The main entrance of Verdant Cavern loomed over us like a gaping maw.
In any other circumstances, Verdant Cavern was a beautiful sight - welcoming, even. Its many openings on the cliffside of Route 2 led to a vast network of interconnected spaces. On the ceiling, skylights partially covered in roots and grass let light through, bathing the floor in emerald hues. Plants sprouted through cracks, moss painted the walls, and occasional flowers and berries peeked through the greenery like hidden treasures.
Or so, this is how it would have been at any other time.
The sun was starting to set. Openings on the ceiling only let through harsh orange dusklight that streaked across the higher levels and cast a murky dim glow through the cave. The cavern was a peaceful den no longer, as darkness encroached on what little light could creep in.
The Trial gate stood in stark contrast to the cavern, wooden engravings and bright colorful glyphs. From beyond, footsteps rang out and a Trial guide walked out.
A young adult, in the official teal outfit and cap of the Trial guides– who this was did not matter as much in my nervous state, as I know they would not our examiner for this Trial. Our examiner would probably not be a human.
“Ahem”, they coughed out, “Team Athier-Halākaua-Matsu, right?”
“Yup!” responded Hau with unflappable cheer. Lilliane only gave an imperceptible nod.
“Good. You will want to let out all of your pokemon for the instructions, then” they said, as they pointed out my second pokeball.
I let out Oran Juice the Dunsparce and Petal the Oddish immediately comforted the startled little snake, then the guide clapped their hands and resumed. “Okay! Welcome to the first trial.
“You should, at this point, be adequately familiar with Route 2. Provided you haven’t made a little detour through the jungle, your trip should have been safe and seamless.
“This is not a Route, however. Do not be fooled. This cavern is home to several warrens of competing pokemon; they are ornery, flighty and spiteful, and they will not hesitate to strike if they think they are being invaded. For the purpose of this Trial, they will cooperate with us but they will target you and strike to harm your team.
“Naturally, we would not be having this discussion if you trial-goers were to be put in actual danger. Instead, we will have to ˋplay pretend’.”
The guide retrieved something from a satchel– three simple necklaces made of string, a single nondescript berry tied to each. The Trial guide stepped up to Hau and put one around his neck.
“The denizens of Verdant Cavern will not attack trial-goers. But they will, figuratively, be going for your throat.” They pointed out the necklace the teenage boy had already started to fiddle with. “If a pokemon takes the berry or the necklace away from you, you are considered ‘out’. If all three of you are ‘out’, you fail the Trial.”
They walked to each of us in turn, and we let them put the necklaces around our necks. I felt the string with my fingers, feeling how fragile it was.
“Reach the exit to Melemele Meadow and you succeed – however, your priority should be to protect you and your teammates. There are times in your journey where you will have no choice but to make your way through a hostile and dangerous environment, so ensuring safety is paramount. This Trial is here to make sure you are ready.”
Snap.
We all turned to look at Hau, who looked at us sheepishly, broken necklace clutched in his hand.
“...We humans are flimsy, just like that. Halākaua, tie that to your wrist and pray to the Tapus it does not break again.”
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We entered Verdant Cavern.
Hau stepped forth confidently, eagerly even, Loa the Litten at his side. She looked back towards me and light from my flashlight shone back through her feline eyes. With my other hand, I fiddled anxiously with the necklace around my neck, feeling the soft skin of the berry tied to it.
Petal stood next to me and patted my leg with a leaf before standing in front and keeping an eye out. We had decided on how many Pokemon to have out of their balls for the trial, assuming that less Pokemon would attract less attention - as such, OJ would stay in his ball for the moment.
Lilliane followed closely, Stella the Cleffa in her bag, bag held tight close to her chest.
The entrance opened up into a larger space, the edges of which we could barely see over the dusklight. Rocky pathways snaked through, over and under the base floor of the cavern, rising at an upward angle. Patches of plants and moss covered every surface of the cave.
As we shone our flashlights across, the cone of light shifted and deformed over the hanging vines and leaves. Hidden warrens and holes dotted the walls of the cavern beyond the greenery.
“Hey,” Hau whispered, and he motioned toward the cavern, a compass held in hand, “East, look out for flowers, then through, yeah?”
Lilliane and I nodded. Our way out, we knew, was to look for where the flowers characteristic of Melemele Meadow grew most.
Our first trek through was quiet and tense.
While space was plentiful in the cavern, we couldn’t go across it in a straight line; stone pathways led up and down and created bridges overlooking the vast space, roots snagged at our feet and plant matter blocked our way occasionally.
Trekking here was an exercise in patience and diligence. We needed to pay close attention to our surroundings, keeping an eye out for disturbances or nests. The cave wasn’t necessarily silent, as the arrhythmic sounds of water trickling and leaves rustling had us on our toes at all times.
Quiet chittering and squeaking of unseen rodent Pokemon was heard. Sometimes in the distance, the buzzing sounds of insectile wings, and a Ledyba peeked at us from a corner then disappeared once more.
We stopped for a moment, having found a water spot. A fairly popular one, even, as the many three-toed paw tracks on the ground let me know that it was often used by the denizens of the cavern. Petal dipped a leaf in the lake water then nodded at me to let me know it was safe to drink.
“Um. Uh,” I heard from behind me.
This wasn’t me doing the stammering for once. Looking back at the blond teen, Lilliane seemed genuinely confused. “Selene, Hau– where did the gym– trial leader– uh, the trial guide go?”
Hau splashed his face and hair with the water, then turned to Lilliane and shrugged with a quick and snappy “Iunno.”
“They have to be around, right? To determine whether or not we’re, uh, worthy of the trial?”
Did… did she not know? “...Not really, no. There’s a partnership– a pact, here, with the warrens of the cave. The Pokemon here are our judges for the trial.”
She audibly gulped. “You’re telling me that we’re actually unsupervised with wild Pokemon?”
“I mean, I guess the wild Pokemon are the ones doing the supervising, and they’re not fully wild per say, so–”
Hau cut our conversation short. “Hey. Focus up, we got something coming.”
A low growl cut through the quiet.
Little claws clicked on the cavern floor as a lone Yungoos creeped forward. It looked at us in defiance, shoulders low and teeth glinting under our torchlight.
“Listen, li’l guy, we want no trouble, alright?” Hau raised his hands, berry dangling against his right arm. “If you want a drink, go right ahead. I’d even give you a little food if you ask.”
Herpestes gula, I recalled from my reading. The Yungoos’ scientific name translated to “hungry Sentret”: a fiercer and meaner variant of the Johtoan rodent, agile, the type to track and hunt. This one wasn’t the best example of its kind, as it stood alone, scrawny, and visibly exhausted.
It took one look at us, then at Hau’s Litten growling and yowling in its direction, fur raised on her back. A small cloud of smoke streamed out the sides of her maw as she hissed. The Yungoose took a step back.
I felt a hand on my shoulder– Lilliane’s hand, her face betraying now clear nervousness. “Selene– run it by me again. The gym– the Trial guide is where? Are we alone?”
This wasn’t the right time– I looked back at Hau, then his Litten, the slowly retreating Yungoose– and Lilliane’s hand clutched my shoulder firmly. Petal’s leaves bristled at my side as they sensed the growing tension.
“...I feel like we need to talk about this.” Lilliane stressed, tension seeping in her voice. “Are we in genuine danger or are we not?”
I looked back at what was happening with Hau, biting my lip.
Without looking back, eyes focused on the Yungoose situation, Hau gave a shrug and nonchalant “Yeah, we are.”
“No, we’re not!” I yelled.
There was a sound like a shot, clear and crisp, an impact and a yelp. The Ember that Loa had just shot had hit the Yungoos square on, who rolled across the ground and then scampered away from the scene squealing.
Stella gave out a surprised squeak, we heard the pitter-patter of Yungoose’s feet ringing out, and I instinctively pointed my light after it.
A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.
A dozen pairs of Yungoos eyes shone back at us, just thirty feet away.
“Loa, uh, I didn’t tell you to do that–” Hau started, then stopped, and his eyes widened. “Okay, we’re going, we’re going the other way, now–”
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“This isn’t right, this isn’t right–”
The Trial wasn’t going great.
We had moved further in the cave. It was good, in the sense that we were getting closer to the exit, but it wasn’t great in the sense that we were clearly moving through the Yungeese’s territory.
They weren’t attacking us directly as much as they were standing in our way– snarling, growling, hissing, raking claws across the rock and dirt. We were fighting them now, Petal forcing them to back off with clouds of Sweet Scent and Poison Powder, Loa precisely knocking them out one at a time with Embers and Roars.
I was reminded how powerful Loa was. She took down her opponents with strength and spite, facing them practically on her own, leaving singed fur and downed Yungeese in her wake. She was, however, just one Pokemon, and we were against a pack, for each Move she made, she had to evade three. She was slowly losing steam.
For now, we were safe, though. We heard and saw more Ledybas fluttering around curiously. We had made headway through the cavern and the Yungoose pack had retreated into the darkness.
Still, my feet felt like lead.
“Lilliane, come on, keep yourself together. We got this.” A few feet behind me, Hau and Lilliane were on our heels. The boy was trying to calm down our other teammate, whose composure was truly crumbling down. The blonde was shaking, hair disheveled, clutching both bag and Cleffa to herself with a desperate intensity; Stella trying her best to comfort her panicking trainer. Hau had laid a comforting hand on Lilliane’s shoulder, and his tone lowered to something more reassuring, saying “Li– Lillie, we’ve got to–”
She flinched away from Hau’s hand as though she’d be struck.
She looked at Hau with ice in her eyes. “You don’t– you don’t get to call me that.” She whispered. “You– you just jump into action without thinking. You don’t get to tell me what to do. Did you stop to think about why your starter doesn’t listen to you?”
Stunned silence, for a moment. Hau’s cheer, impossibly, seemed to run out. The dark-skinned boy looked lost about what to feel, visibly torn between guilt and dismay, fingers flexing in the air like he was trying to wrestle an explanation into being. His own berry necklace dangled from his wrist, still intact, somehow.
“...Your Litten clearly has something on her mind. She’s been like this ever since I met you and not once did I see you confront her about it.”
“I– I’m just trying my best, I want to be positive and supportive–”
“So what? You think she needs to battle it out? Tell her jokes until it goes away? Are you dense or just insensitive?”
An uncomfortable silence seeped in. Lilliane’s anger slowly shifted to disbelief, then regret, like she couldn’t realize what she’d just said.
Fear tugged at my throat like a noose. I could only just watch as the tentative friendship we had made crumbled down on the spot.
Loa the Litten, center of this argument, rested her legs on the ground panting and stared at Lilliane and Hau with an intense expression I couldn't discern. Then she got up with effort and turned her back to us, looking away into the encroaching darkness.
Finally, It was the boy that broke the silence.
“I– I’m sorry. I’m no good at, uh, dealing with sad stuff or whatever.” Hau scratched the back of his neck with clear discomfort and fear. “Let’s get out of this place, alright? I didn’t mean to put any of us in danger. Lill– Lilliane, I assure you, we’re safe. My grandpa’s the Kahuna, and I’ve never heard of the Trial Pokemon making trouble. This is just a test.”
Lilliane looked at Hau, then gave him a nod. Her gaze turned to me, still anxious but also concerned, and she just said “Are you okay too, Selene?”
Whatever spell I had been put under seemed to dispel, and the horrible ball of anxiety in my throat seemed to leave. Voice weak, I just managed to cough out, “...Just great!”
“Oddish!”
Petal’s head bonked against my leg, then they thrust all their leaves in a direction.
I shook my head, narrowed my eyes and focused. I saw it - beyond a narrow stone staircase, standing at a higher level of the cave - greenery of the cave transitioning into the pale yellow hue of the neighboring Meadow. The exit, in reach at last.
Hope. Real, tangible hope. We could get out of this, finish the trial, and never come in conflict ever again. None of us had lost our necklaces, even– we were good to go.
My feet moved before my brain could register it.
Wordlessly, we walked toward the end of our trial. Hau’s heavy steps and Lilliane’s graceful gait played out behind me as we approached the stone staircase. Petal at my side, Loa to Hau’s, and Stella still in Lilliane’s bag.
With every step, more of the exit came into view. Up we went, crossing over the steps of the stone staircase, watching more and more of the yellow flowers at the end of the path.
Suddenly, there was a large pokemon immediately blocking my way. Standing there, Yungeese at its side, straw blond fur shadowing a piercing gaze, a furred clawed arm reaching out for my neck–
My body tried to stop and turn at the same time, my foot in the air moving to the side and finding no purchase, and suddenly I was falling.
Center of gravity shifted, losing sense of where up and down was, nausea like my insides were clawing up my torso, my arms raised and flailing, trying to grab to something– anything– and then–
PAIN.
Immediate loss of sense.
Sensation returned to me in glimpses.
Dirt on my scuffed skin as my body rolled on the ground with the inertia of the fall. Overwhelming pain around my shoulder and my torso and my arm and it felt wet.
There was the muted sound of the other two teens as they slid down to where I stood, shaking my shoulder. They were saying my name, I think?
My eyes opened and my vision was blurry. I tried to focus, and a few feet from where I lay, there was a pink shape with a noodle attached to it– oh, that’s the berry necklace thingie, right. It must have come off when I fell. There was a rumble, and a disturbance of earth, and a little shape popped out– oh hey, that’s a Diglett– and it grabbed the necklace in its little mouth and left.
Pain still paralyzed me. There was a sound that I was making but I didn’t know what it was. I felt a wall behind me– were we stuck in the corner?
I felt a hand help me sit against the wall. To my right, the concerned gaze of Lilliane, and I heard to my left my starter rummage through my bag and held up our first aid kit. My Oddish looked at me and signed but I’m too numb to respond.
I closed my eyes for a second.
I opened them, and more of my senses returned to me.
The pain was still there but I could think, at least. My arm gripped my other shoulder with a death-like grip.
I saw Petal fighting back a Diglett and it wasn’t going great. Even without my direction, they were doing their best to avoid blows and trade back, but it wasn’t working for them. The moles of Alola, I recalled, have an unique genetic makeup; a set of golden whiskers on top of their head that act as strong sensors and a much hardier biological frame.
Acid and Poison Powder found no purchase on Steel constitution, plants raised through Leech Seed were uprooted and destroyed. There was a fuzzy blur of violence and two of Petal’s leaves were torn off– then they fell to the ground, unconscious.
I felt this intense spike of fear down my back and strong instincts activated; this is my partner, my best friend, and it’s my duty to make sure they are safe. My trembling hand went to my belt and with a stumbling motion I recalled my starter in their pokeball.
For a second, I moved to release Oran Juice from his ball but all adrenaline left my body and I was found breathless - my hand hanged in the air then practically dropped and I felt myself practically slump over.
“Loa! Fall back! Loa, return now!”
I turned my head and I looked to see how the rest of the fight was going. Loa was locked in battle with a Gumshoos– the Gumshoos, the pokemon that had me lose my balance and fall.
The Yungoose’s evolution was formidable. It stood just a little smaller than a human our age, but it would be easily the biggest Pokemon we had ever faced in a fight. It had a nonchalant gait, striking in lazy but calculated strikes: the Litten would attempt a Scratch or an Ember and it would retaliate with a powerful backhand of the paw, wreathed in energy that seemed to draw in the dim light. It snapped a finger, and a Yungoose pounced from an unseen corner and wrestled the necklace from Hau’s wrist. Hau jumped back with a hiss, cradling his arm, blood dripping from shallow claw marks, another necklace lost.
Somehow, a quiet tension set itself in. In the background, I watched as the Litten swayed on her legs and finally stumbled down to unconsciousness, worn down after weathering so many blows.
The Gumshoos set its sights on us. It started to approach.
Hau cradled and put pressure on his bleeding arm. “Ouch, shit– Lilliane, help, please. You have to send out your Cleffa. We need your help, please.”
I felt a tremble and I realized that the blonde was still at my side, cradling one half of my body. Stella was still halfway in her bag, one small hand against her trainer’s arm, looking at her intently. There was an expression on the teen’s face like terror and regret, her eyes looking at something that isn’t there. Tears fell down her pale cheeks and sobs wracked her body.
I watched as Lilliane’s perfect front broke completely down.
Her voice was weak and disheartened. “...No– I can’t let her fight. She’ll get hurt…”
Her Cleffa let out a dismayed “Fa!”, frown on her small face, pushing harder on her trainer’s arm.
But it’s like Lilliane wasn’t there. She seemed to retreat to herself, arms hugging her starter to her chest, gaze to the looming Gumshoos.
Her voice almost a whisper. “...Then she’ll die, and she’ll leave me, too.”
Snap.
A furred, clawed arm retreating away from Lilliane’s trembling form, third and final necklace snapped in twain and gently taken from her.
The Gumshoos looked at Lilliane and I and then snorted, gaze angry but not hostile. It snapped its fingers and all the pokemon around us seemed to snap into attention, standing still.
I watched, incredulous, as two Digletts carried the first-aid kit we had discarded to Hau, who after blinking repeatedly, recalled Loa to her ball and started to mechanically treat his arm wound. A pair of Yungeese took out a blanket from my bag and set it around a shocked Lilliane and I.
The Gumshoos retrieved a notepad and a pen from a satchel around its waist. It began to write, and for a minute there was the scritch-scritch-scratch of graphite on paper and nothing else. Then it ripped the paper and handed it to Hau.
He looked at the paper, then the Gumshoos, the paper again, and in disbelief, began to read.
“You failed. Be glad this was just a test.-- Wait, should I read this aloud?”
The Gumshoos just growled.
“Okay! Alright– Be glad this was just a test. Were you in some other territory, you’d just be dead.
Scared plant girl: Next time, don’t fall off the stairs. You’re lucky you didn’t hit your head.
Stupid– uh, stupid boy: Take your head out of your rear and think. The fancy girl made some good points. Your Litten is strong but doesn’t obey you. Sit down and listen to her and find out why.
Fancy blond girl: There are mind doctors available for trial-goers. Make use of them. Your starter wants to fight. Let her.
You can’t travel without fighting, and you can’t fight without learning how to resolve your differences.This is a team test. Start acting like one.”