I'm not quite sure where he came from, but he wasn't from Alola. He wasn't from this world, that's for sure. I had been wandering on a remote beach-one of the smaller Alolan islands-when I found him. Now I'd wandered this beach several times before, but I've never seen construction upon it. It was forbidden for humans to live on this island and construct anything beyond an overnight camping tent.

I was surprised to see an enormous wall sitting in the middle of the island, on the shore of a small lake. I was even more surprised when the monolithic stone structure stared back at me. "A Pokémon?" I said, picking up my guidebook and flipping through it. There wasn't a single page about this Pokémon. My guidebook was a fair bit out of date. Perhaps this is a newer Pokémon. If only I knew its name.

The large wall Pokémon continued to stare at me, flipping more stones to reveal more eyes. "Sta..." it said, in a deep, grumbly voice. "Sta... ka..." with curious intent. It seemed docile so I approached it cautiously. I noticed that one of its corners had a massive crack in it. "Oh no! You must be in pain!" I said, reaching for my bag. I sat down in the corner, and I heard the Pokémon wince as I placed my hand on the crack. "I'm not sure what kind of Pokémon you are, but I suppose you're a rock type." I said to it, pulling out a specially formulated rock type medicine I carried in my bag, just in case a wild Pokémon needed immediate assistance.

"Stak!" said the Pokémon, flipping a panel close to me, its eye looking pleased. The medicine was fairly similar to industrial caulking with special analgesic properties to soothe pain in rock, steel, and ground types. I squeezed some into the crack and started to rub it into the crack, gently massaging the area as I did so. Part of me felt odd massaging a wall, but part of me was happy knowing that it's a Pokémon. "Take it easy, now. I know it hurts and you probably want to... well, I'm not sure if you can walk, but you had to have been able to get here somehow. But you're going to need to wait for at least 6 hours before this medicinal caulk fully hardens, alright? I'll sit with you."

I let Pikachu and Togedemaru out of their Pokéballs. They both examined the massive wall Pokémon, sniffing around its perimeter, then proceeded to play in the lake. "Be careful, you two. I think this Pokémon is a rock type. It won't like water on it, especially when it's already hurt." Pikachu nodded and swam further into the lake. "Staka, Stakataka." said the Pokémon. "I'm not sure what you said, but I assume you're thanking me. You're welcome!" I said, putting my hand on its side, leaning against it. "I suppose your name is Stakataka. You don't mind me leaning on you, right?" I asked it.

Stakataka appeared to slightly shift along the lines of its layers, as though to create a sloped surface for me to lean against. I was awestruck. "You can shift around like that? Wow that's so cool!" It appeared to giggle and let me lean in further into it. "You seem sort of masculine to me. Is it ok if I call you a boy? I mean logically, walls don't have genders, but gender is pretty arbitrary anyway, right?" I asked Stakataka, placing a hand on a panel. The panel flipped and revealed a happy, approving eye. "Staka!"

I'm not sure when I fell asleep. All I knew is that when I woke up, the first thing I saw were countless blue eyes staring at me in a large room. I shrieked and my hand struck the wall on one of the eyes. "Sta... KAAAA!" shook the room, as every eye went sad and the one I hit started to cry. "Stakataka? This is you? I'm so sorry! I didn't realize! Please stop crying! Here, I have a Sitrus berry for you, but I'm not sure if you even have a mouth... oh! Here! I have some eye drops. They're meant for humans but..." I placed a few drops in the eye I accidentally slapped. It blinked a few times and then went happy. "Staka! Staka!"

The whole ground rumbled as Stakataka appeared to stand up, with the panels in the corners extending down to act as legs. He stepped over me and stood further away in the grass. Pikachu and Togedemaru were asleep next to an Exeggutor and woke up with the noise, running towards me. Pikachu pointed at the wet sand and grass, and the clouds breaking in the sky to reveal a sunset. "You're hollow inside and didn't want me to get wet! Is that what happened?" I asked him, looking at the injured location to see if the rain didn't affect it. It was just fine. "Staka! Staka!" he said, appearing to crouch like a giant wall puppy. "But you're a rock type! You should hate rain!" I exclaimed, placing a hand on him. His form shifted towards me and seemed to bunt against my face. "Oh! You like me!" I never thought I'd call a wall adorable, but fuck, this is the cutest wall I've ever seen. "You're a good wall, yes, you're a good wall!" I said, giving him a huge hug.

I looked at the setting sun. "Oh man, I have to go, Stakataka. I'm not sure where you're from, but I have to go before it gets too dark. Every single eye on Stakataka dilated and started to water as he started to whimper. "Stakataka, I'd... I'd offer to take you with me, but I don't have any more Pokéballs on me!" I said. "I can come back tomorrow with one!" Stakataka started to cry. I didn't know what to do. I didn't want to leave him here but at the same time I didn't have everything I needed to camp out. Even if Stakataka did act as my shelter, I didn't have any sleeping bags or heat, nor did I have a fire type Pokémon with me.

I heard a rustling as every Exeggutor in the area simultaneously looked up at a yellow glow in the sky. "Could it be?" I said, as the yellow glow floated down towards the lake. "Ko... KOOOO!" it yelled. "Oh wow, it's Tapu Koko!" I exclaimed, as it floated towards me. It placed something on the ground, and then flew off. "Thank you, Tapu Koko!" I called to it, as it disappeared into the distance. What was it that the island guardian had bestowed upon me? I picked it up. It appeared to be a purple, blue, and yellow Pokéball of sorts. "Is this... is this for Stakataka? I've never seen this type of Pokéball before but..." I turned to Stakataka. "Do you want to be my p..." I didn't even finish my sentence before Stakataka pushed out a panel, striking the button on the Pokéball, and capturing itself. I held the Pokéball in my hands. "Wow, I just caught a Stakataka! I think, at least, that's what he's called!" I boarded my boat and proceeded to sail back to Melemele Island, into the sunset, wondering what adventures lay ahead of me with my new companion.