The Grand Alola Word Crawl

[Negrek]

Hello and welcome to the Thousand Roads' second word crawl! We played a smaller crawl during Camp NaNo in July, but for the November event we're going on a full pokémon journey! Also unlike the previous crawl, this one has writing challenges only. If you aren't familiar, a word crawl is a game that helps you get your word count up by breaking big tasks down into little pieces and giving you rewards along the way. You can check out some examples in the previous link if you want to see what one looks like in practice, and feel free to ask any questions you might have in this thread.

There will be 10 challenge posts in this crawl, which I'll be putting up every three days, November 1st, 4th, etc. up to the final challenge on November 28th. Challenges will start out easier, with an expected word count of ~1500, and increase over time up to a final challenge post worth about 3000 words. If you follow this crawl all the way to the end, it should net you around 21,000 words total. Along the way you'll have the option to add a variety of different pokémon to your team, and which ones you choose will change the course of your adventure, but the routes are designed so that you should end up writing roughly the same amount of words regardless of your team.

Also, each challenge post will include a final boss who needs a large number of words to defeat. Follow along with the crawl and post your progress to have your wordcount deducted from the boss' HP! It will probably take more than one person to defeat the boss, although earlier ones will be less intimidating, and whether or not the boss is defeated before the next challenge post goes up will determine how the story proceeds. If you want to jump in late, that's perfectly fine--any words you write will count towards the current boss, even if they were for an earlier challenge post.

With all that said... it's time to begin your adventure! In the far distance, dark clouds swirl above Ula'ula island... But I'm sure it's nothing. The weather here on Melemele is wonderful, and I believe Kahuna Hala here will be helping you kick off your journey.

November 1st - The Journey Begins​

The kahuna smiles at you, spreading his hands. "Welcome to Alola! Our fair islands are a place of great beauty and proud tradition, and we're honored to have you share in our island challenge. You'll need a companion for your journey, and I'm happy to present you with the same choice that young trainers have been making for generations now.

"Will you choose the fiery litten? The calm and gentle rowlet? The playful popplio? Take your time and consider your options carefully. Your starter will be with you throughout your entire journey."

Write 100 words while you decide which starter to pick. Add your choice of litten, rowlet, or popplio to your team!

"An excellent choice! Why, I think that pokémon's growing fond of you already. Now, before you set out on your journey, it's traditional to test your mettle in a pokémon battle. My grandson, Hau, will be beginning his challenge today as well. Why don't the two of you test your new pokémon against each other?"

Hau grins, tossing his own pokéball to the ground. "I like the sound of that! Let's kick things off with a great battle!"

Write 200 words while you battle Hau.

It isn't the most difficult fight--Hau's starter has a disadvantage against yours, after all. The loss hardly seems to dampen his mood, though, and Hala nods approvingly. "You battle well. I can tell that you'll go far on your island challenge. Now, before you go running off to Hau'oli, stop by Professor Kukui's lab. I understand he has something important to give you."

Professor Kukui's lab--you get directions from Hala, then set out to the south. It wouldn't do to keep the professor waiting.

Write 150 words while you journey to meet the professor.

The ramshackle building you find isn't what you'd expected from the home of a famous pokémon professor, but you must have the right place, because Kukui comes bursting out before you can even reach the front door, all smiles.

"Alola, cousin! Welcome to our beautiful region. I heard from Hala there'd be a newcomer setting off on their island challenge today, and I wanted to give you this pokédex here. It's got a Rotom inside, so you can ask it for whatever help you need. You'd better find some rare pokémon for Rotom to record! Before you go, though, Hala must have given you a starter, yeah? Let's see it!"

- If you chose litten as your starter, sprint for 5 minutes to show off your blazing speed!

- If you chose rowlet as your starter, show what a hard worker you are by writing as many words as it takes to reach the next multiple of 200.

- If you chose popplio as your starter, blow 200 bubbles (write 200 words) to impress the professor!

"Whoah! That's quite the energetic starter you have there. But you know you'll need more than one pokémon to complete your island challenge, don't you? Why don't you take that new pokédex of yours and get looking for more teammates? Get out there and show the world what you're made of!"

Might as well get started, right? Hau'oli City isn't far to the west, but there's plenty of long grass to check out along the way.

Write for five minutes while you search for a pokémon. When you're done, check the spoiler below to see what you caught!

Spoiler

If you wrote 100 words or fewer, you caught your choice of yungoos, pikipek, or alolan rattata!

If you wrote 150-250 words, you caught your choice of buneary, grubbin, or slowpoke!

If you wrote more than 250 words, you caught your choice of pichu, rockruff, or munchlax!

With a new catch at your side, it's on to Hau'oli City! The tall buildings and bustling streets are a sharp contrast to Iki town's traditional halls and the rolling hills outside the city. After chasing wild pokémon out on the routes, a bit of civilization is a welcome sight, and the big city means... shopping! Head to Hau'oli Mall to pick up a few goodies for your fledgling team, plus maybe a treat or two to celebrate the start of your journey!

Write 150 words while you pick up supplies for your journey.

Hao'oli City beckons with food, fun, and all manner of tourist attractions, but the island challenge draws you on north, towards the first real trial on your journey. Route 2 slopes gently upwards, and the trainers and pokémon here are easy pickings--you'll be there in no time!

Write 200 words as you make your way to Verdant Cavern.

As you continue north, though, a bit of commotion attracts your attention. A ways off the main trainer path lies a cemetery, although those black-clad teenagers don't look like they're in mourning. In fact, if you had to guess, you'd say they're... dancing?

Oh no, it's Team Skull! Or, well, maybe it's less "oh no" and more "oh, really?" They aren't the most intimidating gang around, but their dancing sure seems to be annoying the people actually there to pay their respects. It's probably best to send them on their way... and give your fledgling team the chance to show their stuff!

If you chose litten as your starter, scorch those grunts with 300 blazing words!

If you chose rowlet as your starter, go all-out with a 10-minute writing sprint!

If you chose popplio as your starter, trounce those grunts by writing until you hit the next multiple of 500 words!

Final Boss - Team Skull Grunts
HP -10360/3000​

That's the end of your journey's first challenge! How many words did you get? Mention your word count in the thread to deal a blow to Team Skull!

 

[Equitial]

First challenge complete! I chose Rowlet as my starter. I only had to write 19 words to reach a multiple of 200. Then I managed 195 words for the five-minute sprint and chose Grubbin for my second Pokemon. For the last task, I wrote 289 words in a ten-minute sprint.

For the entire challenge, I wrote 1318 words.

 

[windskull]

Finished the first challenge! I kept accidentally going over the word count because I write in googledocs and it doesn't have live word count, oops! Oh well, the more words, the better.

Anyways, I ended up picking Poplio as my starter. During my five-minute sprint, I managed 152 words and chose Buneary as my second pokemon. Finally, I ended up only having to write 193 words to reach a multiple of 500, and ended up rolling just a bit over to finish with 1511 words.

 

[kintsugi]

This sounds awesome! Thank you for setting it up! Pulling in my Nano stuff here if that's okay?

I chose Litten to round out the squad. In timed sprints I got 176 and then 263 words, so I'm claming Rockruff best boi. The rest of mine were all untimed, so I rounded out at 1539 words.

 

[Negrek]

Nice! So much for Team Skull, eh?

It's about time I get around to my own crawl! I'll pick litten to start, and I wrote 434 words in my back-to-back word sprint, so I'll catch a grubbin to go with. 1550 words all told.

Total this post: 1550
Overall total: 1550

Team thus far:

I'll post the next challenge a little after midnight EST, so if you're working on the crawl, you've still got a little time! Good luck!

 

[Chibi Pika]

Heckin yeah! 21000 words by the end, you say? That happens to be right in line with what I was going for this year. Let's do this!

Starting with Rowlet! Wrote 144 words in the timed sprint, so I'll go for Pikipek as my second Pokemon!

Total for the first challenge was: 1861 (a little overboard, but I got in the groove while at work and wasn't really tracking at what point I was done with the challenge.)

 

[GrayGriffin]

Wrote 117 words picking a starter-going with Rowlet!

Wrote 219 words battling Hau.

Wrote 178 words going to see the Prof.

Wrote 90 words getting to the next multiple of 200 to show off!

Wrote 294 words in five minutes, so I'm picking Rockruff!

Wrote 179 words while shopping!

Wrote 223 words heading to the Cavern.

Wrote 462 words in ten minutes! Boom!

That makes 1762 words in total!

 

[DeliriousAbsol]

I didn't keep track of the details, but I hit all the goals. Had 3,819 words written by the end (I kept writing after the 10 minute sprint.)

I chose Rowlet as my starter, and caught Rockruff. I was glad about the latter, because part of my feared I wouldn't make that 250 word goal. I think I had around 260 or something! XD

 

[Negrek]

Ohh, nice! Some real sweet word counts there. Hope you're ready for part two!

November 4th - New Friends​

Those Team Skull grunts are no match for you! Your pokémon take theirs down in only a few minutes, and with their yungoos fainted the grunts suddenly seem a lot less tough.

"Yo, no fair!" one says, backing up into a tombstone. "We were just dancing, yo! Is that a crime now?"

"You'd better watch your back," says the other. "The boss is gonna hear about this, and your baby pokémon don't stand a chance against him. He'll crush you for messing with us!"

"Yeah, crush you, yo!" the other grunt says, and trips while trying to climb over the tombstone to escape. The two of them stumble off into the trees only a couple of seconds before a well-dressed young man rushes over. It's the trial captain you'd been headed to see, Ilima!

"Oh? I'd heard there was a disturbance here in the graveyard, but it looks as though the situation's been resolved. Tell me, were you the one who cleared out those ruffians?"

Write 150 words while you fill Ilima in on what happened.

"I see! Brave of you to stand up to Team Skull on your own. Impressive battling skill, both from you and from your pokémon. That's what I love to see! You say you were planning to take my trial? How wonderful. Follow me, then. I'm excited to see how you battle for myself!"

Verdant Cavern isn't large, and besides a few cranky yungoos there's not much to worry about inside. In the clearing just beyond, though, is truly the most massive gumshoos you've ever seen. Much taller than a human, it chatters and snarls at you, glowing with some strange energy. Worse yet, a few bold yungoos are gathering to take its side in battle. Better get your team ready--this totem's not going down without a fight.

Totem Gumshoos attacks!

- If your current wordcount ends in 0, it summons three yungoos to its aid!

- Otherwise, if your wordcount is even, it summons two yungoos!

- If your wordcount is odd, Totem Gumshoos only calls one yungoos ally!

Write 50 words for each one of Totem Gumshoos' allies, and once they're defeated, another 200 to defeat the totem itself!

"Incredible!" Ilima says when Totem Gumshoos retreats at last, wedging itself into a tunnel at the far end of the grotto. "Such promise from such a new trainer! You've cleared your first trial, and with flying colors."

You've had some rough times on your journey so far, but you've made great progress, too! Melemele's a small island, and a battle with Hala is all that remains before it's time to move on and explore more of Alola. After a big fight like that, though, you're in no rush to get into another battle. You still have to make it back to Hau'oli City, and you might as well take your time and enjoy the scenery as you go along.

Write 100 words while you travel back to Hau'oli City.

It's late evening in Hau'oli City, and beachgoers are returning from the shore, padding back to hotel rooms or wandering the streets in search of a place to eat. Among the crowd of humans and pokémon you notice a strange sound, a kind of airy swooshing, accompanied by a faint tinkling. There's a strange pokémon bouncing around at the edges of the crowd, headed north towards Route 2. Wispy blue and purple body, cloud-tipped appendages glittering with tiny stars--you've never seen a pokémon like that before, and you're not going to let it get away!

Write 150 words while you chase the mysterious pokémon!

The pokémon leads you on a merry chase around the outskirts of Hau'oli city, but with persistence and a bit of luck you finally manage to corner it in an alley. If the pokémon's at all nervous about the situation, it certainly doesn't show it, waving its wispy pom-pom arms and chirping, "Pew pew!"

You reach slowly for the pokéballs at your belt. Weaken it a little for capture, and then...

"Zzzzt! Not so fast, pal! Thizzz pokémon hazzz a trainer already! In fact, I think the little guy'zzz lost!"

Well, that's a bit disappointing, but meeting whoever managed to capture this strange pokémon should be interesting in and of itself. Unfortunately, the pokémon doesn't seem to be taking this very seriously, and even after a few minutes of bobbing around and "pew"-ing, the best Rotomdex can do to describe the missing trainer is "white" and "big hat."

Hau'oli's a big city to search, but with your pokémon to help, perhaps it won't be so bad.

- If you have pikipek or rowlet on your team, write 200 words while they help you search from the air!

- If you have litten, rattata, rockruff, or yungoos on your team, maybe they can smell out this pokémon's trainer! Write for five minutes while you search together.

- Otherwise, it might take you a bit more time, but your team can still split up to cover more ground! Write as many words as you can in a ten-minute sprint.

You're starting to give up when your pokémon comes dashing back, chattering with excitement. It leads you towards the Trainers' School at the eastern edge of the city, and right up to a girl with a broad white hat who's wandering the road, calling and calling. The strange pokémon at your side speeds up, swooping delightedly over to its trainer.

"Oh! Nebby!" she says when the pokémon bounces up to her, chirping and wriggling with delight. "Where did you go off to? I thought I was never going to find you!" She doesn't even notice you until you clear your throat, scolding her pokémon while it dances just out of her reach. "Oh! Who... Who are you?" she asks, which starts Nebby off on a twittering explanation. "Th-thank you for bringing Nebby back. I was so worried. Are you taking the island challenge?" She points to the amulet hanging from your bag. "Oh, you're not from Alola? Well, would you like to come have malasadas with me? You really should try them, they're an Alolan specialty.It's the least I can do."

Hala's trial beckons, but free food is hard to turn down. Besides, the girl and her strange pokémon make a curious pair... Perhaps you can learn more about them.

Write 100 words while you get malasadas with Lillie.

"Oh, what adorable pokémon," she says when you let your team out to enjoy some malasadas. "I might like to take the island challenge, but I'm no good at battles. I can't stand to see pokémon get hurt."

So Nebby doesn't battle, then? "Oh, no, not at all," Lillie says. The strange pokémon's already scarfed down its share and is now dancing around your team, trying to make friends. "Normally I carry repels with me when I need to go traveling. If-if you don't mind, I was actually wondering whether you would be able to escort me to Professor Kukui's lab. You've already done so much, please don't feel like you need to, but I thought I would ask, since you have pokémon, and... In-in case you had the time."

Well, the lab is in the same direction you'll be headed anyhow, and it's not a long walk besides. Lillie manages a nervous smile. "Oh, thank you! You're very kind. Thank you so much!"

Write 150 words while you escort Lillie back to Professor Kukui's lab.

You leave Lillie at the lab, where Professor Kukui comes out to greet the two of you. "Thanks for finding my lab assistant, cousin!" he says. "Now, you're on your way to face Hala, aren't you? Right on! I could tell you were a fiery one." Lillie gives you a quick smile and a nod, a faint, "Thank you," and then it's time to be off again. It's a short trip back to Iki Town, where Kahuna Hala awaits, along with the stage where you held your first battle against Hau.

"So, my friend! I hear you're making a name for yourself already. Excellent! Show me what you've learned!"

It's time for an all-out battle! Write 300 words to overcome Hala and bring your journey on Melemele to a close.

Final Boss - Kahuna Hala
HP -2093/7000​

 

[Namohysip]

Alright alright, joining a little late here, but let's see how it goes...

First challenge (old)
Wrote 100 words, picked Rowlet
200, 150 words
Got up to the next multiple of 200 words, +100 flat!
Five minute sprint: +157, gimme that Slowpoke.
Wrote 150, 200 words
10 minute sprint: +302

Total words for old part 1: 1,359 (if I counted right...)

Next challenge (NaNoWriMo makes this pretty easy)

150
Odd-numbered word count: +250
100
150
I've got Rowlet: 200
100
150
300

Total words for part 2: 1,400!

Grand total words: 2,759!

 

[windskull]

I got lucky, only having to fight a single yungoos. With my team of Buneary and Poplio, we weren't exactly the quickest searchers. In the 10-minute sprint that followed, I managed 256 words. And after a hard fight with Hala, I finished up part two with a total of 1559 words. (And an overall total of 3070 words for the crawl thus far.)

 

[Equitial]

I honestly kind of lost tracks of things, but probably I wrote 1590 words while working on the second challenge of this crawl.

 

[kintsugi]

Ended up fighting two yungoos! Litten and Rockruff helped me search quickly, and I wrote 212 words while they did all the work. 1462 words for me total!

 

[Negrek]

Nice, glad to see you jumping in, Namohysip, and congrats to the rest of you for keeping up! I actually did the crawl yesterday but was too lazy to post, so here we are:

165 words while talking to Ilima
With my word count at exactly 7400 I had to write 380 words to get past the totem
149 words to get back to Hau'oli City
156 words chasing Nebby
392 words searching for Lillie with Litten
123 words getting malasadas
198 words for escorting Lillie to the professor's place
462 words for my battle against Hala

That's 2025 this post, 3575 on the crawl so far.

Team thus far:

Next challenge post up in a few minutes once I finish the formatting.

 

[Negrek]

November 7th - A Mysterious Stranger​

"Ahaha, impressive!" Hala booms when his crabrawler finally gives up the fight. "Very impressive! That's the kind of battling I like to see!" And so your first Grand Trial ends, with cheering from the crowd and Hala's booming laughter. "You're eager to be on your way, aren't you?" the kahuna asks. "Of course, of course! And I have something extra to help you on your journey, too. Here. It's a ride pager. If you ever need to get somewhere fast, just call up a tauros, and you'll be there in no time!"

That'll come in handy, definitely. You thank Hala and enjoy a brief celebration with the rest of Iki Town, including a surprise appearance by Professor Kukui and Lillie. "That was a wild battle, cousin!" the professor said. "I was supposed to be working, but I just couldn't resist the chance to see one of Alola's top new trainers throw down with the Kahuna. Well done."

"It was a... good battle," Lillie says, although she doesn't seem very enthusiastic about it.

"You're heading to Akala, right?" the professor asks. "Lillie's headed that way, too. Do you think you could do me a favor and make sure she makes it to her hotel all right? It's a long way to the ferry, and there's wild pokémon out there, too!"

Well, you are going there anyway, aren't you? Lillie still seems a bit unsettled by your battle, but she smiles briefly when you agree. "Oh, wonderful. Ferry rides are so peaceful, aren't they? I know Nebby's going to enjoy the trip."

Write 100 words during the ferry ride to Akala Island.

It's a swift and easy journey over to Akala Island, and before you know it the ferry's docking at Heahea City. It's smaller than Hau'oli for sure, and the streets are nearly empty in the sunny late morning.

"Professor Kukui told me he reserved a room at a hotel here for me," Lillie says, frowning at a map posted outside the ferry terminal. "I think that must be it... the Tide Song Hotel." It looks like it won't take long to get there, and the place isn't hard to find, either: anywhere that big stands out a bit in Heahea City. "Oh, it's beautiful," Lillie murmurs while the two of you skirt the fountain on your way up the substantial front drive. A second later she's off and running after a mischievous Nebby, who seems determined to do a bit of exploring despite Lillie's insistence that it get back in her bag.

Maybe you could convince Professor Kukui to book you a room on the next island you'll be visiting? You could get used to a bit of luxury treatment! For now, you can only gape at the lobby and the hotel's extensive beachfront real estate and keep an eye out for celebrities on an island vacation.

Write 200 words while you pay a visit to the Tide Song Hotel.

It's been a relaxing detour, but it's time for you to get going. "Goodbye, then," Lillie says. "Thank you for everything, and good luck on your island challenge! Maybe we'll meet again sometime. I hope so, don't you?"

There are three trial captains on Akala Island: Lana, Kiawe, and Mallow. No time to waste! Lush jungle should be the closest, so might as well start there. Now might be a good idea to try out your new Ride Pager, too. Suit up, call a tauros, and you're on your way--a whole lot faster than you expected! Turns out Tauros is a pretty rough ride, and it feels like all you can do just to stay on. You won't be able to keep this up for long. With luck, you'll make it to the trial site without falling off!

Charge ahead for 5 minutes with your new tauros ride helper.

Unfortunately, you don't quite make it to the jungle--though you might have, if some crazy trainer didn't wander right out into Tauros' path. You manage to make the pokémon pull up, but at the cost of your seat.

"Whoah! Hey there!" the person you narrowly avoided running over says. And, wait, that voice is familiar. It's Hau! He helps you back to your feet, grinning. "Heard you won against old Hala. Now, come on, you know we have to have a rematch. I just finished Mallow's trial this morning--beat me and I just might tell you where to find her!"

Write 100 words while you rematch Hau.

Just like before, Hau doesn't stand a chance. He takes the loss in stried, laughing and waving it off. "No surprise, no surprise! Your pokémon are on fire. Come on, now, I'll show you the way to Lush Jungle."

You probably could have found it yourself, what with the great trees looming overhead, but of course Hau's more than happy to escort you, chatting and laughing the whole way. Trial Captain Mallow meets you soon enough. "Another challenger? Great! I was just thinking about a new recipe--err, a new trial I wanted to try! And you get to be the first to get a taste. The jungle provides the finest ingredients anywhere, but it won't be easy to find them. If you manage to find everything on this list, you'll pass the trial! And who knows, I might even give you a taste of the result."

So you've got some ingredients to find, do you? Well, while you're searching, might as well try to scare up a few pokémon. There are plenty of interesting species living in lush jungle, after all. Maybe one will join your team!

Write for five minutes while you search for a pokémon. When you're done, check the spoiler below to see what you caught!

Spoiler

If you wrote 100 words or fewer, you caught your choice of bounsweet, paras, fomantis, or trumbeak!

If you wrote 150-250 words, you caught your choice of morelull, caterpie, bonsly, or steenee!

If you wrote more than 250 words, you caught your choice of oranguru, passimian, pinsir, or comfey!

With a new partner in hand and a satchel full of ingredients, you're ready to find Mallow again and declare victory over this trial. Unfortunately, the plants Mallow had you find are apparently so tasty they attract wild pokémon hoping for a handout--including the totem! You're nearly at the end of the jungle path when something comes crashing through the trees behind you, slicing through the underbrush with massive sickles. Totem Lurantis towers over you, hissing and reaching for your ingredient bag, and it doesn't appreciate it when you pull away rather than letting it have your food. A scintillating aura flares to life around the bug, and it lets out another loud, clicking hiss, calling wild pokémon to its aide. Battle on!

Totem Lurantis attacks! With its ferocious scythes and legion of back-up pokémon, you'll have to write for ten whole minutes to bring the totem down!

"Oh, that totem," Mallow laughs when you emerge from the jungle at last. "So impatient! It'll get its own share of this dish when I'm done. Now, why don't you stick around and try the recipe you found ingredients for? I'm going to call it the Mallow Special, and it's going to be great!"

Mallow doesn't seem the type to take "no" for an answer, and besides, you might as well enjoy the final result of all your labor. The trial captain whips up a simmering soup in no time flat, and it's just as good as advertised, rich and creamy with just the right amount of spice. After you've downed your share, Mallow sends you on your way with thanks and congratulations and an open invitation to drop by anytime, so long as you're ready to help out with the cooking.

That's one trial down, then. You might as well head to Brooklet Hill next; it's practically right next door. It's a wonderful day to be out traveling, too, bright and clear--although Brooklet Hill itself appears to have something like a localized rainstorm going on. You could call Tauros and be over there in no time flat, but perhaps... perhaps you'll take it slow and enjoy the walk instead.

Not far away you can hear the sounds of a pokémon battle, energy crackling and fizzing and the trainers calling out enthusiastic commands. Very enthusiastic commands. Actually, wait... is that... Hau's voice?

Write 150 words while you catch up with Hau.

"Great battle!" Hau's saying as you run up to join him. His opponent, a blond-haired boy in ripped dark clothing, scowls.

"You're pathetic. Your pokémon are weak, and then you go on like a loss is something to smile about. Get out of my way."

"No need to be so serious, cousin!" Hau says with a laugh. Turning to you, he says, "Hey, what do you think? Another one of those Team Skull gangsters?"

"I'm looking for a pokémon called cosmog," the boy says. "It's small and purple and looks something like a cloud. Have you seen it?"

The description might match a certain pokémon you met recently, but you're not about to tell him that. Something in your face must have given it away, because his eyes narrow. "Well? What do you know?" And when you won't give him what he wants, he snorts and reaches for a pokéball, releasing a strange, towering pokémon with an imposing metal mask. "Very well. If you won't give an answer willingly, Null and I will just have to beat it out of you. Are you going to cooperate, or would you rather fight?"

How do you respond? It's up to you! Choose the challenge you like best:

- It's time for a battle! Your team's raring to fight. Duke it out for five minutes and get as many words as you can! (While listening to Gladion's theme if you like!)

- A bit of fast talking will get you out of this no problem. Spin 200 words of deception and misdirection to throw this guy off Nebby's trail!

Final Boss - Gladion
HP 10000/10000​

 

[GrayGriffin]

Alright, doing the Nov 4 challenge first!

Wrote 165 words explaining things to Ilima.

Odd word count, so only one Yungoos gets summoned!

Wrote 254 words handling the Yungoos and the Totem!

Wrote 117 words walking back to Hau'oli.

Wrote 186 words chasing the Pokemon!

Gotta go catch a train, will continue later!

Wrote 218 words while Rowlet searches for the strange Pokemon's trainer.

Wrote 130 words getting malasadas with Lillie.

Wrote 196 words doing an escort mission for Lillie.

Wrote 367 words beating Hala!

That makes 1633 words this round, 3395 words total.

Going on to the Nov 7 challenge...

Wrote 116 words on the ferry ride.

Wrote 206 words exploring the hotel.

Going to dinner, will continue later.

Back from dinner, and wrote 215 words while riding a Tauros!

Wrote 108 words beating Hau in a rematch.

Wrote 200 words while searching for a Pokemon, so I'll pick Caterpie!

And now I'm gonna go take a shower.

Done with the shower, wrote 441 words in 10 minutes.

Wrote 161 words catching up to Hau.

And I'm choosing FIGHT against Gladion. Wrote 260 words in five minutes!

That's 1707 words this round, 5102 words total.

 

[windskull]

I managed 179 while riding atop Tauros' back. Then, after a short battle with Hau, I managed 208 words in the next sprint and caught myself a caterpie. After a tough battle with a totem where I wrote exactly 300 words, I headed back, I wrapped up by using a bit of deception against Gladion, and finished the section with 1507 words (putting me at 4577 words for the crawl total.)

 

[kintsugi]

During my tauros sprint, I got 201 words. In my searching-for-pokemon sprint, I got 215 words, so I'll add caterpie to my squad!

Ten minutes. That's a lot. Only got 428 words in tho.

Gladion is best boi and I cannot harm him, so rolling that fat deception check it is.

1594 for this round!

 

[Negrek]

No time to do my own challenge this weekend, unfortunately. And Gladion roughed us up pretty bad, haha. Good luck to everyone still working on the crawl!

November 10th - Akala Island Showdown​

The strange masked pokémon is strong--far stronger than you expected. Your team puts up a valiant fight, but Null is relentless, knocking each out in turn. Your best excuses don't faze its trainer, who hardly seems to take pleasure in his victory. If anything, it seems to make him angrier than ever. In a frighteningly short amount of time you find yourself staring down the towering Null with no pokémon to defend you, the mismatched pokémon's trainer scowling at you from its side.

"Enough stalling," he snaps. "Cosmog. You've seen it, haven't you? Where?"

Of course you haven't. No idea what he's talking about. Cosmog? Whoever heard of such a thing?

"You're lying," the boy says flatly. "Null. Show them we mean business."

The hulking pokémon takes a slow step forward, raking the earth with its front claws.

"Whoah! No need to be so serious," Hau says. "I think I've seen a pokémon like that, yeah. There's a girl with a pokémon like that in Heahea City, I think. Maybe we saw that pokémon there."

"A girl?" the boy asks immediately. He scowls, glancing between you and Hau, but what the information might mean to him, you can't tell. "Fine. Get out of our way." He shoulders roughly past, Null stomping after. "Team Skull's looking for Cosmog," he says over his shoulder. "If you're looking for those goons, you ought to check out Wela Volcano Park. I hear they've been causing trouble out that way."

Hau lets out a long, breathless laugh. "Hoo! What a scary guy. I thought we were in real trouble for a second there. Come on, we're almost at Brooklet Hill. We should tell Lana about Team Skull!"

Write 100 words while you rush to find help in Brooklet Hill.

Brooklet hill is close, of course, and it's only a few minutes before you've located its trial captain, contentedly fishing from the back of a lapras. "Welcome to Brooklet Hill! I'm Lana, a trial captain here on Akala Island," she says. "For my challenge you'll--oh? You're not interested in taking the trial today?" She listens, her frown deepening as you and Hau describe your encounter with Null's trainer, and what he said about Team Skull.

"Wela Volcano Park?" she asks. "I haven't heard anything from Kiawe. Better safe than sorry, though. Did you want to come with me to check things out? There's a shortcut we captains use when we need to get to gether in a hurry. Lapras can get us to the park in no time.

Of course you're going! Team Skull, Lillie, and the mysterious trainer you just met... How are they connected? There's something big going on here, and you get the feeling it's nothing good.

Write 100 words while you and Lana travel to Wela Volcano Park.

A hidden stream carries you rapidly from Brooklet Hill to the base of a tall volcano. Lapras pulls smoothly to a halt in a small inlet, away from the main visitor area from the park. You can hear a commotion not far away: the cries of wild pokémon and the occasional human shout. When the three of you sneak around a rocky outcropping, you can see what Null's trainer was talking about: the park is swarming with Team Skull grunts, most of them hanging around to no apparent purpose, a few harassing the local wild pokémon.

"Where's Kiawe?" Lana whispers nervously. "Come on, we have to get to the peak. The three of us can take Team Skull, no problem!"

Write for 5 minutes while you chase Team Skull out of the park.

Team Skull doesn't stand a chance against you, Lana, and Hau working together. It takes only a few minutes to send the grunts scattering, yelling for help from--who? The big boss the clowns you fought on Melemele mentioned? "Come on! Kiawe should be up at the top of the volcano!" Lana calls, leading the charge up to the top of the mountain. And, sure enough, after emerging from a long tunnel into the caldera, you spy the trial captain--tied up and watched over by a slender lizardy pokémon, with a tall woman in Team Skull uniform talking on a phone nearby. She turns at Kiawe's shout and the salazzle's hiss, and frowns when she lays eyes on you.

"You've gone and chased off all my grunts, haven't you?" the woman asks. She looks disdainful rather than impressed. "I hope you don't think defeating those numskulls means you'll have any chance against me."

Write 150 words to defeat Team Skull's second-in-command!

Three on one is pretty good odds, and the fact that one of those three is a trial captain helps a lot. The Team Skull admin puts up a good fight, but Lana's water-types, especially, do a number on her team. "Hmmph. I suppose you three are tougher than you look. You'll stay out of Team Skull business if you know what's good for you. Don't think you'll get away with picking on my idiot grunts!" Her battered salazzle releases a cloud of toxic gases, and by the time you're done coughing, she's disappeared. Lana hurries over to untie Kiawe and help him to his feet.

"Thank you, Lana," he says. "Team Skull attacked without warning, and I was overwhelmed before I could send for help. That woman... She kept talking on her phone, and saying something about beasts from another world. I don't like to think of what they may be planning, especially not if they've grown bold enough to attack a trial captain in broad daylight."

The next few hours pass in a blur of talking, with the police, with Kahuna Olivia, who comes to investigate on her own, with an unusually serious Professor Kukui by video phone. Once it seems like everyone's gotten up to speed on the situation and you finally have a few minutes to decompress, you find yourself hanging around Heahea's pokémon center with Hau. Soon Lana and Kiawe break away from the police and come over to join the two of you.

"Thanks so much for your help!" Lana says. "Who knows what might have happened if you hadn't told me about Team Skull."

"Lana and I know you're taking the island challenge," Kiawe said. "You may not have the opportunity to face our totems, but after the courage you've shown today, Lana and I thought facing you in a pokémon battle would be enough to test your mettle. What do you say? Two on two?"

Write for 10 minutes while you battle Lana and Kiawe.

"Well done!" Kiawe says when his Alolan marowak finally gives up the fight. "I think you two have done more than enough to prove yourself. I hereby declae you victors over my trial."

"Me, too," Lana says, beaming. "Thank you both for all your help. I hope you won't let all this Team Skull business distract you from your island challenge. You both show a lot of promise as trainers."

"Woohoo!" Hau yells, pumping a fist in the air. "We rock! It's on to Olivia now, cousin!"

Lana smiles. "Olivia was here earlier to talk with us, but she's gone back to Konikoni City. That's down south. You'll need to go through Diglett's Tunnel to get there, but I bet you two won't have any problems."

It's true: after all you've been through today, a few diglett can't scare you. Hau dashes off before you've even made up your mind, but it doesn't take you long to find the tunnel, either. One more challenge, and you'll be done on Akala Island!

Write 100 words as you make your way through Diglett's Tunnel.

Your last challenge on Akala beckons, but you don't want to rush off and fight Olivia just yet. You probably ought to take some time to do a bit of training first, especially considering what happened against Null's trainer. Something big feels like it's coming, and you and your team need to be prepared. There are plenty of trainers and wild pokémon to battle at Memorial Hill, and now would be a great time to do so!

Write 250 words to level your team up. Once you're done, you may choose to evolve one of your pokémon!

Fresh off the exhilaration of seeing one of your pokémon evolve, you rush back to Konikoni City to challenge Olivia at last. Unfortunately you catch the kahuna as she's leaving her shop, obviously in a rush. "Hmm? Oh, you're the one I heard about from Lana and Kiawe, aren't you? I'm afraid I can't battle you just yet--the Ditto Five are out causing trouble again, and I need to find them before things get out of hand. Do you think you could help me? You seem to have some experience tracking down troublemakers."

Ditto who like to masquerade as humans? It's an odd request, but it doesn't look like you'll be getting a battle with Olivia until you've found the culprits. Might as well help out and see if she'll agree to fight you afterwards!

Write for 5 minutes to take down the Ditto Five: one minute per ditto!

The Ditto Five are crafty, but in the end their blank stares and chirpy, indistinct speech always gives them away. You find them all soon enough, masquerading as shopkeepers, local children, even a backpacker just passing through town. Olivia meets up with you at the police station where you're filing a report on the group. "Excellent work! Now, our battle. What do you say to tomorrow morning? Take the evening off, relax, and be ready for a challenge in the morning. How does that sound to you?"

With the way your island challenge has been going so far, you could use a break. It would be great to battle Olivia now and wrap up your time on Akala Island, but perhaps a little delay will be for the best.

Write 150 words while you explore Konikoni City.

After an evening spent checking out the touristy shops around Konikoni, buying TM's, and letting your pokémon try out a massage, you're rested and ready for a fierce battle with Olivia. The kahuna's clearly ready, too, grinning broadly when you find her waiting in an open field beside the lighthouse. "All right, let's get going," she says. "A diamond can't form without incredible pressure. Greatness comes after only the harshest of battles. I, Olivia, kahuna of Akala Island, challenge you to a battle!"

Write 350 words to defeat Olivia and complete your Akala Island Challenge!

Final Boss - Trial Captain Olivia
-4001/12500​

 

[windskull]

Not to be discouraged by that loss, I did 171 words in the first sprint, and managed 328 in the battle sprint. After that, I did my training and chose to evolve my Caterpie into Metapod. I ended up with 168 words in the last sprint, and finished the section with 2019 words. (Bringing my total up to 6596)