It isn't pathetic and clingy to miss Kiawe only a few hours after leaving him, right? Loihi thought to herself as she watched the waves. She could see Melemele Island, specifically Hau'oli City. She had been there once before, so she wasn't impressed, but the city wasn't bad either. The ferry and the bustling shopping district were its main attractions.
Who am I kidding? That's totally pathetic and clingy. Probably. I need a second opinion.
Loihi pulled two pokeball from her bag and quickly pressed the buttons on the center, facing them away from her. The pokeballs opened, and shot twin beams of white light at the ground. The light took the shape of a feathered red pokemon with black designs along its wings and body, and a yellow pokemon with green fur on its hump back.
"Numel, Oricorio," Loihi said. The ship had a weight limit to what Pokémon she could bring out, so she didn't try bringing out her starter. "You two miss Kiawe- and the others, right?"
Numel nodded, sniffing the wooden floor of the deck as if wondering if he could burn it. Numel bumped his nose on the floor, before frowning at it as if he had just been scolded.
"Be careful, klutz." Loihi told him. "It's a good thing you're so tough, or you'd be in a permanent cast. What say you, Oricorio? And stop snickering, you little twerp."
Oricorio let out one last chuckle, before nodding as well.
"See, I'm not clingy or pathetic." Loihi said triumphantly. Numel and Oricorio seemed confused, sharing a look.
"No one asked either of you-" Loihi stopped.
"Ori?" Oricorio asked.
Loihi looked around. "I just realized. The boat isn't moving anymore. What could-"
"Numel!" Loihi was tackled to the ground, but she looked up in time to see something black shoot over her head.
"Thanks Numel." Loihi grunted, pushing him off of her. She stood up and faced the direction of the attack.
Observe your opponents. Loihi heard Kiawe in her head (when was he not?) Everything is important.
It was a boy and girl in all black. They didn't seem to have matching outfits besides the color. The boy wore ripped black jeans and a black t-shirt, while the girl wore a short black dress. She had a diamond stud earrings, as did the boy.
In front of them were two Raticate,their black fur glistening in the sun.
"Who do think you are?" Loihi asked furiously. "That attack could have killed me!"
"Relax," The boy said, "it was just meant to stun you. That Numel is surprisingly fast."
"Not that you don't deserve it." The girl sneered.
"Brimi, relax." The boy said. "She probably doesn't know. That's why we're not hurting her. I'm Luke, by the way. L"
"What don't I know?" Loihi demanded.
Brimi raised an eyebrow. "Do you watch the news?"
Loihi shrugged. "Not really." she said.
"Well, the short of it is that the company that owns this boat has a bit of controversy around it right now." Luke said. "They said some horrible things. We're here to make a statement."
Loihi vaguely remembered hearing something like that, but that didn't calm her. "So you're hear to… Protest? Can't you just make a petition like everyone else?"
Brimi crossed her arms. "Petitions are ignored. And besides, we're not hurting anyone. We're just putting them to sleep."
Loihi balled her fists. "But stealing is still stealing. Especially if you steal from people who just work for the person you're mad at, who've done nothing wrong."
Luke crossed his arms as well. "You're right, but sometimes you have to do dark things for the greater good. And for our cause, we'll be as dark as we have to be."
"Dark?" Loihi muttered. That was a specific way to phrase it.
"Never mind." Luke said. "Why don't you just return your pokemon, and I'll explain it all."
"Cmon, we don't have all day." Brimi insisted.
Loihi sighed, but she wanted to smile. This was going to be fun. "Neither do I. I have some scrubs to meet, and that means this boat needs to dock. I'll give you one chance. Get out of my way."
Brimi laughed. "On the other side of the boat there's four more of us. All we have to do is call them. You don't have a prayer to stand on."
Loihi looked at Oricorio, then at Numel. She pulled out a third Pokémon.
"Looks like we're gonna have to break some rules." Loihi told them. "And some protesters too. Go, Turtonator!"
Api wondered when Loihi and Everest would be there. He was there first and someone else was late. How unprecedented.
To be honest, Api wasn't looking forward to meeting them. Not that he thought they would be horrible- who knows how they would be- but because he was horrible. He was terrible at meeting people. Or social interaction in general. Okay, maybe he was exaggerating. He made tons of friends, but most of them were from school or other Montubers he did collabs with. He didn't really have a best friend or anything, but he did have quite a few friends.
They had agreed to meet at the Pokemon Center nearby the airport and the docks. But neither of them were here-
"Hi! I'm Everest Montgomery and I love Pokémon!"
Api looked up. Above him, with his arm extended toward Api, was a boy with blue hair so light it was almost white. He wore a blue button up that obviously came from a gift shop, with a pattern of melting ice cubes on it instead of the stereotypical flower print. His darker blue shorts, however, did have white flower designs. He also wore sunglasses atop his head and simple sandals on his feet.
Api nearly gagged. He looked like every stereotypical and annoying tourist Api had ever met. Great. This was going to go well.
Api forced a grin, grabbing the boys hand and shaking it. The boy's hands were calloused, which Api found weird for a kid who supposedly came from a rich family and had no job.
"Looks like you raided a gift shop." Api told him in Unovan. Api only spoke Unovan and Alolan, but rule of thumb among travelers was that they probably knew Unovan. "I'm Api Hanala, future Pokemon Champion."
"And Montuber." Everest said in highly accented Alolan.
"You speak Alolan?" Api said, eyebrow raised.
Everest nodded. "Totally." Everest said. "I speak Alolan, Kalosian, Kantish and Unovan. That's why I chose Alola for my research project."
"Which is?" Api asked.
Everest's eyes seemed to sparkle. Api loved that- he saw the same thing in other creators all the time. It was the raw passion and excitement when someone asks you about your favorite thing, the rush when you speak about something you enjoyed doing. "I'm studying Alolan Forms vs. their native forms. But everyone who comes to Alola does that, after all. So I'm studying something more."
"Like what?" Api asked.
Everest shook his head. "I'd love to tell you, but if my theory is correct- lets just say that I don't want to share it unless it's correct."
Api understood that too, as a creator. The desire to not share your work unless you're finished. It had to be perfect.
"So what about you?" Everest asked. "You're a Montuber with like, a Quadrillion views and 1,001,087 subscribers. You're verified on Pikipeki and you were just trending on Thunder last week. You're basically a celebrity!"
Api laughed. Everest wasn't hard to talk to- it was like talking to a supporter, which Api was used to. And a lot of his friends started out as supporters anyway. "Not quite, but I'm flattered. Oh, that reminds me. I wanted to introduce you and Loihi to my followers. If you want, that is. I mean, not everyone likes being on camera so I always ask first-"
"I'd love to!" Everest squealed. "We have to go find Loihi right now! This is epic!"
Api frowned. "Yeah. She should be here." Api opened his Holo and looked at the time. She was half an hour late.
"We can meet her at the docks." Everest suggested. "The ship might be late."
Api nodded, checking his Pikipeki. He cursed. "Or the ship could be taken over by protesters and can't dock."
"What?" Everest asked.
"People are tweeting about it like crazy- some protesters have taken hostages." Api said. "We have to go help her!"
Everest shook his head. "Let the police handle it-"
"But they can't make it on to the boat." Api said. "That's what this article says. The protesters are fighting them back. We at least need to go there. It's close by. C'mon!"
Api took off running, Everest running behind him.
It took them only a few minutes to get to the docks. A crowd had formed, held back by officers.
"Everest, I can't see!" Api complained.
"Well, you are short and there's a crowd." Everest babbled. "Um... I can barely see... Are the Police fighting the protesters?!"
Api crossed his arms. "We have to get on that boat. We're trainers- it's our job to help out the police in times of crisis."
"Only if they request it." Everest exclaimed. "Besides, we-"
Suddenly, everyone started cheering. Api and Everest pushed people out of the way to see.
Standing on the deck with three Pokemon was a girl. Her black hair was short and spiky, and she wore jean shorts and a red top.
Laying at her feet were her opponents Pokemon.
"Is that Loihi?" Everest asked in awe.
"Yeah it is."
A/N: All bow before Loihi. Reader Question Time! What Pokemon would you like to see the main three catch? The sky is the limit!
Happy Sun and Moon day everyone! Hope you all are having fun! And for those who don't have it yet, I feel you.
Okay I'll keep my hands to myself and get on with it.
Also, I don't have the games yet and I won't have them for a week or two, so no spoilers in your reviews! Though if it's a Pokemon's name that hasn't been revealed, that's okay.
And before anyone jumps down my throat about how there are protests going on right now in America and I made this chapter to make a political statement, keep in mind that I've been planning this for months, way before all that's going on. Trust me, if I want to make a political statement I'll straight up tell you.
The many social media references are because I love the idea of social media in the Pokemon universe. Heck, I love putting anything in the Pokemon universe that normally isn't there.
Here are the websites mentioned and their real life counterparts:
Thunder = Tumblr
Pikipeki = Twitter
Montube = Youtube
And the languages used are counterparts to real languages:
Kantonish = Japanese
Alolan= Hawaiian
Unovan= English
Kalosian = French
Oh, and Fanfiction is still acting weird with it's spacing. I tried to fix it but I may have missed something.