Gigarot: One step at a time, as they say.
TheHolyBlade: Neither did I ._.
RandomReader: :)
"Be good to your Pokemon now!"
"Try to follow up on those status conditions!"
"Good luck with your island challenge!"
"I hope you got close to a lot of new people!"
"Make sure you use that TM- make your Pokemon the strongest!"
"Show 'em what you're made of, Asalie!"
Asalie couldn't help the smile on her face as she waved goodbye- a week had passed since their run-in with the two punks and since she had officially caught her second Pokemon. She had named the Magnemite "Bishop" after trying a few names with them and accidentally mentioned this name only for them to get attached to it immediately.
In the days that followed, Bishop trained alongside Pell- the Rowlet had been wary of the Magnemite at first but eventually welcomed them, for they had protected her trainer and she couldn't find fault in that. Rotom-Dex and Bishop both got along surprisingly well desipite the Magnemite being gentler and more timid in temperament while Rotom-Dex was all attitude and snark.
Asalie's injuries had healed, though they were the least of her worries- Lillie stayed all but glued to her side ever since then along with Astin, who had been physically held back from storming down to the station and beating the two punks up himself. It took Kekoa's gentle but firm scolding to calm her brother down- Asalie couldn't help being impressed with the blond being able to calm Astin like that.
However, the brunette knew that she couldn't keep staying at the school- more than anything, she needed to keep improving however possible, one of those steps being to require about Z-Crystals and moves proper when she got the chance. So with that in mind, Asalie and Lillie left the school and moved on.
Or at least tried to.
"If I had a pulse, it'd be racin' right now," Rotom-Dex remarked.
"Hi Lillie! Hi Asa!" Hau yelled at them as Hala cradled the Tauros from three weeks ago in his arms. "Mooo-aaarrr..."
"Oh, hello Hau, kahuna Hala," Lillie greeted the two of them while Asalie's jaw dropped to her waist, arms and upper body slack.
"Sorry if I frightened you two- it's time to take this fellow home," Hala said, "but would either of you mind giving him a little pat? He doesn't calm down properly if someone doesn't pet him and my hands are full."
Lillie immediately petted the giant bull, making him calm a bit more. "Byoh..." he rumbled, gently nuzzling her face before trying to eat her hat.
"Pew-ew!" Nebby exclaimed, pulling Lilliy's hat out of Tauros' range and making the bull grumble petulantly.
"Ha-ha! Oh, the places you'll go, children," Hala chuckled as he went on his way.
"Bye tutu! Bye Tauros!" Hau called after the older man, waving goodbye before turning to the two girls. "Man, kahunas are awesome, huh? He can even calm down Tauros without battling! I mean, I like Tauros plenty and all, but it's still pretty scary. I wouldn't want to ride it-"
"WAIT WAIT- wait, just- just hold on a minute," Asalie exclaimed pleadingly, hand on her head and eyes replaced with swirly circles. "I need time to wrap my head around what I just saw..."
Pell gently put a wing on her shoulder while Bishop hovered on the other side, confused but concerned. "I hear ya, toots- and I've seen plenty of crazy shit before," Rotom-Dex said sympathetically.
"You okay there, Asa...?" Hau began but Lillie put a hand on his shoulder and gently shook her head. "Just let her get her bearings back."
One frosty moomoo milk, extra chocolate tapu coco and lemonade from the Pokemon Center Cafe later, Asalie had recovered. "Dear Mew, that happens three times a week?"
"I was surprised too, but Tauros doesn't destroy anything or hurt anyone on purpose," Lillie explained. "He just really likes exploring."
"You get used to it!" Hau chirped.
"Yeah I gue- aw shit!" Asalie began before stopping to swear in frustration. "I completely forgot to ask him about the stone!"
"I'm sure you can ask tutu later- and language, Asa."
After they paid for the drinks and healed up their teams- Asalie noticing a small poster asking for photos of Pokemon- they began to explore the rest of the city. Hau'oli was the biggest city in all of Alola with docks, malls, police HQ and other various stores, including a boutique and barber shop beside an enormous mall.
"I dunno about you, but I'm ready for a nice relaxing stroll- especially by the beach!" Rotom-Dex said.
Asalie had gotten a few glimpses of the sea as they landed via airplane and from the route, but this was the first time she saw it so up close- and it was HUGE. An expanse of brilliant blue that seemed to stretch on forever and ever. Hau suggested that after they explored the rest of the city, they could go to the beach to relax.
"It does sound nice- but I don't know how to swim, nor do I have swimming clothes..." Lillie admitted, looking down.
"No sweat- me and Asa can teach you!" Hau exclaimed before pointing down a few stores. "And there are some clothing stores that sell swim suits!"
The three of them kept walking until Hau pulled Asalie into the Tourist Bureau- Asalie had been there once before and now apparently, they sold special cameras- and one had come in for the Rotom-Dex. "UPGRADE! YEAH, BOI!" Rotom-Dex yelled happily.
"Congrats!" Hau cheered as they exited the shop to meet Lillie. "Wow, they're really something, aren't they? Like a whole 'nother Pokemon partner, like Pell and Bishop! Or maybe they already are...?"
Hau scratched his head for a moment before shrugging with a grin. "Either way, you're pretty darn lucky!"
"Lucky, my foot- you're the one who brought me here in the first place," Asalie said, grinning as well.
"Eh."
"Either way, Rotom will be a big help even more now," Lillie said with a smile.
"Think fast, suckas!" Rotom-Dex exclaimed as they snapped a picture of the three of them. "Man, I might never leave this pokedex!"
"You little trickster, you!" Hau laughed as Lillie tried to see straight again. "Put that little guy back in your bag before he gets anymore ideas, Asa!"
"Aw, shut it," Rotom-Dex said playfully. "I just wanted to try out my new functions- and what better way than to immortalize you three love birds smiling together?"
Asalie and Hau both looked startled at that while Lillie just blinked- Rotom-Dex just cackled and shot back into Asalie's bag. "Well, I'm gonna go check out the malasada bakery! See you guys in a bit at the beach at- um, six tonight!" Hau decided and ran off.
"I'm going to go see what the boutique has," Lillie told Asalie. "Are you heading there too?"
The two girls went over to the boutique and barber shop- when they got there, Lillie was given a lens case and makeup bag for being the 99,999th customer to their establishment. The blonde then bought another of the items each each and gave them to Asalie.
The brunette really didn't know how to tell Lillie had she had never worn makeup and her eye sight wasn't bad enough that she needed contacts, but Asalie wouldn't tell the blonde this. "Wow- thanks Lillie!" she said.
"Now we've got something in common- hee..." Lillie said, smiling brightly.
To-Do List item 12: Find tasteful yet minimal ways to apply makeup, Asalie wrote down as Lillie went to look for new clothes.
"Bow chicka, bow wow~" Rotom-Dex snickered before Asalie flicked their side.
She went to the boutique first- she didn't but much, just a few tanktops and shorts, along with some long over-the-knee socks that looked pretty good on her, along with a yellow one piece swimsuit with a palm tree that actually didn't look that bad on her. She even found a green jacket with pinnable sleeves that was surprisingly warm she ended up getting. She took off the loose t-shirt and green shorts and put on a white tank top, red padded shorts and black over-the-knee socks along with the jacket.
"Looking' good, toots!" Rotom-Dex remarked.
As much as her dad's kicked Lillipup eyes haunted her, Asalie put away the red hat and let her hair hang down. She examined it in the mirror, twisting a strand before trying to run her fingers through it only for them to get caught in some pretty nasty tangles. After about a minute of struggling, she had only gotten through one of them.
Further examination and Asalie realized that her hair had gotten a lot longer than she realized, to the point where it nearly reached her elbows- not tomention it had grown thick and mangy.
"Al-i-bino~ Mo-mo-squito! Mee mee mee mo~ Bum bum~ Bum bum~ Bum bu-u-um~" Rotom-Dex hummed as they walked over to the barber shop.
A 4,000 pokeyen payment later, the brunette laid back in the chair and drifted off as the barber washing, shampooed, thinned and trimmed her hair.
By the time they were done, her hair had a luster that hadn't been present for... years and it looked far sleeker. "Ta-a-a-a da-a-a-a~" Rotom-Dex balked, making jazz hands towards Asalie as she thanked the barber for the job well done.
A quick trip to the mall she restocked hygiene items, a fold-up tent, a watch for her right wrist in case any of her devices stopped working, maps showcasing the different islands. She also restocked food for her team and an extra comb, brush, blow dryer, towel and status-absorbing cotton balls and tweezers.
As she went out to look around a bit more, Asalie noticed the wall by her had a sizable chunk missing from it and Rotom-Dex suddenly flew out of her bag. "Toots! Fire up the finder, will ya- I think there's somethin' over there!"
The brunette turned it on and set it by the wall carefully- through the lens, she saw a female Pikachu grooming herself and murmuring cutely. She clicked the shutter only for the bright flash to go off, startling the Pikachu and scaring her away.
"Whoops-a-daisy," Rotom-Dex shrugged before remarking, "though that's not a bad picture overall, toots."
Asalie shrugged but stayed by the wall, waiting for another Pokemon to show up. When a Rockruff pounced on a falling leaf, Asalie clicked for a photo, remembering to turn off the flash this time. She was able to get a few more pictures of Rockruff, along with a few others of a Growlithe and a male Pikachu.
"Those're some pretty good pics there," Rotom-Dex said, leafing through what they got as Asalie looked over the poster proper at the center. "You ever photograph before, toots?"
"Sort of- one of my first video games' whole basis was taking just pictures of Pokemon and trying to get a better score," Asalie explained as she wrote down the address and phone number. "I was pretty addicted to it until I got older- it's been collecting the most dust out of my collection back home."
She called the person who put up the poster- an elderly woman named Kaila- and then headed to her house, a small cottage by the beach. "Come on in!" she called as Asalie knocked on the door.
Kaila was a broad old woman with white hair pulled back in a braid, bright yet wise green eyes and deep olive skin. She offered the brunette and her team some tea and snacks as she looked over the photographs taken.
"This was your first time taking pictures in real life, you say?" Kaila laughed, deep and rough. "I can only say you'll get better with practice- and try to keep your hair out of the frames."
Asalie blushed at this mid-drink, some of the strands actually slipping past her shoulder and one strange actually landing in her tea. "If you'd like, I can help keep it back for you," Kaila suggested.
"What do you have in mind?"
With that, Kaila took a brush and started to pull her hair back, leaving a few bangs to slide down the right side of her face before she started to braid it. Once she finished that, she pulled the braid back and wrapped it into a loose bun before using a scrunchie to secure the hair.
"There we are- and here are some spares in case you lose those," Kaila said, handing Asalie a few more ponytail holders and scrunchies.
"Thank you," Asalie said, hands reaching up subconsciously to the bun.
"I was surprised that someone picked up my poster so soon- I just put it up yesterday," the old woman said. "My grandson will be visiting Alola once he finishes another journey, so I wanted to show him pictures of what Pokemon he can expect to see."
"He has history of being a trainer?"
"Indeed he does- on that note, here."
Asalie's eyes widened in surprise at the amount of money she was being given. "Whoa, um- wow. Thank you so much, ma'am!"
"Of course not- actually, if you could keep taking pictures during your challenge and send them to me, I'll keep paying you for them."
"How did you-"
"Dearie, anyone who wears the island challenge amulet will see things not many people can claim to have ever witnessed."
Asalie's eyes flitted to the amulet on her bag.
"That reminds me of my own journey- must have been, oh, sixty years now," the old woman mused, eyes drifting to the sea. "I remember when they were still trying to build those docks properly because of how many challengers were going about. There were even groups of whole challengers who'd cooperate so they'd all make it through while there were some groups who failed and tried to make others fail out of sheer spite."
The old woman sighed. "The more things change, the more they stay the same it seems."
Pell nibbled quietly on her snack while Bishop looked at Kaila and Rotom-Dex's eyes flitted between the two humans. "Did- did you complete the trial?" Asalie asked.
"Oh my, no," the old woman chuckled lightly. "I got as far as Ula'Ula island before deciding that it wasn't meant to be."
The old woman must have sensed Asalie's conflicting emotions at her words and said, "There's no shame in stopping your challenge- these are trials that even adults are hard-pressed to take. And the ones who are put through them the most are still children. And if I hadn't stopped, I wouldn't have met the man I married or had my children or they their grandchildren."
"I've no regrets with the direction I've taken with my life."
Asalie's lips pressed into a fine line, expression troubled.
Just then, she heard a cuckoo noise and glanced behind- a Pikipek cuckoo clock was going off, the time reading six PM. "Sh- oot!" she began before quickly changing the last bit. "Um, thank you for the tea Kaila, but my friends are waiting for me!"
"Of course- thank you again for the photographs, Asalie," Kaila said with a smile.
The brunette returned her team to their poke-balls, Rotom-Dex flew into her bag and she was out the door.
"Whoa, you look great Asa!" Hau exclaimed when she caught up with them by the beach, wheezing for breath.
Lillie didn't say anything as she looked at the brunette, hands tight around the bag strap. "So, did we all find what we were looking for?"
Asalie nodded, still trying to catch her breath.
"Woo! Beach time!" Hau exclaimed with joy and the green-haired boy raced over to the changing area on the beach- Asalie and Lillie looked at one another then at the beach.
"Beach time?" Asalie offered, voice still weak from little air.
"... beach time," Lillie agreed with a smile.
They went to get changed- Asalie with the one piece (Swimsuit, she added in her head with a snicker), Hau in bright green-blue swimming trunks and Lillie- was still wearing her normal dress.
Words could not express Asalie's disappointment.
"I'll be fine on the beach, none of the swimming clothes suited me- but you two look lovely," said apologetically before quickly adding in the last bit.
Now words could not express her giddiness.
"Aw, thanks!" Hau said with a bright grin before releasing Konane and Akela. "Let's have fun!"
Asalie released Pell and Bishop as well as letting Rotom-Dex out of her bag to wander as well. Pell immediately went to play with Konane in the water, though she made sure to keep dry enough so her feathers wouldn't be weighed down. Akela stayed on the sand, playing with the mounds while Bishop and Rotom-Dex both explored the sand.
Hau splashed in the waves and Asalie joined him for a bit- the water was a bit cold but the sun in the sky and the mild weather made it feel more refreshing against her skin. When a wave came up and knocked her down, she had nearly tripped on-
"What the hell is that?" Asalie wondered at the... brown cucumber-like thing with bits of magenta on it.
"That's a Pyukumuku," Lillie said from where she was resting in the shade. "They often wash up on beaches since they live in the shallow areas."
"No fooling?" the brunette remarked before sitting down on a towel to enjoy the sunlight.
It was still some time before the sun would set proper and she sighed at the feeling of the breeze and sunlight on her skin- Asalie never thought it'd feel so good but it did.
"I was really impressed with how you battled at the Trainer School," Lillie admitted suddenly.
"Oh- well thanks," Asalie said with a smile before it became a confused line as the blonde stared into the horizon, braids gently swaying in the breeze.
"And even before when you saved Nebby- you weren't a trainer, you didn't have any Pokemon and you must have been as scared as I was, but you still helped us all the same. You almost got hurt- you could have died- and you still did it. You even stood up to those two men just to help me, despite getting hurt..."
She turned back to the brunette. "You said before that you weren't a good trainer and that it wasn't a good idea to have Pokemon, but you still bonded with Pellimore, Rotom and even with Bishop so quickly- and when you find something you're not good at or lack experience with, you do everything you can to better yourself," she went on.
Asalie was speechless at this, eyes wide with surprise. She didn't know what brought this on from the blonde or why she was telling her this now.
"I can't figure out the most basic roads or directions, I can't even buy my own clothes, I don't like fighting at all and when I'm confronted I feel faint," Lillie continued, arms hugging around her knees. "Compared to you, I'm..."
The brunette put a hand on her shoulder gently. "Come on- you're just starting out, same as me- we're both in places that we know so little about, doing things that we never imagined ourselves doing. Of course it's gonna be hard adjusting."
"Asa..."
"Hell, I keep waking up thinking about my video games and series and then remembering they're not with me," she went on, stretching her arms out. "I'm still unsure of this path too- but I still want to try."
"... that's why you're such a good trainer," the blonde said. "Even when you're scared, you still want to try."
After about two hours, they got their teams together and settled down in the Pokemon Center.
Hau still wanted to look around some more and Lillie didn't feel comfortable going onto the next route- this bothered Asalie, as she was making plans on going onto the next Route. She found that Ilima's trial was near the route and she wanted to try it out and ask him about the stone and seeing if it could be carved to fit the Z-Crystals.
I'm still worried about actually using those things, Asalie thought as she remembered the fight at the school with the two punks, but it'd be good to have something to take any would-be attackers and/or opponents off guard.
Asalie's current look is dark brown hair in romantic tuck and sideswept bangs, black contacts (because the gray looks too blue in-game ^^;), white tanktop, red padded shorts, black over-the knee socks and bright pink lipstick (because this went the best with her color scheme ^^;) The green jacket in my own creation.
The swimsuit is based on the tropical tank the girl character gets.
This chapter DID NOT WANT TO BE WRITTEN. I had to keep going back, changing up the narrative and structure until I got this.