Uika hugged Satoshi on her own initiative—one arm settling around his waist with just the right amount of pressure, the other hand covering his mouth.
For a girl who'd barely ever interacted with boys, it was mortifyingly intimate.
She was always the type to perk herself up by reading Sakiko's messages—and yet here she was, doing something like this behind Sakiko's back.
And honestly? It was the kind of thrill that could get addictive.
About two minutes later, Sakiko finally left the area. The Poni Island trial was basically a race—everyone scrambling to see who could snag the Dragonium Z first.
Which meant the real trouble would start now, for Uika. If she got found out, Sakiko would absolutely grill her.
Sakiko: Uika, wasn't there something off about the way you played that round?
For the sake of preserving what she had with Sakiko… she had to stay on high alert!
"Sorry—I suddenly grabbed you. I just noticed a Noivern watching us," Uika said, releasing him with a long exhale.
She'd even tossed out a flimsy excuse to cover it all up.
Noivern?! Where?!
"It's fine." But when Satoshi heard that, he looked more excited than anything.
A Flying-type like that was exactly what he wanted right now.
Having a team without a single flier was honestly painful. In a real battle, he'd probably end up with Blaziken leaping up to kick foes out of the sky one by one, or Raichu pinning them down with Electroweb. Against anything airborne, Rillaboom would basically get bullied into silence—Frogadier was at least a little better.
"Then let's keep moving." As he spoke, Satoshi reached out first, took Uika's soft hand, and warmly led her onward.
"W-Wait… Satoshi~ your Pokémon you haven't even let them out yet~"
...
Poni Canyon was basically the harshest place in the Alola region. Go in without real strength, and you'd crawl back out bruised and battered.
Even someone who'd placed top ten in the Afro Buffalo Cup—or one of Rainbow Wing's "Elite Four"—would struggle against the Pokémon here.
Fully evolved Pokémon like Lycanroc, Skarmory, Dugtrio, and Scizor roamed around—every one of them the "annoying to deal with" type.
Wait… Scizor. Doesn't that evolve through trading while holding a Metal Coat?
Hey, is a wild one even legal?!
Satoshi almost wanted to complain—then he remembered Pokémon Legends: Arceus, where you could just evolve with a Metal Coat directly, and he felt better about it.
No trading required at all!
It's just game mechanics—completely unfriendly to people with no friends!
Setting that aside, plenty of people came here for one reason: Kommo-o.
It was a pseudo-legendary—one of those late bloomers with monstrous potential.
I can't beat you when you're fully grown—so surely I can beat you when you're small, right?
All you had to do was hunt Jangmo-o and Hakamo-o… except Kommo-o usually guarded them.
Which meant Kommo-o was never something you could truly avoid.
Fighting/Dragon—five weaknesses. Honestly, it was pretty awful. Not to mention it took 4× damage from Fairy.
Dragon-types tended to have huge base stats, sure—but not as huge as Fairy.
In other words…
Mane-nee, I miss you!
Satoshi wanted a Flutter Mane more and more. If Flutter Mane were here, it'd be one punch per Kommo-o.
[Satocchi, I've got a mission for you~~]
[Mission]: Clear the trial! Reward: TMs—Ice Punch, Ice Beam, Blizzard!
If you didn't pop up with missions once in a while, I'd start thinking all you can do is chat with me…
Satoshi couldn't help feeling a little helpless. Furiko really did seem kind of… hopeless.
[Ugh… dummy~]
Still, the TMs were nice. Three Ice-type moves—perfect for bullying Dragon-types into the ground.
But why didn't you give me this earlier?!
Right now, the only moves Satoshi had that truly checked Kommo-o were Icy Wind and Acrobatics.
Meaning he had to call out those two.
Satoshi raised his right hand, pulled out two Poké Balls, and gave them a light toss into the air.
"Frogadier, Rillaboom—let's go!"
The two Pokémon dropped from above, landing neatly on the ground, and Satoshi gently patted their heads.
"I'm counting on you."
"Koga!" "Rilla!"
They waved, then each slapped a hand against Satoshi's in turn—telling him, loud and clear, that it was fine.
"Are these two your ace Pokémon? Or was Raichu your ace earlier?" Uika asked.
Seeing them, the corners of Uika's mouth lifted. She was in an especially good mood.
Raichu and Blaziken trusted Satoshi completely—and these two were the same.
She'd seen Raichu and Blaziken battle before: Pokémon that went beyond the ordinary, paired with a blazing emotional intensity. It left her heart racing.
She wondered what these two were like.
Uika was curious.
An interesting man, and interesting Pokémon!
And… she could feel it, sharp and unmistakable—want.
Satoshi… I like him!
"I don't have an 'ace.' Every one of them is my ace—my important partner." Satoshi explained softly, looking at his Pokémon with gentle eyes.
In truth, whether it was Raichu, Frogadier, Rillaboom, or Blaziken, each of them had their own shining moments. As their Trainer, Satoshi's job was to bring out those moments—to stay happy with them, always.
To become a Pokémon Master. To be together forever with his important partners, and his important friends (MYGO).
I want that… I really do.
So far, his only real loss was probably to Marshadow. The gap in power there was just too big—no point dwelling on it.
Someday, he'd win against Marshadow and take it back. No need to rush.
Uika's interest was fully hooked. She reached into her pocket, pulled out her own Poké Balls, and gave them a light toss.
"Got it. Then my Pokémon are Pawmot and Electivire."
"Ele~" "Paw~"
"Koga~ Koga~ (Hi~ so Satoshi's getting latched onto by another chick again~)"
"Rilla~ Rilla~ (You get used to it~ Hey!)"
The four Pokémon greeted each other, and Satoshi and Uika's trial officially began.
Their target: the Totem Pokémon, Kommo-o!
...
Inside Poni Canyon.
"What is wrong with you people? Do you even know what school we're from?!"
A bespectacled boy lay sprawled on the ground. Beside him, his Fearow had collapsed too, badly injured.
He stared in disbelief at the thugs and their Pokémon up ahead.
"You're Trainers from Kanto, right? Well, we're the ones stopping you!" "Yeah, yeah~!"
They jeered as they crowded together—until the obvious boss figure among them stepped forward.
This was Alola's villainous gang: Team Skull!
"Destroy, destroy—no matter how many times I destroy, I never hold back! Your oh-so-hated Boss Guzma is here!"
"First up, you're number one!" After roughing the boy and his Pokémon up, Guzma planted a boot against him—then turned and left with his crew without a second glance.
"A message just came in," said the admin Plumeria at Guzma's side, pulling out her phone. "Sounds like one of our people got jumped somewhere in the canyon—by a blue-haired woman. I'll go deal with her."
"Then go. Let these Kanto punks learn what we can do!"
"Leave it to me. Avenging my cute underlings is part of my job!" Plumeria said confidently, taking out a Poké Ball.
...
And at that moment, Togawa Sakiko looked down at the several Team Skull grunts sprawled across the ground, utterly bored.
"So weak… Yeah. Battling Satoshi is way more interesting."