Disclaimer: I don't own Pokémon. If I did, Pokémon Go would be much more akin to the main Pokémon style.

"Speech"

'Thought'


He could feel it.

Sun could feel the amazing rush, sparked by the epic battle that took place before him. The crystal dome above showed the sky as the sun rose; it felt like all of Alola was watching this battle.

"Charlie, use discharge!" Commanded the young boy with enthusiasm.

The flying stag beetle unleashed its most powerful attack onto his opponent, Kukui's Primarina.

Being a water-fairy type almost guaranteed that this Pokémon would be taken down by this single hit, yet the water songstress managed to take the hit.

"Alright! Use hyper voice!" Commanded the professor with vigor.

His Pokémon somehow stood upright on her tail fluke and released a deafening tune. Covering his ears for protection was the natural response for Sun.

Charlie didn't have such luxury. With tiny arms and no external ears to cover, the stag beetle Pokémon took the entire attack. He was left struggling to stay in the air.

"Oh no! Get some rest!" The young trainer pulled out a pokeball and retrieved Charlie.

When reaching for the next Pokeball, he noticed that Kukui had withdrawn Primarina.

"You guys were doing good. Why are you withdrawing her?" Asked the confused boy.

"There's more to fighting than simply beating whoever is in front of you," answered Kukui.

Excitement ran through the young body of Sun. This battle was escalating to such high heights for him. Doubts of achieving victory were present, but he could not care less; fighting alongside his friends to the best of his abilities made him happy.

"Yosh, bring it!"

"Come on out!" Kukui made no mention of his Pokémon as he tossed the pokeball.

Said Pokémon launched out of the pokeball with high speed. So fast, in fact, that it headed straight for Sun. The young boy had no time to react before it hit him in the face.

With his sight blinded, the young trial-goer had to rely on his other senses. Whatever hit him had no intention of getting off. It was warm, almost hot, and it had a greasy feel. It was as if Sun had been hit in the face by a-

...

Sun's eyes popped open as he laid down in bed with his pajamas. Some sweat was dripping down his forehead.

'Why do I keep having dreams that end with malasadas?' Questioned the boy.

A lack of light was indication that it was currently evening. Shifting his head against the pillow, Sun saw that his clock read 3:02 in the morning.

He sat up from his bed with a hint of exhaustion. The events of the day prior were still deeply engraved in his mind.

How one could reach such a level of power was an enigma to the young trainer. Brendan's native difference might have been a factor in that formula. Perhaps he had been to several regions before meeting Sun, if he even existed at all.

"Alola is kind of small now," muttered the boy as he thought about the entire world.

Mindlessly, his eyes wandered around the room until he came upon a peculiar sight.

Some green slime was plastered against his wall. It was very circular in appearance with pointed tips at either end. Red dyed a hexagon in its center. The weirdest part was how it had two eyes, one smaller than the other and staring at Sun.

Widened eyes and curiosity alerted the creature to the boy's attention.

"What the-" The creature quickly vanished before he could say anything else.

Surprised, Sun got out of bed and inspected the wall. He patted the surface and noticed how it felt even and flat. The second time that he questioned the existence of something he saw and it still felt weird.

The thing also looked very familiar to him.

"Green and slimy...I'm sure I've heard that somewhere before," said the boy softly.

He instantly assumed that it was a Pokémon which led him to an interesting thought.

'Pokémon act differently during the night. Maybe Rotom and I could get some cool pictures.'

Sun's thought process was mandated by some guilt over his previous actions. Even so, he still couldn't pass up this opportunity.

Getting a change of clothes on and picking up his backpack, he left his room silently. He didn't grab any pokeballs on the way out. Bringing too many Pokemon might alert surrounding neighbors if he had to call upon them for a fight, and there was one person that Sun didn't want to notice about his late activity.

His mother may have been lenient on some things with her son, but bedtime on a weekday was not one of them.

'Just gotta get back fast and maybe she won't wake up,' thought the boy hopefully as he made it into the kitchen.

Hope turned to quick fear as he heard rustling coming from his mom's room. Sun froze up with fear at what punishment could befall him.

Luckily for the sneaky protagonist, she was just tossing around in the bedsheets while still asleep. A soft sigh signaled the boy's relief. He carefully opened the front door and left the house.

'It's definitely weird that I still listen to my mother but am the Champion,' thought the boy, even if he would never act upon that thought.

Sun walked up Route 1 and stopped when he felt that he was far away enough. Removing his backpack, he shook it up until Rotom popped out of it with some groggieness mixed with surprise.

"Sun? What izz it, buddy? Don't you know what time it izz?" Asked the somehow tired machine.

"I thought that this would be a good time to take some pictures." The boy was quick to the bottom line.

Beaming up with some enthusiasm, Rotom shook off its surprised and tired state. The Pokémon/machine turned on the camera and put up the interface for taking photos.

"Alright! Letzz do it!"

Sun smirked, grabbed his friend, and ventured out into the route. Looking at a nearby tree, they could see that a Pikkipek was soundly asleep. No sounds were made as the picture was taken a good ten feet away; the zoom function was very helpful.

An Alolan Rattata approached the tree because it had a pecha berry next to it. It sniffed the fruit for a few seconds before picking it up for a snack.

The normal/dark type had failed to notice either Sun or Rotom. Despite the distance and silence, the picture shot was still noticed by Rattata. It scurried away as it was noticed.

"These guys sure act differently during the night," noted Sun.

"Mm-hm."

Uploading the pictures did not warrant the same positive response as from Rotom initially. Most of the people online thought that the pictures looked good, but a good many said that the Pokémon in the pictures were too common.

"I guess Pikipek and Rattata are pretty common Pokémon," noted Sun with a bit of disappointment.

"Maybe we should go to a different route?" Inquired Rotom, who seemed eager to take more pictures.

Nodding, the black-haired boy accepted that it sounded like a good idea. He reached into his backpack for the Pokerider, but realized something important.

He didn't bring a single pokéball with him; Rotom was literally the only Pokémon with him at the moment.

"I guess we really can't," stated the boy with a sheepish grin.

"What? Why not?"

"Because if we went, I think you'd have to help me out against any Midnight Lycanroc."

Jolted, Rotom waved its appendages with another sheepish grin. Taking pictures of and registering Pokemon were his thing, not fighting with them. Sun chuckled at that gesture.

It was then that he noticed something, a distant sound that was familiar.

Crackling electricity mixed with crashing waves. Walking near the ledge of the route, Sun and Rotom could clearly see where the sound was coming from. An Alolan Raichu was skating across the water in the bay below.

"Wow, that guy zzure is going fazzt," noted Rotom.

"Yeah. It must be using some sort of electric speed attack."

Sun's guess wasn't too far from the truth. Raichu bent down and increased in speed using wild charge.

The presence of the Pokémon alone was strange given the time of night, so the fact that it was using wild charge was also very strange.

'He must be aiming at something...' The gray-eyed boy looked in the direction that Raichu was heading and noticed what he was charging towards.

An ice beam.

Having this projectile rapidly approach the psychic-electric type did nothing to slow it down. Instead, it slammed its tail down on the water, creating a wave that the beam hit.

Amazement was colored on Sun's face after bearing witness to that. Very rarely did a Pokémon learn how to do that in the wild.

Raichu's moment of vigor and swag was short lived, however. It slipped on its own tail (don't try to think about it too hard) and hit the water.

Splashing from the direction of the ice beam drew Sun's attention, and he saw somebody he wasn't expecting.

Hau was running over to the Raichu; it was his Pokémon and they were training.

No thoughts commanded Sun's actions, but he still ducked. Rotom saw this and was immediately curious with a tinge of disappointment.

"C'mon, man. I thought you got over thizz," said the Pokémon.

"Yeah, I know. It's just hard to start on your own with these kinds of things," admitted Sun with shame.

Of all the people Sun had encountered in Alola, Hau was definitely the nicest. The boy possessed some form of innocence that was only rivaled by Lillie's grace. His smiles managed to make everybody happier.

That's what made it so hard for Sun to face him. He had personally abandoned that smile and run away from it, not even glancing back.

All of this was because of his own emotions again.

"I do feel guilty, and it's just hard to face it." Speaking that did little to change what Rotom had said or its position on the matter.

"The best time is alwayzz now, you know."

How peculiar. The Champion of Alola was being given moral advice by a Pokémon inhabiting a device. Listening to it didn't seem like such a horrible idea.

Sun mustered up the willpower to face Hau while a pitiful grin appeared on his face.

...

Being sluggish in the morning was never something that anybody liked experiencing. If one was endured the night's challenges of ignoring sleep for a while, they paid a fair price for it.

Hau was doing that such thing. He awoke and moved his head to see that his clock, which had Alolan Exeggutors for the hands, read 10:34 AM.

"Man, I must've really needed that sleep," said the boy before yawning.

Urges from his parents and Hala would push him to get out of bed and do something productive with his day. People from Team Skull would likely come by soon and ask him for more lessons about a better lifestyle.

'I don't know why they keep doing that.'

In truth, the former people of Team Skull were inspired by Hau's philosophies after the Ultra Wormhole incident.

Helping them by scheduling wrestling matches was the best method that the boy could offer.

"Hopefully they won't bother me about that and I can practice with Grandpa," said Hau, oblivious to irony.

Karma must have been diligent and swift because a few knocks on the front door grabbed his attention. Sighing, the boy went over to the front door to open it, and his face burst with surprise at who was on the other side.

There was Sun, without a hat, bearing a sheepish grin.

"Hey Hau." It was obvious that the visitor was not prepared for this interaction.

"Sun!" The host quickly grabbed his visitor's shoulders.

Concern over possible anger overtook Sun; he still harbored some fear about facing his past. He wouldn't turn away now, though.

"Dude! I haven't seen you in forever, are you ok?!" Yelled Hau with blatant concern.

"Uh...it's only been a few days." Sun's retort was weak because he was still offset by this reaction.

Hau dislodged his hands from his friend's shoulders and placed them behind his head. "Yeah, but it feels like it's been a while."

The tone of that answer reassured Sun that his friend didn't harbor any resentment about the prior events. Guilt and hesitation were not gone, but they were lessened.

"Hau...I'm sorry about the other day," apologized Sun with some reluctance.

A dash of curiosity appeared on Hau because he was not expecting that.

"It's cool, but what were you so upset about? I just mentioned Lillie and you bolted."

Recounting the event that transpired a few days earlier didn't sit well with the main protagonist; it was always painful to pull up one's mistakes. If that wasn't bad enough, now he had to fully explain himself.

Truthfully, Sun was hoping that Hau would just accept the apology, and then they could move on with their day. Owning up to mistakes was harder than he initially imagined.

"Well...you see...I had some problems with Lillie," said Sun.

"Really? Did you two get into a fight or something?" Asked the native boy with sincere concern and intrigue.

"No, no! Nothing like that happened," explained Sun quickly.

"Then what was it?"

Taking a deep breath, the Alola Champion prepared to fully explain what transpired. However, he was quickly stopped when he realized something important.

Hau might have also had a crush on Lillie.

'That's right! He also wasn't happy when she was leaving,' thought Sun as he mentally reviewed the events of that night.

If he said that he had a crush on Lillie, it would possibly hurt Hau or make him angry. That would damage their friendship

All that built up resolve was now blown away by concern for the friendship he held with Hau. Innocence in the native boy's eyes didn't make it any easier for Sun. Now he needed to provide an answer for the situation he put himself in.

"Sun, why is talking about Lillie so hard for you?" Asked Hau with a little furrowing of his eyebrows.

'Ngh, why did I have to remember that?' Thought the Champion.

"I think I have the answer."

Sun jumped at the voice that came from right behind him, which he instantly recognized.

Hala stood behind him, merry and strong as ever.

"Grandpa! What do you mean?" Asked Hau with little attention towards the previous inquiry.

"Seems that you two need to have something worked out. I believe that a competition with Pokémon will help," proclaimed the kahuna.

While Sun had been itching to win a Pokémon battle since yesterday's embarrassing defeat, he couldn't bring himself to get his partners to help him out with this. Getting them to battle to vent out his stress was not appropriate to him.

Explaining his actions to his friend was something that the protagonist would need to accomplish on his own.

"No thank you. I don't want to make my Pokémon battle for something like this," answered Sun.

Hala erupted with laughter in response to Sun's answer. This perplexed the boy.

"I never said anything about a Pokémon battle!"

...

"Are we sure about this?"

"Yeah."

"Are we really sure about this?"

"Yeah, Grandpa never has any bad ideas before. Why would he have any now?"

Shooting a pair of surprised eyes the size of pokeballs, Sun pondered about the history that Hau had with his grandfather.

The boys were positioned atop the mountain of MeleMele Island. They sat on Tauros, who were eager and energetic, and faced out at a long track before them. Hala had gone through the effort to clear a long path for the boys.

Having both of the boys race was the Kahuna's idea to dissolve the inhibitions that Sun was experiencing. However, the black-haired boy felt like this was done for some ulterior motive, probably something to do with the island's entertainment.

'Tapu Koko better be watching.'

Despite the steep drop and long race ahead of him, Hau's face was painted with curiosity and energy; the boy rarely ever faltered in his jubilance.

On the other side of the island, Hala had gathered a crowd to witness the event. Everybody seemed interested in how this event would play out, evident by their gossiping. This was quickly brought to a halt by a raise of Hala's hand.

"And now, let the race," he closed his hand into a fist, "begin!"

The elderly man slammed his fist into a pump connected to a rocket, launching some fireworks and starting the race.

Hau and Sun could hear the projectiles as it screamed into the air.

"That must be the signal from Grandpa!" Noted the ponytailed boy.

Both Tauros saw the sign and immediately became hyperactive. Dust and rocks were kicked into the air as the two of them jumped off of the cliff.

Sun could feel a spark in his soul, and whatever he had for breakfast in his mouth. That spark was quickly snuffed out by the fear in his mind while he descended to the ground.

"I don't remember Tauros being this fast!" Yelled the boy as he and his ride landed.

Already they were at a difficult point as the racers landed. Route 3 was filled with twists and turns due to the giant rocks that dotted the road. Somehow, that didn't impede Hau's progression. He and his Tauros were already moving through it with ease.

'Uh-oh.' Sun still felt uneasy about this idea, but he didn't want to be left in the dust.

A kick on the sides, and his bull Pokémon exploded forward. The Alolan Champion provided the swift turns necessary to get through the maze of rocks, albeit slower than Hau's.

Little time elapsed before the competitors crossed into the next area, Route 5. Grass that accented the road were a clear sign of that. So was the wooden bridge that was ahead.

"Oh crap, is that thing gonna hold?!" Sun's fear blatantly showed.

His fears were quickly erased when he saw Hau's Tauros cross the bridge with no problems. Reassurance of the stability pushed him forward.

"Alright! Here we go!" Sun kicked on Tauros's sides some more, gaining more speed.

Charging through onto the bridge was definitely more challenging than originally intended. The structure was now bouncing around due to force from the first Tauros; Sun's didn't help to ease the vibrations.

'This. Is. Crazy!' The black haired boy was jerked around by the momentum of his ride and the bridge.

Once the insanity ended, they reached the other side. A sigh of relief blew out from the boy. Now, all that was ahead was a downhill run. It was certainly more calm than the last.

A sharp turn awaited at the bottom of the hill, Sun was quick to direct Tauros in the correct direction.

Now they ran through the Hau'oli City outskirts. For a brief moment, the Champion caught a glimpse of his house and wondered if his mother was watching the race.

Suddenly, he noticed Hau in front of him. That spark returned to the black haired boy. Nothing came into Sun's mind; he just knew that he had to win.

His Tauros sped up, ignited by his burst to win.

Hau caught sight of his quickly approaching opponent.

"Looks like you're catching up!" Said the cheerful boy half-tauntingly.

"Yeah, but I'm gonna win this!" Retorted Sun with vigor.

Time and space started to slow for the two as the winded flew by them.

Another quick turn, and they were running by the trainer school. It was to their right for only a few seconds.

Sun really couldn't explain it, why he felt so comfortable doing this. But he couldn't care less.

Hau'oli city was now within their sights, only 50 yards away. Or it was for 7 seconds.

A crowd had gathered to see what event Hala had going on. It must've been very important if he asked for the roads to be temporarily closed off. Many people had gathered to witness it, including Sun's mother with her Meowth.

Everything was being recorded by a Magnezone and displayed on television sets. Everybody could see the joyful race going on between Hau and Sun.

'Sun, he seems full of more energy now.' Thought Sun's mother as she watched the competition. 'What has he been through lately?'

In all honesty, she had been aware of her son's negative nature all along. Only recently had she noticed how far it was going. Initially, she saw that he was torn up about something after becoming a champion. She wanted to discuss it with him, yet she missed the chance to do so.

The healing transformation for him was quick, and he couldn't really explain what had happened to mend him; probably because he questioned the legitimacy of Brendan's existence.

Yet now, it seemed that her son was well recovered. All she could do is watch on and give him as much guidance as she could.

"I suppose I'll just have to talk to him later and cheer him on now. Right, Meowth?" The cat Pokémon nodded, affirming in her decision and Sun's positive nature.

It was no more prevalent than when he and Hau quickly appeared. The two boys were driving the Tauros faster than anyone else had done before.

Neck and neck, neither was willing to give in even a little bit.

"Eat my dust, Hau!"

"No thanks! I ate malasadas!" The pony-tailed boy yelled with vigor and joy, causing his friend to laugh against the wind.

20 meters from the finish line.

The boys were so close to each other.

15 meters from the finish line.

The sounds of hooves was blaring.

10 meters.

Air was practically slicing past them.

5 meters.

Teeth grit as the decisive moment came-

A zoom roared past the finish line, nobody could see exactly what had happened. Both Tauros slowed to a halt. Panting was all that could be heard from Hau and Sun. It appeared that the race literally drained them of a lot of energy.

"...'pant'...Who...'pant...won?" Asked Hau.

"...'pant'...I...'pant'...dunno."

The participants weren't the only ones unsure about the outcome, the audience was also devoid of a proper answer. All except one.

"Fear not! I saw who the winner was!" Everyone turned their attention towards Hala, who seemed full of energy. "My excellent eyesight doesn't fail me!"

"Are you sure about that, Grandpa?" Asked his grandson innocently. His grandfather fell over in response to that.

"Of course I did!" Yelled Hala in response before quickly regaining his composure.

Silence hushed the crowd has the Kahuna stared with his seemingly closed eyes. He walked over to the two boys and raised both hands. Sun interpreted this as the elder being more serious than was actually necessary.

Then, Hala lowered his hand.

"Sun is the victor."

The crowd erupted into a cheer; perhaps the rivalry and vigor between the two boys had sparked interest and fanaticism in them. In the crowd, Mrs. Mikazuki appeared very proud of her son.

'I only hope that this further cheers Sun up,' thought the woman as she and her Meowth cheered for him.

Sun obviously was very relieved because he needed some form of a victory after yesterday's defeat. his vision shifted over to his friend.

Despite losing the match, Hau seemed just as happy as ever. It was always the same with that boy. No matter how badly he lost, he just wanted to have fun with his friends. An attitude like that was something that every friend should hold.

Ironically, it was an attitude that Sun was envious of.

Surprisingly, there was little effort required to remove the decorations for the event. Hala lifted up big objects as if he was in his prime.

"Wow, your grandpa is really strong," noted Sun as he watched the old man easily pick up a barrier that was three times his size.

"Yeah. He's super strong!" Hau's oblivious cheerfulness was a good compliment to Sun's awe.

The Kahuna casually walked over while still carrying the barrier.

"You boys did fantastic. We should definitely do this again," proclaimed Hala.

"Sure thing. It was really fun," said Sun, discarding his awestruck state.

Tauros races were certainly common in Alola; the bull was a common way for the people to get around. However, it had never been done before at the distance that Sun and Hau displayed or with such intensity between two racers.

"Maybe next time we should have more people? It's probably a little boring with just me and Hau," suggested the Champion.

"I dunno." Sun and Hala turned to Hau, who was looking to the sky and stroking his chin. The oblivious state of joy had been lost. "Putting more Tauros on the road doesn't sound that exciting."

Observing this behavior felt awkward for Sun. It was rare to ever see Hau break out of his jolly state.

"Well, what do you think we should do next time?" Inquired the Champion.

"What if we decided to race with our own Pokémon...while holding...pancakes!" The boy quickly returned to his regular behavior.

Silence fell after that. It was as if somebody had just cursed the Tapus, except this was focusing on something more impractical.

"Haha!"

Laughter had burst out from Sun. He was on his knees laughing; so much so that his cheek bones started to hurt. Now it was Hau's turn to awkwardly observe his friend's behavior.

Hala, too, was laughing at such an absurdly amusing idea. This grandson of his could be so innocent and hilarious.

'No wonder those people from Team Skull look to him for advice.'

The Kahuna decided to continue with deconstructing the event, leaving Hau and Sun by themselves.

"By the way, didn't you have something that you wanted to talk about?" Asked Hau. Sun stiffened a little when he instantly remembered. "Something about Lillie, right?"

There was that reluctance again, fear for his friend's feelings. But this time was different. More calmness and understanding was circulating around Sun's mind and soul. He knew fully that this person was his friend first and enemy last.

With a deep sigh, he began his explanation.

"Yeah, there is a reason why I was acting up after Lillie left," said the black-haired boy.

"What was it?"

"Well, I...had a crush on her. I was really torn up when she was gone." His explanation was slow in delivery, indicating that it was still a little difficult to talk about.

The speed of the explanation did little to affect its impact on Hau, who now had eyes the size of Miniors.

"R-really? You liked her that much?" Asked the baffled boy.

A nervous expression spread across Sun's face in response to seeing Hau's. He was getting closer to an emotional conflict between his best friend.

Despite that, he still needed to be honest.

A nod confirmed what Hau had questioned.

"I just didn't want to let her not live her dreams." Now it was hard for Sun to face his friend at all. "That's why I didn't try to stop her when she left. Hau, I know you might like her a lot, too, but I can't let go of how I feel."

Gravity of the situation intensified as a heavy silence fell. The emotion on Hau's face only grew more surprised as Sun's grew more distraught.

Understanding that this could lead to a nasty argument, the latter prepared himself for the worst.

"Sun, I don't have a crush on Lillie. Who told you that I did?"

Surprise exploded on Sun's face.

"What? But you were so upset when she left!"

"Well, she's my friend. I would do the same thing if you left." Explained Hau.

All that pent up worry and frustration now literally meant nothing. It was a novelty for Sun to experience this kind of free relief. The answer to this predicament was always in front of him, he just couldn't see it.

Few people in Alola supported and believed in him like Hau did. The bond they shared was one of enjoyment and rivalry. Even if they both cherished the same girl, neither would bring themselves to truly hate the other. All the events that Sun experienced with Hau made them good rivals and even better friends.

When they first got their starter Pokémon.

The many times they battled together.

Teaming up to save their friends and prove their bonds.

Sun's worry had robbed him of precious time with friends again, but now he could make up for it. He sighed before falling over and laughing.

"You're not going crazy, are you?" Questioned Hau with a hint of humor.

"No, I just feel like an idiot." The Champion pushed himself off of the ground. "You're a good friend, Hau. Sorry for making you worry."

As an appropriate answer, the native boy cracked a grin and placed his hands behind his head.

"Hey, you're a good friend to me too."


Thanks for reading this chapter, hope you liked it. If you have anything to say, then please leave a review (but keep it clean). Sorry for the long time it took to write this, but I've been playing tons of Dark Souls 3, building competitive Pokémon in Moon, and trying to stay healthy.