In which an important character arrives, exposition is given, and Eli gets a taste of his own medicine.

They took a detour for snacks, but thanks to Rotom's map, found the library, and Lillie standing in front of it. Surprisingly, she looked mildly panicked.

"What happened?" Diana asked. "Did Cosmog run off again? Have you thought of changing its name?"

Lillie shook her head. "Nebby's still in the bag. I just...well, there was an outfit at the boutique, and it was the last one in stock, so I bought it."

"Good for you?" Diana couldn't help but phrase it as a question. Lillie was still wearing the pretty dress and cute hat. "And you're saying that it doesn't fit?"

"No." Lillie swallowed. "I'm...I was just a little nervous, that's all. It's the first outfit my mother didn't choose for me."

Diana gestured down at her own new outfit. "My mom didn't buy mine, but I'm not nervous about her seeing it."

Lillie sighed. "Seeing your change gave me the courage to do mine. I guess I need more courage to actually wear it."

Well, if Lillie needed more courage, Diana could always trick Eli into letting her give him a makeover. And use his money - her new outfit was both nicer than her previous one and too expensive for her current situation. She wasn't doing that again any time soon.

Then there came the loud sound of a Mudsdale galloping up to them. Eli cried "Ultra Beast!" and sent out his Growlithe, but Diana recognized it immediately.

"Did you seriously follow us to another island, Hapu?" she asked, and was answered by Hapu's laughter.

"Figured someone should keep an eye out for you two," Hapu replied. "But the tapu haven't turned against you yet, so I figure your challenge must be going well, or you dropped it completely. Either way, good news for Alola." Then she noticed Lillie. "And who might this be?"

Lillie, who had been just as startled by Mudsdale as Eli, quickly regained her composure. "My name is Lillie. I'm a friend of theirs, looking for answers about the tapu."

Hapu smiled. "Then I'll be willing to help you whenever you need it. My Mudsdale can carry more than one."

"So why are you here, Hapu?" Eli asked. "Not that it's not great to see you, but -"

"I'm just making some deliveries from my family farm. I saw you two and thought I should say hi." She looked over at Diana, and she smiled. "I like your new outfit, Diana. Somehow suits you better. Anyway, we should go. See you later."

Then she and Mudsdale turned and left. The kids, deciding it was best not to ask, entered the library.

"Professor Burnet told me about a book," Lillie said, after getting both of the cousins to promise to help her find what she was looking for. "It's a book on old legends, and some of them say that Alola's legendary Pokémon came from another world."

"The tapu?" Diana asked.

"No." It was Eli, not Lillie, who corrected her. Diana realized that she should have expected that. "Solgaleo and Lunala. A lion representing the sun and a bat representing the moon."

"A bat representing the moon?" Diana laughed. "That's the most goth thing I've ever heard."

She was immediately given the typical 'library shush,' and fell silent. The three climbed the stairs, none of them knowing what to look for. Luckily, somebody seemed to know.

She didn't look older than they were. She was, perhaps, younger, maybe even just ten years old. But her dress looked like she'd made it herself, her armband was gold-colored and very, very shiny...

Diana tore her eyes off the armband when she noticed something else. In this girl's hair was a Captain charm. She was important to the trials, and more importantly, she could get Diana a crystal.

The girl tapped a book in her arms to get their attention. "Would this be what you're looking for? It's called The Light of Alola. Figured that since your friend there made some noise when she heard about Lunala, I should help out to shut her up."

Diana groaned and hid her face in her hands. Eli grinned.

"I don't know who this girl is, but I like her," he announced. He sat down at the table with Lillie and the new girl. "What does the book say, Lillie?"

Lillie looked surprised, but cleared her throat and read aloud. "The empty sky broke asunder, a hole appearing where there had been none. A single beast appeared from within it: it was named the beast that calls the moon. The king of Alola bowed before it: the beast that stole all heavens' light. The island guardians fought against it, but in the end they lost the fight. Then did the beast that brings the dark cast its pall on the line of kings. So that the beast that had won mark the path for all finished things. 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 for Lunala with song of flute. Two tones rang across the altar - a perfect pair, even after mute."

Diana lifted her head. "That's what you were looking for?"

Mystery girl laughed again, ignoring Diana. "Aren't my dad's books great?"

Lillie frowned at the words, then looked up. "Your father? Isn't this book...very old?"

"It belonged to my dad," the girl repeated. "He got it from his dad, who got it from his. My ancestors were Alolan royalty, so we had a lot of cool stuff. I moved my dad's books here, so the Pokémon wouldn't get to them. I can tell you more old stories, if you like!"

"I'd like," Eli interrupted. Mystery girl turned to him, her smile as constant as Hau's. Eli bowed overdramatically. "Please, mysterious Alolan princess! I ask for myths involving humanoid creatures from another planet arriving on Melemele Island!"

Mystery girl's smile stopped. "Melemele aliens?"

"He thinks we're descended from aliens," Diana explained, pinching the bridge of her nose. "Just...ignore him, please. He also thought my crush was an evil alien."

"I never said he was evil," Eli pointed out. "Assuming an alien is evil sounds like the setup of a 'just because someone's different doesn't mean they're bad' episode and we don't have time for that. What if our ancestors weren't from the same planet as his?"

"But wasn't him having a supernatural gift the entire reasoning for that theory?"

Eli's mouth opened, then closed. "You win this round," he muttered, before faceplanting onto the table as all three girls laughed.

Lillie changed the subject. "There's an Electric-type trial that can be reached by bus," she told them. "Rotom can find Route 10, right?"

Rotom buzzed in annoyance. "I have a map, don't I?"

Diana looked up at the girl. "Are you the Electric captain?"

It felt wrong as she said it. There wasn't any yellow on her. But, still, she didn't know her name. It might have been Stormy.

But her instinct was right, and the girl confirmed that she was not, in fact, the Electric captain. "My name is Acerola. Does that sound like the name of an Electric specialist to you?"

"Acerola," Eli repeated quietly. Diana noticed anyway. "Where can we find books on aliens?"

Acerola looked at him, then looked back at Diana. When Diana seemed interested in humoring the boy, Acerola's smile grew. "Follow me, then! I'm sure there's at least a science fiction section in here."

"Or science fact," said Eli, and Acerola covered her mouth to hide the giggles.

While Lillie went and read everything there was about Solgaleo and Lunala, the others were kicked out of the science fiction section because the books were more oriented to grown-ups. They switched to the space section of the nonfiction books, and all three of them were reading anything they could get their hands on relating to other planets and other worlds. Diana in particular took notice of a report written by a guy in Sinnoh named Lucas, where he said that the legendary Pokémon Giratina took him and his friend to a world where trees grew upside down, gravity let them walk up walls, and humans could speak with Pokémon.

Worst of all, Professor Rowan approved this. He knew Lucas, and favoritism took over common sense, apparently. That, or Rowan's mind was going in his old age.

Of course, they could have been telling the truth. But Giratina being an Ultra Beast? That was almost as ridiculous as Giratina being Satan.

Eli, meanwhile, was fascinated by everything in his section. There hadn't been any life recorded on other planets, but the multiverse theory was starting to make a lot of sense. Perhaps his ancestors were all human, after all, but humans from a world where people were born with supernatural abilities. Or maybe the X-Men actually happened in a parallel universe, and they were just mutants. Or maybe even the human version of Ultra Beasts.

The weird warmth that usually accompanied a fire was starting. He reached down to pet his Torracat before it could get too out of control, and Robbie's purrs calmed him, almost absorbing the fire from him before it could be released. Eli, meanwhile, thought over whatever he was feeling, trying to identify the trigger.

The internal fire died down before he could recognize anything but his near-constant state of fear and excitement, which triggered disappointment. He must have made a noise, because Acerola looked up from her own book to smile.

"Find anything?"

He smiled back, a little awkward. "I'm not sure yet."

"Don't worry, then." She gestured to the pile. "The library doesn't close for hours! We can find something for sure, and tomorrow, you and Diana can take the bus to her trial."

"You're still helping?"

This got a laugh. "I've got my Pokémon handling my other responsibilities. It's my day off, I can help whoever I want!"

Eli returned to his book, but not before he heard his cousin mutter "I ship it." He made a face at her, but she was already deep in her current material, not even noticing him.

Whatever, he decided. At least I'm not in the middle of a love triangle.

Somehow, that thought gave him a different warm feeling - the feeling of victory.