Disclaimer: I don't own Pokemon. The cover image was done by xXArtistic14Xx from Deviantart.
"Speech"
'Thought'
It was dark.
No, it wasn't darkness. It was nothingness. The distance that could be felt from something important. Yet, this being didn't falter. Its persistence had yet to fade.
A light tore through the nothingness. A reward?
Sun stared back in disbelief at what he was seeing, or rather who he was seeing. First, a Pokemon that was very similar to Nebby appeared. And now a girl alongside it claimed that it was also named Nebby.
"So, Moon, you also named your Pokemon Nebby?" Asked the young boy.
Moon didn't answer, her face was painted with fear. This hindering sensation must have transferred over to the lion Pokemon because it backed away to her.
"How do you know Nebby's name?" Questioned the girl.
"Because this is also Nebby." Casually, Sun pointed over to his Lunala.
"No, that can't be. There's only one Nebby," retorted Moon with fear still present in her eyes.
Everything she was saying was strange to him thus far. Luckily for Sun, her outfit didn't make her seem too strange. A baggy floral shirt, green shorts, and black and red shoes made her seem very normal. The only things that made her appear peculiar was her Glover World-looking hat, the black z-ring she had on, and the marks on her.
Scratches and bruises were spread across her face and the rest of body. A quick glance at the white lion revealed that it had suffered quite a beating as well.
Then, her expression burst with surprise. She and both Nebbys turned their attention away from Sun. A slow backwards trot towards Sun indicated something that was amiss.
"No...no," muttered Moon with paralyzing terror.
"Hey, what's wrong?"
Uncooperative silence was all he got. The tension in the atmosphere was rising faster and faster, as if they were stalked by a psychopath.
Sun could feel this tension and started to become concerned himself. Flying away instead of fighting on appealed more to him at the moment, but he had no idea where they were.
There was still one thing they could do to solve the situation.
"Nebby, teleport us all," commanded the boy.
The Lunala quickly understood what to do; it grabbed Sun and Moon in one wing and the lion's tail with the other. A flash of light signaled their departure from the area.
An air coated with disappointment lingered. There was truly something awry.
Nebby had always known how to teleport great distances. It had even learned how to master it to the point of mimicking Goku's instant transmission Kamehameha.
However, a situation of emergency made it hard to focus.
The entire gang landed on the beach next to Hano Grand Resort, save for the Lunala. Moon grunted in pain from landing on her side.
"Ita...baka," muttered the girl begrudgingly.
Critical thoughts turned to pure concern when she saw her Nebby lying on it's side. A blue light of that astral face could do little to hide the immense pain. She quickly whipped out a friend ball and recalled her Pokémon.
"I promise you that I won't let them hurt you," whispered Moon to the pokeball.
Sun had to give himself some credit for the quick thinking out of that situation. However, it would just be easier if it was done with more grace.
'Then my head wouldn't be stuck,' rationalized the child as he tried to pull his head out of the sand.
His Nebby floated over and pulled him out by his leg; sand poured out of his mouth, and his hat fell off.
"Thanks, Nebby." He noticed that Moon was holding a ride pager up in the air. "Hey, where are you going?"
Moon spun around, her face dripping with distrust and anger.
"Stay away from me," said the girl. Nebby placed Sun back on his feet; he readjusted his hat before retorting.
"You're welcome for saving you." He was becoming irritated with her cooperation that now turned into hostility.
Again, the strange girl didn't say anything. Rejection and anger dominated her where fear and paralysis once occupied.
"You could at least say something." That sentence finally got her to spin her head towards him, showing eyes filled with anger.
"I won't let you get anywhere near Nebby," stated Moon, suddenly resolved for protection.
Confused, Sun took a few steps forward; perhaps he said something that really offended her Pokemon? Distance remained consistent as Moon chose to keep hers, flinching from occasional pain.
The damage she bore aspired sympathy in the boy. Leaving somebody in this state was simply wrong to him.
Not only that, but her behavior reminded him of how he felt just a few short weeks ago. So consistently angry that he couldn't function.
He had become placated enough to offer her some help.
"You're hurt. Please let me help you," requested Sun.
"I'm fine."
Convincing her of his disposition would require more than concerned wording. She made this prevalent when her hand met Sun's stomach, forcing him into the sand.
Inflicting more pain would have occurred, but a dark purple wing impeded her path. Moon followed it up to the fierce and protective eyes of a Lunala. Irony slapped her in the face as she was halted by that determination.
For a moment, she felt like she was about to be attacked.
"You hit hard for somebody who looks beat up," said Sun from the other side of the wing. "Nebby, it's alright."
The Legendary Pokemon clung to reluctance, but it relented. It removed it's wing so that Moon and Sun could see each other properly.
Forgiveness was offered with the boy's neutral expression.
"I...I'm sorry," apologized the mysterious girl with her head to the ground. Nebby's gaze was incredibly effective.
"It's ok." Sun brushed himself off and stood back up. "Will you let me help you now?"
She nodded slowly to that gesture of kindness.
A few bandages and ointments later and Moon was opening up a little to Sun. Some of her cautiousness lingered still, but she was now trusting him enough to explain some things.
"So you got Nebby from somebody important too?" She nodded yet again.
"I don't want to say who they are. Everything is just so messed up right now," explained the brunette girl.
Choking in her voice was faint. There was no doubt that she was indeed a strong girl because of her determination to fight back against the emotional reaction.
To properly lend aide, Sun would need to know more about how this happening. He would need to be gentle given her current state.
"Can you at least tell me how you got like this? What attacked you and your Nebby so badly?"
"It...it came out of nowhere." She was slow to start. "It was so powerful. It knew everything that Nebby and I were going to do. We had no chance."
"What did it look like?" Moon shuffled around her sides. Answering that was very difficult.
A possible manner came to her. She placed her hand into the sand and began to draw a shape. The result of her sketch was a diamond-shaped being with big arms and tiny legs.
'Wait a minute...' Memories clicked together for Sun in his head. He glanced over to Nebby, who shared a similarly astonished expression.
This was Necrozma, the same Pokemon that they fought several weeks ago Rotom would have been very helpful at the moment if he was around.
Any information that they would have had at the moment could've helped them to understand why Necrozma had attacked. Leaving that Pokemon back at the house wasn't the best idea
"So you got attacked by that black Pokemon?" Inquired Sun carefully. Moon shot her nervous eyes over.
"No, it was dark blue. Did you fight one?" A slow nod confirmed that.
Sand was briskly pushed around. Moon placed herself closer to Sun in some odd manner of desperation. Nebby blinked a few times at how awkward this looked.
"Then, please help me," begged the girl softly.
"Eh?" Sun wasn't so sure what the normal attitude for this girl was supposed to be like.
Bashfully trying to avoid him came first, then she tried to hurt him in a fit of anger, she fell apart when Nebby stopped her, and now she was just begging him for help. Unquestionably, this girl was strange.
The first idea of what this help she needed would be was being a body guard.
Fulfilling a new role like that was most certainly out of the question. Poor Sun was already spending so much time as the Champion.
However, he couldn't bring himself to just deny her.
"Alright. What do you need?" Questioned the boy as he scooted some distance. Moon realized how uncomfortable that must have been before muttering an apology.
"Well...if it's not to much, could you protect us for a while?"
The exact chord that Sun didn't want to hear struck. "Sorry, I can't do that."
A gravity of sadness held Moon down. Initially, she was sad that he wouldn't help her, but then she was sad with her own demand. It would be incredibly selfish to ask somebody to devote so much time to her.
And that's not even accounting for the fact that she just met Sun.
"No. It's alright," said the girl to continue the conversation. "That was rude."
A nod of Sun's head showed his acceptance.
"I still want to help you out, though."
"Alright. Well..." The girl's brown eyes moved around the area. They halted when they caught sight of Sun's Nebby.
Standing up, she walked over to the Moone Pokemon almost mindlessly. Both trainer and Pokemon noted this peculiar behavior.
Gazing at the purple wings, she couldn't help but get lost in them. Unintentional comfort was shrouded in them. Breaking away from her gaze, she faced Sun.
"Then, can you train me and my Pokemon?"
Blinking a few times, Sun wondered if he understood that right. The request was not dripping with desperation or selfishness. It felt more genuine than those. As if she truly wanted it.
"I'm confused," stated the boy blatantly.
"Well, I used to be a good trainer and all, but I got lazy." A shift of her position turned her back to Nebby. "If you were able to train this Pokemon and fight that other one, you must be strong."
Flattery would usually get a person everywhere with somebody like Sun; he was still a kid and lacked much of the humility and patience necessary to be a Pokemon Master. However, this time was different.
Training Moon and her team would obviously drain a lot of time out of him. Being a teacher was also not something that he was truly suited for either. A conflict of interests, thoughts, and emotions stirred inside of the Champion's head because of the reasons to comply.
'Maybe she could help me get stronger,' thought the boy.
He also couldn't shake the fact that he remembered a very similar situation. Lillie and his Nebby.
"Alright, I guess I can help you on that," answered Sun. A gracious grin gleamed Moon's face.
"Th...thank you. That means a lot to me." Gleam from her face reflected off of her new teacher.
"First, let's get your Pokemon healed up." There was no arguing with that statement.
Sun retrieved Nebby to leave the scene with Moon. Once they reached the Pokemon Center and healed Moon's team, the time became much more prevalent. Orange was dimming the sky to dusk.
Nothing in Alola could pose a threat to the Champion in the day or the night. His new student was not in the same boat, however. An attack from Necrozma would be much more problematic both at night and if he wasn't around with her.
"Hey. Why don't I walk you home?" Offered the boy politely. Moon chuckled at the inadvertent double implication of his offer.
"You sound like you're my boyfriend." Her statement put a little red on his face. "But that's sweet of you. Let's do that."
Sun quickly brushed away his fluster. "Ok, where do you live?"
Happiness accompanied compliance on Moon's face, she was sure to provide an answer. However, she found herself caught without one.
That gracious grin turned into a concerned frown. She raised her hand to her head in an effort to pull any memory from her mind. It was so foggy when she actually started to search through it.
A response like that was too hard for Sun to miss. "What's wrong?"
"I can't remember where my home is."
A heavy silence dragged everything down. Helping this girl started to feel like an emergency for Sun.
"You can't remember?" Asked the boy anxiously.
"No...I mean...I don't know. Everything is just so foggy."
Sun attempted to calm himself to properly assess the situation. His training and nerves he gained through intense battles along his journey made cooling his mind possible.
"Ok, can you tell me about the stuff around where you live?"
"Yeah. I can try," responded the girl. She was calmed a little by his careful approach. "It is...by a cliff...on Melemele Island."
Diffusing the situation was most certainly easier to do once Sun crossed the first hurdle. It was also peculiar how quickly the Champion panicked when Moon failed to bring her memories to the surface.
'I guess she's really grown on me,' thought the boy as he glanced at her. A glance that didn't go unnoticed, but went misinterpreted.
"Don't worry. I'm fine now."
Sun snapped back to reality before putting up a grin that was a slightly dubious.
Inquiring what he was really thinking would have to wait till later. Sun walked over to the door and prompted Moon to do the same.
"Let's call Charizards to get to Hau'oli City," stated Sun. Agreeing to that, Moon followed him out the door.
Pulling out the ride pager, Sun's outfit became that of an athletic type again. Knitted eyebrows and a slight frown showed that something was wrong to him.
Moon was behind him. But she could tell that something was on his mind by how he was examining his outfit.
"What's wrong?"
"Nothing. I think that this just looks a little weird now," answered the boy, pondering on why he hadn't noticed till now.
Indifferently, his friend just shrugged her shoulders. "It looks fine to me."
She pulled out her rider as well. However, her clothes didn't swap out at all. A mimicking of Sun's expression followed.
"That's weird." The sentence attracted more attention from Sun.
"What?" Asked the boy, turning to face her and see that she was holding her orb up.
"My riding gear didn't appear." Standing on her toes to get the orb higher didn't change anything either. "Charizard isn't coming either."
Something was definitely wrong with the scenario. It would be natural to assume that the rider was just broken, but it looked in prime condition.
Sun didn't offer much concern for this, though. After getting engulfed into a portal of light, meeting with Moon, and learning that she is partly amnesiac, there was little left to make him surprised. The explanation of damage from her fight with a Necrozma would suffice for the moment.
"It probably broke in your last fight," suggested Sun. Moon agreed to that idea. Very little memory was available to support alternative explanations.
With the option of aerial transport now gone, Sun and Moon traveled to Melemele by a ferry.
The ride was much slower than either wanted. Getting straight to Iki town was much more preferable than arriving at a port somewhere else and thenwalking all the way there.
Some compensation was available for their long stretch. Tropical oranges and shimmering yellows bounced across the water.
Beauty like that accompanied them all the way along the coast towards Iki Town. The search for Moon's house had driven them all along the island's coast.
"This is taking a little while," noted Sun. "Are you sure that-"
"There it is!"
Sun quickly turned his head to his friend, who was happily pointing towards a house matching the description she presented.
How and why her memory returned so abruptly were beyond him. It was entirely possible that she recognized it by seeing it. Whatever the case, there was now something else about the situation that demanded attention and answers.
"You sure that that's your house?" Asked Sun a little cautiously.
"Yeah. I recognize it perfectly!" She turned around happily, only to meet confusion.
That wasn't all that was on Sun's face. Some concern and caution were poorly belied beneath his expression. Moon reflected concern on her face when he did this.
"You're absolutely sure?"
"Uh-huh," answered the girl slowly. "I remember the nights that I spent on the east porch looking out at the sky with my Pokemon."
Honesty was illuminated faintly in her statement, so Sun couldn't bring himself to doubt her in the slightest way. Despite that, concern stirred in his mind as he shifted his focus from Moon to the house.
The porch that she was talking about couldn't be seen from where they were. Knowledge of that could only be obtained if one had really been on it.
'But how does she know that about my house?'
Thanks for reading this chapter, I hope you enjoyed it. Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon are great games and I have been excited to start on this fanfic for ages! If there is anything that you guys have to say, please leave a review. It would also mean a lot to me if you favorited and followed.
