A/N: Happy Holidays everyone! I'm finally back with another chapter just in time before the new year. I do apologize for the long wait, but most of my time was put into college and writing chapters for Lost Data. Despite this, I hope I can continue to write more chapters. Let's think of that as my New Year's resolution.
RWBYSanctum: Thank you! Those are good theories about Moon's connection to the Ultra Beasts. Unfortunately, I can't confirm them, but you're definitely on the right track.
Venandi: Yikes, those definitely are good guesses. I can't confirm them since that would be huge spoilers. But yes, Moon does have a connection with the Ultra Beasts. You'll find out how she is connected to them later on.
Chapter 9: Remembrance
"Kuro, use scratch one last time!" Sun called out to Kuro, his Litten, to attack the Pikipek that was standing in front of them.
He along with Hau and Moon had been training in a grassy field when a Pikipek had suddenly popped out from one of the surrounding trees and dove in at Kuro, attacking him with its beak without any remorse. Seeing how determined the Pokémon was in its attack against Kuro, Sun immediately decided that he should catch the small red and white bird Pokémon. It would be a mistake to disregard the Pikipek's strength and determination.
"Meowr!" Kuro cried as he dashed forward to the Pikipek.
He lifted his paw and scratched Pikipek with his sharp claws, causing the Pikipek to cry out in pain and fall to the ground. It tried to regain its bearings and stand back up to face its opponent, but the pain from Kuro's attack was keeping it from doing so.
Seeing his chance, Sun smirked and took out his Pokéball, throwing it at Pikipek. It hit Pikipek's body and opened, its light enveloping the Pokemon and sucking it into the device. It shook three times before making a soft ding, signifying that Pikipek had been successfully captured.
"Oh yeah, Sun! Congratulations!" Hau shouted in excitement, moving towards Sun. He put his arm around Sun, who had just finished picking up the still Pokéball that held his new partner. Sun smiled at Hau in embarrassment over the attention and let out a slight chuckle.
"Thanks Hau."
Sun looked away from Hau over to Kuro and smiled in gratitude at him.
"Thank you, Kuro, for helping me catch our new friend."
Kuro gave out a loud yawn and laid its body down on the soft blades of grass, curling itself into a ball. Sun shook his head at his Pokémon's behavior and returned him back into his Pokéball. It was difficult getting Kuro to battle for him. While Kuro was obedient, he had a laid back kind of attitude. And as such, it took effort to get Kuro to do anything that seemed like it would be too much for the Pokemon to do. Not that Sun didn't mind. In fact, he liked Kuro for what he was. It just meant he had to have more patience for Kuro. Although, he was sure he had plenty of patience considering he was friends with Hau. When they were younger, Hau always brought them into crazy shenanigans. It was always difficult having to stay patient with his best friend when every antic got them into plenty of trouble.
"So now that you have your new Pokémon, we should help Moon find one too!" Hau said in excitement, snapping Sun out of his thoughts.
He nodded in agreement at Hau's suggestion and turned to Moon, who was standing away from them along the side of some trees with Rotom. Sun opened his mouth to ask if she had any idea of what Pokemon she had in mind of catching, but paused upon seeing her expression. Her eyelids were drooped with her gaze directed towards the ground. Sun felt his brows knit into a frown as he called out to Moon. When she didn't respond to his voice, Sun wondered if she was too deep in her thoughts to hear him.
Sun had a feeling that Moon's silence was due to their conversation with Ilima earlier. They had talked a lot about their first trial with the Trial Captain and what they would be facing. While he wasn't that worried, Moon was different. He understood now that she would overthink things that she felt she couldn't successfully do. While it wasn't necessary a bad trait to have, it was a trait that made Sun worry about her.
As Hau walked over to Moon to get her attention, Sun looked away from the two to Kuro's Pokéball in his hand as his mind went back to what the three had discussed with the Trial Captain after finding Moon.
"Captain Ilima?! But-" Hau stuttered, but Ilima cut him off.
"I do apologize, but why not continue this conversation somewhere else other than here? If I may suggest, how about the Malasada Shop?"
"O-of course." Sun replied, still stunned that the Trial Captain of their first trial was standing in front of them. He hadn't expected to see Captain Ilima with Moon.
With hesitance, Sun and the others, along with Rotom, followed Ilima to the Malasada Shop that Hau and he had left in a rush when they had realized Moon had not follow them. After speaking to one of the ladies at the front desk, Ilima led the three to a small table. He sat down and gestured for Sun and the others to do the same. Confused, the children took their seat and stared back at Ilima with questionable gazes. Ilima only smiled kindly at the three and spoke.
"Now then, before we begin. Is there anything you would like to eat? Normally, I would give you advice on my trial and where to find it and let you go your way, but Professor Kukui was insistent that I meet and have lunch with you three."
"Wait, how did you meet Moon?" Sun asked, narrowing his eyes at the Ilima. Even if Ilima was the Trial Captain, he wanted to make sure he hadn't done anything to Moon. Near him, Hau also narrowed his eyes. Ilima chuckled at their overprotectiveness of their friend. It was nice to see from their expressions how much they cared about Moon.
"Ah yes, I found Moon after I accidentally bumped into her. I was concerned over why she was running blindlessly in the street, but after she explained to me who she was and why she was in such a hurry, I thought it would be best for me to help her find you two. After all, she was one of the trainers Professor Kukui told me to meet with."
"Is that right, Moon?" Sun asked as he turned to Moon. She nodded in response and turned back to Ilima. Ilima noticed how silent she was. He wondered if that had anything to do with their confrontation with Team Skull. Her behavior had certainly changed after her Rowlet had been injured.
"Excuse me, are you ready to order?" asked a female voice to their right. The four looked over to see a female waitress looking at them with a serene smile, holding onto a small notepad in her hand. Ilima nodded to her in respect and looked back at the trainers.
"Before we continue, how about we order what we want to eat first?"
Reluctantly, Hau and Sun nodded and ordered what they wanted to eat along with Moon. Ilima waited till their orders had been taken before making his choice. Once the waitress had left with their orders taken, Ilima continued on with their conversation.
"As I've said before, I am Captain Ilima and you three will be taking my trial tomorrow. Although I won't go into too much detail, you three each will be battling a Pokémon and then will have to come together to face the Totem Pokémon."
"The Totem Pokémon? Sun asked.
He, along with Hau, had heard of the Totem Pokémon before multiple of times from Professor Kukui during their many visits to his house. From Professor Kukui, they had learned that the Totem Pokémon was the Pokémon that a trainer would face at the end of their trial. They were far stronger than a normal Pokémon, having been trained by Trial Captains themselves to fulfil their role.
Ilima nodded in response to Sun's question. "The Totem Pokémon you will be facing will determine if you shall pass my trial. If you do manage to defeat them, it will grant you the right to face this Island's Kahuna, since I am the only captain here on Melemele Island."
"You mean Gramps, right!?" Hau proclaimed. He raised his fist into the air in excitement as his grin grew wider at the idea of battling his grandfather. Sun sighed in disapproval over Hau's outburst and gave a slight nudge at him with his elbow, telling him to settle down. Once he did, Sun looked back to Ilima.
"Is there anything else we should know about the trial?"
Ilima shook his head. "The rest will be explained to you tomorrow. My advice is to be prepared to work alone for the first half of the trial. While it is good to work together, there comes a time when you have to face your own battles. Also note that the Pokémon living within Verdant Cavern are quite fierce. I wouldn't venture inside of it until you think you are ready to."
"Got it." Sun replied.
Not even a second after Sun had said that, the waitress came back with their food. Sun eyed the food with hesitance as the waitress set them down on the table. He wanted to ask Ilima more about their trial, but the gnawing hunger he had tried to keep back when they walked into the shop lashed out against his stomach. He had to swallow a pool of saliva as he looked back up at Ilima from the food. The Trial Captain simply gave him a closed-mouth smile and nodded for him and the other two to dig in. And that they did, ending their conversation with Ilima.
"Hey Sun! What Pokémon do you think Moon should catch? I think she should totally catch a Growlithe. Rotom says there should be some here somewhere in the fields."
Sun lifted his head, startled out of his thoughts, and turned to the source of the voice that had called out to him, realizing that it was Hau. Hau now stood over by Moon, with his head turned over to him sightly with a beaming smile. Moon was now looking at him, shaken out of her thoughts as well. Sun had to guess that was due to Hau.
"I think we should leave that up to Moon." Sun suggested, taking a step forward. "Anyway, shouldn't we head to that place you wanted to visit. It's going to get dark soon."
Hau's eyes widened as he looked up at the sky, suddenly noticing that it had indeed changed from dark sky blue to hues of a rich orange color. The fiery sun was slowly sinking beneath the horizon now as it's light touched the clouds, dying them into a scarlet color. Upon seeing this, Hau's eager smile was quickly replaced by a panicked frown.
Sun watched this and sighed over Hau's lack of sense of time. After they had finished eating lunch with Ilima, they parted from him and headed to the Pokémon Center to see if they could stay for the night. After they were promised that they would have a room and dinner waiting for them once they return, they took off to Route 2, deciding it would be best to train and visit Hau'oli Cemetery. Hau had asked Sun earlier if they could visit it before they took their trial. Of course, Sun couldn't say no. He understood why Hau needed to visit Hau'oli Cemetery.
"Aww man! We have to hurry!" Hau cried out, turning back to Sun with something that could only be described as anxiousness. "I have to see them!"
Sun nodded with a small smile, catching sight of Moon's expression of confusion. Nearby Rotom beeped and asked questions of what the two boys were talking about. Instead of replying to Rotom's questions, Sun opted to tell Hau to go ahead, not wanting to keep him waiting. While Hau took off in a sprint on the path to Hau'oli Cemetery, Sun gestured for Moon and Rotom to follow him on the same path, but at a much slower pace than what Hau had took off on. As they walked, Sun decided that it was best to answer Rotom's questions.
"Hau wanted to go Hau'oli Cemetery.' He said. "It's where many, including both people and Pokémon, go to mourn those that they have lost. There's important people there that Hau wants to visit before our trial tomorrow."
"Bzzzt! Who are these people that Hau wants to see?"
"His parents." Sun answered in a dull tone, finding the orange colored sky a lot more interesting to look at in comparison to the cemetery that was becoming closer and closer with each step they took.
Surprisingly, Rotom didn't ask anything else after Sun had answered his question. Sun had to wonder if it was due to respect for Hau's privacy. Even if Hau trusted him with information about his parents, Sun knew it wasn't his place to share that information. Only Hau had the right to share it with Moon and Rotom.
When they finally arrived at the cemetery, Sun led Moon and Rotom to the narrow dirt path that was lined by stones. As they walked, Sun noticed of how little the graveyard had changed since the last time he had came. There were still rows of graves, possibly even more now, adorned with flowers, while some with weeds. And there was still the feeling of deep sorrow that weighed heavily on his shoulders. He still could remember vividly the last time he came with Hau and his grandfather and the emotions he felt back then. They were the kind of emotions that he wanted to forget. Even now, he still couldn't bring himself to like Hau'oli Cemetery. It was just a place he didn't have the stomach to stay at for too long.
"Is this Hau'oli Cemetery?" Sun heard Moon ask behind him.
Sun turned to her and gave her a slight nod and paused, catching sight of an old couple not too far from them kneeling down to a gravestone with their heads bowed down to the ground. He felt his throat form a lump as an image of his mom doing the exact same thing in front of a small shrine formed inside his head. Realizing what he was thinking, Sun quickly shook the image away. He couldn't think of that now, not when Moon and Rotom were right next to him. He took Moon's hand into his and led her and the floating Rotom Pokédex away from the mourning couple. They had to allow them to mourn in peace.
Once they were far away from the mourning couple, Sun released Moon's hand and turned back to her seeing her stare at a small gravestone that was near them. It had a small woven basket in front of it with bundles of red and blue flowers inside it. However, many of the flowers were becoming wilted, losing their bright colors. It was plainly obvious that the grave hadn't been visited in some time.
"Do you have someone that is deceased?" Sun decided to ask Moon, partly due to curiosity over why her gaze was on the small grave. He wondered if she was staring at it because it reminded of someone she had lost.
Surprisingly, Moon shook her head and turned away from the grave back to him. "I-I do not, but…"
She bit the bottom of her lip and looked back at the grave with a solemn expression.
"I wish I could understand what that feels like." She said quietly with longing noticeable in her voice.
Sun stared at Moon with confusion, wondering why she would want to experience those emotions. Then again, he understood that there many things that were still unknown about Moon. She did not understand many things during the first few days after she had woken up, like she was completely new to the world around her. Still, in the back of his mind, a faint ember of jealousy flared up over her luck in not losing anyone yet. But just as quickly as it appeared, it was quickly sent away. Sun knew he couldn't be jealous. It wasn't fair for Moon when she was only trying to understand what that felt like.
"I don't know." Sun replied slowly, secretly hoping that Moon wouldn't experience something like that yet. "I think it's nice to not have anyone you miss. It's not a great feeling to have."
Moon nodded slowly and looked back up to Sun with a curious gaze. "Do you have anyone that you miss, Sun?"
Sun felt his body go stiff at her question as his mind began to fill with images that he had thought he had long since buried to the darkest corners of his mind. Stubbornly, he forced them away as he gave a slight nod to Moon. Although he trusted Moon, he didn't have the courage to explain to her whom he lost. Whenever he thought about that person, all he could feel was instant regret and guilt. Those emotions haunted him even as a child. It was only because he had met Hau did Sun learn how to shove those painful emotions away.
"I do…" Sun said slowly. "But it's been too long, so I don't remember them that much. I was only a child when they died."
"Bzzzt! Who was this person?" Rotom piped up by Moon slightly moving away from her to Sun.
"Just a relative." Sun answered in a dry tone.
He looked away from Rotom to the sky that had grown darker. It was now obsidian, speckled with silvery stars that seemed to glow like the embers of a dying flame. Although the moon was not out yet, Sun knew that it was almost time for them to leave. It was not ideal for them to be at the cemetery at night. Not because it was creepy and more quieter, but it was due to the fact that was when Ghost Pokémon liked to come out and roam about.
When they were children, Professor Kukui had always repeatedly warned them about Ghost-type Pokémon. Many liked to prank humans just to see their faces and reactions. And at worst, some Ghost-type Pokémon would have murderous intentions and wanted to bring harm to humans. It was not that surprising considering that Ghost-type Pokémon were connected to the afterlife. But even then, it was all the more reason Sun wanted to play it safe. The cemetary was the perfect place for Ghost-type Pokémon to be lurking around in the dark.
"We should go get Hau." Sun decided to say, looking away from the sky back to Moon. "It's getting dark and I rather we not stay here too longer at this hour."
Moon gaze a slight nod and together, she and Sun walked over to where Hau was. It was not too far away from the entrance from what Sun could remember. Hau's parents' graves were at a small section of the cemetery partly surrounded by fields of grass. When he was younger, Sun considered their graves a pleasant place to be laid to rest, since flowers always grew by the parent's tombstones. It made their graves seem more beautiful in comparison to the ones that had been long since abandoned by people and Pokemon alike.
Sure enough, as Sun and Moon got closer to the area where Hau was suppose to be at, they found him kneeling down before two stones that had a basket of malasadas and flowers sitting in between them. Hau had his palms pressed together before the two stones as his mouth formed words that Sun and Moon couldn't hear in the distance. But if Sun had to guess, they had to be words of declaration. Hau always use to tell him how he wanted to make his parents proud of him, after all what they had done for him. It was the perfect time to let them know what they would be taking on tomorrow.
Not wanting to interrupt Hau, Sun decided to stop along with Moon and let him finish. When Hau finally clapped his hands together a couple of times and stood up from the ground, Sun took that as his cue that it was now okay for them to go up to Hau. Hau immediately noticed them when they walked forward and waved at them with a cheerful grin.
"Hey guys! Sorry for taking so long, but I'm finished now!"
"It's fine." Sun said as he avoided eye contact with Hau's parent's gravestones. "We should be going now. We should head back to the Pokémon Center now."
"Okay!" Hau chirped. He began to move forward to Sun, but stopped upon realizing something.
"Oh yeah, Sun! Did you decide a name for your Pikipek?"
"Piiko." Sun answered, already having decided on the name immediately after he had caught Pikipek. "Now, let's go."
Together, the three trainers began their walk towards the cemetery entrance, all feeling a mixture of emotions, both good and bad, for their coming trial overtake their minds. However, unbeknownst to them, a pair of glowing eyes had its sight on one of the trainer's back. It narrowed its eyes on the trainer and floated back into the ground with one thought in mind: It would certainly keep its sight on the trainer that had caught its attention.
A/N: Hmm, now I do wonder what that Pokémon was at the end and who they have decided to keep an eye on. Of course, you're free to guess. In the meantime, I will try to get started on working on the next chapter before my break ends. I can't make any promises considering I want to wrap things up with Lost Data by next month.
Current Teams:
Moon: Mikio (Rowlet)
Sun: Kuro (Litten), Piiko (Pikipek)
Hau: Azura (Popplio), Maui (Pichu)
