One day after another came and went like a pizza delivered from the restaurant down the street. Ever since the day where Bob for the most part asked Lana to meet him for some very important matters, he's rather... tense about it. He wasn't panicking as much as he used to when he was new in the region, he wasn't shivering for shits and giggles either. He walked on the busy streets of Heahea City while the Alola sun's intense heat sizzled below. Bob wasn't bothered by the spike of temperature several months from first arriving in Melemele, he just seemed rather troubled.

"... ... ... "

The talkative boy normally would have something to speak of on his mind, even to himself, but he was simply quiet, walking down the concrete sidewalk of the city, towards the dirt road of Paniola Town, on the bus ride to Royal Avenue, onto the rocky terrain of Route 7. Bob stopped his travels for a second to watch the waves on the beach wash on the sand, even spotting several Alolan Diglett simply hanging out. The water alone brings him to think of Lana's home which is literally right on top of the water. It made him feel... down, he just didn't know how to approach her on the day they were supposed to have some time to themselves. Does he tell her that he may want to take things to the next level, or does he believe he should take things one at a time? He didn't really have the time to think things through, he had his last Island Trial on Akala to complete. It was just the distraction he needed to get the whole Lana decision off of his mind, so he walked through the entrance to Wela Volcano Park, which already turned the temperature even higher than it previously was.

"Oh Arceus, is it actually safe to hold a trail here?"

Bob wiped off what sweat from his forehead as he entered the dry plains of the trail towards the top. He turned his head left to right in search of Blaze, the Island Trial Captain who specializes in Fire-Type Pokémon and the art of dancing. He finally found the girl, standing on the stone pathway under a gate that looked official enough to be used for Island Trials. Blaze stood there, standing confidently as if she wasn't bothered by the heat of the volcano. She darted her eyes away from Bob after spotting him approaching her, but knew why he was at Wela Volcano Park.

"Hey, Blaze. I'm here for my trail."

Bob lightly waves at Blaze, legitimately feeling a tad awkward around her since she could be a bit moody if you tend to push her on edge. He approached her with a calm demeanor, which was pretty convincing since Bob was out of his energetic behavior, so Blaze finally made eye contact with him.

"... Yes, I've been expecting you. You're one of Kiawe's classmates, I remember you when I was your substitute teacher. It was an... interesting experience."

The girl lightly giggles, as Bob instantly puts his hand right on his face, still flustered about how passionate she was on teaching the class how to express themselves through dance.

"Yeah, you're telling me."

Bob forcefully chuckles, as he really didn't want to leave Blaze hanging with the thought that it may have been a disaster. Turns out he didn't have to since Blaze was well aware how that day didn't go as planned as she intended it to be. There was no need to fret about the old days, what matters at the moment is that they start for what Bob came there for.

"Come, Bob. The top of the volcano awaits us, do you think you'll be able to climb to the very top?"

That wasn't even a concern for the boy, he was ready for anything after completing his first three trials. He nodded with some enthusiasm, and even pointed at them and smiled into character.

"You know I can! I made it this far into the Island Trail and I'm not turning back now, let's begin."

From there, the journey to the top is pursued, with no one but Bob and Blaze on the journey to the very top of the mountain.

* * *

The very beginning of the trail itself wasn't totally bad to be honest, however, the very top of the mountain will definitely be a whole journey of its own. Walking along a path that doesn't require walking over a hill as steep as a volcano is one thing, but the pathway that ascends was definitely something Bob wasn't entirely prepared for.

"Dear Arceus above... How can you walk this mountain on a regular basis, Blaze?? Especially in a place so close to the dang sun?..."

Bob complained, already building up sweat as he wiped his forehead with his arm, but the girl simply pressed on. She was so used to the heat of Wela Volcano, she acted as if she was immune to the temperature being so high which seemed a bit too much for the boy.

"I've been through worse, trust me."

Blaze said, whipping her ponytail back as if she was responding to someone she was rather trying to impress. Bob shrugged to her response, trying his best to keep up as they began walking a steep trail towards the top. It was a little hard with the circumstances of the high temperature, but they arrived at a checkpoint. Blaze stopped in her own tracks, she took out her black and red fan and stopped Bob from continuing.

"Now listen closely Bob, you're first part of my trial is about to begin. Pay attention."

The girl said while she took a few steps to the center of the trail, holding her open flag as if she was indicating a signal. A strange voice response to Blaze's position, multiple joins from all directions, lots of these small gray Pokémon start to block Bob's path from Blaze's. She stood among the lizard-like Pokémon as if she was controlling them all at once in a battle, which simply wasn't the case.

"You have your opponent, trainer. All of these male Salandits have been trained by me. Do your best to clear your way towards the top."

There had to be at least ten to fifteen of these sneaky Pokémon, Bob gulped, wasn't expecting to take on an entire group serving as the first part of his trial. There was no turning back either, not from how much ground they covered from the trail. It was time for action!

"Castform, let's rock!"

His very first choice was the 2nd newest member of the team, the gray Pokémon with weather changing abilities. It was best to save his Octillery later in the trail but that doesn't mean he has a secret weapon to put at the wall of fire that so impedes his trail.

"Rain Dance! Let's go!"

Floating towards the sky, Castform summons dark clouds in the sky that soon release heavy rain among the battlefield. Bob pulled out an umbrella to focus on his match without getting soaked from the weather, however, Blaze couldn't say the same.

"What?! You brought an umbrella knowing you were going to use rain to your advantage?? No fair, I hate the rain!!"

The trail captain may or may not have snapped at the unexpected decision to even the odds of the battle, despite the Pokémon's efforts, their Ember and Flame Burst barely harmed Castform since it changed its typing to water to match the rain.

"Castform, return! Thanks a bunch, buddy."

Quickly swapping his Pokémon, he sent out his next option, no doubt the tallest Pokémon he owned currently.

"Hariyama, come on out!"

The Fighting-Type Pokémon steps onto the field, stomping its giant legs into a battle stance, but the Salandits are not backing down. Their Fire-Type attacks weren't effective in the rain, so they swapped their attack, the back shot out a pump of nasty sludge, Venoshock, and the ones in front launched themselves for a Poison Fang.

"Show no fear, use Arm Thrust!"

Hariyama took one major step back, unleashing a powerful open hand strike that pushes the opponent back like being launched with a closed spring. Hariyama began clearing the path as it tanked the poisonous attacks, knocking the Salandits as they began to retreat.

"Way to go Hariyama, high five!"

Before could congratulate his Pokémon before its win, he immediately pulled back his hand before reaching Hariyama's giant hand since he didn't want to be launched by a high five alone from his large Pokémon.

"Ehh... maybe just a light pat on the back. Return for now."

Returning back into its Pokéball, he caught up with Blaze just as the rain clouds in the sky began to fade. As refreshing as the slight drop in the temperature was, the Alolan sun quickly caught up to its standard heat. Blaze still wasn't happy about the rain soaking her dress, but was impressed with Bob's team so far.

"Not bad, I suppose. You really have come a long way, haven't you?"

The boy nods just before they resume their journey towards the top of the mountain. The walk on the 2nd steep climb was rather silent, but Bob wasn't caught off by the silence in the air. He was actually proud that things went so well in the first round, especially his plan to weaken the group of Salandit with Rain Dance. Despite his victory, one thought of rain led to the thought of water. Bob ended up thinking of Lana who... specializes in Water-Type Pokémon, making him start from square one on trying to set her aside in his mind. This time, Blaze noticed how silent Bob was, so she asked if there was anything on his mind, and that's when he decided to ask for advice.

"Hey... Blaze? You don't suppose I could ask you for some advice?"

Bob was pretty hesitant on asking the second he did, but he was at this point feet deep to take things back, so the girl turns around and looks at him straight in the air.

"Really, it depends. What is troubling you?"

The fact that there was a legit chance she could either turn down needed advice or be lucky enough to hear him out made Bob a bigger wreck on spitting out what was on his mind. He really didn't want to go into full details, since it would only make him think of Lana even more, so he had suck it up and speak truthfully to avoid making himself look like a moron.

"So... there's this girl in my class-"

That's when he was cut clean off his sentence, Blaze silenced him by speaking up, clearly uninterested with his personal issue on the whole matter about relationships.

"Let me stop you right there. My apologies if I may sound rude, but romance isn't exactly my favorite subject to discuss. I won't be any help."

Blaze was sugarcoating nothing as she didn't even bother to bat him in the eye while breaking down the cold news. At that point, he felt like he should leave his issue there and choose not to be such a bother to an acquaintance, however, the thought of solving the matter lingered in his mind. Bob simply wanted answers, he asked again at least for a reassurance boost.

"A-are you sure? I don't mean to be rude or invading, I was just-uhh... wondering if you had any suggestions for me since you and Kiawe are-"

Bob said only to be cut off again by the girl who had a small blush on her face as she turned around and faced him to clear the matter on what he knew just on the surface.

"Wh-what are you even trying to say? Me and Kiawe aren't doing anything-on the sorts like that! Look, I've known him for a while now, so don't make any more assumptions between us. My point is, I'm the last person to be telling you advice on this crap. Is that clear?"

Being scolded by someone who wasn't really any older than he was really did end up throwing him into a deep silence. Blaze sounded so serious on the topic, it made Bob feel even more awkward. His head surrendered towards the ground, watching his brown shoes step on the gravel one at a time. Nothing but the sound of pebbles and rocks crunching beneath their feet, until the two stopped at another checkpoint. Like before, Blaze approached the center of the trail, she took out her fan and raised it in the air. This time only one Pokémon leaped in front of the girl, unlike the group of Salandit, this one meant business.

"Maroo! Maroowack!"

The ends of the large bones lit a ghastly flame, and raised its weapon in the air. It spun its bone club around like a fire dancer. It was actually a pretty nice thing to witness, especially how it managed to catch its bone after tossing it in the air. Blaze helped Bob snap back to reality by raising her fan at the boy with her free arm on her hip.

"Your second trail begins now, trainer. Marowak in Alola are among my favorite Pokémon! Don't one-up me with the rain for a second time."

The fact that the island trial captain disapproves of a legitimate strategy really sets her apart from the others like Tides and Ayame. He knew he had to shake things up because seeing Blaze really mad was one of the last things he needed when leaving the island trial. His next choice was Houndour, which seemed to calm her down plenty. In fact, she was intrigued to see another Fire-Type Pokémon despite the type advantage.

"Let's start with a Sludge Bomb!"

Launching a giant blob of sludge right at the opponent, Marowak thwacks the incoming attack with its bone, only for it to splatter on it afterwards. Only little damage occurred, which was sort of a start. Marowak charges forward with its ghoulish weapon and hits Houndour with a Shadow Bone, also doing light work.

"Keep your head in the game, Snarl!"

A wave of obnoxious barking hits Marowak for a super-effective hit, decreasing its special attack, although the opponent was in a serious pickle, it flung its own weapon at Houndour scoring some massive damage at the same time. The way its weapon immediately returned all the way back to the opposing side looked like a Bonemerang, which explains the effectiveness on Houndour.

Bob's next move was Bite, so it charged up for some close range action to land an attack with its jaws. Marowak caught the attack by using its bone to protect itself from the enemy. Flinging the enemy back and using Bonemerang a second time. To counter the incoming projectile, Bob ordered Houndour to use Snarl once more to push the attack away. Instead of bouncing back, both attacks end up flying past each other and landing on both Pokémon regardless. Both were unable to continue after that. So Bob returned his Pokémon for some rest.

"... Well done, you have cleared the Marowak as well. I can't say I'm not impressed, you really have proven to be a flame to be put out. We'll see if I can fix that."

The last steep difference of the trail placed them at the very top of the mountain. The sight of the ocean and the rest of Akala Island was breath-taking for Bob. he looked around the top of the volcano and huffed a chest of satisfaction. It was almost as if the journey to the very top was almost worth the gorgeous view. Surprisingly the very top of the volcano was sealed, so there was no need to worry about exposure to any hot lava. The sightseeing was really nice and all, but the time for bird watching and I-SPY is over. Blaze took a step to the center of the volcano, she smiled as she took out a second red and black flag from behind.

"Trainer, you've done very well to climb to the top of Wela Volcano. Defeating both Tides and Ayame's trail is no small feat. Take a look around you. We are located at the highest peak of Akala island possible. I am the last obstacle between you and the Kahuna, Olivia. Honestly it's an honor serving as the very last trail captain here, it makes me feel like a worthy challenge. Well then."

She posed with her open fans and spun in a flashy manner, stopping with both fans in the air.

"You faced the rest! Now it's time to try my best!"

Blaze took the center of the volcano for a short but impressive show as she moved and danced all around, but something immediately jumped in front of her, something large, scaly, and rather slim stood between both teens. Bob panicked, almost getting a heart attack from the sudden appearance of such a large Pokémon.

"Your final opponent in my trial awaits you! Totem Salazzle, it's time for a show!"

Totem Salazzle's aura flared to life! Increase its Special Defense for any projectile attacks. Bob sent out his Castform for his Rain Dance strategy, but here, it didn't seem to bother Blaze judging how silent and observant she was.

Totem Salazzle wasn't just big but it was fast. It slipped by the small floating Pokémon at a moments notice and shot a stream of light purple gunk from its mouth and splattered on the Castform which inflicted a bad poison on it.

"Oh, Arceus! Toxic..."

Bob bit his lip, watching the purple static coat Castform in an unhealthy manner. He had to make a move before things got to a worse state, so he had to at least summon the rain to at least put it at a disadvantage. The clouds formed in the sky as it began to release a heavy rain on top of the volcano.

Totem Salazzle unleashed a dark-colored poison from its mouth, which took out the small Pokémon in one shot. That didn't make things better on Bob's side, but for Blaze, she was enjoying what she witnessed.

"Venoshock doubles its attack power if the target is inflicted with poison. Such a shame, isn't it?"

Swapping his Castform out, his replacement to take the field was Hariyama, if there was anything that could take a hit, it was his biggest and heaviest Pokémon. Totem Salazzle ended up infecting his next Pokémon with its unmatched poison, but it wasn't giving in.

"Let's go! Ice Punch!"

The large Pokémon charged forward with its first coated with ice, Totem Salazzle tried to counter the move with a Flame Burst, but to do the rain and Hariyama's ability Thick Fat, it wasn't even phased by the attack, landing a light hit. While the lizard barely took any damage from the attack, a chunk of ice stuck onto it, slowing it down for a second. It was bust melting the ice away with its flame, now was the time to land a big hit.

"Go, Hariyama! Use Knock Off!"

Hariyama landed a decent sized hit before Salazzle became free from the ice, but the toxic poison drained Hariyama during the battle, slowing down as well, but Totem Salazzle slipped behind and landed a mean Venoshock, putting it down for the trail.

That's when Bob swallowed a lump in his throat. He only had two more Pokémon to use during the battle. There was no way he could use Dartrix for this trail, even with the rain to weaken its Fire-Type attacks, it was the poison that he needed to worry about. Bob sent out his recent member on his team, Octillery. Maybe he can turn things around for the best, although things didn't get off to a good start after Totem Salandit infected it with its Toxic just like its other members.

"Go forth! Octazooka!"

Shooting a black sphere filled with ink at the Totem Pokémon in the eyes, doing massive damage and lowering its accuracy. Totem Salazzle was nearly blindsighted with the ink in the eyes, so it shot Venoshock in all sorts of directions, missing its target by a longshot. Bob fired another Octzooka from where Octillery stood, Totem Salazzle at a dangerous spot, while Octerilly lost strength to the worsening poison.

"Now use Scald!"

A blast of hot water suddenly burst out of Octillery's open mouth like a cannon and washed the blinded Salazzle away, taking its last opponent out for good. Bob returned Octillery back into its Pokéball, Totem Salazzle retreated into a nearby cave to escape the downpour of rain that began to stop. The clouds in the sky faded away, nothing but silence filled the air for a good minute. Bob embraced himself for what Blaze had to say about his victory, but she was totally fine on the matter. In fact, she smiled as she approached him.

"So, you really did it huh? Totem Salazzle was the best Pokémon I have raised for my Island Trail. And yet. You extinguished it too. Congratulations."

Blaze raised her hand towards Bob, almost looking like she was offering a handshake, but she had something right in her palm, a small red crystal shard. Bob took up and stared at the flame symbol on it, it was the Z-Crystal for Fire-Type moves.

"Use the Firium-Z however it may suit you. Just don't let it collect any dust now, okay?"

The boy nods, turning towards the trail to walk downwards, but really didn't have to since Blaze offered him a ride to ground level with her Charizard. With that said and done, Bob now has all 3 Island Trial Challenges on Akala completed. The last step on the second island awaits him, against the kahuna, Olivia.