Blowing Bubbles

Chapter 17: A red hot trial

I slowly breathed in the humid air of Wela Volcano Park, then sighed it out with a smile on my face. I looked at Bubble, Spike and Racky, who were out of their pokeballs, pridefully. My next trial was a fire type trial, so I knew I had this one in the bag.

I had almost made it to the top, where the trial site was, when a black pokemon jumped out of the tall grass. "Sal, salandit!" It said in a strange, kind of high-pitched whispering voice. I knew it was trying to act tough, but it wasn't working, and I couldn't get over how cute it was.
I knew I had to catch it. "Ok, Bubble, use water gun!" Obediently Bubble went in front of me and used the move, but in a way I kind of felt bad for the poor Salandit having to get hurt. Bubble did more damage than I expected, but I threw a pokeball.
Tilt.
Tilt.
Tilt.
POP!
Crap, I was so close! I was about to try again when the Salandit quickly ran away. Of course, I thought. Oh well, maybe next time.

Soon, we had made it to the trial site. Standing in front of me was a wooden deck, with a dark-skinned boy who looked my age standing in the center. His hair was in a weird style; it was dark brown with some red parts in it, and it kind of looked like a fire. He was also shirtless, and he had red shorts on.
The boy stepped forward. "My name is Kiawe," he introduced. "I am the trial captain here. And you are?" "Millie," I replied. "So what do I have to do for this trial?" "My pokemon and I are going to dance twice," Kiawe replied as three Alolan Marowak came out from behind him, "and when we do the dance the second time, you must tell the difference between the two dances. We are going to do this three times. Ready?"

Telling the difference between the first two dances was easy, but now it was time for the third dance. I studied the dance moves closely, but when Kiawe and the Marowak danced the second time, I saw a black pokemon that looked almost three feet taller than Bubble. It looked very similar to the Salandit I tried to catch earlier, so I knew this pokemon was the evolved form of it. "What is different in this dance?" Kiawe asked. "The pokemon behind you!" I answered. The pokemon then jumped foreward, ready to battle. "You were correct," Kiawe nodded. "And that pokemon is Salazzle, the totem pokemon." "You ready, Bubble?"
"Bri, brionne!" Bubble went forward, determined to win this. I was determined, too. With three water types on my team, I knew this totem pokemon was going down.
"Bubble, we can do this. Aqua jet!" Bubble charged forward, but Salazzle dodged.
Just then, I saw Spike and Racky fighting with each other. Bubble and Salazzle stopped their battle to see what was wrong. Spike and Racky were wrestling, and for some reason Spike kept using poison sting on Racky. "Spike, cut it out!" I scolded as I pulled him away from Racky. Suddenly, Racky angrily jumped up and used bug bite on Spike, who thrashed free from my grip and continued fighting. "Guys!" I tried to get their attention, but they couldn't hear me. "Hello???" I then looked over at Bubble and Salazzle, who were watching in confusion. The two pokemon exchanged glances, then continued to watch.
My attention went back to Spike and Racky. "Stop! Guys!" I didn't want to deal with this anymore.
"ENOUGH!!!" At that moment, Spike and Racky both looked at me. Rackys teeth were in Spikes neck, and at the same time, Spike was jabbing Racky with one of his spikes. They both fainted, exhausted from all the fighting. Great, I thought as I returned them to their pokeballs. If Bubble faints, I'm toast.
"Ok, Bubble, water gun!" I ordered, continuing the battle. Salazzle definitely took damage, since its health was already more than halfway gone. But I was in for a big surprise when Salazzle used toxic and poisoned Bubble really badly. She threw up, and I went over to feel her head and found out she had a bit of a fever from the poison.
Despite how weak she was from the poison, Bubble was ready for more. "Ok, Bubble, use aqua jet!" Bubble jumped forward, covering herself in water, and almost hit Salazzle. But that sneaky pokemon dodged and used flame burst by launching a huge ball of fire at Bubble. It barely scratched her, but Bubble was almost finished. C'mon, Bubble, I prayed. Hang in there... but Bubble threw up from the poison, then collapsed. I reluctantly returned her, then looked at Salazzle. With no water types left, I was in some huge trouble unless Sparky could do something.
I sent him out, then looked him in his eyes. "You're my only hope," I told him. "Only you can win this." "Lux!" Sparky replied, nodding. "Now, start with thunder fang!" Sparky charged forward, his mouth open, and I could see little sparks of electricity in front of him forming into teeth. Salazzle tried to dodge, but Sparky was faster, and he bit Salazzle on the tail. Salazzle tried to use flame burst, but Sparky dodged. "Now, Sparky, use spark!" The Luxio ran forward, covering his body in electricity, then jumped up and slammed into Salazzle. The totem pokemon then crashed to the ground, its eyes closed.
"Lux!!!" Sparky let out a victory cry as he tackled me. I laughed and pet him behind his ear as he licked my cheek. "It's nice that you and your Luxio are happy and all," Kiawe commented, causing me to look up at him, "but...there's a Z crystal waiting for you." Sparky got off of me, and I went up to Salazzle. It opened it's eyes, then stood up and held out a red Z crystal. "That is a Firium Z," Kiawe explained as I took the crystal.

It felt slightly warm, and I began to feel like I was dancing. I looked around and saw fire everywhere, but I continued to dance through the bright flames. A bunch of fire-type pokemon came and joined me, and we kept dancing all through the night.

"Uh...Millie?" Kiawes voice made me snap back into reality. "You were staring into space. But I have a question for you. You're trying to complete the island challenge, right?" "Yes," I replied. "Why?" "Not telling you that you shouldn't do it, but is there anything you're trying to accomplish by doing the island challenge?" I paused for a moment, then thought about Mom.
"My mother thinks pokemon are dangerous," I replied. "My goal is to complete the island challenge and win the Pokemon League so I can prove to her that not all pokemon are dangerous."
"That is the match you're trying to chase, then."
I looked at Kiawe in confusion, slightly tilting my head to the left. "Match I'm trying to chase...? What are you trying to tell me?" "This is something I was taught a long time ago," Kiawe told me. "Figure out what lights your fire, then chase the match. It means you need to find a goal, and then do everything you can to achieve that goal." Kiawe then smiled at me.
"Keep chasing your match. Good luck on the next trial. But be careful; the next trial specializes in grass types. Since you have a lot of water types, your next trial is going to be difficult."