Alola readers! Brav's here with another update and hoping everyone's doing well. This chapter took a lot of brainstorming and tinkering, but I'm ultimately satisfied with something to help pass the time of an otherwise uneventful journey to the Ghost type trial.
I will admit that part of the reason I take so long is because I'm brainstorming ideas for a bunch of other writing endeavors on top of the rest of my busy life. One such thing is Sword and Shield novelization. No word on whether or not I'll do that, but we'll see in time. Let's finish or get close to finishing this first.
Enjoy and wash your damn hands.
I can't help but feel like Elio was in the middle of everything. The news outlets said that there had been a sudden wildfire that showed up on the west side of Ula'ula Island and that's right where he said he was going to be hiking along. I told Professor Kukui I hope he's okay and I accidentally hugged Nebby too tightly.
I wonder if Hapu will take me to see them when it's safer?
"And yet you sit here while my problems multiply."
Guzma gave a dismissive wave as he picked up a beer bottle. He gave the one-quarter that was left a couple of swirls before downing the cheap liquor.
The demeanor of Von Kaiser didn't dissuade him from wiping his mouth and spitting on the floor.
"It seems like ya problems are already festerin'. Tell me again why this is mine again?"
He stepped forward. "Haven't you heard of what is going to happen if you don't help me?"
"What do I need to help you for? It was on you to capture the bratty kid and that thing in the first place."
"You're being enlisted for help whether you like it or not. The President says so. If you're going to object. Take it up with her."
"Hmph." Guzma waved him aside again. "Perhaps I will. But how about you and Madam Prez stop getting up in my grill to how I run things? I'll catch ya runaway kid. What the hell happened the last time? Mister expert tracker."
Kaiser's brow furrowed in anger at the petty title. "I've had some setbacks."
It was an immensely risky method. Seemed that his interrogation tactics had been subverted, seeing how coercing Brady Wainwright had backfired. The odorless spray tracker he had used to go after targets while with Neo-Team Plasma was set. However he didn't anticipate a scrawny kid outsmarting him.
Instead of subtly spraying the bag that contained the cosmog, which he suspected how the President's daughter was keeping it hidden, Brady had widely dispersed it just prior to meeting up with them. He was intent on swooping in to capture the both of them once the Festivus ended and the crowds went home for the day.
Instead of two targets on his phone; he had gotten thirty four. And as painstaking as it was to filter every single one of them out, none were Lillie Hyacinth or the boy that accompanied her.
Complete waste of time.
Even backtracking to Brady Wainwright or his vain mother proved fruitless.
Now with an even more pressing deadline and the President growing impatient and frustrated with his efforts; he had to act now in order to maximize his potential pay. Lusamine was smart, but he was also smarter to demand more money that continued pay over time.
He had caught Lillie in the open, demanding to hand it over in which she had refused. Of course he let her go, knowing her fear of him eventually finding her would have her turn up eventually.
This is the backup plan. It can't fail. They may be a bunch of thuggish misfits, but all I need to do is show them who's really in charge and they'll seriously narrow down my search. The kid can't hide on this island forever.
"My boys are not exactly the kind people like seein' hangin' around town." Guzma said. "It's gonna be hard to put people at every regular port."
"What do I need to do to get you and your men to cooperate? Money?"
"It doesn't matter to me. But I suppose half the payout will be enough."
"Half?" This Guzma's out of his mind! How am I supposed to disappear with half the promised money?
"No? Then no deal."
"Deal." Kaiser tried to not make a face at both Guzma's flippant attitude or him lazily reaching for a beer inside a minifridge that looked like black mold was about to start growing.
"Ya wanna stay for the fight club?"
"I'd rather not."
"Oh come on. It's no rules, no regulations. Just two pokemon duking it out until one can't no longer."
Kaiser sighed. "I have better things to do and little time to do it. I want your men on lookout. This girl can be anywhere and she can be resourceful. That boy you faced is her accomplice."
Guzma perked up at the mention of that. "Huh...I never would've guessed. I also figure in time I'd teach him a lesson personally."
"Thanks to my own skills at reading people. He's very protective. Something to maybe exploit."
"Are ya thinkin' we play bad guys? That sounds good. Let's be bad guys."
Rap music blared from the speakers that were set overhead as Guzma grumbled under his breath when he entered the room.
There was a hole in the roof where water runoff from the constant rainfall was trickling in, but the lighting gave the place the look of a miserable dungeon. At the long room's center was the foundation for a swimming pool that was long drained, leaving dirty concrete that had the same amount of wear as that surrounding it. Bits of greenish-black mold could be found growing in the crevices. There was a dank musty smell that permeated everything, but Guzma and the majority of Team Skull had been used to it enough.
Other grunts were lazily lounging about, drinking alcohol, talking, he paid scant attention to a couple fiercely making out in the corner and instead looked to the drained pool basin where two large pokemon were savagely fighting.
Fighting was much more of an understatement. Both combatants were already savagely beaten, sporting multiple gruesome injuries across their bodies. As they clashed again, the large group of Skull grunts roared in bloodthirsty approval, raising drinks and fistfuls of money.
The first battler was in much better shape. It was quadruped, but stood tall with a thick exoskeleton that was dark purple. Two razor sharp claws curled up as it lashed out towards its opponent in a night slash attack. It kept the elongated tail swaying from side to side for both balance and poised to strike.
This drapion had been one of the longest tenured winners of this fighting club Guzma and his grunts had established as one of their bigger income sources. Pokemon were smuggled into Po Town thanks to the low cover that the constant rain on Ula'ula's western side where they would be pitted against one another. People would place their bets and the profit would be raked in.
On the other side, the blue and yellow long eel-like pokemon lunged back, striking the drapion and knocking it off balance with an acrobatics maneuver. It kept up its combo of attacks, gathering energy for a spark attack and hit it again with an additional crunch from its small circular sucker mouth.
"Alright that's enough."
The grunts summoned their own pokemon to reign the battlers away. However the eelektross snarled from the other end and spark charged two of the Skull's pokemon brought in to break up the fight. It glared at the drapion, who growled back with a similar affirmation of aggression.
Eelektross charged forward, gathering itself up in preparation for a spark attack and it locked course with the drapion.
Only for a large armored object to block its way. With nowhere to divert its course, it struck it head on and bounced off, landing in a heap. It was quick to recover, glaring with seething hate at whatever dared to block it off from continuing the fight.
Cicindel unlimbered itself from its spherical stance, staring down the lamprey. The eelektross growled, launching another attack after being undeterred.
As if he was rolling his eyes; Cicindel crouched low to the ground, opening the back plates of his armored flank and launching a couple of pin missiles that hit it dead on. Eelektross continued its course, shrugging off the blows as the golisopod cast a liquidation sword.
When it got close; Cicindel used his free claw to clamp down on the pokemon's neck as he plunged the liquid weapon straight into its midsection, giving it a savage twist. It was a technique that the late kahuna Encarnaçion had taught Guzma and Cicindel himself. While it wasn't enough to kill the belligerent eelektross outright, it caused a grievous wound that would abide to serious damage if it wasn't treated immediately. The elefish pokemon let out a cawing growl as it twitched at the end of Cicindel's blade before he drew back, letting it limply fall to the ground.
For a few moments nobody spoke, unable to fully comprehend Guzma intervening like that. Then three of the Skull grunts picked up the lifeless creature and hauled it off on the pretense that it could still be saved.
Maybe.
None of them were sure how long the blaze had been burning, but it was already beginning to grow out of control. The vast amount of dead trees and plants easily ignited like tinder, fueling the rising flames as it jumped across to new, intact ones.
The smoke began to billow into the sky, a massive pillar of grayish black that expanded while rising. More fuel meant more ash and more ash would choke the sky out.
For the first few moments, none of them spoke, just silently watched as the spectacle of destruction unfolded while accelerating in their direction. Even though it was a measurable distance away, they could feel a pressing heat that was different than the sun glaring overhead. It made Elio's skin prick.
"Let's get out of here." He breathlessly said, also seeing movement on the ground as many other wild pokemon were having the same idea.
"We best send out a call for help."
"I'm on the cazze!" Rotom Dex buzzed close by. "But I am having difficultiezzzz contacting fire or polizzze! Interferenzzze of zome kind! Zignal izzz extremely weak! Bzzt!"
"Did it go through?"
"I don't know! Bzzt! But they'll be zeeing the zmoke in minutezzz at thizzz rate!"
"Better late than never."
"I think never is going to be the more likely option." Hau staggered back as a new wave of heat blasted the trio. A new set of dead trees much closer to them had ignited, being the next in the juggernaut flame's path. Waves of fear gripped them and they briskly hurried down the hill away from the disaster unfolding.
We might be burnt toast by then.
All along the front of the flames, they could see the moving figures of other pokemon rushing out to escape. Species of all kinds, birds, mammals, reptiles, all having any thoughts of their own erased and replaced by the raw primal instinct to survive and get to safety.
"New pokemon detected! Bzzt!" Rotom Dex was still updating entries even in the midst of it all as they scrambled down the hill. "Geodude. Alola form subspecies. Rock pokemon. It's body is a magnetic stone. Iron sand portions that are drawn and attached to this pokemon are particularly pure ore. Alolan geodude is a rock and electric type. Additional information is available upon catching this pokemon."
"Rotom, now isn't really the time to document new pokemon species!" Elio yelled, looking back to see the smoke seemingly coming from closer this time around. Up ahead from where they had come from, the line of dead trees stretched for eternity.
"Don't worry. I'm perfectly capable of recording new zpeciezzz while you do the work and zurvive! Bzzt!"
That's helpful.
"There's still pokemon coming out from the fire." Hau pointed out. "What if we used our water type pokemon to slow it down so more can escape?"
Elio was about to argue that random wild pokemon weren't worth their lives, but he realized that if he was in a position to make even a slight difference, give someone a fighting chance to live another day...he'd do it.
I know Dad would. He fought fires like these for a living.
Cal had taught him the basics of a fire. It needed three essential sourced elements to start; heat, fuel and oxygen. Take away one of those three and the fire can be prevented, contained or essentially neutralized.
We might as well.
"Hau's right. A lot of these pokemon need more time to escape." Leilani said. She was already holding a pokeball in her hand and throwing it out. "Let's go Symphony!"
Her pokemon materialized in a flash of light, a long tailed mammalian creature with a white torso and blue tail. It had long frilly fins along its chest and waist area and rested on its two forearms. There was a pearly structure atop its snouted head similar to a tiara and it appeared to have a light blue colored hair that was tied neatly into a ponytail. It was a rather large pokemon, taller than both of the boys and pretty close to being equal to Leilani's height.
"Wow is that your popplio?" Hau asked. "It got really big!"
Rotom was already downloading the data. "Hey can I do my pokedex entry? Bzzt! I zwear that I never get any appreciation for doing my actual job! Bzzt! Primarina. Soloist pokemon. It is the final evolved form of popplio. This pokemon is a songstress and sees every battle it joins as a stage. It takes down its prey with beautiful singing and dancing while forming powerful explosive water balloons. Primarina is a water and fairy type. Additional information is available upon catching this pokemon."
Hau was ready alongside her, bringing out Acheron, his Vaporeon. Elio sent out Nani.
And then, instead of the three of them working together, Elio watched in horror as his milotic slithered nest to Symphony and puffed her serpentine chest out. The soloist pokemon ignored her, following Leilani's command to use a move called sparkling aria.
Symphony spun around, standing up tall on her twin tailfins, at the same time, the ponytail had come undone, showing many strands clumped together had spread out as if she was standing against a powerful flowing wind. Water formed in front of her mouth and she spread both her forearms, dispersing a dozen of glowing blue orbs of water that burst in midair, showering a section of the blaze particularly close to them. The flames sizzled loudly, as if a series of firecrackers going off and gray steam erupted from within, joining the smoke in rising up.
However as she cleared it, they could see several more pokemon using the put out area as an opportunity to escape. Elio counted a couple of alolan ratatta, an alolan raticate and a mudbray amongst them.
"Go Burly!" Leilani flung another pokeball, releasing a dark purple reptilian creature that stood on two strong legs. The entirety of its body seemed to be made of chiseled muscle. Out of the corner of his eye, he could see Hau give off a slightly envious look.
"New pokemon detected! Machoke. Superpower pokemon. A popular motif for sculptures, its incredibly well-developed muscles have captured the attention of artists. Machoke willingly assist humans with rigorous labor in addition to its own intensive training regimen. It has enough strength to move a dump truck with a single hand. Machoke is a fighting type. Additional information is available upon catching this pokemon."
"Get those pokemon to safety!" She shouted. The large machoke nodded, effortlessly vaulting over another large boulder and scampering over the sharp rocks as if they were nothing but smooth sand. He scooped them up, making his way back up and setting them on the ground. The rescuees gave a cry of thanks before they ran off.
"Come on boys!" Leilani shouted, suddenly aware that Nani was glancing at Symphony with envy of her own. "Can't do this on my own!"
"She's right." Hau agreed. "Acheron, use brine!"
The bubble jet pokemon jumped into the air, landing beside Symphony. He added his own water attack, targeting another section that spread out from her sparkling aria.
"Nani use scald!" Elio stopped when he realized that maybe shooting water at a boiling temperature wasn't exactly the best idea. "Water pulse, belay that!"
Nani turned to another growing patch of fire blasting it with her own attack to extinguish it. Soon enough as the trio worked for a few minutes and Burly dashed in and grabbed any strays that couldn't get themselves away.
It all went well as the fire eventually began to both retreat from their water attacks and a lack of combustible fuel, but they could see that it was a bigger outbreak than just there. They were just fighting it on a small front.
Then a pelipper had flown overhead, circling a patch to their right. It added its own water pulses to the firefighting effort. Elio saw an irregular blast of fire shoot straight up. The pelican saw it coming and rolled to avoid it before swooping down. It had disappeared for a moment when it ascended up again and he could see three small wingull inside its bill.
Another blast of fire shot out from the midst of the blaze, singing the bird on its wing and it had opened its bill, causing one of the injured wingull babies to fall out.
"Burly!" Leilani saw it took, spurring her own pokemon into action. The machoke sprinted out over the rocks again, reaching up to gently catch the baby pokemon. He set it down next to its mother who had landed nearby.
"Good job!" Leilani cheered.
Burly nodded, turning to face another jet of fire shot from within. He narrowly dodged it and dug his hands into the ground to fling a handful of pebbles to block it from hitting the pelipper and its wingull children.
Okay that's definitely not the fire doing that.
The three of them squinted as a larger pokemon emerged from the burning foliage. It was red and yellow in color, with thick heavy armor plating that covered its chest and back. What limbs that could be seen were tan in color and a dry scaly pattern. Two beady eyes glared at the three humans and their pokemon with distrust.
"Those are some huge spikes." Elio had a wide eye of surprise at the deadly looking dark spiny thorns that lined the creature's back.
"And it'zzz a big new pokemon detected! Bzzt!" Rotom buzzed from inside Elio's backpack, having no desire to join them outside. "Turtonator. Blast turtle pokemon. Its shell is its deadliest weapon, coated in a natural volatile substance thanks to its sulfur heavy diet. It camouflages itself and waits for prey to pass by, attacking with a violent explosion. Turtonator is a fire and dragon type. Additional information is available upon catching this pokemon."
The turtonator bellowed, a loud growling cry that was enough to rattle their bones. It glanced over, pointing a small muzzlelike part straight at Burly and unleashing a flamethrower. He had smartly ducked out of its way and jumped forward to deliver a powerful karate chop straight down on the creature's head. Turtonator growled, staggering back just slightly.
Apparently Leilani was a bit surprised, likely used to seeing Burly do more devastating damage.
That turtonator is tough.
It spread its arms out, forming a wreath of fire that it sent straight towards Burly. Thankfully, Nani and Acheron covered for it by spraying their own water attacks that extinguished and turned it into a spray of smoky steam.
"Dual chop Burly!"
His hands flashed bright green as he closed the distance, hitting the turtonator with the heel of his palms. As it reeled back; it gathered more fire in its muzzle and shot a hastily aimed flamethrower.
"I feel like Leilani could use some help." Elio unhooked a ball from his belt. "Let's go Jangmo'o!"
The baby dragon landed on the ground, glancing up at Burly. For a moment, he thought he was going to be picking another fight, but he did see him back away slightly as if a bit intimidated by Leilani's larger muscular pokemon.
"Use headbutt!"
With his own half angry and half adorable war cry, Jangmo'o jumped into the action, scrambling over the rocks and smashing his hard scaly skull into the turtonator's side. The blast turtle pokemon barely moved before he glanced down, spraying a flamethrower from side to side. The little dragon yelped in surprise, running away to escape.
Burly swung again, sweeping in with a low kick that managed to topple it over onto its back. However Jangmo'o also seized the opportunity to strike as well, attacking with his own headbutt.
The turtonator had flipped itself back upright and crouched low to the ground to reduce its profile. As Burly attacked alongside Jangmo'o with a karate chop, it had extended its long spikes, exposing both it and the explosive residue that coated its shell.
All a hard surface or attack of its own would have to do is land and create a nasty explosion.
"Wait!" Elio and Leilani called out at the same time.
But it was too late. Both Burly and Jangmo'o had landed their attacks on the turtonator's shell at the same time. The high octane elemental attack and Jangmo'o's hard scale on his head were more than enough to create a source of heat and ignite the explosive on the turtle's back into a huge bleve-like blast that sent another fireball shooting into the sky at an astonishing rate with a deafening bang.
"Shit!" Leilani shouted as both Elio and Hau screamed in an attempt to clear the ringing sound from their ears. The heat was overwhelming, as if standing right in front of an oven set to maximum temperature.
Both the alolans were surprised to see the encroaching fire around them actually contained. Elio was less so. In a twist of irony, the massive explosion turtonator set off consumed so much oxygen, it sucked all of it away from the fire feeding off it within the close vicinity.
That didn't seem to bother the turtonator that much, as it rumbled back on its hind legs and blew out a snort of fire, showing that it was still raring to go.
"Damn this thing is tough."
"No kidding."
"I can handle this." Leilani declared. "You guys head back and see if you can find some help."
"What? No!" Hau shouted. "We should all go together. It's not worth anyone's life!"
"Just go! Nobody is getting saved if this escalates."
"C'mon Hau." Elio pulled on his arm. "She's right."
Elio and Hau sprinted through the trail, having to take the long way back. The closest area on the backtrack was the buildings that preceded the black sand beaches. Maybe they would be able to find some local Pokemon Rangers to help them through this mess.
The figure shimmered in the blaze, emerging from the front. Elio was reminded of an astronaut from the smooth contoured suit that covered its entire body. All the amber glowing from the fire made it hard to discern, but the suit looked to be white and gold in color, connected with a shiny smooth set of limb joints that showed no signs of stretching or creasing like wrinkles would on a piece of clothing. Two small openings were close to the collarbone piece and the elongated domed helmet had a completely reflective visor plate, concealing the wearer's face from the outside. It stood, knees slightly bent as it studied them.
For some reason, he was very unnerved by its presence. Even more so when he saw more than one crackle of electricity running along barely visible conduits on the suit's surface.
He does not look friendly.
"Uh Elio?" Hau's voice quavered. "What is that?"
"You." The figure spoke, a crackling, raspy voice that was more felt than heard, but it sounded closer to a male than a female...or whatever. It spread its arms apart where he saw more blue colored currents of electricity flow through. "Why have you come here?"
That doesn't sound human at all. Doesn't look it either. "Um," He started. "We come in peace?"
"You come as bearers of the light." His fingers curled together, coalescing the lightning traveling through the circuits into something more concentrated. "You are the reason our world remains dark!"
This isn't a movie set. This is for real.
"I don't know what you're talking about." Elio said, trying to quench any sign that he was nervous. If this thing thought he was fearful, he would definitely be using it to his advantage. "We're just passing through. Not looking for any trouble."
We're already up to our elbows in trouble.
The figure paused before leaning forward slowly. "Perhaps I will. Either way. You have no right to wield the zenith energy that rightfully belongs to us. The Blinding One shall take it away."
Zenith energy. Elio looked down at his Z-Ring. He had read about bits of it in the Malie Library as the source of the incredible power that allowed them to unleash Z-moves.
Wait. Z-Moves...zenith power...oh for the tapu's sake! How did I even miss that?!
"And so to think that this world bestows such magnible power in the hands of mere children! The thought of it and what it has done to me as I am now!"
Elio was feeling more threatened now than ever before. "Keep on talking. The police are going to be here any second."
"Why?" The figure asked. "There is no news of Raijin the Fulminator here on this desolate land."
Raijin? Elio thought. Is this the same Raijin they said was seen on Akala Island?
"There is no escape. Your hope will be extinguished, like the world you walk upon."
He raised his hand, now completely glowing bluish white with electricity running through.
Hau found himself yanked forcefully to the ground as Elio tackled him right out of the way of a blasted current that crackled through the air and shot at a speed just as fast as if a lightning strike. The young boy rolled to his feet as Hau was slower to get up, but managed to release his raichu Sparks.
"Counter with thunderbolt!"
Raijin fired another barrage of lightning from his palms, something Elio noticed made his feet float just off the ground. The intense magnetic fields of Blush Mountain seemed to be feeding him energy by small weaker charges lancing up from the dirt into his boots. Sparks cried out, unleashing a thunderbolt attack of his own that quickly intercepted Raijin's. The two attacks of electrical energy soon gained a stalemate, quickly diverting back into the ground.
"You dare use my own power against me?" Raijin rasped. "Unacceptable!"
He was interrupted by another cry as a small figure ran towards him. Jangmo'o bravely jumped up and lowered its head, intent on delivering a headbutt to the armored figure.
"Foolish rodent." He thrust a hand out, unleashing another lightning strike. Unlike before; Jangmo'o smartly threw up a protect barrier that dispersed all of it harmlessly away before he pushed forward, actually using the protect itself to knock into Raijin.
"Sparks! Use psychic and throw rocks at him!"
Hau's alolan raichu's eyes began to glow bright blue as they were controlled by its telekinetic force. They swung around both Hau and Elio, before being hurtled right at a distracted Raijin.
"Foolish child." The being used his second palm to shoot them with lightning. One by one, the rocks were overloaded with the sheer amount of electricity and shattered into powder.
"Jangmo'o!" Elio cried, seeing that his protect had run out and nothing to keep him from getting hit. He narrowly dodged another blast, it hit one of the dead trees and it burst into flames.
Wait. That turtonator wasn't the cause of this blaze. This Raijin is.
"There is plenty of suffering for you to go around." Raijin said, ignoring the little pokemon as it tried to attack him again. His voice had the same raspiness from before, without any emotion.
"Jangmo'o, use bulldoze!"
"Sparks use thunderwave when he attacks again!"
The little dragon growled, jumping up and down on the ground causing a miniature earthquake that spread out and knocked Raijin off balance. He held out his palm to use the backblast of lightning to right himself before thrusting them back out. As he shot more lightning; Sparks fired his own thunderwave, effectively rounding and shorting out his opponent's.
That's when Jangmo'o attacked again.
He rushed forward, locked directly onto Raijin himself and smashed his scaly head straight into his midsection with enough force to knock him back onto his butt. A loud mechanical hissing sound came from him and Elio could see that Jangmo'o's headbutt had broken open one of the sealed sections of the suit.
Raijin snarled, standing up again, but they could also see small charges of electricity coming out as if part of the rupture. "How DARE you do that to me! I will make your insolent worm here pay the price!"
"Seems you're not up to the task."
"Oh no. Not me."
With a flick of his palm, Elio and Hau gasped as the air seemed to get distorted before it opened up into a funnel of an Ultra Wormhole. As he entered, they heard another crackling noise from within. Again, his hair stood on edge, noticing that it had the same size, shape and appearance as the one that jellyfish...thing had attacked him back at the Aether Paradise.
A tall...thing came into sight from the embers of the burnt trees. It had long dark spindly limbs which each ended in shiny twisted fingers that were copper in color. Each one wobbled and bent unnaturally as if it didn't have any sort of established skeletal system. It had no face, but there was a white ball at the top where they could see several barbs protruding out at various lengths.
Elio and Hau watched as it stood in between them and Raijin, who used the opportunity to step behind it through the Wormhole, which immediately closed up.
"What...is that?"
"No data!" Rotom buzzed from inside his backpack. "No data! Subject doezzzz not match any known pokemon! Bzzt!"
Is that thing even a pokemon?
And then he saw it.
Just like the totem pokemon, that strange aura wrapped its wiry body, coating its surface like grease over water. Like Raijin, the creature crackled with blue electrical energy...even more so than the Fulminator himself.
"Alert! Bzzt!" Rotom buzzed in alarm. "Unidentified has received a drazzzztic increazzze in itzzz zpecial attack!"
This is an ultra beast?! That doesn't look good.
Hau sprung into action first. "Sparks use psychic!"
His raichu obeyed, surrounding the creature with psychic energy, before it could use it to pulse on it, the front "arms" of the beast snapped forward, blasting a barrage of energy in a discharge attack similar to Raijin's. The lightning struck Sparks, knocking him backwards and sending him tumbling down.
"Sparks!"
The creature took advantage of its stunned opponent and quickly planted all of its limbs into the ground. Elio saw the bits of energy it seemed to be drawing from the ground. The manner it did so reminded him of a fast acting plant, digging roots into soil to draw energy from nutrients, water and fertilizer. Only this thing was doing it with the strong electrical fields on Blush Mountain.
Again, it attacked, firing a discharge move that seemed to threaten both trainers, but headed straight for a downed Sparks.
Jangmo'o's squeak brought him back to his senses as he had jumped in front of Sparks, throwing up a protect to block the timed attack. He went right on the offensive, smashing his paws into the ground and sending a shockwave of a bulldoze. The creature was jarred enough that it toppled to the ground in a tangle of limbs, but righted itself, standing on end while leaning almost completely flat in a way unnatural, it almost made Elio a little sick to see.
"Jangmo'o return." He called his pokemon back, taking out the premier ball. As he activated the recall feature, the thing lashed out with a wirelike appendage it concealed inside its hands that snagged the little dragon, pulling it away from the reach.
"What?"
Jangmo'o squeaked in protest, wriggling his little legs to break free as the creature used the wires to pin it down.
Then sent a discharge down them, striking and electrocuting him. He closed his eyes, letting out a pained screech as Elio felt his stomach drop. It felt like causing excessive pain to an infant.
"No! Stop! He's only a baby!"
"Elio!"
Sparks had recovered, floating up and using psychic to throw the beast off Jangmo'o.
The beast raised his palm and shot crisscrossing bolts of lightning out of the wiry fingers that headed straight for Elio and Hau. Neither of them had experienced electrocution, but their limbs refused to respond to their minds' panic signals and adrenaline firing through.
Only for Charjabug to jump in front and intercept it. The small battery pokemon easily took the brunt of the attack and he could see that she was enveloped in her own current of electricity that met the beast's as the two battled back and forth. She was losing it.
He had to help her.
"Sparks, use thunderbolt and help Charjabug!"
Hau's raichu nodded, blasting a second bolt towards the creature. As the two different sides continued to pour streams of energy, it began to form a ball in the middle as if it were a kugelblitz threatening to explode at any moment.
Charjabug cried out as she was electrocuted before she summoned her own blast of electricity that quickly countered in multiple beams.
"That wazzzz dizzzzcharge! Bzzt! A very powerful electric type move!"
Charjabug hissed loudly as her attack suddenly overwhelmed the creatures, sending it sprawling into a pitted area where it crashed and lay dazed.
Her soft shell began to crack, little hairline fractures that began to grow in size as a harsh blue-white light began to emanate from her body.
Through the harsh light that seemed to blind everything, Elio could make out Charjabug's features undergoing a drastic metamorphosis. Her abdomen grew larger, unfolding a pair of rapidly beating wings that beat rapidly in a sound similar to a hovering helicopter. Her backside sprung open, reflecting light off an iridescent chitinous shell. She grew a set of six small legs dangling underneath while her two small mandibles changed with evolution. They grew longer, with a gold trim, the inside of them were serrated and parts were curled inward resembling coils. At the edge were a couple of static electricity that had formed almost a circular display at the front as if it was a sight on a gun.
"Woah...holy." Hau breathed.
She evolved!
Vikavolt buzzed, sparking all around her body as multiple bolts appeared and lanced out of nowhere to the beast, crashing with incredible speed in its center. Its wavy arms failed back, launching a similar attack of its own.
Now no longer constrained by its shell as a charjabug, Vikavolt effortlessly dodged the attack, zooming up and performing a loop while charging her own attack.
"Arclight." Elio said.
"What?" Hau asked.
"Arclight. That's going to be her final name!"
The creature's form seemed to bristle at the new challenging foe and tumbled forward, using its arms and wiry appendages to get ahold of one of the dead trees. As it launched another one of the discharge attacks, the dead plant was vaporized into tiny burning cinders.
"Arclight! Discharge!" Elio shouted.
Arclight clicked her mandibles, sparking all over her body before launching it in a ray spiral of electrical bolts. Each one intercepted the oncoming discharge from the creature, canceling it out.
"Okay now use-" Elio's command was cut off as soon as he saw something odd happen to Arclight.
Her wings stopped fluttering and she plummeted to the ground, landing on her back with the electricity dancing across her body flickering rather weakly. A plume of dirt kicked up.
Something told him that it wasn't good, whatever was wrong with her.
No! Not now!
The turtonator seemed to start tiring just a few minutes after Elio and Hau left her side. She could see the spikes spring out from within the shell and knew that it had that explosive residue on the back.
I have to limit how much contact Burly makes. Special attacks would work, but I want to keep Symphony with Acheron and Nani to put out as much fire as they can.
Burly dodged another flamethrower, countering with a dual chop. The blast turtle pokemon wasn't quick enough to turn its back and he managed to strike close to a small star shaped hole in the shell's front. Turtonator staggered back, growling again and the super effective attack seemed to do much more damage.
It's like that's a weak point.
The creature lunged forward in a body slam. Burly was caught in the side and the two pokemon tussled on the ground. With a roar of determination, the machoke was able to throw the larger and heavier pokemon off. He kept up his attack, rolling up to his feet. As the turtonator prepared another attack, he tensed, bracing for it to hit.
Like Leilani trained him, he had withstood a powerful dragon pulse before he rushed against it, moving with the chopping motion of a football linebacker. His arms securely wrapped around the turtonator's bulk as he used the momentum and his victim's own weight against him. The vital throw was perfect as Burly slammed it into the ground and rolled off, ready for the next order.
She wasn't sure what possessed her to do so, but as soon as the creature stirred in the middle of the crater Burly had created, the girl stepped forward walking slowly towards it.
The machoke looked concern, but she held up a hand to stop it.
"Hey there." She flinched as the turtonator's eyes snapped open and it looked directly at her.
"I know this really isn't the best time to do something like this."
That sounds awful.
"But you're a great pokemon. Something tells me that you weren't responsible for all of this."
Leilani saw something else in the pokemon's expression. It changed from angry and scared to something more somber.
So it wasn't the cause of the fire.
"I know you didn't do this. And you don't want to hurt anyone except those responsible."
Turtonator rumbled in response. Leilani smiled at it.
"Hoolapanai. That will be your name."
Leilani knew what it felt. Loneliness and a despair filled feeling of helplessness to do anything. In a way, she looked at the pokemon and saw herself right when she was injured weeks ago.
"I know what it's like to feel powerless as something happens. The only thing we can do is stay positive and keep the forward momentum going."
She sighed. "I was hurt and it really took a lot out of me. I lost a lot of faith in other people and mainly myself. Couldn't bear to look at anyone."
But some people have a strange way of turning things around, reaching down into the darkest pit of someone's life and bringing them back towards redemption.
"Everyone has someone out there who cares a lot for them, no matter how much they're brushed away."
That's exactly what I did. And I feel awful for doing that.
"Things get easier." She continued. "Doesn't mean it isn't hard...but it does get easier. I can't do it alone. Will you help me."
The turtonator rumbled before giving a short nod at her. Leilani dug into her pocket, finding an unused poke ball.
"Thank you, Hoolapanai."
"Arclight!" Elio took out her pokeball and returned her, letting out Akela beside Sparks. The alolan raichu fired another thunderbolt, staggering the creature, but it kept its focus on Elio and his own pokemon.
More electricity blasted out from its hands as Akela nimbly dodged them, climbing up one of the dead trees and using their overhanging limbs to his advantage. Despite it, he had to constantly remain on the move to avoid getting shocked and had no opening to attack. Each branch or limb he had deftly landed on had disintegrated into embers and ash a split second after he had jumped. The creature was just a tad too slow.
Wait a minute. Remaining on the move will eventually open up for us.
Akela slammed his paws on the ground after he missed the jump to another tree, causing large boulders to erupt from the ground in a wave that hit the beast. More of them piled on as it shrieked in agony before it discharged another barrage of electricity, shattering several and shedding the larger ones that had struck it. One of its long wires had stretched out, coming down to lash against Akela. Thankfully Sparks had went in the nick of time, using psychic to move the wolf pokemon out of the way.
Jangmo'o squeaked at Elio's feet, jumping forward with a protect against another discharge and glanced back at Elio. As he did, both Akela and Sparks jumped into the fray to keep the beast busy.
"Not now buddy. We're busy."
"A little help here?" Hau asked, adding Dartrix to the fray. The blade quill pokemon silently flew behind, unleashing a volley of razor leaves as Akela and Sparks kept the pressure up on their end.
"What's wrong?" Elio was also concerned for his little pokemon, after he had experienced a rather painful shock by the creature. He picked Jangmo'o up, ignoring the squeaks of protest as the little dragon tried to wiggle free. Aside from a few charred scales that he brushed off, the little one was rather resilient.
Jangmo'o scampered on the ground, jumping on top of a rock that was to the left of where Hau was commanding the three pokemon to clash against the beast. There was no sign of Raijin after he disappeared, but Elio wasn't going to hang around and see where he ended up. Time was ticking down, especially with that rather concerning condition he saw Arclight suffer.
Elio caught up with his pokemon as he jumped down, leading to a small ravine that was engulfed in parts of the fire. A blaze was feeding on the dead vegetation at the other end and judging by the amount in between them, it would be a matter of minutes before this area was an inferno of its own.
Hopefully Leilani's calmed that turtonator down so we can have our water pokemon to put out these fires too!
Jangmo'o jumped across, glancing down and back to Elio.
What's got him in such a curiosity in a time like this?
The boy joined him and heard it distinctly.
It was barely audible, but a pokemon nonetheless.
And it was crying for help.
Elio knew that pokemon would make their homes wherever they could. Most had already fled when the fires began. If this one didn't.
That meant it was trapped.
The flames were closing, as if in anticipation to claim its next victim. Elio spotted a ledge about five feet down and followed Jangmo'o as he nimbly leapt down alongside him.
Every instinct in his own mind was screaming at him to run as he descended right into one of the worst possible places to be in the middle of a fire. Right at the bottom with no avenues of escape and where there was no oxygen.
Dad is not going to be proud of me trying this.
Elio made a mental note of what rocks and steps he had taken on the way down as well as an alternate exit strategy. Jangmo'o nimbly jumped around, heading straight to where it was at a dead end. His trainer already didn't like where this was going.
He heard it again, a pained cry for help. Jangmo'o had a small enough form that he managed to jump through the small hole. The ground tremored, causing Elio's insides to jump, but he stopped.
"Just stay calm." Despite him freezing at the situation's uncertainty, his father had always taught him to find a moment or opportunity to freeze every outside distraction and calmly address the task. Nothing good came from complete hysteria.
Jangmo'o emerged, pulling a barely conscious mammalian pokemon that had snowy white fur that was covered in gray ash. Its ears were pointed and the pelt was a wispy appearance. It looked very similar to a vulpix. His beaked mouth clamped part of its back as he dragged it out.
"New pokemon detected! Bzzt!" Rotom flew to his side. "Thizzz one izzz in danger! We muzzzt get it to zafety! Vulpix. Fox pokemon. Alola form. In hot weather, this pokemon makes shards of ice with its six tails and sprays them around to cool itself off. They freeze their prey solid with breaths of ice at negative fifty eight degrees Fahrenheit on average. Alolan vulpix is an ice type. Additional information is available upon catching this pokemon."
"Good job Jangmo'o." Elio praised his little dragon, finally taking a look at the small kit. Judging by its incredibly tiny size; he had to guess that it was only a baby.
The vulpix stirred and glanced up at the human, eyes widening in fright at the stranger.
"Sssshhh." Elio tried to smile in at least hoping it calmed down. "It's okay." He grabbed a poke bean from his pack and offered it. "I got you."
Jangmo'o trotted beside him, using his beaked mouth to break off a chunk and offer it to the wild pokemon. Elio was impressed at how quickly he was learning.
As he stood up and began to reach up to start climbing out, the vulpix wailed in his arms, swinging its limbs around as if trying to escape.
"What's the matter?"
It didn't stop.
And then Elio heard another cry from the hole.
"Oh you gotta be kidding me. Another one?!"
He set the baby vulpix on a safe spot and slid back down to the bottom, pointing a finger at Jangmo'o, "Don't move! I'll be right back!"
Elio dashed back to the hole, peering inside and barely able to get his head through.
With what little light he could get, he spotted a pair of glassy blue eyes staring back at him from roughly three feet away.
"Hey," He said. "I'm Elio. Probably not the best introduction."
Sun wondered where its mother was at. Vulpix in Kanto were often coveted for their cute appearance, but capturing one usually meant having to face off against a ninetales. The parents were fiercely protective of their young and there was sometimes news of a ninetales traveling across the entire region, tracking a careless trainer who would catch a young vulpix.
"How about we get you out of here?"
Looking back, he could see that the fox's hind left leg was stuck between two larger rocks. Broken off from the tremors and shockwaves, it had likely pinned it between and prevented it from escaping. He saw it was bigger than the one Jangmo'o had rescued and took a guess that it was an elder sibling.
Elio put his hands on the rocks, pushing to see if they would budge. They did, but given how others that laid above it were also groaning in protest meant it was rather unstable. A careless removal could mean the entire ceiling would collapse on them both.
The vulpix cooed sadly, nudging its pinned leg with its snout.
"Hold on. We're almost there."
Elio adjusted his posture so he wasn't lying awkwardly. The narrow area of the den was enough to make him claustrophobic, but he kept those thoughts out, only focused on getting the vulpix out.
He wiggled his fingers between the two rocks, if he could pry them apart for just a couple of seconds, the little pokemon could potentially free itself.
Elio grunted and no matter how he adjusted, he had an awkward grip. Still going on made him even more nervous that the overhanging rocks could fall and injure him. Without a hard hat, he was completely unprotected.
Jangmo'o squeaked and caught Elio's attention. Glancing outside, he saw that the flames were spreading even closer now. His little dragon rushed forward and Elio thought that he was going after something. Instead, he threw up a green barrier wall of protect just as the embers had made a leap to another area of dead limbs. As they pressed against the protect, Jangmo'o squeaked and growled, trying to fight it off, still moving backwards towards his trainer.
However that delay may just be the time Elio needed to help get the vulpix free.
He's going to get all the chin rubs and poke bean treats once this is over.
The vulpix glanced at him with uncertainty, but it seemed to trust him enough, especially after his pokemon had rescued its sibling.
"I'm going to get you out of this. One way or another."
Elio drew his knife, putting the blade in between the two wedged rocks and using it as a lever to pry them apart. They shifted just a little, allowing the vulpix's calf to move out, but the remainder of its paw was still trapped.
Jangmo'o squeaked and Elio saw that he was only a few feet away and still retreating as the continuous blaze showed no sign of stopping. He could now feel the heat on his skin, pressing against it like a hot iron.
At this rate, even if he managed to get it free, there was no escaping the fire. Jangmo'o was valiantly slowing it down, but he could see that his little pokemon was growing tired despite his raw grim determination.
I should've done this to start.
Elio reached over, grabbing his bag, his fingers on the first poke ball in the pocket he could find. He activated the capture mechanism, opening its matrix which quickly recognized the pokemon in front and pulled it inside the metallic casing. He didn't bother to wait until it stopped wobbling to grab it and crawl out from the opening. It was a clear violation of one of its biggest safety warnings as an unexpected pokemon breaking free could split the ball open with enough force to snap a wrist.
The thought briefly crossed his mind, but Elio was much more willing to take a broken bone over being severely burned. As he scooped up both Jangmo'o and the younger vulpix to climb on the ledge, he didn't notice that it had already gone dormant with a successful capture. Rotom was spouting information, but he was paying it no attention.
Get out of the ravine.
Elio scrambled up the ledge, avoiding the next bunch of dead foliage that caught fire seconds after they vacated. It was difficult hauling himself up while holding two pokemon, so he set them down so he could use both his hands.
When he finally made it out of the ravine, he noticed the entire landscape had been turned to a dull orange and gray with more joining plumes of smoke choking the barely visible sky.
It's like I just stepped into hell.
He could still hear the sounds of battle back from where he had left Hau to battle the beast.
"Hang on buddy. I'm coming." He quickly opened the main compartment of his backpack to set Jangmo'o and the vulpix in along with the pokeball of the one he had captured. Because he had six pokemon already in his registered party; it wouldn't activate unless one of them had fainted.
The dragon glanced over at his companion, who had curled up and closed its eyes before looking up at Elio.
"Hey. You did amazing little buddy." Elio curled a finger and scratched under the chin, making the little dragon purr happily. "Take care of your friend and rest up. I'm gonna get everyone to safety as soon as I can."
He closed the top and rushed down back towards Hau. It seemed that the body count of pokemon he needed to get to the pokemon center showed no signs of stopping. Arclight, Jangmo'o, both vulpix and he was pretty sure both Akela and Nani would be pretty exhausted doing their jobs.
The kahuna's grandson was beginning to struggle. Dartrix had taken heavy damage and Sparks had thrown up a light screen to help guard them all. Akela kept methodically moving around, trying to find the creature's blindside. He hadn't succeeded yet.
"Sorry I'm late." Elio slid beside him, covering his ears as Sparks and the creature exchanged a thunderbolt attack that exploded towards the sky.
"This thing just keeps on getting juiced up on energy! It doesn't matter what we do, it's like it constantly regenerates!" Hau looked around. "I haven't heard from Leilani either."
"That's not good."
Akela lunged forth, slamming into the beast's thin body with his fist in a reversal attack. The long arms whipped about as long ropey vines ensnared themselves around the werewolf's foot. The creature pulled on them, toppling Akela rather violently into the ground.
"Oh great." Elio muttered as his pokemon managed to bite itself free. "That thing knows grass type moves. Like that's going to help." He glanced at Hau. "What other moves did you see it using?"
"Um...thunderbolt, charge, brutal swing, shock wave." Both had already come to the conclusion that this was clearly the properties of an electric type pokemon. Given the strong magnetic field around the slopes of Blush Mountain meant it would be a hotspot for a number of species. Attracting something like this that seemed to absorb and feed off immense amounts of electrical energy was not much of a far fetched idea.
"You know what? Pull sparks back."
"What?" Hau looked at him as if he had lost his mind. "Are you crazy?! Sparks is the only one that's been able to block that thing's electric attacks! And neither of us have a ground type."
"I know that. But it's feeding off those thunderbolts you're shooting at it. Sparks is going to tire out long before that thing does."
"Okay, but what's the plan?"
As if on cue, Elio's phone buzzed. Given that cell phones didn't exactly work the best in such an intensive magnetic field, he was surprised it was working at all. Leilani's number was on the other end.
"Hello?"
"Elio! Hau!" Her voice was much more calm than when they left her. "Are you guys okay?"
"Not really!" The signal was warbled and he had to strain as Hau resumed the fighting as he talked. "That thing can't take a hint!"
"I'm coming to help! I've got an idea!"
Leilani was already out of breath as she raced up towards the sound of the multiple crackling noises of electrical blasts being exchanged. Flashes reflected off the wispy smoke that rose in the distance. She couldn't hear either of the boys, but knew that they were also in peril and she wasn't going to stand by and let them fight for their lives.
The scene behind her was much better. Thanks to taming and catching of the Turtonator and the help of the water type pokemon that followed her closely, she had managed to cut down the most intensive part of the blaze to just a few brush fires scattered. The lack of available fuel was going to quickly suffocate its ability to continue growing. Her phone had just enough signal to call the emergency services in the Tapu Village to send both fire and police units. Surely by now the wildfire would be noticed by someone.
Her legs pounded on the rocky ground and sweat beaded on her trim form. The hair she had spent a bit of time fixing that morning had come undone long ago and her normally flawless face was covered in fine ash as if she had stuck her face in pillars of smoke.
Her leg hit the ground and it was the perfect opportune moment for the trace amounts of toxin in her leg to flare up.
With a scream, her leg buckled under her weight and she fell into a tumble. Her own mind was flooded with curses and anger at how the pain just happened to occur right in the worst possible time. It was quickly replaced by small involuntary spasms that felt like she was having cramps and locked muscles.
"No no no!" Her hand scrambled down, finally finding the band and the trigger to dispense the antivenom cocktail. Upon pressing it, her leg muscles went numb before a welcoming icy sensation spread across it like soothing water. Her body relaxed and she calmed her own breathing, practicing the exercise that her therapist had taught.
"I have to get up." She grunted, putting both her hands down. Leilani had to channel her entire focus and strength to move after one of the pain flare-ups, otherwise it felt like she would involuntarily limp or move sluggishly.
They're counting on me! I can't let them down!
"Hau!"
The boy in question spun around and saw Leilani running down the slope towards them.
"Leilani!"
He ran towards her, finally able to catch her after she had suddenly realized the downward slope was steeper and she couldn't arrest her momentum. His arms wrapped around her slim waist and he pulled her to a stop beside them. "Are you okay?"
"Yes I'm fine." She shoved her concern aside for her antivenom band, which had read empty as she previously dispensed the last dose. Doctor Hansen was supposed to prescribe a refill, except she hadn't gone back to see him after he would eventually find out she was not following his explicit orders to rest up.
"I hate to break up the reunion." Elio said, eyes remained on the prone beast before them. "But we've still got this unstoppable thing to deal with." As if it had heard his words, the wiry creature sprang up, tucking its limbs in and rolling forward, springing out, grasping two large trunks that allowed it to bridge in between and allow a vantage point.
The three teens turned to their water pokemon, "You guys keep on fighting those fires. Get as many pokemon to safety you can!" The primarina, milotic and vaporeon nodded and rushed off to their left where the blaze was still raging.
"Whatever you do, don't use any electrical attacks. This thing feeds off them and it gets empowered like a pokemon's motor drive ability."
"So it draws power from that?"
"Yeah, it's attracted!"
Leilani's machoke, Burly had joined the fight alongside Dartrix and Akela. The fighting type had just joined up with another one of Akela's reversal attacks with its own power-up punch to knock it back down again. Even though all of it and their pokemon avoiding getting hit, Elio could tell all three of them were beginning to tire out.
"That goes into my idea!" Leilani shouted. "We need to lure it to a place where it can't get up again."
"There's no way we're strong enough to take this thing down yet." Hau said. "Do we need to use our Z-moves?"
"Maybe not."
"Whatever we do, we need to do it quick." Elio said. "I've got pokemon that need to get to a center immediately."
"Then go!" Leilani said. "We got this."
He started, but quickly stopped. The three of them had gone into this together and he felt obliged to finish and put down the threat with them. This beast was clearly one of the most dangerous things he had encountered besides the jellyfish creature in the conservation area of the Aether Paradise.
At the same time, there was no way he was going to abandon either of his friends if he could help it. But he also didn't know if the injuries Arclight had sustained were life threatening. Older models of poke balls didn't have the stasis feature, meaning that a poisoned pokemon that was returned to its ball would suffer continuous damage unless it was healed or fainted for good.
"No." He finally declared. "I'm not leaving either of you. Let's just do this quick."
Leilani nodded, throwing out a poke ball, revealing the tall turtonator who unlimbered itself and glared at the strange alien creature before it.
Both boys gaped at it. "You caught the turtonator?"
She nodded. "Hoolapanai wasn't the cause of the fires and he was just as frightened as all the other pokemon. Now he's going to help us."
The beast rumbled, firing more thunderbolts that their team dodged and jumped back on the offensive, wrapping its limbs around the trees and attacking from above.
"Come on out Sparks!" Hau threw out his alolan raichu. He thumbed the electrium Z into his ring. "Let's bring forth our Z-Power!"
"That's right!" Leilani said. "Something to use against it!"
"Are we sure giving it a huge boost from a Z move is going to work and not make it wipe us out in one shot?"
I hope it does. If not, we're in for a literal shocking death.
Zenith energy coalesced around Hau's body as he weaved his arms around in a perfect replica of the electric type dance. It poured out, surrounding Sparks and giving him the immense boost of power.
"Z-move unleash! Thunderbolt into GIGAVOLT HAVOC!"
Sparks growled loudly before more volts lanced out from his cheek sacs, arms, surfboard tail and eyes. It gathered into a large cone shaped projectile before he screamed out loud, launching it towards the creature. As it left; the electric type fell down slightly, breathing heavily with a rather pleased expression after experiencing that high a pokemon felt with the sudden rush of energy that coursed through their bodies.
As the Z move was launched, Akela used a rock slide attack and Burly joined in with his own. The beast was hit and it seemed to absorb the majority of the attack before lashing out with its two wire arms to hit the other two pokemon.
"And now it's your turn Hoolapanai! Use shell trap!" Leilani shouted. Upon her command, the large spikes on the pokemon's back sharpened and grew to a larger size and he turned his back so that the spiny shell faced the oncoming wires.
The entirety of Hoolapanai's back vanished in an explosion as if it had been struck by a missile. Elio, Hau and Leilani felt a rush of air from the backblast wave while the beast had taken the entire thing full force. It was flung back, careening into the side of the mountain with enough power to bore a crater into the face. The blast caused another tremor to rock the ground as some of the larger lava rocks up the slope had suddenly broken free and began to tumble down towards them. It happened so suddenly that it would only be a matter of seconds before they would get swept up or buried.
"Oh shit."
"RUN!" The three trainers quickly returned their pokemon and sprinted as fast as they possibly could away from the landslide. Elio didn't dare look back, using his hands to push his alolan friends in front of him while trying to shout over the roar of the falling stones. Small sharp pebbles pelted his pants and he could feel the ground underneath shift from the movement thanks to years of instability.
The path in front went straight towards where the fires were raging, but thankfully it hung a left, going under and away from the majority. Elio sucked in breath after breath and ran even as his legs burned with lactic acid as the fatigue set in.
"Okay." Hau said, wheezing between breaths of his own. "I think we're good."
They looked back to the site and saw that a huge slide, nearly a hundred feet wide had come down from higher up on the mountain, gouging a huge chunk of rocks out of its side. Thick dust hung around it at the top, mixed with the smoke. The good news was that now Elio could hear the rotor choppings of a helicopter. They saw it a moment later, an aircraft covered in red and white as it circled the blaze and angled a door cannon to shoot a white mist over the worst of it.
At least the fire department is here. They contemplated signaling for help, but further down the trail, they could see roads and the beginning of some buildings that were part of the Tapu Village.
"We're almost there!" Leilani said. "Come on!"
She and Hau ran down and Elio was just about to join them.
Something flashed in the corner of his eye and he looked over.
It was a pokemon of some sort, but given its body shape, it didn't look like it was one that could fly.
He saw that it had a primarily black body with two split gold hooves that looked like arms. A large ring pierced its nose and it had a long dark tail that had a bell structure at the end that jingled softly that was the same exact color as its hoof arms. The upper crest of it was a dark red in color and it had two long sharp horns protruding from the top of the head.
As if it sensed his presence, the pokemon seemed to turn and glance right at him. Elio froze, not sure if it was a threat, but there was something strangely familiar. For something that had an entire forest burning, it seemed rather unconcerned if it was going to keep looking at him.
For a minute, the two stared at one another before the pokemon broke the gaze. With a swish of its tail, it launched a cloud of dirt over some nearby fire, extinguishing it effectively. Then it spun around again and he could see it spreading around small pellets of something. Some of them landed close to him and he instinctively walked up to inspect one.
A seed?
When he looked back up, the pokemon had disappeared. There was no sign of it in the sky either.
How curious.
Remembering his injured pokemon, Elio didn't give it another thought as he took off on a sprint down towards the Tapu Village's pokemon center, hoping he wasn't too late.
So a lot of things happen here, but they're also not quite out of the woods yet! Wildfires are definitely a problem especially in the late summer back in my native California and the dry weather of Hawaii and Alola would probably mean the same thing. I've also had to make Blush Mountain a bit bigger than it normally is for reasons. We're onto the Tapu Village next with the Ghost type trial just around the corner!
Translations:
Hoolapanai - Redemption
As always, mahalo for reading and reviewing. You give my writing purpose.