Gold's POV

"Ugh," I groan as I wake up. "The Pokemon Center bed is not as comfy as I remember."

I don't exactly remember going to bed either. Must have partied pretty hard.

I blink a few times to wake up my vision but it never does. Eventually I notice the full moon high in the night sky, surrounded by stars. "I'm outside?"

Frantically, I use the little moonlight to identify the area. After my thorough search I identify it as I have no clue where I am.

I must've went on a sleep-journey.

A crisp fall breeze causes goosebumps to creep up my skin. I rub my hands along my arms to warm up but I can feel them through my clothes.

Except they feel awfully like skin.

"Ah!" 

Where are my clothes? There's no way I sleep-stripped down to my underwear. Didn't even leave my hat on.

I move around frantically and then a crunch of paper comes from my feet. I pick up the note, squinting to try and make out the words in the dark.

"You really thought we would just let a military recruit through the Bug District?" I read it outloud to myself.

"We decided to revive our old coming of age ritual. A person must learn to live alongside bug types starting with nothing, before befriending one and building a bond. When you are ready to test that bond, you must dive into the final challenge."

After a quick look I confirm that I have nothing. No clothes, bags, Pokemon, or even Eevee.

The last thing I remember is dancing with Green. Really gave her the true party experience by getting blacked out, or rather knocked out. I wonder where she is?

Another gust of wind blows the note out of my hand and into the woods that surround me. Large mangrove trees hide the twinkling stars, with masses of vines and roots to stop much moonlight from guiding the way.

"Okay first step is finding somewhere out of the cold until morning." I figure talking to myself will keep me from going crazy on the inside.

I take two steps before tripping over a root and falling to the damp forest floor. At least I don't have clothes to get dirty. 

Another gust of wind comes through and it's becoming evident that it's not just gonna be wind soon. A freezing cold rain shower is incoming.

A cliff face reaches out above the trees so I'll head there for hopefully some shelter. Carefully I move through the forest, making sure to pick up my feet.

I really need a plan for finding a strong enough Pokemon to face whatever challenge they are going to put me through. Eevee isn't here to do the talking for me.

There's gotta be a lot of Pokemon in the area though. I can feel their presence.

And hear...

"Waddle!" A screech echoes above the wind.

The source of the voice comes from trees above me. My eyes must be better adjusted because I can make out three Pokemon clinging onto a branch.

Strong winds are pretty much steady now so they're on a rollercoaster of a ride. I'm pretty sure they're Sewaddle which are half leaf - half Pokemon so they'll blow forever if they come loose.

The tree is sort of slanted so maybe I can climb it. 

"I regret this," I grit through the pain.

The rough bark on my feet and knees is making it hard to hold on. Thankfully they aren't too far up on the tree.

I climb up about 6 metres before reaching the Pokemon. Their beady eyes see my outreached arm and one by one crawl onto it. Their sticky bug legs tickle my skin but it helps them stay attached while I slowly slide down the tree.

Solid ground hits my feet and I hold the three Pokemon tight and out of the wind. "Let's find somewhere safe," I say and they give a small chirp in return.

I manage to make it to the cliff face and lucky enough there's a small cave. Not deep but enough to shelter us from the - drops of water start to fall on my skin - rain.

The stone is cold but at least it's dry. The Sewaddle fall asleep in my lap as I sit down against the cave wall. 

I wish they offered a little more body heat but I'll take it.

Maybe I drifted off a bit but it isn't long before sunlight starts to peek through the mangrove forest. Soon enough the Sewaddle wake up too.

The Sewaddle have small round yellow faces and a green caterpillar body. They have a leaf that covers their body and wraps around their head kind of like an upside down bib.

They happily scurry around the cave and around me. "Good sleep?" I laugh and they all nod. 

I notice some fallen branches outside the cave and pull them in. "You guys eat leaves right?"

Within no time they are crawling all over the feast. I smile and watch them work. "Hey save some for me to use as a blanket."

I pull some of the branches over me to try and warm my body temperature up. The sunlight warming up the stone is probably doing more than the wet leaves.

The Sewaddle look at me curiously before leaving the cave. A few minutes later they return with a Leavanny.

"Hi?" I wave and it gives me a friendly smile back.

I blink and it has expertly turned my pile of leaves into something that resembles clothing. Leavanny holds out a grass skirt that I step into and is kept tight to my waist with some of Leavanny's String Shot.

"Thanks," I smile. I don't know how much this is going to help but it's better than walking around in my underwear. "Now all I need is a fire type so I can really warm up."

Leavanny says something to the Sewaddle. 

The three small bug and grass types form a line and lead me through the forest. Drops of water hanging on the trees glisten in the morning sun. It doesn't take long for my feet and legs to get muddy from the path.

Eventually we get to another cave and I try not to slip on the rock. I try to keep a close eye on them as it gets darker but now I'm just guessing.

A warm orange glow bounces off the walls and instead of getting colder, it gets warmer while we travel downwards. Flames light up a large cavern, filled with warmth and a lot of strange white Pokemon.

I believe they're a rare Unovan bug and fire type Pokemon. They have a silky white hairs that cover their brown beetle-like bodies, with five red glowing appendages that extend to create a fire blast shape.

A bunch of them are using fire type moves to keep a huge pile of logs aflame in the cave. A few of them stop when we walk in but quickly get back to work.

Stray embers fly around in the air so I better watch my leaf skirt. Don't need that going up in flames.

The Pokemon seem to be moving strangely though. Like a conveyor belt they are moving small rocks from a collapsed part of the cavern. There's various tunnels extending out of the cavern so one of them must be blocked by the rock.

"Let's go help them guys," I say to the Sewaddle and we run over.

I start lifting some the bigger rocks the Larvesta can't carry, taking them to a stockpile area the line of Larvesta lead to. Thankfully the rock crumbled pretty well so all the rocks are pretty manageable with my super strength.

Just kidding my arms are really sore but we've almost cleared the tunnel.

I need to get a legendary spirit that gives me actual super strength.

We clear the last few rocks and a flood of Larvesta come through the other side. Reunited Pokemon dance around the cavern with happy Larvesta cheers.

It's a nice sight.

"Okay I'm all warmed up how about we go back up?" I say to the Sewaddle and they nod. "I really need to find something to eat."

We climb our way out of the cave and my new Sewaddle friends immediately lead me into the mangrove trees. 

After a few twists and turns we end up in a small berry patch. Berries of all colours dot the lush bushes. A sweet aroma fills the air and I'm drawn even closer.

"I can live off these forever," I say to the Pokemon and start plucking a variety. "I'm assuming all the Pokemon of the forest share these berries so I shouldn't take too many."

I feed the Sewaddle some while they wait for me to collect a couple handfuls. I hold the pile of berries against my stomach and carry them back to our cave.

"Yum," I eat my first meal in over a day. "Next step is finding a Pokemon."

"Scyth," A low buzzing sound approaches.

A Pokemon I've become quite familiar with on my journey enters the cave. I stand up to greet it but it doesn't seem too friendly.

"Larv!" One of the Larvesta from the cave causes Scyther to turn it's green scaly bipedal body around.

Scyther glances back at me and hovers out of the cave with its rapidly moving bug wings. It faces Larvesta and extends a scythe towards the fire type.

"Larv," Larvesta calls me over.

Looks like I'm battling with a Pokemon I know very little about. Never take your Pokedex for granted I guess.

"String shot!" Surely it knows that.

Larvesta shoots the sticky web attack and soon enough Scyther is coiled in the white rope. He glares, unimpressed with the move.

His two scythes emerge from the webbing and shred it to bits. 

Scyther charges, scythe-like arms still glowing. Likely for a Fury Cutter attack. Thankfully I have experience battling a Scyther so I know its typical attack plan.

"Use String Shot between those two trees!"

Larvesta acts quick, expertly wrapping its string around one tree and then the next, forming a tripwire.

Scyther wasn't looking and trips over it immediately, sliding along the muddy forest floor. Before Scyther can get up, Larvesta aims a perfect Ember attack.

The flames engulf Scyther, dealing super effective damage.

"Now Flame Wheel!"

Another guess but Larvesta looks like it can roll.

The small white bug type somersaults into a ball of flames. Right again me.

Mud kicks back up as it speeds towards the fallen Scyther and sends him flying into a sturdy mangrove tree. 

Scyther slumps against the tree, eyes closed and covered in scratches and mud.

"Okay that's enough," I declare and grab some berries. "Thank you Larvesta, you're a mighty fine battler."

I pet its silky body before reaching out to Scyther. "Thanks for the battle Scyther."

It turns its head but does take a couple of berries.

I'd be happy with either of these Pokemon for whatever challenge I have to face. If only I knew what Pokemon they'd use.

Larvesta is strong and the fire typing gives it an advantage against a lot of bug types. There are many bug and water types though.

Scyther didn't do great against Larvesta but I knew its behavioural instincts. It needs some polishing but so do I.

They technically didn't say I couldn't befriend two Pokemon..

"Hey guys," I get the attention of both. "I have some sort of battle challenge ahead of me and I want both of you to come with me. How about we train together?"

The two Pokemon, who moments ago were in a battle, glance at each other and nod.

"Let's get to work!"

Green's POV

"So at what point do we get worried?" I ask. "It's been four days."

Our accommodations are pretty nice but we are running out of things to do. After Gold was kidnapped, the whole situation was explained to the three of us.

Apparently the Bug District has a community of ninja pirates, yes pirates who are also ninjas. The short version of their history is that they don't get along with the Capital and therefore hate military recruits. I think they only allowed Gold to attempt the challenge because of my ties.

One advantage of being connected to Triton is it keeps me from being sent into a forest with nothing.

The three of us decided to wait for Gold with the pirates, rather than go on to the next city. They kindly let us stay on their ship, a classic but huge wooden pirate ship.

It has huge white sails, with an appropriately adorned lime green ladybug symbol. A Bug District classic. The three of us have been sharing a room in the lower deck. It took a little while to get used to the swaying but we've been docked the whole time so there hasn't been much motion.

The three of us have been training to keep busy but every day that passes is a day that Gold is somehow surviving.

"He is still alive," The captain comes over.

Despite being ninja pirates, they don't look as exotic as it sounds. They wear simple cloth clothing, usually dark green. Some have hats or tattoos but that's as crazy as they go.

The captain is the only one who wears a traditional black pirate hat like story books. He has a Masquerain who is typically perches atop it.

"That's reassuring," Serena laughs nervously.

"He better hurry up," I frown and stare at the open deck. The stained wood boards cause the sun to glare back at me. It's been a great training area but I'm out of motivation to work on battling or coordinating.

All I can really think about is finding the plate.

A long plank extends from the main deck to a small beach nestled inside the cove. It's a great place to park, so secluded.

The beach has a small enclosed pond that supposedly leads underneath the rock and to whatever area Gold is in. If he's smart enough to find it he'll pop-up from there.

I sigh and sit on the edge of the boat, staring at the water. 

"Vee," Gold's partner Pokemon hops beside me. She's still in her bug type form or evolution.

"He probably can't survive without you," I joke.

I pet her and decide to cautiously lay on the edge. The sun is warm on my face, making up for the chilling drafts that sweep through the cave occasionally. Maybe I'll just lay here all day.

"Gold!" Ash's voice interrupts my peace.

Should have known he would wait to show up until I was finally resting.

I sit up and oh my.

Gold walks up the plank, soaking wet from his adventure through the water tunnel. But the greatest thing is that all he's wearing is some sort of grass skirt, barely hanging on after going through the water.

Water glistens off his slightly tanned skin. He's not as lanky as I expected, with some muscle definition. I won't admit it but he's kinda pulling off the Alolan look.

Gold shakes his hair, leaving a floofed up messy look.

"Dive into the challenge eh?" He smirks at the Captain who joins us at the edge of the ship.

The Captain just laughs.