Pokemon Ascendance: Origins of Holon

46

The first thing that Elsie did the moment she was up and ready for the day was head to the beach.

'I haven't had a chance to Mantine Surf yet. I wanna do that at least once before I finish all my trials.' she thought. 'Hopefully, I can keep my balance long enough to reach Poni Island safely.'

The moment she was on the beach, she saw a few Mantine lazing around near the shore.

'I guess that's where I'm supposed to go.'

She slowly approached the Mantine, hoping that she wouldn't startle them. When she came into their sights, the Mantine looked up at her curiously.

"Hi there. Do you know the person I'm supposed to talk to so I can surf with you guys?" she asked the Kite Pokemon.

"That would be me." Elsie turned around only to be greeted by a girl in a swimsuit. "I'm guessing that this is your first time?"

"Y-Yes. I've been wanting to do it for a while now. I just haven't had the chance to try until now."

"Well today must be an exciting day for you." the swimmer girl said with a smile. "Don't worry, Mantine surfing is a lot easier than it looks. We've had plenty of beginners that were able to pull out some tricks while on Mantine on their very first ride.  Let's get you all suited up and ready."

Elsie nodded and followed the swimmer girl, being handed a swimsuit of her own along with a helmet. The moment she was ready, Prism came out of her pokeball, stretching her wings.

"Oh. You're gonna take this time to try and get some flying practice done aren't you?" Elsie asked her partner.

"Eon." the Drakeon nodded, preparing herself for the trip at hand.

"I've never seen a pokemon like that before." the swimmer girl remarked, getting a closer look at Prism.

"It happened not too long ago. My Eevee here evolved into a new evolution I've been calling Drakeon. We're trying to figure out everything that she can do in this new form." Elsie explained as she stepped onto one of the Mantine, making sure that she had her balance from the very start. She figured that the sooner she found her center of gravity, the better off she would be in the long run.

"Alright, there are two main rules you have to follow in order to have a safe and fun ride with Mantine. One, keep your feet planted. We've had some... interesting people try to pull off dance moves while on Mantine's back and we don't want anyone falling off. Two, lean in the direction of where you're trying to go and Mantine will go in that direction. Since all of them know where to go when it comes to the island the only way you'll be worried about direction is if you're trying to do a trick. Now, off you go and have fun!"

After the fairly quick explanation, the Mantine began moving, startling Elsie for a moment before she quickly regained her balance. Prism spread its wings and started to fly beside Elsie.

"Alright, looks like we're finally making our way to Poni Island," she said to her partner. "I wonder what kind of trials we're gonna face when we get there."

"Drakeon." Prism nodded, also anticipating some intense battles. This was the final stretch of their island challenge after all. Surely the last island would be the hardest compared to the other three.

Elsie soon found herself standing at the bottom of a large wave.

'We're probably going to see a lot of those. I heard that it was a bit safer to ride the waves since there's less chance of rocks being in the way.' she thought.

Prism immediately flew to the very top of the wave. Taking a breath, Elsie followed her, guiding Mantine along the wave.

'Okay, this is pretty easy. No wonder the swimmer girl said that even beginners are able to do tricks. Not that I think I'm ready to try it yet... I think I wanna just enjoy the view while I ride of Mantine.'

The rest of her time surfing was spent somewhat keeping up with Prism who was happily weaving through the air, doing her own tricks above the waves.

.........

"Thanks again for the ride Mantine," Elsie said to the Kite Pokemon the moment they had reached the shore.

Mantine cooed happily before going over to its resting place. From the looks of it, Elsie figured that they usually just stay at the island that they swam over to rather than go back. Or at least they stay to take a break before going back.

"I think I heard Lillie and Hau are supposed to be somewhere on this island," Elsie told Prism. "Guess the next thing on our list is to try and find them."

Prism nodded in agreement as they wandered around Poni Island. At first glance, Poni Island just looked like small shops on top of the water.

"I wonder where we should start looking..."

"Ninetales."

Elsie and Prism turned to see Snowy walking towards them. The Drakeon trotted over to greet her.

"Oh hi, Snowy. Looks like you found us before we found you. Can you take us to Lillie?"

The Alolan Ninetales nodded and led them to the Pokemon Center. Inside, both Lillie and Hau were there. The moment she stepped in, Elsie was quickly greeted by her friends.

"There you are, Elsie," Lillie said with a smile. "We were starting to worry."

"I guess I took a little longer than I thought when it came to the Mantine surfing. Sorry for worrying you."

"Whoa, so that's what your Eevee evolved into!?" Hau asked, immediately running up to Prism. "Lillie was telling me about the new evolution but it's much cooler seeing it in person. Look at your wings and little horns!"

Prism purred as Hau scratched her in between her ears.

"And speaking of Prism's evolution. There's a Z crystal here in Poni Island that I think would suit her." Lillie added. "It's on an old unofficial trial site. If you want to go see it, then Hau and I can show you where it is."

"A Z Crystal that Prism might wanna use... Well, there's certainly no harm in checking this place out and seeing if we can find it." Elsie replied. "Let's go."