Chapter 5:

Bullies at the Wharf

Location: Home

"Time for a new day!" I shouted after opening up the window.

"Zzt. Someone is finally willing to get up," Rotom Dex said. "And five minutezz before my alarm went off! Roto!"

"I'm just excited!" I said. "Meeting Ilima and finding out more about the Alola region and what it has in store! I'm giddy just thinking about it!"

"Can you get giddy and drezzed? Roto!"

Rotom Dex had a point, so I did.

Location: Route 1

"I tell ya," Hau said. "Meeting Ilima is a deal and a half! He must see real potential in you. I mean if Tapu Koko saw it, then he can as well. The whole Alola region can!"

I looked all around. The lush trees, the blue sea and sky and the road to school we were about to walk on. "So, what is the Island Trial?"

"Leave the explaining to Ilima!" Hau replied.

Location: Hau'oli Middle School

The first class that day was biology. I saw Hau getting excited.

"What's up?" I asked. "And I thought I was getting giddy."

"We have a special guest speaker today!" Hau replied. "And here he comes!"

In came an elderly man wearing a green vacation shirt. He was tanned to the extreme. "Alola students!" he said.

"Alola Professor Oak!" all the students replied.

"That's Professor Oak?" I asked. "But… he looks nothing like him. I mean he does but he also doesn't."

Professor Oak Alola Form noticed what I said. "An observant one aren't you. No, my name is Professor Samson Oak, Professor Samuel Oak's cousin."

"Nice to meet you," I said. "I'm Elliott Mitchell. I moved here from Celadon City."

Samson Oak laughed. "Well look at that! No wonder you could spot the difference! I study Pokémon forms. Be that regional forms or other kinds."

"He's a hard-working man," Hau told me.

"Okay kids, lesson begin!"

After learning all about Exeggutor and its Alolan form, the day went as normal. Well, as normal as it could be without the excitement from meeting Ilima. He said he would meet me at the Ferry Terminal.

Soon, school ended. Students piled out, along with me and Hau.

"Could you show me the way?" I asked Hau.

"Sure thing!" he said. "Follow me!" With that, Hau took me down the road.

Location: Hau'oli City

The sun shone down on the massive city. Buildings stretched high into the sky alongside the road on side and the beach on the other. Palm trees dotted the paths.

"Welcome to Hau'oli City!" Hau said. "The biggest city in the Alola region!"

"Amazing!" I replied as we walked down the road. I had not seen the urbanized side of Alola yet, and it was very different to Celadon. Certainly a lot more tropical.

"Come on, to the Shopping District! I wanna show you something cool!"

"Race you there!" I said.

"Hey! Roto! Do you even know where you're going?! Ztt!"

We reached the Shopping District where Hau showed me a brown building. On the sign it had a picture of a pink Pokémon that looked like cotton candy holding a pastry of some kind.

"That's a Slurpuff apparently," said Rotom Dex. "I can't scan it because it'zz not found in Alola. Ztt."

"I want to show you something amazing," Hau said, taking me inside.

Location: Malasada Shop

The place was bustling of people eating the delicious pastries. They had what looked like crushed berries inside. I was saving a seat whilst I looked at the menu.

"They do look tasty," I said.

"Here!" Hau said, handing me four Malasadas. "They're sweet flavoured! One for you and one for each of your Pokémon!"

"Great idea!" I said. "Litten, Pikipek, Munchlax! Come out!" My three Pokémon were sent out. Munchlax immediately went for someone else's meal. I had to restraint it. "No Munchlax, you can have the one bought by Hau!" I gave one to each of my Pokémon. Munchlax ate it without a second thought. Pikipek nibbled away happily. Litten smelt it but turned it away. "What's wrong?" I asked.

"Different Pokémon like different flavours," Hau said. "I believe Pikipek might have a Jolly nature, and they like Sweet Malasadas. However, your Litten has a Brave nature, which means it doesent like Sweet stuff."

I took away the Malasada. "Okay Munchlax, here you go." I handed it to Munchlax (who had already finished the last one) and it gobbled it down.

"I think Munchlax might have a Relaxed Nature!" Hau said. "They love Sweet food." He then knelt down to Litten. "Don't worry Litten, Malasada Shops are dotted all over Alola. There will be one with a Spicy flavour."

"Thanks for this," I told Hau. "Okay, let's go to the Ferry Terminal."

Location: Hau'oli City

Me, Hau and Rotom stopped outside the Pokémon Center.

"Good luck with Ilima," Hau said. "He can be a handful!"

"You not coming?" I asked.

"Nah. This is your meeting. I don't want to get in the way."

"Hey!" We heard Hala's voice from round the corner. We ran to find Hala in front of the entrance to Route 2. There was a Tauros, a brown Pokémon with three tails and two horns. It looked angry.

Tauros (ケンタロス)

#170

Normal Type

Wild Bull Pokémon

4'07" (1.4 m)

194.9 lbs (88.4 kg)

Historically, people in areas all over the world have ridden Tauros, but the practice is said to have started in Alola.

Tauros has no known evolutions.

"I gotta help gramps anyway," Hau said. "Tell me about the meeting later!" Hau ran off to help Hala.

"He'zz sure got energy, zzt!" Rotom said. "Okay, Ferry Terminal here we come! Roto!"

"Did you just say you're going to the Ferry Terminal?" asked an elderly woman.

"Yeah," I said. "Is something wrong?"

"Those bad people have been hanging out at the wharf. You might want to be careful."

"Bad people?" I told Rotom as we started walking over.

We reached the wharf just outside the Ferry Terminal. Ilima was waiting for me.

"Alola!" he said. "How you finding the region?"

"It's amazing!" I replied. "The weather is amazing, the people are nice and the Pokémon are plentiful. It's almost nothing like Kanto."

Ilima pushed his hair back a bit. "Well, I am glad you think that. And taking on the Island Challenge. It's no easy feat! So that's why I want to talk to you about it."

"You won't be talking about anything yo!"

"Zzt! What wazz that?"

Walking over to us making weird movements with their arms were two men wearing black with white hats that has two black spots on it. They were wearing black hoods over their mouths and had a necklace with the letter G on it.

"Who are you?" I asked.

"We're Team Skull yo!" said Grunt A. "We're the meanest, roughest, naughtiest… er… prettiest?"

Grunt B hit the back of his head. "Prettiest? No, save that compliment for Plumeria."

"What do you want?" Ilima asked. "We're in the middle of something!"

"Well you're in the middle of it on Team Skull turf!" Grunt B said.

"Turf?!" I replied. "This is everyone's turf!"

Grunt B pointed to some graffiti on the Ferry Terminal building with their logo on it along with "Team Skull wuz here" written underneath.

"Damaging property izz illegal! Roto!" Rotom shouted. "Elliott, you wanna deal with them? Zzt!"

"You bet," I replied, getting out a Pokéball.

"Hey, wait a minute," Grunt A said. "You're that one kid who was chosen by Trapinch to take on the Island Trials right?"

Grunt B hit Grunt A on the back of the head again. "Idiot! It's Tapu Koko! Get your names right. But yeah, gives us more of a reason to mess with ya."

"I'm looking forward to this," Ilima said.

Elliott Vs. Team Skull Grunt

"Go Litten!" I shouted.

"Zubat, take em down yo!" Out came a blue Pokémon that was flying in the air. It had no eyes but relatively big ears.

Zubat (ズバット)

#080

Poison/Flying Type

Bat Pokémon

2'07" (0.8 m)

16.5 lbs (7.5 kg)

It has no eyeballs, so it can't see. It checks its surroundings via the ultrasonic waves it emits from its mouth.

"Zubat, Astonish!" Zubat flew over to Litten and scared it.

"Come back with Ember!" Litten fired a small flame at Zubat which hit relatively hard.

"Use Supersonic yo!" Zubat emitted ultrasonic waves from its mouth. It hit Litten, confusing it.

"No!" I shouted. "Use another Ember!" Litten tried to fire it, but it hit itself instead.

"Now use another Astonish!" Zubat flew over to Litten again and scared it.

"Try Ember again!" Litten fired another flame. This one hit Zubat. It was down.

"You're strong yo!"

"Nice one," Ilima said, clapping his hands.

"Shut up!" Grunt B shouted. "He just got lucky."

"Elliot won fair and square! Roto!" Rotom argued back.

"Stop edging them on Rotom," I said. "Leave this wharf and I won't tell the police. Do not think you've got off easily."

Grunt A looked at Grunt B. "Let's get outta here." He then turned to me. "But mark my words; you have just found a new enemy in Team Skull! Later yo!" With that, the two ran off.

"Aren't you going to chazze after them? Zzt!" Rotom asked.

"They're not worth our time," I replied. "Let Officer Jenny deal with them; I've already done the hard part. Plus, I don't want to get distracted anymore. Ilima, wanna tell me about the Island Trials?"

"Gladly," Ilima replied. "In place of Gyms, there are eight trials in the Alola region held by eight Trial Captains, one of them being myself. I am the Captain of the Trial in Verdant Cavern. Trials differ from Gyms in that you need to solve a puzzle to get there."

"So… a Gym?" I asked.

"It's more different than that. After you've solved the puzzle, you get to take on a really strong Pokémon."

"Soundzz scary! Roto!" Rotom said. "But I think we get the gizzt."

"Hey," I said. "How about a battle? I know I've just kicked their butts, but I want to see what you're capable of!"

Ilima got out a Pokéball and spun it on his finger. "Gladly."

Elliott Vs. Trial Captain Ilima

"Munchlax, go!" I shouted.

"You're up Yungoos!" Ilima said, sending out his Normal Type. "Use Tackle!" Yungoos rammed its body into Munchlax's.

"Let's use Metronome!" Munchlax started waggling its finger. And what move came out? It was Ancient Power! Munchlax fired a few Fossils at Yungoos.

"Now use Pursuit!" Yungoos covered itself in Dark Type energy and then rammed into Munchlax again.

"Tackle!" Munchlax rammed its body into Yungoos for a Critical Hit. It was down.

"Impressive. But can you take on Smeargle?" Out came a white Pokémon with what looked like an artist's hat on its head. It had a long tail with a paintbrush on the end.

Smeargle (ドーベル)

#070

Normal Type

Painter Pokémon

3'11" (1.2 m)

127.9 lbs (58)

It draws symbols all over the place to mark its territory. In towns with many Smeargle, the walls are covered in graffiti.

Smeargle has no known evolutions.

"Thanks," I told Munchlax. "Okay Litten, go!" Out came my Fire Type. I would quickly learn that was a mistake.

"Water Gun!" Smeargle spat water from its mouth. It hit Litten, knocking it out.

"Wow! Zzt! Smeargle can use Water Gun?!"

"It can learn almost anything thanks to Sketch," Ilima said.

"Clever. Okay Pikipek, go!" I shouted. Pikipek flew over to Smeargle and hit it for Super Effective damage.

"Zzt! Pikpek learned Rock Smash! A Fighting Type attack that can lowered Defense!"

"Clever," said Ilima. "But watch this. Smeargle, use Icy Wind!" Smeargle breathed some cold wind at Pikipek. It was Super Effective.

"Smeargle's covered for almost anything," I said. "But we've almost won! Pikipek, Rock Smash again!" Pikipek hit Smeargle once more, knocking it out.

"Hah! Magnificent! Tapu Koko was right!"

"Hey!" Hau came running towards us. "I heard that there were some bad people here so I came as fast as I could to give you a hand but the Tauros was acting up and-"

"Relax," I said.

"Elliott took them down! Roto!"

"Oh," Hau said. "Congrats! So, do you know what you're doing now?"

"Yep!" I replied.

"Great," Ilima replied. "Before we part, I would like to give you something. It's not useful at the moment, but it will certainly help you down the road." Ilima gave me a yellow and green device. "It's a Ride Pager. Instead of HMs, people in the Alola region can call upon Pokémon to move rocks, get across water and fly everywhere. Nothing is registered on it now, but you will find some soon. I invented it alongside my friend Sophocles, another Trial Captain. You will meet him in due course."

"Thanks!" I said. "I will see you at Verdant Cavern after I've finished school!"

"Sounds good," Ilima replied. "I will bid you goodbye for now."

As he walked down the road, Hau spoke to me. "Wow! We have a lot to get excited about! I'm looking forward to taking on the Alola region, especially with you by my side!"

"Me to," I said. "But for now, let's get some rest. We have some big days ahead of us, and Team Skull will be an obstacle."

Rotom's Move Dex!

Alola! Roto! Man, those Team Skull Grunts were, and will be, a real pain. The Grunt that Elliott fought was the Poison Type Zubat, so today we will look at a Poison Type move! The move in question? Venoshock! Zzt zzt!

Venoshock is already not a bad move. Zzt. Its base power is 65. Not bad if you ask me. But. Roto. When the opposing Pokémon is Poisoned, its power doubles! Roto! So, make sure to get a move like Toxic on the opposition first before you can deal some real damage!

Pokémon that can learn Venoshock include Zubat, Mareanie and Salandit. Roto! Additionally, Venoshock is a TM! So, lot'zz more Pokémon can uzze it to!

Uzze thizz move right, and the oppozzition will be in for a shock! A… no. That pun is too eazzy. Roto.