Chapter Text
1st month
My name is Ash Ketchum. I am a traveling Pokémon trainer who loves to meet Pokémon from all around the world with my best bud Pikachu!
Oh.. I am sorry but I must have made a mistake in my words. I was a Pokémon trainer until recently.
It isn’t that I don’t love Pokémon anymore. I love them! They are such amazing creatures. It doesn’t matter how scary they look or how weak they seem. All Pokémon are strong in their own way!
So why do I no longer travel?
When people travel, it causes them to go away for months or even years from their home. Months and years that I no longer have.
It was a white small room. I was on a stool waiting for the doctor to tell me the results of my check up.
After I got back home from Kalos, I started to feel ill. Some days doing simple tasks start to feel tiring to do and I would rather sleep in bed. I also started to struggle to breath which was much different to before where I would be able to run around different regions with no issue. It only started to scare my mom Mr Mime and Pikachu when I started to have unusual bleeding in different parts of my body.
My mother was holding my hand. She was scared, I have been having a lot of strange symptoms after I came back from Kalos.
Normally, I would have Pikachu in my arms. His presence made me feel safe and secure. He is such an amazing buddy but the hospital do not allow Pokémon who do not work in the hospital to get in there because of the fear that there may be some accidents that happen, which is understandable. Besides my mom is here, my mom is always there for me to support me on my journey to become a future Pokémon master!
The doctor came in to the room. He was a nice person, I didn’t like the fact that they wanted to suck my blood out of my body with a thin needle, but he assured me that I was safe and that the needle would only hurt for a second.
Only… his face showed not one of happiness, one of sorrow.
“I am sorry to inform you, but ...”
The next moments that have passed had became a blur to me. My memory only remembers the fuzzy parts where My mom, who had been holding my hand, asked the doctor many questions, about the survival rate, what we should do to make sure I can survive it and how it would have been possible as none of my grandparents had any risk of this illness.
His only response to how I could have gotten it was what happened to me at Kalos. When.. I got caught.
According to reports made by the members of Team Flare that got arrested, the lasers made to control Squishy and his friend were shooting out radioactive waves. These waves would have no affected on Pokémon, but if used on a human, it would damage their health with no hope of ever getting better.
Another point to mention is that Lysandre was so keen to control me and Greninja that he was increasing the amount of radioactive waves when he saw us resisting.
There were only 2 reasons to why I had not been checked around that time.
1. The information about the radioactivity had came out only recently after a long police investigation.
2. According to people around me, I seemed perfectly healthy. I had no open wounds or any injuries that seem life threatening, so they focused on other people who were not as fortunate.
According to the doctor, since I got hit with large amounts of radiation energy and absorbed it, it sped up the process.
“We do have different options of treatment that could help. These treatment however would not guarantee him surviving, as this treatment would also kill his healthy cells, which is not ideal, but is our best option. Also Ash would need to stay in the hospital as the side effects of the treatment may affect him a lot.”
The next words he said, affected my decision on what I want to do.
The doctor said.. that there was a chance without the treatment.. that I would no longer be able to celebrate my birthday. A birthday that is coming in 10 months.
I know the doctor was being nice, but the words he said have a hidden meaning. It meant that they deduced that I have no more than 10 months to live.
I know that if I took the treatment. I would be able to live a bit longer but live my life nowadays in the hospital.
My mom stared at me with a soft sad look. I know that the look meant that she wanted me to pick what to do now.
“Ash I do not wish to be selfish to what I decide in your life. You are my world and I love you so much. As much as I would want you to take the treatment and force it on you. I can’t. This is something I want you to decide.”
Which was either to not take the treatment and to make it the best of my life, or to take the treatment and to stay in the hospital, hoping for the slim chance of survival.
I was described by others to be selfless towards people and Pokémon. They told me I didn’t need to help them, but I wanted to.
It is just, I want to be selfish this time.
“Sorry, but ... I do not want to take the treatment.”
The doctor gave me a look of understanding and told me to live the best life I could have with no regrets and I took that advice wholeheartedly.
Shortly after that, I decided to spend as much time as I could with my Pokémon. I was hesitant to tell them about my fate but they deserved to know, once I told all of them most of them dogpiled me, snuggling me to death, while others watched from a distance. There are many different ways for Pokémon to react to these types of news, so I wanted to make sure that they were doing okay. Mimey won tickets to go on a trip to Alola. Which was a simple vacation that turned out to be so much more.
2nd month
Since my mom was going to Alola, Professor Oak had requested her to help send an egg to his cousin. His cousin was apparently someone from the Pokémon school. Which I think is just a regular school, which is boring. I don’t know why, but studying is just isn’t my strength. No matter how hard I try, I just can’t really understand books like I understand Pokémon.
When my mom was out at the market buying some fruit to gift to Professor Oak, me and Pikachu saw a Pokémon! We have never seen it before and it looked really cool.
We just had to catch it!
Then me and Pikachu got lost in a forest. Which was expected.
No worry though! I will find my way to the Pokémon school.
As soon as I looked up in thought, I saw a boy riding a Charizard. Me and Pikachu wanted to follow them, maybe the boy could help us find directions to where the Pokémon school was?
We might as well follow them!
Man… my feet are starting to hurt.
Well, I was able to catch up with them. I know the doctor had told me to not use too much energy but I did not want to lose track of them.
Besides, Pikachu is aware of my conditions and reminds me every time I push myself over my limit.
I only stopped running so fast when I started to see a huge building.
It looked so cool. There were so many people and Pokémon. More than what I saw at the market earlier.
I started to walk towards it and saw a girl in white. She had blond hair and green eyes.
Maybe I could ask her where the school was!
That thought was interrupted when I heard the words.
”HEY, WATCH OUT”
I turned my head and saw 3 people riding Tauros
and… THEY WERE HEADED STRAIGHT TOWARDS ME.
Before I knew it or could even react, I got trampled by the Tauros head on. While people would feel an enormous amount of pain from getting trampled by Tauros, I have gotten trampled so many times by my Tauros that I have gotten used to the pain myself.
Just because I got used to the pain, doesn’t mean it didn’t hurt.
”ARE YOU OKAY?”
I looked up from the ground and saw the blonde haired girl ask me that question.
“Oh I am okay, you see I have caught some Tauros myself”
Then I turned to the direction of where the Tauros were and saw the 3 other people walk towards me.
As soon as the people started to approach us, the Pokémon that were right beside the blonde hair girl started to move towards them.
The round silver looking one with colors of yellow and brown in her spikes moved towards a orange haired boy. He went down to his knees to pick her up as he trusted her to not prick him with any of her spikes.
Another Pokémon left the girl’s side as she went to who I can assume is her trainer. The Pokémon was of a similar shape of a seal but smaller and was mainly blue. Her trainer was a short girl with short blue hair who wore a yellow hair accessory. She picked up the Pokémon with two hands, making sure she didn’t drop her Pokémon.
The third and final Pokémon had went towards the girl with the long green hair and flower hairpiece. The Pokémon would be easily mistaken for a fruit unless you saw it’s eyes and little legs. The trainer placed her hand on the ground, creating a little bridge for the fruit shaped Pokémon to go across to reach her shoulder.
As soon as her partner reached her shoulder, she stood in front of me and spoke.
“Sorry for accidentally running over you with some Tauros, you suddenly came out of the forest so fast, that we didn’t see you before it was too late” the green haired girl said with a smile and apologetic tone.
”Yeah! It’s fine, I know you didn’t mean to run me over with them, and I really should have watched where I was going.”
The short, orange haired boy came to the conversation asking me a question.
”Who are you? I have never seen you around Melemele island before.”
”That is because I am from Pallet town from the Kanto region, my name is Ash and this is my good pal, Pikachu!”
The green hair girl smiled and replied back to my greeting
“Hello Ash! My name is Mallow, this is Lana, Lillie and Sophocles!”
As she said the other people’s names she pointed at each of them individually.
The blue haired girl being Lana, the blonde haired girl being Lillie and the orange haired boy being Sophocles.
She continued her words with a warm smile and said.
”Welcome to the Pokémon school!”
That name is familiar…
Wait isn’t that the place where Professor Oak had requested us to drop the egg off?
”Pokémon school, wait I heard of that!”
In a moment, I saw all of them have a spark of excitement as soon as I said those words.
Before I could even say anything, Mallow grabbed my arm and said.
”Really? Then let me show you around the place!”
The next few moments of Mallow showing me the Pokémon school made me wish I could attend myself. The Pokémon school looks awesome compared to the schools back in Kanto. They wouldn’t have this many facilities to provide for their students, the area would be small and cramped. The way Mallow spoke of her teacher ‘Professor Kukui’ so fondly, makes it so much better than back in Pallet town where I would get consistently bullied and how the teachers would not help me and would sometimes even participate in the bullying.
I am not the smartest when it came to studying, but it became almost impossible to study properly in the environment and when my mom found out, she resorted to homeschool me to make sure I had some form of education.
We then approached the principal’s office. I didn’t really understand why we needed to be here until Mallow started to knock on the door.
”Hey Principal Oak! I brought a new student!”
’A new student? OH NO, I must have forgotten to tell them I wasn’t enrolling in here at all.”
As soon as I was about to explain to Mallow that I wasn’t actually enrolling into the Pokémon school the door opened up.
I never met the principal before.. but I didn’t expect my mom to open the door.
“Oh Ash! There you are! We were wondering where you and Pikachu could have gone off to”
“Mom!”
As soon as my mom stepped out, a man approached me.
He… he looked exactly like Professor Oak! Face and all! He just has some minor differences.
”Alola! you must be the Ash that my cousin speaks a lot about!”
”And you must be his cousin!” I exclaimed!
He gave me a smile and nodded,
“I am, I thought you and your mother were having a vacation here, you plan to enroll into the Pokémon school without telling your mother?”
I realized that I had failed to explain to Mallow that I wasn’t actually a student. So after 10 minutes of me explaining how I ended up getting lost, finding the Pokémon school and meeting the students, Mallow understood that I was simply a tourist who was exploring what Alola had to offer. She apologized and offered to show me the other things the school had to offer and I accepted. With the permission from Principal Oak and from mom, we left.
Mallow showed me the classroom where she and her friends study in. She spoke about how they focus on studying about different types of Pokémon and other things as well. It was so different compared to the Kanto school system. I kind of wished I studied here years ago.
As soon as I was about to go back to my mom, a man walked in. He had brown hair, a white cap and was wearing a lab coat with no shirt. He greeted me with a warm smile.
”Alola! How are you doing Mallow? And who is this new friend you have?”
”Alola Professor Kukui! I am doing great and this is Ash, he is from Kanto and I am just giving him a tour of the Pokémon school!”
The professor gave a thumbs up to Mallow, as a sign to tell her that she was doing great with welcoming me to the Pokémon school. Then turned his head to face me.
“Alola Ash! What do you think of the Pokémon school so far?”
I thought about everything I saw so far, and said.
”This is an amazing school. Not only do you guys study normal stuff that boring schools study, but you also study Pokémon! Not only that but the facilities that are there to help the students in their learning is amazing! I wish I could study here honestly.”
Professor Kukui then replied.
”I am glad that you think of the school that way”
Before I could even reply, I heard some shouting and some loud noises.
The noise was coming from the front gate of the school.
Professor Kukui and Mallow had worry in their faces as they ran out of the classroom leaving me behind.
What if there was something dangerous going on outside? I should probably help them!
So I followed them behind, trying to avoid running into other students and keep up with the two of them while making sure I don’t overwork myself.
When I arrived I saw Lillie, Sophocles and Lana watching what was going on.
It was the boy with the Charizard I saw earlier! He had brown and red hair, had brown eyes and was wearing a white band on his wrist.
Opposing the boy were a group of people wearing some weird outfits. They wore black tanktops, wore chains with skulls on them and had white bandanas that had a skull image on it.
I did not quite understand why they were angry at the boy. They spoke as if they were just trying to pick a fight against the boy and take his Charizard away from them.
They challenged him to a Pokémon battle, but each of them sent out 3 Pokémon, which meant that the boy would be battling 9 Pokémon by himself. I could not just watch this happen, I wanted to help. So I ran to the boy’s side.
The three of them were equally as shocked as him to see someone they did not know quickly interfering with the fight.
Mallow shouted at me with worry in her voice.
”Ash! They are really dangerous! Please be careful!”
I looked at her, Lillie, Sophocles, Lana and Kukui, seeing their worry made me feel worse but I gave them a reassuring smile hoping to give them the idea that I know what I was doing.
Then I looked at the three that were right infront of me.
"How unfair it is, ganging up against someone with 3 people"
"Oh yeah what are you going to do about it?" The middle guy spoke, with a tone of agressiveness laced in his response.
"I'll fight to make it two! Are you ready?" I looked at the guy behind me.
He took out his Pokéball and nodded, accepting me as his teammate.
We both called out our Pokémon.
"Come out! Turtonator!"
"Lets go buddy!"
Pikachu who had been staying on my shoulder had jumped out of them out of excitment.
It has been a while since the visit to the doctor, since I wished to spend more time with my Pokémon, I stopped battling. I guess me and Pikachu just really miss the thrill and excitement that came with battling, while spending time with my Pokémon at the ranch was great, it could never really replace that feeling.
Before I knew it, the battle was almost over. When I was about to get Pikachu to do another thunderbolt, my battling partner stopped me. He gestured to me that he wanted to take the final blow, which I understood.
It made sense and I expected his request, they chose to have a fight against him, and a fight they got.
What I did not expect was him to start using the band on his wrist. I thought it was something he wore on his wrist as an accessory, but it seems to be some sort of power up like mega evolution was at Kalos. Now that I have a better view of him, I noticed that he turned a red crystal that seemed to have been placed on the band.
Suddenly the air felt more tense as soon as he turned it and he talked about a volcano? Some fire? I don’t really remember to be honest, I was too focused on his movements to carry out the move to focus on his words.
He and his Pokémon started to do the same movements and I didn’t know what to expect in the end of it.
I DEFINITELY DID NOT EXPECT THE POKÉMON TO CREATE A GIANT FIREBALL.
The fireball was so big that I could feel how hot it was even though I had distanced myself a bit.
When the Fireball made it’s impact against the other Pokémon, I could see the thugs accept their defeat and flee in cowardice.
“What was that?” I asked quietly…
”That was a Z-move!” Said a friendly voice.
I looked behind and saw Professor Kukui approaching me.
“Z-moves are special moves that originate from the Alola Region! By using objects called Z-rings, they can be able to transfer the power from a trainer to their Pokémon to create an extremely strong move. Only those who participate in the island trials are able to use them.”
”WOW, that is so cool! Z-moves are amazing!” I replied, I knew of Mega evolution, but never heard of Z-moves.
The boy beside me introduced himself.
“My name is Kiawe, and I am a Pokémon trainer and seeing your ability in battles with your Pikachu, I can guess that you are a Pokémon trainer as well?”
I didn’t really want to explain to them my situation going on, so I decided to give them a not so clear response. It technically isn’t lying if I wasn’t telling them anything about an illness.
“Oh, I was a Pokémon trainer until recently, I wanted to take a break from traveling and spend time with my other Pokémon”
The professor gave me an understanding look and smiled.
”Well, when you are ready to set out on your next journey, I hope you will in the Pokémon school, you have a lot of potential for someone of your age and you seem like a great kid. If you are interested in enrolling, feel free to stay at my place, I am happy to take in any boarders into my house”
“Thank you for the offer Professor Kukui, I will think about that, now I have to get to my mom, she must be wondering where I was after the tour Mallow gave me.”
"Okay, if I am correct, she should be at Principal Oak's office, allow me take you there"
"Thank you!"
As they turned their way to the direction of Principal Oak's office, a pecha berry dropped onto my head.
I turned around to see where the pecha berry came from when I saw a Pokémon that flew in the sky. It was so fast I almost didn't notice it. If Pikachu didn’t see it with me, I would have thought that I was seeing things.
The Pokemon had a big yellow shell. In the shell it had a black chest with white, yellow and orange markings. For a moment I saw the Pokémon's blue eyes, it was as if it was judging me for something...
"Hey Ash, are you okay? "
I snapped out of the thoughts I had and saw Professor Kukui's hand on my shoulder.
“Oh, sorry Professor Kukui, I just saw a Pokémon I never saw before.” I replied while facing the sky where the Pokémon was.
Everyone else looked around to try to find the Pokémon I saw.
”I don’t see a Pokémon? I am sure that your mind was just playing tricks on you Ash,”
I rebutted Mallow’s comment on my statement.
”I am sure that I saw a Pokémon! It had a big yellow shell and had a orange crest on its head!”
While I was describing the Pokémon, Pikachu was mimicking the Pokémon’s appearance as well to help them or distinguish what Pokémon we saw.
After my description of the strange Pokémon and Pikachu’s talented mimicking skills, I heard small whispers between them.
The statement that I was only able to distinguish was from Professor telling me.
”That sounds like Tapu Koko!”
“You saw Tapu Koko? Guardian of Melemele Island?”
I did not know how else to respond as too many people were talking about Tapu Koko and how rare it was to see him. I have seen many different types of Pokémon from different regions. I just wonder if it was just a coincidence that I saw Tapu Koko or if he has something planned for me.
I guess I was thinking for too long.
I didn’t remember clearly what happened next. I was in front of the Pokémon school, next thing I know, I am at a restaurant eating outside with my mom one day before we go back to Kanto.
Normally, I would be eating the food as fast as I could. However, I couldn’t. The guardian Pokémon me and Pikachu saw had stuck in my head.
"Is there something wrong?"
I looked up to see my mom. She gave me a soft look as if she knew what I was thinking.
"No, why do you ask?"
"Well you haven't been yourself tonight, something stuck in your mind?"
I didn't want to tell her what I saw earlier. After all the adventures I have been through, telling her about this one might have worried her. It could be just a concidence and I could have just been overthinking things.
'You have been so strong, I don't want to worry you even more...'
"Nope" I said in a positive tone trying to hide my lie.
I wish I was right about seeing Tapu Koko as only coincidence.
"KO KOOOOOOOOOOOO"
The sudden cry startled me and Pikachu out of our seats.
"Did you hear that?"
"Pi-ka!"
Only my mom and everyone else in the resturant didn't hear it.
"What noise? I don't hear anything" My mom said worried.
I would have only thought I was going crazy if I didn't hear it again, but I did.
"KO KOOOOOOOOOOOOO OO"
It was louder than before, as if it was demanding for us to follow the voice.
"Sorry mom, me and Pikachu have to go! We will be right back!"
"What are you-?"
I went over the fence of the resturant and started to run.
'I need to find the source of that voice. It was as if it was calling out for me and Pikachu specifically'
I ran.
I ran as fast as I could.
I wanted the noise to stop.
Then I saw it.
Tapu Koko.
…
”What do you want? Why do you demand to see me and Pikachu?”
The Tapu gave no reply back, my only response was a floating object going to my direction.
I couldn’t see what it was exactly from a far.
The gears turning in my head clicked the moment I remembered what I saw today.
It was a Z-ring with a yellow crystal on it.
”A Z-ring?… but why?”
”KO KOOOOOOOO”
It sounded like Tapu Koko wanted me to take the Z-ring. To train in Alola and to learn about how to use Z-moves.
But…
If I had to stay to learn how to use Z-moves, I would have to stay in here, and not come home… to Kanto.
I.. I don’t want to do that.
How long would I be gone from home? From my Mom? From my Pokémon who are waiting for me back at the ranch.
I didn’t want to go with any regrets…
I promised myself that I would spend as much time as possible cherishing everything I have now.
I couldn’t just break that promise for a region I barely knew.
Before I knew it… Tapu Koko hugged me.
I think… Tapu Koko knew what I was thinking. He knew the sacrifices I would make if I were to take the Z-ring.
It was as if it was a plea from the legendary to stay, to spend my limited time here… in Alola.
I… I know I am not inclined to, but the fact that a legendary is pleading me to stay, makes me scared.
If I left Alola and refused to stay, what would happen…
“Okay… I will stay here and learn more about Alola,”
As soon as I said those words, the Z-ring floating in the air gently slipped onto my left hand.
Not only that, but the Tapu who embraced me gave me a pleased look and before I knew it… he was gone.
‘What do I explain to my mom now?’
A few days later…
After meeting the guardian of Melemele island, I talked to my mom.
She was aware of what I did during my journeys, so it really wasn’t that shocking towards her.
I remember the words she told me when I said that I wanted had to stay.
”Ash, no matter what I say, you will do anything to help a Pokémon.” She said in understanding. “However, I don’t want you to resent your time here. I think it is best to make some friends while you are there, make the best of it!”
I knew that my mom wanted the best for me. She knew that if she denied my request to stay, that I would have regretted not helping the region in my final moments. She didn’t want to lose any more time with me. I can see her eyes pouring out tears inside, while she externally gives the most kindest of smiles.
”Can we talk to Professor Kukui? He mentioned offering me a place to stay if I was interested.”
”That sounds like a good idea, also how about you enroll at the Pokémon school? Maybe you could learn more about Z-moves and about why Tapu Koko asked you to stay here?”
“Yeah, that sounds like a good idea mom! Thanks”
“No problem, Ash”
Here I am now enrolling in school and staying with Professor Kukui.
The Professor is really kind. He gave me a spot to sleep in for the school year. Not only that, but he is a great cook! He cooked me and Pikachu breakfast and packed us a lunch for when we have lunch time at school.
He even offered to walk with me and Pikachu to school to make sure we don’t get lost. He seems to care a lot about us, and I am grateful for that.
I hope I can repay him one day for his hospitality.
Honestly, while Professor Kukui was talking to me about what they were learning so far in class, I was in deep thought. I wanted to remember the details of the school I have seen with such enthusiasm a few days before.
I was not a fan of the schools I went to when I was staying in Kanto. The schools at Kanto didn’t give me the best memories.
The school was almost rundown. The teachers didn’t care. The students had the biggest egos I have ever seen. This school was honestly like a heaven compared to my old school.
However… I feel like something will be different this time. Like how I will have fun and make more friends in this school.
However I must not forget, that the only reason I am here is to learn about Z-moves and about what Tapu Koko needs me to be here for.
”Umm, Ash?”
”Huh?”
”We are at class now”
I looked around and saw the students I saw when I first visited the school.
I was scared, flashbacks of my first time going to school had started to come back to me. I hated it.
My fear must have been obvious because Pikachu had jumped into my arms. Ever since I had gotten diagnosed, I started to get more nervous and scared. We found out that a way for me to calm down is for me to embrace Pikachu in my arms.
Pikachu is my first Pokémon and will always be my best friend, for life beyond death.
“OH! Sorry, I was just thinking to myself, but uh as you guys know, My name is Ash and this is my best buddy, Pikachu!”
”Cha!”
The students lightened up at me and Pikachu’s introductions and Professor Kukui gave us the chance to get some time to know our other classmates better.
While we were talking, I noticed Kiawe coming up from his seat to approach me and Pikachu as if he wanted to ask something.
Everyone was asking us questions about our journey in different regions when Sophocles blurted with amazement out of the blue.
”Woah! A Z-ring, where did you get that?”
Before we knew it, Kiawe quickly said with a suspicious look.
”Not from the island challenge, you wouldn’t have had enough time to acquire a Z-ring or even a Z-Crystal,”
I understand the hint of tension he had in his voice.
’Ash got a Z-ring. Ash, someone who just came a few days ago, got a Z-ring. How was that possible?’
He must be thinking that right now, which is understandable. I mean it would be quite strange for a foreigner to have a Z-ring after a few days.
“Actually… I got it from Tapu Koko!”
”Stop telling us fairy tales Ash” Mallow responded in a lighthearted manner.
”But it’s true! Me and Pikachu saw it again!”
As soon as I said the phrase, I decided to explain the strange story that happened a few nights ago.
I know it would be hard to believe, but I didn’t want to lie.
Everyone seemed skeptical about my story. Pikachu has been also trying to translate the story to everyone else by mimicking what we saw.
When we finished, I was worried. Me and Pikachu sound really crazy, seeing a legendary and being given a important item like a Z-ring is not normal.
Even if the odds were not in our favor… my classmates… no. My friends. They trusted me and Pikachu’s story, saying that they will help me to learn about Alola and it’s traditions. Heck, even Kiawe offered to teach me how to use Z-moves and the traditions the island challengers must follow.
Maybe… I won’t regret staying here… in Alola.
3rd Month
So much time has passed when me and Pikachu started to stay in Alola. A few days after enrolling at the school, we met Tapu Koko. He took my hat so I had to chase him, it was a hat my mom made for me when we first went to Alola.
When I finally caught up to him, I started to lose the strength in my legs. Luckily I ran fast enough for anyone in my class to see my weakened state for a second. I… I didn’t want to worry them.
When they arrived, Tapu Koko had requested to battle me.
Who was I to refuse the Guardian of Melemele Island’s request.
It was a demand. It was a demand to test Pikachu’s strength. A demand we shall fulfill. Which if I remembered how it ended, it ended with me and Pikachu making a big hole in the ground while the yellow Z-crystal on my hand shattered before my eyes.
While Pikachu was able to create such a powerful attack, I felt weaker, my body was getting much more tired, which I had predicted from the description Professor Kukui gave us earlier about what Z-moves were and how they transfer power from a trainer to their Pokémon. I didn’t want my friends and the Professor to worry so I forced myself to not look as tired as possible.
When I came to join my friends, Kiawe noticed that my Z-crystal had shattered, he explained to me that if my Z-crystal shattered that meant that I wasn’t ready to use Z-moves and that I would need to earn them through the grand trials.
“I will do the Grand trial and beat it!” I cheered outloud when Kiawe first explained to me how to get more Z-crystals.
Professor Kukui, my caretaker noticed my enthusiasm for Pokémon and had given me a gift.
“Is this… a Pokédex?”
Professor Kukui had give me a strange looking large Pokédex claiming it was a welcome gift. When I was trying to activate it, I took a glance at Kukui, only to notice him pressing some buttons on the keyboards attached to his monitors.
”Wait for it…” he said with some excitement in his eyes.
Within a blink of an eye, something sprung out of the monitor. Wait… no, it wasn’t something, it was a Pokémon and it was heading right to the Pokédex in my arms.
Before I could even react, the Rotom had latched onto the Pokédex and the Pokédex had started to blink its lights. After a few moments… it came to life.
That was how I met Rotom-dex.
The Rotom-dex asked me some questions.
My name, my age and about Pikachu who was on top of my shoulder.
Then he asked me for my goal.
Which I happily told him, as I have repeatedly in the past for many others.
With Rotom-dex’s helpful insight, we were able to learn more about the Pokémon living within Alola. While he did sometimes find our goals unrealistic, I understood that he was just looking out for me and Pikachu, making sure we were not going into trouble.
I certainly don’t regret staying here in Alola with Pikachu.
Everyone at school is so friendly and so special, even if they don’t know it.
Mallow is an amazing chef, I have never tasted anything just as good as mom’s cooking before I tried hers. Not only that, but she also wishes to create food that Pokémon would enjoy, which is such a cool dream.
Lana is also really smart in things about the Ocean. Her dream is to be able to travel the Ocean and to meet different types of water Pokémon. She tends to joke a lot about seeing legendary Pokémon, and I tend to fall for the sarcasm she uses. Other than that, she is a really thoughtful friend and I am glad to have met her.
Sophocles is an inventor who even has his own lab back at home. When me and him talk about our dreams, he talks about becoming an astronaut one day. While he doesn’t really get what a Pokémon master is, he cheers me and Pikachu on our goal. He even offered to help us get better on our Z-moves! He is such a good friend.
Kiawe is a strong Pokémon trainer who had taken the Island Challenge back in Akala Island. While I feel like he doesn’t have any concrete goal yet, his goal so far is to become an even stronger Pokémon trainer and had even declared himself as my rival. While he is scary at some points in time, he is an honest guy who just loves his family a lot and I think he is really sweet. He is like the funny strong older brother of the group being honest.
Finally Lillie, a girl who is struggling to touch Pokémon. While she does have a fear of touching them, I don’t think she is scared of them like other people say, in fact I think she loves Pokémon just as much as I do! Just this month, we received a Pokémon egg, we placed the egg under Lillie’s care and when it hatched, out came out Snowy! She was willing to step out of her comfort zone to help protect the Pokémon and it is really admirable. Nobody else sees it, but I think she is the bravest one out of all of us.
While me and Pikachu were able to make friends and learn more about Alolan culture, we were not really able to get any idea on why Tapu Koko was interested in us, however we know one thing for sure.
Tapu Koko is watching us.
We were able to finish our first Island Challenge! With the help from our friends we completed our trial against the totem Pokémon and received a Normalium z.
Since we had completed our trial, we were now able to do our Grand trial which was a Pokémon battle against Kahuna Hala. It was a tough battle but me and my Pokémon were able to defeat Kahuna Hala.
As a prize for completing the Grand trial we were given a Z-crystal from the Kahuna himself. It was supposed to be a fightinium Z, but just as he was about to give it to me, a breeze of wind went past us and as I was about it take it, the Z-crystal was a electrium Z.
Kahuna Hala had chuckled to himself and requested to speak to me and Pikachu in more depth about our situation with Tapu Koko.
He spoke of how in his lifetime of being a Kahuna, he would have rarely seen Tapu Koko, just seeing glimpses of him before the guardian would flee. Not only that but that apparently Tapu Koko had stolen the Z-ring he got for Ash from Kahuna Hala, who claimed that it was even a first for him to see their guardian take a Z-ring from Kahunas and give it to trainers.
”This was the first time Tapu Koko, in Alolan history has taken such interest in a trainer.” He lightly chuckled.
“But.. why would he? I mean it’s something I have been asking all month.”
He was unable to give me an answer at the time. Simply saying that if he was able to find something related to it, he would inform us immediately which I do appreciate.
Within the time I had in Alola, I had been able to catch 3 new Pokémon!
One of them is Rowlet, he is a grass and flying type. My Rowlet is special as it loves to sleep in my backpack. I met him when me and Mallow were eating some lunch during the weekends and he fell from the sky and I had to rush and catch him. He is such a cutie and he is really strong too despite his looks.
My most recent partner is Rockruff. While I did assume that Rockruff was Professor Kukui’s Pokémon, I didn’t realize that Rockruff was simply a wild Pokémon living in the wild. While I had no intention of catching him, I wanted to help train him the moment I realized he wanted to beat a Magmar. Not only that but by his method of battling, I noticed that he was inspired by both of Lycanroc’s evolved forms. Sure my methods were uh.. questionable according to everyone else, the training worked and in the end Rockruff was able to defeat him! Only then did I realize that Rockruff had accepted me as his trainer did I catch him.
I also met another Pokémon and caught it called Litten. Before I even I didn’t catch it, I have met it numerous times and it can be very sneaky. The Pokémon would normally beg for food from the market and would get fed some berries. When Litten got injured one day, I found him and brought him straight to Nurse Joy. She told me that I should take care of Litten while he isn’t my Pokémon to make sure he doesn’t injure himself while he was healing. Since I was fully aware of Litten’s injuries and knew that Nurse Joy is an expert in healing Pokémon I brought the Litten back to Professor Kukui’s house. The Litten was just as stubborn and sneaky as before that I didn’t realize he was leaving the house in the middle of the night. I was lucky to run into him when I was searching for him at the market. It only made sense when he trusted us to look at his friend. A Stoutland that has very little time left. I didn’t tell Litten during the time, but I felt like Stoutland’s time was coming so soon.
I wished I was wrong, but I was right.
A few days after the incident, Litten had ran into me with a worried look. He was begging for help, so I followed him. The Stoutland that I saw a few nights before hand was now in a very weakened state. I wasn’t knowledgeable enough to know what happened so I carried the large Pokémon to the Pokémon Center. The information Nurse Joy gave me during the check up only confirmed my thoughts, Stoutland had very little time left, she could increase his lifespan by a little if she was monitoring him but I knew Litten or Stoutland didn’t want that. The next morning when I came to check up on them, they were gone.
I didn’t wish to disturb their last moments together, so I waited. I didn’t wish to disturb Litten’s mourning of his dear friend, so I waited. I waited as long as Litten needed, being lonely isn’t the best and I wanted to make sure Litten was eating. Before I knew it, he was smiling, maybe he had accepted his friend’s death and was grateful to have met him, because before I knew it, he wanted to join me and our family. I didn’t want to refuse the request the little cat was making, but I knew that I was the same as Stoutland under different circumstances. That I have not as much time as everyone thinks, and I am scared to how Litten would react when I have joined his dear friend.
So far… no one in Alola knows yet about my condition. I feel like they will find out some how but not any time soon and I am happy to just not think about it.
Besides we have a school trip to Akala Island coming up soon so I should be excited to come and learn more about the different Islands in Alola!
I shouldn’t think about the fate that is coming.
I will pass on with no regrets.
4th month
It has been… interesting the past few weeks.
Right before we left to our trip, I met a boy.
It was more of me hearing some rumors about him at first from two people who were beside me while I was buying some groceries in the market with Pikachu and Rockruff.
“Did you hear about that strong Lycanroc trainer?”
”Yeah! I heard that his Lycanroc took down a Blastoise within minutes.”
”Woah, I sure would like to battle him one day”
I walked by the crowd with some curiosity of what I just heard.
'Huh I wonder how strong he is'
I looked down to see Rockruff looking excited at the rumors spreading.
I was aware of Rockruff's admiration for his evolved forms, so hearing about a strong Lycanroc being around would make him wanting to meet the Pokémon.
It was only a coincidence to find that exact trainer battling another trainer.
The trainer had blonde hair with emerald eyes. He also wore dark coloured long sleeved clothing.
His Lycanroc, is a midnight form, seeing from it's movements in the battle we were seeing, it seemed to be very strong and well trained.
He honestly looked really intimidating, he had such a serious face for what seemed to be a casual battle.
Within the next 5 minutes of watching the battle, the Lycanroc had casted a devestating counter against its opponent.
I was amazed, his style of battling had made me itching to have one after this. I turned down to see Rockruff barking loudly in amazement at the Pokémon who was victorious in the battle. I knew that he wanted to challenge him as well.
Just as I was about to approach him to ask him to battle. I saw someone running up to him. It was a girl with blonde hair holding a snow white Vulpix. She looked delighted to see him and lifted Snowy from her arms infront of him as if to show her Pokémon to him.
Wait... That is Lillie and Snowy! Did she know the boy?
I should say something
"Alola Lillie!"
"Oh, Alola to you Ash" she said with a smile.
The boy looked at me with curiosity.
"Alola." He said.
"Gladion, meet Ash! my friend from the Pokémon school, he is from Kanto and currently stays with Professor Kukui."
" Ash, meet Gladion! My older brother by a few years. He is a Pokémon trainer just like you"
Oh it was her older brother...
Wait they were siblings? I couldn't tell from their different outfits but they did have some similarities in their appearances. While Lillie seemed happy to see Gladion, I could something wrong between the both of them.
"Oh, so you are one of Lillie's classmates? Nice to meet you." He replied with a guarded stare at me.
It looked like she wanted to ask him something, but struggled to have the words come out of her.
It only took her 2 or 3 more minutes of silence for her to ask her question.
"Gladion... can you come home? It has been so long since we last saw eachother and I was wondering if you wanted to stay with me at the mansion."
For a moment I saw the softness and sorrow in Gladion's eyes that appeared for just a second.
"Sorry... I can't, I still have my own journey to go through."
While Lillie seem to believe the statement, I didn't.
I can tell when someone is lying.
I have lied many times to know when someone is lying.
He is avoiding eye contact with Lillie. It took him a few seconds to process her question before giving her a definitive answer.
I want to ask, but it doesn't seem to be my place to.
He turned around and was about to leave.
So instead I decided to ask something else before he could go.
"Hey, can we have a battle sometime? Me and my Rockruff would really want to battle you!"
He did not respond to my question at that moment.
I did get a response later that night.
I woke up to Pikachu slowly shaking me in the middle of the night with Rockruff on the floor awake. Normally he would use his attacks on me to wake me up, specifically thunderbolt, but the doctor had advised Pikachu to stop using his thunderbolt on me as I am already in a weakened state.
As I woke up, Pikachu had his tail pointing up to the skylight in Professor Kukui's house.
There I saw an Umbreon with a piece of letter. Upon seeing me open my eyes, he dropped the piece of paper through the skylight, where I caught it and opened it.
'I accept your request. Come to the beach infront of Professor Kukui's house right now.- Gladion'
I immediately got up and rushed downstairs with Pikachu clinging on my shoulders and Rockruff in my arms.
I didn't want to keep him waiting.
As I arrived I saw him on the beach.
"Thank you for taking on my request."
"Don't question it, I heard of some rumors of Tapu Koko taking interest in a Pokémon trainer named Ash going around. So I was quite interested to know more about you."
"You too! So shall we start?"
As soon as I said it, Rockruff started to bark which meant he wanted to go full out in this Pokémon battle.
The boy took a look at Rockruff and reached out for his Pokéball on his belt.
"Lets go, Lycanroc!"
There it was. The really strong Lycanroc the rumors talked about.
Within minutes, Lycanroc had beaten Rockruff.
We weren’t able to get through Lycanroc’s defenses or even strike a strong blow. I could see Rockruff’s confidence go down. Before I said anything, someone else spoke.
‘Your Rockruff is strong, he reminds me of Lycanroc when he was once a Rockruff,”
I realised that it was a compliment and replied.
”Thank you, your Lycanroc is really cool and I hope me and Rockruff would get to battle it again someday.”
As he recalled Lycanroc back to it’s Pokéball. He waved a small goodbye, by only holding his hand a little and saying.
“Next time.”
Then he left.
A few days after meeting Gladion, we arrived at Akala Island for our school trip and we got to meet their Kahuna. Her name was Olivia and she is very unique compared to other people I have met in the past.
While Alola is a region itself, their four islands each have their own guardian. For Akala Island, their Guardian is Tapu Lele who is known for her ability to heal physical wounds on any creature.
Since I wanted to learn more about the Alolan culture, I decided to participate in the grand trial of Akala Island. We were able to beat the totem Pokémon and receive a Grassium Z crystal with the support from our friends in the trial and a Rockium Z crystal from Olivia.
However… something strange happened against our Grand trial against Olivia. While I chose Rowlet and Rockruff to work together in this battle, Rockruff acted different. He was much more agressive than normal acting as if he didn’t need Rowlet’s help. I didn’t really think much of it as I thought it was Rockruff getting riled up by a battle against it’s evolved form again.
I only realized something was wrong when Rockruff decided to attack Rowlet when Rowlet was carrying him in the air. I instructed Rowlet in the past on how to hold Rockruff up without hurting him in preparation of this battle. Since Rowlet didn’t realize the incoming attack from his teammate, he took a hard blow and fainted from it.
It was only then when Rockruff snapped out of its odd behavior. When I came to pick up Rowlet from the battle field, I saw Rockruff’s worry in his eyes and sorry.
I didn’t want him to feel bad about it and encouraged him to the best of my ability for him to do his best for Rowlet. He still looked down, I didn’t know how to comfort him. So I told him this.
”Rockruff, you are an amazing Pokémon, we all make mistakes and Rowlet knows you didn’t mean to attack it. So let’s do our best in our battle to make sure Rowlet’s efforts weren’t in vain!”
I think I was able to get through him as he started to focus on the battle going on, he really did want to do his best and we won in the end. Despite the mishaps we had during the battle, we still managed to end victorious.
I still had no idea what was going on with Rockruff until Kahuna Olivia told me what might be going on.
“I think Rockruff is close to evolving.”
I was confused at that thought.
‘Huh? I don’t get it, how could she tell Rockruff is going to evolve soon’
She looked at Rockruff and at me after that. She must have known that I was still confused at those words that she explained a bit further.
”You see, when Rockruff evolves to Lycanroc, it normally starts to act out and become more aggressive. I remember that time Lycanroc had acted that way when she was a little Rockruff. I recalled her leaving me alone for a day or two before returning, not as a little Rockruff anymore, but as a large Lycanroc.”
”Oh, I see that makes sense now, so you are going to evolve soon buddy,”
I looked at Rockruff with a smile. I noticed a bit of confusion in his eyes. I knew that he admired both of the evolutions that were available to him, but just doesn’t know what would be the best form for him. Maybe he was worried about what I would think about his future form.
”It doesn’t matter which form of Lycanroc you evolve to, I will love you no matter what!” I reassured as we were about to go back to the Pokémon center.
It would be the last night that I would see Rockruff as a Rockruff.
The next day was the day we were leaving to go back to Melemele Island. However, I felt someone shifting in their sleep. I only peeked my eyes a bit to see every single one of my Pokémon except… Rockruff. He must have left the room with no intention of waking me up as I could see the door slightly be open enough to let a Pokémon of his size to slide through.
I immediately woke up Pikachu to the disappearance. I didn’t want to wake everyone else as me and Pikachu are perfectly capable of finding him before everyone wakes up from their sweet dreams.
‘We will find Rockruff in time’ I told myself during the time and we did.
We saw him… injured from Pokémon attacks. Pikachu immediately became really cautious of our surroundings as we were not sure about how aggressive the Pokémon that beat Rockruff up was.
I on the other hand was watching his injuries. I needed to make sure which parts of his body was in critical condition. Despite me and Pikachu’s worries and his state, Rockruff did not rest.
He bit me when I held him in my arms. Almost as if he wanted to leave.
Pikachu was scared.
I was scared.
He ran as fast as he could. He always was a fast runner and me and Pikachu just couldn’t keep up and lost him.
Honestly, it was more of me running through the forest as fast as I could in order to find Rockruff with Pikachu following me but at the same pace I was running to make sure he wouldn’t lose me as well. I could hear the concerned noises he was making seeing how I was going over the limit my body could take. Only when I slowed down my running did he feel assured enough to help me look for the missing Pokémon.
We searched in the forest. We looked high and we looked low but no trace. Time passed by so fast. We didn’t even realize it was 6 am until Professor Kukui found us returning back to the Pokémon center.
He had a face of worry and anger. As soon as he saw me with Pikachu on my shoulders he came right up to us asking us where we were and how we could leave in the middle of the night without letting them know.
So I told him everything I saw with Rockruff.
His look of worry changed to a frantic panic. He knew Rockruff would have left their trainers for a certain amount of time to evolve, but with Rockruff being injured, he might be in some serious danger.
He was right to be worried. It had been several hours since they started their search for the missing Rockruff.
It ended the moment Ash and Pikachu saw the missing Pokémon lying on the ground, not moving.
Right beside him were two other Pokémon. The Pokémon were the midday and midnight form of Lycanroc.
They seemed to be protecting Rockruff from something in front of them.
As they stepped closer, they saw it.
While it was not Tapu Koko. It shared similar features with it. Unlike Tapu Koko showing a bright colour of yellow in its design, this Pokémon was pink coloured.
While it’s appearance did not look that intimidating. The two Lycanroc that were protecting Rockruff and were not keeping their guard down.
While Ash was in shock of what he was seeing, Professor Kukui and Kahuna Olivia came to see the scene.
“Tapu… Lele?”
“That is Tapu Lele? Is… it helping Rockruff?”
Kahuna Olivia stared at the scene infront and said.
”I am not even that sure about what is going on right now. I have never seen Tapu Lele look so annoyed.”
That phrase from the Kahuna made my heart sink. I was scared for Rockruff, so I did the only thing I could have done in that moment.
I ran.
I ran to Rockruff.
He is my Pokémon and I didn’t keep a good eye on him.
I want to protect him as long as I live.
I don’t want to fail as his trainer…
I went between the two Lycanroc who were guarding him and hugged him.
It was the only thing I could do in the moment.
I didn’t see it clearly since I was staring at Rockruff at his weakened state but I heard the Lycanrocs around me start to fall down to the ground.
I didn’t hear any attack, so I didn’t understand what happened at that moment.
Before I knew it, my body felt weak as I felt the Tapu touch my skin.
It felt as if my energy was getting sucked away.
I blacked out.
I only awoke when I started to feel bits of energy surge through me as adults had surrounded me to check my condition.
I heard them talking about how Tapu Lele used ’draining kiss’ on two of the Lycanroc and me earlier which drained us of our energy.
Apparently Tapu Lele had used the energy we had to heal Rockruff of it’s injuries.
However I was too distracted of their discussing due to loud howling I was hearing infront of me.
I looked at where Rockruff was. He said staring at the sunset which had a strange green light emitting from it.
Then… he started to glow blue.
His features started to change as he grew much bigger and before I knew it… he evolved.
He didn’t look like any of the forms that we knew of. He had similar features to the two of them but was different.
When I came up to approach him, during my struggle to regain my energy, Rockruff… no… Lycanroc had ran to me. He made sure I didn’t feel the impact of the ground and as I looked at his face, he gave me a confident smile.
He made his choice for what he wanted to become, and I couldn’t be happier for him.
We came back home to Melemele Island with so many memorable moments.
I shall remember this for the rest of my living days.