Alola readers! I think it's about time for an update! Most of you can agree with me on that XD
Before I get started: I got a couple of announcements to make.
First up; I'm actually going to Alola! Okay...really I am! Our family has been planning for a Christmas vacation to Hawaii for a few months and I just got word of it a few days ago! We'll be there for a little longer than a week, but we've got a lot of things on the plate planned out. Whale watching, scuba diving...which I CANNOT wait to do and a whole bunch of other things. It's also a can't miss opportunity to gain additional insight on Hawaiian culture.
Hawaii is one of my favorite places in the world...you guys know that right?
Not taking my computer with me when I go though, but I will get one more chapter out before I leave on the 23rd. If I can't, then I will upload it onto my phone and update it from there. Do bear with me if the formatting turns out to be bad as I've never put a chapter using the mobile app. Promise I'll fix it when I get back :)
Okay, second up. I've been in contact with a few people and am trying to schedule a visit to a flight and ground school in Florida. If all goes well, then I can see myself enrolling sometime in the summer or fall next year and start my career as a pilot, since it's pretty much been my aspiration from a very young age. Haven't established a meeting time, but I am looking at sometime in January when the opportunity to hop on a flight to the other side of the country is less full.
With that out of the way, let's get to the story.
A major character is making his debut in this chapter. I ran into a couple hiccups while writing him out, but I'm optimistic that I nailed him down the way I've got planned.
This chapter does contain a little more of the adult stuff, swearing, lewd themes, etc. Just a little heads up for you.
Enjoy guys.
It seems that Elio's new pokemon and friend are getting along pretty well…well except for Rufflet. I hope he doesn't have his hands tied with him trying to see if he's going to eat her for snack.
I talked to a couple of the surfers that were practicing on the beach in front of the hotel. They said that the big surfing thing was the Kumu Reef Triple Crown…apparently one of the biggest events in Alola's Surf Association. It's a pretty popular sport here in Alola! Kind of what Leilani was telling us when she was entering! But those waves are enormous! How can you stand on a thin board going at such a fast speed?! I don't think I could do it! It's too scary! And I even heard they do it on these huge pokemon called mantine!
Sun had some interesting news when he and Hau met a rather cold and demeaning boy. His description of blonde hair and green eyes with a black and red jacket immediately gave away who it was.
Apparently; they met Gladion.
I will admit that I was a little afraid that Hau would be a bit shaken after meeting him. My brother takes things seriously…way too seriously sometimes. I already knew that if the two were to cross paths; friction was pretty much inevitable. Gladion wouldn't take one bit of Hau's carefree personality so I wasn't surprised that he was brushed aside when Sun told me that Hau was easily defeated and berated without a second thought. I have to admire his optimism though, with that, preferring to stay close to family and his love of malasadas, you can't help but like the boy. Elio didn't tell me much other than him being a jerk to him and Hau. Trust me Sun, he's not…but there's a lot going on about that you don't understand. I really wish I could just tell him…about everything.
Apparently Gladion challenged him to a battle as well. And Elio didn't say who won or lost that. Is there something else on his mind?
He doesn't know we're brother and sister yet, but he'll find out eventually.
Dear Elio,
I hope you're having fun with your new grubbin buddy. From what you've told me, it seems like she thinks Rufflet wants to have her for snack! I hope you can keep them in line and they can be friends.
So there is a surfing competition that's about to happen here on Akala in a couple of weeks! The Surf Association's Kumu Reef Triple Crown! I know we last saw each other a week ago, but I do hope we get to meet up again when it starts! It seems like a cool event to watch, even though it looks like all sorts of dangerous.
I can't wait until you get to the trial! You're going to ace it like a pro! I know it for sure!
I miss you.
Sincerely,
Lillie
"Bzzt! Bzzt! Mizzter Elio! You have an incoming call! Bzzt!" Rotom buzzed excitedly, flashing his eyes bright yellow.
Even though he hadn't heard back from Dallas, Elio followed the paniolo's instructions and led everyone to the halemai situated at the edge of Brooklet Hill. The group was walking quietly up the trail away from Paniola's multitude of ranches right back on track. Most of the large open fields had given way to tight clusters of the trees to provide a plentiful amount of shade. Many of them continued to remain green, despite being just at the middle of December.
Elio smiled, at the many times back in Kanto when it started to get cold around that month. There were two favorite words of any student during that time of the school year. Snow Day.
The first annual snowfall was around that time, a white fluffy swirl that blanketed the sky. Normally arriving overnight, it was a joyous scene when the children all heard from their parents that school had been canceled for the day.
That didn't stop many from grabbing their coats, mittens, caps, sleds and immediately running over to some of the hills in east Orinda close to the beach. The few streams and lakes had thick layers of ice over their smooth surface and it was common for Elio and his parents to dress him up to go out sledding or ice skating. He wasn't that good having sped on two thin metal blades, but it was an enjoyable bout as he held their hands and the three would calmly do laps around the circular lakes. Behind them, his father's firefighting partner, a vaporeon named Blu would follow. The aquatic mammal creature had a hard time staying on its feet, slipping clumsily often and causing them to laugh.
I miss Blu. Elio thought to himself. Why? Why did Dad have to let him go? Why did he have to leave us?
Even when Mom and Dad were busy, he stayed close by the pokemon as a close friend. The two of them loved to play outside, whether in the scorching heat of summer or the frigid winter.
I truly wish that Dad didn't take the path that he did.
It never should have been, but just the mere thought was foreign enough to him. Elio hadn't spoken to his father after the divorce had been finalized. Nor did he have any intention to. He had been only eleven years old, far too young to seriously comprehend the magnitude of everything.
The closeness of Calvera's coworkers at the Fire Station was what kept them in contact with his whereabouts. In the aftermath of the custody battle, the Kantoan judge easily ruled in favor of him going to Elaine. Under normal circumstances, he'd be allowed to go and see his father every other weekend; however the rather abusive history between his parents omitted that permission. All contact between father and son ceased nearly immediately.
From what some of his other squadmates told them, Calvera had moved out of the house and into the apartment of Reushel; the only other one at the station who was single and not in an active relationship. He had since returned to work, however it had been clear that some of his performances in that timespan were interfering with the integrity of how the team synced up with one another. He was constantly moody and had been rebuffing any attempts for someone to approach and confide in.
Even though she had no reason to help, informing the rest of the crew prompted a unanimous decision to present her ex with an ultimatum that would be for his own good. It was also the last time his mother spoke to him directly.
As soon as he returned home from school on the day she had put her plan into action, Elaine immediately rushed him for a hug, weeping quietly. He was slightly aware of what was going on with his father, but he was again still too young to process everything.
"I love you forever my little angel." Elaine had murmured into his hair while trying to hide sniffles and the fact that she had been weeping all day since he was gone.
"Never again will you be called an experiment."
He still couldn't deny that pondering so much had piqued his curiosity on his father's whereabouts. The last time they had spoken to Reuschel; Calvera had moved out just like they had intended, but Elaine didn't say anything about his progress.
"Tor?"
"Huh?" Elio blinked his eyes to Torracat staring at him from a sitting position. The evolved starter pokemon cocked his head to the side in curiosity.
"Sorry," he apologized. "Just reminiscing. That's all."
"Tor. Torracat."
"Yeah, yeah I know." He brushed the thought of his father aside. "I want to get to the trial site too. Maybe we'd be able to take it on today! Let's finish up practice."
"Tor!"
It turned out that while they were traveling; he realized that Grubbin was able to learn charge beam, the electric type attack that was rather easy to learn. The move was stored on the TM he received as a gift from the butterfree earlier in the day ended up proving quite useful. Not only was the process simplistic, he learned that the new models of TMs could be reused an indefinite amount of times. It was a good step up from the disposable ones that his mother hated when she had been on her own journey.
The main drawback of the infinite uses TM was that some cost as much as eight times more than the old single use.
I'm certainly glad some can be found lying around. Elio thought to himself. Do people drop them or what? How can you misplace something that valuable?
Finders keepers I guess.
"Okay Grubbin." He broke out of his thoughts again and squatted down to the small pokemon's level. "Let's run it one more time!"
"Ssk!" She snapped her twin mandibles together, producing an arc of gold electrical energy. The bug concentrated it to the jagged tips before releasing it in a fine crackling beam.
Torracat was the intended target pokemon since he wanted her to start with something close to the average size. He didn't need his trainer's instructions to deftly jump out of the way using his powerful hind legs. The electric energy soon reached the edge of its effective range and began to disperse into the Alolan air.
"That was awesome Grubbin!" Elio made a fist in triumph. "I'm so surprised you mastered it so quickly! I imagine it's going to be a big help in taking on the trial!"
He gently picked her up with one hand and offered a bean from the refresh kit. To his amazement, she used her strong jaws to clamp the blue colored candy so that her smaller mouth took tiny bites until the entire treat was eaten.
"Good huh?" It seemed that she had enjoyed the bean.
"Ssk."
Troy rolled back to his feet as Elio examined the egg nestled into his bag. Since he didn't have the incubator; he used several of his clothes to keep it wrapped and protected as best he could from all the shifting around inside. He made sure that Rockruff knew that it was safe and kept it in the care of the two pokemon as he moved away into a clearing to resume a temporary practice session.
He had since stopped their small practice session where he'd use Rotom to record footage and then go over it with his team members as they sparred against one another. A lot of it was derived from his own coaches in basketball, emphasizing on teamwork through one on one matchups to maximize strengths and minimize weaknesses.
Mock practice battles were Sun's strategy for additional training. While they did get stronger in fighting both wild pokemon and trainers, he would often pit members of his own team against one another to develop tactics, check weak points or even just get his team some exercise. Back in basketball; ten players would play out practice matches in preparation for upcoming games. Competitiveness was high and tensions were quick to come to light, but they usually cooled at the coach's intervention.
His pokemon reflected that spirit, but instead were more encouraging to one another. He liked that about his team...in fact; they weren't a team at all. They were ohana.
Although he would never openly admit it; Grubbin was smaller and slower than the rest of his team. She had a good amount of power behind her attacks, but almost seemed like a liability.
And it doesn't really help that she doesn't want to go anywhere near Rufflet. I do need him to get experience fighting electric attacks.
Sun knew that bug type pokemon in Kanto were plentiful and typically were quick to evolve, reaching their final form in a short time. In contrast, the distant region of Unova had many other different species that had a diversity of typings with a wide range of different conditions for them to achieve evolution. Some of them took a painstakingly long time to even give off any hints it was going to change forms.
He didn't know how Grubbin evolved or if it did, but suspected that she wouldn't remain in her larval stage for long. Whether she remained as the tiny pokemon or not, she was a member of the ohana.
"Nice dodge there Torracat." Elio set Grubbin down and addressed his starter. "I'm glad you took the initiative on your own of course." He crouched low on his legs. "Be sure you're not hunching down too low. Even though you might be able to leap farther, you'll end up using more energy than to simply jump out of the way to dodge incoming attacks."
Elio bent his knees just slightly, taking note that Torracat was watching with interest. "Now if I'm like this; then I have a better degree of motion whether it's to simply sidestep. If you have to bend your legs further for a higher spring, then go ahead. I guess what I'm saying is that you want to stay nimble. We're going to be encountering a lot of stronger trainers and pokemon very soon, so we can't afford to fall behind on things."
"Tor!"
Rockruff felt his excitement build at watching this new human practice with his pokemon. A lot of this was reminding him of those times when his old trainer went around Alola, learning on the steps to battle. He had been his first pokemon and loyal partner. Even after accepting the job offer from the organization named Aether, he remained loyal to a fault. Rockruff still loved being hugged and nuzzling him with the rough fur on his neck. Even though his trainer found it painful, his dark gray eyes always sparkled with happiness and they laughed plenty while working, even catching the attention of his peers and even the Foundation's higher ups.
And then one of those freak waves had to come and take his trainer away from him within seconds. All while trying to protect an egg that the man had stated was the key to a big promotion.
Rockruff shook his head at the saddening memories. He was happy now. The egg, the final reminder of his former trainer was all he had left. He'd guard it with his life.
A growl brought him out of his daze as he stared back at Troy. The lycanroc's face curled upwards in a gentle smile and he tilted his head towards the boy. He and his pokemon were still locked in their practice session while Rufflet and Grimer had taken the sideline beside the two rock dogs for a rest.
The older pokemon seemed to have made the conclusion. Even though he had been comfortably happy with Dallas and the others taking him in at Kahananui Ranch, he felt that Elio's visit had revitalized that want to go out and become a powerful battler.
It didn't help that the boy reminded him so much of his old trainer. They even had the same dark gray eyes.
Rockruff had agreed with everything he had said. But it was stopped by a huge bump.
Would Elio even agree?
"Alola! Alola!" Rotom buzzed happily as he floated beside Elio while they finally reached the vicinity of the trial site. From here, he could see a widened range of craggy rocks and the presence of several wingull circling above them was an automatic signal that they had neared the ocean once more. "It'zzz a good day to find more pokemon in the Alola region! Bzzt!"
"You sure are excited today Rotom." Elio observed with Troy and Rockruff barking in agreement.
"Batteriezzz are at one hundred perzzent! Bzzt! A happy 'Dex meanzzz a happy trainer!"
"Yeah I can't argue with that."
"Ruff!"
Walking up the top, Sun began to hear the sounds of a battle coming from the middle of the path next to the pokemon center by where Rotom's map indicated that the next trial was held, Brooklet Hill. A loud screech came from down below.
That sounds like-
He peered over the crest of the hump as the halemai came into sight, situated at the end of a wooden bridge over a small stream that flowed from the rocks beyond.
At the bottom of the slope, he saw the familiar figure of Hau cradling his defeated dartrix in his arms. He was saying something encouraging to him, followed by a screech of agreement from the blade quill pokemon. Elio made the conclusion that the same one he heard earlier had come from Hau's noisy starter. Not to be saddened in any way; the boy recalled his fainted pokemon back to its ball and laughed, throwing his hands behind his head.
The other trainer he had battled appeared to be greatly annoyed by this gesture.
"All right! I lost again!"
Instead of a usual compliment on Hau's battling skills, there was an accusation thrown out that Elio did not expect.
"Are you even taking this seriously? At any point did you even process half of what I told you in that dead brain of yours?"
As Sun approached, he managed to get a good look at him. The new face was slightly taller than him, pale blond hair, with particularly large bangs that partially covered the right side of his green eyes. He wore a dark hoodie jacket with black pants that seemed to be quite worn with more than a few tatters along the legs. Elio wasn't sure if that was done by accident or for cosmetic reasons. A thin mouth hadn't changed expressions during the short duration he had seen him. It remained frozen in a permanent scowl.
Elio's gaze drifted back to the green eyes again. I've seen those eyes before. But from where?
What really caught his attention was the harsh blunt attitude that immediately rebuked Hau for enjoying the thrill of battle. This person already seemed to demean anyone considered not worthy of his time.
Oh boy. What mess have you gotten into yourself this time Hau?
Sun knew the type, having seen it watching professional battlers in the Indigo League. They were usually craving pure strength in battle and seldom acted warmly towards other trainers. Even though it wasn't the ideal kind of competitor, it always seemed as if all the analyzing and attention went to them because of their abrasive personality…or lack thereof. It always brought a strong sense of satisfaction when those kinds of trainers had been defeated in the League matches.
This boy seemed no different.
"Yeah I am! Seriously enjoying it! I'm having a lot of fun seeing all of Alola!"
"Enjoying it?" The boy glared at Hau, who seemed oblivious to the thinly-veiled condescending remark. "Give me a damn break." He murmured under his breath and shook his head in frustration. "You gotta be kidding me. The only way you can enjoy pokemon battling when you put everything you have into it…which clearly you haven't. I see twice as much effort put in by kids half your age."
Okay, this guy's a prick. Elio immediately thought to himself. You take battling way too seriously.
"Woah there Elio! Alola!" Hau ignored the latest jab, turning to greet with a hang loose sign. "Can you believe it?! This guy is plenty scary!"
As Sun returned the gesture, the icy blond across from them turned to the new face. "You're Elio?"
Elio was not fazed by the straightforward demand, or the piercing glare sent his way. Unlike many of the trainers that acted in the harsh confrontational matter like the one before him, he had a preference to show his own prowess through battling. Let it speak for him.
He also knew the kind of trash talking game these people played.
And I can play it too.
"Yeah that's me. I don't know your name but it's nice to meet you. I suppose?" It came out as neither friendly nor unfriendly…more along the lines of indirectly telling him that he wasn't about to be intimidated by such a harsh demand.
Beside him, Troy lowered his head, growling quietly. Even Rockruff seemed to be on edge with the new presence.
"Hmph." The blond scoffed with indifference. "Not very cautious are you? Even pokemon have twice as much sense of self-preservation than you apparently do."
It's my move again.
"Whatever you say." Elio decided to flash a brief grin to further annoy him. "And keep on using that one line for all its worth."
"What?"
"What?"
He saw the blond begin to get irritated again. "Ugh. I'm surrounded by a bunch of morons. Someone please spare me from all of this."
A poke ball was pulled out of his belt. "The name's Gladion. I fight for my partner Null to make it strong. Most of our time gets used up doing jobs for Team Skull."
I think that just gave me a solid reason not to like this guy. Sun thought at the mention of the aggravating gang of misfits and sent him a fierce glare. He's the kind of person that would probably make Lillie cry, if they ever meet.
Gladion studied Sun. He was maybe an inch shorter than the enforcer with shaggy black hair underneath one of those sports caps and dark gray eyes. His choice of clothing with the striped blue shirt and black red shorts was interesting, maybe a little out of style.
Other than that; there was hardly anything remarkable about him. Apparently while battling Hau, he had said that another boy their age named Elio was plenty strong that was doing the island challenge as he was. While not a trial-goer himself, Gladion didn't consider it a waste of time and he might have undertaken it to help them get stronger if he had the chance.
I don't have that chance. Time is not on our side. He grimaced, remembering why he passed up any reason to ask for the chance. The island challenge is a luxury that Null and I can't afford.
To him, only a battle would tell how strong a trainer this Elio could be, but if he went by Hau's standards, this Sun kid was going to be just another pushover and further prove his point that battles had to be taken seriously in order to be enjoyed.
Still, Sun seemed to be less emotional than his friend, even though he seemed so nonchalant at identifying himself. The Team Skull enforcer wasn't sure if he was impressed or irritated by the simple reply.
"Oh so you're one of them." Elio's light mood vanished and his voice suddenly became ice.
"Battle me. Right here and right now." He ignored the accusation and opened the ball to release a zubat. "Three on three. I am not taking no for an answer."
"Alright then. If you insist." Sun pulled out Grubbin's ball. "You ready Rotom?"
"I zure am! Thiz iz-"
"I don't care about the explanation of the rules." Gladion growled impatiently, shooting a nasty glare at the haunted 'Dex. "Three on three. Loser is the one with all three unable to battle."
"Did-" Rotom started. "Did he juzzt cut me off? That izzz a clear violation of zantioned battlezzz! Bzzt! It izzzz UNACCEPTABLE CONDITIONZZZ!"
"Rotom stop it!" Elio snapped. "Thank you for your help, but you've done enough."
"Yezzz sir." Almost as if it had been shot down, the talking pokedex dejectedly returned to the side of his bag. "Zay pleazzze."
"No." Sun wasn't sure if it was Rotom or Gladion irritating him more right now. Maybe both. "Get your ass in the bag before I shove you in there myself."
Rotom shook his screen from side to side. "I am ztarting to think you lozzzt your mannerzz and verbal filter while you were ztill in the womb. Bzzt!"
"In the bag." Elio said, still not wanting to take any of his own machines' sass.
"Very well. Bzzt."
After he closed the pocket, Elio found Hau and Gladion staring at him curiously.
"Now where were we?" He stopped, putting a finger to his chin. There was no way he was going to apologize for that outburst.
Especially to a jerk like Gladion.
"Can we just battle already?"
"Oh yes, that's what it was!"
Flicking his hand, Elio tossed out Grubbin. She landed on the ground, eyes focused and mandibles gnashing together in anticipation.
"Use feint attack!" Gladion didn't miss a beat, starting the fight with his arms going to a rather strange pose, curling his right up and shaking as if he had been paralyzed. His left clutched his right elbow at a perpendicular angle, holding it like it was in pain or something.
That has to be the strangest battle pose I've seen. It certainly isn't a Z-move.
Grubbin was hit hard as the bat rapidly flew up, disarmingly and then striking her body with his wings outstretched.
Does a zubat learn feint attack?
"Grubbin, let's slow it down. Use mud shot!" He clicked his jaw together before firing off multiple blobs of sticky reddish mud. Elio realized his mistake, suddenly playing right into Gladion's hand.
Crap! How can I forget Zubat is part flying?
Then he got a huge surprise. As the viscous stream splattered everywhere, the zubat was caught right in the middle of it. As if it had been set up by a decoy, the bat began to almost melt away. Dust swirled around where it stood.
Elio's eyes widened.
There was a completely different pokemon standing where the zubat had once stood. It was foxlike, with dark shiny fur, long black ears and trim of red around its eyes and on the tiny tuft above its forehead.
"Woah!" The battle suddenly got interrupted when Rotom squeezed its way out of his pack again. "Thizzz iz too much to rezizt! New pokemon detected! Zorua. Tricky fox pokemon. Normally it has a cowardly disposition, so it often uses its illusory powers to remain disguised as something else when not around friends it trusts. Although nearly foolproof, the illusions can be dispersed by simple attacks. Zorua is a dark type. Additonal information is available upon catching this pokemon."
Gladion growled in frustration, realizing his trickery had been foiled. "Take that grubbin out with shadow ball!"
Zorua opened its mouth, forming a sphere of dark energy and launching it outwards.
"Counter it with charge beam!"
The orb neared her as she clicked her mandibles together. Sparks flashed at its sharp ends and a beam shot out of the center. She had aimed it straight for the incoming ball and the two attacks collided, exploding in a loud crackle as waves of both black and white energy dispersed out. The sudden whoosh of air rippled at everyone's clothes.
Grubbin's eyes widened as the zorua leapt through the smoke at a blinding speed. It struck her straight across the body, causing her to tumble back to the ground.
"Again Zorua!" Gladion's pose curled into fists and he seemed almost dead set on making sure Elio failed. "Quick attack. Don't give it a chance."
Hang in there girl. Elio willed.
"Wait until it gets close."
Grubbin smashed her mandibles together again. She had about a half second before her jaws went slack again and she spat another long stream of dark mud.
Zorua had been flying too fast towards the larva pokemon to avoid it. The beginning exploded, sending globs everywhere and leaving the tiny fox mired in the thick of it.
Perfect.
Elio ignored the frustrated growl that came from Gladion and moved in for the kill.
Grubbin's body cloaked itself in electricity and she rushed it, slamming into it with the same ferocity of the earlier quick attack. It let out a pained scream, collapsing to the ground as she finished her assault and crawled gingerly right back to Elio's front.
The blond was muttering something under his breath as he returned Zorua.
"Ready for battle Zubat!"
Elio was fairly sure that the next pokemon was the REAL zubat he had in his possession.
I wonder if I tipped my hand with the spark move. Zubat's part flying.
But Grubbin is bug type. She's going to be weak to flying types.
"I guess we're going to kick this off again. Grubbin, use spark!"
Through his command, the bug shot forward, again covering herself in lances of surrounding electricity.
"Use your echolocation to avoid it and follow it up with wing attack!"
The zubat hissed, weaving around while flapping its purple webbed wings before they turned white and it zoomed forward on the attack.
"Grubbin watch out!" Sun cried. His tiny pokemon jumped out of zubat's way.
"Don't let it get away!" Gladion gritted his teeth. "Bite it!"
Zubat's fangs glowed white as they bore down on Grubbin. She stretched her own pincer jaws, finally having her right one snag on the side of a wing. Not wasting the opportunity, she had managed to pry herself free, retaliating with a bite of her own.
"Absorb."
Grubbin had landed on the ground when Zubat's fang glowed bright green and a thin needle shot out, homing right in on her. Eyes squeezed shut; the toll of being in the entirety of the battle had finally taken its toll. The grass attack then siphoned away the last of her energy, causing his bug to faint.
"Grubbin!"
"Hmph."
Elio quickly moved out and cradled her with an arm. "You did good out there. I'm proud of you."
He got a quiet "Ssk." in reply to show that she didn't hold anything against him for causing her to faint.
"Good. Take a nice rest okay?"
As soon as he returned Grubbin back to her ball, he flipped his next choice into his hand. "Okay Torracat, let's go!"
"Tor!" His feline starter landed nimbly on the ground and stretched his legs.
"Absorb!"
Guess we're getting right into it huh?
On his own, Torracat avoided the needle punctures, using his deft legs and keeping his eye on the opposition. Sun noticed that he had taken the advice well, just slightly keeping his legs flexed to be ready to spring into action.
"Ember."
He gathered a bit of fire in his mouth and shot it out. Zubat rolled to its right, avoiding it easily.
Gladion was about to issue another attack when Torracat sprang up after crouching lower this time. He opened his mouth revealing a row of deadly looking teeth that were glowing white.
Zubat was thrown about as the fire cat's bite did enough damage to knock it out of the fight. It was let go as Elio's starter landed back on the ground, pacing in front of his trainer and kept teeth bared at the edgy boy.
"Hmph." Gladion returned his pokemon to its ball and pulled out a third one. Unlike his other two, this one was a unique looking capsule that had a cherry red color and an iridescent sheen to its smooth surface. Looking back at him, Sun could see a storm building in the other teen's eyes of frustration and anger. "You're not bad so far, but it's all over for you now. Type: Null! Ready for battle!"
He tossed the uniquely colored white poke ball with red trim to show off one of the strangest pokemon Sun had ever seen.
The creature was quadruped, with a multitude of colors on different spots of its body that was taller than him. Its dark hind legs were tight with lean muscle while the forelegs had been shaded green, ending in razor sharp talons.
The geometry over its entire body was mismatched, almost as if it was made from parts of ten different other pokemon. The lines of dark fur were matted, graying as it went slowly up its neck. A long fishlike fin took the place of a tail on its posterior.
Elio didn't see a mouth of any sorts on the thing. A pair of eyes leered behind the darkness of this heavy looking beige muzzle that covered the entirety of its head. Spikes protruded out of four points on the sides and there was some sort of elongated axelike crest that sat atop the helmet's crown. As the strange pokemon moved about, he could hear something mechanical shifting inside that sounded like chains or cogwheels rattling together.
What is that thing? An abomination?
As the creature let out a low growl, it made Elio's hairs stand up on end. There was nothing about this…this thing that was natural.
"New pokemon detected! Bzzt!" Rotom popped out of the bag again before stopping. "Wha? What izzz that? My indexezzz can't find any data for thizzz pokemon! That izzz impozzzible! Nobody out'Dexezzz Rotom!"
Elio waved him back, but inside he still felt a little nervous especially that Rotom had zero data. Even though he had yet to see many of the species that inhabited Alola, he was pretty sure that Null was something of another world.
"Gladion," He started, unable to take his eyes off of it. "What is that? That thing?"
The other boy's eyes widened and a vein looked like it was about to pop out of his head. "Don't you DARE call Null a thing! Ever! You hear me?! I will make sure you regret it!"
"That thing isn't even a pokemon!" Elio shot back. He felt that this boy wasn't trying to make friends at all.
Why are you even defending it? "It's ugly enough to be some experiment reject!"
"THAT'S IT!" Gladion's face contorted into raw fury upon hearing that insult. "Null! Put this stuck up asshole in his place! Tackle!"
The Null let out this…roar. It wasn't particularly loud like an exploud, but again the feral bestiality was enough to make Sun shiver in his place. He could've attributed their anger by what he had called it as a lab reject.
The sensitive type. He thought to himself. That was kind of harsh though.
Null wasn't fast, slower than either of Gladion's other pokemon. Torracat jumped out of the way again.
"Ember!"
To his surprise, the pokemon took the hit directly, allowing the fire to wash over its fur before the tiny blazing flakes vanished. There was hardly any evidence it had been struck. No ash visible on its pelt, not even any wisps of smoke trailing from its body.
"Work up!" Gladion bellowed.
Clanking again; Null growled in the indescribable manner as a glowing orange aura rising up enveloped it.
"Torracat, ember it again!" Elio called out.
"Tor! Torracat!" His fire cat gathered more flames on the bell affixed to his chest and spat them out.
"Aerial Ace!"
Sun was dead wrong on that Null was a slow pokemon. Faster than the eye could follow, it vanished before lunging out of seemingly nowhere with its claws extended.
Torracat let out a pained cry as Null raked its front with astounding speed. He struck back with a fire fang before the combatants jumped away, lowering their heads at one another with a death glare.
When they parted, he saw that his own starter pokemon was visibly breathing heavily and hissing very lightly in pain. Even a moderately effective attack like aerial ace had damaged him this seriously was cause for alarm.
He's got power, that's for sure. But unless he uses Aerial Ace, then I'll see it coming and outspeed it.
Null's clanking sounded again as the beast lumbered forward in a charging tackle. Torracat was right on top, nimbly leaping aside. Gladion saw that Sun was about to issue another attack, quickly ordered his own pokemon to fake another one of the powerful tackles. As its opponent automatically began to move and dodge, he had it use work up to further enhance its attack power.
"You good partner?" Elio asked.
"Tor!"
"Then use ember again!"
"Charge through it Null." Gladion flashed that habitual pose again. "We'll power ourselves up too. Flame charge!"
With a savage roar, the creature ran forward slowly gathering a few flickering flames around its body before they encased it entirely. Torracat's ember shot added to its blaze as the bigger pokemon slammed into him, knocking him backwards. Although he landed on his feet again, fatigue was beginning to show more prominently. His limbs slowly moved about as he struggled to catch his breath.
Sun was still noticing that Gladion's strategy would only make Null even more difficult to defeat.
That thing takes whatever we throw at it. Not to mention work up and flame charge seems to speed it up every time it's used.
Should I do a Z-Move?
"I'm not waiting all day for you," Gladion said.
"You're about to go back to the pokemon center in tears quicker than you expect,"
All he got was an indignant scoff in reply. "Hmph. I doubt that."
"Whatever you say. Torracat, ember!"
Unlike Litten who had spit fireballs from his mouth; its evolution had an organ on the chest that resembled a bell of sorts that shot forth a larger and more powerful stream of multiple ember flames. Null was hit directly, but it seemed that its skin had shrugged off the blazing attack again with little effort.
"Use aerial ace." It charged ahead as Torracat braced itself by leaning back on its rear legs and awaiting further instructions.
Torracat moved just a second too early, as the Null's attack collided the two pokemon together, sending the fire type flying into the air. He landed, digging his claws into the dirt to slow his speed down.
He let out a growl and lunged right back at the Null, mouth full of a fiery glow as he clamped down right on top of the mask in a fire fang. The pokemon let out a loud pained screech and violently shook itself, knocking Torracat off.
Now's the time. "Torracat, let's unleash the full potential of your Z-Power!" Sun cried out as Null closed in. He placed the Normalium Z crystal into the Z-Ring, placing his arms in front with the traditional "X" and then locking his arms into the pose. Almost immediately, he felt an amazing amount of pure light energy flow through his body. Just in front of him, all the light surrounded his pokemon, surging through his limbs and enhancing the power. "Go! Channel Scratch into BREAKNECK BLITZ!"
Gladion said something across from him that was unintelligible through the noise. As Torracat continued to amass all of the light Z-Power, Null exploded forward, sprinting to close the distance in a matter of seconds.
Elio's eyes widened. The Z-Move still hadn't been unleashed. Torracat was just now readying to dash forward in its ultimate move.
Null lowered its head in a strong tackle, slamming right into his starter pokemon's midsection with the axe crest atop its head. They collided together, kicking up a good amount of dust and dirt that choked the surroundings and causing both to cough.
The creature was still standing, albeit battered.
But Torracat lay in a heap on the ground, his body sporting several fresh bruises and wounds.
"What?!" Elio practically screeched out loud with total disbelief.
Across from him, Gladion's lips curled upwards ever so slightly. "You really think it's the first time I've seen a Z-Move in action? There's been plenty of trainers including your joke of a friend there that tried to use it on me. I simply build up enough power and speed so that I could still strike before it got unleashed. Of course you wouldn't know that, seeing how I pretty much destroyed your chance of beating me."
After returning his pokemon, Sun gritted his teeth and clenched a fist.
How could I have been outsmarted like that?!
Gladion's words rang true in that state. Even though Z-Moves contained a lot of power, trainers this early on their island challenge would find themselves taking a longer amount for the Z-Power from the ring and crystal attached to engage. The difference in the charge time between a novice trainer and someone who had mastered it was mere seconds, but that had the potential to decide a battle.
Remember what Hala said when you use Z-Moves. The deeper the bond, the better you fight.
Torracat had been his longtime partner. Their bond was the best among the party, with no disrespect to the remainder. If anything, his Z-Move should have been ready in a half-second.
I'm not backing down. Elio shot him a look of defiance. But what do I do? I think Rufflet won't be able to do much to that armor of Null's. Grimer? I guess his good defensive attributes and disable can help out.
"You like to take your time. Don't you?"
"Why don't you just shut up?" Before Elio could pick up his sludge pokemon's ball, he heard a growl.
Troy glanced up at him and then back to Null on the opposite side of the field. The look in his eyes told him everything.
"You want to battle it?"
He got a bark of acknowledgement.
"Okay. We're in this together."
"Ruff!" Rockruff barked in encouragement from his side.
Rotom popped out of the bag and floated up to Elio at face level. "Herezzz a refresher of Troy'zzz movezzz!"
"Hmm. Quick attack, odor sleuth, accelerock, bite and rock tomb. We can work with that."
"Then let's go!" Gladion growled impatiently, striking his pose and shaking limbs again. "We're not losing to you!"
You just said that my chances of winning were gone…so why are you now going on the extreme of "I won't lose?"
Elio had been snapped out of his thoughts as Null let out another challenging cry as it dashed forward in a flame charge.
With its enhanced speed, it was remarkably fast. However Troy had been thinking one step ahead of Elio, using his hind limbs to easily avoid the clunky pokemon. It stopped mid-attack, glancing around for its foe.
"Accelerock!"
"Rahh!" With a roar of his own, he bore down on the creature, extending several protrusions of its bristly mane out. They scratched the mask and then the hide with a screech that set Sun's teeth on edge.
Null attempted to smash him with a tackle after the initial shock, however Troy again used his increased speed to evade and land in front of his temporary trainer to await further instructions.
Wow. I didn't know Troy was this fast!
Null let out an irritated huff and pawed the ground frustratingly. Elio could also see now that parts of its armored hide had been dinged and dented. The creature took slow ragged breaths as well, a sign that it was wearing down.
"Keep up the pressure Troy. It's getting tired!"
"Not if we can help it!" Gladion pointed. "Aerial ace again!"
"Counter it with accelerock!"
The two pokemon lunged forward in their fast attacks, colliding in the center locked in a fierce battle for dominance. Originally, Troy had taken the worse hit, only grazing a faster Null, however Elio quickly ordered a bite attack that was aimed at a rather large kink in the plating.
He was thrown off aggressively, but rolled back onto his feet. Here, he saw that Gladion's pokemon wobbled slightly. It was almost done for.
This is our chance. He couldn't use the Z-Move since the interrupted charging had exhausted the power for the current battle. But he could unleash Troy's strongest move.
He clenched a fist. "Rock Tomb! Full power with everything you got!"
Troy howled, jumping right into the air and swishing his large brush tail downwards. With a furious barrage, multiple white rocklike projectiles were hurled right at its target.
He saw the blond shout something to Null about trying to dodge, however it didn't seem to listen or have the strength.
The boulders collided in an explosion of debris, blanketing the entire battlefield. Sun barely had enough time to look away.
It took a few seconds, but it began to dissipate into the air. Troy was standing proudly at Elio's side while the Null had fallen on its forelegs.
"No…" Gladion clenched his fists, gritting his teeth in frustration. "No!"
Null rumbled lowly, stirring in an attempt to rise again before the injuries inflicted were too much for it to handle. Succumbing to them, the creature finally gave in, collapsing onto the dirt with a banging thud.
There was no need for a referee to state that it was unable to battle.
"Hmph." He recalled the strange pokemon back into its ball and gritted his teeth in frustration. "How annoying! Gah!"
As Elio thanked Troy for his help and gave him a poke bean treat from his bag, the Team Skull lackey brought his left arm across his chest and his right close to his head.
I'm not sure if that pose is supposed to be showing off or trying to be intimidating. Either way, it looks silly.
"Aaarrgh!" He seethed loudly. "How can I lose like that?!" One of the hands balled into a fist and he pounded it against his forehead. "Right after I call him stupid."
Just be cool. Gladion thought to himself, momentarily stopping his tirade. You're better than this.
"It's not like me to slip up like that." He muttered to himself before turning to the two trainers. "It looks like I was wrong about you Elio. You're not as stupid as I thought."
To his chagrin, the shaggy dark haired boy simply burst out into laughter. Gladion had to fight every fiber of temptation in his body to walk over and clock the smugness of the other trainers' face. Maybe even do one for Hau to add insult to injury.
"My bad brah." Elio's aggravating laughs had died down to a couple short chuckles. "You make it seem that I want your respect?! Newsflash!" he waved his fingers about mockingly, partially enjoying the satisfaction of seeing the boy who had picked on Hau start to silently fume back. "I don't! I don't give a rattata's ass about who you are or what kinds of other experiments you have on your team!"
"I said before." Gladion's voice went to a very defensive snarl. "Don't call Null an experiment!"
"Take it easy there." Elio held up his hands in defense. "You know for someone who comes off being all edgy outta the roof, you're very sensitive."
"I am not sensitive or edgy! And I'm never giving up on Null! We'll keep fighting stronger opponents! He saw the boy's anger begin to subside as another thought began to cross his mind. "This only means we're not ready yet."
"Wait a second. What do you mean ready? Ready for what?" Sun asked.
"That kid there," The boy stared at them after lowering his hands out of that odd pose again. "His pokemon aren't weak and sure it's fine to enjoy battling, but this brat." The gaze swiveled to a smiling oblivious Hau. "Yeah you. He's using that as an excuse not to try hard because he can't beat the kahuna. He can't beat Hala when he's serious!"
"Woah brah! You know my gramps?" Hau chuckled, placing his hands behind his head and flashing a toothy grin "Wait. So you think I'm strong?"
"Just shut up."
"Don't talk to my friend like that." Sun sternly said, quickly coming to his defense.
"You call a joke like that your friend? That's pretty pathetic."
Sun could tell that his friend's big-hearted personality was really starting to annoy Gladion and would've stopped him under any other circumstance, but he had already begun to have an intense dislike the boy after he had belittled Hau on not being serious in battle. The fact that he was part of Skull basically cemented his resentment.
Hau can battle however he wants to. How about I give you another newsflash that not everyone is a tryhard like you at battling?
"Aww look at you little Gladion!" Someone gushed from somewhere down the trail. "Aren't you just a real cool guy?"
Before Elio could make that retort, he saw two figures coming from behind Gladion. He elbowed Hau and they both took out their poke balls in preparation for another battle.
Half my party's down. He grimaced. And I'm sure Hau has used up plenty of medicine trying to get his team functional too.
The two Skull grunts sauntered forward in their punky swagger, waving their arms around and glaring at all three trainers behind the bandanna that concealed their faces save for the eyes. They formed an X with their arms crossed before pumping their fists downward as part of their signature pose.
It took Elio a moment to realize that the gesture was making fun of the Z-Move opening stance.
"I guess it's no surprise a homeless kid would turn out to be spineless too huh?" The girl grunt began. "No worries, we've got enough backbone to cover for ya!"
Hau and Sun shifted their stances, ready to spring into action when her partner passed Gladion, taking out a poke ball of his own.
"Just give it up already," The boy said, still facing away from everyone. The unexpected interjection caught everyone off guard.
"Huh?"
"You know you can't beat me." He threatened, turning to face the grunts in the eyes. "You'll just get your pokemon hurt for no reason. They're good pokemon after all."
"We came all this way and for what?" The girl griped, "For a big fat waste of time thanks to you!"
"I didn't ask you to come with me!" Gladion shot back.
"If you hadn't gotten in our way, we could've stolen the Totem pokemon from Brooklet Hill! Let's get out of here! The murkrow are cryin' and it's time we be flyin'!"
As she walked off, her partner followed, passing by Gladion and stuck a finger in his chest. It was enough to make the younger boy take a step back. "Ya listen up good Gladion. The boss does like ya, that's true. But ya only just some hired help we keep around for when we need ya. Ya aren't part of Team Skull and yanever will be! Got it? Ya better get it!"
Sun saw the condescending scold had struck a nerve into the edgy teen and he was glaring back at the grunt, but made no retaliatory move. Without another word, he sighed and slowly followed his two grunt compatriots down the pathway. It was hard to tell if he was angered or dejected by that statement.
Glad that's over. Elio sighed internally with relief.
"Hey thanks Sun!" Hau put his hands behind his head and grinned again, "And all your pokemon too! It's awesome you caught yourself a grubbin! That was an awesome battle too! Looks like I've gotta train my team some more if we're gonna take on the trial in Brooklet Hill next!"
"Yeah!" Sun didn't want the effects of Gladion's cynicism to put a damper on their exciting island challenge. "I honestly hope we don't run into him or Team Skull before the trial is over." He turned to Hau. "You gonna train some more?"
He nodded, "Yup, but I bet you're all ready for it, especially after you beat that Gladion guy! After this, we've got two more to go before the kahuna!"
"Sounds good. It's uh getting to the late afternoon, so if you want, I'll save you a room at the halemai."
"Nah brah. It's good. I'll see you later!"
Hau was about to dash off, heading back south.
As Sun watched him go, his mind couldn't stop going about Gladion. Although the boy said that he worked for part of Team Skull, yet they had treated him as if he was below them. As much as he was bluntly honest about his opinion of the guy, he couldn't help the pang of sympathy after seeing the rude display.
He sure is an interesting guy that's for sure. Sun thought to himself, I wonder what's his deal? Getting strong with that Null…for what exactly? And why are you picking on Hau? Because he's weak? He doesn't like to battle for keeps?
"Hau!"
"Yeah?" The boy was already out of breath from running back.
Elio smiled at him. "You're an awesome friend. You know that right?"
"Yeah!" As if they read each other's minds, the two boys bumped fists, raised their arms to wave them and shook hips before they completed the usual ritual by clasping hands and bringing one another in, giving a complimentary slap on the back.
"Just to let you know." he started. "Don't let anything that Gladion said get to you. He's just trying to rattle your cage. You're the only one who can be Hau and I don't want that to change. Okay?"
"You realize I'm going to have to change if I'm going to beat you?"
"Maybe. Maybe not."
He laughed. "Well either way. We still have to get stronger! Both of us are going to go right through this island challenge!"
"You got it brah." Elio bumped fists with his best friend again. "I'll see you around."
"For sure! Alola!"
"Alola! So Rotom, who called?"
The sun had gone down when Gladion made his way back to the motel. The building looked as if it had been built around the same time his mother was being potty trained. A few flecks of chipped paint lined the walls and parts of the roof seemed to be in need of repairs. The slowbro neon sign flickered on occasion, showing that the lights were in need of replacing soon.
The north end of Akala was home to the small town of Kulou. With a population of around four thousand, it was a community that seemed to mind to themselves, relying on the light tourist industry that came to do a multitude of things like wailord watching, fishing and visiting the Lush Jungle.
The Team Skull enforcer still had roughly another two months left on the rent of the room and he was already considering whether or not to put down what money he had for an extension.
Home sweet home. He thought to himself as he crossed the asphalt parking lot. And it was true. He had lived in room number fifty five for more than two years, relying on what measly income Team Skull provided him. The motel was located outside of the town and he usually hung away from its residents. They didn't seem to mind either and treated him indifferently.
Best keep a low profile.
Gladion fished in his pocket for the key and used it to open the dilapidated door.
The figure standing opposite it made him nearly drop it in shock.
"You look surprised to see me."
"Considering that hardly anyone else visits besides yourself and whatever idiots decide to keep watch over me."
"Well I wanted to at least get the place presentable after someone ratted out that Lars was here. "
"Lars?!" Gladion's expression darkened. "How the hell did that shitface get in here?"
"Beats me." The woman crossed her arms and brushed a strand of gold hair out of her face. "But you can thank me later after I asked the maid to change the sheets for you. At least you didn't have to find out he forgot to clean up all the condoms used."
"Okay that's disgusting. Lars is freaking disgusting."
"Listen Gladion." The woman moved to one of the chairs that had plenty of moth holes in its finish. "I like you. The boss knows you got potential, but you can't waste time when we're trying to steal a Totem pokemon from Brooklet Hill."
"Fine." He grumbled. "I'll be available, but it's just like I said. A total waste of time. And do you know what happened to the last trial goer that tried to face down the totem?"
"No."
His face turned grim. "They found ninety seven pieces. Trust me, it's not worth it. If all those stupid trial-goers want to get themselves killed, let them."
The statement was false, but he had made it up in his attempt to discourage the other lackeys from doing anything foolhardy in trying to steal said totem. Gladion pushed past the woman and made his way over to the pantry door. There was hardly anything inside, save for only a few cartons of cup noodles, energy bars and other junk food. He couldn't exactly afford to eat at nice restaurants.
As he unwrapped one of the styrofoam cups and filled it with water to the appropriate line, his mind drifted back to his encounter with the two boys earlier in the day.
He had already made up his mind about Hau. Even though he was surprised that the boy was so open to telling everyone that he was island kahuna Hala's grandson, he had some high expectations. After all, he must've had something to back up after boasting about that. Gladion was fairly sure he didn't care about winning or losing since he was going to be joyful either way.
He doesn't understand. He doesn't understand at all about having to make it on your own.
Next up was Elio, or was it Sun?
Gladion thought it was sort of childish to have a nickname after the star, but he didn't question it.
He felt himself gripping the cup rather forcefully when it drifted back to him calling Null an experiment. Elio was blunt, antagonistic and too overly protective of Hau. However the kicker was that he actually defeated Gladion. He may have used someone else's pokemon to help out, but Gladion was sure though that he could've still won.
While losing the battle stung, Gladion was more concerned about how Elio fought. Under normal means, the blond typically liked to hit first and hit hard enough so that the opponent would have little or no opportunities to strike back. He had just a brief moment of surprise when his attempted Z-Move had been interrupted, but it was quickly replaced by a steely composure that allowed him the win.
Elio seemed to be almost…baiting him, luring him into a false sense of security and finally figuring out Gladion's strategy.
He can talk and back it up. The edgy teen thought to himself. And he's much more serious than his Hau friend.
Gladion stopped short at the mention of talking.
He cursed under his breath, now suddenly realizing that the other boy was much more dangerous than he looked. The way he talked and how he was not just using skills in battle against him, but through his own speech. Hau was completely unaware of his nonsense talk.
Elio knew right from the get-go of what irritated him and used it on purpose to further antagonize the blond.
"Gladion?" The woman's voice called back as she walked over. "Are you alright?"
"Yeah." He sighed, trying his hardest to block out any other thoughts of Sun and their battle earlier that day. At the end, he figured that it was best to come clean, as Team Skull's number two easily saw through any lies he tried to erect. Despite not being an official member of Team Skull, this person had basically been the only one to treat him with decency. "It's just been a long day Plume. You see there's this trainer that I met today."
Okay, now that we've got Alola's resident edgelord making his first official appearance, it's time for the next trial! I for one, am very very excited to get it started. Big question I've already been asked through the PM, will it be Totem Wishiwashi or Araquanid?
You'll find out very soon! Sorry, I'm staying tight lipped about that one!
Mahalo for reading and reviewing, you give my writing purpose. See you guys next time.
Brav