Ok, there is pretty much a guaranteed hiatus after Melemele because thaT BREATH OF THE WILD TRAILER OH MY GOD IT WAS BEAUTIFUL! AAAA I'M SO EXCITED FOR IT! Just look at how big the world is! And there's so much to do! And that storyline looks like it's gonna be amazing!

Anyways, I've got the dumb chapter in tow! Seriously though. I'm not all that proud of this one. I know my writing kinda sucks, but this chapter is just flat-out awful (curse the formatting for not letting me say it the way I wanted to). I've tried to find ways to make it a bit better, but this was all I was able to come up with. I'm too far along in this story now to make huge changes. Oh well!

I woke up to Mewy tapping on my forehead, just like he did when I was going to be late to school back in Kanto. Old habits die hard, after all. Once he was satisfied that I was awake, he wandered out of my room, leaving me with two sleeping piles of feathers and my thoughts.

I stared at the ceiling. It had hardly been two days since I arrived in Alola, and my life had already been flipped around. I was a Pokemon Trainer. I had my own Pokemon. I've battled. Twice, at that. I could do anything now, with Pueo at my side. It was an amazing feeling, and I could hardly believe it wasn't a dream.

I eventually got around to getting ready for the day, putting on a red striped tank top, beige shorts, a pink hibiscus hairclip, and blue sneakers. Once I was all set, I tried to will myself to wake up Pueo and Pitters. They were rather cute, making quiet chirping sounds and nestled up in a pillow and blankets. In the end, I just couldn't do it, so I carried them to the table. Pueo started to open his eyes once I started getting out some breakfast for the two of us. With a yawn, he stretched out his wings and shook himself awake. Pitters followed soon after, being tapped by Pueo's wing. With happy chirps, they took some of the fruit I set out and began eating.

I heard the door to my mom's room open. She went through it and groggily looked at me.

"Oh, Alani, you're awake," my mom stated. "That's surprising. Normally, you'd be out cold right now."

I shrugged. "Yeah, but Mewy didn't realize that I don't have school."

Just then, a knock resounded on our front door. It didn't sound like Kukui-the knock was to delicate. Plus, knowing him, he'd just let himself in.

"I'll go see who it is," I said as I stood up. "I just finished eating, anyways."

I went and opened the door, expecting possibly Hau to be behind it. To my surprise, it wasn't him that I opened the door to. It was Lillie.

"Um, hello, Alani," Lillie began. "Professor Kukui sent me to get you. He had said 'Hey, Lillie! Do me a solid and go get that awesome new Trainer, yeah!' So that's what I'm doing here."

"Alright," I said. "Gimme a sec, and I'll be right out."

I told my mom that Kukui wanted to see me. She nodded at me with a smile and wish me good luck, which confused me a bit. Did she know something that I didn't? I shook it off and grabbed my backpack from my room. Pueo perched himself on my shoulder while Pitters decided to return to her Pokeball to snooze some more, and we set off with Lillie on a path south of my house.

"Professor Kukui's lab is down this way," Lillie said quietly. "It's surrounded by tall grass. He says it's so that he can see Pokemon moves up close. Since I'm not a Trainer, I always have to use Max Repel to go to and from there."

I raised my eyebrows a bit. "Huh. So Kukui researches Pokemon moves? I've never heard of anyone doing that."

"Well, he certainly is...quite the character sometimes," Lillie sighed.

As we approached a slightly beat-up hut on the beach, a voice could be faintly heard coming from it. It sounded like Kukui's voice.

"Yeah, Rockruff! Come at me! My body is ready! Woo!"

A few seconds later, a boom resounded from the hut, rattling the entire structure. A bit of the roof caved in a bit from the force, too.

"Oh no," Lillie groaned. "He's studying moves right now. The roof's going to have to be patched up again. And his lab coat's probably in shreds, which means I'll have to sew it back together, and I'm no good at mending clothes, so he'll just have to buy another one...Just when I finally got those mud stains out of it, too..."

"Well, Kukui certainly does seem to have an interesting way of researching if it's managed to destroy the building more than once!" I giggled. Pueo made chuckling noises as well.

We entered the building and saw Kukui sprawled out on the floor with a Rockruff bouncing around beside him. As Lillie suspected, his lab coat was fairly torn up, though it did seem fixable. It looked like he got tackled by some sort of very angry rock.

Aside from Kukui and the bit of roof on the floor, the space itself seemed pretty nice. There was a tank full of ocean life directly ahead of us in what seemed like a research-dining room combo. A small kitchen was to my left, as well as a living room with a small Pokemon with a pink head sleeping in it. A ladder was on the wall next to the kitchen, leading up to a loft. To my right were stairs leading down to the basement, most likely where the real research took place.

Kukui raised his head a bit. A grin split his face once he saw Lillie and me standing in front of him. He got off the floor and, after shaking himself off, walked over to us.

"Looks like you found her, Lillie! Great job, yeah!" Kukui praised Lillie. Turning to me, he said, "Now, the reason why I called you here is because it finally arrived, oh yeah!"

"It?" I asked, slightly perplexed.

"The very important part of your Pokedex, yeah!" Kukui said. "Lillie, don't let me be the only one explaining, yeah?"

"Oh! W-well," Lillie stuttered, "from what I understand, Alani, the Pokedex you have is very special. It has a Pokemon from the Sinnoh region called Rotom in it."

"That's right!" Kukui confirmed. "What you have there is a special 'dex called a RotomDex! It was first developed in the Kalos region. And with the part that came in, Rotom can finally help you out, oh yeah!"

Kukui took my Pokedex and then pulled something out of his pocket. Miraculously, it was unscathed, despite his obvious run-in with a Pokemon move. He began to fiddle with the Pokedex, and after a few moments, it began to crackle and produced a flash of light. Once the light dissipated, an orange Pokemon was hovering in the air next to Kukui.

"Oh, sorry 'bout that, Rotom!" Kukui said as he continued working on the object. "Didn't mean to startle you. The part finally came in, so I'm fixing up your favorite 'dex so that you can help out Alani here, yeah!"

Kukui finished the upgrade and held the Pokedex out to Rotom. It re-entered it, and the Pokedex transformed a bit, the most notable new features being the hand-like protrusions and the face on the screen.

Rotom flew over to me. "Hey there! I'm Rotom! Careful with the merchandise, alright?"

"Hah! Looks like Rotom's already taken a liking to you, Alani!" Kukui laughed. "Anyways, let me tell you about some of the features of the RotomDex, yeah! You see, this here 'dex can do much more when Rotom's in it. Rotom can automatically register a new Pokemon into your Pokedex without you having to lift a finger, so you can focus on whatever you're currently doing, such as battling said Pokemon. This particular Pokedex also has a built-in GPS, so whenever you're stuck, Rotom can pull it up and send you on your way, oh yeah!"

"That's so cool!" I replied cheerfully. "Glad to have you with me, Rotom!"

Footsteps started to echo behind me as someone ran into the building. By the sound of their breathing, they ran a considerable distance to get here. Turning myself around, I saw that it was Hau, his face bright and sunny as usual.

"Heya, Professor!" Hau wheezed slightly. "I came running as soon as I heard the news from my gramps! Oh, cool, is that a loft?" Hau was almost instantly distracted by the ladder on the wall and ran over to it, eager to see what was up it.

Lillie quickly intercepted him and blocked the ladder. "N-no! You can't go up there! It's a private loft!"

"Yeah, I'm letting Lillie use that loft. You're not the type to just barge into a girl's room, Hau, now are you?" Kukui grinned.

Hau was immediately flustered. "Uh, n-no! No way! I-I'd never!"

As we laughed at Hau, I remembered something. Hau had said he came running after he heard something from Hala. What was that something, though?

"So, uh, Hau? Why'd you run all the way down here?" I asked.

"Oh, right!" Hau exclaimed. "I came here because I heard you were going to start your island challenge, just like me!"

"Island challenge? Is that kinda like the gym challenge in Kanto?" I asked again.

"Ah, Hau, you spoiled the surprise!" Kukui chuckled. "But, he's right, and so are you. The island challenge is where Trainers travel between all of the islands of Alola, battle the captains and kahunas, and strive to become the Island Challenge Champion, yeah! And Alani, your island challenge begins right now, oh yeah!"

Kukui handed me a small metal trinket. It had four different colors on it, most likely to represent the islands of Alola. I attached it to the strap of my bag.

"Alrighty! Since you're still a new Trainer, I think we oughta stop by the Trainers' School, yeah! Let's go, everyone!" Kukui said as he ushered us out of the door.

We made our way to the Trainers' School, which was just barely within the main part of Hau'oli City. It had a fairly big campus with a large building with a Pikachu painted on it. There were a few kids with Pokemon battling on the dirt fields on the western part of campus, but other than that, it seemed almost deserted. Class was probably in session.

"Woo! Here we are! The Trainers' School!" Kukui clasped his hands together. "I need to go talk to someone in the building real quick, so you kids wait here, yeah?" He went up the stairs and into the school, leaving Lillie, Hau, and me standing in the middle of the parking lot.

Hau put his hands behind his head. "Huh. Wonder who Kukui went to talk to. You think it's a teacher or someone like that?"

"I think that's the case." Lillie said. "I'm sure he knows that Alani has read as much as she can about being a Trainer, and that you've already learned how to take care of Pokemon from your grandfather, so he's most likely trying to find a teacher that can come out and test you two so that you can move along with your island challenge."

"Wait, I'm being tested, too?" Hau looked slightly confused. "I understand Alani being tested-uh, no offense, Alani-but I have to take a test, too?"

"That's right! But on the bright side, it's not one of those boring old standardized tests, yeah!" Kukui announced as he approached us. He had someone who looked like a teacher in tow as well as a few students. "Miss Kumu here is going to assess how well you two are doing at battling!"

The lady behind him smiled. "Yes. As Professor Kukui said, I am Miss Kumu. My students and I will check to see just how strong your bond with your Pokemon has become. Follow me." Miss Kumu said as she walked towards the battle fields.

"Now, this test is fairly simple, so you should have no problems completing it," Miss Kumu said once we were all gathered around a field. "What you will do is battle the students that I brought with me, and I will assess how you and your Pokemon battle. Alani, could you be so kind as to go first?"

I took a deep breath. "Alright." I stepped onto one half of the field, while one of the students went to the other half. This was going to be my first time battling a Trainer aside from Hau. I wasn't sure if I was fully ready, but it wasn't like I had much of a choice.

Pueo hopped off my shoulder and landed on the field. He was raring to go. The other Trainer sent out a Yungoos. It gnashed its teeth at Pueo, who puffed himself up and glared back at it.

"You ready to go?" the girl opposing me asked. I nodded, and the battle began.

Battling a trained Yungoos was definitely different than battling a wild one. This Pokemon was much stronger, and it had a better battle plan thanks to its Trainer. Pueo ended up having to be on defense more than offense due to Yungoos's superior speed. The battle dragged on for a little while, but eventually, Pueo was able to land a decisive Tackle that ended the match.

"Oh, geez!" the girl said as she called back her Pokemon. "You and your Rowlet are stronger than you look!"

The next battle was a breeze. The young boy only had a Grubbin, which both of my Pokemon had an advantage over. Pueo took it out within a few minutes. The battle after that one, however, was much more difficult. This kid had a Grimer, and not only did it look different than Grimer in Kanto, but its style of fighting was different. It would not only use strong poison-type moves, but it would also drop crystals that, according to Rotom, leaked poisonous gases when broken. I couldn't use Pueo since he was at an extreme disadvantage against it. Pitters was able to just barely hold her own against Grimer and defeat it, but not without getting poisoned in the process.

"Those were some amazing battles! I think you're ready to head towards your first Trial." Miss Kumu excitedly said. She walked up to me and handed me some Potions and a Pecha Berry. "Here. Use these on your Pokemon, and give the Pecha Berry to your Pikipek."

"Thank you, Miss Kumu," I said as I used the items to heal my Pokemon.

"Now, just one last thing. I know I said that you'd only be battling my students, but after seeing you and your Pokemon in action, I would really like to battle you myself!"

I blinked. Me, battling a teacher? There was no way I'd be able to win. She had so much more experience than I did! I looked at Pueo and Pitters. They returned my gaze with ones full of confidence in themselves and in me.

"Alright," I said, giving in to my Pokemon. "I'll battle you."

"Yeah, Alani!" Hau cheered from the sideline. "That's the spirit! You can do it!"

Miss Kumu sent out a Magnemite. Pitters and Pueo chirped at each other for a little bit. Once they finished talking about something, they both nodded, and Pueo nudged Pitters out onto the field. They both had a type disadvantage, but Pitters at least knew how to use Rock Smash, so we stood a partial chance against Magnemite.

"Ok, Pitters," I said. "Start off with Echoed Voice!"

Pitters let loose a wave of sound at Beirg. It hit it squarely, but the move didn't seem to do a thing.

"Beirg's part Steel-type," Miss Kumu explained. "Normal-type moves won't do much against it. Now, use Charge, Bierg!"

Beirg started storing electricity, making its moves stronger. I had to try and end the battle before things got too bad for us.

"Hurry! Get in there and use Rock Smash!" I told Pitters.

"Stop it with Thundershock, Bierg!" Miss Kumu told her Magnemite.

Bierg sent out bolts of electricity at Pitters. Pitters managed to maneuver around most of the shocks an approached Bierg. Just before she was able to land a hit, however, Bierg let loose another Thundershock, hitting Pitters directly.

"Pitters!" I cried in despair. My poor bird crashed to the ground, and she barely managed to get back up.

"I think that's enough battling for now," Miss Kumu said as she called back Bierg. "You're still a new Trainer, and it was rather unfair of me to set your Pikipek against a Pokemon with a type advantage over it."

I ignored what Miss Kumu was saying and ran over to Pitters. Tears started to fall from my eyes. How could I have let this happen? I shouldn't have accepted the battle. My Pokemon got really hurt. She trusted me, and I failed her. This was all my fault.

"That was some fine battling!"

I looked up with bleary eyes and saw someone with light pink hair walking towards me. He had a relatively large Smeargle at his side.

"My name's Ilima, the trial captain of Melemele Island," Ilima said. "I saw your battles just now. You and your Pokemon have such great potential!"

"But I lost," I pointed out, trying to keep my voice even.

"That may be the case, but everyone loses a battle every now and then, especially when they first start out. You and your Pokemon still have plenty of time to grow and get stronger," Ilima reassured me.

"He's right," Miss Kumu agreed. "Everyone tends to have a rocky start on their journey. You may not have been able to beat me right now, but you and your Pokemon still hold amazing potential. Don't let a single loss hold you down." She handed me a bag with the school's mascot on it. In it were several Potions, Pokeballs, and some cash. "This is a kit premade by the school for those who are going to start their island challenge. Once you heal your Pokemon at the Pokemon Center just outside of our campus, you should head out to Route Two and head to the trial site."

"Oh, before you go to Route Two, could you meet me at the Marina in Hau'oli City?" Ilima asked. "I want to talk to you before you head out."

"Alright. I'll try to find my way there in a little bit." I resigned as I walked over to my friends with my Pokemon.

Kukui placed a hand on my shoulder. "Hey, no need to feel down, Alani! You still have a whole journey ahead of you to make amazing memories and get even stronger, yeah! For now, why don't you head to the PMC like Ilima and Miss Kumu said? Lillie, could you go with her?"

"I will," Lillie said as she nodded her head. Turning to me, she beckoned me to follow her, so I did. We turned left from the Trainers' School and entered a building with a red roof.

"These circular buildings with red roofs are Pokemon Centers, or PMCs for short," Lillie said as we walked in. "Talk to the lady behind the counter, and she'll heal your Pokemon for free! It's a very wonderful thing."

I mustered up the courage to do what Lillie said. The lady was very kind and said that my Pokemon would be out shortly. After that, I went back to Lillie, who began to explain a few other aspects of Pokemon Centers in Alola.

"From what I've read, Trainers on their island challenge are also allowed to stay at Pokemon Centers for free. All you have to do is show the lady behind the desk your island challenge charm and ask to stay the night, and you'll be taken to a small room where you can stay the night. I've heard there are a few that don't have that deal, however. They're generally near motels, so if they had that deal, the motels would go out of business." Lillie shook her head. "Oh dear, I think I got slightly off-topic. Anyways, to the right of the desk is the PokeMart. There, you can buy supplies for your journey, such as Potions, Repels, and basic food for yourself and your Pokemon. On the left of the desk is a cafe. You can get drinks and meals there, as well as the occasional case of PokeBeans. I personally enjoy the ones that serve Moo Moo Milk."

"Alani Mahina? Your Pokemon are healed and ready to go!" the lady at the desk called. I went up and got Pueo and Pitters. They were incredibly happy to see me, and it warmed my heart. Together, we walked back over to Lillie, who was ordering a drink from the cafe.

"Oh, Alani!" Lillie greeted me. "Would you like something to drink? I'll get it for you."

"That's really nice of you, Lillie, but you don't have to. I could just get something myself..." I said sheepishly, but once again, she wouldn't take no for an answer and insisted on getting me something. In the end, I settled for getting the same thing Lillie ordered, a Moo Moo Milk. The cashier gave us Pokebeans as a bonus for stopping by, too. After chatting with Lillie and feeding my Pokemon some beans, I felt much better.

"So, where are we going now?" I asked Lillie as we exited the Pokemon Center.

"Well, I was think of showing you around Hau'oli City," Lillie murmured. "After all, there's plenty of shops to visit, and Ilima asked you to meet him at the Marina."

"Oh, right. I guess I kinda forgot about that," I said as I ran my hand through my hair.

We hadn't gone far past the Trainers' School when we heard a loud roar from around the corner. Looking in the direction of the sound, we saw Hala slowly coaxing a Tauros away from the traffic on the road.

"Woah, now! Easy there, Tauros," Hala said to the overly eager Pokemon in front of him. Looking over his shoulder, Hala noticed me and Lillie staring in shock. He waved at us. "Hey, Alani, Lillie, come over here for a second, hm?"

Pulling ourselves out of shock, we walked over to Hala. The Tauros with him stared at me intently the whole time.

Hala greeted us with a smile. "It's nice to see you two again! How is your island challenge going, Alani?"

I winced a bit, averting my gaze to the ground next to me. "It...could be worse, I guess."

"Well, not every challenge you will face in life will be smooth sailing, hmm?" Hala said. "While it is unfortunate that you weren't able to start this one on the right foot, you will learn from this experience, and in turn, become a stronger and wiser person than you are now." Hala turned to the Pokemon in front of him to calm it down a bit more. "Regardless, would you like to pet this Tauros? It would be a good way to bond with it."

"But, what about the people waiting for it to move off of the street?" Lillie pointed out. "It would be rude to make them wait too much longer."

"Ah, I suppose you're right, Lillie," Hala said as he chuckled at himself. "Let's move onto the sidewalk so these people can continue with their day."

Once we shuffled over to the side-which was incredibly difficult, considering we had to move a very stubborn bull along with us-I reached out and rubbed Tauros on its head. It leaned into my touch ever so slightly. I could practically feel the power radiating off of the Pokemon.

"Tauros here seems to have taken a liking to you!" Hala said with a grin. "Well, we'll be off now. I look forward to battling you soon!"

"Right...Once I finish the trial on this island, I'll have to battle Hala..." I said woefully as we parted ways with Hala. "I don't know if I'll be able to beat him."

"I'm sure you'll be able to do it," Lillie said as we continued walking. "You, Pueo, and Pitters will be much stronger by the time you'll have to face Kahuna Hala in battle. I don't like to see Pokemon getting hurt in battles, but I really am looking forward to seeing you battle him."

Right as we passed a crack in the wall, someone shouted for us. We stopped and turned around to see Hau barreling down the street at us.

"Hau!" I exclaimed. "Slow down a bit! You're running everyone over!"

"Hah, sorry," Hau said sheepishly once he reached us. "I just wanted to catch up to you two before you got too far ahead! There's something in the Tourist Center that I think you'd be interested in, Alani."

Hau half-dragged us into a nearby building. The inside of it was incredibly tropical, as to be expected of a place for tourists. We went up to the front desk.

"Hey, do you still happen to have that deal for anyone with a RotomDex?" Hau asked the lady behind the counter.

"Why yes, we do," she replied. "I'm surprised you know about the PokeFinder, considering how few RotomDexes there are in the world. If you would hand me it for just a brief moment, I'll add the feature to it."

Rotom flew out of my bag and went to the lady. She went through a door with it, then returned several minutes later with a very happy Rotom. Once she explained to me what the PokeFinder was and how to use it, I thanked her, and we headed out. The moment we stepped outside, Rotom flew in front of us and took a picture, blinding us for a split second. Snickering, it flew back into my bag.

"What...what was that for?" Lillie thought out loud as we regained our sight.

"Eh, Rotom probably wanted to show off its new feature!" Hau laughed. "Well, I'm gonna head to the malasada shop, then I'll be off to Route Two to play with my Pokemon-I mean, train them up for my first trial. Yeah, train. Definitely. Catch you guys later!" He ran off, leaving me and Lillie in front of the tourist center.

"Well, I'm not sure if I want to stop by the malasada shop right away," Lillie said, "but how about we explore the city a bit while we head to the Marina? I'm sure there's all sorts of new things you'll enjoy in Hau'oli."

"Sounds good," I replied. "Let's go!"

I don't care what the game does, I wanted to travel with Lillie, and gosh darn, I'm writing it in here! It'll make for some weird shenanigans to keep me on the plot (because this story and I will die if I stray too far from it), but it's totally worth it.

Also, school has started for me, so between that and Breath of the Wild, the hiatus I mentioned might last for awhile. Hopefully not too long, though! I really do plan on seeing this story through to the end.

See ya'll next week!