Pokémon Sun and Moon reborn (✓)

What, no gyms?!

I soon realized that something made Alola rather different from Kanto.

There were no gyms.

In Kanto, every pokémon trainer went through eight arenas called gyms that each specialized in a unique typing. They would then face off against the gym leader, a trainer usually more powerful and stronger than the other trainers.

I've heard of the gym leaders in Kanto. Brock, Misty, Lieutenant Surge,  Erika, Koga, Sabrina and Giovanni. Who apparently used to be the leader of a villainous team of thieves called team rocket. Though they disbanded several years before I was born.

But Alola didn't have any of these.

In the following weeks, I explored Melemele, and discovered that there were, simply put, no gyms here.

I thought being a trainer was easier than expected, but then one day Kahuna Hala sent for me to explain something I've never heard of before: trials.

That day, I was spending time with Litten in my bedroom, feeding it and gently stroking its fur. Rotom had said that it takes a long time to build trust, but I think it had a strong enough sense of trust in me that it was always comfortable near me.

The doorbell rang just as I fed it a sitrus berry. I returned it to its pokéball and answered the door.

Hau was standing there, with his usual big grin on his face.

"Alola, Stephen! Fine morning it is! My gramps said that he'd like to see you at Iki town for something important! You'd better hurry!"

With that, he turned and ran off.

I grabbed my bag and my pokéballs, then ran after Hau.

. . .

When we arrived at Iki town, the Kahuna was at work in the town hall. He was tinkering away at a small contraption unseen to us.

"Ah, Stephen! Hau! There you are!" He greeted, pulling off a pair of lens-infused goggles, "I have something for you, as promised!"

"What is it, gramps?" Hau asked eagerly.

Kahuna Hala laughed, "Now hold your horses, boy! I haven't even got to the important part yet!"

He stood up from his workbench.

"Now, young Stephen," he turned towards me, "I'm sure by now that you've noticed there are no gyms here in Alola, unlike in Kanto."

I nodded.

"Well, in Alola it's a little bit different. Here we have challenges called trials! In a trial you take on a challenge for each type, and sometimes in the last trial of the island you battle what is known as the trial captain, a trainer who specializes in said type! What's more, you get a special reward for completing trails. You get gym badges for beating gyms in Kanto, right?"

I nodded again.

"When you complete a trial, you are rewarded with a special little crystal called a Z-crystal. Now you'd know by now that in battle, pokémon are able to use four moves at maximum. But something about the environment in Alola has caused the pokémon that live here to develop a capability to use a fifth move, kinda like a sixth sense almost, and that is called a Z-move!"

With that, he held out his hand to reveal two silver watch-like rings. Each with a golden symbol engraved on top, it looked like a two triangles on top of a rectangle.

"These here are Z-rings, without these things and a Z-crystal, Z-moves simply wouldn't function. So I'd like you two to take these with you on your journey! But be aware that to use a Z-move your pokémon must know a move that has the same type as the the crystal. What's more, you can only use one Z-move per battle, so choose wisely."

He handed a Z-ring to both me and Hau.

"Now, the first trial you two are going to take on is the normal type trial in Verdant cavern up north! When you two have completed it, come back to Iki town and I'll tell you what to do next! Good luck!"

We thanked the Kahuna and left.

"Rotom, lead me to Verdant cavern!" I said, Rotom flew out of my bag and flickered to life.

"Bzzt! Verdant cavern, huh? Follow me! Bzzt!" He buzzed.

I followed him down to Verdant cavern, my first stop as a pokémon trainer.

(Author's note: sorry about the short chapter, guys! I was a little pushed for ideas and had to get the whole Z-move business out of the way. The next chapter should be a bit more action-packed! And things are really starting to spice up too...stay tuned...)