Disclaimer: I don't own Pokemon. Otherwise, you would have been able to fight more iconic trainers in the Battle Tree
"Speech"
'Thought'
Sakura stared with criticism.
She had been well aware of the emotional roller coaster that he had been riding, but the crazy turns were presumed to have concluded.
That was quickly disproven as she sat in her kitchen with Sun, his new friend, and an explanation that made as much sense as Ash not mega-evolving his Charizard.
"Mom, I know it doesn't make much sense, but I'm telling the truth," begged the young boy. Even he doubted some of the 'logic' in his explanation.
His insistence did little to achieve anything outside of irritating his mother. She got up and beckoned him to the kitchen, where they would be out of earshot of Moon. There was a sensation of oncoming reprimand.
"You know that if you wanted a friend over, you should've just asked me," whispered Sakura, causing her son fall on his butt.
"Mom, she's not just my friend!" Said the boy when he regained footing.
His mother discarded her irritation and criticism with that quick retort. She looked over to Moon, then to Sun, and repeated. A little concern popped up on her face.
"I know you need to cope with Lillie being gone, but getting a girlfriend so soon is not the answer."
It appeared to the boy that he couldn't say anything to assure the authenticity of his story. Unsure of anything else that he could say to convince his mother otherwise, Sun slowly fell backwards on the floor with a thud.
Despite the efforts to hide the conversation, Moon could both see and hear everything well. A drop of sweat appeared on her forehead.
'At least he's trying to help me,' rationalized the girl a little half-heartedly.
She heard some shuffling to her right and turned to see Meowth rubbing its head against the leg of the chair that she was sitting on.
Curious, she picked up the normal kitty. It seemed pleased by this action. Moon continued with the session by petting just behind the charm of Meowth's head. A slow purr resonated from the Pokemon.
Sakura ceased her talk with Sun when she noticed how content her Pokemon was.
"That's strange," noted the woman, placing her hand on her chin. Her son caught the same sight.
"Meowth likes being petted behind the charm. I don't see what's so weird about that," said the boy.
Ignorance was strong in him for somebody who was supposed to be an adept Pokemon trainer.
"It's not that. Meowth doesn't warm up to somebody else that quickly. He must really trust Moon," explained Sakura.
With that knowledge, Sun looked back at the scene. Meowth did have a penchant for getting attention, so he rushed towards newcomers. It was a habit that was completely impulsive and brief.
Despite that, the scratch cat Pokemon was playfully rolling around in their guest's lap.
Another thought crossed Sakura's mind. She didn't feel as compelled to share this one. There was some sense of familiarity while looking at Moon.
"I suppose she can stay at least for tonight," said the mother.
A satisfied expression spread across Sun's face. However, there was now another question that popped into his mind.
The house only had two bedrooms. Where would Moon sleep?
"Thanks. But where will she sleep?" Asked the brunette boy.
...
"I shouldn't have asked at all."
Sun was well aware of the customs that should be followed when one has a guest in their house; but he didn't expect to be forfeiting his room to his new student. This left him sleeping on a hammock on the porch.
He should have been thankful that the weather was quite pleasant, but his perception was too sour at the moment.
Deciding to make the best of it, he shuffled around to find a good position for sleeping. There were very few impediments to prevent him from achieving a good night's rest beyond his sour mood.
After all, the moonlight was very comforting that night.
...
Good weather had carried over into the next day, making for excellent training conditions for Sun and Moon. Walking down to the Melemele sea, the air was peacefully humming by. However, this did little to placate one of Moon's concerns.
"Are you sure that we shouldn't put up those posters first?" Asked the girl as she pointed to Sun's backpack.
Sakura had told her child to put up some posters showing Moon's face and saying that she had been found. It was possible that somebody would recognize her and find her quickly with the information provided.
"But then we won't have enough energy for training," retorted the boy. The girl shrugged her shoulders in return.
'I can just blame him later, I guess.'
Sun made sure to get Moon away from the tall grass, but not too close to the shoreline or Kukui's house. They needed to be in an area for training that provided the least amount of impediments.
"Alright, let's get your Pokemon out," instructed Sun.
"Okay." Moon pulled out five Pokeballs. "Come on out!"
She tossed the five balls into the air, releasing each individual Pokemon.
A blue fish with yellow orbs perched above its head. The light Pokemon, Lanturn.
A tiny brunette rabbit with blonde fur covering its ears and lower body. The rabbit Pokemon, Buneary.
A floating rock with five white points and a cracked exterior. The meteor Pokemon, Minior.
A tiny orange dog with black stripes. The puppy Pokemon, Growlithe.
A tall owl hooded in tan brown and green. The arrow quill Pokemon, Decidueye.
The team that Moon had built certainly had variety, but it appeared to be lacking in some areas. Buneary and Growlithe were undoubtedly admired by many people. Their appearance and mammalian aspects made them appeal more to people.
However, actual strength was something else to get out of that. Their evolved forms would've presented promising power.
"You didn't evolve your Buneary or Growlithe?" Asked Sun. Moon looked over with a half-hearted smile.
"Well, I would've, but Kale and Ace just look too cute!" Disapproval smoothly came from Sun's eyes. Part of him wanted to believe that she was being facetious.
Moon quickly noted this and felt compelled to prove her claim.
"Kale, use work up! Ace, use howl!" Commanded the brunette girl quickly.
The Buneary quickly shifted around from side to side in a possible effort to dance while the Growlithe reared his head up to howl.
Watching both of them made it obvious that they were trying hard, which resulted in some adorable appearances.
"See? Aren't they great?" Asked Moon in an ill-fated attempt.
Criticism tinged with sorrow held his face down with that explanation. Training Moon was going to be harder than he thought. He would probably be more satisfied seeing how her other Pokemon performed.
"I say we get back to that later." His student nodded, understanding that she wasn't going to convince him.
"Alright. Well, that's Lyle, Gurren, and Chin-chan." She pointed to the Decidueye, Minior, and Lanturn respectively with each name before pulling out a friend ball. "And you've already met Nebby."
Sun nodded to show his comprehension. He reasoned that her Nebby was already a powerful Pokemon and implicitly understood Moon's protection of that Pokemon.
The combination of all her Pokemon had the potential to create a balanced team. However, her Buneary and Growlithe probably wouldn't contribute much. This was far from the first encounter that Sun had with a trainer who had underwhelming Pokemon to him.
'Maybe they are better than they look,' pondered the boy. "Let's have a quick battle."
Moon flinched quickly at that suggestion. "Are you sure? Shouldn't we do some push-ups or...something?"
"It'd be better if I could get a feel for how you and your Pokemon fight," answered Sun logically. His student nodded to that suggestion, albeit with some reluctance.
Twenty feet was placed in between the two trainers before picking their Pokemon. Moon sent forth her Decidueye for the fight.
'Manny would be a good strong start to this. But then I might not see how good she and her Pokemon are,' thought Sun.
Weighing his options carefully, he found only one good option available to him at the moment. The Champion pulled out a plain pokeball and tossed it.
"Go, Bod!" Said the trainer enthusiastically as he released the Type: Null.
Moon eyed her opponent's Pokemon cautiously as a beginning move. She had no idea what Bod could do, given its chimeric body.
"Lyle, use leaf blade!" Yelled the girl immediately. The owl flapped its wings forward and took one of the arrows which extended into a sword.
"Bod, use iron head!" Said Sun in return.
His partner's response was not as immediate as Lyle was to Moon, but it was fast enough to counter.
Lyle's blade quickly met with Bod's helm. It did little to actually damage the latter because of the angle of the attack and the density of the helmet.
"Get back!" Commanded Moon abruptly; she quickly grasped the effectiveness of leaf blade against Type: Null. Lyle flapped his wings back to obey his trainer's command.
"Bod, use x-scissor!"
Distance was lost as quickly as it was made when the normal type charged towards the grass starter. Swipes from both paws inflicted incredible damage upon Lyle.
Bod hopped back towards his trainer, ready for the next command. Sun didn't issue it right away. He wanted to give Moon and Lyle some room to understand how they battled better.
'Looks like she might have forgotten that too,' thought the boy as he glanced over to his student and her Decidueye.
Frustration had colored her face red while she was administering a max potion to her Pokemon. Training was off to a brisk and unpleasant start for her.
Reserving her initial emotions, she backed away a few feet.
"Lyle, use acrobatics," commanded the girl calmly.
Sun and his Pokemon waited to see the outcome of this maneuver. The owl leapt up into the air and darted around before zooming in on Bod.
Lyle's left foot connected with Bod's head, slamming the synthetic Pokemon into the ground. The effect of acrobatics kicked in abruptly. Bod took double damage because Lyle was able to maneuver around easier due to not holding anything.
Sun decided to respond immediately. "Use x-scissor again."
The normal type pulled its head out of the ground and launched towards the Decidueye. Great damage was inflicted with this attack. It was enough to knock Lyle out of the sky.
A lack of any movement showed that Lyle could no longer battle.
"Yosh! Good job." Sun offered his hand to Bod, which it shook like a dog after a few seconds.
A glance over to Moon revealed her saddened expression. Defeat was never something easy to take, even when the consequences were minute.
"Come on. That was just one match," said Sun in an effort to cheer her up. An upset girl like her wouldn't be so easily convinced.
"Easy for you to say. You guys won," retorted Moon sourly. She only gave her back to her teacher as she retrieved Lyle.
Sighing, Sun scratched the back of his head. As the Champion of Alola, how could he not give so much effort in any battle?
He turned his attention to Bod and it reminded him of a few lessons that he learned in the past few months.
"It just shows that you can get even better." The teacher turned over to his student. His words did little to dissuade her from pouting. "Besides, you might have just forgotten some things about battling too."
A small shuffle from Moon's bangs showed that she flinched slightly. Sun's eyes blinked in surprise, realizing that he must've touched a nerve.
'I just can't win with her.' Apologizing seemed the best choice, even if its effectiveness could be called into question. "Sorry abo-"
"It's alright." She intercepted an apology before it could be completed. Some stress belied her voice, but it didn't appear in her neutral expression when she turned around. "I just have to keep trying right?"
'You're definitely mad at me,' thought Sun. He didn't say that to her face because of her smile. He nodded cheerfully in return. 'But at least you're trying to be nice.'
The teacher and student continued training for a little while longer. In this time, Sun started to notice several things about how Moon battled. He held no doubts towards her abilities as a Pokemon Trainer.
'She knows how to work around in a Pokemon battle.'
It was apparent to the boy that everything she had said was undoubtedly true. She comprehended how some Pokemon types interacted with each other and understood move effects.
Moon was starting to prove some experience. Especially in the match with her Minior and his Vikavolt.
"Power gem!" Commanded the girl quickly. Her levitating rock summoned up clumps of sand that turned into rocks and hurled them.
"Charlie, agility dodge." Sun's Pokemon darted around quickly, avoiding contact with the attack.
Normally, a Minior would hold an incredible advantage over a Vikavolt. The pathetic speed of the latter would make it impossible for him to attack first, but it appeared that Sun had taken time to work around this.
'I've trained with Sophocles to figure out how to get Charlie to his best,' thought the boy. 'But let's see what you can do, Moon.'
Moon was understandably starting to exhibit signs of frustration again. She ceased this behavior with a deep breath, knowing that it wouldn't reward her any benefit.
"Alright. Gurren, use acrobatics!" Said the girl.
The rock-flying type darted up and maneuvered around quickly. It appeared that Moon had an affinity for that move.
Narrowing his eyes, Sun awaited for the critical moment of the attack; his partner trusted him and did the same.
Their patient expressions were effortlessly noticed by the opposing trainer. Concern mixed with frustration on her face in the few seconds before Gurren impacted.
'What are you-"
"Spark!"
Charlie, glowing with electricity, slammed into Gurren. He traded a good amount of damage in that small moment.
Gurren bobbed and hovered back towards its trainer. The hard exterior surrounding him began to fall off, revealing its pinkish-red core.
"Looks like this just got real," commented Sun. Charlie nodded while munching on a sitrus berry that he was holding in his back legs.
'There's got to be a way.' The student was starting to become increasingly frustrated again.
Little stood against the idea that she could win so flawlessly; Sun had already demonstrated that he was aware of his Pokémon's short comings and could compensate for them.
Gurren's had lost its decent defenses for a more nimble body; the next hit would surely do it in.
'Just got to be really fast,' concluded Moon. "Gurren, use automize!"
Her Pokemon brushed down against the beach front, chipping away to make itself even more nimble. A sharper appearance and great speed was rewarded. This form would be more difficult to hit from a distance.
"Now use acrobatics!" Yelled the girl before her voice cracked.
Gurren darted around in the air above before dive-bombing down to Charlie. The stag beetle and his trainer narrowed their eyes, awaiting the right moment.
And so was Moon.
"Circle!"
Right before the meteor impacted into Charlie, it swerved around in a circle. Extra momentum carried over from the downward strike would result in a very fierce attack.
But it all came to a sudden halt when a wave of electricity burst out from the Vikavolt.
Gurren, being so close to the epicenter, took the full force of the immense attack. The rock-flying type was knocked out immediately.
'That was a little close. Good thing Charlie and I were both thinking of using discharge,' thought Sun as he reflected on the outcome.
As soon as Moon retrieved her fainted Pokemon, she turned away from Sun with her cheek puffed up. That irritated expression didn't go unnoticed by her teacher.
"Oi, don't get mad at me for winning." The girl didn't respond, she just huffed and looked away. "Look. You asked me to train you."
To argue against that point would have been hypocritical. Loss from somebody who was clearly better as a trainer were inevitable. The girl put some of her anger aside and looked towards Sun.
"It just doesn't feel good losing to somebody so many times in a row," explained Moon.
"Yeah, I kinda know," answered Sun.
Battling against somebody as good as Brendan and losing two times in a row were demeaning for Sun. Despite how much it hurt him to lose both times, it helped him to cope with the problems he had been dealing with.
Moon had absolutely no idea what he was talking about, but there was some self pity in Sun's eyes. Seeing that made her believe what he was saying and almost got rid of her anger altogether.
Sun discarded his pity to continue teaching Moon.
"So let's go over what went wrong," suggested the boy.
"Ok." The girl nodded a little.
Sun could easily interpret that she was still a little sensitive, so he would need to pick his words carefully.
"You had a good idea with how fast your Minior was moving," started the teacher, "but I think you panicked near the end and lost control."
Trusting her teacher's words, Moon accepted his logic. Their experience during the initial meeting also provided more weight to his point about her stability.
"So I need to keep calm throughout the whole battle?" An affirming nod was given from Sun.
"That's right! You should also focus on what Pokemon you're fighting against." The black-haired boy pulled out the pokeball with his Vikavolt. "Charlie focuses on special attacks, which made it easy to hit your Minior from a distance."
Admittedly, his student had difficulty comprehending that tip. "But Vikavolts have low defense."
Sun blinked few times, caught in the spotlights by that counterpoint. A Minior's attacking power would usually be enough to deal with a Vikavolt.
Charlie was exempt from this due to the amount of training that he and Sun had been through. All the boy could do was sheepishly scratch the back of his head and grin to answer Moon's argument.
"Well...you're not wrong."
"Maybe we should take a break." Moon sighed and rubbed her head during her suggestion.
Remembering the signs that they had to put up, Sun had to agree with that idea. It would also be beneficial if Moon got some rest for her mind and if her Pokemon got some rest.
After retrieving and healing their Pokemon, the two started moving westward down towards Hau'Oli city.
A picture of Moon's face and a passage explaining the situation of her being found were not much. However, it was the most they could go off of considering that her amnesia kept her from most of her memory. Even her last name was currently an enigma.
Areas like Pokemon Centers and schools would draw plenty of people in. Somebody would surely come by and recognize Moon.
'Still not sure why we needed to put a sign at the school,' thought Sun as he picked up his stack of papers.
Displaying great determination and stamina was on Moon's agenda. She was already ahead and placing up more posters than Sun was. Having Kale outside of her Pokeball to help out also gave her much determination.
"You're excited for this," commented the boy.
"Well, yeah," said the girl in return. "I remember having a lot of good times in Hau'oli City. Somebody's bound to recognize me."
"That makes sense. I just don't know why you didn't put that kind of energy into our battles."
Criticism was answered with a stuck out tongue and closed eyes. This was mimicked by her Buneary.
The distribution of posters evenly continued down the road. Moon's work ethic didn't diminish even slightly, in spite of the fact that none of the people took notice of the signs they were putting up.
Sun felt some compulsion to question the inconsistency with Moon's claim that somebody would notice her , but something stopped him.
The brunette girl stopped in her tracks, faced towards a brick wall, and gasped loudly. An action like this would easy to dismiss if Kale didn't also do it with her ears perked up.
'What? What's gotten into them?' A possible answer came to him as quickly as the question did. 'Is there somebody they recognize?'
Eager to find answers, Sun turned his eyes towards whatever had stolen the scene.
All he could notice on the wall was a poster of a person wearing red and yellow spiky gear and holding a microphone.
'Oh...That's what she was looking at.' Tension instantly evaporated from his viewpoint. 'I think that guy battled me last week.'
While the boy was disappointed by the sudden reveal of the situation, the girl was struck with awe and her eyes practically becoming hearts.
"Ryuki! He's so cool!" Kale shared her trainer's fan girl hype to some extent.
"Eh, he's okay," said Sun. There wasn't too much appreciation for music in his life, so he couldn't take part in the admiration.
"Oh, come on! How can you say that?" Retorted the girl happily in an effort to convince her friend. "Have you ever seen anyone sing on stage with a Dragonite that can play the guitar so well?!"
Playing a musical instrument with short claws was an accomplishment worth praise. However, Sun had already battled Ryuuki and wasn't impressed.
"That is kind of cool. But that Dragonite got one-shot by Charlie," explained the Champion.
Moon didn't accept the criticism or opposing opinion about her idol's talent; she just huffed and turned away for a moment.
That disapproval was dismissed when she connected the dots. Sun had battled Ryuki before.
Ominously, she turned back to her friend.
"You...met him?"
With some small concern, mostly spawned from seeing Kale back away, Sun realized that he might face something brutal in the next few seconds.
"Well, yeah, he-," Suddenly, he was stopped from saying anything else. Moon rushed over and grabbed his shoulders; while donning an expression of pure determination, she shook him violently.
"YOU HAVE TO GET ME HIS AUTOGRAPH!"
Faster than an aqua jet and more potent than a Bewear, Moon's fan girl hype was amongst the most powerful forces in Alola.
Sun managed to dislodge himself from the death grip and recalibrate his senses. There was no concern for how he felt from his friend.
Said friend abruptly pulled a 180 in her methods of convincing Sun for that autograph.
"Please?" Big pleading eyes from Moon were a little more effective than violently shaking him.
"Alright, alright. Just calm down." The girl flashed a jubilant smile.
"Thanks! You're the best!" The reality of what she did quickly impacted her. "Uh, sorry about that. I get a little excited about Ryuki."
An exasperated sigh escaped from Sun. Even Kale seemed a little embarrassed an exhausted at her trainer's behavior.
There was now literally no doubt in Sun's mind about this girl, she was an emotional rollercoaster unlike anything he had seen before.
Even Lusamine started to have more stability to him than Moon did thus far. Despite that, he still felt sympathy to help her become stronger and stay with her for a while.
Moon was in a similar situation to what Lillie was going through. The boy just couldn't leave her after everything he and Lillie had been through.
"It's ok," said the boy calmly. "Let's just get the rest of these put up."
"Right."
Moon turned around to gather the posters that fell to the ground during her overhype. A helping hand was offered to her by Kale; her Pokemon had some appreciation and concern for her to stick through such an embarrassing situation.
Being beside friends like Kale and Sun reassured the girl that the results would eventually turn out good in the end.
After picking up the posters, Moon noticed a person who was looking directly at her.
It was a woman, much taller than Moon was. She had very pale skin and blue hair, which was hanging out of the peculiar helmet that she was wearing. Said helmet was decorated with white and navy blue, as was the rest of the jumpsuit she was wearing. The most peculiar feature about this person was the fact that she had some shades obscuring her eyes with only a small black slit for vision.
"Uh...hi." Moon tried to make a good first impression, but the mysterious lady made no response. "Can we-"
She was abruptly cut off when the lady pointed her finger towards Moon.
"I've found you!"
Thanks for reading this chapter. I hope you liked it. If you had anything to say, please leave a review. Please follow and favorite to stay up to date!