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

Chapter 49: Circuits of Courage

The observatory stayed dark for one breath too long.

The blackout did not feel like ordinary darkness. It carried the smell of hot metal, ozone, and frightened static, as if every cable in the room were holding its breath. The ceiling lights had vanished, the door had sealed, and the trial machine still hummed with the stubborn confidence of an invention that had not noticed it was scaring its inventor.

Togedemaru's sparks held the room together in small flashes, showing Sophocles' pale face, Molayne's tense hands near the machine, and the Charjabug still locked into the Roller. The Pinger hummed in the darkness like it had not realized the rest of the building had lost power.

I kept one hand near Pikachu, feeling his fur prickle from the unstable electricity. "Is this blackout part of the expected process?"

Sophocles made a strangled sound. "Gyargh?! No way! Did I blow a fuse? Oww! Did the door close?"

The security door had sealed behind us. That answer came before anyone needed to check. A heavy click echoed through the trial room, followed by a cheerful mechanical voice that sounded far too calm for the situation.

Acerola actually looked more amused than afraid, which somehow made Sophocles look even more terrified. Selene lifted her tablet, but Rotom's screen flickered in the blackout and refused to give any helpful answer. Nate whispered that a dark locked observatory was an excellent setting, and Rosa told him not to narrate our possible disaster.

"IN ORDER TO OPEN THE DOOR, PLEASE RESPOND TO THE FOLLOWING AUDIO QUIZ. WHAT SOUND DO YOU HEAR?"

A familiar jingle played through the speakers. Lillie straightened immediately, her fear giving way to recognition. "That sound is from the Pokémon Center."

"CORRECT! OPENING DOOR," the system announced.

The door slid open, and the lights flickered back on just in time for a Grubbin and an Elekid to rush through. Sophocles jumped backward, then tried to recover his captain's voice.

"Whoa! As soon as the door opened, two Pokémon came through. I'm counting on you, Ash and Lillie!"

Lillie sent out Salandit, and I sent out Mudbray. The Grubbin tried to cling to the floor and fire a sticky thread toward Salandit, while Elekid spun its arms to build electricity. Mudbray stomped hard enough to break Grubbin's aim, and Salandit slipped around Elekid with quick, heated movements.

The first battle was smaller than a Totem fight, but the room made it stressful. The floor was crowded with cables, the machine still hummed, and every stray spark made Sophocles flinch. Lillie kept Salandit close to the open side of the field, while I used Mudbray's weight to keep the wild Pokémon away from the Roller.

"Mudbray, High Horsepower!" I called.

"Salandit, Flame Burst!" Lillie said.

Mudbray charged through the uneven light, knocking Grubbin back before the thread could catch Salandit. Salandit's flames struck Elekid from the side, and the sudden heat broke its spinning rhythm. The two wild Pokémon went down before the machine could attract anything worse. Salandit looked back toward Lillie for praise, and Lillie gave it with a quick nod instead of stepping too close to the unstable cables. Mudbray stayed planted until I recalled it beside me, ready to move again if the security system decided to make the trial stranger.

Mudbray scraped one hoof against the floor, its meaning clear, "The ground still holds, even when the room does not."

"I know," I said. "Keep reminding the room of that."

Sophocles exhaled hard. "I knew you could do it! Oh, and just when I said that, the door closed again."

The door shut again with theatrical stubbornness.