"Hey! You guys! What just happened?"

Dartrix, who was nowhere to be found when Kukui arrived, is now perched up on his shoulder rubbing his eyes.

He glides down and yawns, "I was taking a nap when I heard some screaming. Is everyone okay?"

Torracat runs over to us, "Sure. We're fine."

Dartrix smiles, "That's good."

"I was joking you bird brain." He says with a growl.

So angry.
You can't joke with Dartrix like that.

Dartrix glares at him, "Hey, no need to call me names."

I step in between them, "Torracat, I know you're upset-"

"Upset? That stupid Mudsdale made me more than upset. 'I pushed him because he bumped into me.'" He says mockingly, "Yeah right. Stupid horse!"

I laugh, "So salty."

He glares at me, "And that's coming from you?"

Oh, so that's how it's gonna be?
This means- Ehh I don't really care.
I'd be in denial if I said I wasn't salty.
Sometimes, you just have to accept it.

Dartrix looks at him confused, "What Mudsdale? What're you talking about?"

"Some Mudsdale that was just walking around the route for no reason." I say, "As we were getting ready to leave, Hau bumped into him, And then he pushed him. But, Leafeon took care of him; it's all good now."

Dartrix places a talon on his chin, "If it was Strongheart then, yeah."

"It was him. He picked on Rudy, too."

"Strongheart's just a big bully. If you don't get in his way he'll leave you alone."

Torracat claws at the ground, "Sure." He mumbles.

Dartrix looks past Torracat, "I thought Leafeon was shy. Why is she all over Nightshade like that?"

I smile, "Isn't it just adorable? I'm a great matchmaker."

I place my flipper on my chest, feeling proud, too bad my friends don't think the same.

They're laughing so hard that I fear they might start choking or something.
 
"If you're so great why can't you and Dartrix get together?" A voice asks.

I spin around.
It seems that Tula was listening in on our conversation.

Tula, don't you have Larry or Tiko or whoever to bother?

I roll my eyes, "Because I-"

You gotta let him down easy, Isa.
Slow down.
 
"I'm not...I'm gay."

Goddamnit, Isabelle.
I said let him down easy.
I hate my brain sometimes.
 
Torracat snorts, "No, you're not." he looks over at Tula, "She's not interested in him, that's why."

I sneak a glace at Dartrix, his eyes are holding the slightest glint of sorrow.

Lucky for me, I don't have to feel guilty long. The bus has come and it won't wait long.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Hokulani Observatory.

But first, look at the mountain.

Kukui says that Mount Hokulani is the second highest mountain in Alola, Mount Lanakila is the highest.

"That's where I'm gonna build Alola's first Pokémon League!" He announces.

It's as if saying those words alone fills him with pride.

Miracle's eyes sparkle, "Really? That's so cool!"

Kukui nods, "Once you finish your Island Challenge you'll get to battle the Kahuna's. I know Alola's got its old traditions, but it's time for us to have a Champion that everyone can recognize. How does that sound? Good?"

Miracle gives him a thumbs up, "I can't wait for it to be done, doing this trial will get me one step closer."

Calm down there.
You have to beat the trials first.

Kukui sure does have a lot of things to tell us about, like introducing us to his friend, Molayne, that we have to battle before the trial.

Steel types aren't my cup of tea but Rudy and Nightshade had a fun time,

I think the fact that the Metang was slower than Rudy made him more confident.

After beating him, we get to go into the observatory.

Ugh, it's small.
I don't like it at all.
Lucky Miracle with no Claustrophobia, I'm suffering over here!

On the bright side, Rotom and Tula are just buzzing with excitement.

"Look at all of these boxes full of stuff I could mess with!" Rotom says while digging through the box.

Let's not and say we did.

"What's even better is all of this electricity! I could steal it all!"

Tula places her tail against a generator only to have it be bat away by an angry scientist.

To refrain from getting in any more trouble, we just get on to the trial.

The trial captain is named Sophocles.

He's a kid.
Well, he's a smart kid, smarter than Miracle it seems.
Was that too harsh?
Probably, I'm sorry, Miracle.

I must point out one dumb idea he had which was having his trial in a building.

Now, the powers out and we have to wait for the Totem to show up while battling electric bugs and answering questions that even a Dunsparce would know.

Hehe, Miracle's afraid of bugs.

I hate to admit it, but her screaming in fear of every little thing made me happy...too happy.

I think might be losing it.

Finally, the Totem appears and Miracle faints.

Great.

"Ahh!" Tiko squawks while jumping on her, "Wake up!! It's just a bug!"

Tula pushes him, "Shut up! You're not helping I'll shock her awake."
 
Her cheeks spark but Rudy stops her, "I have an idea. It's so dark in here that humans can't see. So, we can just beat the Vikavolt by ourselves. We just have to make sure that when we beat it and the power comes back on, that Miracle is awake."
 
"How did you know it was a Vikavolt?" Tiko asks.

"Its cry that's how. And the fact that this is an electric trial with Bugs. But, that doesn't matter."
 
I mean, it kinda does.

Surprisingly, Nightshade and Rudy were able to make that battle look easy, oh, who am I kidding they cheated.

I guess if you want to fight two on one you should at least make it fair. That's what Nightshade said.

What's even better is that when the power came back on, Miracle is sitting up with a confused look on her face.

"Did you enjoy your nap?" Sophocles asks.

"W-what? The power's back on, did I beat the trial?"

"Your Pokémon beat it for you."

"They always do." She gets up and rubs her eyes, "If I don't have to see any more bugs then I'm happy."
Molayne walks in with a big grin on his face.

Something about Sophocles' experiment being a success and that it uses to much power.

"That's all nice and good but, do I get my Z-Crystal?" Miracle asks, I can tell she's in a hurry to leave.

"No. You slept the whole time." Sophocles says in a monotone voice.

"What!?" Miracle crosses her arms and frowns, "It would have been no different if I had been awake during it! My Pokémon do the fighting, I just give them orders."
 
Sophocles looks down at the floor, "I guess you're right." He looks up at Molayne, "What do you think, Mo?"

"A Pokémon's skill in battle is a reflection if how good their trainer raises them. I think Miracle should be fine." Molayne says confidently.
Sophocles nods and hands her a yellow Z-Crystal.

"That's Electrium Z...I guess I have to show you how to use it."

(Insert dance here)

Sophocles turns away from us in embarrassment, "Sheesh, no need to stare at me like that. I liked it better when the power was off."

After gaining another Z-Crystal from Molayne, and Kukui's- wait, 'The Masked Royals' mask, we have to head back to Malie Garden to return it to him.

It feels like a cycle, we can never escape this garden.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~