theonlyandonlylordmonkeylord: I garner that that was probably everyone's reaction.
Gigarot: Considering their levels post-game, the UBs would catch any trainer unaware.
Cottonmouth25: Indeed- the villains you don't see coming are the ones that are the most terrifying. (Looks at Aizen)
"I still can't believe we saw a wormhole! We gotta tell Professor Burnet about this next time we see her!" Hau exclaimed.
They were back in the landing docks as the ship prepared to leave along with other trainers who had visited- Ashwin and the other employees were all right, they had mostly just been shocked by the tremor and then knocked back by the wormhole's emergence. Asalie stayed by his side until she was convinced he was okay before hugging him good-bye.
"Please be careful," he had pleaded with her, voice smaller and more scared than she remembered him sounding.
Asalie could do nothing but promise to be cautious, though she didn't know how well she could keep such a promise with Team Skull and those creatures running around. Regardless, she would do her best to follow her father's wishes.
"I don't know if what happened should rightly be described as an accident," Wicke said, "but I think it's probably best if you do so. Oh, these are for you."
She handed them each a box of big malasadas and a tm for psychic. "Whoa, thanks!" they both said in amazement at the gifts.
"I hope you both have wondrous adventures on your island challenge- best wishes to you both!" Wicke called as the boat departed.
"We will!" Hau called back. "Thanks, Ms. Wicke!"
"Take care of dad for me!" Asalie shouted back to her.
They boarded the ship and collapsed into the chairs as the ship began to take off.
"My heart's still racing. The wormhole and the Ultra Beasts were both real, Asa- and you fought it!" Hau said as he stretched himself out. "This world is way too big- I hope we can find even more next island!"
Asalie nodded absently, still thinking of what happened. She didn't know what to make of it, especially how she had blacked out those few seconds- what had happened in that time? And how did that bit of tentacle get in her mouth when her Pokemon had been knocked too far away to do any damage?
And if I come across it again, how am I gonna fight that thing without being clobbered?
Her eyes averted to the compartment where she put the Z-Crystals and then looked at her Z-Ring. I don't think I've even used a Z-Move yet-
"Hey Asa!" Hau exclaimed, slapping her on the back and startling her out of her thoughts. "We're gonna need all the energy we can get- let's dig in!"
"Land ahoy!" Hau chirped as they got off, the night slowly encompassing the sky. "Terra firma under foot again!"
"You know Latin?"
"What can I say? I'm a man of many talents!"
They both chuckled at this as they went into the city. Beautiful buildings similar to Konikoni city were everywhere she looked- there were also a a few decorations put up and an energy in the air not dissimilar to before an event or festival.
"You've made it to Ula'ula Island, clever girl!" Rotom-Dex congratulated her. "This means a whole new pokedex! It's all up to you what new Pokemon you'll discover, Asalie!"
"Thank you," she said and they returned to her bag.
"Man, Ula'Ula island looks really different from Melemele and Akala- even Konikoni City didn't look like this!" Hau said before turning to Asalie. "Hey Asa- how about after we get to a center, we have a battle?"
"If you're talking about a battle, you could register in the tournament!" an old man remarked from the side.
"'Tournament'?" Asalie repeated, remembering the one tournament she had partaken in since her journey began.
"Yep- during the celebration for Tapu Bulu next week, there will be a fighting competition to appease them properly," he continued. "You can register by the garden."
"Wow- thanks mister!" Hau exclaimed. "Let's go, Asa!"
The two went over to where a young woman held registrations- already several trainers were lined up and they were barely able to get their names down before the night began to grow late. "Phew, I'm beat!" the green-haired boy yawned. "Let's get some shut eye..."
As they went into the center, Asalie couldn't wait to snuggle into the center bed and sleep off the day. But when she opened her bag to change into her pajamas, she found that most of the clothing she had accumulated over the course of her journey had gone missing.
Asalie ended up dumping everything out of her bag only to find that the only garments she had left were bras and underwear, her sleep shirt and shorts, a beige tanktop and black and magenta shorts. Where the hell did they all go?! Did someone go through my bag while I wasn't looking?! she wondered, thinking back to the previous day.
The only time I didn't have my bag- was when I was at Aether Paradise, she realized. But that was because of security and Hau went through that too. It's too late to ask him now- I have to wait for tomorrow...
When Asalie got up the next morning, she went to try and find Hau only for the Nurse Joy to inform him that he had already left.
Knowing Hau's training habits, Asalie set out the explore the city in order to wait for him- while not as large as Heahea or Hau'oli city, it was still impressive in scale and architecture. She noticed shape patterns on the ground that went in different directions through the streets. Two different paths got her to a large restaurant-making her curse her low funds- and brought her to a barber shop.
She fingered the braid hanging loosely from her shoulder before remembering the pressure around her head when Plumeria's fingers clutched it in place. Her hand froze and trailed down until the digits reached the end of the hair.
"Asalie!"
The brunette perked up at Lillie's voice and turned to see the blonde run up to her- she was holding an apparel bag between her other bag. "Hey Lillie- what's that?"
"I was heading to Malie Library but found the apparel shop instead and the cashier got me to buy what they had on sale," the blonde explained with a sweat-drop.
"Oh, they've got discounts? I can check it out later then!"
"What are you looking for?"
"Anything really," the brunette admitted before lowering her voice. "I misplaced some clothes yesterday- I think Aether's security messed up-"
The blonde paled at this information, eyes wide with fear and Asalie placed a gentle hand on her shoulder. "It's okay, Lillie- things like this happen, you know?"
Lillie didn't look convinced but seemed desperate to change the subject as she said, "W-well, the lady there also gave me directions to the Malie library- I want to find the ruins of this island as soon as possible, so I'll be going to do some researching on them."
"Mind if I come with?"
"N-not at all!"
The two headed over to the library- a large building that seemed to be going under some renovations. But as they made it to the entrance, Asalie heard a "Ni-hiiiii!" as a familiar Mudsale galloped towards them.
"Yeek?!" Lillie exclaimed, quickly hiding behind Asalie.
Hapu jumped off the ground type's back and smiled faintly at seeing the brunette. "Been a while, hasn't it Asalie."
"Hey Hapu!" the brunette greeted her.
"It seems your island challenge is coming along favorably- this must be pleasing to the Tapu," Hapu said before noticing Lillie. "And who might your lovely friend be?"
"Lovely"? Asalie thought, blinking in surprise at the word choice before the blonde quickly said, "My name is Lillie- it's nice to meet you, Hapu."
"Charmed," Hapu said with a smile. "My apologies if Mudsale startled you- though I notice you don't have the island challenge amulet anywhere on you."
"I'm here to study the various ruins the Tapus inhabit," Lillie explained before hastily adding, "for various reasons of my own."
Hapu gave a warm smile. "Well, that's some fine initiative- I'd be happy to escort you to the ruins whenever you'd like to go. Mudsale here's as sturdy as all get-out and she can easily carry two."
"Thank you for the offer!" Lillie exclaimed. "But don't either of you have anywhere you need to be...?"
"We travel at our own pace, the two of us- and we're going to be in the city for the festival anyways. Oh, before I forget- Asalie, might I see your pager for a moment?"
The brunette handed it over and the smaller girl quickly typed a bit before handing it back- now Asalie could see an option for Mudsale as well. "You can use Mudsale to ride over the rock terrain- consider it my payback for Akala island."
"Thank you."
"One of the next trials is straight past Tapu Village, you'd be hard pressed to miss it- good luck, I'll be cheering for you!"
With that, Hapu hopped onto Mudsale's back and galloped away. They entered the library quickly- there were staircases heading to the next level, bits of dust floating in the air visible by the rays of light through the windows.
"The book I'm looking for is quite old- Professor Burnet told me about it," Lillie whispered as they looked around. "It has a theory that suggests that the Legendary Pokemon came from another world."
Asalie was intrigued at that- her encounter with the Ultra Beast at Aether Paradise was as fresh in her mind as it had been that day and she wondered if the two were connected.
"Is this what you're looking for, princess and knight?"
A little girl with wavy and curly purple hair with a clip holding some of the locks in a tail, a torn black, indigo and purple dress, gold band around her left arm and sandals with cat-like smile on her face, held up a light green hardcover book titled, The Light of Alola.
"Oh yes!" Lillie said in surprise. "Thank you, um..."
"Acerola, at your service~" the girl chirped while giving a curtsy. "Now why don'tcha give it a read?"
Lillie and Asalie sat at the table, Acerola perching herself atop while the blonde opened the book up.
The first was a picture of the wormhole that she had seen back at Aether with a silhouette before it- one that reminded her of a Pyroar or Luxray and Lillie began to read softly,
"The empty sky broke asunder, a hole appearing where none had been. A creature appeared from it and the people called them the beast that devours the sun."
Four silhouettes- one yellow and lanky, one pink and stout, one red and muscled and one purple and svelte- all bowed before the Pyroar/Luxray shadow with a sun above it's form.
"The kings of Alola bowed before them, the beast who shone with all the brilliant splendor of the sun."
The next picture had four figures and one whom Asalie immediately recognized as Tapu Koko- she could only assume two others were Tapu Lele and Tapu Bulu. The one next to them had the beast standing triumphantly over their beaten forms.
"But the island guardians fought against them- and though they fought valiantly, they were no match for the creature."
The Pyroar/Luxray creature was shown curled around the sun with their mouths open, as if ready to devour it. Four of the five figures- yellow, pink, red and purple- bowed to them.
"Then did the beast that devoured the sun shine their light on the line of kings and won the right to bless all things with nature's gift."
A new creature's silhouette- that looked like a Noivern- appeared and between the two creatures, was what appeared to be a fetus floating above the islands. The yellow and purple silhouettes of the rulers held an orange and indigo flute respectively as swirls of music were illustrated.
"Beast of sun and beast of moon- through their union, they brought new life- a fragile heir in Alola born that island guardians would keep from strife. The ancient kings sang their thanks to Solgaleo with songs of flute- two tones ran out across the altar, a perfect pair even after mute."
Silence reigned after Lillie finished reading, solemn- Asalie's mind was racing as she digested this, particularly the part where it said the sky broke apart and a hole appeared where there had been none.
"So, what does this mean?" she asked.
"It means that many years ago, a powerful Pokemon- either Solgaleo or Lunala or both- came to Alola through unknown means, fought the Tapus and emerged victorious and then left something special behind before being played music for," Acelora summed up. "There are other books that claim that the creature who stole all heaven's light, Lunala, was the one who appeared before the kings and Tapus and still another version where an unknown creature appeared."
"So, what is the truth then?" Lillie asked, looking worried.
"No one knows- it could be one version, it could be a combination of two or more versions or it could be something else entirely," the purple-haired girl said. "All we know is what's been written down here. Of course the library has the other versions if you'd like to read them."
"That would be great! Thank you so much!"
"No problem!"
With that, Acerola hopped up on the stepladder for the taller shelves and in a display of balance and precision, she rolled it over and climbed up to pluck three books from the higher shelves before sliding back down to ground level. "Ta-dah!"
"How do you have these books?" the brunette asked as she accepted the heavy tomes and set them on the table for Lillie to look over.
"These all belonged to my dad at a time," the girl affirmed. "I know I don't look it but my family used to practically be royalty at a time and my dad used a lot of his time to get all these books! I just moved them to the library so they wouldn't collect dust."
She turned to Lillie and asked, "So what exactly are you researching?"
"I'm trying to find information on the ruins connected with the Tapus for reasons of my own-"
"Then you'll like this book for sure!" Acerola declared and pulled out a dark red leather bound book titled: "The Golden Age, the Alolan War and The Kings of Both Eras."
Opening it up made dust flap into her face and she wiped it away carefully- she could feel the age of the parchment underneath- and began reading.
"Alola had many leaders of their islands- strong, wise, kind, just. But the golden age of the islands started when these four Kahunas took the helms of their islands. Their rule would also consequently lead to the Alolan wars."
There were four people on the picture- the first was a dark skinned lanky man with orange Mohawk and sideburns with orange baggy pants, masses of white tattoos across his bare chest amidst battle scars and a yellow cloak. His expression was split in a toothy and ferocious grin- he had a Vikivolt by his side.
"Kahuna Konani ruled over Melemele island and was in equal bouts passionate and reckless- he was a powerful fighter with a nigh legendary bloodlust and watched over his soldiers like they were his own sons and daughters."
The next was a dark skinned stout woman with curly watermelon red hair and a pink triangular crown, a white tube top around her breasts, twin bracelets and pink skirt. Her expression was a childish pout- she had a P'au Oricorio by her side. Asalie recognized her from the carvings on the throne in the Ruins of Life.
"Kahuna Kalea was childish and rather vindictive- however, her abilities in healing and caring for the sick endeared her to her people, as she saved them from a plague that would have killed thousands."
The third was a dark skinned muscle-bound man with curly red hair and beard and a nose ring- his chest was bare as well with baggy red shorts with two hammers hanging from his belt. He looked rather bored- he had a Lurantis by his side.
"Kahuna Keanu was patient and stoic, though this was more due to his procrastinating and lazy nature than anything- but he was a skilled farmer and caretaker of animals and Pokemon and taught his people new ways to harvest food and care for livestock, saving them from starvation."
The fourth was a dark skinned svelte woman with pale blue tied in a downwards ponytail, though it was hard to tell with the violet veil she wore over herself. She had a worried frown on her face- she had a Toxapex by her side.
"Kahuna Kai was quiet and rather withdrawn, almost shy- but her sharp eyes allowed her to see uncleanliness and poison in the rivers and helped lead her people to a new water source while finding a way to purify the previous source."
The next picture showed the four of them watching over each of their islands, framed in yellow, pink, red and purple.
"Under these four leaders, Alola entered a golden age beneath their rule- they were called "The Kings of Alola". But alas, nothing can last forever."
Asalie saw the same picture of the wormhole in the book- unlike the Pryroar or Noivern silhouettes, this creature was a jet black and jagged looking figure with red and yellow eyes that was surrounded by light.
"A creature of jet black crystal appeared one day- seeing it as a threat, the Kahunas took their armies to destroy this creature. Though they fought their hardest, the Kahunas and their armies were soundly defeated, but thanks to the Tapus who appeared- Tapu Koko, Tapu Lele, Tapu Bulu and Tapu Fini- they were given a fighting chance."
The next picture showed the four guardian deities fighting fiercely against the creature.
"Both sides fought with all their strength but neither could be beaten down for long- eventually, the two sides saw that they were of equal power and came to a truce. In acknowledging the Tapus strength and perhaps even an apology, the creature gifted the Tapu with great power of unknown providence."
The creature bowed to the four Tapus and they glowed with brilliant purple light that reminded Asalie of Nebby's glow when they had saved her. The next picture showed that they had strange, crafted shields somewhere on their bodies. Tapu Koko's was on either arm like a bird's wings, Tapu Lele's was on the lower body that looked like a snail's shell, Tapu Bulu's was on top of the head with horns like a bull and Tapu Fini's was on the back that was reminiscent of a narwhal.
"The special shells that they were given enabled them to absorb nature's energy and become stronger- the shells themselves would only grow stronger as time passed on."
The creature was shown flying, though it's direction was colored black on the page.
"With that, the creature disappeared- whether it returned from whence it came or retreated to hide on the planet remains unknown. Alola rebuilt themselves after the war but without their beloved kahunas, they quickly fell into disarray- those power hungry bullied those weaker into serving them and took advantage of the chaos to try to come into power."
Silhouettes of men and woman with arrogant, sneering smiles loomed over the islands and the crying people.
"Civil war broke out on the islands- the Tapus sided with those they saw as having the best intentions for the islands and aided them in the battles following the next several years until the next four kahunas were able to rebuilt Alola properly. However-"
The Tapus were sided with four other silhouettes that were yellow, pink, red and purple but the colors were more distorted than the first four kahunas- and behind them was carnage.
"- the Tapu's Z-Power was so great, they leveled entire battlefields and villages in the wake of their attacks. It was because of this that the Tapu hid away and no longer came to aid the wars of man."
The Tapus were shown hidden away in four caves above a shimmering stone that Asalie recognized immediately as the stone Tapu Koko had given her.
"Incredible..." Lillie said softly.
"Right?" Acerola said with a grin. "These two stories were my favorite reading when I was younger!"
Asalie didn't listen, eyes fixed on the stone and the image of Kahuna Konani- he looked familiar to her, though she knew that she'd remember meeting a man like him. It was the gauntlets on his arms that grabbed her attention, looking almost like the two shields/shells that Tapu Koko wielded.
The dates of the celebrations for each island are thus:
Tapu Lele and Tapu Bulu are celebrated on the spring and fall equinoxes while Tapu Koko and Tapu Fini are celebrated on the summer and winter solstices.
So going by that logic, Asalie's family would have moved to Alola around beginning to mid May (Asalie's birthday was on May 12th), she would have met Lillie and Tapu Koko at the end of May/ beginning of June before the summer solstice and then spent the next few months traveling through the islands until the celebration of Tapu Bulu in September.
On that note, Hau turns fifteen on September 7th and Lillie turns sixteen on December 25th- Gladion turns 19 the next May 14th. So Asalie and Gladion are both Tauruses, Hau is a Virgo and Lillie is a Capricorn. Solid.
If anyone can a more proper timeline or spot any inconsistency in this, PLEASE don't hesitate to say so so I can clean up the story timeline properly.