Alola readers.
I wholeheartedly apologize for this being a week late. There were a bunch of things in both my writing and personal schedule that prevented me from having enough time to get this out as expected. (too much Destiny raiding :P) I'll be sure to double my efforts in making sure that the next installment rectifies my normal updating routine next week. It's not fair to you guys to have to wait longer because I was unprepared/procrastinating.
Parts of this chapter and the drafts from the subsequent one caused me to have to make a decision and instead of these being two-shorter-than-normal chapters, I merged them into an average one. This one introduces a character I debated about bringing in for a long time due to some plot risks involved. I finally made the decision and hope it works out in the end with what I have planned.
A big thanks to all the great feedback I got last update.
Enjoy the chapter everyone.
So Mallow's trial totem pokemon is a huge lurantis! I heard it moves fast and swiftly using its petal scythes like swords! Elio please be careful! I want you to call me adorable more times! Yes…I had to ask Kukui on what he said. Let's just say his smile grew a little bigger than normal, with this coming from someone who smiles on a minute basis.
You know, spending some time watching TV makes me wonder; what else is out there? I know Professor Burnet is doing her research on that plus getting Nebby home, but could there truly be life other than what's in Ultra Space? Heh, well that's what Professor Burnet calls it; I guess there's no real term yet.
And I heard from one of her colleagues that a meteor that is headed for our world changed course! How is that possible? Could whatever control it help Nebby get back to its home?
Dear Elio,
I hope you conquer your trial. Don't you worry about being mean to me. I understand where you are coming from and how your father has hurt you. What's important is that you will always have my support and you try to better yourself. Now go and be my hero! We got some relaxation to do and I am totally onboard for getting Hau and Leilani to confess!
I miss you.
Sincerely,
Lillie
Before him, the massive creature rose to its full height of nearly twice its own. It looked down on him with dark red eyes as it took a ready stance. It spread its two arms out with the petal blades glistening in the sunlight.
"Rotom?"
"Yeah? Bzzt?"
"The totem?"
"Oh right. We got a new pokemon detected! If I wazn't zo terrified! Thiz would be eazzzy! Lurantis. Bloom sickle pokemon. It is the evolved form of fomantis. As it slashes at its enemies, it looks as if it's dancing. Its elegant appearance have made some call it the most glamorous grass pokemon. Lurantis is a grass type. Additional information is available upon catching this pokemon."
"Bring it on!" Elio challenged, a fierce expression taking place on his features. "You wanna dance? C'mon!"
Lurantis cried again, again causing the boy to tense up, but he remained strong.
"Rufflet, let's lead this off!" Elio selected his brave eaglet first. The thought had crossed his mind that he often was using him as the namesake leadoff pokemon.
Strategy's developing. Every team member is starting to have their roles in my scheme.
Rufflet was undaunted by the larger totem, even as a familiar yellow-orange aura of energy seemed to appear into existence. It surrounded the totem before plunging itself into its body, feeding energy. Lurantis stiffened from its power boost before emitting a sharp cry and flexing its long petals in a response.
"ALERT! The totem pokemon'z aura hazz fluctuated! Bzzt! Zcanz zhow that itz zpeed ztat haz received a zignificant boozt! Bzzt!"
"Wait, a boost to speed?!" Crap, that pretty much eliminated my plan to beat it with being faster.
Rufflet squawked, flapping his wings and already took to the sky.
Elio made a fist. "Wing attack, let's go!"
The bird nodded, spreading out his glowing wings and swooping down.
Lurantis reacted faster than he had expected in unleashing a flurried leafage attack. Rufflet squawked in protest, trying his best to fight it off. However the leaves had prevailed with a wind force strong enough to send him tumbling back. While in mid-flight, he spread his wings to catch the winds, recovering easily.
"Good job buddy." Elio watched him again. "We'll find a weakness outta you yet."
Rufflet dove again for another wing attack and the totem did the same thing, whipping up another flurry of leaves to meet him.
Elio gasped as the smaller pokemon's eyes narrowed and he vanished just for the blink of a single eye, heading up and over as if performing a flip.
Before reappearing right underneath the totem's large petals, slashing with his wings up in a move that actually made the totem flinch. Lurantis hissed with annoyance and prepared another leafage, but that was misfired as Rufflet disappeared just as quickly as he came and struck it again squarely in the chest in a matter of moments.
"Holy!"
Wow. Is that a new move? Even faster than the lurantis with its speed gain!
"Looks like we got an ace up our sleeve!"
"A literal one at that!" Rotom exclaimed. "Rufflet juzt learned aerial ace! It'z a move that can alwayzzz hit itz target! Bzzt!"
"Good to hear. Aerial ace it again Rufflet!"
With a caw, he got to work; vanishing while picking up speed before slashing upwards and then downwards. Lurantis skidded to a halt after being pushed back and hissed loudly again. Rufflet cawed right back in defiance.
The totem charged again, brandishing both its petals as if they were giant swords. As Rufflet moved to intercept it, the huge creature vanished in midair to reappear just forward. One of the petals slashed Rufflet upwards and then downwards. It all happened so fast, Elio had no time to issue a command for dodging or another attack. His little bird was knocked out quickly, dropping to the ground.
Wait, this thing knows aerial ace too?
"Sorry buddy." Elio recalled him back to his great ball, stowing him and readying Grimer's. "This isn't over."
Maybe I can poison or paralyze it with Charjabug's spark. Either way, we need to get something going otherwise this is going to be a very unfavorable fight.
The totem moved almost the moment Grimer entered the field, firing off a swarm of leafage attacks. His sludge pokemon while slow in overall speed, was quick in wit as he avoided them all with his minimize attack.
"Brutal swing!"
"Grime!" He popped back to normal size, stretching out his arm and swinging it like a hammer directly at the totem's feet. The amorphous limb was thinner than the rest of his body, yet the force had struck and knocked the bigger creature off balance with enough power to slam it unto the trunk of a tree in an explosion of dust and dirt. As it collapsed on the ground and rose back up on its feet; Elio could see huge chunks of bark and wood inside that had splintered off from the sheer strength of the impact.
Grimer belched a cloud of poison gas that was easily avoided and he quickly minimized again to avoid another leafage attack. Lurantis narrowed its eyes again, giving off a stare that was daring them to continue their attack.
Elio narrowed his own eyes. Thus far, the totem had been primarily defensive, only seriously attacking when he had dealt fair amounts of damage with Rufflet's newly learned aerial ace. Grimer's own brutal swing had done a number as well. Unfortunately to Elio's dismay, his poison touch ability hadn't activated when he contacted through the move.
The totem hissed, firing its leafage attack. Grimer didn't have to be told to use his minimize and shrank down.
As if waiting for the cue, Lurantis sprang forward, swinging its glowing petals up. The unexpected aerial ace attack caught Grimer off guard as it ignored his evasive stat boost from the minimize. It brought the slash down again and would've succeeded in a second consecutive attack had it not been for Elio's quick thinking.
Grimer's instincts took over and his slimy hand lashed out, seizing its left petal and firmly holding it. Before Lurantis could wiggle itself free, there was a gleam in his eye as a blue aura of energy shimmered around the bigger totem. The disable tactic had worked, temporarily preventing it from using aerial ace.
He didn't stop there, sucking a breath and belching out a noxious gas that enveloped the Lurantis' body. It stopped short, shuddering in pain as the poison began to settle on its body.
Perfect.
The creature prepared another leafage attack that forced Grimer to minimize himself again in order to avoid it. However in doing so, he had inadvertently freed the totem from his grasp, allowing it to scramble away and swat at the air to disperse the poisonous gases.
Elio knew the damage had still been done and the poison would eventually wear it down. All he need was remain in the game long enough that the team outlasted it.
Hissing in annoyance, Lurantis disappeared, striking with a second aerial ace. The attack bypassed his evasiveness boosts to knock him out of the fight.
Aw no. This is going south really fast. This totem has all the tricks and things to disrupt my strategy.
Elio shook his head as he returned Grimer and sent out Charjabug. After that it was only Torracat and Nani left.
And it hadn't even called on an ally pokemon yet.
What is it waiting for? A reserve? A point to turn the tide?
The poison had been the only good thing he had done so far. It whittled away at the totem's energy bit by bit, however even with the infliction; Lurantis seemed to still have enough energy for another go.
Lurantis wasn't sure of what to make of this new foe. Elio's own battery pokemon sat squarely on the opposite end with tiny arcs of electricity crackling down her thin body.
The totem attacked with another one of its piercing war cries, spreading both sickle petals apart and crouching low. It shot forward with astounding speed, bolstered by the additional aura boost that it had received. A leafage attack was fired first.
"Quick, go for a charge beam and dispel that leafage!"
Charjabug obeyed, pulling energy from within in between her two small mandibles before firing it straight at the oncoming cyclone. The electricity immediately latched onto the objects, chaining and arcing through one another to create a big intrinsic cage of energy that shorted out and burned all of the leaves approaching it into a fine ashy crisp.
Lurantis seemed to anticipate that and lunged forward not a moment later, striking swiftly with another aerial ace attack. It had used the leafage and Charjabug's own attacks to conceal its own movements.
Elio was trapped between having his pokemon take damage from direct attacks or be subjected to its tricks and take damage anyway.
Charjabug was certainly resilient, shrugging off the attack and smashing into the totem's side with a spark. The two creatures connected sides for a moment before interestingly enough, she overpowered and sent it toppling to the ground. The lurantis was back on its feet in an instant, but it did jerk and flinch from the nagging poison that covered parts of its massive frame.
"Use mud shot!"
Let's see if we can slow it down a little.
With a hissing cry, Charjabug fired off several globs of sticky earth that strongly struck and splashed over the totem's side. As it moved to dodge a second attack, Sun did notice that the first one made it slightly slower.
It worked!
Lurantis hissed violently at Charjabug before climbing up the side of one of the trees. It spread both of its arms up into the sky, issuing a shrill cry that made the hairs on Elio's body stand up on end and was nearly loud enough to make him wish he had brought earplugs.
Yeah, let's get muffs or something next time. I'd rather not go deaf.
Movement caught Sun's eye and he stared up at the trees as a bird of some kind flapped its wings and swooped down to join the battle by the lurantis' side. It had a plumage of black feathers on its head with a white face and belly. The narrow triangular beak was an orange color at its base with a red band and finally black at the tip.
"New pokemon haz been detected! Bzzt!" Rotom piped up from Elio's side before swiveling around to face him. "Trumbeak. Bugle beak pokemon. It is the evolved form of pikipek. As it eats berries, it stores seeds within its beak and can fire them in single shots, bursts or in a continuous stream. It can bend its beak to produce a hundreds of varieties of calls and brand itself a nuance for its neighbors. Trumbeak is a normal and flying type. Additional information is available upon catching this pokemon."
Elio frowned at the totem's new ally. While he was counting on having to fight ally and support pokemon, he had expected it earlier and a grass type.
Every other trial with the totem battle had a similar typed pokemon fighting alongside it. The raticate in the Verdant Cavern had an ally ratatta, wishiwashi in Brooklet hill had both singular wishiwashi and alomomola and finally salazzle had that army of salandit lackeys.
More like adds. I have to start seeing if I can invest in some multi-hit moves to clear them out.
Now it seemed that either the trials were aware of his thinking or were throwing him a curveball. If Elio's intuition was right; it was probably both. He was already beginning to factor in the trumbeak as a variable and ready to see what role it was going to play in this battle.
Is it going to be a separate offensive tool like the ratatta were? Or supporting similar to wishiwashi and salandit?
If he could get some good news out of the new ally on the opposite side; it was that trumbeak's flying typing rendered it vulnerable to electric moves.
"We're gonna shift our focus Charjabug. Hit our new friend with charge beam!"
She hissed in compliance, gathering another blast of electricity between her teeth. Aim adjusted, she fired it the moment she had stored enough power. As the long beam of crackling energy lanced out towards the trumbeak, the totem sprang into action.
It launched itself forward, putting it directly in between the attack and the wide-eyed trumbeak that had been a little horrified to move. Placing its sickle petals together in an "X" shape, it expertly met the attack head on, dispelling it with a fierce cry and a spread of its arms. As soon as it was finished, it had crouched low to the ground.
Behind it, the ally trumbeak used the momentum to soar right over the larger totem's head. Its beak glowed and it opened up, shooting out a glowing white fist sized rock at eye-blurring speed.
Charjabug only had enough time to partially hiss in protest before it slammed into her top, knocking her over. The trumbeak continued its assault, rock blasting charjabug again and a third time.
"No!"
Charjabug laid on her side, weakly struggling to get back up for her trainer. As she did, the trumbeak landed beside her.
It was a big mistake. The totem lurantis knew it too and it hissed as well, trying to warn its ally to avoid going near the part-electric type.
With her remaining strength, she charged up a spark attack to smash forward into the bird's side. It caused them both to tumble to a stop in the center of the dirt arena, both prone forms unmoving.
Elio sighed, but admired again the resiliency of his pokemon and their unwillingness to give up. He took out Nani's ball and returned Charjabug, thanking her for the efforts she had put in. As soon as her ball was slipped back on his belt, he threw in his milotic.
Watching from the side, the three trial captains were aware that Elio had a milotic on his team, but both Mallow and Lana couldn't hide their surprise.
"Wait, does Elio know he could have left his milotic at the pokemon center? It's water, so what good is she going to do against a grass type?"
"You never know." Lana looked back at the field where Nani and the lurantis had eyed one another coolly. "Anything is possible. Remember his starter is Torracat and I haven't seen him deploy him just yet."
"Elio probably has a plan. Good one on saving his fire type starter for last." Kiawe said. "Although the lurantis has certainly got some new tricks up its sleeves."
Mallow proudly put her hands on her hips. "It took a painstakingly long amount of time to teach it them, but it's definitely not done dipping into that bag! Let's see how our little Sunshine handles them."
"Speaking of tricks, I'm surprised the lurantis had called in the trumbeak. Is the castform still around?"
"Oh yes it is!"
Kiawe glanced back at the battle, just as Nani unleashed a water pulse that the lurantis slashed through while its leafage counter was swiftly dodged. "Elio best realize this battle is about to get a lot harder. He better take it out quickly."
"Rotom, you have any plan?!" Elio was close to the ground having dodged a spray of water himself that was deflected.
"At thiz rate, the poizon will not be enough to take the totem down before you loze everyone! Bzzt!"
"We've still got our Z-move right?"
"Affirmative! But do you remember how long it took to charge up?"
"Doesn't matter," Elio didn't take his eyes off the battle as another one of Nani's water pulse attacks staggered the totem backwards despite the ineffective amount of damage. It slammed both sickle petals into the ground to steady itself before standing back up and uttering that wretched teeth-grinding cry again.
Elio gritted his teeth and was just a moment from having his own hands fly up to his ears.
I'm going to get me a pair of earplugs as soon as this is over.
More movement was spotted at the treetops as a small teardrop shaped pokemon descended down at the big lurantis' side. It was grayish white with a pair of dark glassy eyes.
Sun stared at it, I swear I've seen this pokemon before.
"Rotom?"
"Already on it! Bzzt! New pokemon detected! Castform. Weather pokemon. Castform's cellular structure can be altered depending on temperature and humidity. It is notable for having its entire form change while in strong weather conditions. Castform is a normal type. Additional information is available upon catching this pokemon."
"Wow a castform." Elio remembered seeing it alongside the weatherman on the morning news when he watched it with his mother before school. "What's the idea now?"
The smaller creature happily cried out before spinning around and launching a bright orange orb into the open sky. It burst in midair and Elio felt the sunlight hitting patches of his skin to intensify in temperature.
The sunlight's harsher beating down had made things hotter and he immediately retreated to a more shady section of the jungle. He saw that the castform had slightly changed its appearance, taking on a reddish orange color with an array of clear pale appendages that resembled a hood over the top and sides of its head.
"Be advised!" Rotom said, joining him. "The castform haz uzed zunny day! It intenzifiez ztrong sunlight! Bzzt! It increazez the ztrength of fire type attackz and reducez the ztrength of water type attackz! And it haz become a fire type itself! Bzzt!"
Increases the power of fire moves? That means-wait…no. I don't want to play my ace yet.
Any other trainer would see themselves at a disadvantage, pulling out his pokemon. But Elio had a feeling that the totem wasn't done dipping into its bag of tricks yet.
Neither are we.
Elio pointed directly at the totem. "You're outta reinforcements. We're wrapping this up. Dragon pulse!"
Nani formulated her glowing sphere of energy, firing it away. The totem lurantis deftly rolled right out of its path, causing it to explode at the trunk of a large tree three successive times as her honed technique was displayed for all to see.
Kiawe was the only one that was unfazed at Elio's improved dragon pulse attack, having been the only one to see it in person firsthand.
"I didn't even know you can use dragon pulse like that!" Lana exclaimed, her eyes sparkling with admiration.
Lurantis was relatively uninterested or unimpressed. It shot another leafage attack through the dragon pulse, parting ways around it that slammed into Nani and knocking her over. She coiled up again, glaring at the totem.
"How about we show them what we got for our iron tail?"
She nodded flicking it at the end. Her four fins extended with a sliding metallic sound just like unsheathing a blade and glowed white as the power coursed through. Nani waved it threateningly at the totem pokemon.
Elio had worked with her for a little while in helping to balance efficiency and defensive moves with the swordlike move. She was able to deftly swing to strike, slam it into the ground or even spear opponents.
Yeah that's right. We got a sword iron tail!
The totem lurantis gave off an unimpressed huff before one of its long sickle petals began to glow an amber aura and turn a brilliant orange. The energy coalesced, forming together into a massive solid blade as an extension of its arm. Its entire appearance looked to have jagged edges and contoured angles along its sleek surface as well as a buzzing noise that sounded like a high pitched power saw. Lurantis flicked its second petal to form a second blade.
Oh...shinx.
Lurantis swung first, its massive swords moving in a dazzle blur of light. Nani brought her own up to defend in the nick of time, deflecting one of its arms. No sooner after that, she shifted her tail to the right, blocking its next blow.
The totem continued its offensive, slashing again and forcing Nani on the defensive. As good as she was at using it like a blade, she was limited in both her movement in the confined jungle and having to deal with two instead of one.
"That'zzz zolar blade! Bzzt!" Rotom said. "It'z a very powerful grazz type move that getz very ztrong in zunny weather!"
Elio made a quick note of that, watching as Nani swiftly ducked under one of the totem's wide swings and jabbed her own. It was a risky move since it relied on a fast diagnostic accuracy shot and she'd overextend if she missed. Thankfully, she had aimed for the legs striking its left side and causing it to stumble. The staggering was enough for the massive creature to slam its blazing swords into the ground to steady itself. She used that stunned opportunity to gather a powerful dragon pulse from within her maw and fire it.
The glowing orb accelerated towards Lurantis and he saw the totem make an "X" shape with its arms before flinging them out just at impact. The move had unexpectedly deflected the dragon pulse attack right back at her.
Nani had to quickly shake off her surprise before diving to the left to avoid a head-on collision. The dragon pulse slammed into the ground, throwing up a ton of muddy dirt. Elio felt a rush of air from the blast hit his entire front.
The milotic had managed to escape the most of it; however the blast had buried part of her body underneath debris. She writhed to free herself, but remained stubbornly stuck in the ground.
Lurantis stalked forward, its eyes flashing as it approached her with both blades drawn like an executioner.
"Nani, use iron tail to free yourself!"
She closed her eyes, finally managing to move just a bit as the totem led out another bloodcurdling cry and jumped into the air, solar blade thrust forward.
Nani's tail erupted from the marshy ground, bring it to bear in a timely manner once again to meet the totem pokemon's blade. The two weapons contacted, humming, buzzing and scraping against one another in a flurry of blows. She had gone on the offensive, forcing the lurantis back with a pair of slashes and then one over the top with a swish of her tail.
Lurantis brought its own into the same cross as before, leaving the two combatants locked in a pushing fight for dominance. It narrowed its eyes and hissed loudly with intent to win the battle. Nani didn't say anything, but Elio could see her own determination and grit.
The breakthrough came at the most opportune of times when Elio felt the heat from the strong sunlight starting to fade. As they did, Lurantis' glowing swords were starting to diminish in their power and he saw the castform's orange body begin to fade back to its light gray. Nani sensed it too, doubling her efforts, but breaking off from the stalemate to strike again with her iron tail that sent the massive grass totem toppling to the ground.
Again, the totem was quick to spring back onto its feet and already in the process of gathering light energy at its petals to reignite its solar swords.
We have to stop it before it happens again. I don't know how much longer Nani can keep this up.
Elio had to prevent another case of strong sunlight.
And that meant taking down the castform. The small support pokemon had since, kept the sunny conditions running for its partner, but had to use the opportunity to rest itself.
Nani opened her mouth, launching a water pulse that splashed over the castform, sending it crashing to the ground. With a pained cry, it struggled and eventually succeeded in jumping back into the fight.
"Aww man, I thought we had it done for." Elio grumbled. He pointed at the castform, "Water pulse it again!"
She obliged, but as the blast zoomed along its trajectory; two things happened.
First the castform's own eyes went wide before it fired another orb into the sky and turning the sunlight harsh again. It rapidly changed back into its sunny form before being struck by the water. Much of it had turned right into steam and it appeared to lose a significant part of its power. Despite it being a super effective type advantage, the ally pokemon was merely stunned briefly.
Second, Nani had made one big mistake.
Elio couldn't really have her multitask in this sort of situation, but in doing so she had briefly taken her eyes off the totem Lurantis, who had seized the opportunity to move just slightly out of the milotic's peripherals. With it in her blind spot, the massive mantis creature powered up its twin solar blades and leapt at her with a screech of fury from behind.
"Nani," Elio cried, "Iron tail behind you!"
She sharpened her end scales into the chained blade and swung the glowing point upwards.
Lurantis had anticipated this however, knowing her desperate maneuver would make the attack go wide and careless. As Nani stuck high, it made another X shape with its own swords and went low.
It only needed one, hitting with enough force to send the tender pokemon crashing down into the ground where she collapsed, putting up a fight to stay in it, however the exhaustion had caught up to her. Sun was now down five out of his six, leaving his starter as his final option.
"Crap." Elio muttered to himself as he returned her back into her ball. Only Torracat left. He's got yet to enter the battle, so we'll have to make the best of it.
"Let's do this buddy." He said, throwing his longtime partner out. Torracat landed nimbly down on the ground and growled threateningly at the totem and its compatriot. Both the lurantis and sunny castform had given it an unamused look.
"We'll start from range, use ember on the totem!"
"Tor!" He heated up his bell and fired a single burst of flame.
Huh, the ember is a lot bigger than normal.
Lurantis slashed at it, dispelling the attack, however part of it had caught onto its petal blades, scorching briefly before waving its arms to extinguish.
Torracat was ready, using a flame charge to help build up its speed and dodge an incoming leafage.
As he did though, the totem used the open opportunity to its own advantage. While its solar blade swords began to fade, it raised its arms towards the sky and glowed a brilliant white. The intense radiance from it caused Elio to shield his face, even for the few seconds it lasted.
The light faded and he saw that the totem had been rejuvenated with another burst of energy. The self-healing synthesis had erased all but a small portion of continuous damage he had done. Grimer's poison from previously continued to whittle away at its energy and Sun suspected that it had used its own recovery move since he was likely very close to finishing it off for good.
It was now that Elio began to feel the worrying dreads of actually losing the trial grip his stomach icily.
"Be advised! Bzzt! That waz zyntheziz! Grazz typez can uze it to heal themselvez! Bzzt!" Having done so had made the thought of losing very real. The slow chipping away at its health through the poisoning and successive attacks that were all negated away for nothing.
We were co close! Hang on, we can still do this! I still have my Z-move and we can make up for our lost damage with the fire type!
Elio had first thought of leading off with Torracat and practicing the Z-move of the fire type, but he had suspected that it would be familiar with such a tactic and have some measures to deter its usage. Most trial-goers on Akala conducted the Lush Jungle one last prior to facing the kahuna and thus would already be in possession of a firium Z. Lurantis would not only expect the move, but probably have some sort of defense against it.
But now that it was hanging on for a little longer now from its synthesis recovery, he just had to outlast it and its castform partner in order to succeed.
Do I charge it now or save it? We're running out of time.
The ally pokemon made the first move, just as Elio ordered a fire fang on the totem. It deftly spun in a circle, shooting another orb into the sky. This time around, it was a dark blue color and upon reaching above, the harsh beating sunlight was replaced by a welcoming cool feeling. Moments later, fat droplets of rain began to splatter on the ground and in the trees.
Elio's cotton clothes absorbed the downpour and he felt locks of his hair begin to stick together. The rain dripped down the long tips, quickly turning the mop on his head into a wet mess.
He didn't let that distract him, not when he was this close to winning.
Water sizzled off Lurantis' solar blades, casting thin wisps of vapor off their hot surfaces.
"Flame charge, let's take that totem down!"
"Tor!" His feline starter growled, gathering fire energy around his body. It took longer than normal due to the rain and even with the practice of performing fire attacks against the totem wishiwashi made it difficult to bring it to full strength.
As he lunged off his hind legs diving for the larger pokemon, the castform unleashed a glowing blue ball of energy that struck and knocked Torracat down. He crashed into the mud, stuggling to get up. Elio could see that his fur was matted and stuck together with enough dark dirt that he barely could see much of his original orange color.
Lurantis was quick to capitalize on its advantage.
Come buddy!
"Get up!" Elio nearly shouted, clenching his fists with a sinking feeling in the pit of his stomach. "C'mon, we're so close!"
Torracat heard his trainer's encouragement and struggled to get up. His eyes blazed with determination and teeth were gritted from withstanding the super effective weather ball as well as the harsh element that had battered him.
Lurantis let out another shrilling battle cry, leaping forward with its solar swords. It crossed them together and slashed outwards.
Torracat was ready and jumped above, seeing it try to strike low.
As he regained his balance on the ground, both pokemon and trainer had their eyes wide as the grass totem quickly spun around, extending its right leg in a sweeping motion. The low sweep attack rapidly caught and tripped Torracat, unexpectedly flinging him off balance to the ground.
"No!"
Although surprised, the fire cat pokemon was already rolling back onto its feet.
But it didn't matter.
Elio wanted to, but he couldn't force himself to turn away. Even as the totem jumped high into the air above to perform a devastating dive down with its solar blade extended to finish off his starter pokemon.
At first, he was in a bit of a stupor that he had actually lost a totem battle. The hissing had shook him out of it as he and the three trial captains watched when the massive grass type marched right over to the goopy Mallow Special.
It scooped it up and ravenously tore into the bowl, uncaring about eating mannerisms or the viscous green substance that splashed out of the edges and onto its face. When it was satisfied with its meal, it shrieked loudly again before huffing rather unimpressed at Elio and stalking off, taking just a moment to fling the now-empty bowl somewhere into the jungle.
Kiawe looked over to Elio, who was crouched on the ground and cradling his defeated pokemon in his arms, heads leaned close together as he caught the faint traces of him whispering encouragement.
Elio stroked Torracat's mane one last time before returning him back to his poke ball. He stood up, head bowed low as he refused to meet their gazes. All three captains looked to one another, unsure if anything they were going to say would upset him.
"Elio?" Lana was the first one to test the waters as she cautiously stepped forward.
He finally met their eyes and none of them were able to tell if he was crying or angered. Either way, it was evident that he was struggling to hide his tears about to be shed.
"Yeah?" He finally answered. His tone was solemn, but otherwise devoid of emotion.
"Are you going to be alright?"
His head bobbed up and down in a silent nod.
"Listen, you're not the first one to have trouble at Mallow's trial. Things like this will happen to everyone." Kiawe opened his mouth to say something further, but was cut off by glares from the female captains. He took the wise decision and stopped there.
"But it shouldn't be for me." Elio softly said. "I should've won, but I didn't."
There were a thousand things that went wrong. The type matchups, the totem's blasted ability to supercharge its solar blade and heal itself! An ally that proved to be a bigger pain than before! I should've expected that!
My dad.
Of course it was easy to blame his father's abrupt apologetic call last night to his failure. His thoughts hadn't stopped about him ever since and it could be an easy culprit to how his head wasn't in the game. It had let him and his pokemon down.
I need some time. Some time to think. Some time to vent. And maybe we need to give what I learned from this battle a long and hard look to see what mishaps we can avoid or counter. We can beat this, it's right there!
"I want to do it again."
Mallow gasped before adamantly shaking her head. "Elio, you can't."
"I didn't ask Mallow. I want to give it another go."
"There's no way you'll win," Kiawe pointed out. "All of your pokemon are defeated or too injured to even think about continuing."
"I'm not talking about right now." Sun said. "I'm talking maybe later. Look, I screwed up, no changing that. I wasn't really on the same mental page as I should be and there was a lot more to this totem than just a simple battle."
"Bit off more than you could chew."
He nodded. "And now I know what kind of meal this is going to be. I just need some time to unwind, figure out how to beat this thing and come back with a plan. It does me no good to charge right back into battle to do the exact same thing and expect a different outcome."
Kiawe looked impressed at that. "Well said. That's something someone of the ka mālama would say."
"I don't see why you can't come back and rechallenge that totem." Lana said with him nodding in agreement. "I'm free to bring the other ingredients later today."
"And I'm sure I'll get off work in time to see you give it another go! We can't have Lillie cheering on a man all down like you are right now!"
"Alright. Now I'm going to blow off some steam and formulate a plan. Rotom, call a charizard and let's go somewhere. Anywhere but here."
"And I juzt happen to know a place! Bzzt!"
Elio silently closed his eyes as the ride charizard continued on a steady glide that headed northeast of the Alola region. Unwillingly, he felt the sting of tears in his eyes, but made no move to try and hide or wipe them away.
He had failed. The totem lurantis had proved to be far too powerful for him to take down and made short work of his entire party of six. Uncertainty led to confusion, confusion to panic and panic to being an easy win.
The trainer knew better than to blame his own father for his failure. Yet the thought persisted in his mind, knowing the emotional talk of anger may or may not have clouded his mind and judgment in the battle.
It's impossible to ignore. What the hell am I supposed to do? Go back and battle on the trial like nothing ever happened?
Screw you Dad.
He felt a slight change in the charizard's flight pattern and glanced back at the pager sitting on the front of the saddle. They were more than thirty miles northeast of Akala Island and approaching a few little dots on the map situated a ways out. Beneath him, he could make out small speckles of white foam of waves crashing down on the surface. Glancing out, he could see the ocean stretched for miles in every single direction save for directly ahead where the thin outlines of land were seen at the edge of the horizon.
Elio closed his eyes and enjoyed the tranquility of it all. And it made him realize how small and far away Alola was from the rest of the world. Hau'oli City had been listed in a news article he read some years back as the most isolated settlement in the world, being more than two and a half thousand miles away from the closest city of a million inhabitants.
And now we're going somewhere even further away from civilization. Where is this Poke Pelago place?
As he approached the cluster of islands, he made out additional details and his eyes went wide.
Poke Pelago was nothing short of stunning to say the least. The best way he could describe it was a loose paradise of sorts of deserted islands.
Every island was different from one another. The closest one had a massive bright green stalk plant in the center and he could see small pokemon playing around in the meadows beneath. All along its sides he could see a multitude of colors, but couldn't discern what exactly they were.
The second island was more circular in shape, separated into equal size thirds. All along each of those sides were neat rows of planted berry trees with one side just beginning to sprout, another with blossoming white flowers and a third whose branches were laden with a bright red fruit. What caught his attention was at the island's center, a gray stone well that had been built and connecting all three segments of the island together.
The third island was perhaps the most unusual. Instead of long fields of open ground, it sloped in a long length that led somewhere to the depths underneath, the submerged section expanding outward that made its visible size much larger than its neighbors. Elio glanced down, spotting a little crabrawler joining a pair of yungoos and a rockruff as it proudly hoisted up a dark flat stone as the others cheered.
Elio saw the fourth island in a rough elongated crescent shape devoid of any plant life whatsoever. It had rocky linings on the shores and someone seemed to have lashed rope structures on the larger ones. At its center was a large wooden structure where he could see several more pokemon playing about and parts of it looked carved out.
The fifth and final island was a mixture of rocks and water that had pooled into lagoons and spilled over in the ocean to create cascading waterfalls in a dazzling display. He could see thin wisps of steam curling out from the pools and deduced that it was likely heated by something underground.
Why in the world would you want to soak in a hot tub in this hot place anyway?
Finally at the rough center of the island chain of Poke Pelago, he spotted a small hut that was floating on a wide raft on an extension of the third island from the rocks underwater.
So the Poke Pelago is managed by someone? I'm guessing so since that well on the second island and stuff on the fourth didn't get there naturally.
His musings were interrupted when the charizard had slowed its flight speed and made its final descent to the sandbar of the first island.
Elio unclipped his harness and kicked off his shoes, letting his bare feet wiggle into the soft sand. At first, he made a face at the hotter than normal temperature, but gave a relieved sigh as another incoming wave washed over the smooth surface. The charizard didn't seem to like it however. It growled at Elio before nodding and flapping its wings to take back off and swiftly fly out of sight.
"Thanks for the ride buddy." He got a roar in reply that was fainly heard over the crashing waves.
So this is Poke Pelago. Sun thought to himself as he glanced around the island. The pokemon closest to him were playing a rough game of tag as others climbed up the tall plant, eating the different colored objects that were growing on its sides.
Wait, are those poke beans?! He squint his eyes against the sunlight hitting his eyes. Holy! They are! This is where all those beans from the café come from!
"Wow neato! Bzzt!" Rotom said as he emerged from Elio's backpack and took a long look around. "Zo thiz iz Poke Pelago? Very nize! Bzzt! Alwayz wanted to go here!"
"Wait you knew about this place?"
"Only a little bit. Bzzt! Profezzor Kukui had an idea of zomething like this, but he was never sure! Bzzt! I'm juzt az confuzed az you are on how charizard knew where to go."
"I remember Kiawe saying something about being able to come to this place after getting charizard to use on the ride pager. Maybe they just all know where it is, but nobody else does. I don't know."
"Ask the author! Bzzt!"
"What? Author?"
Rotom raised a hand/fin in question. "No idea. Bzzt! But I am picking up an odd frequency on a radio broadcazt! Zignal iz very ztrong and originating from nearby!"
"Radio? Who uses that anymore?"
"How about the Goldenrod Telecommz Tower? Bzzt!"
"Yeah, that's an obvious one."
"Quite. In fact, the zignal seemz to be wanting to connect with my terminuz!" Rotom's eyes slid shut and his screen went blank as Elio heard a burst of static that fizzed out before sharpening again.
Is that someone trying to talk to us?
"Hello? Alola?" A man's voice asked through the speakers. He had a very down-to-earth, soft tone that instantly seemed to put Elio at ease a little, even though he was a total stranger.
"Alola?"
"Well Alola friend!" The man boomed from the other side. "Thanks for visiting Poke Pelago! A private utopic paradise for pokemon! The only one of its kind!"
"Wait, you made all of this?" Elio glanced around seeing all of the islands. "That's actually quite impressive."
"Indeed I did! It was quite a fateful day that I decided to turn these few deserted islands into a resort for pokemon! And the relaxation and playing around isn't just for them! It's always important for their trainers to enjoy themselves too! Stay for as long as you like and help yourself to everything Poke Pelago has to offer! Just remember to pay the deed forward and clean up once you are done."
"Of course." Elio said. He had every intention of doing that from this stranger's kind show of hospitality. "So do you live here? And what are the islands!"
"I do live here! And I'm glad you asked that!" The man replied and Sun could almost see him grinning from ear to ear wherever he spoke. "Poke Pelago consists of five different islands from finding good nourishment in the poke bean treats, growing berries, exploring, training and relaxing! There's something wonderful to do on every island, so if you ever feel the stress of your own life as a trainer clamping down on you and your pokemon, this is the perfect place to unwind! Isle Abeens is the island you are standing on, which provides nutritious sustenance to the pokemon residing here. To your left is Isle Alpenny, which I have myself and pokemon tending to the gardens and fields for berries and beautiful plants. Isle Aphun, the big one is where pokemon can go and explore. Isle Evelup is where a lot of trainer's pokemon go. It's the perfect place to hone battle strategies! And lastly, Isle Avue is a naturally developing hot spring where pokemon can take a leisurely rest!"
And to think this is all hidden away on a bunch of private islands in the middle of the ocean!
"That's amazing."
"It sure is! So my friend, what brings you here to Poke Pelago? Someone on the mainland tell you about it? Need help with something?"
"Well a combination of both." Elio started. "I don't even know where to begin."
"Ah." The voice said in understanding. "Always do remember that it's important to stop and enjoy the small things in life. You sound as if you have a long face."
If Sun were glancing at himself in a mirror, he would have exactly that.
I guess thinking about the loss in battle and Dad has gotten to me enough that someone completely foreign can figure me out.
"It's a long story."
"Well I have time. You forget that people like to relax and do things at their own pace in Alola. And many problems that plague the minds of trainers can't be solved by themselves. That's when friends, family and pokemon can provide the best kind of support."
Elio sighed. He might as well spill it.
"My father. He's not a good person. He beat and yelled at my mother before she finally divorced him back in Kanto. We've moved to Alola and haven't seen him since."
"Ah."
"And then he calls me last night, having the nerve…to think that apologizing and slapping a bandage is going to fix it all. I told him that if we wanted to not go back into bad terms, we'd never speak to each other again."
The speaker was silent, which willed him to go on.
"I took on the island challenge trial in the Lush Jungle. That totem lurantis ripped us apart. It must've known that I was out of sync and defeated us easily, even when I had four pokemon with advantages to grass typing."
"Hmm. You remind me of my own children. I have a son and a uh…a daughter! In fact, you are likely around their age."
"What are their names?"
"Unfortunately I don't remember that. I wish I did though."
Elio chuckled, "What do I know huh? I'm just sitting here on a deserted island, talking to someone on a speaker in my talking pokedex about my own life problems. Are you sure you're not a complaint hotline?"
"Oh goodness no! At least I hope not! And you are about to see how very real I am!"
What does he mean very real?
Before Elio could question that thought any further, a loud roar pierced the tranquil sky and he glanced up. A large tan colored pokemon with green wings and a cream colored belly landed gently in the sand a few meters away. It was reptilian in appearance, with a rounded snout, long muscular tail and clawed arms that glinted in the sun's reflection.
The most notable thing about it was its massive size, towering over seven feet and easily large enough to carry more than one person upon its back while in flight.
Sun's mouth fell open in recognition of the massive creature, feeling the weight of its gaze as it swept across the surf and looked squarely at him.
That's a!
"Thiz iz where I come in! Bzzt!" Rotom said, switching to a display. "Dragonite. Dragon pokemon. This kindhearted pokemon is often heard in stores where it rescues people and pokemon from drowning. It has no trouble flying over the stormiest seas and is capable of circling the entire world in thirty-six hours without stopping. Dragonite is a dragon and flying type. Additional information is available upon catching this pokemon."
Elio was amazed. Dragon type pokemon were said to be among the most powerful and had a reputation of being difficult to train even at their infant stages. They were also incredibly rare, so seeing one was a lucky find enough.
On the dragonite's back were the leather straps of a saddle and its rider dismounted, reaching up to give the beast an affectionate pat on the snout.
The rider was a man with a heavyset build with arms that looked as thick as tree trunks. His long hair was blond and despite the slightly worn appearance of his clothes; he was relatively well-groomed, sporting a five o'clock shadow of stubble on his chin and jaw.
His eyes however were a familiar emerald green.
I've seen those kind of eyes before! Just where?! I can't seem to figure it out.
The first thing he did was give the new trainer an easygoing smile and raised his arms as if to present the entire chain of islands as a gift.
"So what do you think?" His voice sounded identical to the one he had spoken to on the radio. "Pretty amazing isn't it?"
"Pretty darn amazing. I'll say." Elio was rather more impressed that there was an actual face behind the voice he had spoken to for a while. "You the manager?"
"Manager is a rather overrated title." The man chuckled, doubling over his wide girth. He gestured to the huge dragonite beside him. "Hakuja and I built the Poke Pelago to provide a paradise to all pokemon who visit. All of this has been the effort of many trainers before and I hope to see it through with many after!"
I see.
"I'm sorry to hear that you have been having issues with your father. As one myself, it saddens me to see such strained relationships. From what I've heard from you, you are upset he wants to walk back in your life."
Elio nodded. "Yeah. And he wants to think nothing ever happened? Sure and I can get any girl I want."
"I believe you could. You would see much much more if you looked in another direction than just ahead. Same with the trial that gives you trouble."
That is actually a good point.
"There are things you can change and things you cannot. Your father being your father is something you cannot. What you can change is how you become you as a person. What's your name son?"
"Elio sir." For some reason, he felt it proper to call him such formally.
"Elio." The man smiled. "Wonderful name. You are the only person that can be you. Don't let anyone else tell you otherwise. It is important to know that and is something I find that people tend to forget."
"Thank you sir."
"Oh there's no need to thank me. I'm just the manager of Poke Pelago." The man said, giving off a subtle wink in the process. "It truly warms my heart to know that there's such kind trainers out there like yourself. I wish you could meet my children, wherever they might be. I'm sure you three would be excellent friends."
"What happened to your kids?" Elio asked out of curiosity.
"I don't know. I can't remember the last time I saw them or their mother. But I miss all dearly."
"Well I'll try and see if I can find them for you if they're in Alola. What's your name?"
"Oh it's-"
"Hey! Bzzt!" Rotom conveniently interrupted their conversation with a buzzing ringtone coming from his speaker. "We've got a call from captain Mallow! Bzzt! Very well placed too I will add!"
"Uh, put it through."
"Elio?" Mallow glanced worriedly at him through the screen. "Is everything okay? You're not too upset?"
"Nah. Just needed time to cool off that's all. What's up?"
"Oh nothing. Kiawe and Lana agreed to come back tonight so we can stage another go for you. Is that okay?"
"Yeah. I've got a plan in place, so second time's the charm!"
"Great! I'll let them know. A hui hou koke iā ʻoe!"
"I don't even know what that means!" That along with giggling was the last he heard from Mallow before she hung up.
Sometimes when I think I understand this language, it throws me a curveball. For real?
"So it seems that your hopena calls." The man said. "Are you in need of a ride back to Alola?"
Elio shook his head and dug out his ride pager. "Nah, I'll just call for a charizard. Hopefully the wait time won't be for too long."
"How about I cut it to zero? Hakuja can cut your trip time in less than half."
"I wouldn't ask you to give me your dragonite sir. As awesome as that would be to own a dragon type."
"Plenty of dragon types. Like I said, you'll see much more if you look elsewhere besides ahead. Funny that I've never heard anyone say that before, yet it sounds like it came straight from a film."
The man didn't notice that Elio had stopped short and glanced back at what he had said, still attempting to process the wording.
Wait…film…
FILM!
"Sir, mahalo for everything. I think I'll take you up on that ride to Hakuja. Is he going to be able to find his way back?"
"Are you kidding?" He laughed again. "Hakuja would always find his way back even if I tried to get rid of him. We've been together since he was a tiny little dratini! He will have no problem navigating in the darkest of nights or the roughest of seas."
"Good." Elio turned to Rotom with the look of a newfound confidence and spark of hope brimming in his veins. "Got the film from our totem battle?"
"I zure do! Bzzt!"
"Because we've got a short trip back, but a long study session and a lot to review."
And a lot to review here! So Elio meets a mysterious yet familiar looking man on the Poke Pelago resort and zooms back to the Lush Jungle for his rematch! This time around, he knows what he's in for!
Translations:
Ka mālama - The Keeper. This refers to a group of individuals who work with the island kahuna to preserve and uphold the traditions of Alola. A similar practice exists in Hawaii.
A hui hou koke iā ʻoe! - See you soon!
Hopena - Destiny
As always, mahalo for reading and reviewing. You give my writing purpose.
Brav