Alola Story Part 4.5

“We caught them!” Towner exclaimed, his midnight form Lycanroc beside him.

“Where did you come from?!” I shouted at them.

“We were here the whole time, waiting for your Pokemon to wear each other out,” Donnie explained, standing next to her Blacephalon.

“Who are those two?” asked Steven.

“We are Team Apex, and we–” Towner started.

“Blacephalon, distract them!” Donnie said as Blacephalon blinded us with fireworks.

“Donnie! I wanted to tell them about how great our team is!” Towner complained.

“You aren’t supposed to do that, remember? You’re really bad at convincing people of things,” she told him.

“Aw man…”

By the time Blacephalon's fireworks had disappeared, Team Apex was long gone.

“Nooooooooo!!!” cried Steven, “The Steven’s precious the Exeggutor is gone!”

“Don’t worry. We’ll catch them for sure,” I assured him.

“The Izzy has proven herself to be greater than the Steven. She must be the one to follow Team Apex while the Steven goes to find help. Take this.” He handed me a max revive. He then proceeded to run back to town before I could explain I didn’t have the slightest clue as to where Team Apex went.

I spent a few minutes wandering around the area. That’s when I noticed the footprints. I followed them as they twisted and turned through the forest. The path was complicated and indirect. Either they wanted to avoid being followed or they got really lost. I also noticed that they fell on their faces several times. Finally, I made it to an abandoned warehouse.

The door creaked as I walked in on Donnie and Towner trying to force Sliggoo and Exeggutor down what appeared to be a giant laundry shoot. With a final push, the Pokemon went down.

“It’s that kid again!” Donnie said.

“Why won’t she leave us alone? Why are you following us everywhere?” Towner cried.

“Give back all the Pokemon you stole!” I demanded.

“No! We’re Team Apex! We don’t do that!”

Reasoning clearly wasn’t going to work. “Go, Dartrix!”

“Blacephalon, come on out!” Donnie responded.

“Xurkitree, I choose you!” Towner said, not wanting to be left out.

“When did you get a Xurkitree?” Donnie inquired.

“Oswald gave it to me. He said that ‘If you insist on being a completely incompetent trainer, you will need a Pokemon that can make up for the skills you so obviously lack.’ I really like Xurkitree. I think I’m going to start always battling with it from here on out.” Lycanroc, who had not been returned to its Pokeball, started to glare at Xurkitree with an intense animosity.

“Dartrix, use Sucker Punch!” Dartrix hit Blacephalon in its white sphere resembling a face, causing it to reel back.

“Xurkitree, use Thunder Punch!” Team Apex retaliated with a punch of their own.

“Blacephalon, use Shadow Ball!” A burst of dark energy (that was not a punch) directly blasted Dartrix. A two against one battle did not bode well.

“Dartrix, use Razor Leaf!” Both opponents were met by a storm of jagged plant matter.

“Xurkitree, are you okay?!” Towner was deeply concerned about Xurkitree, much to Lycanroc’s dismay. “Aargh! You’ll pay for that! Xurkitree, use Discharge!” A burst of electricity enveloped the battlefield, damaging Dartrix… and Blacephalon.

Donnie was so wrapped in combat, she didn’t even notice her own Pokemon was hurt. “Blacephalon, use Mystical Fire!” Dartrix was noticeably burned.

Towner seemed very defensive of Xurkitree. Maybe I could use that to my advantage. “Dartrix, use Pluck on Xurkitree!”

Upon seeing his precious Xurkitree damaged again, Towner commanded, “Use Brutal Swing!” Xurkitree swung violently, landing direct hits on both Dartrix and Blacephalon. Lycanroc sighed in resignation.

This time, Donnie noticed that Blacephalon was now almost too weak to battle. “If we’re going out,” she said, “we’re going out with a bang. Blacephalon, use Mind Blown!” Blacephalon pulled its head off of its body and threw it up into the air. The head burst into an explosion of swirling, kaleidoscopic colors. The detonation hit every Pokemon in the room. Blacephalon collapsed onto the floor, no longer able to battle.

It was down to just Dartrix and Xurkitree. My confrontation against Team Apex was about to come to a climactic finish.

Then, Donnie launched a net at Dartrix, grabbed him, and threw him into the laundry chute.

“If you were able to do that the whole time,” I asked, “why did you wait until now?”

“Well,” Donnie explained, “I was waiting for the exact opportunity, when your guard was low, and your Pokemon was weak.”

“You forgot you had a second net, didn’t you?”

“Yep. It’s crazy how easy it is to lose track of those things.”

In spite of Team Apex’s ineptitude, they had bested me. Xurkitree was the only Pokemon left standing. Not counting Lycanroc, who was pretending to ignore us in the hopes of catching Towner’s attention. Towner did not notice.

“Lycanroc,” I began, “aren’t you mad at Xurkitree?” This caught its attention. “I mean, clearly, it's trying to replace you as Towner’s favorite Pokemon. If I were you, I’d be very upset. I’m impressed by your ability to stay calm.” Lycanroc was very interested in what I was saying. “I, personally, would be looking for some kind of way to prove I was better than Xurkitree while simultaneously getting back at it. Not you, though. Your humility astounds me.” Lycanroc looked at me. Then it looked at Towner. Then Xurkitree. Then Towner. It mulled my words over for a moment. Then it used Rock Slide on Xurkitree.

“Lycanroc, what are you doing!” Towner cried. Xurkitree tried to counter with Thunder Punch. “No! Don’t hurt him! Both of you, stop fighting!” They did not listen.

As Towner scrambled to allay his Pokemon, I used the confusion to run towards the laundry chute thing.

“She’s getting away!” said Donnie, but it was too late. I had already jumped down to make my escape.

As it turned out, the laundry chute thing was just a straight vertical drop. I don’t know what I was expecting. I kind of felt like it was supposed to be a long slide that made me go “Wheee!”

I did not go “Wheee!”

I did, however, land on a pile of Pokemon, limiting my injury. More or less. The Pokemon were all trapped in nets, too weak to fight back. I quickly scanned for Exeggutor, Sliggoo, and Dartrix.

It was then that I noticed a thin man in a white cloak that covered his entire body save for his head. He had his back turned to me as he meticulously made sure that hundreds of Pokeballs were aligned into neat little rows. I noticed Dartrix at the edge of the pile. I silently crept towards him.

“I know you’re there, Izzy,” the man said without turning around. How did he know my name? Had one of the grunts upstairs told him?

I froze in place. “No I’m not. I’m Donnie. I have a Blacephalon, and I really enjoy being a jerk. See how un-suspicious I sound.”

Personally, I thought my impression was spot-on, but the guy didn’t seem impressed. He looked straight at me. He had deep blue eyes that glared at me with scorn. A shadowy force burst out of his body, pushing me away from the Pokemon. “Your resistance is futile. I have already won.”

“Who in the world are you?”

“I am Oswald. Some might call me the leader of Team Apex.”

“You!” This person was clearly behind the theft of all the countless Pokeballs I saw in front of me. “What are you doing with everyone’s Pokemon?!”

“Since the dawn of time, beings have battled each other for power. The strong were meant to rule over the weak. The strong control the world. Among them, I am the strongest. The very top. The apex. Therefore, the world is mine by birthright.” His words were becoming increasingly concerning. “It is my duty to amass power and use it for the greater good. Imagine a world in which I rule above all else. A world where every being caters to my whim. A world where everything belongs to me. A world I can drain dry of anything vaguely useful to me.” He began to smile. “Yes, that sounds like a very good world.” He chuckled to himself.

This person wasn’t making sense. Did he want to rule the planet or destroy it? I thought about how Team Apex had so many Ultra Beasts. “This isn’t the first world you’ve visited, isn’t it?”

He stopped smiling. “Maybe it isn’t. The resources from this place should be enough to take me to the next dimension.” He became surrounded by a purple aura and began to walk towards me.

I looked him straight in the eyes. There was emotion there, but there was also something alien. “You’re… You’re not human, are you?”

“Correct again. You catch on quick. It’s a shame you’ll be leaving so soon.” He raised an arm out from his cloak, if you could call it that. It was more like an enormous tendril of force. Slowly, he swung it towards me.

I had no time to escape. Facing down fear itself, there was only one thing I could do. I blew a raspberry right at his face.

“Arrgh! Gross! There’s spit in my eye!” He stumbled back, the purple aura around him fading as his arm went back to normal.

I used the opportunity to dash towards Dartrix and free him from his net. Oswald had almost recovered. I fumbled to find my Z-Crystal and place it in my bracelet. What I did then would determine my fate. There was no room for error. Panic nearly overwhelmed me, but I couldn’t give in. Not now. I had to trust myself and my Pokemon. I took a deep breath. “Dartrix, use Bloom Doom!” All around us, the concrete floor began to crack as flowers bloomed from the ground. A flower also bloomed on Oswald’s head. I didn’t know that was possible. A ball of energy centered on Dartrix expanded to envelope Oswald. The powerful blast knocked him away.

I couldn’t see where Oswald had gone. As much as I wanted to save all the Pokemon, I couldn’t afford to stick around for long. I only took Exeggutor, Sliggoo, and an armful of Pokeballs. Exeggutor had recovered enough to stand up. I climbed up his long neck to get out the laundry chute thing.

When I was out, I saw Donnie, Towner, and Lycanroc having a deep discussion.

“Towner,” Donnie said, “Do you understand that you ignored Lycanroc and hurt its feelings?”

“Yes,” he murmured.

“And Lycanroc,” she said, “Towner is sometimes going to use other Pokemon in battle. That doesn’t mean he doesn’t like you or is going to leave you behind.”

“Canroc,” it grumbled.

The trainer and his partner stood awkwardly for a moment.

“Oh, I’m so sorry!” Towner bawled, “I never meant to make you feel bad!”

“Lycan! Roc!” Lycanroc sniffled. They ran towards each other and started hugging and crying. Xurkitree watched in silent confusion.

A single tear rolled down my cheek. I was glad they were able to work out their problems and have such a beautiful moment.

“See,” Donnie said, “I told you that I used to be an unlicensed therapist. I believe that— Hey! That kid is back!”

Immediately, the grunts and their Pokemon were in battle positions as they hadn’t just been vulnerable with each other a moment ago. “Lycanroc, let’s take her down. Together.” I didn’t know what to do. My Pokemon weren’t in fighting shape. “Use Rock Slide!”  Just as rocks were about to rain down on my Pokemon from above there was an earthquake. A fault line opened in the floor, separating me from Team Apex.

Just as I thought things couldn’t get any worse, Oswald emerged from the shadows on Team Apex’s side. “Leave her be,” he said, “She has shown potential. She could make a valuable addition to our organization. Izzy, I offer you a deal. We shall let you leave peacefully and give you time to consider joining us. I assure you that we will meet again, but you shall be the one to decide whether it will be in friendship or in battle.”

I wanted to take him seriously. I really did. Unfortunately, that was difficult when he was seemingly oblivious to the flower still growing on his head. All I could do was get out of there without saying anything before I burst out into laughter.

It took a little time, but I finally made it back to town and met up with Steven. He was overjoyed to be reunited with his Exeggutor. “The Steven will not let the Exeggutor out of his sight ever again.”

I told Officer Jenny about Team Apex’s base. I recounted my entire story minus the part where I was offered a team membership. When she got there, the building had been abandoned.

On the bright side, Steven and I were able to return most of the Pokemon I’d saved back to their rightful trainers. Eventually, all that was left was a peculiar Beast Ball. I opened it up, and a Poipole popped out. Poipole instantly freaked out and hid behind a table. After hours of going around to see if anyone had lost a Poipole, it became clear that it didn’t belong to anyone. “The Izzy should take care of it,” Steven said, “the Steven believes that you both have the potential to help each other grow and evolve.”

I tried to spend a little time getting to know Poipole, but it was very shy. Steven encouraged me to let Poipole get used to me in her own time.

After a long yet rewarding ordeal, I was ready to head to the next island.