Our heroes arrived on Izabi Island yesterday and are currently on the road to Sootopolis City for Turquoise’s final gym battle. Today they were having lunch in an open field.

“So how far do we have to go?” Aqua asked.

“We still have a long way to go, you need to have patience Aqua, you remember what Tate and Liza told us right?” Turquoise said.

“I recall them saying Izabi Island was the largest island in Hoenn, “Aqua said.

“Look at it this way, this will be a good adventure,” Turquoise said. Soon fluttershy finished making lunch and everyone gathered. As they were eating Vulpix was not eating much due to sadness.

“What’s wrong, Vulpix?” Aqua asked.

“I think she misses her brother,” Fluttershy said. “Remember both Vulpix and Turquoise’s Alolan ninetails were siblings originally.

“Oh yeah that’s right,” Aqua said. “Hey Turquoise, is there some way you can bring your Alolan Ninetails back here?

“Not instantly, I would need to call Professor Oak and have him exchange another of my pokemon for him and the nearest pokemon center is hours away on foot,” Turquoise said.

“I know it’s hard for siblings to be separated but sometimes it is necessary for them to grow, I should know I have a younger brother back home who would do good with a little self-reliance,” Fluttershy said.

“You have a brother?” Turquoise asked.

“What’s he like?” Aqua asked which made fluttershy look a little hesitant to answer.

“Let’s just say he is a bit of an oddball,” Fluttershy said. The girls began eating and soon a boy with short red hair and green eyes entered their campsite.

“What smells so good? “The boy asked.

“No stone baked stew, you're welcome to have some,” Fluttershy said.

“Don’t mind if I do?” The boy said before introducing himself and his partner who was a small orange and yellow puppy-like creature. “I’m Owen and this is my partner Growlithe.

“So that’s a Growlithe,” aqua said before pulling out her Pokedex.

“Growlithe, the puppy pokemon, It has a brave and trustworthy nature. It fearlessly stands up to bigger and stronger foes,” The pokedex said.

“Nice to meet you, Owen, I’m Turquoise, “Turquoise said.

“And I'm Aqua, “Aqua said.

“And I'm Fluttershy, “Fluttershy said.

“So, what brings you three to our island?” Owen asked.

“We are on our way to Sootopolis City to challenge the Sootopolis gym leader,” Turquoise said.

“That’s quite a walk from here,” Owen said.

“So, what brings you out here?” Aqua asked.

“I’m heading to the Izabi stone mine to find a fire stone for my Growlithe,” Owen said.

“I’m guessing to evolve your growlithe,” Turquoise said.

“Correct,” Owen said.

“May we come? I’m also looking for a fire stone since turquoise is being stingy with hers,” Aqua said.

“Because you were being forceful with wanting to make your Vulpix evolve and did not take her feelings into consideration,” Turquoise said.

“I don’t know what that is all about but sure I could use some help finding it since the mine is a big place,” Owen said. The girls packed up the camp, recalled their pokemon, and followed Owen. Sometime later they were now in front of an abandoned cave.

“This is the mine? It looks abandoned,” Turquoise said.

“It was a successful mining operation until the workers stopped for some reason,” Owen said. They entered the mine and noticed the workers left their gear behind but what was most noticeable was the rails for the minecarts looked like they had some bites taken out of them.

“What could have caused this?” Aqua asked.

“Who knows,” Turquoise said. They kept exploring and chipping away at the walls but were not having much luck. Little did the group know a bunch of rock-type pokemon were not happy about them entering their home uninvited.

“It’s useless, this place has been stripped clean,” Turquoise said. Suddenly a bunch of geodude and Graveler ambushed them and began chasing them off. They soon reached a fork in the path and instinctively separated. Aqua was with Owen and Turquoise was with Fluttershy. As soon as aqua and Owen noticed the geodude and graveler stopped chasing them she noticed that Turquoise and Fluttershy were not with them.

“Oh no we got separated,” Aqua said.

“Stay calm, we need to retrace our steps and meet up again at the fork,” Owen said. Suddenly the ground began to shake and a rockslide blocked the way back.

“Or we keep moving forward and hope to find another way out,” Aqua said before the two continued on.

At the same time Turquoise and Fluttershy were running but unlike Aqua and Owen Turquoise decided to fight back.

“Go Samurott,” Turquoise said as she called out Samurott. The graveler stopped rolling and got ready to battle. “Let’s give these graveler a taste of your Razor Shell. Samurott drew his blade and unleashed a powerful slice that nailed the graveler but their sturdy ability allowed them to survive. They soon began jumping up and down which caused the ground to shake. “What are they doing?

“Using a group earthquake, “Fluttershy said as the earthquake caused a rock slide to seal the girls inside and block the path back to the fork.

“Samurott use Razor shell to break the rocks, “Turquoise said before Fluttershy stopped her.

“Wait, if you do that you may cause an even bigger cave in,” Fluttershy said.

“So, what do we do?” Turquoise asked.

“Keep moving forward,” Fluttershy said. Turquoise recalled Samurott before she and fluttershy continued walking forward.

Back with Aqua and Owen they were following the rails which had more bite marks taken out of them. Soon they reached a big chamber with stripes of various colors in the rocks.

“What is this, some cave graffiti?” Aqua asked.

“No, it’s a skarn deposit, “Owen said.

“What’s a skarn deposit?” Aqua asked.

“A treasure trove of rocks yet to be unearthed and it looks like we have all of the colors,” Owen said. Before they could even think about how they were going to dig it out a Mawile appeared and looked mad.

“What kind of pokemon is that?” Aqua asked before using her pokedex.

“Mawile, the deceiver pokemon, Attached to its head is a huge set of jaws formed by horns. It can chew through iron beams,” The pokedex said.

“So, you're the one who was snacking on the rails,” Owen said. Mawile unleashed a blast of white energy at them.

“Looks like we have no choice but to fight it,” Owen said as he called out his Growlithe,

“Go Vulpix,” Aqua said as she called out her Vulpix. The battle began and Mawile wasted no time by using Iron head which sent Vulpix flying into the wall. Vulpix stayed down since she felt like she was weak without her brother. “Come on Vulpix get up. Vulpix tried to get up but she was not succeeding, “I know you miss your brother, but he belongs to Turquoise and besides he was able to get stronger on his own and so can you. Vulpix got up and was ready to fight.

“Growlithe use Flame wheel. Growlithe charged at Mawile with flame wheel and managed to land a successful hit but it was not enough to beat Mawile,

“Vulpix use Flamethrower. Vulpix unleashed Flamethrower but Mawile was using Iron Defense to reduce the damage. As soon as flamethrower stopped Mawile used Iron head to one shot Growlithe. “This Mawile is strong but we won’t lose either, Vulpix use Extra. Before Aqua could finish her command, Mawile used Sucker Punch to send Vulpix flying but this time they were ready. Owen noticed two fire stones had dropped out of the wall Growlithe slammed into and grabbed one.

“Aqua use this,” Owen said before tossing a fire stone her way. After grabbing it she tossed it to Vulpix who touched it in midair which caused her body to glow and as soon as she landed gracefully, she was now a Kantonian Ninetails.

“Now we are talking, Ninetails use flamethrower. Ninetails unleashed a more powerful flamethrower which caused Mawile to use iron defense but this time the power was too much and sent Mawile flying into the wall. Suddenly Aqua pulled out a Pokeball and threw it. “Go pokeball. The ball made contact and absorbed Mawile and after a few shakes it clicked shut which was a sign of a successful capture. After picking the pokeball up Aqua raised it over her head. “I just caught a Mawile.

“That’s great and all but how are we getting out of this mine?” Owen asked.

“We keep going,” Aqua said as they continued.

A few minutes later on Turquoise and Fluttershy’s end they too reached a chamber but this one looked different as indicated by the minerals in this chamber being already dug out. Fluttershy also noticed bite marks in some of the gems on the ground.

“What do you think could have done that?” Fluttershy asked. Soon they got their answer as a purple creature with light blue gems for eyes appeared.

“What Pokemon is that?” Turquoise asked before pulling out her pokedex.

“Sableye, the darkness pokemon, It dwells in the darkness of caves. It uses its sharp claws to dig up gems to nourish itself,” Turquoise’s pokedex said.

“Mystery solved,” Fluttershy said. The sableye did not look happy to see Turquoise and Fluttershy intrude into his home and started attacking with Night shade.

“If it’s a fight you want then let's go, Go Bagon,” Turquoise said as she called out Bagon. As soon as Bagon came out Sableye came close and stopped short of attacking and just when Bagon let his guard down Sableye struck.

“Careful, that was fake out,” Fluttershy shouted.

“I know which means sableye can’t use it again, now Bagon use dragon breath. Bagon unleashed a stream of bluish green fire while Sableye countered with nightshade. The two moves push against each other before resulting in an explosion. “Now use Dragon claw. Bagon charged at Sableye with a bluish green energy claw while Sableye thought back with shadow Claw. it felt like both Bagon and Sableye were dead even that is until Bagon delivered an uppercut with his dragon claw which was a critical hit and enough to knock Sableye out. “That was not bad for your first battle. Bagon looked happy to hear that before glowing.

“Looks like Bagon is evolving,” Fluttershy said.

“After just one battle? Impressive,” Turquoise said. Bagon began to change shape as he got on his hands and knees before his body grew. A few moments later the glow died down revealing a gray creature that looked like a big shell with legs and a face. Turquoise pulled out her pokedex for information.

“Shelgon, the endurance pokemon and the evolved form of Bagon, its armored body makes all attacks bounce off. The armor is too tough, however, making it heavy and somewhat sluggish,” The pokedex said.

“We will have to do some training to work on that but still impressive,” Turquoise said before recalling Shelgon. The girls kept going and soon the two paths converge at a single point and a few moments after reaching that point Aqua and Owen arrived.

“Hope we did not keep you waiting long,” Aqua said.

“We got here a few minutes ago,” Fluttershy said.

“The good news is I got what I came for and so did Aqua but the bad news is that Mawile we faced one shot my Growlithe,” Owen said.

“Let’s get out of here first and I will tend to it, “Fluttershy said. The girls and Owen proceed forward and soon reach the end of the path. “Unfortunately, the way forward was blocked off by a bunch of rocks.

“Darn, another dead end, “Owen said.

“Not necessarily,” Aqua said before calling out her Swampert. “Swampert use rock smash on those rocks. Swampert unleashed all of her strength into a single punch and managed to break through the rocks without them caving in on them. The group made it out and Turquoise used her pokenav to get their bearings.

“Looks like the mines saved us a few days of walking,” Turquoise said.

“That’s good, “Aqua said. The group found a clearing to set up camp for the night and Fluttershy was busy tending to Growlithe. “Check out what I got. Aqua called out both her Ninetails and Mawile.

“Not bad, but you're not the only one who gained something from this adventure,” Turquoise said as she called out her Shelgon. “My Bagon evolved after defeating a strong Sableye. Some time later Fluttershy finished tending to Growlithe and once it was able to stand again Owen pulled out the fire stone he obtained from the mine.

“This is it buddy, are you ready?” Owen asked with Growlithe nodding yes. Owen held the stone against growlithe which caused his body to glow before growing bigger and changing shape. A few moments later a bigger canine-like creature stood proudly where growlithe once did. Aqua pulled out her Pokedex to learn more.

“Arcanine, the legendary pokemon and the evolved form of Growlithe, An ancient picture scroll shows that people were captivated by its movement as it ran through prairies,” Aqua’s pokedex said.

The next morning the girls bid farewell to Owen.

“May our paths cross again in the future, “Owen shouted as he and Arcanine sped off to their next destination.

“Now it’s time for us to keep going as well,” Turquoise said. And so our heroes not only got a bit stronger but also added a new member to the family, what kind of exciting adventure will our heroes find next? Stay tuned, as the journey continues.

TO BE CONTINUED

Author's Note

Turquoise's team
Espeon ♀ LV: 61 Moves: Psychic/ Swift/ Morning Sun/ Psybeam
Meowscarada ♀ LV:40 Moves: Dark Pulse/ Night Slash/Magical leaf/Flower Trick
Sceptile ♂ LV:36 Moves: Giga Drain/Slam/Leaf Blade/Quick Attack
Samurott ♂ LV:40 Moves: Razor Shell/Slash/Aqua jet/ Water pulse
Shelgon ♂ LV:35 Moves: Dragon Claw/ dragon breath/ Headbutt/ Protect
Metang LV:38 Moves: Take Down/ Flash cannon/ Metal claw/ Psychic

At Professor Oak's Lab
Alolan Ninetails ♂ LV:40 Moves: Moon Blast/ Ice beam/ Dazzling Gleam/ Extrasensory

Aqua's team
Swampert ♀ LV:36 Moves: Mud shot/ Rock slide/ water pulse/ Rock smash
Linoone ♂ Lv:28 Moves: Slash/ Pin Missile/ headbutt/Take Down
Kantonian Ninetails ♀ LV:32 Moves: Flamethrower/ Quick attack/ extrasensory/ Will-O-Wisp
Mawile ♀ LV:36 Moves: Iron Head/ Iron defense/ sucker punch/ Ancient power

Fluttershy's Team
Cinderace ♂ LV: 45 Moves: Flame Charge/ Pyro Ball/ Headbutt/ Double Kick
Ursaring ♂ LV:30 Moves: Hammer Arm/ Focus Blast/Slash/ Metal Claw

Turquoise: Badges:7 Ribbons:5

Figured it was time to give Aqua a new pokemon and for her Vulpix to finally evolve. I hope you all are looking forword to the next chapter of my little Izabi Island arc.