Chapter Text
The day had some at last. We ate breakfast at Hapu and Lola's before setting out on our journey. The canyon was as daunting as people said. Hot and dry weather, dust everywhere and the trail sometimes was just as narrow as it was when we went to the Ruins of Hope.
Elio was at my side the entire time. There were also a lot of trainers there hoping to be able to train strong pokemon. They all fought well, but Elio was much too strong for them. Kalua and I tried our hand against some of the wild pokemon here too! A lot of them are quite strong, but she made short work of some flying types!
We came across an old trial site and didn't even realize it still had a totem pokemon guarding it!
And then the Altar of the Moone. I…I still can't believe everything that happened.
They set out to egress the canyon late in the morning. The whole battle had taken a lot of energy out of both trainers and pokemon. Lola was more than happy to oblige with more of the leftover tosilog, sinangag and champorado. Though the food was rich and flavorful, Elio knew that he would just eat enough so that he was no longer hungry. A greasy meal sitting in the stomach before a day of vigorous physical activity was likely to come back to hit him later.
After everyone had once again eaten their fill, Elio and Lillie pulled on their packs in preparation to set out.
"Remember to call us if you run into any trouble," Hapu told them. "Miles and I shall hasten to you at once."
"I think we'll be well off," Elio said. "But if anything does come up, you will be the first to know."
Then they were off. It was a short walk down the trail to the canyon's entrance before they vanished around the bend of the walls.
It only got more and more treacherous. Every surface was sloped, slick or caked with dust. Progress was a lot slower than before as the path zigged and zagged. The sight of every successive gorge they crossed was more impressive than the last, some of the bigger ones having bridges of either natural rock or rope and wood. The sight of a crescent moon totem that had to have been built by the ancient Alolans made their course.
But their equipment was holding up and Elio was glad he had made it this far without getting blisters.
Other trainers were also in the canyon, some had said greetings as the teens passed by, others gave warnings such as for machoke and skarmory as being persistent wild pokemon. Some even challenged them to a battle.
Elio was still in great battling shape, swiftly defeating most of them, though some gave him a harder time than others. One couple was about to challenge him when Lillie herself had volunteered to be his partner. Though he was surprised at her declaration, he agreed.
The battle was fierce. Elio used Nani and she had Kalua against a powerful goodra and dewgong. The latter had summoned a hailstorm, which didn't help him or the other trainer's goodra…but Kalua's snow cloak ability kicked in and she was able to disappear around the battlefield. Lillie had powder snow to support, freezing the goodra while Elio swiftly defeated the dewgong and making it a two on one. By the time goodra had broken out of the freeze, both of them were more than ready to take it out.
"That was incredible!" Lillie pumped a fist after they had finished shaking hands and parting ways. "That was so much fun! I can't believe I've missed out on battling this whole time!"
Her enthusiasm was infectious and Elio almost felt as if he was being introduced to pokemon battling for the first time himself. Like watching a bird spread its wings and fly for the first time.
"You and Kalua looked perfectly in sync. She loves battle too, I can tell."
"You think?"
"If she's anything like her sister, oh yeah. Absolutely."
Lillie stared down as they kept walking. The path wound into the rock walls where it had started to incline. Small grooves had been hewn into the side for them to grip. It was too small for Bravo to fly in his new much larger form, but Arclight was more than happy to zip around at the top. She blasted the ceiling with a discharge attack, scattering several zubat and golbat that had been nesting on the roof.
"But I don't know any battle strategies like you do." Lillie seemed upset or uncertain to say the least. "You've always had a knack for winning all your battles, even coming back again for another if you've lost. But I don't think I've ever thought about if I were to be a trainer, how I'd battle."
"Who says you have to battle?" Elio asked her. "Just because you're a trainer doesn't mean you're obligated to become a professional battler in a League. Your path has so many different opportunities and not every trainer must absolutely have a battle strategy. Some do and it's better to go in with one. But it can be as simple as hitting your opponent until they're defeated type of thing."
Lillie laughed at that. "You make it sound easy."
"Because most of the time it works. Best thing I can say to a new trainer is, know your type matchups, your pokemon's strengths and weaknesses. The better you know of your pokemon's capabilities means you'll already have a stake in the battle. And sometimes in that trust and bond with them, the strategies form themselves."
What is it with him and having this type of way with words? Like I'm here fumbling my way through life as a trainer and he makes it sound like I've always had this capability? I just need to believe in myself.
"Phew, this canyon is difficult to walk." Lillie was very nearly gasping for air as the cave tunnels wound up and they found themselves on an elevated floor above the ground. Elio estimated the drop down to be nearly sixty feet.
"You and me both." They stopped at the edge of a wide wooden plank bridge to take a break. Elio felt his feet aching and moved them around to help relieve the soreness. We have to be almost done…right? He unscrewed the lid on his water bottle and took a drink, nearly spitting it out from the brackishness. The second was no better and it was finally the third swig that tasted fresh. He made a mental note to get an insulated metal flask to help retain the temperature next time.
"Easy for you to say," Similar to him, Lillie was also downing her bottle of water until she had about a third left. They'd have to refill soon, which meant using the UV filters inside their lids. No telling what kind of nasty microbes were in there. "You make it seem like it's nothing!"
"I also have a lot of practice."
"But you know what? I think I can overcome any and all my fears. Like this bridge."
Elio looked out at it, at first thinking nothing of the span. Then he remembered when he had first met her on Melemele Island and his dangerous run in to save Nebby from the attacking spearow.
"Right."
"I'm not afraid of heights anymore. I won't be!" Lillie made a fist and stared across the bridge.
I didn't even know you had a fear of them to begin with. He didn't get a chance to stop her before the blonde took off across, striding on top with a confidence he still couldn't believe she had within her.
Why are you surprised? She's always got it.
Lillie had stopped short when she was roughly halfway across. Elio thought maybe she was beginning to have second thoughts until he saw a dark shape land in front of him, beady eyes glancing in her direction. Two more murkrow swooped down on the far end, trapping her in the middle.
Elio was ready to intervene, bringing out Bravo's ball, but stopped himself before he could release him.
She's got this. I had said it myself.
Lillie gasped, hesitating as she glanced at the dark birds as they stepped forward. Their red pupils fixated on her back and her blood ran cold when she realized that it was Nebby that they were after. Murkrow were attracted to shiny objects.
"No…I can't. I can't back down." Her face turned into a mask of grim determination and her hand went to Kalua's poke ball.
One of the murkrow cawed and jumped forward.
"Powder snow!" Lillie had spiked out the ball, releasing Kalua in a flash of light. The alolan vulpix immediately spotted her target, exhaling a blast of white snow that engulfed the murkrow and sent it off the edge of the bridge with a screech.
"Again!" The other two were approaching quickly, hastening their pace at seeing their comrade go down. She spun around, unleashing another blast that was dodged, but it was enough to drive them away.
"Woohoo!" Lillie jumped up and down in celebration of her victory. "I did it! Trial is complete!"
She turned to finish the crossing when another shadow passed overhead.
Another bird; this one even bigger than the murkrow, but the same jet black feathers. It gazed at her and Kalua with a lot more malice in its eyes, causing her to freeze.
She didn't know what to do. Three murkrow were enough already, but the other pokemon looked to be just too strong for her. In the background, she could barely make out what Rotom Dex was spewing on. "Honchkrow. Big boss pokemon. It is the evolved form of murkrow. It will absolutely not forgive a failure or betrayal by one of its goons. While murkrow takes care of most of the fighting, it only dirties its hands when it is about to deliver a final blow to a foe. Honchkrow is a dark and flying type. Additional information is available upon catching this pokemon."
So if it's here and ready to attack then. Lillie shook her head and tried to banish those fearful thoughts. No matter. We'll fight until there's nothing left!
The honchkrow cloaked itself in harsh light and threw itself forward in a dive down towards them.
"Kalua, use-" She was cut off as something had roared past her, intercepting the diving honchkrow and knocking it from its oncoming course. The dark big boss pokemon was fast to recover and glared at its assailant, furious that something had denied it its prize.
Bravo's huge airframe moved above her and he glared at the honchkrow coming out of his aerial ace. For a few moments neither side moved as the other birds appeared to be deciding if the prize in Lillie's backpack was worth confronting the fierce eagle that had appeared almost out of nowhere to defend her. Bravo cawed loudly, a war cry of a challenge to try him.
He wouldn't get the fight after all as the honchkrow, joined by its three murkrow minions had all gathered together and flew off out of sight. Apparently it wasn't worth it after all. Yeah run away punk ass. Size matters.
"Hmm?" Lillie glanced down to see Kalua looked up at her expectantly. "Yes, you did great! Come on, let's get off this bridge!" She scooped up her pokemon and ran the rest of the way.
That was close!
"You okay?" Elio asked as he finished crossing the bridge and they were walking once again. "That looked like it was gonna get dicey for a little bit."
"Y-yeah." Lillie was still shaking as the adrenaline rush began to wear off. "I just, it's crazy how something like that can be thrilling and dangerous at the same time!"
He knew what she meant. After all, he had experienced it in his own wild battles.
Bravo swooped above, stopping in the open section of the canyon to wait for them. Elio let him remain out to both serve as an eye in the sky and a deterrent in case the murkrow or their honchkrow decided to come back. He knew the type wasn't to take losses easily.
"S-sorry," Lillie had fallen behind him as they had taken several more twists and descents before finally reaching an arch that led down a long tunnel that widened in the middle. "I'm…not very good at running."
Elio wanted to laugh, instead put his hands on his knees and they stood in silence at the mouth of the arch to catch their breath.
More ruins. He saw faded stone carvings at the pillars and faded colorings of red, yellow, purple and pink. Hold on, that's the same as a trial site. Is there one around here or something?
He had finished all of the trials, there were no more spots in his passport for stamps and he had fifteen zenith crystals.
Wait. Two slots remained empty. Ice and dragon type.
Could there be another trial that I missed? His musings were interrupted when Lillie cleared her throat.
"Uh Elio, the Altar should be here past this last ravine. We're almost there."
And not a minute too soon. The clock showed it was starting to get into the early evening, showing that they had completely lost track ever since embarking on the arduous journey. More fatigue was starting to get noticeable besides his feet. Elio's calf muscles burned and he shifted his weight onto one leg so he could roll his foot and help relax it. He just wanted to lie down and recover from the hike.
I probably have ripped calves from standing, sprinting and walking so dang much.
After taking another break of water and munching down another protein bar, Lillie led the way through the narrow ravine past the trial gates. Elio didn't feel anything different as they passed, but couldn't shake the feeling that the island challenge wasn't quite over just yet.
His first clue was the weathered hewn tablet that was in the middle of the path as they approached. The words carved in had long faded, barely resembling what they originally said and what he could make out, didn't make sense whatsoever.
"Is this supposed to be a warning?" Lillie looked up and around them in alarm. "Like a keep-out sign?"
"I don't know." Something occurred to him and he brought out the Rotom Dex, accessing the index of apps available. "But I think this is the perfect time to try out a new feature that was apparently stealth upgraded without my knowledge."
"Stealth upgraded?" Lillie stared at him in confusion. "Like it was there and you never noticed it?"
"That or someone just decided to write it in."
Elio let out an annoyed huff. Either someone's translating this for me or I just didn't need it until now. Oh well, better to have it and finally have a use.
The new app in question was a camera translator. The poke finder feature could toggle an active translator that could decipher written foreign languages to his native one just by looking at it through the finder's lens. While not always dead accurate, it provided close enough that a rough understanding was the least he could get out of it.
Alolan wasn't a language he read or spoke fluently like Hau or Leilani, so until he learned it, he'd have to rely on the app for the time being.
Hitting a button, he positioned the poke finder in front of the tablet, toggling the translator to start from the top down and interpret it in Basic.
"Malama, so that means take care or be careful." Elio narrowed his eyes. "Warrior of dragon who guards the pass."
I don't think I need the app to know that this was a dangerous place to be…especially if they say some dragon guards the ravine.
"Ma o aku ia kapu hoao." The words came out as a murmur to himself. "Beyond lies sacred trials. None who do not take part in these trials will be allowed to walk upon Alola as a worthy man. Lack the courage and will of a mighty dragon, defeat the totem guarding sacred land, will have deny entry."
"Some translator." Lillie chuckled.
"I'm doing my best here."
Elio moved to read the bottom text. "Those believing in pokemon and themselves, gain great wondrous power, wield great fury, might of the dragons themselves."
So in short, this was an old trial site. But there's no captain here or anywhere. Does that mean it's still active? Or can we just walk through? Somehow he felt that stepping past the tablet automatically meant he was going to undertake the trial. If the challenge had taught him anything, it was always to be ready for the unexpected.
He stepped forward. Lillie hesitated for a couple of moments before following.
Elio felt his heart rate increase and he stopped, feeling like he was sensing a presence watching him with a piercing glare. He scanned his surroundings, finding nothing out of place.
I feel something watching me, but what?
"Something wrong?" Lillie asked, coming to a stop next to him.
"We're being watched." He didn't like it.
"By what?"
"I'm not sure."
Elio decided to press onward, taking out Nani's poke ball as soon as a pokemon was needed.
A few steps in he heard a familiar squeak. A shadow darted from behind a rock in front towards the middle, crouching low to confront the two teens.
"A jangmo'o." Elio recognized it immediately as it came into view. Unlike the one he had as a hatchling from the egg at Kahananui Ranch, this one was in a much more aggressive stance. He'd have to defeat it if he wanted to press forward.
Nani emerged from her thrown poke ball. As the little dragon readied a dragon claw attack, she quickly shot it with an ice beam for super effective damage. The jangmo'o crashed into the wall, knocked out from the single blow.
"Jangmo'o come from the Vast Poni Canyon." Elio said to himself. "Could this have been where you did too Hakamo'o?"
Only one way to find out. He kept pushing ahead, now feeling an even fiercer gaze than before upon him. Nani was kept out of her ball, slithering silently next to him and eyeing the walls. She knew that whatever else was going to come after them was likely hiding somewhere ahead out of sight.
The next cry was just like Hakamo'o's and a wild one leapt out from behind another boulder up ahead, standing in between them and the end of the ravine. By now, Elio could see the widest section with a pedestal just up ahead. That must've been the goal.
"Nani, ice beam again!"
She spun around, shooting another blast of chilly ice energy. Unlike the jangmo'o that didn't stand much of a chance, the hakamo'o thrust its arms out, creating a protect barrier that effortlessly shielded it. The creature pushed ahead as Nani ran out of steam, dissolving the shield and throwing itself forward. It crashed into the tender pokemon's side with a headbutt that she swatted away with her iron tail.
This one's a little more persistent than that jangmo'o.
However it underestimated Elio's patience. As soon as the two pokemon disengaged, the hakamo'o threw up another protect. Instead of attacking again, he had Nani use recover despite the headbutt doing relatively little damage. As the green shield began to fade; Nani fired another ice beam that hit its mark. Similar to its younger specimen, the hakamo'o was easily defeated, crashing into the ground covered in damaging splinters of ice.
"Ice is such a beautiful type," Lillie said behind him. "It's powerful and there's something pretty about it. Like fire…how it's both beautiful, deadly, destructive and creative."
Like you. It seemed like she was starting to get a fondness for ice types and ice type moves.
Moving on, the fiercest gaze imaginable was upon them. Elio heard something that felt akin to tremors and a low growl resonated in the ravine from up ahead. He and Lillie froze.
A totem pokemon? He wasn't sure, but it was only a few more steps to the pedestal. Looking around he saw nothing out of the ordinary.
"Bzzt, look at that!" Rotom Dex chimed in as they approached it. A dark blue and purple zenith crystal was nestled in the center. "It'zzzz the dragonium Z!"
I don't know. Something feels off. I defeated two dragon types rather easily and now I get to claim the Z crystal?
Contrary to his thinking, despite that weighted gaze that he felt coming from somewhere, nothing was close to even challenging him the right to swipe the crystal.
"Hurry Elio," Lillie was starting to look anxious. "I don't want to stay here."
Me neither. He reached down.
And he nearly missed the movement in the corner of his left eye. Some rocks and dust had fallen down from above. Things don't do that on their own.
"ALERT! Totem pokemon presence detected! Bzzt!"
Even as he looked up, he felt and heard something jump from up top.
A huge figure hit the ground with a bone jarring impact, remaining crouched low for a moment before unlimbering its tall lanky arms and legs to scrutinize the two of them.
"What is that?!"
The gray creature looked like an even larger version of Hakamo'o with elongated forearms that were planted to the ground and supporting its bulky front with knuckles. All along its body were massive scales that looked as tough as the armor of a main battle tank. Some appeared translucent, iridescent, pristine and new while some of the larger ones had chips and dents in the side.
It's more armored than the golisopod. Bigger too! If he had to field a guess, it stood almost twelve feet tall.
Its head was thin, resting atop a long neck that was adorned with more scales. Elio took a closer look and saw that the joint areas, a spot he would normally see as a thinner weaker section had their own glistening luster, seeing smaller and equally hard scales like a chain mail hauberk. The pokemon's large head was crested by a headdress of gold and orange. A long tail that had even sharper scales waved lazily behind it.
"New very big pokemon hazzz been detected! Bzzt!" Rotom floated next to them. "Kommo'o. Scaly pokemon. It is the evolved form of hakamo'o and the final form of jangmo'o. It battles valiantly with its fists, which are covered in steely scales as hard as diamond. Kommo'o specialize in uppercuts. By jingling its tail, it will intimidate weaker foes it has no desire to fight into fleeing. Kommo'o is a dragon and fighting type. Additional information is available upon capturing this pokemon."
"I guess we're not gonna get to pass without a fight." Elio made the motion of rolling up his sleeves as Nani slithered into position, staring her foe down. "Let's get to work."
The sound of the totem aura brought his attention back to the beast. A large stat flare coalesced around, empowering it. Kommo'o raised its arms letting out a mighty roar that rattled the entire area.
Elio felt his insides go oily, but shook his head. If he was going to be intimidated by this, he had no business passing the trial or pushing through to the Altar of the Moone.
Failing wasn't an option. Not with the stakes this high.
"The totem'zzz aura hazzz elevated all ztatzzz! Bzzt!"
"That ain't gonna matter," Elio felt his blood starting to pump as that same thrill sensation returned. "Ice beam Nani!"
The milotic cooed and spun around, coiling to unleash a blast of icy energy. The totem seemed disinterested as it planted both its huge arms into the ground, sprouting a large glowing sphere around its entire body. The protect completely encased and prevented as much as a scratch from being inflicted.
"Okay, I'm gonna have to find a way around that."
Kommo'o's rotation was slow as Nani slithered to the side in an attempt to flank it. The lanky front arms shifted, providing the thickest amount of armor protection between it and its foe. Nani kept her gaze on it, almost missing as it threw a lightning punch into the ground, sending a fan of jagged stones sprouting out of the ground. Nani narrowly contorted to weave in between the stone edge. She emerged at the forefront of it, ready to blast a scald at a very close range. It was met with yet another protect. Not wanting to be denied twice, Nani sharpened her tail, swinging it forth just as the barrier started to drop. Elio saw the kommo'o readying a strike with its free hand.
Nani saw it too, hunching her serpentine frame down just as the sky uppercut blow passed overhead with inches to spare. She saw her opening, swinging her sword tail to deliver a slash at the massive dragon's breastplate.
Kommo'o grunted, folding down at the blow, but it didn't seem to do very much damage. Not as much as he hoped.
Elio was in the middle of shouting at Nani to fire another scald when he saw the totem raise its arms. The frontal scale plates that lined its elbows had begun to shimmer.
At first he thought it was from some intense heat, but he moved his focus and saw that it was vibrating.
He had no time to deduce what it meant before the totem smashed the plates on its forearms together, creating a concussive shockwave that blasted everything out of the way in a narrow cone of effect. Clouds of dust and rocks flew everywhere and Elio had just happened to be in front of Lillie, shielding her from the worst of it. Flecks of sharp rocks nicked his exposed skin.
The worst of it was the sound; a bass rumble that echoed along the ravine's walls, bouncing right back inward. Elio's ears rang instantly, he and Lillie having almost zero warning of what was coming.
Ooooh shit! Even the cursing in his head was hard to discern from the ringing. He glanced over to see Lillie in a similar posture to him, palms pressed firmly against her ears, eyes squeezed shut.
Yet despite the surprise noise with the equal volume of a bomb blast, Lillie kept her own fear and anxiety down as much as she could to remain assertive. He had a moment to reflect on how proud he was that she was willing to find the courage to press on despite the apparent danger and discomfort.
Elio blinked, eyes drawn to more movement and he realized that Nani and the totem were still continuing their fight. The kommo'o had made a mistake of waiting for the trainer to recover that it hadn't expected its actual foe to resume fighting without orders from her trainer.
The surprise was short lived though; the totem launched another stone edge that battered Nani and flung her towards the wall. Sensing its advantage, it pressed forward to launch a sky uppercut.
"Ice beam!" Elio shouted.
It was just in time. Nani blasted the lunging totem, causing plenty of damage, but more importantly it had slowed it down just enough for her to slither quickly out of the way to avoid being cornered.
The totem roared in protest, easily breaking out of the ice that had encased its entire right side. As Nani took the time to use recover, the massive dragon growled loudly and glanced above. Elio saw more movement and the shape of another hakamo'o appeared, jumping down to join its ally.
Oh great. Elio thought to himself. Two on one again. For a moment he considered bringing a second Pokémon into the fray, since this was an unsupervised trial. But again, something nagged at him to adhere to the traditional Alolan way. It was a battle that would be fought with honor, ergo breaking that silent creed was no different than cheating on any of the other trials he had faced and completed.
I have to prove myself either way.
Worse was that two on one meant that the totem and its ally could divide her attention. Elio would have to have her focus on one foe and watch the other in case it decided to strike when her back was turned.
As he predicted, they had did just that. The hakamo'o flanked right while the totem kept Nani's aggro. She fired another ice beam that was countered with another protect. The hakamo'o took the opportunity to use a move Elio used the Rotom Dex to discern called autotomize and the stat flare showing that it had a sharp increase to its speed.
If it's quicker, that means we need to get it into a spot where Nani can hit it where it won't be able to evade as easily.
But he couldn't just ignore the totem. If it did that devastating noise move by clanging its scales, it was possible that disorienting him again might put Nani on edge enough for the duo to finish her off.
They moved in at once, the hakamo'o lunging early with a dragon claw. Nani parried it with her iron tail, chipping it just long enough to avoid a sky uppercut from the totem. She used it to her advantage to blast the smaller dragon in the chest with a dragon pulse. It screeched loudly, tumbling to the ground. Though powerful, the attack had failed to knock it out. Elio saw its arms and legs stiffly moving.
Then his heart stopped as he saw the familiar shimmer of the totem's armor plating.
It was about to use clanging scales again. And Nani was dead center in its sights.
"Nani get out of there!"
Too late. It brought its arms together, creating another deafening blast that funneled pressurized air and pinkish purple draconic energy. Nani shut her eyes as the force lifted her like a toy and sent her careening into the wall. She was instantly knocked out.
Elio was still jarred from the noise, but now that he knew what to expect, it wasn't as bad. His bones rattled as he took a deep breath to try and keep himself calmed.
"Mahalo Nani." He whispered softly, returning her to her ball. "You did well."
As he clipped her on the left of his belt, customary when he moved defeated pokemon, Elio noticed a falling stat flare around the giant kommo'o.
Defense? From the clanging scales?
"Rotom, did the totem's defense fall?"
"Yezzzir! Bzzt!" His hyper haunted machine floated next to him. "Only kommo'o can uze clanging scales! It'zzz very powerful, but it zufferzzzz a blow to itzzz phyzzzzical defenzze!"
So using a move like that DOES come at a cost! Elio didn't want to feel like he had found a golden swanna, but it did give him an idea that might prove to be advantageous if the battle continued to drag out.
"Okay Bravo, I need your help!"
The braviary cawed loudly, staying in the air just above the ground as he glared at his foes, refusing to be intimidated.
Hakamo'o sounded a war cry and charged forward, springing up with another dragon claw. As it did, Elio saw the totem shift around, trying to position itself but also increasing distance between them.
The ally pokemon was trying to be a distraction.
But for what?
Bravo rolled out of the way of the dragon claw, keeping focus on the totem.
"Aerial ace!" With blinding speed, he slashed out and staggered the gigantic creature. Kommo'o roared in protest, calling up a stone edge. Sharp rocks erupted out of the ground, shooting up towards him like missiles. Bravo kept his calm, deftly weaving through them and coming back for another hit.
Thankfully his speed meant that the totem felt forced to throw up another protect shield to guard it from an attack, while leaving him open for its ally. That was Elio's cue to switch targets, something he knew Bravo could do as well.
"Aerial ace on the hakamo'o!" If he could take its ally pokemon down and focus one on one.
The smaller dragon was just recovering and racing after Bravo when he disengaged. It sprung up, claws outstretched for a sky uppercut.
Bravo saw it coming, circling to the side and making a diving slash. Elio thought he was in the clear until he saw the hakamo'o change its own course and twist its own body in midair to hit the sky uppercut the (other) way. Bravo's body hit the hakamo'o's, knocking it out, but the sky uppercut had taken a good bit of his stamina out. He landed on the ground a bit more forceful and tried to shake it off.
Meanwhile Elio had kept an eye on the totem to see what it would be doing while Bravo had been distracted. It drew its scale armor on its arms, which seemed to fold out from slats situated inside its body. At first he expected it to be somewhat like the clanging scales from earlier, but they had instead expanded to form a pair of shield gauntlets that covered nearly twice their original size.
Both arms glowed with the purple draconic energy and it made a pair of throwing motions in quick succession. To Elio's horror, he realized that the scales were now projectiles headed straight for his pokemon.
"Bravo!"
His bird snapped to attention, reflexes saving him at the last moment from being struck as he flapped his wings to gain altitude. The scales hit the walls, bouncing off as if it were a frisbee. In such an enclosed space, he knew that just one of those could hit multiple times.
"Steel wing!"
Even as a stat flare of an uptick to speed and lowering of physical defense, Kommo'o responded with a stone edge as Bravo dove down. With his wings now hardened with metal; Bravo was able to fly through the fusillade and cleanly slice through any of the rocks meant to clip him. At Elio's command, his body began to glow as he charged up a superpower attack.
To his relief, the totem hadn't thought to put up a protect. Bravo's superpower move involved him hurtling down with incredible force and his talons balled into fists to spearhead the move. He managed to actually knock it down and send it rolling across the dusty ground, however as he predicted; it was far from out, standing up rather shakily and snarling back in defiance.
Now it was Bravo's turn to be affected by a stat flare with his own physical attack and defense dropping. Elio cursed himself for not remembering the drawback of superpower. The next one as well as any other physical attacks were going to deal less damage.
Bravo doesn't necessarily have to win. I still have four other pokemon though I'd rather it not come down to that.
The totem readied another pair of scales to throw and charged forward. Bravo took to the sky once again, angling down for another aerial ace. He was able to evade the first one, but the second was initially dodged and bounced off the ravine's wall straight towards his diving bird.
"Elio!" Lillie shouted, pointing to it and worried she wasn't able to warn him in time.
Bravo cawed loudly in surprise as he sustained a hit just below the wing in his rib section. He was able to flare out his wings to prevent a crash landing, though it kept him right in the center. The totem charged forward, slamming its fists down mid stride to send a wave of stone edge attacks fanning out.
In one last desperate move to try and give some sort of advantage, Bravo thrust his wings forward, bringing a gale that breezed behind him just as the stone edge had knocked him out.
Tailwind. Elio thought to himself. He knew he was getting taken out, so he gave us one last bit of advantage that he had left in him.
"I'll make sure it goes to good use." He returned his pokemon, sending out Strongside in his stead. The incineroar snarled, flexing his arms out and similarly undaunted by the gigantic totem pokemon.
"He's got a nasty sound move, so be on your guard."
Strongside growled and nodded in understanding. He took just a couple of moments to analyze his foe before finally moving, spinning his arms around in a devastating darkest lariat. The totem responded in kind, hitting the ground to create another wave of stone edge. Strongside weaved through them, smashing several to pieces and continuing his course, boosted by the tailwind Bravo had cast.
Although about half the height of the totem, Strongside held one advantage of being able to go for the dragon's knees while it had to actually stoop down to a degree to be able to use its arms to attack.
This made it easy for a fast moving darkest lariat to send it off balance.
With a roar, Strongside had timed it so that he went in the totem shifted its weight. The kommo'o was caught off guard in swinging a missed sky uppercut and collapsed into the ground.
"Get on top of it!" Elio shouted. This was his chance.
As it began to pick itself up, Strongside used the side of the wall to dig his claws into the stone to gain a superior height, climbing above the totem in just a few strides. The totem began to look around in confusion to where its quarry was. Just as its gaze settled on where Strongside was, he lunged, using his strong limbs to spring from his latched position on the wall.
His jump was too far forward for the totem to be able to spin around in time, yet it had attempted to use another sky uppercut that passed uselessly by.
Strongside's paw latched onto the scaly armor easily and he used the momentum to sling back, using his weight to add to the darkest lariat blow. While he was able to land on his feet, the kommo'o was again felled and again fast to get up on its feet.
"Double kick the legs again!"
Strongside jumped in, hitting the knee's joint and spinning around to finish it off with a roundhouse. The totem bellowed loudly, having to use an arm to support itself from buckling again. As he moved in with a darkest lariat, its free arm lashed out, countering the attack by grabbing his fist with an open palm and closing it around. Surprised by the sudden block, Strongside was fast to react, swinging with his other fist. The totem stiff armed him, raising him up with just one hand to slam him into the ground.
Elio flinched at that, not expecting his strongest pokemon to have been easily outmaneuvered. He was about to take command once more, but stopped. Let this play out and have faith in his partner.
A flamethrower erupted out of the dust clouds, catching the kommo'o by surprise as it was about to deliver a stone edge that may have more than likely been a knockout blow.
Strongside's fierce determination was shining through. The navel spewed flamethrower scorched the front armor as the totem raised its left gauntlet in an attempt to reduce the damage.
Then it slowly began to walk forward and push through the fire using a three point stance. The pose was easily recognizable since it was one he had taught his own pokemon.
Huh? What is it doing? Elio's eyes wandered to its free arm tucked in and saw the plating extend out into the gauntlet. For a moment, he had wondered why it hadn't gone for another protect and now he understood. It was going to wait out Strongside's flamethrower and then toss its scale armor at a speed and range that was going to be near impossible to dodge.
"Strongside, darkest lariat on my count!" He shouted. "Trust me on this!"
His pokemon's stance shifted despite not letting up the flamethrower. The jet of fire was starting to weaken, not being able to be kept much longer.
Elio knew his pokemon was questioning his orders, but did it anyway, splaying his arms out and wreathing his wrists in dark energy.
If he's gonna try and surprise with an attack, so are we.
His intuition was spot on as the kommo'o finally braved the flamethrower to thrust out its concealed arm. Thanks to Elio's warning, Strongside was able to stop his own attack and dodge the oncoming projectile. It bounced off the wall, ricocheting back towards the heel pokemon. Now aware that it could hit multiple times, Strongside had to divert his attention and use his darkest lariat to shatter the scales and prevent them from threatening him anymore.
The distraction was all the totem needed for another stone edge. Strongside landed directly in the path of a row of stones that struck him and pelted him into the ground.
"No!"
He struggled to get up on his feet, glaring back at the totem as it jingled its front armor plates on the arms again.
Elio was in the middle of shouting to Lillie about her ears when it brought them together to create that same earsplitting concussive soundwave that struck them with enough force to nearly rip the hat off his head. He thanked having swift reflexes to avoid losing it, but the clanging scale attack had defeated Strongside, who laid on his back sprawled out.
Ah shit!
"Strongside, mahalo." Elio sighed, now starting to feel the fatigue of the day set in. All this damn walking, up and down in a hot ass canyon and I'm getting bodied by a totem I didn't even know was here.
"Rotom, what can you tell me about that scale move it keeps using?"
"That izzzz scale shot! Bzzt! It'zzz one of the multi strike movezzz that'zzz a dragon type, but it can alzzzo raizzzze zpeed and lower defenzzzez! Bzzt!"
Lower defenses but it's faster? Hmm, that might be what caught me off. We had the advantage of the tailwind from before and now it's probably gone. If we can't outspeed it, we might be able to outlast it. Use too much of that scale shot and clanging scales and eventually it'll faint if something sneezes on it.
The thoughts gave him an idea. His efforts weren't for naught either; the totem was breathing heavily as it waited for him to make his next move. The armor was chipped and he saw several plates on the joints had broken off, leaving gaping chinks where a well placed attack could do some major damage.
"Okay Hakamo'o! Let's finish this off!"
Elio threw the poke ball, allowing his own dragon to face off against its much larger cousin. To his surprise, the kommo'o stopped as it prepared an attack before bellowing loudly.
What was that all about?
"Elio," he heard Lillie say behind him. Following her gesture, he saw that dozens of jangmo'o and several other wild hakamo'o were gathered around the edges of the ravine.
"We're surrounded." She reached over to grab his elbow, uncertain what this meant.
But something was off about this. If the totem wanted them gone and had this cadre of its pre-evolutions, then it would've summoned them long ago to attack them.
No it's something else. His musings were further confirmed as it raised both arms to form the scale gauntlets. On his side; Hakamo'o was doing the same.
"It's a duel. The totem is challenging him."
Dallas Kahananui said the egg he hatched from came from the Vast Poni Canyon. Could this be his family?
Hakamo'o and kommo'o circled one another, gauntlets drawn and waiting for the other to move. All around them, the other dragons, Elio and Lillie watched fervently. The totem was quicker thanks to the speed boosts from the earlier scale shots. Hakamo'o ducked the first one just in time and used a repulse from his free arm to deflect the second shot. He kept low and threw his left scale that moved slower and was visibly less powerful, but it did the job of catching it off guard. The totem grumbled in pain, deflecting the second and third scales and charging forward with its free arm raised in the shield for a bash.
"I guess he learned scale shot himself. Counter it with iron head!" Elio shouted. Hakamo'o closed his eyes as soon as he saw it coming and hardened the crown of his head to smash through. He heard something crunching and hakamo'o let out a cry of pain as he was hurtled back. The iron head had done its job and saved him from whatever damage, but the brunt of the attack had pushed him farther back.
His own pokemon still had a lot of stamina, the totem hadn't fared as good. It was even slower to get up, but that raw determination was pushing through.
The damn thing refuses to go down!
Hakamo'o slammed his gauntlets together and charged forth as the totem did the same. Though fast, the totem had grown tired from previously fighting the rest of Elio's pokemon and could only sustain its attacks for so long before having to rest briefly. All he needed was one final push.
The two dragons clashed again, exchanging scale shots and blocking with their gauntlets. Hakamo'o's own agility and deft footwork kept him from being hit by most of the attacks, but the kommo'o was much larger and nearly as fast, covering the distance Hakamo'o was in far fewer strides. It was only a matter of time before his own dragon was just as fatigued.
The shields banged, scraped and bashed in a cacophony of noises that almost sounded as if some disorganized music melody was being played. Each angle one of the shields was struck whether it was by a shield of the other, a scale shot or one of the totem's stone edge attacks it used produced a different noise pitch. Whatever it was had gotten the spectating dragons excited as the jangmo'o jumped in joy and the hakamo'o started to join in the cheering.
Whether they were cheering for Elio's or their totem was unconfirmed.
Hakamo'o stayed defensive, knowing that the kommo'o's speed meant that the opportunities to go on the offensive were going to be fast, possibly split seconds. He deflected another raised strike, pushing the arm up and he saw the other arm in the middle of throwing its second scale.
"Shit!" With a pained cry, Hakamo'o had slumped to the ground and was being slow to get up. That took a lot out of him.
"Come on it's just a scratch!" Elio cried. "You're a wall buddy! You can do it!"
He was a wall.
A wall that was angry at himself for letting his guard down and more importantly, his trainer.
He wasn't about to have that happen again. Elio knew that his pokemon was nearly there.
Because walls don't move.
Because walls don't care.
I know what to do.
The totem's front armor jingled again and it had begun to bring them together for another clanging scales.
"Repulse!" Elio had to time the Z move just right. He put himself in the totem's shoes and knew that protecting would be the only way to save himself from an unexpected reversal of its most powerful attack.
That would be just enough time for him to finish the Z move AND for the protect shield to dissipate.
He and Lillie were ready and quickly covered their ears as the deafening blast resonated in the ravine. Some of the other dragons watching jumped too from it. Hakamo'o stood his ground, throwing up both his arms in the temporary protect that would instead return the incoming strike back to its sender.
This one felt even more powerful than the last couple of times, jarring his bones and rattling his teeth. Close to him, Lillie's eyes were shut and despite her evident worry and fear, she refused to openly panic.
He could almost see the sound waves in the air from all the dust it had kicked up. Hakamo'o weathered the onslaught barely with one hand and started to focus on his other free one to prepare the repulse.
Now! Now's the time! Elio quickly brought out the steelium Z, flickering his Z Power ring to life. The harmonic energy hummed with power as he crossed his arms, performing the steel type dance as best he could. It was the first time he had done this one in particular.
Bang fists together twice and then thrust them out.
At the same time, Hakamo'o finally found an opportunity to bounce back what was left of the clanging scale attack. Elio saw the totem's eyes go wide with surprise before it hastily threw up a protect of its own.
Perfect.
By now, the zenith energy had finished empowering Hakamo'o, who was more than ready to finish the battle off once and for all.
"Alright. Let's channel that iron head into CORKSCREW CRASH!"
With a jump and a spin, hakamo'o focused his own steel type move into a large razor sharp pointed drillbit that zoomed forward, throwing off sparks and a loud roar that pierced the entire ravine that was nearly as loud as the clanging scales from before.
Too late the totem had realized its mistake of putting up the protect.
Hakamo'o's superpowered corkscrew crash collided with incredible kinetic intensity with the sharp metal surfaces dragging across all the scaly armor. The noise reminded him of a freight train as the grinding noise would go across the rails. A roar of agony came from the totem when it was struck and finally knocked out. It had stumbled upon breaking and crashed into the wall of the ravine headfirst and lay unmoving.
A new noise caught his attention and he looked up; the impact of the totem having fainted ended up causing large chunks of rock from hanging above to break off and plummet straight down.
Elio's heart stopped as he saw that a number of the smaller dragons were directly underneath. They had craned their necks up, jumping in surprise at seeing the large boulders coming their way. All of them had to weigh at least a ton. They were going to get crushed in seconds.
"Hakamo'o protect!" He made the snap decision without question. "Protect them!"
Hakamo'o had just powered down from his zenith move, spinning in midair and diving back to the ground. He hit in a shoulder roll to slide next to the totem and several terrified jangmo'o, thrust his arms up to create another protect screen.
The first of the large boulders struck the shield, crumbling into hand sized fragments and throwing up another thick cloud of dust. Hakamo'o grunted and strained, his exhaustion from the Z move showing as the rock slide continued its onslaught.
Elio was about to throw in another pokemon to help when an even bigger protect had cast a large green dome around where his pokemon was at. The totem had recovered enough to use protect itself and cover them all. With their combined strength, both of them had significantly relaxed after knowing that the burden was being shared.
"Woah." He breathed. Lillie said nothing next to him but watched in equal amazement.
Finally the roar of rocks petered out and the cliff held its shape. Nearly three dozen large stones had crumbled from the impact, surrounding them with chipped gravel. Although scared, the smaller jangmo'o were all unharmed and looked relieved to be out of danger.
"Hakamo'o!" Elio ran forward, still unsure if the battle was over or not. I DID knock out the totem after all. "Are you okay?!"
He coughed while waving his hand to disperse the dust as best he could. Finally it had started to settle and he could see both him and the enormous totem standing in the middle of all the jangmo'o. At first he thought they were ready to resume the battle, but that thought was out the window when his pokemon spotted him, running up and tugging on his sleeve in earnest.
"Thank goodness you're okay!" Elio laughed and gave him a fierce hug, careful not to get caught on his sharp scale. Hakamo'o looked just as relieved, but his trainer could tell that his concern was for the other dragons. "I was so worried for you and for them."
A low rumble caught their attention as the totem shuffled its feet and knuckle walked back towards the pedestal. It stopped just above it as its eyes met Elio's. There was something in there, like a firm nod of respect. He couldn't tell whether it was from defeating it in battle or selflessly putting their own safety on the line for the younger and weaker jangmo'o that had come to watch.
"I…I think it wants you to have that." Lillie walked up next to him. "That's incredible."
Elio went to the pedestal, flanked by Hakamo'o. The dragon paused for a moment before snatching the Z crystal and bringing it over to him.
"One last time?" Yessir! Elio spun around and struck his trial finished pose. "Last trial is complete!"
"That look he gives." She was still observing. "The egg came from the Vast Poni Canyon…Elio, I think this is Hakamo'o's family."
"Huh?" Both him and Hakamo'o gasped at her suggestion. "No way."
But he had considered it himself. While he was a powerful pokemon and a reliable teammate; Elio thought he might have to face the time when he was ready to return back to where he belonged.
The totem growled, holding up a gauntleted fist and then extending it outward towards him.
Huh?
It turned its palm over, revealing a gold and gray object that sparkled in the setting sun. It looked to be made of the same material as the dragon's scales.
"That lookzzzz like the kommoium Z." Rotom Dex buzzed next to them. "It'zzz an extremely rare Z cryzzzztal that pair well with trainers that have kommo'o."
"But I don't," Elio stopped suddenly when Hakamo'o let out a joyous cry as he sparkled in a harsh light. Scales popped and shattered, showering the ground in fine fragments like seashells. Hakamo'o's arms nearly doubled in length as his body grew taller. The single heavy scale on his head sprouted into a crest of scale chains that ran down the sides and back of its neck. It almost resembled dreads. His tail had changed, with four prominent scales protruding out in different directions, swinging around like a club.
The light faded and the newly evolved kommo'o roared in triumph, raising his arms proudly to the delight of the totem and the surrounding dragons.
"Holy…you evolved!" Elio said. "Like...you all knew! Look at you! You're huge!"
He was right. Kommo'o was enormous, towering over his trainer and all others except being just a head shorter than the gigantic totem. Elio estimated him to be roughly eight or nine feet tall.
"Bzzzt! Your new evolved kommo'o is much bigger than an average member of itzzzz zpeciezzzz! Bzzt!"
"You're amazing." Elio laughed as Kommo'o leaned down to gently nuzzle his trainer. Lillie smiled at the display beside him. "I'm so proud of you. You've won the trial and you've found your family."
Oh right. Now the hard part.
"Sort of like Lillie here, I've thought one day I'd be traveling all of Alola to find out where you came from, but this looks like your clan."
He sighed. "I still need your help. Lillie's mother is still trapped in the realm of the Ultra Beasts and I know for a fact she isn't going to come without a fight. Now that you've found your family, I'll…be more than happy." No he wouldn't. "Once we're done...to let you go where you belong. Home."
Kommo'o cocked and shook his head without hesitation. He wanted to stay.
"You want to stay with me?" Elio was ecstatic and beside himself as he bobbed his head in a slight nod. "Thank you buddy. You're the best."
The larger totem rumbled in agreement. Elio, Kommo'o and Lillie watched as it slowly shuffled off and quickly climbed onto the canyon walls and disappeared over the top. As soon as it was gone, the jangmo'o filed out as well, squeezing into small holes and tunnel entrances that had been hidden behind boulders on the ground. Within moments, the ravine was eerily silent.
"Oh yes I'll have to give you a nickname that will stick. And I know the perfect one."
Kommo'o gave him a nod of affirmation.
Especially after seeing him at the Draconid Festival on Ula'ula.
"Lochagos."
The Altar was larger than life, a huge stone zuggurat pyramid shaped structure that sat in a basin surrounded by tall rock walls. Elio felt as if he was close enough to touch them in walking distance, but the presence of trees in the valley at his elevation was a reminder of the sheer size of the place.
I've never seen anything like this. In the less light of the dusky sky, it was incredible. Soon it would be night, which was the ideal conditions to perform the summoning at the altar's top.
"They zay that the trial in the Vast Poni Canyon izzz the very first trial to ever be held in Alola! You cleared it with eazzze! Bzzt!"
"You're making it sound like it was a walk in the park." Elio examined the cyan colored dragonium Z in his palm. Unlike the other crystals he held, this one shimmered with excitement as if barely able to contain the raw power it possessed.
"And thank you Lillie for watching my back. I couldn't have completed it without your help."
"Oh," that same blush returned to her pale features again. "Y-you're welcome. I guess we should heal your pokemon up real quick. No telling what else is up there."
It took them just a couple of moments before they made their way to the altar's base. Stretching up all along the slanted surface were short steps. Elio could see that the slope sharply veered off as if the rock had been hewn to create an artificial basin. An inky black bottom either meant it was an abyss or a reservoir of water. Either way, it was too dark to tell.
Just don't trip. Neither of them fancied a long unending tumble back down to the bottom.
It took almost ten minutes of steady and cautious climbing to reach the top of the zuggurat. Elio had Rotom Dex's flashlight on as well as letting out Strongside. The bright glow of the flames on his navel lit just enough for them to see ahead. About halfway up, something had actually damaged the stairs and blew a large crescent shaped hole into the side.
Each other step was perfectly carved and not as much as a chip or blemish on their surface. When the teen's climbed yet another, their shoes hardly made a sound as if the material absorbed any noise they made. Even absent was Strongside's claws that would normally click on a hard solid surface.
They heard the sound of trickling water once they summited the climb. Elio's legs had burned with lactic acid and he had to stop to take a drink from his bottle and catch his breath.
"There's my workout for the day and then some."
Before them was a divided stream, crisscrossing at the center underneath a wide circular stone plate. They wound between two square plates that flowed from the even taller monolithic stone structure above them. A faint glimmer of moonlight cast and made the symbols barely visible, yet Elio saw the same signets of the sun and moon, identical to the ones on their flutes on two pillars above each square plate.
Most serene about the place was that it was completely absent of other pokemon. No birds in the sky, no nocturnal meowths, raticates or zubat were to be sighted. Could it be that they all know the power of this place and avoid it to not tangle with a legendary pokemon? Could it be that they know the legends themselves?
"I can feel it," Lillie whispered, gazing in awe at the structure. From atop the ziggurat's plateau, the stone obelisk had a pointed ovoid shape, a massive circle carved in the center and dark lines tracing down to connect with the streams of water. Just standing next to it, Elio had to guess that it was even taller than some of the biggest skyscrapers in Saffron City. He began to wonder how a structure this big wasn't spotted earlier when they were approaching the island. Either the canyon's walls were tall enough to block a view, or he did not exactly know what he was looking for and may have stared right at it.
"The strong power of the moon."
He saw her reach into her backpack, drawing the disc shape of the dormant Nebby out. Like usual, it had been unresponsive to anything either of them said. The only indication that the little cosmog was alive in some form was the gold edges of the body were slightly warm to the touch.
"Nebby. I am going to set you free one day, back to your home. But first, I must ask the great legendary pokemon of Alola to bring us to my mother. There's something I must tell her, how I feel. I might not be a full fledged trainer yet, but I can do that much!"
Elio was about to correct her on that, but held his tongue. That can wait.
It was then when he noticed a faint glow at the large center plate. Looking up, he saw that the moon was edging into a position in the sky where the light shone perfectly upon the altar. The pieces clicked in his head.
The flutes.
"Lillie," he told her. "We have to do it now. Sound the flutes."
She followed his gesture and saw the glow as well. "I don't know how long of an opportunity we have, but if we lose it here, we might have to wait another day."
"Okay. So what?"
"These plates on top of the water channels look like they're conduits or something. Maybe if we blow the flutes while on top of them, it summons it?"
She looked confused. "We don't even know how this works?"
"Yeah I don't. But I'm all ears if you have a better idea."
A shake of her head. "Okay, let's do it. Remember…that Alolan lullaby."
Yeah. I remember it.
The teens quickly dashed to one of the plates, Elio taking the one on the right and Lillie on the left. He reached into his backpack, taking out the sun flute and holding it in the same posture they had practiced. On the other end, Lillie did the same.
Neither were sure how if their window was closing or not. Elio lifted the flute to his lips, tilting his head towards Lillie. They'd have to sound them at the same time if she had read things right.
She met his gaze, nodded once, then twice and then a third time.
Now. He sealed his lips over the mouthpiece.
Sun. Moon.
United in the sky.
The flute's sound was incredible, almost ethereal. Like the spirits of all the ancient past were playing alongside him in the present. He felt suddenly invigorated, as if there was some unseen aura of energy that enriched and empowered him with the fierceness and undying blaze of the sun. The previous aching in his muscles from walking and climbing the entire day had vanished. Those old scars still visible on his shoulder from Lusamine's blade felt warm as if something had begun to finally heal a gaping wound. Elio tried not to panic in fear of messing up a note, but his fingers glided across the instrument with well-mannered precision, the same as their little rehearsals.
He held the final note as long as his breath allowed, unaware that their timing together had been near-perfect.
As the tune ended, the noise echoed across the canyon and faded, leaving just the same tranquil silence as before.
Lillie felt her hopes quickly diminishing. Was this all for nothing? All the nights of research, coming here? Just something that got lost in translation for centuries and legends?
She couldn't help the disappointed look on her face, full of frustration that her efforts still failed.
Maybe they are right after all. I failed you Mother and-
A deep rumble interrupted her thoughts as she saw Elio flinch on the other side. The water under his plate began to glow a ghostly blue, followed by hers doing the same a moment later. The light traveled down the stream towards the big obelisk, tracing the dark lines up to the gigantic circle.
Elio gasped as he heard a loud clicking noise. Four segments of the circle had slid open like an eye's iris, the dust buildup from centuries of inactivity billowing outward. He couldn't see what the cover had concealed, but it began to glow as well in a rainbow of yellow, blue, red and brilliant white colorations. Some sort of energy expanded outward, bulging into a sphere that covered the circle before it focused into a fine needle thin beam of energy that struck the center plate. The familiarity of it was the same as the extremely powerful moves he had used.
Zenith energy! As if to confirm his thoughts, he felt and saw that his Z-Power ring was reacting as well. Like part of the conduit, he felt the same adrenaline rush as if the Altar was empowering him as well.
He couldn't tear his eyes away from the center. Slowly, the beam began to intensify, causing the entire plate to shimmer and a blast of wind struck, nearly taking his hat off. Across the way, Lillie was just as awestruck with a gaze of determination.
She never felt the pink backpack tug off her shoulders, not even knowing it was missing until she saw it literally fly off and make a beeline straight for the beam as if it was being called forth.
Nebby!
Discarding the backpack off to the side, the dormant jewellike object hovered in place as the buildup of power flocked to it like a magnet. Nebby had begun to transform, emitting another bright flash that was too much for either of them to bear to look at.
Hold on. Could it be?
Nebby was…
"No way."
The legendary pokemon of Alola.
"Was Nebby?!"
Elio heard the same rushing roar that would emanate when he was done executing a Z-move and suddenly the iris on the obelisk slid closed, removing the intense glow that it had cast on the Altar's center plate. Movement caught his eye as he looked to where Nebby would be.
Instead he saw a magnificent creature swooping down to the ground, letting out a graceful cry.
The resemblance to the signet on the center plate was uncanny. Two gigantic wings forming a crescent with gold and white trim. The entire leading edge was aerodynamic, sharp yet curved and contoured. As it stopped to float just above the floor, Elio could see the moonlight shimmering off its body, giving it a ghostly blue glow and the violet patagium seemed to sparkle with thousands of stars.
The creature gazed at them with red eyes, yet he felt no fear…only awe. Another crescent sat atop its head, curving up to form a pair of hornlike structures.
"Nebby!" Lillie cried, running from her plate to the center. "T-thank goodness you're all right! I never knew that sounding the flutes would give you so much power! Or that you were the legendary pokemon all along!"
"Lunala."
"Bzzt! Thizzzz izz a mazzzzive discovery!" Rotom buzzed, floating next to Elio's side. "I can't believe my own ghozzzty eyezzzz!"
"That's incredible." Elio breathed. "Nebby…you really were holding it out for us huh?"
Lunala waved its wings and craned its neck down to their level. Both Lillie and Elio had reached up to gently touch the legendary pokémon.
It's soft and warm. He thought to himself. Amazing.
"You were right," Lillie turned to stare at him in curiosity. "And your mother was wrong. Just like with Null."
"Huh? What do you mean?"
"With Nebby. It turns out that you stealing it from the Paradise was the best thing you could have done for it…for her." It just occurred to him that the books referred to the pokémon of Lunala as a female evolution of cosmog. He couldn't remember what the same of the male counterpart was, but assumed that it was associated with the sun instead.
"All that I did." She stared down, remembering the hardships and the pain. "The ridiculing, the suffering and all the hiding I did. I'm not hiding anymore. I'm sorry to you and to Nebby."
"And it was absolutely worth it." Elio told her. "You showed Nebby kindness, love and support when nobody in that godforsaken place would. There is no way your mother would have ever figured this out."
Lillie was astounded that he would say such a thing. Sure, she was very much inspired by the boy next to her, but there was no way it was as big of an accomplishment as he played it out to be.
"Stop being so modest and give yourself some credit." Elio let out a light laugh and put his arms around her. "You did it. You saved Nebby, got her to become the legendary pokemon and now we can return her back to her home."
Though he didn't show it, he felt a bit of sadness saying that. Over the months he had bonded with Lillie, he had gotten quite attached to the small little cosmog, even when it had constantly escaped her duffel to explore all of Alola.
Nebby had been with him on his own pokemon journey as much as Lillie had. If they had to say goodbye-
No. Now is not the time to think about that.
A soft coo made them look up as Nebby softly nuzzled both teens with her long white snout.
"Now we can finally set you free back to your home." Lillie said. She sighed and her face fell. "Lunala…no Nebby. I…I have one more thing I have to ask. You've been through so much that asking this feels like I'm overstepping."
She closed her eyes. "I have to see my mother."
Nebby cocked her head to the side for a moment and then nodded. She stood up again before backing away and ascending quickly fifty feet into the air with a flap of her new wings.
Elio watched as her forehead formed a third bright spot and it seemed to transfer energy outward all along the surface of her wings.
Nebby fired a fine concentrated beam towards the base of the obelisk that pierced the air with a shrill sound. Within moments he saw the moving lattice walls that quickly circled into the funnel shape of an ultra wormhole. Amazing how effortlessly she was now able to create gates in between their dimension and that of the beasts.
This is it.
He then noticed that it was a bit higher up off the ground than it would take for them to jump through. Then it clicked for him.
Nebby is gonna take us in.
He felt something in his palm and turned to see that Lillie had slipped her hand in his. His eyes met hers, forcing every bit of him to not lean and kiss her again.
"Are you ready?" She asked. "I need you."
She needs me.
"Of course." And he was. A squeeze of her hand said that he was ready to face whatever lay before them together.
Hand in hand, the teens looked back up at Nebby. Lillie gave a nod.
With another majestic cry, the legendary pokemon of Alola swooped back down towards them catching them in her wings and accelerating straight for the portal.
Elio saw it coming and barely had time to squeeze his eyes shut before everything went black.