience murmured. It was easy to see the type disadvantage, but others could tell how young and thin Lunick was. I didn't listen. I needed to focus on Lunick. I almost always linked telepathically with my Pokémon during a battle. I'd never done that with Lunick. And he didn't have the experience my other Pokémon did, so I'd need to give him a lot more support.

Mankey charged. Lunick slipped out of the way, and the moment Mankey's back was turned, he leapt on it. Mankey tried to thrash free, but Lunick bit his opponent's ear. Mankey went wild with rage. Lunick shifted his weight, and Mankey lost balance and fell off stage. Lunick threw his opponent into one of the beams. Mankey fell.

I let out a breath of relief. Lunick bounded over to me, thrilled at his victory. I hugged him." Good job, bud! Thanks."

I pulled out Marin's Pokéball, and Hala sent out a Makuhita. Marin unleashed a stream of bubbles which filled the air like balloons. It was mostly a diversion. It was the technique I'd used against Hau, so I hoped Hala would focus too much on the bubbles, and not see what else we were doing. But Makuhita used Whirlwind, and the bubbles popped or were blown away. I gaped for a moment, and Makuhita charged. Neither Marin or I reacted fast enough and Makuhita slammed into him. Marin used Water Gun, knocking Makuhita back out of range. He followed up with Disarming Voice, causing serious damage.

Then I noticed it. Marin was gasping for breath, and his movements were growing sluggish. He'd been poisoned. Badly poisoned. When Makuhita hit him, he'd used Toxic. I cursed under my breath. This was a three-on-three battle. If Marin went down, I'd only have Lunick left. I'd counted on Marin taking down two of Hala's Pokémon. I should have known better to assume that, considering I was facing the strongest trainer on the island. One chosen by Tapu Koko himself.

Makuhita charged and Marin used Disarming Voice again. Makuhita braced, barely enduring the hit. Then he dove in with a punch. Marin wove out of the way and used Bubble Beam. Makuhita was down. Marin sat panting as Hala sent out his last Pokémon. Crabrawler.

Fading fast, Marin blasted out Disarming Voice. Crabrawler raised his claws, deflecting much of the blow. Marin blasted out Water Gun, trying to knock Crabrawler off balance. He followed up with another Disarming Voice. This one did more damage, but not enough. Marin slipped, barely holding himself upright. Crabrawler scuttled behind him, dodging back and forth and trying to keep Marin confused.

Across the stage, Hala shouted, "Give them All-Out Pummeling!"

I stared for a moment, not sure what he was talking about. Hala started giving a flurry of punches to the air. Then it clicked. His Z-Ring was glowing.

"Marin!" I shouted. "Get out of there!"

Z energy cloaked Crabrawler and he launched forward with a flurry of rapid strikes. Crabrawler finished with a blow that sent Marin tumbling across the stage. I returned him, standing stunned for a moment. I tried to push aside the thought that I was going to lose. I took a deep breath and turned to Lunick. He hadn't expected to fight again, but when he caught my eye, he wagged his tail eagerly. I nodded and he trotted back on stage. I'd given my Normalium Z to Polaris, so Lunick didn't even have a Z-Move to fall back on. The crowd murmured, all certain that I was about to lose. Their mutterings made me grit my teeth and stand straighter. "You got this, Lunick! You can do it!"

He yipped in the affirmative and faced his opponent. Hala smirked and sent his Crabrawler charging forward. Lunick jumped back, dodging and weaving through the puinches. We were so close. It would only take a couple hits to bring Crabrawler down. But the same was true for Lunick. And a moment later, one of Crabrawler's blows struck. Lunick yelped and scrambled away. Crabrawler was already on top of him. But Lunick acted fast, sinking his teeth into Crabrawler's arm. Crabrawler swung his claw around, knocking Lunick against the stage. But Lunick got his feet under him and twisted his head, throwing Crabrawler in turn. Crabrawler tipped onto his back, legs flailing as he tried to right himself.

"Now!" I shouted.

Luncik used Rock Throw, targeting Crabrawler's belly. Then he charged with Tackle, knocking Crabrawler across the stage. And this time, our opponent didn't get back up.

Lunick stood, panting. I let out a breath and grinned. He ran back to me, jumping into my arms. "Lunick, you're amazing. You got the stuff, bud." He licked my face, nuzzling me. I shifted him a bit as his rocky mane scratched my arms.

People were cheering. Hala approached, laughing. "I must admit, I thought I had you there."

"I thought you did too. I hadn't planned on using my newest Pokémon, but I felt like I had to let him try."

"It looks like you're a good enough trainer to pull it off. Congratulations!"

A crowing call echoed through the sky, and everyone looked up. Hala grinned. "Tapu Koko agrees too. He liked the battle."

I scanned the sky, but didn't see Tapu Koko anywhere. "I'm glad we gave him a good show. I still owe him one."

Hala held out his hand and dropped a Z crystal into my open palm. "With this, you can use the fighting type Z move." He demonstrated the motions for activating the crystal. "And with this, you've finished the trials for Melemele Island. Akala Island is your next stop. You can catch a ferry from Melemele City. Look up Lana for your first trial at Brooklet Hill. You'll have three trials before facing Akala's Kahuna."

…

We spent our last morning in the ocean. There were reefs near Kukui's lab, filled with water Pokémon. The sea was lovely and warm, at least on the surface. If you swam down, there was a sort of invisible wall - everything beneath it was colder. I guess it has to do with warm water rising. Marin towed me around the reefs, and it was bizarre passing through the layers of water.

We headed back to wash up and gather our stuff. Kukui was heading to Akala Island as well, and he offered us a ride on his boat. To my surprise, Lillie came along.

"Where are you headed?" Ben asked Lillie as we boarded the boat.

"I'm hoping that on some of the other islands I can find information about Nebby." Nebby was tucked inside her bag, but the moment we were on the boat she wriggled free and started exploring. Lillie gave an exasperated sigh and tried to catch her.

"It's okay," Kukui said. "No one will see Nebby out here. Just be careful it doesn't get blown off the boat, yeah?" As he prepared to set sail, he started playing music from the cabin.

"Hey, I know this song," I said. "It sounds like a CD my dad got here during one of our trips."

"Yeah? The singer is Hoku Zuttermeister."

I nodded, making a note to myself to look up his music. It would be nice to listen to while we were in Alola. When we arrived at Heahea City, we split up. Kukui took Lillie to the lab where his wife worked. Ben, Hari and I headed north to Paniola Town. Shira had gone back to Avalon. I wished she could stay, but I also wanted to work with some more Alolan Pokémon.

Zetty circled around Polaris's head as we rode along the trail. "I wiszzsh I could carry you too. But I'm too small."

"Aaw, Zetty you're so sweet. You don't have to carry me to be helpful. This is the first time I've had a Pokémon that could answer any Pokémon questions I had."

"I'm a movvving library!" Zetty exclaimed.

"Better than that, because you're alive."

Zetty buzzed with laughter and zipped around some more. When he got tired, he came to ride with us.

Paniola Town was a dusty old cowboy town. I liked it right away, probably because I often felt a bit cowgirly when I rode Polaris. I'd also picked up a few actual cowgirl tips on my journeys. I was decent at roping, and I'd even tried a bit of barrel racing and cattle cutting. We wandered around town for a while, then grabbed dinner. Ben, Hari and I sat on some crates and unwrapped our sandwiches. The Pokémon went to a nearby stand of trees and started eating the fruits growing there. Polaris used her hard hooves to crack open a coconut.

I heard some music playing in the distance. It was faint enough that I couldn't follow it clearly. Something about the song felt familiar, but it took a minute before it clicked into place. "Ah!" I exclaimed, straightening up.

Ben and Hari looked at me, curious. I crammed the last bit of sandwich in my mouth and stood up, heading toward the music.

"What is it?" Ben asked.

"Do you hear that?" I said through a full mouth.

"Kind of."

But Hari nodded. He had sharp senses. From his expression, I could tell he recognized the song too.

I grinned, swallowed, and started singing along. "Her hair is like a briar. She stands in a bow-legged stance. And if I weren't so ugly, she'd possibly give me a chance."

Ben snorted. "You picked out that ridiculous song from so far away?"

"It's not the song," I said, still walking. "It's the movie it came from!"

Ben and Hari followed, eating the rest of their dinner at a more normal pace. "She's caught in its spell," Ben said. "Anything from that movie she follows like the pied piper."

I didn't respond, because I couldn't argue. We stepped around a building, and there was a guy with the soundtrack to Coco playing on his speakers. The next song was my favorite. We stopped far enough away to not bother the guy, and I started singing, "What color is the sky? You tell me that it's red. Where should I put my shoes? You say put them on your head! You make me un poco loco…"

The poor guy couldn't fail to notice me standing thirty feet away, singing along to his music. He sat up, watching with a raised eyebrow. Hari grinned, and Ben looked like he wanted to tie me up and drag me away. "Cara's the only person I know who can act drunk when all she did is eat a sandwich."

At the close of the song, I turned to the guy and said, "sorry. That's my favorite movie. I couldn't resist it's call."

"I can tell," he said. He was about our age, maybe a hair younger. He wore a black tank top and shorts.

"She's madly in love with that movie," Ben said, trying to prove that he wasn't as crazy as I was.

"It's true," Hari agreed."

I gave a nervous little, "ehehe." Then added quick and low, "it's true."

"It's a good movie," the stranger agreed. "I have the same name as one of the characters."

"Which one?" I asked.

"Julio."

"Aaw, cool! Coco's husband."

Julio nodded. "Considering the movie's named after Coco, they never really say that the two of them were married." Julio glanced behind us and raised an eyebrow. The rest of us followed his gaze. Marin was shuffling toward us, balancing a green coconut on his nose.

"That doesn't look like a Pokémon that can climb palm trees," Julio said.

"He can't," I agreed. "He can control his bubbles, and he uses them to knock the coconuts down." Marin came up beside me, offering the coconut. "Thanks, bud." I rubbed his head.

Julio stood and held out his hands. "Give it here."

I blinked, then handed him the coconut. He took it over to his bag and pulled out a freaking machete. With quick, easy motions he cut through the thick husk to the hard inner shell. Then he stabbed a small hole and handed it back to me.

"Thanks!" I exclaimed.

Marin chirped out an excited note and went to gather more coconuts. I took a drink of the sweet juice, and Marin returned balancing another coconut. He brought one for each of us, and Julio cut them open. Once we'd drained the juice, he spilt them in half so we could scrape out the soft insides.

We chatted as we ate, and the soundtrack to Coco played in the background. When we were done, Julio stood. "Well, thanks for the coconuts. I've gotta head back." He raised a hand. "Alola."