Kukui couldn't stop smiling. The Alolan League had finally started, and it was everything that Kukui could have wished for and more. He watched every single battle, and all of them filled him with so much excitement he felt like he could burst. Even better than that though was that the audience seemed to really be enjoying it as well. Alola had never been as concerned with pokémon battles as other regions were, so Kukui had been a little worried that the league wouldn't really draw people in. Kukui didn't really care about numbers or popularity, but he loved battling, and he wanted to share that love with everybody in Alola. He wanted a small child to watch the league battles and enjoy them so much that they get inspired to learn how to battle for themselves.
That was Kukui's dream, and if he didn't see it happening right before his eyes, he would hardly believe it. In between battles Kukui would often catch children and adults alike battling or training just outside the stadium, so excited about what they had just watched that they wanted to try the moves and strategies out for themselves. The people were excited, and Kukui was excited to see it all happen. This was what a league was for.
Usually after matches Kukui would either walk around and observe the audience's excitement, or he would stay in the stadium and watch as the next battle began. After Ash's battle with Hau though, Kukui felt the need to congratulate and talk to his ward.
Kukui had been trying to distance himself a bit from the participants of the league, especially before their battles. He didn't want to show favoritism towards his students. They all knew that he was quietly cheering them on, he didn't have to make it public. After some of their battles though, Kukui felt the need to check in on them. After Lillie had battled her brother, Kukui had made sure to tell her how proud he was of all the progress she'd made, and how well she had done, even though she'd lost. After Mallow had lost her battle, Kukui had told her how happy and proud he was that she had given it her all, even though she'd probably known the whole time that she was going to lose. It can be difficult to keep trying when you think you're going to fail, but Kukui didn't want any of his students to just give up when things looked hopeless. He wanted them to be proud of themselves and what they had done, and hold their heads high, and that was just what Mallow had done.
Kukui also congratulated his students when they won their battles,, commenting on how much stronger they were. All of them were trying so hard, and Kukui wanted all of his students, whether they won or not, to know that he recognized all of the work they had put into their training.
"Ash!" Kukui called out to his student. Ash was sitting in the waiting room of the pokémon center backstage, probably waiting for Rowlet to be healed from its tough battle.
"Professor," Ash practically lit up. "Did you see the match?"
"I wouldn't have missed it for anything," Kukui tilted Ash's hat down playfully. The boy chuckled. "You were great,"
"It was all Rowlet," Ash said proudly. "It trained so hard to learn a new move just for this battle,"
"I noticed that," Kukui said excitedly. He always loved seeing pokémon moves in action, and he always got excited to see a new move, or a move used in a new, unique way. "How did Rowlet train?" Pokémon could learn moves naturally, but they could also work really hard to learn a move a little early. It didn't always work, but it was so satisfying when it did.
"Toucannon taught him," Ash said. "They worked on it for so long, and it didn't seem like Rowlet was able to quite get it in time for the match. But then Rowlet was able to use feather dance, and it was so cool!"
"Feather dance?" Kukui frowned slightly. He vividly remembered seeing Rowlet's new move, and he knew exactly what feather dance looked like, and they didn't match up. "That wasn't feather dance."
"What?" Ash looked shocked. "That's the move that Toucannon was showing Rowlet though."
"Yes, but that may not mean that was the move that Rowlet picked up," Kukui said. "Learning moves can be really hard, especially when it's being taught by a pokémon of a different species, because different pokémon perform the same move in different ways. If Rowlet was trying to mimic Toucannon's method of doing feather dance, it's not completely out there to think that this method caused Rowlet to learn a new move entirely."
"Why do you think Rowlet didn't learn feather dance?" Ash asked.
"Because while there are a lot of ways that the same move can be done, on their most basic level every move should look basically the same, regardless of the pokémon that uses it," Kukui said. "You saw Toucannon use feather dance?" Ash nodded. "Did it look anything like how Rowlet used it?"
"Well, no," Ash admitted. "I thought that was because Rowlet was feeling under pressure when it dodged the attack."
"See, that's another thing," Kukui said. "Feather dance doesn't dodge an attack. Do you know what it does?"
"It, uh, it lowers the opponent's attack, doesn't it?" Ash said. "That's why we tried to learn it, because we knew that Decidueye was physically stronger than Rowlet. We had to fight smarter,"
"It was a good plan," Kukui said. "But did you see Decidueye's attack lower?"
"No, I guess not," Ash's eyes widened in realization. "When Rowlet used feather dance, it was able to dodge the attack,"
"Not dodge," Kukui corrected. "Rowlet didn't dodge. Rowlet diverted the attack to another target. Feather dance doesn't do that, but there is a move that does," Ash thought about it for a second. Kukui wanted him to figure it out for himself, but the boy seemed to need another hint. "Tell me, what did Rowlet's feather dance look like?"
"It looked like a really feathery copy of Rowlet," Ash said immediately. His eyes widened. "Or a substitute."
"Exactly," Kukui grinned. "Maybe it's still too early to say, but what I saw out there, it didn't look anything like any feather dance that I've ever seen, but it reminded me a lot of substitute."
"Huh," Ash looked towards where Nurse Joy had taken Rowlet to get him recovered. "Can Rowlet even learn substitute?"
"Almost any pokémon can learn substitute," Kukui said. Only a select few learned it naturally, but most any pokémon could learn it if they put effort into learning it.
Ash looked taken aback, but still pleasantly surprised. "Rowlet learned substitute? That's so cool!"
"We'll have to watch Rowlet use his new move a little more," Kukui said. "Just once may not be enough to tell in this case,"
"Can you help me figure it out later?" Ash asked.
"I would love to," Kukui said. "It may be best if we wait until the league is over, when we both have time to work with Rowlet, but there is nothing that I would like more than to work with you two."
"Ash," One of the nurse Joys stepped out of the back room, holding a cheerful looking Rowlet in her arms. "Your pokémon is all healed."
"Thank you so much!" Ash jumped up and took his Rowlet from Nurse Joy. Ash ruffled Rowlet's feather's slightly and hugged him. "You were so great, Rowlet. That new move of yours was so cool." Rowlet chirped and nestled closer to Ash. "We should see if we can figure out how to use it for the next rounds."
"Good luck in your next battle, Ash," Kukui said. "I know you're going to do great,"
"Thanks, Professor," Ash said cheerfully. "We're going to try our best,"
"I know you will," Kukui said. Ash always gave it his all in everything that he did. No matter how far Ash got in the competition, whether he won the whole thing or lost in the next round, Kukui would be so proud of him. He was proud of all of his students. He really had the most incredible kids, and Kukui couldn't wait to see just how far they all went, not just in the league, but in their lives.
A/N: I mostly just wrote this chapter because of Rowlet learning 'feather dance'. I don't care what that that's what they called it, but what Rowlet did when it battled Decidueye, that wasn't feather dance. There's just no way that wasn't 'substitute', and Kukui specializes in pokémon moves. He would definitely know that, or at the very least he would question Rowlet's so called 'feather dance'.