Of course when I said it was going to take a while, I didn’t think it was going to take this long. I had sat for a few hours, gotten up and studied the totem for an hour, and then sat again. Was it too much to hope that Tapu Koko would just…show up? Did I have to summon them? The sun was crossing the sky and I hadn’t thought of anything.

  Diancie had activated Gravity in the battle arena, and everyone was doing all sorts of workouts that Dee was instructing them on. They were rather basic things, like pushups, jumping jacks, running in place, that sort of thing. The three new pokemon were also getting in on it, and to my surprise, so was Eevee. For some reason Eevee seemed the least affected by her first time under Gravity than anyone I had seen, though she was struggling to do anything else but sit.

  Without much thought, I began to do the dances that accompany Z-Moves. I began with the one for Oceanic Operetta as it was the one I knew the best. Then I tried Guardian of Alola. Then I started to run through every type. Breakneck Blitz, All-Out Pummeling, Supersonic Skystrike, Acid Downpour, Tectonic Rage, Continental Crush, Savage Spin-Out, Never-Ending Nightmare, Corkscrew Crash, Inferno Overdrive, Hydro Vortex, Bloom Doom, Gigavolt Havoc, Shattered Psyche, Subzero Slammer, Devastating Drake, Black Hole Eclipse, and Twinkle Tackle.

  By the end I was sweating and out of breath. That had been oddly exhausting. “What was that?” Cara asked.

  I felt my face turn a bit red, but I couldn’t tell if that was because of the workout, or embarrassment. “The- uh… the movements that go with Z-Moves,” I said after a moment.

  She handed me a bottle of water. “Is it like that Kamehameha thing?” she asked, her head tilting to the side.

  I cleared my throat before taking a drink from the bottle. “Sort of…”

  “Your aura was doing weird stuff,” she said, her brow furrowed. “Shifting…”

  My eyebrows rose a bit. “Those movements were actually doing something you could see in my aura?” She nodded. “That’s… really interesting actually.” I thought about it for a moment before I cleared my throat. “Alright. It’s time for my secret weapon. Let’s make lunch.”

  There was a fire pit in the room, probably for ceremonies, but I was going to use it to cook. Taking off my coat, I started to prepare. Dee, Mikyu, and Banette all started to help me, while Cara, Rio, and Brionne helped prep all the plates and bowls.

  I enjoyed listening to the chatter of everyone as I cooked, the conversation mostly being about the island and how exciting it was to be so far from where they were born. The three newcomers all seemed excited to know that they were going to go on such journeys, as Cara told them that my goal was to see the world. That shifted the conversation towards Kalos and what that place was like, which eventually led to the League battles.

  After everyone got their plates, before preparing my own, I made up one special plate. I made it a bit more on the spicy side, though it had a mixture of all of them. I walked up the stairs, putting the large plate down in front of the totem. “You better eat it before it gets cold,” I said rather loudly to the air before I made my way back down to get some for myself.

  It wasn’t five minutes before there was a burst from the canopy, and an orange, black and yellow Pokemon appeared on the stand. I only glanced up at it for a moment, before turning my attention back to my food. “You have waited long-” it began.

  But I cut it off. “Eat first,” I said, gesturing at it with my fork. “And I better not hear you complaining, because if you’d shown up earlier I would have known what sort of food you like and made that.”

  They stared down at me, clearly quite caught off guard by my statement. Most of the Pokemon had ignored their appearance, though Cara was watching them carefully, as was Rio and Keo. However I watched as they seemed to literally deflate, all the bravado that they had clearly shown up with smacked down by my indifference.

  Without a word, they turned around, picked up their plate and began eating. I knew they were defeated the moment they took that first bite. I could see it on their face. Their eyes went wide and they just stared at the plate. “That’s… very good…” they said softly before they started to dig in with gusto.

  I was really finding out that people didn’t give Pokemon good food. Honestly they barely had good food for themselves. I hadn’t been to a high end restaurant, though I planned to go to one while here in Alola, but the food here didn’t seem that good from what I had seen and tasted. And it was clearly from the lack of brands. Why make really good food when everyone is used to mediocre food, and you have no competition?

  The curry mixes that I bought were super basic, which is one of the reasons I needed to add so much to actually get the flavor up there. They weren’t bad, but they were closer to cheap ramen flavor packets than the type of curry mix I was used to. That first batch I had made was garbage to what I could do now.

  Slowly the conversations began to pick back up. It was always fun listening to Pokemon chatter amongst themselves. They had a surprising amount to talk about. Stories mostly, either experienced or told to them. A lot of them sounded like imaginary stories they made up at some point, or play pretend things that they had done. It gave pretty good insight into what they all did on a day to day basis out in the wild.

  At some point, a less boastful looking Tapu Koko approached, carefully holding their plate. “May I… have some more?”

  I smiled a bit as I got up, holding my hand out for their plate. “Of course. I made plenty.” They quickly gave it to me and I moved over to the pots, which did still have some left. “What sort of flavors do you like?”

  They quickly moved up beside me. “Can I have it spicier?” they asked excitedly.

  With a chuckle and a nod I went straight for the spiciest pot. Thankfully there was more than enough for one more plate worth, as I was still trying to get portion sizes right. “Here.” I held out the plate to them.

  There was a bit of hesitation as they looked at the plate, as if realizing something. “Why do you want power?”

  I blinked at them a few times and then chuckled with a shake of my head. “It’s funny how everyone just assumes that I’m the one who wants to be strong. I don’t want power.” I pushed the plate a bit more towards them, practically forcing them to take it, which they did. “They want to be strong, and I want to help them.”

  There were a few moments of silence as Tapu Koko looked at me, studying me. It felt like they could see a lot more, and I felt like there was some sort of energy washing over me. Eventually he sighed. “I know what Hala wants. He wants me to deny you a Z-Power Ring.”

  I frowned, cursing the old man in my head and aloud, “Stubborn old man. Even after I beat him.”

  The Tapu just nodded. “It is rare that we allow outsiders to partake in our Trials. He is following tradition, and caution, as history has shown those who gain it do not use Z-Power for the protection of Alola, they use it to destroy,” he paused, “However. In this case I do not agree.”

  That caught me off guard. I was already planning on my next steps and where to go next since Z-Moves sounded like a bust. “Really?”

  They nodded. “However, I will give you a Trial of my own. I will give you the Z-Power Ring, but you must prove to me that you do not need it.”

  My brow furrowed a bit as I tried to think about how I would go about doing that. So a Trial for a Trial? Or was it a Trial for a Trial for a Trial? How many Trials deep was I now? And had I not already done that just by getting this far? “Is there something in particular you want me to accomplish?”

  “Yes.” They looked down at the plate for a moment before looking back at me. “You must win your League tournament back where you came from, without using Z-Moves.”

  That got me to chuckle. “So you want to make sure that I don't use Z-Power as a shortcut.” They just nodded before starting to eat, clearly having been holding themself back until they got to say what they wanted. “Well, that's an easy enough thing to follow, but something difficult to accomplish. If all it takes is not using Z-Moves in the League, then I won’t use them in the League. Or gym battles,” I added. It was better to not show them off at all if I could help it.

  They froze mid bite, clearly not having thought about the gym battles. But they nodded, clearly pleased with me not trying to skirt around their Trial with a technicality. Or they were just pleased at how good the food was. Maybe both. Hard to tell. “For doing that, I shall give you a Z-Crystal upon your return.”

  I nodded. “That would be a fair reward, though there are eight gyms that I must complete. And I plan to become an Elite Trainer, so I have to actually fight their strongest teams.” I was trying to see if I could convince the Tapu to maybe give me a little more, since the Trial was very difficult.

  It looked like they thought it over for a moment as they ate, or they weren't thinking about it and were just eating. Once they were done, they nodded. “Two Z-Crystals.”

  I snorted softly, and nodded. “Alright. But I can get any crystal I want in the meantime, right?”

  Again they seemed to think this over before they nodded. “Yes.” They held out their empty plate towards me, but when I reached to take it from them they grabbed hold of my hand. With their other hand they pushed up my sleeve before reaching into the space behind their mask.

  I was a bit surprised when they pulled out not the Sparkling Stone that I had been expecting, but an actual completed Z-Power Ring. It was black and gray in color, with the sort of white Z imprint in the center, but that’s where the similarities stopped. The band itself appeared to be made from roots that hung limp. However when they placed it onto my wrist, there was a spark of electricity and the roots came to life and wrapped themselves around my arm.

  There was the instinct to yank my hand away that I almost gave into, but they didn’t grip too hard, and quickly settled themselves to appear more like a decorative band. “If you fail the Trial, I and the other Tapu will come to retrieve this, and all the other crystals that you have collected.”

  There was a rather large smile on my face, threatening to break into a grin. This was an extremely exciting moment and I could already think of how this would change my journey. I tested the band a bit, finding that I could remove it if I wanted to, before I set the empty plate down. The stone looked extremely old, scuffed and scratched. Clearly this had belonged to someone long ago. “Thank you for this chance. If I fail this Trial, I will give it back without a fuss. Though I don’t think I will fail.” At least I hoped I wouldn’t. If I wanted to accomplish that goal, I’d have to beat not only Andrew, but also that Trainer Laura.

  They looked at me for a moment before nodding. “You may stay here tonight if you wish.”

  I shook my head. “No, I won’t impose further. There’s plenty of time to get down the mountain.”

  There was another moment of pause before they nodded again. “Thank you for the meal.” Then they left, shooting up through the canopy.

  Turning towards the rest of the Pokemon, they were all staring at me. Cara, Rio, Keo, and Scoly were stanced up, as if ready to rush in and attempt to battle the Legendary Pokemon if things went bad. “Let’s clean up, and then head back down,” I said, unable to get the smile off of my face even if I wanted to.

  ~

  After cleaning up, I returned everyone but Eevee, Goomy, and Scoly, with the purpose of riding the bug horse down the mountain as fast as possible. I was reminded of just how fast this bug was, and that I really needed a saddle. I wondered where they got the saddles for the Pokemon transportation system here in Alola and decided to ask and get one made soon. The current plan was to head all the way back to the beach, but we stopped at the end of Mahala Trail as there were two people there. Kahuna Hala and Professor Kukui.

  Hala was wearing a rather blank expression, but Professor Kukui looked a bit concerned. I hopped down from Scoly, my legs a bit jellied from the ride, but I managed to stay standing. That was something I would have to get used to.

  “Alola!” I greeted. Both of them looked at me expectantly, and I just rolled my eyes before raising up my arm and pulling down the sleeve of my coat to show them the Z-Power Ring. They both looked genuinely shocked. “How’s that, old man?”

  It took a moment, but eventually Hala laughed. “Well. And here I was about to offer help with whatever task the Tapu gave you.”

  I laughed as well. Kukui just looked confused. “You got it? That easily?”

  “Not easily,” I said with a bit of a sigh. “I have to win the Kalos League, or Tapu Koko and the other Tapu are going to beat me up and take it back.”

  Hala just laughed more. “That sounds more like it!” he announced, wearing a rather wide smile.

  “At least the League will be easier with Z-Moves,” Kukui said with a nod, folding his arms in front of him. “Have you planned which ones you want to go for first?”

  I shook my head. “I’m not allowed to use the Z-Moves in the League, or in gym battles. That’s part of my Trial.”

  Hala seemed to settle his laughter, though he was still smiling. “The Tapu wants you to prove you’re capable of grand achievements without the power.”

  “Apparently beating you wasn’t enough,” I said with a chuckle.

  “I’m hardly a challenge,” Hala said with a shake of his head. “But, still.” He suddenly tossed something towards me, and I raised up my hand to catch it.

  I looked down at the object in my hand and arched a brow. “That easy?” I asked, looking down at the little orange crystal in my hand, noting the little fist emblem that was in the middle. Fightinium Z.

  “You beat me. And if the Tapu accepts you, that means I’d be a really stubborn old man to deny you a reward for doing a Trial,” he said with a bit of a rough tone, but he had a smile on his face.

  With a nod, I moved it closer to the band and was slightly unnerved as some little things grew from the roots and grasped it. I wasn’t sure if Hala noticed, but Kukui sure did and he came closer to examine the Z-Power Ring that I had been given. I held up my arm so he could get a better look. “This one is… very old. Hala, do you know who this belonged to?”

  From the expression on Hala’s face, it was as if he had noticed something. But he shook his head. “No. Before my time, I think.” He shifted his arm a bit so that he could hold his own Z-Power Ring next to mine. “Without even looking at the band, you can tell it’s very different. Look, it’s even carved differently.” He was pointing out different spots.

  While comparing the two, mine definitely looked to be in rough shape. And it wasn’t carved or polished as nicely. “One of the first ones?” I suddenly asked, running a finger over the face and feeling the rough surface.

  “Definitely one of the old ones,” he said with a nod. “It’s not the first one that was carved, or even part of that group. I’ve seen them.” He paused, continuing to look it over. “The real question is, why did the Tapu give you this one?”

  I smirked a bit at him. “Maybe they didn’t trust you to carve me one?”

  He laughed, and nodded. “Yeah, that sounds like something I’d do.” He turned away, still laughing as he waved. “Alola!”

  The five of us just stood there, watching him go. “He’s weird,” Scoly said softly from over my shoulder, hoping to not be heard by the retreating man. “Is he an enemy, or not?”

  I reached up and started to rub between her horns. “Yeah. I’m not sure.”

  “Sorry about Hala,” Kukui said with a bit of a nervous laugh. “He’s uh… not really a fan of foreigners. The Association has been pushing really hard to get a foothold here, and they’ve not been gentle about it.”

  “With how much money there is in tourism, I can understand that.” We both watched as Hala went back into his house, the wall still had a Poliwrath shaped indent in it. With a bit of a laugh the three of us started to make our way back to the beach.

  “But back to my other point.” Kukui looked at me as we walked, giving me a rather uncharacteristically scrutinizing look. “How many crystals do you plan on getting?”

  “Eventually, all of them. But for now, I’ll settle for getting Primarium, Normalium, Dragonium, Fairium, and Groundium.” Considering what Trial Tapu Koko had given me, I was going to have to cut my trip here in Alola short. I had planned to spend the three months doing Trials and collecting all the Z-Crystals before trying the League without trying too hard the first go around, but now I’d have to go all out. Maybe get some other gimmick for emergency use?

  I doubt they would allow Gigantamax in the Kalos league, but Terastallization might be a good idea. But the Terastal phenomenon has a lot more restrictions. Maybe hunting Mega Stones would be a better option?

  Or I could just wing it and hope for the best. Since this was supposed to be a Trial to prove that I wouldn’t abuse the power I was given, it would probably be in poor taste to go seeking some other power to use. So Mega Stones then, since others would also have access to them.

  “So a few of them then?” Kukui asked, a hand under his chin as he seemed to think it over. “I might be able to help with the Normalium in a few days, but the others you’re pretty much on your own.”

  I smiled a bit. “Yanno, you’re much more willing to help than everyone else about all this.”

  He laughed, and rubbed the back of his head. “Well, I may not like the Association but… I dunno, I think the islands having their own League is a good idea. And-” he hesitated before looking around to make sure there was no one around. “It’s inevitable.”

  There was a puzzled expression on my face. “Inevitable?”

  “This was always going to be the case the moment that the Kahuna allowed the Association to influence the island,” he said with a bit of a laugh, though it was dry and humorless. “With all the people coming to the island, it would be impossible to not have others be seen as worthy by the Tapu.”

  All I could really do was nod in agreement. I could think of figures that had done just that, Ash being one of them. We walked in silence for a few minutes, Scoly constantly bumping playfully into me, demanding I pet her more. Of course I didn’t take much convincing, as I liked the feeling of her shell. It was smooth, and warm to the touch.

  Eventually I decided to break the silence. “I don’t like the Association.” They weren’t part of the show, or any official media. They were something that existed here and made me question whether any of my knowledge or events were helpful. “They give me such a bad vibe,” I added. It wasn’t just because I had a problem with authoritative figures like that, but there was something about them that put me on edge. They weren’t the government, but they sure tried to act like they held all the authority.

  This time all he did was nod in agreement. He decided to change the subject, “How long do you plan on being in Alola?”

  “In a hurry to get rid of me?” I said with a chuckle. “A few weeks, I suppose? I’m on a journey to see the world, so I’ll be taking my time with the Trials.”

  He rubbed his chin a bit with a thoughtful expression. “There’s a lot of world to see.”

  “I’m not in a hurry. There’s no point in going to a place and not experiencing it.” I waved a hand vaguely in the air. “It’s not like I’m going places just to say I’ve been there. I want to see them, and the Pokemon that live there.”

  A chuckle seemed to escape him and he pat me on the shoulder. “You’re like one of those Explorers, eh?”

  “Explorers?” I looked at him, furrowing my brow a bit. This was the first time I’d heard about them.

  “Ah, well. They’re technically part of the Ranger Society so I’m not surprised you haven’t heard of them if you don’t have a lot of interactions with Rangers.” That was true, I hadn’t met a single Ranger in my time being here.

  “I’m guessing that Explorers go out and explore stuff?”

  He nodded. “They’re the ones who draw all the maps of places, and go out into the world. It was an Explorer who discovered Alola a few decades ago.”

  “Maps?” I suddenly had an idea. “Do you have a world map? I’ve actually never seen one.”

  He arched an eyebrow at me, but after thinking about it for a moment he shrugged. “Okay, that’s not as surprising as I think… We got one back at the lab as part of the ‘Welcome to the Association’ gift basket.”

  I could actually see the lab building not far off from where we were, as it was where we were heading. “I’d like to see it.”

  ~

  In the research center, I was now standing alone in a room, staring at the large map on the wall. It really opened my eyes to just how wrong I thought the geography of this Pokemon world was. I had thought of it in terms of my old world, thinking that Alola was far to the West of Kalos, with Unova between it. But no. Alola was South East. If we went West and a bit North, there were the Orange Islands. I was closer to Kanto than anything else. I was right about Unova being between here and Kalos, but that was extremely far away. No wonder it took so long to get here.

  What was oddly unnerving was that all of this was mostly the Northern hemisphere of whatever Pokemon planet I was on. Alola was South of the equator, while the Orange Islands were North. Outside of the established places in the games and anime, the rest of the map was blank. Though there were notations at either side suggesting another continent, as well as other marks scattered about to indicate possible islands.

  This world was so much bigger than I had thought.

  I couldn’t quite tell if it was larger than the world I had come from, since it wasn’t fully explored, but just from this… unless the other continent wasn’t very large, it was probably bigger. Trying to equate it to my old world, the entire map spanned from Europe, through Russia, and then entirely across Canada. Even using that scale, the equator seemed lower as well, so it had to be larger.

  I could have probably mathed it out, if I had the Northernmost point, but that was unmapped as well. Another notation of some sort of frozen continent. Before leaving, I took several pictures of the map.

  As I stepped out onto the balcony overlooking the beach, I looked down at all the training Pokemon. They had all been so eager to get back to training that they had taken my bag and gone and set up camp while I was studying the map. Their drive to gain strength was honestly fascinating.

  I watched them for a few minutes until they all suddenly stopped and looked over at the tent. I was puzzled for a moment until Cara ran over to the tent and retrieved my phone. With a bit of a wave, I got her attention so she knew where I was and she leapt over. She had cleared a surprising distance, but that was just one of the ways she's figured out to use Extreme Speed. “You have a phone call,” she said, standing on the railing and holding the ringing phone out to me.

  “Thank you,” I said with a smile as I took the phone. I glanced at the screen as she jumped back to the group, the railing buckling slightly from the force of her leap. It was Professor Sycamore. That caught me off guard, and I wondered why he would be calling. Hitting the button I opened with, “Alola, Professor. What’s up?”

  “Hello Jason,” he said with a smile. “Sorry it took me a while to get back to you. You still in Alola? How is it?”

  “Pretty good,” I said as I leaned against the railing. “Good weather. Good Pokemon.”

  He gave a bit of a nod. “I just wanted to follow up on things, and let you know that… the device is gone.”

  My brow arched a bit. “Gone?”

  Again he nodded. “Disappeared overnight. All the footage is gone. No one saw anything. Or heard anything. Just… poof.” He gestured vaguely with a hand. “Can’t say if it was Team Flare, or someone else but…” He shook his head.

  I frowned. “That’s annoying… Did you find out anything?”

  “I actually did. You were right about there being a dusk stone. As well as an artificial Mega Stone. Unfortunately it was broken in the fight, but there was evidence that it was already cracked when the device was activated.” He was leaning against the railing outside his lab, the same place he’d called previously. “I can show you a lot more when you get back. I’m keeping a very close eye on the data.”

  That was another reason to cut my trip short. “Do you think that’s why they went berserk? Because it was a cracked stone?”

  He nodded and sighed. “Yeah… And what’s worse is I can’t find the kid, his Pokemon, or the father.”

  “That…” I stopped, unable to really form my thoughts into words. This was just more evidence that there were a lot of powerful people in this world who were not afraid of the consequences of their actions.

  “I just wanted to tell you that.” I could see him look over at something and give a slight wave. “I have to go. Be careful, alright?”

  “Alright. Thanks Professor. Talk to you later.” He nodded and hung up.

  A rather heavy sigh escaped me as I put my phone in my pocket. Should I have gotten involved more in this? That was something I had been struggling with since I got here. Everything should be fine as long as I don’t get involved, but what if it’s not? This wasn’t any sort of plot in the games or anime. But I could make things worse. What if I try to interfere and end up changing something that ends up dooming the entire world.

  I had been pushing all that worry to the back of my mind, because there was no way of knowing when anything would happen. I could assume that the anime events would follow Ash, but what about everything else? There were dozens of events that may or may not happen. Things that could have already happened, or would never happen.

  This story has been taken without authorization. Report any sightings.

  There was this slight nagging feeling that I should be trying to do something. That I should say something. But what if I made things worse? That was more of a real possibility than me actually being able to fix things. The problem with knowing the future is that if you tell anyone, you immediately change the future. You’ve altered the perception of what time and the future is, and now the events will most likely be different due to the shift in perception from the person or people you’ve told. I’ve already been playing too loose with my information and have probably drastically changed things.

  Of course the argument could be made that my very existence had already altered the flow of events. But if I remained out of it, then things should still happen as usual.

  This was annoying. But what would I even do? I could sit and wait somewhere, preparing for an event, but what if something else happened and I missed the event that I was waiting on. All that preparation wasted, while other events happened.

  It’s not like I’m some hero. Not someone with the luck to be able to fight huge organizations. I couldn’t even win a fight with the school board.

  And that’s not even to say that anyone would believe me. Oak might, but it was clear that Sycamore was still skeptical of me being from another world. There are a lot of things he’s not telling me.

  Then if I told someone who could actually do something and they did believe me, people would demand to know how I knew. The lengths that someone like Lysandre, Giovanni, Cyrus, or the head of the Association, would go through to have the knowledge in my head… that scared me. At least it seemed like Professor Sycamore was aware of Team Flare.

  I didn’t want any of that. I just want to have a journey and make friends with Pokemon. “Arceus you better not have sent me here to try and save the world,” I said with another sigh. This was something to shelve and ignore for now.

  “What’s wrong?” Cara asked, having come back.

  I blinked a bit, looking over at her. She looked concerned. “Nothing. Just…not good news.”

  She leaned against the railing next to me. “Your aura fluctuated really bad a moment ago.”

  I laughed, and shook my head. “You can see it all the way from down there, huh?”

  All she did was nod.

  There were a few moments of silence as I tried to collect my thoughts. “It’s not my problem, until it is,” I decided with a nod. I’d not worry about any of it until it actually affected me or was placed in front of me. As far as I was concerned, the only thing I needed to worry about was this fake Mega Stone thing, since it wasn’t a plot I knew.

  Cara just gave me a puzzled look and I reached over and scratched behind her ears. She leaned into my hand and I couldn’t help but reach over and scratch under her chin with my other hand. Her tail thumped against the railing, though she had a passive expression on her face. What an adorable dog.

  Eventually we made our way back down to the beach, which was an absolute mess. There was a sort of four way battle going on between Rio, Scoly, Dee, and Diancie. And they were not holding back at all. Rio was still struggling with her aura. She was leaning into her abnormal strength to compensate, but she was getting hit a lot. When I asked Cara about why she was so strong, she didn’t have an answer, saying that neither her father or herself were ever that strong.

  Scoly was mostly being used in a similar manner to the striking balls, and constantly pinging back and forth between the other three. Dee was taking a lot of hits, but she was just healing after everything, although I could see that she was getting tired. Even Diancie was starting to show that she was taking a beating and getting tired, not floating as high as normal.

  Brionne had gone off with the group of Primarina again. Mikyu, Banette, and Keo had joined Goomy in trying to do laps around the Gravity zone. I was surprised at their progress, especially Keo who could actually move better than Goomy already. The little ice fox was actually running, though not very fast. Eevee was doing her best to sit in the Gravity for short periods before retreating out before it became too much for her.

  “Okay. That’s enough,” I called out and everyone immediately came to a stop. It’s good that they were all such good listeners. We had already eaten curry for the day, so I didn’t want them to push too hard since they wouldn’t be getting the recovery benefit. “We’re supposed to be treating this as a vacation, and all y'all wanna do is train,” I said with a soft laugh.

  “It’s fun,” Rio said with a bit of a huff.

  Looking around, everyone seemed to be in agreement. I just sighed, and nodded. “Alright. But, if you’re going to train you have to do it properly. Not just throw around stuff at random.” I looked around at them all again. “Okay. We’ll train for a few days.”

  That seemed to get them all excited, and a few of them cheered. Were all Pokemon like this, or had I just been lucky in getting a bunch of them that wanted to be stronger? I should ask them about that. Either way I made them all relax for the rest of the day while I worked out a new training regimen for them. We would train until Professor Kukui got me the Normalium, then I would see about getting the others. I’d ask the Primarina about getting Primarium, and for the others I’d go to Poni Island.

  Eventually we all settled in for bed, and left future problems where they belonged. In the future.

  ~

  A few days passed, and I had changed up everyone's training. Cara and Rio weren’t fighting. They were working on their aura. Cara was still a long way off of where she should be, and Rio was practically avoiding using her aura. I had to explain to her that was like entering a fight and keeping your eyes closed. That at least got her to realize it was important and try. But she was really bad at it. Was there some sort of thing where she sacrificed aura use for physical strength? After thinking about it, the best answer I could come up with was that she was subconsciously using her aura to empower herself, rather than manifest it.

  I had Scoly start focusing on other moves that weren’t ball related. Which meant bug moves, like Bug Bite, Megahorn, and Pin Missile. Of course she wasn’t just standing still while this was happening, since Dee and Diancie were attacking her. Dee really wanted to do more support things rather than fighting, so I had her use Helping Hand, Safeguard, and Protect. I was a bit surprised she knew Protect, but I also understood.

  Diancie was honestly the easiest to train, because she was already doing everything that she should. So I had her focus more on control of Diamond Storm, and had her try and intercept Scoly’s Pin Missile attack with the diamonds. She definitely preferred Ancient Power and throwing large boulders.

  Brionne was spending all her time out learning from the Primarina. When I had asked them about Primarium they said I would have to talk to Alma for that. Alma was their bull. In the underwater cave. Which would mean I’d have to go under water. Didn’t like finding that out.

  Goomy and Keo were almost to the point they could join in the actual battle training. I was surprised that Keo was actually getting used to the Gravity at such a rapid pace. She was now running laps while the other three walked. There was an almost scary look in her eyes every time I told her she had to stop to rest. If I didn’t watch her carefully, she would train until she hurt herself.

  Banette was also adjusting well, and the only reason she wasn’t moving faster was because she liked to walk with Mikyu and Goomy. The little slug wasn’t very fast at doing laps on account of being a slug, and Mikyu was struggling because her costume wasn’t made to be under ten times Gravity. I would have to take her shopping for costume supplies soon.

  It was the morning of the fourth day before Professor Kukui showed up. I knew he showed up because there was suddenly someone behind me shouting, “Alola!”

  I actually jumped a bit at the sudden shout. I had been far too engrossed in correcting small errors and giving encouragement to really pay attention to the area around me. “Ah. Alola, Professor Kukui.”

  He reached into his pocket and tossed a small object towards me. I caught it pretty easily, looking down at the small white crystal, a circular pattern inside. “Took a bit longer than I thought, but I managed to get one.”

  “No Trial?” I asked as I moved it near my Z-Ring, which grabbed hold of it in an almost greedy way.

  “Consider it a Trial of Patience,” he said with a chuckle.

  I gave a sharp nod. “Thanks. One more thing off the list.”

  He was still chuckling a bit. “So, what’s your next step? Poni Island?”

  “Actually, I wanted to ask if you had some diving equipment I could borrow.” I could already feel my heart start to beat harder at just the thought.

  “Diving equipment?” he questioned, putting a hand to his chin with a thoughtful expression.

  “Alma is going to give me a Trial for Primarium.” I pointed out towards the water.

  There was suddenly a frown on his face. “Ah, Alma… That’s not going to be easy. There’s a reason he’s not an official Totem anymore.”

  “He was a Totem?”

  “Still is.” Kukui folded his arms in front of him. “We just don’t encourage people to go to him for Trials. He’s…not got a good track record.”

  I thought about it for a moment before shrugging. “Hardest parts going to be getting to him.”

  He arched a brow at me.

  Before he could answer, I continued. “I don’t do well with water.”

  “Can’t swim?”

  “Nah, I can swim just fine. Just have issues with it,” I said with a shrug.

  There was a moment of silence before he nodded. “Alright. I’ve got some equipment you can use. Come on.”

  ~

  About an hour later, I was standing on the beach, changed into a wetsuit. I had never worn one before, so it was a bit difficult to get on. Into? I wasn’t sure of the proper terminology. Currently, I was trying to distract myself with the face mask and rebreather, rather than think about what I was about to do. It was an extremely interesting bit of technology that actually pulled the air out of the water and allowed you to stay under indefinitely. Or at least nearly indefinitely, as the filters did need to be changed between thirty and forty hours of use.

  Brionne was looking up at me expectantly while the Primarina were all out in the water. Waiting.

  “Are you sure you don’t want anyone else to come?” Cara asked, looking down at the mask in my hands.

  I sighed and shook my head. “No. It’s fine. I’m fine. Everything’s fine. I just… I just have to go.”

  It wasn’t much of a struggle to move forward into the water. I was up to my waist, feeling the pounding of my heart. But looking out ahead was the worst. Seeing the massive and seemingly endless ocean caused my head to spin. I turned around, desperate to not look at it as I took deep breaths.

  Brionne was swimming circles around me. “Do we really need the crystal thingy?” she asked, clearly noticing my distress.

  I sighed again, closing my eyes for a moment before putting on the mask. I spent probably longer than necessary putting it on and making sure it fit properly. Looking back at all the Pokemon on the beach I was trying to decide if it was worse to face it and walk, or step backwards.

  “Come on, come on!” One of the Primarina was suddenly there, circling round me.

  “This is exciting! No one ever comes to see Alma!” another said, and they were trying to guide me into deeper water.

  I let myself be guided, trying to pretend that I was doing anything by this. Before I got too deep, I knew I had to check the mask. I had to make sure it was working. Closing my eyes I dunked myself under the water and waited. The only thing I could hear was the pounding of my heart as I tried to stay calm.

  Nothing happened.

  Hesitantly I opened my eyes, and it was like I was suddenly in a different world. Again. The water, thankfully, was extremely clear and I could see very far. Everything was sort of wobbly, and the sand below me looked oddly fake. But it was the bright coral not very far away that really drew my attention, and the hundreds of Pokemon.

  For a moment I forgot everything and was simply stunned. Schools of all manner of fish: Wishiwashi, Goldeen, Lovedisc, Finneon. Scattered other types, like Mantyke with attached Remoraids, a few Magikarp and Feebas. There was a pair of Crabrawler squaring up and making threatening gestures at each other.

  A few curious Gorebyss following an Alomomola swam nearby me as a current slowly pulled me over the coral, which was full of even more life. There were Corsola scattered about, Barboach peeking from their hiding spots, and a few little Inkay floating nearby.

  I’d never seen so many Pokemon in one place before. There was nowhere to look that wasn’t brimming with life. It almost made me forget that I was underwater. Almost. Not quite.

  My heart was still pounding as I looked around for the Primarina and Brionne. Brionne hadn’t left my side, swimming around me happily. The current that was dragging me out was apparently being made by two of the Primarina.

  It took me a moment to regain my bearings and I began swimming towards the two. “You swim like a Politoed!” one of the Primarina exclaimed, giggling. The other ones giggled as well.

  Well, it was a breaststroke, but it has been called the frog stroke before, so I guess she’s not wrong. It was the form of swimming that I was most practiced in, and best at. Unfortunately, or fortunately depending on how you look at it, the only reason I even knew how to swim is there are people who don’t believe that you can be afraid of water. I was a bit rusty at the technique, but it was good enough that I could get around on my own.

  I was just trying to keep moving, and distract myself by looking at the Pokemon around. We were moving farther and farther away from the beach and my heart felt like it was going to beat out of my chest.

  And then we found the shelf.

  Every muscle in my body locked up and I couldn’t breathe. There was…nothing. It fell away into darkness and ahead was just vast emptiness. One of the Primarina was behind me, nudging me forward while Brionne put a flipper around my wrist and held on as I was dragged down.

  No.

  Nope.

  Didn’t like this.

  This was bad.

  I’m going to die.

  My body isn’t responding.

  I can’t move.

  I thought being paralyzed with fear was an exaggeration?

  Am I really such a coward?

  Does this count as cowardice?

  I would say no, but I couldn’t speak right now even if I wanted to.

  Darkness was creeping in at the edge of my vision.

  I was going to pass out.

  Breathe.

  Breathe damn it.

  If I pass out I’m going to die.

  Breathe.

  Please breathe.

  Now everything's dark.

  I’ve passed out.

  I’m going to die.

  I’m dead.

  No…

  Wait.

  I’m in a cave.

  Suddenly I broke through the surface of the water. I tore off my mask, tossing it away as I scrambled onto the cold, wet ground nearby. I was gasping, my entire body shaking. I could feel tears streaming down my face and my heart was pounding so hard it was giving me a headache.

  I threw up.

  It took several minutes before I felt like I could actually breathe instead of just suck in air. That was when I noticed Brionne was beside me, clinging to me and desperately asking if I was okay. She was crying. Asking me what was wrong. I closed my eyes as I shifted into a sitting position and pulled her into a hug. “It’s okay…” I said softly, wiping tears off of my face and taking deep breaths. “I’m okay. That was… That was just… That was too much.”

  I felt extremely weak, like all my limbs were full of cement. Like Diancie had just cranked up her Gravity to twenty times. And I was still shaking. “What a strange reaction,” came a voice, rather deep, though melodious. Sort of in the baritone range.

  Looking over I saw an absolutely massive Primarina. They were easily three times the normal size. This was clearly a Totem Pokemon. “I’m… I’m afraid of water…” I managed to say, still trying to catch my breath. “It’s…an irrational fear, caused by the trauma of drowning as a toddler.” Explaining and rationalizing it was a good way to calm myself down.

  “You’re afraid of water. And want to raise up a water Pokemon?” While his voice sounded a bit skeptical, there was also a sort of warmth to it that surprised me.

  I was still petting Brionne, who was shaking a bit. Or maybe she was shaking because I was still shaking, I couldn’t quite tell. “I don’t see how those are related.”

  There was a rather intense musical laughter that suddenly filled the cavern. “Unrelated? I do not see how you can have one without the other. But… I believe that I understand.” There was a sudden shifting and he moved closer. The room was dimly lit by something that I couldn’t see, but it meant that I couldn’t get a good look at him. Now that he came closer I could see more of him. On top of being massive, he was absolutely jacked and covered in scars. “I am Alma. This little one has told me much about you, Jace.”

  “Has she now?” I looked down at Brionne. There was a rather intense pressure from being close to the Totem Primarina. It was a strange sense of just being able to feel how powerful they were by being in their presence, and I had never felt this way before.

  “She has. And I have heard from others as well.” There was a pause before he nodded. “I had first thought to give you a Trial. But it seems like in this case, the Trial for you was simply getting here.”

  “I had help.” I wasn’t about to claim that I had come here of my own wish.

  “True. But you started the journey, correct? You stepped into this ocean despite your fear, for the sake of this little one. They have told me about you. What you have done. The lengths you’ve gone for her sake, and the sake of the rest of your family.” He shifted a bit and then held out his hand. His hand was damn near bigger than me. But in his hand was a small blue crystal, with the symbol of a Primarina in it. “But in exchange for this being your Trial, I have a request.”

  My hand stopped, as I was already reaching out to grasp the Primarium. “If I can help, I will.”

  Again the cave filled with laughter. “That is what this little one said you would say.” There was a smile on his face. “Tell those outside that… That I am sorry.” There was a moment of silence as the smile on his face became rather solemn. “I am…old. And tired. My end is soon. And I wish for them to know that I say goodbye. To the Kahuna.”

  “I-” I took a moment, nodding. “I can- I can help with that. But it would be better for you to do it face to face.”

  He took in a deep breath, closing his eyes for a moment, thinking over my words. “It has been long since I have been to the beach… I shall accompany you there.”

  We didn’t leave immediately, instead he told me about what had happened. His injury. His age. He had lived an extremely long time, and while he considered that he could live longer, he was tired and in pain. He wanted this life to come to a close. So he wasn’t going to fight it anymore. There would be one more generation of his offspring, and then someone new would have to take his place. We spoke of those who had come to him for Trials in the past, and particularly about those that he truly believed had a lot of potential. I realized a bit into the conversation that he was giving me time to calm down and regain my bearings.

  Eventually he decided that it was time to go and I had to have Brionne get my mask. This time before leaving the cave I shut my eyes, trusting in Brionne to guide me back. I didn’t open my eyes again until I touched sand, and then I quickly exited the water. Everyone was going about their own thing until I arrived, and behind me was the massive Totem Primarina.

  Kukui was standing in the research center and rushed down when he saw them. I went towards the research center to get out of the wetsuit, planning to not engage him until I’d cleaned up, but he intercepted me. “What’s going on? Why’s he come here?” Kukui asked me in a hushed tone the moment he got to me.

  “You should…call the Kahuna… He-” I hesitated, the words catching in my throat a bit. This sort of thing was never easy. “He wishes to say goodbye.”

  I could see the way that the words Kukui were going to say caught in a similar manner to how mine had just done. Eventually he nodded and pulled out his phone. “How long does he have?”

  “He didn’t say,” I said softly, shaking my head. “He just said that his time is approaching.”

  Kukui gave me a nod as he walked away. I saw him hesitate for a moment before pulling out his phone and making a phone call. I turned my attention back to Alma, who was conversing with the other Primarina. From the looks on their faces and the tears in their eyes, he was explaining things to them.

  Cara and Dee had taken it upon themselves to round everyone up and explain things to them. Meanwhile I went back to the locker room that I had used earlier to shower and change back into my clothes. By the time I returned, the atmosphere was pretty solemn, and everyone had a rather sad expression.

  I took a moment to assess the situation, and eventually nodded to myself. “Dee, Banette, Mikyu. Could you come and help me?” I asked as I tossed my coat into the tent before starting to pull out my cooking pots. “Cara, can you ask all the Primarina what flavors they like?”

  ~

  By the time any of the Kahuna had arrived, the mood had shifted and there was quite a party going on on the beach. Kukui had actually gone into the lab, and with Burnet’s help we had actually set up quite a lot. I was busy making plates of curry, while Kukui was barbecuing beside me. It was a bit of a contrast, and I didn’t know what he was cooking, nor did I ask. But it turns out the man knows how to barbecue.

  Olivia and Hapu were the first to show up. Olivia was a rather tall woman with a darker complexion. Her hair was rather short, not touching her shoulders. Her outfit was more like a bathing suit than actual clothes, and she had numerous hoops and bangles around her wrists and ankles. Hapu was quite the contrast, short and on the younger looking side. A purple bonnet holding large ponytails, and a tan work outfit. Both of them seemed quite surprised to see the festivities. “Kukui?” Olivia was the first to speak as she came over. “What’s going on? I thought this was…”

  “It was Jason’s idea,” he said, immediately throwing me under the bus to avoid any sort of repercussions.

  “It’s a celebration of life,” I said when their gaze turned towards me. “A sort of living wake.”

  “What’s a wake?” Hapu asked, her prominent eyebrows furrowing.

  “Well, that’s when you’re not sleepin’,” I said with a laugh. Only Kukui and the nearby Pokemon seemed to get the joke, since it was now my third time making it. Though I heard the way that Rio and Scoly groaned. I just smiled a bit before actually explaining, “It’s a celebration of the life that they’ve lived, rather than mourn their passing. A sort of happier funeral that they get to attend.”

  I looked over at the Totem Primarina, who looked to be in a good mood surrounded by his little harem and being served food. Apparently the next clutch of eggs had already been laid, they just hadn’t hatched yet. “He probably won’t make it to the next hatching,” Kukui said to the two of them, taking a bit of a more somber tone. He had gone and spoken privately with Alma earlier.

  “Was it his injuries?” Hapu asked, also looking in the direction of the group. “Or his age?”

  “Both,” I said as I held out a plate to each of them.

  They took them after a moment, and I turned to continue prepping food. We were just about done making enough food for everyone, and the other Kahuna’s who hadn’t shown up yet. I had underestimated how much a Pokemon of that size could eat, and so the first few pots went straight into him. I needed to go shopping again…

  I had just sat down to eat my own food when Hala arrived. There were quite a number of people with him, and it looked like they had brought more food and things for a party. I guess Kukui had messaged them about it after I'd made the suggestion.

  Rather than sit with a bunch of people I didn’t know, I sat with the Pokemon. From where I sat, I could see Hala and the Totem Primarina having a conversation. “How’d he get so strong?” Rio asked as she laid down beside me, resting her head on my thigh as she studied the large Pokemon in the distance.

  “They were bathed in energy from a different dimension,” I said as I tried not to think too hard about the barbecued meat on my plate. I held up my arm, showing her my Z-Power Ring. “These come from that place, too.”

  She frowned. “So he cheated.”

  I laughed. “You could look at it that way, yeah. But, if it hadn’t happened, we wouldn’t have Z-Crystals, and couldn’t use Z-moves.”

  She folded her arms in front of her, her legs crossed as well. It looked like she was frustrated. “Still feels like cheating.”

  “Yeah. But some will consider our training methods cheating.” Her face scrunched up a bit at that realization. “Some will say that we didn’t work hard enough to get to the level we’re on and blah blah blah.” I shook my head, chuckling.

  Looking over at the Totem Pokemon, he and Hala were still in conversation, though Hala looked a lot more comfortable. Alma still had that sort of relaxed aloof air that he seemed to always have.

  Suddenly there was a Keo resting on my other thigh. She looked tired, and just sort of nestled in and closed her eyes with a bit of a huff. I arched a brow down at her, but started to pet her. “Something wrong?” I asked softly.

  “I wanna train more,” she responded in a similarly soft way, her eyes locked on the Totem Primarina.

  I rubbed the top of her head. Rio sighed and reached up towards the sky, her eyes also staring at the large Pokemon. “The road is long.”

  I chuckled a bit, nodding. “The road is long. But if a little mouse can challenge God, then anyone can.”

  Both of them gave me a puzzled look.

  But I refused to elaborate. As I ate I took the time to see what everyone was doing. Cara was meditating, with a rather intense expression on her face. Seeing a Totem Pokemon was an intense feeling, and I’m sure her Aura Sense showed her just how wide the gap was. It wasn’t like in the games where you battled the Totem, or if you did they probably took it easy on you to test you. They were bigger and immensely more powerful, approaching the realm of pureblood Legendary Pokemon, at least as far as Kukui explained it.

  Scoly, Dee, and Brionne were all playing in the water with the Primarina. Diancie was with them, but she was mostly just observing and not actually playing with them. Eevee, Goomy, Mikyu, and Banette were all building sandcastles. I’m not sure where they got a shovel and pail, but they were making some rather impressive sculptures thanks to the two ghost Pokemon using shadows to shape them.

  As for the other humans, Kukui had been dragged back into barbecuing for the new influx of people. Nanu had shown up, but he was keeping his distance from everyone and remained near the research center rather than come out onto the beach. There was an Officer Jenny next to him, who seemed to be giving him some sort of report. I hadn’t had any interaction with the International Police yet, but they didn’t seem to have a good foothold here, or even in Kalos.

  Nanu seemed to feel that I was looking at him as his gaze turned towards me. There was a moment where we locked eyes, and I just gave him a slight nod. He returned the nod before going back to watching the Totem Primarina. I didn’t know what the old Pokemon had done, but apparently it was enough to get everyone on edge.

  Rio went to join her mother in meditating after I suggested she work a bit more on her aura. And Keo went over to build sand castles, leaving me alone for the moment. However, I wasn’t alone for long, as Hapu came over. It was a rather humorous sight, given that I was sitting, and she was standing, but we were almost face to face. “Kukui said you plan on taking my Island Trials.”

  I nodded. “I decided to spend less time on the islands this trip, and your Trials give useful crystals.” The only one that wasn’t super useful to me at the moment was Groundium, but Poni Island only had four crystals, and so it would be a short jaunt. I didn’t quite know if I could get Poisonium on that island, but I was hoping that I’d manage.

  She nodded. “I’ve been told by Hala to not go easy on you.”

  A smirk formed on my face. “Honestly I’d appreciate that. I’m starting to feel like I’m getting all these things too easily,” I said as I held up my wrist, showing the two that I already had. Which also reminded me that I hadn’t gotten the Primarium from the Primarina.

  She took a moment to examine my Z-Ring before nodding. There was a smile on her face. “I’m looking forward to it. Alola,” she said as she walked off.

  “Alola,” I replied with a bit of a smile. She was at least not as aggressive as Hala had been. Though I figured if anyone was going to give me a hard time at this point it was going to be Olivia. Maybe Nanu, considering the other people he was associated with… If I wasn’t careful, I was going to end up on Giovanni’s radar, if I wasn’t already.

  As time went on and the sun started to go down, people started to leave. No one else had come to talk with me, so I spent my time watching over the Pokemon. Hala left once he was done talking with the Totem Primarina, and to my surprise it was Nanu who went to talk to him next. Though their conversation was short, Nanu seemed satisfied as he left.

  Eventually everyone had left, and Alma approached me. “Thank you,” he said, a smile on his face.

  I waved a hand a bit. “I’m just glad that I could help.” He shifted a bit and then held out his massive flipper of a hand, again offering me the Primarium. This time I didn’t hesitate as I reached out to take it, allowing it to be grabbed by my Z-Ring. “At least now I feel a bit more like I earned this.”

  He laughed softly as he laid down, settling into the sand. I hadn’t noticed it earlier, or when we were in the cave, but he looked so tired. Every movement seemed to be a struggle. His gaze was far off, looking at the edge of the sea. “Still. Thank you for indulging this old man.” For the first time he seemed to relax, a smile on his face.

  Silence fell between the two of us as we both looked out over the ocean. We just watched it as the sun set over the island behind us. As the last rays dipped over the mountain, I turned towards his massive figure, wanting to ask him a question. But I hesitated. There in the distance was a figure that I recognized immediately.

  White hair, sunglasses that had one lens squished. Gold chain with a matching gold skull emblem. White shirt and shoes, black coat, and black pants. He had a rather complicated expression on his face as he looked at the Totem Pokemon. As if he was trying to keep a fierce gaze, but also trying not to cry.

  To my surprise, Alma actually smiled more after turning to look at the new arrival. “Ah… Guzma.” He genuinely looked pleased to see him.

  However Guzma didn’t respond, just staring up at the old Pokemon as he approached. He stood there, almost defiantly, trying to look tough. But I could see the way that his eyes were studying the Pokemon with an unsure glint. It took almost a full minute before he finally spoke, “You’re still alive.”

  “For the time being,” Alma said with that melodious laugh.

  Guzma just stared for a moment, still searching with his eyes, until his gaze finally landed on me. “You’re that Pokemon Expert.”

  I nodded. “Alola. I’m Jason, but I prefer Jace.”

  He stared at me for a moment, very clearly looking down at me. “Guzma.”

  Again I nodded. “I know.”

  “Yeah? Did Hala or Kukui tell you about me?” he sneered, the look on his face becoming even harsher.

  This time I shook my head. “No. From Alma,” I said as I gestured at the Totem Primarina. That seemed to take some of the fierceness from his face as he looked at him.

  Alma shifted, wincing a bit as he did, getting into a more comfortable position. “I did not lie when I said you would be great.”

  That seemed to fully take the air out of him. It looked like Guzma was really good at interpreting what Pokemon said. He clenched his fists as he turned away. “Whatever.” It looked like he was about to leave, but then he saw all the Pokemon. He seemed to hesitate. “Are all those yours?”

  I nodded, even though he was turned away. “Yeah.”

  “And you beat Hala with them?”

  “I did.”

  He seemed to mull that over in his head a moment before he walked off.

  Again I was struck with that question of if I should interfere or not as I watched him walk away. Guzma and Team Skull were more like kids playing as thugs rather than actual villains. It was Lusamine who really twisted them.

  “If you knew the future,” I said after a moment, “And you knew it got bad, but everything works out just fine in the end, what would you do?”

  Alma shifted his gaze from Guzma to me. “Is it about that boy?”

  I nodded.

  “Does he die?”

  I shook my head. “No. But he loses a lot.”

  The large Pokemon seemed to think about it a moment. “That boy has been through a lot already. Everyone looks down on him, and so he lashes out. He is still just a child, and just needs guidance.” There was a pause. “I would help him.”

  “Even if it made things worse? Even if, as it is now, everything is fine in the end. And your changes could bring about a worse future.” This had been nagging me for so long.

  “That does make it difficult,” he agreed. “But there is a chance you could make it better, right?”

  I sighed softly, and nodded as I stood up. “Yeah… Yeah, I can.” I took a few steps and called out towards my Pokemon. “Scoly!”

  There was a small explosion in the ocean as a red streak shot towards me, sliding through the sand and then past me. “Yes?” the large bug horse asked excitedly, still not quite used to running at full speed on sand.

  “See that guy down the beach?” I asked as I got up onto her back. She nodded. “Get me over to him.”

  Although I couldn’t entirely see her face, I knew she was smiling just before she started to kick up sand and practically fly down the beach.

  It took only a few moments before we slid to a stop just past him, startling him. I leapt from Scoly’s back, landing in the sand a few feet away from him. “Guzma. I challenge you to a battle.”

  I might draw a map eventually. Depends on if a lot of people want it and I find the time.

  Lucario - Mother of Rio

  Lucario - Daughter of Cara

  Scolipede - Adopted daughter of Cara

  Brionne - Rescued from aquarium

  Audino - Trained Nurse Pokemon

  Diancie - From Reflection Cave

  Eevee - Taken from Pokecenter

  Goomy - Clinging for dear life

  Mimikyu - Collected from the Supermart

  Banette - Collected from the Supermart

  Vulpix (Alolan) - Taken from Pokecenter