Hi everybody! Happy New Years! I hope everybody is ready for the new year.

So, this chapter is shorter than usual, but only because I veered rather abruptly to a new direction in the story rather sticking to the old plan. Thanks, Gossu for providing that spark of inspiration in my story (though rather unintentionally. Lol.)

Enjoy!

Edit: Thanks villomaru for editing!

Chapter 11:

Hau'oli City

"Oh, I need to apologize. But I already did, right? But…" She really should just let it go, but Lillie could not. She had spoken so rudely to Liam despite his offer to help. Why couldn't she have just properly declined instead of bursting out like that?

"CONGRATULATIONS! You are our 99,999th customer!"

"Huh?" Lillie looked up and realized that she found herself wandering to the front of the apparel shop. "I'm sorry, what?"

The lady in front smiled so brightly at the baffled Lillie. "As our 99,999th customer, we are offering you this free makeup bag and a free outfit of your choosing!"

"O-outfit?!" Before she could react further, Lillie found herself inside the colorful shop. Racks, tables, and hangers were all filled with a wide variety of Alolan shirts, tanks, shorts, dresses, hats, boots, sandals, and bags.

"Welcome!" All the shop clerks said enthusiastically. One of them even let off a small party cracker. The other customers looked up curiously from what they were doing and applauded when they saw what the celebration was all about. Lillie could feel herself turning quite red from the attention.

"Now, as the Hau'oli Shopping District manager, it is my great pleasure to offer you a selection of our popular clothes." She pointed to the ladies' section. "Let us know if you want to try on anything, and let us know what you want when you're done looking. Happy hunting!"

Happy hunting? Lillie stared at the area with renewed fright. The clerks were giving her space but it was also clear that they were waiting excitedly for her. She should be happy for winning such a lucky opportunity. She should go around and look at the wonderful array of colorful clothing. Maybe she could try on that red dress or that blue tank top. Those yellow sandals looked nice. She could-

"I don't want anything hideous to be near me."

"Lillie!"

She turned at the sound of the familiar voice.

"Hey! Congrats!" Hau waved from the entrance. "I saw what happened."

"Oh, Hau," Lillie said, relieved. Her hands felt clammy, and she desperately tried to stop them from shaking.

"Are you okay? Where's Liam?"

"Oh, he's catching some Pokémon," Lillie did her best to smile. "How about you?"

"I've finished eating the malasada here. It's really good. I got you and Liam some." He held up two deep-fried donut pastries wrapped in a bakery tissue. "I figure you and Liam hadn't had one yet. Try it, it's good!"

"Thanks, Hau." She accepted the pastry and took a bite. A sweet flavor filled her mouth. "You're right, Hau! This is delicious."

"I know, right?!" Hau grinned, munching on the one he was going to give to Liam. "Each island has a different flavor, so once we're finished here, I'm definitely going to Akala for theirs. Hey, have you figure out what you want to get?"

"Actually, I… umm…"

"What's wrong? I thought girls like this kind of stuff."

"It's not that," Lillie sputtered, her ears burning red. It felt like everybody's eyes were on her.

"What's wrong? You know you can talk to me." For once, Hau peered at her with a concerned look.

"I-I've always just worn clothes that my mother wanted me to wear," Lillie mumbled miserably, "I don't really know what kind of thing would suit me…" There was an awkward silence as Hau casually munched on his malasada.

"Excuse me!" He abruptly said, raising his hand high up in the air as though they were in school. His eyes were directed to the manager, who was organizing the shirts near the front of the store.

"Yes?"

"My friend here is having a hard time deciding what clothes to get. Is it okay if she comes back later?"

"Wait," Lillie whispered frantically, "Hau!"

"Of course," the manager nodded, not at all fazed by the question. "In fact, if she would like to, she can visit the other islands' apparel shops. Here, let me print a certificate so that the other stores know."

"See?" Hau grinned as the lady left, "Nothing to it."

"B-But…"

"Relax, I'll let Ally know about the good news, and she'll help you out. She has a keen eye for this type of thing. We can meet up with her at Akala after Liam and I finish the Melemele Trials here."

"You really think she will do that?" Lillie was grateful for the offer, but at the same time, she was embarrassed at the thought that she needed outside help to just have the confidence to try on clothes.

"Yeah, she loves shopping. In fact, she's probably done with her trials now and is enjoying a nice, long break."

…

Akala Water Trial…

"Damn, it's so strong." Ally steered the Lapras away from another fresh wave of water that the Totem Pokémon caused. Rain pounded against her face as she tried to gather her bearings. Although her riding wear was waterproof, it wasn't a full body suit, and she shivered from the wind and cold that lashed against her skin. She could feel the trial captain staring at her from shore.

Ally stared helplessly at her Pokémon. All of them were down, except the newest recruit. The only problem is that this terrain was perhaps the worst choice for it. It was a rather stubborn Pokémon, trying desperately to swim to solid land. If only she had Liam's Rowlet, things would be so much easier. She would've caught more type-advantaged Pokémon if she knew what she was going up against.

But, where was the fun in that? Ally grinned, feeling the fire burning inside of her.

Her Pokémon refused to give up, so she wasn't about to do it either.

"I know we are at a disadvantage," she yelled over the thunder, "but I believe that we can still fight. Let's go, Litten!"

…

Farthest Hollow...

"Whoa…" Liam gaped as he walked out the other end of the Ten Carat Hill tunnel. He didn't expect such a wide-open space. The entire area was encircled by large cliffs that scaled vertically to the blue sky.

[This is Ten Carat Hill. Specifically, the Farthest Hollow section.] Rotodex swooped around and started taking pictures of the scenery.

Following Liam, Tauros shook its head, causing its ears to flap from side to side, and was relieved for the fresh air. Unlike their first encounter, Tauros was the perfect gentleman, or gentle-mon, so to speak. It carefully walked through the cave, making sure the gearless Liam was sitting securely on its back through the whole journey. When they encountered a blockade of rocks, it made sure Liam had gotten off and hidden a good couple of feet away before it wreaked havoc and opened up the path again. It had been a rather interesting experience for Liam. Back in Kanto, trainers would need to catch Pokémon that had the ability to learn TM moves that could break these rocks. But here, there was no need as long as you befriended the local Pokémon.

"There have to be some good Pokémon here." Liam looked around.

[Bzzt. You are correct, shrimp. There are a few Kanto- and Hoenn-native Pokémon that can be found here like Machop and Spinda, but you can also find-]

"Yes! Found it!" Liam exclaimed, not listening to a word Rotodex had to spit out. He had just randomly run through the first patch of grass and encountered a Pokémon immediately. It had floppy ears and a fluffy white tail.

[Rockruff? That's what you want?]

"Yeah!" Ever since he'd encountered Professor Kukui's, Liam wanted to catch his own Rockruff. A strong and loyal Pokémon like that would be a good asset to his team. Plus, he kinda always wanted to have a puppy.

This Rockruff, in particular, was surprised to see a human trainer in this area and immediately jumped back, barking. Its blue eyes glared angrily.

"Okay, you want to battle?" Liam said, taking off his backpack and pulling out his Poké Ball. "Let's go, Rowlet, you're up!" Rowlet popped out and immediately hooted with delight at the prospect of battling.

"Rowlet! Leafage!" The owl Pokémon sent a spiraling shower of green leaves. The effective move caused Rockruff to howl in pain but it adamantly refused to lose. It gritted its teeth and charged forward.

"It's going in for a Tackle! Take flight!" Rowlet flapped its wings and gained altitude before Rockruff could hit it.

"Okay, I need to weaken it. I don't want it fainted, so the best thing to do is… Whoa! You learned Peck already?" Liam watched as Rowlet already made its move.

Unfortunately (or perhaps fortunately), the flying move was rather ineffective against the rock-type. Liam decided to not mention anything as his excited Rowlet kept attacking the Rockruff with such tenacity.

[Hit it! To the left! Oh, now to the right!] Rotodex was clearly excited and invested in the battle, jabbing its mechanical arms left and right in midair. It was so invested that it forgot to provide any useful information.

"Okay, that's enough! Rowlet, fall back!" As soon as Rowlet backed off, Liam threw out an empty Poké Ball with all his might. It made a large arc before it landed on top of the weakened wild Rockruff.

"YES!" Liam raised a fist into the air as the Poké Ball opened and captured the dog Pokémon. It shuddered a couple of times before falling completely still and the familiar 'ding' resounded through the large area. "Way to go Rowlet! You did it!" The bird Pokémon puffed out its chest happily, accepting all the praises. Tauros mooed happily and gave Liam another happy lick.

[Don't forget about me. I provided tactical support.]

"Tauros was way more helpful than you," Liam rolled his eyes as he waded through the tall grass. His first caught Pokémon! He would need to assess its moves first and figure out what kind of style of fighting they should incorporate. And there was also the matter of evolution. According to his research, Rockruff could evolve into two different forms, so he needed to figure out which would work better… If he could just find that Poké Ball. Where was that thing? He was ready to get on his hands and knees to search when it poked out in front of him.

"Oh thank-" Liam noticed that the Poké Ball was covered in smoke. "AHHH!" Liam flinched and fell backward.

"What the-?" Liam gaped as he realized that the Poké Ball wasn't on fire, but rather enclosed in the hand of a smoke-like creature. Standing on two legs, it poked out of the grass and into full view and held out the item, waiting patiently. It didn't seem to be dangerous and made no indication that it was going to attack.

Hesitantly, Liam reached out his own hand and took the Poké Ball. It blinked back curiously, fascinated at Liam as much as Liam was fascinated by it.

"Thank you… err…" He was at a loss for words. This was definitely a Pokémon he had never seen before and had no idea what to call it. But it looked like either a fire-type or ghost-type. Maybe both? "Rotodex? I could use some of that tactical support now."

[Bzzt, Pokémon unidentified.]

"Unidentified? What do you mean uniden-? Why is it suddenly so cold?" Liam shivered from the drop in the temperature. He looked up and saw the sky darkened immediately.

"Oh shoot, is it going to rain? We need to head back." Liam got up and grabbed his backpack. Rowlet immediately hopped into the bag and poked its head out from the open top. "Come on Tauros! You too, errr… Smoky?" It was a lame name, but he had no idea what to call the wild Pokémon as it remained in its spot. It stared up at the sky, mesmerized by the sudden change in color from bright blue to dark gray. "Hey, come on! Fire doesn't go well with water! It wouldn't be good for you to get sick!"

A light flashed across the sky and there was a loud and deafening crack as though the sky split in half.

"MOOOOO!"

"Easy there!" Liam reached over to the agitated Tauros, who was clearly spooked. Liam tried to remain calm. He couldn't have Tauros run off all by itself. "Okay, okay, steady… steady… Come on, Smoky! Let's-"

Wait… Liam gaped at the bright, colorful light show above him. Shielding his eyes, he saw something that he couldn't describe. It was some sort of portal… or wormhole… or something like that. Whatever it was, it didn't look like it was a part of this world.

And something was coming out of it.

Author's Notes

What could it be?! This mysterious Pokémon? The hole in the sky? What's going on? Let's hope Liam is prepared for whatever is up ahead. Good thing he caught a new Pokémon!

We also got to see Lillie, Hau, and even Ally! Everybody is off doing their own thing, but they are all important.

And I got some good news! I bought Ultra Sun as my Christmas gift to myself. LOL. Been playing it for a while now and really enjoy the game so far. And it is also a reason why I decided to veer off of my original storyline. But hey, we gonna see some cool stuff!

Well, I wish everybody a wonderful new year and I'll see you in the next chapter.

-JapanDreamer