One bright day in the Alola region under the heavenly delightful blue lights that spawned little clouds in sight, two fine gentlemen enjoy a cup of tea of a restaurant that specializes in French delights. Bob and Ilima scheduled a date for the boy and his first Island trial. Which only a few days away... At sundown. Right after that's been taken care of, the two start to have any other ordinary conversation anyone would normally have.

"Mmm, isn't this tea just exquisite to the taste buds Bob?"

Ilima couldn't help but aspire himself to the teacup and his iced tea, but Bob had a different taste in his mouth. Because he was used to drinking soda, the amount of sugar in the tea left him an underwhelming taste of the flavor of the tea, so he couldn't do much but shrug.

"Yes... Quite the mouthful..."

Bob sets aside his teacup and leans on the table, focusing himself on a start-up question for Ilima.

"Soooooo... I'm looking forward to trying out your Trial... At night I may add... It's gonna add a real sense of adventure..."

Starting as effective as a sputtering car, Ilima couldn't help but chuckle at the boy's sense of awkwardness, as he takes a sip of his tea.

"Oh Bob, now I can see just as clear why Lana has such a liking towards you."

Grabbing him right on the back of his shirt, he felt a rush of nervous energy flowing through whenever Lana and her aquamarine eyes were brought into a conversation.

"As friends right? Of course as friends! What am I thinking??... Hahaha... Ha..."

The spitting turbine engine of the boy breaks down as Ilima's chuckles turn into a hard to grasp giggle.

"Don't worry, I totally understand your position. Other than that, I truly look forward to your attempt at Captain Ilima and his trial in a few days!"

Standing up acting all Hollywood, Bob swallowed a big crumpet of what remained in his mouth and continued to eat while under the thought of what lies in his realm when the sun came down, impeding his appetite starting from garbage disposal to stuck blender level. Ilima joins in as he too takes a snack-size bit of a crumpet that was pointing in his direction of the table.

All the way from the bush right next to the fountain, a group of no-good criminals peeps their binoculars at the two who were enjoying their snacks on this bright sunny day.

"Island Trials huh? What exactly are trials suppose to be here?"

Jessie quickly and quietly asked while James pulls out his tour guide book he picked up from their first flight to the Alola region. Which he picks up and points to a page that was just for the subject.

"Let's see here,"

James first skims through the important introduction and reads the paragraph that actually matters.

"How interesting, it seems that Pokémon Gyms are nowhere to be found in this region. The trial is a challenge that's been carried out ever since the islands came to be. Instead of gym leaders... There's seems to be a boss Pokémon people here call... A totem Pokémon."

A diagram shows a regular-sized Pokémon taking Raticate's Alolan counterpart, being a black-furred rat, which projects an arrow comparing it to a totem-sized one, which appears to be 5 times the size of a normal one.

"Incredible... I would scratch to grow into the size of a Totem Meowth... Now that would make me much stronger than me now..."

Meowth daydreams about being the size of a house, stomping around town, scaring those who get in his way as he stomps,

"Fe, fi, fo, fum!"

"Wake up, that's only a dream! Now, I saw we sneak behind the dimwits and catch that unbelievable Totem Pokémon for ourselves and use it to catch all the Totems here! For the boss!"

"Yeah!"

James and Meowth raised their hands in glee, while Wobbuffet too joins the roar,

"WOOOBUFFET!"

The day goes by fast, just when another day at the Pokémon school comes to a conclusion where everyone begins to pack up and head on home. Bob at the time felt as if he was a courageous and brave knight, who was confident that he would return the next day alive after his upcoming battle with a dragon of the fortress.

"So long everyone, I shall be heading on out for my first Island Trial!"

Bob fixed the posture he was in, which ends up with him pointing into the air as if he was an explorer out on the open sea with a great thirst for adventure. Friends being friends, the class aid him with good luck before they split their own ways.

"You go show that big Totem Pokémon whose boss!"

Mallow and Bounsweet waved at him before he left the gate of the school.

"Make sure you don't overcompensate on your strategy and make sure you give it all you got!"

Kiawe flicked a thumbs up before he took off on his Charizard to his home on the same island Tapu Lele lives on.

"B-Bring home the gold-or glory! Me and Snowy are hoping you'll win!"

Lillie also waved while Snowy comfortably rested in her arms. That was just then the boy loses sight of his friends for the day and headed back to the hotel to relax from the quivering nervousness that drilled inside him. While Rowlet seemed to be cool about this whole matchup, there was no denying he was a mess on the inside, and there was no doubt his face had the answer, it was literally written all over his face. Safe to say that he was drawn from that same energy after relaxing the mind with a nap before the big event, knowing his Island Challenge wasn't taking place until sunset. Strange enough that it wasn't to start until then, but it felt right to him that he didn't question any customs on the Island.

By the time he sought out to start this first Trial, it felt a bit odd to be out when the sun began to set out on the horizon, which made him feel like a high school rebel who didn't care he was out before dark, which definitely isn't the kind of person Bob would ever want to become. But the real challenge was just about to begin, he stomps right where Ilima requested him toward the dock of Hau'Oli City all high and mighty.

"Aye Ilima! I'm ready to begin my Trial now-"

Not taking a closer look where Ilima stood, the second he did sure made him trip right onto the ground from the unexpected that was right across himself and across the dock. At least Rowlet reacted to Bob's clumsiness before it ended up on the ground like its partner just now.

"There he is! Alola Bibby Boo!"

Lana smiled while she helped the toppling boy right out of the ground, where Ilima walked up to the boy, with a question on his mind after hearing from Lana so much.

"I must say, Bob, you're quite the young man to master a stunt such as collapsing on your own. Are you planning to become a stunt devil one day?"

Taking that as a joke, Bob shook off the dust on his arm and took that question and tossed it right out.

"Very funny,"

He huffs, after wondering what Lana was doing out with him at a time nightfall was only a half-hour away.

"Sorry, Lana wasn't expecting to see you up with us... N-not that I didn't want to see you, I was just simply thinking that it was just gonna be... Us, Ilima, and I."

Sweating the words out, hopefully not harming the girl and her Popplio's feelings, Ilima smiled and puts a hand on the boy's shoulder.

"Excuse me for the last-minute request, but I hope you don't mind if she tags along with us on your trial attempt. Normally I wouldn't permit myself to invite guests for my Island Trial, but being an absolute friend to you and me, I'll gladly make an acceptation here!"

Ilima and Lana smile at each other, Bob gets a fresher feeling in his head to know that the one out of the classroom, the one who befriended him the fasted than anyone else would be right by his sight to take on the beast of Melemele Island. With the news in, the three sought out to the entrance of Verdant Cavern.

"Here we are! This must be Verdant Cavern... Weren't we gonna go visit this place one point back then?"

Bob scratched his head before Lana nod and backtracks what postponed the trip in the first place.

"Don't forget that we had to turn back after Saki was in harm of those no-good baddies Team Rocket... Good thing we were able to escort her to the Pokémon Center in time..."

After a moment of silence, Ilima collected the pace of the Island Trial back where it needed to be and even twirled in a frantic manner too.

"Welcome! Come one, come all! To Captain Ilima's very own trial!"

The young man laughs, while Bob looked just as ready as Rocky when he's just about to enter the ring.

"My challenge is easy Bob, just march right in that cave and defeat the pack! What lies in there at night aren't Yungoose, but a Pokémon known as Rattata! Here in Alola, it's taken a step into the dark side, so the Alolan Pokémon only comes out, you guessed it, at night."

From what Bob collected previously, Rattata isn't the most powerful Pokémon out there, nor its evolution Ratticate neither, so he felt that he overestimated this challenge a bit, but still kept thinking of what could be inside the cave. With a few steps forward, the three entered the cave, where Team Rocket lingered behind.

"Now that they've to lead the way, we'll let them tire out the large Pokémon then I'll snatch it right under their noises!"

Jessie rubs her hands in the cliched villain way, while James and Meowth follow that with a devious chuckle.

"An easy plan, nonetheless fun too!"

James grabbed the net, while Meowth carried the rest of the equipment, which also made a ruckus throughout the trail of the rocky terrain. Without much warning, the group of villains was surrounded by a swarm of Alolan Rattata and Ratticate, which served as Ilima's secretary guards.

"Umm... Are you guys seeing what I'm seeing?..."

A few looks we're traded until Jessie inexplicably sends out Rockruff in the middle of all this.

"Ruff ruff ruff ruff ruff!"

It barks to scare off the Pokémon, which was gonna take more than talk to escape this mess, but for now, back to Bob, Lana, and Ilima.

The cave was just as dark as the night itself. Because there were no lights or any luminous sources, Ilima offered Bob a flashlight to see what the object pointed at. There was a dim sight of the exit out of the cave, which Bob slowly steps forward too until he slammed the breaks hearing the quick-footed sound of steps making contact with the gravel beneath them.

"Gaaa!... Rattatas..."

The surprising sound jumps the trial goer, who was uncertain of their appearance in a setting of pitch black, Rowlet keeps its focus on the movement of these Pokémon. Being a nocturnal Pokémon, the bird was able to follow up the sound and take action by striking the Pokémon with a Tackle, the flashlight exposed the Rattata in the dark.

"Impressive of your Rowlet to do that! Not only using its nightly advantages to turn to capture Rattata from its surroundings, but you pulled a decent advantage to the Pokémon!"

The rise of the story starts to excite Ilima, as Lana smiles and raised a fist in the air.

"Show them what you're made of Bob!"

"Pop! Popplio!"

But immediately, Bob calls forth his Rowlet, saving its use for the bigger challenge. In the meantime, he sends out Houndour, who was also ready for a good fight.

Rattata homes in for a bite, but Bob counters with an Ember, sending the Pokémon flying. Right after, both Pokémon simultaneously collide Snarls which pushed back both Dark Type Pokémon.

"Show'em your own Bite Houndour!"

Chomping jaws right onto the target, Rattata squeals in pain, flinching to make another attack. The Pokémon was pinned to the wall against Houndour, but it wasn't giving up, a quick call was made by the Pokémon. Before anyone could notice, several more of the no-good vermin attracted the attention of the stress call, even alarming a Raticate.

"You're calling your boys on me now? Well, that's not gonna make a difference! Houndour Ember!"

Striking again, several of the weaker targets were hit and even took critical damage, while the rest of the pack dodged and started to home in on the Pokémon and landed chipping Bites, the Pokémon was weighed to the ground.

"Not good! Not good! Use Snarl!"

While this move wasn't the best in Type advantages, it was surely enough to shake off all the rodents off. The Pokémon charged right back to chip as much as they could, but Bob was ready to unfold his surprise plan right about now!

"Now it's time for something I bet you wouldn't see coming! Houndour, use Sludge Bomb!"

The totally unexpected poisonous move bursts, sending the rats all sorts of directions, even scurrying away from the three, which Houndour and Bob unleash a terrifying yet ridiculous howl to fully capture both victories, and nighttime pleasure.

"My my. I am very pleased to see that you have completed the first half of my trial! But there's still another target you must face!"

Ilima and Lana clapped, as Bob returns his Houndour back into its Pokéball to rest off from the battle. Followed by a blissful bow for his performance.

"Thank you, thank you! You're all too kind! But I can't take all the fame for this reason. My cousin is to thank for this win, my cousin Ernesto help teach my Pokémon this unexpected move! But for now... It's time for the big boss of this cave. Let's do this."

Stepping into the exit of the cave lead the three to a field that would be very appropriate for a battle arena with a lovely lake surrounding the land, which sparkles under the moonlight. What stood on the other side was a podium that contained a small white crystal inside of it, which Bob reached out into, but froze after hearing the sound of a large Pokémon.

"RRAAAAAAAAAH!"

Not hesitating to keep down its volume, a Raticate the size of the cave leaps from the hill in front of the podium roars at the trial goer to step away from the crystal. Before the match even began, Raticate unleashes a flare of energy, its Totem aura flaring for battle! The Pokémon was truly pumped now.

"Holy crap! I didn't think it was THIS big!"

At first, collecting his thoughts and even taking a snapshot of the large Beast, Bob took out his Pokémon, knowing, this was his first important battle in Alola.

"Alright, Makuhita! You're up!"

Sending out the Fighting-type Pokémon, the battle officially began. Starting off strong, his first move Arm Thrust was a real knockback strategy as the Pokémon already suffered an effective shot, but the Pokémon had plenty of strength to keep going. The Pokémon slams itself into Makuhita, tumbling onto the ground from a powerful tackle.

"RAAAAAAAA!"

The Pokémon suddenly begin charging up for a powerful move, which meant that Bob had to cut plans and make a move before Makuhita was done for.

"Use Focus Blast, before it's too late!"

Makuhita unleashes its attack which only traveled halfway through before Raticate unleashed a devastating blast known as Hyper Beam, which caused an intense collision that pushed each Pokémon back. The trainer's Pokémon recovered from the setback but just swoop by the large Pokémon with a speedy Crunch. Even if it couldn't lift Makuhita off the ground, it still did wonders for an unfavorable match-up.

"Strike with an open Ice Punch!"

The attack lands right in the crucial part of the face which releases the grasp of the large Pokémon, ready for another attack.

"That's it! Use Focus Blast!"

Unfortunately for confident Bob, Raticate dives in and cuts the Pokémon's attack. While it did leave aftermath on the large Pokémon, Makuhita went down from continuing on, so Bob returned it back into its Pokéball. With one Pokémon left, Rowlet took flight, ready to take home the gold by defeating the Totem Pokémon.

"Let's start light with a Tackle!"

Landing an ineffective shot like that felt like throwing a small pillow right onto the chest for Raticate, as it swooped in for a Crunch. But Rowlet's small size made dodging the attacks a tad easier than Makuhita could do.

"No worries, no worries Rowlet! This is perfectly fine! Use Peck!"

Now striking with a slightly stronger move, Raticate held on to continue after its previous match against Makuhita. Right before, the Pokémon began to charge for another Hyper Beam, but Rowlet simply flew to the back, where the Pokémon was wide open for a shot.

"Now let'em rip with a Leafage!"

The Hyper Beam was shut off after the lack of focus from the Leafage, and quickly shifted gears to land a Tackle, which sends the small Pokémon flying.

"Leafage again!"

Another gust of leaves chips Raticate as it attempted to hang on, but ordered instructions caused Rowlet to fly forward directly to the eye of the storm.

"Now Tackle!"

With the impact right across the face, Raticate fell backward onto the ground, not able to continue after such a battle.

"I... I won?... I won... I won! Woohoo! I won! I mean-... We won Rowlet! You were awesome out there!"

Grabbing his Pokémon and bringing it in for a hug, Ilima walks up to the boy and his bird and smiled with an achieving smile.

"Congratulations again on completing the final part of my challenge Bob, not only you've shown to handle your own again a larger opponent, but you did so through teamwork and communication. Definitely earning your reward. The Normalium Z!"

Handing Bob the white Z-Crystal from the podium, he immediately attached it to the black Z-Crystal of his and admired deeply its equipped design. Lana and Popplio clapped for the boy's outrageous battle, as Rowlet swooped to Popplio and pecked on its nose, being quite happy that it did such a thing.

"Congratulations Bob! You're one tough cookie! I hope I can show the same strength day!"

She smiles, as Bob blushed into her words as Ilima giggled.

"Here is how you'll do they pose for the Normalium Z, please have look!"

Shifting his arms to form a Z pattern, the time to get going was among them. Bob still needed to drop Lana off at her house before he headed to the hotel to rest off his rough night, but the feeling of achieving made him feel more spontaneous and stronger. It was time to tell her something on his mind ever since Lana told him a certain secret of hers...

"Lana... There's something I should tell you about... Something that's been on my mind for a while now..."

Bob begins to speak, as Lana looks at him with her big aquamarine eyes, while Popplio still remained in her arms.

"Oh? And what would you like to ask me? It might not be a secret is it?"

The fact that she mostly came one step ahead before the boy made him a little less stressed before he actually shared it.

"Certainly... Now... Being a boy who loves to browse the TV guide, I fell in love with anime. One that you wouldn't expect a boy to like..."

From then on, Lana spouts a smile as he was coming forward to her with this newly mentioned secret.

"And what would that anime be?"

"It's... Well... An anime called... High School Spirit... Yes, I like an anime that centers around cheerleading..."

Bob gets that one vibe where one speaks the name of a brand or franchise out loud, it makes them feel a bit idiotic, but that's when Lana halts to her tracks. The boy afraid of her next action she might pull on him, she looks back up and smiled brightly.

"I wished you've told me that earlier Bibby Boo! My sisters and I love that show! Never miss an episode!"

Surprised by the fact at something that Bob should've seen coming, a jaw dropped to the ground as Lana continues her footsteps as she began to talk about the show with him. Something that was certainly fun to chatter about.

Epilogue.

Walking back into Hau'Oli City, Team Rocket, who was covered in dirt and scratch marks, slump their way back into the forest to sleep off a horrid night of Rattatas and Raticate raid.

"The one-time Bewear doesn't come to our noses... The time when we needed it the most..."

Meowth yawns, watching the only member of the group, Rockruff who wasn't in any position of fatigue.

"I'm not even gonna change when we get back, all I need is a bed..."

James murmured, walking under the streetlight, while Wobbuffet stretched its arms under the source.

"Wobbuffeeeet..."

From a parlor across the street, the three same shady-looking teenagers who encountered Bob sat while they watched the team sleepwalking in the dark, shaking their heads at the scene.

"What a couple of grubs. They look like they belong working in a janitor's closet."

Tupper pops open another root beer and chugs down a fourth of his drink. Wrap and Zip took their own pace with their own drinks while having a similar opinion about the way they walked.

"That girl's hair is a big no-no. I bet if my hair was dusted from a speck of reverse dust spitting vacuum cleaners, it would still look better than... Whatever she's trying to do with it."

"... Yeah, what my big sis said..."