A Hui Hou Kākou

by BraviaryScout

As they continue on separate paths; the newly crowned champion of Alola, Elio "Sun" Northstar looks back to remember the one person who gave him the strength he needed to complete his island challenge while he awaits her return. Pokemon Moon novelization. Sun X Lillie. Hau X OC. M for later chapters. Cover art by Chocolexii. Same universe as Brendan's Journey by jmoul18.

86. Entry 82: Hai Aku

Alola readers! Brav is back! Let's get right into this long ass chapter.

---

It's finally happening! The Pokemon League of Alola has been established and officially accepting challengers! Professor Kukui announced it on a region wide broadcast that I watched on stream. The opening requirements are that a challenger has to have finished all seven of the island challenges and have a valid trainer passport. Apparently they're working to have it so that foreign challengers could be allowed if they had the amount of gym badges to complete a League's circuit.

But things are going to be different! Alola's League is a lot like the ones in Kalos and Unova where you face off against the Elite Four, four of the most powerful trainers in the entire region, often specializing in a single type! In Kalos and Unova, you can choose to battle them in whichever order you wish as opposed to the traditional set order in many others.

If I know Elio. He's going to be itching to challenge it sooner or later!

---

"You said it was going to be on an hour ago." Elio grumbled, folding his arms as he shook his head at their surroundings.

"Oh don't be such a wet blanket." Hau showed no discomfort from seeing the throngs of people in line both in front and behind. All their conversations were blending together from the many groups surrounding them.

"We're about to literally be wet." The other boy pointed up towards the dark gray clouds that hung low in the Alolan sky. "And you know how much I hate wet feet."

"And here I thought you'd enjoy this and think it's totally worth the trip." Leilani was off to their side, resisting the urge to roll her eyes at the boys' bickering. "I swear I've never heard you gripe this much."

Elio scoffed out loud. "And I've never seen two people suck face and make up as quickly as you two have done and become an item. You'd give some reality television shows an entire season's worth of story."

Both Hau and Leilani stifled a laugh and despite his complaints; Elio couldn't help smiling at seeing two of his dearest friends finally stop their little dance around admitting their feelings for one another. Ever since he had met back up with Hau, she had been inseparable from his side whenever they had hung out from going to Hau'oli for a puka dog or waiting in the middle of a huge line like they were now. It honestly had made him happy watching the two of them still testing the waters of a budding relationship. The feeling was both dorky and endearing at the same time.

They were just outside Hau'oli City's shopping mall area in the queue to be among the first to enter a very renowned clothing brand.

Maple Apparel Outfitters, the famous line that designed fashion gear for aspiring trainers and coordinators had announced they were opening the first full-fledged flagship location in seeking to expand the brand's undeniable popularity in Alola. The Maples had officially announced it on Festival Plaza right around the time Elio had gone to Poni Island so he hadn't known about the news until he and Lillie had helped stop the Ultra Beast crisis and brought Lusamine and Guzma back to their world.

Elio was more than ready to jump at a chance to be present for the store's opening, though he was saddened to hear that neither Brendan nor May Maple would be present due to a schedule conflict. While MAO gear was sold in several standard clothing stores, a flagship store had products unique to their specific location and not available anywhere else outside the region.

Plus Maple Apparel Outfitters also had a line of arm sleeves and he wanted to get another to cover up the scars on his arm.

Brendan Maple had originally been from the Johto region, but a relocation of his father Norman had him whisked unexpectedly to Hoenn where he rapidly became a well known rising star alongside a witty young ralts known as Gwen who had aimed to become the world's most powerful gardevoir. Together Brendan and Gwen had conquered the Hoenn League's gym circuit in a matter of months, among the fastest time a trainer had done so from starting and getting their very first pokemon partner. Brendan had ridden that incredible wave of popularity all the way to the Hoenn League where many analysts were already predicting him to at the very least reach Drake of the Elite Four.

He did that and so much more.

One of Brendan's most polarizing stories was his relationship with May Birch who had traveled with him throughout Hoenn, the esteemed daughter of Hoenn's famous pokemon professor who was just beginning her own journey at the same time, but with Contests instead. Her ascension to Top Coordinator was competing with Brendan for the highlights and massive potential for everyone dubbing them a supercouple, taking the next step just prior to the battle for Brendan's eighth badge in him asking for her hand in marriage. Ever the one into that type of gossip, Hau had told him that Leilani was always up to date on that type of news.

Brendan had began to visit other regions, there had been several new additions to his team in rotation that made their debut in his title defense battles; Selket the drapion and Sobek the feraligatr had thrown unexpected curveballs to the few lucky skilled trainers that just happened to make their way past the Hoenn Elite Four.

Shortly after attaining the top title of Champion and Top Coordinator, they had launched the Maple Apparel Outfitters clothing brand with an emphasis towards competitive battling trainers and coordinator outfits. Predictably it had been a huge success given their line of work and in a matter of years it had grown into a household name and icon of Hoenn's fashion scene.

This was just the ninth of the flagship stores to be opened around the world and the sixth outside of Hoenn. Other locations included Lumiose, Castelia, Jubilife, Goldenrod, Hammerlocke in Galar and Celadon.

Many people in the crowd were already talking about getting the exclusive products they likely had available or placing custom orders, one of the outfitters' most popular features in personalizing their gear. Elio wasn't even sure if they'd be able to get in with enough stock left to do any of that.

I just want to get in, hopefully be out of this inevitable rain and walk out with at least something. More so because the darker clouds continued to move overhead. To his surprise, he didn't see anyone bothering to leave. The prospect of being the first to get their hands on exclusive Maple gear was worth the wait and the soak.

It was also probably because of the imminent news of the local Pokemon League in Alola. After months of delays and construction, Professor Kukui was set to make an imminent announcement regarding its official opening.

Elio was just as excited for that. He had trained his team with the idea of maybe being able to challenge it one day and be up there with the greats as a champion.

The Indigo League was full of them too. Droves of challenger trainers battled their way through a gauntlet of four elite ranked trainers known the same as the Elite Four. Each one had to be defeated in order to face the next, the only respite coming from a machine that would heal the challenger's pokemon back to full health once that Elite Four member was defeated. They all had to be battled and defeated without stopping until either they had all been cleared or the challenger was defeated themselves.

Once that had finished, the challenger had the right to challenge the Pokemon League champion for the title, taking the title for themselves if they were successful.

Some regions changed champions every few months. Others held the throne for longer, even years. Brendan had continuously held his title of Champion of the Hoenn region for five years and had only appeared in a handful of battles to defend it. Hoenn's League was notoriously difficult to conquer. Nobody could beat him or his gardevoir Gwen and he showed zero signs of slowing.

Thank goodness that champions are only allowed to hold the title in one region. If I had to challenge Brendan…oh boy. Dream come true.

"Aue! Elio!" Leilani's voice snapped him out of his daydream. "You didn't listen to anything we just said, did you?"

"I'll be honest in that I didn't even realize you were talking to me."

"Oh…well aren't you excited that we're gonna be able to get in? I've never been to a flagship store."

"This is the first one that's opening in Alola." Hau said. "And you've never been off the islands except for your tournaments in the World Surf Association."

"I never got a chance. They were all elsewhere in the region. Closest one I could've went as Goldenrod, but that was years ago."

Elio looked back up at the sky. "And it seems like it's something everyone wants a piece of. No one has left."

"I'm not leaving." Hau said to him. "We're too close to the front of the line to dip out now."

He didn't want to leave either, but the imminent rain and his stomach growled from hunger was making its case known.

Clapping interrupted his thoughts as he finally saw a handful of people start to move up ahead. He could see the store's shiny black entrance with the stylish logo glowing on top of the trim. Sure enough people were being let inside to look around. Within a couple of minutes, he saw some of the first inside leaving the store with large bags in hand with the black and red MAO logo on the side.

"Finally." As if the heavens were waiting for the moment, raindrops began to sprinkle down from above. Despite the grumbling and shrieks from a group of girls further back, hardly anyone complained.

"Hey Elio," he looked to see Leilani staring at him. "Your arm…are you…going to be okay?"

He looked down at the sleeve and nodded. Besides Gladion and Lillie, Hau and Leilani were the only others he had told about what happened to the gouged wounds in his shoulder and what he suffered in the Aether Paradise.

"I'll be alright. Better if I can get my hands on a MAO sleeve so I can change it out and not wear this one every day."

"Right. Just so you know…you don't have to go through it alone."

"I'm fine." Elio's tone started to hint that it wasn't something he was looking forward to talking about.

"She's right brah." Hau added. "I know you're the type to keep your emotions bottled up, but what Miss Lusamine did was horrible and Lillie was such a great help in making sure you were okay."

"She cares about you." Leilani smiled at him. "We all do."

"And we can't wait to make you two privately confess. Leilani and I gotta start setting that up."

"Actually no need." They moved along the line, now finally just a few parties away from the entrance. Around them, the crowd's talking grew in volume, looking forward to something finally happening after hours of mundane waiting. "We went to Exeggutor Island,"

"Papa aku?" Leilani nearly gasped out loud and Hau's face had barely concealed surprise. "You two went to the forbidden island?"

"Y-yeah. We got permission from Kahuna Hapu because the Moon Flute, something we had to use to summon the legendary pokemon. It was on the island somewhere and we had to field a guess of where to find it."

He sighed, suddenly hit with nostalgia at seeing the rain falling outside.

"We had to fight off one of those huge alolan exeggutors, but midway through the search it had begun to rain. Lillie and I ran into a small cave area to hopefully wait it out."

"And?"

"We started to talk, about how things in our lives have been so messed up…in different ways. Hers with her fucked up family mess, mine with my dad…how he started going into alcoholism. One thing led to another," his voice slowly trailed off. "And we…kissed."

It was Hau's turn to gasp, mouth falling open and Leilani's face froze before breaking out into the wildest smile. She held up a pair of fists and looked ready to bounce like a spoink in excitement.

"You what? Tell me…tell me everything!"

"What more is there to say? It just felt like something right. I didn't know of any other method to do…it was just us in that cave alone. Nobody else was around to judge, laugh or anything."

He sighed. "Like it was a place where I could maybe show how I really cared about her when I couldn't anywhere else."

"Tapu help me with how romantic she can be." Hau playfully rolled his eyes, but Elio could tell he was just as bubbly with excitement at hearing the news. "But really brah, that's good on you."

"I don't know about that. She hasn't bothered to talk or anything since leaving to take care of her mother."

"I mean she is busy with her hands tied in all that? I don't really know if she wants to fall in love like I am or if anyone else does."

"Hey stop it," Leilani stuck a finger on Elio's chest. "First off, forget what anyone else thinks. Why do their opinions matter so much?"

When he didn't have an answer, she continued. "Second, you're surrounded by all these people who want nothing but the absolute best for you and Lillie. You can deny it all you want, but I'm not hūpō. I see how the two of you look at each other."

Elio knew she was right, further reinforced by the fond and tender look she shared with Hau a moment later.

"It's just…I dunno…I'm not sure what to make of this and Lillie has other things to worry about than trying to see me as a boyfriend."

"Hey we're here to support both of you in whatever way we can." Hau put a hand on his shoulder as Leilani hugged him from behind. Elio let out a squeak of surprise, she was quite strong for someone of her figure. "We just want to make sure you're sure of yourself. After everything we've found out and what you've both been through…you deserve to be happy."

"I know. And mahalo."

Before long, it was their turn to go inside the Maple Apparel Outfitters flagship store. They were waved through the entrance and greeting with both a welcome wave of dry, cool air conditioning and a circular lobby split into three different directions. The left wing having shoes, bags and other accessories, the right having more formal wear that was suited for Contests and finally the center having a variety of clothes that appealed to trainers.

Contests weren't as popular in Alola as they were in other regions such as Hoenn and Sinnoh, but many did see the Coordinator route of a trainer to be a worthwhile path to choose. May's reputation having earned her several high profile endorsements had injected a new resurgence in their popularity, many of her appeal videos were among the top viewed online. Contest outfits were often doubled as attire for wealthy galas and weddings.

It wasn't unheard of for some trainers participating in both battles and contests either.

Elio decided to split up from Hau and Leilani, who went to the accessories wing while he perused the trainers section. Most of it had that lightweight polyester feel that quickly wicked away moisture and kept the wearer cool and dry. Hip upbeat music wafted from the speakers above, giving the place a smooth and trendy vibe.

Each type of clothing, whether it be their new line of gym shirts or joggers were available in a variety of colors with either black, white or gray on the trims with the red and black MAO logo. At the big customizable table close to the checkout lanes, there were several kiosks where custom orders could be placed in changing the colors of the trim and the base area, adding more to the personalization to the gear. Only drawback for that was each special order took longer to come through.

There were many different types of arm sleeves for him to choose from, but he had a little bit of difficulty since just about all available in his size had been already picked over. What remained were multiple colors he didn't particularly care for. Bright red, gold and a dark purple. There was one that was an olive drab that did actually appeal to him. While not as flashy of a color that caught the attention, there was something about an olive green that spoke of class. Emphasis on function and accenting on his character rather than drawing away from it.

Olive drab is a color that's often seen in the military. I guess that means it's reliable and classic?

He looked up, seeing a poster that was advertising a much anticipated rematch between Brendan and Wally. The latter was a longtime friend and rival of Brendan's in the Hoenn League, more so with his main pokemon Sam the gallade being a rival of Gwen's. That friendly rivalry was threaded even further when the two pokemon eventually became mates.

The poster depicted Brendan and Gwen on one side, the gardevoir having her trademark smirk while holding up a hand tingling with the beginnings of a thunderbolt. The man's posture was relaxed and confident, his aura felt even through an inanimate poster as someone who knew that his skillset and intellect would be the ones doing the rightful talking and boasting. On the other side, Wally had a much more determined expression, holding a fist at his side while Sam had crouched low in his ready stance, crossing his arms into a pair of leaf blade scythes that ran down past his elbows.

Two longtime rivals, both knowing one another's strategies just as well as they did their own in another showdown for the ages. While Wally was nearly as strong as Brendan, he still had yet to take the championship throne and thus still had something to prove.

Looking at both trainers, Elio could see that neither one wore the bright and flashy clothing that the store often advertised. Sure, having the distinct colors did seem appealing and attention grabbing…but neither Brendan nor Wally needed to show off who they were. Everyone knew.
They didn't wear those types because they didn't need to.

I know what color to get now.

---

"About time you got out." Leilani chuckled as Elio ran to join them outside the store. Behind them, the line was still snaked around the corner and showing no signs of slowing down even after they had been just a half hour inside.

She handed him a cone of ice cream while she and Hau were about halfway done with theirs.

"So, anything worth finding?"

"Well they say that they'll have customizable patterns on surfboards, so I was hoping to see what they had. No dice. At least not yet."

"And I found a pair of shoes that I really liked," Hau shrugged his shoulders. "But…they ran out of my size."

"That's what you get for having mediocre feet." Elio told him, causing all three to laugh out loud.

"We'll have to go another time. But speaking of which, I got a text from Tutu to tune into the livestream for the Pokemon League!" Hau whipped out his phone. "I figure we can watch while we finish our ice cream!"

"The league is finally happening!" Leilani squealed. "I'm so excited!"

Elio sat on Hau's left while his girlfriend was on the right, wrapping an arm around his back. His phone showed a blank table where several reporters and media outlets were already gathering in a conference and awaiting a much anticipated announcement.

"We're just minutes away from Professor Emilio Kukui who is expected to announce the commencement of a Pokemon League right here in our very own Alola region." He recognized the voice of Jessie Nomora, the News Network of Alola and host of the local talk show Kokealola! "It's been in development for months with very little info known since besides its location at the peak of Mauna Lanakila. I can say for myself that I'm quite excited that this could be an opportunity to bring Alola into the fold of many of the other leagues already established around the world!"

"Wow. It's actually happening." Hau whispered. "And I thought we'd have to fly somewhere like Johto."

Leilani nodded in agreement as she bit into her waffle cone. "I know. For the longest time it felt like the island challenge and final trial was just something to pass the time."

The final trial as she had put it, was more or less a placeholder name for what few island challengers decided to do after they had completed all the trials and grand trials for each of the islands. The trialgoer would face the four island kahunas in battle without stopping and then become crowned an Island Challenge Champion if they were successful. The process bore an uncanny resemblance to the Pokemon League's own Elite Four with some claiming that Alola's island challenge system was the very first to practice the such pinnacle test. Of course that was widely disputed given Alola's relative isolation from much of the world.

"Look it's the professor!" Leilani exclaimed, breaking Elio out of his thoughts. He focused again on Hau's screen.

Kukui stood at the podium, giving the traditional Alola wave and smiling. He waited just a couple of moments and nodded to begin. Noticeably, his white lab coat had been buttoned up.

"We're now going live to Malie Garden for this very exciting announcement!"

"Hello and Alola to you all!" Kukui flashed a knowing grin, glancing from side to side. "Mahalo for coming here today for this very special news in a step forward for Alola! Oh yeah! My name is Emilio Kukui, I am a professor here in the region who specializes in pokemon moves! I am the commissioner and director of our very own newly established Pokemon League!"

That got a big reaction out of all the reporters and journalists in the room and immediately a chorus of questions and chatter erupted from behind the cameras.

Kukui laughed and waved. "Thank you for all of that excitement! It's been a long time coming with all the project delays and setbacks, but I'm proud of what I've accomplished and all the staff involved in its establishment. We cannot wait to show off the fruit of hard work and bouncing through hoops and all that jazz! But as of now, the Pokemon League of Alola has officially jump kicked off!"

The murmurs began to grow even more, coupled with cheers and applause. Even close by, Elio looked up and saw a few other trainers that were waiting in line also on their phones watching the stream. He wasn't surprised, news and rumors about the supposed Alola League being open for business had reached the ear from those seeking to become champion to the novice trainers starting out on their journey. For the other Leagues, this was big news.

"For the first time ever, the Pokemon League's establishment will bring Alola closer into the rest of the world, combining both the modern aspect as well as a nod of respect back to our ancient traditional ones in the Island Challenge! That's right yeah! Alola's own league is standing out from the rest by using the trials and the grand trials to serve as milestones in lieu of the gym circuits you see in the other regions! I'll go into further detail on that, as the establishment of the League means that said trials will receive additional funding and support in order to bring them up to the appropriate standards! The eventual champion of the Alola region will be working with me on that very soon."

"They're using the island challenge as the gym circuit?" Elio asked nobody in particular. "Interesting."

Professor Kukui waited for the buzz to die down once more. "That being said, there are a few requirements beforehand. First, the League will only be open to trainers that have begun their journey in Alola. I'm hoping that eventually, it will open up to foreign challengers, should they opt to test their mettle against Alola's best. The only thing that will bar them from challenging to become the region's champion is if they are already the champion of another region, as per the Indigo Accords."

"Indigo Accords?" Hau asked.

"Means that a champion can only hold that title in one region. They can't challenge another region's champion and take the title if they win. The Indigo League is one of the only exceptions since Kanto and Johto share theirs." Elio explained to him.

"Huh."

"Nothing's stopping them from challenging the League though. They just won't win the title."

"Anyone who issues a Hai Aku or a declaration of challenge will need to have a valid trainer passport and have completed both the seven current trials and earned the four island stamps from our kahunas upon defeating them. The League will review the credentials and give the challenger a set date of when they will need to report to the entrance on Mauna Lanakila."

The Professor paused to let the information soak in. No doubt the set date and time was to prepare for the showdown. "From there, the challenger will face each member of the Elite Four, back to back. Upon defeating one of them, they will be granted access to a healing machine that will restore their entire party to full, optimal battling conditions. This continues until all of the Elite Four are finally defeated. Once we have a champion in place, they will have to face off the champion with the winner obtaining the title!"

"Similar to how some Leagues like in Unova and Kalos, the challenger will be able to choose the order of the Elite Four in which they battle. Each battle will be one on one and will conclude when one side has their entire pokemon party unable to battle further. In a step away from the traditional battles not allowing substitutions or only by the challenger; both sides will be allowed to substitute their pokemon. However there are only three such switches permitted per battle."

The last part sent the press room into a frenzy as Kukui let the last part sink in. Elio's eyes went wide at that as well.

Only three switches in a battle? I didn't do much of that when I was normally battling, but if this a whole nother level…I can see where this will play a bigger factor.

"Professor, the rule of three switches is drastically different than what other Pokemon Leagues around the world have implemented for so long." One of the journalists had asked when the murmurs died down. "Is this also part of what you're doing in setting a different standard for the newly established one here in Alola?"

"How right you are yeah." Kukui replied. "This was discussed at the recent biennial Conference of Leagues summit in Wyndon last year. We're hoping this can help shake up proven strategies and those great moves instead of all the potential matches snowballing towards whoever makes the first knockout. Obviously there's going to be factors we won't be able to future sight and it's faced a fair amount of resistance or doubt. I also feel like a new league setting its roots means a blank slate in that we can see how this new rule can shape the future of League battles here in Alola. I will remind you that this rule is not being in effect worldwide and the commissioners of the other Leagues around the world are free to use or not use this one as they wish. It did have some very interesting reactions, but I do recall hearing Brendan Maple, Steven Stone, Chairman Silas Rose and El Primero Villanueva all voiced their interest in seeing how this might affect League sanctioned battles."

Kukui gestured to another journalist offscreen for their question.

"Is the Elite Four any similar to how the ancient traditions here in Alola had the island challengers facing the four kahunas?"

Kukui shook his head. "No. As much as I'd like to pay homage to that, it was difficult in coercing all four of them and I wanted to look elsewhere for talented trainers. Challenging four familiar opponents during your island challenge is less daunting when you've done so before and got a glimpse of their strategies. The kahunas also serve the region on a governing basis, so their schedule has been far too unpredictable to properly plan. We do have two kahunas however. Would you like the introductions? I know you and everyone else watching this would love to see whom you'll be up against."

He let the murmurs stir amongst the press. "Splendid! I cannot wait for this first impression!"

Kukui gestured to the side and Elio saw Hau's eyes go wide as Kahuna Hala Kealoha strode across the stage and shook Kukui's hand.

"He's a very dear friend of mine, mentoring me since I was a young boy. A master specialist in fighting type pokemon and the kahuna of Melemele Island; Hala Kealoha!"

They heard applause from the journalists as Hau remained slack jawed.

"He never told me!" The kahuna's grandson was practically bubbling with excitement. "Now I'll have to battle him to become champion?"

"Looks like it."

"Next, I have our second kahuna. She's the rock type specialist who rules over Akala Island. Olivia Rios!"

Just like her fellow kahuna had; Olivia strode across the stage, shaking Kukui's hand and sitting next to Hala.

"We have Miss Acerola, our resident ghost type specialist and a trial captain right here on Ula'ula Island!"

"And last but certainly not least, it's Miss Kahili Driver! A former Island Challenge Champion during its earlier years who prefers to use flying type pokemon! There you have it! These four of Alola's best and brightest trainers will stand in your way and look forward to anyone who steps forward in this challenge that will succeed in becoming Alola's very first champion! As of this moment, the Alola League is now ready for hai aku!"

All the journalists and reporters burst into applause as Elio tuned out the stream.

"Brah, you're kidding. Your grandfather hid this from you?"

"I knowwwww!" Hau rubbed his temples. "He kept it really well hidden!"

"Kāhāhā!" Leilani laughed. "Don't feel so bad. We were all fooled. None of us knew it either."

"Well with that being said," Elio pointed to the livestream which was now being shifted to the Elite Four answering questions from the press and media. "Are you guys wanting to go up to Mauna Lanakila and see what this is all about?"

"Oh yeah! And you bet your ass once we get to the top, I'm challenging you to that battle I owe you." Hau had a competitive glint in his eye. "Told ya you'd be in for the shock of a lifetime brah."

"Really? We'll see about that." Elio smirked back, but bumped Hau's outstretched fist. "Consider the challenge accepted."

---

Transportation options to the top of Mauna Lanakila were various. For the non-trainers or those wanting a more simplistic way of getting to the peak, the Exeggutor Express shuttle on the island provided a stable, half hour journey up. At the bottom close to the Tapu Village, there was also a gondola system under construction to aid the bus service set to open in six months.

Elio, Hau and Leilani opted to take the hiking trails that wound along the face of the mountain and used the handful of caves to get to the summit. In ancient times, the island challenge trialgoers would have to do it on foot in order to get to the top for their final test. Another breakaway from tradition was that facing all of the island kahunas was done away from the public, something widely discussed in the face of nepotism.

Now the League was going to be broadcasted worldwide, bringing it into fold with the others.

Another two weeks had passed before they had a chance to take a trip up. Since the announcement, six other trainers who had previously completed the island challenge had went up against the Alola League. It had ended badly, with the furthest one finally giving out upon the fourth Elite Four member. Elio tried to watch the televised matches, but couldn't really find a way to work around many of their strategies. It was never the same.

He wondered if he really had what it took.

The mountain towered impossibly tall, the peak hiding behind lower hanging clouds. From the bottom there was no sign of any buildings or man made structures. It'd likely be more evident as they made their way up.

Elio warned them that it was going to be quite cold and begrudgingly, both his Alolan companions had turned up with coats and scarves. He was dressed in cargo pants with a base layer long johns and shirt underneath. A blue 'Canes bonded fleece jacket covered his chest and arms.

"Let's hope that's gonna be enough." He told them. "It gets cold."

"Leave it to a hot region to somehow get cold in one place." Hau said. "And I always saw snow up here at the peak. It's actually gonna be cool being able to touch it in person!"

"I've seen snow a long time ago." Leilani added. She glanced up at the peak. "Had a snowball fight too when we had an extra week of vacation in Sinnoh and those brutal winter storms hit. It was for another Surf Association competition in Sunnyshore and then the day after, it was a freak cold front that shut down a crazy amount of Sinnohan infrastructure."

"How much did the temperature drop?"

"Almost fifty degrees in a matter of two days."

"Wow. That's honestly nuts."

The trek up gradually got colder and the vegetation on the ground was reduced to hardy shrubs and trees that were acclimated to the cooler climate. As they approached the first of the caves alongside the road where a bus had roared by, the first few snow flurries had begun to fall.

Hau was surprised to see more pokemon he hadn't seen before. Elio recognized a few alolan vulpix who were curious to see the humans before a large white ninetales herded the kits away. Meanwhile the alolan boy laughed to himself, swatting away several flakes and sticking his tongue out to catch them.

He saw a group of small imp pokemon that had triangular shape structures and constantly shivered as if they were cold themselves.

"New pokemon detected! Bzzt! Snorunt. Snow hat pokemon. Their numbers seem to have rapidly increased in Alola. Custom has it that houses where snorunt live will be prosperous for generations. It's only able to survive in a limited number of places in the warm Alola region. Snorunt is an ice type. Additional information is available upon capturing this pokemon."

"They're so cute!" Leilani squealed as they passed by. Elio made to usher them away seeing its evolved form approaching. He remembered Brendan's battle against Glacia of the Hoenn Elite Four and her glalie ace Morozko. Like the ninetales, the glalie was warily watching them with dark blue eyes as it supervised its young playing in the light snow from nearby.

"New pokemon detected! Bzzt! Glalie. Face pokemon. Its actual body is a rock that isn't particularly hard. Glalie absorbs moisture from the air and drapes itself in an armor of near-unbreakable ice. Glalie is an ice type. Additional information is available upon capturing this pokemon."

There's a lot of different pokemon up here just a couple of miles from the big difference in temperature. You don't find many ice types thriving outside of the cold.

Through the caves, the eerie silence was unsettling save for the sound of their boots crunching across the frozen floor. Elio was relieved to find it not as slippery, but he led the other two cautiously.

"Does it get this cold in Kanto?" Hau asked. Elio and Leilani flinched as the first words boomed and echoed off the narrow walls, abruptly breaking the silence. Something up ahead had been startled and ran off.

"Yeah it does." He kept his voice lower so that it wasn't as striking. "And then some. This feels like a normal December day in Cerulean City. Just wait until the end of January and early February…then it really really gets cold."

Leilani blinked at him, her expression unreadable behind the nylon scarf/mask that covered her mouth and nose. Her hair was bunched into a white beanie on top of her head. "How cold are we talking?"

"Cold enough where my mom still had to go to the hospital to work one day and she found out the fuel lines to her car had been frozen over. Blu tried to thaw it out and only made it worse."

Hau and Leilani stifled a laugh. "So did she end up going?"

"Didn't have a choice. So Dad ends up using the fire engine at work as an emergency, drives it over there and picks her up to get to the hospital, sirens and all…all in time for her shift. Let's just say that the chief wasn't happy about the misallocation of resources."

"That was your grandfather?"

"Mhmm. He died about a year before we moved here."

As they went through the narrow confines of the cave, it widened in a bigger cavern before an exit appeared before them. Standing up and watching them cross below was a quadruped feline creature with a dark blue face and a single horn that was curved on its side like the blade of a sickle.

"Up there." Hau pointed. "An absol."

"No kidding." Rotom Dex detected it as well and hovered in front to display the information.

"New pokemon detected! Bzzt! Absol. Disaster pokemon. Long ago there were superstitions spread about it, saying that an appearance was an omen to disaster. This pokemon maintains a calm disposition and warns people of crises that loom and the interest of its ability to predict calamities is on the rise. Absol is a dark type. Additional information is available upon catching this pokemon."

"You guys doing okay?" Elio asked as they cleared the caves. They had been hiking up the mountain for almost ninety minutes and now barely able to see the summit through the thick cloud cover. He took a drink from his water bottle and found it pleasantly cool. The metal insulation kept it from being frozen solid or turned into slush.

Leilani gave him a thumbs up but Hau was starting to visibly shiver as much as the snorunt they encountered earlier.

"Just a-a little cold. That's…all."

"Well the good news is that there's some warm drinks like tapu cocoa up at the lodge." Leilani told them before a smirk flashed under her mask. "Or if you want Hau, I can warm you up."

"Uh…no thanks! Maybe later," The kahuna's grandson blushed through the cold and stammered.

"Brah, you're only digging your grave further. Just shut up and keep going."

---

It was another couple hours of trekking up the slopes and out on the open surface of the mountain. Snow began to quickly fall, but by now he could see the road looped up to a series of colorful buildings just short of the peak. The lights beckoned to the teens, showing that their ascension was nearly complete.

Elio saw a flash of a large green dragon pokemon in one of the caves, too quick to really tell what it could be, but Rotom Dex had apparently detected it.

"New pokemon detected! Bzzt! Drampa. Placid pokemon. This pokemon is friendly to people and loves children most of all. It is very protective and gentle with them, protecting the children it befriends as far as finding those that hurt the children and burning their house to the ground with its intensive fiery breath. Drampa is a normal and dragon type. Additional information is available upon capturing this pokemon."

"Yikes."

Finally, they had reached the summit and couldn't help but gape at the display in front.

Firstly were the grand gates on either side of the road that wound up to the facility, two tall poles with alolan carvings. Now that the clouds and heavy snow were below them, it had miraculously cleared, leaving just a light dusting on the ground. The sun finally shone, bringing the temperature just a hair above freezing. The angle the light hit both totem poles made them feel vivid and alive. All around was a low howl of winds that were much stronger at this altitude. Looking back out towards the rest of the island, one could see a breathtaking view for miles. Towards the north, he saw the beginnings of another, just barely able to make out the southern tip of Akala.

Just beyond the road was a center statue as it looped around, serving as a bus stop with the gondola terminal on the right. Elio recognized the statue's wide crescent wings and moon crest as that of Lunala in midflight. She was opposite of a lunging feline creature with pointed rays of a mane and bulky forelegs. Like Nebby, the statue's forehead glittered in the sun of a starry blue.

That must be the opposite entity, a male evolution of cosmog. Associated with the sun.

Because the couple of buildings had been so close to the face of the mountain, Elio realized that much of the complex had been built (inside.) Like a lot of the other Leagues, he had guessed that there was some sort of massive stadium where the battles would take place. Most of them were on ground level and had the benefit of having a warmer climate. He was wondering how an arena this high up with thinner air and a much colder average would fare with the people spectating.

If the arena was inside, they could easily have a place where the temps would be warmer. Despite the coolness, the buildings had colorful exteriors and art renditions of the four tapus and various other popular pokemon found in the Alola region.

Aside from a young family visiting the statue, there were a fair amount of people checking things out. A directory map next to the statue pointed them to covered battle courts and a full fledged pokemon center along with a lodge for guests to stay during an extended period. On their left was a big gift shop and part of the entrance to the Alola League's head offices.

"The highest peak where the light of the sun and the light of the moon first touch the Alola region." Leilani ran her finger across the plaque, reading the top inscription that was written in Alolan. With his own improving knowledge of the native language, Elio probably doubted his ability to read and pronounce that himself.

"Ua mau ke ea o ka ʻāina i ka pono." He did recognize that one as the motto of the region, first spoken by Kahuna Kamehameha, the de facto founder of the modern Alola region. "The life of the land is perpetuated in righteousness."

"Pretty cool. This is nothing like the Indigo League at all." Elio had never been, but he watched televised matches all the time.

"It's the pay day of a lot of hard work oh yeah!" They heard Professor Kukui's voice behind them. He stood on the sidewalk, hands in the pockets of his lab coat and giving that signature easygoing smile.

"Professor!" Hau exclaimed. "You're here!"

"Aren't you cold?" Elio asked, seeing that his attire hadn't changed compared to when he last saw him in Malie Garden when confronting Guzma. Unlike either Hau or Leilani; Kukui showed no discomfort from the wind chill. The lab coat was unbottoned again though.

"Nah, the spirit of Alola burns bright like a blast burn! Yeah!" Kukui folded his arms. "So, you little ones excited about this League? I know you're itchin' to give it your best mirror shot!"

"I'm definitely excited." Elio told him. "I know you've put a lot of work into making this place as awesome as possible. And it's really paid off. I can't wait to see the rest of it!"

"Thanks cousin! I'd show you the rest, but I think it'd be better if you saw it all for yourself when you challenge the League one day! That's the last thing you gotta do now that you've cleared all the island challenge trials and grand trials!"

Kukui turned around to face the facility. "I still remember it like it was yesterday. Waking up to Indigo Plateau to the League's headquarters and I went right at them cousin!"

"Hold on, you challenged the Indigo League?" Hau asked incredulously.

"Indeed I did! Those gym leaders in Kanto really messed me and my team up! But then I saw my team battling their hearts and uhane for me. Then that last one, the wielder of dragons in that red cape. Lance."

He got all the way to Lance? Damn, I knew the professor was good in a battle, but I'm kinda surprised he's that good. Oh…I shouldn't be.

"Enough about me anyways! Are you ready to issue a hai aku?"

Elio and Hau exchanged a glance. "Actually," the kahuna's grandson said. "Since we both started on our island challenge at the same time and we're both done with all the trials, we were gonna battle and see who had the right between the two of us to be the first to go!"

"Oh wow, you sure did quite the gear grind!" It was true. In the months spanning since he had separated from Hau, the boy had trained up with captain Ilima and blitzed through the two trials and grand trials he had left. Leilani had been more than happy to accompany him and encourage him on his travels as well as being able to spend more time with her new boyfriend.

Kukui didn't miss the endearing gesture they were doing of still holding hands either.

"Well that sounds like a mighty fine way to decide things! I'll go ahead and officiate for you cousin! It's a perfect time to check out the new battle courts that I've got for the indoors!"

Elio looked at Hau who could only shrug in reply. Might as well see more of the place and get their battle out of the way at the same time.

---

The professor led them into the building where the cold was replaced with a welcoming warmth. At the main entrance were two desks at the far end and in the middle looked to be a kiosk that was a full fledged pokemon center with three times the staff and tall glass walls that were visible from the outside. Walls in the middle were closed off, which Kukui explained was an intensive surgery ward where nearly any pokemon could be properly treated out of its ball save for something as large as a wailord. In the spacious front, Elio saw an artistic rendition of the Alola region on the marble floor in purple, yellow, pink and red respectively to represent the four islands.

Between the desks was the expansive exhibit of the eventual Alola Hall of Fame. As of now, it was only lined with famous previous island challengers who were notable in becoming Island Challenge Champions during their run. Also there were others as well, consisting of trial captains and island kahunas of days past.

"There's still plenty of room in there to add more!" Kukui said enthusiastically. "For generations after we're long gone!"

Elio wondered if it was one day that it would be him or Hau added within those halls.

To the right past the gift and souvenir shops, Kukui showed them a quartet of large courts, each one in separate rooms that were shielded and soundproofed with new technology called the Ward. It was also used in the main stadium on a much larger scale to protect the spectators from errant attacks.

"You can have an exploud using hyper voice in one of the adjacent areas and barely hear a thing!"

They chose one of the ones not being used. Elio took the far side while Hau got into position. Kukui and Leilani stood at mid court, the former with his arms raised and ready.

"Well cousin, I think I'm gonna let you both see how these new rules, including the limited switches. A bit of a taste to see what you both can do!"

"Okay." Hau nodded on the other side before fixating Elio with a determined look in his eyes. "I'm ready…I think."

"That's the spirit!"

With a gesture, Kukui activated a scoreboard that hung over the mid court on both sides. Each one brought up their younger photos from when they took them for the trainer passport. Six pokeballs were underneath them and on each side were three symbols of two arrows forming a circle, indicating a voluntary switch of pokemon.

Upon reading the article in the news, he was surprised to find the rules of switching actually quite simplistic. Voluntary swaps included switching mid-battle or the temporary breather in between knocking out the opponent's pokemon. Moves issued by the trainer that returned a pokemon to its ball such as U-turn or baton pass would also count as using a switch.

However moves that were involuntary, such as getting struck with whirlwind or dragon tail did not count as the trainer forced into a swap of pokemon was not doing so willingly. At first Elio didn't understand why it was such a negative…and it partially wasn't. But as he thought about it more, having to forcefully switch pokemon even if it didn't penalize him with one of the three switches could still be an unfortunate predicament.

"This battle is a six on six! The winner will clinch the match when his opponent has none of the pokemon on his side able to continue battling! Both trainers will be able to swap pokemon at any time of their choosing, however each side will only be able to voluntarily switch pokemon a maximum of three times!" He glanced at both boys. "Trainers, do you accept these terms?"

"I do."

"Yes."

"Alright! Send out your pokemon and let the battle begin!"

Hau's face split into a grin as he flipped a poke ball into his hands. "I'm gonna show you that you're not so far ahead of me anymore! Sparks, let's do this!"

Elio was in the midst of throwing out Arclight, initially wanting to choose Bravo, but if he knew Hau's battling habits; he would correctly guess that his rival would be choosing to lead off with his crazy fast alolan raichu. Suddenly he was glad he didn't go with his own habit because he'd be at a big disadvantage of electric versus flying out of the gate.

Kukui waved at them to begin and both pokemon launched into their attacks.

Arclight buzzed loudly as she began to charge power up. On the other side, he saw that Sparks had waved his small hands in front, forming a glassy pane on his side. Elio knew that whatever special damage he'd deal would be reduced from the light screen.

"Bug buzz!" He called out. Arclight rubbed together her wings to launch a shimmering sound wave. Sparks cringed upon getting hit, but the light screen materialized to absorb a large chunk of the potential damage. Before Hau could call out another attack, the vikavolt flew towards the ground, hitting the top and boring through in a dig.

Sparks remained alert, moving rapidly from side to side in order to avoid getting hit, but this only served as an easier target. As the alolan raichu zipped again to the right, Arclight burst from the ground to slam into her foe and knock him into a bit of a spin.

"Sparks!" Hau cried, watching his pokemon quickly regain his balance and shake it off. "That did a lot of damage."

He saw Arclight was again charging her jaws of electricity and spinning about to launch a globule of mud. Sparks saw it coming, zipping on his tail board to easily dodge the mud shot.

"I actually got a plan this time." Hau shook his head and refocused. "Volt switch!"

Sparks smirked while charging himself up with more electricity and zooming ahead. Arclight saw him coming, waving her wings in another bug buzz that he had no choice but to fly headlong into. Though it slightly disrupted him, the active light screen continued to do its job in suppressing special damage.

Arclight was whipped with a jolt of electricity as Sparks sped back to Hau's side, vanishing into the ball in his outstretched hands. He immediately threw a second pokemon on the field. At the same time, the board had one of the switch icons wink out as an indication that Hau had used one of his voluntary pokemon substitutions. Already switching this early?

Elio couldn't hide the surprise on his face as he and Arclight faced down a fierce looking tauros. The bull pokemon's dark fur was bristled and it stamped the ground in eager anticipation. He had a silver nose ring in between his nostrils.

"Meet Lono! I caught this feisty one in the wilds on the unexplored side of Poni Island!"

That must've been the place where Lillie and I didn't go.

"Then we'll just hit you before you can wind him up!" Elio pointed. "Zap cannon Arclight!"

Thanks to the charge she had built up, the zap cannon was ready in moments. She fired it down the accelerator lining on her jaws with incredible velocity. Kukui and Leilani flinched seeing the flash and impact on Lono's body so close in sync, it was almost impossible to tell which had come first.

Hau's hands flew up in shock as his mouth dropped open. Lono had taken a lot of damage from the attack, but miraculously still stood. The light screen again.

"Way to tough it out brah!" Lono snarled in anger, not discouraged in the slightest even as sparks of electricity coursed around his body. The zap cannon had inflicted paralysis.

"Arclight and I have been working and all but perfected her zap cannon. Normally a move that requires a lot of practice to hit, though a charge up means she can fire it faster than you can blink." Elio smirked.

"That's amazing! If we weren't battling, I'd totally ask you how."

I might show him later, but I don't think he has a pokemon capable of learning zap cannon.

The smirk faded as soon as he saw a massive rising stat flare come to life around Lono's body.

Oh shit. Anger point. Maxing out the physical attack if it's struck with a lucky critical hit. The worst luck ever.

Hau blinked in realization before the smirk came back as he considered the possibilities. He knew he had the advantage again.

"Time to keep this rolling! Double-edge!" Lono huffed and pawed the ground before charging forward at astonishing speed. Elio and Arclight were so caught off guard by how quickly the tauros moved despite the paralysis that it had covered almost three quarters of the distance before his mind was telling him to react.

"Get out of-" He was cut off by Arclight waving her wings in another bug buzz. Though the light screen kicked in to dampen its effects, it had a much more profound reaction from the bull than it did to Sparks. Lono had actually stopped his charge and shook his head.

That was all Arclight needed in the moment it took for Lono to regain his bearings and she tunneled under the ground again in another dig.

"This is just what we were waiting for! Earthquake!"

Lono stomped on the ground with his front two hooves, sending a large seismic shockwave across the court. The Ward shielding system worked like a charm in preventing the attack from spilling out beyond the boundaries.

Elio felt a sudden sense of panic, knowing the moves earthquake and bulldoze would deal double damage if their foe was in the middle of a dig attack. But nothing happened.

"Huh?"

"Rookie mistake!" Elio laughed, finally having figured it out. Arclight burst out of the ground a second later to slam into Lono's soft underbelly. She zipped easily out of a retaliatory payback and took her spot at his side again. "Vikavolt's ability is levitate. No ground type attacks can touch her!"

"Even if she's digging?! Aww damn. And here I thought I had you on the ropes!"

"Come on brah, you know twice the amount of zero is still zero!" Still though, Elio had to give Hau the credit of jumping on the presumed advantage when he did. He had just forgotten that his pokemon's ability had nullified any ground moves.

More importantly he had to tread carefully as Lono's anger point had maximized the physical attack boost. One hit and Arclight was likely done.

"Use thrash Lono!" Hau pumped a fist, having his bull explode forward and strike rapidly. Arclight weaved in and out of the blows, deftly avoiding each one as she charged up and unleashed a discharge that stunned it for just a second. However Lono was powering through and finally hit her with one of his hooves, the single strike sending her tumbling back where she skid to a halt in front of Elio. He was right. One hit was all it took.

"Shit!"

Kukui waved to Hau's side. "Arclight is unable to continue battling! Lono is the winner! Six to five in Hau's favor!"

"I guess the thrash really came through." Elio sighed and returned Arclight. "All right, so let's see how that goes with Akela!"

Hau frowned as Elio sent out his werewolf pokemon.

I'm gonna be walking straight into a counter aren't I? Earthquake is off the table unless I weaken him enough where he can't survive to pull it off.

He couldn't issue another command as thrash meant that until the attack sequence was over, Lono would end up confused. His bull lunged forward, once again indiscriminately hitting Akela with his hooves and body mass of solid muscle. Akela grunted and doubled over from the blow, but even with the maxed out attack he refused to cave.

"Ready? Counter!"

Akela's paw snapped out and he backhanded Lono with double the power that he had taken from the thrash. All two hundred pounds of the tauros was lifted into the air as if a paperweight and crashed to the ground where he wobbled back onto his feet. Hau saw the bull pokemon was blinking rapidly while struggling to stay on balance. The self-inflicted confusion had kicked in from thrash's fatigue.

Akela rushed forward, raising a paw up high and driving it down in a chopping motion. His brick break was perfectly timed as Lono tried for another earthquake. The attack disrupted him again, the light screen appearing as he sliced through it with ease to shatter it into fragments that disappeared. Landing on the ground, the midnight lycanroc rolled to the side as Lono was able to snap out of his confused state to barrel forward in a double-edge to escape.

"Another brick break!"

Lono skidded to a halt and turned around quickly, slamming his hooves into the ground in another earthquake. Akela stopped as he had charged forward, losing his balance and collapsing to the ground. He shakily started to stand, but Lono was once again building up speed to rush forward, lowering his horns and causing wisps of power to build behind him. The double-edge hit Akela before he had a chance to ready a counter and he was thrown backwards, hitting the ground and bouncing up like a skipped rock. He finally stopped his momentum and laid still unmoving.

"Akela is unable to battle further! Lono is the winner! Six to four! Hau in favor!"

Elio couldn't help but smile as Leilani let out a shout of excitement and jumped up and down with her fist raised up.

Someone's definitely proud of her boyfriend.

"Wow…I remember how you had previously struggled with us." He told Hau, who was beaming on the other side with his hands behind his back. Lono stalked around impatiently, but Elio saw that both Akela and Arclight had done a number on him. He was still paralyzed and showing clear fatigue from having battled for a long period. "You're definitely getting the edge on me."

"Aww thanks! I'm just having fun and kickin' ass!"

That he definitely is. I gotta sharpen up and close this gap.

"Okay Bravo, let's go!"

Hau reacted with a bit of surprise upon seeing how big Bravo was.

"I forgot you evolved your rufflet."

"So now how are you gonna touch him if he's flying?"

Hau stifled a laugh. "You're in for it now! Lono, wild charge!"

It knows wild charge?! Elio snapped out of his thoughts as Lono was just as quick to barrel forward, his horns and front covered in sparks of static electricity. As he reached the middle of the court, he jumped up off his hind legs to meet Bravo.

Sun was grateful that Bravo rolled out of the way midflight, but it was alarming that Lono was capable of that. A super effective move that could reach an airborne target with its attack still maximized from anger point could have knocked him down to having three pokemon defeated without managing to do the same to a single one of Hau's.

Lono landed on the ground, stamping it in frustration as his horns took on a metallic shine. Two projectiles shot out of them as Bravo made a dive down, lashing out his feet in a superpower. The smart strike hit, but Bravo's attack crashed into Lono head on. He took off into the sky as the bull finally staggered and fell over with a heavy thud.

"Lono is incapable of battling! Bravo is the winner! Five to four! Hau in favor!"

"Man, I figured that was gonna happen eventually." Hau had folded his arms as he returned his defeated pokemon. "With you, I can't ever push my luck. You always got something up your sleeve brah."

"So do you." Elio said, choosing to keep Bravo in and he was pretty sure that Sparks would be the next one sent out. Time to figure this one out.

"You're back up Sparks!" So he was right.

As the buzzer sounded, Hau went right on the offense. In a surprise, move Bravo moved in to attack with a brave bird, but was stopped as he was hit with a powerful psychic. He shuddered and moments later, was hit by a succeeding thunderbolt. Bravo had just enough control of his body to activate a steel wing and glide down to help reduce the damage best he could.

Hau tried for another psychic, seeing if he could hold Bravo still long enough for an easy thunderbolt. The braviary was swift in being able to easily dodge the arcs of electricity and he had used brave bird to rocket out of the psychic's hold, using the momentary distraction to hit Sparks before it could snap out and start moving again.

Crap, I can't hold it still long enough and it breaks free every time! Hau thought to himself. He's fast, but we can be faster.

"Time to turn this in our favor Sparks! Electric terrain!"

The board tail below Sparks' feet had turned white before the entire floor of the court blossomed into an entire sea of electric currents running across its smooth surface. Though Elio knew that the actual terrain would be harmless to any pokemon including water and flying types, it meant that it was able to charge up electric type moves and make them far more dangerous.

If Arclight didn't have levitate as her ability, she wouldn't even need to use charge to buff up her electric attacks.

Bravo swooped in with an aerial ace, but Sparks juked out of the way so fast that he swore it knew exactly where the eagle was going to land his strike before it registered in his head. As it zoomed along, floating on its board tail, it gave a bored look to Bravo that could have been interpreted as a taunting gesture.

"Surge surfer." Hau said proudly. "Electric terrain doubles Sparks' speed. Now nothing can touch him."

Shit.

"And now for the grand ol' coup de gracie." He pointed. "Electro ball!"

Sparks spun around and threw a yellow white sphere at Bravo just as fast as Arclight's zap cannon. Bravo screeched as it exploded across his body, sending his fainted airframe spiraling down to the ground.

Elio blinked and it was over. No time for Bravo to react on his own, no time to use steel wing to try and wick off the electricity.

That was like a fuckin' bullet! How the hell did surge surfer make that get so fast?!

"Oh man I've been wanting to try that combo for hella long!"

Kukui had just finished declaring Bravo unfit for battle and the match was five on three. Elio gritted his teeth, Hau was kicking his ass so far.

"Impressive in taking advantage of alolan raichu's surge surfer ability and electro ball. A move that deals greater damage the faster the attacker is than the foe. Surge surfer doubles its speed on electric terrain."

So that's why he knocked Bravo down so quickly.

Elio slipped it on his left side and took ready for his next pokemon.

"Let's go Lochagos!" The large dragon took Kukui by surprise as he shook off the expression worn upon the sight. The electric terrain wasn't damaging in any way, but it didn't really provide much of a benefit since he didn't know of any electric type attacks.

"Wow cousin! You caught yourself a kommo'o! I can tell this one's special!"

"He is. Now I shall show what he can do!"

"Way ahead of you brah!" Hau pointed. "Electro ball!"

Elio smirked, knowing that his rival was in the middle of making another mistake. "You know what to do."

Lochagos stood there, watching intently as Sparks zoomed on his tail board and spun around to fling another sphere of electric energy. Like the last one, it hit Lochagos with the same velocity as the one that knocked out Bravo, except the difference being that his armored dragon stood proudly erect and completely unfazed by the attack. He hadn't even bothered to raise his arms to activate the scale shields.

"Wha?" Hau lurched back and mentally hit himself for forgetting. "Aww man, I totally forgot about bulletproof!"

"Time to attack! Earthquake!"

"Use another electro ball to get away!" In spite of the bulletproof nullifying the electro ball, Sparks flung it just as Lochagos smashed the ground with his two fists in creating a seismic shockwave. Surprisingly, it knocked the raichu off balance and he spun around.

Elio saw its eyes start to glow and Lochagos knew it was the time to throw up a protect.

The barrier dispelled the oncoming psychic attack in what probably would've taken a lot of damage. He needed Lochagos to power through in order to take on multiple of Hau's pokemon while being behind.

"You can't protect from them all! Focus blast!"

Sparks' small arms came together, conjuring power into a bluish white sphere. Unlike the electro ball, Elio knew that this one wouldn't get covered by bulletproof. He was only going to have moments to prepare.

He saw it fire the sphere and in the heartbeat that passed, Lochagos' arm raised up, activating the smaller and less powerful protect that deflected the devastating attack…straight back for Sparks.

"Ah!" Hau gasped in surprise and shook his head to try to refocus again. He had caught the other boy off guard, which was becoming an apparent weak point in his strategy.

Sparks cried out, wobbling and barely able to stay afloat. Being a fighting type move, it did little damage, but the disruption from the repulse was the real gain. Lochagos had that gleam in his eye as he let another rumbling earthquake loose that sealed his foe's fate. Sparks jerked from side to side from the seismic shockwave, finally overwhelmed by the super effective attack as he fell to the court floor.

"Sparks is unable to continue battling! Lochagos is the winner! Four on three! Hau in favor!"

Lochagos roared in triumph and Elio pumped a fist. "Yeah! Nice job there buddy!"

"Aww man, you actually got me again!" Hau smiled in the face of the loss as he returned his Pokémon. As he was thinking of who to send out next, the electric terrain had dissipated, what few arcs remaining flickering out shortly thereafter.

"I may be losing for now," Elio flashed him a smirk, "but I'm having a lot of fun. Again, all of your training with Ilima has really paid off."

Leilani smiled at their display of compliments through their long-standing rivalry. "Hey, I'm really enjoying this too! You two are still neck and neck and there's still plenty of the battle left to be fought!" At her words, Kukui nodded in agreement.

This is the type of thrill I'm trying to have with this league!

"Then let us continue!" Hau held another ball in front of him to toss out. "Kapono! Your turn!"

The ball burst to reveal a creature that Elio had never seen before in person. It was another flying pokemon with six beautiful orange and red wings, three on a side. It's body was a smoky white with fur lining its midsection. At the top of its head, a small rounded head with two hornlike antennae that were the same shade as the wings.

"Woah," Elio couldn't help himself staring in awe. Though it wasn't ever found in Kanto, he had always wanted to see one for himself. Maybe train one. "Volcarona."

"And that'zzz my queue!" The haunted Dex buzzed and floated in front of its trainer. "Volcarona. Sun pokemon. It is the final evolution of larvesta. It was once believed to have hatched from a flaming cocoon to save pokemon and people who suffered from bitter cold. It uses its burning scales to engulf the battlefield in a sea of fire which the ancient people feared it as the "sun's wrath" Volcarona is a bug and fire type. Additional information is available upon capturing this pokemon."

"Wow." He was still awestruck. Volcarona was a pokemon he had always dreamt of one day having. He had no idea they were found at all in Alola. "You caught a volcarona?"

"I found Kapono in the Lush Jungle just after all the stuff in Aether Paradise. He was a little shy larvesta and it took a long time for me to train him up to how far we've come now."

Elio was glad at seeing how proud Hau was of his pokemon. He knew that the other boy would say the same.

"It's crazy to think how far we've both come in this."

"Yeah." Hau smiled back at him. "Both you and me. Maybe one of us will be champion by the end of it all."

"Gonna be me because I'm gonna win here!" Both boys squared up and got ready. Lochagos immediately vibrated his arm scales and brought them together. The clanging scales was barely visible aside from a faint shimmer of purple and green dragon power. Kapono flapped his wings and rapidly darted from side to side, scattering a few small embers in his wake. A stat flare cascaded up thrice, indicating that the speed, special attack and special defense had all risen one stage.

Smart. Using the quiver dance to buff yourself and dodge at the same time. If I'm not careful, he can again get Kapono to literally catch fire.

"We gotta get in there close." Lochagos nodded at his trainer and immediately rushed forward, aided by its lanky arms. "Try a dragon claw!"

Kapono was a lot less agile trying to dodge at a close range and was knocked back as Lochagos slashed across his body, one of his hands glowing in purplish dragon energy. Elio cursed to himself again as the two combatants separated, but his dragon had sustained scorch marks across his body and twitched from the burn.

"Ah dammit. Fuckin' flame body."

Hau was in the middle of pressing his advantage when Elio unexpectedly pulled out his ball. "Lochagos, return!"

"He's switching?" Leilani gasped in surprise, more so that his pokemon was allowing it at the same time. Up on the board, one of his switch icons dimmed out as the kommo'o disappeared from the field back into his ball. Only two remained.

"Let's go!" Nani appeared with a flick of the poke ball, letting out a soothing cry as she shook her elongated fins and warily eyed her opponent.

Hau flashed him a smirk. "You're not winning just because you have a type advantage anymore. I'll make sure of that." Kapono flexed his wings as if to agree with his trainer.

"Then let's get started." Elio said. He wanted to be the first to move and opted for a defensive maneuver. "Aqua ring!"

Nani spun around, coiling her body tight as a bright halo of water circled her body clockwise. It glowed with a vibrant luminous sheen. While Elio had the much more potent recover to help, it often left Nani vulnerable, so he had aqua ring as a passive longer lasting healing method.

Kapono folded his six orange wings together and flared them out, creating a rapidly growing ring of red hot flames. The fire blast was perfectly aimed, but instead of hitting Nani, it burned hot against the aqua ring, severely diminishing its potency and causing billows of steam to puff out.

Nani used the cover to fire back a hydro pump that hit Kapono in the middle. The volcarona tumbled back from within the wide stream, finally able to recatch his balance. Wings scattered a few burning scales, evaporating what water had clung to its body.

On the other side, Nani launched an ice beam at the ground, just in time to block another fire blast, but it bought her the time to restore the aqua ring. Unlike recover which could be done on the move, Nani had to remain within its perimeter to enjoy the benefits of its healing effects.

"Quiver dance!" Hau was already on the move even before the fire blast struck and melted the ice, canceling the attack. Nani, exposed yet again had fired another hydro pump, partially boosted by staying within the aqua ring. Despite the deft agility, Kapono was hit again, though able to partially break free. Elio was surprised to see that such a powerful water attack did relatively little damage.

That damn quiver dance is upping its special defensive capabilities. Soon enough it'll shrug off a hydro pump without an issue.

He could switch, but realized that he'd just end up using another one of his voluntary substitutions while Hau could use that time to buff his own pokemon even more.

Maybe he had to just keep him attacking. But the quiver dance meant any special moves were going to hit him just as hard. Nani could evade or take so many hits before even fire attacks would pose a serious threat.

Kapono let loose another fire blast, this one coming much faster. Nani was able to dodge most, but the bottom part of its ringlike shape had caught her tail and she went down with a hiss. Though quick to leap back up, she launched a scald that the volcarona didn't even bother dodging.

"Nani attract!"

He saw Hau's eyes go wide, having completely forgotten about that old trick Elio had up his sleeve. As Nani winked at her foe, the large moth initiated a bug buzz that intercepted and dissipated the alluring wave, to his shock completely rendering it useless.

What? How?!

"Kapono, let's put the squeeze on them!" Hau made a triumphant fist. "Fire spin!"

The volcarona launched another wave of fire towards Nani, but unlike the multi-pronged ring of a fire blast, this was thin ribbons of fire that swirled around her in a vortex. Nani rushed towards the aqua ring, using a hydro pump as a distraction that the volcarona sidestepped. At once the damage she had sustained had begun to slowly heal up.

"Nani return!" Elio drew her net ball in an attempt to recall her back in favor of Strongside, but to his dismay the beam emitted from the device failed to pull her back, dispeling at the edge of the fire spin.

"Huh?"

"Gotcha!" Hau grinned at him. "Time for the real good part! Giga drain!"

Kukui saw the blood drain from Elio's face and he couldn't help at seeing the ingenuity of Hau's strategy.

The kahuna's grandson had held back on using a supereffective move that covered both Kapono's water and rock weaknesses, instead using quiver dance as a means to dodge as well as self-buff itself.

"So when Elio finally is at an impasse," Leilani whispered, almost as if she was thinking the exact same as him. "Hau finally makes the move to take that option away from him, whether it's to beat Nani outright or switch."

Kapono had launched a bolt of greenish white power that latched onto Nani's scaly skin. Almost at once, tendril lances of energy siphoned off her health, transferring into the volcarona that had healed what wounds it had sustained.

Nani stiffened and her movements slowed, the giga drain with the boost from the quiver dances had taken a serious toll along with the constant additional whittling from the active fire spin. Though the aqua ring had begun to rejuvenate some of that health that had been lost, Elio knew another one would finish her off.

Her red eyes narrowed in defiance and he knew that even if she was outmatched with a type advantage, she wasn't going to go quietly.

"Sorry I had put you in this." He said softly. "I'll make it up to you somehow."

But we're goin' down swingin'

In a surprise move, Nani initiated a recover, surrounding herself with a becalming healing aura that had brought her back up to a better position. Nowhere close to full strength, but she was still hanging on. The aqua ring aided partially in that recovery.

"Well, if you're gonna keep healing, we're gonna keep draining!" Kapono shot her once again with a giga drain and she stiffened from the super effective attack once more.

What? Why?

Nani glared at her foe as the tendrils continued their onslaught and she cried out, summoning a wall of bright pink light that illuminated the entire court before it shifted and became malleable to her entire serpentine body. A reactive pulse flowed down from her head to the connecting giga drain as it seemed to deflect the attack right back at Kapono with even more power than his giga drain. The volcarona spun around, crashing into the ground and was quite slow to get back into the air.

"What?! What was that?!" Hau cried in disbelief.

Elio couldn't believe it either, even as Nani lowered her head and went on the offensive, exiting the confines of her aqua ring as Kapono sensed her coming. He fired a fire spin that she quickly dodged and sharpened her tail into the blade once more.

"Elio's milotic just learned mirror coat." Professor Kukui said. "It's a special attack version of counter, waiting to get hit and deals back double the damage. Pretty impressive for a fake out."

"You think he knew?" Leilani asked him.

"Nah cousin. I saw the surprise on his face, just as much as we all were."

Nani had hit him with one iron tail and swung it around for a second. It slashed across Kapono's midsection before she suddenly twitched in pain yet again. Scorch marks lined her scaly skin as a combination of the fire spin and a newly inflicted burn from the volcarona's flame body had taken effect. She didn't care.

Hau had frozen for just a second and quickly tried to recompose himself. Fighting up close and a surprise mirror coat was definitely not in his plans at all. Kapono fought on instinct, finally able to repel her with a bug buzz after being hit with a second iron tail.

It was too quick to be countered with mirror coat. Nani coiled up just as she was shot with another giga drain, finally with that one being too much for her to take.

The milotic collapsed onto the ground from exhaustion. As she did, the fire spin finally burned out, leaving a few embers behind.

"Nani is unable to continue battling! Kapono is the winner! Four on two with Hau in favor"

Damn, Hau might've been really training to get better. He's been countering me at almost every move. Strongside and a burned Lochagos is all I have left. Not much to work off, but we'll fight to the last all the same.

Elio recalled his pokemon, trying to remain as calm as he could. No sense in giving Hau the satisfaction that he was being on the ropes.

"Strongside, let's go!" Elio wasn't liking that he was going to use his only fully healthy pokemon, but between the two of them, they had to take out four of Hau's.

"Darkest lariat!" Hau didn't even have a chance to comment before their pokemon launched into their attacks. Kapono formed a fire blast which Strongside dodged by rushing through the middle. As he landed on all fours and lunged forth, his arms wreathed in dark energy. Kapono's eyes went side as he was struck in his midsection, tumbling to the ground. Elio wasn't concerned about the flame body ability this time since Strongside's fire typing prevented him from getting burned.

He could fight as close as he wanted.

"Bug buzz! Get him off you!"

Elio shouted for another darkest lariat. As the volcarona vibed its wings in oscillating waves upon regaining flight, he had dove off to the side, jumping up and hammering his huge arms in an uppercut just like how he had seen his teammate Lochagos. Kapono's wings twitched and stiffened as the blow finally caused him to faint. He pitched up before arching back and diving straight into the court's floor where he lay unmoving.

Kukui gestured to Elio's side. "Kapono is unable to continue battling! Strongside is the winner! Three on two, Hau in favor!"

"Woo! Yes! Great job partner!" Elio shouted. Strongside growled in agreement, wanting to share the enthusiasm, but that was quickly replaced by their serious attitude. They were still playing from behind.

Hau shook his head. "Can always count on you to fight to the last eh? I may have more pokemon, but I can't relax just yet!"

Strongside bristled as he and Elio saw Hau throw out his noivern, Hauhea. Elio hadn't seen much of it in action aside from the brief times it fought alongside him and against Guzma in Lusamine's sanctum, so he had a bit of an unknown variable.

Kukui's hand went down for them to begin and he immediately formed what he could as a plan of attack.

Strongside rushed forward on all fours, building up speed in a flame charge. He knew of the noivern species to be quite fast, so matching that kind of speed was first on his priority. Hauhea tried to dodge, but unlike the more maneuverable Kapono, he was only better at evading going forward. Though the flame charge hadn't done much damage, he was both in close position to deal more attacks and had a speed boost from its subsequent stat flare.

Hauhea flapped his large wings, gaining altitude so that he looked down. Strongside watched him swing the wings down, sending glowing blue and white crescents of energy down at his foe.

That's air slash! "Look out!" Elio cried out of reflex, even though it was blatantly obvious he had to dodge. Strongside's powerful legs allowed him to jump aside, letting them strike the court floor and throw up dust particles from impact. Hauhea launched two more, nearly scoring a hit until Strongside in mid flip around one of them, powered his fiery belt and retaliated with a flamethrower that curved upward. Hauhea shrieked in surprise, forced to break off another air slash.

"Boomburst!"

Hauhea's large circular ears glowed before they unleashed a cone-like wave of sound that pierced the air with an unholy shriek. Elio grit his teeth and he saw that Leilani and Professor Kukui were a bit unnerved by the attack too. The boomburst traveled through the air much faster than the air slash and Strongside barely had enough time to use another flamethrower to be able to hold off and divert its power away from him to redirect the brunt of the attack. He landed in front of Elio on one knee and quickly stood, shaking off the effects of the deafening move.

Through the flames, Hauhea split it with a dragon pulse, catching the incineroar in the chest and blasting him back onto the ground. In contrast to Nani's, Hauhea's had been a continuous beam of dragon energy that was reddish purple in color.

"Holy shit, that dragon pulse hit hard." Elio muttered to himself. "No matter, Strongside get up close. He can't move that well!"

With a growl of acknowledgement, the fire cat had rushed forward, covering himself in another flame charge. He spun to avoid another dragon pulse and jumped up, hitting Hauhea once again. The noivern growled in protest, ready to fight back as Strongside plummeted back to the ground.

"Double kick!"

Hitting an airborne opponent like that was normally a difficult task, but with the two speed boosts from the flame charge allowed him to jump up again and close the distance quickly. Hauhea saw him coming despite that, trying to laterally move out of the way, however his wings came dangerously close. Strongside lashed out with both his feel, slamming into his foe sideways and Elio saw that the kick had damaged his wing and significantly impaired Hauhea's ability to stay in flight for prolonged periods.

He internally winced at that. It wasn't his or Strongside's intention to injure beyond battle, but they would be fools not to take advantage of Hau's predicament.

"Hauhea!" Hau cried out. His noivern struggled to stay in the air, but Elio saw the wound to his right wing was enough to barely keep it above the ground.

"Now Strongside, finish it with flamethrower!"

As he unleashed another jet of fire, Hauhea brought his wings together and crossed them out, releasing a rapidly approaching twister that caught Elio's starter pokemon in the center. Strongside yelped in surprise as it caught him in the middle of the vortex and pushed him all the way back to Elio's side. To his own surprise as well, Strongside was forced back into his ball. Not a moment later, Lochagos' was activated and he was standing in place.

"Nice whirlwind buddy!" Hau praised his pokemon. On the other side, Elio grit his teeth. Hau had outmaneuvered him yet again and now he was back in the unfavorable side. Hauhea was far quicker and was battling a Lochagos that had already seen enough action to weaken him. Interestingly enough, he didn't see a switch icon get taken off the scoreboard which he assumed the involuntary substitution did not count against him.

"That's not stopping me!" Elio shouted back. "Dragon being weak to dragon means I can hit you just as hard! Dragon claw!"

Lochagos shuddered as he rumbled forward, closing the gap between himself and the noivern. Hauhea was still unable to stay in the air for long, so he had waited until the larger dragon was close before taking flight. As he passed underneath and swiped up, the edge of the claws had missed Hauhea's tail by mere inches.

Hauhea launched a dragon pulse the moment the attack subsided towards the ground, but surprisingly, Lochagos still had a bit of spring into his step, digging his free arm into the ground and using it as a fulcrum to yank himself out of harm's way. The burn chipped away a little more of his health. Elio grimaced at that as Lochagos had no means to regain it outside of a pokemon center or medicine.

The burn also meant that it was only a matter of time before Lochagos succumbed to it if he wasn't being struck by attacks.

"Boomburst!"

Luckily, that didn't mean Hau was going to sit around and wait for it either.

The larger dragon threw his hands forward in a protect, blocking the damaging soundwaves from hitting. As it dropped, he stomped the ground in an earthquake that hadn't affected Hauhea, but made it a little off balance as he had to take a moment to steady himself before landing.

It was the time he needed to again close the distance with another dragon claw. Hauhea screeched in pain as Lochagos sideswiped his back. Maddeningly though, the attack had done far less damage since the burn kept its suppressive effects ongoing.

"Don't give in Hauhea! Air slash!"

"Sky uppercut! Knock it away!"

Both pokemon launched their attacks at the same time, Hauhea crossing his wings to shoot another pair of crescent slices while Lochagos had grabbed the winged dragon by its breastbone and used his free hand to deliver a devastating uppercut strike that knocked him into the air. He only had a second as the powerful scythes caused him to skid back and double over. Elio sucked in a breath at that, knowing that if he spent too much time in trying to regain his stance, Hauhea would escape the little ambush he was in the middle of setting up.

Instinct kicked in for the noivern as his wings caught the micro currents in the air. He took flight for just a second, before the wound caused by Strongside's previous kick had reared its ugly head once more.

"Now's your chance! Scale shot!"

With much practice, Lochagos' extendable gauntlets flared to life and he tossed them both in quick succession. Still caught in the air; Hauhea had little place to dodge and Hau finally realized that Elio had outplayed him.

Both scale shields struck his dragon midair, causing a massive explosion that threw chalky dust everywhere. At the bottom, Hauhea plummeted and impacted the ground with enough force to indent the court's smooth surface.

"Hauhea is no longer able to battle further!" Kukui threw a hand to Elio. "Lochagos is the winner! It is now two on two!"

"Holy shit." Leilani put her hands to her mouth in disbelief. "It's actually coming down to the wire."

I've really tied it up. Though he wasn't participating in the fighting directly, Elio felt exhausted. He had worked from behind to even the stakes and both having to pre-plan strategies as well as come up with them on the fly were taking its toll on him. While they had two pokemon apiece, Hau was still in better shape with the two that he had left were yet to even enter the battle. Elio had one that was both burned and exhausted while Strongside was in good enough condition.

"Mahalo for that." Hau whispered and placed Hauhea's ball on his own belt. He was all business as he took out his next pokemon. "Acheron, you're up!"

Ah the vaporeon. Elio stared as it landed on its feet and stared up at Lochagos. The bubble jet pokemon showed no signs of being deterred or intimidated by his dragon's towering height or threatening stance.

"I think it's time to show you, you're not the only one with this!" Hau started the battle straightaway. "Aqua ring!"

He has aqua ring too?! Elio watched Acheron close his eyes and conjure several circles of water that pooled in the center with a slightly luminescent sheen. Like Nani's, it remained in one place as a wellspring to where the user could enjoy smaller, but continuous bursts of healing.

Lochagos didn't like that and jingled his arm scales, bringing the gauntlets together to create a clanging scales attack. The soundwave pulsed out in a wide fan and Acheron shuddered, taking a significant amount of damage. However he had only been pushed to the end of the aqua ring and almost immediately its healing capabilities began to take effect.

The water eeveelution jumped up and down as Lochagos followed it up by charging forth with a dragon claw. Moments later, a thin layer of mist had formed overhead and raindrops began to patter down on the court. As Lochagos reached Acheron and slashed down, the vaporeon used the cover of the rain to shroud itself away and he came up empty.

Elio heard his pokemon snarl in frustration, combined with the mounting exhaustion. Lochagos had battled far longer than he had normally, barely hanging on. His movements were clearly more sluggish. The one thing the rain did do was to help diminish the suffering burn damage.

Yet the vaporeon used its natural characteristics to blend in water as a means of ambushing its foes. While not completely invisible as if it were in a lake or pond, Elio had a very difficult time in picking out its location.

Lochagos glanced around, trying to find it as well. He got his answer when a blast of rainbow colored energy lanced out from the downpour, causing him to barely throw up one of his gauntlets to repulse it. As the aurora beam got sent back, multiple shapes began to form, all firing off more aurora beam attacks.

Hau again playing the crafty one. Using Acheron's natural invisibility in water and then double team further confuse him with a foe that was already hard enough to hit on its own. Lochagos dodged a couple of the beams and used another repulse that repelled two more that took down some of the decoys. However with multiple angles, it was only a matter of time before he was hit.

Lochagos threw up a protect barrier, lasting just long enough as Hau tried to no avail to break it with both a surf and a hydro pump. The copies from the double team had just expired, shimmering back into the original which had been along his left flank.

"Earthquake!" Elio seized the chance. "Before he has a chance to do it again!"

He stamped the ground, sending a shockwave that caught Acheron off balance, but just visible enough to see where his foe was located.

Working quickly, he vibrated his scales and struck them together like a pair of cymbals to send another devastating shockwave of clanging scales.

Except the fatigue had really started to catch up. Just a few seconds too slow and Acheron had recovered on all fours to once again hide in the rain. Lochagos was starting to get frustrated, but immediately moved towards the aqua ring, where he'd too suspect that the vaporeon would be hiding.

A flash of movement caught his eye as Acheron darted past Lochagos before launching a dark purple orb that flew through the air to splash against his back. The dragon cried out in surprise, falling forward even though the shadow ball did no actual damage thanks to his bulletproof ability.

"That's your mistake!" Elio shouted to him. "You know bulletproof makes him immune to shadow ball!"

"Actually it's not!" Hau was grinning back, a little too good for his tastes. "I just needed it to unlock Acheron's last move! Show 'em buddy! Last resort!"

Lochagos tried to throw up a protect in time, but the burn damage had stopped him mid act. Acheron finally came into full view as a ring of golden stars circled his body. They closed in to empower the eeveelution as it rocketed forward in a similar manner to a quick attack. The charge had five prongs akin to a star as he hit Lochagos mid-swing in a reactive dragon claw that whipped his head back. Lochagos' footsteps shook the ground as he stumbled back down onto all fours.

Elio had held his breath as his pokemon finally gave out, the fatigue and exhaustion in his limp simply too much for him to take. He hadn't wanted to have him battling more than needed, but Lochagos had done more than his share, especially with all the crafting he had to do to come from behind.

"Lochagos is unable to continue battling! Acheron is the winner! It is two on one, Hau in favor once again!"

Elio looked back up at the screen as he recalled Lochagos into his ball. Only strongside's icon remained on the scoreboard, two switches he had left now meant nothing since he was down to his final pokemon.

Thanks for working your ass off and then some for me. I can't stop saying how proud I am to be your trainer.

"It's just you and me, partner." He said quietly. Elio held Strongside's ball close to his chest and tossed it out. The heel pokemon growled loudly, flexing his arms and baring a teeth filled grin at Acheron on the other side. He showed just a small amount of discomfort from the downpouring rain, but didn't let it affect him all that much.

Hau hadn't gotten the chance to issue a command when Strongside launched into his usual opening attack, a flame charge. Acheron jumped out of the aqua ring, vanishing into the rain.

"Double team!" He heard Hau shout. "And then last resort!"

"Use darkest lariat!" Elio knew that attack would ignore the evasive boosts Hau had gotten. As Acheron made multiple copies of itself in different directions, Strongside gathered the darkness energy in his arms and charged one of them, hammering both forward and sending the true vaporeon to the ground. He pounced further to his attack, suddenly breaking off when Acheron had conjured the same star pattern across and launched himself forward. There was one advantage he got was that the rain had stopped falling.

His aim was just a little high as Strongside crouched low, allowing him to pass overhead. Feet went up and he planted a swift double kick right to the underside. Acheron cried out, landing in the aqua ring and having suffered serious damage from the combo attack.

Elio wasn't sure why, but his mind lost track for a moment as he slapped in the incinium Z crystal into his ring. It shimmered to life as his brain went into muscle memory with the dark type pose, crouching low and spreading his arms up and out to mimic a pouncing predator upon its prey.

"Z-move unleash! Malicious moonsault!"

Hau's face went pale. "Quick! Uh, rain dance!"

Acheron moved to dodge, but jumped up and down as the clouds once more rolled over the arena, pelting the court with water. At the same time; Strongside was finally powered up with zenith energy as he sprinted forward, launching himself into the air as Acheron finally showed a strain of uneasiness. As he fell, the heel pokemon twisted his body so that he dropped down with his elbow at the front.

He could barely hear Hau shouting for a hydro pump as Strongside slammed into Acheron with incredible force, throwing up sprays of rainwater and dust to again obscure the impact. The vaporeon was tossed out of the court, crashing to the side where it rolled on its belly, eyes closed and out of the fight.

"Acheron is incapable of battling!" Kukui thrust a hand towards Elio's side. "Strongside is the winner! It is now a one on one! Winner of the next round will clinch the battle in their favor!"

"Damn," Hau made a fist and mustered a smile. "I should've put you away there. But I guess I can't expect predictability from you anymore brah."

Elio knew his final pokemon, Auwana the decidueye. Like Strongside to him, Auwana was Hau's longtime partner and the one that battled alongside him since the beginning.

I've got both advantages in fire and dark, but I know Hau anticipated this. Can't rush in.

"Looking back when we both started," Hau said. "And how far we've come since. You've always pushed me to be the best trainer I can. For what it's worth, I'm sorry that I dragged you behind when we went to Aether Paradise…that I wasn't strong enough to protect Lillie or anything else. Hilahila. Especially since after that you," his voice trailed off as Professor Kukui suddenly looked interested.

No, don't say it. I can't let Mom know.

"It's okay." Elio told him. "Gladion understands that it wasn't you that caused it all. Lillie knew the risks when she went to Aether Paradise and chose that to protect you and all those kids at the orphanage." He didn't want to add how stupid he thought it was, but more that he was angry at himself for easily being duped into a diversion that almost made him lose her.

"If I was Lillie, I'd have done the same thing. Don't feel like you're ever dead weight. Okay?"

"Okay." Hau said. "But just…thanks for being my rival, the one to push me to my limits…to get better. This has been an amazing journey to see all of Alola, to experience kama'aina. How it's more than just a group of islands in the middle of the ocean. It's the people, the places and the pokemon that all make it unlike anywhere else."

"All thanks to our great professor here too." Elio gestured to Kukui, who tried his best not to beam back at them. "If it weren't for him giving us a pokemon, none of this would be possible."

"See this is what I live for around here cousins! Woo! The rage spirit of trainers forging the bonds of friendship!"

"Anyway," Hau brandished Auwana's worn poke ball. "Are you ready to lose this battle?"

"Not if Strongside has anything to say about it."

Hau gave off a laugh and tossed his final pokemon out on the field. Auwana landed with a deft glide of his green and brown wings, eyeing Strongside cooly.

Under normal circumstances, they would be the best of friends. But not now.

Elio had also not fought against a decidueye before.

"Auwana, spirit shackle!"

Before Strongside could react, the tall owl had grabbed the long cord on its side, holding it above its head as a bowstring. It had used a quill from its wing as the arrow and fired it just as quickly as it had drawn.

The arrow soared across, hitting Strongside in the chest before suddenly extending a thin cord of purplish shadow energy that connected his torso wrapped with the shadow of his lean frame.

Strongside leapt forward in a flame charge, but stopped just short as the anchor of the tether kept him firmly in place from going farther. The rain quenched the fire with a hiss.

"Huh?!"

"That's spirit shackle!" Hau said proudly as Strongside still attempted to get free, only for Auwana to dart in and slash his front with a leaf blade. The tall owl pokemon swung it like a tantō, holding it in a switchblade grip. "Stitches him to his shadow for a brief time."

"Well shit."

"It's about to get even worse for you," Hau immediately slid a dark violet zenith crystal into his ring. Elio knew what was happening and started to panic slightly. Strongside was still tethered to his shadow.

Hau performed the ghost type dance, crouching low like he had done with the dark, except his hands were just next to his face in a peek-a-boo pose rather than a pouncing predator. The energy flickering around him finally coalesced together in a tightly focused connection. Auwana brushed his feathers, hunching low as Strongside continued to tug at the cords keeping him pinned.

"Z-move unleash!" Hau shouted. "Channel spirit shackle into Sinister Arrow Raid!"

Auwana took to the sky and dove forward with plenty of arrows behind it. Elio wasn't sure how many.

Strongside finally was able to free himself after the shackle had expired, giving him his mobility back.

"Strongside, flame charge and overheat! We're not making this easy for him!"

He did as asked, rushing to the center of the court while cloaked in flames. Skidding to a halt, he opened his mouth, aiming straight for the oncoming attacker. Each arrow was inflamed with ghostly purple energy and followed Auwana diving in a helix pattern.

The owl didn't change his course even as Strongside launched the beam of white hot fire up towards him. He shifted slightly to the side, swooping just above Strongside and flipping to land right behind him. The overheat uselessly dissipated from the rain.

As Strongside rotated his body to face him, the other arrows struck home in a circle around him.

And then they detonated.

Some didn't hit him directly, but they exploded like grenades and bathed the entire area in the spectral power. Each one lashed out with a cord, snaring Strongside's limbs and firmly trapping him in place.

"Overheat once more!" Elio shouted as Auwana dove in for another leaf blade.

Strongside swept his head side to side as he blasted the arrow anchors, of what he could hit. Several of them went up in flames and their cords snapped free. Auwana was forced back and away to avoid getting hit by the fire attack. With a straining heave, the heel pokemon was able to free himself of all of them despite suffering the massive damage from the Z-move.

The rain finally stopped, letting Elio sigh with relief. Acheron had set it up before he went down to lessen the effects of any fire attacks on the obviously vulnerable Auwana.

"Darkest lariat!"

Auwana looked a little surprised and caught off guard, caught on his back foot and narrowly avoided being hit again. Strongside barreled into a rough shape of feathers that exploded up and served as a visual distraction for Auwana to slip away once again.

"Aerial ace! Keep to his blind spots!" Hau shouted. His pokemon kept around as Strongside frantically looked for his foe. Auwana used two small light daggers at the edges of his wings and slashed up, flipping in the air as he did. Strongside staggered back, swinging a darkest lariat in retaliation, but Auwana once again vanished, only to appear again from behind for another aerial ace.

This isn't good. Strongside survived a Z-move and now he isn't able to get a hit in!

Had that been Hau's strategy this whole time? Decidueye's natural ability to stealthily sneak through the shadows and stay to Strongside's blind spot in quick rapid hits?

Elio had to somehow even the playing field.

Strongside snarled in frustration, starting to finally get to him on a target he couldn't hit. His belt glowed red hot before he unleashed a flamethrower and torqued his hips so that it blanketed a wider area. It had been luck that Auwana was a bit too fast for his own good and he ran straight into the fire.

With a screech, he darted away to shed the few feathers that had caught ablaze. Elio seized his chance, shouting at Strongside for a blaze kick.

The surprise and interruption of the aerial ace and leaf blade further disrupted Auwana's cadence. Strongside jumped to close the distance, lashing out with his knee and ball of his foot in a lethal roundhouse.

Blaze kick connected, tossing Auwana to the ground though as he tumbled back, he had twisted his own body to calmly aim another spirit shackle that damaged and tethered Strongside once more. Auwana took advantage himself and vanished once again into the shadows.

"Use flamethrower behind you, don't let your back get exposed!"

Auwana was quick to try and flank him, this time a bit more cautious. Instead of closing in for another leaf blade, he shot a second spirit shackle attack that anchored down and snared Strongside's free arm, essentially trapping him in place for a brief time.

That wasn't enough to stop him either, while not able to turn his body, Strongside jumped into the air, jutting his feet out to shoot a flamethrower from his legs. Caught off guard again, Auwana took the hit, suffering massive damage and only able to escape the onslaught with another featherdance decoy.

"One last time buddy! Leaf blade!"

"Darkest lariat!"

Strongside finally wrested free, able to break out of the tether by brute strength as the first one finally faded. He gathered more dark energy and jumped to meet Auwana lunging out of the shadows from the side, twisting his body again to meet him. The blades glowed a fierce green, empowered by the ability of overgrow.

"Wait a sec," Elio muttered to himself. Auwana's free wing went to another spirit shackle, attempting to shield itself with yet another feather dance and use the arrow to aim at an easy target. "No! Strongside, blaze kick! It's a ruse!"

His pokemon looked stunned in mid lunge, but did so anyway to swing his flaming leg around. Similar to Auwana, the fiery aura of the ability blaze gave a boost to his fire type attack. The blaze kick punched through Auwana's mid-strike feather dance he had prepped before the leaf blade and hooked the owl's head. Strongside landed on the ground, looking up to see Auwana plummeting down, just beginning to open his wings to catch himself. Another arrow quill was in hand for a spirit shackle.

He spun around once more in a hook blaze kick just as the decidueye let the arrow loose, only having a fraction of a second to aim. The impact caused the arrow to go wide left as Auwana stumbled on his feet.

He stood for a few seconds before falling to his knees and over on his side.

Hau and Elio had both been holding their breath, letting it out as the dust settled and Strongside still standing. His hands were on his knees as he breathed in and out heavily from the exhaustion of the battle.

Kukui shook his head out of whatever thoughts he had. "Auwana is unable to continue battling! Strongside is the winner! Therefore the match has been clinched to Elio! Congratulations!"

"Wooo!" Elio made a fist and ran out onto the court. Strongside grunted in pain as his trainer nearly tackled him in celebration. "Absolute grade A job out there! I love it!"

Strongside gave a grin at his trainer before falling to a knee in exhaustion.

"Yeah, I know you're tired. A rest that is well earned buddy."

He finally got up and crossed with his trainer as Hau was in the middle of helping up his decidueye.

"Mahalo a lot for giving it your all partner." The owl hooted softly and glanced at their opponents. "We couldn't win…but we'll get better. I promise."

"And thanks for giving a battle that was worth winning." Elio smiled at him. "Both you and Hau really gave us a run for our money."

"Heh, I bet!" Hau laughed and put his hands behind his head. "It's just been such a crazy, but awesome journey and we're just getting started!"

He held his hand out and with a big smile. "I really wanted me and my pokemon to feel how it felt to beat you last time. So you keep on training and become the Champion, because I'm gonna train even harder and come for you!"

"Deal." They clasped hands just as Strongside and Auwana had done the same.

Kukui and Leilani were clapping as they finally let go and faced them as they approached.

"That was nothing short of incredible!" Kukui smiled at them both. "Brothers in arms indeed! I'm glad that you two are showing prime examples of what I imagine this new League of Alola to be! In fact, I'd say both of you are more than ready to take it on, provided that you'll pass the preliminary light screen check!"

"Yeah we made a promise of whoever won this battle would be the first to take a crack at the League." Elio said.

"Aaaand since this guy is the better one between us," Hau stuck a thumb towards him. "He gets to go first…that way I can see what kind of new strategies he does."

"And cheer him on." Leilani reminded him.

"Heh, yeah. That too of course."

Elio rolled his eyes, knowing that his best friend was joking for the most part. "Right on. So professor, you said that I had to fill out some paperwork for this hai aku?"

"Yes you do. If you follow me, I'll get you squared away with the receptionist." He winked at Hau and Leilani as he led Elio away. "Don't worry, I will have him back here faster than an aqua jet!"

---

It had taken just twenty minutes as Elio poured through the forms and filled out all the blanks he had in the paperwork at the League's administration office. His hand cramped slightly when he was done and Kukui had shuffled the papers off somewhere, letting him know that he'd be contacted very soon to see if his challenge had been accepted or rejected.

With little else to do, he had rejoined Hau and Leilani for a dinner at one of the League's food courts and stopped at one of the malasada stands just outside the arena. Hau was more than eager to check that one out.

It could be one day that I step foot in there as an actual challenger. Just like I used to see all the time in Kanto.

It would be another full week as Elio once again settled back into life at home when Rotom Dex had buzzed with a message.

Ho'omaika'i'ana! Trainer Elio Kai Northstar; the Pokemon League of Alola recognizes your full accomplishment of the Island Trials and Grand Trials and hereby formally accepts your challenge!

---

And that does it! Elio settles his rivalry with Hau, gets to tour the new Alola League and has put in an accepted challenge that has culminated from the months and struggles during his island challenge.

There will be one short chapter that I hope gets out pretty quick as a bit of a preliminary prior to the start of the Pokemon League battles and then we're off to the real action!

Translations:

Hai aku - Declaration

Papa aku - Forbidden

Hūpō - Stupid

Kāhāhā - Surprise

Ua Mau ke Ea o ka ʻĀina i ka Pono - The Life of the Land is Perpetuated in Righteousness

Uhane - Soul

Hilahila - Shameful/I feel ashamed

Ho'omaika'i'ana - Congratulations/Well done

As always, mahalo for reading and reviewing. You give my writing purpose and I'll see you hopefully in a short time for a smaller update that gets us right to the beginning of the Elite Four!

Brav