Miana was beyond elated, revelling in the harmonic coo's as her new Pokémon sang his little heart out. The others were quick to shower the two in congratulatories and praise, some wishing them all the best while others held high hopes for the new duo.
Kukui even presented Miana with gifts, her very own Pokédex and Trainer Passport, something one would usually have to wait weeks for after application before receiving. But this was different from any other Pokédex she'd seen before. The Professor called it a 'Rotomdex', which didn't really help to clarify things.
The Professor gave Miana a quick run-down of Rowlets and how to take care of one as the group made their way towards the exit of Iki Town. Try as hard as she might, Miana kept losing focus and missing a good chunk of Kukui's instructions, too caught up in cooing over the little feather ball laying curious, gentle pecks across the skin of her arm which held him in a tight embrace.
Before Kukui could pull the girl's attention back to him he'd had to quickly outstretch his arms to catch her as she was suddenly thrown back, Forrest chirping loudly in surprise as he was knocked into the air, struggling to stay air born with his stubby wings.
Miana laid in Kukui's hold for a moment as she tried to blink away the stars in her eyes, having the breath knocked out of her by whoever it was that caused the collision. She eventually stumbled to her feet after reassuring the Professor that she was all right. Her eyes travelled to the dark-skinned body laying flat on his back at her feet.
The boy groaned in suppressed agony and pulled his torso up while rubbing his head. When he caught sight of her he instantly leapt to his feet, surprising everyone except Kahuna Hala as he threw a hand out In Miana's direction and demanded, "Let's have a battle!"
It'd earned him a rightful scolding from the Island Kahuna, reminding him of his manners and that they should be used even when initiating Pokémon battles. Hau, as Miana had soon found out, at least had the decency to look sheepish while being scolded, but it quickly faded into a huge grin as he turned to her.
"So how about it?" Hau spoke up again. Miana opened her arms for Forrest to land in when she saw him teetering her way through the air, but he didn't quite make it, instead falling into a clumsy perch atop her head. "You'll battle me, right?"
"Sure," Miana agreed through grit teeth, quickly reaching up and gently plucking her Pokémon from atop her head, instantly sighing with relief as the sharp pin-point pressure of talons pressing into her scalp disappeared. She locked eyes with the new Trainer before her as she cradled Forrest, a determined smile gracing her pale features. "And I won't lose!"
"We'll see!" Hau laughed, jogging back a few paces before grinding his shoes into the dirt and pulling a Poké Ball from his pocket.
"This is our very first Pokémon battle, Forrest," Forrest swung his head towards Miana, neck twisting with ease to look directly at her. "Let's do our best and show Hau what we've got!"
Forrest cheeped his agreement, wriggling his way from his Trainer's arms and fluttering clumsily to the ground, hopping eagerly into position a few feet ahead.
Miana pulled her Rotomdex from her bag and held it in front of her Pokémon, mashing every and any button as she tried to figure out which one would show her what she wanted.
She eventually found it, taking note of the Rowlet's available moves before pocketing the Rotomdex and looking up to see Hau – and a Pokémon the same as the water-type Starter – ready and waiting.
"All right Forrest, you good to go?" Forrest stretched out his little wings and flapped them furiously, down feathers on his fluffy white chest puffing out in anticipation. "Then use Leafage!"
The Rowlet let out a loud cry as he jumped into the air, flapping up until he reached a sizable amount of height before arching his wings up and over his head, swooping them down sharply and bringing forth a barrage of paper thin leaves that whistled through the air as they sailed towards the Sea Lion Pokémon.
"Knock them away with Water Gun, Popplio!"
Hau's Popplio did a looping backflip, landing neatly on the flippers of her tail before lifting herself into the air and firing a gushing stream of water from her mouth at the oncoming leaves, efficiently throwing the Leafage off its path and allowing herself to narrowly avoid what would've been a super effective hit.
Miana smiled despite the misdirection of her Pokémon's attack, having already devised a new tactic. "Forrest, how fast do you think you can fly?"
Forrest swung his head back to look at her, face tipping vertically with a curious chirp.
"Get him now Popplio, while he's distracted!"
Forrest looked back to the battlefield with alarm, his steady pace of flapping now faltering as he tried to lift himself higher into the air. Popplio was having none of that though, somersaulting forward and landing squarely on the end of her tail before pushing off from the ground. The momentum easily carried her up to the panicking bird Pokémon's height.
Popplio waved a blue fin in greeting at Forrest, before twisting through the air and connecting her tail to the Rowlet's back in a successful Pound.
"Use the momentum to bounce back, Forrest!"
Floundering through the air as he hurtled towards the ground, Forrest drew his wings into his sides and tucked his feet up, curling in on himself and puffing out his feathers until he was almost the size of a beach ball.
Miana watched as Forrest hit the dirt, clenched fists flying up over her head in a victorious cheer as he bounced out from the rising cloud of dust. She faintly heard the encouraging calls of the rest of the group as she laid out part two of her on-the-spot plan. "Now Forrest, circle that Popplio while the dust is still there!"
"Don't get caught, Popplio!" Hau shouted from across the makeshift battlefield, but Popplio had already descended right into Miana's trap.
Forrest unfurled himself with a shrill cry, angling his body inwards and proceeding to flap vigorously with his outer wing, the one lowered towards the cloud of dust acting as a turning mechanism. He flew sharp circles around the confused water-type, the dust rising up with the shifting air currents created by Forrest and turning into a mini cyclone that kept Popplio trapped.
Popplio cried out in alarm to her Trainer, but Hau was too amazed by the display before him to be thinking about escaping, dark eyes just as wide as his mouth, jaw having gone slack in awe.
"Use Leafage!"
Forrest was firing a new barrage of pricked leaves a fraction of a second before Miana even called out to him, having already assumed it would be the final move.
The leaves picked up tremendous amounts of speed within the swirling cyclone, assaulting Popplio with no mercy as they cut, sliced and diced at her, the natural oils of her coat doing nothing to prevent the heavy inflict of damage.
The water-type's pained trill rung throughout Iki Town, and Forrest took it as a sign to ease off. The battle was done.
Miana shifted her gaze upwards to see her Pokémon tumbling through the air towards her, finding it difficult to slow down and pull out of the spiral he'd been in. She jumped up and clutched the feet of her Rowlet as he sailed by, pulling him into the safety of her arms and she hugging him gratefully.
"Thank you, thank you, thank you, Forrest! You were amazing!" Forrest cheeped with pride, large black eyes slipping shut as he puffed himself out triumphantly. Miana crossed the path to where Hau was, currently crouched down in the dirt to retrieve his fainted partner.
"No hard feelings, right?" She smiled as Hau got to his feet, cradling a wounded Popplio who was peering up at the two.
"Course not, that battle gave me chicken skin!" Miana started at the foreign phrase, blinking in confusion. Did he mean goosebumps? She didn't have time to question him on it though, the boy was waving his arms all over the place in his excitement as he hopped from foot to foot. "Miana, right? Your Rowlet was awesome! It felt like you two have been lifelong partners already!"
Miana laughed, brown gaze sliding down to the owl Pokémon nestled in her hold. "I just got lucky, is all. Forrest is amazing, though!"
Forrest turned to meet his Trainer's gaze, cooing and clicking his beak happily at the warm praise. Hau grinned wider, his own hand reaching up to pet his exhausted Popplio.
"You bet he is! And so I've decided," Miana glanced back at the Trainer, smile falling as she tilted her head in silent questioning. She didn't notice that Forrest was doing the same. "I'm going all out tomorrow, so you better be ready, Miana!"
She smiled widely, shifting Forrest into one arm while making a fist with the other and pumping it confidently in front of her. "Bring it on! We're already one point ahead of you!"
Kahuna Hala's smiling gaze fell as his eye caught the slight glimmer of something inside Miana's still open bag, having been jostled by the pre-teen's growing excitement and throwing the object into the light of the sun.
"Treasure your head start while it lasts, we're definitely going to catch up! Right, Popplio?" Popplio trilled alongside her Trainer, regaining some of her boisterous attitude back. The water-type shot Forrest a determined glare, who returned it with equal vigor.
The two Trainers chuckled at the playful stare down going on between their Pokémon.
"Miana..." The Kahuna called, bringing the exchange to an end as the pre-teen turned to face the large man expectantly, who stood at the edge of the path. "Would you be so kind as to give me a look at the sparkling stone you have there?"
"Sparkling stone?" Miana echoed softly, eyes widening as she remembered the stone in her bag and pulled it out into view. "You mean this one?"
"That's the one, yes," Miana's grasp unconsciously tightened around the stone, surprising both her and the Kahuna. However, while she shot a sheepish look, the man simply smiled and gently coaxed the object out of the pre-teen's hand. "Not to worry, I'll return it to you."
Miana nodded her thanks, smiling in silent reassurance at Forrest softly cheeping in her arms.
Hau bounced over to his grandfather's side, leaning in to get a better look at the stone resting in the older man's sturdy hand.
"Isn't that...?" Kahuna Hala gave a short nod in response to his grandson's trailing off, turning his serious gaze up from the stone and over to the perplexed girl.
"You were rescued by Tapu Koko at the bridge, right?"
"That's right..." Miana's gaze swung from Kahuna Hala to the anticipating Hau and back, brows furrowed above her eyes. "It saved both Nebby and I."
"Hmm," The Kahuna let out a low, gravelly gruff hum in his throat, exhaling heavily through his nose as he looked back down at his loosely outstretched hand. "So Tapu Koko even deigned to give a stone to you, huh..." He locked his squinted eyes with the pre-teen once more, Miana's once drawn in eyebrows now flying up to meet her hairline. "Perhaps you are here in Alola, Miana, because this is where you're meant to be."
"Where I'm meant to be?" Miana repeated slowly, sharing a confused look with Forrest before the two turned back to the old man.
"Indeed," Kahuna Hala didn't seem like he was willing to say anymore on the subject though, face suddenly beaming with a smile as he pocketed the stone. "I'll be borrowing this stone for a short time, but fret not child, I'll give it back to you tomorrow."
"Um, okay...sure." Miana wasn't sure if she wanted to leave the stone with the Kahuna. She herself was quite curious about it now and had hoped to take it home with her tonight and examine it a little closer than she had when first receiving it, but it seemed who got to take custody over it for now wasn't up for debate.
"You'll make a fine Trainer indeed," Kahuna Hala clapped a sturdy hand down on Miana's shoulder, causing her thin, boney frame to tip under the weight and almost throw a protesting Forrest. "Do us the honour of joining our festival tomorrow, won't you?"
"Yeah, of course." Miana agreed with a forced smile, straining with the effort it took to stay standing straight beneath the large man's iron grip.
"Oh, and by the way..." She returned her gaze to the Kahuna, the arm holding her Pokémon dropping to her side as Forrest wiggled out from her hold and fluttered up to rest on her free shoulder, busying himself with a quick preening. "I think there's someone waiting to speak to you over there."
Miana followed Kahuna Hala's laxly pointing finger, spotting a familiar woman standing off to the side of Iki Town's staircase entrance.
"Mum?!" She passed by a stunned Hau to jog the short distance to her mother's side, feeling Forrest's short talons dig into her shoulder for better grip. "How long have you been here?"
Aloani smiled gently down at her daughter. "I got here just in time to witness your first Pokémon battle, and what a battle it was!" She suddenly sighed dramatically, face falling into a large frown as she crossed her arms. "It's such a shame I couldn't arrive sooner to see you choose your Starter, too."
"Speaking of," Miana grinned widely, bringing an arm up and gesturing towards the rounded ball of fluffed up feathers on her shoulder. "This is Forrest, my new partner!"
Forrest, having heard his name, whipped his head around and straightened up, aligning his ruffled wings and puffing out his chest, eyes squeezing shut as he held his beak high with pride.
Aloani laughed at the display, causing Forrest's eyes to snap open with rapid blinks of shock and his body to deflate in dejection. Feeling bad for wounding the bird Pokémon's ego, Miana's mother reached up a hand to gently scratch behind his head, earning pleasant cheeps and a satisfied sharp angled turn of the face.
"A Rowlet, huh? I thought for sure you would've gone with the water-type," Aloani suddenly shot her daughter a look, one brow arching as a disbelieving smile pulled at the corners of her bow shaped lips. "And you called it Forest? Really?"
Miana's cheeks puffed out at her mother's questioning. She admitted, it wasn't the most original name out there for a grass-type, but she thought it still suited him well enough. "It's Forrest with two 'r's,' and I think it's perfectly fine! And... to be honest, I thought Popplio would be my first choice too," Her gaze travelled to her right, eyes softening as they landed on the happily trilling Pokémon resting on her shoulder. Forrest sensed the staring and leaned away from the petting, eyes individually fluttering open as he tilted his head to meet the gaze of his Trainer. "But there was just something about this little guy. He's special, I'm sure of it."
Forrest chirped gleefully, chest expanding once again as he hopped from foot to foot.
"I'm sure he is." Aloani chuckled, watching on as Forrest settled down and got back to preening his mess of feathers.
"Oh! Are you coming to the festival tomorrow, mum?" Miana took hold of her mother's hand and lead her over to the rest of the group, who was lost in their own conversations.
"Of course, my petal. Wouldn't miss it for the world."
"Ah, Aloani, Alola!" Kukui called out after noticing the two approaching, waving an arm high above his head. Something Miana was starting to notice he did often.
Miana's mother simply smirked at the Professor's boisterous greeting, sidling up next to the man with hands perched on her hips while her daughter stepped over to the other children. "Alola, Kukui. Still as energetic as you were just a little while earlier, I see."
Kukui crossed his arms loosely over his chest, wide grin never faltering. "I'm always happy to see an old friend, cousin."
Aloani's smirk softened into a warm smile. "I know, as am I. We should plan to catch up soon, go out to lunch. And bring your wife along, I'd love to meet the woman who shifted the gears of the Professor's lovelorn heart. She must be quite the amazing person to perform such a feat!"
Kukui's face suddenly lit up with the colour of a tamato berry, the heat crawling from the base of his neck all the way up to his ears. The Professor tried to shake it off as he scratched the back of his head with a nervous laugh.
Aloani couldn't suppress the high-spirited giggle, hand flying from her mouth to lightly hit the man's shoulder. "Oh I'm only teasing, Kuku! You're still just as easy to fluster as you were all those years ago, I see."
Kukui's face darkened at the use of his old nickname, something he hadn't heard since their high school days, but he was quick to return to his usual self, grinning confidently once more. "And you're still just as much of a bully as I remember," Aloani scoffed at that, earning a soft chuckle from the Professor. "Going out to lunch sounds great though, I'm sure the misses would love to meet you as well."
"Then it's settled," Aloani returned her old friend's grin. "I'll come up with a time and place as soon as I'm finished with all the packing." She exhaled wearily at the thought, gaze lingering on her daughter, who was busy conversing with her newly found friends. "Arceus knows how long it'll take now that my petal is leaving for her journey."
Kukui shared in watching the spirited brunette, giving a gentle nudge to the woman's side with his elbow. "I'm always a phone call away to help out. Heck, we live so close now you could even shout out to me from the top of the hill."
Aloani smiled at the obscure thought, but sent the Professor a grateful look before turning back to watch the kids. "Mahalo(1), but you know me, I'll manage just fine on my own. Wouldn't want to pull you away from your Professor duties."
Miana slowly edged her way into Lillie and Hau's conversation, but the talking soon fell flat when the two noticed her return. Lillie was the first to speak up, hands fiddling with the brim of her large white hat as she rotated it on her head before pulling it further down, as if she were afraid it might blow away.
"I don't usually enjoy watching battles where Pokémon can get hurt, but... you did a great job battling Hau, I was impressed."
"Yeah," Hau jumped in, Popplio no longer in his arms and now balancing on her tail at his feet. "My skin still gets all bumpy when I think of our battle!"
"Let's battle again soon then, Hau!" Miana pumped a fist in excitement, startling a nervous Lillie and earning an eager fist pump of his own from her new rival.
"For sure!" Hau threw him arms behind his head, lips stretched in a wide grin across his mocha skin, eyes twinkling with the same spark hidden deep beneath the earthy brown layers of Miana's own.
"Alright children, it's best we all head home now," Came the amused voice of Miana's mother as she made her way to the kids, Kukui shooting them a smile from her side. "You two can start your Pokémon journey first thing tomorrow morning, but for the rest of the day I need my little petal to help me out with the unpacking."
"But mum!" Miana protested, voice a whining drawl as she turned to face her parent.
"Don't worry about it, cuz," Hau stepped in, as lax as ever as he flashed her a toothy smile. "Waiting one more day won't hurt."
"I guess so..."
"Then it's settled!" Aloani stepped in before her daughter could take the argument any further, clapping her hands neatly together before turning towards the path leading out of Iki Town. "Kukui has offered to walk us home Miana, so let's not keep him waiting any longer than necessary. He's a busy man, after all!"
Miana swallowed back the building sigh and shared a defeated glance with Forrest, nodding in reluctant agreement before sluggishly swinging around to follow after Lillie and the adults.
Everyone said their goodbyes, a surprise ending to the farewell as Nebby – to the horror of Lillie – made his presence known before the group went their separated ways, Aloani calling over her shoulder to the Kahuna in promise of catching up later on.
Trudging alongside the Professor, Miana sighed dismally as the thought of the boxes waiting back at the new house for her to unpack. Kukui noticed the pre-teen's crestfallen features, laying a firm hand on her head in comfort.
"I know it's not what you were hoping to be doing for your first afternoon as a Pokémon Trainer, but Lillie and I will be sticking around to help out, with the four of us- plus Forrest," Kukui tacked on quickly at the expectant look he received from the bird Pokémon when he twisted his neck around. "It'll get done in half the time! I'll even stay to cook dinner for you ladies."
"Really?" Miana's eyes lit up, arms curling into her chest and hands clenching into fists as she looked up with hopeful eyes at the Professor. Forrest copied the motion, large black eyes widening to an abnormally large size that almost engulfed the light of the sun reflecting in them. "I can't wait! Mum always went on about your cooking back in Kanto and how tasty it is!"
"Oh, did she now?" Kukui mused, narrowed eyes sliding across to the woman on the other side of the pre-teen, his lips twitching into a smug smirk when Aloani simply rolled her eyes at him in exasperation.
"Don't listen to my daughter, she's lolo(2) after so much exposure to the sun."
"Hey!" Miana rounded on her mother, one hand flying to her non-existent hip while the other pointed accusingly up at the woman, brows furrowed deeply and mouth gaping in oncoming protest.
"Speak another word and you'll be washing up the dishes tonight." Aloani threatened, eyes narrowing as she glared down at her daughter in warning.
Miana retaliated with sticking out her tongue before grinning devilishly and leaping out of reach of her mother's grip. She jogged backwards as she said, "She says your steaks are the best! She loooves them~"
"Miana!"
The pre-teen squeaked at the startling rise of her mother's voice, she could practically see the throbbing vein beneath her tanned forehead and the impatient twitch of her eye. "We better run for it Forrest, or we're dead meat!" Miana laughed, erupting in a fit of poorly contained giggles as she clumsily spun around and dashed down the open hillside, a bumbling Forrest flapping furiously behind her as he squawked his struggles in trying to keep up with the bouncy brunette.
"Oh you're more than dead meat, you'll be the cuts of steak that's served up for dinner tonight!"
Kukui watched on, highly amused, as mother and daughter took off ahead. His hands buried themselves deep in his pocket as he laughed quietly to himself. Yep, still the same Aloani.
(1) Mahalo; Thank you/thanks.
(2) Lolo; Crazy.
A/N: Apologies for this chapter being later than I said it would! I've been preoccupied with planning out the plots and whatnot. This story (in my head at least, who knows if it'll ever actually come to fruition) is just one of several that connect to an even greater story with a heavily time demanding plot which I'm still working out the kinks to. I'm also working on revamping the Hoenn Pokemon story I published here years ago, because it's also one of the stories that ties into this whole thing. So again, apologies! Hopefully I can keep the updates a little more consistent next time.