Chương 179: Chapter 174

With Hala defeated, there wasn't anything pressing to take care of on Melemele Island. We were ahead of schedule by a couple of weeks, mostly due to travel on the island taking less time than expected. So, with all of that combined, we took advantage of our currently free schedule to do something that absolutely could not be missed. We went to the beach. I personally didn't like going in the water, but some of my Pokémon were more than excited at the idea.

We found a little beach just to the north of Hau'oli where there were less crowds and more open space. I hung back on an umbrella-shielded chair, and the group of Pokémon most looking forward to this chance got to come with me. Togepi and Eevee splashed around at the edge of the gentle, lapping waves. Rapidash sat nearby, keeping watch. Mawile relaxed in the sun next to him, and in the distance, Azumarill broke incoming waves with her body as a test of her strength.

(I didn't fail to notice Tinkatuff eyeing Azumarill from where she was working on her hammer on the shore.) The last Pokémon on my team with me was Carbink, who was using their terrakinesis to try to dig through the dunes. Unfortunately, sand was more within the bounds of Ground Types rather than Rock Types, so Carbink had to settle on creating shovels out of stone rather than directly controlling the sand.

Everyone that wasn't currently here either wasn't interested in the beach, or they were taking this chance to relax at home. Despite being December, the environment was too warm for Ninetales to enjoy, and Florges was in the process of introducing Cutiefly to the gardens and all the other Pokémon back in Verdanturf. I'd have liked Cutiefly to be here so I could talk to him about his thoughts on battling after witnessing our fight with Hala, but he deserved a chance to properly settle in, too.

I let the sounds of the happy noises of my team fill my ears. Azumarill's shouts as the waves broke against her were by far the loudest, but Eevee and Togepi's laughter was still readily apparent. Other than those, there were also the sounds coming from next to me: Hope repeatedly cooed at the small Pokémon on the floor.

"Aw, you're just a gluttonous little guy, aren't ya?" She kneeled down on a towel as her newly acquired Rowlet choked down a stick of berry seeds stuck together. Once he finished swallowing, the green owl coughed once, and Hope scooped him up into a hug, upon which he squawked in annoyance. She held him for only a few seconds longer before acquiescing to his wishes.

"Don't you find it a little strange to be training a Pokémon so different from the rest of your team?" I asked. Hope tilted her head.

"What do you mean?"

"All of your Pokémon are plants, basically," I said.

"Except for Venusaur and Tropius, but they're both dinosaur-ish with plants growing on their backs. Rowlet might be a Grass Type, but he's more of a bird rather than anything... botanical? I wanted to know how you felt about that."

"Well that's the thing, I haven't only taken care of plant-based Grass Types," Hope replied.

"Tropius is partially reptilian, same for Venusaur, but I've worked with Gogoat and Skiddo in the past. As for Rowlet, the same basic techniques for training Grass Types will still apply, but I get to try new things since he's part Flying Type, too."

"Eventually a Ghost Type," I added. She rolled her eyes in response and pulled Rowlet back into her arms once more.

"You have to get over that. Didn't you say you wanted to catch a Mimikyu?"

"Yeah, but Mimikyu are—""Watch out!" a man's voice screamed. Eevee shouted in surprise, and my head snapped over to the ocean where my team members were enjoying the water. Everything felt like it slowed to a crawl as a great, blue and white manta ray crested over an especially large wave. Azumarill was right underneath. I stood up to shout for her to leave, but I wasn't fast enough. Azumarill hopped back to dodge right as Mantine tried to pull up and glide away.

The result was that they managed to line themselves up even more perfectly for an impact, and Mantine smashed into Azumarill's chest at the edge of the water. A flash of yellow, and I noticed a man on Mantine's back get smashed downwards by a second incoming wave. He disappeared under its crash, and he washed up onto the sandy shore only seconds later.

"We have to help!" Hope jumped to her feet and charged forward. Rapidash was already near the accident, so he brought Togepi and Eevee back and started to focus on his psychic powers. Hope's Pokémon moved closer from where they had been sunbathing in the back, and Rapidash's telekinesis guided Venursaur's vines to wrap around the man and drag him out of the water. When he was brought up, he had a wide smile on his face and he couldn't stop laughing.

"Never thought I'd crash into an Azumarill in the ocean of all places!" He then laughed some more. The man was unceremoniously dumped onto the sand, where he slowly pushed himself up and shook himself free of the saltwater. Behind him, his Mantine flopped forward, slightly bruised but still capable of using its long fins to push itself forward. Azumarill, on the other hand, didn't look injured at all. Despite my initial horror at the crash, she'd taken far worse attacks in the past.

"Nice to meet you all!" the man said, brushing the sand off his shorts.

"Name's Dylan, and that's Mantine. Thanks for the save. You training for the race, too?" Hope responded before I could.

"Race? What race?"

"The Akala Surf Rush!" Dylan cheered.

"It's kind of a tradition on these islands. Every year, 'round the start of the season, buncha people sign up to race to Akala over the ocean. It started as just a surfing thing, but as more and more trainers got involved, it's become some kind of a pseudo free-for-all battle."

"Like a Gogoat race?" Hope's eyes were literally sparkling.

"Uh, I guess?" Dylan scratched his head.

"What's a Gogoat?"

"It's a Kalosian Grass Type Pokémon that—" She sighed when Dylan stared at her blankly.

"A Gogoat is another Pokémon that can be ridden."

"Sweet!" he replied.

"Anyway, Mantine and I gotta keep practicing. Thanks again for the save and good luck with whatever you were doing!" Without even giving us any time to react, he darted back to the ocean with Mantine flopping forward at his side. Once they hit the water, the Pokémon easily slipped under his feet, and it took off over the waves using its only body control and body specialized for gliding. I glanced over to the distracted Hope, raising an eyebrow in question.

"So, are you—""We're competing in that race, Alex," Hope declared. She stared at the ocean with a smile beginning to form on her face.

"I might not have a Water Type, but I'm sure Tropius will be allowed if he stays close to the water's surface. This is going to be real fun." Hearing the "we" at the start, I grimaced. I still wasn't a fan of getting wet. I hoped that I could have declined the opportunity, but when I turned my head, Azumarill had the same expression as Hope as she stared out over the water.

"Great," I grumbled.

"Guess I'm learning how to surf." A week and a half later, and after a whole lotta getting soaked in the ocean, Hope and I were lined up to sign up for the Surf Rush. This race stretched from Melemele to Akala, and it was actually a somewhat official competition hosted yearly, as Dylan had discussed before.

Primarily, competitors would have some kind of Pokémon they trained for the sake of riding, but it seemed like there were also pre-trained Mantine being temporarily distributed to those without a proper team member. Hope, unfortunately, found out that riding Tropius went against the rules of the competition. Only Flying Types that could swim through the water counted, or at least the ones that could hover over the ocean surface like with the Levitate ability.

She reluctantly picked up a Mantine instead, but doing so did give her the slight benefit of having a more stable surface to stand on. Trust me, all of her practice of literally standing on Tropius's back wouldn't have done her good to compete today. Out over the ocean, people rode their Mantine to practice, testing out the feeling over low-lying waves.

There were a few younger participants, but the primary competitors seemed to be the more experienced trainers or dedicated surfers who had been preparing for this for a long time. A small fleet of coast guard boats floated in the water out in the distance, both serving as a guide for the bounds of this race and while also preparing themselves to act as rescuers in case of any trouble.

For this competition, I didn't expect to see any familiar faces, but I found Professor Samson Oak sitting behind the officials' table as Hope and I approached to sign up.

"Ah! Hope and Alex! I should have expected you two to be here!"

"If it's a race, I'm not missing out!" Hope said happily.

"And I'm here for the ride, too, I guess," I said with the opposite inflection. The school principal chuckled at my reluctance as we filled out the form. There were a few details about what Pokémon we were using and if we needed to get a Mantine to rent. For this competition, Azumarill and I were prepared in semi-matching outfits. I was wearing an uncomfortable wetsuit that stuck to my body, tight in places I didn't want it to be tight. On top of it, I had a life vest that matched Azumarill's own.

Azumarill's vest had a spot for a hook in the back, and I had acquired a surfboard that would attach to her via tether, allowing her to drag me forward. I'd be closer to wakeboarding than surfboarding, but considering I saw a Machoke wearing a similar outfit nearby, I could tell this setup was more common than I initially thought.

"Good luck!" Professor Oak called out as we walked off. I waited on the shore as Hope worked on staying on her temporary Mantine's back, and Azumarill swam on her own around as practice. Within the next half hour, a whistle blew, and, following a speaker, everyone who had registered lined up at the water's edge. A massive line stretched out over the sands, and a crowd of cheering people stood in the back.

There was actually a screen hooked up to a stage on the beach itself, and it displayed the line of waiting competitors from the perspective of a camera on one of the boats. I took this chance to look over the competing Pokémon, who had already been sent out and were waiting for the competition to begin. Mantine were by far the most common species, but a lot of other Water Types were here as well.

I saw a Seadra floating in the shallows, and I saw both a tensing Golduck and a terrifying Gyarados resting in the water's foam. As far as Alolan Pokémon went, the only true local species here was a group of Wishiwashi in their schooling form. Countless fish formed up into the shape of a much larger Pokémon, a platform situated on its back for its trainer to stand on. Support the author by searching for the original publication of this novel. Also, for some reason, there was a Rhydon at the furthest end.

Baffled, I ended up staring at the Rock Type for a long time. Eventually, all last minute preparations were complete, and the competition was set to begin.

"Welcome, one and all, to another year's Akala Surf Rush!" Professor Oak said into a microphone, serving as the announcer for the event.

"For this competition, the rules are simple: get to Akala island safely and within the permitted time. The name of the game is speed, or rushing, I should say, and anything goes in your attempts to get to the front, outside of outright flight or teleportation." A nearby Starmie slumped in disappointment.

"However, merely getting to Akala is not so simple. Once a full minute has passed and the shore of Melemele is behind you, trainers will be allowed to command their Pokémon to attack. Attacks must be aimed away from the head or anywhere that would cause serious injury. If one of your moves causes someone to be knocked out in the middle of the ocean, you are liable to help them get out of the water safely," he explained.

"For both morality's sake and to assist your chance to win, I highly recommend you to keep any fights to a minimum." There was some low chuckling at that. Yeah, that's not going to happen.

"But!" he said, cutting off any continued laughter.

"The reason we include these rules is simple: if you find yourself knocked off of your Pokémon or your board, you will be instantly disqualified, and one of our boats will pick you up. To rush to Akala requires mastery over balance, speed, and combat capabilities. This is not a contest anyone can win, especially when under assault from so many of your fellow competitors!" Ahead of me, Azumaril's mouth twisted up into a malicious smirk. The cable connecting the board I held underhand went taut as she leaned.

"Now, without further ado..." Professor Oak let his words hang for a few moments.

"The twenty-seventh annual Akala Surf Rush will begin in three!"

"Two!"

"One!"

"Go!" The entire beachline burst into activity, with the several dozen trainers here immediately issuing commands. Pokémon like that Golduck and Machoke from before dove into the water and began to swim, dragging their trainers standing on a board. The trainer with the Gyarados stepped onto their Pokémon's lowered head, and they focused on maintaining their balance as the leviathan rushed forward.

The majority of the trainers with Mantine, which included both Hope and Dylan, who was off to the side, were almost immediately brought into front, with the sleek shape and experience of their rides giving them an advantage not many others had.

"You snooze, you lose, Alex!" Hope shouted, disappearing towards the front. As my eyes lingered on the Rhydon standing on a surfboard, trainer on head, I leaned over to whisper to Azumarill, who was yet to move.

"Remember the plan," I said quietly. She let out a click of her tongue in response. From our position on the beach, we inched into the water slowly and with deliberate caution. Everyone else was already far ahead of us when we actually entered the surf. Azumarill's oil-filled tail helped her float on the water's surface, and her body lacked the density that would cause her to sink. Instead, she did a casual breaststroke to bring us into the ocean.

She swam just fast enough to keep the cord tight and my board stable. As she swam, she kept her breathing steady and stable. I could see the tension in her body slowly increase.

"Tell me when your Work Ups are done," I said. The Mantine trainers were already far off into the horizon. Everyone else was closer, situated in the back of the ranks. A minute passed. Attacks began to be exchanged. Because we were so far behind, no one paid us any mind.

"Zu," Azumarill said. I grinned.

"Whenever you're ready." Azumarill's smirk was almost audible. With my permission granted, Azumarill finally took off, putting all of the practice she had done with Aqua Jet into this mad rush blast over the water's surface. The board I was on almost flung out underneath me, and I had to wrap my arms around the cord's handle to not fall off. The past week of practice paid off as Azumarill moved with a speed I was only barely prepared for.

With Work Up used to its max, Aqua Jet was a powerful attack, but we were using this for speed rather than power. All of her energy was poured into propelling us forward, and we sent out shockwaves of foam into the air behind us. The trainer with a Golduck was pushed to the side when we shot past him.

"Water Gun!" he yelled. Unfortunately for him, with Aqua Jet moving us so fast, we actually outran the move. Azumarill's speed was truly that insane. At first, all of the people in this mid-to-back section were far too focused on attacking one another to look our way. Some were following a strategy like ours, albeit, somewhat strained due to the presence of nearby attacks, to catch up to those with Mantine at the front.

In the lead of this group, the trainer with the Seadra I noticed earlier was building up speed with Agility. But, as we shot through the crowd at blazing speed, more and more of these slower racers realized the threat we posed.

"Water Pulse!"

"Bubblebeam!"

"Ice Beam!" A flurry of attacks were sent towards us, the majority aimed at me. While we were moving fast, we were mostly traveling in a straight line, which meant that these moves were all but guaranteed to hit with a proper, leading aim.

"Play Rough!" I shouted. Azumarill glowed pink before slamming her arms down into the water. Our speed was slowed as she canceled Aqua Jet, but she managed to save her momentum by shifting into a controlled glide, using Surf. That momentary usage of Play Rough was not useless, however. Azumarill caused a small wall of water to bounce upwards in a splash. The chaotic burst disrupted the incoming moves, and I ducked down into a crouch to avoid the rest.

My heart was pounding in my chest, but adrenaline was pumping through my veins.

"Faster! We have to catch up!" I shouted. Azumarill gladly complied. It was pretty clear that these trainers realized we were going to outpace them, so they switched gears into returning to attacking at one another. I watched as a Brine caused the Rhydon to get knocked off its board (apparently the Rock Type could float), and the Gyarados was subjected to a Starmie leaping up and stunning it with Thunderbolt. Ahead, a figure with red and white hair stood alone on the horizon.

Shirtless with tanned skin and shrouded eyes, I soon recognized him as the trainer with the Seadra. I prepared myself for a fight as we closed in, but he didn't attack. Instead, he turned around and called something out.

"Truce?!" he asked.

"What for?!" I replied.

"Work together to surpass the Mantine, then we'll fight with our all!" Azumarill used her control over Surf to allow herself a chance to glance back. I weighed the offer in my head before giving the man a brief nod.

"Fine, but if you backstab me, I'll make sure we both lose!"

"I'm fine with that as long as I get first place!" An unexpected ally in hand, Azumarill let the Seadra pull ahead. She slowed down just slightly to make room, and without the diagonal waves forming from either of our wakes, our speed slightly increased. Soon enough, the lead group with Mantine came into view. About a dozen people stood firmly on their Pokémon's back.

I could see Hope's tied-back ponytail flopping in the wind, roughly in the middle of the group, and a flash of blonde told me that Dylan, from before, was all the way in the front.

"Aim for the blonde dude! He's been practicing the most!" I shouted. My temporary companion let out a growl.

"I know who Dylan is. I refuse to let him win again this year!" With our target set, Azumarill and the Seadra split off. We ended up staying side-by-side, and this far out from Melemele, large waves in the ocean formed to bring us far in the air. Also, in the distance, the very tip of a mountaintop began to peak over the horizon. The race was slowly reaching Akala, which loomed nearby. That soon? I could have sworn these islands were further apart. Then again, our Pokémon are moving pretty fast.

The first Mantine-rider soon came upon us. A young man wearing a white swimming cap grabbed the side of his Pokémon and did a flip. It spun in the air, fins tucked in, and when it landed at the top of the wave, it slid down and picked up speed from the dive. In fact, almost all of the Mantine riders were performing tricks like that in one way or another. Those movements seemed to help build their speed.

I winced when one distant rider ended up washing out, and with a sigh, he began to swim over to the side to board a boat to move out of anyone else's way. The Seadra trainer was the first to act.

"Icy Wind!" he yelled. From Seadra's snout, a snow-filled breeze shot out, and it coated Mantine's fins with bone-chilling frost. As a result, the giant ray was forced to cancel its surfing trick, and the impact with the water slowed it down rather than speed it up. Icy Wind proved its value as we shot ahead right after, the Mantine now slowed enough to be unable to catch up. Kind of makes me wonder why he even called out for a truce like this.

"Next one's yours!" my strange ally yelled. Yeah, that makes sense. Split up targets to conserve energy. Contrary to what he had shouted, there wasn't one Mantine there, but two. The pair of trainers were actively fighting to push ahead, engaged in a gliding dog fight with their Pokémon unleashing rapid Bubble Beams and Air Slashes into the air. They were too focused on trying to knock one another out to notice me coming their way, which gave Azumarill and I a brief moment to plan.

"Azumarill, what are your thoughts?" I yelled. Azumarill answered by increasing her speed, and steam came off her back. I shouted for Scald in response, and Azumaril shot burning water from her mouth right at our foes. The pair of Mantine riders were caught off guard. The superheated water hit the Pokémon's fins, interrupting their tricks. One of the Mantine suffered greatly from the move, sustaining a burn, and that injury actually caused its rider to completely wipe out.

Meanwhile, the other one turned our way with a glare on his face, but despite laying his eyes on me with no issue, he froze when he looked to who I had teamed up with. Rather than fight, that rider commanded his Mantine to move off to the side, giving us room to pass without any problem. The Seadra-rider and Azumarill were able to bring us forward, and our opponent didn't even try to let loose one final, sneaky attack. He looked to be far too intimidated by the Seadra's trainer to act against us at all.

Who is this guy? I thought, staring at my apparent companion. Not noticing my confusion, he waved for us to continue, and his Pokémon sped up. There were only a few surfers to go. Our rush became as vicious as it was violent. Azumarill was tiring out, same as the Seadra, but working together let us rest long enough for brief spurts to make sure we didn't fall behind. Anyone who stood in our way was subjected to powerful attacks from our Pokémon, and the ones who tried to fight back were summarily crushed.

When we approached Hope, I grinned.

"Let me try this one! I'll take her out!" I yelled. On top of his board, the Seadra's trainer lowered his head in agreement, and he shifted over to the side to give us this chance.

"Hey Hope!" I yelled. Her head snapped towards me.

"You snooze, you lose," I mocked, repeating the same words she had said at the start of the match. It took quick thinking on her part to pull on the fin of her Mantine, and she just narrowly managed to dodge Azumarill's charge forward in an attempted crash.

"Oh, no you don't!" she yelled. With a point, she commanded her temporary Mantine to use Bubblebeam. Azumarill clicked her tongue before ducking down, disappearing under the wave and hiding from view. The attack went over her head while I gripped the handle even tighter. I put the clues together; Azumarill was an extremely buoyant Pokémon. If she went underwater, she wasn't going to stay submerged for long. A single second later and my prediction came true. Azumarill blasted out of the water.

Rather than attack Hope's Mantine, she used the momentum to rush to be in front, bouncing over the waves and taking me with her for a ride.

"Azumarill! I'm— Oof! Ouch! Ow!" I'm going to fall off! I had to clench my teeth to not bite my tongue. It was only thanks to the board having footholds for my feet that I didn't slide off. Every impact shook my body, and for every inch I crashed down into the water, I felt like I bounced up a foot. Azumarill was laughing her mind out, not bothered by the rough impacts at all, while I just hung on for dear life and thought back to Sinnoh. Thank you, Bertha.

Without your physical training, I would have fallen off ages ago. At this stage, Azumarill had pulled far ahead of both Hope and our temporary ally. I thought the pair would now fight, but instead of attacking, the two strangers exchanged a look and a nod, then they rushed right at us.

"So much for that truce," I muttered. The following period was a wild chase involving dozens of moves as Azumarill was forced to zig-zag to avoid the attacks. She constantly splashed water upwards to deflect the weak ones, and, at one point, she purposefully stopped to let the force of a Hydro Pump push her forward even faster than before. I spent this period doing my best to hold in my lunch. At this point, my commands were worthless. This was Azumarill's competition to win on her own.

Hope and the Seadra trainer had already knocked out all of the other Mantine during our chase, and now there was just Dylan to go. The blonde-haired man, surfing at the very front, turned back to wave at us as we approached. He laughed.

"So you two are competing! I knew you were secretly training!" On the back of his Pokémon, he bent down to pet his Mantine's head. At that, the pair started to glide over the water with a speed not seen before.

"Oh, no you don't!" the Seadra-trainer shouted. He reached into his shorts to pull out what looked to be a scale, then he tossed it at his Pokémon like a disc.

"Remember what I told you, Seadra! Focus on what it feels like to strive towards the top! Don't settle for second place, win it all! Be a star!" As he yelled, the scale impacted his Pokémon's head, but it didn't bounce off. Instead, it almost seemed to stick to it, and Seadra began to glow.

"Really?" I grumbled.

"Oh, come on now," Hope said with a groan. Hope pulled off to the side as Seadra began to change. Its body lengthened, going from a stout, angry seahorse, to a majestic, tall dragon. It retained its snout, but it gained a sleeker overall shape, and its wings on its back went from sharp fins to something that half-resembled coral. The Seadra trainer—no, the Kingdra trainer—laughed heartily and encouraged his Pokémon to continue.

For all Azumarill had trained in the past, she wasn't able to keep up with a freshly-evolved Dragon Type made for speed. We ended up settling to the side of Hope as we watched the pair shoot into first. Dylan stayed tight behind, unfortunately remaining out of reach.

"So much for winning," Hope said.

"At least third place is still open," I replied. We exchanged a look and were about to send our Pokémon forward— But then an ancient blue turtle with an old man standing on top suddenly burst past us. Its shell had been partially broken to allow for improved aerodynamics thanks to Shell Smash, and the energy it had saved all race had been pumped into Aqua Jet, just like Azumarill had done at the start. I dragged my hand down my face.

"Not again," I groaned.

"What do you mean, again?!" Hope yelled. In the end, Hope managed to squeeze out a last burst of speed to obtain fourth place, while Azumarill and I got fifth. Azumarill was disappointed she didn't win overall, but based off of the glares from the Mantine riders who came ashore behind us, she definitely made a splash. (Hah!) When it came to the distance traveled, I was right that it was longer than I expected—it was just that our Pokémon had traveled at such a fast rate that of course it went by fast.

The group of miscellaneous trainers who fought in the back arrived significantly later than the rest, however. Overall, the entire event took about an hour, and that was with all of the Pokémon moving faster than humans could. Azumarill was exhausted, and many of the Mantines were returned to be healed by nurses waiting on the Heahea City beach shore. Once everyone arrived, a few boats docked nearby, and I watched as the tanned Professor Oak made his way up to where a secondary stage had been built on this beach.

"It seems we have winners!" he shouted. As I had seen, the trainer on the ancient turtle, the Carracosta, had obtained third place. In second was Dylan and his specially trained Mantine. Then finally, for first, Professor Oak let the suspense build up. Once he had built a satisfying tension, he smiled, and he shouted the name of the man who had won.

"And finally, in first place, after an incredible mid-race evolution, is Ryuki of Malie City himself!" Everyone clapped and cheered for his win, while I just furrowed my brow. Now that I think of it, he's familiar. Who is that guy? Hope seemed just as confused as I, and Ryuki practically strutted forward. Behind him, his newly evolved Kingdra floated in the air, somehow looking none the worse for wear.

"Victory!" Ryuki shouted. The audience cheered once more.

"Remember this moment, when Ryuki and Kingdra truly became stars! Look for me in Malie City! When Alola gets its League, I'll definitely be its Dragon Type Gym Leader!" More claps, but this set was much more subdued. Hope and I clapped again to be polite, but we looked at one another as we did, confused.

"Alex, he wasn't on the list," she whispered.

"I know. Professor Kukui didn't give us any information on him." Ryuki held up his hands once more before stepping off, a seashell-styled trophy held up in his hands. Hope and I watched him leave. He gave us a wave, but he didn't seem to recognize who we were as members of the Wandering Elite. Once Hope and I were sure he was gone, we exchanged a second look and silently came to a unanimous decision that we needed to call Kukui for a talk.