Pokemon Ascendance: Origins of Holon

12

Elsie stood there in shock, still trying to process what had just happened...at least until Ico flew over to her, nuzzling his head into her hand.

"We... we did it. We actually won."

"Yes, congratulations Elsie. You have completed all trials on Melemele Island and have conquered your first grand trial." Hala says as he walks up to the girl, holding a Z-crystal in his hand. "Which means that you get to have this as proof that you've beaten me."

He handed her the Fightnium Z and then showed her the movements.

"Aw, we just missed the battle. But seeing that Dartrix with you, I bet you had a pretty fun battle with my gramps."

Elsie turned around to see Hau and Lillie behind her. "O-Oh, there you guys are."

"Congratulations on completing your first grand trial, Elsie." Lillie said with a smile. "This means that you'll be headed off to Akala Island soon right?"

"Is...that where I should go next?"

"Yeah, we can all Mantine Surf over there if you want." Hau suggested. "That's the more fun way of getting to island to island around here."

"I'm sure that she'll probably just want to take a boat there." Lillie countered. "That way she wouldn't have to worry about falling off."

"Y-Yeah, I don't think I'm ready for like super extreme stuff yet." Elsie stammered. "Maybe one day I'll try Mantine Surfing but definitely not when I'm still a bit new to Alola."

"In that case, I'll bring you and Lillie over as soon as you're ready."

"Professor Kukui. Wow, it seems that everyone is just kinda appearing out of nowhere." Elsie commented.

"I'm sure with being in an entirely new region you want to explore every bit of it yeah? Well there's Ten Carat Hill that you haven't been to yet. Why not see what that place has to offer before getting ready to head out to Akala? Lillie and I will wait for you down at Hau'oli City."

"Ten Carat Hill....I'm guessing that's the cave I saw when first going to the lab." Elsie thought aloud before nodding. "Alright, couldn't hurt to explore a little. What do you think Prism?"

"Vee!" Prism nodded in agreement, her tail wagging excitedly.

"Guess it's settled then, we're going to check out Ten Carat Hill and then head off to Akala Island."

............

Elsie looked around as she and Prism wandered into Ten Carat Hill.

"I wonder why they call this place a hill when it's mostly a cave." she pondered aloud. "Maybe it's because there's a bit of an incline in certain places."

Prism shrugged in response.

"Hau also said that from here on out I could potentially find Z-Crystals that trial captains and Kahunas wouldn't normally have so I guess it'll be good to keep a close eye on things. Maybe we can find something here. It'll be nice to not have to fight for every Z-Crystal that we come across."

The two of them continued to wander around in Ten Carat Hill. When they were close to what looked like an exit of some sort, they heard whimpering. Alarmed, Elsie looked around to see what was the cause of the noise and not too far from them, they saw a brown pokemon curled up on the ground, not moving.

"Hey are you okay!?" Elsie called out, running to the pokemon. Getting a closer look, it was clear that this pokemon hadn't eaten in a while and probably just narrowly escaped a battle.

"Hey Rotom, what kind of pokemon is this?" she asked.

"Rockruff, the Puppy Pokemon. Rockruff has an excellent sense of smell, and once it has smelled an odor, it doesn't forget. There are tales of these pokemon getting separated from their trainers then using the faintest traces of their scent to track them for days until they are reunited. Rockruff is a sociable pokemon but as it grows, its disposition gets wilder. If it begins to howl when the sun goes down, that is proof that it's close to evolving. It's said that it leaves its trainer's side to evolve and returns again when fully evolved."

Elsie gently picked up the Rockruff. "We need to get it to a pokemon center as fast as we can. Rotom, lead the way."

Rotom nodded and gave Elsie directions to the nearest Pokemon Center. Without wasting any time, Elsie rushed the injured Rockruff to the Pokemon Center, explaining everything that happened to Nurse Joy the moment she got there.

"Unfortunately, this kind of event is a bit common around here." Nurse Joy explained with a sigh as she took the injured pokemon. "Many trainers abandon their Rockruff when they start acting wild simply because it was too much for them to handle. It's very possible that this Rockruff was abandoned."

"T-That's...that's terrible." Elsie said. "It's not Rockruff's fault that it goes through what it does when it's close to evolving."

"Yes, but some trainers just don't see it that way I suppose." Nurse Joy said. "But this Rockruff is still pretty young, it most likely doesn't have all the skills it needs to survive out in the wild if it's this skinny."

"Then I'll take care of it the moment its wounds are healed." Elsie declared. "I'm not going to sit here and watch a pokemon be in distress...not while I can do something about it."

Nurse Joy nodded. "Very well then. I'll call you when Rockruff has recovered."

Elsie nodded and sat down. It wasn't long until Lillie came in.

"Oh, there you are. Professor Kukui and I have been looking for you." she said. "We were starting to worry after more than a few hours passed."

"Sorry to make you worry." Elsie said. "I just came across an injured Rockruff and took it here. I'm waiting to hear how it's doing."

"An injured Rockruff? Poor thing. Glad that you were able to bring it here."

Elsie nodded. "I'm glad too. Nurse Joy said it probably wouldn't have made it much longer out in wild on its own...which is why I'm going to take care of it for now on. The moment it's all healed, I'll have Rockruff join my team."

With Lillie sitting with her, Elsie waited to find out what was going to happen to her new pokemon.