A Vacation, an Adventure, and the Story of a Lifetime

Chapter 45: A Rock-Hard Challenge!

Onwards we go! Where's Luna off to next? I'll give you a hint: it has to do with a certain puppy Pokemon!

        -Luna the Space Fox

Key:

Author's notes

Thoughts

"Telepathy or emphasized words"

"Speech"

"{Pokemon speech}"

Disclaimer: If I owned Pokemon, this wouldn't be a Wattpad fanfiction and the Sun/Moon anime would have the same animators as X/Y~

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That night, once Luna and Lunalox had settled in and Cloudy returned home from a busy day of exploring Kiawe's home on Akala Island, Luna's phone buzzed. Ash had left her a voicemail.

"Hey, Luna, I think you should come check this out. The Professor and I just watched Rockruff fight with once of its plushies, and its being really vicious! We just watched it sneak off into the woods, we're following it now."

Luna hopped up, careful not to disturb her newly-hatched Pokemon, who was fast asleep beside her. Most of the others were asleep as well, but Midnight heard the message, saw her get up and joined her.

"{Are we going to go investigate?}" The shiny Umbreon asked as Luna pulled the door open and they stepped into the chilly night air.

"Of course, Mid. Couldn't disappoint my half-brother after all," she replied, shifting into Pokemon form before the two raced in synced steps towards the Professor's house. Ash and Kukui were nowhere to be found once they arrived, but their sent, as well as Rockruff's, was headed towards the woods.

"{Ash said Rockruff was being hyper-aggressive, and even though I don't know much about Rockruff, but with other species, growing pup Pokemon will usually become aggressive while training and growing closer to evolution. I have a growing suspicion Rockruff is sneaking off to practice some new moves,}" Midnight mused.

Luna nodded as the wind rushed through their fur as they leapt over boulders and fallen branches. "That makes a lot of sense. I wonder what kind of move Rockruff is learning... Hey, this kinda reminds me of how Lunalox learned Powder Snow after Snowy used it."

"{Luuu?}" A voice from behind them echoed.

Midnight and Luna skidded to a stop before turning around. Lunalox was a few yards behind them, hovering in the air with her large wings gently flapping beside her. "Lunalox? What are you doing out here? It isn't safe for a hatchling to be out in the middle of the night!"

"{Follow Luuna and 'iddy! Ruff ruff lorning moooove! Luunalock help!}" The Pokemon replied happily.

Luna shook her head before pointing her head forward. "Alright, since you're already out here, but we have to be quiet and stick together, okay?"

"{Okey!!}" Lunalox cheered before landing softly on the ground. They continued padding forward until two similar cries echoed from ahead.

"Those sound like Rockruff, but older. Do you think Rockruff is around here?" Luna hissed as they came to a stop. Just then, Ash, Rotom Dex, and Kukui peered out from behind a bush.

"Luna, you made it! Come look, this is really cool!" The former exclaimed in a whisper. "And you brought Lunalox, too! Cool!"

Luna shifted into human form before walking over to where they hid. She nearly gasped when she looked at what they had been watching. The ground they were on dropped off to a sheer cliff face a few feet ahead, and a huge bowl-shaped canyon was below.

The area was filled with wild Pokemon, who were watching a Midday form Lycanroc and a Midnight form Lycanroc battle, one of the onlookers being Rockruff. The Midday Lycanroc used its Accelerock, but Midnight took it well before firing back a powerful Counter.

"Mid, you were right! Rockruff is training!" She exclaimed quietly to her Pokemon, who stood beside her, also peering over the scene.

After a few minutes, the wild Pokemon broke into groups before doing their own training battles. Ash went to stand up, but Kukui held him back. "We need to see what's really causing Rockruff to get so beat up, and we can't reveal ourselves. This is Clawmark Hill, and it seems like a sacred safe space for these Pokemon."

They continued to watch. Rockruff paired up with a Magmar, which seemed like a good matchup, but as Rockruff charged up a move that appeared to be Rock-Type, Magmar blasted it back with Flamethrowers, taking the victory.

"I get it now," Luna realized. "Rockruff's learning a new move, but it still doesn't know how to do it yet, so it can't win the battle against Magmar!"

The other Pokemon kept battling until each pair had a winner and loser before the two Lycanroc seemed to dismiss them. Kukui lead them out of the forest back towards the house. Lunalox looked back longingly before following them.

"What is it, girl? Do you want to be able to battle and train like them, too?" Luna asked, and Lunalox brightened. "Well, I think you're still a little too young for now, but we can practice tomorrow with my brothers and sisters, how does that sound?"

"{Practice?}" A voice asked from behind, and Luna spun around to see Rockruff behind them. "{I want to practice too!}"

Ash lifted Rockruff into his arms as they walked home. "I had no idea you were training with all those wild Pokemon! Say, why don't you come train with me and Pikachu, and we can work on your new move together!" He offered.

The puppy Pokemon barked happily in response as they stepped out of the woods.

Ash, Pikachu, Rotom Dex, and Rockruff ran inside, but Professor Kukui stopped outside the door to speak with Luna. "I'm thinking tomorrow's school day would be a perfect opportunity for some goodhearted training down on the beach, so bring Lunalox along, too."

Luna saluted. "Of course, Professor. Lunalox looked like she really wanted to do some training of her own after all, and it'll be the perfect chance to learn more about what kinds of moves she can learn. Count me in, sir."

They parted ways as Luna- shifting into Pokemon form- lead Lunalox and Midnight back home, explaining Kukui's plan on the way. "Imagine that: Ash with Pikachu and Rockruff, Lillie with Snowy, Kiawe with Turtonator, Lana with Popplio, Mallow with Bounsweet, Sophocles with Turtonator, Cloudy with Raze, and me with you two. It'll be perfect."