1. Ash's Story (Part 9: Alola)

Chapter 10

The time has arrived for our first trial, encountering Captain Ilima. He greets, "Greetings. Captain Ilima here. And my trial begins mere steps from here in Verdant Cavern!"

The cavern's sight fills us with awe. He adds, "Note that the Pokémon living within Verdant Cavern are quite fierce. I wouldn't venture in unless you've prepared some Potions and so forth. Through attempting the trials during the island challenge, one can exceed his or her own limits. ...That is what the Alolan people believe. Once you enter Verdant Cavern, you will not be able to leave until you have completed the trial. Are you prepared for the trial?"

"You bet." I affirm, and we enter the Verdant Cavern. Ilima states, "Let me formally welcome you to Verdant Cavern! I am your captain, Ilima. Allow me to explain the basics of my trial. What you should attempt to do is..." We notice some Yungoos chasing after Rattata into the dens, and he continues, "...defeat four of the Pokémon that lurk here in their dens! Then reach the pedestal deep within the cave... and collect the Z-Crystal there! You'll need to be completely in sync with your Pokémon to succeed."

"Sounds like a piece of cake," I chuckle, but then we hear a loud cry.

"Oh dear! And there's one more thing I forgot to mention." Ilima adds with a hint of concern. "Many strong Pokémon make their home in this cave, but one stronger and more fearsome than all the rest, known as a Totem Pokémon, also resides here! It will be the greatest obstacle you face as you attempt to clear my trial!"

"So, we're up against two Totem Pokémon?" Lillie queries.

"Yes. By the way, until you clear the trial, you will not be able to catch Pokémon in Verdant Cavern. This is but one of the eight trials you will face during your island challenge. And it begins now! The trial of Captain Ilima!"

As we venture in, both of us commence our trials by seeking out the Pokémon to battle. I spot an Alolan Rattata while Lillie encounters a Yungoos. With Rowlet and Pikipek by our side, we swiftly defeat them in unison. However, the final two Pokemon are hard to catch because they are good at escaping to different dens.

"These last two are tricky... They keep slipping into different dens," Lillie remarks, looking perplexed.

"Exactly! By the time we reach one den, they're already darting off to another," I exclaim with a frustrated shake of my head.

Much to our annoyance, the same duo of Team Skull Grunts rush in, and one of them quips, "Yo, yo, yo!" "It's your bad beach boys, back... back again! Remember us?"

"Who are you guys again?" I retort, not in the mood to engage.

They exchange glances before swapping positions. One of the grunts responds, "You don't remember us just because we switched places?"

"Who cares about that anyway?! We're here to mess the trial up, yo!" "Oh yeah, that's right! Yo, let's get that Pokemon, homie!"

Reluctantly, we're dragged into a battle with the two grunts. Despite their attempts with Drowzee and Zubat to disrupt us, we swiftly defeat them in no time.

"Is it cool for me to be in Team Skull if I'm this brittle?" he gasps. "What's up with that?"

"For real, though?! I can't get my skull around it! These kids' mad strong, yo!" the other grunt says.

"Naw, it ain't even like that. Those kids are straight up dangerous, homie!" "I don't know, man... isn't this whole place trouble?!"

"Yeah! It totally is, homie! I mean, that thing is so strong that regular Pokemon don't even wanna come out and battle!" They attempt to flee but end up circling back. "Yo, kids! You know there's a mad strong Pokemon lurking back here somewhere, right? I'd run if I were you."