Pokémon Eclipse

by moviemaster8510

Chapter 89 – Fairy Dust

Three Weeks Later

“Branzino to the window!”

Benji placed a plate on a black metal tray containing two grilled fish filets with its crisped skin left on laying on a bed of shaved roasted brussels sprouts. Joining the dish were a plate of scallop risotto and a plate of four lamb chops, a serving of polenta, and chard.

On the other side of the window, Sam, dressed in a white shirt, black pants, and black tie with his hair neatly combed, slid the tray from the window onto his hand, turning around and reentering the dining room. Finding his three person-table, he brightened up to see the diners sitting there show visible signs of mild excitement upon their meals arriving.

“Alright, I’ve got the lamb?” A gentleman in black shirt with the top two buttons unbuttoned raised a finger, leading Sam to hand him his plate. “And the sea bass?” A woman in a sky-blue dress nodded, letting him know who to hand the next dish to. He then began to look about the entire dining room. “And who had the risotto?” His jest earned Sam a couple of chuckles, before he handed the last patron his dish right away. “Please enjoy your meals.”

The light thank-yous he received were drowned out by the sounds of silverware meeting porcelain as they already began to cut and scoop their first bites. As Sam walked back to the kitchen to get another order out, he looked back at his sister, dressed in almost the exact uniform minus the knee-length skirt, gathered menus from behind her booth as she readied herself to seat another quartet of customers.

“Alrighty then, let me show you to your table!” As Alice led the guests into the dining hall, the guests already eyeing their own potential dinners, Susan, now standing stronger on her own two feet, crossed her arms as she watched Alice nail her own job with aplomb.

As the front revolving door turned open, another young man in his waiter uniform entered, his neutral expression completely evaporating into glee as he saw Susan standing there. “Sue?”

Hearing the familiar voice, Susan turned around to greet the man with a warm, inviting smile. “Clay.”

Clay moved in to hug Susan, but stopped himself. “Oh, sorry, are you still…”

“It’s still a bit sore, but I’ll survive.” Putting her arms up, she welcomed in to receive the hug he set to give her. “Once you clock in, go ahead and let my son know he’s good for the night.”

“Sure thing, Sue!” Letting go, he eagerly sprung into a brisk walk toward the kitchen, eager to begin his shift.

Just then, Alice returned to the booth, checking the menus still left underneath.

Susan put a hand on her daughter’s upper back, making her stand up to attention. “Thank you so much for all your help, Alice. I think I can take care of it from here.”

“Mom, are you sure?” Alice seemed genuinely disappointed. “Because if you’re still hurting–”

“It’s probably going to hurt for a very long time, but you should know that Brier women don’t let pain stop them.”

Alice nodded, loving the touch she added there. She came in and embraced her mother, which Susan gave back just as tenderly.

“Go meet your brother at the bar,” she whispered. “I’ll get you both a drink.”

“Thanks again.” With a touch of reluctance, Alice walked away and to the right side of the restaurant where she spotted two empty stools in front of a large rounded bar.

Susan did not get to have long to watch and appreciate the woman her daughter became before another set of guests walked in, forcing her to focus her attention to them.

Sam and Alice clinked the glasses of their juicy, fizzy drinks together, celebrating the end of their voluntary assistance. Sam took stingy sips through his straw, the bottom end in the middle of the glass, while Alice took a couple of gulps from the edge of her glass before setting it down on the counter.

“So, you think we can make the last ferry to Poni tonight?” she asked.

Realizing she had struck up a conversation, Sam quickly gulped his last sip before setting his glass down. “What, you mean… get right back into our trials?”

Alice shrugged. “The hell not? I mean, I love my mom to death and would continue helping her out, but it sounds like she’s better enough to resume working, so I mean, like seriously, why not start finishing our trials up?”

“I don’t know!” Sam took another sip of his beverage. “I’m definitely not sailing out in these clothes, and even then I need to pack my bag with at least some revives and potions and shit.”

“So drink up, cuz’ time’s a’wastin’!” Alice tipped Sam’s glass by the bottom toward him, Sam barely able to tilt the glass away to keep any from spilling on him.

Sam slammed his drink back down. “For God’s sake, Alice!” Suddenly, he looked over at a large TV above the liquor bottles that had caught his eye, spotting the words Sun and Equestria in particular on the lower third of a news broadcast. “Hey, whoa, whoa, bartender, can you turn that up?”

Alice now began to look annoyed. “Sam who cares what’s on the stupid–”

“No, seriously, please! I want to hear this!”

As requested, the bartender reached for the remote and increased the volume to twenty, the voice of the male anchor now clearly being heard.

“…formerly of the Aether Foundation, have joined forces with lead scientists and researchers at the Mossdeep Space Center in the Hoenn region, to form a new organization titled ‘EarthQuestria.’ Since the appearance of creatures from a land called ‘Equestria’ over a month ago, the creatures, the dominant of which refer to themselves as ‘ponies,’ have decided reach out to humanity to form an alliance with our world.”

As more people inside heard the report, the bar began to become crowded, Sam and Alice nearly boxed into their seats by people standing behind them to hear more from the television.

“Sun, one of the heads of this new organization and one of the sole people who appears for questioning, has been mostly tight-lipped to the press about his interactions with these Equestrians in the past few weeks, revealing only as much as what has already been confirmed based on eyewitness and video accounts detailing the attack on Hau’oli City by Necrozma roughly three weeks prior. When approached by the press, Sun had this to say.”

The video then cut to Sun standing in front of a nearly-completed building with a logo on the front doors showing two halves of two different looking planets divided by a white ring. Though microphones held up at him covered the right, left, and bottom borders of the screen, and a bright light shined at him for the cameras to see, he looked very composed and professional.

“We hope that upon nearing completion of the project,” he said to them, “we will be able to disclose more details to the public, but for the sake of the privacy of the ponies who I’m collaborating with, as well as the integrity of our research and development, I will have to take no further questions. Thank you.”

A roar of reporters trying to get more words out was cut off by the return of the anchorman to the screen. “While nothing has been confirmed as of yet, it seems we may not have to hold our horses for much longer on this new information. Stay tuned.”

As the camera pulled away and revealed more of the set of the studio, people began to break apart again, giving Sam and Alice room to leave whenever they needed to. Sam then grabbed his drink and began to guzzle the remaining contents through the straw. Alice, smiling at what her brother was doing for her, took her glass and chugged the last few mouthfuls of her drink before both siblings slammed their glasses, now only half-filled with ice, down on the counter.

“Okay,” Alice breathed out, “let’s bounce!”

Swiveling around and hopping to their feet, neither of them could take another step as they suddenly found themselves facing Mina, who stood out like a sore, paint-stained thumb amongst the otherwise business-casually dressed patrons.

“Oh… Mina was it?” Sam could hardly be sure with her unfamiliar face.

Mina nodded and smiled lightly. “That’s right. I’m sorry, were you off in a rush someplace?”

“I… we…” Alice stammered. “We were actually about to head to our apartment down the block to pack our bag and catch the last ferry to Poni Island before it left.”

“Oh, were you?!” Mina seemed more surprised than delighted by this news. “It doesn’t by chance have to do with your Island Trials, does it?”

Sam was starting to feel the effects of the coincidences mounting. “As a matter of fact… it does. Why do you ask?”

“I know we haven’t had a chance to meet yet, but I am actually the sole Trial Captain for Poni Island.” At this, both siblings eyes widened, their attention fully piqued. “For the longest time, I’ve never actually prepared a trial for trialgoers such as yourselves, so it's been pretty much meet me, get your Fairium Z, do the Dragon-type trial at the end of the Vast Poni Canyons, and go face Hapu.”

Sam and Alice took a quick glance to each other, already starting to work out what she was proposing. “Does this mean you have a trial for us to do?”

Mina nodded. “Unfortunately, it’s nothing you can really do at this time of night, but if you meet me at the back wall of the Hau’oli Beach tomorrow morning at eight, I can give you the details for your trial there.”

“But…” Alice muttered, “if you’re a Poni Island Trial Captain, wouldn’t it make more sense to take your trial on Poni Island?”

Mina held her fingers over her mouth, trying to stifle her giggles.

“You’ll hear all about it tomorrow morning. You won’t be disappointed, I promise you.” After a slightly awkward staredown between the three, Mina reached her hand out. “Anyways, it’s been a pleasure meeting you both… Sam and Alice, was it?”

“Yep.” Alice shook her hand first, followed shortly after by Sam.

“Looking forward to seeing you.” Letting go of her hand, Mina began to back up and away toward the exit.

With an unenthusiastic kick and twirl of her body, she walked forward and left.

After another bout of silence, Sam shook his head. “Well, damn. Kind of wish I didn’t slam my drink now. What time is it?”

Alice looked at her Pokédex and pulled it open, revealing the time front and center to her. “About quarter to nine? What are you thinking?”

Sam pointed a thumb back toward the bar. “Want one for the road? See if they talk more about EarthQuestria?”

Alice gently threw her hands up and cocked her head. “The hell not?”

With two stools still empty, they quickly swung themselves on to sit down before the news and the crowd could return.

The next morning, Sam and Alice walked down the moderately populated sidewalks with their eyes on the stairway that would take them to the sands of Hau’oli Beach. While Alice was dressed in her usual training attire, Sam’s appeared slightly different, his tank-top now colored a solid dark purple and the jacket around his waist now a dark gold. His jeans and shoes, now new and unblemished, were a similar color to the ones he purchased in Malie City several weeks prior.

A sight further down the street that was unavoidable were the news vans parked outside a chrome, windowed four-story building with the words Earthquestria placed up on the front of it with the company’s logo just below it. Sam and Alice were able to ignore it upon reaching the steps to the beach. Descending down, they looked off to the left to see Mina standing there as she had promised. Hopping down before the last few steps, Sam and Alice had gotten Mina’s attention, though she opted to stay where she stood until they got to her first.

“Sam, Alice,” she addressed. “I’m glad you could make it.”

“I mean,” Sam replied with a shrug and point of his thumb behind him, “we’re pretty much a hop, skip, and a jump away.”

“Either way, I’m still happy you’re here. I’ve been planning this trial out ever since the Equestrians went back home, and I hope I get this right.”

“But we’re still not certain why we’re here and not anywhere on Poni Island,” Alice said. “So yeah, how is this all working?”

“I’m glad you asked, Alice, and I’ll be sure to tell you… after you’ve defeated me in battle.”

Sam’s head jittered, off-put by the request. “Really? A battle before the trial?”

Mina shook her head. “Not at all, Sam. The trial begins the moment you accept the battle, and it will take you quite a long time before its completion, so I recommend that you and your sister accept and get this going.”

Alice put her hands to her hips and backed away, amused by Mina’s determination. “Well dang, Mina, if this trial is going to take as long as you say, I guess we’ll just have to accept, right Sam?”

“Yeah, I guess so.” Sam detached a Poké Ball from his belt as he hopped back to her side, prompting his sister to do the same before sending their balls flying. “Go, Aegislash!”

“You’re up, Mudsdale!” On her call, both their Poké Balls opened up, letting Sam’s ghastly sword and shield and Alice’s large horse out to face Mina.

Mina smiled as she pulled two Ultra Balls off her belt in a single swipe of her hand. “Alright, challenge accepted.” She then tossed both of her balls. “Go, Klefki, Wigglytuff!”

With her Ultra Balls opening up, the energy pouring from them formed into her anthropomorphic floating keychain and her pink, balloon Pokémon. The few dozen or so people relaxing at the beach suddenly took notice of the battle, most of the nearby pedestrians grabbing their towels, bags, and coolers to get out of Sam, Alice, and Mina’s ways. Those that moved set their things right back down, now granted a front row spot to watch the battle safely up close.

Sam looked at the two Pokémon his Aegislash faced, impressed by Mina’s choices. “Alright, good stuff. Okay Aegislash, you get this started! Attack Wigglytuff with Iron Head!”

Aegislash pulled itself from its shield and snatched it in its cloth arm with a twirl, using the momentum to chuck its weapon at Wigglytuff’s chest.

“Oh no, you don’t!” Mina shouted. “Klefki, use Reflect!”

Klefki began to shine brightly, each of the keys held in its arms pulling themselves equally apart from each other. With a brighter flash, a translucent, reflective wall formed in front of Mina’s two Pokémon just before Aegislash’s shield flew through it, its speed lessened by the impromptu barrier. The shield hit Wigglytuff as targeted and rolled back toward Aegislash, but Wigglytuff still looked relatively unhurt by the attack.

“Nice work, guys!” Mina threw a pointed finger at Mudsdale. “Wigglytuff, use Ice Beam!”

With a bright, frosty light forming before Wigglytuff’s mouth, it let out a cry that fired its beam at Alice’s Pokémon. Upon striking its chest, Mudsdale roared in pain as it was pushed backward by the beam’s force. As it dug its hooves into the sand, freezing mist bounced off Mudsdale’s body and showered the onlookers with cold wind, making all caught up in it whine and shriek with discomfort.

“Mudsdale, you still got it?!” Her Pokémon mustered the strength to look back and give its trainer a confident nod. “Nice, now hit it back with Heavy Slam!”

With an extra hard push, Mudsdale galloped against the Ice Beam, Wigglytuff soon tiring out as it failed to keep its opponent back. With the front of its body coated with ice, Mudsdale leapt up and tucked in its hooves to crash the entire front of its body into Wigglytuff. As it fell through Klefki’s Reflect, Wigglytuff puffed its body out to twice its size, catching Mudsdale upon it landing on it.

Wigglytuff’s muffled grunts could be clearly heard from its smooshed face as it continued using its elasticity to hold Mudsdale up. With a final scream, Wigglytuff sprung Mudsdale off of it, throwing it back to Alice where it landed on its hooves, blasting sand out where its hooves hit the ground. Alice and Mudsdale both frowned and huffed through their bared teeth to see Wigglytuff still standing there, its adorable façade arguably an insult.

“That was a good job,” Sam yelled out, “but hopefully after one more hit… Aegislash, Iron Head! Harder this time!”

With a wider spin, Aegislash tossed its shield out once again with greater force as commanded, Mina hardly looking the least bit phased.

“Klefki, use Light Screen this time!” On her call, Klefki created a similar barrier to its Reflect, this one more colorful and luminous than the last.

As before, Aegislash’s shield went through the Reflect barrier, but upon hitting Wigglytuff, it let out a yelp as it was knocked hard off its feet, its butt landing on the sand. Mina’s eyes widened and her lips parted in shock, seeing the damage that had clearly been done.

“Wigglytuff, are you alright?” Wigglytuff slowly got back onto its feet, spanking the sand off its bottom, now sporting an angered, serious face. “Atta’ girl! Now, get Aegislash with Flamethrower!”

Wigglytuff turned toward Aegislash, its mouth beginning to glow a bright orange. With worried huffs and a whinny, Mudsdale, threw its head in Klefki’s direction, Alice picking up right away on it.

“You sure, girl?” With another, louder whine, Alice decided to let her Pokémon lead her. “Alright, Mudsdale, attack Klefki with High Hor–”

Mudsdale sprinted off immediately, blasting Alice with a wave of sand that knocked her over and buried her halfway. Rolling away and getting to her knees, she was just able to see as Wigglytuff shot its fiery attack at Aegislash, only for Mudsdale to rush in front of it, catching the front end of the flames as it galloped past. With Mudsdale’s added speed, it blew most of the attack away, the rest of it only kissing Aegislash’s hilt.

Upon reaching Klefki, Mudsdale spun around on its front hooves, its backside now facing the small metal Pokémon. As it tucked its back legs in to buck, Klefki brought its keys up to its face, closing its eyes before the oncoming attack. Though the kick was weakened by its hooves passing through Klefki’s Reflect, Mudsdale hit its target hard enough to slam it into the back wall, breaking the bricks in all directions a foot around it.

“Klefki!” Mina and Wigglytuff watched with horror as Klefki was peeled off the wall by gravity before plopping unconsciously onto the sand.

Sam bit his lip, clearly unsettled by the sight. “We just fixed that wall too…”

“Nice one, Mudsdale!” Alice yelled.

Hearing its name being called, Mudsdale turned around to the left, revealing several glowing red spots on its neck and shoulders, Alice gasping regretfully. Mudsdale managed a slight smile that lightly shocked Alice again right before it winced from the pain of its burns and collapsed onto the sand beside Klefki. At the same time, Mina and Alice called their Pokémon back into their respective Poké Balls.

“Excellent work as always,” Mina whispered to the ball.

“So proud of you, girl,” Alice said to hers.

Upon putting their balls back onto their belts, they replaced them with another before sending them out in synch with each other.

“You’re up now, Raichu!” Alice shouted.

“Go get ‘em, Granbull!” Both balls opened up, letting out Alice’s surfing electric rat and Mina’s pink saber-toothed bulldog to join the battle.

“And now I’ve got me some speed!” Alice pointed her finger out. “Raichu, finish off Wigglytuff with Psychic!”

Raichu’s body went awash with a magenta glow that soon covered Wigglytuff. As Raichu lifted it effortlessly off the ground, Wigglytuff’s body began to get constricted on from every conceivable angle. Even with Wigglytuff’s muted squeaks and whimpers of pain, Raichu refused to let up.

“Fine with me,” Sam breathed out. “Aegislash, attack Granbull with Iron Head!”

Aegislash chucked its shield once again, hitting Granbull on the center of its mouth. As it yowled and covered its lips with its hand, Granbull looked over to Wigglytuff, who let out a final weakened breath before it closed its eyes in fainting. Mina kept her eyes on Aegislash as its shield rolled back to it, catching it with almost taunting grace. Aiming her Ultra Ball at her Wigglytuff, she brought the Pokémon back into its ball, looking down at it.

“Don’t worry,” she said to it. “We’ve got them now.” She then swung her outstretched hand forward between Sam and Alice’s Pokémon. “Granbull, hit them both with Earthquake!”

Granbull exuded a bright white aura around its body as it roared with the energy coursing through it. Running forward a few paces, it lunged right at the ground, punching its fists into the sand and spreading the energy out in cracks all over the space between itself and Sam and Alice.

“Oh, shi–” Sam spun back around, throwing his arms out in a dire warning to everyone behind him. “Everyone back, now!”

Immediately, waves of sand exploded out from the cracks, quickly traveling down the beach faster than Aegislash or Raichu could avoid. With the explosions that engulfed them, Sam and Alice were also swept away by the sands, those that Sam had warned having made it back in time to avoid getting hit themselves.

As the dust began to settle, Granbull hopped back toward Mina and watched as Sam and Alice brushed as much of the beach off of them as they could before finally unearthing themselves enough to stand. Looking to where their Pokémon had been, Sam and Alice were both stunned to find their Pokémon also buried like they were, only they showed no effort in trying to get themselves out.

“Damn,” Alice hissed, pulling out her Raichu’s Poké Ball. “That didn’t last long.”

Sam had already returned his Aegislash back into its ball. “Amazing job as always, buddy.”

Sam watched as Alice returned Raichu back into its ball, waiting for her to put it back onto her belt so that she could grab another. After sharing a glance between each other, they tossed their balls out.

“Go, Salazzle!” Sam exclaimed.

“You’re up, Noivern!” Alice’s declaration earned her a shocked widening of the eyes from both Mina and Granbull.

Sam’s fiery salamander and Alice’s black and purple wyvern got amazed reactions from the gathered crowd, most of whom, like Mina, were looking at the latter of the siblings’ Pokémon.

Mina then smiled comfortably. “You would really send out a Dragon-type against a Fairy-type?”

“If this goes as well as I think it’s going to,” Alice remarked, “then it’s exactly what I need to do to win this battle really shortly.”

Noivern screeched in support of its trainer.

Mina sighed in mild regret as she pulled another Ultra Ball from her belt. “Very well, then. Let’s go, Ribombee!”

Upon her ball opening up, her small yellow-and-white fly Pokémon revolved around its trainer before hovering in the spot beside Granbull. Mina then crossed her arms in front of her face, activating her Z-Ring as its sparkle connected with Ribombee. Upon putting her arms down and crossing them out, she and Ribombee formed a heart-shaped space with their hands before Mina swung her arms down, out, and up, balancing on a single leg. Together, Mina bent her arms and wrists to make two tiny wings with her arms, holding her knee up high. Along her backs of her shoulders and arms, Z-Power shot out from Mina which soared and swirled into Ribombee’s body, leaving its aura surging.

Alice glanced over at her Pokémon, who shifted its feet and the ends of its wings nervously. “Steady, Noivern. You got this.”

“Do you seriously think it’ll will survive a Fairy-type Z-Move?” Mina asked with uncharacteristic haughtiness. “We’ll just see about that! Ribombee, attack Alice’s Noivern with Twinkle Tackle!”

With the aura covering its body now turning pink and sparkly, Ribombee fluttered its wings especially fast as it prepared to shoot out at Noivern, who faced its opponent with a focused, steadfast squint. Pushing off the air, Ribombee became a glittering golden bullet that collided into the dragon’s chest, the Fairy energy pulsing and coursing all over it. Alice, Sam, and their audience directly behind them ducked as Noivern was blasted back toward the sea.

Landing on its back, Noivern managed to keep its wings up to skate along the water’s surface, quickly slowing down as its weight began to pull it down toward the water. As its tail and legs submerged, Noivern came to as it flapped its wings against the ocean’s surface, slowly but surely pulling its body up out of the water.

“What?!” Mina and Ribombee both looked upon the sight in sheer disbelief.

Alice laughed as her Pokémon soared its way back to her and Sam’s side. “Yeah, girl, that’s it!”

Mina still couldn’t seem to believe her eyes as Noivern settled itself back onto the sand on all of its fours. “Impossible! A Dragon-type survived a Twinkle Tackle?!”

“Don’t be too hard on yourself,” Alice replied back. “It survived the exact same move by a Mega Evolved Pokémon while it was still a Noibat.”

Mina and both of her Pokémon trembled, knowing that they were soon to be defeated themselves.

“Now…” Sam held up his wrist to brandish his Z-Ring. “…we’ll give you a taste of some Z-Power!”

“Yep!” Alice and Sam each removed a Z-Crystal from the bands of their Z-Rings.

With gusto, Sam placed a Poisonium Z onto the face of his Z-Ring while Alice placed a Firium Z in hers. Together, both trainers crossed their arms in front of their faces, ingniting their Z-Rings to life and connecting with each of their Pokémon. Sam, Salazzle, Alice, and Noivern put their arms back down and crossed them out, ready to activate their individual Z-Moves.

Sam and Salazzle twisted in to the right, pulling their left arms in and curling the fingers of their right hands down toward their wrists. They then lunged forward with their left legs and spread their tilted arms out, their fingers still curled. Alice and Noivern fanned their arms upward twice before grabbing their left elbow with their hand and swinging it down to point at Mina’s Ribombee.

At once, Sam and Alice’s Z-Power exploded off their backs and gracefully swam through the air as they entered their respective Pokémon. With Salazzle and Noivern’s aura’s flaring, Ribombee and Granbull squirmed anxiously in preparation for their upcoming attacks.

“Alright, guys!” Alice bellowed. “Let’s finish this good! Noivern, attack Ribombee with Inferno Overdrive!”

Sam glanced to his sister and nodded before focusing on Mina’s remaining Pokémon. “Salazzle, finish Granbull off with Acid Downpour!”

A fiery orb expanded in front of Noivern’s face as flames accumulated from nothing around it and melded with it while Salazzle’s mouth and body began to bubble and wisp with a thick, purple smog. Once both Pokémon were as full of energy as they could possibly handle, they both fired their attacks out at the same time.

Noivern’s massive fireball collided with Ribombee, creating a forceful, infernal mushroom-cloud whose heat spread out along the entire beach. Meanwhile, Salazzle blew a massive plume of dark purple smoke that crashed into Granbull as if it were made of solid rock, blowing it back. As both attacks began to bleed in with each other, the fires and smoke soon quickly evaporated, unveiling the damage Sam and Alice’s Pokémon had done.

Ribombee laid upon a shallow crater of glass where the flames had been hit hardest and hottest while Granbull was splayed out on its back, its tongue hanging lazily out of the corner of its mouth. The sight that was even more shocking was Mina, who stood completely unharmed by the attack behind a tall and wide magenta barrier that appeared completely unlike those of her Klefki’s Light Screen or Reflect. She then looked to her left to spot a Slowbro standing there, soon deactivating its psychic wall once it realized the danger had passed. Sam and Alice glanced among the people all gathered around the battle, unsure of who the Pokémon belonged to, until…

“Oy! Sam! Alice!” Looking up above the back wall, they spotted a familiar trainer in his blue outfit and his light-brown skin waving out to them.

“Ma…” Sam could hardly believe it now. “Makana?! What are you doing here?”

“I couldn’t help but think you guys looked familiar! You’ve really grown since the last I battled you! That was a seriously scary double Z-Move you two pulled off there, and I certainly didn’t want your opponent to get blasted off with her Pokémon!”

“And I do appreciate it.” Mina aimed two Ultra Balls at her fainted Pokémon, returning them inside. “Thank you. Thank you all…”

She then faced Sam, Alice, and their two Pokémon, who looked more than eager to face the last Pokémon she had to offer them. Behind her, Makana’s Slowbro leapt up toward the top of the wall, catching its claws on the railing where its trainer waited, helping to pull it up.

“Looks like this battle’s going exactly the way you hoped,” Mina said, almost ruefully. “My last Pokémon may not hold a candle to the two Pokémon you already have out, but as a Trial Captain, it would be a great disservice to you and the integrity of the Island Trials to give up now, so here goes…” Taking out her last Ultra Ball, she tossed it out with a confidence that implied she still had a chance. “Let’s finish this, Shiinotic!”

Upon appearing and settling itself onto the sand between where Noivern and Salazzle’s Z-Moves had hit, Shiinotic leaned back and stared at Noivern and Salazzle in awe.

“Have at it then, you two!” Mina threw her arms out. “Don’t you hold anything back!”

“Yep!” Sam turned to Alice. “You got this first!”

“Uhuh!” Alice pointed at Shiinotic. “Noivern, hit Shiinotic with Hurricane!”

Winding its wings back as far as it could stretch, Noivern then fanned both of them at Mina's Pokémon, creating a strong, towering whirlwind that Shiinotic stood in the center of. Mina’s Pokémon covered its face and whined as the beach’s sand was picked up, pelting it from every angle.

“That’s it!” Sam threw a punch in Shiinotic’s direction. “Salazzle, finish it off with Sludge Bomb!”

Hocking a large ball of purple phlegm out, Salazzle’s attack burst into the twister, turning the entire exterior of it into a ghastly shade of violet. Within the tornado, Sam, Alice, and Mina could finally see Shiinotic get sucked upwards, unable to hold itself down. Upon peeking up at the top of the vortex, Noivern’s Hurricane dispersed, slinging Salazzle’s slime out over the beach and onto the nearest lane of the street.

As dozens of people screamed and cried as they were splattered, Makana’s Slowbrow created another barrier around itself and its trainer, allowing the muck to slide easily off around it. Noivern spread its wings over Sam and Alice as the mess harmlessly splashed over the back, keeping them both dry. Looking around, Sam and Alice couldn’t help but feel embarrassed as the beachgoers all flocked to the sea to wash themselves and their belongings as best as they possibly could.

“Honestly not the worst time you could have on a beach.” Sam nodded and shrugged, willing to agree with his sister.

With a gentle mew, Noivern brought its face to Alice’s, giving it a loving lick with the tip of its tongue. Salazzle slithered up the back of Sam’s leg and shirt, perching itself onto his shoulder and cawing loudly in his ear.

“Yeah, yeah, girl, you were great!” Sam reached around from underneath and massaged his Pokémon’s head with the ends of his fingers.

Finally, Shiinotic came back down, floating gently down on its giant mushroom-cap head. With it being too week to hold itself up, Mina’s last defeated Pokémon began to roll onto its back side, the rim of its head supporting the rest of its body. Mina then returned Shiinotic into her Ultra Ball, approaching Sam and Alice as she affixed it onto her belt.

“Alrighty then,” Sam grunted, kicking some sand onto a glob of slime near his shoes, “we cleared the first part of your trial. What’s next?”

“Sam,” Alice hissed, “calm down, we have all day!”

“Maybe you don’t.” Mina began to unclasp her large messenger bag. “Now that you have defeated me, I shall send you to complete the remainder of your trial, but first…”

Putting her hand in and then back out, she held her palm up to them, revealing what appeared to be a long, pink flower petal made out of some polished stone or colored pearl.

“What is this?” Alice wondered aloud.

“It’s a pink petal,” Mina explained. “It signifies your victory against me in battle.”

“So…” Sam pinched the petal out of her hands and held it up near the sun, seeing how the light shone through it. “I’m guessing we’re going to have to find more of these things, right?”

Mina nodded. “Each of the Trial Captains across Alola possess one, and you must defeat each of them in battle in order to obtain them all.”

“Whoa…” Alice instantly began to realize the scope of Mina’s task. “So this trial is literally sending us all over the region. Now I understand the rush.”

“And…” Sam had a hard time processing this as well. “Once we get the other one… four… six petals, are we supposed to meet you back on Poni Island someplace?”

“Now you’re getting it!” Mina exclaimed. “My home is at the Seafolk Village. Are you familiar with that place?”

“More than you’d expect,” Alice replied breathily.

“Wonderful. Once you’ve beaten the other captains, come meet me there, and you can finish your trial proper!”

Alice grabbed Sam by the arm, frightening Salazzle into jumping off and to the ground beside its trainer. “Well, what are we waiting for, bro?! Let’s get a move on!”

“Whoa, hey!” Sam pulled his arm free. “Do we even know where the other captains are going to be?”

“Come on, Sam, Alola’s not that big!”

“I mean…” As Alice returned her Noivern back into its Poké Ball, Sam fumbled with his own ball to return Salazzle into. “Obviously, we gotta’ start with Ilima while we’re on Melemele, but do you think he’s–”

“Shut up and just follow me!” Alice pulled out her Ride Pager, speeding through the menus to have her Charizard’s ball appear in the top slot.

Upon her calling it out, Sam returned Salazzle into its ball with one hand while fidgeting with his Ride Pager with the thumb of his other hand. Bringing up his Ride Charizard’s ball, he flicked it off the slot and caught it in his hand before lobbing it out nearby Alice’s. By the time his Charizard’s ball opened and let his steed out, Alice had already mounted hers, which began to flap its wings in preparation to fly.

“Hey, hold up!” he shouted, sprinting toward his Charizard.

“Eat my dust, brother!” Alice’s Charizard already began to take to the air.

“Eat my dust? What are you, 8?”

“I can tell you what I am: beating you to Verdant Cavern…”

Alice’s voice trailed off as her and her Pokémon flew off to the north. Sam had finally gotten on his Charizard, who instinctually began to fly off after its rider’s sister before Sam had gotten on. Sam kept firm hold of his seat and strapped in as he went off to complete their long, arduous trial that Mina had given them.