If the first thought that crossed your mind when seeing this story was: "Why does this exist?" I have only one answer for you.

Why not?

The last year hadn't exactly been an extraordinary one for George. He ate, he went to work, he battled with his pokémon and he slept. Day in day out, it was the same tired routine. The man found he had little motivation to do much of anything anymore. Well, there was one thing that kept him going; a sweepstakes he'd entered a couple weeks back. Offered by some food or drink consortium, the name of which George couldn't quite recall, the grand prize was an all-expense paid trip to Alola.

Now George hadn't really gotten out much in his 26 years of life. In fact, he'd never even left his somewhat desolate home of Orre before. Honestly, he just didn't feel the need. People often poked fun at the region for having high crime rates, few wild pokémon, and being what some would consider "backwater." George didn't mind, though; no matter the flaws, Orre was and always would be his home. Still, from what he'd read and seen on TV; Alola looked like a good vacation spot. Rich culture, lush beaches, interesting cuisine… spending a few weeks there would certainly be pleasant, wouldn't it?

George looked to his watch. It was 4:29 PM; only one minute till his fate would be decided. He looked intently to his television screen; a commercial was playing.

"You're sittin' on the couch, you're watchin' TV and your life is passin' you by..."

George rolled his eyes. "This one again?!"

"…You keep procrastinatin', over and over. 'Well, maybe I'll go to school next year, maybe next semester.' No, do it right now! They'll work with you after work or you can go before work. You can do whatever you need to do to graduate! Go talk to somebody right now, they out to help you. You spend all day on the phone, anyhow! Why don't you make a phone call that's gonna help you in your future? All you gotta do is pick up the phone and make the call. Why are you makin' it complicated? It's easy."

"At least it isn't the Education Connection one," George said with a sigh, "but the girl in that one's a total cutie, so is it really worse?" A loud noise followed by an announcer speaking alerted George that his program had finally begun. He turned and locked eyes with the companion by his side.

His best friend, his partner – easy there, buckaroo. Not that kind of partner – his pokémon… his only pokémon actually; Lennie the gligar. George caught the "fly scorpion" pokémon at a poké spot around 12 years back. Not being one for coming up with names and having recently read Of Mice and Men, he named him Lennie. For a while he worried that he was tempting fate. Was he going to end up… well, you know what happens at the end of Of Mice and Men, don't you?

George and Lennie exchanged a quick look. They both nodded to each other then turned to face the TV. The host of the program, a young and rather attractive woman dressed up like a hula dancer, had her hand on a handle; with it, she spun around a large, spherical container. In the container were hundreds upon hundreds of slips of paper, all of which had written on them the name of a contestant.

"Come on baby," George pleaded, both his fingers crossed, "grand prize, grand prize, grand prize!"

"And the grand prize; a luxurious, all-expense paid trip to Alola goes to…" The woman slowly reached her hand into the container and felt around. This endeavor lasted several moments; it was an obvious attempt to build up anticipation and it was pissing George off. Much to the man's relief, the host finally settled on a slip and retrieved it.

"…George Egroeg of Phenac City! Let's all have a round of applause for the lucky winner!"

His mouth agape, George stared at the television screen in stunned silence. Lennie did likewise. The program continued as the host announced the winners of several follow-up prizes. George and Lennie didn't register any of that, however. They were in their own little world, and nothing was gonna bring them out of it anytime soon.

Letting an impressed whistle escape his lips, George gazed wondrously upon his hotel. "Hano Grand Resort… they weren't kidding, this really is luxurious!" The ground was lined with stone tile and complimented with well-maintained shrubbery and numerous flags bearing the crest of the resort. The hotel, a grandiose red building standing several stories tall, was lined with palm trees on each side. To the sides of its entrance were two large pools that glistened magnificently in the sunlight.

Wearing an "I ❤ Alola" baseball cap, dressed in a blue Alola shirt and to top it all off having a lei draped around his shoulders; George had the "clueless tourist" look down pat. After placing his two suitcases down, the Orre native… Orrean? Reached into his pocket.

"Hey Lennie, say cheese!" George shouted. Lennie, also wearing a lei, though thankfully no Alola shirt, glided in front of the resort entrance and struck a pose. With a flash and a whirring noise, George snapped a picture with his disposable camera – smart phones? What the heck are those? – then gave Lennie a thumbs-up. "Lookin' sharp, pal!"

"Gli!" Lennie cried happily in response.

A middle-aged woman who was walking by observed the scene with a scowl. She shook her head as she walked away, muttering something along the lines of "Stupid haole," under her breath. Putting his camera away, George grabbed his suitcases then approached Lennie. "We'll get things settled first, then we can go check out Heahea City." With that, the two made their entrance.

While the duo walked through the archway, George took his time to admire his surroundings. The floor was wooden with finely carved patterns and draped over it were several plush red carpets lined with spiral patterns. Each side of the spacious room had a fountain. Two large L-shaped fountains were by the entrance, and two smaller square-shaped ones were at the back near the elevators.

There was a small reservoir located behind the check-in desk. It was hexagonal in shape and sustained by an artificial waterfall. George wasn't sure how far the thing went up and wondered whether it was practical to store so much water so high up. It didn't take him long to shrug off his concern, though. The people running the joint most likely knew more about it than him. Who was he to question their judgment?

Upon reaching the front desk, George sighed to himself. "May I help you, sir?" An older gentleman behind the desk asked. George smiled as he grabbed his wallet from his pocket. "Yeah, the name's Egroeg, George Egroeg. I believe you've got a suite arranged for me or something."

"Oh! You're the one who won that contest! Congratulations, sir!"

George blushed and scratched his cheek awkwardly. "Aw shucks, I just got lucky is all. Nothin' to it." The clerk nodded before typing away at a computer. He then looked to George. "May I see your identification please?"

"Wha-Oh, sure. Here ya go." George flashed the man his trainer card. The picture was a little out of date, taken when he was 23, but it still looked like him. Messy brown hair, green eyes, lightly tanned skin; everything checked out.

"Ah, so you're from Orre, then? What's it like over there?"

Putting his trainer card and wallet away, George put his finger to his chin and looked contemplative. "There's a lot of desert, not too many pokémon, plenty of crime…"

"I… see."

"But it's not so bad. Home is home after all."

"Well, I can understand that sentiment. Anyway, here's your room key," the older man handed George a card, "You're in room 1005, the 5th room on the 10th floor. If you forget, just check that card."

"Thanks," George said to the man before turning to Lennie, "Let's get goin', Lennie!"

After finding the room and unloading their luggage, George and Lennie spent the following few hours wandering around Heahea City. The two were… disappointed to say the least. It didn't have much interesting to offer, all things considered. An apartment complex with the headquarters of some no-name video game developers? Whoop-dee-do! Maybe if it was Genius Sonority or something, he'd actually give a damn. An apparel store? George already had his Alola shirt, in his mind, he was set.

There was also a hotel called the Tide Song Hotel, but what did it matter? Hano was where they were staying, and while the Tide Song was plenty fancy, Hano was nicer. Oh, and there was a lab where scientists were working on interdimensional, space-time hooey or some other such nonsense. Bah, it was all pseudoscience as far as George was concerned.

George glanced at his watch; it was 3:17 PM. Still plenty of time to mess around, but Heahea didn't have much else to offer him or Lennie. There was another city further south by the name of Konikoni. Okay seriously, what's with this region and naming everything twice? The catch was, he had to traverse a tunnel teeming with wild pokémon to reach it. Now George had the utmost confidence in Lennie, but this was a vacation. He wasn't exactly thrilled with the idea of fending off hordes of wild Diglett and who knows what else.

"What do you think, Lennie? Should we do it?"

Lennie looked to George, then looked to the tunnel entrance. Outstretching an arm, he lifted a pincher to form a gesture akin to a thumbs-up. "I guess that settles it, we're goin' to Konikoni!" Puffing out his chest, George marched triumphantly into the cave and Lennie followed in a similar manner. Had the 26-year-old man been from a more pokémon filled region, he might've had the foresight to buy some repels.

"IF JUST ONE MORE OF YOU LITTLE BASTARDS CHASES AFTER ME, I'LL HAVE LENNIE EARTHQUAKE THIS PLACE TO HELL AND BACK!"

George had his hands on is knees and was panting heavily. For three hours he'd been roaming around Diglett's Tunnel; getting hopelessly lost and chased around by Zubat and – you guessed it – Diglett. "I'LL CAVE IN THIS ENTIRE TUNNEL!" George wheezed, "YOU THINK I CARE?! IF I GO TO HELL I'M TAKING EVERY SINGLE ONE OF YOU BASTARDS WITH ME!"

Lennie watched in worry as his friend screamed between deep breaths. The purple pokémon gently patted George on the back, hoping to soothe his anger, even if only a little. The man looked wearily to Lennie, and upon noticing his concern, let out a hoarse sigh. "Okay, I admit it. I was overreacting. I'm hungry and annoyed and I just want to be in stinkin' Konikoni City already!"

"You're headed to Konikoni? The exit's not far from here, I can show you the way."

George immediately snapped out of his gloomy mood upon hearing the feminine voice. His eyes darted across the cave and eventually set sights on a young, pink-haired woman. She wore a white baseball cap that was slightly askew, and underneath that cap, a black bandana. Her shirt was black and sleeveless, with a white X over the stomach area. Her shorts were white denim cutoffs that left little to the imagination. She may as well have been wearing nothing but panties down there.

Realizing he'd been staring at her cutoffs for maybe a little too long, he blushed and met her gaze. Her eyes were as pink as her hair and she certainly didn't skimp on the eyeliner. As for her expression... well, it wasn't exactly inviting. With a furrowed brow, her mouth was twisted in what seemed to be a perpetual scowl. "Do you want me to show you, or are you gonna keep staring like an idiot?"

"An angel…" George whispered in awe.

The woman put a hand to her ear. "What?"

"Oh, nothing, nothing!" He exclaimed; putting his hands up and shaking them furiously. "Yes, I'd love for you to show me the way. Back in Orre there aren't many wild pokémon; all these bastards swarming us is getting me all disoriented." He shook his head and chuckled as he approached the pink-haired girl. Just as George was about to offer her a handshake, she retrieved a dusk ball from her pocket and pointed it at him.

"You're a trainer, right? If you want me to show you out, you're gonna have to battle for it!"

George's mood soured, and his right eye began to twitch. "People 'round these parts tend to call me a punk girl," the young woman started, "but I'm not all that gung-ho about that title. Please be friendly and call me Punky!"

With a playful wink, she threw her dusk ball and out of it materialized an Ariados. George stared at the spider-like pokémon for several seconds, then broke out in hysterics. "Punky's" scowl intensified. This was an absolute affront to her pride; she was gonna make this clown pay. "What's the big idea! Ariados is real strong! You'll see, she'll kick that scorpion thing's butt!"

"You really think so, Punky?" George asked in a condescending tone. "Lennie here's a fine-tuned KOing machine! For 12 years we've trained in the harsh deserts of Orre! We've taken down more trainers in Pyrite Town's duel square than you've probably seen in your life!" George closed his eyes and folded his arms; a smug grin was plastered across his face. "That's not even to mention the type disadvantage. Honestly, you should spare yourself the embarrassment and just show me to the city."

Now George wasn't usually the bragging type, but right now he really wasn't in the mood for another battle. If all went according to plan, Punky would be too scared to battle him and would simply show him the way out. Sadly, things rarely ever go as planned for George. "You're a real windbag, you know that? Ariados, use swords dance!"

"Tsk, suit yourself! Lennie, throw off that lei and use acrobatics! We're ending this quick!" In an instant, Lennie cast off the floral ornament then sprung into the air. "Ariados, use shadow sneak!" Punky commanded in panicked desperation. A full-powered acrobatics was going to hurt no matter what, she had to do something to impede Lennie.

Just as Lennie began to close in on the Ariados, darkness enshrouded the spider pokémon. In a shadowy blur, Ariados slammed into Lennie, but much to Punky's shock, the fly scorpion pokémon was completely unfazed. Before Ariados or its trainer could even blink, Ariados was violently slammed into the ground and rendered unconscious.

"Honestly, I was playing it up when I was carrying on earlier," George admitted, feeling somewhat ashamed, "but I'm not a complete windbag. Lennie's tough, you shouldn't have underestimated him." Punky's mouth gaped as a fish-like expression began to mark her features. "B-but how? I know shadow sneak isn't all that powerful, but Ariados used swords dance! Your Lennie shrugged it off like it was nothing!"

George chuckled as he patted Lennie on the head. "Lennie here's a champ at taking hits. I've seen him take body slams from a Snorlax like it was nothin'!" Punky nodded dumbly as she recalled Ariados. She'd taken humiliating losses before, like that one time against that Kantonian kid back at Memorial Hill, but she couldn't help but be irritated with herself.

Noticing her irritation, George walked up to her and placed a sympathetic hand on her shoulder. "Hey, don't take it so hard. I told you I've been training Lennie for 12 years, that's a pretty long time. How long have you had that Ariados anyway?"

Punky's eyes fell to the dusk ball held in her hand. "She's been with me for about four years now…" George smiled as he gently squeezed her shoulder. "See? You've got nothing to be ashamed of. That's only a third of the time Lennie's spent with me, and you had a type disadvantage to boot."

"Th-thanks, I guess," the pink-haired woman spoke softly, "but it's not just you… I see these kids who've just started their journeys. Only 11 years old, and they're already so strong! What do they have that I don't? How can someone become champion with only a few months of experience when I'm still stuck as a nobody after years of training!"

Letting out a strained sigh, Punky continued. "I can take losses, but… I hate how outclassed I am. It's no fun when your pokémon gets obliterated at every turn."

"Hey, don't be so down on yourself. So there are trainers out there stronger than you, that doesn't make you any less of a trainer." George removed his hand from her shoulder then shoved it into his pocket.

"Isn't it enough that you get to go out and explore Alola with Ariados? I can't tell you how many times I've lost to trainers that are better than me, better than I could ever hope to be. I don't let that get me down, though. Lennie's my best bud. Whether we win or lose, what matters most is we have each other, and no one can take that away from us."

Punky cracked a shy smile. "I guess you have a point… You know, for a stupid-looking tourist, you're pretty insightful."

"Insightful? Well I don't kno-" Realization of what she said suddenly hit George like a sack of bricks. "Hey! Stupid-looking? I'm just showing off some Alola flair, what's wrong with that?"

"What's wrong with it? What isn't wrong with it? You know the only people who dress like that are the ones in the tourist trap areas, right? They play up the whole Alolan stereotype to appeal to ignorant visitors… like you. No offense."

George felt his cheeks grow warm in embarrassment. He figured he was simply being respectful dressing the way he was. "When in Alola, do as the Alolans do," he reasoned, but it seemed he had a fairly warped idea of how Alolans actually acted. Now that he thought about it, he had been getting strange looks from locals all day. "Oh jeez, I'm an idiot," George whined as he removed his "I ❤ Alola" cap. "Man, this really does look ridiculous. What was I thinking?"

Now it was Punky's turn to offer a caring hand. With a single, swift motion, her right hand landed partially on his left shoulder and partially on the crook of his neck. "It's okay, we all do stupid things from time to time. C'mon, let's get going to Konikoni."

As George silently followed Punky – who thankfully had repels – he thought about what exactly he'd do once arriving in Konikoni. This little venture of his was done entirely on a whim, he didn't even know what the city had to offer. It was evening already, too. Would he even have time to make it back to Hano Grand Resort? Or would he spend the night in Konikoni? And what of the food there? George was incredibly hungry; he skipped lunch and hadn't had anything to eat since 10 in the morning. If the city didn't have any decent food, he didn't know what he'd do.

Probably something stupid and highly illegal.

"So…" Punky drawled; bringing George out of his musings, "…you never told me your name."

"Hmm, now that you mention it, I guess I didn't." George stretched out his arms and yawned loudly. "Tell you what," he said as he rubbed his eyes, "if you tell me your real name, I'll tell you mine."

"That seems fair…" Punky stopped and turned around to face George. Reaching a hand out, she addressed him. "…I'm Melissa, and you are?"

Smiling warmly; George grasped her hand with a firm yet comfortable grip.

"I'm George. Pleased to meet you, Melissa."