-6-
"I've caught that name a few times," Blue noted, frowning. "'Lillie.' I assume she's another one of Moon's friends?"
"K…" Hau frowned, tapping his chin. "…Kinda. But, yes."
"Best friends!" Acerola added. "But, kinda."
"Wh…" Blue shook his head, uncomprehending.
The Alolans were all quiet. All pondering the topic.
After a long moment of silence, "…I don't even know where to start," Kukui said, and the Alolans laughed.
"True, true," Olivia said. "Hau, you met both of them around the same time, and that was before most of us. Only Professor Kukui knew Lillie before then."
"And Hau traveled with them the longest," Acerola added.
All eyes turned on Hau, but he was still holding his chin and thinking. All the others could do, really, was wait. After all, Hau was the one who had promised he could convince the skeptics.
"…How about… Moon's clothes." Hau looked up, finally. "That's as good a place to start as any: Moon's clothes."
Blue crossed his arms, all ears.
"So, she changed her outfit a lot as she traveled across Alola. In pretty much every city that had a clothing store, she would go there, buy a new shirt or skirt or shorts, and she would wear that until she found a new clothing store to strike her fancy. She always had a light shirt and darker shorts, or a darker skirt. For a long time, she had a nice white blouse and a blue skirt. I remember the blouse especially made her seem to match Lillie. Always kept the hat, though; she loves that thing."
"Okay," Blue said in a measured tone. Surely there was a point here.
"So Moon would change clothes a lot, and every time, Lillie would give her this, this really enthusiastic compliment," Hau said. "Like, I would be all, 'You look great, Moon!' While Lillie would be a lot more energetic, like, 'Wow, Moon, you look incredible! What kind of shirt is that? The fabric really goes with your blah and the blah blah!' So on, so on… At first I thought it was just girl talk, but then, we went to the Aether Foundation that one time."
"The Aether Foundation?" Blue asked. "That sounds familiar."
"They're like a Pokémon conservation reserve," Kukui said. "For a while, they were working in tandem with Team Skull, with a lot of nefarious business going down… but, that's not really important. They're legit now."
"But this was when they weren't legit," Hau said. "This was the time Miss Lusamine kidnapped her. Lillie, I mean."
Blue was alarmed. "Kidnapped?! Was she alright?"
"Yeah, yeah," Hau laughed, "it all worked out in the end. But we were pretty scared, y'know? Even with Moon with us. So anyway… me, Moon, and Gladion go and rescue her, though Moon and Gladion did pretty much all the work. Things calm down around the Foundation, so Lillie sleeps in her bedroom while the rest of us got our own rooms." Hau placed his hands palms-down on the table. "So we go visit her bedroom in the morning, and wouldn't you know it, she looks totally different! New clothes, new hairdo, the whole nine! In Lillie's words, she'd changed into her Z-Form, which I thought was just the coolest thing ever. And that was when Moon could finally return all of Lillie's favors. She just SHOWERED Lillie in complements over her new outfit, just like Lillie had done for her all those other times! Sure, Moon isn't very talkative, but we'd all heard her speak before; still, that was definitely the most we'd ever heard her speak all at once." Hau snickered. "I remember Gladion had this really speechless look on his face! That was SO funny!"
The other locals laughed appreciatively. Blue and Red, out of the loop, exchanged an exasperated look before continuing to listen.
"…So yeah." Hau was settling down, resting his cheek on his hand. "I think that was when Gladion got it. I didn't get it until he explained it to me. Heheh, he always said I was kinda thick. Maybe I am?"
"Who is Gladion?" Blue asked.
Acerola blinked. "Oh, right! Gladion is Lillie's brother. When Lillie was kidnapped, he pretty much led the charge to rescue her."
"Probably important to mention that Lillie's kidnapper was her mother, Lusamine," Kukui added. "Lillie wasn't in life-threatening danger at the time."
"That's a bit of a relief, I guess," Blue said.
"Gladion is a real character," Olivia said. "A very serious boy…"
"I gotta say, I wasn't sure what to think of him when I first met him," Hau said, still cheerful. "I mean, yeah, what Olivia said: he's really serious. I figured he was the kind of guy to be really wrapped up in himself, and stuff. He came across as a really edgy guy."
The rest of the Alolans at the table nodded. That description apparently hit the mark.
"It wasn't like I didn't respect him before or anything, but, like, I REALLY started to realize how cool he is during that rescue mission," Hau continued. "Moon and I were kinda panicking about Lillie. And, Moon never panics! Her losing her cool made me even more anxious. But Gladion, he kept his head straight the whole time. While the rest of us were freaking out about what to do to save Lillie, Gladion had a plan, he knew the Aether Foundation's layout, and he needed our help to get it done. So he took charge and helped us get Lillie back." Hau beamed. "Man, Gladion's a really cool guy!"
"He could be at the tournament tomorrow," Olivia said. "Wouldn't that be nice?"
"Yeah!" But Hau wouldn't let himself be distracted again, so he immediately turned back to Blue and Red. "Gladion's the type of guy to keep his head on straight. So, he was the first one to realize that, when it comes to Moon and battling, it's all for Lillie. That struck him when Moon finally paid Lillie back for all the same compliments Lillie had given Moon up 'til then."
All of the Alolans nodded at each other, in accord.
"Moon is an amazing battler," Acerola explained. "I mean, even Elite Four members like me and Kahili don't stand a chance."
Blue was taken aback. Elite Four member? Wow, she's so young.
"And she loves doing it, too," Kukui continued. "It's her passion! Gets me fired up just thinkin' about her fighting spirit!"
"But the biggest reason for it is Lillie," Hau said. "Moon stays strong to protect her and to impress her, and it makes her so happy that she can do it."
Olivia smiled; she folded her hands and rested her chin atop them, her eyes glazed wistfully. "Yes, the stars aligned for Moon—pardon the pun. She loves battling; she loves Pokémon; she loves Lillie. Her aptitude for battling harmonizes with everything important to her."
"During that rescue mission, battling all those Aether Foundation employees, Moon's Pokémon were pushed to the limit," Hau said. "And she was just as exhausted as them, but she never wanted to stop, and her Pokémon supported her the whole way. Lillie was in danger, and all of them loved her and wanted her to be safe. So did I, and so did Gladion, but it wasn't the same for Moon; she wasn't friends with Lillie in the same way she was friends with us, and we only realized it at that point."
Blue rubbed his chin thoughtfully.
"It was after Moon became Champion, though, that it really all came together," Hau began.
"What do you mean?"
"Hmm…" Hau started rubbing his chin as well, probably just imitating Blue to try to look cool. "How to put it…?"
It was only when Hau took that brief pause that Blue finally took notice of the small, unfamiliar crowd hovering just next to their booth, behind Kahili, Acerola and Kukui. One of them took advantage of the momentary silence to lean in and ask, "Mind if we pull up a table?"
"Alola, Kiawe!" Olivia greeted. "Go for it! When did all of you guys get here?"
Blue frowned as he looked between of the new faces, nearly half a dozen of them. All were moving to help Kiawe adjoin another table to the end of the booth; Kukui, Acerola, and Kahili adjusted to make room.
"All of the Trial Captains and Kahunas," Hau clarified, winking at Blue. "What a gathering of talent! Guess you guys overheard us talking about Moon, huh?"
"You betcha!" The shirtless Trial Captain Kiawe put his hands on his hips, grinning widely. "Moon's a genius, she is! She was able to figure out all of the puzzles in my trial like they were nothing!"
Acerola leaned over the table toward Blue, whispering in a teasing, unsubtle voice, "They actually were nothing. Can't credit Moon too much for that one." The table shared a short chuckle at Kiawe's expense.
"Haha, yeah, that's…" Kiawe scratched his head. "That's a fun joke…"
A larger man roughly clapped him on the back, a grin pulling up his mustache. "She's just teasing, Kiawe, don't take it personal. We all know the battling is the true Trial Challenge. And Moon excelled at that too, as I'm sure our new guests know?"
"This is my gramps," Hau said, proudly thumping his fist on his chest. "Kahuna Hala, also part of the Elite Four!"
"How long have you been listening in?" Blue asked of the newcomers.
"We were just in the next booth over, so we've been listening the whole time, actually," Hala admitted. "Actually, I planned to ask you and Red a little about yourselves, if you don't mind the interruption?"
"Uh… Yeah, sure." Blue nodded. "There's still a lot I need to learn about Moon and about Lillie, so let's consider it a trade, eh?"
"More like a Heart Swap!" Kukui crowed. "An exchange of stories between amazing Trainers from different sides of the world?! I'm liking this a lot, cousin!"
Blue smiled. "Yeah. You and me both, Professor."