The First Day in Alola
"Ahh, could anything be more soothing? The first evening spent under Alola's calm moon! I feel like I could stay out here all night!" Mom thought to herself as she gazed at the starry sky above her. The night sky was lit up with the many beautiful stars and the moon shone brightly, perfectly fitting for the Alola region.
"But that's enough of all that. Time to unpack all these boxes." With that, Mom turned to Meowth. "Meowth, go get Elio for me, will you?" And with that, Meowth scurried into the house, making a beeline for Elio's bedroom. The Scratch Cat Pokémon pushed open the door, looking around the bedroom, before spotting the bed and walking up to it, letting out a massive "Mwaaawwwwrrrrrr!" to wake up Elio.
"Ugh... Bit late for you to be doing that, Meowth..." Elio muttered. The Kanto native sat up on the bed and stretched, letting out a yawn as he did so. He hopped off the bed and walked over to Meowth, petting it on it's head while taking stock of the bedroom. On a table next to the bed was a globe. A book, 'Adventure Rules', lay open with some orange folders next to it. A Pikachu plushie was situated on top of a desk of drawers next to the TV and the Switch Elio's father had bought him. A Ditto plushie and a Poké Toy was sat next to the entrance to the room.
"Guess she wants help unboxing all our possessions?" Elio asked the Meowth, who let out a short "Mwar!" telling him that he was right. Elio sighed and walked out of the bedroom into the living room as Mom walked back in from the balcony.
"You were out like a light, weren't you? You ought to be full of energy by now!" Mom said to her son.
"Yeah. What time is it anyway? Looks too dark to be daytime." Elio asked.
"I think it's something like 4am. We're in a different time zone now, so I'm not really sure." Mom admitted.
"So, Elio... Are you pumped to meet some Alolan Pokémon?" she asked. Elio nodded, a small smile starting to form on his face.
"Of course. New types of Pokémon to meet and battle. It'll be nice." Elio told her, putting a smile on her face.
"Of course you are! I want to hurry up and meet some, too! We're living in the Alola region now! The beautiful islands everyone wants to visit!" Mom said, her smile growing wider.
"If these are the islands everyone wants to visit, how come we haven't heard of them until around two years ago?" Elio asked. Before Mom could answer, the doorbell rang out.
"Was that the doorbell? That's got to be Professor Kukui. Why don't you let him in, Elio?" Mom asked. Elio shrugged and walked over to the door, but stopped as a tall, tanned man wearing a lab coat, shorts and glasses let himself in.
"Hey there Elio. The name's Kukui. Good to meet you cousin!" the man known as Kukui announced as he walked in.
"Cousin? And why do you not have a shirt on?" Elio thought to himself.
"You gotta be tired after that long trip all the way out here to Alola! You feelin' any jet lag?" Kukui asked. Elio nodded a yes to the man.
"We sure are a long way from Kanto out here in Alola. It's still nighttime out here, yeah!" Kukui finally took a breath having gotten out everything he wanted to say.
"16 hour flight on three connecting planes." Elio mumbled to no one in particular.
"Professor Kukui! Yes, we just arrived yesterday." Mom explains.
"Hey there mom! I just let myself in. Oh, and call me Kukui, will you? Welcome to Alola!" Kukui said to her.
"Of course! I still remember seeing you battle the Indigo Gym Leaders back in Kanto all those years ago, you know. I've been in love with Alolan Pokémon ever since, so I finally decided to come here myself!
Kukui began rubbing the back of his head. "Ha! I was supposed to be visiting there to research Kanto Pokémon moves and all. I thought I knew a thing or to about battling, but those Kanto Gym Leaders proved me wrong!" And with that, Kukui turned to Elio, who had been falling asleep through all of that.
"Hey now, Elio!" Kukui called, causing the boy's eyes to snap open. "Let's get a move on to the next town over, cousin! Time for you to meet the Island Kahuna and get yourself a Pokémon!" Kukui told him.
Elio looked at him blankly. "Kahuna?"
Kukui nodded. "Sure, sure. The kahunas are crazy-strong Pokémon Trainers here in Alola, cousin! They are unbeatable for folks like you and me!" Kukui told him.
"I don't know. Bring her along and I reckon I could take this guy on" Elio thought to himself. Then he mentally slapped himself for thinking about her. "Not until you get a starter, Elio." The young Kanto native reminded himself.
"And the Kahuna who lives in Iki Town is always happy to give any kid who wants to have an adventure their first Pokémon, yeah!" Kukui finished explaining.
"They'll simply give my boy a Pokémon? Then those kahunas really are worth meeting!" Mom turned to Elio now. "Hurry and get ready, Elio! Your bag, hat and other things are still in the boxes in your room, I think. And didn't you leave your copy of Adventures Rules on you desk in there too?" she asked.
"Ooh, I bet you got a stylin' hat that'll match mine, yeah?" Kukui asked. Elio walked back into his bedroom and found the boxes.
"Right, so where are... Aha! Found them." Elio mumbled as he pulled out the hat and the bag from the box. He opened the bag up and took a peek inside.
"Still there. Good. I can finally use her when I get my starter." Elio thought to himself. He slung the bag over his shoulder and stuck the cap on top of his head.
"Looks good enough." Elio thought to himself as he looked in the TV screen at himself. With that, he walked out of the bedroom door and back into the living room, where Meowth was entertaining Mom and Kukui with it's antics.
"You look ready for anything, now. Have a good time out there! I'll be sure to have everything cleaned up and put away by the time you come back with your new Pokémon." Mom told him. Elio and his mom shared a quick hug before Kukui turned to him.
"Woo, that's a stylin' hat, cousin! Your mom there... She's sure looking forward to you getting your first Pokémon, yeah?" Kukui asked. Elio nodded. "So let's get going to Iki Town! Time for you to get a real nice Pokémon from the island kahuna, oh yeah!" And with that, Kukui left the house.
"Elio!" Elio turned to face his mom. "Yes mom?"
"You have her with you, don't you?" she asked. Elio looked down at the floor and didn't answer. Mom sighed.
"Just don't let other people see her until you get given your first Pokémon. I don't think you should be showing her off til you have officially started here." she warned him. Elio nodded. "Go on, go get your first Alolan Pokémon." Elio nodded and headed out the front door.
"Cousin!" Kukui yelled, drawing Elio's attention as he looked around.
"Now this is more like it, yeah! Welcome to paradise, cousin. This is the Alola region!" Kukui called as Elio walked up to him.
"Folks here in Alola get along by living together with Pokémon and working together, too. After all..." he said as he raised his arms up and slowly span around in a circle. "You can go anywhere, yeah, as long as you got Pokémon helping you out here. That's why we gotta get you to the kahuna!" With that, Kukui turned away from Elio and started walking up Route 1. "First, we're off to Iki Town! Come on, it's not far if we cut up here." Elio nodded and walked quickly to catch up to the Professor "So, Elio! You're lovin' Alola already, yeah?"
"I guess..." Elio replied.
"Hey, don't sweat it cousin. It's pretty normal to feel a bit unsure when you're in a new place." Kukui took a couple of steps forward and stopped as a young child ran up to him.
"Professor Kukui! You've gotta recommend another move for me sometime! Please?" the child asked him.
"Why? You already know what moves you want to use, yeah? Come find me the next time your Pokémon learns a new move, and then I'll battle you." he told the boy. Kukui and Elio continued walking across Route 1, where they saw a lady searching through the tall grass with a Pikachu at her side.
"See that? If you had a Pokémon with you, you could dive into the tall grass here, yeah, to try to catch some wild Pokémon to add to your team! Having Pokémon gives you a whole new way to communicate with other people, see?" Kukui asked Elio. The boy nodded. "Now let's get moving! Iki Town is right over there!" And Kukui strode off towards Iki Town.
"Took long enough." Elio thought as they strode into Iki Town.
Iki Town was a quaint little village. It looked like a traditional little village, sort of like Elio had heard Ecruteak Town in Johto was like, but smaller.
"This town is where folks come to worship the Pokémon that watches over Melemele Island. Tapu Koko keeps us all safe and happy, see!" Kukui took a step forward and looked around in confusion. "Huh? What's goin' on here? We were supposed to meet everybody right here, yeah. Maybe they're all back there on Mahalo Trail. That's where the ruins of our guardian deity, Tapu Koko, are, yeah..." Kukui turned around to Elio. "Elio! Do me a solid and go find the island kahuna! I'll wait around here to make sure we don't miss each other."
Elio looked at him in confusion. "The island kahuna?" He asked.
"You can't miss him. He looks just like a kahuna!" Kukui replied.
"That doesn't help." Elio thought to himself, but set off anyway. He began walking up the stairs when he stopped, having spotted someone.
--
Really? You want to go up to the ruins? I don't know what you will find up there..." Lillie mumbled to the occupant of her bag. Patting the bag to get it to stop moving, she began walking up the trail.
--
"Hey, excuse-" Elio tried to call out, but the person had disappeared. Sighing in annoyance, he spotted another person nearby.
"Excuse me, where's the Mahalo Trail?" he asked them.
"It's just up there. Take the path until you hit a rope bridge, it's just across that bridge." the man explained. Elio nodded his thanks and began to walk up the trail.
"'He's just like a kahuna!' How am I supposed to know what a kahuna looks like? And why does he keep calling me cousin? Next thing I know he's gonna start asking me to go bowling..." Elio muttered to himself as he climbed the trail. The path was deserted thankfully so no one else heard his mutterings. The path wasn't too long and soon, Elio had found the bridge he had been told about.
--
Lillie's bag had begun to fidget like crazy, forcing Lillie to run forward to keep hold of it. However, just before she could get on the bridge, the occupant leaped out of the bag with a happy cry.
"No! Nebby, get back here!" Lillie hissed at the creature, but it didn't pay her any mind. It flew along happily until it spotted a trio of Spearow closing in on it from above. Nebby dropped to the floor and cowered in fear of the birds, who had begun swooping at it.
--
"The bridge. Finally." Elio sighed as he climbed up towards the bridge, only to be stopped once he got there by someone blocking the way.
"The lady from before." Elio realised. "Excuse me-"
The lady turned around, looking at him with an expression of fear.
"Ah..." The lady said.
"What's wrong?" Elio asked.
"It's... You have to help it, please! Save Nebby!" The lady begged him. Elio looked past the lady and saw the three Spearow attacking the creature she had called Nebby.
"Spearow... Great." Elio sighed. He knew that simply waltzing onto the bridge was a bad idea with the Spearow there. "Only a desperate kid would do that." He thought. That left him with one other option.
"Mom, I'm sorry about this." Elio thought as he slung his bag off his shoulder and reached inside, grabbing out a Poké Ball.
"What are you doing?" The lady asked him.
"Saving this Nebby thing. Mind out the way." Elio told her. She stepped out the way.
"Can't believe I'm doing this... Stella, let's go!" Elio called out as he threw the Poké Ball into the air. A yellow bee creature with stingers on it's arms emerged from the Poké Ball.
"What is that?" The girl asked.
"It's a Beedrill I caught in Kanto. Stella, use Fury Attack on the Spearow!" Elio ordered. The Poison Bee Pokémon charged forward and blasted one of the Spearow with multiple blows from it's stingers, knocking it out. The other two Spearow took notice as Stella flew away back to Elio and charged after her.
"Poison Sting on the second one!" Elio called out. Stella fired multiple purple needles out of her stingers, catching the second Spearow and knocking it out as well. The third one got close to Stella and connected with a Peck attack, knocking her back.
"Watch out!" the girl cried out. The Spearow had turned around and attempted another Peck attack.
"Stella, Poison Sting!" Elio yelled. Stella waited until the very last moment and then dodged behind the last Spearow's attack before driving her stingers into it's back and unleashing the Poison Sting, knocking it out.
"Good work, Stella." Elio told the Beedrill before returning her and turning to look at Nebby, who was still huddled in fear in the middle of the bridge.
"You can return Nebby now." Elio told her. She shook her head.
"Nebby doesn't have a Poké Ball..." She said as she lowered her head. Elio shook his head and looked at the bridge. It looked stable enough.
"I'll go grab it then." Elio told her. He took a step on the bridge, feeling it begin to tremble under his feet.
"Please be careful." the girl told him. Elio nodded and took a few steps forward, the bridge quaking with every step.
"Just a few more, come on Elio..." Elio muttered to himself. Soon, he had reached where the creature was huddled.
"It's okay, little guy, it's safe..." Elio whispered to the creature as he knelt down to it. However, the creature started to glow and let out a whirring sound, like it was starting to charge up an attack.
"That can't be too good." Elio thought. He quickly considered his options. He could run to either side of the bridge and have Stella grab Nebby once it had finished doing whatever it was doing or he could grab the creature and run back to the girl before it finished charging up.
Before Elio could begin to attempt either plan, Nebby let out a powerful wave of energy which broke the bridge they were on, sending the two of them plummeting towards the river below.
--
Lillie watched on in horror as Nebby let out a powerful wave of energy, breaking the bridge they were on. She watched as Elio grabbed Nebby and instinctively moved himself to shield the creature from the coming impact of the water.
"This can't be happening..." the girl thought to herself. Lillie was brought out of her thoughts by the sight of a yellow creature darting towards the falling duo.
--
Elio huddled the creature close to him and braced for impact. However, before he could close his eyes, he spotted an yellow creature making a beeline for him and Nebby.
"This is all I need. Another thing attacking me while I'm falling." Elio thought to himself. The yellow creature flew past him and caught him, flying back up towards where the girl was standing, and gently placing them down on the ground before cartwheeling away from them. Elio, Lillie and Nebby stared in wonder at the creature before it let out a cry of "Ko-KOOOO!" and flying back off into the night sky.
"What was that?" Elio asked.
"I think that was Tapu Koko, the guardian of this island..." The girl answered. Nebby hopped out of Elio's hands and wandered over to her, letting out a happy "Pew!" at getting back to her safely.
"Oh... Oh thank goodness! You tried using your power again, didn't you?" She asked the creature. "Oh Nebby... You couldn't move for ages after the last time you used it. I don't want to see you like that again!" she told it, who looked down in sadness.
"No... I shouldn't say that. I'm sorry, Nebby..." Nebby had stopped listening, having gotten distracted by a shiny object.
"What? What is that?" she asked. Nebby picked up the shiny object and gave it to her.
"A sparkling stone? It feels warm somehow..." The girl heard someone getting to their feet and remembered that the boy who'd saved Nebby was there too.
"Please, forgive me." The girl said to Elio as she turned to face him. "I am so grateful for you for helping us out of that dangerous spot."
"It's fine. Who are you?" Elio asked the girl. She opened her mouth to reply but remembered something.
"Oh yeah, this stone must belong to you." she said as she gave him the stone Nebby picked up.
"Thanks." Elio said as he put the stone in his bag.
"Please... Don't tell anyone about this, about seeing Nebby. It's...it's a secret, okay?" She asked him.
"Sure. Just don't tell people that I used Stella, I'm not officially a trainer yet so I'm not supposed to actually battle or own her yet..." Elio admitted.
"It couldn't be helped in these circumstances but yes, I won't tell people you used Stella." she promised. Elio smiled and nodded as she turned back to Nebby.
"Come on, into the bag, Nebby." she told it. Nebby let out a reclutant "Pew..." but got in the bag. She began to set off for the trail but stopped and turned around to Elio, a worried expression on her face.
"Um... I'm worried we might get attacked by wild Pokémon or...or something. I know it's too much for me to ask, but.. Do you think could you see us back to town?" she asked him.
"Of course. I'm heading that way anyway." Elio told her.
"Thank you." she replied. The two of them began to walk down the trail together back to Iki Town.
"You never answered me when I asked who you were."
"I'm...I'm Lillie. Who are you?"
"Elio. I just moved here from Kanto."
"Elio? Well, it's nice to meet you.
"Nice to meet you too, Lillie."
...
Author's note, attendum 06/05/19: I'm fully aware of the spambot problem this fic has, but until the admins fix it (which they've had at least six months to do so by this point), there's no point in me removing them since more of them will keep coming and I don't have time to sit around clearing the guest reviews of a dead account.