Letter 3: A Festive Fishing Trip

Dear Serena,

The festival honoring Tapu Koko got underway--the rituals are a sight to see. Then Hau immediately wanted to battle me to make up for not getting a battle yesterday. Popoki had no problem with Misty, Brock, and our two guides, Hikina and Mahina, watching us.

After we finished our battle, Mahina told us that one of the events during the festival was a fishing contest. But this is no ordinary fishing contest--rather than sitting on the shore and waiting for the fish to bite, you go out on the water aboard a Lapras (or a Sharpedo, for the more adventurous, but that brought back bad memories of Houen, so I opted to ride on a Lapras. This also meant putting on wetsuits and flotation belts (this way, if any of us fell off, we'd still float on the surface) Of course, Popoki was more than happy to keep the bug Pokemon away from our bait. (even though he wanted to eat some of it on a few occasions, much to Brock's chagrin)

Now, one thing to keep in mind about Misty that isn't readily apparent from her dispatches to us while we were traveling together is her fear of bugs. We're talking standing on a chair screaming. I have managed to get her to tolerate butterfly Pokemon (she thinks they are pretty) and Ledybas (those are good luck), but anything else that crawls, bites, and stings--no go. Thankfully, Popoki proved himself a fine bug catcher (even if he did gross everyone out by eating a dead Metapod in full view of us)

Metapod eating aside, we soon set sail aboard a fleet of Laprases--me, Misty, and Brock on one, and Hikina and Mahina on two others--they were our "chasers" if something went wrong. Misty was equally enthralled by being on the water--and riding a Lapras is a very calm and relaxing way to go out on the sea.

Hikina showed us a good way to look for where the sea Pokemon were biting--look for churning water. This proved to be good advice--I found a Magikarp that was 20 inches long (and netted me a silver medal in the beginner's division of the competition) Supposedly, Lana, the captain of the trial at Brooklet Hill over on the next island, once caught a Magikarp that was 35 inches long, but even Brock was unsure if that was true or not (he did acknowledge that it could be true, because "sometimes the truth is stranger than fiction".)

Mele, Misty's Popplio, is a real joy to be with. As per Hekili:

"This Pokémon can control water bubbles. It practices diligently so it can learn to make big bubbles.

And make big bubbles she did--she was happily blowing bubbles the whole time--or at least until one popped on top of Popoki--he was NOT happy about being wet, and definitely not happy about us laughing at him as Brock dried him off.

He did, however, seem to like Mele blowing bubbles in shapes after Misty suggested she try blowing a square (which she did, and then proceeded to blow a replica of the Cascade Badge (or at least, that's what Misty claimed it was--Mahina suggested it looked more like a teardrop, which the Cascade Badge resembles)

But our leisurely trip was spoiled when two Team Skull grunts out looking to stir up some trouble approached us in an attempt to steal my Magikarp and claim it as theirs. It turned out we didn't need to battle them at all--a lot of what they claimed to have caught by themselves were actually pilfered from others, so we circled around the lagoon, giving back what catches they pilfered.

Even though we didn't battle Team Skull per se (as doing so outside of the festival arena was bad luck--but these Team Skull hoodlums don't look like the type to respect ancient traditions.) Mele did frighten them off with a HUGE bubble--that popped directly over their heads! (she was laughing about the dripping wet grunts all the way back to shore)

Our catches were then judged, and I won the silver medal in the beginner's division, as I told you before. As soon as the contest ended, some kids came asking Brock to share some of his stories, and he gladly obliged with "The Princess on the Glass Mountain" (he's still getting used to being called "Uncle Brock", though.) The kids loved the adventure, so we told them a few more (and played a few tunes for them too) Off the top of my head, we performed "Team Rainbow Hunts the Red Gyarados" (adapted to Alola by having a character frighten off a Wishiwashi) "The Gold Pidgeot" (the kids loved my doing Kitsune's voice--Brock, of course changed her from a normal Ninetales to the Alolan variety, which looks almost dream-like (I have a picture I plan to enclose with this letter) Hala liked "The Lucky Warrior", and Misty led the telling of "Two of a Kind". We told some other favorites, as well, and Mahina pitched in by telling us a few Alolan tales and playing her ukulele.

But the Cheri Berry on top? Hikina and Mahina are going with us on my Island Challenge! My first trial is the Verdant Cavern, just outside of Hau'oli City. Before that, though, we've got a few other Pokemon to pick up and a performance for the local trainer's school (which Prof. Kukui asked for us to do).

So all in all, the festival was wonderful, and I have a new challenge to undergo--and I can't wait to show my skills to the trial captains!

Until next time,
Ash