Summary:

A long time ago, Hau'Oli City was plagued by a young trio of trainer's endeavors, dreaming of becoming the best Pokemon trainers of all Alola. Unfortunately, as they finally completed their first Trial, the trio turned into a duo as the third member's family decided to move away to another region. Ten years later, she receives a call from one of her former friends making an offering she can't refuse, setting her course back to Alola. [Guzma x Reader]

Author's Note:

Hoo boy. Here goes, people. It's been ages since I last wrote anything so I'm a little rusty. Also, first time writting a story in english, so bear with me please!
I tried to make it in the CharacterxReader format. This story will happen alongside the main arch of Sun&Moon.
Well, hope you like it.

CHAPTER 1 - THE JOHTO'S CHAMPION

Ladies and Gentlemen, we'll be arriving at Melemele Island shortly. Please, take your luggage to the main deck.

The voice of the captain echoed through the ship walls. You hastily jumped out of bed and got out of your compartment slamming your body onto the corridor's railing so hard you almost fell off the ship and into the ocean.

It was early noon; the sky was as clear as you remembered it to be around this time of the year. The ocean glistened such a strong blue color you almost couldn't make what was sky and what was water out at the horizon edge. Squinting your eyes, you searched for what had been your home a long time ago. As the ship got closer, the islands became clearer – The Alola Archipelago.

You sighed heavily as a sudden pang of nostalgia hit you full force. Even the wind messing your hair up was familiar – the smells of the alolan nature it brought with it was making your brain work full force, picking up memory after memory of the time you spent here. It was making you giddy with happiness. You were finally back.

You zoomed around the place after picking up your luggage, Melemele Ferry Terminal at Hau'Oli hadn't changed one bit – to the stone pavement to the vintage street lights.

A large crowd gathered around the disembark area – families waiting for relatives coming back from holidays, people waiting eagerly for their significant other, long distance friends finally meeting for the first time.

Your short height made moving around that much harder, not to mention trying to find someone in this large mass of people. Where was he? He said he'd meet you up here around the time you'd arrive.

"Hey, Mags!"

You turned your head to the right and there he was, waving at you in his calm manner, just like you remembered. You smiled, dropping your luggage on the floor carelessly and running towards him with open arms.

You lunged yourself at him and he picked you up, spinning your around.

"Kukui!" You barked happily "You're so damn tall what the heck!"

"Well, it's been ten years after all" He put you back on the ground as you regained balance "You, on the other hand, is as short as I remember!"

You playfully smacked him on the arm with false anger. He was different all right – he'd grown to a full 5'9, his shoulders had grown broad, his jaw nicely chiseled. He wore a goatee that fitted him pretty well. The only thing that kept the same was his darker skin tone. He was wearing an unbuttoned lab coat with nothing underneath it, some gray pirate capris and a white cap. You were amused how his style didn't change at all from since you two were kids – he only adds the lab coat, trying to make himself look more professional.

"So, where to?" You asked, eagerly wanting to step away from the crowd. Places packed with noisy people always made you feel disoriented.

"Follow me" He replied, picking one of your bags for you. You grabbed the other one and followed him, finally leaving the crowd behind.

You walked side by side with Kukui passing through Hau'Oli city. You noticed some buildings have vanished, others were renovated, others remained just as you remember.

"Oh, did you know in Johto they don't sell anything in the Pokemon Center, it's just a treatment unit! You have to go to a separate building to buy stuff." You pointed out as you passed the Hau'Oli Pokemon Center.

"Yeah I heard about it. It seems so unpractical for trainers though" He replied "I mean, whenever you made a stop at a city to recover and refill your inventory, you'd have to go to two different places instead of one… Think about all the time spent into doing that!"

You just nodded in reply. Trainers huh? You and Kukui began your trainers journey around the same time. You'd both hang out sometimes training your Pokémon to try and beat the Island Challenge. Unfortunately, you never could complete the it – your family moved to Johto as soon as you turned twelve, right around the time you had finally beaten Melemele's captain trial.

Kukui never got to beat the captain trial at the time. It's no wonder he gave up on being a Pokémon master and instead began researching Pokémon and their moves. He was always more curious about the way things worked rather than trying to train the strongest of Pokémon.

"How was the whole giving your title up thing back at Johto?" He asked as you passed Hau'Oli Mall.

"It was fine, really. The title went back to the old Champion." You replied "How's the preparations for the new League?"

"On their way. We're almost done!" Kukui replied grinning. Arranging the Elite Four was the hardest part, some Kahunas couldn't make it so we had to put Captains in their place… I was worried that maybe our E4 wouldn't be so challenging as the others… But then you agreed on it and now I dare say we might have the best E4 team yet!"

You giggled. You continued your journey as a Pokemon Trainer in Johto. You might have not completed the Island Challenge but you sure as heck beat every Gym Leader there was in that region. As your training progressed, you finally got to beat Johto's Elite Four alongside the Champion, becoming Johto's Champion yourself. Keeping the title was the most challenging task, but soon it became more of a dispute between you and the old Champion. You'd beat him, he'd train and become stronger and beat you, only for you to train, get stronger/change strategy and beat him again. It paid off well, but was kind of dull after a while.

When Kukui called, saying he was building a League in Alola, your old home, asking if you'd want to be part of the Elite Four, you decided to throw it all away and come back running.

If things didn't work, you could always go back to Johto and get your title back after all.

"Here we are!" He said, stopping at a wooden shack on the sand near the ocean. You could see some planks of mismatched colors covering up hole here and there – probably consequence of some experiment.

The interior was much more spacious than the outside promised it to be. There were no walls - to the left, alongside the front wall, there was a Living Room space with a large TV and a green sofa set. Alongside the left wall rested the kitchen, divided from the rest of the house by a counter. By the kitchen, you could see a ladder leading to a mezzanine, which underside function as what presumably was a storage room. To the right there were a staircase leading down and in front of it, a glass water tank that shone a dimmed bluish light on the area around it.

"Welcome to my Research Lab slash house!" He said, opening his free arm in a showing motion "Unfortunately you'll be staying downstairs for now. I've already made a reservation for you to stay on the Motel on Route 2, while the Elite Four Quarters isn't finished." He continued, as he headed to the stairs.

"Oh that's very nice of you, but I wouldn't mind staying here. Even if it's downstairs!" You said following him.

"Oh no, trust me… On hotter days, this place downstairs gets way too stuffed." He said arriving on the bottom floor.

As you made your way, the room downstairs slowly became more and more visible. In front of the staircase there was gym-like area, with weights on the floor and punching bag hanging from the ceiling in the corner. To the right, there was a green sofa leaning against the wall, under the stairs. Next to it, there was what appeared to be the same glass tank casting bluish light on the room. It seemed to go through both floors. To the far end, there were shelves with a lot of unorganized books, while ont he wall opposite to the stairs rested a long counter with Kukui's computer. Stacks of boxes were laying here and there all over the place.

Rockruff came running to our direction barking happily, glad that his owner arrived.

"I would let you stay on the mezzanine upstairs, and then you wouldn't have to move to the Motel, but it's being used." He said placing your luggage on the floor.

"Used? By whom? Burnett?" You asked also freeing yourself from your luggage.

"Nah. Burnett is in Ula'Ula. It's a girl named Lillie – long story short, Burnett asked me to let her stay here." He replied.

"Lillie? Someone's daughter?" You asked.

"Well no one that you know… She's got a beef with her mother and now she's hiding away with a…" He stopped, looking at you. You could see doubt crossing his eyes, probably judging if he should change subject. "Anyways, she's out there accompanying Hala's grandfather and another girl on their Island Challenge!"

"Little Hau is already doing his Island Challenge?!" You said in surprise "Oh My God! He was only a baby when I left!"

"Well, it's been ten years" He replied

"Yeah…"

Ten years. Little Hau is already a young man. Kahuna Hala probably has grown old with grayish hair by now. Kukui is all grown up and a Researcher Professor with his own lab! It's funny though that he didn't drop the habit of not wearing a shirt at any given time – he even left his lab coat opened so you could clearly see his naked torso.

"This couch here doubles as a bed! You can sleep here." He said sitting down on the green couch beneath the stairs "How's old Stonehead? You still got him?"

"Do I! He's still my best mate! Speaking of him…" You pulled one Great Ball from your backpack. It was a bit worn out from all those years you had it. There were badly drawn hearts all over its surface, obviously made with a black marker. You took a step back, throwing it on the ground. A Salamence emerged from it with a loud roar.

"Whoa! He's big!" Kukui exclaimed.

Upon seeing Kukui, Stonehead ran towards him, rubbing his head all over the man in an affectionate way, letting out a sound that looked like a Skitty's pur, only ten times louder.

"Hey big guy. I missed you too!" Kukui said petting the dragon's head "You were only a Bagon when I last saw you!"

"Well, it's been ten years!" You replied, a smirk on your face. Kukui let out a chuckle.

"Checkmate" He replied "I hardly ever see Bagons around these parts. You were really lucky to have found one"

I looked at him in false dismay.

"Lucky? I worked my ass off to get that guy! I spent two days waiting around on that only spot on Route 3, having spent three months' worth of my allowance in Great Balls to catch one of them!" I said crossing my arms. "I had a bet with…"

You stopped. A new pang of nostalgia hitting your hard. With all the chaos of moving back to Alola, you completely forgot about him. You, him and Kukui were a trio, working together every day to help each other achieve each other's goals. You were even known around Melemele for always been causing trouble trying to capture some rare or hard to catch Pokemon.

But you and he were a lot closer than you two were with Kukui. You kept competing over the stupidest things – who could eat more malassadas, who could hold their breath underwater the longest, who could stay bare feet the longest on the sand at early noon on a hot summer day before having to run to the water to cool off your feet. When you left, the void he left was one of the hardest things you had to cope with – not having someone to compete with, keeping you on your best shape always felt really lonely.

The thought of him always marching forward for the better was what motivated you to do the same. So, when you could meet again, you could still be on his level.

Over the last few weeks you run around trying to arrange everything for your departure from Johto, meeting him again completely slipped to the back of your mind. But now talking to Kukui, everything you had been holding back came rushing down and suddenly you felt bad he wasn't there to meet you on Melemele Ferry Terminal

"I had a bet with Guz to see who would capture a hard-to-find Pokemon first." You said sighing.

Kukui expression changed. He suddenly seemed very concerned. But he forced a smile.

"And who won?" He asked.

"It was the only competition we ever came to a draw!" You said "We both reached Hau'Oli beach at the same time holding our Pokeballs in the air. He had caught a Wimpod."

"He's always been quite the Bug Catcher, hasn't he…" Kukui said sighing.

"Oh yeah! He'd drag me along to Lush Jungle to help him capture Bug Pokemon all the time." You replied sitting down next to Kukui. "He knew I wasn't so keen on Bug Pokemon, that's why he made sure I'd tag along."

A moment of silence crept up between you and Kukui. The only sound you heard was Rockruff playing with Stonehead, the Salamence. Why was everything kind of awkward suddenly? Hasn't he and Guz been friends? Did something happen between them? On hindsight, it was very weird that Kukui hadn't mentioned Guzma at all. Weirder even that Guzma wasn't there right now to greet her. Something was definitely off. And you wanted to find out what.

"So… What happened to the guy anyway? He completed the Island Challenge?" You asked. Kukui kept quiet for a while, looking at Stonehead and Rockruff.

"Wasn't his dream to be a Captain? Did he manage that? He wanted that so badly… Well, me and him both actually. That's why we were competing… Since Melemele had only one Captain and all" You continued. Kukui chuckled.

"He's a captain all right… A Boss, to be precise."

You raised an eyebrow, looking at Kukui who didn't meet your gaze.

"I thought he'd be here today… You know, since we were all so close… Almost like our best friend at the time." You said.

"Your best friend. And well… It's complicated to contact him nowadays. He's… A busy man." Kukui replied. You wanted so hard to press on Kukui, but it was more than obvious that he wanted to drop the subject right away. You were on Alola now, you had your ways to find Guzma on your own later, so you didn't bother.

"Say, wanna go see Hala?" Kukui asked getting up. You forced a smile at him.

"Sure!"

Meeting Hala at Iki Town was a blast. The large old man was more than thrilled to see you again. You all sat at his living room listening to Hala telling you stories of when you were little.

"Remember that one time I caught you and Guzma trying to get a hold on your starter Pokemon at the age of 9, sneaking in my house?"

"Yeah, you scolded us so hard I feared you for months!" You replied laughing.

The day turned to night. Hala decided to call a feast in town in commemoration of your return to Alola. It was something simple, but very energetic. A long table was positioned right at the center of town where people sat and laughed under the night sky. A fire was lit near the table, casting an orange light all around.

Everyone in Iki Town had at least one memory of you, Guzma and Kukui causing some kind of trouble. The time when a storm hit you guys when you decided to go on a boat hunt for Water-type Pokemon and Hala had to gather some fishermen to rescue the three of you. Or the time you guys accidentally set a townsperson's house roof on fire when Stonehead learned ember.

The nostalgia trip was feeling amazing, the townspeople seemed like a family you had long forgotten you missed. But all those memories were making your curiosity on where Guzma was stronger and stronger. No one seemed to give you the slightest hint of where he was. Asking them right in front of Kukui also felt wrong, especially after he seemed so keen on not letting you know.

Finally, you succumbed.

"Thanks for everything, everyone. But the trip left me tired… I think I'll be off."

"I'll stay a little more, I need to discuss some things with Hala regarding the League." Kukui said "Everything's ready for you. If you need to shower, use the bathroom under the mezzanine, next to the storage!".

You nodded and made your way out of Iki Town. But of course, you weren't going home. You needed some time alone, to feel Melemele by yourself. You wandered around Hau'Oli now quiet under the moon light. All you could hear were the distant cries of Pokemon nearby. This was something you used to do back when you were a child, wandering around feeling the cold breeze coming from the ocean.

Sometimes Guzma would accompany you. You both would spent hours sitting on the sand dreaming of what the future could bring you two, of all the things you both could become. Maybe one day one of you would be Kahuna? Who knows?

You stopped on your tracks, realizing you were almost out of town. Route 2's entrance was just around the corner. You spotted the old street light right by Hau'Oli's entrance – the same one you'd used as meeting point countless times. You reached for it, feeling the coldness of the metal. Whenever you had to meet up with Guzma, you'd wait for him right beneath it, since you wouldn't dare knock on his door – you were scared of his father.

Realization suddenly hit you. Guzma's old house was on Route 2! Maybe you could start your quest to find him there? You didn't even know if his family still lived there, but it sure was worth a shot.

As you prepared yourself to head to Route 2, you heard it.

A cry pierced the night snapping you out of your memories. You looked around trying to locate where the cry was coming from. You heard it again – it was coming from Hau'Oli beach. Without a second thought, you bolted towards the sound. It seemed to be a girl's voice. As she cried again, you sprinted faster. As you reached the beach you looked around, a little girl was crying on the sand, covering her face. You ran up to her and very gently kneeled beside her.

"Hey… What's wrong?" You asked her in the softest voice you could muster.

She looked up, her eyes red and filled with tears. She was sobbing. As she looked at you, another wave of crying ensued. You tried calming her down, massaging her back and making soothing sounds. Finally, the sobbing dimmed and she finally spoke.

"They stole my Snubbull!" She said

"Stole?" You asked her "But who would do that?"

As far as you were concerned, Team Rocket had succumbed long ago. But maybe they had reformed? And they came to Alola now? You calmed your racing thoughts – there's no way Team Rocket would still be on the run, specially not so far away from Kanto or Johto.

"Team Skull!" She replied "They flew away on their Charizards afterwards!

"Team Skull?" Great. It was just what you needed, another criminal organization stealing people's Pokemons for their own amusement.

"You have any idea where are they headed?" You asked her, hoping for the best.

She shook her head negatively.

Of course, not. She was just a little girl after all. This whole ordeal must have been too much on her. You sighed, patting her on the back.

"Don't worry, big sister here will do something about it!" You said beaming. She looked at you with hopeful eyes.

"Really?"
"Yes! Leave it to me!" You replied, trying to look confident. Of course, you had no idea what you could probably do, but you dealt with Team Rocket in the past, these guys couldn't be so much harder to deal it, could they? Besides, you didn't have the heart to leave the little girl completely hopeless. "I just need to find out where they took your Snubbull and…"

"Po Town, most probably." A familiar voice echoed behind you. You turned your head to see Kukui standing at the edge of the beach. "I knew you wouldn't go straight to the Lab, Mags…"

"Po Town? The one in Ula'Ula?" You asked him, ignoring his remark.

"Yeah. It's now overrun by Team Skull – all residents have long fled from there, there are only grunts." He replied, walking over you and the girl.

"They trashed a whole town?" You asked incredulously. It was the richest of cities in Alola, completely guarded by walls. You remember visiting it once or twice with your parents a long time ago.

You felt anger starting to build up in the pit of your stomach. A criminal organization that took a town over, making every resident abandon their homes and trashing the whole place up?

Sure, Team Rocket took over Celadon City once back in Kanto, but they never trashed it. Even if their intentions were bad, they treated the place with respect.

A city held more than just people's houses – it held their homes, their history. Destroying it was neglecting people's past and their fondest memories.

Maybe all the nostalgia you were feeling lately was making you more sensitive to this kind of stuff. Maybe, in the back of your head Kukui not wanting to tell you about Guzma's whereabouts threw you on edge even though you told yourself it was fine. Either way, you started to fume with rage.

You took Stonehead's Great Ball out of your backpack and threw it on the sand harder than you should've, letting the Salamence out.

"Stonehead, we're flying." You announced. Stonehead nodded and lowered himself so you could hop on.

"Wait!" Kukui exclaimed "You plan on taking on a whole gang by yourself? Are you crazy, Mags?"

I looked at him, brows frowned in a scowl.

"Why fucking not? I'm the damn Johto Champion." You barked, angrier than you should've in front of a child. "Take care of her, I'm bringing back her Snubbull. Stonehead, set off."

"But Mags…" Kukui's voice was muffled by the sound of Stonehead's wings flapping off the ground. He had to cover his face as sand flew everywhere. Stonehead picked up his pace and soon started flying up, towards the night sky.

"MAGNOLIA" He screamed. But you were already out of hearing reach.