After defeating Totem Araquanid at Brooklet Hill, John earned the Waterium-Z and mastered the water Z-move Hydro Vortex.
Next came Totem Salazzle in Wela Volcano Park, where he claimed Firium-Z and learned the fire Z-move Inferno Overdrive.
Then Totem Lurantis in Lush Jungle fell to his team, granting him Grassium-Z and the grass Z-move Bloom Doom.
Finally, within the ancient Ruins of Life on Akala Island, John faced off against Island Queen Kazi. His victory there earned him both Rockium-Z and Steelium-Z, along with their respective Z-moves: Continental Crush and Corkscrew Crash.
While Alola lacked traditional Gyms and Badges, the Z-Crystals obtained after completing the captains' trials and defeating Island Kahunas were impressive compensation.
Though John couldn't help but cringe at the names of these special moves. They sounded suspiciously like the "Spiral Flash Super Wheel Dance Roaring Three Forms" from that other anime! No way that wasn't an intentional reference.
After conquering Akala Island, John's Z-Crystal collection had reached eight! He was nearly halfway to possessing all eighteen type-specific Z-Crystals.
John's Gameboy adventures these days proved far more engaging than he'd expected. The novelty of starting a fresh game hadn't worn off at all. Beyond hunting Totem stickers to redeem special Pokemon from Professor Oak, he'd discovered another method to obtain Totem Pokemon.
The trick was simple: battle wild Pokemon continuously in one area.
When the number of Pokemon defeated in a specific region reached 1,000 consecutively, the system would alert him:
[You have defeated too many Pokemon, which has attracted the attention of the local Totem.]
Then a Totem Pokemon would appear for battle!
John first stumbled upon this method while training his Growlithe in Lush Jungle.
This unexpected discovery resulted in a Totem Comfey appearing—a Pokemon resembling a floral wreath, though this Totem version was sized more like a hula hoop! After defeating it, John realized it only had a single perfect IV in Special Attack.
But that hardly mattered. The important part was that John now understood how to summon Totem Pokemon at will.
So naturally, he tested his theory again.
This time, John meticulously counted his battles until he reached exactly 1,000 defeated Pokemon in Lush Jungle. Right on cue, a Totem Trumbeak appeared. After defeat and capture, this one proved to have only a single perfect IV in Speed.
To verify whether this rule applied throughout Alola, John visited Brooklet Hill, Wela Volcano Park, and even Routes 1, 2, and 3 of Melemele Island, plus Verdant Cavern.
Success every time, without exception.
He even caught another Totem Gumshoos in Verdant Cavern, one that couldn't be captured during his first visit, though its IVs weren't as good as the specimen Professor Oak had given him.
From these experiments, John concluded that throughout the Alola region, defeating over a thousand Pokemon consecutively would summon a Totem variant of a species native to that area. These battle-summoned Totems consistently had just one perfect IV.
To thoroughly test this rule, John captured around seven Totem Pokemon, all with predictably mediocre stats.
Clearly, collecting Totem stickers remained the superior method, Professor Oak's Totem rewards guaranteed at least three perfect IVs. Plus, gathering stickers was infinitely faster than grinding through a thousand battles.
By the time John had completed his journey through the Akala region, his Totem sticker collection had grown to 50.
He estimated that exploring just the first city on the next island would push him over 60 stickers, enough to claim his third high-quality Totem Pokemon from Professor Oak.
As for the subpar 1-IV and 2-IV Totems he'd accumulated? John couldn't bring himself to showcase them publicly. With no particularly promising Ralts specimens among them, they remained stored in his PC boxes. He briefly wondered who was caring for his deposited Pokemon back in Alola's storage system.
With the Akala Island tour complete, John arrived at Heahea Beach, preparing to depart for the next island? Ula'ula Island. As he approached the shoreline, three figures in black and white masks appeared on the beach.
The emblems on their outfits identified them as [Team Skull], Alola's alleged villainous organization. Wherever they went, NPCs scattered like leaves in the wind.
Yet many locals seemed more annoyed than frightened.
John couldn't help but reflect on how villainous organizations in recent Pokemon regions had become progressively less threatening.
In the early regions, evil teams had genuine menace:
-Kanto and Johto's Team Rocket, led by Giovanni, aimed for global domination.
-Sinnoh's Team Galactic plotted to create an entirely new universe.
-Unova's Team Plasma claimed to liberate Pokemon from human exploitation, though many members simply used this ideology as an excuse to steal others' Pokemon. Their divided leadership even spawned the splinter "Neo Team Plasma."
-Kalos Region's Team Flare was perhaps the most disturbing. Their leader Lysandre, disillusioned with humanity's endless conflicts, developed a plan to exterminate all living beings, and actually tried to execute it.
Each organization had grandiose ambitions: world domination, universal recreation, global liberation, or even apocalyptic cleansing.
Even Hoenn's Teams Magma and Aqua, while less sophisticated, sought dramatic environmental transformation, expanding the land or flooding the world with endless oceans!
But recent villainous teams?
Alola's Team Skull consisted mainly of failed Island Challenge participants who resorted to stealing Pokemon and disrupting trials. Essentially, a gang of glorified street punks.
Galar's Team Yell? Merely an overzealous fan club for Gym Leader Marnie.
And the newest region, Paldea, offered a "villain team" of... students who skipped classes.
No wonder the Pokemon anime seemed increasingly targeted toward younger audiences.
While John was lost in these thoughts, the three Team Skull members swaggered up to him.
"Yo! Look at this guy, not running away from us?" said the one called Dapa.
"Hehehe, looks like we found ourselves a mark today!" added Zipp, adjusting his bandana.
"How about letting me 'borrow' your Pokemon for a bit of fun?" Rapp suggested with a smirk.
In unison, they struck ridiculous poses. "Hand over your Pokemon, kid!"
John raised an eyebrow.
'Borrow my Pokemon for fun?' These clowns can't be serious.