Pokemon Ascendance: Origins of Holon

43

The first thing that Elsie saw when she walked out of the abandoned supermarket was Acerola standing there waiting for her. When she asked how the trial went, Elsie showed her the photos that she had taken.

Looking at the photo, Acerola nodded with a smile. "Yep. That's Mimikyu alright. Well done Elsie, you passed my trial. Here, a Ghostium-Z for you."

Elsie thanked the trial captain as she was given another Z crystal to add to her collection and watched the dance that came with it. Even after the trial was officially done, a question came to the trial goer's mind.

"Hey Acerola, how did you do it?"

"Huh? What do you mean?"

"I mean how did you get the ghost I saw to appear right in front of the backroom?" Elsie asked. "Was that the work of one of your pokemon? Or did you ask someone to dress up as someone that represents something different for each person that does your trial?"

"Oh, now you're just trying to scare me," Acerola said with a laugh. "You were the only one in there the whole time. No one else was in there. And there's no room in the very back to begin with. You're gonna have to come up with something a little more believable than that."

"Wait what? B-But... Mimikyu led me to the very back of the supermarket as we explored."

"As I said, you're gonna have to come up with something more believable than that if you wanna scare me. I bet you're probably just tired. Whenever you're ready just come to Aether House and I'll have a bed ready for you."

With that, Acerola walked off, but Elsie was pretty sure that she saw her shiver just a moment ago.

'There has to be some sort of misunderstanding... I know for a fact that we were led to a room in the back just big enough for a battle. Heck, the picture I have of Mimikyu was taken in that room so why is Acerola saying that there isn't one.'

Immediately Elsie went back into the abandoned supermarket. Much to her surprise, there wasn't a room in the back.

'....What the heck!?'

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

Elsie sighed as she plopped down on the bed the moment she arrived at Aether House. Her whole team seemed to be just as tired as her despite the trip to the Pokemon Center. Prism curled up against her stomach, yawning before almost immediately falling asleep. Elsie smiled and gently scratched the Drakeon's head.

'We've sure come a long way... and even with our adventure in Alola kinda coming to an end, there's still so much to do when it comes to creating a league in Holon. Seems like there's just one journey after another now.'

Elsie let out a yawn of her own. 'Speaking of which, I still need to let Lillie know about my plans whenever I get the chance. And also let my friends back home know about Prism's evolution. But I guess those things can wait for tomorrow or another day... right now I need sleep.'

Holding her partner closer to her, Elsie quickly fell asleep along with the rest of her team.

..........

The first thing that Elsie woke up to was both Skye and Lucien licking her face. She squirmed a little before opening her eyes the best she could, patting both her canine pokemon's head, letting them know that she was awake.

"Thanks for being my alarm clocks you two," she said with a yawn.

The Lycanroc and Arcanine hopped off the bed as Elsie sat up, rubbing her eyes. She quickly got ready for the day before exiting the room.

"Looks who's finally awake." Acerola teased. "Did my trial wear you out that much?"

"Think it's more like doing it so late at night was the thing that got me. But either way, I made it. How many trials are in Ula'Ula anyway?"

"Only two. So that means you'll wanna head to that little area near Po Town so you can have your Grand Trial against my Uncle Nanu." Acerola explained.

"Oh, the Kahuna of this Island is your uncle? I didn't know that."

'Seems like all the notable trainers here are related to someone else that's pretty strong.' she thought. 'I wonder if they did that on purpose or if it just happened to be that way.'

Elsie pulled up the map on Rotom. "Po Town... you mean this little shady area right here?"

"Yep. Despite how it looks, that place is pretty harmless now. Some goons that used to call themselves Team Skull used to cause trouble everywhere but now they just use Po Town as a little hangout spot. You shouldn't have any kind of trouble."

Elsie nodded and returned her team to their pokeballs. "Thanks for letting me spend the night here. I should probably get going."

"Yep. Lillie said she'll meet you in Poni Island so hurry and finish your grand trial so you can be on your way. See you soon."

With a final farewell, Elsie went on her way.

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

"So... we're finally heading to our third grand trial. It seemed just like yesterday that I was flying into Alola for the very first time. I wonder what type this Kahuna specializes in."

She followed the path laid out on the map. 'So the little area right before Po Town... that's where I'll be able to find Kahuna Nanu.'

It didn't take her too long to find that said area. She wasn't sure if it was just her but it looked like this area along with Po Town was in a constant state of rain, or at the very least it looked like it was about to rain. Everything seemed so much darker compared to the rest of the island.

Suddenly the sound of a pokemon battle could be heard from a distance. With curiosity getting the best of her, Elsie followed the sound. Much to her surprise when she found the source of the sound, she saw Evan battling against who she assumed to be the Kahuna based on the description Acerola gave her. It would seem that the battle ended as soon as she appeared. One attack from the Kahuna's pokemon and she witnessed Evan's Incineroar fall.