Trials and Tribulations

Ash sat on a couch, waiting for his Pokemon to heal. At last the Emergency Room doors opened and Nurse Joy stepped out. Chansey followed close behind with his Poke Balls, Pikachu situated on top of the stretcher.
"Your Pokemon are back to full health, Ash."
"Thanks, Nurse Joy."
"Of course! Good luck on your journey."
As another person stepped up to heal their team, Ash made his way over to the phones. After dialing, the screen buzzed for a moment before Professor Oak came into view.
"Ah, Ash, did you complete my errand."
"I sure did. Professor Kukui gave the egg to one of his assistants to look after. Has mom told you about my new journey?"
"She sure has. Let me guess, you need one of your old Pokemon? Very well, you know the rules. Just put one of your Pokemon on the transfer machine."
"Actually, I only have 3 Pokemon right now."
"Hm?"
Ilima, Drake and Lillie sat on a bench outside the Pokemon Center, waiting for Ash to finish his business.
"He sure is taking a while. I hope everything is alright." 
"Don't worry, Lillie. I'm sure it's nothing big. Maybe they're just busy today."
Their wait was soon finished when the doors opened and Ash walked out, a confident smile on his face.
"Ash! Are your Pokemon all healed up."
"Yep. Sorry I took so long, but I had to bring in some reinforcements."
Ash brought out his Poke Ball and opened it, revealing his Bug/Fighting type Pokemon Heracross.
"Ilima, Lillie, meet Heracross. I caught him during my travels in Johto."
"Heracross!"
"Pika Pi!"
Pikachu jumped off of Ash's shoulder and ran over to his old friend, who was equally as happy.
"Interesting. I must ask though, why bring him over now? I would have thought you would catch another new Pokemon for my trial."
Ash laughed before responding.
"Well, yes, that is normally what I would have done. But this time around, I've decided to save room for my team for my old Pokemon as well. See, I've been to so many regions that I haven't been able to spend much time with my Pokemon back home. So this time I've decided to rotate Pokemon I catch here with my Pokemon back at Professor Oak's lab to give them more time to shine. And since you use Normal Type Pokemon normally Ilima, I figured they would play a big part in your trial, so Heracross seemed like the best choice."
Ilima smiled at Ash's explanation.
"A wise decision indeed, but you'll need more than type advantage to beat my trial. If we're all ready, shall we be on our way? Verdant Cavern is just up ahead."
"Yeah!"
"Pika Pi!"
"Oh, um, well if everyone else is ready then so am I!"
"Excellent. Then let's be on our way."
True to Ilima's words, they reached Verdant Cavern in 10 minutes. It was a small but expansive cave, with small burrows scattered throughout. Small bursts of sunlight streamed in through cracks in the ceiling.
"Man, this place is gorgeous."
"It feels so...tranquil but at the same time I get this odd feeling of being watched."
Ilima smiled, nodding before turning to the vast cavern.
"I agree, which is the reason why I chose this place as my trial site. Now, for the rules."
As Ilima said that, a Yungoos scurried past them, dashing into it's burrow out of sight.
"Ah, perfect timing. My trial is simple: find the Normalium Z-Crystal hidden in this cave. These Yungoos and Gumshoos are very territorial and love taking any objects they can get their paws on. You may find it in any of their burrows, but be warned. They will fight for anything they think is rightfully theirs. Also, you may not capture any Pokemon here or leave until the trial is finished. Are you ready to begin?"
"You bet!"
"Pika Pi!"
Ilima turned to Lillie.
"Since you don't have any Pokemon besides Nebby and he's not much of a battler. I must ask that you wait outside. We won't be long."
Lillie nodded, turning to leave.
"Good luck Ash!"
Once Lillie was safely outside, Ilima turned to Ash.
"Yeah, good luck Ash. Let the trial of Ilima begin."
Ash nodded before scanning the area for any crystals. Deciding to search one of the burrows, he only found a Yungoos who was none to happy to have it's sleep interrupted.
"Goos!"
"Woah, not good! Go, Heracross!"
"Cross!"
"Heracross, use Megahorn!"
The Yungoos ran at Heracross, only to be struck by his glowing horn. With a mighty grunt, the rodent was flipped into the air before crashing back down, out cold.
"Goos..."
Seeing that the coast was clear, Ash stuck his hand into the opening...
Only to come up empty, no crystal inside.
"Dang it. Come on, Heracross. It's got to be around here somewhere."
"Heracross."
This continued for several minutes. Ash scoured every inch of the room and battled every Yungoos or Gumshoos that came their way. Yet there was still no sign of a Normalium Z anywhere. Ash scanned the room once more before seeing a large opening in the back wall.
"Maybe it's in the room back here."
Making his way up the ramp, Ash walked through the back wall and into a large clearing. In the middle was a pedestal, where a small Z crystal sat.
"That must be it! Let's go!"
"Pika Pi!"
Despite Pikachu's best efforts to dissuade him, Ash dashed over to the pedestal and snatched the crystal, smirking triumphantly.
"Alright, trial complete!"
"Pika, Pika Pika!"
"Huh? What's wrong, Pikachu!"
"GumSHOOOOOOOOOS!"
"Huh?"
Ash turned around to see a towering Pokemon, larger than he had ever seen.
"Rotom, data?"
"Zzzzt, Gumshoos, the Stakeout Pokemon and the evolved form of Yungoos. When it finds a trace of it's prey, it patiently stakes out it's location...but it's always snoozing by nightfall!"
The giant Pokemon snarled, but Ash stayed firm.
"Heracross, let's go! Use Megahorn!"
Heracross leapt forward, jabbing it's horn into the Gumshoo's stomach. Hardly deterred, the giant used Take Down, forcing Heracross back.
"Counter, Heracross, then Arm Thrust!"
Recovering quickly, Heracross returned the attack quickly, once more jamming it's horn at it's opponent with more force, causing the giant to roar in pain before Heracross began punching it continuously.
Before Heracross could finish it off, a Yungoos came running to help, scratching at it's leg.
"Hey, keep out! Heracross, Low Kick!"
With a swift kick, Heracross sent the Yungoos flying. Enraged that it's ally was dismissed so quickly, Gumshoos took advantage of the distraction and attacked with Hyper Fang, pushing Heracross back in pain. Gumshoos then began to charge him.
"Wait for it Heracross...wait for it...wait for it...alright, Focus Punch, now!"
Heracross ducked under the charging giant before delivering a swift punch to it's gut, causing the Pokemon to roar in pain before collapsing, unable to go on any farther.
"Great job, Heracross. Return!"
"Heracross!"
As Ash returned his Pokemon, the Gumshoos slowly began to rise up. It nodded to Ash in acknowledgement before ducking back into the shadows to heal. Not wanting anything else to jump out and attack him, Ash snatched the crystal, smiling before striking his victory pose.
"Alright, I just got a Normalium Z!"
"Pika Pikachu!"
"You made that look easy, little brother."
"Well done, Ash!"
Ash turned to see Ilima, Drake and Lillie walking towards him.
"I saw everything, and I must say I am impressed. It usually takes a trainer a few tries to beat the Totem Pokemon."
"Totem Pokemon?"
"You see Ash, Totem Pokemon are super powerful Pokemon chosen and trained by us Trial Captains to act as the final boss of our trials. Anyone can beat a trainer, but to be able to beat a gigantic and powerful Pokemon is a true sign that you've trained them well."
"Great job, Ash!"
"Thanks guys."
"Now watch closely as I show you the proper way to unleash it's power."
Ilima took four steps back, striking his arms in a Z shape before returning them to normal.
"And that's it. Once you've struck that pose, anyone of your Pokemon that knows a normal type move can upgrade it to a powerful normal-type Z move."
"Awesome!"
The four made their way out of the cave and out onto Route 3.
"If we take this route we'll make it to Iki Town in no time. There you will face the Grand Trial of Melemele Island, Ash."
"Sweet, let's get a move on."
And with a confident stride, Ash and co made their way back to where their journey began, ready to tackle whatever came their way.