Ultra Aether

Mantine Surfing

"Aww, come on Kiawe, at least give it a try," Mallow pleaded, batting her eyelashes.

Kiawe blushed slightly, then finally gave in. "Fine."

A few minutes later, the group was walking towards the Big Wave Beach Mantine Surf Spot. Serena wasn't wearing her disguise, since she would have to take it off anyway when she changed into her swimsuit.

As the group followed the road, the air began to smell salty and a light breeze picked up. They walked past a motel and down a flight of steps. After a few more moments of walking, they arrived at their destination, the Big Wave Beach.

The beach was crowded with people in swimsuits, with some of them wearing surfing gear similar to what was shown in the photo. Younger children were running around excitedly, tossing up white sand with every step. Several large brightly colored tents were lined up along the edge of the beach, including a tent that was renting out life vests and helmets. 

One tent was significantly larger than the rest. It was full of rickety training boards and was clearly dedicated to teaching novice surfers the basics of Mantine Surfing. Another tent seemed to be serving as an information desk. A blue notice board plastered with papers was placed near the tents, and a white wooden bridge branched off of the beach. At least twenty-five Mantine with the special harnesses strapped onto them crowded around the bridge, waiting for eager trainers to hop onto their backs. 

Countless other trainers had already mounted a Mantine and were skimming through the raging waters. The large waves had a strange wedge shape, and the surfers charged up the face of the wave and flew into the air. Lifeguard surfers were patrolling the water as well and stood out since they wore red and white gear, and their Mantine had small first aid kits strapped to their harnesses.

After surveying the area, the group went over to the Information Tent.  The girl sitting behind the desk squealed slightly at the sight of Serena, but quickly regained her composure and said, "Hello! Welcome to the Big Wave Beach Surf Spot! How may I help you today?"

"Well, none of us really know how to surf yet..." Lana said sheepishly.

"No problem!" The girl chirped. "We offer training sessions for a small fee, and one of our Lifeguards is currently free to do a session for a group of five to ten people. Do you want to try it out?"

Everyone nodded. They each filled out a blue form from the stack sitting on the desk and paid the entrance fee. Once they were done, they handed the forms to the girl, who straightened them and placed them in the smaller stack of completed forms.

"You can change in the changing tents over there," she said, pointing at two large tents. "The pink one is for girls and the blue one is for boys. Then head to the training tent to wait for Kori. She's the one who will be teaching you."

Serena, Lana, Mallow, and Lillie headed for the pink tent, while Ash, Kiawe, and Sophocles headed towards the blue tent. Inside the tent, there were separate little booths to change in. Ash walked into one of the booths while Pikachu and RotomDex waited outside it.

He walked out of the booth wearing blue swimming trunks with white stripes running down the sides. Kiawe had on red swimming trunks and Sophocles was wearing an orange and white striped bathing suit.

They emerged from the tent to find the girls already waiting for them. Mallow was wearing a green and orange flower patterned two-piece. Lana was wearing a dark blue swimsuit and had swapped her headband for a pair of goggles. Lillie was wearing a white two-piece with some translucent lavender material layered on top. As for Serena, she was wearing a pale pink swimsuit that had ruffled material in a lighter pink around the chest.