"Warning Call" - CHVRCHES

I hear it / Echoing of every place that we've called our home / And I don't talk / Of any time I ever believed in the unknown / I need it

"Rowlet! Use astonish!" I shouted, pointing forward to add dramatic effect. We had managed to get to Route Two fairly quickly with the help of some friendly locals who were more than willing to point us in the right direction. We must've been traveling down the forest trail for a few short hours when we ran into a Growlithe, who would become an excellent addition to my team. A fire-type would add better type coverage for when I got the hang of battling other trainers. I had beaten Hau with ease back in Hau'oli, but that was because he had a Popplio so I had the advantage with Rowlet.

Rowlet swooped low to attack the wild Growlithe, lashing out with his sharp talons. The Growlithe cried out as it was hit, being flung back into a small tree with a hard thud. Now it was my chance to catch it!

I yanked an empty pokéball from my backpack, chucking it at the passed out pokémon that was sprawled out on the forest floor. The Growlithe disappeared inside with a red light, and the ball jiggled back and forth for a little bit. I held my breath in anticipation, leaning in closer to watch the center button for confirmation of a successful capture.

The center clicked and the pokéball stopped moving.

"Zrrt! You caught Growlithe!" Rotom cheered. "Great job, Sun!"

"Yay!" I yelled out in triumph. "Thanks Rowlet for your help!"

Rowlet hooted in delight and flew up to perch himself back on my left shoulder, which was quickly becoming his favorite spot.

"C'mon out, Growlithe," I said, holding out the pokéball, deciding that I'd be the kind of trainer who lets their pokémon roam outside of their balls.

The ball opened and in a flash of white light, Growlithe jumped out and landed on the soft grass, woofing and wagging his tail up at us. "Woof!"

"Zrrt! He says that it's nice to meet you," Rotom translated. I was glad that Rotom spoke both pokémon-language and English. It would be way easier to understand my pokémon and help them out better with whatever they are wanting at the moment. "Growlithe, zrrt, evolves when it comes into contact with a fire stone, which are on Akala Island. He evolves into Arcanine and will learn the move Extremespeed which is always guaranteed to hit first. Super cool!"

Awesome, so that left me with both a grass and a fire-type on my team. Considering that I officially started my pokémon journey just a few hours ago, I'd say that I was making significant progress. Kukui earlier had informed me that Alola doesn't do the traditional gym challenge that I had witnessed back in Kanto. Instead, people do the island challenge, in which the they travel all over the islands of Alola and perform challenges set by a trial captain. Once they complete the seven challenges, they re-battle the island kahunas and become an island champion. Odd, but the idea of experiencing something completely foreign was a bit exciting. On the other hand, my mind kept wandering back to Lillie's cryptic warning about Team Skull. If they were anything like New Team Rocket, then perhaps Alola wasn't as safe as my parents had painted it out to be. I shivered and placed a ginger hand on the back of my neck, feeling the scars that marred it but were hidden by my hair.

Back in Vermillion City, New Team Rocket had attacked one day, wanting to intercept an import of ultra balls from the Kalos Pokéball Factory. As soon as the cargo ship docked, there was an explosion near the pier. Dozens of people and pokémon fled in fear, creating total chaos. I had been out in town, walking home from school when all the commotion began. I'd dropped my backpack and sprinted in the direction of the Vermillion Gym because it was a lot closer to me than my house; plus, I figured that it'd be a whole lot safer there with Dad and the gym trainers. Unfortunately, I wasn't fast enough and was soon swallowed up by the rushing crowd of panicked people. New Team Rocket, being the vicious and bloodthirsty anarchists that they are, unleashed some of their fiercest pokémon into the crowd. A Donphan began to rollout in the scared masses, trampling some while sending others flying off in the distance. Electrode were released and began self-destructing, blowing buildings and those within them up into bits. It was utter and sheer chaos and destruction unlike anything I'd ever seen in real life. I'd seen action movies that had people running down the street in fear from some kind of maniacal enemy, but I had believed that that belonged in the cinema only. Yet, there I was, running in the crowd, getting shoved as I struggled to remain on my feet, the gym only a short block away. I can't remember the exact moment due to the fact that my brain was already struggling to process what was happening around me, so literally I was seeing the gym in my view and in an instant I was looking at the sky, then the ground, the sky, ground… An Arbok had sunk its fangs into the back of my neck, thrashing its head around, making me move as if I were a rag doll. The poison began to set in, making my vision grow black and my muscles begin to ache. Eventually, I had stopped struggling and I felt the Arbok coil its long, purple body around me, beginning to squeeze with all its might. "Raichu! Thunderbolt!" I felt a jolt of electricity rip through my body at a painful speed. My skin burned and I screamed out in terror and fear, but the Arbok loosed its deathgrip on me, slithering off. I had blacked out, and had woken up four days later in a hospital in Saffron. The doctor had told me that the poison had entered my bloodstream and I had almost died. It took multiple Blissey eggs to build my strength back up, which worked after a couple days (and they even made me a little more upbeat, I thought). It was when I was lying in the hospital bed, hooked up to machines, a Chansey checking my vitals and an Alakazam using Psychic on my veins to ensure that there was no residual poison in them, that my parents told me about their plan to ship me off to Alola where it would be safe. I had immediately agreed.

Thus, the idea of there being a gang of pokémon outlaws in Alola terrified me. Even worse: I was all by myself. I smiled over at Rotom, Growlithe, and Rowlet. Sure, I was with my pokémon and PokéDex, but it wasn't the same as having another person by my side. Back in Kanto, I had planned on having my journey with a couple of friends at school, and the idea was exciting. However, I was now having my adventure all by myself. It definitely would have put my mind at ease regarding Team Skull if I was traveling with someone. Shoot, even if I were traveling with that Guzma guy from the ferry. He may have had a tough façade and all, but I bet that he had a nice personality and would have made an awesome companion. Plus, he looked like he could kick the ass of any Team Skull thug that came along.

However, Team Skull quickly began to be the least of my worries as the tropical sun began to set and the forest grew darker, the shadows growing larger with each passing second. "Uh, Rotom, are there any ghost-type pokémon out here?" I asked, shaking a bit due to the dropping temperature and my nerves.

"Zrrt! Definitely," he said. "In fact, we are close to Hau'oli Cemetery where a lot of them like to congregate."

Oh crap. "W-well, why don't we pick up the pace then, huh?" I moved to a near sprint, pumping my arms in order to keep up pace. Rowlet flew ahead and Growlithe had an easy time staying by my side, his tongue lolling out of his mouth as he ran. It didn't take long for us to come up to a house that rested on the edge of the forest. It seemed out of place, especially considering that Hau'oli City was at least a half-day's trek. Shrugging to myself, I deduced that this must've been the house that Kukui intended for me to stay at for the night. I'd planned on only staying here for one night, and then I'd go on my journey, resting in motels for the rest of the way. Before I had left Kanto, my dad gave me a couple hundred dollars, and then I could get more money in pokémon battles. Therefore, paying for motels wouldn't be too hard. Plus, I really wasn't looking forward to camping out in the wilderness without a shower or electricity. I love nature, but I also like civilization. And on a side note, why would I sleep outside with Team Skull out there?

I walked up to the front door and rang the doorbell. It didn't take too long for a man and woman who appeared like they were in their early fifties or late forties to answer. The man eyed me up and down and Rowlet trembled on my shoulder. "Yeah?" he grunted.

I loudly swallowed and flexed my fingers. "Um, I'm Sun from Kanto," I introduced myself. "Professor Kukui told me—"

"Oh!" the woman interjected, perking up. "You're the one that Kukui was talking about. Well, why don't you come in before the Drifloon come out." She gently pushed her husband to the side and swung open the door for me.

"Thank you," I breathed, thankful that I had the right house and that at least the wife had a welcoming attitude to counteract her husband's cold demeanor. I held out my pokéballs to return Rowlet and Growlithe.

"Oh, Deary, there's no need for that," she said, waving her hand. "This is a pokémon friendly house. Besides, you wouldn't believe the pokémon that my son used to bring home." She ushered us inside her home, leading us into the living room which was OCD-clean. There wasn't a speck of dust to be seen, the TV screen was neatly polished, and the bookshelf was neatly organized in alphabetical order with each book spine perfectly erect. "He'd bring home Caterpies, Ledybas, Surskits, and his favorite, Wimpod." She chuckled and turned to her husband who was sitting in a rocking chair, face glued to some program on the TV. "Honey, do you remember when our boy brought Wimpod over for the first time? Poor guy was so scared of everything, he wouldn't leave my son's room." The wife spoke of her son's shenanigans with such fondness, all the while earning sneers from the husband. It was kind of uncomfortable. Maybe this was what Guzma had mentioned earlier about these people being out there.

"Worthless kid…" the husband grumbled.

The wife didn't hear him. She turned to me, a smile still on her face. "Why don't you put your stuff in the room," she suggested. "I just made soup. It'll be in the kitchen when you're ready."

"Thank you," I said.

"Zrrt! Thanks for your hospitality!" Rotom said.

I walked towards the back of the house and into a room that was filled with stale air. There was a thick coat of dust covering nearly everything in the room, making a stark contrast from the rest of the immaculate home. I turned on the light and marveled at how many trophies there were in front of the window. "Wow," I said, dropping my backpack on the floor and walking over to them. Each one was dusted over and had some cobwebs on them. I picked one up, reading the small inscription on it: Pokémon Double Battles, First Place. All of them were for first place in several forms of pokémon battling. The son must've been a really strong trainer if he had so many trophies. "Hey, Rotom. Do you know who the son is here?" I asked, curious if he knew a little more about the people of Alola as well as the pokémon.

"Zrrt! Was he a pokémon?" he asked, plugging himself into an outlet that was by the cluttered desk.

I shook my head. "I don't think so." Rowlet perched himself on one of the bedposts and Growlithe had jumped up on the bed, circling around before lying down on the gray comforter.

"Hmm, perhapz he'z the Champion!" Rotom gasped, a picture of a lightbulb flashing on his screen. "The Professor told me that he was establishing a Pokémon League here in Alola, so maybe the son is the Champion if he has so many trophiez."

Makes sense. How cool would it be if I were staying in the room of the Alolan Champion? "Were any of you coming out for soup?" I asked my resting teammates.

"Zrrt! We think that there'z something off about that guy out there, so no," Rotom said. "But by all means, have fun!" He shut down and lied down on a bunch of papers that were on the desk.

Well, I guess that they did have a point. Nevertheless, I made my way out of the room and into the kitchen where the wife was ladling some soup out into bowls. She looked up at me and smiled. "So, Sun," she said, "you must be excited to take on your first trial, right?"

I nodded. "Yeah, the trails are different from what I've experienced back home, but they sound fun." I sat down at the table and was served my soup. I took a sip of it after blowing on it; it was actually pretty good. "Thank you."

"Sure thing," she beamed. She sat down at the table too, the husband still in the living room. "So, the first trial is in Verdant Cavern. The captain is Ilima and it focuses on normal-type pokémon, so make sure you know a fighting-type move."

I bit my lower lip. Rowlet and Growlithe didn't know a fighting-type move, so I would have to either catch another pokémon, or train them up so that I could boost some of their stats. The wife seemed to know a lot about pokémon battling in Alola, so perhaps her son inherited her skills. That brought my attention back to the trophies that were in the room. "If you don't mind me asking," I said, "where is your son? He must be really far in his pokémon journey by now." I leaned forward in my seat, eager to hear if I was staying in the house that belonged to the Champion.

The wife shook her head and her smile faltered for a brief second. "Oh, he moved out a few years ago," she said, her eyes darting over to the living room. "He'd already taken the island challenge and beat it, but couldn't become a captain like he had wanted to. So now he does, um, other things."

Oh, so he wasn't the Champion…

"Damn brat ran away," the husband growled as he walked into the kitchen to grab a bowl of soup. "And he fucked up all my golf clubs, too."

The wife bit her lower lip and stared down at her bowl in front of her. Obviously the son was a sore subject for them, so I decided to change the topic of conversation. "So… um, when I got off the ferry, I heard about a group of people called Team Skull," I said. "Do you guys know anything about them?"

The wife shoved herself away from the table. "I'm going to bed," she groaned as she scurried out of the kitchen.

I cocked my eyebrow and looked over at the husband in confusion.

He huffed and lumbered over to the table, sitting down where his wife had previously sat. "Team Skull is a gang of rebellious kids led by a lousy scumbag who never went anywhere in life," he snarled, spitting when he mentioned the boss. "They vandalize stores, rob people, and steal pokémon all for the sake of anarchy. There's no point to it at all. Makes no damn sense at all."

I nodded to myself, rubbing my hand on the scars on my neck. "So they're dangerous?" I asked. The way the husband spoke of them made it sound as if Team Skull was more of a nuisance than a threat.

He sharply exhaled. "Yeah, you could say that," he muttered. "The grunts are useless, but that boss." He shook his head with disgust. "That boss needs a good ass-kicking. You'll stay away from them at all costs if you know what's good for you."

The rest of dinner was spent in awkward silence. I kept my eyes glued to my bowl of soup in front of me. When I was finished, I washed my dishes and scurried off into the bedroom, locking the door behind me. Rowlet and Growlithe were fast asleep and Rotom was still charging himself. I stripped to my boxer briefs and undershirt, jumping into the bed with an exaggerated sigh of relief at being able to lie down after a long day of walking through the forest. The bed smelt of cheap body spray, almost as if the son had bathed in the stuff. It was faint enough thanks to time so that it wasn't so overbearing and was actually a little nice. I buried my nose into the pillow taking a big whiff of the stuff that had hints of ocean air. Perhaps the son had a water-type pokémon on his team. The aroma was soothing and I felt all my apprehension about Team Skull and the husband disappear in an instant. It was almost as if the scent of the son's bed was made for me, made to comfort me and protect me from all my worries.

I chuckled at my corny thoughts and closed my eyes, ready to fall asleep and eager to start my first trial the next day.

— — —

"Hooo! Hooo!" Rowlet called out, pecking sharply at my head.

"Wha-?" I wondered, struggling to gather my senses as I sat up in the bed that belonged to the son of the couple who were generous enough to let me stay over. I glanced around the room which was pitch black as it was still nighttime out.

Growlithe sat up and unleashed a low growl, his hair standing up on his back. His gaze was directed towards the window.

"What's wrong, guys?" I asked them, leaning forward to look outside the window, but it was no use. It was too dark outside and I couldn't see anything expect for my faint reflection in the glass.

"Zrrt! Rowlet said he saw a guy outside and Growlithe said he can hear the husband talking to someone," Rotom said. He turned to Growlithe, who stopping growling and had his ears perked up. "What are they talking about?"

Growlithe's ears twitched and he was silent. Even Rowlet stopped pecking me and cocked his head to the side, holding out his ear. "Woof!" Growlithe barked.

"That's it?"

"Woof!"

"Zrrt! He sayz the guy is threatening the husband," Rotom answered.

"What?" I panicked, desperately thinking up a way I could try to help the husband out. Guzma had mentioned that Rowlet's leafage would be good in a pinch. I could ask Growlithe to use ember so that he could light the leaves on fire, making them like a horde of flaming arrows to attack the intruder.

Growlithe made a confused noise, cocking his head to the side.

"Really?" Rotom asked him. "Weird! Zrrt!"

"What's wrong?" I whimpered, trying to see out the dark window, but it still proved unsuccessful.

"Zrrt! Growlithe said that the man was threatening the husband if he hurtz you," Rotom said, a question mark flashing on his screen.

"Woof! Growlithe!"

"He said 'If you lay a finger on Sun, I will personally kill you as painfully and slowly as possible.' Who could it be?"

What the hell? I was at a loss for words. I virtually knew nobody in Alola, so who on earth would be threatening someone they hurt me? I struggled to come up with someone, but was unable to think up a face. I crouched back down in the bed, pulling the covers up to my nose, shaking a little with fear as I strained my ears to hear the conversation going on, but my hearing was as strong as Growlithe's so my attempts proved futile. All I could do was lie in the son's bed, trying to calm myself down. It was the first night on my own, so it was only natural that I'd be a little scared. It was kind of nice to know that whoever was outside didn't want any harm to come to me, but did that mean that the husband did? Foolishly, I took another whiff of the sea salty aroma of the son's pillow, thinking that it'd help calm my nerves. It actually did take the edge off a little bit.

The rational side of my brain told me to just ignore it and leave early in the morning when I was well rested. However, the scared shitless part of me shrieked at me that I had to get out of this house as soon as possible.

Growlithe made a small whimper and glanced over at me and then to Rotom, tilting his head.

Rotom's screen flashed a picture of a large green flying-type pokémon. "Zrrt! Xatu," he said, seemingly answering a question that Growlithe had asked, "the Mystic Pokémon. Legend says that its left eye sees the past while its right sees the future."

I perked up. I've heard about Xatu. They were common in the Johto region and many trainers often consulted them when they had questions about important life-decisions because the pokémon could see the future and then show the trainer the answer telepathically. Plus, they were a popular attraction at carnivals. "Is there a Xatu outside?" I asked. Man, I wish I could talk to pokémon, then I wouldn't feel so left in the dark.

Growlithe raised his snout, sniffing the air before shaking his head. "Woof!"

"He sayz that the person outside mentioned a Xatu from a long time ago and the husband left to come back inside afterwardz."

"So is the guy gone from outside?" I wondered, my heartbeat finally beginning to slow down.

Growlithe nodded and I crashed back onto the bed, relieved.

"Rotom, can you set an alarm for hella early in the morning so we can book it as soon as the sun's up?" I asked.

"Zrrt! I'm not an alarm clock," Rotom frowned.

"Hoot! Hoot!" Rowlet called out, flapping his wings.

"He said that he'll do it because he'z nocturnal."

"Thank you, Rowlet," I said, patting him on the head, his feathers feeling more like wood chips than actual feathers. I closed my eyes and attempted to fall asleep, but my mind had so many questions that it was almost impossible. Eventually, I managed to get some rest, but it seemed like I blinked and then Rowlet was pecking at my head, waking me up because the sun was starting to rise.

"Hoot!" He called out, even beating on my face with his wings.

"I'm up," I groaned, rubbing the sleep from my eyes. Growlithe was still out and Rotom was off, still charging himself. I crawled out of the bed and went to the bathroom to shower and get ready to bounce. I had planned on just leaving a thank you note for the couple that way I could just get out of their hair without any awkwardness, but as soon as I left the bathroom, towel around my waist, I overheard the husband talking to someone out in the living room.

"…he's in the bedroom, go see for ya self," he growled, stomping his feet towards what I assumed was the couch.

"Fine, but if there's one hair outta place, I'ma beat the shit outta ya," said another guy who had a rough-sounding voice that was oddly familiar. Perhaps this was the guy who was arguing with the husband outside last night! I strained my ears, but didn't hear anymore talking.

To my surprise, Guzma (why was he here?) rounded the corner and was going to make his way down the hall when he caught me standing there, wet from my shower with a towel around my waist. He froze, his dark eyes wide and cheeks turning red. "Uhh…" he mumbled. He spun around in his heels. "Get dressed and meet me outside."

"O-okay!" I called out to him as he sauntered away. The front door slammed shut and I rushed into the bedroom to put some clothes on. I hurriedly dressed, waking up my team as I rushed about the room. As I was slipping my shoes on, I spotted a dusty can of body spray on the desk that was probably left over from the son. Granted he wore way too much as evident through its lingering presence in the room, it still smelt kinda good. I couldn't resist, and without a moment's hesitation, I squirted a little bit of the body spray on myself and shoved the can in my backpack to use later on my journey. It smelt pretty good on me since I used a small dose. My pokémon and I rushed out the room, pausing to see the husband in the rocking chair reading the newspaper.

He glanced up from the paper at me, scowling. "Good luck," he grumbled.

"Thank you for your hospitality," I said, bowing.

"Yeah, yeah," he scoffed. "Just be careful around that guy. He's no good, ya hear?"

"Uh, sure." I scurried out of the house and ran into Guzma who was waiting in the front yard, his hands in the pockets of his cut-off sweats. This time he wore a black, short-sleeve jacket over his tank and had a large gold chain on. The amulet on it looked like a cartoonish skull that was meant to look like of like an S at the same time. Neat, I guess.

Guzma looked up at me, smirking and bobbing his head forward to acknowledge my presence. "So, long time no see, eh?" he smirked.

"Yeah," I said, a little confused as to why he was here. "How'd you find me?"

"Zrrt! And why?" Rotom interjected, totally asking another question that I had in the back of my mind. Guzma was a nice guy, I guess. But I had only known him for, like, thirty minutes on the ferry. Therefore, why would he feel compelled to come seek me out on Route Two?

The redness deepened on Guzma's face and he kicked at the ground. "Well, Route Two ain't that big," he said. "And I figured you'd be startin' your trials today, right?"

I nodded. Growlithe began to growl and the hair on his back began to stand up as he bared his teeth. "Growlithe!" I scolded, holding up his pokéball, returning him. I turned back to Guzma, a sheepish look on my face. "I'm sorry! We didn't sleep too well last night—"

"That guy give ya a hard time?" Guzma asked, referring to the husband. "Want me to talk to him?" He puffed out his chest, attempting to look bigger and therefore more intimidating. It worked. If I hadn't known him a little bit, I would've been scared shitless; even though I was familiar with him on a small level, my heart sped up and my palms grew sweaty under his glare.

"No! No!" I hurried, worried that I might've accidentally put a hit out on the husband. "It's just that Growlithe said that he heard some people outside talking and it kinda spooked us."

Guzma pursed his lips and nodded in thought, crossing his arms over his beefy chest. "Well," he said, his voice slow and calculating, "good job on catching another pokémon, first off."

"Thank you."

"And second, the trials here have totem pokémon, which are tons stronger than ya standard 'mon that you'll find out in the wild, so ya need to train. And as Alola's strongest trainer, I'm here to help ya." He held his arms out as if he were displaying goods at a store.

"You're the Champion?" I asked incredulously. This was so cool! I knew the Alolan Champion! I jumped away from the house and ran up to Guzma, eager for my first lesson. It was awesome that the actual Champion was going to help me train my pokémon for my island journey.

"Um, no, Alola doesn't have a Champion yet," he said, shrugging. "But I ain't never lost a battle."

It must be because of Golisopod. That thing was a monster! "Cool!" I cheered. "Thank you so much! I didn't really know what to expect from my island journey because back home they have gyms, but Kukui told me that wan't the case here." I was practically jumping all over the guy like a star-struck teen fangirl. From an outsider's perspective, I must've looked downright pathetic. But becoming a gym leader has been my dream ever since I was a toddler, so being in the presence of a man who could train me to achieve that goal was gush-worthy.

At the mention of the professor, Guzma rolled his dark eyes. "Yeah, well, why don't we get a start on that training then." He put his massive hand on the small of my back and led me down the trail that led further into the forest of Route Two.

"Hoo…" Rowlet growled, pecking at Guzma's arm that was attached to me.

"Shit!" Guzma cried out, yanking back and glaring at my pokémon who glared back.

"Rowlet!" I scolded. "That wasn't nice, Guzma's a friend of ours. Now, apologize." I crossed my arms and looked at Rowlet expectantly.

Rowlet, without moving his lower body, swiveled his head to glance between me and Guzma, the latter scowling and holding his hand to his body. Rowlet turned up his head at Guzma and turned his back on him with an exaggerated huff.

My face burned with embarrassment. Why were my pokémon being rude to someone who said that they were going to help us on our island journey? "I'm sorry, Guzma," I began, throwing my hands up in exasperation.

"Don't sweat it," he said. "Dude here just wants to protect ya, I can respect that." He crouched down on his legs, holding out a large hand to Rowlet. "Hey Man, I won't hurt Sun. You have my word I won't let any harm come to him." He looked at me at that last part, his gray eyes locking onto mine. "I promise."

A shiver went down my spine. That guy sure was intense and set me on edge for some odd reason. Sure, I was grateful to have his help, but there was something a little off about him that I couldn't quite pinpoint. Dad had raised me to always be on my toes, and while I believed that to a certain degree his attitude stemmed from his time in war, he was the tiniest bit right. On the other hand, Mom preached that people were inherently good and thus it was okay to trust others. It may be my mom's blood in me, the massive amounts of Blissey eggs that I had to eat in the hospital in Kanto, or even just my own naïveté, but I made a mental note to just go along with Guzma. He didn't seem dangerous to me. Plus, it appeared that Rowlet had my back just in case things went south.

Rowlet looked down at his talons for a moment before turning around to shake Guzma's hand with one of his wings. "Hoot."

"Zrrt! He sayz that he'll kick your ass if you break your promise," Rotom translated, making my face grow scarlet by now.

Luckily, Guzma chuckled. "I like your guts, Man," he said, shaking Rowlet's wing. "It's a deal." He stood back up and led us further down the path, this time keeping his hands to himself. I hadn't seen anything wrong with it before. He was just being friendly and leading us to our destination. Apparently, Rowlet didn't like it and now my lower back felt oddly cold without Guzma's hand there. Weird.

"Hoot!" Rowlet cheered as he hopped back onto my shoulder.

"That'z right!" Rotom said. He floated closer to Guzma and looked up at him. "Mr. Guzma, can you protect us from Team Skull? Zrrt! Sun waz afraid of them all last night!"

I flinched and wanted so badly to bury myself into a hole. "I was not!" I lied, not wanting to look like a wimp in from of the pseudo-Alolan Champion. There'd be no way he'd want to train with us if he thought I was more cowardly than a Wimpod.

Guzma seemed to flinch as well. He rubbed the back of his neck and he blushed. "Um, sure," he mumbled. "I'll keep an eye out for 'em." He glanced back at me, looking me up and down, biting his lower lip.

Rotom flashed a thumb's up on his screen. "Zrrt! Thank you Mr. Guzma!" he exclaimed. "Now we don't have to worry about pokémon thieves on our adventure!"

"Yeah," I breathed, embarrassed, but still a little relieved that Guzma would protect us from the dreaded Team Skull. "Thank you." I patted the back of his shoulder graciously.

He nodded and set his jaw. "Mm-hm," he hummed. "Just stay close and I'll keep ya safe."

"Okay," I agreed, quickening my pace so that we were walking side by side. I even scooted a little closer, Guzma's swinging hand brushing up against mine every now and then, so perhaps I was too close. I stepped a little further away to the side so as not to invade his personal space.

Guzma frowned to himself, but led us onward to go on some awesome training expedition. This was awesome! I had made a friend in Alola! I wasn't technically traveling by myself anymore. I was finally on my pokémon adventure! And Guzma was going to help us out if we ever crossed paths with Team Skull! I could get used to traveling with him.