Pokemon Ascendance: Origins of Holon

18

The moment Elsie realized it was morning, she sighed, the dream she had still heavy on her mind.

'Okay before I jump to conclusions and think these dreams have anything to do with Holon and the former guardians, I have to make sure that the place I keep seeing isn't in Alola.' she thought. 'After all, I'm in Alola right now and the map I saw of Akala Island, there's a forest area. I could check there to see if there's anything like it.'

Her waking up suddenly must've gotten the attention of the pokemon around her since Lillie's Ninetales tilted her head at her. Not to mention there was Sapphire who immediately perched on Elsie's head the moment she sensed a little bit of distress.

"Don't worry I'm fine. Just a weird dream shook me awake is all." she reassured the two pokemon in a whisper.

After stretching, Elsie got up and began getting breakfast ready for the pokemon. It wasn't long before Lillie woke up and helped out.

"I'm surprised that Hau hasn't appeared suddenly now that we have food out." Elsie noted once they had their teams breakfast prepared.

"Careful, he might just show up." Lillie joked.

Testing that little theory, Prism rummaged through Elsie's bag and pulled out an empty wrapper. Using her paws, the Eevee began to crinkle the wrapper. Just moments later, there was a knock on the door, followed by the appearance of Hau.

"Oh hey. There you guys are."

Both Elsie and Lillie blinked before looking at Prism and then at each other.

"Did Prism just gain the ability to summon people at will?"

"I think so..."

..........

"So, you're already on your way to the Fire Trial huh? You're just breezing through your Island Challenge." Hau commented with a grin. The three of them were now on their way to Wela Volcano Park. Both older trainers wanted to see how Elsie's trial goes.

"I uh...guess I'm progressing pretty well." she said. "But this is only the third trial I've done...and I highly doubt that things are going to get any easier."

"Well from what I've heard you're pretty good at strategizing and that's something that all good trainers have so obviously you're doing something right. Don't take things too seriously. Part of a journey is to have fun after all."

Elsie nodded, smiling a little. "Yeah you're right. There's no point in continuing if I'm not enjoying the journey."

"Speaking of your upcoming trial, do you know what pokemon you're going to use?" Lillie asked.

Elsie nodded and took out her Rockruff's pokeball. "Yeah. Skye is going to be my ace for this trial."

Upon hearing that, Skye came out of his pokeball, looking up at Elsie. There was confusion and doubt in his expression.

Smiling, Elsie stopped walked and knelt down before the Rockruff. "Skye, just because you were taken off guard by the water trial doesn't mean that you're weak. We're all taken by surprise every once in a while. I believe that you're going to do well."

Skye looked down at his paws, his tail in between his legs.

"I get it...even though other people can say that they believe in you, it's a little harder to believe in yourself.... especially when mistakes happen." Elsie told Skye as she gently picked him up. 

Skye looked up at his trainer with wide eyes. He wasn't sure why but it sounded like she was speaking from experience when she said that. The gentle smile never left when they made eye contact.

"Hey, how about throughout this journey we help each other have faith in ourselves?" Elsie suggested. "That way it isn't so hard."

So there was something that even his trainer thought was bad about herself. But there didn't seem to be anything that was holding her back. Then again, it's not like she knew what had happened to him at first glance. She had to be told what was the unfortunate normal circumstances for Rockruff like him.

Nodding, Skye jumped up and licked Elsie's face. She giggled and hugged the pokemon, ignoring the slight pain of the rocks in Skye's scruff rubbing against her.

"Glad to see you're all cheered up again. Now, let's get through this next trial together."

"Ruff, ruff!"

Before they knew it, Elsie, Lillie, and Hau were standing at the foot of Wela Volcano.

"So at the top is the trial site right?" Elsie asked.

"Yep. Kiawe will be waiting for you there with his pokemon." Lillie explained. "Most likely practicing."

Elsie nodded to herself and began her trek up the volcano, her two friends following close behind her. On their way up, Elsie couldn't help but get a strange sense as she continued her ascent.

'Why does it feel like I've done something like this before?' she mentally asked herself. 'I mean I never explored much of Holon so I don't know if there's any mountains or volcanoes to climb but...why does climbing this doesn't feel all that new to me unlike anything else I've done up until this point.'

Suddenly an image of two pokemon and a human that she had never seen before flashed in her head, followed by voices.

"Ah, another human." the first pokemon noted, rather boredly. "Tell us, what is it that you want?"

"What I want is nothing of material value." the human admitted.

The answer puzzled the two mysterious pokemon.

"Then...why are you here?" the second pokemon questioned.

"What I'm seeking is an everlasting bond." the human explained. "It's...a little embarrassing to say this but I have trouble making friends with people in my village. I'm rather...lonely. I may be wrong about this but staying on this altar all the time, just waiting to fulfill visitors' request....you two might be lonely too right? Will you allow me to visit you in hopes that us three can become friends?"

"You...are an interesting little human." the first pokemon commented. "Your request is none like any other...I admit, it has piqued our curiosity. You may come see us whenever you see fit."

"Tell us little human, what is your name?" the second pokemon asked.

"Oh...my name is-"

"Eevee!"

"Huh?"

Elsie looked around to see that they were already at the top. 'Oh...I guess it's time to start the trial...but what was that? It was almost like a flashback in a way.'

She quickly shook away the thoughts. If she was going to progress through her island challenge, she had to focus.