Chapter 165 (Patreon)

Elio chose Litten. The small cat was wild; it was ready to fight at Elio’s command even now, when no battle was immediately present. After pointing to the Pokémon he wanted, the Litten leapt forward and the boy swept the cat up into his arms.

The pair didn’t say anything when they left the stage. They both nodded in thanks towards Hala and Kukui before stepping down to join Hau and listen to him speak.

Personally, I was mimicking him and staying quiet. I just waited politely for the selection process to end to not draw any eyes when I left. The last few trainers stepped up, the preference towards Rowlet and Litten maintained, and, soon enough, all of the children had obtained their starters. The final set of Pokéballs was whisked away by Professor Kukui, who loaded up a small box with the remainders, and Hala moved to the center of the platform.

“Trainers!” Hala boomed. “Those of you who have received your first Pokémon today! Tomorrow, your journey will begin. You will be tested on your skills, your ability to grow, and your closeness with your partner. Do not fear what lies ahead; rejoice, for you have made a friend that will lay close to your heart. Truly, I wish you the best of luck and good fortune for what lies ahead of you in the coming year.”

He bowed his head, and all the adults here clapped for the beginner trainers. Each of the children looked around in either wonder, surprise, anxiety, or confidence as the attention of the crowd turned towards them.

“Now,” Hala continued. “As is tradition, the new trainers shall compete in a tournament to ease them into the role. To start, Oliver, Madison. Why don’t you two join me on the stage?”

The pair of children he called out began to ascend the steps, but I didn’t stick around to watch. I said a brief goodbye to Professor Oak, who wanted to get a closer look at the stage anyway, and I beckoned for my Pokémon to come over. Togepi dragged Tinkatink back along, and Dedenne wobbled over to me, his stomach stuffed. As for Eevee, he didn’t notice my call, and I had to physically retrieve him from where he was playing with the Rockruff.

A pair of children who had been watching let out a sad “aww.”

“Sorry, but we do need to head out. Important League matters.”

Their eyes sparkled from the sudden mystique. I winked at them then waved goodbye.

Hope soon joined me on the rush out.

“How important is the information you need to share? Talk hidden nearby, or talk in a secure location?” she said.

“Honestly? We could probably get away with doing somewhere nearby, but I’d prefer to do it securely. Should we include Kukui in this?”

Hope hummed, then she slowly nodded her head.

“Yeah. It’s his region, and he should be in the know.”

Kukui was away from the stage at this point. He was carrying the box of marked Pokéballs away from the festival. Pokéballs weren’t the heaviest of items, but there were a lot of them. Despite that, he lifted it up as if it were no problem at all.

Hope and I did our best to “casually” approach him.

“Oh! Alola, Hope, Alex. Heading back to the lab?”

“Yup, back to the lab,” I replied. “Doesn’t feel right to have you head out all on your own. Plus, we both only arrived today, so it’s about time we get some rest.”

He nodded, agreeing with us, but then he paused.

There wasn’t a reason for us to head to his lab with him if we were going to sleep. He didn’t have space for the two of us to sleep there. We already had rooms reserved at a local hotel, and, knowing that, his expression leveled out as he gave us a strange look.

Hope casually nodded her head in a subtle sign that something was up.

“If you need to rest, we should make this quick!” Kukui said.

He said that with a smile, but one eyebrow had been raised. Kukui led, and we strode down the main hill to the peaceful beach where his lab lay. Deep oranges and purples stretched out from the setting sun, and the sky directly above us was already filled with stars.

Kukui retrieved a key from his pocket to open the door and beckon us in, where he quickly locked the entrance behind him. Hope found a place to sit, I started to pace, and Kukui set up a transfer device built into his wall. The starter Pokémon he brought back didn’t live nearby. Instead, there were secure locations across the islands where they were hatched and raised.

One by one, the Pokéballs disappeared. The room was silent save for the sound of the device converting the items to pure energy.

Eventually, we were alone.

“Can anyone listen in? What I’m about to say is important.”

“I have a few Rotom in devices around here, but they know how to keep secrets. Plus, the walls are pretty thick.”

I sent him a pointed look as I wordlessly asked him if he was sure. Kukui didn’t flinch.

“Then, let me start with the biggest statement: I’m from another world, and I’ve seen all of this before.”

“A Faller?” Kukui said.

It momentarily surprised me that he easily accepted my explanation. Then again, Alola was the heart of where portals appeared to other worlds. My story wasn’t exactly unique.

“Close, but I came here through a different method,” I said. “What’s important is that I’ve seen possibilities of how this year’s events will go—possibilities that involve the trainers competing in the Island Challenge.”

Kukui looked grim. He leaned back against his desk and took off his hat, rubbing his hand down his hair.

“So, what happens?” he asks softly.

“I don’t know.”

His brows furrowed, and Hope cocked her head. I took a deep breath to stall briefly and give myself time to think.

“I know possibilities, not guarantees,” I specified. “For starters, there’s two different potential timelines. The first, which I’ll call the ‘sun’ timeline, had Elio and Hau go off and stop Lusamine from releasing a horde of Ultra Beasts across the region.”

“Lusamine wouldn’t do that!” Kukui exclaimed.

“She would if she was being influenced by a Nihilego’s poison. Oh, uh, Nihilego is the white floating Ultra Beast.”

“UB-01?” Kukui said.

“That one,” I lied confidently, as if I remembered the code name for their species.

Truthfully, I hardly remembered the plot of Sun and Moon. I only remembered Nihilego because Lusamine ended up fusing with one. She became some kind of floating, jellyfish amalgamation in the middle of Ultra Space whose team the player character had to beat in a normal trainer battle.

...Boy, was that weird.

“The second timeline, which I’ll call the ‘ultra’ timeline, sees Elio and Hau fight a different enemy. I think Lusamine is still misguided in that timeline, but in a different matter I can’t remember. I don’t recall the specific details, but it ended up with a dramatic battle between Elio and Ultra Necrozma.”

Kukui whispered “Ultra Necrozma” as if testing the word in his mouth. His gaze looked serious.

“And what is that?” he asked.

“It’s the result of Necrozma merging with both Solgaleo and Lunala into an ultimate being that has perfect control over light. Even if we recruit every Champion on the planet, I’m not sure if that would be a battle we could win. At the same time, I’m not even sure if that’s a threat we would need to consider.”

“How so?”

“The timelines are mixed.”

Essentially, I’d already seen a piece of conflict between the games and what I saw in the festival. Elio, the player character of the games, started with two different outfits. When boiled down to the basics, he wore a striped shirt in Sun, and he wore a solid blue shirt in Ultra Sun. Today, he wore a solid blue shirt, which implied this would be the ‘ultra’ timeline, but I didn’t see any members of the mysterious Ultra Recon Squad, which had shown up in the related games.

When I explained this to Hope and Kukui—leaving the mention of the video games out of it—both of them looked confused.

“And when did all of this happen?” Kukui asked. “When does it all reach its head? I need to know if we have to prepare for some kind of Legendary Pokémon attacking the region.”

“It shouldn’t come to that. It was stopped in what I saw, and if we step in, it should have even a lower chance of occurring. By my estimates, I’d say we have until Elio is a decent way through the region—I want to say after he cleared Poni Island.”

As I said that, Kukui’s body went through a phase of visible relief. His shoulders slacked, and he let out a sigh. He was able to pull out a chair and sit down, closing his eyes for a few moments as he did.

“Hoo, that’s a lot to consider. But if what you said is right, I think we have time.”

“Wait, how?” Hope asked.

“People who compete in the island challenge are expected to complete each island within two months. It’s a good way to keep the children together where it’s easier to keep an eye on them. If what you’re saying is right, we’ll have six months to figure out exactly what’s going on if this all happens before Poni Island, and seven or eight months if it happens after Poni Island.”

“That’s nice. Gives me time to experience the region and battle Sinnoh’s Elite Four,” I said.

“You’re still doing that? Aren’t you running out of time?”

I waved Hope off and shrugged.

“I have until January to send them a challenge, and I plan to challenge them all at once over a period of a week. I’ll need to temporarily leave the region for that, but nothing too wrong should happen while I’m gone.”

“That’s... good?”

I shrugged again.

“Yeah, I suppose. But we should focus on what we’re going to do next. Honestly, the easiest way to prevent all of this only requires one thing, anyway.”

“Yeah?” Kukui perked up.

“Lillie—Lusamine's daughter—She has a Cosmog with her, a Pokémon that can evolve into either the Legendary Solgaleo or Lunala. We protect her and her Pokémon, and as long as no one gets their hands on Nebby, the Cosmog, everything should be fine.”

As I said that, there was a thump at the door, and I immediately stood up. Kukui straightened, and Hope reflexively drew a Pokéball.

“How thick is your front door?” I asked slowly.

“Not as thick as the walls,” Kukui replied.

“Then someone was listening in.”

Hope and I rushed out of Kukui’s cabin to exit onto a beach of white sand. Hope released her Tropius to hop on its back and take to the skies, and I sent out both Ninetales and Rapidash.

At this point, dusk had fallen, and the air was a lot colder and more comfortable for Ninetales. She shook her fur happily, and she stood next to Rapidash to wait for orders.

“Find whoever was listening to us. This is of the utmost importance,” I said.

Ninetales dashed off, but Rapidash stayed next to me. He didn’t leave; he closed his eyes and his horn glowed to detect any unprotected minds nearby. As he did, I knelt on the ground to search for tracks. Unfortunately, the grains of the sand here were too fine to see if any were left behind.

“Found her!” Hope unexpectedly cried.

That was quick.

Above, Tropius shot through the air to chase after our target.

Needing to follow, I hopped on Rapidash’s back and braced myself with his mane to hold on. He opened his eyes to run forward, using his telekinesis to keep me stable.

This level of searching proved to be pointless. Going around the corner of the house and up a short path, Hope had already secured who she was chasing.

A girl, early in her teens, wearing a short white dress and a wide-brimmed hat, cautiously backed off away from Hope. The girl looked terrified. Her hands were shaking and she was clutching a bag tight at her side.

The bag shifted around separate from her control. Hope clearly didn’t know who she was, but I recognized that outfit with only a glance.

“Lillie!” I yelled.

Rapidash galloped up to pause a few yards away. I noticed movement behind Lillie that she hadn’t seen, so I held up a hand to subtly command Ninetales to pause, disguising it as a sign of peace.

“We don’t want to hurt you.”

“N-no! T-that’s what they all say! You just want Nebby for yourself like everyone else!”

Hope had basically frozen upon revelation of who this was. Slowly, her hand patted Tropius’s neck, and the dinosaur retracted the blades of leaves and wind coming off its back.

I hopped off Rapidash and returned him to his ball. Following my lead, Hope did the same, returning Tropius.

Then, with Lillie still watching, each and every one of my Pokéballs were set on the floor. To her, it seemed I was making myself helpless, but I knew almost every member of my team was ready to release themself if there was any sense of danger.

Also, Ninetales was still behind Lillie, just hidden. She'd be able to act immediately if a third party joined in.

"How much did you hear?" I asked.

"I came back when you were talking about t-timelines.” Lillie rapidly glanced between both me and Hope. “Is... is my mom really under an Ultra Beast's influence?"

I grimaced. "It's possible, but I don't know for sure. The issue is if the Aether Foundation are the leading experts on it, they would be able to tell, not me. If it went unnoticed before..."

Lillie gulped, and her bag shook at her side again. She gripped the zipper with her hands to prevent whatever was inside from getting out.

"And Nebby? Is Nebby really g-going to evolve into a Legendary?"

"Sure, but Nebby is technically already one."

Lillie glanced at her bag, taking her eyes off of us. If we wanted to capture her like some kind of villainous team, now would have been the time to act. Instead, we did nothing.

"I want to see Kukui," Lillie said.

"Okay. That was always allowed."

She took a step forward, then paused. She looked between me and Hope with fear clear in her eyes.

Getting the hint, I moved to the side, and Hope stepped off the road. Lillie then moved down the hill and entered Kukui's house without us following.

I watched her go. Hope suddenly groaned next to me.

"I got a kid all scared for nothing!"

"Ugh. Yeah. That's entirely on me."

"I get we wanted to keep all that information a secret, but did we really require such a reaction? What would have happened if the Aether Foundation or Team Skull had been the ones listening in?"

I paused to think about it, then I sighed.

"Nothing. The information I shared wasn't really actionable. We would have just talked to Lillie tomorrow to protect her."

"And we knew Kukui had a guest staying with him. It makes sense she came back."

"Yeah..." I sighed again.

"Next time, I'm taking the lead. With how you reacted inside, you're great at planning battles, but you’re awful when it comes to reacting appropriately to situations like this."

Ninetales walked up behind us, and she snorted to agree.

Hope and I moved back down the path to wait outside of Kukui's lab, where I paced back and forth, and Hope sat on the wooden stairs.

It took a while. Neither of us listened in. Eventually, the door opened up, and Kukui beckoned us inside.

"Lillie has something to say to you," he said.

Hope and I silently entered.

When we emerged inside, we could see that Lillie was on the couch with Nebby next to her. Nebby was a Cosmog, a small Pokémon that looked to be made out of star-stuff colored like the night sky. A pair of yellow eyes looked out from the darkness in the center of its body, and two fluff balls of sky blue floated in the air, attached to it by wispy strands of stardust.

Nebby puffed up a bit when we moved in. It shifted in the air slightly as if to try to protect Lillie.

"N-no, it's fine, Nebby. If I'm going to protect you, I have to be brave."

Lillie gently pushed the Cosmog to her side. It let out a soft whine but didn't resist.

Lillie stood up and took a deep breath. She had to close her eyes to brace herself to speak.

"I... I'm going to be a Pokémon trainer!" she yelled. Her eyes snapped open. "Pokémon... Pokémon scare me, but I don't want anyone to take advantage of Nebby. If I have to confront my fear to protect them, then so be it! I don't want Nebby to be absorbed by any dumb Necrozma! We're going to get strong together, and we're going to do the Island Challenge!"

I opened my mouth, but I quickly brought it close just as fast. I wanted to reply to that, but I couldn’t—not right away.

In the games, she was a major character that honestly served more as a plot device more than anything else. Here, she was actually a person. Lillie only ever created a team in the postgame, after the main story ended, but I was shown once again that people don’t have to stick to a script.

Lillie had been presented with the future, intentionally or not. Instead of being motivated by the actions of the player character, she was motivated by Nebby's fate and her determination to stop that.

As I stared, Hope suddenly turned around and covered her mouth. I raised an eyebrow to ask why, and she signed one word to explain.

"Cute."

Lillie's serious expression didn't really match her age. That, and the way her fists were held down at her side helped support that description.

"It'll be tough," I said. "Nebby can't battle."

"I know that! We'll build a team and go from there!"

"And how do you plan on catching a Pokémon?"

"I, uh—"

"I can handle that," Kukui suddenly said.

We watched him walk over to the machine from earlier and send a message through it. Surprisingly fast, three whirs and thunks signified a trio of Pokéballs being sent forward.

He collected them then walked over to the couch to set them on a side table. One droplet-marked Pokéball, one leaf-marked Pokéball, and one flame-marked Pokéball were set forward.

Lillie gaped at the scene Kukui presented.

"If you're going to start your journey, it makes sense to pick a starter,” he said. “Choose one, and I'll say your Island Challenge will begin, yeah?"

Lillie stared at Kukui, eyes wide in disbelief. Her hand reached out momentarily before she lunged forward to wrap him up in a hug.

Nebby squeezed in between them.

"Thank you!" she yelled in a sob.

Kukui chuckled and patted her on her back.

"Part of being the Professor here is making sure new trainers get a Pokémon. If you want to become a trainer, I better do my job."

Tears left Lillie’s eyes until she pulled them back and wiped them away. Her face was red and puffy, but it was clear she had the same look of determination on her face that I’d seen so many great trainers had in the past.

With another slight gesture from Kukui, Lillie stepped back and watched as the three starter Pokémon were released from their Pokéballs. The pair didn’t even spare Hope and I another glance.

“Feeling a bit awkward here,” Hope whispered.

“I know, right? This is probably for the best. If she starts the island challenge, she’ll be protected alongside the other kids.”

Not hearing our quiet conversation, Lillie stared at the Pokémon. One hand was nervously lifted forward towards the trio on the couch.

The Litten ignored it, its red fur heating up slightly in response. The Rowlet had been glancing around the room, and its head turned all the way around to stare at the hand but do nothing else. The Popplio, however, pushed forward on its cushion to press its pink nose into her palm. Lillie gasped, then she moved her hand to slowly run down the seal’s soft fur.

She smiled. The Popplio leaned into her touch.

"Popplio," she said. "I choose Popplio."

_________________________________________________________________________________________

Hope and I left soon after, apologizing again to Lillie for giving her a scare and discussing steps she would need to take if she was heading out on her own. At the end, she forgave us then bowed her head, thanking us for giving her this chance.

I didn't think we did anything. It was her who decided to listen in.

Hope and I split after that, each of us going to our own hotels. Hau'oli was a big town, and we managed to get our own rooms elsewhere.

My Pokémon were released, and they got a run down of what happened. Then, I scheduled a few exchanges to be made, and we met with Hope in the morning.

The Island Challenge had started for the children. For us, there was the Alola Circuit to get through.

"So how do you think this League is going to work?" I asked.

"If you're asking me to guess, I can't really. I already looked it up last night."

I hummed in response.

"Essentially," Hope began, "the Kahuna decide on requirements before they take on anyone in a fight. We'll have to fulfill them with proof in order to obtain the right to challenge them. What trainers need to do varies from year to year. I saw people talking about needing to battle Totems and even claiming a route."

"Claiming a route?"

"Yeah. That's— Hold on. Someone's coming in."

We had met up in a local Pokémon Center, and it was only somewhat crowded. Alola wasn't the most popular of regions, so there tended to be less trainers overall. However, the person coming in wasn't a trainer, but a young man dressed in the black and white outfit of the staff that helped manage the local circuit.

The conversations in the Pokémon Center quieted down to a halt as he ran in. He went up to the front desk to hand over a stack of papers, then he approached a bulletin board that listed local jobs and stuck a notice right on the front.

The second he left the automatic glass doors, all of the trainers in the room rushed over to the board. A few others ran up to the main nurse to ask for copies of what was posted.

Hope and I didn't get up. We sat back, waiting, amused. It made more sense to allow the rush to die down. There was a Kahuna on every island, and we had months to beat them all.

Turns out, we didn't even need to go up. Someone ended up shouting it out.

"It's King of the Route!"

The reaction was split between cheers and moans.

"So, I imagine 'King of the Route' is the fancy title for the route claiming task you were talking about?" I said.

Hope had to get over her laughter about the situation before she could properly respond.

"Yeah. It's simple enough. Basically, a trainer has to go to a route and claim it for their own for a set period of time. They basically serve as an 'area boss' in control of the place. However, if they ever lose, the timer starts over and whoever beat them takes charge. There's a bunch of differences and caveats to that. One version I saw is that there are daily tournaments for a chance to fight the current Route King."

"Sounds like a pain to pull off."

"That's why I was talking about the tournament,” she continued. “Route Kings are allowed some leeway when deciding challengers. They have to give everyone a chance, but there are ways to reduce your opponent's power and rig the battle in your favor."

"Like only accepting challengers after their team gets exhausted from a tournament."

"Exactly so," Hope said.

As the trainers filed out, I watched them leave. Most of them looked upset at what Hala had chosen for his challenge, but some of them looked confident.

Honestly, the more I thought about it, the more this whole idea actually sounded kind of fun. Daily battles would be interesting, and then there was the ability to mandate the selection process for your challengers.

I could do a lot of clever things with that. I'd just need to wait for the proper time to do it.

"You plan to claim a route right away or give it some time?" I asked.

"Well, we need to fight Ilima first, our first candidate for potential Gym Leaders. But I bet there're a whole bunch of newbies rushing to fight him, so it might be best to wait a few days.

"That, and there's probably a bunch of trainers rapidly training to claim a route," Hope continued. "Might be a good idea to explore the island for a bit and let things calm down, first."

"We also promised a lecture at the local school next week," I pointed out.

"Yeah. We should probably get that planned."

"Also, there’s the thing I have scheduled today.”

"You have a thing scheduled today?”

I grinned.

"I promised Azumarill we'd challenge Tapu Koko to a fight."

_________________________________________________________________________________________

I probably should have talked to Hala before I attempted this. As the Kahuna, he was the trainer that interacted most with the local deity.

On every one of Alola’s main islands, a Legendary Fairy Type served as the area’s Guardian Deity. For Melemele, Tapu Koko was the island’s deity. It was a battle hungry Electric Type I hoped to lure into a fight.

So, my strategy was this: Azumarill and I traveled through the jungle towards the center of the island, trying to act as tough as we could as we did. I hoped the Legendary Pokémon would see us and head over to challenge us to a fight.

I made sure Dedenne was here, too, because I knew he’d want the chance to see a Legendary Electric Type in action. He sat on my shoulder as we moved along the way.

“This is dumb,” Hope said. “Your plan involves luring a Legendary by doing nothing at all.”

“My plan will work. Tapu Koko fights opponents it finds interesting.”

I only had faint memories of it in the anime, but I was pretty sure Tapu Koko had challenged Ash to a fight for what felt like no particular reason. Alola was essentially where I stopped watching the show, but the challenge had happened within the first two episodes, which I did end up catching. From what I had seen there as well as the personality it displayed in the games, I had a good feeling that Azumarill would be enough to lure it out.

We didn’t travel along any main route. We were heading straight through the jungle. Evolved Pokémon surrounded us at almost all times—Toucannon lingered in trees, Bewear pushed through bushes, and Passimian would occasionally throw rocks.

Azumarill fought anything that challenged us. I used an ample supply of potions to keep her intact. Her new move, Scald, knocked Toucannon out of the air. Play Rough super effectively beat up the incredibly tough Bewear. As for the Passimians, they were pure Fighting Types, which meant they didn’t have any special resistances to Azumarill’s Liquidation.

We carved a path of carnage, at least, for any Pokémon that challenged us. Azumarill was at a level far above any wild Pokémon. She was tough enough that it wouldn’t be fair for us to purposefully target anything, so only Pokémon that leapt out got attacked.

Eventually, we broke for lunch, but then we kept going. Hope lamented that we hadn't found any interesting Grass Types, only a few wild Petilil and Cottonee, which she had a chance to catch back in Hoenn but passed up.

“You know, Tapu Bulu is a Grass Type,” I said.

“Really? Do you plan on challenging them all?”

“Maybe. I think Tapu Lele might be the most isolationist? All of them are surprisingly accessible for being what are essentially unique Legendary Pokémon.”

Our conversation only continued for a short while longer before it happened. Tapu Koko appeared so suddenly that I almost froze up in surprise. A bolt of lightning struck down from the sky in front of Azumarill, burning through the canopy and blackening the ground a few feet away. The head of a yellow bird that looked like the face of a carved and decorated totem appeared in front of us, a large, bright orange mohawk sticking out from underneath.

Having such a large, disembodied head floating there was already threatening enough, but then its black beak opened, and it split in half. The head was revealed to be nothing more than a decorative shield coming out of Tapu Koko’s two arms, and the beak was actually claws that served as hands.

A humanoid figure within had pitch-black skin and white, decorative markings. It floated in the air as a lower half of long feathers drifted over the ground. On its true head, that same mohawk from before stuck straight up into the air. The hair was so long it almost looked like a halberd’s blade.

I really should have been taking this seriously, but I couldn’t help but to feel a bit proud of my own successful prediction. I stepped forward, whispering a quiet “Told you” to Hope as I did.

She huffed and took a few steps back, giving us room to battle. Azumarill smashed her hands together and readied herself for a fight.

“Tapu Koko! We challenge you!” I yelled.

Tapu Koko was already excitedly bouncing back and forth in the air. It didn’t have a visible mouth, but its head lowered in anticipation. It certainly felt like it was smiling.

Azumarill braced herself for this fight in the same way.

“We’ll start when you’re ready,” I said.

Everything happened so fast. The fight began in an instant.

When Tapu Koko launched itself forward, it didn’t just move through the air. Lightning shot out from underneath it to coat the ground, turning the floor yellow and electric. Its ability, Electric Surge, caused the ground around it to become Electric Terrain. Any Electric Type move would now be overcharged, dealing extra damage, and the constant low-voltage shocks would keep any Pokémon awake and unable to sleep.

The Legendary Pokémon chose to start the fight by meeting Azumarill in melee. It proved to be exceptionally fast as it arrived before she could Splash, slamming into her chest with a super effective Wild Charge.

Azumarill was almost immediately blasted back, but she dug her feet into the ground. The move almost knocked her out right there, but she was too tough to faint.

Her arms snapped forward to grab Tapu Koko’s own. It tried to bring its body back in surprise and failed.

“Swagger!”

For all of a great position Azumarill was in to attack, doing so would only mean her loss. She had too much of a disadvantage to win normally, so we would need to resort to some tricks.

With Swagger, Azumarill clicked her tongue and glared at it tauntingly. Being so close, Tapu Koko was unable to resist, becoming enraged and building up its next attack.

However, Swagger confused its targets, and Tapu Koko only ended up releasing bolts of lightning around it. A few trees were struck, and Hope yelped and stepped back.

“Careful!” she yelled.

She sent out her Venusaur beneath some trees to act as a shield to keep her safe.

As for me, I heard Dedenne squeak in my ear. His brave tone told me he planned to absorb any Thunderbolts coming our way.

“Thanks,” I said.

Back on the field, Azumarill used the opportunity of Tapu Koko being distracted to pull the Pokémon down. She yanked it out of the air like a doll and spun it around. Play Rough was a solid, unresisted attack, and she let superheated water form on her arm and travel onto the Tapu from the momentum, giving the Pokémon a burn.

Truly, the only reason she could use Scald like that was her mastery of Liquidation and her ability, Thick Fat. It didn’t technically protect her from burns, but it protected her from heat, and that was just good enough to let her use the burning water in melee.

Suffering from the confusion, taking damage from Azumarill’s attacks, and now also burned, Tapu Koko burst with electricity. A Discharge left its body in all directions and pulsed through Azumarill. In order to withstand the move, she had to let go of Tapu Koko’s arms and brace herself with Protect.

“Don’t let it escape! Knock it down with Liquidation!”

Azamarill tried to go for that punch, but Protect was too slow of a move to let her attack so soon after. Tapu Koko took to the air to move far back from Azumarill, then it shook its head to get rid of the confusion.

Far above, something rumbled. In a single spot above the jungle, storm clouds began to form.

Seeing that, I took several large steps back. Azumarill stared up at the clouds and grinned.

Then, she yelled at the top of her lungs, not bothering to dodge. The Thunder struck.

The jungle turned pure white as Tapu Koko used its move. That attack was so powerful, that if I hadn’t closed my eyes, I would have gone temporarily blind. Even then, my eyelids proved too weak of a cover to totally save me, and I had to blink several times just to see again.

When my vision returned, I saw her. There, where the attack had struck, Azumarill still stood tall. Her arms were crossed in front of her chest, and her gaze drilled a hole into Tapu Koko’s heart.

However, her body was blackened and unmoving, smoke leaving her form.

Azumarill had fainted. She took two, technically three attacks—if the protected Discharge counted—from this Legendary Pokémon before she fainted. The fight had happened so quickly, and yet, she barely put up a challenge.

Still, that was far better than any other Water Type would have hoped to achieve.

“Absolutely incredible job,” I said to her, returning her to her ball. I then turned up to Tapu Koko, who let out an amused sigh in mild disappointment. “Thank you, Tapu Koko. Azumarill had been looking forward to this battle for months.”

I bowed my head to the Legendary, who rolled its shoulders back. Seeing that I wasn’t sending out anyone else, the bird-head shield began to close once more, and it seemed like Tapu Koko would head out to leave.

However, a loud squeak suddenly emanated from my shoulder.

Dedenne leaped forward at the stunned Tapu Koko, meeting it on the field. His body tensed and he held up his hands for a fight, challenging the Legendary Electric Type to a battle.

Once more, Tapu Koko split its shield. It looked at Dedenne curiously, as if it wasn’t believing its eyes.

“Are you sure, Dedenne?” I asked.

He squeaked again, nodding his head.

I grinned and faced Tapu Koko once more. It lowered itself back to the floor.

“Tapu Koko! Azumarill might have lost, but Dedenne hasn’t got a chance! Here now, we challenge you to a second battle! Will you accept, or will you—”

Hope gasped before I realized what was going on. One of Tapu Koko’s clawed hands snapped forward to latch Dedenne into its grip. It wasn’t an attack, it was just a simple grab, and Dedenne wasn’t ready for it.

He released a Discharge instinctually, which Tapu Koko didn’t even react to. Instead, with a curious look on its face, it just stared at the small rodent in hand and rotated him slightly. Dedenne squirmed, continuing to release attack after attack. Then, after a tense few seconds, Tapu Koko then glanced upwards and shot into the sky. It brought Dedenne with it.

For a moment, the clearing was silent. No one talked. No one moved.

Eventually, I finally processed what just happened, and I couldn’t help but to verbalize my surprise.

“Did... Did Tapu Koko just kidnap Dedenne?”

====================================================
Author Note:

The "King of the Route" is actually based off of a mechanic from the Alola games. Essentially, there were these "boss trainers" on most routes that only accepted challenges if you beat every other trainer present. This is my way of providing an in-universe explanation why they were there. Clearly, they were earning the right to challenge the local Kahuna.

Pokémon mentioned in this chapter (contains spoilers):
Bewear
Cosmog / Solgaleo / Lunala
Litten
Necrozma
Nihilego
Passimian
Popplio
Rotom
Rowlet
Tapu Koko / Tapu Bulu / Tapu Lele / Guardian Deities
Toucannon

Hope’s Team:
Vileplume, Cherrim, Bellossom, Venusaur, Tropius, Sunflora

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