Alola again readers. I apologize for being a complete month late and absent from writing, but things happen.
There's a good chance I might take yet another long hiatus just so that I can find a little bit of stability and time so that I can write ahead. While I've got to a point where it rejoins my original draft for the story...the place where it left off was Diary Entry 9 and Chapter 11, so 27 completely from scratch chapters have been squeezed in that were not part of this when first thought out. I'm pretty sure I told everyone this was supposed to be smaller snippets of the fluff between Elio and Lillie, but I realized that I was missing out on a ton of potential for character development and other different storylines.
Yes, for example; in the original version of this story, Leilani didn't exist. Elaine was nameless and would've just been a background character and Calvera was also nameless and far different than what I have him down as. I'm definitely glad that there are many other authors who have influenced my idea to make this onto a full length novelization.
Last time, we had Elio in a bit of a difficult spot after losing badly to Lurantis, but he's got a pep talk from a familiar, but unknown face and returned with a plan.
And for the record, I've had it inquired on many places where I get feedback, but Mohn's Dragonite; Hakuja is not a shiny. Hakuja means "white serpent" in Japanese which is a nod to its baby form Dratini. Maybe I wasn't that descriptive when I introduced him, so sorry about the confusion.
Getting sidetracked here, but this and the back-to-present chapter coming up right after rejoins the big gap I made in the original draft. Enjoy everyone.
I admit that my own heart was racing in the thought of Elio having to rechallenge the totem Lurantis! It worried me that he would beat himself up over the loss, but from his letter, I could tell that he just needed some time to recuperate, think of a new plan and try at it again. You had the skills to save me and Nebby many times, so a totem like this shouldn't stand much of a chance!
Dear Lillie,
Yeah. It's not easy saying this…but I lost.
Mallow thinks I bit off more than I could chew in her own words. I think I just needed to blow off some steam with all this crazy stuff going on right now.
And of course my own father decides to make things ten thousand times worse by staying in my head during the entirety of the totem battle. I know it's childish to blame other things besides myself for losing, but my head just wasn't in the right place.
I went to some of these islands off Alola a ways called Poke Pelago. It's actually really neat in that it is almost a haven for pokemon to relax and get away from it all, kind of like how Alola's vacation lifestyle is to us! If you want, I'll take you sometime!
Hoping for the best this time. I got a plan and we're going to execute it to win!
I miss you.
Sincerely,
Elio
The sun was at its zenith when Hakuja slowed and made its final descent down to the shores of Akala Island.
Elio looked up from his mount, seeing the star as a brilliant orange orb that was bisected by the horizon of the ocean. The sky had done its beautiful display of multicolored hues, going from the orange to a pink and finally a violet purple furthest away from the sun. There were scattered clouds, allowing much of the evening distant stars to be visible.
His thoughts drifted back to Lillie's most recent letter to him. How she and Professor Burnet were working to find Nebby's home and send it back. She had wanted to save it.
Isn't it already safe? He thought to himself. Save it from what?
She had been very secretive with no clear explanation on how or where the cosmog came from. The only clue they were going off of was somehow of its mysterious connection to the various ruins that were home to the tapu.
Each of the four islands had one tapu deity that lived in the ruins somewhere and it was commonplace for people to discourage venturing into the ruins for trivial reasons. While the tapu were viewed as benevolent spirits and the protectors of their islands, angering them in any way was surely a terrifying curse. Tapu Koko in particular who resided on Melemele Island was known for its volatile, hair-trigger temper.
Elio wasn't sure what to make of visiting the ruins to get answers. If anything, they'd just have more questions.
He remembered the night that he had defeated kahuna Hala in his very first grand trial, nearly a month ago. After the battle where everyone was dispersing to their homes, Lillie had timidly approached him and asked for his help. Of course he obliged.
Sun didn't do it before, but now if she had done the same thing with the two of them knowing one another for quite some time, he would've like nothing better than to hold her close in his arms.
Thoughts like these made him realize that he was missing Lillie even more than he thought.
Well keep your head up bro. Ed used to say that all the time to him. It'll happen eventually.
And the sooner we finish this trial battle, the sooner I can go and see Lillie and Nebby again.
Hakuja finally descended right towards the entrance of the Lush Jungle, setting down in in a gentle jolt that was barely felt. The dragonite growled softly as Elio unclipped himself from the safety harness and stood at the massive creature's side.
"Thanks a lot for the ride back." He reached up to stroke its long snout. "Tell…uh."
Damn it! I forgot to get his name!
"Tell your trainer he's got a wonderful place and a wonderful pokemon. I'd love to come back with some friends."
The dragonite huffed, curving its mouth into what was loosely described as a smile before spreading his great wings and lifting off into the sky. He circled around once before disappearing over the horizon, going back the way he came.
"Alright!" Rotom said excitedly as he floated out of Elio's backpack in front of him. "Time to shoot your hoopz and take thiz trial down! Bzzt!"
"You bet we're doing it!" Sun made a fist in agreement. "The film is what might have saved our entire thing. Thanks for recording it all!"
"You bet! Bzzt!"
While he was riding on Hakuja returning for a scheduled rematch, he had used Rotom's versus recorder feature which allows access to a video film of their battles that it did while conducting a match. Although it had no further feature than just to capture footage, Elio was no stranger to reviewing film.
Coach Noshimuri was one of the biggest sticklers in his life when it came to reviewing performances. Like all other teams in the high school basketball league, he had recorded footage of other team's plays and formations while in games. He often gathered the team before practice and lectured as if a teacher while analyzing every little detail of movements, coordination and even audible cues.
Elio and Ed had spent hours every week with the rest of their players, honing their skills and learning their opposition through the film.
And it wasn't just the other team they observed; Coach Noshimuri had multiple angles of their own performance. His nitpicking was blunt in short, but the criticism was necessary for them to continue improvements.
One of his sayings was something Elio took to heart.
Progress over perfection.
Elio figured that many professional trainers in the Leagues did something similar.
Best I can do is apply it to my own obstacles and see where to fix and what works well.
Through the entire flight back, he noticed all the errors in both him and his pokemon. Some were noticeable from the start, such as Grimer's constant minimizing. At first, the tactic seemed to work, however the totem had a literal aerial ace up its sleeve. Rotom had advised him that the attack was virtually unavoidable, which rendered the evasive boost by minimizing obsolete.
However that was one of Grimer's main strengths, being primarily a defensive fighter. By making himself harder to hit meant that the chances of an opponent's attack going through were lessening every time it was used.
That was only one of the things he needed to work on, but Elio also looked back at his opposition. At first, he didn't think much of the castform and trumbeak ally pokemon that had been summoned to the totem's aid, but now it became clearer that the former was setting up support in weather aid. The stronger sunlight had supercharged Lurantis' solar blades that sounded like chainsaws. As soon as he brought out Torracat, the castform ally had shut off the sun and turned it into rain that effectively diminished his ability to use fire attacks to their full strength.
If fire attacks are weakened in rain, that must mean they get empowered in the stronger sunlight.
Perhaps we can use its own weather tactics against it.
Mallow Lokelani emerged from the entrance of the Lush Jungle, slipping her phone back into her pocket. Sure enough, Kiawe had informed her that he was on his way again with the proper ingredients. Lana had already arrived, although she was grumbling that her twin younger sisters wouldn't stop leaving her alone when it came to a special trainer doing the trial. There was no doubt in her mind one of the questions the little ones had asked her friend was about the trainer's gender.
She spotted Elio in a semicircle with the entirety of his pokemon surrounding him as they looked at something on Rotom's screen. He was busy talking to Rufflet perched on his shoulder and pointing at the screen. Mallow was unable to hear exactly what he was saying, but figured he was coming up with a much better strategy to defeat her totem.
The silence was broken as Rockruff wandered away from the pack. Elio had been distracted talking to Rufflet to notice his absence.
Mallow watched as the small dog pokemon stared back out at the setting sun before raising his head up and howling loudly. While it didn't have the hair-raising quality of its evolved form, changing pitches constantly as if a crackling voice, she could tell that it was similar to an adolescent. Rockruff was trying its best to prove itself.
"Rockruff!" Elio snapped suddenly, turning around the moment he didn't see his pokemon. "Get back here, we're not done yet!"
Rockruff ignored him and continued howling out towards the ocean. The sun was sinking lower over the edge of the distant water with the orange glow in the sky fading and becoming overtaken by the hues of dark blue and purple.
"What has gotten into you lately?" He stood and walked over, reaching out to touch his pokemon.
Sun got one big shock when Rockruff sensed his approach and whirled around, glaring at him through intensive blue eyes and teeth bared. His growl continued, slightly dipping and spiking in pitch as his long bushy white tail stood on end; a sure sign that he was threatening to attack.
"Buddy?" His trainer was more concerned than anything, but he had heard of pokemon attacking their own trainers out of their wild instinct. Fear was something Elio wasn't going to show, but at the same time, Rockruff was looking at him as if he was a potential threat or prey.
Behind him, Nani was growing concerned as well. Her long scaly tail locked together in her signature sword iron tail and she moved to join them, determined to protect her trainer.
Rockruff still refused to back down, now wildly looking back to Nani and then Elio. His body posture remained tense and the growls grew more guttural. A silver of saliva oozed from the side of his mouth onto the ground.
"I think you need to sit this battle out."
Through the aggressiveness, there was a hint of a sympathetic apology in the puppy's eyes. Almost as if this was being driven out of a more wild primal instinct that was controlling the pokemon's will.
Elio knew that Rockruff was a playful pokemon who was fiercely loyal to him, but this was something most unusual for his behavior.
Should I have him checked over? Is he sick or something?
He sighed before pulling out his poke ball and recalling him back inside. Shaking his head, Sun dusted himself off before looking at the rest of his team.
"I don't know what's gotten into him. Howling at the setting sun, growling at everyone. I honestly don't know…just maybe we'll see later on. Or I'll ask Professor Kukui, he might know since he has a rockruff too."
Nani slithered quietly over to his side, lowering her head and gazing at him through her calm reddish eyes. Her expression was one of worry, similar to his own mother fussing over if he was hurt or not.
"I'm fine." He smiled as she pressed her face against his in an act of affection. A rub on her side elicited a coo of happiness. "I'm fine." he repeated. "Thank you Nani."
The rest of Elio's pokemon perked up as they made their way back to where the planning was happening. Torracat was first, jumping down to nuzzle his leg while the others crowded nearby, happy to see their trainer once again.
"Okay. So where were we?"
It took Elio another ten minutes to outline a more careful strategy before he approached the entrance of the Lush Jungle again. By now the sun was entirely gone from the horizon, allowing night to take its grip on the sky. The moon was in its waning gibbous phase, shining a faint glow all along the ground.
This meant that Elio would have to take his trial at night, something he and his pokemon haven't done since Hala's grand trial. The only pokemon he knew that had natural abilities to adeptly see in the dark were Charjabug and Torracat.
He wondered if the totem would have difficulty too.
Only one way to find out.
"So you bit off more than you could chew huh?" Mallow slipped an arm around Elio and pulled him close to her side. She was still roughly a head taller than him and her shoulder made contact with the side of his face…which was a little warm. The young trainer's embarrassment did nothing to stop her from inwardly squealing in delight. After visiting Lillie from time to time while on errands in Heahea City, she could clearly tell why she had a crush on the young trainer.
So getting him flustered was no difficult task whatsoever. And Mallow nearly squealed out loud just thinking about how perfect he and Lillie would look together. Maybe they'd be a little awkward at first, but then it would seamlessly work out. Or so she hoped.
"Just remember that Lurantis is a tricky opponent and it's always got something up its sleeve. There isn't one thing that makes it strong, it's all a blend and combination of the flavors. Let's see if you can outdo it this time!"
"I'm ready as ever." Elio said. "Bring it on!"
"Still have your forage bag?"
"I do." His enthusiasm dropped when she had asked that question.
"Good! So I'll need you to get those four ingredients again; a mago berry, tiny mushroom, revival herb and miracle seed! Remember how to use stoutland?"
"Wait a second, why the hell do I have to go and get those again?"
"Because I had to clean up! We don't want bewear loitering around where so many people travel."
"Bewear?"
"Yeah." Her face turned to surprise. "You've never heard of bewear before?"
"Like beware?"
"Yes…beware bewear!"
Elio shook his head. "You're getting me very confused."
"You really don't want to know about bewear." The tone of Mallow's cheerfulness dropped slightly when she said that. "It has the reputation of being the most dangerous pokemon in the alola region. Leaving food like that out in the open attracts them and they often return to spots where they find a lot of it."
"Is that why there was a sign back there to limit food items?"
Mallow nodded. "Bewear have some of the sharpest noses in the Alola region. They do live in some of the deeper areas of the Lush Jungle and the last thing we need is for them to come out into the zones that are more visited. They're a lot more threatening than you believe. Only a few types of pokemon can regularly stand against them and even their trainers have to teach it a good amount of restraint."
"We are getting off track here. Bzzt!" Rotom said from behind Elio's backpack. "Can we move thizzz along! Get the ingredientzzz already! Bzzt!"
"Let's just listen to the talking cell phone already." His trainer threw his arms up in frustration. "I'm ready whenever."
"Good enough for me." Both the trainer and trial captain didn't pay attention to the enraged device. "Let's get this show on the road! Allez cuisine!"
"Did you really have to call me a cell phone back there? Bzzt!" Rotom angrily asked as he floated next to Elio. The pair were now egressing through the dense brush on a slightly smaller stoutland. He had to thank the Alola Transit Bureau for keeping ride pokemon readily available at all times, likely in case of emergencies.
"It worked right?"
"I zuppoze zo."
It did not take as long now that Elio had familiarized himself with the ingredients and their ideal locations. Unlike in the daytime where he had heard the backdrop cries of tropical birds and other creatures, the night had a different crowd of hissing bugs.
Elio's backpack flashlight provided just enough illumination for the night vision feature on his ride gear to see properly. It was similar to a military style goggles with primarily black and green, but he was still able to distinctively tell different hues from one another.
There was little pokemon resistance on this trial go-around with only a single fomantis challenging him for the mago berry. He had sent out Torracat, who made short work of it from a couple of fire fangs. Due to Rockruff's erratic behavior, he had informed Mallow that the canine would not be participating in the trial, so he would attempt to do it with only five pokemon.
He hoped that Rockruff would forgive him for his decision, since he needed all of his assets on the top of their game and couldn't afford as many errors as he had committed when battling Lurantis the first time around.
I already feel bad for keeping him out of this fight. But there's his attitude, which I should seek Professor Kukui's aid and a rock type isn't going to do good against grass.
That left Nani as the only pokemon he had that would have a disadvantage on paper against Lurantis. All four others were of the typing that checked and countered the type's many weaknesses.
Thank goodness grass has a lot of those critical weaknesses. But all those status conditions and ability to gain support can actually make them a real threat!
His thoughts were brought out when stoutland huffed and sniffed eagerly at the ground.
"We're cloze to the tiny mushroom! Bzzt!"
"Perfect." Elio patted the ride pokemon's side and dismounted. A flick of his finger on the latch slid the helmet's visor back inside with a tiny hiss. Glancing down on the ground, he located one of the tiny mushrooms and yanked it free, stuffing it into his bag.
Sun was just about to turn around and climb back on his ride when he heard an angry cry. He watched as one of the larger mushrooms was wiggling out of the ground.
Another paras? His hand went right to Torracat's poke ball.
The pokemon finally freed itself from underneath the soil, waving the mushroom spore caps on its side slightly and emitting a bright flash.
Elio found the sensation being akin to staring right into a flashing camera. That combined with the darkness of the night made it all the more brighter and he staggered back, slightly disoriented from the overload.
When he blinked away the tears in his eyes, he saw that the pokemon was quite different than paras.
It was thin and stalklike, with three stubby roots that it appeared to walk on like legs. The mushroom that had stuck out from the ground were perched atop its bulbous head. It stared angrily at Elio through two black beady eyes.
"Rotom?"
"Of course! New pokemon detected! Bzzt! Morelull. Illuminating pokemon. As it drowses the day away, it nourishes itself by sucking nutrients from tree roots. When it awakens at the fall of night, it wanders off for a new place to sleep. Morelull is a grass and fairy type. Additional information is available upon catching this pokemon."
"You're still going down all the same!" Elio tossed out Torracat again, readying his starter for battle. "Fire fang!"
"Tor!" He lunged forward, mouth open and teeth bared with flames already infused inside.
The morelull's mushroom caps began to glow again and it fired a flash of bright light. The move stunned Torracat just enough for it to shoot extensions of its roots onto his leg. Torracat cried out in pain as the absorb attack siphoned part of his energy. Thankfully the combined factors of absorb's power and the typings made it seem that the overall damage done was extremely low.
Elio commanded an ember, but as his starter began to execute, he saw the morelull's caps begin to glow once again.
"Close your eyes quick!" he shouted, hoping his pokemon heard him. He placed an arm over his own eyes to shield them.
Torracat did just that and not a split second later, morelull had used another flash attack. As soon as it subsided, he fired the readied ember that hit the small pokemon in the center, slumping over on the ground with a good confirmation that it had been knocked out.
"Good job buddy." He knelt down and ruffled Torracat's fur, earning him a purr of appreciation. "Let's get going. Only two more things to go."
Interestingly enough, he had found the miracle seed without any hitches, even minus rockruff's digging and sniffing around. But it was the revival herb that gave him a lot of trouble.
First off, he had completely forgotten the type of stalks they had grown out of and he didn't want to uproot any more things than he had to because it seemed as if every time he did, there was some pokemon angry at him for disturbing their rest or whatever.
It's like standing in the middle and you step on a mine regardless of where you go. Can't do nothing right.
This was no problem in the daytime, what's so different other than the lack of visibility.
"You zeem to be having difficulty finding a revival herb! Bzzt! Perhapz it iz a lack of visibility?"
"Can you shut up for a moment? I'm trying to think."
"Hard to think above all that buzzing though."
Good point.
Elio crouched low to the ground, careful not to scrape his head on the overhanging branches. He had learned that lesson last time thanks to a little laceration on the top left area just in front of his ear.
Okay, so the revival herb has those leafy spindly stalks and they are rooted in the ground pretty good. I guess I can identify it by that.
As he approached the herbs and some large mushrooms, one of them began to slowly move as it sensed the human nearby. Elio was too engrossed in locating his final item to notice.
What he did notice was a squat little green and red bird sitting on the tree branch and staring back down at him. It peered at him through curious eyes and followed him as he moved along the jungle's floor.
"New pokemon detected! Bzzt! Natu. Little bird pokemon. The look in its eyes give the impression that it's carefully observing you, If you approach it in the wild, Natu will hop away. Natu is a psychic and flying type. Additional information is available upon catching this pokemon."
"Curious little guy aren't ya?" Elio smiled at it. The Natu's expression didn't change. "I'll try and catch it."
"That zoundz like an awesome idea! Bzzt! But zince you are on a trial, you are unable to catch any pokemon until it iz over! Bzzt!"
Elio's face fell at realizing one of the trial's biggest rules. "What about if I catch it and Mallow holds onto it until I'm done?"
"Then what? Bzzt! You already have zix pokemon in your party! It would have to be sent to the PC or your mother'z houzze!"
That's right I do have six pokemon! How can I forget these things?
"Bezidez, you already have a good flying type in Rufflet! What'z wrong with that? Bzzt!"
"Good point." Elio looked back up to see that the natu had already vanished. "Guess I missed my opportunity either way."
"Watch out! Bzzt!"
The boy glanced over to see an even larger mushroom pokemon than the morelull he had encountered earlier. It was smiliar in appearance, but the cap atop its head was almost as wide in diameter as a vileplume's petals. The body was thin as well and the long vine arms ended in three digit tendrils that seemed to act as arms.
"Shiino!"
"Oh crap, this one looks angry."
"I'll zay! But first! New pokemon detected! Shiinotic. Illuminating pokemon. It is the evolved form of morelull. It emits flickering spores that can cause intensive drowsiness. When it fights against parasect for territory, the entire area gets completely coated with spores! Shiinotic is a grass and fairy type. Additional information is available upon catching this pokemon."
"Yeah I don't plan on napping in the forest no thank you." Elio said. He held up his hands. "I'm just gonna uh…take one of these herbs. Have to do my trial…do you know how that is?"
"Shiino!" The shiinotic cried and flicked its arms aggressively.
"Well fine, if you don't want to talk." He threw out Torracat's poke ball and the feline immediately sprinted forward with a flame charge, slamming into the bigger mushroom and knocking it over. The creature growled and hissed in response, extending its arms and sprouting green tendrils that twisted their way to Torracat's legs again. The fire type was ready, clamping down onto them with a fire fang that was enough to halt the mega drain attack.
"Be careful! Bzzt! Shinnotic'z ability iz effect zpore, which can cause Torracat to be paralyzed, poizoned or put to zleep if he uzez another phyzzical attack!"
"So we have to keep our distance?"
"I think it would be bezt if you did."
"Very well. Ember!"
Torracat shot the tiny ball of fire from his bell that took a big chunk of the shiinotic's energy, however it was still standing. It raised its arms towards the moon and began to glow again.
"It can heal itzelf! Be careful!"
"Working on it." Elio ordered another ember as it was healing that splashed tiny glowing bits of fire across its body. Parts of the smoldering areas continued to linger, indicating that he had scored a burn.
One more time.
Torracat fired another one, blasting the shiinotic against the trunk of the tree and stood proudly victorious in front of the fainted pokemon's limp form.
"That's all said and done." Elio knelt down, examining the various plants in front of him. "Revival herb?"
Oh come on! Not ONE of these is a revival herb!
"And that's the story of why Christian won't speak to me again." Mallow was practically sobbing her eyes out. The sniffles turned into pained wails as Kiawe slowly stood up, walking over and gently putting his arms around the grass captain's slim form. Mallow's sobs continued as she leaned right into him, resting her head on his bare chest.
The fire captain gave Lana a pleading look as she clung to his side firmly like a remoraid aide.
She only directed at him a knowing smirk right back. "Oh no. I'm enjoying this far too much."
"E hoʻokuʻu iāʻoe."
"Elio's been gone for what, an hour?" Lana said, as she placed a hand on Mallow's shoulder. The captain continued to cry, although it seemed that the worst of it had subsided. "What's gotten into you lately? You're not this dramatic until we bust out the cocktails."
"Virgin cocktails." Kiawe corrected. "Don't let kahuna Olivia hear you saying that. And how can you possibly be this dramatic over non-alcoholic drinks?"
"She's not here right now."
"But if she was…"
"It's okay." Mallow eased herself out of Kiawe's arms before their embrace became anymore awkward. "I guess I'm still not over Christian."
"Girl," Lana laughed lightly. "All that guy wanted to do was get into your pants. Plain and simple."
"I'm eighteen! I can date, marry and all that whenever I want. Just one more year until I can drink too! You know, first comes love, then marriage and then the baby carriage."
"That is true." Kiawe pointed out. "But with Christian, it probably would have been the other way around."
"He was sooo handsome though. Those eyes…I could get lost in them and never find my way out." A happy sigh. "Guess I'm not over him just yet."
"Why don't you just take our advice on finding a boyfriend? There's plenty of match dating sites that are user friendly and legit."
Mallow made to reply, but all three captains stood up at attention as Elio emerged from the line of trees, madly brushing clear white spores from his body. The ride stoutland huffed and sneezed, poofing an enormous cloud that scattered them in the air.
"What the hell?" Kiawe asked in disbelief.
"You guys have any shiinotic and morelull come after you if you try and go after the revival herbs in their turf?" The boy took off his helmet, shaking even more out.
Ugh, thank goodness this isn't dandruff. That's just disgusting even thinking about it.
When he felt that he got the majority of the excess spores out of his gear and stoutland's fur after finely brushing it from his refresh kit, he thanked his ride with a few beans and sent it on its way.
"All right." Elio tossed the bag at the mat by Mallow's feet. "Let's get cooking. I'd rather not do that again."
"Uh…okay."
"Wait a second." The boy looked up at her again. "Are you crying? I wasn't gone THAT long?"
"You kind of were. More than an hour."
"Whatever. We starting or what?"
"Whenever you are ready! Allez cuisine!"
Elio quickly sliced up the tiny mushroom into the rocky helmet again, pouring in some of the fresh water. With the light on his backpack shining on his work, he grabbed the thick club while adding the peeled mago berry. The end of the makeshift pestle easily smashed the ingredients inside, making a wet noise as the drier ingredients absorbed the little amount of water inside. He used the same technique as last time, cradling the helmet in his left arm and using his right to crush everything.
"There you go!" Mallow encouraged, waving her arms for emphasis. "Keep on pounding!"
I'd snicker because I'm just that immature.
He aimed for the larger chunks, splitting the mago berry apart as the mixture began to thicken.
"Grind it and turn it into goo!" Mallow added bits of the crushed revival herb and the oil from the miracle seed and the same pungent smell began to emit from the bowl.
Elio continued mixing frantically, shaking his head to try and clear the aroma's overwhelming sensation.
A rustling of plants stopped him suddenly and he turned around, half expecting to see the totem lurantis staring right back. All he saw was the dark abyss of the jungle growth from behind.
Then where is it?
At the same time, all three captains were looking around nervously as well. It was unexplainable, but all four humans could sense the presence of the totem nearby. If it was watching them, Elio must've gotten used to it.
Or it was just incredibly sneaky.
"ALERT! BZZT! Totem pokemon approaching!" For some reason that same horrifying theme Rotom played whenever encountering a totem sounded ten times more dreadful. Elio guess that it was either from the fact that it was dark and he couldn't see anything, or he knew what he was up against as the nervousness bubbled up within his gut.
A tiny wisp of dirt fell onto the trainer's shoulder.
With a yelp of fright, he was forced to jump out of the way as the massive totem slammed into the ground with a ferocious screech that sent everyone's skin on edge. Automatically, the three captains moved aside as the totem strode to the bowl with a purpose, grabbing and devouring its contents greedily. No heed was paid towards the big mess it was making all over its mouth and Elio saw tiny droplets of the Mallow Special flicking out onto the ground.
"Now that I've got your attention," He stepped forward, readying his first pokemon. "I'm not afraid of you like last time. And I'm not losing either."
Lurantis stopped at his words, throwing the bowl away carelessly and hissing in response. As it readied itself for battle, Elio saw a harsh orange aura began to coalesce around its body. The totem let out a challenging cry upon receiving the healthy energy boost.
"Alert! The totem pokemon'z aura hazzz fluctuated! Bzzt! Zcanz zhow that it'z zpeed ztat hazz received a zignificant boozt! Bzzt!"
"It's not mattering at this point." Elio had Grimer up first. Although Rufflet was his leadoff pokemon in a go-to situation like this, he was willing to mix things up a little. If the totem was surprised at the changed ord "Let's begin! Grimer!"
As the sludge pokemon materialized out of the poke ball, he spread his arms out to prepare himself for battle.
"Start this off with brutal swing!"
Lurantis was faster thanks to its increased speed. It readied a leafage attack that pelted Grimer's firm body, however he shrugged off the attack using his arms to stretch many times longer than their normal size to slam into the totem. The attack didn't do much damage altogether, merely staggering it back as it slammed its petal blades into the ground to steady itself.
The totem wasn't finished. With a flick of its left arm, the same solar blade flashed to life. It cast a harsh orange glow in contrast to the night, illuminating its narrowed red eyes as it charged forward.
Grimer responded with a commanded minimize, easily avoiding the swung sword. As Elio had expected, the lurantis shifted its own priorities into using an aerial ace. It would make his minimize effect completely ignored.
"Grab it!"
Grimer was quick about it as well, wrapping his big arms around Lurantis own arm firmly. It growled, trying to shake itself free from his tenacious grip. He bore his flat teeth and delivered a nasty poison fang that made the creature screech in pain. One leafage attack later managed to dislodge him.
Keep up the pressure buddy. We got this.
A quick disable had shut down Lurantis' solar blade and Grimer minimized yet again to avoid another barrage of leafage attacks. As the totem exploded forward for an aerial ace, he repeated the same action, lashing out with his arm and allowing the natural adhesiveness of his body clamp down.
However, the totem was ready for this. While lunging forward in an aerial ace, it had been charging up its free arm with a second solar blade, finally bringing it into view at the same time.
Grimer made a move with his own free hand, but the totem anticipated this, swinging the large dull amber glowing sword into his chest with enough force to knock him back. It followed that attack up by doing its flashy spin move with an outstretched leg that smacked him in the center and knocked him out of the fight.
Elio knew that this wasn't exactly part of his plan, however he needed to think of his feet. There were occasions that many plans they had forged while in both battle and basketball games were thrown out of the proverbial window thanks to some wild variables. He was hoping that Grimer's increased evasiveness would help and allow him opportunities to poison it again.
We'll have to think of something else.
After returning Grimer to his ball and placing it on his left side, he decided to use Nani next. She uncoiled herself upon being released and stared back at the totem with hostility in her eyes.
The lurantis spread its sickle petals wide and gave out its shrilly cry. It was only a few moments when the familiar white teardrop shaped castform took its place at its ally's side. The weather pokemon wasted no time in firing an orange orb into the sky. Sunny Day's effect came into play immediately with a large glowing orb that simulated the intensive sunlight hanging just above the trees. Castform's own body glowed orange before it changed its appearance slightly with a similar colored body and clear appendages around the head. Elio knew from the past battle that its typing was fire as long as the sun was active.
Upon receiving the boost to its power, the totem ignited its solar blades once again. Both of them blazed even more intensively now that they were being fueled by the sun energy and they made the buzzing, crackling sound while throwing off sparks.
"You know what to do Nani." Elio said with confidence. The milotic nodded, locking her four fins together in her sword iron tail. She held it close while simultaneously coiled up and ready to strike.
Lurantis made the first move, dashing forward, bringing them up high. Nani reacted just in time, striking her blade laterally to block it. Like fencers, the two broke the clash and struck again with Nani going on the defensive. Lurantis' strikes were fast and it used its own two swords to its advantage.
Elio knew that while she would be able to hold her own for a time, Nani would eventually exhaust herself in trying to remain in the fight. He had to go on offense soon.
She got a bit of a breakthrough when the totem swung high again from their left side using both its solar blades. While parrying both, Nani struggled again trying to hold it back while moving her head down slightly. A green orb formulated in front and she fired the dragon pulse at point blank range. The creature shrieked in surprise as the raw orb of energy collided and exploded three times, tossing it into the ground a good ways back. Elio saw it moving to get back up, so he had to capitalize on it quickly.
That left the castform undefended and its eyes widened a little bit upon realizing its predicament.
Water attacks are still no good under this sunlight. He's just going to keep the sun going if we ignore him.
So we won't ignore him. Now's a good opportunity to take it down.
"We're going to focus on the castform." Elio said. Nani gave him a quizzical look, but he shrugged it off. "Yeah it's not part of the plan! We're going with a new one! Dragon pulse it quick! Before the totem gets back!"
Nani did just that, firing another green orb directly at the ally pokemon.
In an amazing display of strength and determination, the totem Lurantis jumped up, covering the distance between itself and its ally in mere moments. Solar blades activated, it plunged one firmly into the ground while standing in front of the castform. The second sword lashed out, striking the incoming attack and deflecting it upwards right into part of a large tree with a loud explosion. It was enough to startle something as Elio saw multiple flocks of pikipek and trumbeak seem to fly out of nowhere from within the branches to escape the rather violent commotion.
They didn't even awake when we were battling earlier? Must be used to having these kinds of things in the jungle.
I don't even know how you can sleep in here with all this damn noise anyway.
"Go back on the defensive." Elio commanded. "We're going to get ourselves another shot. Give it a good iron tail if it decides to fall back!"
I'm not letting you use synthesis to heal yourself this time around.
Nani saw Lurantis hesitate and sprang into action. She swung her blade wide going for an uppercut which it deflected. The totem slashed in retaliation sliding its own weapon past. One of its solar blades managed to force her tail to the side and it used its second one to try and get a shot at her.
"Quick, water pulse!"
The attack had to be hastily fired and Elio knew that its power was going to be less than normal thanks to the harsh sun, but she shot it almost at a point blank range that burst right in the creature's face, stunning it. The totem stumbled around, shaking its head vigorously and swinging its petal blades dangerously close to both Nani and its castform ally.
"Quick! It iz confuzzed! Bzzt!" Rotom said from beside Elio. "Take advantage of thiz opportunity! Bzzt!"
Elio didn't have that opening just yet as Lurantis snapped briefly out of its confusion to swing again at Nani. As usual, she parried and locked blades with her adversary, but was struck by a white beam of light from the castform. She closed her eyes, enduring the pain from the super effective attack while still barely holding the angry totem back.
Oh crap that's solarbeam! Elio thought to himself. Fine, want to play dirty, so can we!
Castform made to shoot another one, but the overhanging sunlight began to rapidly fade away and put the entire battling area back to the dim bathing moonlight. The lack of the solar energy had canceled out its move, earning a growl of frustration while it reverted back to its standard gray form.
It took a moment for Sun's eyes to readjust to the darkness again. Lurantis was still confused and shaking its head madly to clear its head, but he need to take the castform down before it snapped back out again.
To keep its ally running at full strength, the castform refreshed the sunlight again.
What it didn't see was the smile growing in Elio's face.
"Just like we planned Nani."
Lurantis was still confused and it ended up sweeping with its leg at one of the trees in a comical fashion. Elio almost laughed as the large trunk easily absorbed the powerful blow and knocked it back down.
Nani knew the plan, with the totem Lurantis getting beaten by a tree, it left the castform defenseless again. She quickly gathered all the energy needed in her mouth and spat another perfectly aimed dragon pulse. The attack closed in as the castform realized it was once again in danger. There was no time to escape as the small pokemon was seemingly engulfed inside before the sphere of volatile energy exploded, imploded and then exploding again two times.
The castform tumbled onto the ground, clearly knocked out of the battle.
Elio made a fist with his free hand in a silent victory pose. Now he could shift his entire focus on the totem itself.
Lurantis seemed to be pretty angry that its weather changing ally had been taken down. It hissed while standing up and snapping out of its confusion before igniting its solar blades again and charging back into the fray.
Nani kept her cool, forming her sword iron tail and blocking the first strike. The totem spun around, bringing its leg out in the sweeping motion again.
Elio saw it happening in the blink of an eye and was in the middle of yelling at her to look out for the deceptively critical trick. She had still been felled by the surprise and had nearly no time to react before getting slashed by two successive solar blades. It was more than enough damage to defeat her in her already exhausted state.
Elio sighed, pulling out her ball. Despite losing a second time, he was immensely proud of his pokemon. She did her job and they had to switch plans on the fly, performing admirably well through those hitches.
"Thank you Nani. Mahalo."
Returning her and setting the poke ball on his left side, he looked back at the totem; not losing the smile plastered on his face. Unlike before, this one brimmed with confidence and a hint of eagerness to see how things would go.
Three of my pokemon remaining have effectiveness against grass types. It's over.
"Go Torracat!" Elio tossed out his starter onto the field. As he faced the totem, the bell at his neck blazed with increased intensity. He wasn't sure whether it was knowing he faced a familiar opponent that defeated him or the harsh sun.
Either way, his trainer was very grateful to see his first pokemon very motivated to battle.
Lurantis huffed before shrieking again and spreading its petal blades. Sun saw rustling movement from the dense brush as a reptilian pokemon jumped out and took its place by Lurantis' side. It had gold colored trim along parts of its body and a jagged crimson stripe across its chest. Its movements were spasmodic from its hunkered posture to the curled tail on its posterior. Two black beady eyes stared at Torracat.
"Woah, a kecleon!" Rotom exclaimed, hovering right in front of Elio. "New pokemon detected! Kecleon. Color swap pokemon. Its color changes for concealment and also when its mood or health changes. The darker the color, the healthier it is. Kecleon is a normal type. Additional information is available upon catching this pokemon."
"I've heard of this pokemon before." Elio said. "They're native to the warmer humid parts of Hoenn. Have some sort of ability that's unique to them." He straightened his cap. "That's not mattering though! Flame charge on the totem!"
Boosted by the power of the sun overhead, Torracat's flame cloak charged even faster than normal and looked even stronger. Lurantis was in the middle of lunging when the fire cat dashed off at an insane pace. He ducked underneath a swinging blade, pushing with full force that sent the creature staggering back, eyes wide with the shocking display of immense power.
The kecleon wasn't about to let him escape unpunished. Its arm powered up a shadow claw and he raked Torracat's face, allowing the totem enough time to recover.
"Kecleon's a normal type!" Elio shouted at his starter. "We need to keep it up! Double kick and watch out for the totem again!"
"Tor!" Lurantis spun around as if dancing before leaping up with both solar blades extended. Torracat was in mid lunge with its twin forelegs before one of the totem's attacks collided with his side and sent him crashing into the tree.
"Be advizzed! Bzzt!" Rotom buzzed. "Kecleon'z special ability izzz color change! Bzzt! Every time it getzz ztruck with an attack, it changezzz to the correzzponding type! Bzzt!"
Changes to the corresponding type it gets struck with? Maybe we can use that to our advantage. But this totem has to go. We can't have that much more to go.
"Time to kick it up a notch. Flame charge again on the totem!"
"Tor!" He built up his cloak of fire and charged straightforward. Kecleon jumped to its partner's defense with a fury swipes attack. Elio's starter was ready, planting just one foot down and using the brief pause to change its momentum and juking right past. Lurantis was next and it swung its swords in a futile effort to discourage its assailant. Torracat pushed hard as he slammed into the totem's legs, stunning it back even further. This time around, it had to use its blades to steady itself by planting them firmly into the ground to slow its knockback.
Even though it showed clear signs of fatigue, Lurantis kept its lightning quick reflexes up, rushing forward and swinging from up high. Torracat was more than ready, dodging with equal speed and even surprising his trainer.
Holy freaking crap he's fast!
However Sun almost failed to see the familiarity in that move. It was the reason he had lost the last time.
He was in the middle of shouting about the low sweep coming his way after the original solar blades were a feint. But it seemed that his pokemon was anticipating that. Torracat landed on the ground jumping up again right after to avoid the wrenching attack before slamming two firm successive strikes with his forelegs in a perfect double kick. The action had propelled him away from the totem as it swung again and it launched a leafage attack the moment he was out of reach.
"Alright let's finish this buddy!" Elio made a fist with his right and pointed with his left. Adrenaline signing wildly in his veins, he smelled blood and went right for the kill. "One more flame charge! Full power!"
Landing on the side of another tree trunk, Torracat powered up in an instant and shot towards the recovering totem like a rocket. With an angry cry he had covered the distance in mere seconds.
Elio formed a fist with a triumphant grin on his face.
"Boom."
A moment later, Torracat crashed into it with a loud explosion and a brilliant display of light. The concussive wave from the attack was immense and rippled at the boy's clothes while he had to cover his eyes and ears from the overloading of senses yet again. The giant pokemon almost took a delay in reeling from the blow; however it wobbled on its legs with a woozy look in its red eyes. Slowly but surely, it stumbled once more before starting a long collapsing journey to the jungle ground and landed with a heavy thud that kicked up a good amount of dust in the vicinity.
It wasn't getting up.
Yes!
Torracat made to celebrate, however a long pink tongue flashed out of the darkness and snared his paw. He growled angrily as the ally kecleon pulled him back.
Oh crap, we still have to deal with its buddy.
The two struggled with Torracat putting up a firm resistance, however he was unable to wrestle himself free. The kecleon had quite a bit of strength in its tongue, using it to actually move the fire cat off the ground and slam it down again.
An idea popped right into Elio's head.
"Bite the tongue!"
Torracat did just that, baring his teeth and chomping right down on the closest part he could find. The lizard did not like this at all, screeching painfully and finally releasing him.
"Now he's dark type. While it's down, double kick!"
The kecleon wasn't about to go down without a fight and readied a shadow claw. It was a lost cause, as Torracat's increased speed was just too much for it. He slammed both forelegs one right after the other into its chest and sent the lizard flying back to crash into the body of its defeated totem ally.
Elio had realized that he was holding his breath the moment after issuing that final command to defeat the kecleon and exhaled loudly before falling back onto the ground. His arms and legs had a slick layer of sweat building up and his stomach was doing gymnastics inside.
But there was a rushing feeling of excitement. He had won! This trial was the most difficult one as of yet and he persisted right through it.
Rotom was sharing the excitement, floating happily above his trainer and playing that familiar victory theme. Torracat saw Elio almost frozen and pushed him lightly.
"Wha-Oh hey buddy! We won it!"
"Tor!"
"We did it! Hell to the yes!" He pumped both his fists before whooping loudly and shouting incoherently with the intent of nothing other than to just create noise with his victory.
"That'z the zpirit! It'z a hard fought win trainer! Bzzt!"
"Gimme some buddy!" Elio reached for Torracat's paw and the two exchanged high fives before going at it again and again. "Aww yiss brah!"
Back at where the three trial captains were witnessing the battle, they couldn't help but laugh at his victory reaction. Kiawe in particular wasn't one to enjoy particularly flashy displays, but after seeing the persistence and the difficulty Elio had been experiencing, even he had to think it was well deserved.
So the boy cracked a huge smile when he received a round of applause from all three trial captains. Lana put a pair of fingers to her mouth and whistled while Mallow fed both defeated participants a revival herb and quietly thanked them as they slipped back into the dense jungle growth.
"That was amazing Elio!" Mallow was giddy and squealing with delight as she bounded back. "You were really able to draw out the flavor of your pokemon in that battle! That totem bowed right down to you!"
"Second time's the charm!" Elio was just as excited to see what kind of rewards he would be getting for completing this trial.
"Yes." Kiawe added. "Even back at the Mauna Wela Volcano Park, my vaunted salazzle didn't stand much of a chance. Should've seen this coming though."
"Nor did the wishiwashi that I had trained so diligently and carefully." Lana added. "And this one was a bit tough for you the first time!"
"Just like any good chef, they must change their preparation and ingredients if a dish is to be improved! And improve you did! I saw you being a lot more resourceful that battle," Mallow said. "And the finishing garnishes were impeccable to say the least! Now you've cleared all three of Akala's trials! You even managed to get through my trial and I'd say it's a real doozy! The Grassium Z is yours to wield now!"
She reached into her bag and pulled out a similarly shaped crystal. Unlike the other Z-crystals he had in his own bag, this one was a dark emerald shade that seemed to take on a brighter hue when it was looked at through the moonlight above. There was a pattern of a leaf in its very center.
"Grassium Z! Acquired!" The boy crouched low to the ground, kneeling down and holding the gem close to himself, spinning around in a circle and thrusting it up in the air, striking his signature celebration pose; right hand in a victory fist and left hand with the crystal. "Yes! Trial is complete!"
The captains chuckled again before Mallow cleared her throat. "Now let me show you how to use the grass type Z-move? You go like GRASSSSSS! K?"
"Wait what?"
She didn't bother to answer his question but instead formed the "X" pose with her arms before stretching them out and crouching low to the ground. Mallow sprang up holding her hands in front before raising them up into the sky.
Elio saw the familiarity in the pose as well. Almost like a seed sprouting out of the ground or a flower blooming.
"Since you've cleared my trial Elio, I want you to help me train some pokemon from the Lush Jungle. You now have permission to catch as many as you like from here! In fact, I have some nest balls, they're quite adept at catching weaker and developing pokemon!"
"Sweet." Elio pocketed the offering and accepted the green petal. Four down, the white, blue, red and now green. Three to go.
His mind was already a couple of steps ahead since now this meant he could challenge the kahuna of Akala Island, Olivia to a battle and finish his grand trial.
Mallow's eyes widened as she glanced down at the bowl. There was quite a bit of the Mallow Special sitting at the bottom and to his amazement, had yet to dry out from being in the open air for so long. "Oh, it looks like Lurantis didn't finish all the food. Ooh, I really want you all to try some. Have a bite Kiawe, Lana you too."
"Uh," Both the fire and water captains shared an apprehensive glance. Kiawe was the first, shrugging indifferently. "If you insist."
Lana said nothing as both of them stuck two fingers at the edge of the bowl, scooping out a mouthful that dribbled down their palms.
Both Mallow and Elio watched eagerly as they licked the green paste.
"Oh man you can definitely taste that rare bone." Lana nodded and smiled, slipping her eyes shut.
"Wow this actually tastes good for once." Kiawe added, ignoring Mallow's pouting face while he said that. "Maybe it was wrong for me to mistrust you. This is so good you might just melt."
At the same time, both the captains' expressions turned from a blissful one to something a little more horrifying.
"No wait. Is that my tongue that's melting?"
"Uhhh!" Lana was the first to cry out as she kneeled on the ground. Elio felt a little nervous when he saw that her face was glistening with perspiration that seemed to come right out of nowhere.
"Mallow, it's….so…"
"SPICY! Ahh! Oh my gosh!" They screamed and sprinted from the spot back to the entrance of the jungle, disappearing around the bend. Both Elio and Mallow could still hear their agonized cries as they desperately searched for something to relieve their burning mouths.
Was Kiawe crying?
"What? What in the world is wrong with you guys? Don't you have any taste? What about you Elio? Try some. It's delicious."
The boy was a little frozen in his tracks as Torracat seemed to snap him out by nudging his leg.
"Uh I'm fine. I just ate."
It was at that moment, his lie had been exposed in the form of a growling belly. He hadn't eaten since breakfast in the morning and that alone was just very little after still trying to get over the fact that his asshole of a father calling last night.
Screw you stomach.
"Oh come on! A battle like that always works up an appetite!" Mallow held the bowl out as he shook his head adamantly.
I'd rather keep my taste buds. As well as not have my ass on fire next time I go bathroom.
"Woo!" Elio heard a familiar voice and saw the white lab coat of Professor Kukui walking up to them from the site's entrance. "What's that sweet smell I smell, drifting like a whirlwind my way?! Could that be a tasty Mallow Special? I saw Lana and Kiawe running out with their agility! Maybe it was just so good they couldn't contain their excitement to go and selfdestruct! Everything okay?"
"Oh Professor Kukui!" Mallow held up the bowl. "Elio here just finished my trial and I was wondering if he'd like a late night snack."
"Well count me in! I hope there's enough."
"Plenty to go around!" Mallow stuck her finger in the bowl and licked it off, closing her eyes to savor the taste. "Yummy! It's just missing something though."
"Hmm." Kukui laughed as she lightly burped before helping himself. "Haban chili powder maybe?"
"That's it!"
It's already spicy enough! Why in the world would you want to make it even worse?!
"I've seen Kiawe conquer the Blast Burn at Ke Komo's Curry House. How was this different?"
"I'm uh, gonna get going." Elio said. "You have fun losing all your taste buds with that."
"Before you do dash off with your quick attack!" Kukui stopped him. "I have a gift for you! I have a TM that contains smart strike! It will never miss! Guess I should also give you a big ho'omaikaian'a on clearing all three trials on Akala Island! And it looks like it's time for you to take on kahuna Olivia's grand trial! Olivia's an expert rock-type user, so it may be smart to catch some grass types here in Lush Jungle! Woo! Now there's a facility yeah, that I want you to check out if you have time later today while on your island challenge and before you head off. The Dimensional Research Lab! Let's get on over there with extremespeed!"
"Isn't it kind of late Professor? Not that it's uninteresting or whatnot, but I'm kind of tired and there's a lot of crazy stuff going on in my life right now."
"Oh gotcha." Kukui looked over at Mallow as the corners of his mouth curled up in a smirk. "Then I'll just have to tell a certain blonde you're too tired to go over there."
Neither of them heard a response, so they both glanced up.
Elio already had his ride gear halfway on while simultaneously tapping buttons on the pager to reserve a ride charizard.
The trial is done! It actually took my two attempts at Lurantis to finally bring it down. While it was one of my less favorite battles, I did enjoy it for its challenge, even though I know many others would rather see it beheaded.
Next chapter finds us back to the present.
Translations:
E hoʻokuʻu iāʻoe - Screw you
Ho'omaikaian'a - Congratulations
As always everyone, mahalo for reading and reviewing. You give my writing purpose.
Brav