Chapter 184 (Patreon)

In a small campsite on the shores of a Brooklet Hill lake, Hope, Lillie, and I, all sat around in silence. Our Pokémon were out, implying this was a peaceful break, yet the presence of a certain Ultra Beast screamed that it was anything but.

The Kartana was mostly motionless, though it drifted back and forth as it floated, not too dissimilar from a falling piece of paper. It never lost height, however, and its body was so sharp that it almost seemed like it was slicing through the air itself. Each and every piece of its body was essentially an edge, and it displayed no obvious signs of paying attention or even being alive.

I stared at its rocking movements as I processed Hope's story. To put it lightly, her explanation felt ridiculous.

"So Gardevoir communicated with it, and it stood down? Just like that?" I asked.

Hope’s nod felt far too excitable to represent the truth, yet, she wasn’t lying to me in the slightest.

"Basically,” she said. “Kartana interrupted Lillie's trial, so Lana and I tried to fight it off. It was about a stalemate between our two Pokémon and Kartana, thanks to its relative Type Advantage over us, but that was interrupted when Gardevoir teleported in. He didn’t get away scot-free, though."

Glancing over to Gardevoir, who was standing behind me, it was clear he was utterly exhausted. He had bags under his eyes and couldn't hide his slump. From what Hope told me earlier, his attempts at telepathic communication had carried a lot of uncomfortable feedback, but at least they worked.

"And now Kartana is going to travel with us. A wild Ultra Beast. Not even caught," I deadpanned.

"Yup," Hope said, emphasizing the P. "I got the gist of it from Gardevoir. Kartana will be traveling with us until Nebby is strong enough to send it home."

"And you're okay with this?" I asked Lillie.

She shrugged.

"I don't mind. If it means we can help, I'm glad to do it. Ultra Beasts live in Ultra Space, so I can't even imagine how strange and confusing our world is in comparison. I promised I'd help Nebby, and if we can help Kartana, it’d be wrong of me to not help them, too."

As I looked around, everyone seemed to be taking Kartana’s presence in stride. They didn't even blink at the Ultra Beast floating there. As far as we could tell, it wouldn’t even be that hard to bring it with us; Kartana didn't even need to eat. It just absorbed nutrients from either the sun or just passively absorbed latent energy.

I sighed and rubbed my head. I wasn’t sure if we could trust it after it chased after Lillie so aggressively before.

Then again, now that I think about it, Kartana never directly attacked a person, did it? On the beach, only mundane objects suffered from its wrath, and it only began to fight back when Hope and I sent our Pokémon after it.

"Will Kartana at least help defend you if another Ultra Beast shows up?" I asked, reaching my final question before getting convinced.

"They should," Lillie replied. "They listen to Hope pretty well."

Hope sent me a smug grin, and I hung my head.

"Looks like it’s already set,” I mumbled. “But if Kartana is going to be with us solely because of Nebby, I do need to know if you plan to head to Sinnoh with me after this."

Lillie went still. I had talked about heading out before, but I got the sense she hadn’t fully processed it’d be so soon. I had a responsibility to train her, but I also had my right of challenge against another region's Elite Four for even longer. She'd had time to make the decision by now, but I wasn't sure how exactly she felt. Either way, I trusted her to go with what seemed right.

"I need to stay here," Lillie said.

Hope swept her up into a hug before she could explain.

"Yes! Alola buddies!" Hope cheered.

I’d talked about this with Hope earlier, and she decided she would stay behind so that at least one of us could continue working for the League.

"Yes, yes! I'm staying. Please! Let me go!" Lillie said, though she didn't really fight the hug too hard before she was released. "Anyway, after thinking about it, I don't really think I should leave. It'd be nice to go, but..."

She cleared her throat. Nebby poked his head out of her backpack.

"I don't think Nebby should leave Alola. And if he's staying, I want to stay, too."

"I get it," I said.

"You do?"

"Yes. I guess you just want to learn from Hope, instead," I said with a fake sob.

Lillie looked aghast for only a single second before her face scrunched up in annoyance. She grunted and crossed her arms while I mimicked wiping a tear from my eye.

"No, but I do get it, and I can't blame you for your decision,” I continued. “Nebby is a Legendary Pokémon and he has close ties to Alola. With the presence of Ultra Wormholes, he might be drawing from their energy to get stronger and would be too far away if he was going. None of us want him to experience any unintended consequences. I trust Hope to protect you, but if you need it, I can leave a member of my team—"

"No, no!" Lillie hurriedly waved her arms. "I trust Hope! Don't hurt your chances of winning just for me."

I smiled and shook my head.

"Then, I guess I'll just need to come back with a quintuple of victories under my belt."

Hope scoffed.

"Like you can beat Cynthia," she said.

"Yeah? Why not?"

The conversation devolved from there, mostly becoming a shouting match consisting of more and more ridiculous explanations for my victory or defeat. At first, it was mostly just claims that Cynthia was stronger than me, but then Hope tried to claim that since Cynthia had a Ghost Type on her team, I wouldn’t be able to fight back. I countered by saying that if we fought at night, Cynthia wouldn’t be able to tell the difference between Moonblast and the moon itself.

And then, Lillie chipped in and said that since Sinnoh is so cold, I had the advantage because my team was used to Alola’s humid climate, and that meant any Fire Type moves could destroy Cynthia’s team while mine would be mostly unaffected.

We laughed. It was silly but it was nice, even with an Ultra Beast just sitting there. Kartana never left or attacked, but they didn't join in, either. Though, as the conversation petered out, we realized we were still on a timer counting down to the very thing we were talking about, so we headed out with the intention of moving towards Heahea.

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Limited time meant limited options. I was thankful Lillie had managed to beat her Trial while we were gone, since that meant we didn't need to wait at Brooklet Hill for anything else. Hope, too, had already tested Lana here, and the Trial Captain got a good review, especially since her Water Types were a big help in the initial battle against Kartana.

We traveled south with the intention of reaching Heahea, the last bastion of civilization before the trainer barricade that blocked off Konikoni. Somehow, in the time we were gone, the place had been marked as a "neutral zone." While inside the city, challenges weren't able to be issued, and participating trainers were only allowed to battle on approved, predetermined battlefields.

I wasn't sure why this was the case, but with the fervor some trainers had chased Hope and I, I wouldn't have been surprised if trainers had gotten a little too excited when starting a battle. With so few managing to pass the barricade, tensions were getting high.

However that was a problem for later Alex. Current Alex needed to deal with something more important, first.

We had an Ultra Beast. Professor Burnet studied the species and their connection to Ultra Space. Going to Heahea wasn't hard—my attempts at distracting other trainers led them to be mostly focused in the north—and Hope and I managed to reach the city with only a handful of battles. When we arrived, Kartana had never once left, the Ultra Beast having stuck to a set distance behind Hope’s back the entire way down.

"See that?" Hope pointed out as we walked down Heahea’s main street.

I looked up and squinted my eyes to make out a faint purple dot in the sky.

"Is that... Tapu Lele?"

For some reason, Akala's Island Guardian was present above the city, hiding within the shell that made it resemble a butterfly's head. As we walked, I noticed that it seemed to almost track us as we moved. The pair of decorative eyes on its exterior always stared our way, but the Legendary Pokémon never attacked nor did it move forward.

"It's definitely keeping an eye on Kartana," Hope said.

"That makes me wonder where it brought Kartana before, in the first place."

"Well, there weren't any Ultra Wormholes for it to take it, so my guess is that Tapu Lele threw it somewhere where it would be alone in the woods,” Hope said. “What else was it supposed to do? Stick it in a cage?"

I shrugged, and we continued down the street. Public knowledge of Ultra Beasts seemed to be slim, because no one really spared Kartana a glance. I will say, though, the Pokémon was exceedingly skilled at stealth. With its small size and agile movements, it barely even caused a ripple in the air and stayed behind Hope’s back with incredible skill.

The dish-covered building of Burnet's lab soon appeared before us, and our small group headed inside, both Lillie and Kartana included. To our surprise, Burnet was already in the lobby, but she had an extremely panicked expression on her face while holding a frying pan, and she looked like she was ready to run.

Though, such a thing might have been difficult given the signs of pregnancy she was beginning to show.

When we walked in, our presence caused Burnet's face to twist up in confusion. Her gaze flicked between Hope, Lillie, and I, before settling on Kartana.

"What's going on?" she asked, her voice ever so slightly hoarse.

"Kartana here decided to travel with us," Lillie said. "We thought you'd want to look them over!"

Burnet's face was completely blank for a full minute, and Lillie started to fidget back and forth in place during the silence. Then, out of nowhere, the Professor burst into laughter, and she rested a hand on her bulging stomach.

"Of course! That makes so much more sense! Let me tell you, it was terrifying to see two different Ultra Beasts traveling directly my way. But if one was just Nebby's passive radiation, and if the other one was Kartana..." Her eyes widened as if she only just realized what we had brought. "Wait a second, how did this happen? I've never heard of anyone able to befriend an Ultra Beast like this!"

"Well, it's not technically befriending..." Lillie said.

She then proceeded to explain what exactly went on as Burnet hurriedly led our little group up to the top floor.

"Wow," Burnet breathed. "Telepathic communication? I'm surprised it worked."

"It almost didn't," I replied. "Gardevoir was tired for a full day afterwards, and from what he tried to share, it was mostly an exchange of broken images and half-felt feelings."

She nodded as if she understood the core reasoning, and she hurriedly jogged over to a machine. There, she picked up what looked to be a scanner dish attached to a remote control. After, she practically bounced over to Kartana's side, where she paused after holding the device up in the air.

"Oh! I'm getting ahead of myself. I've never been able to scan an Ultra Beast directly.” She giggled at the idea. "But doing so would be a huge help with my research. If you will, um, Kartana—"

Professor Burnet looked to me for approval after struggling with the Pokémon’s name. I nodded in confirmation of the word; when I had left with Lillie a few weeks ago, I had passed over everything I could recall about Ultra Beasts for Burnet to study and check if it was right. It was much more limited than my Mega Evolution dossier, but that was a consequence of waiting years since I came to this world before sharing.

"Then, Kartana,” she said. “May I?"

Kartana didn't react. Without any objections, Hope asked the Pokémon to hold still.

As Professor Burnet started to circle the Ultra Beast, she aimed the strange, prototype device at the center of Kartana's folded body. There was a tense pause when Kartana squirmed slightly, but the Ultra Beast didn't do much else as Professor Burnet gathered her measurements.

"It's a little ironic that I'm using the device made as a direct result of Kartana's actions directly on Kartana," she mumbled. "It's a bit slower in exchange for portability and more suppressed energy waves. The process should only take a few minutes."

There was a faint warbling from the device as she continued to move in a circle, but nothing else happened. Kartana didn’t move, no machines randomly broke, and she didn’t have us move behind a protective screen, which made me hope that the device didn’t give off anywhere near as many harmful rays.

Time passed, and it seemed like this process would take longer than I thought. Hope moved to sit down on a nearby chair, urging Kartana to stay with Burnet, and I followed. Lillie stayed up to watch the process up close, and I saw Nebby poke his head out of her pack to send Kartana a curious glance.

But, nothing happened, and the process continued uneventfully. The only sounds in the room were that faint warbling and the beeping from machines around us. Bored and uncomfortable with the silence, Hope eventually spoke up.

"So Alex and I have a question," she said.

"We do?"

"Yeah! Tapu Lele!" At Hope’s words, I rapidly nodded my head in agreement once I remembered. "Where did it take Kartana after it showed up in the city last time?"

Burnet paused; the data recording ceased.

"Excuse me?"

"Did you not know this was the same Kartana?" Lillie asked.

Burnet's brows furrowed in confusion as she moved back to a computer. She typed on it as Kartana returned to floating at Hope's side, almost appearing as if it were dragged by a string back to the correct position as it did. The sounds of typing continued for a few more seconds before Burnet frowned.

"Huh. So it is," she said.

Hope and I exchanged a look. That was not what we expected in response.

"Why are you so confused?" Hope asked.

"No reason, I was just certain there was something in place to contain Ultra Beasts that went after humans. Kartana shouldn’t be out and around, or at least I thought that would be the case."

"So like... Wait, do you mean the Aether Foundation would have captured them?" Hope asked.

"Actually, yes, that. Exactly. I’ve been told that the Aether Foundation has a small biome where they keep wild Ultra Beasts away from the mainland. It’s a safe holding space that mimics Ultra Space before they can be returned home."

Burnet slowly moved back, and Hope quietly encouraged Kartana to return to Burnet’s side. As that happened, it seemed as if it were Lillie’s turn to frown. Her face was twisted up like usual, in deep thought once more.

"That's not true," Lillie whispered as the scanning continued.

"Excuse me?" Burnet asked.

"The Aether Foundation doesn't have a place for Ultra Beasts. I... I would have seen that."

Burnet placed her hands on her hips, and she took on a slight authoritative tone that was not unlike a mother’s.

"Lillie, the International Police works with the Aether Foundation to capture and contain wayward Ultra Beasts. There are dedicated biomes in Aether Paradise for storage before the Pokémon are sent back into any of the rarely opened Ultra Wormholes. In fact, one of their top scientists is a Psychic Type specialist that excels in that very transportation. Without his Pokémon using Teleport, there's no way they'd be able to send the Ultra Beasts through rapidly closing Wormholes in time."

"But they don't have those! That's not a thing!"

Burnet crossed her arms.

"They do. They have to. Otherwise, what are they doing with all the Ultra Beasts that wander into Alola?"

The room was sent into a deep silence as everyone processed the implication of that question—except for Burnet, who didn't even blink and went back to work.

My mind felt like it was spinning, yet Burnet didn’t even notice. Where were all the other wild Ultra Beasts? They had to be brought somewhere, right? Simply having the Island Guardians fight them away wasn’t enough, keeping them off the islands would just turn them into wandering Legendary-equivalents, which could be dangerous to people traveling. If the Aether Foundation wasn’t truly capturing the Ultra Beasts, why was the International Police helping?

Was Lillie wrong? Was Burnet wrong?

...Was that Psychic Type specialist supposed to be Faba?

"I have a followup question," I asked hoarsely.

"Toss it to me," Burnet replied.

"If... if the Aether Foundation does have a place storing Ultra Beasts, why has no one ever scanned one before? Surely there's been at least one that consented to the process. There’s no way Kartana is the first."

Burnet didn't respond, but that seemed to finally allow the clues to be pieced together in her mind. She didn't speak for a long time, and her face dropped into a blank expression as she finished off the process of gathering readings off of Kartana.

When done, she silently moved over to her computer to plug the device into a slot. Rows of data appeared on the screen, and she stared at it before letting loose a sigh.

"I need to think," she mumbled.

"Was the data conclusive?" Lillie asked.

Burnet gave the girl the biggest smile she could muster, though it looked rather strained.

"Yes,” she said quietly. “It was.”

We left after that, not having the motivation to continue the conversation after such a confusing revelation. Burnet promised she'd get more information for us, but it was impossible to miss the deep hesitance and contemplative expression on her face.

"What next?" Lillie asked.

I grimaced. I barely had three days left before my time in this region came to a pause.

"Now, we plan," I said. "That barricade around Konikoni needs to be passed."

______________________________________________________________________________________________________

The number of days left fit on one hand. Technically, I had time, but it wasn't enough to leave me comfortable. Sinnoh was soon, and after the hell that was the trip from the tip of Akala, I wanted my team to be able to take a break.

Rest was just as important to a Pokémon's skill as training. Going into a battle with the Elite Four exhausted would spell our doom.

To figure out a path forward, Hope and I needed more information, and we circled around the edge of Heahea City to get to its south side. It connected to a series of hills that surrounded Konikoni to the south, and it was in those hills that the barricade was formed.

Even now, just standing at the edge of the city, I could see large Pokémon that definitely weren’t wild flying over the hills to its south. Pidgeot and Staraptor flew about, and, heck, there was even a Drifblim just hovering above the center. Even more, these hills were home to Diglett's cave, a series of Pokémon-formed tunnels that connected the two cities, giving a safe yet underground path that novices tended to prefer. Even those entrances were blocked off—a trio of trainers stood guard in front of the cave’s entrance, their arms crossed as if they were a club’s bouncers.

It was ridiculous, viewing this whole length. There had to be at least two or three dozen independent trainers working together in an attempt to steal a challenge stone away from its wielder, feet from the finish line. To put it bluntly, they were scavengers, likely to stab one another in the back. Anyone who tried to pass would have to deal with all of them, and I doubted that there were enough challenge stones in circulation for one massive, group push.

"Recruiting allies is out of the picture,” I mumbled. “I haven’t seen too many trainers with challenge stones around, and I doubt any will want to join us for a rush when that means most of them would likely lose their stone. I think it’ll just be us trying to get through.”

"We could recruit an outsider, maybe? Anyone that could help?"

If we could fly via Pokémon, I would have suggested asking Kahili to run defense and intercept anyone who came out of the way, but I doubted she would go so far out of her way just for a pair of trainers she hardly knew. Lillie was in the Heahea Pokémon Center, resting, but it wasn't like we could ask her for help anyway, as it was against the rules to have an outsider carry the stone for you and she was too inexperienced to really fight any of these trainers off.

"So challenges have to consist of eye contact, be loud enough to be heard, and can only be done against trainers who aren’t preoccupied," Hope mumbled, just as a reminder.

"Repeating the rules?" I asked.

"Yeah, but it's too bad we don't have Lillie with us for a genius last minute solution again," Hope bemoaned.

I hummed, going over everything I knew as Hope did the same. We couldn't ride Pokémon in the air, teleporting directly to Konikoni City wasn't allowed, and taking a boat technically brought us out of bounds off the island, which meant we'd have to give our challenge stones up in that case. I considered dashing through with Rapidash, but even a single successful challenge would hold us back and mean we would get bogged down and dogpiled by everyone else moving nearby.

"No sacrificial plays, either. Sorry, Alex, there’s too many of them for that to work."

"I'm touched you'd even consider that," I said.

Hope gave me a simple shrug in response.

Rubbing my chin, I began to pace as Hope rocked back and forth in thought. We received strange looks from passersby, but public perception wasn't really a concern at the moment.

"What about Kartana?" Hope asked.

"You want the Ultra Beast to attack?" I said, aghast.

"No, but I think they're pretty cool. It would be fun to see them in battle."

Kartana was still floating behind Hope's back, still locked to sit a set distance away. At her compliment, it shifted around in the air every so slightly, and its sharpened arms wiggled almost imperceptibly.

"I got it," Hope said, slamming a fist into her hand.

"Yeah?"

"Earplugs!"

I resisted the urge to facepalm. The rules themselves said earplugs wouldn't invalidate the volume of a challenge. They were a safety issue, otherwise.

We continued to think, eventually taking a break to meet up with Lillie for dinner then heading right back. Even at night, Pokémon and trainers were still around, setting up camps or moving around on patrols. A pair of red eyes on the horizon told me a Gengar lurked in the shadows. That Pokémon, out of all of them, caused a shiver to go down my spine.

"What if..." I mumbled. "That last requirement for a challenge. The trainer has to be free, right?"

"Yeah?" Hope replied.

"Here’s my idea: what if we weren't?"

Hope paused to think about it, and the more she did, the more her eyes began to light up.

"Wait, so you're saying that we participate in a battle so we wouldn't be forced into another one?" she asked.

I grinned.

"Hope, you're exactly right. Also, I challenge you to a battle!"

A Noctowl flapped by, hooting in the darkness of the night. I brought my head into my hand briefly, heat entering my face under the dim moonlight.

"Tomorrow morning, of course. We shouldn't risk doing it at night."

"Yeah! I get it. My team works better in the sun, anyway."

It was the basis of a plan, but it was at least something instead of standing around until I left. We just had to hope it would actually work, because otherwise...

With only one challenge stone each, if we messed this up, it would take too long for me to try again before I left the region.

______________________________________________________________________________________________________
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Kahuna Olivia was bored, though she couldn’t complain about the results. Each year there was always the hassle of dealing with constant challengers, and she just wanted to have time to herself, you know? It didn't take much to ask some League officials to stand guard just north of Konikoni and to encourage other trainers to do the same.

She was proud of her design of the barricade, and if anyone asked, she could just say it's a final test after everything else. After all, moving a rock from one end of the island to the next wasn't that tough. It would take, what, two days at most?

She stretched her arms back, taking in the sun from the roof of her family’s jewelry-slash-stone shop. Konikoni City was beautiful this time of year, but it was beautiful the rest of the year, too.

A yawn from her side, and her Lycanroc smacked its lips. Olivia gave the Pokémon a loving pat before taking a sip of her drink.

"Another lovely day, but I feel like there's something missing," she mumbled, tapping her lips in thought.

It was at that moment she heard footsteps rushing up the stairs. Someone slammed open the door to the roof.

Olivia took off her sunglasses to glare at the person who disturbed her free time. She was met by one of the very League employees she hired.

"Ma'am! There's an incident!"

"Take care of it." Olivia waved him off, leaning back in her seat.

Contrary to her expectations, he didn't leave; the man merely stayed behind awkwardly. A silence continued as he waited for further instructions, and Olivia groaned and stood up.

"Ugh, I'm bored," she said to no one at all, just to complain out loud. "I want to appreciate my boredom in peace. What is it now?"

"The barricade," the man breathed.

"Yes?"

"Someone got past it."

A pause.

"What?!" Olivia shouted.

"A pair of trainers are pushing over the top,” the League employee said, panting, “and they're ignoring everyone's challenges. No one understands why they’re doing it, and we’re not sure if they’re breaking the rules or if it’s allowed!"

Fuming, Olivia grabbed her ice-cold drink and chugged the rest of the Nomel-flavored water. She wiped her lips and returned Lycanroc, then she sent out her Probopass.

On the street below, the electronic lights flickered from Probopass's innate magnetic field.

"Magnet Rise, bud. Bring us to the top of Diglett's cave,” she commanded.

Olivia hopped onto her floating Pokémon, grabbing its head and hanging off of its side. The large-nosed lodestone Pokémon took off once she was on, heading to the specific exit Olivia had mentioned. Diglett's Cave had a lot of holes that served as entrances to it, but with the information she had just been provided, there was only one place she was truly concerned about.

Despite Probopass being a slow Pokémon, that was only in battle. When given enough time, and when Magnet Rise was activated, the Pokémon could slowly build up speed to travel incredibly fast.

Olivia arrived in moments, and what she saw was chaos. About a dozen trainers shouted orders at their Pokémon, while a pair kept to the front.

One rode on the strangest Rapidash she'd ever seen—like, it had a rainbow for hair instead of flames. The other rode on a Tauros, but the way she treated it made it clear it had been rented.

Between them, two Pokémon battled it out: a Tropius and a Whimsicott. The two Grass Types unleashed move after move, and it seemed they were truly giving it their all.

"Air Slash!"

"Substitute!"

A blade of wind cut into a hastily pulled off chunk of fluff. Then, a ball of flame entered the sky, and the pair and their trainers rushed even closer to Konikoni.

"Ma'am."

The League trainer from before was now next to Olivia, being carried in basket by a tired-looking Drifblim.

"This isn't allowed, is it?" Olivia mumbled as she watched three different challenges get ignored.

"That's the thing. We... we think it is. They don't technically have to accept any challenges if they're already in a match."

Huh. They got us there.

Olivia tapped the side of Probopass to have him lower himself to the ground, and she jumped off to land on the dirt below.

From the bottom of the hill, she looked up only to see a dust cloud marking the incoming trainers' location. Some of the chasing Pokémon had stumbled, and now there was an avalanche of bodies falling off a cliff.

In an impressive display of control, that strange Rapidash's horn glowed and people and Pokémon started to levitate in the air. A Gardevoir appeared, too, and a chunk of earth ripped itself out of the ground to serve as a platform—a landing to stop where the rest were rolling down the hill.

The Rapidash and Tauros slid while the Tropius and Whimsicott tried to used finishing moves.

"Hurricane!"

"Moonblast!"

Wind swept dust into the air, and Olivia swore she saw the moon in the sky despite it being the middle of the day. A Moonblast made out of Fairy Type energy so pure it almost seemed white tore through the air while winds angrily whipped around it.

For all the power the Hurricane carried, though, it wasn't enough. The Moonblast blasted the wind apart, and Tropius was slammed into the ground.

"Hey, Olivia!"

Olivia blinked in surprise at the noise.

"I challenge you to a battle. You're free after this, right?"

Looked away from the match, she turned to the trainer on the Rapidash, only to be met with the cheekiest of cheeky smiles. To their right, the Tropius trainer repeated a similar challenge, and the pair came to a stop, the chasing trainers from the barricade collecting behind them.

Olivia watched as both of the riders took out a pair of challenge stones, and it seemed that everyone held their breath. She didn't respond immediately; she needed to process what had just gone on. After the tension in the air increased enough that it could be cut with a knife, Olivia finally threw back her head and let out a deep, echoing laugh.

"What a bold strategy! To fight one another to have an excuse to break right through! Alright, I'll battle you, but I have a caveat: I get to take both of you on at once."

The two trainers exchanged a look before nodding, and Olivia let loose a feral grin. Her boredom from before practically all faded away. Leave it to a potential Pokémon battle to get her blood pumping.

Perhaps it was time the barricade was breached, she mused. It’s been long enough since I’ve had a decent fight.

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

Not included in this chapter: Hope and Alex awkwardly heading back to retrieve Lillie from Heahea before having their match with Olivia.

Pokémon (and people) mentioned in this chapter (contains spoilers):
Drifblim
Kartana
Gengar
Noctowl
Pidgeot
Probopass
Staraptor
Tapu Lele

Olivia

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