Pokemon Island Sun (on hiatus)

[EmeraldSky]

Letter 8: A Show of Strength

Dear Serena,

This is so surreal...not only did I beat Hala, without the Pikapaz, but I also got two Z Crystals out of the bargain--Tapu Koko let me have the Pikapaz back, and Hala gave me the Fighting Z Crystal, the Fuerte Amber.

Popoki, Tintri, and Alegria were raring to go when we got up today, so on the way to the massive battle platform in the center of Iki Town (which Mahina told me was called the Arena of Champions), Sparks gave me the rundown on the three Pokemon Hala tended to use when battling trial goers.

Mankey and Makuhita I had seen before, but Crabrawler seemed interesting, so Sparks gave me his info first:

"While guarding its weak points with its pincers, it looks for an opening and unleashes punches. When it loses, it foams at the mouth and faints.

Tarina found this disgusting, but Brock quickly assured her that that did not mean Crabrawler was prone to rabies (much to her relief)

Hekili still gave me info on Mankey and Makuhita just because:

"Its raging tires it out and causes it to fall asleep, but the anger resonating in its dreams causes it to wake up—which infuriates it all over again."

"Their daily routine consists of training together first thing in the morning, eating and napping in the afternoon, and then more training afterward."

Sparks also had this to say about Makuhita:

"It was originally brought in from another region, but now Makuhita from Alola are famous all over the world."

Both Rotoms were floored when I told them I had been to Houen, where Makuhita and its evolution Hariyama came from--Brock assured them that we'd tell them about it later, after my match with Hala.

The match itself wasn't too terribly hard--Popoki made short work of Hala's Mankey, and his Makuhita was no problem for Alegria. But when Tintri faced off against Papai, Hala's Crabrawler, then it started to get difficult.

Although Tintri was fast, Papai was even faster, blocking Tintri with his claws before he could even attack. Minutes before Tintri could attempt his famous Thunderbolt, Crabrawler whacked him with a Crabhammer, almost sending him out of the arena (which would've counted as a defeat)

Just as Tintri came crawling back to me, battered and beaten, part of me wished I really had the Pikapaz to turn the tide. But I've been up against the wall like this before, and probably will be a few times for as long as I am a Trainer, but no matter how many times I've been against the wall, we've come through every time.

This time, it was the Normalia Crystal that came through for me--I found it in my shirt pocket, and invoked it--and Tintri went charging at Papai so quickly, he was nothing more than a silvery blur. The impact from the attack was so hard, it could be felt at least a few feet away.

Brock wondered just what in the world Tintri had done to turn the tide--Misty figured his Volt Tackle had evolved, but Hala said they were both wrong--Tintri had used the Normal Z move Breakneck Blitz to finally win the match and our first Z Crystal of the day--the Fighting Z Crystal, the Fuerte Amber.

Moments after I gave Hikina the Fuerte Amber for safekeeping, Tapu Koko appeared to me, and said he was very pleased with our battle--and I had more than earned the Pikapaz back. He got a mahalo nui--a big thank you--for that.

Hala told us that some Z crystals had more than one Z Move inside of them--and the Pikapaz was one of these. In addition to Gigavolt Havoc (which it shares with the Electric Z Crystal, the Astrapi Topaz), the Pikapaz also has two other special moves of its own--10,000,000 Volt Thunderbolt and Catastropika (which boosts Volt Tackle to a crazy high power level) We also learned that there are a whole lot more Z Moves out there to discover, but so far, only 26 had been ID'ed. I told Hala I would let him know if we discovered a new one on our travels.

We hiked back to Hau'oli City to catch the ferry to the next island, Akala Island--it'll probably be late when we get there, but I'll have time to at least practice my ukulele before bedtime (Tintri doesn't mind me plunking out what vaguely sounds like "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star"--although he prefers to hear me practice the flutes and whistles more.)

Lillie and Hau were interested in hearing about our adventures in Houen, so Brock and I told them all about it. Even Sparks and Hekili came out of our Pokedexes to listen as we reminisced on the ups and downs, and laughed over favorite memories.

We still have a ways to go before we reach Akala, but I did do some reading on what to expect on the three trial captains there. Misty's already excited to meet Lana, Tarina's already excited to see Kiawe do a traditional Alolan fire dance, and Brock's eager to talk recipes with Mallow (who knows? He might learn some Alolan recipes from her)

At the moment, Misty's watching the sea go by, Tarina's napping on Brock's lap (have I mentioned that the Pikachu family looks cute when they sleep?) Brock's reading over the chapter on Akala Island in the guidebook, Hau's gorging on malasadas from the snack cart (again), and Lillie's having a nice conversation with Tintri--he's already eager to take on Lana.

Popoki wants to lie in my lap and watch the sea, so I'll wind this up and give him some space to relax--next time, I'll have pictures and stories of a new island!

Until then,
Ash