"Are you sure you don't want me to accompany you on the trip over, sweetie?"

  "Oh, uh– thanks mom, but don't." I stammered. "That would be way worse."

  The Island Challenge is a Journey. Capital J Journey: youngsters' pilgrimage across a region, a tradition as old as time and as universal as evolution. Done on foot for as much as travel permits.

  ′Crossing the sea' is an obvious exception.

  So here we were. Lilliane and I had our boat tickets stamped and ready (Hau would be making the trip on Mantine, as insane as it sounded). Around us, a dozen other people that I couldn't focus my attention to, some familiar some not. My mom squeezed my side a little tighter, feeling me tremble the closer we walked to the gangway connected to the ship.

  I don't not like water. I guess it's more clear to say I– I tolerate the sea, I don't dislike it, I can even appreciate it! At a distance! It's all very pretty and nice when the sun reflects into it, and I'm sure that lots of amazing Pokemon live there. It's a part of my region as much as the ground is.

  We can all agree the sky is great to look at, but nobody wants to be thousands of meters in the sky, right? I don't want to be near the sea– near deep water, because who knows what lurks underneath, and what if I fell? What if I got swallowed by the waves, and thrown around the current, sent adrift millions of kilometers away from everyone I knew–

  "Oh, honey…" Mom sighed. "Wouldn't you rather be embarrassed than scared?"

  "No." I was sure of it, so sure that it broke my stuttering. "Being made embarrassed is far worse."

  Mom sighed. My Oddish twitched in my arms, eyes closed but listening still. They wanted to be awake but I insisted they took their rest – the Grand Trial had just been two days ago.

  Putting an arm around my shoulders, Mom leaned over conspicuously.

  "...I told you I'd tell you the advice that Kahuna Hala gave me during my Grand Trial, didn't I?"

  …She did. She'd unexpectedly burst into tears when her Slowpoke had faced the Kahuna, I recalled. "Hm-hmm," I replied.

  Mom continued. "So. I was terrified, Misha waddled over to comfort me, the Kahuna took me aside, and he said…" She coughed, and her voice deepened, in a silly way. "Ahem. 'You have nothing to fear. You are safe. Your Pokemon is looking over you.' He gestured at my Slowpoke, then. She– we were both reckless little things, and she would eagerly put herself between me and danger.

  "And the Kahuna, he told me, 'Be as alert as your Pokemon' and I looked at her, and I knew that there was nothing to fear, because I couldn't see any fear in her."

  I blinked. I repositioned my arms around Petal and looked down at them briefly; soft fuzzy plant skin against mine, faint minty smell around. Was it that simple?

  "...They don't know everything, mom, you know," I snapped back with a pout.

  She tilted her head with a pensive smile. "A Pokemon's sense of danger is much greater than a human's. If you're afraid of something and they are not, it's just fear in your head."

  Was it really that simple?

  Lillie and her Pokemon stood close, Stella the Clefairy eagerly walking ahead to the pier and Toku the Ledyba buzzing nearby. Toku landed and gestured, then saluted proudly to me, as though ready to protect me from any attack.

  "We'll be with you the whole way, right Selene?" Lillie spoke, patting a comforting hand on my back. "It'll be Petal, me, my Pokemon and the ship captain making sure you are safe. Nothing can happen to you."

  Contact from her hand on my shoulders felt electric. I– I would be fine. My mind may roam, but I would land in Akala unscathed.

  This sucks.

  This sucks, this sucks, this sucks, this sucks–

  The boat lurched and panic rolled through my body in waves. I squeezed Lillie hard, head buried in her shoulders, my arms desperately clenching her back, she running her hands over my head and speaking soothing tones.

  It took a little effort but I had managed to walk the pier, it had been harrowing but we had asked the ship people for a private place to hide. We'd walked onto the ship and I had started to recognize people from class and now I was even more scared of making a scene and then we were sitting in an empty cabin where I could pretend I wasn't on the moving water until there'd be a loud siren and the boat had moved and waves rocked–

  This sucks! This sucks!!! Everything sucks! I am back in the whirlpool, my body rocked this way and that, thrown around the water like a ragdoll–

  It was fine! Calm down! I was in a cabin, I was sitting on the ground and all my friends stood around me and they were protecting me from–

  From the waves, the torrent, the storm; turning, churning, rolling with you in the middle, where I belong. Seawater goes into my mouth, my throat, my lungs, and I am choking–

  The smell of mint and pepper brought me back to the present, and I wrenched my eyelids open.

  "Shhh… shh… you're okay… you're alright…"

  Lillie's voice was shaking. She did her best at keeping a warm, confident, comforting front, but genuine concern rolled from the back of her throat and made her falter. She was squeezing my head against her chest with one arm as the other brushed my hair gently.

  My eyes felt blurry. I was drenched in sweat.

  The room rocked with a nauseating tilt.

  My Oddish squeezed my belly a little tighter with their leaves, partially awake, honking worriedly. They tilted their head up to my face, and jumped up– Ow!!

  "Oh– Oh!!!" Lillie hurriedly released me from her hold, now looking at me with concern. "S-Selene, I'm not hurting you, am I?"

  "N-noh." I whined with a nasally tilt. "Petal jumped up and bonked my nohse."

  My attacker gave off an apologetic 'Dish…' and rose a leaf to rub the place they'd hit me. Eugh, I would be smelling mint and pepper for the remainder of the trip.

  "Oh." She sighed heavily, then finally tenderly smiled. "Are you feeling better?"

  I felt awful.

  I felt awful, but this was a little bit better.

  "I– I think so," I started, looking around– but not for long, before the sensation of vertigo rolled over once more, I squeezed my Pokemon against me and buried my head in their leaves.

  Lillie stayed sitting with me for a long time. We were leaving a permanent groove on the carpeted floor of the cabin, alone but for our Pokemon occasionally stuck to our side, chiming in on the conversation, otherwise exploring the room in all its nook and crannies.

  I could feel myself sometime slipping back– the room rocked just enough, the sound of waves crashing echoed just as loud–

  My brain kept going and going to dark places. We would face three Trials in Akala, and one was famously in Brooklet Hill, a set of great lakes and pools along the eastern shore– if I felt like this while hiding in a boat, how would I even feel wading in the lake waters?

  My phone buzzed. A cold shiver went through my spine.

  I sneaked a glance at the screen– it wasn't– it wasn't from Tuula. just some analytics update.

  I wouldn't– I wasn't a good friend to her, was I? Nobody in class liked me. I wasn't invited to the class group conversation on purpose. If she continued to try and contact me, then… I swallowed the guilty lump in my throat.

  The waves churned, the boat lurched, and a wave of anxiety rolled through me. The sea swallowed me a little deeper.

  "...Do you think Hau is gonna be mad that we missed his surfing?" I asked.

  "Huh?" Lillie blinked, eyes wide. "Selene, you– you apologized to him three times already. He said he didn't mind, and that he was sorry he couldn't support you." She must have seen me try to retort because she shushed me on the spot. "Hau is fine. Don't let that weigh in on your mood."

  That shut me up. Lillie suddenly seemed to perk up, as though she remembered something, and she continued with "...Actually, do you think you will be fine on your own for five to ten minutes?"

  "...I- I think so."

  Then she left.

  My Oddish and Lillie's Ledyba had remained (how easy is it to forget the presence of Pokemon in the room). The latter was engrossed in looking out the port window, something I was particularly trying to avoid.

  Petal was trying to stay awake, ever the dutiful one. I didn't want to risk releasing my Dunsparce from his ball; his default response to surprise was still drilling down and that was something I did not want to see happen in a moving ship.

  That– that wasn't a good image to put in my head. Not right now. I squeezed Petal a little harder, and tried really hard to focus on the present.

  Namely, the unexpected guest to our cabin.

  Loa the Torracat, Hau's starter, wasn't at his hip in a ball while he rode on a Mantine – whether that was because she wanted her space or would rather not be thrown about while Hau did flips, I did not know. Loa wandered the room on soft steps, seemingly looking for the best place to sit; though she too wobbled whenever a wave hit the ship particularly hard and needed a second to find her footing once more.

  Then she'd taken a look at me and must have seen how pitiful I looked in Lillie's absence, because she moved over to my spot and laid down, her back against my hip.

  And now here she was. Comfortable (or as much as a feline could be on a swaying ship), her warm back planted against my leg, weathering the storm. Toku had buzzed down to talk with her and there they were, speaking softly to one another.

  This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience.

  It felt a little surreal. Just a week ago, she had been hiding her pain from everybody, pushing everyone back. We had pursued her into dangerous territory and wrenched her away in the nick of time. A few days before that, I had asked her if she was okay and she had turned her back, seething, seemingly ready to claw my face just for asking.

  It was weird to think – Pokemon had always been so simple for me to understand, but this one eluded me. But this wasn't any Pokemon, was it? This was the scion of an illustrious Incineroar line. This was a Pokemon that trained her life to be a Starter to a human. This was an older Pokemon with baggage that hadn't been totally unpacked.

  The ship tilted. A wave of fear and nausea rolled through me and I shuddered, squeezing Petal a little harder. Toku and Loa stopped their talk, and the latter looked back at me with a curious look.

  My mouth felt dry, and yet the words left my mouth unbidden. "...Hey Loa, are… are we friends?"

  She turned her gaze to the ceiling, contemplating something, then looked back and gave me a nod and a "Torra."

  "...Cool" I replied. She wordlessly flopped her head back down and stretched her legs.

  The Torracat had changed in just a few weeks. The bridges that she'd burned were starting to be rebuilt, piece by piece. The attitude remained, but gone was the anger and despair of route 3. She was the biggest of our team's Pokemon, even with Stella evolving into a Clefairy. She was probably the oldest of our group's Pokemon as well, wasn't she?

  "Um, Loa," I started, and she turned her head to look at me– Where was I going with this? "I wanted to ask you something."

  She gave me a nod of the head.

  "Outside of fighting and the challenge," I made a motion with my hands. "What do you like?"

  Her eyes widened and she blinked, genuinely surprised. Her eyes darted between mine, lost in her thoughts.

  We're– we're friends, then, aren't we? I should know more of her, right?

  I wanted to know more about her.

  Her ears splayed back– she stared away, looking embarrassed all of a sudden. She seemed to consider my request, or maybe she considered how to answer it, as she turned back to face me, and then–

  Ears pinned back and throwing caution to the wind, she began to– sing a tune in a whisper? She wasn't saying anything to me, I could tell, just trying to mention something she liked by its tune–

  "Wuh– Full Golurk Alchemist? Loa, you remembered the opening theme?" She stopped, eyes wide. I couldn't believe it. "Loa, that was over a month ago, when I first met Hau– you have a really good memory!"

  She shrugged– there's a look that 'mons get when you understand what they mean on the first try, and that look was there. But at the same time, I could see anticipation and anxiety, her tail tense.

  She was maybe the oldest of our Pokemon – but she was still just a teen our age, wasn't she?

  "...That's awesome! I'm glad we have that in common."

  Tension melted away from her features, the Torracat seeming to relax on the spot. I couldn't help but smile wide myself – despite everything that had happened, despite being a little warrior, she was just like us.

  "Did you get to watch more with Hau?" She gave off a yowl and a few shakes of the head.

  "...Would you like to watch some now?"

  The clouds cleared over Heahea City when we arrived.

  Just under two hours. It felt like it had taken so much longer! Loa had laid her heavy head on my lap for a half of the time, then Lillie had joined us after she'd returned, laying against the wall and shoulder to shoulder – and then Toku and Stella had found places around us and we were a pile of trainers and ′mons watching Johtoan anime.

  The ocean still had its hold on my nerves and it wracked my mind and body with chills any time a wave hit the ship too hard – but surrounded by warm, fuzzy bodies as I was, it made the trip a lot better.

  Finally. The ship's horn let out its bellowing cry, and the ambient panic in my mind started to recede. I wouldn't be drowning yet. My legs kept trembling still way until all passengers had walked off the pier unto the port, and it was only then that I properly took in my surroundings.

  If Hau'oli was tall, Heahea was wide.

  The city's port looked utterly massive, longer than it was wide, with the city encircling the port from both sides. White stone lined the streets and walls though I could barely tell from the massive crowd.

  An ocean of people and Pokemon.

  Burly Fighting-types, stocky Normal-types and rugged human workers helped offload the cargo of a massive ship docked nearby. Nearby, other kids our age (other Trial-goers, most likely) walked excitedly as their Pokemon gripped their shoulders, rested in their arms or scrambled under their legs. I could recognize common city Pokemon that one could recruit as their starter – but a brown and green shape took to the skies and I saw the more coveted Rowlet as well.

  Further ahead, a street market spread out wide with no end in sight. Hawkers had spread out wares from all corners of the world, from exotic Ariados thread to bracelets allegedly made from evolutionary stone. Wingulls cawed loudly, occasionally diving unto the crowd to steal the food off the hands of a passing tourist. The air thrummed with footsteps and conversations.

  Heahea had the vibe of a historic city, one that had been damaged and still showed the scars, built with old stone and old wood that had never been swapped out for anything modern.

  "Wow," Lillie gasped out. "This is a lot!"

  Stella the Clefairy practically shot forward, bouncing on delicate steps as she marvelled at the amount of people, as Toku the Ledyba beat his wings double-time to keep up with her pace! A working, towering Machoke stopped on its tracks, and they paused as well, now stuck staring at one another.

  "Stella, Toku, don't go too far!" Lillie yelled out with her hands cupped. Now her Pokemon and the Machoke had struck a conversation, and Lillie turned her attention to me, a cautious look on her face. "...Selene, you okay?"

  Was I? My legs had stopped trembling. I held Petal tight against me yet, but– my Oddish had totally fallen asleep. But me, myself, I…

  "I– I think I'm okay," I told Lillie. "Could we sit somewhere for a bit?"

  'I got to Akala, doing okay. Love you' and send.

  A little time later, and we had found a large metal cleat on the dock to sit on. Lillie and I stood shoulder to shoulder on the rounded slab of metal, keeping an eye out for her Pokemon making friends with the worker-mons nearby.

  Sending a quick text to mom and dad, we had also let Hau know where we were and where to find us. Crossing the sea on Mantine meant that he'd had landed on an entirely different spot than us.

  "Speaking of," Lillie began, as she leaned over and moved her phone between the two of us. "I took a little recording of Hau surfing during the trip! He told us he would try to stay close, after all. Would you like to see?"

  "Oh! Yes! Yes I would!" It hadn't crossed my mind– I should have thought of that! "Play it!"

  Lillie's grin only widened, and she excitedly tapped the screen of her phone to play the video.

  It showed a view from the edge of the boat's deck – and yes, in the middle of water, on a swaying ship, but with none of the nauseating feelings that I dreaded. The loud crashes of water were only deafened by whoops and yells, as the video zoomed in and focused on something in the distance.

  There. Hau and a few other people, all wearing colorful tight-fit lycra outfits. True to the sport, they all stood on Pokemon whose form you could barely see, their Pokemons' powerful backs barely poking the surface of the water. Two antennas (feelers? fins?) poked out of the water, the only signs of their presence, the various surfers looking like they were gliding on the water for the most part.

  The Iki town teen looked ecstatic, joy and concentration on every line of his body, his eyes glimmering in the noon sun.

  Hau and his mount drifted to the side, and I saw him slowly rise the incline of a forming wave – the back of his Pokemon was revealed to me, and I recognized the criss-crossing scars of the utterly massive Alpha Mantine we had seen him talking to that one time at Big Wave Beach. What he rode on wasn't just a Mantine, it was a checkerboard of violence the size of a sail. His feet shifted position on the Water type and now they swerved in perfect unison and cast wide clouds of foam on the ocean.

  His center of balance shifted and his partner shifted in response. The Mantine's left fin broke the water as they tilted to the side and I watched them as they drifted toward a growing, forming wave.

  They rose to the side of it like they were ascending up a wall. The wave grew and grew and grew and they glided to the center, chasing the thrill with feverish abandon. The trail of foam behind them only grew in response, and I watched as the wave itself seemed only taller with them at its apex, the peak starting to curl inward–

  As the wave crashed upon them– a form shot forward, and I had to remind myself that this was Hau and the Mantine, because for a moment they were a singular unit, they breathed the same air and shared the same thought–

  They shot off the water and flew.