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Hello! I’m garlicfox1, the author of Pokémon Uprising. I want this quick notice to be read first and foremost before chapter 1. I just want to explain a few things before the journey begins!

1. This is my first time writing.

I’m very sorry in advance if the writing is bad, or if changes are made that you don’t like.

It took me a while but as I’ve started planning and writing I’ve had to come to terms with the fact that I can’t please everyone with my work. Ideas and decisions will be made here that not everyone will agree with. Removing or adding certain aspects from the games, manga, anime, or adding completely original content will happen in this story. The writing will most likely feel choppy and paced wrong for a little while until I can get the hang of things, so I’m really sorry. But I’ll the best I can to make this a great reading experience for you guys!

I will also try my hardest to keep quality and consistent chapters. For now I plan on posting every 5 days to a week or so, but I’ll see how it goes.

2. Expect out of character decisions and actions

Pokémon is kids media. The games are mostly easy and the anime adaptation almost never shows or says anything deemed inappropriate (unless we’re talking about the Adventures Manga that stuff’s insane).

Obviously you wont see anyone getting brutally ripped to shreds or anything of that sort, but as much as I think of Uprising as a sort of “rewrite” it does have a similar level of stuff the Adventures Manga does. (If you’ve read if you’d know but for those of you who haven’t Adventures does show minor - sometimes major tbh - graphic imagery and the characters swear and it’s pretty crazy overall but I really like the Adventures Manga especially the Sun & Moon one so Uprising will be more like Adventures. And since battling is like Pokémons main thing, expect written depictions of violence, especially as the series goes on with more intense battles with stronger Pokémon.

I put “Graphic depictions of violence” as a warning because it gets a bit crazy in later chapters, not so much right now but it will, and I would rather put it then not just in case.

One thing I hear quite often from people discussing some fics is how they don’t like when a character outs ooc (out of character). This isn’t the main material, so characters will be ooc. But I’ll try to keep the ooc-ness somewhat rational, but personalities and actions have been altered to fit Uprisings themes.

3. What’s different between this and the original Sun & Moon source material?

As mentioned before, I read the Sun & Moon Adventures Manga a while backed and I loved it a lot. So some things inspired from there will be in this story, as well as things from the games. I’ve never played S&M or US&UM but I’ve tried to watch playthroughs to get the gist of the games story.

Original characters made by me will also appear in the story and have their own personalities, goals, backstories, and teams.

Another thing that’s different is I’m gonna try to explain some things more realistically, like things don’t just happen for plot or just because, I want it to seem like in this setting it could actually happen (but I’m not a fun-killer so go cartoon physics when I feel like it, especially if it’s Team Rocket in a scene).

Sun & Moon won’t be insanely different, the basic plot from the anime still stands. School on Melemele and eventually going island to island to challenge the Kahunas is still the structure, but the order may waver and original chapters will be sprinkled in. The beginning’s pretty similar but it’ll get its own personality soon enough.

But some chapters may stay relatively to same. The challenges against the Island Kahunas, parts of the league, and other important episodes. For the ones that have a similar plot to cannon, I’ve made the characters actions and quotes different, and the end may be reached in a another way as to keep my story and the original as distinct from each other as possible. And some chapters (and by that I mean like 2) will be just a small description because I like those episodes a lot and don’t want to change them.

It won’t be like that forever though don’t worry. When I eventually get to the rewrite of Journeys that will be WAYYYYY different from the cannon anime (sorry I’m a professional Journeys hater). So be excited for when that eventually rolls around!

4. The Uprising Info-Dex

At some point I the future I’ll begin another work under that title and it’ll have character information such as teams, artwork, and anything else of importance.

Ok just learned I can’t put art here so idk how it’ll work now maybe it could take the form of a Google doc instead but I’m still figuring stuff out sorry.

5. Idk how AO3 works just yet so if anything weird happens I’ll try to fix it.

Cause this was all written in a Google doc and copy pasted over idk if it messes anything up but I’m trying ok.

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Chapter Text

Started on: January 20th, 2025, 6:00 PM

Finished on: February 1st, 2025, 11:34 PM

Posted on: July 27th, 2025, 12:50 AM

Thursday, April 25th, 3003

The sun beat down in golden rays upon the water as it stirred in small splashes from the movement of marine Pokémon. The ocean was the first thing Ash saw as he and his mom left the airport. Their Pokémon trailed behind him, except Pikachu, who eagerly dove headfirst into the sandy shore of Melemele Island. He jumped up in shock as the hot sand particles came into contact with his bright yellow fur. Delia laughed at Pikachu's eagerness to explore as Ash too ran ahead onto the hot sand. The Mr. Mime and Nidorina by her side ran ahead as well and followed suit.

Delia wanted to join in on the fun too, but in her hand she held a fragile container. It was cylindrical with four stubs on the bottom to stay upright when placed on surfaces. Inside was a dull reddish-brown Pokémon egg, a gift from Professor Oak to his Alolan cousin. After Mr. Mime won a plane ticket to Alola in a raffle, she notified the Professor and he entrusted her to deliver the egg. She opened the container so the egg could soak up some sun while they walked.

How much time they’d truly spend here is unknown, but Delia wanted to make the most of it and spend as much time as possible with her son, because Alola meant new beginnings, and that was something they really, really needed.

—————

The Kantonian duo walked along a busy market, it was bustling with various people and Pokémon strolling the stalls. Alola was a very attractive tourist destination, especially in the spring months. It felt pretty hot for spring - much hotter than Kanto springs - though Alola’s average temperature didn’t fluctuate much between the months like Kanto’s does.

A berry stall caught Mr. Mime’s attention and he yanked Delia over to it. ”My, my, these look delicious.” she said. The berries had a very bright color, plus a slight layer of water from an overhead mist dispenser to keep them from shriveling in the sun. Nidorina nipped at a nanab berry and she looked back at Delia with begging eyes. Delia smiled and sighed at her, and she too looked at the other berries at the stand.

”Alola! May I help with anything?” a lady from behind the stall asked, startling Nidorina who hadn’t seen her until now.

Delia smiled at her. ”Oh I’m fine, just looking around.” The woman grabbed a few nanab berries and put them into a weaved basket and handed it to Nidorina who eagerly began to munch on them. She looked up to Delia and winked “Free of charge, nature’s harvest is for all to share.” She put her hand to her heart, “Anela.” she added as she also handed an oran berry to Mr. Mime who’d been eyeing them the whole conversation.

”Delia.” she responded. Anela then turned her head, looking down at something. “Don’t be shy, you can share too.” From the shadows a small quadrupedal figure appeared. Its fur was black, but more grey-brown in the sun with bright reddish-orange stripes on its legs and face. It hesitated for a moment before sheepishly creeping up to the bowl Nidorina had her face shoved in. She backed up when she saw it to let it take what it wanted. Its yellow eyes scanned the area warily as it ate.

”Aww, aren’t you a cutie.” Delia reached out her hand to pet the mysterious Pokémon, but as she was about to touch it, it swiftly grabbed another berry from the bowl and ran away. Delia seemed disappointed because it was so cute but she probably should’ve expected it to run away.

Anela laughed at the scene that just played in front of her, “Yeah that one is certainly a skittish one he is.” She and Delia continued to make small talk as Delia picked out some berries to buy for herself. As the conversation came to a close Delia and Anela said their goodbyes, Delia then called out for her son, but was just barely able to see him chasing Pikachu into the distance. He was running in the direction of the Mememele Trainer Academy, where the egg would be delivered, so she decided to head over and either give the egg to Oak’s cousin and then find him, or meet him there. Whatever happened first.

—————

Ash and Pikachu looked around the market as his mom was talking, when suddenly Pikachu leapt from his shoulder and began running away. He ran after him into the forest, but Pikachu didn’t slow down.

”Wait up!” he yelled for his best friend, who did not wait up. He called his name but Pikachu ignored him. After maybe a minute straight Pikachu suddenly stopped and frantically looked around. Ash caught up a few seconds later, “What is it buddy? Did ya see something?” He too looked around but all he could see was trees from every angle. Pikachu pulled his paws to his head, trying to impersonate what he saw. He dragged his paws up his forehead and up to his ears, forming a sort of crest. Ash couldn’t tell what Pikachu was trying to mimic.

”Pika pika! Pika pikapika!” Pikachu continued to try but seeing he wasn’t gonna get anywhere, sighed and stopped attempting to impersonate whatever mysterious thing he saw. A sitrus berry then dropped from the trees and hit him in the head, startling him. He looked up to where it fell but couldn’t see any sitrus trees. He shrugged and roasted the berry with a spark before biting into it. Ash sighed at his buddies' behavior but then noticed another path leading to a building. He gently nudged Pikachu with his foot to follow him so Pikachu quickly finished the berry and followed his trainer.

—————

Ash and Pikachu emerged from the forest they were just in to see the building he had seen from the forest. Without the trees in the way the building's detail was much clearer. It was fenced in with an arch entrance by a bridge over a creek. The building was actually composed of many, smaller buildings with a round straw roof. The biggest one in the center sort of looked like a massive tree house of some kind. Off to the side was a small lake he could see some Pokémon swimming in, Water-Types and non Water-Types alike. A lot of people were swarming the various buildings, specifically children. Maybe it was a school of sorts? Though he’s never seen a school like this. Pikachu's cheeks sparked and he went through the arch into the campus with Ash in pursuit.

Walking in, Pikachu came face to face with a round, white and grey Pokémon with yellow and brown spines on its back. Its round ears twitched and its cheeks sparked just like Pikachu’s. They communicated with the electrical currents they produced as most Electric-Types could. They grey Pokémon then cried excitedly and much to Pikachu’s dismay, tackled him and they rolled around on the ground.

”Ah! Togedemaru stop it!” a voice cried out and ran over to the two rolling Pokémon. The voice came from a short kid with orange hair, he watched as the kid pulled the Togedemaru off of Pikachu, who then ran and hid behind Ash. The boy looked up to Ash and apologized.

”I’m so sorry. I don't know why Togedemaru does that.” He bowed his head low and had Togedemaru do the same.

Ash laughed. ”It’s ok, we’re all good.” The boy then looked curious. “I'm Sophocles, are you new here?”

”Nice to meet you, I’m Ash. But-“ he was cut off before he could answer Sophocles’s question as a few more people came up to him.

A girl with two long green ponytails looked at Sophocles and then at Ash. “Whose this?”

“This is Ash, he’s new here.” Sophocles answered.

”Hold on hold on hold on.“ Ash tried to correct him, because A.) he wasn’t new and B.) he didn’t even know where he was, much less what he was new to. “I just followed Pikachu here, I think he was sensing Togedemaru’s electricity or something.”

The green-haired girl raised an eyebrow at Sophocles. His face turned red in embarrassment. “Oh Tapu, sorry about that! I guess I misread that part.”

“No, it’s all good.” Ash laughed.

The green-haired girl seemed a little disappointed by that news, ”Bummer. We haven’t had a new student in so long! Nice to meet you anyways, I’m Mallow!” She then turned to the other people who were behind her and pointed to two other girls, one with short blue hair and another with long blonde hair, “That’s Lana, and that's Lillie.”

As the two girls both exchanged hellos to him another boy approached, he also had green hair, but it was darker than Mallows, and an even darker green shirt - almost black - to match. On him were remnants of a dusty white powder. In his hand he held a small piece of bread dusted with the same powder.

”Hi! I’m Hau, I’ve never seen you ‘round here before, you new?” His words were strung together to the point it sounded like one single word. Ash was surprised he could even sort of understand him. Hau was visibly jittering with excitement. ”Are you? If so, are you taking General Battle Studies? ‘Cause we’d be in the same class! If you’re doing that you must be a trainer! If you’re a trainer can you battle me!?” Ash glanced back over to the others, to which Mallow loudly facepalmed.

”Woah woah woah Hau calm down.” Mallow had finally found a point to butt in through Hau’s quick talk. “He’s not.” Hau slumped.

While Mallow was calming Hau down, Ash thought to himself. This place kind of looks like a school, and mom said the egg we had to deliver was at one. What was the name of it again? “Hey, uh Mallow was it?” She turned back around. “What is this place?”

“This is the Melemele Trainer Academy!” She said with an ecstatic tone. “They have a bunch of different courses all Pokémon related, from biology, diets, battle studies like Hau said, and a lot more useful information trainers are taught.”

Right, that’s the name of the school! Ash sighed. “Good.” He whispered.

“What do you mean?” The blonde girl, Lillie asked.

“I came here with my mom to deliver something to the principal. Samson Oak I think his name was?”

Mallow snapped her fingers. “Oh yeah! We’d heard from Principal Oak that someone would be coming to do just that. Here, I can show you to his office.” She gestured with her hands a ‘follow me’ and Ash did just that. As he left he waved to the others and they waved back. He followed Mallow through the doors of the building - if you could call it that - there were no doors, just an open arch like the campus entrance. Ash was mesmerized at the way the school looked, from all the places he’d traveled to this was probably the most unique infrastructure he’s ever seen, and for a school no less. The walls were lined with vertical wooden boards colored a dull teal, but the sun through the glass-less windows made it look a lot brighter and the ceiling was lined with some sort of reinforced straw just like the outside.

He continued to follow her up a curved wooden staircase and on the next floor a bunch of archeology-type stuff hung from the walls and on displays. In the middle there was even a full Aerodactyl fossil strung from the ceiling. There was also a small bunch of classrooms in the wing related to the exhibits, history, geography, and even a class specifically dedicated to archeology and fossil studies. This school was everything Ash had always dreamed of in a school if he ever found himself going back to one.

Up another flight of stairs they went, this time it led directly to a room aptly labeled “Principals Office” in a jarringly bold wood carve.

“‘Okay this is it!” Mallow exclaimed as she and Ash stepped forward and knocked on the door. Ash could hear voices on the other side abruptly stop, and then the sound of nearing footsteps. The door then opened and a man bearing a horrifyingly similar resemblance to Professor Oak appeared. Though unlike the Kantonian Professor, the principal looked a lot more laid back, his skin was tanner and his hair was longer. He also wore a shirt Ash could never imagine the principal of a school wearing. A dark greenish teal with a tan wave down the center and a darker blue Wailord graphic. Behind him on a couch sat a familiar face.

—————

⁉️ Who’s that Pokémon? ⁉️

It shapes an invisible wall in midair by minutely vibrating its fingertips to stop molecules in the air. (Platinum, Black, White, Black 2, White 2)

—————

”Mom!?”

”I was waiting for you to show up.” Delia said with a smug remark as Mr. Mime and Nidorina greeted him.

”Mr Mime, Mime!”

”Rina! Nido!”

”That’s your mom?” Mallow asked.

Ash sighed, “Yep.” She definitely assumed he’d just find his way on his own.

”Great! Well I have to go back to the field and continue doing student things. See you around?” Mallow and Ash shook hands and she went back down the stairs. She seemed really nice, he’d hoped to see her again. He didn’t know how long he’d be here after all so every second had to count for something.

Samson then led Ash into the room. He stood next to his mom as the man began a video call on a large TV screen. Samuel appeared on screen and greeted them all.

”Alola, cousin. I’m happy to report the egg had made it to my office safe and soundoom!” The Alolan principal mimicked a Houndoom as he said that last part. It kind of reminded Ash a lot of Pikachu’s impersonations.

“Egg-cellent!” Professor Oak joked from the other side of the screen. “I thank you again Delia, Ash, for doing this for me.”

“Oh it’s no problem at all!” Delia said. “Alola is so lovely, I'm surprised I haven’t decided to take a trip here sooner!”

”Wonderful to see you enjoying your stay, hope the rest is as fun!” Professor Oak added as he ended the video call.

“They thought I was a student when I first showed up.” Ash whispered to himself before slumping onto the couch next to his mom.

Delia laughed, “I would probably assume the same if some random kid showed up to my school too.”

Ash looked at her, ”Would you though?” Delia shrugged and hummed an “I dunno.”

Samson sat on another couch facing them, “We haven’t had a new student in a while so it’s not impossible to believe they assumed.” That’s what Mallow said to him earlier. “On the topic of school, do you attend anywhere?”

Ash had not expected that to be his first question. Pikachu looked up at him. “No. Well, sorta. Not in person anyway. I just take that basic online course for trainers who travel around and don’t have the time.”

”I take it you travel a lot then?” Samson inquired and Ash responded with an “Mhm.”

Delia chimed in with an unnecessary fun-fact. “He begged me to take it a year early because kids at school kept picking on him.” 

”Wha-! Mom!” he quieted and hissed through his teeth. “He doesn’t need to know that.”

”Yeah? You don’t have to worry about that stuff here.” Samson stated and pointed to a really corny poster above his desk that read ‘NO BULLY ZONE’ with a big red X.

”Well it’s not like I’m a student here, but good to the kids who are.” Ash said. He couldn’t deny what Delia said though, the students at his old school - and his old school in general - truly did suck. Especially because Gary was in the same class. Ash was so glad he wasn’t like that anymore, at least somewhat.

”Unless you want to.” Delia smirked, it was like she could read his mind or something.

Samson laughed, “I guess I’ll have to take back what I had said previously. If you are interested in attending I can sort that out for you. Mallow and some of her friends like Lana and Lillie - you might have seen them - take the General Pokémon Study course that includes all Pokémon-related studies like diets, habitat, evolutions, types, and battling.”

”You’re too kind.” Delia smiled, “Who teaches this class?”

”That would be me, Alola.” From a door labeled ‘Teachers Lounge’ Ash hadn’t even noticed was there before, a man walked out. He had a long white coat with no shirt underneath. His hair was tied in a low bun and he wore sweatpants that only went down a bit past his knees. He continued walking until he was in front of Delia.

“Nice to meet you.” He and Delia shook hands and then turned to shake Ash’s.

”Great timing Professor Kukui, Ash here is thinking of enrolling in your class, care to show him around?”

“Of course Samson.”

“Then Bagon your way!” He added as Kukui led Ash out of the room. Delia stayed behind to talk more with Samson and also fill out the papers required for her son's enrollment.

Kukui led Ash to a circular classroom with a few half-moon-shaped desks and from the outer wall he could see the sky from a sort of balcony. Pikachu ecstatically leapt from Ash’s shoulder up onto the balcony fence. From the view he could see the campus’s lake, as well as more of the field and other parts of the school he hadn't before. Ash followed and pet the electric mouse. “Pikupika chuuu.” Pikachu said with a sparkle in his eyes.

Kukui also came up to the balcony’s edge, ”Beautiful isn’t it?”

”Yeah. It’s nothing like the school I used to go to. No big field, no lake, no balconies in classrooms.” A sound from below suddenly caught the three's attention.

Ash could barely make it out because of the distance but he saw three people stop their bikes and approach another student who had just dismounted a Charizard. The three bikers had near-identical black and white outfits, the main thing telling them apart being their hair color. He couldn’t hear them but by the gang-like signs they made with their hands, Ash could tell they weren’t there to do good.

—————

⁉️ It’s Mr. Mime! ⁉️

—————

“You gotta lotta nerve landin’ down ‘ere in the middle of the road even though we clearly had the right ‘a way.” a blue haired boy spoke. The pink and brown haired two behind him followed with a cocky, “Uh huh!” The Charizard trainer didn’t seem to be doing anything to provoke them, the black and white trio clearly just wanted to pick a fight.

Mallow, Lana, Lillie, and Sophecles were ducking behind the fence entrance of the campus. Even though most of them had Pokémon, they didn’t seem to want to fight them. Hau then stepped up with a Pokéball in his hand and was about to call whatever was inside out, but the pink biker shot him a ‘don’t you dare’ look and Hau stepped back. They didn’t necessarily look threatening but there was probably some elaborate history behind them that made people fear them.

The three bikers continued to approach the Charizard kid and the blue one spoke again, “If ya wanna be such a street hogger, how ‘bout we battle, huh?” he turned and glanced back at the other two bikers, “Though I wouldn’t get yer hopes up, nobody beats Team Skull, we're the strongest of the strongest.” Sure they were. Trainers who gang up with those numbers don’t mean they have the strength to win, but the fear of losing.

As the small back and forth just about seemed time to erupt into a clash of Pokémon, Ash had ran back into the field, followed by Kukui, and back up to the students behind the gate. “Who’re those guys?”

Sophecles, who was the most hidden of the four, spoke up first. “They’re a part of Team Skull.” he whispered the last bit as if he’d be cursed if he said their name too loudly.

Mallow nodded. “They’re real annoying, painting crude graffiti, trashing places, always causing some sort of problem whenever they can.”

“Aaand really scary!” Sophocles added.

”And every chance they get they always find some sort of way to get people to battle them, like yeah, I get wanting to do so, but they always force people into it! They always stage these stupid incidents so they're the victim and right to pick a fight with others.” Hau chimed in, now ducking behind the fence with the others.

“Seems you oughta be taught a lesson on manners.” The blue kid said. They all then called out their Pokémon. The brown-haired kid had a Garbodor, the pink one had a Zubat and Yungoos, and the blue one called out a gang of three Salandit. As they were called out, the Pokémon all snarled. It was a 6v1, totally unfair, and Ash had decided to step in, much to everyone’s surprise.

”Lookie here.” the pink one laughed to herself and put her hand to her face to fan herself, like a rich person would in a movie. “That kid thinks he has a chance against us, what’re you gonna fight with, that puny Pikachu?”

The brown-haired one laughed too. “Yeah! It don’t look strong.”

Ash ignored their remark about Pikachu and retaliated, “You shouldn’t need to gang up six to one to win in a fight, there's more to strength than numbers y’know!” The bikers rolled their eyes at his statement like it was complete blasphemy. They then all shouted a simultaneous “Go!” And their Pokémon charged forward. At the same time, the Charizard rider pulled out a Pokéball and threw it into the air. From the emitting blue light, a Pokémon with a Blastoise-esque silhouette - but red and with a lot of spikes - appeared. Team Skulls Pokémon momentarily stopped, seemingly intimidated by the big foe, but after a moment they charged again.

They weren’t given any commands just yet, so they all chose their moves at random. The three Salandit all turned and whipped their tails to create a simultaneous triple Flame Burst attack, the separate liquid-like fire balls all conjoined into one as they hurled towards Pikachu.

”Electro Ball!” Ash called out his first move and Pikachu darted forwards, jumped up, and fired a ball of electricity at the flames, scattering the fire back towards the Salandit that fired it.

“Pika!” he cried out pridefully as he landed back on the ground. Hau gasped from the sideline as he watched Ash command his partner.

The redhead student then called his move, “Turtonator, use Flamethrower!” Turtonator did as it was commanded and fired a point-blank beam of fire right into Garbodor's face. The brown-haired kid shouted angrily and commanded Garbodor to use Sludge Bomb.

Mallow began to cheer. “Go Kiawe!” Everyone else slowly came out of the shadow of the gate to watch closer.

As the trash heap Pokémon charged purple sludge from inside its finger cannons, Ash called for Pikachu to attack it with Quick Attack. Pikachu shrouded himself in a white light and sprang forwards so fast you almost couldn't see it. He head butted Garbodor in the chest causing the Sludge Bomb fire haphazardly in all directions. The other skull Pokémon frantically dodged the sludge. Yungoos then climbed on Garbodor's back and as it leapt into the air, many clones of itself appeared as they rushed towards Pikachu with Crunch.

Kiawe grinned as he instructed Turtonator to turn and take the attack for Pikachu. The Yungoos clones latched onto its back spikes and they exploded.

“Woah! What was that!?” Ash turned to Kiawe in amazement before looking back to Turtonator as the dust cleared, leaving only the original Yungoos on the ground.

“Turtonators spines erupt on contact, its best defense also gives it the best offense, especially if opponents don’t know it.” What he said couldn’t’ve been more true.

As Pikachu watched Turtonators spikes grow back almost instantly, Zubat and the Salandit gang had tried to sneak up on him, but Pikachu noticed last second and used Iron Tail to smack the Salandit head to head with each other as he then fired an Electro Ball at Zubat, colliding with the wonky Air Cutter Zubat had tried and failed to successfully fully conjure in time. The four Pokémon were knocked back into Garbodor, the Yungoos also by its side. Seeing an opportunity as they were all together, Ash went to command the finishing move.

”’Kay buddy, use Thunderbolt!” Pikachu slapped the red circles on his face to charge electricity as he built up a cry, but he was cut off from firing his ultimate attack as Turtonator stepped in front of him. The Thunderbolt was fired to the side instead, lightly charring the grass.

Kiawe crossed his arms in an X shape as the bracelet around his left wrist began to glow. The look on the bikers and their Pokémon’s faces immediately turned from anger to horror as Kiawe recited a chant.

”The zenith of my mind. Of body and spirit. Like the great mountain of Akala, become a raging fire and burn!” The light from the bracket turned from a yellow and green to a fiery orange as Kiawe and Turtonators movements synchronized while they both performed various poses. The energy first surrounded Kiawe before shooting out in lines towards Turtonator. The energy swirled around him and a gigantic fireball formed in front of its face. Kiawe then finished the chant with a loud, “INFERNO OVERDRIVE!” The fireball was bigger than Turtonator at this point as it was finally released and sent rocketing towards the Skull members Pokémon. It exploded on impact and after a moment revealed all six Pokémon unable to battle.

The bikers were absolutely stunned, as was Ash. They frantically returned their Pokémon and re-mounted their bikes, then sped away, cursing Kiawe out for being unfair and using ‘that’ move.

Ash took a moment to re-gather his thoughts, but found himself unable to say anything before his mom’s Nidorina ran towards Turtonator. She excitedly barked and jumped around, wildly impressed by its display of firepower. Turtonator blushed, flustered by its new admirer. The students then dispersed from the cover of the fence as Kukui and Delia too walked out onto the now cleared battlefield. Delia high-fived her son before having to forcibly pull Nidorina away from Turtonator.

“Kiawe?” Ash began. “What was that?”

“A Z-Move.” Kukui clapped his hands together to commemorate the victory. Seeing how that did not clear any of the questions Ash had, he explained further. “A Z-Move is a special move used in Alola powered by the bond between a trainer and Pokémon. They can be used once a Z-Crystal and Z-Ring have been earned.”

“Participating and winning an Alolan Grand Trial is the only way one can earn the honor of using them.” Kiawe added.

”Way too cool.” Ash whispered to Pikachu, who was equally as impressed by the thought of being able to use a move like that.

“You were amazing Kiawe!” Mallow complimented.

“Mhm! You and Turtonator were certainly in sync!” Lillie said to her fiery peer, the other students agreed with her claim.

Lana then added on. “You were a great battler too Ash!” The students agreed again. Then, Nidorina - who was still being dragged back by Delia - yanked herself free and almost ran into Lillie. She shrieked and backed up, hiding behind Mallow. Nidorina tilted her head in confusion.

“What was that? Are you scared of Pokémon?” Ash asked her.

“No way! I am not scared!” Lillie declared loudly before reverting back to a more quiet voice. “I love Pokémon, at least…from a researching perspective."

A final add-on to the conversation was from Kukui, revealing a fun new fact, “And there’s still so much more to learn, especially ‘cause he’ll do it with you now.” He gently pushed Ash closer to the circle of Alolan students.

It took no time at all for Hau to get the message, “So you decided to enroll!? Awesome!” He was quiet for a moment as a mischievous smile overcame him, “Socanyoubattlemenow?” He blurted out his desire to fight like it was some sort of deep dark secret he's held onto for years, but it surprised nobody. Everybody laughed with him, and Ash ensured he’d fight him at some point, though not now. As they all were about to part ways so the students could finish what was left of the day, Pikachu spotted something in the sky.

A quick flash of yellow trailed by sparks, it made no noise but Pikachu was certain it was what he had seen earlier, he tugged at his trainers hair but by the time Ash could look at whatever Pikachu saw, nothing was there. He shot a confused glance at Pikachu, who now looked entirely disappointed. Ash paid no mind as he followed his mom away from the students of the Melemele Trainer School.

Ash and Delia still had a few days left in Alola, so they decided to enjoy it to the fullest. And since it would take a similar amount of time before Ash would begin classes, he could still spend the time with his mom. Over the span of the next few days Ash, Pikachu, Delia, Mr. Mime, and Nidorina would explore many parts of Melemele island, and those few days went by faster than Pikachu's Thunderbolt.

—————

Tuesday, April 30th, 3003

Delia took her son to an outdoor restaurant for the final night she’d spend on Alola before going back to Kanto without Ash. The restaurant was another popular tourist spot. It had a group of dancers on a stage performing to traditional Alolan music and the food was incredible. The restaurant's signature dish was the Alolan Plate, a combination of many common Alolan foods in one, so many tastes and textures but it all somehow worked together. It was nothing like Kanto, Delia and her Pokémon were one hundred percent going to miss it.

Delia then finally broke the silence, ”I think you’re gonna like it here.” She smiled as Ash looked up at her, smiling back. “These few days have shown me Alola is truly a wonderful place. I’d love to stay but I do have things to tend to at home, my garden, the Pokémon on Oak’s ranch, the house.” She simultaneously laughed and sighed as she took another bite of food, she didn’t mind being at home all the time, she loved taking care of everything there, but there was one thing she was uncertain of.

“If you’re gonna be a full-time student…” she paused to give him a ‘you will be a full-time student right?’ look, “…you’re okay with the fact that that means you probably won't be traveling around Alola as much as you’d like if you’ll be spending five of the seven week days in a classroom.”

That was something Ash had thought considerably about, but school doesn’t run ALL day, so he’d assume there would be at least some time for him to explore. “Yeah, I know. I’ll find time, plus summer break is a thing!”

They all watched the various performances while everybody finished their food, Nidorina was visibly upset to find out there was no more once she was done. Delia paid the food bill and began to walk back to the airport. Ash followed her so he could say his final goodbyes before she left.

—————

“Final call. Plane to (Vermillion), (Kanto) will be departing in (10) (Minutes).” A robotic voice echoed over the loudspeaker, a slightly different voice playing for the destination and time. Pikachu and Nidorina nuzzled each other as they - along with Mr. Mime - joined for one last group hug. Ash and Delia did the same.

”Kukui agreed for you to stay at his place for your time here, so can you thank him again for me?” Delia pulled away from her son, she’s said goodbye so many times before but she felt sadder about it this time, and Ash could tell.

He reassured her with all the confidence he had, “You don’t have to worry mom, I’ll be fine.” Pikachu climbed onto his shoulder and saluted to Delia, with Pikachu by her son's side, she wouldn’t have to.

Ash watched as she boarded the plane, one final wave shared before she and her Pokémon were out of sight. He and Pikachu ran outside the airport to get a clear view of the plane as it flew into the starry horizon. As the plane went out of sight, they went down the path that would eventually lead them to Kukui’s cabin. But one final time Pikachu leapt from Ash’s shoulder and began running.

Up a pathway he moved swifter than ever, so swift in fact he couldn’t react in time when a blur of pink ran into the road, causing Pikachu to slam headfirst into it.

Pikachu and the pink blur both cried out as they were pushed back from the force of the collision. It was an Espeon, a gold accessory on its neck and front paws. It had an offended look on its face as it got up and ran back down the pathway Pikachu just came from.

As quickly as the Espeon left Pikachu's view, another Pokemon came into it as Pikachu just now realised he was at the top of a balcony view, over the ocean. It was even better than the view he saw the plane depart from, and next to the railing a black and yellow Pokémon floated, electricity around it sparkled as Pikachu ran up to it. Pikachu silently begged in his head for it to not disappear right before Ash could see it. The Pokémon didn’t move. Pikachu quieted his footsteps and neared closer.

Ash caught up, nearly tripping over the still fleeing Espeon, he looked back at it for a moment, before turning his head again to finally see what Pikachu had.

”Pi…Pika chu!” He questioned the Pokémon’s identity, and it turned around. A clear view of its face now seen by him and Ash. On its face bore a large orange crest, and it was clear to Ash now it was what Pikachu had tried to imitate before.

After a moment of the three staring each other in the eyes, Ash tried to ask it something, “Who are you?” The same question Pikachu asked it was met with the same answer. Silence.

Pikachu sparked to test if it could communicate that way, and after another moment of nothing it screamed, “Tapuuu Kokooooooo!!!” Its voice was shrill, causing Pikachu to cover his ears as he and Ash both flinched at the sudden noise.

When the duo looked up again, it was nowhere to be found, the only thing left was a shower of sparks illuminated by the moon’s rays.

As those same rays shone down onto the ocean, only one thing was clear, there were so many new things to discover, to learn, and to see, and Ash and Pikachu couldn’t wait to discover it!

Chapter Text

Started on: February 23rd, 2025, 12:22 PM

Finished on: February 25th, 2025, 12:22 AM

Posted on: August 1st, 2025, 10:32 PM

Tuesday, April 30th, 3003

Ash and Pikachu continued down the railing by the ocean, the waves still illuminated by the moon, he’d been given directions by his mom prior to her departure to a house owned by Professor Kukui. He agreed to let Ash stay there for however long he’d be here. He could see the house in the distance, right by a sandy beach. It was a small, rectangular cabin with a blue roof and a few solar panels. The outside walls were a warm beige with a light teal wooden porch. He made his way around to the front door along the sandy path and knocked.

“Alola Kukui!” Ash said as the door opened. “Thank you so much for letting me stay!”

“Oh, it’s no problem at all.” The professor led Ash inside, a small Pokémon with light brown fur and a fluffy white collar and tail circled around Ash’s feet. Pikachu jumped down and the brown Pokémon nuzzled against him. “That’s Rockruff, he’s very friendly towards others.” Kukui smiled as Rockruff pulled Pikachu over to a corner full of various toys to play with him. He rubbed the rocks around his neck against Pikachu, making a weird scratching sound as he did.

”I sleep downstairs in my lab, so you can take the loft.” Kukui pointed up to a ladder that led to an open room.

”Awesome!” Ash hastily climbed to the top to see a blue pull-out couch next to a desk to the left, a small skylight letting in the moonlight above it. A latch on the bottom of the window suggested it might even be able to be opened. In the far back was a closet and next to it a small dresser for more storage. He put his bag down and scanned the rest of the house from the top of the loft. There was an aquarium with two Luvdisc and a Corsola inside, a kitchen and a green L-shaped couch with a table and TV. It was small but very cozy. He could see Pikachu and Rockruff kicking around the the colorful toys in the corner.

”Classes start at 8:45, so get some sleep, your schedule is printed on your desk.” Kukui called to Ash before going downstairs for the night. He went over to the desk and scanned the paper. Basic school classes with some fun stuff littered about, ‘Field’ was probably the most eye-catching, that and something called ‘Personal Studies’. As he read through it, Pikachu managed to pull Rockruff away so he could climb up the ladder and onto the loft to look around. He threw himself onto a yellowish-beige beanbag chair and sank into it with a satisfied and high-pitched, “Chaaa…”. A few minutes later, Ash did the same, pulling the couch into a bed and looking up at the stars through the skylight as he fell asleep.

—————

Wednesday, May 1st, 3003

He woke up the next morning and got ready for his first day. He grabbed his schedule, folded it in his pocket, and went downstairs. Kukui had made some breakfast sandwiches along with a bowl of berries for Pikachu and Rockruff. Kukui didn’t really look it, but he was an exceptional cook; maybe Ash could learn from him sometime. As they ate, Kukui noticed Ash seemed a bit worried.

”Nervous for your first day?” He asked.

Ash quietly sighed. “Yeah, a bit. I haven’t been to school in person for like…uh…six years.” He laughed awkwardly. From what little he's seen of the Melemele Trainer Academy, he knew it definitely wasn’t gonna be like his old one, but still.

Kukui dealt with new students all the time. “You don’t have to worry, the MTA is about Pokémon, for trainers - just like you. The class students say is the hardest is the Personal Studies program, but those are rumors coming from the kids that don’t even take it. All of my students do and it’s during that class they seem the most excited to learn. It’s a program dependent on individual research not taught in class, which gives students opportunities to learn new things outside the curriculum. And then they present their findings to the class at the end of each of the four school terms.”

”Presenting in front of others?” Ash glanced at Pikachu. Presentations weren’t great but he’s battled in front of packed stadiums enough times, it’s probably not that different.

”Say, on the topic of the Personal Study. What do you think you’re gonna pick to research?” The professor asked.

Ash thought for a moment. “I’m not sure yet.”

”Well try to pick one soon, classes end for the school year in about two months with final presentations on July 5th.”

”I dunno if I could come up with something good enough in that much time but I’ll try.”

Kukui laughed. ”For the sake of you joining classes this late the expectations are a little different from the other students, but that doesn’t mean you're free from the whole thing.” It’s probably possible to make something decent in two months but it still kinda sucked since everyone else had a whole year to prepare. “Anyways, we should go now.” Ash helped pick up the dishes and put them into the sink with some water to soak. They then walked out the door and headed for the Melemele Trainer Academy, leaving Rockruff alone to guard the house.

(If you’re reading this after this chapter was published you may have noticed I changed the finals date from May 24th to July 5th, it’s nothing major but the timeline was overlapping too much and I had to change it, it doesn’t affect the story at all I just had to push it back for the sake of spacing)

—————

Ash arrived to an empty classroom, Kukui right behind him. “Huh, they usually get here before me.” the professor stated confused. Then one of the chairs in the back moved and the students popped out from behind their desks with a synchronized ”ALOLA!!!” The students all burst into laughter as they all fixed the chairs.

Kukui laughed with them. ”Alola class! As I told you, we have a new student. You’ve already sort of met him but let's give him a formal greeting this time okay?”

“Okay!” The class again synchronized.

Ash cleared his throat and introduced himself. “Alola, I’m Ash Ketchum, and this is my partner Pikachu!”

”Pika Pikachu!”

Togedemaru cheered and rolled around Sophocle’s desk excitedly. “To ge de ma ru!”

Kukui directed Ash over to an empty desk while going over to his own desk at the front of the room and began rummaging through stacks and stacks of unorganized sheets. There was still some time before class actually began so the students gathered in a circle as the rest began to introduce themselves.

Mallow was the first to talk. ”We don’t get many foreign students so it’s great to see you stayed.” The others agreed.

”Bou-Bounsweet!” The small fruit-looking Pokémon cheered from Mallow's shoulder.

”Is that your partner?” Ash asked her.

”Yup, my faithful Bounsweet! She’s a big help around my family's restaurant. Oh! My family owns a restaurant by the way. Aina’s Kitchen. I work there most days after school.”

”They have the BEST food there! We should all go as a group soon.” Sophecles’s statement caused all of the Pokémon to cheer, especially Bounsweet and Togedemaru.

Lillie then asked. ”You’re not very familiar with the Pokémon of Alola are you?” He shook his head no. “Then you can meet all of the Pokémon!”

”Great idea Lillie!” Lana held out her Pokémon for Ash to see. “This is Popplio, she loves all things related to the ocean just like me! We’re always fishing and swimming together whenever we can.” Popplio was mainly a deep blue with a white snout and round pink nose. She had a lighter blue collar around her neck and front and back flippers. Popplio barked and slapped her front flippers together.

“And you already met Togedemaru.” Sophecles said and Togedemaru shouted as she bounced onto the desk the students were gathered around. She then rolled back off the desk and into Pikachu, tackling him into a hug. “She…has a lot of energy to spare.” Sophecles sighed as he tried to pry her away from Pikachu with Bounsweet’s help.

Kiawe pulled out a Pokéball but didn’t bring out what was inside. “In here is Turtonator, the one I battled with when we first met. He’s tired so I’m not gonna bring him out right now, been working hard earlier this morning.”

Lillie added some context. ”Kiawe lives on a farm on Akala, they supply a majority of Alola’s dairy products, mainly milk.”

Kiawe nodded. “We wake up early every morning to make sure all of the Pokémon are healthy and where they should be, sometimes we have to do early deliveries so I’m usually flying around Akala and Melemele on Charizard first thing.”

”That’s so cool! Back in Kanto, my house is really close to Professor Oak’s lab and my mom is always helping him out with the fields.” A lot of Pokémon lived on the ranch outside Oak’s, a lot of Ash’s Pokémon plus others that trainers had dropped off momentarily for various reasons. There were even instances of wild Pokémon passing through seeking temporary, or even permanent refuge.

”I heard of Professor Oak, he’s like a Pokémon know-it-all!” Sophocles paused after realizing ‘know-it-all’ might not’ve been the best way to describe him. “Oh wow wait that sounded mean, you get what I’m saying though right?” The students all laughed and Sophocles held Togedemaru tight in embarrassment.

“Ok now meet my buddies!” Hau excitedly pulled out two Pokéballs and released them. One of the Pokémon was dark brown and white. It had green curls on its forehead and a green leaf bow tie plus an orange beak. It flapped its wings a bit before settling. The other Pokémon looked sort of like a Raichu but a little off.

”This here is Dartrix, he was my first Pokémon ever.” Hau said as he pointed to the winged one. “And this is Raichu.”

”Rai Rai!” Raichu cried as he flipped onto his tail and began to hover.

Ash and Pikachu were momentarily stunned as they both studied the Raichu. Even glancing at each other to make sure they weren't going crazy. “That’s a Raichu?”

Hau looked at him confused. “What do you mean, y’know that's what Pikachu evolves into right?”

”Yeah, but I’ve never seen a Raichu that looked like that before. Its ears and tail look too round, and some of its fur’s a different color. Not to mention the fact it’s literally floating.”

Kiawe then realised the source of Ash’s confusion, “You said you’re from Kanto right? Haus Raichu is an Alola Raichu. It and Kanto Raichu look different. And the types are different too. Kanto Raichu are Electric while Alolan Raichu are Electric and Psychic. Hence their ability to float around on their tails.”

”That’s right! Regional Variants. Duh!” Hau facepalmed himself.

Pikachu jumped down from Ash’s shoulder and neared the psychic Raichu. Raichu hoisted him into the air and onto its tail. “Pikapi pika!” Pikachu looked around the room, feeling way taller now that he was floating in the air.

“Pikachu’s fur looks so soft.” Lillie spoke in a hushed tone.

Ash heard her and he held his arm out for Pikachu to jump back on, Pikachu’s face inched to Lillie’s hand. “You can pet him, he loves it!”

”Oh…I…maybe not.” She backed away from Pikachu.

”Pikaaa.” He sighed somberly.

“Oh yeah, sorry. I forgot you were scared of them.” Ash apologized and took Pikachu away from her.

”No! I’m not scared of them! I just sorta…y’know…can’t really…touch them.” Lillie lowered her head, the large brim of her hat almost completely shielding her face.

”Yet.” Mallow added. “But you will soon! We know it!” Lillie brought her head back up with a small smile.

”You’re right! I will someda-AAAH!!!” she shrieked as Raichu surfed to the left of her, almost touching her in the process. “Rai Rai.” It cockily crossed its arms just as Hau returned him so as not to cause anymore trouble.

”Just ignore him.” Hau sighed and tucked Raichus' ball away.

The sound of loud shuffling papers quieted the class as Kukui then spoke, “Overheard the talk of Regional Variants, why not make that today's lesson? I was gonna do it sooner or later. Let's go over it while the topic is hot.” The class shuffled back to their seats as Kukui started teaching. There was a chalkboard behind him and he had a tablet in his hand. They waited as Kukui drew a quick sketch of both a Kantonian and Alolan Raichu. He pointed to the Alolan form.

”This form of Raichu is what the majority of you are familiar with. As Ash said, its ears and tail are rounder, and the color on its paws and feet are lighter. The Alolans new Psychic-Typing allows it to surf on its own tail by focusing its psychic energy there, lifting its tail and moving around. Unlike other variants, we haven’t yet been able to pinpoint the exact reason as to why the Raichu of Alola developed these capabilities. It could be climate, diet, or maybe even another completely unknown reason as to why Alolan Raichu are this way.”

Mallow then raised her hand and Kukui called on her, “So Kanto Raichu can’t surf on their tails, right?”

”That’s right Mallow. Because Kanto Raichu are not Psychic-Types, they don’t have the ability to ride on their tails. Despite this, Kanto Raichu still have a lot going for them. They can discharge electricity at over a hundred thousand volts, and they are capable of bringing down other Pokémon several times their size. They discharge their electricity in bursts, leaving electrical scorches near wherever they settle. The electrical discharges are often due to when a Raichu is overloaded and they release excess electricity to calm down.”

”So cool! I wanna see a real Kanto Raichu someday!” Sophocles excitedly added, Togedemaru agreeing with him. “Hey Ash if you evolve Pikachu here do you think it’ll evolve into a Kanto or Alolan Raichu?”

Pikachu hissed at the word ‘evolve’. ”I don’t know, but I wouldn’t want to test it. Pikachu’s really adamant about staying a Pikachu, he’d never want to evolve in a million years. So I’m not gonna force him.”

”Really?”

”Yeah.”

”To answer you question Sophecles, Pikachu who are raised in Alola evolve into an Alolan Raichu, if a Pikachu not raised in those conditions suddenly came to Alola and evolved immediately, it would probably not evolve into an Alolan Raichu, but give it enough time in Alola and it just might.” Kukui continued. “However regional variants like Meowth and Persian are different. Because Meowth also have different forms - not just Persian. An Alolan Meowth will evolve into an Alolan Persian no matter what, just like how a Kanto Meowth will always evolve into a Kanto Persian. No matter how much time a Kanto Meowth could spend in Alola, it won’t become an Alolan Persian and vice versa.”

Meowth. Ash thought to himself. I wonder where Team Rocket is right now.

—————

⁉️ Who’s that Pokémon? ⁉️

Supremely sensitive to the presence of others, it can detect opponents standing behind it, flinging its sharp feathers to take them out. (Ultra Moon)

—————

“Sir, you asked to talk to us sir.” Jessie, James, and Meowth spoke in unison. They all stood in a line in front of their boss. It’s been a while since he had asked to speak with them directly.

”Yes. I have a new job for you.” From behind their boss - Giovanni - a large screen illuminated with pictures of a tropical land. “This is the Alola region. A region consisting of four main islands. Melemele, Akala, Ula’Ula, and Poni. This region is full of exotic life, many rare and potentially powerful Pokémon I would like to have. I know you are very skilled in field research so this is a task perfect for you. I have my trust and faith that you will catch these rare Pokémon for me to have.”

Matori - Giovanni’s secretary - quietly scoffed as he spoke to the trio. The Boss may have faith in them, but she didn’t. In Matori’s eyes Jessie, James, and Meowth were a liability to Team Rocket. A waste of resources and money. The rocket trio bowed to the Boss but right as they were about to turn around and leave, he called one last thing.

“In addition to your current task, I have one more thing I must have you do.” Matori glanced at Giovanni, she looked nervous for some reason. “A secret mission. No one but you three, I, and the Matori Matrix will know of.”

“Not even Petrel, Archer, Ariana, or Proton?” Boss usually hands out his ‘secret missions’ to them, the Admins, the strong ones. Why give one to simple grunts like the trio?

Matori cleared her throat before speaking, “If I may inquire Boss…” she then whispered the rest, but that didn’t change anything since they still heard her, “Why are you giving that mission to them?!”

“Hey we’re capable of taking extra work four-eyes-“ Jessie screeched at her, James panicked and covered her mouth, not the brightest idea to insult the boss’s secretary in front of him.

Giovanni stayed straight-faced as he pet the Persian by his side, making Meowth scoff. “You’re going to be in Alola anyways, and this mission can only be done there. The Admins are busy with my other work, which is why I’ve recruited you three. Your secret mission is…”

It was so odd they tried to not look completely baffled, but agreed to it anyway. “Yes sir! We will do our best sir!”

Giovanni chuckled to himself. “Good. You may go now.”

”Be sure to report in the moment you land in Alola.” Matori sharply added as the trio exited the room.

—————

⁉️ It’s Dartrix! ⁉️

—————

The bell rang for lunch and the students gathered in the cafeteria. They all watched as Mallow put together the most incredible plate ever. For the other students she made an assortment of various fruits and vegetables, a wheat bread base with lettuce and a spread of sliced avocado garnished with sesame and poppy seeds. Fried egg slices decorated the rim along with a few strawberries. A pink hibiscus flower on the corner to finish. For the Pokémon was a large plate of Pokémon food also over some lettuce, cut up pecha and leppa berries to decorate along with some nutritional herbs. The Pokémon immediately started eating the second the plate was placed on the floor.

”I guess that new recipe you gave me really worked out.” Mallow said as she sat with the others. 

Lillie smiled. ”I'm glad! I thought the combination would work better due to their variety, and the ingredients in the food as well. There’s more milk in it so it has a bit of a sweeter and smoother taste without being too overwhelming thanks to the leppa berries.”

”So, is your personal study about Pokémon diets Lillie?” Ash asked.

Mallow shook her head. ”Nah that's my thing, Lillie’s more about the psychology of Pokémon. Their relationships with humans and other Pokémon, intelligence, stuff like that. She was just helping me with my stuff as a way to better understand them.”

”Even if I can’t touch Pokémon, it doesn't mean I can’t learn to understand them.” Lillie spoke with peak confidence.

”I don’t know what my personal study should be about.” Ash sighed, “What are yours?” He asked the rest of the class.

”I’m researching the Pokémon of the sea. All of the aquatic life and how their effect in the ocean affects the land.” Lana spoke through mouthfuls of food, Popplio on the ground spoke through muffled barks as well.

Sophocles glanced down at Togedemaru. “I’m looking into better ways of producing energy, specifically with the help of Electric-Type Pokémon. My cousin runs a super cool celestial research center -  the Hokulani Observatory - and I wanna find a way to make it run the best possible way with clean and renewable energy!” Togedemaru cheered at his enthusiasm, rolling a few circles around the table before going back to eating her food.

”I’m looking into the Totem Pokémon and all their capabilities.” Hau said with pride as if he had just met the most important person on the planet.

”Totem Pokémon are strong Pokémon that are well-respected by the people of Alola and other Pokémon, and they have heavy significance in one of Alolan most well-known traditions.” Kukui added from a table adjacent to the students.

”Mhm.” Kiawe then spoke of his. “I’m researching the Island Guardians. Four guardians for the four main islands of Alola. They are respected far beyond a Totem and strike awe into the fire of the soul to anyone that sees one.” He continued with the tone of a movie narrator.

’Awe into the fire of the soul’. That’s sort of how Ash and Pikachu felt when they saw that strange Pokémon from last night.

”If you’re unsure of what to do for your personal research project, why not do regional variants?” Lillie suggested. “Like how we learned about Kanto versus Alolan Raichu, Meowth, and Persian earlier. You’ve seen the other ones before, and you could look into the Alolan forms already with the knowledge of the Kanto forms.”

“Yeah! I could do that! Thanks Lillie!”

The students then paused their conversation to continue eating. Ash had been in Alola for six days now, but it still shocked him how different the food was here compared to other regions. It wasn't a bad thing, not at all.

(lowkey if i could try any food from a fantasy world it’d be from the Pokémon universe, like i wanna know what all the berries taste like and stuff its probably so good, imagine biting into a blueberry the size of an apple that sounds genuinely life altering)

Then Ash spoke up again, “So about these Island Guardians. Are they like a sort of god to the islands?” A genuine question he asked turned in Kiawe's direction since he was the one researching them.

”Not so much a god, like in their name they are guardians, protectors of the land. They fight in the name of Alola and its people and Pokémon, but a time ago there was a great war between them and an outside force. Since then they have been very minimally involved with humans. Only really ever showing during traditional annual ceremonies anymore. That’s one of the main things I want to know. What force drove them away.” He responded still with that dramatic narrator tone.

Once again Pikachu perked up and jumped onto the railing behind the students. He stared into the forest for a moment. This time whatever it was also garnered the attention of Raichu and Togedemaru, the three electric Pokémons cheeks sparking.

”Raichu, what’s wrong?” Hau went over to Raichu, who was frantically looking around before stopping to stare in the same direction as Pikachu.

”What’s Pikachu doing?” Lillie looked to Ash, but realised quickly her question probably wouldn’t get a solid answer judging by the fact Ash looked equally as confused.

”Not sure. But he’s been like this since we got here. I think he’s seeing something we’re not.” Ash was hesitant to mention the encounter of the mystery Pokémon from last night, but decided it probably was for the better if he said something. But before he could, Pikachu took off in the direction he was staring at. “I’m following him.” Ash hastily grabbed his bag and ran after the electric mouse, the other students and Kukui doing the same.

—————

Pikachu ran through the thick foliage, he was glad he was small and able to easily maneuver around the woods as he has most of his life already. He was very happy to be doing so, the only thing Pikachu so far didn’t like about Alola was the fact that whenever he and Ash arrive in a new place, the first thing they do is explore, the forest is where Pikachu felt the most free, aside from when he’s battling. He hasn’t done much of either here. But Alola weirdly enough sort of felt like home to him, it felt like he already knows where he’s going despite never being here before. It was an odd feeling. He could hear Ash close behind him, and the other students a bit farther away.

Pikachu jumped through another bush and into a small clearing in the woods. And there it was. The same Pokémon from last night.

Ash pushed through the bush a few seconds later as Pikachu took a fighting stance and sparked at the mysterious Pokémon, who did nothing in response. A devastatingly long ten-something seconds passed before the other students caught up. He heard them all gasp in awe behind him.

”Tapu Koko.” Was the only word spoken.

Judging by the cool-sounding name, Ash assumed that it was the Melemele Island's Guardian Deity. He looked down to Pikachu who growled with a low “Pikaaaaa.”

”The Island Guardians would often challenge trainers on the island for fun. I think it wants to battle Pikachu.” Kiawe - the guardian expert - informed.

”It wants to battle? Alright then.” A confident smile formed on Ash and Pikachu’s faces. “Thunderbolt!” He shouted the first command and Pikachu jumped up to release a bright bolt of lightning. Tapu Koko closed its arms to form a shield. The electricity bounced off it and the shell opened again, it kept its same blank stare, completely unfazed.

”Tapuuuuuuu!” It screeched as a faint electrical current flowed about the clearing. Electric Terrain. Judging by Pikachu, Raichu, and Togedemaru all sparking when it was near, and its use of Electric Terrain, it was likely an Electric-Type. The terrain would boost its moves in power, but would boost Pikachu’s as well.

“Use Electro Ball!” Pikachu flung a ball of sparks at it, but Tapu Koko swatted it into nothing with its claws. “Fine, get in close with Quick Attack!” Pikachu charged forward at blinding speed, Tapu Koko did the same. They collided head and claw as Pikachu flipped and tried to fire an Electro Ball at the Tapu’s face, but failed as it just narrowly dodged. Pikachu was left still in the air after the failed attack and Tapu Koko used the chance to cloak itself in a rainbow light, energy gathered close to it as it hit Pikachu with a point-blank Dazzling Gleam, knocking him back towards Ash.

Tapu Koko gave him no time to recharge as it raised a claw up as thunderclouds appeared over Pikachu’s head. “Quick, Thunderbolt!” Pikachu fired up at the incoming Thunder with his own Thunderbolt, the two electrical beams collided and kicked up a thick dust cloud.

The cloud cleared and Pikachu was gone from sight. “Iron Tail!” From behind Tapu Koko, Pikachu launched himself off a tree and attempted to hit it from the back, but Tapu Koko turned in time for Pikachu to hit the left side of its shell. Pikachu clung to the shell and jumped into the air to prepare another Thunderbolt. As he prepared to fire, his eyes became fixated on something in a bush to the right, two fuzzy tips of purplish-pink fur. The fur twitched and ducked as he looked back and was smacked directly in the face by the electric Tapu’s sharp claws. He skidded along the dirt as Tapu Koko once again raised its claw, this time giving Ash nor Pikachu time to react as Pikachu was hit by a powerful Thunder. The dust cleared again and Pikachu lay on the ground, still and almost down.

”Pikachu!” He shouted from across the field, Pikachu slowly picked himself up. Ready for one last attack. “Thunderbolt!”

”Piiiiiii-kaaaaaaa CHUUUUUUUU!” Pikachu screamed as loud as he could as he fired a bright bolt of lightning. Tapu Koko shielded itself but Pikachu didn’t let that stop him. The Thunderbolt fired for longer than usual. All of his built up electricity from the past few weeks all concentrated in one point. A few seconds passed before the electricity dispersed, sparks and sparkles fell around Tapu Koko where the beam once was. Pikachu fell forward, catching himself with his front paws as he panted heavily. The front of Tapu Koko’s shell was ever-so-slightly charred.

Ash ran to be beside his buddy, he pet Pikachu’s head softly as Pikachu let out a tired “Chaaaaa…” Tapu Koko floated towards them as the Electric Terrain slowly began to fade, the static falling into the ground. Pikachu weakly stepped forward as it and Tapu Koko locked eyes.

”Koko. Ta. Pukoko.” It spoke to him before zipping out of sight.

”That was so cooool!” Hau’s eyes sparkled, both his fists up to his face in a fighting stance, Raichu was right beside him doing the same pose.

Ash went to pick up Pikachu but Pikachu ran over to Kiawe and climbed up his arm. Pikachu pointed at the Z-Ring on Kiawe’s wrist. “You want to try a Z-Move don’t you?” Ash asked him.

”Seems he does.” Kiawe said, Pikachu still examining his Z-Ring. Ash pulled Pikachu off him much to Pikachu's dismay. “A Z-Ring - and the ability to use Z-Moves - is a special privilege only for those strong enough to pass a Grand Trial. Beating the Kahuna of Akala Island is the reason I have this now.” Kiawe pridefully held out his arm with the ring.

Hau sneakily coughed. ”Heh, y’know…my grandpa is the kahuna of this island.”

”For real!?” Ash was now more excited than ever about this whole Grand Trial thing.

”Yeah, Kahuna Hala is the kahuna of Melemele Island. Hau’s yet to take it so maybe you both could someday.” Kukui added.

Hau crossed his arms, “He may be my gramps but he doesn’t think I’m ready yet.” He glanced at Ash with a sly look and elbowed him. “Think you could help me convince him?” The students all laughed as they began to head back to campus, Pikachu wasn’t able to get the thought of battling Tapu Koko again out of his mind, but he’d just have to wait for another chance.

Chapter Text

Started on: March 8th, 2025, 2:51 PM

Finished on: March 14th, 2025, 4:59 PM

Posted on: August 7th, 2025, 7:59 PM

Thursday, May 2nd, 3003

It’s now another bright morning in Alola. Echoes of the early risers travelled across the sun-painted clouds like waves as clusters of Flying-Type Pokémon sailed on the brightening horizon. Ash and Pikachu were just waking up, the excitement of yesterday still hadn't died down in their spirits.

Pikachu leapt down from the loft and was immediately met with a playful tackle initiated by Rockruff. The puppy Pokémon nuzzled Pikachu with the rocks jutting out of its neck, a high-pitched tingling sound reverberating from the contact. The new friends rolled around the living room until coming to a stop once they heard the sound of food being poured into a bowl. They fought to get off each other to see who could race to their bowl fastest. Pikachu won easily and he began eagerly shoving his face into his breakfast, Rockruff doing the same a moment later.

Ash laughed at Pikachu as he climbed down the ladder, he skipped the last few rings and jumped down, greeting the Alolan Professor as he did so. “Morning Professor!”

”Morning Ash.” He responded, setting a plate down for the student, but instead of sitting down he headed in the direction of the basement instead. Ash looked at him, confused. “I already ate, I’ve been working on something the past few months and I’ve just finished the final tweaks. Once you’re done, come downstairs and I’ll show you what it is.”

Ash agreed and quickly ate while he watched Pikachu and Rockruff still compete over each other. He finished and grabbed his along with the Pokémons bowls and placed them in the sink before the three ran downstairs. The stairs curved in a right L shape, the floor suddenly changing from wooden planks to a cold tile checkerboard. The walls of the basement were lined with some sort of metal plating and on the far side the walls were covered with shelves and shelves of books in no particular sorting order. There was a smaller aquarium that connected up to the once above, holographic data charts reflecting off the glass. There was a small workout bench with a punching bag and some weights in the corner. Then there sat Kukui by a desk and multiple computer monitors. He had a screwdriver in his hand and was using it on a reddish-orange plate-sized thing.

“This is what I’ve been working on.” He stood up and held it out for Ash to see clearly. On its front was a blank black screen.

“What is it?”

“A one-of-a-kind high tech advanced Pokédex.” Kukui said with an accomplished voice and face. Rockruff barked with joy, pawing at the professor's leg until he held it lower for Rockruff to see up close as well.

”Pikaaa.” Pikachu climbed Ash’s arm and reached out to touch the screen, it was still off however. Pikachu tilted his head.

”How does it turn on?” Ash asked after Pikachu's failed attempt to start it himself. Most Pokédex’s turned on automatically when opened or when a button was pressed. But there was no visible ‘on’ button; and it couldn’t’ve been out of battery either because the majority of Pokédex’s were solar powered.

“We just have to wait for the power source to come to us.” Before Ash could ask further, Kukui stepped back and opened the breaker box, shutting off the house's power. The basement went almost completely dark in a matter of milliseconds, startling Pikachu into lightly sparking to dimly light the room himself. Some electrical crackling and scratching was heard inside the vent by the aquarium. Electricity leaked out of the grate as the sounds grew louder. A high-pitched chitter rocketed out of the vent, bouncing off the walls of the room at impossible speeds. The figure was small. It had a round orange body with a spike on its top and bottom. The entire silhouette was covered with a dim light blue energy that sprouted outwards in electric zigzags to shape its arms.

”A Rotom!?” Ash exclaimed while trying to avoid the zooming Rotom as it bounced along the metallic walls. The chaos halted when it collided with the Pokédex and disappeared inside. Kukui let the device go, and it stayed floating in the air. Eyes appeared on the screen as it turned from black to white and blue. A Rotom-like spike and arms appeared, along with two small round legs. Kukui switched the breaker back on as the Pokédex finished booting up. It opened its eyes and made a beeping sound, it looked around at everyone.

”Woah, so Rotom is the power source?” Ash asked, Rotom zipped its body around to look at him

Kukui nodded. ”Yep, Rotom have become more common in helping to power technology lately, so I’ve been working hard to create my own version of a Pokédex powered solely by Rotom.”

”So cool!” Ash exclaimed. “Alola Rotom!” He waved at it, and Rotom waved back. It spoke in an almost comedically robotic tone.

”Alola! I am Pokédex Rotom. Rotom the Pokédex. What is your name?” Rotom beeped as a question mark appeared on its screen.

”I’m Ash, and this is my buddy Pikachu.”

“Pika, Pikachu!” Pikachu waved at Rotom.

Rotom’s screen then had a forming circle on it, a percent meter going up as the circle did. The circle closed with a 100%. “User registration complete. Alola, Ash! Alola, Pikachu!”

”Rotom here is a self-learning Pokédex; unlike most others, it starts with basic information on a species and branches its knowledge through personal experience. Rotom and I have worked for a while on this project and I only finished its final design a few weeks ago, but minor issues and bugs kept popping up in its code so I only really completed it the other night.” Kukui and Rotom then shook hands. “Nothing feels off, right?”

A big X appeared on Rotom's screen. ”I am one-hundred percent! Rotom feels excellent!” It jittered in place with a smiley face on its screen, just as excited as Kukui was for finally finishing their dream project.

Rotom then neared Pikachu, turned around, and a camera capture sound was heard. When it noticed Rockruff, it did the same. ”Identifying Pokémon species.” The same progress circle appeared from before. “Pokémon identified. Pikachu…and…Rockruff!”

”Absolutely correct. Told you you’d get the hang of it fast.” Kukui picked Rockruff off the floor so he could see Rotom better.

”Do you still do the whole description thing?” Ash asked it. “If you do, what's Pikachu’s description?” Rotom paused for a moment before a photo of a Pikachu showed up on its screen. Around the picture there was some basic information including its type, habitat, and some commonly documented behaviors.

”Pikachu, the Mouse Pokémon. An Electric-Type and evolved form of Pichu. The electricity stored in its red cheek sacks have a variety of uses, such as attacking, defending, territory marking, and communication with other Electric-Types.” Pikachu sparked a message to Rotom, seeing as it was an Electric-Type too. The smiley face from earlier appeared on its screen again as the message was received.

Ash, Pikachu, and Rotom continued talking as Rotom tested out some of its features. They were so invested they almost completely forgot it was still a school morning and when Kukui realized he hastily rushed everyone to get ready so they’d be on time.

—————

Meowth stretched dramatically after departing from the plane. Jessie, James, and Wobbuffet doing the same to a lesser extent. The rocket group was dressed tropically, the four of them wearing shirts with colorful patterns of teal, purple, orange, and pink respectively. They also all had sunglasses on to combat the blinding rays.

”Finally off that dang plane, that was giving my tail a hard time.” Meowth exclaimed with an annoyed face.

”Think positively old chum, we’ll get to spend nice time in the sun while we gather all of the super rare Pokémon for the boss!” James held his head high.

The four Rocket members strolled along Hau’oli city, as focused as they were scoping out powerful Pokémon, they weren’t really ignoring the city completely. No one felt like spending the money they had to buy anything yet so they just gazed around (with a lot of internal debates about whether or not they should steal anything).

”Ya think if we couldn’t find any’a those rare Pokémon we could at least run inta da twerp right?” Meowth sluggishly dragged himself along the cobblestone pathway. The Rocket group had seen when Mr. Mime won the Alola plane tickets, which is the main reason why they were so excited when Boss sent them to Alola. Another boss funded plane trip for another chance to catch Pikachu. They ended up on the path that led to the Melemele Trainer Academy. A faint group could be heard as they neared the gates.

”Hey I recognize dat voice!” Meowth ran ahead of the others and peeked around the entrance gates until he spotted the familiar face he was just yapping about. “Yo Jessie! James! Twerp spotted! I repeat twerp spotted!” He whisper-shouted to the others as they hurried over. The three now all peeking around the arch.

”Pikachu in sight!” Jessie grinned evily, golden stars in her eyes. She was about to step on campus when James stopped her. “Hey what gives!”

Look around, there’s twerps galore here. Not a great idea to rush in when we only have Meowth and Wobbuffet.” James reasoned.

Meowth hissed at James. ”I can win a fight against that rat if I want you dope!”

Jessie scoffed and pushed Meowth aside. ”Then I guess you’ve never wanted to win cause you never have.”

”Anyways, I never expected the twerp to be a schoolboy.” Jessie and Meowth nodded.

”Well dats a good thing no? We won't hafta worry bout havin ta scout ‘em out before tryna get Pikachu.” Jessie and James nodded.

”Then let's get a nod for the twerps' routine, makes it even easier.” James and Meowth nodded.

”Wobbuffet!”

”Den it’s settled!” The group pumped their fists (and paws) in the air as they continued watching the students from afar.

————

“Awesome Professor! You finally finished it!” Sophocles stood inches away from the new Rotom Pokédex, inspecting it carefully.

They had all gathered in the school courtyard that morning per Kukui’s instruction, grouped in a circle near the corner of the campus and close enough to the neighboring forest.

”Nice to finally meet you, Rotom. We’ve heard a lot about you from the Professor.” Kiawe held his hand out for the floating Pokédex to shake.

”The pleasure is all mine! I’ve also heard about all of you from him.” Rotom smiled and turned so it could see all of the other students. It would always eagerly listen when Kukui would tell it stories about his students while he worked on the dex. Rotom always wanted to meet them, and it wanted to be as formal as possible but it was still practically jittering with excitement. It’d waited almost a year for the day it’d meet everyone and be the best Pokédex the world has even seen.

Then Sophocles - still right next to Rotom - spoke again. “So how’d ya program it? Can I see its coding???” He was halfway through pulling out a screwdriver out of his pocket when Kukui held up his left hand and lowered it, signaling Sophocles to put it away. He quietly chuckled.

”Not right now.”

”Not right ever.” Rotom corrected Kukui and slowly backed away from Sophocles.

He then looked past the students and into the forest. “Today we’re gonna be testing Rotom’s abilities and look for some wild Pokémon.” He raised the plastic bag in his right hand, the bag wasn’t transparent so no one could see what was inside.

”Ooh! What's that?” Hau asked eagerly.

Kukui reached into the bag, the soft sound of metal clinked and clanked from inside and he pulled out a small sphere. Red on top and white on bottom. The middle was marked with a black line and a button in the center. He tapped the button and the ball almost tripled in size, it was now about as big as his hand. A Pokéball.

”Do you want us to catch something?” Mallow asked the professor.

“You don’t have to. But I figured since we’d be exploring the area with our brand new helper…” Rotom let out a small shriek of happiness before covering its non-existent (at least physically) mouth. “…anyone is welcome to catch whatever they can find if they want.

To no one’s surprise Hau swiftly grabbed the Pokéball from Kukui’s hand and turned to Raichu who floated by his side. “We’re gonna catch something amazing this time, yeah!?”

Raichu pumped its tiny arms in the air, cheering Hau on. ”Rai-Rai!”

”Anyone else want to try today?” Kukui held out the bag further in the circle of students.

Ash - similarly to Hau - raised a fist in the air. “I’ll do it! I’ll catch one!” He picked a ball from the bag and looked to Pikachu. “We haven’t caught any Alolan Pokémon yet, but we’ll change that today.”

”Bet I’ll get one first!” Hau snapped back.

”Pika!”

“Rai-Rai!”

The two Electric-Types sparked competitively at each other.

Kukui then broke the tension, ”Well don’t we have a competition?” He clapped his hands together to gain everyone’s attention. “Let’s go, lead the way Rotom?”

It saluted. “Roger!”

—————

⁉️ Who’s that Pokémon? ⁉️

Its name is derived from the word ‘motor.’

—————

The forest was dark from the shade the leaves provided; blocking out most of the sun. The rays that bypassed it left little spots of light on the path the students walked along. ”According to my sources, Pokémon found in this area include…Rattata, Yungoos, Pikipek, Grubbin, Cutiefly, Diglett, and Spinarark. Plus all evolutions.” As it spoke, pictures of the Pokémon appeared on its screen.

”Rattata and Diglett have Alolan forms too?” Ash asked as he noticed the pictures of them were different from what he remembered.

”One hundred percent!” Rotom beeped. “Alolan Rattata are Normal and Dark types instead of just Normal, and Alolan Diglett are Ground and Steel instead of just Ground. They also have some visual differences. Alolan Rattata are fluffier with black fur and thicker whiskers, unlike the Kantonian light purple to compensate for its nocturnal nature; while Alolan Diglett are a more saturated brown to blend in with the different rocks they dig in and they have yellow whiskers made of metal on their heads to sense the iron in the ground through which they burrow.”

”Dark and Steel-Types huh…” Ash thought out loud, “So cool how they can change types after living in a different environment long enough.”

”Couldn’t agree with you more.” Rotom buzzed.

A rustling in the bushes near them quieted the group. They walked as quietly as possible towards the bushes to see what was on the other side. There was a large group of small, winged Pokémon. Black and white feathers with a red head crest. Making no sound, Rotom pulled up a picture from before, labeled under it said ‘PIKIPEK, THE WOODPECKER POKÉMON, NORMAL/FLYING.’ There was also one that looked bigger than the others. It was bigger with a longer beak and feathers, as well as hosting some different patterns. On Rotom's screen words read, ‘TRUMBEAK (EVOLUTION OF PIKIPEK), THE BUGLE BEAK POKÉMON, NORMAL/FLYING.’

There were a few other Pokémon around the Pikipek swarm, mainly Grubbin and Spinarak. But there was also another small Pokémon, two shades of brown, one medium dark, almost carmel-colored, while also partially covered in a fluffier light tan. One of its long ears pointed upwards while the other stayed folded down. On Rotom’s screen, more words appeared. ‘BUNEARY??? NOT ON LIST. WILL UPDATE DATA.’

The Pokémon were picking and pecking at the various berry bushes in the grove. Despite the diverse species, they all kept to themselves, completely content and peaceful. Then the sudden sound of empty plastic being thrown caused the Pokémon to disperse. The Grubbin, Spinarak, and Buneary scattered in different directions while the Trumbeak screeched and the Pikipek took off in the sky after it, some of them with disappointed faces as they were empty-taloned with no berries.

”Should we follow them?” Hau asked, already starting to follow them.

”Of course, let’s go.” Kukui led the students past the berry grove, the pace slowly speeding up as not to lose sight of the flock.

”These berries are so fresh, I’ll have to keep this spot in mind next time I need ingredients.” Mallow noted aloud to herself.

—————

⁉️ It’s Rotom! ⁉️

—————

Jessie, James, and Meowth trailed far behind the students. So far they couldn’t actually see them, and instead followed their footprints. At some point they went off-trail to try and get ahead of them. They didn’t really know what they were planning, probably just seeing how long they’d be out here, maybe this forest walk was an everyday thing. Who knows? They didn’t.

They were now on another path more in the sun. Meowth began to wobble. He fell paws first to the hot dirt, panting louder than a Persian after a long hunt. Jessie and James turned and looked down.

”What’s wrong lad?” James asked him.

In between heavy pants the cat responded. “It’s hotter than a dang sauna out here! I feel like I’m being cooked atop a Torkoal!”

”Oh quit complaining, it’s not that hot out!. Jessie crossed her arms as she stared him down.

”Well yous don’t got a fur coat covering ya 24/7!”

”Your fur isn’t even that thick!”

”I’m still sheddin’ from da winter!”

”Winter was TWO months ago, no you're not!”

”Well it still feels like I’m bein’ cooked, gimme a break!”

James and Wobbuffet glanced at each other after every insult traded. It was pretty entertaining but neither had any idea how to stop them if they had to. An odd noise then did the favor, abruptly stopping Jessie and Meowth’s squabble from escalating into a full on fist-fight. It was such a strange noise there was no adjective in any dictionary ever that could describe it. It was sort of high and low at the same time. Like a shriek but also not at all. Like static from a broken TV. A ‘K’ sound was produced with it, like someone trying to imitate the static. Yeah, static is probably the only thing remotely close to that sound.

“Kyu kyu kyu…” something like laughter rang as a dull yellow blur swung from the bushes and onto the other side of the path.

”Ki ki ki…” The figure tilted its head up, but it was very wobbly, and its head didn’t exactly look right. Its neck tilted at an angle that shouldn’t be possible for anything living.

The rocket group stared at it. “Is that a…Pikachu?” It looked like a Pikachu, but it wasn’t one. Unlike a Pikachu’s sun golden fur, this one was dull, like a dead flower. Its eyes, mouth, and cheeks looked to be all scribbled on like a kid's drawing, and its ears sagged like paper dipped in water. Its draped cloth was ripped at the neck, and right below the gap was a shadow, peeking underneath, the two dots on its stomach probably its real eyes. Its wooden tail rocked back and forth like a clock hand as it continued to chant in ‘kyu’s’ and ‘ki’s’.

Meowth and Wobbuffet back away, faces stricken with terror as the figure chanted. It spoke something the non-Pokélanguage speakers could only mildly interpret as gruesome threats. It tried to get closer to Meowth, but hissed as its exposed shadow from the tear touched the light.

Jessie whispered under her breath. ”Fashion disaster.” The figure slumped to the dirt, almost like it melted.

“Hm. Maybe it’s tired from da heat too?” Meowth stood back up and sat next to the mysterious Pokémon, both of them now shielded from the sun because of the thick trees. James, and Wobbuffet followed and they too sat under the shade. Jessie hesitated.

”A little break wouldn’t hurt, right?” James gestured a hand for Jessie to sit too.

”Tch. Fiiiine.” She dramatically pushed herself over to the shade. “Anyone want this?” She pulled a bottle of water from her bag.

”You had that the whole time and didn’t say nothin!? Gimme dat!” Meowth swiped the bottle from her hand and eagerly gulped down a third of it.

”Hey, don’t waste it! It’s still mine!” Meowth stuck his tongue out at her as she tried to yank the bottle out of his paws, giving up when he brought his claws out and slashed at her.

”Ki ki kyu?” The figure raised its head and nudged the bottle still in Meowth’s paw.

”Ya want some?”

”Ki!”

”Then here ya go palley!” Meowth grinned smugly at Jessie as he gleefully passed the bottle to the cloth ‘mon. A claw appeared from under its cloth body, grabbing the bottle and pulling it under. After a few seconds it spit the bottle out, completely empty.

”Oh COME OOON!!! I bought that for myself and I don’t even get a single sip!?” Jessie screeched.

”You can buy more.” James muttered to himself, quiet enough so she wouldn’t hear him.

Jessie grabbed the empty bottle and chucked it into the trees behind her. A flock of Pokémon fleeing through the trees a moment later. ”Oooh~ now there’s some Pokémon waiting to be caught by us!” Jessie's mood changed immediately in the face of new opportunity. The flock flew the direction they were originally heading in so the group stood up and were about to follow it when the cloth Pikachu hissed at the sun again, not able to follow. It seemed like it really wanted to follow them though but it ended up slumping to the ground once more in a depressed defeat.

”Seems it can’t go in the sun with its cloth all torn up like dat.” Meowth theorized.

Jessie sighed and pulled off a leaf-covered vine from a nearby tree, walked over to the Pikachu mimic and bent down to its level. She tied the vine around its neck to cover the hole. “There, you happy?”

It hesitated but slowly shuffled towards the sun, shaking as it pushed itself into the light. It held its head up in the sun. “Kyuuu…?” It stood still for a moment before jumping into Jessie’s arms. “Kikyu! K kyu! Kikyu!”

Jessie scoffed and patted its head gently. ”You’re uh…you’re welcome?”

”Baaaaa…” a creepy echo ran through the trees like a chilling wind.

”Aaaalright time to go or we’re gonna lose them!” James pulled Jessie by the arm and everyone ran in pursuit of the flock.

—————

The class chased the Pikipek flock for about a minute until the Trumbeak called and they descended back into the forest, landing in another spot with more berries bushes and trees. The Pikipek that didn’t get a chance to gather theirs before were now picking out the ripest ones. The Trumbeak looked back at the sky and around the flock until it spotted something and screeched loudly. A round Pokémon with light tan feathers flew down to the rest of the flock. Its face had a bit of white almost in the shape of a mask where its eyes were. Its claws and beak were a bright orange and it had a bow-like pattern on its front that looked like bright green leaves.

The class was far enough from the flock so they could whisper without them hearing. ”Rotom, who’s that Pokémon?” Ash asked the dex.

”Let me check my data.” A loading sign circles on Rotom's screen before answering. “Rowlet. The Grass Quill Pokémon, a Grass and Flying-Type. Their lightweight body and feathers allow it to glide in complete silence before ambushing.”

”You think it’s a part of the Pikipek flock? That Trumbeak seemed to be calling it over.” Mallow wondered.

”Maybe.”

”But it’s a Rowlet. Why would it be in a flock of Pikipek?” Question marks appeared all over Rotom's screen.

”Pokémon groups don’t have to be made up of one species or evolutionary line.” The professor answered. “Similar types of Pokémon can also form groups together.”

”A Rowlet in a Pikipek flock…data updated!” Rotom noted aloud.

Raichu held its paws close to itself in a combative pose as Hau grabbed the Pokéball he got from Kukui and raised it up. “I’m gonna catch one.”

—————

Team Rocket closed in on the flock. As they saw them go back down to another bush they spotted the twerps. Jessie nudged the cloth ‘mon. ”Hey you.”

”Ki?”

”Can you battle?”

”Ki!”

”What are ya getting at Jessie?” Meowth asked her as she pointed to Pikachu.

”We wanna capture that Pikachu there. Think you could help us out?” It looked where she pointed and froze.

Meowth thought back to what James said earlier. ‘…not a great idea to rush in when we only have Meowth and Wobbuffet…’ Now that they had a third member, they could have a chance, depending on its performance of course.

”Kiiiii kiiiii kyuuuuu…” A purple energy surrounded the cloth ‘mon as it began to shake and seethe with rage.

”Oi vey! What’s up with you!?” Meowth and Wobbuffet backed away from it as the purple energy intensified.

”Anger issues or something going on.” Jessie snapped her fingers at it, but it didn’t listen. “Yo mimic ‘mon!” She looked at the others and shrugged.

A purple ball of shadows formed in front of it. A lighter core with black electricity-like bits swirling around it. It jumped out of the bushes Team Rocket hid behind and fired a Shadow Ball directly at Pikachu. “MIKYU, MIKYUKU!”

—————

Hau turned to Raichu. “If this doesn’t work, get ready to fight, ‘kay?” Raichu punched the air in affirmation.

”On three! Ready? One! Two! Thr-“ just as he was about to throw his Pokéball, a Shadow Ball came flying at the students.

”Pikachu, Iron Tail!” Ash commanded and Pikachu jumped up and his tail turned to a silver color, his tail and the Shadow Ball collided. He reflected it in the opposite direction of the Pikipek flock and it exploded against a tree. Pikachu growled at the attacker.

It looked sort of like him. “Pi?”

Lillie was the first to recognize it. “Is that a Mimikyu?”

“Mimikyu?” Ash questioned.

Lillie nodded, “They’re Ghost-Type Pokémon that cover themselves in cloth to hide from others. Some say it’s to hide from the sun, but most people believe it’s because their true forms are too horrifying to comprehend.” She seemed to almost scare herself with her own words, stepping back and hiding behind Mallow and Lana. “It appears this one seems to have disguised itself as a Pikachu.”

”I can confirm!” Rotom beeped. “Mimikyu, the Disguise Pokémon, a Ghost and Fairy-Type. Mimikyu conceal their appearance behind rags so it can be close to others. One time a scientist who was researching it peeked under its cloth to see its true form and later died from an unknown illness.”

Hau shivered. ”Oh wow. Really not liking the thought of that.”

”That’s some scary stuff.” Ash mumbled. Pikachu backed away a bit.

Four more figures appeared behind the Mimikyu, standing behind it in a line, laughing. Pikachu and Ash both sighed in annoyance.

”Hey, that wasn’t nice!” Mallow yelled at them, but they only scoffed.

”Yeah. Who are you?” Kiawe asked, pulling out Turtonators Pokéball, preparing to fight.

“Did someone ask something? We’re here to find out!”

”Noble answers are what we’re all about!”

”The beauty so radiant the flowers and moon hide in shame. A single flower of evil in the fleeting world: Jessie!”

”The nobly heroic man of our times! The master of darkness fighting back against a tragic world! It’s James.”

”It’s all for one and one for all! A glittering dark star that always shines bright. Dig it, while Meowth takes flight!

”Team Rocket, let’s fight!

”That’s right!”

”Wobbuffet!”

”Team Rocket?” The students questioned.

“Brbrbrbr beep! A talking Meowth!? Impossible! Are you a real Meowth!?” Rotom zipped around Meowth taking as many pictures as it could before Meowth swiped at it with his claws.

”Shut your electric yap!”

”Why did you do that? Your Mimikyu could’ve hit us!” Mallow was held back by Lillie, who still hid behind her.

”Tch. Well we weren’t aiming at you.” Jessie retorted snarkily and pointed at Pikachu. “Just come with us quietly and we won’t do anything too bad.”

”No way!” Ash stood firm by Pikachu's side and Pikachu took a fighting stance. “I don’t know why you’re here, but I’m getting sick of seeing you!”

”You know them?” Kukui asked.

”Unfortunately. Pikachu, use Electro Ball!” Pikachu charged a dense ball of electricity at the tip of his zig-zag tail and fired it from a few feet up in the air. He spun around in the air from the force of the attack.

”So your name is Mimikyu.” Jessie mumbled. “Alright! Mimikyu, attack!” She held her hand out and Mimikyu sprang forward, still mumbling curses only the Pokémon around it could understand. It formed a Shadow Claw from under its rag and swatted the Electro Ball away, right in the direction of the Pikipek flock who were watching the commotion with mild interest. The majority of the flock scattered in different directions before the attack could hit while the Trumbeak fired a Bullet Seed at the oncoming Electro Ball to protect them. The attack exploded in a plume of smoke, creating an opportunity for them to begin swiftly picking up their dropped berries and fly away before being caught in anything else. The Rowlet looked around frantically as the flock fled, still empty-taloned before being blinded by the residual smoke left by Electro Ball.

Ash called out Iron Tail and Pikachu charged forward again. Mimikyu stood still, unfazed as the steel tail connected with its head. It flopped down a bit but Mimikyu was completely fine. It grabbed Pikachu by the leg with Shadow Claw, pulling him close and brutally beating him with Play Rough. Pikachu let out a big burst of electricity in a last ditch Thunderbolt and Mimikyu threw him away in the direction of the berry bush the flock just evacuated from. Pikachu smashed into the berry bush and fell right through it.

”Truuum! Beeeak!” The Trumbeak called out and the three remaining Pikipek left as well. Rowlet still cowered under the bush, too afraid to move. Pikachu crashed through the leaves and branches before smacking the ground, he locked eyes with the cowering Rowlet for a moment before crawling out of the bush, covered in smushed berries. His fur was stuck together but he made an effort to stand back up anyways.

”Truuum! TRUUUM!?” The Trumbeak screamed as it saw the berry bush in its destroyed state. It screamed and hissed and shrieked as it wildly flapped its wings. It flew up and began to charge forward with a Drill Peck, aiming for Pikachu, assuming he was the attacker because of the Electro Ball shot earlier.

Pikachu tried to dodge but the sticky berry goo slowed him. Raichu fired a Charge Beam at Trumbeak through the bush the students were ducking behind. It swerved to avoid the beam before regaining its bearings and flying in the direction Charge Beam was fired at, flying right into the circle of students. Raichu grabbed Pikachu and pulled him back to the group as well.

”That’s one angry Pokémon.” Jessie mumbled as she and the rest of Team Rocket watched everything from afar.

”I wonder why.” James said sarcastically, crossing his arms.

When Raichu pulled Pikachu back to the group, he was spotted by Mimikyu again and it didn’t hesitate to charge another Shadow Ball. The Trumbeak stopped the attack as it fired Bullet Seed again, but this time aiming at everybody. The students, Team Rocket, Pikachu, Mimikyu, everybody.

”Go!” Kukui pushed the students away from the frenzied Trumbeak as it continued to fire while the panicked students and Pokémon ran in different directions.

Mallow grabbed a frozen Lillie as she ran with Kukui and Sophocles. In the hazy commotion Kiawe and Lana ended up going the same direction as Team Rocket, while Ash and Hau were just following Raichu, surfing away with Pikachu still in his arms in the direction the Pikipek flew in.

The frenzied Trumbeak stopped after it realised it had chased everyone away. It calmed itself and flew up to lead its flock home. But in all the chaos it didn’t realise Rowlet wasn’t with them.

Chapter Text

Started on: March 15th, 2025, 1:33 PM

Finished on: April 8th, 2025, 7:40 PM

Posted on: August 14th, 2025, 8:42 PM

Thursday, May 2nd, 3003

Raichu zipped through the trees at a pace Ash, Hau, and Rotom could barely keep up with. Pikachu had given up trying to convince him that the Trumbeak wasn’t attacking anymore but Raichu wasn’t listening. Pikachu tried to wiggle out of his arms but Raichu held on tight. As Raichu approached near a tree Pikachu activated Iron Tail and used it to swing around it, instantly stopping Raichu's momentum and flinging them both to the ground. Raichu sat up and looked around, noticing the Trumbeak was gone, and had been for some time. He stared at Pikachu blankly until Hau’s voice snapped him back to the living world.

”Raichuuu!” Hau called to him loudly. Raichu called back and flew over to Hau. “You gotta stop running away like that, you could get lost!” Raichu held his head low and apologized.

”Rai..raichu…” He and Hau hugged.

“Pikachu! Are you alright?” Ash called to the mouse as he lay in the dirt, still dizzy from all of Raichu’s zipping around.

”Pikaaa…” Pikachu groaned as he realized his fur was still covered in the crushed berries from earlier. He began to try and lick what he could off when his ears twitched; he could hear a noise in the distance. Raichu noticed too and he and Pikachu stood wary.

”Krooo! Krooo!” A tan ball of feathers flew over to the group. It settled on the ground next to Pikachu, panting aggressively as it came to a halt. “Krooo?” It tilted its face 90 degrees, looking up at the group.

”Is that the same Rowlet from earlier? The one with the Pikipek?” Hau pointed to it.

”It’s possible.” Rotom replied, watching Rowlet as it tried to peck at a piece of the berry goo stuck to Pikachu’s fur. “Maybe it followed the scent of the berries.” It inferred, getting an agreeing nod from Ash and Hau.

“Y’know…” Hau began as he pulled out a Pokéball from his backpack. “Rowlet is Dartrix’s pre evolution.”

”Really? Neat.” Hau threw Dartrix’s ball upwards and sent it out. Dartrix trilled with a deep breath of fresh air. Rowlet cawed in surprise as Dartrix appeared above it, but its surprise wasn’t exactly long-lived; it glanced at Dartrix for a second before scouting out the ground for some seeds. The owl watched in mild disgust as Rowlet plucked a seed from the ground and ate it. He then looked at Pikachu and gasped in shock.

”DAR!? Dar dar!” Dartrix freaked out and flew down to Pikachu. He pecked and plucked at his sticky fur, swiftly removing the berries and seeds.

”What’s Dartrix doing?” Ash asked Hau.

”Oh. Haha. Dartrix hates himself or others being dirty.” Hau laughed as he watched Dartrix struggle to pick all of the seeds off Pikachu’s body. He didn’t fight against Dartrix and let him remove the seeds. Rowlet watched Dartrix curiously before copying him. Rowlet roughly pecked at Pikachu and Dartrix pushed it away with its wing. Everyone watched as Dartrix continued to carefully preen Pikachu's fur, slowly taking away the pieces of berry and seed off him. He flicked them to the left of where Pikachu stood, slowly forming a light pile of berry remains. He let Dartrix pick at him for a while until his fur was almost completely clean. Once it was, Dartrix brushed its forehead with its wing before slowly picking off the seeds from its beak. Rowlet - watching - slumped into the dirt, resting its little wings at its side.

As everything finally de-escalating Ash turned around and finally realized. “Hey. Where’s everyone else?” Hau snapped his head around too, also realizing they were completely alone.

”Oh holy Tapu!” Hau cried, frantically looking around only to see the tall trees and grass hovering over them. “The path is gone! The professor's gone! Everyone’s gone!”

”Pika piika! Pikachu!” Pikachu tried to calm Hau down to no avail, resulting in Raichu lightly punching him in the back to get him to shut up.

”It’ll be fine, we could use Dartrix to look for the path from above.” Ash took a step in the direction they came in and pointed. “Raichu was flying kind of straight when it originally ran so we might find the path if we looked this way.”

“Sounds like this has happened before.” Hau whistled to gain Dartrix's attention, who was mind-locked in fixing himself - though there wasn’t really much left to fix. Dartrix flicked the last seed off his beak and took to the air again. With Hau’s instructions Dartrix flew higher into the air and above the trees.

“More often than you’d think.” Ash called for Pikachu as well so they could all follow Dartrix’s lead. As Hau began to follow too he looked back at Rowlet. It watched them, unsure if it wanted to follow or not. Dartrix from above beckoned Rowlet with his wing, making Rowlet caw gleefully as it flew upwards and followed the group.

—————

The Team Rocket gang screamed in unison as they ran away from the crazy Trumbeak; Meowth carrying Mimikyu over his head like a wet sock as he did. James was the first to stop, followed by Jessie, then Wobbuffet, and then Meowth who slammed into Wobbuffet’s back, letting go of Mimikyu in the process. It sprang back to life after its temporary ragdolling and stared up at the two unfamiliar faces the others had yet to notice.

”Ugh that was one insane fit.” James gasped in between heavy breaths.

”Yeah like they were just berries you can get a million more next door.” Jessie said sarcastically, pointing to a tree with absolutely zero berries or consumable anything on it.

”Uhhh.” A never before heard voice suddenly spoke from behind. The rocket gang turned to see the source of the voice and from behind them they saw two kids. One was short with blue hair and sailor-like clothing. A dark blue Pokémon with a clown nose and frills around the neck was in her arms. Then there was the taller boy. Black and red hair with a look unreadable to the majority of people.

”No way some lame twerps followed us. What's yer deal? Get lost unless ya wanna face my Fury Swipes!” Meowth hissed. He tried getting Mimikyu to join him but it glanced the other way.

”Our deal? What’s your deal!? You’re the one that caused this!” Kiawe retorted, pulling out Turtonator’s Pokéball. Lana whispered to him not to fight them because they could get more lost if things went wrong.

Jessie dramatically groaned. “Not like we knew the thing would flip at us!”

”You attacked it and its flock, of course it would defend itself.” Kiawe kept Turtonators Pokéball in his hand, ready to throw out at any moment just in case.

”Yeah, indirectly.” Jessie mumbled. Lana watched the trees carefully as Kiawe tried to deal with Team Rocket without starting a fight.

Popplio shifted uncomfortably and hid her face. Lana noticed her distress and tried to find the source of it. It wasn’t Jessie yelling, but something worse. Then, she saw the sign. Lana nudged Kiawe and pointed into the woods. There in the distance was a sign that read ‘BEWARE, BEWEAR.’ Lana and Kiawe shared a look of ‘Yeah we should go.’

”Right! They’re distracted now, let’s scram!” Meowth whispered to Jessie and James.

”Mimikyu, Shadow Ball on that tree.” Jessie commanded the disguise Pokémon. Mimikyu didn’t move. Meowth tapped Mimikyu in case it didn’t hear.

”Hello in there?” Mimikyu still didn’t move. ”Whatever, I'll do it myself. Fury Swipes!” Meowth jumped up and swiped at a branch above Lana and Kiawe. The branch crumbled down in pieces.

”Popplio, use Bubble Beam!” Popplio fired bubbles from its nose to deflect the branch. The bubbles clashed against the wood pieces, momentarily scattering a light mist around the area. When the mist cleared Team Rocket was gone.

”Dirty move, but at least we don’t have to deal with them anymore.” Lana sighed, relieved.

”Yeah. Though we should go too. There’s a reason that sign is there.” Kiawe and Lana followed the path, unsure whether or not they were going the right way, but a path always leads somewhere.

Jessie, James, Meowth, Wobbuffet - plus their new ally Mimikyu - stalked behind a barely-in-sight flock of Pikipek. If they were the ones from earlier then the Trumbeak might be with them. And that Trumbeak would make a great gift for the boss!

—————

⁉️ Who’s that Pokémon? ⁉️

Silently it glides, drawing near its targets. Before they even notice it, it begins to pelt them with vicious kicks. (Moon)

—————

The rest of the class were stationed under a tree, hiding from the sun. “We should put a ‘Beware, Trumbeak’ sign next to the ‘Beware, Bewear’ one, don't you think?” Sophocles sighed.

“Great idea, I’ll get right on it.” Mallow said sarcastically before turning to Lillie. “You okay, Lillie?” She added as the short blonde girl shriveled up like an over-dried berry. She didn’t respond verbally, instead opting for a shaking peace-sign with her hands. Touching Pokémon was already crazy enough for her, but getting attacked by one - two counting Mimikyu (though indirectly) - much less back-to-back was something only from her worst nightmares.

“Well we’re all okay and that’s what matters.” Kukui looked back just to make sure the Trumbeak was gone. “You all are, right?”

”Yep!”

”Yeah!”

”I guess…”

Only three responses. “Wait where’s the other half of us?” Mallow asked aloud as Lana, Kiawe, Ash, and Hau were nowhere in sight.

“The rule is when you’re separated, always go back to where you started, yeah?” Sophocles wondered, trying to recall Kukui’s instructions.

Kukui nodded, “Of course. And they’d do the same, I hope. I know these trails so just follow me.”

—————

⁉️ It’s Rowlet! ⁉️

—————

Dartrix stopped flying and cawed loudly, getting everyone else’s attention. “Did ya find something?” Hau shouted at it.

”Trixxx! Trrrixxx!” Dartrix affirmed and pointed with his wing.

“He must’ve found the trail.” Ash guessed.

”Ugh finaaallllly it feels like we've been walking forever.” Hau plodded slowly with Raichu pushing him along. Even Pikachu who was relatively energized earlier looked tired now. Rotom was the only one not tired because it could float (and was also part machine).

They continued following Dartrix through the woods, listening to the subtle ambience of wild Pokémon around them that had kept the forest far away from silence. “I know you wanted to catch one of the Pikipek earlier…and there are tons’a wild Pokémon here. Are you gonna try and catch one?”

“Oh yeah!” Hau immediately began to scope out the trees. “Spinarak…Grubbin…Cutiefly…” He whispered the names of everything he saw aloud as he looked around. Then a loud, panicked group cry was heard in the distance.

”PIII! PIKI! PEK! KIPEEEEEK! PIKIKIPI! KIPEK! PIII! PIKI!” The sound rang through the trees like a train whistle, scattering the wild Pokémon into hiding.

”Kro? Krooo??? KROOOO!?” Rowlet flew up in a panic towards the crying.

”Pika? Pikapi, pika!”

”Rairai!”

”Trrrix!” Dartrix snapped around and followed the three ‘mons back the way they came. Ash, Hau, and Rotom trailed behind.

“Was that the Pikipek flock? What do you think happened?” Hau asked as he sprinted behind the other Pokémon.

”Not sure.” They group quickly neared the source of the call. And there was the nest, Rowlet's home. The nest was actually multiple nests next to each other, and they were sat atop a tree surrounded by a bunch of vines; a precaution against attackers so if one was near, they would fall through the vines down to the ground. But unfortunately that doesn’t protect them against ranged attacks. Or nets. Or ranged nets. Jessie was on one side and James the other; they held down the large flock of Pikipek, including the Trumbeak with a large net. There was one other Pokémon that seemed to be part of the flock, bigger than Trumbeak with a large beak colored in lines that looked like fire, curving slightly downwards.

”Brbrbr beep! Rowlet’s flock has been captured!” Rotom buzzed.

”Krooo!!!” Rowlet desperately called to them. The big one wasn’t stuck like the others; instead, Meowth held his sharp claws right above the trapped heads of the Pikipek. For every move it or Trumbeak made, Meowth would only draw his claws closer. Also Mimikyu was completely gone mentally, staring at a bush facing away from the others. But when it heard Pikachu’s voice, it snapped its body around to glare at him.

”PiPi-Kachu…” Pikachu growled at Team Rocket.

Rotom continued to buzz. ”They’re using the little Pikipek to prevent that Toucannon from interfering!”

”Ugh what jerks!” Hau yelled. Raichu and Dartrix also voiced their disdain.

Team Rocket on the other hand struggled to keep the panicked group restrained. ”James get your act together, you're not five! Push down harder!”

”I’m trying! How about you do too!?”

”Will you two dopes quit ya yapping and get to it! We gotta get outta here! Der’s twerps in sight!”

”But how do we get the big guy?” James watched Toucannon closely even though he knew it wouldn’t move with its flock at the mercy of Meowth’s claws.

”We can come back for it, let's get on outta here!” Meowth was already prepared to high-tail it long before he finished speaking. Jessie and James successfully managed to secure the net around the flailing woodpecker Pokémon. “Eugh I don’t like the way dis lug’s lookin at me.” Toucannon stared Meowth down with pure hatred; a glare so intense it could probably paralyze a Groudon.

Hau panicked as he saw Team Rocket hoist the net upwards. “They’re gonna get away! We gotta do something”

”I know, but we can't attack much because we might hit the Pikipek or their home. Though I guess we could at least get Meowth away so Toucannon could take a shot.”

”Let’s do that then! Dartrix, go!”

”Pikachu, you too!”

”Dar!”

”Pika!”

Dartrix and Pikachu sprang forward, Pikachu grabbed onto Dartrix legs as he dove under the vines to hide from Team Rocket's sight. Rowlet followed on Dartrix’s left.

”HEY! Meowth fix this!” Jesssie screeched.

”Right-o!” Meowth stepped away from the netted flock with his claws still extended outwards. He watched the base of the nest in a fighting stance, waiting for Dartrix, Pikachu, and Rowlet to reappear. Dartrix and Rowlet tried their best to skillfully maneuver their way around the tangled vines of the nest, looking for the perfect spot to attack from. Rowlet flew much faster than Dartrix thanks to its prior knowledge of the layout and its small size while Dartrix was extra careful to not touch any of the moss or vines abundant around him. As they circled around the base of the tree again, Pikachu caught a glimpse of Mimikyu stalking him from vines.

”Pikacha!” He warned the fliers of the upcoming enemy as Mimikyu summoned Shadow Claw and leapt at them. Pikachu in retaliation turned his tail to iron and let go of Dartrix. Pikachu’s tail and Mimikyu’s claw collided. They stood still in the air for a moment before they were both pushed back; each now hanging onto the vines and branches the tree provided. Dartrix and Rowlet went around the large tree that served as the base of the nest and finally flew up once they were behind it.

”Trrrrix!” 

“KROOOO!”

The rocket trio screamed at their unexpected arrival. James dropped his side of the net and Meowth turned to face them. “You dope! What’re you doing!” Half of the net lightly smacked the straw of the nest as the Pikipek continued to screech. Toucannon stood as Meowth’s claws retracted just enough for it to no longer consider Meowth a threat to its family. Toucannon growled lowly, continuing to glare at Meowth. He swung back around and brought his claws back out. “I got da big guy!” Meowth charged towards Toucannon, jumping over the net and pulling out his claws again. “Take my Fury Swipes!”

Toucannons beak began to radiate a hot red, redder and redder as Meowth closed the space between them. Toucannon inched forward a bit and Meowth landed his attack directly on Toucannon’s beak. Meowth's claws did little damage as he immediately pulled away from the cannon Pokémon.

”YEEEOOOWWW!!!” Meowth rolled on the ground, trying to cool down his burning fur.

As Team Rocket was distracted, the owl duo cut open the net with their sharp talons. Rowlet continued its attack and bashed Meowth's head in with its talons, shoving him backwards and slamming him into James. With a break in the net, the Pikipek scrambled away, bunching behind Toucannon in a shivering huddle of quiet squeaks. Turmbeak on the other hand wasted no time in flying upwards, high above Team Rocket and prepared to attack. Dartrix and Rowlet landed in front of Jessie and James. The duo backed away, but didn’t really have anywhere to go. Trumbeak pecked at them with its sharp beak, getting them to back away from the nest as much as possible. A small crash was heard underneath them.

Pikachu tried his best to navigate the complicated string of vines that hugged the tree. He climbed up and around, being extremely careful to not pull any down. Mimikyu followed him close, they clashed Iron Tail and Shadow Claw, waiting for the other to give up. Pikachu began to scale upwards to get out of the vines. Mimikyu stopped chasing Pikachu and he jumped back in sight of the others. Seeing the Pikipek and Trumbeak were free, Pikachu hesitated to attack Team Rocket. In his moment of hesitation he was hit by a Shadow Ball shot by Mimikyu.

”Ch-A!” He cried out as the ghostly energy scattered. He landed by Team Rocket's feet, who were still at the mercy of Rowlet, Dartrix, and Trumbeak.

”Pikachu! Are you okay?” Ash yelled as he and Hau stood from the other side of the tree, as much as they both wanted to, neither of them could really get any closer. Raichu pawed at Hau, begging him to let him fight, but the area was already packed, and the more Pokémon involved might risk the nest being damaged - or worse - falling down. Raichu grumbled but didn’t press further.

Pikachu scrambled back up as Mimikyu charged for him again. Jessie saw Mimikyu attempting to land a finishing attack and cheered it on, completely forgetting she was still actively being cornered by the others. Hau, seeing Team Rocket was far enough away from the nest, commanded another attack. ”Alright, get ‘em with Sky Attack!” Dartrix cried as it became shrouded in a light blue light. It shot upwards in the blink of an eye before diving back down at Jessie, James, and Meowth. While Meowth was able to scramble away last-second, Jessie and James weren’t so lucky and were pushed right out of the tree. The duo fell through the vines before a loud ‘THUD’ rang out as they hit the forest floor.

Mimikyu simultaneously began to charge yet another Shadow Ball to hurl at Pikachu as Dartrix attacked Jessie and James. Mimikyu faltered as a flurry of sporadic leaves pushed it away to meet the same fate the others did. It tumbled down the vines like a raindrop and plopped onto the dirt, covered head-to-toe in moss and mud. Rowlet loudly cawed at the group, its feathers all puffed up, trying to look as intimidating as possible.

”Yikes! My crew!” Meowth yelped, realizing he was alone now and face-to-face with Pikachu, Rowlet, and Dartrix (along with the still very threatening Toucannon and Trumbeak behind them. “Now now fellas…whachya say we all get along now huh?” He cracked a nervous smile as he was pelted by a line of glowing leaves produced by Rowlet. Meowth tumbled down the tree as pathetically as the rest, landing directly on James as he was getting up, falling to the floor again. Toucannon and Trumbeak peeked over the edge, staring at Team Rocket. They both fired powerful Bullet Seeds at them, firing until they were out of sight.

”Trum!” Trumbeak scoffed at its pathetic assailants.

”Tou.” Toucannon grumbled, waddling over to the Pikipek who all began to slowly un-huddle. Their distressed, quiet chirps erupted into a happy victory cry as they all swarmed Rowlet affectionately. Toucannon and Trumbeak congratulated their young Rowlet, proud it was a part of them. Rowlet cawed, prideful and jumping with excitement. Pikachu tried to offer Dartrix a victory high-five but Dartrix too one look at his mossy paw and refused, quickly preened its dusty feathers before placing a wing on Rowlet's head, patting him lightly with a prideful smile.

”Pika…” He mumbled.

“Brbrbr beep! Rowlet really is one of them, incredible!” Rotom buzzed, way calmer now Team Rocket was gone. It turned to take a picture of all of them together.

”See? Any Pokémon species can be family to each other as long as their bond is real.” Ash called to Pikachu, “Hey! We should go and start finding the others!”

”Oh shoot I almost forgot about that.” Hau laughed. “C’mon, you too, Dartrix!” Pikachu and Dartrix bid Rowlet a farewell as Dartrix hesitantly picked Pikachu up and flew back towards the two trainers.

”Glad we got to meet Rowlet! Take care of your family!” Ash and Hau waved goodbye to the flock as they turned to leave. The farewell chirps of Toucannon, Trumbeak, and the Pikipek could be heard as the forest once again became dense.

”Krooo…?” Rowlet tilted its head, conflicted. It took a small step forward but took it back. “Krooo…”

Toucannon nudged Rowlet with its beak. ”Toucannon cannon?” Rowlet sunk down like it melted. “Can.” Rowlet unsank and its eyes gleamed brightly.

”Kroo!? Krookroo!?”

Trumbeak flapped its wings vigorously. “Trum! BEEAAKKK!!!” The Pikipek cheered Rowlet on as it flew to follow Ash and Hau.

—————

“Will this forest ever end, I swear to Tapu…” Hau groaned as he trudged through the various ferns and leaves.

”Trrix trrix.” Dartrix scoffed as he continued scouting from the air.

Rotom's screen had a loading sign. “According to my data, we should be close by.”

“Good, I never wanna see a forest for a while after this.”

”Hey, it's not that bad Hau.” Ash laughed at Haus' crumbling will.

”Yeah for you maybe…hey do you hear that?” Everyone stopped, two voices were heard in the distance.

Hau gasped loudly. “I think that’s Kiawe and Lana!” He grabbed Ash’s hand and took the lead. “Come on!”

Hau ran through the few remaining bushes to see just who he expected to. “Kiawe! Lana! Finally, people!” Relieved like he was stranded on an island alone for a year he ran up to the two.

”Hau!” Lana waved to him, Popplio still in her arms clapped gleefully.

”Is it just you guys?” Kiawe asked them.

”Yeah, we haven’t seen anyone else.”

Kiawe looked ahead, “Well this is the path we came from so if we follow we should end up back on campus.”

”Oh I can not wait to be back!” Hau ran ahead again with Raichu by his side. He beckoned Dartrix to come back down, to which he quietly scoffed at, but made a small smile and followed as well.

Everyone followed Hau’s lead. ”Same here.” Lana sighed. “We ended up running the same way those Team Rocket people did and had to deal with that.”

”We saw them too! They were trying to nab the Pikipek from earlier!” Hau pointed the direction they came from, and the direction the nest was in. “But Dartrix and this Rowlet that was also there, oh and Pikachu, were SO cool, and there was this leader Toucannon that ran them all out!”

Popplio and Lana cheered. ”Sounds like quite the trip. Are they all okay now?”

”It was! And yeah, everyone was okay.”

”Thank Tapu for that.”

”I don’t wanna be a fun-breaker but we can talk more when we get back. If the others already found their way they might be worried.”

”Yeah true.” The group followed the path for a few more minutes before eventually ending up back at campus.

”Look, there they are!” Mallow pointed. She ran up and hugged Lana, Lillie joined in the hug too.

Sophocles and Togedemaru simultaneously cheered. ”Woo-hoo!”

”To-ge!”

Kukui walked up to the group as Mallow, Lana, and Lillie separated. “Are you all okay?”

”Yep!”

”Beep! I even got some super cool data!” Rotom chimed in.

”Awesome, now that we’re all back as a group we can-“ Kukui was cut off by a familiar cry.

”Kroo! Krooooo!” A hasty ball of feathers emerged from the forest, calling to one in particular.

”Trrix!”

”Pika!”

”Rai!”

”Is that the Rowlet you were talking about?” Lana asked Hau.

”Yeah! The very one!”

Rowlet perched on Ash’s shoulder and rubbed its feathers against him. “Really? You wanna stay?” Rowlet let out an affirmative caw. Ash took out the Pokéball he got from Kukui and threw it upwards. “Go, Pokéball!” Rowlet jumped up and smacked the little button on the front with its face. Rowlets being was turned into a red energy and was absorbed into the Pokéball. Ash caught the ball as it fell back down and watched it shake.

One shake.

Two shakes.

Three shakes.

Ding!

The students and Kukui all gasped. ”Aww, that was so cute it wanted to come along with you!” Mallow squeaked as Ash released Rowlet back into the world. Rowlet shook off the sparkles and fluttered in the air.

”Brbrbrbebeep! YOU CAN CATCH A POKÉMON LIKE THAT?!” Rotom was absolutely stunned. “With no battling at all!? I must update my data!”

”Of course you can!” Ash and Rowlet high-fived each other.

“Wait.” Everyone turned to Hau as he spoke.

Hau looked to Dartrix and Raichu, then to Rowlet and Pikachu. ”So why you copying me?”

Ash hadn't even realised ”Hey I’m not trying to!”

Everybody laughed as they all began to interact with Rowlet, a new member of the class. Turtonator was released from his Pokéball to meet it as well. Rowlet blushed as it became drowned in new friends, squawking with the most joy in the world.

Chapter Text

Started on: April 19th, 2025, 6:32 PM

Finished on: April 24th, 2025, 8:13 PM

Posted on: August 22nd, 2025, 11:55 PM

Thursday May 2nd, 3003

Jessie, James, Meowth, slowly trudged through the forest; a forest that was not any clearer as they went. Little pieces of sun sifted their way through the bright green leaves, feeding the trees it touched with its light. They had been mainly silent since being chased off by the twerp and gang of screaming birds. The silence was broken by Meowth, ”Well dat sucked big time.” He was kicking every rock he saw on the path ahead.

“Ugh I know. They would’ve had a great home at Team Rocket headquarters, so ungrateful.” Jessie kicked the rock Meowth just had far into a deeper part of the woods.

Meowth stared at her, annoyed. ”Dat was my rock!”

”Then get another one.”

”No I don’t wanna get a weird obsession with collecting meaningless objects like that guy does.” Meowth very unsubtly pointed to James, who until now was not listening.

He gasped loudly. “Meaningless!? For your information they are not meaningless!”

”You collect Pokéballs and bottle caps, dat’s weird dude activity.” Meowth then mimicked opening a bottle. “Oh wow look at this super lame bottle cap I can get thirty more of! I can’t wait to gloat to my whole three friends about this one!”

”And you have like, an Ultra and Luxury ball that you have never used ever.” Jessie was now the one kicking rocks out of frustration instead of Meowth.

”You guys are so mean. It’s a cool thing to do, I swear.” James tried to argue but gave up after Jessie and Meowth began ignoring him. “At least I have interesting hobbies…” He mumbled to himself.

Silence once again fell upon the group, the only noise was their footsteps and an occasional ungodly noise from Mimikyu. The trees had finally begun to loosen and it was actually possible to see clearly more than three feet ahead. Then they stepped into a clearing.

”About time. If I had to spend another minute in those trees I think I would’ve rather simply just laid down and died.” Jessie snapped a twig off of a tree and threw it deep into the woods.

Meowth had pushed the final branch out of the way. ”Real stuff, Jess.”

The clearing was sunny like everything else, but it was worn down. The treeless area was flattened to barely visible stumps and there was not much fresh grass. Something probably frequented the area; but whatever it was, it wasn’t here right now.

Towards the far end of the dirt circle, there was a large tree. Taller and wider than any of the others. It towered over everything else like a skyscraper in an urban neighborhood. Almost instantly the group could detect a sweet scent radiating from the tree. A closer look proved the tree to be full of fresh berries.

”Yo look at all of dat food!” Meowth cried out as the group ran towards the tree. The inside was almost completely hollowed out to make room for it all.

”You think whoever lives here would care if we took some?” James asked as Jessie and Meowth already began scoping out their favorites.

”Eh. There’s so much I don’t think it’ll even notice if we took a few. Ooh! They got nanab berries!” Meowth excitedly picked out every nanab berry in sight, as well as other astringent ones like aguav and pamtre.

Jessie released Wobbuffet from its ball to pick out some berries as well. It had been tucked in its ball the past while; during the failed Pikipek mission specifically because any more weight on the tree would’ve affected their plans on a successful capture. (Not like it mattered cause they failed anyway but who cares now, they have free food). James sifted around the pile like everyone else, but was disappointed when what he wanted was found. “Aw man.” He whispered to himself.

Mimikyu only watched everyone else. It almost went to pick some out, but refused since they did not belong to it. It stared at the group caught in a thinking gaze, snapping out of it once James spoke out loud again. “‘Kay, I’ve got my bunch, should we stay or go?”

”Oooone seconddd.” Jessie struggled to grab whatever she was trying to grab. She succeeded after a few tries, pulling back with a loud “Yes!”, holding a significantly large custap berry above her head like a trophy.

”Baaaaaaa…” Echoed through the trees an eerie wail. It sounded somehow more terrifying than whatever noises Mimikyu could make. ”Beweaaaaar…”

The sound of heavy, stomping footsteps grew closer and closer to the tree and clearing, the echoes louder and louder with every thud.

”Oh my god, that’s so not cool.” James hastily began trying to put the berries he took back where they were all found.

”What’re you doing you dope!? Let’s just go!” Meowth was about to escape the tree when a tall figure came into the clearing, the stomping sounds coming from it.

”Oh boy.” Jessie pulled Meowth back into the shadow of the tree. The figure was now clear in view.

It was pretty cylindrical in shape, with stuffed animal-like arms and legs. Its pink head and tail contrasted with its black body and its ears looked sort of like they were attached like a headband. Its tail swung back and forth, kicking up dust each time it swayed. It held a bunch of berries in its large arms, just like the ones inside the tree.

”How much ya wanna bet this place is dat things home?” Meowth backed into the far side of the tree, he didn’t wait for an answer and clawed his way up the base.

A piece of bark hit Jessie on the head, she looked up to see Meowth scaling up the tree. ”Where are you going!?”

”Away!”

”Great idea old chum!” James followed Meowth up, the jagged edges somehow able to support the weight of a whole human man. Wobbuffet tried to do the same, but failed and instead frantically hid behind the enormous food pile, dragging Mimikyu with it.

”C’mon Jess, or do ya wanna get murdered by dat thing?” Meowth clung to the bark as he called down.

Jessie looked back to the approaching ‘death’ as Meowth seemed to be implying. It looked kind of cute, except the loud stomping made her want to think twice. “Whatever.” She pulled on the loose tree bark as James and Meowth grabbed her and they watched in dead silence as the stomping beast dropped its fruit hall onto the ground.

The Pokémon was silent as it examined the area. It scanned the hollow closely, it wasn't how it left it, some of the berries were scattered about, like something was in there. It observed closely at the areas that’ve clearly been touched. It huffed and began to re-sort the food, moving about completely care-free. Though it felt like an eternity for everyone else. Meowth's fur stood up as it began to move closer to where Wobbuffet and Mimikyu were hiding. The pink and black creature accidentally knocked over a part of the tall stack the two mons hid behind, it made a surprised high-pitched squeak as it noticed the intruders. The sudden noise then made Meowth lose his grip on the piece of wood he supported himself on. He plummeted some fifteen feet and hit the ground with a thud, right on his tail.

”YeeeEOW!” Meowth disappointedly flopped onto the dirt, defeated. “Today has done nothin’ but suck. Take me sweet death if you please.” He opened his arms wide, accepting his fate as the Pokémon stomped over to him. It stood Meowth's defeated self, its expression hard to read. Meowth couldn’t tell if it was angry, confused, or whatever, but he and it had locked eyes and were now staring into each other's souls.

”Baaa? Baaawa?” It’s voice turned from an echo to a more high pitched squeak.

Meowth began to second-guess himself as it got closer. “Actually y’know what, nevermind.” He scrambled back to his feet and shuffled closer to the hollow’s opening. “Ay we were just leaving bud, not botherin’ no one!” Meowth kicked some of the berries he had grabbed earlier back into the pile, like he 100% wasn’t robbing it two minutes ago.

The Pokémon stepped back towards Wobbuffet and Mimikyu, pushing them towards Meowth, the three Pokémon now watched as it gathered up some of the berries and handed them to them.

Meowth looked up to Jessie and James, still clinging to the tree for dear life. ”I think…it don’t mind us?” He bit into the oran berry he was handed. “Woah dang, this is sweet.”

“Bawa?” The creature watched Jessie and James uneasily drop down and handed them some berries too. The duo hesitated, but seeing how no mon else minded, they shrugged and very uncomfortably ate what they were given. The large Pokémon joined as it sat down with a loud thud.

”Sooo, who are ya?” Meowth asked after a minute of deathly silence.

”Ba Bewear.”

”What’d it say?” James leaned closer to Meowth, trying to discern what it said himself.

”Uhhh…said its name is Bewear.”

Wobbuffet waved to it, bit late for a greeting but it’s better than nothing. Mimikyu scurried closer to Bewear to thank it. “Kikyu…” Bewear swiftly grabbed Mimikyu and pulled it into a killer hug. “KIKIKIKIKIKIKIKIKIKI!” Mimikyu screamed and flailed, trying to free itself from Bewear's death grip, trembling as it was set down. Everyone else ever-so-slightly distanced themselves from Bewear after that.

Team Rocket stayed at the tree for a while, it was a nice shelter from the sun, and there was unlimited food. After a while, Bewear got up and left, leaving the group alone again. James threw half a sitrus berry against the wall of the tree. “Now what?” Just as he asked that, a ringtone resonated from Jessie’s bag.

”YIKES ITS HEADQUARTERS!” Meowth, Wobbuffet, and James frantically jumped up as Jessie yanked the communication device out of her bag and placing it on the ground. The device was grey and spherical, a big red ‘R’ on the front. On top of it was a little red button, which when pressed the sphere opened up to show a holographic projector as the call was answered. It wasn’t the boss who called, but the irritating purple-haired bob-cut glasses goon gal, Matori. She stood in the dead center of the camera, arms folded with an ego higher than Spear Pillar. “You were told to report once in Alola, your plane should have landed hours ago. You are late.” Whoops.

“We were gonna do it you impatient bowl-cut!” Jessie lashed, violently swiping her hands at the hologram.

Matori scoffed. “I’m sure you were. Hm?” Her attention was captured by Mimikyu in the corner. “Is that yours?”

“Ki?”

”Uhhhh…yep! Just caught it” Jessie boasted, scooping Mimikyu off the floor and holding it up to the camera. James, Meowth, and Wobbuffet nodded with her.

Matori muttered to herself, “You already caught a Pokémon…” She seemed almost impressed, but hid it. Her face then returned back to its usual, annoyed look. “Anything on your…” Her voice quieted. “…secret mission yet?”

”Didn’t see nothin’ weird yet.” Meowth answered, stepping back a couple feet to look at the sky. “Yeah, nothin’ yet.”

”Alright, when you do, report immediately. Don’t make me have to remind you.” Matori scowled, she was only scarier than the Boss because she always twists stories to make them be in the wrong and her in the right.

”Cool, whatever, we will.” Jessie rolled her eyes as the call was hung up and the device retracted back into a sphere.

”So now we should actually catch Mimikyu right?” James asked.

Jessie set Mimikyu down to pull a Pokéball from her bag. “Yeah, glad we bought this.” Mimikyu glared at the ball in her hands, though no one could really tell because it hid under rags. Jessie held the ball out for it, implying for Mimikyu to go inside.

”Kyu?” Jessie took that as a ‘sure’ and tossed it up. Mimikyu watched the red and white device closely as it came flying towards it. Just as they were to collide, Mimikyu slapped it away with its wooden tail. James muffled a laugh at the ball had been sent back to Jessie, smacking her in the face.

”Oh so you’re too good for a Pokéball I see how it is.” Jessie sat back down on the edge of the tree base.

”Maybe it needs more time to warm up to you?” James wondered. Jessie brushed his comment off.

A few more hours had passed and it was now later in the afternoon. But Bewear was still gone. Meowth sat up. ”Yup I’m bored. I'm goin’ to da city.” He left the open part of the tree.

”Kiki!” Mimikyu scurried behind him.

”Ya coming?”

”Kiki!”

—————

⁉️ Who’s that Pokémon? ⁉️

This immensely dangerous Pokémon possessed overwhelming physical strength. Its habitat is generally off-limits. (Sun)

—————

The two Pokémon wandered around the forest until they eventually ended up back at the Melemele Trainer School. There were far less students now since classes were over for the day.

”Dis is where the twerps and dat Pikachu hang around.” Meowth pointed at the giant building, stepping to the side for Mimikyu to see. It looked around, but didn't see Pikachu anywhere. “Nah, it’s too late for them to be here now.” He pulled Mimikyu out of its stare and continued down the path to Hau’oli city.

After a bit more walking the high buildings could now be seen over the horizon. ”Nice view.” Meowth noted. “Wonder if there's any cool stuff to steal.” He paused for a moment then turned to Mimikyu. “Hey…do you care that we’re criminals?”

”Kik.” Mimikyu responded and continued on.

Meowth shrugged and followed it. ”I’ll take that as ya don’t.” Hau’oli was pretty big, and a relatively drastic change of scenery from Alola’s general tropical vacation look, but it still had the vibe. The city was decorated with many colors and flower beds were grown outside most of the buildings. It was that time of day where the sun wasn’t exactly setting, but one could tell it was soon, the light was a little more golden than in the noon.

”Ooh there's some shops, bet they got good stuff there.” There were various venues selling a multitude of trinkets. There were candles, honey, rocks, seashells, jewelry, paintings, printed photos, and even homemade baked goods. There was a sign pointing to the other side of the market where fresh produce like fruits, vegetables, and berries were sold.

”I think there's the beach past dis here market.” Mimikyu silently marveled at the stalls, it's never really gone into public much, especially after its cloth was torn. But not being alone was nice encouragement to have it get out more now.

”Kyu?” One stand in particular caught Mimikyu's eye. It was rather small, and at the moment there were no customers, rather, no human customers. The owner of the stand was a short old lady. She had curly white hair, small glasses, and a pink outfit complete with an apron. The apron was covered with seeds and berry juice from the fruit at her stand. She was humming as she continued to cut up the produce. “Kiii.” Mimikyu getting closer to the stand caught the lady’s attention. She reached to Mimikyu with a bowl of sliced watermelon that was just cut. Mimikyu made a quiet, but happy noise as it grabbed a slice with a claw from underneath its cloth.

Her gaze then shifted to Meowth. “Well Alola there dear, you can have some too.” She was so soft-spoken to him, definitely not something Meowth was used to.

He held a paw up in denial. ”Nah, I’m good.” He had enough fruit today thanks to Bewear.

Anela was momentarily taken aback by Meowth suddenly talking. “Oh my.” But she simply laughed it off. “No worries, you’re welcome anytime.”

Meowth stood with his thoughts for a second before a mysterious sound came from behind the stand. “Mrauuu…ten.” Its yellow eyes peered around the corner. The figure stepped out of the shade. “Mrrrrrrrr.” It mumbled as it skulked closer.

”Litten, Alola!” The lady pet Litten’s head, a small smile formed on the fiery feline's face. Mimikyu quietly got closer to Litten.

”Ki kyu…?”

The lady checked the watch on her wrist and looked to the sky. “Litten, look up there.” Litten looked up, so did Meowth and Mimikyu out of curiosity. In the sky flew a large group of Pikipek, cawing out in high-pitched squeals. The people of the market looked on in awe. The flock dove down at the leading Trumbeaks command, diving towards the market stalls. Both people and Pokémon offered food to the Pikipek.

”See that, Litten? Alola’s bounty is for everything to share.” Anela held out more cut fruits in a bowl to the flock, three Pikipek gathered around the weaved basket, picking around for a bit before flying off with their fruit of choice.

”Mrauten.” Litten grabbed a petaya berry from the stall before darting off just like the Pikipek. 

“Kyu! Kyu!” Mimikyu trailed behind Litten, forcing Meowth to follow too.

—————

⁉️ It’s Bewear! ⁉️

—————

”Where ya going palley!?” He shouted, chasing the Pokémon as it exited the market. Litten sped up, he knew he was being chased. He halted suddenly and turned around, staring Mimikyu in the face.

”Ten mrau!? Mrau tenmau!” He hissed at Mimikyu.

Just as Litten made his accusation, a Power Gem attack had exploded in between them, kicking up smoke. Litten, Mimikyu, and Meowth stepped back in shock, coughing as the smoke entered their lungs. Litten began to hiss even louder, shielding his berry with his entire body. Stepping out from the smoke was another feline Pokémon. It had light dull purple fur with a circular blue gem on its head. A fluffy snow white scarf draped around its neck.

”Is dat a Persian?” Meowth wondered aloud. It looked like one, similar build and features, but it somehow had an even more sinister look. Boss said somethin’ ‘bout rare or different Pokémon, maybe dis is one of ‘em.

”Per pershaper!” She laughed at the cowering Litten as she brandished a sharp claw. Litten screeched at her, the fur on his back stood up in the color of fire, he tried to fire an Ember at her, but the ball of fire dispersed before it could even hope to graze her face. “Pershaaahaha.” Persian laughed as she charged another Power Gem at Litten. He dodged the attack just in time, but was unable to pull the berry away as well. The attack eviscerated the berry, turning it into a pathetic pile of char.Persian stomped what was left of it into the stone walkway, staring Litten in the eyes as she did.

”Ki!” Mimikyu called to the Persian, who until now was ignoring it and Meowth. Persian cockily swung her head back and fired a Dark Pulse. Mimikyu deflected the attack with Shadow Ball, and it used the chance from the smoke created from the colliding attacks to grab Meowth and Litten with its claw and get away. Mimikyu slowed once far enough away, and Litten pulled himself free from Mimikyu claw, hissing still.

Mimikyu changed its posture to seem as non-threatening as possible. “Kyu kikyo KiKya? Ki ku ko?”

”Who?” Meowth tried to ask but was cut off by Litten.

”MauTan? M’ten!?”

”Ki mimi kiki.”

“Marauuu…” Litten was hesitant, as he thought he angrily cursed to himself about losing the berry.

”Ki ka mi mi.”

Litten thought on Mimikyu’s request. ”Marau.” He followed Mimikyu and Meowth away, back through the market, past the school, and into the clearing with the large tree.

”Mimiki.” Mimikyu pointed inside the tree. Litten ran inside, to Jessie, James, and Wobbuffet's surprise. Litten glanced at them for a moment before searching around for a petaya berry.

”Hey who invited you!?” Jessie screeched at the intruder, but Litten ignored her.

”Chill out Jess, we did.” Meowth glanced at Mimikyu. “Or rather it did.”

”It your new buddy or something?” She teased sarcastically. “Didn’t think you’d actually put in the effort of recruiting Pokémon for the Boss, about time you pulled your weight.”

Meowth retaliated before Jessie could say anything else. ”Ay woah I didn’t say nothin’ about him bein’ a new member. To be honest I don’t know what’s going on either, this is all a Mimikyu thing.” He watched as Litten and Mimikyu dug around the various piles before finally finding their desired berry. The moment the petaya berry was in Litten’s possession he ran out of the tree, back the way he came.

”Kiki!” Mimikyu called to Meowth as they both ran after Litten, leaving Jessie and James completely in the dark.

The three trekked back to the stone path they were at when the Persian attacked., going past it this time and stopping at a fence. Litten had no problem squeezing through the bars, nor did Mimikyu, but Meowth had to push himself over it because of his big head, getting a quiet, teasing snicker from Litten. They followed the fiery feline into the woods, on a path where part of the tall grass had been separated, a path Litten had made from going in and out every day. The grass path had led to an old building. It was covered in vines and leaves, and was very obviously falling apart. Litten stepped inside with a creak of the floorboards.

The house was dusty, it had cobwebs littering the boxes and old furniture so much so you’d think there were two tarps covering it and not one. On the far right side - next to a branching staircase - sat an old Stoutland on a dusty couch. Its tan and blue fur was longer than average, and its breathing sounded raspy. Litten placed the petaya berry on a crate that was in front of the couch. Stoutland leaned close and bit half of the berry off, pushing the other half to Litten. Litten refused at first, pushing the berry back, but Stoutland refused to eat it. Litten sighed and reluctantly munched on the remaining half.

”Stou?” It grunted gesturing to Meowth and Mimikyu.

”Mau mau, MauTan.” Litten flicked his tail carelessly, telling Mimmikyu to come closer.

”Mimimi KiKya.” Mimikyu used its claw to wave at Stoutland. Stoutland grunted back a hello.

Mimikyu’s attitude suddenly shifted to a battle-focused mind. It hissed, gathering energy around itself. A Shadow Ball formed, but instead of becoming a Shadow Ball, the purple sparks around it scattered, it looked sort of like electricity, but it was still made of shadows.

”Stou lan.” The elderly Stoutland grunted a nod and stood up. It charged electricity - real electricity - and fired a powerful Thunderbolt at a pile of boxes across the room.

”Woah that lug fired a whole Thunderbolt.” Meowth stated, shocked. Even Litten was surprised as he turned back around to question it.

”MrauMrau!?” He asked, but Stoutland didn’t give a clear answer.

It then looked at Mimikyu. ”Lan.” Mimikyu understood, it created another Shadow Ball and broke it again, but the sparks still remained their dark purple.

”Kyuuu…”

”Stout. Lanstou sou lan.” Stoutland reassured the cloth Pokémon. Mimikyu’s confidence flared as it thanked Stoutland. It then left alongside Meowth, leaving Stoutland and Litten alone. As the two walked away from the cabin, the moonlight now beginning to illuminate the land in place of the sun. Mimikyu looked back one last time, watching flares of fire erupt in erratic intervals from inside.

”So what was dat all about? You lead me on a wild Ducklett chase from here to there, at least gimme some answers.”

”Kyu.”

”That secret eh? Whatever.” Meowth and Mimikyu walked the path back, no more words exchanged between them.

—————

James flipped through a small notebook he had been given by headquarters. It was a list of all known Alolan Pokémon. “Black fur with orange stripes…” he muttered as the sound of the flipping pages continued. “Here! Litten, the Fire Cat Pokémon. Prefers solitude…lights furballs to attack…sharp claws…” He skimmed the information on it. “Yeah, definitely a Litten.” James put the book down and polished his prized Pokéball collection.

”What was Meowth and Mimikyu doing with a Litten?” Jessie wondered.

”Itsa long story…” Meowth flopped onto the ground, exhausted from walking around all day.

”Are you back for real now,?” Jessie hovered over him with an irritating glare.

“Yeah yeah we are. I’m too tired to move anymore.” Meowth heaved.

”Ki!” Mimikyu chirped with bliss, trying again with breaking a Shadow Ball. The dark sparks danced around the breeze before disappearing again.

”You keep coming back but you don’t wanna be caught. What’s your deal?” Jessie asked it. Mimikyu took a fighting stance at her words. “Hm?”

Meowth hypothesized from the ground. “Maybe it wants to test your worth or something. Try battling it.” He paused. “And before you ask, no I’m not gonna be its opponent. Use Wobbuffet.” 

Jessie sighed. ”Wobbuffet go.” Wobbuffet stood up and ran in front of her. Mimikyu fired a Shadow Ball at the blue punching-bag-shaped Pokémon. “Mirror Coat!” That was the only move Wobbuffet knew, but it knew it to perfection. Wobbuffet was shrouded in a rainbow light as the attack reflected clean off it. The attack grew in size before being shot back at Mimikyu. It dodged the attack, but just barely, before charging in with Wood Hammer. Its wooden tail turned green and smacked Wobbuffet in the face, making it stumble backwards and onto its back. Mimikyu then charged another Shadow Ball.

It dodges fast, so just make it not do that. “Wobbuffet, close space between it and Mirror Coat again!” Jessie demanded. The rainbow light returned as Wobbuffet dashed forwards. Just like before, the ball grew in size as it collided with Mirror Coat and was sent careening at Mimikyu, but because Wobbuffet had gotten closer, Mimikyu did not have the time to dodge its own attack, and the empowered Shadow Ball struck it hard. Mimikyu hit the ground, dazed for a few seconds before pushing itself back up, shaking off the dirt with a quick hop.

”Kyu kiki!” Mimikyu praised Jessie and Wobbuffet. It relaxed and stopped fighting. Using its claw it gestured Jessie closer.

”I think it does want ya to catch it after all.” Meowth had sat up again to watch.

Jessie laughed aloud before stealing the Luxury Ball from James’s hand. He gasped as Jessie prepared to throw it.

”NO NO NO ANYTHING BUT MY PRECIOUS COLLECTION!!!” Jessie pushed James away as he tried desperately to stop her.

”Come on James. It’s only useful when you actually use it!” She threw the ball as hard as she could, the trajectory of the Luxury Ball heading straight for Mimikyu. Mimikyu jumped in the air happily as the ball collided with its cloth self, converting Mimikyu to red energy as it shrunk into the capsule device.

One shake.

Two shakes.

Three shakes.

Ding!

A moment of silence fell on Team Rocket before a cheer broke out, celebrating their first Alolan capture. Even James cheered a bit, though quieter. Jessie gleefully picked up the Luxury Ball and released Mimikyu, who now emerged in a blue light.

”Ki!” It chirped happily.

”Bawa!” Bewear clapped its paws together.

”WOAH! When’d the big lug show up!” Meowth backed away just in case it decided it wanted to hug anyone.

”Ba!” Bewear picked Mimikyu up, and held it in another one of its soul-crushing hugs.

”KIIIIIIIIIKIKIKI!!!” Mimikyu flailed in Bewear’s aggressive embrace before being set down again.

”Kyuuu…” Mimikyu sighed at its freedom as its new family cheered around it. No one could see under its cloth, but Mimikyu smiled.

Chapter Text

Started on: April 25th, 2025, 6:07 PM

Finished on: May 3rd, 2025, 9:05 PM

Posted on: September 7th, 2025, 12:54 AM

Friday May 3rd, 3003

“I know Friday is an exciting day for most or whatever, but this seems a little excessive…” She watched the eccentric people as they rushed through the streets of Hau’oli, talking about two more days or something. Days ‘til what? A fluffy purple-pink Pokémon brushed her leg. She looked up at her with bright eyes, the red gem on her forehead gleamed in the sun.

”Es espeon!” She meowed sheepishly before tugging her trainer and running up to a malasada stall. She pawed at the sign, her eyes wide in begging. Her trainer sighed as she purchased two, giving one to Espeon and eating the other herself. She and the Espeon sat on a bench in the shade to eat, scanning the people around her. She saw a small group of young trainers pointing at a poster stapled to a light pole.

”Dude we gotta go see it, it’s gonna be freaking rad!” One of the boys shouted, pushing another boy out of the way to read the poster closer.

”And I’m not grounded this time!” Another replied, yanking the boy that got pushed back to his feet and running off with the other one behind them.

The Espeon and her trainer glanced at each other before getting up to take a closer look at the poster themselves. The border of the paper was decorated with printed flowers for the corners connected by electrical zig-zags and the top was written in a bold, flowing font that resembled waves ‘FULL FORCE FESTIVAL’. Reading downwards the poster elaborated. ‘ANNUAL ISLAND AND GUARDIAN DEITY DEDICATION CEREMONY: SUNDAY, MAY 5TH. The bottom of the poster had a number for volunteers and another for some sign-up. “Wouldn’t hurt to join, probably. What do you think, Maya?” She looked down at the Espeon by her side.

“Espi!”

—————

Ash and Pikachu walked into class to see all of the students gathered around Kiawe’s desk. ”Are you gonna join this year!?” Hau was in his face, begging Kiawe to join some festival. Raichu by his side was being equally persuasive, prompting Dartrix to pull him away using his talons once he got too loud.

He slammed his palms onto the desk. “Come on man, be more excited! This is a once-in-a-year chance to battle in front of a crowd with Kahuna Hala watching!” He stopped talking when he saw Ash walk in. “Hey, Ash! You should join the Full-Force Festival with me and Kiawe! It’s gonna be so awesome!”

Ash and Pikachu were equally stunned by Haus' enthusiasm, and whatever the Full-Force Festival was. ”Um…the what?”

Mallow lightly karate chopped Hau on the head. “If you're gonna beg him to join, at least tell him what it is first.” She and everyone else sighed.

”Yeah! Yeah, of course! So, the Full-Force Festival is this once a year festival hosted by Melemele’s island kahuna - in this case, Kahuna Hala - to celebrate and give our thanks to the island and Tapu Koko! People from around the island set up stands and sell stuff you can’t get normally, and there’s games and performances, and at the very end there’s a battling competition where you can fight against other trainers!”

”That sounds awesome! When is it?”

”It’s basically all of Sunday, and the battles are after sundown.” Hau then bent down to whisper to Dartrix and Raichu. “We gotta prepare real hard so we can impress gramps so he’ll finally take us on as serious opponents!”

The other students began to discuss the events of Sunday, “I heard there was gonna be a special guest. Who do you think it’s gonna be?” Sophocles asked the others.

Mallow shrugged. ”Dunno, I haven’t heard anything about that.”

”Alola class!” Kukui greeted the students as he walked in.

”Alola!” They all shouted back.

—————

Saturday May 4th, 3003

Pikachu ran out of Kukui’s cabin, rolling a sleeping Rowlet in front of him towards the sandy beachfront that the cabin overlooked. Following the two ‘mons were Ash and Rotom. The sun's gaze was light as dawn turned to sunrise. ”How is Rowlet still asleep after being dragged all this way?” Rotom buzzed, observing Rowlet closely.

”I guess it’s just like that.” Ash nudged Rowlet in an attempt to wake it. Rowlet quivered a bit at his touch but stayed fast asleep. Rotom floated over and played a loud alarm clock noise in Rowlet’s face, the obnoxious ringing managed to stir Rowlet from its sleep. The alarm silenced as Rowlet slowly sat up.

”Kroo?” It questioned, tilting its head and rustling the sand out of its feathers.

”Aright Rowlet, we gotta prepare real hard for this okay? It’s gonna be your first official battle.” Watching Pikachu take a fighting stance, Rowlet stood up, fully awake and cawed aggressively. “We’re gonna work on your moves first, what can you do?” Rowlet jumped away from Ash, Pikachu, and Rotom, it was still for a moment before its wings turned a glowing green, with a flap it summoned a line of leaves that stuck into the sand, stirring it up a bit; then they dissipated into light after a few seconds. Rowlet then flew up and dove back down - beak first - and shrouded in a light blue and gold light. As it landed it returned back to the group, surrounded in a very faint - almost unnoticeable - white light, this time claws first.

Rotom stopped the video it just took of the three different attacks Rowlet had just performed and quickly sifted through the data it had to find results. ”Brbrbrbr beep! Rowlet just used Leafage, Peck, and Tackle!”

With that information, Ash had Rowlet and Pikachu do a test battle of sorts to see how Rowlet moved around in combat. To see how it fully functioned, it was an unscripted fight and Rowlet’s only instruction first was to try and hit Pikachu. Rowlet decided to charge first with Tackle, going talon first - notably fast - towards Pikachu. He dodged and Rowlets foot dug deep into the sand, the kicked up particles were blown away with a flap of Rowlet’s wings as it freed itself from the sand's grasp at the same time. Pikachu dashed to Rowlet with Quick Attack and it fired a Leafage at Pikachu’s face. The move was spread out, and Pikachu was barely able to dodge its wide range. He dashed to Rowlet’s left and instead of stopping, he began to circle it, still enveloped in the white light of Quick Attack. Rowlet tried to follow Pikachu’s movements but became dizzy and fell back-first to the ground in a daze.

”P-Pika!?” Pikachu stopped when he saw Rowlet go down.

”Yeah, a little too intense buddy.” Ash picked Rowlet up as Pikachu let out a sheepish laugh, apologizing to Rowlet as it regained its bearings.

”Krooo…” Rowlet groaned, tilting its face before coming back to life. “Kroo!” It chirped with energy as it flew back up.

Ash began to note aloud. ”It’s fast…but has trouble catching up when others are faster.” He kept that in the back of his mind. “But Leafage can cover a wide range for those fast opponents. Peck and Tackle are basically executed the same way, but they are different types.” He decided he would work on Rowlet’s speed for the time being, using Pikachu as a guide. He was hoping he’d find something unique to Rowlet along the way so it and Pikachu weren’t one-to-one copies, but he’d yet to find anything so far.

The afternoon went by pretty fast, with most of it spent working on Rowlet's endurance. Ash had Rowlet follow Pikachu around, running up and down the shore with him following behind at the same pace while having Rotom keep track of its speed. As excited as Rowlet was, it seemed to be getting bored after a while so Ash switched to something different. Instead of running in a straight line, he had Rowlet follow Pikachu through various movement patterns like zig-zags and circles. Rowlet slowly began to pick up speed as the time passed. After which, they all stopped to catch their breath.

”Kroo ooh…” Rowlet slumped over in the sand and stared at the empty, cloudless sky. Ash combed Rowlet’s feathers with his hand as they were displaced from all of the wind and flying.

”You did awesome Rowlet.” Ash praised the grass quill Pokémon. “You too Pikachu.” He stood up and stretched. “So how about lunch?” Pikachu and Rowlet perked up at the word and they both flew inside.

Catching up with them inside, Ash poured three bowls of Pokémon food for the group. Pikachu and Rowlet both dove their faces in the second the bowls molecules connected with the floor. Then Rockruff came running up from the basement at the sound as well. Ash made a sandwich for himself with the ambience of Rotom rambling on about the data it collected.

As the group settled down, Kukui had just arrived back home from running errands or something. “So how’d it go?” He set a bag down as Rockruff ditched his food bowl and ran over to him, barking happily.

”Pretty good. Rowlet’s really fast! I don’t know who else is gonna be in the fight besides me, Kiawe, and Hau, but I got some pretty good ideas after seeing Rowlet’s style.” Wild ideas were his specialty, and they worked a lot of the time. There’s nothing funner than catching someone off guard with a strategy they wouldn’t ever expect. “You’re coming to the festival too, right?” He never heard Kukui explicitly state going, he assumed he would, but confirmation wouldn’t hurt.

“It depends. I’m working on some important research right now. I might be able to go, just not for long.”

The rest of the day went by slowly, curse anticipation. Ash took Pikachu and Rowlet back outside later in the day to work on its speed more with Rowlet being surprisingly motivated.

—————

⁉️ Who’s that Pokémon? ⁉️

This Pokémon’s name is derived from oriole (type of bird), choreography (dance sequence), and oratorio (large musical work). The specific form in this segment has feathers that mimic a fan and skirt.

—————

Sunday May 5th, 3003

The day of the Full-Force-Festival fell upon Alola, and everyone could tell. Practically every part of Melemele was bustling with excitement. People came from all over the island to gather where the festival was held. Like every year before it, the heart of the festival was held in Iki Town. In the center of Iki were the grounds where Grand Trial matches were fought against Kahuna Hala. That battlefield was flat and made of stone, but that field was not where the Full-Force battles were going to be held. That field was a separate - slightly elevated - stage constructed of wood.

”Woah.” Was all Ash could say as he arrived with Professor Kukui. He had planned to meet with the other students by a truck that sold malasadas - per Hau’s request. Kukui had separated from Ash upon arrival to talk to someone. He knew from everyone else the festival was the one of the biggest ceremonies held on Melemele, so he assumed it would be crowded, but it was almost insane how many people were there. It took nearly five minutes for Ash to spot Hau, and that was with Pikachu and Rotom’s help (Rowlet was unhelpful as it was asleep on Ash’s shoulder the whole time).

So far Hau, Kiawe, and Lana were the only ones who were there. And even from a distance Ash could see Hau jittering with excitement as he purchased a malasada from the truck. The truck stood out with a bright red color, and the employees all had matching uniforms that looked like Bewear. A Wobbuffet - also in uniform - stood outside the truck with a sign promoting the truck's goods.

Hau noticed Ash approaching and called to him. ”Heeey!” Rowlet stirred from its nap and leapt from Ash's shoulder from where it was perched, flying at its tops speeds to greet Dartrix. It and Dartrix high-fived with their wings.

”Kroo Kroo!”

”Triiix! Triiix!” Dartrix used his beak to straighten Rowlets messed up feathers. Popplio, who was also out of its Pokéball, jumped down from Lana’s arms to also exchange her greetings with the grassy owls.

”Pop! Popplio!” She clapped her flippers together, greeting Rowlet and Dartrix, plus Pikachu who had now caught up alongside Ash.

”Rai rai!” Raichu pushed his fist forward like a false punch, burning with combative spirit.

”Hey guys!” Ash ran up to the group to be met with Hau shoving a malasada in Ash's field of vision.

”Ever had one of these before? They’re literally the BEST!” He somehow managed to shout over the sound of the other people around them

Hau ripped the dough in half and offered it to Ash, who gladly accepted the free snack. The sugary glaze was sweet, Hau had every honest right to be the way he was about them. “Woah, this is so good!”

Lana and Popplio laughed simultaneously. ”Hau is absolutely crazy over them.”

”I can see why.” Ash said as he offered the last piece to Pikachu.

”We still have time before the Full-Force battles - and until everyone else gets here - so let’s go check the place out!” With Hau leading, Ash, Kiawe, and Lana all looked around the festival's unique vendors and performers. Every few minutes or so a new group of people or Pokémon would take the wooden stage and perform various tricks or dances. This time it was three purple Marowak stepping onto the stage and lighting their bones ablaze in a teal fire, they spun the bones and marched in a circle, chanting alongside the people that watched. The Marowak trio bowed as they finished their dance and departed from the stage. Next, their spot was taken by an elderly woman in a beautiful teal dress. Around her neck was a string of yellow flowers and beads, and a head accessory also made of yellow flowers, but with red and white as well as some leaves. She performed a slow dance, swaying back and forth alongside a small pink bird Pokémon.

“Rotom, who’s that Pokémon?” Ash whispered to the floating Pokédex.

Rotom snapped a picture of the dancing Pokémon and after a few seconds recited the information it found. “Oricorio: Pa’u Style, the Dancing Pokémon, a Psychic and Flying-Type. It elevates its mind with a gentle dance that puts others off guard. It then uses the power of its dance to shower itself in psychic energy to attack.” The Oricorio on stage danced elegantly, completely in sync with the woman it danced alongside with. Somewhere, Litten watched them around a corner

”Anela and Oricorio are so cool right?” Mallow's voice from behind startled the group. She was with Lillie and Sophocles, who all had arrived late for various reasons.

“Jeez Mallow, way to just sneak up on us like a ghost.” Hau grumbled.

”I wasn’t even trying to!” She tried to defend herself to no avail, sneaking up on people was more Lana’s thing. Hanging out with her so much probably gave Mallow the habit. Lana smirked like a proud mentor.

With the seven of them together now they all watched the performances, commenting on this and that. The sun was now a beautiful gold as it neared the horizon, setting slowly and dousing the festival grounds in a cooling light. Kukui returned to give the students his best wishes.

”So you have to leave after all?” Kukui was a professor and a teacher, so being pulled away for research purposes or work or whatever wasn’t really surprising to any of them.

”Don’t worry, I’ve seen the festival before so I’m not gonna miss much.” He reassured the group.

”What’re you gonna be researching?” Lillie asked.

”Just this and that with Principal Oak.” Cool. “Best of luck to all of you participating!” He was then gone as soon as he appeared. Strange but hey, a professor's gotta do what a professor's gotta do.

As the sun continued to set, Hau became more fired up by the minute, he was hyping himself up to win. Kiawe noticed how close the sun was to setting. “The battles begin at sundown.” The participants of him, Hau, and Ash separated from the others to make their way over to where they were supposed to gather. Mallow, Lillie, Lana, and Sophocles cheered them on as they left.

—————

⁉️ It’s Oricorio (Pa’u Style)! ⁉️

—————

There was a small white tent next to where the participant gathering was. Of eight participants, four were already there, and with Ash, Hau, and Kiawe arriving that number bumped up to seven, and all they had to do was wait for the last one.

Two of the contestants were talking to each other. A boy and a girl. The boy had flat dark blue hair with a black and blue hat. His shirt was striped white and blue, but one of the blue strips had a white circle interrupting the pattern. The girl on the other hand wore brighter colors, a red beanie contrasted with her black hair and she had a loose shirt tied in the front with pastel floral patterns.

Their conversation was interrupted when the other contestant started laughing loudly, she seemed to be on the phone with someone. She abruptly stopped laughing when she saw eyes on her. She awkwardly mouthed a sorry before she shielded her face in embarrassment with her long purple hair, also bringing down her hat and sunglasses to further hide herself. She then hung up her call and sat in silence.

Scouting out the last participant, Ash assumed it was the guy hunched over on a bench away from the others. His back faced the group so hr couldn’t see his face. ”Oh Tapu.” Hau shared a worried look with Kiawe. “Ohhhh this is so not good.”

Ash glanced to Pikachu, who was equally in the dark. “Why? What’s wrong?”

Hau pointed at the man, whisper-screaming. ”Him!” He looked really worried. “He’s what’s wrong!”

”I thought he hated the island ceremonies.” Kiawe noted, Hau agreed with him.

”Who is he?”

”Guzma.” Hau answered with a dramatically ominous tone, almost like the name would curse him.

Seeing as Hau would not provide further context, Kiawe explained for him. “He’s the leader of Team Skull. Remember the three with the masks back when you and your mom originally came to deliver that Pokémon egg?”

”The ones picking a fight for no reason?”

”Yeah, them. Guzma rallied them and others with a particular disdain for the Island Challenge. They took over this abandoned town called Po on Ula’Ula island and scared off anyone that tried to come near it. They hate the Island Challenge and everything related to it with a passion. The Kahunas, the Tapus, the ceremonies devoted to them, Z-Crystals and Z-Moves, you get the idea.” Guzma was the last person Kiawe or Hau would expect to be at the Full Force Festival, much less participate in it. With Guzma and his gang’s track record, he was surprised he hadn't been dragged out of the festival by now. But Guzma wasn’t really being a disturbance. He was just kinda sitting there.

”Maybeee…he changed his mind?” Hau regretted those words the second they came out. “No way.”

”There has to be a reason.” Kiawe thought of every possibility he could, but nothing seemed reasonable. That’s when Kiawe noticed Guzma was actually alone. He’s usually seen with this girl with crazy pink and yellow hair, Plumeria, was it? Her or some of the other members but it was just him. A fair fight was the only thing he and the others could hope for now.

”I reeeaaallly hope I don't gotta go up against him.” Raichu and Dartrix probably disagreed, judging by how fired up they both looked (and Raichu punching the air in Guzma’s direction), but even that was still part of a small mask. Everyone on the island knew Guzma as a menace, he doesn’t hold back no matter who he’s fighting. What would gramps think if I lost to a dirty man like him? “He’s got a crazy win streak and I don’t wanna be a part of it!” Hau declared; that, Raichu and Dartrix agreed with.

Ash thought to himself. Is Guzma really all of that? If even Kiawe was on edge by his presence he must be. Even so, Ash wasn’t trying to judge solely on appearances or rumors, especially if he had supposedly taken over a whole town? Even if it was abandoned, that still takes a crazy amount of dedication and effort.

The group’s worries were interrupted by a deep, but gentle voice. The voice was owned by a man walking towards the group. “Gramps!” Hau rushed over to the old man and hugged him. And the man hugged back, Hau pulled away after a moment. “Ash, this is my gramps, Kahuna Hala of Melemele Island!”

So that was the kahuna. He reminded Ash a lot of Brock - caring - but definitely hiding a lot of strength. Hala chuckled. “How have you been Hau, my boy?”

”I’ve been awesome! Dartrix and Raichu have been training super hard!” The mentioned Pokémon rushed to Hala, also chittering with happiness to see him again.

”Great to hear that.” He unfolded a piece of paper that was in his hand and stepped forward. He spoke a little louder to get the attention of the other participants. “I will now call role for the eight participants of this year's Full-Force-Festival.” He went across the list, reading all of the names.

“Sina?”

”Hellooo!” The purple haired girl from the phone call stood and shouted.

”Elio?”

The boy with the striped shirt stopped talking and raised his hand. “Here!”

”Selene?”

“Yup.” The girl with Elio stated.

”Hau?”

Hau cheered along with Riachu and Dartrix. ”You bet!”

”Kiawe?”

”Alola!”

”Ash?”

”Alola!”

“Guzma?”

He stood up slowly from the bench he was slouched on and Ash saw his face for the very first time. He looked angry, but again, looks don’t define a person. He didn’t say anything, just held eye contact with Hala. Hala marked the paper, because he was still here even if he didn’t say anything.

”Espera?”

It was quiet for a moment before the sounds of frantic running came closer. The last contestant ran to the group. An out of breath, “Hey...” to confirm her attendance. The Espeon by her side panted heavily before calming down. Espera quickly glanced at the opponents. She held her gaze at Guzma a little longer, a competitive fire in her eyes. As she recollected herself, she fixed the bun in her hair; hair that was colored magenta and fading into orange, that same orange speckled about like stars. The Espeon seemed painfully familiar to Ash, and judging by Pikachu’s curious face, he seemed to agree.

With everyone attending present, Hala continued. ”Now bring out and declare the Pokémon you will be fighting with. If you have more than one, you are able to use whoever, but all matches held are one on one.”

Sina released a Glaceon, Elio a grey Meowth - which was named En -, Selene a green and yellow Grimer, and Kiawe brought out Turtonator and Charizard. Hau already had Raichu and Dartrix out, and Ash already had Pikachu and Rowlet out. They all announced the names of their Pokémon as they were revealed.

Guzma begrudgingly sent out some Pokémon with thick armor. It was a very dull teal - almost grey - and the inner part of it was a dull pink. Around its eyes, bright magenta antenna stuck upwards like swords.

”Hey, Rotom?” Ash turned to it for any information.

”On it! Golisopod, the Hard Scale Pokémon, a Bug and Water-Type. Golisopod use their sharp claws to split sea water in two, with exposed sand revealing prey for Golisopod to enjoy.”

“That’s nice.” Hau whispered.

Espera then pointed to her Espeon. “This is Maya.” She stated.

Hala had the eight contestants line up on the stage. They stood behind him as he announced the beginning of the battling competition. People began to gather around the wooden stage, excitement was at an all time high. Ash, Hau, and Kiawe waved to the rest of the class as they spotted them in the crowd.

”People of Alola. Tonight we gather under the open sky as one. Tonight we fight for the Tapu and all they do for us. Tonight we shall show them our endless gratitude.” He paused for a moment, building suspense. “This year, the winner of the Full-Force Battle Competition will receive a special honor.” Everybody hushed. “The honor to battle with the Masked Royal himself!” The crowd erupted into cheer barely before Hala could finish.

”THE Masked Royal!? Like THE Masked Royal!?”

”I knew I should've entered!”

”Oh my Tapu the Masked Royal is here!?” People and Pokémon everywhere cheered and screamed.

Ash saw Mallow, Lana, Lillie, and Sophocles absolutely freaking out, he turned and saw Hau doing the same as who he assumed was the Masked Royal walked through the crowd, a tall, bipedal black and red Pokémon behind him. He and the Pokémon waved to the screaming people as he walked through. He and the Pokémon stopped at the front of the stage, doing their signature pose and line.

”Eeen-joy!”

”Reeen-roy!”

“The Full-Force-Festival, a symbol of our devotion to Alola and the Tapu, begins now!”

The participants on stage walked off, Espera, Guzma, Elio, and Selene to the left and Ash, Hau, Kiawe, and Sina to the right. Hala backed to where they once stood off to the side of the stage, in the position of a referee. “The first match will be Selene versus Espera.” The two contestants nodded and took the stage, both with their Pokémon at the ready.

”Not a great first matchup.” Rotom noted. “Alolan Grimer are a Poison and Dark-Type. That Espeon is gonna have trouble. Against a Kanto Grimer, Maya or any other Psychic-Type would have no problem, but with an added Dark-Type there's a chance she wouldn’t even be able to hit it unless she had other moves.” Ash and Pikachu could relate, even with Quick Attack and Iron Tail, beating a Ground-Type if it was just Pikachu took either a good plan or quick thinking. But type matchups have never deterred them too much, he reiterated his point out loud for Rotom to hear.

”Type matchups don’t define a battle, Rotom.” His thinking was cut off when he heard the battle begin.

”Power Gem!” Espera wasted no time in getting a lead. The gem on Maya’s head glowed as she fired at her sludge-covered opponent. The red beam outlined tan and glowed, and collided quickly with Grimer just as it was able to block its face with its gooey arms.

Grimer lowered its arms to reveal she hadn’t done much damage to it. ”Espi!” Maya grunted angrily as Grimer teased her.

This time it was Selene’s turn to command. ”Counter with Sludge Bomb!” Grimer channeled a bunch of gross toxic blobs above its head and fired them at Maya. She countered the barrage of attacks with Swift per Espera’s command. The glowing stars collided with the sludge, exploding midair and creating multiple small smoke balls. Maya covered her nose as the dirty smell from the sludge covered the field.

”Charge in with Dazzling Gleam!”

”ESSS!” She tried her best to ignore the small, crying out as she became shrouded in a rainbow light. She dashed for the sludge Pokémon as fast as she could.

Selene thought fast as Maya closed in. ”Minimize!” Grimer curled up and bounced out of the way, slithering across the wood as a little green blob, using the cracks in the wood to hide. Maya stood still center field, waiting for it to come back. When she noticed Grimer begin to rise again she spun around with a Swift, the glowing stars again shooting from her split tail. The stars exploded all around the stage in one continuous burst until eventually one landed right in front of Grimer, exploding in its face and halting its movement.

”Grimerrr…” It stood frozen and dazed, unable to move as it watched Maya charged another Power Gem. She fired the beam point-blank in Grimer's face. When the smoke from the attack cleared, Grimer was on its back, unable to battle.

Hala raised his left hand. “Espera and Maya have won, granting them permission to move to round two.” The crowd clapped for the two as Selene disappointedly returned the unconscious Grimer as she stepped to the center stage. Espera and Maya did the same, the two humans shook hands while Maya cheered from the side

As the two left the stage, Selene went to heal Grimer with Nurse Joy’s help, who was stationed by the tent that she and the other participants had gathered around. Elio went up to congratulate her and they continued talking about whatever they were before.

”Wooo!” Hau cheered along with the others.

“The second match will be Sina versus Kiawe.” Hala declared.

Sina and Kiawe - who were both on the right of the court - shared a determined look as they both took to the stage. All of the students cheered for their fiery classmate.

”May the best trainer win.” Kiawe called as Sina continued walking to the other side of the field.

Sina too called from her side now. ”You bet!”

“Begin!”